Like most of the 13 Evergreen High School athletes honored during the Feb. 5 National Signing Day event, Addison McEvers demonstrated an aptitude for sports early in life.
“At 2 years old, we put a ball in her hand and recognized she had an ability unlike most other kids,” said her father, Jon McEvers.
Addison McEvers has since proven that ability many times over. e EHS senior, who will attend North Carolina’s High Point University on a lacrosse scholarship, will letter in nine EHS sports this year, including softball, football, and basketball. She plans to earn a master’s in physical therapy.
“I’m very excited to play lacrosse and do what I love,” she said. “I always just strive to do something new and help grow
EHS celebrates 13 athletes during National Signing Day event
sports for women.”
Addison McEvers is one of four EHS female and one male athletes who will attend college on lacrosse scholarships in the fall. ose honored on National Signing Day also include students with scholarships for diving, pole vaulting, golf and mountain biking.
“About every other year, we have a really special class,” EHS athletic director Maddy Hornecker said. “ is group rep-
resents a big variety of sports, and they’re all very involved in something else. A lot of them have academic awards and equal accolades in other sports.”
Carson Harrington started his athletic track as a gymnast, but at 13, began having back pain. At a friend’s suggestion, he tried diving as an alternative.
“It just worked,” said Harrington, a two-time state diving
Four female EHS athletes will attend college next fall on lacrosse scholarships. They include, from left, Ashley Cortez, Alivia Hunsche, Addison McEvers and Neva Mertsching. PHOTOS BY JANE REUTER
From left, RJ Harrington, Charise Elser, Carson Harrington and Kyle Harrington celebrate with Carson at EHS’ National Signing Day.
Parents, family and other loved ones move in to congratulate their athletes as the school’s National Signing Day ceremony ends.
Dog trails and tails: Harper finds a home after shelter shuts down
BY JANE REUTER JREUTER@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Harper, the last dog left when the Intermountain Humane Society shut down late last year, has found her forever family.
Centennial resident Stephanie Segal, who lives with her three children in a house with a yard, brought Harper into their home on Jan. 26.
“Oh my God, we love her,” she said. “Harper has a lot of personality. She loves to snuggle. She loves to play. She gets the zoomies outside; she’ll run laps and jump.”
Segal’s children are 15, 19 and 21 — old enough to help reinforce Harper’s training and give her plenty of a ection.
“If they were younger, she might not have been a good t for us, but we can give her the love and structure it sounds like she needed,” Segal said.
IMHS closed Dec. 21, 2024 so the shelter’s owners, Conifer’s nonpro t Planned Pethood, can sell the land and pay for construction of a new shelterat the clinic’s Conifer site.
Harper came to IMHS in February 2023, a transfer from a Kansas shelter with an uncertain history and some obvious trauma, Knudsen said. While the shelter traditionally keeps animals for extended periods, the closing meant itran out of time with Harper. To help her nd a home, the sta spearheaded a fundraising campaign, raising more than $6,000 for training to address her behavioral issues.
IMHS sta member Kat Knudsen said the sta and volunteers are delighted for
Harper.
“I love to see her looking so happy,” she said. “I don’t think we could’ve asked for a better outcome.”
IMHS had arranged with the Max Fund to take Harper if no one adopted her. e no-kill facility welcomes and shelters pets of all kinds, including those with critical needs. While Knudsen was grateful for that option, it was far from ideal.
“After so much time in our shelter, I could tell it wasn’t doing her any favors, so going back into a shelter environment wouldn’t have been a great situation,” she said.
e Segals, meanwhile, needed a dog to ll a void in their home.
“We lost our family dog in September,” Segal said. “We’d gone through our grieving period and started looking for dogs at shelters and rescue.”
A friend forwarded her the article about Harper. For Segal, it was love at rst sight.
“ e photos get you rst; she has those puppy eyes and she’s just adorable,” she said. “When I read her story, I immediately sent in an application.”
Segal and her daughter rst met Harper at dog trainer Max Alpert’s Arvada home.
“She was pretty comfortable with us right away,” Segal said. “She’s a little timid at rst, but she was playing with us after about half an hour.”
e family has continued working with Segal to ensure her new training sticks. So far, it’s been smooth sailing.
“She is just the sweetest,” Segal said. “ is is a happy story. It’s good to have some happy stories right now.”
MindFest returns to Conifer Feb. 22
BY JANE REUTER JREUTER@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
e Rotary Club of Conifer’s MindFest returns Feb. 22 with new highlights including yoga, a role-playing workshop, dance movement therapy and more events focused on children. Most of the exhibitors and speakers are new to the event this year.
e free, family-focused event is designed to bring awareness to mental health, help break down stigmas and share resources. Last year’s event drew about 500 people over four hours. “ e turnout last year showed us that people want to learn about how to stay mentally healthy, who’s around to help
and what to do in a crisis,” said Yvonne Lipson, MindFest co-chair. “And our surveys afterward showed people wanted more things for children, and wanted information about burnout and dementia.
So this year, we really concentrated our efforts in these areas.”
In addition to dementia and burnout, speakers on tap this year will talk about suicide prevention, nutrition and early signs of mental health disorders. e nonpro t Rocky Mountain Compassionate Communication Network will lead a role-playing workshop designed to teach participants how to respond to others’ emotions and recognize underlying causes.
“People get angry for a lot of reasons,
and it might not be because they’re angry,” Lipson said. “Are they scared? Sad? If we just step back, we can take a breath and think what does this person need? ey are experts in this, and I’m so excited they’re going to be o ering this workshop.”
Arvada-based dance movement therapist Tricia Mettler will o er a class during MindFest as well, demonstrating how movement can help improve mental health.
Yoga and mindful breathing sessions are also on tap.
e Rotary Club of Conifer also received a grant from the Rotary Club of Evergreen through which it purchased a kit designed to improve the emotional intelligence of children 4-11. Parents and children will
be able to demo the kit, and learn how to purchase them.
Lipson hopes the four-hour event can make a di erence for foothills residents seeking information or help.
“One of the reasons I think things like MindFest are important is that the mental health landscape in our country isn’t going to change from the top down,” she said. “It has to start in our communities. I may not be able to help anybody in California or Oregon. But I can help someone in Conifer.”
MindFest is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Our Lade of the Pines Catholic Church, 9444 Eagle Cli Road, in Conifer.
For more information, visit rotaryconifer.org.
Colorado tied for most educated state
BY JASON GONZALES CHALKBEAT
Colorado residents are still the most educated in the nation, but Massachusetts now shares the top spot, according to a report released in January. is year’s Stronger Nation Report found that 63% of Colorado residents age 25 and older had an educational credential beyond a high school diploma in 2023, matching Massachusetts. at’s above the national average of 54.9% of residents who have earned college degrees or certi cates or an industry certi cation.
e gure is mostly unchanged from 2022, when about 62.9% of Colorado’s residents held a college credential. However, the percentage of Native American Colorado residents with college degrees or credentials has fallen, a troubling sign after years of steady increases.
e annual report from the Lumina Foundation aims for a national goal of 60% college attainment. (Lumina is a funder of Chalkbeat.)
Having an education beyond a high school diploma matters because it is crucial for state economic growth and individual nancial success, as high-wage
jobs typically require a college credential.
Disparities persist
Colorado has long been among the most educated states, but racial disparities persist. While most racial group data remained steady, Native American college attainment fell for the second consecutive year.
About 30.5% of Native American residents in 2023 held a college credential — a 3.2% decline from 2022. e drop stems from fewer college graduates aged 25-34.
Only 22.3% of Native American residents in that age category have education be-
yond high school, now the lowest of any racial group in Colorado. Hispanic residents had for years been the least likely to have a college education, but steady gains have changed that. Now, 30.6% hold a postsecondary credential.
Meanwhile, 41.7% of Black, 63.1% of white, and 66.1% of Asian American residents have a credential or higher.
Reprinted with permission from Chalkbeat, a nonpro t news site covering educational change in public schools. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters.
Harper’s new owner Stephanie Segal took a photo with her on her adoption day, Jan. 26.
PHOTO COURTESY OF STEPHANIE SEGAL
Colorado Environmental Film Festival Returns to Golden on February 21-23
There’s excitement building about the possibility of the Sundance Film Festival coming to Boulder, but we already have a nationally renowned environmental film festival that takes place every February right here in Golden.
The Colorado Environmental Film Festival (CEFF) is a juried film festival that lives up to its name, bringing all kinds of film — long-form, shorts, children’s films, and animated films — for a weekend run that includes awards, filmmaker Q&As, and more.
I recommend the All Access pass for $99, because it not only includes entry to all screenings but also includes streaming access for most of the films for seven days after the festival. Buy it at https://ceff.net/tickets. There are three screening rooms at the Green Center on the Colorado School of Mines campus, so that’s the only way to see your favorite films which might be scheduled simultaneously. Go to https://ceff2025.eventive.org/films for a complete list of the films.
Denver which manufactured the plutonium triggers for thousands of nuclear weapons.
As an aside, one of our broker associates, Kathy Jonke, was an environmental geophysicist for the contractor working onsite at Rocky Flats during the cleanup. She recommended this film before I saw it was on CEFF’s schedule. Ask her sometime about her work.
are family-friendly and free. Bring the kids!
Opening night is Friday the 21st at 7:00 in the Green Center’s auditorium, featuring an 86-minute feature film, “Bring Them Home” about a small group of Blackfoot people who established the first wild buffalo herd on their ancestral lands. It is followed by a discussion with Executive Producer Melissa Grumhaus.
My choice of screenings at 10 a.m. on Saturday is the one which includes “Our Movement Starts Here,” a documentary about the fight against a toxic landfill in North Carolina.
At Sunday's 12:15 p.m. Lunch & Learn session, hear from members of the Denver Electric Vehicle Council and get the inside scoop on a variety of electric vehicles. Talk to the owners about their real life experiences driving an EV in Colorado and check out several models in the Electric Vehicle Roundup outside the Green Center from 9:15 to 3:30.
For the 1 p.m. screenings on Sunday, I have chosen the set which has five films focusing on sustainable home construction. This includes the “Heart of a Building” PBS program about John Avenson’s net-zero home in Westminster which was aired in January on Channels 6 and 12.
The closing set of screenings starting at 3:30 on Sunday includes the “Half-Life of Memory” mentioned above, plus two other films: one about lead poisoning of birds and
Attendees will have plenty to choose from at this year’s CEFF, including 9 films with ties to Colorado, 60+ feature-length and short films from 17 countries, and ten world premiere screenings. The weekend also promises thoughtful discussions with filmmakers, panels, and a vibrant Eco-Expo in which to connect with environmentally conscious brands and organizations.
Golden Real Estate has been a sponsor of CEFF for most of its 16 years, so you’ll see our ad in the program inviting you to visit our nearby office in downtown Golden. We’ll also have a booth at the Eco-Expo in the lobby of the Green Center where we’ll have an up-to-the-minute display of all the active solar powered homes in the Denver MLS. We’d be happy to take you to see any of them!
It makes sense that we’re the only real estate brokerage sponsoring CEFF, because we are experts in all aspects of “green” building, and half of us drive electric cars. We have also become experts in “hardening” homes to resist wildfires, so please ask us questions or read some of my previous columns on those topics at www.JimSmithColumns.com
CEFF groups films by several categories, including Activism & Environmental Justice; Adventure; Consumption & Waste; Energy & Climate Chaos & Fossil Fuels; Health & Food; Land Use & Conservation; Wildlife; and Water, Rivers & Oceans
Among the films at this year’s festival, I’m personally looking forward to a few particular films. First on that list is “Half-Life of Memory: America’s Forgotten Atomic Bomb Factory,” a 55minute documentary about the sloppy operation and incomplete cleanup of Rocky Flats, the government’s plant between Boulder and
My choice of screenings at 1 p.m. is the one with three films about forests in Canada, Tasmania and on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula.
Saturday’s 3:30 p.m. screening of four different films includes “Way the Wind Blows,” a short documentary about one family’s journey of recovery from the 2022 Marshall Fire in Boulder County, which destroyed 1,000 homes. That set also includes two interesting films about glaciers.
Between the 3:30 screenings and the 7:15 screenings on Saturday will be an “Evening Soiree,” a party with drinks and plant-based foods. Tickets for either of those screenings (or the All Access pass) includes an invitation to this party. This is when the awards for the best films will be presented in the Green Auditorium, along with the world premiere screening of “The Snake and the Whale,” a 90-minute investigative documentary that uncovers antiquated dams on the Lower Snake River that are driving the extinction of fish and killer whales.
I’m going to attend the 7:15 set of three films, one of which is “Responsible,” about the interplay of capitalism and environmentalism. The subtitle of the film is “There Is No Business to Be Done on a Broken Planet.”
On Sunday morning, I have chosen the screenings which include an animated short about invasive fauna and flora in Hawaii, a bird oasis on an abandoned golf course, overgrazing versus regenerative grazing in Nevada, a Tibetan nomad with a camera, and a threatened wetland between the banks of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. Both of the Sunday morning film screenings
animals who feed on the carcasses of animals killed with bullets containing lead; plus one about the large amount of water consumed in the manufacture of computer ships.
A big part of CEFF’s mission is to educate, with a yearly focus on young filmmakers and films aimed at school age children from grade 4 through high school. These programs are always free, too. So, starting at 10 a.m. on Friday the 21st, prior to the festival’s opening, there is a “CEFF 4 Classrooms Field Trip” in the Bunker auditorium at the Green Center. It is for schools, youth organizations, home schools and more, designed to share a variety of youth-friendly environmental films. In addition to showing nine short films, two of them by young filmmakers, it includes a Q&A session with filmmakers and other field experts related to the film topics. Register at info@ceff.net,
ADU Law Enables Homeowners to Invest on Their Own Lot
Beginning in July, homeowners in Colorado will be able to create an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) within their home (preferably a walk-out basement), over their detached garage, or by building a tiny home or casita in their backyard.
The enabling law was HB24-1152. Until this law was passed, local zoning regulations made it difficult to get approval to build an ADU; but now local governments can not block ADU development using zoning regulations, although other local laws, such as building codes, still apply.
Many homes, such as single-story homes with no basement on a small lot with no detached garage, will not be able to take advantage of this law, but many others can, and that’s the purpose of the law — namely, to increase the housing supply through increased density. Before this new law, there wasn’t much that Colorado homeowners could do to increase the housing supply. Now they can, and increase their wealth in the process.
In September Colorado Biz had an article that described how the law works: “ADUs add housing units with minimal impacts to infrastructure and with increased compact infill development. They provide intergenerational living options and enable child or eldercare and aging in place. Because they’re small, ADU rents are typically low.”
The financial information for a specific ADU varies greatly, dependent on the particular ADU and site costs. That makes the numbers used in the article only rough estimates. The cost of an ADU is dependent on choices made by the homeowner who is installing the unit. It can be very expensive, but there are ways to keep it reasonable. Regardless, the article is a helpful summary.
One of the many reasons cited for expanding the use of ADUs is to increase the availability of affordable housing, although this rationale has been questioned. There are many things that can make ADUs costeffective, thus increasing affordability (both for purchase and rent).
Two of the factors that contribute to affordability are the size of the units and the cost of the land. ADUs are small but not uncomfortably small, and day-to-day life is unchanged. They tap into a trend of smaller living spaces.
For a homeowner considering putting in an ADU, it’s one real estate investment that includes no cost for land. ADUs use space that is, at best, underutilized, and already owned. This is a big plus where the value of land is high.
As part of the new law, the legislature appropriated money and tasked the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA) to develop programs to enable homeowners with moderate means to afford construction of an ADU. The idea is to jump-start ADU finance in the private sector.
Finally, units assembled off-site (referred to as manufactured, modular, or prefab) can reduce cost significantly, and have other advantages such as shorter lead times, far less on-site construction, environmental benefits, etc. A Colorado company that specializes in manufactured detached ADUs is Verdant Living (www.verdantliving.us). The owner of that company, John Phillips, is happy to discuss ADU options with you. Because of the huge variety of situations where ADUs are possible, he tries to recommend options that might work, often not involving his company. He can be reached at 303-717-1962 (voice or text).
