🍄 Inside Boulder’s new psilocybin healing centers

Good Wednesday morning, Boulder. Today’s BRL Today is sponsored by the Downtown Boulder Partnership – check out its Light Up the Holidays celebration this Sunday, packed with family events, performances and the annual lighting ceremony.

Quick update: Firefighters contained a small wildfire near Realization and Artist Points on Flagstaff Mountain around 1 a.m. No structures were threatened.

Leading today’s edition: Boulder’s first psilocybin healing centers are now open, offering supervised psychedelic mushroom sessions under Colorado’s new regulatory framework. Brooke Stephenson profiles Happy Rebel Healing, the first center to launch, and offers an early look at how this new model is taking shape.

Also today: County commissioners voted 2-1 to accept the community-backed bid for Iris Fields, approving a $26 million sale to The Academy and preserving the longtime baseball diamonds. “I’m so happy they picked kids over money,” said Marlyn Bohn — a 41-year North Boulder Little League volunteer, the first woman to serve as a Little League president west of the Mississippi, and the namesake of the Southeast Iris field.

Plus: They drove nurses during the 1918 flu epidemic, ferried tourists into the mountains, refused to pick up drunks — and became Boulder’s first female taxi drivers. In this week’s Local History column, Silvia Pettem revisits the remarkable story of Florence Molloy and Mabel Macleay, the trailblazing duo behind the Double M Ranch in Gold Hill.

And finally: If you’re subscribed to John Lehndorff’s new Nibbles newsletter — designed to land in your inbox every Tuesday — you already received three Boulder Thanksgiving recipes yesterday: one from chef Johnny Curiel of Cozobi Fonda Fina, one from Moxie baker Phillippa Clark and one from John himself (his famous stuffing). Read the full edition here, and sign up if you haven’t — it’s free and only requires an email.

Plus more, Below the Fold:

• BoulderCAST: Boulder breaks its record for latest first snowfall.
• Key Lime Air: CU keeps contract despite protests over airline’s ICE flights.
• Parachuting death: 60-year-old man dies after hard landing near Hygiene.
• Carjacking arrest: Suspect nabbed after knife-point carjacking in Caribou.
• Prescribed burns: Burns at Button Rock may trigger closures through March.

Thanks, as always, for reading,

– The BRL team

Boulder’s first psilocybin healing centers open their doors

At least three facilities are now offering supervised psychedelic mushroom sessions as Colorado’s new regulatory framework takes hold. Continue reading…

Iris Fields preserved as Boulder County approves $26M sale to The Academy

Community pressure, rival multimillion-dollar offers and questions over future housing all shaped the closely watched 2-1 vote. Continue reading…

Meet Boulder’s first female taxi drivers — and the fearless rides that made them local legends

Frances Molloy and Mabel Macleay paved the way for women with “coolness, courage and a knowledge of how to operate a car.” Continue reading…

A mild Wednesday ahead of a developing (rain) storm

It’s shaping up to be a pleasant day around Boulder as we sit in a calm spot between storm systems. Afternoon highs will climb to about 64, with a mix of clouds and sunshine. Tonight, temperatures dip into the upper 30s.

Thursday will be a day of transition as a low pressure system approaches the area from the southwest. Cloud cover will ramp up ahead of the storm leading to cooler readings for tomorrow in the lower 50s. By Thursday evening into the night, rain chances pick up across the Front Range area as the storm settles into southeast Colorado.

For Boulder specifically, the details are still a bit fuzzy right now. But the more substantial rain looks to stay south and east of Denver, where some spots could see over half an inch by Friday evening. Here in Boulder, we’re expecting lesser amounts, and it’ll be too warm for any snow in town, though a little bit may fall above 7,000 feet in the Foothills.

Friday wraps up cooler, with highs in the 40s and showers tapering off through the day.

P.S. Boulder has now eclipsed its latest first snowfall record. November 19th and counting… 

— BoulderCAST

Wildfire near Realization Point contained overnight

Firefighters contained a small wildfire on Flagstaff Mountain around 1 a.m. after responding to reports of smoke above Boulder Canyon Tuesday night. The Realization Fire burned about 2 acres near Realization Point and Artist Point and was described as isolated and slow moving, according to Boulder Fire-Rescue and the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office. No structures were threatened and no evacuation orders were issued. Crews from multiple agencies reached the area by 11.30 p.m., got water on the fire and remained on scene overnight extinguishing hot spots. Read more on BRL.

CU Athletics to keep contract with Key Lime Air despite protests over airline’s ICE flights

CU Boulder Athletics will not cancel or modify its contract with Key Lime Air, a local airline based out of Englewood, which has drawn protests for its operation of detainee transport flights for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

Key Lime Air’s ICE contract was first documented by Colorado Newsline in October, which reported that dozens of people in shackles had been seen being escorted off a Key Lime airplane in Seattle. The company is the first known Colorado-based airline to participate in immigration enforcement flights, which have increased dramatically in frequency this year. A large majority of ICE flights transporting immigrants between U.S. detention centers and out of the country rely on a multibillion-dollar system of charter flights like those operated by Key Lime Air. 

Local protests of Key Lime Air have sprung up amid Trump’s deeply contentious federal immigration policy, in which at least 170 U.S. citizens have been detained by ICE, and in one infamous case this year, hundreds of immigrants were flown to an El Salvadoran prison, where some reported being tortured. Read more on BRL.

Boulder County investigating fatal parachuting accident

A 60-year-old parachutist died Sunday afternoon after being found face down and unresponsive in a field in unincorporated Boulder County, according to the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies and Hygiene Fire crews attempted CPR, but the man was pronounced dead at the scene.

A witness reported seeing him a few hundred feet above the ground descending rapidly in a spin, with what appeared to be a partially deployed parachute. The sheriff’s office says the man was qualified to jump solo. The Boulder County Coroner’s Office will determine the cause and manner of death. Here’s the full release.

Suspect arrested after two knife-point carjackings near Caribou Trailhead and Black Hawk casino

On Sunday, Nov. 16, Boulder County sheriff’s deputies responded to an armed carjacking near the Caribou Townsite Trailhead. Deputies say the suspect had kidnapped a woman in Denver and driven her to the trailhead, where she escaped and sought help from nearby community members. As they tried to leave, the suspect returned, confronted them, and then carjacked a Toyota 4Runner at knife point before fleeing. A pursuit by the Gilpin County Sheriff’s Office ended in Black Hawk on Highway 119, but the suspect escaped on foot.

The next day, the same suspect allegedly carjacked another vehicle at knife point in the parking lot of the Lady Luck Casino in Black Hawk. Authorities arrested him that afternoon. Anyone with information is asked to contact Boulder County Sheriff’s Office detectives at BCSOtips@bouldercounty.gov or 303-441-3674.

Prescribed burns planned for Button Rock Preserve

Slash pile burns are planned this fall and winter at Button Rock Preserve west of Lyons, which may prompt temporary park closures between Dec. 1 and March 31, 2026. The burns are intended to reduce wildfire risk and protect the Ralph Price Reservoir — the drinking-water source for Longmont and Lyons — and will only occur when there is sufficient snow cover. Smoke may be visible for days or even weeks after burning, and officials are asking residents not to call 911 to report these planned burns.

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