Spring in the Canyon
Photo by Elizabeth Hilliard
Click to enlarge
What's happening in Golden today?
Events for Monday, May. 19th
- All day - CURRENT EXHIBITS AT THE MUSEUMS
- All day - Live Workouts with Community Center Pros
- All day - Golden History Tours
- 8AM - Municipal Court Criminal Arraignments
- 8:30-10:30AM and 3-6PM - Lions Park Playground Pop-Up
- 10:15-10:45AM - Let's Dance - Registration Required
- 12-12:30PM - Mondays with the Mayor
- 2-3PM - Virtual: Active Minds Monday
- 5:30-7PM - Downtown Development Authority Meeting
- 5:30-7:30PM - The Fundamental Principles of Art
- 6-9PM - Teach Me to Play! Mondays
- 6:30PM - Movement Monday Running Club
For more information, click the item above or visit the Golden Today Calendar
What’s Blooming Along Golden’s Trails? Columbia Ragwort!
Figure 1. Left: “Columbia ragwort” – Senecio integerrimus Nutt. – on Schweich Hill. “Columbia Ragwort” on Tin Cup Ridge in south Golden.
By Tom Schweich
There are a lot of plants in bloom right now that have yellow flowers. Many of them are in the Sunflower family (Asteraceae, pronounced: as-ter-A-see-ee). Some of them are hard to tell apart, but one that is relatively easy to recognize is “Columbia ragwort” — Senecio integerrimus Nutt. It has fuzzy leaves at the bottom that are tongue-shaped and a cluster of small yellow flowers on a single stem that is 12 to 18 inches tall.
Columbia ragwort is very common throughout the central and western United States, often found in moist areas from the foothills to the subalpine. It can be found in almost every Golden Open Space and in several Golden parks.
Our plant was first described by Thomas Nuttall (1818). Unlike most botanists of his time, Nuttall wrote his books and articles in English, so we don’t have to remember our high school Latin and Greek classes to read them. Nuttall wrote that he found our plant in “… moist situations on the plains of the Missouri, near the Great Bend.” The Great Bend, sometimes called the Big Bend, is a large meander of the Missouri River in South Dakota, southeast of Pierre.
Like many widespread plants, Columbia ragwort has many other common names, such as lambs-tongue ragwort, gauge plant, one-stemmed butterweed, single-stemmed groundsel, western groundsel, and wet-the-bed (Tilley & St. John, 2012). The lambs-tongue ragwort name is probably derived from the shape and fuzziness of the leaves. It was called gauge plant because ranchers used it to determine range readiness. When it began to flower, the range was believed to be sufficiently developed for grazing to begin. Western folklore also blamed it for causing bedwetting, giving it the name wet-the-bed.
I prefer the common name Columbia ragwort because our Colorado plants most resemble a collection by Nuttall (1841) that he named Sencio exaltatus and is now considered to be a variety of Senecio integerrimus. Nuttall wrote that he found it “… on the plains of Oregon near the Wahlamet.” Today we call it the Willamette River that empties into the Columbia River near Portland, Oregon, hence the name Columbia ragwort.
References
Nuttall, Thomas. 1818. The Genera of North American Plants and a catalogue of the species to the year 1817. 2 Vols.. Philadelphia: 1818. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/7245#page/165/
Nuttall, Thomas. 1840-1841. Descriptions of new Species and Genera of Plants in the natural Order of the Compositae, collected in a Tour across the Continent to the Pacific, a Residence in Oregon, and a Visit to the Sandwich Islands and Upper California, during the Years 1834 and 1835. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. II(7):400. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/95918#page/128/
Tilley, D., and L. St. John. 2012. Plant Guide for lambstongue ragwort (Senecio integerrimus). USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service, Aberdeen Plant Materials Center. Aberdeen, Idaho 83210. https://plants.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/plantguide/pdf/pg_sein2.pdf
2-3PM Virtual: Active Minds Monday
At Jefferson County Public Library, we foster continuous learning and connections. Keep your minds engaged every Monday! Be sure to explore our website for additional weekly event options, including call-ins and livestreams.
Today’s theme: The United Nations
Formed in 1945 in the immediate aftermath of a second world war, the United Nations was intended (in the words of its founding Charter) “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war”. Join Active Minds as we examine the origins and development of the U.N. as well as its current and future role in the world.
Save your spot for this Zoom program.
When:
2-3PM on Monday, May. 19th
Coming May 31st: Garage Purge & Bargain Bonanza
May 31, 2025 from 10:00am to 5:00pm at the Golden Outpost!!
20 Rental spaces are available to join in the purge for $40.00.
This includes a 10x10 space and haul away from Junk Wranglers of any unwanted items. Vendors must provide their own tent and 40lb weights per leg. Vendors are responsible for their own sales.
Find homes for all your unwanted treasures. Resale, Recycle, Rehome!
Email goldenhayride@gmail.com to reserve your spot!
