LOCAL

Brighton’s Help for Homes program is looking for volunteers for its 17th annual “Help for Homes” community project on May 14.

“The 17th annual Brighton Help for Homes is a volunteer-driven event designed to help older adults and people living with disabilities in Brighton age well and safely in their homes,” said Chad Nibbelink, Brothers Redevelopment Volunteer Department Director in a written statement. “This is accomplished by meeting a wide range of exterior home repair and maintenance needs for qualifying homeowners, from gutter cleaning to safety and accessibility work and most things in-between.”

The program brings together a community of volunteers and neighbors who work as a team to help residents who need help fi xing minor exterior repairs such as painting or help with general yard clean-up. The deadline for volunteers to sign up to make a difference in communities is April 29.

Brother’s Redevelopment Inc. and Eagle View Adult Center started the program with the City of Brighton in 2006. The Brighton Legacy Foundation has helped fund the project since its inception. According to offi cials, for the last four years, Platte Valley Medical Center also fi nanced the project, and United Power funded the project through their Operation Round Up grant.

The program helps seniors citizens that are income-restricted and own their own single-story homes. The criteria to get work done is based on an assessment of the minor structural repairs at their house. Corbett has a list of seniors that she advertises for or contacts. She also posts on Next Door asking for seniors to apply for help.

Corbett then sends the application to Brothers Redevelopment, Inc. to review the applications and make the selections based on their criteria. For example, it can’t be a two-story home or be in need of signifi cant repairs.

“We have received 1400 applications so far, the home selection could be about up to 17 homes,” said Sue Corbett, Eagle View Adult Center Manager.

The volunteers put a team together with as many as ten friends, families, and co-workers to work for each residence that needs help.

“Sometimes it’s the smallest thing as a yard clean-up makes a person’s day,” said Corbett.

A team captain meeting is 6:30 p.m. on May 3 at the Eagle View Adult Center located at 1150 Prairie Center Parkway. Contact Sue Corbett for a volunteer application or more information about Help for Homes at 303-655-2075.

“One of the most rewarding aspects of Brighton Help for Homes is that it is genuinely neighbors helping neighbors to thrive. It is incredible to work with so many volunteer groups in Brighton who take A healthy and holistic approach to volunteering. Volunteer teams not only fi x up and maintain their neighbors’ homes but also prepare lunches for each other, make debris disposal runs in partnership with “Trash Bash,” and make each homeowner a gift basket,” said Nibbelink.

The before picture of a senior citizen’s garage that was painted last year by a “Help for Homes” volunteer.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF BROTHERS REDEVELOPMENT

The after picture of the garage completed by the volunteers.

BIRD

in bike lanes on roads and trails or sidewalks wider than six feet.

Now city offi cials will begin working with the company to create zones where the electric scooters can be ridden at their top speed, which areas where they will automatically slow down and where they’ll be banned from going.

Pollack said she’s eager to see how the scooters and the no-ride zones work, but she’s doubtful.

“I can assure you, whatever goes wrong, you are going to hear from me fi rst, right here on the dias and anywhere else I can put it,” Pollack said. “I am very disappointed. We just are not ready for this and I do not know what in the world convinced you folks that this is the thing to do.”

City Councilors fi rst discussed the idea at their March 8 meeting, with most agreeing that the scooters could be welcome on Brighton’s streets.

Bird provides two-wheeled electric scooters people can rent for $1 or more per minute via an app on their smartphones, and the company estimates the average ride costs about $5. The scooters can reach speeds of up to 15 miles per hour and can travel about 30 miles — roughly two days’ worth of service — on a standard electrical charge. Each scooter is equipped with brakes, front and rear LED lights and each weighs about 45 pounds.

Riders activate the scooters via an app on their phone and then can use them to ride as long as they choose. When they are done, they park the scooters, take a picture with the app on their phone and leave the scooters. The vehicle then waits for the next rider or is moved, recharged or repaired by Bird’s designated Fleet Managers.

Bird current offers its services in Denver, Aurora, Littleton and Arvada in the Metro Denver area. It offered its services in Fort Collins until last spring, when the city brought in a different e-bike and e-scooter program called Spin.

The company will likely deploy between 100 and 150 bird scooters in neighborhoods the city would approve, providing two local employees to keep track of the fl eet. The company’s plan call for having Brighton online with the scooters by July.

