News highlights: 1998

By JoAn Bjarko
North Forty News

Poudre Health Services District moved its offices into a new building at 120 Bristlecone Drive in north Fort Collins in February.

The North Forty News celebrated its fifth anniversary with a party at Kintzley Plaza. Local musicians entertained for eight hours while partygoers enjoyed food and friends.

Eleven candidates ran for offices on the Wellington Town Board, with three of them competing for mayor. Voters elected Don Irwin as mayor. Town board members elected to four-year terms were Dianne Monroe, Sabre Middlekauff and Larry Noel. Elected to two-year terms were David Noe and David Swope.

Larimer County residents started looking into how the Preble's meadow jumping mouse could affect them after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed it as a threatened species.

Piedmont Farms of Wellington liquidated its assets at a June 29 auction after filing for bankruptcy protection in November 1996. Part of the Piedmont management formed a new company, Grant Family Farms, to continue organic farming in Larimer County. To stay in business, the farm leased back part of the land it was forced to sell at auction.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced plans to relocate its National Black-footed Ferret Conservation Center from Wyoming to northern Larimer County.

In July, the Fairgrounds and Events Center Committee turned in more than 10,000 signatures to put a funding initiative on the November ballot. The proposed one-year sales tax would buy a 243-acre parcel east of Interstate 25 for $1.82 million.

Jim Alderden, running in the Republican primary against Larimer County Sheriff Richard Shockley, defeated the incumbent with 63.5 percent of the vote. With no Democrats on the general election ballot, Undersheriff John Kammerzell decided to run as a write-in candidate against Alderden in November.

In October, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from Colorado Lien regarding a 1995 decision by the Larimer County Commission to deny a permit for a silica sandstone quarry. During the appeals through state and federal courts, the LaPorte plant retooled from silica processing to convert calcium oxide into hydrated lime, which is used for soil stabilization.

The Larimer County Planning Commission heard nearly 10 hours of public testimony before beginning its deliberations on a new county land use code. County commissioners then held four nights of confrontational public hearings in December.

Poudre School District, working in partnership with several local nonprofit agencies, received a federal grant of nearly $1 million to spend over three years on two community learning centers. One center is located at Cache La Poudre Elementary and Junior High, the other at Lincoln Junior High and Irish Elementary on Vine Drive.

Election results: Republican Kathay Rennels of Livermore defeated Green Party candidate Nancy York and Democrat David Gallup in a three-way race to represent Larimer County Commission District 1. Republican Steve Miller, the incumbent county assessor, defeated Democratic challenger Linda Hopkins. Alderden handily defeated write-in candidate Kammerzell for county sheriff. Voters approved a one-year sales tax to buy land for a new fairgrounds.

Morning Star Community Church's building, that was less than a year old, burned to the ground on Nov. 19. The fire, reported at 9:43 p.m., appeared to have started around the chimney. Fund-raising efforts in the Red Feather Lakes Community immediately got under way to replace items lost in the fire. The church received $768,000 in insurance coverage to rebuild.