A dino-mite day to learn about fossils

BY DEB HURLEY BROBST DBROBST@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Dinosaurs spark the imagination of young and old alike.

at’s why a steady stream of visitors learned more about dinosaurs and other animals that traversed the Morrison area millions of years ago during Stegosaurus Day at the Morrison Natural History Museum on April 29. e museum is a paleontologist a cionado’s paradise with experts available to impart information and answer questions.

Morrison has a strong connection to the stegosaurus, which is Colorado’s state fossil. Dinosaur Ridge is the site of the rst-ever stegosaurus bone fossils found in the world. e bones were excavated in the mid1870s, and some of those original fossils are displayed at the Morrison Natural History Museum, along with a collection of tracks from adult and baby stegosauruses.

According to the museum, the plant-eating stegosaurus could grow to be as large as an elephant and was adorned with plates and deadly spikes on the tip of its tail. e small museum has rooms dedicated to the Jurassic, Cretaceous and Ice Age with plenty of hands-on items on display and tour guides to ll in the gaps.

On April 29, 5-year-old Miles Absher of Littleton was more than happy to impart his knowledge of dinosaurs, which he learned from dinosaur movies and books. As he colored a picture of stegosauruses, he talked about carnotaurus, a word that easily rolled o his tongue. A carnotaurus, he explained, is a therapod, which means it walks on two legs. state and federal regulators approve it.

Albertsons operates roughly 100 Safeway stores across Colorado, while Kroger operates about 150 King Soopers and City Market stores in the state. If the merger goes through, the new company would control roughly 50% of Colorado’s grocery options, according to Colorado Public Radio.

On a website dedicated to promoting the merger, Kroger promised it’d dedicate $500 million to lowering prices, $1.3 billion to enhancing Albertsons stores, and another $1 billion toward raises and bene ts for employees.

Rodney McMullen, Kroger’s chairman and chief executive o cer, described how combining the two chains “brings together two purposedriven organizations to deliver superior value to customers, associates, communities and shareholders.”

But, Weiser told the 40-some attendees sitting in the Golden High School library that, if states or the federal government believe the merger is anti-competitive, they have the “the authority and obligation” to stop it.

“We’re the people’s lawyers,” Weiser said of his o ce. “We’re looking at this merger with only the people of Colorado in mind.”

However, Weiser and his colleagues must do their homework rst — meeting with the aforementioned groups, gathering data, examining past mergers, etc. He said they’re planning to host more listening sessions like this during 2023, with the next two in Vail and Cortez.

Local shoppers like Lakewood’s Joan Jacobson worried that the Kroger-Albertsons merger would turn out just like Kroger’s investment in Lucky’s Market. While its 2016 initial investment more than doubled the number of Lucky’s stores, Kroger ultimately pulled the plug and divested in 2019.

Jacobson said she drives by a former Lucky’s in Wheat Ridge frequently, which is still empty.

“It just tells me they can’t be trusted. ey say one thing and do something else,” Jacobson said of Kroger. “ … Talk is cheap; trustworthiness is costly; and actions speak louder than words.”

Weiser and the attendees discussed Golden’s grocery options, as the city has both a Safeway and a King Soopers, along with a Natural Grocers.

So, while Golden overall wouldn’t be a food desert, it would still have fewer grocery and pharmacy options if its Safeway closed. Plus, as Olson pointed out, those who walk to the Safeway out of necessity would have to nd transportation to the King Soopers, which is 1.7 miles