His is a Denver business. Another player in the field of manufactured housing on the national level is Boxabl (www.boxabl.com), which specializes in factory-made homes that literally unfold after being delivered on a standard width flatbed trailer. Its “Casita” is a 361-square-foot modular home, offering a stylish, efficient living space with a kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom. It’s delivered with all-electric appliances (including laundry) and 100-amp electric service. It is currently priced at $60,000. It must be installed on a foundation prepared with electrical and plumbing hookups. It is built to meet building codes.
Recently, the company introduced the “Baby Box,” a 120-square-foot living space built to RV standards. Easy setup, no special equipment or foundation needed. The MSRP of Baby Box is $30,000 with introductory pricing of $19,999. It comes, like a mobile home, on a frame with permanent wheels. It too has a bathroom and kitchen, but with water tank and waste tank like any RV. It is intended for delivery to mobile home parks.
Child care enrollment freeze leaves families in the cold
BY SUZIE GLASSMAN SGLASSMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
For thousands of working parents in Colorado, child care is more than a service — it’s the key to economic stability. But as counties across the state freeze new enrollments in the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program due to funding shortages, families who rely on this crucial support are left in limbo.
“We need an additional $70 million just to maintain where we are at with CCCAP,” said Heather Tritten, president and CEO of Colorado Children’s Campaign. “And right now, CCCAP only serves 10% of the families that qualify.”
Across the state, counties including Denver, Arapahoe, Douglas, Jefferson, Larimer and Weld have paused new CCCAP enrollments, citing a budget shortfall fueled by rising program costs and the end of federal pandemic relief funds.
“We knew this cliff was coming,” Tritten said. “The pandemic relief funding allowed many child care providers to stay open and helped families afford care, but without sustainable investment, we’re now seeing the consequences.”
Why is CCCAP enrollment frozen?
CCCAP subsidizes child care costs for low-income families, allowing parents to work or attend school while their children receive licensed care. However, a combination of expired federal funding, increased provider wages mandated by the federal government and growing program costs has left counties unable
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to support new families.
In 2023-24, nearly 25,000 children benefited from CCCAP, according to data provided by the Colorado Children’s Campaign. But with funding stretched thin, many counties have shut the door on new applicants.
“To put it simply, the cost of providing care for each child is going up, but our funding has not increased to go along with that,” said Tara Noble, Jefferson County Human Services program manager.
The freeze is devastating for families already struggling with the high cost of care, explained Paula Smith, chief impact officer with Clayton Early Learning in Denver.
In 2023, the average cost of child care in Colorado was $12,750 per year for infants and toddlers, according to Child Care Aware of America.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends that families spend no more than 7% of their income on child care. Yet in Colorado, a family earning the median household income of $133,443 would need to spend 30.2% of their earnings to care for two children. The financial strain on single-parent households is even greater.
Families trapped in the cycle of poverty
“Making child care affordable to families directly impacts their ability to work and earn a living, Smith said. “Without a support system like CCCAP, we risk eroding the economic foundation for the entire state, weakening the workforce and stalling future growth.
“When families don’t have affordable child care, they can’t work,” she continued. “And when they can’t work, they become more reliant on government assistance just to survive.”
This disruption has a generational impact as well. Research from University of Chicago economics professor James Heckman shows that children in highquality early learning programs are likelier to succeed in school and have higher lifetime earnings.
“Child care isn’t just about parents. It’s also about giving kids the early learning foundation they need,” Smith said. “When kids lose access to care, we’re widening the achievement gap before they even reach kindergarten.”
According to data from the Colorado Information Marketplace, the state already faces a shortage of licensed child care slots, with only enough capacity to serve 65% of children under five whose parents are working. With CCCAP enrollment paused, even fewer families will have access to affordable care.
“If you’re an employer and your workers don’t have child care, they can’t come to work,” Smith said. “This isn’t just a family issue. It’s an economic issue.”
Is there a solution?
“We need a long-term funding solution,” Smith emphasized. “The state has recognized the importance of early childhood education, but we can’t make progress if families can’t even access care.”
Tritten echoed that urgency.
“The state legislature needs to invest
more in CCCAP to address the funding shortfall and expand access to the program, as the current ‘status quo’ isn’t good enough,” she said while acknowledging the state’s financial situation makes it challenging to find an immediate fix.
“We have TABOR (the Taxpayer Bill of Rights), which makes it even more difficult, so the state legislature can’t appropriate funds the way other states might be able to, so as we’re looking at it, it’s a bit of a puzzle right now in terms of how we address the need.”
In the meantime, families affected by the freeze are left with few alternatives.
“This is an issue that impacts all of us, whether we have children or not,” Smith said. “Without access to affordable child care, we risk weakening the workforce and stalling future economic growth. It’s time for policymakers to step up.”
“If we can support families with highquality child care that’s affordable, then we start solving some other problems for that family,” Tritten added. “We want families to be stable and thriving, and we want children to be in a place where they are being prepared for school.”
Tritten stressed the importance of prioritizing child care assistance in state discussions.
“We need to encourage our legislators to think about this and to invest in child care assistance and recognize that this is a program that helps solve bigger problems for families and helps create stability,” she said. “If we can help create stability through child care, then we are helping promote work and school and all of these other things as well.”
BEAT THE WINTER CHILL!
Saturday
King Soopers takes steps to handle strike
Grocer hires temp workers to keep stores open
BY TAMARA CHUANG THE COLORADO SUN
As day one of a planned two-week walkout began, about a dozen King Soopers employees were up before dawn on ursday, pacing in front of their store in Centennial. Some walked the perimeter on the sidewalks as cars passed by. All carried white signs with red lettering asking customers to not patronize their employer.
eir union representative with United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 forbade them to speak to a reporter, even as one employee questioned why not? Why aren’t they allowed to tell the people why they are outside the store instead of inside?
At a Safeway parking lot across from a King Soopers on ursday, union ocials held a news conference and said the workers at the two Pueblo stores would join the strike starting Friday. Local 7 President Kim Cordova said she spoke for the workers, who feared repercussions by the employer. Intimidation is part of the union’s multiple unfair labor practice claims against the Kroger-owned chain. “King Soopers has some big problems. I mean when you have 96 to 100% of the workers vote to strike, there’s real issues,” Cordova said. “And here we are for the second time in back-to-back bargaining cycles. Here we are with another unfair labor practice dispute against King Soopers.”
More than 10,000 King Soopers employees in the Front Range are involved, which is a few thousand more than three years ago when King Soopers walked out in January 2022. More contracts have expired. ey’re protesting unfair labor practices, which allege surveilling and disrupting discussions between workers and union reps. A “last best and nal o er” from the company was rejected in mid-January.
Not all union members walked out on day one. Workers in Colorado Springs voted last Friday to authorize a strike. But some of their contracts have not yet expired so they could join in the coming days, union o cials said.
Find an updated list of a ected locations at public. ourish.studio/visualisation/21490216.
Grocer preps for strike
ere are 77 Denver-area stores involved in ursday’s work stoppage. Because of that, King Soopers hired temporary workers to keep the stores open, spokesperson Jessica Trowbridge said Wednesday.
“We have an obligation to the community to make sure they have access to fresh and a ordable food and pharmacy services, so we’ve gone ahead and hired temporary sta to come and help us serve the community at this time,” Trowbridge said.
All stores will remain open, though locations impacted by the strike will operate on limited hours. Stores will open between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m, with pharmacies open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. during the week. On Saturdays, pharmacy hours will be 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., closing from 1 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. for lunch. Pharmacies will be closed on Sundays.
All other stores in the state, including City Markets, will stick with their normal hours.
Other King Soopers stores remain open
Not all King Soopers in metro Denver are unionized. ere are nonunion stores in Brighton, Castle Rock, Erie and Firestone. ere are also two ornton locations — at 13700 Colorado Blvd. and 13525 Quebec St. — that aren’t part of the strike. Other nonunion stores farther out include Bennett, Conifer and Windsor.
Union stores outside of Denver remain open, though they could join the strike at a later date. Besides Colorado Springs workers who are ready to join the strike, others could take a strike vote soon. Labor contracts in Fort Collins, Greeley, Longmont and Loveland expire Feb. 15.
Also, many locations only have some of the sta in a union, such as the meat departments in Boulder and Parker. But those stores are still impacted by the strike and limited hours.
Local 7 also represents workers at four Western Slope City Markets, including two in Grand Junction, one in Fruita and one in Clifton. No strike vote has been announced yet.
Unproductive negotiations, heated accusations
Negotiations began in October on the new contract, which expired Jan. 5, and stopped inde nitely on Jan. 16. No further meetings were scheduled.
In unfair labor practice claims led with the National Labor Relations Board, the union said King Soopers was “illegally threatening members with discipline” for wearing union clothing or union buttons, surveilling workers in discussions with union sta and “gutting $8 million in retiree health bene ts for wage increases for active workers.”
To get the union back to the bargaining table, Cordova said, “We need the company to engage in good and fair bargaining, and they need to resolve the unfair labor practices. ey have to provide information that we need around sales.”
King Soopers pushed back on all the allegations. In a statement, the company said it responded to all the union’s requests, and even “dedicated six hours to answering every question raised,” during a one negotiation session. e company has “acted in full compliance with both the law and collective bargaining agreement obligations.”
It led its own unfair labor practice claims against the union for causing disruptions, such as mentioning a strike on Dec. 17, and rejecting company o ers without providing their own proposal for the workers. ( e union said it has made proposals.)
e company had hoped to avoid a strike, like the one three years ago. Earlier this week, King Soopers President Joe Kelley asked Local 7 to “reconsider their approach and prioritize the best interests of our associates, their members and the communities they serve.”
King Soopers has publicly shared its o er to workers and urged employees to look and vote on the proposed contract, instead of voting on unfair labor practices.
King Soopers o ered raises to boost store clerks’ hourly wage by $4.50 over four years, with top clerks earning above $27 an hour by 2028. Adding in health care and pension bene ts, that would be $29.48 an hour. e current wage is $22.68, the company said.
The union’s sticking points
While making sure grocery workers can make a livable wage is a big concern, Cordova said the top concern is inadequate sta ng, and that impacts consumers.
“Our ght over understa ng is real. Ev-
ery customer sees that they’re waiting in long lines. ey’re seeing empty shelves. And there’s not a supply chain issue here. All the product is in the back room. ere’s just nobody there (to restock),” Cordova said. “ ey don’t have enough sta in the stores to properly change the price tags or prices in the system. So many customers’ experience (is) the price they’re paying is higher than what’s advertised. And that’s a big issue when people around the country are already upset about the high cost of groceries.”
Reyna Carpenter, the seafood manager at a King Soopers in Pueblo, said she joined the company a decade ago when there were four people working a shift in her department at a time. Now, there’s two. And sometimes she gets pulled over to the meat department to help.
If one of the shift workers is tagging items or restocking, that means there’s only one employee helping customers.
And that’s what’s happening storewide, she said. When check out lines get longer, cashiers abandon the other chores. at means store shelves aren’t getting restocked or properly tagged with the new pricing for the week. Or there’s no shopping carts, so another sta er has to run out and gather them up in the parking lot.
“On ad days, it’s ridiculous,” said Carpenter, who is also on the union’s bargaining committee. “You have to rearrange everything. … at takes time. We used to have people that came in and worked with us. We had more sta ng in the morning and throughout the afternoon.”
Kroger owns 118 King Soopers and 32 City Market stores in Colorado. Not all are unionized.
is story was printed through a news sharing agreement with e Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned nonpro t based in Denver that covers the state.
Mount Evans brings love
Employees on strike hold signs outside of a King Soopers store in Denver’s Capitol Hill neighborhood on Feb. 6. PHOTO BY NINA JOSS
Schools outline plans amid ICE enforcement
Districts seek to balance compliance, student needs
BY SUZIE GLASSMAN SGLASSMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
As federal immigration policies evolve and schools are no longer o limits for immigration enforcement operations, districts across the Denver metro area are facing di cult questions about how to respond if Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrive on campus.
As a result, Colorado Community Media reporters reached out to the school districts in our coverage area to ask how they’re addressing these concerns with their sta and the communities they serve.
While the approaches vary, a common theme emerged: school leaders are seeking to balance legal compliance with their responsibility to protect students and maintain trust with the communities they serve.
Je erson County Public Schools
Je co Public Schools updated its website on Jan. 28 to include a statement acknowledging heightened fear and anxiety in the community, with some parents and educators worried about what will happen if federal immigration agents visit schools.
“Over the past week, America’s federal immigration policies and practices have been changing rapidly,” the statement reads. “Sensitive places, including schools, are now no longer insulated from immigration enforcement.”
In response, Je co has compiled several resources for families, including:
– “Know Your Rights” sessions o ered by local community organizations.
– An FAQ page addressing common immigration-related concerns.–
– Family ambassadors to help immigrant families navigate district and community resources.
– A Family Emergency Preparedness
Plan to help parents outline steps in case of an unexpected
Je co also guided principals, emphasizing the importance of minimal disruption and calm, professional interactions if an enforcement situation arises. e district’s legal team will require federal agents to provide proof of identity, agency a liation and a legally valid warrant before granting access to district property.
“If agents visit a school, a Je co district administrator will support the school and meet the agency on behalf of the district,
with guidance from our legal team,” the district said.
School board member Erin Kenworthy said the board is drafting a resolution regarding its commitment to protecting all students for an upcoming board meeting.
Adams 12 Five Star Schools
e Adams 12 school board unanimously adopted a resolution at its meeting on Jan. 15 a rming its commitment to protecting students and families regardless of immigration status.
e resolution states that the district will continue its practice of not inquiring about the immigration status of students or families and will follow all legal guidelines for protecting con dential information.
It also establishes speci c procedures if immigration o cials attempt to access school campuses or student records.
“ e Five Star District shall utilize its lawful powers to protect our students and families, regardless of immigration status,” the resolution states.
Among the key provisions, according to the district:
– e district will not voluntarily provide information about students or families to federal immigration authorities.
– Any immigration o cial’s request to enter a school or district property must rst be forwarded to the District’s Legal Department.
– e same applies if an immigration ofcer seeks to communicate with a student while under the district’s supervision.
e board also emphasized that it would continue to support families in updating emergency contact information and in creating emergency plans in case of sudden family disruptions.
Littleton Public Schools
Littleton Public School’s Chief Communications O cer Diane Leiker said she appreciated the opportunity to participate in a story on this issue but respectfully declined.
Adams 14 School District
Adams 14 Superintendent Karla Loría took to Facebook on Jan. 23 to con rm the district’s commitment to safeguarding students and protecting their educational rights.
“No one is allowed on our properties, inside our schools, or is allowed to have access to information without lawful justi cation and approval of the district,” she said. “Law enforcement is required to have a warrant signed by a federal or state judge in order to enter our properties, our schools or to gain access to data.”
Referring to a 1982 U.S. Supreme Court decision determining that all children, documented or not, have an equal right to an education under the United States Constitution, Loria said, “Adams 14 stands behind these absolute truths. We are here to safeguard the constitutional rights of our students and those who bless our schools. Our district will remain a safe place for learning, particularly as that is our constitutionally endowed mission.”
Loria encouraged families to know their rights and directed them to resources on the district’s website.
Cherry Creek Schools
Cherry Creek’s Superintendent Christopher Smith sent a message to sta and families on Jan. 24 rea rming the district’s commitment to supporting all students and ensuring schools remain safe spaces amid growing concerns over federal immigration policies.
“We remain consistently and steadfastly committed to serving all students and ensuring our schools are safe places where all students feel loved, valued, invested in, and seen,” Smith wrote. “Every student is welcome; every sta member is welcome in Cherry Creek. at doesn’t change, no matter what the future holds.”
