All Local, All The Time
All Local, All The Time
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Saturday, April 24 marked the first of five concerts hosted by The Old Oak Coffeehouse on 2nd Avenue in Niwot. According to its website the event is, in part, to celebrate that "the pandemic is beginning to show signs of ending and there is Light at the End of the Tunnel." While Old Oak hosts a few events with different musical acts, this concert showcases the House Blend Band, made up of owners Michael Tomich, Patty Machen and Paris Tomich, as well as friends John Lawrence and Andrew Bunin....
On a recent sunny afternoon, I was talking with Niwot resident Alicia Livitt about compost for her garden. She was explaining that she would like a compost pile, but didn't really see where one would fit in her landscape and as an amateur gardener, the whole idea of it seems intimidating. This is an understandable and common sentiment. In the October 2020 article Home Composting by Sharon Bokan, she breaks down how to compost your own yard and garden waste in easy to follow steps. For anyone...
On April 3, the Longmont Farmers Market started in full swing for the 2021 season. The market, which is held at the Boulder County Fairgrounds, will run from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Saturday through November 20. "It was great that we were able to open on time this year," said Brian Coppom, executive director of the Boulder County Farmers Markets (BCFM). Last year, the opening day for the Boulder County markets was delayed by eight weeks due to COVID-19 restrictions. For the 2021 market,...
From historic droughts and wildfires, recent air quality scandals, unwanted dam expansion, rapid development, and population growth, Colorado is facing both challenges and opportunities in the management of the state’s natural resources in light of climate change. The Longmont Museum is tackling these tough topics with a week-long virtual program to discuss these big issues facing our environment. The Climate Change series will examine climate change, its impact, and potential solutions. ...
It's all about the dirt. Improving the soil improves the plants, improves the yield, improves the quality and amount of locally grown food, and benefits the environment, which is why Boulder County is investing more than $300,000 in grants to local agricultural projects and farms through the Sustainable Food and Agriculture Funds. Michael Moss of Kilt Farms has two properties he leases from the county. One of them, on the Diagonal Highway west of Niwot is a productive organic vegetable farm. But...
Nancy Davis thought a conservation easement meant the land was protected from development. So when she and her husband bought their property on Lookout Road in 2015 they were confident that the conservation easement on the adjacent Rainbow Nursery tree farm would preserve its rural character, giving them confidence to move forward with their dream of a business doing horse boarding, training and growing hay. In fact, their property is subject to a conservation easement on the lower 16 acres of...
As we eagerly await the official start of spring, there's plenty to look forward to in Niwot during March. Starting March 1, and continuing all month, visitors to Niwot can participate in a St. Patrick's Day-inspired virtual scavenger hunt. This festive activity, sponsored by the Niwot Local Improvement District (LID) and the Niwot Business Association (NBA), will send players on a quest to find the lucky leprechauns hidden around town. Owner of Deborah Read Fowler Real Estate (DRF) and recent L...
In January 2020, East Side Art Institute board members Nancy Utterback and Kathy Griffin painted a vision of a communal workshop for artists. They described how they were working on pitching the idea to the Boulder County Commissioners and were hopeful for approval. They were approved, but then COVID hit, drastically overthrowing their plans. "We were gearing up to do fundraising events and giving lots of classes," explained Utterback. Unfortunately, they had to stop those plans with the new...
The time window is open, but details have been scarce on how people 70 and over can register and get the COVID-19 vaccine. Boulder County Public Health tried to address growing public frustration with the vaccine rollout during its weekly community update webinarlast week, when several people asked when they can expect their vaccination, where to get it, and how they'll be notified. "I hate to say this, but if you really want to make sure that you are notified whenever there is...
On June 11, 2020, a beautiful flower bloomed somewhere in Japan. That same day in Colorado, Gunbarrel resident Beniko Olsen drove home with her family after 45 days in the hospital fighting for her life after contracting COVID-19. But first, she directed her husband and two sons to stop off at Starbucks for a long-anticipated Matcha latte. Olsen is a petite woman with a radiant smile and a joyous laugh. In her late 60s, she worked for over 20 years as a teacher's aide at a local preschool while...
