Canyon Courier March 20, 2025

A space for support

abusive ex-husband, Amy’s voice still breaks with emotion as she recalls that day.

eral area shelters from a local police o cer. But in addition to

BY JANE REUTER JREUTER@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Five candidates led for two open seats on the embattled Elk Creek Fire board, setting up what will likely be one of the area’s most interesting contests.

Michael Bartlett, Al Leo, Kathleen Noonan, omas Seymour and Todd Wagner are running. Board president Greg Pixley and director Melissa Baker are term limited and will step down. Elk Creek has undergone controversy in the last few years as its board has attempted to merge the district with neighboring North Fork and Inter-Canyon re districts.

November 2023 vote on con-

P

ment of a Park County commissioner’s home — herself a victim of domestic violence — the organization found its current home in 2008. As the only shelter in a 2,800-square-mile grid, and one of only a few that accepts pets, it serves individuals and families

Although it is in Bailey, the exact location is kept con dential. Every door is secured with coded locks. Emergency alarms

Lead advocate Brenda Nelson holds Iris, PeaceWorks’ house cat.

PHOTO BY SABRINA FRITSS

New bill would help mu e commercial truck noise

Golden backs measure to enforce requirements; Wheat Ridge may pursue separate rule

BY CORINNE WESTEMAN CWESTEMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Almost 10 years ago, when Casey Brown was running for Golden City Council, one of the most common concerns he heard was about tra c-related noise.

With so many highways in and around Golden city limits — many of which are main routes to and from local quarries — Goldenites have long complained about noise from commercial trucks frequenting the area.

Although not all trucks are noisy, hearing noises that loud that often has impacted Goldenites’ quality of life, Brown described.

“We tend to think of the noise from trucks as being a nuisance,” he said. “But, it’s far more than a nuisance; it’s a public health hazard.”

While the city now has several soundwall segments in the works, state legislators are working on another solution to help reduce commercial truck-related noise not just in Golden, but across Colorado. HB25-1039, which addresses commercial vehicle mu er requirements, is currently working its way through the legislature. If approved, it would give law enforcement o cers new methods to enforce the current mu er requirement for all commercial vehicles.

Rep. Brianna Titone, who represents the Golden area, is one of the bill’s sponsors. Joining her are Rep. Lesley Smith and Sen. Dylan Roberts, both of whom represent Clear Creek County among other jurisdictions.

e bill has bipartisan support, and the City of Golden recently endorsed it. It also has industry support from the Colorado Motor Carriers Association, its President Greg Fulton con rmed.

e bill was passed by the House Transportation, Housing and Local Government Committee with amendments, and was awaiting discussion in the House Appropriations Committee, as of March 11.

If passed, Brown said it would go into effect July 1, 2027.

Brown has been trying to address truckrelated noise since rst joining Golden City Council in 2016. He’s worked with the Colorado Department of Transportation, Golden Police Department, CMCA, state legislators and other local leaders.

Although Golden tried to address the problem itself, he said, “We really needed state help in addressing the issue. We needed to x the inspection process.”

Closing the loophole

According to Brown and Fulton, although commercial vehicles are required by law to have a mu er, some truck drivers have intentionally removed their mu ers.

Fulton said some “renegade” drivers like the “clean look” of a truck without a mufer, along with the attention they get by generating loud noises when they drive. In places like Clear Creek Canyon, where sound reverberates o the canyon walls, that problem is heightened, he described.

“ at’s not fair to the public and it really damages our image,” Fulton continued.

“ … Even though they’re relatively few in numbers, if you have a few of them going through the same location, it’s very disruptive for folks. I feel for them.”

If these drivers are contacted by law enforcement regarding their mu er, or lack thereof, Fulton said they can skirt around the requirement by claiming their mu er is the kind that is inside the truck’s exhaust stack. Fulton said these kinds of mu ers are real but rare.

However, it’s very di cult to prove which trucks really have them and which don’t, he explained.

Many years ago, Fulton described, there was a crude method of checking by tying a tennis ball on a rope and lowering it inside the exhaust stack. If it hit something, that indicated there was a mu er inside the stack.

However, this method was crude and left law enforcement liable if the rope broke and the tennis ball was trapped inside the exhaust stack, Fulton said.

So, for the last several years, o cers haven’t had a good enforcement mecha-

nism to determine whether drivers are telling the truth about having a mu er inside their exhaust stack, Fulton and Brown described.

HB25-1039 would require all commercial vehicles to either have a visible mu er or documentation proving the mu er is inside the exhaust stack. In this way, Fulton said, the bill could close the loophole that a very small but loud minority of drivers have been exploiting for years.

Additionally, he and Brown said the bill would increase the penalties related to not having a mu er.

e current ne is $500, but if the bill passes, it will increase to $1,000. Brown said any cited drivers could reduce their ne by 50% by proving to the court that they’ve come into compliance.

Additionally, Brown explained, drivers can’t renew their vehicle registration until they’ve come into compliance.

“ ere are small, independent folks who are trying to make a living,” he said of some drivers. “ … We want to be able to preserve their ability to operate. So, what are some enforcement measures that will be e ective without being overly penalizing?”

If the bill passes, Fulton said he’s con dent word would get out and that drivers who don’t have mu ers now would come into compliance.

“We want to incentivize people to do the right thing,” he added.

Silent streets, quiet highways

Just like Brown in Golden, Wheat Ridge City Councilor Dan Larson also knows how much tra c-related noise impacts his constituents’ quality of life.

Larson lives right next to Interstate 70, and even though there’s a sound wall between the highway and his neighborhood, he said, “I can tell the di erence between the vehicles that do and don’t have mufers.”

When he was campaigning, Larson said he heard similar complaints from those in his jurisdiction, which includes I-70 and Kipling Parkway.

Although Wheat Ridge City Council

hasn’t endorsed HB25-1039, Larson said he personally supported it and has been talking to Brown and Titone more about the issue.

Even if the bill passes, Larson said he’s looking to do more at the municipal level. He and city sta are discussing an ordinance that would require a mu er on all vehicles — not just commercial vehicles — operating in Wheat Ridge city limits. He said other Colorado municipalities have implemented similar measures.

While there’s no de nite timeline, Larson hoped City Council could discuss it later this year.

Regarding enforcement, the ordinance would outline a standardized measurement, such as 85 decibels, as an objective way to measure whether a vehicle is so loud that it’s disruptive.

In general, 85 decibels would be typical for city tra c. A vacuum cleaner is about 70 decibels, power tools are about 90 and reworks are around 140.

e Occupational Safety and Health Administration requires some kind of hearing protection for employees when noise levels average 85 decibels or more over eight working hours.

Larson said Wheat Ridge might be able to use existing technology, such as speed cameras and other sensors, to determine whether a vehicle has reached or exceeded that noise threshold.

If so, just like with red-light cameras or speed cameras, the technology would identify the vehicle responsible and send the owner a citation in the mail.

Implementing technology like this would be a more objective, accurate and full-proof way of identifying noisy vehicles, he said.

Whether Wheat Ridge bene ts from HB25-1039, a new ordinance or both, Larson said measures like this would improve “quality of life for everybody in Wheat Ridge, Je erson County and Colorado.” He added, “Direct impacts of excessive noise in a big city can ultimately be hazardous to your health.”

Hundreds attend Pettersen’s town hall in Lakewood

More than 1,800 gather at Alameda International Jr./Sr. High School to discuss federal workforce cuts and economic concerns

U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen held an in-person town hall earleir this month alongside Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and Lakewood Mayor Wendi Strom to discuss federal policy changes and their impact on Coloradans. e event, which took place in Colorado’s 7th Congressional District, drew more than 1,800 attendees. e town hall focused on federal layo s, changes to government services and concerns about economic stability. Pettersen and Weiser addressed questions about job cuts in federal agencies and the e ects of policy decisions on programs such as Social Security, Medicare and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, according to a press release.

“Many are deeply concerned about potential threats to their access to essential

programs and services,” Pettersen said. Pettersen and Weiser highlighted the effect of large-scale federal workforce reductions, pointing to reported layo s in multiple agencies. ey also raised concerns about how these cuts could a ect public services and state economies.

Pettersen criticized policies under the Trump administration that reduced government programs and sta ng levels, arguing they disproportionately a ected vulnerable populations.

She also said she had concerns about Elon Musk’s reported access to sensitive government data, though neither Petterson nor Weiser mentioned any speci c policies or legislative actions during the town hall.

“People are worried about rising costs, cuts to critical services, and economic uncertainty,” Pettersen said in a statement, adding that her o ce has received thousands of calls from constituents.

Rep. Brittany Pettersen shakes hands with constituents during the town hall.

Homes Are Still Selling, Buyers Are Still Buying, But Market Is Slowed Down By Chaos in DC

It’s clear to real estate professionals that, although some buyers must buy and some sellers must sell, buyers and sellers who are not under pressure to do a deal are looking and listening before buying or selling a home. These are complicated times!

The statistics below reflect a slowing of the real estate market within 25 miles of downtown Denver — and likely nationwide. Due to space limitations, I’m only including statistics for the first two months of the last six years, but it’s instructive to see how these months compare year-over-year. At htttp://RealEstateToday.substack.com I have included all 12 months of each year. Although every other metric documents a slowing market, the median closed prices set a record for both January and February:

Meanwhile, look at how many listings expired without selling during the same months:

Kudos From a Reader

Jim, one of the things I look forward to when going up to my cabin in Bailey is reading the local Jeffco newspapers piled up in my mailbox containing your columns. I’m glad you wrote a column explaining you were a journalist before coming over to real estate. That explains a lot of the quality of your columns — and the ability to write when you and Rita are on a long cruise!

I have learned a lot from your writings, which I appreciate — never too old to keep up with new info. I offer my praise, as you have talked evenly and without bias about real estate issues. It comes through that you are several cuts above the normal real estate agents whom I’ve interacted with, because you point out the negatives in the real estate universe and are not hyping the sales pitch.

Unfortunately, I won’t need your services, as I will keep my Colorado Springs house with its low-interest mortgage, and my cabin in Bailey has such a low basis that I’ll put it in my will, denying the IRS and Colorado big capital gains tax payments.

The good news is that I have family members who will, hopefully, come home to Colorado from London in 2-3 years, and I will recommend that they hook up with your brokerage. Your columns are of great quality and speak well of the knowledge and care you provide your clients.

—R. Scott Schofield, Attorney at Law

The number of active listings is surging, but the number sold listings is dropping, as shown in these two charts:

That has resulted in the higher inventory of unsold listings in recent months:

Another important metric is the ratio of closed price to original listing price. During the pandemic, more than half the listings sold for as much as 4% above the listing price as a result of bidding wars, but look how that metric has changed:

With the “spring selling season” coming up, I find it hard to be optimistic about the real estate market, because it appears that the chaos we’re seeing in our national government is only going to get worse, and markets don’t like uncertainty.

If builders, who get most of their lumber from Canada, see a big increase in costs due to tariffs, they may pause construction or at least increase the price of new homes. Meanwhile, if the courts end up allowing the mass firing of federal workers — many of

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Check Out My Two Blogs

Everything you read in this ad (and more) is posted on our Real Estate Today Substack blog. Scan the QR code at left to open and subscribe to it — free of course. Each article and listing is there, often with additional content and graphics, plus useful hyperlinks.

My other Substack is Talking Turkey, my left-of-center political blog. It is not in print anywhere. Click on the QR code at right if you would like to see what I have to say.

whom work in Lakewood’s Federal Center and elsewhere in Colorado (such as the national parks, VA hospitals and national forests), that could be very disruptive to our real estate market.

None of us are experienced at dealing with the kind of political situation we are in now, and we can’t wait to see what’s on the other side. Whatever happens, you can count on us serving you well.

Like You, We Have Wondered Why Some Window Wells Rust

This week I learned why, thanks to an email from Alpine Building Performance. Here’s what they wrote:

“If the screws used to attach the window well touch the metal bars (rebar) inside the concrete, it creates rust. This happens because electricity flows between the metals, causing the window well to rust faster.

“This is why sometimes you will see one window well completely rusted through and the other window wells in the home showing no signs of rust. Many people think that rusty window wells can be sanded and painted with a rust inhibitor to keep it from rusting further. This is not true.

“The window well rusts from the dirt side in, so once you see rust inside the window well, it has already made it through the entire thickness of the metal. Unfortunately, the only remedy to the rust issue is a full window well replacement.

