Local Elbert County parents are banning together to bring some lasagna lovin’ to those in need. Lasagna Love is a 501(c)(3) nonpro t organization that aims to spread love and kindness with free lasagna.
BY CHANCY J. GATLIN-ANDERSON SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
e Elizabeth School District (ESD) is among the lowest-paying school districts in the Denver metro area. Recently, the district worked to increase their entering teacher salary by nearly $2,500
from $37,502 to $40,000. Despite these e orts, ESD still struggles to keep up with many neighboring school districts.
“When I started here 10 years ago it was $29,400,” said Kin Shuman, ESD human resources director. “I’m con dent that with the support of our board and the community we will continue to make great strides in support of our students.”
ESC is not alone in its struggle. According to a Fox31 article from April 26, 2022, rst-year Colorado public school teachers are among
the nation’s lowest paid in the eld. ey cite the average starting 2021 salary at $35,724, nearly $8.5k lower than the national average. According to TEACH Colorado, the average teacher salary in Colorado is around $60,130.
Starting teacher salaries (with bachelor’s degree) for Elizabeth School District and nearby districts (in order from highest to lowest pay):
• Cherry Creek School District (2023-2024) $58,710 (tentative)
According to their website, Lasagna Love is a global nonpro t and grassroots movement that aims to positively impact communities by connecting neighbors with neighbors through homemade meal delivery.
“I began my journey of helping my community as a Lasagna Love chef a year ago and have been blessed to feed many families all over Elizabeth and Elbert County. Not only is this a wonderful opportunity to interact with our community, but it is also a great experience for my family,” said Lasagna Love volunteer Roxanne Aviles. “My 10- and 15-year-old kiddos absolutely love cooking and have been able to share the experience of helping our neighbors through this partnership. ey not only get to be involved in the cooking process, but they are
SEE LASAGNA, P4
to fill roles and increaseSEE TEACHERS, P2
• Jeffco Public Schools (20222023) $50,000
• Strasburg School Distric31J (2023-2024) $46,125
• Bennett 29J (2023-2024) $46,000
• Douglas County School District (2023-2024) $45,209
• Adams/Arapahoe 27J (20232024) $45,002
• Elizabeth School District (20232024) $40,000
Starting teacher salaries (with bachelor’s degree) for Elbert County school districts (in order from highest to lowest pay)
• Elizabeth School District (20232024) $40,000
• Agate School District #300 (20232024) $40,000
• Calhan School District (20232024) $40,000
• Big Sandy School District 100J $38,500
• Elbert School District #200 (20222023) $36,000
• Kiowa C2 — Salary Schedules are unavailable. Colorado Department of Education lists their 2021-2022 average teacher salary at $38,522 e lower pay is a part of the driving force behind the exodus of teachers from ESD to nearby school districts. As of June 20, the district needed 10 elementary school teachers, three middle school teachers,
and six high school teachers. In addition to teachers, Elizabeth High School is seeking a new head softball coach, assistant baseball coach and assistant track coach. e district is also in need of three maintenance and custodial sta and two bus drivers. ey’re also looking to ll 16 support service positions and two security positions.
“Our funding is much lower than our neighboring districts. Teachers in some districts make 50k or more. Teachers in our district make 40k,” said Superintendent Snowberger at
a meet-and-greet event at Singing Hills Elementary on May 11. “We’ve had a number of open sta ng positions. We have been to some degree a training ground for some. ey’ll come here, they’ll get their experience, and then they become very attractive to a neighboring district who’s paying sometimes $20,000 more a year. How can you begrudge a young teacher who can go next door and make $20,000 more in our society and the economy we’re in today?”
So far, for the 2023-2024 school year, the Elizabeth School District is replacing 30% of the teaching sta is for this fall.
“ ese are teachers leaving a great school district in a beautiful and growing community,” said Shuman. “Fortunately we have a leadership team in Dan Snowberger, our superintendent, and Bill Dallas, our assistant superintendent, who are the right people to lead our district into the future.”
As a result of the lack of teachers, there is a need for substitutes in the Elizabeth School District, as well as around Colorado. In some schools around the state, there have been instances where one teacher will be responsible for two classrooms.
“ ere is a huge, desperate need for substitutes,” said Stephanie Chesla for Denver Public Schools. “It is something that has become a really serious problem, especially since COVID.”
e Elizabeth School District is currently in need of three new substitute teachers for the 20232024 school year. For the 2022-2023 school year, a day’s pay for substitutes starts at $150. Douglas County School District also starts at $150 a day while Cherry Creek School District starts at $210 a day.
In an email correspondence with Shuman from June 20, he shared three challenges that the district faces regarding teacher retention and the teacher shortage.
1. Neighboring districts such as
Douglas County Schools and Cherry Creek Schools have been able to o er signi cantly higher compensation to their teachers as a result of additional revenue they receive from the passage of mill levy overrides in their communities. As a result their salaries have been consistently from $10,000 to $20,000 higher than ours for similar jobs. Fortunately, in 2018 our citizens passed our rst mill levy override which allowed us to close the gap in a small way. We are grateful for the support of the community, however as we have increased our salaries, surrounding districts have increased theirs, thus largely maintaining most of the competitive gap between them and us.
2. Our distance from the metro area and our lack of available housing coupled with the compensation challenges have combined to impact our ability to hire and retain teachers. e growth of the community and increased availability of housing may help. In addition, the costs of transportation to Elizabeth for our teachers can take a signi cant portion of available income.
3. Fewer students are choosing a career in education. Teaching, while a very rewarding profession, is also a very demanding one. Most telling are the annual teacher job fairs that we have attended this year as opposed to prior years. ere is a glaring di erence in the number of teachers looking for jobs at these job fairs. I would venture to say that attendance is signi cantly less than half of that of prior years. Coupled with a smaller pool of available candidates, a higher number of teachers are leaving the profession through retirement and starting new careers. is is an issue for all school districts.
In addition to the lower teacher salaries being a driving force for the exodus of teachers from the Elizabeth School District, the general teacher shortage may be a result of a greater cultural shift and growing stigmas tied to the eld of education.
“I believe there is a public stigma against education and educators. When I became a teacher in the early 2000s I was proud to tell people what I did, and most people responded in a positive way,” said Dr. Bill Dallas, assistant superintendent for the Elizabeth School District. “Presently, I hear far more negative comments and narratives around education and educators. Overall I feel these sorts of narratives are harmful to the profession and discourage youth from pursuing a career in education.”
To apply for open positions with the Elizabeth School District, visit elizabethschooldistrict.org/ Page/997.
For a list of average teacher salaries per school district, visit cde. state.co.us/cdereval/2022-2023averageteachersalarypdf.
To read “Starting pay for Colorado teachers nearly lowest in U.S.,” visit kdvr.com/news/data/coloradoteacher-starting-pay-rank-us.
Let’s talk steaks. Steaks that are tender, juicy, and full of flavor. Perfectly aged, hand-trimmed, one-of-a-kind steaks that are GUARANTEED to be perfect, every single time. These aren’t just steaks. These are Omaha Steaks.
also learning how to be productive members of our society while demonstrating love and compassion for others.”
Lasagna Love also seeks to eliminate stigmas associated with asking for help when it is needed most.
“For some people, asking for help is not always easy. rough building community, individuals needing support will feel safe to ask for it,” said Aviles. “By being there for one another when we need it most, we hope to eliminate the stigma that asking for support sometimes carries.”
Aviles hopes to help grow Lasagna Love in Elizabeth and around Elbert County. She wants to bring awareness of the program, both for the lasagna makers and those people in need of some extra help.
“I have delivered all over Elbert County. I’ve delivered to Elizabeth, Limon and Bennett,” said Aviles. “We don’t have many chefs in the Elizabeth area and we would love to recruit more.”
For those interested in the local Lasagna Love group, please contact Judy Hagemann at lasagnalove.co.2@lasagnalove.org.
To learn more about lasagna love, visit lasagnalove.org.
A Douglas County judge ruled four Douglas County School Board members violated Colorado Open Meetings Law when they had a series of one-on-one conversations about terminating former Superintendent Corey Wise.
While Douglas County District Court Judge Je rey Holmes ruled against the majority of school board members for a second time, he still declined to issue a permanent injunction.
e Douglas County School District includes the northwestern corner of Elbert County.
In a ruling issued June 16, Holmes rea rmed that Douglas County Board President Mike Peterson and board members Christy Williams, Becky Myers, and Kaylee Winegar broke open meetings law by discussing ring Wise in non-public conversations last year.
Rep. Bob Marshall, D-Highlands Ranch, led a lawsuit against the district in February 2022, with his attorney, Steve Zansberg, arguing that ring a superintendent is a public business subject to open meetings law.
In a statement, Marshall said he is glad Holmes recon rmed his prior
ruling, however, he still issued an ultimatum.
“I call upon the board, and the individual directors to announce, publicly, that they will comply, or I will be forced to ask the court to reconsider that portion of its ruling,” Marshall said in an email statement to Colorado Community Media and the four majority board members.
To date, the majority of board members have refused to admit they broke open meeting laws, pushing to appeal the initial ruling.
