SENTINEL EXPRESS C O M M E R C E
VOLUME 34 32
C I T Y
50cI
29 ISSUE SSUE 48
WEEK, N OFOVEMBER JULY 21,24, 2022 TUESDAY 2020
New COVID-19 restrictions will prohibit dining, personal gatherings Chief of Police Clint Nicholsindoor announces retirement STAFF REPORT
Commerce City will be looking for a new chief after the current head of the city’s Police Department announced his retirement July 14. Commerce City Chief of Police Clint Nichols announced his retirement from the position effective July 25. Chief Nichols has spent the past
seven years with the Commerce City Police Department following a 23-year career with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. “It’s been an honor to serve this community for seven years, including five as the chief of police,” said Nichols. “I’m proud of the work our officers did in that time and the positive reforms our agency adopted to improve the delivery of public safety services for this
growing and dynamic community.” His statement acknowledged personal controversy during his tenure. Nichols was stopped for traffic violations in Utah while traveling between Commerce City and his family’s home in Las Vegas in 2020. “I have always aimed to lead this agency with integrity and fairness. Recent circumstances indicate a
Views differ on whether high schools should stop naming valedictorians Cherry Creek has opted to stop longtime tradition
news outlet’s editorial board wrote. Cherry Creek’s decision even landed a story in national and international news outlet BY ELLIS ARNOLD Newsweek, with other media EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM coverage mentioning it too. The practice of honoring Soon after the Cherry Creek valedictorians is one the School District in Arapahoe district’s high school princiCounty announced it would pals had discussed “for many stop designating valedictorians years,” the principals wrote in in its high schools, the critia letter to parents. cism started pouring in. “The practices of class rank “The pursuit of excellence and valedictorian status are has suffered another blow,” outdated and inconsistent with wrote George Brauchler, a forwhat we know and believe of mer Arapahoe County district our students. We believe all attorney, in a column for The students can learn at high Denver Post. levels, and learning is not a “The crusade against mericompetition,” the principals tocracy, and for mediocrity, A long line of cars outside the city of Brighton’s wrote in therapid lettertesting about site the at in our schools reached a new
The Environmental Protection Agency unlawfully approved a weak ozone-reduction plan from Colorado regulators, and should do far more to limit oil and gas drilling and other pollution in the Denver metro area, according to a new lawsuit filed July 12 by the Center for Biological Diversity. The lawsuit demanding the EPA reject Adams City High School Salutatorian Colorado’s state implementation plan Carolina Loa addresses fellow countyand is required to followin based the By her Ellis Arnold notes Denver the counties theon north graduates during the school’s severity of a county’s local virus spread. Colorado Media Front Range nonattainment area for ozone graduation ceremony MayCommunity 21.
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As Denver metro counties continue to inch closer to local stay-at-home orders under Colorado’s system of coronavirusrelated restrictions, the state announced a new level of rules that prohibits indoor dining and personal gatherings — a change that applies to the majority of the Denver metro area and many counties in other regions. The state’s COVID-19 dial, which has been in effect since September, is the set of different levels of restrictions that each
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•27J Schools movesValley gets • Vestas to lay off 200 •Platte online-only Dec. 1 employees $1.5M nursing grant
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Environmental group sues over state’s air quality BY MICHAEL BOOTH THE COLORADO SUN
weeks due to high demand. Adams County’s 14-day test positivity rate was 15.9 percent, as of Nov. 17, according to Tri-County Health Department. Brighton and Commerce City’s test positivity rates were both higher than 13 percent. Forty-five people in Brighton and 29 in Commerce City have died from COVID-19 related health issues. To limit the spread of COVID-19, at least 15 counties moved to tighter restrictions that prohibits indoor and personal gatherings.
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Center for Biological Diversity argues Colorado can do more
Riverdale The site has had to close early many days in recent level,” theRegional Denver Park. Gazette SEE TRADITION, P6
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perception among some that I am no longer the right person to do that, which leaves me in an untenable position to lead. In the best interests of our community and the Commerce City Police Department, I have decided to retire and allow the agency to start fresh under new leadership to continue making positive changes.”
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The dial grew out of the state’s safer-atSEE SUED, P7 home order — the policy that came after the statewide stay-at-home order this spring and allowed numerous types of businesses to reopen. The state recently switched to color identifiers — levels blue, yellow and orange rather than numbered levels — to avoid confusion. Until Nov. 17, level red meant a stay-at-home order. Now, level red — “severe risk” — is the second-
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