Historic steam engine rumbles through Brighton P2
Work at Brighton’s Veterans Park seeks to improve water quality, fish habitat along South Platte
BY BELEN WARD
Metro Water Recovery’s water quality scientists will begin work at Brighton’s Veterans Park along the South Platte River in an e ort to restore the river’s diminishing native sh populations.
Jim Dorsch, Metro Water Recovery’s senior water quality manager, said the Aquatic Life Habitat Improvement project will start the rst week of November and should nish the river work by January 2025 at the latest. “ e original project started with an issue with dissolved oxygen, and over the years, we did a number of studies regarding sh and what the level of oxygen they need. en we did a study in 2006 that looked at the holistic view of
the South Platte between Denver and Fort Lupton,” Dorsch said.
Dorsch said they studied sh habitat, not only water quality, comparing what they found in that study to the habitat of those sh typically. at shows that the sh population lacked a healthyt habitat.
“We agreed to come in and do six phases of sh improvements for the habitat, and we are nally at phase ve, which is the actual last phase for constructing the habitat,” Dorsch said.
“Phase six is ongoing monitoring that we’ll continue to do into the future.”
Dorsch said the physical habitat of the native sh in the Veterans Park River is limited. e plan is to add a constructed ripple, a shallow river area where the water moves a little more
quickly. It aerates the water, which is good forage and spawning habitat for native sh.
“So that’s going to be the biggest feature, a constructed ripple. Also, we going to add boulder clusters,” he said. “ ey are large boulders placed in the river. ose also provide good habitat for sh. ey create little pools and good cover for the sh.”
“ en the last thing we’ll do is add large woody debris, such as cottonwood trees, which we’ll use from the tree area here at Veterans Park,” he said. “We’ll put those in the river, it provides really good cover for the sh and also for macroinvertebrates and all of the things that diversify the habitat.”
SEE HABITAT, P9
Balancing right to vote with ballot security
County election o cials rely on DMV data, the ‘death list’ to make sure ballots safe
BY CAITLYN KIM CPR NEWS
As the election draws nearer, Coloradans have a lot of questions around voting — about how the process works, and also, what protections are there to ensure ineligible people aren’t casting ballots.
It’s a perennial concern in every election, but one that has heated up this year, that somehow large numbers of non-citizens — and the dead — will manage to cast ballots.
Weld County Clerk and Recorder Carly Koppes has been elding versions of these fears since she rst started working in the o ce in 2004. e Republican, who was rst elected Clerk in 2014, is on her 6th presidential cycle.
Despite no widespread evidence of voter fraud in the 2020 election, an NPR poll shows a majority are concerned that there will be fraud this time around, in large part due to former President Donald Trump’s statements. A majority in that survey said they believe noncitizens will be able to vote in the upcoming presidential election. e checks to ensure only eligible voters end up on the voter rolls start with the rst question asked of anyone registering to vote in Colorado.
“On the form it says, ‘Are you a citizen of the United State? Yes or No?” Koppes said, pointing to a printed copy of Colorado’s ofcial voter registration form. Next to the question, the document says, “if you answered No, do not complete this form.”
“So, it’s a self-a rmation. We are hoping that you are answering that question correctly,” Koppes explained. But “when we start registering you to vote in the voter registration system, we do verify and check.”
Clerks and the Secretary of State’s o ce rely on a long list of databases to ensure their voter lists are clean, something even the right wing Heritage Foundation agrees Colorado does a good job on; it ranked the state third in the nation for accuracy of voter registration lists.
When it comes to preventing non-citizens in particular from voting, the veri cation process starts with two other pieces of information on that form – your drivers’ license
Crowds gather as northbound Big Boy roars through again
Historic steam engine finishes final leg of eight-week journey across the midwest United States
BY BELEN WARD BWARD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Trains rumbling through Brighton may be commonplace, but there’s something special each time Union Paci c’s Big Boy No. 4014 roars through.
Louisville resident Dave Finamore said he was in Brighton in 2019 to see Big Boy’s passing on a snowy day in November. e engine is so massive and so loud, it made a huge impact on him.
“You hear a whistle from way down the track and it’s just a low whistle, but it makes you feel that something big is coming,” he said. “And then the ground starts to shake a little bit.”
He said the rst time, he was unprepared for just how big the train is. at’s why he came back this year.
“You start to feel that maybe you ought to back away a little because this thing is so big,” he said. “When it gets there, it completely lls the view nder on your camera and it feels like it’s going 100 miles per hour, but it’s probably only going 35. It’s just so big you get this feeling of speed and power and then, Boom! ere it goes. And you wish you could rewind it and watch it again, like a replay at a sporting event. But you can’t. You have to just enjoy it the instant it goes by. And then you say, ‘ at’s it. I’m coming next year.’ “
Finamore was one of the hundreds of people who gathered along the Union Paci c tracks between Denver and Greeley Oct. 24 to watch the massive, historic steam engine pass.
support the rear of the mighty locomotive.
According to Union Paci c Railroad, twenty- ve Big Boys were built in 1941 to run between Ogden, Utah, and Cheyenne, Wyo. Today, seven Big Boys are at museums in St. Louis, Mo; Dallas, Texas; Omaha, Neb.; Scranton, Penn.; Green Bay, Wis.; Cheyenne, Wyo.; and in Denver. at train is kept at the Forney Museum of Transportation.
Big Boy No. 4014 was purchased by Union Paci c in 1941 and retired in December 1961. According to o cials, it traveled 1,031,205 miles in its 20 years of service. en, in 2013, Union Paci c reacquired Big Boy No. 4014 from the RailGiants Museum in Pomona, California. It was sent to its homebase in Cheyenne for a few years of restoration, converting from coal to oil.
Big Boy No. 4014 is the only functional Big Boy and was put back into service in May 2019 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad.
The coolest thing
Seeing the train is always a treat, residents said.
Tisa McCurdy said, “It was my second time seeing Big Boy, and the rst time I saw it, I thought it was the coolest thing. I felt like a little kid in a candy store.”
Jerry Lambert said it was the rst time he had seen Big Boy, and he has always liked mechanical things.
“Seeing it is worth a trip to Cheyenne, “ Lambert said.
Brighton resident Myron Mitchell came to see the train and brought a stful of coins, placing 15 pennies on the track hoping the train would atten them.
“It’s just that this thing is huge and I want to see it go through, but I wanted to see if I could get a bit of memorabilia in my pocket,” Mitchell said.
It started the last leg of its journey at about 10:30 a.m. Oct. 23, passing through Denver, Commerce City and then Brighton at 11:15 a.m. before continuing up through Fort Lupton and stopping in Greeley. Its nal stop will be Cheyenne.
e train is on the nal stretch of its 2024 Heartland tour, which started in Cheyenne on Aug. 28 and took the roaring engine through Illinois then south through Missouri and Arkansas en route to Houston on Oct. 6. From there, it turned back north through Oklahoma and Kansas before crossing into Colorado, spending the night in Denver Oct. 22.
Brighton families and kids lined up along the track to see the 132-footlong Big Boy, weighing in at 1.2 million pounds. e train plowed down the tracks with its signature 4-8-8-4 wheel arrangement – four wheels leading the front to guide the engine followed by two sets of eight driving wheels. Four wheels
Once the train passed, he found two of his attened pennies on the track right away and one that fell o as the train approached. He didn’t have as much luck with the rest, but he said he was going to continue looking.
Metro North Editor Scott Taylor contributed to this story.
MMA match for Brighton’s Muniz rescheduled to November
BY STEVE SMITH SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
e mixed-martial art contest between Jayson Scott and Brighton’s Danthony Muniz has been rescheduled for noon on Saturday, Nov. 23, at the Aurora Stampede.
e two ghters were to meet in June, but Scott had to pull out of the ght because of an injury. But the match is back on in about a month.
According to Tapout.com, Scott, who has 14 professional ghts to his credit, last fought in late June in a unanimous decision win over Devon Lozej, according to the web page.
e upcoming bout is a Nogi contest. According to bjjuniversity.com, ghters in this discipline wear tight- tting athletic clothing, such as rash guards, in a most grappling-oriented style.
“It’s not di erent from what I train for,” Muniz said in an email, “(It’s) just a di erent set of attire. Scott is more wrestlingoriented. During this training camp, I’ve
been focusing on that. As always, I’m training as hard as I can.”
ere are ways for Muniz to do some scouting. He knows he’ll need to be at his
best in the upcoming showdown.
“My coaches do lm study, and we will focus on whatever they nd helpful in those videos of his ghts,” Muniz said. “Depending on what they specialize in is what I work on during training camp.”
Muniz’s rst professional ght was in October 2021. Since then, he’s won ve of eight bouts. One ended in a draw. One scheduled ght last year was called o . His last ght was two months ago against Darrel Gibson. Muniz won via a rear naked choke. But he said layo doesn’t concern him and he’ll be ready to go when the bell rings.
“I’m always prepared for whatever comes next in this sport,” he said. “I’m constantly training Monday through Saturday.”
Tickets are available at purplepass.com.
“I gured this bout would happen eventually,” Muniz said in June before the match with Scott was postponed. “We were always around the same group of competitors but have always missed each other.”
Brighton resident Myron Mitchell shows o one of the 15 pennies he placed on the Union Pacific tracks prior to Big Boy’s passage. He found this one and one other but had a little trouble finding the rest.
Brighton’s Danthony Muniz (above) puts in some work during a recent session. Muniz has won five of eight bouts since October 2021. His next fight is at the Aurora Stampede on Nov. 23. COURTESY
Cooperative Living Presents an Attractive Alternative for Downsizing Seniors
The first time I heard about Village Cooperatives was a few years ago when I listed the Lakewood home of an elderly couple who had a deposit on an apartment at Village Cooperative Lakewood, near Wadsworth and Jewell, which was then under construction. They ended up canceling their reservation, so I didn’t think more of it, including in March 2020 when Rita and I sold our Golden home and moved into a 55+ rental called Avenida. If I had looked into Village Cooperatives, I think Rita and I might have made a different decision.
pro-rated to the portion of the year, so it wouldn’t actually be 9% unless you bought after exactly 3 years.
There are between 50 and 70 apartments in each of the cooperatives. All but this one are 3 stories with a garage in the basement. There are a few 1-bedroom units, but most are 2 bedrooms, and some of those also have a den. They range from under 900 to over 1,700 square feet, and there are over 20 floor plans. During the tour, I got to see all three types.
Two weeks ago, I got an invitation to visit the Village Cooperative building in Centennial from a reader who had moved there from Avenida the same year we moved in. I attended a 2-hour talk and tour of the facility last week, and learned enough to consider getting on a waiting list for a 2-bedroom unit with a den.
Ten of the 45 Village Cooperatives built so far are in Colorado. Five of the 10 are in the Denver metro area, stretching from Longmont to Centennial, and the only ones that aren’t sold out are in the Columbine area of Littleton and in Longmont. All the others have waiting lists. The company that builds them is based in Minnesota.
The details and numbers I’ll quote below are for the Centennial location, but the other locations are probably comparable.
Buying into a cooperative is not at all like buying a condo. You are buying a share in the ownership of the building. The price of the share is set originally and appreciates by 3% per year, without compounding. For example, in the Centennial cooperative, the original prices ranged from about $160,000 to $240,000 when it opened three years ago. If you could purchase a share which had an original price of $200,000, you’d pay $218,000 (3% increase x 3 years). The 3% per year is
Real estate agents play no role in the purchase. You pay a refundable $500 deposit to get on the waiting list, and you will be notified when shares become available. You can pass on any unit that becomes available and not lose your place on the list.
The monthly fees — it’s not considered “rent” — are about $2,000 per month and consist of four components: your pro-rated share of the monthly payment on the building’s 40-year construction mortgage; your share of the property tax on the building, and a management fee, including your share of the building’s contract with Comcast for internet access, cable TV and a landline. The fourth component is contribution to reserves. Gas and electric are individually metered.
The cooperative is managed by a board of directors consisting of your fellow shareholders. Members also are encouraged to join committees focused on finance, maintenance, and social activities.
One parking spot in the secure basement garage is assigned to each unit. There is a high-pressure car wash bay with vacuum, too.
