All Local, All The Time
All Local, All The Time
Sorted by date Results 601 - 650 of 918
The Lookout Alliance gathered on Wednesday, July 24 at The Left Hand Grange (195 2nd Avenue, Niwot) to discuss newly released reports on the air quality surrounding Boulder Reservoir. The group hosted Dr. Detlev Helmig, associate research professor at the University of Colorado’s Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, who presented the findings from the INSTAAR air quality testing lab at Boulder Reservoir. The lab pulls air samples to test oil and gas emissions coming into Boulder County. It i...
This column is designed to highlight good and bad government in the Niwot-Gunbarrel area. Readers are encouraged to email the Courier with descriptions of local events showing exemplary performance by our government officials in serving the people, as well as those actions that fall well short of that standard. This week’s column features assistance provided to the Niwot Community by the youngest members of the Boulder County Sheriff’s staff. Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle’s staff is often...
In an effort to help area families save some money, Niwot High is teaming up with Gunbarrel Family Medicine to provide free sports physicals to students participating in athletics in the upcoming 2019-20 school year. “Sports are expensive, from buying equipment, to fees, and everything else that goes with it,” new Cougars athletic director Joe Brown said. “So any opportunity we have to reach out to our community and find scholarship ways to help lower barriers for kids to participate, we want...
We’re fortunate to live in a state whose geography and geology is diverse and varied, yielding dramatic landscapes that have long inspired exploration and adventure.But Colorado’s beautiful landscape also contains great amounts of natural resources, including crude oil and natural gas. Because of these energy-rich resources, the state’s land rights and use have been hotly contested since its earliest days as a territory. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, almost 9 out o...
It’s not a mid-life crisis, but Niwot Youth Sports is hoping to have a little work done after turning the big 5-0 earlier this year. In the coming weeks, the non-profit organization, formerly known as Gunbarrel Lefthand Valley Recreation Association (GLVRA), plans to launch a capital campaign to fund some much-needed improvements to its largest field complex, Hangge Fields at Monarch Park, according to Executive Director Patrick Longseth. “We’re going to raise funds this year to put a build...
According to the 2019 Colorado Business Economic Outlook, published annually by the CU Leeds School of Business, Boulder County’s economy is robust and growing, outpacing state and national statistics. This fact reaffirms the tenor of upbeat local leasing experts. The Niwot and Gunbarrel commercial leasing environment continues to be very strong. Being on the fringe of high-end Boulder proper, available office spaces don’t sit unoccupied for long, while the restaurant scene is experiencing spa...
Banners will be flying along 2nd Avenue in Niwot this year for the first time in honor of those with a local connection who have served in the U.S. military. The Niwot Community Association in conjunction with the Niwot Business Association was inspired by Gunbarrel resident Sheila Ray’s suggestion to do what her hometown of Emporia, Kan. does for their Freedom Fest when the faces and names of veterans grace their main street. As a result, the NCA and NBA formed a committee to bring a similar pr...
The following is part of an ongoing series dealing with road conditions in Gunbarrel and Niwot. The Courier previously has covered what types of road problems are currently being fixed. The following article covers how the Burgundy Park subdivision created a PID to fix and maintain its roads. While everybody talks about the poor conditions of subdivision roads, there is one small community that has done something about it. In 2017, the Burgundy Park subdivision in Niwot formed a Public Improveme...
At a public hearing on June 19, the Boulder County Planning Commission gave its go-ahead to proposed renovations at the Boulder Country Club that will add approximately 2,000 square feet to its main clubhouse. However, because the 55-year old structure is a “relatively intact and significant example” of local architect Hobart Wagner’s work, the country club must agree to seek formal landmark status before building permits will be issued, according to the conditions attached to the plann...
Dec. 21, 1927 - June 6, 2019 Susie Jane Wilcox Banks passed away on June 6, 2019 in Longmont at age 91. She was born December 21, 1927 in Rockport, Arkansas.She was the first child of Doyle L. Wilcox, and Julia Jane (Hoskins) Wilcox. Susie was a graduate of Malvern High School (Malvern, AR) and earned a BA degree from Hendrix College (Conway, AR) in 1947. In August 1947, Susie married C. Wayne Banks, a United Methodist minister and educator. The young Banks couple were the proud parents of a...
