All Local, All The Time
All Local, All The Time
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Despite my best laid plans, each year the garden brings its own ideas to what will, or won't, be a success. I love the touch of chaos and curve balls it throws my way. But every year there was always one thing that I could depend on, and that's a plethora of squash. Winter keepers and summer sautés, patty pans and pumpkins, the rambling vines have always been eager to produce. There was the Year of 27 Spaghetti Squashes, the Great Zucchini Inundation of 2007, and we won't forget the Bodacious Bo...
A new group has formed in Gunbarrel to go along with the decades-long conflicts between the City of Boulder and the inhabitants of the unincorporated areas to the north of the city itself. The Gunbarrel Community Alliance (GCA) started the process to become a non-profit organization earlier this year after some homeowners received a flyer notifying them about a proposed development on land that they believed was designated to be open space and a preserve for prairie dogs in 1999. The concept proposal, which at this point is only out for public...
Organizers of Niwot's award-winning summer concert series, Rock & Rails, pulled the plug on the 2020 season after holding out hope that gathering restrictions would be relaxed. "We took it month by month," Niwot Cultural Arts Association (NCAA) president Biff Warren said. "We held out hope that restrictions would ease up as the number of COVID-19 cases declined in Boulder County, but after an early decrease, the rate of positive tests began to increase, especially after the Memorial Day...
Gunbarrel Estates photographer Tim Benko captured Comet Neowise from the top of Rocky Mountain National Park on Trail Ridge Road Thursday, July 24. Discovered on March 24, Neowise, or C/2020 F3, stands for near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer. With an orbital period of 6,766 years, this was a once in a lifetime photograph....
Shirley Olson walks out of the Hover Community Assisted Living Resident, a vision in blue. The 93-year-old is wearing a vest that matches the sky. Dark blue mountains and yellow stars decorate the bandana that covers her hair. A gray curl slips free. Her opulent blue eyes light up at the sight of her sons, John and Paul, sitting in opposite corners beneath a white canopy on the front lawn. Today they are free of the windows and walls that have separated them for most of the past four months of...
On July 18, Niwot resident David A. Bruce captured this photo of a juvenile red tailed hawk as it prepared for flight. Bruce and his family have counted the hawk's parents among its neighbors for the past three years. "This year they had three babies, as they did last year too," Bruce said in an email " We have wonderful wildlife here and have no idea how lucky we are to see these creatures in our backyards. This hawk is four months old and just learning to live on its own."...
If you have had a pizza from Abo's Pizza in Niwot in the last 24 years and 20 days, you owe some thanks to Tom Smathers. Smathers, or "Big Tom" as he is known locally, has been the long-time owner of Abo's Pizza in Niwot. From feeding hungry high schoolers at lunch to turning out pizzas for dine-in, pick-up, and delivery, in his nearly a quarter of a century owning the restaurant, Smathers and his team have dished up countless pizzas for the Niwot community. But that era quietly came to an end i...
It has been about three weeks since the primary elections in Boulder County. This election, 55% of Boulder County residents came out to vote. While this may seem like an impressive number-and it is an increase from the 2018 midterms-Boulder County Clerk and Recorder Communications Specialist Mircalla Wozniak was quick to point out that voter turnout depends on many variables and is very localized. For the June 30 primary, there were reportedly 95,610 Democratic, 29,744 Republican and 1,978...
The local food scene in the Left Hand Valley is normally thriving in the summer. Things are more complicated this year. In the past, farmers could depend on connecting directly with their customers face-to-face at Boulder County farmers markets, in addition to their own community supported agriculture (CSA) programs. Kids in the 4-H program would spend months or even years raising livestock that they knew they would sell at the Boulder County Fair in early August. Other local food producers...
The Niwot United Methodist Church welcomed a new pastor earlier this month in Rev. Emily Kintzel, a Colorado native and experienced clergy member. She replaces Rev. Walter "Skip" Strickland, who came out of retirement to serve as interim pastor for the last year. Prior to coming to Niwot, Kintzel was the pastor at the Lyons Community Church for several years. She has also served as a pastor in Evans, Colo., and spent 11 years as a youth director in Longmont before taking the position at NUMC....
Now that Niwot Children's Park has reopened, albeit on a limited basis - no more than 25 people in the park at one time, no more than 10 people in any one group - Niwot resident Elizabeth Wright has organized a Clean-Up Day at the park, scheduled for the last Monday of every month at 8:00 a.m. The first Clean-Up Day will be held on Monday, July 27, at 8 a.m. The early time slot is set to avoid times of heavy usage by children. In keeping with the gathering restrictions, Wright is asking...
