Arvada Press February 27, 2025

OVERALL RATE PERSONAL CRIME CAR THEFTS

Ralston House in talks with City of Arvada to move into old Community Table building

City-owned property on 57th Avenue would allow nonprofit to consolidate Lakewood and Arvada operations

BY RYLEE DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Ralston House, local nonpro t that works with for victims of child abuse might be moving into a city-owned building that formerly housed Community Table, the largest food bank in Arvada.

As Community Table prepares to make its own move to a larger facility this spring, the question of what will become of the city-owned property located at 8555 W. 57th Ave has come up.

Arvada crimes report

Year-end statistics for 2024 show meaningful decreases, worrying spikes

BY RYLEE DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Arvada’s year-end crime statistics from 2024 are out, and while the overall crime rate increased 1.3% from 2023; however, personal crime — including assaults, homicide, human tra cking, sexual assault and kidnapping — is up 34% compared to last year.

e primary driver of that increase is assaults, which increased by 26% from last year and jumped up 19% from the previous three-year (2021-2023) average. e overall Arvada crime rate was down 3% from the three-year average last year.

e Arvada Police Department breaks down assaults into three categories: simple assaults which do not involve a weapon, aggravated assaults which do involve a weapon and intimidation assault, which involves threats. Within these categories, simple assaults rose the highest, from 413 incidents in 2023 to 513 in 2024.

Chase Amos, APD’s Public Information Ofcer, said that a large proportion of assaults stem from domestic relationships — 25% of

all aggravated assaults and 33% of all simple assaults — and that although instances of assault have risen, the risk of being accosted in public remains low.

“(Assaults) largely involve persons known to each other,” Amos said. “So, that gure is scary, because I think people immediately think, ‘Oh my god, I’ll walk down the street and get mugged or beaten up,’ but the majority are between people that know each other. So, family members, acquaintances or romantic partners.”

Amos said the proportion of domestic assaults remained constant from 2023 to 2024.

One area of crime that decreased dramatically from 2023 to 2024 was motor vehicle thefts, which, in 2024, dropped 18% from 2023 and 39% from the three-year average. Part of the reason those numbers are down is because of a spike in motor vehicle thefts during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in 2020 and 2021.

at spike may have made folks more aware of protecting their vehicles, Amos said, leading to a drop in stolen cars.

Now, the City of Arvada and Ralston House are working together to negotiate a lease agreement that will allow the nonpro t to move from its current home at 10795 W. 58th Ave to the larger building down the street.

“We don’t have a lease agreement yet, but (the City of Arvada) have said the building is ours to use,” Donald Moseley, Ralston House’s executive director, said. “I should point out our current site in Arvada is owned by the city, and we have been in it now, I think, over 20 years and they maintain that building in and out, and so it would be the same sort of thing at this other site; we would have that same relationship with the city.”

At its current location, Ralston House pays $1-a-year to the city for lease payments, a setup similar to other agreements Arvada has with local nonpro ts using city buildings.

Arvada’s Director of Communications and Engagement Rachael Kuroiwa con rmed that talks with Ralston House to move into property on 57th Avenue are ongoing and said the city supports the nonpro t in its e ort to provide vital services.

“Ralston House has long been an important partner and service provider, serving children and families during di cult moments,” Kuroiwa said. “We are optimistic that we will come to an agreement that bene ts the City, Ralston House and the community.”

BY NATHANIEL MINOR CPR NEWS

Cities say they won’t follow new laws on housing

Leaders of a growing number of Colorado cities are indicating they don’t intend to comply with recently passed state laws that will pre-empt local governments’ control of parking, housing density and other land use issues.

Local governments in Colorado and across the U.S. have historically had domain over the rules that shape their growth.

State legislators took a swipe at that last year, passing a suite of bills aimed at increasing the state’s housing supply and boosting transit use by requiring some cities to allow more accessory dwelling units, apartments, townhomes, duplexes and other multi-family dwellings, and less parking in certain areas.

Now, as various compliance deadlines loom, cities including Boulder, Broom eld, Fort Collins, Longmont and Denver, are moving to reshape local rules and codes to conform to the new state laws.

But other local governments are pushing back. O cials in Westminster, Arvada, Colorado Springs, and Northglenn have at least suggested, and in some cases explicitly said, that they won’t follow some of the laws.

ey cite varied issues like inadequate infrastructure, unreliable transit service, and the loss of neighborhood character.

ere’s one common objection, too: the loss of local control.

“Folks, this is insanity,” Westminster Mayor Nancy McNally said during a City Council meeting earlier this month in which she and other members directed city sta to not to comply with three of the new laws.

“I believe this is total overreach by our state government who should have a billion other things to be looking at, not how we run our cities,” she added.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Gov. Jared Polis said the state and local governments should work together to solve Colorado’s housing a ordability crisis.

“We would expect local leaders to of course follow the law, help deliver more housing now, and save people money. Local governments must follow the laws of Colorado,” Eric Maruyama wrote in an email.

It’s unclear whether the conicts will escalate to legal action, though some cities have already discussed the possibility of suing the state over the laws. How the disputes shake out could help determine where development powers rest in Colorado, and how its residents live and move through it in the future.

Westminster: Fears of Soviet-style apartment blocs

One of the marquee bills passed last session forces some cities to allow greater housing density near certain transit lines. e law requires such cities to set “housing opportunity

goals,” which are calculated by using a formula that considers the amount of land near existing or planned transit stations and lines.

A map produced by the state identi es a Regional Transportation District commuter rail station, two stations on its frequent Flatiron Flyer bus route along U.S. 36, and the Federal Boulevard corridor as areas eligible for denser housing. Under the law, Westminster could choose to concentrate its more dense housing zones in only some of those areas or petition the state to put it elsewhere in the city.

After subtracting acreage exempt allowed under the law, like open space and ood plains, Westminster sta estimate the city’s housing opportunity goal is 50,506 units — just more than the 50,323 existing housing units in the city.

One Westminster city councilor took that gure as an indication that Soviet-style apartment blocs could be in the o ng.

“I want to know … who the state thinks is going to live in these 50,000 units,” said council member Kristine Ireland.

“Everyone’s going to ee this state in droves because people want single family homes,” she added. “ at’s why people are leaving this state. ey don’t want to live in apartments from birth to death. I saw this stu in Russia and it was built under Lenin.”

Having a goal of 50,506 units, however, does not necessarily mean that 50,506 new housing units will be built.

Rather, the law requires Westminster to change its zoning to allow that many units to exist in

certain areas near transit. Some housing already exists in those zones, and the city’s current zoning allows for more.

City sta downplayed the impact its existing housing stock and zoning capacity would have on its goal, saying most land near transit corridors and stations do not have housing densities that meet the minimum of 15 units per acre and cumulative average of 40 units per acre required by the law. A neighborhood of four-story apartments would have roughly 40 units per acre.

e city, however, has already embraced high-density development in areas like its new downtown, built on the site of an old mall and near a Flatiron Flyer station. ose developments will help the city meet its goal and o er an example for what it will need to do elsewhere, said Matt Frommer, transportation and land use policy manager with the Southwest Energy Efciency Project, an advocacy group that supported the housing bills.

“ ey’re blessed with good transit,” Frommer said. “And that’s where we want to build more housing to address our transportation and climate issues and provide more a ordable housing.”

Market forces will also be a key factor in what eventually is built, Frommer said.

“You need the stars to align,” he said. “ e landowner needs to want to build housing and it needs to make sense for them nancially.”

e state Department of Local A airs, which is overseeing implementation of the transit-

apartments and other multifamily projects close to some transit lines starting this sum-

Legislative backers and housing advocates say such local parking regulations drive up housing construction costs, rents, and contribute to sprawling neighborhoods di cult to navigate outside of a car.

In Arvada, the law would limit the city’s ability to require developers include parking for new housing near RTD commuter rail stations and ve local bus lines. While the City Council has not yet taken a formal position on the new laws, a spokesperson said, several city leaders said in a recent meeting that they would undermine the city’s character and its ability to determine its own future.

“Our [parking] code de nitely matches the character of our community,” said councilmember John Marriott, adding: “We have been exible and are willing to have conversations with our community about what this should be and balancing these competing interests. But to have the state dictate to us that this is what’s going to be, I think, is completely wrong.”

“I believe this is total overreach by our state government who should have a billion other things to be looking at, not how we run our cities.”

Nancy McNally Westminster Mayor

oriented communities law and others, and Westminster, both issued statements to CPR News emphasizing collaboration — but also staking out their respective territories.

DOLA Executive Director Maria De Cambra said the department would ensure “all actions adhere to Colorado law” and a Westminster spokesperson said the city wants a solution that “respects home rule authority and the awareness of local control.”

e law requires a ected cities to change their zoning rules by the end of 2027.

Arvada: Stalled on the state’s new parking law

Another key law prevents some local governments from requiring parking be built with

Other members said it was unfair to force the city to penalize driving when a key factor — transit service — is outside of its control.

“RTD is the most unreliable organization,” said councilmember Bob Fifer.

“Our land use as a community should not be based on an organization that can’t get their act straight to even service our community,” he added. e on-time performance for RTD’s local buses has su ered in recent years, and during the pandemic, the agency pared back how often the G Line runs. at line stops at three stations in Arvada.

RTD’s aspirational service plan calls for restoring the G Line to 15-minute service during peak times, but in a new statement, an agency spokeswoman said there are no current plans to do so.

“ e agency closely monitors ridership trends and, when adjustments may be necessary, makes every e ort to provide a level of service that supports demand,” spokeswoman Pauline Haberman wrote in an email.

Haberman also touted the agency’s current plans to restore service across the Denver metro this year. e state will also soon begin to contribute more funding for transit operations, including at RTD.

RTD plans to increase service on a dozen routes in May, though not on any that will affect Arvada’s parking regulations. e ve lines that will affect Arvada’s parking regulations only run every half-an-hour at the most, RTD schedules show.