BASEBALL David Bote, son of long-time Niwot baseball coach Bob Bote, has solidified his position with the Chicago Cubs this season. As a rookie with the Cubs in 2018, Bote was called up from AAA Iowa and sent back five time during the season. In the midst of the call-ups and demotions, Bote had his share of dramatic moments, culminating in a nationally-televised Sunday night ninth-inning, two-out, two-strike, pinch-hit grand slam home run to dead centerfield, allowing the Cubs to snatch a 4-3...
Boulder County seems to have a high concentration of talented, creative and accomplished people. Sometimes, we learn about them from the news, but once in awhile, they live in our neighborhood and we learn of their existence through the coincidence of daily routines. Enter Rich Alpers. You’ve likely seen his face many times on his real estate signs in Boulder County. Rich lives in Gunbarrel, and has been in Boulder for 30 years. But before he embarked on his career selling homes, he was an a...
Government officials in Colorado will have to be more transparent about closed-door executive sessions and other internal communications after the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled that Boulder County violated the state's sunshine laws during the debate over development of the Twin Lakes Open Space. In a published opinion released in April, the appellate court reversed key portions of two rulings made by Boulder District Court Judge Thomas Mulvahill against Gunbarrel resident Kristin Bjornsen,...
The first Rock & Rails concert of 2019, produced by the Niwot Cultural Arts Association (NCAA) and the Niwot Business Association, drew quite a crowd. Guests arrived early to grab spots in the shade and close to the stage. The sky set a pretty magical backdrop, its gentle sunset mingling with an approaching evening storm, which held off until after the 9 p.m. end of the event. There was a major difference between this year’s Rock & Rails and prior seasons, felt by volunteers and attendees a...
On May 15, the Boulder County Planning Commission unanimously recommended 8-0 that plans to build Jack’s Solar Garden at 8102 95th Street move ahead and be presented to the Boulder County Commissioners on Thursday, June 13. The first of its kind in Boulder County, the five-acre co-habitation of solar energy generation and agriculture is being proposed by Byron Kominek, a third generation owner of the farmland. Kominek successfully passed muster with Boulder County land use staff demonstrating t...
Enact a Boulder County drilling moratorium now We are members of The Lookout Alliance, a grassroots community group dedicated to protecting Gunbarrel, Heatherwood, and Niwot, Colorado from fracking. We call on the Boulder County Board of Commissioners to enact an immediate moratorium on all oil and gas drilling permits, pending the outcome of rulemaking stemming from the new Colorado law, SB19-181. The fracking threat to unincorporated areas of Boulder County is immediate. The proposed massive Crestone Comprehensive Development Project would in...
Longtime local resident Franklin David Frankfort, 54, died on Feb. 26, 2019 after a battle with congestive heart failure. He is survived by his mother Toby of Del Rey, Fla., and brother Jeff of Boca Raton, Fla., and two nephews. He also leaves behind many, many close friends and associates in the Niwot and Gunbarrel areas, where he was a resident for more than 25 years. Dave was born and raised in Chicago, then lived with his parents and brother in the Phoenix, Ariz. area during the 1980s....
For more than 30 years, the Left Hand Grange has been a weekly hotspot for area bridge players. April marked the end of an era for Niwot’s Bridge Club when Jim Steele, the director of the Tuesday night games, died from injuries he received as a pedestrian in a hit and run accident. Steele, 82, was known as a man of many talents. He was an accomplished metallurgic engineer, a jubilant dancer, a performing poet, and an excellent bridge teacher. He was often spotted dancing at Rock and Rails events...
Spring has sprung--finally. Warmer weather means more opportunities to stroll around the neighborhood, and more neighborhood strolls bring all sorts of small wonders and little joys. A favorite little joy? Little Free Libraries abound in Gunbarrel, providing plenty of opportunities to check out a book or leave a book. Enjoy an evening neighborhood walk after dinner and pick up an interesting volume to read at bedtime....
As if the recent measles outbreaks among unvaccinated youth in the United States wasn’t worrisome enough, there are recent reports that older, previously vaccinated adults could possibly contract the disease. In 2019 alone, from Jan. 1 to May 3, 764 individual cases of measles have been confirmed in 23 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It is the greatest number of cases reported in the U.S. since 1994 and since measles was declared eliminated in 2000. Colorado, one of the states with reported cases, h...
