All Local, All The Time
All Local, All The Time
Sorted by date Results 51 - 94 of 94
The work for Gunbarrel residents to keep Heatherwood free from fracking has only just begun, according to Keep Heatherwood Frack-Free. After the well-attended town hall meeting in Gunbarrel, organizers from the leadership team have started reaching out to potential volunteers to harness the mixed feelings of disbelief, indignation and concern that community members shared at the Dec. 19 meeting. Organizers of Keep Heatherwood Frack-Free said they have been working to create a group that is more inclusive of Boulder County in general to address...
New hands have taken over Niwot Massage, and the new owner is serious about rejuvenating--both bodies and the business. Laura Graziano might seem a familiar face to Niwot residents. She worked at Colterra for five years before the restaurant was closed due to a kitchen fire in October 2017. A Licensed Massage Therapist for the past two years, Graziano was building a private practice in south Boulder when the opportunity to take over Niwot Massage became available to her. The former owner of...
Gunbarrel native Catherine (Smith) Rossett has been appointed as the new executive director of the Colorado Historical Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports history and historic preservation projects in our state. Rossett, daughter of Gunbarrel residents Liz and Fred Smith, is only the second person to act as full-time director of the foundation in its 53-year history. The previous director was Lane Ittelson, who held the position for 19 years. A non-profit organizational leader...
Justus “Jay” Nichols is a United States postman whose route is in the Gunbarrel Estates/Boulder Tech Center neighborhood. He’s been delivering folks their mail there since 2005, but residents along Jay’s route know that he brings more than just letters and packages. He brings goodness. Nicknamed “Jumping Jay” by some of the neighborhood kids for the way he jumps in and out of his mail truck, Jay began getting to know his customers on his first day. At his very first mailbox, he noticed a d...
Nicotine, a legal substance, is as addictive as heroin or cocaine. In the 1990s, 46 states brought lawsuits against the big tobacco companies, hoping to hold them responsible for the healthcare costs—and deaths—associated with their products. It was a long fight, and ultimately successful. The companies were ordered to spend millions on anti-tobacco campaigns, with the purpose of educating people to the real dangers of tobacco use and nicotine, and expressly keeping cigarettes out of the hands of children. But nicotine has found a new del...
Over 160 people attended the Wednesday, Dec. 19 meeting to learn more about how to oppose oil and gas developers who have set their sights on Heatherwood. Attendees overflowed the parking lot and filled up the sanctuary at Niwot United Methodist Church for two hours of speakers, presentations and a Q & A period. The town hall, organized by the Frack-Free Heatherwood leadership team of Victoria Bard, Lon Goldstein, Amanda Janusz, Gabrielle Katz, Adam Pastula, Leesah and Gavin Patt, and Ryan...
At 17, Josie Whitley is clearly focused on her goals, figuratively and literally. The Niwot High senior is already an accomplished photographer, and has her sights set on one day working for the most well-known publication in our country’s history. “Working for National Geographic,” said Whitley, “that’s my dream in life. It’s a big dream.” Whitley, who grew up in Niwot and Gunbarrel, is displaying her work on the walls at Winot Coffee Company through the end of December, and it doesn’t take...
Some enterprising St. Vrain Valley business owners and entrepreneurs are trying to make a regular habit of meeting up to support each other while helping St. Vrain Valley women in need. The women, who all live within the St. Vrain Valley School District boundaries, gathered together for a pop-up shopping event at Cave Girl Coffee in the Prospect neighborhood of Longmont on Dec. 13. Selling goods and services ranging from hand-crafted natural hand creams to autism-spectrum tutoring, the...
A group of local quilters has just finished stitching a batch of 48 quilts that they made to send a little comfort to the victims devastated by the Paradise, CA, fires. The quilters come from Boulder County, Denver and Fort Collins, meeting once a month in Gunbarrel at eQuilter’s classroom, to create comfort quilts which are sent all over the world to areas that have suffered natural disasters. The owners of eQuilter, their customers and their friends donate their time, effort and materials for...
The Niwot United Methodist Church Choir’s (NUMCC) performance at New York City’s Carnegie Hall on Nov. 18 was a memorable experience for the small but accomplished group of local singers. NUMCC, under the direction of Liz Olson, had been rehearsing for a few months prior to their performance of Pepper Choplin’s Christmas Presence cantata as part of a 275-member choir. Choplin, who also conducted and directed the choir’s performance, drew rave reviews from the members of NUMCC. “Pepper Choplin ha...
