Fort Lupton Press 051222

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

WEEK OF MAY 12, 2022

IT’S THE WATER: T H E S E A S OFORT LUPTON FESTIVAL N FOR SHARING HIGHLIGHTS HOW MUCH IT MATTERS WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25 , 2020

VOLUME 117

75cI

ISSUE 19

School Districts sound off on teacher shortage

ISSUE 48

BY LUKE ZARZECKI LZARZECKI@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

The Public Education and Business Coalition hosted a panel of regional school district superintendents on May 4 to discuss the teacher shortage affecting Colorado.

The coalition promotes teamwork among the business community and the education community Bernie Kendall a volunteer with the Platte Valley Historical Society is teaching the children to solve problems. about the Voyageurs of the 18th and 19th century transporting trade in canoes. PHOTO BY BELEN WARD In attendance for the panel was Deputy Superintendent for JeffCo and Common Core State Standards.

Public Schools Kym LeBlanc-EsBY BELEN WARD Garcia was one of the featured “We are excited to be here! Durparza, Superintendent for Adams BWARD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM speakers at the Children’s Water ing COVID we have not been on a 12 Chris Gdowski, Superintendent Festival on May 4 at the Fort Lupfield trip for two years, and now of Fremont RE-2 School District ton South Platte Valley Historical mphibians are nature’s we have been on two field trips,” Brenda Krage and Aurora PubPark. The student met with more health indicators but they said Jennifer Engles, a teacher at lic Schools Superintendent Rico than 14 water professionals from are disappearing faster Knowledge Quest Academy CharMunn. around the state to learn about than any species on the ter School in Millikin.

Prior to their discussion, reface of the earth, the Denver Zoo’s the importance of water to plants, marks came from Cindy Marten, humans, and animals while meetJames Garcia told students in SEE WATER, P3 deputy secretary of the U.S. Deing the science academic standards Fort Lupton May 4. partment of Education, Governor Jared Polis, Colorado Commissioner of Education Dr. Kathy Anthes, PEBC President and CEO Sue Sava and Lee Wheeler-Berliner, managing director of Colorado Workforce crest, among other locations.

BY STEVE SMITH drought and have nothing to do Development Council.

Mayor Zo Stieber wondered SSMITH@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM with the city’s existing water supWheeler-Berliner said Colorado why Fort Lupton’s cost was ply. had 6,910 teaching positions to fill higher than other areas. Evan in the 2020-2021 school year. That Fort Lupton City Council Pinkham, a transportation plantranslates to 180,000 students withunanimously authorized watering Transportation ner with the Weld County Public out a teacher in their classroom.

After some concern about the restrictions that begin June 1.

Works Department, said the He also said per-pupil funding in price tag, Fort Lupton City CounExemptions are in place for original plan was to base the cost 2020-2021 was $9,014. That’s lower cil agreed to pay a little less than Coyote Creek Golf Course and $27,000 over the next two years for on riders. the city’s parks. The restrictions than the national average, which is “Because of the difference in multimodal transportation and stay in place through the end of $12,624. riders from these areas, we based mitigation options fund for Via August.

Wheeler-Berliner also explained it on population,” he said. “We Mobility. that median earnings among The rules include no outside looked at the rider numbers, and Staff notes said Weld County is watering during the hottest part teachers in Colorado are $23.96 per we felt like the population was the putting together a draft for fundof the day (10 a.m. to 6 p.m.), but hour and $49,800 per year – signifibest way to divvy up that share.” ing for this on-demand transit there will be exceptions for noncantly below the national median Pinkham left open the possibilservice for those at least age 60 potable irrigation. Those with earnings, which are $25.51 per ity that the next funding packplus individuals with disabilities. newly planted lawns (sod or seed) hour and $53,100 per year. age could be based on ridership The service is free. can receive a three-week waiver According to Great Education numbers.

One similar project targeted per address per calendar year.

Colorado, the state ranks 43rd in Every year before Thanksgiving, First United Methodist Church in Fort Lupton Weld and the Fort Lupton Food and Clothingspending Bank provide community County and other commuFirestone, Erie and areas as far Those waivers are available at on education and 50th in members with food boxes.

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

Above, Joe Hubert, left China Garcia and Sue Hubert with Change 4 Change, nities are expected to participate. north as Berthoud. This project City Hall. teacher wage competitiveness. is targeting what cials Public organization Works Director another thatRoy helps with the food drive.

Seeoffi more oncalled Page 2. The estimated amount for a 2024 contribution from Fort Lupton is “the upper Front Range(Gilcrest, Vestal said last month the reSEE SCHOOLS, P12 $47,000, according to staff notes.

Fort Lupton, Platteville and Gilstrictions are due to the ongoing

A

Fort Lupton council approves summer watering restrictions

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FREEMAN

Loretta S. (Herrin) Freeman August 17, 1954 - May 2, 2022

Jetmore – Loretta S. Freeman, 67, passed away May 2, 2022 at Hays Medical Center, Hays, KS. She was born August 17, 1954 in Leadville, CO, the daughter of Cliff and Barbara Allen Hutchison Herrin. She was a longtime Colorado resident, where she owned her own cleaning business, than moved to Jetmore three and half years ago.

Other survivors include: two daughters, Kim (Shane) Woods, Jetmore, Donna (Rich) Albrandt, Brighton, CO; a brother, Jack (Debbie) Herrin, Broken Arrow, OK; two sisters, Rosa (Larry) King, Thornton, CO, Brenda Moretz, Northglenn, Colorado; three grandchildren, Alli Woods, Lacy Woods and Seth Woods.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Cliff and Barbara Herrin.

She enjoyed crafting, sewing, baking, anything to do with Christmas, gambling Cremation has taken place and a memorial with the Buffalo slots and loved watching her service will be held at a later date. grandchildren growing up and attending their Memorials may be given to Relay for Life activities. in care of Beckwith Funeral Home, Box 663 On January 12, 1974, she married William Jetmore, KS 67854. Condolences may be left “Bill” Freeman in Brighton, CO. He survives. at www.beckwithfuneralhome.com.

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Fort Lupton Press 3

May 12, 2022

McKinsey Welch with Natures Educator and Boreas the Swainson Hawk are teaching the students how important water is for the birds of prey.

WATER

Fort Lupton firefighter Cody White educating the Brighton North East Elementary 4th graders on how all the equipPHOTOS BY BELEN WARD ment is used on a fire truck.

a danger for us too because amphibians need fresh clean water and for their skin,” Garcia said.

FROM PAGE 1

Central Colorado Water Conservancy District (CCWCD) and the South Platte Valley Historical Society joined forces to host its first annual Fort Lupton Children’s Festival. It’s modeled after the Central Colorado Water Conservancy District’s Children’s Water Festival, which started in 1991, making it the second oldest water festival in the country, according to officials.

More than 700 5th- and 6th-grade students in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) programs from Fort Lupton, Brighton, Johnstown/Milliken, Denver, Keenesburg, Hudson, and Fort Morgan attended the festival.

Denver Zoo’s Laura Cooper, an educator joined outreach specialist Garcia discussed the concerns about amphibians disappearing.

One area of study now is a particularly deadly fungus.

“Biologists and scientists are scrambling trying to find out what the problem is and it’s the Chytrid fungus that affects animals around the world. That should be

Noxious weeds Fourth graders from La Salle’s Pete Mirch Elementary visited with the Weld County Weed division.

Tina Booton, a supervisor, and Kathy Grifee, natural resources spray technician, educated the students about noxious weeds.

These are usually non-native to Colorado and possibly the United States. They can spread without human assistance and can be deadly to native vegetation. It could also be toxic to livestock and human if eaten. They can include Purple Loosestrife, knotweeds and Cypress and Myrtle Spurges.

“The noxious weeds steal our water,” Booton said. “There is a state law they need to be controlled or suppressed.”

Ground down Hudson Elementary 4th graders visited Colorado’s Mary Ellen Cannon soil scientist with the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Services.

Cannon played a game with an inflatable globe by throwing it up in the air proving the student’s thumb always ends up on water.

“The idea of this game is to show the students there is a lot more water than land. On our land the polar ice caps are not growing our food, including the high mountains and the Sahara Desert,” Cannon said.

“We end up with a small slice of our world growing our food on it,” Cannon said. “It’s important to hang on to your farmland and be careful how you use land. You want to compact soil for a building but you also want to keep it uncompacted. You don’t want to drive all over it where you want to grow.”

Nathan Bolton Ranger Barr Lake State Park Ranger taught the 4th grade Columbine students from Fort Morgan about how algae develop.

“All sorts of fertilizer and rainwater runoff end up in the lake, so when it gets hotter in the summertime, the heat reacts that phosphorus and creates the algae blues,” Bolton said.

Natures Educator McKinsey Welch is a program specialist educating 4th-grade students from Mil-

liken’s Knowledge Quest Academy about animals needing water.

Natures educator take in nonreleasable birds of prey and use the animals to educate the public.

They brought in a Swainson Hawk, two amphibians, a tiger salamander, and wooded houses toads.

“Amphibians need water because they start their life in water. The hawk is at the top of the food chain and are not born in water, but if the water disappears (those problems go) up the food chain web,” McKinsey said.

Natures Educators is licensed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA, Fish and Wildlife, and Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

The students had numerous learning booths to visit to gain knowledge about the water footprint, how pumps and turbines operate, trees, recycling, all the water in the world, etc.

“It’s so awesome, and it’s a great learning experience,” said fourthgrade teacher Beth Dershem. “It’s outdoors and hands-on. We are grateful for the experience and the work to set this up for our kids.

They were excited on the way in.”

Dersham teaches at North East Elementary.

