We wouldn’t blame anyone who avoided reading too much news this year; it was a rough one. For the benefit of your mental health and for anyone who skimmed the headlines this year, we present this annual recap of the good, the bad and the downright troubling Boulder County news from 2024.
If you can’t stomach even this quick-and-dirty roundup, we suggest skipping to the stories we’re watching for next year: There are faint glimmers of hope on the horizon for at least a few folks.
Stories of the year
Naropa University sells its preschool, main campus
As tech bros and monied interests have increasingly gained ground in Boulder, the crunchy, ski-bum vibes of yesteryear have given way to a milquetoast homogeny.
Naropa, the Buddhist university founded in 1974, is one of the few institutions keeping the flavor of Old Boulder alive. Which is why we anxiously watched its evolution this year as the private institute of higher learning announced plans to sell its preschool, Alaya, and main campus, after having offloaded its Paramita outpost in 2019.
The sales came amid a pandemic-fueled shift away from in-person learning. University president Charles “Chuck” Lief said the money helped the university keep paying its faculty and staff and transition to a more hybrid future.
A bright spot was Naropa’s development of psychedelic training curriculum, the first in the state to receive regulators’ OK. Reporter Kaylee Harter explored its formation in March, and Tyler Hickman broke the news in November that insurers had pulled the plug on the promising program.
The psychedelic studies center is now independent of the university and will be run by former faculty and a group of local therapists.
– Shay Castle, editor-in-chief
Longmont councilwoman Marcia Martin resigns
Longmont’s city council chambers have been brimming with drama in the past several months, and the saga came to a climax during December's first meeting.
Marcia Martin, Longmont’s two-term Ward 2 representative, announced her resignation effective at the end of 2024, and now council will need to find a replacement to carry out the rest of her term, which ends in 2025.
Martin has been participating in meetings virtually from New York for months while she cares for her daughter, who is experiencing a mental health crisis. At first, council supported her remote participation until she returned, but were caught by surprise when Martin revealed she had signed a 13-month lease in New York — and her intent to come back to Longmont was called into question.
Now, council has to hand-pick a replacement to serve out the rest of her term because Martin’s official resignation missed the window that would trigger a special election, so Ward 2 voters will have to wait until November to have a say in their elected official.
Residents came out to multiple meetings over the course of her remote participation to express their support for her, but the representative was not without her critics. Council expressed concerns over the “horrible precedent” her absence set, and an incident where she unnecessarily called city police to an Airport Advisory Board Meeting characterized her final few months in office.
The new council member will have big shoes to fill, so keep your eyes out as the appointment process unfolds over the next few weeks.
– Tyler Hickman, reporter
Boulder County cuts human services funding by $4.4M
Human service providers like homeless shelters, food pantries and child care centers are already straining to meet the community’s needs, so local organizations were understandably worried when the county announced it would cut one source of funding for those services by more than 30%.
In the wake of the $4.4 million slash, nearly a dozen organizations lost their Community Partnership Grant funding entirely, while others saw cuts between 10% and 30%.
County officials have stressed to the community that these are only cuts to one funding source (All Roads, formerly Boulder Shelter for the Homeless, for example, receives another $900,000 from the county not attached to the fund), but many providers have still said loud and clear that they’re going to feel the burn — and will have to cut services as a result.
This all comes as other state and federal funding for human services is drying up, which the county says is partially to blame for the cuts in the first place.
We’re planning to up our coverage of the county in the New Year, and following the impacts of budget decisions like this will most definitely be part of that.
– Kaylee Harter, reporter
Stories we’re watching for 2025
Minimum wage whispers
While it may seem like discussions about raising local minimum wages petered out, the conversations are far from over. After a regional effort to raise wages across five cities fell apart early this fall, Boulder alone moved forward with an increase, but the possibility wasn’t ruled out by other BoCo municipalities.
Longmont is still looking at raising wages — mayor Joan Peck and several other council members expressed that the current floor is too low at an October meeting and plan to revisit the issue after further community engagement — so expect to see this on the menu for council in 2025.
– Tyler Hickman
Sundance making moves?
We’re not the only ones awaiting news about whether or not the iconic yearly film festival will relocate to Boulder. An announcement should come fairly soon in the new year, according to Sundance organizers.
