Five unforgettable ways to spend $500 in 2015

Whether the money comes via a Christmas bonus, a tax refund, a gift or just an extra paycheck from one of those wonderful five-Friday months (such as January 2015), the idea of spending a small windfall can lead to paralyzing indecision. Especially when you’ve been completely focused on other people’s gifts.

Jamie Van Leeuwen helps with policy change in Colorado and Africa

“It was somewhere in Africa, the one time I didn’t go with him, and he calls me in the middle of the night to say he’s on a bus in the middle of an infectious-disease zone, and the bus just slid off the road,” said Birch, executive director of Colorado’s health care policy and financing department.

Coohills takes a sabbatical, hires mixologist Noah Heaney, gears up for Beats on the Creek

"The patio has been going gangbusters, and we wanted to add more soft seating so guests could just relax, and we go through a ton of herbs at the restaurant, so it made sense for us to grow our own, plus it makes it smell incredibly good out here," says Coohill.