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May 12, 2022

Weld partners with Evans on oil and gas projects Weld County energy department could help with oil and gas driller permits

BY BELEN WARD BWARD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

The City of Evans, northeast of Fort Lupton, will get a boost from Weld County to help develop oil and gas projects and review permits.

The Weld County Oil and Gas Energy Department will help the City of Evans carry out its own 1041 regulations for the development of oil and gas in its territory, according to a news release.

The work is part of an Intergovernmental Agreement between the town, the state of Colorado and Weld County.

“This partnership allows us to provide our expertise on oil and gas permitting to the City of Evans,” said Jason Maxey, Weld County OGED director. “The IGA strengthens the overall process for oil and gas permitting in our county because we will work closely with Evans to provide them with a similar permitting process to ours.”

According to officials, Weld County is the number one producer of 81% of crude oil and 34% of its natural gas in Colorado. The Weld

County Commissioners approved the Intergovernmental Agreement IGA with the City of Evans and the state.

“This uniformity will hopefully provide a more consistent process for oil and gas operators seeking permits within Evans while better streamlining the process at the state level as well,” Maxey said.

The Weld County OGED hearing officer would be available for the City of Evans to represent Evans in hearings, with inspections, rehear applications, and conduct suspension or revocation hearings. With this partnership with the county, the City of Evans is required to follow regulations, codes, ordinances, and decisions on permits, whether approved or not, according to officials.

Evans is the first city to partner with the oil and gas department since it was created by Weld County in 2019.

When Colorado House Bill 1041 passed in 1974, Weld County was on board and gained the authority with local governments to regulate and control its mineral resources in unincorporated Weld County through developed criteria. The county’s oil and gas office serves as a resource and expert for reviewing and approving oil and gas permits.

“When the Oil and Gas Energy Department was established, we envisioned this partnership,” said Lori Saine, Weld County commissioner.

“Creating similar standards for per-

City of Evans could start its process of oil and gas permits. PHOTO BY BELEN WARD

mitting can only hasten the overall process, take some of the burdens off municipalities and help eliminate the need for oil and gas operators to meet different standards.”

The Intergovernmental Agreement will expire on August 30, 2023, then renew every year unless terminated by Evans or Weld County.

“This IGA speaks to our expertise in permitting along with our ability

to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public and the environment. We’re excited to partner with Evans, and we hope that we can be a resource to other municipalities in the future,” Saine said.

To learn more about the Oil and Gas Energy Department, visit https://www.weldgov.com/Government/Departments/Oil-and-GasEnergy.

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Council OKs pay rate changes for public works employees

BY STEVE SMITH SSMITH@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Fort Lupton City Council agreed May 3 to pay almost $17,000 for increasing on-call pay, adding pay differentials for credentials and money to cover the higher costs of commercial driver’s license training for the public works department.

The agreement includes a basepay increase for department on-call workers to eight straight pay hours per week, a $1 an hour increase for

employees who earn certificates beyond what’s necessary for their jobs and extra money for training funds because of a change in requirements to get a commercial driver’s license. The change involves the completion of an external class, and the charge is $1,800 per person, according to staff notes.

The changes took effect at the end of April.

Elsewhere Fort Lupton City Council unanimously agreed to pay more than

$20,000 for four new police radios on May 3.

The radios are due to be installed by the end of the calendar year.

Council also agreed to take $25,000 from the city’s recreation fund to install a new fitness court at Railroad Park. The contract is with Engineering Installation Service.

Council also approved the appointment of Henry Ford to the city’s public safety advisory committee. The term began on Jan. 4 and expires Dec. 31, 2023.

Fort Lupton council suspends last marijuana license hearing

BY STEVE SMITH SSMITH@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Centaurus Farms, the last of the four potential marijuana business licensees in Fort Lupton, will have to wait until June 7, for a decision on its fate in the city.

The Fort Lupton City Council, acting as the licensing authority, suspended the hearings so it could get information that wasn’t available ahead of a May 3 meeting.

John Paolella, the agent for Centaurus Farms, said his intent was to sell 100 percent local products with as many local employees as he can hire.

“We’ll have security on-site when we’re open and on call when we aren’t,” Paolella told councilors. “We’ll have a guardhouse. Want to keep it open. We want to highlight it so it

doesn’t feel dark and dreary. We want to educate as many people as possible.”

Centaurus Farms was the only applicant to ask for both a medical and a retail license. Councilman Carlos Barron was concerned about on-site regulation of the sale of marijuana.

“We tell everyone, once they are out of the store, we tell them not to use on-site,” Paolella said. ‘We’ll have cameras everywhere. We’ll have onsite monitoring during the days we’re open and a guard on duty all night.”

Neighbors weren’t too happy with the prospect of a nearby marijuana business. Bobby Adams asked how Paolella was going to make sure that “people weren’t already crocked off their a---s.”

Barron noted that the area was fairly remote, and resident Charlotte Jones didn’t agree.

“It’s not a remote area. On the north side of our property, there are three houses. He is in our backyard,” Jones told councilors. “You need to take that into consideration.”

“I’m concerned that traffic will try to find all routes to get to this location,” said resident Dawn Massey. “We have enough trouble with people running stop signs, livestock. There are a lot of people in traffic we don’t recognize. We do business in Fort Lupton, and our feelings are just as important as those who live within the city limits.

“Everyone drives everywhere.

Everyone should drive to wherever they’ve been getting it,” said resident Doug Massey. “We don’t need it in Fort Lupton. I’m happy with Fort Lupton the way it is. Don’t put it in our neighborhood with green signs all over the place.”

Fort Lupton Press 5

May 12, 2022

Rep. Jason Crow talks veterans’ health care, Russia, economy Boosting manufacturing amid supply chain issues is a priority

BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Issues both local and global weighed on U.S. Rep. Jason Crow’s mind when he held an online and telephone town hall event to answer questions from the public.

Those issues included his concerns with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, an act Crow called “illegal and just atrocious.”

“One of the things we’ve seen with Putin’s (war) is how much we really rely on dictators and autocrats and strongmen around the world for our energy. It has to stop,” said Crow, who represents a large part of the south, east and north Denver metro area in Congress.

He was proud to support a bill that prevents the United States from purchasing Russian oil, he said.

On April 8, President Joe Biden signed the Ending Importation of Russian Oil Act, a law that prohibits the importation of energy products from the Russian Federation, along with another law that suspends normal trade relations with the Russian Federation, according to a White House news release.

During Crow’s April 25 town hall, the House member also discussed efforts to bolster U.S. manufacturing, fill health-care staff shortages for veterans and address concerns about anti-Asian racism.

Crow represents Colorado’s 6th Congressional District, an area shaped like a backwards C, whose largest city is Aurora. The district also includes south metro suburbs such as Centennial, Littleton and Highlands Ranch, and to the north, Brighton and part of Thornton.

Here’s a look at what Crow, a Democrat of Centennial, said during the event and what bills he has been supporting.

Make it in America One of the biggest problems the nation is facing regarding inflation is a “workforce shortage,” but supply chain issues also play a role, Crow said.

Microchips — a part used in making many types of electronic devices — are a product that the U.S. relies on Asia to provide, and a slowdown in production has caused economic problems, Crow said.

Some lawmakers want to “bring back manufacturing to the United States” with a proposal called the America COMPETES Act of 2022, Crow said.

Referred to in full as the Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing Pre-Eminence in Technology and Economic Strength Act, the proposal aims to make new investments to accelerate U.S. production of semiconductor chips and “strengthen the supply chain to make more goods in America,” according to a summary provided by a spokesperson for Crow.

The bill would “re-onshore that manufacturing,” Crow said.

While it wouldn’t literally remove manufacturing jobs from other countries and replace them with jobs in the U.S., it would encourage more job creation in American manufacturing, according to Kaylin Dines, a spokesperson for Crow.

Taking care of veterans A member of the public asked Crow during the town hall about the health care system under the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, known as the VA. “As a veteran myself, this is something that I take very personally,” Crow said. He added: “One of the biggest issues right now with the VA is the lack of staff within the VA health care system.”

In May 2021, Crow was one of the members of Congress who introduced bipartisan legislation — the Veterans Improved Access to Care Act — to address hiring shortages in the VA, according to a news release.

The bill “would create pilot programs around the country to cut the red tape and speed up the hiring and onboarding of medical professionals,” Crow said during the town hall.

Economic opportunities Another question centered on what a caller described as an economic gap experienced by minorityowned businesses.

Crow was among a bipartisan group of congressmembers in December 2020 who introduced the Next Generation Entrepreneur Corps Act, a proposal to spur new business and job creation in “underserved communities,” according to a news release.

The bill aims to identify talented entrepreneurs through a national competition and directly support the creation of more than 320 new businesses each year, the release on Crow’s website said.

“There’s nothing that will make our economy healthier, frankly, than making sure we’re growing small businesses but doing it in an equitable way and making sure everyone in our community can access that,” Crow said during the town hall.

Hate against Asian Americans A caller told Crow about an instance of anti-Asian racism they experienced at a grocery store and how it affected them. Crow pointed to an “anti-Asian hate surge” that the House member said stems from “irresponsible and hateful rhetoric” surrounding the origins of COVID-19.

Crow expressed support for a bill signed by Biden to attempt to address the issue of hate crimes.

“You can always count on me to stand up against hateful rhetoric,” Crow said.

Following overwhelming support from both chambers of Congress, Biden signed legislation in response to hate crimes that have occurred during the coronavirus pandemic — with emphasis on violence against Asian Americans, according to a National Public Radio story in May 2021.

The legislation — the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act — aims to make the reporting of hate crimes more accessible at the local and state levels by boosting public outreach

Rep. Jason Crow

FILE PHOTO BY DAVID GILBERT

and ensuring reporting resources are available online in multiple languages, according to NPR’s story.

