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WEEK OF JULY 14, 2022

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Idaho Springs discusses hotel/ motel licenses

BY ANDREW FRAIELI AFRAIELI@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

The home of Edward Alexander (pictured left) destroyed by the mudslide that hit Georgetown the evening of July 6.

PHOTOS BY ANDREW FRAIELI

Mudslide hits Georgetown, destroys trailer home

BY ANDREW FRAIELI AFRAIELI@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

On July 6, a heavy downpour over Georgetown caused a mudslide that destroyed at least one trailer home, as well as dislodging boulders, rocks and debris that came down around the trailer homes above exit 228 on I-70.

Occupants from the homes were evacuated, with gas and power being turned off for the area.

SEE MUDSLIDE, P4

The home of Edward Alexander destroyed by the mudslide and boulders that hit Georgetown the evening of July 6.

The Idaho Springs Planning Commission discussed the idea of creating licenses for regulating possible long-term stays at hotels or motels on July 6.

The concern was that local hotels and motels are being used for more than short-term housing, and that it wasn’t being done safely.

Assistant City Administrator Jonathan Cain said that they are sometimes used for workforce housing, “which we really need, however, sometimes that leads to a little bit more of an unhealthy, unsafe environment if people stay in those units for too long, without a kitchen, without a number of other things.”

Cain presented the Planning Commission with example ordinances, such as licenses that were dependent on the call volume to emergency services, asking for the Commission’s guidance and thoughts.

The Commission leaned more toward “health, safety and well-being” focused ordinances rather than nuisance-focused.

“The city is cognizant that we have a lot of rooms that are built, and we don’t want to create a larger problem of housing if we can avoid it, but we just want to make sure it’s safe,” Cain said.

Part of the safety concern brought up is the potential of fires due to hot plates in rooms because of a general SEE PLANNING, P3

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2 Clear Creek Courant

July 14, 2022

OBITUARIES BAUER

ALEXANDER

David “Dave” Bauer

April 26, 1955 - July 2, 2022

David Bauer, 67, of Evergreen, CO peacefully passed away on July 2, 2022.

Dave was born and raised in Holyoke, MA and graduated from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Places where he found the most serenity were either at the beach or in the mountains, which ultimately led him to Aspen, CO where he met his wife Mary. Dave’s love of food and beverage guided him throughout his years in owning multiple restaurants, including The Red Ram in Georgetown, CO. His most recent passion was successfully running his food truck and catering business, Barefoot BBQ. Outside of running restaurants he would often be seen skiing at Loveland Ski Area or playing golf. Dave loved life to the fullest which was shown through his way of

Dona Jean (Klufa) Alexander June 16, 1928 - July 3, 2022

easily meeting new people and making everyone smile and laugh. Above all, what gave him the most joy was being with his family. Dave is survived by his wife of 39 years, Mary Bauer and their four children, Josh (38, Roseville), Brittney (35, White Salmon), Christa (33, Denver) and Evan (26, Denver) and his four grandchildren Paxton David Bauer (5), Vaughn Bauer (2), Skylah Spencer (1), and Weston Sherman (1). He is also survived by his four brothers and one sister along with many nieces and nephews. Dave was predeceased by his mother, Louise Bauer and his father, Robert Bauer. A celebration of life will be held at Genesee Pub & BBQ on July 24th from 2:00 to 5:00 pm.

Dona Jean Alexander, 94, of Georgetown, Colorado, died peacefully at home on July 3, 2022.

Dona was born June 16, 1928, to Jim and Clara Klufa in Burke, South Dakota. In Burke, she was raised with four brothers while her family owned and operated the local grocery store, Klufa’s Cash and Carry. After high school, she went on to graduate from Denver University in 1950 with a journalism degree. While working on the college yearbook, she met the love of her life, William (Bill) Alexander. The couple married on July 1, 1950.

In Denver, Dona worked as an English teacher for several years, while Bill coowned a graphic arts company. In 1979, the

couple moved to Georgetown where Bill continued to pursue his career as a watercolor artist and together, they owned and operated the Saxon Mountain Gallery. Dona and Bill had three sons, Reed, Kent and Jeff.

In her later years, Dona loved to read, garden and take walks through Georgetown with her good friend Marge Acker.

Dona was predeceased by her husband, Bill, her parents and brothers Jim, Merle, Kenny and Paul. She is survived by sons Reed, Jeff and Kent and his wife, Joyce.

Services are pending. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Mount Evans Hospice.

Memory In Loving

Place an Obituary for Your Loved One. 303-566-4100 obituaries@coloradocommunitymedia.com Self placement available online at ClearCreekCourant.com

Clear Creek Courant 3

July 14, 2022

Weather Observations for Georgetown, Colorado Week of July 4, 2022

PLANNING FROM PAGE 1

lack of kitchen access, as well as the living conditions that come about from this lack of access. The Committee discussed what type of access might be required in the licenses to avoid the issue, such as communal kitchens or kitchenettes in the rooms.

Committee Chair Cindy Olson suggested just a microwave and coffee pot, saying that most long-stays only have that, with Dom Reimer agreeing. After being asked if she’d be happy with only that in her kitchen, Olson said no, “But that’s the choice they made to rent in a place like that.”

Others in the Committee disagreed, saying, “Did they make that choice? Or was that the only option?”

They also pointed out this would still lead to hot plates being brought in.

“I’d say the question isn’t what is the minimum that the county can get away with, but what are we OK with,” said Kent Slaymaker, an alternate for the Committee. “Are we okay with having living spaces where people don’t have kitchens? I’m not, I don’t think that’s OK. I think it’s ethical to provide that, otherwise I’d call that a slum, personally.”

PHOTO BY ANDREW FRAIELI

Another aspect of the license discussed was how the taxes would be handled. There could be a hotel license and a long-term stay license, or the long-term could be an addendum to the other. Some separation could allow lodging taxes — which go to the county — to be seperated, and for the city to keep long-term stay taxes from the license, Cain said.

The Committee also discussed what might cause a license to be revoked, such as failing an annual inspection multiple times. Ursula Cruzalegui made the point that “we want the people there to be safe, but I don’t think we’re going to make them any safer by putting them on the street because these people are not complying.”

Part of the safety concern came about because of an incident, referenced by Cain, where three toddlers were removed from an abusive situation in a motel room that had been occupied for about a year, where they had been “sleeping within a rubble of trash, rotting food, human feces and dog feces that covered the floors,” according to ISPD Chief Nathan Buseck.

Buseck, at the time, said, “You’d think there’d be a requirement of these businesses to put their eyes on the inside of these rooms, whether weekly, or a monthly basis,” continuing that “we need to take a hard look at our ordinances.” He suggested

Day and date of observation (2022)

Temperature (T) (degrees F) Max Min Mean daily

Precipitation (P) (inches) Total Snowfall (TP) (SF)

Monday, 07/04 Tuesday, 07/05 Wednesday, 07/06 Thursday, 07/07 Friday, 07/08 Saturday, 07/09 Sunday, 07/10

During the 24 hours prior to 8 a.m.

78 50 64.0 0.16 0.0 78 53 65.5 0.08 0.0 74 47 60.5 0.44 0.0 73 45 59.0 1.32 0.0 75 45 60.0 0.42 0.0 79 55 67.0 T 0.0 83 54 68.5 0.00 0.0 77.1 49.9 63.5 2.42 0.0

Summary

Idaho Springs as seen from the summit of Chief Mountain.

A local National Weather Service volunteer observer makes temperature and precipitation observations each day at about 8 a.m. at the Georgetown Weather Georgetown, Colorado Lake.

Weather Station.

Wind Observations observationsfor are made at Georgetown “Max” and “Min” temperatures are from digital displays of a “MMTS” (“Maximum/Minimum Temperature System”); “Mean daily” temperature Week of and July 4,min.

2022 “Total Precipitation” is is the calculated average of the max inches of rainfall plus melted snow. “Snowfall” is inches of snow that accumulated during preceding hours.

T = Trace of precipitation.

A local National Weather Servicethe volunteer observer makes 24 temperature and precipitation observations each day at about 8 a.m.

NR = Not Reported.

“Peak wind gust Georgetown is the velocity at the Georgetown Weather Station.

Wind observations are madeat at Georgetown Lake. “Max”Lake” and “Min” temperatures are from in miles per ofhour and the time of the maximum gust isthat occurred digital displays a “MMTS” (“Maximum/Minimum Temperature System”); “Mean wind daily” temperature the calculated average of the max min. “Total Precipitation” is inches of rainfallthe plus melted is inches of snow that accumulated during theandcalendar day preceding datesnow. of“Snowfall” observation.

Historic preceding 24 T =period Trace of precipitation.

NR = Notfor Reported.

“Peak wind gust at Georgetown Lake”have is the dataduring arethebased onhours. the of record which statistical data in miles per hour and the time the maximum wind gustthe that occurred during1893-2021). the calendar day preceding date of beenvelocity compiled (about 53 ofyears within period Anytheweather observation.

Historicare data are based on the of record for which statistical data observed have been compiledvalue (about 53with years within records noted based onperiod a comparison of the the the period 1893-2021). Any weather records noted are based on a comparison of the observed value with the historical data set. historical data set.

77.4

Week’s avg max, min, mean daily T; sum of TP, SF Historic week’s avg max, min, mean daily T; avg sum of TP, SF

48.0

time restrictions as a possible idea, with exceptions for people like construction workers.

Cain said that city staff agrees with Cruzalegui: “We want to make it better for the individual, but we also don’t want to displace the indi-

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62.7

0.44

0.0

Peak wind gust at Georgetown Lake * Velocity Time (mph) (24 hr) During the previous calendar day 10 0805 11 1920 8 1120 15 1515 13 1650 12 1820 10 1125 * Wind observed nearby 6th Street in Georgetown until the lake weather station is back in operation.

viduals, and that’s going to be a hard balance — it really will.”

Cain finished by saying that he’d take the committee’s thoughts and come up with more ideas and suggestions.

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4 Clear Creek Courant

July 14, 2022

MUDSLIDE FROM PAGE 1

According to Clear Creek County Undersheriff Bruce Snelling, boulders had fallen on the west-south side of the mountain wall between Silver Plume and Georgetown as well, with the mountainside netting stopping them.

Edward Alexander was inside his trailer home of 13 years when the mudslide that destroyed it began. He said that he was eating dinner when it began to rain so hard there was a half inch of rain pouring down his window.