In the late 1960s, a handful of Gunbarrel and Niwot parents formed a sandlot baseball league as an alternative to leagues in Longmont and Boulder. Over the next five decades, that ragtag group blossomed into Niwot Youth Sports, which serves hundreds of the area’s budding athletes each year. On Sunday, May 5, NYS kicked-off its 50th anniversary season, and executive director Pat Longseth said it’s on track to be one of their biggest yet. “This is the largest turnout we’ve had for basebal...
If it isn’t clear by the random water bowls outside of boutiques and every other person walking a dog or two, Boulder County was made for dog lovers. More often than not, dogs are seated side by side with their human guardians at outdoor cafes, and we have our fair share of natural pet supply stores and dog-friendly trails. And let’s not forget that your well-behaved mutt is as welcome in the aisles of McGuckin’s Hardware as you are. Maybe even more, if your pooch is a real cutie. But even...
The first thing Ted Plank, division manager for Boulder County Transportation Department, wants people to know is, it’s a big misconception that the county doesn’t maintain roads. “The county does a ton of maintenance, starting with potholes,” Plank said. “We do crack sealing operations in all our subdivisions. We sweep them, we snow plow them. We clean culverts and drainages.” Whatever the issue might be, maintenance is done. What the county has to do though is prioritize projects, with safety...
Double-digit population growth and competing budget priorities have combined to put financial pressure on the Boulder Public Library, and now the Library Commission wants area voters to consider whether to fund a separate district that could potentially bring new services to Gunbarrel or Niwot. On April 12, Joni Teter, former chair of the Library Commission, and City of Boulder’s Library and Arts Director David Farnan held an informational meeting with representatives from the Niwot Community As...
When the tragic loss of a child happens, immediate sympathy focuses on the parents who experienced that loss. But the siblings of that child suffer more than the profound loss of their brother or sister--they might also lose their parents’ attention and focus to their parents’ grieving process. It is why Gunbarrel residents Kjerstin and Shaun Davies created Charlie’s Guys, a 501(c)3 non-profit that works diligently to remind bereaved siblings that they are loved and not forgotten. In August 2017...
According to its 2017 original schedule, 71st Street in Gunbarrel was due for complete reconstruction beginning in spring 2019. Instead, the project has been rescheduled to start in early winter 2020. In terms of the total project, it still included: - Full reconstruction of 71st Street from Lookout Road to Highway 52 - Widening the road to include paved shoulders - Improved pedestrian crossing for the LoBo Trail - New mixed-use path on the west side of the road from Lookout Road to the Gunbarre...
Another subdivision heard from. Thank you Gary Northup of Gunbarrel Estates for the following submission. “I see the same pothole on Mt Sherman filled year after year. There’s a low spot in the road there so it is always filled with water or snow after storms. Just down the street I see a large rectangular patch that was probably filled due to sewer problems. It has lasted for years. “Why not fix vs (sic) repair the low spot so pothole crews don’t need to come out every year. Isn’t that chea...
Each year, hundreds of youngsters in Boulder County enter the child welfare system. It’s a complex and fraught system, but Voices for Children (VFC), a nonprofit organization based in Gunbarrel, helps children and their families find a path out. Niwot-based Debra Reed Fowler Real Estate (DRF) has been an active supporter of VFC’s Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program for three years. In March, her team donated $1,000 to help the organization continue to advocate on behalf of neg...
Gunbarrel has become a happening place. Breweries, restaurants, coffee bars and vibrant housing communities have turned this once sleepy bedroom community into a real, live neighborhood. And now EATS @ Gunbarrel is getting ready to roll out its second season on Sunday, May 12. EATS is a local event that features a collection of gourmet food trucks and local musicians and bands that gather every Sunday afternoon from 3:30 - 7:30 pm until Sunday, Sept. 8. The site for EATS @ Gunbarrel is located b...
April 1 – In what the county commissioners feel was a bolt of inspiration from the now seven-month-old building moratorium imposed on Old Town Niwot, that august body is now considering something similar for all houses in the county. Commissioner D.B. Farmer said, “We looked at the effect of the moratorium on Niwot and how it promoted such constructive, genial communications between the different streets, neighbors, businesses and homeowners. It was all good. “The whole experience made us reali...
