Arvada Press 1112

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November 12, 2020

JEFFERSON COUNTY, COLORADO

A publication of

INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 10 | LIFE: PAGE 12 | CALENDAR: PAGE 15 | SPORTS: PAGE 17

VOLUME 16 | ISSUE 24

Jeffco school board member resigns, leaving opening

BY YESENIA ROBLES FOR CHALKBEAT COLORADO

Julia Trujillo, second from left in front, and members of Arvada High School’s intersectional feminist group pose in front of the Colorado state capitol where they advocated a bill that would’ve helped schools pay to make menstrual products more accessible to students. Colorado representative Brianna Titone, back left, introduced the bill on the floor.

COURTESY PHOTO

A-West grad earns Girl Scout earns high honor for helping all girls in school Julia Trujllo receives Gold Award bringing needed supplies into the bathroom

BY PAUL ALBANI-BURGIO PALBANIBURGIO@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

For most women, periods are a part of everyday life. So why is their existence often treated like some kind of taboo?

That’s the question that led Julia

GOLD AWARD Each year, thousands of Girl Scouts nationwide earn the Gold Award, the highest achievement a Girl Scout in high school can earn. These Gold Award Girl Scouts tackle an issue that is dear to them and drive lasting change in their communities and beyond. Annually, GSUSA recognizes 10 of these girls as National Gold Award Girl Scouts for completing projects that Trujillo and the other members of the intersectional feminist club she founded at Arvada West High School to launch an effort to get the school to install menstrual product dispens-

exemplify strong leadership and sustainable impact.

Earning the Gold Award opens doors to scholarships, preferred admission tracks for college, and career opportunities — as well as skills that set girls up for success, like strategic thinking, communication, collaboration, problem solving, and time management. ers in its student restrooms.

“We have them in our clinic but that was something unknown to SEE AWARD, P5

Democrats roll to victories in an increasingly blue Jeffco Voter rolls show definite shift over last decade

BY PAUL ALBANI-BURGIO PALBANIBURGIO@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

It’s been over 100 years since there was a Jefferson County Board of Commissioners without a Republi-

can commissioner. But that will be the case come January after Democrats won the two seats up for election in 2020 to take over the entire board for the first time since the late 1880s.

It’s a result that might have seemed surprising — shocking even — as recently as 2017 when Republicans still held two of the three seats.

But it was par for the course in

2020 as Jeffco voters also preferred the Democratic candidates running for president and Colorado’s US Senate seat by double digit margins, flipped the First Judicial District Attorney’s office blue and chose to send Democrats to the state house in six of the seven districts with more than 250 voters in Jefferson County.

SEE JEFFCO, P6

The five-member Jeffco school board soon will have an open seat.

Board member Ron Mitchell announced his resignation during a board meeting Thursday night citing health needs and a desire to spend more time with family.

“All of my past sins from a health point of Mitchell view are beginning to catch up with me and one of the things I need to do is a better job of taking care of me,” Mitchell said, adding that he didn’t want the public to worry.

His resignation will be effective Nov. 12.

Mitchell, 75, represents Jeffco’s District 5 which includes the southern part of the district bordering Denver and Arapahoe County. Mitchell is serving a second term on the board which was set to run until next November.

Mitchell was first elected to the board after Jeffco voters recalled three conservative board members. He ran for reelection unopposed in 2017.

During his tenure, Mitchell served as board president and most recently as one of two board vice presidents.

His colleagues on the board praised him as they accepted his resignation.

Board member Stephanie Schooley recalled meeting Mitchell when she was a parent at a school meeting.

“You made our community feel heard and feel like we were a part of a conversation that mattered,” Schooley said.

Mitchell choked back tears as he recalled his long history with the district, first as a student, and later as a teacher, principal, then administrator and most recently on the board.

“It’s not easy for me, but I think it is time,” Mitchell said.

The school board, which is preparing to open a search for a superintendent this school year, now also will have to begin a process for replacing Mitchell.

The board is expected to declare a vacancy at its next meeting Wednesday allowing it to start accepting applications. It then has 60 days to vet and appoint a new member to serve out the remainder of Mitchell’s term.

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools. More Colorado education news is available at co.chalkbeat.org.

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November 12, 2020N

A TOUGH ASSIGNMENT

BY PAUL ALBANI-BURGIO AND BOB WOOLEY PALBANIBURGIO@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM AND BWOOLEY@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

With COVID-19 case counts continuing to spike in Jefferson County, attention is returning to Jefferson County Public Schools, which is continuing in-person learning — for now — as the district sees its own rise in cases among students and staff.

On Nov. 2. the district set a new record, announcing 59 newly confirmed cases among district staff and students in one day. In all, the district reported 183 new cases just last week, Jeffco’s worst week since it started tracking the COVID-19 status on all students and staff at the end of August.

But while there’s no doubt cases are rising within the district, county public experts say current case and transmission data does not suggest the schools themselves have been a major source of transmission within the county. Instead, they say data suggests that the spike in district cases is reflective of “general increased community transmission within Jefferson County.”

“This is a concern not just for schools, but every population in the county,” said Melanie Rogers, an infectious diseases epidemiologist for JCPH, in an email responding to questions from Colorado Community Media. “The cases that are seen in schools primarily represent isolated cases; e.g., just one student in a class who is ill, vs. widespread outbreaks.”

According to Rogers, most of the

Jeffco Schools Covid-19 cases

Jeffco Schools and COVID-19 {Covid-19 cases Oct. 8 - Oct. 25} confirmed outbreaks in Jeffco Public Schools have involved less than 5 students.

“Jeffco Public Schools respond rapidly when a case is identified in order to quarantine close contacts and keep the spread contained and provide additional cleaning and disinfecting in the school environments,” said Rogers, According to JCPH spokeswoman Ashley Sever, Rogers’ primary role in the county Office of Pandemic Response is working with the schools on COVID-19-related matters. However, Rogers works with about half a dozen other staff at JCPH, including members of the executive team and Christine Billings, who leads the office.

“Reversing the trend of increased cases in schools will take the collective effort of everyone in the county,” she added.

The gameplan Given the relative lack of spread

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{Cases Oct. 27 - Nov. 8}

SYMPTOMATIC Schools in the district currently screen students daily for four common COVID-19 symptoms including a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher, sore throat, runny nose and cough or shortness of breath.

They also ask students and staff not to come to school if they, or someone in their home, are experiencing loss of smell or taste, body aches, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or headaches, all considered major virus symptoms that require testing. within schools, county health and government officials maintain that it is their goal to make sure in-person learning can continue as they implement new strategies, including a new Public Health Order, aimed at reducing spread within the county.

During an Oct. 27 discussion of the county’s plans to mitigate the rise in cases, JCPH Executive Director Jody Erwin told the Jeffco commissioners that JCPH had been in talks with the district about how to do just that.

“We really want to avoid changing those learning models between now and the end of the semester or trimester,” said Erwin. “We had a great conversation with them last night where we thought some of the things they are trying to do align with what we are trying to do with the mitigation plan.

Margaret Huffman, the director of community health services at JCPH, also added that it “keeping kids in school is so foundational not only for them but also for our families to respond appropriately to this pandemic.”

But while the county wants to keep students going to school, Rogers said the county moving to Level 3 “Orange” on the state’s pandemic ranking dial — which goes into effective Nov. 9 — would affect the schools and school activities.

The county’s change to Level Orange on the Safer-at-Home dial should be seen as a call to action for everyone in the community according to recent comments from Julie Wilken, Director, Department of Health Services for Jeffco Schools.

In an email sent to parents on Nov. 3, Interim Superintendent Kristopher Schuh said the district would attempt to maintain the learning models that are currently in place even under Level Orange. Schuh said the district would be able to do so as long as a mandate requiring a move to online learning did not come from Gov. Jared Polis as districts are decisions about in-person and remote operations have otherwise been left to individual districts.

“We track both Jefferson County and our district’s COVID-19 case data each day,” he wrote. “If there were a significant change, especially in Jeffco Public Schools data, then a short-term

354

Total active cases

18

Active cases at Bear Creek High School, the most of any district location

29

Schools that had at least one case but are now healthy

82

Percent of Jeffco school facilities with at least one confirmed case

709 Cases so far

Source: Jeffco Schools COVID-19 dashboard as of Nov. 8 switch to remote learning would be considered.”

Even a move to a Stay At Home order — the most severe rating the state can give a county — would not necessarily require a move to 100% remote learning, Schuh wrote, noting that “Jefferson is large, and the data may not necessarily reflect what is happening in our schools. However, Schuh said the district would consider a move “if the rate of COVID-19 transmission and outbreaks within schools became unmanageable due to illness, quarantines and staffing shortages.”

But he added: If the district’s positive case rate continues to be manageable, we will do our best to continue to have in-person learning in some form as long as it is safe to do so.

Controlled quarantines In recent days and weeks many surrounding districts, including Westminster and Cherry Creek, have moved at least temporarily to 100% distance learning, citing rising community COVID-19 cases. In Jeffco, the approach has been to close schools for a 24-hour period of deep cleaning, or in more sever situations, institute a 14-day closure of the school to quarantine all students. So far, such measures have resulted in several schools experiencing the 14-day shutdown, but the district itself has been able to maintain the rest of its in-person learning.

Most recently, Arvada West High School closed for all in-person learning Tuesday of this week for a deep clean. The school is facing a dozen confirmed cases.

SEE COVID, P3

Arvada Press 3

0November 12, 2020

Porta-Potty Pyro strikes South Jeffco Sheriff’s Department seeks information to identify the culprit

BY BOB WOOLEY BWOOLEY@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

A mini crime-wave in south Jefferson County has seen five portable toilets set ablaze in area parks since late July. The most recent fire was set Oct. 16 at Marker Park on South Newland Street, where crime scene tape can still be seen hanging above scorched ground near the park’s tennis courts.

According to Jeffco Sheriff ’s Department spokesman

Michael Taplin, there have been some tips through Crime Stoppers, but no suspects have been identified.

