Fort Lupton Press February 20, 2025

Considering Main Street options

Council hears ideas for making downtown a public realm

BY SCOTT TAYLOR

City Councilors were intrigued by ideas they heard Feb. 12 to make the downtown area, especially the Main Street-Bridge Street intersection, friendlier to pedestrians — as long as it’s not too expensive.

e three plans presented looked at ways to make the area more walkable, removing some on-street parking and widening sidewalks.

Two plans called for making Main Street a one-way street — one a southbound one-way street from North Cabbage Avenue to Egbert Street and another that would have one-way tra c heading north between Bush Street to Bridge and south from Bridge Street to North Cabbage.

Councilor Tom Green said he was concerned that a narrower

Main Street would hurt downtown businesses, making it more di cult for delivery vehicles to get downtown.

“A lot of this stu would have us restricting the ow of tra c getting to some of these businesses — unless you really know what you are doing,” Green said. “Frankly, I prefer option four right now, which is doing nothing.”

Consultant Ryan Sotirakis, with landscape architects Dig Studio, said the plan is to begin presenting the plans to residents in March, with a nal recommendation going to the City Council in April.

Sotirakis began working with tra c consultants and the city planning sta in November, saying several intersections in the neighborhood are inconvenient and unsafe for people not traveling by car, especially along Main Street’s intersections at North Cabbage, Bridge Street and the three-way intersection with Bush and First Avenue. e goal would be to make the neighborhood a public realm made for people.

“We are also looking at ways to reroute the truck tra c that cur-

rently goes through the downtown,” he said. “Its going to be hard to make it a nicer place to be and to linger with all the trucks that are going through.”

ey also counted parking spaces in the area block by block, nding that the area has 700 public parking spaces, not counting private spaces. Of those public spaces, 22 would be considered accessible for people with handicaps.

“ ere probably could be a few more accessible spaces and the spaces could all be located in more convenient locations, closer to Main Street,” he said. “ ey are not always close to the core areas where they maybe should be. So it is a little bit of a mismatch, but we think there is ample public parking available, but there probably could be more accessible spaces.”

Three Main Street plans

All three ideas presented to the council called for eliminating some parking along Main Street from midblock between Bush and Bridge streets north to N. Cabbage.

Questions and answers about immigration law

Trump policies, raids around Denver area spark concerns

BY JENNIFER BROWN AND OLIVIA PRENTZEL THE COLORADO SUN

Questions are swirling about how the Trump administration’s new immigration policies will continue to a ect Colorado, especially after federal agents went door to door in Denver and Aurora on Feb. 5 detaining an unknown number of people. Could an immigration enforcement operation like the 2006 raid of a Greeley meatpacking plant that resulted in 262 arrests happen again? Would hiding in a church to avoid deportation, like Jeanette Vizguerra did during the last Trump administration, work now?

Here are answers to some major immigration questions.

e rst would keep two-way tra c along the road, one lane in either direction, but would e ectively double the sidewalk space on both sides, replacing the on-street parking there. at would remove 16 spaces on the street north of the Bridge Street intersection.

e second would convert Main Street to one-way tra c headed towards Bridge Street from the north and the south — northbound between Bush and Bridge and southbound from N Cabbage to Bridge. at plan would preserve one side of onstreet parking in line with the ow of tra c and widen sidewalks slightly.

e third option would make Main Street a southbound oneway for its entire path through the downtown, with on-street parking on the west side of the street and slightly wider sidewalks. N. Cabbage Street would become a dedicated one-way road between Egbert and its intersection with Main Street. and would get a new tra c signal.

WESTMINSTER WINDOW

Can local law enforcement arrest someone for their immigration status?

No. Under Colorado law passed in 2019, local law enforcement o cers are not allowed to make an arrest or detain a person based solely on their immigration status or an ICE request.

ey also are barred under state law from notifying ICE about the immigration status of someone in their custody. However, if law o cers arrest someone who has an ICE detainer, they can notify ICE when

City Councilors heard three ideas to take some that tra c o of the street and make it more pedestrian friendly, all involving removing some of the onstreet parking along Main Street.

PHOTO BY SCOTT TAYLOR

Adams County focus of Super Bowl DUI patrols

Adams County has experienced 85 fatal crashes and 380 crashes causing serious bodily injury since 2020

BY MONTE WHALEY MWHALEY@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Adams County drew plenty of attention over Super Bowl weekend from the Colorado State Patrol and Adams County sheri ’s deputies to discourage drunk driving during the big game.

e Colorado State Patrol Statewide DUI Team, Adams County Sheri ’s O ce and local state Troopers all took part in the saturation event in Adams County from Feb. 8 through early Monday morning, Feb. 10.

Trooper made 151 tra c contacts and arrested 18 impaired drivers during the operation. According to a State Patrol news release. ere was also one property damage crash involving an impaired driver.

e weekend operation was focused on deterring impaired driving on major tra c arteries and feeder roads in the county. While impaired driving was the focus, any dangerous driving behavior observed or reported was addressed, according to the news release.

e Patrol states that Adams

County has experienced 85 fatality crashes and 380 crashes that have caused serious bodily injury since 2020.

“ at’s 85 families who have been devastated by the loss of a loved one and at least 380 others who have su ered severe trauma; some life-altering,” the news release states.

Most of these incidents occurred on Friday and Saturday evenings, according to the Patrol.

e leading causes of these crashes were lane violations involving speeding, distracted driving and impaired driving, the Patrol states.

e agency is asking the public for assistance in reporting suspected impaired drivers.

e driver should be avoided by getting out of the way. en, contact the Colorado State Patrol after you pull over by calling *CSP (*277), 9-1-1, or 303-239-4522.

Be prepared to provide a vehicle description, license plate number, location and direction of travel, driver description and the driving behavior being demonstrated. All emergency calls can be made to 9-1-1.

Weld County man gets life sentence for killing mother

Andrew Sweatt sentenced for 2022 shooting

BY BELEN WARD BWARD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

e Weld County judge sentenced Andrew Sweatt, 28, to life in prison for killing his mother in 2022, according to a news release on February 28.

“ ere are no winners here today,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Michael Pirraglia said. “ is was a senseless act. It was a cold killing, and this defendant has had such a callous attitude about it all. Angela was so much to so many people. She cared and made places better. No family should be grieving the way this family is today.”

OPTIONS

look at. We need to have those safe areas for parking.”

Councilor Jim Snyder said his main concern is price. All three options look expensive, he said.

“Doggone it, I’m a realist and I don’t see anything here that doesn’t cost $100 million,” he said.

Sweatt was convicted of shooting his mother, Angela Eyestone, ten times with a handgun that he had purchased the day before he killed her. e Greeley police were called to the scene at her home on Dec. 8, 2022, and she was pronounced dead at a local hospital, according to o cials.

After an eight-day trial, on Feb. 5, the Weld County jury convicted Sweatt of rst-degree murder, according to o cials.

Weld County District Judge Vicente Vigil then sentenced Sweatt

to life without the possibility of parole in the Colorado Department of Corrections. Also, Deputy District Attorney Mikaela Fatzinger prosecuted the case.  “ ough the defense argued this was second-degree murder, there’s only one correct charge that was supported by the jury and that was rst-degree murder,” Pirraglia said. “I appreciate the jurors and appreciate their time and attention during this trial. Justice has been served today.”

“When I went over the slides earlier, I thought options two and three were both the same, but now that you’ve explained it I see the di erence a lot more,” Mayor Greg Mills said. “I’m not sure I’m a fan of the parking situation, but I would really entertain hearing from the business owners there before we make any decisions.”

Councilor Jan Pawlowksi said she agreed the downtown has ample parking, but most of it is a fair walk from local businesses.

“It typically is quite a distance for us elderly people,” she said. “So that’s what I’d have to

Sotirakis said the work would likely be much less expensive, replacing the on-street parking with planters, signs and lane markers.

“I mean, to have it look nice, with some nice decorative planters and outdoor seating and things like that, you might be looking at $15,000, $20,000?” Sotirakis said. “You’re not doing billions worth of work. You’re just giving people access to part of the street.”

Two of the three plans called for narrowing Main Street on either side of Bridge Street and making it a oneway road, using on street parking to widen the sidewalks. COURTESY CITY OF BRIGHTON

Passenger cars, parked vehicles and delivery trucks share Brighton’s Main Street at its Bridge Street intersection. City Councilors heard three ideas to take some that tra c o of the street and make it more pedestrian friendly.

Weld County man sentenced to life in prison. COURTESY WELD COUNTY WEBSITE

If You Don’t Find the Home You’re Looking for, We Have the Tools to Find On e That’s Not on the MLS

I took a class recently in which I learned to use a tool for searching public records in the same way that agents can search the MLS, using criteria that even the MLS doesn’t have. Now, if you can’t find a home for sale that meets your needs, we know how to conduct a search of all homes using those same criteria and reach out to the home owners to see if they would sell to you.

whether the home is owner occupied or a rental, and other criteria, including:

Deck

Swimming Pool

Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU)

By the way, this tool is only available to agents who are Realtors — that is, members of the local and national Realtor association. Only about half of Colorado’s licensed real estate agents are Realtors.

Here’s how it works. Although not always up-to-date because of homeowners who did not get permits for certain improvements to their homes, the public records do contain extensive information that can be searched using this tool.

We can search not only for style, square footage, bedrooms, bathrooms and lot size, but also for finished or unfinished basements,

Barn

Workshop

Corner lot or cul-de-sac

Fireplace

Estimated value

The estimated value is not the assessor’s valuation which is often inaccurate and, at any rate, not current. The assessor’s valuation is as of June 30th of the previous even numbered year (2024). This tool’s valuation is based on recent comparable sales from both the MLS and off-MLS transactions.

Last, but definitely not least, we can search for homes that were purchased over 5, 10, 15 or 20 years ago. Owners who purchased their home less than five years ago are least likely to be interested in selling, so we don’t bother. By the way, this same tool can also be used instead of the MLS itself to search MLS listings using those same search criteria above, many of which are not available on MLS

searches. Also, we can add any other search criteria that is important to you, not just the ones listed above, using a key word search. These can include anything — sauna, walk-in bathtub, or you-name-it (literally).

Another important criterion for any buyer is location. You can specify any area, city or subdivision — or multiple areas and subdivisions.

So, let’s say, hypothetically, that you would like us to solicit owners of two-story homes with Littleton addresses but not in Douglas County that were purchased over 10 years ago. The home must have 3-4 bedrooms and 2 or more bathrooms, and it must have a 3-car garage, a finished basement and a workshop. You will consider homes with a valuation up to $900,000. The house should be not more than 30 years old, and it must be owneroccupied.

Working with those criteria, we come up with an Excel spreadsheet which includes the address and name of the owner. Using a separate app, we could add to the spreadsheet the landline and cell number of each owner .

Using a mail-merge program, we could send individually printed letters in individually printed envelopes saying that we have a

Have You Heard of ‘Pig Butchering’? It the Latest, Most Dangerous Kind of Scam

We all know someone who has been scammed. My own sister lost $15,000 to a scammer. Since starting this column/ad in 2003, I have warned readers at least ten times about rental scams, and a few months ago I described how a scammer listed a parcel of land he didn’t own with us, and we only found out that was the case when the title company sent a FedEx letter to the owner of record to verify the transaction before it was “sold” to a neighbor.

In my April 6, 2017, column I wrote about a Golden man whom I met because he wanted to buy a million-dollar property once his “inheritance” arrived from his Nigerian scammer. I couldn’t convince him he was being scammed, and he died penniless and homeless, still clinging to his dream.

You and those you know probably have your own stories about scammers.

Recently I came across of an 8-part podcast by Economist Podcasts called “Scam, Inc.” I strongly recommend listening to it.

(It costs a couple dollars per month to subscribe to all Economist podcasts, but this one is worth every penny by itself, and you can cancel after you’ve listened to it.)

“Pig butchering,” I learned, is a Chinese term. Pork is their most precious meat, and the scam entails finding the “pig” (you), building a pig sty (messaging by text or on WhatsApp), feeding it (building rapport, and eventually guiding the person to invest in crypto), rewarding it (showing phony paper returns on the crypto investment), and ultimately butchering it (taking all your funds before you realize the investment was a hoax). Pig butchering take a lot of time.

It sounds a lot like what Bernie Madoff did, doesn’t it? But this is done by Englishspeaking Southeast Asians, mostly in Myanmar, who find a reason never to betray themselves by speaking to you on the phone, where you would recognize they’re not who they pretend to be.

Sometimes, but not always, these are ro-

Just Listed: 2-Bedroom Townhome in Lakewood

mance scams, where the scammer gradually convinces you of their love and provides pictures which are stolen off the internet. The first example in the Scam, Inc. podcast, however, was of a Kansas bank president who was conned into investing his bank’s reserves in crypto by a non-romance scammer who simply appealed to the banker’s desire for self-enrichment. He lost $42 million of the bank’s money. The bank was ultimately forced out of business. No one who knew the president could believe what he had done.

Here’s a bit of advice I learned. Take the picture you received from a possible scammer and go to the search field of Google.com. At the right of that field next to the microphone icon is an icon which says “Search by image” when you float your cursor over it. Click on that icon, drag or upload a picture, and it will instantly show you everywhere that picture appears. I uploaded my own picture and, fortunately, it only showed my own websites.

Again, please listen to the “Scam, Inc.” podcast. You’ll learn a lot you need to know.

buyer who is looking for a home like theirs. We could also call the owners or give you the list and let you call them after you’ve signed a buyer agency agreement with us. (This would require that the home is not listed by another agent, which we can confirm.)

This tool can also be used to search expired listings without the use of lead generation services which often provide faulty or out-ofdate data and don’t verify that the home has not been relisted by another agent.

Although the inventory of homes for sale is much greater than it has been, this tool allows us to open up the whole universe of homes, whether for sale or not, which match your specific desires. If this sounds like something you’d like us to play with on your behalf, call me or any of our broker associates (listed below) and we’ll get to work for you.

Is Your Home Wildfire Ready?

My January 13, 2025, column described ways in which homes could be made fireresistant. If you read that article on our blog, http://realestatetoday.substack.com, you saw multiple links to articles and reports from Colorado to California on how to harden you home against wildfire. Since then, I became aware of a website, www.RotaryWildfireReady.com, created by the Rotary Clubs of Evergreen, Conifer, Boulder and Mountain Foothills, in cooperation with fire departments, community leaders and Fire Adapted Colorado. You’ll be impressed, as I was, by how comprehensive this website is, providing a wide array of advice and resources, not just on hardening your home but on preparing for the eventuality of an evacuation order.

Environmental Film Festival

The Colorado Environmental Film Festival runs this weekend, Feb. 21-23 at the Green Center, 924 16th Street, Golden, on the campus of the Colorado School of Mines. I wrote about the festival in last week’s column.

You can study the three-day schedule at https://ceff2025.eventive.org/schedule and buy tickets at https://ceff.net/tickets

If you go, look for our booth in the EcoExpo, where you can browse the display of current solar-powered homes and let us know if you’d like to see any of them.

