All Local, All The Time
All Local, All The Time
Sorted by date Results 301 - 350 of 441
Gunbarrel’s restaurant scene has been in a bit of an anticipatory flux for the good part of this year. Things are at a tipping point and here’s an update on four previously reported culinary happenings in the area. Rush Bowls – up and running Newly opened this past July, Mark Kranjcec, marketing director of Rush Bowls, reports that the blended bowl and smoothie restaurant is already feeling well-supported by the community and is doing as well as locations in larger metropolitan areas. Servi...
Wednesday, Oct. 3 marked the last day for Bell, Book, Candle and Coffee (BBCC) at its Niwot location at 198 2nd Ave. Christine Lucas, who opened BBCC in June 2016, said earlier that she plans to continue the business, but has not secured a new location. Lucas, a longtime resident of the area, said she opened the store with her retirement savings, moving it from the Boulder Airport and expanding her merchandise offerings so that it would be the “department store” for the town. Inventory was ver...
We may think our furry family of dogs and cats operate well on their instincts, but when it comes to what they are willing to eat, they can easily go off track. Our own common sense isn’t always so sensible either. Veterinarians Dr. Lise Cummings with Niwot Veterinary Care and Dr. Nancy Bureau, co-owner of Left Hand Animal Hospital, are first call responders for our pets and know from experience how easily our pets can get into a health scare after ingesting the wrong thing. What behavior to w...
Drivers heading east or west on Franklin Street in Niwot need to be aware of newly installed stop signs. The now four-way stop at 3rd Avenue was included as part of the site plan review for the future Left Hand Animal Hospital at 304 Franklin St., formerly The Neighborhood Learning Center of Niwot. Stop signs were already in place on 3rd Avenue where it intersects Franklin Street and for many years residents on the southern block of 3rd Avenue have experienced difficulties seeing approaching traffic from the east due to cars parked in front of...
This year’s Jazz on 2nd Ave, the eighth year for the event, welcomed more than 1500 participants over the weekend of Sept 15-16, according to organizers. With the event’s profits used to fund jazz education, Colorado Jazz Group, the 501(C)3 non-profit organization that stages the festival, hopes to expand its visits to Front Range schools and continue to inspire a new generation of musicians. 2018 Jazz on 2nd Ave’s Funk and Jazz Festival Festival director Rachel Cohen said total sales were...
An intrepid adventurer, reporter Lowell Thomas’s trailblazing work in the 1900s meant an award carrying his name would be synonymous with pioneering exploration and epic voyages. Planetary scientist, principal investigator of the New Horizons mission to Pluto, author, and Niwot resident, Alan Stern was recently bestowed the Lowell Thomas Award in Engineering Exploration for his accomplishments and ongoing endeavors. The Rocky Mountain Explorers Club, one of 30 international chapters of the p...
Altona Middle School (AMS) choir director Kim Needham Watkins’ routine mammogram earlier this year prompted doctors to recommend further testing. Follow up images indicated that she had cancer in her lymph nodes. The doctor’s phone call with the diagnosis came an hour before she, husband Jason Watkins, and their eight-year-old son Daniel boarded a flight to Germany to meet Jason’s biological family for the first time. With the frightening news heavy on their minds, the family spent the next...
And they're off...runners begin the 5K Niwot Trot 2018!...
November’s election will determine the next Boulder County Commissioner to serve a four-year term with incumbents Elise Jones and Deb Gardner. Each candidate must live in District 3 (Niwot, Gunbarrel, Louisville, Lafayette, Superior, East Boulder, Erie), but is elected at-large and on each issue, acts on behalf of the entire county. Running for the office are Gary Cooper (R), Matt Jones (D), and Cliff Willmeng (G), one of whom will replace District 3 Commissioner Cindy Domenico in January 2...
There’s a school in Kyengera, Uganda named Mwebaza. Two hundred students and six teachers spend their days learning and teaching there. More than 8,000 miles away, at Niwot Elementary School (NES), 450 students and 18 teachers spend their days doing the same thing. Dale Peterson is one of NES’s teachers and he has helped bring together the hearts, minds, and souls of the people of Mwebaza and NES. Peterson began his career as an educator 23 years ago as a student teacher at NES. As part of a w...
