Clear Creek Courant 033023

Man saved by Clear Creek first responders gets a chance to say thank you

deputy with CCSO, Ron Bailor, an o cer with ISPD and Clark Church, a captain with EMS, all in person at the recreation center.

Board of Clear Creek Commissioners meets to hear public comments and improvement plans

BY OLIVIA JEWELL LOVE OLOVE@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

e Board of Clear Creek Commissioners met on March 21 to hear public comments and discuss improvement projects at Charlie’s Place Animal Shelter.

e board also held a public hearing for rezoning for a planned development request with a proposed amendment and expansion to the existing Walstrum Quarry.

BY OLIVIA JEWELL LOVE OLOVE@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Clear Creek rst responders saved the life of resident omas Ripley on Feb. 24 using cardiopulmonary resuscitation and an automated external de brillator machine at the

Clear Creek Recreation Center. A month later, he came back to thank them.

On March 25, Ripley met up with the rst responders who were directly involved in saving his life a month ago. He was able to thank Paul MacFarland with EMS, Ron ornton, a

e rst responders used CPR and an AED machine that had been installed only a few months prior, according to ISPD chief Nathan Buseck.

“I don’t know what I would do without Tom. I am so appreciative of the quick actions of everyone involved in saving Tom’s life,” said Kaye Ripley, omas Ripley’s wife.

e board went into multiple executive sessions at the end of the meeting to receive legal advice “on speci c legal questions concerning nancing and funding mechanisms for the purchase of four mobile home parks in Clear Creek County,” according to the agenda, to receive legal advice on current and potential claims and litigation against the Clear Creek Sheri ’s O ce and legal advice on the Open Space Commission.

The Board of Clear Creek Commissioners met on March 21.

From left to right, Paul MacFarland, EMS, Ron Thornton, CCSO, Thomas Ripley, resident who was revived, Ron Bailor, ISPD, Clark Church, EMS. COURTESY PHOTO

A month after being revived by CPR and AED, Thomas Ripley was on his feet again and able to thank those who saved him

Meet Guido

Students to present at history club meeting

At the April Devil’s Gate History Club meeting, fourth graders from the Georgetown Community School will present a “living history” presentation. Several of the students will assume the character of a local

historical gure and tell their story. e meeting is at 7 p.m. April 21 at the Georgetown Community Center, 613 Sixth St. For more information email tgelliott@comcast.net.

Weather Observations for Georgetown, Colorado

Week of March 20, 2023

Weather Observations for Georgetown, Colorado

Week of March20, 2023

A local National Weather Service volunteer observer makes temperature and precipitation observations each day at about 8 a.m. at the Georgetown Weather Station. Wind observations are made at Georgetown Lake. “Max” and “Min” temperatures are from digital displays of a “MMTS” (“Maximum/Minimum Temperature System”); “Mean daily” temperature is the calculated average of the max and min. “Total Precipitation” is inches of rainfall plus melted snow. “Snowfall” is inches of snow that accumulated during the preceding 24 hours. T = Trace of precipitation. NR = Not Reported. “Peak wind gust at Georgetown Lake” is the velocity in miles per hour and the time of the maximum wind gust that occurred during the 24 hours preceding the observation time. Historic data are based on the period of record for which statistical data have been compiled (about 54 years within the period 1893-2022). Any weather records noted are based on a comparison of the observed value with the historical data set.

A local National Weather Service volunteer observer makes temperature and precipitation observations each day at about 8 a.m. at the Georgetown Weather Station. Wind observations are made at Georgetown Lake. “Max” and “Min” temperatures are from digital displays of a “MMTS” (“Maximum/Minimum Temperature System”); “Mean daily” temperature is the calculated average of the max and min. “Total Precipitation” is inches of rainfall plus melted snow. “Snowfall” is inches of snow that accumulated during the preceding 24 hours. T = Trace of precipitation. NR = Not Reported. “Peak wind gust at Georgetown Lake” is the velocity in miles per hour and the time of the maximum wind gust that occurred during the 24 hours preceding the observation time. Historic data are based on the period of record for which statistical data have been compiled (about 54 years within the period 1893-2022). Any weather records noted are based on a comparison of the observed value with the historical data set.

Day and date of observation (2023)

Guido is always up for an adventure.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY CHARLIE’S PLACE ANIMAL SHELTER

Conifer robotics team comes to the aid of the Denver East team

compete using its own robot.

Team Blitz 2085 embodies the notion of coopertition, which is cooperating despite being in a competition, a tenet of FIRST Robotics. It means helping other teams, so all can be successful.

Mount Evans means support

BY DEB HURLEY BROBST DBROBST@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Conifer High School’s robotics team decided to come to the aid of the Denver East High School team on March 22 in the wake of the two administrators who were shot there and the chaos afterward.

During the school lockdown, the East High School Angelbotics team was concerned it would not be able to return to the school to pick up its robot and tools for the FIRST Robotics Competition at the University of Denver on March 23.

“So we had a team meeting,” Conifer junior Hannah Stau er said, “and we all realized that East might need a robot or possibly another team might have an emergency and need a robot.”

Conifer’s team, Team Blitz 2085, made a quick plan and got to work, spending about seven hours building an extra robot for the competition while putting the nishing touches on its own robot. Luckily, Angelbotics was able to

“Our kids were in the middle of nishing their robot, and they decided to do what they could to give the East kids a chance to participate,” Conifer team mentor Mindy Hanson said.

She said FIRST Robotics charges each team a $6,000 nonrefundable registration fee, so it would have been heartbreaking if the East team couldn’t participate through no fault of its own.

Stau er said all of the teams have a family dynamic because of their shared love of robotics.

“Being able to help anyone we can puts us in a good place,” Stau er explained. “We want to help any way we can. It’s part of the whole spirit of the coopertition mentality. You help people and they help you no matter what.”

Stau er said she hopes all people will embody the spirit of helping others.

“I hope people in the world generally have a good heart,” she said, “and want to help people who have worked so hard and have something happen out of their control.”

When you’re caring for a loved one, Mount Evans will be there to give you the help you need.

Conifer robotics team member Maddie Potter begins working on a robot that the Denver East High School team could use at a competition on March 23, a day after a shooting at the school.

COURTESY PHOTOS

Conifer robotics team members Rhys Hanson, left, and Hannah Stau er find parts to use to create a new robot.

They build a robot the Denver East team could use if it couldn’t bring its own to a competition

Conifer student Mia Vaughn, mentor Isaac Stau er and student Johnathan Teklar worked on a practice robot earlier this year that was the basis for the extra robot that Denver East High School’s team could use.

End of COVID emergency to usher in health system change

White House sets May cuto

BY RACHANA PRADHAN KAISER HEALTH NEWS

e Biden administration’s decision to end the COVID-19 public health emergency in May will institute sweeping changes across the health care system that go far beyond many people having to pay more for COVID tests.

In response to the pandemic, the federal government in 2020 suspended many of its rules on how care is delivered. at transformed essentially every corner of American health care — from hospitals and nursing homes to public health and treatment for people recovering from addiction.

Now, as the government prepares to reverse some of those steps, here’s a glimpse at ways patients will be a ected:

e end of the emergency means nursing homes will have to meet higher standards for training workers.

Advocates for nursing home residents are eager to see the old, tougher training requirements reinstated, but the industry says that move could worsen sta ng shortages plaguing facilities nationwide.

In the early days of the pandemic, to help nursing homes function under the virus’s onslaught, the federal government relaxed training requirements. e Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services instituted a national policy saying nursing homes needn’t follow regulations requiring nurse aides to undergo at least 75 hours of state-approved training. Normally, a nursing home couldn’t employ aides for more than four months unless they met those requirements.

Last year, CMS decided the relaxed training rules would no longer apply nationwide, but states and facilities could ask for permission to be held to the lower standards. As of March, 17 states had such exemptions, according to CMS — Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, and Washington — as did 356 individual nursing homes in Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Washington, D.C.

Nurse aides often provide the most direct and labor-intensive care for residents, including bathing and other hygiene-related tasks, feeding, monitoring vital signs, and keeping rooms clean. Research has shown that nursing homes with sta ng instability maintain a lower quality of care.

Advocates for nursing home residents are pleased the training exceptions will end but fear that the quality of care could nevertheless deteriorate. at’s because CMS has signaled that, after the looser standards expire, some of the hours that nurse aides logged during the pandemic could count toward their

75 hours of required training. Onthe-job experience, however, is not necessarily a sound substitute for the training workers missed, advocates argue.

Adequate training of aides is crucial so “they know what they’re doing before they provide care, for their own good as well as for the residents,” said Toby Edelman, a senior policy attorney for the Center for Medicare Advocacy.

e American Health Care Association, the largest nursing home lobbying group, released a December survey  nding that roughly 4 in 5 facilities were dealing with moderate to high levels of sta shortages.

A looming rollback of broader access to buprenorphine, an important medication for people in recovery from opioid addiction, is alarming patients and doctors.

During the public health emergency, the Drug Enforcement Administration said providers could prescribe certain controlled substances virtually or over the phone without rst conducting an in-person medical evaluation. One of those drugs, buprenorphine, is an opioid that can prevent debilitating withdrawal symptoms for people trying to recover from addiction to other opioids. Research has shown using it more than halves the risk of overdose.

