All Local, All The Time
All Local, All The Time
Sorted by date Results 601 - 650 of 843
NextDoor, the social media app designed to build communities, has about 833 members in its Heatherwood division. Any member who is paying attention will notice that one name shows up over and over again—Leesah Patt. It’s not because she’s complaining about negligent neighbors, or trying to pick a fight over political viewpoints. When Leesah Patt’s name shows up, it’s because she’s offering to do something for folks in the community. Leesah lives in Heatherwood with her husband, Gavin, in t...
A rainbow has many symbolic meanings attached to it—one of the most common is that of prosperity and good luck—which makes it a fitting symbol for the eQuilter logo that now sits atop the company’s brand-new location on Spine Road in Gunbarrel. Luana and Paul Rubin started their online quilting supply business, eQuilter, in their basement in 1999. Within 60 days, they had exceeded their three-year business plan, and had to find a bigger space to rent. Now as eQuilter moves toward its 20th anniv...
Store manager Brandon Chisam may look familiar because he is a longtime resident of the Left Hand Valley area, and has been working at Gunbarrel Liquor for many years. Considering his friendly, helpful and polite demeanor, if you’ve ever stopped in for a bottle of red or a six-pack of Colorado’s finest, chances are, you’ve run across Brandon. Left Hand Valley Courier (LHVC): Where are you from? Brandon Chisam (BC): Independence, Missouri. LHVC: How long have you been in this area and what broug...
We need to reach people “where they live, work and pray.” This recommendation came from Ellen Goodman, former Boston Globe columnist and founder of The Conversation Project in Cambridge, MA. She was talking about ways to spread the word about the importance of talking about what matters to you at the end of life. Studies show that over half of us will need to rely on others to make treatment decisions. A faith community partnership in Gunbarrel is holding a 5-part series entitled, “Th...
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...
The removal of ash trees infested with the emerald ash borer beetle (EAB) located in the Boulder County right-of-way will begin this October. If you’ve been notified that any of your ash trees are subject to removal, now is the time to act. Trees that have been marked with a blue ‘X’ will be removed starting this October, and then more removals will occur throughout 2019-2020. In the spring, Boulder County also marked trees with orange plastic bands, notifying adjacent residents that marke...
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...
The words “social media” don’t always inspire warm, secure feelings in most of us. Nextdoor, the private neighborhood-focused social media app designed to connect neighbors, is an online platform with good intentions that can sometimes degenerate into just another place for folks to air grievances or behave in a less-than-neighborly fashion. And while Nextdoor’s mission is “to provide a trusted platform where neighbors work together to build stronger, safer, happier communities, all over the wor...
Reader Laura Bloom of Gunbarrel provided these photos from her vantage point in the Powderhorn Condominiums during the flooding of 2013. She writes. “I took some photos of the greenspace that goes through the complex and the park at the end. They built it for runoff and it did a great job. I heard that not many people had water in their crawlspaces and didn’t hear that anyone had any in their actual condo. I called it Powderhorn River and Powderhorn Lake....
Not everyone learns the same way. For a person with a learning difference, such as dyslexia, dysgraphia or dyscalculia, those differences can create a gap in learning that can last a lifetime. Hillside School in Gunbarrel has a mission to close that academic gap for each and every child that walks through the doors. The small half-day school has been providing options for families and helping hundreds of students since 2005. Kathy Sherman, Hillside’s director and co-founder, has devoted her e...
While the long, hot dogs days of summer ended in mid-August, if you are a dog owner, you know that every day is a dog day. Feed the dog. Pet the dog. And walk the dog. Every dog, no matter how small, needs to get out and about for their health and sanity. Whether it’s an elderly greyhound, a three-legged retriever or a border collie puppy, dogs need walks. And it’s good to know some local dog rules and etiquette when you’re out roving with Rover. Boulder County requires all dogs to wear a curre...
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...
