Welcome to the Canyon Echo on another oddly warm but beautiful spring day. My name is Jane Reuter, and here you’ll find a recap of this week’s news from around the foothills, plus some local stories you won’t find anywhere else!

This week, we focus on some of Evergreen’s best and brightest, including an extremely bright quartet of EHS STEM students, and future plans for two of the community’s most popular nonprofits: The Evergreen Animal Protective League and the Center for the Arts.

But newsworthy information isn’t always positive, and leaders in the Town of Morrison talked openly about their monetary challenges this week. It sounds like a long road ahead for a town that most people on the Front Range consider among our many treasures.

Whether it’s dancing at Ciderfest, chilling at the Rooftop, shopping at Sundance Sensations or eating ice cream from The Cow walk-up window, most of us have an idyllic memory or two in the little town east of the hogback.

An older gentleman from east Denver is among those. He was walking its main street Tuesday evening, and said he comes every week to eat dinner somewhere in Morrison and listen to jazz at the Holiday Bar. “I love this little town; it’s so cute,” he said.

This likely difficult chapter in Morrison’s already long life will unfold over time; we’ll be there to follow it and share how the town moves forward.

Why it matters: Morrison’s leaders had already approved a 2026 budget that would finally see some of its outdated infrastructure replaced, including leaking underground pipes and deteriorating roads, just two items on a long list of projects.

What’s happening: The town hired Hilltop Securities for advice and after hearing their report, those proposals and others are unlikely to happen anytime soon. The town may even do away with paying for its residents’ trash collection, a benefit the community has long enjoyed. The reasons are myriad and complex.

Why it matters: This 45-year-old nonprofit is dedicated to helping lost, abandoned, and suffering animals through rescue, shelter, and education. Its retail thrift store supports that mission and has outgrown more than one leased space over the decades.  

What’s happening: With help from the community and fellow Evergreen veterinarians, it purchased the former Family Veterinary Hospital, where it will move its thrift shop, offices and other functions. The all-volunteer organization relies on fosters to shelter its animals, and that tradition will continue. Look for the new EAPL Thrift Store to open late this summer.

What to know: The Evergreen Center for the Arts’ last strategic plan ended in 2020, right when the pandemic hit. Not only did it sail through those difficult years, it also built a large expansion.  Now it’s time to look to the future again.

Next step: As the CAE prepares to draft a new strategic plan, it wants to hear from residents throughout the region on what they’d like to see there.

In fall 2025, Jeffco promised its cuts would stay as far from students as possible. Find out what actually happened: Read the story here

A man’s been charged in a crash that left a Golden cyclist with a brain injury: Read the story here

Four Evergreen High School seniors joined forces in a contest that pitted their brains against those of Colorado School of Mines students. They placed third in the Biomass Challenge. “… they gave a Mines-quality presentation,” teacher Stephanie Seevers said. Read the story here

The Evergreen Sustainability Alliance and Evergreen Community Action Group are hosting a forum about climate and waste at 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 15 at Evergreen High School. This community discussion will include presentations by state and local representatives and experts, students, and informational booths hosted by a variety of local environmental and waste organizations. Registration for this free event is encouraged but not required. Please visit sustainevergreen.org for more information. 

EAPL’s Social Media Volunteer Kirstin Garcia writes the agency’s Facebook posts, and if you aren’t seduced by their looks, you might be by her words.

This, for instance, is Rue.

Garcia described him as an example of what happens “when the universe decides to go absolutely all out,” and with his mismatched eyes, said he was “basically a furry David Bowie.”

Rue, of course, found his forever home.

Congratulations to Garcia for using her words to save lives like these.

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