Fort Lupton Press 021623

FORT LUPTON

PUC responds to Polis’ call for utility relief

Searching for answers

BY JOSHUA PERRY THE COLORADO SUN

Colorado’s Public Utilities Commission on Feb. 8 discussed addressing bill price hikes in response to Gov. Jared Polis’s utility cost-reduction directive, but it isn’t clear what the rst steps will be.

Chairman Eric Blank said that the PUC has been tasked with a wide range of objectives to ease an a ordability crisis that made consumers’ utility bills 52% higher on average in December. Some consumers saw their bills double or even triple.

IRS to Coloradans: Don’t file your taxes yet

BY SARAH MULHOLLAND COLORADO PUBLIC RADIO

Coloradans may owe federal taxes on last year’s TABOR refunds.

e IRS says the state’s residents should hold o on ling their tax returns until the agency gures out how it’s going to handle the issue.

e IRS issued the directive to residents of several states that received refunds or special payments in 2022.

Coloradans shouldn’t have to pay any taxes on TABOR refunds, according to the state’s revenue department. TABOR, which stands for the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, goes back to 1992 in Colorado. e law requires the state to return excess state revenues to taxpayers.

said in an emailed statement. “We have provided this information to the Internal Revenue Service in response to the questions they’ve raised to many states. We will continue to monitor the IRS process and be clear on our position that these refunds are not taxable.”

Colorado’s excess tax revenues totaled about $3 billion last year. at resulted in sizable refund checks of $750 for individuals and $1,500 for joint lers. Normally those refunds would have been paid this spring, but Gov. Polis and the legislature moved up the timeline to last summer.

“Among other things, the governor has asked us to identify ways to support customers in the most dire circumstances, improve access to and the capacity of the bill assistance program, nd ways to incentivize utilities to reduce customer costs, analyze approaches for limiting bill spikes, and to expand public engagement on these issues before the end PUC,” he said.

Blank said he didn’t know how the PUC would take action on this directive right now, but they would continue addressing a ordability in the coming weeks.

other states’ checks.

“We have done so on various occasions and through various statutory methods,” Dan Carr, a spokesperson for Colorado’s revenue department,

Last year, 19 states o ered special tax refunds and payments, according to the Associated Press. Many were meant to provide relief from in ation. Colorado’s TABOR refunds, though not prompted by in ation, were issued at the same time as the

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

One way the PUC can make progress is driving down base rates, Commissioner Megan Gilman said. Under the current rules, a utility seeking to add new infrastructure, such as transmission lines or a power plant, must rst convince PUC regulators that it is necessary. If PUC agrees, it issues a certi cate of public convenience

Every year before Thanksgiving, First United Methodist Church in Fort Lupton and the Fort Lupton Food and Clothing Bank provide community 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, another organization that helps with the food drive. See more on Page 2.

SEE RELIEF, P23

Fort Lupton freshman Javon Gonzales (11) drives the ball up the court against a strong The Pinnacle defense. The Bluedevils came from behind and defeated the Timberwolves 56-51 during their non-league match Feb. 9 in Federal Heights. More coverage on page 12.

PHOTO BY JUAN ARELLANO

Coloradans are being told to delay filing taxes due to issues with TABOR refunds. SHUTTERSTOCK

Weld County road repairs coming to Two Rivers Parkway

BY BELEN WARD BWARD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

e Two Rivers Parkway between Weld County Road 54 and State Highway 60 will get some longawaited repairs, Weld o cials announced.

e three mile stretch of county road between near Evans and Milliken will be closed starting February 21 through July 1, 2023, to repair the road damaged from heavy use.

“When this road was initially paved and improved in the late ‘90s, the county’s population was just over 151,000, and it’s now over 340,000,” Weld County Commissioner Chair Mike Freeman said. “ e increased growth and increased demand on our transportation system makes projects like this critical to ensure our roads continue to meet travelers’ needs.”

In 1997 Two Rivers Parkway was a gravel road, named Weld County Road 27.5, and was paved and renamed Two Rivers Parkway. Two years later, in 1999, public works extended two miles connecting it to Weld County 54 and State Highway 34 with funding from the Energy and Mineral Impact Grant from the Colorado Department of Local Affairs.

tra c using Two Rivers Parkway has doubled, with an average daily rate of 9,825 vehicles traveling along it. Due to the damage caused by heavy tra c, drivers’ safety requires improvements and maintenance.

e plans for the road are culvert replacement, bridge rehabilitation, road construction, rebuilding the road subgrade, paving from north to south sections, and contrasting shoulder works.

between Two Rivers Parkway and Highway 257, Highway 257 between WCR 54 and Highway 60, and Highway 60 between Highway 257 and Two Rivers Parkway.

“When we build or do maintenance activities on the road, everything from to design to construction is done with the goal of getting the most life out of it as possible,” said Curtis Hall, Director of Weld County’s Department of Public Works.

“Two Rivers Parkway lasted 25 years without needing major maintenance, and it’s our goal with these construction activities to strengthen the road’s level of service so it can for another 25 years.”

e Weld County Public Works Department and an outside contractor will work on the road upgrades. To follow updates on the Two Rivers Parkway, click the link to sign up for newsletter updates at: https://public.govdelivery.com/

Two Rivers Parkway is due for repairs, Weld County announced.

COURTESY PHOTO

Boys and Girls Club celebrate National Pizza Day

Kids learn pizza making skills at Feb. 9 pizza party

BY BELEN WARD BWARD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Fort Lupton’s Boys and Girls Clubhouse at Butler Elementary transformed into a busy pizzeria Feb. 9, thanks to Wholly Stromboli owner Melissa Rickman.

Rickman brought her Wholly Stromboli team and some traveling pizza ovens to Fort Lupton’s Boys and Girls Clubhouse to mark Pizza Across America and National Pizza day Feb. 8, donating and serving pizzas for over 40 children in need fromFort Lupton’s Butler and Twombly elementary schools for a pizza party with music and prizes.

“I am told that for some of these children, school meals and snacks at the clubhouse are their main source for meals and nutrition,” Rickman said.

She also spent much of her time demonstrating and showing the kids how to make pizza.

“I’m super excited. We have been planning this for a long time, and I’m glad it nally all came together. e kids have been excited about it too,” said MaKayla Heid, Director of Boys and Girls Club.

Rickman and her team brought

Fort Lupton council OKs permit for proposed oil well, drilling facility

BY STEVE SMITH SSMITH@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Fort Lupton City Council approved a special-use permit for 10 horizontally drilled oil wells and one production facility during its meeting Feb. 7.

e proposal is to use 14 acres of land near U.S. Highway 85 and Weld County Road 16. Initially, the project would need 14 acres for drilling. Once complete, the land would be reclaimed to almost four acres, some for development and some for the facility.

e vote to approve was 6-1. Councilwoman Valerie Blackston cast the “no” vote.

“I’d like to see us explore other avenues of economically developing our city,” she said. “We have had great success from the oil and gas industry. However, we have seen it’s not a completely reliable or sustainable industry in the long term. Other areas, such as agriculture, I’d like to see more of developed here.”

Kerr McGee Oil and Gas Onshore’s Matt Wells, the applicant’s regulatory advisor, said tra c from the plant would be routed away from town and onto U.S. Highway 85. e timeline is fast. Wells said pad construction start could start in June, the wells could be nished in September and the land reclaimed by May 2024.

“It takes about ve to seven days to drill one well,” Wells told the council. “ e drilling rig will stay on location until all the wells in that pad are drilled. Usually, for about a month or two, you’ll

see the drill rig on location. Once the drill rig is gone, our hydraulic fracturing crews move in. ey go down and fracture the shale rock.”

Most of the microfractures won’t hold a grain of sand, Wells said.

“ e fractures that are big enough to hold a grain of sand,  we put sand in those fractures to keep them open. at releases the oil and gas to come up through our well bore,” he said. “Most of the chemicals are chemicals that can be found in the house and garage.” e plan is to use non-potable water. Wells noted that hydraulic fracturing “represents 0.1 of 1 percent of all water use in the state.”

Blackston also thought the location could go toward more commercial property, even with new tankless technology and the rm’s landscaping ideas.

“Oil tanks and wells are not aesthetically appealing to any other business that may want to develop in the area,” she said. “We’ve done a great job developing the industrial commercial part of our city. I think we should now shift our focus to developing more commercial retail amenities for our citizens.”

Recreation center expansion

In other business, councilors agreed to issue bonds for the expansion of the city’s recreation center.

Voters approved a $10 million debt increase to fund the project. With interest payments and an annual payment rate of $608,000 per year over 30 years, the total repayment cost comes in at $18.2 million.

business owner investing in the kids. It’s amazing,” said Terry Adams, Boys

National Pizza day has been designated on February 9 for people to donate and deliver ten pizzas to

local shelters and soup kitchens or to help any organization. To get involved, visit the link for Pizza Across America.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for Melissa Rickman, and I think it’s great for her to come here to share her skills with the kids at the Boys and Girls Club. Also, to get exposure for a local business owner that has grown from the ground up. It’s a great match to be able to have a local business help the kids,” said Brian Blemn, Boys and Girls Club Board member Community A airs

“My goal for National Pizza Day is to feed all these fantastic kids pizza and have a perfect time, so they don’t have to worry about life’s struggles about homework or anything and enjoy pizza,” said Melissa Rickman, owner of Wholly Stromboli.

Melissa Rickman, teaching Julian how to make pizza and Sam Morris Wholly Stromboli Kitchen manager is baking the pizzas. COURTESY OF LAUREN NIESLEN / GENERAL MANAGER WHOLLY STROMBOLI

Melissa Rickman holding up the drawing made by the kids.

From the beet fields to writing class

Frank Alvarado recalls life growing up in Fort Lupton

BY BELEN WARD BWARD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Frank Alvarado has had an interesting life, from Fort Lupton’s fields picking beets to the 82nd Airborne, all the way to IBM.

In his latest role, he’s trying to capture that interesting life in words. Alvarado wants to write a book documenting the history of Mexican Americans working in the fields and has a few snippets and memories written already.

“People don’t know what we went through. We only know about what happened to the African Americans, the Japanese Americans putting them in camps,” Alvarado said. “We don’t know about the Mexican Americans living in my area of Fort Lupton, working the fields. We didn’t even have doctors or dentists.”

Alvarado’s roots go back to Texas, where his family worked as migrant workers picking cotton on South Padre Island. His parents brought him to Fort Lupton as a baby.

He grew up working the beet fields of Fort Lupton with his family and also traveling to different places, working the harvest fields of Rio Hondo in Harlingen, Texas, picking cotton in Lubbock, Texas, and potatoes in Nebraska.

When he started school at Fort Lupton Butler Elementary at 11 years old, he didn’t know his ABCs. His teachers were reluctant to put him in sixth grade with students his own age.

“I started the second grade. But I had a problem in school. There is a Mayday celebration where all the kids dance around the Maypole,” Alvarado said. “I was dancing with a little 7-year-old girl.”

There were other issues, beyond embarrassment, too.

“People were looking at me calling me a ‘Mexican.’ They never called us Mexican American; my family was born in America,” Alvarado said.

His parents wanted him to persevere.

“I told my Dad, and he said I must do what they tell him in school,” her said.

So, he took his concerns to the school’s principal and asked to be moved up. The principal said he couldn’t advance every student

that had a problem.

“I told him what if I give you straight A’s and B’s?” Alvarado said.

He did, and advanced through school quickly.

“I was good with Math because my dad taught me and he was good at math,” Alvarado said. “They agreed to skip me a few grades as long as I maintained A’s and B’s.”

Alvarado joined the army in 1954 after graduating but was too young to be sent to South Korea. So they sent him to Germany after the war.

“I was a Demolition Expert with the 82nd Airborne and took jump training with the 82nd. Then I was sent to Germany when the 11th Airborne was activated, then moved into the Fourth Infantry Division for combat engineers,” Alvarado said.

Alvarado said when to returned to the states in 1958, he went to Fort Lewis, Washington, for about eight months.

“I finished my tour in Fort Lewis Washington and came back to Fort Lupton and went back to school using the Korean GI bill and studied Electro-Mechanical Technical and also went to business school,” he said.

He went to school at Emily Griffith and then transferred to

Green along the tracks

BY FRANK ALVORADO SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA

e summer of ‘51 was not much di erent than any other time in the small town of Fort Lupton. e majority of the local folks were preparing the festivities to celebrate America’s Independence, which would be the following day.

Fort Lupton, like most small towns along the Platte River Valley, depended mostly on agriculture for survival. e ve thousand or so residents’ income came from the canning factory, sugar factory, pickle docks and the Columbine milk factory. e labor force in the factories consisted mainly of the majority, being white people at the time.

Around one third of the inhabitants were Hispanic (Mexican Ameri-

cans) who did the backbreaking farm labor to supply the mentioned factories. is labor force resided mainly in Paci c Ave. and Harrison St. ere was also the labor camp, composed of 100% Hispanics, but wait, there was one white resident, the labor camp administrator. However, his home was away from where the laborers lived. e administrator lived in a mansion surrounded by a seven-foot fence with greens all around it.

Once a year, the town changed from a quiet little town and raised a little noise celebrating Tomato Day, which Fort Lupton claimed as tomato capital of the nation. With the exception of the sugar factory, most of the labor force became unemployed or migrated to other areas in the southwest to harvest other crops. Some managed to nd work in nearby Denver or other cities. One more celebration besides Tomato Day was Raft River Race, with took place on July 4th. e rafts were to be constructed any with homemade materials, nothing purchased at the hardware store. e race was held in the Platte River, starting in Brighton and ending in Fort Lupton and of course one of the very strict rules was the two managers of the raft must drink at least a six pack of beer during the competition. Most of the competitors overindulged and had a di cult time maneuvering around obstacles in the water, some fell overboard and struggled climbing back in and fell back before climbing back in and there were some who never nished the race due to impairment. e winners of the race were pretty well shot and

Metropolitan State College.

After he finished school, he applied at IBM, working in the technical area for 25-years, testing equipment, building, and designing equipment before moving into exports and imports for 13 years.

“I applied and took a test. Over 500 guys applied and took a test, and only 50 of us passed the test,” Alvarado said.

While at IBM, Alvarado developed a program called Kids in Technology (KIT), a hands-on technology program taht launched in 1986.

“It was 25 years before STEM- it was better than STEM” Alvarado said.

While working for IBM, Alvarado served three terms on the WeldRe 8 the Board of Education. He served there for 12 years.

Since retirement, Alvarado decided he wanted to write his book, so in 2016 he took writing classes at the University of Colorado to polish his skills.

He has a few pieces written, including his memories from Fort Lupton in the summer of 1951 he’s agreed to let us print, and said he’s working under the guidance of his CU professors, working on his next steps.

presented third, second and rst place.

On July 3, 1951, Santa Claus came ve months early for a lot of people on the other side of the tracks, never in anyone’s mind expected what was to happen. Very few people owned vehicles back then and walked to town to take care of business. A sidewalk made of brick existed from Harrison Street to town, which was frequently used by the neighborhood. Suddenly, the rumbling and honking of the St. Louis streamliner interrupted the peaceful and lazy afternoon.

In matter of minutes, the train had ashed by on its daily schedule. However, this time something occurred drastically out of the ordinary. e train continued on, leaving behind a whirlwind loaded with green objects scattering throughout the ve acres between the train depot and Paci c Avenue.

Alex Rivas decided to stroll over to the Silver Moon Bar and join his senior comrades for a glass of Coors. He had enough for two glasses, fty cents. Mr. Rivas was waiting for

SEE TRACKS, P5

the train to pass but never, never expected the green bucks ying around him. Money. is was impossible to be true, money does not grow on trees and most certainly does not y.

Nevertheless, he began gathering bills - dollars, ves, twenties and fties and some hundreds. is paid a lot more than picking green beans, which paid about 2½ cents a pound. All at once, there was a very loud scream, “Money, money, dinero!” And before the blink of an eye, the empty eld turned into a human beehive, pushing shoving and at times di erent hands grabbing the same bill, causing a push and a smack. It became an Olympic gold competition.