Amid a national epidemic of opioid addiction, if the expanded policy for buprenorphine ends, “thousands of people are going to die,” said Ryan Hampton, an activist who is in recovery.

e DEA in late February proposed regulations that would partly roll back the prescribing of controlled substances through telemedicine. A clinician could use telemedicine to order an initial 30-day supply of medications such as buprenorphine, Ambien, Valium, and Xanax, but patients would need an in-person evaluation to get a re ll.

For another group of drugs, including Adderall, Ritalin, and oxycodone, the DEA proposal would institute tighter controls. Patients seeking those medications would need to see a doctor in person for an initial prescription.

David Herzberg, a historian of drugs at the University at Bu alo, said the DEA’s approach re ects a fundamental challenge in developing drug policy: meeting the needs of people who rely on a drug that can be abused without making that drug too readily available to others.

e DEA, he added, is “clearly seriously wrestling with this problem.”

During the pandemic, CMS has tried to limit problems that could arise if there weren’t enough health care workers to treat patients — especially before there were COVID vaccines when workers were at greater risk of getting sick.

For example, CMS allowed hospitals to make broader use of nurse practitioners and physician assistants when caring for Medicare patients. And new physicians not yet credentialed to work at a particular hospital — for example, because governing bodies lacked time to conduct their reviews — could nonetheless practice there.

Other changes during the public health emergency were meant to shore up hospital capacity. Critical access hospitals, small hospitals located in rural areas, didn’t have to comply with federal rules for Medicare stating they were limited to 25 inpatient beds and patients’ stays could not exceed 96 hours, on average.

Once the emergency ends, those exceptions will disappear.

Hospitals are trying to persuade federal o cials to maintain multiple COVID-era policies beyond the emergency or work with Congress to change the law.

health departments monitor the spread of disease will change after the emergency ends, because the Department of Health and Human Services won’t be able to require labs to report COVID testing data.

Without a uniform, federal requirement, how states and counties track the spread of the coronavirus will vary. In addition, though hospitals will still provide COVID data to the federal government, they may do so less frequently.

Public health departments are still getting their arms around the scope of the changes, said Janet Hamilton, executive director of the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists.

In some ways, the end of the emergency provides public health o cials an opportunity to rethink COVID surveillance. Compared with the pandemic’s early days, when at-home tests were unavailable and people relied heavily on labs to determine whether they were infected, testing data from labs now reveals less about how the virus is spreading.

Public health o cials don’t think “getting all test results from all lab tests is potentially the right strategy anymore,” Hamilton said. Flu surveillance provides a potential alternative model: For in uenza, public health departments seek test results from a sampling of labs.

“We’re still trying to work out what’s the best, consistent strategy. And I don’t think we have that yet,” Hamilton said.

Kaiser Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at Kaiser Family Foundation. KFF is an endowed nonpro t organization providing information on health issues to the nation.

COVID is still present as health o cials look at next steps.

SHUTTERSTOCK

Colorado lawmakers want to o er scholarships to help fill workforce gaps

come from the state’s general fund.

BY ERICA BREUNLIN THE COLORADO SUN

As Colorado hurts for more early childhood educators, nurses, reghters and workers across other industries, state legislators are attempting to ll critical workforce gaps with a pair of bills that would provide free training to an estimated 20,000 students and support about 15,000 graduating high school students each with $1,500 scholarships.

One of the measures would cover education costs — including tuition, fees, books and supplies — for students wanting to teach elementary schoolers, preschoolers or infants and toddlers as well as students interested in nursing, construction, re ghting, law enforcement and forest management. A second bill would provide scholarships to students heading to community colleges, trades schools or universities to prepare for jobs in health care, manufacturing, construction, nance, engineering, IT, education and behavioral and mental health.

Both bills, expected to be introduced later this week, have bipartisan support as they aim to ease the heavy costs students often shoulder while learning skills they need to join the workforce. Funding for each bill would stretch for two years and

“With this signi cant infusion of resources, it really is a jump-start to try and get more of our traditional and nontraditional age students into these industries that are so desperate for workers,” House Speaker Julie McCluskie, D-Dillon, said ahead of a Tuesday morning news conference announcing the pieces of legislation.  McCluskie is a prime sponsor on the bill that would fund training for students.

at bill proposes spending $45 million on students’ education costs from the state’s general fund, including $38.6 million to support students earning a certi cate or associate degree at a public community college, local district college or area technical college.

A separate $5 million would be directed to short-term nursing programs at community colleges with the goal of preparing more nurses to sta local hospitals. And $1.4 million would be funneled to a competitive grant program facilitated by the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment and available to registered apprenticeship programs in building and construction trades. e free education initiative builds on the Care Forward Colorado Program, which Gov. Jared Polis introduced in August as a way to help the state overcome a crippling shortage of health care workers.

at program, funded by $26 million of federal COVID stimulus funding over two years, is o ering free schooling for students pursuing careers as certi ed nursing assistants,

emergency medical technicians, pharmacy technicians, phlebotomy technicians, medical assistants or dental assistants.

More than 1,400 students in training through the program have graduated from the Colorado Community College System, local district colleges and area technical colleges since last fall, according to information Gov. Jared Polis cited during the news conference. Along with lawmakers, he hopes to replicate the success of the program in other industries that have been plagued by sta shortages throughout the pandemic.

e other piece of legislation that would award scholarships to graduating high schoolers could bene t more than one-fourth of the graduating class of 2024, according to lawmakers.

e bill would help students in eligible disciplines cover expenses for books, fees and tuition and would expedite their path through higher education and training, said Rep. Matt Martinez, D-Monte Vista, who is sponsoring the bill.

“ is is the type of meaningful legislation that is really going to put dollars in the hands of our students and (make) sure that they have the skills necessary to be successful,” said Martinez, who previously worked for nine-and-a-half years at Adams State University. is story is from e Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned news outlet based in Denver and covering the state. For more, and to support e Colorado Sun, visit coloradosun.com. e Colorado Sun is a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy, owner of Colorado Community Media.

Two bills being considered at the Capitol would o er educational help to aspiring firefighters and other fields where workers are critical. In this file photo, West Metro Fire Rescue firefighters prepare to participate in a mock water rescue at Bear Creek Lake Park. PHOTO BY DEB HURLEY BROBST

Bills seek to pay education costs, including tuition, fees, books and supplies

Bill would encourage CPR training in high schools

cases of cardiac arrest — in which the heart abruptly stops beating

BY HELEN SANTORO KAISER HEALTH NEWS

A bill advancing in the Colorado legislature would encourage schools to begin teaching students lifesaving skills before graduation, but critics contend it’s little more than a “feel-good” measure devoid of vital requirements and funding.

Colorado is one of 10 states where laws don’t mandate CPR training for high school students, according to the American Heart Association.

In February, the Colorado House passed a bipartisan bill  to add training for CPR and how to use an automated external de brillator, or AED, to the Colorado Department of Education’s comprehensive health education high school curriculum.

But the proposal stops short of requiring public high schools to adopt the revised curriculum, or subsidizing the e ort. Instead, they would be strongly encouraged to implement the training on their own.

“ e bill is a noble e ort and is something that needs to be done,” said Lynn Blake, vice chair of the Eagle County Paramedic Services board. “However, it’s a feel-good law until mandates and dollars accompany it.”

In 2021, Colorado reported 3,727

— to the Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival, or CARES, which tracks incidents occurring outside hospitals. is number is likely an underestimate, as the data was collected from less than 80% of the population. Last summer, Colorado became the rst state to establish an o ce within its state health department dedicated to collecting data on cardiac arrest incidents and nding ways to increase survival rates.

Nearly 90% of cardiac arrests experienced outside of a hospital are fatal, according to CARES. CPR can double or triple a person’s chance of survival if performed immediately after the heart stops beating.

So, the more bystanders who know how to administer CPR, the better, said Blake, who was 27 when she was stricken by cardiac arrest. A woman nearby performed CPR on her, and a few minutes later, paramedics arrived and shocked Blake three times with an AED, which saved her life. A 2022 study by the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia found that states that require CPR training in schools have higher rates of CPR being performed by bystanders, thus improving survival rates.

“We have a huge need for people to learn to act quickly in emergency situations,” said state Sen. Janice Marchman, a Democrat sponsoring the bill. “ at’s why it would be great to train high school students not just to do CPR, but also to use the AED machines.”

together cost around $600, according to the American Red Cross store. School districts might be eligible to apply for a comprehensive health education grant funded by the state education department, to help pay for lessons, Marchman said.

e bill also stops short of making CPR training a graduation requirement for public high schools, leaving Colorado an outlier while 40 other states plus Washington, D.C., command it. Alabama has mandated CPR training for high school graduation since fall 1983 and Iowa has done the same since 2009.

All Colorado public schools are bound by the state’s comprehensive health academic standards, so it’s likely that most schools would abide by the change without making it a graduation requirement, Marchman said.

