This week in Loveland history for Aug. 20-26, 2023 – Loveland Reporter-Herald

10 years ago

Former Loveland police officer Rod Bretches was sentenced to 16 months in jail followed by 15 years of probation and intensive therapy for possession of child pornography after he videotaped a woman in the shower without her consent. His sentence required he spend at least six months in county jail before he would be eligible for 10 months of work release. The judge noted that, as a former police officer, he could face harassment in jail, but that the circumstances called for more than just probation, adding that, The circumstances are, in my opinion, horrendous.

Three residents were vying for the position of Loveland mayor Cecil Gutierrez, seeking his third term, and challengers Alexi Grewal and Daryle Klassen. Also on the ticket for Loveland City Council were Irene Fortune and Troy Krenning, Ward 1; Carol Dowding and Joan Shaffer, Ward 2; Hugh McKean, Ward 3; and Dave Clark and David Hallet, Ward 4.

Sharon Olson, president of the Thompson School District Board of Education, announced that she had been diagnosed with cancer and planned to resign the board at the end of her term.

A 2-year-old black lab, named Rev, who lived in Windsor with his owner, Wes Reiff, became a YouTube sensation with a video of him howling along with Adeles Make You Feel My Love. The dog appeared to be singing in unison with the tunes rhythms and pitches. Reiff said he did not train the pup to sing, but that the dog began singing along with it after Reiff started singing the song, which was sentimental to him, to his canine friend. Reiff made a video of the dog to share with friends, one of whom posted it online, where it generated nearly 3.7 million hits.

The USA Pro Challenge cycling race sped through downtown Loveland as one stage of the race, billed as the Tour de France of the United States, went through Larimer County. The 117-mile sixth stage of a seven-stage race started at The Ranch, then headed through Windsor, looped to downtown Loveland, up the Big Thompson Canyon, into Estes Park and then to Fort Collins. Spectators lined up to watch.

A total of 35 Larimer County residents, including 14 Lovelanders, had confirmed cases of West Nile virus, a number that county health officials said they expected to climb in August. Of the total, eight cases were the most serious neuroinvasive form.

Former Loveland City Council member Willard Clark, 82, died, leaving a legacy through a decades-long career in the construction business as well as his tenure on the council. Clark moved to Loveland in 1963 and built the company, Clark Construction, gaining a reputation for hard work, honesty and integrity. His projects included local schools and an addition onto the Loveland Museum. Clark was named the first chairman for the Loveland Building Advisory Board in the 1970s and served on City Council from 1980-1984. His son, Dave Clark, who was serving on City Council at the time of his dads death, spoke of how his father was always involved in the community. He was a big reason I got involved, Dave Clark said. I saw him work on it and saw how invested and interested he was in the city.

The Loveland City Council decided to ask voters to approve two separate sales taxes 20 cents on every $100 for a new public safety building and 10 cents on every $100 for a youth athletic complex rather than lumping the two into one ballot question. I spoke to a lot of people who want the items to be separate, said Nita Starr, a council member. People said they would vote no if there was a single question, even though each item was a good idea.

Merix announced that it planned to close its Loveland plant and permanently lay off all 370 employees on Oct. 17. Production handled by the Loveland plant, which was housed on the Hewlett-Packard campus, was to be moved to the companys headquarters in Oregon. Merix had previously bought HPs printed circuit board division.

Teledyne Water Pik announced it would be cutting 25 jobs from its Loveland and Fort Collins workforces to make the business more efficient. The jobs were primarily from accounting, marketing, sales and administration.

The Loveland City Council decided not to reappoint the man who had served for 25 years as Lovelands municipal court judge. The council made the decision after a closed session but was not going to vote on the measure until December; the city announced the vote of no confidence in a press release that alluded to difference of philosophy between the council and the judge.

High school students within the Thompson School District scored higher than the previous year on the ACT test, and also beat the state and national averages in scores. The districts average score was 22.4 compared to 21.5 statewide and 21 nationally.

The Thompson Valley Rotarys team won the annual Corn Shucking Contest by filling 15 bags with 24 clean ears each during the kickoff to the Corn Roast Festival. And Ross Vogt chomped seven ears of corn in four minutes to place first in the corn eating contest later during the festival.

Loveland police blocked the intersection of Fourth Street and Lincoln Avenue for about two hours after a merchant called the Loveland Fire Department to report that someone had abandoned a small suitcase in front of a downtown store. Bomb experts carefully removed the case and remotely opened it. The mysterious, blue, hard-sided case turned out to be empty, leading officials to deem the scare unfounded but to wonder how it turned up downtown.