Friday’s ruling reiterates what
Holmes said in his preliminary injunction in March 2022.
Holmes found that all meetings where public business was discussed must be open to the public, regardless of whether a decision is made, dismissing one of the arguments school board members had
“Circumventing the statute by a series of private one-on-one meetings at which public business is discussed and/or decisions reached is a violation of the purpose of the statute, not just its spirit,” he said.
Holmes agreed with attorney Zansberg that at the Jan. 28, 2022, meeting between Peterson, Williams and Wise, the two board members gave Wise an ultimatum to resign or be red.
“ ough disguised as a choice, Wise was not given an opportunity to continue his employment,” Holmes said. “ e only options presented were options about how his job would end.”
Holmes also found that the Feb. 4, 2022, meeting where the board members red Wise without cause in a 4-3 vote did not x the board’s violation of the law because it “rubber-stamped” the decision Peterson, Williams, Myers and Winegar had already made.
As evidence of this, Holmes cited
the lack of public comment and conversation about Wise’s performance during the meeting, as well as the quick timing.
“In a review of what actually transpired at that meeting, based on a recording that was made, it is dicult to identify any portions of it that address ‘concerns’ that Peterson and Williams had other than concerns about how quickly Wise’s superintendency could be brought to an end,” Holmes said in his ruling.
ough Marshall had asked Holmes to nd that Wise’s termination was invalid since it occurred outside of a public meeting, the judge did not rule on the matter because Wise had already settled with the district.
Holmes declined to issue a permanent injunction, which would have explicitly prevented the board from serial conversations in the future, because he said there’s no evidence the board needed an injunction to comply with the law.
“ ere is no indication that once a court has determined their behavior did not comply with (Colorado Open Meetings Law), they will continue to engage in the prohibited practice,” he said.
e ongoing legal battle has cost the district more than $152,000 so far.
As Elbert County moves from the response to the recovery phase of addressing the damage caused by the recent storm-related ooding, it has become likely that use of County
Contingency Funds may be needed. ese “rainy-day funds” have been set aside over the past several years to ensure that the county can respond to emergency situations without impacting already planned projects and scheduled maintenance operations.
is declaration, e ective on June 11th at 10:20pm allows use of these local funds and potential reimbursement from the state or federal level.
Based on current assessments of known damages as well as employee hours, equipment usage, and material costs incurred over the rst week since ooding hit, approximately $1.1 million may be expended before recovery is complete. Additionally, assessment of several bridges that may have been impacted by owing debris and scouring of streambeds is currently underway.
During this ooding event, segments of 16 roads were closed at various times. Seven segments remain closed of the county’s 1,200-plus miles of road. anks to the tremendous e orts of our First Responders and Road & Bridge Crews, and the caution taken by our citizens, there are no known accidents or injuries related to these closures. e Elbert County Public Works Department will be working a 6-day work week for the foreseeable future until all damaged roadways are repaired.
Chris Richardson, Chairman, Elbert County Board of County Commissioners, stated, “Our County’s Road and Bridge team is a very dedicated sta of professionals that work very hard to serve the citizens.
eir e orts in response to recent ooding and road damage are nothing short of heroic. We are tracking all costs and will assess the impact on the county nances in the weeks to come.”
Elbert County is fairly typical of Colorado’s rural counties. We maintain approximately 1100 miles of gravel and 200 miles of paved roads. Our Road & Bridge Department is about 50 strong and they take great pride in serving our citizens. Feel free to thank them for their e orts when
you have the opportunity, it will surely mean a lot.
Roads are built and maintained with a slight crown so water runs o and into ditches, and culverts carry water to natural drainages. With normal rainfall, this is enough to preserve the integrity of the road surfaces (gravel or pavement) and prevent gravel roads from turning to mud. However, this period of nearly continuous rain has been anything but normal. After well over 12” of rain in some areas over the last two weeks that left the ground saturated, run-o became a real issue. Heavy slow-moving rainstorms over these sodden grounds resulted in literal “gully washers” that ushed debris from elds and streambeds and this material blocked culverts and caused “dams” at some of our bridges. ese blockages caused water to overtop roads in many areas and resulted in washouts.
e break in County Road 13, the main route north from the Town of Elizabeth, was perhaps the most impactful damage. Repair of the breach began and, though work had to stop when the rains returned, it was expected to be reopened shortly. Another break and washout on CR 112, as shown in the photo, will take much longer to repair but carries much less tra c.
ough the moisture is badly needed and greatly welcomed by our farmers and ranchers, it will take some time to recover our roadways. Our rst responders and Road & Bridge crews have been working closely together with the support of our emergency management teamtheir e orts have been nothing short of heroic.
Please monitor o cial county social media sites for updates on road closures and repairs.
Douglas County offices will be closed Tuesday, July 4, 2023. Many services are available at DoItOnlineDouglas.com
Did you know Douglas County offers Live Town Hall meetings, inviting you to engage in the local issues of importance to you and your neighbors? Register at douglas.co.us/townhall to ensure you are contacted about all future Live Town Halls. Join online or by phone and listen to community conversations, ask questions and hear responses from experts.
Highlands Ranch artist and writer Craig Marshall Smith has recently published a book called “Where is Mary Bergen?”
e book is set in Granby, Colorado, with a narrator/detective character named Frank Elgin, who reminds me of a writer I’ve encountered. Elgin lives with a little red dachshund named Roger ...
Next door lives a bestselling author named Peter Du Cane, who thinks most highly of himself, drinks a lot and is renting a house owned by one Laura Faircloth, who has gone o to check out a prince somewhere, a prince who discovered her via a book of nude photographs, taken by another local character, Dartmouth Powell ... And we’re only to page 17! And I also read an account of an art class assigned to create a selfportrait ... very funny!
Smith taught art at three di erent universities over a period of 30 years and paints abstract works.
Mary Bergen was a former student, who went home for Christmas and never returned, we learn.
Elgin is asked to nd her ... He starts with checking a Du Cane book out from the library and taking it home to read to Roger.
e possibility of co-writing a
discarded ... and surfaces again, accompanied by entertaining chatter. We meet another Granby resident named Mr. Friday ... he seems to be well-supplied with factoids of all sorts ... Christmas lights were invented in 1914 by a Denver man named D.D. Sturgeon. His son was ill and couldn’t come to see the family Christmas tree. Sturgeon painted some bulbs and strung them on an outside tree so the boy could see them from his bed, according to Friday, who liked to hang out at the local diner. Modeled on a longtime friend of Smith’s ...
Somehow, Mary Bergen’s name leads to a chapter about the famous ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and his friend, Charlie McCarthy — and a session between Charlie McCarthy and the very funny comedian, W. C. Fields — and a dialogue between them ...
A trip on the Zephyr to Ottumwa, Iowa is another detective job, involving a search for one Nadine Wol nger — and en route, he met Heidi Spottle ... “Everyone should take an overnight train ride.”
Back in Granby, days continue, with new encounters and characters. Clever dialogue, quirky characters, pretty much perfect summer reading — no beach required — just a cool lemonade and a shady spot inside or out to settle in and let Smith entertain you.
“Where is Mary Bergen?” is a paperback and will tuck in a tote or suitcase handily.
Records can be obtained in-person by visiting the Douglas County Health Department at 410 S Wilcox St. No appointments are necessary. Or, visit douglas.co.us and search for Vital Records for ways to obtain records online, by mail or by email.
Skip the trip!
Motor vehicle services just a click away
Renew your driver license or motor vehicle registration and more from the convenience of your smartphone, tablet, desktop or laptop. You can also renew vehicle registrations at six local grocery store MVExpress kiosk locations. Find information at DouglasDrives.com
Roads are a necessity and they have to be maintained. Here’s where you’ll find everything you need to know about them all. Visit DouglasRoadWork.com to find out what’s going on in your neighborhood.
The reservoir is open for non-motorized water activities including paddle boarding, canoeing, and kayaking from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays into late October.
Due to parking limitations, reservations are required. The cost of a day pass is $10. Reservations must be made online. Visit douglas.co.us and search Reservations
‘Where is Mary Bergen?’ is new detective novel
BY JESSE PAUL AND ELLIOTT WENZLER THE COLORADO SUN
e 100 state lawmakers in Colorado earn about $42,000 a year for their work at the Capitol, placing them in the middle of the pack compared to their counterparts across the U.S. when it comes to how much they’re paid to draft, debate and vote on bills.
at in uences who runs to be a state representative or senator, which in turn determines which legislation passes or fails.
A Colorado Sun analysis of state lawmaker salaries compiled by the National Conference of State Legislatures places Colorado 19th on the salary list. Colorado legislators earn more than counterparts in any bordering state except Oklahoma. State senators whose terms began before January earn a salary of $41,449. Senators whose terms began in January, as well as all House members, make $43,977.
e salaries are set at 25% of a county judge’s salary, which through 2026 is $175,908. Salaries for state
lawmakers, as well as state-level statewide elected o cials, are recalculated every four years based on changes to judicial o cers’ salaries. Colorado lawmakers who live within 50 miles of the Capitol — a large portion, if not the majority, of the legislature — are also eligible to receive a per diem of $45 for each of the 120 days the General Assembly is in session each year, which adds up to $5,400. ose who live more than 50 miles from the Capitol are entitled to about $237 per legislative day, which totals $28,440.
according to the U.S. Census Bureau. e median gross annual rent in Colorado is $17,244.