Don’t miss this remodeled two-bedroom, one-bathroom townhome at 3355 S. Flower #59, in the quiet Jefferson Green subdivision northeast of Highway 285 and Kipling Street. Features include new luxury wood-look vinyl flooring throughout the first floor, new lighting fixtures, new stainless steel sink and range. The fully tiled bathroom has a new vanity and lighting. The bedrooms have new carpeting, ceiling fans, and the primary bedroom has a walk-in closet. There are newer windows throughout. The LG washer and dryer are included. Also included is one space in the 2-car shared garage, with a storage area included. A second designated parking spot is in the parking lot. This home is move-in ready! Listing agent David Dlugasch has created a narrated video walk-through which you’ll find along with lots of magazine-quality pictures at www.GRElistings.com. He’ll be holding it open this Saturday, February 22nd, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Or call him at 303-908-4835 to arrange a private showing.

maintained with

$785,000

home at 2601 S. Kipling Court is ready for new owners. Located in a private gated community, it is two blocks from Bear Creek Park. The large main level has vaulted ceilings and south facing windows that provide plenty of natural light. The spacious main floor is 1,911 square feet and features an updated kitchen with quartz countertops, gas range and stainless steel appliances. The living room is open to the kitchen and dining areas and has a stacked rock gas fireplace. The large primary bedroom with a 5-piece bath has a sliding door to access the outdoor patio. The main level also includes a second bedroom, a 3/4 guest bathroom and an office space. Quality wood flooring, lighting, handrails and paint add to the cozy ambience. There is a large main-floor laundry with built-in cabinets and utility sink (washer and dryer included). The basement is professionally finished with 9-foot ceilings, family room, bar, pool room (with custom pool table included), a 3rd bedroom and 3rd bath, and a large 350-sq.-ft. storage area. There is a newer furnace and A/C, as well as new garage door and opener. The seller is open to selling any furniture in the home. Find additional photos and view a narrated video walk-through at www.GRElistings.com. To arrange a showing, call listing agent Jim Swanson on his cell phone anytime, 303-929-2929.

Golden Real Estate lists and sells residential properties across the entire metro area.

Meticulously

many quality upgrades, this turnkey patio

Just Listed: 3-BR/3-Bath Patio Home in Lakewood

Schultz to lead Adams County IT department

BY BELEN WARD BWARD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Jason Schultz is appointed the new Adams County Director of Information Technology & Innovation, according to a Feb. 11 news release.

“Jason’s deep expertise and leadership in IT make him an invaluable asset to Adams County,” said Interim County Manager David Fraser. “His vision for the future of technology will help drive e ciency and enhance services for our community.”

Schultz formerly served as interim director and deputy director for Adams County’s IT department and led it in developing a ve-year strategic plan to change the department into an IT service-delivery model to assist businesses and customers, according to o cials.

According to o cials, he has over 30

years of information tech leadership experience, and he was essential in ensuring the digital transformation of strategic planning and operational excellence within the county.

Schultz earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Colorado Denver and is pursuing an Executive Master of Public Administration.

Schultz was formerly the director of the IT department of the 17th Judicial District Attorney’s o ce, which serves Adams and Broom eld counties.

He worked on upgrading 17th Judicial District’s Attorney’s o ce technology to create more user-friendly and e cient digital work ows. He also upgraded the judicial digital system to stay ahead of technological advancements.

“I am honored to take on this role and continue advancing the county’s technology strategy,” said Schultz. “By focusing on innovation and servicedriven outcomes, we will ensure Adams County remains at the forefront of digital transformation to serve our residents better.”

North Metro Fire seeks applicants for its Citizen Academy

Academy participants will learn about fire prevention, risk reduction and fire investigation

BY MONTE WHALEY MWHALEY@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Residents in the north metro area who want the experience of training as a real re ghter will soon get their chance. e North Metro Fire Rescue District is hosting its Citizens Academy starting March 26 and ending May 6. ose interested in participating in the academy should submit their applications by Feb-

ruary 23.

According to a North Metro news release, academy participants will learn the ins and outs of the re district. at will include an overview of North Metro Fire, how its run and how its funded and Emergency communications, 911 dispatch and community preparedness. It will also include discussion of emergency response and types of calls, reghter training and re operations and special teams, including wildland, technical rescue, hazardous materials and airport operations. e program will also include discussions about community risk reduction and outreach and re prevention, risk reduction and re investigation.

e six-week academy will include both classroom education and hands-on

activities taught by North Metro re ghters and sta and designed to be fun and engaging for participants, according to the news release.

e Citizens Academy is free for participants and open to re district residents at least 18 years of age who submit an application and ful ll the minimum program requirements. e academy will be limited to 25 individuals and will be held primarily on Wednesday evenings from 6 to 9 p.m. at various North Metro Fire facilities. On one Saturday, academy participants will spend the day at the district’s Training Center in Northglenn learning how re ghters train for the job and going through some of their training drills. Following the academy’s completion, participants will be recognized at a graduation ceremony.

Community members interested in attending the academy should apply by February 23. An application can be submitted online at www.nmfr.org/citizensacademy. Any questions should be directed to Life Safety Educator Pam Kutchen at 720-887-0404.

Communitity members interested in attending the academy should apply by February 23. An application can be submitted online at www.nmfr.org/ citizensacademy. Any questions should be directed to Life Safety Educator Pam Kutchen at 720-887-0404.

North Metro Fire Rescue District includes the City and County of Broomeld, City of Northglenn and unincorporated areas of Adams, Boulder, Je erson and Weld counties. It covers 58 square miles and serves over 126,000 residents.

Coming home means a lot for Leah Munoz

Local homebuilders, volunteers modify basement to make it a wheelchairaccessible apartment

BY BELEN WARD BWARD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Leah Munoz said she’s always been close to her Mom. When she was young, her Mom, Teresa Samson, used to deliver the Brighton Blade newspaper around town and she used to help stu the newspapers.

And now, thanks to local homebuilders and a group of Brighton volunteers, Mom is just upstairs.

A community of builders came together to help Munoz, who has Multiple Sclerosis, live a better quality of life with her parents. e volunteers helped modify the basement into an apartment on Feb. 7, with ramps and xtures that can accommodate her wheelchair.

“I’m happy to be close to my family because I know my mom loves me and would do anything for me,” Munoz said. “So now, I’m close to her.”

Samson agreed and said it would save money since her daughter doesn’t have to live at a di erent facility.

“I’m excited for her, and it’s been a fantastic process. Having her in the same house with us will be so good. ” Samson said. “She’ll be at home to care for herself, be safe, and have her own space. It’s amazing what Lennar and the Home Builders Foundation have done.”

Living independently

Munoz was diagnosed with MS at age 19 in 2000 and has been living independently for 25 years.

However, her Multiple Sclerosis recently progressed to a point that she needed to move in with her mom to she could take care of her. e home needed some ADA modi cations so Munoz could get around safely, so they began looking for

ways to get that done.

Samson began looking for help through the MS Society, who urged her to get into contact with Lifeway Mobility. at group came to their house and discussed their options.

“ ey gave me a pamphlet of companies to work with and also the Home Builders Foundation.  I went on their website and lled out the application,”

Samson said.

Non-profit connections

Alice Wurst, community engagement director with the Home Builders Foundation, said the foundation has been around for over 30 years.

“It’s a group of professionals with the building community, such as realtors,

lawn agencies, designers, architects, builders, and home builders like Lennar, and they founded us,” Wurst said. “We’re all non-pro t. What we do is provide home modi cations for people with disabilities so they’re able to access their homes and stay in the community. “

Wurst said the idea behind the foundation is that people like Leah, who nd themselves in need of help, don’t have to leave their community or go to managed care.

“We want people to be able to stay in their homes and save some money because it’s expensive,” Wurst said. “We build grab bars and ramps so they can get into their home, and sometimes it’s a little more expensive for a job like this.

Wurst said the people who need help

can apply on the Home Builder Foundation website.

“We also have community partners such as MS Society, Craig Hospital, and PASCO (Personal Assistance Services of Colorado) to encourage them to send some of their clients,” Wurst said. “So, other organizations that serve people with disabilities often refer them to us through word of mouth, and meet people like Leah who talked about their ex-

Lennar’s Director of Quality Assurance Mike Murphy, who remodeled the basement, said it is essential to determine what a person needs rst. ey talk to the families and the patients to decide what will make their lives livable

“We will go out and meet with many of the homeowners to see what their needs are, and how Lennar can help accommodate them,” Murphy said. “Initially, they were thinking about a bathroom downstairs in the basement of Leah’s home.”

Instead, the builders chose to go big and did much more work.

“We made it a fun project, and we did the whole basement for them,” Murphy said. “After talking to the family, we knew what they needed.”

Murphy and his team of ve associates helped with scheduling, reaching out to local tradesmen and nding hands-on volunteers for the project, from rebuilding the basement to inspections to doing actual labor.

Groups involved in the work included HBS, Legacy Homes, Gatzke Co, Meadows Concrete, Dobransky, Arlun, Rio Verde, BMC, Eastside Heating & Air, PPH, Courtesy Electrical, Spec 7, Four Star Drywall, Extreme Paint, Westpac, Van Oak, Colorado Floor, Granite World, Precision Cabinets, Louisville Glass, GE Appliances and Anita’s Cleaning.

When she saw her new independent space, Munoz said she loved the kitchen.

“I can’t cook, but my sister is good at cooking, and I love to bake,” she said. “I love the bathroom; I can t my wheelchair through the doors without scraping the walls, and they built a lift.”

For those in search of a full life cultivated from the land, Farmlore represents a wonderful slice of small-town living that harkens back to a time when kids on bikes outnumbered cars, and neighbors could be spotted chatting over coffee or lemonade on the front porch.

New homes from $400s

Leah Munoz seeing her new modified home. The basement was done beautifully. PHOTO BY BELEN WARD

Will nuclear formally be put on the table?

State Sen. Larry Liston, a Republican from El Paso County, has carried a lonely torch during the last two legislative sessions. His bills that proposed to classify nuclear energy as “clean” in Colorado went exactly nowhere.

is year’s nuclear bill has a di erent look. It has four prime sponsors, two of them Democrats. And it comes after warnings about rapidly escalating electrical demand for data centers.

House Bill 25-1040 will get its rst committee hearing on ursday afternoon. It would allow nuclear energy to count toward Colorado’s clean energy goals of net-zero emissions by 2050.

Unlike Liston’s previous bills, it might even get approved. All ve Republicans in the House Energy and Environment Committee will likely support it. e committee chair, Alex Valdez, a Democrat and former solar developer, helped write the bill.

In public testimony, the other seven Democrats will likely be reminded that we have no long-term solution for safeguarding radioactive waste. ey will likely hear that nuclear plants remain extremely expensive. Georgia’s Vogtle nuclear plant was originally projected to cost $14 billion. It was completed in 2023 at a cost of $36 billion. Other nuclear projects have had similar cost overruns.

Some Coloradans also remember St. Vrain, the problem-plagued nuclear power plant south of Greeley. It operated from 1976 to 1989. Customers of Public Service Co. of Colorado, now a subsidiary of Xcel Energy, paid $1 a month from 1993 until 2016 to cover the $125 million cost of decommissioning the nuclear plant.

Legislators likely are hearing from

Life is meant to be more than simply checking o boxes on a list. It’s meant to be lived with passion, fervor, and enthusiasm. Yet, time and time again, I see people, whether at work or in their personal lives, fall into the trap of routine, where daily habits become ruts. ese ruts, if left unchecked, can lead to stagnation and even feelings of emptiness or depression. When life becomes about punching in and punching out, whether on the job or at home, we miss the point entirely.

In my work, helping organizations with sales training, management coaching, and leadership development, I’ve witnessed both ends of the spectrum. On one hand, some companies approach training as just another task to be done. ey participate in programs not because they believe in their value but because they want to check the box and say they’ve done it. ere’s no energy, no passion, and, unsurprisingly, little to no impact.

Xcel’s lobbyists. It has two nuclear plants in Minnesota. e utility announced in October that it has models showing nuclear delivering 1,000 megawatts of electrical generating capacity within Colorado by 2035-37. at compares with the 750 megawatts of Comanche 3, the coal- red power plant in Pueblo that Xcel plans to retire before 2031.

A Pueblo task force created by Xcel and some local leaders in early 2024 reported that a nuclear power plant was the best replacement for the jobs and property taxes lost in the transition from coal. Craig, in northwest Colorado, has similarly been hunting for answers to replace jobs and tax base after the last coal plant closes in 2028.

Cheerleaders for nuclear usually ignore the costs. All of the technologies that will get us beyond 85% to 90% renewables have the same problem. eir gambles are smaller, though. In Wyoming, Bill Gates has invested in a rst-of-kind small modular liquid-metal fast reactor. If successful, these smaller modular reactors would lower the nancial risks. e downside? Presumably, the tax base for Pueblo would potentially be far less.

Liston, a retired investment banker, told me he hopes for nuclear costs mirroring the declined cost of computing. at has a certain irony. e explosive growth of data centers being predicted provides a key argument for taking nuclear seriously. Xcel has told state regulators it projects need 1,923 megawatts of new generation — equivalent ot several

coal- red plants — for large customers by 2031, with 70% of that coming from data centers.

How real will this demand be? And who bears the risks of investment in new and still expensive technologies?

I caught up with Dylan Roberts at a water conference. If adopted, the bill will “allow nuclear to be part of the conversation about Colorado’s energy future,” he said. “It doesn’t obligate the statenancially in any way. It doesn’t move anything forward as far as permitting or regulations. It would just say that if we get to a point where it becomes nancially viable and a private entity – along with local governments — buy in and they decide they want to pursue this, it would count toward Colorado’s carbon emission reduction goals.” Obviously, he added, conversations must also occur about security and waste.

A crucial di erence in this year’s bill — to be o ered as an amendment in the committee hearing on ursday — is a requirement that nuclear pay property

taxes similar to coal and other energy producers.

Roberts pointed out that France gets 70% of its electricity from nuclear energy. “As far as I know, nobody is scared of going to France,” he said. “ ey have found a way to do it and do it safely and responsibly. I’m not saying it has to be part of Northwest Colorado’s energy portfolio or the state’s portfolio, but at least it can be part of the conversation if a bill like this passes.”

I’m not sure that “love is in the air,” as one columnist concluded. Less-expensive opportunities may arrive in enhanced geothermal, for example. What we do have is sober discussion about the hard work of getting to zero emissions by 2050 while satisfying increased energy demands. at will be harder than closing coal plants by 2030.

Allen Best publishes Big Pivots, which chronicles the energy and water transitions in Colorado. For more on this topic, visit BigPivots.com.

Finding fervor and zeal in everyday moments

On the other hand, some organizations view professional development as an investment in their people. ese companies approach training with excite-

ment from the top down. Senior leaders engage with the content, understanding its transformative potential for their teams. at enthusiasm trickles through the organization, sparking interest, energy, and a shared commitment to growth. e results are staggering in business performance, employee satisfaction, and morale. is contrast illustrates the bigger picture: Checking the box might give you the illusion of progress, but true growth and ful llment come from investing yourself fully, mind, heart, and spirit into what you’re doing. is same “check-the-box” mentality that I see in workplaces can also creep into our personal lives. ink about it: Are you “checking the box” with your spouse? Maybe the once passionate goodbyes have been replaced by a quick, obligatory peck on the cheek. Are you “checking the box” with your kids or grandkids? You may be sitting in the

same room with them while they watch a movie or play on a tablet, but you’re not truly engaging because you’re scrolling through your phone.

Are you “checking the box” at the gym, going through the motions of a workout without really pushing yourself or enjoying the process? Are you “checking the box” in your spiritual life, saying a quick, rehearsed prayer, or attending a house of worship but not truly paying attention to the music or the message?

e good news is that it’s never too late to reignite your passion for life and break free from the monotony. Here are a few steps to get started:

Try something new. Create a fresh workout plan that excites you. Explore a new hobby or take on a challenge that pushes you out of your comfort zone. Put the phone down. Play an active role in your children’s or grandchildren’s lives. Instead of passively sitting in the same room, play a game, have a conversation, or share a meaningful experience together.

Bring back the little things that made your relationship special. Start with a passionate kiss, a thoughtful gesture,

or a meaningful conversation. Whether professional training or personal development, embrace the chance to grow. Be grateful for the opportunity to learn something new and consider how it can bene t your life.

Life isn’t about simply completing tasks; it’s about living. It’s about tasting, experiencing, and embracing each moment’s richness. If you feel stuck in the “check-the-box” mindset, ask yourself: What can I do today to return to the redup express train?

Bring back the zeal, curiosity, and passion that fuels growth and connection because life is much more than just checking a box. It’s meant to be lived fully and with purpose. So what are you waiting for? I would love to hear your story at gotonorton@gmail.com. And when we go beyond just checking a box, 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.