This year’s Nutcracker performance by the Centennial State Ballet will be giving a special present to the audience. In addition to the usual professional production quality that the company delivers annually at Niwot High School, there will be an all-new orchestra playing some of Tchaikovsky’s most memorable compositions. The Centennial State Ballet (CSB) chamber orchestra is composed of musicians hand-picked by the CSB’s conductor, Rick Thomas. According to Heidi Lawrence, CSB’s marketi...
Twelve years ago, Niwot resident Jilly Gossett came across a basic sauce recipe. She began to tinker and tweaked the recipe to make it her own. One day, her husband said, “This sauce is outrageous! You have to start giving this as gifts.” She did, and the list got longer and longer each year. One year, as she was giving a jar to the pastor at her church, he grabbed it excitedly and exclaimed,”Oh, good! Jilly’s little jar of crack!” While she thought it was a little ridiculous that her pastor wa...
It all started with a letter that many Heatherwood homeowners received during the week of Thanksgiving, and it has quickly turned into a community coming together to educate themselves so that they can protect their homes and families. The letter from Rocky Mountain Hydrocarbon, LLC, was sent to homeowners who were identified through county records as owners of the mineral rights of the land their homes are built upon. Through the venue of the social media app, Nextdoor, residents voiced...
Colorado has rocks that, well, rock. They are called lithophones, and a local archaeologist who first came across these strangely shaped stones 40 years ago is finally sharing their musical story. Longmont archaeologist Marilyn Martorano first laid eyes on the long, baguette-shaped rocks almost four decades ago, as a volunteer at what is now Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in southern Colorado. The clearly hand-shaped stones, which had been discovered in the area, were housed in the...
When the last of the harvest has been pulled from the garden, it’s time to put those beds to, well, bed. Preparing your garden for winter will make for healthier, heartier plants and soil next spring. If you put in a little extra work now, it will pay off once the weeds usually make their appearance when the weather warms. Believe it or not, weeds don’t wake up in the spring. They start planning garden domination during the quiet winter months, when no one is giving them a second thought. Fir...
Poverty is a very real, yet complex issue in Boulder County. The federal government considers the poverty level to be a family of four living on $25,000 or less a year. In Boulder County, however, that family of four would need to earn over $86,000 a year to pay for all the things needed to raise a family--housing, medical care, food, transportation, clothing, taxes and all those necessities that add up. Every year, the Boulder County Circles Campaign presents a poverty simulation event that is...
Colorado is a beautiful place. It is filled with open, wild spaces, and that unbridled nature is why many of us live here. With open, wild spaces comes wildlife. Lately, our local news has been filled with sightings of mountain lions and foxes in our own backyards. Much of this is attributed to human development encroaching on their habitat. As winter approaches, they need to hunt a lot now to survive later. Learning how to coexist with these non-domesticated critters is essential if you’re a pet owner. CATS Most cats love to be outside, becaus...
Halloween is an exciting time for most children - running through the dark streets with friends, knocking on doors, getting free treats, and being someone else for one day a year. And two local community volunteers believe it’s a day that should be available to any child who wants to participate, regardless of whether or not their family can afford a snazzy costume. Leesah Patt and Peri Shaplow met over a post on the NextDoor social media app, quickly connected and after a short phone call, got to work to make their latest community effort a r...
Boulder County residents are fortunate to have so many excellent options to choose from when it comes to education. The St. Vrain Valley School District, the Boulder Valley School District and an ever-increasing choice of private schools in Boulder County consistently rate above all state statistics in achievement. While we weren’t able to feature every educational option in Boulder County, the public and private schools profiled in this special section present a variety of primary and secondary educational choices to explore. Whether y...
This Halloween, the ghouls and goblins of Flagstaff Academy will be some of the healthiest trick-or-treaters around town, and also some of the most generous. Flagstaff students are encouraged to take part in an initiative created by the school’s Dragon Wellness Committee. The committee, part of the PTO, created this year’s Candy Climb in an effort to encourage healthy habits and activities. Spurred on by parents Tami Beaton and Jodie Popma, the initiative is a contest to get each student to don...
Technology seems to have suppressed the ability for many of us to connect with our fellow human beings. Standing in line used to mean starting conversations with strangers and waiting for the bus gave us time to know our neighbors. Those opportunities to connect have been replaced with the all-too-common scene of 10 people waiting for the bus, with nine of them staring at their phones. But what if our phones and computers could bring us back to finding friends and making those everyday, human...
NextDoor, the social media app designed to build communities, has about 833 members in its Heatherwood division. Any member who is paying attention will notice that one name shows up over and over again—Leesah Patt. It’s not because she’s complaining about negligent neighbors, or trying to pick a fight over political viewpoints. When Leesah Patt’s name shows up, it’s because she’s offering to do something for folks in the community. Leesah lives in Heatherwood with her husband, Gavin, in t...