State Sen. James Coleman, a Denver Democrat, said it’s di cult to nd a place to live in Colorado on a $42,000 salary. “Absolutely I think it picks and chooses who can participate,” he said.
Oklahoma lawmakers make $47,500, while lawmakers in Nebraska earn $12,000. Lawmakers
in addition to about $7,000 to defray interim costs. In Wyoming, lawmakers earn $150 per day they work. (Lawmakers in all of those states are entitled to per diem, though in Utah the bene t can only be claimed by lawmakers who live more than 100 miles from Salt Lake City, the state capital.)
In New Mexico, lawmakers are
‘Absolutely I think it picks and chooses who can participate’
paid no salary.
New York lawmakers make $142,000, the most of any state lawmakers in the U.S., though their outside income will be capped at $35,000 starting in 2025. California lawmakers are second, at $122,694, with higher amounts for legislative leadership. Pennsylvania is third at $102,844.
New Mexico lawmakers make the least — $0 — of any state lawmaker in the U.S. Close behind is New Hampshire, where the state’s 424 lawmakers are paid a $100 salary — a rate set more than 130 years ago — and get no per diem, meaning that technically they receive even less compensation than lawmakers in New Mexico, who get a per diem of roughly $200.
U.S. senators and representatives, for reference, make $174,000 each year. Congressional leaders earn even more.
e variations in state lawmaker pay across the U.S. are in uenced by many factors, including politics and cost of living di erences from state to state.
ey are also determined by whether a state’s legislature operates year-round — like in California, Michigan, New York and Pennsylvania — or is part time, like in Colorado, where each lawmaking term is limited to 120 days.
Colorado’s General Assembly was intentionally formed as a “citizen” legislature, where representatives and senators aren’t full-time politicians. Lawmakers are expected to have jobs outside of the Capitol, though many say serving in the General Assembly is truly a full-time job.
Critics of Colorado lawmakers’ pay say it limits who can serve at the Capitol to wealthier people, who are often retired, white and without school-age kids.
“ e arrangement that we have de nitely takes some people out of the running,” said former state Sen. Mike Foote, a Boulder County Democrat who opted not to run for reelection after nding it di cult to balance his Capitol duties with a demanding work schedule as a private attorney raising a family.
However, Foote said lawmakers know the nancial consequences of serving at the Capitol when they run for a legislative seat. And he points out many Coloradans work full time and make $40,000 a year.
Sen. Faith Winter, D-Westminster, has advocated for the legislature to increase its salary. Outside of her job as a legislator, Winter works for VoteRunLead, a nonpro t that trains women to run for o ce, recruiting political candidates.
“ e rst or second question that gets asked is ‘How do I have a family and do this? How can I a ord to do this?’” she said. “When we want BIPOC folks to run and we want
women to run and we want young people to run and LGBTQ folks, then we have to make sure that we’re making it possible for them.”
BIPOC means Black, Indigenous and people of color.
Coleman, who is Black, was the youngest member of the legislature when he was rst elected to the House in 2016. At the time, he had two 6-year-old kids. Coleman said his age, lack of intergenerational wealth and young family made it very di cult to serve as a state lawmaker.
“It was virtually impossible for me to run and a ord to serve,” he said, noting that candidates for o ce aren’t paid.
While some employers may be OK with someone taking o for 120 days to work in the legislature, Coleman said, they are few and far between. Besides, he said, being a state representative or state senator really requires year-round attention for those who want to be successful and adequately represent their community.
But others argue the limited salary actually serves to ensure Colorado has a citizen legislature.
“I think Colorado is about where it needs to be,” Rep. Rod Bockenfeld, a Watkins Republican, said of state lawmakers’ salary level.
Bockenfeld, who sits on the Joint Budget Committee, said he knows the legislature’s low salary could stop some people from being able to run for o ce. He personally experienced that hurdle.
Before he could a ord to run for the legislature, he served as an Arapahoe County commissioner for 12 years and earned a much higher salary. ( e current salary for a commissioner in Arapahoe County is $131,701.)
Senate Minority Leader Paul Lundeen, a Monument Republican, worries that raising lawmakers’ pay would prompt the legislature to become a full-time, year-round job. He opposes that shift because of how it would expand government in uence.
“It simply creates a silo that is populated in various levels, various strata of political operators, who have nothing but politics as the experience of their life,” he said.
“ at’s contrary to what representation of the people is supposed to be about. e salary, is it out of alignment with what professionals make? Of course. I make substantially less than my skills demand in the marketplace. But I choose as an act of service to do the work as an active service, not because I want it to be a profession or a career.”
Colorado’s next legislative session begins in January.
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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Colorado taxpayers will be sent even larger refund checks next year than expected after state tax revenues nished the scal year much higher than budget analysts for the legislature and in the governor’s o ce predicted.
e state may now have to refund nearly $1 billion more than originally expected, nonpartisan Legislative Council Sta and the governor’s O ce of State Planning and Budgeting told state lawmakers in June, increasing refund checks by hundreds of dollars per person.
Exactly how large those Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights refund checks will be remains in ux, in part because the number will be determined by whether voters pass Proposition HH in November, a 10-year property tax relief plan from Democrats in the General Assembly and Gov. Jared Polis.
e legislature passed a bill in the nal three days of its 2023 lawmaking term, which ended May 8, that would make the refund check amounts the same for everyone if voters pass Proposition HH. ey were originally expected to be about $650 for single lers and roughly $1,300 for joint lers, but could now be roughly $850 for single lers and $1,700 for joint lers.
Last year, Colorado taxpayers received TABOR refund checks of $750 or $1,500 to account for surplus collected in the 2021-22 scal year, which ended June 30, 2022.
If Proposition HH fails, the refund checks would be tied to income levels. Under the default refund system — called the six-tier sales tax refund mechanism — people who make more money get bigger refund checks based on which of six income tiers they fall into.
People in the lowest tier, who make up to $50,000 a year, were expected to receive refund checks of $454 for single
lers or $908 for joint lers. For those in the highest tier, who make $279,001 or more, the checks were expected to be $1,434 for single lers and $2,688 for joint lers.
e improved economic outlook would mean larger refunds for people in every tier, though people in the top tier would bene t most.
People in the lowest tier would now receive refund checks of $587 for single lers or $1,174 for joint lers. For those in the highest tier, the checks would now be $1,854 for single lers and $3,708 for joint lers.
e refund amounts are determined by how much money the state government collects above the TABOR cap on government growth and spending. e cap is calculated by annual growth in population and in ation. Colorado taxpayers will get their refund checks next year after they le their taxes.
Nonpartisan Legislative Council Sta now expects the TABOR cap to be exceeded in the current 2022-23 scal year, which ends June 30, by $3.31 billion — an increase of roughly $600 million over what they projected in March.
e governor’s O ce of State Planning and Budgeting now expects the TABOR cap to be exceeded in the current scal year by $3.527 billion — an increase of about $870 million over what they projected in March.
Greg Sobetski, the chief economist for Legislative Council Sta , called the increases a “signi cant upward revision.”
Both LCS and OSPB said betterthan-expected corporate income tax revenue was a large driver of the improvements.
e updates were presented to the legislature’s Joint Budget Committee, which received its quarterly economic and tax revenue forecasts from LCS and OSPB. While the end of the scal year is fast approaching, it will be
months before the state knows exactly how much money it collected over the TABOR cap.
Legislative Council Sta and the governor’s O ce of State Planning and Budgeting forecasts state government to collect tax revenue in excess of the TABOR cap through at least the 2024-25 scal year, which ends June 30, 2025.
Emily Dohrman, an economist with Legislative Council Sta , said the risk of recession has also decreased.
“ e economy is still showing positive growth, but slower growth than what we saw through most of 2022,” she told the JBC. “Our forecast is anticipating that growth will continue to slow through the end of 2023 but then return to a more moderate pace of growth in 2024 and 2025.”
She said there’s still a risk of an economic downturn, but that risk is lower
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than it was in March.
Polis touted the forecasts presented to the JBC. He said Colorado’s economy remains strong and that it’s evidence the state “continues to be the best place to live, work and do business.”
e next quarterly tax revenue and economic forecasts will be presented to the JBC in September. e panel in November will begin drafting the state’s 2024-25 scal year budget, which takes e ect on July 1, 2024. e full legislature will vote on the spending plan after it reconvenes in January.
is story via e Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned news outlet based in Denver that covers the state. For more, visit www.ColoradoSun.com. e Sun is a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy, which owns Colorado Community Media.
