Don’t let some of the vacant storefronts fool you, there are plenty of dining, shopping and entertainment options on Main. We had to whittle our list from more than 20 unique businesses. This was not an easy month. (more…)

July 2008

You have to wonder if some people are just oblivious to the advantages they have. A group of well-minded Boulder Valley School District parents want to split the district. You know, the same district that is a leader in per-pupil funding and has families sending kids into its district lines just to get a piece of some of the best education in the state. Apparently that’s not enough for some who feel an East and West split is in order to help curb the size of the district that educates 28,000 kids in 55 schools. Sure, it’s a big district, but when you have oodles of money, including a 2006 voter-approved bond worth nearly $300 million, you have to wonder why people want to mess with a good thing.

[What’s Next] School officials don’t seem motivated to explore the issue, but if proponents gather 22,000 signatures, they will force the issue to a future ballot.

July 2008

by Jacob Harkins

It seems that much of the United States is coming down with a severe case of Green Fatigue. And this has absolutely nothing to do with military garb. (more…)

July 2008

by James Burrus

“What is a definition of a gold mine? A hole in the ground owned by a liar.”
—Mark Twain

Rare are the elements in nature that provoke primal, palpable reactions in humans. The swift alarm of a buzzworm puts hair on end, peering over the edge of a cliff puts sweat in the palms and seeing the flash of shiny yellow flakes in a swish of black sand sends the pulse racing.

Gold fever is real and has returned to the Front Range with a zealousness not seen since 1979 when gold briefly shot from $250 an ounce to $800.

The stampede of humanity into the Rocky Mountains some 160 years ago was fueled by the promise of instant wealth lying on the bottom of streams just waiting to be found. During the Great Depression, Denver officials gave panning lessons to help people get by on gold in the Platt River.

Until recently, old-fashioned man and pan placering—looking for gold deposited in and along streams—was more eccentric hobby than viable living. But with the price of gold hovering around $900 an ounce and showing no signs of falling, the rush is on again.

And it’s easy to see why. Getting in on Mother Nature’s lottery takes no more than a shovel, at least one 5-gallon bucket—the ubiquitous tool of the modern prospector—and a gold pan. Those simple tools, a little panning technique and a lot of time and effort have the potential to produce some real money. More often than not, the gold recovered in a day of placering wouldn’t buy a half a tank of gas, but it’s more than enough to stoke the gold fever that lives in everyone.

Just ask William Chapman Jr., owner of Gold-n-Detectors in Golden. His supply of pans, dredges, sluice boxes and myriad accessories is often sold out shortly after they hit the shelves.

“The season started early, and it’s been more difficult for manufacturers to maintain supplies,” Chapman says.

But unlike other hobbies that become one-way money pits, Chapman notes that prospecting can pay for itself. And the successful ones often aren’t willing to talk about how much they’ve found or offer more than a first name.

Like Chapman’s friend Bobby, who since March has found more than an ounce and a half of gold in Clear Creek and last year hauled in more than four ounces. In general, the amount of gold a person can find is directly proportional to the amount of material you can process.

Sure it’s fun to fill your 5-gallon bucket with pay dirt and spend the day panning it for gold dust and flakes. But if you’re serious, you’ll be moving up to a sluice box (about $100). It can process in an hour what it would take a day to do with a pan. And up from there is a gas-powered dredge ($1,200 or more) that sucks material off the bottom of a creek and into your sluice. It can do in half an hour what it would take a day to process with a sluice and a shovel.

One such fulltime prospector and gold guide is Chad Watkins. The Longmont resident quit his day job last year and now “mines gold part of the week and tourists the other part.” And while he won’t talk about the money he makes, he’s quick to show off his recent finds of gold dust, flakes and nuggets he carries in a pouch.

Some of his finds are on claims he works using a dredge and wetsuit. The tourists, he finds through Jesse Peterson, owner of the venerable Vic’s Gold Panning just below Blackhawk along Hwy. 119.

“You can’t depend on the tourists, but you can always depend on the gold,” Peterson says. But lately, about triple the number of tourists have been stopping by to pay $10 for a day of gold panning, more if he lets them use his sluice box or dredge.

As the rising price of gas forces today’s cost of fun ever higher, don’t be surprised if the number of weekend prospectors along Clear Creek start to outnumber the kayakers and rock climbers.

July 2008

by Nickey Hernandez, illustration by Stephanie Mott

Global warming deniers beware, because young Alex Budd is ready to debate you anytime. What’s more, the 15-year-old Fairview High School student has been blessed by Al Gore himself and taught in the ways of conservation, recycling and Greenism. Budd is believed to be the youngest person to undergo Gore’s training and emerge as an environmental crusader. Budd is one of about 1,000 folks trained in Nashville, Tenn., to spread the word about global warming. Armed only with a slide show and grit, Budd helped push the message behind Gore’s Academy Award-winning film, An Inconvenient Truth, to Boulder area schools. Budd says he was the youngest member of his training class, a session attended by Earth lover and All-American babe, Cameron Diaz. Budd has given more than 25 presentations since his return from Tennessee. He’s stood up to hecklers and turned doubters into believers.

July 2008