Arvada Councilmember John Marriott speaking at candidates forum in 2024.

PHOTO BY LILLIAN FUGLEI

As Cities Deal With Homelessness & Affordability, Look for a Greater Focus on Manufactured Homes

Two weeks ago, this column was about Colorado’s new law requiring jurisdictions to facilitate the construction of accessory dwelling units (ADUs) on parcels zoned single-family.

houses in a factory seemed impractical. However, with our patented shipping technology, merging housing with assembly line mass production could be a game changer.”

portant factor is solving our housing shortage.

Toward the end of that column I promoted two companies, Verdant Living and Boxabl, which sell ADUs which are factorybuilt and assembled onsite.

This week’s topic was inspired by the following statement contained in an email last week from Boxabl: “Did you know that car factories, like Ford, can output one car per minute? Why hasn’t anyone done that in the housing industry?

“It’s shocking to hear that homelessness in the U.S. reached an all-time high last year. At Boxabl, we’re committed to making a difference. We’re working hard to solve the problems that have stopped factory-built housing from gaining market share.

“Before Boxabl, the concept of building

In earlier columns I have written about modular and manufactured homes by other companies, including my Oct. 12, 2023, column featuring Dvele (Norwegian for “dwell”) whose website (www.Dvele.com) boasts that it has already delivered nearly 300 “modules” of “precision engineered sustainable homes.”

Dvele defines the problem thus: “We’re facing multiple crises in housing, availability and affordability, energy, security, health issues, and a changing weather system. With Dvele, we sit at the intersection with our mass produced, high performance, health centric homes. And they’re improving the future for everyone.”

Dvele claims that by manufacturing homes in a factory and assembling them onsite, they reduce construction time by 80% — an im-

On May 18, 2023, I wrote about another company, Liv-Connected, which specializes in small homes that are “ready to ship and install within 12 weeks. These are small homes, although they offer versions up to 2,500 square feet, including a 2-story model. Homes can be delivered on standard flat-bed trailers and can be installed onsite in as little as a day, once site preparation (foundation, etc.) is complete. Like Boxabl, they also sell a model that is on wheels built to RV standards. Their website is www.Liv-Connected.com

With prices as low as $165,000 for a 500square-foot home, Liv-Connected’s singlefamily Conexus model (pictured at left) has been selected by Hawaii and Texas for disaster response initiatives, according to the website.

I look forward to hearing more about manufactured housing in the future, especially as it relates to homelessness.

U.S. Farmers Are Turning Less Soil

Modern, mechanized tillage had become an ecological disaster, killing all that was alive in the soil while worsening erosion and runoff. But this is all changing, primarily because farmers recognize the economic benefits — less fertilizer and diesel fuel to buy, lower labor costs, higher crop yields and profits — that can come with no-till farming or reduced tillage…

The shift has been gradual, but sweeping over time. In 1973, 82.2 percent of U.S. cropland was managed by conventional tillage, according to the Agriculture Department, and only 2 percent was managed by “no-till” methods, with the remaining 15.8 percent using reduced tillage. Half a century later, only 27 percent of U.S. cropland uses conventional tillage, with 38 percent now using no-till and 35 percent using reduced tillage, according to the USDA’s 2022 agricultural census, released last year. The acreage under conventional tillage dropped by 8 percent between 2017 and 2022 alone.

—Dana

Millbank, Washington Post

Buyers Need and Deserve Professional Representation, But Here’s Why They Shouldn’t Have to Pay for It

It should be clear by now that “not much has changed” regarding sellers compensating the buyer’s broker in most real estate transactions. What has changed is that buyer agents must use other means than the MLS (e.g., calling the listing agent) to find out what compensation is offered for each listing.

First, let me outline the important services that are required in any transaction. Let’s start with all transactions, whether or not the buyer is taking out a mortgage loan.

Although the purchase contract can move some of these expenses to the seller’s side, that is rare, because it will make the purchase offer less attractive, with the buyer losing out:

For All Home Purchases:

Recording the deed with the county

Tax certificate

State document fee

Half of the closing services fee

Appraisal (if ordered)

HOA fees (if applicable, per contract)

Water & sewer adjustments

Additional Costs with a Mortgage:

Mortgage title policy & endorsements

Mortgage closing fee

Recording the deed of trust with county

Tax service (if charged by lender)

First year’s insurance premium

2 to 3 months’ insurance reserve (escrow)

1 to 2 months’ property tax reserve

Loan origination and discount fee

Survey (if required by lender)

Credit report

Interest on loan (based on closing date)

Mortgage insurance (if over 80% LTV)

Flood certificate & insurance if required

How much do these closing costs add up to for the buyer? In the cash scenario, they are not that much, and just over 20% of closings

are for cash nowadays. For closings that involve mortgage financing, however, those costs can really add up. My buyer who closed on a $630,000 purchase two months ago paid $7,144 in closing costs, which computes to 11.3%. If she had to pay my commission that would have been 14.1% The seller’s closing costs on the same transaction came to $2,834, which computes to 4.5% of the purchase price. Paying my commission raised the seller’s cost to 7.3%, still far lower than the 11.3% paid by the buyer without paying me anything for my services representing her.

From a purely cash standpoint, it should be remembered that the seller is the only one walking away with cash from the transaction. In the above case, not counting the deduction for property taxes and mortgage payoff, the seller netted $591,444.74, or about 94% of the purchase price, even after paying both agents’ compensation.

Buyers’ agents perform a variety of important services, which someone has to pay for, but the seller is the only party coming away with money, and the buyer is already stretched by those other expenses detailed at left.

The services provided by a buyer’s agent are important and significant, but the plaintiffs in the class action suit a year ago asserted that compensating the buyer’s agent should be added to the buyer’s other significant closing costs. The 2024 survey of buyers and sellers by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) asked what services buyers most appreciated from their agents:

Helped them understand the process (61%)

Pointed out unnoticed features/faults with the property (58%)

Negotiated better contract terms (46%)

Provided a list of good service providers, such as inspectors (46%)

Improved buyers’ knowledge of search areas (45%)

Negotiated a better purchase price (33%)

Shortened their home search (23%)

Expanded their search area (21%)

I contend that it is appropriate that sellers compensate the buyer’s agent, and that this is common in other industries besides real estate. Look at Amazon. When you purchase a product through that website, Amazon is your agent for the vendor, which pays Amazon 8% to 45% as a “referral fee.” When you purchase something through an app on your

iPhone, you pay the same price as on the vendor’s website, but Apple keeps 30% of the purchase price as a commission. If Amazon or an app were to charge you a fee on top of the list price… well, it simply wouldn’t work. If you hire an auto broker (as I did in 2012 for a hard-to-find car), the dealership, not you, pays the auto broker a commission. Likewise, virtually every new home builder offers a 3 percent commission, typically, to the agents who represent buyers. To offer less puts them at a competitive disadvantage. Why should it be different in the resale market?

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

Groups praise retiring former Je co rep, commissioner

Kraft-Tharp reflects on over a decade of serving as elected o cial, decision to retire

BY RYLEE DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Tracy Kraft- arp never thought she would run for ofce — much less that she would spend more than 11 years doing so, rst as a member of the Colorado House of Representatives and then as a Je erson County Commissioner.

At a Feb. 13 celebration of Kraft- arp’s years of elected service hosted by the Westminster Chamber of Commerce (with support from the Greater Arvada Chamber of Commerce and the Je co Economic Development Corporation) at the Church Ranch Events Center, colleagues and constituents gathered to thank Kraft- arp for her service and wish her well on her next journey.

Although Kraft- arp’s successor at the state house representing the 29th District, Lindsay Daugherty, could not attend the festivities in person, she wrote a letter that was read by Westminster Chamber CEO Jamie Chavez.

“ roughout her career, Tracy

has dedicated herself to public service, and our community is so much better because of her commitment,” Daugherty’s letter said. “She is the kind of leader who does what’s right, not what’s easy, and that quality is increasingly hard to nd. It’s clear that her work has made a lasting impact, and I know I’m not the only one who has bene ted from her leadership.”

During her speech, Kraftarp teared up a bit while thanking her supporters in the room.

“I can’t tell you how much you have made my life so ful lling,” Kraft- arp said. “So many of you have been my guideposts, and I want to thank each and every one of you. My life has been so much better because of you and how you helped me make some hard decisions and how you helped me take some risks.

“I am truly honored that I have been able to be in a position to work in this community and be in a partnership with you,” Kraft- arp continued.

In an interview with the Arvada Press after the celebration, Kraft- arp elaborated on her decision not to seek reelection to the Je erson County Board of Commissioners, which she said was made out of a desire to prioritize aspects of life that she has not been able to for the last decade.

“Running again was a com-

mitment to do it for four years, and my husband and I talked, and we looked at it,” Kraft- arp said. “Most days I worked 12hour days — I was tired. We have Rockies tickets and we were not able to go to the Rockies games. I love to play golf — we both do, and we really haven’t played a lot of golf the last couple years. “So, we decided, ‘let’s do something di erent,’” Kraftarp said. “So, I decided to not run, and this is retirement.”

Kraft- arp said that along with her sporting endeavors, she plans to do some consulting and volunteering during retirement, though she’s not exactly sure what that’ll entail. She mentioned the Peace Corps as a possibility — an outlet that would allow her to return to her pre-political teaching roots — and added that she was inspired by the recent celebration of life for President Jimmy Carter.

“Did you watch the Carter funeral?” Kraft- arp asked. “I did, and I was so inspired, and it made me realize your after-work life could look so di erent. And it made me feel like I need to look at, ‘Where can I volunteer? Where can I continue to give my e orts to make things better?’