Initiative 97—the Fracking Distance Initiative—will be on the ballot this November, thanks to volunteers who collected the 98,942 signatures required to get it on the statewide ballot. What does Initiative 97 entail? Currently, oil and gas wells that utilize hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, are allowed to be drilled 500 feet from homes and 1,000 feet from schools. If Initiative 97 passes in November, that distance will increase to 2,500 feet from any occupied structure, to also include dri...
Boulder Country Day (BCD), a K through eighth grade school in Gunbarrel, will be 30 years old on Sept. 16, marking three decades of commitment to academic excellence and character development for local students. BCD’s focus on small class sizes has been one of its guiding tenets. The school limits enrollment to 18 students in each elementary grade, and it’s a commitment the school intends to keep as it moves into the future. “Our middle school is a little more flexible, as far as class sizes...
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...
In 2016, The Atlantic featured a story determining the markers of thriving American communities—towns and cities that were able to be successful after the 2009 recession. Among the findings of the three-year project was the common factor that those communities all had craft breweries. Small breweries often revitalize older neighborhoods, bring life to industrial parks and create public meeting spaces for the locals. It’s clear that Colorado, with our mind-boggling array of craft breweries and...
Three Gunbarrel kids are tackling obstacles, but not out of necessity. They’re doing it for fun. The three Heinrichs girls—Anabella (14), her sister Secorra (11), and cousin Sorenne (9)—are all Junior American Ninja Warriors. They run, balance, jump, hang, scramble, climb, fall, get up and do it over and over again, simply because they love it. Based on a Japanese show, American Ninja Warrior is a burgeoning sport that began as a television reality show of the same name, in which compe...
Mountain View Fire Rescue District Chief Dave Beebe met with Niwot Community Association (NCA) board members Aug. 1 to discuss the district’s proposal to put a mill levy increase on the November ballot. MVFR includes Niwot and some of unincorporated Gunbarrel in its service area. “We are in fact-finding mode now, but our district’s board needs to make a decision soon so we are gathering as much input as possible,” Beebe said. The district held four public open forums, including one July 17 in Niwot, and sent out mailings and surveys to district...
Toastmasters International, the community group that has helped millions of people find their voice, tell their stories with confidence and gain valuable leadership skills since 1924, has come to Gunbarrel and Niwot. Victoria Bard of Gunbarrel and Dia Kline of Niwot co-sponsor the Gunbarrel Community Toastmasters Club that Bard started last year using a neighborhood online bulletin board middle-of-the-night call-out for interested members. “My first post was at 2 a.m. on July 27 and within 20 h...
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...
We have a lot here in Boulder County—high quality of life, beautiful surroundings, friendly people, a high intellectual capacity and abundant cultural activities. We also have poverty. Right now, one out of every seven Boulder County residents is living in poverty. That’s 44,000 neighbors, coworkers, and schoolchildren who are struggling to get by every day. While it’s easy to equate poverty with the homeless person standing at the intersection, holding a clever sign, the sobering truth is that...
You tilled, planted, hoed and weeded, so all that’s left to do is sit back in the July heat with a tall glass of lemonade and enjoy those beautiful blossoms. Well, not if you want to do it right. With a little bit of daily maintenance, you can enjoy nature’s second bloom as summer’s heat wears on. That daily task is known as deadheading, and it has nothing to do with dreadlocks or tie-dye shirts, unless you want it to. Deadheading is the term for the simple process of removing the dead or faded...
Former University of Colorado Head Football Coach Gary Barnett will be the guest of honor at the fifth annual Cougar Classic golf tournament, hosted by the Niwot Touchdown Club. Barnett, a friend of the Niwot football program and former Niwot resident now living in Gunbarrel, reached out to second-year head coach Jeremy Lanter late last year to offer advice for overcoming a winless season. In 1996, Barnett co-authored High Hopes: Taking the Purple to Pasadena, a memoir of his third season as...
Managing Editor’s Note: When the Left Hand Valley Courier partnered with a Kansas newspaper almost four years ago to take the newspaper from a monthly to a weekly publication, we had the great good fortune to work with Jesse Murphy, who helped guide us in that process and eventually became our editor. Although he lived in Kansas, Jesse brought a valuable perspective and years of journalistic excellence to the Courier. He mentored writers, traveled to Colorado to get to know the community, and wrote many outstanding articles for us. When our p...
