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— Top stories —
City of Greeley hopes voters, and its City Council, have an open mind for open space
By Dan England
Nearly 30 years ago, Larimer County residents approved an open space sales tax. There are days when Megan Flenniken wonders where the county would be without it.
Would Devil’s Backbone -- or at least the network of trails that extend to its spiny curvature and well beyond -- exist? Would Horsetooth Mountain Open Space, another iconic outdoors playground that makes Larimer County such a great place to live?
Eh, maybe. But she also wonders. The tax passed a few years before growth began consuming the land. It was a slow time for development, if you can believe it, given that we really haven’t seen one since. The City of Fort Collins, which had already approved a tax, and the county could use the money to snap up valuable swaths of land and establish itself as a real competitor to Boulder and Estes Park and all those ski towns for open space recreation, reserving their spot as one of the Best Places to Live.
“It was a pivotal time, and we were able to secure a lot of land back then,” said Flenniken, Land Acquisition, Planning and Resource Program Manager. “We have the mountain backdrop, and the separators between Loveland and Fort Collins, and so many trails. It’s a lot of things people value.”
Now Greeley city council member Tommy Butler wonders where Greeley will be without its own tax. Residents still haven’t approved one -- but that could change. The Greeley City Council just allowed draft ballot language for the tax to go before focus groups, one of the very few times it’s survived beyond an informal work session. Butler isn’t a blind champion of an open space tax, but he’s tried to bring one before voters at least three other times, only for the council to say no.
“I really would have loved to have done it three or four years ago,” Butler said. “Every time you wait, you acquire less and less open space.”
The Landline Company offers new shuttle service between Greeley and DIA
By Emily Kemme
When Nat and Susan Wickham planned a three-week trip to Italy, those plans included taking the round-trip shuttle service from Greeley to Denver International Airport. But through a Google search, they learned that service was no longer in business.
The alternative—paying for parking at DIA, which can run into hundreds of dollars for extended parking stays—wasn’t ideal. Besides, navigating highways to get home while jet-lagged can be dangerous for even the most experienced drivers.
“We did not want to impose on our friend to drive to and from DIA in bad weather, late at night,” the Wickhams wrote. “Luckily, we stumbled on a new Greeley shuttle service—The Landline Company—and were very impressed. It’s the best shuttle service we’ve ever used, anywhere.”
The silent threat of prediabetes: Weld County launches new program as diabetes cases rise
By Dan England
Rachael Aswege had a pain in her side. She was one of the lucky ones. Most people with prediabetes don’t know they have the condition until it progresses into the full-blown disease. Symptoms, such as the dull, annoying pain Aswege had in her side, are rare.
She’s one of a growing number of people with diabetic conditions in Weld County, said Kelly Martinez, public health communications manager for the county’s health department. According to the 2022 Weld County Community Health Survey, 11.4% of Weld residents reported having diabetes, up from 10.1% in 2019.
Rising need: Weld Food Bank, other northern Colorado resources see surge in demand
By Kelly Ragan
Business is booming – and that’s not a good thing for the Weld Food Bank.
Weston Edmunds, communication manager at the Weld Food Bank, said they’ve seen a stark increase in the number of people they’re serving, especially with their emergency food program.
“The need has never been worse,” Edmunds said.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Emergency Food Program was used, on average, about 5,300 times a month. It is designed to help individuals and families who have a temporary and usually unexpected food need. During the height of the pandemic, the Emergency Food Program was used 8,700 times in one month. Now the Emergency Food Program is averaging 20,000 uses per month.
The food bank considers the Emergency Food Program a canary in the coal mine, of sorts, of how people are fairing.
“It seems like there are a lot more folks who are finding themselves in moments of need,” Edmunds said. “There seems to be a strong connection between inflation and when we really started seeing the numbers kick up.”
This isn’t necessarily unique to northern Colorado or the rest of the state. According to a report by Reuters, large food banks such as the Atlanta Community Food Bank – one of the nation’s largest – saw demand for food assistance as high as it was during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2023.
“Food banks have been around for 50 years, but this is the first time we are seeing unprecedented high food demand combined with historically low unemployment rates,” Vince Hall, chief government relations officer for Feeding America, told Reuters. Feeding America supports 60,000 food pantries.
High Plains Housing Development Corp. aims to help Greeley’s chronically homeless with permanent housing
By Kelly Ragan
Jodi Hartmann believes her project will help end chronic homelessness in Weld County.
Hartmann is the executive director of the High Plains Housing Development Corp., a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping low-to-moderate income folks through affordable housing development strategies.
The project is called StarRise – it’s the first phase of the North Weld Village concept, set to be a 58-unit Permanent Supportive Housing project located at 123 9th Ave. Dennis Hoshiko donated the 6.5-acre industrial property once occupied by the North Weld Produce Company.
The project aims to provide long-term, stable housing along with comprehensive support services to folks experiencing chronic homelessness in Weld County.
“This is the open door to permanent housing for every person that walks through the door, whether they stay here for the rest of their life, or they are helped to move to some different housing,” Hartmann said.
Supportive services, such as mental health services, life skills training, crisis intervention, medication management, housing assistance, case management, education support, and social and recreational activities will be available on-site.
Special thanks to our underwriters, who help support local business coverage on the NoCo Optimist.
Weldwerks Brewing Co.
The Greeley Downtown Development Authority.
