All Local, All The Time
All Local, All The Time
Sorted by date Results 1336 - 1385 of 3926
The Niwot Local Improvement District (LID) approved five funding requests at its regular meeting May 3, including funding for three popular community events. Scott Firle chaired the meeting, with advisory board members Lisa Rivard, Cornelia Sawle, Bruce Rabeler, Jeff Knight, Heidi Storz and Keith Waters also in attendance, along with Boulder County liaison Mark Ruzzin. The Niwot Cultural Arts Association (NCAA) and the Niwot Business Association (NBA), co-managers of the Rock & Rails summer...
Back by popular demand, the House Blend Band will start its 2022 concert series after Around the World Day in Niwot on Saturday, May 14. The eight-piece band, consisting of Old Oak Coffee House owners Michael Tomich (lead singer, keyboard, guitar) and Patty Machen (viola, mandolin and percussion), Michael's daughter, Paris Tomich (Lead vocals and percussion), and local Niwot/Boulder/Longmont residents Andrew Bunin (bass guitar, backing vocalist), John Lawrence (Drummer), Eric Ottem (trumpet, har...
The Niwot Community Association’s (NCA) monthly meeting on Wednesday, May 4, covered a multitude of timely issues and events ranging from the latest on the Boulder Library District to the organization’s array of upcoming events. Boulder Library District update The NCA has been keeping close tabs on the possibility that a Boulder Public Library District could potentially include Niwot in its scope. In late April, the Boulder City Council declared it saw “no path forward to reconcile with the Boulder County Commissioners on a library resol...
Born in the Bronx and having traveled the world, Kathy Trauner, now a long-time Colorado resident, turned a great idea into reality last year for Niwot residents feeling trapped by Covid. The owner of Fly Away Home gift and art shop in Cottonwood Square, Trauner inaugurated "Around the World Day," a creative event which will return here May 14. Inspired by the wish to bring international experiences to Niwot residents when travel was restricted, the event invites all businesses on 2nd Avenue...
Poo per mile. It's probably not a measure you've ever heard of. But on May 1st the calculation came in at 268 piles of poo per mile on the trails at Coot Lake and west of the Boulder Reservoir. The "Let's DOO it" campaign brought out volunteers and staff from City of Boulder Parks and Recreation who marked each poo pile with an orange flag that said "Bag it. Pack it. Can it." There were a total of 671 piles found along 2.5 miles of trails, amounting to 36.5 pounds of waste. BPR staff also engage...
Niwot resident Leonard Sitongia was selected as one of seven volunteers to be recognized by Boulder County during National Volunteer Week. Sitongia, who serves on the board of directors of the Niwot Community Association and the Niwot Historical Society, was recognized for his work with the Community Planning and Permitting Department’s Mobility for All Technology Ambassador Program. He has donated over 200 hours to the M4A program. For his efforts, Sitongia received a grant of $900 to support his continued work on the M4A program. Sitongia r...
In this modern world of telephones, faxes and emails, the joy of letter writing has almost disappeared. We've become too reliant on the instant feedback of the internet. In the 1800s, however, residents of Boulder County anxiously awaited the stagecoach, afternoon train, or the rural mail wagon to bring letters from their families back east. Establishing a postal system to serve homesteaders along the Front Range was an impressive accomplishment by the U.S. Post Office Department. New...
Colorado Landmark Realtors, based in Boulder County, was recognized by Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® for its Marshall Fire recovery efforts. President and CEO Paul Boomsma announced the "Leading RE Good Things" award April 15 based on the company's "incredible efforts" in assisting Boulder County residents affected by the Marshall Fire in January of this year. This recognition was shared across 70 countries and over 150,000 real estate agents across the globe. In a press releas...
Attention, all bird lovers! There has been an outbreak of a highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) that has now spread to wild birds in 30 U.S. states. According to recent data collected in April, the most susceptible to the flu are poultry, waterfowl, raptors, and vultures. The flu has been detected in commercial flocks, backyard flocks, and wild birds in Colorado. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there is very low risk of infection for the general human population. Symptoms of the flu that may appear...
