Briefs | County opts for mail ballots

0

County opts for mail ballots

Boulder County will conduct the 2010 primary election by mail ballot, but people will still have the option to vote in person at service centers.

The Board of County Commissioners unanimously passed a resolution on March 30 authorizing the mail ballot election for this fall and limiting in-person voting to a small number of service centers, saving the county an estimated $165,000.

At least three service centers will be available in the county for voting, updating voter registration information, dropping off ballots or receiving replacement ballots. Unaffiliated voters can visit a service center to affiliate with a party participating in the Primary Election and vote through Aug. 10. The deadline for affiliated voters to change their affiliation in order to vote in the Primary Election, or to withdraw their affiliation, is July 12.

Details about service center locations and hours of operation are still being determined. Voters can check their voter registration information at www.VoteBoulder.org. The deadline to register to vote for the 2010 Primary Election is July 12, and ballots will be mailed beginning July 19.

Trips for Kids Boulder hosts party

Trips for Kids Boulder (TFKB) is hosting a launch party on April 10, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Boulder Indoor Cycling, located at 3550 Frontier Ave. The launch event will raise funds to establish programs that are designed to connect underserved youth with the environment and to the sport of mountain biking. Former Denver Broncos running back, television personality and cyclist Reggie Rivers will emcee the event. The party will include students from Casey Middle School’s Bike Club who will demonstrate a high-speed exhibition of their cycling skills on the velodrome track, and the event will culminate with a bike trick and acrobatics performance by nationally known RipStoke, which was recently featured on NBC’s Today Show. Attendees will also enjoy dinner and drinks, along with a silent auction.

Trips for Kids Boulder Launch Party tickets are available at www. tripsforkidsdenver.org, and all proceeds from the event will be used to cover program start-up expenses, including bikes, helmets, transportation and staff.

Climbing areas reopened

The U.S. Forest Service has reopened some climbing areas in Boulder Canyon that were closed to protect golden eagles during their nesting season. Security Risk and the Blob Rock/Bitty Buttress areas, located along State Highway 119 about 1.5 miles east of Boulder Falls, are now open to climbing and other activities. The Eagle Rock area remains closed to climbing and other activities and is expected to remain closed through July 31. Signs will be posted at key access points to the areas remaining closed. For current closure information, check signs in the area or visit the Boulder Ranger District website at hwww.fs.fed.us/r2/arnf/recreation/ rock-climbing/brd/index.shtml.

Health and Wellness Symposium

The Boulder Center for Conscious Living will hold its annual Health and Wellness Symposium on April 17 from 9 a.m. to noon. The event features experts in the fields of holistic pediatrics, acupuncture and Chinese medicine, classical homeopathy, nutrition, exercise and natural health.

Scheduled speakers include Dr. Roy Steinbock, aucpuncturist David Scrimgeour, author Linda Sparrowe, Moxie Moms founder Susan Lavelle and Kathy Thorpe, a certified classical homeopath. Topics will range from homeopathic remedies to child nutrition and tips for de-stressing.

For more information, see http:// bit.ly/HealthWellness or call 303- 583-0179.

Reforming the media

Robert McChesney and John Nichols, authors of The Death & Life of American Journalism: The Media Revolution that Will Begin the World Again, will speak in Denver on April 25 at the Jefferson Unitarian Church, and in Boulder on April 26 at the Unitarian Universalist Church. McChesney is the author/editor of 16 books and holds an endowed professorship in communications studies at the University of Illinois. Nichols is Washington correspondent for the The Nation and is one of America’s leading progressive authors and political journalists. Together they are the founders of Free Press, a media reform organization, and
creators of the National Media Reform Conference.

The April 26 talk is a
fundraising event for KGNU Community Radio, a volunteer-powered radio
station celebrating 32 years of broadcasting along the Front Range. A
donation of $10-$20 is suggested at the door. For more information, call
303-449- 4885 or visit www.kgnu.org.