It’s unclear if the fires are acts of a single suspect or a group, and if they are related. All of the fires have been set at night. The first was set at Robert Easton Park on July 30. Since then, four others have followed, including two at Powderhorn park set just two weeks apart in September, a short distance away from the location of the first blaze.

The Jeffco Sheriff ’s Twitter account urges anyone with information about the suspects or the crimes to call the Jefferson County Sheriff ’s Office tip line at 303-271-5612. Anonymous

COVID FROM PAGE 2

Crime scene tape hangs above scorched ground at Marker Park in Littleton.

PHOTO BY BOB WOOLEY tips can be made by calling Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867. Infor-

mation leading to an arrest might bring a reward of up to $2,000.

According to Rogers, all decisions about what to do when a school learns of an exposure on campus are made in accordance with CDPHE’s guidance for schools. However, she said JCPH will provide assistance if a school needs help interpreting that guidance.

As the district has confirmed COVID-19 cases(even among remote-only learners), they have been listed on the district website, as part of the COVID-19 Case Count Dashboard.

As of Nov. 6, there were 328 active cases, with 79 new cases recorded on Nov. 4. According to Cameron Bell, the districts executive director of media relations and public information.

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Denver’s Realtor Association Reports That October Listings & Sales Broke 22 Records

The Denver Metro Realtor Association (DMAR) has just released a report by its Market Trends Committee which noted that 22 different records were broken during October. Below is their summary, which is based on statistics from REcolorado, the Denver MLS. These statistics are for the entire MLS which lists property statewide but primarily the Denver metro area. Below is my own analysis limited to the Jeffco statistics from the same MLS. ACTIVE LISTINGS (All Residential) 4,821 represents the lowest October on record. The previous low for October was 6,731 in 2016.

(Detached) 2,643 represents the lowest October on record. The previous low for October was 4,720 in 2017.

CLOSE PRICE — MEDIAN (All Residential) $475,000 represents the highest amount on record. The previous record was $460,000 recorded in July, August and September of this year.

(Detached) $519,900 represents the highest amount on record. The previous record was $510,000 in September of this year.

(Attached) $339,425 represents the highest amount on record. The previous record was $335,000 in September of this year.

CLOSE PRICE — AVERAGE (All Residential) $561,999 represents the highest amount on record. The previ-

ous record was $540,890 recorded in July 2020.

(Detached) $625,100 represents the highest amount on record. The previous record was $602,264 in August 2020.

(Attached) $393,733 represents the highest amount on record. The previous record was $384,902 in September 2020.

DAYS IN MLS — MEDIAN (All Residential) 6 days represents the lowest October on record. The previous low for October was in 2015 of 10 days.

(Detached) 6 days represents the lowest October on record. The previous low for October was in 2015 of 11 days.

DAYS IN MLS — AVERAGE (All Residential) 24 days represents the lowest October on record. The previous low for October was in 2015 of 25 days.

(Detached) 23 days represents the lowest October on record. The previous low for October was in 2015 of 27 days.

NEW LISTINGS (Attached) 2,022 represents the highest October on record. The previous high for October was 1,657 in 2019.

CLOSED (All Residential) 5,984 closed transactions represent the highest October on record. The previous high for October was 5,144 in 2019.

(Detached) 4,352 closed transactions represent the highest October on record.

The previous high was 3,709 in 2019.

(Attached) 1,639 closed transactions represent the highest October on record.

The previous high was 1,461 in 2017.

Number of Active Listings on MLS Remains Low Despite Record Number of New Listings

The record low “inventory” continues in Jefferson County, as it does elsewhere in the metro area and much of the country.

Most analysts will tell you that it’s because sellers are keeping their homes off the market for one reason or another, but that’s not the truth.

The truth is that there are a record number of new listings each month, but they sell so quickly that the number of active listings doesn’t have the opportunity to increase. Here are Jeffco’s October’s stats compared to prior years:

I like to look at weekly statistics. As of this past Sunday, there were 524 active listings in Jeffco of single family homes, condos and townhomes. There were 189 new listings in the 7 days ending on Oct. 8th, but there were 195 closings, 132 of which had gone under contract in 7 days or less. In real estate parlance, that computes to under 3 weeks of inventory — 524 ÷ 195.

As of Sunday, there were 1,088 Jeffco homes under contract, more than twice the number of active listings, and 55% of them went under contract in 7 days or less.

About those 189 new listings between Oct. 2 and Oct. 8, 137 of them were under contract by Oct. 8th. That’s what I was saying — homes are coming on the market, but they sell right away.

MONTHS OF INVENTORY (All Residential) 0.81 months represents the lowest number on record. The previous record low was 0.91 months of inventory in September 2020.

(Detached) 0.61 months represents the lowest amount on record. The previous record was 0.72 months of inventory in September 2020.

PENDING (All Residential) 6,141 pending transactions represent the highest October on record. The previous high for October was 6,062 in 2017.

(Detached) 4,337 pending transactions represent the highest October on record.

The previous high was 4,330 in 2017.

(Attached) 1,804 pending transactions represent the highest October on record.

The previous high was 1,732 in 2017.

SALES VOLUME (All Residential) $3,363,002,016 sales volume represents the highest October on record. The previous high for October was $2,487,936,752 in 2019. July 2020 holds the all-time record of $3,965,805,480.

Of particular interest, in my opinion, is the difference between the median and average “Days in MLS.” While half the listings went under contract in 6 days or less, the average was 23 or 24 days. That gap is a reflection of how many homes are overpriced and linger on the market a long time, raising the average DIM when they finally go under contract. A search of currently pending MLS listings shows that 983 of them were “Active” for 100 days or longer before finally going under contract.

Compare that to 4,097 listings that went under contract in 1 to 6 days.

Price Reduced on 3 Golden Real Estate Listings This 2-bedroom Belmar condo at 7220 W. Bonfils Lane #201 has hardwood floors throughout. The price was just reduced to $698,000. In addition to its two large bedrooms, it has a large study. It has two reserved parking spaces in the secured basement garage. The building opens to Belmar Plaza, which is very active year-round with concerts, outdoor dining and even ice skating in the winter. And of course, it’s in the heart of Belmar. Walk to Whole Foods, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Target, BestBuy, Nordstrom Rack, and numerous restaurants, including Ted’s Montana Grill. Find more details, interior pictures and a narrated video tour online at www.BelmarCondo.info, then call your agent or Jim Smith at 303-525-1851 to request a private showing.

The townhome at left is within walking distance of the Colorado School of Mines and Downtown Golden. The address is 707 20th Street. The price was just reduced to $725,000, fully furnished. The interior is loaded with upgraded newer stainless steel appliances in the kitchen along with granite countertops and an eat in kitchen. There are new hardwood floors throughout the main level. All the bathrooms are new with beautiful tile, granite and glass. All the bedrooms have their own baths. Take the narrated video tour at www.GoldenTownhome.com, then call David Dlugasch at 303-908-4835 for a showing. Open house this Saturday 11-2.

This 5-bedroom ranch at 120 Field Street in Lakewood is now priced at $550,000. The updated kitchen has stainless steel appliances and both bathrooms have been updated. Thanks to its easy access to the 6th Ave. expressway, this home is only a few minutes from downtown Denver or the foothills. There is a light rail station less than a mile north on Garrison Street. Check out the narrated video tour at www.MeadowlarkHome.info, then call Ty Scrable at 720-281-6783 to see it.

Jim Smith

See All Our Listings, Active & Under Contract, at www.GREListings.com

Broker/Owner, 303-525-1851 Jim@GoldenRealEstate.com www.JimSmithColumns.com Broker Associates: JIM SWANSON — 303-929-2727 CHUCK BROWN — 303-885-7855 DAVID DLUGASCH — 303-908-4835 CAROL MILAN — 720-982-4941 TY SCRABLE — 720-281-6783

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November 12, 2020N

Beloved father and “church grandpa” remembered

BY STAFF REPORT

Robert (Bob) Henry Stolte passed away shortly after midnight on November 4.. He was preceded in death by his parents Stanley and Virginia, sister Karen Capps, brother Leslie (wife: Carolyn), and son Eric. He is survived by his wife Barbara, sons Joshua, Adam, and Matthew, sister Kathy (husband: Bill Austin), and brother-in-law Budd Capps.

Bob was born in 1942 in the town of Del Norte, Colorado, and was promptly named by his three-year-old brother Leslie, who made the announcement, unprompted, to the neighborhood that he had a new baby brother and his name was Bob. When he was nine months old, the family moved to the city of Arvada, and that remained his home until the end of his life. It was a city he loved. It was his home when he was baptized at the Arvada Methodist Church in 1945, and it was his home when he participated in the 150th anniversary celebration of the Arvada United Methodist Church in September of this year.

Bob began his career as an artist no later than the age of five, with drawings whose distinctive style is recognizable even today. It was not long before his artistic talent was evident to everyone. By the end of his life, he had produced countless works of art, including drawings, paintings, photographs, sculptures, and ceramics, as well as poems, a screenplay and a novel. Friends and family members who received one of these artworks treasure them both in themselves and as reminders of his kindness and love.

IN MEMORIAM Memorial gifts may be sent to Arvada United Methodist Church, Children and Youth Ministry at 6750 Carr St, Arvada, CO 80004.

Donations may also be made through the church website www.arvadaumc.org/ In his childhood, Bob raised rabbits for the 4-H youth organization and wrestled at Arvada High School. He was graduated from the University of Colorado in Boulder with a degree in architecture. In time, he returned to his alma mater working as a building project manager, where he oversaw countless building projects and formed lifelong relationships.

On Valentine’s Day of 1961, he met the love of his life Barbara Kay Wilson. Bob and Barb married in the summer of 1962 and recently celebrated their 58th anniversary.

They raised four boys: Eric, Joshua, Adam, and Matthew. Their eldest son, Eric, passed away in 1994 at the age of 31 surrounded by his loving family.

Joshua and his wife Sandra have three children: Tristan, Ariana, and Aayla, and Adam and his wife Darci have one son: Jackson.