A rainbow has many symbolic meanings attached to it—one of the most common is that of prosperity and good luck—which makes it a fitting symbol for the eQuilter logo that now sits atop the company’s brand-new location on Spine Road in Gunbarrel. Luana and Paul Rubin started their online quilting supply business, eQuilter, in their basement in 1999. Within 60 days, they had exceeded their three-year business plan, and had to find a bigger space to rent. Now as eQuilter moves toward its 20th anniv...
In a little over a month, Niwot United Methodist Church’s choir will be performing at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) saw one of the local choir’s performance videos on YouTube, and contacted Choir Director Liz Olsen with the exclusive invitation. The request came out of the blue, but was met with great enthusiasm. “We’ll be performing a Christmas cantata at Carnegie Hall on Nov. 18,” Olsen said. A cantata is a vocal composition with an i...
There are traits that the male and female genders share, and many things that differentiate the two. And while some traits are fluid and can be present in either, there has been enough research to tell us that when it comes right down to it, boys and girls learn differently. Dr. Michael Gurian wrote a New York Times best-selling book on that very subject 10 years ago, effectively changing the conversation about gender differences in learning, and providing a guidebook for parents and teachers...
Store manager Brandon Chisam may look familiar because he is a longtime resident of the Left Hand Valley area, and has been working at Gunbarrel Liquor for many years. Considering his friendly, helpful and polite demeanor, if you’ve ever stopped in for a bottle of red or a six-pack of Colorado’s finest, chances are, you’ve run across Brandon. Left Hand Valley Courier (LHVC): Where are you from? Brandon Chisam (BC): Independence, Missouri. LHVC: How long have you been in this area and what broug...
September 2018 was a big month for Flagstaff Academy Preschool. The program reached its 10th anniversary, and it also achieved a level five quality rating from Colorado Shines. Colorado Shines, a Colorado Department of Human Services and Department of Education free resource, enables families to find licensed programs in their communities that are committed to offering quality services. Using a comprehensive approach to evaluate early learning programs, the organization looks at health and...
If you grew up in America, chances are you’ve had at least some exposure to Mickey Mouse and his creator, Walt Disney. It’s more likely that a larger part of your childhood, and your children’s childhoods, has been influenced by the imagination of those pioneers who were at the forefront of creating the cultural phenomenon that is the world of Disney. On Oct. 18 at the Left Hand Grange, Niwot resident Laurie Algar will share a unique insider’s perspective on what the early days of the Magic K...
The removal of ash trees infested with the emerald ash borer beetle (EAB) located in the Boulder County right-of-way will begin this October. If you’ve been notified that any of your ash trees are subject to removal, now is the time to act. Trees that have been marked with a blue ‘X’ will be removed starting this October, and then more removals will occur throughout 2019-2020. In the spring, Boulder County also marked trees with orange plastic bands, notifying adjacent residents that marke...
When out for a stroll, With your pooch or a friend, You may see this box, As you come ‘round the bend. No typical box, this, But you’ll soon see why, For while it’s made for the ground, It can fly in the sky. From world to weird world, Though time and deep space, It’s wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey, All over the starry place. “Bigger on the inside!”, Is what they all exclaim, And this small blue cop box, Holds fast to that claim. When you open the door, To what’s hiding inside, Enough words on paper, To take you far and wide. Beyond the bounds of...
Almost from the first day of school, most kids start looking forward to summer vacation. The average school year is about 180 days, which is a long time to wait if you’re a kid. Fortunately, aside from winter and spring breaks, the academic year is peppered with a day off here and there, so a kid can get a break from the daily grind. Then add in a few late start days, or early release days, just to keep things interesting. For working parents, these seemingly random days off can present a challenge—what will I do with my kiddo while I’m at work...
The words “social media” don’t always inspire warm, secure feelings in most of us. Nextdoor, the private neighborhood-focused social media app designed to connect neighbors, is an online platform with good intentions that can sometimes degenerate into just another place for folks to air grievances or behave in a less-than-neighborly fashion. And while Nextdoor’s mission is “to provide a trusted platform where neighbors work together to build stronger, safer, happier communities, all over the wor...
Not everyone learns the same way. For a person with a learning difference, such as dyslexia, dysgraphia or dyscalculia, those differences can create a gap in learning that can last a lifetime. Hillside School in Gunbarrel has a mission to close that academic gap for each and every child that walks through the doors. The small half-day school has been providing options for families and helping hundreds of students since 2005. Kathy Sherman, Hillside’s director and co-founder, has devoted her e...
