10 years ago
- Loveland residents Gary and Julie Moon discovered a cabin built in 1874 beneath the drywall of their Berthoud home when they set about remodeling. The couple began working with the Berthoud Historical Society to restore and move the cabin to the site of the Little Thompson Valley Pioneer Museum in downtown Berthoud. It was believed that Charles Meining, one of the earliest homesteaders in the Little Thompson Valley, built the 14-foot by 22-foot cabin, and that his family built a house around the original cabin sometime between his death in 1901 and the 1940s when they sold the property. Officials estimated it would take thousands of dollars and countless volunteers hours to move the cabin log by log. The Moons had been living in the home for two decades with no idea there was a cabin beneath the walls.
- Judges Terry Gilmore and Jolene Blair were up for retention on the 8th Judicial District Court bench as part of the 2010 general election. The two judges faced intense criticism and official censure for mistakes they made as prosecutors in the murder trial of Timothy Masters, who spend a decade behind bars before being exonerated and released. An organized committee was active in urging votes, essentially, to fire both Gilmore and Blair from the positions as district court judges. Meanwhile, the head of a group supporting the judges filed an official complaint with the Colorado Secretary of State, saying that the thousands of signs and fliers distributed, the rallies and a door-to-door campaign against the judges violated Colorado election law. Troy Krenning, an attorney and member of the group opposing the judges, however, said they were operating to the letter of the law and called the complaint “a sideshow, a smoke screen.”
- The Loveland City Council was asked to consent to the sale of the residential portion of Lincoln Place apartments in downtown Loveland. Wolff Enterprises LLC had the top three floors of the mixed-use development under contract, but the city needed to approve the sale because it was a party to the master finance agreement that led to the construction by the Boulder-based O’Connor Group.
- Voters were being asked to preserve the right of medical marijuana growers and sellers to remain in business in Loveland; otherwise they were to shut down by March. The Loveland Association for Wellness, a group pushing the measure, failed to register its campaign committee, to set up a bank account in its name and to file a campaign finance report, but leaders of the group quickly rectified those oversights and avoided fines when notified by the Loveland City Clerk’s Office.
- The Thompson School District estimated that 74 more students than projected were enrolled in the district, but the amount of funding the district received per student was decreasing from $6,714 to $6,470. At the same time, the district was expecting $2.7 million from the federal Education Jobs Fund, which was designed to save teacher jobs during the school year and would help balance the budget.
- McWhinney added partner RED Development LLC to its plans to develop 3,000 acres just east of Centerra Parkway and The Promenade Shops retail center. The plan for the land initially was a 1 million-square-foot multi-use development called Grand Station, but McWhinney ultimately shelved that idea for a more flexible retail project.
- Parents and educators spoke both for and against a proposal to open Loveland Classical Schools charter school in Loveland. The 14 who spoke against school brought up large class size, while the nine who spoke for the charter school said it offered additional options and choices to parents. The discussion drew a standing-room-only crowd of about 100 people to the Berthoud High School media center.
- About 75 volunteers helped build a meditative labyrinth at McKee Medical Center as one of the United Way of Larimer County’s Make a Difference Day events. Thousands of volunteers worked on more than 100 projects around the community for the annual event. The labyrinth, built with bricks, was designed to evoke meditation and clear stress in those who walked the spiral pathway.
- Larimer County was reporting a 6.7% unemployment rate in September, the same as the month before, while the state’s unemployment rate was 8.2%. The unemployed included residents who had exhausted their unemployment benefits, continuing to search for a job but not finding any. A director with the Larimer County Workforce Center said these long-term unemployed people were feeling the pain of the national recession.
- Former Loveland resident Tiffany Hartley returned to her parents’ home in La Salle without the body of her husband, David, a Loveland native who was shot and killed by pirates on a border lake between Mexico and Texas. The couple was riding Jet Skis when they were attacked. David was shot, and Tiffany was forced to leave his body behind, fleeing for her life through a spray of bullets. The search for his body was suspended amid drug cartel violence, but Tiffany was determined to bring his body home and bring awareness to residents and lawmakers of the violence occurring at the border.
25 years ago
- Loveland was being deluged with black widow spiders, and professional exterminators said they too were receiving multiple calls about the spiders. The female black widow is venomous with a painful and debilitating bite.
- A Loveland teenager, Robert Hayes, who was a volunteer with the Division of Wildlife, captured a boa constrictor that had been on the lam in a Loveland storage facility for about three months. The 5-foot-long snake named Babe was inadvertently put into storage and had been on the loose in the facility. The teen planned to return the snake to its owner and collect the $100 reward.
- Loveland City Engineer Tom Gathmann created a citizens advisory committee of people from Loveland, Fort Collins and Larimer County to create a countywide plan for transportation. The city started the process with a public survey aimed at finding out whether residents thought the city needed public transportation and taking suggestions on how to provide it. Surveys were distributed in the Reporter-Herald and at 12 booths in stores across the city as well as at the library, city hall, recreation and senior centers.
