South Platte Independent 022323

Lawmakers look to sti en penalty for auto theft

BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Imagine walking out of your home or work or the store, and your car isn’t where you left it. Panicked, you

call the police to report a theft. at’s the scenario thousands of Coloradans have likely endured in recent years as motor vehicle thefts have become a notoriously common crime in the state.

State lawmakers want to change that, putting forth a bill with support from Republicans and Democrats that would tighten the penalty for auto theft. Local law enforcement

leaders, too, are on board.

“Stolen vehicles in the state of Colorado is the nexus for many crimes in our communities,” said Douglas County Sheri Darren Weekly. “Many people who are intent on committing crimes, be it burglaries, robberies, homicide, or breaking into other vehicles to get valuables from those vehicles or sell those vehicles on the black market

Council discusses Geneva Village rehabilitation

Residents to be a ected

BY NINA JOSS NJOSS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

City councilmembers are considering several options for what to do with Geneva Village, an age-restricted a ordable housing complex near downtown Littleton, after years of uncertainty.

During a Feb. 14 study session, city sta presented two main options for the property: rehabilitate it and preserve existing housing or redevelop it to be new a ordable housing.

How did we get here?

Conversations about the future of Geneva Village started in 2019 when notices taped to tenant’s doors informed them the city would stop lling vacancies in the complex “pending further decisions.”

Public works director Keith Reester said the complex’s 28 units and common area are not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act or building codes, noting that most mechanical systems and electrical systems have passed their lifespan since the complex was built in 1964.

A city assessment also identi ed asbestos and lead paint in several vacant units, according to previous reporting by Colorado Community Media.

Some residents, however, are not concerned with the state of their homes. Robyn Bernstein, 70, has lived in the complex for six years.

“ e apartments are beautiful,” she said. “I mean, they work good. I don’t need a dishwasher… I haven’t had a problem for six years.”

Over the years, residents have expressed concern about how the

city’s decisions will a ect them. Rents at Geneva Village range from $300 for a studio apartment to $450 for a twobedroom, according to the city. Many tenants said they would not be able to a ord living elsewhere if their current complex is no longer an option.

As the city considered potential

or to fuel a drug habit, they often do that in a stolen vehicle.”

Colorado’s number of attempted and completed auto thefts stayed relatively consistent from 2008 to 2014 but started rising in the next few years. After attening again, the number boomed amid the coronavirus pandemic, more than doubling

Redistricting process begins in Littleton

Changes based on Census data

BY NINA JOSS NJOSS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Littleton is beginning a redistricting process for its four city council districts, as is customary every 10 years after U.S. Census data is

Along with jurisdictions across the country, the city is beginning the process later than normal due to a delay in Census data because of

Goals and factors

One goal of the process is to create districts with similar populations, City Clerk Colleen Norton said.

“When we look at the total population of Littleton based on the Census and we divide that by four, the average number is 11,413,” she said. “So that is kind of the target, as close to that, for each district.” e election commission will work with the city clerk’s o ce and

Sheri s support it, others do not

Geneva Village is an age-restricted housing complex in the heart of Littleton.

FILE PHOTO BY ROBERT TANN

solutions, City Manager Jim Becklenberg said they are keeping the residents’ wellbeing at the forefront of their considerations.

“I think the emphasis of this presentation that you’ll see tonight really is, yes, about what it would take if we were to rehab those units, but it’s also about the people that are there now and how could we treat the people with dignity and respect as we go down the line, whichever choice the council makes,” he said.

Option 1: Rehabilitate

Rehabilitation of Geneva Village would abate the health and safety concerns of the property’s condition while preserving the existing a ordable housing, according to Assistant City Manager Kathleen Osher, who presented to council during the Feb. 14 discussion.

In addition, this option would preserve the historical aspect of the complex.

Originally an annex to Geneva Lodge, a retreat and care facility for former hotel and restaurant workers, the complex could be eligible for historical designation, Osher said. It was designed by mid-century modern architect Eugene Sternberg, who was also the creator behind the Bemis Public Library, Heritage High School and Arapahoe Community College’s main building.

Based on an assessment from a general contractor, rehabilitation of Geneva Village would cost the city approximately $5.1 million.

“ at number does not include

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any signi cant site improvements or ADA improvements,” Reester said. “It includes bringing it up to building code and a few other things.”

He said the estimate includes updating heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, updating electrical systems, demolition, asbestos abatement, updating appliances, carpet and paint nishing, updating windows, implementing energy e cient insulation and lighting, mobilization and onsite management. In addition, the number includes a 20% contingency for unexpected issues.

When asked how much adding ADA and site improvements such as parking lot remodeling would change the cost, Reester said it was hard to predict without design plans or an architect.

Finance Director Ti any Hooten said the city could fund the rehabilitation project through a 10-year bank loan with an annual payment of $595,125, or 20-year certi cates of participation, which is another type of nancing, with an annual payment of $386,000.