“He had 10 lifetimes worth of ideas floating through that creative brain of his,” Joshua Stolte said, talking at Bob’s funeral on Nov. 9 about how that creative spark was something Bob passed along to him.

Bob was heavily involved in all of his children’s activities, including serving as a scout master, cheering his sons on at wrestling tournaments and soccer games, and attending high

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school musicals.

Sons Adam and Matthew also spoke at the service.

“He demonstrated every day the importance of love,” Adam Stolte said, “and he loved no one more than our mother.”

He served his church for many years on several committees. He was especially involved in two projects: the erection of the church monument sign (the signature marker for the church location) and the expansion of the church building to better serve the community. He had a serious (and

intellectually serious) faith with a special fondness for the Sermon on the Mount, and he was firmly committed to the view that science, religion, and life are compatible.

At Bob’s funeral service, Arvada United Methodist Lead Pastor Amy Gearhart read the Sermon on the Mount, before talking about how the man had acted “as kind of the church grandpa,” providing the congregation with decades of dedication and love.

“Our community won’t be the same without him,” Gearhart said, “But the very best of him continues.”

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Arvada Press 5

0November 12, 2020

AWARD FROM PAGE 1

most people,” said Trujillo. “And I really felt like it perpetuated this idea that a period is like a sickness or a public event instead of something to be handled in the privacy of your own home.”

Trujillo created a presentation aiming to convey that point and presented it to administrators at Arvada West High School.

“They were really not receptive to the idea,” she said. “It got a lot of pushback.”

So Trujillo decided to take matters in her own hands by launching a campaign to raise funds from the community to buy menstrual supply dispensers. Eight months later, she had raised enough to acquire three dispensers as well as a year’s supply of products to stock them. `The whole thing was just so much more involved than I had expected,” Trujillo said. `It was such a struggle and that made me realize that students everywhere would be facing the same unaddressed basic necessity.”

That’s when Trujillo started to think bigger She enlisted the help of her state representative, House District 27 Rep. Brianna Titone.

The pair worked together on a bill that would have set up a grant program to help schools afford menstrual product dispensers to place in their schools that would have prioritized schools with low income populations that Titone eventually introduced on the house floor.

Titone, however, insisted that Trujillo and the other girls in the club help her promote the bill by lobbying legislators and testifying on the house floor.

“I thought it was a great opportunity to not run a bill for them, but run a bill with them, so they could learn what the process is like firsthand,” Titone said.

That experience turned out to be both an empowering and eye-opening one, Trujilo said.

“I was definitely very surprised, honestly, at how receptive policymakers were to my perspective my ideas on this bill,” she said. “And I think it definitely was like a testament to how much I think people in government actually want to hear from us when it Julia Trujillo, right, and members of Arvada West High School’s intersectional feminsim club discuss the bill with a lawmaker at the capitol.

COURTESY PHOTO

comes to like issues that impact youth.

It’s a very cool experience to sort of have that affirmed.”

Unfortunately, the one thing Titone and Trujillo didn’t expect was COVID-19, which led the house to make the decision not to move forward with the bill due to the budget constraints that have resulted from the pandemic.

But while the bill didn’t ultimately pass, Trujillo’s efforts to expand access to menstrual materials have nonetheless gotten notice.

On Oct. 11, Girl Scouts of the USA announced that Trujillo, who got started in Girl Scouts as a Daisy Scout at just five years old, had been named a 2020 National Gold Award Girl Scout, an honor presented each year to just 10 girl scouts nationwide in recognition of their “showing extraordinary leadership and creating change with sustainable impact.”

“These 10 remarkable girls are proof that Girl Scouts gives girls the tools to harness their inner power and make a meaningful difference in the world.

In this difficult year and always, Girl Scouts are our hope for the future,” said Girl Scouts of the USA Interim CEO Judith Batty in a press release about the award.”

As a recipient of the award, Trujillo received a scholarship and participate in (digital activities) connecting with the other recipients and people involved in the issues they focused their advocacy on. However, Trujillo said the biggest highlight came when she addressed the United Nations on International Day of the Girl, a day meant to celebrate and amplify the voices of women.

“That was very cool,” said Trujillo.

“I was very grateful to get to meet and speak to so many amazing people.”

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6 Arvada Press

JEFFCO FROM PAGE 1

A dramatic shift It’s a shift towards the Democrats that few can appreciate the magnitude of more than incumbent Republican commissioner Libby Szabo, who won election to her District 1 commissioner seat by around 6%. This year, she lost her reelection by 8.3%, a margin she notes was closely mirrored by those in several of the other countywide races, including that for DA. “When I came to be the county commissioner there was one elected Democrat in the county government, Commissioner Casey Tighe,” Szabo said. “When I leave in January there will be one elected Republican and that will be Sheriff Jeff Shrader. So, things have changed a lot.”

But what’s behind the once reliably red Jefferson County’s sudden move into the blue column?

Scott Merrifield, the first vice chair of the Jeffco Democratic Party, said Jeffco seems emblematic of a broader shift toward the Democratic party over the last four years (the Democrats also saw several big wins in 2018) that can be seen in suburban communities throughout the nation.

It’s a shift that Merrifield said the Jeffco Dems were well-positioned to build upon through a coordinated effort to both get out the vote among Democrats and sell their candidates to unaffiliated voters and even Republicans, which allowed the democrats to win the turnout battle in a high-turnout election.

“The party targeted 90,000 of the registered democrats in Jeffco to remind them to get out to vote,” said Merrifield. “And of the 90,000 that the party worked on 96% of them turned out to vote. That’s insane.”

November 12, 2020N

RECORD TURNOUT

VOTER ROLL SHIFT

With an estimated turnout of 90% of active, registered voters, Jeffco will break its previous record for general election participation of 88%, set in 2016.

More than 85% of voters submitted their ballots early, and approximately 5% voted in person. The vast majority of voters used one of the county’s secure, 24-hour drop boxes — Jeffco increased the number of boxes from 15 to 36 over the last two years.

- Jeffco Clerk and Recorder’s office

November 2015 Republicans - 108,801 Democrats - 101,716 Unaffiliated - 124,475

Denise Mund, the chair of the Jeffco Republicans, said her party has not yet had the time to fully delve into the election data to draw conclusions about the results but would thoroughly do so.

However, she said she has also seen a change in the past few years.

“Obviously, I would prefer that, you know, the county represented conservative values the way that it did in the past,” she said. “Personally, I don’t like to see the changes that have happened: our taxes will continue to go up and we’re having extreme policies that are adopted by our elected officials and I honestly don’t think it truly represents the heart of the citizens of Jefferson County.”

Registered Dems more numerous The county’s newfound tilt toward the Democrats is reflected in party identification data as registered Democrats outnumbered registered Republicans by 18,000 voters as of Nov. 1. That is in itself a significant change from 2015, when Republicans outnumbered Democrats by around 7,000 votes (with the numbered of registered Republicans actually decreasing since). However, then, as now, the biggest category of voters was actually independents, which currently outnumber the Democrats by 60,000 voters.

While the results for the Republicans weren’t good, the data suggests they could have been even worse as regis-

November 2020 Republicans - 108,283 Democrats - 126,388 Unaffiliated -181.006

tered Democrats actually outnumber Republicans by about 17%, which is higher than the 10% or so margin seen in several of this year’s election results.

While complete voting data is not yet available, Jeffco Deputy Clerk Val Abramovich said, up until the day before the election, turnout for both Democrats and Republicans was “about the same.”

Joni Inman, who lost the race for the District 2 commissioner seat, said one trend she feels having an impact on results is a seeming decline in split ticket voting.

“The curious part about it is that the margins were almost the same across all of the races,” she said. “That tells me there was pretty straight line voting.”

However, District 3 commissioner Lesley Dahlkemper, who will chair the now all-Democrat board, said she the results reaffirm her belief that voters are more concerned with candidates than parties when it comes to making choices at the county level.

“Jeffco voters respond to leaders who listen, find common ground and work together to solve problems,” Dahlkemper said in an email. “While we see partisan politics and divisiveness at the national level, Jeffco voters want local leaders who put aside partisan politics and get results. There’s no room for one issue candidates — no matter

Laurel Imer speaks at a party for Republican candidates at the Denver Mariott West hotel in Golden.

PHOTO BY PAUL ALBANI-BURGIO

which side of the aisle you’re on.”

During a speech at her election party on Nov. 3, Laurel Imer, the Republican candidate for the House District 24 seat, criticized the state Republican Party’s approach to recent elections and her belief that it had not supported campaigns in the district because it considered it unwinnable.

Although she lost by 30 percent, she said her campaign had out-raised every other in District 24 history by raising more than $24,000 in individual donations and held it up as model for Republicans to make future inroads.

“The numbers in the district tell us that (we didn’t stand a chance) because we are the bottom of the rung below independents and Democrats, so we knew it was unwinnable,” she said to her supporters. “But did any of you ever think that I was running a race that was unwinnable? That’s the first SEE JEFFCO, P7

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Arvada Press 7

0November 12, 2020

Jefferson County election results With an estimated 99% of cast ballots counted, as of Nov. 6, here are the unofficial results from Jefferson County. Note that several races, including those for congressional seats, involve votes from beyond just Jefferson County.

Jefferson County Commissioner, District 1 Libby Szabo (incumbent), Republican: 43.2% Tracy Kraft-Tharp, Democrat: 52.5% Hans Romer, Libertarian: 4.3% Jefferson County Commissioner District 2 Joni Inman, Republican: 43.9% Andy Kerr, Democrat: 56.1% First Congressional District Attorney Alexis King, Democrat: 54.8% Matthew Durkin, Republican: 45.2% President Joseph Biden / Kamala Harris 57.9% Donald Trump / Mike Pence 39.3% (Statewide, Biden garnered 55.2% of the vote, to Trump’s 42%)

JEFFCO FROM PAGE 6

step. If you are going to be a winner you’ve got to be a winner from day one until the end.”