Niwot is renowned for its strong community and generous fundraising efforts. So the NBA (Niwot Business Association) and NCAA (Niwot Cultural Arts Association) were able to incorporate two fundraising elements into the Niwot Around the World day on May 14, which runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Each business participating in the day by "dressing up" as a country will have a collection box for Ukraine - the money collect will go towards the purchase of the sculpture, Kore That Awakening, sculpted by Ukranian artist Egor Zigura in his Ukrainian...
For the third time, Bootstrap Brewing Company's Wreak Havoc Imperial Red took home a bronze medal at this year's World Beer Cup in the strong red ale category. Beloved in our area, the south Longmont brewery is owned by Niwot residents Leslie and Steve Kazceus, and was previously located on the back side of Cottonwood Square, at the site that now houses Fritz Family Brewers. When asked about the win, Leslie Kazceus was as excited as she was succinct. "We're so stoked about this," she responded....
Southwest Acupuncture College in Gunbarrel is closing operations permanently. "After 41 years of providing excellence in education in the field of acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine, Southwest Acupuncture College will be ending our programs and closing on August 31, of 2023. We will not be accepting any additional students and will hold no further interviews, tours, or open house events," their website reads. Academic Dean Nate Mohler and Administrative Director Heather Lang talked about...
Due to an inadvertent omission on the robotics team website, The Toro Company, one of the major sponsors of the team, was not listed as a sponsor in the May 4, 2022 edition of the Left Hand Valley Courier....
In a January 2021 Left Hand Valley Courier article celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Niwot Rental & Feed store, founder and co-owner Steve Rollman said he had no plans to relocate or retire for at least the next decade. Now, one-and-a-half years later, his thoughts have changed. The Feed store, located at 291 2nd Avenue, was listed for sale at $1,250,000 on March 8, ,2022. Within ten days the Rollmans had an offer. When asked what changed his mind, Rollman was quick to answer. "A lot of...
Following the huge success of last year's inaugural Around the World Day, the event will return for a second year on May 14th. The day was created based on an idea from Fly Away Home store owner Kathy Trauner during COVID when everyone was missing traveling abroad. She was inspired by the idea of brining international experiences to Niwot when travel away from other countries to Niwot was restricted. All businesses in downtown Niwot on 2nd Avenue and in Cottonwood Square are invited to "dress up...
It is with great sadness that we report that Courier Advertising Director Ann Whitehill passed away suddenly on April 10, 2022. Ann resided in the Niwot-Gunbarrel area for many years and worked for the Courier for over three years, helping the Courier and its advertisers navigate through the pandemic. Selene Luna, who worked closely with Ann on the Courier, expressed our thoughts well: "I will truly miss that special lady. We had some challenging times at the paper, but we worked through them...
On April 19, the Northrop Grumman Corporation received the U.S. Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific award to design a Relay Ground Station - Asia (RGS-A) in Guam. The award will provide a $99.6 million contract to design and develop missile-launch and missile-warning detection satellites in their Gunbarrel facility. The satellites and antennas will be constructed and deployed to Guam, to be remotely monitored and operated by the United States. “The award will bring about 24 new jobs to this facility as part of its plan to hire 1...
Plans for the Boulder County Library District have taken a new direction, and the proposed district boundaries no longer include Niwot. Though the Boulder City Council passed a resolution to move ahead with the plan to create an independent library district, the resolution was also contingent on sign off from the Boulder County Commissioners. After listening to more than four hours of public comment on April 7, the Board of County Commissioners tabled a vote on the resolution. Commissioners cite...
Right now, those of us at Leigh Suskin Farmers Insurance Agency in Cottonwood Square spend the majority of our time reviewing policies and making changes to ensure that our policyholders are prepared for and protected. As insurance agents, our job is to educate and provide advice. We are a resource for Niwotians regardless of which company you use. Things have changed, and this is our new reality. The Marshall Fire was first reported at 10:30 a.m. on December 30, 2021, and by 11:00 p.m. it had consumed 1,100 homes. No longer are we safe from...
