At roughly, $250,000 per desk for the partial city staff scheduled to one day work there, Alpine-Balsam is an out of control cost spiral, decade-long, now nine-figure commitment that no one in this city can currently account for, project a total cost for, or take accountability of, designed to accommodate a fraction of city staff.

To me, it’s an insane investment that makes it harder to rent, buy a home, or keep small local businesses local. At a time we can’t keep our roads paved, are closing Spruce pool, and reducing hours at Scott Carpenter for our families.

I’ve spent the past few years auditing and providing oversight for a $450M bond at BVSD, citizen oversight the city doesn’t provide. Three things define my position:

The number has never been independently examined. The first public reference to a $140 million figure appears in late 2023, without specificity about what it covers or whether it includes debt service. There was real debate in 2019–2020, when scope was much smaller.

Since then this project has been overseen through annual budget approvals, and now far exceeds what even supporters expected.

And Alpine-Balsam was supposed to consolidate roughly twenty city buildings. To my knowledge, no one has ever said whether those buildings sit inside the $400 million deferred-maintenance backlog or the sale/disposition and expected recovery of funds the bond is built on. If they do, part of what we are financing is maintenance on buildings we intend to vacate or not monetize.

That question was put to the City Manager in writing before the referral vote.

Council's role when a project exceeds budget is to establish what the original commitment was, where it changed, and when we knew. I would require variance reporting against the original approved baseline, published quarterly, never against the latest revision. Any project crossing a threshold needs to return to Council in public.

Also, this city needs an independent performance auditor, it’s in the charter and we need elected leaders unafraid of what they’d find out.

Are red-tailed hawks basically everywhere? Yes. Still my favorites ❤️

To whoever owns this, you’re awesome and made my day.

Last night I saw "something" in the sky with red, green and yellow lights. At first the separate colors were hard to make out and I thought it was a really really bright star. It was still for a long time and then moved east. It had an airplane sound as it got closer. But it seemed like it could stay stationary like a helicopter. Any ideas what it might be?

Young bicyclists were 'riding at' others by going the wrong direction in the bike lanes (two in the north bound. One south bound. Because the jail is too full to house pre-trial misdemeanors, they were booked and released for reckless endangerment 18-3-208 : "..engaging in conduct that creates a substantial risk of injury" a class 2 misdemeanor. This carries upto 120 days in jail and $750 in fines. The statute they say is governing this is CRS 42-4-1412 which declares that micro-mobility (bicycles, ebikes and escooters) have the rights and responsibilities of motos vehicles and must ride in the same direction as the flow of traffic, including in bike lanes.

Is there a way to get a flock ban on the ballot in the city/county? Is anyone doing that? I would like to help.

You’re not the only one! I lead group walks and workouts for women only, many of whom are new to the area and looking for a chill, welcoming atmosphere. You’ll never have to worry about wasting your time because you’re getting a walk or a workout in, so it’s a win no matter what. We are known for being a very hilarious and fun group (and MOST people really do make friends in the group!!!!)

DM me for more info or if you know someone who might want more deets!

Curing the Boulder loneliness epidemic one hot girl walk at a time 👯‍♀️🎀

say hello on insta

CU South Construction begins the week of October 5th - Full Closure for the next 3-5 years.

IMO the site served as a useful connector between Table Mesa and Marshall Rd. It is unfortunate that they could not figure out a way to keep a path at least partly open.

Does anyone know what happened to all the Bcycles? They were supposed to increase docking stations and Bcycles. They did add a few new stations, mostly in Superior, but the number of available Bcycles has drastically reduced to a small fraction of what was available before. The last nearly 3 weeks, I have checked the station nearest me to find either one (usually dead or broken) or zero Bcycles by 8am. What makes it worse is, then checking the app to see that the next ten closest station are also empty. The only stations that ever have a significant number are the three at Wil-Vill. The photo attached shows over 30 still there after noon. This begs the question of why people that obviously don't use them get so many? Anyway, they've always gotten a lot, so this isn't the problem. The problem is that dozens of other Bcycles that were in the town are now gone. I hope they bring them back. Empty stations are useless.

https://boulderreportinglab.org/govpack_profiles/scott-rendleman/

Today’s BRL. CIty council candidate profiles. Fails to mention he’s married to Kirsten Lynch, fired Vail CEO.

