FORUM

things that I can bring to this to this seat is the ability to talk to people and listen,” he said.

Priddy noted the diversity of the district and thanked South Subur-

Colorado. e threat prompted the Colorado State Patrol to provide Griswold with round-the-clock protection.

“It made me feel like a sitting duck,” Griswold testi ed in court on April 11. “All I knew is that someone said they were going to come kill me and started driving toward this state.”

Troopers eventually tracked Wertz to a Je erson County convenience store. ere, Wertz told the troopers his call was protected by his First Amendment right to free speech. “I have a right to call,” he said, “and disagree and give her a piece of mind.”

Public defenders and the prosecutor trying the case refused to say where Wertz is from, though voting records from 2022 list his address as Littleton. Wertz’s conviction marks the second time a man has been found guilty of charges after threatening Griswold.

In October 2022, a Nebraska man was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to federal charges stemming from threats he made against Griswold on social media. at was among the rst cases pursued by federal authorities as they e pair had traveled widely in Europe and Asia and she had written a series of “Tummy Travel” books about food they’d enjoyed. (Some reprints are available in the Gardens’ shop.) e restaurant opened with bu et assortments of foods re ecting various nationalities and added some more traditional menu dinners as well. e Country Kitchen was an immediate success, was recommended in the latest Duncan Hines travel guidebook that many driving travelers carried and, drew crowds from Denver, as well, who returned soon with more friends in tow. At rst, the pair would close the restaurant in the winter after the holidays and travel for a while, opening again in warmer weather, but eventually, it had a sta who could keep the operation running.

Fe Drive.

In the early 1950s, Marathon Oil and Martin Marietta both opened labs nearby, drawing employees who enjoyed good food. Our family came to work for Marathon and soon visited the Hudsons’ restaurant with our families. (Moving here, in the middle of the U.S., with Rocky Mountains close ban’s staff for the work they do.

“My intent is to bring my vast nonprofit leadership and business experience to aid the current board and the leadership of the institution as it sets, so we can make progress and move forward into the future,” he said.

Barrere said her experience as a nurse practitioner and a Littleton tried to protect election o cials and workers across the country from a rise in threats stoked by former President Donald Trump’s false and baseless claims that he won the 2020 election.

Wertz was tried under a state law passed in 2021 that made it a crime to threaten elected o cials.

Griswold told jurors that she received few threatening messages before the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. She said that event “changed the atmosphere for election workers and secretaries of state.”

“ e onslaught of threats toward me happened in the summer of 2021,” Griswold said.

At the time, she had enacted a rule prohibiting third-party audits of election results or equipment. e prohibition was aimed at preventing rogue actors from following through with demands for audits from Trump supporters.

“Congresswoman Lauren Boebert tweeted out falsely that I was stopping all audits,” Griswold said. “ at was retweeted by (U.S. Sen.) Ted Cruz and the threats started to come in. It was enough for a picnic excursion, seems to guarantee lots of company, which is usually ne, as long as there’s time to wash sheets in between!)

Eventually, the busy couple retired, renting the log building to another food person, who operated as e Northwoods Inn, with a huge Paul Bunyan gure standing by their sign. e Hudsons continued to live in their riverside home. He raised purebred horses and she became interested in beautifying her city, contributing trees and planting materials to the new Arapahoe Community College campus and elsewhere. She also served on the Littleton Fine Arts Board, seeking ways to pay for sculpture and an art collection for the growing city.

She told me of a visit to the city planning o ce to inquire about something. (A visit she made quite frequently.) While there, she saw a drawing on a desk of riverfront land that included hers, she realized. Planners’ drawings showed that land lled with houses and apartments.

I can remember Evelyn telling me a few days later that she had driven home and immediately called her resident gives her a unique perspective.

“I will bring a diverse voice,” she said. “I have a background in healthcare and working with youth and families… I would bring the voice of Littleton to the board which I think is important as the district kind of shifts its focus from this northwest corner of the district more towards the southeast corner.”

Eller, whose statement was read by Ostermiller, focused on her experience as a South Suburban board member from 2010 to 2018.

“I possess invaluable current and historical knowledge, leadership and relationship with South Suburbans many municipal and other partners,” Ostermiller read. “Those endorsing me consistently mention my work ethic, integrity, availability to residents and my ability really scary. I was receiving 10 threats a day.” is isn’t the rst time the 2021 law has been used in Colorado courts. is story is from e Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned news outlet based in Denver and covering the state. For more, and to support e Colorado Sun, visit coloradosun.com. e Colorado Sun is a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy, owner of Colorado Community Media. lawyer and set up a foundation that day, which would protect the Hudson acreage as open land. Her thinking quickly progressed to creating a place of beauty that people of all ages could enjoy and appreciate — and perhaps learn a bit about how to grow beautiful plants and teach others about that beauty. to listen, study and seek opinions.” Watson, who ran for the board last year, is running again because she feels strongly that there could be improvement in communication with the South Suburban community.

Griswold has been outspoken against election deniers, often posting to social media and speaking out on cable TV news shows about the safety and security of Colorado’s elections. She is chair of the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State, a political organization.

A Colorado man accused of making numerous calls to U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Lafayette, and his sta in January pleaded guilty to threatening an elected o cial. A Denver man was also arrested last week for threatening Neguse over the congressman’s support for gun control.

She called a few close friends and her beloved nephew, Don Had eld, and soon was involved in setting up the rst Hudson Gardens Board of Directors, which met in her living room monthly — and at times, more often. Local landscape architect Doug Rockne was hired to design Hudson Gardens, with input from British horticulturalist Andrew Pierce. Board members and sta were generous with time and expertise at public gardens visited across the U.S. and in Canada. From Longwood Gardens in Philadelphia to Buchart Gardens in Vancouver, Canada. Plans were drawn and redrawn and plant lists were developed and landscapers hired. Soon, a lovely garden was open for business ...

I feel certain, Evelyn is somewhere, smiling ...

“I’m running for the board of directors because I believe in transparency and in district representation,” she said. “One person that has this vision of being inclusive and providing important information to our district can make a difference.”

More information on the candidates running for board can be found on Colorado Community Media’s website in their candidate profiles.

Absentee ballot applications are due by April 25 and votes must be cast, either absentee or in person, by 7 p.m. on May 2.