WINNING

BIG PIVOTS

Allen Best

As activists mobilize, oil and gas operators sour on Colorado

Denver-area groups gain more influence over state regulators

BY JENNIFER OLDHAM CAPITAL & MAIN

A decision by Colorado state regulators to put two multiwell oil and gas proposals on hold showcased the growing in uence of Denver-area antidrilling groups that have organized over the last decade in the face of large fossil fuel developments proposed on the outskirts of their suburban neighborhoods.

Colorado’s Energy and Carbon Management Commission in November rejected a controversial request by Extraction Oil & Gas Inc. to build a 26-well oil operation, known as the Draco pad, in fossil fuel friendly Weld County and use it as a platform to drill under the town of Erie, which has fought to keep its land free from gas and oil extraction.

In early January, the ve-member body also denied for now an application by a smaller operator to construct a 20-well pad about 45 minutes to the southeast. e so-called Secret Stash project would have been drilled on a former bombing range that’s also slated for scores of additional wells.

If constructed, both developments would have been less than a mile from the fast-growing suburbs that ring the state’s capital. e decisions to block the drilling for now marked a milestone for community organizations that have lobbied

Our Family Helping Your Family

the state’s oil and gas agency for years to move drilling operations farther away from their homes.

“I would suggest that before any of these are permitted that the commission and other agencies do a bit more homework and do some simple math,” Randy Willard, a 36-year resident of nearby Aurora, testi ed at the Jan. 8 hearing on the Secret Stash pad.

“ ey will see that the impact of Secret Stash does not stand alone and in fact adds to the impacts of the area considerably,” added Willard, who is among scores of members of Save the Aurora Reservoir, a neighborhood nonpro t group created to ght multiwell pads proposed within several miles of homes.

Both developments put on hold by state regulators underscored the challenges energy companies face in tapping lucrative shale deposits miles below the sprawling neighborhoods along the Front Range. As drilling moved ever closer to communities, state legislators enacted a unique law in 2019 that required the energy commission to prioritize health, safety and the environment over industry pro ts.

Capital & Main reached out to Civitas Resources Inc., the parent company of Extraction Oil & Gas, for a response. e company did not respond.

Extensive new rules outlined in a state Senate bill also required energy companies to provide o cials with more information about how hydrocarbon extraction projects a ect tra c, air emissions and water use. is additional data gives regulators more sway over how and when

Edward Charles Krantz June 15, 1942 - February 11, 2025

Edward Charles Krantz passed away on February 11, 2025, in Surprise, Arizona. Born on June 15, 1942, in Brighton, Colorado, he lived a life marked by dedication and hard work.

Edward was known for his strong work ethic and commitment to his profession. He took great pride in his career and was a dedicated employee throughout his working years. However, retirement brought him even greater joy as he embraced the opportunity to travel with his wife, Sharon Krantz. Together, they explored Canada, Hawaii, and several destinations in Mexico, creating cherished memories along the way.

Edward is survived by his loving wife, Sharon Krantz; daughters Deeanne Koval and Jana Swartz; son-in-law David Swartz; step-son Steve Mason, daughter-in-law Robin Mason and mother-in-law Betty Mathis, whom he lovingly called “the stubborn old Rooshun”. He was also a cherished grandfather to Richie Koval, Michael Koval, Ryan Swartz, Kyle Swartz, Jeremy Swartz and Cassidy Mason.

Edward’s memory will live on in the hearts of those who knew him. May his legacy of dedication and adventure bring comfort to all who mourn his

pads are constructed.

As written, Senate Bill 19-181 also gave greater authority to municipalities over oil and gas operations within their boundaries and required that community groups be allowed additional opportunities to inuence the process.

e dramatic shift in Colorado’s fossil fuel regulatory environment, and the subsequent power it’s given residents, is a ecting the market value of oil and gas companies and causing operators to question the economics of doing business in the state, industry analysts said.

Civitas Resources Inc., the parent company of Extraction, whose Draco pad the commission placed on hold in November,

is exploring the sale of extensive assets it holds in the region’s Denver-Julesburg basin, according to a Jan. 15 report in Bloomberg News. e holdings reportedly include the Lowry Ranch Comprehensive Area Project, a 166-well project that led to the creation of Save the Aurora Reservoir.

“A potential sale would remove the market/investor stigma associated with Colorado, which is weighing on the valuation,” Gabriele Sorbara, an analyst at Siebert Williams Shank & Co. LLC, told Reuters. “Investors do not want to touch Coloradofocused E&Ps,” or exploration and production companies.

An oil pump jack is pictured in the middle of a tra c circle at a new residential development in Weld County on June 24, 2020.

KRANTZ

BY CHRIS KOEBERL CKOEBERL@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Friday mornings during ski season, a lot of kids in Clear Creek County will wake up before the sunrise to check equipment, snowboards, skis, helmet, goggles and gloves in preparation of hitting the slopes.

After they’re dressed and with a quick breakfast, they wait in Idaho Springs or Georgetown for the school bus to take them to Loveland Ski Area for a day of lessons or just fun with friends.

e program Snow Dodgers has been teaching local kids from kindergarten and up the con dence and skills to ride the mountains on skis or snowboards since 1963, according to board members.

“If they’re good enough, they can just be free-range skiers and do their thing all day,” rst-year Snow Dodgers volunteer Chelsea Dendegna said. “It sets them up with lessons if they need it and just supports them on their journey as skiers or snowboarders.”

Many of the students who started early in the program are now in the sixth grade and riding doubleblack diamond trails at Loveland.

“I’ve learned a lot by watching other people and my family teaching me things, so I’ve improved a lot,” Carlson Elementary sixth-grader Maddie Hinojos said.

A team of volunteers and board members keep Snow Dodgers going each year, piling equipment

into pickup trucks and checking names as kids get on the bus to perpetuate what generations before them had done.

“Everybody works hard to make things come together for a project like this. It’s just a nice community,” Hinojos said.

According to state records, Snow Dodgers is one of the longest-standing ski clubs in Colorado, and many locals can attest to parents and grandparents who learned to ski with its volunteers throughout the years.

Some of the organization’s mottoes on the website clarify goals and motivation: “Take Risks and Reap the Rewards,” “Be Prepared To Experience New Adventures” and “Overcome Your Fears and Master Your Skills.”

e organization’s long-standing relationship with Loveland Ski Area in Dillion is seen as mutually bene cial, according to Loryn Roberson, director of marketing for Loveland Ski Area.

“For Loveland, our community is everything and it’s so important to support these new skiers and riders and give them a space to not only learn but also to enjoy the slopes,” Roberson said.

Snow Dodgers typically runs from the second weekend in January to the second weekend in March.

“Having a program like this in place really allows

them to familiarize themselves with the sport and it really grows the next generation of skiers and riders which is incredibly important to Loveland,” Roberson said.

Ongoing education in ski industry

Opportunities for mountain youth to learn and excel in the sport of skiing and riding don’t end with Snow Dodgers.

High school and middle school programs in Clear Creek County o er hands-on experiences in the manufacture, maintenance and business of the ski industry.

“Creek Craft” is a new name in the ski and snowboarding industry, and Clear Creek County high school students, mentors and teachers aim to make it pro table.

Students in the Clear Creek High School Entrepreneur II class are taking their business education to the next level by creating a sustaining model for manufacturing and marketing, according to Career Connections coordinator Dacia Kelly.

“ e students in this class are learning how to start a business and they’re doing it through a real-world project rather than a hypothetical,” Kelly said.

MOUNTAIN KIDS

Meanwhile, outdoor rec and tech instructor Ben Shay at the high school and middle school in Evergreen gives students the hands-on experience of building a board or skis starting with plywood, laminate and an idea.

“It gives kids an outlet to do creative work with their hands and bring something to fruition. I like to tell the story, ‘Kids used to go home and give their mom a wooden spoon they made in wood shop.’ Now they get to show up with their own pair of skis or snowboard,” Shay said.

Several rec and tech students were eager to show o their one-of-a-kind creations they made just for themselves when the Courant visited the class in November. e art of creating a board or ski is dependent on the individual creating it; thick or thin tails and tips, shaping and tapering you create your custom ride with graphics you’ve designed, 11th-grade student Johannathan Scott said.

“It’s really a surreal kind of feeling when you get to make something that you’re going to use.., it’s just a really good feeling,” Scott added.

Another advantage to the rec and tech program is local students are learning the skills in high-demand at local ski areas and shops, according to both Shay and Roberson.

“It’s such a unique program. ese other communities and these other schools have things like woodshop and home economics; but for our community, the thing we all live and breathe is skiing. So, to be able to modify it and have this program that allows them to learn that skill set is invaluable,” Roberson said.

“ ey learn a lot of the woodworking skills here that they would in a wood shop, but then they get something that they actually get to strap on their feet, go to Snow Dodgers, ride the hill and say, ‘Look, I made this,’” Shay said.

The pinnacle of skiing skills: Alpine Rescue

Based in Evergreen, Alpine Rescue is an all-volunteer, mountain search-and-rescue team that’s been operating, free of charge, for more than 60 years.

Alpine Rescue is one of 13 Colorado teams accredited by the Mountain Rescue Association in technical rock rescue, wilderness search, avalanche rescue and winter technical rescue, according to its website.

“In the last few months we’ve had some pretty intense rescues and our pick of the rst to go in are usually pretty tough skiers and they have had to go miles in

sometimes very deep snow that is not easy to ski in. So, there’s a lot of physical endurance and strength,” Alpine Rescue volunteer and public information o cer Dawn Wilson said.

“To have kids learn how to ski and not just ski but be ‘mountain aware’ is idyllic. I’m jealous of those kids,” Wilson said.

Programs like Snow Dodgers instills early education and muscle memory in kids that are critical to working and playing in the mountains, according to Wilson.

“If those kids grow up and they want to give back to their community and volunteer for re or a mountain rescue team they’ve got that ingrained in their body and soul, they don’t even have to think about it,” Wilson said.

PHOTO ON PG8: Ski lift at Loveland Ski Area takes Snow Dodgers to top of the mountain Feb. 7. PHOTO BY CHRIS KOEBERL TOP PHOTO: Clear Creek Snow Dodgers at Loveland Ski Area. PHOTO BY TIFFANY DALTON

Girls wrestling teams thrive in year one, send athletes to state

Conifer, Ponderosa girls programs start strong with high numbers, higher goals

BY JOHN RENFROW JRENFROW@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

As girls wrestling continues to sweep the country as the nation’s fastest-growing high school sport, local programs are wasting no time making a splash in Colorado.

Quali ers for the state wrestling tournament at Ball Arena on Feb. 13-15 have been announced, and many schools are sending rst-time representatives on the biggest high school stage.

Ponderosa High School in Parker is in the rst season of its girls wrestling program. In year one, a whopping 19 girls signed up for the team. After a strong season, four quali ed for state.

“We were kind of shocked, because, in your rst year, girls wrestling is a tough sport,” Head Coach Frankie Sanchez said. “So, we gured we’d maybe have a couple of state quali ers, but having four was pretty good. And then the two regional champions, and then one runner-up, that was pretty exciting.”

e Mustangs quali ed Arianna Sanchez (regional champion), Presley Pearson (regional runner-up), Elizabeth Sandy (regional champion) and Abriella Deitz (regional third-place) to state, each representing four weight classes.

To have that many sign up for the program’s rst year is impressive, but maybe not that big of a surprise, Sanchez said. Until Ponderosa had its own team, interested girls would wrestle for Douglas County High School.

But now, the Mustangs can proudly wear their own uniforms and have adopted some wrestlers from Lutheran and Legend high schools.

It’s not enough to just be happy to be there, Sanchez said. e girls are hungry as they go into the state competition.

For Sandy, the Mustangs’ senior qualier and commit to Adams State University, it’s about revenge. She lost in last year’s nal. Her determination is rubbing o on the rest of the squad.

“We tell them to not be satis ed,” Sanchez said. “A lot of these girls get satis ed with just being a regional champ or get-

ting down to Ball Arena. But, you know, we try to tell them that, you know, the show is not over yet. You still got a medal to go pick up.”

Conifer High School is also in year one.

According to Head Coach Nick Adamson, there has been growing interest in developing a girls team in recent years. Last season, one girl who attended Conifer wrestled for Evergreen.

Now the Lobos have 11 wrestlers.

“I got the boys program started a few years ago,” Adamson said. “ is was our fourth season bringing the boys program back. It had been defunct for about ve years prior. So really, over the last couple of years, there’s been a lot of interest with individual girls and parents approaching me about when we were going to get a girls team going.”

Before rebooting the boys team, Adamson had been bolstering the youth club in the area, establishing a group of youth wrestlers — boys and girls — who would

develop into high school athletes.

“It’s just something that I’ve always felt really strongly about, just what the sport o ers kids in general,” he said. “And it’s awesome that we can now have that available for the girls too. I would have been happy with four or ve (girls wrestlers), just out of the gate rst year. So, to get that many was great, and I think we should be well up over 15 to 20 next year.”

Conifer is sending Sierra Nordwald (third at regionals) and Penny Dickinson (third at regionals) to Ball Arena. ere’s a lot of pride among the teammates as they craft the culture that will shape the program’s foundation.

“Being the inaugural girls team, it’s really a point of pride for them. I think it means a lot to them, even the ones that didn’t necessarily see a lot of individual success or individual accolades throughout the year. I think that’s kind of the feather in their hat is that, ‘I was a part of creating and being a part of that the rst girls program and

establishing it hopefully generations to come.’”

e Lobos only have one senior, so Conifer is returning nearly the whole team. is year was a building block, and the wrestlers are eager to return to the mat next season with a better grasp of the sport and higher goals for success.

High school girls wrestling is blooming in Colorado, and it’s here to stay.

“Women’s wrestling right now is the fastest-growing sport in high school sports,” Sanchez said. “I mean, it’s huge. e NCAA just announced in January that it was the 91st o cial championship sport for college. So it’s now sanctioned for Division I, Division II and Division III ... is is us building a program we only started in November. So, imagine giving us another six months, or even a year. I think we’re going to be pretty dominating.”

View an updated version of this story online at coloradocommunitymedia.com/ sports

Pomona junior Timberly Martinez (in black) grabs the leg of Conifer senior Sierra Nordwald during a semifinal match at 140 pounds on Thursday, Jan. 30, at Columbine High School. Pomona captured the first girls wrestling Je co League title winning the Je co League Tournament.

PHOTOS BY DENNIS PLEUSS

Frederick football standout Ishmael stays in state

Decorated high school QB discusses commitment to CSU-Pueblo

BY STEVE SMITH

Now that he’s decided on his next stop, Frederick’s Gavin Ishmael can rest a bit easier.

Ishmael, a two-time First-Team, AllState quarterback and a three-time selection to all-conference teams, committed to Colorado State University-Pueblo.

“I love the coaches there. I love what they’ve got going on,” Ishmael said during an episode of Freddy’s Nest Podcast. “I love their o ense. I love how they produce NFL talent. It felt like home as soon as I stepped in.”

In a separate interview, Ishmael said CSU-Pueblo “was the right t.”

“ e coaching sta really made an impression on me, and the campus itself has a great vibe,” he said. “I also appreciate that they o er the balance between sports and academics that I’m looking for.”

Ishmael attracted some interest from smaller NCAA Division I programs (the University of Northern Colorado among them) and other NCAA Division II programs. He said that list included all the schools in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, including the Colorado School of Mines in Golden.

“However, CSU-Pueblo’s o er felt like the perfect balance for me in terms of competition, location and academics,” he said. “My visit to the campus really sealed the deal. I got to meet the coaches, tour the facilities and even interact with

some of the players. e team dynamic and the support system really stood out. I could see myself thriving there.”

Ishmael wants to study business management. He thinks such a eld of study will continue his interest in leadership and entrepreneurship for both football and beyond.

“I would love to take football as far as I can go, ultimately leading to the goal of playing pro,” he said. “However, I understand there is a life after putting a helmet on. So, I’ll de nitely be exploring more options and see what my interest takes me ... including getting into sports man-

agement or even the business management workforce.”