Amenities include a fitness center, a library, storage rooms, a meeting/game room, and two hotel-style guest rooms that residents can reserve for $50/night.
I was impressed by the sizes of the rooms in each of the apartments. In our current apartment, the master bedroom is
Just Listed: 5-Bedroom Brick Ranch in Wheat Ridge
10’ by 11’ — barely big enough for our king-size bed and one dresser. The master bedrooms in the cooperative’s units are more like 12’x15’, and the smallest guest bedrooms are bigger than the master bedroom in our Golden apartment.
A member can sell their share at any time and get back their investment plus the 3% per annum appreciation paid by the replacement member, minus deduction for repairs, etc. Members can pay for upgrades such as better appliances, countertops, backsplashes, fixtures, flooring, etc. and expect an additional direct payment for those upgrades by the buyer, as negotiated between buyer and seller.
A gas forced-air furnace is in a locked closet accessed from each unit’s balcony. Central hot water is included in the monthly fees.
You can’t finance your purchase with a mortgage, because it’s not real estate. It’s a cash purchase, and you have to demonstrate that you can afford the monthly fees. If you are planning to sell your current home when your wait for a unit is up, one strategy is to borrow the $200,000
via a home equity line of credit (HELOC) that is paid off when your home sells.
The purchase price and the monthly fees for a cooperative are roughly half what a comparable condo purchase and dues would be, making the decision an easy one if you have the liquid funds to buy the share.
Village Cooperative only began in 2011 and has grown impressively. You can learn more and see its many locations at www.VillageCooperative.com. In the posting of this article on my blog, http://RealEstateToday.substack.com, I have links to a few YouTube videos I recorded during my tour.
Some Buyers Pay ‘Admin Fees’
A couple weeks ago I wrote that almost no buyers are paying a commission to their agents, despite the recent NAR settlement. Sellers are still paying buyer agents’ commissions. However, many brokerages have a long-standing practice of charging a 3figure “administrative fee” to buyers — usually around $300. Golden Real Estate does not charge buyers such a fee.
Water Cremation: Going Green in the End
$750,000
The seller has owned and loved this brick ranch at 7085 W. 32nd Place for 43 years! The basement, with two doors to the backyard, includes a large wet bar for entertaining plus a sound-proofed musical studio which could be a bedroom with ensuite bathroom. The home has 500-amp electrical service, with 240-volt outlets in the detached garage/ workshop. There are four separate sheds in the backyard. Well water is used for irrigation. The asphalt driveway was recently seal coated. There’s a fenced dog run and pre-wiring for a hot tub. You’ve got to see this home to believe it! Visit www.WheatRidgeHome.info to see lots of interior and exterior photos and to take a narrated video tour. Kathy Jonke will be holding it open this Saturday from 11 to 1, or call her at 303-990-7428 to request a private showing.
Golden Real Estate’s Broker Associates
David Dlugasch
303-908-4835
Joined us in 2014
Licensed in 2001
Jim Swanson
303-929-2727
Joined us in 2010
Licensed in 2000
Chuck Brown
303-885-7855
Joined us in 2014
Licensed in 2000
Joined us in 2023 Licensed in 2002
I don’t recall how I learned about it, but last week Rita and I visited an open house at Be A Tree, a company which offers water cremation as a green alternative to conventional flame cremation. Conventional flame cremation uses natural gas. Water cremation is what it sounds like. Also known as alkaline hydrolysis, it uses a mixture of 95% water and potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide to dissolve fats and tissues in a body, reducing it to components of liquid and bone. The process takes place over 18 hours in a pressure vessel heated to around 200°F.
The bones are then ground into a powder referred to as ashes, although no flame was used. For an extra fee, those ashes can be molded into white stones which can be shared among loved ones.
The 150 gallons of nutrient rich water generated by the process, called Tree Tea, can be used as fertilizer, hence the
name of the company, Be A Tree. Rita and I had always thought that cremation was the best way to go when we die, but we had done no pre-planning and this approach is much more appealing to us, so we have now pre-planned for water cremation with Be A Tree. If this concept appeals to you, learn more at www.BeATreeCremation.com or call 720-782-2782.
Fort Lupton celebrates Pumpkin Festival and Haunted Hayride
BY BELEN WARD
Revelers combined pumpkins and other Halloween icons with Mexican folklore and dance Oct. 19 as Fort Lupton celebrated the season at the South Platte Valley Historical Park.
Fort Lupton celebrated Dia de los Muertos during the annual Pumpkin Fest and Haunted Hayride at the park. e event was organized by the Fort Lupton Chamber of Commerce and sponsored by several local businesses.
Families and kids dressed in costumes
to enjoy trick and treating, carnival games, a petting zoo, a marshmallow camp re, hayrides at sunset, food trucks, and a kiddie train.
e event also featured the Quetzalcoatl Aztec Dance Fusion, which brings Mexico’s history with an array of ethnic backgrounds and colorful cultural traditions through performances that mix Mexico’s Folkloric Music and Dance.
Inside the Lancaster Lupton Trading Fort at the park, Fort Lupton Library’s Maria Munoz created a beautiful Day of the Dead Ofrenda altar to remember the departed.
“We set up at the Fort with our Ofrenda for family and friends that are not with us, and we also presented our friend Lancaster Lupton, who the Fort is named after,” Munoz said.
Lupton was a lieutenant in the United States Regiment of Dragoons in 1835 who came upon the Fort Lupton area during the Dodge-Leavenworth Expedition with Col. Henry Dodge. Lupton later returned and built the trading fort with help from Mexican and Native American residents.
e Fort was used for fur trading.
Munoz said it’s the second year for the Fort’s Ofrenda, an altar decorated with
candles, owers, food, and photos of the departed.
“So we wait for them and make special dishes and prepare the celebration for them on a special day. It’s decorated with owers and pictures of them. Some of the community brought pictures as well,” Munoz said.
e event’s community sponsors were the Fort Lupton Campus of Aims Community College, Basalite Concrete Products, Bank of Colorado, Charm Industrial, Dale’s Pharmacy, Intermountain Health, Suncor, United Power, Wholly Stromboli, and Yoder Chevrolet.
Llanayah Garcia dressed Wednesday Adams for Fort Lupton’s Pumpkin Festival and Dai de lo Muertos celebration at the city’s historic fort.
PHOTOS BY BELEN WARD
Children with the Quetzalcoatl Aztec Dance Fusion dance the traditional Mexico Michoacan folk dance, the Danza de los Viejitos. The old men dance a ritual to honor the God of Fire.
RTD, county clerks o er two Zero Fare to Vote days
Zero Fare to Vote days set for Oct. 29 and Nov. 5
BY MONTE WHALEY MWHALEY@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
e Regional Transportation District is o ering free rides to the civic minded during this election season.
e agency, in collaboration with the Colorado County Clerks Association, is offering Zero Fare to Vote to encourage voter participation in the upcoming general election, according to a RTD news release. RTD bus and train service was rst available at no cost on Oct. 29, National Vote Early Day. a second free fare day is set for Election Day,Tuesday, Nov. 5. Zero Fare to Vote removes a cost barrier for people on RTD services who want to cast their ballot, say agency o cials. RTD’s Board of Directors approved Zero Fare to Vote as a permanent fare change earlier this year, the news release states.
“Providing RTD customers with systemwide zero fare transit to access polling places was well received when introduced in 2022,” General Manager and CEO Debra A. Johnson said in the news release. “ is year and in subsequent general election years, registered voters can rely on RTD to deliver them to any polling place throughout the district to exercise their constitutional right to vote.”
“Colorado does everything we can to make it easy for eligible Coloradans to vote,” Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold adds in the news release. “I’m proud that RTD is o ering zero fare days to encourage people to cast their ballots. is program is another way that Colorado is reducing barriers to the ballot box.”
SECURITY
By double-checking those, “we will be able to know if it is a valid U.S. citizenissued Colorado ID or driver’s license or Social Security number,” Koppes said. While Colorado is a state that allows non-citizens, including people without legal status, to get a driver’s license, there are guard rails in place for them. Koppes said with all these di erent checks and veri cations, it’s exceedingly rare for a non-citizen to get onto a voter list. And if a non-citizen does actually manage to vote, the consequences can be severe: a ne, jail time and deportation. “I’ve known people and I’ve grown up with some people who have not been U.S. citizens and the last thing that they want to do is put that ability to eventually become a U.S. citizen in jeopardy,” Koppes said.
RTD services will be free on Oct. 29 and Nov. 5
National Vote Early Day is a nonpartisan day of celebration encouraging voters to cast a ballot. In Colorado, voters in the Denver metro area can use RTD services to vote in person at Vote Centers/ Voter Service and Polling Centers or return their mail ballot to any o cial drop box. Colorado voters can return their mail ballots to any county clerk drop box or vote center regardless of what county they live in, the news release states.
“I’m grateful that RTD is supporting
is work does not just happen in the months leading up to an election, but year-round.
“We update our voter lists daily using information about driver’s license and address updates from the Colorado Department of Revenue. And (we get) incarceration updates from the Colorado Department of Corrections,” said Democratic Secretary of State Jena Griswold (Colorado bans people from voting while they’re serving a felony sentence).
e state also gets federal information from the SAVE database to see if someone previously issued a non-citizen driver’s license has obtained their citizenship and is now eligible to vote.
As for dead people voting, Griswold quipped, “a dead person is dead.”
“But in all seriousness,” she went on, “we get information when Coloradans pass away from two spots… the Department of Public Health and Environment and also the Social Security Administration.”
Clerk Koppes said the Social Security list
voter participation in such a concrete and meaningful way,” Boulder County Clerk and Colorado County Clerks Association President Molly Fitzpatrick said in the news release. “Providing zero fare days not only supports those who face transportation and nancial burdens, but it also increases public awareness about opportunities to vote early to ensure last minute emergencies won’t stand in anyone’s way of casting a ballot Colorado voters can nd their near-
is aptly named the Death List.
“When I worked in the elections department every day doing data entry, I would always make the joke, I see dead people,” she said, citing the lm “ e Sixth Sense.”
And like the movie, the issue of dead people voting comes with a bit of a twist: some of the ballots counted on Election Day may legitimately belong to people who’ve died.
“Under Colorado law, if a voter casts a ballot during the early voting period and then passes away before Election Day, that vote will count,” explained Koppes.
Here again there is a veri cation process — in this case, with the signature on the ballot envelope.
Every voter has to sign the envelope when they return their ballot and if you’ve been voting in Colorado for a while, your clerk’s o ce has all those signatures on le.
“It is extremely rare that somebody is going to be – even a family member – is going to able to duplicate your signature,”
est ballot drop box or voting center by visiting GoVoteColorado.gov, and use RTD’s trip planner and click the “Vote” icon to nd the best route to a designated drop box or polling location, the agency says.
Customers can further lter the trip planner results by selecting “Drop Box”, “Early Voting” and “Open Now.” To nd the desired voting or drop box location, customers can then click the “Plan Trip” button, the news release states.
Koppes said. “Because even if you sat down right now and did your signature ve times in a row, you’re going to notice there’s ve di erent little nuances every single time.”
Elections judges have extensive training on signature veri cation. And here’s the thing, they’ve caught people who tried to cast another person’s ballot.
“We actually, in the 2016 election, did catch an ex-husband trying to vote his exwife’s ballot,” Koppes recalled.
In that case, the o ender, a former chairman of the Colorado Republican Party, was sentenced to four years of probation.
Even if you don’t trust traditional media, election o cials urge you not to take your questions to Google or social media. Both Koppes and Griswold had the same advice: call your county clerk’s o ce. is article comes courtesy of the Colorado News Collaborative and the statewide project, “Voter Voices,” which Colorado Community Media is a part of.
Finding voting help in Adams and Weld Counties
BY BELEN WARD BWARD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Election Day is Nov. 5, so voters can choose to mail or drop o ballots or vote in person at voter service and polling locations throughout Adams and Weld counties.
e election o cials must receive mail-in cast ballots by 7 p.m. on Election Day. Voters who drop o ballots at designated drop-box sites must have them in when polls close at 7 p.m.