“When you just watched and you listened to what Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter did,” Kraftarp continued, “you know the last, what, 30 years of their lives? I mean, it just inspires you that there’s so many things you can do to make a di erence. You know, the rst part of my career was working with at-risk youth and troubled families. And then the next part of my career was working in policy and, and I don’t know, we’ll gure it out.” Kraft- arp also said that anyone who is interested in getting involved in politics should do so, even if they don’t want to run for o ce.

“Everyone doesn’t have to run for o ce,” Kraft- arp said. “ ere’s di erent ways of getting involved. Get involved in some way, outside of yourself, outside of your family, of your home, get involved in some way — even if that’s just you’re in line at the post o ce and talk about, you know what, what your concerns are, what your vision is.

“Everyone doesn’t have to run (for o ce),” Kraft- arp said. “ e right people need to run.”

Broomfield Mayor Pro Tem Devin Sha (left) and Kraft-Tharp (right).. COURTESY LYNN BARTELS

Olde Town Arvada gears up for Fat Tuesday celebration

Mardi Gras gets rolling March 4

BY RYLEE DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

e streets of Olde Town Arvada will be awash with beads, Bourbon and brass band music for Mardi Gras on March 4, marking the return of Arvada’s annual Fat Tuesday festivities.

Festivities will kick o with the usual Guerilla Fanfare Brass Band-led procession through the historic district at 5:30 p.m. Businesses will be o ering specials for the occasion, and some will even be hosting auxiliary events, like live music at School House provided by Kneecap Muchachos.

Olde Town Business Improvement District Director Joe Hengstler said the march through town is his favorite part of the festivities.

“ e best part of the evening for me is easily

the second-line march through Olde Town,” Hengstler said. “When the band makes stops along the way, it generally turns into a big dance party which is so cool. I think there is something really special about community coming together to enjoy good food, good music and dancing in the street, and that is what this event is about.”

Some of the specials o ered at local businesses will be gumbo and Sazerac cocktails at the Bluegrass Lounge, king cake at Rheinlander’s and jambalaya, gumbo, fried catsh, hurricanes and other on theme drinks at School House.

Hengstler said the event is an opportunity to sample local businesses and their festive fare.

“We love this event so much,” Hengstler said. “It is a great reason to come to Olde Town on a Tuesday night and indulge in a small taste of New Orleans while supporting our small businesses.”

Visit Arvada reports success in e orts to grow tourism to city

State-funded partnership helps Arvada Visitors Center increase support to local businesses

BY RYLEE DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Results from an advertising program run by the Arvada Visitors Center — with help from a partnership with Visit Colorado — show positive gains for the city’s tourism sector amidgrowing concerns

from Olde Town Arvada businesses andslowing sales tax revenue.

Visit Arvada’s 2024 campaign ran for a combined 15 weeks (one portion in the summer, another around the holidays) and cost about $30,000. “Extremely conservative estimates” show that for every dollar that was spent on the program, two dollars were spent in Arvada, according to Jean Gordon, director of Visit Arvada. Gordon said webpage visits tovisitarvada.org increased to 771,000 — more tra c than the site has ever had in a year, and a 1,518% increase over 2023.

“We were ecstatic with these overall results for 2024,” Gordon said. “We know that clicks to our ads and visits to the site are the rst steps to making an in-person visit happen, and these campaigns delivered. e holiday campaign had a 55% conversion rate which is unheard of! We targeted the right people at the right time with the right message.”

Gordon also gave background on how the Visit Colorado partnership came about.

Mardi Gras festivities will return to Olde Town on March 4.

PHOTO BY RYLEE DUNN

SEE TOURISM, P14

BEST OF THE BEST VOTING STARTS

Je com 911 moves headquarters, dispatch center to Golden

Agency will continue serving 30 agencies in Je co, Clear Creek with room to grow

BY CORINNE WESTEMAN CWESTEMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

e facility at 440 Indiana St. is an unassuming two-story o ce building. It has an outdoor patio area, a covered parking area and views of Green Mountain and the Golden-area foothills.

But inside is the hub for all emergency services in Je erson and Clear Creek counties, as 440 Indiana St. is the new home of Je com 911.

e agency, which was founded in March 2018, serves about 30 police, re and EMS agencies across the two counties. It has been operating from a West Metro Fire building along Lakewood’s South Allison Parkway.

But, by Feb. 26, it will move all its operations and 180-some employees to its new Indiana Street location.

Je com 911 and its partners celebrated the occasion Feb. 20 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house, showcasing their new dispatch center, training rooms, employee gym and other amenities.

“As we cut this ribbon today, we’re not just opening the doors of a new building,” Executive Director Je Streeter said at the ceremony. “We’re opening the doors to a brighter, more uni ed future.”

Streeter described afterward how the agency’s relocation has been in the works for at least two years.

In 2023, he said Je com 911 wanted to nd a location that would be conducive for its employees. So, Streeter and his colleagues gured out that the exact center from everyone’s homes was U.S. Highway

“So, two blocks away,” Streeter said, adding that the new location’s easy highway access was another plus.

Je com 911 board members said Streeter sold them on the plan “to give Je com 911 a new home,” and on the Indiana Street building speci cally. us, the agency bought it for $4.8 million in September 2023. It then started remodeling the structure, which was built in 2005, for its purposes.

e new dispatch center on the second oor especially needed work, as several walls had to be removed, sta members described. Crews also had to t the building with all the necessary radios and other technology required for Je com 911’s operations.

In total, the remodel was $3 million, but Streeter and other o cials said the price tag was much lower than buying land and constructing its own building. Plus, the project actually came in $85,000 under budget, Streeter added.

Je com 911, which is funded by its 30 member agencies, will have the 24,000-square-foot building all to itself. e facility on South Allison Parkway was about 10,000 square feet, and Streeter said Je com 911 will retain some of that as a backup center. e remaining space at South Allison Parkway will revert to West Metro Fire.

‘It starts with a phone call’

Along with total square footage, the dispatch center will also be much bigger and better equipped.

Je com 911 will expand from 42 dispatcher consoles at South Allison Parkway to 52 at Indiana Street, Dispatch Supervisor Erica Munroe explained. She and other dispatchers said they were looking forward to the new equipment, the consoles customized to dispatchers’ needs, the employee gym and other amenities.

ey emphasized how they love serving their communities in Je erson and Clear Creek counties, and welcomed anyone who’s interested to do a “sit-along” in the new headquarters.

Evergreen Fire/Rescue Chief Mike Weege, left, and West Metro Fire Rescue Chief Don Lombardi cut the ribbon Feb. 20 for the new Je com 911 headquarters at 440 Indiana St. in Golden. The Evergreen and West Metro fire departments, along with six other agencies, helped start Je com 911 in 2018.

PHOTOS BY CORINNE WESTEMAN

CRIME STATS

“I think, just generally speaking, people are much more aware of their ability to track their vehicle through tile trackers or air tags,” Amos said. “We do see very frequently people calling in, whether their car was stolen here or somewhere else, and they’ll call and say, ‘Hey, the car was stolen and now I’m tracking it and showing up at this location.

“So, not only are our motor vehicle thefts down, but I think we’re recovering more stolen vehicles quicker,” Amos said.

Statistics for recovering motor vehicles are tricky to pin down, as the number of motor vehicles recovered in Arvada does not necessarily correspond to the number of vehicles stolen from Arvada (a vehicle stolen from Denver but recovered in Arvada would count as a recovered vehicle).

APD recovered 216 stolen vehicles in 2024 compared to 459 that were stolen. An average of 755 vehicles were stolen annually from 2021 to 2023.

Amos also attributed legislation that made many vehicle thefts a felony and increased nancial support from the Colorado Auto eft Prevention Authority as reasons why car thefts are down.

e third type of crime that APD monitors, society crime — which includes animal cruelty, drug o enses (not including paraphernalia), pornography, prostitution and weapons law violations — is up 6% from 2023 to 2024, though weapons violations are the lowest they’ve been in three years.

Drug o enses accounted for 73% of society crimes and 41% of drug o enses were committed by unhoused people.

Of the unhoused population, fourth quarter statistics from 2024 show that 71% of unhoused calls for services came from the Baker sector, which encompasses Olde Town Arvada. 14% came from the Adam sector which comprises most of east Arvada, and 12% came from the Charlie sector, which includes southwest Arvada.

Only 1% came from the Delta sector, which includes Candelas.

Of those o enses, 144 were calls about an unwanted party, 77 were ordinance violations, 65 were welfare checks, 59 were arrest warrants and 49 were thefts. Amos said the Super Target on Kipling and park nearby might be attracting unhoused people to the Charlie sector.

“I would say that in the last two years, maybe, we’re seeing more calls for service in the West Woods area involving the homeless,” Amos said. “We have, anecdotally, seen more reports from community members in the residential neighborhoods than we’ve never seen before. So, for example, someone calling and saying,’ Hey, in the green space behind my house, there’s a transient camp.’

“I think (unhoused) people might be seeking places outside of Olde Town and the surrounding area, because we’re on top of it,” Amos continued. “ ey may have realized that ‘Hey, if I go so far away from Olde Town, I’m not going to get contacted by the police every week.’”

Where Arvada fits in statewide ough statewide crime statistics have not been updated to include 2024 numbers, Arvada remains one of the safest cities with a population over 100,000 in Colorado. Of the 12 quali ed cities, Arvada has the third lowest crime rate, behind only Centennial and Fort Collins.

Fort Collins has releasedtheir 2024 crime statistics, and, anecdotally, Arvada had fewer person crimes (806 to Fort Collins’ 1629), fewer properties crimes (5,347 to 6,385) and fewer society crimes (659 to 1,349), though Arvada has 40,000 fewer residents than Fort Collins (approximately 124,000 in Arvada versus approximately 170,000 in Fort Collins).

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How Arvada has stacked up to other similarly sized municipalities in Colorado over the last few years.

Person crime statistics, which includes assault, homicide and kidnapping, for 2024 and previous years.