This past Sunday, there was another change in a well known Niwot-based business. Mala Bo Fan, owner of Fan's Conoco gas station, sold the popular Cottonwood Square-based fueling stop. It will be the second local filling station for the new owner, Rajbar Dhillon, who also owns Hershey's gas station in Boulder. On her first day of non-ownership, Fan was still at the shop, helping brothers of the new owner to become acclimated to what was there. She showed a familiar exuberance, kindness and high e...
Child labor laws don't apply to homeowners digging up the front yard....
The Niwot Community Association’s annual meeting was held April 19 at Left Hand Grange No. 9, facilitated by Niwot Community Association (NCA) president, David Limbach. An in-person audience of nearly 30 people and live online viewers were provided with information regarding 2022 NCA board elections, a review of the NCA’s 2019 activities, and other plans for the present year. It was followed by a timely presentation about wildfires given by Sterling Folden, Deputy Fire Chief of Mountain Vie...
Although Colorado’s wildfire season typically spans May through September, extremely dry conditions paired with above average temperatures and high winds are changing the seasonal nature of fires. In the past month, there have been five fires in Boulder County which have prompted evacuation orders. As previously reported in the April 20th edition of the Left Hand Valley Courier, two fires, the Tally Ho fire and the Table Mountain fire, both in the Gunbarrel/Niwot area, occurred within a day of each other. The first fire on April 19, 2022, w...
Spring has sprung! And with it you're likely to be headed out on all the local trails the area has to offer. If you're a cyclist, now is the time to make sure your bike is ready to go, and you've brushed up on riding safety essentials. Maintenance Fernando Tapia, Master Mechanic at Niwot Wheel Works, says that if your bike hasn't been used over the winter, it's a good idea to get a tuneup. "Get air in the tires, lube on the chain and ensure that everything is in good working order." If this...
On April 23, the Boulder City Council and the Boulder County Commissioners could not reach a consensus on finalizing the Boulder Library District proposal. The fate of the proposed district now likely depends on residents living in Boulder and some parts of Boulder county, during the November election. Boulder Mayor Aaron Brockett and County Commissioner Claire Levy met to discuss a possible path forward after both governing bodies conducted a joint hearing earlier this month. According to Boulder Mayor Aaron Brockett, he and Levy had a good...
The desire for a little spending money is universal among today's adolescents, and youngsters growing up in the nineteenth century were no exception. Wildlife was abundant in Boulder County. Rabbits, coyotes, skunks, and muskrats were plentiful along Boulder and St. Vrain creeks. While their parents hunted deer and elk to augment food supplies, young boys set traps for small animals and shot waterfowl to send to market. Alonzo Allen and Walter Emery often hunted together on Lake Park in...
The long-awaited return of Niwot's very own Easter Egg Hunt, hosted by Pat Murphy and team (Tara Littell, Ann Mills and Todd Goad) from The Niwot Group at Compass, with help from the Niwot Market crew and the Niwot Patriotic Cookie Moms, was a huge success. The weather was perfect on the morning of April 16th for the 41st Annual Easter Egg Hunt event at Niwot High School with Colorado's blue skies above, crisp spring temperatures, with lots of smiles and fun. The Easter Egg Hunt historically...
More than 60 people joined the County Commissioner’s virtual meeting on April 14 regarding a proposed makeover of Highway 119, commonly known as the Diagonal Highway. After introductions, the Planning Unit of Community Planning and Permitting started their presentation about the project. First, Planning and Permitting showed a video that gave statistics–it’s the second-most traveled highway in Boulder County, with almost 40,000 daily vehicles, and it’s the most dangerous, having more crashes than highways such as U.S. Highway 287 or even U....
The Boulder County Communications Center received a call regarding a grass fire near Tally Ho Trail at 1:12 p.m. on Tuesday, April 19. This is south of the Twin Lakes neighborhood in Gunbarrel. According to a press release, the grass fire grew to be just under 10 acres in size. Multiple homes in the surrounding area, including Carter Trail, were evacuated during door-to-door evacuations. Firefighters were able to quickly gain control of the fire, and fortunately, there was no structure loss and...
