Firefighter Lanie Osborne made the commute from Grand Junction to Boulder County to spend Saturday honing skills and creating connections with other women in the industry. Despite the four-hour trip – and the cold, rainy weather – Osborne thought it was well worth the effort. “The idea of being able to train with women was really cool,” Osborne said. “I was the only female in my fire academy. Knowing that you’re not the only one is nice. There are other people you can lean on and ask for advice.” Osborne was one of around 75 firefighters who attended Saturday’s “Women in the Fire Service Skill ..read more

Hundreds of third graders in the St. Vrain Valley School District will once again get a chance to step back in time this week by touring Old Mill Park at 237 Pratt St. St. Vrain Historical Society volunteers host the Pioneer Days program and lead the tours with historical stories about Longmont and Colorado. The tours are meant to coincide with what students learn about Colorado history in school. The program went on hiatus during the COVID pandemic, but was back last year and is scheduled for most days this week. To learn more, call the historical society at 303-776-1870 ..read more

Louisville’s Coal Creek Elementary will host a celebration for two retiring teachers from 3 to 4 p.m. May 16 at the school,  801 W. Tamarisk St.. The two teachers who are retiring are Becky Swanstrom and Lynn Montoya. The school serves about 330 students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade ..read more

Lyons Middle Senior High School will host a fine arts festival and auditorium dedication from 4:30 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at the school. The event will honor the late LaVern Johnson, frequently referred to as the matriarch of Lyons and known for her contributions to the school and community. Officials will kick things off by unveiling new signage outside the auditorium. After that, guests will move to the auditorium for a formal dedication ceremony. Starting at 5:15 p.m., attendees are invited to performances by Lyons high school bands and choirs. Student artwork also will be on display in the au ..read more

LAFAYETTE — Dawson coach John Welsch was taken aback when first informed that Mustangs star junior Kanoe Bihag’s next goal would be the 100th of her career. Then, in the next moment, it was as if he already knew — which if not a genuine “well, on second thought” moment, would’ve been stellar comedic timing. “When you told me that this is 99 knocking on the door for 100, I go, ‘wow,’” he said after his team’s lightning-shortened 3-0 win over Nederland on Friday. “And then looking back, it’s like ‘yeah, I see that.’” He marveled: “There are certain high school programs that might not have 1 ..read more

LONGMONT — When Longmont’s coaches threw together their girls’ 4×200-meter relay team at their own track and field invitational on Friday, they did so hoping that they could qualify the event for the state meet next month. What came to pass shocked them and got them rethinking their strategy for Colorado’s biggest meet at JeffCo Stadium on May 16. The quartet of Jordan Johnson, Lea Irvin, Ella Pears and Terra Brubaker not only won the event, but their collective time of 1 minute, 42.96 seconds rocketed them to the top of the statewide leaderboard in Class 4A. They even beat the meet record by ..read more

Boulder Valley is updating its attendance practices and policies as the district tackles an increase in chronic absenteeism following the pandemic. “We’ve done a really good job in putting some structures and things together to do our best to invite students back to some normalcy,” said Elton Davis, Boulder Valley student support services director. “It’s putting us on a good track to get where we want to be.” Chronic absenteeism is defined as missing 10% or more of the school days in a school year, including both excused and unexcused absences. Attendance Works, a national nonprofit group, fou ..read more

The Weld County District Michael Rourke said Thursday that Officer Christopher Glenn was justified in discharging his firearm during a shooting after an armed robbery at a Circle K on March 18, according to a press release from his office. The 19th Judicial District Critical Incident Response Team investigated the officer-involved shooting and gave its results to the district attorney’s office, according to the release. Because of pending litigation against Kovacs, the district attorney’s office is not releasing additional information about the incident, according to the release. Longmont poli ..read more

Students from a local robotics club — Team BroomBots — dove headfirst into the learning opportunity of a lifetime earlier this month while attending the international high school robotics competition in Houston, Texas. Members of Team BroomBots robotics team work on a project while at the FIRST Robotics Competition, an international challenge, in Houston, Texas, in April. (Jamie Rumsey and Julian McCoy — Courtesy photo) In February, the team punched its ticket to the world competition in Texas after winning the top spot at the Colorado State Championship. The FIRST Robotics Competition — For I ..read more

Choosing a bottle of wine can be a stressful task. Especially when that wine is meant for someone else. If you’re daunted by trying to decide what wine to bring to a party, the perfect bottle for a hard-to-please mother-in-law or something to entice a prospective paramour, consider some tried-and-tested tips from Chicago wine experts. Surefire party hits When selecting a wine to bring to a party, Chasity Cooper, a communications strategist and wine and culture writer, turns to trusted favorites. “Pinot noir from Oregon always delivers,” says Cooper, who recently published the “Wine Convo Gener ..read more