Sunday, October 31st - Winter Weather Advisory Issued... The National Weather Service in Denver has issued a "Winter Weather Advisory" for the north-central mountains and northern font range foothills, including the Storm Mountain Area, from 6pm this evening through Noon Monday... Snow and areas of blowing snow will produce difficult driving conditions overnight, especially on high mountain passes and wind favored east slopes... Snow accumulations by Noon Monday will range from 5 - 10 inches in the front range mountains to 4 - 8 inches in the northern foothills... 

Trick-or-Treating 5 -9pm In Estes... The annual downtown Halloween event in Estes Park is scheduled for between 5pm and 9pm tonight... Kids and adults alike will be dressed in their costumes to "Trick-or-Treat" the local shops along Elkhorn Avenue... Residents are advised, as always, to carefully check all candy and other items received for tampering before consuming...

Correction: 33.8% Of Registered Voters In County Have Voted... This is different from the 34% reported this morning in a previous post... With numerous reports on the news desk, information for House District 49 was inadvertently posted as the entire County's totals... Our apologies for our error... The correct information is as follows... As of 5pm on Thursday evening, October 28th, 33.8% of registered voters in Larimer County have cast their vote... The elections office has received 30,672 absentee ballots with another 35,914 casting votes at Early Voting centers across the county... The total number of certified registered voters in Larimer County being 196,602...

Stage Stop Café Set To Open Tuesday... The Stage Stop Café, located on Hwy 34 in Drake, is scheduled to open on Tuesday, November 2nd, pending final approval by the Health Department... The café will be serving coffee and offering a partial breakfast menu for now... The River Forks Restaurant is scheduled to open later in November, once again providing a local dining spot for the area residents as well as tourists... 

Saturday, October 30th - Time "Falls Back" Tomorrow Morning... The time change back to Mountain Standard Time occurs at 2:00am Sunday morning... Residents are advised to set their clocks back one hour before retiring for the night... The time will return to Mountain Daylight Time on April 3rd, 2005... These changes traditionally occur on the first Sunday in April and last Sunday in October each year. More information about these time changes can be found below...

Trail Ridge Road Closed For Season... On Monday, October 25, 2004, Trail Ridge Road and Old Fall River Road in Rocky Mountain National Park officially closed for the season to through travel... According to Superintendent Vaughn Baker, "After the recent snowfall accumulation at high elevations in the park, with the accompanying wind and ice, we have decided to officially close both roads for the season... During the winter season, weather permitting, we will keep Trail Ridge Road open to Many Parks Curve on the east side of the park and to the Colorado River Trailhead on the west side of the park"... Trail Ridge Road, one of the most impressive alpine highways in the United States, is the highest continuous road in America and reaches an elevation of 12,183 feet... The road connects the Estes Park Valley on the east and Grand Lake on the west... The road is currently closed at Colorado River Trailhead on the west side and Many Parks Curve on the east side... Old Fall River Road is an unpaved road that travels from Endo Valley picnic area to above tree-line at Fall River Pass, following the steep slope of Mount Chapin... Due to the road's narrow nature, the scenic 9.4-mile route leading to Trail Ridge Road is one way only... The Old Fall River Road was built between 1913 and 1920... 

Friday, October 29th - Early Voting Ends At 5PM Today... Today is the last chance voters have to cast their votes prior to the General Election on November 2nd... Early voting centers will remain open until 5pm... Early voting locations in Larimer County can be found below...

Landfill To Close On Sundays Until Spring... The Larimer County Landfill and Recycling Drop-off will be closed Sundays after October 31. After this date, customers should bring their trash and recyclables during normal winter operating hours: Monday through Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The landfill and recycling drop-off will reinstate Sunday hours in spring... The Larimer County Landfill is located at 5887 S. Taft Hill Road, Fort Collins. For 24-hour information, including notice of unscheduled closures due to wind, etc., call 970-498-5770...

Thursday, October 28th - Clouds Hamper Eclipse Viewing Slightly... Area residents who watched last night's Lunar Eclipse did so through a veil of clouds... The event was still well worth seeing... By the end of the eclipse the clouds had lifted somewhat revealing the trademark red color of a total eclipse of the moon... Coincidentally, the Boston "Red Sox", under the "Red Moon" of the eclipse, won the 2004 World Series last night... Below are some photos taken here on Storm Mountain by SMN...

A gallery of lunar eclipse photos from around the world can be found below...

Absentee Ballots Will Be Counted... A recent rumor that "Absentee Ballots" could possibly not be counted is reported to be untrue... Larimer County election officials are assuring voters that all ballots will be counted provided they are from registered voters, and are received by the Elections Office prior to the deadline of 7:00pm on November 2nd, Election Day.... 

Wednesday, October 27th - Flu Shots for High Risk Children Now Available at Walk-In Clinics... The Larimer County Department of Health and Environment has announced that influenza (flu) shots are now available for high-risk children at the Health Department Walk-In Clinics at its offices in Fort Collins, Loveland and Estes Park. No adults or low-risk children can be vaccinated at these clinics due to the shortage of flu vaccine.  For updated information about other clinics occurring in the community, please call the flu information phone line, 498-6706 (updated regularly), or visit the Health Department web site at www.larimer.org/health. The complete text from this news release, including walk-in clinic locations, can be found below...

Tuesday, October 26th - Total Lunar Eclipse Tomorrow... On the evening of Wednesday, October 27th, residents across the area will, weather permitting, be able to view to a spectacular, "Total Lunar Eclipse"... The event will take place in the southeastern skies just after sunset with the eclipse starting at 7:14pm, totality from 8:23pm - 9:45pm, and ending at 10:54pm... All times are local MDT... Look for photos to be posted early Thursday morning on this site... Complete information on this event can be found below...

Monday, October 25th - Jupiter Joins Venus In Morning Skies... Step outside just before sunrise this week and you can't miss Venus and Jupiter shining brightly in the eastern skies... This week will be an especially exciting week in the sky as a 'Total Lunar Eclipse" will occur Wednesday evening after sunset... Complete details will be posted tomorrow...

Venus and Jupiter shining in east this morning.