The City of Boulder first passed the Community Culture and Safety tax in 2014, and the funds from this tax went toward supporting local cultural projects--many of which were related to public art and public open spaces such as Boulder Creek, Chautauqua and others. The original tax expired in 2017, but was renewed for a four-year period. The funds still support city facilities and infrastructure as well as cultural projects; one such project is the Community Neighborhoods: Murals Program. This pr...
Sunny skies and friendly faces were the order of the day at the town-wide sidewalk sale held by Niwot merchants on Saturday, July 11, 2020....
The market for personal protective equipment, or PPE, operates like the Wild West, as Niwot entrepreneur Dave Rechberger explains it. He leveraged his contacts in the medical business and got into the chaotic market early this year when there became a critical need for PPE for medical providers who couldn't get masks and other equipment due to major shortages, supply chain disruptions, fierce competition and unscrupulous actors working under the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic. The owner of...
Several weeks ago, Gunbarrel Estates residents noticed several workers, along with their trucks, marking up the street. Thoughts immediately turned to street repair and the hope that Boulder County finally was going to do something about the deterioration of county subdivision roads. Unfortunately, actual road repair is not in the current picture, according to Communications Specialist and Public Information Officer for Boulder County Public Works Andrew Barth. "We like to keep an eye on basic q...
Kate Missett is the Left Hand Valley Courier's newest staffer. Missett, who moved to Niwot in April after nearly 60 years in Wyoming, has remarked that while some people were born with a silver spoon in their mouths, she was born with printer's ink in her veins. She was two when she first started a newspaper press. Missett comes from a newspaper family. Her father, William J. Missett, was publisher of the Casper, Wyoming Star-Tribune, and that is where she began learning the trade. Her four...
Planning continues for the State Highway 119 (the Diagonal) Multimodal Improvements Project, which began in 2014. The project will add express toll and bus lanes to the heavily used highway, and bike paths will be added to the medians. A transit station and park-and-ride improvements will also be part of the project. The partners developing the project include the Boulder County Department of Transportation, the Regional Transportation District (RTD), the cities of Longmont and Boulder, and...
Food is being served again on the patio of Boulder Country Club. The club's restaurant closed for about 11 days at the end of June when four of its kitchen staff tested positive for the coronavirus. All four employees had mild cases of COVID-19, according to General Manager Mike Larson. At least two are recovered and back at work. The club initially had two cases and, by law, had to report them to Boulder County Public Health. "The health department has been really good," Larson said. BCPH gave...
Meet Chloe-This delightful girl is nine-years-old and still quite peppy for a senior dog. Given time to warm-up, Chloe becomes very affectionate and enjoys being close to her people. Chloe can live with another dog though is looking a kitty free home with high school age or older children, please. Call (303)772-1232 or email info@longmonthumane.org to learn more about Ms. Chloe or to set-up an appointment to come in for a visit today! We look forward to seeing your pets in our Spotlight. Please...
Everyone should have the same starting point in life. That's what Oliver Fowler believes, and he's taking action to help make it happen. The 14-year-old Niwot resident is organizing a fundraising dinner to benefit the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, an organization that works for racial equality. "I'm just a kid and can't directly help," Fowler said. "But I think it would be cool if the funds I make from this event do go to people who can move our community, our country and our state forward." The...
It's not the school year that parents and students would like, but at least it's better than last spring. That's how several families in the Saint Vrain Valley School District feel about new plans for the upcoming school year. Basic information was released by the district last week, though there are still plenty of questions. Details may be revealed in a couple of weeks when the final plan will be released. "It's school, with only the worst parts," said Ben Goff who will be a senior at Niwot Hi...
Gunbarrel has seen what some might consider more than its fair share of triumphs and trials in the restaurant scene over the past few years, coronavirus aside. That is especially true for the spot most recently known as Dannik's Gunbarrel Corner Bar in the Gunbarrel Shopping Center on Gunpark Drive. In a Gunbarrel restaurant review blog in February 2018, Marc Rochkind wrote positively about Dannik's, saying, "There were a couple of previous restaurants in the Dannik's space, something like a...
Niwot Community Association members heard from Boulder County Commission candidate Claire Levy at their July 1 virtual meeting. Levy, who was uncontested in the Democratic primary, faces Republican Cinda Kochen for the District 1 seat in November. Kochen will virtually meet with NCA board members at their Aug. 5 meeting, along with county commissioner candidate James T. Crowder from District 2. Crowder will face Democrat Marta Loachamin who won the Democratic primary over Jonathan Singer. While commissioners must live in one of three specific g...
*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...
Longmont resident Andrew Krimm was recently appointed as the new executive director for the Boulder Symphony. "Andrew brings the rare combination of business execution management experience and is an accomplished musician who has performed at the highest level," Boulder Symphony board chair Tony Santelli said in a recent press release. "In these unpredictable times, we need a captain who will help guide Boulder Symphony to the next level of artistic excellence and community engagement."...
