All Local, All The Time
All Local, All The Time
Sorted by date Results 3383 - 3432 of 4156
Maddie Dangerfield moved to Colorado from Maryland three summers ago, just before she started her freshman year at Niwot High School. Throughout middle school, she had been involved with Best Buddies. Best Buddies is an international organization for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and their peers without disabilities. The group’s website states, “Our programs empower the special abilities of people with IDD by helping them form meaningful friendships with the...
A public meeting was held at the Left Hand Grange last week to discuss an upcoming project in the Morton Heights neighborhood of Niwot. The project will update and improve sidewalks around Niwot Elementary School, specifically on Morton Road, Walker Avenue and Marathon Road. Dave Webster with the Boulder County Transportation Department led the meeting, which was attended by over 20 people. The project somewhat started with the asphalt bicycle and pedestrian track that was laid on Morton Road la...
Alzheimer’s support group An Alzheimer’s support group will meet on the first Wednesday of every month. This class is free and open to the public, no registration required. The events are from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Niwot United Methodist Church, 7405 Lookout Road, Gunbarrel. Open House Boulder Rural Fire Rescue will be hosting an open house with fire engines, hoses, a bouncy castle, face painting and many demonstrations throughout the event, which is free and open to the public. The event will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jun...
…In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes. Benjamin Franklin – 1789 There is one thing I’ve learned in life – everything has a consequence. But it’s the unintended consequences that often catch us by surprise. Tariffs have been in the news lately. Simply put, (thank you Google) a tariff is “a tax or duty to be paid on a particular class of imports or exports.” Tariffs are said to protect jobs and goods. If a tariff is placed on materials coming into the country, those materials, either finished or unfinished, w...
The 13th-annual Rock & Rails summer concert series kicks off on June 7 and organizers are gearing up for another great summer of live music and family fun on Thursday nights at Whistlestop Park. Opening acts take the stage at 5 p.m., for an hour, followed by a headliner, with music resuming around 6:30. There is no charge for admission, and seating is “bring-your-own” on a first-come, first-serve basis. Leading things off this season is longtime local guitarist Dean Himes in the early show, foll...
The Regional Transportation District (RTD) is holding public meetings May 23 and May 24 on the progress toward implementing Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service on State Highway 119, between and within the cities of Boulder and Longmont. The meetings, which are open to the public, will seek input and provide an update on the process. A consultant team, led by Parsons Transportation Group, is evaluating alternatives to the growing congestion and travel demand in the corridor as well as environmental impacts, multimodal access, transit reliability...
At Niwot High School, the name McKynzie Clark has become synonymous with “leader.” In fact, it might be easier to list the clubs and organizations that she hasn’t helmed over the past four years than the ones she has. A non-exhaustive list of her titles just from senior year includes President of National Honor Society, captain of the Forensics interpretive team, lead prosecutor for Mock Trial, and co-director of The Drowsy Chaperone. Her talents also extend to the classroom, where she’s...
Niwot’s Bootstrap Brewing Company added another accolade to its already long list when long-time customer favorite Wreak Havoc was awarded a Bronze medal in the Imperial Red Ale category at the 2018 World Beer Cup. “We are absolutely thrilled about it,” Leslie Kaczeus said. She owns Bootstrap Brewing with husband Steve Kaczeus. “The World Beer Cup is one of the most prestigious blind beer tasting competitions in the world.” Hailed as the “Olympics of Beer,” the biennial competition ... Full story
Boulder County Commissioners met with Xcel Energy officials on May 8 to discuss the current status of the energy company’s Valmont power plant. Following the cessation of most of the facility’s coal operations in 2017, cleanup and containment efforts have been in process. Both the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and the federal Environmental Protection Association regulations determine the specific directives to which Xcel must adhere throughout the process. Commissioners Elise Jones, Cindy Domenico, and Deb Gardner wer...
Heatherwood Elementary School (HES) won the lottery when Carrie O’Boyle moved to Gunbarrel seven years ago. Her husband Patrick was starting a new job in the area, so after more than 20 years in Madison, WI, the couple and their two young children headed to Colorado. The O’Boyle boys are Finn, now 11 and attending Platt Middle School, and Cormac (Mac), 9, a fourth-grader at HES. “Carrie, a valued volunteer at Heatherwood Elementary, is always willing to pitch in where needed and lend a helpi... Full story
Students in kindergarten through fifth grade at Rocky Mountain Christian Academy (RMCA) had a special guest during their book fair last week. Children’s author Julie Danneberg of Boulder, came to speak to the students and their teachers, and conducted a reading of her book, “John Muir Wrestles a Waterfall,” followed by a meet-and-greet signing. “John Muir Wrestles a Waterfall” is a fictional tale about the famous naturist and founder of the Sierra Club going behind the Yosemite Falls, and the wonderful things he sees. Sarah Overturf, librarian...