Mrs. Rojo, a 90-year-old citizen,

always wore an apron as part of her daily dress code and she found it to be just what the doctor ordered for a very unique occasion and used it to deposit her precious paperwork. She used a can to assist her to get around. Well, as soon as she had enough paper, she forgot about her cane and raced home with an apron full, stopping only when she dropped some of the loot. Suddenly, the local police arrived, one cop who would easily compete with Barney from the TV show Andy Gri th, He challenged the money-pickers, reminding them that what was being done was a federal o ense and jail would be for certain. He ran around desperately demanding they obey his commands. However his e orts fell on deaf ears.

e o cer’s weapon was most likely borrowed from the local museum, a replica of what Clint Eastwood used in the Westerns. Heavy and so huge that Barney had to keep

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switching hands while pointing the cannon at the money harvesters.

In a matter of minutes, the eld was looted where even some of the weeds had been pulled up to search for treasure.

Late that afternoon, local stores experienced more sales form the folks on the east side of town, seems as if they discovered gold.

Mr. Rivas was drinking a bottle of beer instead of one or two glasses.

e Silver Moon, the Monterrey and

e Town Tavern sold and unusual amount of booze that night, celebrating an early Christmas thanks to the Union Paci c and the Fort Lupton State Bank.

ere are con icting stories on the incident. e Greeley news media stated that a bunch of money was dropped and sucked under the wheels, tearing the bag in all the excitement. Another story is that the money bag hanging for the train to hook as it passed by encountered

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problems with the release mechanism and caused the bag to burst open.

e poor people on the east side of the tracks didn’t argue the case, they were happy that Santa came ve months early.

No one was arrested and the money pickers kept silent, hiding the loot in their personal secret compartments. Decades later, some of the stories were told, however there were countless stories made up by local gossipers. at train had been held up by bandits , the money safe was pushed out from the mail car or the railroad manager had planned it all.

e Union Paci c and the beneciaries knew the absolute truth, with one exception: e amount lost. e railroad people claimed that $24,000 was in the bag, however the old timers years later claimed it to be much more than that.

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Virginia Jean “Ginny” (Vincent) Ruggiero October 11, 1925 - December 19, 2022

Virginia Ruggiero 1925 – 2022. Virginia Jean Vincent Clark Ruggiero aged 97 passed away peacefully December 19, 2022. She was born October 11, 1925 in Ft. Lupton, CO to Elizabeth and Rollie Vincent. For full

HAMMERLUND

obituary go to www.crownhillfuneral.com.

Memorial service Saturday Feb. 25, 4PM at Alli Event Center, 100 S 3rd Ave, Brighton, CO 80601

George Hammerlund

April 8, 1924 - December 4, 2022

George H. Hammerlund of Brighton Colo. He was laid to rest along with Harriet Hammerlund Dec.27th 2022 at Fort Logan National Cemetery. George and Harriet are survived by their 5 children , 9 grand children , 17 great grand children and 3 great great grand children. ey will be greatly missed.

ROMERO

Eva Romero

March 20, 1934 - February 3, 2023

Eva was born on March 20th, 1934 in Brighton, Colorado, were she was also raised. She was widowed and raised 8 children.

Eva enjoyed a career in healthcare. She was a very loving Mother, Grandmother, Great Grandmother, and Great-Great Grandmother. She was a wellloved member of the Brighton Community. She raised her children in California before returning to Brighton, Colorado in 1986 where she remained a resident until her death. Eva loved shing, bingo, gambling up the hill and trips to the beautiful Rocky Mountains. She loved to wear hats, bracelets and you

would often see her in a vest.

She is preceded in death by her husband Ernest Romero, her son Gerald Romero, and her siblings Bertha, Tony, and Eloy.

She is survived by her brother Candido Sanchez, her children Carmen (David) Castro, Vicki (Oscar) Soto, Rachel (Rudy) Ramirez, Cynthia ( e late Robert) Bowman, Adam ( e late Gretchen) Romero, Anthony Romero, Amy (Danny) Huizar, 21 grandchildren, 40 great grandchildren, and 2 great-great grandchildren.

Eva will be missed by her entire family and her dear friends.

We cannot manage what we do not know

As a partner and potential sales channel to the enterprise selling team, they were faced with a decision to make about an interaction they had with a new account executive they had just started working with. ere was a lack of follow-up on the account executive’s part and the partner was torn between letting the young account executive’s boss know, or not.

Ultimately, he decided to call their boss because they wanted to provide a coaching opportunity for the young new hire. e leader was grateful and said, “ ank you as I cannot x something that I do not know is broken, and I cannot manage what I do not know.”

ere is so much sensitivity around what we can say and what we cannot or should not say. We fear that it may not be our place to say anything at all, after all we may become the one where others choose to point the nger of blame. We would rather keep our mouth shut and let the next person who receives bad service or experiences a problem be the one to share their concerns. Maybe they are braver than we are in those moments.

We survived 2022, but will 2023 be better? One could hope but some of the same economic issues still haunt us. erefore, volatile nancial markets may continue for a bit.

Many investors may recall a mantra, “As January goes, so goes the year.” is is referring to how well the stock market performs the rst month of the year and could be an indicator for the entire year’s returns. Bill Greiner, CFA, chief economist for Mariner Wealth Advisors, states this is correct 72% of the time. at is good news since January was a positive month for the S&P 500.

Many issues still linger though, such as an increasing probability of a recession. One reason is the Federal Reserve Board’s indication to continue increasing interest rates to help curb in ation. We may also see corporate

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WINNING WORDS

their head and said, “No.” is was a simple or minor issue that, if the manager had known or been told, could have been easily resolved.

We know parents who have approached the o cials of the school where their child was being bullied.

e o cials were given the opportunity to x what was broken.

Michael Norton

e question becomes this, wouldn’t we want to know if something that we, or someone in our family, circle of friends, or company was doing something, or had done something, that wasn’t right and could potentially be harmful to others or to our family or business? Most of us would answer the same way, of course we would.

In the case above, the leader did use it as a coaching moment and the young account executive embraced the feedback and became determined to make a change in his response times and doing what they said they would do when they said they would do it.

Another friend I know stopped going to the same co ee shop they had been stopping by every morning for years. When I asked them why, they said that the shop had started serving co ee that wasn’t as hot as it should be. I asked them if they let the manager know. ey shook

ey now knew what they had to manage, yet they refused to take action. e nal outcome was that the child was transferred to another school and thankfully, was met with a new set of friends who they became very close with, enjoying a wonderful and safe high school experience.

It’s no di erent at home or in any relationship. If we do not know what is broken, we cannot manage or x what we do not know. We have to provide others a safe environment to share what they see as a problem or an area that can be improved, and then be vulnerable enough to acknowledge that it can be better and then take the steps necessary to x the problem.

Two of the most important ingredients to any successful relationship, husband-wife, parent-child,

An economy in flux

FINANCIAL STRATEGIES

earnings begin to wane after holding up well last year.

is could be due to higher costs of borrowing along with the labor shortage.

Consumers are tired. Tired of winter, tired of economic uncertainty and in ation. Business owners are drained from trying to nd workers, rising lease rates and higher cost of goods. Investors are weary of stock market declines and interest rate increases. e war in Ukraine continues. COVID seems to have reappeared. is is when people are most pessimistic. And that creates opportunity. While everyone is crying in their soup, you could be taking advantage of

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bad news that puts your favorite stocks or sectors on sale. Greiner states that if there is a recession in 2023, “It will probably be a light, quick recession.”

erefore, the rally days on the stock market indicate investors may be looking past a brief recession and trying to lock in some gains in the future.

Recessions are healthy for the economy, and they are what gives us the business cycle. Hitting the reset button to reprice goods and services and trim o excesses that are not sustainable is a good thing.

ere are other possibilities if there is not a recession. We could remain in the stag ation from last year, which could actually be worse, in my opinion. Stag ation is typically high in ation and low growth. is could drag out the e ects of rising interest rates causing the Fed to need to ght in ation even longer.

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teacher-student, employer-employee, company-customer, or any other relationship are communication and trust. And when we can honestly and openly share with others what needs to change or be managed better, most times we will be seen as being helpful as again, none of us can x or manage what we do not know is broken or a problem in the rst place.

How about you? Do you feel safe and comfortable sharing with your boss, partner, co-worker or the manager of a store where you frequently shop what is broken or needs to be managed better or di erently? Or would you rather someone else take that responsibility? I would love to hear your story at gotonorton@gmail.com, and when we can be open to managing and xing what we know to be broken, 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.

e Fed could pull o a soft landing, where they pause interest rate hikes just in time to get the perfect combination of curbing in ation without halting too much growth. Most economists put this scenario at a very low probability.

Prepare for some continued economic and market uctuations especially in the rst half of the year while the Fed is expected to continue hiking rates. If in ation continues to roll over, then we could see interest rates plateau and growth start to return.

We’ll see a year from now how 2023 turns out: stagnant, recessed or the perfect landing.

Patricia Kummer has been a certied nancial planner professional and a duciary for over 35 years and is managing director for Mariner Wealth Advisors.

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BY CORINNE WESTEMAN CWESTEMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

While working out at a gym in Golden recently, someone approached Ty Scrable and asked if he was associated with Colorado School of Mines. Scrable had to explain that, no, he’s just a Golden resident.

Unfortunately, Scrable said, this isn’t the rst time it’s happened.

“I get that a lot,” he said. “People think I’m a student, professor or tourist because I’m Black.”

Systemic racism stubbornly remains in Golden. But, as Scrable said, it has morphed from Ku Klux Klan demonstrations in the 1920s and racist housing policies in the 1940s to something less overt but still widespread and endlessly frustrating.

Because White people make up the overwhelming majority in the city and, thus, are seen as the norm, Scrable said, “many people don’t view me as part of my own community.”

In the wake of Black Lives Matter demonstrations in the summer of 2020, many cities and newspapers across the United States have started reckoning with their pasts, examining how they’ve contributed to systemic racism, learning what they can do to be more inclusive and fair. e Golden community has started the process, and now it’s the Golden Transcript’s turn.

e newspaper, which now is part of Colorado Community Media, isn’t immune to biased coverage. is report is the product of its journalists attempting to examine the paper’s coverage of the Black community since the Civil Rights era and own up to its mistakes.

Since 1866, the Golden Transcript — known as the Colorado Transcript for its rst 103 years — has been a record keeper for Je erson County. While its stories are extensive and valuable, the paper contains original and reprinted content that was harmful to the Black community and other marginalized groups.

Just one example is its coverage of the Black Panther Party, a group that gained national attention in the late 1960s for its response to policing in Black communities across the country.

Between 1969-1971, the newspaper published approximately 170 articles that referenced the Black Panther Party. Nearly all of these articles

BEYOND THE GOLDEN TRANSCRIPT: Our efforts to reconcile racial mistrust begins with this story

In our newspaper this week, you’ll see an article about the Golden Transcript. It’s one of two dozen newspapers owned by Colorado Community Media, which also owns this paper. The article tackles the issue of systemic racism in the Transcript’s pages.

The idea for the project started in 2020, when the Colorado News Collaborative, Colorado Media Project and Free Press convened the Black Voices Working Group, which was made up of Black leaders, community members and journalists. The group addressed media coverage and focused on how to improve trust in mainstream media among the Black community. Acknowledging past harm was the No. 1 recommendation made by the group.

A few months later, I attended a Denver Press Club event where Jameka Lewis, a senior librarian at the BlairCaldwell African American Research Library, illustrated biases in mainstream local media coverage of the Black Panther Party in the 1960s and ’70s while exhibiting rare prints of the Black Panther Press. Many of Lewis’ examples came from the Transcript. Most articles were wire stories from

other cities, but editors still chose to run them, affecting perceptions of the party in Golden.

We pursued and were awarded a grant from the nonpartisan Colorado Media Project to explore, uncover and analyze this issue in the form of the special report that is in this edition of your newspaper.

Our newsroom, which is predominantly White, also participated in the Maynard Institute’s diversity, equity and inclusion Fault Lines training along the way. West metro editor Kristen Fiore was a speaker at the Advancing Equity in Local News convening with journalists from publications like the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Washington Post to talk about this project.

We believe this story is important beyond Golden — and we hope to spark conversations in our communities across the Denver area about race and inclusion and how our news coverage impacts those issues.

Linda Carpio Shapley is publisher of Colorado Community Media, which runs two dozen weekly and monthly publications in eight counties. She can be reached at lshapley@coloradocommunitymedia.com

Linda Shapley

presented the group in a negative light, with words such as “fugitive,” “thugs” and “militants.” And, the Transcript appeared to rarely cover the Black community in the city and wider region. Because of this, their voices are missing in archives, now online as an important chronicling of Colorado’s history.

By not including these voices in an accurate light, and by publishing stories that reinforced harmful stereotypes and/or recorded Black people’s traumatic experiences in an apathetic or ippant way, the Golden Transcript’s coverage contributed to systemic racism, according to researchers and Black community leaders.

Jameka Lewis, senior librarian at the Denver Public Library’s Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library and a freelance researcher on this report, said Transcript readers may have had their beliefs about the Black Panther Party, and the Black community in general, shaped by the Transcript’s negative portrayals.

“ ere is harm when it comes to media and the Black community in Denver and Colorado,” Lewis said. “If we want to repair the harms, we have to acknowledge that (they are) factual.”

Alfonzo Porter, editor-in-chief at Denver Urban Spectrum and a journalism professor at Metropolitan State University of Denver, said mass media has been at the epicenter of “propagating negative images and re ections of the AfricanAmerican community.”

“It really stems out of our country’s background, and we’re still dealing with those biases,” he said.

While almost all of the Transcript’s stories about the Black Panther Party were from wire services like United Press International, Porter said the Transcript and other newspapers are accountable for reprinting those stories.

“It’s exactly like original reporting, because … the editorial sta sat in a room, looked at this piece, determined that it was appropriate and ran with it in the paper,” he said.

The Black Panther Party

e Black Panther Party for Self Defense started in 1966 in Oakland, California. Founders Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale started the organization as a response to police brutality there and in other Black communities, according to Lewis’ research.

e party had a 10-point program that included demands for Black liberation and societal

THE COVERAGE

How national, Denver-area papers covered the party Sisters Ida Daniel, Pat Rogers and JoEllen Greenwood grew up in Denver and graduated from East High School in the ’60s and early ’70s. ey recalled reading e Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News and watching the nightly news on TV. ey also listened to the city’s Black radio station, KDKO, and read Black-oriented magazines like Ebony and Jet.

Overall, the three didn’t recall a lot of news stories about Black people in the mainstream press, unless it was negative. e news covered Black people who were arrested for murder, robbery, rioting and other crimes. Rogers summarized the coverage as: “Be afraid of Black people.” at kind of coverage played out with the Black Panthers. In 2016, e New York Times analyzed stories about the Panthers, noting “journalists were at once fascinated and frightened by them” and their activities in the 1960s and ‘70s.  Coverage about the Denver Panthers in Black newspapers in the area at the time was scant. Of those Lewis researched, the Black-owned publication e Denver Blade published the most articles on the group’s activities, both locally and nationally, in 1969.

Its coverage appears to be fairly balanced, Lewis said.

One Blade article discussed the Panthers’ orga-

improvement. Eventually, the Black Panthers led more than 35 community programs across the country, like the Free Breakfast for School Children Program — also known as e Free People’s Food Program, which helped feed Black children from economically disadvantaged families.

In Denver, a chapter gained recognition in 1967. Led by Lauren Watson, the chapter’s history was largely erased or ignored, Lewis said, adding that the Denver Panthers were instrumental in the ght for civil rights in Colorado.

It’s important to note that many Black community members both then and now have mixed feelings about the Panthers and their work, Lewis stressed.

Longtime Denver residents she interviewed formed their opinions largely based on what they read about the Black Panthers in newspapers and saw on TV. Yet that coverage contrasts with what many in the community saw the Denver Black Panthers doing. ey were involved in school board and City Council meetings, provided free meals for children, and worked to

nizing a meeting to discuss policing and police presence at Cole Jr. High School in Denver’s diverse Whittier neighborhood. It chronicled the Black community’s e orts to address a racial gap between teachers and Black students. One possible solution, and likely at the suggestion of the Denver Black Panthers, was to establish Cole as a Freedom School, a concept that focused on Black pride and Black liberation in academics.

In contrast, the Denver Post also covered the meeting but didn’t mention the Panthers’ involvement in organizing the event or the Freedom School proposal. In a review of Post archives, the story focused on arrests. e Denver Blade coverage did not mention any Black Panther arrests.

“Oftentimes, it was up to Black news media to cover this group in a more comprehensive way, which I believe e Denver Blade did,” Lewis said. “It covered all aspects of the local and national Panthers, and o ered readers a more balanced view of the members of this group.”

e Denver Blade stopped operating in 1970.

