Canyon Courier May 1, 2025

change in turnout and response times

BY JANE REUTER JREUTER@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

With the addition of six paid re ghters, Evergreen Fire/Rescue’s response time to calls has decreased by 9.5 minutes over two comparative months.

“It’s huge,” EFR Chief Mike Weege said. “And it’s just the beginning. We want to do the same thing at Station 1 when we can.”

re ghters took their rst shifts on Oct. 27. e agency recently compared turnout times from the last two months of 2023 to the last two months of 2024 — just after the paid crew went on duty — and saw a dramatic interval decrease.

“If you’re reducing turnout time by nine minutes, you’re reducing response time by nine minutes,” Weege said.

Two of the six paid re ghters are always on call at EFR’s Station 2 on Bergen Parkway.

Historic Elk Creek issues raise concerns about upcoming election

Former

chiefs, others say two candidates were involved in 2011 dispute

BY JANE REUTER

A dispute among Elk Creek Fire leadership from nearly 15 years ago has become a subject of contention in the upcoming May 6 board election, with two former chiefs and others expressing concern that if either Michael Bartlett and Todd Wagner are elected, it might mark a return to a more divisive time.

Bartlett would not comment on his involvement with the incidents in 2011, and Wagner said the characterizations of his involvement then aren’t accurate.

station as the paid crew does.

When the Je com dispatcher processes and sends the call to EFR, the goal is to be out the door in 90 seconds.

EFR’s newly hired six paid

Turnout time is the time that elapses between a 911 call coming into the Je erson County Communications Center and a re truck rolling out the door.

In late 2023, the time period used for comparison, EFR was using its neighborhood response. at requires volunteers to come to the station from their homes or wherever they may be instead of responding directly from the

“ at’s 90 seconds or less to stop what you’re doing — whether it’s training, eating, showering, getting out of bed — get your gear on, grab whatever tools you’re going to need, get in the truck, and go,” said Harrison Leahy, a

Bartlett and Wagner were part of the organization during a disruptive series of events in 2011 and surrounding years. Bartlett was then Elk Creek’s board treasurer. He and several other board members appeared as witnesses on Dolan’s behalf in a 2011 hearing to deter-

members

An engine leaves EFR’s Station 2 for a call.

COURTESY EVERGREEN FIRE/RESCUE

Todd Wagner

Michael Barlett

Evergreen Fire/Rescue candidates forum hits hot topics

Candidates debate variety of issues, one apologizes for drunken driving charges

BY JANE REUTER JREUTER@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

A spicy Evergreen Fire/Rescue candidates forum was accented by cross-accusations on volunteer numbers, response times and station funding. Candidate Edgar Mills also apologized for an October 2024 driving under the in uence charge, saying he hasn’t had a drink since that time.

Six candidates are running for the board and ve participated in the forum at EFR’s administration building. Kelly Guthner had a work con ict and could not attend. Evergreen Chamber of Commerce president Nancy Judge moderated the event. Incumbents Stacey Ballinger, Julie Ann Courim and Ryan Stack are running as a slate, as are candidates Byrne McKenna, Ed Mills and Guthner. McKenna, Mills and Guthner have all served as EFR volunteer re ghters.

Mills apologizes for DUI

When Judge asked candidates how they would embrace integrity and personal accountability as board members, Mills spoke up about his recent past. He was charged with driving under the in uence, possession of a controlled substance and rearms possession while intoxicated on Oct. 2.

“I feel like this is directly at me,” said Mills, a former counter terrorism specialist with several organizations. “Most of my life, I’ve lived with a high level of integrity. But I will say that with my service in the military, I’ve seen a lot of tragedy and death. Over time, that really took a toll on me. I lost my very best friend on the highway one night. I was the rst one on scene. I can’t get those images out of my head.

“When I retired from the re department, I made a mistake, and it led to me getting a DUI. I have taken full responsibility for the actions. I haven’t had a drink since. It’s given me a lot of clarity and made me remember who I am. I do apologize for my actions and take full responsibility.”

Because of his experiences, Mills said he wants to ensure re ghters’ mental health needs are a priority.

Debate on volunteerism

A question about the candidates’ support of EFR’s 2024 master plan triggered some responses about volunteerism. e plan included a recommendation to establish a mixed model of paid and volunteer re ghters, and recruit more volunteers. EFR has since hired six re ghters and revamped its volunteer program.

“I see some very signi cant shortfalls in this master plan and how you execute,” McKenna said. “For one thing, it fails to recognize that we are a huge 120-square mile rural mountain district with very hard-to-reach places. It doesn’t recognize sta ng plans for those outlying stations and sta ng plans for volunteer responders.”

McKenna held up a volunteer roster and said EFR had retained 15% of its volunteers.

“ at’s an F,” he said. “ ere were 19 o cers on this list who had an average 12.5-year tenure. And they’ve left the organization. Do they sound like people who wanted to leave the organization? Or

teer program is working.

“Statistics show we have had an increase of volunteer re ghters by 5.33%,” she said. “If we include the number of cadets in ( re) academy in 2022 compared to 2025, that increase goes to 18.7%. If we add in the med techs, that goes to a 36.21% increase.”

e issue came up repeatedly during the evening, emerging after a question aboutEFR’s improved response times and plans to enhance them even further.

“You have paid re ghters at Bergen Park, but 80-90% of the district … is far away,” McKenna said. “We need a twopronged approach. I am not against a centralized response. (But) we can’t wait for 45 minutes for a response from Bergen Parkway to rescue those babies at Outdoor Lab.”

Outdoor Lab is a Je co Schools facility on Evans Ranch Road.

“We can’t have one to sacri ce the other,” he said. “And what we’ve done is exactly that.”

“I’ve heard our position characterized as we’re going to get rid of (the paid reghters),” Mills said. “ at’s not true. With our slate, there’s no intention to dial anything back.

“What we do believe in though is the volunteer response. We have a passion to make sure we are looking at all the neighborhoods. We want to try to build that volunteer force back to the glory years so they can still respond in their communities.”

McKenna also spoke during a June 2024 EFR hearing about hiring paid re ghters, shortly after he resigned as a volunteer. He asked the agency then to rebuild its neighborhood response model.

Courim noted the changes in response times with the addition of the paid reghters. Recent data shows the time it takes to roll an engine out the door has decreased by more than 9 minutes.

“ at’s an enormous change and it makes the di erence sometimes between life and death,” she said, adding the volunteer response coupled with the paid

response makes the formula work.

Courim also noted that McKenna’s roster was “before we were in our (board) seats.”

“Our (volunteer) increase as far as overall response … we’re up 29%,” she said. “We’re up in our retention 38%. We are not losing our experienced re ghters; we are gaining. When we started it was 45. We’re at 55 who are fully trained and active. And with academy, we’re at 79.”

Support of chief

Judge also asked if the candidates would retain Chief Mike Weege.

During the June 2024 hearing on hiring paid re ghters, McKenna suggested Weege would not be able to successfully integrate paid and volunteer re ghters and that new leadership was needed.

When asked directly at the forum about his support of Weege, he said he was “not predisposed to that decision.”

“I don’t think anybody can be predisposed to a management decision,” he said. “I have known Mike Weege since 2011. We served side-by-side before he became the chief. I haven’t had the opportunity to be with Mike Weege and discuss his current plans.”

e other candidates said they support-

ed Weege.

“Chief Weege has a very thorough handle on the department as a whole,” Ballinger said. “Each division… is strong right now. ere have been concerns in the past with Mike Weege. I don’t have those concerns at the moment.”

As a newly elected board member, Ballinger said she was part of a thorough process to address a variety of organizational concerns, including volunteer retention.

“We addressed every concern that was brought before our board,” she said. “And not one had to do with Mike.”

“Chief Weege has always been willing to work with us, always saying, let me understand what you’re asking and how can I do better,” Courim said. “He has always had that mindset of what is best for his re ghters and this community.

“ e areas where we had concerns walking in the door three years ago were shored up, and what we thought was an issue didn’t turn out to be an issue. Chief Weege is integral to the success of this department. He has the right priorities.” Stack, who expressed the same support, said he’s also spoken with Weege and was impressed by what he heard.

Channel 7, including reporter Tony Kovaleski, was on hand for the EFR candidates forum.

PHOTOS BY JANE REUTER

Attendees at the April 17 EFR candidates forum, held at the district’s Bergen Park headquarters.

Evergreen Fire/Rescue candidate has no-trespass order for fire district properties

Edgar Mills was banned after 2024 arrest, actions concerned personnel

BY JANE REUTER JREUTER@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Evergreen Fire/Rescue board candidate Edgar Mills is banned from EFR property — a decision made by the re district’s leaders on Oct. 15, 2024 after actions he took made re personnel at Station 2 feel “harassed or uneasy,” according to EFR Chief Mike Weege.

e no-trespass notice was signed Oct. 15, 2024 and is e ective for a year.  Mills, Byrne McKenna and Kelly Guthner, all former EFR volunteers, are running as a slate May 6 election. Incumbents Stacey Ballinger, Julie Ann Courim and newcomer Ryan Stack are also running as a slate.

A former EFR deputy chief who later

RESPONSE TIMES

longtime EFR volunteer who was hired in 2024 as one of the paid re ghters. “ e en route time (from station to scene of the incident) can vary drastically. Road conditions increase the time it takes to get apparatus there.

“ at’s the beauty of having a neighborhood response. A volunteer can get on scene beforehand and, if it’s a medical, start doing a patient assessment. It’s huge that they have the ability to do that for those times.”

became captain, Mills was charged with driving under the in uence, possession of a controlled substance and rearms possession while intoxicated on Oct. 2. He apologized for his actions during the April 17 candidates’ forum.

Weege said Mills chose to resign in July 2024 in “a mutually agreed upon separation.”

Weege said EFR leaders made an exception for the candidates’ forum, allowing Mills to be on site for it.

Weege said the actions that led to the no-trespass order occurred after Mills resigned from EFR.

“Several personnel from within the organization had gotten a hold of me that were feeling either harassed or uneasy about being at Station 2 when Ed was

Neighborhood volunteers go directly to the incident scene from their home or other location, and meet the re truck there.

“Our neighborhood responders are bunked up and ready to go,” Weege said. “ en the engine arrives with the tools they need to go to work.”

EFR has used this same system with its emergency medical responders for years. And those minutes can be critical in a re just as they are for a medical call.

“Fifty years ago, when things were made out of natural bers and hardwoods, it would take 45 minutes from the beginning of a re for it to turn into a full-room and contents re,” Weege said. “Now it’s down to less than 10 minutes, with all the plastics

no longer with us,” Weege said. “He was doing some very odd things — driving through the parking lot, recording people with his phone while we were doing company training.

“When he was arrested, a deputy stopped by Station 2 and told us to watch our backs.”

Weege said a Je erson County investigator recommended the no-trespass order.

“If he’s elected, the order still stands,” Weege said, adding he isn’t sure how EFR would address Mills’ participation in board meetings. “We’re going have to work that out.”

Mills apologized during the forum, saying he hasn’t had a drink since his arrest. He apologized again in an April 23 text to the Canyon Courier.

“I made a tremendous mistake, one I’ve taken full ownership of multiple times throughout this community,” he wrote. “I am fully responsible for my actions and

we have in our homes. By removing 9-plus minutes from getting a rig out the door, you’re shaving that time o that re. You’re getting there at the key point you need to be.”

It’s also critical for EMS and re ghter responses to a car accident. A re engine serves to block the scene and protect rst responders as they care for patients.

“It’s incredibly dangerous for them to be out there without any cover,” Weege said. “So now the engine is following them out the door and blocking so they can work safely. And extrication equipment is on scene almost immediately to help access a patient.”

With recent changes to EFR’s volunteer

have accepted the consequences.”

His career includes several stints as a counter terrorism specialist, and he said both his military and re department experiences left him traumatized. He said he reached out to the re department for help before his arrest, “but it wasn’t there when I needed it.”

Weege denied that statement.

“He used a lot of our employee assistance mental health programs when he was here,” he said. “We had them reaching out to him. e Mountain Area Peer Support Team, Foundation 1023 (a nonpro t to support rst responders) …. all these things were made available to him. I know he utilized some of what we have.” Mills said he wants to help others facing similar struggles.

“As a board member, I’ll work to ensure no responder or their family is left without the support they need,” he said, adding, “If you’re looking for a perfect candidate, I’m not. I’ve made a lot of mistakes.”

system, volunteers are often at the station as well and respond with the paid re ghters.

“( e paid re ghters) are a huge supplement to the department and getting apparatus on the road,” Leahy said. “It gets an o cer going immediately, and it gives an opportunity for the volunteers to be able to go with them.”

Leahy said the increase in call volume over the years also makes the combination department ideal.

“It’s a lot to ask of a volunteer,” he said. “If you were to go all-in, you’d miss a lot of dinners and football games with your family. Now they can tell their family they’re scheduling the time on their terms.”