Two long-time Niwot health professionals are turning the page to new chapters in their lives. Dr. Leigh Charley relocated her chiropractic practice, Triad Wellness Center, to Niwot 11 years ago. She closed her office at the end of July. Dr. Felicia Santelli will be closing her natural health practice at the end of September. Her business, Santelli Healing Center, opened in Niwot 20 years ago. Leigh Charley Jamaica was home for Dr. Charley for 20 years and it’s where she raised her two c...
In an unannounced move at their Sept. 20 business meeting, the Boulder County Commissioners imposed a six-month moratorium on new development applications in the Niwot Rural Community District (NRCD), the three-block span of Second Avenue that comprises the downtown commercial zone. Citing concerns from community members about the pace and scope of new building in the district, commissioners Elise Jones and Cindy Domenico agreed to the temporary halt in order to give county planning staff time...
It was Sept. 12, 2013, when rain from a stalled storm began to swell and overrun the banks of nearly every waterway in Boulder County, assaulting massive amounts of personal property, streets, bridges, rocks and vegetation, disrupting lives for what would be years to come. Left Hand Water District’s emergency response “I have to say one of my least favorite things is revisiting the flood,” Left Hand Water District (LHWD) Manager Christopher Smith said. “I like the fact that it’s behind us...
In a ceremony at the Longmont City Council chambers, the Longmont City Council designated Sept 11 as Mwebaza Day. The proclamation acknowledged the work of the Mwebaza Foundation, an organization founded by Niwot Elementary School teacher Dale Peterson to build and improve schools in Uganda. The proclamation reads: Whereas, the citizens of Longmont recognize that cross-cultural awareness and service learning enrich and strengthen a community; and whereas, the Mwebaza Foundation has been...
Performances from this year's Jazz on 2nd Avenue festival, held Sept. 15-16 in downtown Niwot....
In a surprise announcement on Sept 10, St. Vrain Valley School District (SVVSD) Superintendent Dr. Don Haddad informed those attending the school year’s first community meeting at Niwot High School (NHS) that the district has decided not to store an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle in the school as proposed by the Boulder County Sheriff’s Department. The sheriff’s proposal earlier this year was described as a way to allow school resource officers quicker access to a long range rifle to compensate for longer emergency response times to Niwot and L...
It’s the end of a special evening and you’ve been satiated by delicious food and drinks, and all night you knew you were amongst a group of caring people. To top it off you’re leaving with a favorite new piece of art, tickets to a Pink concert, a gift card for a massage or maybe a seven-day wine tour in the Burgundy region of France. That’s the afterglow of Homeless Outreach Providing Encouragement’s (HOPE) biggest annual bash. The benefit event raises nearly a quarter of the non-profi...
The Niwot Community Association (NCA) announced at its September board meeting that all three candidates for the Boulder County Commissioners District 3 position have accepted an invitation to participate in a public candidate forum on Wednesday, Sept. 19, at Left Hand Grange, 195 Second Avenue, Niwot. The election for the position being vacated by three-term commissioner Cindy Domenico is being held Nov. 6. Candidates hoping to replace Domenico are Matt Jones (D), Gary Cooper (R), and Cliff Wilmeng (G). Suggested questions for the candidates...
The aorta is the human body’s main thoroughfare for supplying oxygenated blood to limbs and organs. A very simplified description is that the aorta is an artery slightly wider than one inch in diameter, originating in the heart, descending through the abdomen and branching into two at the pelvis and down each leg. September was designated Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm and Dissection Awareness month to draw attention to a possibly fatal condition if not diagnosed and treated. The incident of an a...
Lamya Deeb may look familiar because she and her family are longtime residents of the area. Shopping, running errands, or taking children to and from school, it is inevitable that we all cross paths many times over the years. But you might find Deeb out in nature too, facing a glorious scene she’s capturing on her canvas. Or you may have met Deeb while she worked at Osmosis Art Gallery on a First Friday Art Walk. In any of these settings, you’ll find Deeb appreciating a connection with the envir...
