Good morning, Boulder, and happy Wednesday!

As Boulder City Council heads into the final stages of determining which local measures will make it on the November 2022 ballot, John Herrick breaks down an 11th-hour battle over one of the most contentious among them: Repeal the CU South Annexation. The measure seeks to undo the annexation agreement between the city and the university to build flood mitigation, housing and more in South Boulder. Will it get to the ballot or get pushed to 2023? Check out John’s reporting for details. And stay tuned for updates later this week. The stakes are high. Meanwhile, Jessica Mordacq — in her coverage of openings/closings around town — has a story on the recent reopening of the historic Chautauqua porch café, 123 years after it first opened to the public. Plus, plenty more in today’s news.

Quick reminder: We’re working with graduate students at CU Boulder to examine health effects people are dealing with (and researchers are investigating) post-Marshall Fire. Tips are rolling in. If you have a story to tell, please hit “reply,” and we’ll be sure to follow up. More on that project here.

Thanks for reading,

— Stacy, publisher

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What to know today

  • Still warm and mostly dry: A high near 90 today, with a 20% chance of showers and thunderstorms after noon. Long-term outlooks, for September through November, “strongly favor” warmer-than-normal temperatures across Colorado.
  • Boulder County blocked from enforcing gun reforms: Federal District Court Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney has temporarily blocked Boulder County from enforcing its ban on the sale and purchase of assault-style weapons and large-capacity magazines. Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, a conservative gun-rights group, sued the county this month for allegedly violating Second Amendment rights to possess firearms. Given the recent favorable U.S. Supreme Court ruling regarding a New York gun law, Judge Sweeney said the gun-rights group has a “substantial likelihood of success” in proving its case. The group has also sued the Town of Superior and the cities of Louisville and Boulder over similar gun laws passed earlier this year.
  • City of Boulder preemptively halts enforcement of its own ban: Shortly after the Boulder County ruling, officials with the city announced they’re halting enforcement of its weapons ban. “We always anticipated that some of our gun violence prevention measures might face legal challenges. While these rulings are not directly related to the City of Boulder’s measures, we believe it is prudent to work with our neighbors on a coordinated legal strategy,” City Attorney Teresa Taylor Tate said in a news release. “Specifically, the cities of Boulder and Louisville along with Boulder County will seek to consolidate the lawsuits against each jurisdiction with the case against Superior.”
  • Judge wants answers in ACLU suit against Boulder: In other legal news, a Boulder County District Court judge is asking attorneys with the City of Boulder and the ACLU of Colorado — which is suing the city over its ban on sleeping in public spaces — to file briefs on the role of courts in deciding political questions. “Parties shall file supplemental briefs on standing as it relates to Colorado political question/separation of powers doctrines,” Judge Andrew Hartman wrote in his Aug. 26, 2022 order. “The court notes precedent that the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government may exercise only their own powers and may not usurp the powers of another co-equal branch of government.”
  • Case could decide fate of camping ban: The judge’s order was the first since both sides filed a flurry of briefs in the controversial case that could decide the fate of the city’s decades-old camping ban. The ruling came after the city — in its motion to dismiss the May 26, 2022 lawsuit — said the ACLU is asking the court to remove debate over homelessness policy from the political arena and “enforce [the group’s] own policy preference — to allow unhoused people to camp on public lands in Boulder — as if that preference were mandated by the Colorado Constitution.”
  • Prescribed burn dates announced: Boulder County announced its burn-window dates for its prescribed burn operations this fall. Weather permitting, they’ll happen at the Ron Stewart Preserve at Rabbit Mountain (sometime between Sept. 6 – Dec. 4) and at Hall Ranch (sometime between Oct. 1 – Dec. 4). The burns usually take place over one to three consecutive days. They’ll be announced at least 24 hours before they start.
  • Paint striping work in full force: The City of Boulder is giving residents a head’s up that throughout the rest of this week, between 7 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., you may see crews conducting paint striping work on various paths around the city.
  • Highway 36 project design underway: Speaking of striping changes, Boulder County is out with details about its project to improve intersection safety on Highway 36, north of Boulder between Lefthand Canyon Dr. and Apple Valley Rd. west of Lyons. Among the goals is to provide more space and visibility for bicyclists. It will include striping changes and shoulder widening. Construction is scheduled to begin in spring 2023 and be completed in summer 2023. More on the project here.
  • Correction: In Monday’s newsletter, we wrote that the City of Boulder’s newly recommended 2023 budget calls for adding 1,540 full-time employees. It calls for getting to that amount — not adding all those people — which would bring the city to pre-pandemic staffing levels.