Colorado Senate Republicans are con dent schools will be eager to equip students and teachers with these lifesaving skills, caucus spokesperson Joshua Bly said.

e Colorado Department of Education’s role is to implement policy, not speculate on why CPR and AED training is not mandated in high

lawmakers have sought CPR training tion tried to mandate CPR and AED

Executives opposed the legislation, as its members argued that school districts should be able to “decide what is important at a local level” as they are “tasked with the di cult job of balancing budgets.”

Not mandating CPR and AED training in high schools is a signicant loss, said Blake. “If I was the author of the bill, I would require that all students and administrators, teachers, coaches — anyone who is involved with any kind of education — to be trained in CPR,” she said.

Still, Blake sees this bill as a step in the right direction. “Stakeholders are eager to return to the Capitol in coming sessions with an even more robust bill, including CPR and debrillator requirements and funding,” she said.

KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonpro t organization providing information on health issues to the nation.

Colorado is one of 10 states where laws don’t mandate CPR training for high school students, according to the American Heart Association. STOCK PHOTO

Critics call proposal in Colorado legislature a ‘feel-good’ measure

Coloradans could get up to $2.5 billion in tax refunds

BY JESSE PAUL THE COLORADO SUN

Coloradans will receive more than $2.5 billion in tax refunds from the state as long as there isn’t a recession, according to two quarterly economic and tax revenue forecasts presented this month to the legislature.

An economic downturn is increasingly likely, however, given international nancial instability, including stubborn in ation and the banking industry’s headline-grabbing struggles over the past month.

Nonpartisan Legislative Council Sta said the state government will collect $2.75 billion in tax revenue in excess of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights cap on government growth and spending in the current scal year, which ends June 30. e legislature is required to refund that money.

e Governor’s O ce of State Planning and Budget expects the TABOR cap to be exceeded by $2.7 billion in the current scal year.

e cap, set by a 1992 constitutional amendment passed by Colorado voters, is calculated by multiplying the prior year’s limit by in ation and population growth rates.

e money will predominantly be refunded to taxpayers in April 2024 in the form of checks tied to people’s income — with higher refund amounts going to higher earners — as long as the legislature doesn’t change the refund formula this year, as it did in 2022.

e forecasts are provided to the Colorado General Assembly to help lawmakers draft the state budget for the next scal year. e data presented in March to the legislature’s powerful Joint Budget Committee, which drafts the budget, is considered the most important each year because it’s used to set spending.

e good news for the legislature is that it will have all the money it’s entitled to. e bad news is that the in ation rate used to calculate the TABOR cap lags current economic conditions. at means that while the legislature would seem to have more money to spend next year, the amount is actually lower than this year’s when adjusted for real-time population and in ation increases.

In fact, Greg Sobetski, chief economist for Legislative Council Sta , told the JBC that even without TABOR state budget revenue isn’t

expected to keep up with in ation and population increases.

“We expect those revenue increases to not make up for the budgetary pressures that arise from in ation and population,” he said.

Still, state tax revenue is expected to exceed the TABOR cap through the 2024-25 scal year, which begins on July 1, 2024. at’s assuming Colorado voters don’t approve more reductions in the income tax rate — as conservatives are pushing for — and the legislature doesn’t pass new bills o ering tax breaks.

ere’s also a proposal swirling at the Capitol to ask voters to forgo their TABOR refunds and send the money to K-12 schools instead.

e TABOR cap was exceeded last scal year by $3.7 billion, which prompted refund checks to be mailed to Coloradans last year. Another round will be mailed out in April, as well.

Legislative Council Sta and the governor’s o ce shared good and bad news about the state’s economy.

Overall, the state’s economy, like the nation’s, is slowing in the wake of rising interest rates set by the Federal Reserve. Unemployment in Colorado, however, remains low — 2.8% in January, which means it has returned to pre-pandemic levels — and isn’t expected to rise too much.

Legislative Council Sta forecasts the unemployment rate to be 2.9% at the end of 2023 before increasing slightly to 3.1% in 2024. e Governor’s O ce of State Planning and Budgeting says there are two job openings in Colorado for every unemployed person.

Coloradans’ personal savings, meanwhile, have shrunk amid high in ation, while credit card balances have risen.

“Some households may still have excess savings, but most lowerincome households spent down the excess savings acquired early in the pandemic,” Louis Pino, an LCS analyst, told the JBC.

Bryce Cooke, chief economist with OSPB, said if there is an economic downturn, Colorado will be well positioned to weather it.

“If the gap between the workforce and job openings remained similar to where it is now, you would see that people wouldn’t be losing jobs,” he said.

Cooke said bank failures in the

U.S. and internationally are a real economic risk, though it will be tempered by the federal government’s willingness to respond to the situation.

Overall, Lauren Larson, who leads OSPB, said these are “uncertain economic times.”

is story is from e Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned news outlet based in Denver and covering the state. For more, and to support e Colorado Sun, visit coloradosun.com. e Colorado Sun is a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy, owner of Colorado Community Media.

A look up through the dome in the state Capitol.

PHOTO BY ELLIS ARNOLD

Op-ed: Let’s talk about mental health

We need to do more to support our communities struggling with mental health. We need to talk about mental health and end the stigma around asking for help. We need to fund our behavioral health services to ensure no one in our state spends months on a waiting list for life-saving care. We need to and will do better. As your State Senator, I am working to help our state and local communities do just that.

In recent years, our state has experienced an unprecedented mental health crisis. Last year, one in four Colordans reported experiencing poor mental health, according to Colorado Health Institute. While we know that the isolation and uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated mental health challenges nationwide, we’re still seeing our communities struggle in the aftermath. Many Coloradans continue to be challenged by economic instability, drug and alcohol addiction, housing insecurity and the many other circumstances that can compound mental health challenges.

Further, a lack of a ordable treatment options and societal stigma serve as a barrier for many to access care, and I know these issues are especially prevalent in our rural areas.

During the recent Suicide Prevention Awareness Day at the Capitol, I met with constituents from across Senate District 8 who have dealt with the unimagineable tragedy of

GUEST COLUMN

Dylan Roberts

losing a loved one to suicide. In many of these stories, I learned how swifter and more robust intervention could have prevented such losses. I know that accounts like these weigh heavy on my conscience and that of my fellow elected o cials.

At the legislature, we have heard loud and clear that our communities need more support, and I’m proud of the work we’ve done so far to expand access to essential behavioral health care. Last session, we were able to use one time funding from the American Rescue Plan Act to invest a historic $450 million towards expanding behavioral health services statewide, including the following allocations:

$119 million to increase residential bed capacity statewide for youth & adults $90 million in grants for local government, nonpro ts and providers to expand behavioral health services

$72 million to invest in Colorado’s behavioral health workforce, including in retention and recruitment strategies

$63 million towards programs that redirect people with behavioral health needs from involvement with the criminal justice system

$47 million towards programs to improve coordination and integra-

tion between primary and behavioral health care services

$19 million to advance schoolbased and other youth oriented behavioral health care services  ese programs aim to ensure that providers can intervene at every stage of care –  from early, schoolbased intervention for youth to residential treatment for adults. As many of these funds trickle into care institutions over the next few years, I’m hopeful we’ll see more of our communities receiving the services they need.

But there is so much more to do, and we aren’t stopping there. I and my fellow legislators are working on programs that will make it easier to access mental health services, particularly among our youth.  I look forward to supporting HB231003, which builds upon Colorado’s IMatter program by allowing schools to administer voluntary in-person mental health evaluations for 6-12th graders on a yearly basis. is effort will not only help schools and families detect early signs of mental health challenges but will also help students develop literacy in discussing and advocating for their emotional well being.

I am also the proud prime sponsor of HB23-1007, which expands on our work last year to put crisis suicide information on high school student ID cards. is bill will ensure that college students have information about care options and also hopefully feel more comfortable opening

up about mental health challenges. is bill has passed both the House and Senate with broad bipartisan support and is on the way to the Governor for his signature.

If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, I hope you’ll take advantage of some of the following state and local  resources: Resilience 1220: Provides 10 free hour-long counseling sessions to youth ages 12-20 in Clear Creek County

Clear Creek County Health and Wellness Center: Provides low-cost behavioral health services to individuals on Medicaid

I Matter: Provides 6 free counseling sessions to youth in Colorado Spark the Change: Provides free, short term counseling services to individuals who are uninsured or experiencing other barriers to treatment  Colorado Crisis Services: A free 24/7 crisis hotline

Furthermore, as we continue to consider legislation, I invite you to reach out to me to share your perspectives and feedback on how we can best serve our communities. Please feel free to attend one of our upcoming in-person and/or virtual town hall meetings, as well as contact me directly at SenatorDylanRoberts@gmail.com or on my cell: 970-846-3054.

Dylan Roberts is the State Senator for Clear Creek, Eagle, Gar eld, Gilpin, Grand, Jackson, Mo at, Rio Blanco, Routt and Summit Counties.

