NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS RTD Cutbacks Might Leave Students At The Curb Page 2
WHEAT RIDGE MAYOR Wheat Ridge Speaks: A New Way To Be Heard Page 4
WHEAT RIDGE NEWS Wheat Ridge Reads Returns With Flash Fiction Page 7
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Gazette NEIGHBORHOOD
WHEAT RIDGE | APPLEWOOD | MOUNTAIN VIEW | LAKESIDE | BERKELEY January 14 – February 10, 2020 • ngazette.com • FREE
Wheat Ridge Selects Chris Murtha As Its Next Police Chief n By
Mike McKibbin
A
former Colorado resident and 23-year law enforcement veteran has been chosen to head up the City of Wheat Ridge’s more than 100-member police department. City Manager Patrick Goff selected Chris Murtha as the next police chief over Colorado native and Arapahoe County Sheriffs Department Bureau Chief Vince Line, who were among over 80 applicants. The two were the finalists for the position vacated when Dan Brennan retired in July. Goff named Dave Pickett as interim police chief until the position is filled. Currently a deputy chief for the patrol bureau of Prince George’s County Police Department in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, Murtha has accepted a conditional offer pending final background screenings, Goff said in a Jan. 3 news release. Murtha is scheduled to start his new job on Feb. 10. Goff called Murtha “an exceptional leader” with “a proven track record of reducing crime through an innovative Continued on page 2
BOYD CABIN IS THE EARLIEST RECORDED RESIDENCE IN WHEAT RIDGE, and today is still standing in the Wheat Ridge Historical Park at 4610 Robb St. COURTESY WHEAT RIDGE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Ready For A History Of Jefferson County Quiz? n By Sally Griffin
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efferson County has a rich history that seldom receives the attention it deserves. Most history books focus on the city of Denver and on activity in the mountain areas, but little on the area that lies between Denver and the mountains. Thanks to a number of active historical associations throughout Jefferson County, this history is being preserved. I plan to visit these historical societies and do a series of articles for the Neighborhood Gazette on the wide and varied history for one of the first counties in the state of Colorado. But, being a former teacher and professor, I can’t resist starting with a pre-test on the history of Jefferson County:
1. Who was the outlaw that sought and received refuge in Jeffco?
Jesse James cooled off after a train robbery for a short while with the Mielke Family in Deer Creek. In appreciation, he gave the family a gold bar. For quite some time, they would take slivers off that gold bar to pay for supplies.
2. Who was Lakewood’s version of Al Capone?
Lou – the King of the Bunks, “The Fixer” – Blonger controlled most of the illegal activities in Jeffco and parts of Denver in the early 1900s. He died in prison in 1934.
3. Where did the only convicted cannibal in Colorado live when he was paroled in 1901?
Alferd E. Packer lived in a dugout in Deer Creek and worked on ranches in the area, including the Rooney Ranch. He was known around Tiny Town as a nice old man who
gave out candy to children in the area. (He must have gotten reformed in prison or, else, wasn’t very hungry!)
5. How many settlers lived in Jeffco in 1855?
as Ralston Creek, by Lewis Ralston, who was with a party on their way to the California gold fields.
4. Whose train robbery loot is possibly still buried somewhere in the Deer Creek area?
6. How many people were in Jeffco in 1860?
8. Which city in Jeffco was the first territorial capital?
Horsethief Thompson of the Hole-InThe-Wall gang visited Deer Creek often and was known in the area for his veterinary skills, particularly with horses. Nobody talked about any horses going missing. And, no one ever heard of his loot being found.
Less than 200.
About 35,000. (It is amazing what that shiny metal did to people in the middle 19th Century.)
7. Which city in Jeffco had the first gold discovery?
Arvada in 1850 on what is now known
Golden City (later, just Golden). Golden was later beat out by Denver as the territorial and then state capital. In exchange, Golden was given the School of Mines, which became Colorado School of Mines after Colorado became a state. Continued on page 9
PEOPLE YOU SHOULD KNOW
Sharing The Thrill Of Flight – In A Garage-Built Airplane n By
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J. Patrick O’Leary
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lying is much more rewarding and fulfilling if you can share it with someone,” said Wheat Ridge resident Paul Hahn. “And one way to do that is through the ‘Young Eagles’ program.” Through that program Hahn has given more than 100 youngsters free demonstration rides, half of them in a home-built RV-10 aircraft, which he and friend Rocky Blaxson built from a kit and co-own. Hahn moved to Wheat Ridge 35 years ago, choosing a neighborhood within fair-weather biking distance of his electronics technician job with Coors Brewing Company in Golden. “I basically kept the power on,” he said of his most recent duties. He and his wife, Jule, raised two kids in their home. Hahn’s interest in flight began when he volunteered to serve in the Continued on page 11
WHEAT RIDGE RESIDENT PAUL HAHN has given more than 100 young people a free demonstration ride in his home-built airplane as part of the “Young Eagles” program. PHOTO BY J. PATRICK O’LEARY