The act also directs the Department of Justice to designate a person to expedite the review of hate crimes related to COVID-19 and authorizes grants to state and local governments to conduct crimereduction programs to prevent and respond to hate crimes, NPR reported.

An organization named Stop AAPI

Hate has said it recorded 6,603 reports of hate incidents from March 2020 to March 2021, according to a summary report by the organization. “AAPI” is a term for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

Of the selected couple dozen incidents for which Stop AAPI Hate included quotes in the summary report from people who experienced the incidents, several of them allegedly were related to mentions of COVID.

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LOCAL

May 12, 2022

VOICES Listening for the voice of grace

S

o many of you enjoyed the quote I used last week, I thought I would begin this one with another of his quotes, “Graciousness is more than good manners. It is more than courtesy. It is the etiquette of the soul. True graciousness has such a divine quality we feel it is something that comes through us and not from us.” — Fred Smith Can you think of a time when you made a mistake, large or small, and where the error could have led to a bigger problem or conflict, yet the person on the receiving end of your mistake gave you grace?

Sometimes when we think we have failed someone or something the most or feel like we don’t deserve to receive grace or to be forgiven, we are forgetting the inherent goodness and graciousness found in most people.

As the quote above points out, grace is not something that comes from us, it is something that comes through us and is demonstrated by our actions. Saying the words “I forgive you,” or “Don’t worry,

it’s OK,” are a good start, but will be taken as insincere if the actions, body language, and tonality don’t support what is being said.

Have you ever withheld offering grace or forgiveness? When we Michael Norton withhold giving grace to someone, we are actually doing more harm to ourselves than to the person who offended us or who made a mistake that had an impact on our lives. Yet, when we are at fault, we hope that the person we wronged in some way will offer us grace and forgive us. Giving grace is so freeing as it takes a heavy burden of anger or resentment off our shoulders, and we can get back to living our best life as the best version of ourselves.

And when we can get comfortable with giving grace, we will be much more comfortable receiving grace,

WINNING WORDS

even when we feel like we deserve it the least. In this context, I am referring to giving and receiving grace as in forgiveness. When we think of the other definitions of grace such as simple elegance or refinement of movement, or courteous goodwill, and then couple those with offering someone grace, it emphasizes or punctuates our sincerity.

There are always more elegant ways and solutions to solve problems, correct mistakes and overcome conflict or adversity. Learning how to live, work and love with graciousness is a tremendously amazing way to do just that. When we can learn to apply elegant solutions during times of interpersonal conflict, it will have the greatest impact on all our relationships.

“Grace is the voice that calls us to change and then gives us the power to pull it off.” - Max Lucado We all know the feeling of finding it within ourselves to offer grace in the moment we first find out that we have been wronged. We struggle because we want to be so mad and

we want to enjoy stewing in our anger for a while, it is our right to be mad, upset, hurt and angry. That is why I love this quote by Max Lucado and lean into the meaning. This quote has more than once been the words I cling to and repeat when something happens or the error made had a negative impact on myself, my family or my friends. I listen for the voice of grace in my head and in my heart.

How does grace show up for you?

Is it with a lot of effort or is it with refined movement and elegance?

Is there someone you need to offer a little grace to? Is there something you have done where you are expecting or hoping to receive a little grace yourself? I would love to hear your story at mnorton@ xinnix.com, and when we listen for the voice of grace, 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.

Saving energy costs in warm weather

W

e know customer bills and energy usage are topics of conversation in the communities we serve. A combination of factors — including the increased cost of the natural gas we purchase, recovery of costs associated with Storm Uri and costs to help cover system investments and improvements — have added to monthly costs.

The common thread is that each of these costs are necessary to provide the safe, reliable natural gas service that our customers depend on. We know changes to monthly bills can have an impact on the household budget and we’re here to help. As the weather warms, many families tackle home spring cleaning projects, like deep cleaning or organizing.

But did you know there are several spring cleaning actions you can take

that could help lower your natural gas bills? Here are five jobs to tackle to help reduce your energy usage and make your home — and appliances — more energy efficient: 1. Replace filters for your HVAC system. Check and replace your filters Amy Fiala every three months.

Dirty filters make your furnace work extra hard to push the air through, using more energy and increasing the wear and tear on your system.

2. Service your furnace. An annual furnace inspection will ensure your heating system is working safely and efficiently.

3. Deep clean your oven. When an

GUEST COLUMN

oven is deep cleaned, it will reach desired cooking temperatures more quickly which reduces energy usage. Heat is also better distributed, so your food is cooked more evenly.

Keep in mind that frequently using the self-cleaning feature on your oven can be expensive because it uses a lot of energy, so try to wipe up messes promptly using baking soda and water to keep your oven clean throughout the year.

4. Flush your hot water heater.

Doing this annually is not only good for your water heater, but you’ll also become familiar with how the appliance works and better equipped to spot potential issues. Plus, if your unit is in a spot that’s exposed to cold temperatures, consider insulating the unit to help reduce how much energy its using to heat water. See more hot water heater tips here.

5. Conduct a home safety check.

Lastly, remember to replace the batteries in your carbon monoxide and smoke detectors. Plus, test the units to make sure they’re still working properly.

Black Hills Energy is committed to keeping you safe, while empowering you to take control of your energy usage. There’s no better time to tackle home efficiency projects than during annual spring cleaning and these five actions can go a long way to helping keep your home running efficiently and energy costs down.

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to the outdoor industry and education.

Now, The Colorado Sun co-owns this and other Colorado Community Media newspapers as a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy. The

Sun is CCM’s partner for statewide news.

For Colorado Sun stories, opinions and more, and to support The Sun’s misssion as a member or subscriber, visit coloradosun.com.

Amy Fiala is an energy efficiency coordinator for Black Hills Energy, a utility serving Colorado and seven other states.

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May 12, 2022

History comes alive at Fort Lupton’s South Platte Historic Park The time to recreate and re-enact history was May 7 at the 16th annual Fort Lupton Heritage Fair at the South Platte Valley Historical Park.

The event was a historical timeline with re-enactor camps spanning the Vikings up through the 1800s. Each group is staffed with individuals who talked about their own special time and places. The lower encampment featured cannon fire to start the even,t at midmorning. For sports fans, there was a vintage base ball game played under the rules of the day.

A view of the South Platte Valley Historical Society’s new barn at South Platte Valley Historical Park May 7.

Novah Donald, 6, of Aurora, rides a Buffalo Soldier’s horse as part of South Platte Valley Historical Society’s Heritage Fair May 7, at South Platte Historical Park.

South Platte Valley Historical Society President LaVon Watson speaks during the formal dedication of a new bar at the society’s 16th annual Heritage Fair May 7 at South Platte Valley Historical Park.

ACTUAL SIZE: 4.73”x3.4”

CONGRATULATIONS!

Andrea Miller Your High School Class of 2022 You can accomplish anything you set your mind to.

Love, Mom, Dad, Penny and Oscar

PHOTOS BY STEFAN BRODSKY

A group of historical musicians play period music during this year’s South Platte Valley Heritage Days May 7 at South Platte Valley Historical Park in Fort Lupton.

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May 12, 2022

Fort Lupton Press 9

LOCAL

SPORTS

Despite obstacles, Ft. Lupton’s Garcia is ready for next step

BY JUAN ARELLANO SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA

For many high-school athletes, there are obstacles that can stand in the way of playing any sport at the next level — such as not getting enough exposure to college scouts and season-ending injuries or COVID-19.

Those were some of the obstacles Fort Lupton High School senior Reygan Garcia had to overcome this year. As a freshman, she scored 22 goals in 15 games but didn’t play the last two seasons due to COVID and her season-ending injury.

“It was really hard finding a college to play for after I tore my ACL. And with COVID, it was hard getting coaches to reach out to. This year was a blessing, I got to sign somewhere, I get to play soccer in college,” she said.

Garcia used that motivation from signing with Northeast Community College in Nebraska on the pitch her senior year, leading the Bluedevils with 16 goals and five assists. The Bluedevils have a slight chance of making the playoffs. Despite the individual and team success, it hasn’t been easy to play at her best.

“Mentally, it was hard because I get scared to tear it again. But my friends on the team are really supportive, and they make me feel safe,” Garcia said.

Reygan knows that playing soccer at the collegiate level is going to be more demanding mentally and physically.

Right now, the current season is helping me get confidence with my knee again. And over the summer, I’m going to do workouts to strengthen it again, because one muscle is bigger than the other still,” Garcia said. “I’m just going to keep pushing so that I can be where I need to be.”

To surpass the obstacles that Reygan has had to overcome, many people -- such as her teammates and coaches -- have been supportive along the way. But her most important motivators have been her parents.

“We would always have long talks about what’s happening and what I need to do. They’re always supportive in paying for my PT (physical training) and my brace and telling me when to take it easy or not. But they are always there for me. I just want to make them proud.,” Garcia said.

Frederick’s Kassidy Lear pulls up after finishing her heat in the girls 400-meter dash at the Longs Peak League track meet May 7 at Longmont High School. She finished PHOTOS BY STEVE SMITH 23rd in a time of 1:13.75.

Frederick’s William Triplett gets ready for hurl the discus during the Longs Peak League track meet May 7 at Longmont High School. Triplett didn’t place in this event but took 23rd in the shot put with a best throw of 32 feet 11 inches.

Fort Lupto’s Reygan Garcia is happy juggling the ball during practice.

PHOTO BY JUAN ARELLANO

10 Fort Lupton Press

May 12, 2022

FORT LUPTON POLICE BLOTTER

Here are the police reports for April 28 to April 15 to the Fort Lupton Police Department. Not every call made to the police is not listed on this report.