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Thu 7/06
Fox Royale @ SunSET summer concert series, Englewood CO @ 6:30pm SunSET summer concert series, Englewood
Trouble Bound: Rock The Mountain Concert Series @ 11:30am
Outlets at Castle Rock, 5050 Fac‐tory Shops Blvd #437, Castle Rock
Steve Everett: Earth Angel’s “Wingmen” @ 5pm
The Barn at Fo��eld, �pon purchase, Fo�‐�eld
Sun 7/09
Bring Me the Horizon @ 5:30pm
Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre, 6350 Greenwood Plaza Blvd, Greenwood Village
Tue 7/11
Gymnastics: Ninja: Mighty Ninja (34 yrs) July @ 3pm
Jul 11th - Aug 1st
Parker Recreation Center, 17301 E Lincoln Ave., Parker
Union Gray @ 6:30pm
Tailgate Tavern & Grill, 19552 Mainstreet, Parker
Sat 7/08
15U Tryout @ 5pm / $40
Elevation Volleyball Club, 12987 E Adam Aircraft Drive, Englewood. 720-524-4136
Wed 7/12
Metalachi @ 6pm
Studio@Mainstreet, 19604 Main‐street, Parker
Thu 7/13
Crestone Peak Ages 13-14 - 2023
League Session #4 @ 4pm / $325
Jul 13th - Aug 25th
Elevation Volleyball Club, 12987 E Adam Aircraft Drive, Englewood. 720-524-4136
The Jauntee @ 3pm
Breckenridge Brewery, 2920 Brewery Ln, Littleton
HRCA Highlands Point Circuit @ 5pm / $25-$30
2674 Pemberly Ave, Highlands Ranch
PIckleball - Denver Open @ 9am
Life Time - Centennial, 5000 E Dry Creek Rd, Centennial
UB40 @ 5pm
Philip S. Miller Park Amphitheater, 210 E Wolfensberger Rd, Castle Rock
Dear Marsha,: DM and her
Freaky Band Band at Talgate Tavern @ 4pm
Tailgate Tavern & Grill, 19552 Mainstreet, Parker
Big Mountain @ 6pm
Philip S. Miller Park, 1375 W Plum Creek Pkwy, Castle Rock
Blanca Peak Ages 14+ -2023
League Session #4 @ 6pm / $325
Jul 13th - Aug 25th
Elevation Volleyball Club, 12987 E Adam Aircraft Drive, Englewood. 720-524-4136
Yeison Jimenez @ 9pm / $50-$80
Stampede, 2430 South Havana, Aurora
Yeison Jiménez @ 9pm Stampede, 2430 S Havana St, Aurora
Over the last few weeks, two elected boards in the south metro area have had to establish a process to ll a suddenly vacated seat.
In Douglas County, Elizabeth Hanson abruptly resigned from the school board.
South Suburban Parks and Recreation, which provides services in Arapahoe County and part of Douglas County, is also managed by an elected board. In South Suburban’s case, tragedy struck when a board member died, leaving a vacant seat.
Now, let’s get into why one elected board was transparent and upfront with the public and why another is being questioned for maybe following the laws, but not adhering to the spirit of them.
e Douglas County School Board held an o cial open meeting, voted on a process, set dates and approved an application. All in public view.
To ll the open seat, the board will also discuss their opinions on every applicant publicly. e applications submitted are public records — as they should be.
Now, let’s move on to South Suburban, where a board election had been held shortly before the death opened another seat. Reporter Nina Joss has struggled to get information leading up to and after the May 2 election.
And when the other seat became open, Joss simply asked what the process would be to ll it. Simple question — right? Joss asked obvious questions and should have received clear answers and information to tell the public what was going on and what would happen.
However, while the elected board who took an oath to manage this district that manages a $128 million budget are patting themselves on the back for creating an application process, they are missing the point on why the interested public is frustrated. ey clearly do not understand the spirit of transparency. ey decided to make the applications “con dential.” Really? Con dential? Do you need to be reminded that you are a board that can increase property taxes at will without a special election? I bet the
Town of Castle Rock and other municipalities would love that kind of power.
Even after the vote where a new member was selected with no discussion and sworn in, the process to release the applications to the press took time. e reference letters still have not been released, and while it may be legal, it’s not OK. ey should have been part of the agenda and used as part of a discussion that should have been held in selecting the new board member. All of this should have been done in the public eye and not behind closed doors. Voting for a new member in less than a minute without discussion is not OK.
When Joss questioned the process and the fact that the public knew nothing about the person appointed to the seat — she was told to tell the public to Google him. at is absurd coming from a board member who took a sworn oath. en, board members and South Suburban sta wonder why people are upset. Here’s the obvious answer. It’s not about who you appointed to ll the seat. When I Googled him — he seemed legitimate. He may even educate fellow board members on the fact that elected boards collecting tax dollars do answer to the public.
e problem is the refusal to be transparent in the entire process.
It’s hard to gure out who exactly is calling the shots for South Suburban right now, but, to the board members: you should realize it should be you, and it should be done through public meetings, not behind closed doors.
Some other advice to remember — as an elected board, you are the boss of this huge organization. You are in charge. You don’t need sta approval — they need yours. Listen to their recommendations, ask questions, and make decisions — but do the right thing and do it in front of the public.
As citizens, residents and the community, we deserve better, transparent board members. Doing a simple story on an election, or a sad one on lling a vacated seat due to unexpected tragedy, should never turn into what you have turned it into.
Instead, what you have is a lot of raised eyebrows, more questions, and a lot more attention from not just the media, but local residents.
elma Grimes is the south metro editor for Colorado Community Media.
LINDA SHAPLEY Publisher lshapley@coloradocommunitymedia.com
MICHAEL DE YOANNA Editor-in-Chief michael@coloradocommunitymedia.com
She was very comfortable running 5K and 10K races, and usually placed well. She often thought about stretching herself to run a half marathon and then one day, a full marathon. As her dreams about training harder and running longer races took shape, she found herself returning to her comfortable training regime and settled once again for training to run in those 5K and 10K races. en one day, she decided to go for it. She made a commitment to break free from her comfort zone and train harder and run farther. She woke up earlier and each day that she ran, she pushed herself just a little bit farther until she could comfortably nish a half marathon. And after that, she left that comfort zone and began training even harder to compete in a full marathon, and last year
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successfully ran in the NYC Marathon.
When asked if she had plans on returning to her former routines of running in shorter races and giving up the long runs, her response was that she would never allow herself to enter the comfort zone ever again. In her mind she created an image of a “Do Not Enter” sign followed by “ e Comfort Zone.”
For many of us we have reached some type of pinnacle or achieved a sought-after goal only to nd ourselves slowly backsliding and reentering our former comfort zone. We reach a certain level of success and then allow ourselves to get comfortable there instead of wondering what we could do if we pressed ourselves a little harder, taking a new or di erent path, and maybe even taking a little risk. It’s like breaking free from one comfort zone only to enter another comfort zone.
If we are on a path of personal or professional growth, we might all do well to have that same
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Most people wake up each day and make a few key decisions so the day goes smoothly. ey usually think… What will I accomplish today? What will I wear or eat today? Typically, the average person also has various goals they want to accomplish … getting a good job, buying a house, creating a family, staying healthy and saving money for retirement.
Rarely do you nd a person with a written goal of intentionally seeking out their nal resting place and outlining their obituary or Celebration of Life ceremony. It is a rare
mental image top of mind, “Do Not Enter e Comfort Zone.” Whether it’s a physical achievement we are seeking, a business breakthrough, quitting a bad habit, starting a new and positive habit, or maybe setting our sights on breaking the company sales records, once we break free from what has been holding us back, leaving our comfort zone, we need to commit to never going back or settling ever again.
Here is something to watch out for, it’s called the neutral zone. It’s that place where we have decided to break free from our comfort zone but haven’t taken any action yet. Something is still holding us back. Maybe we haven’t fully committed to where it is that we want to go. Maybe we have some head trash that’s getting in our way. Whatever it is, it has us stuck in the neutral zone. How do we get unstuck? We take the rst step in the pursuit of our new goals and dreams. We don’t have to go beyond that, we are not going to go from running a 10K to running a marathon, but we are going to take the rst step and maybe run an extra half mile, and then each day slowly build to our ultimate goal.
individual who does the hard work of soul-searching their thoughts and beliefs about their own mortality. Most of us don’t want to think about that because it’s too sad. But as Benjamin Franklin said, “…in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”
Most end-of-life caregivers will tell you the best gift you can give yourself and your family is the gift of pre-planning. If nances are tight, at a minimum, make some decisions so your family and friends will know your wishes. ere is a wonderful guide called “Five Wishes” that serves as a legal document for end-of-life decisions. Most hospices, funeral homes and cemeteries have some version of the types of questions outlined in the “Five Wishes” document and you can nd it online, too.
e last wish of the “Five Wishes”
Taking that rst step does something psychologically that gets us moving in the right direction. For some of us, we get caught up in all the rest of the steps and it paralyzes us to the point where we do not take any step at all. A comfort zone surrounded by a neutral zone creates a do-nothing zone. And as it has been said before, if we aren’t moving forward, we are more than likely moving backward. Zig Ziglar said it this way, “People who never take step one, can never possibly take step two.”
How about you, are there a rst step that you need to take? Is there a personal or professional goal or dream that you have had on your heart for a while? If so, have you asked yourself what is holding you back? As always, I would love to hear your story at gotonorton@gmail. com, and when we can break free from our comfort zone, leave the neutral zone behind, and commit to never entering that comfort zone again, it really will be a better than good life.
