The Banner
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Brighton news for Brighton readers
Volume 6, No. 9
February 27, 2014
8 pages
Schools’ grad rate up 7.7 percent
Their Sunday best
Violinist Paul Primus and guest violinist Cathrine Beeson were two of the five-member Colorado Chamber Players who presented a Fine Arts at Four classical music concert Sunday at First Presbyterian Church. The quintet, which also featured violist Barbara Hamilton Primus and cellists Judith McIntyre and Thomas Heinrich, played Musica Notturna delle Strade di Madrid by Luigi Boccherini and String Quartet in C Major, D 956 by Franz Schubert. More music will emanate from First Presbyterian this weekend when the BrightonMusic Orchestra performs its annual free Homespun Concert at 4 p.m. Sunday, featuring music written by local composers.
By Evelyn Wiant for The Banner School District 27J’s current graduation rate for all student groups is 79.2 percent, a gain of 7.7 percent since last year, District 27J Chief Academic Officer Kelly Corbett announced Tuesday. For the first time in five years, School District 27J is in compliance with its own expectation of raising graduation rates by 2 percent each year , Corbett told the school board during its regular meeting. Individual graduation rates improved at all four high schools within the district – Brighton, Prairie View, Eagle Ridge Academy and Heritage Academy. Even the district’s most atrisk demographic, Hispanic males, is graduating at a 12.2 percent higher rate than last year. 27J has maintained the highest graduation rate of the surrounding Adams County districts for five years in a row. Corbett said the district continues to find new methods to keep the gradua-
Banner Press photo
See School board, Page 2
Council hears in-depth discussions about fracking By Lou Ellen Bromley for The Banner Everything you would ever want to know about how hydraulic fracturing – or fracking – is done was explained Tuesday at a City Council study session. Three experts presented explanations of what fracking is, how it’s done, and the impact it has on surrounding communities and the environment. Colorado School of Mines Professor Alfred Eustes presented a slide show explaining step-by-step how fracking
oil and natural gas wells are done. He also explained how, by using the latest technology, and engineers can tell where the rock has fractured how far apart the fractures are. Eustes also explained how the use of castings while drilling protects the aquifers from contamination. The use of three castings of cement will seal the drill site, along the entire well, while using water and sand under controlled pressure to drill vertically. He explained how research by engineers from the School of Mines can chart the effects of the pressure used
to fracture the rock under ground to release natural gas. He also explained that water used in fracking is recycled, by returning it to the surface, placing it in a pipe separator and removing sand and any trapped natural gas in the water so the water can be reused. Ward 2 Council Member Rex Bell asked whether water under pressure in fracking could cause earthquakes, similar to the quakes in the 1960s caused by pumping chemicals underground at the arsenal. Eustes said no, because the volume of water in frack-
Inside The Banner this week A first for PVMC
Platte Valley Medical Center became the first hospital in Colorado to implant the smallest Insertable Cardiac Monitor System in a patient. – Page 5
‘Gladiator’ again? Pompeii starts out a lot
like Gladiator, but shifts into its own thriller when Vesuvius erupts. – Page 6
Also:
Calendar ................................. 4 Bravo ...................................... 5 Help Desk ............................. 6 Obituaries ............................. 7 Sports ..................................... 8
Don’t miss: Spaghetti Lunch Saturday at Eagle View – Calendar, P. 4
Wrestling coach James Garcia honored, – Page 5
ing is nowhere near as much as the arsenal pumped. “Fracking uses very little volume by comparison,” he said. Oil and Gas Conservation Commission Director Matt LePore, discussed regulations that oil and gas drilling companies must meet before a company can obtain a permit to drill in Colorado. He said that any drilling must be done in a way that will protect the people, environment and wildlife of the state. He said there are 51,776 active wells in Colorado – 1,800 new See City Council, Page 2