The 4th of July isn't quite what it used to be in Boulder: Gone is the holiday fair that once jammed Veterans Park, a casualty of a shortage of volunteers. But the Independence Day weekend, the gateway to summer in Jefferson County, will still be bustling with activities old and new. Read Article
A Conoco sign now stands tall above Boulder, signaling to residents that Town Pump has made some big changes — most visibly, the completion, after three years in the works, of a 14,437-square-foot building. The new store's bronze roof sits high enough to catch the eyes of drivers on top of t… Read Article
Recycling services have expanded and become more accessible at the Boulder transfer site after Jefferson County Solid Waste chose to move the existing containers to a more visible and manageable location last month. Read Article
On Monday, Boulder City Council approved Bloom Montana's request for recreational and medicinal marijuana sales, renewing their business license for one year effective July 1. Read Article
For nearly 32 years, the Culpepper Merriweather Circus has been performing in towns across the country, including Boulder several times. Due to different circumstances the show was skipped last year, but will be returning at the end of the month. Read Article
It was a clash of the purple teams at the North Jefferson Baseball Little League Championship game when the M5 Montana City team faced off against the M8 Boulder team in Clancy on Thursday evening. Read Article
A group of about a dozen Boulder Elementary School parents is working to form a parent-teacher association for the school with the goal of offering a variety of extracurricular events and fostering closer involvement between families and the school. Read Article
Following last summer’s wildfires, the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest (BDNF) has developed a morel mushroom permit system for the anticipated surge in personal and commercial mushroom collection. In order to provide opportunity for both groups to harvest mushrooms while minimizing the … Read Article
When the Montana Highway Patrol moved its headquarters last August from a single rented building in Helena to the state-owned North Campus of the former Montana Developmental Center in Boulder, it inherited a diverse array of buildings that now contain the agency's car and radio shop, house … Read Article
Three Jefferson High School seniors in Dave Heimann’s welding class will leave a lasting and long-needed mark on their alma mater long after graduation later this month. After hours of design and labor, the large building at the south end of Boulder’s Main Street finally has a sign denoting … Read Article
A year ago, no one expected to see the money from the Montana Tunnels mine's delinquent property taxes, so Jefferson County was pleasantly surprised when Denver-based Goldfield Funding Partners LLC paid $5.1 million in back taxes last fall. Now the county is distributing the multimillion-dol… Read Article
Special education staff and para-educators at Boulder Elementary School were honored late last month for outstanding work by the state Comprehensive System of Professional Development’s region four. The staffers won the ParaEducator/Teacher Team Award for the 2021-2022 school year, according… Read Article
Classes from Boulder Elementary School wrote their names into history on Friday by signing a beam set to be perched atop the new Montana Heritage Center in Helena. The steel beam traveled to schools around the state before heading to Helena, where a topping-out ceremony is scheduled for May 17. Read Article
Some familiar faces popped up in new places last month: All along Main Street in Boulder, streetlights are adorned with banners featuring portraits of Jefferson High School's class of 2022. Read Article
A state official plagued by complaints, staff exodus and patient deaths during his tenure as the administrator of the Montana State Hospital has been transferred to a new role as the administrator of the Intensive Behavior Center in Boulder. Read Article
Clint Layng will be the head coach of Jefferson High School's football program this fall after the school's Board of Trustees voted 4-2 at a special meeting Monday night to offer Layng a contract—reversing a decision two weeks ago not to renew his contract for next school year. Read Article
Group lunches have restarted three days a week at the Boulder-Basin Senior Center after a staff shortage last winter mostly stalled the program, and Meals on Wheels deliveries for homebound seniors have also restarted three days a week in Boulder. Read Article
Two residents of northern Jefferson County are running for election to an at-large seat on Jefferson High School's Board of Trustees—one with prior experience on the board who touts steady but open-minded fiscal conservatism, and one who would be a first-time board member and aims to ensure … Read Article
Coed basketball competition will return to Boulder April 23–24 for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic—and like the Ballin' in the Big Rock and Jon Boster tournaments before it, this month's tournament is shooting not for payouts, but to benefit a worthy cause. This time, sout… Read Article
Baseball fields on the east side of Boulder could see increased maintenance and improvements under a push by a group of residents to rehab the decades-old fields. But the group proposing the improvements must first develop a specific plan and present it to the city Planning Board before the … Read Article
After 35 years working in education, Jefferson High School Superintendent Tim Norbeck is stepping away. Norbeck—who over nine years as superintendent led the school through academic program expansion, the coronavirus pandemic and the successful passage of a $14.58 million facilities bond for… Read Article
A developer is proposing to annex a parcel of land on the South Campus into Boulder and build a dollar store on it, according to city and Jefferson County officials and an annexation application submitted Monday. Read Article
The Boulder Fire Department was a bit different when Lester Vossler first signed on as a new recruit in 1972. The department's lone truck—a '49 Ford modified into a firetruck of sorts—lived inside a now long-gone City Hall for lack of a fire hall, and there was no Bull Mountain fire district… Read Article
A longtime Boulder area resident and former state trooper will soon help the city of Boulder to encourage compliance with the city's nuisance and beautification ordinances after the City Council voted unanimously Monday evening to hire the former trooper, Mike Zufelt, as a part-time code enf… Read Article