Brought to you by: Golden Outpost, DD Rockwell with Berkshire Hathaway and The Junk Wranglers. See less
Understanding the Budget #8: Property Taxes - part 2
While Loretta is a member of the Citizens' Budget Advisory Committee (CBAC), these articles reflect Loretta's personal understanding and do not represent positions of the CBAC.
The Colorado State Legislature passed statewide changes to property tax calculations for 2023 and 2024. The simple formula (Actual Value x Assessment Rate x Mill Levy = Property Taxes Due) was slightly modified.
Colorado Senate Bill 22-238 and Colorado Senate Bill 23B-001 impacted the actual values and assessment rates for 2023. At a very high level, the first bill reduced the assessed actual value of residential properties by up to $15,000 and commercial properties by up to $30,000 for property tax calculations. It also lowered certain assessment rates. The second bill instructed assessors to decrease the residential property actual value by up to $55,000 just for 2023 taxes due in 2024 and modified assessment rates slightly. So, effectively the Actual Value was now the Assessed Value less any adjustment. (Colorado Senate Bill 23B-004 was introduced to provide additional property tax relief but did not pass.)
Colorado Senate Bill 24-233 extended 2023 rates and the adjustments to the actual value into 2024. The formula for 2023 and 2024 taxes due in 2024 and 2025 became:
Property Taxes Due = (Assessed Value – any applicable adjustment) x Assessment Rate x Mill Levy
The goal of the 2023 and 2024 changes was to reduce the statewide residential property tax revenues by $700 million across 2023 and 2024 (See the language for 39-1-101.4 on page 5 of Bill 22-238). To minimize the impact to local governments, the state was required to provide varying levels of reimbursement based on things like city population. I will not attempt to describe the reimbursement rules here, but they are riveting reading in the bills themselves.
See the earlier articles in the "Understanding the Budget" series!
Golden History: Ads, Circa 1869
Clark & Doolittle Store on Washington Avenue – Denver Public Library Western History Collection
Click to enlarge
The Colorado Transcript has been covering Golden since December of 1866. It was a valuable resource for Golden residents of the time, but may be even more valuable for those of us who like to know what life was like during Golden’s pioneer days.
Here are several news/promotional pieces from the May 19, 1869 Transcript.
156 Years Ago
Mrs. Johnson, at her millinery store, adjoining Clark & Doolittle’s, has received another invoice of fashionable bonnets, ribbons, artificial flowers, and other trimmings, making her stock very complete. She is glad to assure the ladies of this vicinity that there is no longer any need of their going away from here for goods in her line, as she has all the latest fashions, and will sell as cheap as any similar establishment.
The fine stock ranch on the north Table Mountain is this year in charge of Messrs. Gainer, Gorman & Co., all careful and responsible men, who will see that all stock entrusted to their care is well cared for. The range is one of the best in the country, being enclosed either by fence or impassable rocks. Grass is excellent, the entire mountain having been burned over this spring, with plenty of fresh living water at all seasons. They have a new advertisement in this issue.
Here’s one last piece that caught my attention:
We had hoped that the day for Vigilance Committees in Colorado had passed forever, and we now believe that our laws are all-sufficient for the punishment of crime, but it seems that all do not think so. On last Friday we visited Denver and being detained later than usual, we started for home a little after dark. As we were approaching the F street bridge, and about to drive upon it, we came suddenly upon a crowd of men, who were very quietly standing on the bridge. The bridles of our horses were seized from either side by two of them while several others approached our buggy, one of whom asked if we had seen anything…we said “yes.” Then they told us that packages they were carrying were bought at Peabody’s, and that if we would let the people of Jefferson county know that Peabody was selling dry goods, clothing, etc., cheaper than any house in Denver, we could depart in peace. We departed, hence this local.
I thought it was going to be a lynching story but was relieved to learn that it was a promotion for a dry goods store.
Weather
Overnight: Partly cloudy. Low around 44, with temperatures rising to around 46 overnight. West wind 7 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 16 mph.
Monday: A slight chance of rain showers before noon, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms between noon and 3pm, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 61. West northwest wind 9 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Monday Night: A slight chance of rain showers before midnight. Partly cloudy, with a low around 43. West northwest wind 8 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Monday Night: Slight Chance Rain Showers then Partly Cloudy, 43°F
Tuesday: Sunny, 69°F
Tuesday Night: Mostly Clear, 45°F
Wednesday: Sunny, 73°F
Wednesday Night: Mostly Clear, 47°F
Thursday: Mostly Sunny, 76°F
Thursday Night: Partly Cloudy, 53°F
Friday: Mostly Sunny, 80°F
Friday Night: Partly Cloudy, 53°F
Saturday: Mostly Sunny then Slight Chance Showers And Thunderstorms, 82°F
Saturday Night: Slight Chance Showers And Thunderstorms then Partly Cloudy, 53°F
Sunday: Mostly Sunny then Chance Showers And Thunderstorms, 78°F
News About Golden - May 19, 2025
Golden-area groups collaborate to design first-of-its-kind modular home
By Corinne Westeman
Golden Transcript
Lot No. 7 of the Golden Hills mobile home park is empty right now, but a year from now, it will be the site of a unique modular home.