“I got up to see how bad it was, saw the first of the mud came over the hill — it obliterated my shed, started to fill the backyard and then it stopped,” he said. “I went, ‘OK, I can live with that.’

“About that time, some more mud came over, and there were boulders that came over the edge,” he continued. “At that point I ran back to the bedroom, grabbed some clothes out of the dresser, out of the closet — [my wife] was getting my cat and two dogs ready to go. I was getting dressed, and in the time it took me to do that, we had mud running through the living room.”

He estimates there was about 10 feet of mud where his shed was — 3 feet in his bedroom, 2 in the bathroom and about a foot in the living room.

Alexander said the police put him up in the Mountain Inn for the night, and the Red Cross is giving him supplies. He also said there is about 100 yards of rock, boulder

Path of a part of the mudslide that hit Georgetown the evening of July 6.

and debris that have to be removed before he can clean out his house and he’s afraid that the weight of the mud will move the house off its foundation.

“I’m surprised none of them got washed away, they’re in a bad spot,” Snelling said in regards to the trailer homes.

Snelling also said the mud covered most of the intersection up to the Georgetown’s roundabout. Alexander added that it shut down the interstate and covered ground up to the Family Dollar.

Other trailer homes on the same road were affected, such as one that, according to Georgetown Marshall

PHOTO BY ANDREW FRAIELI

Randy Williams, was not occupied, with mud sliding between a few others, according to Alexander.

As of publishing, the roads were cleared of mud, and the interstate no longer blocked.

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Clear Creek Courant 5

July 14, 2022

Solving housing issues State housing grant to help fund solutions to Clear Creek’s housing issues

BY ANDREW FRAIELI AFRAIELI@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

A significant portion of the existing housing in Clear Creek County was built prior to 1980, and according to the county’s own housing assessment, “in desperate need of maintenance repair.”

Affordable housing is equally desperate, with the average purchasing price being $220,000 to $300,000 in the county with rentals so unavailable, long-term stays in motels are increasingly common.

But, Clear Creek County and Idaho Springs recently received a grant from the state to try and fix some of these issues. Namely, to take the information from the 2018 Housing Needs Assessment and the ideas from the 2021 Housing Strategy Report and take financial steps to make them happen.

Called the Innovative Housing Planning Grant Program, or IHOP, from Colorado’s Department of Local Affairs, the grant will help fund what Clear Creek Strategic & Community Planning Division Director Amy Saxton said are planned to be three projects.

The first is a review of zoning for the four municipalities — Idaho Springs, Empire, Georgetown and Silver Plume — and the county’s unincorporated land, by an outside consultant. This is to see how “appropriate they are for affordable housing overall,” according to Saxton, and help align and coordinate zoning between municipalities as much as possible.

Saxton said this will take most of the $225,000 needed to fund all three projects. The funding functionally requires 25% of the project cost come from Idaho Springs and Clear Creek, and the grant will provide the rest — about $168,750.

She also specified that Idaho Springs is the grant’s lead recipient and fiscal sponsor. Brian Bosshardt, the Clear Creek County Manager, elaborates that the work will be county level, but Idaho Springs will be holding the money because “the lion’s share of any housing that’s going to go up is going to be in one of the municipalities — more than likely not unincorporated Clear Creek.”

The second project the grant money will be put towards is public education on the benefits of affordable housing developments. Saxton said the county wants people to “recognize that they have a positive impact on the community,” so projects won’t get “almost to fruition and have a bunch of confusion or concern make it hard for that project to get over the line at the last minute.” She estimated that this will cost about $35,000 of the grant.

The final project is to start a conversation between the municipalities and the county on establishing a multi-jurisdiction housing authority, or MJHA, and how it would be structured. This was a strong recommendation in the 2022 housing strategy report, to transform the Clear Creek County Housing Authority to allow coordination for larger and more long-term projects across the entire county.

Some of the questions to be answered by these talks, according to Saxton, is whether it could produce its own revenue, what services it would provide, what contributions would be expected from each entity involved — the towns — and whether all the county’s entities could agree to participate in the first place.

She also estimated that this project will cost about $60,000. When asked about the cost for starting these conversations, Saxton said, “I think it probably will take some fairly extensive facilitation to have those conversations, but it could end up costing less,” with Bosshardt elaborating that these costs will also be put to hiring consultants and helping start the process of creating the MJHA. When asked whether this is yet another preparatory step, rather than literal action in solving the housing issues in Clear Creek, Saxton said, “The IHOP grant is aimed at getting communities further along in being ready to advance affordable housing, and recognizing that there is a step that often gets missed. There’s planning, and then there’s doing, but sometimes there’s something in between.”

She went on to compare the 2018 Housing Needs Assessment to a grocery list of problems to be solved, the 2021 Housing Strategy report to a recipe of suggestions on how to solve them, and the IHOP grant to the money needed to start to cook, “letting us actually start to prepare, and give us the money for us to start taking action.”

Bosshardt elaborated that this IHOP grant is also needed for the county to be eligible for another grant from DOLA, the Affordable Housing Development Incentives Grant Program, or IHOI, which will give “actual funding that will build housing units.”

This is because these DOLA grants act as two parts. According to the grant’s website, the first helps local governments “understand their housing needs and adopt policy and regulatory strategies to qualify for the [IHOI],” and the IHOI helps fund development of “one or more affordable housing developments in their community…”

Moving forward, Saxton said the current plan is for the county to work with Idaho Springs in publishing a request for proposals, essentially inviting applicants — like consultants — to propose for one or all three projects.

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6 Clear Creek Courant

July 14, 2022

School district seeking program proposals Board wants to find organizations to use extra space in former middle school

BY DEB HURLEY BROBST DBROBST@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

The Clear Creek School District is asking the community for proposals on how to use the rest of the building that will house the new Carlson Elementary School.

The district expects it will have about 26,000 square feet of space available in the former middle school, and it needs to decide what will go there as architects design the space. It is asking for proposals

by July 22, and the school board will discuss them in August with a decision in the fall.

“Following community input the CCSD Board of Education will prioritize how the extra spaces can be utilized,” Superintendent Karen Quanbeck said in a letter to county officials. “Important in this process will be understanding which ideas are compatible with an elementary school, how ideas support the educational programming of CCSD students PK-12, how the ideas

benefit the community at large, viability of funding and the priorities of the Clear Creek community.

Additionally, parking needs cannot be ignored as part of the prioritization process.”

The overriding concern as the district makes decisions, Quanbeck said, is student safety.

“Safety is paramount,” she explained. “The elementary school and the kids are our first priority in everything.”

Last November, voters approved a $33 million bond, with about $25 million going to build a new Carlson Elementary School in the 86,000-square-foot former middle school, now called Building 103. Preliminary designs show the school will use about 60,000 square feet of space.

Bond money will be used for asbestos abatement for the entire building, but it cannot be used to build out space for other organizations. That is why funding for other organizations is important, she said.

The district already has requests to use some of the space for a childcare center and for an arts center.

Quanbeck said the district also has fielded other ideas such as a youthfocused group and community space.

“As we have been looking at the space, we thought we would have

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The Clear Creek School District is asking for proposals for programs that can be housed along with the new Carlson Elementary School in the former middle school.

FILE PHOTO BY DEB HURLEY BROBST

plenty of room, but now I don’t know that we will,” she said. “I think the board will be faced with difficult decisions.”

She said the board would identify criteria to use to prioritize programs, with one of them being whether the program would fit in the remaining space.

“We could shoehorn programs in the building, but does that create

an overall building that works over time? We need to think long-term about the building,” she continued.

She said the school board will look for programs that will enhance educational opportunities for students and also benefit the community.

“There is a synergy that is really interesting,” she said. “That’s where it gets really exciting.”

NOTICE! Evergreen National Bank will permanently close the Branch located at 1546 Miner Street, Idaho Springs on Friday July 29th.

If you have a Safe Deposit Box located in this branch please call: 303-674-2700 to schedule an appointment to empty the contents and close your Safe Deposit Box. Our bankers are ready to assist you if you choose to open a new Safe Deposit Box at our Georgetown or Bergen Park location. We would like to warmly thank our community for continued support of this iconic bank branch.

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Clear Creek Courant 7

July 14, 2022

Clear Creek in Golden sees 2 fatalities in 4 days Tubing prohibited on creek west of Grant Terry Bridge

BY CORINNE WESTEMAN CWESTEMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

After a second fatality on the same section of Clear Creek in four days, officials are stressing that tubing is prohibited west of Golden.

Jeffco Open Space has posted signage at Clear Creek Canyon Park trailheads, along the trail, and at water access points emphasizing that tubing is prohibited west of the Grant Terry Bridge.

The bridge, which is just west of the Gateway Trailhead, has a creek access point just underneath it. Tubing is allowed from that spot and anywhere east of it, into Golden.

All creek users should wear shoes, a helmet and life jacket, fire department and Jeffco Open Space officials stated at a July 6 press conference.

They also emphasized that creek users should follow all posted signage and monitor the city’s warning flag system.

“The canyon is beautiful ... (but) it can lull you into a false sense of security,” Jeffco Open Space’s Mary Ann Bonnell said. “ ... No part of the river is guaranteed safe.”

The first fatality on July 2 was on Clear Creek just west of U.S. 6’s Tunnel 1. Sometime in the afternoon, as four people were riding in an inflatable boat, it capsized.

Three self-extracted, but the fourth rafter was found uncon-

A yellow creek warning flags flies in downtown Golden on July 6. City officials expected the warning flag system would be downgraded to green flag the following week, as water speeds and PHOTOS BY CORINNE WESTEMAN levels decrease.

scious, face-down in the water, Jeffco Sheriff’s spokesperson Jacki Kelley said on July 5. An off-duty paramedic extracted the woman and started CPR. She was taken to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Then, on July 6, the Sheriff’s Office announced that a man had died following a tubing accident between Tunnel 1 and U.S. 6.

Around 12:30 p.m. July 5, four people tubing along the creek were ejected from their flotation devices.

Two were able to self-extract. The third was rescued by firefighters after clinging to a rock in the middle of the creek, and the fourth was found unconscious and transported to the hospital, where he later died.

Kelley and Golden Fire Department officials said water levels in that section of Clear Creek are much lower than they were two or three weeks ago, which likely caused the

On July 6, groups with inner tubes walk toward the Grant Terry Bridge from the Clear Creek Canyon Gateway Trailhead. After two water-recreation fatalities in four days, Jeffco Open Space and its partners are restricting tubing in Clear Creek west of the Grant Terry Bridge.

accidents.