Although it may seem that Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid, Walmart, and Kroger (King Soopers) have cornered the market on drug sales, there are more than 22,000 independent pharmacies across the United States according to the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA). Flatirons Family Pharmacy, on the southwest corner of Highway 287 and Ken Pratt Boulevard, is one of the 150 plus independent pharmacies in Colorado, according to NCPA’s 2016 Digest report. Opened four years ago by o... Full story
Boulder County Transportation Department held an informational meeting May 14 at Niwot High School to update the public on the status of the Quiet Zone project along Highway 119 between Boulder and Longmont. Quiet zones are a system of warning signs and physical barriers (raised medians, quad gates, and channelizing devices) that fulfill the safety requirements of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and eliminate the need for train engineers to sound horns as they approach each crossing. To an audience of approximately 40 local...
Alzheimer’s support group An Alzheimer’s support group will meet on the first Wednesday of every month. This class is free and open to the public, no registration required. The events are from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Niwot United Methodist Church, 7405 Lookout Road, Gunbarrel. NHS band final concert The music department at Niwot High School will be hosting the final concert of the school year beginning at 6:15 p.m. on May 17. This evening will celebrate the accomplishments of music students and graduating seniors. There will be a silent auc...
To the Editor: Congratulations to Doug Courtley on his retirement! For the past 29 years Dr. Courtley has been providing health and happiness to our four-legged family members. He always showed respect, compassion, friendship and provided exceptional care to our furry friends. There truly aren’t enough words to express our gratitude and appreciation. We wish him all the best in his retirement and look forward to seeing him and Sandy around Niwot! We’re excited to meet Dr. Kalenzi and his team and expect that anyone Doug Courtley would agr... Full story
Calming, strengthening, healing, energizing, balancing, and clarifying are some of the primary benefits of practicing yoga. Jeff Bailey loves that his livelihood allows him the opportunity to help people improve their lives through yoga and he’s utterly passionate about it. Bailey has been a yoga instructor for 33 years. Growing up in Gunnison, CO, Bailey took his first yoga class when he was 22 years old, and it instantly felt transformative and vital to him. He was captivated by the functional...
From healthy food to exceptional employer practices Raglin Market hopes to hit all the high notes. The new eatery, slated to open on the corner of Gunbarrel Center Court and Lookout Road this August, will be partnering with local food producers to offer the freshest food. They also intend to provide a uniquely supportive work environment for their crew. Director of Operations Kevin Hartmann describes the new restaurant as fast and casual, and then even a step higher. Diners start out ordering...
The fifth-grade Junior Scouts of Troop 179 have been working hard this school year to earn their Bronze Award, which is the highest award that Junior Girl Scouts can earn. One requirement for the Bronze Award is recognizing a need in the community, making a plan and putting it into action. In this case, the girls talked about how the playground designs at Heatherwood Elementary were faded and hadn't been updated in years. As outgoing fifth-graders, they wanted to give back to their school. A sma...
Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) is a national organization, and two students from Niwot High School will be representing the state of Colorado at the national competition this summer. Juniors Ayesha Hayat and Hannahy Chacon Gonzalez are heading out with one other representative from Colorado thanks to their project on diversity at Niwot Elementary School. Their project was called “Focus on Children,” and included educating the NES students about four different cultures including coloring pages with themes related to the...
Hans Kissner opened Cutter’s Edge Hair Salon in Gunbarrel more than 30 years ago. Over the years he developed a stellar reputation as both a business owner and a stylist. So it was no accident that he assembled a solid team of professional stylists. After having gradually stepped back from the salon’s day-to-day operations for several years, Kissner and his wife Murielle decided to formally offer the salon’s core team of long-time employees the reigns. In February 2018, Mary Romero, Sarah Benso...
Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church has been a mainstay in the Gunbarrel neighborhood since 1974. Today, Pastor Janet Kettering is making sure that the church’s role in the community continues. A former court reporter in Minnesota, Kettering has been a Lutheran pastor for nine years and began her ministry at Shepherd of the Hills in November 2016. Kettering is carrying on the church’s long-held mission set by its first pastor, Glenn Lundahl, that the church belongs to the community. “We certai... Full story
May 1, launch day for the book Chasing New Horizons, marked the beginning of a 21-day, 11-state book tour for author Alan Stern of Niwot. While this journey is very exciting, it’s comparatively short for the scientist, whose new book chronicles spacecraft New Horizons’ three-billion mile adventure to Pluto and beyond. Stern, the mission’s principal investigator, and his co-author, David Grinspoon, take readers deep inside the project to get an understanding of its intensity and how what start...
Husband and father Doug Squire of Niwot passed away in August of 2017 at the age of 46. His fight against colon cancer lasted four and a half years, more than the three years his doctor had anticipated. There was no reason to believe Squire was anything but perfectly healthy, even when, at age 39 he began to experience what he thought were simply “stomach issues.” His wife Heather said they thought perhaps he had food allergies, such as celiac disease. So, for more than a year they made sev...
The Niwot Community Association will hold its annual Clean Up Day from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 12 in the parking lot at Niwot High School, 8989 Niwot Road, Niwot. The event is free for NCA members; non-members will pay a $40 per carload fee. “We collected quite a bit last year and we expect a pretty good turnout this year,” NCA member and event organizer Tom Sesnic told NCA Board members at the May 2 meeting. “We suggest that people come early, because once our collection dumpsters are full we will have to close up.” In 2017, the pop...
At the regular monthly meeting on May 1, the Niwot LID Advisory Committee got a sneak peek at the Niwot Business Association’s new branding campaign, and heard about some important changes in store for this year’s Rock & Rails Summer concert series. Boulder County liaison Mark Ruzzin kicked off the meeting with a brief discussion about officer elections, a subject curiously left out of the Committee’s bylaws. Leadership of the nine-member Committee consists of a Chair, who conducts the meeti... Full story
Last month, St. Vrain Valley School District superintendent Don Haddad was announced as one of four finalists for Clark County School District’s (CCSD) search for a new superintendent. CCSD serves over 75 percent of the students in the state of Nevada, including the Las Vegas area. CCSD’s school board’s selection was originally expected to be announced April 19. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, immediately following the announcement of the final candidates, the school board trustees balked at the absence of nominees from within the d...
“Service above Self” is the motto of the international Rotarian Club and it fittingly captures the spirit of the organization and its members. Beginning in 2006, Rotary Clubs around the world designated the last Saturday of April as the day members perform hands-on work in their communities and the day was titled Rotarians at Work Day (RAW). The Rotary Club of Niwot decided that this RAW they would help the Niwot Historical Society remove a large raised planting bed adjacent to the Niwot Fir...
Up-A-Creek Robotics Team 1619, comprised of primarily St. Vrain Valley School District students, came away from the 2018 FIRST Robotics World Championship competition in Houston with a third-place alliance finish, making this the most successful finish to a season for the team. Adding to the excitement of the finale, the team also earned the General Motors Industrial Design Award, which recognizes “form and function” for the robot that best performs each year’s assigned challenge. Prior to th...
The Niwot Rotary Club will be having its eighth-annual Wine, Cheese and Chocolate tasting on May 4 at the Longmont Museum on Quail Road. The event will begin at 5:30 p.m. with a silent auction to accompany the refreshments. Rotarian Chris Wiorek said that the event is slated to help both Colorado Friendship and the Longmont Meals on Wheels program this year. “It’s called Wine, Cheese and Chocolate tasting and that’s exactly what we do,” Wiorek said. “This year we have 10 different wines from aro... Full story
WINE, CHEESE AND CHOCOLATE The Rotary Club of Niwot’s annual Wine, Cheese and Chocolate tasting will be held Friday, May 4 at the Longmont Museum, beginning at 5:30 p.m. The event also features a live auction and a silent auction, with proceeds benefitting Colorado Friendship and Longmont Meals On Wheels. HOME RUN DERBY Niwot Youth Sports will hold their MLB Jr. Home Run Derby from 4 to 7 p.m. on May 5 at the Biff Warren Sports Complex (6750 Nimbus Road, Longmont). The event is free, boys and girls will be split into 12U and 14U age groups w... Full story
The Niwot High School Education Foundation will be holding an online auction this week with benefits set to go to a great cause — the students. With more than 100 items on the list ranging from gift certificates to many area restaurants, to financial plans from the likes of Maryann Ruck at Integrated Wealth Strategies, to free consultations from attorneys at Warren, Carlson & Moore, to entries to the Bolder Boulder race, to coupons for senior portrait packages, the auction has something for just about everyone. Paula Hemenway, a board member o... Full story
More than a dozen volunteers donated their time and energy to plant hundreds of perennials and spread wheelbarrows full of mulch at Left Hand Valley Grange Park on the corner of Niwot Road and 83rd Street, Saturday, April 28. Boulder County Parks and Open Space workers were on hand to assist and direct the community helpers. Beautiful warm weather and lightly cloudy skies provided a gorgeous day for the workers and a first-rate day for the plants to start to spread their root...