Cherry Creek Schools outlined speci c protocols already in place to protect students’ rights and privacy, including:
– Right to free public education: e district emphasized that all children residing in the U.S. have a right to public education, regardless of their immigration status. Smith referenced the 1982 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Plyler v. Doe, which rea rmed this right.
– Student information protections: Cherry Creek follows the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, which safeguards student records. All requests for student information from agencies, including ICE, must be submitted to the district’s O ce of Legal Services.
– Handling ICE Requests on School Grounds: If ICE agents approach a Cherry Creek school seeking access to a student, they will be directed to the district’s legal o ce before any action is taken.
– Mental health and safety resources: e district’s mental health sta is available to provide support for students and sta who may be experiencing anxiety or fear.
– Community partnerships: Cherry Creek Schools is working with local and state agencies, law enforcement, and community groups to prepare for scenarios that may impact students and families.
Smith also emphasized that keeping sta informed about legal and policy
changes remains a district priority. However, the district didn’t provide speci c guidance on what steps schools should take if federal agents arrive on campus without notice.
“I don’t have all the answers for you today, but my commitment to you is clear,” Smith said. “We are a community that values all people.”
Englewood Schools
Englewood Schools Superintendent Joanna Polzin said the district is committed to student safety and is ensuring families have timely access to resources on the district’s website.
“I have communicated with my leaders on this topic,” Polzin said. “Our sta is dedicated to the well-being of our students. As we navigate these changes, student safety will remain our top priority.”
She emphasized that all school sta have been directed to follow district procedures, which include:
– Only releasing students to individuals listed in the district’s student information system and requiring proper identi cation before any release.
– Contacting the Superintendent and Director of Safety and Security immediately if an immigration o cer arrives at a school.
– Verifying the agent’s credentials and documentation before taking action and seeking guidance from legal counsel.
“Englewood Schools will continue to provide safe learning spaces for our students and sta ,” Polzin said.
Douglas County School District
Douglas County o cials have been vocally supportive of Trump’s deportation plans and are suing the state over its laws that limit law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration agencies.
Superintendent Erin Kane emailed sta earlier this month to say the district would continue to allow law enforcement to detain students only if they are accused of a dangerous crime or are considered a potential danger to other students.
Kane said that if law enforcement needs to detain a student, they communicate ahead of time with the district, and the Safety and Security Department is contacted for guidance.
If o cers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement are at a school, sta is directed to contact the Safety and Security Department and the Legal Department. e Legal Department will verify and review removal orders “to ensure the student may be legally released to the
HAPPENINGS
We’d like to know about events or activities of interest to the community. Visitwww.canyoncourier.com/calendar/ and post your event online for free. Email jreuter@coloradocommunitymedia.com to get items in the newspaper. Items will appear in print on a space-available basis.
UPCOMING
“ e Cottage”: 7:30 p.m. Fridays & Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays through Feb. 23, Stage Door eatre, 25797 Conifer Road, Conifer. Hilarious farce set in the 1920s English countryside. Tickets at stagedoortheatre.org
Evergreen Players Epic Winter Comedy Improv: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 14 and 15, Center Stage eatre, 27608 Fireweed Drive, Evergreen. Tickets at evergreenplayers.org
Buchanan Park Pool Valentine’s Party: 1:30 p.m. Feb. 15, Buchanan Park Rec Center, 32003 Ellingwood Trail, Evergreen. Balloon artist, cookies, crafts, swimming. $16 members, $20 non. evergreenrecreation.com
ture: 5:30 p.m. Feb. 28, Mount Vernon Canyon Club, 24933 Club House Circle, Golden. Dinner, costume contest (frost or ame), live and silent auction, live music and dancing. events@mtevans.org
Sacred Spaces: Monthly events honoring Evergreen’s Sesquicentennial: Noon2p.m. March 1, Evergreen Fire/ Rescue, 1602 Bergen Parkway, Evergreen. Spotlighting North Evergreen, the Anderson Family and EFR with hosts Jennee Hancock and Pete Anderson
Conifer Area Council: 7 p.m.Feb. 19, West Je erson Middle School, Conifer. 7 p.m. presentations followed by 8 p.m. meet and greet with Q&A.
Wild Aware Meet & Greet: 6 p.m. Feb. 20, Evergreen Brewery, 2962 Evergreen Parkway, Evergreen. Meet the Wild Aware crew and make some new friends with other wildlife lovers. info@wildaware.org.
MindFest: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Feb. 22, Our Lady of the Pines, 9444 Eagle Cli Road, Conifer. Speakers, resources and activities on mental wellness.
Evergreen Chamber Orchestra Prelude to Spring Concert: 3 p.m. March 1, Rockland Community Church, 17 S. Mt. Vernon Country Club Road, Golden. Featuring the Colorado Symphony’s Concertmaster Yumi Hwang-Williams! Tickets at evergreenchamberorch.org
ONGOING
Evergreen Ice Melt tickets available through March 17: $3 each with discounts for multiple purchases. Purchase tickets or nd local businesses selling tickets at evergreenicemelt. com. Proceeds bene t local organizations and nonpro ts.
Middle School Career Fair: Feb. 25, Evergreen Middle School, 2059 S. Hiwan Drive, Evergreen. Including Evergreen Middle, Dunstan, Bell, and West Je schools. Community members interested in showcasing their careers or companies welcome.Contact Miranda Ziegler, Miranda.Ziegler@jeffco.k12.co.us
Seniors4Wellness Game Day: 12:30 p.m. Feb. 26, Bergen Park Church, 31919 Rocky Village Drive, Evergreen.
Evergreen High School’s “Legally Blonde the Musical”: 6:30 p.m. Feb. 27 & 28, 1 p.m. or 6:30 p.m. March 1. evergreenhstheatre.org
e American Legion Evergreen Post 2001: Meets 4 p.m. Feb. 19, then monthly (March - October) on the 4th Tuesday at 7 p.m., Evergreen Church of the Trans guration, Douglas Hall, 27640 Hwy 74, Evergreen. Serving all military Veterans in the foothills. Email evergreenpost2001@gmail.com.
Evergreen Camera Club: Meets every second Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Evergreen Fire/Rescue auditorium, 1802 Bergen Parkway, Evergreen. Club is for people who share a passion for all photography, from beginners to professionals. Attend in person or via ZOOM.
Evergreen Area Republican Club: e Evergreen Area Republican Club meets at 6 p.m. the rst Wednesday of the month at the Evergreen Fire/ Rescue Administration Building, 1802 Bergen Parkway. Information atevergreenarearepublicanclub.org
Resilience1220 is o ering an LGBTQ+ teen book club that meets from 4-6 p.m. the fourth Monday at the Resilience1220 o ce next to the Buchanan Park Recreation Center. For more information and to register, visit R1220.org.
ESA EverGREEN Re ll Station: EverGREEN Re ll Station (re ll your laundry detergent, lotions, soaps and more. We have many sustainable products available). e Re ll Station is open Wednesdays and Fridays from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and the second Saturday of each month from 1-4 p.m. in the Habitat Restore, 1232 Bergen Parkway.
Public ice skating & lessons: Evergreen Lake, 29612 Upper Bear Creek Road, Evergreen. Season and punch passes available. evergreenrecreation.com.
Mountain Women Alcoholics Anonymous (AA): 9 a.m. every Saturday in person and on Zoom, Evergreen Lutheran Church, 5980 CR-73, Evergreen. Mountain Women also meet via Zoom on Wednesdays at noon. evergreenaa.com/
Wild Aware is actively recruiting volunteers for their Last Friday Co ee. e monthly event is at 9 a.m., the last Friday morning of every month through fall. Evergreen Bread and Cocktail Lounge, 1260 Bergen Parkway, Evergreen.
Seniors4Wellness Friday Cafe: 11:30 a.m. Feb. 28, Christ the King Church, 4291 Evergreen Pkwy, Evergreen. seniors4wellness.org.
Mt Evans Home Health Care & Hospice’s Winter WonderGala: A Frost & Flame Adven-
Mountain Area Democrats: Mountain Area Democrats meet at 9 a.m. the fourth Saturday of the month January through April at the United Methodist Church of Evergreen, 3757 Ponderosa Drive, Evergreen. For more information, e-mail MountainAreaDems@ gmail.com.
Evergreen Nature Center: Evergreen Nature Center is open from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays next to Church of the Trans guration. Admission is free. For more information, visit www.EvergreenAudubon.org.
Support After Suicide Loss:
A safe place to share and learn after losing a loved one to suicide. is group meets every fourth Wednesday of the month from 5:30-7:30 p.m. via Zoom or in person at the Resilience1220 o ce. For ages 14 and up. Suggested donation for this group is $15. Register atresilience1220. org/groups.
Sensitive Collection: Resilience1220 strives to inform and support highly sensitive people to live healthy and empowered lives. It meets the third Wednesday of each month from 6-7 p.m. via Zoom. Register atresilience1220.org/groups.
Conifer Chamber of Commerce member meeting: 7:30 a.m. on second ursdays, Our Lady of the Pines Catholic Church, 9444 Eagle Cli Road, Conifer. Free for members, $10 for non-members.
Evergreen Nature Center Weekly Preschool Adventures Program: 9 a.m. every ursday, 27640 Hwy 74, Evergreen. Free & no registration required. Programs designed for children ages 2-5 years old. All children must have an adult in attendance. Dress to explore the outdoors. evergreenaudubon.org
e Bear Creek Cemetery Association board of directors volunteers needed: Members needed to help with operations of the local cemetery on Highway 74, Evergreen. Contact board president, evergreenbearcreekcemetery@gmail. com
Blue Spruce Habitat volunteers needed: Blue Spruce Habitat for Humanity is looking for volunteers. A variety of opportunities and exible schedules are available on new construction sites as well as for exterior minor home repairs. No previous construction experience needed. Contact volunteer@bluesprucehabitat.org for information.
Caregiver support group: Mount Evans Home Health Care & Hospice o ers a monthly group to provide emotional support services for caregivers helping ill, disabled or elderly loved ones. An in-person support group meets Wednesdays from noon to 1:30 p.m. at 3081 Bergen Peak Road, Evergreen. For more information, visitmtevans.org/services/emotionalsupport/.
Evergreen Nature Center Monthly Family Program: 11 a.m. every last Saturday, 27640 Hwy 74, Evergreen. December’s program is Hibernation Station. evergreenaudubon.org
EChO needs volunteers: e Evergreen Christian Outreach ReSale Store and food pantry need volunteers. Proceeds from the EChO ReSale Store support the food pantry and programs and services provided by EChO. Many volunteer options available. For more information, call Mary at 720-673-4369 or email mary@evergreenchristianoutreach.org.
LGBTQ+ teen book club:
Parkinson’s disease support group: A Parkinson’s disease support group meets the rst Friday of the month from 1-3 p.m. at Evergreen Christian Church, 27772 Iris Drive, Evergreen. For more information, email esears@parkinsonrockies.org.
Mountain Foothills Rotary meetings: Mountain Foothills Rotary meets at 6 p.m. Wednesdays both in person at Mount Vernon Canyon Club, 24933 Club House Circle, Genesee, and via Zoom. Information at 346-248-7799.
Beyond the Rainbow: Resilience1220 o ers Beyond the Rainbow, which is two support groups that meet the second Tuesday of the month. One is a safe group for those 12-20 and the other is a group for parents and caregivers wanting support for raising an LGBTQ+ child. For group location and to RSVP, email heather@resilience1220. org.
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BEST OF THE BEST VOTING STARTS
AdventHealth Parker fights human tra cking
Facility trains nurses in ways to spot victims
BY HALEY LENA HLENA@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
As the FBI continues to monitor the rise of human tra cking in Colorado, particularly cases involving youth, various agencies and organizations across the state are working to combat the crime.
But one sector is on the frontlines.
“I think healthcare workers come across human tra cking victims more than any of us,” said Janelle Goodrich, founder and executive director of From Silenced to Saved, a nonpro t organization that supports victims of sexual exploitation.
Research, including studies published in the National Institute of Health, shows that more than 60% of those being trafcked had visited an emergency room while being exploited. at reality was brought to Mary Marnell’s attention during the COVID-19 pandemic while working in the emergency department at the Medical Center of Aurora.
Marnell said. rough training with Goodrich with From Silenced to Saved in Castle Rock, Marnell learned that the amount of knowledge that her sta didn’t know about human tra cking was huge.
Whether it’s the dentist, an OBGYN or an emergency room nurse, the average victim is seen in a healthcare setting about nine times before they are discovered or disclosed, said Goodrich, adding that sometimes the emergency room or an urgent care serves as their primary care.
To further train emergency room nurses on how to identify and support potential victims, AdventHealth Parker has teamed up with From Silenced to Saved.
From Silenced to Saved
For about a decade, Goodrich, a certied family trauma professional, has focused on victims and survivors of human tra cking, sexual exploitation and other related violent sex crimes. Six years ago, she founded From Silenced to Saved.
WHAT IS HUMAN TRAFFICKING?
The FBI defines human tra cking as the illegal exploitation of people.
There are three main kinds of human trafficking listed on the FBI’s website. They are:
• Sex tra cking, which is when a person is compelled by force, fraud or coercion to engage in commercial sex acts.
• Labor tra cking, which is when a person is compelled by force, threats or fraud to perform labor or service.
• Domestic servitude is when a person within a household appears to be a nanny, housekeeper or other type of domestic worker, but they are being controlled and exploited.
For cases involving minors, it is not necessary to prove force, fraud or coercion, states the FBI’s website.
In the U.S., both residents and foreign nationals are bought and sold in cities, suburbs and rural areas.
According to the latest Common Sense Institute Colorado report, Colorado had the 10th highest overall number of human trafficking incidents nationwide in 2023.
While working outside alongside a coworker, two young girls approached them. After they walked away, Marnell’s coworker told her that those two girls were likely being tra cked — sparking Marnell to want to learn more about human tra cking in the area.
When Marnell began working as an emergency room nurse at AdventHealth Parker shortly after, she wanted to bring more awareness to human tra cking, but noticed there weren’t a lot of resources that were easily accessible.
“ e sheer number of people that are seen by healthcare sta members — and that’s including registration, EMTs, not just nursing — aren’t o ered resources,”
e nonpro t is a third-party case management organization that provides assistance to government agencies in domestic sex-tra cking investigations. Additionally, it’s the only non-governmental agency currently approved to respond on scene alongside local, state and federal law enforcement in Colorado.
“We are referred and brought in by law enforcement only,” said Goodrich. “(We) start from recovery all the way through the case with the named victim, and help them kind of weave through the court process and make sure that they’re getting all their needs met.”
Goodrich, who also serves on the Colorado Human Tra cking Council, works with community partners to help bridge the gap with law enforcement to provide needed services to victims.
“A majority of victims are not disclosed, they are discovered,” said Goodrich. “You show up to what’s happening to them.”
Disclosed means to make information known while discovered means to nd something previously unknown.
Having helped nearly 300 victims and survivors since its inception, From Silenced to Saved provides trauma informed mentorship, and helps fund housing, food and transportation for victims. Goodrich also attends court appearances and trial preparation sessions. e organization also partners with FBI Denver’s Child Exploitation and Human Tra cking Task Force, which includes sheri ’s o ces across the metro area. Since the task force formed in 2012, it has recovered nearly 700 minors.
Recognizing human tra cking
Human tra cking is not blurred by gender or any type of sexual identi cation, and is a crime that hides in plain sight, Goodrich said.
While some might think that human trafficking primarily results from being kidnapped or the use of physical force, many tra cking situations result from psychological means and threats. For example, tra ckers may convince their victims that they are in love with them, or make them dependent on their tra cker for basic needs.
Human tra cking di ers from human smuggling as tra cking does not require any movement and victims can be tra cked within their town.
The average entry age into human trafficking is 12-14 years old, according to the National Human Tra cking Hotline’s 2021 polaris review. This entry age is why local law enforcement encourages parents to monitor their children’s phones and social media, as sextortion and child exploitation can lead to human tra cking.