“As the water is lower in that canyon, the hazards in that water become closer to the surface,” Kelley said. “It’s much more dangerous because there’s less water.”

Unlike rafting or kayaking, those tubing have a harder time controlling their crafts and thus are more likely to get knocked into things, officials said.

Bonnell said Jeffco Open Space’s rangers and volunteers will continue patrolling the area to ensure creek users’ safety and enforce the closure.

One problem is the sheer volume

of creek users, many of whom are tourists and are renting equipment from local shops. However, Bonnell said anyone renting should be receiving safety talks on where tubing’s allowed and where it’s prohibited near Golden.

With so much use over the Fourth of July weekend, Bonnell added, “We’re asking people to take some personal responsibility, and listen to the safety talks.”

For those who live locally, Bonnell and others asked that they obey the posted signage and closures, and don’t set a bad example for visitors.

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8 Clear Creek Courant

LOCAL

July 14, 2022

VOICES COMMUNITY VOICES: THE BUS BARN

Finding the right location

W

e regularly hear how inflation is impacting the economy and how construction costs have increased across the nation. In Clear Creek, we are experiencing inflationary pressure in multiple ways, and the Clear Creek School District’s capital projects are no exception.

Fortunately, we have a hard-working facilities team, a stellar bond management team and a Board of Education not afraid to ask difficult questions. The last month was a testament to this teamwork.

The CCSD Board of Education held two special sessions in June to consider options related to the planned Transportation & Maintenance Facility. Anticipated costs exceeded the budget of $2.3 million.

The sale of the former football field in Idaho Springs and current transportation and maintenance facility, (aka bus barn) had provided a budget allotment of $2.3 million for a new facility. Originally estimated at $3.5 million, CCSD had a goal of building a new facility for less by not purchasing land. Both estimates were done prior to the inflationary surge. New estimates for the facility were approaching $6 million.

In brief, escalating costs due to increasing construction, materials and labor costs along with supply chain issues increased the budget needed to complete the Transportation & Maintenance Facility as designed.

Sites previously considered were reviewed again. Scope reductions were identified. Architects looked for efficiencies by using the site in different ways. Creative, “out-of-thebox” ideas were discussed.

We appreciate the willingness of other local officials and experts who continue to meet with the CCSD team to consider various sites/ scenarios. This exemplifies the collaborative spirit that exists in our community.

What we found was that while there were promising scenarios, no singular location existed that could meet the essential requirements of the Transportation & Maintenance Facility without significant challenges, additional substantial costs or in-service delays. Some sites, including the baseball diamond area to the east of town, were not for sale or available for a suitable land swap.

Finding a location that could provide parking and storage for 14 buses and 30 small vehicles/cars, space for vehicle repair, maintenance staff, storage and more wasn’t a small While we are Karen Quanbeck task. always interested in solutions that could reduce costs, and appreciate the efforts, we have to plan not only for the current needs but the future needs of the community and school district.

As a result, CCSD adopted a revised budget for the Transportation & Maintenance Facility, which will be partially funded by the sale of the former football field and bus barn, and partially funded through a lease/purchase agreement (loan).

Sometimes the right decision isn’t the easiest nor the least expensive.

This solution will provide a safe, effective facility for our bus drivers, transportation and maintenance staff for years to come.

Adjacent to the planned Transportation & Maintenance Facility, a newly renovated elementary school will take up approximately 70% of the 86,000 square feet of the former middle school.

The district recently shared a message with CCSD families and community members, detailing a process by which anyone can submit proposals for the remaining 30% (aligned with the identified criteria, which includes safety and security as a top priority for the elementary school). Community events will be held this fall to share design concepts and to solicit feedback.

We are committed to providing transparency about the bond projects and other capital improvement projects throughout the district.

King-Murphy’s renovation is well underway, with expanded preschool classrooms and security upgrades.

The Georgetown Community School’s roof will be finished before school starts.

The elementary school design has begun for the former middle school building in Idaho Springs. Upgrades for flooring and security at the middle and high school are starting design.

Contact Us: 1630 Miner St., Idaho Springs, CO 80452 - 303-566-4100 Mailing Address: 750 W. Hampden Ave., Suite 225 Englewood, CO 80110 Phone: 303-566-4100 Web: ClearCreekCourant.com To subscribe call 303-566-4100

I

t wasn’t long ago when the new bus barn was supposed to cost just a bit over $1.6 million.

Now I read that it is closer to $6 million, which the school district intends to remedy by simply borrowing more money.

I also read that about 37% of that is for retaining walls and sitework to fill around the steep hill of the school track, which could cost over $1 million more than an easier site.

One better solution is to locate the new bus barn near the baseball fields off the East Idaho Springs/I-70 exit where there is more flat land that school buses don’t have to climb and less sitework and retaining walls. Plus, it is a more industrial flavor area with the Forest Service maintenance facility as a neighbor.

One alternative is to turn one of the Rec Center’s two baseball fields into the bus barn property and trade for the track land at the new school to become playfields within walking distance to the Rec Center. There could also be a deal struck with the private vacant land next to it.

A trade with the Rec Center also helps address the new school’s problem of parking to accommodate the other half of the 86,000-square-foot old middle school building (that the School hasn’t addressed what to do with) since the school only needs around 45,000 square feet of the building.

The flat land for parking also competes with flat land needed for school kids’ activity fields. So the school district is actually in a bit of a pickle that it is in denial about.

Having a joint activity field with the Rec Center rather than a bus barn on the school track would address that problem. I spoke with a source at the Rec Center about it, and they said that it could be a good idea but “That bus has left the barn” with the school board.

Karen Quanbeck, Clear Creek School District Superintendent

I sent a sketch of how the bus barn could fit on a bit more than half a baseball field to the school district. Their response was that they would not consider that unless I submitted a complete legal-quality feasibility study to them at my own expense.

I asked them what they paid for their feasibility study, and they would not tell me, but it could be from $20,000 to $50,000, and with them the sky is the limit, so who knows. Of course, they would reject it anyway because they are just playing games and don’t want to admit they made a mistake with their own studies.

Can you imagine a citizen architect volunteering his solution to the Clear Creek community for problems the school district created themselves and then being told the citizen has to pay for it out of their own pocket?

I have been told by officials of another potential solution by a prominent citizen who offered his property on Floyd Hill for the bus barn at a token price a fraction of its value (probably could have been free but he knows people often don’t appreciate things offered for free) and they turned that down. One saying, “There is no helping the school district.”

It will soon be a year since the bond issue for the new school was passed; how much real progress, public interaction and transparency have we seen so far?

It’s time for a public meeting at Carlson Elementary in September when school starts again to give the citizens a chance to have a voice in the problems and potential solutions before the school district throws the kids and citizens of the Clear Clear community under the bus barn.

Mike Caistor, Idaho Springs

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Thrown under the bus barn

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Clear Creek Courant 9

July 14, 2022

The U.S. national mammal: Introducing the red dog INSIDE THE OUTDOORS

Arguably cuter than an Irish setter, unmistakably larger than a Vizsla, and with shorter ears than a bloodhound, this species of red dog is found in a 2,000acre fenced habitat surrounded by intimidatingly large, Christie Greene fiercely protective mothers.

While closer to a shade of orange, these so-called “red dog” bison calves are thriving in Genesee Park’s buffalo herd overlook, enchanting visitors and motorists with their undeniable cuteness and charm. The calves, weighing 30-70 pounds at birth, usually appear in late March through May as miniature, albeit orange, versions of their parents.

Size does matter! Eventually, the 70-pound calf grows to be 2,000 pounds of full-grown bison. As the largest mammal species in the country, the bison was designated as the United States National Mammal in 2016. These animals may literally weigh a ton, but they can still run up to 35 mph on their short legs.

Be sure to respect that tall fence at the park (stay three feet back, the sign states), especially if you see a bison raising her tail straight up, meaning she is feeling threatened.

And no, not a buffalo! These animals are 100% “Bison bison bison!”

“Red dog” bison calves are thriving in Genesee Park’s buffalo herd overlook.

(genus: Bison, species: bison, subspecies: bison). Bison are enjoying a resurgence in the United States after being hunted to near oblivion by hunters and settlers in the span of only 20 years during the 19th century. Down to a sparse 23 animals in the United States, the bison took refuge in Yellowstone National Park.

Only two years after its creation in 1912, Genesee Park acquired bison and elk from the herds at Yellowstone Park, and Denver Mountain Parks took on a new role in helping maintain these two species, then nearing extinction. Additional bison were released in Daniels Park near Sedalia.

Bison numbers have eventually

grown to over half a million, mostly as domestic livestock. Other genetically pure and truly wild bison are found in Utah’s Henry Mountains, South Dakota’s Wind Cave National Park and Yellowstone National Park.

In 2015, 10 animals, dubbed the Laramie Foothills Bison Herd, were released in Ft. Collins’ Soapstone Prairie Natural Area. Raised in captivity but bred from the original Yellowstone bison, they are considered the first pure bison to occupy Colorado in 150 years.

The buffalo herd overlook animals no longer face the auctioneer, but a number of young bison are now sent to other captive herds, bringing with

PHOTO BY CHRISTIE GREENE

them pure bison genes that make the animals more valuable alive than when tucked into a hamburger bun.

Denver Mountain Parks and other stakeholders recently expanded and improved bison viewing at Genesee Park, adding viewing bridges and a bike path that winds along the northern section of the habitat from the Genesee exit to Evergreen. In just a few months, the young bison will begin to grow humps and horns, their fur will darken and they’ll be red dogs no more.

The time to see red dogs in this orange/red phase is now, so get over to Genesee and Chief Hosa exits pronto!

by Julianne Seifert

The Case of the Borrowed Brunette: A Perry Mason Mystery

by Erle Stanley Gardner, 1946

Legal thrillers have become a wildly popular subgenre of mystery fiction. While the series that focus on private detectives or police inspectors deliver action and suspense, those that have lawyers as protagonists are more cerebral, highlighting the strengths, weaknesses, loopholes, and requirements of a complex justice system, and bringing to the forefront stakes of admissible evidence and reasonable doubt which are sometimes overlooked in other crime novels. Yet despite these and other draws, it’s possible that the many blockbuster legal franchises we enjoy today wouldn’t exist if the foundation for their success had not been laid decades ago in pulp magazines and novel serials.