While the long, hot dogs days of summer ended in mid-August, if you are a dog owner, you know that every day is a dog day. Feed the dog. Pet the dog. And walk the dog. Every dog, no matter how small, needs to get out and about for their health and sanity. Whether it’s an elderly greyhound, a three-legged retriever or a border collie puppy, dogs need walks. And it’s good to know some local dog rules and etiquette when you’re out roving with Rover. Boulder County requires all dogs to wear a curre...
Initiative 97—the Fracking Distance Initiative—will be on the ballot this November, thanks to volunteers who collected the 98,942 signatures required to get it on the statewide ballot. What does Initiative 97 entail? Currently, oil and gas wells that utilize hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, are allowed to be drilled 500 feet from homes and 1,000 feet from schools. If Initiative 97 passes in November, that distance will increase to 2,500 feet from any occupied structure, to also include dri...
Boulder Country Day (BCD), a K through eighth grade school in Gunbarrel, will be 30 years old on Sept. 16, marking three decades of commitment to academic excellence and character development for local students. BCD’s focus on small class sizes has been one of its guiding tenets. The school limits enrollment to 18 students in each elementary grade, and it’s a commitment the school intends to keep as it moves into the future. “Our middle school is a little more flexible, as far as class sizes...
While the days are soon to get cooler, many folks are currently up to their elbows in weeding, watering and hopefully harvesting. Those that have lush and bountiful gardens have probably been working hard since early March. Bounties are now being harvested and giant zucchini are being left on doorsteps under cover of darkness. No rest for the wicked. For those who want to keep that harvest going, or for the latecomers who couldn’t quite get their spring garden prepared in time, there’s always co...
Nearly 300 people attended the Aug. 21 grand opening celebration of the Dining Commons at Alexander Dawson School in Lafayette. The Dining Commons is the first new building to be built on Dawson’s 107-acre campus in 20 years. The LEEDS-certified space will also function as a large-scale meeting and event space for the school, which is at a record-high enrollment of 535 students. The new building’s footprint is more than double that of the former dining hall, which will soon be renovated int...
In 2016, The Atlantic featured a story determining the markers of thriving American communities—towns and cities that were able to be successful after the 2009 recession. Among the findings of the three-year project was the common factor that those communities all had craft breweries. Small breweries often revitalize older neighborhoods, bring life to industrial parks and create public meeting spaces for the locals. It’s clear that Colorado, with our mind-boggling array of craft breweries and...
Three Gunbarrel kids are tackling obstacles, but not out of necessity. They’re doing it for fun. The three Heinrichs girls—Anabella (14), her sister Secorra (11), and cousin Sorenne (9)—are all Junior American Ninja Warriors. They run, balance, jump, hang, scramble, climb, fall, get up and do it over and over again, simply because they love it. Based on a Japanese show, American Ninja Warrior is a burgeoning sport that began as a television reality show of the same name, in which compe...
Toastmasters International, the community group that has helped millions of people find their voice, tell their stories with confidence and gain valuable leadership skills since 1924, has come to Gunbarrel and Niwot. Victoria Bard of Gunbarrel and Dia Kline of Niwot co-sponsor the Gunbarrel Community Toastmasters Club that Bard started last year using a neighborhood online bulletin board middle-of-the-night call-out for interested members. “My first post was at 2 a.m. on July 27 and within 20 h...
We have a lot here in Boulder County—high quality of life, beautiful surroundings, friendly people, a high intellectual capacity and abundant cultural activities. We also have poverty. Right now, one out of every seven Boulder County residents is living in poverty. That’s 44,000 neighbors, coworkers, and schoolchildren who are struggling to get by every day. While it’s easy to equate poverty with the homeless person standing at the intersection, holding a clever sign, the sobering truth is that...
You tilled, planted, hoed and weeded, so all that’s left to do is sit back in the July heat with a tall glass of lemonade and enjoy those beautiful blossoms. Well, not if you want to do it right. With a little bit of daily maintenance, you can enjoy nature’s second bloom as summer’s heat wears on. That daily task is known as deadheading, and it has nothing to do with dreadlocks or tie-dye shirts, unless you want it to. Deadheading is the term for the simple process of removing the dead or faded...
Have you looked up into your apple tree this year and noticed some of the leaves and branches are brown and withered, almost as if they’ve curled up and died? Chances are, it’s fire blight. Fire blight is an endemic disease caused by the bacteria Erwina amylovora, and right now it’s having a banner year in Gunbarrel and surrounding areas. Typically affecting fruit trees such as apple, crabapple and pear, fire blight can also infect quince, mountain ash, hawthorn and serviceberry trees. While...