“When having your window well replaced, make sure that it is replaced in a manner that it will not rust prematurely again.”

The email promoted a company, Window Well Solutions, LLC, which has developed a method of replacing window wells using a fiberglass composite mounting system which creates a non-conductive break between the foundation and the metal window well.

Unfortunately, that company is in Fort

Collins and doesn’t take on new customers south of Denver’s northern suburbs. But now you know what the answer is to this problem. The company has patented their system, so it is available nationwide.

On our blog I have a link to a video showing how WWS replaces rusted window wells.

Here Are Some Reviews From Our Past Clients:

We were beyond impressed with Kathy Jonke! She went above and beyond for us. She accommodated all of our needs. She was insightful and extremely helpful throughout the entire process! I can’t recommend her more! — Eve Wilson Not only did Jim Smith do a superb job in the marketing and sale of our home, he provided his company's moving truck and long time handyman Mark to move our belongings to our new home in Broomfield. When a problem occurred, he hired an outside moving company to help complete the move in one day instead of two! We are so pleased that Jim helped us through the process of selling our home and moving us into our new home. — Reese & Sally Ganster I was helping my mom and her husband sell the house. David Dlugasch was very accommodating to this dynamic. He arranged for all the paperwork to be done at the nursing home for the ease of my mom. David and I worked together to get the very full and dated house ready to go on the market. He went above and beyond by going to the paint store and hardware store etc. He was always available via text for any question I had along the way. He had a lot of resources. The best one was Mark, the handyman. I could always count on Mark. Mark was very meticulous and could do anything. What a great team! I could not have taken on this monumental task without them!!

—Heidi Warner

beyond our expectations. My wife and I have done six real estate transactions and we think Chuck is the best Realtor ever. We would highly recommend Chuck to other home buyers.

— S. Diamond

Greg Kraft was knowledgeable and professional. He was very easy to work with and was super proactive in searching the listings. That was a key in us managing to buy the townhome in a very competitive market. He was also very responsive and communicated really well with us and the listing agents. We would recommend him without reservation.

— J. Knight

Jim Swanson was kind and patient while listening to my questions. He helped me to translate the real estate language and manage the sale process. He connected the dots, allowing me to make good decisions, maintain my personal integrity and profit from the sale when a great offer came to the forefront. Jim, Thank you for putting communication and community first.

— Name Withheld

Dave Dlugasch did a phenomenal job working with us! We were not easy buyers because of an extensive “wish list” and he did his homework on each property we looked at until we found the right one. He gave us great advice and was very supportive of all our questions throughout the entire process.

— M. Madigan

This nicely updated and well-maintained condo at 992 S. Dearborn Way #7 is in the Sable Cove subdivision east of I-225 and north of Mississippi Avenue. The seller, who bought it for a family member, updated everything in this ground level unit. It has luxury vinyl plank flooring throughout, a pantry with slide-out drawers, laundry hookups, and a wood-burning fireplace. There is lots of open lot parking for you and your guests. There is a locked storage closet on the front porch, big enough for all your gear. I’ll be holding it open myself this Saturday, March 22nd, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Or view the narrated video tour I created at www.GRElistings.com, then call me at 303-525-1851 to request a private showing.

Chuck Brown is a superb Realtor. He is very knowledgeable regarding the market, very proactive and highly professional. Chuck was great at identifying potential properties that met our criteria, he moved very quickly to show us potential properties and his analysis of property values was on point and very thorough. Chuck was extremely proactive and responsive in his communications with us. Chuck went above and

Based on Jim Smith's knowledge, experience, and expertise in the real estate arena, we decided to work with him when it came time to downsize. We used Jim and his real estate firm to both purchase the new home and sell our existing property. All communication with Jim has been top notch. He also provided all packing materials and labor to make our move. It was a great experience from start to finish! — R. Trujillo

Median Sold Price by Month

Sta cuts could doom black-footed ferret recovery

BY RACHEL COHEN KUNC

Black-footed ferrets, once feared extinct, were rediscovered in Wyoming in 1981 when a ranch dog caught one, revealing a small remaining population. Over the past four decades, scientists have been working to revive this prairie carnivore that’s part of the weasel family. However, last month, their e orts suffered a blow.

Tina Jackson, who led the species’ recovery across 12 states-including Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona-was red as part of the Trump Administration’s federal workforce cuts.

“It was an odd day,” said Jackson. “I’ve never been red from a role before.”

Jackson was a probationary employee because she took the job as the national recovery coordinator with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last year. But before that, she’d spent nearly 30 years as a wildlife biologist at Colorado Parks and Wildlife, with much of that time working on ferret conservation.

e federal government considers the black-footed ferret to be one of the most endangered mammals in North America. It was among the rst species listed under the Endangered Species Act and remains critically endangered. Jackson was deeply aware of her role in their recovery.

“You’re the one kind of in charge of this species that’s still, honestly, on the brink of extinction,” she said.

Jackson’s job involved coordinating recovery e orts, securing permits for conservation work and overseeing the rein-

A captive-bred black-footed ferret undergoes preconditioning at the National Black-footed Ferret Conservation Center in Colorado before being reintroduced to the wild. The national recovery coordinator for the endangered species was fired as part of the Trump Administration’s cuts to the federal workforce.

troduction of captive ferrets to 15 wild sites in partnership with federal and state agencies, tribes and nonpro t organizations.

“We’re losing that nexus, that glue, that holds all of us together,” said Travis Livieri, executive director of Prairie Wildlife Research, a nonpro t that works on ferret conservation in South Dakota.

Additionally, two of Jackson’s colleagues at the National Black-footed Ferret Conservation Center near Fort Collins, Colo. were also let go. e 11-member team suddenly shrunk to eight at a critical time-just as ferrets begin breeding season.

“Every time there’s a setback of some sort, whether it’s a biological setback, a

disease outbreak, a budget cut or a staing cut, it’s something that sets back recovery,” Jackson said.

e U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said it does not comment on personnel matters.

“We are working closely with the O ce of Personnel Management to ensure we

•Silent

•Door

•Travelin’

PHOTO BY RYAN HAGERTY / USFWS

Hospice to host free talk on end-of-life decisions

Presentation will review critical documents, urge participants to share wishes with loved ones

Talking with the people in our lives about end-of-life care is not always easy, but it can be one of the most important things you do — for them, and yourself. Sharing such personal details can even bring people closer together.

April 16 is National Healthcare Decisions Day, a day designed to encourage

FERRETS

are prioritizing scal responsibility for the American people,” a spokesperson wrote in a statement.

ough slender, black-footed ferrets are feisty predators. is is particularly useful since they are about the same size as prairie dogs, which make up 90% of their diet.

e ferrets also take up residence in the burrows dug by prairie dogs, sharing the space with other creatures like foxes, turtles and rattlesnakes. Because of this, Jackson refers to them as an “umbrella species”; their conservation helps other animals in the prairie ecosystem.

people to have those important conversations.

In conjunction with that day, Evergreen’s Mount Evans Home Health Care and Hospice will host Foothills Conversations, its second annual community presentation on end-of-life planning. e free event is from 4 to 5:30 p.m. April 15 at Mount Evans, 3081 Bergen Peak Drive in Evergreen.

e meeting is an extension of a national e ort called e Conversation Project, which encourages people to share their end-of-life wishes with those close to them.

“ ese conversations are really critical,” said Terri Cooney, a hospice volunteer. “We’re not telling anyone how to do it but how important it is that they express to others what they want.

“By protecting that prairie dog habitat for ferrets, we’re keeping a whole bunch of other species from needing state or federal listing,” Jackson said. However, ferret conservation is handson and labor-intensive. At the Fort Collins center, which houses about two-thirds of the captive population, sta provides round-the-clock feeding, cleaning and veterinary care. During breeding season, they carefully monitor the pairs, as the territorial animals can sometimes kill one another. By late summer, the center may have up to 500 ferrets on its watch, as it prepares about 200 for reintroduction into the wild.

With fewer sta , Jackson noted, the team might need to limit their breeding capacity, which could undermine part-

“When people get really ill or have a major accident, they often cannot speak for themselves. It’s critical they’ve not only had informal talks with family about what’s of value to them in the end-of-life process but also so they do the necessary documents.”

During the April 15 event, presenters will go over those documents, including how to create a medical durable power of attorney — a legal document that designates a representative who can make decisions when someone is incapacitated. ey will also talk about do-notresuscitate orders and living wills.

While people may be hesitant to talk about such topics, Cooney said most have de nite thoughts on what they would like.

“Most people have certain wishes,” she said. “A large majority of Americans want

ner organizations’ e orts to establish reintroduction sites.

One of the biggest threats to ferrets in the wild is the plague, which often requires annual disease mitigation. But federal funding uncertainty is complicating this part of the recovery process, too.

Livieri’s organization had planned to start spraying insecticide dust in April to eliminate the eas that carry the plague, but he’s not sure whether he’ll receive assurance by then that he can spend the federal money that usually funds that work. Last year, a plague outbreak caused a prairie dog die-o in the Badlands of South Dakota.

“If we aren’t vigilant, the largest blackfoot ferret population in the world is potentially at risk,” he said.

to die at home, but in fact the majority die in medical settings. Part of that divide is that they don’t make their wishes known to others.”

While Cooney said most participants at the presentations are older, end-of-life wishes apply to everyone.

“Someone who’s 20 years old could have a tragic car accident,” she said. “We all know something can happen at any point. So it’s critical for any adult to have thought through these things.

“ is is designed to be an impetus. If people haven’t thought about it, start thinking. If you have, start thinking about what you need to do to get those things in order.”

For more information, email FoothillsConversations@MtEvans.org or visit e Conversation Project.

Chamois Andersen of Defenders of Wildlife said while nonpro ts are prioritizing resources to ensure the recovery progress continues, the federal government plays a crucial role.

“It’s going to be a real challenge for the NGOs to ll in those gaps,” she said. e black-footed ferret has made a big comeback since the 1980s when a handful from Wyoming were brought into captivity. Now, there are about 800 individuals.

“We’ve made amazing strides,” Jackson said. “But it’s still not the sort of number where we can say these guys will survive if we step away for a few years.” is story was made available via the Colorado News Collaborative. Learn more at https://colabnews.co

We’d like to know about events or activities of interest to the community. Visitwww.canyoncourier.com/calendar/ and post your event online for free. Email jreuter@coloradocommunitymedia.com to get items in the newspaper. Items will appear in print on a space-available basis.

UPCOMING

Seniors4Wellness Friday Cafe: 11:30 a.m. March 21, Christ the King Church, 4291 Evergreen Parkway, Evergreen. seniors4wellness.org

Homesteading Conifer & Beyond: 1 p.m. March 23. Amber Kirkendall from the National Park Service gives an interactive online event on the Homestead Act’s impact on Conifer & Je erson County, homesteads in our area and tips for researching your property. Tickets at coniferhistoricalsociety.org

Evergreen Audubon Bird Walk for Beginners: 9 a.m., March 26, Chat eld State Park. Meet at Front Range Birding Company, 10146 W San Juan Way, Littleton.Birding basics with Audubon birder Susan Harper. Free but registration required at evergreenaudubon.org

Senior Game Day: 11 a.m. March 26, Buchanan Recreation Center Evergreen Room,

lands:” 6 p.m. March 26, Evergreen Fire/ Rescue, 1802 Bergen Pkwy Evergreen.

Speaker Taylor Luneau. Presented by Friends of Mount Evans and Lost Creek Wildernesses. Sign up at fomelc.org

PeaceWorks free community wellness yoga class: 5:30 p.m. Taspen’s Yoga and Healing Center, 25797 Conifer Rd Ste C-130, Conifer.

Evergreen Audubon Morning Birds & Brews: 8:30 a.m. March 28, Evergreen Nature Center, 27640 Hwy 74, Evergreen. Free. evergreenaudubon.org

32003 Ellingwood Trail, Evergreen. seniors4wellness.org

Share the Moment: 1:30 p.m. March 26, Center for the Arts Evergreen, 31880 Rocky Village Dr., Evergreen. Free guided art exploration for those experiencing memory loss and their care partners. evergreenarts.org

“ e Wilderness Society: Defensive Priorities for Wilderness and Wet-

Bergen Park Art Walk: 5 p.m. March 28, Center for the Arts Evergreen, 31880 Rocky Village Dr., Evergreen. Walk from CAE and Catalyst to Bergen Village Center. evergreenarts.org

Father Daughter Dance: 6 p.m. March 28, Evergreen Lake House, 29612 Upper Bear Creek Road, Evergreen. For girls ages 3-12 and their guardians. evergreenrecreation.com

Morning Birds & Brews: 8:30 a.m. March 28 and April 25. Evergreen Nature Center, 27640 CO-74, Evergreen. We will spend some time chatting indoors before heading to the meadow to see birds. Free, no registration required. evergreenaudubon.org.