One of the foremost and most enduring characters in legal drama is Perry Mason, a charming and smooth-talking defense attorney whose exploits bridged the gap between classic noir and the beginning of the modern era of mystery. Written by Erle Stanley Gardner, a licensed lawyer with years of experience, the eighty-six Perry Mason books contain both gripping investigative passages and detailed, technical trial scenes.

Since they don’t have to be read in order, any one of the Perry Mason stories could serve as an introduction to the series and character. However, The Case of the Borrowed Brunette is a particularly engaging entry to check out. On top of trying to solve a multi-layered mystery and represent a seemingly indefensible client, Mason must face off against a vengeful deputy district attorney who has come to resent the number of cases Perry has won. This conflict serves to explore the pettiness and jealousy that sometimes plague the legal profession and contrast them against the more noble motives represented by the main character.

That’s only what makes the book interesting, though. The humorous asides, clever descriptions, snappy dialogue, and frequent twists are what make it enjoyable.

Reading this book took me back to my childhood, when I would spend hours reading entries from longrunning mystery serials like Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys; Perry Mason acts with the same timeless sense of curiosity and desire for the truth, but with the maturity and finesse to appeal to an older audience. In addition, his extensive knowledge and creative interpretation of the law helped to set him apart from other crime novel heroes of his day and secured him his place in the public consciousness. Overall, the Perry Mason series is an ideal diversion, both for fans of courtroom drama and those who are nostalgic for an earlier era of mystery writing.

10 Clear Creek Courant

LOCAL

July 14, 2022

SPORTS AND

RECREATION

INSPIRE-ing opportunities for all Evergreen Parks and Recreation program provides social and recreational opportunities for community members with disabilities

BY MAYA DAWSON SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA

“I can’t believe I just did it,” Special Olympian Jamie Milligan thought after finishing her triathlon. She completed a 440-yard swim, 10.8-mile bike ride and a 5K run back-to-back in June at the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games in Orlando, Florida.

Milligan’s journey to the games required daily training, coaching and a whole lot of grit, but her national success started locally.

Milligan, 27 is a member of the INSPIRE program, which is run through the Evergreen Parks and Recreation District. The program provides social and recreational opportunities for people with disabilities ages five and up, and helped Milligan get to the Special Olympics.

“We just like to keep everyone busy and active and having peers,” EPRD Special Populations coordinator Maren Schreiber said. “That’s what it’s all about for us: having a friend.”

Milligan has made some of her closest friends in the program, participating not only in the Special Olympics opportunities but also in some of INSPIRE’s many other offerings.

INSPIRE offers different sports teams, from bowling to track and field. It also provides adaptive equipment and works with other organizations, so members can participate in activities like horseback riding, skiing and rock climbing.

“I think sometimes when families have a young child with a disability, they are afraid to give them wings — and then they come to our program,” Schreiber said. “My staff is great about getting them to do things that people think they would never be able to do.”

At INSPIRE summer camps, the program mixes recreational opportunities with outings to movies or museums. Schreiber believes that the program’s flexibility is one thing that makes it unique. If a participant wants to attend a specific event, the program coordinators will do their best to make it happen.

When Schreiber started the INSPIRE program 25 years ago, she had no idea how popular it would be.

“My boss at the time was like, ‘Sure, you can try it out, but I’m not sure there’ll be enough people,’” Schreiber said.

The program’s first day camp had

Colton Watts (front) kayaks with EPRD PHOTOS BY MAYA DAWSON staff Jamie Corbin.

five participants, but today there are 107 members and as many as 25 people attending camps daily. Schreiber has seen firsthand how her program is benefitting participants.

“I have a young man who is on the autism spectrum, and he first came [to INSPIRE] when he was five. He’s studying now for the bar exam to be a lawyer. He amazed everyone,” Schreiber said.

INSPIRE is helping members be active, have new experiences and build a community. They transport their participants to events and employ many staff members so all participants have their needs met, but this can be expensive. The community has stepped up to help the program financially.

“We wouldn’t be able to do it without them, and the amount of

EPRD Staff member Patrick Quinlan helps INSPIRE participants Mac Teaff (center) and Grace Arnold (right) to fish at a program outing.

Lucas Graces, who uses a wheelchair, participates in tandem biking at an INSPIRE program in Keystone. Lucas assisted with a hand crank bike as well as being assisted on the tandem by Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center staff.

support they give INSPIRE is just a true gift to so many people with disabilities,” Schreiber said.

The program’s next fundraiser is the Andy Smith Sr. Golf Tourna-

ment on July 18. INSPIRE is still looking for donations, sponsors and door prizes.

For more information on donating or participating in INSPIRE

programs, Maren Schreiber can be reached at mschreiber@eprd.co.

Clear Creek Courant 11

July 14, 2022

Chainstation to perform in Idaho Springs July 23 will see the bluegrass, mountain music band playing at the United Center

BY ANDREW FRAIELI AFRAIELI@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Jon Pickett from Chainstation, a four-piece Denver-based band that makes all kinds of mountain music, spoke with the Clear Creek Courant about how they make music, how their sound has changed over the years and about their upcoming show at the United Center in Idaho Springs on July 23.

Pickett is the band’s co-founder, as well as a guitarist and vocalist.

Answers have been edited for brevity and clarity.

Clear Creek Courant: You all travel pretty far across the west for shows, do you do a lot of shows out of Colorado now?

Jon Pickett: We do, during the summer time we are typically on tour anywhere from a week at a time to, at most, six weeks. We have steered away from the six week tours, it’s just a little too hard on us being on the road that long.

We do have a growing fanbase in the midwest, and we’ve done two tours in Canada — Alberta and British Columbia. I guess we’re an internationally touring band now.

Chainstation will visit Idaho Springs to play bluegrass and mountain music.

CCC: Have you played out in Idaho Springs before?

JP: We have…we were at the church about, man, it must have been six years ago. We’ve been a band for something like 11 years now, so we’ve done some traveling.

We’re psyched for Idaho Springs, we’ve got a lot of friends who live kind of out in that area who are

coming down for that show.

CCC: Do you remember playing there those six years ago?

JP: Oh yeah, 100% remember playing there, it’s a fantastic venue.

It’s kind of cool to be playing in a church, cathedral type setting — it felt good.

CCC: What kind of crowd are you hoping to come in?

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12 Clear Creek Courant

July 14, 2022

CHAINSTATION FROM PAGE 11

to dance?

JP: No, it’s just typically when the spirit moves people. I’d say it usually takes one person. We welcome people to dance, and I guess the best tactic is that we don’t take ourselves too seriously as humans — we do musically, but not as humans. So, we act the fool quite often. We’re just a bunch of yahoos, and when people see that, I think it lowers people’s inhibitions and they say, “Well if these guys are dorking out up there, we might as well dance in the crowd.”

CCC: Do you find it hard to strike a balance between traditional Bluegrass and Newgrass?

JP: The balance is not difficult for us. We’re shapeshifters when it comes to styles. But also, I think it all falls into the same group — it’s just mountain music. That’s our answer, and then people I guess try to pin us down on exactly what we mean by that. It just has the feel of

the mountains, and tradition. The roots are in tradition and we kind of bend it, bend and melt it so there’s some kind of flare.

Bluegrass is, traditionally, kind of a style that lends itself to intimacy.

Not five people, it’s not really about how many people, it’s really about the setting. We’ve been finding crowds all throughout the midwest that are just hungry for roots music, and dancing, and just fun music. So I think that’s what we do.

CCC: How much does keeping with that mountain sound shape the music, compared to what people may expect from being called Bluegrass?

JP: What happens is, the system — if you can call it that — like for Backroads, our last album, is we go to a practice room, somebody brings a song idea, and we sit down together and we work it out — we kind of massage it. We write different parts for different instruments in there, embellish it more, or totally steer it towards another direction.

In Wild Wicked Wind, there’s a part after the breakdown that the

banjo just rips, and it just felt like it fit. It felt like it was necessary to be there. So, I would say the decision sometimes seems a bit ethereal, it just happens. But you can definitely tell when something needs to be more banjo-y, or something like that.

CCC: How did bringing in Chris “C-Bob” Elliot in 2018 affect the music?

JP: It definitely changed the band.

Chris’ style of banjo is a lot different — if you’re not a banjo aficionado it’s kind of like one of those things where a banjo is a banjo. But, Chris brought an eclectic creativity in his style of playing banjo that brought the band in a new zone. It spanked everyone else’s creativity because he’s so inspiring.

CCC: How different did Backroads, your album after that, end of being because of that?

JP: The band has changed a lot, it went from a four-piece with James Weatherly, to a four-piece with CBob. Dan Andree is our fiddle player, he used to play with a band called the Henhouse Prowlers out of Chicago. We finally got him on board to

kind of go more full-time, and the first foray into that was him recording with us on Backroads.

He was there for the writing process, and contributed to it. He has got a lot of flair, he dances on stage and brings another version of Chris’ creativity, just another whole spectrum from him — he’s a fantastic fiddle player. He definitely changes the music a bit with his fiddle too, it sustains. All of us are pluckers, the bass, the mandolin, guitar — the guitar can strum and ring, but rings only for so long. That can make Bluegrass kind of stay in its staccato, why fiddle or dobro is important, it has that sustaining. It fills the gap, and has kind of a background tapestry behind our chucky plucky stuff.

With Dan and C-Bob, I’d say it feels the best it ever has musically, and we’re starting to get the same response from crowds. I think they’re responding to how we are, and that’s usually a good sign that it’s working.

Unaffiliated voters cast most-ever ballots in GOP primaries In some counties, unaffiliated voters cast more than half of the ballots

BY JESSE PAUL AND MARVIS GUTIERREZ THE COLORADO SUN

Unaffiliated voters in Colorado, who make up 45% of the state’s electorate, have been able to cast ballots in partisan primaries for three election cycles.

But they have never voted in a Republican primary as they did in 2022.

More than 231,000 unaffiliated voters cast Republican primary ballots this year, about 100,000 more than

chose to vote in the GOP primary in 2020 and 130,000 more than voted in the 2018 GOP primary.

Ben Engen, a conservative political strategist, said the script flipped this year from 2018.

Engen said that could be an indication that unaffiliated voters are leaning toward GOP candidates heading into November. “We all know how Republicans fared among

unaffiliated voters and in the elections of 2018,” he said.

Ian Silverii, a Democratic political strategist whose wife, state Sen. Brittany Pettersen, is running in the 7th Congressional District, disagrees with Engen’s analysis.