Part I: Affordable Housing? Think Small (Maybe an Accessory Dwelling Unit?)

This column is the first installment of a monthly series about one of the hottest topics in real estate: Accessory Dwelling Units. ADUs have gotten a lot of attention recently as a housing option. My thanks to John Phillips of Verdant Living for helping on the research for it.

ADUs (accessory or additional dwelling units) are a wonderful idea. They utilize an existing piece of residential real estate and create a separate living space. They have been around for a long time. In the TV series Happy Days, Fonsie lived in one, on top of a garage. And often they have been a converted basement (still worth considering). They can be a separate building, usually in the backyard. Until recently, zoning regulations made that difficult to do. Throughout the United States, as a part of the need for more housing, zoning codes are being changed to allow ADUs. In Colorado, a law was passed last year allowing ADUs in all major metropolitan areas. That was the subject of my “Real Estate Today” column on February 13, 2025, which is archived online at www. JimSmithColumns.com

have been done by relatively well off homeowners and have been relatively expensive. They really don’t qualify as affordable.

So, can accessory dwelling units play a role in affordable housing? Absolutely, for a very understandable reason. They are smaller. The smaller living space is less expensive to build. Is it for everyone? Of course not, but the well designed living spaces are comfortable and mimic the way most of us live, which is in just a few rooms anyway.

Rita and I now live in a 3-bedroom apartment, having sold our 4,000-squarefoot home in Golden. Back then, we really only used the eat-in kitchen, the living room, the primary bedroom/bathroom, and the office. The basement was filled with stuff we didn’t use, except for a ping pong table we used a couple times a year and a portable sauna that we used a half dozen times. The formal dining room was made into a game room, but we hardly used that. The second bedroom was only occasionally used by a guest.

floor which has more equipment than I need. The apartment has all we need for daily life sort of like an ADU.

ADUs are perfect for intergenerational housing (AARP loves them), for young adults as starter homes, and for childless couples, like Rita and me.

ADUs are part of a larger movement emphasizing smaller, high quality living spaces. There are entire developments of smaller homes on smaller lots, some of them the size of an ADU.

Affordability Characteristics

¨ Cost. Because of their small size, ADUs offer a more affordable option compared to traditional homes, making homeownership accessible to a broader segment of the population, including young adults and seniors.

¨ Housing stock. By integrating ADUs into the housing market, communities increase the overall housing supply, especially when they are located in areas dealing with an affordable housing shortage.

Opportunty Alert! Kol Peterson, a recognized authority on ADUs, is holding an ADU Academy in Denver on June 13. Early registration ends May 9. Visit https://www.aduspecialist.org/ aduacademy

es land that is already owned. For a standalone mini home, the size of the real estate is much smaller.

¨ Water & Sewer. When the ADU is just that accessory to an existing single family home it can share the same water and sewer tap, saving a 5figure cost associated with building a new standalone home. .

Another positive is that an ADU adds long-term value to an existing singlefamily home, increasing the wealth of the homeowner.

When Colorado’s General Assembly passed the law, the legislature was concerned that ADUs would be possible for homeowners of moderate means and add to the affordable or “attainable” housing. Up until now, most of the few detached ADUs that have been built in Colorado

Now, in our 1,200-square-foot apartment, our life hasn’t changed much. We eat next to our kitchen, which is part of the living room. One bedroom is my office, and we have a guest bedroom that we’ve only used twice, but it’s nice to have. True, we have no room for a piece of exercise equipment that I’d like to buy, but there is a fitness center on the main

¨ Operational expense. Because of their smaller footprint, ADUs require less heating and cooling, as well as less long-term maintenance.

¨ Versatility. ADUs can serve various housing needs, including for family members or as rental properties, providing the homeowner with an additional income source.

¨ Land cost. This is a big one. When the ADU is a backyard bungalow, it utiliz-

If you want to find out more about ADUs, you should check out the buyer’s guide on the Verdant Living website, which lists many other companies and resources: www.VerdantLiving.us Or call or text John Phillips on his cell: 303-717-1962.

Next month: Why aren’t more ADUs being built in Colorado?

NOTE: My “Real Estate Today” column that normally appears on this page is now published bi-weekly. Look for it here next week and every other week thereafter.

SENIOR LINE DANCING SENIOR LINE DANCING

Kick up your heels & join us for a fun-filled evening of Senior Line Dancing (ages 50+) at the beautiful Evergreen Lake House

Be a part of Opera Colorado’s chorus

Denver’s biggest company is looking for singers for its 2025-2026 season

BY KYLE HARRIS DENVERITE

Do you sing Puccini in the shower and dream of the stage? Have you ever been to the Ellie Caulkins Opera House, watched the chorus and thought: “I could do better?”

Well, now’s your chance.

Opera Colorado is inviting locals to audition for the chorus in their 2025-2026 season shows: “La Traviata” and “Madama Butter y.”

Here’s how to audition:

If you go, expect to perform two memorized songs, with at least one in a foreign language, from the art house or opera repertoires. A pianist will be on site to accompany you.

Auditions take place Wednesday, May 28, and Saturday, May 31, from 6-9 p.m. at the Opera Colorado Opera Center, at 4121 S. Navajo Street, Ste. 100, in Englewood.

stipend and two tickets to the nal dress rehearsal, plus discounts on performance tickets.

What if you just want to watch the operas? Face it, not all of us can sing.

• “La Traviata” runs Nov. 1, 4, 7 and 9.

evergreenrecreation.com May 8

You’ll be performing for the Iranian conductor, pianist and Opera Colorado chorus master Sahar Nouri.

6:30 - 8:30 PM Register at:

Rehearsals will take place on weekday evenings and on weekends. “La Traviata” chorus members must be around from Sept. 11 to Nov. 17, 2025, and “Madama Butter y” chorus members from March 30 to May 11, 2026.

If you’re picked, you’ll receive a small

Singers will also have the chance to try out for smaller roles in both operas.

To request an audition for the chorus, emailauditions@operacolorado.organd include a one-page resume. If you want to try out for larger roles, let the company know. Auditions are rst-come, rstserved.

• “Madama Butter y” runs May 2, 5, 7, 8 and 10.

For more information about tickets and season memberships, go toOpera Colorado’s website.  is story is from Denverite, a Denver news site. Used by permission. For more, and to support Denverite, visit denverite. com.

CONSTRUCTION & CONTRACTING EQUIPMENT

May 7th @ 9:00 A.M. Inspection Times: May 5th & 6th from 8:15am - 4:45pm

Sara Gartland prepares to go onstage in Opera Colorado’s production of “Die tote Stadt” at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House. Feb. 28, 2023.

PHOTO BY KEVIN J. BEATY / DENVERITE

coming to Congregation Beth Evergreen

Stand-up artist headlining fundraiser evening of music, food auction and fun

BY JANE REUTER JREUTER@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Comedian John “Hippieman” Novosad will perform at Congregation Beth Evergreen at 3 p.m. May 4. e entire community is invited.

Boulder-native Novosad is a stand-up comedian based out of Denver’s Comedy Works who’s performed in clubs across the country for over 30 years. He’s appeared twice on “ e Late Late Show” with Craig Ferguson and on Bryon Allen’s nationally

syndicated Comedy.TV. His humor is appropriate for people ages 16 and older.

Tickets for the fundraiser are $36, and include Novosad’s performance, an opening music act, a Jewish food auction, margaritas and a nacho bar.

Childcare is available for $5 per child and includes a live magic show and snacks.

All proceeds bene t Congregation Beth Evergreen.

Denver’s very own 5280 A Cappella will open for Novosad. Named one of the top vocal groups in Denver, the 2019 winners for “Album of the Year,” and 2018 nominees for “Pop Group Of e Year” by the A Cappella Music Awards, 5280 A Cappella uses their voices and non-instrumental music in a repertoire of rock and roll, jazz,

Winners of Conifer’s Got

Talent

win performance slots at summer music events

Growing program will be renamed in 2026, expand to more area high schools

“A night of amazing talent”: at’s how one of the organizers summed up the April 18 Conifer’s Got Talent event at Conifer High School.

e contest, combined with Evergreen’s Got Talent, featured 32 musicians ages 8 to 19 who made up 19 musical acts. ey competed to win slots in this summer’s Evergreen area music events.

“ is year’s performers were extraordinary and it is re ected in the number of winners selected by the judges,” co-organizer Pam Lindquist said. “Ten acts have been awarded slots at 2025 summer festivals.”

e music events and the talent competition winners who will perform at them include:

EPRD SUMMER CONCERT SERIES

(exact night TBD)

• Fiona Matschullat

• Ari Wageman

• Andecy Post, Beck Dunbar, Stella Stroop

CENTER FOR THE ARTS EVERGREEN

SUMMERFEST (July 19-20)

• Cole & Cody Hunt

• e Romneys

MOUNTAIN MUSIC FEST (Aug. 16)

• Non-Prophet

EVERGREEN FINE ARTS FESTIVAL (Aug. 24)

• e Yellowhouse Quartet

• Lady Vee

e recent event was a merger of Conifer’s Got Talent and Evergreen’s Got Talent.

e Evergreen event was originally launched by the National Charity League and reimagined in 2012 by Schaunon Winter to highlight young musicians across the mountain community. Andy Potter revived the event after the pandemic with support from Pam Lindquist. In 2023, they joined with Conifer’s Got Talent. With help from sponsors, the event now o ers winners paid performance opportunities at mountain festivals.

In 2026, it will be renamed Mountain’s Got Talent, and expand to include additional mountain area high schools.

country, folk and pop.

In addition, Rabbi Jamie Arnold will act as the whimsical auctioneer at the annual and iconic Jewish food auction, including hard-to- nd traditional Jewish delicacies with a twist.

Congregation Beth Evergreen is located at 2981 Bergen Peak Drive, Evergreen. For additional questions or information, email shalom@bethevergreen.org or call 303-670-4294

COURTESY JOHN NOVOSAD

HAPPENINGS

We’d like to know about events or activities of interest to the community. Visit www.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 spaceavailable basis.

UPCOMING

Evergreen’s 150th - Sacred Spaces: Noon to 2 p.m. May 3, Evergreen Lake boathouse. Free presentation on Dedisse Park and the Evergreen Lake area. evergreenchamber.org.

Evergreen Chamber Orchestra - Series Finale Recital: 3 p.m. May 4, St. Laurence Episcopal Church, 26812 Barkley Rd, Conifer. ECO’s Tickets at evergreenchamberorch.org

Beth Evergreen’s Annual Comedy Fundraiser: 3 p.m. May 4, with comedian John Novosad (a.k.a. “Hippieman”). Tickets $36 (age-appropriate for 16+), include John’s stand-up performance, opening music act, Jewish food auction, light refreshments. Childcare available for $5/child, including a live magic show and snacks. Proceeds bene t Congregation Beth Evergreen. Register at bethevergreen.org.

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.

Morrison Town Clean Up Days: 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. May 17 and May 18, Town Shop O ce, 700 Bear Creek Avenue, Morrison. Morrison residents only. Items not accepted: Concrete, TVs, electronics, air conditioners, refrigeration units, hazardous waste, paint, oil, tires, batteries, computers. Drain uids from motors. morrisonco.us.

Conifer/North Fork Fire 50K or 50 mile ultramarathon: 6 a.m. 50 mile, 7 a.m. 50K, May 31, Bu alo Creek Clubhouse, 18050 S. Bu alo Creek Road, Bu alo Creek. Portion of proceeds bene t the re department. aravaiparunning.com

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

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.

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, Evergreen. e May 7 speaker is 23rd Judicial District Attorney George Brauchler. Information at evergreenarearepublicanclub.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 o ce. For ages 14 and up. Suggested donation for this group is $15. Register at resilience1220.org/groups.

Parmalee Elementary Open House Celebration: 3:30 p.m. May 9, Parmalee Elementary gymnasium. Honoring retiring Principal Ingrid Mielke, and retiring teachers Kris Holden, Kelley Lehman and Connie Goroll.

Wildlife Watch spring volunteer training: 10 a.m. May 10, Evergreen Lake. Wildlife Watch relies on volunteers to educate visitors to Evergreen Lake about our local elk during calving and rutting seasons. Register at evergreenaudubon.org or email info@ wildaware.org.

ONGOING

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.

Art Gone Wild Bene t Returns – An Evening of Art, Wine, and Wildlife Conservation: 5 p.m. May 16, Mountain Home, 27965 Meadow Drive, Evergreen. Wild Aware’s second annual bene t celebrating wildlife through art, while supporting local conservation efforts. Wine, appetizers, art by Colorado artists, sculptors, and photographers. wildaware.org

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. every fourth Tuesday, Evergreen Church of the Trans guration, Douglas Hall, 27640 Hwy 74, Evergreen. Serving all military

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, visit www.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

Home For Sale

10 Bartimous Rd, Bailey CO

Priced at $369,000

This newly renovated property provides a great opportunity to escape to the mountains. This property and location are ideal for either a weekend getaway, a full-time residence, or an Investment rental. The property and features include one bath and one bedroom, plus an upper 20 x 12 ex area that could be used as a second bedroom. This property is being advertised and listed by The Hayslett Group, LLC, Real Estate Brokerage Firm. MLS# 7522160.