You can report tips to the Colorado Human Tra cking Hotline to 1-866-455-5075.
Another important topic is what to say versus what not to say to potential victims, Goodrich said. One example of what not to say is “why don’t you just leave?,” she added.
ere are many situations, often complicated, for which those being tra cked stay. It could be because of a concern for their safety, manipulation and more, Goodrich said.
Understanding that not every victim is ready to make a report during a visit to a healthcare professional, Goodrich emphasized the importance for nurses to take detailed notes, photographs, encourage the preservation of evidence and provide them with useful resources.
“ ose types of pieces of evidence that can be preserved for minor and adult cases to make sure that a case can move forward and that law enforcement ofcers and district attorneys can do their job,” Goodrich said.
To provide the most accurate results by geographical area, Colorado Community Media does not require, but does encourage readers to vote for businesses in their immediate local community. All nominated businesses have an equal opportunity of winning, no purchase required. Please see voting website for complete contest rules and regulations.
“Any type of vulnerability that’s compounding, such as poverty, homelessness … just adds to that vulnerability for them to be tra cked,” Goodrich said.
She said if nurses could learn only one thing from the training, it would be that the movies aren’t reality — that human tra cking victims might look like every other person who walks into the hospital.
And, if it’s a minor, it’s a mandatory child abuse report.
Nurses learn about what needs to be reported, as well as how and when. e nurses are given tools to help identify youth who are at high risk for commercial sexual exploitation and what necessities emergency departments should have.
During the training with AdventHealth Parker, one nurse brought up the fact that there is a blurred line between what nurses can and cannot do, and felt that they were not properly trained on human tra cking before meeting Goodrich.
“In nursing school and hospital onboarding education, they give you just the tip of the iceberg with ‘this is what mandatory reporting is, this is not necessarily mandatory reporting,’” Marnell said.
To learn more about From Silenced to Save, visit fsts.org.
Evergreen-area seniors have a new home at Buchanan Recreation Center
Board designating room for a senior center that will host seminars, co ees, game days
BY JANE REUTER JREUTER@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Evergreen’s senior organization, which has not had a home since the Yellow House closed in 2020, will soon move into a designated space in Buchanan Recreation Center.
e Evergreen Park and Recreation District board agreed to renovate a former main level children’s play space into a senior center. While renovations are planned for the 1,000-square-foot room, Seniors4Wellness expects to start using Buchanan as their home base March 1.
“We’re excited that a lot of people have stepped up and made it happen,” said Seniors4Wellness executive director Vince
Ventimiglia. “Our demographics are skewing older, and in order to meet those long-range needs, a senior center just makes a lot of sense.
“We’re all in for healthy aging, and this partnership o ers that. Now we have a facility that can certainly provide a healthy lifestyle.”
In addition to the facility itself, the space allows Seniors4Wellness to host educational seminars, morning co ees, IT programs and others — including wellness classes and game days it has traditionally hosted at Bergen Park Church. e nonpro t Seniors4Wellness was founded in 2021 after the former Seniors Resource Center, which had served mountain-area seniors for 40 years, closed its Evergreen site in 2020. e SRC had operated in a building on Highway 73 known as the Yellow House from 1986 until its closing.
Seniors4Wellness has been hosting three events a month at public spaces in the community, including its popular
monthly Friday Café, held each third Friday at Christ the King Catholic Church. e group’s well-attended monthly Friday Café, which regularly draws 75 attendees, will remain at Christ the King.
“ e individual space is not fully set up yet, but we have ancillary conference rooms we can use, and we can start getting the seniors used to coming in.”
Buchanan already has an active Silver Sneakers population, and honors other insurance-based plans. In 2024, 953 of its members had such a program, accounting for 47,000 entry scans. EPRD executive director Cory Vander Veen hopes the center will draw more seniors.
“I think this ful lls a need,” he said. “It’s a great place to o er classes about cybersecurity, health, re prevention, health and human services. It’s one location for the seniors in our community to gather information. My hope is this’ll be an amazing space for them going forward.”
A grand opening will be held when the space is fully renovated. EPRD is applying
for grants to help fund the work. e room Seniors4Wellness will occupy previously served as a playroom for parents who needed child care while they worked out. EPRD plans to continue providing that service in a di erent space. EPRD and Seniors4Wellness will share programming, with Seniors4Wellness continuing to oversee its wellness class and game day. Vander Veen said Silver Sneakers and other memberships will help o set the costs.
“Our goal in this project is not to provide everything, but to provide connections with di erent organizations,” Vander Veen said. “ at will allow them to do trainings, seminars, and programs within the space so it’s more of a communal program.”
EPRD is also using a $100,000 Denver Regional Council of Governments grant to cover a volunteer coordinator, and a full-time transportation specialist that can help transport seniors to and from the recreation center, and to special events.
Weld County commissioners seek to crack cage-free egg law
Weld County Commissioners are throwing their weight behind e orts to repeal Colorado’s cage-free chicken rules for egg producers in an e ort to help lower the cost of eggs.
“We support our ag community,” said Commissioner Chair Perry Buck. “ e constraints of the bill approved in 2020
have not only had a negative impact on producers but also Colorado families. It’s something that we as a state can x and should x.”
Weld County Commissioner Scott James said he plans to testify in the state legislature to repeal the 2020 law that requires egg producers to use cage-free systems. Weld County Commissioner are unanimously supporting House Bill 251074, which also be reviewed by the Ag-
riculture, Water, and Natural Resources Committee.
House Bill 25-1074 reads, “Colorado’s cage-free egg law is driving up prices at a time when families can least a ord it; with in ation pushing grocery bills to record high amounts, forcing producers to shift to expensive cage-free systems only adds to the nancial strain on consumers.”
According to the Department of Agriculture, Weld County is the largest pro-
ducer of poultry and eggs in the state. It is home to 43 egg-poultry facilities, three of which are extensive commercial facilities that provide eggs across the country. e Colorado Egg Producers Association estimates that the cost of producing cage-free eggs is roughly 16%-18% higher than the cost of producing eggs in a caged environment due in part to the labor in-
Watch the di erence 100 days can make
Alittle more than 16 years ago, I faced an interesting situation at work. e most outgoing and social member of our leadership group was taking a di erent job and leaving. is meant there was no one on the team who was comfortable striking up conversations with total strangers and building relationships with those unknown members of the school population. It was obvious to me that the team needed someone who could be that outgoing extrovert.
WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT
On the pursuit of beautiful plain roads
One of my earliest childhood memories is walking down Federal Boulevard in Denver with my parents, older brother and a group of people as they all chanted “¡Sí se puede!” (“Yes we can!”) It was a hot summer day, and I remember my feet hurting and feeling fatigued from the scorching sun. As a little girl, I didn’t understand why my parents had brought me and my brother to this marcha that led all the way to Civic Center Park. I kept telling my parents to just get in the car and drive alongside the people, but I was clearly missing the point.
GUEST
COLUMN
very limited. Even if you are trying to do the “right thing.”
And by the “right thing,” I mean living the American Dream of working until you have nothing left to o er, providing a good life to your children and yourself, and simply just working to the success and family values that this country preaches.
I am not sure why, but I decided I should become that outgoing person the team needed. So, this reserved, quiet with strangers, most comfortable with family, pseudo introvert decided that he was going to become an expert at interacting with strangers.
I decided that I would call my experiment “100 days of Smiles” in a nod to my youth when AM radio stations like KIMN would mark summer with “100 days” promotions. I determined that over those weeks, I would go out of my way each day to talk for even a few minutes with someone I did not know. It would mean taking chances that were uncomfortable. I simply was not the kind of person who would out of the blue say something to a total stranger. But I stepped into it and started intentionally nding new people to talk with each day.
e rst two weeks were painful. I often felt awkward and ill-equipped for such an undertaking. But I plodded on. It got easier as the weeks progressed, and then one day, near the end of my experiment, my wife, Beth, and I were on a walk around our neighborhood. Because it was close to Halloween, there was a family out decorating their front yard. I stopped walking and struck up a conversation with the parents as they worked on the decorations. I told them how much I appreciated seeing their tombstones each year and talked about the decorations that I liked most. We stood there talking for three or four minutes, said goodbye, and continued walking down the street.
We had gone maybe 10 steps when Beth, still looking straightforward, said quietly but loud enough for me to hear, “Who the hell are you and what have you done with my husband?”
I had done it! In 100 days, I had moved from a person who struggled to strike up conversations with strangers to someone who quite enjoyed acknowledging other people and engaging in conversation. Since that day, when I struggle with something related to my MS, I think about those “100 days of Smiles” and remember that we have within us the ability to shape ourselves, to remake our perspectives, to change our path. Struggles are not fun, but when we understand our transformative personal ability, we unlock so much.
is week I hope you will take some time to consider your own initiative, your “100 days of whatever it is you need to reshape.” You can do it; I did. Take the step and commit to the 100 days. Make a di erence for yourself and those around you. You’ve got this,
I would love to hear about your “100 days” goal. I truly appreciate hearing about the ideas you nd valuable in these columns and how you use them to uplift those around you. ank you to everyone who has shared their stories with me so far. you can reach me at jim.roome@gmail.com.
Jim Roome lives in Arvada with his wife Beth. He spent 34 years in public education. Lessons learned from the one two punch of being diagnosed with MS shortly before his best friend was diagnosed with terminal cancer led him into a new pursuit as a freelance writer and speaker. He uses his life experiences and love of stories to inspire, educate and encourage local, national and international audiences.
I would ask my parents “Why are we marching?” “What is this for?” and they would explain, but in my mind I couldn’t grasp the concept. I couldn’t understand that people from a di erent country were considered “bad people” or “criminals” because they immigrated to the U.S. for a better life. I didn’t see the problem. To me it was as simple as moving from state to state here in the U.S.; to me they were my parents, my brother and my friends. However, as I tried to grasp the idea, to this day I remember hearing my mother’s voice as clear as day telling me, “Just say it with us: Sí se puede.” ose words have stayed with me since then. As my dad hoisted me up to his shoulders, I remember waving a little Mexican ag and chanting with everyone, and after that, the road seemed better. e burning sun didn’t feel so bad anymore.
I saw it when my brother was in high school, as he was approaching graduation. He had a job o er that he was more than quali ed for. He went to the interview, and they thought he was the perfect t, but then the di cult question came: “Are you a U.S. citizen?” e answer was no.
Despite the challenges, that didn’t stop my brother or my parents from moving down the road. During a time like today, where I hear attacks on my immigrant brothers and sisters, friends and family members, I nd myself more worried than they are. ese days, I am often comforted by my immigrant parents who say, “Don’t worry. We can’t let fear rule our lives. We have to keep moving forward.”
Over the years, I began to understand the concept more and more as I saw how it a ected the lives of my parents and my brother.
I saw it when my parents had to work every night, come home to get me and my brother ready for school and then go back to work with no hours of sleep. I would wonder why they couldn’t get di erent jobs with better work hours. en, when my dad was working in a toxic environment, I wondered why he couldn’t get a job that didn’t mistreat him.
As an undocumented person, the options were and are
BY STAVROS KORONEOS
She hates to wait
BEAR CREEK – Deciding that two months was more than enough time for Mechanic to mend her battered roadware, Customer marched into the body shop on the afternoon of Dec. 20 and demanded satisfaction. Mechanic said her car wasn’t ready. Customer blew a gasket, accusing Mechanic of “taking advantage” of her “because I’m a woman.” Customer “yelled” and “cussed” and advised Mechanic that she’s an “MMA ghter” and would surely come back with “eight (bruisers)” and “kick your (assertions)!” Mechanic invited Customer to get lost, and then called JCSO to make sure she stayed there. Deputies told Customer she was no longer allowed at the garage, and that any future inquiries regarding her long-su ering vehicle should be made by her insurer.
The perils of paleontology
DINOSAUR RIDGE – Ward, Wally and Beaver parked on Alameda just across the highway from Red Rocks’ Amphitheater’s Entrance No. 1 and set o on a foot-powered voyage of discovery into the distant Cretaceous. Returning to the present-day a few hours later, they were distraught to discover that the Plymouth Voyager they’d arrived in had mysteriously disappeared from the landscape. Ward told deputies that the vehicle’s doors and windows
It’s a bit ironic to say that I, a U.S.-born citizen, am more scared of what’s to come than they are, but I think that’s a true testimony of how resilient they have become. It shows that no matter what, their spirit will never be crushed. I’m not thanking this system for making them resilient; I think they have always been resilient, and these are just the kind of people they are. Who wouldn’t want a kind, resilient and brave person on their team?
But I guess that doesn’t matter.
“It just feels like it’s never enough,” said State Rep. Elizabeth Velasco during an immigrant voices press conference at the state Capitol on Jan. 22.
SEE RAMIREZ, P31
had been closed and locked when they left, and that neither he nor his sons had noticed any rapacious types loitering around the park that afternoon. Deputies noted that the Voyager was registered to one “June” and said that if the missing minivan could be located it would be June whom they would inform. Since June was not in a position to rescue Ward and the boys, o cers gave them a lift to a convenient location and assured them that hope for a favorable resolution was not yet extinct.
Mr. ATM EVERGREEN – In her exasperated report of Dec. 15, Ex-Girlfriend said Ex-Boyfriend had been texting her madly ever since they broke up, forcing her to block his number. Worse, he’d appeared at her place of employment that very evening, and then re-appeared after midnight at her home and raised a mild ruckus.
Ex-Girlfriend wanted Ex-Boyfriend charged with harassment. Given opportunity for rebuttal, Ex-Boyfriend said he and Ex-Girlfriend had been dating for just over a month when she asked him for a loan to cover her unpaid rent. e moment he did, “she broke up with me and blocked my number.” at evening, Ex-Boyfriend continued, Ex-Girlfriend sent him a text asking him to visit her at work, which he did, at which time, instead of repaying the loan, she asked him for another loan, promising to pay o the second loan at the end of her shift. When Ex-Girlfriend
never came through with the cash, said Ex-Boyfriend, he’d gone to her house looking for it. Ex-Boyfriend admitted he could have handled the situation more tactfully, but said he was angry at having been manipulated. Deputies tactfully declined to le charges.
Beer blast
EVERGREEN – While Husband busily packed up the family’s belongings on the evening of Dec. 19, Wife sat on the couch drinking beer and unfavorably reviewing Husband’s progress. Reaching the end of his patience, Husband grabbed the beer can out of Wife’s hand and “squeezed it.” e beer can responded by “exploding” all over the oor and, to a lesser degree, Wife. Panicked by the exchange, Brother-inLaw called 911 to report a horri c domestic brawl in progress. An unru ed Wife told arriving deputies that Husband deliberately “poured the beer on my head.” Observing that Wife’s sweat pants were moderately doused, but her luxuriant locks were bone dry, deputies were persuaded to Husband’s non-assault version of events and closed the case. Sheri ’s Calls is intended as a humorous take on some of the incident call records of the Je erson County Sheri ’s O ce for the mountain communities. Names and identifying details have been changed, including the writer’s name, which is a pseudonym. All individuals are innocent until proven guilty.
Jim Roome
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Dear mayor, mayor pro tem, and trustees of Morrison,
I just paid a $50 parking ne for parking in Morrison in a spot where there is no sign indicating paid parking. If one drives past Red Rocks Beer Garden at 116 Stone St. and stays to the left, one nds parking spaces on the left that appear to be free because there are no signs indicating otherwise. I did see signs on the other side of the street.
I hope you will correct this because I already have a very negative impression of Morrison because of the old speed traps along 225. I thought those traps were long gone, apparently because of a lawsuit that said the Morrison police department had no jurisdiction.