Silverii points out there were no contested statewide Democratic priSEE ELECTION, P13

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Clear Creek Courant 13

July 14, 2022

ELECTION FROM PAGE 12

maries this year, while there were fierce battles for the Republican nominations for U.S. Senate, governor and secretary of state. Simply put, the GOP primaries were more competitive, and that could be why so many more unaffiliated voters decided to cast Republican primary ballots this year.

“There’s no evidence at all that primary votes with an uncontested Democratic ballot and an almost completely contested Republican ballot will have any bearing on the general election whatsoever,” he said.

The number of unaffiliated ballots cast for Republicans is expected to rise as more ballots are processed in the coming days. There were about 40,000 unaffiliated ballots across the state that still had to be tabulated as of Friday morning, according to the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office.

Meanwhile, it looks like 2022 may be the year with the lowest number of Democratic primary ballots cast by unaffiliated voters.

Only about 161,000 unaffiliated voters’ ballots processed through Friday morning were cast in the Democratic primary. The previous low was in 2018, the first year unaffiliated voters could cast ballots in partisan primaries, when 179,742 voted Democratic ballots.

In some counties, unaffiliated voters cast more than half of all GOP primary ballots Unaffiliated voters were the deciding factor in some counties’ GOP primaries, accounting for more than half of all the Republican primary votes cast.

San Miguel County, for instance, had the highest percentage of Republican primary ballots cast by unaffiliated voters, at 70%. Of the 1,191 GOP primary votes cast this year in the county, 836 were cast by unaffiliated voters.

Ouray County came in second at 60% of the GOP primary votes being cast by unaffiliated voters, while Pitkin and Gunnison counties weren’t far behind, at 59% each..

All of those counties are in the 3rd Congressional District, where there was a loosely organized effort to get Democrats to switch their voter affiliation to unaffiliated to cast ballots in the Republican primary for state Sen. Don Coram as part of an unsuccessful effort to block U.S.

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Rep. Lauren Boebert from winning a second term.

In Denver, a liberal stronghold,48% of all the Republican ballots cast were cast by unaffiliated voters.

Even Boulder County, considered the most reliably Democratic part of Colorado, saw a large portion of its unaffiliated voter electorate — 44% — cast ballots in the Republican primaries.

Turnout was uneven in congressional districts A total of 1,204,528 ballots were cast in this year’s primaries, resulting in a 32% turnout among active, registered voters.

The congressional primary this year with the largest number of ballots cast was the Republican contest in the 3rd Congressional District.

More than 128,000 ballots were cast in the race in which Boebert easily fended off Coram.

The 4th District GOP contest came in second, with more than 120,000 ballots cast. In that race, U.S. Rep. Ken Buck secured a big victory over Bob Lewis, an Elbert County real estate broker.

Interestingly enough, the Republican primary with the fewest ballots cast was in the new, highly competitive 8th Congressional District.

Roughly 57,000 ballots were cast in that race.

The 8th District isn’t a ruby red district like the 3rd and the 4th districts, so there were fewer Republicans voting in the primary race.

The Colorado Sun has heard from some voters in the 8th District who were unaware they live in a new

battleground. The district also has the fewest number of registered voters of all eight congressional districts in Colorado.

The low number is further indication that the 8th District general election race will likely hinge on turnout. There is expect to be a very big voter registration and get-outthe-vote push in the district over the summer and in the fall.

This story is from The Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned news outlet based in Denver and covering the state. For more, and to support The Colorado Sun, visit coloradosun.com.

The Colorado Sun is a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy, owner of Colorado Community Media.

New phase of cleanup launched for the Clear Creek Superfund Site The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will soon begin investigating mine waste piles in the Clear Creek Superfund Site. The investigation is the first step in the cleanup process of the additional mine waste piles, which contain concentrated materials left over from mining operations, in current or planned residential areas of the site. Over the years, the science and understanding of risks from exposure to heavy metals has evolved. The agencies completed recent assessments at the site that show that some of the mine waste piles may pose a human health risk.

The Hazardous Materials and Waste Management Division has contracted CDM Smith to complete the remedial investigation, which is expected to begin by the fall. We encourage residents to follow the best practices found on the CDPHE website (provided below) to protect their health. We will be hosting several availability sessions and public meetings for those who want to learn more about the upcoming work: Public availability sessions: • • •

Monday, July 25 from 5:30-7:00 p.m.

Clear Creek Inn 610 7th Street, Georgetown, CO 80444 Wednesday, July 27 from 5:30-7:00 p.m.

Gilpin County Community Center - Multi-Purpose Room 250 Norton Dr, Black Hawk, CO 80422 Monday, August 1 from 6:00-7:30 p.m.

Clear Creek Metropolitan Rec District – Molly Room 98 12th Ave, Idaho Springs, CO 80452

Virtual public meeting: (formal presentation included) •

Wednesday, August 3 6:00-7:30 p.m.

Zoom meeting link: https://us02web.zoom.us/ j/86396172102 Meeting ID: 863 9617 2102 Dial-in: 1-346-248-7799

Since its initial designation in 1983, many cleanup activities have already occurred at the Clear Creek Superfund Site. Activities to date include: construction and operation of two water treatment plants; waste rock pile stabilization, capping, removal, or redirection of run-on water; construction of a storage area to manage waste rock and tailings; and other activities focused.

Find more information about the site and sign up for email notifications at https://cdphe.colorado.gov/central-city-clear-creek. For questions, please contact Jeannine Natterman at jeannine.natterman@state.co.us or 303-692-3303.

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July 14, 2022

CURRENTS We’d like to know about events or activities of interest to the community. Visit www.clearcreekcourant.com/ calendar/ and post your event online for free. Email dbrobst@coloradocommunitymedia.com to get items in the print version of the paper. Items will appear in print on a space-available basis.

AUG. 7 HAMILL HOUSE MUSEUM in Georgetown will host a free Gilded Age Garden Party from 1-5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 7, on the museum grounds.

Enjoy food and beverages, and free tours will be available of the Hamill House. For more information, visit historicgeorgetown.org.

JULY 16 THE RALLY FOR DEMOCRACY PICNIC AND CONCERT sponsored by the Clear Creek Democrats will be from noon-5 p.m. July 16 at the Idaho Springs Sports Complex.

Meet local, state and national leaders with music from Jimy Murphy’s Breedin’ Hearts, Joe Bye and Friends, and Val and the Boys.

SEPT. 4 THE GOLD RUSH & SILVER SPLASH DUCK RACES will begin at the Old School, 809 Taos St., at 11:45 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 4, as merchants kick off the annual race.

Watch little rubber duckies float to a feather-flurried finish on the creek just before the footbridge by the lagoon. Tickets are on sale now. Buy a flock of five ducks at https://www. eventbrite.com/e/4th-annual-goldrush-and-silver-splash-duck-racesregistration-295879632947?aff=ebdss bdestsearch

JULY 16, AUG. 20, SEPT. 17 THE FOURTH ANNUAL HANS BERG ADOPT-A-HIGHWAY cleanup program in Empire will be from 8-10 a.m. starting at the Empire Visitors Center. These events are sponsored by Friends of Clear Creek.

JULY 29-30 THE ANNUAL PLEIN AIR ART FESTIVAL will be July 29-30 in Georgetown. Arts’ applications are due by July 15. An exhibit and sale of the artists’ work will be from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. daily from July. 30-Aug. 14 at the Georgetown Heritage Center, For more information, visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ georgetown-plein-air-2022-call-forartists-tickets-262807392987?aff=ebds oporgprofile.

ONGOING OMEGA (OPEN MINDS ENCOURAGING GENERAL ACCEPTANCE) social group meets the second Saturday each month for LGBTQIA+ youth and allies aged 12 to 20 years. Fun, friends, snacks, games in a welcoming environment.

This program is a collaboration between The Clear Creek County Library District and Resilience 1220.

RESILIENCE1220 has a support group called College Age Community that meets from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.

Wednesdays. For information and

the Zoom link, email lior@wisetreewellness.com.

mended by visiting covidcheckcolorado.org/find-our-sites.

WELLNESS CLINIC is Monday through Friday for free blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol screenings at the Clear Creek Health and Wellness Center, 1969 Miner St., Idaho Springs. For more information and to make an appointment, call 303-670-7528.

VOA TRANSPORTATION is available on Fridays to the Idaho Springs Safeway and the post office.

The van leaves at 12:30 p.m. from 1402 Miner St., Idaho Springs.

MOUNT EVANS HOME HEALTH CARE & HOSPICE offers two monthly groups to provide emotional support services for caregivers helping ill, disabled or elderly loved ones. An in-person support group meets every third Monday from 4-6 p.m. at 3081 Bergen Peak Road, Evergreen, and a virtual support group meets every first Tuesday from 10 a.m.-noon via Zoom. Call 303-674-6400 to learn how to connect to the group virtual call.

For more information visit mtevans. org/services/emotional-support/.

THE PROJECT SUPPORT SENIOR CENTER offers Sit ‘n’ Stretch at 10:30 a.m. every Wednesday at the center, 1402 Miner St., Idaho Springs.

COVID-19 TESTING is available from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Mondays in the dirt lot by Mount Buzz near the corner of Argentine and 11th Street in Georgetown, and from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Clear Creek Health and Wellness Center, 1969 Miner St., Idaho Springs. Appointments are recom-

WALK-IN VACCINE CLINICS for adults and children 5-17 plus flu and other vaccines are available from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Wednesdays and Fridays at the Clear Creek Health and Wellness Center, 1969 Miner St., Idaho Springs. No appointments required for the vaccines.

THE PROJECT SUPPORT SENIOR CENTER offers free bingo from 12:30-2 p.m. the first and third Tuesday and a monthly birthday celebration at noon the second Tuesday of the month.

YOUNG PEOPLE 12 TO 20 can get free counseling through an Evergreen-based organization called Resilience1220. Comprised of licensed therapists, Resilience1220 serves individuals and groups in the foothills including Clear Creek County. They also facilitate school and community groups to build life skills in wellness and resilience among youth. For more information or to schedule a counseling session, visit www.Resilience1220.org, email Resilience1220@gmail.com or call 720-282-1164.

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Clear Creek Courant 15

July 14, 2022

Colorado will not cooperate with other states’ abortion investigations Polis issues executive order

BY SANDRA FISH THE COLORADO SUN

Gov. Jared Polis signed an executive order on June 6 saying Colorado will protect people who seek abortions and those who provide them, including those in or from other states.