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.

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.

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 at resilience1220.org/groups

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 inperson support group meets every third Wednesday from noon to 1:30 p.m. at 3081 Bergen Peak Road, Evergreen. For more information, visit mtevans.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, visit mtevans.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 346-248-7799.

Beyond the Rainbow: Resilience1220 o ers 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.

Conifer Fire board endorses

Elk Creek Fire’s pro-unification candidates

BY JANE REUTER JREUTER@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

e Conifer Fire board voted unanimously to endorse Elk Creek Fire board candidates Al Leon and Kathleen Noonan.

Board President Steve Brown proposed a public vote of support during the board’s May 16 meeting.

“ ere are two seats up, and two candidates that have been vocal (in support of uni cation),” he said. “I think the residents of the three districts are going to be the winners in consolidation. ey’ll get better service.

“Our attorneys did draw up the resolution in support of Elk Creek Fire Protection District board candidates Al Leo and Kathleen Noonan.”

Board member Natalie Arnett said she attended an April 15 Elk Creek candidates forum and noticed di erences among the candidates.

“Al and Kathleen presented their viewpoints in a very clear, concise manner,” she said. “I felt some of the other candidates were a little all over the place. I couldn’t tell where

ELECTION

mine if Elk Creek’s then- re chief was eligible for disability payments.

Elk Creek Fire Chief William Dolan, who initially served as chief from 1998 to 2003, was re-hired as its paid chief in 2010. When he was rehired, he was allegedly receiving disability bene ts stemming from a 2007 injury he sustained while working for North Metro Fire Rescue.

e Fire and Police Pension Association of Colorado bene ts o cer determined after the 2011 hearing “there is evidence that supports a nding that the bene t wasfraudulently obtained.” e o cer also wrote that, “ e district has a pattern of violating laws to bene t Mr. Dolan nancially,” citing numerous instances. ose included “providing a written statement that Mr. Dolan does not respond as part of our re protection activities, when the district’s own records clearly re ect di erently.”

e FPPA recommended Dolan repay about half of the $44,000 he received in disability bene ts for taking the chief’s job at Elk Creek, a decision that was later upheld.

While Bartlett is not quoted as speaking during the hearing, he is listed as a witness and the board’s treasurer.

Bartlett had little comment about the incidents surrounding Dolan.

“Maybe you need to ask Dolan about that,” he said. “Maybe you should ask the people that were involved.”

When the Canyon Courier asked Bartlett if he was one of the people involved, he said, “I don’t really know. at was 15, 14 years ago. I’ve got no comment on anything that happened 15 years ago.”

Bartlett resigned from the board in 2012, alleging that he couldn’t be on a board that was controlled by the union. e International Association of Fire ghters is a union organization for re ghters.

Bartlett served several years with North Fork Fire, now merged with Inter-Canyon as the new Conifer Fire Protection District. Conifer Fire Chief Curt Rogers said Bartlett started there in about 2013 but was terminated in 2023.

“He was released from our department, not

they stood. ey were very clear on what this means for this district.”

Elk Creek Fire Chief Jacob Ware, who was at the meeting, said he’s concerned about the other candidates, which include Michael Bartlett, Tom Seymour and Todd Wagner.

“ ey’re trying to bring it back to 1998,” he said. “It will be really interesting right now to see where the board election goes.”

Conifer Fire is a newly formed merger of North Fork and Inter-Canyon Fire districts, an organization its leaders had hoped would also include Elk Creek. eir future is on hold pending an appeal of the proposed uni cation by board member Chuck Newby and district resident Neil Whitehead III.

ose who support uni cation see the makeup of the future Elk Creek board as critical. With two seats open and one uni cation opponent already on the board, the election of two anti-uni cation members would allow the board to repeal a previously adopted memorandum of understanding on consolidation.

“We’re still operating and pursuing (a merger) under that MOU,” Ware said. “ ere are

retired,” he said. “He would not be eligible to return as a volunteer.”

Because it’s a personnel issue, Rogers said he could not say anything additional.

Larry Hauser, who served with Elk Creek as a re ghter/EMT starting in 2007 to 2023, said he was “in the midst” of a lot of Elk Creek’s historic issues.

“In the 17 years I was there, I went from not knowing anything to being right in the middle of that disaster,” he said. “And then we got rid of them, and everything improved. Right now, I’m just amazed what a great department it’s turned into.

“Last thing I would want to see is this gang of people get back in.”

Hauser said several re ghters, including Bartlett and Wagner, wanted to “take over the re department.”

Hauser said he initiated a recall petition against former board president Tim Biglen because of the instability in the group.

“Nobody could work with these guys,” he said. “ ey wanted to micro-manage everything. Once Biglen was on the board of directors with Bartlett, we went through four chiefs in a year-and-a-half.

“ e question was, ‘Did we go after Biglen and Bartlett?’” he said. “We decided to go after one although we would have loved to do both. It was too big a job.”

In the face of the recall election,Biglen resigned in November 2011.

“We ran those people o ,” Hauser said. “It’s a terri c re department right now, the best I’ve ever seen right now. But we all know the history. It would really be a bad thing for the department if two of them got in.”

Mike Rogers, who now lives in Arizona and is a former Denver re ghter, was Elk Creek’s board president for six years, including during Dolan’s hearing. He was also a union member.

“It was one of the worst times I’ve ever had to deal with,” he said, recalling what he characterized as untrue accusations about the union and paid re ghters from some other board members and volunteers.

Mike Rogers said Dolan’s and Biglen’s departures changed the tone.

“It all self-destructed,” he said. “We struggled but it worked out. In trying to straighten that place up, we went from a laughingstock to a model. I have no dog in the ght there anymore. But here’s two of your main players trying to get back; that in a nutshell is the con-

some individuals running for the board whose goal is to undo that MOU. And that would be the end of it.”

e Je erson County Commissioners unanimously rejected Newby and Whitehead’s case during an April 8 hearing, nding the Elk Creek Fire board had correctly followed the process for exclusion — a step required to allow it to merge with Conifer/North Fork Fire. But the two men said they plan to appeal it to Je erson County District Court. ey have 30 days from the date of county hearing to le their appeal.

“ ese two individuals have vowed to take this to the supreme court,” Ware said. “I don’t really know what that means. We’re waiting now on the 30-day window. It’s up to the (district court) judge to decide if they want to hear it.

“At the end of district court in Je erson County, we’ll go to district court and ask them to approve the exclusion, the same as North Fork and Inter-Canyon did.”

Meanwhile, Ware said Elk Creek continues to work with Conifer Fire toward eventual unication of all three agencies.

cern.”

Wagner denied the former re ghters’ characterizations, but said, “ e IAFF has been trying to take over this department since then. ey’ve taken over the department and they’ve been in charge of the board since then.

“I’m not trying to eliminate re ghters or unions. I think we have a board that needs balance. If it’s all IAFF members, it’s really one directional.”

Wagner, owner of Altitude Electric, said he’s a longtime union member and supports Elk Creek’s paid sta .

“Everybody has the ability to throw accusations around out there,” he said. “I’m not trying to eliminate re ghters or unions.

“I support paid re ghters,” he continued. “I think our department absolutely needs them. And I’ve been a union member for decades, so I’m absolutely not anti-union.”

Wagner also noted he served as a volunteer, motivated by concern for his community.

“I did it out of the goodness of my heart (including training as a) hazmat tech and EMT,” he said. “I would do it for nothing again because I care about the community. I feel like I’m going to go out and help somebody, and that’s what everybody should do in any capacity you can. ere’s always some place for people to give to their community.

“I am 100 percent behind re ghters. I think they should have all the gear, and the ability to know where the district is and get to calls efciently. I think all the information and transparency is huge. And that’s what I’ve run on — transparency. I think our taxpayers deserve it.”

Retired Platte Canyon Fire Chief Mark Wesseldine also served with Elk Creek but said the issues there prompted him to leave.

He, too, characterized Dolan, Bartlett, Wagner and Biglen as part of “a hate group.”

“ ey tried to lure me into the hate group,” he said, adding he helped organize the reghters’ union as a result. “It opened my eyes.”

Former Elk Creek Fire Chief Bill McLaughlin, who was chief from 2012 to 2019, said he can’t speak to personnel issues at Elk Creek, only acknowledging there “were some issues.”

“ e other candidates are better,” he said.

“ e re department has come leaps and bounds from where it was in 2010. I heartily endorse the direction it’s currently going and the improvements it’s making in the public safety of the community.”

A publication of

Call first: 3540 Evergreen Parkway, Evergreeen, CO, 80439

Mailing Address: 750 W. Hampden Ave., Suite 225 Englewood, CO 80110

Phone: 303-566-4100

Web: CanyonCourier.com

To subscribe call 303-566-4100 or Scan this QR Code

BROOKE WARNER Executive Director brooke@ntln.org

LINDA SHAPLEY Director of Editorial & Audience lshapley@coloradocommunitymedia.com

ERIC HEINZ West Metro Editor eric@cotln.org

JANE REUTER Community Editor jreuter@coloradocommunitymedia.com

DONNA REARDON Marketing Consultant dreardon@coloradocommunitymedia.com

TOM FILDEY Production tfildey@coloradocommunitymedia.com

BUSINESS INQUIRIES For advertiser or vendor questions, please email our business department at accounting@ coloradocommunitymedia.com

Columnists & Guest Commentaries Columnist opinions are not necessarily those of the Courier. We welcome letters to the editor. Please include your full name, address and the best number to reach you by telephone.

Email letters to letters@coloradocommunitymedia.com

Deadline Tues. for the following week’s paper.

Canyon Courier (USPS 88940)

A legal newspaper of general circulation in Evergreen, Colorado, Canyon Courier is published weekly on Thursday by Colorado Community Media, 3540 Evergreen Parkway, Evergreen, CO 80439.

PERIODICAL POSTAGE PAID AT Evergreen and additional mailing o ces.

POSTMASTER: Send address change to: Canyon Courier, 750 W. Hampden Ave., Suite 225, Englewood, CO 80110

CORRECTIONS

Colorado Trust for Local News asks readers to make us aware of mistakes we may have made.

Email linda@cotln.org if you notice a possible error you would like us to take a look at.

Mills said he also intends to support Weege.

“I have been a re ghter under Mike,” he said. “We saw him rise in the ranks. I’ve always supported him. He always allowed me to come into his o ce and tell him my thoughts, even if he didn’t agree with me.” “I know there are some in this room who may think I have an axe to grind. I do not. I’ve become a real changed person in my focus. I plan on supporting the chief.”

Station 1

A resident asked the candidates about funding for the planned Station 1, the district’s oldest station located in downtown Evergreen.

EFR’s website says planning for the replacement of Station 1 will begin again in early 2025, with the aim to start construction in 2026.

e district purchased three pieces of property between 2018 to 2021. It planned to relocate and combine Stations 1 and 4 into one. A 2022 lease issue halted construction plans and a renegotiated lease expires October 31. EFR meanwhile adopted its master plan and formed a station steering committee to study and implement its goals. at includes housing EMS personnel, ambulances, re apparatus, and sleeping and o ce areas at Station 1.

Ballinger disagreed.

“Station 1 could be in a category of boondoggle of the century,” McKenna said. “ e rst mill levy to replace Station 1 was 2002. In 2004, a supplement passed because it was more expensive than planned. In 2016, another mill levy with multiple purposes, including the replacement of Station 1. Here we are in 2025. Where’s our station? ere was cash on hand when this started… that money’s gone.”

“ ere was a hold put on building Station 1, but that does not mean the funds are gone,” she said. “We restructured the money … so there was clarity and transparency.

“We are remodeling Station 2 for the current sta ng with our six career reghters. We do have money set aside for Station 1. When it comes to that time, we will do it methodically to ensure we are handling it with the utmost respect for the taxpayer funds.”

Courim said the 2016 mill levy was for all operations, and the rise in wild re risk demanded a change in where money was spent.

“Operational funds were prioritized for wild re preparedness and preparation for our community because that was our number one risk,” she said. “Did we have to change priorities? Absolutely.”

EFR candidates who participated in the April 17 forum include, from left, incumbents Stacey Ballinger and Julie Ann Courim, Ryan Stack, Byrne McKenna and Edgar Mills. Candidate Kelly Guthner could not attend.

PHOTO BY JANE REUTER

U.S. to restart student loan collections

BY SHAUNEEN MIRANDA COLORADO NEWSLINE

e U.S. Department of Education said that it will resume collections May 5 for defaulted federal student loans.