Now that the process is over, Ishmael said he was feeling a sense of excitement … and relief.

“It’s a big decision, and now that it’s done, I’m ready to dive in and start preparing for what’s next,” he said. “ ere’s a lot to look forward to, both academically and athletically. But mostly excited to be in a spot that feels like home.”

Ishmael said he learned discipline and how to handle adversity during his time at Frederick High School.

“ e coaches and my teammates have

pushed me to become a better player and person, and I feel like I’m ready for the college level,” he said. “I’ve learned the value of teamwork, hard work, and staying focused on my goals. I’m de nitely excited, but there’s a little bit of nervousness too. It’s a big step, and it’s going to be a lot of hard work. But I’m ready for the challenge and the opportunity to grow both on and o the eld.”

Ishmael threw for 6422 yards and 73 touchdowns with 15 interceptions in three years for the Golden Eagles. He also rushed for 24 touchdowns. For more, visit MaxPreps.com.

Frederick quarterback Gavin Ishmael poses for a photo in CSU-Pueblo gear on a visit to the school. Ishmael committed shortly after.

Frederick quarterback Gavin Ishmael threw for 6422 yards and 73 touchdowns with 15 interceptions in three years for the Golden Eagles. He also rushed for 24 touchdowns.

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In the article on the INSPIRE program in the Feb. 13 edition, the group’s organizers would like to clarify that while care for participants may cost as much as $20,000, no family pays that much to attend. The charitable foundation Active 4 All provides financial support.

BRIEFS

Go For Launch

Colorado Air & Space Port is hosting a Higher Orbits for students from 8th and 12th grades to expand their STEM skill sets learning with teamwork, communications, research design, and leadership. Students would get to work with an astronaut, Captain Wendy Lawerence, and work on an experiment design project during the event, learning, growing, and developing skills to succeed throughout their lives.

e student teams will present their project to a panel of judges who work in the Space and STEM elds. ey will choose a winner from each Go for Launch event.   e winning experiment will be launched to board the International Space Station or a suborbital ight. Michelle Lucas is the founder and CEO of Higher Orbits.

For more information about the Higher Orbits event, visit www.higherorbits.org.  To sponsor the event, go to sponsors@higherobits.org. To call for information at 281-451-5343.

Saturday pancakes

missions and drink tickets. A $500 Gold sponsorship gets two tables with eight admissions and drink tickets and access to a VIP area. A $1,000 Platinum sponsorship gets three tables, 12 admission and tickets, VIP access and early admission for a pizza bu et.

Weld announces the Annual Youth Advancement Scholarship

e Weld County Sheri ’s Ofce will award its annual scholarship to one deserving Weld County student who intends on pursuing a degree in higher education. e scholarship will be a one-time $500.00 award.

e Fort Lupton Public Library hosts a simple pancake breakfast on the last Saturday of each month in the library’s community rooms. is month’s pancake breakfast runs from 9:30-10:30 a.m. February 22. e library is located at 370 S. Rollie Ave. e event is combined with the library’s weekly reading program, so families can enjoy a good meal while listening to popular cult classic children’s stories that never get old. Breakfast starts at 9:30, and read-aloud starts at 10 a.m. every last Saturday of the month.

All ages are welcome.

Concert for a Cause at Brighton Armory

accessible, the contractors will let residents know when they plan to replace the meter. For houses that have inaccessible meters that are inside, in a basement or a crawl space, residents should contact Public Works to schedule an appointment.

More information can be found here- https://www.fortluptonco. gov/1240/Water-Meter-Replacement-Program.

Co ee with a cop

Fort Lupton Police set aside one morning each month to share a few cups of co ee with residents.

To be eligible, the applicants must be a high school graduation senior or current college / university student, a citizen of Weld County and have been accepted at an accredited university or college.

e applicant must submit a completed application form via U.S. Mail by April 11.

Mail the form to the Weld County Sheri ’s O ce – Scholarship Committee, Attn: Rosy Soto, 1950 “O” Street, Greeley, CO 80631

e scholarship application must be accompanied by a letter of recommendation by a teacher or counselor from the applicant’s school and an o cial certi ed scholastic transcript. All applicants must also submit a 500-word essay on the following question:“What do you see as the future for law enforcement in our nation?”

e Richard Lambert Foundation will host Denver-based bands Mz. Vendetta and Buck. at 6 p.m. March 1 at the Brighton Armory , 300 Strong St. in Brighton.

Tickets are $25 and sponsorships are available online at FlutterbyGives.org.

e Richard Lambert Foundation runs Brighton’s Family Grief & Healing Center, providing grief support groups and professional counseling with the goal of inspiring hope, facilitating healing and guiding the bereaved in rebuilding a meaningful life intertwined with their grief.

Mz. Vendetta is powerhouse band with four incredibly talented female musicians. Established in late 2022, the band blends the classic rock vibes of the 70s, 80s, and 90s with their own music.

ey’ll be joined by Buck, a Denver-based band that’s bringing a fresh twist to the classic sounds of blues, funk, and rock. With their original compositions, Buck delivers a sound that’s both familiar and innovative.

Co ee with a Cop is a chance for police to meet with community members and discuss many topics, including parking regulations. To accommodate more people, they have changed their meeting location to the MultiPurpose Room at the Fort Lupton Rec Center!

e same time is on the rst Wednesday of each month at Fort Lupton Recreation Center, 203 S Harrison Ave, Fort Lupton.

e next scheduled event is from 8-9:30 a.m. on March 5.

es areIncrease Your Distance with Mac Brown, Casting with Alice Owsley, Conquering Chironomids Master Class with Phil Rowley, Tying Euro Nymphs and Other Competition Favorites with Tim Cammisa, e Perfect Cast with Gary Borger, Master Class: Fly Fishing Tailwaters with Pat Dorsey, and Practical Nymphing with Ed Engle.

Blessings in a Bag

Fort Lupton’s Backpack Program helps schoolchildren in need with a backpack of healthy food. It’s an all-volunteer program and needs volunteers. If interested in volunteering or donating, call 303-718-4440.

City committees need members

Fort Lupton is looking for several community-minded individuals to ll openings on several boards that advise the City Council and help run city programs.

e competitive selection process is based GPA, student’s need, and community involvement. Finalists will be selected by the Weld County Sheri ’s Ofce scholarship committee and will be informed by April 28, 2025.

Fort Lupton replacing water meters

e City of Fort Lupton has hired Northern Colorado Contractors to replace the water meters in town.

Co ee with a Cop is an easy way to get to know the men and women who serve our community and tell them about the issues that matter most to you. Remember that you can always reach our police department at our non-emergency number, 720-652-4222.

Over time, meters age and require replacement to ensure accurate measurement and efciency of water use. e majority of the meters in the City are reaching their useful life prompting this program. e replacement of the meters is entirely free of charge to residents. According to the city, the current meters continue to work properly, however, some meters do not transmit the data from the meter to the system. e meter must then be read manually. Accounts with meters that can’t be manually read, will be estimated. If the actual amount consumed is lower than the estimated amount previously billed, then the bill will be adjusted to re ect the higher usage. When the new meter is connected, it will re ect the correct usage moving forward.

Acts of Connection seeks to lessen loneliness

Weld County and North Range Behavioral Health are working to target social isolation and build personal connections throughout the county with the Acts of Connection Initiative.

According to the group, four of ve adults younger than 24 and seniors older than 66 all reported feeling lonely at some point.

e campaign encourages everyone to nd ways to connect with others, build relationships, and promote a stronger sense of well-being and a culture of connection for all.

e group has sponsored a website at https://actsofconnectionweld.org/ to survey members of each group, o er some tips to help and take pledges to connect to the community and connect with other members of the community.

Visit the e ort’s website at https://actsofconnectionweld. org/ for more information.

e Cemetery Committee, Parks and Recreation Committee, Golf Committee, the Library Board, Public Safety Committee and the Senior Advisory Committee have openings. e openings consist of a two-year term running through the end of 2024. If you or anyone you know is interested in serving on a committee, please complete a committee application at https://www. fortluptonco.gov/966/I-WantTo-Apply-for-a-Committee on the city’s website.

Help for vets

Quali ed Listeners, a veteran and family resource hub serving northern Colorado and southern Wyoming, has several power chairs, scooters, and electric wheelchairs available.

e VA o ers urgent care services to eligible veterans at VA medical facilities or several in-network urgent care clinics that are closer to home.

To nd the closest facility to you, visit www.va.gov/ nd-locations or call 720-600-0860.

Quali ed Listeners also needs volunteers to drive veterans to and from appointments, run errands for veterans who cannot get out, handyman services, help administer veteran and family resource guide inventory in local libraries, and veterans to be trained to become quali ed listeners.

Donation time

e Fort Lupton Food & Clothing Bank is asking for donations of canned fruits and nuts, varieties of dry pasta and pasta dinners, peanut butter and canned meat such as tuna (including the pouches).

Other potential donations could include chicken, Vienna sausages, spam and salmon. e bank also needs personal items, such as toiletries and baby needs.

Sponsorships start at $200, which includes a table, four ad-

Contractors will notify residents when they will replace meters in their vicinity. For houses with meters that are outside and

Gaylord hosts flyfishing show e 23rd annual Denver Fly Fishing Show kicks o the season Feb. 21 at the Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center, 6700 No. Gaylord Rockies Blvd. e Fly Fishing Show will include 31 classes with experts.  Class registration is $95 except for a day-long advanced casting class jointly conducted by Dr. Gary Borger and Mac Brown a day before the show opening on Feb. 20. Tuition is $625.   Among the experts’ class-

Drop o donations at the food and clothing bank’s back door, 421 Denver Ave., on weekdays between 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Call 303-857-1096.

Located feet from schools

e reasons Colorado’s energy commission gave for placing the Secret Stash and Draco multiwell projects on hold varied. On the Secret Stash pad application, state regulators asked the operator to clarify how many times it planned to drill on the pad and how many truck trips and air emissions would result from drilling on the site.

“It’s not clear what is being proposed,” Commissioner John Messner said. Multiple trips to drill on the site “also means additional truck trips, which means additional emissions, which means additional impacts.”

e company proposing the Secret Stash development, GMT Exploration Co. LLC, told the commission it wanted to start with several wells to determine the hydrocarbon production potential in the area.

“Initially it will likely be two to six wells,” Maxwell Blair, the privately held company’s regulatory manager, told the commission before it denied the project. “It’s not totally clear whether all 20 will be developed at this point.”

e commission asked that GMT rework its application to better specify air, water and other e ects it expected to result from operations it planned at the site.

GMT did not respond to Capital & Main’s request for comment.

In Erie, the state’s energy commission ordered Extraction Oil & Gas Inc. to consider constructing the Draco pad on an alternate site within the picturesque town. at parcel, already home to 29 wells, two land lls and a Superfund site, would give the town authority to regulate operations that a ect its residents, commissioners said.

“To me this application is very challenging,” Commissioner Brett Ackerman said at a Nov. 15 online hearing about the original site in Weld County, next door to the town of Erie. “On one hand, it includes many best-in-class practices we often encourage, and on the other hand, there are multijurisdictional issues.”

Commissioners voted unanimously to put the plan on hold after an eight-hour hearing on the proposal spread over two days. e hearing included testimony from Erie residents who already have oil and gas wells in their backyards or feet from their homes or children’s schools.

e commissioners required Extraction to conduct a “full alternative location analysis” of a site known as Redtail Ranch, a highly contaminated area that was once envisioned as a masterplanned community.

Residents’ reactions to the commission’s ruling were mixed. ere was little celebration, as the decision would merely move the e ects of the industrial operation to the doorstep of other neighborhoods. And the well bores would still be drilled under communities that already have scores of existing wells -- including some that need to be plugged and abandoned.

“We will prepare to vigorously oppose [the alternative site] should they make an actual e ort to pursue that,” said Christiaan van Woudenberg, a resident who can see the Redtail Ranch site from his back deck. “Until then we are in the shock phase wondering, “Do we have to do this again, to ght for our health and safety and the ability to spend time outdoors?””

When the existing wells were drilled

and fracked -- a process in which sand and water are injected down a well to release oil and gas trapped in shale miles beneath the surface -- on the ranch in 2017, the noise from diesel generators kept van Woudenberg awake for months. e disruption dysregulated his nervous system and forced his neighbors to put 2-inch plastic foam pads in their windows, he said.

Extraction said in its drilling application to regulators that the Redtail Ranch location was among several alternatives for the pad that were deemed unfeasible “due to local regulations.”

e company said it chose the 20-acre site in Weld County in part because electricity is available to power drilling and fracking equipment, allowing it to forgo diesel generators. Commissioners applauded the plan, citing the fact it would cut down on toxic emissions and noise.

Even so, the ve-member body expressed concerns about the pad’s location on the outskirts of a planned 3,100home community, with homes priced between $500,000 and $1.5 million.

e drilling site would be within 2,000 feet of at least 70 residences, a park, walking trails and a school. To reach minerals under the town of Erie, Extraction asked to drill some of the longest horizontal bores ever proposed in Colorado that would run contiguous to existing wells. Residents and town o cials expressed fear about the potential for interaction between older wells and the newer bores.

Most complaints in the state e Draco pad is proving to be a test case for what happens when local oil and gas rules are misaligned. Extraction proposed drilling in Weld County, which requires only a 500-foot setback -- less than a length of two football elds -- between wells and homes. e town of Erie meanwhile mandates 2,000 feet between the two. e issue is further complicated because Erie is bifurcated by Weld and Boulder counties. e latter enacted a moratorium on drilling in the 2010s. Yet the wells would extend underground from the Draco pad into Boulder County.

But the county, like the town of Erie, has no jurisdiction over the application because the pad on which the wells would be drilled is located next door in Weld, the state’s largest oil and gas county. e jurisdictional confusion triggered by the geographic location of the Draco pad was evident throughout the two-day online hearing on Extraction’s proposal.

“From a land-use perspective, this is a good location,” Jason Maxey, then-director of Weld County’s energy department, said during the November hearing. He said the county determined the application complied with its code requirements and approved it in February 2024. Four alternate locations were considered, he said, and the proposed site chosen was the one that best mitigated e ects on residents.

Extraction echoed Maxey’s comments that none of the alternative parcels were viable. is is particularly true of the Redtail Ranch alternative, company representatives said, even though it’s farther from homes and industrial activities that already exist on the site.

“We thought it would be highly unlikely the town of Erie would approve an oil and gas location zoned heavy industrial 2,005 feet away from a residential development to the south,” Je Annable, Extraction’s manager of well and location permitting, said at the November hearing

Indeed, the Redtail Ranch location is

beset by challenges. Existing oil and gas operations there racked up the highest number of complaints in the state, most from nearby communities. e acreage would need to be rezoned from agricultural/residential to industrial. And questions remain about the presence of water and whether toxic contaminants already on the site were adequately cleaned up.

David Frank, Erie’s environmental services department director, told Capital & Main he met with Extraction in early January to discuss the process for submitting an application to drill on the Redtail Ranch site. e rm would also need to meet with the planning department to begin the rezoning process, Frank said.

It is unclear if rezoning must be completed before the company could request that the Erie Town Council approve an oil and gas permit for the site, he said. Additional analysis is also necessary to determine if the location is more protective of residents, he said.

“ e purpose of the alternative location analysis is not to nd the most convenient, or easily permitted location,” Frank said. “ e fact that the mineral estate they are pursuing is largely in Boulder County, and portions of it under the town of Erie, perhaps those are the local governments that should be granted siting authority.”

The face of activism in Erie

e Erie Town Council rejected an application from Stratus Companies to build homes on the Redtail Ranch site in June, citing existing industrial activities that include a land ll shuttered in 2020, a 1960s-era waste disposal site so toxic that it required a cleanup overseen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, an operating land ll and two active oil and gas pads. One council member called the property “spectacularly contaminated.”