Mail-in ballots must stamped and put in the mail with su cient time to reach the county clerk’s o ce. Ballots received after the polls have closed will not be counted, even if the postmark shows they were mailed before the polls closed. Ballots completed a week or less before Election Day should not be mailed but taken to a drop box location or delivered to a voting service center by hand before 7 p.m. Election Day.
According to o cials, military or overseas voters who cast a ballot must send back by 7 p.m. mountain time on Nov. 5. e county elections o ce must receive those ballots by the close of business on the eighth day after Election Day.
Adams County’s 24-hour ballot box locations will open Friday, Oct. 11, and the boxes close at 7 p.m. on Election Day.
Residents can drop o their ballots at one of Adams County’s 30 drop-o locations. For an updated list of locations, go to adamscountycoelections.gov/ballotdrop-boxes/.
Weld County residents can drop o ballots at one of the 18, 24-hour ballot box locations, which are open from Oct. 11 until 7 p.m. Nov. 5. For updated loca-
tions, go to apps.weld.gov/clerkrecorder/elections/maps/
Adams and Weld counties provide several locations where voters can vote in person, register to vote, update their registration, drop o or request a new or replacement ballot, and vote on an ADAaccessible ballot marking device.
Adams County voter services
Adams County’s voting service locations are scheduled to open in three phases through Election Day on November 5.
Phase 1
e following voter service center locations will be open beginning Oct. 21 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. ey will also be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 2, and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 3. ey will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day.
tions will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Nov. 4 and from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Nov. 5.
- Anythink Library Brighton, 327 E. Bridge St.
- Martin Luther King Jr. Library, 9898 E. Colfax Ave. in Aurora
- Moorhead Recreation Center, 2390 Havana St. in Aurora
- Bennett Motor Vehicle O ce, 355 S. 1st St.
- Adams County Government Center, 4430 S. Adams County Pkwy., Brighton
- Commerce City Motor Vehicle O ce, 7190 Colorado Blvd.
- Adams County Human Services Center, 11860 N. Pecos St., Westminster
- Westminster Motor Vehicle, 8452 Federal Blvd.
Phase 2
More locations open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Oct. 31, Nov. 2 and Nov. 4. ey will also be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day.
- Riverdale Regional Park, 9755 Henderson Rd., Building 1, Brighton
- Eagle Pointe Recreation Center, 6060 Parkway Dr., Commerce City
- Anythink Library Perl Mack, 7611 Hilltop Circle, Denver
- Mapleton Public Schools Valley View Campus, 6951 Fox Way, Denver
- Belle Creek Family Center, 10693 Belle Creek Blvd., Henderson
- Mapleton Public School Skyview Campus, 8990 York St., ornton
- ornton Community Connections, 9471 Dorothy Blvd. ornton
- Irving Street Library, 7392 Irving St., Westminster
Weld County voter services
Weld County’s Election o ce, 1250 H.
St. in Greeley, is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for voter services through Election Day. e county will also o er special hours from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Nov. 2. e following locations will be open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, Oct. 21 to Nov. 4. ey will also be open at those hours on Saturday, Nov. 2, and from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day:
- Aims Campus in Fort Lupton at 260 College Ave.
- Southwest Weld County Services Complex at 4209 County Road 24.5, Longmont
- Trinity Lutheran Church at 3000 35th Ave., Greeley
One other location, the UNC Campus Commons, 1051 22nd St. in Greeley, will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Nov. 1 to Nov. 4 and from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Nov. 5.
An Adams County election worker prepares the ballots to be put into the sorting machine.
PHOTO BY BELEN WARD
A spicy meat bomb for picky eaters
Brighton woman brings street taco flavor to the slow cooker
BY BELEN WARD BWARD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Antoinette Kristina Camacho was simply looking for a less expensive way to get her nicky son to eat.
What she found was a marketable product that not only feeds her son, but also helps pay for his meals and his therapy.
“My little boy is ve years old now, but he was diagnosed with autism in March of this year. Since he was age one, I struggled to introduce food to him; he had no desire for food and would get upset about food,” Camacho said.
To her surprise, he loved lively- avored street tacos.
“I had ordered Birria tacos, and my son asked to smell it. He said it smelled good, and I asked him if he would like to try some,” Camacho said.
“I bought him Barbacoa and Birria; he didn’t eat the tortilla, but he took a bite of the meat and nished it and has wanted street tacos every day,” she said. “He’s anemic, too, so trying to get him to eat protein was impossible.”
Camacho is a Brighton native. She was born in the original Brighton hospital, which is now Salud. Before she started her Bambitas business, she was a recruiter for Certi ed Nurse Assistants and Nurses for DaVita Kidney Renal Care.
Camacho said that her son was approved for Applied Behavior Analysis for his autism and is doing three therapy
sessions a week, which was too much for her to keep a full-time job. She had to leave of absence, applying for aid through the Family Medical Leave Act at the beginning this summer, taking three months o from work to focus on him.
“It is costly; I needed a way to still provide him with his favorite food and therapy sessions,” Camacho said. “We go to three therapies a week, and he just started kindergarten. I also have a little girl in preschool, so I needed a way to make his meals frequently, a ordably, and e ortlessly.”
She started experimenting with di erent seasonings for the meat in her tacos, which was important. He wouldn’t eat the tortilla but only wanted the meat from the Birria and Barbacoa tacos.
Both are avorful ways to cook meat, usually beef, goat or lamb, heavily accented with Adobo seasoning. Barbacoa is slow-baked or steamed and is indigenous to Mexico. Birria is a Western Mexican variation where the meat is marinated in vinegar, garlic, chiles and other spices before being cooked in a beer broth.
“When traditionally making the chili, it’s a long process; there are several ways to cook with it,” Camacho said.
Typically, a recipe calls for grinding dried chili, scraping fat o of the meat as it cooks and then blending it all and pouring the mixture back on the meat.
“It’s a lot of work,” Camacho said.
While getting her son to therapy, working on her ideas for the meat seasonings and applying for FMLA to care for her son, she came up with Bombitas. e Bombitas look like bath bombs. Each packet has all the chili and season-
ings necessary for a traditional meal. ey’re simply dropped into your crockpot with the meat and set to cook.
“With Bombitas, you don’t have to strain, grind, or keep an eye on it; just drop the bomb in the pot with water and cook,” she said. “I can wake up in the morning, throw my meat into the crockpot, pour some water, drop only one of my bombs, and it’s done for dinner.”
She’s not the only one who thought it was a good idea.
“On the rst day I was on FMLA, I got up to 200 online orders and then 100 orders every day,” Camacho said. “It was time, so instead of returning for FMLA, I gave my two-week notice at work, and I’m now pursuing my business, Bombitas, full-time.”
Camacho said she buys fresh chili from the supplier and grinds it herself. e measured ingredients in the bomb include guajillo, ancho, de arbol, oregano, cumin, bay leaves, garlic, onion powder, chicken and beef bouillon, tomato powder, pepper, and salt.
It’s great for traditional taco recipes, tamales, beef chuck roast, short ribs, or posole, she said.
“We go to a lot of events and take our crock pot to advertise our Bombitas Birria Bombs, and customers notice the aroma, which is incredible. We also give them free quesadillas to let them taste the meat it cooks in,” Camacho said.
“My product is designed for children, so it’s mild, and everybody in the family can enjoy it. However, we also sell the Bombitas with an extra spice packet they could sprinkle into their consomme to add heat if they choose.”
Camacho sells most of her products on
her website, Bombitas.Co and more information is available via email at Bombitas.co@gmail.com. You can also follow them on Facebook@Bombitas, Instagram@Bombitasco, or TikTok@Bombitas.co.
Antoinette Kristina Camacho with her Bambitas Birra Bombs seasoning. BELEN WARD
Do yourself a favor and get a watch that counts your
As someone who admittedly hates going to the gym and needs my workouts to be fun, I highly recommend a watch that counts your steps. After my ance surprised me with one for my birthday in September, I’ve been hooked, and determined to get my daily average up since.
Take advantage of the beautiful Colorado weather and simply take more walks. Whether you step away from your desk for 10 minutes or take the dog out on a longer trek after work, you’ll soon nd chasing those step counts is infectious.
The perfect imperfection of a 5-year-old’s playroom
In today’s world of fastidiousness and perfectionism, it’s easy to get swept up in the idea that every space, even a child’s playroom, should be pristine, everything in its place, every toy neatly stored. For many of us, there’s a sense of satisfaction in organization, a belief that tidy spaces promote tidy minds. But there’s a delicate balance to strike, especially regarding the space of a 5-year-old. Children are naturally chaotic in the best possible way, their creativity and curiosity spilling into their surroundings. As adults, we must ask ourselves: Should their playroom re ect the organized world we strive for, or should it be a canvas for their boundless imagination?
WINNING
My grandson’s playroom, which we share as part of our “o ce,” is a perfect example of this tension between order and the joy of childhood. Just the other day, as I walked through his side of the room to get to my desk, I noticed a few Hot Wheels cars scattered across the oor. His room wasn’t a mess, not by any stretch, but those minor signs of play, those tiny cars on the ground, warmed my heart. It reminded me of my childhood, the rooms I used to play in, and the way toys seemed to be a part of my world, rather than something to be stored away when I was done. My daughter came down shortly after, concerned by the stray toys, and tried to clean them up quickly. I stopped her. “Leave it,” I said. ere was something so comfort-
ing, so genuine about those scattered toys. ey reected his world, his creativity in action, and his freedom to just be a child. e room wasn’t chaotic; it was alive with the essence of a 5-year-old’s spirit. Of course, we want to instill good habits in children from a young age. We want them to learn the value of cleanliness and to understand that everything has a place. But as I stood in that playroom, looking at the handful of cars and blocks, I realized there is a difference between fostering good habits and enforcing perfectionism. Kids, especially at the tender age of ve, are just learning about the world around them. eir play is their work, their toys are their tools, and their spaces are an extension of their minds. By expecting rigid tidiness, we risk sti ing that creativity.
ere’s a certain magic in a 5-year-old’s playroom. It’s not meant to be a showroom but a space where they can dream, build, and imagine. Sure, they must learn to pick up after themselves, but that doesn’t mean their room must be perfect every moment. Sometimes, those scattered toys tell the story of an adventure in progress, one that will continue when school is over
when the day winds down, and when they return to their world of make-believe.
As I sit at my desk, writing this, I can still see those few cars spread out on the oor, waiting for my grandson to return from kindergarten. I know that later, when my workday is done, I’ll lie down on that oor with him, and together, we’ll push those cars around, maybe build a city with his blocks or race the cars along some imaginary track. If you can even call it that, the mess will be part of the joy we share in that moment.
Children need space to express themselves; sometimes, that expression comes in mid-play toys, waiting for the next spark of imagination. e perfectionist in us may want to tidy everything up to create an environment that feels controlled and orderly, but that’s not what childhood is. Childhood is messy, creative, and beautifully imperfect.
Embracing the balance is the key, and I would love to hear your story at gotonorton@gmail.com, and when we can remember what Dr. Maryann Rosenthal said, “Strive for excellence and not perfection,” it really will be a better than good life.
Michael Norton is an author, a personal and professional coach, consultant, trainer, encourager and motivator of individuals and businesses, working with organizations and associations across multiple industries.
steps
Not only will it boost your mental health (walking has been proven to boost mood by increasing blood ow and circulation to your brain and body), but the physical health e ects can’t be denied. Personally, this bene t has been undeniable for me.
I don’t want to preach. Sometimes you just don’t want to do anything. I get it completely. But try taking a brief walk every day for just three days and see how you feel.
Plus, get yourself a motivator, like a watch that counts your steps, mileage, calories and more. It’s addicting to try to get to that round number each day and inch your daily average up. Use milestones like 2,000, 4,000 or 10,000 steps per day and you’ll surprise yourself with how much distance you’re tackling.
Getting to 2,000 steps is equal to about a mile. So, 10,000 steps spread throughout the day in varying increments get you to about ve miles per day.
You’ve probably heard the 10,000 steps thing before and with good reason. According to the Mayo Clinic, the average American walks 3,000 to 4,000 steps per day.
But getting closer to 10,000 can help boost your overall physical health, including reducing your risk for heart disease, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and depression. But everyone’s goals shouldn’t be the same. It’s all about nding ways to be more active than you were before. Depending on your age, body type and a plethora of other factors, 10,000 steps might not make sense for you.