Forty years of immersing himself in Rocky Mountain majesty and magnificence, countless miles of hiking and skiing to rugged, remote, and idyllic locations, and hours of patiently waiting for the perfect lighting, hues, and wildlife to be present has ensured that John Fielder’s epic images are now synonymous with the wondrous state of Colorado. Fielder spent the good part of last Tuesday at Longmont’s Flagstaff Academy. His initial meeting was with art teacher Natalie Reed’s photography 2 class... Full story
When Sunset Middle School eighth-grader Sadie Connolly had a service project coming up, she knew exactly what she wanted to do, but wasn’t quite sure how well it would work. She found the inspiration in the family dog, Bear, a white German shepherd mix that was adopted from Lightshine Canine Rescue. The shelter helps pets that have been rescued from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, and Bear happened to be at a foster home in Erie. “We got our dog a little over a year ago... Full story
Longtime president of the Niwot Community Association (NCA), Dick Piland, presided over his final meeting, Wednesday, April 18, at the Left Hand Grange Hall. Piland announced at the January NCA board meeting that he would not seek re-election this year, marking the end of five years heading up the board. Voting for available board positions concluded at the annual meeting, signifying the conclusion of two-year terms for half of the board. Each nominee ran unopposed. The other half of the board...
What began in Europe as a movement to protect and celebrate local food production in the late 1980s blossomed into a global organization with the goal of ensuring that healthy seasonal food is accessible to everyone. Boulder’s local chapter of Slow Food has recently reactivated and expanded service to all of Boulder County. According to www.slowfood.com, the organization was named because, “It’s a way of saying no to the rise of fast food and fast life. Slow Food means living an unhurried life, taking time to enjoy simple pleasures, start... Full story
Residents in unincorporated Boulder County — specifically in the Niwot and Gunbarrel area — have been reporting a string of car thefts and break-ins recently. According to the Boulder County Sheriff’s Department, there have been 10 motor vehicle thefts and eight criminal trespasses in the vicinity of Niwot and Gunbarrel over the last month. Carrie Haverfield, public information specialist for BCSO, said that this is an uptick in the average number of similar cases they would expect to see. “I don’t know that I would say it’s abnormal, w... Full story
How do you capture the careers of two teachers whose combined experience totals over 50 years of teaching at Sunset Middle School? It’s a challenge to do in just a few paragraphs. This May, longtime Sunset Middle School teachers Laura Lewis (drama) and Myron Whisman (band) will be saying good-bye to students, parents and colleagues as they transition into retirement. Laura Lewis went into teaching because her father was a junior high school teacher, and she saw firsthand the importance of w...
There have been restaurants and stores to support Gunbarrel residents for quite some time now. But with the recent addition of large multi-family developments (over 300 new units) and many new businesses in the last few years, the sense of a warm, small town with a heart center is really starting to inch in. Two Boulder-raised, longtime friends are adding to the village atmosphere with the opening of a café-by-day/libation-by-eve enterprise. Come the first week of May, Gunbarrel resident Mike... Full story
It might be presumptuous to say that more handwritten messages made their way through Niwot Elementary School (NES) than digital messages for a five day period, but it could be a close match. Here’s the figure — at least 1500 Lucky Grams were directed to students. And the sweet bonus an electronic message couldn’t begin to compete with — there was a Jolly Rancher or Starburst taped on each Gram. Every year, the 12-member NES Student Council sells the candy-decorated Lucky Grams to raise money f... Full story
The Boulder County Clerk and Recorder’s Election Division, in conjunction with the Colorado Secretary of State, has begun a voter education campaign that aims to inform unaffiliated voters about their ability to vote in the upcoming June Primary and the options they have in selecting and casting their ballots. Colorado voters approved Proposition 108 in 2016, which allows unaffiliated voters (sometimes referred to as “independent” voters) to now participate in Colorado primary elections beginning with this year’s June 26 Primary. Here is how... Full story
Parking spots were scarce at the Lefthand Valley Grange Park early last week while several crews were hustling to make headway on some finishing touches to the project. Three key elements were in the works this week – landscaping, work on the map kiosk, and laying down materials on the new trails. Boulder County Parks and Open Space (POS) employees Cathy Thiltgen, an arborist, and Ari Addes, a POS volunteer coordinator, were working with volunteers to plant trees. Brian Bartel, a Boulder C...