Brighton rules

The City will develop zones throughout Brighton that dictate how the GPS-enabled scooters operate, Woodruff said. Upon entering a designated “slow” zone, the scooter would make a noise to warn the driver and then slow down. Upon entering a designated “no-ride” zone, the scooter would beep and then come to a slow stop. Drivers would be directed to a parking zone where they could leave their rented scooter and would have to provide picture proof showing that their scooter has been parked upright and properly before the app would consider their ride complete and stop charging them.

The scooters would be regulated like bicycles and could be used on roads, paths and in bike lanes. Scooters must be parked out of the way of pedestrians and may not block driveways. Riders are required to be at least 18 years of age but won’t be required to wear a helmet.

According to the city’s ordinance, Bird will pay the city a $500 fee to license each scooter and then $200 per year to renew each license. The company will also pay a fee of 20 cents per ride. A staff of two local Bird employees will work to keep track of the fl eet, maintaining them and moving them when they have been parked improperly. Woodruff said the city reserves the right to collect and move the scooters if the Bird staff does not act quickly enough and will charge the company an additional $100 each time that happens.

EAGLE VIEWADULT CENTER

1150 Prairie Center Parkway • Brighton, CO 80601 • 303-655-2075 • www.brightonco.gov

Eagle View Adult Center Update –Apr 27- May 4 , 2022 Eagle View Adult Center is open Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Call 303-655-2075 for more information. e May and June Newsletter is available. Cards, Games and Pool If you like to play games like bridge, pinochle, dominos, scrabble and pool… Eagle View is the place to get connected. Check out the newsletter for playing times. VOA Lunch A hot, nutritious lunch is provided by Volunteers of America, Mondays and ursdays at 11:30 a.m. Please reserve your VOA meal in advance: For Mondays reserve the ursday before, for ursdays reserve the Monday before.! Call Eleanor at 303-655-2271 between 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m., Mon. & urs. Daily meal donations are appreciated. $2.50 Donation per meal if age 60+ $8.50 Mandatory charge if under 60 Registration Procedures for All May and June Programs · To lessen the number of people entering EVAC at one time, we will hold a lottery registration, which will begin in-person on Mon. May 2 at assigned times. · To be included, call EVAC at 303-655-2075 with your name and phone number no later than urs. Apr 28 at 4:00 p.m. · All names will be entered in the lottery and chosen randomly. You will receive a phone call on Fri. Apr 29 with your assigned registration time for Mon. May 2. · On Tues. May 3, registration will open on a rst-come, rst-serve basis. Zoom Membership You will need to purchase a Zoom membership to participate online. Membership will give you access to EVAC’s programs o ered on Zoom for two months. Only Zoom members will receive the E-Blast with links. May & June Membership $20 Deadline: Ongoing Blood Pressure Screening e re ghters from the Brighton Fire Department will perform FREE blood pressure checks. urs. May 5 @ 10:30 a.m. Mon. May 23 @ 10:30 a.m. Movie: e Way An American father travels to France to retrieve the body of his estranged son, who died while attempting the pilgrimage to Spain’s Santiago de Compostela. He resolves to take the journey himself, in an e ort to understand both himself and his son. PG. 1 hr/36min. Please register. 1:00 p.m. Fri. May 6 Deadline: urs. May 5

To Schedule a Virtual Tour or for more info call Nellie at: 303-659-4148

Frederick High School students learn about all things broadcast journalism

BY STEVE SMITH SSMITH@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Behind the mic. Behind a camera. Setting up streams and the behind-thescenes pieces that go into on-air efforts.

Those facets of broadcast journalism and others are available to students who are taking part in a twice-weekly class at Frederick High School.

The student-run play-by-play effort broadcast some 30 home games in football, basketball and baseball on the internet. There weren’t any live streams. The fi rst effort at girls soccer was due to take place April 21. Athletic director Ty Gordon said the hope is to expand the program to cover road games next year. Faculty advisor Jake Marsing wants to add in-school newscasts, as well.

Before taking his teaching job at FHS (he teaches social studies), Marsing worked in sports radio in two markets, including Denver. He covered college football, the Denver Nuggets and the Denver Broncos.

“I’m teaching them based on what I learned,” Marsing said. “The rest is trial and error.”

Air time in all forms

For now, the focus is on sports, much to the delight of four members of the class, including Zach Wartner, who also pitches on the Warriors’ baseball team.