It turns out there will be a high school wrestling season in Boulder County after all. In a letter to wrestlers and their families dated Jan. 12, St. Vrain Valley Schools' Arts, Athletics, and Activities Director Chase McBride announced that wrestling has been approved by Boulder County Public Health, reversing a Jan. 5 decision that disallowed the sport due to COVID-19 concerns. "After careful consideration and continued discussion with Boulder County Public Health, they have approved...
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment recently announced that businesses and communities can now apply for a COVID certification program that allows certain areas of the community to open up to a less-restrictive level. The 5 Star Certification Program is voluntary, and it is up to each county to determine whether or not to implement it. According to the program's site, it is "set up at the county level through an administrative committee... It encourages businesses to impleme...
Wrestlers in St. Vrain and Boulder Public Valley Schools will likely miss out on the chance to compete during the 2020-21 school year, after Boulder County Public Health declined a request from the Colorado High School Activities Association to approve the sport for Season B, scheduled to begin on Jan. 18. In a message to wrestling families dated Jan. 5, Niwot High assistant principal and athletics director Joe Brown wrote: "Over the past several weeks, we have continued to work closely with...
Last month, Lorne Jenkins, a former Niwot resident and CEO of Mini Money Management, was named to the Board of Trustees for the Longmont Community Foundation, a public charity dedicated to "improving life in the St. Vrain Valley." "It was kind of a no-brainer for me," the former Cougar track star said of his decision to accept LCF's invitation. "I'm joining at a unique time because it pretty much is primarily Covid-based, and the basic things are planning around what's going to happen with...
We're in the home stretch of the holiday shopping season, and for those of you with a few names left to check off your gift list, be sure to consider one of the dozens of unique items from the artists, authors and crafters that call Niwot and Gunbarrel home. Niwot in watercolor Niwot's historic downtown is a frequent subject of resident and renowned artist Jane Langdon, whose graceful style evokes warmth and nostalgia. Recently, her wintry depiction of 2nd Avenue was featured on the Niwot...
At the final monthly meeting of 2020, the Niwot Local Improvement District's Advisory Committee met virtually to consider two funding requests related to marketing and economic development in 2021. Treasurer's Report But before the fun could get underway, the board heard from LID Treasurer Bruce Rabeler with an update on the district's finances through the end of November. To date, the board has approved $254,303.08 in funding requests in 2020, including $101,512 for the public parking lot....
In 2018, the EPA reported the total generation of municipal solid waste (MSW) in the United States was 292.4 million tons or 4.9 pounds per person per day. Of the total MSW, 25 million tons were composted. This included approximately 22.3 million tons of yard trimmings and 2.6 million tons of food waste across the United States. At a local level, Boulder County estimates that almost 20% of the waste stream in Boulder County is plant trimmings and fruit and vegetable scraps that could be recycled as compost. As part of Boulder County’s o...
Whether you read the Nov. 4 issue of the Left Hand Valley Courier on our website or in our print edition, you will notice some big changes. While the pandemic had forced us to stop weekly printing for several months, we recognized that we needed to enhance the Courier's website to attract new subscribers to help us through this crisis. We were fortunate enough to receive a Facebook Journalism Grant that recognized the importance of community journalism. These funds helped us subsidize advertisin...
Last Tuesday, the Niwot Community Association (NCA) hosted a virtual forum for the Boulder County Commissioner Candidates. This year, two of the district seats are up for a county-wide vote, District 1 and District 2. Though the third commissioner, Matt Jones, is from District 3 which includes much of the Left Hand Valley, all commissioners are elected on a county-wide basis. County commissioners assist in making a number of decisions that affect the whole county--road maintenance to allocation of funding for services such as mental health and...
R.L. Maizes is a Niwot local whose debut novel "Other People's Pets" is set in a fictional small town on the front range of Colorado. For Maizes, setting the book in Colorado was a natural choice. "It's so inspiring to look out your window and see a red tailed hawk, to see a fox when you're on your evening walk," said Maizes. "I recently saw a bobcat going behind a neighbor's house. There's incredible wildlife both in Niwot and in Colorado, so it was really a perfect place to set a book about...