Climate scientists issue their latest, stern warning while farmers in Colorado’s Republican River Basin grapple with how to be sustainable

The International Panel on Climate Change has issued its latest report, warning of a dangerous temperature threshold that we’ll breach during the next decade if we fail to dramatically reduce emissions. A Colorado legislative committee on the same day addressed water withdrawals in the Republican River Basin that must be curbed by decade’s end. In both, problems largely created in the 20th century must now be addressed quickly to avoid the scowls of future generations.

e river basin, which lies east of Denver, sandwiched by Interstates 70 and 76, di ers from nearly all others in Colorado in that it gets no annual snowmelt from the state’s

BIG PIVOTS

mountain peaks. Even so, by tapping the Ogallala and other aquifers, farmers have made it one of the state’s most agriculturally productive areas.

ey grow potatoes and watermelons but especially corn and other plants fed to cattle and hogs. is is Colorado without mountains, an ocean of big skies and rolling sandhills.

Republican River farmers face two overlapping problems. One is of declining wells. Given current pumping rates, they will go dry. e

LINDA SHAPLEY Publisher lshapley@coloradocommunitymedia.com

MICHAEL DE YOANNA Editor-in-Chief michael@coloradocommunitymedia.com

LINDSAY NICOLETTI Operations/

only question is when. Some already have.

More immediate is how these wells have depleted ows of the Republican River and its tributaries into Nebraska and Kansas. ose states cried foul, citing a 1943 interstate compact. Colorado in 2016 agreed to pare 25,000 of its 450,000 to 500,000 irrigated acres within the basin.

Colorado has a December 2029 deadline. e Republican River Water Conservation District has been paying farmers to retire land from irrigation. Huge commodity prices discourage this, but district o cials said they are con dent they can achieve 10,000 acres before the end of 2024.

Last year, legislators sweetened the

pot with an allocation of $30 million, and a like amount for retirement of irrigated land in the San Luis Valley, which has a similar problem. Since 2004, when it was created, the Republican River district self-encumbered $156 million in fee collections and debt for the transition.

It’s unclear that the district can achieve the 2030 goal. e bill unanimously approved by the Colorado House Agriculture, Water and Natural Resources Committee will, if it becomes law, task the Colorado Water Center at Colorado State University with documenting the economic loss to the region – and to Colorado altogether – if irrigated

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Columnists & Guest Commentaries

Columnist opinions are not necessarily those of the Courant.

We welcome letters to the editor. Please Include your full name, address and the best number to reach you by telephone.

Email letters to kfiore@coloradocommunitymedia.com

Deadline Wed. for the following week’s paper.

Republican River Basin agriculture ceases altogether. e farmers may need more help as the deadline approaches.

is all-or-nothing proposition is not academic. Kevin Rein, the state water engineer, testi ed that he must shut down all basin wells if compact requirements are not met. e focus is on the Republican’s South Fork, between Wray and Burlington.

Legislators were told that relying solely upon water that falls from the sky diminishes production 75 to 80 percent.

In seeking this study, the river district wants legislators to be aware of what is at stake.

Rod Lenz, who chairs the river district board, put it in human terms. His extended-family’s 5,000-acre farm amid the sandhills can support 13 families, he told me. Returned to grasslands, that same farm could support only two families.

An “evolution of accountability” is how Lenz describes the big picture in the Republican River Basin. “We all knew it was coming. But it was so far in the future. Well, the future is here now.”

e district has 10 committees charged with investigating ways to sustain the basin’s economy and leave its small towns thriving. Can it attract Internet technology developers? Can the remaining water

ABOUT LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

be used for higher-value purposes? Can new technology irrigate more e ciently?

“We do know we must evolve,” Lenz told me. e farmers began large-scale pumping with the arrival of center-pivot sprinklers, a technology invented in Colorado in 1940. ey’re remarkably e cient at extracting underground water. Now, they must gure out sustainable agriculture. at’s a very di cult conversation. Aquifers created over millions of years are being depleted in a century.

e Republican River shares similarities with the better-known and much larger Colorado River Basin.

e mid-20th century was the time of applying human ingenuity to development of water resources. Now, along with past miscalculations, the warming climate is exacting a price, aridi cation of the Colorado River Basin.

Globally, the latest report from climate scientists paints an even greater challenge. To avoid really bad stu , they say, we must halve our greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. ey insist upon need for new technologies, including ways to suck carbon out of the atmosphere, that have yet to be scaled.

We need that evolution of accountability described in Colorado’s Republican River Basin. We need a revolution of accountability on the global scale.

Allen Best, a long-time Colorado journalist, publishes Big Pivots. You can nd more at BigPivots.com

Colorado Community Media welcomes letters to the editor. Please note the following rules:

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• Letters should be exclusively submitted to Colorado Community Media and should not be submitted to other outlets or previously posted on websites or social media. Submitted letters become the property of CCM and should not be republished elsewhere.

Discover More at Your Clear Creek County Library

The Clear Creek County Library District empowers our community through literacy, human connection, and equal access to resources. Connect with a librarian today to learn more.

PROGRAMS AND EVENTS

EASTER EGG HUNT

10 a.m. April 8

Kids 0 - 5 years: Werlin Park

Kids 6 years and older: Foster’s Place

Hop into fun at our Easter Egg Hunt in Georgetown! Hunt for eggs, take photos with the Easter Bunny, and enjoy a bunnytastic storytime with Miss Honeybun, the Library District’s storytime rabbit. Find a golden egg to win an egg-citing prize!

NATIONAL LIBRARY WEEK

April 24 - 28

Celebrate National Library Week with us!

Enjoy complimentary tea, co ee, and cookies during your visit. Enter a prize drawing when you check out library materials.

DÍA DE LOS NIÑOS CELEBRATION

3:30 p.m. April 27 at Idaho Springs Public Library

Celebrate children, families, and literacy at our annual Día party! Refreshments, crafts, traditional dance performances, and special Spanish storytimes promise a lively time at this after-school esta.

STORYTIMES

Share stories, play games, and get creative with us! Storytimes are a great opportunity to connect with other Clear Creek County families with young children and make new friends.

11:15 a.m. Tuesdays at Idaho Springs Public Library

11:15 a.m. ursdays at John Tomay Memorial Library

FREE COMPASS FRIDAYS AT THE LIBRARIES

Let your compass guide you to fun!

Calling Clear Creek kids: join us for FREE fun on Fridays! We’ll o er scheduled afternoon activities at Idaho Springs Public Library and John Tomay Memorial Library, plus a range of activities kids can independently pursue at their own pace throughout the day (puzzles, games, computer time, quiet reading, etc). Please visit our website at www. cccld.org for a detailed calendar.

Children under the age of eight will need adult supervision. While the Libraries provide programs for young patrons, please note that we are not a childcare provider and are not responsible for supervising children visiting our branches. If your child is feeling unwell, please bring them to visit the library at another time. If a young patron is unattended at the library and displays symptoms of illness, we will contact their parent(s) to pick them up.

12:15 p.m. - Snack

12:30 p.m. - Guided activity

Guided activities will last about one hour, with the exception of movie matinees, which will last the movie runtime.

FRIDAY VIRTUAL REALITY SESSIONS

Explore new worlds at our virtual reality sessions for tweens and teens (ages 12 years and older). Registration is required. Please email heather@cccld.org to learn more and save your spot.

2 - 3:30 p.m. April 7 at Idaho Springs Public Library

2 - 3:30 p.m. April 14 at John Tomay Memorial Library BOOK GROUPS

Connect with other Clear Creek County readers at our book groups. Light refreshments and enjoyable

conversations served. Email libby@ cccld.org for information.

Idaho Springs Book Group

4 p.m. April 17

“ e Women of Chateau Lafayette” by Stephanie Dray

John Tomay Memorial Library Book Group

3 p.m. April 20

“Earning the Rockies” by Robert D. Caplan

ADULT CRAFTS

Ukrainian Egg Workshop

Learn Ukrainian egg painting techniques, and decorate your own beautiful egg. We are excited to welcome guest instructor, Meghan Vickers, to the libraries for these workshops! Please email chris@ cccld.org to register.

5:30 p.m. April 4 at Idaho Springs Public Library

5:30 p.m. April 6 at John Tomay Memorial Library

APRIL STAFF BOOK PICK

TEAM MEMBER: Miss Honeybun

RECOMMENDATION: “Everybunny Dance!”

AUTHOR: Ellie Sandall

GENRE: picture book

MISS HONEYBUN SAYS: When a fox chances upon a u e of dancing bunnies, everyone learns a sweet lesson about friendship and inclusion. Perfect for springtime celebrations, this engaging readaloud will get your little ones hopping, dancing, and singing! Enjoy it with us at a special storytime at CCCLD’s Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, April 8, or check it out from your Clear Creek County Library to read at home.

LIBRARY SERVICES

COVID SUPPLIES

FREE masks and take-home COVID tests are available for pickup at your Clear Creek County Library branches.

COLLECTION

Check out books, movies, laptops, hotspots, tablets, and more. Our Library of ings includes nontraditional items like cookware, kids’ science kits, a therapy lamp, and even an Oculus Quest!

Explore our book and movie collection at www.cccld.org View our Library of ings at https://cccld. org/library-of-things/ Or, call your Clear Creek County library to learn more and request items.

Do you have the Libby App?

Download the Libby App by Overdrive to your smart device to access thousands of e-books and audiobooks, available for checkout with your library card. Visit https://cccld. org/library-resources/ and click on the Overdrive/Libby icon to get started.