Parties expect county to be competitive in future

US Senate John Hickenlooper 57% Cory Gardner 41.1% (Statewide, Hickenlooper won 53.3% while Gardner had 44.4%) US Congress District 1 Shane Bolling - 23.1% Diana DeGette - 74.4% (In Jefferson County, Bolling is beating DeGette by 1,714 votes) US Congressional District 2 Joe Neguse, Democrat: 61.3% Charlie Winn, Republican: 35.6% Thom Atkinson, Libertarian: 2.6% Gary Swing, Unity: 0.5% US Congress District 7 Casper Stockham, Republican: 37.6% Ed Perlmutter (incumbent), Democrat: 59.1% Ken Biles, Libertarian: 2.7% David Olszta, Unity Party: 0.6%

State Senate District 19 Lynn Gerber, Republican: 40.8% Rachel Zenzinger (incumbent), Democrat: 59.2% House District 1 Samantha Koch, Republican: 32.8% Susan Lontine, Democrat: 67.2% House District 22 Colin Larson (incumbent), Republican: 51.3% Mary Parker, Democrat: 45.5% Margot Herzl, Libertarian: 3.2%

State Board of Education D1 Sydnnia Wulff, Republican: 23% Merrifield, meanwhile, said that while county has gone strongly Democrat the past few years, no one should assume it will reliably be that way going forward.

“We’re not Denver, we’re not Boulder, politically we are a very diverse county,” he said. “I think what we have done over the last four years especially but going even before that is shown more and more that Democrat repre-

sentatives bring home to the county what people want and I think what we have to do is to keep showing them that that’s who we are and that’s who they need to vote for. But we cannot take that for granted and say now we’re a blue county and we can just sit back because we know that the Democrats are gonna win. Absolutely not.”

The Republicans, for their part, aren’t giving up anytime soon either,

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State Board of Education D7 Karla Esser, Democrat: 62.2% Nancy Pallozzi, Republican: 37.8%

House District 23 Fred Clifford, Republican: 34.8% Chris Kennedy (incumbent), Democrat: 60.2% Doug Anderson, Libertarian: 5%

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Lisa Escarcega, Democrat: 73.9% Alan Hayman, Libertarian: 2.7%

House District 24 Monica Duran (incumbent), Democrat: 64% Laurel Imer, Republican: 36% House District 25 Lisa Cutter (incumbent), 52.8% Donald Rosier, Republican: 47.2% House District 27 Brianna Titone (incumbent): 48.7% Vicki Pyne, Republican: 45.6% Corey Schaeffer, Libertarian: 5.1% House District 28 Kerry Tipper (incumbent), Democrat: 57.6% Pedro “Pete” Roybal, Republican: 36.9% Amara Hildebrand, Libertarian: 5.5% House District 29 Lindsey Daugherty, Democrat: 56.1% Vanessa DeMott, 38.4% Ryan Van Gundy, Libertarian: 5.5% House District 38 Richard Champion, Republican: 44.4% David Ortiz, Democrat: 55.6% Mund said.

“The people that I know that are volunteers for the party, have strong convictions and are not guarded,” Mund said. “And I don’t see them in any way giving up, instead I see that we will be digging into the data and looking at ways that we can improve across the board. Nothing will be left unscrutinized and we will make sure that we come back better and stronger.”

8 Arvada Press

November 12, 2020N

Gardner’s future could follow different paths One strategist sees possible governor, while other observers see business, lobbying

BY JESSE PAUL AND JOHN FRANK THE COLORADO SUN

What’s next for Cory Gardner?

That was the big question on Colorado Republicans’ minds a day after Gardner was decisively knocked out of his U.S. Senate seat by Democrat John Hickenlooper on Nov. 3.

At only 46, Gardner still has plenty of time to regroup and continue his political career, which began in 2005 when he was appointed to a seat in the Colorado Legislature. He also could head to the private sector.

Those closest to Gardner say they haven’t discussed the Republican’s future with him and that he’s been focused on his Senate reelection bid.

Gardner made no mention of his future in his concession speech on Election Night.

“He’s not somebody who’s already got his next job lined up,” said Rachel George, a former congressional staffer for Gardner. “That’s not his personality.”

But that hasn’t stopped

Sen. Cory Gardner made a stop in Castle Rock on Election Day. When the results came out that night, Gardner found out that he had lost his seat to Democrat John Hickenlooper.

PHOTO BY JESSICA GIBBS speculation by his biggest cheerleaders about the options he has before him, nor has it eliminated their hopes that he will continue to be a force in Colorado politics.

One possibility: He could run for Colorado governor in 2022.

Sean Duffy, a Republican strategist and former aide to Gov. Bill Owens, said Gardner has a bright future.

“I think he would be a darn good governor. He reminds me very much of Bill Owens in his demeanor and his approach,” Duffy said. “He’s a good debater — he can get fired up but he doesn’t get loud.”

Gov. Jared Polis’ first term is up in 2022 and there

isn’t yet a clear Republican front-runner to challenge the Democrat. Polling shows a majority of Coloradans approve of the governor’s job performance.

Anyone who decides to take on Polis will also face a significant financial hurdle because Polis is so wealthy and willing to spend his money on his political future.

In 2018, the year Polis was elected governor, he spent $23 million on his race and handily defeated Republican Walker Stapleton.

Individual donors can give Colorado gubernatorial candidates only $1,250 each election cycle, making it difficult for anyone to keep up with Polis’ self-funding.

“His money advantage is a major barrier to entry,” said Josh Penry, a Republican political consultant and friend of Gardner’s.

Penry says life as a senator has been grueling for Gardner. It has meant that he’s often away from his wife and three children, who live in northeastern Colorado.

“It’s a lot,” Penry said. “He does not live a glamorous lifestyle.”

That said, Penry doubts someone as ambitious and driven as Gardner will be able to simply hang it up and walk away.

“People who are drawn to this business don’t usually satiate their appetite right away,” he said. “My guess is we haven’t heard the last of him.”

Gardner will also likely face difficulty shaking his ties to President Donald Trump in Colorado, said Rick Ridder, a veteran Democratic pollster.

Gardner’s link to the president was in large part why he lost his bid for reelection.

Ridder expects those difficulties to last, though they “may not last at this level.”

“You can’t look at this data set and say: `Boy, a good centrist Republican can win,’” Ridder said, referencing his recent polling.

Other Democrats agree.

“Cory’s problem was the state has changed and he did

not,” said Laura Chapin, a Democratic consultant and fierce Gardner critic. “The voting demographics of Colorado do not lead to future career plans for Cory Gardner.”

She thinks Gardner will likely become a lobbyist. That could be difficult for him, however, since he sponsored legislation in the Senate that would have banned members of Congress from ever becoming lobbyists.

Greg Brophy, a Republican former state senator in Colorado, thinks Gardner could end up in Trump’s cabinet if the president is reelected to another term. If Trump loses, Brophy thinks Gardner has options.

“He’s a rare talent,” Brophy said. “I feel confident that he still has a future in politics.”

If Gardner doesn’t want to stay in politics, Duffy, the GOP consultant, says there’s a path for him, too.

“He could run a company.

He would be a very good CEO. He’s whip-smart, and he’s as nice as he is smart,” Duffy said.

“People will call. He’s well liked.”

This story is from The Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned news outlet based in Denver and covering the state. Used by permission. For more, and to support The Colorado Sun, visit coloradosun.com.

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Arvada Press 9

0November 12, 2020

VOTE VIGIL IN ARVADA A Count Every Vote Vigil, billed as a bipartisan show of public support to protect the sanctity of the voting process in America, was held on the afternoon of Nov. 4, in front of Arvada City Hall.

Everyone was welcome to attend. Participants were asked to bring signs that support democracy and encourage counting every vote. Participants were asked to refrain from bringing partisan signs.

The vigil was part of a national movement, called Protect the Results. More information is available at Protecttheresults. com.

People hold signs during the “Count Every Vote” vigil in Arvada.

COURTESY PHOTO

A portion of the crowd at the “Count Every Vote” vigil organized by Arvadans for Social Justice near City Hall in Arvada.

A crowd lines Ralston Road outside Arvada’s city hall during the “Count Every Vote” vigil.

PHOTO BY PAUL ALBANI-BURGIO

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November 12, 2020N

LOCAL

VOICES So now we listen ... really listen

ALCHEMY

Andrea Doray

T

he country has spoken … and what exactly was said, and by whom, will be debated for a long time. But there’s a singular message here I hope the majority of us have received: we need to listen to one another.

In a recent webinar I attended, host Oscar Trimboli introduced this session on “deep listening” by stating that if we’re willing to listen, we’re willing to have our minds changed.

Interesting … considering how few of us have actually seemed willing to change our minds in the last few years. Oh, I’ve listened, and not just for affirmation of my own opin-

LETTER TO THE EDITOR Cult of personnality Someone hilariously spliced together a video of AZ Trumpers shouting “Count the Votes” juxtaposed with PA Trumpers shouting “Stop the Count.” This shows how much sway the Svengali Trump has on his supporters. The hypocrisy and irony knows no bounds. Somehow Trump convinced 69 million voters, more than any other Republican President, to vote for him in spite of allegedly disparaging our military heroes by calling them losers (yet gets out of Vietnam due to “bone spurs”), separating children from their families at the border, paying off porn stars, bungling the handling of the pandemic with abysmal incompetence, (we still don’t have enough PPE for our front line workers!), and all the other various and ad nauseum assaults on our Constitution.

This is so astounding that there should be a third spliced frame of normal Americans yelling “Stop the Cult.”

Tom Sabel, Lakewood

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ions. In fact, as a writer, it’s been fascinating to witness different observations of the same events.

The problem was, most of the time, I simply didn’t like what I heard.

It’s inevitable there is more of this division to come. And amid all the talk of a “mandate” – from both sides of the aisle – there is a larger truth: that we, as citizens of one nation, need to listen to one another.

Oscar Trimboli describes “traditional discussions as default binary interactions” rather than dialogue as a shared experience of hearing, watching and exploring the landscape of the conversation.