The order says the state won’t assist in criminal or civil actions in other states aimed at preventing women from getting access to abortion. It also instructs the Department of Regulatory Affairs to protect anyone with a Colorado professional license from discipline for providing or seeking reproductive health care in any state.

“We are taking needed action to protect and defend individual freedom and protect the privacy of Coloradans,” Polis, a Democrat running for reelection, said in a statement.

“This important step will ensure that Colorado’s thriving economy and workforce are not impacted based on personal health decisions that are wrongly being criminalized in other states.”

The order comes nearly two weeks after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning the landmark Roe v.

Wade decision that legalized abortion in 1973.

Earlier this year, Polis signed a bill protecting reproductive health,

including access to abortion and various forms of birth control, in the state.

But the June 6 order is a reaction to numerous states that are threatening to prosecute women who cross state lines to get an abortion, as many have done in recent months.

At least six states have total bans on abortion, while others in the process of implementing bans via “trigger laws” that take effect within a specified time after court action overturning Roe. Colorado abortion rights groups expect the state to see an influx of people seeking abortions.

Democratic lawmakers praised the governor’s action.

“I appreciate Gov. Polis’ executive order to protect patients and providers, because with abortion access now in jeopardy, or outright banned, in too many Republican-controlled states across the country, this is a crucial time in which we all must do everything that we can to defend these fundamental rights,” said state Sen. Julie Gonzales, a Denver Democrat.

This story is from The Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned news outlet based in Denver and covering the state. For more, and to support The Colorado Sun, visit coloradosun.com.

The Colorado Sun is a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy, owner of Colorado Community Media.

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16 Clear Creek Courant

July 14, 2022

Heat waves make unhoused people especially vulnerable Here’s how to help

BY KYLE COOKE ROCKY MOUNTAIN PBS

Coloradans will experience some intense heat in July, with highs in the Denver area likely hitting the triple digits. Temperatures are expected to approach record highs for this time of year, and local meteorologists say people should “prepare for one of the hottest (and longest) stretches [of heat] in recent Front Range memory.”

While intense heat poses a risk to anyone who is unprepared, such weather is especially dangerous and life threatening to individuals in vulnerable situations, like those struggling with homelessness.

“Hot temperatures lead to dehydration, and dehydration exacerbates everything,” said Benjamin Dunning.

Dunning is the historian and one of the original co-founders for Denver Homeless Out Loud, an advocacy group for people experiencing homelessness.

“The effects [of excessive heat] typically exacerbate things that would normally be minor in a person’s life that they manage, healthwise, and would turn them into points of crisis,” Dunning said.

As PBS NewsHour recently reported, heat-related deaths in the United States hit an all-time high in 2021, and this year is expected to be worse in terms of high temperatures. Scientists recently confirmed that climate change is causing more extreme heat waves, like last year’s brutal heat wave in the Northwest that is believed to have killed hundreds of people.

In the United States, heat contributes to roughly 1,500 deaths per year, and the Associated Press reports that advocates believe about half of those individuals are unhoused. The problem is only getting worse, with exposure to extreme heat tripling over the last three decades. Just last month, a cyclist died in Grand Junction after running out of water on a day where temperatures reached 102 degrees Fahrenheit.

Dunning said in the Denver area,

local governments and individuals can take basic steps to help protect people experiencing homelessness during heat waves.

“How we can respond as a community — number one is water,” Dunning said. “The next thing is people’s access to shade, covered places. If it’s blazing hot outside, be okay with someone sitting in an air conditioned coffee shop for a few hours to beat the heat.”

Denverite recently reported that nearly half of the city’s water fountains are not working.

Dunning said the City and County of Denver could set up cooling stations that provide water, shade and a place to rest. In the winter, Denver opens warming stations during especially cold weather. But during extreme heat, the city encourages unhoused people to use rec centers and libraries during business hours to cool off.

Dunning added one of the ways in which the city “abuses our homeless” is through sweeps — when city officials remove unsanctioned encampments — which Dunning said are more harmful during hightemperature days.

“The sweeps happen in the early morning hours, which are the best sleeping hours because it’s still cool [outside] for people to rest,” Dunning explained. “And by displacing them during that time of day … you wind up affecting people’s sleep cycles, which much like dehydration affects all other kinds of things.”

The City and County Denver provides the following tips for dealing with extreme heat: • Stay inside in air-conditioned buildings as much as possible. Air conditioning is the number one way to protect yourself against heatrelated illness. If your home is not air-conditioned, visit one of Denver’s cooling stations • Drink more water than usual and don’t wait until you’re thirsty to drink • Fans will not prevent heat-related illness in extreme heat, instead take cool showers or baths to cool down • Don’t use the stove or oven to cook—it will make you and your house hotter

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Seen from across the South Platte River, a man dismantles a canopy during a sweep FILE PHOTO BY DAVID GILBERT of a homeless camp.

• Don’t drink alcohol or beverages that contain caffeine • Limit your outdoor activity, especially during the middle of the day when the sun is hottest Below, you can find resources on ways to help.

Monetary Donations If you are able to, donating money to organizations working to end homelessness can have a large impact on their work. There are many organizations in the Denver area, such as: • The Colorado Coalition for the Homeless - www.coloradocoalition. org • Denver Rescue Mission - denverrescuemission.org • Denver Homeless Out Loud - denverhomelessoutloud.org • Severe Weather Shelter Network - https://swshelternetwork.com/ about/ Volunteer Opportunities If you are unable to donate money to organizations, you can find many ways to help by volunteering your time. Other than the organizations listed above, you can also seek out mutual aid groups in your area. Mutual aid is community-driven sup-

port for those who need it, with the goal to uplift and help one another in the face of systems that are not meeting the needs of the people.

• Mutual Aid Monday (Denver) - mutualaidmonday.wixsite.com/ mutual-aid-monday • Foothills Mutual Aid Collective (Fort Collins/Northern Colorado) https://twitter.com/aidfoothills Resources for those experiencing homelessness If you or someone you know is experiencing homelessness, here is a collection of resource lists with details on where you can get assistance.

• Denver Voice - Resource List - https://www.denvervoice.org/ resource-list • Colorado Coalition for the Homeless - Get Help - coloradocoalition. org/gethelp • Denver Rescue Mission - Get Help - denverrescuemission.org/get-help/ This story is from Rocky Mountain PBS, a nonprofit public broadcaster providing community stories across Colorado over the air and online.

Used by permission. For more, and to support Rocky Mountain PBS, visit rmpbs.org.

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Clear Creek Courant 17

July 14, 2022

988: A new phone number for people to call during a mental health crisis

BY DANA KNOWLES ROCKY MOUNTAIN PBS

For 54 years, 911 has been the number for Americans to call for all emergencies. Starting July 16, people across the country, including Colorado, will be encouraged to call a different three-digit number for mental health emergencies — 988.

“What we’ve learned and seen over the years is that having the training and support to be able to respond to calls for emotional stress and mental health or substance abuse, you need someone with that training,” said Kelly Bowman, the director of Colorado’s new crisis response line 988.

The idea is to get people to call or text 988 instead of the police when they are experiencing emotional distress.

“What’s really great is that the suicide hotline [1-844-493-8255] has always been a suicide prevention resource. 988 is intended to be a crisis support for any source of crisis that comes in, and it’s really embracing self-defined crisis,” Bowman added.

She says self-defined crisis can be anything and everything from waking up and feeling mildly depressed or anxious to having suicidal thoughts.

“Sometimes it’s hard to take that step and say you know what? It was a rough day and I just need to connect with someone, and that power of human connection can make all

the difference in the world and 988 is really about increasing that access and making it easy to remember,” Bowman said.

Last year the state of Colorado passed legislation that would allow for a surcharge of 18 cents on cell phone bills to pay for 988, which will be overseen by the Colorado Department of Human Services. At any point during the day, there are 25-40 team members trained in everything from crisis intervention, suicide assessment and response; to substance use and crisis, grief, trauma and more.

“There’s not a one size fits all solution for someone going through struggle and so that’s what’s great about how our counselors are trained,” Bowman explained.

Children’s Hospital Colorado saw an alarming increase of emergency room visits for a mental health crisis over the past two years. Photo courtesy of Children’s Hospital Colorado.

This change comes at a time when Colorado along with much of the country is facing a mental health crisis. Just among our youth, Children’s Hospital Colorado pediatric system reported last fall that emergency visits for a mental health crisis were up 73% over the same time period two years prior. Studies have also shown that Colorado has the highest rate of adult mental illness in the nation and one of the lowest

rates of access to care. A collaborative investigation among Colorado news organizations showed some of the state’s 17 community-based mental health providers have failed to provide treatment to the toughest and most expensive behavioral health cases while avoiding competition. To address this mental health crisis, this year Colorado lawmakers passed a bill to reform the delivery network for mental health care in the state.

[Related: Bill for new behavioral health agency seeks sweeping safetynet reforms] Still legislative changes can take time to implement and this enactment of 988 has been years in the making. After the time and energy spent of activism, the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act, establishing 988 was signed into law in October 2020.

Despite this incredible step forward, the system has room for improvement. For example, when someone calls 988 they’ll be connected to a counselor in the state where their phone’s area code is from; meaning that if you live in Denver but have a 310-area code attached to your phone, your call to 988 would go to California.

Bowman hopes the Federal Communications Commission will step in and fix that.

“While we work on whether or not we’ll get support from the FCC

for geolocation to route calls to an in-state call center, we’re going to work to build trust in our communities and be clear about the message behind 988, which is that no one is left behind and no one feels like they can’t call,” she said.

Bowman also said regardless, people should still call 988 when it’s up and running later this month.

“It’s important now more than ever. We’ve seen increased rates of suicides and deaths of despair with overdoses. We know our kids are struggling and so to be able to offer a resource and say, ‘It’s okay to not be okay’ and ‘I see you and I see you struggling and there’s someone here to talk to. You’re not alone.’ We don’t heal in isolation, and I think we can all come to an agreement that that’s a hard lesson we’ve learned over the last few years.”

Resources: If you have an immediate mental health crisis, call Colorado Crisis Services at 1-844-493-8255 or text TALK to 38255.

Or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.

You can also chat with the Lifeline.

This story is from Rocky Mountain PBS, a nonprofit public broadcaster providing community stories across Colorado over the air and online.

Used by permission. For more, and to support Rocky Mountain PBS, visit rmpbs.org.