World-class jazz will be wafting through Niwot, Sept. 15 and 16. The once secret-ish festival, Jazz on 2nd Ave, will be staging its eighth event with high caliber entertainers letting loose in Niwot’s unique small town outdoor venue. This year’s musical line-up welcomes back Liquid Soul and Jeff Coffin as festival headliners along with several groups new to the scene. The first day’s five acts begin with Niwot High School’s (NHS) jazz band which will have worked with Mars Williams of Liquid...
Back to school season is a sensible time to be evaluating who influences and makes decisions for our area’s educational institutions. November 6 is election day for the Colorado State Board of Education member from the Second Congressional District (CD2). A Niwot resident since 1989, Johnny Barrett (R) is challenging incumbent Angelika Schroeder (D) for the position. Schroeder is the chairwoman for the predominantly democratic board and has held the CD2 position for nine years. She was a...
Terry Olkin and Mike Ott, founders of Left Hand Robotics (LHR), are bringing the SnowBot to market and the name says it all. Unlike a human, this autonomous snow clearer doesn’t think twice about heading into the dark, frigid night to work tirelessly. “The genesis of the company is that I never had to deal with snow until I moved to Colorado,” Olkin said. “When I first moved here, I thought, yeah, I’ll get a snow remover and do my driveway. But after a short period of time, I realized this was...
Niwot Elementary School (NES) starts this school year with Kylea Winka as the newly appointed dean of students and Avery Bounds as the new digital media technician. Kylea Winka has worked at NES since 2012 as a special education facilitator. She holds a master’s degree in special education and an interdisciplinary education specialist degree in educational administration and special education administration. She has worked in special education for 17 years. Winka’s new responsibilities as dea...
It sounds like the beginning of a math question - two men, each with one kidney and one bike, pack into a car and take turns driving seven hours to a destination where they will compete in a 20K and a 5K cycling race. Those men were kidney transplant recipient Jim Eastman of Niwot, and his kidney donor, Scott La Point. Both men participated in the annual Donate Life Transplant Games of America Aug. 2 to 7. This year’s games were held in Salt Lake City, UT just 14 months after Eastman and La P...
Inkberry Books in Cottonwood Square Shopping Center in Niwot is a gem of a store for reading enthusiasts. While independent bookstores have seen better days since the advent of eBooks and online book distributors, Gene Hayworth and Keith Waters decided their take on a bookstore was just what was needed. In doing so, they have succeeded in bringing literary class to the area by virtue of the types of hardcover books offered and the events they host. On a weekly basis, the store has scheduled...
Sunset Middle School (SMS) is welcoming 10 new staff members to its team this school year, starting with the top two administrative positions in the school - principal and assistant principal. Additional new staff members coming onboard include language arts, science, art and special education teachers, a new band director, a new school psychologist, attendance clerk, and school registrar. Anthony Barela is SMS’s new Principal. He grew up in Durango, CO, earned his master’s degree in edu...
A parade can’t organize itself. There are participants to approve, cars to be rerouted, decorations to be purchased, and the parade lineup had better not have any horses in front of a Girl Scout troop without a cleanup crew in between or it might get messy. Julie Breyer knows these things well because for the past five years she’s given a lot of thought to organizing Niwot’s Fourth of July parade. Breyer is a member of the Niwot Community Association’s (NCA) Fourth of July committee, which i...
Tara Kpogoh-Narh is one of the welcoming faces you’ll see when you belly up to the bar at the Niwot Tavern. Her genuine caring and kindness along with her expertise in pouring the perfect draft brew or whipping up a well concocted cocktail hits on all the high notes for patrons of the pub. At her job, she offers hospitality, great drinks, excellent fare and a good ear. Learning about the people we regularly cross paths with is a way to find out what brought them to this place in their lives a...
The act of a person, animal or thing that runs is what you will find in the dictionary when you look up the word running. For David Perry, running is that and so much more. It embraces what he does – twice a day; what his job revolves around – partnering with Adidas on creating their apparel and footwear; how he helps others – motivating groups of runners in the community. It’s a conduit for expressing creativity and using his business sense – pouring it into his own clothing brand, and it di...