STAFF REPORT

April 24 Police issued a summons to a Greeley man, 20, for DUI, possession of alcohol by a minor and speeding at U.S. Highway 85 & Weld County Road 26.

A LaSalle man, 48, reported a theft of a gooseneck trailer at Weld County Road 31 & Ninth Street. The case was under investigation.

A Fort Lupton man, 57, reported suspicious vehicles at Weld County 31 & Ninth Street. It was determined by the police that the vehicles had been stolen out of Commerce City and Arvada.

April 25 Police arrested a Fort Lupton man, 32, in the 2900 block of Ninth Street for a Weld County Sheriff’s Office warrant for failure to appear for driving while license is revoked and failure to comply with conditions of probation. He was held on bond at the Weld County Jail.

A Greeley man, 36, was arrested for obstructing a peace office, resisting arrest and being drunk on U.S. Highway 85 & Weld County Road 18.5. He was held on bond at the Weld County Jail.

April 26 Police issued a summons to a Fort Lupton man, 32, for speeding and driving without insurance at South Denver Avenue & Weld County Road 8.

A Fort Lupton man, 24, reported his video camera stolen at 304 Denver Avenue. The case is under investigation.

Police arrested a Fort Lupton woman, 34, in the 100 block of McKinley Avenue on a warrant for failure to appear on an animal that creates a danger charge. She was released on a personal recognizance bond.

A Denver man was issued a summons for driving while his license is under restraint causing an accident and for theft at State Highway 52 & Weld County Road 29.5.

April 27 Police arrested a Denver man,43, at U.S. Highway 85 & Weld County Road 18 for an Arapahoe County warrant for failure to appear on multiple traffic offenses. He was held on bond at the Weld County Jail.

April 28 A Hudson woman, 22, was issued a summon for causing a traffic accident by failure to obey the traffic control device at First and Rollie Avenue.

Police took a Fort Lupton man, 44, into custody at South Rollie Avenue & Weld County Road 12 for DUI, driving while license revoked and unlawful possession of a controlled substance. He was held on bond at the Weld County Jail.

Police issued a summons to a Fort Lupton man, 46, for causing a careless driving traffic accident at U.S. Highway 85 & Weld County Road 14.5.

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

April 2 nd 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

high-school 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 12thgrade 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.

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Fort Lupton Press 11

May 12, 2022

Vintage base ball returns to Fort Lupton

Hurler Richard “Rube” Foster, of Aurora, pitches for the Denver Blue Stockings in a Colorado Vintage Base Ball game against Colorado Springs/Denver & Rio Grande Railroad May 7 at South Platte Historical Park in Fort Lupton.

R

Craig “Big Country” Macari, of Woodland Park, batting or “striking” for the Colorado Springs/Denver & Rio Grande Railroad team, swings at a pitch during a Colorado Vintage Base Ball game, held as part of the South Platte Historical Society’s Heritage PHOTOS BY STEFAN BRODSKY Fair May 7 in Fort Lupton.

Andrew “Smiles” Pfriem of Denver, playing for the Colorado Springs/ Denver & Rio Grande Railroad team, readies his swing during a Colorado Vintage Base Ball Association game at South Platte Historical Park May 7.

e-enactors of old-time baseball were on hand at the South Platte Valley Historical Park in Fort Lupton May 7, part of the historical society’s 16th annual Heritage Fair.

The Colorado Vintage Base Ball Association plays its games according to the rules of the day. That meant no gloves, fielders could catch fly balls on one hop to record an out and fair or foul balls depended on where the ball landed first, not where it touched after it passed first or third base.

Players used monikers instead of their real names. Batters were “strikers.” If they made an out, the arbiter (today’s umpire) announced, “The Striker is Dead.”

Barry “Brooklyn” Hill of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, scores a tally (run) for the Denver Blue Stockings in a Colorado Vintage Base Ball game at South Platte Historical Park in Fort Lupton May 7.

12 Fort Lupton Press

May 12, 2022

SCHOOLS

challenges,” Gdowski said.

Gdowski said elementary principals described at school board meetings that staff routinely evacuates kindergarten classrooms at least once a week due to students throwing chairs, books and other things around the classroom.

Krage said social media is impacting students and the social norm of how students are treating teachers.

“The new unfortunate social norm that comes with such a responsive social media climate is deteriorating (teachers),” she said. “Teachers have had enough, they really are not respected and spoken to (correctly) or even given the benefit of the doubt of why they have put something in their classroom or why they had a wellintentioned conversation with a student before the parent is flying off the handle over social media.”

“People are hitting the wall,” Gdowski said.

FROM PAGE 1

Money talks “There’s not a single school district in the state of Colorado that pays their starting teachers at a cost-of-living wage,” said the Fremont district’s Krage.

Each superintendent agreed that teachers are not paid enough to retain them, and Adams District 12’s Gdowski says that’s a huge problem.

“I think money matters, and it matters a lot,” he said.

Competing with huge chains also comes into play. For internal support staff, he said the district increased pay from $12.5 per hour to $15 per hour in August, but that still might not be enough.

“I drive by each day and see McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Target, Chickfil-A paying $16 an hour,” he said.

“I sit here today and we have over 100 support staff positions that are unfilled.”

Three causes Aurora’s Munn said the educational workforce faces three issues that cause the shortage: over-regulation, disruption and resource depletion.

“What everybody in the business community knows is the more regulation you have, the fewer people you have in that workforce because it constrains the number of people who can be engaged,” Munn said.

For disruption, he pointed to the COVID-19 pandemic and the “rampant partisanship” around issues teachers face day today. He

From left: Fremont RE-2 School Superintendent Brenda Krage, Aurora Public Schools Superintendent Rico Munn, Adams 12 Superintendent Chris Gdowski and JeffCo Deputy PHOTO BY LUKE ZARZECKI Superintendent Kym LeBlanc-Esparza.

said inflation and supply chain issues also affect schools, which has helped lead to resource depletion.

As well, Munn noted that there is a fundamental shift in the workforce. Employees are asking for more flexibility and more control over their workplace.

“If you have a room full of fiveyear-olds, you need an adult in that room,” he said. “Saying ‘I want to remote in today’ is not an option.”

To attempt to cover for the unfilled jobs, Munn’s district has administrative employees – including Munn himself – taking days in different positions. Jefferson County’s LeBlanc-Esparza echoed that sentiment.

“I know that I feel if I had a CDL license, I would have probably been driving the bus at some point in time this year,” she said.

Crystal ball “I think you have to kind of look at that crystal ball on what education is going to look like if we don’t address some of the points that have been made this morning,” Krage said.

She explained if the districts can’t hire the vacant positions and address the workforce shortage, schools are headed to a permanent structure of remote teachers and Zoom lessons.

To stop that path, ballot initiatives, regulation and other factors driving people out of the work-

Added stress The vacant positions shed more responsibilities on the staff, which increases stress. Gdowski said he thinks educators have been pushed to the edge in the last couple of years regarding workload and expectations.

“There’s more and more that is expected on the federal level, the state level, the local level, from parents pushing on us, and then to add to it, this year has (had) really intense student behaviors and

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Fort Lupton Press 13

May 12, 2022

State to spend $28 million to fund free summer trips RTD officials hope bus and train program will form ridership habits

BY JESSE PAUL THE COLORADO SUN

If you build it, will they really come?

Or, more specifically, if you make transit free for one month will Coloradans start riding it and then come back when they have to pay?

Democratic lawmakers and Gov. Jared Polis hope the answer is “yes” as they prepare to spend $28 million on a program aimed at easing air pollution in Colorado, particularly during summer months when ozone levels are high.

Senate Bill 180 would allocate the money to let public transportation agencies, primarily the Regional Transportation District in the Denver area, offer free train and bus trips. RTD plans to use the money to offer free rides in August 2022 and 2023.

The idea, first unveiled by the governor late last year, is to get Coloradans to try out transit in the hopes that they will form a habit.

“We want to increase ridership because we want to increase the use of public transit because that helps our air quality,” said state Rep. Matt Gray, a Broomfield Democrat and prime sponsor of the measure.

But not everyone believes that the adage “if you build it they will come” applies in this case. RTD’s ridership is still recovering from the pandemic and the funding comes without data showing it’s a sure bet.

“Maybe if we would have come up with a bill that said each individual gets a free lunch or a Rockies ticket or a Broncos ticket maybe people would start to ride it more,” said Sen. Ray Scott, a Grand Junction Republican and frequent critic of transit initiatives. “But I think it’s such a false premise to believe just because we keep throwing more money at these issues that it’s going to solve the problem.”

An example in Utah — kind of There’s not a lot of evidence to

SCHOOLS FROM PAGE 12

force must be addressed, she said.

Some of that could also start with more apprentice programs and the recruitment of teachers.

“How do we go into our com-

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indicate that the idea behind Senate Bill 180 will work. Proponents of the measure often point to Salt Lake City, where the Utah Transit Authority in February raised money to offer free transit trips.

State Sen. Faith Winter, a Westminster Democrat and another prime sponsor of the measure, called the UTA initiative “highly successful,” but the data is difficult to parse because of how COVID-19 has affected ridership.

The UTA, which serves seven counties in the Salt Lake City area, raised about $2.5 million to offer the free trips and reported surging ridership in February over January on weekdays (up 16.2%), Saturdays (up 58.1%) and Sundays (up 32.5%).

The UTA conducted a survey and found that 22% of riders in February were new, 72% of whom said they were riding because the service was free. Those new riders said they would ride RTA more frequently if it were free. But the survey didn’t ask people if they were more likely to continue using transit if they had to pay.

Megan Waters, the community engagement manager at UTA, said the agency was pleased with the increased ridership, but she admitted it’s tough to truly gauge how offering free transit trips affected ridership given that passenger numbers still haven’t returned to prepandemic levels, including during free-fare February.

