Investigative Journalism

Boulder Valley schools sustained nearly $5 million in damage because of September's flooding, and now — nearly three months after water poured through several buildings and inundated athletics fields, playgrounds and parking lots — district officials say the repairs are nearly complete. Better yet, the repairs are virtually all paid...

Meteorologists estimate that one inch of rain generally equals about a foot of snow, depending on the snow’s density, of course. That means early December’s 6-inch snowfall, inconvenient as it may have been, was the equivalent of about a half-inch of September rain. Now flash back just three months, when...

The horses are at it again. Restless hooves beat sand and silt into the air. Trots evolve into canters as mustangs and miniatures dance to an impatient rhythm under a Rocky Mountain sky. “What is going on out there today?” Sara Martinelli murmurs to herself, moving to stand by the...

The state opened U.S. 36 between Lyons and Estes Park, Colo., Monday, Nov. 4. Photographer Robert R. Denton took the drive between the two towns affected by heavy flooding in mid-September. The order of the photos reflect what Denton saw as he drove from west (Estes) to east (Lyons), including...

Download the agenda for the Flood Disaster Study Committee A Colorado legislative committee organized to address various infrastructure and policy concerns in the aftermath of the September floods will meet for the first time on Tuesday, Nov. 5, in Denver. The Flood Disaster Study Committee meeting will include the first...

Many Lyons residents moved back into their homes this weekend, and along with the Xcel workers who hooked up their utilities, local and national media were there to greet them. The Longmont Times-Call wrote that "hundreds" of families in the town of about 2,000 started to move back into their...

The U.S. government is back in business, and so are many Estes Park area entrepreneurs, especially since Oct. 12, the date Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper diverted state money to open some basic functions of Rocky Mountain National Park. Estes Park business owners are hopeful the upward trend continues through the...

Though scheduled for a reopening on Dec. 1, the 15-mile stretch of U.S. Route 36 from Lyons to Estes Park could be ready even earlier if a Colorado Department of Transportation and National Guard collaboration is successful. CDOT spokeswoman Ashley Mohr said that section of the highway, used by an...

Volunteers stoke and tend the bonfire near Jeremy Barnes' house between Boulder and Lyons, Colo., Oct. 12, 2013. Barnes' house was nearly destroyed in the September flood that devastated the town. Photo by Emilie Bierschenk. Jeremy Barnes moves from bonfire to bonfire, as nearly 100 volunteers pick up and burn...