Try setting more achievable goals to start and slowly build from there. Also, keep in mind you’ll need more water per day as you stack your steps.
To increase your step count, try these easy ways below:
• Take the stairs - skip the elevator and take the steps more often
• Give the dog a bonus walk - they’ll thank you for it
• Try standing as you work or taking more breaks to get brief walks in during the workday
• Save your favorite podcast, playlist or sports show - this will give you something to look forward to on your next walk
• Park farther away
• Take your phone calls or meetings on your walk if you can
• Schedule a weekly park day or hike
• Before you know it, you’ll be a walking machine.
Take my word for it: it’s so satisfying to get that daily average up and it’ll be as big of a mental boost as a physical bene t.
NEXT STOP: SPORTSLAND
Stay ahead of the game with Sportsland, your weekly online newsletter for comprehensive coverage across the Denver metro area! Whether you’re passionate about preps, local leagues or college teams, Sportsland editor John Renfrow delivers timely updates, in-depth analysis and stories that matter to your community.
HABITAT
Jordan Parman, Metro Water Recovery’s senior water quality scientist, said the work will cover about 100 meters of South Platte, starting from Bridge Street down the river and going north. e ripple construction will be on the sand bar on the left side, and then the boulders and large woody debris will be downstream.
ey’ve also done surveys to count the
sh in the river now.
“We did sh studies, which are electroshing surveys, where we come out, using electricity to temporarily stun the sh,” he said. “We get them in nets, get them in a cooler, and then we can identify the sh, weigh and measure them. It gives a sense of what the sh community looks like before the construction of these habitat im-
Past sh surveys have turned up problems, Parman said.
“We’ve been coming out here every fall for the past couple of years, and actually
in some years prior to that too, and we found decreases in the sh population,” he said. “We’d like to see more diversity of species, overall, greater sh abundance. We’ll come back after construction next fall and nd more sh and more species of sh, especially for the native sh that we’re interested in.”
Parman said the completed phases span from 88th Avenue down to 144th Avenue along the South Platte.
“It’s how we’re really focused on this constructive ripple in the project, because we found in our previous phases, it gives
you a lot of bang for your buck in terms of creating sh habitat,” Parman said. “Certain species of sh, native sh, really love those constructed ripples.”
He said scientists hope to see increases in these lesser-known species, including Longnose Dace, Sand Shiners, and Green Sun sh. ey are small, but they’re really important for a healthy ecosystem, he said. Parman said if people try to sh in this river, areas, where there will be signs of construction and closed areas with signs to ensure everything is safe and directing people to alternative access areas.
allieventcenter.com
THIESEN Jeanette Larue (Bridgman) Thiesen September 17, 1951 - September 28, 2024
It is with great sadness that the family of Jeanette Larue iesen announces her passing on September 28, 2024 in Summerville, SC at the age of 73.
She is survived by her three daughters: Melanie J. Newton, Adele J. Newton and Ashley B. iesen (Blaine Crevar); her granddaughters Kara Newton, Ava, Anya & Harper Crevar; her sisters Jennifer Daly and Julia Hjelm; and many nieces and nephews. She is also survived by her former husbands: John Newton and Ronald iesen.
Jeanette was born on September 17, 1951 in
Albuquerque, NM to (late) Flora June Kelder and (late) Gene Bridgman. While growing up and as a young adult, she moved all over the United States but settled down and chose to raise her children in Fort Lupton, CO. She moved to the Charleston, SC area to be closer to her youngest daughter, Ashley, and her family, which is where she lived her remaining years. Jeanette will be forever remembered for her kind and gentle nature, her love of children and animals, her passion for justice, her generous heart and her ability to make everyone around her feel seen and special. She will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved her.
Metro Water Recovery sta ers conduct regular surveys to determine the fish populations of the South Platte River.
Jordan Parman performs a Macroinvertebrate collection on South Platte at 120th in 2021. Those tests have led to new improvements coming the river. COURTESY PHOTOS
Dress to e x p r e s s
Denver-area costume shops foster community of creativity
BY ELISABETH SLAY
Acolorful array of Denver-area costume shops intertwines creativity and camaraderie, with each shop revealing its own distinct charm. From elaborate corsetry to an immersive haunted house and engaging games and puzzles, these shops go beyond competition and collaborate to foster a community centered on self-expression and oneof-a-kind experiences.
The Wizard’s Chest: ‘An experience’ Kevin Pohle, co-owner of the Wizard’s Chest in Denver, describes his shop as “an experience.”
Pohle said the store at 451 Broadway, which is decked out from top to bottom with magical trinkets, towering skeletons
and quirky long-bearded wizards, is always changing and has something for everyone.
“It’s not supposed to be a retail store,” Pohle said. “It’s supposed to be a place to come and hang out and see cool things and pick up cool things and then feel the need to take something home that you didn’t know you needed until you saw it.”
For 20 years, Pohle and his partners David Boyce and Brad Brickley have owned and operated Wizard’s Chest, which originally opened in 1983.
Wizard’s Chest is divided into two oors. e rst oor contains costumes, accessories, decorations and more, while the bottom oor provides a plethora of puzzles and games for people of all ages.
Over the years, Pohle said, the store has leaned into providing clothing that people can wear in their regular wardrobe.
“So it’s not just a costume, it’s a piece
that has more than one use,” Pohle said. “It’s a piece that’s versatile.”
When comparing Wizard’s Chest to other local shops, Pohle said his store has its own unique aspects, as do others in the community.
“ e thing about costume stores in Denver is we’re all cooperatively competitive,” Pohle said. “We don’t really compete with each other. We try to send people to each other. Disguises in Lakewood does rentals, which we don’t do. Reinke Brokers in Littleton does a haunted house, which we don’t do.”
It’s their di erences that allow the shops to work together.
“So there’s no need for us to ght with each other,” Pohle said. “We keep it as a local community.”
For more information visit wizardschest.com.
Crimson Rose Masquerade: ‘Out of a fairytale’
Also on Broadway in Denver is Crimson Rose Masquerade, a “high-end costume boutique that treats dressing up as an expression of self-love,” said owner Kitty Krell.
e frocks that her clientele chooses to express themselves look as though they’ve “stepped out of a fairytale” and include Renaissance dresses, pirate coats and more.
“It’s alternative chic, Ren faire chic … it’s for anyone who ever felt like they didn’t quite t in,” Krell said.
Also among the garments in the shop at 1456 S. Broadway are Krell’s own creations, including intricate corsets for many occasions. She began her craft at the age of 15 after needing a corset for her costume during her rst job at a Renaissance festival.
“So I went, ‘How hard can it be to make one?’” Krell said. “I had just recently started sewing, and I think because I didn’t know what I was trying to do was impossible, I did it, and since then, I’ve continued to make corsets.”
Krell said she also makes corsets for those with certain medical needs after starting to wear them for herself about eight years ago, to address a connective tissue disorder called Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.
“It’s great for scoliosis, for EhlersDanlos, for anxiety, because it can act as a human thunder jacket,” Krell said. “I do a lot of work with people who have very physical jobs and are constantly lifting and messing up their backs.”
For Krell, one of the best aspects of her job is knowing that her pieces are making people happy.
“It’s one of my favorite feelings to know that I contributed something that makes someone’s quality of life better,” Krell said.
Krell said she enjoys being a part of the costume shop community in Denver because of its collaborative nature.
“It’s a bunch of weirdos who found this world, or found each other in this world that doesn’t really want us to,” Krell said. “Denver is especially great for that because Denver is very live-andlet-live.”
For more information, visit crimsonrosemasquerade.net.
Photo above: Denver resident Anthony Coularelli tries on a rabbit hat and sunglasses at Wizard’s Chest. Coularelli needed a quick costume for an Alice in Wonderland themed event and said Wizard’s Chest is a great local place for costumes. PHOTO BY ELISABETH SLAY
Reinke Brothers Store: A haunted house
From aliens greeting people at the door to skeletons serenading customers, Reinke Brothers Store sells experiences, said Greg Reinke, who co-owns the store with his brother Chris Reinke.
Located at 5663 S. Prince St. in Littleton, Reinke Brothers contains a long and immersive haunted house lled with di erent scenes and animatronics concocted by Greg Reinke and his sta .
Originally, Reinke said his haunted houses — which he and his brother began when they were young — were gory and quite scary for children, but as time went on, he realized that wasn’t the best way to intrigue them.
“People that get the living tar scared out of them when they’re little don’t enjoy my particular venue when they get older,” Reinke said. “So I said, ‘How can we correct this?’ And that’s when we stopped doing chainsaws and knives and blood and guts and torsos ripped in half and we made it more of an entertainment haunted house.”
e Reinke Brothers Store now o ers tours of the house with the lights on for children and others who have a hard time going through the attraction when it’s in full swing.
Along with the haunted house, Reinke’s shop is also jam-packed with wigs, masks, makeup, props, decorations and anything else one might need to create the perfect costume or their own spooky experiences.
While he has a plethora of items, Reinke said his shop also takes part in the camaraderie of similar establishments in the Denver area.
“If we’re out of something, I’ll call over at (Disguises), or I’ll call over at Wizard’s Chest and ask that, and then I send my customers there,” Reinke said. “And I think the customers appreciate that also. ese are local guys. So we protect each other.”
Going forward, Reinke hopes to continue making people happy with costumes and haunted houses for as long as possible.
“I plan to be dead back there someday, just draped over a gravestone or a prop or something,” the 65-yearold said. “A lot of people want to retire to enjoy the end or whatever. What would I retire to? I’d make monsters for a living and most people retire to do what I’m doing.”
For more information on the shop visit reinkebrothers.com.
Disguises: ‘Three to four businesses under one roof’ Disguises in Lakewood is another costume shop in the area that o ers a multitude of costume options, including makeup, wigs and more.
“We also have the other side of our retail store, which is our Et Cetera boutique,” co-owner Todd Belanger said. “ is has formal wear, retro dresses, Renaissance dresses, stockings, sexy wear, corsets, shoes, goth clothing, steampunk, clothing, festival and rave wear. Many people in the community shop for everyday clothing here all year.”
Belanger said his store at 10500 W. Colfax Ave. in Lakewood also has one of the largest stocks of rental clothes in the nation.
Belanger owns the store with his wife, Michelle Belanger.
“ e store was started by another individual in the mid-’90s and it was successful and grew out of its original location and moved into a larger location,” Belanger said. “I actually was a nurse by training and so is my wife and we began buying small rental houses, but after owning a few of those, I quickly realized that I wanted to replace my income as a nurse.”
Belanger and his wife were able to purchase their business, which they love.
“We currently have over 200 active vendors that we purchase products from represented in the store. It does make the store very unique and it makes shopping here like a treasure hunt because you’re never quite sure what you’re going to nd,” Belanger said.
Belanger describes the “caddie shack community” in Denver as unique and varied and explained it’s important to have shops such as Disguises because they’re establishments that make “the world a richer and less boring place.”
Going forward, Belanger said he hopes people will continue to visit Disguises throughout the year.
For more information on Disguises visit disguisescostumes.com.
Business owner and seamstress Kitty Krell works on a corset in her high end costuming boutique Crimson Rose Masquerade located on Broadway in Denver.
PHOTOS BY ELISABETH SLAY
Co-owner of Reinke Brother Store in Littleton Greg Reinke laughs with first time customers as he shows them one of his favorite animatronics.
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BRIEFS
RTD announces Zero Fare to Vote days
e Regional Transportation District is o ering one more Zero Fare to Vote day to encourage voter participation in the upcoming general election.
Services were free on Oct. 29, National Vote Early Day. ey will also be free on Nov. 5, Election Day. e move is in collaboration with the Colorado County Clerks Association.
Zero Fare to Vote removes a cost barrier for people who travel on RTD services to cast their ballot. RTD’s Board of Directors approved Zero Fare to Vote as a permanent fare change earlier this year.
Voters can nd their nearest ballot drop box or voting center by visiting GoVoteColorado. gov, and use RTD’s trip planner and click the “Vote” icon to nd the best route to a designated drop box or polling location. Customers can further lter the trip planner results by selecting “Drop Box”, “Early Voting” and “Open Now.” To nd the desired voting or drop box location, customers can then click the “Plan Trip” button.
ticipate in Brighton’s Name that Snowplow contest. Elementary school students who reside in Brighton are invited to submit their best and most creative name ideas for the City’s eight snowplows for the 2024-2025 snow season.