January was also when the omicron coronavirus variant was spreading across the country. By February, the variant’s spread had slowed.

“I think right now we are in a really rough time to compare, with the pandemic changing all the time,” she said.

Waters said that while UTA was interested in seeing how offering free fares in February would affect ridership, the goal of the initiative wasn’t necessarily to build longterm passenger habits, which is why the agency’s poll didn’t ask about riders returning when they had to pay. The main goal was to improve air quality during a particularly bad air season in the Salt Lake City area.

“I did not personally bet on this because of what we saw in Utah,”

said state Rep. Jennifer Bacon, a Denver Democrat who is working on the bill. “But what I bet on is we know that for a certain period of time, it helps us to get more cars off the road. Let’s give it a shot — and that includes the upside of being able to maybe capture new riders.”

munity? How do we recruit those moms that want a schedule that maybe matches their child? How close are they to a teaching license? Do we have parents in our buildings that we could train to get them into our pipeline?” she asked.

LeBlanc-Esparza suggested businesses give employees an opportunity to take a day and volunteer as

substitute teachers.

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Setting up transit agencies for success The original plan for Senate Bill 180 was to offer free fares on ozone alert days, of which there were 65 between May 31, 2021, and Aug. 31, 2021, the highest on record.

But the proponents of the measure decided that wouldn’t necessarily breed success. For instance, RTD, which would receive $11 million in each of the next two years to waive its fares, has been struggling to hire drivers and would want to be prepared for any increase in ridership caused by waiving fares.

Instead of offering free fares on ozone days, RTD and the bill’s sponsors settled on waiving fares for the whole month of August in 2022 and 2023.

Troy Whitmore, who sits on the RTD board of directors, told lawmakers that his agency is concerned about having enough drivers for a free-fare August and whether it can handle the corresponding security needs.

Winter said the important thing is that when people get on an RTD train or bus during free-fare August that they are inclined to come back.

“We want to make sure we’re setting up all the agencies for success,” Winter said. “And so when we’re asking RTD to provide free transit, that’s not just about farebox replacement, that’s about hiring and recruiting drivers. It’s about cleanliness and safety and security.

We need this to be a success. We need the experience to be great.”

As for how RTD plans to encourage people to use the free transit, a spokeswoman for the agency said “it’s too early to talk about our plans for fare-free August.”

“RTD is preliminarily preparing internally how to implement fare-free transit if the bill passes,” spokeswoman Marta Sipeki said.

Proponents of the measure expect RTD to advertise the waived fares.

The $22 million can also be used for

Advice to businesses The coalition offered ways businesses can help stem the teacher shortage, some included creating and supporting scholarships for teacher apprenticeships, funding teachers in an innovative business model based on retention outcomes

that purpose.

In Salt Lake City, the UTA relied on earned media — i.e. stories in local news outlets — and partner organizations to get the word out about its free-fare February. The state’s transportation department posted about the initiative on its digital highway road signs. And, finally, UTA did purchase some billboards to advertise the program.

“I would not say we spent heavily,” said Waters, UTA’s community engagement manager.

Whitmore said RTD will “have a full-fledged PR campaign,” but the details of that campaign appear to still be in the works. He also said RTD isn’t sure how well free-fare August will work out.

“I don’t know that we have a good estimate,” Whitmore said.

What else is in the bill RTD isn’t the only Colorado transit agency that would benefit from Senate Bill 180.

The legislation also sets aside $6 million to allocate $3 million in each of the next two years to other transit agencies — including the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority that serves people in the Aspen and Glenwood Springs area — so that they, too, could offer free fares in the summer. Agencies would have to apply for grants from the Colorado Energy Office.

“Every transit agency in the state is eligible and I would expect them all to apply,” said Sen. Nick Hinrischsen, a Pueblo Democrat and prime sponsor of the bill.

The measure also would allocate $30 million to the Colorado Department of Transportation to establish a pilot project to expand transit, including through additional bus trips on Interstate 70 and Interstate 25.

Senate Bill 180 is awaiting final approval in the House.

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. and creating or contributing to a living wage fund to make child care more available and affordable for teachers.

“In the end, until we have more resources that allow us to spread workload amongst more people, I fear that we’re going to continue to have the same challenges,” Gdowski said.

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14 Fort Lupton Press

May 12, 2022

Jared Polis injects another $5.2 million into his campaign Republicans lag Democrats in statewide contests

a.m. May 3. The deadline was 10 p.m.

May 2.

Here’s a deeper look at cash in Colorado’s statewide contests.

BY SANDRA FISH THE COLORADO SUN

Two gubernatorial candidates selffund, one significantly more than the other In the first four months of 2022, Polis brought his total personal campaign contributions to more than $5.9 million, while also raising about $402,000 from donors despite limiting his contributions to $100 a year from individuals.

His campaign had nearly $5 million in cash on April 27, though that doesn’t reflect his spending on TV ad reservations.

Ganahl, a University of Colorado regent and the only remaining statewide elected Republican, put another $150,000 of her own money into her campaign, bringing her total fourmonth fundraising haul to nearly $377,000. She’s raised $1 million since announcing her candidacy, with $400,000 coming from her own pocket.

Ganahl originally pledged to limit her campaign spending to $3.4 million, allowing her to collect double the $1,250 contribution limit for individual donations to gubernatorial candidates. She backed out of that pledge in late January, but not before she raised $165,000 in larger contributions from 135 donors.

The campaign paid Blitz Canvassing, a signature-gathering firm, more than $212,000 between January and March. The campaign had a little more than $200,000 in the bank heading into May. Lopez’s fundraising lags far behind Ganahl’s. Lopez raised only $36,000 in the first four months of the year, bringing his election-cycle total to less than $106,000. And he had only $16,000 in cash at the end of April.

Then there’s Danielle Neuschwanger, who failed to make the Republican ballot at the assembly and instead is running for governor under the American Constitution Party banner. She raised nearly $73,000 in the first four months of the year and loaned her

Democratic Gov. Jared Polis, a multimillionaire, poured $5.2 million of his own money into his reelection campaign in the first four months of this year, signaling that he is willing to open his pockets to secure another four years leading Colorado.

Polis used that infusion to schedule $3.4 million worth of TV advertising for September and October.

The two Republicans running in the June 28 primary for a chance to unseat Polis are significantly lagging behind the incumbent, who spent more than $23 million to secure his first term in 2018, in fundraising.

In fact, all of the GOP candidates for statewide office are lagging behind their Democratic opponents when it comes to campaign cash.

Campaign finance reports filed with the Secretary of State’s Office on May 2 provide the first glimpse of how the June 28 primary election and the Nov. 8 general election are shaping up in terms of candidates’ financial warchests. They cover fundraising and spending from Jan. 1 through April 27.

Polis and three other Democratic incumbents are using their cash advantage already to line up TV ad time in the weeks before the general election. And super PACs are raising money to support Democrats in three of the four statewide contests.

Meanwhile, two leading GOP candidates — Heidi Ganahl, who is running for governor, and Pam Anderson, who is running for secretary of state — spent significant sums in the first four months of the year to collect petition signatures to make the primary ballot. Both face primary opponents who made the ballot at April’s raucous GOP assembly.

And Republican Tina Peters, the indicted Mesa County Clerk running for secretary of state, had yet to file her campaign finance report as of 9

campaign another $33,000, bringing her total personal investment to nearly $69,000. She had $15,000 in cash on April 27.

As the candidates compete, the super PAC Strong Colorado for All, which supports Democrats, was sitting on $467,000 in cash at the end of April, some of it from the Democratic Governors Association. That money presumably will be used to support Polis in the fall.

Dems also lead among other statewide campaigns Democratic Secretary of State Jena Griswold raised nearly $875,000 between January and April 27, which her campaign says is a record since at least 2000 for a candidate for secretary of state, attorney general or treasurer in a single filing period.

That brings her election-cycle total to $2.5 million. She had more than $301,000 in cash at the end of April after reserving nearly $1.8 million worth of ad time in the weeks leading up to the election.

Peters, Griswold’s most high-profile GOP opponent and perhaps the most polarizing candidate in Colorado’s 2022 election, failed to file a campaign finance report, triggering an automatic $50 fine for each day the report is late.

A grand jury indicted Peters earlier this year in a security breach of her county’s election system. And Griswold is asking a judge to remove Peters from overseeing this year’s election, as she did in 2021.

Anderson, a former Jefferson County clerk, raised about $51,000 in the first four months of the year, paying Blitz Canvassing $70,000 over that span for petition signatures. She had only about $6,000 in the bank on April 27.

Mike O’Donnell, a former nonprofit executive from the Eastern Plains who also made the GOP primary ballot in the secretary of state’s race via the state assembly, raised only about $3,100 in the first fundraising period of the year, while putting more than $53,000 of his own cash into his campaign. He had about $38,000 in cash on hand to end April.

Once her Republican opponent is set, Griswold likely will get help from Defend Democracy Fund, a super PAC created to support her that raised more than $508,000 in the first four months of the year.

Attorney General Phil Weiser raised $512,000 in the first four months of the year, bringing his election-cycle total to $3.2 million.

He reserved more than $1 million in fall TV ad time, and still had $1.6 million in the bank to begin May. Weiser will face Republican John Kellner, the district attorney in the 18th Judicial District, in November.

Kellner raised $106,000 in the first few months of his campaign, and had about $84,000 in cash on April 27.

Weiser can expect help from the DAGA Colorado People’s Lawyer Project, a super PAC that raised $193,000 in the first four months of the year. DAGA stands for the Democratic Attorneys General Association. It’s unclear if Republicans have a similar independent spending committee to support Kellner, though in the past the Republican Attorneys General Association has supported GOP candidates in Colorado.