So perhaps we’ve been unwilling – or unable – to listen to differing opinions because we’re really not engaging in this landscape of the conversation. Oscar tells us that we must understand ourselves before exploring the speaker and the dialogue.

To help facilitate this self-understanding, Oscar offered attendees a listening quiz.

The premise of the quiz is that we all have our listening “villains” – by Oscar’s definitions, they are dramatic, interrupting, lost or shrewd … those traits that disrupt our ability to listen.

SEE DORAY, P11

Surviving the election as we look for the good in 2020

W

hew. It would appear — and I hope I’m not saying this prematurely — that we have survived what I thought *for sure* was going to be November’s contribution to the dreck HITTING of 2020. That is, we seem to have survived the election. I HOME know many (71 million) are very disappointed in the outcome at the top of the ticket; hopefully, they are taking some solace in what happened down the ticket. And, at any rate, they aren’t out burning down cities.

So we got that going for us.

And, weirdly, almost against all expectations for this year, Michael Alcorn that asteroid managed to miss us the day before the election.

Now, we can all turn our attention to some of the great traditions of the season, like the slow dwindling of the candy bowl just in time to eat enough food to feed a herd of bison, and settling in to watch one of the great Shakespearean adventure/holiday movies… Die Hard.

In between, I think it’s good to take some stock, as we may have a few weeks of peace and quiet, to consider everything that’s happened this year. And, yeah — not everything this year has been horrible.

Hats off to families! I say this after a weekend spent painting a third room in our house since March. There are still two rooms on the docket, and I’ve also built a flower garden in the yard at the wife’s behest. One of the underreported stories of the year has got to be the amount of home improvements that people have accomplished, and, as man married for almost 26 years, I can tell you that, short of real crises, nothing taxes a marriage more than working on home improvement projects together. Something about the inevitable conflicts that arise between management and labor…

And I think we all know who management is.

At any rate,congratulations to all those families who have accomplished wonderful things around their houses without throwing heavy objects at each other.

Last week brought to light again just how hard the schools are working to keep providing instruction for the students. I had several schools in my area of influence who were putting together a staff with chewing gum and duct tape, who were isolating classrooms and small groups, and whose administrators were holding court via Zoom just to keep the doors open. For many teachers and staff, it has gone way past “above and beyond” — some of the stuff I’m seeing is downright heroic.

And, just so you know I’m not just being a P.R. hack for the schools, I would like to point out that the teacher’s union is currently circulating a petition calling on the schools to shut down. Not that it’s their call, or that the petition is going to, likely, influence much. It’s just a bad look for the union when their members are doing seriously heavy lifting, all the while knowing that a school shutdown is starting to look inevitable.

Speaking of the election, don’t we look genius here in Colorado? We’ve been doing the whole mail-in ballot thing for years now, and we were actually done with our homework Tuesday night. Meanwhile, Nevada is looking like the deadbeat brother-in-law reaching for the check at dinner. Bet if there was a casino bond issue on the ballot they’d have finished counting by now.

You want my vote next election? Create a system to shut down calls about the extended warranty. Yes, that will make me better off than four years ago.

And last, apparently, on the night of the Winter Solstice (Dec. 21), Jupiter and Saturn are going to be in conjunction in the night sky, while a waxing quarter moon trails them by just a tad. And it seems that Betelgeuse is nowhere close to going supernova — it’s just “pulsing.” So maybe the end of the year is looking up!

Michael Alcorn is a teacher and writer who lives in Arvada with his wife and three children. His new novel, “Charon’s Blade,” is available at Amazon.com, on Kindle, or through MichaelJAlcorn.com.” His opinions are not necessarily those of Colorado Community Media.

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Arvada Press 11

0November 12, 2020

I

COVID-19 does not respect the grieving process, but we should

n my 24 years of serving families as a funeral director in Colorado, I have never experienced challenges when caring for people who have experienced a loss like those experiencing GUEST loss whilst facing COLUMN a global pandemic.

Unfortunately, while we work to keep our community safe and follow the necessary social distancing protocols, we lose the ability for families to and friends to come together Shannon Martin to celebrate the life of their loved one.

These restrictions, while necessary to help protect our communities, has put enormous strain on families during the darkest hours of their lives.

L

Funeral rituals, customs and timehonored traditions have always played a vital part in grieving, allowing us to pay our respects and say goodbye.

Holding a service also provides an opportunity for the community to gather around family and friends to comfort and offer support during a difficult time. The transition to livestream services has helped some, allowing family and friends who cannot attend in person to participate virtually. Technology has played an enormous role in celebrations of life recently – but it will never replace a consoling hug.

Families from all over the country have opted to hold a memorial service at a later date, giving them time to plan a true celebration of remembrance, bringing together family and friends to appropriately honor the memory of their loved one. In my

ny nose, cough, fever, chills, shortness of breath, fatigue, muscle aches, loss of sense of smell/taste, sore throats, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea at some point by the end of this year.

It is always possible that your symptoms are from those leftovers you ate or the smoke from the fires. But America is relying on you to make sure.

Testing is now widely available and at many places, such as the health center where I work, with no out-of-pocket cost. Testing might not change your treatment but it can prevent you from unknowingly infecting someone else — someone who unfortunately could become much sicker than you.

Testing is one way to protect your loved ones and neighbors. But wearing your mask is just as important. My husband and I tried our best to avoid COVID-19 — we socially distanced and wore masks as much as possible. So far, we have both tested negative. But infection does seem inevitable considering my baby loves sneaking up on me with affectionate “dinosaur” kisses.

My baby could not wear a mask. I am incredibly grateful that she is doing well, and hopefully, thanks to early detection, we prevented her from spreading it to our friends and family.

I am proud to fight on the frontlines against COVID-19. Please help me in this fight and wear a mask, socially dis-

DORAY

we must engage, we must listen, we must be willing to think. There’s too much at stake.

No, I don’t mean we must embrace what is contemptible to us. But we could learn – again – to listen to one another, to have a sincere desire for dialogue, to explore conversation as a genuine means for reconciliation.

Because, as Oscar reminds us, the cost of not listening is obvious.

Interestingly, Oscar’s deep listening guidance was developed for use in business and the workplace, and it’s become increasingly clear to me that we have significant work ahead, not the least of which is controlling a pandemic of devastating proportions.

We all must begin to listen and think … because I can’t imagine anything more important right now than the business of healing this country.

If you pegged me for “lost” – staying mostly in my own mind rather than in the conversation – you’re partially right. My primary villain, though (and this may not be a surprise), came out as interrupter: like an “eager game show contestant who buzzes before the sentence ends and answers the wrong question.” I know that people who’ve had conversations with me have experienced this interrupter, or else they’ve found that I avoid the discussion or simply don’t engage … that “unwilling” part.

We all have our listening villains, whether they are among these that Oscar has identified, or those that are unique to us. In fact, last week I heard John Kasich, the former Republican governor of Ohio, say, “If everyone could listen and think, this country could come together.”

America, my friends and neighbors,

pandemic to keep a later date on your radar and plan the celebration of life your loved one deserves. Know that it is never too late to honor those we love, as it’s crucial we don’t lose sight of traditions that offer closure and comfort to the human spirit. To start the process, communicate your intentions to friends and family, and move forward with planning an event that will incorporate the unique details that best represent the person you are honoring.

With restrictions lifting, the weeks and months ahead offer new possibilities to plan the perfect memorial.

While COVID has impacted many aspects of our lives, don’t let the pandemic change how you would have memorialized your loved one.

Shannon Martin is a manager at Olinger Crown Hill.

Got the sniffles? Get tested for COVID-19

ike most 15-month-olds in daycare, my daughter has had six colds this year. And every time I have had her tested for COVID-19.

Many thought I was GUEST being ridiculous.

Then one day, after COLUMN one day of a runny nose, she tested positive. It was a vindication I never wanted. But one I was not completely surprised by.

As a family physician, I have cared for many COVID-19 Dr. Stephanie patients (even as young as 10 months) Sandhu whose only symptom was a runny nose. In truth, when the CDC listed nasal congestion as a symptom of COVID-19, I was hesitant to test every patient with the sniffles. Doctors are trained to think critically and to judiciously utilize testing resources.

But if our case numbers are ever going to go down, we all need to stop fearing the test.

If you develop even one COVID-19 symptom — please do not hesitate. Go get tested, not just for yourself, but for your community. Yes, the COVID-19 symptoms are extensive and common.

Most of you are likely to develop a run-

FROM PAGE 10

career serving families while they are grieving, I can’t emphasize enough the importance of holding some kind of memorial, whatever that might look like for you. A final farewell allows us to move forward in the grieving process, so it is an important part of beginning to heal.

But as time passes, I fear that these memorials will not occur as often as they should, which could ultimately lead to lifelong feelings of guilt and regret. Anyone who has lost someone they love in the past few months likely has an idea of how they would have liked to honor their memory if they had the opportunity to do so. Despite the delay in celebrating a life due to social distancing protocols, there are many ways to remember a loved one as restrictions are lifted.

This is why I implore all Coloradans who lost a loved one during this

Andrea Doray is a writer who keeps apologizing for her interruptions.

Contact her at a.doray@andreadoray. com if you would like the instructions to make your own mini-heater.

tance and get tested without hesitation.

Front-line workers, babies, and the most vulnerable are counting on you.

Dr. Stephanie Sandhu is a family medicine physician and the associate direc-

tor of Clinical Quality and Clinical Risk Mitigation at Stride Community Health Center. She is a member of the Colorado Academy of Family Physicians and a 2014 National Pisacano Scholar.

OBITUARIES STOLTE

Robert Henry Stolte 1942 - 2020

Robert (Bob) Henry Stolte passed away shortly after midnight on November 4, 2020.

He was preceded in death by his parents Stanley and Virginia, sister Karen Capps, brother Leslie (wife: Carolyn), and son Eric. He is survived by his wife Barbara, sons Joshua, Adam, and Matthew, sister Kathy (husband: Bill Austin), and brother-in-law Budd Capps.

