From bulls to beets, county fair offers everything from veggie judging to rodeo

The fair officially starts Tuesday morning a 6 a.m.and includes a range of events such as the llama show, yarn contest and a ballet on horseback show in the arena.

Wednesday is agriculture day, followed by Thursday, which is senior day. On the weekend, people can participate in the carnival, listen to a band or watch the rodeo.

Sabrina Johnson, 13, of Longmont has been practicing for months in anticipation of the county fair. She practiced riding and putting a halter on her horse at the fairgrounds last week. She will enter a barrel racing contest, halter contest, showmanship and other contests in her class.

“I’ve been busy practicing,” Johnson said. “I’m practicing everything on my horse. I think I’ll do well.”

Anti-slackers: Longmont’s Slackline Express balances business and pleasure

Under the shade of a stately silver maple in Longmont’s Collyer Park, Joe Kuster sways his hips back and forth, arms outstretched as if he is surfing. He folds his arms and does a few deep knee drops like a Cossack. He then squats cross-legged, ultimately resembling a Buddha in a state of meditation.

What’s remarkable is that Kuster is pulling off all these moves while bobbing and wavering atop a “slackline” only an inch wide.

Slacklining is a sport in which enthusiasts attempt to balance, walk or perform tricks on a piece of nylon webbing, usually stretched between two trees a couple of feet above the ground.

Longmont’s Aspen Meadow veterinary clinic aids canine ‘soldiers’ in Afghanistan

When Longmont resident Matthew Hill, a staff sergeant and the kennel master for the 11th Marine Artillery Regiment, arrived in Afghanistan in June, members of the Taliban had recently set off an explosion in a warehouse that contained supplies for the dogs.

Longmont’s Aspen Meadow Veterinary Specialists is raising money for new supplies.

“We are so proud and honored to be of service to our men and women, and dogs in the military,” Dr. Matthew B. Rooney, owner of Aspen Meadow, said.

Court agrees to reconsider ruling over Rocky Mountain Christian Church growth plans

A federal appeals court agreed to reconsider part of its recent opinion on a decision to uphold a jury’s determination that the county had violated the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. The jury in U.S. District Court in Denver found that the county had violated the law by treating the church on “less equal terms” than a secular institution, by “unreasonably limiting” religious institutions in the county and by imposing a “substantial burden” on religious practice.

However, the jury also found that the county did not discriminate against the church based on religion.

From trash to TLC: Longmont Humane Society rescues dogs from Mexican municipal dump

The Longmont Humane Society was chosen to receive the dogs because of communications between the shelters. The dogs were flown out for free by Cloud Nine Rescue Flights, a nonprofit that provides flights to help transfer dogs across the nation.

The dogs are the first international transfers into the Longmont Humane Society, according to Brianna Beauvait, a Longmont Humane Society spokeswoman. Beauvait said that before the eight other dogs are put up for adoption, they will be put through the same health and behavioral tests that are done on every other dog that comes into the shelter.

Heading north: Longmont teacher chosen for Arctic expedition

Bill Schmoker, an earth science teacher about to start his 18th year at Centennial Middle School in Boulder, will join a PolarTREC expedition to the Arctic Ocean to help researchers gather geologic and oceanographic data from the continental shelf north of the United States and Canada. He plans to leave July 30 and return Sept. 7.

He expects to board the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Healy on Aug. 1 at Dutch Harbor in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands. The ship, a 420-foot research icebreaker equipped with laboratories and room for 35 scientists, will depart the next day and he’ll stay with it until it drops him off Sept. 6 at Barrow, the northernmost point in Alaska.

Suspect in 2006 murder of Longmont woman freed after judge drops charge

Jailed for nearly five months on a charge of second-degree murder, John Michael Angerer walked away a free man Monday night after a Boulder County judge ruled there was not enough evidence for the case against him to proceed.

Angerer, 40, who was suspected of killing Angela Wilds of Longmont four years ago, left the Boulder County Jail at about 8 p.m. with a tan jacket and a small stack of belongings in his hands. He climbed into the back seat of a gold sedan with several people, declining to comment about his new freedom.

“We think this is the right decision,” Angerer’s public defender Seth Temin said after the judge’s ruling. “There is no evidence of whether this was a homicide or, if so, who might have done it.

New Longmont facility aims beyond traditional mental health care

Construction crews will break ground July 15 on a $1.3 million project to completely remodel a former education center at 834 S. Sherman St. into the Longmont Wellness Center.

The remodeling and future treatment will be based on a concept called psychosocial rehabilitation, which is focused on helping patients become productive and functioning members of a community.

“We’re moving from the traditional model into a much more client focused way,” said Susan Williams, marketing manager of the health center. “We’re the first place that we know of that’s put it all in one location.”

Raptor Stars: Silver Creek trio benefits from summer softball

The Silver Creek Raptors softball team was an afterthought in the Northern League three years ago. But with help from three girls representing the girls 16-under Colorado Stars in this weekend’s Louisville Slugger Independence Day Tournament that is no longer the case. Before 2007, the Raptors had never won more than five games in a season. That all changed in third baseman McKenzie Wergin’s freshman year, which was also head coach Ryan Beavers’ first of leading the program.

“There were probably six to eight competitive players before I was there,” Wergin said. “Then when I came my freshman year with the new coaches, some of those girls had been junior varsity, but they had been brought up to start and that’s when everything really took off.”

Obama announces $400M loan for Abound Solar’s plant in Longmont; money could mean 300 new area

President Barack Obama announced the loan to Abound Solar, a Loveland-based company with a manufacturing facility in Longmont, during his weekly radio address Saturday. The company, which employs 360 people in Colorado and manufactures thin film solar panels, will nearly double its employee base in the state, Abound Solar spokesman Mark Chen said.

He said it’s not yet clear exactly how the new jobs will break down between Abound Solar’s Longmont production facility, its headquarters in Loveland and its research lab in Fort Collins.

But he said Longmont would most likely be the biggest beneficiary since the bulk of production is done in the city. The company will be able to add two production lines to the one it already has in Longmont as a result of the loan guarantee, Chen said.

“We’ll have our second manufacturing line in place by the second quarter of next year and we’ll be hiring well in advance of that,” Chen said Saturday.

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