Fort Lupton Press 012623

Our in-depth look at the housing crisis

Council honors car dealer

Fort Lupton to rename Denver Avenue temporarily to honor Purifoy

BY STEVE SMITH SSMITH@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Fort Lupton’s Denver Avenue won’t have its regular name the first week in September.

Mayor Zo Hubbard proclaimed that Denver Avenue will be Purifoy Drive in honor of Rollie Purifoy, former owner of the longstanding car dealership. It was in business from 1960 until 2022, when Purifoy sold the business. It operates under the name Yoder Chevrolet in the 600 block of Denver Avenue.

Hubbard cited the firm’s “investment in and commitment to” the community and its assistance to the area’s economy. Purifoy also developed the Apple Farm subdivision.

Racial Inequities: Black Coloradans

often face barriers in homeownership

the applicants visited properties, landlords denied their applications. is happened over and over again.

BY NINA JOSS AND HALEY LENA NJOSS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM; HLENA@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

A few years ago, Aurora Warms the Night, an Aurora-based nonpro t serving people who need housing, ran into a challenge when assisting its Black clients in applying for apartments. When

So the team decided to take a di erent approach, sending in White volunteers to check out the apartments rst.

“I would send one of our employees or people that were White to look at the apartment — to get the pricing, get everything, to make sure everything was available,” said Brian Arnold, who was executive director of the group at

the time ve years ago. “After that, we did the application online and sent it in without them being able to see the person.”

Once the application got approved, the team at Aurora Warms the Night would let the real estate agents see the client was Black. Arnold said this process worked almost every time and became the organization’s own way of making a dent in the discrimination that people of color may face, but nd

The proclamation was part of Fort Lupton City Council’s Jan. 17 meeting.

Money time

Council also approved a $49,000 contract with Axon Enterprises. It provides taser equipment, bodyworn and mobile camera equipment and licensing.

“This is part 1 of 2,” Fort Lupton Police Chief John Fryar told the council. “We’ll have a smaller piece that we’ll do later in the year.”

The funds come from the general fund and the police department’s contractual services account.

Council also OK’d a $33,900 pact to replace one of the rooftop units at the recreation center. Assistant recreation director Julie Seedorf said the unit is irreparable. The money comes from the center’s capital expenditures account.

Fort Lupton honors Weld County’s Webster

Cattleman, commissioner, legislator remembered

BY STEVE SMITH SSMITH@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Fort Lupton City Council took a few minutes on Jan. 17 to remember longtime cattleman and former state legislator Bill Webster, who died earlier in the month at the age of 90.

Webster spent 30 years in the commercial cattle feeding business before serving as Weld County commissioner at large and four years in the state Legisla-

ture. He founded the Weld County Boys & Girls Club, served on the board of Safeway Stores Inc. and was active in many agricultural and community organizations, including the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and the president of the Weld County chapter of the CSU Alumni Association.

“He served the citizens of Weld County well. He served the citizens of the state well,” said Councilman Claud Hanes. “He left a mark on the state.”

Hanes also recounted a story

about a request from Boulder ofcials to relocate prairie dogs. “He told them to put tags on their ears to keep better track of them,” Hanes said. “He went to the state, and the state said they can’t carry prairie dogs across county lines.”

Webster met his wife, the former Sylvia West, on a blind date at the Greeley Rodeo fairgrounds. ey were married for 67 years.

“Bill Webster was an institution and played an enormous role in developing the cattle industry in Colorado,” according to his obituary on dignitymemorial.com. “He traveled the country giving lectures on the use of computerized

records to improve beef production and advocated consumer education and improved public relations. His numerous contributions are impossible to measure and, in 2017, earned him an induction into the FFA Colorado Agriculture Hall of Fame”

A celebration of life was Jan. 21, and a reception followed. In lieu of owers, the family requests that contributions be made to the Weld County Community Foundation in care of Allnutt Funeral Service at 6521 W. 20th St., Greeley 80634. Visit www.allnuttgreeley.com to send condolences to the family.

“He will be missed,” said Fort Lupton Mayor Zo Hubbard.

Jackson, Frederick HS assistant principal, dies of cancer

BY STEVE SMITH SSMITH@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Frederick High School assistant principal Doug Jackson died Jan. 13 after a two-year battle with cancer. He was 54.

Jackson had been an assistant principal at Frederick for 22 years. He worked alongside his former boss, Pete Vargas, for eight years.

“Doug was one of the smartest people I have ever met,” said Vargas, who is the principal at Harrison High School in Colorado Springs. “I used to tell him,

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‘Dude you know everything.’ But most of all he was great for kids. There was never a day when I saw him in a bad mood, always greeting students, always having conversations.”

On Facebook, former FHS student Brooklin LeBon said she talks highly about her highschool experience.

“One of those reasons was the staff,” she said. “Mr. Jackson always checked in, supported every sporting event and was one of the best assistant principals Frederick High School had. It was an honor to have such an incredible leader throughout my experience.”

“Doug was a great guy,” said FHS alumnus and softball coach Roger Dufour on Facebook. “He

coached for me for three years .. so calm and collective.”

Another FHS alum and present golf coach, Chris DeSantis, knew Jackson for almost 20 years.

“I got to know to you as a teacher and all the way to being my administrator as a head coach, and we would talk how the area grew,” DeSantis posted on Facebook. “The community was always lucky to have you. You gave me the chance to see you as a teacher but outside of classes.”

Funeral arrangements are incomplete. The St. Vrain School District’s crisis response team was available for staff and students.

“The passing of someone we know is always difficult and will affect each of us differently,” said a note sent to Frederick High School parents. Some may

recover quickly, yet others may take much longer to process their feelings.”

“Mr. Jackson had an impact on so many students throughout his career, and I hope that his legacy can continue throughout the halls of Frederick High School,” LeBon said.

“How sad,” said former student Nathan Cummins on Facebook. “Always had a huge smile on his face.”

“You were roughly the age I am now when we first met,” DeSantis said. “You taught me so much, and I thank you for always taking time out of your day to chat with me.”

“Doug even reached out to me when my brother passed in October,” Vargas said. “I had no clue he was sick. The conversation was checking on me. I’m going to miss him.”

readers

BY LINDA SHAPLEY, PUBLISHER

If you’ve paid even just a little bit of attention to the news industry in the past decade, you know that it’s struggling. What you may not know is that community newspapers nationwide are closing at the rate of two per week.

e work of our journalists continues to be so critical for our society. We’re dedicated to keeping your city councils or school boards accountable and informing you about businesses and groups that make your community the great place where you have decided to live.

But the fact of the matter is, the materials that it takes to get a newspaper to your front door – the newsprint, the ink, the transportation fuel – have skyrocketed in cost.

So while it’s not in our nature to make essential news less a ordable, we’ve come to the point where we must raise our prices. Beginning March 1, the price of a subscription to any of our paid publications and for all-access digital will be $85 per

Jackson

Weld dog boarding center gets county support

K9cation

is 25th small

business to receive funding to help with fees

BY BELEN WARD BWARD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Weld County.

and training in unincorporated Weld County, was awarded $20,000 from the Weld County Small Business Incentive program according to a new release.

“ is program’s goal is to support the entrepreneurial nature of small businesses,” Commissioner Chair Mike Freeman said. “Helping them save money related to land use, building permit, and impact fees are enormously helpful as it allows capital assets to go directly into the business, not costs.

It’s the 25th business that received funding approved by the Weld

County Board of Commissioners. e money will help K9cation o set the cost of permitting and land use application fees.

To be considered, a business must be located in unincorporated Wel. At least 50% of sta must live in Weld County for one year to qualify for the program. e program established a three-tier system, so small businesses can receive up to $40,000 to o set fees for permitting and land use applications.

SBIP launched in 2014 with $500,000; so far, $388,663 was awarded to small businesses across

Weld County. e funds come from the county’s economic development fund, managed by the board of commissioners and the planning services department.

We’re happy to see this program continue to be successful, and we encourage more small businesses who want to locate in unincorporated Weld County to take advantage of it,” Freeman said.

