Boulder Rangers week: Homemade bombs found in Lefthand Creek, dog bites, assaults and trespass
Aug 23rd
Rangers responded to:
• Two reports of criminal trespasses, one at Flatirons Vista Trailhead and the other at Doudy Draw.
• A report of a deer caught in an iron wrought fence. The deer had to be dispatched.
• A report of an assault near the North Wittemeyer property. Witnesses stated that a man was pulled out of a vehicle and beaten. Rangers assisted Sheriff’s Officers on this call but were unable to locate a suspect.
• A report of two dog bites. One hiker was charged and attacked by a Golden Retriever on the Gregory Canyon trail, while a boy scout was attacked by a Border Collie at the Green Mountain Summit.
Safety Reminder from Ranger Scott Wilkey:
To all;
I want to take this time to remind everyone that we live in a sometimes strange world.
A few days ago, a fisherman located what appeared to be a suspicious device in Left Hand Creek. I met with Boulder County Sheriff’s deputies there and upon investigation we determined that they were sufficiently suspicious to call the bomb squad.
The short story is that the devices were small homemade bombs with fuses.
They were about 6” long and made out of ½ or ¾ inch PVC pipe. They had end caps and fuses. Both devices were very powerful and dangerous despite having been in the creek for who knows how long.
I urge all OSMP folks in the field to take caution. We all see a lot of different things out there but if it seems suspicious to you…
CALL A RANGER.
I know I speak for all of us when I say that we have no problem responding to check out a suspicious device, person or situation.
Please be safe out there, everyone.
Volunteer Day at Cure Organic Farm
We had 25 volunteers show up to help harvest tomatoes and new potatoes at Cure Organic Farm on Thursday, August 15th. Before heading out into the fields, Lauren Kolb, ag resource specialist, spoke about this history of agriculture in Boulder County and how Open Space is helping to keep this rich agricultural tradition going by providing leasable land for farmers and ranchers.
Anne Cure, a three year tenant of the Eccher parcel on Valmont Road, talked about the evolution of her operation. Anne started Cure Organic Farm with 4 acres and an 80-family CSA. Today, Anne has expanded her operation to 12 certified-organic acres which supports a 185-family CSA. Anne typifies a diversified operation, not only in the number of vegetables she grows, but also with a variety of other revenue streams: a day camp for kids, cut flowers, two farmers markets, 12 restaurant customers, and a menagerie of animals including ducks, chickens, sheep, and pigs. Expanding onto OSMP property has allowed Anne to de-intensify her production: instead of growing three vegetable crops on the same piece of land in a single growing season, she can give the land a rest by planting cover crops to allow the soil organic matter to rebuild.
With the help of our volunteer crew, Anne harvested 332 pounds of heirloom tomatoes and 2,622 pounds of potatoes for her CSA and farmers’ market, much to the delight of her interns. After finishing in the field, Anne treated the volunteers to some extra produce—potatoes, squash, radishes, chard, and zucchini! We’ll be sure to be back in September and October to help with peak harvest.
Trailheads
Jay Jones and crew built a new ADA compliant picnic / meeting site, on the pathway for Crown Rock.
Last week:
- Hauled building stone to work site at Crown rock
- Removed old table and excavated footprint for improved picnic area
- Dug bench for rock wall
- Installed two tier rock wall and graded surface
Jennelle Freeston
Coordinator of Volunteer Services
City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks
66 South Cherryvale Rd.
Boulder, CO 80303
FreestonJ@bouldercolorado.gov
Phone: 303-413-7656
Cell: 303-818-6972
www.osmp.org
American Tejay van Garderen of BMC Racing Team Takes Overall Lead
Aug 22nd
Climber Janier Acevedo of Jamis-Hagens Berman Wins Stage Under Challenging Conditions
Beaver Creek, CO (Aug. 22, 2013) – The Queen Stage of the 2013 USA Pro Challenge presented the riders with a challenging day, starting in Beaver Creek, that included five climbs and ended in a downpour of rain. In a show of strength, Columbian climber Janier Alexis Acevedo of Jamis-Hagens Berman p/b Sutter Home powered up the road to Beaver Creek to take the stage win. Following just behind was Tejay van Garderen (USA) of BMC Racing Team who will now wear yellow heading into the Individual Time Trial tomorrow in Vail.
