🎬 Hotel Boulderado loses Sundance headquarters

Good Wednesday morning, Boulder.

Leading today: Sundance is moving its headquarters out of the Hotel Boulderado as workers at the historic downtown hotel fight to unionize. The festival says it needs more space and that discussions with its new venue began before the labor dispute. The decision follows months of workers urging Sundance to use its influence to help resolve the dispute with hotel management. The move changes the Boulderado’s expected role in the city’s biggest upcoming event. Brooke Stephenson reports.

Also today: You may have heard about the proposal to replace the Boulder Medical Center on Broadway with 223 housing units. But do you know how the medical center came to be? Silvia Pettem looks back at how 10 physicians joined forces to open the center in 1949, transforming medical care in Boulder after World War II.

And finally, we’re back with another Across the Aisle. Brian Keegan and Bob Yates debate Boulder’s $400 million bond measure, Issue 2K, the most contentious issue defining this year’s city election. They take on the cost of fixing aging city buildings and whether voters should trust the city’s spending plans. It’s worth a read for a clear-eyed look at both sides of the debate.

Plus more, Below the Fold:

BoulderCAST: Warm and mostly dry, with a chance of rain Saturday.
Listen to nature (sponsored): CU Boulder’s Center for Environmental Journalism hosts award-winning journalist Amy Martin.
Drought alert: Officials urge water conservation after record-dry year.
Wildfire prep: Homeowners can get up to $2,000 for hardening work.
Election watch: First vote centers open, ballot processing tours offered.

Thanks, as always, for reading,

– The BRL team

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My name is Jack Rosenthal. I am a lifelong Coloradan, a proud Democrat, and someone who relies on RTD every single day. On the RTD Board, I will fight to finally build the train by 2029, increase Airport Bus service, and bring back special event services like BroncosRide and RunRide.

Sundance moves headquarters out of Hotel Boulderado amid union dispute

Hotel workers have urged the Sundance Film Festival to use its influence to help resolve their union dispute. The Sundance Institute says the move is intended to accommodate its need for more space. Continue reading…

Before Boulder Medical Center is demolished, a look at how 10 doctors built it

Founded in 1949, the physician-owned medical center brought a new era of specialized care to Boulder. Now its longtime Broadway home is slated to make way for housing. Continue reading…

Across the Aisle: Is Boulder’s $400 million bond a necessary investment or an expensive mistake?

Columnists Keegan and Yates debate Ballot Issue 2K, the city’s maintenance backlog and whether voters should trust its spending plans. Continue reading…

Boulder stays warm and mostly dry, for now

Eastern Pacific hurricane season, supercharged this year by a strong El Niño, continues to send plume after plume of tropical moisture into the Southwest. Unfortunately, Boulder finds itself on the wrong side of the storm track once again. Most of that moisture will get wrung out over the mountains to our southwest, including across Colorado’s San Juans, before it ever has a chance to reach the Front Range.

Around here, the biggest weather story will simply be increasing cloud cover today and especially tomorrow. Expect a high near 77 this afternoon with a mix of sun and clouds. Overnight, thicker clouds will act like a blanket, keeping lows relatively mild in the 50s.

Tomorrow will stay a bit cooler under mostly cloudy skies, with highs in the lower 70s. Given all the moisture nearby, we can’t completely rule out a stray shower drifting off the Foothills. However, if anything does manage to sneak through, it would be brief and nothing more than a sprinkle.

Sunshine returns Friday and temperatures respond accordingly, climbing back to around 80. For late October, that’s a pretty impressive number.

Looking ahead, our next cold front remains on track for early Saturday. It should deliver a noticeable cooldown along with a better opportunity for rain to start the weekend, something that has been in short supply lately.

— BoulderCAST

Talking Turtles and Singing Ice: An evening with Amy Martin (sponsored)

Join CU Boulder’s Center for Environmental Journalism for an evening with Amy Martin, Peabody Award-winning audio journalist and host of the “Threshold” podcast, as the center celebrates its 30th anniversary. Through stories from the field, Martin explores how listening to the more-than-human world can reconnect us with our planet — and one another.

The event is Wednesday, Oct. 28, at CASE Chancellor’s Hall & Auditorium at CU Boulder. A reception runs from 6-7:30 p.m., followed by the lecture from 7:30-9 p.m.

After record-dry year, Boulder-area officials urge continued water conservation

Amid continuing drought conditions, municipal leaders across Boulder County are encouraging residents to conserve water through the fall and winter. Although water use generally declines during cooler months, officials say conservation remains important as the region prepares for another potentially dry year.

“Even as seasonal water demand decreases, the choices we make now can help protect our water supplies and prepare our communities for continued dry conditions,” said Lafayette water resources manager Cari Bischoff in a news release.

Officials recommend reducing lawn watering and turning off automatic sprinklers in October. Municipalities will also adjust watering in fields and parks based on weather and landscape conditions.

October 2025 to September 2026 tied for Boulder’s driest water year on record, according to BoulderCAST. During that time, the city saw 10.65 inches of total precipitation, tied with 1966. Boulder typically receives more than 20 inches annually. The water year also brought a record-late first snowfall on Nov. 29, a damaging March heat wave and repeated storms that failed to deliver significant precipitation.

Most of Boulder’s water supply comes from snowmelt rather than summer monsoons, and summer rain does little to replenish reservoirs. As of mid-September, the city’s reservoirs were 76% full, compared with an average of 88% for that time of year.

Boulder County homeowners can get up to $2,000 for wildfire hardening work

Wildfire Partners has launched a pilot program to identify and evaluate local contractors qualified to perform home-hardening work. Five contractors have completed training, and homeowners are now invited to participate in evaluating their work.

Wildfire Partners has previously faced challenges finding contractors with sufficient experience, broad geographic coverage and the ability to complete multiple types of mitigation work. A competitive pilot program began in March 2026, and five contractors have since completed formal training.

Homeowners can now volunteer their properties for the pilot, which follows a typical contractor hiring process. Participants will be responsible for arranging a site visit, reviewing bids, signing a contract, scheduling and overseeing the work, and completing a final inspection and written contractor evaluation. Participants must complete at least $4,000 in home-hardening work, with Wildfire Partners providing up to $2,000 toward the cost.

To be eligible, homeowners must have received a Wildfire Partners assessment with action items identified as required or priority. Eligible homeowners can submit an application here.

First voting centers open, ballot processing tours available

The first three voting centers are now open at the Boulder County Clerk and Recorder’s Office in Boulder, the St. Vrain Community Hub in Longmont and the Southeast County Community Hub in Lafayette. At these centers, voters can cast ballots in person, request a replacement ballot, drop off completed ballots and resolve signature issues. Accessible voting equipment is also available. More centers will open in phases ahead of Election Day.

Boulder County Clerk and Recorder Molly Fitzpatrick’s office will also host in-person ballot processing tours from Oct. 22 through Nov. 4. Residents can see how election workers process ballots, verify signatures and resolve issues. High school and college students are encouraged to attend. All tours take place at the Ballot Processing Center, 1750 33rd St., in Boulder.

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