Happy Friday, and happy almost-Fourth. One big thing changed this week, and it matters if you had any fireworks plans. The county went to a full Stage 2 fire ban, which means personal fireworks are off the table this weekend, even the legal kind. It's been that dry. So this is a different Fourth than a lot of us grew up on, and the smart play is to let the pros handle the booms and keep the sparklers in the box. Full rundown below, plus where the big shows might still go up, a housing market that's finally giving buyers a little room, and a hot, hazy weekend to plan around. Here goes.

Turns out one of our TrailMark neighbors has been quietly building entire worlds. Ron Lamberson writes novels, and not just one flavor of them. His Kilimanjaro Club series (A Grave Invitation, The Poachers of Immortality) is globe-trotting adventure-mystery, while Heavy Metal Moon swings all the way out to sci-fi. The man holds a creative-writing degree and an MBA, has set foot in over 40 countries and all seven continents, and somehow still finds the time to write from right here in 80127.

Looking for something a little louder for the long weekend? Start with Heavy Metal Moon, where the only human rock guitarist in his star system drafts a band of aliens to win an intergalactic battle of the bands, and maybe topple a tyrant along the way. Ron pitches it as Guardians of the Galaxy meets Saving Private Ryan, with a far less talented cast. The sequel, Wormhole to Hell, is due out around September, so there's more coming if it grabs you.

Find all of Ron's books on his Amazon author page.

The Fourth just got a hard rule out here: no personal fireworks, anywhere. This week the Jefferson County Sheriff moved the whole unincorporated county to a Stage 2 fire ban, the strictest level there is. Stage 2 bans all fireworks outright, the ground-based "permissible" kind included, along with open fires and outdoor smoking. The county commissioners had already banned the sale and use a few days before, so even the roadside tents can't legally sell you the aerials this year. Stack that on Littleton's own rule, where personal fireworks have always been illegal inside city limits, sparklers and all, and the picture's simple: if you live in 80127, there's no legal way to set off your own fireworks this weekend. A gas grill is still fine. But if a neighbor's backyard turns into a launch pad, the number is Jeffco's fireworks reporting line, 303-980-7340. It's bone dry out there, and with the heat this weekend and the grass this crisp, one stray spark is all it takes. So please just don't. The pro shows below have you covered.

And a quiet stretch at council. The July 7 meeting and the July 14 study session both got cancelled, so there's no city business to report. The night still worth circling is July 21, when the sewer rate study and the TrailMark rezoning hearing are both expected to come up. The agenda isn't posted yet, and I'll have the details the second it is.

The big free one, if the fireworks hold. Red, White and You takes over Clement Park tonight, Friday, July 3, with gates at 5. The Williams Brothers Band plays the amphitheater at 7, there's a kids' zone and a beer and wine garden, and fireworks are planned for 9:30. That last part comes with an asterisk this year. The show sits in unincorporated Jeffco, so the fireworks are fire-ban-dependent right up to showtime, the Sheriff's call. As of this writing it's still a go, but check ifoothills.org or their social before you load up the car. Even if the fireworks get scrubbed, it's a big free night with music and food, and no personal fireworks in the crowd means no bottle rockets whizzing past your cooler.

Want a paid seat with a theme? Hudson Gardens runs Red, White and Rock that same night, gates at 5, an 80s and 90s cover-band lineup with food trucks and its own fireworks finale, tickets run 15 to 50 dollars. Same fireworks caveat applies, so check hudsongardens.org before you head over.

A daytime one for Ken-Caryl Ranch folks. The Ranch's Fourth of July Bash runs Saturday, July 4, from 10 to 5 at the community pools, with a DJ, bounce houses, food trucks, and the annual cardboard boat race. It's for Ranch residents only, but if that's you, it's a good low-key way to spend the actual holiday.

A heads-up on the wider map. A lot of the metro's shows got pulled this week as the counties tightened up. Highlands Ranch, Golden, and Lakewood all swapped fireworks for concerts or drone shows, and several Douglas County towns cancelled outright. If you're set on a traditional show, Englewood still has one on the Fourth, around 9:15. But they're harder to find this year, Arvada just postponed its Fourth of July fireworks over the fire danger, which makes the Clement Park show, if it holds, the closest bet around.

One correction from last week. I pointed you at the Hornbuckle Foundation's community carnival for last Saturday, and the wind got it. They couldn't safely set up the inflatables and had to postpone, and they haven't announced a new date yet. The second they do, I'll pass it along right here.