The state treasurer’s contest is more low-key in terms of fundraising than the other three statewide races, but the Democratic incumbent has a similar cash advantage.

Incumbent Democratic Treasurer Dave Young raised nearly $100,000, bringing his total raised during the election cycle to $387,000. After making a $169,000 TV ad reservation, Young had about $94,000 in cash to end April.

His GOP opponent, former state representative and lieutenant governor candidate Lang Sias, raised $51,000. He had about $59,000 in cash left at the end of last month.

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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Fort Lupton Press 15

May 12, 2022

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

© 2016 King Features Synd., Inc.

Solution

TRIVIA 1. GEOGRAPHY: Dubai is the largest city of which country?

2. U.S. PRESIDENTS: What was President Richard Nixon’s Secret Service code name?

3. TELEVISION: In which year did the first episode of the animated comedy “South Park” air?

4. HISTORY: What was the former name of the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River?

5. MUSIC: Which instrument is Pablo Cassals famous for playing?

6. LITERATURE: What are the names of Harry Potter’s deceased parents in the book series?

7. LANGUAGE: What does the Latin phrase “bona fide” mean?

8. ANIMAL KINGDOM: What is a baby fish called?

9. ACRONYMS: What does BMW stand for?

10. MOVIES: What is the song playing in the famous twist

scene of “Pulp Fiction”?

Answers 1. United Arab Emirates 2. Searchlight 3. 1997 4. Boulder Dam, for a short time in the 1940s 5. The cello 6. James and Lily 7. In good faith 8. A fry or fingerling 9. Bavarian Motor Works 10. “You Never Can Tell,” Chuck Berry

(c) 2022 King Features Synd., Inc.

Crossword Solution

16 Fort Lupton Press

May 12, 2022

www.ColoradoCommunityMedia.com/Notices

PUBLIC NOTICES

Public Notices call 303-566-4123 Legals City and County Public Notice RESOLUTION NO. 2022R032 A RESOLUTION OF THE FORT LUPTON UTILITY ENTERPRISE BOARD APPROVING WATER USE RESTRICTIONS FOR 2022 EFFECTIVE JUNE 1, 2022 WHEREAS, Colorado and the Front Range region has been in the grip of a severe drought for the past several years, requiring water conservation and other measures; and WHEREAS, Fort Lupton was included in that drought area and may experience reduction or other limitations in its water supplies; and WHEREAS, certain measures are necessitated to protect the community’s water supplies due to the drought.

WHEREAS, due to heat and other natural processes, outdoor watering during the day evaporates much faster than watering during the evening thus requiring more water to accomplish the same task; and WHEREAS, the Fort Lupton Municipal Code requires publication in the newspaper prior to the effective date of the restriction and such notice shall be published; and WHEREAS, there is the need to implement exemptions which include watering with nonpotable water systems, Commercial Car Wash(s) and newly installed lawns.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City of Fort Lupton Utility Enterprise Board approves the 2022 water restrictions as defined in Exhibit “A”.

APPROVED AND ADOPTED BY THE FORT LUPTON CITY COUNCIL THIS 3rd DAY OF MAY, 2022.

City of Fort Lupton, Colorado ______________________ Zo Stieber-Hubbard, Mayor Attest: ______________________ Maricela Peña, City Clerk Approved as to form: _______________________ Andy Ausmus, City Attorney Exhibit A CITY OF FORT LUPTON 2022 WATER USE RESTRICTIONS 1. No outside watering will be allowed between the hours of 10:00 am and 6:00 pm from June 1, 2022 through August 31, 2022.

2. Exceptions/Exclusions: a. Nonpotable irrigation system in use. b. New lawns (new sod or seed) may receive one three week waiver, per address, per calendar year, to be allowed to water during restricted times.

Waivers must be applied for at City Hall and once received, must be prominently displayed in a window facing the street or, if there is no window, a door facing the street will be accepted. Waivers will be granted during the period June 1, 2022 through August 31, 2022. c. Vehicles may be washed at residential locations, provided that bucket or a hand held hose attached to a shut-off nozzle is utilized. Washing a car during prohibited times with a hose that does not contain a shut-off nozzle will be considered a violation of the outdoor water use restrictions. d. Commercial car washes.

Legal Notice No. FLP624 First Publication: May 12, 2022 Last Publication: May 12, 2022 Publisher: Fort Lupton Press

City of Ft. Lupton Public Notice CITY OF FORT LUPTON 4/20/22-5/03/22 EXPENDITURES Payment Date Number Vendor Name Payment Amount 04/19/2022 71413 A TO Z ELEVATOR INSPECTIONS LLC 217.00 04/19/2022 71414 AAA AUTO PARTS INC 820.21 04/19/2022 71415 AB COURT REPORTING & VIDEO 279.00

04/19/2022 71416 ADAMSON POLICE PRODUCTS 6.95 04/19/2022 71417 ADT SECURITY SYSTEM 133.41 04/19/2022 71418 AMAZON.COM 597.87 04/19/2022 71419 BANK OF COLORADO 410.96 04/19/2022 71420 BG’S JAPANESE DESIGNS 311.00 04/19/2022 71421 BURNS & MCDONNELL ENGINEERING CO INC 86,421.50 04/19/2022 71422 CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 48.00 04/19/2022 71423 COLORADO ANALYTICAL LAB 48.00 04/19/2022 71424 COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA 450.00 04/19/2022 71425 COMCAST BUSINESS 2,177.78 04/19/2022 71426 DXP ENTERPRISES INC 74.16 04/19/2022 71427 E-470 PUBLIC HIGHWAY AUTHORITY 10.35 04/19/2022 71428 ERGOMED 1,175.00 04/19/2022 71429 EXCLAIMER LTD 2,214.00 04/19/2022 71430 FORT LUPTON CAR WASH231.75 04/19/2022 71431 FORT LUPTON PACK & SHIP 19.15 04/19/2022 71432 GREEN MILL SPORTSMAN’S CLUB 150.00 04/19/2022 71433 INTERMOUNTAIN CONTROLS NICHOLS-GIVEN 2,743.72 04/19/2022 71434 LEONARD B. MEDOFF, Ph.D. 350.00 04/19/2022 71435 R & L TIRES 15.00 04/19/2022 71436 R & M SERVICES 1,562.78 04/19/2022 71437 STATE OF COLORADO 4,691.88 04/19/2022 71438 SYNERGETIC STAFFING LLC 940.80 04/19/2022 71439 TAIT & ASSOCIATES, INC. 673.20 04/19/2022 71440 TODD HODGES DESIGN, LLC 8,706.25 04/19/2022 71441 TOSHIBA FINANCIAL SERVICES 2,845.38 04/19/2022 71442 TRUDILIGENCE LLC 274.66 04/22/2022 71453 ADAMS COUNTY CLERK OF COURTS 287.61 04/22/2022 71454 COLORADO DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE 353.38 04/22/2022 71455 FAMILY SUPPORT REGISTRY 25.84 04/26/2022 71456 AAA AUTO PARTS INC 9.11 04/26/2022 71457 ABBEY GEERDES 313.56 04/26/2022 71458 ADAMSON POLICE PRODUCTS 10.00 04/26/2022 71459 ADVANCED EXERCISE 9,260.00 04/26/2022 71460 AMERITAS LIFE INSURANCE CORP 7,545.48 04/26/2022 71461 AUSMUS LAW FIRM PC 1,200.00 04/26/2022 71462 BUCKEYE CLEANING CENTER 229.09 04/26/2022 71463 BURNS & MCDONNELL ENGINEERING CO INC 33,372.50 04/26/2022 71464 CITY OF FORT LUPTON 1,229.00 04/26/2022 71465 COLORADO ANALYTICAL LAB 48.00 04/26/2022 71466 COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA 312.44 04/26/2022 71467 COLORADO PAVING INC 353,876.41 04/26/2022 71468 COMCAST CABLE COMM, LLC 220.04 04/26/2022 71469 DELL MARKETING LP 1,945.46 04/26/2022 71470 EMPLOYERS COUNCIL SERVICES, INC 500.00 04/26/2022 71471 FASTENAL COMPANY 01COFTL 98.95 04/26/2022 71472 FORT LUPTON VETERINARY 2,475.00 04/26/2022 71473 HUMANA HEALTH PLAN INC 89,631.08 04/26/2022 71474 ID EDGE INC 216.50 04/26/2022 71475 INTERMOUNTAIN CONTROLS NICHOLS-GIVEN 4,105.94 04/26/2022 71476 J & T CONSULTING INC 6,835.00 04/26/2022 71477 JOHN DEERE FINANCIAL 56.36 04/26/2022 71478 KONE INC 140.80 04/26/2022 71479 LL JOHNSON DISTRIBUTING 1,300.35 04/26/2022 71480 MEANDERING WITH MARY 100.00 04/26/2022 71481 O’REILLY AUTO