Michael Norton is an author, a personal and professional coach, consultant, trainer, encourager and motivator of individuals and businesses, working with organizations and associations across multiple industries.
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The Sun, launched in 2018, is committed to fact-based, in-depth and non-partisan journalism. It covers everything from politics and culture to the outdoor industry and
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For Colorado Sun stories, opinions and more, and to support The Sun’s misssion as a member or subscriber, visit coloradosun. com.
discusses “What I want my loved ones to know.” is section addresses the emotional realm, as well as physical placement of one’s body after passing. Some key decisions include … How do I want to be remembered? Do I want to be buried or cremated? Do I want to be near relatives? Do I want to be placed somewhere close to my family so it’s convenient for them to visit? Do I want my ashes to be placed at sea or scattered out of an airplane or in a cemetery? Do I want a permanent monument engraved?
Determining key end-of-life decisions ahead of time will set you free from worry, provide for a smooth transition, and be a gift of peace of mind for your family and friends.
At the Aug. 3, 2023 Seniors’ Council
of Douglas County meeting, our host from Seven Stones Cemetery and Botanic Gardens, Becky Holm, will discuss pre-planning, the di erent cemetery options available in Colorado and the beautiful and serene environment at Seven Stones. e meeting is scheduled outdoors from 10-11:30 a.m. at Seven Stones, located at 9635 N. Rampart Range Road in LIttleton. e Seniors’ Council of Douglas County serves to advocate for and engage older adults. Meetings are free and open to the public. Our signature daylong educational event, Vintage and Vibrant, is ursday, Sept. 28 at the Parker Arts, Culture, and Events Center (PACE) in Parker. For upto-date information about Seniors’ Council visit Facebook and our website www.douglas.co.us.
When people think of horses, they might associate them with ranch living, horse racing or recreational riding, but horses can be therapeutic, too. erapy takes many forms, from physical to mental. Some people travel to a ranch to work with horses as part of the therapeutic process.
Equine-assisted therapy was something Arvada native Kelsey Petitt discovered while studying occupational therapy at Pima Medical Institute in Denver. Having grown up riding horses, it immediately caught her attention.
“I just, kind of, was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is the coolest thing ever. I can combine my true passion of horses and really being able to help and assist participants and patients with doing therapy and reaching their functional goals while also having fun with horses and having that relationship,’” Petitt said.
Although she knew immediately that equine-assisted therapy was something she wanted to pursue, she did not do so immediately. Following her schooling and clinical internships, she quickly began working and then had her daughter.
However, in 2021 Petitt, who now lives in Brighton, decided to establish the Brighton-based Prestige erapeutic Equestrian Center, o ering an occupational therapy program that brings the four-legged companions into the practice.
“Now, I’m going on 11 years of being a therapist and so it’s taken me a little bit of time to get back to, really, what I wanted to do,” said Petitt, who also works as an occupational therapy assistant for a company called erapeutic and Rehabilitative Associates.
Her purpose, like many other therapists incorporating horses into their practice, is clear: “Transforming lives through the therapeutic power of horses.”
Occupational therapists help people develop skills so that they can perform day-to-day tasks such as bathing, dressing and eating, as well as techniques to aid in memory and concentration, according to the American Occupational erapy Association.
For example, occupational therapists may work on a person’s ne motor skills, such as being able to button a jacket or holding a fork, Petitt said.
ey also work on sensory integration, which she said usually comes up when working with someone who is on the autism spectrum.
Another example of work they do is helping someone with their feeding skills, such as for patients with Parkinson’s disease who experience a lot of tremors. Improving core strength may also be a focus for patients, such as for someone who struggles to put their shirt on due to a lack of strength.
“ ere’s an array of di erent settings that you can get into in the occupational therapy eld, but I think for me, the equine-assisted movement is just something that I’ve always loved,” she said. “Horses are just so therapeutic in general, for anybody.”
e term “hippotherapy” refers to how occupational therapy, physical therapy and speech-language pathology professionals use equine movement as a therapy tool, according to the American Hippotherapy Association.
To use hippotherapy in treatment, a person must be a licensed therapist who has completed continuing education in the inclusion of horses and equine movement, per the association. Petitt has gotten her rst level of training with the association, and she plans to continue with her training this fall.
However, Petitt explained that she does not refer to herself as a hippotherapist because hippotherapy is not its own therapy.
“We’re not hippotherapists,” she said. “Hippotherapy is utilizing the horse. All of our treatments are either occupational therapy, speech therapy or physical therapy, and we’re just using the horse as a treatment tool, basically.”
With her clients, she said she is working on all of the same therapy interventions that she would be in a therapy gym or in an outpatient program, but instead she’s now doing it by having her clients get onto a horse and incorporating the horse’s movement into the treatment.
“We work o the horse’s pelvis, so their pelvis is very similar to ours,” she said. ere are di erent planes for the horse in the way that their pelvis moves — the sagittal plane, frontal plane and transverse plane, she said.
“We’re working on that constantly, so when we have our riders on the horse, they’re also working on that. And it’s one of the most multi-dimensional movement(s) that’s rhythmic and repetitive,” she said.
For someone experiencing conditions such as limited mobility, limited core strength, cognitive delays, or sensory processing disorders, “it can really just kind of help bene t and improve all of those elements,” she said of equine-assisted therapy.
According to a study published in the international journal, Physiotherapy eory and Practice, there are “signicant positive e ects” of equine-assisted therapy on exercise tolerance, mobility, interpersonal interactions and quality of life of people with disabilities.
Another study focused on the ef-
fects of equine-assisted activities and therapies for individuals on the autism spectrum and concluded that these programs “substantially improve” the social and behavioral functions of people who are on the autism spectrum.
“Communication is pretty key, too … because horses mirror us, so a lot of our participants can learn a lot more speech and communication successfully with the horses, which is really great,” she said.
Petitt has three horses she works with. e horse a client is paired with is dependent on their individual needs, she explained.
“Part of what’s so cool is because we can kind of tailor it to that participant, that patient, and kind of really work on what we need to work on with them,” she said. “ eir postural control, sensory systems, motor planning.”
In a typical therapy gym for occupational therapy, Petitt said there are tools such as a swing, a ball and a mat to use for the session. However, these do not provide the same level of sensory input and rhythmic, consistent movement that equine-assisted therapy can, which she said is great at building overall strength, control and balance.
“We can work in the therapy gym all day but the bene ts and the outcomes that we’re seeing while doing therapy
describe how they incorporate horses into their practiceSage is one of the horses at the Prestige Therapeutic Equestrian Center.
on the horses are just so much more transformative and more meaningful than we can get in the gym,” she said.
Looking ahead, Petitt said she hopes to soon expand her team to include a physical therapist.
“And then I’m really hoping to hire a speech therapist as well, because riding the horses … there’s so much to do with our respiration rate when we’re riding them,” she said. “What that can do for speech language pathologists is really help with that physiological system of how we talk.”
At the Prestige erapeutic Equestrian Center, Petitt also o ers “therapeutic horseback riding,” which she explained is not a professional therapy service but is rather like a recreational sport where individuals learn riding skills. is experience can, in turn, lead to other bene ts such as helping deal with anxiety.
However, when it comes to getting professional therapy treatment for mental health conditions like coping with trauma, grief, abuse, or other challenging experiences, community members have an equinebased option — the therapists with Rocky Mountain Equine Assisted Psychotherapy, LLC.
Carina Kellenberger and Dana Schultz, both licensed clinical social workers who grew up loving horses, established Rocky Mountain Equine Assisted Psychotherapy in 2013.
Schultz, who lives near Superior, and Kellenberger, who lives in Longmont, primarily practice at the Happy Dog Ranch in the Littleton area and at Medicine Horse in Boulder.
“We are licensed clinical social workers that have a trauma-specialty focus in … equine therapy,” Schultz said, explaining they do formal intakes and development clinical-based treatment plans.
ere is a di erence between equine-assisted therapy and equine-facilitated therapy, Kellenberger noted.
“When we rst started our business back in 2013, the word ‘equine-facilitated learning and psychotherapy’ did not exist, but that is the work we are doing,” Kellenberger said. “Equine-facilitated psychotherapy and learning means that the horse — the relationship with the horse is the vehicle for change.”
Under the practice of equine-facilitated psychotherapy, it is the client’s relationship and connection with the animal that is moving the sessions forward, she said.
“ e di erence between the learning and the psychotherapy are, like, a lot of the group work is mainly more learning because we’re not really diving into personal issues and we’re keeping it a little more surface level,” Kellenberger said. “But (in) the psychotherapy … we go as deep just like any o ce therapist would.”
Equine-assisted therapy is di erent because while horses are incorporated into the practice, the client’s relationship with them is not the driving force, she said. Rather, the horses are more of a tool component of the therapy.
“ ey might be being used more as a metaphor or as a way to help move through an activity, but they’re not — the relationship with the animal isn’t the central piece,” she added. “In the facilitated work that we do with our clients, it’s the relationship as the primary drive and the connection with the horse.”
