Dental Implants in Loveland, CO

The 2024 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree Whistlestop Tour is making a stop in northern Colorado on Veterans Day Monday.

LOVELAND, Colo — One of the largest Christmas trees in the United States is embarking on a cross-country tour.

The 2024 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree kicked off a three-week tour in October. The tour is traveling from Wrangell, Alaska, to the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C.

Harvested from the Tongass National Forest last month, the 74-foot Sitka spruce will be delivered to the U.S. Capitol's West Lawn on Friday, Nov. 22.

A 4,000-mile journey will see the large Christmas tree travel by boat and by truck, on a custom trailer. The tree is making 11 whistle-stops on its tour to the nation's capitol, including in Grand Junction and Loveland in Colorado.

The "People's Tree" stopped at Cabela's in Grand Junction on Sunday.

The tree will also make a stop at The Ranch Events Complex in Loveland on Veterans Day, Monday, Nov. 11, from 4 to 7 p.m.

The public is invited to come and see the tree, as well as get free stickers and pins while learning about Alaska's national forests and the 54-year tradition of the U.S. Forest Service providing the tree.

The Loveland tour stop will also have hot cocoa, crafts and a visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus.

"We are thrilled to welcome the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree to Loveland and The Ranch Events Complex," said Conor McGrath, director of The Ranch Events Complex. "This beautiful tree represents the spirit of our community and the joy of the holiday season, bringing us together in celebration on Veterans Day."

"We are thrilled to welcome the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree to Loveland, the heart of northern Colorado," said Chris Bierdeman of Visit Loveland. "Make plans to join us for a fun and festive holiday event and see the famed tree as it makes its journey to Washington D.C."

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Posted by The Ranch Events Complex on Saturday, November 9, 2024

U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree Tour Stops

Credit: Lynden Transport

Credit: AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib

Credit: AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib

Of the 1,060 full-time employees for the city of Loveland, three serve at the pleasure of the City Council — the city manager, city attorney and municipal judge. This November, local voters will get a chance to decide how many council votes will be required to hire or fire two of those officials through Ballot issues 2I and 2J.

The issues

Section 8 of the Loveland city charter establishes the city manager as the “chief administrative officer” for the city, with responsibility for everything from personnel policy to balancing the budget to enforcing the actions of the City Council.

In the next section, the Loveland charter gives the city attorney the role of “chief legal advisor” for the city and for the City Council in matters relating to members’ official powers and duties.

Currently, the charter calls for an “affirmative” vote from six out of nine council members, or two-thirds, to either appoint or remove a city manager or attorney.

Ballot issues 2I and 2J are seeking amendments to the charter to lower that number to five out of nine votes, or a simple majority.

The case for the charter amendments

The amendment was proposed by Ward 1 Representative Troy Krenning, in wake of the departures of City Manager Steve Adams and City Attorney Moses Garcia earlier this year. Both were hired by the council in 2016.

Despite glowing reviews from other City Council members, Adams and Garcia clashed with Mayor Jacki Marsh during their tenures, particularly during last year’s Centerra South urban renewal deliberations and vote.

Shortly after his election to the council in November, Krenning expressed interest in terminating Adams and Garcia, saying they had lost the “trust” of residents over Centerra South and other issues. However, Krenning was not able to muster the six votes required to do so in either case.

But Adams and Garcia saw the writing on the wall and went on to hash out separation agreements with the council that included severance payouts totaling nearly $640,000 combined.

Had a motion to terminate them succeeded, they would have been paid around $342,000 upon separation per the terms of their contracts with the city.

In proposing the charter amendment, Krenning said that the large payouts could possibly have been avoided with a simple majority vote. He also noted that all other important council decisions, like adopting a “half a billion dollar budget,” only require the approval of five councilors, so it shouldn’t require more to make a change in leadership.

He further noted that Loveland is one of the only home rule cities in Colorado that requires a two-thirds majority.

