Wednesday, December 22nd - Old Man Winter Arrives On Mountain... With the first day of Winter came a blast of snow and cold to our area just in time for Christmas... Yesterday's moderate temperatures have given way to arctic cold with tonight's lows expected to fall below the zero mark... Thursday is expected to be the coldest day of the period with high's in the single digits... Snow fell last night with totals in the 2 -3 inch range being reported... The cold and snow will stay with us through Friday with a warming trend expected to begin on Christmas Day sending temperatures into the mid to upper 40's... This abrupt arrival of Old Man Winter has assured area residents a "White Christmas" this year...

Light snow falling across area at 7am this morning

Tuesday, December 21st - 2005 Permits For County Parks & Open Lands Now Available... The 2005 Larimer County Parks and Open Lands Annual Entrance Permits are now available for purchase... Permits allow use of Carter Lake, Flatiron Reservoir, Horsetooth Reservoir, Horsetooth Mountain Park, Pinewood Reservoir and Ramsay-Shockey Open Space... The following permits can be purchased on-line at www.larimer.org/parks; at The Bison Visitor Center north of  Carter Lake, 1800 South County Road 31, Loveland; from Rangers in the field; and at JAX Outdoor in Fort Collins, 1200 North College Avenue...

The following discounted annual entrance permits are offered for sale at The Bison Visitor Center or from rangers in the field: 

For further information, call (970) 679-4570, or go to www.larimer.org/parks 

Winter Solstice At 5:42 MST Today... At 5:42AM MST this morning, Earth will reach maximum equatorial tilt on its axis with our Sun reaching its farthest point south in its apparent seasonal travels... This, "Winter Solstice", marks the first day of Winter and is day with the shortest amount of daylight in our northern hemisphere... In turn, it is the first day of Summer and the day with the longest amount of daylight for our friends in the southern hemisphere... The Sun will now begin its apparent track north until June 21st, 2005 when it reaches, "Summer Solstice", and the Sun its farthest point north... 

Monday, December 20th - Winds Play Havoc With Aging Utilities... Today's high winds have as usual been playing havoc with, what some residents refer to as, the third world utility service to our area, causing computer and other electrical difficulties throughout the day... One resident reported receiving an electrical shock to her ear from a telephone receiver when a surge occurred while talking on the phone to her mother earlier this morning... The alleged substandard service provided by Poudre Valley REA has become a trademark of the area with local residents having learned not to ever depend on reliable electric service at any time... While today's winds are admittedly exceptional, this problem has progressively worsened with just the slightest breeze or hint of precipitation sending the aging, poorly maintained system into turmoil, causing outages and surges for hours on end... Area residents are advised to install UPS (uninterruptible power supply) systems on all sensitive electronic devices such as computers, faxes, etc... as Poudre Valley REA states that they are unable to solve the problem... At 12:52pm, Loveland Rural Fire Crews arrived at the scene of a reported electrical popping sound heard outside of a home at 2331 Storm Mountain Drive... No signs of any fire were reported...

Fire crews respond Monday afternoon to reports of electrical popping sounds outside of a home on Storm Mountain Drive

Morning Accident Closes Big Thompson Canyon... Shortly before 9am this morning a Waste Management tandem trailer heading east, rolled over in the narrows of Hwy 34, spilling debris across the roadway entirely closing the westbound lane... The accident occurred at the west end of the narrows approximately one mile east of the Cherry Cider stand... While no official information is yet available, high winds this morning may have played a part in over-turning the trailer, as well as possible excessive speed... The canyon was closed for a short period as the trailer and debris were moved from the road... As of 11:00am Hwy 34 had one lane open with delays of about 30 minutes through the accident area... Workers have cleared the majority of the debris from the roadway and are preparing to remove the trailer which has been up righted back onto it's wheels... No injuries were reported...

High Wind Warning Issued Through 5PM Today... The National Weather Service in Denver has extended the High Wind Warnings for the northern foothills and northeast plains, including the Drake, Glen Haven, and Storm Mountain areas until 5PM MST this evening... STRONG DOWNSLOPE WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE ALONG THE FRONT RANGE FOOTHILLS...SPREADING ACROSS NORTHEAST PLAINS OF COLORADO THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON. THEREFORE THE HIGH WIND WARNING HAS BEEN EXTENDED THROUGH 5 PM MST THIS AFTERNOON. HIGH WIND REPORTS TODAY HAVE INCLUDED: 98 MPH AT CARTER LAKE...95 MPH IN SUPERIOR...85 MPH 2 MILES SOUTHEAST OF GOLDEN...80 MPH IN EVERGREEN...79 MPH AT LOUISVILLE AND ATOP SOUTH TABLE MOUNTAIN IN GOLDEN...75 MPH IN BROOMFIELD AND 63 MPH...4 MILES EAST OF HAXTUN. AT STORAGE TECH IN BROOMFIELD...SEVERAL CAR WINDOWS WERE BLOWN OUT. SOME TREES AND DOWNED POWER LINES WERE ALSO REPORTED IN EVERGREEN... 

Sunday, December 19th - Inspiring Thoughts From The Edge... An evening on the coast of Oregon at Bandon. Standing at the edge of the North American continent, facing west towards the setting sun. Rotating backwards into the darkness of the Earth's shadow, the day is surrendering to the night. Soon I will surrender to sleep, the privileged cycle of being alive.