How Golden’s newspapers covered the Panthers

e Transcript published approximately 170 articles that used the terms “Black Panther” or “Black Panthers” between 1969-1971. Almost all of these were reprinted stories from wire services, which seldom described anything positive about the party or its members.

improve the welfare of their neighborhoods and its residents.

“Many Black people believed what the media said about the Panthers,” said Terry Nelson, a lifelong member of the Denver community. “ … It depended on the source. We recognized that the newspapers weren’t telling the truth about the members. … We knew that the Denver members were active in schools, speaking with teachers and parents. We never saw that in the major newspapers.”

Tracie Keesee, a former Denver police captain and co-founder of the Center for Policing Equity, described how during this tumultuous period, the press played into the hands of government o cials.

Newsrooms considered police as trustworthy and well-respected sources, so it was easy for them to hand reporters a story and have it taken at face value, Keesee said.

Keesee added: “We see it now, right? at divisiveness in the media, the stories that are being told — or not being told.”

e only article referencing the party’s free breakfast program was published April 30, 1970, about Baltimore police rounding up Black Panthers suspected of killing a patrolman. After searching party headquarters, police searched a school where it conducted its breakfast program, among other locations.

In contrast, the Colorado School of Mines student paper, e Oredigger, published at least two stories about the Black Panther Party. Both were straightforward accounts of Lauren Watson, the head of the Denver chapter, visiting Golden.

Ultimately, while coverage of the Black Panthers varied by publication, the Golden Transcript failed to cover the party’s community initiatives or involvement. It did, however, print dozens of wire stories about the party’s supposed criminal activity and police raids associated with the group.

e coverage used negative language to describe the Panthers, their neighborhoods and any activities they were involved in. Because of this, Golden-area residents absorbed and believed what they heard and saw in the news coverage, Lewis stated.

e role of the press in forwarding racial inequality really shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone, Keesee said, especially to communities of color.

“It’s not just that person that wrote the story,

Jameka Lewis is a senior librarian at the Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library and a researcher on this project. COURTESY PHOTO

FOR THE RECORD

that person had an editor, right?

ere wasn’t anything in that editor’s mind that said, ‘Yeah…this seems a little biased. Did you even go into the community, or did you just take that o the wire and repeat it?’”

ere’s no excuse for sloppy journalism, as it is harmful and contributes directly to a larger narrative, Keesee said.

“When you talk about media coverage, there were only three channels on the television, back then; there was no social media,” she said, adding, “the newspapers were cranking out those stories overnight and you were waiting for your morning paper. Nobody was up waiting for breaking news. So, the news that was coming out, it was more focused and easier to control.”

And when news was breaking, “it

THE COMMUNITY

Golden in the 1960s and ’70s

Built on lands traditionally inhabited by the Cheyenne, Arapaho, Ute and other tribes, Golden City was founded in 1859. According to Allan Tellis, a doctoral student of political science at the University of Colorado-Boulder and freelance researcher on this report, Golden has never had a signi cant Black population.

Census data from 1960 shows that the Golden division of Je erson County had 28 Black residents. By 1970, that number had increased to 86. Overall, those numbers represent 0.15% and 0.27% of the total population, respectively, according to Tellis.

As of 2020, Golden had 388 Black residents, representing 1.9% of the city’s population.

Longtime Golden residents recalled how many of the city’s Black residents in the late 1960s and early ’70s were associated with Colorado School of Mines as students, professors or their family members. As far as discussions about the Black Panther Party speci cally or race relations in general, longtime White residents said the topic didn’t come up much because there wasn’t a large Black population in the area.

Rick Gardner, a resident who has studied Golden’s history extensively, said the community had “other preoccupations at the time,” such as labor clashes at the Coors brewery and the Vietnam War.

John Akal, a longtime Goldenite and current columnist for the Transcript, described how he spent his summers in Chicago, where it was “a whole di erent situation.” Because of the 1968 Chicago riots, which were sparked by the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., Akal remembered a lot of racial tension in the city at the time.

But that was Chicago.

Golden was di erent, but not necessarily better.

The KKK in Golden Overt discrimination in Golden against Black people and other

was breaking only one way, and those narratives were pretty narrow,” she added.

The newsroom

During this timeframe, the Transcript was a daily paper with a small sta of six and a wire service that provided regional and national news.

Neil Paulson, who was managing editor from 1970-75, said the paper relied on United Press International reports to cover many issues, including the Black Panthers.

“It was a terrible service, especially for a small paper,” he said. “It cost us a little more, but eventually we went to e Associated Press.”

e only dictate from the paper’s owners, e Kansas City Star and the Great (Kansas) Tribune, was to run a local story on the front page, Paulson said. National and regional stories ran inside.

Paulson noted that Golden’s population at the time, as it is today, was

communities peaked with the Ku Klux Klan, which had a strong presence in the city and throughout Colorado, particularly in the 1920s.

e Klan began in Denver in 1921 and eventually “all but took possession of the state of Colorado,” according to a report in the Steamboat Pilot. Klan members throughout Denver gathered on Golden’s South Table Mountain for cross-burnings and other rituals. According to Golden History, the mountain could attract up to 10,000 members.

Overall, the Klan helped prevent or deter unknown numbers of Black people from carving out lives in the area. History Colorado recently released ledgers of KKK membership that show seven members of the terrorist organization resided in the Golden area, Tellis added.

Racist housing policies, practices

While the Klan’s activities are certainly one reason Golden has a small Black population, it’s not the only reason. Discriminatory housing practices also contributed.

Don Cameron, a former Jefferson County teacher and current Golden city councilor, has researched zoning history and discriminatory housing policies and practices, including some accounts recorded in the Transcript.

While many Black residents in Denver were constricted by redlining, their counterparts in Golden faced other challenges.

“Starting in the ’20s and into the ’40s, it was common for people to say that they would only sell their individual property to those of the Caucasian race, or non-Negro race individuals,” Cameron stated in a self-published article about Golden’s zoning history.

“ e courts backed up this right because they were protecting the homeowners’ use of their land and had no civic duty to prevent this discrimination,” the article continues. “Blacks were excluded from being shown properties in these restrictive neighborhoods, and if they tried to purchase them, (they) might have it taken away soon

predominantly White.

He knew two Black Goldenites during his years as editor. One was Monroe Jordan, an assistant chef at downtown Golden’s historic Holland House, who later worked at the nearby Ace-Hi Tavern.

When Jordan died, Paulson ran a story on the front page that brie y memorialized him but mostly discussed an attempt to nd his relatives, as no one had come forward to claim Jordan’s body nearly two weeks after his death.

Readers didn’t react positively to the front-page piece.

“I got a couple of nasty phone calls, but no one admitted to their bias,” Paulson said. “ ey refused to apologize, of course. ey said I shouldn’t have put that on the front page. In typical Golden fashion, there was nothing speci c, other than to say, ‘You shouldn’t have done that.’ e thought of another race didn’t exist.”

For the Transcript’s newsroom, Paulson said there was no “codi ed

policy on racism” during his time there.

“We condemned it, but we made little e ort to actively attack it,” he said. “( e) Black Panthers seem remote from Golden, where there were few Black families.”

One place where Paulson thought racism showed up was on the editorial page. e paper had four syndicated columnists every day who lived outside the community. ey were selected by the publisher because “they were cheap and not already being published by the two Denver dailies,” he stated.

Paulson said he had no doubt the paper could be accused of racism for its coverage in those days.

“But I’d like to think it was by omission rather than intent,” he said. “We rarely spoke of racism and did little to come out against its pernicious e ects. I don’t remember anyone on the sta making racist remarks, and I think I would have remembered that.”

after.”

Perhaps the most evident example of this was in 1942, when Logus Butler and Susie A. Allison paid $1,500 for 30 acres near present-day Boyd Street in north Golden. ey planned to build on it, but they were forced to sell a few months later after Golden residents drove them out.

“A large number of citizens appeared before the City Council

Wednesday evening,” the Transcript reported Oct. 22, 1942, “and stated that a group of colored people had taken possession of the land recently purchased by them east of the Clark’s Garden addition, within the city limits of Golden, and were apparently staking out some building sites.”

After Butler and Allison were

A photo circa late 1960s or early 1970s shows the Seymour family gathered for a portrait in their family home in Denver. In this photo, the siblings — Ida Daniel, Pat Rogers, JoEllen Greenwood and Winfred Semour Jr. — were teens. COURTESY PHOTO

FOR THE RECORD

forced to sell the land, plots on the same land were listed for sale two

THE IMPACT

In the community

While growing up in Denver in the ‘60s and ‘70s, Daniel and her sisters used their education and life experiences to help them decipher which news stories were biased and which were reputable. ey also relied on family and friends’ advice.

“I don’t think news at the time covered Blacks in the world that they lived in,” Daniel said. “To me, the general stories about how Blacks lived, what they did, what their concerns were and some of their needs, were not covered.”

The sisters felt this trend in coverage didn’t change until the ’80s, when news about Black people and Black communities became more prominent.

As an example, Daniel described how The Denver Post did a feature article on her late husband, Wiley Y. Daniel, who was a prominent attorney and

THE FUTURE

For Goldenites

In more recent years, especially in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and the Black Lives Matter rallies in the summer of 2020, the Golden community has started examining the long reach of systemic racism in and around the city. e City of Golden started work on its Racial Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan, and groups like Golden United and Golden Anti-Racism Collective formed.

While these are good rst steps, real change has to start with people’s attitudes, GAC members Scrable and Michele Minihane said.

Although many Goldenites are open-minded and inclusive, Minihane personally believed there are still some residents who “do not value an integrated community and don’t feel like it’s important to make people of color feel welcome.”

She added: “I don’t get the sense that (attitudes) have changed a lot in 40 or 50 years.”

Scrable agreed that tangible changes, whether in attitudes or policies, have been slow. He said it’s going to take time and everyone working together to make Golden a more welcoming and inclusive place.

e two described how the Golden Anti-Racism Collective has become a place where people can share their experiences, examine systemic racism’s impact on the community, and nd ways to improve Golden for current and future generations.

As of last month, GAC has about

years later. Ownership was restricted to “members of the Caucasian race.”

ese accounts are just glimpses of Golden’s treatment of people of color, but Tellis emphasized how they demonstrate “institutionalized

the state’s first Black U.S. district court judge. She also recalled how

e Post’s society section ran pictures of positive stories happening in the Black community.

“I do think it began to change in the ’80s,” Daniel continued. “ ere were positive stories (but) … the stereotypes were still going on.”

Diversity in the newsroom also seemed to improve during this timeframe, the sisters said. They recalled Reynelda Muse, the first Black person to anchor a newscast in Colorado, and Bertha Lynn, who started in Denver television in 1976.

While a lot has changed in how traditional outlets cover Black people and Black communities, the sisters believe there’s still plenty of bias. Rogers admitted that she avoids local news because there are still more negative stories about Black people than positive ones.

“I think there absolutely still is biased coverage,” she said. “I don’t want, every day, to hear

400 members on an email list and a few dozen who come to its regular meetings. ere are several subgroups within the Golden Anti-Racism Collective that tackle di erent topics such as policy and policing, education, and books and media.

While the bulk of the members are White, any Goldenites of color are welcome to join and participate as they’re able, the members said.

e group has established a unique partnership with the Golden Police Department, as some of its members sit on the department’s community engagement group, GAC member Sandra Knecht explained. GAC and other community members have given feedback on various department policies, particularly around use of force.

GAC members also try to comment on City Council discussions and participate in other local matters, including education, youth outreach and a ordable housing. In doing so, the group has developed partnerships with Shelton Elementary, the Golden Library, Colorado School of Mines student groups, Golden United and other groups that share GAC’s goals.

Similar to GAC, Golden United formed after the 2016 election as “there was a fair amount of division, nationally and locally,” Ronnie Rosenbaum said. e group sought to bring people together and encourage respect for those who have di erent ideas and opinions.

Rosenbaum, who’s vice president on Golden United’s board of directors, described the partnership between Golden United and

anti-Black behaviors and norms” in the area. So, he said, it’s no surprise that the Black Panther Party, an organization that “unapologetically called for Black liberation and the dismantling of White supremacist power structures, would catch the

about, ‘there’s another Black person who got in trouble.’”

In the country

Going back through American history, the Urban Spectrum’s Porter described other incidents where media outlets didn’t give Black people the bene t of the doubt. He listed the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and the Emmitt Till lynching as examples of the media portraying those involved as “guilty until proven innocent,” adding how the trend has persisted into today’s coverage of police shootings and similar incidents.

“And it seems as though that mentality continues to manifest in those organizations in their treatment of our community,” he said. “And so, it’s always the bad news. ere’s really never any positive re ections.”

Regarding news coverage of the Black Panther Party, the journalism professor described it as a peaceful organization that was responding to violence “against

GAC, saying the two groups and others joined forces for a rally in summer 2020 and pushed City Council to approve the “Golden Stands with Black Lives” banner on Washington Avenue.

Minihane stressed how the GAC believes systemic racism impacts all Golden residents, regardless of race, and recommended locals read “ e Sum of Us” by Heather McGhee to learn more about that impact.

For the City of Golden

In summer 2020, the Golden City Council produced a series of resolutions meant to address its history of racial exclusion and racist domination of non-White groups, Tellis stated.

ese resolutions included:  Resolution 2736 – Declaring Racism a Public Health Crisis

Resolution 2747 - Declaring Support for Black Lives and Racial Equity rough a Public Display, and

Resolution 2748 - Declaring A Commitment to Anti-Racism Actions

Resolution 2736 states, “the Golden City Council recognizes that racial inequities have become institutionalized in the policies and practices of many agencies, governmental and otherwise. Council recognizes the need to examine seemingly neutral policies and practices to determine whether they are contributing to inequity and, where needed, change or eliminate the policy or practice as cities have a long history of decision and policy making that have resulted in classist and racist outcomes.”

ire of local reporting.”

Tellis added: “Golden has displayed a deep commitment to the marginalization of Black people. To re ect on this legacy is pivotal if we desire to not replicate the racial strife and injustice of our past.”

African-American people in an attempt to say, ‘We will protect our community.’”

“ e idea was that Black folks with guns clearly scared the hell out of people,” Porter continued. “Because obviously, if you’ve got a gun, then you’re going to be violent. And it’s only that mentality because of our profession (as journalists). Our profession has continued to promote that re ection — still does, to this day.”

As for Golden and the Transcript’s coverage of the Black community, Porter believed it likely made Black residents feel unsafe and unwelcome, saying, “ ey know that any coverage of them will not be balanced and fair.”

Fairness and racial equity are concepts Golden, Denver, the United States and journalism as a profession need to work on, he stated.

“I don’t see our profession doing enough work in that area,” Porter said. “I hear the talk. But I’m not seeing anything to back it up.”

Building on that, the city hired a consultant in June 2021 to develop a Racial Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan based on community input. After developing it for more than a year, the plan outlined four goals:

Create a culture of inclusion and belonging throughout the community of Golden; Increase access to services and resources for diverse community members;

Foster an organizational culture and environment within the City of Golden that’s committed to racial equity, diversity and inclusion; and Expand economic opportunities for diverse businesses.

Along with the REDI Action Plan, the consultants also recommended dozens of strategies toward these goals and an implementation plan.

For instance, public documents and other information should be available to those who don’t speak English or have di erent abilities. City boards and commissions should have a more inclusive recruiting process to ensure diversity among their members.

e city also should host training about Golden’s history, structural racism and implicit bias.

e City Council adopted the REDI Action Plan in December 2022 and called on the community to ensure Golden achieves the four goals in a timely, e ective way.

e plan was developed with race as the leading element because of how widespread and

FOR THE RECORD

damaging racial inequalities are in the United States, according to city consultants. However, the REDI Action Plan is overall intersectional, examining how to make Golden a better place for people of all ages, abilities, gender identities, sexual orientations, socioeconomic backgrounds, religions and other demographics.

O cials said the next step is to assemble an implementation team of community members and city sta ers to make recommendations to City Council on how to achieve goals. Golden expects to assemble the team this spring.

In a Feb. 10 email, Mayor Laura Weinberg highlighted city o cials and community members’ ongoing work to “live up to our value as a welcoming and inclusive city.”

“I applaud the Golden Transcript’s work to identify its role in racial inequities in the past and its role in systemic racism,” she stated. “ e City of Golden has undertaken similar work … (and) I look forward to this year’s actions to take the information from our new REDI plan and put community-driven solutions into practice.”