VISITING AND CURBSIDE

PICKUP HOURS

Idaho Springs Public Library

Hours

Monday: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Tuesday: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Wednesday: 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.

ursday: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Friday: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Saturday: 9 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Sunday: CLOSED

John Tomay Memorial Library

Hours

Monday: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Tuesday: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Wednesday: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.   ursday: 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Friday: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Saturday: 9 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Sunday: CLOSED

Local History Archives (in the Georgetown Heritage Center) — visitors are welcome with appointment.

Curbside pickup services — available by appointment; please contact

When giants fall, we need to listen

“God has cared for these trees …but he cannot save them from fools.” — John Muir

In just two years, wild re has killed an estimated 13 to 19% of all mature giant sequoia trees. ese most massive of trees grow only on certain western slopes of the Sierra Nevada, the mountain range that divides California’s Central Valley farmland from the Great Basin Desert.  e loss of so many “big trees,” as conservationist John Muir called them, is unprecedented.

Many of the best-known stands of giant sequoias grow more than 6,000 feet above sea level in three national parks — Sequoia, Kings Canyon and Yosemite. A visit to these immense trees typically begins with a drive up from Fresno. From the valley oor, Highway 180 curves into foothills, then winds onto steep, tree-covered mountainsides where cooler temperatures and higher humidity take the edge o the California sun.

e road passes through Kings Canyon National Park, where visitors get their rst impression of the big trees. As Muir acknowledged, words aren’t su cient to convey the awe of that rst encounter with giant sequoias: “No description can give anything like an adequate idea of their singular majesty, much less of their beauty.”

He added, “Nothing hurts the big tree.” Except in our time: severe wild re and the chainsaw.

Muir’s words helped inspire the national parks that have protected

LIBRARY

your library branch to schedule your pickup.

HOME DELIVERY

Do you need library materials, but are unable to leave your home? Let us bring the library to you! Call us for details. Home delivery services are intended for homebound persons and patrons experiencing illness, and availability is determined by weather and sta ng.

Idaho Springs Public Library: 303567-2020

John Tomay Memorial Library: 303-569-2620

Local History Archives: 303-5692403

WRITERS ON THE RANGE

many sequoia groves from logging, but our concern about wild res led to governmentmandated re suppression for more than 100 years.

calls Bernal’s approach an excuse to continue commercial logging of public lands. He believes sequoia deaths have been far lowerthan ocial estimates and that new trees can sprout even after severe res.

Joe Stone

rough a federal agency’s zeal, the big trees are in trouble. In the Sierra Madre’s re regime, developed over centuries, sequoia groves burned every 6 to 35 years. Wild re thinned the smaller trees and converted ne fuels into soil nutrients.

Without re, sequoia cones don’t open and spread their seeds. e same re also creates openings in the forest canopy, giving seedlings the sunlight they need to survive.

Research shows that giant sequoia populations were “stable or increasing” from 500 B.C. through the 1800s. en came the 1900s, when “there was a massive failure of giant sequoia reproduction.” Without re, sequoia seeds stopped sprouting, while the buildup of highly combustible ne fuels on the forest oor, and the greater density of smaller trees, increased the risk of catastrophic wild re.

As scientists began to understand the problem, the National Park Service implemented a prescribed burning program in giant sequoia groves. Evidence from recent wild res indicates the program has

TECH ACCESS & STUDY SPACES

Enjoy access to computers, WiFi, and study spaces at your Clear Creek County Library.

Book our conference room at Idaho Springs Public Library for a quiet space to meet or work. Please call 303-567-2020 to make your reservation.

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

Did you know that you can book a librarian for technical assistance? Our library sta can assist you with a variety of tasks –– using a tablet or smartphone, navigating the internet, setting up an email account, posting a resume online, accessing information, and more. Contact your Clear Creek County Library branch or email heather@cccld.org for more information.

been successful. Areas treated with prescribed re burned less intensely, mature sequoias did not die and sequoia seedlings have since sprouted.  Clearly, sequoias need re to survive.

e challenge is avoiding catastrophic wild re, a challenge made di cult by today’s dense groves. According to Alexis Bernal, a researcher with the University of California at Berkeley, Sierra Nevada forests typically held about 20 sequoias per acre before 1860. Since then, re suppression has allowed the growth of as many as 120 to 160 trees per acre.

Bernal advocates extensive logging before re can resume its natural role. Emergency logging by government agencies has already begun in forests with sequoia groves, including clearcuts along roadways in Yosemite National Park.

Not everyone agrees that logging is the answer. Forest ecologist Chad Hanson,with the John Muir Project,

PRINTS, COPIES, FAXES

Email printcccld@gmail.com or call your Clear Creek County Library branch to request prints, copies, and faxes — or, just come in and use our equipment during our hours of operation!

NOTARY SERVICES

Notary services are FREE! Please contact your Clear Creek County Library branch to book your appointment.

LITTLE FREE LIBRARIES

Help yourself to free, gently-loved books from our Little Free Libraries at these Clear Creek County locations:

Idaho Springs

Clear Creek Metropolitan Recreation District

Clear Creek Health and Wellness Center

Unfortunately, Congress has gotten involved. Kevin McCarthy, RCalifornia, introduced the Save Our Sequoias Act in 2022 in the House. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, later introduced the act in the Senate. e bill would expedite mechanical “fuel treatments” by bypassing environmental laws.

We’re just lucky that record snowfall in the Sierra Madre threw a wet blanket on the initiative by reducing re risk, as the bill has yet to be reintroduced in the current legislative session.

While the unprecedented threat to these priceless trees might be a rare instance in which “mechanical treatment” is justi ed, chipping away at environmental protections has rarely, if ever, proven bene cial for the environment— especially when politicians try to call the shots.

Giant sequoias need all the help they can get, but that help needs to be informed by good science.

Joe Stone is a contributor to Writers on the Range, writersontherange.org, an independent nonpro t dedicated to spurring lively conversation about the West. He is the editor of Forest News, the publication of Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics.

Edelweiss Pastry Shop

Georgetown

Georgetown Market

Loveland Ski Area

Loveland Valley Base Lodge

Loveland Basin Base Lodge

Ptarmigan Roost Cafe

St. Mary’s Glacier Alice Schoolhouse

DONATIONS

Are you seeking a new home for your gently-used books? Please consider donating them to Clear Creek County Library District for use in our programs, book sales, and Little Free Libraries. Email kate@cccld.org or call 303-567-2020 for more information. Please do not drop o book donations without pre-approval.

hello@cccld.org

Visit us at www.cccld.org

‘God has cared for these trees... but he cannot save them from fools.’

John Muir

Area massage therapists laud the benefits of the practice on their clients’ ailments, stress

BY DEB HURLEY BROBST DBROBST@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Caring, compassionate hands — and sometimes feet — are used by massage therapists to help improve the lives of their clients. Massage is an ancient practice, and there are more than two dozen types throughout the world, therapists say.

Four massage therapists interviewed by Colorado Community Media say massage has become more accepted by the public, and more scienti c research is being done to document the health bene ts.

Massage can help with pain and injuries; decrease muscular tension; reduce blood pressure, swelling and in ammation; release endorphins; and much more, according to massage therapists.

“Even people who don’t have speci c problems can bene t from massage,” Destine Robertson with Alpine Medical Massage in Centennial and Conifer said. “Everybody has so much stress, and massage can help relieve that.”

People’s perceptions of massage have come a long way, the therapists said.

“A lot of people think of massage as pampering and relaxing,” Ti any Shocklee with Hearth re erapeutics in Golden said, “but it can help people who have many other issues, too.”

A blend of massage styles

Massage therapy is not an easy profession, requiring hours of training, a certi cation exam and licensing in Colorado.

“It’s become a more regulated eld,” said Mary Davis with Healing Traditions Bodywork in Evergreen, “which I think is best. I think it’s needed and necessary to protect people when they are potentially vulnerable going in for a personal treatment like massage.”

But education doesn’t stop at the 600 hours of initial training for most therapists. ey continue to learn di erent techniques to add to their repertoire.

“ e single most popular, most widely done type of massage in the

U.S. and maybe in the world is Swedish massage,” Davis said. “ at is part of your basic training. It is a bit lighter, more relaxing, with long strokes. en what I do and what a lot of therapists do is integrative massage. We have received additional training in areas that have spoken to us.”

Davis said most of the time she’s integrating di erent styles and techniques in one massage.

“I have a toolbox, and I pull different things out based on what I’m feeling that day in their tissues and what they need,” she explained.

Jenna Courage of Littleton erapeutic Massage Center said she has blended together many styles to create her own technique.

“I make each session specialized for each client,” Courage explained. “Some techniques I use on one client but not another. I feel like I am learning from my clients. ey come in with something new, and I gure out how to work with it, then take that knowledge and use it on someone with a similar issue.”

A satisfying career

Some massage therapists like Shocklee chose the practice as their rst career, while others nd massage therapy along their career paths. Davis and Shocklee have been massage therapists for 19 years, while Robertson has spent 22 years in the profession and Courage 31 years.