While Karen McCormick's journey running for state representative might, at first, seems to be somewhat unique, the common thread throughout her life is service. From the time she was little and watching her father interact with other Navy servicemen to her own career as a veterinarian, McCormick has seen the importance of helping others and strives to do it herself. "My dad...He was captain of an aircraft carrier, he made it a point to go to every department to ask what they needed...more...
In 2020, the public receives news from an enormous number of electronic as well as traditional sources. The information onslaught is relentless, can be frustratingly inaccurate, and isn't always able to portray what occurs in a localized area. Local journalists have an important role to fill in this kind of potentially confusing environment. Community newspapers such as the Left Hand Valley Courier tell stories about businesses, schools, parks, open spaces, neighborhoods, local infrastructure,...
A lot of things had to go right for Niwot football to have a fall season, and somehow, they did. In early August, The Colorado High School Athletics Association (CHSAA) postponed football's fall season until the spring, but on Sept. 16, in conjunction with Gov. Jared Polis, CHSAA allowed football and cheer and dance to opt for a fall season. SVVSD athletic director Chase McBride then had to wait for local health officials to give permission, which they did on Sept. 17, and SVVSD jumped on the...
Area schools received a boost to help high school students on their path to tech career readiness. The National Science Foundation awarded the Saint Vrain Valley School District (SVVSD) and Front Range Community College (FRCC) a $494,175 grant to open a Pathways in Technology Early College High School (P-TECH) program in cybersecurity. This will be the SVVSD's, third P-TECH program, with the other programs focused on biomedical sciences at Frederick High School and computer information systems...
A growing number of local families are deeply frustrated with full-time remote learning in the St. Vrain Valley School District (SVVSD), and now they've banded together in an effort to get students back into the classroom. Earlier this month, five parents from Erie launched the St. Vrain Educational Advocates in hopes of bringing attention to their struggles and working with school and public health officials to combat the "unseen negative consequences" of keeping students isolated at home. "We...
At their virtual meeting on Sept. 1, the Niwot LID advisory committee members got a preview of what could prove to be a very busy fall around town, with funding requests for a slew of upcoming events as well as plans to preserve the Native American tree sculptures carved by the late artist Eddie Running Wolf. Treasurer's Report LID Treasurer Bruce Rabeler went first with an update on the district's finances, though there was nothing new to report on the revenue side, as the Colorado Department...
Gunbarrel resident Julia Williams has been an artist her entire life. A graphic design major at CSU, she has been wanting to paint a portion of the north side Lookout Road underpass for a long time. An opportunity to create her dream piece presented itself, "courtesy" of COVID-19. As the Courier reported in a July 15 article, The City of Boulder through its Boulder Creative Neighborhood Murals Program offers grants to support public art, especially local artists. Williams submitted several desig...
By January 2021, two local fire districts will be merged into one. Mountain View Fire Rescue will absorb Rocky Mountain Fire District, with the combined district covering about 250 square miles, including areas in both Boulder and Weld counties. Last week, both districts hosted virtual town halls to spread the word about the merger and answer any questions from the public. In these town halls, MVFPD Chief Dave Beebe, who will be the combined district chief, addressed services rendered,...
A proposal to bring more parking to downtown Niwot cleared its last major hurdle on Aug. 6 when the Boulder Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously to conditionally approve a parking facility on the western edge of downtown. Now the project's sponsors are preparing for construction and coming to terms with the realization that their long-held vision is finally becoming a reality. "Well, it's been a long battle, but yes, I did think we would get it done," Niwot Cultural Arts Association...
Amid the hubbub about the return to play plans for high school sports such as football and cross country, the Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) quietly gave boys golf the green light to start its season as scheduled during the first week of August. In an announcement dated July 25, CHSAA stated that golf is "able to be played under the current national, state, county and CHSAA health guidelines as they pertain to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic," and, as such, plans for the 2020...