Donating money is wonderful, but engaging with a cause by giving your time and energy is likely to have an even greater impact – to that cause, and to you. It’s completely guaranteed that by volunteering you’ll be making the world a better place, and besides the obvious gratification of bringing about positive change for others, you’ll reap the benefits of connecting with others, which is proven to ward off depression and lower your blood pressure, and will generally make life more satisfying. Y...
In November 2017, the Courier reported IBM's Gunbarrel facility would be building Boulder's largest field of photovoltaic panels. Initially projected to be completed by November 2018, the endeavor underwent a few changes and broke ground this month. The array was originally planned to occupy the corner of 63rd Street and Monarch Road, but is now located on the eastern side of the campus bordering Highway 119. Still planned to occupy nearly 55 acres, the panels will span from Highway 52 near the...
If the mark of a neighborhood's growth is measured in pizza joints, then Gunbarrel can puff out its chest and brag away. First Proto's Pizza, then Domino's Pizza, and now there is Fringe Pizza, which opened its doors about a month ago. A concept restaurant from owner Nate Rajotte, Fringe is definitely different. The tiny pizzeria, located right next to Rush Bowls on Spine Road, is working in less than 400 square feet, but that's enough to house the remarkable pizza oven that is just one of the...
Two of the founding members of The Lookout Alliance (TLA), Leesah Patt and Amanda Janusz, officially severed ties with the organization they founded and organized after the group and its mission were co-opted by LOGIC (League of Oil and Gas Impacted Coloradans), according to a press release from the two women. When oil and gas interests placed the Heatherwood mineral rights’ owners in their sights in November 2018, Janusz and Patt organized the community, recruited volunteers, and sponsored a town hall meeting attended by nearly 200 r...
Chris Wathen of All-Pro Lawns, Inc., has been a staple in Niwot and Gunbarrel neighborhoods for many years. Wathen said the business has grown steadily since he bought it from his father-in-law, Charlie Schulze, in 2008. The time has come, however, to refine his business model. The business has grown steadily over the years, Wathen said. “We had to sit down and redefine what we want to do and pinpoint what our business is.” Starting this spring, he’ll be concentrating on commercial buildings, HO...
DNA testing companies like 23&Me can tell you about your genetic origins, but they can’t tell you much about the fateful encounters, harrowing escapes and happily-ever-afters that helped those genes make their way to you. For those curious about the human drama in their family’s story, researching and preserving genealogical information doesn’t have to be a major undertaking, according to local historian and Gunbarrel resident Dina Carson. Carson is hosting the workshop Publishing Your Herit...
Bonnie Egeland discovered first-hand the benefits of Pilates when it helped her to heal chronic injuries she had worked on in a multitude of ways. Her history of trying to beat the injuries resulted in a cycle of healing and then re-injury. But with Pilates, she’d hit on the silver bullet and has stayed strong and injury-free. “I finally found Pilates and that was the one thing that helped me to strengthen and rehab old injuries,” Egeland said. “Then I found that I just loved it and what a...
City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks (OSMP) held an open house on Feb. 26 to share the upcoming trail repair and maintenance projects for 2019, and two of the intended projects will affect Niwot and Gunbarrel folks who utilize the Cottontail Trail and the White Rocks area. Addressing recurring erosion issues is the focus of the work on Cottontail Trail, which connects Gunbarrel to Niwot. OSMP will repair ¾ mile of the trail with drainage improvements, including culverts and ditches....
A local anti-fracking group, born out of the Heatherwood neighborhood in Gunbarrel, is reaching out with a new name to join with the greater Gunbarrel and Niwot communities. Formerly known as Keep Heatherwood Frack-Free, the citizen group formed in rapid response to oil and gas companies’ interest in developing hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in and near the Heatherwood neighborhood in late 2018. Oil and gas companies approached the homeowners of Heatherwood en masse in November 2018 to inquire about purchasing mineral rights to drilling a...
Longtime local resident Franklin David Frankfort, 54, died on Feb. 26, 2019 after a battle with congestive heart failure. He is survived by his mother Toby of Del Rey, Fla., and brother Jeff of Boca Raton, Fla. He also leaves behind many, many close friends and associates in the Niwot and Gunbarrel areas, where he was a resident for more than 25 years. Frankfort was born and raised in Chicago, then lived with his parents and brother in the Phoenix, Ariz. area during the 1980s. Frankfort relocate...