To learn about Weld County’s SBIP and apply for funding visit: https:// www.weld.gov/Government/Departments/Planning-and-Zoning/ Small-Business-Assistance.

Weld agency taking bids to help seniors

STAFF REPORT

e Weld County Department of Human Services Area Agency on Aging is requesting proposals from organizations interested in providing legal and social services to older residents.

Potential services include legal aid, outreach services to minority

COUNCIL

FROM PAGE 1

“It lasted longer than we expected,” Hubbard said.

Council also agreed to a

seniors, case management for at-risk elders, counseling, and meal deliveries to Weld County residents that are 60 years oor older residing. ese services will be funded under Title III of the Older Americans Act and the Older Coloradoan Funds. Public or private agencies, nonpro ts or for-pro t groups, that are interested in applying for the

39-month lease with Toshiba to replace five upgraded printers for a monthly total of $1,266 a month. Part of the deal includes an option for another printer, the cost of which can’t exceed $1,476 per month.

grants may get information at the BidNet Direct website at https:// www.bidnetdirect.com/, identi ed as bid numbers B2300041 (Senior Nutrition Program Meal Delivery), and B2300042 (Older Americans Act Primary Providers).

Bid speci cations may also be accessed on the Weld County website at https://www.weldgov.com/de-

The upgrades will be for City Hall, the police department, the finance office, the recreation center and Coyote Creek Golf Course, according to IT Director Travis Aksamitowski. The option applies

partments/purchasing/.

Proposals must be submitted by email to HS-Bids@weldgov.com by2:00 p.m. on Friday,February 14, 2023. Proposals not received by email or after this date and time will not be considered for funding.

For further information, please contact Kelly Morrison at the Weld County at (970) 400-6786.

to a new printer for the city’s planning department should it move to a new location.

Other people

Council also appointed Kevin Ross as the Weld

County representative to the Fort Lupton Renewal Authority. The term expires Jan. 19, 2026. Council also appointed Kathy Kvasnicka to the city’s planning commission to a term that expires Jan. 18, 2026.

Learning he could succeed key for Brighton sculptor

BY BELEN WARD BWARD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Yanney Channal was tired of being told he couldn’t do it.

But now the self-taught artist and sculptor from Brighton is placing three of his sculptures around the metro area, claiming the top spot in all three juried competitions.

“At the time, I didn’t have the confidence to continue, I let people tell me I couldn’t do it. I allowed them to persuade and dictate my actions. I didn’t believe in myself I could do it,” Channal said.

A first-generation American and son of a Cambodian immigrant mother, Channal grew up in Los Angeles. He moved east to Philadelphia at 26, starting a new life. That’s where he discovered that he could, indeed, do it.

“It was my introduction to a lot of things when I moved to Philadelphia, my first job and my only job was at the Philadelphia Zoo. I was hired as an equipment operator, I also have carpentry a construction background too,” Channal said.

A year after starting in a maintenance mechanic position at the zoo, his supervisor asked him if he was interested in metalworking and welding.

“I have never done that or had no experience with welding (but) I jumped on it,” he said. “It was something different and learning techniques on my own and becoming better over time. I became good enough to fabricate things for

the facility. I welded fences, gates, and things like that.”

He saved little pieces and metal scraps from each job, storing them in a bucket that was soon full.

“I was going to throw them away, but I thought I should make something out of these scraps,” he said.

“So I started welding the smaller scraps together creating cool little sculptures.”

Channal also took on a part-time job at the Philadelphia Butterfly Pavilion, building bug metal frames for the students.

“The students would dress up the frames with recycled material. They also offered free space for me to work at the butterfly museum. The first thing I made was a bug,” Channal said.

Channal said he was getting inspired and started welding a sculpture on his own time, something bigger than hand-sized. That’s when people began downplaying his ambitions, so from 2015 to 2017, his personal project sat in his garage gathering dust.

But something changed in 2017. Channal was a good fabricator and metal worker for the zoo, so he started his personal project again and finished it – a metal stork.

“I spoke to the people at the zoo about my stork sculpture, showed them and I sold it to the zoo permanently. They also had a global conservation gala at the zoo, they displayed it there. People were telling me that I should continue my art of sculpture,” Channal said.

tor at the zoo recognized that his was unique and good. and encouraged him to keep honing his skills.

“So from that day on – it was

September 28, 2017 – I decided I’m going to become an artist,” Channal said.

Vanney Channal is working on the designs for his next sculpture in his studio. COURTESYPHOTO

SEE SCULPTOR, P5

FROM

From big city to Brighton

Channal stayed in Philadelphia for 11 years, moving his family to Brighton in July 2020 – right at the height of COVID. It was a di cult time for many, but his wife had family in Colorado and wanted to move to the state. And he was impressed with the state’s reputation.

“Colorado is ranked highest in the United States for art opportunities. We pulled the trigger and moved out here to Colorado,” Channal said.

ey visited Denver and then came north to Brighton.

“I thought this is di erent,” he said. “I lived in major cities such as Los Angeles and Philadelphia my whole life. Coming here, it’s not a city. But my wife also liked Brighton too.”

Channal started to get involved with the art scene in Colorado and then joined CaFE, a website that helps artists nd clients and sell their work.  After numerous applications, he received opportunities to install three temporary public art metal sculptures in Northglenn, Lafayette and Aurora.

“ ey were all juried competitions and I received rst place in all three,” Channal said.

Making animals

Channal makes all of his sculp-

Our Family Helping Your Family

tures with found scrap metal from a junkyard, kitchen tools, bathroom and anything made of metal, and he loves sculpting animals.

For Northglenn’s 2022 Art on Parade Program, he o ered his “ e America Steel Eagle.” e Eagle is at E.B. Rains Jr. Memorial Park, 11800 Community Center Drive, across from the Northglenn Recreation Center and Parsons eatre. It will be on view at the park until May 2023.

Channal said the Eagle started early on as a hobby, and he had not put much depth into it at rst.

“I found a key being thrown away that plumbers use to turn drains on and o to use on the bird. I wanted to create something big and meaningful, the American Eagle,” Channal said.

It was his second large-scale series sculpture. e wingspan represents freedom.

“When working at the zoo, they had tons of nails that were obsolete because we didn’t have the pneumatic tools to run them anymore. I used the nails for the feathers.”

For the Boulder Public Art Program in Lafayette, he o ered his butter y titled “Metamorphosis.” e butter y is at 105 S. Public Road in Lafayette.

Channal had been focusing on animal sculptures since working at the zoo, and the Butter y seemed like a good step. He researched in-

formation at Westminster’s Butter y Pavilion.

Channal went back to his mother’s roots for his piece that went to Aurora Art 2C on Havana Street. His sculpture of an Ox is titled “KouPrey,” a short-haired ox with long horns found in the forests in parts of Cambodia, ailand, Laos, and Vietnam.

e Ox is in front of the countrywestern Stampede Club at 2430 S Havana St, Aurora.

Channal said wanted to create something big, like a dinosaur, but did have enough scrap metal. But he did have enough for the wild Ox that is native to his Cambodian heritage and the culture of South East Asia.

“It’s a forest-dwelling bovine species that was only found in Southeast Asia. In 1980 and 81 the king of Cambodia’s Norodom Sihanouk declared the wild ox as the national animal of Cambodia. It’s why I decided to sculpt an Ox,” Channal said

In his studio, Channal is currently working on a grizzly bear, a big horn sheep, and the Colorado wolf. He works at Lowes part-time to earn extra money and get out of the studio.

“When working long studio hours, it is nice to get out and socialize at Lowes,” he said. “When I moved to Brighton, I found that sense of community,” Channal said.

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Local news is a public good. Raising these prices is how we’ll do even more for our communities in 2023. I am grateful for your support.

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WHITE

Barbara grew up on the family farm and ranch in Commerce City, Colorado with her three sisters, Shirley, Elaine, and Esther. She graduated from Adams City High School, class of 1953. According to Barb, she was the only member of the school’s swim team that didn’t know how to swim and the only member of the choir who didn’t sing.

