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GreeleyTribune SATURDAY
Serving Greeley, Evans and neighboring communities
MAY 21, 2016
GREELEY, COLORADO ONE DOLLAR VOL. 145 NO. 191
DOWNTOWN FIRE STATION
« CHILDREN RECEIVE gift to pay for mom’s burial costs
City unveils initial designs Latest piece to emerge in city leaders’ plan to revitalize the area By Catherine Sweeney csweeney@greeleytribune.com
Imagining how Greeley’s downtown will look five years out just got easier. The city of Greeley released initial design plans Friday afternoon for its new two-story downtown fire station. That’s the latest piece to materialize in city leaders’ plan to revitalize the area. The new Fire Station No. 1 will sit on the » What’s southeast corner of the next? old Safeway lot, 1122 The Greeley 11th Ave. City Council will This project is part of the City Center project, see a presentawhich aims to consoli- tion about the date city offices into one new downtown fire station and campus. Various departits initial dements are relocating, signs during the but because the fire sta- work session at tion will be a standalone 5 p.m. Tuesday building, it gets its new night at the digs first. Greeley-Evans The building will School District house Greeley Fire De- 6 headquarters, partment’s administra- 1025 9th Ave. tive space, 10 dormitory bedrooms, a fitness area, a four-truck bay and a community conference room. “I am really excited about it,” said Fire Chief Dale Lyman. “The old station was designed and built in the ’60s, so they weren’t doing a lot of the things in the fire station we’re doing now.” For example, there were no female firefighters back then. They didn’t go on as many medical calls or respond to biohazardous situations. The new facility addresses all of those changes with space and storage room. It wasn’t just a contractor and city officials working on the floor plan. “We had representation of each rank on the committee to work on the design,” Lyman said.
FOR THE TRIBUNE/Devi Chung
MIGUEL PERALTA, 24, AND Mary Peralta,15, take a moment of silence at their mother’s grave site Friday at
Linn Grove Cemetery, 1700 Cedar Ave. in Greeley. With support from the community, Miguel and Mary were able to fully fund their mother’s burial. “My mom sent her last blessing to us,” said Mary. Below, the children sit with the marker at their mother’s grave. They are in the process of trying to find a monument for his mother’s grave.
ONE LAST BLESSING
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BY JOE MOYLAN | JMOYLAN@GREELEYTRIBUNE.COM
t was a Thursday when Brighton residents Mary and Miguel Peralta drove to Adamson Chapels in Greeley to discuss their mother’s funeral. Greeley native Stella Peralta died two days earlier — May 10 — in hospice in Windsor. A single mother, Stella left little savings to her two children. Although it was supposed to be a time focused on mourning her passing, Miguel, 24, and Mary, 15, were overwhelmed with not only the responsibility of planning their mother’s service, but also figuring out how to pay for it. Then the phone rang. A nonprofit organization had stepped up and offered to cover Stella’s burial costs. “My mother raised us to go to church and to be religious,” Mary said. “I think this was her last blessing for us — to find someone Joe to help us MOYLAN out.” The Tribune Stella Peralta died from complications caused by hepatitis C and diabetes. Hepatitis C is often associated with drug abuse, as the disease is often transmitted through the sharing of dirty needles, but Stella’s brother, Gilbert Peralta of
Windsor, said that wasn’t the case. Stella was in a car wreck when she was young and contracted the disease through a blood transfusion back before hospitals tested for those things. Hepatitis C attacks the
» AccentCare Hospice Foundation AccentCare Inc., based in Dallas, operates a variety of health care facilities in Colorado, Texas, California, Tennessee and Georgia, including skilled home health care operations in Windsor and Denver, as well as a hospice center also located in Windsor. The company also operates a nonprofit organization called AccentCare Hospice Foundation, which provides grants to assist worthy families with end of life costs. Dena Schwartz, president of AccentCare Hospice Foundation, said the nonprofit awards about six grants each month. The Hospice Foundation conducts annual fundraisers, but also receives funding from private donations. Donations can be sent to the Accent Care Hospice Foundation, 17855 N. Dallas Parkway, Suite 200, Dallas, TX 75287, or by going to JustGive.org. Search AccentCare Hospice Foundation.
liver, and Stella’s was almost completely nonfunctional during the last three months of her life, Gilbert said.
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Man found guilty after shooting at Evans police officer By James Redmond jredmond@greeleytribune.com
A Weld District Court jury has found a man guilty of attempted first-degree murder of a peace officer in addition to a list of other crimes stemming from a Jan. 30 incident in Evans in which he shot at a police officer. After six hours of deliberation May 13, the jury found Hugo Garza, 31, guilty of attempted first-degree murder of a peace officer, attempted first-degree murder, menacing, attempted manslaughter — all felonies — and misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct, prohibited use of a weapon and
« WHAT’S INSIDE MR.
CLEAN Roosevelt’s Bejarano claims 4A high jump state title. Sports, Page B1
reckless endangerment. A sentencing hearing is set next month, at which time he faces more than 100 years in prison. Garza previously pleaded guilty to possession of a weapon by a previous offender in the case, according to a news release from the Weld District Attorney’s Office issued Friday. “This guy took a shot at one of my officers, and I hope that he receives a maximum sentence as a warning to others trying to harm a police officer is going to result in a severe penalty,” said Evans Police Chief Rick Brandt. “I’m fairly pleased he was found guilty, he’s facing a long prison sentence for
attempted murder of a police officer. … It’s an opportunity for the courts to send a message that people trying to hurt or kill police officers are going to pay a heavy penalty for that.” The charges date to the morning of Jan. 30, 2015, in Evans when a dispute between Garza and a woman friend escalated. Evans police received a call about a man and a woman arguing about 10:30 a.m. in a black Ford pickup. While officers were en
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Man who helped detectives connect dots in drugrunning feud appears in court. A2
20 years
Centennial BOCES breaks partnership with Aims. A4
» What’s next Hugo Garza, 31, will be sentenced at 3 p.m. June 16 in Division 11 on charges of attempted first-degree murder of a peace officer, attempted first-degree murder, menacing and attemptGarza ed manslaughter — all felonies. He faces a possible maximum sentence of up to 108 years in prison.
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