The case against the charter amendments

Krenning had to settle for a bare majority when it came to getting the item on the November ballot. In August, the council officially approved the ballot language in a 5 to 4 vote.

The four council members against Krenning’s proposal said that Adams’ and Garcia’s cases serve as a textbook example for why the supermajority clause is needed. It keeps council’s direct reports from becoming subject to political whims and is also a check on the power of council factions with five or more members.

“I think having the supermajority offers a bit of protection to the people who are our direct reports,” said Councilor Steve Olson at the time. “It should not be that a simple majority (of councilors) can come in and basically do what they want with no restrictions.”

Instead, the change should be deliberated by an elected charter commission, as part of an overall charter reform effort, other councilors said.

“It needs to be truly discussed and deliberated amongst minds who are educated, who’ve been selected by the public to do this exact thing and make these exact decisions,” said Councilor Andrea Samson during deliberations over ballot language.

Editor’s note: This story has been edited to clarify that Don Riedel still owns the historic building at 1032 N. Lincoln Ave.

A new store along Lincoln Avenue just north of the downtown Loveland area is hoping to provide a variety of goods from vendors across Northern Colorado while making shoppers feel at home.

“Our intention here is to give our shoppers an experience, not just … a knickknack,” said Willow and Finch co-owner Kate Brann.

The store came to be through a connection between Brann and co-owner Becky Filler earlier this year. Filler said that when her daughter-in-law Isabella Ogburn — who is also a co-owner of the store — was looking for a way to keep working and make money after having her son, the two started buying and selling things online.

When she went to buy a piece of furniture earlier this year, Filler met Brann and the two became fast friends.

“We are soul sisters,” Brann said, later adding, “When our worlds collided, it just felt so real and so right.”

Brann also brings years of experience in running a store to the team, having owned several businesses in the past including Fox and Clover Market Shops, a store she ran in Fort Collins for years until she shut it down in 2018. She said the closing of that store was traumatic, and though she got a job in “corporate America,” the passion to be a business owner remained.

She said that Filler pitched the idea of opening this new store together and, after learning about each other over a cup of coffee, the two brought Ogburn in and began working on Willow and Finch.

Filler, who currently works in home staging, said she has been told by many people that she should open a store but this is her first.

“I just didn’t see how I could do it on my own,” she said. “When I met Kate, my world opened up and I was like ‘this is possible.'”

Their dream shop came is in a two-story home built at the beginning of the 1900s along North Lincoln Avenue.

Brann said they were in tears when they saw the building for the first time, and pinching themselves when the owner, former Loveland Mayor Don Riedel, wrote up the papers allowing them to start their business inside the historic building he has been caring for over 50 years. This elation continued when they put a call out for local vendors to set up spaces in the shop, resulting in a flood of interested sellers; this, Brann added, made them feel both excited and humbled.

The store itself is separated into rooms across both floors of the home. In one room, a shopper could find home décor, in another local coffee, and in yet another handmade clothing. Brann said they want to provide items in the store that you cannot just find and buy online.

The team also wants to make sure that the shop is not just a place to buy something and leave, but a personal experience that feels homey.

Along with unique touches like custom scents in each room and two zebra finches in an antique cage at the front counter — aptly named Willow and Finch — the group is aiming to provide a unique shopping experience. Brann said this goes beyond the store itself, too, as all three co-owners want their customers feel like friends when they leave.

“All three of us have servants’ hearts and we want to make sure our customers feel that when they come in,” she said, later adding that she hopes it feels like a safe place customers can come and not even have to buy anything.

Filler added that she hopes people feel like it is more than just a store.

“It just feels like home,” Ogburn said. “We want them to feel at home.”

Willow and Finch, 1032 N. Lincoln Ave., will celebrate its grand opening Oct. 15 and, from then on, will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. More information on the store can be found at willowandfinch.shop or on the store’s Facebook page.