For the Golden Transcript

While the Transcript’s ownership and newsroom has changed greatly since the late 1960s and early ‘70s, it’s not immune from the biases and attitudes that riddled its past coverage and contributed to systemic racism in and around Golden.

Scrable said reading the Transcript’s past coverage of the Black community can be “demoralizing,” but even recent stories have failed to represent Black voices.

He pointed to an Aug. 31, 2020 Transcript story about City Council’s decision to display a “Golden Stands With Black Lives” banner over Washington Avenue. e story said the banner would be displayed for 60 days, “an amount of time intended to symbolize how long it took for slave ships to cross the Atlantic.”

Scrable and his GAC co-chairs did advocate for 60 days, but they never assigned any symbolism or signicance to the number.

“It might’ve been said (in the meeting), but it wasn’t us,” Scrable said of GAC. “It was a misquote.”

After the Aug. 31, 2020 story, Scrable received about 20 phone calls from people upset about the supposed symbolism. He felt the Transcript hadn’t done enough research and ultimately misrepresented the facts, and that insensitivity created a

A banner reading “Golden Stands with Black Lives” hangs from the iconic “Welcome to Golden” sign over Washington Avenue in September 2020. After declaring racism as a public health crisis in 2020, among other e orts, Golden recently adopted a Racial Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan.

very frustrating experience.

He wanted the Transcript to ensure there are positive stories about people from historically marginalized groups, and do better educating Goldenites about their neighbors’ achievements and experiences.

Scrable added: “I’m looking to the Transcript to paint a positive picture for all people of color … and representing ‘all’ versus ‘a few.’”

e Colorado Community Media newsroom acknowledges it has work to do, and this February 2023 report is only the rst step in what the team hopes will open a wider conversation about systemic racism and media coverage for years to come. Working on this report brought CCM sta members faceto-face with outdated practices and implicit biases.

Going forward, CCM’s goal is to include more voices of color in the newsroom and on the pages of its two dozen publications, Publisher Linda Shapley said. CCM wants to ensure all local voices are heard and included, while also re ecting on racial equity, diversity and inclusion. CCM will strive to consider the lenses through which the sta decides to cover stories in the rst place. Appreciating di erences in CCM’s coverage areas, like history and culture, will guide the newsroom in its e orts.

Other newspapers such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, e Kansas City Star, Philadelphia Inquirer and more have done similar analyses of their past coverage, and the Transcript encourages other newspapers in the region and across the country to do so as well, Shapley said, adding that it wouldn’t have been possible without a Colorado Media Project grant.

For all journalists, Porter stressed the importance of continuing to diversify newsrooms and ensuring fair, balanced and objective coverage and “stop convicting people without evidence.”

He called on more publications to review their past coverage and acknowledge its harmful impacts, saying it’s important to shine a light on the truth, to be honest and to be transparent.

“If we’re ever going to get past this, it’s going to take some truth-telling,” he said. “It will be hard. It will be difcult. But it really is one of the last vestiges to make this country what it said it was in the beginning — freedom and liberty for all. Which has not been the case for us.”

Jameka Lewis, Allan Tellis, Kristen Fiore, Rylee Dunn, Christy Steadman, Steve Smith and Deborah Grigsby contributed to this report. Greg Moore contributed as an editor.

COURTESY OF THE CITY OF GOLDEN

Fort Lupton’s D’mitri Garza-alarcon will be competing at the state 3A wrestling tournament this week. He won the 138-pound regional championship at Eaton High School Feb. 11.

Bluedevils send eight to state tournament

BY STEVE SMITH SSMITH@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Fort Lupton’s Donovan Birmingham –and seven of his teammates – are heading to the state 3A wrestling tournament in Denver, starting ursday, Feb. 16. His biggest issue this season wasn’t the class 3A Region 1 tournament at Eaton High School. He won the 106-pound title with three wins. His toughest match was in the nals against Eaton’s Blake Hawkins. Birmingham won 3-1.

Birmingham quali ed for state a year ago as a 113-pounder.

“Getting down to 106. at was the biggest challenge,” Birmingham said. “I was 113 at the beginning of the season. I dropped after Christmas to 106. I was at 110, so I was a little light for 113s. My coaches were like, ‘Since you’re right there, why don’t you drop the two pounds?’ So I did.”

is will be Birmingham’s second trip to the state tournament. He nished fourth in the regionals as a sophomore. But because of COVID, only the top two

SEE WRESTLING, P13

Bluedevils overcome a tough Timberwolves team

Win streak ends at 18

BY JUAN ARRELLANO SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA

Toughness and resiliency are two words that can be used to describe the Fort Lupton boys’ basketball defense.

As Coach Jim Roedel put it after a come-from-behind win against a strong e Pinnacle (10-6) defense Feb. 9, “ at’s our staple right now. Our kids work hard defensively and they have the attitude. ey don’t know what losing is. Even when they get down a little bit, they just battle back, keep working hard.”

After beginning the season 0-2 with losses to e Academy (Westminster) and fth-ranked (in class 4A) Eaton (18-3), the Bluedevils have powered through and won 18 straight games, nishing undefeated in the league.

Senior Jesus Vasquez said after the win, “It’s great. It’s amazing that we can actually go 18-2 with an 18game win streak right now.:

e Pinnacle wanted to break that streak in front of its fans. e home team opened the scoring but senior Joseph Gallegos responded with a 3-pointer for Fort Lupton.

Freshman Shane Callahan and junior William Sibanda added to the roaring Bluedevils’ start in the rst quarter, but the Timberwolves took over in the second quarter and were in the driver’s seat for most of the game.

“We were struggling to score after we got that initial start … got a good surge and then we got good looks, good shots just didn’t put the ball in the basket,” Roedel said. “But we continued to defend, and that’s what kept us in it .. kept it always around ve to six points so we can make a run late like we did and get a win.” ings seemed to go downhill for Fort Lupton. Shane Callahan fouled out with less than three minutes left in the fourth quarter, and Javon Gonzales missed two technical foul free throws right after. However, Gonzales got his revenge with one minute remaining, scoring two free throws and bring-

ing the Bluedevils to three points of the Timberwolves 51-48.

Fort Lupton rallied late in the game and, o a defensive play with 17 seconds left in the clock, Vasquez stole the ball and scored an open layup. FLHS was up 52-51.

“It felt pretty good actually. I was struggling in the beginning half. I couldn’t score anything, I was always down on myself until that bucket. It just lifted me up, and it

got that re in me,” said Vasquez.

“Essentially, they set a nice, good trap in the high area, found a good situation. ings we work on every day in practice like that … turned it over and wasn’t even a thought in their mind, just go score. I don’t even think if you ask them they knew how much time was left. He [Vasquez] just made the play and

SEE BASKETBALL, P13

Frederick’s Zamudio picks baseball at Colorado Mines for next ventures

BY STEVE SMITH SSMITH@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Talk about choices for a new college.

Frederick’s Cruz Zamudio was accepted into the California Institute of Technology and earned a deferred acceptance to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. e place he eventually picked? e Colorado School of Mines in Golden.

“Overall, it was the best t for me academically with location and cost,” he said. “I have visited the campus many times for baseball and football games .. great upgrades with the football facilities recently.”

Zamudio played those two sports at Frederick. e Golden Eagles advanced to the second round of the state 3A playo s last season. He gained almost 1,200 rushing yards and scored 13 touchdowns. Zamu-

dio also caught 356 yards in passes and scored four touchdowns.

“Distance from home didn’t play into the choice,” Zamudio said. “But I know my parents like that I will be closer.”

Zamudio tore his labrum during the 2021 football season but didn’t know it was torn until December. After surgery and rehab, he got into eight games for the then-Warriors last spring and batted .368 with six RBIs.

“Yes, in general, there was a COVID impact with extra years of eligibility for a lot of players,” he said. e pandemic-caused rules caused a decrease in the number of scholarships that were available, too.

Zamudio wants to study engineering with a goal of a career in aerospace, perhaps even working for NASA

“I am excited to start a new chapter in my life and eager to learn new things,” Zamudio said.

Fort Lupton senior Joseph Gallegos (00) drives the ball to the net against multiple defenders from The Pinnacle. The Bluedevils came from behind to defeat The Pinnacle 56-51 in their non-league game Feb. 9 in Federal Heights. PHOTO BY JUAN ARELLANO

PHOTO BY HECTOR LOPEZ

WRESTLING

nishers at regionals advanced to the state meet.

“I did a lot of summer camps like I normally do,” he said. “I just worked a lot. Working helped build my muscles a lot.”

Birmingham breezed his way into the nals with a 9-1 decision over Valley’s Diego Manriqez. Birmingham reeled o ve points late in the rst period to take command. He started the second period with a reversal. Later, he picked up two near-fall back points.

“Staying con dent, knowing the stu I’ve been working on and training on all season,” Birmingham said. “I wrestled him better. My mentality was way better than his was. He wasn’t trying anything. I was shooting and trying to make something happen.”

Josiah Gonzales (126 pounds) and D’mitri Garza-Alarcon (138 pounds and two-time defending state champ) won regional titles as well. William Alvarado (157 pounds), Danny Rodriguez (144 pounds, Kayden Derbigny (215

pounds), Christopher Galicia (165 pounds) were runners-up. Camren Galicia nished third at 190 pounds.

Alex Mata took fth at 175 pounds. Uriel “Cookie” Leon placed sixth at 113 pounds. So did Royce Guerrero at 150 pounds.

Birmingham takes a 21-12 mark into the state tournament, which

begins ursday, Feb. 16, at Ball Arena in Denver.

“I want to go out there, try my hardest and put my name on the wall if I can,” he said. “I have a lot of con dence going into next week. You always want to get that rst match out of the way at state. You can always learn something new .. add on.”

BASKETBALL

FROM PAGE 12

did what he would do in the rst quarter, second quarter, third quarter .. go make a layup on the other side,” Roedel said.

In the end, Fort Lupton earned a hard-fought victory over Pinnacle 5651. Despite the win and the winning streak,  Roedel said that his team still needs to work on a few things in order to close the regular season and enter the playo s as prepared as possible.

“I think, for the next games, would be nishing around the rim, being able to nish through some contact. at [tonight] was the rst night that we really saw a good, solid defense in a few nights in a competitive situation,” Roedel said. “In practice, you can replicate that. But when you get in a game, it’s just a little bit di erent. So, we’ll try to replicate that a little bit more in practice as far as the physicality that we’re going to see in the playo s because everybody is playing for their lives at that point.”

“We’re ready for playo s, we’re preparing ourselves for each individual game we play. I think every time our team goes down, I think we can just lift our heads up and just play really, really good,” Vasquez said.

FLHS’ winning streak came to an end Feb. 11 when Platte Valley pulled out a 54-50 win in Fort Lupton. e Broncos outscored the Bluedevils 11-3 in the fourth quarter to pick up the comefrom-behind win. Braylon Edstrom and Max Zenk led PVHS with 15 points. No stats were available for Fort Lupton.

FLHS nishes the season at Lake County ursday, Feb. 16.

The Pinnacle’s Noah Estes (32) and Fort Lupton’s Guillaume Nkiadiambu (32) fight for a rebound during their non-league game Feb. 9. The Bluedevils defeated the Timberwolves 56-51. PHOTO BY JUAN ARELLANO

Frederick’s Nikolas Carrillo, left turns Northridge’s Leland Camacho on his head during a first-round, 113-pound match at the class 4A region 4 tournament at Frederick High School Feb. 10. Carrillo won this match by pinfall in 1:55 and placed fifth in the weight class.

PHOTO BY STEVE SMITH

Fort Lupton’s Donovan Birmingham and Diego Manriquez of Valley await the start of their 106-pound semifinal match at the class 3A Region 1 tournament at Eaton High School Feb. 11. Birmingham won this match and the regional title to advance

Thu 2/16

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TRIVIA

2. GENERAL KNOWLEDGE: To date, how many people have walked on the moon?

3. GEOGRAPHY: What is the capital of the Canadian province Nova Scotia?

4. MOVIES: How many “Police Academy” movies have been produced?

5. U.S. STATES: Why is Indiana known as “ e Hoosier State”?

6. FOOD & DRINK: What percentage of a cucumber is water?

7. HISTORY: Which company published its rst mail-order catalog in 1872?

8. ANIMAL KINGDOM: What does the armadillo’s name mean in English?

9. LITERATURE: What is author Mark Twain’s real name?

Solution

10. CELEBRITIES: What is one of singer/actor Frank Sinatra’s famous nicknames, based on a physical attribute?

Answers

1. Long Branch Saloon.

2. 12.

3. Halifax.

4. Seven, including the original movie and six sequels.

5. e name became popular in the 1800s, likely from the poem “ e Hoosier’s Nest.”

6. 96%.

7. Montgomery Ward.

8. Little armored one.

9. Samuel Langhorne Clemens.

10. Ol’ Blue Eyes.

(c) 2023 King Features Synd., Inc.

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(c) 2023 King Features Synd., Inc.

FLASHBACK

1. Who released “Lady Sings the Blues” and when?

2. “I’m Still Standing” was released on which Elton John album?

3. Which song was the rst to rank as No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100? When was that?

4. In 1953, Elvis Presley recorded a double-sided record with “My Happiness” and “ at’s When Your Heartaches Begin.” Who was the record for?

5. Name the song that contains these lyrics: “Too many long conversations and no one is hearin’ a word.”

Answers

1. Diana Ross, in 1972. e song was on the double soundtrack album for the lm of the same name, a biopic about singer Billie Holiday.

2. “Too Low for Zero,” in 1983. e song

did well on the charts, helped by an MTV video.

3. “Poor Little Fool,” by Ricky Nelson, in 1958. e rst thing Billboard ranked, however, wasn’t records, it was sheet music, in 1913. Records weren’t listed until 1936.

4. His mother, as a birthday present. Presley paid $3.98 for the recording fee.

5. “Dancin’ Shoes,” by Nigel Olsson, in 1978. Olsson got his start in England with the Plastic Penny band and eventually collaborated with Elton John, Neil Sedaka, Rod Stewart and several others on numerous albums.

(c) 2023 King Features Syndicate

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Public Notice

ORDINANCE NO. 2023-1152

INTRODUCED BY: CLAUD HANES

AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT LUPTON, COLORADO, AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF THE CITY OF FORT LUPTON, COLORADO, GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS, SERIES 2023 AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY ON SECOND AND FINAL READING.

BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT LUPTON, COLORADO:

Section 1. Definitions. Terms used in this Ordinance shall have the meanings specified in this Section for all purposes of this Ordinance and of any ordinance amendatory hereof, supplemental hereto or relating hereto, and of any instrument or document appertaining hereto, except where the context by clear implication otherwise requires. All definitions include the singular and plural and include all genders. Certain terms are parenthetically defined elsewhere herein.

Bonds: the City of Fort Lupton, Colorado, General Obligation Bonds, Series 2023, as authorized by this Ordinance.

Bond Fund: the City of Fort Lupton, Colorado, General Obligation Bonds, Series 2023 Bond Fund created pursuant to Section 13.A. of this Ordinance.

Business Day: a day on which banks located in the City are not required or authorized to be closed and on which The New York Stock Exchange is not closed.

City Administrator: duly appointed and acting administrator of the City.

City: the City of Fort Lupton, Colorado.

City Clerk: the City Clerk of the City or, in his or her absence, the deputy City Clerk of the City. City Council: the City Council of the City or any successor in functions thereto.

Continuing Disclosure Certificate: the Continuing Disclosure Certificate executed by the City in connection with the issuance of the Bonds, which constitutes an undertaking pursuant to Rule 15c2-12 promulgated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

County: Weld County, Colorado.

C.R.S.: the Colorado Revised Statutes, as amended and supplemented as of the date hereof.

DTC: The Depository Trust Company, New York, New York, and its successors and assigns.

Election: the election held within the City on November 8, 2022.

Federal Securities: only direct obligations of, or obligations the principal of and interest on which are unconditionally guaranteed by, the United States (or ownership interests in any of the foregoing) and which are not callable prior to their scheduled maturities by the issuer thereof (or an ownership interest in any of the foregoing).

Letter of Representations: the letter of representations from the City to DTC to induce DTC to accept

303-566-4123

the Bonds as eligible for deposit at DTC.

Mayor: the Mayor of the City.