Saturday, December 18th - No Proof Dogs Were Stolen... We would like to clarify the previous post pertaining to dogs being missing on Storm Mountain, and to point out that there is no confirmed evidence pointing to the dogs being stolen... These are suspicions only at this time... A Rottweiler and Yellow Lab were both reportedly found by a resident who has posted a notice at the Drake post office hoping to locate the dogs' owner(s)... Residents are still advised to stay alert for suspicious vehicles and activities in the area... The watchful eyes and ears of area residents have proven very helpful in keeping our community safe and secure...

Friday, December 17th - Several Dogs Missing From Storm Mountain... Residents of the Storm Mountain area are advised to be on the lookout for strange vehicles attempting to lure and capture dogs from the area... As of yesterday, 5 dogs are known to be missing and dog-napping is a possibility... Most of the missing dogs are Husky or Husky/Mix... Anyone with information on suspicious individuals are advised to contact the Larimer County Sheriff without hesitation... Pet owners in the area are advised to keep exceptional watch on your pet less they end up on a medical testing table... It is suspected by some that individuals are getting money by kidnapping pets and selling them to laboratories for medical and product testing... A similar situation occurred last year about this same time with no suspects apprehended... Let's join together and get these bastards this time and send a crystal clear message that this is the wrong community to be kidnapping pets from... Full prosecution by the law is in order for these scumbags... Get license plate numbers and take photos if you can... These will greatly aid in prosecution... Please note that there is no confirmed evidence yet pointing to the dogs being stolen... These are suspicions only at this time...

Used Computers Available From County... Larimer County is currently selling many of it's used personal computer systems at a discounted price of $125 each... These are mostly 3 year old Dell Optiplex GX110 systems including 17" monitor, keyboard, mouse and speakers... The specs of the towers are 500Mhz Pentium III, 12 GB hard drive, 128MB memory, windows 2000, and Integrated 10/100 Mbs Network Card... These systems have no modem... For more information visit the, "Larimer County Store", or call Shawn Kammerzell at 498-7765... Computers must be picked up at courthouse... Limit 5 per purchase...

Thursday, December 16th - County Recognizes Reserve Patrol Deputies With Awards... Larimer County Sheriff’s Office Operations Reserve Unit held their first annual awards ceremony on December 11, 2004... This year alone, members of the Reserve Unit as a group volunteered over 7500 hours to the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office... Reserve Sergeant Jim Futterer was given the Reserve of the Year Award which is presented to that reserve who displays exemplary service the Reserve Unit throughout the year... Sgt. Futterer has volunteered over 1500 hours for emergency call-outs, special events, routine patrol and various other activities... He is also an active member of the Sheriff’s Office Hostage Negotiation Team... Reserve Deputy Futterer is a retired military psychologist who utilizes his skills in a variety of ways including teaching stress management classes to Sheriff’s Office personnel... Most volunteer Patrol hours award was presented to Reserve Lieutenant Brenda McCoy for 796 hours law enforcement activities... Sgt. Jim Futterer was awarded most volunteer hours for Emergency Call-outs and for Special Events... Reserve Deputy Eric Corbett, Reserve Deputy Michael Bulkeley and Reserve Deputy Karen Mianecki were honored for Special Achievements within the unit...  Length of Service awards were presented to Reserve Deputies Eric Corbett, Kevin Nay and David Noe for 15 years of service... Reserve Deputies Eloise Campanella and Reserve Captain Mike McCarty were honored for five years of service and Reserve Deputies Rick Frei and Brenda McCoy were honored for three years of service... Other reserves honored were Deputies Mark Gotschall, Clay Cross and Mark Jacobsen and Reserve Captain Mike McCarty... “It would be hard to imagine the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office with our Reserves,” said Sheriff Alderden.  “They provide services that would otherwise have to be performed by Patrol Deputies or would possibly go undone.  We need our Reserves and very much appreciate their commitment to the citizens of Larimer County.” We would like to extend our congratulations and thanks to all of the reserve patrol volunteers...

Planets Shine In Morning Sky... Early-risers the next few days will be treated to four planets shining in the southeastern sky around dawn... Jupiter, Venus, and Mars are currently visible with the elusive Mercury joining the trio this weekend... Below is a photo taken this morning showing Venus rising over Palisade Mountain with Mars above and to the right... A map of the southeastern sky on this Sunday is also provided below... Sky map generated by, "Starry Night Pro 5", advanced software for the serious astronomer...

Venus and Mars rising over Palisade Mountain this morning at dawn	Sky map showing location of planets at dawn on the morning of December 19th

Wednesday, December 15th - Suspect Arrested For Enticement Of A Child... Larimer County Sheriff’s Investigators arrested Jakob Ruben Mayer of Lyons, Colorado on Monday, December 13, 2004, for Enticement of a Child, a class 3 Felony... Other charges are pending... Mayer is listed as a registered sex offender in Larimer County for crimes committed as a juvenile... During a community event at the Pinewood Springs Volunteer Fire Department, personnel recognized Mayer as a registered sex offender and became suspicious when Mayer was found leading three seven and eight year old males to his vehicle... Due to the quick intervention of a member of the Pinewood Springs Fire Department, the boys returned to the party and Mayer left the area... The incident was reported to deputies who initiated the investigation... Based on information received during the interview with Mayer, investigators executed a search warrant at the Lyons residence where sexually exploitive material was gathered... Mayer is being held at the Larimer County Detention Center on a $50,000 bond...

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

Storm Mountain Net