Property crime statistics, like arson, burglary and motor vehicle theft, for 2024 and previous years.

Society crime, such as prostitution, drug possession and pornography, for 2024 and previous years.

DVOICES

Finding lessons for life, one brushstroke at a time

uring the initial pandemic shutdown there were six adults living together in our house. Five of us had jobs that occupied several hours of our days, but we still found ourselves with many hours of time that had always been lled doing things outside of the house.

As a family, we seized this unique opportunity to learn new skills. We learned sign language, cooked amazing meals, played di erent instruments, and even tried watercolor painting.

My youngest daughter, Carly, an art major with a psychology minor and a creative perspective on life, taught us the basics of watercolor painting. On the day of our rst lesson, she handed out the supplies we needed and began by telling us to create a base of water over the area on our paper where we wanted to paint. As we created our water foundation, she explained that the base makes all the rest of the painting possible. With the base in place, she told us to take a tiny bit of paint and begin to create whatever we wanted to design.

For my rst piece, I wanted to paint a co ee cup with steam rising from the drink. I established my base, took my rst color, and brushed it onto the page. As I applied the paint, I was amazed that it actually began to resemble a cup. About 15 minutes into the lesson, Carly stopped me, gave me a quick compliment, and said, “To improve this, you need to add dimension and depth.”

She explained that to achieve this effect, I needed to manipulate the paint that was already on the page. Following her advice, I lightly wet my brush and began to move the existing color, adding to some areas and reducing others. e result was a cup that had depth—something I could genuinely be proud of as a novice.

As I worked on this art project, I was struck by the wisdom of needing to start

everything we do with a good base. e water on the page starts everything o right. In our lives the base is equally critical — faith, family, friends and many other things can be central to that base. Everyone’s base is di erent, but we all must have that foundation to be successful.

Beyond the base, I found the idea fascinating that all the color I needed was already present on the page. When I rst examined what I had on my paper, I thought Carly was mistaken; there was no way I had the necessary color. However, she was right. To create something with depth, I just needed to manipulate what was already there.

In our everyday lives, it’s easy to feel like we lack the things we need. In reality, while we may need to rearrange “the colors,” everything we require is so often already available.

RI encourage you to take some time to notice, re ect on and celebrate the areas of your life that are vibrant and full of color. When you look closely, you can nd those wonderful aspects of your life — whether it’s your relationships, family, friends, routines or cherished memories. All that vibrancy can be applied to the areas where you feel a struggle or where the color seems too faint.

Moving that color might involve asking for help or taking time for a conversation. It could also mean nding opportunities to assist others or trying something new. Whatever approach you choose, it can be as simple as adding a little water to your brush and blending those colors as needed.

e rich colors of your life make a difference, but before you can move them, you need to see them.

You have got this. I hope my words inspire you, and that you will share them with those who need encouragement. ank you to everyone who has shared their stories with me so far; I truly appreciate hearing about the valuable ideas you nd in these columns and how you use them to uplift those around you.

Jim Roome lives in Arvada with his wife, Beth. He spent 34 years in public education. Lessons learned from the one two punch of being diagnosed with MS shortly before his best friend was diagnosed with terminal cancer led him into a new pursuit as a freelance writer and speaker. He uses his life experiences and love of stories to inspire, educate and encourage local, national and international audiences. Contact him at jim.roome@gmail.com.

Of mothers and daughters at Town Hall Arts Center

elationships between mothers and daughters are frequently explored in ction for a reason — these relationships are often dynamic and complex, raising all kinds of questions about how people connect to each other and nd common ground.

performances are at 7:30 p.m. ursday through Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday.

According to provided information, the show focuses on one night in the lives

elma Cates (Billie McBride) and her daughter, Jessie (Megan Van De Hey), as they struggle to make a critical and irreversible decision.

an email interview. “It’s funny and sad, but it opens a door to an amazing kind of discovery.”

is familial relationship goes under the microscope in Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Marsha Nor“’night, Mother,” which runs at the Town Hall Arts Center, 2450 Main St. in Littleton, through Sunday, March 9. e production is part of the Center’s Limited Engagement Series and

“It’s a gladiator ght between a mother and a daughter. A force of wills,” said director Joye Cook-Levy in an email interview. “A question of autonomy. ‘Where do I start, and you end?’ ‘Are we our mothers, or are we ourselves?’”

By using only two actors, the show allows these two powerhouse performers to stretch their creative muscles and work together to nd the truth and humanity in each character.

“It’s not often that I get to be onstage with the likes of a Billie McBride, and

discovering this piece together has been so enlightening,” Van De Hey wrote in an email interview. “It’s a marathon as an actor and we leave every night, spent but excited to come back the next night and see what we nd throughout this rehearsal process. I feel so lucky to get to work on a piece that’s so rich and heavy with meaning.”

It rare that audiences are treated to a story that is so relationship-driven and for the actors it was a challenge to which they had to fully commit. Each woman has her own reasons for her choices and by the end of the play, audiences will better understand who the characters are and their decisions.

“By the end of the play, these two women have learned and know more about each other, than they did in their entire lives together,” McBride wrote in

e characters aren’t the only ones who have been transformed by the end of “’night, Mother.’” e hope is that audiences will go on their own journey as the story unfolds and they get a window into each woman.

“What you leave with is a transformational, cathartic experience as an audience member,” Cook-Levy wrote. “You are choosing to have a soul-whispering, emotional journey. And we need those experiences in our all-too-disconnected way of living these days. is play is like going to a gym for your soul.”

More information and tickets are available at www.TownHallArtsCenter.org.

Abstract watercolor landscape. Silhouette white snowy mountain n light sky. The shape of fir forest. A tall beautiful Christmas tree. Winter season. Gradient sky. Hand drawn watercolor illustration SHUTTERSTOCK

Clarke Reader WORDS OF

Jim Roome

RALSTON

Moseley said because there is no lease agreement in place yet, there is no nalized timeline, but the nonpro t has hired an architect to take a look at the building whenever Community Table moves out — which is expected to be in May — to see what changes will need to be made to accommodate Ralston House’s needs.

After that, he estimated that it would take “six to seven months” to complete construction and move in, putting the estimated move-in date sometime in “early 2026.”

Moseley added that the new building would allow the nonpro t to give its clients extra privacy as they navigate personal, traumatic matters.

“ is new building that the city would be letting us use, we would be able to serve four families at a time in that building, and each (family) would be able to be completely in their own little pod, so that there wouldn’t be any mix-

READER

A Fabricated Reality at RRCC

As part of Month of Photography Denver, the ART Gallery at Red Rocks Community College, 13300 W. 6th Ave. in Lakewood, is hosting “Fabrications,” a solo exhibition by lens-based installation artist, Melanie Walker e show runs through Wednesday, March 26, and features immersive installations that are both beautiful and unsettling. According to provided information, Walker uses photography in ways that push the boundaries of the form and create works that will take the viewer to a new place.

Find more information at https://denvermop.org.

Celebrate the Beginnings of Spring with the Highlands Ranch Community Association Spring is just on the horizon and the Highlands Ranch Community Association Spring Bazaar is welcoming the season with the opportunity to purchase some unique items.

e bazaar is from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on

ing between families or passing sort of in a hallway,” Moseley said. “ ey would be able to feel completely private.

“And with the kind of cases we do — primarily sexual abuse, physical abuse — families really look to us knowing that their services by us are completely private,” Moseley continued. “( e new building) would also allow us to have a training center for between 80 and 100 individuals at a time where we could train law enforcement, human services (workers) and district attorneys and therapists on various topics throughout the year.”

Moseley said the nonpro t could also use the extra space to conduct case reviews, which it does once a month, where 40 to 50 people review Ralston House’s most di cult cases and discuss coordinating strategies between agencies.

Ralston House currently has three locations — one in Arvada, one in Lakewood and one in ornton. Moseley said that the nonpro t would be able to consolidate the Arvada and Lakewood locations into one if their move to the property on 57th Ave is approved.

Saturday, March 1, at the Eastridge Recreation Center, 9568 University Blvd. e free event will feature more than 100 vendors displaying and selling unique and high-quality products, such as photography, sculpture, specialty foods and more. e bazaar is the perfect opportunity to nd just the right decorations for the warm months, so don’t miss it. Information is available at https://hrcaonline. org/Events/Details/spring-bazaar.

Clarke’s Concert of the Week — Joy Oladokun at Summit Music Hall

Arizona’s Joy Oladokun is a singer/ songwriter in the style of artists like Tracy Chapman and Chris Stapleton — she has such a distinctive pen and vocal approach that you instantly recognize it when their music comes on. Over the course of their albums, including last year’s “Observations from a Crowded Room,” they’ve cultivated a dedicated fan base that includes peers like Maren Morris, Chris Stapleton and Noah Kahan. Buy tickets at www.livenation.com.

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

OBITUARIES

Michael

May 28, 1958 - December 21, 2024

Michael Jude Skebe, 66, beloved father, brother and friend, passed away in December 2024, leaving behind a legacy of love, laughter and adventure. Born in Ohio, Michael lived in Connecticut and California before moving to Colorado in 1993, where he and his wife Cheryl Flury had sons Luke and Logan Skebe. Michael proudly supported Luke and Logan’s endeavors, including Luke’s graduation from CU Boulder and Logan’s pursuit of his BS at

A passionate sports fan, Michael was a devoted Broncos supporter and among the rst to hold Avalanche season tickets. He loved skiing, hiking, and spending time at his second home in

Breckenridge. With an unmatched ability to bring joy to those around him, Michael’s quick wit, infectious laughter and talent for storytelling made every moment fun. He lived life to the fullest, always seeking adventure and connection. He will be deeply missed by ex-wife Cheryl; sons Luke and Logan; sister Kathy and her family; and countless friends and loved ones. For local friends and family members, a memorial service will be held at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church in Arvada March 20, 2025 at 10:30 AM. In honor of Michael, the family encourages friends to share a favorite memory, tell a funny story or raise a glass in his honor. Donations may be made at heart.org.