Today we received your Easter care package and have shared its contents with our unit. It means very much to us when care packages come in, because it makes us feel connected to home. Please extend our gratitude to all the Niwot Cookie Moms, Dads and families of Niwot. On behalf of the soldiers of Charlie Battery 1/111th Field Artillery, thank you very much! And on behalf of all Servicemen and women, thanks for your support! Attached are some pictures of us with some of the goodies. William A....
"I like stuff I can learn from," said Dawn Dunlap, a waitress at the Garden Gate Cafe who has been working at her job in Niwot for the past eight years. Before that, she had been a waitress in Lyons but she lost that job when the town flooded in 2013. "I love it here," she said, with a bright smile. "People in Niwot are so kind." We were sitting at an outside cafe table one recent afternoon, shortly after her 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. work-day had ended. She didn't look fatigued in the least. Talking abo...
I didn't have my glasses on, and thought maybe the brown bump on the edge of my dog Stering's eye was a growth that sprouted quickly. I'd seen bumps like that on other dogs. I went about my day, but puzzled over it. How could I miss something like that when I look into Sterling's sweet brown eyes all the time? Better get out the glasses. Eww! It was alive! A tick had latched on to the corner of his eye. I was horrified that I let it go for even a couple hours. But it truly never occurred to me t...
Are you interested in volunteering on Earth Day? Then join the Rotary Club of Niwot and the Rotaract Club of Longmont on Friday, April 22 at 3:30 p.m. to pick up trash on the Longmont-Boulder (LOBO) Trail. The clubs will be meeting at the Lefthand Valley Grange Park at the corner of Niwot Road and 83rd Street. Club members expect the clean-up project to take up to two hours. There are ample parking and bathroom facilities at the park. The clubs will start at the park, hike south on the trail,...
Good morning, Courier readers! April 22nd is a special day to celebrate our nurturing, Mother Earth. And while tackling climate change might seem daunting at times, we mustn’t give up hope. So, without further ado, here is a comprehensive list of all things you can do to turn your climate anxiety into climate action! At home and other individual actions: *Switch to a more eco-friendly search engine like Ecosia. Ecosia plants trees for every 45 searches you make on the web. It’s the world’s largest not-for-profit search engine and is endor...
In the April 6 edition of the Courier, the article "Prescribed burns planned on City of Boulder properties in 2022" had an error citing the managing organization for City of Boulder properties. The Sheriff’s Office Fire Management Program oversees projects on Boulder County Open Space properties (county-owned/managed properties) while the Boulder Fire and Rescue Wildland Division (Boulder City), oversees projects on Boulder Open Space Mountain Parks properties (city-owned/managed properties)....
Editor's Note: Historian Anne Dyni wrote a series of articles for the Left Hand Valley Courier. The series will be reprinted from time to time. Left Hand MeAnother Niwot tradition quietly slipped away in November 1998, when, after sixty years, the Niwot Home and Garden Club disbanded. During those years, this remarkable group of ladies designed and maintained a beautiful community garden at the corner of Second Avenue and Murray Street. From the time the club was organized in 1938, membership...
Wednesday afternoon, April 20, saw another evacuation of homes and animals due to a grass fire, this time near Table Mountain. A large plume of smoke west of Niwot was visible from the Diagonal Highway shortly after 3:00 p.m. and multiple calls to the Boulder County Communications Center resulted in a quick response from multiple agencies, who quickly brought the fire under control, despite windy conditions. According to the Boulder County Sheriff's office, the grass fire grew to be...
On April 5, in a joint session, the Boulder City Council and the Boulder of County Commissioners (BOCC) held a public hearing on whether to create a library district which would include all city of Boulder residents as well as residents of unincorporated Gunbarrel and Niwot, and extend as far west as Jamestown. After more than seven hours of an online hearing in which speakers were limited to two minutes, the city council approved the plan by a vote of 6-3. The plan would include Gunbarrel and...