Barbara met the love of her life, James White, while in high school. ey were married in 1955. e couple brie y lived in Florida while Jim was in the Military. In 1957 they moved to their home in Brighton, CO to farm, ranch, and dairy. e sweethearts had three children: Larry in 1957, Alan in 1959, and Terri in 1962.

If you knew Barbara, you know she loved to share her passions for gardening, cooking, sewing, canning, and raising animals especially with her children and grandchildren. Barbara loved her family deeply and welcomed everyone. Her home was one where you could always count on cherished family meals, stories, lots of laughs, hugs and her signature- “love you sugar.”

She truly was one of a kind and was always there for support. She continuously supported her husband, children, and grandchildren in their various interests.

Barbara was a 10-year member of 4-H, where she developed her love for animals. She showed cattle at the National Western Stock show in 1949. She was a proud member and past president of the Social Order of the Beauceant Organization which provided entertainment and hospitality for the Knights Templar, while also participating in many other philanthropic endeavors.

Barbara loved doing things with her family, including going on many traveling adventures. She and Jim bowled with the Wednesday NightBombers for 50 years. Barbara was a very loving wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother.

Barbara is proceeded in death by her father, mother, three sisters, and husband Jim (2015).

She is survived by her children; Larry (Diane) White, Alan (Lela) White, Terri (Chip) Roberts, 8 grandchildren; Mike (Missy) White, Don White, Levi White, Eric (Hadley) White, Darby Barraza, Nala White, Paige (Taylor) Burkum, Kyla Roberts, 10 great grandchildren and brother-in-law Harlow Leeper. ey will always remember her kindness, generosity, and loving spirit.

Barbara Marie White

December 12, 1935 - January 1, 2023

VOICES

Dismantling the walls to wildlife in Colorado

Although never a big-game hunter, I have killed three deer in Colorado and likely gave a bull elk a terri c headache. at’s not to mention my carnage among rabbits and other smaller critters.

Cars were my weapon, not guns. Driving at dusk or into the darkened night will inevitably produce close brushes with wildlife, large and small, on many roads and highways. Even daylight has its dangers.

Colorado is now rede ning that risky, ragged edge between wildlife habitat and the high-speed travel that we take for granted. State legislators delivered a message last year when appropriating $5 million for wildlife connectivity involving highways in high-priority areas.

In late December, state agencies identi ed seven locations where that money will be spent. ey range from Interstate 25 south of Colorado Springs to Highway 13 north of Craig near where it enters Wyoming. New fencing and radar technology will be installed. Highway 550 north of Ridgway will get an underpass.

e pot wasn’t deep enough to produce overpasses such as two that

cross Highway 9 between Silverthorne and Kremmling or one between Pagosa Springs and Durango. But $750,000 as allocated to design work for crossings of I-25 near Raton Pass with a like amount for design of an I-70 crossing near Vail Pass.

In this and other ways, Colorado can better vie for a slice of the $350 million allocated by Congress in the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act for improved wildlife connectivity. is is on top of the overpass of I-25 planned for the segment between Castle Rock and Monument to complement the four underpasses installed in the widening project of recent years.

We are pivoting in how we regard roads and wildlife habitat. We have long been driven to protect human lives and our property by reducing collisions. Our perspectives have broadened. Human safety still matters, but so do the lives of critters.

When we built our interstate highway system between 1956 and, with the completion of I-70 through Glenwood Canyon, 1992, we gave little regard to wildlife. ere were exceptions, such as the narrow underpass for deer in West Vail installed in 1969.

Biologists in the 1990s began emphasizing highways as home wreckers. Expanding road networks, they said, was creating islands of wildlife habitat. Fragmented habitat leads to reduced gene pools and, at the extreme, the threat of extinction of species in some areas, called extirpation.

I-70 became the marquee for this. Wildlife biologists began calling it the “Berlin Wall to Wildlife.” e aptness of that phrase was vividly illustrated in 1999 when a transplanted lynx released just months before tried to cross I-70 near Vail Pass. It was smacked dead.

With that graphic image in mind, wildlife biologists held an international competition in 2011 involving I-70. e goal, at least partially realized, was to discover less costly materials and designs.

Colorado’s pace has quickened since a 2014 study documenting the

decline of Western Slope mule deer populations. In 2019 an incoming Gov. Polis issued an executive order to state agencies directing them to work together to solve road ecology problems.

Two wildlife overpasses along with underpasses and fencing north of Silverthorne completed in 2017 have been valuable examples. Studies showed a 90% reduction in collisions.

“An 80 to 90% reduction right o the bat is pretty typical for these structures,” says Tony Cady, a planning and environmental manager for the Colorado Department of Transportation.

State agencies, working with non-pro t groups and others, have crunched the data to delineate the state’s 5% highest priority road segments. ese data may give Colorado a leg up on access to federal funds.

e two studies found 48 highpriority segments on the Western Slope and 90 east of the Continental Divide, including the Great Plains, reports Michelle Cowardin, a wildlife biologist for Colorado Parks and

Sell the sizzle and buy the sizzle

Recently I went back and reread the book “Sizzlemanship” by Elmer Wheeler. Elmer Wheeler is credited with being one of the original pioneers of sales skills training and motivation industry. It’s classic stu and de nitely worth the read. e point, as you can guess by the title, is to sell what your product or service does, not what it is, meaning sell the sizzle and not the steak.

In today’s world we think about the sizzle as the KPIs, Key Performance Indicators, or the results that the company or the person purchasing the product or service might experience. For businesses and sellers, it’s making sure that we are focusing on that old radio station that buyers tune into, WIIFM, standing for “What’s in it for me.” Making sure that we know exactly how our product or service will contribute to the achievement of their goals and success.

Elmer Wheeler was way ahead of his time as we think about how business owners, entrepreneurs and salespeople think and sell. When we put the customer’s interests and results ahead of corporate pro t or commission checks, we will undoubtedly sell more of our products and services.

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Changing the station from WIIFM to tuning into WIIFT, “What’s in it for them.”

Now, walk with me through the transition from sales to our everyday lives. How many times are we trying to sell someone on an idea, or to help out, volunteer, join an organization, or anything else where we are seeking to have our family or friends get involved with something or buy into our idea? Most times we focus on the help we need instead of what they might be able to experience by participating. If you have ever been in the role of a leader in any notfor-pro t organization, committee, or other function at your children’s school or at the house of worship that you attend, you probably know exactly what I am talking about. Companies looking to get better in any area of business might consider thinking about the sizzle as looking at increasing revenues or increasing their average sales price. Maybe they are focused on improving margins,

LINDA SHAPLEY

win/loss ratios, or sales behaviors.

ey may look to expand through upselling and gaining more market share. Or they may be interested in reducing sales cycle time or customer attrition.

But we as individuals also have values and things that we might consider our sizzle when deciding what is in it for us, or why we may choose to get involved. When we are thinking about getting better in an area of our lives we may look at increasing prosperity, strength, or endurance. We may have a desire to improve our health, happiness, or relationships. What gets us excited may be our pursuit of expanding our knowledge, our network, or our security as we think about retirement. And maybe for some of us it’s about reducing or eliminating something in our life such as dropping weight, easing our stress, or getting rid of bad habits.

We don’t buy a gym membership, treadmill, Peloton, Tonal or home gym equipment because of what it is or the brand, we make that investment because we have a desire to look di erent and feel di erent, the sizzle. We don’t give of our time to support a charity because we feel a sense of

Columnists

obligation or we have to, we give of our time because we realize that as much as we give, we receive tenfold in return from a sense of grati cation as we see the results of our e orts in the smiles of those who we help, and that’s our sizzle.

Whether you run a business, lead a sales team, are a salesperson yourself, or if you are part of a not-for-pro t organization, a committee, or in some way tasked with seeking volunteers, remember to sell the sizzle and not the steak.

When you are making the decision to buy something or get involved in supporting a great cause, do you make the purchase or decision on what it is or on how it can impact you personally? I would love to hear your sizzle story at gotonorton@gmail. com, and when we can remember to tune into WIIFT, it really will be a better than good life.