He was born in 1942 in the town of Del Norte, Colorado, and was promptly named by his three-year-old brother Leslie, who made the announcement, unprompted, to the neighborhood that he had a new baby brother and his name was Bob. When Bob was nine months old, the family moved to the city of Arvada, and that remained Bob’s home until the end of his life. It was a city he loved. It was his home when he was baptized at the Arvada Methodist Church in 1945, and it was his home when he participated in the 150th anniversary celebration of the Arvada United Methodist Church in September, 2020.

Bob began his career as an artist no later than the age of five, with drawings whose distinctive style is recognizable even today. It was not long before his artistic talent was evident to everyone. By the end of his life, he had produced countless works of art, including drawings, paintings, photographs, sculptures, and ceramics, as well as poems, a screenplay and a novel. Friends and family members who received one of these artworks treasure them both in themselves and as reminders of his kindness and love.

In his childhood, Bob raised rabbits for the 4-H youth organization and wrestled at Arvada High School. He was graduated from the University of Colorado in Boulder with a degree in architecture.

In time, he returned to his alma mater working as a building project manager, where he oversaw countless building

projects and formed lifelong relationships.

On Valentine’s Day of 1961, he met the love of his life Barbara Kay Wilson. Bob and Barb married in the summer of 1962 and recently celebrated their 58th anniversary. They raised four boys: Eric, Joshua, Adam, and Matthew. Their eldest son, Eric, passed away in 1994 at the age of 31 surrounded by his loving family. Joshua and his wife Sandra have three children: Tristan, Ariana, and Aayla, and Adam and his wife Darci have one son: Jackson.

Bob was heavily involved in all of his children’s activities, including serving as a scout master, cheering his sons on at wrestling tournaments and soccer games, and attending high school musicals. He served his church for many years on several committees. He was especially involved in two projects: the erection of the church monument sign (the signature marker for the church location) and the expansion of the church building to better serve the community.

He had a serious (and intellectually serious) faith with a special fondness for the Sermon on the Mount, and he was firmly committed to the view that science, religion, and life are compatible.

Bob valued nothing more in this world than his friends and his family. His love for them was never doubted and will never be forgotten.

His private memorial service will be streamed live on the Arvada United Methodist Church YouTube Channel on Monday, November 9, 2020, 1:45–3:00.

Friends and family are encouraged to share their memories on Facebook.

Memorial gifts may be sent to Arvada United Methodist Church, Children and Youth Ministry at 6750 Carr St, Arvada, CO 80004. Donations may also be made through the church website: https:// www.arvadaumc.org/.

12 Arvada Press

November 12, 2020N

LOCAL

LIFE

Churches differ on pandemic response Arvada United Methodist Church held drive-in church services in its parking lot during warmer months but will now switch to full virtual as cool weather sets in during the COVID-19 pandemic.

COURTESY PHOTO

Pastors say they rely on local, state guidance as disease drags on

BY JESSICA GIBBS JGIBBS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

A

s Colorado’s third wave of COVID-19 grips the state, churches in the Denver metro area are preparing to take additional precautions, although they differ in their plans to do business in the weeks ahead, from full virtual services to limited in-person gatherings.

Dr. Amy Gearhart, lead pastor at

Arvada United Methodist Church, said their church is paying close attention to the guidance of local and state health agencies. The church has not held in-person services since the pandemic reached Colorado.

“We’re a congregation that’s in total support and confidence in the scientific research and data,” she said.

The closest that Arvada United Methodist Church came to holding in-person gatherings during COVID-19 was when it hosted drive-in services

in the parking lot during the warmer fall months. With winter approaching, the church is switching back to full virtual as of Nov. 8.

Gearhart said there have been advantages to virtual sermons. Each Sunday they post a pre-produced sermon to YouTube. The church garners roughly 100 more views than what in-person attendance might have been before the pandemic, she said.

It also offers a solution for at-risk congregation members, she said. At-

tendance at the drive-up services was about half of pre-pandemic levels.

The church’s congregation comprises approximately 600 households and a normal service pre-COVID was on average 350 people. Roughly a third of their members are older than 70, she said.

“Many of our older adults don’t even feel comfortable coming in their cars,” she said.

SEE CHURCHES, P13

43rd DFF builds community from Red Rocks and home COMING ATTRACTIONS

Clarke Reader

I

f you love movies, there’s no way your home setup is going to replace the experience of the theater, if for no other reason than there’s something special about sharing a cinematic experience with a group of people. But, as this year’s 43rd annual Denver Film Festival displayed, there’s more than one way to create a community.

Thanks to three drive-in screenings of films at Red Rocks, the organization was able to give audiences that “we’re all here together” feeling, and its incredibly convenient virtual platform allowed viewers access to around 180 films and creative conversations with filmmakers - hence that community feeling.

During this year’s festival, I saw 29 films over 17 days — all of them with their own fascinations and stories to tell. Rather than pick a top 5 or 10 favorites list, I thought this year I would name some categories and the

corresponding film. Happy watching!

Best catnip for movie nerds: ‘Kubrick by Kubrick’ Release date: 2021 Look, if you’re a fan of film, at some point you’re going to have to reckon with the work of Stanley Kubrick. That’s just how it is. But it’s a rare treat to actually hear the man’s voice - a treat this film provides, thanks to recorded interviews with French critic Michel Cimet. It’s thrilling to hear firsthand from an honest-to-god genius about his craft - a man one person describes as, “The Frank Sinatra of cinema - he always did things his way.”

For cinephiles and Kubrick aficionados, it’s a must-see.

Best love story/eerily prescient film: ‘Little Fish’ Release date: Feb. 5 Chad Hartigan’s heartbreaker of film

“Little Fish” takes viewers to a world where a disease called neuroinflammatory affliction (or NIA), which is a kind of rapid Alzheimer’s, is washing over the planet. In the midst of all this, we have Emma (Olivia Cooke) and Jude (Jack O’Connell), a married couple trying to build lives for themselves. But when Jude contracts the disease, their whole world changes and what seemed like a romantic drama turns into a creeping horror film.

The entire premise is a thoroughly clever and ultimately insightful way to examine a relationship. With the questions it explores about the power of memory and what ties people in love together, “Little Fish” flies in the face of its premise - it’s damn near impossible to forget.

SEE READER, P13

Arvada Press 13

0November 12, 2020

CHURCHES FROM PAGE 12

Senior Pastor Rev. Mark Feldmeir at St. Andrew United Methodist Church in Highlands Ranch said they are primarily doing virtual services through YouTube. Worship elements are recorded through the week and St. Andrew has offered remote services since March.

But throughout the rest of November, the church plans to continue holding a Sunday evening service outside on its lawn for approximately 40 to 50 people.

People have to RSVP, wear masks and sit in family groups “so there’s social distancing,” he said. There is no singing at the services and the speakers wear masks.

Feldmeir also said virtual services have expanded the church’s reach.

Pre-pandemic attendance was approximately 1,200 in a weekend.

“Remarkably our viewership online is at least twice that every week,” he said.

Feldmeir isn’t sure of the church’s

READER FROM PAGE 12

The best example of what people working together can do: ‘The 8th’ Release date: 2021 With everything going on in the Supreme Court this autumn, the documentary “The 8th” hits differently than it would have just a few months ago.

The film follows the successful campaign to repeal Ireland’s 8th amendment, which made it illegal for women in Ireland to have an abortion for any reason. It follows campaigners through the 2017-2018 grassroots effort to have the law changed and shows their fight to ensure women can have a say over their own lives and bodies.

The rhetoric on both sides of the

‘I don’t anticipate that we’ll be back for in-person worship until there is a vaccine that’s widely available.’

Rev. Mark Feldmeir, senior pastor at St. Andrew United Methodist Church

long-term strategy to hold service during the pandemic. They have not planned much beyond the New Year, but he doesn’t expect to do business as usual for months.

“I don’t anticipate that we’ll be back for in-person worship until there is a vaccine that’s widely available,” he said.

Surveys of the congregation showed 68% of their members would not return without a vaccine, he said.

Steve Thulson, interim senior pastor at Grace Covenant Church in Lakewood, said the church returned

to in-person services mid- summer.

The church’s two Sunday services are limited to approximately 50 people each, and attendees are required to wear masks.

That’s roughly half the church’s attendance before COVID-19 hit, Thulson said, and they estimate a dozen families tune in by livestream. He is not sure at what point the church would switch to full virtual services, if a shutdown is not ordered by local or state agencies, with which he vowed they would comply.

“That’s a great question,” he said.

issue will sound familiar to American audiences, where women still have to deal with numerous restrictions and stigma around abortions and reproductive rights. For those concerned about those rights in this country, it’s a must-watch, invigorating jolt of hope.

feel disenchanted, or like their future doesn’t matter to the adults who are only concerned about their here and now. But as producer Cecilia Nesson said in a post-screening interview, “Everyone can make a big difference.”

The best hope for the future: ‘I Am Greta’ Release date: Nov. 13 The film follows climate justice activist Greta Thunberg from her first school strike for the climate in Sweden in 2018 to her legendary, righteously incendiary speech at the UN in September 2019. Viewers are treated to a look at the teenager behind the character the media has perpetuated. She’s at times funny, other times broken-hearted, often just a kid, but always dedicated and laser-focused to the cause.

This is a film for young people who

The pandemic has placed numerous barriers on churches, he said, and there are mixed reactions to steps the church takes. Some people believe the church should not meet at all while others wish services could continue as normal.

“There are different opinions on all this. Not outright division but it’s kind of a continuum,” he said.

Gearhart said her congregation has been supportive of staying virtual and social distancing, but she knows pastors who have weathered pushback against following COVID-19 precautions.

Moving forward, the pastors said they’ll look to health agency guidance for navigating the pandemic in coming weeks, and they’ll try to keep up morale among community members.