Oil and gas operations on the site over the last seven years also drew hundreds of complaints from nearby communities. Van Woudenberg, the Erie resident who lives across the street from the site, created a website to educate people how to le reports about health e ects, noise, light and tra c they observed at fossil fuel sites. He then mobilized residents by putting door hangers on homes. e action resulted in about 905 noise, odor, light and air quality complaints to be led against Crestone Peak Resources LLC, which operates two pads on the Redtail Ranch site, documents show. e company is a subsidiary of Civitas Resources Inc., as is Extraction Oil & Gas Inc., the rm that submitted the Draco pad proposal.

Residents of 26 neighborhoods that would be a ected by Extraction’s proposal to drill under their homes held a community picnic a few days after the commission’s Nov. 15 decision and recommitted to opposing the project, no matter its location.

“ ere’s a growing engagement, an excitement, passion and breadth of experiences and backgrounds behind this movement,” Erie resident Sami Carroll, who created the Flatiron Meadows Oil & Gas Monitoring Group in early 2024 to oppose the Draco pad, told Capital & Main.

“I had a woman tell me we’ve changed the face of activism in Erie -- this has become bigger and more impactful in so many ways,” Carroll added. is story from Capital & Main comes courtesy of Colorado Newsline and was made available via the Colorado News Collaborative. For more, and to support the news organization, visit coloradonewsline.com.

To provide the most accurate results by geographical area, Colorado Community Media does not require, but does encourage readers to vote for businesses in their immediate local community. All nominated businesses have an equal opportunity of winning, no purchase required. Please see voting website for complete contest rules and regulations.

Thu 2/20

2/20 Monthly Birthday Celebration!

@ 1pm

Eagle Pointe Recreation Center, 6060 E. Park‐way Dr., Commerce City. 303-289-3760

Denver Nuggets vs. Charlotte Hornets

@ 7pm / $26-$1965 Ball Arena, Denver

Fri 2/21

Breakfast Burrito Bingo (2/21)

@ 9am

Bison Ridge Recreation Center, 13905 E. 112th Avenue, Commerce City. 303-289-3760

Sweethearts Dance

@ 5pm

Bison Ridge Recreation Center, 13905 E. 112th Avenue, Commerce City. 303-289-3760

Family Fun Friday-Jewelry Making

@ 6pm

Bison Ridge Recreation Center, 13905 E. 112th Avenue, Commerce City. 303-289-3760

Colorado Mammoth vs. Las Vegas Desert Dogs

Halfway There Bon Jovi Tribute: Halfway There - A Bon Jovi Concert Experience @ 7pm @ Cheers, 11964 Washington St, North‐glenn

Lego Racers @ 2pm

Anythink Brighton, 327 East Bridge Street, Brighton. rbowman@anythinkli braries.org, 303-405-3230

Tue 2/25

DJ Rockstar Aaron @ 7pm

Bout Time Pub & Grub, 5225 W 80th Ave, Ar‐vada

Thu 2/27

Colorado Documentary Discovery –Garden of the Gods @ 9am Offsite, 6060 E Parkway Drive, Commerce City. 303-289-3760

BW FT: Homeschool Group (pt. 1) @ 9:30am / $40

Bird Conservancy's Environmental Learning Center, 14500 Lark Bunting Lane, Brighton. 303-659-4348 ext. 53

Lifetime Candles @ 10am Fort Lupton Recreation & Parks Depart‐ment, 203 S Harrison, Fort Lupton. 303-8574200

Ew: Mile High Creative Fest 2025 @ 2pm Bounce Empire, 1380 S Public Rd, Lafayette

Perro Callejero @ 8pm

Mean Girls (Touring) @ 7:30pm

@ 7pm / $31-$999 Ball Arena, Denver

Sat 2/22

Women on Weights Feb 22

@ 9am

Feb 22nd - Mar 15th

Bison Ridge Recreation Center, 13905 E. 112th Avenue, Commerce City. 303-289-3760

Teen Social: Color Me Mine

@ 1pm

Eagle Pointe Recreation Center, 6060 East Park‐way Dr., Commerce City. 303-289-3760

Singing bowls Feb

@ 3pm Fort Lupton Recreation & Parks Depart‐ment, 203 S Harrison, Fort Lupton. 303-8574200

Denver Nuggets vs. Los Angeles Lakers

@ 6:30pm / $170-$6555

Ball Arena, Denver

Zona 0, 8089 Federal Blvd, Westmin‐ster

Sun 2/23

Colorado Symphony OrchestraBeethovens Sixth Symphony @ 1pm

Boettcher Concert Hall, 1400 Curtis Street, Denver

Mon 2/24

Maker Monday (2/24) @ 10am

Bison Ridge Recreation Center, 13905 E. 112th Avenue, Commerce City. 303-289-3760

Buell Theatre, Denver

Face Vocal Band @ 7:30pm

Nissi's Entertainment Venue & Event Center, 1455 Coal Creek Dr unit t, Lafayette

Wed 2/26

The Food That Built America @ 1pm

Eagle Pointe Recreation Center, 6060 E. Park‐way Dr., Commerce City. 303-289-3760

Face Vocal Band @ 7pm

Monarch High School, 329 Campus Dr, Louisville

Eric Golden @ 6pm

The Stillery, 10633 Westminster Blvd #900, Westminster

Jennifer Deann Scott: Absinthe + Elm @ 6pm Denver Beer Co. Olde Town Arvada, 5768 Olde Wadsworth Blvd, Arvada

Colorado Avalanche vs. New Jersey Devils @ 7:30pm / $34-$999 Ball Arena, Denver

Alexa Wildish: Chautauqua and KGNU present LA bene�t concert @ 7:30pm

Chautauqua Community House, 900 Baseline Road, Boulder

Soundularity @ 6:30pm hOM Bass, 8947 Fenton St #107, West‐minster

Small towns brace for costly fixes over PFAS

BY RAE SOLOMON KUNC

Renee Ho man was never thrilled about the water quality at her house in Sleepy Bear Mobile Home Park on the outskirts of Steamboat Springs.

“It just didn’t taste great,” she said. “It had that kind of calcium buildup and stu .”

But one day in 2023, she got a letter from the mobile home park management that made her distrust her tap in a whole new way.

“ is drinking water notice came through, telling us that there was PFAS in the water,” she said.

Poly uoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are a class of compounds sometimes called “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down naturally in the environment.

“PFAS are ubiquitous,” said Zach Schafer, director for policy at the Environmental Protection Agency’s O ce of Water. “ ey’re used in countless products that we use every day, whether it’s nonstick cookware or waterproof clothing. It’s used in stain resistant carpets. It’s used in reghting foam. And it’s very useful, which is why it’s been used since the 1940s.”

But PFAS are also very harmful. Exposure to even a small amount of some PFAS compounds, like Per uorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, and Per uorooctanesulfonic acid, or PFOS, can disrupt immune response, liver and thyroid function and cause heart disease and cancer. ey can also a ect developing fetuses.

“We’re increasingly learning that some PFAS that we’ve studied a great deal have pretty serious adverse health e ects at very, very low levels,” Schafer said. “Based on the latest science, there really is no safe level in drinking water.”

e notice that Ho man received included information from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment informing her that the shallow water well supplying her small neighborhood had tested positive for PFOA and PFOS. e letter included a warning about the potential health impacts of exposure.

“I almost threw it out,” she said. “But I’m glad I opened it because I wouldn’t have heard of it any other way.” e letter o ered some recommendations for reducing exposure but stopped short of telling residents to stop drinking their tap water, “as current health advisories are based on a lifetime of exposure.”

at did little to reassure Ho man that the water was safe for her family.

“We stopped giving it to our animals, stopped using it to cook noodles and things like that. We just stopped using it altogether,” she said.

New drinking water standards

Last year, the EPA created new drinking water standards that limit PFOA and PFOS to less than 4 parts per trillion, which is the smallest concentration tests can reliably detect. But PFAS have already worked their way from industrial sources into drinking supplies across the country. e EPA estimates between 6% and 10% of the nation’s utilities are contaminated. ey have until 2029 to x the problem.

“We are going to save thousands of lives, prevent tens of thousands of avoidable illnesses, and reduce the levels of PFAS in more than 100 million people’s drinking water nationwide,” Schafer said.

e new rules will require all water systems across the country to start monitoring PFAS by 2027. But some states are ahead of the curve. e Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment launched a free, voluntary testing program in 2020 and state o cials report that so far, about two-thirds of the state’s water utilities have opted in.

rough that program, the state has already identi ed 29 water systems, in communities large and small, with a PFAS problem that needs to be addressed.

For the most part, the point of contamination remains a mystery and public health o cials are more focused on removing the chemicals than discovering their source.

“Rarely can we trace the levels we detect in drinking water back to speci c sources of PFAS contamination,” a CDPHE representative wrote in an email. “Our focus is to help our public water systems assess PFAS levels in their drinking water and reduce exposure.”

e good news, according to Schafer, is that the technology to remove PFAS from drinking water already exists and is readily available.

“ ose include activated carbon ion exchange and reverse osmosis,” he said.

But for some utilities, it might make more sense to reduce their reliance on or simply stop using a contaminated water source.

“Depending on the speci c characteristics, the size and the needs of a water

system, they can choose how to meet the standard,” Schafer said. “It’s going to vary based on what PFAS are in their water, at what levels, and what the design of the water treatment system already is. So, it really isn’t going to be a one-size- ts-all approach.”

Costly fixes for small water systems

No matter the approach, dealing with PFAS contamination is bound to be a major undertaking. According to John DeGour, regulatory a airs specialist with the National Rural Water Association, smaller communities are likely to nd it a struggle.

“You have to pay for sampling, you have to install treatment if necessary or nd a new source,” he said. “But if you’re a small system, you obviously have less resources to do that.”

When PFAS turned up in one of the wells supplying rural Keenesburg, on Colorado’s Eastern Plains, public works director Mark Gray was surprised.

“I never anticipated us to have any PFAS in our wells,” he said. “It’s the biggest problem we have. It’s the only problem we have.”

His rst instinct was to look for ways to pay for potentially expensive xes.

“We have made applications to every grant available -- grants for engineering,

grants to build ltration. We are very actively looking at everything that’s available to us,” Gray said.

Congress set aside billions in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2021 to address PFAS in drinking water. at includes $6 billion speci cally for small and disadvantaged communities. According to the CDPHE, Colorado has already received $31 million out of a promised $189 million for PFAS remediation. But with a cloud of uncertainty over how the new Trump administration plans to dole out federal funds, it’s suddenly unclear whether and when the balance will ever reach its intended users.

It’s still too soon to know which PFAS removal approach will be right for Keenesburg, or what the price tag will be. Grants should help cover initial costs but utilities will ultimately be on the hook for ongoing operations.

“We’re being tasked from the EPA to try to come up with an almost impossible standard,” Gray said. “You almost have to anticipate the increased cost in treatment.” ose increased costs will likely raise the rate that consumers pay for water. But utilities will have little choice.

“We’re a small town and we’re one of the few communities that provides its own water,” Gray said. “We want it to be safe.”

Sleepy Bear Mobile Home Park resident Renee Ho man washes dishes at her kitchen sink on Jan. 21, 2025. After learning that her neighborhood water system is contaminated with PFAS, Ho man started to distrust her tap and stopped using tap water for most household purposes. After washing the dishes, she carefully wipes them down, out of an abundance of caution. PHOTO

ANSWERS

that person is being released from custody. ey cannot, however, detain people after their release in order to facilitate pickup by ICE.

“If the city receives a release noti cation request from ICE for someone in custody, we will comply,” Denver Mayor Mike Johnston said recently. “However, our law enforcement o cers are not immigration o cers, and we will never ask them to do the work of the federal government via immigration enforcement. e bottom line is Denver will always enforce criminal law and maintain public safety, regardless of an individual’s immigration status.”

Pueblo County Sheri David Lucero said recently that his o ce will not participate in any ICE roundups, but would help support the federal o cers in cases involving criminal charges and for backup if an o cer is in danger.

“If there is something criminal related and we know the o ender is in our county, absolutely we will support them,” Lucero said in a statement. “We will not support any roundup operations. My role isn’t to enforce immigration laws. I am not the federal sheri . My role is to enforce Colorado law and to ensure the safety of the citizens of Pueblo County.”

State law “prohibits depriving a person of their liberty on the basis of a suspected civil immigration violation in the absence of a warrant signed by a judge,” the ACLU said.

Probation o cers are prohibited from sharing information with ICE.

Last year, the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled that the Teller County sheri ’s practice of holding undocumented immigrants in its county jail through an agreement with federal authorities violated state law.

When is it illegal to report someone to ICE?

It is illegal, under a Colorado law passed in 2021, to threaten to report another person’s immigration status to law enforcement to pressure them to perform an act or refrain from performing a lawful act. Colorado also has a speci c law to protect tenants from this type of threat. e ACLU of Colorado recently led a lawsuit against an Aurora landlord alleging that the landlord made repeated threats to report tenants to immigration authorities, a violation of Colorado’s Immigrant Tenant Protection Act. e Ven-

ezuelan tenants said the landlord wanted to evict them, changed the locks without telling them and repeatedly threatened to call ICE if the family did not vacate, the ACLU said. e tenants have pending asylum cases to try to stay in the United States.

Can a federal agent demand a list of residents, employees, students, etc., who do not have Social Security numbers?

Under Colorado law, state agencies cannot share personal identifying information with ICE unless ICE provides a warrant or a subpoena.

State agencies can only collect immigration status when they are required by state or federal law.

Are there “protected areas” in Colorado where federal agents cannot make immigration-related arrests?

e rules on this have recently changed.

e Trump administration last month reversed a 2011 policy that prevented agents from making arrests in sensitive locations, including schools and churches. e policy was made under former President Obama and reinstated under President Biden.

But under the new administration, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced the end of that policy and said it is allowing agents more authority to carry out immigration enforcement. is set o panic in some Colorado schools and might have resulted in an increase in absences.

“Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest. e Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense,” Benjamine Human, the acting Homeland Security secretary said Jan. 21.

In addition to schools, the previous federal policy listed several other protected areas, including medical facilities, churches, day care centers, social service centers, funerals and graveside ceremonies and places where there is an ongoing parade, demonstration or rally.

Local elected o cials are opposed but somewhat powerless to stop it.

“We also believe that everyone deserves to be able to get an education, get health care, and worship without fear,” the Denver mayor’s o ce said. “Schools, hospitals and churches are the bedrock of the community and essential to providing the services that build healthy societies. We strongly oppose immigration enforcement or raids in these sensitive loca-

tions and will do everything in our legal authority to protect them.”

ICE cannot make arrests in or around courthouses or when someone is on their way to or from court, under federal policy.

In 2017, the First Unitarian Society church in Denver allowed a mother of four who was facing deportation back to Mexico to hide in its building. Jeanette Vizguerra, a housekeeper who was accused of using a made-up Social Security number on a job application, lived in the sanctuary for more than three years before deportation proceedings were halted by the Biden administration.

For what reasons can ICE agents legally arrest someone?

ICE is authorized to arrest individuals suspected of immigration violations. Federal immigration agents can arrest people without legal status, even if they have no criminal record or pending charges. Immigrant advocacy groups are advising people not to answer their doors at home if ICE knocks. Federal immigration agents are not allowed to enter without a warrant signed by a judge. ICE has not responded to questions about whether it had a warrant for the raids conducted in Denver and Aurora last week. e agency was accompanied by several other federal law o cers, including from the Drug Enforcement Administration, which said it had a warrant.

Can state laws ever supersede federal law on immigration?

No, but states have the power to make laws surrounding immigration as long as they do not con ict with federal law. It’s solely up to the federal government to regulate who can enter the country, yet states have the authority under the Tenth Amendment to limit their involvement in federal immigration enforcement, which is how Colorado is allowed to prohibit local authorities from arresting people because of an immigration detainer.