Michael Norton is an author, a personal and professional coach, consultant, trainer, encourager and motivator of individuals and businesses, working with organizations and associations across multiple industries.

& Guest Commentaries

LINDSAY NICOLETTI Operations/ Circulation Manager lnicoletti@coloradocommunitymedia.com

TERESA ALEXIS Marketing Consultant Classified Sales talexis@coloradocommunitymedia.com

AUDREY BROOKS Business Manager abrooks@coloradocommunitymedia.com

Columnist opinions are not necessarily those of the Press. We welcome letters to the editor. Please include your full name, address and the best number to reach you by telephone.

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STEVE

The Long Way Home

The changing American dream and the obstacles some people face

BY MICHAEL DE YOANNA COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA

e rst week of Colorado Community Media’s Long Way Home series focused on what many experts say is a housing crisis across the metro area. In short, housing is increasingly una ordable and inaccessible for Coloradans. Week two of our four-week series turns to how those issues look through the lens of race and younger residents, some whose experience of the American dream is changing..

Reporters Nina Joss and Haley Lena delve into the realities faced by would-be Black homeowners and others who nd skin color can be a factor in achieving their long-term dreams. .

Joss and Lena break down how the system can sometimes work against Black applicants. ey also uncover possible solutions, including an initiative from Realtors to provide training that averts subtle biases in the buying process.

Meanwhile, reporter Ellis Arnold asks a di cult question about metro area suburbs: why are they so White? ere’s no single answer, but some neighborhood covenants from a few decades ago

INEQUITIES

FROM PAGE 1

di cult to prove.

Because many of the individuals served by the group were facing homelessness and unemployment, Arnold acknowledged that these factors could have played a role in their initial application rejections. However, when they conducted the blind application process with the same nancial information, the applications were approved. For Arnold, this con rmed race was a barrier.

“ e racism is just so out there,” he said. “It was easy to realize it.”

Arnold’s group did not le any complaints because their main priority was getting their clients housed, and they found a way to do that. Colorado Community Media reached out to Aurora Warms the Night to see if this is still a strategy but did not get a response.

But once a Black client successfully got on a lease, Arnold said even more challenges ensued if they were looking to someday own a home.

“How do we get them from renting into homeownership?” he said. “ ose barriers seem to be some of the biggest.”

For decades, homeownership rates for Black people have lagged far behind those for White people. Census data released last month shows just how wide that gap is. More than seven in 10 White Coloradans and a little more than half of Latino residents own their homes, according to the 2021 ve-year American Community Survey. Only 42% of Black Coloradans own their homes.

Although Latino homebuyers in Colorado face many of the same barriers as Black homebuyers, their rates of homeownership have grown in recent years. For Black Coloradans, on the other

prove, in writing, that race was sometimes a factor in creating our communities.

Accessibility to housing isn’t only an issue of race. It’s an issue of income, as well. Many Coloradans simply can’t a ord to apply for a home, and some of them are rede ning their idea of the American dream as a result. Reporter Christy Steadman digs into this issue. When affordability, accessibility and fairness play a role, families are shifting away from the old dream in which people started a family and bought a home.

When rising home prices and in ation makes that next to impossible for many Coloradans, the American dream may shift from the idea that owning a home is the true measure of success. Still, across generations, many hold out hopes for homeownership.

Statistics, data and experts may have great information on how the market works, but it’s the people living through the crisis who matter the most.

To read all the parts of our Long Way Home series, visit https://coloradocommunitymedia. com/longwayhome/index.html.

hand, the numbers have remained stubbornly low.

ese trends hold across the metro area, with Adams, Je erson, Arapahoe and Douglas counties all showing higher rates of homeownership in White communities than in those of color.

e reasons for this gap are myriad, but over time, Black Coloradans have generally had less opportunity to build home equity and wealth to pass from one generation to the next. ese barriers mean many metro Denver communities lack racial and ethnic diversity. rough training and other measures, many are now trying to reverse this situation and improve access to housing for all.

A denied opportunity to build generational wealth

In 2021, eo E.J. Wilson and his wife started looking to buy a home in Aurora. Wilson is a Black college lecturer and non ction television host.

Like many Coloradans regardless of color, Wilson and his wife did not have enough money for a down payment in today’s expensive housing market, even though they both make a good living. In Arapahoe County, the median sale price of a single-family home increased by $180,000 over the past ve years, according to the Colorado Association of Realtors. In other metro Denver areas, the numbers have skyrocketed even more drastically.

While many White Americans may have bene ted from the e orts of their ancestors, particularly through inheritances, Wilson says many Black people, including him, were denied that possibility. In his eyes, that’s part of why homeownership has been so elusive.

“In what some of my elders have called the ‘illusion of inclusion,’ income is used as a metric to say that things are getting better for Black people,” Wilson said.

Contributors to theproject include:

But, he pointed out, income is di erent from wealth. For generations, “White America was building wealth, assets and the skill set and personnel to manage that wealth,” he said.

Wilson’s older family members, on the other hand, were not o ered the same opportunities, he said.

Wilson’s grandfather was in the Army Air Forces during World War II, a Tuskegee airman, one of a pioneering group of Black military aviators. When he returned to New York City after the war, he did not receive federally backed home loans like his White counterparts did.

“ ey basically shoveled these White vets from World War II into programs that gave them college money and programs that gave them homes in the

Theo E.J. Wilson holds a hat from the collection his grandfather, who was a Tuskegee airman in World War II, gave him.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THEO E.J. WILSON

A New Vision

American dream changing for some Coloradans

BY CHRISTY STEADMAN CSTEADMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Amber Carlson is a Colorado native. She loves the Denver area for all its amenities — from outdoor recreation to the arts-and-culture scene. But with so many other people moving to the region because they also love those things, Carlson would consider moving away.

“I don’t blame people for wanting to live here,” she said. “It’s got a lot going on.”

Carlson doesn’t want to uproot from Colorado, but if she did, it would be because of the region’s skyrocketing cost of living.

“It’s di cult when you’ve lived here your whole life and it has become hard to stay,” she said.

Carlson is in her 30s. She went to Denver’s George Washington High School and is currently in graduate school at the University of ColoradoBoulder. She lives with her partner in a house in Wheat Ridge that he owns, a situation she feels fortunate to have. Otherwise, Carlson said, she is not sure if she would be able to a ord a rental on her own.

Her experience leaves her with questions about the idea of the American dream — owning a home. It is, for many, a dream of a single-

family home on a private plot of land in the suburbs, maybe with a picket fence and tire swing hanging from a lofty tree.

But younger people are changing their perceptions about what the American dream should be. Driving that change is the increasingly una ordable nature of housing, according to a few surveys, including one by Bankrate last year. It found that two-thirds of respondents cite a ordability as a major hurdle to homeownership. eir pinch points included everything from salaries that didn’t keep up to a lack of ability to save for down payments to high mortgage rates.

‘The American dream has decreased in relevance’

James Truslow Adams, a writer and historian, is credited with coining the term “the American dream” in 1931 — early in the Great Depression — in his book, “ e Epic of America.”

“ e American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement,” Adams wrote. “It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous

circumstances of birth or position.”

Carlson re ects on all of that. She said that people began to conceptualize how to get their American dream — go to college, get a good job and buy a home — in the postWorld War II era.

“ ere was this idea that you could have all of this,” Carlson said.

More Americans these days, she said, are de ning success on their own terms. More folks might see homeownership as a relic, even something that holds them back in life, rather than necessary for all of their needs and desires.

“Buying a home is probably something that some people want,” Carlson said. “But I don’t think everybody wants or needs to buy a home.”

Others are holding onto the old idea. Bankrate found that homeownership remains a persistent part of the American dream. Homeownership is the “most-mentioned milestone” for Americans 26 and older, but younger Americans see it as less important. Gen Z, aged 18-25, doesn’t rank it as the top accomplishment like older Americans tend to.