The Larimer County clerk determined that a citizens group had collected enough valid signatures to place a sales tax on the ballot, asking voters for the money to buy more than 200 acres in east Loveland to be future site of a new Larimer County fairgrounds. The group needed 8,119 valid signatures, and after the verification process, the clerk deemed that 8,128 of the 10,606 collected were valid.

The Loveland City Council decided to set up a committee to study what type of centennial celebration should be held in Loveland in 1976 during the nations bicentennial birthday. Officials noted that the nations 200th birthday also marked the centennial of the state and 99 years of Loveland. Planners were looking to wrap all three into a single celebration.

District Attorney Stu VanMeveren was investigating a report of a kidnapping at U.S. 34 and Interstate 25. A 20-year-old man reported to the Larimer County Sheriffs Office that he and an 18-year-old woman were walking when a car stopped to give them a ride. He said they both ran to the car, but she reached it first, and once she was in the car, the driver locked the door and drove away, leaving the man along the side of the road.

Deputies patrolling around Loveland were doing their job with the help of the Sheriffs Offices first ever trained patrol dogs. The agency had three dogs on patrol with one on duty each shift, trained in searching for suspects as well as to capture and hold suspects. The dogs were privately owned by three deputies and handled at no cost to the county. The dogs were a Doberman pinscher named Punks and two German shepherds named Mike and Brute.

A Loveland pilot lost power as his single-engine craft was approaching the Loveland airport and landed on a county road. The wing sheared electrical wiring and rammed into a utility pole, knocking out electrical service in a 25-mile area between Windsor and Greeley.

The Thompson School District determined that two of the three students involved in a May bomb hoax at Berthoud High School would be placed on home bound status for nine weeks, while the third was allowed on school grounds only during the school day during that same time. The decision came after a the parents requested a hearing, which was held before the school board in closed session. They argued that the six-month probation their students received from the juvenile court was enough punishment, but the junior high school principal thought more additional school action was required. Home bound meant that the students would be restricted to their homes for educational purposes with a visiting teacher offering instruction to each for one hour each day.

About 4,500 people attended the Fourth Annual Loveland Jaycee Air Show, which officials deemed a great success. Spectators watched air shows that featured flying routines and aerobatics, and about 67 different aircraft arrived for a Fly-In Breakfast at the airport.

The U.S. Forest Service was dropping its user fees for 33 campgrounds in the Roosevelt National Forest and 51 campgrounds in the Arapahoe National Forest after a law signed by President Richard Nixon outlined what facilities had to be present in order for the national agency to charge a fee. Forest Service officials said the change would mean a considerable drop in revenue, up to $1,800 weekly for the Arapahoe and Roosevelt National Forests, money that would have been used for maintenance. Local officials said they would hope to have a substantial increase in federal support to offset the difference.

Former Loveland Police Officer Ron Metz and business partner Manard Criswell were thriving with a new business offering a unique service security patrol for both residents and businesses. The security team would check windows and doors as part of a nighttime patrol, and the business also offered the service of watching for shoplifters during business hours.

Now Comes the Great Corn Roasting read the headline on a story in the Aug. 20, 1903, Loveland Reporter about the sixth annual free corn roast in Loveland, which said arrangements have been made to turn out the largest and best affair of the kind ever produced here. Special rates were being run on the Colorado and Southern trains. No better opportunity has ever been given for seeing Loveland than this gala day will present and it is understood that excursion tickets will be good for use on the day following the performance. Every visitor is to receive a souvenir badge of the day and it is to be hoped that both business houses and residences will be decorated. Any color will do altho yellow will be the badge color the yellow signifying the corn crop.

The first annual encampment of the soldiers and sailors of Northern Colorado will be held on the Big Thompson River twelve miles west of Loveland (on the new Estes Park road) on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, August 27, 28, 29, 1903, in the Aug. 20, 1903, Loveland Reporter said. An invitation was issued to all veterans of the Civil War and the Spanish-American War.

A box of English Morello cherries, grown on the Buena Vista Fruit Farm west of Loveland, owned by C.E. Rist, were on display in the window of the Loveland Reporter office, the Aug. 20, 1903, newspaper said, adding: The scores who have seen this lot of cherries pronounce them the finest ever grown here.

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This week in Loveland history for Aug. 20-26, 2023 - Loveland Reporter-Herald