Here comes the snow City of Boulder warning
Oct 24th
City prepares for snowfall and reminds people to remove snow from sidewalks
Current weather forecasts indicate that an incoming storm may produce accumulated snow in Boulder beginning the night of Wednesday, Oct. 24, and continuing through Thursday, Oct. 25. The City of Boulder is preparing snow response crews in advance. Community members are asked to be mindful of the conditions, to prepare their vehicles as appropriate and to plan for extended commute times.
OK, it’s not that deep yet, but we likey. đ
Snow Removal on City Streets
The cityâs Public Works Department has snow crews on-call 24 hours a day, seven days a week to respond to changing weather conditions. During snowstorms, 16 plow trucks are active on Boulderâs streets. Six of the trucks distribute a liquid deicer, four spreader trucks distribute traction materials, and six trucks can distribute either material. Fifteen of the plow trucks drive predetermined routes while one âfloaterâ truck responds to problem areas.
During the snowstorm, the city may spot-treat bridges and overpasses as needed to help reduce the buildup of ice and snow. Depending on the weather conditions, a liquid deicer may also be applied to streets and multi-use paths to continue melting the snowpack throughout the snowstorm. Spreader trucks will dispense a crystallized deicer for traction, where appropriate.
consistent with other Front Range communities, the city does not plow all residential streets since Boulderâs sunny climate typically melts most snow within a day or two and because residential plowing would increase costs by an estimated 200 percent. Plowing residential streets would also block driveways and cars parked on the streets. However, problem areas like particularly icy slopes, blocked storm drains or impassable sidewalks can be reported to the city for response. To report roadway or path problems, call the Street and Bikeway Maintenance Hotline at 303-413-7177.
Sidewalk Snow Removal
The Boulder Police Department is responsible for enforcing the cityâs sidewalk snow removal ordinance. Property owners, tenants and landlords must clear their sidewalks within 24 hours after snow stops falling. Official snowfall reports are available on the National Weather Service website. Failure to remove snow from sidewalks before the 24-hour deadline may result in a summons and/or an abatement process. Abatement includes the use of a private snow removal contractor to clear the sidewalk. The property owner will be charged a $50 administrative fee, along with the contractorâs fee for removing the snow. To report a sidewalk snow violation, call Code Enforcement at 303-441-3333. Snow should be shoveled onto landscaping, not into the streets. Pushing snow into the streets creates hazards for bike commuters and pedestrians, and gutters clogged with snow may cause ice to form on the sidewalks.
The ICEBUSTERS program pairs residents who are physically unable to clear snow from their sidewalks with someone who can do the work for them. Seasonal and substitute volunteers are needed for this community program. To volunteer or learn more, please call 303-443-1933.
For more information about the cityâs snow removal or for winter driving tips, visit www.bouldercolorado.gov/publicworksand click on âWinter Tipsâ on the left menu.
For code enforcement information, call 303-441-3333 or visit the Boulder Police Departmentâs website at www.boulder-police.com.
Downtown Boulder: Munchkin Masquerade, CU Homecoming Oct 24-31
Oct 24th
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Munchkin MasqueradeOctober 31 | 2 – 5 p.m. | Pearl Street & BeyondBOO! On Halloween, Pearl Street is overtaken with ghosts & goblins, dinosaurs & dragons, fairies & princes, super heroes and animals of every size trick-or-treating along the bricks &East and West End districts. Several Downtown businesses will participate as Treat Stops. Start at the Daily Camera Booth at the top of 11th and Pearl, the Visitors Information Center at 13th & Pearl, The Cup or Full Cycle on the East End, or Clutter on the West End for a Treat Stop map and additional information! A handful of volunteers are needed to serve as traffic marshals at street crossings (13th, 14th, Broadway and Pearl streets). Please email events@dbi.org to learn more or sign-up! |
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Halloween Festivites in Downtown BoulderDon’t miss Halloween events taking place in Downtown Boulder, October 26 – 31. Shine, kicks it off Friday night with the Sinner’s Ball and celebrations continue well into Wednesday night. |
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Pearl Street Stampede – Only Two LeftFriday, November 2 | 7 p.m. | 1300 block of the Pearl Street MallThe Pearl Street Stampede happens next Friday evening to kick off homecoming weekend. Join us on November 2nd along with members of the Golden Buffalo Marching Band, the team, coaches and cheerleaders, as we get pumped up for the Homecoming game against the Stanford Cardinals on Saturday! |
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Switch on the Holidays Save the DateSunday, November 18 | 5 p.m. | 1300 block of Pearl StreetGrab your elves, throw on some tinsil and help us switch on the holidays on SUNDAY, November 18th! Santa will flip the switch for the grand illumination of the Boulder County Courthouse, the Pearl Street Mall and the star on Flagstaff Mountain. Enjoy a special performance by the Boulder Chorale. Immediately following Switch, join us at Light up the Ice for a holiday ice show and open skating. This year over 16,000 LED lights will adorn the mall with 320 festive sphere ornaments. |