A Night with our Stars: 6 to 9:30 p.m. April 4, Evergreen Lake House. 29612 Upper Bear Creek, Evergreen. Annual Evergreen Chamber business awards. Assigned seating, catered dinner, black tie encouraged. Tickets, $75. evergreenchamber.org.

torian and Hiwan House administrator John Steinle. Walking tour from Evergreen Gallery to Highland Haven. Free. evergreenchamber.org

Evergreen Animal Protective League fundraiser: 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 5, Buchanan Park Recreation Center, 32003 Ellingwood Trail, Evergreen. Featuring 90 minutes of restorative harmonic vibrations from traditional Himalayan gongs and singing bowls. Silent auction, door prizes. Meet rescue dogs. $20 donation. More info at EAPL.com

Evergreen Chamber OrchestraSpring Concert: 3 p.m. April 5, Rockland Community Church, 17 S Mt Vernon Country Club Road, Golden. Immerse yourself in the radiant world of Mozart, featuring Steinway artist Stephanie Shih-yu Cheng. Tickets at evergreenchamberorch.org

Mountain Mixer@ 5: 5 p.m. April 10, Echo Mountain tubing hill, 19285 Hwy 103, Idaho Springs. evergreenchamber.org.

Evergreen’s 150th Sacred Spaces: Noon, April 5, Evergreen Gallery, 28195 Hwy. 74, Evergreen. Featuring local his-

18th annual Foothills Home, Garden and Lifestyle Show: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 12 and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 13, Evergreen High School, 29300 Bu alo Park Road, Evergreen. Sponsored by the Rotary Clubs of Evergreen and Conifer. foothillshomeshow.com

e Terrible Toll Road: 1 p.m. April 13, 26951 Barkley Road, Conifer.

e Bradford Toll Road was once the most direct route to the mining camps in the mountains. Learn more with Journalist Jamie Siebrase. Tickets at coniferhistoricalsociety.org

Foothills Conversations: 4 p.m. April 15, Mount Evans Home Healthcare and

Hospice, 3081 Bergen Peak Drive in Evergreen.Review critical documents, talk about end-of-life care. FoothillsConversations@MtEvans.org

Conifer Area Council: 7 p.m. April 16, West Je erson Middle School, 9449 Barnes Ave., Conifer.

Resilience1220 6th anniversary: 5:30 p.m. May 7, Center for the Arts Evergreen, 31880 Rocky Village Dr., Evergreen. Celebrating youth creativity. Entertainment, exhibits, silent auction. resilience1220.org.

A Taste of Peace: 5 p.m. May 31, Evergreen Elks Lodge, 27972 Iris Dr, Evergreen. Fundraiser for PeaceWorks. Tickets and more information at peaceworksinc.co/communitywellness

ONGOING

Evergreen Ice Melt tickets available through March 17: $3 each with discounts for multiple purchases. Purchase tickets or nd local businesses selling tickets at evergreenicemelt.com. Proceeds bene t local organizations and nonpro ts.

Public ice skating and lessons: Evergreen Lake, 29612 Upper Bear Creek Road, Evergreen. Season and punch passes available. evergreenrecreation. com.

Mountain Women Alcoholics Anonymous (AA): 9 a.m. every Saturday in person and on Zoom, Evergreen Lutheran Church, 5980 CR-73, Evergreen. Mountain Women also meet via Zoom on Wednesdays at noon. evergreenaa. com/

Wild Aware is actively recruiting volunteers for their Last Friday Co ee. e monthly event is at 9 a.m., the last Friday morning of every month. Evergreen Bread and Cocktail Lounge, 1260 Bergen Parkway, Evergreen.

Conifer Chamber of Commerce member meeting: 7:30 a.m. on second ursdays, Our Lady of the Pines Catholic Church, 9444 Eagle Cli Road, Conifer. Free for members, $10 for nonmembers.

Evergreen Nature Center Weekly Preschool Adventures Program: 9 a.m. every ursday, 27640 Hwy 74, Evergreen. Free & no registration required. Programs designed for children ages 2-5 years old. All children must have an adult in attendance. Dress to explore the outdoors. evergreenaudubon.org

Evergreen Nature Center Monthly Family Program: 11 a.m. every last Saturday, 27640 Hwy 74, Evergreen. evergreenaudubon.org

e American Legion Evergreen Post 2001: Meets 4 p.m. Feb. 19, then monthly (March - October) on the 4th Tuesday at 7 p.m., Evergreen Church of the Trans guration, Douglas Hall, 27640 Hwy 74, Evergreen. Serving all military Veterans in the foothills. Email evergreenpost2001@gmail.com.

Evergreen Camera Club: Meets every second Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Evergreen Fire/Rescue auditorium, 1802 Bergen Parkway, Evergreen. Club is for people who share a passion for all photography, from beginners to professionals. Attend in person or via ZOOM.

HAPPENINGS, P7

CANDIDATES

solidation narrowly failed. Fire chiefs announced last year they would instead pursue uni cation, a process outlined under state statute that does not include a mill levy increase or require an election.

All three boards passed motions in favor of uni cation, but in Elk Creek, board member Chuck Newby and district resident Neil Whitehead III led an appeal, saying the unication process that Elk Creek used violates state statute, subverts the voters’ wishes, and could result in higher taxes without voter approval.

Je erson County Commissioners will hold a public hearing on the appeal, but a date has not been set.

Meanwhile, North Fork and Inter-Canyon merged in late 2024 as the Conifer Fire Protection District.

We asked each candidate about their background, their opinion on the proposed re district uni cation and about any other con-

HAPPENINGS

Evergreen Area Republican Club: e Evergreen Area Republican Club meets at 6 p.m. the rst Wednesday of the month at the Evergreen Fire/Rescue Administration Building, 1802 Bergen Parkway. Information atevergreenarearepublicanclub.org

Mountain Area Democrats: Mountain Area Democrats meet at 9 a.m. the fourth Saturday of the month January through April at the United Methodist Church of Evergreen, 3757 Ponderosa Drive, Evergreen. For more information, e-mail mtnareademocrats@gmail. com

Evergreen Nature Center: Evergreen Nature Center is open from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays next to Church of the Trans guration. Admission is free. For more information, visitwww.EvergreenAudubon. org.

e Bear Creek Cemetery Association board of directors volunteers needed: Members needed to help with operations of the local cemetery on Highway 74, Evergreen. Contact board president, evergreenbearcreekcemetery@gmail.com

Blue Spruce Habitat volunteers needed: Blue Spruce Habitat for Humanity is looking for volunteers. A variety of opportunities and exible schedules are available on new construction sites as well as for exterior minor home repairs. No previous construction experience needed. Contact volunteer@ bluesprucehabitat.org for information.

cerns they have.

Michael Bartlett BACKGROUND

• Conifer resident since 2000

• Works in tech support for radiant underow heating

• Retired Elk Creek and North Fork re ghter for more than 20 years

• Rocky Mountain chapter of Wind and Fire Motorcycle Club board member

“Deer Creek Canyon was my stomping ground growing up. My wife decided she wanted to live in the mountains. It’s an awesome place to live, but it has its challenges.”

ON UNIFICATION

“I voted against consolidation. It seems like they just decided we’re not going to listen to the voters. I haven’t heard any positive reasons for unifying. I understand North Fork and Elk Creek from being a volunteer for both of them. ey’re completely di erent districts and I don’t think combining them is a smart thing to do.”

“Elk Creek has over $7 million in cash that hasn’t been used for our citizens. Just handing that over to somebody (North Fork) that runs

EChO needs volunteers: e Evergreen Christian Outreach ReSale Store and food pantry need volunteers. Proceeds from the EChO ReSale Store support the food pantry and programs and services provided by EChO. Many volunteer options available. For more information, call Mary at 720-673-4369 or email mary@evergreenchristianoutreach. org.

LGBTQ+ teen book club: Resilience1220 is o ering an LGBTQ+ teen book club that meets from 4-6 p.m. the fourth Monday at the Resilience1220 o ce next to the Buchanan Park Recreation Center. For more information and to register, visit R1220.org.

ESA EverGREEN Re ll Station: EverGREEN Re ll Station (re ll your laundry detergent, lotions, soaps and more. We have many sustainable products available). e Re ll Station is open Wednesdays and Fridays from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and the second Saturday of each month from 1-4 p.m. in the Habitat Restore, 1232 Bergen Parkway.

Support After Suicide Loss: A safe place to share and learn after losing a loved one to suicide. is group meets every fourth Wednesday of the month from 5:30-7:30 p.m. via Zoom or in person at the Resilience1220 ofce. For ages 14 and up. Suggested donation for this group is $15. Register atresilience1220. org/groups.

Sensitive Collection: Resilience1220 strives to inform and support highly sensitive people to live healthy and empowered lives. It meets the third Wednesday of each month from 6-7 p.m. via Zoom. Register atresilience1220.org/ groups.

a couple hundred calls a year is not a good idea to me.”

OTHER CONCERNS

“I think the Elk Creek board is being mismanaged right now. I don’t think the board of directors is actually directing anything. I think the union has enough representation on the board, and I don’t think the taxpayers have very much representation. I’m running to be a duciary for the taxpayers.”

“ e service plan for Elk Creek Fire was written in 1948 and has never been updated. Fixing the service plan is certainly one of my goals.”

“I think we need to spend $7 million in our district or just give it back to our taxpayers in cash, and they can use it for mitigation on their own property.”

Al Leo BACKGROUND

• Conifer resident since 2019

• Retired from telecom sales and business development

• Community re ambassador for Conifer

SEE CANDIDATES, P9

Caregiver support group: Mount Evans Home Health Care & Hospice o ers a monthly group to provide emotional support services for caregivers helping ill, disabled or elderly loved ones. An in-person support group meets every third Wednesday from noon to 1:30 p.m. at 3081 Bergen Peak Road, Evergreen. For more information, visitmtevans.org/services/ emotional-support/.

Grieving the Death of a Spouse/Partner Support Group: 3 to 4 p.m. every second ursday. is group explores issues unique to those who have lost a life partner. O ered in-person and virtually. Mount Evans Home Health Care & Hospice, 3081 Bergen Peak Road, Evergreen. For more information, visitmtevans.org/services/emotional-support/.

Parkinson’s disease support group: A Parkinson’s disease support group meets the rst Friday of the month from 1-3 p.m. at Evergreen Christian Church, 27772 Iris Drive, Evergreen. For more information, email esears@ parkinsonrockies.org.

Mountain Foothills Rotary meetings: Mountain Foothills Rotary meets at 6 p.m. Wednesdays both in person at Mount Vernon Canyon Club, 24933 Club House Circle, Genesee, and via Zoom. Information at 346-2487799.

Beyond the Rainbow: Resilience1220 offers Beyond the Rainbow, which is two support groups that meet the second Tuesday of the month. One is a safe group for those 12-20 and the other is a group for parents and caregivers wanting support for raising an LGBTQ+ child. For group location and to RSVP, email heather@resilience1220.org.

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Coalition plans ‘right to know’ ballot initiative

Recent laws have restricted public view of lawmaker activity

BY ROBERT DAVIS COLORADO NEWSLINE

A broad coalition of transparency advocates plans to submit a ballot initiative in 2026 to amend Colorado’s constitution and strengthen public access to government records.

e initiative is led by Jon Caldara of the Denver-based Independence Institute, a Libertarian think tank. Fifty groups are part of the coalition, some of which have historically held little shared political ground. ey include as the Rocky Mountain Voice, League of Women Voters, the Colorado Press Association, the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition, and several others.

e nal draft of the ballot measure is still being worked out. Even so, Je rey Roberts, executive director of the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition, told Newsline that it will address a range of issues, from the cost of public records to establishing a uniform right to access government records and addressing open meeting law requirements.

“Everybody needs to know what their government is doing,” Roberts said. e group has been meeting monthly, both on Zoom and at the Independence Institute, to discuss how to address the transparency issues at the State Capitol. One law that has united the group is Senate Bill 24-157, which was passed by the Democrat-controlled Legislature in 2024. e bill created exemptions to the state open meetings law for written and electronic communications among lawmakers.

