Estes Valley Voice

01/08/2026

Due to today’s weather, both Sen. Janice Marshman and Shane Atkinson, a candidate for Larimer County Commissioner, have postponed their meetings in Estes Park. Marshman was going to hold a Town Hall meeting at 2 p.m., and Atkinson was going to hold a meet-and-greet coffee afterwards at Kind Coffee. Both events will be rescheduled.

01/08/2026

News Briefs – January 8

Estes Park Police name new commander Jerimiah Polucha, an interim captain with the Estes Park Police Department, has been named to the new position of commander, the EPPD announced this week. Polucha has been in law enforcement for twenty years, serving as a sergeant, detective, school resource officer, patrol officer, and constable with the Royal New Zealand Police. Learn how the police do their job…...

Estes Park Police name new commander Jerimiah Polucha, an interim captain with the Estes Park Police Department, has been named to the new position of commander, the EPPD announced this […]

01/08/2026

Letter to the editor

Estes Park Needs Clear Quasi-Judicial Rules Quasi-judicial hearings exist to ensure fair decision-making. Because the Town Board acts in a judge-like role, the public must be able to rely on consistent procedures, especially regarding when the evidentiary record is open and when it is closed. At the Estes Park Town Board meeting on December 9, 2025, the Board held a quasi-judicial public hearing on Resolution 103-25....

Estes Park Needs Clear Quasi-Judicial Rules Quasi-judicial hearings exist to ensure fair decision-making. Because the Town Board acts in a judge-like role, the public must be able to rely on […]

01/08/2026

Bode to resign at end of school year

Superintendent Ruby Bode of Estes Park School District announced today that she will be leaving at the end of the 2025-2026 school year. She has been with the EPSD since 2005. “I have had the incredible privilege of serving this community as a teacher, coach, principal, director, and superintendent. I have spent nearly my entire career growing alongside your children, your families, and this remarkable mountain community, “ Bode wrote in an email....

Superintendent Ruby Bode of Estes Park School District announced today that she will be leaving at the end of the 2025-2026 school year. She has been with the EPSD since […]

01/06/2026

Victim of mountain lion attack identified

The Larimer County Sheriff’s Office has identified the victim of a mountain lion attack on the Crosier Mountain Trail near Glen Haven, east of Estes Park, on New Year’s Day as Kristen Marie Kovatch, 46, of Fort Collins. According to a statement released by her brother, Jeffrey Kovatch, Kovatch was an ultramarathon runner who found joy and purpose in caring for animals....

The Larimer County Sheriff’s Office has identified the victim of a mountain lion attack on the Crosier Mountain Trail near Glen Haven, east of Estes Park, on New Year’s Day […]

01/05/2026

https://estesvalleyvoice.com/2026/01/05/news-briefs-jan-1-2026/

Interested in running for the Town Board? Individuals interested in learning about becoming a candidate for the Town Board are invited to an information forum on Jan. 6, 2026, at […]

01/05/2026

Recent ballot questions raise bigger questions about the need to talk about annexation

The Estes Park municipal code does not prohibit nonresidents from proposing or lobbying for a new Town ordinance that directly impacts Town residents and Town policy. This situation came to the forefront during the November election, when Ballot Issues 300 and 301 were proposed. Both measures were sponsored and supported by individuals living outside the Town’s boundaries in unincorporated Larimer County....

The Estes Park municipal code does not prohibit nonresidents from proposing or lobbying for a new Town ordinance that directly impacts Town residents and Town policy. This situation came to […]

01/05/2026

Town of Estes Park revises regulations affecting vacation homes and B&Bs

On Nov. 12, 2025, the Estes Park Board of Trustees approved Ordinance 18-25, which effects significant changes to the Municipal Code affecting short-term vacation homes and B&Bs. These changes, summarized below, took effect on Dec. 14, 2025. Non-transferrable licensee must be a natural person and not an entity One of the more significant changes requires all non-transferable vacation home and B&B licenses to name a natural person as the licensee, irrespective of the manner of property ownership....

On Nov. 12, 2025, the Estes Park Board of Trustees approved Ordinance 18-25, which effects significant changes to the Municipal Code affecting short-term vacation homes and B&Bs. These changes, summarized […]

01/05/2026

Becoming love: A path of ancient wisdom and lived experience

Many of us were taught to think of Christianity as a system of beliefs, a moral framework, or a set of answers to be accepted—or rejected. For some, it arrived wrapped in beauty and belonging. For others, in harm or exclusion. Often, it came as both. But beneath the inherited forms—beneath doctrine, institution, even language—there is something older, wider, and still quietly alive....

Many of us were taught to think of Christianity as a system of beliefs, a moral framework, or a set of answers to be accepted—or rejected. For some, it arrived […]

01/02/2026

https://estesvalleyvoice.com/2026/01/02/happy-new-year-from-the-estes-valley-voice-and-the-elk/

Become a SUPER subscriber As an independent publication, we rely on the support of readers like you to fund our journalism. In addition to a basic $7-a-month subscription, please consider supporting the Estes Valley's independent, locally owned, and journalist-led newsroom at a bonus rate. One-time....

01/02/2026

Winners in the Pixel the Snowman snowglobe drawing

Two Pixel the Snowman snow globes will be going home with two Estes Valley Voice readers, Marty Miranda and Becka Gatchel, and for the record, Miranda’s favorite snowman is Frosty, and Gatchel’s favorite is Olaf. Thank you to the 125 people who entered our second annual drawing and shared their answers to our simple survey questions: who is your favorite snowman and why, and do you have any favorite memories about snowmen?...

Two Pixel the Snowman snow globes will be going home with two Estes Valley Voice readers, Marty Miranda and Becka Gatchel, and for the record, Miranda’s favorite snowman is Frosty, […]

01/02/2026

Estes Valley Voice 2025 Annual Report

The Estes Valley Voice is an award-winning, independent, locally owned, and journalist-led digital newsroom that offers the Estes Valley accurate, fact-based, and in-depth local news, features, opinions, and commentary, focusing on people, businesses, and events in the Estes Valley. We are incorporated as a public benefit corporation, a for-profit business that aims to provide a public benefit to the community. …...

The Estes Valley Voice is an award-winning, independent, locally owned, and journalist-led digital newsroom that offers the Estes Valley accurate, fact-based, and in-depth local news, features, opinions, and commentary, focusing […]