- A survey told Larimer County officials that residents believed the county fairgrounds should remain in Loveland but that the facility needed better parking. More than 70% of those who responded said they would pay more in admission to events or in rental fees if the money went toward improving not only parking but also the buildings, livestock areas and restrooms.
- A man known throughout the Loveland community for portraying Santa Claus for more than 40 years was rescued from Lake Loveland after the boat he and his son were in capsized. Rescuers found the men clinging to the bottom of the boat, and said they had been in the water for about 30 minutes when rescued. Garold Kurth, aka Santa, was taken to McKee Medical Center with hypothermic conditions and was treated and released. His son, Paul, though not injured or ill, also was taken to the hospital, where he was treated and released.
- The Loveland City Council added a new police dispatcher and a fire protection technician to the next year’s budget when deciding how to spend $325,874 in unrestricted cash that was available. Council also set aside $87,000 for youth programs and $50,000 for a small business assistance program and chose to couple $18,000 with a $42,000 federal grant to hire a planner to focus on transportation issues.
- Larimer County Sheriff Richard Shockley filed a petition in 8th Judicial District court to keep the names of residents with concealed weapons permits confidential. The petition was against Denver television newscaster Ward Lucas, who had requested the names or copies of the actual permits, which Shockley refused to release. Larimer County Attorney George Haas said those residents filed for their permits for a reason, and “giving out this information is like putting a target on their backs.” Court records did not say why the television reporter had requested the information, and station officials did not comment.
- Loveland’s Metrolux 12 Theater had hired 40 teens and adults in preparation for the opening of its new theater in Loveland, offering residents an option for seeing movies without driving to Fort Collins or Denver. Opening films included “Ace Ventura II: When Nature Calls” along with “Apollo 13” and “The Bridges of Madison County.”
50 years ago
- Loveland’s first female mail carrier began delivering letters and packages. Julia McDonald accepted the position after being one of the top three scorers on the civil service exam all applicants were required to take. Loveland’s postmaster, Fred Brewer, said the decision was made by “grade only.” He added, “We’ve never had a girl carrier before because they would not take the job when they were within the grade.” All postal carriers sorted mail, handled parcels and either drove or walked their routes, including being on call when needed and handling packages that could weigh up to 70 pounds. Her route included 180 stops.
- Employees of the Larimer County Clerk’s Office were busy mailing paper ballots to absentee voters and were finalizing the voter registration books so the county would have a tally of registered voters.
- The beginning of Head Start classes in Loveland and Fort Collins was to be delayed until board members of the Poudre-Thompson Community Action Plan completed a required vote to make state funding available. Members of the board expressed frustration — and leaked discussions that occurred during a closed meeting — because the board knew for months action needed to be taken, but did not do so, ultimately causing a delay in the Head Start classes.
- Members of Loveland’s Population Concern Committee, a subgroup of the city’s Environmental Quality Commission, was seeking someone willing to study the effects of the city’s fast-growing population and work to implement an educational campaign to share information with residents and seek solutions.
- More than 60 recipes from “homemakers in the Thompson Valley” were submitted to be included in the Reporter-Herald’s cookbook supplement. However, Mrs. Mildred Camp, editor of the cookbook, was asking for more recipes for salads, meat casseroles, game meat and cookies (especially those for lunch boxes).
- Trail Ridge Road officially closed for the winter, though it had not been open since Oct. 6 due to weather. Faced with deep snows and high winds, national park officials announced that the road would not reopen until the following spring. The park also announced an upcoming opening. Hidden Valley ski facilities were expected to open in the national park around Thanksgiving.
- The Thompson School board was asked to establish a committee to help provide communications between the schools and the Spanish-speaking residents of Loveland, one recommendation made by a Health, Education and Welfare report after a study by district faculty and staff. The board agreed and formed a “Mexican-American advisory committee” to work for the maximum educational opportunities for all students. The committee was to be a liaison between the district and the community.
- Loveland Police Chief Pat Steele reported that juvenile crimes were about 30% higher than by the same time the previous year. The department had arrested 345 juveniles in the first nine months of 1970, same number arrested in all of 1969. He attributed the increase to a juvenile code that the state adopted three years prior. While 345 were arrested, only 49 were sent to court and of those, 45 were “turned loose,” Steele said. He asked for additional clerical help to handle the increased paperwork that went with the juvenile code.
- The Loveland City Council adopted a record budget of $6.476 million for 1971, which included expenses of $4.7 million with a surplus of $1.76 million. The council also approved a cost of living raise of 6.1% for all city employees.
- Two Loveland High School seniors, Jim Sheets and Roy Sparks, were teaming up to try to create a hotline available for teenagers who needed someone to listen to their problems. Loveland High School’s administration and many teachers supported the idea, saying it would help kids to have someone to listen and help them work through their problems. More than a dozen students had agreed to help.
120 years ago
- “Presbyterians are planning to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Loveland church in an appropriate manner. The date is the latter part of November,” the Oct. 18, 1900, Loveland Reporter stated.
- Winter mail service was in effect between, and it took five days for a letter to go from Estes Park to Loveland, the Oct. 18, 1900, Loveland Reporter said.