NORTON

world that nds us reading news about road rage, random violence, wars, school or community shootings, or any other topic that drives a wedge between humanity, peace is the most desired of human emotions right now. We live in a world of violence on TV, in the movies, in video games, and it’s all tolerated or worse, accepted as the norm of the world in which we live. BYOP, bring your own peace, this means we can own how we react or respond to each and every news feed or situation we nd ourselves in with peace. You get the point, right? BYO isn’t restricted to restauranteurs, BYO means we can bring our own anything to each and every situation we face. We all face seasons of life that bring us heartache and anguish, seasons of joy and celebration, and well, just seasons of

Anderson said some people have raised concerns that voting no on the resolution would be “a violation of some oath of o ce or something like that.” e councilmember said he he does not feel it is going against his duties by taking an “amend” approach.

Mayor Pro Tem Steve Ward said the section of the Colorado constitution that covers home rule is Article 20, Section 6, noting that it contains 45 pages of case law where courts have weighed in and likely will in this situation as well.

“Personally, I’d like to see this bill killed,” Ward said. “But I believe there’s probably a future discussion about how the City of Englewood feels about the inevitable litigation that will occur, should this bill pass.”

Councilmember Jim Woodward was not in favor of taking an ‘amend’ position.

“To me, it’s home rule, which is just way overstepping. e state is way overstepping on this, and that’s the main issue,” he said.

Home rule is a form of governing that is “de ned by the citizens of a municipality or county that allows for more control over matters of local signi cance,” according to the Legislative Council Sta , the nonpartisan research and support service agency for the Colorado General Assembly.

Voters in a municipality can decide to adopt home rule and detail the structure and powers of the local government, per the Legislative Council Sta .

“I cannot quite get to a point where I see us getting what we want by the amendment, but moving in that direction … in principle, it life. No matter what we face, we, and only we, can determine what we bring to the game or situation. Will it be kindness, strength, peace, hope, grace, love, awesomeness, courage, or hope? e choice is yours; the choice is ours. It doesn’t matter what other BYO might be, we get to select our own BYO. What’s yours? If your BYO is kindness, please live it. If it’s strength, please own it. And if it’s peace, please keep it. And if it is any other quality or trait that can have a positive impact on our world, please share it. I would love to hear your story at gotonorton@ gmail.com and when we can decide which BYO to live, 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 nonpartisan journalism. It covers everything from politics and culture to the outdoor industry and education. makes every bit of sense to me. And so, I would rather vote tonight with member Woodward,” said Councilmember Cheryl Wink.

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When Councilmember Rita Russell explained she would vote in support of the resolution, she said, “And I believe if you happen to be taking the stance of amending this — you are not sitting on the state legislature, you are sitting on the Englewood City Council. And I would like to remind you of that.”

Russell said the council’s job is to represent the best interests of the citizens in Englewood.

Mayor Othoniel Sierra said the city council has been having conversations regarding its CodeNext project, which is an e ort to update Englewood’s Uni ed Development Code, and that he questions whether this bill is “intended for last resort.”

“And what I mean by that is, I know exactly what it is that we should be looking to do within Englewood in order to increase density in the right areas, but from the state perspective, it seems … they’re providing this blanket statement that all cities should be doing something exactly the same. And I just don’t agree with that,” he said.

Sierra said he would like to take an ‘amend’ position to keep home rule and local control, while continuing to have discussions with the state about how it can help Englewood increase a ordability and attainability.

“I think this is more of a nuanced conversation and we should be having more of an ‘amend’ position. But without having that, I think I would just be in favor of just moving forward with the resolution as stated and go from there,” Sierra said.

“But I’m hoping that we could continue having conversations with the state for something that makes more sense for Englewood, regardless of which way it goes. I’m not convinced that it’s gonna pass but, you know, it is what it is,” he added.

June 22, 1934 - April 19, 2023

Born to Richard and Freda (Boden) Brown in Lafayette, Colorado and graduated from Lafayette High School in 1954. Married Jay R Peters on May 27, 1955. ey had two children Colleen Duell and John Jay.

She had three sisters, Ann of Boulder Colorado, Bonnie Carmody of Longmont Colorado and Dixie Myers.

Preceding her in death were her parents, husband, sister Dixie Myers and infant grandson, Kyle Peters.

Survivors include her daughter, Colleen Duell (Steve) of Goodland Kansas, son John Jay Peters of Englewood. Four grandsons, Aaron Duell & Adam Duell of Goodland Kansas, Matthew Peters and Michael Peters of Englewood, Colorado. Cremation was chosen, services are pending at Olinger Funeral Home, 7777 West 29th Ave., Wheat Ridge, CO. Inurnment will be at Ft. Logan National Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be designated to the Northwest Kansas District Free Fair, P.O. Box 184, Goodland KS 67735

Local foragers teach students to cook with wild foods

ere some see weeds, Erica Davis sees ingredients for delicious soups and salads.

“In urban areas, there are a lot of plants that we call weeds that spring up everywhere, that are widely available to people, that are edible and good,” she said.

Foraging is the act of gathering wild plants from nature, generally to be used for food, and sometimes to make other products. For Davis and other foragers, spring means plants are starting to grow –which means kitchens will soon be full of wild foods ready to be prepared in creative

Across the Front Range and in the mountains, several foragers share their knowledge through cooking classes based on

Why cook with wild food?

Davis, who runs a blog called Wild Food Girl, has upcoming classes in Ramah and Fairplay. Her Arvada class this spring has

“I think one of the biggest challenges with edible wild plants is that people don’t always know how to prepare them,” she said. “We all know how to cook spinach, we all know how to make broccoli — but we don’t all know how to cook tumble mustard so that it tastes good. So in my classes, I like to give students that experience of preparing an edible wild plant — or three — in a way that I think they are going to Davis’ classes begin with an hourlong plant walk where students learn the names of plants and safety and sustainability guidelines for foraging. Afterward, she teaches them how to prepare several of the plants they have for-

In the spring, dandelions and wild mustard greens are common staples in her

“People sometimes picture foraging as going out into the forest and picking plants

— and that’s part of it — but I would really encourage people to learn the weeds and make use of them,” she said. “A lot of them are non-native species, so there really aren’t as many ecological considerations with picking them.”

Davis teaches her students to make dandelion green soup from a recipe passed down by an Italian relative. Musk mustard is great in salads, and tumble mustard and field pennycress are fun to ferment, she said.

Beyond the creative and flavorful uses of foraged foods, research from 2019 suggests that wild edible greens harvested in urban areas can be abundant and highly nutritious. The study dubbed wild edible plants “open-source food.”

“This idea that open-source food is out there for anybody to eat and make use of — and then furthermore, it’s organic, it’s free, it’s fresh — I just think that’s a great concept,” Davis said.

Safety precautions

Despite their affordability and freshness, wild plants are not all safe to eat. Crystal Baldwin, who teaches wild plant-based classes at her Golden business, Earth Sweet Boutique, said it’s always important to triple-check plants before you eat them.

“I don’t like to frighten people away from… foraged foods because there’s a lot of very safe ones,” Baldwin said. “But I like them to be aware that there are dangerous, poisonous ones that will kill you, and so it’s important to kind of have an idea of what those might be and what to look out for.”

Baldwin encourages those interested in foraging to start by taking classes, working with local experts and reading about which plants are safe to eat.

She also said it’s important to check if plants are near old buildings that could be contributing lead to soil or if plants have been sprayed with pesticides.