🗳️ Boulder Councilmember Taishya Adams enters mayor’s race

Good Wednesday morning, Boulder. Today’s BRL Today is sponsored by Tara Performing Arts High School, which is offering 35 full and partial scholarships for the 2026-27 school year. Learn more and apply.  

Leading today: Boulder City Councilmember Taishya Adams is running for mayor, a bid that means giving up her council seat if she loses. In an interview with Brooke Stephenson, Adams said her campaign will focus on climate resilience, affordability and greater council oversight of public safety and policing. Her council tenure has also been shaped by her positions on the war in Gaza and her response to the June 1 firebombing on Pearl Street. The race now has three announced candidates: incumbent Mayor Aaron Brockett, Boulder entrepreneur Aquiles La Grave and Adams.

Also today: Silvia Pettem traces the rise of automobile tourism in Boulder, when travelers stayed in roadside “auto camps” and cottages along Arapahoe Avenue. One shelter from the city’s former campground still stands in Eben G. Fine Park. 

Plus more, Below the Fold:

• BoulderCAST: Hazy today, with triple-digit heat possible by the weekend.
• Emergency sirens: Hear the new sound that means “evacuate now.” 
• Climate lawsuit: Boulder youth urge U.S. Supreme Court to let lawsuit proceed.
• Wildfire risk: Boulder removes junipers near Wonderland Lake.
• Road closure: Part of 120th Street closed through October.

Thanks, as always, for reading,

– The BRL team

Boulder City Councilmember Taishya Adams announces run for mayor

Adams is campaigning on climate resilience, affordability and greater city council oversight of public safety. Her mayoral bid means she will give up her council seat if she loses. Continue reading…

When Boulder welcomed road-trippers with free auto camps and roadside cottages

Beginning in the 1910s, Boulder catered to a new class of automobile tourists. A remnant of one early “auto camp” still stands today. Continue reading…

Boulder faces hazy skies, rising temps

Following yesterday’s glorious outing in the 70s — our first in seven long weeks — we’re now sliding into a warming trend that will build straight toward triple‑digit heat by the weekend. A stubborn dome of high pressure is expanding back into Colorado from the southwest, and it’s ready to turn the thermostat up again.

We’ll land in the low 80s this afternoon with plenty of sunshine. Smoke from the big fires in Washington and Oregon will keep drifting overhead from the northwest, so expect hazy skies and reduced visibility. The good news: The worst of the near-surface smoke looks to be behind us. PM2.5 air quality should hold in the moderate range (50–100) for the next few days.

Another comfortable night lies ahead with lows in the mid-50s. Enjoy it while you can.

High temperatures will jump roughly 10 degrees tomorrow, pushing us into the mid‑90s. Then the real heat arrives. Friday through the weekend, upper 90s to low 100s look likely for several days in a row as that high-pressure dome settles in.

Rain? Not yet. We’re bone-dry for now. Storm chances don’t return until late in the weekend or early next week. The monsoon does appear poised to ramp up more meaningfully around mid-August, a small light at the end of this red‑hot tunnel, perhaps.

— BoulderCAST

Boulder adds hi-lo evacuation sirens and updates emergency alerts

Boulder police will begin sounding hi-lo sirens from patrol cars when an evacuation order is issued. The alternating tones signal an immediate threat to life and mean residents should leave immediately. The sirens supplement emergency notifications and may be especially useful when power or cellphone service is disrupted. Listen to the siren here.

Boulder and other Front Range agencies have also standardized their emergency alert language. BOCOAlert messages will now clearly identify the hazard, affected area and required response, such as evacuating, preparing to evacuate, climbing to higher ground or sheltering in place. Alerts will also include a map.

Residents should register for text, email and phone alerts at BOCOAlert.org. During major emergencies, officials may also send alerts to every cellphone in an affected area, including those not registered.

Boulder youth urge Supreme Court to let climate lawsuit proceed

Eight young people from the Boulder area have joined a friend of the court brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to allow Boulder’s climate lawsuit against ExxonMobil and Suncor to proceed. Filed Monday by Our Children’s Trust, the brief argues that state and local governments have the authority and duty to protect children from harms linked to fossil fuels and climate change.

The filing describes the experiences of several young people affected by the 2021 Marshall Fire. One lost her home, pets, artwork and journals and was separated from her parents for five weeks. Another still experiences anxiety and panic attacks on hot or windy days and when she receives wildfire alerts.

Boulder and Boulder County filed the lawsuit in 2018, alleging the companies knowingly contributed to climate change while misleading the public about its risks. They are seeking damages to help cover the costs of wildfires, extreme heat, flooding and other climate impacts. The Colorado Supreme Court allowed the case to proceed under state law, but the companies argue that federal law blocks such claims. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments this fall, with a ruling likely in 2027.

Boulder begins removing high-risk junipers near Wonderland Lake

The City of Boulder is removing ornamental junipers from five landscaped areas along the Wonderland Lake Park access path south of Orion Court as part of a pilot project to reduce wildfire risk.

Junipers are hardy and easy to maintain, but their dense, oily foliage and accumulated dead material make them highly flammable. The city will replace some of the plants this fall with native deciduous trees, low-flammability shrubs, flowering plants and cacti that require less water and support wildlife.

The city has mapped junipers on public land and is prioritizing those in the wildland-urban interface and near structures. Officials said the Wonderland Lake project is intended to show residents how they can replace high-risk landscaping around their homes.

120th Street closure to continue through October

Reconstruction of 120th Street near Lafayette between Overlook Drive and Dillon Road is underway. A full closure from the south entrance of Rock Creek Circle to Dillon Road is expected to remain in place through October.

The project includes reconstructing and widening 1.25 miles of roadway, adding buffered shoulders, reducing steep grades and installing a northbound left-turn lane at Rock Creek Circle. Access from the north to Vista Business Park, Rock Creek Court, Commerce Court and Rock Creek Circle will remain open.

Construction began in April and is expected to continue through December. Motorists, cyclists and pedestrians should use alternate routes. Boulder County is completing the project in partnership with Lafayette.

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