Official Statement: the Official Statement delivered in connection with the original pricing and sale of the Bonds.

Ordinance: this Ordinance of the City, which provides for the issuance and delivery of the Bonds.

Outstanding: as of any date of calculation, all Bonds theretofore executed, issued and delivered by the City except:

(1) Bonds theretofore canceled by the City, Registrar or Paying Agent, or surrendered to the City, Registrar or Paying Agent for cancellation;

(2) Bonds in lieu of or in substitution for which other Bonds shall have been executed, issued and delivered by the City and authenticated by the Registrar unless proof satisfactory to the Registrar is presented that any such Bonds are duly held by the lawful registered owners thereof; or

(3) Bonds deemed to have been paid as provided in Section 18 hereof.

Owner or Registered Owner: the registered owner of any Bond as shown on the registration records kept by the Registrar.

Paying Agent: UMB Bank, n.a., or its successors and assigns, acting as paying agent with respect to the Bonds.

Person: any individual, firm, partnership, corporation, company, association, joint-stock association or body politic; and the term includes any trustee, receiver, assignee or other similar representative thereof.

Preliminary Official Statement: the Preliminary Official Statement relating to the Bonds.

Principal Operations Office: the principal operations office of the Registrar or Paying Agent, as the case may be, as designated in writing to the City.

Project: means the construction and equipping of phase two of the original design of the recreation center to include, but not limited to, an expansion of the gymnasium, fitness center and aquatics area as approved by the electors of the City at the Election and payment of the costs of issuance of the Bonds.

Project Fund: the City of Fort Lupton, Colorado, General Obligation Bonds, Series 2023 Project Fund created pursuant to Section 12 of this Ordinance.

Purchase Contract means the Bond Purchase Agreement between the City and the Underwriter.

Record Date: means the fifteenth day (whether or not a Business Day) of the calendar month immediately preceding such interest payment date.

Registrar: UMB Bank, n.a., or its successors and assigns, acting as registrar with respect to the Bonds.

Registrar and Paying Agent Agreement: the Registrar and Paying Agent Agreement between the City and the Registrar.

Sale Certificate: the certificate executed by the Mayor or the City Administrator dated on or before the date of delivery of the Bonds, setting forth (i) the rates of interest on the Bonds, (ii) the conditions on which and the prices at which the Bonds may be called for redemption; (iii) the existence and amount of any capitalized interest or reserve fund; (iv) the price at which the Bonds will be sold; (v) the principal amount and denominations of the Bonds; (vi) the amount of principal of the Bonds maturing on each date; (vii) the dates on

which principal and interest will be paid and the first interest payment date; and (viii) whether the payment of principal of and interest on the Bonds will be secured by a municipal bond insurance policy, all subject to the parameters and restrictions contained in this Ordinance.

Special Record Date: a special date fixed to determine the names and addresses of registered owners for purposes of paying interest on a special interest payment date for the payment of defaulted interest, all as further provided in Section 5 hereof.

State: the State of Colorado.

Supplemental Act: the Supplemental Public Securities Act, constituting Title 11, Article 57, Part 2, C.R.S.

Tax Code: the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended to the date of delivery of the Bonds, and any regulations promulgated thereunder.

Term Bonds: Bonds that are payable on or before their specified maturity dates from sinking fund payments established for that purpose and calculated to retire such Bonds on or before their specified maturity dates.

Underwriter: Stifel, Nicolaus and Company, Incorporated, Denver, Colorado.

Section 2.Recitals.

A. The City is a political subdivision of the State, duly organized and existing as a statutory city under the laws of the State.

B. The members of the City Council have been duly elected and qualified.

C. Pursuant to Section 31-15-302(1)(d)(I), C.R.S., the City is authorized to contract indebtedness on behalf of the City and upon the credit thereof by issuing bonds for any public purpose subject to the approval of the registered electors of the City at an election.

D. At the Election, the voters within the City approved the issuance of general obligation bonded indebtedness in an aggregate amount not exceeding $10,000,000 pursuant to the following bond question:

WITHOUT IMPOSING ANY NEW TAX, SHALL CITY OF FORT LUPTON DEBT BE INCREASED $10,000,000 WITH A MAXIMUM TOTAL REPAYMENT COST OF NOT MORE THAN $18,240,000 AND A MAXIMUM ANNUAL REPAYMENT COST OF NOT MORE THAN $608,000 FOR THE PURPOSES OF CONSTRUCTING AND EQUIPPING PHASE TWO OF THE ORIGINAL DESIGN OF THE RECREATION CENTER TO INCLUDE, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, AN EXPANSION OF THE GYMNASIUM, FITNESS CENTER AND AQUATICS AREA; AND SHALL THE TAXES AUTHORIZED AT THE CITY’S ELECTION IN 2002 TO CONSTRUCT THE COMMUNITY RECREATION CENTER BE EXTENDED AND AUTHORIZED TO BE USED TO PAY THE DEBT AUTHORIZED AT THIS ELECTION IN ADDITION TO THE DEBT AUTHORIZED AT SUCH PRIOR ELECTION; AND SHALL THE MILL LEVY BE ESTABLISHED IN ANY YEAR AT A RATE NECESSARY TO GENERATE AN AMOUNT SUFFICIENT TO PAY THE PRINCIPAL OF, PREMIUM, IF ANY, AND INTEREST ON SUCH DEBT OR ANY REFUNDING DEBT (OR TO CREATE A RESERVE FOR SUCH PAYMENT); AND MAY SUCH DEBT BE EVIDENCED BY THE ISSUANCE OF GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS OR OTHER MULTIPLE FISCAL YEAR OBLIGATIONS TO BE SOLD IN ONE SERIES OR MORE, FOR A PRICE ABOVE OR BELOW THE PRINCIPAL AMOUNT THEREOF, ON TERMS AND CONDITIONS, AND WITH SUCH MATURITIES AS PERMITTED BY LAW AND AS THE CITY MAY DETERMINE, AND BEARING INTEREST AT A MAXIMUM NET EFFECTIVE INTEREST RATE NOT TO EXCEED

5.00%; AND SHALL SUCH TAX REVENUES, DEBT PROCEEDS, AND THE EARNINGS FROM THE INVESTMENT OF SUCH DEBT PROCEEDS AND TAX REVENUES BE COLLECTED, RETAINED AND SPENT AS A VOTER APPROVED REVENUE CHANGE UNDER ARTICLE X, SECTION 20 OF THE COLORADO CONSTITUTION OR ANY OTHER LAW?

E. The City has not previously authorized or issued any of the debt authorized at the Election.

F. Pursuant to Article X, Section 20(4) of the State Constitution, the Bonds may not be sold on terms which exceed the maximum principal and repayment cost amounts described in the ballot question or in the notice sent to voters, as $10,000,000 maximum principal amount of bonds, $608,000 maximum annual repayment cost, and $18,240,000 maximum total repayment cost.

G. The City Council has determined and hereby declares that it is in the City’s best interest to effect the Project.

H.There have been filed with the City Clerk the proposed forms of the following documents: (i) the Registrar and Paying Agent Agreement; (ii) the Continuing Disclosure Certificate; (iii) the Purchase Contract; and (iv) and the Preliminary Official Statement.

I. The City Council desires to cause the Bonds to be issued, to authorize and direct the application of the proceeds thereof as set forth herein, and to provide security for the payment thereof, all in the manner set forth below.

Section 3.Ratification. All actions heretofore taken (not inconsistent with the provisions of this Ordinance) by the City Council and other officers of the City relating to the Project and the sale and issuance of the Bonds for the purposes provided herein are ratified, approved and confirmed.

Section 4.Authorization of the Bonds.

A. In accordance with the Constitution and laws of the State and the provisions of this Ordinance, and for the purpose of defraying the cost of the Project, the City hereby authorizes to be issued its “City of Fort Lupton, Colorado, General Obligation Bonds, Series 2023,” in the aggregate principal amount provided in the Sale Certificate, subject to the parameters and restrictions contained in this Ordinance.

B. Section 11-57-204 of the Supplemental Act provides that a public entity, including the City, may elect in an act of issuance to apply all or any of the provisions of the Supplemental Act. The City Council hereby elects to apply all of the Supplemental Act to the Bonds.

C. Either the Mayor or the City Administrator is hereby independently authorized and directed to execute and deliver the Sale Certificate and to make and approve the final determinations contained therein, subject to the parameters and restrictions of this Ordinance. Either the Mayor or City Administrator is hereby authorized to determine if obtaining municipal bond insurance is in the best interests of the City, and if so, to select a bond insurer to issue a municipal bond insurance policy, execute a commitment relating to the same and execute any related documents or agreements required by such commitment.

Section 5. Bond Details. Subject to the provision of Section 11 hereof, the Bonds shall be issued in fully registered form (i.e., registered as to both principal and interest) initially registered in the name of Cede & Co. as nominee for The Depository Trust Company, New York, New York, as securities depository for the Bonds. The Bonds shall be dated as of the date of delivery, shall be issued in denominations of $5,000 or any integral multiples thereof (provided that no Bond may be

in a denomination which exceeds the principal coming due on any maturity date, and no individual Bond will be issued for more than one maturity) and shall be numbered in such manner as the Registrar may determine.

The Bonds shall mature, bear interest from their dated date to maturity and be sold, all as provided in the Sale Certificate; provided that:

(a) the aggregate principal amount of the Bonds shall not exceed $10,000,000;

(b) the maximum net effective interest rate of the Bonds shall not exceed 5.00% as hereby determined by the City Council;

(c) the Bonds shall mature no later than December 1, 2053;

(d) the purchase price of the Bonds shall not be less than 97%;

(e) the maximum annual repayment cost of the Bonds shall not exceed $608,000;

(f) the maximum total repayment cost of the Bonds shall not exceed $18,240,000; and

(g) the first optional redemption date on the Bonds shall not be later than December 1, 2033 and the optional redemption price shall not exceed 1%.

Interest on the Bonds shall be calculated on the basis of a 360-day year of twelve 30-day months, payable semiannually on June 1 and December 1, commencing on the date provided in the Sale Certificate.

The principal of and premium, if any, on any Bond shall be payable to the Registered Owner thereof as shown on the registration records kept by the Registrar at the Principal Operations Office, upon maturity thereof and upon presentation and surrender at the Principal Operations Office of the Paying Agent. If any Bond shall not be paid upon such presentation and surrender at or after maturity, it shall continue to draw interest at the same interest rate borne by said Bond until the principal thereof is paid in full. Payment of interest on any Bond shall be made by check or draft mailed by the Paying Agent, on or before each interest payment date (or, if such interest payment date is not a Business Day, on or before the next succeeding Business Day), to the Registered Owner thereof at the address shown on the registration records kept by the Registrar at the close of business on the Record Date for such interest payment date; but any such interest not so timely paid shall cease to be payable to the person who is the Registered Owner thereof at the close of business on the Record Date and shall be payable to the person who is the Registered Owner thereof at the close of business on a Special Record Date for the payment of any such defaulted interest. Such Special Record Date and the interest payment date for such interest shall be fixed by the Registrar whenever moneys become available at the Paying Agent for payment of the defaulted interest.

Notice of the Special Record Date and the interest payment date for the defaulted interest shall be given to the Registered Owners of the Bonds on a date selected by the Registrar, not less than ten days prior to the Special Record Date, by first-class mail to each such Registered Owner as shown on the Registrar’s registration records stating the date of the Special Record Date and the date fixed for the payment of the defaulted interest.

The Paying Agent may make payments of interest on any Bond by such alternative means as may be mutually agreed to between the Owner of such Bond and the Paying Agent (provided, however, that the City shall not be required to make funds available to the Paying Agent prior to the interest payment dates stated in the Registrar and Paying Agent Agreement). All such payments shall be made in lawful money of the United States of America without deduction for the services of the

Public Notices

Paying Agent or Registrar.

Section 6. Prior Redemption.

A. The Bonds designated in the Sale Certificate will be subject to redemption at the option of the City from any legally available funds on the dates set forth in the Sale Certificate in whole, or in part from any maturities, in any order of maturity and by lot within a maturity from Bonds of the same maturity and interest rate, in such manner as the City may determine (giving proportionate weight to Bonds in denominations larger than $5,000), at the price set forth in the Sale Certificate, subject to the parameters and restrictions of this Ordinance.

B. The Term Bonds, if any, shall be subject to mandatory sinking fund redemption at the times, in the amounts and at the prices provided in the Sale Certificate.

On or before the thirtieth day prior to each such sinking fund payment date, the Registrar shall proceed to call the Term Bonds (or any Term Bond or Term Bonds issued to replace such Term Bonds) for redemption from the sinking fund on the next December 1, and give notice of such call without other instruction or notice from the City.

At its option, to be exercised on or before the sixtieth day next preceding each such sinking fund redemption date, the City may (a) deliver to the Registrar for cancellation Term Bonds subject to mandatory sinking fund redemption on such date in an aggregate principal amount desired or (b) receive a credit in respect of its sinking fund redemption obligation for any Term Bonds of the maturity subject to mandatory sinking fund redemption on such date, which prior to said date have been redeemed (otherwise than through the operation of the sinking fund) and canceled by the Registrar and not theretofore applied as a credit against any sinking fund redemption obligation. Each Term Bond so delivered or previously redeemed will be credited by the Registrar at the principal amount thereof on the obligation of the City on such sinking fund redemption date and the principal amount of Term Bonds to be redeemed by operation of such sinking fund on such date will be accordingly reduced. The City will on or before the sixtieth day next preceding each sinking fund redemption date furnish the Registrar with its certificate indicating whether or not and to what extent the provisions of (a) and (b) of the preceding sentence are to be availed with respect to such sinking fund payment. Failure of the City to deliver such certificate shall not affect the Registrar’s duty to give notice of sinking fund redemption as provided in this paragraph B.

C. In the case of Bonds of a denomination larger than $5,000, a portion of such Bond ($5,000 or any integral multiple thereof) may be redeemed, in which case the Registrar shall, without charge to the Owner of such Bond, authenticate and issue a replacement Bond or Bonds for the unredeemed portion thereof.

D. Notice of optional redemption by the City shall be given by the Paying Agent in the name of the City by sending a copy of such notice by first-class, postage prepaid mail, not more than 60 days and not less than 30 days prior to the redemption date to the Underwriter and to each Registered Owner of any Bond all or a portion of which is called for redemption at his address as it last appears on the registration books kept by the Registrar. Failure to give such notice by mailing to the Registered Owner of any Bond or to the Underwriter, or any defect therein, shall not affect the validity of the proceedings for the redemption of any Bonds.

All official notices of redemption shall be dated and shall state:

(1) CUSIP numbers of Bonds to be redeemed;

(2) the redemption date;

(3) the redemption price;

(4) if less than all Outstanding Bonds are to be redeemed, the identification (and, in the case of partial redemption, the respective principal amounts) of the Bonds to be redeemed;

(5) that on the redemption date the redemption price will become due and payable upon each such Bond or portion thereof called for redemption, and that interest thereon shall cease to accrue from and after said date; and

(6) the place where such Bonds are to be surrendered for payment of the redemption price, which place of payment shall be the Principal Office or such other office as shall be designated by the Paying Agent.

Prior to any redemption date, the City shall deposit with the Paying Agent an amount of money sufficient to pay the redemption price of all the Bonds or portions of Bonds which are to be redeemed on that date.

Official notice of redemption having been given as aforesaid, the Bonds or portions of Bonds so to be redeemed shall, on the redemption date, become due and payable at the redemption price therein specified, and from and after such date (unless the City shall default in the payment of the redemption price) such Bonds or portions of Bonds shall cease to bear interest. Upon surrender of such Bonds for redemption in accordance with said notice, such Bonds shall be paid by the Paying Agent at the redemption price. Installments of interest due on or prior to the redemption date shall be payable as herein provided for payment of interest. Upon surrender for partial redemption of any Bond, there shall be prepared for the Registered Owner a new Bond or Bonds of the same maturity and interest rate in the amount of the unpaid principal.

All Bonds which have been redeemed shall be canceled and destroyed by the Registrar and shall not be reissued.

In addition to the foregoing notice, further notice may be given by the Paying Agent in order to comply with the requirements of any registered depository holding the Bonds but no defect in said further notice nor any failure to give all or any portion of such further notice shall in any manner defeat the effectiveness of a call for redemption if notice thereof is given as above prescribed.

Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, any notice of redemption may contain a statement that the redemption is conditioned upon the receipt by

the Paying Agent of funds on or before the date fixed for redemption sufficient to pay the redemption price of the Bonds so called for redemption, and that if such funds are not available, such redemption shall be canceled by written notice to the owners of the Bonds called for redemption in the same manner as the original redemption notice was sent.

Section 7. Form of Bonds, Registrar’s certificate of authentication, form of assignment and prepayment panel. The Bonds, Registrar’s certificate of authentication, form of assignment and prepayment panel shall be substantially as follows, with such omissions, insertions, endorsements and variations as to any recitals of fact or other provisions as may be required by the circumstances, be required or permitted by this Ordinance, or be consistent with this Ordinance and necessary or appropriate to conform to the rules and requirements of any governmental authority or any usage or requirement of law with respect thereto:

(Form of Bond)

Unless this certificate is presented by an authorized representative of The Depository Trust Company, a New York corporation (“DTC”), to the City or its agent for registration of transfer, exchange, or payment, and any certificate issued is registered in the name of Cede & Co. or in such other name as is requested by an authorized representative of DTC (and any payment is made to Cede & Co. or to such other entity as is requested by an authorized representative of DTC), ANY TRANSFER, PLEDGE, OR OTHER

USE HEREOF FOR VALUE OR OTHERWISE BY OR TO ANY PERSON IS WRONGFUL inasmuch as the registered owner hereof, Cede & Co., has an interest herein.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA STATE OF COLORADO COUNTY OF WELD CITY OF FORT LUPTON, COLORADO GENERAL OBLIGATION BOND SERIES 2023 NO. R- $ INTEREST RATE % MATURITY DATE December 1, 20__ DATED DATE 2023

CUSIP REGISTERED OWNER:CEDE & CO.

PRINCIPAL AMOUNT: DOLLARS

On the faith, credit and behalf of the City of Fort Lupton (the “City”), in the County of Weld, in the State of Colorado, the City Council of the City (the “City Council”) hereby acknowledges the City is indebted and promises to pay to the Registered Owner specified above, or registered assigns, the Principal Amount specified above, on the Maturity Date specified above, interest thereon payable on June 1 and December 1 in each year commencing on [ ], at the Interest Rate per annum specified above, until the principal sum is paid or payment has been provided therefor.

This Bond will bear interest payable to the Registered Owner at the Interest Rate specified above from the most recent interest payment date to which interest has been paid or provided for, or, if no interest has been paid, from the date of this Bond. This Bond is one of an authorized series issued pursuant to an ordinance of the City Council adopted on March 7, 2023 (the “Ordinance”). This Bond bears interest, matures, is payable, and is transferable as provided in the Ordinance and Sale Certificate. To the extent not defined herein, terms used in this Bond shall have the same meanings as set forth in the Ordinance. The Bonds are subject to optional and mandatory sinking fund redemption as provided in the Ordinance and the Sale Certificate.

The principal of the Bonds shall be payable at the Principal Operations Office of the Paying Agent, upon presentation and surrender of such Bonds. Except as otherwise provided in the Ordinance, payment of interest on the Bonds shall be paid by check mailed on the interest payment date to the person appearing on the registration records of the City as the Registered Owner thereof as of the close of business of the Registrar on the Record

Date to the address of such owner as it appears on the registration records of the City.

Reference is made to the Ordinance and to all ordinances supplemental thereto, with respect to the nature and extent of the security for the Bonds, rights, duties and obligations of the City, the rights of the owners of the Bonds, the rights, duties and obligations of the Paying Agent and Registrar, the circumstances under which any Bond is no longer Outstanding, the ability to amend the Ordinance, and to all the provisions of which the owner hereof by the acceptance of this Bond assents.

The Bonds of the series of which this is one are issued by the City, upon its behalf and upon the credit thereof, for the purpose of defraying in part the costs of the Project, all under the authority of and in full conformity with the Constitution and laws of the State of Colorado and pursuant to the Ordinance of the City Council duly adopted and made a law of the City prior to the issuance of this Bond. The Bonds are also issued pursuant to Title 11, Article 57, Part 2, C.R.S. (the “Supplemental Act”). Pursuant to Section 11-57-210 of the Supplemental Act, this recital shall be conclusive evidence of the validity and the regularity of the issuance of the Bonds after their delivery for value.

It is hereby certified, recited and warranted that all the requirements of law have been complied with by the proper officers of the City in the issuance of this Bond; that the total indebtedness of the City, including that of this Bond, does not exceed any limit of indebtedness prescribed by the Constitution or laws of the State of Colorado; and that provision has been made for the levy and collection of annual taxes sufficient to pay the interest on and the principal of this Bond when the same become due.

This Bond constitutes a general obligation of the City and the full faith and credit of the City hereby is pledged to the payment of this Bond.

The payment of the Bonds is also secured by a pledge of certain impact fees more fully set forth in the Ordinance. For the purpose of paying the principal of and interest on the Bonds when due, the City Council in the Ordinance has covenanted annually to determine and certify to the Board of County Commissioners of Weld County, Colorado, a rate of levy for general ad valorem taxes, without limitation as to rate or amount, on all of the taxable property in the City, sufficient to pay the principal of and interest on the Bonds when due.

This Bond shall not be valid or obligatory for any purpose until the Registrar shall have manually signed the certificate of authentication hereon.

IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, the City Council of the City of Fort Lupton, Colorado has caused this Bond to be signed and executed in its name with a manual or facsimile signature of the Mayor of the City, and to be signed, executed and attested with a manual or facsimile signature of the City Clerk, with a manual or facsimile impression of the seal of the City affixed hereto, all as of the date specified above.

This is one of the Bonds described in the withinmentioned Ordinance, and this Bond has been duly registered on the registration records kept by the undersigned as Registrar for such Bonds.

UMB BANK, N.A., as Registrar

Date of Authentication and Registration:

By:

Authorized Officer or Employee

The following installments of principal (or portion thereof) of this Bond have been prepaid in accordance with the terms of the Ordinance authorizing the issuance of this Bond.

Date of Prepayment

Principal Prepaid

Signature of

Authorized

Representative of the Depository

For value received, the undersigned hereby sells, assigns and transfer unto the within bond and hereby irrevocably constitutes and appoints attorney, to transfer the same on the books of the Registrar, with full power of substitution in the premises.

Dated:

Signature

Signature Guaranteed:

Signature must be guaranteed by a member of a Medallion Signature Program

Address of Transferee:

Social Security or other tax identification number of transferee:

NOTE: The signature to this Assignment must correspond with the name as written on the face of the within bond in every particular, without alteration or enlargement or any change whatsoever.

EXCHANGE OR TRANSFER FEES MAY BE CHARGED

Section 8. Uniform Commercial Code. The holder or holders of the Bonds shall possess all rights enjoyed by the holders of investment securities under the provisions of the Uniform Commercial Code--Investment Securities. The Bonds shall constitute the general obligations of the City and the full faith and credit of the City shall be, and hereby is, pledged to the payment thereof.

Section 9. Execution and Authentication. The Bonds shall be executed in the name and on behalf of the City by the signature of the Mayor, shall be sealed with a manual or facsimile impression of the seal of the City and attested by the signature of the City Clerk. Each Bond shall be authenticated by the manual signature of an authorized officer or employee of the Registrar as provided below. The signatures of the Mayor and the City Clerk may be by manual or facsimile signature. The Bonds bearing the manual or facsimile signatures of the officers in office at the time of the authorization thereof shall be the valid and binding obligations of the City (subject to the requirement of authentication by the Registrar as provided below), notwithstanding that before the delivery thereof and payment therefor or before the issuance of the Bonds upon transfer or exchange, any or all of the persons whose manual or facsimile signatures appear thereon shall have ceased to fill their respective offices. The Mayor and the City Clerk shall, by the execution of a signature certificate pertaining to the Bonds, adopt as and for their respective signatures any facsimiles thereof appearing on the Bonds. At the time of the execution of the signature certificate, the Mayor and the City Clerk may each adopt as and for his or her facsimile signature the facsimile signature of his or her predecessor in office in the event that such facsimile signature appears upon any of the Bonds.

No Bond shall be valid or obligatory for any purpose unless the certificate of authentication, substantially in the form provided above, has been duly manually executed by the Registrar. The Registrar’s certificate of authentication shall be deemed to have been duly executed by the Registrar if manually signed by an authorized officer or employee of the Registrar, but it shall not be necessary that the same officer or employee sign the certificate of authentication on all of the Bonds issued hereunder. By authenticating any of the Bonds initially delivered pursuant to this Ordinance, the Registrar shall be deemed to have assented to the provisions of this Ordinance.

Section 10. Registration, Transfer and Exchange. Subject to the provisions of Section 11 hereof:

A. Records for the registration and transfer of the Bonds shall be kept by the Registrar, which is hereby appointed by the City as registrar (i.e., transfer agent) for the Bonds. Upon the surrender for transfer of any Bond at the Registrar, duly endorsed for transfer or accompanied by an assignment duly executed by the registered owner or his attorney duly authorized in writing, the Registrar shall enter such transfer on the registration records and shall authenticate and deliver in the name of the transferee or transferees a new Bond or Bonds of a like aggregate principal amount and of the same maturity and interest rate, bearing a number or numbers not previously assigned. Bonds may be exchanged at the Registrar for an equal aggregate principal amount of Bonds of the same maturity and interest rate in authorized denominations. The Registrar shall authenticate and deliver a Bond or Bonds which the registered owner making the exchange is entitled to receive, bearing a number or numbers not previously assigned. The Registrar may impose reasonable charges in connection with such exchanges and transfers of Bonds, which charges (as well as any tax or other governmental charge required to be paid with respect to such exchange or transfer) shall be paid by the registered owner requesting such exchange or transfer.

B. Except as may otherwise be provided with respect to payment of interest pursuant to Section 5 hereof, the person in whose name any Bond shall be registered on the registration records kept by the Registrar shall be deemed and regarded as the absolute owner thereof for the purpose of making payment thereof and for all other purposes; except as may be otherwise provided in Section 5 hereof with respect to payment of interest; and, subject to such exception, payment of or on account of either principal or interest on any Bond shall be made only to or upon the written order of the registered owner thereof or his legal representative, but such registration may be changed upon transfer of such Bond in the manner and subject to the conditions and limitations provided herein. All such payments shall be valid and effectual to discharge the liability upon such Bond to the extent of the sum or sums so paid.

C. If any Bond shall be lost, stolen, destroyed or mutilated, the Registrar shall, upon receipt of such evidence, information or indemnity relating thereto as it and the City may reasonably require, authenticate and deliver a replacement Bond or Bonds of a like aggregate principal amount and of the same maturity and interest rate, bearing a number or numbers not previously assigned. If such lost, stolen, destroyed, or mutilated Bond shall have matured or is about to become due and payable, the Registrar may direct the Paying Agent to pay such Bond in lieu of replacement.

D. The officers of the City are authorized to deliver to the Registrar fully executed but unauthenticated Bonds in such quantities as may be convenient to be held in custody by the Registrar pending use as herein provided.

E. Whenever any Bond shall be surrendered to the Paying Agent upon payment thereof, or to the Registrar for transfer, exchange or replacement as provided herein, such Bond shall be promptly canceled by the Paying Agent or Registrar, and counterparts of a certificate of such cancellation shall be furnished by the Paying Agent or Registrar to the City.

Section 11.Book Entry.

A. Notwithstanding any contrary provision of this Ordinance, the Bonds shall initially be evidenced by one or more Bonds for each maturity bearing the same rate of interest in denominations equal to the aggregate principal amount of the Bonds for that maturity bearing the same rate of interest. Such initially delivered Bonds shall be registered in the name of “Cede & Co.” as nominee for DTC, the securities depository for the Bonds. The Bonds may not thereafter be transferred or exchanged except:

(1) to any successor of DTC or its nominee, which successor must be both a “clearing corporation” as defined in Section 4-8-102(a)(5), C.R.S. and a qualified and registered “clearing agency” under Section 17A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended; or

(2) upon the resignation of DTC or a successor or new depository under clause (1) or this clause (2) of this paragraph A, or a determination by the Board of Trustees that DTC or such successor or a new depository is no longer able to carry out its functions, and the designation by the City Council of another depository acceptable to the City Council and to the depository then holding the Bonds, which new depository must be both a “clearing corporation” as defined in Section 4-8102(a)(5), C.R.S. and a qualified and registered “clearing agency” under Section 17A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, to carry out the functions of DTC or such successor new depository; or

(3) upon the resignation of DTC or a successor or new depository under clause (1) above or designation of a new depository pursuant to clause (2) above, or a determination of the City Council that DTC or such successor or depository is no longer able to carry out its functions, and the failure by the City Council, after reasonable investigation, to locate another depository under clause (2) to carry out such depository functions.

B. In the case of a transfer to a successor of DTC or its nominee as referred to in clause (1) or (2) of subsection A hereof, upon receipt of the outstanding Bonds by the Registrar together with written instructions for transfer satisfactory to the Registrar, a new Bond for each maturity and interest rate of the Bonds then Outstanding shall be issued to such successor or new depository, as the case may be, or its nominee, as is specified in such written transfer instructions. In the case of a resignation or determination under clause (3) of subsection A hereof and the failure after reasonable investigation to locate another qualified depository for the Bonds as provided in clause (3) of subsection A hereof, and upon receipt of the Outstanding Bonds by the Registrar, together with written instructions for transfer satisfactory to the Registrar, new Bonds shall be issued in denominations of $5,000 or any integral multiple thereof shall be issued in authorized amounts, registered in the names of such Persons, and in such authorized denominations as are requested in such written

transfer instructions; however, the Registrar shall not be required to deliver such new Bonds within a period of less than 60 days from the date of receipt of such written transfer instructions.

C. The City Council and the Registrar shall be entitled to treat the Registered Owner of any Bond as the absolute owner thereof for all purposes hereof and any applicable laws, notwithstanding any notice to the contrary received by any or all of them and the City Council and the Registrar shall have no responsibility for transmitting payments or notices to the Beneficial Owners of the Bonds held by DTC or any successor or new depository named pursuant to subsection A hereof.

D. The City Council and the Registrar shall endeavor to cooperate with DTC or any successor or new depository named pursuant to clause (1) or (2) of subsection A hereof in effectuating payment of the principal amount of the Bonds upon maturity or prior redemption by arranging for payment in such a manner that funds representing such payments are available to the depository on the date they are due.

E. Upon any partial redemption of any of the Bonds, Cede & Co. (or its successor) in its discretion may request the City to issue and authenticate a new Bond or shall make an appropriate notation on the Bond indicating the date and amount of prepayment, except in the case of final maturity, in which case the Bond must be presented to the Registrar prior to payment. The records of the Paying Agent shall govern in the case of any dispute as to the amount of any partial prepayment made to Cede & Co. (or its successor).

Section 12. Delivery of Bonds and Disposition of Proceeds. When the Bonds have been duly executed by appropriate City officers and authenticated by the Registrar, the City shall cause the Bonds to be delivered to the Underwriter on receipt of the agreed purchase price. The Bonds shall be delivered in such denominations as the Underwriter shall direct (but subject to the provisions of Sections 10 and 11 hereof).

The proceeds of the sale of the Bonds shall be deposited promptly by the City and shall be accounted for in the following manner and are hereby pledged therefor, but the Underwriter or any subsequent Owner in no manner shall be responsible for the application or disposal by the City or any of its officers of any of the funds derived from the sale of the Bonds:

There shall be credited to the City of Fort Lupton, Colorado, General Obligation Bonds, Series 2023 Project Fund (the “Project Fund”) which is hereby created, all moneys from the sale of the Bonds which shall be applied in a manner consistent with Section 15(A) hereof, to payment of the cost of the Project, including, without limitation, the incidental expenses incurred by the City as a part of the cost of the Project, the costs of issuance of the Bonds, and, at the direction of the Board, interest on the Bonds.

Section 13. Payment of Principal and Interest.