SB-157 was passed after a judge ordered Democrats to stop using a secret electronic voting system, also known as quadratic voting, to decide which bills to debate. e judge said the system appeared to be set up to abide by the open meetings law but violated its spirit.

Transparency advocates asked lawmak-

ers to repeal the exemptions before the 2025 session convened, but nding the right coalition of lawmakers has been di cult, because they are basically asking lawmakers to police themselves, Tim Regan-Porter, CEO of the Colorado Press Association, told Newsline.

Regan-Porter added that government transparency and the public’s ability to access government records has been steadily declining over the last several years. Part of the issue is that bad-faith actors have tried to ood public records o ces with requests, he said. e cost of public records — which currently sits at $41.37 per hour — has also become a concern for many media organizations, and has compounded the economic challenges media organizations in Colorado face, Regan-Porter added.

“Sometimes things go unreported because we don’t have access to the data, and we should be making it easier for reporters and the public to be able to know what’s going on,” Regan-Porter said.

Beth Hendrix, executive director of the League of Women Voters, told Newsline that the “right to know” initiative is about more than protecting journalists and the media. It’s also about ensuring voters remain informed about what their elected o cials are doing, and making sure the issues voters care about are being addressed.

“A democracy works best when everyone’s involved, when everyone is voting and discussing and debating,” Hendrix told Newsline.

Multiple bills introduced during the 2025 session would further limit government transparency. For instance, HB251041 sought to exempt student-athlete name, image and likeness agreements from the Colorado Open Records Act before it was amended to apply only to personally identi able information.

Lawmakers have also advanced Senate Bill 25-77, a bill to extend the timeline for responses to open records requests from three days to ve. e bill would also require agencies to accept electronic payments for CORA requests and a breakdown of all costs and fees levied as part of a response. It is sponsored by a bipartisan coalition including Democratic Sen.

Cathy Kipp of Fort Collins and Republican Sen. Janice Rich of Grand Junction as well as Democratic Rep. Michael Carter of Boulder and Republican Rep. Matt Soper of Delta.

Republican lawmakers Lori Garcia Sander of Eaton and Byron Pelton of Sterling introduced House Bill 25-1242, a bill that would undo the open meeting law exemptions that were passed in 2024. However, the bill had no Democratic cosponsors and was assigned to the House State, Civic, Military & Veterans A airs committee, otherwise known as the “kill committee.” e committee on Monday voted 8-3 against the bill, and it was postponed inde nitely.

Open records bill

e bills introduced by Kipp, Garcia Sander, and Pelton had their rst hearing Monday. During the hearing, Soper said SB-77 seeks to clean up a couple of provisions in CORA that are di cult for smaller public agencies to abide by. He said small organizations like the Delta County Memorial Hospital District — the board of which Soper sits on — often cannot respond to records requests within three days. Also, it also clari es the procedure for responding to requests when an agency records custodian is out of the o ce.

Carter said he does not intend for SB77 to be used to attack legitimate records requests from the news media and Colorado citizens. Soper added that the bill treats news media separate from requesters using the information for “pecuniary gain,” because records requests from news media tend to be limited in scope and easier to respond to.

People opposed to the bill pushed back against SB-77’s carve-out for news media organizations, arguing that it discourages citizen journalists from submitting records requests. Cory Gaines, who writes a Substack blog called the Colorado Accountability Project, added that it makes some bad assumptions about the responsiveness of records custodians.

“I shouldn’t be treated as a second-class requester when my taxes pay the bills in this state,” Gaines said.

Heather Stau er, Colorado Municipal League legislative advocacy man-

ager, argued that SB-77 should treat all requesting entities the same, meaning there should be no carve-out for the news media. Stau er added that the bill would provide some “much needed exibility” to governments to respond to records requests. SB-77 was amended to clarify when custodians can deny records requests, and it passed the committee by a vote of 8-3. It will be heard next by the full House.

Open meeting law changes

Garcia Sander said HB-1242 was needed because lawmakers adopted exemptions for themselves to the state’s open meeting law in 2024. She cited examples of how the law has been misused to shield lawmakers from scrutiny like when journalists with e Colorado Sun were not allowed to attend a virtual caucus meeting and debates over property taxes before last year’s special session.

“ is is our chance to restore public trust,” Garcia Sander said. “Transparency is not a Republican or Democrat issue.”

Lawmakers on the committee argued that the bill could make their jobs more di cult. Democratic Rep. Chad Cli ord argued that the 2024 open meeting law revisions allowed lawmakers to have private conversations that are similar to executive sessions that local governments can have. He added that he “has never seen something as open” as Colorado’s 120-day legislative session.

Democratic Rep. Cecelia Espenoza of Denver said the private conversations can be used to compromise on issues.

Caldera said the objections raised were “non-issues.” He added that the bill is not designed to limit private conversations between lawmakers. It is intended to ensure that meetings between lawmakers that are subject to the open meeting law remain open to the public.

“ e public is begging for transparency and accountability,” Republican Rep. Brandi Bradley of Littleton said. “I don’t love getting CORA requests, but it holds me accountable. It keeps me on my toes.” is story is from Colorado Newsline. Used by permission. For more, and to support the news organization, visit coloradonewsline.com.

O say can you seer?

CONIFER – ere he was, minding his own business, when an unsigned text appeared on his phone requesting the number of a competent Tarot reader. Not knowing any competent Tarot readers, he ignored the message and moved on with his life. But then, out of the blue, the anonymous inquirer struck again, asking if he is, in fact, a card-carrying psychic. He isn’t, and once again ignored the question in the hopes his tormentor would interpret silence as answer enough. ey didn’t, and the third time they texted he replied in spades, denouncing the mysterious texter as “a (freaking) idiot” and promising legal action if they contacted him a fourth time. Perhaps accidentally counting the third time twice, he then took legal action, turning screen-shots of the queries over to JCSO and asking o cers to formally pull the plug.

Deputies telephoned the Tarot-seeking texter, who turned out to be a former Tarot reader herself, having dealt the Deck of Destiny at the Colorado Renaissance Festival. Two years ago, she explained to deputies, she’d received a

call from a Tarot-reading Romeo who used the complainant’s phone number to request a date. She’d actually dated the fellow, although very brie y, and it was only recently that she’d thought of him again when a series of “odd” items began appearing on her doorstep. Believing her long-ago lover might be behind the kooky collection, she’d been texting his number hoping to con rm her suspicion and persuade him to knock it o . She agreed to stop texting the complainant, and deputies foresee no more trouble between them.

The most dangerous game

EVERGREEN – Returning from a productive visit to the greengrocer, the happy homeowner somehow fell afoul of a delicate ower in a “dark, four-door Jeep” who followed him to his residence in order to sing “Why don’t you learn to drive?” out of her driver-side window. Not one to let a challenge to his motoring skills go unanswered, Happy leapt back into his car and sped o in hot pursuit, chasing his critic down Mountain Willow and nally bringing her to heel at an intersection where he intended to

“ask her what her problem was.”

An opponent as wily as she is willowy, Jeep evaded the one-car blockade, in the process scraping his driver-side door with her driver-side bumper before eeing up Mountain Cedar. Happy went hunting again, but by the time he’d managed to get turned around Jeep was nothing more than an unpleasant memory with silky brown tresses and an unsightly cream-colored smudge on his red Saturn. Unable to pick up Jeep’s fading scent, deputies bagged the case.

Princess Party-Pooper

EVERGREEN – Daddy and Mommy invited their all-grown-up Little Princess over to celebrate her birthday. Princess showed up to her party an hour late and immediately went all Krakatoa when Daddy and Mommy told her they weren’t going to take her shopping for brand-new ski gear. Daddy and Mommy patiently explained to Princess that they’d decided to rent any equipment the family would need for Princess’s birthday ski weekend, on account of Princess’s unfortunate habit of quietly liquidating gently-used gifts

CANDIDATES

Wildland Division

“When I moved here from Texas, I didn’t understand the wild re risk in the areas. Over the three years I’ve been an ambassador, I’ve gained a solid understanding of the wild re risk, and the vital role Elk Creek plays not only in traditional wild re and EMS, but also working on mitigation and wild re preparedness on top of that.”

“Supporting my community and the districts by volunteering in that program has really become my passion. I view this as the next step in my commitment to this community. Facilitating collaboration and successful outcomes in complex changing environments will be the most signi cant asset I bring from my career.”

ON UNIFICATION

“I think uni cation is in the best interest of the community and the whole area. I really think this election is about the

safety and resilience of Conifer. e volunteers, the career re ghters, all the personnel from Elk Creek have said we need more resources to do our jobs. Uni cation is the way for us to go about doing that. I see uni cation as the way to address the challenges, evolve and keep our district strong so we can have that safe and resilient community that we’re all looking for.”

OTHER CONCERNS

“We have to have a nancially strong re protection district so they can provide us the services we expect, and for the health and well-being of the rst responders. Being able to address wild re risk is critical here.”

“One of the biggest challenges we have now is all the uncertainty due to these legal lings that are preventing Elk Creek from moving forward. ere’s a lot of budget uncertainty and mounting legal fees.”

Kathleen Noonan BACKGROUND

• Conifer resident since 2018

• Geotechnical engineer

for pennies on the dollar and partying on the proceeds. reatened with fresh eruptions, Daddy and Mommy further reminded Princess about her sketchy boyfriend’s pro igate ways and known antipathy for honest work. Furious, Princess stormed outside to wait for Sketchy to come get her, because it’s Sketchy’s unfortunate habit to never come within a half mile of Daddy’s and Mommy’s house, much less attend a birthday party for his girlfriend at that address. With the party winding down before it had properly begun, Daddy phoned JCSO and suggested they look into Sketchy’s economic activities, not to mention his abysmal treatment of Princess. Deputies looked into both, but didn’t see any place to hang a charge.

• Colorado Professional Fire ghter Foundation board member, former Ken Caryl HOA board member

• Married to retired West Metro reghter

“I have re ghters in my background. I serve on the Colorado Professional Fireghter Foundation board of directors, which provides grants and scholarships to re ghters and their families in their time of need. at and my husband got me aware of all the issues. Fire ghters expose themselves to carcinogens and trauma every day, it’s a job they do willingly. e things they see, even in a small town like Conifer, stick with them.”

“I started attending meetings, following mill levy increases in 2019. After the last election on consolidation, I wanted to get more involved.”“It seemed pretty apparent that getting involved in the board would be the right way to get the re ghters’ and community voices heard.”

ON UNIFICATION

“I’m an engineer. I’m all about facts. My logic-based rationale is that uni cation is

Sheri ’s Calls is intended as a humorous take on some of the incident call records of the Je erson County Sheri ’s O ce for the mountain communities. Names and identifying details have been changed, including the writer’s name, which is a pseudonym. All individuals are innocent until proven guilty.

the answer. e fact that the three re districts thought that was what was best for them to meet the increased wildlife risk and to service the community, and I’ve all read and heard says uni cation seems to be the right way to go.”

“I live on a mountain and we’re one person hiking and throwing out a cigarette from the whole mountain burning down. Volunteerism is on the decline, so you need a balance of … career and volunteer re ghters. It just seems like pooling the resources of the three districts is the way to go.”

OTHER CONCERNS

“One of my biggest areas of focus is on re ghter health and wellness, both mentally and physically. Making sure they have the equipment, the resources, the training and the support they need is very important to me.”

“My goal is to be a link between the re department and the community.”

Some words of encouragement about ... encouragement

T“The Great Gatsby”: Déjà vu all over again

When writing “The Gift for Hope” for “Food for Thought: Essays on Mind and Spirit,” I approached “The Great Gatsby” from the concept of hope. The reason was Jay Gatsby modeled unbounded, albeit irrational, hope.

JERRY FABYANIC

1920s.

oday I want to share an insight for those who are seeking to provide encouragement rather than nd encouragement. I mention this idea because one of the most important things that we can do to help ourselves cope with our struggles is to help others. Truly, looking to grow as an encourager is important for everyone.

WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT

When I was about eight or nine years old, our family was driving somewhere early in the morning. My parents were in the front seat, and my sister Karen and I were in the back. While driving down a treelined street, suddenly, two squirrels leapt into the middle of the road, chasing each other, unaware of our car. eir sprint into the lane was so sudden that although Dad tried to slow down, there was no way for him to keep from hitting both squirrels. I remember both the sound of the animals hitting the car and the utterances of angst coming from my father.

