Week of April 17, 2024
Week of April 17, 2024
Keynes Chen came to Niwot High School in January of 2019 with 15 students across three different ensembles. By the end of the following school year, he had 85 students across three groups and has since added two more ensembles, with another in development. "That first year really energized me," said Chen. Niwot now offers three orchestras, a small ensemble, and a mariachi ensemble, and will be looking to add another mariachi group to the list of available courses due to the growing interest and...
A new genre book was launched on Friday night, April 12, at the Winot Cafe in Niwot as Dr. William A. Liggett's new climate fiction thriller, "Panic Peak," was presented to an enthusiastic audience. At start time there were only a few open chairs, which soon were filled with many standing in the back of the room for the event. Over thirty people attended the presentation. Liggett first spoke about his story as an 18-year old who spent a summer at the Hoh River area in Washington state and Mount...
The annual meeting of the Niwot Community Association (NCA) will be held at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 23 at the Left Hand Grange No. 9. The guest speaker will be Don Haddad, St. Vrain Valley School District Superintendent, and will include a question and answer session. There will also be a speaker on the topic of urban interface wildfire mitigation. The annual meeting is also the occasion for NCA board elections. The board is seeking nominations for Secretary and Area 6 Representative. Area 6 includes Gunbarrel Estates and the Homestead...
The unimaginably tragic Marshall Fire at the end of 2021 alerted Coloradans to the increasing risks of natural disasters, not only in the mountains, but also in the flatlands. Earlier this month the windstorm in which 150,000 Front Range Xcel customers were without power for over 24 hours caused considerable damage to both businesses and homes. These events remind us of the importance of preventing or reducing the damage to our properties from wildfires, high winds, and heavy snowfalls which...
At approximately 3:00 p.m. on April 14, a small single-engine Mooney M20C aircraft made an emergency landing on the southbound lanes of Highway 287 just north of Niwot Road. The airplane, originally identified as a Cessna, was traveling from Cheyenne, Wyoming, to Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport and experienced mechanical issues resulting in the emergency landing. The pilot was identified by the Boulder County Sheriff's Office as a 36-year-old male who was the only person onboard the...
The Left Hand Valley Courier is spotlighting various local neighborhoods, their history, issues and general nature. This week, the Courier is spotlighting Cottonwood Park West. In the mid-20th century, Niwot began to grow from its origins as a small railroad town and farming community into a fully suburban community that provided housing, schools and amenities for families working in Boulder and Longmont. This was particularly true once IBM purchased land for its operations in the late 1950s,...
The Boulder County Consortium of Cities met on April 3 to offer progress updates in developing a regional plan regarding minimum wage for incorporated towns and cities in Boulder County. Boulder County Ordinance 2023-4 became effective on Jan. 1, 2024, setting a minimum wage of $15.69 per hour for businesses in Niwot and other unincorporated areas of the county, 15% above Colorado’s 2023 minimum wage and $1.27 higher than that of surrounding incorporated towns and cities that currently pay $14.42. The ordinance also gradually increases the...
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The mood inside Niwot's dugout could not have been more somber. Knowing how many accomplished bats the Cougars own, players and coaches alike were left discouraged following a 2-1 defeat at Severance High School on Saturday, April 13. Niwot mustered only five hits, one more than the Cougars produced two days prior in another loss to those same Silver Knights. Head coach Ken Rosales noted that Niwot's recent struggles at the plate appear more mental than physical. "We're a hitting team, but the...
Niwot High School girls varsity soccer is staying on the winning side of the equation over their last four games with a 2-1-1 record. They have that same 2-1-1 record in Longs Peak conference play and are 4-3-2 overall. The team has scored 18 goals so far this season, while giving up 17. On April 2, NHS beat Mountain View High School 3-0. Tracy Yu, Heather Humphrey and Brynn Schlarb scored for the Cougars. NHS did one better at their next game on April 4 against Severance High School with a 4-0...
No matter how dominant Niwot High School boys volleyball has been overall this season, falling to Poudre School District on Thursday, April 11, qualified as an absolute gut-punch. The visiting Cougars had their opportunities to put Poudre away for good in the fourth set but ultimately lost in a five-set thriller. Turning the page quickly while learning from what went wrong now becomes the challenge for Niwot, which dropped to 11-3 on the season. While head coach John Miller will offer his own...