Students grades K-5 can submit their best names at www. brightonco.gov/snowplowcontest by Nov. 10. Winners will have an opportunity to take a photo with the snowplow they named and be recognized at a Brighton City Council meeting. Winners will be noti ed by Nov. 20.
On Nov. 5, transit customers can use RTD services at no cost to reach their polling location to vote in person or drop their ballots in a drop box. Eligible voters can register and vote up to and including Election Day. Inperson voting on Election Day, Nov. 5, will be available 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Eligible voters must have returned their ballot to a drop box or voting center, or be in line to vote by 7 p.m., for their ballot to be counted.
40th Turkey Trot Run/Walk set for Nov. 23
e City of Brighton’s Parks and Recreation Department will host the 40th Annual Turkey Trot Run/Walk Race at 8:30 a.m. Nov. 23, at the Brighton Recreation Center pavilions located at 555 N. 11th Avenue.
To read the contest rules and submit a name, please visit www. brightonco.gov/snowplowcontest.
Benedict Park renovations ongoing
Renovations at Benedict Park at 1855 Southern St. are underway, resulting in limited public access to sections of the park through June 2025.
e construction project will add a variety of amenities and upgrades, including two new playgrounds, a new irrigation system, a skate park expansion, new shelters, new lighting, supplemental landscaping, and a walking trail on the east end of the park.
e 5K run/walk is a Bolder Boulder qualifying race and will award rst, second and third place winners in each age division.
Early bird entry fees are $35 for adults and $25 for youth and seniors. Race day entry fees are $40 for adults and $30 for youth and seniors. Entry fees will include a t-shirt, breakfast, awards, prizes and drawings. Please register as soon as possible to guarantee a shirt. To register, call 303-6552200 or visit brightonco.gov/turkeytrot/.
Image Summit Youth Leadership Conference registration open
Brighton Youth Services will host the Image Summit Youth Leadership Conference on Nov. 5 & 6 at Riverdale Regional Park, 755 Henderson Road. e Summit is open to Colorado youth in grades 5 - 12. is two-day summit will feature keynote speakers, engaging workshops ranging from art to diversity, an opportunity to interact with elected o cials from across the state, an American Ninja Warrior obstacle course, a food truck alley (all food included with registration fee), networking and more.
e goal of the youth conference is to empower youth, build con dence, teach leadership, and inspire young leaders to use their voices to positively impact their communities.
e cost to attend is $25. Registration is now available at brightonimagesummit.org and early registration is recommended.
Museum volunteers
e Brighton City Museum needs volunteers to help with visitors, research, and collection project-based duties. Call Bill Armstrong, museum specialist, at 303-655-2288.
submit a report directly to the police department from their smartphone or computer. It can be used to report criminal tampering, identity theft, lost property, theft, vandalism, and other matters.
All cases led using the online reporting system will be reviewed by a police sergeant. is tool can only be used when the incident is not an emergency; no one was injured, no known suspects, and no physical evidence. All incidents that do not meet this criteria should be reported by calling our non-emergency line at 303-288-1535. Emergencies should always be reported by calling 911.
e parking lot along Southern Street will be closed but access to drive through is permitted. Portions of the parking lot adjacent to the splash pad at the northwest corner of the park will be closed. School access will be allowed.
e path along the east side of the park will be closed in sections and the skate park, Disc golf course, playground and all shelters will be closed. Sports programming will be relocated to other parks during the work.
Eye for Art program announces artist call for 2024 Fall/Winter Showcase
e City of Brighton Eye for Art program seeks artists to place pieces in the 2024 Fall/Winter Showcase. e show will take place at City Hall, 500 S. 4th Avenue. e deadline to submit artwork for consideration is Nov. 4.
Early packet and bib pick-up will be available from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Nov. 20 and Nov. 21 at the Brighton Recreation Center. ose who have not registered by Nov. 17 will have to wait to pick up their bib on the day of the race.
For more information regarding this event, please contact Jacquelyn Ramsey, Race Coordinator, at 303-655-2221.
Time to name the snowplows
Internships available with Adams County
Are you interested in learning more about working for local government? Adams County currently has paid internships available.
Opportunities include a cook ($16.48/hour) and classroom aide ($15.62/hour) for Head Start, an IT intern ($17/hour) for the Sheri ’s O ce, and a Healthy Farmers Market intern ($17/hour).
ese opportunities are available through the Workforce & Business Center. ose interested should work with their Business Center case manager or call 720.523.6898 to get established with a case manager.
Museum volunteers
Get trained to administer Naloxone e Adams County Health Department’s Harm Reduction Team will supply all Automated External De brillator cabinets in government buildings with Naloxone this month. In addition to this resource, the team will o er Overdose Prevention Training for all sta interested in learning how to prevent, identify, and reverse an opioid overdose. Naloxone will be made available to take home after these trainings. If you have any questions about the training or other resources, contact our Harm Reduction team at 303-363-3077 or by email: harmreduction@ adcogov.org
Block Party trailers return
Unincorporated Adams County residents can apply and reserve a complimentary Block Party trailer for their next event. e Block Party Trailer is intended to build and strengthen neighborhoods in Adams County. e Neighborhood Services division in the Community Safety and Well-Being Department administers the program on a rst-come, rst-served basis. For more information, go to https://adcogov.org/block-party, call 720 523-6465 or email blockparty@adcogov.org
e Eye 4 Art show is a threemonth showcase from Nov. 18 through Feb. 21, 2025. Artwork may include, but is not limited to oil, acrylic, watercolors, graphite drawings, photography, fused glass, pottery, computer painting, mixed media, jewelry, glass, and sculptures. Submissions must be entered by the Nov. 4 deadline. Artists who have shown their pieces during the summer should collect them by Nov. 1. Pieces selected for the fall should also be delivered by that date.
e Brighton City Museum needs volunteers to help with visitors, research, and collection project-based duties. Call Bill Armstrong, museum specialist, at 303-655-2288.
Water audit program
e city of Brighton and Resource Central teamed up to provide a free water audit for businesses and homeowner associations. e program aims to help residents and cities increase water use e ciencies and reach conservation goals. Call 303-999-3824 or visit https://www.brightonco. gov/589/Water-Audit-Program
‘Taking No Chances’ e 17th Judicial District Attorney’s O ce and e Link, a community resource and assessment center in ornton, o er free, 10-week programs to families of Adams County teenagers to help develop personal and interpersonal drug-resistance skills. Sessions are from 5:30 to 6;30 p.m. Wednesdays. Call 720-292-2811.
Legal self-help clinic
Elementary school students are once again invited to par-
e art is scheduled to be hung by Nov. 16 and the city hosts a reception for artists on Nov. 22. For more information, please visit the Eye for Art web page, or contact David Gallegos, Arts and Culture Coordinator, at dgallegos@brightonco.gov, or 303655-2176.
Brighton Police now o ers online reporting
Brighton Police Department has launched an online reporting system at its newly updated website at www.brightonco.gov/ police.
e online reporting system allows community members to
e Access to Justice Committee hosts a free, legal self-help clinic from 2 to 3:30 p.m. on the rst Tuesday of every month. e program is for customers without legal representation who need help navigating through legal issues.
Volunteer attorneys are available to discuss family law, civil litigation, property, and probate law.
Call 303-405-3298 and ask for a Legal Self-Help Clinic at least 24 hours before.
Denver, Je co schools to keep some COVID-related initiatives
Federal pandemic relief is ending but some programs will stay
BY BY YESENIA ROBLES CHALKBEAT COLORADO
As the deadline approaches to spend federal pandemic relief for schools, Colorado districts face a decision: Which programs and sta funded by that aid will they keep?
Colorado got nearly $1.2 billion in the third and nal round of pandemic relief funding, known as Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief III, or ESSER III. e state divided most of that amount — about $1 billion — among its 178 school districts, giving more money to districts serving students with higher needs.
e federal government intended ESSER to help address the academic impact of lost learning time during the pandemic, and districts had to set aside a portion of the funds speci cally for that purpose. But local o cials had wide discretion to spend it on other things too.
Colorado’s two largest districts, 88,000-student Denver Public Schools and 76,000-student Je co Public Schools, got $209.6 million and $68.2 million, respectively. School districts must allocate their ESSER III money by Sept. 30 and spend it by January. However, states can ask the federal government for an extension to the spending deadline on behalf of districts and schools, and Colorado ofcials have indicated that they will. Je co will continue spending on new curriculum, safety
Once ESSER runs out, Je co Public Schools will spend $9 million to continue some of the work previously funded by the federal COVID relief money. Je co ofcials said they’ve tracked outcomes and feel con dent that they’re maintaining the most important things.
“Overall the things that were working, I think we found ways to continue to sustain them or sustain them in maybe a little di erent way,” said Dr. Kym LeBlancEsparza, deputy superintendent of Je co schools, who oversaw the spending of ESSER.
Among the items Je co will maintain spending on: security personnel for middle schools, some training for support positions including paraprofessionals, mental health telehealth appointments for students through Hazel Health, a continued rollout of new curriculum including for reading in secondary schools, and an increased daily rate for substitute teachers.
District leaders said the increased substitute teacher pay really helped. When the sub pay went up, so did the number of teacher vacancies that were lled by substitutes.
Denver to continue spending on summer programs, mental health
Denver Public Schools is spending $7.1 million to continue programming that’s been funded by ESSER. at includes some after-school and summer programming, as well as the salaries of about 40 sta who work in those programs. It also includes the salaries of 14 additional mental health workers and ve additional armed safety patrol o cers who respond to emergency calls.
“We are grateful for the money, and we did receive a lot of money,” said Katie Hechavarria, the Denver district’s executive director of nance. Losing the ESSER funding, she said, “will be felt across the district,” but added that o cials have planned for it.
Deep sta cuts not expected in many districts
Nationwide, district o cials have worried about the e ect of the so-called “ESSER cli ” when the relief money runs out. One of the most-feared outcomes has been that schools would have to lay o teachers and other sta they’d hired with ESSER money.
Chalkbeat submitted open records requests to 15 school districts across Colorado and found that most are not eliminating positions as a result of ESSER’s expiration. Many districts have found ways to keep most, if not all, positions that had been funded by the aid.
Denver will lose the equivalent of about 16 full-time positions previously funded by ESSER, as well as another eight temporary positions that were expected to end anyway. e district had the equivalent of more than 11,700 full-time positions last year.
Je co will lose about 34 individuals whose jobs were funded by ESSER. People in most other positions that were cut were able to ll other roles, or were only working a handful of hours to supplement their existing district role, district leaders said.
High-dosage tutoring will end in Je co
One thing Je co will eliminate is highdosage tutoring. e district used ESSER to pay for more than 100 part-time tutoring positions that will now be cut. But ofcials said many of those positions were lled by teachers who will continue to work for the district.
Although the district is cutting tutoring, leaders said research showed that the resources tutors were using may still deliver results even without the additional sta . Students who used the Lexia Core5 program made signi cant gains, according to district data.
Je co is also cutting back on its ESSERfunded expansion of summer programming due to sta ng challenges. And it will no longer pay teachers and sta for training time outside of the school day as opposed to pulling them during the school day, an arrangement that LeBlanc-Esparza said the district would have
Denver will cut bonuses for hard-to-sta positions
Meanwhile, Denver will no longer o er ESSER-funded hiring bonuses for hardto-sta positions, such as nurses. e district will also increase the fees some families pay for its before and after school program, called Discovery Link. ESSER had allowed the district to hold the fees steady.
ere may be other cuts in Denver. e district doled out a signi cant chunk of its ESSER dollars directly to schools over the course of the three previous school years. Many schools initially spent it on teachers, paraprofessionals, and other sta . But in an attempt to wean schools o the federal relief money before it expired, DPS reduced its direct-to-school payments over those three years.
By 2023-24, DPS’ 150 district-run schools were funding the equivalent of 63.5 full-time positions with ESSER money, an average of less than half a position per school, Hechavarria said. She didn’t know how many schoolbased positions were cut this school year because of the expiration of federal aid. ose decisions are made by principals who don’t di erentiate between ESSERfunded positions and other positions in their budgets, Hechavarria said.