“Today was one of the most exciting days of racing we’ve had so far,” said Shawn Hunter, CEO of the USA Pro Challenge. “The number of attacks out there and the competitive level of racing we’re seeing from these pros is definitely keeping things interesting.”
Tejay van Garderen took the overall lead in the race
Stage 4 began today in Steamboat Springs with a neutral start that was cheered on by large crowds of spectators lining the streets.
“Colorado has really come out to support the USA Pro Challenge,” added Hunter. “Every city we visit and pass through along the route has fans out on the street cheering for the riders. It’s impressive.”
The race kicked into high gear jumping to speeds of 40 mph at the official race start on the edge of town. As with the other days of the race thus far, attacks started coming from the get-go. An initial attempt from Tour de France Champions Chris Froome (GBR) of Sky Procycling (2013) and Andy Schleck (LUX) of RadioShack Leopard Trek (2010) was unsuccessful and was reeled back in within a few minutes.
Shortly after, a group of nine riders pulled away. As some were dropped and others joined, the group got situated to include Timmy Duggan (USA) and Mick Rogers (AUS) of Team Saxo-Tinkoff, Danny Pate and (USA) Kanstantsin Siutsou (BLR) of Sky Procycling, Tony Gallopin (FRA) of RadioShack Leopard Trek, Lawrence Warbasse (USA) of BMC Racing Team, Davide Villella (ITA) of Cannondale Pro Cycling, Matt Cooke (USA) of Jamis-Hagens Berman p/b Sutter Home, and Serghei Tvetcov (MDA) of Jelly Belly p/b Kenda.
With about six miles until the first Nissan King of the Mountains (KOM) competition of the day, Jason McCartney (USA) of Bissell Pro Cycling made a move to bridge the gap up to the break, but wouldn’t be able to make the catch until later in the race.
Heading up the Category 4 climb at CR 27, Cooke led the way, reaching the top first and adding to his lead in the KOM Jersey competition, followed by Villella and Duggan. Charging at high speeds down into the small town of Oak Creek, the break approached the first and only Clif Bar sprint of the day. Siutsou barreled through the line first, followed by Warbasse and Duggan.
Heading uphill and through the Feed Zone, the riders started the ascent of the second Nissan KOM competition, a Category 4 climb at CO 131. Cooke reached the top first in an uncontested effort to increase his hold on the KOM Jersey, followed by Pate and Tvetcov.
During the descent, the break started losing time to the chasing peloton, reaching just under three minutes as they hit the valley floor. But as the peloton got closer to the top of the KOM, the gap increased again. Sensing the fate of the break, Siutsou seized the moment and attacked. He was joined by Gallopin, Warbasse, Rogers and Villella.
As they continued approaching the third Nissan KOM competition of the day, again a Category 4 at CO131, Pate and McCartney were reabsorbed by the Garmin-led peloton. This time Gallopin crested the climb first, followed by Siutsou and Rogers. On the 15-mile stretch through the valley leading into the biggest climb of the stage at Bachelor Gulch, Duggan lost contact with the chase, leaving just Tvetcov and Cooke in pursuit of the five ahead, but before long they were caught as well.
With just about 25 miles left to the uphill finish line in Beaver Creek, the peloton starting pushing the pace, with various teams jumping to the front in an effort to eventually reel back in the break. On a false flat leading into the fourth Nissan KOM competition of the day, Team Garmin-Sharp and BMC Racing Team controlled the front of the peloton, with lots of shuffling going on in the bunch as everyone got into position.
The tough climb up Bachelor Gulch really affected the riders, splitting them up into several groups, shattering the field. On the ascent, Rogers attacked the break, followed by Warbasse, leaving Gallopin and Villella chasing behind, and Siutsou falling back to the main group. But in the final three miles of the climb, Warbasse lost contact as well. The climb continued to break apart the riders leaving Rogers out front, followed by three chasers, then eight additional riders, followed by the peloton, and then the grupetto trying to hang on. As things continued to shake up, Mathias Frank (SUI) of BMC Racing Team, van Garderen, Tom Danielson (USA) of Team Garmin-Sharp and Acevedo, formed the group chasing down Rogers, which eventually they did and then proceeded to drop him on the climb.