After pausing during the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, the agency has not collected on defaulted loans in over ve years. More than 5 million borrowers sit in default on their federal student loans, and just 38% of borrowers are current on their payments, the department said.

“American taxpayers will no longer be forced to serve as collateral for irresponsible student loan policies,” U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a statement.

During last year’s presidential campaign, President Donald Trump criticized his predecessor and successor, President Joe Biden, for his e orts to erase student debt. McMahon resumed that line of attack April 21, blaming Biden’s administration for unreasonably raising borrowers’ expectations of forgiveness.

“ e Biden Administration misled borrowers: the executive branch does not have the constitutional authority to wipe debt away, nor do the loan balances simply disappear. Hundreds of billions have already been transferred to taxpayers,” McMahon said.

She added that “going forward, the Department of Education, in conjunction with the Department of Treasury,

will shepherd the student loan program responsibly and according to the law, which means helping borrowers return to repayment — both for the sake of their own nancial health and our nation’s economic outlook.”

e department said the O ce of Federal Student Aid will restart the Treasury O set Program, which the U.S. Treasury Department administers, on May 5.

e Education Department statement said all borrowers who are in default will get emails over the next two weeks “making them aware of these developments and urging them to contact the Default Resolution Group to make a monthly payment, enroll in an income-driven repayment plan, or sign up for loan rehabilitation.”

e department said the O ce of Federal Student Aid will “send required notices beginning administrative wage garnishment” later this summer.

IT MATTERS.

More than 42.7 million borrowers owe more than $1.6 trillion in student debt, according to the department.

e administration claims that “instead of protecting responsible taxpayers, the Biden-Harris Administration put them on the hook for irresponsible lending, pushing the federal student loan portfolio toward a scal cli .”

is story is from Colorado Newsline. Used by permission. For more, and to support the news organization, visit coloradonewsline.com.

Colorado joins multistate lawsuit to block tari s

With billions at stake, bipartisan legal complaint cites Constitution

BY TAMARA CHUANG THE COLORADO SUN

Colorado joined a multistate lawsuit April 23 against the Trump administration to challenge import tari s that were rolled out by executive order and not by an act of Congress.

e lawsuit, led by attorneys general from the states of Oregon and Arizona, asks the court to rule the tari s illegal and block their implementation and enforcement because the tari s violate Article I of the U.S. Constitution, which grants “only Congress, not the President, the ‘power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises,’” said the suit led in the U.S. Court of International Trade.

“Under the Constitution, only Congress has the power to tax and impose tari s and there is no ‘emergency’ that justi es the Trump tari s,” Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said in a news release. “We are challenging these tari s in court because they are illegal and, as one study concluded, they will ‘increase in ation, result in nearly 800,000 lost jobs, and shrink the American economy by $180 billion a year.’”

Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York and Vermont also joined the suit. e state of California led its own lawsuit in a U.S. District Court last week. All

but two of the states have governors who are Democrats.

Colorado exported $10.5 billion and imported $17 billion in goods last year, according to the O ce of the U.S. Trade Representative.

Currently, there is a 25% tari on imports from Mexico and Canada, though some goods are exempt because of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Another 57 U.S. trade partners were socked with an additional 10% tax this month, which was lower than Trump’s initial reciprocal tari s that were since paused on a number of countries that agreed to consider new trade deals.

China, however, retaliated against the retaliatory tari s, matching the new U.S. tax, leaving U.S. businesses paying not just the price of the item imported or exported, but an additional 145% more in the tit-for-tat trade war with China. Some items were later excluded, including smartphones.

e high tax caused chaos in the stock market but also hit many local businesses, farmers, the outdoor industry and Coloradans who buy imported food or groceries or other imports.

e Trump administration was toying with lowering China tari s to somewhere between 50% and 65%, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Trump said in a news conference, “145% is very high and it won’t be that high. … It will come down substantially, but it won’t be at zero.”

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

STACEY BALLINGER Board President

Our bold vision and decisive action have strengthened community safety and uplifted our volunteer firefighters with better resources and support progress we’ll build upon to keep moving forward in a positive direction.

Attracting & keeping dedicated volunteers

• Listened to our volunteers’ needs and concerns, made targeted leadership changes, and brought in top-notch, dynamic personnel — increasing our fully trained, volunteer core by 8.33%, and increasing retention by 33.3% from 2022 to 2024 All volunteer categories, including academy trainees, when from 52 to 81 in the same time period, a 56%increase!

• Encouraged volunteer participation at all levels — boosting morale and giving them a voice in shaping the department’s future.

• Improved teamwork between volunteers, paid firefighters, and staff — easing strain on volunteers and enhancing community safety through more efficient emergency responses, stronger collaboration, and a shared commitment to protecting lives and property.

Protecting our community from wildfire risks

• Attracted top Wildland fire experts to join our expanded Wildfire Division improving ability to respond to wildfires, enhancing community preparedness and provide wildland training for volunteers and paid firefighters.

• Activated fire department mitigation efforts to improve community safety — securing over $1 million in grant funding and workforce projects to remove hazardous fuels from public and private lands, mitigated critical evacuation routes like highway 73, highway 103, Witter Gulch and this season High Drive, with ramped up efforts over the next 5 years.

• Updated the Community Wildland Protection Plan — implementing community mitigation programs, including free home assessments, chipping services, as well as enhancing the Neighborhood Ambassador program to educate residents on wildfire preparedness.

Strengthening our fire department to protect our community

• Optimized resources to support higher emergency call volume — significantly improving fire emergency response times from our main station by an average of almost 5 minutes, from an average of 8.20 minutes in 2022, to just 3.44 minutes the beginning of 2025.

• Created a community-focused fire department —completing a Master Plan and currently developing a Strategic Plan which are long-term roadmaps to direct growth, operations and resources.

• Diligently managed budget —ensuring community funds are allocated wisely to maximize service and support, delivering essential resources and programs while maintaining fiscal responsibility for the benefit of all residents.

We’ve listened to everyone’s concerns, tackled challenges with smart solutions, and tightened financial and management oversight to make our fire department stronger because your safety depends on it.

We’re committed to continuing positive momentum with the current direction, maintaining operational stability, supporting our essential volunteers and staff —ensuring we deliver exceptional service standards to meet today ’s demands, with the flexibility to adapt to tomorrow’s evolving needs.

Raising chickens in wildlife territory? Electricity is your friend

The next time you nd yourself standing between a bear and a chicken, be sure to conduct a surreptitious examination.

INSIDE THE OUTDOORS

Be especially careful not to stare at the bear. At 275 pounds and standing over 6 feet tall on his back legs, he demands your caution and respect. You may notice his razorsharp claws (2 ½ inches in length) and powerful canine teeth. e Bear’s thick fur seems impenetrable, and we all know he can run 30 miles per hour. is is not somebody you want to trigger.

A quick glance over your other shoulder and there is the hen, gazing with trust into your eyes from below your knees. She is a benign creature, weighing only a few pounds and standing perhaps 6 inches high. Lacking either teeth or claws, the hen has almost no defenses against a predator. Her athleticism is underwhelming, with a running speed of perhaps 9 miles per hour and managing brief ight at a height of … a bear’s face. Despite her shortcomings, our hen is the queen of egg production and is valued and loved by her family.

At almost $6 a dozen, eggs have hit a record-high price. Not a decision to be taken lightly, adding chickens to the family tree could set you back $4,000 over a ve-year period, according to a 2023 estimate from e Hen House Collection.

Nevertheless, intrepid homeowners living in chicken-friendly planning zones are motivated to install chicken coops and invest in chicks and hens. is agricultural land is also prized by wildlife who appreciate open spaces and the opportunities for easy meals. While a fox (or raccoon or hawk) in the henhouse can lead to rapid ruin, a visit from a bear can be particularly devastating, with the loss of avian lives and the complete destruction of even the most sturdy coop.

“I would not have chickens in this area without electric fencing,” remarked one Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) District Wildlife Manager at an Evergreen public forum in 2023. In fact, CPW reported a 14.8% increase in human-bear incidents statewide in 2024 compared to 2023. Out of the 5,022 incidents, CPW stated that over 1,000 involved livestock, chickens and beehives.

To help prevent negative bear encounters and free wildlife ofcers to attend to other wildlife issues, CPW began o ering the Human-Bear Con ict Reduction Community Grant program in 2022. Almost $3 million has been awarded to support organizations around Colorado that seek to add preventative measures to reduce negative bear encounters.

In 2024, the Evergreen-based non-pro t organization Wild Aware worked with CPW District Wildlife Managers to successfully apply for this grant, prioritizing coop electri cation kits because of the frequency of negative bear interactions from predation on chickens in unincorporated Je co. Wild Aware is currently accepting applications for 12 complimentary chicken coop electri cation kits resulting from this grant award.

e electric wiring does not cause harm to wildlife (or a distracted human) but provides enough discomfort, along with the element of surprise, to cause a bear to take o like lightning before any damage is in icted to the fence (or the hapless chickens). With such a disparity of physical attributes between bears and chickens, investing in strategies to protect the family hens is an obligation of every homeowner.

Inside the safety of the electri ed fence, our Hen and her coterie can attend to the business of laying eggs. Whether their egg o erings are used for meringue pies or imbued with pastel dye for Easter, these chickens are assured the sort of secure space they deserve.

e “Barbed Wire Palooza” will take place at 10 a.m. May 3 at Elk Meadow Park in Evergreen. is will be the 2025 barbed wire removal season opening celebration. Je erson County Commissioner Lesley Dahlkemper and Evergreen Chamber of Commerce President Nancy Judge are scheduled to be in attendance along with Je erson County volunteers, Wile Aware’s Barbed Wire Warriors and the Colorado Department of Transportation.

Christie Greene is the president and co-founder of the nonpro t Wild Aware. A resident of Evergreen for 30 years, she appreciates knowing that she will see wildlife every day and is dedicated to supporting wildlife in the growing community.

A tale of two legislative bills in Colorado

Matters of little consequence often get major time and attention. And vice versa. Two energy bills in the Colorado Legislature this year, one about nuclear energy and the second about electrical transmission, illustrate this.

e rst bill, HB25-1040, which is now law, declared that nuclear energy is clean. It proclaims that utilities can meet clean-energy targets with nuclear. It also allows private projects access to nancing restricted to clean energy development.

e bill sailed through the Legislature. Gov. Jared Polis signed it into law March 31. For believers, those who want to believe that nuclear energy will be THE answer, it was a big win.

To what e ect? Likely none. Forget about nuclear waste and safety concerns. Cost of energy from new nuclear plans remains exorbitant.

Some of this was sorted through in a four-hour committee hearing in March. Chuck Kutscher was among several dozen individuals given two-minute slots to testify. He deserved more time.

A nuclear engineer by training, he subsequently moved into renewables, retiring from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory several years ago.

At a later meeting in Je erson County, Kutscher explained why he expects nuclear energy to play no role in Colorado’s energy transition. It comes down to cost.

“I like to give credit where credit is due. And the fact is that nuclear power in this country has saved a heck of a lot of carbon dioxide and air pollution emissions,” he said. “Nuclear provides almost half of U.S. carbon-free electricity, which is pretty impressive.”

As for costs, Kutscher cited two metrics courtesy of Lazard, a nancial company that monitors electrical generation. e cost of building new nuclear

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

BIG PIVOTS

plants comes in at $8,000 to $13,000 per kilowatt of generating capacity. Solar comes in at $1,400, wind at $2,000.

A broader metric, the levelized cost, includes capital, fuel and operating costs over the life of an energy plant.

“ e longer a plant runs, the lower its life-cycle costs, because it’s producing more energy,” Kutscher explained. By this measure, nuclear still comes up short: 18 cents a kilowatt-hour compared to solar and wind for 5 and 6 cents.

Might costs drop with a new generation of small modular reactors? SMRs can generate 300 megawatts or less. One was planned in the West, but in 2023 the Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems pulled out of its contract with NuScale – because of cost.

If nuclear costs make it a nonstarter in Colorado, can renewables deliver us to an emissionfree electrical system? e sun vanishes daily, and sometimes winds on our eastern plains die down, even for days. Kutscher sees possible solutions in improving storage technologies and expanded transmission. Transmission can enable electricity to be shared across multiple time zones and weather systems.

Even moving electricity around Colorado more e ciently has value. e second bill, SB24-127, proposes to do that. It would require investor-owned utilities to investigate tools called advanced transmission technologies. ey will enable more use from existing transmission lines and associated infrastructure.

Larry Milosevich, a Lafayette resident, decided six years ago to

devote himself to fewer pursuits. He says he chose the role of advanced technologies for transmission because of its oversized impact. e transmission system developed during the last century has many ine ciencies.

“I would love to see advanced transmission technologies get a little more light,” he says. Why hasn’t it happened? “It doesn’t have sex appeal.” is bill will not solve all problems.