Kellenberger and Schultz may use an equinefacilitated or an equine-assisted therapy approach when treating a client, as it depends on what the client is seeking, Schultz said. Kellenberger added that equine-assisted therapy is bene cial as an assessment tool.
Both Schultz and Kellenberger received certi cation in animal-assisted social work from the University of Denver’s Graduate School of Social Work, as
well as completed training through the organization Natural Lifemanship in trauma-focused equineassisted psychotherapy.
“A lot of our clients, they’re coming to us because they’ve experienced trauma, and so we’re making sure that everything that we’re doing is through that lens as well,” Kellenberger said.
Schultz noted their approach is always using a clinical, evidence-based lens and horses are a part of the team. She works with clients to identify their primary goals and the horse becomes their partner in that journey.
“We know that therapy is hard and incredibly personal, and it’s a di cult journey for people to admit, like, ‘Hey, I need help.’ And so one of the things that we always do is provide our potential clients with a free meet-and-greet,” Schultz said, explaining the person can visit the ranch to meet her and hear the elevator pitch.
“Part of that elevator pitch is recognizing how difcult the therapeutic process and journey can be for some, and that the relationship that you have with the therapist is as important as the relationship that you are going to form with your horse,” she added.
Most of the work during therapy sessions is unmounted, Kellenberger said, explaining the clients may do things like grooming the horse, leading the horse or doing other things that help them feel connected to the horse.
Once sessions begin, Schultz said herself and Kellenberger are skilled at identifying patterns in people’s behaviors.
“We basically say, ‘I’m noticing this pattern. Is it helpful or not?’” Schultz said, explaining they use the identi cation of patterns to build rapport and trust with clients before then delving deeper into working through their trauma.
e trauma a lot of their clients experience is a ecting the way they show up in their human relationships, Kellenberger said.
“Working with the horses — who are prey animals and are highly sensitive and attuned to our intentions, our emotions — they make excellent partners in this work, because they are able to kind of mirror or … show the patterns that people have in the same way that a human would,” Kellenberger said.
Schultz noted that the work being done during these therapy sessions happens in the moment, providing an opportunity for real-time change.
“Our horses … they are not magical unicorn creatures. ey are going to ignore our clients. ey are going to resist,” Schultz said. “And the client is going to, you know, respond or react.
“And that’s kind of what we’re observing and saying, ‘Hey, is this pattern helpful for you? Because it’s happening right here, right now. So, right now, in this moment, you’re feeling frustrated, you’re feeling abandoned, you’re feeling unheard, (or) you’re feeling whatever. What can we do right now in this moment to help shift the way that you’re feeling to a more balanced thought?’” she continued.
ese therapy sessions provide a way for clients to, in a safe space, start
to make changes to those patterns and feel more comfortable not only in their relationship to the horse but in their relationships with people, explained Kellenberger.
“ e actual brain starts to change while they’re working with the animal,” Kellenberger said. “And horses are really great at this, also, because they are prey animals. ey are looking for vulnerability and congruence from us because that’s how they keep themselves safe in the wild.”
“If a client is really holding back an emotion, they’re being incongruent, you’ll see the reaction from the horse in that way,” she continued. “As soon as … our clients are able to start to be more congruent in their own bodies, that feels very safe for the horse and that’s where the connections really start to form.”
It is through this real-time therapy work with the horse that the clients can begin to learn how to transfer the shifts in their approach into their everyday lives, Schultz explained.
“Having done this for 10 years, I can tell you, we have seen so many clients who come in and they’re like, ‘I’ve tried everything else. Nothing else works,’” Schultz said. “We see clients, I think, for a shorter period of time, I think, on average, than maybe what a traditional talk therapist in an o ce setting would see because it isn’t so retroactive or future-oriented.”
Kellenberger added, “It’s kind of just eye-opening, and it can unlock patterns that people didn’t know that they had that they’ve been working on for years in the o ce. So I would say that the horses are amazing partners because they are so sensitive and they can show us a lot about ourselves pretty quickly.”
Spreading the word
All three therapists expressed a desire to raise awareness of the existence of their practices and how it can help people.
“It’s as good as … any other therapy, and you don’t need horse experience to do it,” Schultz said. “It’s not just for any speci c type of person.”
Schultz said when she and Kellenberger entered into the industry, it was small and many people did not really understand it.
“ ere were so many people, especially when we were rst getting started, that were just kind of doing backyard therapy that were not therapists,” Kellenberger said, explaining that she and Schultz wanted to put their mental health degrees at the forefront of their work and help the eld gain notoriety.
“Because we were seeing the really great work that can be done when you’re doing it correctly,” she added, advising people to do their research and look for licensed therapists. Schultz highlighted that this type of therapy is for everyone, saying they have clients ranging from the ages of 7 to 78.
“It’s inspiring. I’m inspired by my clients to, you know, for me to keep my training up, to be the best I can be because they’re showing up to do the hard work,” Schultz said.
In her work in occupational therapy, Petitt shared how powerful it is to see clients transform throughout equineassisted therapy sessions.
“It’s just so cool to see them being able to accomplish the things that they weren’t able to accomplish before,” she said. “Raising awareness of what we do is so important and amazing to help our riders grow.”
“It’s just amazing what horses do for us,” Petitt said. “ ey’re so inspiring.”
BY CLAIRE CLEVELAND FREELANCE REPORTER
On a sunny afternoon, Carolyn Campos and Naomi Bates are midway through a game of checkers. ey’re sitting in Campos’ apartment at a facility in Aurora for people who are 62 and older.
ey go back and forth, moving the magnetized pieces and commenting on the other person’s strategy. e pair are also fond of playing backgammon, the rst game they played together.
“Of course, she let me win,” Bates said. “Our next venture is chess, but I don’t know if she’s going to be open to that.”
Campos shakes her head. She doesn’t like chess.
e two women often nish each other’s sentences. ey have an easy friendship, as if they’ve known each other a long time. Yet in fact, they just met in March after they were connected through the Senior Companion Program, which is part of Spark the Change Colorado, a volunteer, service and civic engagement organization.
e program matches volunteers who are 55 years or better, as the program describes, with people who are also older than 55 and known as clients. e program is funded by AmeriCorps Seniors, a federal service agency, and aims to support
the independence of older adults in their homes, and create friendships that allow people to “continue to be vibrant, contributing members of our communities.”
“ ere are a lot of people who would probably enjoy having somebody to hook up with, to create a friendship with and to come weekly to see you,” Campos said. “ at would be awesome for a lot of people that live in this community.”
Loneliness and social isolation are increasingly being recognized as a nationwide epidemic. e U.S. Surgeon General’s o ce, headed by Vivek Murthy, MD, MBA, released an 81page report earlier this year detailing the scourge of loneliness and social isolation, and also laid out a national strategy for addressing it, following recommendations from both national and global organizations.
Loneliness refers to the subjective experience that results from feeling isolated or having inadequate connections with others, while social isolation is objectively having few relationships, social roles or group memberships and infrequent social interaction. Nearly half of all adults in America reported experiencing loneliness in recent years—and that was before the COVID-19 pandemic cut o many people from their friends, loved ones and support systems.
“Both loneliness and isolation
a ect our health,” said Carla Perissinotto, MD, MHS, a geriatrician and professor of medicine at University of California, San Francisco. “ at’s true even when we control for traditional medical risk factors.”
Loneliness is associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, depression and premature death. It poses health risks as deadly as smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day and costs the health industry billions of dollars annually, according to the surgeon general’s report.
Last fall, Campos moved from Kentucky to Denver to be closer to her children and grandchildren. While she sees her family much more than she did when she was living in another state, she still wishes she could see them more.
Campos has limited mobility due to some health concerns, so she typically stays at home unless someone is able to provide transportation.
“I don’t get around that much, but I would love to meet more people in my complex. But it’s di cult,” she said. “Everywhere I go, I’m stuck to [my oxygen tank], so it’s di cult to get out.”
Campos and Bates meet every Monday and play games together or watch cooking shows. On one meetup, Bates brought Chinese food, a favorite of the pair.
For Bates, the volunteer opportunity is about more than just helping her clients (of which she has three); it’s also kept her from feeling isolated.
“It’s very ful lling and rewarding. And plus, I’m retired, so I need to also ll up my time. Just don’t want to sit around doing nothing,” Bates said. e growing concern over the impacts of loneliness and isolation has put a spotlight on the issue, and the pandemic helped place loneliness and isolation in the public discourse.
“Since the pandemic, we’ve all now felt what it feels to be homebound,” said Jillian Racoosin, executive director of the Foundation for Social Connection and the Coalition to End Social Isolation and Loneliness. “I hope that feeling for everyone brought more of an understanding to what our homebound seniors are experiencing day in and day out, and why it’s so important to invest in social support to make sure that we are taking care of those that are in the home.”
But even with more awareness and a decree from the U.S. government,
there’s still a stigma associated with being lonely.
“I’ve had multiple people say, ‘I’m not lonely.’ But then you ask them, well, do you feel isolated? Do you feel left out? Do you lack companionship?” Perissinotto said. “ ey say, ‘Yes, all the time.’ And it’s like, well, that’s actually loneliness.”