Jude Skebe

FROM PAGE 1

The almost-former Community Table building, which might be the future home of Ralston House.

PHOTO BY RYLEE DUNN

BY BELEN WARD BWARD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

hat started with an old video camera in a French resort and a syndicated kids’ program about ocean conservation has become an award-winning Colorado-based commercial video production company, claiming high-pro le national brands like Apple, Disney, Under Armor, Noodles and Co., and Seagate Technology as clients.

And now, Boulder’s La Storia can put breaking the sound barrier on the company’s resume.

“My brother and I started the company in North Carolina mainly because we had a couple contacts there who we thought might be interested in videos,” said La Storia cofounder RC Walker. “

“We were two brothers from Aspen with no background in lmmaking. ankfully, we met incredible people early on who believed in us, plugged us in, and helped us get connected. We’ve learned and evolved from there.”

e Boulder couple behind La Storia Productions, Walker and his wife Molly McKinney-Walker, made history this past January when their company was hired to document Boom Supersonics’ XB-1 aircraft breaking the sound barrier — the rst civilian company to do that — over the Mojave Desert.

“Our partnership with Boom has been unique. We essentially have served as a key creative partner for the brand overseeing many of their photo and video campaigns and 3-D animation,” Walker said.

“ e Boom event itself was a phenomenal milestone for aviation, but working with the engineers and ground crew on the team was such a fascinating experience for us as lmmakers. ey’re the lifeblood of operations like this, so it was empowering to see this mission through their eyes and build that into the story we were telling in front of a live audience.

e La Storia crew used 18 cameras — seven on the ground and 11 in the air — to capture every angle of the historic moment with Boom’s Supersonic XB-1 experimental aircraft.

Trading accounting for adventure

Walker said he was a nance accounting graduate from the University of Colorado looking for adventure when he got interested in lmmaking.

“After graduating from CU Boulder with a degree in Finance, I decided to play ‘hooky’ and spent a few years living in Hawaii before going to France. I worked in the Alps, where I had an old camcorder, and my roommates and I started making short lms. Films had always inspired me, but this moment of creativity behind the lens ignited a deep love of cinematography and changed my life trajectory.”

“But my brother had been working in North Carolina for a non-pro t, so he at least had a small network of connections. So in 2013, I moved to Charlotte, and we o cially launched La Storia Productions out of our tiny apartment,” Walker said.

“ ankfully, our love and passion for storytelling, along with lots of hard work, introduced us to some incredible people who we still consider some of our closest friends, and they helped us tremendously,” Walker said.

“ ey connected us with the Charlotte creative community and helped us collaborate with like-minded clients. But the best of these introductions during this time was that Geo and I each met our wives on our own lm sets and still get to work alongside them today.

Meanwhile, his future bride made a name for herself on children’s television. Molly McKinney-Walker said her background started in television with a commercial when she was three.

“I got into the industry at an early age and was incredibly blessed to have had the positive experiences I’ve had. My rst big opportunity was at seven years old when I was cast to host the TV, Aqua Kids, an environmental children’s TV show about protecting marine and aquatic environments,” McKinney-Walker said.

“I continued to host this show until I was 24 years old, and I learned so much during this time, both as a talent in front of the camera and lmmaking behind the camera.”

LEFT: RC Walker is filming on location for a La Storia production with American Airlines. RIGHT: Brian Bell on set while discussing the next shot for a commercial with Noodles & Co. and the Fortnight Collective agency.

LA STORIA

She began trading her spot in front of the camera for a producing role, where she interviewed scientists and animal educators on camera.

“ is is actually how I fell into becoming an Executive Producer, since it started making sense to plan and pre-interview the scientists and animal educations I would eventually be working with on-camera,” McKinney-Walker said.

After graduating college and moving on from the show, she started freelancing, producing at La Storia for nine months before she was hired full-time.

After graduating college and moving on from the show, she started freelancing, producing at La Storia for nine months before she was hired full-time.

Both McKinney and Walker settled in Charlotte, North Carolina for a while but relocated to Boulder just before COVID-19 hit. McKinney-Walker said they got the Boulder o ce and nished remodeling it in December 2019 but couldn’t use it for a few months due to COVID-19.

“We had a brick-and-mortar location in North Carolina and planned on keeping it and opening a second mid-west location to compete with the Los Angeles market, but as with so many other industries, COVID-19 changed that plan for us,” McKinney-Walker said.  e La Storia team had even built a whole new set for a major tech company client on their campus in San Jose, Calif., but they never used it due to the pandemic. “It was beautiful with painted wood walls and a multi-functional background,” Walker said. “But with COVID, we couldn’t get into the o ce, so we ended up pivoting and rebuilding the entire set in our home basement to lm the content our client needed. I guess that’s one of the perks of a cinematographer and a producer being married and quarantining together. We were able to utilize our available resources and help our clients solve problems,” Walker said.

The story behind La Storia

Walker said they came up with the name La Storia early on.

“We wanted to choose a name with international

air. I had spent time living in France but phrase story had a complex spelling in French, so we aimed for simple and memorable,” Walker said. “My brother had spent time living in Italy, and in Italian, the translation for ‘ e Story’ has a dual meaning. It captures history and modern-day storytellers, sharing the importance of timeless stories that must be told.”

McKinney-Walker said one of La Storia’s longeststanding clients, Seagate Technology, one of the largest tech companies that makes hard drives in the world, has worked with their company for almost 11 years.    McKinney-Walker said being a creative partner is something they can o er their high-caliber clients.

“I think our high client retention rate with high pro le clients re ects the relationship and partnership mentality we have with our clients. Ironically, as a production company that provides photo and video marketing solutions for our clients, we’ve never done marketing for ourselves. We truly operate on a word-of-mouth referral system, which works for us. I always say when think about our clients, we take their brands on as our own,” McKinney-Walker said.

“It de es a typical traditional agency model with established brands; we already have a strong in-house marketing team,” she said. ” We can provide triage support when they are overworked or need help scaling up for something they don’t have the in-house resources for, like the project we traveled to the Mojave Desert for recently, to lm Boom Supersonic.”

Walker said it was fascinating working so closely with the Boom team and getting the honor of telling their story, learning and understanding the process, cadence of the tests, crew safety, and camera angles.

“I’ve worked in daily communication with Kaden Colby, Head of Creative Production and Events at Boom Supersonic, for over a year to prepare for their supersonic test ight. is was the sixth ight we’ve shot for them,” Walker said.

McKinney-Walker said Boom wanted to be authentic and live on the day of the shooting, so they wanted people to feel like they were there. Event coverage had not been done to the extent their team pulled it together, with many partners involved, to make that possible from a story brand standpoint.

“As a company specializing in creating 30-second commercials for many of the brands we work with, getting to have a project like Boom’s supersonic ight was

taxiing out,” is a massive moment for this team, but it’s often not shown in the movies.”

McKinney-Walker said that for them, it’s never just about showing up and doing a job; they felt the emotion of getting to know them for a year. When they handed the aircraft over to Geppetto, it was uncertain whether he would return from that ight. It’s about life and visually communicating these people’s trust in each other and the unknowns from pushing innovative boundaries.

“With clients like Boom who are pushing the boundaries of what’s possible, it’s a contagious energy that encouraged us to push the realm of what had been done for our industry as well for events like this,” McKinneyWalker said.

“ e Boom event was unique, and we wanted to capture the immersive moment. However, we’re responsible for ensuring no safety issues present or distract the ground crew from performing their duties,” Walker said.

“We took tremendous care in the choreography of our cameras so they could do their job, ignore us and stay focused. From a safety standpoint, they knew when our cameras were in position, where our guidelines were, and most importantly, after a year together, they trusted us.”

For more information about La Storia, visit https:// lastoriaproductions.com/

General Inquiries:  info@lastoriaproductions.com

Interested in Hiring La Storia:  molly@lastoriaproductions.com

For information about LSP Film Rentals, Cyc studio, Cinema Camera Rental House & Prep Space, please visit https://www.lsp lmrentals.com/.

Studio and Rental Inquiries:  cheers@lsp lmrentals. com

LEFT: RC Walker and Molly McKinney-Walker owners of La Storia Production.

RIGHT: Molly McKinney Walker and Alfredo Jones were on-location at Mojave Air and Space Port, documenting the first supersonic flight of the XB-1 aircraft for La Storia client Boom Supersonic.

BY TAMARA CHUANG

THE COLORADO SUN

King Soopers strike ends with vow to work on deal

More than 10,000 supermarket workers involved in a twoweek labor walkout will return to their jobs at King Soopers stores Feb. 18 after the labor union and the Colorado grocery chain reached an agreement late Monday to stop picketing and get back to work.

ere’s no new contract yet, but the two sides plan to resume negotiations to work out their di erences. ey agreed to a “100-day period of labor peace, ensuring negotiations continue in good faith and without further disruptions,” according to King Soopers o cials.

e strike ended at midnight, two days earlier than the planned two-week walkout.

“We have taken a big step forward and ensured that Kroger knows that sta ng is a key concern to workers and customers alike,” said Kim Cordova, president of UFCW Local 7, in an emailed statement. “ is strike was about thousands of everyday grocery store workers, collectively standing together and facing one of the largest corporations in America and saying ENOUGH. Our strike was just the beginning of this e ort and elevated sta ng in grocery stores to a national level with more workers and allies joining together.”

Joe Kelley, president of Kroger-owned King Soopers, called workers “the heart of King Soopers” and said the goal is to reach a “fair agreement that honors their hard work while ensuring we continue to provide fresh, a ordable groceries for the families who rely on us.”

Local 7 represented the 77 Denver-area stores that went on a planned two-week strike starting Feb. 6, just before Super Bowl weekend. Two stores in Pueblo joined a day later.