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...
Have you looked up into your apple tree this year and noticed some of the leaves and branches are brown and withered, almost as if they’ve curled up and died? Chances are, it’s fire blight. Fire blight is an endemic disease caused by the bacteria Erwina amylovora, and right now it’s having a banner year in Gunbarrel and surrounding areas. Typically affecting fruit trees such as apple, crabapple and pear, fire blight can also infect quince, mountain ash, hawthorn and serviceberry trees. While...
Dani Hemmat Dani Hemmat has worked as a freelance writer and reporter for nearly 20 years, both in Washington State and Montana. She has written for magazines, newspapers and online publications; co-hosted and produced an award-winning podcast; blogs occasionally; gives an Ignite™ talk every once in awhile, and teaches natural movement classes on the side. She resides in the Heatherwood neighborhood of Gunbarrel with her family and many dogs where she works on novels, practices her guitar and i...
Editor’s note: This letter was addressed to the Courier’s intern reporter Harry Hildebrandt, who reported on the 2018 Great Goat Escape. Hello Harry, The goats that escaped in the Lookout Road and North 71st Street area on June 21st had been rented by us for their field mowing capabilities. Having them escape as a gang of five (two adults and three wee ones) and make their way up to Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church parking lot was a rather traumatic and anxious incident for me, not to men...
This June, the Gunbarrel Estates area saw a daring escape by five goats that had been helping to mow a local lawn. The electric fence that had been in place failed, and two adult goats seized the opportunity to leave, accompanied by their three kids. The animals were quickly noticed by a couple of bystanders, as well as postal worker Jay Nichols, who rushed to assist the others. Within a fairly short time, the group had managed to return the goats to their original enclosure, but the fence...
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...
If you’ve lived in Colorado long enough, you know that on any given day it can rain, hail, snow and/or either freeze or boil you to death. Monday and Tuesday, June 18 and 19 were just such days. From stripped tomato plants and trees to landscaping and flowers laid bare, Niwot and Gunbarrel were clobbered with marble, quarter and golf ball-sized hail. Here are a few photos of love’s labor lost as well as those of you who believe when life hands you a hail storm, go sledding. Unfortunately, whe...
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....
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...
Alzheimer’s support group An Alzheimer’s support group will meet on the first Wednesday of every month. This class is free and open to the public, no registration required. The events are from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Niwot United Methodist Church, 7405 Lookout Road, Gunbarrel. Peaches fundraiser for NHS band The Niwot High School band instrumental program have started their 2018 peach sale to help with costs throughout the school year. To pre-order, visit www.niwotpeach.org. Currently the programs consist of a marching band in the fall, two conce...
The Niwot United Methodist Church has been looking for ways to utilize some of their land on Lookout Road and Mt. Evans Place in Gunbarrel, and Habitat for Humanity homes have been considered. A meeting was held in late May to discuss the proposition with neighbors and members of the church. Some concerns raised during the meeting included impact on water and sewer services and local schools, construction time-line, lot sizes and potential for loss of the view. Dave Emerson with Habitat said that the process began as a way for the church to...
Alzheimer’s support group An Alzheimer’s support group will meet on the first Wednesday of every month. This class is free and open to the public, no registration required. The events are from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Niwot United Methodist Church, 7405 Lookout Road, Gunbarrel. Peaches fundraiser for NHS band The Niwot High School band instrumental program have started their 2018 peach sale to help with costs throughout the school year. To pre-order, visit www.niwotpeach.org. Currently the programs consist of a marching band in the fall, two conce...
Alzheimer’s support group An Alzheimer’s support group will meet on the first Wednesday of every month. This class is free and open to the public, no registration required. The events are from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Niwot United Methodist Church, 7405 Lookout Road, Gunbarrel. Open House Boulder Rural Fire Rescue will be hosting an open house with fire engines, hoses, a bouncy castle, face painting and many demonstrations throughout the event, which is free and open to the public. The event will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jun...