Gen Z member Caitlyn Aldersea, a student at the University of Denver, is representative of the changing attitude.

She remembers as a young child how the Great Recession that began in 2007 a ected her family.

“ e American dream today is

A Look at the Suburbs

much di erent than how my parents thought of it,” Aldersea said. “Today, it’s more based on what can be accomplished. It’s not shooting for the stars anymore.”

Aldersea’s personal de nition of the American dream includes a ful lling career, opportunities to be part of a community that one is able to give back to and the freedom to pursue personal interests. She believes housing should be attainable for everyone, but doesn’t think it de nes success or happiness.

Aldersea doesn’t envision ever becoming a homeowner. One reason is that she wants to be able to relocate as she pursues her career goals. Another is that she wants to travel and pay o student loans.

“I don’t think my wage or salary will ever help me a ord a house or mortgage,” Aldersea said. “A house would not be the only thing I’d have to focus on nancially.”

Time will tell whether homeownership will eventually become more important to younger Americans. According to Bankrate, the pull to own a home remains strong. Fifty-nine percent of Gen Z members want to own a home as a life goal, second only to having a successful career (60%).

For other generations, homeownership remains the top life goal and the likelihood of that increases with age. Eighty-seven percent of older adults, aged 68 and up, cite homeownership as integral to the American dream.

BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

In 1967, Black Americans were mired in “the long, hot summer.” Frustrations over poverty, unemployment, discrimination and myriad other issues spilled into the streets, leading to clashes with police and arrests in many places, including Denver. e widespread tensions over race left President Lyndon B. Johnson searching for answers.

So, he issued an executive order for a report that would detail what caused the chaos. He wanted it to answer a crucial question: How can the country prevent more unrest in the future?

When the report arrived seven months later, it laid out hundreds of pages of analysis and recommendations for improving race relations in America.

But its message was best summed up in a sentence:

“To continue present policies is to make permanent the division of our country into two societies: one, largely Negro and poor, located in

A part of a map that shows housing areas where racially restrictive covenants were located in Je erson County. This part of the map includes part of Lakewood, Wheat Ridge and Golden. Red areas had the covenants, green areas did not and yellow areas were unclear. See the full map at tinyurl.com/Je coRacialCovenants.

the central cities: the other, predominantly White and a uent, located in the suburbs and in outlying areas.”

In other words, the issue of where people can live was at the heart of the report. It all ties into the American dream, the idea of a family owning a home, building wealth as that home increases in value over time and being able to live in whatever neighborhood a family can a ord without fear of discrimination.

Yet more than half a century later, that divide between Black and White residents continues to complicate the dream in many parts of America, including the suburban towns and cities that surround Denver.  e divide is less stark and less known than it was in 1967, but its legacy is still alive in the metro area, where the Black population tends to live in Denver or Aurora, numbering in the tens of thousands.

Elsewhere, Black residents number in the hundreds or just a few thousand while White residents make up strong majorities. White residents are 78% of the population in Arvada and 1% are Black. White residents are 80% of the population in Littleton and 2% are Black. White residents are 82% of the population in Castle Rock and less than 1% are Black.

SUBURBS

So, why do the metro area’s communities look the way they do? e answer isn’t completely clear, but two map experts have delved into local property records, uncovering data that could help start to answer that question.

ey’re trying to discover what many have either forgotten or swept under the rug about parts of the metro area — or simply never knew.

ey’re digging in at the neighborhood level, looking for words in property documents — called “racially restrictive covenants” — that excluded people from housing by race. ey’re looking to discern the legacies that still echo in communities today.

Christopher iry, a map librarian at Colorado School of Mines in Golden, is one of the diggers. Discovering the covenants in Je erson County shocked him.

“ at blew me away that this rural county at the time would have them,” iry said. “As I tell people, ‘Yeah, the suburbs of Birmingham, Alabama, sure. But Je erson County? Come on.’”

‘Only persons of the Caucasian race’ iry, a longtime resident of Golden, took inspiration from the “Mapping Prejudice” project, an effort at the University of Minnesota to identify and map racial covenants.

He jumped into his work after the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police o cer. e mapping is a tedious task of sifting through mostly mundane, uncontroversial rules, like how many feet a house must sit away from the road or bans on billboards in front of homes.

iry has examined about 1,000 Je erson County documents and found nearly 200 had some kind of race-based stipulation. He looked at documents from the 1860s to 1950, though most of them were from the 1910s to 1950.

Speci cally, he has pored over “plats,” or plans for new neighborhoods. e plat for one neighborhood — Cole Village, located along Colfax Avenue near Kipling Street in what’s now Lakewood — had this to say:

“Only persons of the Caucasian race shall use or occupy any building or any lot. is covenant shall not prevent use or occupancy by domestic servants of a di erent race.”

e document was registered with the county in 1945. at type of racebased language is now unenforceable but remains on o cial plats, property deeds and other documents, according to iry.

It wasn’t just developers who pushed such language, iry said.

Local elected and appointed ofcials of the government of Je erson County signed the documents, iry added.

He singled out some other examples:

• “Ownership in this subdivision shall be restricted to members of the Caucasian race,” says a planning document for Sunshine Park in Golden at Sunshine and High parkways, dated 1944.

• “Stipulate that no lot at any time shall be occupied or owned by any person or persons not of the Caucasian races. However, this provision shall not prohibit the employment of persons of other races by the occupants,” says the plan for Green Acres along 6th Avenue in what’s now Lakewood, dated 1939.

• “No (area) shall at any time be occupied or owned by any person or persons of other than the Caucasian race, however, this shall not prohibit the employment of persons of other races on the premises by the occupants,” says the plan for Happy Valley Acres in the Golden area at South Golden Road and Orion Street, dated 1939.

• “ e said (land) shall (be) used for no other purpose than for the building and maintaining thereon and the occupancy thereof of private residences by Caucasians, and the erection of necessary outbuildings,” says a planning document for part of the Indian Hills area, dated 1923.

iry has used his ndings to make a map of the parts of Je erson County where race-based rules were baked into the original plans of the housing developments.

Many are concentrated in what are now the Wheat Ridge and Lakewood areas, with a handful dotting the Golden and Arvada region. Others sit in the Evergreen and Indian Hills areas.

It’s not yet a complete picture.

iry is wary that he may have missed pieces. ough the map is a work in progress, it already has him wondering how the covenants still in uence lives today.

Beyond that, what can be done to right past wrongs.

His work has made one measurable impact. It has inspired the work of another mapper, Craig Haggit, a map librarian at Denver Public Library.

Haggit, who is looking into where racist restrictions lurked in the paperwork for housing in Denver, also wants to shed light on “the way forward” for communities.

“I feel like we can’t know where we’re going until we know where we’ve been and how we got there,” Haggit said. “Otherwise, you’re just (in) the dark.”

It could take years to look through all the documents. But so far, Haggit’s work has revealed racial restrictions in Denver that targeted people in “a mix” of ways.

“Sometimes, it’s excluding ‘Negro’ or ‘Asian’ or ‘Mongoloid’ or whatever terms they used. And sometimes it just says only White people” can live in a certain house, Haggit said.

His team at rst zeroed in on the 1930s because the Ku Klux Klan was

so active in the 1920s in the metro area. Since he’s in the early stages of the research, Haggit is unsure which neighborhoods were home to large concentrations of racially restricted housing.

One clue could be redlining, a term that refers to marking areas red on color-coded federal maps in the 1930s, re ecting the practice of restricting access to home loans in certain areas, partly based on race. at disparity stood in the way of homeownership for majority-Black areas and other groups in urban cities.

ough he doesn’t know yet, Haggit expects that the neighborhoods that were not redlined — the ones deemed higher class — would have the restrictive deeds because they were trying to keep certain people out.

In Denver, redlining zeroed in on predominantly Black neighborhoods, but it also covered neighborhoods where other ethnic or religious groups were present, according to the Denver redline map as displayed by the “Mapping Inequality” project from the University of Richmond and other university teams.