Go deeper

Group seeking to block CU South development threatens to take City of Boulder to court over ballot language

By John Herrick

On Sept. 1, the Boulder City Council is expected to approve the final package of ballot measures that city residents will vote on in the Nov. 8, 2022 election. It includes a proposal to move municipal elections to even years and another to create a new tax on electricity and gas. 

Councilmembers are also likely to approve a referendum that would undo the city’s annexation agreement with the University of Colorado to develop a South Boulder property known as CU South — even as the measure heads for a possible legal challenge. The annexation allows the city to construct a flood wall and the university to build student housing, among other things.

The referendum is the latest flashpoint in a decades-old debate over what to do with the former gravel mine now home to publicly accessible trails and wetlands. 

Continue reading…

Chautauqua Colorado’s historic porch cafe in Boulder reopens after more than a century

By Jessica Mordacq

For a brief period in the early 1900s, a bustling grab-and-go café served locals and visitors on a small patch of land sandwiched between the historic Chautauqua Dining Hall and the General Store in West Boulder.

Now, that freestanding porch café is back for the first time, and modeled after the original.

Following six months of construction, the nonprofit Colorado Chautauqua Association (CCA) opened the café in its original location on July 3, 2022. The following day, Colorado Chautauqua — part of the historic nationwide movement of educational camps — turned 124 years old.

Continue reading…

BRL picks

🎹 A ‘last hurrah’ for Boulder music fans: Starting Thursday, Sept. 1 and through Labor Day weekend, Albums on the Hill (1128 13th St.) is having a mega sale from noon to 5 p.m. Used vinyl will be up to 80% off. Sadly, it appears to be an end of an era for the famed store, as Andrew Schneidkraut, the store’s founder, is recovering from a kidney transplant and open heart surgery. Check out the sale details.

🎭 A fundraiser for the founder: Two Boulder comedians, Nancy Norton and John Novosad, will headline a comedy show fundraiser with other friends of Schneidkraut “to help a Boulder legend recover.” Dairy Arts Center (2590 Walnut St.) is hosting. Friday, Sept. 9, 2022 at 7:30pm. Tickets $25. More info here.

🤹‍♀️ Boulder Juggling Festival: The Boulder Circus Center is hosting the 17th annual Boulder Juggling Festival from Friday, Sept 2. – Sunday, Sept. 4. “We will be hosting a wide variety of workshops, juggling games, open gym, an open stage, a glow jam, and we’ll be taking a trip to the Dairy Center for the Arts to see Circus Foundry’s show Smoke & Mirrors on Saturday night.” All ages welcome. Details here.

🎷 10th annual Mapleton Hill PorchFest: Mark your calendars for the neighborhood porchfest, on Sunday, Sept. 18 from 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., for music and family fun. Schedule and map here.

Covid in Boulder County: Aug. 31, 2022

  • 87 daily new cases (7-day avg.) ⬆Up 6% over preceding 7-day avg.
  • 12 patients hospitalized with Covid (7-day avg.) Same as high of 12 last week.
  • 38% percent of ICU is occupied. ⬇Down from avg. of 66% since July 2020.
  • Last chance to get free Covid tests: The federal government’s free Covid test program is being suspended on Friday, Sept. 2. There’s still time to place a final order.

What else we’re reading

ICYMI

Stacy Feldman is the founder and publisher of Boulder Reporting Lab. She previously co-founded and was executive editor of Inside Climate News, a Pulitzer Prize-winning nonprofit newsroom covering the climate emergency. She was a 2020-21 Ted Scripps Fellow in Environmental Journalism at the University of Colorado Boulder, where she developed the concept for BRL. Email: stacy@boulderreportinglab.org.