But then I read that the old speed trap philosophy has been reinstated in Morrison with cameras at a di erent location.
ulation to generate a few bucks. Wow. How cynical can the leadership of a town be? Please see the 1943 movie “A Stranger in Town” to get a sense of what Morrison reminds me of. It’s a good movie. e old speed traps, and now these new ones, have been clearly designed to generate revenue for the town and have nothing to do with safety. You should be ashamed of yourselves.
is CBS news story says that there are plans for the Je co Sheri ’s O ce to o er service to Morrison. at’s exactly what should happen for a town of 397 people. After all, the Park County Sheri ’s O ce is the entity that o ers service to unincorporated towns in Park County such as Bailey.
Morrison cited more than 10,000 “speeders” in two weeks. So you have a town of 397 possibly enraging 25 times more people than the town’s entire pop-
Also, while I have your ear, I know that the city and county of Denver owns Red Rocks Amphitheatre, but if you have the ear of decision-makers for Red Rocks, I suggest you tell them to put signs on the Red Rocks light poles designating what row people are parked in.
Tom Locke, Golden agency.”
In a Douglas County Sheri ’s O ce statement, Sheri Darren Weekly said the sheri ’s o ce collaborates with federal law enforcement agencies but does not “actively engage in immigration enforcement at this time.”
“Regarding schools, our school resource o cers are dedicated to maintaining a safe and supportive environment for students,” Weekly said. “While they collaborate with other law enforcement agencies on matters of safety, their primary responsibility is to ensure the well-being of students and sta .”
However, in a shift from Kane’s and Weekly’s statements, Douglas County Commissioner George Teal said on Facebook that he supported ICE o cers removing children from schools “if needed.”
Weld Re-8
In Weld RE-8, school o cials strongly opposed cooperating with immigration enforcement agents without a court-ordered warrant.
“Our protocol right now is that we will not allow ICE personnel to have access to the buildings,” said Assistant Superintendent Johan Van Nieuwenhuizen. “If they don’t have a warrant signed by a judge and veri ed by our legal counsel, then we will not allow them access to the building at all.”
e district’s policy states that:
– Immigration agents will not be allowed to speak to students without parental permission.
– No student or sta records will be shared with immigration authorities.
– School Resource O cers will verify
ABOUT LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
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• Email your letter to letters@coloradocommunitymedia.com. Do not send via postal mail. Put the words “letter to the editor” in the email subject line.
• Submit your letter by 5 p.m. on Wednesday in order to have it considered for publication in the following week’s newspaper.
• Letters must be no longer than 400 words.
• Letters should be exclusively submitted to
any warrants presented by immigration o cials and consult with legal counsel before taking action.
Weld RE-8 sent a letter to parents emphasizing that the district remains committed to protecting students and families, regardless of immigration status. e letter also directed parents to community legal resources and encouraged them to update emergency contact information to ensure their child’s safety.
Denver Public Schools
In a letter sent to families on Jan. 17, Denver Public Schools rea rmed its commitment to ensuring that all students feel safe and supported, regardless of immigration status.
“Denver Public Schools is committed to providing equitable and inclusive environments where all students feel safe and supported, regardless of immigration status, said Superintendent Alex Marrero.
e state’s largest district said the district’s policies require all visitors, including immigration o cials, to report to the school o ce upon entry and prohibit federal immigration law enforcement activities on school property without proper legal authorization.
DPS also developed a Family Resource Toolkit in English and Spanish to support immigrant families. e toolkit contains information about rights, current DPS policies, training, mental health support and community resources.
e district encourages families to update emergency contact information and advises that each student should have at least two trusted adults authorized to pick them up if necessary.
Marrero assured families that DPS will continue to monitor developments closely and provide updates as needed.
“We want to ensure that all of our students and families feel safe and supported in our schools,” Marrero said.
Colorado Community Media and should not submitted to other outlets or previously posted on websites or social media. Submitted letters become the property of CCM and should not be republished elsewhere.
• Letters advocating for a political candidate should focus on that candidate’s qualifications for o ce. We cannot publish letters that contain unverified negative information about a candidate’s opponent. Letters advocating for or against a political candidate or ballot issue will not be published within 12 days of an election.
OBITUARIES
KUEHSTER Robert Donald “Bob” Kuehster July 10, 1926 - January 31, 2025
Robert D. Kuehster was born in Littleton, Colorado to Carl L. and Gertrude A. (Huebner) Kuehster. He was raised at e Kuehster Homestead in Pleasant Park, Colorado. He married his loving wife, Jean Douglas and they made their home in Castle Rock
daughter Luann Goodnow and husband Mike.
Bob and Jean are also blessed with seven grandchildren and eight great grandchildren, numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, and many friends - all of whom were dearly loved by Bob.
Bob thrived at helping others through his faith in Jesus, his business, and his community work. He was preceded in death by his wife Jean. He is survived by his son Richard Kuehster and wife Susan, son Steve Kuehster and wife Mary, and
A celebration of life for Robert will be held Monday, February 10, 2025 at 10:00 AM at Creekside Bible Church, 2180 I-25, Castle Rock, Colorado 80104. In lieu of owers, memorial contributions may be made in Bob’s name to the Colorado State Grange 7629 CR 100 Hesperus, CO 81326.
Take a Sonic Trip to New Orleans with the CJRO
It seems like as long as New Orleans has been around, it’s been a cultural hub. And one of its most impactful exports is jazz — legends like Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton and the Marsalis family all hail from the city.
To celebrate the immortal music that comes from the Crescent City, the Colorado Jazz Repertory Orchestra (CJRO) Sextet presents “A Night in New Orleans” with Tatiana LadyMay May eld in two special performances. e rst is at 3 p.m. at Sunday, Feb. 16 at the Lakewood Cultural Center, 470 S. Allison Parkway, and the second is at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 21 at the Parsons eatre, 1 E. Memorial Parkway in Northglenn.
“New Orleans is the place where jazz took root,” said May eld, a vocalist who has been making a name for herself all over the country. “For this show, we’re embracing the city as a melting pot of music. It’s going to have di erent vibes throughout — funk, classics and original works written to t in with the theme.”
e CJRO Sextet features bandleader Jared Cathey (saxophone/reeds), Shane Endsley (trumpet/horns), Adam Bartczak (trombone), Tom Amend (piano), Eric Hitt (bass) and Dru Heller (drums). It’s led by artistic director Drew Zaremba.
“We’re not only doing music written in New Orleans, but also music written about New Orleans or associated with the city,” he said. “ ere will be a lot of mu-
COMING ATTRACTIONS
sic folks know and recognize and some they’ll learn about. We want to remind people that jazz is more than historical — it’s a current, living art
Zaremba and May eld went to the same college and she was featured on the CJRO’s fourth album, “Golden Lady.” In addition to her vocal work, she’s a musician, composer and educator who is currently the Assistant Professor of Contemporary Popular Music at Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver. May eld said she’s built up a sincere rapport with her fellow musicians and thoroughly enjoys performing with them.
“Everybody on stage is bringing 100 percent to the music and every time I’m on stage, it’s like I’m playing with friends and family,” May eld said. “ e CJRO is one of my favorite bands to play with.”
For Zaremba, all the CJRO’s performances are a chance to connect with audience members and remind them of the power of jazz as a dynamic music genre. And he hopes listeners will connect with the musical vibrancy of New Orleans.
“I hope audiences listen and dig in in a way they maybe haven’t before,” he said. “It’s a chance to really get into the tradi-
tion of this beautiful music and I hope people leave with big smiles from the great time they had.”
Information and tickets are available at www.coloradojazz.org/concerts.
CSO Scores The Infinity Saga at Boettcher Marvel Studios’ execution of e In nity Saga is one of the crowning cinematic achievements of this century, and the music for each lm and character add to the unifying experience of seeing everyone join together at the story’s end. e Colorado Symphony is hosting a celebration of the music and lms with its In nity Saga Concert Experience
Conducted by Christopher Dragon and held at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 15 and at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 16 at Boettcher Concert Hall, 1000 14th St. in Denver, the concert covers 23 lms in one massive experience, with scenes from the lms shown on screens. It’s an opportunity to catch up with some of your favorite super heroes and recreate that same rush you had in the theater.
Assemble your tickets at www.coloradosymphony.org.
Parker Welcomes the Year of the Snake e Town of Parker is joining with numerous organizations, including the Dragon Boat Festival, Denver Chinese School and Douglas County School District, to celebrate the Year of the Snake with
its 2025 Lunar New Year Celebration Held at the PACE Center, 20000 Pikes Peak Ave., from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 15, the event will feature culturally-rich performances and activities, all designed to provide enjoyment and understanding. Attendees can sample mini classes, live entertainment and much more.
Information and reservations are available at https://parkerarts.org/event/lunar-new-year/.
Clarke’s Concert of the Week — David Gray at the Buell Theatre
e music made by British singer/ songwriter David Gray is perfect for this mid-to-late winter time we nd ourselves mired in. His blend of acoustic songwriting and electronica touches create just the right kind of tunes to wrap yourself in. His latest album, “Dear Life,” continues his streak of enchanting and experimental releases.
In support of the album, Gray will be performing at the Buell eatre, 1350 Curtis St. in Denver, at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 18. It’s the perfect meeting of artist and venue, as I’m certain his lovely music will sound great in the theater. Get tickets at www.axs.com.
Clarke Reader’s column on culture appears on a weekly basis. He can be reached at Clarke.Reader@hotmail.com.
Clarke Reader
LIFESTYLES
AN ADVERTISING SECTION OF COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
FEATURE OF THE MONTH
In 1875, Dwight Wilmot requested that the federal government place a post o ce in our community. When asked what it should be named, Dwight responded, “Evergreen” because he loved the beauty the evergreen trees around him provided. is was the rst o cial time the name Evergreen was used and thus our “beginning”. Being an unincorporated community, there is no other start to “Evergreen”. While Evergreen as a location and a place that we call home, has existed much longer than 150 years, 2025 is the year of our 150th anniversary. So Happy Sesquicentennial, Evergreen!
e Evergreen Chamber of Commerce and other organizations will be celebrating our birthday all year long. Look for annual events to incorporate some new fun to celebrate and look for new events to pop up celebrating our heritage. One such event will be on July 3 at Buchanan Park. It will be called “Illuminate the Past”. Bring a picnic dinner and join us on the elds to stroll through pop up displays spotlighting our heritage. Hear stories from community members who grew up in Evergreen, learn more about the lives of the original settlers, and visit displays that share the past and the path as our community has grown, all to better understand Evergreen today. We will end this evening with a beautiful glow from hot air balloons, something new to our community, to welcome in the next 150 years.
Local businesses are joining in on the fun too. ere will be merchandise sporting a new logo that has been created to celebrate what we love about Evergreen: the mountains, the elk, our streams and lake, and what we see every day that Dwight Wilmot also loved, the evergreen trees. Soon a commemorative coin will be available with the proceeds going to help some of our historic places that need some tender love and care.
Look for opportunities to learn more about the heritage of historical places in our community. On the rst Saturday of each month, a di erent location or area of our community will host an “open house” or tour that will provide more information on the history of the area. Long-time residents and historians will be the hosts of those sessions and all will be free and open to the public with some locations having speci c programming for children. Do you think kids today would enjoy playing the games that kids play in the late 1800s to the early 1900s? How about the school lessons…do you think they are harder or easier now? ese events kick o on Saturday, March 1 from noon to 2pm at the Bergen Fire Station Administration building. is session will focus on North Evergreen, the native tribes who were here before the white people arrived, Evergreen
HapPy BirThDaY EverGreEn!
150 YEARS
From Page 13
Fire and Rescue and some of the families who have played an integral role of this part of the community.
April 5 noon – 2pm join a walking tour of downtown Evergreen lead by John Steinle. Park in the large lot downtown (we will assist with providing free parking) and meet across the bridge from Baskin Robbins.
May 3 noon – 2pm we will meet at the Evergreen Lake House for a discussion on Dedisse park, the Evergreen dam, lake and lakehouse led by Stuart Collins from the Evergreen Mountain Area Historical Society.
June 7 noon – 2pm the focus will be on Bear Creek Cemetery. is session will take place at the cemetery and led by Elaine Hayden and Rose Smith. Many of the original settlers of Evergreen are interned here.
July 5 noon – 2pm all are welcome to gather
at Congregation Beth Evergreen for a presentation from CBE and Mountain Area Land Trust on CBE’s 50th anniversary and the saving of Noble Meadow in Elk Meadow Park.
August 2 3-5pm join us for an old-fashioned ice cream social in e Grove at the Hiwan Homestead Museum. e Museum is also celebrating 50 years and will be debuting a new tour of the buildings and grove that weekend.
September 6 noon – 2pm we will meet in the parking lot of the Church of the Trans guration for a walking tour of what originally was the Evergreen Conference Center led by Tom Scripps and Tara Emch. is includes the Church, its outer buildings and labyrinth, Center Stage and Lariat Lodge.
October 4 noon – 2pm join us at Wilmot Elementary School for some history on the one room school of Bu alo Park School and the Wilmot House.
You can keep abreast of all these events
Please see 150 YEARS, Page 18
February 1st Chill Out Winterfest on Evergreen Lake
A ‘Heartfelt’ Message from Any Lab Test Now® … Take Care of Your Health in this 2025 New Year
By Jo Ann M. Colton Special to Lifestyles
February is synonymous with matters of the heart. But no matter if we are talking about Valentine’s Day, or any day, Any Lab Test Now® of Lakewood urges everyone to take care of their health in 2025.
Any Lab Test Now® at 7650 West Virginia Avenue, Suite C in Lakewood o ers uninsured/ self-pay individuals private/a ordable and convenient medical tests. So, whether you
need to take active steps to manage a chronic condition, monitor new medication dosages, or engage in a diagnostic process, Any Lab Test Now® of Lakewood can help you meet your New Year’s goals.
“We o er thousands of tests, including DNA/TB/Celiac/Chron’s/IBS, A1C, STI (sexually transmitted infections), and Single/Bundle Nutritional B12 Injections, and we’re sure to have the test for your speci c situation,” said Dr. Drew Scarbrough, the Lakewood franchise owner who moved to Colorado from Florida
where he worked as a Veterinary Doctor. “We provide the doctor’s order; no insurance needed,” stated Dr. Scarbrough who also announced the February 3rd opening of his Any Lab Test Now® Littleton location at 6770 W. Coal Mine Avenue.
For lab hours/test information/fees and appointments, contact Any Lab Test Now® of Lakewood (720-543-2280/https//www. anylabtestnow/lakewood-80226) or the new Littleton o ce (720-993-4141).
Grant Brewster Believes in Building Good Working Relationships with his Customers
By Jo Ann M. Colton Special to Lifestyles
Edge Home Finance Corporation mortgage broker and foothills native Grant Brewster believes that when buying a house, everyone deserves more than a lender who simply checks boxes. Because he values good working relationships, for over thirty years he has consistently provided his customers with mortgage services that exceed their expectations. Mortgage brokers are not lending institu-
tion employees/a liates so they can o er you limitless products. Grant seeks the best lending package tailored to your particular situation, whether it’s with a national wholesale, private funds, or second mortgage lender or Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) lender.
“If you have high-interest credit card debt or need funds for education/home improvements or unexpected expenses, a HELOC loan o ers exibility and relatively low borrowing costs,” said Grant Brewster.
Let’s say your home is worth $300,000, and you owe $150,000 on your mortgage. If the lender allows you to borrow up to 85% of your home’s value, you could potentially access up to $255,000 in total. Since you owe $150,000, your available HELOC balance would be $105,000 ($255,000 - $150,000).
Conveniently located at Flow eory Coworks, 3540 Evergreen Parkway, contact Grant Brewster today (720-668-4183/grant. brewster@edgehome nance.com/www.grantbrewster.com) for more information about HELOC loans and for all your nancing needs.
ArborRx Family Tree Service: Here to Serve You Through Winter’s Snow Season
By Jo Ann M. Colton Special to Lifestyles
can decrease snow-related accidents, improve post-snow road service levels, and reduce storm clean-up costs.
Snowy days and extreme temperatures might persist in our weather forecasts throughout winter, before springtime arrives; but don’t despair. ArborRx Family Tree Service provides snow removal services and two popular snow removal strategies to help you plow through this snowy season with ease.
