Estes Valley Voice Podcast

Story by Elisabeth Sherwin

The garden is a metaphor for many things in Prof. Camille Dungy’s life.

In 2013, it represented the beginning of a guerrilla war with her Homeowners Association.

Spoiler: She won.

When she and her family moved from Oakland, Calif., to Fort Collins in 2013, they moved into an established, traditional suburban neighborhood with well-maintained grass lawns.

Not good.

Dungy wanted a prairie garden to attract butter...

The Estes Valley Voice wants to help bridge the gap and lower the height of the silos between the English and Spanish-speaking communities in the Estes Valley by making the news we publish accessible to non-native English speakers whose first language is Spanish. According to data from the 2023 American Community Survey and the U.S. Census Bureau, it is estimated that 12% of the residents of the Estes Valley speak Spanish at home.

T...

Story by Elisabeth Sherwin

Glen Haven resident Sibyl Gardner is a self-confessed writer. She writes everything from screenplays to novels, memoirs to essays. 

In a recent talk at the Estes Valley Library, Gardner described her three decades in TV, working in New York and Hollywood, on projects as diverse as MTV music video production in the 1980s to screenwriting for “Law and Order” and “Nashville” in the 2000s. 

She moved to Los Ange...

The skies over Estes Park have been filled with smoke, and the air quality has been poor due to several fires on Colorado’s western slope, including the Lee, Elk, and Twelve Fires west and south of Steamboat Springs, and the Windy Gap Fire near Granby, involving some 75,000 acres.

Particulates in the air can cause eye, nose, and throat irritation, and those with asthma and other respiratory conditions are especially susceptible to t...

Story by Patti Brown & Barb Boyer Buck

The Estes Park Police have secured three arrest warrants for David Anthony Morales, wanted for allegedly providing alcohol to minors at a closed business and offenses relating to sex offender registration.

In February 2025, the Estes Park Police Department received a report of a party hosted by Morales at the Twisted Griffin Pub and Restaurant, located at 247 W. Elkhorn Ave, where alcohol wa...

by Mayor Gary Hall

It's summer and we just passed the 4th of July, so let’s talk tourism.

There’s a wide variety of opinions on the topic of what factors impact tourism behavior and numbers. 

What levers do we change or adjust to keep our tourist trade healthy? As the Town Board considers all of its various business, we must weigh how our decision impact our tourism industry.  

This was the topic when Jamie Palmesano (of Brownfiel...

Story by Patti Brown

Estes Park Police arrested Thomas Chase Hill, 32, on Saturday, July 26, on second-degree burglary with forced entry, theft from burglary, first-degree arson with endangering life, and criminal mischief. Hill was booked at the Larimer County Jail in Fort Collins.

The charges relate to the burglary of weaponry from Blades, a knife and specialty weapons store that sells swords at 145 E. Elkhorn Ave., and a fire at t...

Story by Patti Brown

A structure fire broke out at the Haber Motel, 397 E. Elkhorn, late Friday night. The 911 call was received at 11:50 p.m. A second alarm was called at 12: hub 18 a.m., and the fire was called out at 2:33 a.m.

The smell of smoke was strong around the intersection of Wonderview and Big Thompson Avenues as firefighters worked to extinguish the blaze.

The Estes Valley Fire Protection District, the Estes Park Police, a...

March 17, 1955 to July 14, 2025

Douglas Paul Semeyn, longtime resident of Estes Park and a devoted 40-year employee of the YMCA of the Rockies, passed away unexpectedly from a heart attack on July 14, 2025, at the age of 70.

Doug was born March 17, 1955, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he grew up surrounded by the love of his parents, Thomas and Dorothy Semeyn, and his brother Steve. He fondly recalled childhood summer camping trips...

Story by Patti Brown

Nick Mollé Productions and the Rocky Mountain Channel won two Emmy Awards Saturday night for their latest PBS film, “Water, The Sacred Gift.” Seán Doherty received the Emmy for outstanding photography, and Mollé received the Emmy for director.

The documentary tells the story of the watershed in the Rocky Mountains threatened by a changing climate. It debuted April 12, 2025, at the Historic Park Theater in Estes P...

Story by Patti Brown

The Estes Valley Voice has been selected as a finalist for two 2025 Local Independent Online News Publishers – LION – awards: one for public service and the other for community engagement. The nominations are an honor as we mark our first anniversary this Saturday.

LION is a national publishers association with more than 575 members that helps digital news startups develop sustainable business operations. Th...

Story by Barb Boyer Buck

In honor of the memory of local musician Dick Orleans, the Estes Arts District presents a free concert every year, Friends of Folk. This year, the event will take place on Tuesday, June 24 from 3:30-10:00 p.m. at Performance Park. While admission is free, all proceeds from the sale of beverages and food will benefit the local artists’ scholarship fund and future Friends of Folk benefit events.

Headlining the ...

Story by Barb Boyer Buck and Patti Brown

Over 500 people gathered along Elkhorn Avenue in downtown Estes Park on Saturday morning between 10 a.m. and noon to take part in the local “No Kings” rally. This demonstration was one of dozens of protests held in communities throughout Colorado and one of hundreds occurring nationwide on Flag Day.

The protests were set to counter a military parade in Washington, D.C. on Saturday that went do...

Story by Audrey Brice

The Cleave Street redevelopment project has been a key part of the Estes Park Downtown Plan since its conception in 2018. The purpose of the project has been to transform what has been an underutilized alley into a pedestrian-friendly corridor. However, delays and disruptions have frustrated some local business owners with the process.

According to Jamin Rucker, a civil engineer in the public works department, t...

Story by Patti Brown

If you see a kid dressed up as one of the Mario Bros. running around on Friday afternoon, you’re probalby in the right place. If you see an adult dressed up like a cartoon racecar driver and nostalgically remembering their childhood, you’re absolutely in the right place.

Kelly and Andrew Kessler, owners of Estes Park’s historic Ride-A-Kart, have stepped up the local go-kart game in Estes this summer with the addi...

Story by Barb Boyer Buck

In a packed five-hour meeting that began at 7 p.m. on June 10 and adjourned five and a half hours later on June 11 at 12:30 a.m., the Estes Park Town Board voted five to two remove Belle Morris from the Transportation Advisory Board.

“I think it has grown into something it was never intended to be,” said Mayor Gary Hall at the Town Board meeting on June 10. He was speaking about the Transportation Advisory Bo...

Story by Suzy Blackhurst

Maintaining hope, continuing political action from cross-partisan constituents, and persistent small victories in Congress are among the most important strategies that will lead to political change in the nation’s capital, U.S. House Assistant Minority Leader Joe Neguse, a Lafayette Democrat, told a packed audience at the Allenspark Fire Station Community Room Wednesday afternoon.

Neguse’s town hall meeting f...

March 11, 1947 – May 19, 2025

Kent H. Smith was a sixth-generation sign-maker who grew up in his father’s sign shop and took over production when his father passed away. 

His search for a career led him to further fields. In high school, he trained for technical theater, primarily stage lighting, toured with Premiere Dance Arts, and lit shows at Denver Auditorium Theater and Red Rocks for national performers. 

Deciding to pursue a car...

Story by Suzy Blackhurst

Just before the three-day Memorial Day weekend – the traditional vacation season kickoff – optimism was the order of the day at the May 22 Visit Estes Park board meeting.

“We’re cautiously optimistic,” said interim CEO Mike Zumbaugh, reflecting on the forecasting reports presented by Rachel Ward Oppermann, VEP’s marketing director.

Zumbaugh pointed to Opperman’s report on 2025 vacation insights from Key Data, ...