“That thing (Bachelor Gultch) is incredible,” said Cooke. “I’m just impressed that anyone can ride up that pretty fast. It was steep and one heck of a course.”
Powering over the top, Danielson led, with van Garderen and Acevedo following. Now, with just more than seven miles to go until the finish in Beaver Creek, the pressure was building. On the descent, Acevedo attacked and was challenged by van Garderen, leaving Danielson, and eventually Frank, chasing just a few seconds back. Behind them a group of eight, including race leader Lachlan David Morton (AUS) of Team Garmin-Sharp was keeping pace at only about 30 seconds back.
“The biggest challenge was the bottom of Bachelor Gulch. It was an insanely hard tempo,” said van Garderen.
As the rain began to pound down on the riders, van Garderen and Acevedo powered through the final climb, lined with eagerly awaiting fans, to the finish line in Beaver Creek. Acevedo eventually took the stage, followed by van Garderen and 13 seconds later, Frank.
“I felt very good and confident,” said Acevedo. “I had to go as easy as I could going downhill, taking as little risk possible going around corners. I had a tremendous day today and I felt good about it. For me to win today is just amazing.”
The biggest change in today’s jerseys was van Garderen taking the Smashburger Leader Jersey. Rogers was awarded theFirstBank Most Courageous Rider Jersey for his work in the breaks. Several jerseys remain unchanged, including the Clif Bar Sprint Jersey (Peter Sagan (SVK) of Cannondale Pro Cycling), Nissan King of the Mountains Jersey (Cooke) and Colorado State University Best Young Rider Jersey (Morton).
New financial educator to help CU-Boulder students navigate money matters
Aug 22nd
In an effort to help University of Colorado Boulder students make smart financial decisions about their budgets, credit, school loans and other money matters, a new campus financial educator will be available to students beginning Aug. 26, the first day of fall semester classes.
The CU Money Sense program was created by the Bursar’s Office in 2009 to provide student financial workshops and other educational opportunities including “Money Smart Week,” according to Susie Jacobs, the program’s director.
“This year our program added a new financial educator position to provide our students with one-on-one education sessions,” Jacobs said.
Niomi Williams, the new financial educator, will offer the free one-on-one sessions in order to give CU-Boulder students — and alumni — a financial leg up in what can be a challenging chapter in many young adults’ lives.
“When I was a recent college graduate, I found myself with student loan and credit card debt and not enough income,” Williams said. “I didn’t know how to manage my finances, I was a mess. My goal in this new position is to help students steer clear of money mistakes and lay the foundation for a stable financial future.”
While all individuals’ needs will be different, Williams said students can request a one-on-one session with her to cover basic financial questions such as how to organize and budget money, a challenging task for many people. Or they can just come in to talk about other financial issues or questions they may have.
“For many students, college is the first time they have to really manage their money, everything from paying rent to understanding how much their student loan payments will be when they graduate,” she said.
Williams said she won’t be offering investment or tax advice, but she hopes she can help students excel in money management.
“Once I learned how to organize and control my finances, all the pressure and financial stress I had been feeling went away,” she said.
Students who don’t want to sit down with Williams can visit the CU Money Sense website at http://bursar.colorado.edu/cumoneysense. Students also can check out the Facebook and Twitter pages, or follow the CU Money Sense blog, all of which can be accessed on the main website. CU Money Sense also puts on several workshops throughout the school year on financial topics of interest to students, free of charge.
Upcoming CU Money Sense workshops include:
- “Money Matters Information Sessions,” Aug. 21-23, 3-4 p.m. in University Memorial Center room 247.
- “Best Money Apps and Websites for Students,” Aug. 27-28, at 3 p.m. in University Memorial Center room 353.
- “Intro to Money, Banking and Budgeting in Boulder for International Students,” Sept. 18, at noon in University Memorial Center room 425.
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