Taking the pulse of commercial leasing within Niwot and Gunbarrel, there was a general consensus among local experts that the business environment is in a robust state overall. The recurring themes were that vacancy rates are low, and that brick and mortar retail businesses are harder to attract than businesses in the service and food sectors. Some prominent spaces on the market or soon to be on the market include locations on Second Avenue in Niwot, and within Cottonwood Square and Gunbarrel...
As reported on Von’s Colorado Concepts’ website, the local building company is planning a development project in Niwot. The website states, “This development in the heart of downtown Niwot, Colorado will offer a combination of charming single family homes and a commercial boutique space.” Von’s Colorado Concepts, run by Bob Von Eschen and his brother Scott, plans to build the project on the corner of Second Avenue and Niwot Road. According to Bob Von Eschen, it would include the property presently occupied by Lefty’s Pizza at 364 Second Aven...
Gunbarrel’s Isaiah Cormier is telling a lot of people a pretty crazy story these days and hoping that more lives are saved as a result. That Cormier was struck by lightning when it didn’t seem terribly threatening is the start of the story. But, the fact that his girlfriend Juliette Moore, who had taken a class in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in the past month, was able to restart his heart - twice - was an even more remarkable event. On the second day of a camping trip, just as rain beg...
Jared Lizakowski’s family is taking the sorrow of their loss to bring happiness to others, making his memory all the sweeter. Lizakowski died at age 19 on Oct. 26, 2016 in a motorcycle accident on Niwot Road. His family has put their energy into making sure others have the opportunity to experience what made Jared happiest – music – through the J.A.R.E.D. Foundation. Surinder Dahiya, Lizakowski’s step-father, said, “We created The J.A.R.E.D. (Join a Revolution Educate Drummers and Other Musician...
Vinny and Celene Andreano will be serving up a whole lot of family and food soon. The family of six moved from Florida to their Colorado home, and they plan to swing open the doors of their new breakfast and lunch restaurant, The Morning Table, by the end of July. “We’ve always congregated our family around good food and good conversation,” Celene said. “Our kids have grown up having meals together and that was always important to us.” The Andreanos, who have been married almost 30 years, ar...
Holly Owens notices when things need some of what she’s good at – adding a little sparkle. When she moved to Gunbarrel, she sensed Heatherwood Elementary School (HES) could blossom with her loving touch. Because of her enthusiasm and hard work, Owens has been selected as this month’s Left Hand Laurel. Owens had never heard of Gunbarrel when she lived in South Boulder. But when friends moved to the area and the Owens’ family was invited for a barbeque, they too were lured by the larger yards a...
Singer- songwriter Kevin Dooley has been in the music business for decades, traveling across the US and Europe. Music is his passion and Colorado is his home. You can find him playing guitar and performing his original folk music on main stages, festivals, and pubs across the Front Range. But sometimes you’re fortunate enough to be part of a more intimate audience of fans right here in Niwot at First Friday Artwalk on 2nd Avenue or at the Niwot Market Friday night dinners. This summer, y...
When it’s springtime in the Rockies, the runoff from melting snow seems to supercharge the area’s waterways. Don’t let this flow fool you. The Drought.gov website states present conditions across Colorado indicate that 45 percent of the population is experiencing drought conditions. For the time being, Boulder County isn’t in one of those areas, but voluntary water reduction measures are highly recommended. By 2050, according to many sources, Colorado will house more than 8.5 million people....
Millions of Congolese have suffered for decades amid brutal corrupt leadership, unchecked criminal factions, and genocidal warlords. According to the International Rescue Committee, more than five million people have lost their lives just since 1998 and nearly four million more have been displaced. The complex conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has forced those fleeing the violence to escape across the border to Uganda, where they are welcomed. Niwot’s Jeanne Ratzloff’s heart...
Often times, standing in line during life’s mundane tasks is just boring and a hassle. But other times you’ll be in Peggy Canady’s (PC) checkout line at King Soopers in Gunbarrel and life becomes a little bit nicer. Canady is “the sticker lady” at the grocery store, handing out butterflies and rainbow decals. She’s also a great conversationalist and has the sunniest smile you’re likely to see all day. LHVC: What brought you to this area and how long have you lived here? PC: I came out with my fo...