This spring the Jefferson High School Thespians are getting ready to break free with their production of High School Musical. Read Article
Jefferson High School students hit the ice last month to get a taste of a classic Montana winter pastime: ice fishing. Read Article
Two longtime Boulder Valley ranchers are suing the city of Boulder over its approval last fall of the Fuller Subdivision on the city's northeast corner that straddles the ranchers' irrigation ditch. Read Article
An updated mill levy revenue estimate and a revised budget proposal from the Animal Shelter and Care Committee of Jefferson County show increased property values generating greater overall tax revenue than a previous estimate, as well as a revised floor plan and operating budget that could s… Read Article
Plans guiding the possible redevelopment of the former Montana Developmental Center's South Campus are due out later this month, following more than a year of development and almost as much time taking public feedback and making revisions. Read Article
The Jefferson County Health Department and The Care Van are offering COVID vaccine shot clinics and at-home test kits. Vaccines available for ages 5 and older. Anyone younger than 18 must be accompanied by an adult. First, second and booster doses are available. Read Article
Boulder will be getting a new, second hardware store in the form of an Ace Hardware on Main Street, but because of pandemic-related supply shortages, it's unclear when the store will open. Read Article
Hi, Monitor readers and Panther wrestling fans, I made a simple but significant mistake when designing this week's newspaper, which published today, Feb. 16. This week's edition inadvertently contains last week's story about JHS wrestlers winning the Western B/C Divisional title, rather than… Read Article
Thirty-two seats across 11 special districts in Jefferson County are up for election in 2022, but there won't be an election for any of them: Not a single one is contested, and many have no declared candidate and will be filled by appointment from the County Commission. Read Article
Boulder, a town once awash in care workers who helped power the local economy for decades, has a new and unfamiliar problem: The town's residential facilities are struggling to find workers. One facility that is overcoming staffing shortages has found success with the same tactics that seem … Read Article
This weekend in Boulder is going to be sunny and unseasonably warm, but the Jefferson County Recreation Park will be filled with full-on winter fun as the inaugural running of Skijoring the Big Rock transforms the fairground into a spectator-friendly snow track of speeding horses and slalomi… Read Article
A letter to the editor in the Feb. 2 issue of The Monitor made a sobering observation about Boulder residents' driving abilities: "Apparently myself and two or three others are the only ones who know the law." Read Article
The state of Montana is proposing to sell timber for logging at the top of Ryan Mountain, about 5.5 miles east-southeast of Boulder and directly west of Elkhorn Road. Read Article
The owner of The River Pizza & Subs in Boulder is suing the city of Boulder, Mayor Rusty Giulio and Rose Perna, the city's accounting assistant, over allegations that a dispute over city code enforcement involving business licenses ballooned into threats, intimidation and defamation from… Read Article
Tuesday and Wednesday nights—Feb. 1 and 2—are the only nights to watch Jefferson High School’s latest amazing play productions. At 7:30 p.m. the Beginning Drama Class will start off the night with “Check Please” by Jonathan Rand. This comedy follows some hilariously bad blind dates that are … Read Article
The new Town Pump currently under construction in Boulder will have minimal illuminated signage on the sides of the building that face residential areas, according to zoning ordinance variances granted by the Boulder Board of Adjustments on Jan. 26. Read Article
The city of Boulder plans to retain ownership of the building it purchased and relocated from north of Helena to Boulder last year with the goal of providing a facility for affordable child care, and the city now has a draft plan for how it hopes to manage building maintenance and costs depe… Read Article
When Sarina Eckman's son began attending Boulder Elementary School, she had a unique insider perspective on her child's education that most parents lack: She was the school secretary. Now, five months into a new job as the school's first-ever family engagement facilitator, Eckman is on a mis… Read Article
The 80-foot-tall-sign above the Boulder Town Pump along Interstate 15 will remain as the gas station expands, and it will receive a new sign face, after a zoning ordinance variance for the sign was approved by the Boulder Board of Adjustments on Jan. 5. But the board was unsure how to handle… Read Article
Gretchen George knows Boulder well. She grew up in town and she now lives "over the hill" in Clancy—and she knows that Boulder has an acute need for licensed child care. Since Jan. 3, she's been helping to meet that need, overseeing the opening of the new Nature Story Montessori at Boulder U… Read Article
Editor's note: Because of incorrect information on Bloom dispensary's website, a previous version of this story stated the wrong street address for the Bloom location in Boulder. The story has been updated to reflect the correct address. Read Article
One year after thousands of supporters of then President Donald J. Trump launched a violent and deadly insurrection against Congress at the U.S. Capitol with the goal of overturning the result of the 2020 presidential election, a much smaller crowd gathered in Boulder's Veterans Park for a m… Read Article
In the pre-dawn hours of Dec. 16, a massive haul truck inched into Boulder carrying a 70-foot-long building. Crews steered the structure off Main Street at the L&P Grocery, then down Monroe Street for a few blocks before turning onto West Fourth Avenue and settling, around 6 a.m., behind… Read Article
Before Boulder Mayor Russell “Rusty” Giulio, President Drew Dawson, and new member Patricia “Pat” Lewis were sworn into the Boulder City Council Dec. 20, the existing council spent most of the meeting discussing changes to the city’s five-year-old Employee Policy Manual. Read Article
There's a new building in town, but it didn't pop up the way most do, built in place from the ground up. Instead, this one was towed into town on a truck, traveling to Boulder from north of Helena in the early morning hours of Dec. 16. Read Article