Thursday, July 2 saw the Plein Air Artists Colorado practicing their outdoor painting skills along the Cottontail Trail in Gunbarrel. According to coordinator Carolyn Bradley, the group meets every Thursday in various Boulder County locations to celebrate the love of outdoor painting. The "paint outs", as they are called, are open to everyone regardless of skill. For more information go to pleinairartistscolorado.com/Boulder....
From its shady locale in Cottonwood Square, the Niwot Tavern has been a popular local gathering spot for more than a decade-and-a-half, so when the 2020 coronavirus pandemic threw the lives of local residents into chaos, co-owners and longtime bartenders Tara Kpogoh-Narh and Stacy Szydlek quickly shifted their mission from helping local residents unwind to helping them get through a global health emergency. "It was the kids, when the schools shut down," Kpogoh-Narh said, explaining why she and...
While Niwot's annual 4th of July parade has been canceled and there won't be any fireworks displays in either Longmont or Boulder, we can still celebrate, albeit on a smaller scale. Kids can still decorate their bikes; barbecues will be lit; corn-on-the-cob, burgers, potato salad and watermelons will be consumed. Here's to family, friends and a wonderful community. And a big thank you to the Slepicka family who make the most of all holidays with their wonderful decorations....
Counting votes is a careful process to start with, but in a pandemic there is more than politics at stake. Health concerns over the coronavirus changed the look and procedures of in-person voting and behind-the-scenes processing during the primary election. New safety protocols and robust voter participation have added to the workload of approximately 100 people who work on elections for the Boulder County Clerk and Recorder. The county made changes to its main office in Boulder where ballots ar...
Boulder County is home to 22 individual fire districts, but that will soon change when two districts merge next year. Rocky Mountain Fire District (RMF) was formally created in 2007, but has its roots in the Cherryvale Fire Protection District east of Boulder that originally formed in 1958. Mountain View Fire Rescue (MVFR), meanwhile, has its roots in the Longmont Rural Fire Department and has since incorporated other areas of Boulder County and Weld County. "It's been a history of...
Cyclists don't have to stop and open gates anymore on a section of the LoBo Trail in Niwot. Boulder County is installing cattle guards and re-doing the gates at two places on the stretch of trail between Highway 52 and Monarch Road, west of 79th Street. The arched, metal slats allow cyclists, or people with big enough feet, to pass through without bothering with a gate or touching a public surface. They are next to the regular gates for pedestrians and vehicles, which are still in place for peop...
Like most of us, local artist David Bjorkman watched with anxiety as coronavirus crept across the globe during the early part of 2020, spreading increasingly vivid images of suffering, confusion, and death. For Bjorkman and his partner, Victoria Thomas, the growing threat was personal. Five of their family members are medical professionals and would be confronting the mystifying respiratory disease on the front lines, potentially affecting themselves and others in their intimate circles. So as...
Agricultural risk is an interesting concept to non-farmers. Imagine you are self-employed, and your business is not only highly dependent on the weather, it can be crushed by it. People have various mental models of what they think your business is like, the skills needed to succeed, what the challenges and rewards are for producing food, and how you remain profitable, including where and how you should allocate your resources. While the scientific and policy communities increasingly look to agriculture as a solution to climate change,...
Meet Bonnie-This sweet and affectionate 13-year-old kitty will make a wonderful companion for her lucky adopter. Bonnie is gentle and calm and would be great company while you are watching movies, reading or just sitting quietly together. Bonnie likely will do well with another cat as well as a polite dog in her new home and is hoping to find a family with older children, please. Call (303) 772-1232 or email info@longmonthumane.org to learn more or make an appointment to come in and visit! We...
A significant spike in COVID-19 cases sent Boulder County Public Health looking for reinforcements to help contain the spread. On June 10th, the county's graph started climbing in the wrong direction, with over 175 new cases in just over a week and more since. BCPH has about 25 people on staff who do contact tracing, a critical step in shutting down an outbreak. That wasn't enough, so the health department reached out to the state for more investigators so they could reach all the positive...
Plans for a multimodal parking facility adjacent to downtown Niwot got the preliminary go-ahead from the Boulder County Planning Commission at a remote public hearing held on June 17. With a unanimous vote, the nine-member board approved a proposal from the Niwot Business Association and the County of Boulder to develop a lot with 14 spaces on vacant land between the BNSF railroad tracks and Murray Street, provided several conditions are met. “The applicants were very accepting of the conditions...