I turned around to look out the back window at the squirrels we had just hit and noticed that one of them had gotten up and was limping out of the street. I excitedly told Dad that one of the squirrels was OK and was moving. I knew he was still disturbed by having hit the animals so after a short time, maybe a quarter- to a halfmile of driving, I announced to the car, “look the other squirrel is getting up.” My 6-year-old sister understood there was no physical way I could have seen the squirrel and she said so loud enough for everyone to hear. inking I was both older and wiser, I quietly told her to hush, hoping my tale would help Dad.

My 8-year-old self was lying, trying to bring encouragement, creating a narrative that would make everything OK.

Fifty years later, when I re ect on both that day with my family and the lessons I learned supporting my friends Shane and Summer as they navigated his cancer diagnosis, I see things much di erently. I understand that being an encourager does not mean creating a false narrative for someone. I could not make things better by fabricating a story for Dad or spinning a tale for Shane that did not acknowledge their reality.

I also understand that being an encouragement means, rst and foremost, standing resolutely with the person who needs support. Sometimes, it means being a sounding board or a safe place to share deepest fears without concern that those will be articulated to others. It can mean being a cheerleader, someone who can inspire one more step or can mean acknowledging a di cult reality without falling into a mire of despair. Most of the time, being an encourager is about being consistent, a xed point that a person tossed by life’s waves can count on. It always means being genuine and leaning into our personal strengths to bring support. With age and experience, I now see that most of the time, we cannot make everything OK. But that does not mean we are helpless. Someone providing from their heart, in the most di cult of times, is the encouragement we each need at some moment.

In your struggle do not forget to nd the opportunity to be the encourager.

You’ve got this.

I hope my words encourage you, and that you will share them with those who need support. 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.

Although his deep-seated hope is what Nick Carraway, the story’s narrator, chiefly carries away when he thinks of Gatsby, he has another takeaway: Complete disgust with those that preyed upon him, even though Gatsby represents everything for which Nick has “an unaffected scorn.”

“No,” he says, “Gatsby turned out all right at the end; it was what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and short-winded elations of men.”

“The Great Gatsby” was published in 1925, and its themes and poignant messages are as timely a century later as they were then. Arguably, more so because there has never been a time in American history when the wealth gap has been greater.

We often look at the 1920s—the Roaring Twenties—through the lens of orgiastic partying, bootlegging, and debauchery. In the popular mind, flappers, speakeasies and Al Capone are the images of the decade. That hedonistic rendition, however, is incomplete. They were the excesses of the period, but not the full story by any means.

By depicting that era as a time of hope, F. Scott Fitzgerald captured one aspect of its ethos. The worldwide flu pandemic of 1918—their Covid—along with World War I had come to an end, and America turned inward. Narcissistic isolationism became the zeitgeist as the country retreated back behind her two-ocean moat.

Industry boomed, and the socalled Captains of Industry grew even more fabulously wealthy. They enjoyed nearly unlimited

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

power. As their ideal president, Calvin—Silent Cal—Coolidge succinctly phrased it, “The business of America is business.”

The New York Stock Exchange went on steroids, and get-rich mania spread across the land. It seemed anyone with a dream wanted part of the action, although everyday Americans were pretty much left behind. Cut out of the action is a better way of putting it.

America increasingly becoming urbanized because it was in the cities where jobs—and potential wealth—were along with the nightlife. With a stake having been driven into the heart of the repressive Victorian Age, Americans started to let go. They began to show some skin.

Advances in technology were already changing the mores of American culture. Rapid communication—albeit a snail’s pace compared to today—were connecting Americans from coast to coast and networking them into a monoculture. Hollywood was beginning to rewrite the script of American literary methodology and culture.

But there was also a dark side. Behind the Roaring Twenties veneer, anger seethed. Rabid antiimmigrant fever ran hot. Racial segregation and ethnic dehumanization ruled. The KKK became even more powerful with its tentacles reaching far from its birthplace. Factory workers’ plights grew increasingly deplorable. Resentment, frustration, and disillusionment were becoming more heightened. Something had to give, and it did in October 1929.

There’s considerably more, but it can be plausibly posited the seeds of where we are and who we’ve become were sown in the

It was in that context Fitzgerald wrote “The Great Gatsby.” Although primarily a story of delusional love in a dystopian culture of extreme wealth oblivious to the plight of everyday folks, the story effectively captures the essence of the period through its secondary characters and dialogue. It’s a grim picture. The dark mood is portrayed by the Valley of Ashes, the wasteland that separates the ultra-rich East Eggers from the rest of society. Fitzgerald describes it as a “fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat” and “men move dimly.” It symbolizes the culture’s moral depravity and ordinary peoples’ despair.

It’s a discomfiting, stark, brutally honest portrayal of Jazz Age America.

We’ve come far in cleaning up the literal air we breathe, though in many places, like large cities and rural communities near fracking wells, our once pristine air remains a diabolical health threat. Then there’s the social-politicalcultural pollution and widespread disillusionment.

Near the end of the story, Nick, despite his effort to avoid Tom Buchanan, is accosted by him as he walks down Fifth Avenue. After their terse exchange, Nick concludes he couldn’t forgive or like him because Tom felt entirely justified for the havoc he wreaked. It’s then that Nick drives home the ugly truth of those like Tom and Daisy Buchanan. They smash things and creatures up, he says, retreat back into their money, vast carelessness, or whatever holds them together, and let others clean up the mess they made. One hundred years later, I wonder what story Fitzgerald would write today, given that it seems eerily déjà vu all over again.

Jerry Fabyanic is the author of “Sisyphus Wins” and “Food for Thought: Essays on Mind and Spirit.” He lives in Georgetown.

After being elected to Congress in 2022, Representative Brittany Pettersen hosted her rst in-person town hall this weekend. But did she really?

Town halls are meant to be public events where constituents, regardless of party or viewpoint, are allowed to ask their elected o cial questions. is was not the case.

is event was not open to the public. Guests had to preregister, and not only that, they had to provide ID upon check-in. is procedural element resulted in long lines and wait times as sta struggled to check over 1,500 IDs. Worst of all, the town hall did not begin on time.

Not all constituents were welcome, as my friend and I were asked to leave the venue prior to the start of the town hall. Our infraction? We were holding a sign outside of the event. Speci cally, a giant check. We complied and moved o the property. But why, if this was a public forum, would we be asked to leave for quietly holding a sign?

Although I was asked to leave, I was still able to watch the livestream of the town hall. Former Con-

gressman Ed Perlmutter kicked o the meeting by stating “ is is a private event, this hall has been rented, anyone causing a disturbance will be asked to leave.” He also added “Questions have been submitted in advance.” How is this allowing for an open and honest dialogue?

e town hall did end with a Q&A segment, but as Perlmutter let on, the questions were prescreened. Even if he hadn’t made this declaration, we would have known this to be the case because every single question was a softball and not a single person asked about Pettersen’s current stances or policy. is event came o more as a Democratic Party pep rally than a town hall. At one point, Attorney General Phil Weiser chimed in with Kamala Harris’s failed rally cry of “when we ght we win.” If this wasn’t a campaign event, why are we talking about winning? If Democrats are going to claim they’re “ ghting for democracy”, then they need to lead by example. Start by holding genuine town halls.

Sandie Weathers, Lakewood

Jim Roome

Columnist

Explore the Wonders of Angkor at DMNS

People may have certain perceptions in their mind when they hear the name Angkor Wat or the Khmer Empire that inhabited Cambodia for centuries. Some of those perceptions may be true, but others are the results of limited knowledge and lack of information.

The  Denver Museum of Nature & Science’s  newest temporary exhibition,  “Angkor: The Lost Empire of Cambodia,”  aims to provide greater insight into the fabled empire and what daily life looked like for the people.

COMING ATTRACTIONS

“The name of the exhibit turns a lot of the ideas we may have about the Khmer Empire on its head,” said Dr. Michele Koons, director of Anthropology and curator of Archaeology at the museum. “While French explorers were the ones who made the western world aware of Angkor, it was never lost. It was still used by the Cambodian people for religious and cultural purposes.”

“Angkor: The Lost Empire of Cambodia” runs at the museum, 2001 Colorado Blvd., through Aug. 24. The exhibition is included as part of a general admission ticket.

The exhibit explores all areas of life in the empire, which lasted from the 9th to 15th centuries. Angkor was the capital city of the Khmer Empire and the world-famous Angkor Wat temple complex is located in the city.

According to provided information, visitors will be able to see more than 100 carvings, sacred sculptures and ancient relics, many of which are being seen outside of Cambodia for the first time. Given the history of artifacts being stolen from the country, it’s important to note the exhibit was created in partnership with the Cambodian government.

The museum also worked with members of the local Cambodian community to enrich the exhibition’s offerings.

While the details of and scope of the items on display are breathtaking, there are also interactive components seamlessly built into it, so guests can try some hands-on learning. These include a Bayon Wall Scanner, which allows guests to explore bas-reliefs, revealing scenes of daily life, work and worship in Angkor, and a Lidar Mapping Display, which shows how this cutting-edge technology was used to deepen our understanding of the Khmer.

“These allow guests to see how the city was laid out and provides a picture of the empire’s infrastructure,” Koons said. “They had developments that we still use today, including roads and hospitals and religious facilities.”

Those interested in a visual history lesson shouldn’t miss “Angkor: The Lost Empire of Cambodia,” at the Museum’s Infinity Theatre, which gives a more in-depth story of the empire.

It’s was critical for organizers that the exhibit end with a look at modern Cambodia and the many ongoing efforts to reclaim pieces of their history that have been stolen and sold over the years. It shows that these sites are still vital to the Cambodian people and have always been.

“This is a part of the world that not many think of when they think about the major ancient civilizations,” Koons

said. “Everyone knows about Egypt, but the Khmer Empire is a reminder that there are many important civilizations worth investigating.”

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

Denver Home Show Returns for Another Year of Inspiring Design

The ever-popular  Denver Home Show  is back from Friday, March 21 through Sunday, the 23rd at  National Western Complex , 4655 Humboldt St. in Denver. Show hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.

According to provided information, this year’s lineup features more than 250 experts in kitchens and baths, flooring, windows, cabinetry, home décor and more, making it the perfect place to ask questions and get advice for your spring and summer projects. Craig Conover, star of Bravo’s “Southern Charm” will also be on hand as part of the festivities.

The show offers something for everyone, so get details at www.denverhomeshow.com/.

‘The Putnam County Spelling Bee’ Comes to Northglenn William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin’s perpetual musical favorite,  “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,”  is coming to Northglenn’s  Parsons Theatre , 1. E. Memorial Parkway, thanks to the Phamaly Theatre Company and Northglenn Arts, through Sunday, April 6.

Phamaly is a disability-affirmative company and so they have a few special performances during its run, including a “Relaxed Performance” (similar to sensory-friendly), Access Performances and a Masked Performance. There will also be special guests spellers like Miss Colorado, Denver 7’s Nicole Brady, CPR’s Ryan Warner and Drag Queen Jessica L’Whor.

More information and tickets are available at https://northglennarts. org/programs/northglenn-arts-presents/.

Clarke’s Concert of the Week — Yasmin Williams at Swallow Hill

For some people, it’s difficult to get into instrumental music. But, if you find the right musician, instrumental works can be just as gripping as anything with vocals.  Yasmin Williams  is the right musician. She mixes up a brew of folk, progressive rock and even some jazz, and the end result is absolutely beautiful. Last year she released “Acadia,” and it was one of my favorite albums of the year. I’m certain it will sound beautiful in the spring weather. In support of the album, Williams will be performing at  Swallow Hill Music’s Tuft Theatre , 71 E. Yale Ave. in Denver, at 8 p.m. on Friday, March 21. This will be an evening of masterful music, so get tickets at https:// swallowhillmusic.org/event/yasminwilliams/.

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

Clarke Reader

PEACEWORKS

are throughout the building, in case an abuser nds the home or there is con ict among residents.

“We are community-based advocates, which means we’re con dential,” PeaceWorks executive director Sabrina Fritts said. “We serve people that don’t have (police) reports all the time. Not everybody wants to press charges. e one thing we have to report is child abuse and neglect.”

Despite its purpose, the house is soothing, with big stone replaces, cheerful rugs, comfortable couches, and a child’s room over owing with toys and games. An a ectionate orange tabby named Iris roams the house freely, providing extra comfort for those who stay.