A. The interest and principal, if any, falling due on the Bonds prior to the time when sufficient proceeds of a levy therefor are available shall be paid out of the general revenues of the City or other moneys available therefor. For the purpose of reimbursing any such general revenues so used for principal and interest and to meet the principal and interest payments accruing thereafter, as the same shall become due, there shall be levied by the Board of County Commissioners for the County, on all taxable property in the City, in addition to all other taxes, direct annual taxes unlimited as to rate and in an amount sufficient to pay principal and interest on the Bonds when due, promptly as the same respectively become due. The taxes when collected shall be deposited in the City of Fort Lupton, Colorado, General Obligation Bonds, Series 2023 Bond Fund (the “Bond Fund”), which is hereby created, and held by the City, to be applied solely for the purpose of the payment of interest and principal on the Bonds, and for no other purpose whatever, until the indebtedness so contracted under this Ordinance, principal and interest, shall have been fully paid, satisfied, and discharged; the City may apply any other funds that may be in the treasury of the City and available for that purpose to the payment of interest or principal as the same respectively become due, and to that extent the levy or levies herein provided for may thereupon be diminished. The levies may also be diminished to the extent that funds are not needed as a result of prior redemption in accordance with the terms of this Ordinance. Said direct annual taxes levied to pay said principal and interest shall be in addition to any and all other taxes levied to effect the purposes of the County or the City. No statutory or constitutional provision enacted after the issuance of the Bonds shall in any manner be construed as limiting or impairing the obligation of the City to levy ad valorem taxes on property within the City, without limitation of rate and in an amount sufficient to pay the principal of and interest on the Bonds when due. Any changes in the boundaries of the City subsequent to the delivery of the Bonds shall be effected in such a manner as to fully preserve and protect the rights of the owners of the Bonds.

B. The foregoing provisions of this Ordinance and the Sale Certificate are hereby declared to be the certificate of the Board to the Board of County Commissioners of the County, showing the aggregate amount of taxes to be levied by the Board of County Commissioners from time to time, as required by law, for the purpose of paying the principal of the bonded indebtedness and the interest thereon as the same shall hereafter accrue.

Section 14.Tax Levy. It shall be the duty of the City Council annually at the time and in the manner provided by law for levying other taxes, if such action shall be necessary to effectuate the provisions of this Ordinance, to ratify and carry out the provisions hereof with reference to the levy and collection of taxes; and the City Council shall require the officers of the City to levy, extend and collect such taxes on property within the City, in the manner provided by law for the purpose of creating a fund for the payment of the principal of the Bonds and the interest accruing thereon. Such taxes, when collected, shall be kept for and applied only to the payment of the interest and principal of the Bonds as hereinbefore specified. Said taxes shall be levied, assessed, collected and

enforced at the time and in the form and manner and with like interest and penalties as other general taxes in the State, and when collected said taxes shall be paid to the City as provided by law. In the event any of the levies or the charges that may be made by the City shall fail to produce an amount sufficient to pay the interest on and the principal of the City’s general obligation indebtedness becoming due in the next succeeding year, the deficit shall be made up in the next levy, and taxes shall continue to be levied until the City’s general obligation indebtedness and the interest thereon shall be paid in full. The City Council shall take all necessary and proper steps to enforce promptly, or to cause the appropriate officials of the County, to enforce promptly, the payment of taxes levied.

Section 15. Covenants with Registered Owners.

A. The City covenants for the benefit of the Registered Owners that it will not take any action or omit to take any action with respect to the Bonds, the proceeds of the Bonds, any other funds of the City or the facilities financed or refinanced with the proceeds of the Bonds if such action or omission (i) would cause the interest on the Bonds to lose its exclusion from gross income for federal income tax purposes under Section 103 of the Tax Code, (ii) would cause the interest on the Bonds to lose its exclusion from alternative minimum taxable income for federal income tax purposes under Section 55(b)(2) of the Tax Code, except to the extent such interest is required to be included in the adjusted current earnings adjustments applicable to corporations under Section 56 of the Tax Code in calculating corporate alternative minimum taxable income, or (iii) would cause interest on the Bonds to lose the exclusion from Colorado taxable income or Colorado alternative minimum taxable income under present Colorado law. The foregoing covenant shall remain in full force and effect notwithstanding the payment in full or defeasance of the Bonds until the date on which all obligations of the City in fulfilling the above covenant under the Tax Code and State law have been met.

B. The City further covenants for the benefit of the Registered Owners of the Bonds that the City will annually prepare or cause to be prepared a budget and an audit report, and will annually file or cause to be filed with the appropriate agency of the State a copy of its adopted budget, its appropriation ordinance and its audit report, all in accordance with the then applicable laws of the State.

C. The City covenants that it will not take any action or fail to take any action which action or failure to act would release any property which is included within the boundaries of the City at any time from liability for the payment of direct annual taxes levied by the City for the payment of the principal or interest on the Bonds.

D. The City covenants for the benefit of the Owners from time to time that it will comply with and carry out all of the provisions of the Continuing Disclosure Certificate which will be executed by City officers in connection with the delivery of the Bonds. Any Owner may take such actions as may be necessary and appropriate, including seeking mandate or specific performance by court order, to cause the City to comply with its obligation under this subsection; provided that the City shall incur no pecuniary liability for failure to comply with this subsection.

Section 16. Investment. Any moneys in any fund or account established by this Ordinance may be deposited, invested or reinvested in any manner permitted by law. Such deposits or investments shall either be subject to redemption at any time at face value by the holder thereof at the option of such holder, or shall mature at such time or times as shall most nearly coincide with the expected need for moneys from the fund in question.

Section 17. Pledge of Revenues. The creation, perfection, enforcement, and priority of the pledge of revenues to secure or pay the Bonds as provided herein shall be governed by Section 11-57-208 of the Supplemental Act and this Ordinance. The revenues pledged for the payment of the Bonds, as received by or otherwise credited to the City, shall immediately be subject to the lien of such pledge without any physical delivery, filing, or further act. The lien of such pledge on the revenues pledged for payment of the Bonds and the obligation to perform the contractual provisions made herein shall have priority over any or all other obligations and liabilities of the City, except for any general obligation indebtedness of the City currently outstanding or any general obligation indebtedness issued on a parity with the Bonds. The lien of such pledge shall be valid, binding, and enforceable as against all persons having claims of any kind in tort, contract, or otherwise against the City irrespective of whether such persons have notice of such liens.

Section 18. Defeasance. If, when the Bonds shall be paid in accordance with their terms (or payment of the Bonds has been provided for in the manner set forth in the following paragraph), then this Ordinance and all rights granted hereunder shall thereupon cease, terminate and become void and be discharged and satisfied.

Payment of any Outstanding Bond shall, prior to the maturity or redemption date thereof, be deemed to have been provided for within the meaning and with the effect expressed in this Section if (a) in case said Bond is to be redeemed on any date prior to its maturity, the City shall have given to the Paying Agent in form satisfactory to it irrevocable instructions to give on a date in accordance with the provisions of Section 6 hereof notice of redemption of such Bond on said redemption date, such notice to be given in accordance with the provisions of Section 6 hereof, (b) there shall have been deposited with the Paying Agent or a commercial bank exercising trust powers either moneys in an amount which shall be sufficient, or Federal Securities which shall not contain provisions permitting the redemption thereof at the option of the issuer, the principal of and the interest on which when due, and without any reinvestment thereof, will provide moneys which, together with the moneys, if any, deposited with or held by the Paying Agent or other commercial bank exercising trust powers at the same time, shall be sufficient to pay when due the principal of and interest due and to become due on said Bond on and prior to the redemption date or maturity date thereof, as the case may be, and (c) in the event said Bond is not by its terms subject to redemption within

the next sixty days, the City shall have given the Paying Agent in form satisfactory to it irrevocable instructions to give, as soon as practicable in the same manner as the notice of redemption is given pursuant to Section 6 hereof, a notice to the Owner of such Bond that the deposit required by (b) above has been made with the Paying Agent or other commercial bank exercising trust powers and that payment of said Bond has been provided for in accordance with this section and stating such maturity or redemption date upon which moneys are to be available for the payment of the principal of and interest due on said Bond. Neither such securities nor moneys deposited with the Paying Agent or other commercial bank exercising trust powers pursuant to this section or principal or interest payments on any such Federal Securities shall be withdrawn or used for any purpose other than, and shall be held in trust for, the payment of the principal of and interest due on said Bond; provided any cash received from such principal or interest payments on such Federal Securities deposited with the Paying Agent or other commercial bank exercising trust powers, if not then needed for such purpose, shall, to the extent practicable, be reinvested in securities of the type described in (b) of this paragraph maturing at times and in amounts sufficient to pay when due the principal of and interest to become due on said Bond on or prior to such redemption date or maturity date thereof, as the case may be. At such time as payment of a Bond has been provided for as aforesaid, such Bond shall no longer be secured by or entitled to the benefits of this Ordinance, except for the purpose of any payment from such moneys or securities deposited with the Paying Agent or other commercial bank exercising trust powers.

The release of the obligations of the City under this section shall be without prejudice to the right of the Paying Agent to be paid reasonable compensation for all services rendered by it hereunder and all its reasonable expenses, charges and other disbursements incurred on or about the administration of and performance of its powers and duties hereunder.

Upon compliance with the foregoing provisions of this section with respect to all Bonds Outstanding, this Ordinance may be discharged in accordance with the provisions of this section but the liability of the City in respect of the Bonds shall continue; provided that the Owners thereof shall thereafter be entitled to payment only out of the moneys or Federal Securities deposited with the Paying Agent or other commercial bank exercising trust powers as provided in this section.

Section 20. Delegated Powers. The officers of the City hereby are authorized and directed to take all action necessary or appropriate to effectuate the provisions of this Ordinance, including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the printing of the Bonds, the procuring of bond insurance, if any, entering into and executing appropriate agreements with the Registrar and Paying Agent as to its services hereunder, and the execution of such certificates as may be required by the Underwriter, including, but not necessarily limited to, the absence and existence of factors affecting the exclusion of interest on the Bonds from gross income for federal income tax purposes.

The form, terms and provisions of the Registrar and Paying Agent Agreement, the Purchase Contract and the Continuing Disclosure Certificate are hereby approved, and the City shall enter into and perform its obligations under the Registrar and Paying Agent Agreement, the Purchase Contract and the Continuing Disclosure Certificate in substantially the forms of such documents as are on file with the City Clerk, with only such changes therein as are required by the circumstances and are not inconsistent herewith. The Mayor and City Clerk are hereby authorized and directed to execute and deliver such documents as required hereby. The City Administrator or Mayor has the independent authority to make determinations in relation to the Bonds contained in the Sale Certificate subject to the parameters and restrictions contained in Section 5 of this Ordinance and has the authority to accept and execute the Purchase Contract and the Sale Certificate based on such determinations.

Section 21. Official Statement. The distribution and use of the Preliminary Official Statement is in all respects hereby ratified, approved and confirmed. The Underwriter is authorized to prepare or cause to be prepared, and the Mayor is authorized and directed to approve, on behalf of the City, an Official Statement for use in connection with the offering and sale of the Bonds. The execution of the Official Statement by the Mayor shall be conclusively deemed to evidence the approval of the form and contents thereof by the City.

Section 22. Replacement of Registrar or Paying Agent. The Registrar or Paying Agent may resign at any time on 30 days’ prior written notice to the City. The City may remove said Registrar or Paying Agent upon 30 days’ prior written notice to the Registrar and/or Paying Agent, as the case may be. If the Registrar or Paying Agent initially appointed hereunder shall resign, or if the City shall replace such Registrar or Paying Agent, the City may, upon notice mailed to each owner of any Bond at his address last shown on the registration records, appoint a successor Registrar or Paying Agent, or both. No resignation or dismissal of the Registrar or Paying Agent may take effect until a successor is appointed. Every such successor Registrar or Paying Agent shall be a bank or trust company having a shareowner’s equity (e.g., capital, surplus, and undivided profits), however denominated, of not less than $25,000,000. It shall not be required that the same institution serve as both Registrar and Paying Agent hereunder, but the City shall have the right to have the same institution serve as both Registrar and Paying Agent hereunder.

Section 23. No Recourse against Officers and Agents. Pursuant to Section 11-57-209 of the Supplemental Act, if a member of the City Council, or any officer or agent of the City acts in good faith, no civil recourse shall be available against such member, officer, or agent for payment of the principal of or interest on the Bonds. Such recourse shall not be available either directly or indirectly through the City Council or the City, or otherwise, whether by virtue of any constitution, statute, rule of law, enforcement of penalty, or otherwise. By the acceptance of the Bonds and as a part of the consideration of their sale or purchase, any person purchasing or selling such Bond specifically waives any such recourse.

Section 24. Bond Insurer as Owner. So long as the issuer of a municipal bond insurance policy, if any, is not then in default under such bond insurance policy, it shall be deemed to be the Owner of all Bonds insured by it for purposes of exercising remedies, waiving defaults, or granting consents pursuant to this Ordinance.

Section 25. Conclusive Recital. Pursuant to Section 11-57-210 of the Supplemental Act, the Bonds shall contain a recital that they are issued pursuant to certain provisions of the Supplemental Act. Such recital shall be conclusive evidence of the validity and the regularity of the issuance of the Bonds after their delivery for value.

Section 26. Limitation of Actions. Pursuant to Section 11-57-212 of the Supplemental Act, no legal or equitable action brought with respect to any legislative acts or proceedings of the City in connection with the authorization or issuance of the Bonds, including but not limited to the adoption of this Ordinance, shall be commenced more than thirty days after the authorization of the Bonds.

Section 27. Severability. If any one or more sections, sentences, clauses or parts of this Ordinance shall for any reason be held invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair, or invalidate the remaining provisions of this Ordinance, but shall be confined in its operation to the specific sections, sentences, clauses or parts of this Ordinance so held unconstitutional or invalid, and the inapplicability and invalidity of any section, sentence, clause or part of this Ordinance in any one or more instances shall not affect or prejudice in any way the applicability and validity of this Ordinance in any other instances.

Section 28. Repealer. All bylaws, orders, resolutions and ordinances, or parts thereof, inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed to the extent only of such inconsistency. This repealer shall not be construed to revise any bylaw, order, resolution or ordinance, or part thereof, heretofore repealed.

Section 29. Amendment. After any of the Bonds have been issued, this Ordinance shall constitute a contract between the City and the owners of the Bonds and shall be and remain irrepealable until the Bonds and the interest thereon have been fully paid, satisfied and discharged.

A. The City may, without the consent of, or notice to the owners of the Bonds, adopt such ordinances supplemental hereto (which supplemental amendments shall thereafter form a part hereof) for any one or more or all of the following purposes:

(1) to cure any ambiguity, or to cure, correct or supplement any defect or omission or inconsistent provision contained in this Ordinance, or to make any provisions with respect to matters arising under this Ordinance or for any other purpose if such provisions are necessary or desirable and do not adversely affect the interests of the owners of the Bonds;

(2) to subject to the lien of this Ordinance additional revenues, properties or collateral;

(3) to grant or confer upon the Registrar for the benefit of the registered owners of the Bonds any additional rights, remedies, powers, or authority that may lawfully be granted to or conferred upon the registered owners of the Bonds; or

(4) to qualify this Ordinance under the Trust Indenture Act of 1939.

B. Exclusive of the amendatory ordinances permitted by Paragraph A of this section, this Ordinance may be amended or supplemented by ordinance adopted by the City Council in accordance with the law, without receipt by the City of any additional consideration; provided, however, that, without the written consent of the owners of all of the Bonds adversely affected thereby, no such ordinance shall have the effect of permitting:

(1) An extension of the maturity of any Bond authorized by this Ordinance; or

(2) A reduction in the principal amount of any Bond or the rate of interest thereon; or

(3) A reduction of the principal amount of Bonds required for consent to such amendatory or supplemental ordinance; or

(4) The establishment of priorities as between Bonds issued and Outstanding under the provisions of this Ordinance; or

(5)The modification of or otherwise affecting the rights of the owners of less than all of the Bonds then Outstanding.

Copies of any waiver, modification or amendment to this Ordinance shall be delivered to any entity then maintaining a rating on the Bonds.

Section 30. Holidays. If the date for making any payment or the last date for performing any act or exercising any right, as provided in this Ordinance, shall be a legal holiday or a day on which banking institutions in the city in which is located the Principal Office of the Registrar and Paying Agent are authorized by law to remain closed, such payment may be made, act performed or right exercised on the next succeeding day not a legal holiday or a day on which such banking institutions are authorized by law to remain closed, with the same force and effect as if done on the nominal date provided in this Ordinance, and no interest shall accrue for the period after such nominal date.

Section 31. Ordinance Irrepealable. After any of the Bonds herein authorized are issued, this Ordinance shall constitute a contract between the City and the owners of the Bonds, and shall be and remain irrepealable until the Bonds and interest thereon shall be fully paid, canceled and discharged as herein provided.

