It’s Friday, Dec. 15, 2023.
Good morning, Boulder. Here’s what’s up on this lovely day.
For today, I have a story on the Boulder County coroner, of which there will soon be none, for a moment or two. Emma Hall announced her resignation, with her last day falling on Jan. 11. After that, commissioners will choose someone else to oversee the county’s death investigations and certificates until Hall’s term ends in 2027. Her resignation comes after an investigation this summer, surfaced first by Boulder Reporting Lab, that showed a workplace of favoritism, antagonism and wanting leadership.
Also, Jenna Sampson reports on the driver who killed Magnus White this past summer. White, a 17-year-old champion cyclist set to represent the U.S. on the national stage, was killed while riding on CO 119 near its intersection with 63rd Street. The driver, Yeva Smilianska, 23, has now been charged with vehicular homicide after almost five months of investigation. The arrest affidavit says Smilianska, a Ukrainian refugee, most likely fell asleep at the wheel.
Enjoy the weekend.
— Tim, reporter
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Featured stories
Emma Hall, Boulder County coroner, resigns following investigation that revealed negative office atmosphere, high turnover and leadership issues
The resignation follows reporting by Boulder Reporting Lab in October that first brought attention to the investigative report into Hall. Subsequent reporting suggests the problems go further back than the investigation showed. Continue reading…
Driver charged with vehicular homicide in death of Boulder cyclist Magnus White
The driver, who is a Ukrainian refugee, was “most likely” asleep at the wheel at the time she struck and killed White, according to the arrest affidavit. Yeva Smilianska, 23, will return to court today, Dec. 15, to hear the official charges against her. Continue reading…
Boulder Reporting Lab is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit news organization that empowers our community through non-partisan, locally focused journalism that informs and connects.
In other news
50s and sunny for the next few days
Today and through the weekend should raise everyone’s spirits after the dreariness of the past week. Temps will bounce about in the 50s, and only a few clouds will dare interrupt the sun. The only wind will be a gentle breeze carrying hints of your neighbor’s fireplace.
Price bump for parking downtown
Starting Jan, 2, 2024, on-street parking rates near high-demand areas of downtown Boulder will increase by 50 cents per hour. The new rates, not applicable to accessible spaces, will be in effect Monday through Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The price increase is part of a strategy to free up more spaces so that drivers are not cruising around the city in search of a place to put their car. The city wants people to use its parking garages, which cost less and are free on weekends. Historically, downtown parking garages sit mostly empty, most of the time.
Under the city’s performance-based pricing strategy, meter rates are expected to increase on high-demand streets and potentially decrease in low-demand areas.
Boulder Public Library to close for a week
The Boulder Public Library is gearing up to close for a week to transition to the Boulder Public Library District and for the holidays.
All library locations will be closed from Dec. 19-25. In the meantime, no materials will be due back, and anything on hold will remain on hold through Dec. 30. The library’s digital collections will remain available. Book returns will stay open at the Main Library, Meadows, Reynolds and NoBo branches.
The Boulder Public Library is frequently visited by homeless people during the day. In case of critical weather conditions, the Boulder Shelter for the Homeless will offer an additional 20 beds and extend to daytime hours for those who stayed overnight. According to the city, critical weather is when the forecast predicts temperatures of 10 degrees Fahrenheit or lower at night, 20 degrees or lower during the day, and/or expected snow of six inches or more.
Library cardholders can also check out items at Broomfield, Lafayette, Longmont, Louisville and Loveland libraries during the closure.
Emissions inventory of Boulder
The City of Boulder released three greenhouse gas emissions inventories that highlight ongoing focus areas for climate efforts. Overall community emissions dropped 2% from 2021 and 18% since 2018. But transportation emissions have increased.
The reasons are several-fold. An employee commute survey showed that more people who work in Boulder live in other towns and drive their cars, alone, to get to work, as we wrote about here. Public transit usage has not rebounded since the pandemic.
Electricity is still the biggest source of Boulder’s emissions. As more of the city electrifies through electric vehicles and all-electric construction, the city needs to ensure that electricity is coming from clean sources, like solar.
Louisville’s historical museum gets award
The Indian Peaks Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution honored the Louisville Historical Museum with the 2024 Excellence in Historic Preservation Award. Recognizing exceptional efforts in preserving local history, the award celebrates the museum’s commitment to showcasing Louisville and East Boulder County’s significant events. In a statement the DAR said, the “Historical Museum makes Louisville’s past part of its present.”
Half-million to rebuild parks damaged in Marshall Fire
The City of Louisville will receive a $500,000 grant from Great Outdoors Colorado to help rebuild Enclave and Sunflower Parks, two parks that were heavily damaged by the Marshall Fire.
The GOCO board recently awarded a total of $4.3 million in grants to support community parks and stewardship projects across Colorado. The City of Louisville will hold a public open house on Jan. 23, from 5-7 p.m., at the Louisville Recreation & Senior Center to review preliminary design concepts for the parks.
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ICYMI
Boulder’s largest nighttime homeless shelter may soon be open during the day. The move to operate during the day is part of a broader plan by the City of Boulder to increase access to homelessness services and housing.
Hidden hazard: Boulder’s million-ton coal ash problem has no local watchdog. Months of reporting into Xcel Energy’s Valmont coal ash site reveals groundwater contamination with scant oversight from Boulder area officials.
Valmont power plant history: A century of fueling Boulder’s growth and environmental challenges. Burning coal for nearly a century transformed Boulder from a small town into a tech hub and research center, but remnants of that coal pollution remain.
Boulder County’s new solar co-op is ‘breaking all kinds’ of records, expands membership to 500 after surpassing goals. New residents that join the Boulder County Solar Co-op, run by Solar United Neighbors, by Dec. 31 will have until February next year to sign a discount contract for rooftop solar panels on their homes.
Boulder considers design changes to $40 million Goose Creek flood mitigation plan amid resident opposition. As a project to take 500 homes out of the floodplain moves forward, some community members, focused on preserving wildlife and trees along a stretch of creek, continue to oppose the project. Meanwhile, others, keen on immediate flood protection, feel their voices are getting lost in the ongoing discussion.