Deicing utilizes snow-melt products applied to the ground to break the snow/ice bond and eliminate the buildup a er the snow has fallen. Anti-icing, (pre-icing), applies the products before the snowfall if time permits equipment to do so; along with a deicing plan as needed as an e ective preventative maintenance measure. is action not only makes subsequent bonded snow/ice easier to remove, but also it
“ArborRx Family Tree Service in Evergreen has been providing tree and plant services, storm damage repair, and re/pest mitigation to our residential/ business/commercial customers in our foothills and all surrounding areas since 2010,” said Certi ed Wild re Mitigation Specialist Bryan Nash who coowns/operates his business with his wife Jennifer.
ArborRx Family Tree Service operates Monday-Saturday/8:00am-6:00pm (hours may sometimes vary). Cabling/emergency services are available 24/7. For more information/appointments, phone ArborRx at 720-629-7033. Visit the website (https://arborrxfamily.com) and follow them on Facebook.
Do You Know Your Fireplace’s Love Language?
Are you familiar with Gary Chapman’s wonderful book, e 5 Love Languages? ey are: Acts of service
Quality time
Gi s
A rming words
Physical touch
“Speak” those love languages by giving people love in ways that are meaningful to them; and by receiving love in ways that are meaningful to you.
Your Fireplace Has a Love Language Too e humble replace pushes our love buttons in all the ways that we humans appreciate! is applies to replaces, replace inserts, and stoves - but we’ll use “ replace” as a catch-all
A replace serves you with reliable heat
A replace is the perfect spot to spend quality time with loved ones
A replace can’t shop online but it gives the gi of ambience
A replace doesn’t say much but the dancing ames say “peace and relaxation”
A replace o ers physical warmth and comfort
A replace is a centerpiece and a workhorse. All it asks in return is regular service so it can continue to serve you reliably and safely for decades to come.
Show Your Wood-Burning Fireplace Some Love
If you burn wood, the Chimney Safety Institute of America and National Fire Protection Association recommend annual cleaning to remove creosote buildup, boost e ciency, and prevent chimney res.
Signs that your wood-burning replace needs service: visible soot and creosote deposits inside the re box and on the chimney cap, smoke that lls the room when you start a re, and di culty starting a re.
Our CSIA- and NFI-Certi ed chimney sweeps will inspect the replace and chimney and scrub the chimney and rebox clean while protecting your home with our No-Mess Guarantee. A er the service, your replace will be ready for whatever Mother Nature has
in store!
Gas Fireplaces Need Love Too
Gas replaces need regular maintenance too! Annual service includes a thorough inspection where our NFI-certi ed technicians look for faulty pilot lights, malfunctioning thermocouples (safety devices that sense the pilot ame), clogged burners, gas supply issues, gas leaks, loose wiring, dead batteries, broken blowers, soot or dust buildup, or damaged gas valves.
Signs that your gas replace needs service: the pilot won’t light or stay lit, your replace randomly goes out a er burning for some time, the ames are uneven, you smell burning dust, or there is soot build-up.
We also clean the logs and glass media, refresh the burner media, and clean the viewing glass. When we’re done, your gas replace will look and perform like new!
Don’t Forget Yourself!
If your home is missing a cozy and romantic atmosphere… if you have cold rooms you never use… if you want to lower your heating bills...
or if you want to boost your property value…
Treat yourself to a new replace, stove, or insert!
Whether you love the aroma and crackle of a wood re or the push-button convenience and safety of gas - or the panache of electric replaces that add ambience year-round - adding a replace to your home says “I love you”! February is the Month of Love!
We make annual service super easy for you by scheduling a year in advance. You’ll never be le scrambling for last-minute chocolateoops, sorry… never le waiting in the winter service queue.
For world-class replace service or quality products from top replace companies, get in touch with us at (303) 679-1601.
Need some inspiration? Browse our portfolio at https://www.mtnhp.com/portfolio or stop by our showroom at 7001 Highway 73 in Marshdale (just a few miles south of Evergreen Lake) to see our 70+ models of wood, gas, electric, and pellet replaces, stoves, and inserts.
Page 14
by visiting the events calendar on evergreenchamber.org, downloading our community app “Everything Evergreen”, or following the Evergreen Chamber’s social media accounts.
Even having lived in Evergreen for almost 28 years, I still feel new. ere are places, organizations and stories that I hear about that make me wish I lived in Evergreen in the 1970s.
ere are excellent resources that have been written by members of our community to guide your understanding of our past that I would highly recommend to anyone looking to learn more details: “Evergreen” by John Steinle, “Evergreen Our Mountain Community” by Barbara and Gene Sternberg, and recently Evergreen Fire and Rescue released, “Evergreen Fire/Rescue Burning Bright: 75 Years of Valor and Service: 1948-2023” by Peter Anderson and Kim Marklund (not pictured below). e Je erson County Historical Commission also publishes a magazine called, “Historically Je co”. e current edition of this magazine is focused on mining, mysteries, and monuments. I know the holidays just passed, but these are easy reads that any lover of history will greatly appreciate.
As we turn the page into a new year, here is just a small list of the groups celebrating anniversaries in 2025: Center for the Arts, Congregation Beth Evergreen and the Hiwan Homestead Museum
and Heritage Park all celebrate 50 years. Evergreen Players celebrate 75 years of providing local theater. ere is so much activism and planning that happened in the 1970s to be grateful for as these organizations enrich our lives and our community.
It is o en said that history is our guide to the future. 2025 will be the year that we all learn so much more about this community we call our home. Join us and be part of the conversation guiding our future.
HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!
A womanizing US president. Gin-drinking, poker-playing, skirt-chasing Cabinet members. And a plot from the inside to usurp control of the Navy’s oil reserves. Wild and juicy stuff this. And all of it a true chapter of America’s history.
There may not be another US scandal that is so heavy with corruption and criminality that weighs so lightly on our collective consciousness as the Teapot Dome Scandal. From 1920 to 1922, power-hungry politicians and corporate tycoons boldly schemed to steal the nation’s newest energy resourcel. In so doing these crooks put a black mark on the pioneering work of those who gave birth to Wyoming’s incredible bonanza.
With a deft researcher’s hand and the heart and attention of a creative writer, Constance Bierkan has written a rst-of-its-kind ctionalized recounting of what led up to this nearly forgotten nugget from the past, the Teapot Dome Scandal. Like No Place on Earth is a spirited coming-of-age story set in Wyoming at the start of the madcap Roaring Twenties and the birth of the oil industry. As much a love story as it is a historical deep-dive, Like No Place on Earth will be irresistible to book clubs and history buffs alike.
Competitors in the Chill Out Winterfest ‘Rad as Ice Bike Race’
SIGNING
champion who earned a diving scholarship at California Polytechnic State University.
“My coach really helped; he shared his love of diving with me.”
Harrington plans to major in chemical engineering, and while he acknowledges the work that lies ahead for him, he took time Feb. 5 to revel in the moment.
“I’m excited to be here,” he said. “It’s a day to celebrate all of us.”
Nico Cicora, who’ll attend Western Colorado University on a mountain biking scholarship, discovered the sport with his father.
“I’ve been riding since we moved here about 10 years ago; it was the one thing me and my dad did,” he said. “We entered our rst race together, and from then on, it’s the only thing I’ve wanted to do.”
Cicora, who brought his bike to the event, plans to major in geology. When he’s not studying, he’ll be exploring the trails near Gunnison.
“I’m so hyped,” he said. “It’s going to be sick being that close to
Ashley Cortez, Coker University, Lacrosse; Neva Mertsching, Lawrence University, Lacrosse; Alivia Hunsche, University of Tampa Lincoln Mackay Middlebury College Golf Liam Houlihan Gettysburg College / Golf
Will Wales Hood college, lacrosse Ailish Ocasek US Naval AcademyPole Vault (Track & Field) Addison McEvers High Point University, Playing Lacrosse Luke Sabina York College of Pennsylvania Committed for Golf Nico Cicora Western Colorado University Tyler Long University of Colorado, Golf Isaac Arnold Professional, SG Academy, Soccer Carson Harrington Cal Poly, Diving
Crested Butte.”
EHS won state championships in 2024 in boys golf, girls lacrosse and girls soccer.
National Signing Day for college sports is usually the rst Wednesday of February. It marks the day when high school athletes can sign a National Letter of Intent (NLI) to commit to a college, and is celebrated at schools nationwide.
SEE YOURSELF ON STAGE
The 13 EHS athletes celebrated during the Jan. 5 National Signing Day event pose together for a group photo after the morning ceremony.
PHOTO BY JANE REUTER
BY JANE REUTER JREUTER@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Sarah Cooprider was born with an intellectual disability, autism, a severe speech/language disability, and a naturally happy disposition. Her mother noticed during elementary school that Sarah was most happy when she was busy and social.
Annette Cooprider, who lives in Golden with her husband and Sarah, tried several metro area programs for people with special needs. None gave Sarah the level of activity she needed to thrive. en Annette found INSPIRE, a program run through the Evergreen Park & Recreation District.
“My daughter can have behaviors, but she’s an angel when she’s in INSPIRE,” Annette said. “It prevents her from being isolated, which can be common with kids like mine. She gets to go horseback riding, learn archery, play basketball, go bowling and all these things that are available to typical young people. She’s busy and moving. It gives her a much more well-rounded lifestyle.”
Sarah is now 20 years old and a student atJe co Transition Services, a post-secondary program for young adults with special needs, during the school year. While she has limited time to participate in INSPIRE now, her summers are all about the program.
“I get nervous about getting her signed up because it’s so important for both of us — for her to have the experience and for me to have some time,” said Annette, who works full time. “I cherish the time in the summer when she is busy and I know she’s safe.”
INSPIRE stands for incorporating opportunities for social, physical and inclusive recreational experiences for individuals with disabilities. e 31-year-old program was developed and is led by its supervisor, Maren Schreiber, a beloved and well-known member of the Evergreen community.
e program’s weekly events include swimming, bowling and climbing. INSPIRE also partners with other programs for regular skiing and therapeutic horseback riding, and hosts golf, track events, theater outings, Rockies games and a wide range of other physical and social outings.
e program today has 137 participants, who have varying disabilities, from ages 5 to 53. Some of them have been with Schreiber for the entirety of the program.
“You would be surprised how much people with disabilities know and can do,” Schreiber said. “People just don’t really give them a chance. ey are amazing. “ ey’re de nitely better skiers than me. I would never want to race them.”
Filling a need
In 1995, Schreiber was working as an Evergreen Park and Recreation Department (EPRD) swim coach and personal trainer when the mother of a young boy with Down syndrome approached her.
“She said there’s nothing for people with disabilities up here,” Schreiber said. “My boss at the time was you can try (creating a program), but she wasn’t sure if we had enough people. en people came from Stapleton, Morrison, Bailey, Pine, all over.”
Today’s participants come from throughout the metro area, including Aurora, Arvada, Lakewood, Littleton and Golden. One former participant who now lives in Illinois returns regularly to go on INSPIRE outings.
“ ey make the trip because of how special it is and the connections they make,” EPRD Executive Director Cory Vander Veen said. “It changes their world.”
INSPIRE is funded partly through EPRD and supplemented by the New Year’s Day Evergreen Lake Plunge, the Evergreen Ice Melt contest and other fundraisers and individual donations.
e bene ts for Schreiber, her sta and volunteers, the participants and their families are priceless.
For Evergreen physician Todd Wisser and his physician wife, Kate, INSPIRE has been a gift for the family. Fifteen-year-old Cambria has cerebral palsy, autism and epilepsy, and had previously been in special needs programs in Michigan. When the family moved to Evergreen in 2017, they were astounded to discover INSPIRE.
“We didn’t know the high level of service we’d be getting here,” Todd said. “INSPIRE’s service to the special needs population is unsurpassed. ey have been immensely wonderful and supportive and thorough, just o ering tons of opportunity.
“Cambria’s done whitewater rafting, ziplining, skiing, gold mine tours, the Georgetown Loop railroad. It’s a profound, wonderful connection she has with that group.”
INSPIRE and Schreiber also provide needed respite for the family, which includes two other children.
“Cambria can be a challenge at times with those diagnoses,” Wisser said. “She can be emotional. And she’s a teenager. So that brings with it a lot of e ort and energy that needs to go into her. Having the opportunities for respite that Maren and her team provide has been amazing. Not only is it valuable for Cambria, it’s hugely valuable for our other two children, and my wife and I.” Further extending the bene ts, Wisser’s other two children have volunteered with INSPIRE.
Lakewood resident Lisa Arnold’s now 24-year-old daughter, Grace, who has Down syndrome, discovered the program 16 years ago. It’s been part of their lives since. “Services vary between states, and we had moved from Ohio,” Lisa said. “It was really terri c to move to a small community and nd this absolutely amazing program that has such a variety. We’ve moved down the hill since, and we drive back for INSPIRE.”
Grace recently graduated from college with a science certi cate and is applying for a job with the Denver Zoo, but INSPIRE remains part of their lives.
“All these kids grew up together,” Lisa said. “And I’ve made some really great connections with other families. e disability world is kind of its own thing with Medicaid and all the processes and procedures. It’s nice to talk with other people that have some tips, and we’ve been able to share in our kids’ frustrations and successes.”
Rebecca Sobolevsky, a single parent who lives in Aurora, was desperate to nd a program for her now 20-year-old son, Ethan, when they moved from Chicago to Colorado in 2017.
“He’s tried a few other programs; Evergreen is always his favorite,” she said. “Some programs, it feels like it’s just a job for the sta . But the INSPIRE sta are super respectful, positive and fun. And I know they enjoy him, too. We drive some distance to get there, but it’s worth it.”
INSPIRE
Communitywide benefits INSPIRE and similar programs have improved the quality of life for participants.
And positive e ects of programs like INSPIRE radiate far beyond those who are directly impacted. Spending time or just being around people with disabilities helps others, giving them a fresh perspective on life and a sense of compassion and appreciation for others, according to information compiled by ALSO, an Oregon nonpro t that advocates for people with disabilities.
“I very rarely see kids like mine in the community,”
Annette Cooprider said. “I think that can be isolating for families.
“For those people who are not part of this community, I think INSPIRE helps them to see these people are capable. ey are able to ride horses, zipline, climb a climbing wall, and all of those things.”
Community inclusion of people with disabilities evenimproves the economy. Research published by Nature. com shows employees with disabilities have high employer loyalty and motivation to work, and they remain at their jobs much longer than the general population with higher levels of job satisfaction.
INSPIRE’s participants are proof of what people with disabilities can accomplish.
“I have one young man who has autism who’s since graduated from Rutgers and is a lawyer,” Schreiber
said. “I have four girls who’ve gone on to college, one with Down syndrome. We have people who work at King Soopers. We have the whole gamut.”
Keeping the program nancially a oat is an ongoing challenge, Schreiber said. e average cost for each disabled person to participate is $20,000 a year, and the adaptive equipment required for some activities is expensive. It’s the only EPRD program that hosts fundraisers to o set its costs.
Finding funding is a necessary part of the job, but it’s not Schreiber’s overriding concern. What she cares about most are the individuals INSPIRE serves and the experiences it provides them.
“ ey get to have a quality of life doing all these different activities,” she said. “I always like to nd the next craziest thing to do. I’m all about pushing the envelope.”
INSPIRE volunteer Gerry Dewil hangs out in the Buchanan Recreation Center pool with Will McCarthy during one of INSPIRE’s weekly outings.
INSPIRE supervisor Maren Schreiber assists Travis Ewen during a January 2025 bowling session at The Wild Game.
Bowler and INSPIRE participant Alex Teleaga focuses as he gets ready to bowl during an INSPIRE outing at Evergreen’s The Wild Game. PHOTOS
CAGE-FREE EGGS
volved, the cost of reconstructing hen houses, and the potential spread of illnesses in a larger environment.