And, longer-term, locals hope Lot No. 7 will be the beginning of a larger trend that could help hundreds of others across Colorado and beyond... Read more...
Turning Back Time: Golden elementary school opens time capsule from 1987
By Corinne Westeman
Golden Transcript
When Ralston Elementary School’s graduating classes from 1986 and 1987 put together a time capsule, they filled it with some of their favorite things: cinnamon toothpicks, Garbage Pail Kids cards, physical photographs, a bottle of the Original New York Seltzer, a school T-shirt and more... Read more...
Golden baseball making its 4th consecutive trip to Class 4A state tournament
By Dennis Pleuss
Colorado Preps
GOLDEN — The beat goes on for Golden baseball.
The Demons won their fourth straight Class 4A regional title Saturday to send Golden to its fourth consecutive 4A state tournament in Colorado Springs. Golden defeated Longmont and Pueblo South in the 4A Region 4 tournament at Golden High School to advance yet again to the state tournament... Read more...
Supporters
Many thanks to the people and organizations who support What’s Happening in Golden? If you would like to support local news, please CLICK HERE!
Sponsors:
($100/month and up)
Buffalo Rose, Buglet Solar, Foothills Art Center, Golden City Brewery, Golden Cultural Alliance, Miners Alley Performing Arts Center, The Golden Mill, Golden Chamber of Commerce, Golden History Tours, Miners Saloon, Golden Hayride Outpost, Unite Fitness, Joy Brandt, Tom Reiley, Michael Mason, and the Colorado Railroad Museum
Friends:
($50-99.99/month or $550/yr)
Tall Pines Painting, Baby Doe’s Clothing, Goozell Yogurt & Coffee Paul Haseman, Donna Anderson, Carol & Doug Harwood, Beth Bidwell, Stephanie Painter, Greg Poulos, Ann Norton & Jonathan Storer, Mary & Don Parker, Saré Merrigan, The Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum, and Vic DeMaria
Supporters:
($25-49.99/month or $250/yr)
Laura King and Scott Wilson, Bobby German and Alison McNally, Forrest Jones, Barry & Liz Bettis, Cheryl & Tom Schweich, Marjorie Sloan, Chris and Joyce Davell, Rick Flint, Forrest Jones, Cynthia Merrill Tamny, Stephen Pero, Meg Van Ness & Steve Kalasz, Steve & Karla Schaefer, Bud Rockhill, Steve Enger, Kristie Brice & Mike Schwartz, The Golden Hotel, Kurt & Janet Siegfried, and Ella Lyons & Jeanne Fritch.
Members:
($10-24.99/month or $110/yr)
Brad Miller & Julie Bartos, Holly Thomas, Jim and LouAnne Dale, Ann Pattison, Thomas Hoffman, Carol Abel, Brian Quarnstrom, Sandra Curran, Bobby German and Alison McNally, Kathy Smith, Karen Smith, Carlos & Nancy Bernal, Robert Storrs, Michele Sannes, Elaine Marolla, Dixie Termin & Ron Miller, E Tom Hughes, Crystal M Culbert, Patrick A. Madison, Alice Madison & Jim Kalivas, Deb Goeldner, Christopher Ball, 6th Chair Home Services, Dot & Eric Brownson, Rosemary Coffman, Emeline Paulson, Sandy Schneider, Mark and Cathy Pattridge, Cheryl G Leidich, Jen Rutter, Frani R Bickart, Jennings and Litz, Bill Sedgeley, Nancy Hughes, Justin L Wade, Kathi Eggers, Traci Case, Donna Owen, Leslie D Lutz, Karen Oxman, Catherine Skokan, Ross Fraser & KC Gilliland, Lynne Haigh, Elizabeth Hilliard, Frank Young & Terre Deegan-Young, Kathy Hirons & Jack Markin, Jess & Anthony Monasterio, Heather Duncan, Lee Ann & Pete Horneck, Carol Cameron, Cheryl Williamson, San Daugherty, Jim Garner, John and Carol McEncroe, the Golden Welcome Center, the Golden Transcript, Koshare Eagle, Ken and Colleen Krantz, Traci Neuman Lacey, Jo Barber, Jamie Cookinham, Kermit Shields, Meridee Cecil, Vicki Olson, Colleen & Michael Ramey, Nancy & Pete Torpey, Jax Baker, Simon Maybury, Rose McLaughlin, Cameron Chambers, Joyce Gravina, Patrick Klein, Barb Robie, and Mary Rains, Richard Caldwell, Janice Waring, Sam & Marilyn Baron, Carmen Johnson
Followers:
($5-9.99/month)
Golden Community Garden, Lora Haimes, Mariane Erickson, J.J. Fraser, Mel Perkins, Bob Hamilton, Kim Linton, Steve Stevens