Negotiations had stalled after Jan. 16, more than a week after many Denver contracts expired. More stores were expected to join as their contracts expired Feb. 15. But the Colorado Springs stores, which had voted last month to authorize a strike, never participated. e contentious dispute had both sides ling unfair labor practice claims against one another. Kroger-owned King Soopers also led for a temporary restraining order to limit picketing at stores and led a federal lawsuit against the union for forcing it to bargain with out-of-state labor unions instead of the workers themselves. A judge on Friday granted the retraining order but not completely. e judge just told union workers to not block delivery trucks or impede pedestrian tra c to stores.

about sta ng. Union workers said sta ng shortages often resulted in long checkout lines for customers, and unstocked shelves or mispriced products that overwhelmed workers juggling customer service duties.

For employees, the issue was partly about money but also

But the threat of striking workers losing their health care coverage because they hadn’t worked enough hours during the week is probably what brought the union

back to the table. King Soopers mentioned this on Monday.

“Securing this agreement was about restoring certainty, not just for our business, but for the people who make it possible. It also ensures that eligible associates who were unable to meet hourly requirements due to the work stoppage will continue to receive their industry-leading, a ordable health care coverage, fully

funded by the company to maintain continuity,” Kelley said. A ected King Soopers stores and their pharmacies will return to normal business operating hours ursday.

Kim Cordova, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers union Local 7, ready to picket on Feb. 6, 2025, the rst day of the King Soopers worker strike. (Tamara Chuang, e Colorado Sun) e return-to-work agreement also stipulated that King Soopers’ “Last, Best, and Final o er” from Jan 16 won’t be its last, according to the union.

King Soopers o ered raises to boost store clerks’ hourly wage by $4.50 over four years, with top clerks earning above $27 an hour by 2028. Adding in health care and pension bene ts, that would be $29.48 an hour. e current wage is $22.68, the company said.

Not all King Soopers are unionized, including locations in Brighton, Castle Rock, Erie, Firestone and two stores in ornton. Union stores outside of Denver remained open in Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, Greeley, Longmont, Loveland and four stores in the Grand Junction area.

is story was printed through a news sharing agreement with e Colorado Sun, a journalistowned nonpro t based in Denver that covers the state.

A King Soopers employee has a snack while on strike at a King Soopers store in Denver’s Capitol Hill neighborhood on Feb. 6. PHOTO BY NINA JOSS.

Thu 2/27

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

Pretend Friend @ 6pm

New Terrain Brewing Company, 16401 Table Mountain Pkwy, Golden fox n' vead

@ 6:30pm

Fillmore Auditorium, 1510 Clarkson St, Denver

no fauna

@ 7pm

Hi-Dive, 7 S Broadway, Denver

Ren Q. Dawe: Hai Comedy @ 7pm Sushi Hai, 3600 W 32nd Ave, Denver

Black Market Translation: Punketry! @ 7:30pm Mutiny Comics & Coffee, 2 S Broadway, Denver

Slick Portal @ 9pm The Dahlia, 119 S Broadway, Denver

Fri 2/28

One More Time: A Tribute to Daft Punk @ 8pm Meow Wolf Denver, Denver

Ray Rock @ 9pm BurnDown Denver, 476 S Broadway, Denver

Judith Hindle, Everlasting Everything, Rose Cold, and Assistance: LIVE AT D3 @ 6pm D3 Arts, 3614 Morrison Rd, Denver

Smokin' @ 8pm

Buffalo Rose, 1119 Washington Ave, Golden

Phat Daddy @ 8pm

Tue 3/04

Cocktails in Cool Places: Welton Street @ 4:45pm / $35

Blair Caldwell Library, 2401 Welton St., Denver. asalutz@historicdenver.org

Monarch Casino Black Hawk, 488 Main St, Black Hawk

Ari Shaf�r �21+ Event� @ 9:45pm

Comedy Works - Larimer Square, 1226 15th Street, Denver

Sun 3/02

Beyond Laser Light Experience @ 12pm Denver

Queen City Jazz and Pancake Supper @ 5:30pm / $10-$45

Teague Starbuck @ 7pm The Arvada Tavern, 5707 Olde Wadsworth Blvd, Arvada

Sat 3/01

Sábados de Orquesta En Vivo en La Rumba! @ 7pm / $25.18 La Rumba, Denver

Opera Colorado - La Boheme @ 2pm

Ellie Caulkins Opera House, Speer Boulevard and Arapahoe Street, Den‐ver

Royal Street Ramblers @ 6pm

Dazzle Denver, 1080 14th Street, Denver

Mugshot @ 6pm

Marquis Theater, 2009 Larimer St, Denver

Mon 3/03

Dead Heat @ 6pm

Summit Music Hall, 1902 Blake St, Denver

Nessa Barrett @ 6:30pm

Fillmore Auditorium, 1510 Clarkson St, Denver

Nathan Tasker: Trust Again Tour @ 7pm

Riverside Church, 2401 Alcott St, Denver

Shepherd of the Hills Presbyterian Church, 11500 West 20th Avenue, Lakewood. reception@soth.net, 303238-2482

No Cure @ 6:30pm

Marquis Theater, 2009 Larimer St, Denver

Varials @ 6:30pm Marquis Theater, 2009 Larimer St, Denver

Matt Rife Parking @ 7:31pm

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TOURISM

“In 2024, we applied for and were accepted into a Visit Colorado partnership program that helped us create and execute our Summer Campaign at a much broader level,” Gordon said. After evaluating those results, we worked with the City of Arvada to help fund a similar campaign during the holiday season.

“ e city saw the need and value in promoting our small businesses and holiday-themed events to a much wider audience during this critical time period,” Gordon continued. “We were so

excited it all came together to pack a one-two punch in 2024!”

According to Gordon, communities with strong tourism economies are more resilient than those without and added that one of the goals of the advertising campaign is to boost the city’s sales tax revenue.

“Arvada has so many wonderful businesses and assets to share,” Gordon said. Whether a visitor is purchasing a latte at Hunter Bay, seeing a show at the Arvada Center or eating dinner at e Butchery, they are contributing to our city’s sales tax base, which is a critical funding mechanism to provide all of the city services that residents enjoy year-round. Growing tourism is a win-win.”

DISPATCH

FROM PAGE 6

Streeter and Je com 911 board members described how, along with the relocation, the agency will continue improving its technology and expanding its services. In the coming months, Je com 911 will add Red Rocks Community College and a re department in Park County, Streeter said.

Golden Police Chief Joe Harvey, who sits on the Je com 911 board of directors, thanked “the pioneers” who founded the agency in 2018 and all its employees over the last seven years. Harvey, who started his career in emergency

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services as a dispatcher, described the stress dispatchers are under “when that very di cult call comes in, and you don’t have anybody to talk to, because you’ve just got to take the next call.”

Harvey described the experience as “an island.”

He continued: “If there’s not somebody there to pick up that phone … we don’t help nobody. It starts with a phone call.”

Harvey and Streeter applauded all the Je com 911 employees for their dedication to a very difcult and stressful job, which Harvey often goes underrecognized and underappreciated. “ ank you for what you do, for what you give back,” Harvey said of the Je com 911 employees. “Because today is about you.”

Guerilla Fanfare is back for another brass-band-led romp through the historic district’s streets. PHOTO BY RYLEE DUNN

Golden Police Chief Joe Harvey, center, and his fellow Je com 911 board members bow their heads during the invocation for Je com 911 new headquarters’ ribbon-cutting ceremony Feb. 20. Je com 911 was founded in 2018 by eight member agencies, including the Golden police and fire departments.

PHOTOS BY CORINNE WESTEMAN

Bill on gun restrictions clears Senate

Amendment would allow purchase after safety course completion

BY SARA WILSON COLORADO NEWSLINE

e Colorado Senate gave preliminary approval to a bill that would ban the sale of many semiautomatic rearms with detachable magazines, though the chamber also approved a series of amendments that substantially altered the scope of the bill.

e amended Senate Bill 25-3 would now allow people who have completed a safety and training course to acquire otherwise banned guns. at carve-out is expected to appease Democratic Gov. Jared Polis, who has historically been wary of sweeping rearm restrictions.

e chamber passed the bill on second reading after midnight on Friday after nearly 10 hours of debate.

As introduced, the bill would have outlawed the sale, purchase and transfer of guns that accept detachable magazines in an e ort to enforce Colorado’s existing ban on large-capacity magazines, de ned as magazines with over 15 rounds of ammunition. While not an outright ban on so-called assault weapons, the bill would have stopped the sale of the most common semiautomatic ri es and handguns. Opponents argued that it would decimate the rearm industry in Colorado.

“We spent quite a bit of time these last several weeks trying to get it to a space where we could be inclusive to everyone

who was having concerns,” bill sponsor Sen. Tom Sullivan, a Centennial Democrat, said. at includes hunters, sportsmen and Polis.

roughout the debate, Sullivan held a photo of the 100-round magazine that a gunmen used during a 2012 mass shooting in Aurora to kill 12 people, including Sullivan’s son Alex.

“What we’re trying to do is save lives,” Sullivan said. “We are all hoping that those 550 million rearms that are out there are in the hands of law abiding, responsible gun owners and we don’t have to worry about them taking any action in our communities. What we are worried about is the new (owners) who all of sudden just walk down the street, and … after we pass this, and starting in September, the only assault style weapons they can get are going to have attached magazines to it.”

e new carve-out approved on Friday, however, creates a pathway for Coloradans to obtain the type of guns targeted in the bill. First, a purchaser would need to be vetted by their county sheri in a process that would be similar to that required when a person seeks a concealed carry permit. en, if they already completed a hunter safety course from Colorado Parks and Wildlife — which people must do to get a hunting license in the state — they would need to take an additional four-hour basic rearm safety course. If a person did not already have their hunter safety certi cation, they would need to complete an extended course of 12 hours of in-person training over two days.

e course would need to include safe handling and storage, child safety, information about gun deaths associated with mental illness and Colorado’s red ag law.