“Massage is important for me,” Shocklee said. “It’s what I’m meant to do. It helps me stay connected to myself. For me to go to work feels very focusing and a relief from other parts of my day that may be chaotic. It’s doing something that is single-minded by working with one person.”

Courage was working on a premedicine degree when she realized she had a strong interest in alternative health care. She visited a massage school and signed up the

CIRCLE PHOTO: Mary Davis with Healing Traditions Bodywork in Evergreen uses her forearm to massage areas of a client’s back.

Destine Robertson with Alpine Medical Massage in Centennial and Conifer massages a patient’s back.

Ti any Shocklee with Hearthfire Therapeutics in Golden massages a client’s shoulder. Shocklee also o ers ashiatsu massage during which she uses her feet.

TOUCH

next week.

Robertson, for example, worked in a bakery before moving to massage therapy, quipping that kneading bread dough helped pave the way to her next career. However, she said she should have known that massage therapy was her calling because as a young girl, she rubbed her grandmother’s shoulders. Her grandmother suggested massage therapy as a career.

Davis had a 20-year career in the nonpro t sector rst.

“I like doing things that help people, but I didn’t want to make the commute and sit in an o ce,” Davis said.

Helping others

e massage therapists agree that they continue to practice massage therapy for so many years because of the relationships they have with their clients and because of their ability to

help others with a multitude of issues.

“It’s a pretty amazing feeling to have somebody come in (for a massage) in pain or with an issue that is a big problem in their lives, and you’re able to gure out how to work with them to help either greatly improve or resolve that issue,” Courage said. “Just the feeling of seeing them feel better, to know that they are healthier, happier, more functional in their lives, and you helped create that.”

Shocklee added: “I feel like it’s very rewarding being able to increase people’s wellbeing. It de nitely can be therapeutic for me to help other people and make them feel better. For me personally, doing things like continuing education so I can keep learning new things and taking care of myself have helped me to be able to do it as long as I can. When I rst started, I didn’t think I’d be doing it that long.”

Davis says she usually see an immediate impact from the massages she provides.

“It really motivates me and makes me feel good,” Davis said. “It gives meaning to my work. I feel like I am having a positive impact on people’s lives.”

that are similar to yogic stretching. The therapist uses palms and fingers to apply firm pressure to the body, and you will be stretched and twisted into various positions. Myofascial release therapy: involves releasing sti ness in the fascia, the connective tissue system that contains each muscle in the body. The therapist uses massage and stretch to any areas that feel tense with light pressure.

John F. Barnes Myofascial Release: a treatment used to treat chronic pain from the following: back, neck, menstrual, jaw, headaches, and others.

Ashiatsu massage: a technique where massage therapists use their feet to apply deep pressure to your body. It’s often called barefoot massage. Methods allow the deep tissues, joints and muscles to be massaged while easing the nervous system.

Reiki: a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing. It is based on the idea that an unseen life-force energy flows through people and is what causes us to be alive. If one’s life-force energy is low, then we are more likely to get sick or feel stress, and if it is high, we are more capable of being happy and healthy.

COURTESY PHOTOS

Why so many Colorado cars have expired license plates

Situation is widespread

BY PAOLO ZIALCITA COLORADO PUBLIC RADIO

eodore Shille was driving home from the grocery store when he noticed something. During the short trip, he passed three cars that had expired temporary license plates or no plates at all.

It wasn’t the rst time he had seen this near his Denver home; a few days before he wrote in to CPR News and asked, “what’s the deal with all the cars driving around without a license plate, or with an expired temporary plate?”

It’s a question that regularly appears on a local Reddit message board.

And it’s something this reporter has seen, as well. When I started looking into this story, I stood at a busy intersection in Westminster near the entrance to U.S. 36 on a Sunday morning to count the number of cars I saw with expired temporary license plates or no plates. Within 10 minutes, I saw 10 cars.

Why are there so many cars on Colorado roads with expired plates? At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, before vaccines were readily available, county Department of Motor Vehicle o ces were closed frequently and experienced supply chain issues for materials needed to make the plates. Could that still be a ecting permanent license plate turnaround times? Are drivers lax in getting their plates updated, or is something else happening?

According to Adam Wilms, director of vehicle services at the state DMV, that early pandemic slowdown has come and gone.

“You’ll see appointments ranging from same day to, I would say, a max of three or four days out,” he said.

But that only covers one aspect of the process to acquire permanent plates. It really begins once someone purchases a vehicle from a dealership.

After all the forms are signed, the dealer has 30 days to forward the title paperwork to your county

DMV o ce for processing. Jessica Ramirez, who manages titles for GoJo Auto in Denver, said this part usually goes smoothly for her, but there are exceptions.

“Every deal’s di erent. I have three right now that aren’t good,” Ramirez said. “Sometimes it’s a trade-in and we pay out the lien and the bank doesn’t send us the title. Or it gets lost in the mail, so I have to wait for a lien release and then get a duplicate title. ere’s lots of things that could delay it.”

e county DMV has 30 days after it receives the title to process the paperwork and send the buyer a “Title Complete Notice” via mail. Ramirez said she heard from the people she sends paperwork to that there are potential slowdowns there, as well.

Derek Kuhn, a spokesperson for the state DMV, said that all Colorado counties should be caught up on title processing by now, except for one.

“Our team con rmed that Denver County DMV is running behind on processing title paperwork, but we believe they should be caught up in a couple of weeks,” he said.

Department spokesperson Courtney Meihls said the Denver County DMV wait time is currently 30 days: “Denver is experiencing a backlog due to sta ng issues, and because our branches operate di erently than other [motor vehicle] branches throughout the state.”

If drivers don’t receive their permanent plates within by the time the temporary plates expire, Meihls continued, the DMV branches will provide extended temporary plates. After the local DMV mails that Title Complete Notice, the process to get permanent plates varies by county. In Denver County, for example, buyers can either register their vehicle over the phone or visit a branch ofce. Buyers may be required to bring documentation, like proof of ownership and insurance, into their local DMV o ce.

All that’s left to do is pay for registration fees, which can vary depending on the age, weight and value of the vehicle. Fees can amount in the

SEE DMV, P15

low hundreds, while some vehicles may garner a nal fee of well over $1,000. Fees help pay for vital infrastructure across the state.

“What most people don’t realize is that a signi cant portion of [registration fees] goes to the county, so that pays a lot of your county taxes,” Wilms said. “In addition to that, it’s your road and bridge taxes and fees. A lot of the money goes to the highway user tax fund and funds the repairs and the creation of our roads and bridges throughout Colorado.”

e road to obtaining permanent plates should take 60 days, at most. But for Kyle Spence, it took six months.

“As soon as I actually purchased the car and left with it, that’s when everything started falling to pieces,” Spence said.

When his rst set of temporary tags expired in November, he called his dealership, a national chain, in orton which told him they hadn’t submitted any documents to the state.

“ ey never really gave me a reason for it,” he said.

By January, Spence’s second set of temporary tags were due to expire, and he hadn’t received the Title Complete Notice from the DMV. So, he took matters into his own hands.

“ ere’s a way that you can look up your VIN number of your vehicle, [and] whether or not you have a title number,” he said. Spence took the title number to the tax collector’s o ce without his Title Complete Notice and eventually got his permanent plate. He acknowledged, however, that persuading the o ce to go through the process without the notice was di cult.

For Kate McElhaney, the road to permanent plates has been similarly rocky. In November, she bought an electric vehicle and by February, she was still waiting to obtain permanent plates.

“I don’t know where the holdup is. Is it with the dealership? Is it with the DMV? I’m not really sure,” she said.

Neither her dealership nor the DMV have answered her questions. And with the tax deadline quickly approaching, she isn’t sure how to le to get the state’s electric vehicle tax credit.

“If I don’t get my car registered until after April 15, what does that mean?” she asked. “Do I just surrender my tax credit or can I go for it in this calendar year? I don’t know and I can’t really nd any information on that.”

But what about people driving around with long-expired temporary plates, or cars with no plates?

Until recently, Colorado only pe-

nalized people with expired vehicle registration. But earlier this month, a new law went into e ect that aims to reduce the number of cars with expired temporary license plates by introducing new nes to people late with the registration of their temporary plates, as well as permanent ones.

In response to the DMV’s renewed hard stance on all unregistered vehicles, some state law enforcement agencies said they would take more consistent action against cars with expired plates or no plates.

Colorado State Patrol, the Douglas County Sheri ’s O ce, and other police departments recently said they will begin pulling over people for unregistered vehicles.

e Denver Police Department, however, signaled that unregistered vehicles are low on their priority list.

“Consistent with our commitment to Vision Zero, Denver Police O cers generally focus on safety violations when conducting tra c enforcement. When they are not responding to reports of crime, o cers are encouraged to engage in proactive e orts, to include enforcing trafc and parking violations,” DPD said in a statement.

Police departments aren’t the only entity with the authority to enforce registration laws. In Denver, a division of the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure handles parking violations and citations around the city.

at division — the Right of Way Enforcement — issued about 92,000 citations in 2022 to cars breaking municipal code 54-62, which prohibits having either an expired license plate or no front license plate. at’s about 7,000 more citations than were issued in 2019.

John LeDrew has received several of those tickets.