“I joined because it was based on sports,” Wartner said. “I’ve done color commentary so far. I like to talk. I like to talk to new people. I was nervous at fi rst, but it’s become routine now. I even did play by play of a basketball game.”

Khloe Gould is not interested in being on the air. She’s more at home behind the scenes.

“I’ve loved the class from the fi rst day,” said the FHS freshman. “I’ve learned a lot .. how to set up a broadcast, how to take it down, how to set up a tripod, how to set up a stream. It’s a top priority.”

Hayden Delier doesn’t want much to with the on-air piece either. But if it’s cameras, Delier is right there.

“On-mic? No,” he said. “I’m not super comfortable with it. I’ve learned to tell a story and to get different angles. Our basketball team had a pretty good season (it made the Final Four for the fi rst time since 1956). We were able to add more depthto our story by not making it about interviews but about the team as a whole.”

Josh Bailey has done color commentary and play by play for basketball games this season.

“I was nervous, thinking I was speaking in front of thousands of people,” Bailey said. “But I thought I could do it.”

Wartner loves to talk sports.

“But now, I’ve seen there is a deeper part of the game than what’s on the surface,” he said. “It’s given me the idea to go in and look at more teams’ stats.”

“It’s easy to commit to this,” Gould said. “I really like the techie stuff, the bigger cameras. Games are the fi rst priority.”

Delier agreed.

“I enjoy the camera work and the photography. I take a lot of pictures of our sports teams,” Delier said. “I run the live streams at the church I go to, so that translates to this well.”

Exposure to other announcers

Marisol said the class listened to audio recordings of several announcers, some of whom yell and scream and some of whom are quieter. One of the more frequent voices on those recordings is that of former Los Angeles Dodgers announcer Vin Scully. He called Hank Aaron’s 715th career home run in 1974 – the record-breaker at the time – and then let the crowd roar for more than 90 seconds without saying a word.

“If you get a good call of a play, it makes a more memorable broadcast,” Bailey said. “I called a game-winning play, and then I let the moment happen. I let the fans rush the court before I said anything else.”

Career aspirations

All four want to continue in their respective areas of interest in broadcasting when that time comes. Delier was a bit more hesitant than the others.

“How do I get in? Is the creative side what people want?” Delier asked. “The more I get into it, the more I can see doing this and some cinematography.”

“I’d love to do something like this,” Gould said. “I want to get more in-depth with this, but I really enjoy it.”

Jake Marsing, left, handles the play by play for the Warriors’ walk-o win against Ber-

thoud April 14. His engineer is Hayden Delier. PHOTO BY STEVE SMITH

New electric car charging station opens along northern Interstate 25 corridor

BY BELEN WARD BWARD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

United Power offi cials were excited as they opened their newest ChargePoint EV station along Interstate 27 April 20.

“I’m 100% excited! It’s essential because it fi lls this charging desert that is 30 miles between Thornton and Loveland,” said Mark A. Gabriel, United Power’s president and chief executive offi cer. “So, people are coming off the highway now have an opportunity to stop and charge. As we fi ll in infrastructure, that’s more and more important as EVs become more popular.”

The EV charging station is open to charge up with a 62.5 kW direct current fast charge off the northern Interstate-25 corridor for drivers traveling between Thornton and Loveland. Its new charging station is at United Power Carbon Valley Offi ce at 9586 W. 1-25 Frontage Road, Longmont.

“This is very exciting. It’s accessible not only to people in the Carbon Valley but to travelers along the I- 25 corridor and gives them a reason to stop,” said Jenn Venerable, Carbon Valley Chamber of Commerce executive director. “United power is a great partner and is involved with the community-atlarge and the business community- a supporter of everything going on in Carbon Valley.”

In addition, customers can sign up for a ChargePoint’s mobile app account, and an activation card is mailed to their homes. This EV charger is funded with a grant from Tri-State Generation & Transmission.

“We are excited to have one here at this facility. It’s really important because were are on I-25 and it has easy access for people to charge up. This is the third EV charger we have added and it is United Power largest district, “ said Ursula Morgan, chairman of the board of United Power Chairman.

On May 11, 2021, an EV faster charger was installed at Market Street Mart in Keenesburg, just off of Interstate 76 northeast of Denver. The company’s fi rst EV charging station was installed at the United Power’s Coal Creek offi ce in 2019.