Victims also do not have to be in imminent danger to stay at the shelter, a qualication

PeaceWorks once had but eliminated last year. It allows them to help even more people, including those who are still struggling with self-su ciency.

In a typical year, PeaceWorks houses about 40 people — including some men — but it also helps many more who don’t stay at the shelter with transportation, hotel vouchers and other services. Its 24/7 SafeLine took more than 800 calls in 2024.

“We are more than just that emergency shelter,” Fritts said. “We provide mobile advocacy; we will go where they are to provide safety planning or accompany them to court.”

Domestic violence is the most frequently committed crime, yet the least frequently reported, Fritts said. And it’s an issue that crosses all socio-economic lines.

victims of rape, physical violence or stalking by an intimate partner in the United States, according to the National Domestic Violence Hotline. And nearly 3 in 10 women and 1 in 10 men in the U.S. have experienced rape, physical violence and/ or stalking by a partner and reported it having an e ect on their ability to function . Yet fear and nancial control and dependence make leaving an abuser tough.

murdered by a current or former intimate partner, and of those that do leave 38% become homeless.

It takes an average of seven attempts for a survivor to leave their abuser and stay separated for good, Fritts said.

“First of all, feelings don’t end with that behavior,” she said. “ ere is a psychological and emotional attachment, and they often have a lack of resources. We’re dealing with people who had nancial or iso-

lation abuse. ey don’t have a support system, or access to family funds.”

Victims who do leave typically face an uncertain future.

“When they choose to leave, they’re at their highest lethality risk,” said lead advocate Brenda Nelson. “It takes a lot of bravery to get to that position. What happens after leaving is what’s harder because we prefer what’s known. e walk

A bedroom at PeaceWorks.

PHOTO BY JANE REUTER

PEACEWORKS

on the other side is hard. We are here to help, but the only person that can do it is the survivor.”

Amy, her daughter and her dogs stayed four months at PeaceWorks.

“I needed that time to come down from 12 years of all of that,” she said. “You just can’t turn it o . I needed my brain to disarm itself so it wasn’t so scattered from ght or ight. e place is really peaceful and calming. It gave me a little bit of structure and a reprieve to gure things out.

“ ey gave me the tools to do the job I had to do. I worked really hard, doing paperwork for lawyers, court-ordered parenting classes, resumes. It was so good to do it with someone who’d been through it before. You don’t feel so alone, and you realize you’re not going crazy.”

Years of abuse had taken a physical toll on Amy, and PeaceWorks allowed for that recovery, too.

“By the time I left, my body was fall apart from all the trauma,” she said. “I had hypothyroidism, low testosterone, anxiety and I was prediabetic.

“After I’d been at the shelter for about four months, I went back to the doctor. My thyroid level was normal, and all the symptoms for all the other things had gone away. e brain fog was also gone.”

Amy credits therapy, which she continues to this day, including EMDR, neurofeedback and talk therapy.

PeaceWorks’ advocates have all walked a similar path. All six of the women who work there have experienced some form of domestic violence.

“I was 17 the rst time my boyfriend hit me,” Fritts said. “I was too ashamed to tell

The PeaceWorks includes a play room with plenty of toys for children, who often stay with their parents.

PeaceWorks executive director Sabrina Fritts. PHOTOS COURTESY OF PEACEWORKS

BY BEN DICKSON AND JACOB QUILL

UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO NEWS CORPS

Like most of his coworkers, Chino Dean leaves his University of Colorado maintenance job at 3:30 p.m. After work, however, he puts on a di erent face to excel at what he does in his second life.

Dean is the champion of the 122-pound Muay ai division in Sparta FC. He’s only been training in martial arts for the past eight years and has been an Easton Training Center athlete for the entire time.

While primarily based in Boulder — where he began training in 2016 and started coaching in 2019 — Dean now teaches three classes each week. is has enabled him to branch out to other Easton locations, now guest coaching in Longmont, and planning to do the same at the company’s other gyms in the metro area. In terms of his own training, Dean nds himself mostly in Boulder, but he makes time to train with Easton’s competition team in both the Arvada and Denver locations

once every other week.

“We have a massive amount of people here from all walks of life,” Dean said about the gym “I’ll never run out of things to learn about the world through these people at Easton.”

Starting in Denver in the 1990s as a barely controlled brawl, ultimate ghting and combat sports has grown into a huge business as a mainstream sports league. Training centers like Easton have helped build that next generation of star athletes.

A champion’s journey

Originally, Dean moved to Colorado in search of a change of pace from his life on the East Coast. He had some friends in the area, and was attracted to the idea of leading an active lifestyle. Boulder’s access to a wide range of outdoor activities, as well as the scenery, were the main factors that brought Dean to the area.

Dean grew up in Maryland, and when he arrived in Boulder in 2015, his level of experience in martial arts

consisted of exactly one free karate class.

“It was that little desire that every little boy has to want to be a ninja,” he said with a smile. “A long time ago, I got the chance to try out a karate class but never got the chance to follow through with it.”

Although he had little experience with martial arts training in general, the spark from that one class led him onto Easton’s mat after he noticed a UFC ghter trained there while watching an event on TV.

“Just the fact that I got my foot in the door to see what it was like really lit that spark, which stayed within me for several years,” Dean said.

Dean fell in love with Muay ai when he attended an Easton class for the rst time. Early in his training career, he bought a heavy bag to put in his basement when he couldn’t a ord the Easton membership. As soon as he could, he bought the membership and was in the gym six days a week.

SEE TRAINING CENTER, P15

TRAINING CENTER

Dean grew into a champion Muay ai ghter for his weight class. Muay ai is a style of martial arts that revolves around striking with sts, feet, knees and elbows. However, Dean is interested in the sport’s more subtle aspects.

“Obviously, ghting is what this sport is. When you’re in the ring, it is a ght. But, there is an art aspect to it that the ais obviously created and gracefully shared with us,” Dean said. “It goes a lot into respect, it goes into trying to be calm and relating those things back into everyday life.”

Now 39, Dean’s Muay ai journey has helped to shift his mindset in his general life, even outside of the gym.

“I’ve become a lot more resilient,” Dean said. “It’s made me accept that I may not always get the things I want to in life, and that gives me a better approach.”

Dean treats his Muay ai training as a second job of sorts. Between training for his own ghts, actually competing, and providing coaching for other Easton members, Dean is a familiar face for people in the Easton community.

“Within even a year of me being here, they had already given me so much,” Dean said. “Not just in technique, but in the community. Just being able to give back to them in any way that I can, whether it be teaching them, showing them by example, or just being a good friend for them, that’s what drives me.”

Easton’s start

Dean’s experience at Easton is similar to many of the stories of people who have found a home there. Founded by Amal Easton in 1998, the chain has grown to nine locations around the state.  e community found in the gyms helps to explain how martial arts has seized large segments of the country’s imagination. But that story, once better understood, isn’t merely one of ghts and cage matches. Rather, it’s about respect and self-awareness and a way to think mindfully about life through the lens of those who wish to be enlightened warriors.

Easton trained under the legendary Gracie family in Brazil and started the gym to try and help bring jiu jitsu to the United States.

“ ere were very few jiu jitsu gyms at the time, and I rented out some space in a facility to teach three days a week,” Easton said.

Easton, who has a degree in traditional Chinese medicine, decided that he was more suited to help people as a jiu jitsu instructor as he fell in love with the sport. He grew up in a small New Mexico town and began training in martial arts when he was getting picked on at school.

Easton decided on Colorado as a starting point for his gym because of how many people are active in sports. He is active outside of the gym as well, an avid skier as well as having had a short stint as a surfer. Colorado is known for its culture of individual extreme sports, and Easton knew that it would be a good place for him and his gym to thrive. However, the Easton empire in Colorado today is nearly unrecognizable from its humble beginnings.

“How could you conceive that we would be where we are today?” Easton asked. “I was in King Soopers trying to convince the kid stocking the shelves that he should come and try jiu jitsu. It really was one brick at a time, one student at a time.”

Easton’s original location stands in Boulder. A 10,000-square-foot facility on 32nd Street, it is home to martial arts classes for every age and skill level. Easton believes that the format of martial arts training lends itself to bringing people together, and the story for his gym holds true for that.

“ e community is everything. When most people think about community activities they did, they’d have to go back to high school,” Easton said. “With jiu jitsu, it’s one of the most cohesive groups partly because we have every range of age, socioeconomic diversity, religion and body type.”

While the central location is in Boulder, being in the Denver area means you are never too far from an Easton mat. Satellite locations include facilities in Arvada, Centennial, Lowry, South Denver, the Littleton area, Longmont, Castle Rock and ornton.

Alec Schrum, another Easton ghter, competed in the B-class 142-pound division at the Colorado State Tournament

at the Douglas County Event Center in Castle Rock Feb. 28 to March 2. Early in his career, Schrum has showcased his skills in both jiu jitsu and Muay ai, with plans to transition into mixed martial arts competitions as he continues to grow as a ghter.

Schrum has only been training at Easton since he was a sophomore at CU Boulder. He graduated after the spring of 2024, and already has a few ghts on his record. He is just opening this chapter of his life, but he plans on leaving it open for the future.

“After I’m done competing, I’ll still train. Whether I’m coaching or if it’s just for fun, I’ll be in this for the rest of my life,” Schrum said.

Growing up as a wrestler in Pennsylvania, Schrum knew that he wanted to stay involved in martial arts. As soon as he moved to Colorado, he walked into Easton’s gym and hasn’t looked back.

Combat fighting’s popularity

While Easton’s resume of competition is what he is able to hang his hat on, his new passion stems from being an inspiration to the next generation of martial artists. He has noticed that the children he interacts with in the gym have di erent kinds of role models than those he was accustomed to seeing even just a few years ago.

“Some of those kids are going to get skills and chase that dream, because who they are looking up to now are ghters, not basketball players,” Easton said.

Easton’s Boulder location provides a mixture of the strong community that martial arts can provide and coaching that can compete with the best in the world.

Amid the growing popularity of Muay ai and other martial arts in Colorado, there’s also a rise in high-pro le, unconventional prize ghts on the national stage, such as the recent Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul boxing match streamed on Net ix.

e world of mixed martial arts would not be what it is today without the impact that the state of Colorado had on it.

e premier MMA organization, the Ultimate Fighting Championship, has its roots here in Denver. In 1993, it held its rst event, UFC 1: e Beginning. e event featured ghts with no judges, no weight classes, and no limits on how long ghts could last. When Easton was training in Rio, he remembers watching early MMA ghts at juice bars in the city.

“MMA was also something that had barely just started,” Easton said. “It was hard not to imagine that being a huge thing here someday.”

Easton’s prediction was likely more accurate than he knew at the time. Now, the UFC has become a mainstream sports league. With public eyes nally falling upon the world of combat sports, Colorado’s martial arts scene has begun to grow as well. At the UFC level, bigname athletes like Justin Gaethje and Rose Namajunas train for their ghts in Denver. ere are even UFC athletes who spend time at Easton locations, like Drew Dober and Curtis Blaydes.

“It’s a di erent era, kind of where a kid can grow up and say, like, I want to be Michael Jordan, or I want to be Jon Jones, they can say this is what I want to do, because they’re chasing a sports superstar that they want to be like. And, you know, a lot of that comes with growing the sport,” Easton said.

He pointed out that while some athletes may evolve into lifelong martial artists, others are driven by the pursuit of fame and fortune in a multi-billiondollar industry.

Easton takes pride in the way that he and the other coaches at his gym teach martial arts, providing focus on the lessons that are important outside of training. By emphasizing the skills and morals, Easton hopes to bring the next generation of ghters into the mainstream.

“We take the role of trying to teach values as a big part of our program, not just trying to raise champions,” Easton said. is story was created by students at the University of Colorado-Boulder’s News Corps, where Colorado Community Media is a media partner.

Alec Schrum, who trains at Easton, has competed in both jiu jitsu and Muay Thai since he graduated from the University of Colorado-Boulder.

PHOTO BY JACOB QUILL / CU NEWS CORPS

Chino Dean teaches classes at Easton Training Center in Boulder in November 2024. He also teaches as Easton facilities in Arvada and Denver.

PHOTO FROM VIDEO BY BEN DICKSON

BEST OF THE BEST VOTE NOW THROUGH APRIL 15TH

Senators want answers about money for meals at Fort Carson

BY HAYLEE MAY CPR NEWS

Colorado senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper joined more than 20 other U.S. senators in penning a letter to the Secretary of Defense this month demanding answers about apparent underinvestment in food options for members of the military.

e letter followed an investigation by Military.com that revealed millions of dollars taken from soldiers’ wages for food allowance was spent elsewhere.