Airlines have been hit hard during the coronavirus pandemic and Frontier Airlines President and CEO Barry Biffle is leading the charge with precautions as travel slowly increases. "It's been pretty tough on the industry overall," said Biffle, a Niwot resident. He remains hopeful that Frontier will emerge strong and continue to serve Colorado and beyond. Despite rigorous precautions, the airline industry has struggled with stay at home orders enveloping the country. Fortunately for Frontier,...
As summer temperatures swing into the 90s, you and your four-legged friends are likely looking for ways to stay cool. And though a dip in one of our local ponds may look tempting, be aware that standing bodies of water may be home to blue-green algae. You may have seen the caution signs at trailheads this summer or in summers past, typically at Coot Lake, the Boulder Reservoir, or, most recently, at Wonderland Lake: "Caution: Harmful Algae May Be Present." Historically in Colorado, blue-green...
Alivia Bell has owned and operated the Niwot barber shop for the past thirteen years. Throughout her tenure, she has made lasting connections with her clientele and the surrounding Niwot community. Bell also resides in the heart of the downtown and can often be spotted riding her bicycle around Boulder County. On June 3, Bell was riding her bike on Airport Road when she was struck by a car. She was knocked off her bicycle and severely injured. Bell has a compound fracture on her left leg and an...
Pam Turner opened Airborne Gymnastics and Dance in 1991 in Longmont. On March 12 of this year, the business had over 1000 students between two locations in Longmont and Frederick, and around 75 employees. That Thursday evening in March, the leadership of the gym met to discuss the recent disturbing news about the novel coronavirus. Turner said, "We were really struggling with the decision" of whether or not to close. They ultimately decided to remain open, but woke up on March 13 to find that...
Creativity flows through 10-year-old Edsel whether he's drawing comics or working on his local newspaper, the Neighborhood Awesomeness. Edsel has noticed there are "many awesome things happening in the neighborhood," and he wanted to display that during the stressful times of a pandemic. His mother, Catherine, has helped Edsel print over 25 copies of the Awesomeness and distribute it throughout their central Niwot neighborhood, rain or shine. The now bi-weekly paper began when Colorado went...
Meet Coconut-Coconut is an extremely sweet and cuddly nine-year-old girl who would love to find her forever home with a person or people she can call her own! Coconut is very affectionate once she gets to know you and loves nothing more than being with her favorite people. This lovely older girl is also very smart, thoroughly enjoys learning new things and as a result possesses significant basic obedience skills including sit, down and stay! Coconut is looking for a home with no kitties, please...
The word "yield" has many meanings in the English language. You can yield to the next speaker, or the land can yield food from the garden. But today I bring up "yield" as in the road sign. Too often I find that drivers treat a yield sign as a free for all to go through intersections or turns onto other roads without even slowing. A yield sign allows a driver to reduce speed instead of having to come to a complete stop. Call a yield sign a small time-saver. But remember, it doesn't mean you may n...
The popular Niwot summer concert series, Rock & Rails, remains on hold, according to co-managers Dan Hawk, Vicki Maurer and Biff Warren. An amended state-wide public health order was issued June 18, 2020, allowing outdoor events with up to 175 participants, subject to other regulations, which were issued in a separate order, entitled Guidance for Outdoor Events. Warren said that although Whistle Stop Park, at over three-quarters of an acre, is large enough to accommodate an event with up to 175...
As the heat sets in and our early spring flowers fade and give way to summer blooms and vegetable gardens, you might have pollination on your mind. If not, maybe you should! Simply put, pollination is the transfer of pollen from one flower to another flower of the same species. Flowers need to be pollinated to complete their life cycle by producing fruit and setting seed. This is particularly important if you're growing fruits and vegetables, but also important at a much larger scale for nuts,...
Q: Please tell our readers a bit about yourself. A. I am a 34-year resident of Boulder, with 33 of those years spent in House District 10. I worked as a software engineer here for more than thirty years, serving in roles as varied as individual contributor, senior director and program manager. While at Xilinx Inc., where I spent my last 20 years before eventually retiring, I was co-author on two patents. My wife Jane and I were drawn to Colorado for its outdoor beauty, spending our free time cyc...
Dawn Walton sensed that something was going on. She noticed that some of her neighbors in Niwot and Boulder County were averting their eyes when they saw her. She figured it had something to do with the protests that were dominating the news. People spilling into the streets to express outrage over the death of George Floyd under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer. So she spoke up on the social media site, Nextdoor. "I walk around Niwot often, with or without my husband and children, who...
The fireplace in the great room is cold. The chatter of afternoon cheese and crackers get-togethers has been silenced. "It's just different now," said Cornelia Sawle, owner of the Niwot Inn. Business came to a halt in March when the coronavirus pandemic forced the state to issue stay-at-home orders. More than two months later, things aren't looking up much, even as the economy slowly opens. "We watched every weekend in April cancelled, all the way into October," Sawle said. "We have lost all...
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