legals2@coloradocommunitymedia.com

PARTS 3.49 04/26/2022 71482 PINNACOL ASSURANCE 18,230.00 04/26/2022 71483 PUSH-PEDALPULL 245.72 04/26/2022 71484 QUALITY OF COLORADO 227.35 04/26/2022 71485 SYMMETRY ENERGY SOLUTIONS LLC 5,087.32 04/26/2022 71486 SYNERGETIC STAFFING LLC 940.80 04/26/2022 71487 THE CONSOLIDATED MUTUAL 205.10 04/26/2022 71488 TONIA HAMBLIN 100.00 04/26/2022 71489 TYLER TECHNOLOGIES 639.40 04/26/2022 71490 UPSTATE COLORADO ECONOMIC 10,000.00 04/26/2022 71491 USA BLUE BOOK 834.69 04/26/2022 71492 VECTOR DISEASE CONTROL 3,056.66 04/26/2022 71493 VELOCITY PLANT SERVICES 2,640.83 04/26/2022 71494 WELD COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE 29.71 04/26/2022 71495 WILLIAMS AND WEISS CONSULTING 6,355.00 04/27/2022 71496 NORTHERN WATER 9,820.00 05/03/2022 71497 ACTIVE CABLING & COMMUNICATIONS LLC 110.00 05/03/2022 71498 ADAMSON POLICE PRODUCTS 2,269.98 05/03/2022 71499 AFLAC 2,170.30 05/03/2022 71500 BADGER METER 3,880.56 05/03/2022 71501 BG’S JAPANESE DESIGNS 46.00 05/03/2022 71502 BRANDING BY BRE 2,750.00 05/03/2022 71503 COLORADO CASINO NIGHTS 180.00 05/03/2022 71504 COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA 35.08 05/03/2022 71505 COLORADO DEPT OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT 406.85 05/03/2022 71506 COLORADO PRIMA 50.00 05/03/2022 71507 COMCAST BUSINESS 2,077.63 05/03/2022 71508 COOPER LOGAN 400.00 05/03/2022 71509 DIVISION OF OIL & PUBLIC SAFETY 60.00 05/03/2022 71510 EWING IRRIGATION PRODUCTS INC 1,030.50 05/03/2022 71511 EWING IRRIGATION PRODUCTS INC 750.00 05/03/2022 71512 FASTENAL COMPANY 01COFTL 12.11 05/03/2022 71513 FLAGSHIP PUBLISHING INC 500.00 05/03/2022 71514 FRONT RANGE LUMBER COMPANY 127.62 05/03/2022 71515 IMPERIAL CUSTOM CONCRETE, LLC 102,526.50 05/03/2022 71516 JOHN DEERE FINANCIAL 319.26 05/03/2022 71517 LEGACY SCHOOL OF DANCE LLC 875.00 05/03/2022 71518 LISA VANDEBERG 180.07 05/03/2022 71519 LOUIS A GRESH 1,500.00 05/03/2022 71520 MINUTEMAN PRESS 173.49 05/03/2022 71521 MIRACLE RECREATION EQUIP 63.81 05/03/2022 71522 SYMMETRY ENERGY SOLUTIONS LLC 4,575.20 05/03/2022 71523 THE CONSOLIDATED MUTUAL 254,663.04 05/03/2022 71524 TODD HODGES DESIGN, LLC 8,478.75 05/03/2022 71525 TOSHIBA FINANCIAL SERVICES 283.52 05/03/2022 71526 UNITED SITE SERVICES 1,213.86 05/03/2022 71527 VELOCITY PLANT SERVICES 2,039.40 05/03/2022 71528 WASTE CONNECTIONS OF COLO, INC 253.82 05/03/2022 71529 WHITE BEAR ANKELE TANAKA & WALDRON 730.31 05/03/2022 71530 XCEL ENERGYGAS 229.40 05/03/2022 71531 COLONIAL LIFE 105.96 05/03/2022 71532 STANDARD INSURANCE CO. 5,369.59 04/22/2022 DFT0001935 BANK OF COLORADO 6,007.87 04/22/2022 DFT0001936 BANK OF COLORADO 675.83 04/22/2022 DFT0001937 VALIC_1 33,742.76 04/22/2022 DFT0001938 IRS 58,484.93 04/22/2022 DFT0001939 CO DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE 10,856.00

5/3/2022 EFT Merchant Bankcard Interchange Fee 588.94 5/3/2022 EFT Merchant Bankcard Discount Fee 560.02 5/3/2022 EFT Merchant Bankcard Fee 142.58 5/3/2022 EFT Merchant Bankcard Fee 60.37 5/2/2022 EFT FDMS 64.02 4/29/2022EFT Bank of Colorado 446.90 4/22/2022EFT National Benefit Services 174.63 4/29/2022EFT National Benefit Services 4,390.59 5/2/2022 EFT Bank of Colorado 36,364.92 4/20/2022EFT Simplifile 15.25 4/28/2022EFT Simplifile 45.50 5/2/2022 EFT Bank of Colorado 22.00

Misc. Private Legals Public Notice The Lupton Meadows Ditch Company a Colorado Corporation has been notified and an official Demand made for the issue of a replacement stock certificate for the following original certificate.

Certificate# 654 for seventy-nine shares issued to Public Trustee for the Farm Credit Bank, lien holder and Johnson and Smith LLP equity owners. Should anyone feel that they have a right or claim of interest or ownership of said Certificate an official notice and claim shall be made with the Company Secretary, Howard Cantrell, 11016 CR 23, Ft Lupton CO 80621. Such notice shall be made within 30 days of the last publication of this notice which shall be on May26, 2022 . If no Claims have been received by the end of the 30 day period other than by the filer of the original notification, the Company shall issue a replacement certificate and any and all rights under the original certificate shall immediately cease and there can be no further assertions or claims made against the Company with regards to the original certificate. This is in accordance with CRS 7-42114 to 7-42-117.

Legal Notice No. FLP608 First Publication: April 28, 2022 Last Publication: May26, 2022 Publisher: Fort Lupton Press

c/o Erica Gajda, Robinson and Henry, Personal Representative 11080 Circle Point Road, Suite 140 Westminster, CO 80231 Legal Notice No: FLP610 First Publication: April 28, 2022 Last Publication: May 12, 2022 Publisher: Fort Lupton Press PUBLIC NOTICE

All persons having claims against the above named estate are required to present them to the Personal Representative or to District Court of Weld County, Colorado on or before September 1, 2022, or the claims may be forever barred.

Shari M. DeOllos Personal Representative /o Warren, Carlson & Moore, LLP PO Box 610 Niwot, CO 80544-0610 Legal Notice No.FLP613 First publication: April 28, 2022 Last publication: May 12, 2022 Publisher: Fort Lupton Press PUBLIC NOTICE NOTICE TO CREDITORS Estate of Sean Michael Shellman, deceased Case Number: 2022PR30262

All persons having claims against the above named estate are required to present them to the Personal Representative or to District Court of Weld County, Colorado on or before September 05 2022, or the claims may be forever barred.

Marcia Drysdale Personal Representative 301 S. Main St. Cochrane, WI 54622

Public Notice The Lupton Meadows Ditch Company a Colorado Corporation has been notified and an official Demand made for the issue of a replacement stock certificate for the following original certificate. Certificate# 667 for ten shares issued Johnson and Smith LLP. Should anyone feel that they have a right or claim of interest or ownership of said Certificate an official notice and claim shall be made with the Company Secretary, Howard Cantrell, 11016 CR 23, Ft Lupton CO 80621. Such notice shall be made within 30 days of the last publication of this notice which shall be on May 26, 2022. If no Claims have been received by the end of the 30 day period other than by the filer of the original notification, the Company shall issue a replacement certificate and any and all rights under the original certificate shall immediately cease and there can be no further assertions or claims made against the Company with regards to the original certificate. This is in accordance with CRS 7-42-114 to 7-42-117.

Legal Notice No. FLP607 First Publication: April 28, 2022 Last Publication: May 26, 2022 Publisher: Fort Lupton Press

Legal Notice No.FLP621 First publication: May 05, 2022 Last publication: May 19, 2022 Publisher: Fort Lupton Press Public Notice NOTICE TO CREDITORS Estate of KENNETH E. FORSTER, a/k/a KENNETH EDWARD FORSTER, a/k/a KEN E. FORSTER, a/k/a KEN EDWARD FORSTER, a/k/a KENNETH FORSTER, a/k/a KEN FORSTER, Deceased Case Number: 2022PR30230

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 on or before September 5, 2022, or the claims may be forever barred.

Peter Conrad Forster, Personal Representative 35492 WCR 43 Eaton CO 80615 Legal Notice No. FLP620 First Publication: May 5, 2022 Last Publication: May 19, 2022 Publisher: Fort Lupton Press

Notice to Creditors

Name Changes

Public Notice Estate of Norma Lou Sitzman, Deceased Case Number 2022PR030215

PUBLIC NOTICE

All persons having claims against the above named estate are required to present them to the personal representative or to District Court of Weld, County, Colorado on or before September 5, 2022, or the claims may be forever barred.

S. Blake Harris, Esq. #45942 Attorney to the Personal Representative 1660 17th Street, Suite 120 Denver, CO 80202

Public Notice

All persons having claims against the abovenamed estate are required to present them to the Personal Representative or to the District Court of Clear Creek County, Colorado on or before August 28, 2022, or the claims may be forever barred.

NOTICE TO CREDITORS Estate of JESSE MANUEL DeOLLOS, JR., aka JESSE M. DeOLLOS, JR., aka JESSE M. DeOLLOS, aka JESSE DeOLLOS,, Deceased Case Number: 2022PR30202

Legal Notice No. FLP624 First Publication: May 12, 2022 Last Publication: May 12, 2022 Publisher: Fort Lupton Press

Legal Notice No. FLP617 First Publication: May 5, 2022 Last Publication: May 19, 2022 Publisher: Fort Lupton Press

NOTICE TO CREDITORS VICTORIA HIGGINS a/k/a VICTORIA MARIE HIGGINS a/k/a VICTORIA M. HIGGINS , Deceased Case Number: 22PR30050

Public Notice of Petition for Change of Name

Public notice is given on May 3, 2022 that a Petition for a Change of Name of an Adult has been filed with the Weld County Court.