“You need a lot of arrows in your quiver to get there. And it’s not one technology that’s going to save the day,” says Leah Rubin Shen, managing director of Advanced Energy United, an industry association that advocates for technologies and policies that advance decarbonization.

More transmission will still be needed. Approvals take time. Using these tools can more rapidly expand capacity at lower cost. “We characterize it as a no-regrets solution,” says Rubin Shen.

State Sen. Cleave Simpson, a Republican from Alamosa, was the primary author of the bill. “We can increase the capacity and resilience of our infrastructure without having to undertake expensive, large-scale construction projects,” he told committee members at a March meeting. e committee that day heard from fewer than a dozen witnesses. It passed an amended bill and moved on within 45 minutes. Several weeks before same committee heard nuclear testimony for hours.

In a later interview, Simpson described the bill, slimmed greatly in ambition from its original iteration, as “maybe a tiny step forward, but a doable one.” Unlike nuclear, not THE answer, but a doable one.

Allen Best produces Big Pivots, which covers the energy and water transitions in Colorado. See BigPivots.com

Keep the El Rancho Park-n-Ride lot open

At a time when both promoting multimodal public transportation and diverting passenger vehicles from I-70 are high priorities for CDOT, the Colorado Department of Transportation is targeting the well-used and ideally situated El Rancho Park-n-Ride lot for disposal. e area that would be removed from their system is less than a half acre, but that entire facility at the intersection of U.S. 40 and SH-74 would be lost to the public. e fate of this taxpayer-built, well-maintained asset that has served the community for more than three decades could be decided by the Transportation Commission of Colorado in May.

e El Rancho Park-n-Ride lot is the only public parking in the El Rancho Activity Center. e ERAC is the largest commercial area in greater Evergreen, itself home to the largest population in the Foothills. It is at the intersection of two highways, the location of public housing and in the service area of ve Front Range public transit routes. County planning says this is where public transportation belongs.

Nowhere else in the Foothills do RTD and CDOT transit services intersect. ere is no reason to believe that transit stops will not return to this location in the future, and there is nowhere in the vicinity where this lot could be replaced. e lot continues to be heavily used by drivers from Evergreen and the west Metro area for carpooling to Denver and the mountains.

Because RTD no longer leases the lot (see Letters: RTD, Canyon Courier, Oct. 5, 2022), CDOT has inherited it for free. For the costs of building and maintaining another lot like the one CDOT just completed at I-70 exit 251 for the Floyd Hill Project, meant to serve its Pegasus shuttle, CDOT could maintain the existing, centrally located El Rancho Park-n-Ride lot for 62 and a half years.

Evergreen continues to contribute to the Regional Transportation District’s budget through sales taxes whether it receives service or not. Our public transportation options can certainly be improved for the future. Ridership is a combination of the

LETTERS, P11

Christie Greene

pursuits. adtransoversized system century advanced a “It probin it’s going Rubin Adindusfor adbe Usrapidly cost. no-regrets a was bill. capacity infrastrucundertake construccommittee heard witbill minutes. comtestimony Simpson greatitforanswer, Pivots, water Big-

BY STAVROS KORONEOS

DIY TKO

EVERGREEN – Al drove his pickup truck and trailer to the big-box homeimprovement store and parked in the area “designated for trucks with trailers.” Tim parked next to him in a sedan that wasn’t pulling anything. “Nice trailer,” Al commented. Clearly not appreciating the ironic censure, Tim “got in my face,” Al later told deputies, and when Al retreated to the relative safety of his van, Tim “reached in through the window and hit me in the head,” hard enough to “knock my hat o .” According to Tim, however, Al had been the agent of escalation, “belly bumping” him several times and refusing to let Tim’s perceived parking discourtesy pass unpunished. Neither man wanted to press charges, although Al wanted to see Tim o cially scolded without mercy. After weighing both sides, deputies advised Al that the “best practice” is to “let something like a parking issue go.”

chagrined to discover “a big, goofy-looking woman” sidling in between his Dodge Ram pickup truck and his black BMW sedan, and peering intently into both. Since the vehicles were clearly on his property, and since he’d recently been the victim of a robbery, Complainant asked Goofy exactly what she thought she was doing. “It’s a free country,” shrugged Goofy, sidling o toward the street where she peered into a randomly parked Subaru, brie y turned to “ ip o ” Complainant, and sidled away to her nearby apartment. Complainant noti ed JCSO of Goofy’s suspicious behavior, and then it was a deputy’s turn to ask Goofy exactly what she thought she was doing. Goofy said she hadn’t been outside all day and hadn’t said “Boo” to anybody. Goofy closed the door, and deputies closed the case.

Bored to tears

Once and future man-cave CONIFER – Girlfriend moved into Boyfriend’s digs on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Boyfriend girded himself with strong drink and told Girlfriend to “get out.” Girlfriend told Boyfriend she’d get out as soon as she secured suitable alternative quarters for herself and her pets. On the topic of pets, Boyfriend told Girlfriend her dog had run o and suggested she go look for it. Girlfriend refused on the grounds that the moment she set foot outside the door Boyfriend would lock her out. Boyfriend admitted that had, indeed, been his plan. His little charade exposed, Boyfriend resorted to the more direct measure of “chucking the cat” outside. When Girlfriend ran after the ying feline, Boyfriend threw the deadbolt and rigged for silent running. Girlfriend called JCSO and asked for an escort as she returned to collect her belongings. Arriving with deputies in tow, she found three trash bags full of her personal e ects waiting on the stoop. Hoping to hear an explanation for Boyfriend’s sudden change of heart, o cers repeatedly knocked on his door asking for an interview. “See you in the morning,” Boyfriend shouted from deep inside the house. Deputies assured him that he would.

Window shopping MORRISON – e Complainant was

LETTERS

routes that are provided and the actual use of those routes by the people. But without infrastructure (like places to park and ride) to serve this dispersed community, ridership will falter and the services will not stop here. RTD and CDOT both espouse greater transit connectivity. is existing lot serves those agencies’ goals, and it should remain. To keep the El Rancho Park-n-Ride lot open, see openpetition.org/!vdrpd.

— Kathryn Mauz, Evergreen

Rep. Brittany Pettersen, stand up against tyranny

Dear Editor, Rep. Brittany Pettersen, our representative for Colorado District 7, declined this in April to respond to questions about whether she supports impeaching President Donald Trump. Like many Coloradans, I am deeply concerned by the actions taken by the Trump administration. is administra-

SOUTH JEFFCO – During the last seven months, Isuzu told deputies, somebody’s drilled holes in his tires on six separate occasions. As it happened, Isuzu’s newlyinstalled game camera caught the latest raid on his radials. Time-stamped 6:43 p.m., the footage reveals a man clad in ski jacket, ski pants and a head-warmer with re ective patch in back walking briskly into the frame and using both hands to e ciently bore holes into Isuzu’s tires with a cordless drill. Asked if he had any idea who the daring de ator might be, Isuzu said he has no known enemies except Angry Neighbor, who’s been mad at him ever since the unfortunate Encroaching Tree-Branch Incident of 2009. On the other hand, the dastardly driller didn’t look much like Angry Neighbor, although Isuzu “wouldn’t rule out” his involvement. As deputies were preparing to leave, who else but Angry Neighbor strolled over to nd out “if everything’s alright.” O cers explained the situation and asked Angry if he’d seen or heard anything suspicious the night before. Angry denied any knowledge of the matter, but promised to call JCSO if learned anything.

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.

tion has routinely taken illegal actions, deed court orders to stop and correct those actions, and in these and many other ways, has clearly violated the rights granted to the people by the Constitution of the United States.

What was once dismissed as hyperbole about the danger of this administration has now become reality. Our Constitution and the rule of law are under attack. Democratic norms are being eroded. Civil rights and liberties are not only under threat — they are being actively stripped away. Public health has been politicized, environmental protections rolled back and our economy steered toward deepening inequality.

As a citizen and voter from Je erson County, I believe it is time for Rep. Pettersen to take action. She has sworn an oath to protect the Constitution. e actions taken by President Trump to turn America into an authoritarian country must be stopped.

I hope Representative Pettersen will rise to the challenge and publicly commit to upholding her most fundamental role as a defender of our country against tyranny.

— Rachael Hoover, Lakewood

OBITUARIES

SUDMALIS Laimons “Scott” Sudmalis December 26, 1941 - February 6, 2025

Laimons Sudmalis was born on December 26, 1941, in Priekule, Latvia to parents Ernests and Marta. He loved his native land and maintained ties there throughout his live. He graduated in 1964 from the US Air Force Academy and began a 20-year career in the Air Force. He ew 2 tours in Southeast Asia in 1966 and 1970. He ew to paradise on February 6, 2025. Surely today he keeps busy issuing wings to

Surviors include his wife, Diane, of 38 years,

daughters Kaeran (Geno) of Clemente, CA, Eren Sue of Evergreen, CO, sons Zachary (Sheliah) of Dana Point, CA and Andris (Kimberly) of Golden, CO, granddaughters Brynn and Shae, grandson Olivers and many beloved cousins in Latvia and Canada. He was predeceased by his son Eriks (1996) and brother Janis (2020). e complete obituary can be found at fairmountfuneralhome.com.

BY MONTE WHALEY MWHALEY@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Veterinarian student Sarah Hilliard retreated to a far corner of a room lined with kennels for the animal hospital’s patients, sat down and thought about how she was going to end her life. Suicide seemed like the best exit out of a grueling, joyless life that included 70-hour work weeks and treating sick and dying animals in a callous, competitive environment.

“I just sat in the corner, and I cried and cried,” said Hilliard. “I was planning on going home and take a long cool smoothie with all my meds and calling it quits. I often thought about what it would be like to nally just take a long deep sleep and never wake up.”

Hilliard is now co-owner of PetVet 365, a new-style pet clinic in Westminster that emphasizes compassion for both animals and their veterinary caregivers. But in 2010 — when she considered her suicide — she was working on her residency in internal medicine at Ohio State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine in old-school conditions that emphasized only clinical survival.

“ ere was no time for self-care,” said Hilliard. “ ere was no role model telling me, ‘Hey, you are not doing so well. Why don’t you take a day o ,’” she said. “You were pretty much on your own. No one talked about having any doubts about what they were doing. No one wanted to admit any kind of weakness.”’

A colleague found Hilliard and she was admitted to a psychiatric ward for seven days. She balked at going back to her residency and reconsidered her relationship with the veterinary profession, stepping away from practicing medicine for several years.

“I just felt the veterinary world just chewed me up and spit me out,” the 44-year-old Hilliard said. “I had to deal with the giant elephant in the world … what to do next.”

She underwent cognitive behavioral therapy to get to the root of her anxieties. She eventually helped open PetVet 365, which practices a “fear free” approach to treating its patients. She also speaks up about the prevalence of veterinarian suicides in the United States.

“It’s a problem that has not really been looked at or dealt with up until just the last few years,” Hilliard said. “It is time for people to realize that we deal with a lot of stu . It’s not just all bunny rabbits and owers.”

A study by the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association in 2019, found that veterinarians in the United States are three-to- ve times more likely to die by suicide than the general population. ere was a similar conclusion reached in a2019 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study.

About 80% of all veterinarians su er from clinical depression at some point and about 50% report feeling unhappy in their careers, according to Psychology Today.

“ ese statistics paint a bleak picture that calls for a profound examination of the underlying factors fueling this troubling trend,” states Psychology Today.  e publication points to several factors that weigh heavily on the mental health of veterinarians, including performing euthanasia on patients, wrestling with large school debt and burnout.

“ e fear of making a mistake or failing to provide optimal care can foster feelings of inadequacy and perfectionism, which can be detrimental to their mental health,” the article states.

Veterinarians can also be the target of cyberbullying. A client can deliver poor online ratings on Yelp and Google or leave derogatory messages which leads to anxiety, depression and stress among

vets and veterinary technicians, states Psychology Today.

“Veterinarians may feel overwhelmed by the constant negativity,” the publication states.

Colorado State University o cials say they are responding to the new needs of veterinary students — including their mental health — through the university’s Veterinary Health and Education Complex, or VHEC, which includes a new Primary Care Center.

e facility includes a teaching hospital for routine and urgent care; a new Livestock Veterinary Hospital, fully equipped with medical, surgical and ambulatory facilities built to meet current and future demands for large animal care; and reimagined classrooms with interactive workstations, according to CSU.  e complex — slated to be nished in fall 2026 — is coupled with a signi cant curriculum update. e new educational roadmap maintains the rigor of a robust science-based doctoral program while emphasizing ideas such as resilience, professionalism and wellbeing, according to CSU.

Dr. Matthew Johnston, professor of avian, exotic and zoological medicine and co-chair of the college’s curriculum renewal committee, told CSU Magazine last April that changes needed to be made to head o the mental and emotional toll exerted on veterinarian students and practitioners.