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C R O S SWO R D P U Z Z L E

© 2016 King Features Synd., Inc.

Solution

TRIVIA 1. GEOGRAPHY: Which country has the most islands?

2. AD SLOGANS: Which product is advertised with the slogan “The snack that smiles back”?

3. MOVIES: Which animated movie features more than 10,000 balloons?

4. TELEVISION: Who did Jim Halpert marry in the longrunning sitcom “The Office”?

5. HISTORY: Which country sold Alaska to the United States (1867) for $7.2 million?

10. ANATOMY: What is also known as the voice box in human anatomy?

Answers 1. Sweden 2. Goldfish crackers 3. “Up” 4. Pam Beesly 5. Russia

6. MUSIC: Which rock group had an album titled “Dark Side of the Moon”?

6. Pink Floyd

7. LITERATURE: Which novel introduces a character named Lisbeth Salander?

Tattoo”

8. SCIENCE: What is the name for magma after it has erupted?

9. U.S. STATES: Which state was the first to join the union after the original 13 colonies?

7. “The Girl with the Dragon

8. Lava 9. Vermont 10. Larynx (c) 2022 King Features Synd., Inc.

Crossword Solution

Clear Creek Courant 19

July 14, 2022

Challenges facing Lisa Roy, Colorado’s new early childhood chief

BY ANN SCHIMKE CHALKBEAT

As chief of Colorado’s new early childhood department, Lisa Roy will shape a new state agency with more than 300 employees and lead the biggest expansion of state-funded preschool in program history.

Roy, 58, recently returned to Colorado after spending more than two years in Omaha, Nebraska, as director of program development at the Buffett Early Childhood Institute.

She started as the early childhood department’s executive director on May 16 with an annual salary of $165,000.

During a recent interview in a temporary office a block from the gold-domed state Capitol, Roy talked about her own experience with the early childhood system — first as a parent and later as a policymaker.

“I have that experience as a parent of not being able to afford childcare,” she said. “My kids were Head Start kids.”

Roy, who has three adult children,

Lisa Roy started as executive director of Colorado’s Department of Early Childhood on PHOTO BY ANN SCHIMKE/CHALKBEAT May 16.

said she initially applied for state child care subsidies, but her ex-husband made $5 over the limit so she didn’t qualify.

She later helped set child care subsidy rules as part of Denver’s welfare reform board, worked on a preschool tuition assistance pro-

gram funded with a city sales tax, and led Denver Public Schools early education department from 2016 to 2019. She’s also held leadership positions in several philanthropic organizations.

“I have experienced almost every single facet of what our department will do,” said Roy, who has a doctorate in leadership for educational equity from the University of Colorado Denver.

The state’s early childhood department technically started March 1, but many of its operations start July 1. The department will oversee more than a dozen early childhood programs now housed in the state’s Department of Human Services and the Department of Education. It also will manage the new universal preschool program, an ambitious effort to provide tuition-free preschool to 4-year-olds statewide starting in the fall of 2023.

This story was originally published by Chalkbeat Colorado. More at chalkbeat.org.

www.ColoradoCommunityMedia.com/Notices

PUBLIC NOTICES

Public Notices call 303-566-4123 Legals City and County Public Notice Clear Creek County Salary Information for June, 2022 C.R.S. 30-25-111(1.5) * Employee indicated receives additional compensation in the form of fringe benefits paid

by Clear Creek County.

The county average for such benefit is 44% of gross salary. * ACCOUNT SPECIALIST $4,792.38 * ACCOUNTANT SENIOR $6,166.44 * ACCTS PAY & PAYROLL SPEC $4,392.84 * ADMIN ASSISTANT $3,646.49 * ADMIN ASSISTANT $4,370.22 * ADULT PROTECTION SPVSR $7,085.77 * ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER $4,314.74 * ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER $4,321.44 * APPRAISER LICENSED $4,186.46 * APPRAISER LICENSED $4,458.93 * APPRAISER TRAINEE $3,603.96 * ARCHIVIST $4,171.54 * ASSESSOR $6,448.79 * ASSISTANCE COORD $5,508.80 * BLDG MAINT SUPERVISOR $4,977.32 * BOOKKEEPER-ADMIN HS $4,264.77 * BUILDING INSPECTOR $254.62 * BUILDING INSPECTOR $3,656.92 * BUILDING OFFICIAL $8,266.39 * BUS OPERATOR $3,077.33 * BUS OPERATOR $3,571.31 * BUS OPERATOR $685.40 * CAPT - DET/COMM $9,452.71 * CAPT INVES & PATROL $8,799.82 * CAPT-ADMN & SPEC SRV $9,315.59 * CASE MANAGER-HS $4,075.23 * CASEWORKER $1,903.85 * CASEWORKER III $6,712.97 * CASEWORKER SPVR $10,414.07 * CHIEF DEPUTY CLERK & REC $4,268.98 * CHIEF DEPUTY CORONER $4,984.15 * CHILD SUPPORT ADMIN TECH $3,991.04 * CLERK & RECORDER $6,216.69 * COMMISSIONER $6,401.83 * COMMISSIONER & $6,490.30 * COMMISSIONER & $6,717.25 * CONTROL TECHNICIAN $1,577.78 * CONTROL TECHNICIAN $3,291.57

* CONTROL TECHNICIAN $3,615.89 * CONTROL TECHNICIAN $5,587.31 * COUNTY ATTORNEY $13,135.47 * COUNTY CORONER $3,646.26 * COUNTY ENGINEER $7,808.13 * COUNTY MANAGER $13,225.46 * DEPUTY CLERK $2,404.67 * DEPUTY CLERK-SR $3,580.47 * DEPUTY CLERK-SR $3,667.15 * DEPUTY CLERK-SR $3,793.00 * DEPUTY CLRK/TREAS & PT $3,889.07 DEPUTY CORONER $1,909.68 * DEPUTY CORONER $2,300.75 * DEPUTY SHERIFF $4,863.69 * DEPUTY SHERIFF $5,539.29 * DEPUTY SHERIFF $5,703.50 * DEPUTY SHERIFF $5,949.78 * DEPUTY SHERIFF $6,096.45 * DEPUTY SHERIFF $6,151.18 * DEPUTY SHERIFF $6,155.98 * DEPUTY SHERIFF $6,206.05 * DEPUTY SHERIFF $6,592.39 * DEPUTY SHERIFF $6,664.84 * DEPUTY SHERIFF $7,375.14 * DETENTIONS DEPUTY $2,408.61 * DETENTIONS DEPUTY $4,911.44 * DETENTIONS DEPUTY $4,927.82 * DETENTIONS DEPUTY $4,984.07 * DETENTIONS DEPUTY $5,143.45 * DETENTIONS DEPUTY $5,189.51 * DETENTIONS DEPUTY $6,152.12 * DETENTIONS DEPUTY $6,381.20 * DETENTIONS DEPUTY $6,739.81 * DETENTIONS DEPUTY $7,003.53 * DIGITAL EVIDENCE CUST. SR $4,012.46 * DISPATCH SUPERVISOR $8,822.03 * DISPATCHER $4,091.64 * DISPATCHER $4,149.56 * DISPATCHER $4,679.65 * DISPATCHER $4,685.74 * DISPATCHER $4,797.24 * DISPATCHER $5,138.83 * DISPATCHER $5,289.64 * DISTRICT SUPERVISOR $5,719.33 * DISTRICT SUPERVISOR $5,724.57 * DIV DIR STRAT & COMM PLAN $10,124.16 * DIV DIR-INTERNAL SERVICES $9,131.70 * DIV DIR-PUB WORKS $8,743.37 ELECTION JUDGE $142.70 ELECTION JUDGE $146.90 ELECTION JUDGE $232.23 ELECTION JUDGE $44.77 ELECTION JUDGE $62.96 ELECTION JUDGE $62.96 ELECTION JUDGE $62.96 ELECTION JUDGE $82.54 ELECTION JUDGE $83.94 ELECTION JUDGE $83.94 ELECTION JUDGE $92.33 EMERG MEDICAL TECH-PT $1,311.03 EMERG MEDICAL TECH-PT $318.90 EMERG MEDICAL TECH-PT $974.98

legals2@coloradocommunitymedia.com

* EMERG MGMT DIR $7,071.18 * EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECH $3,251.72 * EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECH $3,419.66 * EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECH $3,670.44 * EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECH $4,170.62 * EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECH $4,417.83 * EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECH $4,500.66 * EMS CAPTAIN $6,813.72 * EMS CAPTAIN $6,857.73 * EMS CAPTAIN $6,907.42 * EMS DIRECTOR $7,752.92 * ENV HLTH TECH/EMG PREP CO $4,881.62 * ENVIR HLTH SPEC MGR $5,200.41 * EQUIP OPERATOR II $3,585.54 * EQUIP OPERATOR II $3,675.94 * EQUIP OPERATOR II $3,715.45 * EQUIP OPERATOR II $3,817.73 * EQUIP OPERATOR II $3,903.17 * EQUIP OPERATOR II $4,071.81 * EQUIP OPERATOR II $7,203.34 * EQUIP OPERATOR III $4,333.37 * EQUIP OPERATOR III $5,442.21 * EQUIP OPERATOR III $5,493.64 * EXEC ASSIST/SR PARALEGAL $6,978.20 * FACILITIES MAINT WORKER $2,354.66 * FACILITIES TECHNICIAN $3,588.45 * FAMILY THERAPIST $5,990.03 * GIS SPECIALIST $5,230.21 * GIS TECHNICIAN $3,959.78 * GRANTS ADMINISTRATOR $3,917.64 * HEALTH ADMIN ASSIST PH $5,102.65 * HOUSING COORDINATOR $1,980.90 * HR SPECIALIST $4,877.96 * HR/FINANCE ADMIN ASSIST $3,177.16 * HUMAN SERVICES DIRECTOR $10,387.10 * INMATE PROG COORD $1,808.44 * INTERN - BEST & BRIGHTEST $3,298.19 * INVESTIGATOR $6,246.80 * INVESTIGATOR $7,966.40 * INVESTIGATOR $8,321.44 * KITCHEN MANAGER $5,531.96 * LABORER $3,013.50 * LABORER-CASHIER $1,745.74 * LEVEL 2-HELP DESK TECH $5,601.34 * LIEUTENANT $9,089.35 * MECHANIC ENTRY LVL-R&B $3,481.00 * MECHANIC ENTRY LVL-R&B $4,132.04 * MECHANIC SO $4,313.05 * MYN YOUTH PROG COORD $3,655.54 * MYN YOUTH PROG COORD $3,922.00 * MYN, COORDINATOR (CTC) $4,650.16 * NETWORK ADMINISTRATOR $6,701.67 * NURSE CONFINEMENT $7,475.16 * OFF ADMIN - RES CTR $4,807.29 * OPEN SPACE COORDINATOR $5,446.92 * OPERATIONS MANAGER $8,403.72 * PARAMEDIC $4,056.10 * PARAMEDIC $4,304.35 * PARAMEDIC $4,623.31 * PARAMEDIC $4,866.22 * PARAMEDIC FTO $5,853.50 * PARAMEDIC FTO $5,891.16

