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32nd Bolder Boulder ready to run
The 32nd Annual Bolder Boulder 10K Race is Monday, May 31. The race starts at 7 a.m., and there are 88 individual waves to allow all participants to start and finish at their own pace. The first 32 waves are reserved for runners who can provide proof that they can run a 10K faster than 68 minutes Participants can register at the Bolder Boulder store at the Twenty Ninth Street Mall until Friday, May 28, or on race day for an additional $5 fee. Each race package includes a T-shirt, split-second tag timing and mile splits, a calendar/runner’s guide and a keepsake lunch sack filled with treats. The race attracts more than 53,000 runners, walkers and wheelchair racers and draws professional racing teams from all over the world. The second largest road race in the United States, it starts near Iris Avenue and 30th Street, winds through town with live music and entertainment at every corner, and finishes on CU-Boulder’s Folsom Field.
More than 150,000 spectators watch the festivities from inside the stadium and along the course.
Forest Service sprays for beetles
The Boulder and Clear Creek Ranger Districts of the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests have started spraying trees in campgrounds, picnic areas and work centers to fight mountain pine beetles.
The affected areas are the Meeker Campground & Picnic Site, Olive Ridge Campground, Kelly Dahl Campground, Cold Springs Campground, Nederland Work Center and West Chicago Creek Campground. The areas were selected because the trees are susceptible to pine beetle attack. All of the spraying operations will be completed before the campgrounds open to public use.
Spraying is done by trained, certified contractors with high-pressure hoses that coat that tree trunk with pesticide. Forest Service inspectors monitor the application process to avoid pesticide drift and prevent contamination to streams and lakes. People interested in the spraying operations can call the Forest Service Mountain Pine Beetle Spraying Information Hotline at 303- 541-2539.
In addition to spraying operations, currently infested and dead trees are being cut and chipped in many recreation areas to prevent further spread of the beetles and to remove falling-tree hazards. Therefore, tree-cutting and chipping operations may result in temporary closures in developed recreation sites this spring and early summer.
Does Boulder owe you money?
The City of Boulder is looking for individuals or businesses that have not cashed checks issued by the city.
As part of standard accounting procedures, outstanding checks are periodically reviewed and attempts are made to contact the owner to replace lost checks. For any remaining outstanding checks, a list is published in a final attempt to locate the owner before writing off the checks. As provided by city code, property unclaimed for over six months is considered abandoned and subject to eventual forfeiture to the city. The city has recently completed a thorough review of outstanding checks and attempted to contact the owners at the last known address. However, there are several checks for which the owners cannot be located. A list of these remaining outstanding checks has been published online at: www.bouldercolorado.gov/ finance/unclaimedproperty. If any property remains unclaimed after 60 days of the May 22 notice, it will become the property of the city.
Give input on shooting area
The U.S. Forest Service is beginning a public input process for the Allenspark Recreational Shooting Project Environmental Assessment.
The project will address the safety concerns that led to an emergency closure of approximately 132 acres of National Forest lands to recreational shooting. The project area is a small, undeveloped, isolated parcel of National Forest land in and around the former Allenspark dump, surrounded by homes and intersected by State Highway 72. It is one of many popular places people gathered informally to shoot in the Boulder Ranger District.
The public can comment on the project during the 30-day comment period, which was expected to begin on May 24. Comments can be submitted by e-mail to comments-rocky-mountainarapaho-roosevelt-boulder@fs.fed.us. Hard-copy comments can be mailed to Allenspark Recreational Shooting Project Environmental Assessment, Boulder Ranger District, 2140 Yarmouth Ave., Boulder, CO 80301, or faxed to 303-541-2515. Information on the project is available online at www.fs.fed.us/r2/arnf/projects/ea-projects/index.shtml.
Emergency firefighter program
The Boulder County Sheriff ’s Office Fire Management Program will be launching an Emergency Firefighter Program this June.
The program has been developed to provide training and firefighting opportunities to residents of Boulder County without the intense time commitment of working on a fire crew full time. This program will also expand the firefighting capabilities of the current fire management program by providing extra hands if the need arises. The BCSO fire management program will provide in-house basic firefighting training to all participants.
The program is accepting applications until 5 p.m. on June 4.
Applications can be obtained by e-mailing Shivaun Finn at sfinn@bouldercounty.org. The program will bring emergency firefighters on in a probationary status, as soon as interviews and background checks are complete. The first meeting will be held on June 16 at 6 p.m., in the Houston Room of the Boulder County Clerk and Recorder’s Office at 1750 33rd St. in Boulder.
Participants must be at least 18 years of age, hold a valid driver’s license, have the physical ability to complete a work capacity test that involves hiking three miles in 45 minutes with a 45-pound pack, pass a background check and complete all required training. Volunteers will meet Wednesday evenings and Saturdays for basic training and will subsequently be asked to complete a 10-hour service commitment each month. Questions may be directed to Finn by e-mail or at 720-564-2673, or to Renee Creek at 720-564-2673.
Get your bicycle/pedestrian maps
With summer right around the corner, newly redesigned 2010 City of Boulder Bicycle and Pedestrian Maps are available, free to the public.
The new maps are easy to read, small enough to fit in your pocket and include on-street bike lanes, multi-use paths, bicycle and pedestrian underpasses, bike shop locations, bicycle and pedestrian tips and more. The maps can be picked up at city buildings, including library branches, recreation centers and the GO Boulder office at 1739 Broadway, on the second floor. They are also available at most bike shops and other outdoor retailers around town. Business owners and employees who are interested in stocking a supply of maps may contact the City of Boulder Transportation
Division at 303-441-3266.
HUD awards grant to county housing
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has awarded a $400,000 grant from its Community Development Financial Institutions Fund to the Boulder County Housing Counseling Program. The county program was one of only five nationwide to receive the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant, which is part of the HUD Financial Education and Counseling Pilot Program.
The three-year program targets lowwealth potential homebuyers in Boulder, Broomfield and western Weld counties, with a special emphasis on Latino communities. The program was designed to cater to various learning styles and employs elements of accountability to the participants, including individual self-reflection, small workgroups, oneon-one counseling and group classes to educate potential homebuyers on personal financial management and homebuying.
Provided at no cost, the program gives a diverse group of participants — including people with limited English or reading abilities and those facing cultural or educational barriers — ongoing financial education and support on their individual path toward homeownership. Participants may move through the program in three to four months, or take more than a year to complete, depending on their individual needs.
Niwot couple wins DIY contest
Marni Ratzel and Kevin Richards of Niwot have won a DIY Network landscape competition on the Today show.
Their yard will receive a $25,000 makeover from DIY Network expert host and licensed contractor Jason Cameron and his Desperate Landscapes crew.
In America’s Most Desperate Landscape, contestants submitted more than 33,000 photo and video uploads of their ugly landscapes in hopes of being named one of four finalists.
The Niwot couple, whose current landscape is basically made up of bare dirt, rocks and weeds, will have their yard makeover revealed live on Today on Tuesday, June 8.
America’s Most Desperate Landscape, a one-hour special documenting the search and build, premieres on DIY Network on Wednesday, June 16, at 8 p.m. mountain time.
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