*Editor's note; The following results are unofficial pending July 8 ballots to be added, including "reserve ballots for anonymity, manual process ballots, ballots that can be cured are added (signature discrepancies), and military/overseas ballots," according to county official Mircalla Wozniak. Official results are expected to be in by next week. In light of the recent holiday, current events and even the recent release of Hamilton on Disney Plus, the very essence of what it means to be...
We've all been at home a lot in recent months. And perhaps you have used some of this time to clean out your closet or go through your basement and clear out old home goods or extra appliances that have been collecting dust. But once you have collected your unwanted and no-longer-in-use items, the question is what should you do with them? Before you toss any of it in the trash, consider this; In 2017 the EPA, citing information from the U.S. Department of Commerce's Office of Textiles and...
We at the Left Hand Valley Courier would like to express our sincere appreciation to the Boulder County Commissioners for the Small Business COVID-19 Relief Fund Grant we received last month. In April, the spread of the pandemic and subsequent "stay in place" regulations led us to the difficult decision to stop printing our weekly newspaper and move to an online only subscription model. This prevented the news from getting to many elderly and low-income readers who may not use a computer or mobile device or may not have reliable access to the...
Since the death of Minneapolis resident George Floyd, the Black Lives Matter movement has once again come to the forefront of American thought. Along with the calls to specifically end police violence, there have also been calls for cities and various levels of government to reform, defund and even abolish police departments. Police violence has once again become a divisive issue in the country. Both District 2 county commissioner candidates Marta Loachamin and Jonathan Singer agree that it is c...
On Tuesday, June 2, the Niwot LID advisory committee gathered via videoconference for its monthly meeting. Treasurer's Report Treasurer Bruce Rabeler presented an update of the district's finances, starting with the revenue report from March. The Niwot LID earned $12,639 for the month, which is down substantially from the same period in 2019 ($16,406), but higher than expected thanks to robust sales in the Retail and Arts, Entertainment & Recreation sectors. Unsurprisingly, the...
Staying occupied has been a challenge for many during quarantine, but not for 11-year-old Simon in Gunbarrel. Simon has remained productive by writing and distributing a newsletter for his neighborhood. Over 300 copies of the inaugural Gunbarrel Herald hit the streets on April 24. With now two issues under his belt, Simon has touched on a variety of subjects including neighborhood businesses, reading and outdoor recommendations and local birds. His intentions were to simply shine a little...
The limited printed edition of the May 20, 2020 issue of the Left Hand Valley Courier is brought to you by our faithful advertisers and a grant which supports local journalism. A limited number of print copies are available from our advertisers, in Courier boxes and at the Niwot Market. We are grateful to our advertisers and those who have subscribed online-they make it possible for the Courier to bring you local news and important information during the COVID19 pandemic. The more subscribers...
Three out of every four COVID-19 deaths in Boulder County have been in a long-term care facility. Each of the more than 40 deaths in these facilities was a parent, grandparent, extended family member or a friend with a special smile, twinkling eyes, a unique personality and rich life experiences. "It's tragic. There is not a better word. Our most vulnerable and cherished population has unfortunately become victimized by this," said Bob Murphy, president of the Colorado chapter of AARP. It's one...
The Left Hand Valley Courier has been selected to receive the Facebook Journalism Project COVID-19 US Local News Relief Grant. For more information about the grant and how Facebook is helping newsrooms across the county, visit https://www.facebook.com/journalismproject/programs/grants/coronavirus-local-news-relief-fund-recipients. And stayed tuned for details on how this grant will help the LHVC continue to bring high-quality news related to the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on our local...
With spring well under way, Boulder County's local farms are beginning their first round of harvests with lots of spinach and leafy greens as well as onions, garlic, mushrooms, tomatoes, and cucumbers for sale. As this first round of produce is ready to go to consumers, local farms and the Boulder County Farmers Markets (BCFM) are finding innovative ways to connect with customers in compliance with ongoing state and county COVID-19 regulations. BCFM recently announced the launch of a virtual mar...