The petition requests that the name of Katie Joyce Shields be changed to Katie Joyce Salcines Case No.: 22C388 Rachael Erickson By: Deputy Clerk Legal Notice No. FLP626 First Publication: May 12, 2022 Last Publication: May 26, 2022 Publisher: Fort Lupton Press

Fort Lupton Press May 12, 2022 * 1

Fort Lupton Press 17

May 12, 2022

When will COVID vaccines be approved for young kids?

Polis wants to speed up the approval timeline

BY JOHN INGOLD THE COLORADO SUN

In his practice as a pediatrician, Dr. Sean O’Leary gets a lot of calls from worried parents. And, lately, one kind of call has begun to stand out.

“The parents I hear from are the ones who are reaching out to me desperately because they want their kids to have a COVID vaccine,” he said.

O’Leary is an infectious disease specialist at Children’s Hospital Colorado and also a professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. But he is perhaps best known as an international expert on childhood immunization, a role that sees him involved in an advisory capacity with the federal vaccine approval process.

So parents call him, thinking he may have some inside knowledge on when vaccines will be available for the only age group not yet eligible for vaccination against COVID-19: Kids under the age of 5.

It’s been a long wait for Colorado’s youngest residents to get a vaccine — now 26 months into the pandemic and 17 months since the first adults began receiving COVID vaccines. But plenty of signs are finally starting to signal a change.

“The good news is that we will almost certainly have at least one vaccine and maybe two ready pretty soon here,” O’Leary said.

The bad news: There’s probably still a couple more months of waiting.

The long road to a vaccine for young kids Two companies are aiming for approval of vaccines for children under the age of 5: Moderna and Pfizer. Both companies are using reduced-dosage versions of their adult COVID vaccines. And both are expected to soon come up for federal approval.

Moderna last week formally asked the federal government to approve its two-dose vaccine for kids ages 6 months through 5 years. The Food and Drug Administration set dates in June to discuss the request.

Those meetings could potentially also see discussion about the Pfizer vaccine, O’Leary said.

The company is expected soon to announce the results of testing on a third dose of its vaccine for kids 6 months through 4 years. (Pfizer’s vaccine already has approval for everyone ages 5 and up, while Moderna’s is approved only for adults, ages 18 and older.)

But it hasn’t been an easy road to get to this point.

Pfizer earlier this year released data on a two-dose regimen of its vaccine for young kids and subsequently requested federal approval. But, while the numbers looked good for kids in the 6 months to 2 years age range, they were underwhelming for kids older than that,

SHUTTERSTOCK

and the federal government opted to hold off until the results of Pfizer’s tests on a third dose came in.

“It’s not something you would want to rush without having all the data,” O’Leary said.

Mounting frustration among some parents While caution is appreciated, it hasn’t been enough to stave off rising frustration among some parents — including the state’s most powerful parent, Gov. Jared Polis.

Late last month, Polis — whose children are old enough to be vaccinated — sent a letter to President Joe Biden urging him to speed up approval for COVID vaccines for kids under age 5.

Polis wrote in the letter that it is “immoral to wait any longer” on approving the Pfizer vaccine for children ages 6 months to 2 years and he urged Biden not to wait to approve the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines together.

Polis wrote that federal regulators should approve the vaccine applications “as soon as they are ready and the data is sufficient.”

“Colorado parents have been told, over and over again, that COVID-19 vaccines are on the horizon for their children,” Polis wrote. “They deserve the choice of vaccinating their children and peace of mind. The lack of transparency and opaque communication from vaccine manufacturers and the FDA is eroding trust.”

O’Leary said he understands the frustration.

“I wish we had a vaccine for these kids six months ago,” he said.

Why is it taking so long?

To O’Leary, the lengthy timeline for approval isn’t really a surprise.

He said it’s entirely normal for regulators to need several weeks to review data on vaccine safety and efficacy, especially when it is a “rolling submission” like what Moderna is doing, meaning data are submitted over time instead of all at once. And pediatric vaccines are always subject to extra scru-

tiny because regulators want to be especially sure they are safe.

In his letter, Polis expressed concerns about federal regulators waiting until they have data from both Pfizer and Moderna before they make a decision. But O’Leary said he doesn’t think that’s what’s happening. Rather, he said it appears it’s just going to work out that both will be ready to review at the same time.

It also makes sense to review the two vaccines together, if possible, O’Leary said. What if one works better than another for this age group? Wouldn’t you want that to be part of the federal government’s recommendations?

“Honestly I don’t see it particularly as a delay,” he said.

It’s also important to keep this frustration in perspective.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s most recent poll on parents’ attitudes toward vaccination, only 18% of parents of kids under 5 intend to get their children vaccinated as soon as they possibly can. A far bigger chunk — 38% — say they want to wait and see. And another 38% say they either won’t vaccinate their young kids or will only do so if required.

O’Leary believes it is important that young kids get vaccinated against COVID — they can suffer serious consequences from a coronavirus infection. But he said the delay in approving the vaccines likely doesn’t come at a very high cost to children.

Statistically, kids under 5 are the least likely to get seriously ill or be hospitalized if infected.

O’Leary put the risk on par with other daily activities that also carry some potential for peril, like riding in a car at the risk of an accident.

“The risk to young kids for hospitalization from COVID is in line with some of the infectious diseases we’ve dealt with for decades, like flu or RSV,” he said.

Recalibrating expectations for efficacy When the federal government does approve the vaccines for young children and releases all

the clinical trial data, O’Leary said parents will need to adjust their focus and expectations.

The headline-grabbing numbers when vaccines were approved for adults were for efficacy — 90%+ protection from symptomatic COVID. But efficacy at preventing infection has lagged in kids under 5 for both Moderna’s and Pfizer’s vaccines. Moderna’s vaccine, for instance, was only about 50% effective at preventing infection in kids 6 months to 2 years, and only 37% effective in kids 2 through 5.

The vaccines were tested against different versions of the virus, though, O’Leary said. The vaccines for adults were formulated and tested during waves of the original COVID variants, while the vaccines for kids were tested during the days of omicron, which is better at causing breakthrough infections. In a news release, Moderna said its pediatric efficacy rates were on par with the protection its vaccine provided adults against omicron.

O’Leary also said efficacy against infection doesn’t matter as much now as it once did.

“We want to be thinking about what is the protection against severe outcomes,” he said.

Moderna reported no hospitalizations for COVID among children in its clinical trial.

Watching out for rare side effects No major side effects have been reported so far from the clinical trials in young kids — about the most serious issue reported was a temporary fever. But the trials have been small, at least compared to the studies for the adult vaccines, which enrolled tens of thousands of participants.

O’Leary said it’s unlikely that there is a significant unknown side effect out there lurking just for small children. Hundreds of millions of doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have now been administered across the globe.

One concerning rare side effect seen in older kids and young adults, a heart condition called myocarditis, is not likely to be as prevalent in young kids, O’Leary said. Cases of myocarditis following COVID vaccination have generally tracked with the overall population curve of myocarditis cases — the condition is most common in teens and young adults, in general.

But he stressed that the nation’s vaccine monitoring system is in place to catch and address any unexpected effects.

“We have a pretty good idea of the side effect profile,” O’Leary said. “It would be surprising if we were to discover something different in these kids.”

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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Federal government to hold back water in drought-stricken Lake Powell

BY MICHAEL ELIZABETH SAKAS COLORADO PUBLIC RADIO

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced on May 3 emergency plans to protect Lake Powell on the Utah-Arizona border by holding back water releases to downstream states.

The reservoir has plummeted to its lowest level on record amid more than 20 years of record-breaking drought in the Colorado River Basin.

This is the first time the agency has moved to delay a release of water from Lake Powell that normally goes to Arizona, California and Nevada. Instead, the federal agency plans to keep more than 480,000 acre-feet of water in the reservoir to prop up supplies to protect hydropower production.

Lake Powell, the country’s second-largest reservoir, is fed by a Colorado River storage system that supplies water and hydroelectric power to millions of people across the West. Climate change is contributing to a steep and rapid decline in the available supply of water.

Water levels in the lake have dropped close to “dead pool,” the lowest point at which Glen Canyon Dam can generate hydropower. The Bureau of Reclamation is invoking its authority to change how the dam and the reservoir will operate

As drought conditions worsen, the federal government is taking unprecedented steps SHUTTERSTOCK to save Lake Powell.

this year to help ensure the dam’s turbines keep spinning.

In a separate action announced last month, upper-basin states worked with the Bureau of Reclamation on a plan to send another 500,000 acre-feet to Lake Powell from Flaming Gorge Reservoir on the Utah-Wyoming border under their drought response agreement for the year. A similar action was taken last year when water from Flaming Gorge and Blue Mesa

Reservoir in Colorado was sent to Powell because of drought and dropping reservoir levels. There are no plans to release additional water from Blue Mesa to Lake Powell this year.

The combined nearly 1 million acre-feet added to Lake Powell will help protect the reservoir and its infrastructure over the next 12-months. Tanya Trujillo, Interior Assistant Secretary for Water and Science, said the action gives the

agency more time to figure out how to operate Glen Canyon Dam at lower water levels.

Trujillo said the move to hold water in Lake Powell was an “extraordinary action.”

“We have never taken this step before in the Colorado River Basin, but the conditions we see today and the potential risks we see on the horizon demand that we take prompt action,” she said at a May 2 press conference.

Trujillo said the 30 Native American tribes in the basin were consulted, as were the states and partners in Mexico that also rely on the Colorado River. Trujillo said the agency received “consensus support” for these actions to protect Powell.

The federal government’s move to store more water in Lake Powell is a temporary solution. Trujillo said Colorado River water users need to “immediately engage” in developing additional conservation measures, including water recycling, innovative water storage ideas and repairing aging, inefficient pipes and other water infrastructure.

“We all have to find ways to maximize efficiency and use less water,” she said.

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

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