Only a few prairie dogs remain at the Monarch Park Open Space on the corner of 79th Street and Highway 52, clearing the way for a reseeding operation by Boulder County that began in early April. The animals had eaten much of the vegetation down to dirt, causing erosion near the trails and draws, and encouraging weeds to move in, according to Boulder County invasive plants supervisor Joe Swanson. The county used lethal control, placing carbon monoxide cartridges in the dens before the reseeding...
The Boulder County Commissioners are hosting a town hall meeting, remotely on Zoom, inviting residents to hear about what the county describes as “the dynamic plans to reinvigorate this key corridor.” The meeting about Highway 119, also known as the Diagonal Highway, is set for Thursday, April 14, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Zoom. According to a press release, “After a presentation by staff from the Transportation Planning Unit of Community Planning & Permitting, attendees will be encouraged to ask questions in the Q&A feature of Zoom about the proje...
It is with great sadness that we report that Courier Advertising Director Ann Whitehill passed away suddenly last weekend. Ann resided in the Niwot-Gunbarrel area for many years and worked for the Courier for over three years, helping the Courier and its advertisers navigate through the pandemic. Selene Luna, who worked closely with Ann on the Courier, expressed our thoughts well: “I will truly miss that special lady. We had some challenging times at the paper, but we worked through them together. When we met a special challenge with success w...
A Niwot pup patiently waiting for its owner at The Old Oak....
Editor's Note: Historian Anne Dyni wrote a series of articles for the Left Hand Valley Courier. The series will be reprinted from time to time. Left Hand Men's Club First published February 2005 In 1960, Niwot was functioning much as it had for decades, except that the town newspaper had ceased publication and the train no longer stopped for passengers and freight. Real estate activity was slow, however, and the few businesses remaining in town were barely getting by. Niwot was still very much...
Introducing Arnie, who has taken over bee-cat duties at Meadow Lake Honey. Not yet a year old, Arnie is still realizing that bees are best observed from a distance...no matter how fun it is to chase them. He's acclimating well to our home and property after being adopted from the Buddy Center down in Castle Rock. Hopefully soon he'll realize that voles and mice are more fun to chase than bees... and less sting-y. P.S. He also enjoys getting his photo in the paper....
Take out your quills and moleskine notebooks, because April is National Poetry Month. I used to scorn poetry, as I thought of it as a pretentious medium of literature. That was until I attended Andrea Gibson’s poetry reading in college. Gibson recited beautiful stories about queer love, their genderfluid identity, criticisms towards white supremacy and our capitalist culture, and how we all must learn to become more altruistic people. Gibson shared the trauma they suffered and the struggle to find love and acceptance in the world, while also ap...
The Niwot Local Improvement District Advisory Committee (LID) met April 6 at the Niwot Inn to consider two funding requests, both of which were approved. LID Chair Scott Firle welcomed Jeff Knight to his first meeting as a member of the committee. Knight was appointed by the Board of County Commissioners as the Niwot Community Association representative on the nine-member advisory board. He replaced longtime LID member and former chair Laura Skaggs. Mark Ruzzin, liaison to the LID from the...
The community’s “Small Town Big Heart” fundraising campaign is well underway, and administered by the Community Foundation Boulder County and the statewide organization, Colorado Gives. With this arrangement, an experienced third-party is taking on the work and the responsibility of ensuring that any funds raised benefit individuals and families who are directly impacted by the fire. There is a lot of effort behind this service. Donations are made and tracked through the jointly administered website: coloradogives.org/NiwotSmallTownBigHeartMars...
It was sunny and windy Saturday afternoon as a dozen community members met outside Inkberry Books. The event that day was a book reading and question and answer session with local author and activist Danielle SeeWalker. Originally from North Dakota, SeeWalker is an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe but has since moved to Denver. She currently is a Co-Chair for the Denver American Indian Commission and explores Native activism in a variety of ways. For example, she's a mixed media...
Where there's smoke, there's fire, but that's not always a bad thing. In the case of prescribed burns, fire is often used as a land management tool to help maintain agricultural properties, including ditches that provide water for open space farming and ranching operations. Prescribed burns are also used to help control plant growth and invasive weed species. After the recent Marshall Fire and the NCAR Fire, it's understandable for residents to be concerned when they see smoke - even if that...