Campos said she’s learned to manage being alone.
“I’ve just learned how to be by myself. And I enjoy it,” she said. “It gives me chances to do my Bible studies, and I enjoy watching the cooking show ‘Chopped.’”
Lonely older adults tend to have lower incomes, are less likely to be married, live alone and have poorer self-rated health and more physical limitations than their peers who don’t report being lonely, according to Project UnLonely, a program of e Foundation for Art & Healing.
People of color are more likely to be lonely. About three in four Hispanic adults are classi ed as lonely and nearly 70% of Black/African American adults are lonely — both are at least 10 points higher than what is seen among the total population, according to research from health company e Cigna Group.
More data is needed to understand loneliness among other groups, such as LGBTQIA+ older adults, who are twice as likely to live alone and often lack family support, according to a report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
Across town at Dayspring Villa, a senior living facility, Michael Van Dalsem and Leonard Aube, who were matched through the Senior Companion Program, meet up twice a week — once to attend the Men’s Co ee Group at e Center on Colfax, a community center for LGBTQIA+ Coloradans, and once just to visit.
Aube, who is 83 years old, doesn’t have any family in Colorado. He visits some of the people where he lives, but is dependent on Van Dalsem for rides to e Center on Colfax or to go to Safeway. He can’t travel on his own due to health complications.
“It reminds me that I have something valuable with my time, and that’s important to know that you are valued in some way,” Van Dalsem said. “I enjoy the people. We are good friends.”
“Best friends,” Aube chimed in. “He’s kind of brought me out of my shell,” Van Dalsem added. “He demanded that I talk.” Van Dalsem has one other client who he takes to doctor’s appointments that the client otherwise would have to get to by public transportation.
e Senior Companion Program has become a vital resource for older adults across the country, and its results are documented in studies that look at similar interventions.
“What we found is that for people who participated in this peer intervention for one year, which means you were paired with someone with a similar lived experience, we saw reductions in loneliness, depression and anxiety,” Perissinotto said.
But larger system changes are needed. e Surgeon General’s advisory laid out a framework to create a national strategy based on six pillars: strengthen social infrastructure, enact pro-connection public policies, mobilize the health sector, reform digital environments, deepen knowledge and cultivate a culture of connection. Yet while there’s a lot of evidence on the negative impacts of isolation and loneliness, there’s less evidence on solutions.
“What we don’t have a lot of evi-
dence on is what works in practice, what works for di erent segments of the population, and how can we scale these innovative solutions?” said Racoosin. “A lot of our e orts now are really focused on that translation piece and supporting organizations, corporations and others to think through how we can not only deploy solutions, but then evaluate them.”
Perissinotto and a colleague, Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Brigham Young University, published a paper in the New England Journal of Medicine earlier this year calling attention to loneliness and social isolation and the role of health care professionals—even with limitations like insu cient time and policies—in identifying and treating these challenges.
“Assessing for [social isolation and loneliness] periodically and including it in health records would allow clinicians to monitor it over time and adjust their responses as patients’ needs and circumstances change. … Patients’ lives may hang in the balance,” the paper reads.
Older adults are often thought of as more likely to be lonely, but according to the Surgeon General’s report, young adults are nearly twice as likely to be lonely than older adults. 79% of adults aged 18 to 24 report feeling lonely compared to 41% of those aged 66 and older.
Intergenerational connection is
one way advocates have identied to lessen loneliness and social isolation, especially since over the last century, the U.S. has become age-segregated, making relationships between unrelated younger and older adults nearly unheard of.
To bridge that gap, Con dence Omenai and Haley Sanner founded Collective Healing rough Art, which brings younger and older adults together to create art and heal trauma. e organization set out to “disrupt the harm that was occurring to BIPOC and Queer youth and older adults in their Denver community.” Currently, Collective Healing rough Art is working with young adults from the Boys & Girls Clubs and older adults from a few neighborhoods in Denver.
“We have a speci c curriculum, and it allows them to build a bond together and to share at will, as they’re creating, what their experience has been,” said Omenai. “We watch them form bonds and become friends and become family.”
Earlier this year, Collective Healing became a program of LinkAGES, which works with various organizations in metro Denver to make intergenerational programming the norm. LinkAGES helps build capacity, facilitate collaborations and raise awareness of the power of intergenerational connections.
e programming LinkAGES organizes goes beyond just getting people of a di erent generation in a
room together. It’s all about intention, said Rachel Cohen, executive director of LinkAGES.
“When we say intentional, it means that we design programs speci cally to facilitate a connection,” Cohen said. “And the programs are always multisession because relationships and connections take time. It takes time for people to open up, especially when you’re dealing with loneliness and social isolation.”
LinkAGES is continuing to grow and will start working with organizations outside of Denver to o er best practices and training.
With increased awareness, organizations that are centered on creating solutions, and a national strategy, there’s optimism for a less lonely and isolated future for everyone.
“I’m hopeful, but I hope it’s not something that’s eeting—that it’s popular now and then people are going to forget about this and forget about older adults and forget about those that are isolated,” said Perissinotto. “I think there’s a lot of work still ahead.”
Freelance reporter Claire Cleveland wrote this story for e Colorado Trust, a philanthropic foundation that works on health equity issues statewide and also funds a reporting position at e Colorado Sun, which is a part owner of Colorado Community Media.
More than 88% of the 474 bills passed during Colorado’s 2023 legislative session that became law received bipartisan support.
e bipartisan rate was somewhat lower this year than in recent years.
ere were also fewer unanimous votes and more straight-party-line votes during the 2023 lawmaking term. e data comes after a session dominated by partisan and intraparty con icts stoked by Democrats’ expanded majorities in the House and Senate.
e Colorado Sun analyzed nal House and Senate oor votes on each of the 474 bills that became law to parse out the data. It’s the fourth year e Sun has examined voting patterns in the state legislature.
More than 78% of the 617 bills introduced in the Colorado General Assembly this year were passed, the second highest percentage in the past 11 years. But the number of bills introduced was the third lowest since 2013.
Democratic Gov. Jared Polis vetoed 10 of the 484 bills passed by the legislature, the highest number since he became the state’s chief executive in 2019. All 10 of those measures received Democratic and Republican “no” votes, and all but one had at least one Republican voting “yes.” Half of the vetoed bills had bipartisan sponsorship, and half were sponsored solely by Democrats. Despite bipartisan support for all but 56 of the bills that became law
support, which was nearly double the rates in 2019, 2021 and 2022. (In some instances, Democrats joined Republicans in voting “no.”) About 7% of the bills — 32 — passed along party lines with only Democratic support and all Republicans objecting. At least one Democrat voted “no” on 125 of the bills that became law. at happened more often in the House, where Democrats have a 46-19 supermajority, than in the Senate, where Democrats have a 2312 majority. Sixty measures passed with unanimous support, representing about 13% of the bills that became law.
While divisions among Republicans at the statehouse have been common in recent years, Democrats also exhibited dissension in 2023, typically between moderates and more progressive lawmakers and often in the House.
Dickey Lee Hullinghorst, a Democrat who served as House speaker from 2015 to 2016, said the Democratic discord isn’t unexpected, especially with a signi cant number of new lawmakers in the Capitol, as
so many di erences in opinion. You reach sort of a critical mass where there are just certain issues that all Democrats don’t agree on.”
Republicans and Democrats had divisions within their House caucuses this year. And that was made clear by their nal votes.
e Sun de nes nal votes as third-reading votes, readoption after an opposing chamber’s amendments and readoption after a conference committee report, whichever came last. (A conference committee is where senators and representatives form an ad hoc committee to work out changes to a bill.)
Moderate Democrats sided with Republicans in voting “no” on some more liberal measures, while progressive Democrats sometimes voted against their more moderate colleagues, especially on criminal justice bills.
House Democrats needed help from the GOP to get four measures passed because not enough of the 46 members of their caucus voted for the bills. ose measures were: House Bill 1135, which increased penalties for indecent exposure in certain instances when it’s committed in front of a child. Democratic House members rejected the bill, with 27 voting against the measure and 18 voting for it, but all 19 Republicans in the chamber voted for the legislation. In the Senate, the bill passed unanimously. Senate Bill 25, which created a new “In God We Trust” license plate. House Democrats voted 27-19 for the bill, while Republicans voted 17-1 for it. If it weren’t for the GOP support
in the House, the legislation would have failed. e bill passed the Senate 22-7, with all the “no” votes coming from Democrats. Senate Bill 34, which modi es the de nition of “severe bodily injury” in the criminal code. Seventeen House Democrats and one in the Senate voted against the measure, while all 31 Republicans in the legislature voted for it. Without the GOP, the measure would have failed in the House. Senate Bill 110, which is aimed at improving transparency for metropolitan districts. House Democrats opposed the bill, with 23 voting against the measure and 22 voting for it, while the House GOP supported it 18-1. e Senate passed the measure 29-3, with only Democrats opposed.
e four House Democrats who voted “no” most often were: Rep. Elisabeth Epps, of Denver (10%) Rep. Lorena Garcia, of Adams County (8%) Rep. Javier Mabrey, of Denver (7%) Rep. Bob Marshall, of Highlands Ranch (6%)
e other 42 Democrats in the House voted “yes” on 96% or more of the bills that became law. at compares with all House Democrats voting “yes” on 95% or more of the bills that became law in 2022. Epps didn’t respond to Colorado Sun requests for comment.