Here is a ray of sunshine in these dark times; a ray of sunshine, shining on a solar panel, producing energy locally in Longmont for residents of the Left Hand Valley. Jack's Solar Garden, the community solar project created by Byron Kominek on his farm in south Longmont, is on track to be built, connected, and producing power by fall. In early April, Kominek signed a contract with Namasté Solar to build the panels. Namasté is a local solar developer, and as Kominek pointed out, also a c...
It can prove difficult to spot a silver lining amidst the current global pandemic. Daily news bombards us with rising infections, death rates, and unemployment stats. Our lives are upended and new daily routines require patience, compassion and understanding just to make it through. However, catastrophe and disaster often have a way of bringing out the best in humanity. People want to lighten the load for those with heavy burdens and Boulder County is no different. The folks at Vapor Distillery...
The coronavirus pandemic and resulting lockdowns have taken a steep toll on Niwot businesses, and the path to recovery is still uncertain. But Eric Bergeson and the Niwot Business Association are working to get their members started on that path and hopefully back to a thriving downtown commercial district. "The NBA Executive Committee has been trying to respond to this and provide whatever assistance we can," said Bergeson, who was elected to his first term as NBA president in February. "We're...
In September 1918, a group of soldiers came from Montana to the University of Colorado, in Boulder. Within a week, nearly 100 soldiers fell ill with the Spanish Flu and were quarantined. At the time, Boulder was a city of about 10,000 residents, and health resources were limited--fraternity houses became hospitals and convalescent wards, but most people were cared for by their families in their homes. Chief public health officer M. E. Miles declared Boulder to be quarantined--schools, churches...
Dear Readers, In an effort to survive in the current COVID-19 economy, the Left Hand Valley Courier will change to an on-line only format as of the April 15 issue. We have brought local news to your doorstep for 23 years, but times have changed, and after April 8, the Courier will arrive ONLY on your computer, ipad, or cell phone. And, for the first time, we are asking readers to pay for the content in the Courier by subscribing. For 23 years, our advertisers have been our sole source of income, enabling us to pay for printing and delivery...
Former Niwot High School baseball player Caleb Martinez was shocked when he learned his sophomore season at Northwest Nazarene University in Idaho would be canceled due to the coronavirus. "It was just unreal," he said. Martinez pitched for Niwot High from 2017-18 and pitched for the Boulder Collegians this past summer, and he was looking to make an impression after redshirting his freshman season. The coronavirus caught him and his teammates off guard. "On Monday, we were getting ready for the...
The coronavirus (COVID-19) has taken over the news, especially recently in Boulder County after a substitute teacher at Centaurus High School reported a suspected exposure. Upon learning that other passengers of his cruise ship tested positive, the teacher has chosen to undergo a self-quarantine and monitor for symptoms. Similarly, two University of Colorado Boulder employees have undergone testing for the virus. One of those tests has already come back negative, but the other test is still...
Vicki Maurer's approach to life and volunteering is probably best put in her own words: "We do what we have to do and get it done." Maurer has been involved with many community organizations over the years, from Niwot Youth Sports to the Left Hand Valley Courier to the Niwot Cultural Arts Association. Appreciation for her efforts is widespread. "She's really easy to work with, enthusiastic about the town...and fantastic at what she does," said Michelle Henzel, treasurer of the NCAA. "Vicki is...
Citing concerns over the appointment of new members of the Niwot Design Review Committee, member Anne Postle resigned from the Niwot LID Advisory Committee at its monthly meeting on Jan. 7. Reading from a letter she planned to send to the Boulder County Board of County Commissioners on Jan. 8, Postle said, "For me, with the NDRC process, this trust has again been compromised to the point that I cannot continue to serve as the NBA representative on the LID. I hope my resignation will be a wake-up...
Late last month, a judge in Boulder County District Court dismissed 20 of the 34 claims brought in a lawsuit filed by the Board of County Commissioners in 2018 to halt a large oil and gas drilling project proposed by Crestone Peak Resources. The court further determined that the county is responsible for Crestone’s attorney’s and court fees, the total amount of which will be determined at a hearing on Jan.16, 2020. The remaining 14 claims were either settled in Crestone’s favor, or withdrawn by the county. In a statement released on Sept....