“Our national security depends on a strong military. e Department of Defense needs to address the troubling reports of food access issues on military bases and support base leadership to resolve them,” said Hickenlooper in a statement to CPR News. “Our service members, like those stationed at Fort Carson, deserve consistent and high-quality meals.”

e military news organization began its investigation following reports of a lack of food and low food quality at several Army posts across the nation – including at Fort Carson, where soldiers reported receiving meals lacking in nutritional value in 2024. Photos of meals obtained by CPR News showed a soldier being served a meal of lima beans and toast, far below the nutritional value standards set for Army troops.

Each enlisted service member living in the barracks at Fort Carson has a “Basic Allowance for Subsistence” deduction of $460.25 per month, which is meant to pay for their breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. Many troops make less than $30,000 a year as junior enlisted soldiers and do not have access to kitchen equipment in their shared living quarters.

“Senator Bennet believes that service members who dedicate their lives to protecting our country deserve access to high-quality and nutritious meals every day,” Bennet’s o ce said in a statement. “It is inexcusable for our service members to pay hundreds of dollars a month for their meals and then experience food shortages or be served poor-quality food

with no alternatives. Our military readiness is jeopardized if they cannot access the basic nutrition they need.”

According to the Military.com investigation, of the $22 million collected in BAS deductions from troops at the post south of Colorado Springs last year, only $5 million dollars actually went toward food they could access at dining facilities. It is unclear where the unused money was spent.

“ e ndings, which include 2024nancial records from eleven of the largest Army installations, show that more than $151 million of the $225 million in [subsistence funds] collected from servicemembers on these installations was not spent on food costs,” the letter from senators reads. “ at gure does not include the additional garrisons under the Army’s control, nor does it include spending at installations managed by the other military services suggesting the issue may be much more widespread.”

e group of senators want Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to detail how the DOD is making decisions about on-post food service operations, what barriers the military is facing to provide healthy meals to troops, and what his plan is to improve food quality on military bases.

“If a servicemember is losing money from their paycheck because they are being given a meal, it is reasonable for them to expect that funding will be used only to cover the costs of providing it and to ensure it is of the highest possible quality,” the letter reads. “We trust you will move expeditiously to answer our inquiries.”

Most new recruits stationed at Fort Carson are required to spend their rst two to three years in service living in the barracks with up to 8,000 troops housed there at any given time.

A Fort Carson o cial said in December that 4,633 of those recruits are meal card holders who rely on dining facilities.

is story is from CPR News, a nonpro t public broadcaster serving Colorado. Used by permission. For more, and to support Colorado Public Radio, visit cpr.org.

The Army’s Fort Carson is located in Colorado Springs.

PHOTO BY HART VAN DENBURG/CPR NEWS

Bill in legislature seeks to refund child care waitlist fees

BY ANN SCHIMKE CHALKBEAT

Colorado parents may soon be able to recover some of the waitlist or application fees they’ve paid to child care programs if their children don’t land a spot within six months. at’s one of the provisions of a bill that advanced out of the House Health and Human Services committee March 11, clearing its third legislative hurdle this winter. e original version of the bill would have capped waitlist fees at $25 and required child care programs to publicly post tuition and fees, but both components have been watered down since then.

Democratic sponsors of the bill said it will still provide some relief to families who pay hundreds of dollars in waitlist fees, sometimes to a dozen or more child care programs. In order to get the fees back, parents would have to make a written request to the child care programs where their children didn’t get seats. In addition, the programs would be allowed to keep part of the fees families paid — an amount that eventually will be determined by the Colorado Department of Early Childhood. Families that are o ered a spot at a child care center but decline it, would not recoup any of the fees they paid. If the bill becomes law, it will take e ect Jan. 1, 2026.

Rep. Jenny Willford, one of the bill sponsors, described during Tuesday’s hearing the toll that multiple waitlist fees take on families. She said

a friend shared that in her search for child care she’d joined 16 waitlists, with most costing $100 to $200 each.

“ e way that we are nickel and diming families to simply sit and wait and hope that they get a spot is not OK,” she said. “ is is going to save families money, and at a time when it is so expensive to raise kids, every dollar counts.”

Besides the refund provision, the current version of the bill requires child care programs to disclose their tuition and fees when a prospective family requests pricing information, joins the waitlist, enrolls in the program, or when the provider changes the fee schedule. It doesn’t require that tuition and fees be posted publicly.

Changes to the bill came earlier in the legislative process after a number of child care providers pushed back against the original provisions, particularly the $25 waitlist fee cap. Several said their waitlist fees cover a host of expenses, such as marketing costs, technology fees, and sta time used to give tours and call families. Some said they would lose money if the fees were capped.

But shifting from a fee cap to partial refunds for families didn’t satisfy everyone. Some providers said giving refunds still takes administrative time, especially for small child care businesses.

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.

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Parents may soon be able to recover some of the fees they paid to

CANDIDATES

Tom Seymour BACKGROUND

• Conifer resident since 2011

• Semi-retired energy control manager for Mile High eatrical

“My wife and I moved up here from Applewood. It’s beautiful and it’s quiet.”

“Elk Creek has served us for quite a few years, ey came to my house on anksgiving 2023 when my dad passed away. ey were outstanding. I’ve been to a number of board meetings since.”

“We seem to be getting more and more involved in the community and this (running for the board) seems like absolutely the right thing to do. I care very much about Elk Creek. I want to make sure they’re taken care of and property funded.”

“I owned my own business for 18 years. I understand about maintenance and employee retention.”

ON UNIFICATION

“I know the last election on consolidation did not go the way the previous board wanted. I could be convinced otherwise, but I’m frankly not sure that consolidation is truly the solution to the issues they have. I don’t believe it will increase response time. I’m not sure that sharing the funds from Elk Creek with the other departments is in our best interest. As a taxpayer, I’m very concerned about maintaining current mill levies, not increasing them — which would most likely happen if there’s increased costs.”

OTHER CONCERNS

“My reason for running is to make sure we’re being good stewards of the taxpayers’ money. I think there’s a lot of folks out there feeling a pinch right now. I think we need to be cognizant of that. But at the same time, we depend on the folks from

BERGEN PARK CHURCH

Elk Creek very much. So there’s a tradeo there.”

“I’d also like to see some changes in behavior on the board. We’re not presenting a good model to the public and that needs to change.”

Todd Wagner BACKGROUND

• Conifer resident since 1992

• Owner of Altitude Electric

• Former Elk Creek Fire volunteer reghter

“I’m originally from California. I became a ski bum in Breckenridge and fell in love with Colorado. I really love this community, the open space, the camaraderie between neighbors.”

“I’d like to lend my knowledge in running a business, being part of the community and being a part of a re department to the board, I think I have a lot to o er. I really think the citizens need a voice on the board. I personally don’t think it’s 100% that direction right now. It seems like there are a few people that get ahold of the reins and drive it. A lot of the community input doesn’t get heard.”

“I’ve been working in the community for over 20 years. I visit with customers in the area all the time, and I really have a good pulse of how people feel.”

ON UNIFICATION

“It seems the citizens voted one way on consolidation and the department’s going the other. I don’t know all the ins and outs of it. But the citizens of Elk Creek voted to not consolidate.”

OTHER CONCERNS

“If there is a transition, I’d like to see it go in a good direction. I want to see more volunteers. We haven’t pursued volunteers in so many years. ere are a lot of young families (potential volunteers) in the area. I really believe volunteers are the lifeline of a rural re department. It’s what communities are built on.”

PEACEWORKS

Nelson recently celebrated seven years of freedom from her abuser. Today, her long hair is dyed in a rainbow of purple and blue.

“It’s part of my transitioning from domestic violence,” she said. “It’s about learning to not always be the smallest person in the room, to take up space in a way that feels good.”

It’s part of what they teach their clients as well, through group wellness, yoga and other on-site classes.

e cost for its services is not cheap. It costs about $190 a night to house a survivor in the shelter. Grants cover about 70% of its costs. PeaceWorks fundraises yearround to make up the rest.

And PeaceWorks’ advocacy doesn’t end when a client leaves the shelter. ey often stay in touch for years with survivors, particularly those for whom they’ve helped secure housing.

“We’ve invested a lot of money, time and energy getting that family into housing, so we’re protecting our investment by continuing to support them,” Fritts said. “It’s been a lifesaver for those individuals to continue that connection.”

Amy, who now lives with her daughter in their own place, couldn’t agree more.

“Without PeaceWorks, I don’t know where we’d be,” she said. “ ey helped us nd housing. It took me about four years to trust anybody, but we have a lot of new friends — people we feel safe around. I’m working and my daughter is at the head of her class in school. I’m also in school, doing design work, what I’ve always wanted to do and wasn’t allowed to.

“PeaceWorks has gotten us to a place where we can function again. It’s a very holistic shelter. ere’s the legal and court issues they helped with. But they also make sure they take care of your heart and your mind.”

For those who may need help or simply an ear, PeaceWorks 24/7 SafeLine number is (303) 838-8181

WORSHIP DIRECTORY

Bergen Park Church is a group of regular people who strive to improve ourselves and our community by studying the Bible and sharing our lives with each other. On Sunday mornings you can expect contemporary live music, Children’s Ministry that seeks to love and care for your kids, teaching from the Bible, and a community of real people who are imperfect, but seek to honor God in their lives. We hope to welcome you soon to either our 9:00AM or 10:30AM Sunday service. Search Bergen Park Church on YouTube for Livestream service at 9:00am 31919 Rocky Village Dr. 303-674-5484 info@bergenparkchurch.org / www.BergenParkChurch.org

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE CHURCH SERVICES

28244 Harebell Lane

Sunday Service & Sunday School: 10 a.m.

Wednesday evening: 7p.m: (Zoom only Nov.1st-Mar. 31st.)

Visit: www.christianscienceevergreen.com for more information and ZOOM link

Reading Room: 4602 Plettner Lane 303-674-5296

OPEN: TUES-SAT 12 p.m.-3 p.m.

CHURCH OF THE HILLS PRESBYTERIAN (USA)

Serving the mountain community from the heart of Evergreen Worship 10:00 a.m.

Reverend Richard Aylor

O ce Hours: Tu-Thur 9:00 - 4:00; Fri 9:00 - noon Bu alo Park Road and Hwy 73 www.churchofthehills.com

CHURCH OF THE TRANSFIGURATION EPISCOPAL

In-Church: Sunday Communion Quiet Service 8:00 am & with Music 10:15 am 10:15 am only Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86017266569

In-Meadow: 2nd Sunday of the month at 9:30 a.m. --June through September— 27640 Highway 74 – ¼ mile east of downtown Evergreen at the Historic Bell Tower www.transfigurationevergreen.org

CONGREGATION BETH EVERGREEN (SYNAGOGUE)

Reconstructionist Synagogue

Rabbi Jamie Arnold www.BethEvergreen.org / (303) 670-4294 2981 Bergen Peak Drive (behind Life Care)

DEER PARK UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

Reverend Dr. Knut Heim, pastor, Sunday Worship 10 AM

Located one mile west of Pine Junction just o Rt. 285 966 Rim Rock Road, Bailey (303) 838-6759 deerparkumc.org

All are welcome to our open/inclusive congregation!

EVERGREEN LUTHERAN CHURCH 5980 Highway 73 + 303-674-4654

Rev. Terry Schjang

Join us for worship in person or on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/EvergreenLutheranChurch Sunday Worship held at 9am. www.evergreenlutheran.org + All Are Welcome!

LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY CHURCH – EPC 1036 El Rancho Rd, Evergreen – (303) 526-9287 www.lomcc.org – o ce@lomcc.org

Sunday Worship 10:00 a.m., with communion every Sunday “Real Church In An UnReal World”

A community empowered by the Holy Spirit which seeks authentic relationships with God and others to share the good news of Jesus with Evergreen, the Front Range and the world. Come as you are, all are welcome!

PLATTE CANYON COMMUNITY CHURCH

Located: 4954 County Road 64 in Bailey.

O ce hours MWF 8am-1pm 303-838-4409, Worship & Children’s Church at 10am

Small group studies for all ages at 9am

Transitional Pastor: Mark Chadwick

Youth Pastor: Jay Vonesh

Other activities: Youth groups, Men’s/Women’s ministries, Bible studies, VBS, MOPS, Cub/Boy Scouts.