A person would then need to score at least a 90% on an exam after the course in order to qualify for the exemption. at exemption would be valid for ve years, and a person would need to take a refresher course at that point if they wanted to buy additional rearms with detachable magazines.

“I want to acknowledge the extent to which we’ve heard concerns … from our governor and from Coloradans. We’ve worked to address them,” bill sponsor Sen. Julie Gonzales, a Denver Democrat, said before explaining the amendment. Republicans remained opposed to the bill and carve-out amendment. Senate Minority Leader Paul Lundeen, a Monument Republican, said the policy would transform the right to own a gun as outlined in the Constitution into a privilege.

“Sure, it’s a small thing to get a little bit of education to get a rearm, but it’s a big thing to turn your back on your rights as a citizen,” he said.

Ten states require purchasers to have safety training before buying certain rearms, according to Everytown for Gun Safety. Washington, for example, has required training to purchase any semiautomatic ri e since July 2019.

Republicans also argued that the amendment changed the bill too much and it should be sent back to committee for consideration. e bill passed the Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee in January on a 3-2 vote, with the two Republican members voting against it. roughout the debate, they offered amendments to exempt certain demographics from the bill, such as domestic violence survivors and veterans. ose amendments all failed.

Another successful amendment on the bill exempts about 40 of the most common semiautomatic ri es used for hunting and some relic rearms. e bill is set for a nal recorded vote early next week, when it needs 18 votes to get through. ere are 23 Democrats in the chamber. If it passes, it will then move to the House for consideration. Democrats have strong majorities in both chambers. is story is from Colorado Newsline. Used by permission. For more, and to support the news organization, visit coloradonewsline.com.

Sen. Tom Sullivan, a Centennial Democrat, listens to witness testimony during a Colorado Senate committee hearing on his bill that would ban firearms with detachable magazines on Jan. 28, 2025. PHOTO BY SARA WILSON / COLORADO NEWSLINE

BY DENNIS PLEUSS JEFFCO PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Pomona keeps piling up the Class 5A boys wrestling team trophies.

e Panthers won their seventh straight team title on Saturday night at Ball Arena to close out the three-day state tournament. Pomona is just one short of tying Ponderosa’s record of eight straight team titles set between 2003-2010.

“All the time. All the time,” Pomona junior Derek Barrows said when asked about how much the Panthers think about chasing Ponderosa’s record. “We talk to our younger guys about how they will be the record-breaking team. We don’t only represent this team. We represent all the Pomona teams from the past.”

A year after Pomona had just one individual state champion while racking up 250 team points, the Panthers had ve individual state champs — freshman Lincoln Valdez (106), along with juniors Angel Serrano (138), Barrows (144), Kalob Ybarra (165) and Emmitt Munson (175) — crowned on Saturday.

“We learned a lot from last year. We didn’t like that,” Head Coach Sam Federico said. “We felt like we lost after losing ve nals. at was not fun.”

Pomona was a perfect 5-for-5 in the title bouts, racking up 235 team points. Ponderosa nished second in the team standings with 202 points.

“Last year it didn’t even feel like we won,” Barrows said of Pomona going 1-for-6 in the title bouts. “ is year, everyone is going to have a smile on their face. It has been a way better year.”

It wasn’t smooth sailing by any means for the Panthers’ seventh straight team title in the largest classi cation. In fact, Ponderosa held a nine-point lead in the 5A team race before the consolation semi nals got going Saturday.

Pomona responded in a big way Saturday morning with senior Tyler Capps (150), juniors Zaidyn Quinonez (120), Emerson Claeys (190), Maddux Najera (215), along with sophomore Logan Dellow (113) all battling back to place third in their respective weight classes.

“ ose guys won the tournament for us,” Federico said of the ve third-placers. “ ey could have not wrestled or pouted and they didn’t. ey won the tournament for us.”

e ve combined to go 10-0 in the consolation semi nal and place matches.

“It de nitely helped tremendously with our team points,” Valdez said of the ve third-placer for the Panthers. “Our coach

SPORTS

Pomona wrestlers in seventh heaven

Panthers win 7th straight team title

always says to wrestle our match and focus on your match. Team points will come if you do your job.”

Pomona actually won all 15 matches on Saturday in the consolations and ve won the title bouts.

“ at’s incredible,” Federico said of the Panthers going undefeated, which has never been done during the 5A state tournament. “ ey woke up this morning knowing what they had to do and they did. We beat some good guys today.”

Pomona turned the two-horse team race into a runaway.

“Every year we talk about this being a team,” Barrows said. “If you lose you can’t just go out there and quit. You have to go out there and take third (place) for the team. I was so proud of them. It was truly amazing.”

e Panthers had 213 points heading into the title bouts. Ponderosa was at 192 points before the nals, but the Mustangs did have six wrestlers in the nals.

e Mustangs ended up with two individual state champions with sophomore Jack Simpson and senior De’Alcapon Veazy.

e lone head-to-head matchup in the nals for the Panthers and Mustangs was at 144 pounds. Barrows — 120-pound state champion in 2023 — squared o against Ponderosa junior Michael Lopez Jr., who claimed the 126-pound title last year. Barrows won the highlighted match 4-2.

“It’s great to be back,” Barrows said of getting back on top of the podium who won state at 120 pounds as a freshman. “I was ready this season. I told everyone that I would die before I lost another match down here. I never want to feel like I felt last year ever again.”

Barrows spread the joy of winning a state championship with Arvada West senior Auston Eudaly right after the area rival won his match at 150 pounds.

“We’ve grown up together,”

Barrows said of hugging Eudaly after the rival won his rst state title. “To watch one of my friends, and pretty much my brother, go out here and achieve one of his dreams was great. It was amazing.”

Eudaly was a four-time state quali er but had never nished on top of the podium.

“I was so excited. Seriously, I don’t know how to explain it,” Eudaly said. “It is such a great feeling walking o that mat winning a state title.”

Dennis Pleuss is the Sports Information Director for Je co

Pomona junior Derek Barrows (left) works on getting back points on Ponderosa junior Michael Lopez Jr. during the 144-pound title bout on Saturday, Feb. 15, at Ball Arena. Barrows took a 4-2 victory as the Panthers were a perfect 5-for-5 in their individual title matches.

Arvada West senior Auston Eudaly celebrates his victory over Grandview junior Jonathan Montes in the Class 5A 150-pound title bout on Saturday, Feb. 15, at Ball Arena. It was the first individual state title for Eudaly, a fourtime

Financial literacy becoming a high school requirement

Most get no knowledge about taxes, savings, loans or investments

BY JENNY BRUNDIN, LUCAS BRADY WOODS AND JESSE PAUL COLORADO CAPITOL NEWS ALLIANCE

When state Rep. Anthony Hartsook was a commander in the U.S. Army, he’d see soldiers try to explain why their checks bounced at the PX or Army store.

“ ey go, ‘Well, I have a credit card, right? I have checks in my checkbook’ … ey just simply didn’t understand.”

Hartsook would order the soldier to attend a nancial literacy class.

“ ey would come back and go, ‘ at class was great.’ ey learned things they simply hadn’t any experience before in life … how to deal with the expenses of living, buying a car … they understood the basics of nances that would set them up for success in the future.”

e Douglas County Republican was surprised to learn that nancial literacy is not a required course in Colorado schools. at’s when he signed on as a sponsor to a bipartisan bill to require all students to take a one-semester course in nancial literacy in order to graduate. Right now, most Colorado students go out into the world with no knowledge about taxes, savings, loans or investments. Bill sponsors said just 13 percent of students are guaranteed access to a personal nance course before graduation. And today’s students are more vulnerable than ever to online gambling, cryptocurrency schemes and other getrich-quick apps online, they say. Colorado’s largest district, Denver Public Schools, adopted nancial literacy as a graduation requirement starting with the class of 2027 after a group of DPS alumni advocated for it.

Still, just a quarter of districts require personal nance to graduate Colorado has nancial literacy standards, which were updated in 2021. ey include topics like saving, investing, debt, credit, leasing versus buying, insurance premiums, managing student loan debt, and retirement plans. While

HOUSING

Home rule in common

e state constitution allows cities and counties to become “home rule” governments, where local ordinances generally supersede state law.

Northglenn recently passed a declaration stating that as a home rule city, its local limit on how many unrelated people can live in one home supersedes the recent state law that largely bans such restrictions. O cials in Westminster and Arvada both referenced their home rule rights in recent discussions as well. “ is is the spot where us as home rule communities need to stand up to the state and say, ‘Look, you’ve got yours, we’ve got ours,’” said Marriott, the Arvada councilmember. “You’re in our backyard here. We don’t want you in our backyard. And maybe it’s time for the Supreme Court to decide how this goes. But I don’t see any reason whatsoever for us to roll over and just accept this out

the state board strongly encourages local school districts to require personal nance courses, only about a quarter of the state’s 178 districts include personal nance as a requirement to graduate.

“Encouraging just simply hasn’t been getting the job done,” said Hartsook. “We have red and blue states across the country that have found this to be very successful. We need kids to graduate to enter the workforce who understandnancial literacy, balance sheets, credit cards, their banks, … and just having it as a recommendation simply isn’t achieving enough of what we need to do.”

e bill would also make lling out a federal or state nancial aid form, the CAFSA or FAFSA, a condition for graduation. It would, however, allow students to opt-out.

Colorado ranks 46th in FAFSA completion. About 37 percent of high school seniors completed the FAFSA last year, well below the national average. State o cials say Coloradans are leaving an estimated $30 million on the table in unclaimed aid each year.