In order to fund these debt payments, the city would raise average rent to $1,626 per unit per month, Hooten said. ese rents would also go towards operation and maintenance costs and a capital reserve fund to maintain the property in the future.

e city could also choose to put $254,000 towards the debt payments if they decided to transfer this amount of money back into the Geneva Fund, a fund that exists to support the property.

Even if the city contributed this money to repairs, Becklenberg said rents would need to be signi cantly higher than they are now to cover the costs.

“ e takeaway here though, is… the rent that we’d need to cover that debt service and the operating costs and the

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capital reserve, is higher,” Becklenberg said. “I think it would threaten the affordability of the units.”

Reester said he would estimate the rehabilitation project to take about 10 months if the site were fully vacant. If it weren’t vacant, District 2 Councilmember Jerry Valdes, who has experience in property management, predicted the project would take two years.

Considering these timelines, there is a potential that Geneva Village residents would need to be relocated during construction phases.

If the city chooses to proceed with the rehabilitation plan, there are several possible paths for what they could do with the units post-rehabilitation. As opposed to continuing to rent the units after rehabilitation, Mayor Pro Tem Gretchen Rydin proposed exploring the idea of selling the units.

“Have we considered making these for sale? If they were renovated, wouldn’t that pay for the costs?” she said. “If preserving it is important to our community, and we know one of our gaps in our housing strategy is a place for aging seniors… who want to downsize to a very supportive space… Have we talked about that at all?”

Option 2: Redevelop

If the city decides to redevelop the property, focus would be put on current residents.

“We want to make sure that it’s very clear that we want to have a peoplerst strategy,” Osher said. “Regardless of the decision, there may be the need to relocate.”

One bene t of redeveloping would be the chance to enhance the site as a gateway to the city, due to its location on Prince Street near downtown.

“Part of the opportunity with… the permanent relocation and redeveloping of the site is that there is… an opportunity to kind of think through the vision of the city property — so encompassing all of this site, as well as plans for downtown,” Osher said.

She noted that redeveloping o ers the potential to increase housing quality for Geneva Village residents and increase a ordable housing stock in Littleton. e 2.8-acre site could probably support between 75 and 125 units, she said.

e recently adopted Inclusionary Housing Ordinance would allow up to ve stories with a maximum of 55 feet if the site was developed as majority a ordable housing, according to city documents.

e redevelopment process would begin with individualized counseling and planning sessions with each household, including guidance and funding assistance for their relocations.

e city would work with B-Konnected, a consulting group with experience in social work and housing and urban development.

Sta recommends the city conduct counseling and interview processes with the residents regardless of the option they choose. Working with B-Konnected through their proposed plan would cost the city roughly $72,000, Osher said.

If relocation occurs, council could also decide to subsidize future rents to support residents who would have to move, Osher said.

e city would then work with experts, such as those at Urban Land Institute Colorado, to re ect on how to use the site, considering city planning and land use codes.

Resident proposal

Osher also summarized a proposal

that Geneva Village residents created last April.

“Geneva Village provides housing that allows residents to continue living independently due to its unique design and a ordable pricing,” the proposal states. “Although small at only 28 units, what happens in Geneva Village is big. It is a place where residents are not only neighbors, but lifetime friends that help each other through thick and thin.”

e residents’ plan called for an increase in rent by 6% each year for the next 10 years to create a sustainable income for the property and capital projects.

In this time period, the raised rents would create just over $2 million. e proposal said 50% of these funds would be set aside for capital improvements.

e plan also proposed a Geneva Village community board of three elected residents and one city council member.

“ e objective of the community board will be to put the responsibility of Geneva Village into the hands of the residents,” the proposal states. “ is will not only unburden the city of having ‘landlord’ responsibilities but will also allow Geneva Village residents to have a say in maintaining and improving their community.”

If the city chooses to rehabilitate the units through their own plan, it is likely that they would not continue to manage the property in the long run.

“We don’t think that managing property with tenants like this is necessarily in the city’s wheelhouse, and it probably shouldn’t be something that we do long term,” Becklenberg said. “We have talked with our housing authority, South Metro Housing Options, about this… If the rents and the property were set up in line with their structures, they would be willing to take this property back.”

SMHO previously managed the property but opted out in 2019 because the management system was not consistent with their organizational mission.

Sta documents say SMHO has also expressed interest in the property if the city chooses the redevelopment path, as they see potential for the site to t their program.

Next steps

In preparation for a future meeting, council members asked sta to seek more information.

Speci cally, Councilmember At Large Pam Grove asked for more details on what it would look like to rehabilitate the complex and then sell the units versus renting them out. e council asked for feedback from the Historical Preservation Board about the historical considerations of their options.