ROCKLAND COMMUNITY CHURCH

“Connecting all generations to Jesus”

Please check our website, www.Rockland.church, for updated service times ¼ mile north of I-70 at exit 254 17 S Mt. Vernon Country Club Rd., Golden, CO 80401 303-526-0668

SHEPHERD OF THE ROCKIES LUTHERAN CHURCH Missouri Synod. 106 Rosalie Road, Bailey, CO 303-838-2161 Pastor John Graham Sunday Worship Service; 9 a.m., Fellowship Time; 10:15 a.m., Sunday School & Bible Class; 10:45 a.m. www.shepherdoftherockies.org

UNITED METHODIST CHURCH OF EVERGREEN Rev. Sarah Clark • 303.674.4810

PeaceWorks does yoga and group therapy in the Bailey home that serves as a domestic violence shelter.

PHOTO BY JANE REUTER

CROWSSUPDRO ELZZ Crossword

1. GENERAL KNOWLEDGE: Who was Time Magazine’s First Man of the Year in 1927?

2. MOVIES: Who was the male lead in the lm “Risky Business”?

3. LITERATURE: In which novel does the character of Emma Woodhouse appear?

4. LANGUAGE: What does the acronym “sonar” stand for?

5. TELEVISION: What was the name of the Dukes’ car on the show “ e Dukes of Hazzard”?

6. HISTORY: e rst atomic submarine was built in which decade?

7. GEOGRAPHY: What modern-day country is in the area known in ancient times as Lusitania?

8. MEDICINE: What disease is caused by a de ciency of Vitamin A?

TrIVIa

9. U.S. PRESIDENTS: Which U.S. president’s image appeared on a dollar coin in 1971?

10. MATH: What does the symbol “r” stand for in geometry?

Answers

1. Aviator Charles Lindbergh.

2. Tom Cruise.

3. “Emma” by Jane Austen.

4. Sound navigation and ranging.

5. e General Lee.

6. 1950s.

7. Portugal.

8. Night blindness.

9. Dwight D. Eisenhower.

10. Radius.

(c) 2025 King Features Synd., Inc.

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PUBLIC NOTICES

Legals

City and

www.jeffco.us/events. Please note that citizens who would like to comment during the liquor hearing must be in person or access the hearing through the WebEx computer platform and use the chat feature to let the host know you would like to make a public comment. The name(s)

Jefferson County Metropolitan District, in Jefferson County, Colorado, that at the close of business on the sixty-third (63rd) day before the election or thereafter there were not more candidates for Director than offices to be filled, including candidates filing affidavits of intent to be write-in candidates; therefore, the election to be held on May 6, 2025, is hereby cancelled.

The following candidates are declared elected:

J.K. Garrod: 4 Year Term

Elizabeth Adams: 4 Year Term

Kenneth E. Frick: 2 Year Term

Kevin Grieve: 2 Year Term

WEST JEFFERSON COUNTY

METROPOLITAN DISTRICT

By: /s/ Jennifer Guy

Designated Election Official

Legal Notice No. CAN 1880

First Publication: March 20, 2025

Last Publication: March 20, 2025

Publisher: Canyon Courier Public Notice

NOTICE OF CANCELLATION OF REGULAR ELECTION BY THE DESIGNATED ELECTION OFFICIAL FOR THE BUFFALO CREEK WATER DISTRICT

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN by the Buffalo Creek Water District, Jefferson County, Colorado, that at the close of business on the sixty-third (63rd) day before the election or thereafter there were not more candidates for Director than offices to be filled, including candidates filing affidavits of intent to be writein candidates; therefore, the election to be held on May 6, 2025, is hereby cancelled.

The following candidates are declared elected:

Tim Krouse: Four year term to 2029

Vacancy: Four year term to 2029

Vacancy: Four year term to 2029

BUFFALO CREEK WATER DISTRICT

By: /s/ Micki L. Mills

Designated Election Official

Legal Notice No. CAN 1883

First Publication: March 20, 2025

Last Publication: March 20, 2025

Publisher: Canyon Courier

Public Notice

NOTICE OF CANCELLATION OF REGULAR ELECTIONS BY THE DESIGNATED ELECTION OFFICIAL

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN by the RRC Metropolitan District Nos. 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6, Jefferson County, Colorado, that at the close of business on the sixty-third day before the elections there were not more candidates for director than offices to be filled, including candidates filing affidavits of intent to be write-in candidates; therefore, the elections to be held on May 6, 2025 are hereby canceled pursuant to Section 1-13.5-513, C.R.S.

The following candidates are declared elected for RRC Metropolitan District No. 1:

Kent Pedersenuntil the second regular election (May 8, 2029) Sean Campbelluntil the second regular election (May 8, 2029)

The following candidates are declared elected for RRC Metropolitan District No. 2:

Timothy Hughes until the second regular election (May 8, 2029)

Deven O’Rourke until the second regular election (May 8, 2029)

The following candidates are declared elected for RRC Metropolitan District Nos. 4, 5 and 6:

IS HEREBY GIVEN by the West

Alexander Rayuntil the second regular election (May 8, 2029) Jennifer Thornbloom until the second regular election (May 8, 2029)

DATED: March 5, 2025 /s/ LISA JACOBY

Designated Election Official for the RRC Metropolitan District Nos. 1 and 2 /s/ CRAIG SORENSEN

Designated Election Official for the RRC Metropolitan District Nos. 4, 5 and 6

c/o McGeady Becher Cortese Williams P.C.

450 E. 17th Avenue, Suite 400 Denver, CO 80203-1254

Phone: 303-592-4380

Legal Notice No. CAN 1885

First Publication: March 20, 2025

Last Publication: March 20, 2025

Publisher: Canyon Courier

Public Notice

NOTICE OF CANCELLATION OF REGULAR ELECTION BY THE DESIGNATED ELECTION OFFICIAL FOR THE CONIFER FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN by the Conifer

Fire Protection District, Douglas County, Colorado, that at the close of business on March 4, 2025, there were not more candidates for Director than offices to be filled, including candidates filing affidavits of intent to be write-in candidates; therefore, the election to be held on May 6, 2025, is hereby cancelled.

The following candidates are declared elected:

Steven L. Brown: Four Year Term

Ginny (Mary) Riley: Four Year Term

Natalie Arnett: Four Year Term

CONIFER FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT

By: /s/ Toni McManus,

Designated Election Official

Legal Notice No. CAN 1884

First Publication: March 20, 2025

Last Publication: March 20, 2025

Publisher: Canyon Courier

Public Notice

NOTICE OF CANCELLATION OF REGULAR ELECTION BY THE DESIGNATED ELECTION OFFICIAL

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN by the Dakota Ridge Metropolitan District, Jefferson County, Colorado, that at the close of business on the sixty-third day before the election there were not more candidates for director than offices to be filled, including candidates filing affidavits of intent to be write-in candidates; therefore, the election to be held on May 6, 2025, is hereby canceled pursuant to Section 1-13.5-513, C.R.S.

The following candidates are declared elected:

Eric Harris: until the next regular election (May 4, 2027)

Carlagene Harris: until the next regular election (May 4, 2027)

Joshua Botts: until the second regular election (May 8, 2029)

Vacant: until the second regular election (May 8, 2029)

DATED: March 10, 2025

/s/ Lisa Jacoby

Designated Election Official for the Dakota Ridge Metropolitan District

c/o McGeady Becher Cortese Williams

P.C. 450 E. 17th Avenue, Suite 400 Denver, Colorado 80203-1254

Phone: 303-592-4380

Legal Notice No. CAN 1886 First Publication: March 20, 2025

Last Publication: March 20, 2025

Publisher: Canyon Courier

Bids and Settlements

Public Notice

NOTICE OF FINAL SETTLEMENT

JEFFERSON COUNTY, STATE OF COLORADO

Pursuant to C.R.S. Section 38-26-107, notice is hereby given that on the 8th day of April 2025 final settlement will be made by the County of Jefferson, State of Colorado to: FRPHI HYDRONICS LLC. 2406 W 11TH ST PUEBLO, CO 81003

hereinafter called the “Contractor”, for and on account of the contract for the Installation of Refurbish AHU 2 and Replace Heat Exchanger. Replacement project in Jefferson County, CO.

1. Any person, co-partnership, association or corporation who has an unpaid claim against the said project, for or on account of the furnishing of labor, materials, team hire, sustenance, provisions, provender or other supplies used or consumed by such Contractor or any of said work, may at any time up to and including said time of such final settlement, file a verified statement of the amount due and unpaid on account of such claim.

2.All such claims shall be filed with Heather Frizzell, Director of Finance Jefferson County Colorado, 100 Jefferson County Parkway, Golden CO 80419-4560.

3.Failure on the part of a creditor to file such statement prior to such final settlement will relieve the County of Jefferson, State of Colorado, from any and all liability for such claim.

County of Jefferson, State of Colorado Andy Kerr, Chairman Board of County Commissioners

Legal Notice No. CAN 1889

First Publication: March 20, 2025

Last Publication: March 27, 2025 Publisher: Canyon Courier Public Notice

NOTICE OF FINAL SETTLEMENT

JEFFERSON COUNTY, STATE OF COLORADO

Pursuant to C.R.S. Section 38-26-107, notice is hereby given that on the 8th day of April 2025 final settlement will be made by the County of Jefferson, State of Colorado to: RAPID FIRE PROTECTION INC. 1530 SAMCO RD RAPID CITY, SD 57702

hereinafter called the “Contractor”, for and on account of the contract for the Installation of Nitrogen Inerting System for the CAB Fire Suppression System project in Jefferson County, CO.

1. Any person, co-partnership, association or corporation who has an unpaid claim against the said project, for or on account of the furnishing of labor, materials, team hire, sustenance, provisions, provender or other supplies used or consumed by such Contractor or any of said work, may at any time up to and including said time of such final settlement, file a verified statement of the amount due and unpaid on account of such claim.

2.All such claims shall be filed with Heather Frizzell, Director of Finance Jefferson County Colorado, 100 Jefferson County Parkway, Golden CO 80419-4560.

3.Failure on the part of a creditor to file such statement prior to such final settlement will relieve the County of Jefferson, State of Colorado, from any and all liability for such claim.

County of Jefferson, State of Colorado Andy Kerr, Chairman Board of County Commissioners

Legal Notice No. CAN 1878

First Publication: March 20, 2025

Last Publication: March 27, 2025

Publisher: Canyon Courier Public Notice

ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS

General Notice Clear Creek County, Colorado (Owner) is requesting Bids for the construction of the following Project: CP 25-01 Sewer Force

the

Submittal Folder assigned by the County to each registered prospective Bidder. Bids received by the submittal deadline will be publicly opened and read at 2:30 PM local time via Zoom. A Zoom link can be found in the Bidding Documents.

The Project includes the following Work: Installation of approximately 790 LF of 4-inch HDPE SDR 11 force main pipe within the County

for

Bids

Obtaining the Bidding Documents Information and Bidding Documents for the Project can be found at the following designated website: https://www.clearcreekcounty.us/bids.aspx

Prospective Bidders must register as a plan holder via email to receive a link to the Prospective Bidder Submittal Folder, Project Construction Plans and Specifications, and invitations to the mandatory pre-bid conference and bid opening: Email scanada@clearcreekcounty.us; subject line CP 25-01 RFB.

Prospective Bidders are urged to sign up to receive a text message or email when new Bidding Documents are periodically uploaded to the designated website such as addenda, reports, and other information relevant to submitting a Bid for the Project by clicking “Sign up” at the top of the webpage.

All official notifications, addenda, and other Bidding Documents will be offered only through the designated website and the Prospective Bidder Submittal Folder. Neither Owner nor Engineer will be responsible for Bidding Documents, including addenda, if any, obtained from sources other than the designated website or Prospective Bidder Submittal Folder.

Pre-bid Conference

A mandatory pre-bid conference for the Project will be held on Wednesday, March 26, 2025 at 1:00 PM via Zoom. A link to the pre-bid conference will be provided at the time of Prospective Bidder registration.

Instructions to Bidders

For all further requirements regarding bid submittal, qualifications, procedures, and contract award, refer to the Instructions to Bidders that are included in the Bidding Documents.

This Advertisement is issued by: George Marlin, Chair Board of County Commissioners

Legal Notice No. CAN 1874 First Publication: March 13, 2025 Last Publication: March 20, 2025 Publisher: Canyon Courier Public Notice