About a year ago, he began leasing a plug-in hybrid and has been driving with expired temporary license plates since they rst expired. He wasn’t told by his dealership or the DMV that he could obtain more temporary license plates.

“I did the calculation, the fees were like $600. I went [to the DMV] to register and get those tags, but it turned out to be closer to $1,400,” LeDrew said. “I couldn’t a ord that at the time. So, I asked what my options were and he said, ‘you just drive

around with expired tags.’ I said, ‘alright, cool.’ And I just left.”

LeDrew has been trying to save up to a ord his permanent plates, but owning a small business and having a commission-based salary makes his nances di cult to predict. He believes he’s close, but more tickets could set him back.

“It’s just one of the constant battles we have to manage,” he said. is story is from CPR News, a nonpro t news source. Used by permission. For more, and to support Colorado Public Radio, visit cpr.org.

Tra c on intersate 25 in Denver

EASTER Worship

Palm Sunday, April 2nd at 10 a.m. (Communion service)

Maundy ursday, April 6th at 7 p.m. with the United Methodist Church of Evergreen (Communion service)

Good Friday, April 7th at noon

Easter Sunday, April 9th at 10 a.m.

We are a diverse community welcoming visitors and members of all backgrounds. We are small in number, but mighty in caring, loving our neighbors, serving the community, loving children, and enjoying good friends, good food, good music. We would love to have you join with our community on Good Friday, April 7, at 6 PM and/or on Easter Sunday, April 9, at 10 AM. You will nd a cozy gathering of kind and welcoming folks.

We rejoice in our di erences while inviting all to join our faith journey toward greater understanding and sincere mutual respect.

Polis targets local land use in bid to make housing less costly

BY JESSE PAUL AND ELLIOTT WENZLER THE COLORADO SUN

Fast-growing, housing-strapped Colorado communities would be barred from limiting construction of duplexes, triplexes and add-on housing units under a marquee measure unveiled in March by Gov. Jared Polis and Democratic state lawmakers aimed at addressing the state’s housing crisis by increasing residential density.

e land-use bill would also block limits on how many unrelated people can live in the same home and prevent Colorado’s largest cities from restricting what kind of housing can be built near transit stops. A separate measure, meanwhile, would ban municipalities from imposing new growth caps and eliminate existing ones.

e land-use proposal would apply di erently throughout the state depending on population size and housing needs, with the biggest impacts on Colorado’s most populous cities — Denver, Aurora, Boulder, Lakewood, Colorado Springs and Grand Junction — but also rules for rural communities and resort towns, which have faced their own unique housing struggles.

“ is is an a ordability crisis around housing in our state,” Gov. Jared Polis told e Colorado Sun. “Absent action, it’s only going to get worse. We absolutely want to move our state in a way where homeownership and rent are more a ordable, and this will help get that done.”

Polis said the bills — one of which is expected to be more than 100 pages long — represent the most ambitious land-use policy changes in Colorado in about 40 years. e policy changes will take years to go into e ect, but the governor said if the state doesn’t act, Colorado could start to look like California, where homes are even less a ordable, and tra c is worse.

“We want to make sure we get ahead of the curve,” he said.

Local government leaders have been wary of the proposals, previewed in the governor’s State of the State address in January, because of how it would restrict their power to

create and enforce housing policies.

“Respectfully, get o our lawn,” Kevin Bommer, executive director of the Colorado Municipal League, said at a gathering of local o cials in February when describing negotiations on the legislation with Polis’ o ce.

e organization’s board voted to oppose the land-use bill last week, Bommer said. “CML opposes this sweeping and breathtaking attempt to centralize local land use and zoning policy in the state Capitol, while doing nothing to guarantee a ordability,” Bommer said in a written statement, also calling the measure a “breathtaking power grab.”

e only Colorado mayor who spoke in support of the bill at a Capitol news conference on March 22 rolling out the legislation was Boulder Mayor Aaron Brockett. “ ere’s still some work to be done and I’m sure there’ll be changes hashed out,” he said. “But there is so much at value here.”

e bills are also expected to meet erce pushback from the few Republicans in the legislature, who are in the minority in the House and Senate and have little say over which measures pass or fail.

e measures have been the talk of the Capitol since the 2023 legislative session began in January, but the details of what’s in the legislation have been under wraps until now. Democrats will have less than two months to pass the bills through the House and Senate before the lawmaking term ends in early May.

e governor’s o ce says the landuse bill was drafted after more than 120 meetings with housing and business experts and local o cials and through research on similar policies passed in other states. Oregon, for instance, passed a law in 2019 requiring cities with a population greater than 1,000 to allow duplexes, while cities with more than 25,000 people must allow townhomes, duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes.

Rep. Steven Woodrow, a Denver Democrat who will be one of the prime sponsors of the land-use bill, said the measure is supposed to prevent some Colorado communities erecting barriers to development

while their neighbors sprawl out of control, which can cause gentri cation and water issues.

“We have to do this at the state level because local political pressures are such that it hasn’t been hasn’t been done until now,” Woodrow said.

e measure reshaping land use in Colorado would apply only to municipalities, not counties. e governor’s o ce and the bills’ sponsors believe they can impose policy restrictions on cities and towns because housing is an issue of statewide concern, a position that could be tested in court.

“Research has shown that increasing housing supply, like building units like duplexes and townhomes, can increase a ordability,” Senate Majority Leader Dominick Moreno, a Commerce City Democrat and a lead sponsor of the bill, said at a news conference as the bill was unveiled. “Yet these types of housing are often prohibited in many of the communities that need them the most. And that doesn’t make sense.”

An unanswered question is whether developers will take advantage of the bill, should it pass.

“I think that people are anxious to provide housing,” said J.J. Ament, president and CEO of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, which supports the bill. “I don’t think it really is a capital problem in Colorado. It is regulatory and environment. I think the capital will ow because the demand is there.”

e legislation is slated to be formally introduced this week. e measures were described in detail to e Sun by their sponsors and the governor.

e requirements will vary for di erent parts of the state depending on which of ve categories they fall into based on their population and housing needs. Here’s how the requirements would break down:

Tier 1, with cities that include: Arvada, Aurora, Boulder, Brighton, Broom eld, Castle Pines, Castle Rock, Centennial, Cherry Hills Village, Columbine Valley, Commerce City, Denver, Edgewater, Englewood, Erie, Federal Heights, Glendale, Golden, Greenwood Village, Lafay-

ette, Lakewood, Littleton, Lochbuie, Lone Tree, Longmont, Louisville, Northglenn, Parker, Sheridan, Superior, ornton, Westminster and Wheat Ridge.

Outside of the Denver metro area, Greeley, Fort Collins, Loveland, Windsor, Colorado Springs, Fountain, Grand Junction and Pueblo would also be considered Tier 1 cities.

Cities in this category have a population of at least 1,000 and are in a metropolitan planning organization — such as the Denver Regional Council of Governments — with a population greater than 1 million and in a Census Urbanized Area with a population greater than 75,000. Cities with a population greater than 25,000 and in a metropolitan planning organization with a population less than 1 million would also fall into this category.

Tier 1 cities would be most affected by the land-use bill. ey would be prohibited from restricting duplexes, triplexes and multiplexes up to six units, as well as accessorydwelling units, sometimes referred to as ADUs or granny ats. ey would also be prohibited from requiring parking tied to those kinds of housing.

ADUs are habitable structures that are on the same property as a house but a separate building, such as an apartment over a garage. Many municipalities across the state restrict where and how they can be built.

Tier 1 cities would also have to allow the construction of multifamily housing near transit centers, which are de ned as the half-mile area around xed-rail stations.Cities wouldn’t be allowed to require new, o -street parking for multifamily homes built in transit corridors, though developers could provide any amount of parking they feel is needed.

Tier 1 cities would also be subject to development guidelines aimed at promoting housing density and walkable communities around socalled key transit corridors, which are de ned as areas within a quarter mile of bus-rapid-transit and high-

SEE HOUSING, P23

CROWSS UP DRO ELZZ

1. GEOGRAPHY: Which U.S. states share a border with Mexico?

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(c) 2023 King Features Synd., Inc.

FLASHBACK

1. Which song had to be changed before it could get radio airplay because it started with the sounds of a siren?

2. Name the artist who wrote and released “For the Love of Him.”

3. Who had an international hit with “Up in a Pu of Smoke”?

4. Who used the stage name Lobo?

5. Name the song that contains these lyrics: “I’ve been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate, a poet, a pawn and a king.”

Answers

1. “Indiana Wants Me,” by R. Dean Taylor in 1970. e police siren at the beginning of the song caused drivers to pull o the road, thinking the siren was real.

2. Bobbi Martin, in 1969. For a real treat,

search YouTube for Martin’s videos, especially “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”

3. Polly Brown, in 1974. While it climbed charts worldwide, it ranked highest (No.

3) on the Billboard Dance/Disco chart.

4. Roland Kent LaVoie, singer-songwriter of the hit “Me and You and a Dog Named Boo.”

5. “ at’s Life,” made famous by Frank Sinatra in 1966. It’s been widely used, including in the Tony Hawk’s Underground

2 video game in 2004. e song was rst recorded, however, by Marion Montgomery in 1963.

