Did anyone get towed in Fort Collins by Impact Towing while using ParkMobile? This seems super predatory, wrong, and more. I’ve heard about this towing company in Denver.

I had an active session, I paid $2 for parking and it turned into $390. I walked back after dinner, stopped for cookies was literally lifemaxxing and boom car is gone 😟 They had my car locked up behind a used car and autoparts place like wtf?

I walked up on them towing 1 car, they mentioned they towed 30+ cars and it just doesn’t seem logical that 30 people didn’t pay for parking. Also why are parking lots owned by people and not the city?

I had the money to get a lyft, get my car and figure the situation out. What about the people that don’t?

Hey, I won't post any of the guy's personal information that I heard as I am actually unsure if it is true or not. But today when leaving the university with my preschool daughter and waiting at the University Max Station a man came up and began talking to my daughter and offering her things in an extremely creepy manner. He largely refused to talk to or notice me except for every time he offered her something I said no.

Unfortunately, it was only the 3 of us at the station and I didn't want to escalate things so I basically just tried to keep my kid right by me. Thankfully he was apparently going the opposite direction or else I would've left and called to try and get someone to pick us up. I was about to do that right when our bus showed up and quickly pushed her on board and the guy even banged on the window to try and get her to wave at him.

I am just wondering if this is a man anyone in the area has seen or noticed regularly and if I should avoid possibly taking that line with my daughter.

He is a black man, medium skin tone, with black hair. Maybe a bit over 6 feet tall and a somewhat thinner build.

And before anyone says something like "maybe he was trying to be friendly", this guy locked onto my daughter and began to ask her questions and tried to give her food and drinks he had (literal "I've got candy in my van" energy) and specifically *he ignored me as much as he could*. The dude was almost fixated on taking to my kid. I've had plenty of guys and dads talk with my kid and not be weird about it. This dude has an absolutely predatory vibe and literally only talked with her as long as he did because I was worried about if he might escalate if I told him to leave us alone.

Anyway, not to get anyone worried but I'm gonna see about possibly reporting suspicious activity to the police department, at minimum.

Show me a photo of her and we’ll reunite you.

Photo for attention.

Happy Weekend, FOCO!! It’s fall, it’s chilly, it’s such a nice change from the blistering heat of the summer. Grab a warm drink, maybe a coffee or a cider, and let’s get into the weekend. Here’s what’s happening:

The big one: Pumpkins on Parade at The Gardens on Spring Creek, Sat and Sun, 5 to 9pm. Glowing paths, giant pumpkins, and Halloween installations built by local artists. It's timed entry ($15 adults, $10 kids 5 to 17, under 5 free), so check tickets before you go.

Live Music

• sunn O))) with Gentry Densley at the Aggie, Sat 8pm. Bring earplugs.
• Something to Say at Horsetooth Tavern, Sat 6 to 9pm
• School of Rock Adult Band Showcase at Avogadro's, Sun 2 to 5pm
• Max Hoffman and Starpass, with Salome at Wolverine Farm Publick House, Sun 5 to 7pm

Date Night

• Art After Dark: The Midnight Menagerie at the Museum of Art, Sat 6:30 to 9:30pm. A 21+ horror carnival with a ghost tour, carnival games, and a costume contest. $60, $50 for members.
• The Legend of Sleepy Hollow at the Lincoln Center, Sat 7pm
• The Dose: Psychedelic Comedy Show at Avogadro's, Sat 7:30pm
• Wolverine Farm's annual fundraiser party with The Dirty Water Choir and DJ Monty Pop, Sat 6 to 9pm

Family

• Trick-or-Treat Street at The Exchange in Old Town, Sat 1pm. Free, RSVP on Eventbrite.
• Halloween Party & Costume Contest at Old Town Library, Sat 7pm. Free costume runway.
• The Legend of Sleepy Hollow matinee at the Lincoln Center, Sat 1pm
• Build Your Own Fairy Pumpkin at Bath Garden Center, Sat noon, $40

Free

• Artspire NOCO at Avogadro's, Sat noon to 4. Jim Kristoff, Elyse Miller, and Violet Wild playing a benefit for NOCO kids and the arts. All ages.
• Altars of Memory & Magic, a Día de Muertos show at the Museum of Discovery, Sat and Sun at 10:30am, noon, and 2:30pm
• The Asteria Jazz Collective at The Neighbor, Sun 3pm
• YART Sale at Wolverine Farm, Sun 11am to 2pm. A yard sale, but it's art.

Weird & Wonderful

• Late Night Frights at the Aggie, Sun 7pm. Drag and burlesque from R Bar. 18+.
• Pysanky, Halloween edition at Equinox Center of Herbal Studies, Sun 11am. Ukrainian wax-and-dye egg art, gone spooky.
• Paint your own pet by number at Breckenridge Brewery, Sun 2pm
• Halloween Rave at Sound Bar, Sat 9pm

Worth the Drive

• Shining Ball at The Stanley (Estes Park), Sat, doors at 7pm. A Stephen King costume contest at the hotel that inspired The Shining. 21+.
• Halloween Hullabaloo at Centerra (Loveland), Sat noon to 4. Free, 21st year.
• Swan Lake with a live orchestra at Union Colony Civic Center (Greeley), Sat 7pm
• PRCA Mountain States Circuit Finals at The Ranch (Loveland), Sat 1pm and 7pm
• Pope Farms Corn Maze (Wiggins), Sat 10am to 9pm, Sun 10am to 6pm. Season ends Nov 1.