“It’s di cult to attribute a change happening at a school just to stimulus dollars going away,” she said.
Yesenia Robles is a reporter for Chalkbeat Colorado covering K-12 school districts and multilingual education. Contact Yesenia at yrobles@chalkbeat.org. Reprinted with permission from Chalkbeat, a nonpro t news site covering educational change in public schools.
Colorado health o cials are considering their next steps as federal COVID funding nears its end.
Colored Halloween trick-or-treat buckets send mixed messages
National movement aims to create inclusion for all children, but some criticize it
BY HALEY LENA HLENA@COLORADOCOMMUNTIYMEDIA.COM
A jack-o’-lantern candy bucket is an essential when it comes to trick-or-treating. And through the years, the di erent colored candy buckets have taken on speci c meanings with a goal to bring awareness to various medical conditions. However, some of the movements have gained criticism.
e idea of inclusion was the premise of the Blue Bucket for Autism , which stems from 2018 after a parent posted on Facebook that her autistic son would be trick-or-treating with a blue bucket. It ignited a national movement.
Movements aimed at bringing awareness are wonderful, said Keri Sawyer, a child therapist and owner of Bloom Child erapists in Parker. But, parents shouldn’t feel like they have to take part, she added.
“I don’t think that at any point a child or their parents should feel like they need to have a speci c color bucket or disclose any speci c information about their child in order to receive empathy and acceptance,” said Sawyer.
While the movement was created to promote awareness for trick-or-treaters with autism and those who are nonspeaking, some say that children shouldn’t have to “advertise” their medical diagnosis just to be included fairly. each other’s whole story, and that people can behave di erently for a lot of di erent reasons, and that we don’t get to set expectations for other people,” she said. “We don’t live in that ideal world yet.”
serves to participate in something fun,” said Vestal.
Jessica Vestal, whose son is nonverbal and has trouble performing tasks, has watched as adults have told her son, “no
Both Vestal and Yarbrough believe the movement was created with good intentions, but wonder why there needs to be a color-coded system to be accepting and inclusive of all abilities. Yarbrough added that displaying a child’s diagnosis has the potential to increase the risk that the child will be mistreated or bullied.
“I love when people choose to sit at the end of their driveway to hand out treats, since narrow walkways and steps to the front door are di cult to manage for those in wheelchairs or (those who have) mobility issues,” said Yarbrough.
Having worked with neurodivergent children, Sawyer has had parents ask her about the di erent colored buckets. She said it should be more about“if they would like to, not that they should have to — and let the child lead on that decision.
Similar to Bennet, Sawyer hopes that people answering doors will answer with empathy and a willingness to be accepting of all individuals and use Halloween as a time to show kindness to neighbors.
For three consecutive years, Sawyer participated in the Town of Parker’s Trunk or Treat event because she enjoys the opportunity to allow families to have a little more control of the environment. She appreciates the inclusivity that the rst hour of the event is sensory-friendly because it creates a safer and more accessible environment.
Whether a family chooses to carry a blue bucket to raise awareness of autism or if they feel uncomfortable with it, Sawyer encourages letting the child lead on how they want to do Halloween.
“ ere’s no wrong way of doing it,” said Sawyer. “So having a good time within your child’s capacity is really important.”
Other color meanings
Children may carry a di erent colored bucket because it’s their favorite color. But, these colors have taken on meanings. For example, pink for breast cancer awareness and red for driving under the in uence.
In 2012, after facing challenges due to
having epilepsy, a young boy in Connecticut wanted to raise awareness for the medical condition. He decided to paint a pumpkin purple and his family shared it on Facebook. With more than 3.4 million people living with epilepsy in the country, the initiative soon gained national recognition and the Epilepsy Foundation launched the Purple Pumpkin Project. Colored pumpkins can also be seen on people’s front porches to indicate to trick-or-treaters and their families that it is an inclusive home. Besides the traditional orange pumpkins, another common color to see is teal.
e Teal Pumpkin Project was created to promote food safety and inclusion of those who have food allergies.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in 13 children have a food allergy. erefore, having options other than candy helps children feel included. Non-edible treat ideas include Halloween erasers, novelty toys, vampire fangs, spider rings and bouncy balls.
e Food Allergy Research and Education nonpro t organization provides a map of houses that have non-food treats as well as free printable signs, ideas for non-food treats and facts about di erent types of candy.
ese can be found at tinyurl. com/5eac8f4c.
The di erent-colored Halloween candy buckets have taken on new meanings over the years in hopes to bring awareness to various medical conditions and diagnoses. SHUTTERSTOCK IMAGE
Blue Halloween candy buckets available at stores across the metro area. The Blue Bucket for Autism movement was started in 2018 and has gained national attention; however, some criticize it.
PHOTO BY HALEY LENA
Something wicked on Wadsworth
Westminster’s Frightmare Compound continues to scare people after 40 years
BY MONTE WHALEY MWHALEY@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Josh Holder doesn’t know exactly how many mutilated, decapitated and mentally diseased bodies are dangling or lurking inside the Frightmare Compound his family has run for the past 41 years.
His best guess is that about 20 or more poor, tortured souls inhabit the site’s wooden barn and other structures on the four-acre site that squats on 108th Avenue and Wadsworth Boulevard.
“ e bodies are all fake,” the 39-yearold Holder said.
“Mostly,” he added, with a quick smile.
An iconic Westminster landmark, the Frightmare Compound was started by his dad, Brad, a Halloween connoisseur and lover of horror movies, Holder said. He built Frightmare on old swamp land and began piecing together a haunted house for the metro area.
When his dad died in 1999, the family kept the compound and poured their creative energy into all things wicked to keep the compound and its terrifying attractions fresh and running.
“We always try and do something different than last year,” Holder said. “We want to keep things scary and memorable for everyone.”
e family attends Halloween conventions to keep up with the latest costumes
and trends. ey also travel, sometimes to Europe, for ideas. e compound’s haunted church which includes a small portal to hell, is a small replica of a church the family inspected on the British Isles.
e compound includes rusted pickups, mining equipment and – Holder’s favorite – old shovels that have done their fair share of digging. “I don’t know, I’ve just always liked shovels,” he said. ere is even an old Cessna, dropped into the compound to simulate an airplane crash.
All have been collected over the years by the Holders to add authenticity to every scene at the compound.
“You can’t just rest on your laurels,” Holder said. “ ere is always something new we can bring in to keep people really scared.”
Highly rated terror
Newcomers often join long-time patrons to the Frightmare site which consistently draws top-notch reviews.
A list published by eScareFactor. com in 2023 highlighted the six great haunted houses around Colorado, which included e Frightmare Compound.
Rated 8.56 of 10 in e Scare Factor’s 2022 review of the attraction, e Frightmare Compound scored the highest in the ‘customer service’ category of criteria, with the sta described as friendly and helpful, according to the Colorado Gazette.
don’t even make into the compound, Holder said. “ ey get totally psyched out. But we welcome them back if they want to return.”
While customer service was a leading factor in the high rating received by e Frightmare Compound, the haunted house scored well across the board –from costuming to entertainment to im-
Frightmare workers, including high school students and retirees, are schooled by an acting coach who teaches them how to be scary while also preserving their voices.
“If you are screaming at someone for more than three hours, that really puts a
and artifacts from classic horror movies, including Freddie Krueger and e Predator.
Holder admits he’s riding a popular wave around Halloween, with booming sales for costumes and scary movies. “I guess people just like that adrenaline rush of being scared,” Holder said. “It’s just something built inside our brains. It will be with us forever.”
The Frightmare Compound has terrified people for more than 40 years. Here, a masked driver taunts kids during the 2023 Arvada Harvest Festival parade. FILE PHOTO
Millions of aging Americans face dementia by themselves
BY JUDITH GRAHAM KFF HEALTH NEWS
Sociologist Elena Portacolone was taken aback. Many of the older adults in San Francisco she visited at home for a research project were confused when she came to the door. ey’d forgotten the appointment or couldn’t remember speaking to her.
It seemed clear they had some type of cognitive impairment. Yet they were living alone.
Portacolone, an associate professor at the University of California-San Francisco, wondered how common this was. Had anyone examined this group? How were they managing?
When she reviewed the research literature more than a decade ago, there was little there. “I realized this is a largely invisible population,” she said.
Portacolone got to work and now leads the Living Alone With Cognitive Impairment Project at UCSF. e project estimates that that at least 4.3 million people 55 or older who have cognitive impairment or dementia live alone in the United States.
About half have trouble with daily activities such as bathing, eating, cooking, shopping, taking medications, and managing money, according to their research. But only 1 in 3 received help with at least one such activity.
Compared with other older adults who live by themselves, people living alone with cognitive impairment are older, more likely to be women, and disproportionately Black or Latino, with lower levels of education, wealth, and home-
ownership. Yet only 21% qualify for publicly funded programs such as Medicaid that pay for aides to provide services in the home.
In a health care system that assumes older adults have family caregivers to help them, “we realized this population is destined to fall through the cracks,” Portacolone said.
Imagine what this means. As memory and thinking problems accelerate, these seniors can lose track of bills, have their electricity shut o , or be threatened with eviction. ey might stop shopping (it’s too overwhelming) or cooking (it’s too hard to follow recipes). Or they might be unable to communicate clearly or navigate automated phone systems.
A variety of other problems can ensue, including social isolation, malnutrition, self-neglect, and susceptibility to scams. Without someone to watch over them, older adults on their own may experience worsening health without anyone noticing or struggle with dementia without ever being diagnosed.
Should vulnerable seniors live this way?
For years, Portacolone and her collaborators nationwide have followed nearly 100 older adults with cognitive impairment who live alone. She listed some concerns people told researchers they worried most about: “Who do I trust? When is the next time I’m going to forget? If I think I need more help, where do I nd it? How do I hide my forgetfulness?”
Jane Lowers, an assistant professor at the Emory University School of Medicine, has been studying “kinless” adults
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in the early stages of dementia — those without a live-in partner or children nearby. eir top priority, she told me, is “remaining independent for as long as possible.”
Seeking to learn more about these seniors’ experiences, I contacted the National Council of Dementia Minds. e organization last year started a biweekly online group for people living alone with dementia. Its sta ers arranged a Zoom conversation with ve people, all with early-to-moderate dementia.
One was Kathleen Healy, 60, who has signi cant memory problems and lives alone in Fresno, California.
“One of the biggest challenges is that people don’t really see what’s going on with you,” she said. “Let’s say my house is a mess or I’m sick or I’m losing track of my bills. If I can get myself together, I can walk out the door and nobody knows what’s going on.”
An administrator with the city of Fresno for 28 years, Healy said she had to retire in 2019 “because my brain stopped working.” With her pension, she’s able to cover her expenses, but she doesn’t have signi cant savings or assets.
Healy said she can’t rely on family members who have troubles of their own. (Her 83-year-old mother has dementia and lives with Healy’s sister.)
e person who checks on her most frequently is an ex-boyfriend.
“I don’t really have anybody,” she said, choking up.
Denise Baker, 80, a former CIA analyst, lives in a 100-year-old house in Asheville, North Carolina, with her dog, Yolo. She has cognitive problems related to a stroke 28 years ago, Alzheimer’s disease, and serious vision impairment that prevents her from driving. Her adult daughters live in Massachusetts and Colorado.
“I’m a very independent person, and I nd that I want to do everything I possibly can for myself,” Baker told me,
months before Asheville was ravaged by severe ooding. “It makes me feel better about myself.”
She was lucky in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene: Baker lives on a hill in West Asheville that was untouched by oodwaters. In the week immediately after the storm, she lled water jugs every day at an old well near her house and brought them back in a wheelbarrow. ough her power was out, she had plenty of food and neighbors looked in on her.
“I’m absolutely ne,” she told me on the phone in early October after a member of Dementia Friendly Western North Carolina drove to Baker’s house to check in on her, upon my request. Baker is on the steering committee of that organization.
Baker once found it hard to ask for assistance, but these days she relies routinely on friends and hired help.