The standing ones. The Downtown Littleton Farmers Market runs Saturday 8 to 1 on Nevada Street, and yes, it's open on the Fourth. The Pokémon GO crew has a Sobble Community Day set for the Fourth too, 2 to 4 p.m., starting at Bega Park. And the free summer concert series, both the Museum lawn shows and the Clement Park amphitheater nights, picks back up July 8 and 9 after taking the holiday week off.

A new hot pot spot, and a big one on the way. Some real news on the food front this week. Hotpot Den has opened on South Kipling near Bowles, in the old Chen's Kitchen space, and it's exactly what that stretch was missing: family-run, all-you-can-eat hot pot, with broths made from scratch every day and a table full of meats, seafood, and vegetables you cook right in front of you. Bring a group and an empty stomach.

And keep an eye on the corner of Bowles and C-470, because Turnbuckle Distilling is building something ambitious there. The crew behind Westminster's Whistling Hare is putting up a five-acre spread with a distillery, a chef-driven restaurant with wood-fired pizza, a tasting room tucked inside a silo, and a little working farm to grow its own ingredients. Construction's underway now, with a spring or summer opening planned. It'll be hard to miss on your way up to the hills.

Still keeping an eye on Ziggi's Coffee over on Sangre de Cristo and the Los Dos Potrillos rebuild, too. No open dates on either one yet.

Trails are open, but the same dryness that killed the fireworks is the real story out here too. One spark and it goes, so the Stage 2 ban covers the open space too, no camp stove, no cigarette, nothing with a flame. On closures: at Deer Creek Canyon, the Upper Plymouth Creek trail work only shuts things down Monday through Thursday, so it's open all weekend. Apex Park, closed last week for one cranky bear, is back open. Black Bear Trail in Deer Creek stays closed through July 31 for nesting raptors, dogs are still a no at Waterton on account of the bighorns, and the rattlesnakes are out sunning on the warm rock. With the weekend running hot and hazy, hike early, carry more water than you think you need, and get back down before the afternoon really bakes.

Missed the June deal? It's back for July. Event and Airport Transportation extended its $80 flat-rate Sprinter transfers into July, between any two Littleton addresses, up to 11 passengers. Handy for a summer night out, a group dinner, or a Fourth of July plan where nobody draws the short straw on driving. Reserve at least an hour ahead at limolimo.limo. Local and licensed, Colorado PUC LL-03624.

The city's closed for the holiday, Friday and Saturday both. Littleton city offices, the Municipal Court, Bemis Library, and the Littleton Museum are all closed Friday, July 3, and Saturday, July 4, for Independence Day. So if you had a library run or a museum stop in mind this weekend, save it for next week. Trash pickup varies by hauler around here, so if your normal day lands on the holiday, check with yours on whether it slides a day.

The market's finally handing buyers a little room. Prices around 80127 haven't fallen off, the median's still right around 709,000 and homes still sell at basically full asking, but underneath that the balance is shifting. A year ago, almost 35 percent of homes here sold for over their asking price. Now it's 29, down more than five points, and a full third of current listings are taking at least one price cut before they sell. Homes are sitting about 18 days on the market, five days longer than last summer. So sellers still have the edge, but it's a gentler market than last year, the kind where a patient buyer can take a breath before writing an offer. The spread from the last two weeks tells the story: a one-bedroom Ken Caryl condo with a garage closed at 270,000, a Dancing Willows house went for 800,000, and up in the Valley, a six-thousand-square-foot place on Porcupine Lane sold for 1.9 million. Whatever rung you're shopping, somebody just bought on it.

Hot, dry, and a little hazy. Friday tops out near 90 with smoke hanging around until early afternoon before the clouds build in behind it. The Fourth itself is actually the mild one, 88 under increasing clouds with maybe a 20 percent shot at an afternoon storm, and Sunday climbs back to 91 with a 30 percent chance of afternoon thunder. There's no real rain in the forecast to take the edge off the dryness, so pace yourself and keep the water bottle close. One thing worth flagging with all that smoke: the state has an Action Day posted for ozone and fine particulates through at least 4 p.m. Friday, so if your lungs run sensitive, go easy on the midday exertion.

A fireworks-free Fourth feels a little strange, I'll admit it. But there's something to a holiday where the loudest thing on the block is a backyard barbecue and the kids running around the cul-de-sac until dark. If you've got a spot you love for whichever show still lights up, or a Fourth-of-July tradition that's got nothing to do with fireworks at all, hit reply and tell me. I read every one, and the good ones tend to land right here, no name attached unless you want it.

That's the week from the foothills. Keep it legal, watch the dry grass, and enjoy the long weekend.

Joey

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