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Make it BIG: Small Business SaturdaySaturday, November 24 | Downtown BoulderThe 3rd annual Small Business SaturdayÂź is a day dedicated to supporting small businesses on the busiest shopping weekend of the year. On Saturday, November 24th, pledge to shop small at your favorite Downtown Boulder stores & restaurants and help fuel our local economy. Several downtown businesses will be celebrating Small Business Saturday and/or participating in a Winter Sidewalk Sale – offering special savings & incentives! The Sidewalk Sale runs November 23-25, 2012. Check here for participating businesses and additional details. |
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Play “Found Downtown” & Win a $25 Downtown Gift Card!Think you know Downtown Boulder? Tell us where the photo to the left was taken and your correct guess will be entered in a drawing to win a $25 Downtown Boulder Gift Card. One winner will be chosen at random from the correct answers. One guess per person please. Email your answer to info@dbi.org by Tuesday, November 6 with Found Downtown in the title. The winner will be notified on Wednesday, November 7. Congratulations to the October 10 (Rocket Fizz) winner Linda Wigod! |
  » New Members
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Naropa UniversityContact: Charles Lief
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KidrobotContact: Reed Halstead
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T|ACOContact: Whitney Olmsted
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Source: Downtown Boulder
CU Boulder study finds racial âhierarchy of biasâ drives decision to shoot armed, unarmed suspects
Oct 24th
Police officers and students exhibit an apparent âhierarchy of biasâ in making a split-second decision whether to shoot suspects who appear to be wielding a gun or, alternatively, a benign object like a cell phone, research conducted by the University of Colorado Boulder and San Diego State University has found.
Both the police and student subjects were most likely to shoot at blacks, then Hispanics, then whites and finally, in a case of what might be called a positive bias, Asians, researchers found.
In the first study of its kind, Joshua Correll, Bernadette Park and Charles M. Judd of CU-Boulderâs Department of Psychology and Neuroscience and Melody Sadler of San Diego State University examined how police and a group of undergraduate subjects decide whether to shoot or not to shoot âsuspectsâ in a multi-ethnic environment.
âMost studies on the subject of stereotyping and prejudice look at two (ethnic) groups, usually in isolation. Itâs always one group against another group,â said Correll, a CU graduate who joined the faculty in August after a stint at the University of Chicago.
âBut as the country becomes more ethnically diverse, itâs more and more important to start thinking about how we process racial and ethnic cues in a multicultural environment,â he said.
As with previous studies into the question, data were gathered from subjects playing a âfirst person shooterâ video game, in which figures of varying ethnicity â Caucasian, Asian, Hispanic and African-American â pop up, either âarmedâ with a weapon or another benign object, such as a cell phone.
Participants â 69 CU-Boulder undergraduates and 254 police officers â had to make quick decisions as to which figures posed a âthreatâ and shoot them. The police officers were recruited from two-day training seminars in Florida, New Mexico and Washington and represented numerous jurisdictions from 11 states.
The research demonstrates how persistent cultural stereotypes are, Correll said. Even students who displayed little bias when interviewed demonstrated otherwise when faced with a split-second decision.
âI may not believe it personally, but I am exposed to stereotypes constantly through media or social networks ⊠(such as) the idea that young black men are dangerous,â he said. âThose associations can have an influence on my behavior even if I donât believe them.â
The study found that police were considerably more accurate than students at correctly identifying a genuinely threatening suspect, as opposed to those brandishing a cell phone or wallet, perhaps a reflection of training. But officers were still influenced by the targetâs race â an influence that may derive from the officersâ âcontacts, attitudes and stereotypes,â Correll said.
For example, police who endorsed more violent stereotypes about Hispanics and those who overestimated the prevalence of violent crime in their districts demonstrated more bias to shoot Hispanic targets. That raises the question of whether police are responding to real-world threats â and whether that means some ethnic groups really are more likely to be armed and dangerous than others.
âThat is a very sensitive question, whether or not (police officersâ) reactions are based on some kind of truth. Is this police officers responding to reality on the ground? The short answer is, we donât know,â Correll said. âBut this research almost demands that we ask that question.â
The researchersâ recent findings were published in the Journal of Social Issues. The work was funded by a grant from the Russell Sage Foundation.
In 2007, Correll (then at the University of Chicago), Sadler (then at CU-Boulder), Park and Judd collaborated with the Denver Police Department on a widely cited study that found police officers were less influenced than the general public by racial bias and less likely than the general population to make a decision to shoot at African-American suspects wielding a benign object.
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