Dig out that oversized spoon and put on your elastic-waist pants for the 23rd annual Soup, Soup and More community dinner and fundraiser, coming up on Saturday, March 2 at Niwot United Methodist Church, located at 7405 Lookout Road in Gunbarrel. Event organizer Janet Gates said this year’s event will be familiar to repeat visitors. Doors open at 4 p.m., and there will be a wide selection of soups, chilis, stews, and chowders available, as well as bread, salad, desserts and drinks, served in a...
Niwot residents will soon be seeing reminders to renew their Niwot Community Association memberships in their mailboxes, email in-boxes and along Niwot Road. The membership drive will kick off the week of Feb. 17, with an email message to current members and posting of the “Burma Shave” style signs along Niwot Road, NCA President David Limbach told board members at their March 13 meeting. Currently Niwot residents can join the NCA by paying with a check or through PayPal. NCA board members are exploring adding Venmo by PayPal, a mobile payment...
The City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks (OSMP) is seeking community participation to help create a vision for restoring healthy grasslands while improving the visitor experience on the open space at Gunbarrel Hill northeast of Boulder, bordered by 75th and 95th streets, and Lookout Road and the White Rocks area. OSMP needs your help to understand community interests and values for the area. After a decades-long restoration effort of the area, OSMP now would like to gather information...
Let’s face it. For some, Valentine’s Day is a thrill--what will my sweetheart buy me? What fantastic restaurant will we indulge at? For others, it’s a stressful minefield of procrastination, uncertainty about gift choices and inadequate feelings about available finances with which to buy said gifts. Those minefield veterans often walk through the door with last-minute mylar balloons, a sheepish smile, and are often met by a cold-shoulder welcoming committee. And for others, it’s just plain l...
Reporter’s note: I’ve been reporting for the Left Hand Valley Courier (LHVC) since July 2018, although as a Gunbarrel resident, I’ve been reading the paper for four years. Much of my life has been in small towns, so I have a fondness for small, independent papers—which, by the way, are a rapidly disappearing breed. When I began working with the LHVC team, I was struck by the founders’ fierce dedication to the integrity of the paper, but even more so by their dedication to the community...
While it’s a myth that Ben Franklin wanted the turkey as our national bird, he did think that the turkey was “a more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America.” As for the bald eagle, he believed that the “Bald Eagle… is a Bird of bad moral Character. He does not get his living honestly. You may have seen him perched on some dead Tree near the River, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the Labour of the Fishing Hawk; and when that diligent Bird has at length ta...
There are people in the world who see an opportunity to help others and just do it from the bottom of their big hearts. That describes Laurel Fox, this month’s Left Hand Laurel. Fox is the Courier’s first Left Hand Laurel named Laurel and, although she’s not technically left handed, she said a couple of years ago she mangled the fingers on her dominant right hand in a lawn mower and has subsequently developed excellent dexterity in her left hand. Thankfully, being a southpaw isn’t a require...
Boulder County hosts discussion of proposed NRDC regulations Residents of Niwot’s 3rd Avenue were unusually quiet during the community meeting with Boulder County Land Use Department staff at Niwot High School on Jan. 24. The first pass at the Niwot Rural Community District I (NRCD) proposed changes to the Land Use Code had been emailed to interested parties on Jan. 18, which meant that specific proposed code updates had been digested to some degree prior to the meeting. NRCD code provisions are...
Cottonwood Square Shopping Center under new ownership, same management Bridge Commercial Partners Fund III LLC has sold Cottonwood Square Shopping Center to MAC Management Cottonwood, LLC. MAC is owned by mother and son partners Maria Biernat and Alex Chlebek. Bridge Commercial Partners, owner of the shopping center since 2005, is comprised of a group of investors represented by Managing Partner Harris Faberman. Faberman was very active in the Niwot community, most recently as a member of the...
Gunbarrel Hill, the unassuming entrance to the Great Plains of America, is being stewarded into the second major phase of its decades’ long restoration. Boulder County Open Space and Mountain Parks (OSMP) is asking for the community’s help in realizing the vision of an area that is a healthy, balanced wildlife habitat and an enjoyable recreation space. The Gunbarrel Hill Open Space includes the area bordered west to east by 75th and 95th Streets, and north to south from Lookout Road to the Whi...
