As of last Friday, the City of Boulder had received just 35 applications for volunteers on its 20 boards and commissions (for some 35 open seats). Several boards had not received any applications. Appointees to these positions — from the arts commission to the housing advisory board — get the opportunity to serve their community by helping City Council examine issues, effectively shaping the future of our city.
There’s still time to apply by today’s 12 a.m. deadline, if you have the bandwidth to serve. You’ll find links for each board and commission here. (If you’re anything like us, you’ll probably wait until the last minute tonight.)
We’re taking a beat to recoup on this Presidents Day here at BRL headquarters, so no top stories this morning. But we’ve got everything you need to know about what’s happening in your community today — from holiday closures to Covid updates, and points in between. Plus a nice picture of a duck by our new spring intern, Harry Fuller.🦆
– Jezy, managing editor
Quickly
⏱️ Highs in the mid-40s today, with a cold front arriving in the afternoon. Via NWS Boulder: “Temperatures will plummet getting close to 0° by Tuesday morning.” Chance of snow through Thursday morning.
⏱️ City administration offices and libraries are closed today for Presidents Day. More on what’s closed (and what’s not) here.
⏱️ In case you scrolled past the newsletter intro: You have until midnight to apply to serve as a volunteer on one of the City of Boulder’s 20 boards and commissions. Submission numbers have been low.
⏱️ Boulder City Council will hold a public hearing on April 5 on the subject of forming a new library district. Submit comments here.
⏱️ The application for grants related to Immigrant Heritage Month has been extended, per the City of Boulder.
⏱️ The right-of-entry form deadline for fire-affected residents in Boulder County to opt in or out of debris removal for destroyed properties has been extended to Friday, Feb. 25. Learn more.
⏱️ A Precious Child, a nonprofit organization serving Colorado kids, is providing items like clothing, bedding and winter wear to Marshall Fire victims at its Broomfield headquarters on Saturdays, 10 a.m.–3 p.m.
⏱️ The application period for the city’s Food Tax Rebate Program opens March 1 through June 30. Apply here.
⏱️ Carey Mason, who previously served as the vice chair of the board of trustees at Community Foundation Boulder County, has been named acting chair.
⏱️ City of Boulder has completed construction on the Anemone Loop Trail west of downtown. All construction-related trail closures are lifted.
Covid-19 in Boulder County: Feb. 21, 2022
- 132 daily new cases (7-day avg.) ⬇Down 41% over preceding 7-day avg. (Note: This data was last updated Feb. 18.)
- 40 patients hospitalized with Covid (7-day avg.) ⬇Down from avg. of 41 since July 2020.
- 64% percent of ICU is occupied. ⬇Down from avg. of 71% since July 2020.
- Data: Here’s how and where we’re tracking all of the above.
Latest Covid news
- Vaccine Verification Program expires. The move came on Friday in conjunction with the expiration of Public Health Order 2021-08, which required masks in indoor public spaces. “The VVP offered a critical tool that balanced safety and a return to normalcy. We appreciate the 326 facilities that participated in the program and developed policies to keep staff and the public safe during times of substantial and high transmission,” said Tessa Hale, policy and systems change coordinator for BCPH.
- New advisory from BCPH. In light of the recent indoor mask mandate rescission, Boulder County Public Health has issued a Public Health Advisory with recommendations (“not requirements”) for curbing the spread of Covid-19. These include getting up to date on vaccines, wearing a medical-grade mask around people with high risk for severe disease and more.
BRL Picks
🗣️ Sound off for climate. How do you imagine a more climate resilient Boulder? Make your voice heard by recording a brief audio message as part of a new initiative by the city’s Climate Initiatives Department. Recordings are being accepted throughout the year.
😋 Lasagna Love. After handing out hundreds of lasagnas to Marshall Fire victims in January, Lasagna Love returns to the Superior Community Center for Round 2 on Sunday, Feb. 27. Meals are available to anyone affected by the fire, along with first responders and volunteers who have helped with fire relief efforts.
🎵 Boulder County Blues. Support the Boulder County Wildfire Fund with an afternoon of live music from the Mile High Blues Society on Saturday, March 12, at Antero Hall in Lakewood. Performers include Randall Dubis and Friends, 50 Shades of Blue and Deborah Stafford and the State of Affairs. The festivities will also include a silent auction.
👨🌾 Garden to table. Are you a BVSD parent who wants to help your little sprouts grow? Thanks to a grant from Boulder County Sustainable Food and Agriculture, $100 stipends are available for five hours of training in March and April to help you “make best use of your child’s (or childrens’) school garden.”
What We’re Reading
- “It was really sad to be alone.” Colorado teen Levi Randolph and his older brother were having a hard time during the Covid-19 pandemic, so they put the experience to music. “They decided to write a song about what the two pandemic years have been like for teenagers — the isolation, the inability to develop social skills, and what adults looked like through the eyes of a young person. All the feelings young people had about what was going on, they were just bottled up.” [CPR News]
- “A somber anniversary.” Several state lawmakers joined Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland on Saturday for a tour of Camp Amache in Granada, Colorado, where approximately 7,500 Japanese Americans were interned after being forcibly removed from their homes by the U.S. government 80 years prior. “If we’re really to grow as a country we have to face our demons and we have to be willing to feel things that we aren’t willing to feel, and to think about things we don’t want to think about.” [CBS Denver]
ICYMI from BRL
🏗️ Widespread underinsurance prompts City of Louisville to streamline regulations to help people rebuild. The Louisville City Council approved an emergency ordinance intended to expedite construction in neighborhoods destroyed by the fire, even as it pursues other regulations that could slow things down.
❤️ After launching during the early days of Covid-19, an online volunteer group becomes a lifeline in the wake of the Marshall Fire. Yesterday’s opening of a new free store for fire victims at the Christopher Plaza shopping center in Louisville is the latest community relief effort spearheaded by local resident Serena Overson.
🔥 ‘Colorado is a flammable place’: experts urge renewed focus on resilience after the fire. In the final installment of a virtual conversation series, panelists share insight on building fire-adapted communities in response to the expanding wildland-urban interface.
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