Some people consider it family time when they pile on the couch for the latest installment of The Biggest Loser or Survivor: South Pacific. But chances are, you’re going to leave your kids with more lasting memories and intellectual stimulation if you switch off the talking box and play a board game together. Especially if it is snowing outside, the fireplace is roaring and you’ve got some hot chocolate on hand.

Sometimes it’s good to get back to the basics when shopping for kids’ holiday gifts. When it comes to steering away from the high-tech mayhem, several Boulder toy stores can offer guidance to the hottest presents for children this season, from old, simple classics like the hula hoop to the newest craze in tiny bug-like robots.

Dismayed by a county advisory group’s recommendation to allow genetically modified organisms (GMOs) to be grown on open space, this week the group GMKnow is releasing an alternate cropland policy for the county commissioners to consider.

Imagine if someone launched a movement that was not about money, religion or politics — an effort that was simply based on the idea of spreading love from one person to another. That seems to be the story behind that brightly colored truck and camper shell plastered with messages like “You are a miracle” and “Love wins” that has been making its way around Boulder County and the Denver metro area.

A representative from the anti-municipalization campaign in Boulder is claiming that a former canvasser misrepresented himself when he was hired to go door-to-door.

In a local example of what the Occupy Wall Street movement is railing about, big telecommunications companies are once again pouring cash into a campaign to defeat a measure that would allow Longmont to use its own fiber-optic network.

The city of Boulder has entered into negotiations with Boulder Creek Events for a contract to put on the Boulder Creek Festival. Boulder Creek Events (BCE) has traditionally run the Memorial Day weekend event, but the company and its CEO, Chris Dailey, have been in a dispute with the city for years about who actually owns the event.

The City of Boulder has ramped up its enforcement of the city’s rental licensing code, targeting property owners who are illegally leasing units to renters. While the effort has a long way to go, it is a timely development as University of Colorado students pour back into town, entering new rental leases.

A crop consultant told a committee reviewing the use of genetically engineered plants on open space Wednesday about a new organism that scientists believe is connected to the health problems being seen in plants and animals exposed to the herbicide Roundup.

One of the lawyers on the losing side of last week’s court decision allowing public bodies to vote in secret says his legal team will ask the Colorado Supreme Court to review the ruling, and some state lawmakers are considering legislation that would reverse the decision.