According to offi cials, United Power and the National Electric Highway Coalition’s goal is to provide EV charging stations by 2023. They estimate that by 2030 there will be about 22 million electric vehicles on the road, so offi cials predict there could be a need to build and install more than 100,000 fast chargers.

“Nearly 5,000 United Power members own electric vehicles,” said Gabriel. “We stand committed to strategically deploying a charging network capable of supporting our members and the thousands of others who commute daily throughout our territory.”

To learn about EV chargers, visit the online educational portal; savings calculator and additional information are available for members interested in EVs at www.unitedpower.com/ ChooseEV.

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we do everything we can to protect the system and to protect ourselves and our workers and our voters.”

The cybersecurity threat level is similar to past elections, or the worst-case scenarios election offices have prepared for, metro area clerks said.

“There is no question right now, every agency is indicating that the risk of Russian initiated cyber security threats has increased,” Jefferson County Clerk and Recorder George Stern said.

But Stern said “long before we had internal threats to our elections,” cybersecurity and the security of election from foreign interference “has been top of mind,” Stern said. Regular probes from countries including Russia, Iran, North Korea and others are directed toward state and local election offices, looking for vulnerability in the system.

Clerks said their offices partner with homeland security, the FBI, and state and local departments to monitor cyberthreats.

“If something viable looks as if it’s surfacing, we are notified about it and we can respond,” Zygielbaum said. “We employ the most modern protection from a technology standpoint that there is out there.”

Staff go through cybersecurity training “every single election” regardless of how many times they have received it, Stern said. That helps staff recognize what attacks might look like. All equipment requires two-factor verification, and there is a paper trail for each ballot.

“That can prove accurate results, and a successful election,” Stern said.

Douglas County Clerk and Recorder Merlin Klotz declined to speak for this story. Klotz is one of several public officials who sued the secretary of state because of a software update the state conducted on county election equipment. The suit seeks to see if the update deleted any data, a claim the secretary of state’s office refuted in a motion to dismiss the suit. Boosting transparency

The Adams, Arapahoe and Jefferson County clerks said while they are working to mend relationships with voters who doubt election security, they emphatically believe those individuals are a small minority of the electorate.

“We still receive plenty of emails from people who believe the Big Lie,” Zygielbaum said.

Clerks said they receive form letters, copied-and-pasted arguments from people who appear to be local residents but also people outside their county borders.

“Just perpetuating the false narratives that the elections were fraudulent,” Zygielbaum said.

The letters come in waves. A spate of several in one day, followed by a lull.

“It’s important for our staff, for election judges, and for voters,” Stern said, “to understand that we are discussing conspiracy theories here and that the vast, vast majority of people in Colorado understand our elections are secure.”

Arapahoe County Clerk and Recorder Joan Lopez emphasized the election system is not connected to the internet, and that she believes voters trust their local elections system.

“We have gone above and beyond to make sure that they are informed,” Lopez said.

Lopez estimated that people who doubt election security account for about 1% of Colorado’s population. That doesn’t mean offices have eased efforts to boost faith in U.S. elections.

County clerks’ offices have expanded or created additional designated webpages to educate people about the life of a ballot and how local elections function. As “forensic audit” became a buzzword last year, Lopez said, the office tried to assuage people’s concerns by encouraging them to see the see the process firsthand.

“I’m telling you, once somebody goes through a tour, they really go ‘Wow, I can’t believe all you guys do,’” Lopez said.

When Stern encounters people who doubt election security, he says “I invite them in.”

“What I find is that they are convinced that something is wrong because they heard it from someone who said something about a report that had some data from somewhere,” Stern said.

During elections, the office offers “a tour of every single aspect of it while it’s happening,” Stern said.

“I personally lead them. We invite anyone in who wants to see the process up close,” Stern said.

Zygielbaum stresses that election equipment watching is conducted by bipartisan teams. Audits are performed during elections to ensure accuracy. They also host tours for anyone who wants one.

“We stick to the facts, and hopefully the truth will prevail,” Zygielbaum said. Physical safety

Domestic threats toward election staff’s safety, stoked by conspiracies about a stolen election, have simmered down, clerks said, and numerous election related bills were introduced during the 2022 Colorado legislative session.

“We have heard from cowardly people sitting behind their computer screens over the course of the last year who are threating election workers — Colorado residents with families and kids — because of something they heard about election integrity and have no proof of,” Stern said. “It’s sick. It’s oftentimes illegal and we are always reporting it to law enforcement agencies, but it just needs to stop.”