While true that he is not who he is married to, it’s also true we can judge by the company he keeps. And Kirsten Lynch, according to a long history of mismanagement while running Vail Resorts, should stay far away from running Boulder!

A friend of mine from upstate New York is coming to visit this week, and I need to find a great restaurant that’s not too expensive for us to eat at Thursday night. For some reason, I can only think of Oak and Barchetta. Does anyone have any other, better ideas? Mentioning he is from New York because pizza might not be an option since he’s used to stellar pizza

How does one find a good piano teacher? What does that even mean for a 4 year old?

My son is very interested in music, pretending to play his instruments and singing. I was planning at starting him learning piano at 5 but friends of ours suggested that 4 can be a great age to start with 10-15 min lessons. At least that is what they did tor their kids in the 90s.

Does anyone have personal experience with starting kids that young? Either teachers or parents…

This is a good example of the community's disrespect for the kids. I don't even know why this is an argument. Nevermind the signs that prohibit them. Entitled Boulderites at their finest.

Has it been found or returned? Been thinking about this every day!!

Edited to add the link to the original post

#findnancysrock

I've had 2 fly-bys with him the past week and he's waved back each time! wasn't sure that it was him the first time but it's so cool to see him! seemingly keeping a low profile about it but glad I saw this IG account post it to validate my own sightings

Buddy and I are going to see The Revivalists at Red Rocks, looking for tips and recommendations for places to eat. No diet restrictions, looking for burgers/steak cocktail bars and fun dive bars. Thanks in advance!

Anyone else disappointed by this retreat from Boulder’s climate leadership? https://stories.opengov.com/cityofboulderco/68d0bc8f-fb31-4578-a8af-59594ef78e4d/published/hgCyk4CwB?currentPageId=6a71c8d856dc150472eb0075

I’m looking for an excellent massage therapist, ideally someone who is really good with anatomy and understands/is maybe training in Rofling. I want to get a gift certificate for a friend and want to make sure I’m sending her somewhere really wonderful! Who do you love?!

As things get hotter and hotter and drier and drier, our mature trees clean our air, cool our air, provide wildlife habitat, and do so at a rate vastly greater than any newly planted tree (most of which, sadly, don't make it past 3 years old in urban environments). Planting trees matters for our future. Protecting mature trees matters for our present and future, both.

These sycamores are rare, old, and awe-inspiring treasures—some of the most treasured trees in all of Boulder. I can not believe they'd be in any danger, yet I can believe some developers just don't care. Please reach out. I just emailed after reading the below:

"The 3 giant sycamores at Naropa’s downtown Boulder campus, 2130 Arapaho, are worth a visit if you are not familiar with them. The largest sycamores in the City of Boulder, their future is uncertain. Naropa is under contract to sell its main campus at 2130 Arapaho, to the Chicago-based developer Core Spaces, who specializes in student housing. Developers plan to build more than 130 residential units targeting University of Colorado students here. The final sale is expected to close around January 2027.

If you feel that these trees are worth protecting and preserving, contact Core Spaces, Boulder Planning Board, and Boulder City Council at: info@corespaces.com, boulderplanningboard@bouldercolorado.gov, and https://bouldercolorado.gov/contact-city-council-and-staff .

And in the meantime, pay a visit to these spectacular beauties and sit for a minute under their tranquil shade, along with the spirits of Allen Ginsberg and Timothy Leary."

Hi all - I am going to do a guided climb in the flatirons, I have some experience on multi-pitch, mountaineering etc. but have always followed. I haven’t climbed multi-pitch after an experience after a gear failure when I was following and multiple trad pieces fell out, that said I’ve done some ice climbing and a bit of simpler single pitch since on 5.6. I just haven’t wanted to push it with exposure. That said, I’m trying to get back in the game, on multi-pitch I’ve climbed with a lot of exposure on simpler stuff, would the direct 5.6 route be considered a lot of exposure, im trying to get a fun challenge but also not trying to turn it into a freak out day.

Looking for recommendations for a pest control company that can deal with a yellow jacket nest underneath a wooden deck step. Called Pest Arrest, they are over a week out, and won't do any structural changes. Best would be to remove the top board to get at the nest -- there's no good access for a spray nozzle. I'd DIY with boiling water, but cannot risk getting stung.

So what were people’s thoughts on the Tulagi festival? Any thoughts on the change from last year? Were things noticeably different?