Denver’s redlined areas at the time included some western parts of the city and areas that surrounded downtown. But the map also redlined a small part of Aurora along Colfax Avenue — and parts of west and central Englewood. (A sliver of Je erson County in the Edgewater area landed on the map too, though it was rated slightly higher in yellow.)

e map re ected the view that people of certain backgrounds negatively a ected the values of homes.

In Englewood, for example, an “encroachment of Negroes” in an area near what appear to be railroad tracks was listed under “detrimental in uences” in comments that accompany the map.

And for the Five Points area near downtown Denver, comments mention “Negroes, Mexicans and a transient class of workers.”

Just to the east, comments called the neighborhoods “a better Negro section of Denver” and “one of the best colored districts in the United States.”

“Were it not for the heavy colored population much of it could be rated” higher, the comments say, appearing to use the term “colored” to refer to residents who were not White.

E ects linger ‘to this day’ ough the picture isn’t entirely clear yet, what experts already know suggests that policies that deepened racial disparities in uenced the makeup of today’s suburbs.

One driver of suburban growth that was especially visible was the American GI Bill — or the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 — that provided World War II veterans funding for college tuition and low-

interest mortgages. But not everyone reaped the same rewards because of the covenants that the mappers at the local libraries are looking into, along with unequal access to GI Bill bene ts for White veterans compared with Black veterans.

e disparities played into how largely White the demographics in the suburbs turned out to be, said Christy Rogers, a teaching assistant professor in the program for environmental design at the University of Colorado Boulder.

“ at has consequences for intergenerational wealth,” Rogers said.

In other words, though the descendants of White military veterans saw their homes rise in value over the decades, essentially becoming investments, many Black families encountered barriers and that had a ripple e ect as they could not pass down as much wealth to their children and grandchildren.

Rogers, who is White, knows this rsthand.

“My dad got the GI Bill, and he went to college and bought a house,” Rogers said. “So, our family could draw on our home value to send me to college.”

It took decades for federal lawmakers to ban the practice of racially restrictive covenants. ey were banned in the months after the “long, hot summer” of 1967 — through the Fair Housing Act of 1968, which bars discrimination in the sale, rental and nancing of housing based on race, color, national origin, religion or sex. e act also prohibited redlining.

What’s left today is a puzzle in places like Je erson County, made even harder to discern after booming growth since the mid-1900s. It is di cult to tell how much past covenants shaped the suburbs, said iry, the Colorado School of Mines librarian.

“With that said, you cannot discard the fact that these covenants did exist,” iry said.

e prevailing attitudes of racism at the time still may have made Black families feel unwelcome in certain neighborhoods, iry said.

ere is evidence that the researchers are onto something. In Minnesota, researchers looking into Minneapolis and its suburbs discovered a “bonus value” persists today among White homeowners who bene ted from restrictive covenants.

“We document that houses that were covenanted have on average 3.4% higher present-day house values compared to houses that were not covenanted,” according to a 2021 University of Minnesota study entitled, “Long Shadow of Racial Discrimination: Evidence from Housing Racial Covenants.” “We also nd that census blocks with a larger share of covenanted lots have smaller Black population and lower Black homeownership rates.”

e study also noted, “the racial

An example of a racially restrictive covenant from the restrictions for an area called North Lakewood Heights, dated 1939, according to map librarian Christopher Thiry. It says: “No (land) shall at any time be occupied or owned by any person or persons of Mongolian or Negro races.” COURTESY OF CHRISTOPHER THIRY

SUBURBS

FROM

makeup of neighborhoods determined in preceding decades persisted, where the region was highly segregated with White families primarily residing in suburban areas and Black families within select neighborhoods (in) parts of Minneapolis.”

“ is segregation has continued for more than fty years, suggesting the highly long-lasting e ect that covenants had on the racial distribution of the region,” according to the study.

Rogers at CU added that moving to the suburbs could be more di cult for residents in redlined areas who may not have the money to move.

“Redlined areas to this day (sometimes) have lower appraisal values compared to a house across the street that’s not in a redlined area,” Rogers said.

The path forward

Many Denver-area suburbs have large White majorities today. About

INEQUITIES

FROM PAGE 7

suburbs,” Wilson said. “Imagine if my grandpa would have got the property that he would have got had he been White in New York City. How much would that be worth today?”

Many Black veterans faced issues using the programs o ered by the GI Bill. ey often could not access banks for home loans, were excluded from certain neighborhoods and faced segregationist policies. Instead of a home in the suburbs, and despite his service to his country, Wilson’s grandfather wound up in low-income housing. ere, he raised Wilson’s father, who was not able to attend college.

“ e only physical thing that I have from (my grandfather) besides his DNA is a collection of hats … that shouldn’t have been the case,” Wilson said. “I should have more from him than his name, his genes and some hats.”

In that era, federal authorities also made color-coded maps that reected the practice of restricting access to home loans in certain areas, largely based on race. is practice is known as “redlining.” People of color were also excluded from obtaining housing through “racially restrictive covenants,” or text written into property records that was used to prevent people of certain races from purchasing certain homes.

Some exclusionary policies, which have been documented in the Denver area, left a toll that’s evident in communities of color today.

Family wealth is a good measure

20 cities, towns or rural counties have a larger proportion of White residents than the national rate and the Colorado rate — many by a large margin, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

In Cherry Hills Village, a wealthy suburb that borders Denver, the number of Black Americans amounts to 0% of the population. Just a few miles away, the population is 17% Black and 44% White in Aurora, one of Denver’s most diverse suburbs.

Aurora is an exception, not the rule. Many of Denver’s other older suburbs are much less diverse.

Several Adams County cities have large Latino populations, but even though they’re suburban, the cities still tend to have lower-income neighborhoods closer to Denver and more expensive housing farther north.

Still, the suburbs don’t entirely look like they used to, according to Yonah Freemark, senior research associate at the nonpro t Urban Institute, based in Washington, D.C.

“Overall, the suburban parts of the nation have transformed dramatically and have become more diverse

of that. In 2019, the median White family in the country had about $184,000 in wealth compared to just $38,000 and $23,000 for the median Hispanic and Black families, respectively. at’s according to data from the Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances.

ese numbers speak to the notion of generational wealth. Generational wealth is anything of nancial value that is passed from one generation to another — including money, property, investments, valuable heirlooms or businesses.

“ ink about the wealth that was created during (the ‘40s and ‘50s) that White families have been able to leverage generation after generation, either to send their kids to college, to be able to start a business, to writing a check for their loved ones to be able to have money for (a) down payment in order to buy their own home and continue that generational wealth transfer,” said Aisha Weeks, managing director at the Dear eld Fund for Black Wealth, a Denver area group that emphasizes homeownership. “ at wasn’t available in mass for Black and African American families.”

A family’s primary residence is typically their most valuable asset, according to the National Association of Realtors.

It’s not just the monetary value of a house and property that adds to wealth. ere are tax bene ts for homeowners and people can borrow against a home’s equity to start a business or to help with unexpected bills. Homeownership also provides stable housing, which has been shown to positively impact health and educational achievement. ese factors can, in turn, improve a per-

over time,” Freemark said. at’s in terms of age, ethnicity and race, and income, Freemark added.

In the future, some suburbs will likely undergo a “steady transformation” toward increased mobility, such as having more public transportation, Freemark said. Other changes could include more e orts to get people walking and biking, with the transition of suburban storefronts and strip malls into more walkable neighborhoods, he added. e path forward for the suburbs may involve a continued increase in diversity of residents, Freemark said. But that depends on whether states and the federal government will expand support and requirements related to a ordable housing, Freemark said.

“We’re going to need signi cant public investment and changes to public law to support those outcomes,” Freemark said. “Otherwise, little is going to change.” e a ordability issue transcends race, with many people simply priced out of the housing market and those who are in it struggling to a ord what they need for their

son’s economic prosperity.

Trying to change the equation e Dear eld Fund for Black Wealth o ers down-payment assistance loans with no interest and no monthly payments up to $40,000 or 15% of the purchase price for Black homebuyers.