Stern said his staff is as politically diverse as the bipartisan election judging teams who work during an election.

“They are Republicans, they are Democrats, they are unaffiliated members, and they are getting threats in equal numbers,” he said. “It is hard on morale. It is hard for us to get good applicants to want to be in this space.”

Stern said he could not confidently say if turnover in his office is attributable to threats, but that the majority of his office is committed to the job despite sometimes facing an intimidating climate.

“The more they hear from cowards, the more they want to stick with this work so that we aren’t letting the cowards win,” he said.

“We hear the noise,” Stern said, adding he staunchly believes threatening people are a fringe minority in the state and are not representative of Colorado voters.

“Someone threatening your life resonates a lot more loudly than the five people who told you you’re doing a good job,” he said.

Lopez watched with relief as the Vote Without Fear Act was passed by the state legislature. In the November 2020 election, two men came to the ballot box at county offices, filming voters who came to drop off their ballot. One of them openly carried a firearm.

“He was very hostile any time somebody approached him and said what are you doing,” Lopez said of her staff’s attempts to speak with the men.

“Every voter that came in had to pass this gentleman,” she said.

With no laws prohibiting his conduct, staff’s hands were tied, Lopez said.

House Bill 22-1086, signed into law on March 30, now prevents someone from openly carrying a firearm within any polling location or within 100 feet of a ballot drop box while an election is underway.

The Adams County Clerk and Recorder’s Office is undergoing construction to heighten security.

Until now people seeking services from elections staff had to go inside the election office. Now the county is installing window desks similar to what people might see at the DMV, Zygielbaum said.

Closer to Election Day, Zygielbaum will wear a bulletproof vest. His election staff also underwent active shooter training.

“That was a direct response to 2020,” he said.

Zygielbaum said he expects active shooter training to become an annual practice in collaboration with the Adams County Sheriff’s Office. He called the process eye-opening for his office. Most his employees have been in elections for most their career.

“This is something that is new to all of us. We used to be able to go to work and run elections under the assumption that we would all go home at the end of the day. And that’s changed,” he said. “Something that is supposed to be the foundation for our American institution is under attack.”

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Change the action and change the outcome

Just like many of you, sometimes I get so overloaded with work that I fall behind a little and need to play catch up. This happened to me earlier this week. With a big writing project due, as well as several other initiatives, I was starting to feel a little stressed out. And as I thought about all the writing I had to do, it was overwhelming and probably the last thing that I wanted to begin doing.

Although I didn’t feel like doing it in that moment, I grabbed my second cup of coffee and headed to my desk surrounded by research material and started writing. Did I feel like writing at first? No, I didn’t. But once I took the action to get started, my attitude improved, so my thinking improved, and within two days I completed the project.

In last week’s column I shared how changing our thoughts could change our outcomes. Staying with that same theme, I wanted to share how changing our actions will also change our outcomes. There are always times where we don’t feel like doing something, especially something hard, or taking on a task that sucks the energy from us. When that happens it’s easy to give in and walk away. But if we start doing the work or the task, we usually wind up working ourselves into a better mood. There has always been a healthy debate about this topic. Does attitude drive the behavior, or does the behavior drive the attitude? There are people who believe that applying a positive mindset can help them overcome the barriers and they can start doing the work. They change their action by first changing their attitude. This works well for those people who have this capability, but it doesn’t work for everyone.

There are others who believe that by jumping in and starting the work regardless of how they feel, they will tell you that after taking step one and starting, steps two, three, four and more propel them into doing the task with a much better attitude. These are also the people who will usually look for the hardest or biggest project or task that needs to get done and do that one first. If there is a difficult or challenging conversation that needs to take place, it’s going to be their first call.

For those of us who work out there are those mornings or days where we just don’t feel like it. Some give in and crawl back under the covers. And some know that all they must do is get up, get to the gym, begin a run, or jump on a bike and within just a few minutes of acting, they are happy and motivated as they work towards their health goals.

When it comes to prospecting most salespeople will own up to the fact that they dislike cold calling or making phone calls to find their prospects. It’s really their least favorite thing to do. But again, once they take that first step, take the action of making that first call, they will generally get fired up as they set appointments and make some sales. They change their attitude by changing the action, and by doing both they create a solid sales funnel and enjoy the commissions that they earn.

