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After four years of inviting people to cut down their own Christmas trees tiffany jewellery on open space, the city of Boulder has canceled its free holiday event because of budget cuts and because the forest location has been sufficiently thinned.

The city doesn’t have enough money this year to pay workers to guide nearly 1,000 tree-seekers through the wilderness atop Flagstaff Mountain, said Steve Mertz, a spokesman for Boulder’s Open Space and Mountain Parks Department. And even if the department did have the $4,000 it needs to continue the program, Mertz said, Flagstaff’s tree reserve is tapped out.

“Part of the reason we do this is for fire mitigation and to stop the spread of pine beetles,” he said. “But the area we have been working in for years is kind of out of trees.”

News of the cancellation disappointed some residents, who previously trekked with saws and rope up a twisted Flagstaff Road and — after finishing their work — stuck around for cookies, hot chocolate and caroling.

Durango Steele, who cut down a tree for the first time last year, said she would have loved to do so again.

“What we said after our experience last year is how amazing it is to walk out the key rings front door and be in the forest cutting a tree down and how grateful we felt to be living in Boulder,” she said. “It really added to the whole festive feeling of Christmas.”

Mertz said funding might be restored in the future, “but finding another spot is the tricky part.”

The funding issue rests largely with Boulder shoppers, who are spending less and thus leaving the open space department without essential sales tax revenue, Mertz said. In August — the most-recent month for which statistics are available — Boulder sales tax collections were down 7.5 percent, marking the 12th consecutive month of declining revenue for the city.

“We are 97 percent tax-based,” Mertz said. “So when that goes down, we take a larger hit than other government agencies.”

To host the tree-cutting in previous years, the department paid for seasonal workers from its outreach budget, which was cut 80 percent this year due to the sales-tax drop, Mertz said. Even though AmeriCorps volunteers helped out last year, Mertz said, the department had too few outreach employees to even start necklaces organizing the event.

“We didn’t even get to that point this year,” he said.

Melissa Fernandez Reed, of Boulder, said she and her husband have taken their 3-year-old son to get a Christmas tree from Flagstaff for two years now, and she had hoped to make it a family tradition.

She said she was just starting to think “the time is coming soon” to sign up for a tree, and her family would be willing to pay if it helps revive the event.

“That makes me so sad,” she said of the cancellation.

Still want to cut your own tree?

Other land-management agencies are still offering programs:

The U.S. Forest Service provides information about its Front Range Christmas Tree Tiffany Accessories Cutting at fs.fed.us/r2/recreation/christmas/.

Golden Gate Canyon State Park, near Golden, provides information about its Christmas tree permits at http://parks.state.co.us/Parks/goldengatecanyon.

Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced today that an 18-month-long joint investigation with the Nassau County Police Department has resulted in the dismantling of a Great Neck drug ring that distributed heroin, cocaine, and crack cocaine throughout the North Shore silver jewellery community.

Rice said the Nassau County Police Department began collecting intelligence in March 2008 that Akey Williams, 40, of Great Neck, was selling drugs out of his Summer Avenue home. Surveillance by police revealed a high level of activity outside of Williams’ home, as well as numerous hand-to-hand transactions between Williams and drug users.

Individuals arrested for drug possession immediately after being observed buying drugs from Williams identified Williams as selling quantities of heroin and cocaine in the Great Neck area.

In June 2009, a wiretap by the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office intercepted numerous calls wherein individuals ordered quantities of cocaine, marijuana, and heroin. Investigators were eventually able to identify Williams’ supplier as Michael Gates, 37, of Flushing, Queens.

Further surveillance revealed that Williams was trying to replenish his supply from Gates before Gates could catch a flight out of town from JFK International Airport on September 17. A September 16 purchase was made on behalf of Williams by his father, El Rahiem.

On September 17, Gates, Williams, Rahiem, and Williams’ nephew, Amar Williams, key rings were arrested. Search warrants executed at Gates’ apartment and car, and Akey Williams’ Great Neck home led to the recovery of 51 grams of cocaine, 32 grams of crack cocaine, 170 grams of heroin, two ounces of marijuana, $70,600 in cash from Gates’ apartment, and a loaded .380-caliber handgun.

Rahiem is believed to have driven his son to pick up drugs from Gates, while Amar Williams is believed to have delivered drugs to customers on behalf of his uncle.

Williams is charged with Attempted Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Second Degree, Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree, Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree, three counts of Attempted Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree, and Conspiracy in the Second Degree. Williams faces up to 14 years in prison if convicted. He is represented by Edward Dudley, Esq. and is due back in court October 23.

Gates is charged with Attempted Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the First Degree, three counts of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree, Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Second Degree, and Conspiracy in the Second Degree. He faces up to 24 years in prison if convicted. He is represented by David Louis Cohen, Esq. and is due back in court October 20.

Rahiem has been charged with three counts of Attempted Criminal Possession of a Controlled necklaces Substance in the Third Degree, Attempted Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Second Degree, and Conspiracy in the Second Degree. He faces up to 10 years in prison. He is represented by Dana Grossblatt, Esq. and is due back in court October 23.

Amar Williams has been charged with Conspiracy in the Second Degree. He faces up to three years in prison if convicted. He is represented by Karl Seman, Esq. and is due back in court October 20.

“I want to congratulate the men and women of the Nassau County Police Department and my office for their fine work in destroying an organization that made money off the misery of others,” Rice said. “We will not sit idly by while drug dealers and traffickers destroy our neighborhoods and endanger lives. We will continue to aggressively pursue and prosecute those who peddle drugs on our streets.”

Handling the case for the DA’s Office is Deputy Bureau Chief Kristen Fexas and ADAs Kathleen Tiffany Accessories Swenson and Irene Angelakis of the Street Narcotics and Gangs Bureau.

The charges are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.For more information please contact: Sarabjit Jagirdar, Email:- htsyndication@hindustantimes.com.