The Silver Creek boys swim team is getting ready for a push as the state Class 4A swimming and diving meet approaches. The squad, which is based out of Silver Creek High School, is a combination of Silver Creek and Niwot High School swimmers and divers, under the direction of long-time coach Debbie Stewart, with athletes from a few other schools also participating. “We just had our biggest week,” Stewart said of dual meets against Windsor High School and Monarch High School, a 5A school, last week. “We beat them by 20 points,” Stewart...
Coming off of a long, six-game week, the Niwot High School boys volleyball team has wrapped up a short week, splitting two games. Niwot won the first match against Severance High School, but lost to the Poudre School District in a nail biter, coming down to the last set where Niwot fell, 3-2. Niwot's match against Severance was a clean sweep, as Niwot won all three sets, 25-18, 25-14, and 25-13. The Cougars notched 42 kills and nine aces against Severance, and also played a strong game...
At the Boulder County Track and Field Championships on Saturday, April 13, Niwot High School athletes topped the podium in 10 of the day’s 38 events. The NHS girls took first in the team standings while the Cougar boys placed second behind Erie High School. With about one month remaining until the state championships, several Niwot athletes once again proved themselves as legitimate Class 4A title contenders. Reese Kasper and Jade West continued their impressive junior seasons, standout sophomore Addison Ritzenhein recorded another two-mile...
The Niwot High School girls varsity tennis team has won three of the last four matches, and are currently undefeated in 4A Region 5 league play with an impressive 5-0 record. Their overall record stands at 6-4 against tough non-conference competition. After ten matches last season, the Cougars were 3-2 in their league and 5-5 overall. On April 3, the Cougars went on the road to Frederick High School and came away with a 7-0 sweep. The team won every match in straight sets and lots of bagels were served. Playing just a few days later at home...
Niwot High School is host to over 60 student-run clubs, and one stand-out is the Earth Club. Niwot High School's Earth Club is a club in which students of all grades "explore environmentalism through an ecological lens, combining gardening and environmental initiatives to build an understanding of the earth," according to Elena Krone, member and leader of Earth Club. Niwot High's Garden Club and Environmental Club became defunct during the 2022-23 school year. In response, students took action...
When Yaretzi Martinez Prieto was younger, she enjoyed the way music sounded. Her father wanted her to play in the orchestra, but she decided to join the school band instead, playing alto sax when she entered Longs Peak Middle School. But Prieto remained interested in orchestra, and later she began to learn guitar, which led her on the path to mariachi. "Since mariachi is part of my culture," Prieto said, "my parents were very supportive of my interest in it, and they helped me get into the...
Ok. There is nothing like a long power outage to put things in perspective. Recently, in anticipation of what became nearly 100 mph wind gusts, Xcel shut down the power in many areas to avoid potential wildfires. The wind itself also took out other power lines resulting in over 150,000 customers without power for anywhere from a few hours to four days. I was one of them. Maybe you were too. We think we are ready for something like that, but are we really? Even with (very) little notice, there...
Chinese* Chicken Salad Submitted by Suzanne Garner Always a crowd favorite. You can easily turn this recipe into a salad bar for any occasion. Dressing: 1/3 cup soy sauce 1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil 2 T honey 3 T ketchup 1 tsp ground mustard (modify portions to taste) Put in a jar and shake. Can be made ahead of time. Salad: 2 poached shredded chicken breasts (or more), shredded (Optional: Before poaching: Marinate overnight or for a few hours in salt and soy sauce. Or soak in milk or...
ACROSS 2. black 4. physical 7. Severance 8. Coppersmith 9. Earth 12. climate 13. social 15. Miller DOWN 1. Haddad 3. chipping 5. vihuela 6. orchestra 10. ten 11. slash 14....
Calling all photographers, intentional or accidental! The Left Hand Valley Courier’s Photo of the Week feature is open to any area resident who personally photographs Niwot-Gunbarrel area sights, including people (with permission, of course), buildings, animals, birds, plants, flowers, events, or anything else. Naturally, there are a few rules to follow: • The photograph must be submitted in jpg format via email to [email protected]@lhvc.com in high resolution. • Please include a caption describing the photo, your name, email...