States also can decide things such as whether immigrants need to show proof of legal status to get driver’s licenses. In Colorado, that proof is not required. Federal law restricts undocumented immigrants from receiving federal public bene ts, including Medicaid and food assistance. But states have the power to manage some public bene ts as long as they are funded by the state. In 2021, the Colorado legislature made state and local bene ts, including retirement, food assistance, health care and housing,

available to undocumented residents.

What rights does someone have after they are detained by ICE? Can they be deported without a hearing?

Only an immigration judge can order someone’s deportation — but there are exceptions.

Immigrants without legal status have a right to defend themselves in a court hearing, as long as they have not been deported previously. ere is also an exception called “expedited removal,” which allows the Department of Homeland Security to deport someone without a hearing.

e rules surrounding expedited removal can change with the administration, and the Trump administration has already “dramatically expanded” the reasons for expedited removal, according to a lawsuit led by the ACLU.

e Trump administration issued a rule Jan. 21 that said expedited removal now applies to people found anywhere in the country who cannot prove they have been in the United States for more than two years. Prior to this, federal agents only used expedited removal against people within 100 miles of the border and within 14 days of their arrival in the country, according to the National Immigration Law Center.

Undocumented immigrants have the right to consult an attorney, but the government does not provide one for free the way it does in serious criminal cases. Colorado has more than 77,000 pending immigration cases at the federal courthouse in Denver and inside the ICE detention center in Aurora.

Are raids allowed on businesses or factories suspected of employing people who are undocumented?

ICE agents are allowed to enter public spaces such as restaurants or stores. However, they cannot enter private areas of a workplace unless they have a warrant or permission from the employer, according to the ACLU.

In 2006, more than 100 federal agents raided the Swift & Co meatpacking plant in Greeley, arresting 262 workers. It was the largest immigration raid in U.S. history, news outlets reported at the time, saying Latino neighborhoods in the Weld County city were abandoned as people ed in fear or hid in basements.

ICE raided ve other Swift plants in Texas, Utah, Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota, detaining 1,297 undocumented workers. e raids were the result of an investigation into fraudulent Social Security numbers.

1. TELEVISION: How many castaways are on “Gilligan’s Island”?

2. GEOGRAPHY: Which Asian nation’s nickname is “Land of the under Dragon”?

3. LITERATURE: What is author J.K. Rowling’s real rst name?

4. SCIENCE: What is a type of material that can’t carry an electrical charge?

5. U.S. STATES: Which state’s nickname is “ e Last Frontier”?

6. MEASUREMENTS: How many quarts are in a half gallon?

7. MOVIES: Which famous landmark is featured in the movie “Rebel Without a Cause”?

8. ANATOMY: What does the cerebellum control in the human brain?

9. U.S. PRESIDENTS: Where is the late Jimmy Carter’s presidential library located?

TrIVIa

10. HISTORY: When did the Great Fire of London occur?

Answers 1. Seven.

2. Bhutan.

3. Joanne.

4. An insulator.

5. Alaska.

6. Two.

7. Gri th Observatory.

8. Movement and balance.

9. Atlanta, Georgia.

10. 1666.

(c) 2025 King Features Synd., Inc.

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Court Adams County, Colorado Court Address: 1100 Judicial Center Dr. Brighton, CO 80601

In the Interest of: Zain Calef Rafael Arroyo Case Number: 2024PR30862 Division T1

Attorney or Party Without Attorney (Name and Address):

Ned Nakles, Holland & Knight LLP

1801 California St., Ste 5000

Phone Number: (303) 974-6547 E-mail: Ned.Nakles@hklaw.com FAX Number: (303) 974-6659 Atty. Reg.#: 56085

NOTICE OF HEARING BY PUBLICATION PURSUANT TO§ 15-10-401, C.R.S.

To: Zaida L. Arroyo Garcia and Richar J. Rafael Monotes

A hearing on Petition Appointment of Guardian (title of pleading) for (brief description of relief requested) A Petition of Appointed of Guardian for Minor filed to appoint a guardian(s) as nominated by the minor will be held via video conferencing in a virtual meeting room, such hearing will be held at the following time and location or at a later date to which the hearing may be continued:

Date:March 13, 2025

Time: 9:00 AM

Courtroom or Division: T1

Address: Webex meeting room https://judicial.webex.com/meeUD17-BRGT-DIVT1

Zain Calef Rafael Arroyo 9017 Federal Blvd. Apt# 263 Westminster, CO 80620

Legal Notice No. BSB3642

First Publication: February 13, 2025

Last Publication: February 27, 2025

Publisher: Brighton Standard Blade

Tuesday, April 29, 2025.

Last Publication: February 20, 2025 Publisher: Brighton Standard Blade Public Notice NOTICE OF VACANCY ON THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF TODD CREEK VILLAGE METROPOLITAN DISTRICT

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN, and particularly to the electors of the Todd Creek Village Metropolitan District (the “District”), Adams and Weld County, Colorado.

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, pursuant to Section 32-1-808, C.R.S., that one or more vacancies currently exist on the Board of Directors of the District. Any qualified, eligible elector of the District interested in serving on the Board of Directors for the District should file a Letter of Interest with the Board by 12:00 p.m., on Monday, March 3, 2025.

Letters of Interest should be sent to Todd Creek Village Metropolitan District, c/o WHITE BEAR ANKELE TANAKA & WALDRON, 2154 E. Commons Ave., Suite 2000, Centennial, CO 80122.

TODD CREEK VILLAGE METROPOLITAN DISTRICT

By: /s/ WHITE BEAR ANKELE TANAKA & WALDRON

Attorneys at Law

Legal Notice No. BSB3653

First Publication: February 20, 2025

Last Publication: February 20, 2025 Publisher: Brighton Standard Blade

Public Notice

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING ON INCLUSION OF PROPERTY INTO BROMLEY PARK METROPOLITAN DISTRICT NO. 6

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that there has been filed with the Board of Directors of Bromley Park Metropolitan District No. 6 (the “District”), Adams County, a petition praying that certain property, which is described below, be included into the boundaries of the District. The owner of one hundred percent (100%) of the property identified in the petition has given its consent to the inclusion of the property into the District’s boundaries.

Pursuant to § 32-1-903 CRS, as amended, the District’s meetings may be conducted electronically, telephonically or by other virtual means. Accordingly, notice is hereby given to all interested persons that they shall appear at a public hearing at https://us06web.zoom. us/j/87817090606 at 11:30 AM on Tuesday, February 25, 2025, and show cause in writing why the petition should not be granted. The Board of Directors of the District, in its own discretion, may continue the hearing to a subsequent meeting.

Childrens Services

17th J.D. Webex Instructions for Court Hearing Participants: Division T1 17° J.D. Instrucciones WebEx para Participantes de Audiencias Judiciales

Webex allows for video conferencing for Meetings and Court Hearings. All participants can appear through video conferencing in a virtual meeting room. If a party does not have video capability, they can call/be called into the “meeting room” by phone. All court hearings will be on the record.

WebEx permite videoconferencias para Reuniones y Audiencias Judiciales. Todos los participantes pueden comparecer por medio de videoconferencia en una sala de reunión virtual. Si uno de los participantes no tiene capacidad de video, ellos pueden llamar/ser llamados a la “sala de conferencia” por teléfono. Todas las Audiencias Judiciales estarán en actas.

Joining the Virtual Courtroom (2 methods): (1) Join via web, or (2) Join via phone

Unirse a la Sala Virtual (2 métodos): (1) Unirse vía web (red), o (2) Unirse vía teléfono

Instructions for Joining the Virtual Courtroom

1. Join via Web (from a cell phone or a computer)

* First you will need to download Cisco WebEx (for free) onto your cell phone or computer (see page 3 for instructions for smart phones, and page 4 for computers).

* To join the Webex hearing, you may need these three pieces of information:

• Which Judicial Officer/Division is hosting the hearing,

• Judicial Officer’s Web link (see page 2), or

• Judicial Officer’s Meeting Number/ Access Code (see page 2)

2. Join via Phone

* Participant calls in. For this you need three pieces of information:

• Which Judicial Officer/Division is hosting the hearing,

• Webex “join by phone” #: 720-650-7664 OR 1-415-655-0001

• Judicial Officer’s Meeting Number/Access Code: (see page 2)

Instrucciones para Unirse a la Sala Virtual

1. Unirse vía Web (red) (desde un teléfono celular o una computadora)

The petition for the inclusion of property was submitted by LI MAGPIE CO OWNER, LP, whose address is 401 Franklin Street, Suite 2555, Houston, TX 77002. The property for which inclusion is sought is generally described as six parcels of land in Brighton, Colorado, comprising approximately 90 acres stretching approximately 0.8 miles north from East 152nd Avenue on the east side of the BNSF railroad tracks.

A full and complete legal description of the property petitioned for inclusion is on file at the Law Office of Michael E. Davis, LLC, 1151 Eagle Drive, Suite 366, Loveland, CO 80537, and is available for public inspection during regular business hours 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. BY ORDER OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF BROMLEY PARK METROPOLITAN DISTRICT NO. 6

By: LAW OFFICE OF MICHAEL E. DAVIS, LLC

Attorneys for the District

Legal Notice No. BSB3657

First Publication: February 20, 2025

Last Publication: February 20, 2025

Publisher: Brighton Standard Blade Public Notice

CONVOCATORIA DE CANDIDATURAS

GREATER BRIGHTON FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT

A QUIEN CORRESPONDA, y en particular, a los electores habilitados de la GREATER BRIGHTON FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT (“Distrito”) de los condados de Adams y Weld, Colorado.

POR LA PRESENTE SE NOTIFICA que el Distrito llevará a cabo una elección regular el día 6 de Mayo de 2025, entre las 7:00 a.m. y las 7:00 p.m. En ese momento, se elegirán dos (2) directores por un período de 4 años que expira en Mayo de 2029.

Para ser candidato a uno de los puestos de director, una persona calificada debe presentar un Formulario de Autonominación y Aceptación. Los electores elegibles del Distrito interesados en servir en la Junta Directiva pueden obtener un formulario de Autonominación y Aceptación del Oficial Electoral Designado (DEO) del Distrito después del 1 de Enero de 2025.

Sue Blair, DEO elections@crsofcolorado.com Community Resource Services of Colorado 7995 East Prentice Avenue, Suite 103E Greenwood Village, CO 80111 Teléfono: 303-381-4960 Horario de Oficina: Lunes a Viernes de 8:00 a.m. a 5:00 p.m.

El Formulario de Autonominación y Aceptación debe devolverse al Oficial Electoral Designado antes de las 5:00 p.m. del Viernes 28 de

Febrero de 2025. El formulario se puede enviar por correo electrónico a elections@crsofcolorado.com. Un Formulario de Autonominación y Aceptación que no sea suficiente puede ser modificado una vez en cualquier momento antes de las 5:00 p.m. del Viernes 28 de Febrero de 2025. Se recomienda la presentación anticipada ya que la fecha límite no permitirá corregir un formulario insuficiente si se recibe a las 5:00 p.m.

Los formularios de Declaración jurada de intención de ser un candidato por escrito deben enviarse a la oficina del Funcionario Electoral Designado antes del cierre de operaciones el Lunes 3 de Marzo de 2025.

SE NOTIFICA ADEMÁS que se puede presentar una solicitud para una boleta de voto en ausencia ante el Funcionario Electoral Designado, con la información de contacto mencionada anteriormente, a más tardar al cierre de operaciones el Martes 29 de Abril de 2025.

GREATHER BRIGHTON FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT Sue Blair, Funcionario Electoral Designado

Legal Notice No. BSB3656

First Publication: February 20, 2025

Last Publication: February 20, 2025

Publisher: Brighton Standard Blade

Public Notice

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING ON INCLUSION OF PROPERTY INTO ADAMS EAST METROPOLITAN DISTRICT

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of Adams East Metropolitan District (the “District”), Adams County, will conduct a public hearing at 11:30 AM on Tuesday, February 25, 2025 to consider a petition filed with the Board praying that certain property, which is described below, be included into the boundaries of the District. The owner of the property being petitioned for inclusion is SPL Commercial, LLC, whose address is 8301 East Prentice Ave., Suite 100, Greenwood Village, Colorado 80111. The property for which inclusion is sought is generally described as certain portions of land in Section 35, Township 1 North, Range 66W in Weld County, located on the north side of 168th Avenue, extending approximately 0.25 miles west of Freestone Street in the Town of Lochbuie, State of Colorado.

Pursuant to § 32-1-903 CRS, as amended, the public hearing on the inclusion of property will be conducted electronically, telephonically or by other virtual means. Accordingly, notice is hereby given to all interested persons that they shall appear at the public hearing at either: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87817090606; or on 719-359-4580, Meeting ID: 878 1709 0606, and show cause in writing why the petition should not be granted. The Board, in its own discretion, may continue the hearing to a subsequent meeting.

* Primero necesitará descargar Cisco WebEx (gratuitamente) en su teléfono celular o computadora (vea la página 3 para instrucciones para teléfonos inteligentes, y página 4 para computadoras).

* Para unirse a la audiencia WebEx, necesita tres detalles de información:

• Cual Funcionario Judicial/División está celebrando la audiencia,

• El Enlace de la Web (red) del Funcionario Judicial (vea la página 2), o

• El Número de Reunión del Funcionario Judicial/Código de Acceso (vea la página 2)

2. Unirse vía teléfono

El Participante llama. Para esto, necesita tres detalles de información:

• Cual Funcionario Judicial/División está celebrando la audiencia,

• Webex “unirse por teléfono”

A full and complete legal description of the property being petitioned for inclusion is on file at the Law Office of Michael E. Davis, LLC, 1151 Eagle Drive, #366, Loveland, CO 80537, and is available for public inspection during regular business hours 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. BY ORDER OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF ADAMS EAST METROPOLITAN DISTRICT

By: LAW OFFICE OF MICHAEL E. DAVIS, LLC Attorneys for the District

Legal Notice No. BSB3659 First Publication: February 20, 2025 Last Publication: February 20, 2025 Publisher: Brighton Standard Blade Public Notice

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING ON EXCLUSION OF PROPERTY FROM BROMLEY PARK METROPOLITAN DISTRICT NO. 5

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of Bromley Park Metropolitan District No. 5 (the “District”), Adams County, will conduct a public hearing at 11:30 AM on Tuesday, February 25, 2025 to consider a petition filed with the Board praying that certain property, which is described below, be excluded from the boundaries of the District. The owner of the property being petitioned for exclusion is Flywheel Holdings, LLC, whose address is 8301 East Prentice Ave., Suite 100, Greenwood Village, Colorado 80111. The property for which exclusion is sought is generally described as the lot located at 22400 E. 168th Avenue in the Town of Lochbuie, Adams County, Colorado, located on the south side of 168th Avenue between Wagon Trail Avenue and Bonanza Boulevard.

Pursuant to § 32-1-903 CRS, as amended, the public hearing on the exclusion of property will be conducted electronically, telephonically or by other virtual means. Accordingly, notice is hereby given to all interested persons that they shall appear at the public hearing at either: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87817090606; or on 719-359-4580, Meeting ID: 878 1709 0606, and show cause in writing why the petition should not be granted. The Board, in its own discretion, may continue the hearing to a subsequent meeting.

A full

when the same were due and owing.

NOTICE OF SALE

THEREFORE, NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that I will, at 9:00 o’clock A.M., on March 20, 2025, at the Adams County Sheriff’s Office, 1100 Judicial Center Drive, Brighton, CO 80601 sell to the highest and best bidder for cash, the said real property described above, and all interest of said Grantor and the heirs and assigns of said Grantor, for the purpose of paying the judgment amount entered herein, and will deliver to the purchaser a Certificate of Purchase, all as provided by law.