In the Kuria West district of southwest Kenya where the per capita annual income is $860, there’s a barefoot farmer weeding his cornfield. He pauses, reaches into his pocket, pulls out a flip phone and reads a text message that he, along with 500 other farmers, are receiving. In this remote area where there are only dirt roads, and there’s no running water or electricity, he’s reading a message informing him of a devastating crop disease in the area, and advising him that if he takes some speci...
Sponsored by Fabulous Finds The work of a few who quietly and reliably give from their hearts becomes the powerful way in which people’s lives are touched and forever changed for the better. Jim Jones is one of those people - a humble, caring man who has joyfully provided Niwot with his energy and positivity in a whole host of ways for more than 25 years. Jim and his wife Pat, both originally from Michigan, moved to Minnesota after college where Jim began his professional career as a software e...
Thus far only 10 percent of the thousands of right-of-way ash trees in unincorporated Boulder County have been adopted through the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) program, according to Michelle Ferguson, Boulder County’s EAB coordinator. Within Gunbarrel and Niwot there are nearly 200 of the trees that will be removed by the county beginning this fall if they have not been adopted....
Cottonwood trees planted in the spring of 1895 on the Caywood Homestead no doubt inspired the eventual moniker for the property on Neva Road – The Shady Nook Ranch. The Jones family moved into the single room house that was encircled by the Cottonwoods in 1904 and dubbed it that sweet name. In 1970, the Theobald family bought the property and this is where Tom Theobald started the Niwot Honey Farm. The house grew with a few small additions, but the trees grew even more and now safety concerns a...
Last September, Niwot’s Bob Keesy (65) got serious about getting himself a kidney. He’d been on the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) waitlist since 2013. But, as his kidney function got much worse, the prospect of continuing to wait beyond what he had originally anticipated was not acceptable to him. Besides attaching a large banner to his fence facing 79th Street saying “Bob Needs a Kidney,” he, his family and some friends began wearing t-shirts and hats, and placed signs on their cars w...
It was winter when the Makovec family uprooted their lives in Colorado to begin an experimental genetic treatment for seven-year old Mila in Boston. All efforts were focused on Mila at that critical juncture as she battled against Batten CLN7 disease, a fatal neurodegenerative disease which has been robbing the previously normal little girl of her of her sight, mobility, cognitive and speech abilities. The diagnosis of Batten Disease a year earlier radically changed the family's life and set...
A community meeting called by St. Vrain Valley School District (SVVSD) to discuss the Boulder County Sheriff’s office proposal to store an AR-15 rifle inside Niwot High School (NHS) was quick to turn emotionally charged. An audience of about 150 people at Sunset Middle School on Thursday, June 6, unreservedly asked questions and offered opinions throughout the nearly three-hour meeting. SVVSD Superintendent Dr. Don Haddad led the discussion and was joined by five school board members, i...
When Niwotians Linda Vehrenkamp and Kathy Trauner met professionally, they instantly bonded as friends. For nearly 30 years they’ve continued their friendship as their lives unfolded; they met and married their husbands, changed careers, added children, and gave time to the community. Now they’ve decided to combine their talents and their kinship in a new business - Fly Away Home Decor. Last fall while driving home from an unsatisfying home décor-shopping trip, Vehrenkamp and Trauner brai...
You may have seen the most interesting man in the world walking in Niwot. His beard is white, his jacket and shorts reminiscent of a jungle explorer’s garb; his stride is measured and purposeful. David Bjorkman (DB) and his wife, Victoria Thomas, are Niwotians who met, lived, studied and worked in “unusual circumstances” as told by Bjorkman, and he’s not being dramatic. LHVC: How and when did you come to live in Niwot? DB: Victoria built a house here in Niwot in 1976. I arrived in 1983, after o...
It turns out, if you give a first-grader the opportunity to deep dive into their inquisitive minds, a torrent of inspiration and ingenuity will be the probable outcome. Teacher Kelly Bernhardt dared each of her 24 students at Niwot Elementary (NES) to do just that through a process called the Genius Hour. Originally used by inventive companies, the Genius Hour gives employees freedom to wander through their own thoughts while on the job. After selecting what lights them up the most from their...
