Briefs | Fringe Festival begins

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Fringe Festival begins

The Boulder International Fringe Festival opened this week with a variety of theater, dance, music, film and visual art performances.

The festival, which began on Aug.

18 and runs through Aug. 29, is being held at 18 locations across Boulder. Individual event prices vary, and passes are available at the Fringe Main Box Office, at 1301 Pearl St.

For more information, check out the festival program guide in this week’s issue or visit www. BoulderFringe.com.

Bike/hike lane on tap for NCAR road

Cyclists, hikers and runners using the road leading to Boulder’s National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and the trails behind the research lab will soon have a dedicated bicycle and pedestrian lane.

The construction project is expected to be completed in October. A new bike lane on the uphill side of the road, plus a concrete walk/run lane on the downhill side, will give cyclists and vehicles more room to safely pass people traveling by foot. There will be some disruption for users of the road for the next couple of months while construction is completed. While efforts will be made to provide cyclists, runners and hikers access to the road while construction is going on, there will be some safety restrictions in place. Updates will be distributed on the City of Boulder’s bike and pedestrian e-mail list. (Sign up at http://ci.boulder.co.us.)

Community Cycles, Naropa pair up

Community Cycles, a nonprofit organization that advocates for the safe use of bicycles, has reached a deal with Naropa University to manage the school’s bike-sharing program.

Community Cycles employees and volunteers will manage the 120-bicycle fleet at Naropa’s campus bike shack and will help students and faculty perform maintenance and repairs on their bikes.

Naropa students and faculty may check out a bike for free with their school ID card. Alumni and visitors may borrow a bike for $5 a day. Students may also enroll in a bike shack membership program in which a Community Cycles mentor will help them with bicycle maintenance.

“We’re thrilled to be managing Naropa’s bike shack,” said Community Cycles Executive Director Rich Points, a Naropa graduate. “This is a modest program that will help more students use bicycles to get around town and allow us to empower more people to fix and maintain their bicycles.”

Restoration near Chautauqua

The City of Boulder’s Open Space and Mountain Parks (OSMP) department will begin a multi-year restoration project in the McClintock trail area, which runs along the creek bed southwest of Chautauqua Park, at 900 Baseline Rd.

The restoration project will start this month and include the removal of exotic trees and shrubs and the planting of native species.

Staffers concentrate their removal efforts in small areas of the McClintock drainage area each year to retain vegetation structure and reduce impacts to sensitive species. Removal of exotic species is critical to providing habitats for many plant and animal species, including Preble’s meadow jumping mouse, black bear, carrion flower and song birds.

OSMP visitors are being asked to avoid the machinery and crews while they are cutting, dragging or chipping trees.

‘Iron Girl’ triathlon set for Aug. 28

On Aug. 28 at 7 a.m., nearly 1,500 women will assemble at the start line on the shores of the Boulder Reservoir, ready to put their physical strength and endurance to the test for the Aflac Iron Girl Boulder triathlon.

The triathlon involves a one-quarter-mile swim, a 17.2-mile bike ride and a 3.1-mile run.

Launched in 2004 with two events, Iron Girl has grown to include 12 events nationwide, varying in distance from 5K to duathlons and triathlons. Iron Girl’s mission is to empower women toward a healthy lifestyle.

Amenities include a post-race breakfast café, performance shirts sized for women, professional timing, personalized race bibs, custom finisher medals, TriClique jewelry age group awards, an on-demand results station, post-race giveaways and a reusable tote, part of Iron Girl’s and Aflac’s “Green” initiative. All participants will also receive a commemorative Aflac Iron Girl plush duck.

For more information, visit www.irongirl.com.

County donating trees

Boulder County Parks and Open Space is donating trees to local government agencies, Boulder County schools and community-based nonprofit organizations.

While Boulder County is donating the trees free of charge, there is a $40 fee to pay an approved vendor to dig and ball each tree. Transportation is the responsibility of the receiving agency.

In an effort to avoid negative impacts on local tree growers, the county is providing trees only to organizations that would not otherwise be able to purchase trees.

The deadline to submit requests for tree donations is Sept. 10.

Qualified organizations that would like to apply to receive trees through the program should contact Cathy Thiltgen at 303-678-6196 or cthiltgen@bouldercounty.org. For more information or to read more about eligibility, visit www.BoulderCountyOpenSpace.org.

Solar, green homes on tour

Local residents hoping to lighten their carbon footprints, slash their energy bills and add value to their homes can see how green-thinking homeowners are doing exactly that at this year’s Denver/Boulder Solar & Green Homes Tours, being held Sept. 25–26.

Landlords can also learn about green technologies to incorporate into their units to make them more desirable for renting.

The tours, organized by the Colorado Renewable Energy Society (www.cres-energy.org) and the Center for ReSource Conservation, (www.conservationcenter.org), will feature 27 green homes in Boulder, Denver, Louisville, Nederland, Golden and Evergreen.

Homes located in Denver’s City Park, North Denver and in the Evergreen/Golden corridor will be open to visitors from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sept. 25. Visitors may register online at www.cres-energy.org/events/ tour or in person at the NREL Visitors Center in Golden or at the Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver, at 3245 Elliot in Denver.

Visitors can tour 13 homes in Boulder, Louisville and Nederland from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sept. 26. Registration is available online at www.conservationcenter.org/energy/tour.html and in person at the Center for ReSource Conservation in Boulder, the Louisville Library and the Nederland Visitor Center.

The cost is $5 a person. Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com