Veterinarian Sarah Hilliard holds Vienna, a rag doll cat at her practice in Westminster. PHOTO BY

Veterinarian Sarah Hilliard talks to her patient, Westly, an Australian shepherd.

VET HEALTH

“We started seeing declining attendance at lecture-based courses. We’ve seen upticks in students leaving the program not for academic reasons, but for mental health reasons,” Johnston told the magazine. “I personally have colleagues who have died by suicide.”  Johnston, who has taught for more than 20 years, told the magazine that CSU’s revamped program can have a signi cant impact by changing the way it teaches veterinary medicine. Fewer static lectures. More hands-on learning and group work. Dedicated breaks throughout the semester for re ection and restoration.

“We’re not just going to give you information about mental health and wellness, we’re changing the whole system,” Johnston told CSU Magazine. “CSU is radically ipping the script more than any vet school has done.”

Melinda Frye, associate dean for veterinary academic and student a airs at CSU, said the school will include an embedded counselor to aid troubled students. Financial counselors will also be available, as well as someone to talk about a student’s “vocational wellbeing.” Students can also take time o for religious holidays, Frye said.

“We want to encourage students to understand the human dimensions of our profession,” Frye said.

Students still are faced with a curriculum that demands they gain expertise on a variety of animal species from kittens to dogs and horses, she said. And it’s all done in four years.

“I do understand this contributes to a lot of our students feeling a bit overwhelmed,” Frye said. “ at’s a lot to take in in a short period of time.”

Hilliard grew up in Ohio and was always interested in animals and science. She wedded the two by attending Ohio State’s veterinary school from 2004 to 2008 to become a general practitioner.

She got into CSU’s internal medicine residency program and began dealing with feelings of inadequacy and “imposter syndrome,” she said.

“I kept thinking to myself, ‘How did I get here? What am I doing here?” she said.

Hilliard got help in counseling and began taking prescription drugs for panic and anxiety.

“ e medicine did multiple things to help my physical feelings, but I didn’t understand what the underlying problem was,” she said.

She returned to Ohio State for her residency in small animal internal medicine. Hilliard admits she was not ready for the emotional toll the program would take on her.

“Everything just intensi ed, the patients were very sick, and you are supposed to know the answers,” she said. “But I did know that you were not supposed to ask for help.”

Her breakdown and departure from Ohio State led her down several paths that included going back into a general practice with a friend. She also worked for a pharmaceutical company for a few years.

“Still, I knew something just wasn’t right,” Hilliard said.

at led her to cognitive therapy and

to a group of friends starting a new kind of veterinary practice.

“ ey wanted a nice place to work and for people to bring their pets to,” Hilliard said.

e group created PetVet 365, a Fear Free practice. e waiting room is eliminated, and every patient and pet “guardian” is given their own private dog or cat suite, complete with a TV, couch, rug, toys, species-speci c pheromones and treats.

“Everyone feels more comfortable, including the patients, guardians and the sta ,” Hilliard said.

Not every problem has been eliminated. Some pet guardians are still angered or hurt when they receive bad news about their pets.

“We just talk to them and tell them that our sta needs to be treated respectfully,” Hilliard said.

And there are days when a dog or cat must be euthanized. Hilliard said her sta works to help the animals slip peacefully away.

“It’s not the easiest part of our day, but it’s one of the things we can give as a gift to families that they have an opportunity to end their pet’s su ering,” Hilliard said. “ at’s the unique part of our profession. In many ways, it’s one of the more beautiful things we can do.”

Westminster veterinarian Sarah Hilliard tends to Wesley, an Australian shepherd.

Sarah Hilliard helped start PetVet365 in Westminster. The clinic emphasizes a “Fear Free” environment. PHOTOS BY MONTE WHALEY

Sarah Hilliard

MEET THE CANDIDATES

Evergreen Park and Recreation District will hold a regular election on Tuesday, May 6, 2025 to fill three (3) vacancies on its Board of Directors. The polls will be open at Buchanan Park Recreation Center from 7:00 AM - 7:00 PM on May 6th.

Evergreen Park & Recreation District maintains a neutral position on all candidates. These bios have been written and submitted by the individual candidates themselves.

Betsy Hays, a 25-year resident, has served the public as a leader in everything from scouts to sports to PTA and nonprofits to the being the President of the Chamber of Commerce. She received the 2020 Leader of the Year Award from Leadership Evergreen, the 2020 Leadership Impact Award from the Rotary Club of Evergreen and was inducted into the Mountain Area Women in Business Hall of Fame in 2021.

Betsy was elected to the Board in May 2022. As current Board President she leads EPRD to take care of what it has, rebuild and expand recreation and provide the community what is asked for. On plan, on budget, implemented over time. The strategic plan is in place and she is excited to work with Board and Staff to execute the plan over the next 4 years.

Betsy and her husband John have three children that grew up in Evergreen and worked for EPRD. On serving on the EPRD Board of Directors she says, “I am honored to serve my local community by connecting the public with EPRD, the businesses, Jefferson County government, and others about how the Rec District serves us all and contributes to our way of life.” Learn more about Betsy by contacting her at bhays@eprdco.gov.

Ally Hilgefort is a mom who believes EPRD will benefit from varied Board perspectives. Since embracing the mom role with her 7-and-3yo girls, Ally frequents local events, knows play spots, enrolls in activities, and understands the tricky logistics and planning often required to make all that fun happen.

Her day-to-day as a mom has led to spinoff volunteer gigs throughout the community. She has a Bachelor's degree in Integrated Strategic Communications with a minor in Philosophy.

With dedicated groups like EPRD existing in Evergreen, encouraging a community environment alongside a surreal natural environment, Ally and her husband know this is the perfect place for their family. The Hilgeforts love to camp with their teardrop, hike, ski, bike, backpack, play disc golf, and take advantage of town festivals and other fun local opportunities.

Ally is excited to join the EPRD board to enhance and increase those opportunities for everyone in Evergreen by keeping all community members in mind when contemplating projects, programming, events, and other offerings. Bringing various perspectives to the decision-making table creates the best versions of the current Improvement Projects and Plans, which are important and impactful additions to Evergreen for years to come.

Learn more about Ally at http://eprdally.com/.

I have long been part of a group of citizen leaders dedicated to making Evergreen a better place to live. EPRD has given me that opportunity. As a lifelong woodworker, designer, and small business owner, I believe my skills will benefit EPRD in the years ahead.

With the Boardʼs Strategic Plan now underway, I am running for the Board to help guide these projects to completion and support EPRDʼs staff.

The vision for Buchanan Park has been years in the making — from EPRDʼs first land purchase in 1994 to the 2008 Master Plan and todayʼs Strategic Plan. I want to help bring that vision to life while remaining focused on the broader mission of the District — listening and responding to the needs of all patrons.

I also believe the Arts play a vital role in our community. As a Board member, I will encourage EPRD to partner with the Arts whenever possible to strengthen our cultural offerings.

Itʼs an honor to serve this community, and I hope to continue contributing my experience and passion to EPRDʼs future.

Learn more by contacting me at peggers@eprdco.gov.

Mr. Erdahl and his wife Kerry have lived in Evergreen since 2006 and have 2 Huskies. Geoffreyʼs domain is in digital content creation mainly involved with graphics,photography, video, and music. Previously an Accounting/Payroll Analyst for several years and having worked in building maintenance and construction through his life, he obtained his B.S. Technical Communications degree in 2014.

His main interest in running is to examine priorities and satisfy his need to validate the integrity of EPRDʼs fiscal status for Evergreenʼs constituents. His objective is “trust but verify”. He also wants EPRD to consider expanding its role as a partner and intermediary between Jeffco, Denver Mountain Parks, and the State of Colorado, as Evergreen is not an incorporated town (Home Rule). Thus, we have limited means of feedback on issues like wildfire preparation, street maintenance, and public land use.

Evergreen has been without an off-leash dog park since the old one was abruptly closed in 2017. Over 30% of our residents are over 60/retired and many of those have dogs that need a safe place to walk off-leash as the owners are more susceptible to injury. Dog owners pay taxes and many wish to see action on this issue.

Learn more about Geoffrey here: https://www.theevergreenobserver.org/geoffrey-erdahl-bio-submission

Mary has been actively involved with EPRD for 30 years as a patron, volunteer, District taxpayer, and athletics employee on-site 4 days every week. She has a comprehensive view of EPRD from the board room to the broom closet.

In her free time, Mary volunteers with the Evergreen Rodeo, organizes sports leagues and runs the DAR college scholarship for 4 area high schools. Mary completed the NYC Marathon twice, is a local trail runner, 1st place overall winner in the EPRD Elk Meadow trail race, a lifeguard for 7 years, volleyball player & referee, certified Scuba diver, dressage horseback rider who has jumped the US Equestrian Team Gladstone NJ cross-country course.

Mary earned a Masters in Computer Science and has a BS in Mathematics from Vanderbilt University. She has an expansive work history in electronic data systems engineering since 1983 and has written business software for numerous Fortune 100 companies. With her current job at the State of Colorado, she works with casino operators to enact and enforce casino regulations, software field trials, and responsible gaming.

Goal of Maryʼs 2nd term is to implement project priorities from the 2024 district-wide citizen survey. Learn more about Mary by contacting her at mmcghee@eprdco.gov.

Erin offers over a decade of specialized financial industry experience, most of which has been within the Government Banking space. She obtained the Certified Treasury Professional (CTP) designation in 2021 and FINRA Municipal Securities Representative designation in 2022. Erin is eager to contribute her time, gather input from our community, and share industry knowledge with EPRD to support relevant and fiscally responsible decisions.

Outside of work, Erin serves as the Treasurer for a local Not-for-Profit, Rocky Mountain Weavers Guild, a fiber arts community. In her free time, she enjoys exploring Evergreen, weaving, hiking, snowboarding, traveling and reading. She is also working toward her Private Pilot License (PPL). Get to know Erin! Please reach out to erinforevergreen@gmail.com

Questions? Please reach out to: Maddy Evans, Designated Election Official mevans@eprdco.gov 720-880-1020

Cast your vote on May 6, 7:00 AM - 7:00 PM at Buchanan Park Rec Center! 32003 Ellingwood Trail, Evergreen, CO 80439

https://www.evergreenrecreation.com/2025-election-information

BETSY HAYS

HILGEFORT

PETER EGGERS

MARY MCGHEE

ERIN GRAHAM

Food trucks are latest thing to go electric

Regional Air Quality Council o ers grants to take gasoline and propane out of mobile food prep

BY MICHAEL BOOTH THE COLORADO SUN

ings you will hear and smell at Hallie Dantzler’s co ee truck:

A Hal’s Co ee barista o ering you a vanilla shot with your latte. Locally roasted co ee beans wafting your way on the steam emanating from the espresso machine.

ings you will not hear and smell: Bellowing gasoline generators or acrid petroleum fumes.

Dantzler dumped two loud, odiferous gasoline generators and adopted $19,000 in clean-running battery packs to run Hal’s Co ee trailer, with the help of an 80% grant from the Regional Air Quality Council.

Dantzler, who pulls the Hal’s Co ee trailer around Fort Collins and the northern Front Range behind an electric Ford F-150 Lightning, runs down a longer menu of perks she attributes to the battery switchover. No more spending hundreds of dollars a day at the gas station lling up generators and fuel canisters. No longer having to scrub her gasolinesoaked hands in orange Gojo at the end of the day before hugging her burbling toddler.

And according to RAQC, no more emitting up to 165 pounds of carbon dioxide — the equivalent of burning 83 pounds of coal — in one shift. at’s worth another hug from the toddler.

“So knowing that we’re making the world a little bit better for him, and that he’s just growing up in a safer place, is so

nice,” Dantzler said.

e Denver-based RAQC celebrated food truck conversions Tuesday at an Earth Day event called “Engines O ,” in a parking lot at West Fifth Avenue and Santa Fe Drive. e air advisory council, which makes policy recommendations to state and local governments and channels grant funds, has overseen the conversion of about 30 food trucks. e current grant fund, which launched in 2024, has enough for about 120 conversion projects, spokesman David Sabados said.

Depending on the food and the equipment needs, replacing gas generators or propane cooking equipment can cost from the low thousands of dollars up to $30,000 per truck. RAQC supplies 80% of the costs for approved trucks, up to a $20,000 cap.

Switching equipment is part of the ght against climate change-causing greenhouse gases and local ozone emissions. Nine northern Front Range counties are now in “severe” violation of EPA ozone limits.

Changing out one truck’s fuel is, of course, small compared with more than 120 million tons of carbon emitted annually in the Colorado economy. But local o cials are taking on small targets as well as large ones — such as power plants — in the ozone and climate ghts. eir argument is that small engines like lawn mowers and generators make up a couple of parts per billion in metro Denver ozone readings that approach 80 parts per billion on a hot summer day. Shaving

a point or two here and there could help the Front Range get below the 2015 EPA standard of 70 parts per billion.