$500,000 grant for
trail project

On April 1 Gov. Bill
Ritter announced a $500,000 Great Outdoors Colorado grant for the
eastern link of the Coal Creek/Rock Creek Trail Project. The project is
an effort to connect the communities of Erie and Lafayette with public
open space properties in unincorporated Boulder County, Broomfield,
Louisville, Superior and the city of Boulder. The project will involve
construction of a new four-mile-long trail that will extend from the
existing Rock Creek Trail, near 120th Street in Lafayette, to the
existing trail at Vista Pointe Parkway and Coal Creek on Erie’s eastern
edge. The four-mile section will complete one of the last remaining
links of a 24-mile loop trail that connects those communities.

Help with Longmont
Energy Sweep

More than 60 volunteers
are needed for the Midtown Energy Sweep in Longmont on Saturday, April
24.

The Energy Sweep, a
partnership between Boulder County’s Longs Peak Energy Conservation and
the City of Longmont, will focus on the approximately 470 homes in the
Midtown Revitalization Area between Kimbark and Meadow streets, and 17th
to 21st avenues. Volunteers must be at least 15 years of age, able to
walk one to two miles and be on their feet for half a day. Volunteers
travel in teams of two or three, going door-to-door in the prenotified
neighborhood to offer residents energy-saving information and free
installation of compact fluorescent lights, low-flow showerheads and
other energy-efficiency devices. Registration and attendance at a
two-hour training session are required for new volunteers. Bilingual
volunteers are especially

needed. For more information, call 303-441-3912 or visit www.bouldercounty.org/hhs/sweeps.htm.
Registration closes April 18.

Festival features
electronic arts

The Communikey Festival
of Electronic Arts will take place in Boulder April 14–18. The festival
will include five days of performances, workshops, exhibitions and
parties, all centered on connecting art with technology and electronics.
Artists include Akufen, Dave Aju and Stephen Hitchell, as well as
musical performances by White Rainbow and Lucky Dragons. More details,
including schedules, venues and ticketing information, can be found at www.communikey.us. Festival tickets
are $65 and can be purchased online or at Espresso Roma at 1101 13th
St., Buffalo Exchange Boulder at 1717 Walnut St., or Buffalo Exchange
Denver at 230 E. 13th Ave.

Student art chosen
for D.C. exhibit

Ten pieces of artwork
done by students at Creekside Elementary and New Vista High School will
be exhibited at the U.S. Department of Education in May. It is the first
time that Colorado schools have been featured at the Department of
Education. Artwork on topics such as homelessness, the environment and
wildlife was chosen from five Creekside students and five New Vista
students.

Community Cycles
hosting bike drive

Community
Cycles, a nonprofit that educates and advocates for biking as
alternative transportation, is accepting donations of bikes in any
condition to be refurbished and recycled for community use. Locals are
encouraged to donate used, old and new mountain and road bikes for any
age. The donation drive will be held on April 9 from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m.,
and on April 10 and 11 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. All donations are tax
deductible. Drop-offs can be made at Community Cycles, 2805 Wilderness
Place, Suite 1000. For more information, call 720-565- 6019.

Bat roosting sites
closed

The City of Boulder
Open Space and Mountain Parks Department has closed the Mallory and
Harmon caves, near the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)
trailhead at the end of Table Mesa Road, until Oct. 1 to protect
Townsend’s big-eared bats. OSMP also will close the east face of the Der
Zerkle rock formation, accessible from the NCAR trailhead, until Sept. 1
to protect the roosting sites of fringed myotis bats.

Female bats roost in caves
and rock crevices along the foothills, where pups are raised in
maternity colonies. The pups suffer high mortality rates even under
normal conditions, so the seasonal closures help ensure they will remain
undisturbed by humans during roosting season. For more information,
visit www.osmp.org or call
303-441-3440.

Respond:
letters@boulderweekly.com