“I would love to hear (the Historical Preservation Board) kind of discuss it and see what they have to say on this,” Schlachter said. “Because yes, its old, there is historical value. But just because it’s old and has historical value, where does that weigh with things?”

Sta will also host a meeting with Geneva Village residents to walk through the options and answer questions. ey will then begin the interview process with consultants and residents to gather more information to present to council at the next meeting on the topic.

Sta predicts the next regular meeting on this topic to happen in approximately 90 days.

Littleton city leadership attends annual retreat

Priorities, goals discussed

BY NINA JOSS NJOSS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

In a conference room at the Littleton Museum, twelve members of city leadership stood in a circle and called out ideas for a man at the front of the room to write on a giant notepad.

is is how the annual Littleton city council retreat started on Feb. 10, kicking o a day and a half of conversations, re ection and goalsetting for city councilmembers and sta .

“ is weekend, today and tomorrow, are really important,” City Manager Jim Becklenberg said to the group. “My job is to help to facilitate the council’s alignment around goals, and then to articulate and make that alignment and those priorities clear for sta … I think this is a great opportunity here.”

Goals & accomplishments

David Marvin, a leadership consultant from Con uence Leadership Group led the event. To start o , he asked councilmembers and sta to share goals for the retreat.

Mayor Kyle Schlachter said one of his hopes for the weekend was “council ownership over the direction of the city.”

Assistant City Manager Samma Fox said she was hoping for clarity and strategic planning for future and immediate priorities.

During another activity, retreat participants re ected on accomplishments from 2022. Among dozens of successes, they listed e Tri-Cities Homeless Action Plan, Downtown Development Authority, inclusionary housing ordinance and hiring Becklenberg as a new city manager as some of their proudest accomplishments.

Public participation

Later in the afternoon, the group discussed the potential of allow-

ing virtual public comment during council meetings. Currently, the city has an online comment form where community members can share their thoughts with council if they are not able to come to a meeting in person.

District 3 Councilmember Stephen Barr introduced the idea of having a version of public comment where people can call in during meetings and speak live.

“I feel that there’s kind of a missing element… of participation on a regu-

lar meeting in being able to make public comment for those that quite honestly don’t have the mobility, the time, space in their lives -- or even just honestly the internal gumption to get up and speak in front of people, which can be terrifying for some folks,” he said. “I think this is an avenue that we could increase that public participation in a meaningful way.”

All seven members of council expressed general agreement that call-in public comment would be a good idea to explore, but some had concerns that virtual participation could overwhelm meetings.

City Attorney Reid Betzing mentioned a recent public meeting in a nearby municipality where there were hours of public comment from callers from around the country. He said a topic on the agenda had made its way to an online forum and inspired national participation.

Schlachter acknowledged that call-in public comment has pros and cons, as it makes public commenting more accessible but also runs the risk of a situation like the one Betzing mentioned. Council and sta spoke about possible ways to keep virtual public comment under control, including time limits for commenting periods.

City sta will explore the idea and the logistics of virtual public comment in terms of labor, time and sta ng.

Leadership consultant David Marvin leads the Littleton City Council retreat focusing on goal-setting and leadership.

PHOTO BY NINA JOSS

SEE RETREAT, P5

City priorities

e theme for the second day of the retreat was “creating alignment and focus for this year’s priorities,” according to the retreat agenda.

“Most of Saturday was spent trying to ensure alignment from the vision that the community set in the Envision Littleton process a couple years ago with the day-to-day work that we do,” Becklenberg said in an interview with CCM. “(Council) wanted to make sure that their priorities and the work that sta is doing is furthering the goals from that process.”

Schlachter said the council focused on ve outcomes in this area: vibrant community with rich culture, sustainable community with natural beauty, robust and resilient economy, safe community and high quality governance.

“ ose were the outcomes that we see the community striving for,” he said. “And then we as a group, the council, had discussions on what our speci c priorities in the coming one to three years are, and that’s what we wanted sta to have more of their focus on.”

In order of importance, the speci c priorities included: housing, safety, economic development, infrastructure and environment.

“Housing is very important to council because it, as we see, is a regional wide issue,” Schlachter said in an interview with CCM. “We need to be doing our part to help address the housing issue, we can’t just assume other communities are doing

things.”

Schlachter said the group discussed revisiting the Universal Land Use Code to see if it could be adjusted to further address issues in housing, speci cally by looking at regulations for accessory dwelling units in the city.

Within the other priorities, he said the group discussed lowering crime rates, helping businesses thrive, enhancing infrastructure for cyclists and pedestrians and potentially exploring a single hauler trash system.

Potential future ballot questions

Council and sta also discussed several potential ballot questions for the November 2023 election, Schlachter said.

One was related to a marijuana tax increase. Council directed sta to explore the idea and potentially do preliminary polling on the question before council decides whether or not to go forward with it.