Nodding to converted food trucks from Amore Pizza, HipPOPS and others, Sabados said, “A lot of this, for us, is about proof of concept, showing it can be done. at it can be done anywhere generators are used — food, construction, anything.”

Daniel Belger’s HipPOPS — avorful gelato pops dipped in liquid chocolate and rolled in toppings like carmelized pecans — draw a lot of power to keep the gelato case cool. He’s got LED lights all over to make every angle of the operation and its customers look perfect on all-important Instagram.

Without the fumes from the old gasoline generators, HipPOPS gets booked

Co-owners of HipPOPs frozen treat truck Asi Shlomo, left, and Daniel Belger, center, show their battery bank that powers their vehicle to Charlie Mani, right. Mani owns an Indian fusion food truck named Mile High Tikka Express and wants to electrify his vehicle. They all are gather in a parking lot at West Fifth Avenue and Santa Fe Drive to learn about grants o ered by the Regional Air Quality Council to help swap out their generators for battery power and “food truck electrification” on April 22, 2025 in Denver, Colorado.

for more indoor events. Plus, Belger said he can hear the customers nudging each other and whispering, “What did you think of the Oreo pop?”

“I hear that and tell them, ‘ e Oreo is AMAZING,’” Belger laughed.

Hal’s Co ee has been booked for two graduation parties over the weekend speci cally because the partygoers want to hear the DJ, not the food truck.

At a pre-Earth Day event last weekend, Dantzler said, “I was the only clean truck anywhere around. And people kept coming up to us, ‘I heard you were the quiet truck. I heard you were the green truck.’ ” is story was printed through a news sharing agreement with e Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned nonpro t based in Denver that covers the state.

* This offer is valid for homeowners over 18 years of age. The following persons are not eligible for this offer: employees of Leafguard or affiliated companies or entities, their immediate family members, previous participants in a Company in-home consultation within the past 12 months and all current and former Company customers. Previous/future purchases are not eligible for a discount or sale price adjustment. Sales tax does not qualify for discount. This offer cannot be combined with any other sale, promotion, discount, code, coupon and/or offer. This promotion has no cash value. Leafguard reserves the right to end any promotion at any time without notice. Offer ends 5/31/25.

Consumer Disclosure/Award Rules: All participants who attend an estimated 60-90 minute in-home product consultation and choose to make a purchase will receive a $50 VISA card. Retail value is $50. Offer sponsored by LeafGuard Holdings Inc. Limit one per household. Company procures, sells, and installs seamless gutter protection. This offer is valid for homeowners over 18 years of age. If married or involved with a life partner, both cohabitating persons must attend and complete presentation together. Participants must have a photo ID and be legally able to enter into a contract. The following persons are not eligible for this offer: employees of Company or affiliated companies or entities, their immediate family members, previous participants in a Company in-home consultation within the past 12 months and all current and former Company customers. Card may not be extended, transferred, or substituted except that Company may substitute a card of equal or greater value if it deems it necessary. Card will be mailed to the participant via first class United States Mail or e-mailed within 30 days of receipt of the promotion form provided at presentation. Not valid in conjunction with any other promotion or discount of any kind. Offer not sponsored or promoted by VISA and is subject to change without notice prior to reservation. Except

PHOTO BY KATHRYN SCOTT / SPECIAL TO THE COLORADO SUN

SPORTS

A dozen Conifer High athletes sign to play college sports

porting my decision to swap over from soccer to lacrosse. I have not regretted it once in my entire life. I want to thank my coaches for always giving me that reassurance that

I’m good enough, I’m skilled enough, that I’m

Eleanor Sikora, Regis University

Sikora is staying close by to play softball at Regis University in Denver.

“I can’t say how grateful I am that I’ll be continuing my academic and athletic career at Regis,” she said to the crowd in the Lobos’ gym. “I want to thank my parents, especially my mom, for always being there for me. My mom has always supported me through every practice, game and long road trip. To (all my coaches), thank you for believing in me and helping me grow not just as a player, but as a person. I wouldn’t be standing here without you.”

Josalyn Lievers, University of Findlay

Lievers is Midwest-bound, heading to Findlay, Ohio, to play lacrosse at the University of Findlay.

“I want to thank my family, coaches and teammates who have supported me every step of the way,” Lievers said. “Playing college lacrosse has been a dream of mine for a long time, and today it is nally becoming real. e practices, the tough losses and all the big wins all brought me here.”

Landon Hancock, Colorado State University

Becoming a Ram is a dream for Hancock, the soccer player-turned-lacrosse star for Conifer.

“I’m very excited to continue my athletic career at Colorado State University in Fort Collins,” Hancock said to the crowd. “First, I want to thank my parents for sup-

“I want to thank my mom for support-

SIGNING DAY, P19

Kate Horneck

A dozen Conifer High School student athletes put pen to paper to play college sports at the school’s Signing Day on April 24.

Payden Devaney

Landon Hancock

SIGNING DAY

the coaches and mentors I’ve had throughout my athletic journey, both in the physical summer training, but more importantly, by believing in me when I didn’t always believe in myself.”

Rhoan Bruneau, Willamette University Bruneau is heading to the Paci c Northwest to play soccer.

“I had a really big, long recruiting process,” Bruneau said. “But I really, really liked Oregon and Willamette was one of three schools in Oregon I had o ers from, and it was by far my favorite. I loved the coach, I loved the future plan for the team, I also have family close by. And it’s just a beautiful area. e atmosphere is amazing and I feel like it’ll be really good for me

my mom. She was my personal recruiter for college, and I couldn’t have done it without her. I want to thank my teammates. I couldn’t have asked for better people to play with the past four years. is team has helped me become a better person and better player.”

Jesse Nichols, Washburn University Nichols is headed to Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas, to continue her softball career.

“To all my coaches, thank you,” she said. “ ank you for believing in me, pushing me, and helping me become not just a better athlete but a better person … To my dad, thank you for catching me all these years. You’ve never let me take the easy way out. You’re one of my biggest supporters and most honest coaches and I’ll never forget everything you’ve done for me. To my mom, thank you for being my constant. You’ve been through every game, every tournament … you’re the one behind the scenes, packing the bags and calming me down and picking me back up when I need it most.”

Jacob Johnson, Lawrence University Johnson will play two sports at the next level — track and soccer — at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin.

“ e rst thing that was really important when I went to go visit Lawrence was that everybody was so welcoming,” Johnson said. “ e coach of the soccer team… the administration has bent over backwards for me, and that says a lot about the school. I got to see their academics and talk to their profes-

sors rsthand … as a college athlete, the college part comes rst, and that was really important to me. And then just the opportunity to play soccer at the next level is also important to me. I’m not ready to give up that part of my life yet.”

Benson White, Colorado Mesa University

White is making his way to Mesa, where he’ll run track and eld.

“It’s been quite the journey,” he said. “Most of all, I need to thank my parents. My mom has pushed me my entire life. Whether you have a bad game or not, my mom is always there to support me and keep me motivated. My dad brings that motivation in a completely opposite way. Having that balance de nitely helped me become the athlete and person that I am.”

Please support these amazing local businesses

Cassidy Wilson

Gunnar Forsythe

Local programs at risk in budget cuts

Governments would be out nearly $140 million, according to the Colorado Municipal League

BY BRIAN EASON

THE COLORADO SUN

Two months before the news broke that the Trump administration might try to end federal support for the Head Start preschool program, Boulder County got a letter denying its annual request for federal funding.

Like many counties across the state, Boulder was already struggling to pay for early childhood programs like preschool and child care. And the state of Colorado — facing a budget crunch of its own — was in no position to come to the rescue. is month, the Boulder County Commission stepped in to keep Head Start a oat, approving $2 million in stop-gap funding to run the program for at least one more year. But local o cials say they aren’t sure how they’re going to keep it going beyond that if the federal government doesn’t reverse course.

“We can’t just expect local governments to be able to pay for all the services that the state and federal government were paying for,” Commissioner Ashley Stolzmann told e Colorado Sun in an interview.

Local o cials across Colorado — already grappling with the loss of pandemic stimulus funds — say state and federal budget cuts are threatening a number of programs administered at the local level.

State budget cuts alone will cost local governments nearly $140 million, according to Kevin Bommer, the executive direc-

tor of the Colorado Municipal League — a callback to the 2010s when state budget writers repeatedly leaned on local governments to solve the state’s nancial woes.

“I’ve seen it before,” Bommer said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a recession, it doesn’t matter if it’s times of prosperity. When the state needs money to back ll the budget, they will drain funds that local governments use for prosperity in their own cities and towns and counties.”

e state spending plan for the 2025-26 scal year, which starts July 1, redirects millions in severance and marijuana tax dollars away from local governments to fund state programs. It also cuts a key revenue stream for roads and pulls back funding promised to cities and counties for things like transit projects and bike lanes. A popular grant program aimed at revitalizing downtowns was eliminated entirely.

Even deeper cuts may still be yet to come, as Republicans in Congress consider cutting federal assistance for lowincome families such as food stamps, homelessness grants, utility bill subsidies and Medicaid — all programs that fall on local governments to administer.

“ ere’s more need than there was before, because people are becoming jobless, people are becoming homeless, and so the need is going up at the same time that we’re cutting services,” Stolzmann said.

e budget pressure has some local

governments considering going to the ballot to increase taxes locally. More than a dozen local o cials testi ed in favor of a bill this session allowing counties to increase lodging taxes with voter approval.

e state legislature passed the measure, House Bill 1247, earlier this month, sending it to the governor’s desk where it can be signed into law. In addition to increasing the existing cap on lodging taxes, it also would allow local o cials to spend the proceeds on a wider variety of services, including transportation and public safety.

Summit County commissioners told lawmakers that without additional funding, they may have to delay major repairs to Swan Mountain Road, a key thoroughfare that wraps around the Dillon Reservoir.

O cials in other counties said they were already facing budget shortfalls next year — even before the full extent of state and federal funding cuts is known.

A political shift

While not unprecedented, the state-level cuts represent a shift in the political dynamics of the past few years, when local governments had a near-constant seat at the negotiating table — even if they didn’t always get their way.

is time around, Bommer said, “there was no e ort to help local governments. I can’t point to anything in any of those cuts and say there was any kind of discussion about ‘we know this is going to hurt, but we really feel bad’ — nothing. None of those discussions happened.”

e shift was already underway in the 2024 legislative session.

A number of state lawmakers by then

had soured on the idea of reimbursing local governments for the cost of statewide property tax cuts. Increasingly, lawmakers began adopting a viewpoint shared by many Colorado homeowners, who saw the historic property tax bump as a windfall — the likes of which the state, which is limited by the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights revenue cap, could only dream of.

Unlike the state, most local governments have “debruced” from under TABOR, meaning they don’t have to issue taxpayer refunds when collections rise faster than the combined rate of population and in ation. ( e term is an homage to Douglas Bruce, the former Republican state lawmaker who wrote the TABOR amendment.)

After the Proposition HH property tax cuts failed at the ballot box in 2023, state lawmakers began to bristle at the idea of helping any but the most vulnerable local agencies, such as re and hospital districts. en, when the state’s budget problems worsened, the Joint Budget Committee sought opportunities to scale back the state’s involvement in local a airs, including a property tax relief program, various transportation and economic development grants, and promised assistance to help counties hire district attorneys and improve their pay.

“We’re in a situation where we need to stop taking on local government responsibilities, and saying they’re ours somehow,” Republican Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, a JBC member from Brighton, said at one hearing earlier this year — a sentiment shared by most of her colleagues. But local governments face revenue

BUDGET CUTS

problems of their own.

Home values aren’t rising as fast as they were in recent years, and commercial properties face a potential downturn. In the state’s slowest growing areas, local o cials didn’t experience the jump in property values as a windfall, but as a lifeline after the decade of budget tightening that followed the Great Recession.

To make matters worse, recession alarm bells are going o due to President Donald Trump’s tari policies, even as state and federal cuts threaten to take a toll on local agencies that administer many of the safety net programs people rely on during an economic downturn.

Bommer said he doesn’t blame the JBC, which faced a di cult task in closing a $1.2 billion shortfall.

In fact, when the rest of the legislature got its hands on the JBC’s proposal, lawmakers looked to take even more from local governments in order to avoid deeper cuts to state services. e House voted to cut the local share of the state’s marijuana sales tax from 10% to 3.5% — down from the 5% the JBC had suggested.

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

Colorado state Sen. Je Bridges, a Greenwood Village Democrat who is chair of the legislature’s Joint Budget Committee, attends a hearing on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025.

