Events
Boulder Channel 1 Events section has stories and video from fun happenings all over Boulder. We write stories about them and have news anchors and TV crews at them. Send event news to News@BoulderChannel1.com. Want to advertise it call 303-447-8531.
Health Fair for children on Friday, Aug.3
Jul 24th
Free dental checkups and low-cost immunizations available for kids
Boulder County, Colo. – Salud Family Health Center’s Longmont Clinic will host its annual Dia de los Niños/Children’s Day celebration on Friday, Aug. 3.
The health fair provides low-cost immunizations, free vision screenings, and free dental checkups in a fun, safe environment to celebrate and encourage good health for children. The Boulder County Healthy Kids Initiative will also be on hand to help families enroll in Medicaid and the Child Health Plan Plus (CHP+).
“Medical expenses can make or break family finances and enrolling in Medicaid or CHP+ helps families achieve financial stability and promotes self-sufficiency,” said Stephanie Arenales, Project Coordinator for Boulder County Healthy Kids. “Reliable access to healthcare will improve children’s lives now and in the future.”
What: Children’s Day celebration and healthcare enrollment fair
When: Friday, Aug. 3, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Where: Salud Family Health Center, 220 E. Rogers Road, Longmont
The event is for children of all ages. The Medicaid and CHP+ programs are available for children up to age 19 and pregnant women. Some parents may also be eligible for Medicaid as long as they have a Medicaid-eligible child and meet the income limits.
To qualify for Medicaid or CHP+, an applicant must:
- Meet income eligibility guidelines and age requirements
- Be a Colorado resident
- Be a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident for at least five years
Background
Boulder County Healthy Kids (BCHK) is a countywide effort to enroll eligible children, their families, and pregnant women in Colorado’s public health insurance programs, Medicaid and Child Health Plan Plus (CHP+), and to assist families in securing a medical home. Created in 2008, BCHK supports Boulder County’s commitment to improving access to affordable health, dental health, and mental health services and family self-sufficiency for its most vulnerable residents. In the last year, BCHK has helped nearly 5,500 people secure Medicaid or CHP+ coverage and demonstrated an enrollment rate of 98 percent.
Medicaid is a no-cost health insurance plan for low-income Colorado children, pregnant women, parents with dependent children, and elderly or disabled individuals. CHP+ is a low-cost health insurance plan for Colorado’s uninsured children and pregnant women who cannot afford private health insurance but whose household income is too high to qualify for Medicaid.
For more information about Medicaid or CHP+ eligibility call 303-441-1589 or visit www.bchealthykids.org. For more information about the enrollment fair, call 303-772-1906.
Mountain residents urged to review insurance policies
Jul 16th
Boulder County, Colo. – Recent fires all along the Front Range have served as catastrophic reminders of the need for foothills and mountain dwellers to make sure they are adequately insured before disaster strikes.
Now is a critical time for mountain residents to check their insurance policies and ensure their homes are adequately covered and to take some easy steps to prepare for any disaster.
Foothills United Way and Boulder County are holding two free educational workshops to help residents make sure they are properly insured and to learn how to be prepared for any natural disaster:
- Nederland – Monday, July 23, 7-8:30 p.m.
Nederland Community Center, 750 Highway 72
- Boulder – Tuesday, July 24, 6:30-8 p.m.
Commissioners’ Hearing Room, Boulder County Courthouse, third floor, 1325 Pearl St.
The workshops will cover several topics, including:
- Lessons learned from Fourmile Canyon Fire Survivors
- Tips from United Policyholders’ ‘Roadmap to Preparedness’ Program (www.uphelp.org)
- How to ensure your insurance policy accurately reflects the real cost of rebuilding in the mountains west of Boulder
- Practical ways your family can be prepared in the case of a natural disaster
Often, the cost to rebuild, especially in the mountains, exceeds the amount of coverage policyholders carry for their homes and other property. Adding to this problem is the homeowner’s lack of awareness that the policies they carry are inadequate.
“One of the hard lessons of the Fourmile Canyon Fire was that more than 60 percent of property owners were underinsured,” said Garry Sanfaçon, Boulder County’s Fourmile Fire Recovery Manager. “These workshops will give people the tools they need to make sure they are adequately covered.”
Coming to CU: High-tech hallucinogenic "Swarm Wall"
Jun 4th
A monthlong summer exhibit at the University of Colorado Boulder Art Museum will feature a dynamic new media composition based on innovative robotics technology.
Called “Swarm Wall,” the large-scale interactive piece displays changing fields of color, light and sound that are driven by a distributed form of artificial intelligence.
As many as 70 intelligent “nodes” behind the piece create a swarming effect when they detect movement and communicate it with one another. The nodes exhibit swarm behavior because each performs actions solely based on its own plan and the actions of its immediate neighbors.
The 42-by-12-foot installation is the first product from a new art and technology research group on campus. The group was launched by faculty members Michael Theodore of the College of Music, who received a $44,000 grant from CU’s Innovative Seed Grant Program last year to support the collaboration, and Nikolaus Correll of the computer science department.
Also involved in the Swarm Wall is Ken Sugawara, a visiting computer science professor from Tohuku Gakuin University in Japan who is an expert in animal flocking behavior, the inspiration behind the patterns the wall displays.
The seed grant, which Correll and Theodore say already has helped them attract additional funding, was the first step toward establishing an active lab where students, faculty and professional researchers from various disciplines collaborate on cutting-edge applications of artificial intelligence.
“We’re now calling it the ‘if’ lab because we want to see what happens if artists put engineers in front of tough problems,” said Correll, who is providing space for the growing group within his own robotics laboratory in the Engineering Center at CU-Boulder.
“We want to assemble some basic, inexpensive tools that students can use to explore and to develop new applications of robotics,” Correll said.
Scattered around the lab last week were a collection of small custom circuit boards, electronic panels, items resembling ping pong balls and various other components that are being used to assemble robotic devices.
An assembly of circuit boards connected with bright orange cables also was mounted on a partition in the lab in preparation for the installation of Swarm Wall. Small mechanical arms or flippers waved back and forth as the “brains” behind the Swarm Wall were tested. Sometimes the movement was synchronized, while other times a ripple effect would occur in response to some stimuli.
“Artistic exploration can help computer scientists and engineers to ask questions they wouldn’t have otherwise asked,” said Theodore, who also serves as director of the ATLAS Center for Media, Arts and Performance.
“The difference between arts and science is very diffuse; both want to discover new things,” Theodore said. “The cool thing about art is that we can explore systems that are not of interest to classical funding agencies, but might be so after maturing in a lab like the ‘if’ lab.”
Swarm Wall is one of four pieces in “Michael Theodore: Field Theory,” an exhibition of kinetic sculpture, sound, lighting and works on paper, running June 15 through July 14 at the CU Art Museum. The exhibition is free and open to the public. An opening reception will be held on June 15, from 6 to 8 p.m. For additional information, visitors may call the CU Art Museum at 303-492-8300 or go to http://cuartmuseum.colorado.edu.