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Today's Features

  • Spring’s arrival brings new growth to aspen, alder trees

     It is so nice to have some warm spring days, and now we are promised summer temperatures this week. Just to go out in my yard and see green fields and robins looking for worms, and hear green-tailed towhees and house wrens singing is a tonic for my winter-shriveled soul.

    Winter has been far too long this year, partly because it started early and because spring is a good two weeks late. The aspen trees at the bend in the road usually have their furry catkins by April 15, but this year, they did not shed their bud scales and bring out their furry catkins until May 2.

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  • Hummingbird feeders need meticulous care

     Once more we have snow in May. This is a bit disturbing because we have just had some fine spring weather in April, and this seems like we are going backward. We don’t really want to see winter return, but it is not unusual. 

    Several people reported hummingbirds during this period, and I received several requests to write an article about hummingbirds and how to feed them. Because of its importance and for the welfare of our hummingbirds, here is the information.

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  • The next stage

    For 36 years, Silver Plume residents have donned the guises of dashing heroes, heroines and mustachioed villains for the annual Silver Plume melodrama.

    A local institution, the event raises funds for the nonprofit People for Silver Plume that go to restoring the town’s historic buildings.

    For many of the volunteer actors, participation in the Plume Players is as much about having a good time as it is supporting a worthwhile cause.

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  • Clear Creek Courant co-founder Carol Wilcox Stiff dies

    Clear Creek Courant co-founder Carol Wilcox Stiff chronicled the lives and events of her adopted community for nearly 30 years.

    The longtime Idaho Springs resident recently died of natural causes, and her body was found in her home March 25 by a neighbor. 

    “As typical with a small town, everybody somewhat watches out for each other, and the neighbors had a key to the house,” said Idaho Springs Police Chief Dave Wohlers.

    Wilcox, 73, was born June 9, 1939, in Omaha, Neb., and was the mother of three and grandmother of eight.

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  • Letting their hair down

    Paying no heed to the chilly weather, more than 30 residents bared their heads in a show of hairless solidarity on March 20 to raise money for childhood cancer.
    For a third year, students from the Clear Creek Rite of Passage program at the Mt. Evans Qualifying House hosted a fund-raiser for St. Baldrick’s childhood cancer research at the Idaho Springs Elks Lodge.

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  • A special Olympian

    Eight-year-old JJ Stimens runs like the wind — and on March 3, he won two gold medals in snowshoeing at the 2013 Special Olympics Winter Games at Copper Mountain. 

    The event, held at the ski resort for the past 25 years, brought out 250 athletes, 300 volunteers and 75 coaches. JJ has high-functioning Down syndrome, and during his first state meet, JJ tore up the 10-meter and the 50-meter courses.

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  • Georgetown Community Garden gets shot in the arm

    The Georgetown Community Garden project recently received a big green thumbs up, and construction could begin this summer.

    With the help of an $8,000 grant from the Clear Creek Metropolitan Recreation District, garden organizers hope to apply for a $40,000 Great Outdoors Colorado grant.

    The project will provide garden plots to Georgetown residents to rent through a collaboration among the town, Georgetown Community School and the Clear Creek School District. 

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  • Elusive Townsend’s solitaires guard their juniper berry stash

    We moved into this house on April 19, 1965. That’s nearly 48 years ago, but many of you may recall the article I wrote about trying to find a pygmy owl that we heard calling that first night.
    Unfortunately, I do not hear pygmy owls calling as much as I used to. Their call is much more often heard than the owls are seen, for these tiny owls can disappear in a clump of pine needles or other foliage, and they are ventriloquists. They are not where you think they are.

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  • Bluebirds’ early arrival signals spring is here

     I woke up very early one day last week. It was still pitch black outside, and I thought I heard running water. I jumped up, thinking I must have left a faucet running in the bathroom. But no, the sound was from outside.

    I settled back in bed and listened to the wonderful sound of rain on the roof and water gurgling down the gutter pipe. Wonderful because it was a sound I hadn’t heard in months.

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  • Lords of the ring

    Like most kids, Carlson fourth-grader Ivan Garcia spends his days learning English, arithmetic and science. But after school, he learns about what 1800s British journalist Pierce Egan termed the “sweet science” — boxing.

    Ivan and a handful of other elementary and middle school students learn the intricacies of boxing at Clear Creek High School under the tutelage of Beau Campbell and his 12-year-old Clear Creek boxing program.

    Many of the students are preparing for the 2013 Colorado State Golden Gloves Tournament starting March 20.

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The Clear Creek Courant is your source for local news, sports, events, and information in Clear Creek County, Colo, and the surrounding area.