Section 32. Disposition of Ordinance. This Ordinance, as adopted by the City Council shall be numbered and recorded by the City Clerk in the official records of the City. The adoption and publication shall be authenticated by the signatures of the Mayor and City Clerk, and by the certificate of publication.

Section 33. Emergency Declaration. It is hereby found and determined by the City Council that: (i) the construction and acquisition of the

Project is necessary in the public interest in order to properly and safely serve the City and its residents; (ii) the long-term financing of the Project by the issuance of the Bonds is necessary in order to reduce the costs of the Project. As a result of the foregoing, the City Council hereby declares that an emergency exists, and that this Ordinance is necessary to the immediate preservation of the public health and safety, all in accordance with §31-16-105, C.R.S.

Section 34. Electronic Signatures; Electronic Transactions. Any of the Mayor, City Administrator, City Clerk, Finance Director, or other employee or official of the District that is authorized or directed to execute any agreement, document, certificate, instrument or other paper in accordance with this Resolution (collectively, the “Authorized Documents”) is hereby authorized to execute Authorized Documents electronically via facsimile or email signature. Any electronic signature so affixed to any Authorized Document shall carry the full legal force and effect of any original, handwritten signature. This provision is made pursuant to Article 71.3 of Title 24, C.R.S., also known as the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act. It is hereby determined that the transactions described herein may be conducted and related documents may be stored by electronic means. Copies, telecopies, facsimiles, electronic files and other reproductions of original executed documents shall be deemed to be authentic and valid counterparts of such original documents for all purposes, including the filing of any claim, action or suit in the appropriate court of law.

Section 35. Effective Date. This Ordinance shall be in full force and effect immediately following adoption on second and final reading.

INTRODUCED, READ AND ADOPTED ON FIRST READING AND ORDERED PUBLISHED THIS 7TH DAY OF FEBRUARY, 2023.

Published in: Fort Lupton Press

Publication date:February 16, 2023

FINALLY ADOPTED AS AN EMERGENCY ORDINANCE ON SECOND READING AND ORDERED PUBLISHED BY TITLE THIS 7TH DAY OF MARCH, 2023.

Published in: Fort Lupton Press

Publication date:March 16, 2023

By:

Zo Stieber-Hubbard, Mayor

Attest: Maricela Peña, City Clerk

Approved as to Form: Andrew Ausmus, City Clerk STATE OF COLORADO COUNTY OF WELD

SS. CITY OF FORT LUPTON

I, Maricela Peña, the City Clerk of the City of Fort Lupton, Colorado (the “City”) do hereby certify:

1. The foregoing pages are a true, correct, and complete copy of an ordinance concerning the City’s General Obligation Bonds, Series 2023 (the “Bond Ordinance”) adopted by the City Council of the City constituting the governing body of the City (the “City Council”), at a regular meeting of the Board, by vote had and taken at an open, regular meeting of the City Council held at the City Hall, in Fort Lupton, Colorado, on February 7, 2023 and an open, regular meeting of the City Council held at the City Hall, in Fort Lupton, Colorado, on March 7, 2023, each convening at the hour of 7:00 p.m., as recorded in the regular book of official records of the proceedings of said City kept in my office.

2.The adoption of the Ordinance on first reading was duly moved and seconded and the Ordinance was adopted by an affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the City Council at the regular meeting of the City Council on February 7, 2023, as follows:

Name“Yes”“No”Absent Abstain

Zo Stieber-Hubbard, Mayor

Valerie Blackston, Ward 1

David Crespin, Ward 1

Chris Ceretto, Ward 2

Claud Hanes, Ward 2

Carlos Barron, Ward 3

Bruce Fitzgerald, Ward 2

3. The adoption of the Ordinance on second and final reading as an emergency ordinance was duly moved and seconded and the Ordinance was adopted by an affirmative vote of a 3/4 of the members of the City Council (6 affirmative votes of 7) at the special meeting of the City Council on March 7, 2023, as follows:

Name“Yes”“No”Absent Abstain Zo Stieber-Hubbard, Mayor

Valerie Blackston, Ward 1

David Crespin, Ward 1

Chris Ceretto, Ward 2

Claud Hanes, Ward 2

Carlos Barron, Ward 3

Bruce Fitzgerald, Ward 2

4. The members of the City Council were present at the meeting and voted on the passage of such Ordinance as set forth above.

5. There are no bylaws, rules, or regulations of the City Council which might prohibit the adoption of said Ordinance.

6. That notices of the regular meeting on February 7, 2023 and regular meeting on March 7, 2023, in the forms attached hereto as Exhibit A, were posted in a designated public place within the boundaries of the City no less than twenty-four hours prior to the meeting as required by law.

7. The Ordinance was published in the Fort Lupton Press, a newspaper of general circulation in the City, after its first and second readings, in ac-

cordance with the laws of the State. The affidavits of publication are attached hereto as Exhibit B. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of said City this 7th day of March, 2023.

Legal Notice No. FLP803

First Publication: February 16, 2023

Last Publication: February 16, 2023

Publisher: Fort Lupton Press

Summons and Sheriff Sale Public Notice District Court Weld County, Colorado Court Address: 901 9th Avenue Greeley, CO 80631

Plaintiff: WILLOW STATION PARTNERS LLC, a Colorado limited liability company v.

Defendants: WILLOW STATION, LTD., a Colorado limited partnership, and ALL UNKNOWN PARTIES WHO MAY CLAIM AN INTEREST IN THE SUBJECT MATTER OF THIS ACTION.

Case Number: 2022CV30851

Attorney for Plaintiff Karsh Gabler Call PC Alan E. Karsh, #1620 Fred Gabler, #8978 1658 Cole Blvd., Bldg. 6, Suite G10 Lakewood, CO 80401 Phone Number: 303-759-9686 E-mail: akarsh@karshgabler.com fgabler@karshgabler.com

SUMMONS BY PUBLICATION

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF COLORADO TO THE ABOVE-NAMED DEFENDANT ALL UNKNOWN PARTIES WHO MAY CLAIM AN INTEREST IN THE SUBJECT MATTER OF THIS ACTION

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.

Dated: January 10, 2023.

Karsh Gabler Call PC

/s/ Alan E. Karsh

Alan E. Karsh, #1620 Attorney for Plaintiff

Legal Notice No. FLP776

First Publication: January 19, 2023

Age is not a factor in heart disease risk

Heart issues can attack all ages

BY HALEY LENA HLENA@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

It is a common myth that heart disease does not a ect the younger population. However, Dr. Je Park, a cardiologist with Aurora Denver Cardiology Associates at e Medical Center of Aurora says that is a common myth.

“High long standing blood pressure issues with long standing cholesterol issues, long standing diabetes, yeah, that puts you at higher risk for sure,” said Park. “But there’s de nitely a genetic component.”

Heart disease can present itself in many ways to di erent people and may not always be obvious.

According to the Centers for

RELIEF

and necessity to approve the request.

Once the project is in operation, the cost of the investment is passed on to consumers through an increase in base utility rates. PUC also has the power to set a return on investment rate, which determines the pro t that utility companies get from these investments. at ROI rate can contribute to higher prices as well.

Base rates have been increasing for years. Higher base rates make periods of extreme price pressure — usually resulting from high fuel costs

Disease Control and Prevention, conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking, obesity, diabetes and unhealthy eating patterns are appearing among younger people and placing them at a higher risk for heart disease.

“ e patients are getting younger, we’ve had heart attacks in patients who are in their twenties,” said Park.  ere are certain genetic conditions where individuals are at increased risk of having a heart attack, Park said. Cholesterol issues is a primary indicator.

One example given by Park is a condition called familial hypercholesterolemia, or FH. is is a genetic disorder where people have high low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels. People have a predisposition for heart disease at that point as the body cannot

or unusually cold weather conditions — even worse. e PUC can’t control those factors, but they can drive base rates down in the long run by limiting unnecessary investments by utility companies, Gilman said.

“What are we doing to really try to ensure that rate-payers are protected in the long run and (ensure) that those utility investments that end up being repaid by rate-payers are really the best use of that money, and the best option available?” she said.

Blank said that managing base rates will be part of the discussion on a ordability moving forward. Later at the meeting, the commission also approved updates to its policy for service disconnection

Public Notices

Last Publication: February 16, 2023

Publisher: Fort Lupton Press

Misc. Private Legals

PUBLIC NOTICE

Asphalt Specialties Co., Inc. whose address and phone number is 10100 Dallas Street, Henderson, Colorado 80640 / (303) 289-8555 has filed an amendment application to the existing Regular

(112) Construction Materials Operation Reclamation Permit from the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board under provisions of the Colorado Land Reclamation Act for the Extraction of Construction Materials. The mine is known as the Chavers Mining Resource and is located at or near Section 18, Township 1 North, Range 66 West, 6th Prime Meridian in Weld County, Colorado.

The mine commenced operation in July 2016, and the proposed date of completion is November 2040. The proposed future use of the land is rangeland. Additional information and tentative decision date may be obtained from the Division of Reclamation, Mining, and Safety, 1313 Sherman Street, Room 215, Denver, Colorado 80203, (303) 866-3567, or at the Weld County Clerk and Recorder’s office at 1250 H Street, Greeley, Colorado 80631, or the above-named applicant. Comments must be in writing and must be received by the Division of Reclamation, Mining, and Safety by 4:00 p.m. on March 29, 2023.

Please note that under the provisions of C.R.S. 34-32.5-101 et seq. Comments related to noise, truck traffic, hours of operation, visual impacts, effects on property values and other social or economic concerns are issues not subject to this Office’s jurisdiction. These subjects, and similar ones, are typically addressed by your local governments, rather than the Division of Reclamation, Mining, and Safety or the Mined Land Reclamation Board.

Legal Notice No. FLP801

First Publication: February 16, 2023

Last Publication: March 9, 2023

recycle bad lipids, Park said.

“You’re like ‘I’m too young to see a doctor’ and I’m guilty of that same concept, you know, but it’s a matter of if you get identi ed early on, it’s a matter of your treatment starts earlier and you’re protected early,” said Park.

Park says it’s never too soon to check one’s heart health. e American Heart Association has ways to help prevent heart disease throughout each stage of life, starting when at 20 years and older.

Heart disease is a man’s disease

“ at’s a false, false, false statement,” said Park. “I think I’ve treated more women than I have treated men, or at least equally, and I guess it’s a matter of what’s the cause of the heart disease that you’re talking about.”

According to Park, heart disease and heart attacks in women present

reporting, which now will include data on areas with the highest proportions of disconnections in order to identify geographic disparities in access to utility services.

Additionally, they made plans to meet with assistance program coordinators and utility companies to improve the e ectiveness and accessibility of low-income quali ed programs.

Access to sources of assistance like the Percentage of Income Payment Program, which limits utility costs for low income families to up to 6% of their monthly income, must be improved, according to Gilman. e PUC has taken some steps already to make its process open and easy to understand, she said, but there’s

Estate of DANIEL CHARLES McCORMICK, aka DANIEL C. McCORMICK, aka DANIEL McCORMICK, aka DAN McCORMICK, Deceased Case Number: 2022 PR 30735

All persons having claims against the abovenamed estate are required to present them to the Personal Representative or to the District Court of Weld County, Colorado on or before June 16, 2023, or the claims may be forever barred.

Kathleen M. Kridel

Personal Representative c/o WARREN,

themselves di erently from men.

It might notbe the typical chest pain and it might not be the typical exertional component that people tend to think about, said Park. Women can feel some indigestion but end up having a heart attack.

A map presented by the CDC shows heart disease death rates among women 35 and older across the U.S.

According to the CDC, between 2018 and 2020, the Colorado average estimated heart disease death rate for all races and ethnicities in women 35 and older was 195 per 100,000 people. e average estimated number for Douglas County was 154.

Symptoms do not always occur while the body is doing physical activity, Park said, symptoms can arise while the body is resting.

“Even if you’re feeling great, you never know,” said Park.

still much room for growth when it comes to working in a mode that engages the public on addressing longterm a ordability moving forward.

“ is is a massive issue, to take this agency and all of the sudden try to humanize, try to improve accessibility, try to improve language access, try to improve these opportunities,” Gilman said. “By no means do we have it all gured out.”

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

February 23, 2023

Publisher: Fort Lupton Press

State of education report finds teachers in need of more support

BY ALISON BERG ROCKY MOUNTAIN PBS

Survey results conducted by the largest educator’s union in Colorado paint a bleak picture of how most educators feel in their jobs.

e Colorado Education Association recently surveyed around 1,600 public educators in the state and found their main concerns were lack of investment in the education system, disrespecting their professional experience and feeling unsafe at work. ose issues were more pronounced for LGBTQ+ educators, who said they felt particularly unsafe existing authentically at work.

Education association leadership members presented the report in a press conference last week they called “State of Education,” mimicking the nationwide “State of the Union,” address.

“Respecting our educators as experts means centering our voices in legislation that a ects our work,” said Amie Baca-Oehlert, a high school counselor and president of the Colorado Education Association. “We need to be asking our educators who do the job every day what is needed.”

Baca-Oehlert said the COVID-19 pandemic, skyrocketing costs of living with wages that haven’t kept up, an increase in school shootings and politicization of the classroom have all pushed teachers out of the profession.

Most survey respondents pointed to low pay as their primary reason for

leaving the profession. An average teacher’s salary in Colorado is about $60,000, the report states, which is 35% less than comparably-educated adults. e National Education Association also reported Colorado ranks 49th in the country for paying its teachers a liveable wage.

Dave Lockley, educator and president of the District 12 Educator Association, said his district in Westminster currently has 40 vacant paraprofessional and educator positions, meaning teachers are stretched even thinner trying to ful ll roles outside their job description without pay matching the extra work.

“Every time we’re missing one of these key cogs in the larger machine of education, it means our students don’t get the education they deserve,” Lockley said. “We’re asking our educators to sometimes do double the amount of workload that they’re doing and they’re falling o and leaving at an unprecedented rate.”

Twenty-one percent of survey respondents said they considered leaving education due to politicallymotivated attacks on their curriculum or themselves.

“Especially as social studies teachers and across the board with educators, we try to present a variety of perspectives for kids so they can learn, be e ective problem solvers and be critical thinkers,” said Kevin Vick, vice president of the Colorado Education Association and a teacher in Colorado Springs. “What we’re

seeing on an increasing basis is educators getting harassed over and over again for not supporting one particular viewpoint in the classroom.”

Teachers in the LGBTQ+ community reported higher levels of concern than their cisgender, heterosexual peers. According to the survey report, 85% of LGBTQ+ educators reported not being “out,” at school, and 80% reported working in a school without gender-neutral restrooms.

Additionally, 40% of LGBTQ+ educators said they had witnessed or heard about students being harassed or discriminated against, and 45% said if their school engages in equity work, they are not asked to be involved in such work.

Several education association leadership members said LGBTQ+ teachers being mistreated is an issue both for the teacher and for LGBTQ+ students, as students gain a perception of the “real world,” at school.

“It’s important to understand that these statistics of how welcome or unwelcome our LGBTQ educators feel at their schools provide a mirror of how our LGBTQ students feel at their school as well,” Baca-Oehlert said.

e 2022 Healthy Kids Colorado Survey also told a dismal story for LGBTQ+ children: around 20% of gay, bisexual and lesbian youth reportedly attempted suicide in the last year. e number was higher for transgender students at 26%.

“I think it also sends a message to

the students in that building that if the educator isn’t accepted, what does that mean for me, as a student,” said Kasey Ellis, counselor and president of the Cherry Creek Education Association.

As American public spaces are plagued by gun violence, 67% of respondents reported feeling “very” or “somewhat” worried about a mass shooting at their school. While some politicians have proposed increasing school security and arming teachers with guns, most respondents said carrying guns would make them feel even less safe. What would help increase feelings of security, 39% of respondents said, is increased access to mental health resources.

While the state legislature convenes over the next several months, education association members said they hope legislators prioritize a ordable housing, higher teacher’s salaries, education licensing, educator working conditions and mental health for both students and teachers.

“ ough Coloradans often pride themselves on being progressive and championing inclusion, our state’s budget on education tells a di erent story,” Baca-Oehlert concluded.

is story is from Rocky Mountain PBS, a nonpro t public broadcaster providing community stories across Colorado over the air and online. Used by permission. For more, and to support Rocky Mountain PBS, visit rmpbs.org.