“We want to do some more re-

search on tax rates in our area,” Becklenberg said about next steps for this potential ballot item. “We also just want to make sure we are careful with the language and that we understand the policy implications of whatever language is put forward there.”

e other ballot question council wanted sta to explore was regarding Senate Bill 05-152, which excludes local governments from entering into the broadband market, according to the Colorado Municipal League. Council’s potential ballot question on this topic would ask voters if they want Littleton to opt out of this rule.

“At this point, that topic and a ballot measure like that would be fairly standard because so many communities in the state have already taken that step to exempt themselves from the state law,” Becklenberg said. “We would want to make sure that we are drafting that language in a way that is technically correct to have the

impact that we hope to have.”

Leadership lessons

Outside of strategic goal-setting, the retreat also helped city councilmembers to focus on how they communicate and work together. Marvin, the leadership consultant, gave feedback and helped councilmembers re ect on ways they cooperate.

“Leadership is critical for moving initiatives forward for creating a real clear vision,” Marvin said in an interview with CCM.

One piece of advice he gave council members was to focus on a “both, and” mentality instead of thinking things have to be one way or another. is and other advice helped council to re ect on the ways they work together, which Becklenberg said were already strong.

“ e way the council works together, or doesn’t, is a big factor in just the morale and frankly, people wanting to continue to work here,” Becklenberg said to the group. “I know that kind of ebbs and ows over time, but it really can’t be understated when people who might not agree with each other inherently, the way that this group works together respectfully, has a vote and can move on.”

e retreat, in his eyes, was a great way to enhance that even more.

“I was grateful that the city council would take the time to step back from the day-to-day issues that they deal with and spend some time thinking about longer term priorities for the for the city, and also spending a few minutes talking about how they work together and how that can be strengthened even more,” he said.

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Members of city leadership start their retreat on Feb. 10 by standing in a circle and sharing their goals for the weekend

PHOTO BY NINA JOSS

South Metro Fire to hold spring election

4 board members up

BY TAYLER SHAW TSHAW@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

South Metro Fire Rescue, a re rescue authority that serves approximately 560,000 people in the south Denver metro area, will hold an election this spring to select four members of its board of directors.

e agency will accept self-nominations through Feb. 24.

e agency covers many cities and towns, including Bow Mar, Castle Pines, Centennial, Cherry Hills Village, Columbine Valley, Fox eld, Greenwood Village, Littleton, Lone Tree and Parker, along with nearby unincorporated portions of Arapahoe, Je erson, and Douglas counties.

South Metro Fire Rescue is governed by a seven-member board of directors who are publicly elected and oversee an annual budget of more than $127 million, according to the agency’s website.

Each board member represents a speci c geographical portion of the overall re district, known as a director district, the agency explained in a 2020 governing body document.

Four of the directors’ terms expire

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in 2023, including Sue Roche of District 1, Jim Albee of District 3, Cindy Hathaway of District 4 and Renee Anderson of District 5.  e agency announced the election will be held May 2 and it will be a mail ballot election.

Ballots will be mailed to all eligible electors between April 11 and April 18, per the agency’s website.  ere will not be an election precinct or polling place, but ballots can be dropped o at 9195 E. Mineral Ave. in Centennial, according to the agency’s resolution about the election.

e director position is a fouryear term and people can nominate themselves for one of the four open seats. According to the agency’s website, all candidates must complete a self-nomination form and either email the completed form to DEO@southmetro.org or hand deliver the form to 9195 E. Mineral Ave.

Residents who are interested in learning more about the election and how to become a candidate can nd information, including the self-nomination form, at bit.ly/ southmetronom. ose who wish to check which district they live in and who represents them can visit: bit. ly/southmetromap.

• Publication of any given letter is at our discretion. Letters are published as space is available.

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On Jan. 10, South Metro Fire Rescue responded to a small fire at Damascus Grill, a Middle Eastern restaurant at 1399 W. Littleton Blvd.

PHOTO BY NINA JOSS

We’re voting NO on ‘300.’

Lauren Acres

Kent Bagley

Steve Barr

Elliot Barrere

Alexis Barrere

Elizabeth Beindorf

Michael Beindorf

Dan Brickley

Gerre Brickley

Debbie Brinkman, Former Littleton Mayor

Jim Busby

Molly Charboneau

Amy Conklin, Former Littleton

Councilmember

Don Conklin

Patricia Cronenberger, Former Littleton Mayor

Rick Cronenberger

Karen Crossen

Kristen Deevy

Kylee Duff

Matt Duff

Pat Dunahay

Emily Dykes

JD Dykes

Karina Elrod, Former Littleton Councilmember

Ruth Graham

Josie Haggerty

Amanda Henderson

Kyle Henderson

Bill Hopping, Former Littleton Councilmember

Cathy Hopping

LaDonna Jurgensen, Former Littleton Councilmember

Rebecca Kast, Former Littleton Councilmember

Bill Kast

Gail Keeley

Kurt Keeley

Jacquie Kitzelman

Bebe Kleinman

Margi Klute

Deanna Kristopeit

Drew Lang

David Law

Jeff May

Katie McReynolds

Myles McReynolds

Stew Meagher, Former Littleton Councilmember

Scott Melin, Former Littleton Councilmember

Casey Milliman

Kelly Milliman

Kevin Milliman

Julia Montano

Kal Murib

Patrick Navarrette

Sally Parsons, Former Littleton Mayor

Kate Peterson

Sandra Petry

Dan Radulovich

Julie Radulovich

Dennis Reynolds, Former Littleton Mayor

Gretchen Rydin

Patrick Santana

Kyle Schlachter

Maureen Shannon

Bruce Stahlman, Former Littleton Councilmember

Kelly Stahlman

Nick Stevens

Merrill Stillwell

John Sweeny

Keith Taylor

Susan Thornton, Former Littleton Mayor

John Thornton

Ben Traquair

Eric Veith

Kay Watson

Maureen Whalen

Carle Zimmerman, Former Littleton Councilmember

IF YOU GO

Plant shop takes root in Centennial

BY RACHEL LORENZ SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA

To look at Jessica Austin’s shop, you’d never know she has a passion for death. e 900-square-foot space in Centennial feels too bright and fresh.

“People are very surprised when I tell them I used to roll bodies into bags,” the 35-year-old entrepreneur told Colorado Community Media.

A year ago, Austin moved her home-based business, Mrs. Fancy Plants, into the Heritage Place Shopping Center on East Arapahoe Road. ere, among white walls, a breezy botanical mural and lots of greenery, the lifelong Coloradan sells house plants and custom oral arrangements, holds workshops, and rents out her space for photo shoots and private events.

“I’m proud of how far my brand has grown,” Austin said. “I literally am grassroots … jumping the hurdles of entrepreneurship.”

In 2020, Austin started growing houseplants from cuttings in her son’s bathroom to sell on Etsy. She expanded her edgling business to a shed in her backyard which allowed her to o er plant shopping by appointment to people in the area. Eventually, a move to a commercial space felt right.

In addition to shelves and shelves of plants, Austin lls her boutique with touches of home. A plush couch. A clawfoot bathtub. A white wicker chair. It helps her customers think about how to style their own

houses with plants.

“It kind of gives people an idea of ‘OK, I can see this in my living room,’” she said.

While Austin enjoys the plant world, her rst love is all things morbid. As a grade schooler, she was a fan of the TV show “Forensic Files.” She was nicknamed Wednesday, a reference to the death-obsessed

Jessica Austin holds a jade pathos inside her backyard plant shed. PHOTOS COURTESY OF MRS. FANCY PLANTS

“Planting with a Twist,” an activity where attendees paint a terracotta pot and choose a plant to put in it, is one of several events Jessica Austin hosts at Mrs. Fancy Plants.

ARAPAHOE COUNTY

The deadline for nominations is approaching! Exceptional high school seniors can be nominated for the Arapahoe County Mayors and Commissioners Youth Awards scholarship program through March 3

Visit arapahoegov.com/ youthawards

Bad news: Inflation continues in Denver metro area

Good news: It’s slowing

BY SARAH MULHOLLAND COLORADO PUBLIC RADIO

ere is a little bit of good news for consumers who’ve watched prices for just about everything tick up dramatically — prices are now rising more slowly in Denver as federal regulators try to keep in ation in check.

An index that measures prices for everything from gasoline and groceries to airplane tickets and housing increased by 6.4 percent in January compared to 2022, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics. at’s down from an annual increase of 6.9 percent in November, the last time the rate was calculated. At this time last year, prices were surging more than 9 percent in Denver.  e trajectory mirrors the national trend, with U.S. prices up 6.5 percent in January. at’s good news for consumers that have watched the bills for everyday items grow unabated for more than a year. But still, in ation is stuck far higher than the government’s target rate of between 2 percent and 3 percent.

In the Denver region — which includes Adams, Arapahoe, Broomeld, Clear Creek, Denver, Douglas, Elbert, Gilpin, Je erson and Park counties — prices for a lot of things remain stubbornly high, even if

they’re not rising as fast as a year ago. For instance, fruits and vegetables cost almost 13 percent more than they did at the same time last year. And household energy bills are up more than 13 percent. On the ip side, used car prices have fallen more than 10 percent.

Since November, prices for food broadly speaking are up 2 percent and used car prices are down about 4 percent.

Newly released data on spending in the U.S. shows that retail sales jumped in January, meaning people remain largely undeterred by how expensive things are. While that’s good news for the overall economy, it’s not great news when it comes to putting the brakes on in ation. e persistent price increases mean the Federal Reserve is likely to keep raising interest rates, making it more expensive to borrow money and slowing demand for large purchases that many people take out loans to buy. e central bank’s efforts have already slowed demand in the housing market. Home prices in Denver, Colorado’s largest housing market, are down about 1 percent since last year, after a record-setting run of double-digit gains during the pandemic.

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.

TURN TO THE COLORADO SUN FOR NEWS ACROSS THE STATE

The Colorado Sun is a journalist-owned, award-winning news outlet that strives to cover all of Colorado so that our state — our community — can better understand itself.

In this way, The Sun contributes to a more vibrant, informed and whole Colorado.

The Sun, launched in 2018, is committed to fact-based, in-depth and nonpartisan journalism. It covers everything

from politics and culture to the outdoor industry and education.

Now, The Colorado Sun co-owns this and other Colorado Community Media newspapers as a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy. The Sun is CCM’s partner for statewide news.

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

Cottage Food Safety Statewide Online Training

Starting a homemade food business can be a great way to bring in extra income and get your favorite recipes out into the world while doing something you love on your own terms. This training covers specifics of the Colorado Cottage Food Act and how to safely operate a food business from a home kitchen.

Scan the QR code with your smartphone for details.

Shoppers for Seniors

Help a neighbor in need–be a shopper for a local senior

The Shoppers for Seniors program began due to COVID-19 but is now a staple in our community. Volunteer to be paired with an older adult who lives close by. Help them with weekly/bi-weekly grocery and/or prescription pickup. This support helps meet their everyday needs and brings them connections that they may not otherwise have without family close by or the ability to get out as much as they’d like.

Learn more and sign up today at arapahoegov.com/volunteer.

from 22,000 in 2019 to 45,000 last year, according to Colorado’s database of reported crimes.

e state has become known for the problem: Colorado led the nation in 2021 with the highest overall vehicle theft rate at 661 thefts per 100,000 people, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, a not-for-pro t organization that tracks crime data.

Backed by Gov. Jared Polis, the bill appears to have an easy path to becoming law. But whether it can make a large dent in auto theft rates is another matter. A longtime criminologist doubts the bill can change behavior.

“Whenever we increase penalties, that doesn’t actually produce a deterrent e ect because what actually produces a deterrent e ect is a belief that you’re going to get caught,” said Lisa Pasko, an associate professor and chair at the University of Denver Department of Sociology and Criminology. “We’ve had 100 years of criminology to show that increasing penalties doesn’t produce a general deterrent e ect.”

What bill would change

Today, stealing a car worth less than $2,000 is treated as a misdemeanor in Colorado, while stealing cars worth more is a felony.

“Not only is it unfair, it simply doesn’t make sense,” state Sen. Rachel Zenzinger, an Arvada Democrat, said in a news release. She added: “A stolen car represents much more

than stolen property — it impacts people’s ability to get to work, shop for groceries and live their daily lives.”

If state Senate Bill 23-097 passes, the penalties for auto theft would no longer be based on the value of the vehicle stolen. e proposal would make most auto theft a felony regardless of the vehicle’s value.

Some portion of what would be misdemeanors — on the low end of stolen vehicle value — would then be treated as felonies, but Weekly said he had not seen speci cs on what percentage of thefts would be classied di erently.

Arapahoe County Sheri Tyler Brown also did not know. But Brown, another supporter of the bill, highlighted another change he says would strengthen accountability.

“We’re seeing a lot of people in stolen cars saying, ‘Oh, I just borrowed this car from so and so — I didn’t know it was stolen,’” Brown said. If the vehicle is in a situation that

would make a “reasonable person” likely to know it was stolen, the bill makes it easier for authorities to charge that person, Brown said.

Pasko argued the bill doesn’t address the “front end” of why people are stealing cars.

A web of influences

Pasko, who wrote a commentary on recent media coverage of the increase in Colorado’s crime rates, pointed to a range of factors that can in uence crime.

“As we have long known, increase in crime is tied with housing insecurity, drug misuse and abuse, gun sales, unemployment and joblessness, mental health struggles, family disruption and violence, as well as fewer youth in school, (and) lower consumer con dence,” Pasko wrote.

Many people are stealing cars to live in them, a problem that could re ect how una ordable the Denver area is to live in, she told Colorado Community Media.

“We see evidence of living in (stolen cars) including drug use. We also see the drug of choice here is meth,” Pasko said.

Sometimes there are habitual offenders, Pasko said, “but they are not the ones accounting for thousands and thousands of car thefts. It’s just not possible.”

Weekly spoke to the pattern of repeat o enders in his jurisdiction in Douglas County.

“

ey’re out on bond very quickly, and they’re going out and committing auto theft again,” Weekly said.

Pasko pointed to other historical periods in the 1970s, `80s and `90s in evaluating crime policies.

“We’ve done this same thing, which is increase penalties, increase jail time and increase incarceration, and it’s never given us the results we want,” Pasko said.

She added: “We need police, jails, and prison, for sure. But we need more front-end services too, to avoid crime in the rst place.”

Mental health needs

Brown, a Democrat, pointed to the need for those kinds of services, noting the lack of “community bedspace” for people going through mental health crisis and the lack of mental health clinicians to help with those situations.

“People that are struggling with mental health don’t have the resources they need, and then there’s certain times — and it’s not all the time — but there are certain times when they’re self-medicating and they’re involved in these activities that can fall into the categories that

Ballot 300 is NOT a trick question

“Special Interest Groups” opposing our right to vote on 300 have resorted to fear-mongering and disinformation. This is a deceptive foil for all registered voters’ right to vote on matters important to citizens of Littleton. Let’s look at their claims, in quotes below:

“300 is a trick question” - Wrong - REvision Littleton worked with the Littleton City Clerk in composing the ballot. She is impartial and certainly not a trickster; neither are the 4000+ fellow concerned residents who signed the petition!

“Littleton’s voice will be silenced” - Wrong - Just the opposite. A YES vote on 300 gives Littleton citizens a voice to petition our government by aligning our Charter with Colorado municipal election laws.

“Tax Dollars Wasted” - Wrong - Calling the price of a fair election a waste of tax dollars exhibits profound disrespect for the democratic process. Instead, Council’s expenditure of $368,000 for professional election consultants in recent elections may be a better place to spot waste.

“Forcing elections every other month” - Wrong and just plain unrealistic. Circulating a petition is not easy and takes a great deal of citizens time, money and energy. It is logistically impossible for a citizen’s group to circulate a new petition every two months.

“Signatures from as few as 3% of residents” - Wrong and misleading. The number of required signatures, 5%, is based on the number of registered voters and not the number of “residents”

Our Mayor has said publicly that this petition process has been “underhanded and disingenuous” (Ref. CCM Nov 15, 2022) – to refute that attitude we need to vote YES on 300.

As car theft cases continue to skyrocket in the state, lawmakers have introduced a bill to increase penalties for o enders. Local sheri s have signed o on the bill. SHUTTERSTOCK

SEE AUTO THEFTS, P11

AUTO THEFTS

we’re talking about,” said Brown, who noted the problem of people getting involved in the “illicit drug trade.”

It’s important to expose people to programs for recovery, Brown said.

Weekly, a Republican, pointed to programs in the Douglas County jail.

“I do think that obviously the drug issues play a big factor into (crime), mental health issues play a big factor into this. But at the end of the day, they can get drug treatment quite frankly in a detention setting. ey can get mental health treatment in a detention setting,” Weekly said. e Douglas County jail has a “very robust” drug treatment program, Weekly said.

“We don’t just put people in jail and let them languish — not in my jail. ere’s a lot of programs that can help them get back on their feet and live a productive life,” he added.

He felt a harsher approach in criminal penalties is necessary to get people o a criminal path.

PLANT SHOP

daughter from the ctional Addams Family. At Metropolitan State University, she earned a bachelor’s degree in forensic anthropology and criminology and landed an internship as a death investigator with the medical examiner’s o ce in Denver, she said. But ultimately she stepped back from forensic work.

“I’ve kind of come full circle. Now I keep plants alive,” said Austin of her shift from working with the dead to caring for living, leafy things.

While being her own boss means she can’t count on someone else for health insurance, a 401(k) program or overtime pay, Austin appreciates the exibility that comes with working for herself. It’s a big world with lots to see and do, Austin said, and right now she’s enjoying the challenges of small business ownership.

“I have my moments where I wonder what the hell was I thinking, but every entrepreneur does,” Austin said. “If not, I don’t know if you’re doing it right.”

For example, now that it’s in a retail space, Mrs. Fancy Plants’ overhead is higher. It was a bit of a shock the rst time the business hit a seasonal slump but its rent

“My perspective is at the end of the day, people are responsible for their actions,” Weekly said.

Another part of the solution to addressing crime could be adding more o cers in the right places, according to Pasko, which can be di cult amid police experiencing hiring issues.

“Denver did hot spot policing with positive results in the past few years. Instead of patrol broadly in highcrime areas, really zone in on the hot spots, including some problemoriented approaches,” Pasko said.

Weekly agreed that putting more o cers on patrol is critical.

“ at is one of my goals as sheri ,” Weekly said. “I am putting more deputies and marked cars on the street. at’s what I’m focusing on is the fundamentals.”

e proposed legislation also includes a “joy-ride” provision that would make it a misdemeanor to use a vehicle without the owner’s permission as long as the car is returned within 24 hours without damage and only minor tra c o enses were committed, e Colorado Sun reported. A second and subsequent conviction for the joy-ride o ense would be a felony, however.