First Publication: January 23, 2025 Last Publication: February 20, 2025 Name of Publication: Brighton Standard Blade NOTICE OF RIGHTS

YOU MAY HAVE AN INTEREST IN THE REAL PROPERTY BEING FORECLOSED, OR HAVE CERTAIN RIGHTS OR SUFFER CERTAIN LIABILITIES PURSUANT TO COLORADO LAW AS A RESULT OF SAID FORECLOSURE. YOU MAY HAVE THE RIGHT TO REDEEM SAID REAL PROPERTY OR YOU MAY HAVE THE RIGHT TO CURE A DEFAULT UNDER THE LIEN BEING FORECLOSED. A COPY OF THE STATUTES WHICH MAY AFFECT YOUR RIGHTS ARE ATTACHED HERETO.

A NOTICE OF INTENT TO CURE PURSUANT TO §38-38-104, C.R.S., SHALL BE FILED WITH THE OFFICER AT LEAST FIFTEEN (15)

DISTRICT COURT, ADAMS COUNTY, COLORADO

Court Address: 1100 Judicial Center Dr., Brighton, CO 80601

Plaintiff: PARK NORTH TOWNHOUSE CORP., a Colorado non-profit corporation

Defendants: JEREMY JOHN WETTIG; AMANDA WETTIG; FEDERAL HOME LOAN MORTGAGE CORPORATION; FREEDOM MORTGAGE CORPORATION; CITIBANK, NA; ALEX VILLAGRAN, AS PUBLIC TRUSTEE AND TREASURER FOR ADAMS COUNTY; UNKNOWN TENANT(S) IN POSSESSION

Case Number: 2024CV030751

Attorneys for Plaintiff: WINZENBURG, LEFF, PURVIS & PAYNE, LLP

Wendy E. Weigler, # 28419

Address: 350 Indiana Street, Suite 450 Golden, CO 80401 Phone Number: 303-863-1870 wweigler@wlpplaw.com

SHERIFF’S COMBINED NOTICE OF SALE AND RIGHT TO CURE AND REDEEM

Under a Judgment and Decree of Foreclosure entered on October 21, 2024, in the abovecaptioned action, I am ordered to sell certain real property as follows:

Original Lienee

Jeremy John Wettig and Amanda Wettig

Original Lienor

Park North Townhouse Corp.

Current Holder of the evidence of debt

Park North Townhouse Corp.

Date of Lien being foreclosed

Date of Recording of Lien being foreclosed October 4, 2023

County of Recording Adams

Recording Information

2023000056462

Original Principal Balance of the secured indebtedness

$11,424.47

Outstanding Principal Balance of the secured indebtedness as of the date hereof $21,192.87

Amount of Judgment entered October 21, 2024

$19,891.38

Description of property to be foreclosed:

An undivided 1/235 interest in Park North Townhouses - (First Filing), except any air space above such property other than that specifically conveyed herein; also, all of that space or area which lies within the inside walls, first floor and ceiling of the second floor of Condominium Unit No. 57, Building No. 9 as shown on the Third Amended Condominium Map of Park North Townhouses (First Filing), together with everything now or hereafter located in said area; also all the air space contained within the Bay Area (s) appurtenant to said Unit, which air space is designated on the Third Amended Condominium Map of Park North Townhouses, (First Filing) as none. An undivided 1/7th interest in and to Building No. 9 as shown on the Condominium Map.

Together with:

1. The exclusive right to use and occupy Patio Area No. 57 P as shown on the Condominium Map together with the right to use the air space over such area.

2. The exclusive right to use and occupy Carport No. 57 C as shown on the Condominium Map.

3. The exclusive right to use and occupy Air Space in the attic of Condominium Unit No. 57 of Building No. 9 as shown on the Condominium Map.

4. The right to use common elements in common with others. County of Adams, State of Colorado.

Also known as: 1200 W. 88th Avenue, #57, Thornton, CO 80260

THE PROPERTY TO BE FORECLOSED AND DESCRIBED HEREIN IS ALL OF THE PROPERTY CURRENTLY ENCUMBERED BY THE LIEN.

THE LIEN BEING FORECLOSED MAY NOT BE A FIRST LIEN.

The covenants of Plaintiff have been violated as follows: failure to make payments on said indebtedness when the same were due and owing.

NOTICE OF SALE

THEREFORE, NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that I will, at 9:00 o’clock A.M., on April 17 2025, at the Adams County Sheriff’s Office, 1100 Judicial Center Drive, located at Brighton, CO 80601, sell to the highest and best bidder for cash, the said real property described above, and all interest of said Grantor and the heirs and assigns of said Grantor, for the purpose of paying the judgment amount entered herein, and will deliver to the purchaser a Certificate of Purchase, all as provided by law. Bidders are required to have cash or certified funds to cover the highest bid by noon on the day of the sale. Certified funds are payable to the Adams County Sheriff’s Office.

First Publication: February 20, 2025 Last Publication: March 20, 2025 Name of Publication: Brighton Standard Blade

NOTICE OF RIGHTS

YOU MAY HAVE AN INTEREST IN THE REAL PROPERTY BEING FORECLOSED, OR HAVE CERTAIN RIGHTS OR SUFFER CERTAIN LIABILITIES PURSUANT TO

COLORADO LAW AS A RESULT OF SAID FORECLOSURE. YOU MAY HAVE THE RIGHT TO REDEEM SAID REAL PROPERTY OR YOU MAY HAVE THE RIGHT TO CURE A DEFAULT UNDER THE LIEN BEING FORECLOSED. A COPY OF THE STATUTES WHICH MAY AFFECT YOUR RIGHTS ARE ATTACHED HERETO.

A NOTICE OF INTENT TO CURE PURSUANT TO §38-38-104, C.R.S., SHALL BE FILED WITH THE OFFICER AT LEAST FIFTEEN (15) CALENDAR DAYS PRIOR TO THE FIRST SCHEDULED SALE DATE OR ANY DATE TO WHICH THE SALE IS CONTINUED.

IF THE SALE DATE IS CONTINUED TO A LATER DATE, THE DEADLINE TO FILE A NOTICE OF INTENT TO CURE BY THOSE PARTIES ENTITLED TO CURE MAY ALSO BE EXTENDED.

A NOTICE OF INTENT TO REDEEM FILED PURSUANT TO §38-38-302, C.R.S., SHALL BE FILED WITH THE OFFICER NO LATER THAN EIGHT (8) BUSINESS DAYS AFTER THE SALE, EXCEPT THAT, IF THE PERSON IS DEEMED AN ALTERNATE LIENOR PURSUANT TO §38-38-305.5, C.R.S. AND THE LIEN BEING FORECLOSED IS A UNIT ASSOCIATION LIEN, THE ALTERNATE LIENOR HAS THIRTY (30) DAYS TO FILE THE NOTICE WITH THE OFFICER OF THE ALTERNATE LIENOR’S INTENT TO REDEEM.

IF THE BORROWER BELIEVES THAT A LENDER OR SERVICER HAS VIOLATED THE REQUIREMENTS FOR A SINGLE POINT OF CONTACT IN C.R.S. 38-38103.1 OR THE PROHIBITION ON DUAL TRACKING IN C.R.S. 38-38-103.2, THE BORROWER MAY FILE A COMPLAINT WITH THE COLORADO ATTORNEY GENERAL AT THE COLORADO DEPARTMENT OF LAW, RALPH L. CARR JUDICIAL BUILDING, 1300 BROADWAY, 10TH FLOOR, DENVER, CO 80203, 720-508-6000; THE CFPB, HTTP:// WWW.CONSUMERFINANCE.GOV/COMPLAINT/; CFPB, PO BOX 2900, CLINTON IA 52733-2900 (855) 411-2372 OR BOTH, BUT

THE FILING OF A COMPLAINT WILL NOT STOP THE FORECLOSURE PROCESS.

The name, address and telephone number of each of the attorneys representing the holder of the evidence of the debt is as follows:

Wendy E. Weigler, Esq. Winzenburg, Leff, Purvis & Payne, LLP 350 Indiana Street, Suite 450 Golden, CO 80401 303-863-1870

THIS IS AN ATTEMPT TO COLLECT A DEBT AND ANY INFORMATION OBTAINED MAY BE USED FOR THAT PURPOSE.

Date: January 23, 2025.

By: Gene R. Claps

Adams County Sheriff Adams County, Colorado

Statutes attached: §§38-37-108, 38-38-103, 38-38-104, 38-38-301, 38-38-302, 38-38304, 38-38-305, and 38-38-306, C.R.S., as amended.

Legal Notice No. BSB3643

First Publication: February 20, 2025

Last Publication: March 20, 2025

Publisher: Brighton Standard Blade

Misc. Private Legals

Public Notice

BEFORE THE ENERGY AND CARBON MANAGEMENT COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF COLORADO

IN THE MATTER OF THE PROMULGATION AND ESTABLISHMENT OF FIELD RULES TO GOVERN OPERATIONS FOR THE NIOBRARA, FORT HAYS, CODELL, AND CARLILE FORMATIONS, WATTENBERG FIELD, ADAMS COUNTY, COLORADO

CAUSE NO. 407 DOCKET NO. 241100276 TYPE: SPACING

NOTICE OF HEARING

Extraction Oil & Gas, Inc. (Operator No. 10459) (“Applicant”) filed an Application with the Commission to add the Fort Hays and Carlile Formations to a drilling and spacing unit established for the lands below for development of the Niobrara and Codell Formations. This Notice was sent to you because the Applicant believes you may own oil or gas (“mineral”) interests within the proposed unit. Generally, spacing is the process whereby an applicant obtains approval to assign certain mineral interests to be developed by a specific number of wells. Importantly, spacing is not pooling, and it is not an application for a drilling permit.

APPLICATION LANDS

Township 1 South, Range 66 West, 6th P.M. Section 13: W½W½ Section 14: All Section 15: All Section 16: E½ Section 21: NE¼ Section 22: N½

23: N½ Section 24: W½NW¼

DATE, TIME, AND LOCATION OF HEARING (Subject to change)

The Commission will hold a hearing on the above-referenced docket number at the following date, time, and location:

Date: April 23, 2025

Time: 9 a.m.

Location: Virtual Hearing with Remote Access via Zoom To participate, navigate to https://

ecmc.state.co.us/#/home and locate the Zoom meeting link on the left side of the webpage Energy and Carbon Management Commission 1120 Lincoln Street, Suite 801 Denver, CO 80203

PETITIONS

DEADLINE FOR PETITIONS BY AFFECT-

ED PERSONS: March 24, 2025

Any interested party who wishes to participate formally must file a written petition with the Commission no later than the deadline provided above. Please see Commission Rule 507 at https://ecmc.state.co.us/#/home, under “Regulation,” then select “Rules.” Please note that, under Commission Rule 510.l, the deadline for petitions may only be continued for good cause, even if the hearing is continued beyond the date that is stated above. Pursuant to Commission Rule 507, if you do not file a proper petition, the Hearing Officer will not know that you wish to formally participate in this matter and the date and time of the hearing may change without additional notice to you. Parties wishing to file a petition must register online at https://oitco.hylandcloud.com/DNRCOGExternalAccess/Account/Login.aspx and select “Request Access to Site.” Please refer to ECMC’s “eFiling Users Guidebook” at https:// ecmc.state.co.us/documents/reg/Hearings/ External_EfilingSystemGuidebook_2023_FINAL.pdf for more information. Under Commission Rule 508, if no petition is filed, the Application may be approved administratively without a formal hearing.

Any Affected Person who files a petition must be able to participate in a prehearing conference during the week of March 31, 2025, if a prehearing conference is requested by the Applicant or by any person who has filed a petition.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

For more information, you may review the Application, which was sent to you with this Notice. You may also contact the Applicant at the phone number or email address listed below.

In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, if any party requires special accommodations for this hearing as a result of a disability, please contact Margaret Humecki before the hearing at DNR_ECMC_Hearings_Unit@state.co.us, and arrangements will be made.

ENERGY AND CARBON MANAGEMENT COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF COLORADO

By Elias J. Thomas, Commission Secretary Dated: February 6, 2025

Applicant:

Extraction Oil & Gas, Inc. c/o Attorneys for Applicant Joseph C. Pierzchala Welborn Sullivan Meck & Tooley, P.C. 1401 Lawrence Street, Suite 1800 Denver, CO 80202 303-830-2500 jpierzchala@wsmtlaw.com

Legal Notice No. BSB3644

First Publication: February 20, 2025

Last Publication: February 20, 2025

Publisher: Brighton Standard Blade Public Notice

NOTICE OF ANNUAL STOCKHOLDERS

MEETING THE FARMERS’ HIGH LINE CANAL AND RESERVOIR COMPANY 8399 W. 89th Avenue, Westminster, CO 80021

To the Stockholders of…. THE FARMERS’ HIGH LINE CANAL AND RESERVOIR COMPANY

You are hereby notified that the Annual Meeting of THE FARMERS’ HIGH LINE CANAL AND RESERVOIR COMPANY will be held on Tuesday, March 11, 2025 at 9:30 a.m., at Pillar of Fire/Westminster Castle, located at 3455 W. 83rd Avenue, Westminster, CO 80031 for the purpose of electing Directors of said Company for the ensuing year, setting the annual assessment for the ensuing year, and the transaction of any business which may regularly come before said meeting.

Registering of shares will begin at 9:00 a.m. NO TRANSFERS OF STOCK FROM MARCH 1, 2025 TO MARCH 15, 2025.

All stockholders are earnestly requested to be present at said meeting either in person or by proxy to obtain a quorum for the transaction of business.

Dated in Westminster, Colorado this 31st day of January 2025.

THE FARMERS’ HIGH LINE CANAL AND RESERVOIR COMPANY

BY: Michael Bollinger

General Manager

Legal

Division: W AMENDED MOTION FOR PUBLICATION FOR SERVICE

Plaintiff moves the Court for an Order of Service of the Alleged or Presumed Defendant Anthony Joseph Kline by Publication, and states:

1. This is a Complaint Under Rule 105.

2. Plaintiff is the holder and in possession of real property situated in Adams County Colorado. with a legal description of : Lot 346, Montecillo Subdivision, County of Adams, State of Colorado, commonly known as: 9012 Rampart St. 346 Federal Heights, CO. 80260, and personal property, to wit a mobile home situated on the real property to wit: Mobile Home, Title No:12M339410 Serial No:K12260CDT80637 YEAR: 1968

3. The Attorney for the Plaintiff has diligently tried numerous ways to contact, locate, and serve the party, but they have failed.

4. Multiple diligent attempts by RAMOS PROCESS SERVICE have been attempted even to find Anthony Joseph Kline’s last known address is located.

5. Ms. Ramos has also attempted to do a “Skip Trace” to locate Mr. Anthony Kline and the attempt has led to no other serviceable information.

6. The Plaintiff requests that an Amended Motion for Publication be allowed in order to “serve” the Defendant, Anthony Joseph Kline and continue this matter so not to hold up the process of this case, and that the summons shall include the Legal Description of the property.

7. The Court has previously granted a Motion to Publish but upon the request to enter a Judgment, the Court has requested that the published summons contain the Legal Description of all Property, including this a publication pursuant to Rule 105 of the Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure.

8. Diligent efforts to locate the Defendant, Anthony Joseph Kline, for personal service has not been completed, per attached Affidavit of Diligent Efforts for Service.

Wherefore, for the above reasons the Plaintiff moves for this Motion for Publication be granted.

Respectfully submitted this 21st day of January 2025.

*/s/Kent L. Freudenberg Kent L. Freudenberg, #22246 Attorney for Plaintiff CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby state that on this 21st day of January 2025, a true and correct copy of the foregoing was served via e-file through ICCES, or submitted via U.S. Postal System, prepaid, to the following:

Via USPS: Anthony Joseph Kline 9012 Rampart St. 346 Federal Heights, CO. 80260

*/s/rrf Rachell Ruiz Freudenberg, Paralegal/LLP

*In accordance with C.R.C.P. 121 § 1-26, a printed copy of this document with original signature(s) is maintained at The Law Office of Kent L. Freudenberg,

Plaintiff(s) GEORGE KLINE v. Defendant(s) ANTHONY JOSEPH KLINE Case Number: 2023CV31238

recorded the 13th day of September, 1991 in Book 3816 at Page 220 in the office of the County Clerk and Ex-Officio Register of Deed for the County of Adams, State of Colorado.

