13 Colorado Laws That Will Leave You Shaking Your Head Colorado has a knack of leaving its residents and guests speechless; the amazing views, diverse culture, and amazing opportunities make for a unique experience that you won’t find anywhere else? Another Colorado gem sure to leave you in awe (but not in a good way)? A few of our bizarre, unexplainable laws. Here are 13 of those weird laws in Colorado that will leave you shaking your head. 1.) It is unlawful to lend your vacuum cleaner to your next-door neighbor (Denver) 2.) It is illegal to ride a horse while under the influence (Statewide) 3.) Throwing missles at cars is illegal (Alamosa) 4.) Car dealers may not show cars on a Sunday (Statewide) 5.) Boulders may not be rolled on city property (Boulder) 6.) It is illegal to let a dandelion grow within the city limits (Pueblo) 7.) Catapults may not be fired at buildings (Aspen) 8.) One may not mutilate a rock in a state park (Statewide)

9.) Keeping a house where unmarried persons are allowed to have sex is prohibited (Alamosa) 10.) Residents may not own chickens, but may own up to three turkeys (Louisville) 11.) Couches may not be placed on outside porches (Boulder) 12.) It is illegal for a man to kiss a woman while she is asleep (Logan County) 13.) It is illegal to bring your horse or pack mule above the ground floor of any building (Cripple Creek) Which of these laws did you find most ridiculous? Have you ever broken any of them?Join the Only In Colorado Facebook page for more. The EU plans to ban British kettles, toasters and hairdryers. At best this is a stretch. It's not a ban: the EU is considering regulation which would limit the amount of energy appliances such as kettles and hairdryers use. A study into the proposals has been drafted, but no legislation has been brought forward yet. "EU is now considering measures to ban most powerful hairdryers, lawn mowers and electric kettles, it was revealed" - Daily Mail, 30 August 2014

"Brussels plans to ban British kettles, toasters and hairdryers after the European Union referendum" - Daily Express, 12 May 2016 A number of retailers reportedly sold out of high-powered vacuum cleaners ahead of an introduction of an EU law preventing hoovers of 1,600 watts or more being manufactured in, or imported to the UK. The EU is currently in the process of determining which types of product to prioritise for environmental improvements. Hairdryers, lawn mowers, and electric kettles are three categories out of 29 that could face restrictions, and the EU aims to choose about 20 as priorities. We don't yet know if the EU will enact any regulations affecting these products, never mind what they'd look like, although its preliminary investigations on some items provide us with clues. 29 product types up for consideration Today's vacuum cleaner regulation was part of the European Commissions 'Ecodesign' scheme, which is aimed at improving the environmental performance of products sold across the EU.

The Commission is currently in the process of developing a new 'working plan' for the scheme, which it aims to implement in 2015-17. The Commission proposes new laws, and is also the EU’s bureaucracy that implements the laws that have been enacted. best turbo vacuum cleanerCommissioners, who have normally been national politicians, are nominated by their government, but must advance the overall EU interest and not that of any one country.bissell dog vacuum cleaner As part of the development of this plan, it's commissioned researchers to narrow the options to about 20 'priority product groups'. vacuum cleaners simplicity reviewsOnce they've been identified, each type of product and the potential for regulation will be investigated further.

There are 29 product groups in total. Some of them are common household appliances, such as kettles, others are not, like escalators. Not all of them are particularly recognisable to the average person. Hair and hand dryers (blowers for personal care); gym and athletics articles; lawn and riding mowers; elevators, escalators and moving walkways; energy-using equipment in means of transportation; hot food presentation and storage equipment; inverters and static converters; tertiary hot beverage equipment; water, steam and sand cleaning appliances. Regulation isn't just about limits to wattage Not all of the potential requirements would involve limits to the power consumed in the home. For instance, the researchers have said another option in the case of electric kettles would be to require them to be more durable so that they last longer on average, and fewer need to be manufactured. And for hairdryers, the researchers point to a scheme by a German company which has been able to achieve a certain ratio of power consumption against the rate at which it dries hair.

If adopted as a law, that would mean hairdryers would be allowed to have high wattage as long as there was a corresponding improvement in performance. Neither of these options are actively suggested by researchers, or by the Commission, but they do serve to highlight that regulations on design don't have to take the form of bans on power consumption.Illinois nannies, housekeepers and other domestic workers will be entitled to the state minimum wage and basic human rights protections come Jan. 1 under a bill signed into law Friday by Gov. Bruce Rauner.The Illinois Domestic Workers Bill of Rights amends four state laws to include domestic workers, who are among several groups excluded from basic labor protections and, worker advocates say, vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. "This is really historic because the exclusion of domestic workers from federal and state employment laws has an unfortunate history in slavery and anti-immigrant sentiment," said Wendy Pollack, founder and director of the Women's Law and Policy Project at the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, which is part of a coalition that has been pushing for domestic worker legislation for five years.

Some federal labor laws have been amended over the years to erase the exclusion of domestic workers, who are covered by federal minimum wage and overtime protections. The state law erases their exclusion from Illinois laws, which offer additional protections. Domestic workers now will be covered by Illinois' Minimum Wage Law, which requires workers be paid at least $8.25 an hour (more than the federal minimum of $7.25), and the One Day Rest in Seven Act, which requires employees get at least 24 hours of rest in each calendar week and a meal period of 20 minutes for every 7.5-hour shift. They also will be covered by the Illinois Human Rights Act, which protects against sexual harassment, and the Wages of Women and Minors Act, which prohibits employers from paying women and minors "an oppressive and unreasonable wage."The bill had the support of the Illinois chapter of the Home Care Association of America, a trade group representing companies that employ caregivers.Illinois is the seventh state to adopt domestic worker protections, according to Arise Chicago, a workers center that was part of the coalition.

The bill covers workers regularly employed at least eight hours a week in domestic jobs, a classification that excludes occasional baby sitters. It covers live-in workers, people employed by agencies and workers with a one-on-one agreement with a household.Pollack said there is more work to be done to educate employers and workers about improving conditions for the more than 35,000 people in Illinois who cook, clean, drive and care for the children of others. Many employers "sincerely care about the workers they employ, and often think of them as part of their family, but then don't make the leap to the fact that there exists an employer-employee relationship between them," Pollack said.For example, one big issue for domestic workers is the "job creep" that happens when they get a call from their employer asking them to stay another hour or two, without clear rules about whether they're getting paid for that time, Pollack said. Written contracts that clarify the parameters of the job could help, she said.

Magdalena Zylinska, who has worked as a house cleaner for nearly 20 years and as a nanny before that, said the law is a "little step toward a better future." While she is happy now as an independent contractor, she said she used to work for agencies that would tell house cleaners they didn't do a good job and withhold their paychecks. She took care of families' kids for years only to be told she wasn't needed anymore with nearly no notice.A lack of guidelines in a largely unregulated industry has made it difficult for workers to know their rights. She recalled spending half a day cleaning a home in Elmwood Park when the vacuum cleaner she was using broke. She apologized and had it fixed, but her employer took $60 out of her $80 paycheck for it. She didn't know at the time that that isn't permitted.The importance of the new bill "wasn't really about the money but it was about respect," Zylinska said. "We make other work possible, and we really don't get recognized for that."In-home workers are disproportionately black, Hispanic and immigrant, and more than 90 percent are women, according to a 2012 study by the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute.