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FORT LUPTON PRESS S E RV I N G T H E C O M M U N I T Y S I N C E 19 0 6

VOLUME 119

75cI

ISSUE 13

WEEK OF MARCH 31, 2022

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25 , 2020

VOLUME 117

THE SEASON FOR SHARING

Bill to protect workers who use cannabis fails

ISSUE 48

House Bill 1152 was rejected on a 12-1 committee vote

BY JESSE PAUL THE COLORADO SUN

A Colorado House committee voted down a bill that sought to stop employers from denying jobs to or firing workers for their off-the-clock cannabis use, either medical or recreational.

House Bill 1152 also sought to require employers to let their employees consume medical marijuana while on the job. The legislation included exceptions for workers whose jobs are in dangerous fields or require fine motor skills, such as Commerce City’s Andrea Coleman stands atop Mount Kilimanjaro on World Kidney Day. COURTESY PHOTO positions involving the use of heavy machinery.

The bill was rejected on a 12-1 vote in the House Business Affairs and Labor Committee on March 23 afternoon even after the measure’s sponsor, Rep. Edie Hooton, a Boulder Democrat, offered an amendment to dramatically scale back the legislation before the vote was taken.

In advance of the trip, Coleman The amendment, which was donated a kidney. Her uncle, Mike said some people hiked both weekadopted, would have erased all of Davis, was the recipient. Coleends hiking. Others went for long the bill’s provisions and instead man belongs to the Kidney Donor runs. convened a panel to study the issue Athletes, a worldwide group of “Athletes are loose people. If and make recommendations to the some 900 athletes. Twenty-two of you take long walks, go for hikes, them, including Coleman, climbed legislature about how employers can run marathons, you are up and Mount Kilimanjaro earlier in accommodate medical marijuana March. Twenty – Coleman included moving,” Coleman said. “I never users. But even that wasn’t enough

BY STEVE SMITH thought I’d climb Kilimanjaro miss– reached the summit. for lawmakers on the committee, SSMITH@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM ing one kidney.”

“The mission is to show people who were concerned about any move that you can donate a kidney and To say Commerce City resident toward forcing employers to allow Seven and a half days still do all the active things you Andrea Coleman is athletic might their employees to use marijuana on Coleman faced no surgery-related used to do,” she said. “People think be a bit of an understatement. or off the job. restrictions before the climb or if you donate an organ, your life Many in the business community She was a basketball and softball Every year before Thanksgiving, First United Methodist Church in Fort Lupton and the Fort Lupton Food and Clothing Bank provide community during the summit. She hiked in will be impacted negatively. That’s are fiercely opposed to the measure player through high school. When members with food boxes.

This will be the program’s 10th consecutive year.

Above, Joe Hubert, left China Garcia and Sue Hubert with Change 4toChange, the nearby mountains. She put not true.” and testifi ed in opposition it on those faded away, she took to such battled genetic March 2. things asorganization running marathons andwith theDavis another that helps foodhas drive.

See more onkidney Page 2. dumbbells in her backpack, went to disease for several years. She is hiking up and down mountains.

SEE KIDNEY, P5 SEE MARIJUANA, P3 fine; he is doing well, too.

Fifteen months ago, Coleman

Commerce City kidney donor summits Mount Kilimanjaro on Kidney Donor Day ‘We should have 40 kidneys up here, but only 20 were here’

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2 Fort Lupton Press

March 31, 2022

Our Family Helping Your Family

24-Hour Phone Lines 303-654-0112 • 303-857-2290 Brighton: 75 S. 13th Avenue Obituaries, Arrangements and Resources Online at

taborfuneralhome.com

PIEPER

John Matthew Pieper

March 18, 1937 - March 22, 2022

John Matthew Pieper, 85, died March 22, 2022, surrounded by family following a brief illness.

In the fall of 1978 John transferred to Rock Springs and worked as Shop Maintenance Supervisor for Halliburton until 1995 when he took early retirement.

Born March 18, 1937, John was the third of eight chilldren born to Alfonse and Josephine (Brown) Pieper in Bayard, Neb. He graduated from Bayard High School in 1956.

John was drafted by the United States Army.

During a visit home, he met Mardell Johnson at a square dance. On Oct. 27, 1962, the two married in a Catholic ceremony in Bayard.

They had two children, son Kent John and daughter Holly Ann. In 1968, the family moved to Brighton, Colo., where John worked for Gates Cycle for 12 years becoming certified as a poultry specialist. He later worked for Halliburton, was active with the Brighton Knights of Columbus and a frequent blood donor. John and Mardell took square dance lessons with the Squarehoppers in Brighton.

Survivors include: wife Mardell Pieper, of Rock Springs; children Kent Pieper and wife Marla, of Myton, Utah; Holly Dabb and husband Randy, of Rawlins and Rock Springs; four grandsons RJ Pieper and wife Angela Thatcher, of Rock Springs, Matthew Jackman and wife Breanna, of Rock Springs, Jace Jackman and fiancée Trisha Moore, of Rock Springs, and Lance Jackman, of Twin Falls, Idaho; siblings Mary Zink, of Brighton, Colo., Josie Mearns and husband Jack, of Shoreline, Wash., Ellen Monroe and husband Robert, of Fredrick, Colo.; sister-in-law Dorothy Johnson, of Sheridan; brother-in-law Howard Johnson, of Richmond, Va.; and 32 nieces and nephews.

No services are scheduled.

Memory In Loving

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

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Fort Lupton Press 3

March 31, 2022

Rabid Skunks in Weld County Health officials recommend domestic animals get vaccinated

BY BELEN WARD BWARD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Authorities found two rabid skunks on properties south of Greeley on March 11 and 14 according to the Weld County Department of Public Health and Environment.

“Weld County is a hot spot for rabies; we encourage residents to get your animals vaccinated. If an animal is unvaccinated and is infected with rabies, the animal would have to be euthanized,” said Lisa VanBerg, Fort Lupton Animal Control.

“Fort Lupton requires residents to register your dog for a city license at no charge. You must bring proof of the rabies vaccination to register.

And the vaccination tag must be displayed.”

The skunks got into a run-in with dogs at each property, so the owners turned over the skunks to the WCDPHE laboratory, and results came back on March 14th and March 16th positive for rabies. The two dogs were rabies vaccinated.

According to health officials, if rabies is left untreated, it’s 100% fatal. Colorado bat and skunks are the two leading carriers of rabies, but not all skunks are infected with rabies. If a skunk is spotted in day-

light acting strangely, lying on the ground, or physically paralyzed and acting aggressively, it could be sick with rabies.

Christine Bevel Environmental Specialist (WCDPHE), said, “If we are aware of the dogs history and is unvaccinated we can isolate the dog for several days and give them a series of vaccinations to save the pet. But if the animal has already developed the rabies they would have to be euthanized.”

Wild animals such as foxes, skunks, raccoons, coyotes, and bats could also get infected with rabies.

Health officials recommend a rabies vaccination on all domestic animals such as cats, dogs, horses, and livestock.

Within the past several years, humans have come in contact with rabies, which requires an immune globin and vaccine post-exposure treatment of rabies. A vaccination treatment is available to treat rabies before symptoms appear. In Weld County, there are no reported human deaths from rabies infection according to health officials.

Rabies is a virus that attacks the nervous system and causes inflammation of the brain and spinal cord, which could be fatal. According to health officials, transmission is from the saliva of an infected animal or through an open wound, cut, or scratch.

To prevent exposure to rabies: Do not feed, touch, or handle any wild animals.

Ensure dogs, cats, horses, and

SHUTTERSTOCK IMAGE

livestock are regularly vaccinated livestock by a licensed veterinarian.

Keep a close eye on any new puppy or kitten while outdoors until it has received the rabies vaccine for 28 days.

Spay or neuter pets to reduce the number of unwanted or stray ani-

New traffic signal could be online by end of the month

BY STEVE SMITH SSMITH@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

The city of Brighton said work on a controlled signal at East 144th Avenue and Sable Boulevard is in the last phase.

A Fort Morgan baseball coach died in a crash at that intersection almost three years ago. That prompted the call for a controlled traffic signal at all four corners. The city said the project is about 85 percent complete.

City spokesperson Linda Ong said the project consisted of two phases.

MARIJUANA FROM PAGE 1

“I wasn’t surprised,” Hooton, who has brought similar legislation for several years, said of the outcome. “I got a lot of very, very valuable feedback about how we might be able to move forward in the future.”

The question of whether the use of cannabis off the clock can disqualify a person for a job or lead to their firing has been swirling in Colorado since voters passed Amendment 64 in 2012, which legalized the sale and use of recreational cannabis. Most states that have lifted prohibitions on pot leave the question of how to handle employees’ marijuana use up to employers, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Nevada and New Jersey are two

The first part was underground infrastructure, followed by burying overhead power lines because of conflicts. The second phase — and the most visible to traffic — is the installation of the signals and other infrastructure.

“Last week, the contract team completed the installation of the traffic signal poles,” Ong said. “The team will be installing the traffic signal components over the next week and begin testing the signal. The final components include items such as the traffic signal heads, signage, guard-

rail, traffic signal controller cabinet, and other similar components.”

Ong said the signal should be fully operational by the end of the month.

Before that, the signal’s use starts with a flash test for several days.

“We ask the public to please use caution while construction is finalizing and slow speeds when approaching traffic control to keep our team safe,” Ong said. “Additionally, be prepared for the change of flow in traffic and the new configuration as the transition from a four-way stop is made to a signalized intersection.”

exceptions. In New Jersey, employers can prohibit employees from using cannabis while on the job or from showing up to work impaired. But they are not allowed to penalize an employee solely because of their offthe-clock recreational cannabis use.

In 2015, the Colorado Supreme Court sided with Dish Network, which fired an employee, Brandon Coats, after he tested positive for tetrahydrocannabinol – or THC – in a random drug test. Coats had a medical marijuana card as a result of back spasms caused by his quadriplegia. Muscle spasms are one of the seven debilitating conditions for which medical marijuana can be recommended under Colorado law.

The closely watched case highlighted Colorado’s pot paradox: Marijuana is legal but consuming it can still be grounds for termination.

Amendment 64 included the following provision: “Nothing in

this (ballot measure) is intended to require an employer to permit or accommodate the use, consumption, possession, transfer, delay, transportation, sale or growing of marijuana in the workplace to affect the ability of employers to have policies restriction the use of marijuana by employees.”

Amendment 20, the 2000 ballot initiative allowing medical marijuana sales and use in Colorado, included a provision about how it does not “require any employer to accommodate the medical use of marijuana in any workplace.”

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

mals in the neighborhood.

Contact WCDPHE at 970 400-2290 for questions or if anyone or their pets has had contact with a skunk.

For after-hours outside of 8:00 a.m.

- 5:00 p.m., Monday-Friday, contact Weld County Dispatch at (970) 3509600 and select option 4.

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4 Fort Lupton Press

March 31, 2022

A day to honor medical excellence National Doctors Day honors doctors

BY BELEN WARD BWARD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

COVID-19 did a lot of things to a lot of people, but three local doctors said it sharpened their focus on why they chose medicine as a profession.

“It made the world vulnerable, even mistrusting, yet brought some of us together more. It depends on how you want to view it and handle change,” said Brighton OB/GYN Oralee Ekberg.

Platte Valley Medical Center brought the three together in honor of National Doctors Day, March 30. The day, signed into law in 1991

by President George H.W. Bush, recognizes doctors across the nation in appreciation for their dedication to saving lives and a celebration of medical advances.

We asked three doctors at Platte Valley Medical Center – Ekberg, Medical and EMS Director Candace Harrod and internal medicine and pulmonary doctor Shad Grubbs – to share their stories.

Right direction When Ekberg, an OB/GYN in Brighton, decided to go to medical school late in her career, she felt it was the right direction.

“I remember shadowing an orthopedic surgeon in Boulder, and he suggested that I go work in the medi-

Dr. Oralee Ekberg Brighton OBGYN PHOTOS COURTESY OF PLATTE VALLEY MEDICAL CENTER

cal field for a year and make sure that I really like it,” said Ekberg.

Ekberg attended the Osteopathic Medical School in Kansas City graduating in 1998 and finishing her residency in 2003.

“It was difficult, but I studied, trained, and learned what I needed to do for my job,” Exberg said.

Her first job in Brighton was at Brighton Community Hospital on Egbert Street, and it was that experience -- good and bad -- that shaped her into the doctor she is today.

What she loves most about being a doctor is meeting women every day and learning about parts of their lives.

During COVID, Ekberg was not on the frontlines as a GYN doctor.

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Dr. Shad Grubbs Brighton Internal Medicine & Pulmonary

Ekberg said her colleagues dealt more with the women in labor who were positive for COVID, monitoring them for delivery and the virus’s symptoms. The impact of the virus caused anxiety for the medical staff.

“It really had no boundaries, and even if you did not get the virus, we all knew someone was affected in some way by COVID’s devastation.

So, the past two years did play havoc on everyone’s psyche,” said Ekberg.

Ekberg looks forward to things she will learn, meet people, and continue to grow to be a better doctor. She is also focusing on raising her children into their journeys of adulthood.

“I really do love what I do, whether I am at the office or in the operating room, I am happy and proud of my career choice,” said Ekberg.

Loved a challenge A few sports orthopedic surgeries in high school inspired Harrod to go into physical therapy or become a doctor. When she attended medical college in Georgia in 2002, she did some volunteer work and chose medicine. She has been a physician for 21-years.

“I have always loved a challenge that medicine provided. I enjoy the lifelong learning required to be a physician,” said Harrod.

She remembered her first shift working in the emergency department as an emergency medicine intern.

“I was thinking it’s was going to be a wild ride. It certainly has lived up to more than I anticipated,” she said.

While working in the emergency department, Harrod had many particular patients with every type of situation, and it can also be emotional.

“Some are lives saved, and some we are providing dignity for the dying. We provide a diagnosis and comfort for the patient who had a terrible day,” she said.

Harrod said some days are more rewarding than others, but she holds on to the encounters that impacted someone’s positivity.

“A few lives saved can sustain me quite well through the challenging days,” said Harrod.

Harrod said it was very frightening when the COVID-19 virus hit because the physicians did not know if they could lose their lives or bring home COVID to their families.

“As fear subsided, it was incred-

ibly sad and frustrating with how little we could do, sometimes to save a life. After the vaccine, there was far less fear and even hope that the end was in sight. 2021 left most of us very tired, and 2022 will, hopefully, be a new beginning we can come up for air and rejuvenate,” said Harrod.

Harrod looks forward to leading her group of doctors to provide the best quality care in the emergency department for the community.

“We will continue to be there for people on their worst day. I also look forward to bringing forward the next group of physician leaders,” Harrod said.

Science and dedication In elementary school, Grubbs developed an interest and passion for becoming a doctor.

He went to the University of Texas-Houston Medical School and completed his internal medicine and geriatrics programs at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and then came to Brighton in 2002.

“I enjoyed the science and health subjects. I enjoyed the challenge and the necessity of being dedicated to education, studies and training requirements,” he said.

Grubbs remembered a unique patient, an older man he’d provided care for many years. The man came with a family member and wore different brand-new baseball caps with every visit.

“One visit, I commented on how I liked his hat. He immediately removed it and handed it to me. While I did not want to take his hat from him, because of his culture, it would have been rude to refuse it,” said Grubbs. “I accepted his gift and have it still to this day. He demonstrated to me the principle of giving the shirt off of his back. I have many wonderful individuals like that who have blessed me over the years.”

Grubbs said it was an honor to serve patients and families during the last two years of the pandemic.

It was emotional and tearful when COVID entered the U.S. two years ago, especially when caring for his frail elderly patients at the nursing homes.

In November, Grubbs was on vacation for 10 days. When he left the facility, he had zero COVID cases.

When he returned, there was a large outbreak of COVID cases with numerous patients who had become symptomatic.

“I shed many tears the first day I entered rooms to provide care for the many that became ill. The next two months were sad and difficult for those who were ill and for the families that had visitation restrictions. But despite the difficulties, it was an honor to serve alongside so many heroic staff members. They worked so hard and tirelessly and with incredible love to try and help those in need,” said Grubbs.

His plans are to continue to provide care for the Brighton community and partner with many health services in the region.

“I have been able to have a unique perspective of working in a clinic, at the hospital, in nursing homes, rehab, assisted-living facilities and with hospice. I want to help all of those systems work well to the benefit of our community,” said Grubbs.

Fort Lupton Press 5

March 31, 2022

KIDNEY FROM PAGE 1

the Bison Ridge Recreation Center and worked out on a treadmill for an hour at a time.

“I can’t have Ibuprofen,” she said. “I’ve hiked 14ers before and had headaches and took Ibuprofen. But there were other altitude medicines we could take. I never had any ill effects. I was eating a lot of food I wasn’t familiar with, but there was nothing related to my surgery.”

In addition to the 20 athletes, Coleman said there were more than 100 “porters” whose job was to cook, feed, carry gear up the mountain. The climb up took 7 ½ days.

“We’d wake up around 6 a.m., and the porters would ask us if we wanted coffee or tea, some water to wash our faces. They fixed us breakfast. We packed our bags each day and left them outside our tents, and the porters picked them up and took them to our next campsite.”

A couple of hours later, the day’s climb began, usually about four to seven miles per effort.

“As we started climbing the porters were carrying the tents we had and were passing us on the trail,” Coleman laughed. “I thought we’d have to catch up with them. There was a familial feel. We greeted them and spoke Swahili with them.”

The porters brought out hot chocolate and popcorn during the evenings. The climbers played cards, too, before they nodded off to sleep.

“There was something terrific about the mountain every day,” Coleman said. “The first day, the temperature was 80 degrees. There were monkeys all over the place.

The next day, there was gunk in the air. There wasn’t much to look at. We saw waterfalls and caves.

Every day, there was something different. It was neat and interesting.”

Summit day On summit day – and after eating breakfast -- the climbers hiked about three or four hours to the base camp, about 15,000 feet in elevation.

And ate some more.

“We had lunch. We rested. And then we had dinner about 4:00,” Coleman said. “We were in bed by 7 because we had to get up at 10:30.

Some didn’t sleep at all. I had practiced breathing exercises because I knew I needed to sleep.

“And I slept a lot,” she added. “It was cold. I slept with more clothes on than I usually wear. I was wearing so many layers, it was hard to move. I looked like the kid in ‘A Christmas Story.’”

At 10:30, it was time to get up – and eat some more. The 22 climbers split into two groups, and the final ascent began at midnight, the official beginning of World Kidney Day. It took about seven hours to reach the peak.

“The wind was blowing, and it was dark. But the porters? They helped us. They were amazing,” Coleman said. “All we could see was this line of lights. About 5:30, the sun started to come up. We

were above the clouds. The sun was bright red. It looked like a scene from ‘The Lion King.’ I had this moment of contentment. I couldn’t believe I was here doing this, that we were here, doing this.

It was the most beautiful thing.”

The climbers had to go past a false peak – “there were glaciers all over the place, especially above Stella Point (the false peak)” -- before they reached the summit.

Atop the mountain Coleman and the other 19 who made the summit stayed for about 20 minutes.

“It was chaos at the top,” she said. “But at 19,500 feet, it’s not safe to stay up there for very long.

The porters were trying to get us off the mountain as fast as they could.

“It was so neat,” Coleman added.

“Very few people get to this final point. We started taking pictures.

Some people were crying. Some carried their cameras. I thought my iPhone would work fine. The moment was amazing. “We should have 40 kidneys up here, but only 20 were here.”

Then it was time to go back down the mountain. Two and a half hours later, they made their first stop, which meant it was time to eat again. The rest of the descent covered about four miles, most of which was straight downhill. The groups reached the base camp at 7 p.m.

“There was a vibe at that last camp,” Coleman said. “It was joyful, kind of like going to a state tournament, winning and then going for pizza afterward.”

A four-mile hike the next day closed out the expedition. Local reporters – Coleman described the group as a “gaggle” – were at the bottom of the mountain to greet the groups and chronicle the effort. Park rangers used satellite radios to gather the press.

No one carried oxygen. If it was necessary, the guides sent the climbers back down the mountain.

In closing Coleman took some time to reflect on the climb’s benefits, including a new “family.”

“I met a group of people. I gained more than I ever thought I would,” Coleman said. “My uncle has had a genetic kidney disease. But he is one of the most positive and generally gritty people I’ve ever met. I thought of him when things were tough, when the wind was blowing, when it was raining. He’s fought this his whole life.”

There are several so-called “One Kidney Clubs” in the country. The National Kidney Donation Organization website says more than 3,000 people are added to the national donation list every month.

Thirteen people die every day while waiting for a transplant. The people on the transplant list total more than 100,000.

“We’ve done things that few people have done,” she added.

“When we got to the top, it was the icing on the cake for the journey we’ve been on.”

Some of the climbers donated their kidneys to people who either weren’t related or weren’t known to the donors. Coleman called that “overwhelming.”

“I hope this shows people you can

Coleman and her uncle, Mike Davis.

COURTESY PHOTO

do everything and more after you donate,” Coleman said. “You can save someone else’s life in the process and live your life to the fullest.

One hundred thousand people need kidneys. More people need kidneys than what’s available.

“Not everyone can donate. But there are so many ways you can impact people’s lives for the better,” Coleman concluded. “I can’t

make the world change. I’m just a small person in a small town.

But everyone can make someone’s life better – shoveling a sidewalk, volunteering with Alzheimer’s patients.

“The biggest message is this.

If you can help someone, you should.”

For more, email andreac.coleman@gmail.com.

Sat. April 9, 2022, 10am to 5pm Sun. April 10, 2022, 10am to 3pm

More than 70 booths to explore along with a beautiful drive up to the Foothills Vendors: Booth space is available through the 31st

Conifer High School | 10441 County Hwy 73, Conifer

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6 Fort Lupton Press

LOCAL

VOICES Learning through serving

Y

ears ago, I had the opportunity to caddie several times for a good friend of mine Chris. He was an awesome amateur golfer playing in the state’s mid-amateur tournaments. I refer to this as an opportunity to volunteer to serve Chris as his caddie because it gave me the opportunity to spend a few days watching and learning from the other great amateur golfers like Chris.

As I watched, I became more familiar with the rules of the game. I observed the way that fantastic golfers approach different shots and how they managed the course. I was happy to carry Chris’ bag for free because he and the other golfers were helping me to learn the game and improve my own score. During one of those seasons, I was carrying his bag for the weekend, and he won the state mid-am championship.

That meant that we were paired up with some really terrific golfers, so I had the best of the best amateurs to learn from along that journey.

In my earlier career I was also given the opportunity to be an

observer in board of directors meetings. This meant giving up evenings and sometimes weekends, but the knowledge and experience I gained was worth every hour that I invested in being amongst some Michael Norton brilliant minds for a few hours every month and for a longer meeting each quarter.

During those meetings I managed to make myself useful by serving coffee, making sure there was water in the room, and most importantly taking notes. I also took notice of the way these leaders asked questions, including their line of questioning, it was truly impressive. I paid attention to what they wrote down as important, and how they navigated difficult decisions to come to an agreement amongst nine members of the board. I was truly learning by serving.

A young man that I coach and mentor, and who lives and works

WINNING WORDS

with a servant’s heart, aspires to be a keynote speaker himself one day. I had an opportunity where I was delivering a keynote speech in Chicago, so I invited him to join me. I covered his travel costs, but he invested two days of his time to come and experience how corporate events like this work. He also made himself useful by handing out books and materials and collecting business cards from people he thought that I might want to meet one day. When the event was over he shared how much he had learned, and that he was grateful for the opportunity.

Two of my favorite places to serve are through my church and in my community. We are a part of a small church in our town.

My wife and I both have volunteer positions within the church.

Again, giving up a few hours each month is absolutely worth the investment of time as we work with others in our church, engaging and learning as they manage each of their different ministries.

In the small town that we live in, there are plenty of opportunities to learn and serve. I have coached a few young people for free, put-

March 31, 2022

ting in the time and energy to help them improve their skills, make a hard decision, or find the right career path. Again, what I get out of the opportunity is incredible and gives me insights into how the younger generations are thinking these days. By giving of my time and serving, in return I was receiving tremendously valuable information that would help in understanding the different age groups and how they learn, what motivates them, and how they see the future.

There are so many great benefits when it comes to volunteering our time and serving other. How about you? Is there something that gets you excited about serving others?

Do you live and work with a servant’s heart? I would love to hear your story at mnorton@xinnix. com, and when we realize that we can learn while we serve, it really will be a better than good year.

Michael Norton is the grateful president of XINNIX, a personal and professional coach, and a consultant, trainer, encourager and motivator to businesses of all sizes.

Some wild urban getaways to get outdoors

F

ew populated urban areas have more opportunities for the outdoors experience than the Front Range Denver metro community. We enjoy countless learning experiences at three national wildlife refuges totaling more than 20,000 acres managed by the US Fish & Wildlife Service. Additionally, there are a variety of park facilities served by the State of Colorado and local communities offering trail systems, water sports and nature education programs for adults, children, and families.

These parks, open space and environmental centers have created and preserved virtually all outdoors offerings and most with little or no cost or fees. Of the forty-two statewide Colorado parks ten are close and convenient to the population centers.

As spring approaches, facility managers are preparing calendas and events and inviting the public to get involved. Some of the wide variety of programs

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will be held more than one time to encourage visitors the opportunity to find convenient time to be involved.

Here is a partial view of upcoming events at Colorado’s Barr Lake Nature Center (near Ron Hellbusch Brighton); Basic Archery for age 8 and above; Bald Eagle Walks for both youth and adults; spring break Camps; Guided Bird Walks to identify both local and permeant resident species as well as migrating birds; Toddler Story Time and Easter Egg Hunt designed for kids 3-12; Nests and Eggs, learning how and where birds build nests, for kids and adults of all ages; Wild Wednesdays free play time and searching out local nature; a new draw 10th Annual Raptor Run to learn more about eagles and hawks;

OUTDOOR LIVING

LINDA SHAPLEY Publisher lshapley@coloradocommunitymedia.com

Kite Festival on April 23rd and the popular Spring Fishing Clinic, a full day improving baiting, casting and handling fish in the local ponds. The Barr Lake Nature Center contact is 303-6596005.

Outdoors fun and learning continue as we view the differing events offered at the neighboring US Wildlife Refuges, which are celebrating their birthday March 14th. Special programs include the April 2nd opening of the Refuge Fishing season, the opening of Derby Trail and Earth Day, April 22.

The expanding Refuge trails take visitors near the three eagle nests which again this year, are showing activity as the adults’ repair nests and ready them for eggs and incubation. Another gain witnessed at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge is the expanding population of the protected black-footed ferret. Out of the estimated three hundred pro-

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tected ferrets, our local Refuge ferret population has grown to fifty.

The Denver area US Refuges (Commerce City, Arvada and Westminster) focus on wildlife observation, trail views of plants and wildlife and the growing popularity of bird watching.

The recently opened 12-mile Wild Drive roadway is fast becoming popular as it is opening viewing and photography of small and large wildlife such as coyote, whitetail and mule deer and the popular bison herd. The bison family has grown to over one hundred since their introduction at the Refuge in the mid-1990s.

Reservations for trail hikes, classroom and outdoors learning classes, fees and other unique events can be obtained at 303289-0232.

Outdoorsman and Westminster resident Ron Hellbusch can be reached at Ron-Hellbusch Comcast.net

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Colorado Avalanche vs. San Jose Sharks @ 7pm / $34-$9999 Ball Arena, 1000 Chopper Circle, Denver

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8 Fort Lupton Press

March 31, 2022

Democrats push abortion bill through Gov. Jared Polis agreed to sign into law

BY JESSE PAUL THE COLORADO SUN

Democrats in the state legislature on March 23 sent Gov. Jared Polis a bill affirming access to abortion and contraception in Colorado.

After the vote, Polis said he will sign the measure, House Bill 1279, into law.

The legislation passed the Senate on a 20-15, party-line vote after it was debated on the floor for about 13 hours on March 22 and then more than two hours on March 23 as Republicans fought the measure’s passage.

The bill was debated in the House earlier this month for 24 consecutive hours in what was one of the longest debates in the legislature’s history.

Democrats introduced the legislation in response to questions about the future of Roe

v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision protecting the right to an abortion without excessive government restriction.

The court could overturn the precedent in the coming months in a ruling in a case out of Mississippi, potentially opening the door for abortion restrictions in Colorado at the county or municipal level.

Colorado, which in 1967 became the first state to loosen its abortion laws, is among the states with the fewest abortion restrictions in the nation.

Abortion access wouldn’t be immediately affected in Colorado if Roe v. Wade is overturned, but abortion rights advocates warn there could still be threats.

The concern among abortion rights groups is that conservative Colorado counties or municipalities could try to pass local measures banning or significantly limiting abortion access. Without the protections in Roe v. Wade, those local measures may not be challengeable in court without the passage

of affirmative abortion-access legislation at the Capitol.

But because House Bill 1279 changes only state law, Republicans would still be able to introduce bills and ballot measures seeking to limit abortion access.

Only a constitutional amendment, which would require approval by 55% of voters, could more permanently settle the question.

Colorado voters have consistently rejected ballot measures seeking to restrict abortion access.

Abortion rights groups are considering whether to pursue a ballot measure in 2024 enshrining abortion access in Colorado’s constitution.

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

Gov. Jared Polis delivered the annual State of the PHOTO FROM FACEBOOK State address on Jan. 13.

Dangerous materials used in firefighting foam are showing up in drinking water, soil Lawmakers to address ‘forever chemicals’

BY MICHAEL BOOTH THE COLORADO SUN

The sale of many products containing the dangerous “forever chemicals” known as PFAS would be banned in Colorado as early as 2024, under legislation recently introduced and backed by a host of consumer and environmental groups.

Toxic PFAS chemicals, used as lubricants and repellants in products ranging from firefighting foam to clothing and cooking utensils, leak into groundwater and have been found in drinking water supplies in Colorado and across the country.

Colorado Attorney General Phil

Weiser recently joined multiple states in suing the chemical manufacturers for decades of contamination that is proving exorbitantly expensive for state health departments and local water agencies to clean up.

“We know these things are dangerous for our health. We know they are forever chemicals that are poisoning our water supply,” said Danny Katz, executive director of the nonprofit consumer group CoPIRG, in welcoming the bipartisan bill. “We need to act now to phase out as many of them as possible to protect our health and protect Colorado’s water.”

The first sale ban would begin Jan. 1, 2024, for products with PFAS intentionally added in these categories: Carpets or rugs; cookware; cosmetics; fabric treatments; food packaging; juvenile products, oil

and gas products; and textile furnishings. Through 2030, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment would be charged with identifying more categories of goods, and those would be added to the banned list.

“I’d rather do the right thing, as quickly as possible,” said Rep. Lisa Cutter, a Littleton Democrat who is one of the bill’s prime sponsors.

“But because there are manufacturers and companies that have been using these products, we’re trying to allow a reasonable offramp.”

The earliest categories are in businesses where alternatives to PFAS are already being developed, sponsors said.

Colorado may have the largest number of sites in the nation that have handled PFAS chemicals, due to firefighting drills and operations at military installations, mountain wildland firefighting, and from PFAS chemicals in firefighting and other industrial materials at oil and gas exploration sites.

About 21,000 industrial sites in Colorado appear on the previously undisclosed EPA database of locations that “may be handling” PFAS, with more than 85% of those places related to oil and gas, and heavy concentrations of possible locations at the industry’s core in Weld County, according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, which forced EPA to release the data.

The same properties that make PFAS a lubricant or seal cookware also make them resistant to longterm impacts of heat or water, conferring the moniker “forever chemicals.” CoPIRG and others say the chemicals have entered Colorado waterways and “polluted

communities like Fountain, Frisco, parts of Denver, South Evergreen and Golden,” threatening serious health impacts.

State health officials have launched a buyback program taking firefighting foam containing PFAS off the hands of local fire departments and replacing them with alternatives.

Consumer and environmental protection groups want the federal EPA to move faster to set absolute drinking water standards to force PFAS cleanups. Colorado’s Department of Public Health and Environment moved deeper into PFAS regulation when it demanded more monitoring of the chemicals coming off the Suncor Energy refinery in Commerce City.

Colorado will, for the first time, monitor and limit runoff of PFAS at Suncor as part of the draft of the company’s water quality permit unveiled in November.

Regulators and consumers are finding out how ubiquitous PFAS chemicals are throughout industry and consumer goods, Katz said.

“We’ve targeted mostly firefighting foam in the past, but this bill will also get at a number of consumer products including things like carpets and rugs, furniture, cosmetics, food packaging, and even things like dental floss,” he said. “We want to phase those out.”

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

Fort Lupton Press 9

March 31, 2022

FORT LUPTON POLICE BLOTTER

Here are the police reports for Mar. 12 to Mar. 18 to the Fort Lupton Police Department. Not every call made to the police is not listed on this report.

BY BELEN WARD BWARD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

March 12 Police arrested a Thornton woman,46, for driving while ability impaired and traffic offense at U.S. Highway 85 and mile marker 241. She was held on bond at the Weld County Jail.

March 13 Police took a Commerce City man, 21, into custody for possession of a schedule 1 drug and multiple traffic offenses at U.S. Highway 85 & Mile Marker 241. He was held on bond at the Weld County Jail.

A male transient, 32, was arrested in the 60th block of Grand Avenue for motor vehicle theft, stealing car parts and driving while license revoked. He was held on bond at the Weld County Jail.

A Fort Lupton man, 31, reported his car stereo stolen along with other accessories at U.S. Highway 85 and mile marker 240. The case was under investigation.

Police arrested a Denver woman,28, in the 60th block of grand avenue for false reporting, the

introduction of contraband and possession of a schedule II drug. She was held on bond at the Weld County Jail.

A Fort Lupton man, 49, reported his catalytic converter stolen from his motor home in the 100 block of Pacific Avenue. The case was under investigation.

Another Fort Lupton man, 74, reported his catalytic converter stolen from his motor home in the 100 block of Pacific Avenue. The case was under investigation.

Police arrested a Federal Heights man, 40, for DUI at U.S. Highway 85 & Weld County Road 8.

He was held on bond at the Weld County Jail.

for causing a traffic accident, no insurance and failure to yield at a right way at U.S. Highway 85 & Weld County Road 8.

March 14 A Loveland man,41, was arrested in the 12000 block of State Highway 52 on a warrant out of the Loveland PD and Weld County for failure to appear on traffic offenses. He was held on bond at the Weld County Jail.

Police issued a summons to a Fort Lupton 13year old teenage boy for carrying brass knuckles in the 200 block of McKinley Avenue.

A Loveland man, 41, reported as car stolen in the 200 block of Kahil Place. The case was under investigation.

March 18 Police issued summonses to three drivers – a Firestone man, 52, a Frederick man, 42, and a Firestone woman, 52 – for driving too fast for the conditions and causing an accident in the 12000 block of State Highway 52.

A Frederick woman, 24, was issued a summons at U.S. Highway 85 & State Highway 52 for driving too fast for the conditions and causing an accident.

Police arrested a Fort Lupton man, 30, at U.S. Highway 85 & State Highway 52 for DUI, reckless driving, driving while license is revoked and an open container. He was held on bond at the Weld County Jail.

Police took a Fort Lupton man, 22, into custody in the 1200 block of Seventh Street on a Greeley PD warrant for failure to appear on a traffic offense. He was held on bond at the Weld County Jail.

A Fort Lupton woman, 48, reported her bicycle stolen in the 600 block of Fourteenth Street. The case was under investigation.

March 15 A transient woman, 44, was arrested in the 100 block of South Denver Avenue on a Jefferson County warrant for failure to appear on an arson charge. She was held on bond at the Weld County Jail.

Police issued a summons to a Denver man,58, for causing a careless driving accident at Barley & Harold Street.

A Fort Lupton man,42, was issued a summons

March 16 Police arrested Thornton man, 19, in the 100 block of McKinley Avenue on a Fort Lupton warrant for causing a traffic accident. He was released on a personal recognizance bond.

March 17 A Fort Lupton man,68, reported his car stolen in the 500 block of Park Avenue. The case was under investigation.

BRIEFS Spring bunch United Methodist Women’s annual Spring Bunch will be featuring the Weld County Rambles, prayer, and delicious food.

April 2nd at 10:00 a.m. and t he event is free. It’s at First United Methodist Church, 306 Park Avenue in Fort Lupton.

For more information contact Sharon Kay at 303-907-9592.

Krispy Kreme fundraiser The Fort Lupton Optimist Club is selling Krispy Kreme doughnuts as its fundraiser for highschool senior scholarships and the Christmas Angel Tree project.

The sale window is open from Friday, April 1, through Friday, April 15, at 810 First St. Pickup date is from 7 to 11 a.m. Friday, April 29.

Call 970-301-0422.

Weld Re-8 art show The Weld Re-8 School District art show comes to the Fort Lupton Public & School Library, 425 S. Denver Ave., starting Friday, April 1. All ages are welcome, and light refreshments will be available. It runs through April 18.

Easter egg hunt The city’s annual Easter egg hunt is set for Saturday, April 9, at 9:30 a.m. at Community Park outside the Fort Lupton Recreation Center, 203 S. Harrison Ave. Hunting areas will be broken off by age groups. All three groups will begin their hunts at 9:30 a.m.

Ten gold prize eggs will be in each of the areas.

Visit https://www.fortluptonco. gov/857/Easter-Egg-Hunt.

FLHS after-prom Fort Lupton High School’s

booster club is trying to raise money for this year’s after-prom, which will be Saturday, April 16.

It’s a free, safe event after the annual prom.

It’s open to ninth- through 12th-grade students. Organizers provide activities, food, auction and music.

Donations are welcome. Send them to FLHS Booster, P.O. Box 516, Fort Lupton 80621. Auction items are welcome. Call Michelle at 720-313-8389 or Mary Ellen at 720-353-1659.

Jason Reynolds watch party The Fort Lupton Public & School Library, 425 S. Denver Ave., will host a virtual event featuring author Jason Reynolds at 1 p.m.

Saturday, April 16. Reynolds is a New York Times best-selling author who’s written more than a dozen books geared toward young children.

Tickets are available. Call 303857-7180.

Cinco de Mayo at the library The Fort Lupton Public & School Library, 425 S. Denver Ave., will host a Cinco de Mayo celebration at 5:30 p.m. Friday, April 29. It will feature the history of the day, the ballet Folklorico, music and games. Call 303-857-7180.

Cinco de Mayo 5K run/walk The running season begins in earnest at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, May 5, at Railroad Park, across state Highway 52 from the recreation center. DJ Lil Coop provides the music, and Sabores de mi Abuela Food Truck has the food.

Visit https://www.fortluptonco. gov/775/Cinco-de-Mayo-5K. Training for the 5K continues through May 1. The fee includes

entry into the race. Sessions are four times each week with a trainer. Visit https://apm.activecommunities.com/fortluptonrecreation/Activity_Search?txtActivi tySearch=5k&applyFiltersDefault Value=true&cat=Activities.

New FLHS scholarship The Genevieve Adame Memorial Scholarship will be awarded to one Fort Lupton High School boy and girl from the graduating class of 2022 who will be enrolling as a full-time student at an accredited college/university or trade school.

Applications are now available online and in the school’s guidance/counselors’ office. They are due by 4 p.m. May 2.

Summer camp registration Sign up for Fort Lupton’s summer camp 2022. The first session begins Memorial Day weekend and lasts for a month.

It’s open to kindergarteners through fifth-graders. The parent meeting is Tuesday, May 10, at 5:30 p.m. Visit https://www.fortlupton. org/347/Summer-Day-Camp.

July 4 party is July 2 Fort Lupton’s Independence Day celebration is two days early this year, Saturday, July 2, at the city’s recreation center, 203 S. Harrison Ave. The ingredients didn’t change -- food, fireworks, the region’s only Ninja Warrior Course, water slides, a bounce house obstacle course, a bouncy boxing arena, a tractor people mover, face painting, food trucks, shaved ice-cream cones and a live concert.

The fireworks show at Coyote Creek Golf Course, courtesy of the Fort Lupton Fire Department, starts at dusk.

Vendor, volunteer and sponsorship opportunities are available.

Call 720-928-4071.

National Night Out Fort Lupton’s observance of National Night Out will be at 4 p.m.

Tuesday, Aug. 2, at Koshio Park, 131 McKinley Ave. It’s a chance to meet police officers in an informal setting. It’s also a chance to munch on hot dogs and hamburgers hot from the grill. There will be bounce houses, games and a tug-o-war.

Get masks at the library The Fort Lupton Public & School Library is a distribution point for KN-95 masks, according to Weld Re-8 school board member Matthew Adame.

ONGOING Splash pad The city of Fort Lupton is searching for comments about and sponsorships for a new splash pad.

Sponsor funds will be used for the splash park and amenities.

Call 303-857-6694 Donation time The Fort Lupton Food & Clothing Bank is asking for donations of canned fruits and nuts, varieties of dry pasta and pasta dinners, peanut butter and canned meat such as tuna (including the pouches).

Other potential donations could include chicken, Vienna sausages, spam and salmon. The bank also needs personal items, such as toiletries and baby needs.

Drop off donations at the food and clothing bank’s back door, 421 Denver Ave., weekdays between 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Call 303-8571096.

10 Fort Lupton Press

March 31, 2022

Colorado is reshaping early childhood Some school districts are nervous about proposed changes

BY ANN SCHIMKE CHALKBEAT COLORADO

As Colorado prepares to launch free universal preschool, lawmakers are taking up legislation that could reshape Colorado’s early childhood landscape and reverberate for decades to come.

Many advocates and early educators laud the changes laid out in the bill, including the creation of a new state early childhood agency, saying it will elevate the profile of early childhood issues, cut red tape for families and providers, and dramatically expand preschool access.

But the plan also has prompted concerns about how school district roles could change and whether they’ll be left serving a disproportionate share of students with special needs. And some early childhood leaders worry about how fast the process is moving, how many details are unresolved, and whether there are enough providers to meet new enrollment demands.

Angela Fedler, who heads several early childhood programs for the Delta County School District in western Colorado, said, “I love the idea of universal preschool.

I believe in the idea of universal preschool. I do have some fears around it as well.”

“We’re moving really fast for such a big jump,” she said.

Bill Jaeger, vice president of early childhood and policy initiatives for the Colorado Children’s Campaign, said of the legislation, “There’s a lot of reimagining of the early childhood system to make it child-, family-, and provider-focused and break down those silos, and that requires significant statutory change.

“There is a degree of urgency,” he said, noting that some of the bill’s provisions need to get underway as soon as possible.

State lawmakers recently moved up the department’s July 1 start date to this spring. The governor likely will name an executive director in the coming weeks. Among other things, the department will roll out universal preschool in the summer

of 2023. The initiative, funded largely with a voter-approved nicotine tax, is a top priority for Polis.

Scott Smith, chief financial and operating officer for the Cherry Creek school district, said his district supports universal preschool but noted the state had “some blind spots and some missteps” in planning, including leaving too small a role for school district leaders during the early stages.

“Not including school people from the beginning really left us behind,” he said.

Smith and other school district leaders said state officials have recently held regular meetings to gather feedback from district staff.

Big changes for school districts Right now, about a quarter of Colorado’s 4-year-olds attend statefunded preschool, which serves children with certain risk factors.

More than three-quarters of those slots are housed in school district classrooms. Most other children attend preschool elsewhere, in child care centers or private preschools, for example.

In expanding to serve all 4-yearolds whose families want 10 hours of tuition-free preschool, the state expects to lean on private providers.

The idea is to give parents a choice of settings and help accommodate the influx of new students.

The state no longer will rely exclusively on school districts to administer state-funded preschool locally.

Instead, nonprofits, community groups, and districts all will be able to vie for the job.

These changes, along with many others included in the legislation, follow recommendations that a state early childhood commission issued in November and January. Still, school district officials have questions and concerns.

Smith, of the Cherry Creek district, said, “We don’t need private providers. We can accommodate this internally,” speaking about any additional students who want slots under the universal program.

Currently, the district houses all of Cherry Creek’s 800-plus statefunded preschool slots in its classrooms.

But many districts already contract with community-based providers to offer state-funded preschool slots. Denver, the state’s largest

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Preschool teacher Brooke Huff helps preschoolers Lolly Frazer and Sadie Krieg Needham decide where to spend their money.

PHOTO BY DEB HURLEY BROBST

district, is one of them.

Priscilla Hopkins, the district’s executive director of early education, said the use of both public-school classrooms and private preschools — often called “mixed delivery” — works well.

“I think parents want high-quality preschool,” she said. “As school districts, that needs to be our north star.”

Fedler, of Delta County, agreed, but worries that private providers could shy away from the universal preschool program if subject to lots of new quality requirements.

“It’s hard, especially in rural Colorado, to get people to want to work with little learners,” she said.

“If we start asking more of them, how many more of them will walk away?”

What about disabilities?

Some school district leaders worry that the universal preschool program — specifically the availability of slots in private programs — could hurt children with disabilities.

Currently, the vast majority of those children are served in public school classrooms that also include a sizable share of typically developing children. But there are questions about what happens if lots of families with typical children opt for private programs, segregating children with disabilities in public schools.

“We want to make sure we don’t become the special education preschool,” Smith said.

Theoretically, the families of children with disabilities may choose community-based preschools when universal preschool launches, but it’s not clear whether or how those programs will provide free therapies or other services outlined in those preschoolers’ special education plans.

Mat Aubuchon, the director of early childhood and elementary programs in the Westminster district north of Denver, said under federal special education law, school districts must ensure that students with disabilities get the right services from qualified staff members.

“We don’t want to set an expectation that [special education] services can just happen anywhere,” he said.

Aubuchon said he’s not opposed to the mixed delivery model, but said it must be planned carefully to ensure preschoolers with disabilities are appropriately served. Placements, he said, will have to be determined case by case.

Other sticking points Besides providing for an expanded

field of preschool providers, the new legislation envisions a simple application process — one that allows families to easily apply for universal preschool and other early childhood programs.

Just about everyone agrees with the idea in principle.

But some school leaders worry that integrating technologies from different programs into one application is too complicated to roll out in a year. If it’s not done well from the get-go, it’s just “one more confusing thing for families to deal with,” said Aubuchon.

Claudia Strait, who heads the Early Childhood Council for Yuma, Washington, and Kit Carson counties in eastern Colorado, said many families in her area don’t speak English and aren’t computer savvy, so she hopes the new application process won’t leave them out.

Some early childhood leaders are also leery about the plan to empower the new agency’s executive director to make rules, which spell out how state laws should be implemented.

The provision is meant to make the new department nimble, but some observers worry it puts a lot of power in one person’s hands.

“We’d prefer to see some sort of accountability,” said Smith of Cherry Creek. “I’m not sure what mechanism exists right now that would hold that executive director accountable.”

About half of state agencies have a rule-making board and half don’t.

The new early childhood department would have a rule-making advisory council and state officials also say the executive director would have to follow state laws that require public hearings and testimony on state regulations.

Aubuchon said a rule-making board might be beneficial for the first couple years of the new department, with that authority transferring to the department’s executive director later on.

Strait said she’s a little nervous about the new executive director having so much power, but is also circumspect about the many unknowns that lay ahead.

“It’s just like anything else, anything that’s new, it’s going to be hard adjusting,” she said. “The longer that it’s in place, the smoother it gets.”

This story is from Chalkbeat Colorado, a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools. Used by permission. For more, and to support Chalkbeat, visit co.chalkbeat.org.

Fort Lupton Press 11

March 31, 2022

New mental health commissioner to focus on “front-door” access to care Children and the fentanyl crisis also a priority

BY JENNIFER BROWN THE COLORADO SUN

g

State officials behind a plan to build a new government agency for behavioral health have selected ra physician who directed crisis services in Washington, D.C., to lead Bthe effort.

T Dr. Morgan Medlock, a public health expert who most recently was chief medical officer for the D.C. Department of Behavioral Health, spent the first two months on the job in Colorado touring the state’s mental hospitals, community mental health clinics and residential substance abuse treatment centers.

As Colorado’s first commissioner of behavioral health, she reports to Gov. Jared Polis and is responsible for what’s been described as the state’s most monumental overhaul of mental health care in decades.

The Colorado Sun caught up with Medlock in the midst of legislative debate on how to spend $450 million in “once-in-a-generation” federal coronavirus aid to reform mental health care and substance abuse treatment in Colorado, as well as legislation that will set the rules for the new Behavioral Health Administration.

The new office will take over responsibility for more than 100 mental health and substance abuse

P

programs that now are spread throughout at least four state agencies. By 2024, the office must create a statewide grievance system in which the public can report maltreatment or lack of access to care, and is expected to expand services, particularly in remote communities, according to the legislation.

Medlock, who is on the faculty at Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Law, Brain and Behavior and was a clinical psychiatry fellow at Harvard Medical School, talked to The Sun about her plans for restructuring the system, tackling the children’s mental health crisis, and helping Colorado find its way out of the fentanyl epidemic.

She has plans to hire an adviser for children and families, as well as a deputy commissioner for equity.

In addition to a medical degree, Medlock has master’s degrees in divinity and public health.

Building the ideal mental health system Medlock said her first priority is making sure people know where to go for treatment, which requires help from libraries, homeless shelters, doctor’s offices and more.

“We have got to have a strong front door to treatment, a single door of entry, and we’ve got to develop that through unique avenues.

As we think about what this front door looks like, it will have a digital component where people can get help. You need to know that you can walk into certain places, whether it

be shelters or libraries, schools, and receive help and guidance into accessing those resources. We need to combine the digital solutions with the human solutions.”

After focusing on the “front door” to care, Medlock said she will shift to improving long-term services for those in the system.

“We need to do the same analysis across the continuum of care, and think about that in terms of intensive services, outpatient support, etc, housing support. But as we build the continuum of care, we’re focusing on the front door.”

Building up the workforce is another key priority, as is setting up a grievance system so that people can seek help from the new Behavioral Health Administration when they can’t find treatment or when they receive inadequate care, she said.

“Any system has to be accountable in a public way. And when people are not experiencing the outcomes that they deserve, and are not satisfied with care, they ought to be able to rely on us as the BHA to help them resolve grievances and concerns.”

Opioid abuse research at Howard University Before working for the behavioral health department in Washington, Medlock was the director of community engagement and new program development for the College of Medicine at Howard University, a private, historically Black university in the capital city.

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“I was really responsible for being a strategy architect and opening new doors for opioid use disorder treatment to our community, and particularly, to marginalized communities,” she said. “It was my job to travel D.C., and particularly to Wards 7 and 8, where we have the highest opioid overdose rates, and meet with community members, faith leaders, those with lived experience, nonprofit directors, and talk about how do we have a comprehensive strategy for reducing opioid overdose deaths in those communities. That work also dovetailed into policy work I was doing on the mayor’s opioid fatality review board.”

Reducing arrests of those with mental illness After joining the D.C. Department of Behavioral Health, Medlock focused on reducing arrests of people with mental illness and creating alternative ways to help people in crisis instead of charging them with crimes.

During her tenure, the city cut down on criminal charges against people in behavioral health crises, including by having mental health professionals — or co-responders — join police officers on certain calls, she said. Several law enforcement agencies in Colorado, but not all, use co-responders. She intends to use her background in helping people who’ve experienced trauma feel comfortable accessing care to help develop policies in Colorado.

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ARTS & CULTURE

12 Fort Lupton Press

March 31, 2022

Colorado parks are full and getting fuller How will the state decide who gets in, and who gets hurt?

BY MICHAEL BOOTH THE COLORADO SUN

If anybody could work the system and get access to wildly popular open space this summer, you’d think Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commissioner Taishya Adams would have a good shot.

But there she is, just like everyone else, penciling early March on her planner as the day she can first swing sharp elbows online to get summer group backpacking reservations at Rocky Mountain National Park, not far from her home in Boulder.

“I’ve had it marked in my calendar for six months,” Adams told her fellow commissioners last week. She endorsed a new timed entry proposal for Eldorado Canyon State Park, where overflowing parking lots on weekends back up onto lawns in the little town of Eldorado Springs.

But she added a warning message: Intergenerational families love the big picnic areas at Eldorado and other state parks. They come in more than one car. Managing crowds by managing cars should not shut out diverse uses of state open space.

“I would hate to see that become a barrier,” Adams said.

Up, up and away Everyone agrees Colorado’s open spaces are growing alarmingly crowded on popular days. The numbers are startling.

Visitation at close-in Front Range state parks has doubled or nearly tripled. Sprawling Lake Pueblo had to turn away cars for the first time in 2020, the year it passed 3 million visitors. Jefferson County Open Space does not have gated entry for counting, but believes visitation to its 28 foothills gems passed 7 million last year.

Staunton State Park near Conifer rocketed from 89,000 in 2015 to 277,000 in 2020. Barr Lake in Brighton, a hit with birders and flatland

Colorado Parks and Wildlife says state parks closest to the Front Range, including Staunton State Park southwest of Denver, which opened in 2013, are being loved to death, as people seek quick access to wild and scenic areas, such as Elk Falls. PHOTO BY LARRY RYCKMAN/THE COLORADO

bikers, went from 119,000 in 2015 to 258,000 in 2020, before settling back a bit with indoor pandemic restrictions easing in 2021. Open space officials expect use to keep climbing rapidly, if not quite as steeply as in the first year of the pandemic.

Made with Flourish A Center for Western Priorities study of reservable camping spaces at federal and local public lands showed more than 95% of sites were taken at peak periods, with an over-

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all 39% increase in summer camping at public spaces.

And the state parks commission may have just opened the gates on a new flood — the annual Keep Colorado Wild state parks pass will be only $29 in 2023, tacked on to annual car registration with an option to decline it, less than half the current $80 fee for one car.

Need to find a better solution than first come, first served Open space managers across the West are scrambling to accommodate the growth without provoking a public backlash against new rules. Mandatory shuttles from remote lots, parking fee add-ons, timed entry, seasonal trail closures for wildlife protection, and extra fees for non-residents are all under consideration in every parks-related office.

“You do have to be ready to say OK, first come, first served doesn’t work if you have an entrance line that’s a half mile long every day,” said Aaron Weiss, deputy director of the nonprofit Center for Western Priorities, which advocates for expanded public lands and more parks funding. “We have to find a better solution.”

The answer can’t just be forcing everyone to online reservation systems or discouragingly high fees, Weiss and others say. The fix has to include more open land, they argue, including the Biden administration’s executive order seeking to protect 30% of U.S. land and water

by 2030.

“Increased use of state and federal lands is a good thing, and the solution isn’t to curtail access, but rather increase it by conserving more land and removing barriers to entry from those who feel excluded or unable to access the outdoors,” said Jackie Ostfeld, director of Sierra Club’s Outdoors for All campaign.

“The threat of overuse poses in these small spots, and it is a legitimate threat, is miniscule compared to the threat posed by development,” Weiss said.

Anecdotal evidence and polling data show the online ticket jockeying and the turned-away cars, from Pueblo to Roxborough, are altering the way Coloradans use — or try to use — the great outdoors.

About 58% of Coloradans said crowding in the last two to three years has changed where and how they recreate, according to this year’s annual State of the Rockies Project poll of Western states by Colorado College and New Bridge Strategy. The average across all eight Western states polled was 48% changing their time and location of outdoor recreation.

Larimer County hiker Suzy Paquette said she understands the need for control experiments like timed entry, but added that the online regimen started at Rocky Mountain National Park last year did change how she and her husband get outdoors.

SEE PARKS, P12

Fort Lupton Press 13

March 31, 2022

PARKS FROM PAGE 13

Even on weekdays in the summer, the national park passes are “gone like lickety split,” she said. “So that’s one of the problems, you can’t just say ‘Oh, let’s go to the park today.’”

It’s not just the human visitors and residents whose behavior and attitudes are impacted by the outdoors rush, said Dana Bove, a volunteer who helps keep track of eagles and hawks at places like Barr Lake, St. Vrain, Boyd Lake and county parks. He feels he’s lost his own “solace” in the crowded parking lots and packed trails, but worries more about the birds.

“These days, most of my walks on the trails where we live are at dusk or in the evening,” Bove said. He can choose to walk later, but he said, “wildlife is not so fortunate, as they have already moved away or been displaced from the ever increasing human traffic.”

The outdoors are turning into an overcrowded theme park Pueblo is proud that people come from all over to boat on Lake Pueblo, swim at Rock Canyon, or mountain bike on dozens of miles of trails, said Jamie Valdez, who has led mountain bike classes at the state park. Pueblo gets less snow, and the warm winter sunshine attracts recreation from multiple states, he said.

Valdez has his eye now on the city’s Pueblo Mountain Park, with its own hiking trails in the foothills southwest of town sitting as a hidden gem. “It’s a beautiful, beautiful park, and it seems to be almost forgotten,” he said.

The nonprofit Boulder Climbing Community weighed in early on the proposed changes to how Eldorado Canyon is managed, knowing many of its members go dozens of times a year and count on driving, rolling or striding in just a few minutes after class or work.

To their credit, Boulder County and the state have consulted closely with climbers on improving the shuttle to the park and making sure timed car passes aren’t hoarded or sold, said Boulder Climbing Community executive director Kate Beezley. The shuttles have spaces for climbers’ crash pads and other gear.

Robert Fix of Westminster and Mike Wright of Boulder prepare to go climbing at Eldorado Canyon State Park in Eldorado Springs on March 4. (Olivia Sun, The Colorado Sun via Report for America) Robert Fix of Westminster and Mike Wright of Boulder prepare to go climbing on March 4, 2022, at Eldorado Canyon State Park in Eldorado Springs. (Olivia Sun,

The Colorado Sun via Report for America) More controlled-entry rules for open space are inevitable, Beezley said, so parks managers need to make sure they consider all the user groups and keep things fair.

“Who is the primary user group?

Who are your frequent flyers? And how can you help them maintain those patterns of their health and well-being?” she said.

Parks managers flinch when they think of the potential overuse coming to stunningly picturesque, newly minted state parks like Sweetwater Lake in Garfield County, and Fishers Peak near Trinidad. Weiss, of the Center for Western Priorities, uses the word “harden” to describe how open space planners must anticipate the places a frenzied public will park, hike, build fires or camp, and create protections for those natural areas.

Marketing experts also must join in to help spread people out by showcasing alternatives to the closest, most Instagrammed locations, experts say.

Otherwise, Weiss said, the great outdoors becomes “this massive Disneyland problem that you end up with at Zion National Park, or at Chautauqua for that matter. There’s a lot to be said for making sure folks are aware, hey, there are equally great if not better experiences, because it’s less crowded.”

Angel’s Landing at Zion is one of Weiss’ favorite spots. But it’s no fun, he said, “If it looks like the line to ‘Pirates of the Caribbean.’”

Looking for other solutions So what else can be done? Scott Roush, who oversees some of the busiest Colorado state parks close to the Denver metro area, said park users should expect more experiments with timed entry like the one moving forward for Eldorado Canyon this summer.

Highline Lake State Park is a place managers worry about, he said. Parking lots fill fast on weekends at the rare body of water in the high desert near Grand Junction.

Without more parking controls, people leave their cars wherever they feel like it, just as at Eldorado Canyon, Roush said.

Jeffco Open Space is adding new parking spaces at Alderfer/Three Sisters Park outside Evergreen, community connections director Matt Robbins said. That may head off “volunteer” parking. Jefferson County also puts stock in educating park users on simple, highly effective tips like staying on the trail even in mud season. Hikers sidestepping mud create “braiding” that turns single track into 4-foot-wide throughways, Robbins said.

Charging for parking or timed ticketing are tougher, Robbins said, because Jeffco does not have con-

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trolled entry at its 28 parks in the way national or state parks do. The county did try an experiment last year partnering with Lyft for $2.50 off rides to and from open space parks. It was a bust, Robbins said.

Federal, state and county cooperation is key to pulling off more successful management techniques, said Dan Gibbs, executive director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources. Gibbs lives in Breckenridge, where one of the busiest 14,000-foot peaks in the state, Quandary, beckons from the south.

County officials worked with the U.S. Forest Service to implement a reservation system for countyowned lots at Quandary’s base, and a shuttle system for remote parking areas.

“In these high-usage areas, I think that’s going to be the future, whether it’s on state lands or federal lands,” Gibbs said.

Roush said some state parks planners are interested in trying technology aids like Lot Spot, a smartphone app that Jeffco uses to provide real time updates on park crowding and can recommend a nearby alternative. State parks are much more spread out, though, than county open space, and alternate choices may not be practical.

The public appears to be adapting to shuttle use as a way to control car overcrowding, and park planners have noticed. Eldorado’s shuttle system will run again in 2022. Shuttles to Rocky Mountain National Park’s Bear Lake are now an essential part of park operations. Buses now operate to control entry to Maroon Bells and Hanging Lake. Expect more.

“Do we have an actual numberof-people problem, or do we have a number-of-cars problem? Because there are different solutions there,” Weiss said. “And shuttles are of course part of that.”

Another part could be other public transportation, added Weiss, who lives in Jefferson County. “Here, there are no RTD routes that get you to open spaces. That’s a problem.”

Open space managers at all levels of government are doing a better job consulting with each other and with private businesses expert in usage information and technology aids, said Tate Watkins, a research fellow at Montana’s free market oriented Property and Environment Research Center.

Reservation systems at Arches and Rocky Mountain national parks are closely watched by state and county parks managers, Watkins said. Technology companies can offer ideas on counting parking space use, “frequent flyer” perks, and integrating real-time crowding information on apps that can spread out park visitors.

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in 2021 — initially balked years ago at implementing a $4 reservation fee for remote camping spots, Watkins noted. Now they think it’s a bargain, and are relieved to know there’s a spot open for them at the end of their day.

“There’s just an infinite amount of creativity and opportunity for experiment,” he said.

Open for all Open space fans and park managers worry that new layers of control and costs will widen the already large gap between tourists and outdoors enthusiasts with time and income, and those on tight budgets and less access to technology.

Fees are adding up at every level, Eldorado Canyon hiker Jeff Paquette said.

“So now you have the annual pass for your state, the annual pass for your county, and before you know it, it’s going to be for all open space,” he said.

The Sierra Club is among those fighting for more open space and recreation opportunities closer to cities, Ostfeld said. By Sierra Club’s definition of “nearby,” 100 million Americans lack easy access to open space.

“We must be very careful to ensure that the actions of public land managers don’t perpetuate the status quo, with many communities already feeling unwelcome or unsafe in some of our national and more remote parks and public lands,” Ostfeld said.

Being mindful of everyone’s time and resources is key to designing open space access, Weiss said.

“One thing we’ve learned from all of this is that any sort of time system where a clock turns over and everyone is mashing a button to try to get in, that is not fair and equitable,” he said. Some space needs to be reserved for lottery or last-minute access for those whose lives can’t revolve around one reservation window.

Colorado leaders say they are aware of all these pitfalls and will keep working to avoid them. The new $29 state parks pass linked to motor vehicle registration will bring in money to add new parks, experiment with reservations, expand shuttle systems and more, DNR’s Gibbs said.

He said he still prefers to look at access as a good problem to have.

“In the long run,” Gibbs said, “we want people to get outdoors. I mean, this is Colorado.”

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

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

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006131

14 Fort Lupton Press

LOCAL

March 31, 2022

SPORTS

Ex-Frederick kicker hoping third time is the charm

BY STEVE SMITH SSMITH@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

After graduation from high school, former Frederick place-kicker Lucas Dunker tried his hand at Garden City Community College in Kansas.

COVID canceled his first collegiate season. Then he tried Washington State University in Pullman, Wash., as a walk-on.

That didn’t work out either.

So, Dunker entered the NCAA’s transfer portal, an almost-four-yearold system to help student-athletes who want to transfer between member institutions. He landed at a new college with the hopes of making some noise.

“When we landed in New Orleans, I knew that Tulane was the place

for me,” he said, “Amazing facilities and, better yet, an awesome head coach and with a big-special teams emphasis. I did have some interest from other schools, but Tulane was everything and more for what I was looking for.”

Dunker went through the recruiting process once before. But this time, the experience was much different.

“The transfer portal is a crazy place, never knowing if you are going to find what you want or if the grass is going to be greener on the other side,” Dunker said. “It was a much different and easier experience, considering I had a year of ‘Power Five’ playing experience under my belt.”

WSU plays in the Pac-12 Con-

ference, one of the six, so-called Power Five Conferences in the NCAA. In his senior season at Frederick, Dunker averaged 60 yards a kickoff on 92 kicks, 72 of which went for touchbacks. He also averaged almost 40 yards per punt on 14 punts. Six of those landed inside the 20-yard line.

Frederick went 11-2 and advanced to the state semifinals before losing to Pueblo South by four points.

Dunker entered the portal earlier this year.

“Tulane is a great educational school that has my major (finance), and I’m super happy about the education I’m going to receive,” Dunker said. “I’m most excited to get down in Nola and compete with the guys down there.”

Lucas Dunker

PHOTO COURTESY WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY

WeldCo basketball players shine at all-star game

BY STEVE SMITH SSMITH@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

GREELEY -- Though there was basketball in progress at University High School on March 22 featuring players from all over Weld County, it wasn’t serious.

Fort Lupton’s Maddax Farrer called it “an Iso-show,” particularly in the second half. Bryce Andrews, the MVP of the boys game, had to ratchet down his defense to a point where he was “playing defense but really wasn’t.”

The Weld County all-star basketball games were the scene. Five players from southwestern Weld County took to the floor. The coaching staff from Fort Lupton High School manned one of the benches.

Dunking the ball turned into a routine deal for Fort Lupton’s Bryce Andrews at the Weld County boys all-star basketball game March 22 in Greeley. Andrews scored 14 PHOTO BY STEVE SMITH points and was the game’s most valuable player.

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Frederick High School The Warriors’ Jadyn Glasgow played in the first of the two games.

She finished with seven points, including a 3-pointer and a chance to tie the score at the end with another 3-pointer that fell short. She also snatched a rebound.

“It was very nerve-wracking at first,” she said. “They are really good seniors coming here. It was hard to play. Once I got my nerves out, it was really fun.”

The two teams had one practice the day before the game.

“It was a bunch of scrimmaging,” she said. “We had a couple of inbounds plays, no pressing, anything like that.”

The game featured players from all over the county and from all five

classifications of high-school basketball. Glasgow had not seen many of them before the all-star game.

“It was fun to be on a team with them and not competing against them,” she said.

Glasgow’s next stop is to play basketball and get an education degree from Briar Cliff University in Sioux City, Iowa.

“I wanted to stay close to home.

When I got there, it was the type of team I was looking for,” she said.

Her aim is to teach in grammar school or middle school.

“I’m nervous about the school part, but I’m excited about the basketball,” Glasgow said. “I’m nervous to be away. I can’t bring the laundry home. I’m going to have to size down the closet.”

A happy dude Bryce Conover was a happy basketball player for more than just the chance to participate. He didn’t have to start the third quarter because it came immediately after he won the halftime 3-point shooting contest.

He competed in back-to-back rounds.

“I was a happy dude,” Conover said. “I was winded. My legs were tired. He (coach Jim Roedel) didn’t start me, and that was good.”

Conover, who signed to play football at Western Colorado, finished with 12 points, all from 3-point range (of course). He also added two rebounds, a steal and an assist.

“I’ve never been in a locker room SEE BASKETBALL, P15

Fort Lupton Press 15

March 31, 2022

BASKETBALL

embedded in your head to play defense. I guarded them, and then I put my hands right down. I got scored on a few times. Normally, I’d be mad. I was laughing and having a good time.”

In addition to his all-star selection, Andrews earned All-Colorado League honors. He’s heading to Austin College in Sherman, Texas, to play more basketball.

“I was excited at the beginning of the year,” he said. “I’m pretty modest. I live within the moment.

Whatever happens is going to happen. I can’t change it. If you talked to me five years ago, I was the best player on the planet. Life grows you up. I’m proud of who I am. I’m glad to be who I am and where I am.”

FROM PAGE 14

surrounded by this level of basketball players,” Conover said. “Yesterday (March 21), we practiced and were doing runs. They were great basketball players. It was cool to be surrounded by basketball players with the same skillset as me and even better than me.”

Conover said he stepped his game up to compensate.

“In practice, I had one of the best practices. When you play around good basketball players, you just have to step up your level,” Conover said. “I knew a lot of the Fort Lupton guys. I used to play for the Fort Lupton AAU team. The Greeley Central dudes I knew because I saw them after the Mead game (Frederick won to advance to the final four).

A lot of these schools we never played.”

Conover said he’d never played in an all-star game.

“Coach (Roedel) was trying to explain how to play defense but not really play as hard a defense,” Conover said. “I was trying to figure out the happy medium between playing defense and letting him go by. I got coached by him in eighth grade. That was really cool to catch up with him.

“I played on a great basketball team,” Conover concluded. “But I’ve never played with a teammate like that (Bryce Andrews of Fort Lupton) who can throw down dunks like that. He is such a good athlete.”

Dunking and having fun Connor Moll closed out his highschool career with a 3-point basket, a rebound and an assist in the boys all-star game. But he singled out a teammate for a personal highlight.

“Bryce Andrews winning the MVP,” Moll said without hesitation.

“Just dunking and having fun. It was just fun. We scrimmaged, but we really didn’t practice.”

Moll isn’t sure of his future plans, so he’s keeping his options open.

“It was a long season. We didn’t really end how we wanted to, but this was a nice way to celebrate what the three of us (Andrews and Maddax Farrer also played) did,” he said.

“We showed what we could do here.”

Frederick’s Jaydn Glasgow, shown keeping an eye on the proceedings in the Weld County girls all-star basketball game March 22 in Greeley, scored seven points, blocked PHOTO BY STEVE SMITH a shot and grabbed a rebound.

Farre agreed and called the game “an experience.” He finished with two points and a pair of rebounds.

“It was super fun. I’m glad I came,” he said. “The 3-point contest was the best, for me. (He finished second to Bryce Conover of Frederick.) I thought I was going to win it.

I heard them counting over here (at the opposite basket), and I was like, ‘Oh, I got this. I got this.’ I choked at the beginning.”

Farrer also thought Andrews’ dunk fest was a highlight.

“They were the best part. Those were fun to watch,” Farrer laughed.

“Bryce Conover? Watching him? Oh my gosh. That was insane. Watching Noah (Noah Sasso) from Greeley Central? He’s a good player.”

Farrer, who isn’t sure he will continue to play basketball next year, said the coaching staff drew up some plays but that the game turned into more of an “Iso-show,” isolating one or two kids for highlights.

“I think it’s the end of the line.

I’m not into school that much,” he said. “I might try for a year or so.

It’s been good for me. I’ve met a lot of brothers. It’s indescribable. This builds character. I’ve had a lot of fun.”

And then there’s Bryce Andrews.

He scored 14 points, had an assist, a rebound and a blocked shot.

And a bunch of dunks.

“I came out in the second half. It’s my last basketball game for quite a while,” he said. “I tried my hardest.

With my team’s help, I did it.”

Andrews made the all-star team the last two years but didn’t get to play because of COVID. “This was unbelievable,” Andrews said. “I get to take home the jersey.

It’s amazing.”

Roedel put in two plays for his team’s offense, and he taught his team to almost play defense.

“I’ve been playing since I was in third grade,” Andrews said. “It’s

Coaches Fort Lupton’s Jim Roedel, Lee Amato, Steve Moore and Joe Gallegos made up the coaching staff of one of the teams. Though all love a game of basketball, there wasn’t a lot of coaching to do, aside from balancing out minutes for each of the players.

“You really just want to have fun with the kids,” Roedel said. “I do try to let them have a couple of voices, a couple of drills. We just have fun with them. There wasn’t a lot of coaching.”

The only thing that resembled coaching was Roedel talking to the three game officials.

“It’s human nature,” Roedel smiled. “It was fun. I always give them a hard time, more than anything else. I told them, ‘Any time a ball goes out of bounds, it’s whichever team isn’t losing that gets the ball.’”

Roedel said some of the rewards of coaching the game was seeing players he’d either coached against or actually coached before they got to high school.

“Abdul (Abdul Alarpe, Weld Central High School), on the other side?

I coached in seventh and eighth grade. Bryce Conover? I coached him in seventh and eighth grade.

It’s good to have those kids back and be able to spend time with them and see what kind of young men they’ve become,” Roedel said. “They’ve grown up.

“You don’t get to coach an all-star game all the time,” he concluded.

“So you enjoy it when you get a chance.”

FROM

S P O R T S SCORECARD Frederick High School DENVER -- Here are Frederick’s results from the March 24 Denver South Ravens Invitational meet at All-City Stadium: Girls: 100-meter dash: 3. Payton Torres, 15.02 seconds. 200-meter dash: 5. P. Torres, 31.17. 6. Taylor Topliss, 34.09. 400-meter dash: 2. Annette Hernandez Montoya, 1:05.91.

1600-meter run: 4. Mikenna Hoffman, 5:53.04. 100-meter hurdles: 2.

Addison Koeppen, 19.56. 300-meter hurdles: 3. Kyla Mares, 56.64. 4. A. Koeppen, 57.29. Long jump: 3. Isabella Hewitt, 15- 1/4. 7. Gwen Hanks, 14-3. 8. P. Torres, 12-7. Triple jump: 2.

I. Hewitt, 32-5 1/4. Discus: 2. Mareta Sagapolutele, 90-6. 6. K. Mares, 79-4.

Shot put: 2. A. Hernandez Montoya, 25-5. 5. M. Sagapolutele, 22-6.

Boys: 100-meter dash: 4. Thomas Willer, 12.74. 6. Lafaisaotele Purcell,

12.98. 200-meter dash: 6. Wesley Walker, 26.13. 400-meter dash: 1. Alex Carrillo, 54.75. 4. Quinn McNeill, 58.77. 800-meter run: 6. Ethan Hall, 2:44.04. 1600-meter run: 5. Chase Svela, 4:51.03.

Discus: 4. Thomas Miller, 75-4. 8.

Hunter Kenney, 67-4. Shot put: 1. T. Miller, 33-5.

Fort Lupton High School Track and field BERTHOUD -- Fort Lupton’s top finisher in the Max Marr Invittional March 25 at Nerthoud High School was Kimberley Campbell. She finished 18th in the 1600-meter run with a season-best time of 6:48.06.

The top finish on the boys team was Jovonni Carleton in the shot put. His best throw was 27 feet 8 inches, which put him in 40th place.

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16 Fort Lupton Press

March 31, 2022

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

© 2016 King Features Synd., Inc.

Solution

TRIVIA 1. LANGUAGE: What is a demonym?

2. MEDICAL: What’s the common name of a condition called otitis externa?

3. GEOGRAPHY: Which large body of water lies to the south of Ukraine?

4. FOOD & DRINK: Which nut is used to make marzipan?

5. LITERATURE: Who is the author of the poem “The Gift Outright,” which was read at President John Kennedy’s inauguration in 1961?

6. MEASUREMENTS: What is an octant?

7. GEOLOGY: Which mineral is the softest on the Mohs Scale?

10. HISTORY: In which country did the Easter Rising take place in 1916?

Answers 1. A term used to describe the natives or residents of a country, state or city 2. Swimmer’s ear 3. Black Sea 4. Almonds 5. Robert Frost 6. One-eighth of a circle, or 45 degrees 7. Talc

F C t w t fi t h

8. ANIMAL KINGDOM: What is the name of a porcupine’s baby?

8. Porcupette

d

9. Skipper

9. GENERAL KNOWLEDGE: What is the name of Barbie’s younger sister, introduced in 1964?

10. Ireland

D T J T J T E T

(c) 2022 King Features Synd., Inc.

Crossword Solution

L F L P

w C t w t fi t h

d

A T J T R T R M

L F L P

Fort Lupton Press 17

March 31, 2022

SPORTS BRIEFS Football Frederick’s River Lakey has been invited to play in the Hawaii Tiki Bowl in Honolulu later this year.

Boys basketball Frederick’s Bryce Conover, Jacoby Conway and Luke Justice were first-team, all-Longs Peak League selections in voting done by the league coaches this season. Matias Aldana and Alex Sturn were honorable-mention choices. Their coach, Jeff Conway, was the league’s coach of the year.

Wrestling Fort Lupton’s D’mitri GarzaAlarcon earned first-team, all-state honors in voting by CHSAANow.com, MaxPreps and ColoradoPreps.com. Alarcon won his second straight wrestling title this winter.

In girls wrestling, the Bluedevils’ Rylee Balcazar (110 pounds) was a first-team, all-state choice, while her teammate, Anastyn Livesay (161 pounds) was a second-team selection.

Girls softball The deadline to join the Fort

Lupton Recreation Center’s fastpitch girls softball leagues (9- to 14-year-olds) is Saturday, March 26, at a cost of $80.

Games begin the week of May 1 at Pearson Park, U.S. Highway 85 and state Highway 52, and in surrounding communities.

Call 303-857-4200.

Frederick Feeder 5K Frederick High School’s student council is hosting the first Frederick Feeder 5K and 400-meter fun run Saturday, April 16. Proceeds will help supportschool activities and this year’s staff scholarship.

The start and finish line is at FHS. The 5K race starts at 9 a.m., and the fun run starts at 10 a.m. The fee is $25 for students and staff of the school and $35 for friends and parents. Early registration closes April 1.

Call 303-833-3533.

Girls basketball Frederick High School’s basketball team will be decorating yards Saturday, April 16, just ahead of Easter Sunday. Team members will take care of buying, filling and hiding the eggs.

To sign up, visit bit.ly/3tmFA8h.

www.ColoradoCommunityMedia.com/Notices

PUBLIC NOTICES

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Public Notices call 303-566-4123 Legals Metropolitan Districts Public Notice NOTICE OF CANCELLATION OF REGULAR ELECTION

BY THE DESIGNATED ELECTION OFFICIAL MURATA FARMS RESIDENTIAL METROPOLITAN DISTRICT §1-13.5-513, C.R.S. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN by the Murata Farms Residential Metropolitan District, Weld County, Colorado, that at the close of business on the sixty-third (63rd) day before the election there were not more candidates for director than offices to be filled at the election, including candidates filing affidavits of intent to be write-in candidates; therefore, the election to be held on May 3, 2022 is hereby cancelled pursuant to §1-13.5-513, C.R.S. The following candidates for director are declared elected by acclamation: David Jennings Term, Until May 2023 John Fairbairn Term, Until May 2025 Joseph Stifter Term, Until May 2023 Eric Eckberg Term, Until May 2025

1-year 3-year 1-year 3-year

§1-13.5-513, C.R.S. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN by the Lupton Village Residential Metropolitan District, Weld County, Colorado, that at the close of business on the sixty-third (63rd) day before the election there were not more candidates for director than offices to be filled at the election, including candidates filing affidavits of intent to be write-in candidates; therefore, the election to be held on May 3, 2022 is hereby cancelled pursuant to §1-13.5-513, C.R.S. The following candidates for director are declared elected by acclamation: Andrew Gerk 3-year Term, Until May 2025 William J. Johanningmeier 3-year Term, Until May 2025 Dennis Johanningmeier 3-year Term, Until May 2025 By:/s/ Michael E. Davis Designated Election Official Lupton Village Residential Metropolitan District Legal Notice No. FLP580 First Publication: March 31, 2022 Last Publication: March 31, 2022 Publisher: Fort Lupton Press Public Notice

By:/s/ Michael E. Davis Designated Election Official Murata Farms Residential Metropolitan District Legal Notice No. FLP582 First Publication: March 31, 2022 Last Publication: March 31, 2022 Publisher: Fort Lupton Press

NOTICE OF CANCELLATION OF REGULAR ELECTION

BY THE DESIGNATED ELECTION OFFICIAL COTTONWOOD GREENS METROPOLITAN DISTRICT NO. 5 §1-13.5-513, C.R.S. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN by the Cottonwood Greens Metropolitan District No. 5, Weld County, Colorado, that at the close of business on the sixty-third (63rd) day before the election there were not more candidates for director than offices to be filled at the election, including candidates filing affidavits of intent to be write-in candidates; therefore, the election to be held on May 3, 2022 is hereby cancelled pursuant to §1-13.5-513, C.R.S. The following candidates for director are declared elected by acclamation: 3-year 1-year 3-year 3-year Term, Until

By:/s/ Michael E. Davis Designated Election Official Cottonwood Greens Metropolitan District No. 5 Legal Notice No. FLP578 First Publication: March 31, 2022 Last Publication: March 31, 2022 Publisher: Fort Lupton Press Public Notice

NOTICE OF CANCELLATION OF REGULAR ELECTION

BY THE DESIGNATED ELECTION OFFICIAL COTTONWOOD GREENS METROPOLITAN DISTRICT NO. 2 §1-13.5-513, C.R.S.

Public Notice

Andrew R. Damiano Term, Until May 2025 Jason VonLembke Term, Until May, 2023 Robert A. Lembke Term, Until May 2025 Ronald E. von Lembke May 2025

NOTICE OF CANCELLATION OF REGULAR ELECTION

BY THE DESIGNATED ELECTION OFFICIAL LUPTON VILLAGE RESIDENTIAL METROPOLITAN DISTRICT

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN by the Cottonwood Greens Metropolitan District No. 2, Weld County, Colorado, that at the close of business on the sixty-third (63rd) day before the election there were not more candidates for director than offices to be filled at the election, including candidates filing affidavits of intent to be write-in candidates; therefore, the election to be held on May 3, 2022 is hereby cancelled pursuant to §1-13.5-513, C.R.S. The following candidates for director are declared elected by acclamation: Lesli Brown Marvin Davis

3-year Term, Until May 2025 3-year Term, Until May 2025

By:/s/ Michael E. Davis Designated Election Official Cottonwood Greens Metropolitan District No. 2 Legal Notice No. FLP577 First Publication: March 31, 2022 Last Publication: March 31, 2022 Publisher: Fort Lupton Press Public Notice NOTICE OF CANCELLATION OF REGULAR ELECTION

BY THE DESIGNATED ELECTION OFFICIAL MURATA FARMS COMMERCIAL METROPOLITAN DISTRICT §1-13.5-513, C.R.S. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN by the Murata Farms Commercial Metropolitan District, Weld County, Colorado, that at the close of business on the sixty-third (63rd) day before the election there were not more candidates for director than offices to be filled at the election, including candidates filing affidavits of intent to be write-in candidates; therefore, the election to be held on May 3, 2022 is

hereby cancelled pursuant to §1-13.5-513, C.R.S. The following candidates for director are declared elected by acclamation: Eric Eckberg Term, Until May 2025 John Fairbairn Term, Until May 2025

3-year 3-year

By:/s/ Michael E. Davis Designated Election Official Murata Farms Commercial Metropolitan District Legal Notice No. FLP581 First Publication: March 31, 2022 Last Publication: March 31, 2022 Publisher: Fort Lupton Press Public Notice NOTICE OF CANCELLATION OF REGULAR ELECTION

BY THE DESIGNATED ELECTION OFFICIAL LUPTON VILLAGE COMMERCIAL METROPOLITAN DISTRICT §1-13.5-513, C.R.S. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN by the Lupton Village Commercial Metropolitan District, Weld County, Colorado, that at the close of business on the sixty-third (63rd) day before the election there were not more candidates for director than offices to be filled at the election, including candidates filing affidavits of intent to be write-in candidates; therefore, the election to be held on May 3, 2022 is hereby cancelled pursuant to §1-13.5-513, C.R.S. The following candidates for director are declared elected by acclamation: Dennis Johanningmeier 3-year Term, Until May 2025 William J. Johanningmeier 3-year Term, Until May, 2025 By:/s/ Michael E. Davis Designated Election Official Lupton Village Commercial Metropolitan District Legal Notice No. FLP579 First Publication: March 31, 2022 Last Publication: March 31, 2022 Publisher: Fort Lupton Press

Misc. Private Legals PUBLIC NOTICE Monarch Mountain Minerals and Aggregates, LLC., whose address and phone number is 2660 West 64th Avenue, Denver CO 80221, 303-3763338, has filed an application for a Regular (112) Construction Materials Operation Reclamation Permit Amendment with the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board under provisions of the Colorado Land Reclamation Act for the Extraction of Construction Materials. The proposed mine site is known as the Monarch DENM Gravel Mine, and is located at Section 19, Township 4 North, Range 66 West, 6th Prime Meridian, in Weld County Colorado.

The proposed date of commencement is the second half of 2022, and the proposed date of completion is 2059. The proposed future use of the land is water storage. Additional information and tentative decision date may be obtained from the Division of Reclamation, Mining, and Safety, 1313 Sherman Street, Room 215, Denver, Colorado 80203, (303) 866-3567, or at the Weld County Clerk to the Board of County Commissioners, 1150 O St. Greeley, CO 80631; or the above named applicant.

Comments must be in writing and must be received by the Division of Reclamation, Mining,

and Safety by 4:00 p.m. on May 11th, 2022 (20th day after the 4th publication).

Janet A. Jackson, Deceased Case Number: 2021PR336

Please contact Kyle Regan with Civil Resources at (303) 833-1416 ex. 210 (Kyle@ civilresources.com) if you have any questions or comments regarding this application.

Scheduled to be published in the Ft. Lupton Press March 31st, April 7th, April 14th, and April 21st, 2022.

All persons having claims against the above named estate are required to present them to the personal representative or to the District Court of Weld County, Colorado or on or before July 30, 2022, or the claims may be forever barred.

Legal Notice No. FLP575 First Publication: March 31, 2022 Last Publication: April 21, 2022 Publisher: Fort Lupton Press Public Notice Legal Notice of Annual Meeting of Members The Annual Meeting of Members of UNITED POWER, INC. will be held Wednesday, April 13, 2022, at 6:30 p.m. at the Waymire Dome at the Riverdale Regional Park, located at 9755 Henderson Road in Brighton, Colorado. Members can attend in-person or via livestream. The registration portal and instructions for participating in the meeting virtually can be found on the cooperative’s website at www.unitedpower.com.

The meeting will be for the purposes of electing directors, considering and approving reports for the prior fiscal year, and transacting such other business as may properly come before the meeting.

This year there are elections in the following districts: East, South, and West for three-year terms.

The candidates nominated by petition are Steven “Steve” Douglas, Naptali A. Lucks, and Elizabeth “Beth” A. Martin in the East District; Keith Alquist in the South District; and Ursula J. Morgan in the West District. All Members are entitled to cast a vote for the director positions of every district, regardless of the district where the Member is domiciled. Additional information including dates and times of forums to meet the candidates, how to cast a ballot, and deadlines for voting can be found at https://www.unitedpower.com/annual-meeting.

UNITED POWER, INC. By: /s/Tim Erickson, Secretary

Public Notice NOTICE TO CREDITORS In the Matter of the Estate of: RUTH E. ANDERSON, aka RUTH ELIZABETH ANDERSON, aka RUTH ANDERSON, Deceased Case Number: 2022PR30112 All persons having claims against the above named estate are required to present them to the personal representative or to the District Court of Weld County, Colorado or on or before July 30, 2022, or the claims may be forever barred.

Amy Cooksey Personal Representative c/o WARREN, CARLSON & MOORE, LLP PO Box 610 Niwot, CO 80544-0610

NOTICE TO CREDITORS In the Matter of the Estate of:

PUBLIC NOTICE NOTICE TO CREDITORS Estate of Carol O. Shull, aka Carol Opie Shull, aka Carol Jean Opie Shull, aka Carol J. Shull, aka Carol Jean Shull, Deceased Case Number: 2022 PR 41 All persons having claims against the abovenamed estate are required to present them to the Personal Representative or to the District Court of Weld County, Colorado on or before July 17, 2022, or the claims may be forever barred.

Darrell W. Shull, Personal Representative 1101 Prospect Mountain Rd Estes Park, CO 80517 Legal Notice No. FLP564 First Publication: March 17, 2022 Last Publication: March 31, 2022 Publisher: Fort Lupton Press Public Notice NOTICE TO CREDITORS Estate of Irene Ruth Shuster, Deceased Case Number: 2022PR30131

Christy Alberts and Linda Dyer c/o Keith L. Davis, JD Davis Schilken, PC 7887 E. Belleview Ave., Suite 820 Denver, CO 80111

Notice to Creditors

Public Notice

Legal Notice No. FLP573 First Publication: March 24, 2022 Last Publication: April 7, 2022 Publisher: Fort Lupton Press

All persons having claims against the abovenamed estate are required to present them to the personal representative or to the District Court of Jefferson County, Colorado on or before August 1, 2022, or the claims may be forever barred.

Legal Notice No. FLP567 First Publication: March 31, 2022 Last Publication: April 14, 2022 Publisher: Fort Lupton Press

Legal Notice No. FLP568 First Publication: March 24, 2022 Last Publication: April 7, 2022 Publisher: Fort Lupton Press

Justin Jackson Personal Representative 24495 County Rd 18 Keenesburg, CO 80643

Legal Notice FLP583 First Publication: March 31, 2022 Last Publication: April 14, 2022 Publisher: Fort Lupton Press

Name Changes PUBLIC NOTICE Public Notice of Petition for Change of Name Public Notice is given on February 25, 2022 that a Petition for a Change of Name of a Minor Child has been filed with the Weld County Court.

The Petition requests that the name of Lukes Mikesell be changed to Luke Mikesell.

Case No.:22C83 By: Rachael Erickson Clerk of the Court / Deputy Clerk Legal Notice No. FLP565 First publication: March 17, 2022 Last publication: March 31, 2022 Publisher: Fort Lupton Press

Fort Lupton Press March 31, 2022 * 1

18 Fort Lupton Press

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•We offer spring and fall cleanups which would include preparing the entire landscape for the upcoming season.

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APPLY IN PERSON Mon- Fri 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

CDL Driver At Publication Printers, we believe that print is alive and well! With over 40 years in the industry, and as one of the largest family-owned printing companies in the country, Publication Printers values customers and employees like part of the family. We are deeply invested in the success of our 1500+ customers, who trust us to deliver quality printing, as well as marketing solutions and top-notch customer service.

MUST BE ABLE TO BACK UP A 53 FOOT TRAILER *Day shifts only, NO overnight shifts* The position assists or performs the packaging or palletizing and securing and then the transport of printed material or matter related to printing in the safest, most efficient and professional manner possible. Operates PPC owned vehicles and trucks, must possess CDL license.

Salary: $34/hour Essential Job Functions: • Transports product to customer on schedule.

• Delivers printed material, proofs, bluelines, artwork, inserts, and other materials as required mostly to company to customers but may be any similar delivery required in the performance of what the company does.

• When preparing loads for delivery, verifies count and condition of good loaded and unloaded and records in scale logs.

• When preparing loads for delivery, Reports overages, shortages, and damage to supervisor. Or once delivered if required, reports overages, shortages, and damage to supervisor.

• Unloads or assists in unloading freight as required.

• Properly secures loads.

• Operates company truck, trailer, and car in a safe manner, and follows all traffic laws and requirements.

• Reports any vehicle problems and defects to supervisor.

• Does daily maintenance checks and housecleaning or vehicles (washing).

• Complies with all department of transportation standards and regulations.

• Possesses and maintains a good driving records and current driver licenses.

• Keeps dock areas and truck dock cleaned and organized.

• Assists in hand bindery, pressroom, and front office when called upon.

• Ensures good customer relations by consistency delivering orders on time and action in a courteous and professional manner.

• Works with all co-workers in a professional respectful and cooperative fashion.

• Performs other duties as requested or required.

Chemical & Metal Industries, Inc. 23465 ChemTech Ave, Hudson, CO 80642 Help Wanted

• License and experience as a CDL driver.

• English Language: Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language in order to understand requirements when building loads and in order to obey traffic signs and related.

• Be able to pass a pre-employment drug test and background check • Be able to operate a pallet jack and fork lift Physical Demands: • The physical demands are typical for a warehouse and tractor trailer long bed truck or company delivery vehicle on the public highway(s) setting. Be able to lift up to 50 lbs.

Please apply online publicationprinters.com

Merchandising & retail is a plus!

Hiring for Production, Cashiers and Supervisors!

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20 Fort Lupton Press

March 31, 2022

Denver transfers 33 bison to tribal nations in an effort to bolster and conserve herds Herds are from Douglas and Jefferson counties

BY KYLE COOKE, BRIAN WILLIE ROCKY MOUNTAIN PBS

On a snowy, blustery March morning, Denver Parks and Recreation (DPR) donated 17 bison yearlings to the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes in Oklahoma.

The bison had been staying at two of the Denver Mountain Parks: Genesee Park in Golden and Daniels Park in Douglas County.

“This is what we should’ve been doing for decades as owners and as stewards of these wonderful animals: returning them, as we have nurtured them and raised them, but returning them back to our Indigenous leaders of this land, the caretakers of this land,” said Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, who spoke at the March 21 event at Genesee Park.

According to DPR, this year is the first time in “recent history” that Denver is not holding a bison auction; that tradition ended last year when the department said it would instead “select tribes across the country that will accept the bison to build and enhance conservation herds on tribal lands.”

In total, Denver is transferring 33 bison this year: 15 to the Northern Arapaho Tribe in Wyoming; 17 to the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes in Oklahoma (which happened Monday); and one to the Tall Bull Memorial Council in Colorado.

Jordan Dresser is a member of the Northern Arapaho Tribe in Wyoming. He was at Monday’s event at Genesee Park.

“Being able to reclaim the bison is a big moment for us because it’s taking back what was taken from us,” Dresser said.

American Bison used to roam North American grasslands in massive herds but were nearly extinct in the 19th century due to commercial hunting and diseases. By 1900, there were fewer than 1,000 bison in existence, according to DPR. On March 22, there are about 31,000 free-range wild bison in North America. DPR operates two bison herds

More than 30 bison were relocated.

in the name of conservation: one at Genesee Park and another at Daniels Park. The herd was first established at City Park by the Denver Zoo, but moved to Genesee Park in 1914 and expanded to Daniels Park in 1938.

DPR’s executive director Happy Haynes said she hoped the bison transfer shows “a commitment to working to dismantle the ongoing legacies of oppression and inequities and recognize the current and future contributions of Indigenous communities in Denver and Colorado.”

“Oppression and inequity is built over hundreds of years, and it can be dismantled piece by piece,” added City Councilwoman Jamie Torres, who represents District 3 in Denver.

Various Colorado officials have made recent efforts to preserve the country’s bison population. In addition to DPR’s bison transfer last year, Governor Jared Polis and U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Boulder) recently asked the U.S. Department of the Interior to put a stop to the National Park Service’s plan to kill a dozen bison in Grand Canyon National Park.

Polis and Neguse were unsuccessful.

Dresser hopes people can learn lessons from Indigenous peoples’ treatment of bison.

“The bison was important to us not

COURTESY OF RMPBS

A bison at Genesee Park in Golden.

only for our cultural ways but also for everyday use. We used the bison for meat, also for household items.

We utilized every single part of the body. So that’s important for today’s world because we live in a society that’s so wasteful.”

COURTESY OF RMPBS

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

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

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