Containing 139.50 acres, more or less (Hereinafter “Mineral Estate”)

The hearing on the petition will be held at the following time and location or at a later date to which the hearing may be continued:

Date: April 7, 2025 Time: 8:00 a.m. Courtroom or Division: 1 Address: 1100 Judicial Center Drive, Brighton, Colorado 80601

Note: • You must answer the petition on or before the hearing date and time specified above. Within the time required for answering the petition, all objections to the petition must be in writing, filed with the court and served on the petitioner and any required filing fee must be paid. The hearing shall be limited

/s/ Lance E. McKinley

Lance E. McKinley, Atty for Co-PRs

Legal Notice No. BSB3647

First Publication: February 20, 2025 Last Publication: March 6, 2025 Publisher: Brighton

NOTICE TO CREDITORS Estate of Robert A. Rodez, aka Robert Anthony Rodez, Deceased Case Number: 2025PR030043

All persons having claims against the above named estate are required to present them to the personal representative or to the District Court of Adams County, Colorado on or before June 6, 2025, or the claims may be forever barred.

Michael Anderson Attorney to the Personal Representative Rocky Mountain Legal Center 711 S Public Rd Lafayette, CO 80026

Legal Notice No. BSB 3137

First Publication: February 6, 2025

Last Publication: February 20, 2025 Publisher: Brighton Standard Blade PUBLIC NOTICE

NOTICE TO CREDITORS Estate of Arlen Bradley Unruh, aka Bradley Unruh, aka Brad Unruh, Deceased Case Number: 2025 PR 30039

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 June 6, 2025, or the claims may be forever barred.

Brandon B. Houtchens

Attorney for Personal Representative, Maggie Unruh 801 8th Street, Suite 220J Greeley, Colorado 80631

Legal Notice No. BSB3606 First Publication: February 6, 2025

Last Publication: February 20, 2025

Publisher: Brighton Standard Blade PUBLIC NOTICE

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Estate of ELDON E. LORSHBOUGH; A/K/A ELDON EUGENE LORSHBOUGH, Deceased Case Number: 2024 PR 30819

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 June 6, 2025, or the claims may be forever barred.

DIANE LINVILLE

Personal Representative c/o Gitkind Law Firm. 801 Main St. -suite 230 Louisville. CO 80027

Legal Notice No. BSB3609

First Publication: February 6, 2025 Last Publication: February 20, 2025 Publisher: Brighton Standard Blade PUBLIC NOTICE

NOTICE TO CREDITORS Estate of Maxine Oliver, Deceased Case Number: 2024 PR 409

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 June 20, 2025, or the claims may be forever barred.

Karen Dixon

Personal Representative 9203 W Arbor Ave Littleton, CO 80123

Legal Notice No. BSB3646

First Publication: February 20, 2025

Last Publication: March 6, 2025

Publisher: Brighton Standard Blade PUBLIC NOTICE

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Estate of Glen Miller, a/k/a, Glen N. Miller, a/k/a Glen Nelson Miller, Deceased Case Number: 2025 PR 30037

All persons having claims against the abovenamed estate are required to present them to Brian L. Miller, Personal Representative, c/o Casey L. Williams, Esq., or to the District Court of Adams County, Colorado on or before June 13, 2025, or the claims may be forever barred.

Casey L. Williams, #39117

Attorney for Brian L. Miller Personal Representative 203 Telluride Street, #400 Brighton, CO 80601

Legal Notice No. BSB3633

First Publication: February 13, 2025

Last Publication: February 27, 2025

Publisher: Brighton Standard Blade

PUBLIC NOTICE

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Estate of LUCY RIBALI, Deceased

Case Number: 2025 PR 30014

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 June 13, 2025, or the claims may be forever barred.

Garrett Sheldon, Esq.

Attorney for Personal Representative 517 Main Street, P.O. Box 808 Walsenburg, CO 81089 (719) 738-3535

garrett.sheldon@hotmail.com

Legal Notice No. BSB3635

First Publication: February 13, 2025

Last Publication: February 27, 2025

Publisher: Brighton Standard Blade

Public Notice

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Estate of Bonnie J. Copple, a/k/a Bonnie Jean Copple, Deceased Case Number: 2025PR030085

All persons having claims against the above named estate are required to present them to the personal representative or to the District Court of Adams County, Colorado on or before March 19, 2025, or the claims may be forever barred.

Nancy S. Germany, Esq.

Attorney to the Personal Representative 77 Erie Village Square Erie, CO 80516

Legal Notice No. BSB 3141

First Publication: February 20, 2025

Last Publication: March 6, 2025

Publisher: Brighton Standard Blade

Name Changes

PUBLIC NOTICE

Public Notice of Petition for Change of Name

Public notice is given on February 3, 2025, that a Petition for a Change of Name of an adult has been filed with the Adams County Court.

The petition requests that the name of

Sydney Kelly Patricia Hill be changed to

Sydney Patricia Hill Case No.: 25 C 0181

By: Deputy Clerk

Legal Notice No. BSB3649

First Publication: February 20, 2025

Last Publication: March 6, 2025

Publisher: Brighton Standard Blade

PUBLIC NOTICE

Public Notice of Petition for Change of Name

Public notice is given on December 23, 2024, that a Petition for a Change of Name of an adult has been filed with the Adams County Court.

The petition requests that the name of Mia Rose Sullivan be changed to Mia Rose Moreno Case No.: 24 C 2314

By: Deputy Clerk

Legal Notice No. BSB3632

First Publication: February 20, 2025

Last Publication: March 6, 2025

Publisher: Brighton Standard Blade

PUBLIC NOTICE

Public Notice of Petition for Change of Name

Public notice is given on January 17, 2025, that a Petition for a Change of Name of a minor child has been filed with the Adams County Court.

The petition requests that the name of Marie James Northrop Leininger be changed to Eva James Northrop Leininger Case No.: 25 C 0025

By: Deputy Clerk

Legal Notice No. BSB3611

First Publication: February 6, 2025

Last Publication: February 20, 2025

Publisher: Brighton Standard Blade PUBLIC NOTICE

Public Notice of Petition for Change of Name

Public notice is given on February 6, 2025, that a Petition for a Change of Name of a minor child has been filed with the Adams County Court.

The petition requests that the name of Matias Zahir Guzman Portillo be changed to Matias Zahir Portillo

Case No.: 25 C 0206

By: Deputy Clerk

Legal Notice No. BSB3654

First Publication: February 20, 2025

Last Publication: March 6, 2025

Publisher: Brighton Standard Blade

PUBLIC NOTICE

Public Notice of Petition for Change of Name

Public notice is given on January 21, 2025, that a Petition for a Change of Name of an adult has been filed with the Adams County Court.

The petition requests that the name of Matthew James Brady be changed to Matthew James Handlovits

Case No.: 25 C 0080

By: Deputy Clerk

Legal Notice No. BSB3651

First Publication: February 20, 2025

Last Publication: March 6, 2025

Publisher: Brighton Standard Blade

Children Services

(Adoption/Guardian/Other)

Public Notice

DISTRICT COURT, ADAMS COUNTY, COLORADO

Court Address: 1100 Judicial Center Drive Brighton, CO 80601

Child: Julian Anchondo

Respondents: Arantxa Anchondo, Ronald Martinez

Special Respondent: Norma Rodriguez, Casandra Martinez, Diana Martinez

Case Number: 24JV30047

Div: S ORDER OF ADVISEMENT

NOTICE TO THE ABOVE-NAMED RESPONDENTS,: Arantxa Anchondo, Ronald Martinez

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 S of the District Court in and for the County of Adams, Adams County Justice Center, 1100 Judicial Center Drive, Brighton, Colorado, on the 6th day of March, 2025 at 9:00 a.m., 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: BY THE COURT:

Fort Lupton Press Legals

Metropolitan Districts

Public Notice

NOTICE OF EXCLUSION

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that there have been filed with the Boards of Directors of Pinnacle Farms Metropolitan District Nos. 2 and 3, in the City of Dacono, County of Weld, State of Colorado, petitions praying for the exclusion of certain land from such Districts.

1. The name and address of the petitioner and a general description of the property mentioned in such petitions are as follows:

Petitioner: JST Holdings 02 Business LLC

Address: 530-B Harkle Road, Suite 100 Santa Fe, NM 87505

General Description: Southeast of the intersection of Interstate 25 and Highway 52, in the City of Dacono, Weld County, CO. A full legal description can be obtained from Spencer Fane LLP, 1700 Lincoln Street, Suite 2000, Denver, CO 80203.

2. The prayer of the petitions is that the property described in the applicable petitions be excluded from Pinnacle Farms Metropolitan District Nos. 2 and 3.

3. The area sought to be excluded from the Districts is located entirely within the City of Dacono, Weld County and does not include property within any other county or within any other incorporated city, town, or city and county, and the Districts currently encompass property in the City of Dacono, Weld County, and therefore no notice of the proposed exclusion under Section 32-1-207(2), C.R.S., as amended, is required.

Accordingly, notice is hereby given to all interested persons to appear at the public hearing of the Boards of Directors of the Districts on February 27, 2025, at 3:00 p.m. via video and teleconference, and show cause in writing, if any they have, why such petitions should not be granted. The video conference can be joined at: https://spencerfane. zoomgov.com/j/1615964777?pwd=cod3a8XGdtHYe8IuOG400OA8ptJYby.1

Or call in (audio only): 1 650-479-3208, Meeting ID: 2598 557 4864, Passcode: 25985574864. The failure of any person in the existing Districts to file a written objection shall be taken as an assent on his part to the exclusion of the area described in this notice.

PINNACLE FARMS METROPOLITAN DISTRICT NOS. 2 AND 3

By: /s/ David S. O’Leary, District Counsel

Legal Notice No. FLP 6313

First Publication: February 20, 2025

Last Publication: February 20, 2025 Publisher: Fort Lupton Press

Bids and Settlements

Public Notice NOTICE INVITATION TO BID

ASPHALT REPAIR/REPLACEMENT AT THE CARBON VALLEY RECREATION CENTER FOR THE CARBON VALLEY PARKS AND RECREATION DISTRICT

The Carbon Valley Parks and Recreation District (CVPRD) is seeking bids from qualified commercials asphalt repair companies to repair parking lots at the Carbon Valley Recreation and Gymnastic Centers.

This request for proposals will be released on February 20, 2025.

Copies of the RFP may be obtained from the CVPRD Recreation Center located at 701 5th St., Frederick, CO 80530.

The complete document will also be available at https://www.cvprd.com https://www.bidnetdirect.com/colorado/carbon-valley-park-recreation-district

Sealed proposals must be received by 5 PM, Mountain Standard Time (MST) on Friday, March 7, 2025, at the Carbon Valley Parks and Recreation District Recreation Center located at 701 5th St., Frederick, CO 80530. Proposals received after that time will not be accepted. All Proposals must be sealed in a package clearly marked with the proposer’s name and “CVPRD Recreation Center Asphalt Proposal.”

The Request for Proposal, and any addenda will be available on February 20, 2025, on the Carbon Valley Parks and Recreation District website at: https://www.cvprd.com and https://www.bidnetdirect.com/colorado/carbon-valley-park-recreation-district. Carbon

School libraries could get protection from bans

BY JENNY BRUNDIN CPR NEWS

A bill to make it harder to remove books from public school libraries cleared its rst Colorado legislative hurdle Feb. 10. After a three-hour debate, members of the Senate Education Committee approved the bill that would require schools to have a policy on school library book challenges.

e bill stipulates that only parents or legal guardians of children at a school could challenge a book in their child’s library and ask for its removal. It protects school librarians from retaliation and requires that a school’s challenge policy be transparent and posted for the community. It also limits challenges to a book’s place in a library to once every two years.

“It’s never been more important to protect the freedom to read,” said bill sponsor state Sen. Lisa Cutter, a Je erson County Democrat. “Free societies don’t ban books.”

She said the bill would protect school libraries from what’s known as “ban bombing,” where hundreds of requests to ban books bombard school librarians. Book challenges have become more prevalent nationwide. In 2022, Colorado was home to nearly 10 percent of all book challenges, according to the American Library Association.

Challenges have drawn lawsuits

Last August, the Elizabeth school board voted to remove 19 books from library shelves after board members conducted a review for content such as racism, graphic violence and sexual content. Many of the books on the list were written by or about

people of color or LGBTQ people, such as “ e Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison and “ e Hate U Give” by Angie omas.

School board members called the books “disgusting” or “ugly” and said it was their duty to protect children. Dozens of other books are on a “sensitive list” – including a number of religious books, books like “To Kill A Mockingbird,” “Catcher in the Rye” and “ e Hunger Games” – that allows parents to prohibit their children from checking out the books.

In December the ACLU led a federal lawsuit on behalf of two students and two groups including NAACP of the Rocky Mountains, arguing that the ban violates federal and state free speech protections. It said the book removals deny authors their right to share their books with students free from viewpoint-based censorship.

Passionate testimonials

Dozens of parents and students gave impassioned testimony in support of the bill Feb. 10. ey said that books have opened their minds to new ideas and perspectives and have given them a window into lives very di erent from their own. ey said books spark imagination and are a way to develop critical thinking skills and empathy.

Hripsime Vartanyan, an exchange student from the nation of Georgia, testi ed for the bill. She explained to legislators that her parents and grandparents grew up in the Soviet Union when books were banned.

“But when I was growing up, there was no Soviet Union. So my parents … they tried for me to have a choice to read whatever book I want. And I’m thankful to

them that they give me choice and the opportunity to be educated and read about the topics that I want, not someone else,” Vartanyan said.

She said she was confused when she heard about books being banned in the United States.

Denisse Solis of Reforma Colorado said her school library was one of the most meaningful parts of her childhood.

“Reading about characters navigating challenges helped me process my own experiences and gave me the words to articulate them. e more I learned, the more I could help my family. Libraries didn’t just make me a better student, they made life better for all of us,” Solis said.

Liz Wilson, co-founder of the Pro-Colorado Education Project, said a small but loud group targeted several books at her daughter’s public charter school. Wilson said the turmoil derailed the productivity of the school’s board, sta and parents from focusing on academics.

“I urge you to pass this bill because without it, Colorado public schools, students and communities will remain vulnerable to chaos, intimidation, and censorship. If we fail to act, these attacks will escalate,” Wilson said.

Erin Meschke, a Boulder resident opposed to the bill, said no one is trying to ban books. Rather, they are trying to make sure books are aligned with standards protecting children from pornography.

“ e majority of books being challenged … graphically portray sex, pedophilia, rape, incest, and other things that have nothing to do with developmentally appropriate interest, education, or enlightenment,” Meschke said.

Rev. Lori Goebel of Faith Now Fellow-

REVERSE MORTGAGES

ship said she believes that other people besides parents should be able to lodge complaints against books. She said books that some parents may nd o ensive shouldn’t be in public school libraries.

“If a parent or guardian chooses to allow their child to access what another parent would deem inappropriate for their child, that is their choice, and there are other places to access those books without placing these books in a school library and crossing the boundaries placed by other parents for their children,” Goebel said.

But Meg Reed, a grandmother, challenged opponents’ assertions that they want to protect parents’ right to guide their children.

“What they really want is to dictate what is right for all families,” Reed said. “While they’re completely free to deny their own children access to whatever books they might nd o ensive, they do not have the right to make those decisions for other parents.”

Mark Fink, executive director of Anythink Libraries, supported the provision that would make it illegal to re, demote or punish a school library worker for selecting, retaining, or displaying a book before it’s been reviewed.

“Without this protection, school library workers are vulnerable to smear campaigns and personal attacks while they do their jobs, which include fostering creative thinking and providing access to a vast marketplace of ideas,” Fink said.

Matt Cook, director of public policy and advocacy for the Colorado Association of School Boards, said most school districts already have policies that meet the requirements of the bill.