It doesn’t have to be an “either or” situation. I prefer the word “And” over “Or” any day. When I can combine a healthy positive attitude while also taking the actions necessary to achieve my goals, I find that approach always works better for me personally.

What do you think, do you rely on your state of mind to determine the actions you will take? Do you trust in your actions and that they will lead to a better attitude on your way to getting things done or achieving your goal? I would love to hear your story at mnorton@xinnix.com and when we can change our actions and our thoughts to change our outcomes, it really will be a better than good year.

WINNING WORDS

Michael Norton

Michael Norton is the grateful president of XINNIX, a personal and professional coach, and a consultant, trainer, encourager and motivator to businesses of all sizes.

Time to change direction for high-school sports

The shortage of offi cials in highschool sports has been welldocumented.

A survey of state high-school associations indicated about 50,000 individuals ended their days as highschool offi cials since the 2018-19 school year.

In addition to trying to interest more people in offi ciating high school sports, the National Federation of State High School Associations and leaders in state associations have been attempting to retain the thousands of men and women who are serving as high school sports offi cials.

However, unacceptable behavior by coaches, parents and other spectators has pushed many offi cials to the sidelines. After all, why would anyone who is trying to help high-school students compete on the fi elds and courts want to be harassed, ridiculed and abused - sometimes even physically - while trying to do their jobs?

If this current trend is going to be reversed, we must determine why people feel compelled to mistreat offi cials at high school sporting events.

Some of those possible reasons were discussed last week in Indianapolis at the fi rst NFHS Offi cials Consortium. With everyone in agreement that the offi ciating profession - particularly at the youth and high-school levels - is in crisis mode, leaders from all levels of sports discussed problems and shared possible solutions during the three-day meeting.

After listening to survey results from leaders with the National Association of Sports Offi cials that indicated continued declines in the number of offi cials, veteran NCAA basketball referee Chris Rastatter offered two thoughts as to why many spectators act in a negative manner toward offi cials.

First, he said it has become commonplace for individuals involved in covering sports - radio and television announcers and other media - to dissect and judge the work of offi cials. As a result, with human nature being what it is, the coverage is often slanted in a negative manner.

As this type of repetitive negative coverage has continued over time, it has empowered those watching sports to be judge and jury as well. If the person broadcasting a game can criticize the offi cials, why can’t the spectators do the same?

Second, the boorish behavior of fans attending sporting events is being normalized. What used to be good-natured heckling has turned mean, insulting and violent. National surveys have shown that almost one of every two offi cials feel threatened after offi ciating a game. Unfortunately, this type of behavior is almost anticipated at sporting events.

Others voiced similar sentiments during the consortium and agreed that changes are needed in the general public’s perception about men and women who offi ciate sports in our country. In some cases, people go to sporting events not to watch and enjoy the game but to yell at the offi cials. This must stop.

While our focus is on high-school sports, the criticism of offi cials and bad behavior of fans at the college and professional levels has a trickle-down effect. The negative perception of offi cials did not occur overnight and cannot be changed instantaneously, but a shift in a more positive direction must begin now.

Everyone must be involved in these changes - students, parents, coaches, administrators and those in the media. Bad behavior has been handed down and become anticipated and expected, but changes must occur.

Those individuals watching and covering high-school sports must turn their focus to the student-athletes playing the games and away from the individuals offi ciating the contests. As this shift happens, a more positive behavior will become normalized.

Despite some of the negative behavior issues in high-school sports, almost 70,000 individuals have expressed an interest in offi ciating the past four years through the NFHS’ Become an Offi cial program. Imagine how many people would be interested in continuing a career in high school sports if they were actually praised and appreciated for their efforts.

Behaviors can be changed, but it will take efforts from everyone to turn the ship in a more positive direction.

GUEST COLUMN

Karissa Nieho

Karissa Niehoff is the Chief executive offi cer for the Indianapolis-based National Federation of State High School Associations.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Garden tips a treat

I am writing to respond to the April 4, 2021 article entitled “5 Tips for Gardening with Kids.” I appreciate this article because I currently babysit a 3-year-old who loves gardening, but I have never gardened and therefore know nothing about gardening with a young child. This article showed me how to safely garden with a child. Even though this article was published a year ago, this is my first time reading from this newspaper. I look forward to reading more articles from this newspaper in the future.

Elsie Rabus, Thornton

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