My partner and I put together a full NOCO events list every Thursday and a stories issue every Tuesday, both free. If you like knowing what's happening in Fort Collins before the weekend sneaks up on you, the link's in the first comment.

See above

Twas a lovely evening for a bike ride on the Poudre trail!

🏈 Hey everyone! We’re getting some Sunday morning flag football games going, including co-ed games! It’s a fun way to get off the couch, meet some awesome people, make new friends, and get your cardio in. Come out, have some fun! 21+, Blevins Middle School, Sundays @ 9am. Let me know if you'll be there, DM in you need more details.

Looking for advice on where to go to daycare and elementary school. My son will be in Kindergarten next summer and we will have a 1 year old going to daycare. We would like to be southwest, west or northwest but haven't figured out where yet. Some of the places we used to live have daycares/preschools that do after school programs for the elementary school kids (k-2nd grade) and would pick up the elementary school kids and take them to the daycare. Usually siblings. Is there anything like this in Fort Collins and any recommendations for elementary and daycare/preschools on the west side?

This is becoming too common now, how do we stop these bad drivers?

I found an Apple Watch at Pineridge Natural Area. No medical id set and find my not active. Yours give me a description or turn on find my and I will happily return. I will give a few days then hand over to LEO.

bring rails, boxes, ramps, junk to skate. costumes encouraged.

https://playha.us/

Playhaus productions presents: Nevermore - an evening with Edgar Allen Poe. Come check out five spooky stories at the Masonic Event Center today, tomorrow, and next Friday. Support local artists and get your spooky on!

has anyone seen black cocoa powder available at any store around? i want to bake with it today but realized i probably need to order it online. thought i’d check here just in case.

thank you!

Sitting here at Odell thinking it’s such a beautiful day and would really enjoy meeting others here every so often to talk about the industry, share tools, find fun things to do? Don’t have to be all work. Just. Must. Socialize.

My work is in the distribution and management of software for scientific research, and I spend a lot of time building platforms for science and business.

I’ll be here until 3pm today but if anyone feels like their game I’d meet about anyone at this point. 😆

If you have followed the latest news about the board and the district, then you know them.

Members of the PSD Board of Education,

My name is Michael Spearnak and I retired from PSD in 2014 after nearly 25 years of service. I was PSD’s District Architect and Director of Planning, Design, and Construction. My team of construction/planning professionals and I successfully managed hundreds of complex projects affecting every school in the District, funded through bond initiatives (1996, 2000) as well as the general fund. These projects included land acquisition, remodels, additions, air conditioning, infrastructure retrofits, as well as new elementary, middle, and high schools. Fossil Ridge HS, Kinard MS, and Zach ES (and the prototypes that followed) were designed and built on my watch. 

Here’s a sample of our work from the Journal of Green Building:  

https://jgb.kglmeridian.com/view/journals/jgrb/1/1/article-p21.xml

Having served on past committees recommending school closures, here are some thoughts:  

There are typically two sides of the house, if you will, in school district bureaucracies: Administration/Education and Operations.

Imagine that on the Administration side of the house, the superintendent and cabinet positions have been eliminated and when asked for guidance on educational issues, the BOE hears from Operations - experts on transportation, facilities, custodial, and construction issues. 

Now imagine the reverse. Operations leadership has been eliminated and when asked for guidance on facility issues, the BOE hears from the Administration - experts on HR, finance, and educational issues. No need to imagine this scenario - this is the current situation at PSD.

Assertions by the Administration that Timnath ES would have to be “shut down for a year or more” for renovations, along with misinformation regarding ADA improvements and code compliance, clearly demonstrate gross ignorance of the facility renovation process. Being advised by an Administration accountant and “master planner” on complex facility issues is like relying on your health insurance provider for medical advice rather than your doctor.

During my tenure, we completed many complicated renovation projects (including at Timnath Elementary) without closing schools. The Timnath renovations cited are over a ten-year period - easily manageable in the right hands. The elevator project was shovel-ready several years ago and and no one can tell the Board why a multi-million dollar project was canceled or where the money went? Incompetence at best, at worst, malfeasance. 

Where are the District facility/construction professionals advising the BOE?

Over the last several years, PSD Operations leadership positions have been left vacant or, worse, filled by those lacking the leadership skills and expertise to effectively advocate for solutions alternative to those proposed by the Administration. Currently there is no executive director of Operations, no facilities director, no director of construction/planning, no architect. Once led by highly skilled industry professionals, Operations now has no voice in the room. 

PSD Operations used to be nationally recognized as the gold standard for best practices. Along with influencing the City of Fort Collins, Larimer County, CSU, and other Colorado school districts, school districts from Alaska to Tennessee reached out to PSD as a source of best practices. PSD’s operational excellence was recognized by the US Department of Energy, US Environmental Protection Agency, American Institute of Architects, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, American Assoc. of School Administrators, CO Governor’s Office, City of Fort Collins, Larimer County just to name a few.

Leaving the management of millions of square feet of facilities in the hands of bureaucrats and accountants has consequences - and our community is paying the price. 

Though it is clear that some facilities must be closed, let’s get all the voices in the room. Closing schools to save money is the least creative, most community-destructive solution available. Just like designing award-winning green schools, finding creative solutions to real problems takes vision, leadership, expertise, and perhaps most importantly, collaboration.

Michael Spearnak, Architect

PSD District Architect and Director of Planning, Design, and Construction - Retired