Girl Scout Troop 3010 recently completed a drive that grew bigger than expected for its Bronze Award project. Troop Leader Julie Dye of Gunbarrel said that the award is for scouts at the Junior Level, and that students at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation have always been on their radar for a future project. “The Troop has been fascinated by building this year, with robotics and tinkering and designing,” Dye said. “The project we came up with for their bronze award was to create tinke...
Alzheimer’s support group An Alzheimer’s support group will meet on the first Wednesday of every month. This class is free and open to the public, no registration required. The events are from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Niwot United Methodist Church, 7405 Lookout Road, Gunbarrel. Open House Boulder Rural Fire Rescue will be hosting an open house with fire engines, hoses, a bouncy castle, face painting and many demonstrations throughout the event, which is free and open to the public. The event will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jun...
…In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes. Benjamin Franklin – 1789 There is one thing I’ve learned in life – everything has a consequence. But it’s the unintended consequences that often catch us by surprise. Tariffs have been in the news lately. Simply put, (thank you Google) a tariff is “a tax or duty to be paid on a particular class of imports or exports.” Tariffs are said to protect jobs and goods. If a tariff is placed on materials coming into the country, those materials, either finished or unfinished, w...
The 13th-annual Rock & Rails summer concert series kicks off on June 7 and organizers are gearing up for another great summer of live music and family fun on Thursday nights at Whistlestop Park. Opening acts take the stage at 5 p.m., for an hour, followed by a headliner, with music resuming around 6:30. There is no charge for admission, and seating is “bring-your-own” on a first-come, first-serve basis. Leading things off this season is longtime local guitarist Dean Himes in the early show, foll...
Niwot’s Bootstrap Brewing Company added another accolade to its already long list when long-time customer favorite Wreak Havoc was awarded a Bronze medal in the Imperial Red Ale category at the 2018 World Beer Cup. “We are absolutely thrilled about it,” Leslie Kaczeus said. She owns Bootstrap Brewing with husband Steve Kaczeus. “The World Beer Cup is one of the most prestigious blind beer tasting competitions in the world.” Hailed as the “Olympics of Beer,” the biennial competition ...
Heatherwood Elementary School (HES) won the lottery when Carrie O’Boyle moved to Gunbarrel seven years ago. Her husband Patrick was starting a new job in the area, so after more than 20 years in Madison, WI, the couple and their two young children headed to Colorado. The O’Boyle boys are Finn, now 11 and attending Platt Middle School, and Cormac (Mac), 9, a fourth-grader at HES. “Carrie, a valued volunteer at Heatherwood Elementary, is always willing to pitch in where needed and lend a helpi...
Although it may seem that Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid, Walmart, and Kroger (King Soopers) have cornered the market on drug sales, there are more than 22,000 independent pharmacies across the United States according to the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA). Flatirons Family Pharmacy, on the southwest corner of Highway 287 and Ken Pratt Boulevard, is one of the 150 plus independent pharmacies in Colorado, according to NCPA’s 2016 Digest report. Opened four years ago by o...
Alzheimer’s support group An Alzheimer’s support group will meet on the first Wednesday of every month. This class is free and open to the public, no registration required. The events are from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Niwot United Methodist Church, 7405 Lookout Road, Gunbarrel. NHS band final concert The music department at Niwot High School will be hosting the final concert of the school year beginning at 6:15 p.m. on May 17. This evening will celebrate the accomplishments of music students and graduating seniors. There will be a silent auc...
Dean Lillie, 83, of Niwot, passed away April 29 at Longmont United Hospital. Dean moved to Niwot in 1992 after retiring from a career in higher education administration. No services are planned. John Goodman, 74, of Gunbarrel, passed away May 7 at Boulder Community Health. John was a retired music teacher and was the former music director of Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church in Gunbarrel. Services have been held. Bill Yoh, 100, passed away May 11 at his home in Niwot. Bill moved to Niwot after retiring and was an avid stamp collector....
