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Fort Collins
Balloon launch, City Park, 5:30am
Firecracker 5K run, City Park, 8am, www.active.com/running/ft-collins-co/firecracker-5k-2010.
Fourth of July Downtown, Old Town, 11am-6pm. live music and fun. www.downtownfortcollins.com/dba.php/4july/
Fireworks display, City Park, dusk. Free shuttles available from downtown Fort Collins.

Loveland
Fourth of July celebrations take place at North Lake Park, 29th Street and Taft Avenue.
Flag-raising ceremony, 10am
Festival and booths, 11am
Musical entertainment, 5pm, Norma & Lynn Hammond Amphitheater
Star Spangled Spectacular, Loveland Concert Band, 8pm
Fireworks display, 9:17pm www.ci.loveland.co.us/parksrec/july4th.htm

Greeley
July 3
The Stampede 2010 Independence Day Parade runs north on 10th Avenue starting at 19th Street and ending at 5th Street, 9am. 

July 4
Activities and entertainment, Island Grove Park, 501 N. 14th Ave., throughout the day.
Fireworks, Island Grove Park, 501 N. 14th Ave., dusk www.greeleystampede.org

Terry McNerney is one of the artists that have begun painting. He is painting his playful mural on a cabinet on the Northeast corner of Oak and Howes Streets. It depicts a variety of animals playing an assortment of musical instruments in a Colorado wilderness setting.

Transforming transformers
The Art in Public Places Program has begun its fifth year of beautifying Fort Collins’ utility transformer cabinets with murals painted by local artists. As a collaborative effort with Utilities Light and Power and the Art in Public Places Program, the Art in the Alleys Project helps to mitigate the graffiti, reduce maintenance costs and add art to the Fort Collins community. This summer, seventeen artists and one nonprofit organization will be transforming downtown transformer cabinets into such unexpected images as a bee hive, superheroes, and a giant cake.

The other artists painting cabinet murals this year include: Michael Allison, Chris Bates, Rolfe Bautista, Ren Burke, Lisa Cameron, Coleen Cosner, Nanci Erskine, Francisco Esteban, Diane Findley, Susannah Franklin, Mary Harnett, Carole Hossan, John Moore, Elizabeth Morisette, Frank Stanley, Gale Whitman, and Girl Scout Troop 2258. 

Due to different starting times, the artists are at various states of completion. Art lovers will be able to find artists scattered around downtown with their murals in every stage, from the beginning sketches, to painting the finishing touches, and at every point in between.

With an expanding number of painted cabinets, the end of this year’s transformer cabinet mural project will see a total of ninety unique artworks by local artists. For a downloadable map of current and past cabinet mural locations and for more information and images on current projects, please visit the APP Web site at www.fcgov.com/artspublic.

Make your resume shine
Stand out in the impersonal world of online job applications. Open computer labs will be available to help job seekers and professionals with resumes and job applications. A certified consultant will be on hand to help give you an extra edge with online applications. Computer space is limited; personal laptops encouraged.

Ben Delatour Room, Main Library, 201 Peterson St., FC, 1- 3pm. Saturdays, July 24, 31, Aug. 7, 14. 

Call 221-6380 for information. www.PoudreLibraries.org.

 
Trees are falling
Forest Service officials are warning visitors to watch out for falling trees. Beetle-killed trees that are already at risk of falling because of rotting roots may be even more likely to fall due to rain-saturated soils. Green trees may also fall much easier due to current wet conditions. Wind elevates the danger.
 
All forest users need to be aware of their surroundings and wind conditions in areas where trees have been killed by the beetles and in areas recently thinned to remove dead trees.

The following are guidelines to help you avoid risks.

- Be aware of your surroundings. Avoid dense patches of dead trees. They can fall without warning.

- If you are in the forest when the winds increase, head to a clearing out of reach of any potential falling trees.

- Park vehicles and put camps in areas where they will not be hit if a tree falls.

- Park close to a main road; if trees fall across the road you may be trapped.

- Bring an ax or chainsaw to remove fallen trees from roads in case you become trapped.

- Don’t rely only on cell phones for safety since there is no coverage in many areas of the National Forest.

To check the status of a campground, visit www.fs.fed.us/r2/recreation/camping/campgroundlist call the local Forest Service office for more information. Reservations for most campgrounds can be made on www.recreation.gov or by calling 1-877-444-6777. For general information about the mountain pine beetle epidemic go to www.fs.fed.us/r2/bark-beetle.

Housing authority units go smoke-free
The Fort Collins Housing Authority is in the final phases of implementing a new policy that prohibits smoking inside all Housing Authority units. The policy also prohibits smoking within 20 feet of any window, door or other entryway outside of any building.

The Housing Authority owns multiple properties with 714 units. The first of their units, which are reserved for the elderly or disabled, became smoke-free on Feb. 1, 2009. The remaining units will become smoke-free on July 1, 2010. In Colorado, 13 other Housing Authorities have set smoke-free policies.

The new policy was tenant driven and supported by the Housing Authority Board of Commissioners. Tenants were provided a copy of the policy, educational information about the dangers of secondhand smoke, and were notified at least a year before the change.

Persons who want to quit smoking can receive free coaching and nicotine replacement therapy through the Colorado QuitLine 1-800-Quit-Now, or 1-800-784-8669. Persons on Medicaid can receive expanded QuitLine services due to funding from the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

For more information call Tobacco Free Larimer County at 970-498-6883 or the Fort Collins Housing Authority at 970-416-2910.