“We acknowledge that there’s a generational wealth gap, and so Dear eld Fund is walking alongside our clients and borrowers to say, ‘We will provide that down-payment assistance,’’’ Weeks said.  is program helped Wilson and his wife buy their home in Aurora.

In addition, the fund also o ers advice and education on how to build wealth.

“We know that there are so many pitfalls and just things that, as a community, we have not learned at the dinner table like our counterparts,” Weeks said. “ ere’s a lot of power in the knowledge information transfer that happens within other communities that we need to make sure that families are understanding.”

at issue of being at the proverbial dinner table comes up a lot for communities of color. Without an example to follow, some rst-time homebuyers don’t know where to begin. According to Alma Vigil, a local loan o cer assistant, families who do not own homes often do not pass along information about how to own and maintain a home.

To address this challenge, the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority o ers homebuyer education programs to teach Coloradans nancial skills and the steps to homeownership. ese classes are o ered in English and Spanish in

families. In 2010, the median singlefamily home price in metro Denver was about $200,000. It was roughly triple that as of 2022.

Coupled with a ordability is an availability issue that local rules play a role in exacerbating. Large-lot zoning — planning for houses to be built on large portions of land — is one major issue. In other words, there are too many large homes being built and too few starter homes, leaving prospective rst-time homebuyers with few options, perhaps even relegated forever to renting.

“If you have a very expensive largelot neighborhood, you don’t get young families,” Rogers said. “You don’t want your community to box out young families or new Americans. Or, you end up with, in a sense, a retirement community, and there’s nothing wrong with a retirement community, but you don’t want your entire community (to be that). You want kids to be in your schools.” e long-term trend of rising housing prices plays a role, too, as wages fail to keep pace with housing costs. at “has the potential to continue to widen inequality and even perhaps embed it,” Rogers said.

an e ort to remedy language barriers, which can add challenges for potential homebuyers who do not speak English.

“ ere’s very (few) Spanish speaking loan o cers,” said Vigil, who is Hispanic and speaks Spanish herself. “ ere are some that claim to speak Spanish, but they’re not very uent. So it becomes a huge problem, especially with lack of understanding.”

In order to close the gaps, some lenders across the metro Denver area provide services in Spanish. A list of Spanish-speaking lenders can be found on the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority’s website. e issue isn’t just one faced by Hispanic and Latino communities. A report by the National Coalition for Asian Paci c American Community Development found language barriers are also often a challenge for members of the Asian American community when pursuing homeownership. In addition to conversations with lenders, real estate paperwork and documents rarely come in languages other than English.

FROM

Wildlife. e Craig and Meeker areas have lots of high priority roads, but so is much of I-76 between Fort Morgan to Julesburg has many high-priority segments.

Some jurisdictions are diving deeper. Eagle County has completed a study of wildlife connectivity, and in the Aspen area, a non-pro t called Safe Passages has secured funding to begin identifying highest-priority locations in the Roaring Fork and Crystal River valleys.

ese new studies attest to a shift in public attitudes. Rob Ament of

Montana State University’s Western Transportation Institute says wildlife connectivity is becoming institutionalized in how we think about transportation corridors. Instead of an extravagance, he says, crossings are becoming a cost of doing business. is is happening internationally, too. “My world is just exploding,” he said while reciting crossings for

If in some ways a long time in coming, we are rede ning the relationship between highways and wildlife.

Check out other work by Allen Best about climate change, the energy transition and other topics at BigPivots.com.

elephants in Bangladesh, tigers in ailand and work for other species in Argentina, Nepal, and Mongolia.

Thu 1/26

EP Ballet Folklorico -Perform ages - 8-17 (Wed)

@ 12:30am

Jan 26th - May 31st

Eagle Pointe Recreation Center, 6060 E. Parkway Dr., Commerce City. 303-2893760

University of Denver Hockey vs. Colorado College

@ 7pm / $25-$100

Ball Arena, 1000 Chopper Circle, Denver

Ski & Ride

@ 2pm

Jan 28th - Jan 29th

Bison Ridge Recreation Center, 13905 E. 112th Avenue, Commerce City. 303-2893760

Full Cord w/ Elle Michelles

Grateful Holler "Live on the Lanes" at 100 Nickel (Broom�eld)

@ 7pm

100 Nickel, 100 Nickel St, Broom‐�eld

The Wizard of Oz

@ 7:30pm / $15-$20

Broom�eld Auditorium, 3 Commu‐nity Park Road, Broom�eld. mariejose@danseetoile.org, 720938-3030

Friday Bingo at Eagle Pointe 1/27 @ 8pm

Eagle Pointe Recreation Center, 6060 E. Parkway Dr., Commerce City. 303-2893760

Sat 1/28

Colorado Avalanche vs. Anaheim Ducks

@ 7pm / $55-$999

Ball Arena, 1000 Chopper Circle, Denver

Fri 1/27

50+ Weight Room Orientation

@ 12:30am

Jan 27th - Jan 26th

Eagle Pointe Recreation Center, 6060 E. Parkway Dr., Commerce City. 303-2893760

Recess Games

@ 1:30am

Jan 27th - Jan 26th

Bison Ridge Recreation Center, 13905 E. 112th Avenue, Commerce City. 303-2893760

Potluck (1/27)

@ 6pm

Eagle Pointe Recreation Center, 6060 E. Parkway Dr., Commerce City. 303-2893760

Winter Bingo Potluck

@ 7pm

Fort Lupton Recreation & Parks De‐partment, 203 S Harrison, Fort Lupton. 303-857-4200

Bald Eagle Walk @ 9am / Free

Barr Lake State Park, 13401 Pica‐dilly Rd, Brighton. 303-659-4348 ext. 53

Colorado Avalanche vs. St. Louis Blues

@ 1pm / $99-$999

Ball Arena, 1000 Chopper Circle, Denver

Colorado Mammoth vs. San Diego Seals

@ 7pm / $20-$999

Ball Arena, 1000 Chopper Circle, Denver

River Spell @ 8pm

Odde's Music Grill, 9975 Wadsworth Pkwy N2, Westminster

Mon 1/30

Book Bingo - January @ 11pm

Bison Ridge Recreation Center, 13905 E. 112th Avenue, Commerce City. 303-2893760

Dinner Out Salt Grass Steak House (1/30) @ 11pm

Eagle Pointe Recreation Center, 6060 E. Parkway Dr., Commerce City. 303-2893760

Tue 1/31

Crackpots & Panera @ 4:30pm

Fort Lupton Recreation & Parks De‐partment, 203 S Harrison, Fort Lupton. 303-857-4200

2023 Travel Film Series: Germany and Switzerland

@ 10am / $22

Parsons Theatre, 1 E. Memorial Parkway, Northglenn. mstricker@ northglenn.org, 303-450-8888

Parent/Tot - Artic Animals

@ 8pm

Feb 1st - Feb 22nd

Eagle Pointe Recreation Center, 6060 E. Parkway Dr., Commerce City. 303-2893760

Discovery Kids- Kids on The Move

@ 9pm

Feb 1st - Feb 23rd

Bison Ridge Recreation Center, 13905 E. 112th Avenue, Commerce City. 303-2893760

Thu 2/02

Family Makerspace

@ 1am

Feb 2nd - Feb 1st

Eagle Pointe Recreation Center, 6060 E. Parkway Dr., Commerce City. 303-2893760

Boot Camp Feb 2023 @ 1am

Feb 2nd - Feb 27th

Fort Lupton Recreation & Parks De‐partment, 203 S Harrison, Fort Lupton. 303-857-4200

Parent/Tot - Farm Animals (Bilingual)

@ 4pm Feb 2nd - Feb 23rd

Eagle Pointe Recreation Center, 6060 E. Parkway Dr., Commerce City. 303-2893760

Science Saturday

@ 2pm

Anythink Wright Farms, 5877 East 120th Avenue, Thornton. mhibben @anythinklibraries.org, 303-4053200

Intro to DJI Robomaster

@ 5:30pm

Anythink Wright Farms, 5877 East 120th Avenue, Thornton. mhibben @anythinklibraries.org, 303-4053200

Denver Nuggets vs. New Orleans Pelicans

@ 8pm / $10-$3410

Ball Arena, 1000 Chopper Circle, Denver

Wed 2/01

World Class Train Series-The Train De Luxe Rail Safari (2/1) @ 8pm

Eagle Pointe Recreation Center, 6060 E. Parkway Dr., Commerce City. 303-2893760

Denver Nuggets vs. Golden State Warriors @ 7pm / $54-$6705

Ball Arena, 1000 Chopper Circle, Denver

Anavrin's Day: Thurdsay Night @ Hoffbrau @ 9pm

Hoffbrau, 9110 Wadsworth Pkwy, West‐minster

CROWSSUPDRO

7.