Her daughter Karen in Boston has the authority to make legal and health care decisions when Baker can no longer do so. When that day comes — and Baker knows it will — she expects her longterm care insurance policy to pay for home aides or memory care. Until then, “I plan to do as much as I can in the state I’m in,” she said.
Much can be done to better assist older adults with dementia who are on their own, said Elizabeth Gould, co-director of the National Alzheimer’s and Dementia Resource Center at RTI International, a nonpro t research institute. “If health care providers would just ask ‘Who do you live with?’” she said, “that could open the door to identifying who might need more help.”
KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism.
Denise Baker, a former CIA analyst, lives alone in a 100-year-old house in Asheville, North Carolina. She has cognitive problems related to a stroke 28 years ago, Alzheimer’s disease, and serious vision impairment. With help from a few artist friends, she throws ceramic pots about six days a week. “I’m a very independent person and I find that I want to do everything I possibly can for myself,” Baker says. “It makes me feel better about myself.”
LORENA RUSSELL FOR KFF
Thu 10/31
Halloween Biscuits and Gravy Breakfast @ 8:30am
Eagle Pointe Recreation Center, 6060 East Park‐way Dr., Commerce City. 303-289-3760
Sat 11/02
Adult Archery @ 10am Offsite, 6060 E Parkway Drive, Commerce City. 303-289-3760
Mon 11/04
Kidz Day Out: November Defy/Swim @ 9am
Bison Ridge Recreation Center, 13905 E. 112th Avenue, Commerce City. 303-289-3760
Boot Camp Nov @ 6pm Nov 4th - Nov 27th
The Grizzly Rose Halloween Ball @ 6pm / $24.15 Grizzly Rose, Denver
Fri 11/01
Art Garage Pop Ups @ 6pm
Eagle Pointe Recreation Center, 6060 E. Park‐way Dr., Commerce City. 303-289-3760
Dave Mensch - Floodstage Ale Works - Brighton, CO @ 7pm
Flood Stage Ale Works, 170 S Main St, Brighton
Fort Lupton Recreation & Parks Depart‐ment, 203 S Harrison, Fort Lupton. 303-8574200
Denver Nuggets vs. Toronto Raptors @ 8pm / $18-$1965 Ball Arena, Denver
Tue 11/05
Discovery Kids- November @ 2pm Nov 5th - Nov 21st
Bison Ridge Recreation Center, 13905 E. 112th Avenue, Commerce City. 303-289-3760
Denver Nuggets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder @ 7pm / $29-$3270 Ball Arena, Denver
Thu 11/07
Instrument Sale: Rockley Family Foundation @ 9am / Free Nov 7th - Nov 9th Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities, 6901 Wadsworth Blvd, Arvada. mturner@arvada center.org
Sabrina Carpenter @ 7pm Ball Arena, 1000 Chopper Cir, Denver
Eric Golden @ 8:30pm
Severo Y Grupo Fuego @ 7pm
True Crime and Teatime @ 5pm
Anythink Huron Street, 9417 Huron Street, Thornton. swhitelonis@anythin klibraries.org, 303-452-7534
Youth Climbing Nov ages 5-9 @ 10:30am Nov 7th - Nov 21st Fort Lupton Recreation & Parks Depart‐ment, 203 S Harrison, Fort Lupton. 303-8574200
Amazing Athletes @ 1pm Nov 7th - Nov 21st
Bison Ridge Recreation Center, 13905 E. 112th Avenue, Commerce City. 303-289-3760
Candlelight Dinner Theatre/Always Patsy Cline @ 5:15pm Fort Lupton Recreation & Parks Depart‐ment, 203 S Harrison, Fort Lupton. 303-8574200
American Legion, 5421 E 71st Ave, Commerce City Built to Last @ 8:30pm 100 �ickel, 100 �ickel St, Broom�eld
Sun 11/03
Turkey Trails- Denver @ 9am / $15-$40 Belmar Park, 801 S Yarrow St, Lakewood
The Stillery, 10633 Westminster Blvd #900, Westminster
Hamilton @ 2pm Buell Theatre, Denver
Colorado Avalanche vs. Seattle Kraken @ 7pm / $33-$999 Ball Arena, Denver
Wed 11/06
Chair Volleyball at Eagle Pointe 11/6 @ 10am
Eagle Pointe Recreation Center, 6060 E. Park‐way Dr., Commerce City. 303-289-3760
Loteria (11/6) @ 4pm
Eagle Pointe Recreation Center, 6060 E. Park‐way Dr., Commerce City. 303-289-3760
The Art Garage: Me and My Monster @ 4:30pm Nov 6th - Nov 20th
Bison Ridge Recreation Center, 13905 E. 112th Avenue, Commerce City. 303-289-3760
Eric Golden @ 6pm The Stillery, 10633 Westminster Blvd #900, Westminster
Ryan Hutchens at Rails End Beer Co @ 6pm
Rails End Beer Company, 11625 Reed Ct unit b, Broom�eld
Cookie Decorating for Beginners with The Sugared Canvas @ 6:30pm Bison Ridge Recreation Center, 13905 E. 112th Avenue, Commerce City. 303-289-3760
Compare hospital costs for specific procedures, insurance plans
BY JOHN INGOLD
THE COLORADO SUN
If you have a medical procedure on the horizon in Colorado, there’s a new way to shop around for the best price.
Gov. Jared Polis on Tuesday announced a new website —ColoradoHospitalPrices.com— where people can look up various procedures performed at a hospital and see a list of prices based on insurance carrier. e tool, then, potentially allows people with upcoming medical care to shop around and see which hospitals available in their insurance network can o er the lowest price. At a news conference, Polis said he hopes the website is the rst step in an e ort to apply market pressure to hospitals to reduce their prices. With health insurance premium prices set to rise for many next year, lowering what patients — and insurers — pay for health care is vital to reducing overall health care spending
“One of the key failings of the market is the lack of pricing transparency that doesn’t allow for the competition to work as it does in any normal market, to bring down costs,” he said. e website was launched in partnership with the national organization PatientRightsAdvocate.org. Colorado’s website is the rst of what the organization hopes will be a nationwide network
of price transparency tools for patients. e new website also adds to the list of local tools in Colorado that give patients the ability to search for hospital prices based on their insurance carrier — that last part is crucial because the prices that di erent insurers pay at the same hospital for the same procedure can vary widely, while not all hospitals will be covered under a speci c insurance plan.
Just last month, the state Department of Health Care Policy and Financing launched its price-lookup site, which relies on the same data as the website announced Tuesday but o ers a di erent search experience. e data comes from prices that hospitals are required to report under state and federal law. Polis said the connection to a national network of price-transparency sites made it worthwhile to launch a second website.
“ e more ways to make it easier for people to access that information, the better,” he said.
e Center for Improving Value in Health Care, a nonpro t that administers a state database for insurance claims information in Colorado, also has a shop-for-care tool. Unlike the other two websites, the CIVHC tool allows users to see quality and patient-experience scores for particular hospitals.
But all of these tools — as well as various other e orts to get hospitals to reveal their prices — come with challenges that may limit their value to consumers.
Hospital prices are not a basic menu. ere are thousands of billing codes for various procedures, and some procedures could be billed under di erent codes, depending on the hospital’s op-
erating standards. For instance, there are over 70 di erent billing codes for an X-ray, depending on the body part being scanned and the number of views needed.
Insurance companies, too, o er multiple plans, which may have di erent negotiated prices. So it’s not enough to know your carrier — you have to know the speci c plan name, too.
And, on top of that, di erent hospitals may use di erent names for things. As a portion of an instructional video Polis showed Tuesday explaining how to use the new website put it: “Remember the descriptions may be di erent as you shop across hospitals, because descriptions vary according to the hospital. Now look for your payer from the list. Payer names can also vary according to the hospital.”
Even more confusing, the prices presented for a speci c procedure may not be the “all-in” cost. In other words, there may be other charges for scans, anesthesia, medications and services not included in the procedure price.
Depending on the hospital and how they sta their doctors, patients may also receive a separate bill for physician charges that are not included in the hospital’s posted procedure price.
Polis acknowledged the complexities but said it’s important to start somewhere in making health care prices more transparent.
“It starts with saying, ‘Hey, why is my lung X-ray $600 at this hospital and $1,500 at this other hospital? e plan I have is paying twice as much as another plan,’” Polis said. “ at’s the kind of pressure we need to bring down rates.”
LET THE PROS HANDLE
Polis said insurance companies may also use the sites to see what their competitors are being charged and then use that as leverage in future negotiations with hospitals.
Cynthia Fisher, the founder of PatientRightsAdvocate.org, echoed Polis, saying the website is a rst step toward “the great reveal of the absurdity of price variation that’s going on across Colorado and across the country.”
“No one should have this level of price variation,” she said. 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.
A patient room on Lutheran Hospital, as showin during a July 20 open house.
PHOTO BY CORINNE WESTEMAN
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PUBLIC NOTICES
Estate of Faye Vienna Rogers, Deceased Case Number: 2024 PR 030701
All persons having claims against the abovenamed estate are required to present them to the Personal Representative or to the District Court of Adams County, Colorado on or before February 17, 2025, or the claims may be forever barred.
Richard B. Vincent #13843 1120 W. South Boulder Rd., Suite 101-A Lafayette, CO 80026
Legal Notice No. BSB3390
First Publication: October 17, 2024
Last Publication: October 31, 2024
Publisher: Brighton Standard Blade PUBLIC NOTICE
TO CREDITORS Estate of JODELL DEEANN KAUSE, JODELL D. KAUSE, JODELL KAUSE, Deceased Case Number: 2024 PR 30719
All persons having claims against the abovenamed estate are required to present them to the Personal Representative or
Publication: October 31, 2024
Publisher: Brighton Standard Blade PUBLIC NOTICE NOTICE TO CREDITORS Estate of Helen D. Cordova, Deceased Case Number: 2024 PR 14
All persons having claims against the abovenamed estate are required to present them to the Personal Representative or to the District Court of Adams County, Colorado on or before March 3, 2025, or the claims may be forever barred.
Veronica Cordova-Cloutier
Personal Representative 5133 Decatur Street Denver CO 80221
Legal Notice No. BSB3428
First Publication: October 31, 2024
Last Publication: November 14, 2024 Publisher: Brighton Standard Blade
NOTICE NOTICE TO CREDITORS Estate of Marie Therese Abu-Okal, Deceased Case Number: 2024 PR 260
All persons having claims against the abovenamed estate are required to present them to the Personal Representative or to the District Court of Adams County, Colorado on or before February 17, 2025, or the claims may be forever barred.
Mona M. Laing
Personal Representative 9525 Norfolk Ave Norfolk, VA 23503
Legal Notice No. BSB3402
First Publication: October 17, 2024
Last Publication: October 31, 2024 Publisher: Brighton Standard Blade PUBLIC NOTICE NOTICE TO CREDITORS Estate of DARYL W. HAERTHER, AKA DARYL WILLARD HAERTHER, AKA DARYL HAERTHER, Deceased Case Number: 2024 PR 30716
All persons having claims against the abovenamed estate are required to present them to the Personal Representative or to the District Court of Adams County, Colorado on or before February 17, 2025, or the claims may be forever barred.
Susan L. Losh
Personal Representative
c/o McClary, P.C., PO Box 597 Fort Morgan, CO 80701
Legal Notice No. BSB3401
First Publication: October 17, 2024
Last Publication: October 31, 2024
Publisher: Brighton Standard Blade
PUBLIC NOTICE
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
Estate of Kathryn Joyce Moore, Deceased Case Number: 2024 PR 247
All persons having claims against the abovenamed estate are required to present them to the Personal Representative or to the District Court of Adams County, Colorado on or before February 24, 2025, or the claims may be forever barred.
Danny D. Moore
Personal Representative 6463 Zang Ct Arvada, CO 80004
Legal Notice No. BSB3409
First Publication: October 24, 2024 Last Publication: November 7, 2024 Publisher: Brighton Standard Blade Public Notice
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
Estate of ROBERT EARL KINTER, a/k/a ROBERT E. KINTER, a/k/a ROBERT KINTER, a/k/a BOB KINTER, Deceased Case Number: 2024PR30761
All persons having claims against the above named estate are required to present them to the personal representative or to District Court of Adams County, Colorado on or before March 1, 2025, or the claims may be forever barred.
