April 29, 2021
$1.00
An edition of the Littleton Independent A publication of
VOLUME 20 | ISSUE 19
Council approves townhome rezoning Despite neighborhood complaints, city OKs redeveloping site of vacant preschool, home BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
broke news that the federal government had let hundreds of Black men in rural Alabama go untreated for syphilis for 40 years for research purposes. A public outcry ensued, and the study ended three months later, according to the AP. The effects of the study still linger — it’s routinely cited as a reason some Black Americans are reluctant to participate in medical research, or even go to the doctor for routine check-ups, the AP reported. But other communities also experience “vaccine hesitancy,” and making vaccination quick and easy is crucial for the state to be able to
A plan to replace a defunct preschool building — and an apparently vacant house — with 12 new townhome units and two single-family homes in the historic Pickletown area of west Centennial was approved 6-3 by city council, despite opposition from some area residents who feared more traffic, noise and changes to the aesthetics of the neighborhood. The March 15 vote by council approved a rezoning of the site along the south side of Orchard Road between Grant and Logan streets, a few blocks east of Broadway. The rezoning to planned-unit development status allows for a mix of types of properties in an area that a city’s normal zoning wouldn’t allow. Before the decision, several residents of the neighborhood — and others who live farther away — tried to convince the city not to change the zoning. A development that “would ruin the look and feel of the neighborhood is really not
SEE VACCINE, P8
SEE REZONING, P6
Gov. Jared Polis, center, visits a mobile vaccine clinic, an effort supported by state officials to bring vaccinations sites to locations COURTESY OF THE GOVERNOR’S OFFICE VIA FACEBOOK around Colorado. The state has two bus routes and was to announce a third soon.
State’s vaccine effort hopes to close gaps Colorado targets residents who face barriers to accessing vaccine shots BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Even with Colorado’s six mass vaccination sites around the state up and running — and with local health providers also putting shots in arms — state officials knew they needed to go further to reach Coloradans who can’t drive to appointments or set them up online. That’s why Colorado started organizing what it calls “equity clin-
ics” — and as of mid-April, state officials had worked with more than 100 community organizations in the effort to reach low-income areas, people of color and rural residents, too. For some communities, barriers to coronavirus vaccination aren’t just economic but can also stem from distrust, Gov. Jared Polis said. “It is important that people understand some of the legitimate roots of that skepticism, where, inexcusably, Black Americans were experimented on without their permission,” Polis told Colorado Community Media. That’s a reference to what became known as the Tuskegee syphilis study: In 1972, the Associated Press
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 10 | LIFE: PAGE 12 | CALENDAR: PAGE 14 | SPORTS: PAGE 16
PLEASURES FOR THE PALATE
The spirit and ingredients in Cajun food P12