8.

Crossword Solution Solution

98.8% of their DNA? 10. MOVIES: Which movie features the famous line, “I see dead people”?

Answers 1. e Rembrandts (“I’ll Be ere for You”). 2. e hyoid bone. 3. Prince Edward Island. 4. Ted Danson. 5. Rome, Italy. 6. 108 minutes. 7. Subway Restaurants. 8. Light. 9. Chimpanzee. 10. “ e Sixth Sense” (1999). (c) 2023 King Features Synd., Inc.

Careers

Help Wanted

DRIVER

Class B CDL propane delivery truck driver for Spring Valley Gas, Elizabeth. P/T & F/T positions; responsible for propane delivery and customer service.

HazMat/Tanker endorsement. Propane certification a plus. Insurance age requirement 26 with clean MVR. SVG is building a team, not just a job!

Starting salary based on experience & qualifications. Call 303-660-8810.

Real Estate & Rental

Rentals

Homes

3 BD, 2 BA Brighton house for rent with garage & basement. $1800/mo. 720-308-4279.

Market Place

Misc. Notices

2 bicycles, single bed complete never used, wheelchair, new poker table and shop vacuum. All for $500 or best offer. Will sell single items as well. Call 720-465-9022

Merchandise

Health & Beauty

DENTAL INSURANCEPhysicians Mutual Insurance Company. Covers 350 procedures. Real insurancenot a discount plan. Get your free dental info kit! 1-855-526-1060 www.dental50plus.com/58 #6258. VIAGRA and CIALIS USERS! 50 Generic Pills SPECIAL $99.00 100% guaranteed. 24/7 CALL NOW! 888-445-5928 Hablamos Espanol

Medical

Attention oxygen therapy users!

Only 2.8

Director of Physical Therapist Assistant Program

Full-time faculty. The Director of the PTA Program manages the program in accordance with the mission, core values, and purposes of MCC. The individual serves in both an administrative position and faculty position. The Program Director is responsible for administrative and scal management of the PTA program, marketing, and recruitment, mentoring part-time instructors/faculty, accreditation

Master’s degree from an accredited physical therapist program. Must have an unrestricted Licensed Physical Therapist or Physical Therapist Assistant in the State of Colorado.

Nursing Faculty

Full-time faculty, responsible for teaching, recruiting, advising and outreach to the communities served by MCC.

Master’s degree in nursing or a bachelor’s degree in nursing with a plan to complete an MSN degree is required. Must have a Colorado R.N. license and 4000 hours of veri able nursing experience in the last ve years.

For full announcement and to apply, visit: https://morgancc.applicantpro.com/jobs/ For questions call 970-542-3130. EOE.

new account. Use code GIFT50. 1-855-903-3048

Miscellaneous

The Generac PWRcell solar plus battery storage system. Save money, reduce reliance on grid, prepare for outages & power your home. Full installation services. $0 down financing option. Request free no obligation quote. 1-877-539-0299

HughesNet– Finally, super-fast internet no matter where you live. 25 Mbps just $59.99/mo! Unlimited Data is Here. Stream Video. Bundle TV & Internet. Free Installation. Call 866-499-0141 Prepare for power outages today with a GENERAC home standby generator $0 Down + Low Monthly Pmt Request a free Quote. Call before the next power outage: 1-855-948-6176

MobileHelp, America’s premier mobile medical alert system. Whether you’re home or away. For safety & peace of mind. No long term contracts! Free brochure! 1-888489-3936

Miscellaneous

Free high speed internet if qualified. Govt. pgm for recipients of select pgms incl. Medicaid, SNAP, Housing Assistance, WIC, Veterans Pension, Survivor Benefits, Lifeline, Tribal. 15 GB internet. Android tablet free w/one-time $20 copay. Free shipping. Call Maxsip Telecom! 1-833-758-3892

You are hereby summoned and required to appear and defend against the claims of the complaint filed with the court in this action, by filing with the clerk of this court an answer or other response. You are required to file your answer or other response within thirty-five (35) days after the service of this summons upon you. Service of this summons shall be complete on the day of the last publication. A copy of the complaint may be obtained from the clerk of the court.

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

This is an action to quiet title to the following described real property in Weld County, Colorado:

Parcel A:

A part of the Southeast 1/4 of Section 13, Township 5 North, Range 66 West of the 6th P.M., County of Weld, State of Colorado, and being more particularly described as follows:

Commencing at the Southeast corner of said Section 13, and considering the East line of said Section 13 as bearing North 00°26’00” East, and with all other bearings contained herein relative thereto; thence North 00°26’00” East, along said East line and the center line of 23rd Avenue, 578.90 feet; thence North 89°34’00” West, 50 feet to the True Point of Beginning, said point being the intersection of the West right of way line of 23rd Avenue and the North right of way line of 27th Street; thence continuing North 89°34’00” West, along said North right of way line of 27th Street, 671.00 feet; thence North 00°26’00” East, 203.10 feet; thence North 23°35’43” East, 58.48 feet; thence North 00°26’00” East, 104.00 feet; thence South 89°34’00” East, 47.92 feet; thence South 89°35’22” East, 600.08 feet to a point on the West right of way line of 23rd Avenue; thence South 00°26’00” West along said West right of way line, 361.10 feet to the True Point of Beginning (“Parcel A”).

Parcel B:

A Part of the Southeast ¼ of Section 13, Township 5 North, Range 66 West of the 6th P.M., County of Weld, State of Colorado, and being more particularly described as follows:

Commencing at the Southeast corner of said Section 13, and considering the East line of said Section 13 as bearing North 00°26’00” East, and with all other bearings contained herein relative thereto; thence North 00°26’00” East, along said East line of Section 13 and the center line of 23rd

Avenue, 578.90 feet; thence North 89°34’00” West, 50 feet to a point, said point being the intersection of the West right of way line of 23rd Avenue and the North right of way line of 27th Street; thence continuing North 89°34’00” West along said North right of way line of 27th Street, 671.00 feet to the True Point of Beginning; thence continuing North 89°34’00” West, 268.64 feet; thence North 43°01’00” West, 317.06 feet; thence North 46°57’31” East, 189.94 feet, (Also known as North 46°59’00” East, recorded as North 46°49’00” East, 189.97 feet), thence South 89°34’00” East, 371.86 feet; thence South 00°26’00” West, 104.00 feet; thence South 23°35’43” West, 58.48 feet; thence South 00°26’00” West, 203.10 feet to the True Point of Beginning (“Parcel B”).

Also known as: 2305-2401 West 27th Street, Greeley, Colorado 80634.

January 10, 2023.

Gabler Call PC

2550 Denver Partners, LLC and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) provide notice of their intention to impose binding environmental use restrictions (EURs) on real property located at 2990 County Road 27, Fort Lupton, Weld County, State of Colorado.

EURs limit access to soils with concentrations of petroleum products above the residential Remedial Screening Level (RSL). Pursuant to § 25-15-318.5, C.R.S., once the EURs have been finalized, they are binding on all current and future owners of the land and any persons possessing an interest in the land. CDPHE is accepting public comments on the draft EURs. Copies of the proposed EURs and a legal description of the affected property are available by contacting Caren Johannes of CDPHE at 720-644-6356 or caren. johannes@state.co.us. All comments must be submitted to Ms. Johannes by February 28, 2023.