“I think probably like everybody in our community and around the world, there is tremendous COVID fatigue and Zoom fatigue and I think that’s only exacerbated by some of the social division, political division,” Feldmeir said. “But I think there’s also a tremendous sense of a collective sense of we’re going to get through this.”

Best ending: ‘Nine Days’ Release date: Jan. 22 Do you know that thrill you get when you experience something you’re familiar with in a totally new way? All of a sudden, there’s this whole new range of possibilities, new regions to explore. Director Edson Oda achieves that very feeling at the end of his metaphysical science-fiction film, “Nine Days,” by combining two elemental forces - Walt Whitman and Winston Duke.

Lee Isaac Chung’s film is based on his own experiences moving to a farm in Arkansas with his Korean-American family in the 1980s and delves deeply into the joys, exploration and growth that occurs as they make a life for themselves. Everything in this film feels lived in and real, perhaps most of all the performances from leads Yeri Han and Steven Yeun.

In a fascinating post-screening interview with critic Lisa Kennedy, Yeun spoke movingly about playing a character that reflected the dedication of his parents’ generation, not only the difficulties they went through.

“We don’t even want to justify their existence through their suffering.,” he said. “They get to exist. Period. And their existence is valid. Period.”

The best example of what makes America great: ‘Minari’ Release date: 2021

Clarke Reader’s column on culture apears on a weekly basis. He can be reached at Clarke.Reader@hotmail.com.

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16 Arvada Press

November 12, 2020N

Lakewood lore inspires author with Arvada roots The new thriller reimagines 1960s Lakewood crime as fiction

he said. When the equally sordid Golden State Killer case was recently solved using modern science and technology, Pearce was inspired to reimagine what happened all of those years ago in Lakewood and weave in a modern twist.

Pearce said the novel took a little over a year to

BY BOB WOOLEY write, while continuing his career in construcBWOOLEY@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM tion project management.

“I write for an hour a night,” he said. “At first, If you grew up in Lakewood in the late 1960s I had no idea what I was doing. I started by you might remember the tale of the Garage writing about five chapters by hand and then Gorilla. Legend has it, he prowled around neighmy handwriting was so bad, I borhoods in the fledgeling city, re-wrote it on a computer.” breaking into garages and lying Pearce said he had about the in wait to attack unsuspecting first half of the novel figured out women in the dark. when he started, but from there First-time author Collin he just kept writing to see where Pearce’s father remembered the story took him. Eventually, those times well, and would rethe story took the Arvada West gale young Collin with spooky and CSU graduate to a completstories from days gone by. Now ed book that’s garnering good it’s the son who is spinning reviews from Kirkus Reviews scary yarns and drawing on one and from Amazon reviews, and of his dad’s tales for inspiragaining readers through word tion. As a kid growing up in Arof mouth, social media engagevada, Pearce, 26, loved writing ment and even a bit of traction and books, but stories by Edgar on Amazon. If brick and mortar Allan Poe and Ray Bradbury is still your thing, the book can really grabbed his attention. be special ordered from retail From his new home, California, booksellers.

He’s just published his first As for launching his first novel, “The Garage Guerrilla,” book during a global pandemic, a fictionalized mash-up of the Pearce said it’s made marketLakewood crime-spree with ing and in-person visits to book elements of the modern-day stores more difficult, but it Golden State Killer case. Pearce actually gave him a lot of extra said the sheer creepiness of the events in the Garage Gorilla Cover art for “The Garage Guerrilla” time to think about the book as he was finishing it up. It may story his dad told him as a kid

by Arvada native Collin Pearce. was what really stuck with him COURTESY PHOTO have also given him time to start plotting out his second novel, for so many years. already in the works.

“He was an offender that would terrify “The new book is a totally different concept, neighborhoods, prowling around, breaking into but it is another psychological thriller,” Pearce garages and turning out the lights and turning said. on hoses so people would come out at night,”

Author Collin Pearce who just released his first novel, “The Garage Guerrilla.” C OURTESY PHOTO

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Arvada West High School – Meeting the changing needs!

Arvada West High School will be hosting a virtual tour for prospective Arvada West HighinSchool will be hosting a virtual tour and for prospective families families interested learning more about AWHS how we maximize interested in learning more about AWHS and how we maximize student student potential. potential.

You are to take a virtual howArvada Arvada Wes You invited are invited to take a virtualtour tourofofour ourbuilding building to to see see how West High High School’s rich history and traditions are evolving to provide students School’s rich history and traditions are evolving to provide students with with relevant, real-world You from our Administrative relevant, real-worldlearning. learning. You willwill hearhear from our Administrative team, team,counselors, counselors, teachers, activity/club sponsors and athletic teachers, activity/club sponsors and athletic coaches. coaches.

We hope youyou willwill loglog onon and our beautiful beautifulbuilding…virtually! building…virtually We hope andenjoy enjoy touring touring our andwill willbebe available The link onon our website 18thand The will link be willposted be posted our websiteon onNovember November 18th available to view any any timetime after 6:00 to view after 6:00PM. PM.

www.arvadawest.org “Home of the Wildcats”

Arvada Press 17

LOCAL

0November 12, 2020

SPORTS

Pomona dominates early in win against Mullen

BY DENNIS PLEUSS JEFFCO PUBLIC SCHOOLS

ARVADA — Pomona linebacker Juju Howard had a late birthday celebration Nov. 5 at the North Area Athletic Complex.

Howard picked up a loose football off a bad snap on Mullen’s 25-yard line midway through the second quarter. The senior returned it for a touchdown, his first score of his prep career.

“I saw Deion (Maes) get the pressure. I thought he had the ball, but then I saw it pop out,” Howard said of the touchdown that extended Pomona’s lead to 35-0 over the Mustangs on Thursday night. “The first thing I thought was ‘scoop and score’ so that’s what I did.”

Howard had his 18th birthday the day before and was able to celebrate again as the No. 4-ranked Pomona Panthers improved to 5-0 on the season with a dominating 42-21 victory.

Pomona wasted no time in getting up on Mullen (1-3, 1-3 in Class 5A Jeffco). Pomona senior Jack Pospisil returned the opening kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown.

“We really didn’t practice kick returns because they were kicking it in the end zone every time this year,” Pomona coach Jay Madden said. “I knew as soon as Jack caught it he was going. Every time he gets it on kick returns he seems to score.”

It took 16 seconds for Pospisil race past Mullen’s sideline and into the end zone.

“I was expecting it to go (into the end zone). I was glad it didn’t for once,” Pospisil said of the opening kickoff. “It was a great kickstart for the team and really got us going.”

Pomona was a bit sluggish in a 33-14 victory last Saturday afternoon against rival Arvada West. The Panthers were clicking Thursday night scoring touchdowns on four straight offensive positions, along with the defensive score by Howard.

“I think we called better plays and the kids did a better job executing those plays,” Madden said of the offense looking better than it did against A-West. “We didn’t try to do too much individually on plays. They

Pomona senior Ben Cruz (24) tries to break out of a tackle during the Panthers’ 42-21 victory over Mullen on Nov. 4 at the North Area Athletic Complex. Pomona improved to 5-0 on the season.

PHOTO BY DENNIS PLEUSS/JEFFCO PUBLIC SCHOOLS beat Arvada West so I think that got our kids’ attention a little bit more.”

Pospisil scored on a 23-yard touchdown run from his quarterback position. Senior Ian Dexter found the end zone late in the first quarter to push the Panthers’ lead to 21-0.

Dexter had a 1-yard touchdown run midway through the second quarter and senior AJ Zamora extended the lead to 42-0 minutes left before halftime to induce the running clock.

“The offensive line had a great week of practice,” Pospisil said.

“They did a great job opening up so many holes for us. They are the whole key for us.”

Mullen got a trio of touchdown pass from freshman quarterback Blake Palladino in the second half going up

against Pomona’s backups.

“We are playing out of our minds this year,” Howard said of Pomona’s defense. “We had our struggles last year. These year we’ve cleaned it up.

Everyone is playing together and we are communicating well.”

Pomona is scheduled to face No. 3 Columbine (4-0, 3-0) next week in a regular-season finale. The game will be played 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13, at Jeffco Stadium.

“We are just excited to go play another football game,” Madden said of the scheduled showdown with Columbine. “The fact that it’s Columbine makes it that much more special.”

The Rebels weren’t able to play its scheduled game this week against No. 8 Ralston Valley because of a COVID

related issue. With only eight team making the 5A state playoff field this season makes every game critical.

“Ever since the season started we talked about 6-0,” Pospisil said. “The playoffs are going to be slim. You have to win when you can. We are on a roll right now and super happy with where we are at.”

Mullen hosts Lakewood (1-4, 1-3) on Friday, Nov. 13, in another 5A Jeffco League regular-season finale. The Tigers pulled off a 14-7 victory over A-West on Thursday night at Jeffco Stadium.

Dennis Pleuss is the Sports Information Director for Jeffco Public Schools.

For more coverage go to CHSAANow. com/Jeffco.

Big plays lift Bear Creek football to win over Wheat Ridge

BY DENNIS PLEUSS JEFFCO PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Wheat Ridge senior Sam McDonough (3) picks up a block by senior Jack Vaugh (44) during a run in the first half Nov. 6 at Jeffco Stadium.

The Farmers suffered a 46-25 loss in the Class 4A Jeffco League game.

PHOTO BY DENNIS PLEUSS/JEFFCO PUBLIC SCHOOLS

LAKEWOOD — It appeared the only thing that could stop Bear Creek senior Adrian Valenzuela from finding the end zone were penalty flags Nov. 6 at Jeffco Stadium.

The big playmaker for the Bears (2-3, 2-2 in Class 4A Jeffco League) had four touchdown catches of 66, 20, 13 and 30 yards to help Bear Creek to a 46-25 victory over Wheat Ridge.

“Honestly, coming into this game my mentality was this was going to be the last time playing at Jeffco Stadium,” Valenzuela said. “I wanted to go out with a bang.”

Valenzuela also had a kickoff return and punt return

for touchdowns called back because of Bear Creek penalties late in the second quarter and early in the third quarter.