(c) 2023 King Features Syndicate

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frequency bus routes.

Finally, Tier 1 cities will also be required to complete a housing needs plan based on a state housing needs assessment, as well as participate in long-term planning to stop sprawl and address environmental concerns, like greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution and limited water.

Tier 1 cities have the option of meeting minimum land-use requirements set by the state, which the governor’s o ce refers to as the “ exible option.” If not, they would be forced to adopt a state-developed land-use code. e state code would be created by Colorado Department of Local A airs regulators at a later date.

Tier 1 cities would have to submit codes compliant with the bill to the state by December 2024. Any Tier 1 cities that don’t meet the minimum standards under the legislation’s so-called “ exible option” would be forced to operate under the model

land-use code starting in December 2025.

Tier 2 is next, which includes Dacono, Fort Lupton, Firestone, Frederick, Evans, Berthoud, Johnstown, Timnath, Eaton, Miliken, Severance and Monument.

ey are de ned as cities in a metropolitan planning organization that have a population of between 5,000 and 25,000 and in a county with a population greater than 250,000.

Tier 2 cities would be prohibited from restricting accessory-dwelling units and parking associated with ADUs, though they would be able to block duplexes, triplexes and multiplexes. ey would also be exempt from provisions around transit centers and corridors.

ey would, however, still be required to conduct housing needs assessments and create the same type of long-term housing and sprawl and environmental plans.

Tier 2 cities would have to submit codes compliant with the bill to the state by December 2024. Any Tier 1 cities that don’t meet the minimum standards under the legislation’s so-called “ exible option” would be

forced to operate under the model land-use code starting in December 2025.

Another category is dubbed, Rural Resort Job Centers. is category includes Aspen, Avon, Breckenridge, Crested Butte, Dillon, Durango, Frisco, Glenwood Springs, Mountain Village, Silverthorne, Snowmass Village, Steamboat Springs, Telluride, Vail and Winter Park.

Rural resort job centers are de ned as municipalities that have a population of at least 1,000 and at least 1,200 jobs and are outside of a metropolitan planning organization. ey also have regional transit service with at least 20 trips per day. is category is intended to prompt local governments to work with their surrounding region to address housing shortfalls. e communities would be required to allow ADUs but then have to develop a regional housing needs plan to identify where zoning should happen for duplexes, triplexes and other multiplexes. e communities would also have to work together to boost transit corridors and housing surrounding them.

“ ere’s often a dynamic in rural

areas where people may live in one community but work in another, and because of that the additional exibility is that they can reach agreements with their partner communities to have a more regional approach to some of the goals that are in the bill,” Moreno said.

Like Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities, rural resort job centers would have the ability to choose between a minimum level of housing policies while maintaining some of their own design standards or be forced to adopt a model land-use code that will be created by the state. e speci cs on those two options are not laid out in the bill and would be determined later by state regulators.

“ e goals aren’t as stringent as the (ones for) urban municipalities,” said Moreno.

is story is from e Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned news outlet based in Denver and covering the state. For more, and to support e Colorado Sun, visit coloradosun.com. e Colorado Sun is a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy, owner of Colorado Community Media.

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for cash, the said real property and all interest of the said Grantor(s), Grantor(s)’ heirs and assigns therein, for the purpose of paying the indebtedness provided in said Evidence of Debt secured by the Deed of Trust, plus attorneys’ fees, the expenses of sale and other items allowed by law, and will issue to the purchaser a Certificate of Purchase, all as provided by law.

THE DEADLINE TO FILE A NOTICE OF INTENT TO CURE BY THOSE PARTIES ENTITLED TO CURE MAY ALSO BE EXTENDED;

DATE: 01/26/2023

Carol Lee, Public Trustee in and for the County of Clear Creek, State of Colorado

The name, address, business telephone number and bar registration number of the attorney(s) representing the legal holder of the indebtedness is:

Scott D. Toebben #19011

Randall S. Miller & Associates, P.C.-CO 216 16th Street, Suite 1210, Denver, CO 80202 (720) 259-6710 Attorney File # 22CO00365-1

The Attorney above is acting as a debt collector and is attempting to collect a debt. Any information provided may be used for that purpose.

City and County

Public Notice NOTICE OF FINAL SETTLEMENT

Randall P. Wheelock, Chairman

Board of County Commissioners

Legal Notice No. CCC581

First Publication: March 23, 2023

Last Publication: March 30, 2023

Publisher: Clear Creek Courant

Metropolitan Districts

Public Notice NOTICE OF CANCELLATION AND CERTIFIED STATEMENT OF RESULTS Central Clear Creek Sanitation District Clear Creek County, Colorado

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN by the Central Clear Creek Sanitation District, Clear Creek County, Colorado, that at the close of business on the sixty-third day before the election, there were not more candidates for director than offices to be filled, including candidates filing affidavits of intent to be write-in candidates; therefore, the election to be held on May 2, 2023 is hereby cancelled pursuant to Section 1-13.5-513, C.R.S.

following candidates are hereby declared elected for the following terms of

Attorneys for Plaintiff:

Thomas J. Wolf, Esq., #12577

Sarah H. Abbott, Esq., #41852

IRELAND, STAPLETON, PRYOR & PASCOE, P.C. 717 17th Street, Suite 2800, Denver, CO 80202

303-623-2700 FAX Number: 303-623-2062 E-mail: twolf@irelandstapleton.com sabbott@irelandstapleton.com

SUMMONS BY PUBLICATION THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF COLORADO TO THE ABOVE NAMED DEFENDANTS:

You are hereby summoned and required to appear and defend against the claims of the complaint filed with the court in this action, by filing with the clerk of this court an answer or other response.

You are required to file your answer or other response within 35 days after the service of this summons upon you. Service of this summons shall be complete on the day of the last publication. A copy of the complaint may be obtained from the clerk of the court.

If you fail to file your answer or other response to the complaint in writing within 35 days after the date of the last publication, judgment by default may be rendered against you by the court for the relief demanded in the complaint without further notice.

This is an action for Judicial Foreclosure of the real property described in the Complaint pursuant to C.R.C.P. 105.

Dated: February 21, 2023.

provided for in the evidence of debt secured by the deed of trust and other violations thereof.

THE LIEN FORECLOSED MAY NOT BE A FIRST LIEN.

LOT 537, ST. MARY’S SUBDIVISION - UNIT 3, COUNTY OF CLEAR CREEK, STATE OF COLORADO.

Which has the address of:

55 Hillside Rd, Idaho Springs CO 80452

Also known by street and number as: 55 Hillside Rd, Idaho Springs, CO 80452.

THE PROPERTY DESCRIBED HEREIN IS ALL OF THE PROPERTY CURRENTLY ENCUMBERED BY THE LIEN OF THE DEED OF TRUST. NOTICE OF SALE

The current holder of the Evidence of Debt secured by the Deed of Trust, described herein, has filed Notice of Election and Demand for sale as provided by law and in said Deed of Trust.

THEREFORE, Notice Is Hereby Given that I will at public auction, at 11:00 A.M. on Thursday, 05/25/2023, at The Clear Creek County Public Trustee’s Office, 405 Argentine Street, Georgetown, Colorado, sell to the highest and best bidder

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN in accordance with the notice provisions contained in §38-26107, C.R.S., the CLEAR CREEK BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS has established April 18, 2023, at 9:05 a.m., at the Board of County Commissioners hearing room, located at 405 Argentine Street, Georgetown, Colorado, as the date, time and place of final settlement with Concrete Express Inc., for Peaks to Plains Trail- Clear Creek Canyon Phase 2 Project. Any person, co-partnership, association of persons, company or corporation that has furnished labor, materials, sustenance, or other supplies used or consumed by such contractor or his or her subcontractor in or about the performance of the work contracted to be done or that supplied laborers, rental machinery, tools, or equipment to the extent used in the prosecution of the work, whose claim therefore has not been paid by the contractor or subcontractor, at any time up to and including the time of final settlement for work contracted to be done, may file a verified statement of the amount due and unpaid on account of such claim with the Clear Creek Board of County Commissioners, Clear Creek County, P.O. Box 2000, 405 Argentine Street, Georgetown, Colorado 80444. Failure to file such verified statement or claim prior to final settlement will release the County and its employees and agents from any and all liability for such claim and for making final payment to said contractor.

IRELAND, STAPLETON, PRYOR & PASCOE, P.C.

/s/ Thomas J. Wolf

Thomas J. Wolf, #12577

Sarah H. Abbott, #41852

ATTORNEYS FOR PLAINTIFF

(This summons is issued pursuant to Rule 4(g), Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure. This form should not be used where personal service is desired.)

(TO THE CLERK: When this summons is issued by the clerk of the court, the signature block for the clerk or deputy should be provided by stamp, or typewriter, in the space to the left of the attorney’s name.)

*Rule 12(a), C.R.C.P., allows -35 days for answer or response where service of process is by publication. However, under various statutes, a different response time is set forth; e.g., §38-6-104, C.R.S. (eminent domain); §38-36-121, C.R.S. (Torrens registration).

It’s your right to know what the city and county governments are changing and proposing.