Joseph T. Pigman, Jr., Personal Representative 1345 Lupine Way Golden, Colorado 80401
Legal Notice No. BSB 3124
First Publication: October 31, 2024
Last Publication: November 14, 2024
Publisher: Brighton Standard Blade Children Services
Public Notice
DISTRICT COURT, ADAMS COUNTY, COLORADO Court Address: 1100 Judicial Center Drive Brighton, CO 80601
Child: Tanyilah Tillman
Respondents: Tatyana Green, John Doe
Special Respondents: Samaria Russell
Case Number: 23JV30149
Div: D ORDER OF ADVISEMENT
NOTICE TO THE ABOVE-NAMED RESPONDENTS,: Tatyana Green, John Doe
YOU ARE HEREBY ADVISED that the Petitioner, has filed a Motion to Terminate the Parent-Child Legal Relationship which now exists between you and the above-named child(ren);
YOU ARE FURTHER ADVISED that the Motion has been set for hearing in Division D of the District Court in and for the County of Adams, Adams County Justice Center, 1100 Judicial Center Drive, Brighton, Colorado, on the 11th day of December, 2024, at 9:00 am, at which time the Petitioner must prove by clear and convincing evidence that: 1) That the child(ren) was adjudicated dependent or neglected; 2) That an appropriate treatment plan has not reasonably been complied with by the parent or has not been successful; 3) That the parents are unfit; 4) That the conduct or condition of the parent or parents is unlikely to change within a reasonable time; no less
drastic alternative to termination exists, and 6)
That it is in the best interests of the child(ren) that the parent-child legal relationship which exists between the child(ren) and the respondent(s) be terminated and severed.
OR 1) That the child(ren) has been abandoned by parent or parents in that the parent or parents have surrendered physical custody for a period of six months and during this period have not manifested to the child(ren), the court or to the person having physical custody a firm intention to assume or obtain physical custody or to make permanent legal arrangements for the care of the child(ren); and 2) That it is in the best interests of the child(ren) that the parent-child legal relationship which exists between the child(ren) and the respondent(s) be terminated and severed.
OR 1) That the child(ren) has been abandoned by parent or parents in that the identity of the parent of the child is unknown and has been unknown for three months or more and that reasonable efforts to identify and locate the parent in accordance with section 19-3-603 have failed; and 2) That it is in the best interests of the child(ren) that the parent-child legal relationship which exists between the child(ren) and the respondent(s) be terminated and severed.
If a grandparent, aunt, uncle, brother, or sister of the child is requesting guardianship or legal custody of the child such request must be filed within twenty days of the filing of this motion.
YOU ARE FURTHER ADVISED that you have the right to have legal counsel represent you in all matters connected with the Motion to Terminate the Parent-Child Legal Relationship.
If you cannot afford to pay the fees of legal counsel, you are advised that the Court will appoint legal counsel to represent you at no cost to you upon your request and upon your showing of an inability to pay.
If you have any questions concerning the foregoing advisement, you should immediately contact either your legal counsel or the Court. Done and signed on: September 12, 2024
BY THE COURT:
District Court Judge/Magistrate
Legal Notice No. BSB3427
First Publication: October 31, 2024
Last Publication: October 31, 2024
Publisher: Brighton Standard Blade
###
Fort Lupton Press
Legals
City of Ft. Lupton
Public Notice
CITY OF FORT LUPTON NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
Notice is hereby given that the City of Fort Lupton is in receipt of an application for a Special Use Permit referred to as the K&B Construction SUP located at 6670 County Road 21 in Fort Lupton, Colorado, pursuant to the City of Fort Lupton Municipal Code Notice Requirements.
The public hearings are to be held before the Planning Commission on Thursday, December 12th, 2024, at 6:00 P.M., and before the City Council on Tuesday, January 7th, 2025, at 6:00 P.M. or as soon as possible thereafter.
The public hearings shall be held at the Fort Lupton City Hall, 130 S. McKinley Avenue in Fort Lupton, Colorado. In the event that the City Hall is closed at the time of the hearings, the public hearings will be held remotely, accessible to the public by phone and internet. Information on how to attend the hearings will be provided in the agenda as posted on the City’s website, www.fortluptonco.gov.
Further information is available through the City Planning and Building Department at (720) 928-4003.
ALL INTERESTED PERSONS MAY ATTEND.
LEGAL DESCRIPTION
LOT A OF RECORDED EXEMPTION NO. 1311-35-2 RE- 5005, RECORDED MAY 20, 2010 AT RECEPTION NO3694484, BEING A PART OF THE NORTHWEST ¼ OF SECTION 35, TOWNSHIP 2 NORTH, RANGE 67 WEST
OF THE 6TH P.M.,
Legal Notice No. FLP1148
First Publication: October 31, 2024
Last Publication: October 31, 2024
Publisher: Fort Lupton Press
Metro Districts
Budget Hearings
Public Notice
NOTICE AS TO PROPOSED 2025 BUDGET AND NOTICE CONCERNING 2024 BUDGET AMENDMENT
STONERIDGE METROPOLITAN DISTRICT
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a proposed budget for the ensuing year of 2025 has been submitted to the Board of Directors of the Stoneridge Metropolitan District and that such proposed budget will be considered for adoption at a public hearing during a special meeting of the Board of Directors of the District to be held Tuesday, November 12, 2024, at 1:00 PM via Zoom: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88291598643?pwd=xagzEC3mhvah1dbVIpZmrVbZVehlhk.1
Meeting ID: 882 9159 8643 Passcode: 720822
One tap mobile: +17207072699,,88291598643# US (Denver)
NOTICE IS FURTHER GIVEN that an amendment to the 2024 budget of the District, if necessary, may also be considered at a public hearing held during the above-referenced special meeting of the Board of Directors.
Copies of the proposed 2025 budget and, if necessary, the proposed amendment of the 2024 budgets are on file in the office of the District located at Community Resource Services of Colorado, LLC, 7995 East Prentice Avenue, Suite 103E, Greenwood Village, Colorado and are available for public inspection.
Any interested elector of the District may file or register any objections to the proposed 2025 budget and the proposed amendment of the 2024 budget at any time prior to the final adoption of said budget and proposed budget amendment by the governing body of the District.
BY ORDER OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE STONERIDGE METROPOLITAN DISTRICT /s/ COMMUNITY RESOURCE SERVICES OF COLORADO
Legal Notice No. FLP1150
First Publication: October 31, 2024
Last Publication: October 31, 2024
Publisher: Fort Lupton Press
Misc. Private Legals
Public Notice Legal Notice of Attempt to Settle Unclaimed Capital Credit Retirements
Commencing on October 31, 2024, and continuing through April 30, 2025, UNITED POWER, INC. (hereafter “United Power” or “the cooperative”), will make a final attempt to pay the unclaimed retirements of capital credits to its former members who were served by the cooperative prior to and through December 31, 2020. This notice does not apply to current United Power members. Representatives for the estates of deceased former members may also apply for unclaimed retired capital credits on behalf of the former member. Former members, or their representatives, who may be eligible to receive these unclaimed retired capital credits can access a list of eligible accounts at the cooperative’s website at www.unitedpower.com, or in person at United Power’s headquarters office located at 500 Cooperative Way in Brighton, Colorado.
Former members or their representatives who may be eligible to receive a payment of unclaimed retired capital credits must complete and submit an Unclaimed Retired Capital Credits Refund Request form (available at www.unitedpower.com) and verify all necessary information to ensure their eligibility for payment. A copy of the Unclaimed Retired Capital Credits Refund Request form may also be requested by emailing capitalcredits@ unitedpower.com or by calling United Power’s Member Services line at 303-637-1300. Submitting an Unclaimed Retired Capital Credits Refund Request form does not guar-
Denver’s tireless green chile tracker shares her spice advice
The chile queen behind DenverGreenChili.com dishes on her shopping strategies and more
BY KEVIN J. BEATY DENVERITE
Anita Edge was about 50 when she rst learned about Denver’s obsession with green chiles. She’d lived in the metro for a few years, and she quickly got up to speed.
“I drove down Federal, bought some chiles, was very happy with them,” she remembered. “ e next year, I went back to the exact same place: empty parking lot.”
A chile-shaped lightbulb appeared over her head.
“So I thought, I want to know exactly where I can go to get chiles. I thought, if I want to know this, other people do too,” she said. “ e idea was just: I’m going to slap a website up, and it’ll be a reference where people can nd out, ‘Where do you go buy great chiles?’”
us was born DenverGreenChili.com, a directory of roadside sellers and a celebration of cuisine with a kick. Edge has maintained the site for 20 years, driving around the city each year to catalog addresses, prices and varieties for anyone on the hunt.
e guide has remained relevant, especially since COVID, she said. A lot of operations closed or moved during those lockdown days. Since a lot of roast-
ers don’t pick up their phones, some gumshoeing is in order to nd out what’s available.
“Probably this weekend, I’ll do a whole bunch of driving around,” she told us last week.
We met Edge on Oct. 2 at the Morales Family Chile Store at 52nd Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard — a multi-generational roaster and one of her favorites — for a quick guide to the season.
But rst: Is it chile or chili?
is has been a bone of contention in the pedantic world of journalism, so much so that the Associated Press speci cally called it out.
“It’s ‘chile’ and ‘chiles’ for any of a variety of spicy peppers or the sauces or gravies derived from them,”the AP tweeted in 2018. “ e meat- and/or bean-based dish is ‘chili.’”
Merriam-Webster went deep on the history, and found this is actually way more complicated and interesting, with origins in the Aztec language Nahuatl. Edge con rmed most people around here use the “chile” spelling for the produce, but she said local vendors use both spellings.
DenverGreenChili.com uses the “i,” but typing an “e” instead will still take you to Edge’s site.
“Actually, I have both domain names,” she told us.
How to chile, according to Edge: You could start at her website, or you could just do what she did 20 years ago: Drive Federal and Sheridan boulevards until you see a tent, a sign and, maybe, some ames.
Roasters have spread out over the years, Edge said, though the city’s west
side is still a hot spot.
Next, select your variety. It’s not as simple as Hatch vs. Pueblo, the sort-of rivalry between New Mexico and Colorado. You can get Anaheim peppers grown in both states, for example, and sellers may have di erent heat levels across the same varieties.
When selecting, prioritize your heat tolerance, Edge said. You might ask vendors for help.
“I like some spicy dishes, but not generally knock-your-socks o spicy,” she said.
Edge likes Big Jims, which are avorful and not too hot, and Sandias for when she wants more of a kick. She likes poblanos for stu ng. She generally stays away from the Dynamites — those, she said, are dangerously spicy.
Next comes roasting, which is good for avor but also more practically about stripping thick outer skins from these fruits (that’s right, they’re fruits) before they get to a kitchen.
Edge has a roaster at home, but she usually lets vendors do that part.
“ ey do a great job,” she said, “and propane costs money!”
Vendors then stu freshly roasted chiles into special plastic bags that don’t melt in the heat. ey seal the bags to let the peppers steam; Edge said you should keep the bag sealed for at least an hour after purchase.
Once the steaming has concluded, you can strip o the rest of that outer skin and get cooking, or toss your charred chiles into a freezer for the winter. Some people like to keep the skins on frozen chiles as a “ avor saver.” Edge doesn’t like to put o the peeling — she doesn’t want any delays when the time to thaw out arrives.
For Edge, the website is a labor of love. It’s been a couple decades since Denver chiles rst entered her life. She’s amassed dozens of recipes over those years, and her friends and family have come to expect something spicy from her when they get together.
ough DenverGreenChili.com has brought in some money over the years, it was never really meant to be a business. Instead, it was the thrill of the chile hunt, and the joy of getting to know people, that’s kept her dedicated to this project for so long.
“I’m also — it’s a part of the community,” she told us. “ ese are my friends.” is story is from Denverite, a Denver news site. Used by permission. For more, and to support Denverite, visit denverite. com.
Anita Edge, the mind behind denvergreenchili. com, stands under the big tent at the Morales Family Chile Store, at 52nd Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard. Oct. 2, 2024.
PHOTO BY KEVIN J. BEATY, DENVERITE