PHOTO BY JESSE PAUL / THE COLORADO SUN

With AI on hand, financial scammers on the rise

BY PAIGE GROSS COLORADO NEWSLINE

It started with a seemingly routine reminder for Nancy Hall to update her Norton antivirus software.

e 69-year-old Philadelphia resident sat down at her laptop to le her taxes recently and was prompted to call a number that was said to be the software company’s customer support. She had been hacked, the message said.

“It said, ‘you must call Microsoft right away, or else, you’re in danger of losing everything,’” Hall said.

A man on the line claimed to be in talks with her bank, saying hackers managed to download child pornography to her computer and transfer $18,000 to Russian accounts overnight.

He told Hall he was transferring her to the fraud department at her bank, where she spoke to someone who knew details about her local branch. After verifying personal details, that person asked her to come in to make a cash withdrawal that she could then use to purchase cryptocurrency at a speci c ATM.

e pair told her she was at threat of being arrested by Homeland Security for what was found on her laptop unless she obliged.

After a few stressful hours of trying to sort out the situation, something clicked, Hall said — a friend was scammed out of $800,000 in retirement savings last year after being persuaded to purchase cryptocurrency in an emergency. Hall hung up the phone, then blocked the number when it continually called her back. Financial crimes, or scams like these, have always been around, experts say. But

BERGEN PARK CHURCH

the rise of arti cial intelligence, access to sensitive information on the dark web, and a lack of federal oversight for these crimes means it’s never been easier to be a scammer, security experts say.

“AI has made these things so believable,” said Melissa O’Leary, a Portland, Mainebased partner and chief strategy o cer at cybersecurity rm Fortalice Solutions. “Sometimes you can’t tell, ‘is this legitimate or not?’”

Hall’s experience mirrors many of the thousands of well-established attempts at tech-enabled nancial crimes currently underway in the U.S. Scammers often pose as trusted corporations, government departments or as someone a victim knows. Many companies that have been spoofed, like Norton, put out warnings about these scams.

ey also use heightened emotional responses and a sense of urgency to get you to transfer money or release personal details, cybersecurity experts say.

“Now I look back on it, I’m like, ‘how was I so stupid to say stay on the line that long?’” Hall said. “But then I look at this girl I know, and they managed to get her to go all the way.”

The business of scamming

e Federal Trade Commission reported the overall loss Americans experienced via nancial scams in the 2023-2024 scal year to be between $23.7 billion and $158.3 billion. e gures di er so much because so many losses go under or unreported, the FTC said in the report.

Matthew Radolec, D.C.-based vice president of Incident Response and Cloud Operations at data security rm Varonis, said he sees these phishing attempts in

two parts; the scam is the technique being used to get access to money, and the actual crime itself is the loss of the money.

Because these crimes are digital, it’s hard to know who to report them to, or how to follow up. Many scammers also ask for cryptocurrency payments, or transfer them to crypto accounts shortly after the transaction.

“ ere’s no insurance for accidentally wiring someone $10,000,” Radolec said. “If you fall for a ruse, you fall for a ruse. It’s like a carnival trick, a sleight of hand. It’s a digital form of that.”

Kimberly Sutherland, the Alpharetta, Georgia-based vice president of fraud and identity at LexisNexis Risk Solutions, said they’ve seen a 20% year-over-year increase in digital fraud since 2021, a ecting as much as 1.5% of all transactions, though many of those attempts are caught before they can go through.

A large part of their e orts are focused on monitoring new account openings and payments, as fraudsters want to either create a fraudulent account at the start, or they want to be able to intercept transactions as they’re happening, Sutherland said. ey’ve also had to evolve their monitoring strategies, as over the last few years, there’s been a shift from laptop and desktop targeting to mobile attacks, she said.

A few decades ago, scammers were focused on getting enough information from a company or individual to pull o a fake transaction. But as data breaches have become more common, the personal data unearthed makes it easier to pose as someone a victim knows, or give them details to become trustworthy.

Sutherland said the concept of synthetic identities — carefully crafted digital pro-

les of someone who doesn’t actually exist — have also deepened criminal’s abilities to get access inside of a variety of institutions like banks, colleges and corporations.

“You don’t have to steal an identity of someone; why not create a brand new one?” Sutherland said. “It started with jokes like, ‘I can get a credit card in the name of my dog,’ and it became sophisticated fraud rings who could actually create identities and nurture them to be used by others.”

Individuals and companies are not the only ones at risk of nancial scams — government institutions have reported an increase in nancial crimes in recent years. In California, community colleges have reported at least $5 million in losses to AIsimulated students who applied for nancial aid.

One of the most current, wide-spread scams are texts and alerts from toll payment agency E-ZPass, asking a user to pay an outstanding bill at the included link. Last year, E-ZPass said the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center had received more than 2,000 complaints about the texts. ose who had lled out the included form should contact their banks, the company said.

It’s similar to a longstanding scam posing as UPS trying to deliver a package — it plays on our human nature of trust and curiosity, O’Leary said.

How AI is playing a role AI has lowered the barrier for setting up a scam, O’Leary said. ose looking to lure someone to wire money or purchase

SEE SCAMMERS, P27

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

1. TELEVISION: Which actor was nominated for an Emmy for the same character on three di erent sitcoms?

2. MOVIES: Who was the rst actor to refuse an Oscar award for Best Actor?

3. GEOGRAPHY: Which modern city is in the shadow of the active volcano Mount Vesuvius?

4. FOOD & DRINK: What gas is used to create seltzer water?

5. SCIENCE: What is the center of an atom called?

6. GENERAL KNOWLEDGE: Who are the six men who have made a career Grand Slam in pro golf?

7. ANATOMY: What is the largest artery in the body?

8. LITERATURE: For which category is the O. Henry Award given?

9. ASTRONOMY: Which star system is nearest to our solar system?

TrIVIa

10. U.S. PRESIDENTS: How many presidents have died in o ce?

Answers

1. Kelsey Grammer for “Wings,” “Cheers” and “Frasier.”

2. George C. Scott, for “Patton.”

3. Naples, Italy.

4. Carbon dioxide.

5. Nucleus.

6. Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.

7. e aorta.

8. Short stories.

9. Alpha Centauri.

10. Eight.

(c) 2025 King Features Synd., Inc.

Miscellaneous

Become a published author

We want to read your book!

Dorrance Publishing trusted since 1920. Consultation, production, promotion & distribution. Call for free author`s guide 1-877-7294998 or visit dorranceinfo.com/ ads

Bath & shower updates in as little as 1 day! Affordable prices - No payments for 18 months! Lifetime warranty & professional installs. Senior & military discounts available. 1-877-5439189

Miscellaneous

Prepare for power outages today with a Generac Home Standby Generator. Act now to receive a FREE 5-Year warranty with qualifying purchase* Call 1-855948-6176 today to schedule a free quote. It’s not just a generator. It’s a power move.

Consumer Cellular - same reliable, nationwide coverage as the largest carriers. No longterm contract, no hidden fees free activation. All plans feature unlimited talk & text, starting at just $20/mo. Call 1-877-751-0866

DIRECTV Stream - Carries the most local MLB Games! Choice Package $89.99/mo for 12 mos Stream on 20 devices at once. HBO Max included for 3 mos (w/ Choice Package or higher.) No contract or hidden fees! Some restrictions apply. Call IVS 1-866859-0405

Jacuzzi Bath Remodel can install a new, custom bath or shower in as little as one day. For a lim-ited time, waving all installation costs! (Additional terms apply. Subject to change and vary by dealer. Offer ends 6/30/25. 1-844-5013208

Miscellaneous

Don’t let the stairs limit your mobility! Discover the ideal solution for anyone who struggles on the stairs, is concerned about a fall or wants to regain access to their entire home. Call AmeriGlide today! 1-833-399-3595

Wesley Financial Group, LLC

Timeshare Cancellation Experts Over $50,000,000 in timeshare debt & fees cancelled in 2019. Get free info package & learn how to get rid of your timeshare! Free consultations. Over 450 positive reviews. 833-308-1971

Home break-ins take less than 60 seconds. Don’t wait! Protect your family, your home, your assets now for as little as 70¢/ day! 1-844-591-7951

Replace your roof w/the best looking & longest lasting material steel from Erie Metal Roofs! 3 styles & multiple colors available. Guaranteed to last a lifetime! Limited Time Offer up to 50% off install + Additional 10% off install (military, health & 1st responders.) 1-833-370-1234

Doodle Puppies

Golden Doodles and Bernedoodles

Home-Raised

Heath Tested and Guaranteed Standard and Mini Size available Schedule a visit today! (970)215-6860 www.puppylovedoodles.com

Wanted

Donate Your Car to Veterans Today!

Help and Support our Veterans. Fast - FREE pick up. 100% tax deductible. Call 1-800-245-0398

& Garden

SCAMMERS

cryptocurrency need some space on a server or in the cloud, and some sort of infrastructure to reach out to victims. Many programs that can be used to fake a persona, to send out mass text messages or phishing links are as easy as downloading an app.

“It’s almost a step by step for someone who wants to make a quick buck,” O’Leary said.

Large language models and AI chatbots can easily be prompted to sound like someone else, and give non-English speakers a much easier ability to communicate, O’Leary said.

Radolec has seen an uptick in AI bots being used to gain credentials to company databases or pay systems. Bots can hold legitimate conversations with a target to build rapport, and plant phishing scams to gain passwords in standard documents.

“ e next thing you know, you can log in as me,” Radolec said.

From there, scammers can divert paychecks to o shore accounts, sell data on the dark web or plant further phishing attempts in internal systems.

Because of the rapid advancements in AI technologies, phishing attempts and scam strategies are constantly changing. Now, AI tools can help alter legitimate images, and create deepfakes, or likenesses of some-

one’s image or voice, in just a few minutes. It’s the strategy behind an increasingly common scam on grandparents — they get a call from someone that sounds exactly like their grandchild, saying they need a wire transfer or cash for bail.

Many digital scams target older people, both because they’re expected to have less technical knowledge to spot a ruse, and because they tend to have larger sums of money accessible, Radolec said. In its report, the FTC estimated between $7.1 billion and $61.5 billion in losses for older adults.

is week, AARP, Amazon, Google and Walmart partnered on a new initiative that will be based out of Pittsburgh, called the National Elder Fraud Coordination Center, an attempt to tap in private companies who have resources in data privacy to assist in national law enforcement investigations. Its founder and CEO, former FBI agent Brady Finta, said that the technical side of these crimes are often partnered with an emotional side, like pretending to be a family member in trouble.

“ ey’re talking you through the crime,” Finta said. “ ey’re adding this anxiety and thought process to you and to overcome your normal decision making processes.”

Legislation and enforcement

ere are hundreds of thousands of victims of nancial scams each year, and they’re reporting them to di erent places — local police, state organizations, federal

agencies, and the tech platforms where the crimes occurred, Finta said. Part of the reason some nancial scams go unreported is that there’s not one clear route, government agency or law enforcement agency that has ownership over them. at was also the consensus of a new report by the Government Accountability O ce, FedScoop reported this month. ere are 13 federal agencies, including the FBI, CFPB and the FTC, that work to counter scams, but they do not share one overarching strategy.

Finta is hoping that leveraging the private sector data from their partner corporations can help connect some fraud cases across the country and make these investigations more comprehensive.

While the FTC has the Fraud and Scam Reduction Act, which aims to raise awareness of nancial scams, there’s no o cial federal protection or legislation on this topic. Some states are passing consumer protection laws that put some liability on banks to do due diligence on fraud and even reimburse customers for fraudulent transactions.

And the U.S. may be facing less protections than it currently has. Susan Weinstock, CEO of the Consumer Federation of America, said she’s worried that Congress just voted on a resolution under the Congressional Review Act that removed the rule that required digital payment apps like Venmo and Apple Pay to be regulated for fraud.

“Years ago, nobody had heard of Venmo

or CashApp, and now these things are ubiquitous,” Weinstock said. “So it puts consumers in a really tough, scary position to be subject to fraud and not have the ability to deal with it.”

Because the strategies behind thesenancial scams change often and because there are few ways to track these crimes after they happen, a lot of responsibility falls on individuals and institutions to be able to spot them. Radolec’s rst piece of advice is to slow down. If it really is your grandson calling from jail? Is it the end of the world if he spends a night in jail, he said.

Adding another person into the loop of communication is another strategy that will usually knock o an impersonator. If it appears to be a higher-up at work making a strange request for access to your nances, there’s no harm in looping in another person to review, Radolec said.

Lastly, the cybersecurity experts all said, it’s always safer to get in contact with the original source. If someone on the phone says they’re with your bank, hang up and call the bank directly to verify information.

“A lot of times they’re trying to create a sense of urgency that’s from a false place, so how can we ground ourselves?” Radolec said. “And can we ask, is this truly like a life or death situation that you have to act on right now? Or can time be in our favor?”

is story is from Colorado Newsline. Used by permission. For more, and to support the news organization, visit coloradonewsline.com.