Sunday, March 6th - Photo Of The Week... Taken on the morning of Tuesday, March 2nd this photo captures the remarkable view of Rocky Mountain National Park as seen from along CO 43, west of Glen Haven... While temperatures in the area remained relatively warm this week, the mountains maintained their blanket of white quite well...

Friday, March 4th - Peace Tree Vigil Continues... The issue over the, "Peace Tree", still remains somewhat up in the air... Friends and neighbors of Paul Sterling and his "Peace Tree" are helping keep watch over the tree and waving to passersby on Hwy 34... As it stands at noon today, one option being considered is cutting the tree at its base so that it could either be placed on Sterling's property or moved to Estes Park for area visitors to see... In either case the tree apparently will be gone from it's current location soon, but will not be destroyed... For more information visit, "The Peace Tree"...

The vigil continues to save the "Peace Tree"	Friend and supporter, Philip, pole-sits in Paul's absence

Parks & Open Lands To Hold Storytelling Workshop... There will be a Storytelling Workshop to train campground program volunteers in the art of Storytelling on Saturday, March 12th from 9 a.m. until noon, at the Bison Visitor Center at Carter Lake... This is the only workshop we will be offering this year!  Don’t miss out!  Telling stories has been an important part of human culture since mankind gathered together for comfort and protection... Our grandparents and great-grandparents often told stories to entertain family and friends before radio and TV became regular parts of the family... This Storytelling workshop, facilitated by Katy Little of Katy’s Tales, covers techniques of storytelling, props, and attitudes about nature... The beauty of storytelling is that stories can be about almost anything: music, nature, astronomy, etc... This is a hands-on workshop, so bring a thought or story to work on along with a prop (like a special rock) and/or musical instrument (spoons are musical instruments)... After completing this free workshop, we expect that each workshop participant would donate 4 storytelling events at one of our campgrounds, Carter Lake, Flatiron Reservoir or Horsetooth Reservoir sometime this summer between May and September... For more information and/or to sign up for the workshop, please call Ann Montoya, Education Coordinator, at (970) 679-4561...

Thursday, March 3rd - Residents Battle To Save "Peace Tree"... A battle is currently underway in an attempt to save the, "Peace Tree", on Hwy 34 from being cut down... The Colorado Department of Transportation is claiming that the tree is now an advertisement and must be removed... Paul Sterling, resident and owner of the tree, is currently sitting atop the tree in protest of CDOT's decision to cut down the tree... News4 and 9News from Denver were both present... "I don't understand how they can consider this an advertisement", states Sterling, "I see it as more of a work of art and a way of saying Have A Great Day to passersby"... The tree, which sits on CDOT's right-of-way for Hwy 34 and directly in front of Mr. Sterling's home, was dead for several years prior to it's being carved... Mr. Sterling claims to have asked CDOT to remove the tree during that time but with no response... He finally paid for the tree's removal and the carving of the stump with his own money in support of our troops and for people all around the world... Sterling is getting tremendous support in his efforts from his neighbors and the surrounding community... A website has been set up for anyone wishing to help save the, "Peace Tree", and can be found via the link provided below...

Paul Sterling waves to passersby this morning	Signs on vehicles with information on "The Peace Tree"
9News and News4  both had crews present	Paul speaking from atop the Peace Tree with Senator Steve Johnson

Armed Robbery And Kidnapping In Loveland... Larimer County Sheriff's deputies and investigators responded to a report of an armed robbery and kidnapping at 2:00 A.M. on Wednesday, March 2nd... The victim, Barry Alvarado, 05-20-80, reported that he was held up at gunpoint and abducted from 1^st and Taft in Loveland... Alvarado was then driven to Berthoud and released... He hailed a passing motorist who called 911 on his cell phone... Since Alvarado was acquainted with some of the suspects, a teletype was sent to surrounding agencies with vehicle and suspect descriptions... Longmont Police Department identified the vehicle and held the suspects until Larimer County Sheriff’s deputies were able to take the four suspects into custody... Evidence found in the vehicle led investigators to make the following arrests:

1. Sonya Allor, 08-08-78: First Degree Kidnapping, Aggravated Robbery. First Degree Burglary and Criminal Conspiracy, all felonies, no bond.

2. Jamie Hagerty, 02-20-81: First Degree Kidnapping, Aggravated Robbery. First Degree Burglary and Criminal Conspiracy, all felonies, no bond.

3. Thomas Pless, 07-23-84: Second Degree Kidnapping, Aggravated Robbery, Second Degree Burglary, Criminal Conspiracy, Controlled Substance, Special Offender, no bond.

4. James Armijo, 07-14-69: First Degree Kidnapping, Aggravated Robbery. First Degree Burglary and Criminal Conspiracy, all felonies, no bond.

Two other suspects, Jennifer Young and Johnny McPherson, fled to Denver but were found and arrested by investigators Tuesday afternoon... However, they have not yet been transported to the Larimer County Detention Center... Alvarado received no serious injuries...

UPDATE: Larimer County Sheriff’s Office arrested the fifth suspect in the armed robbery and kidnapping of March 2, 2005... Joseph McPherson, 05-07-82, was booked on the following charges:  First Degree Kidnapping, Aggravated Robbery, First Degree Burglary and Criminal Conspiracy, all felonies... McPherson is being held without bond at the Larimer County Detention Center... Based on an interview, Jennifer Young was not arrested, as reported in an earlier press release...

Online Access To County Big Thompson Properties... Larimer County now has information concerning Big Thompson properties online at, "www.larimer.org/bigthompson/"... At this site citizens can sign up to be put on a mailing list, view parcel information, and watch a video recording of the February 10th Commissioners’ work-session focusing on fair processes for selling the properties... Additional information will be put on the site as this issue progresses... Larimer County acquired approximately 153 parcels of land in the Big Thompson Canyon after the flood of 1976... The parcels range in size from less than a tenth of an acre to eight acres... County officials are considering divesting the county from the properties to free the County from maintenance costs...

Wednesday, March 2nd - County Commissioners Support Senate Bill 174... At their weekly Administrative Matters meeting Tuesday the, "Board of Larimer County Commissioners", unanimously supported Colorado Senate Bill 174 (SB-174), a bill calling for a county open space sales tax exemption... SB-174 allows counties, which are currently restricted to a total of 1% (one-percent) sales and use tax, to exceed this statutory cap by up to ½% (one-half-percent) of 1% (one-percent) for land conservation and stewardship... Larimer County currently has a .25% (one-quarter of one–percent) open space sales tax... If the bill is passed, voters would still need to approve any tax... Board Chair, Commissioner Kathay Rennels, believes the change would allow more protection for agricultural lands, “Many counties have already reached the 1% cap and therefore can’t do anything to help preserve and encourage the protection of agricultural land with conservation measures...”

Tuesday, March 1st - March Comes In Like A Lamb... This year March is most definitely coming in like a lamb... Warm, sunny weather is expected the rest of the week with temperatures approaching 60°F... Should the story hold true, "In like a lamb, out like a lion", we can expect a rough end to the month... March is traditionally the snowiest month in our area with April coming in second for snowfall totals...

News posts from previous weeks are located in our "News Archive" which can be found by clicking the button below:

Storm Mountain Net