Googling Starbuds Niwot Marijuana Dispensary brings up nearly 50 reviews and a rating of five out five stars — happy customers across the board. And chances are that most of those reviews are from patrons who live within a relatively close radius of the store located on the southwest corner of Cottonwood Square Shopping Center. One review reads, “Finally an awesome dispensary near me! Great little place, family owned operated and man do they have selection. Customer service is top notch.” Owner...
The St. Vrain Valley School District has designated Friday, April 27 as a non-student contact day “in anticipation of high levels of teacher participation” at the Colorado Education Association’s Days of Action demonstration scheduled for Thursday and Friday at the Colorado state capitol in Denver. Citing concerns about “adequate supervision and instruction,” Superintendent Don Haddad called the cancellation “necessary” in an email sent to parents on April 18. “While this is a statewide initi... Full story
Alzheimer’s support group An Alzheimer’s support group will meet on the first Wednesday of every month. This class is free and open to the public, no registration required. The events are from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Niwot United Methodist Church, 7405 Lookout Road, Gunbarrel. Community Book Discussion The "Beyond Bestsellers" book discussion group meets at 7 p.m. at Inkberry Books in Niwot at Cottonwood Square Shopping Center, on the last week of each month (days to be determined monthly). Members propose books for discussion and the group sel... Full story
Niwot’s Michelle Law has dedicated herself to the boys in her life and the community, earning her the Courier’s Left Hand Laurel. Law is the mother of three boys and also a long-time leader of Boy Scout Troop 161, holding different positions over the years, including serving as the troop’s Advancement Chair for the past two years. A resident of Niwot since 2000, she was a member of the Left Hand Grange when she learned the Grange, as the chartering organization for Troop 161’s Boy Scouts...
The Niwot United Methodist Church will be hosting the 22nd annual Soup, Soup and More community dinner and fundraiser event from 4 to 7 p.m. on April 21. Proceeds this year will not only help the Our Center of Longmont, but will help the church’s choir travel to New York later this year to perform at Carnegie Hall. “We’re going to split the proceeds between the two this year,” Janet Gates, one of the event’s organizers, said. “The choir has been invited to perform in November, so we’ll use s...
An eye-catching sign recently went up next to the familiar Ajuua Mexican Restaurant sign in Cottonwood Square Shopping Center. The two signs will continue to sit side-by-side for a bit to indicate to the community that Raza Fresa Mexican Kitchen is the new Mexican restaurant in town, but is still related to Ajuua. The Mexican slang term, “raza fresa,” means the hip crowd and, along with that theme, the vibe of Ajuua has just become a whole lot cooler. Gone are the large wooden booths and Cal... Full story
The Left Hand Valley Courier received its first ever editorial award in the 2017 Colorado Press Association Better Newspaper contest. Reporter Vicky Dorvee took second place in the category Best Health Enterprise/Health Feature for her story “The gift of a lifetime,” which tells the story of long-time Niwot resident Jim Eastman and his search for a kidney donor. “The story does a good job of merging the individual stories of the men involved. A very interesting read,” were one judge’s comments...
Dr. Patrick Kalenzi took over Niwot Veterinary Clinic late last month following the retirement of Dr. Doug Courtley. Courtley had spent the last 32 years running the clinic, finishing off his total of 48 years as a veterinarian. “I’ve enjoyed practice, it’s gone by quickly,” Courtley said. “I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world, but it was time to hang up the stethoscope.” Courtley is joining his wife Sandy in retirement, planning to spend time with their children and grandchildren... Full story