Boulder is putting up a good fight against fellow finalists Cincinnati and Park City/Salt Lake. Sources have spotted Sundance officials on multiple visits to The People’s Republic in recent months: being wooed by a delegation of state and city leaders (alongside dancers and other performers) on the Pearl Street Mall; appearing at the annual Warren Miller Film Tour; and exploring the inner workings of The Dairy.
Whatever happens, you will read about it in the Weekly.
– Shay Castle
Nederland buying Eldora?
When the Town of Nederland announced the possibility of buying Eldora Ski Resort from POWDR, the prospect sounded exciting, if not far-fetched for a town with a yearly budget of $3.2 million.
In a world where the massive conglomerates like Alterra and Vail are buying up ski resorts left and right, a ski area owned by the town most impacted by it could be a welcome twist. Here at BW, we’re feeling particularly invested in non-traditional ownership models (shameless plug for our efforts to become a co-op), so we’re excited to see how this shakes out.
We have questions about its feasibility as well as what it would mean for both the town and the mountain, so stay tuned in 2025 for more coverage on the sale of BoCo’s only ski area.
– Kaylee Harter
Other stories of import
In no particular order, we’ll also be keeping an eye on progress on the Gross Dam construction (and the lawsuit seeking to stop it), Boulder’s fight with the FAA to convert the airport into housing and plans for new fracking wells in or near Erie. With new rules for the Police Oversight Panel approved in 2023 giving the city manager more control and the ongoing fight between the city and NAACP of Boulder County over the new police chief, we'll also be keeping an eye on police reform in the new year.
Our most-read stories from 2024
- Boulder Weekly Vote Guides (June + October)
Our election coverage is always tops when it comes to web traffic, and this year we added the June primary into the mix. Every candidate, every ballot issue, every dollar spent: If it’s on your ballot, you’ll find it in Boulder Weekly. - Justine Lupe traces her path from the Front Range to screen stardom by Gregory Wakeman (Sept. 24)
We suspect a share from the Succession actor gave this one a boost. We loved learning about Lupe’s Colorado connection — she was raised in Bailey and Denver — and her latest project, Nobody Wants This, with Kristen Bell. - Can local restaurants survive in Boulder? by John Lehndorff (Aug. 20)
As one eatery after another calls it quits, BW’s food editor asked the obvious if painful question. The story doesn’t necessarily provide answers — it’s mostly one business owner’s frustrated hypothesizing — but it does provide good insight into what it takes to “make it” in such an expensive city.
Recommended reading
“Opioids Ravaged a Kentucky Town. Then Rehab Became Its Business.” by Oliver Whang, The New York Times
Most stories about the opioid epidemic take one of two paths: A grim portrait of the unshakeable crisis that has permeated seemingly every corner of our country, or a heartwarming underdog story of recovery against all odds. It’s rare to read a piece that captures the nuanced reality of addiction recovery and opioid use, and Whang does it in this beautifully written and deeply reported feature.
He takes you inside the daily life of the people of Louisa, Kentucky, “one of the places where you’re most likely to die of a drug addiction but also the place where you’re most likely to receive treatment for it,” Whang writes. It’s a heavy read, displaying the dark-side of profiteering from addiction recovery that people in Eastern Kentucky and their communities so desperately need — and the end is both gut-wrenching and hope inspiring. – Tyler Hickman
“The Invisible Man” by Patrick Fealey, Esquire
It was hard not to see myself in this searing piece from a former award-winning art critic who now lives in his car. I, too, am a journalist who once called my Toyota Corolla home.
But while my six-month stint of being unhoused was largely by choice (though not one I would have made if I had more money), Fealey was forced into homelessness by a health crisis and an achingly cruel, uniquely American system of government and economics.
No matter how many stories you’ve read about homelessness, I guarantee you’ve never read one like this. – Shay Castle
Denver cleared camps from downtown. Now, homelessness is appearing elsewhere by Kevin Beaty, Denverite
Denver Mayor Mike Johnson has touted moving 2,000 people inside since the start of the year, but, as this story explores, it came at a cost. People who are unhoused say the streets have gotten more violent as a result of city crackdowns; service providers say outreach has gotten more difficult.
This piece exploring the changing shape and geography of homelessness in Denver is rich with personal anecdotes as well as data, but doesn’t shy away from the limitations of that very data. It’s a shining example of local journalism on the fallout of policy that might sound good on paper and is well-worth a read.
HONORABLE MENTION: Sphen, Penguin Whose Gay Love Story Earned Global Fame, Dies by Isabella Kwai, New York Times
– Kaylee Harter