Cage free or bird flu?
e Bureau of Labor Statistics shows egg prices increased 39.6% between September 2023 and 2024, which was the largest increase of any food tracked.
Since January 2022, the average national cost of a dozen eggs rose 75% from $1.92 to $3.37 in October 2024, peaking at $4.82 in January 2023. As of December 2024, a dozen large white eggs at a grocery store cost $5.49.
Olga Robak, director of communications for the Colorado Department of
Agriculture said Colorado’s cage free law was not the most signi cant factor, saying the H5N1 Avian u was a bigger factor.
“We know that the Highly Pathogenic Avian In uenza outbreak has impacted egg pricing and availability since it rst began in 2022,” Robak wrote in an email.
“Prices hit an all time high between November 2022 and February 2023, in January 2023, a dozen eggs cost $4.83. In November 2024, the average price was $3.65. Additionally, other states that have cage-free laws, notably California, were hit with a wave of HPAI detections in the past two weeks.”
According to United States Department of Agriculture data, Weld has been especially hard-hit by the bird u outbreak.
e USDA began tracking bird u outbreaks among poultry operations in Jan. 2022, showing 145 million birds infected with the disease nationally across 1,464
outbreaks since 2022.
Colorado had 42 H5N1 bird u outbreaks reported between April 2022 and Dec. 2024 a ecting 9.7 million birds across 17 counties: Arapahoe, Bent, Boulder, Delta, Je erson, La Plata, Larimer, Mesa, Mo at, Montrose, Morgan, Pitkin, Prowers, Pueblo, Routt, Weld and Yuma.
Weld County accounted for a third of all H5N1 bird u outbreaks in Colorado, with 14 of the state’s 42 reported outbreaks. Weld County also accounted for 98.5% of all Colorado infected birds reported in that time period, 9.6 million. Most of were reported in commercial egg facilities.
Larimer and La Plata counties each reported four outbreaks, infecting 102 birds in Larimer County and 120 in La Plata. Delta County had a single outbreak with 66,500 infected birds.
Among Metro Denver Counties, Arapa-
hoe County reported two outbreaks affecting 30 birds, Boulder County reported one outbreak a ecting 600 birds and Je erson County reported two outbreaks a ecting 60 birds.
By comparison, Minnesota had the greatest number of outbreaks during that time period, with 184 instances of the virus a ecting 9 million birds. Iowa had the greatest number of birds that tested positive, with 29.9 million birds infected across 63 outbreaks.
Minnesota requires cage-free eggs. Iowa does not.
West Virginia, Rhode Island, Louisiana and Hawaii all had the least number of outbreaks, two. e number of infected birds from those states totaled 508, all of them from non-egg producing broods. Puerto Rico reported a single outbreak during that same time, infecting 380 nonegg producing birds.
I’m currently at a foster home in Evergreen, having been rescued in Kentucky. I’m up to date with my vaccinations and house-trained - I am ready to move into my forever home… Complete an
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Lobos raise money for V Foundation in honor of Assistant Coach Scott Deem
BY JOHN RENFROW JRENFROW@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
The Conifer Lobos girls’ basketball program is mourning the loss of Assistant Coach Scott Deem, who passed away from brain cancer on Jan. 14. Deem had been with the Lobos for the past three seasons and had long been a coach at both Conifer and D’Evelyn high schools.
An event honoring Deem is planned for the Conifer game against Evergreen on Feb. 19. A presentation will be held before tipoff at 7:30 p.m.
“His dedication to girls basketball in general was second to none,” said Head Coach Connie Ireland. “He worked so diligently on and off the court; behind the scenes, preparing, planning, scheduling, doing everything he could. He assisted me in ways that are just unmeasured to help make this program better, and it’s paying off. I couldn’t have done it without him, and it’s difficult moving on without him, but his dedication and him being basically my mentor meant a lot.”
The team is also selling T-shirts for the event to raise money for the V Founda-
BERGEN PARK CHURCH
SPORTS
Conifer girls basketball holds fundraiser following death of beloved coach
in North America.
Ireland said the players are feeling the loss, and they should because his impact on the team was immeasurable. One of Deem’s mantras was “End on a good one.” That message is printed on the shirts the team made for the ceremony.
“His loss is profound, but we’re finding ways to move on and learn from what he taught us,” Ireland said. “He cared so much about basketball, but he cared about these kids in this program … I think the kids have responded well and are putting everything they can into, out of respect for him, getting better and helping build the program.”
Those interested in purchasing a shirt can visit happyllamainc.com/product/ coach-deem-memorial-shirt/. For every sale made, $5 will be donated to the V Foundation, and fans can have their shirts shipped or pick them up.
Pickup is available at Conifer High School on Feb. 13 from 4-7 p.m. in the main gym at the “chuck-a-duck” table or on Feb. 18 and Feb. 19 from 11:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Commons (main entrance) area.
“He was always positive to finish a practice or play hard through a game to the very end, and it always came down to ‘end on a good one,’” Ireland said.
Memorial Basketball Hall
The foundation has raised nearly $400 million for life-saving cancer research
For more on Deem, read his obituary at www.evergreenmemorialpark.com/ obituaries/scott-deem.
WORSHIP DIRECTORY
Bergen Park Church is a group of regular people who strive to improve ourselves and our community by studying the Bible and sharing our lives with each other. On Sunday mornings you can expect contemporary live music, Children’s Ministry that seeks to love and care for your kids, teaching from the Bible, and a community of real people who are imperfect, but seek to honor God in their lives. We hope to welcome you soon to either our 9:00AM or 10:30AM Sunday service. Search Bergen Park Church on YouTube for Livestream service at 9:00am 31919 Rocky Village Dr. 303-674-5484 info@bergenparkchurch.org / www.BergenParkChurch.org
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE CHURCH SERVICES
28244 Harebell Lane
Sunday Service & Sunday School: 10 a.m.
Wednesday evening: 7p.m: (Zoom only Nov.1st-Mar. 31st.)
Visit: www.christianscienceevergreen.com for more information and ZOOM link
Reading Room: 4602 Plettner Lane 303-674-5296
OPEN: TUES-SAT 12 p.m.-3 p.m.
CHURCH OF THE HILLS PRESBYTERIAN (USA)
Serving the mountain community from the heart of Evergreen Worship 10:00 a.m.
Reverend Richard Aylor
O ce Hours: Tu-Thur 9:00 - 4:00; Fri 9:00 - noon Bu alo Park Road and Hwy 73 www.churchofthehills.com at the Historic Bell Tower www.transfigurationevergreen.org
CONGREGATION BETH EVERGREEN (SYNAGOGUE)
Reconstructionist Synagogue
Rabbi Jamie Arnold www.BethEvergreen.org / (303) 670-4294 2981 Bergen Peak Drive (behind Life Care)
DEER PARK UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
Reverend Dr. Knut Heim, pastor, Sunday Worship 10 AM
Located one mile west of Pine Junction just o Rt. 285 966 Rim Rock Road, Bailey (303) 838-6759 deerparkumc.org
All are welcome to our open/inclusive congregation!
LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY CHURCH – EPC 1036 El Rancho Rd, Evergreen – (303) 526-9287 www.lomcc.org – o ce@lomcc.org Sunday Worship 10:00 a.m., with communion every Sunday “Real Church In An UnReal World”
A community empowered by the Holy Spirit which seeks authentic relationships with God and others to share the good news of Jesus with Evergreen, the Front Range and the world. Come as you are, all are welcome!
PLATTE CANYON COMMUNITY CHURCH
Located: 4954 County Road 64 in Bailey. O ce hours MWF 8am-1pm 303-838-4409, Worship & Children’s Church at 10am
Small group studies for all ages at 9am
Transitional Pastor: Mark Chadwick Youth Pastor: Jay Vonesh Other activities: Youth groups, Men’s/Women’s ministries, Bible studies, VBS, MOPS, Cub/Boy Scouts.
ROCKLAND COMMUNITY CHURCH
“Connecting all generations to Jesus”
Please check our website, www.Rockland.church, for updated service times ¼ mile north of I-70 at exit 254 17 S Mt. Vernon Country Club Rd., Golden, CO 80401 303-526-0668
SHEPHERD OF THE ROCKIES LUTHERAN CHURCH Missouri Synod. 106 Rosalie Road, Bailey, CO 303-838-2161 Pastor John Graham Sunday Worship Service; 9 a.m., Fellowship Time; 10:15 a.m., Sunday School & Bible Class; 10:45 a.m. www.shepherdoftherockies.org
UNITED METHODIST CHURCH OF EVERGREEN Rev. Sarah Clark • 303.674.4810 • www.evergreenumc.org 3757 Ponderosa Dr. across Hwy 74 from Safeway in Evergreen
Join us in person every Sunday at 10:00am for worship “Open Hearts,
ESPN commentator and a member of the Naismith
Scott Deem, longtime assistant girls basketball coach for Conifer and D’Evelyn high schools, recently passed away after a battle with brain cancer. Conifer is honoring him with a pregame ceremony on Feb. 19 before the Lobos play Evergreen.
COURTESY PHOTO
CROWSSUPDRO ELZZ
1. GEOGRAPHY: What is the highest mountain in Canada?
2. TELEVISION: Who is the host of the long-running reality series “Survivor”?
3. LITERATURE: Which animals represent the Communist Party in “Animal Farm”?
4. U.S. STATES: Which state is the birthplace of the singer Elvis?
5. ASTRONOMY: How long does it take the moon to orbit the Earth?
6. MOVIES: What is the score Elle receives on her law school admission test in “Legally Blonde”?
7. AD SLOGANS: Which product’s slogan is “Is It In You?”?
8. LANGUAGE: What is an eraser called in the United Kingdom?
9. SCIENCE: What are the four primary precious metals?
TrIVIa
10. GENERAL KNOWLEDGE: Valentine’s Day arose from which Roman ritual?
Answers
1. Mount Logan.
2. Je Probst.
3. Pigs.
4. Mississippi.
5. 27.3 days.
6. 179.
7. Gatorade.
8. A rubber.
9. Gold, silver, platinum and palladium.
10. Lupercalia.
(c) 2025 King Features Synd., Inc.
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PUBLIC NOTICES
First Publication: February 13, 2025
Legals
City and County
According to the Liquor Laws of Colorado Thai 101 dba Ginger has requested the licensing officials of Jefferson County to grant a Hotel and Restaurant License at 3881 Evergreen Parkway, Evergreen, CO, 80439.
Date of application: December 12, 2024, Public hearing on the application will be held by the Liquor Licensing Authority Board on March 6, 2025, at the hour of 9:00 A.M. Hybrid at 100 Jefferson County Parkway Hearing Room one and through a WebEx virtual meeting platform, the event information for attendees:
Citizens may receive a call back by providing a phone number when joining the event online; or calling into the public hearing by dialing 1-408-418-9388 and entering the meeting Access Code 2493 855 5797.
Event address for Attendees is: https://jeffco.webex.com/jeffco/j.php?MTID=mfde646c05307f4558bc45451093280ba Event Password: UaH65g4HMph (82465444 when dialing from a phone or video system)
Additional details for accessing the public hearing will be posted at the following, https:// www.jeffco.us/events. Please note that citizens who would like to comment during the liquor hearing must be in person or access the hearing through the WebEx computer platform and use the chat feature to let the host know you would like to make a public comment.
The name(s) and address(es) of the Officers:
NAME ADDRESS Somying Fox 24202 Pleasant Park Rd, Conifer, CO 80433
By Order of Liquor Licensing Authority of the County of Jefferson, State of Colorado
Legal Notice No. CAN 1840
First Publication: February 13, 2025
Last Publication: February 13, 2025
Publisher: Canyon Courier Metropolitan Districts
Public Notice
CALL FOR NOMINATIONS BELLEVIEW VILLAGE METROPOLITAN DISTRICT
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN, and particularly, to the eligible electors of the BELLEVIEW VILLAGE METROPOLITAN DISTRICT ("District") of Jefferson County, Colorado.
MUNICIPAL CODE REGARDING THE PLANNING COMMISSION
The foregoing Ordinance was, on the 4th day of February, 2025, ordered to be published by title only and penalty provision, if any, and to be posted in full within the Town and on the Town’s website by the Board of Trustees of the Town of Morrison, Colorado. This Ordinance shall take effect on February 28, 2025.
The full text of this of this Ordinance is available in electronic form on the Town’s website, www.town.morrison.co.us; copies of this Ordinance are also available in printed form from the Office of the Town Clerk at 321 Colorado Highway 8, Morrison, Colorado 80465.
Ariana Neverdahl, Town Clerk
Legal Notice No. CAN 1842
First Publication: February 13, 2025
Last Publication: February 13, 2025
Publisher: Canyon Courier LEGAL NOTICE
According to the Liquor Laws of Colorado
SOGO B & B, Inc dba SOGO Beans and Boards has requested the licensing officials of Jefferson County to grant a Tavern License at 16185 S Golden Road, Golden, CO, 80401.
Date of application: November 11, 2024, Public hearing on the application will be held by the Liquor Licensing Authority Board on March 6, 2025, at the hour of 9:00 A.M. Hybrid at 100 Jefferson County Parkway Hearing Room one and through a WebEx virtual meeting platform, the event information for attendees:
Citizens may receive a call back by providing a phone number when joining the event online; or calling into the public hearing by dialing 1-408-418-9388 and entering the meeting Access Code 2493 855 5797.
Event address for Attendees is: https://jeffco.webex.com/jeffco/j.php?MTID=mfde646c05307f4558bc45451093280ba
Event Password: UaH65g4HMph (82465444 when dialing from a phone or video system)
Additional details for accessing the public hearing will be posted at the following, https:// www.jeffco.us/events. Please note that citizens who would like to comment during the liquor hearing must be in person or access the hearing through the WebEx computer platform and use the chat feature to let the host know you would like to
be elected to serve a two-year term.
Self-Nomination and Acceptance forms are available from Sarah H. Luetjen, the Designated Election Official for the District, via email: sluetjen@cegrlaw.com. Self-Nomination and Acceptance forms must be filed with the Designated Election Official for the District by 5:00 p.m. at the above email address not less than 67 days prior to the election (Friday, February 28, 2025).
NOTICE IS FURTHER GIVEN that applications for absentee ballots may be filed with the Designated Election Official of the District at the above email address during normal business hours, until 5:00 p.m. on the Tuesday immediately preceding the election (Tuesday, April 29, 2025). All absentee ballots must be returned to the Designated Election Official by 7:00 p.m. on election day.
TIMBERS ESTATES METROPOLITAN DISTRICT
By: /s/ Sarah H. Luetjen
Designated Election Official
Legal Notice No. CAN 1818
First Publication: February 13, 2025
Last Publication: February 13, 2025
Publisher: Canyon Courier Public Notice
CALL FOR NOMINATIONS
KEN-CARYL RANCH
METROPOLITAN DISTRICT
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN, and particularly, to the eligible electors of the Ken-Caryl Ranch Metropolitan District ("District") of Jefferson County, Colorado.
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the District will conduct a regular election on the 6th day of May, 2025, between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. to elect members of its Board of Directors. At that time, two (2) directors will be elected to serve a four-year term expiring in May 2029.
Eligible electors of the District may obtain a Self-Nomination and Acceptance Form from the District Designated Election Official (DEO):
Sue Blair, DEO c/o Community Resource Services of Colorado
7995 E. Prentice Avenue, Suite 103E Greenwood Village, CO 80111 elections@crsofcolorado.com
The Office of the DEO is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the District will conduct a regular election on the 6th day of May 2025, between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. At that time, (2) two directors will be elected for a 4-year term expiring in May 2029 and (3) three directors will be elected for a 2-year term expiring May 2027.
In order to be a candidate for one of the director positions, a qualified individual must submit a Self-Nomination and Acceptance Form.
Eligible electors of the District interested in serving on the Board of Directors may obtain a Self-Nomination and Acceptance form from the District’s Designated Election Official (DEO) after January 1st, 2025.