Garcia said she weighs how a bill will impact people before deciding how to vote.
“All the positions that I take and the issues that I work on … are really about addressing root causes, to allow anyone and everyone to be able to have a strong economic future,” Garcia said. “So the bills that I voted ‘no’ on, from my perspective, were bills that did not address root causes — that might be attempting to address an issue that’s happening in our communities, but, at the end of the day, would do nothing to deter what’s actually happening.” at included criminal justice measures that increased penalties but didn’t address the root causes of crime, she said.
ere are 19 Republicans in the House. ree House Republicans voted “no” on 70% or more of the bills that became law: Reps. Stephanie Luck, of Penrose (74%); Scott Bottoms, of Colorado Springs (73%);
2023 session still featured two-party support on 88% of bills passedThe Colorado Capitol in Denver. PHOTO BY CHRISTY STEADMAN SEE BIPARTISAN, P20
FROM PAGE 18
and Ken DeGraaf, of Colorado Springs (71%). DeGraaf and Luck were prime sponsors of two House bills that became law. Bottoms cosponsored a Senate bill that became law — the “In God We Trust” license plate measure — but wasn’t the prime sponsor of any legislation that made it across the nish line. e other 16 House Republicans voted “yes” on 43% or more of the bills that became law.
DeGraaf said he voted against bills in a few categories: those that would expand government, those that he felt misrepresented what they would actually do and those that haven’t been “properly vetted.” He added that he was disappointed by how little impact debate seemed to make for a bill’s success or failure.
“Once a bill reaches the oor, it seems virtually guaranteed to pass,” he said.
First-year GOP Rep. Rick Taggart, of Grand Junction, voted “yes” on 73% of the bills that became law. House Minority Leader Mike Lynch, of Wellington, voted “yes” on nearly 65% of the bills.
Taggart said he was surprised to learn he was the Republican who had voted for the most bills that became law. He said he focused less on who was sponsoring the legislation he was voting on and instead on the policies themselves.
“My approach from day one was to work on bipartisan bills that were good, not only for my community here in Grand Junction, but good for the state,” he said. Democrats and Republicans were more uni ed in their nal votes in the 35-member Senate, which gave unanimous approval to one-third of the bills considered in the chamber that became law.
All but two of the 12 Republicans in the Senate voted “yes” 52% of the time or more on the 474 bills that became law. And all 23 Democratic senators voted “yes” 97% of the time or more.
Sen. Kevin Van Winkle, of Highlands Ranch, voted “no” on 56% of the bills that became law, while Sen. Mark Baisley, of Woodland Park, voted “no” on 55%.
“I just disagree generally with the direction Colorado’s moving, the way we’re being led by Democrats,” Van Winkle told e Sun earlier this year in explaining why he votes “no” on so many bills.
Democratic Sens. Kevin Priola, of Henderson, and Dylan Roberts, of Avon, voted “no” on only 14 of the bills that became law, but that was enough to make them the least likely to support measures clearing the chamber this year.
Priola switched his party a liation to Democratic from Republican in August. He previously was often the lone Republican “yes” vote on Democratic bills that became law. is year, he voted in favor of 97% of bills that became law, compared with 87% last year.
Priola said some of that can be chalked up to the natural di erences between each session. He added that now that he’s part of the Democratic caucus, he has changed the way he votes.
“ is year, those tweener bills that no one was upset about either way — that I didn’t think were bad policies but I wasn’t in love with them either — being in the other caucus I gave them the bene t of the doubt,” he said. “I’m going to support my caucus.”
is story via e Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned news outlet based in Denver that covers the state. For more, visit www.ColoradoSun.com. e Sun is a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy, which owns Colorado Community Media.
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programs were reauthorized on their rst try.
BY ANN SCHIMKE CHALKBEAT COLORADOe University of Colorado Denver has won full state approval for three teacher preparation program tracks after addressing problems in how it trains aspiring educators to teach children to read.
e State Board of Education unanimously voted to reauthorize the elementary education, special education, and early childhood education programs nearly a year after granting only partial approval because of weaknesses in reading coursework.
State o cials praised the university for improvements that ensure aspiring teachers understand and can apply key components of science-based reading instruction and don’t receive con icting information about how to teach reading.
e decision, which came in June, is the latest step in an ongoing state e ort to hold Colorado’s teacher preparation programs accountable for properly training future educators how to teach
reading. e state began cracking down on teacher prep programs — speci cally their approach to reading instruction — in 2018 as part of a broader push by lawmakers, state education o cials, and parents of children with dyslexia to get more students reading at grade level.
e state’s outgoing education commissioner Katy Anthes received praise for leading the push for more oversight of reading instruction in teacher prep programs.
“ ese educator preparation re -
authorization items have you written all over them,” Colleen O’Neil, associate commissioner of educator talent at the Colorado Department of Education, said to Anthes during the meeting. “Because what you did was ensure every student knows how to read.”
Also, the state board has granted full approval to all majors in the teacher prep program at Colorado Christian University and an alternative prep program o ered through East Central BOCES. Both
e University of Colorado Denver is one of several teacher prep programs that revamped reading coursework in recent years following poor state reviews. e state’s two largest prep programs, the University of Northern Colorado and Metropolitan State University of Denver, also made changes. e reading coursework overhauls seem to have paid o .
Earlier this week, a national organization gave Colorado major kudos for how its teacher prep programs cover reading instruction, ranking it No. 1 in the country. Just a few years ago, Colorado was in the middle of the pack.
In that report from the National Council on Teacher Quality, most of the state’s teacher prep programs earned an A or A+ for elementary education, including the University of Colorado Denver’s undergraduate program, Colorado Christian University’s undergraduate program, and the University of Northern Colorado’s undergraduate and graduate programs. e report didn’t analyze reading coursework in alternative teacher prep programs.
Chalkbeat is a nonpro t news site covering educational change in public schools.
DATE, TIME, AND LOCATION OF HEARING (Subject to change)
The assigned Hearing Officer will hold a hearing only on the above referenced docket number at the following date, time, and location:
Date:August 23, 2023
Time:9:00 a.m.
Place:Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission
The Chancery Building 1120 Lincoln Street, Suite 801 Denver, CO 80203
PETITIONS
DEADLINE FOR PETITIONS BY AFFECTED
PERSONS: July 24, 2023
Any interested party who wishes to participate formally must file a written petition with the Commission no later than the deadline provided above. Please see Commission Rule 507 at https:// cogcc.state.co.us, under “Regulation,” then select “Rules.” Please note that, under Commission Rule 510.l, the deadline for petitions may only be continued for good cause, even if the hearing is continued beyond the date that is stated above.
Pursuant to Commission Rule 507, if you do not file a proper petition, the Hearing Officer will not
know that you wish to formally participate in this matter and the date and time of the hearing may change without additional notice to you. Parties wishing to file a petition must register online at https://oitco.hylandcloud.com/DNRCOGExternalAccess/Account/Login.aspx and select “Request Access to Site.” Please refer to our “eFiling Users Guidebook” at https://cogcc.state.co.us/documents/reg/Hearings/External_Efiling_System_Handbook_December_2021_Final.pdf for more information. Under Commission Rule 508, if no petition is filed, the Application may be approved administratively without a formal hearing.
Any Affected Person who files a petition must be able to participate in a prehearing conference during the week of July 24, 2023, if a prehearing conference is requested by the Applicant or by any person who has filed a petition.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
For more information, you may review the Application, which was sent to you with this Notice. You may also contact the Applicant at the phone number or email address listed below.
In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, if any party requires special accommodations as a result of a disability for this hearing, please contact Margaret Humecki at Cogcc. Hearings_Unit@state.co.us, prior to the hearing and arrangements will be made.
OIL AND GAS CONSERVATION COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF COLORADO
By: Mimi C. Larsen, Secretary
Dated: June 13, 2023
GMT Exploration Company, LLC
c/o Jamie L. Jost Kelsey H. Wasylenky Jost Energy Law, P.C. 3511 Ringsby Court, Unit 103 Denver, CO 80216 720-446-5620 jjost@jostenergylaw.com kwasylenky@jostenergylaw.com
Legal Notice No. 25013
First Publication: June 29, 2023
Last Publication: June 29, 2023
Publisher: Elbert County News
Name Changes
PUBLIC NOTICE
Public Notice of Petition for Change of Name
Public notice is given on May 18, 2023, that a Petition for a Change of Name of an adult has been filed with the Elbert County Court.
The Petition requests that the name of James Lewis Bollinger II be changed to James Lewis Bollinger Case No.: 23C20
By: Jafeen Jenkins Clerk
Green light comes after reading portion is strengthened
‘These educator preparation reauthorization items have you written all over them. Because what you did was ensure every student knows how to read.’
Colleen O’Neil, associate commissioner of educator talent at the Colorado Department of Education