If not for the flags, the senior could have had six touchdowns on the night.

“I’ll take the four receiving touchdowns, but man, I was hurting seeing those flags on the kickoff return and punt return,” Valenzuela said.

Valenzuela did put the hurt on Wheat Ridge (0-5, 0-4) helping the Bears score 25 unanswered points to open up a 39-17 lead early in the fourth quarter.

“Explosive,” is how Bear Creek’s first-year head coach Matt Steinfeldt described Valenzuela. “There are a lot of special pieces on this football team. Adrian is one of

those that stood out on film.

He missed a couple of games with an injury. He is now just getting into that in-game season.”

Bear Creek junior quarterback Jaedon Minter tossed all four touchdowns to Valenzuela as Bear Creek picked up its second victory in three weeks.

“I would love it,” Minter said of wishing he had Valenzuela for one more season.

“He was my No. 1 receiver. He is a hard worker and the main guy I have to look for.”

Wheat Ridge senior Sam McDonough and Bear Creek junior Richie Caballero scored on short touchdown runs in the first quarter as the 4A Jeffco rivals went into SEE FOOTBALL, P18

18 Arvada Press

November 12, 2020N

C R O S SWO R D P U Z Z L E

Bear Creek senior Adrian Valenzuela strolls into the end zone for a 66-yard touchdown catch during the second quarter Nov. 6 at Jeffco Stadium.

The senior receiver had four touchdown catches on the night during the Bears’ victory over Wheat Ridge.

PHOTO BY DENNIS PLEUSS/JEFFCO PUBLIC SCHOOLS

FOOTBALL FROM PAGE 17

second quarter tied 7-7. Then it turned into the Valenzuela show.

His 66-yard touchdown with 11:15 left in the second quarter gave the Bears a 14-7 lead. The Farmers responded with a 1-yard touchdown run by senior Luciano Vecchiarelli and 32-yard field goal by senior Matthias England to put Wheat Ridge up 17-14.

However, Minter hooked up with Valenzuela for a big 20-yard touchdown with 2:05 left before halftime to give the Bears the lead 21-17.

“It was all about my team,” Valenzuela said. “I couldn’t have done any of this without my team and my lineman. This was a team win. Yes, I scored four touchdowns, but I couldn’t have done it without my team.”

Bear Creek dominated the third quarter with the Bears’ defense not allowing the Farmers to cross midfield.

Junior Andrew Montoya kicked a 34-yard touchdown and Minter found Valenzuela for his third touchdown of the game. The 13-yard touchdown catch gave the Bears a 31-17 lead going into the fourth quarter.

Minter to Valenzuela for a 30-yard

touchdown with 8:38 left in the fourth quarter put the icing on the victory cake for the Bears.

“As seniors we wanted to leave our legacy and our mark on this place,” Valenzuela said, who took photos with his fellow seniors at midfield after the victory.

Bear Creek is scheduled to close out its regular-season schedule next Friday night against Golden (1-3, 1-2) at the North Area Athletic Complex in Arvada.

“When we came into this program we knew there was a lot of talent here that we could mold and develop,” Steinfeldt said. “Consistency going into Golden is a huge thing for us.”

Bear Creek will likely play a nonplayoff game on the road for Week 7 to close out the season.

“I feel like this program is going to keep on winning,” Minter said. “We found a new coaching staff that loves us. They know exactly what to do to have us win.”

Wheat Ridge wraps up its regular season Saturday, Nov. 14, against Standley Lake at Jeffco Stadium.

Dennis Pleuss is the Sports Information Director for Jeffco Public Schools.

For more coverage go to CHSAANow. com/Jeffco.

Answers

THANKS for

PLAYING!

© 2016 King Features Synd., Inc.

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Arvada Press 19

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Arvada Press 23

0November 12, 2020

Wolf reintroduction going ahead after narrow win Proposition 114 means apex predators will be established in Colorado despite controversy

BY JASON BLEVINS THE COLORADO SUN

Unleash the hounds.

Proposition 114 was decided Nov. 5 as votes from heavily populated Front Range counties pushed the wolf reintroduction plan to victory.

The measure, which tasks Colorado Parks and Wildlife with crafting a plan by the end of 2023 to reintroduce wolves into the Western Slope, was too close to call on Election Night and all day Nov. 4. The tightest statewide ballot issue in Colorado’s 2020 election, Proposition 114 was ahead by a narrow margin that veered close to triggering an automatic recount.

Opponents of the measure conceded the race Nov. 5. Even though there were more than 300,000 votes yet to be counted, a lead of more than 20,000 votes out of 2.97 million cast appeared insurmountable.

Coloradans Protecting Wildlife, the group opposing Proposition 114, said in a statement that it believed “forced wolf reintroduction” into Colorado is bad policy that should not have been decided by voters.

“All along, our opposition campaign was led by those who would be directly impacted by this measure, including real Coloradans, sportsmen, farmers and ranchers, outdoor enthusiasts, and more,” said the statement from the group’s spokesman, Patrick Pratt. “Despite a small group of wealthy, and often out-ofstate, activists spending in excess of $2.1 million to pass this measure,

The state ballot measure to reintroduce wolves to Colorado has narrowly passed.

SHUTTERSTOCK IMAGE

our campaign, with less than $800,000 was able to illustrate why forced wolf introduction is wrong for Colorado.”

Few issues raise hackles in the West more than wolves. Farmers, ranchers and hunters fear the return of wolves could damage rural economies that are based on livestock and hunting. Advocates who have pushed to introduce and protect wolves in Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, New Mexico and Arizona argue that Colorado is a final step in a 40-year effort to return wolf populations that were hunted into extinction in the 1920s.

Colorado is the first state to reintroduce wolves at the direction of voters rather than federal wildlife biologists working under the Endangered Species Act. Recently, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt announced that the gray

wolf population in the U.S. was recovered and no longer needed protection under the Endangered Specials Act, which has protected the canines since 1978. The federal delisting transfers management of wolves to states. A delisting of wolves in the Northern Rockies in 2008 legalized hunting and trapping of the predators. Colorado already has a law protecting wolves as a “species of concern,” making it illegal to kill the animals.

Supporters of Proposition 114 said the delisting emphasizes the need for additional protection of wolves that comes with reintroduction. Opponents argued the federal delisting proved that wolf populations are healthy enough in the Northern Rockies to migrate south and establish packs in Colorado. Earlier this year, Colorado wildlife biologists confirmed the presence of a wolf pack in the northwestern portion of the state.

The Colorado Wildlife Commission in 2016 rejected a proposal to reintroduce wolves, pointing to potential threats to the state’s big game population and livestock industry.

More than three dozen rural counties in Colorado opposed Proposition 114. But voters in the state’s six most populated counties along the Front Range anchored the 13 counties that supported Proposition 114, illustrating a divide over wolves that fell largely along urban-rural lines.

Opponents of the measure hope the narrow margin factors into policy discussions as Colorado Parks and Wildlife gathers public input and assembles a plan for reintroduction.

That plan, per the ballot language, requires statewide hearings and includes creating a system to reimburse ranchers who lose livestock to wolves.

“The election results demonstrate

that nearly half of Coloradans agree with us. We hope these election results show proponents, lawmakers and Colorado Parks and Wildlife that next steps must be taken in a measured, responsible way,” the statement from Coloradans Protecting Wildlife reads. The group said it would continue to work to protect wildlife, ensure diverse groups — “not just activists and regulators from the Front Range” — are including in wolf-policy development, and to defend ranchers and “prepare the West Slope for the realities of introducing a new apex predator.”

Supporters of Proposition 114 say the margin doesn’t matter and welcome their opponents to the next step.

“The bottom line is that Proposition 114 is not based on how close the vote was. It’s the law. We need to all get our heads around that fact and lean into the work ahead, which is fashioning a future for wolves in Colorado that we can coexist with,” said Rob Edward with the Rocky Mountain Wolf Action Fund. “We need to go forward as neighbors and adversaries and friends and create a future for wolves.”

Edward dismissed the notion that Proposition 114 passed solely on the back of Front Range and urban residents. He points to San Miguel, La Plata, San Juan, Summit and Pitkin counties, where a majority of voters approved the measure.

“We would not be having this conversation today had it not been for people on the Western Slope voting for wolves,” he said.

This story is from The Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned news outlet based in Denver and covering the state. Used by permission. For more, and to support The Colorado Sun, visit coloradosun.com.

HOPE HOUSE GALA GOES GLOWINGLY Hope House, a nonprofit based in Arvada, held its annual fundraising gala Nov. 7, and raised more than $405,000 through sponsorships, a silent auction, virtual program registrations and donations made the evening of the event.

The money raised will go toward programming that helps teen moms receive the support they need as they work toward selfsufficiency. More information is available at Hopehousecolorado. org.

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Legals Metropolitan Districts Public Notice NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT THE NOVEMBER 19, 2020 REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF APEX PARK AND RECREATION DISTRICT WILL BE A PUBLIC HEARING FOR THE PROPOSED 2021 BUDGET. THE HEARING WILL BE HELD AT 6:30 P.M. ON THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2020, AT THE APEX CENTER, 13150 W. 72ND AVENUE, ARVADA, COLORADO.

THE PROPOSED BUDGET IS AVAILABLE FOR INSPECTION BY THE PUBLIC AT THE APEX CENTER, 13150 W. 72ND AVENUE, ARVADA, COLORADO, OR ONLINE AT WWW.APEXPRD. ORG. ANY INTERESTED ELECTOR OF THE DISTRICT MAY FILE ANY OBJECTIONS TO THE PROPOSED BUDGET AT ANY TIME PRIOR TO THE FINAL ADOPTION OF THE BUDGET BY THE APEX BOARD OF DIRECTORS. Legal Notice No. 408546 First Publication: November 12, 2020 Last Publication: November 12, 2020 Publisher: Jeffco Transcript and the Arvada Press

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Arvada Legals 11.12.20 * 1

24 Arvada Press

November 12, 2020

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