* PARAMEDIC FTO $6,251.97 PARAMEDIC PT $151.50 PARAMEDIC PT $2,208.45 PARAMEDIC PT $910.68 * PERMIT SERVICES TECH $3,667.28 * PLAN & BLDG SERV ASSIST $2,987.88 * PLAN & BUILD SERV MGR $8,676.87 * PLAN I-SITE DVL ADMN $5,214.91 * PLANNER I $3,979.23 * PLANNER SENIOR $6,008.53 * PLANS EXAM-BLDG ENFRC $4,587.21 * PROPERTY TRANSFER TECH $2,550.70 * PUB HEALTH DIRECTOR $10,219.62 PUB HLTH NURSE $1,427.97 * PUB HLTH NURSE $6,220.07 * PUB HLTH NURSE-I $6,437.73 * PUB HLTH NURSE-I $7,090.38 * PUBLIC INFO OFFICER $5,384.62 * PUBLIC WORKS TECHNICIAN $4,225.48 * RADIO SYSTEM TECHNICIAN $6,175.89 * RECORDS TECHNICIAN-2019 $3,517.67 * RECREATION FACILITIES MGR $5,673.17 * SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER $8,218.44 * SCHOOL SOCIAL WORKER $4,296.97 * SECRETARY II $3,321.28 * SGT DETENTIONS $6,797.54 * SGT DETENTIONS $7,491.38 * SGT DETENTIONS $7,491.38 * SGT DISPATCH $8,155.70 * SGT PATROL $7,158.79 * SGT PATROL $7,601.97 * SHELTER ASSIST MGR $3,306.98 * SHELTER ASSISTANT $1,494.92 * SHELTER ASSISTANT $2,376.19 * SHELTER ASSISTANT $2,945.33 * SHELTER MGR - ANIM SRV $5,563.39 * SHERIFF $8,583.10 * SHOP FOREMAN R&B $6,174.66 * SPECIAL PROJECTS MGR $9,018.14 * SURVEYOR $350.30 * TRAILS SUPERVISOR $4,606.20 TRAILS TECHNICIAN $1,835.00 TRAILS TECHNICIAN $2,723.20 * TRAILS TECHNICIAN $4,470.56 * TRANS STA FACIL MGR $5,255.22 * TRANSIT LEAD DRIVER $3,640.77 * TRANSIT LEAD DRIVER $3,759.26 * TRANSIT SUPERVISOR $3,910.18 * TREASURER $6,277.11 * UNDERSHERIFF $10,474.81 * VETERANS SERVICE OFFICER $5,469.27 Legal Notice No. CCC402 First Publication: July 14, 2022 Last Publication: July 14, 2022 Publisher: Clear Creek Courant

Misc. Private Legals Public Notice

NOTICE OF INTENT TO CREATE BINDING USE RESTRICTIONS ON Creek Elevation, LLC and Clear Creek Holdings, LLC at 2190 Argentine Street (Microtel Inn and Suites by Wyndham) and 577 22nd Street (Cabin Creek Brewing), Georgetown, Colorado.

Creek Elevation, LLC, Clear Creek Holdings, LLC, and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) provide notice of their intention to impose binding environmental use restrictions (EURs) on the parcels at 2190 Argentine Street and 577 22nd Street, Georgetown, Colorado. The EURs require the oversight and implementation of safety measures for excavating the sub-soil. Pursuant to § 25-15-318.5, C.R.S., once the EURs have been finalized, they are binding on all current and future owners of the land and any persons possessing an interest in the land.

CDPHE is accepting public comments on the draft EURs. Copies of the proposed EURs and a legal description of the affected property are available by contacting the CDPHE. All comments must be submitted to Fonda.Apostolopoulos@state.co.us

by August 15, 2022.

Legal Notice No. CCC 403 First Publication: July 14, 2022 Last Publication: July 28, 2022 Publisher: Clear Creek Courant

Notice to Creditors PUBLIC NOTICE

NOTICE TO CREDITORS Estate of William David Egan aka William D. Egan aka William Egan,, Deceased Case Number: 2022PR30014

All persons having claims against the abovenamed estate are required to present them to the Personal Representative or to the District Court of Clear Creek County, Colorado on or before November 7, 2022, or the claims may be forever barred.

Laurence D. Wert, Esq. THE HUGHES LAW FIRM, P.C. 7807 E. Peakview Ave., Suite 410 Centennial, CO 80111 Personal Representative Legal Notice No.CCC401 First Publication: July 7, 2022 Last Publication: July 21, 2022 Publisher: Clear Creek Courant

Clear Creek Courant July 14, 2022 * 1

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Careers

LOOKING FOR A NEW JOB? CLEAR CREEK COUNTY WANTS YOU!!!

CLEAR CREEK COUNTY is accepting applications for the following jobs: • Bus Operator (Part time): Hiring wage is $17.64 to $19.40/hr DOQ • Child Protection Caseworker I/II/III: Hiring wage is $47,091.20 - $55,440 annually DOQ • Control Tech: Hiring wage is $20.14 - $22.15/hr DOQ • Deputy Sheriff - Patrol: Hiring wage is $33.94 - $34.96/hr DOQ • Detentions Deputy: Hiring wage is $29.23 - $30.11/hr DOQ • Dispatcher: Hiring wage is $24.62 - $25.35/hr DOQ • Equipment Operator I for Transfer Station: CDL; Hiring wage is $21.15 - $23.26/hr DOQ • Equipment Operator II for Road and Bridge: CDL; Hiring wage is $24.16 - $26.57/hr DOQ • Facilities Maintenance Worker: Hiring wage is $17.50 - $19.25/hr DOQ • IM Eligibility Case Manager H.S.: Hiring wage is $20.14 - $22.15/hr DOQ • Kitchen Manager: Hiring wage is $22.40 - $24.64/hr DOQ

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AVAILABLE WITH HEALTH

Under “I Want to…” in the left-hand column of the drop down, click on “Jobs in Clear Creek County”.

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Clear Creek County is an ADAAA/EEO employer.

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24 Clear Creek Courant

July 14, 2022

Colorado utilities should have enough power this summer They’re not so sure about summer 2023

BY MIGUEL OTÁROLA COLORADO PUBLIC RADIO

Summer heat has already spiked demand for power across the country. Regulators are warning massive heat waves could overwhelm the grid and force utilities in several states to issue rolling blackouts.

Colorado utilities have told the Public Utilities Commission they have enough power to avoid disruptions during this year’s hottest months.

However, those companies and state regulators say plans to move beyond fossil fuels and serve a growing population have created uncertainty for electricity service next year.

CPR News spoke with representatives for Xcel Energy and the Colorado Public Utilities Commission to get an update on this summer’s power supply.

Could we get rolling blackouts or other outages this summer?

Probably not. Xcel Energy and Black Hills Energy, the state’s two public electric utilities, say they don’t expect to cut service intentionally because of high energy demand.

However, those utilities have recommended their customers look for ways to reduce their energy use,

make it difficult for Colorado to receive energy from them, said Public Utilities Commission chief economist Erin O’Neill.

Regulators expect utilities to use existing programs and strategies to lower energy use during extreme weather events, whether it’s a cold snap or a heatwave.

including unplugging small appliances and finding low-energy ways to stay cool.

Two of Xcel’s energy sources — a coal-fired generator in Pueblo and a hydropower plant west of Denver — are back in service after being offline earlier this year. The Colorado Public Utilities Commission says those power plants generate enough reserves for the company to use if there is a prolonged or unexpected heatwave.

Will Colorado’s grid stay strong if everyone has their air-conditioning units and appliances on?

Utilities like Xcel Energy think they will. Xcel spokesperson Kelly Flenniken said the company’s grid is built to run the way most people use energy, such as for air-conditioning.

“There certainly is a place for our customers to help and to make that bigger contribution in their behavior,” Flenniken said. “But we need to build a system assuming that behaviors kind of stay as they have or maybe change in some small ways.”

The biggest strain on Xcel’s energy demand isn’t air conditioning, Flenniken said: It’s the rapidly growing number of new customers as people continue to flock to the state.

Your Xcel bill has tons of small charges. Here’s what they’re for.

Does my energy bill rise depending on when I use electric appliances?

Yes. Xcel and Black Hills have be-

The Xcel Energy Cherokee Generating Station in Denver, June 2, 2020.

PHOTO BY HART VAN DENBURG/CPR NEWS

gun to charge more for energy used during hours of highest demand.

Peak demand is usually between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.; overnight or in the morning is considered “off-peak.”

Xcel also has a program for commercial customers to save costs in exchange for reducing their energy use when the company anticipates extremely high demand.

Energy bills went up because of a cold snap last winter. Could the same thing happen because of a heatwave?

Much of that depends on the rest of the country. Natural gas prices skyrocketed during President’s Day weekend in 2021 because colder temperatures froze natural gas pipelines in other states. Interconnected western states expect to have limited resources this summer, which could

Is there a worst-case scenario that could lead to widespread outages in Colorado?

Flenniken with Xcel says there is.

But it would take an extreme situation, such as several energy sources failing or being offline during an extended and unexpected heatwave.

So the grid will likely remain stable this summer?

Yes, but companies and regulators are worried about Summer 2023. Xcel says some of their solar projects slated to go online next year could be delayed by a federal trade investigation into solar parts from Asia. If that happens, the company’s energy reserves will fall significantly. Public Utilities Commission Chair Eric Blank said he’s concerned it could lead Xcel to delay the closure of another coal-fired generator in Pueblo later this year, although company executives have said they don’t expect that to be necessary.

This story is from Colorado Public Radio, a nonprofit news source. Used by permission. For more, and to support CPR News, visit cpr.org.