“A lot of low-income families qualify for free aid, and they just don’t know and they haven’t lled out these forms,” said Yanely Espinal, an advocate at NGPF Mission 2030 Fund, a non-pro t organization that has lobbied to get similar bills passed and other states and is a liated with Next Gen Personal Finance. “ e goal is to increase access to free aid for those who qualify and (access) to low interest rate loans so that students aren’t riddled with private student debt.”

One study shows a lifetime positive bene t of $116,000 per student in Colorado when they take a semester personal nance course before graduation. Bill backers also point to other studies showing nancial education’s impact on a number of factors from frequency of payday borrowing to retirement savings.

Other states

Currently, 26 states require students to take a personal nance course in order to graduate from high school. A handful of other states require nancial literacy coursework to be integrated into other subjects.

Utah was the rst state to adopt a -

of the state legislature.”

Arvada’s city attorney told the council the city is preparing a legal analysis and speaking with other cities about the new housing laws. A city spokesperson said the council is expected to discuss them again in March.

State legislators sought to sidestep the home rule issue by declaring their bills address matters of “mixed statewide and local concern.”

University of Colorado Boulder law professor Michael Pappas said if a city were to challenge any of the state laws, the courts would likely have to decide whether local housing policies, in aggregate, amount to statewide policies.

“Is this something that is guaranteed to municipalities via home rule protections? Or is this something, that based on its e ects on the statewide housing availability, is something that is properly considered at the state level?” he asked. is story is from CPR News, a nonprofit public broadcaster serving Colorado. Used by permission. For more, and to support Colorado Public Radio, visit cpr. org.

nancial literacy requirement during the Great Recession. A 10-year study of the e ort shows, “when you get, that every single student has access to this course and they have better savings rates, they make better choices about borrowing if and when they do borrow,” said Espinal.

In particular, studies show rst-generation students make much smarter decisions in terms of the interest rates they get for loans and have better credit scores in the future. ey are able to compare nancial services better and have money in savings accounts that yield higher rates, she said.

“ at’s just not true for students who don’t know any better, who’ve never been taught that, and they don’t understand the di erence between those interest rates private versus federal,” said Espinal. “ ey don’t understand unsubsidized loans versus subsidized loans, and these are all topics that are taught explicitly in a semester of personalnance.”

Hartsook said after Alabama adopted a FAFSA requirement it went from 34th to 9th in completion rates, bringing millions more in student aid to families. A Texas FAFSA requirement saw a 2 percent increase in college enrollment for schools with historically lower nancial aid completion rates. Sponsors say completing aid forms also connects students to more support to learn about post-secondary and career pathways.

“When you start implementing these requirements, the kids start submitting it, families get involved, they nd there’s more money, and they get much further ahead in life and a better job that’s going out there to contribute to society,” he said.

Bill sponsors anticipate some opposition Colorado’s school districts control curriculum, budgets and make their own

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graduate requirements.

Some could chafe at the requirement. e state’s big education organizations, including Colorado’s main teacher’s union and the associations for school boards and superintendents, haven’t yet taken a position on the bill, which has the support of Gov. Jared Polis. Bill backers note that other local control states like Michigan and Oregon have successfully passed nancial literacy legislation.

e bill wouldn’t increase the credits needed for graduation. Schools would have the exibility to count the course as a math or another subject credit.

“ at way each school district will have the exibility to gure out when and where they want to put that in their curriculum. But the bottom line is, I don’t know why anybody would want to object to something that is going to teach students how to handle their nances and be more successful in life.”

Espinal said there are many high-quality free nancial literacy curricula available.

e Colorado Department of Education maintains a nancial literacy resource bank and there is free teacher training through Junior Achievement, the Council for Economic Education, and other high-quality resources from the Federal Reserve, banks and credit unions.

House Bill 1192 hasn’t yet been scheduled for a hearing.

is story was produced by the Capitol News Alliance, a collaboration between KUNC News, Colorado Public Radio, Rocky Mountain PBS and e Colorado Sun, and shared with Rocky Mountain Community Radio and other news organizations across the state. Funding for the Alliance is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

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CROWSSUPDRO ELZZ

1. TELEVISION: e show “Happy Days” is a spino of which older sitcom?

2. LITERATURE: Which author created the character Hercule Poirot?

3. U.S. PRESIDENTS: Where is Barack Obama’s presidential library located?

4. GEOGRAPHY: What river forms part of the border between the United States and Mexico?

5. ASTRONOMY: Which planet in our solar system has the strongest gravitational eld?

6. U.S. STATES: Which four states intersect at the Four Corners monument?

7. SCIENCE: What is anemophily?

8. MOVIES: How much does an Oscar award trophy weigh?

9. WEATHER: What is a haboob?

10. MEASUREMENTS: How many millimeters are in a meter?

TrIVIa

Answers

1. “Love, American Style.”

2. Agatha Christie.

3. Chicago, Illinois.

4. e Rio Grande.

5. Jupiter.

6. Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado.

7. Pollination by the wind.

8. 8.5 pounds.

9. An intense dust storm.

10. 1,000.

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Lawmakers seek guardrails for child care businesses

175 centers in state, or 15%, are owned or backed by private equity firms

BY ANN SCHIMKE CHALKBEAT

Colorado parents and teachers would get 60 days’ notice about sta layo s or enrollment changes if their child care centers are acquired by chains backed by private equity rms.

at’s one of the provisions in a bill that cleared its rst legislative hurdle Feb. 18, with an 8-5 vote in the House Health and Human Services committee.

e bill, sponsored by three Democratic representatives, seeks new guardrails for child care centers backed by institutional investors such as private equity or venture capital rms. Experts say such rms aim to generate big pro ts for their investors, often at the expense of children, families, and workers. Firms do this by cutting costs and charging fees.

e bill, which was signi cantly watered down from its original version, represents Colorado’s rst foray into child care regulations focused on for-pro t child care chains with institutional investors. Other states, including Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Jersey have recently taken similar steps.

Rep. Emily Sirota, one of the bill sponsors, noted the proliferation of privateequity backed centers in Colorado in discussing the need for legislation.

“ ey are distinct among other child care providers because of the pro t maximization motive,” she said. “We think it important as the sector grows, that the state actually have an eye on it.”

A Chalkbeat analysis identi ed about 175 Colorado centers currently owned or backed by private equity or venture capital rms — about 15% of the state’s licensed child care capacity for young children. ey include big names like KinderCare, e Goddard School, Primrose Schools, and the Learning Experience. Many private-equity backed centers are located in wealthier communities, where families can more easily afford tuition and fee hikes, experts say.

Guidepost Montessori, a national child care chain backed by venture capital investors, recently announced the closure of all ve of its Colorado child care cen-

ters, leaving many parents scrambling to nd other arrangements. Company o cials cited nancial problems for the abrupt decision.

On Feb. 18, the bill’s sponsors proposed — and the committee approved — a major amendment that removed key provisions from the bill. One would have barred private equity-backed chains that get state child care funding from requiring centers to do sale-leasebacks. It’s a common practice in the private equity world that forces acquired companies to sell their property and then lease it back from the new owner. Experts say sale-leasebacks can harm companiesnancially by forcing them to shoulder a new expense. e amended version of the bill has no language regulating saleleasebacks.

In addition, while the bill still has the original 60-day notice provision for sta layo s or enrollment changes, the language requiring centers to abide by that in order to receive state funding is gone. Instead, the bill establishes a complaintbased system in which a parent or teacher would have to submit a complaint to the state if they believe the 60-day notice rule was violated. e state would then investigate the alleged violation and, if found, could apply the same penalties it applies for other types of child care violations. e amendment also removed a $25 cap on child care waitlist fees. Finally, instead of containing a requirement that private equity-backed centers publicly post tuition and fees, the private equity bill refers to a separate bill being considered that would require all licensed child care providers to do this.

More than a dozen people testi ed about the bill, with more in opposition than in support. Among those who opposed the bill were Goddard School and Primrose Schools franchise owners and o cials from KinderCare and Learning Care Group, a private equity-backed company that runs La Petite Academy, Everbrook Academy, and Children’s Courtyard centers.

Several said they didn’t think it was fair for certain centers to be singled out for additional regulation.

Allison McMurtry, who with her husband owns a Goddard School franchise in Denver, said, “My main concern with this bill is the principle that anything would apply to only a certain ownership structure and not all schools.”

But Elliot Haspel, a senior fellow at the

think tank Capita who’s written extensively about private equity in child care, said di erent kinds of child care providers — for example, those who operate out of their homes and those who operate in child care centers — are already subject to di erent rules.

“ is would just build on that as part of good governance, of making sure that you’re protecting the government’s investment in child care and protecting families in whatever type of care they want to choose,” said Haspel, who supports the bill.

Some opponents of the bill suggested that selling to private equity-backed chains is the only way independent child care providers can exit the eld.

Dawn Alexander, who heads a Colorado group that represents private child care providers, said the bill could have unintended consequences for independent child care providers who want to sell their businesses

“You’re going to limit the pool of who they can sell their program to,” she said.

Mindy Goldstein, who owns a Lakewood child care center called the Applewood School, said, “In an ideal world, I’d

sell my business to my loyal assistant of eight years … Unfortunately, with commercial interest rates now exceeding 10%, purchasing my business has become nearly impossible for an individual buyer.”

Instead of private equity in child care, she urged lawmakers to develop the child care workforce, provide low-interest loans for child care buyers, and o er tax incentives for locally owned child care.

Rep. Kyle Brown, a Democrat who chairs the committee and represents parts of Broom eld and Boulder, said he was deeply concerned about some of the problems that have erupted in child care and other industries with private equity involvement.

“I think it is appropriate for us to utilize a di erent standard of oversight so that we can … make sure that private equitybacked entities are operating in the public interest,” he said.

Reprinted with permission from Chalkbeat, a nonpro t news site covering educational change in public schools. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters.

A Colorado bill would put new guardrails on child care chains backed by private equity and venture capital investors.

Photo by Ann Schimke / Chalkbeat

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