Sue Blair, DEO elections@crsofcolorado.com
Community Resource Services of Colorado
7995 East Prentice Avenue, Suite 103E Greenwood Village, CO 80111 Phone: 303-381-4960 Offices Hours: Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
The Self-Nomination and Acceptance Form must be returned to the Designated Election Official by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, February 28, 2025. The form can be emailed to elections@ crsofcolorado.com.
A Self-Nomination and Acceptance Form that is not sufficient may be amended once at any time before 3:00 p.m. on Friday, February 28, 2025. Earlier submittal is encouraged as the deadline will not permit correcting an insufficient form if received at 5:00 p.m.
Affidavit of Intent To Be A Write-In-Candidate forms must be submitted to the office of the Designated Election Official by the close of business on Monday, March 3, 2025.
NOTICE IS FURTHER GIVEN that an application for an absentee ballot may be filed with the Designated Election Official, at the contact information referenced above, no later than the close of business on Tuesday, April 29, 2025.
BELLEVIEW VILLAGE METROPLITAN DISTRICT
Sue Blair, Designated Election Official
Legal Notice No. CAN 1830
First Publication: February 13, 2025
Last Publication: February 13, 2025
Publisher: Canyon Courier
Public Notice
CALL FOR NOMINATIONS FOR TIMBERS ESTATES METROPOLITAN DISTRICT
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN, and particularly to the electors of the Timbers Estates Metropolitan District (“District”) of Jefferson County, Colorado.
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a regular election will be held on Tuesday, May 6, 2025, between the hours of 7:00
Affidavit of Intent To Be A Write-In-Candidate forms must be submitted to the office of the Designated Election Official by the close of business on Monday, March 3, 2025.
NOTICE IS FURTHER GIVEN that an application for an absentee ballot may be filed with the Designated Election Official, at the contact information referenced above, no later than the close of business on Tuesday, April 29, 2025. PLAINS METROPOLITAN DISTRICT
Sue Blair, Designated Election Official Legal Notice No. CAN 1831 First Publication: February 13, 2025 Last Publication: February 13, 2025 Publisher: Canyon Courier Public Notice CALL FOR NOMINATIONS ELK CREEK FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN, and particularly, to the eligible electors of the Elk Creek Fire Protection District ("District") of Jefferson County and Park County, Colorado.
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the District will conduct a regular election on the 6th day of May, 2025, between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. At that time, (2) two directors will be elected for a 4-year term expiring in May 2029.
In order to be a candidate for one of the director positions, a qualified individual must submit a Self-Nomination and Acceptance Form. Eligible electors of the District interested in serving on the Board of Directors may obtain a Self-Nomination and Acceptance form from the District’s Designated Election Official (DEO): Sarah Shepherd info@ccrider.us PO Box 359 Littleton, CO 80160
Phone: 303-482-1002
Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
The Self-Nomination and Acceptance Form must be returned to the Designated Election Official by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, February 28, 2025. A Self-Nomination and Acceptance Form that is not sufficient may be amended once at any time before 3:00 p.m. on Friday, February 28, 2025. Earlier submittal is encouraged as the deadline will not permit correcting an insufficient form if received at 5:00 p.m.
The Self-Nomination and Acceptance Form must be returned to the DEO by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, February 28, 2025. The form can be emailed to the DEO at the email address noted above. A Self-Nomination and Acceptance Form that is not sufficient may be amended once at any time before 5:00 p.m. on Friday, February 28, 2025. Earlier submittal is encouraged as the deadline will not permit correcting an insufficient form if received at 5:00 p.m.
Affidavit of Intent To Be A Write-In-Candidate forms must be submitted to the office of the DEO by 5:00 p.m. on Monday, March 3, 2025. The form can be emailed to the DEO at the email address noted above.
NOTICE IS FURTHER GIVEN that application for an absentee ballot may be filed with Sue Blair, DEO, at the contact information referenced above, no later than the close of business on Tuesday, April 29,2025.
KEN-CARYL RANCH
METROPOLITAN DISTRICT
Sue Blair, Designated Election Official
Legal Notice No. CAN 1836
First Publication: February 13, 2025
Last Publication: February 13, 2025
Publisher: Canyon Courier Public Notice
CALL FOR NOMINATIONS
PLIANS METROPOLITAN DISTRICT
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN, and particularly, to the eligible electors of the PLAINS METROPOLITAN DISTRICT (District") of Jefferson County, Colorado.
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the District will conduct a regular election on the 6th day of May 2025, between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. At that time, (2) two directors will be elected for a 4-year term expiring in May 2029.
In order to be a candidate for one of the director positions, a qualified individual must submit a Self-Nomination and Acceptance Form. Eligible electors of the District interested in serving on the Board of Directors may obtain a Self-Nomination and Acceptance form from the District’s Designated Election Official (DEO) after January 1st, 2025.
Sue Blair, DEO elections@crsofcolorado.com
Community Resource Services of Colorado
7995 East Prentice Avenue, Suite 103E Greenwood Village, CO 80111
Offices
Phone: 303-381-4960
Hours: Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
The Self-Nomination and Acceptance Form must be returned to the Designated Election Official by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, February 28, 2025. The form can be emailed to elections@ crsofcolorado.com.
A Self-Nomination and Acceptance Form that is not sufficient may be amended once at any time before 3:00 p.m. on Friday, February 28, 2025. Earlier submittal is encouraged as the deadline will not permit correcting an insufficient form if received at 5:00 p.m.
May 2025, between the hours of 7:00 A.M. and 7:00 P.M. At that time three (3) directors will be elected to serve 4-year terms for the District.
Eligible electors of the District interested in serving on the board of directors for the District may obtain a Self-Nomination and Acceptance Form from Sue Blair, the Designated Election Official of the District, at the offices of Community Resource Services of Colorado, 7995 E. Prentice Avenue, Sute 103E, Greenwood Village CO 80111, 30381-4960, between the hours of 8:00 A.M. and 5:00 P.M. on regular business days.
Self-Nomination and Acceptance Forms, or letters which meet the requirements of § 1-13.5-501, C.R.S., are to be returned to the Designated Election Official not less than sixty-seven (67) days prior to the election, which date is Friday, February 28, 2025. If the Designated Election Official determines that a Self-Nomination and Acceptance form is not sufficient, the eligible elector who submitted the form may amend the form once, at any time, prior to 5:00 p.m. on February 28, 2025. Earlier submittal is encouraged as the deadline will not permit curing an insufficient form. A person who wishes to be a write-in candidate shall file an affidavit of intent to be a write-in candidate with the office of the Designated Election Official by the close of business on the sixty-fourth (64th) day before the election, which date is Monday, March 3, 2025.
NOTICE IS FURTHER GIVEN tthat an application for an absentee ballot may be filed with the Designated Election Official, at the contact information referenced above, no later than the close of business on Tuesday, April 29, 2025.
INDIAN HILLS FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT
By: /s/Sue Blair, Designated Election Official
Legal Notice No. CAN 1832
First Publication: February 13, 2025
Last Publication: February 13, 2025
Publisher: Canyon Courier
Public Notice
CALL FOR NOMINATIONS FOR MOUNTAIN WATER AND SANITATION DISTRICT
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN, and particularly to the electors of the Mountain Water and Sanitation District of Jefferson County, Colorado:
Affidavit of Intent To Be A Write-In-Candidate forms must be submitted to the office of the Designated Election Official by the close of business on Monday, March 3, 2025.
NOTICE IS FURTHER GIVEN that application for an absentee ballot may be filed with the Designated Election Official, at the contact information referenced above, no later than the close of business on Tuesday, April 29, 2025.
ELK CREEK FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT
Sarah E. E. Shepherd, Designated Election Official
Legal Notice No. CAN 1837
First Publication: February 13, 2025
Last Publication: February 13, 2025 Publisher: Canyon Courier
Public Notice
NOTICE OF OPEN MEETING FOR HEARING ON PETITION FOR INCLUSION OF REAL PROPERTY IN THE EVERGREEN FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN to all interested persons that a Petition for Inclusion of real property has been filed with the Board of Directors of the Evergreen Fire Protection District.
The Board of Directors has fixed Tuesday, the 18th day of February, 2025, at the hour of 5:30 p.m., at 1802 Bergen Parkway, Evergreen, Colorado, as the date, time and place of an open meeting at which such Petition shall be heard.
The name and address of the Petitioner is: John C. Buchanan Observatory Holdings, LLC P.O. Box 1420 Evergreen, CO 80437
The property to be included in the District is generally described as follows: 29259 and 29339 US. Highway 40 Jefferson County, Colorado, also known as Parcel No. 41-164-01-001 and 541-161-01-002
All interested parties may appear at such hearing to show cause in writing why such Petition should not be granted.
BY ORDER OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE EVERGREEN FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT. EVERGREEN FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT
By: /s/ Evan Jeffries, Secretary
Legal Notice No. CAN 1834
First Publication: February 13, 2025
Last Publication: February 13, 2025 Publisher: Canyon Courier Public Notice CALL FOR NOMINATIONS § 1-13.5-501, C.R.S.
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN, and particularly to the electors of the Indian Hills Fire Protection District (the “District”), Jefferson County, Colorado.
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that an election for the District will be held on the 6th day of
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that an election will be held on May 6, 2025, between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. for the Mountain Water and Sanitation District’s Board of Directors. At that time, three directors will be elected to serve a four-year term. Eligible electors of the Mountain Water and Sanitation District interested in serving on the Board of Directors may obtain a Self-Nomination and Acceptance Form from the District’s Designated Election Official (DEO):
Natalie M. Fleming 8480 E. Orchard Road, Suite 3650 Greenwood Village, CO 80111 nfleming@erblawllc.com 303-626-7125
The office of the DEO is open on the following days: Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
The deadline to submit a Self-Nomination and Acceptance Form to the DEO is at the close of business on February 28, 2025 (no later than 67 days before the election). The Affidavit of Intent to Be a Write-In-Candidate forms must be submitted to the office of the DEO by the close of business on Monday, March 3, 2025 (no later than 64 days before the election).
NOTICE IS FURTHER GIVEN that an application for an absentee ballot shall be filed with the DEO no later than the close of business on the Tuesday preceding the election, April 29, 2025.
MOUNTAIN WATER AND SANITATION DISTRICT
By: /s/ Natalie M. Fleming Designated Election Official
Legal Notice No. CAN 1844
First Publication: February 13, 2025 Last Publication: February 13, 2025 Publisher: Canyon Courier
Bids and Settlements
Public Notice NOTICE OF FINAL SETTLEMENT AMERICAN WEST LLC CONTRACT FOR RC 24-04
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN in accordance with the notice provisions contained in 38-26107, C.R.S., the CLEAR CREEK BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS has established Tuesday, February 18th, 2025, 8:30 am, at the Board of County Commissioners hearing room, located at 405 Argentine Street, Georgetown, Colorado, as the date, time and place of
RAMIREZ
Velasco mentioned that she is co-chair of the Democratic Latino Caucus, vice chair of the Energy and Environment Committee and has been a re ghter.
“And I have still been told to go back to my country,” she said at the event. “ is is the reality for many of us, that we are told again and again that we don’t belong when we are making our nation better,
when we are working in Colorado to make everyone’s lives better.”
We are not just a workforce; we are people who are trying to do the “right thing.”
Perhaps people can say, “You are trying to do the right thing through the wrong way,” but that’s not true. Even if you try to do everything the right way, it’s not possible for everyone, because the system presented to us is not for us, sometimes.
I recently attended a community information session where people came seeking answers for their immigration cases and status adjustment cases. At the end of
the day, as someone who has been there and done that, I saw people simply asking, “How can I have a better life, without hurting anyone, without bothering anyone? A life where I can work, study and live in peace without being afraid?”
While it may feel like the future is bleak and that this feeling of dread will never leave until we get an answer to those questions, I have hope, thanks to the protests that have happened and are still going.
“May they not fall on the descent nor on the ascent of the path, may they nd no obstacles behind or ahead of them. Nor any-
thing that strikes them. Grant them good roads, beautiful plain roads.”
I saw this quote from the Mayan text Popol Vuh at the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. It’s a poetic but powerful way to describe the hope that perhaps things can change.
Perhaps we can nd some answers, but until then, I hope that one day we can eventually come across beautiful plain roads, and that we don’t lose hope amid the uncertain roads ahead.
Jackie Ramirez is editor of the bilingual newsletter La Ciudad.
WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN EXPECTING A NEW KITCHEN?
By Jason Harris of Foothills Kitchen & Bath
As Spring nears, customers appear to be thinking about more than cleaning their houses — they’re often considering wholesale changes. Whenever they say they’re contemplating a kitchen remodel, many know they’d like shiny new cabinets and counters, but have the usual suspect of questions that they don’t have any idea how the process works, nor how much it will cost.
Let’s get the painful part over with first. Unfortunately, there is often sticker shock. For most of us, shopping at the Big Boxes is our baseline, but we’re usually buying supplies for maintenance, and those generally cost less than what’s used for remodeling. There’s a reason why.
If stores carry inventory, manufacturers give them better pricing. However, even warehouses don’t have unlimited space, so they have to choose what items to stock — meaning what to buy in bulk at discount — or which to Special Order at higher pricing. The Big Boxes are designed to move thousands of products daily, so their goal is selling quantity. Consequently, they stock products used more for repair than remodel; further, they focus on lower price points. To use a car analogy, it’s like the warehouses will stock all the compacts (plus maybe a couple of colors in mid-size); in contrast, smaller dealers know their pricing advantage is on the mid to full-sizes, so that’s what they display.
You need to be aware, however, that differences between products can be internal; sometimes it’s not as easy to compare the quality between faucets or cabinets as it is between car models. In other words, car buyers know an Accord is larger and has a more powerful engine than a Civic, so they understand the price difference. That’s harder
when the boxes on the wall look the same. Consumers are effectively thinking, “Wow, why are these Accords so pricey?? I just saw a bunch of them at the Big Box for much less,” when the truth is they had seen Civics.
If you know your budget, it will save time. Imagine walking into an auto dealer and telling one salesman you want to spend $20K, while to another you say you can afford $30K; they’ll show you different models. Same with us. We know some manufacturers give more bang for the buck, while others offer more finish. If we have an idea where you’d like the overall cost of your project to fall, we’ll show you the products we think will help you hit that number.
Regarding the process, the first thing you need to be prepared for is this will take time. Whatever you pick will be in your house for 20-30 years, so don’t rush your decisions. If someone has never done a kitchen remodel before, we’ll spend time explaining each product category to help them understand the range of quality and prices among the various cabinets, counters and flooring. We’re pretty sure the customer will rinse and repeat this research at another two or three stores, before deciding where they felt most comfortable.
Maybe on the first visit, the homeowners had brought in dimensions and photos that we’ll use to begin a CAD drawing, while others will bring them along on a return visit; or perhaps we’ll go to their house to take our own measurements. Depending on how busy we are, we’ll generally be able to email first renderings within a few days. These are free services for us, but bear in mind that some stores will charge for this.
While this sounds quick enough, it’s actually just getting started. Maybe the homeowners discover the cabinets will cost more than they were expecting, so we’ll make a new drawing in another brand; maybe they’ve decided they want us to upscale.
Finally, one day they’ll say, “Let’s go ahead,” which starts a more rigid calendar. Cabinets take about 4-8 weeks to arrive; so most contractors would probably tear out the old kitchen maybe two weeks earlier and begin installing new flooring, electrical and plumbing. Hanging cabinets goes fairly quickly, so in 3-5 days the fabricator should be able to measure for counters. But it could take a week or more before they are installed, so you might want to consider keeping the old sink and having it reinstalled temporarily over plywood.
Even in a perfect world, be prepared for delays. There could be shipping damage, misorders or warranty issues; even more often, though, are change orders. Once we’re in the bustle of the project, clients will ask, “What if we replace all the doors or windows or lights or….?” It’s for these reasons that we suggest homeowners establish a slush fund of both time and money — it helps decrease the angst.