JAZZ

BILLIE HOLIDAY, ELLA FITZGERALD, AND NANCY WILSON ARE JUST THREE OF THE ICONIC WOMEN WE WILL HONOR IN THIS INTIMATE EVENING OF MUSIC FOR ALL JAZZ LOVERS!

and utilities didn’t abate, Austin said. She supplements retail sales with classes on building terrariums, arranging owers and caring for houseplants. She also makes the space available to photographers for photoshoots.

“You pivot and you improvise,” Austin said. “It’s part of being an entrepreneur. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.”

Before opening her store in Centennial, Jessica Austin sold plants through Etsy and from a shed in her backyard.

In addition to selling house plants and custom floral arrangements, Mrs. Fancy Plants hosts workshops and classes.

Mrs. Fancy Plants opened in Centennial’s Heritage Place Shopping Center in February 2022. PHOTOS COURTESY OF MRS. FANCY PLANTS

Political funder aims to change primaries

Kent Thiry has poured millions into ballot measures

BY JESSE PAUL AND SANDRA FISH THE COLORADO SUN

Kent iry, who has poured millions of dollars into democracy-related initiatives in Colorado intended to boost the power of moderate voters and make political contests more competitive, is advocating for major changes to the state’s primary election process to address what he calls gaps and inequities.

e former CEO of the dialysis giant DaVita’s next political act is backing an e ort to do away with Colorado’s caucus and assembly process through which candidates can make the primary ballot. He also wants the legislature to nd a way to prevent Coloradans from throwing away their votes by casting primary ballots for presidential candidates who later drop out of the race.

If successful, the changes could be iry’s most transformative work yet.

“I’m passionate about democracy,” he told e Colorado Sun in a recent in-

employees. He is pushing the legislature to alter Colo-

personally bankrolled e orts to let una liated voters

ported have passed.

Right now, iry is “ex-

tremely supportive” of Senate Bill 101, which would end Colorado’s caucus and assembly process of selecting primary candidates and make signature gathering the only way to make the ballot. e legislation would also let una liated voters sign partisan candidate petitions.

iry called the caucus-assembly nominating system “blatantly unfair and blatantly inequitable.”

“It’s unfair because a small group of party insiders control all the management around it and it’s inequitable because there’s lots of voters who can’t, on a weeknight or a weekend, leave work or leave their kids or leave their military base to go participate,” he said.

e measure, sponsored by Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, R-Brighton, and Rep. Mary Brad eld, R-Colorado Springs, is up for its rst hearing ursday in the Senate State, Military and Veterans Committee. And it’s likely to be quickly rejected despite recent polling commissioned by a group associated with iry showing that the proposed changes are popular with Coloradans.

A voter drops o a ballot the morning of the Nov. 8 election.

PHOTO BY CHANCY J. GATLIN-ANDERSON

SEE PRIMARIES, P13

PRIMARIES

Opponents of the measure argue it would make it hard for anyone but those who can a ord to collect signatures to run for o ce.

Candidates for U.S. Senate and governor in Colorado must collect 1,500 voter signatures in each of the state’s eight congressional districts. ey can’t reasonably collect all of those on their own, so campaigns pay rms tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars to collect signatures on their behalf.

Sen. Julie Gonzales, a Denver Democrat who sits on the Senate State, Military and Veterans Committee, said she will vote “no” on the measure.

“Both of these processes reward the people who do the work,” Gonzales said, noting that she went through both the caucus and assembly as well as the signature gathering process to make the ballot in her rst legislative election.

Senate President Steve Fenberg, D-Boulder, said Senate Bill 101 would mean “you have to pay to get on the ballot.”

“I’m not comfortable with a process that says the way to get on the ballot essentially is by paying to get there,” he said. “Caucus has its aws, for sure. But I think it’s an important option to have. I don’t know why we would remove options. Instead we should talk about expanding options for voters and candidates.”

e Colorado Democratic Party and America Votes, a liberal national nonpro t, both oppose the

bill. Grassroots Republicans and the Colorado Libertarian Party are also encouraging supporters to voice opposition to the legislation.

Voters First Colorado, part of the national, nonpartisan group Unite America, supports Senate Bill 101.

Unite America was a proponent of Alaska’s switch to an open primary where both Democratic and Republican candidates are on the same ballot and voters’ top four choices advance to the general election. Voters then use ranked-choice voting — in which they order their preferred candidates — to select the winner.

Nevada voters approved a similar system last year.

Kirkmeyer said she’s open to amending her bill to lower the signature requirements for candidates to make the ballot, but she thinks her bill is a reasonable way to make ballot access more equitable.

Right now, she argues, it’s too easy for third-party candidates to get on the ballot. Kirkmeyer lost a 2022 congressional bid by less than 1 percentage point in a race where the Libertarian candidate picked up 4% of the vote. And she said it’s unfair that una liated voters, who make up the largest voting bloc in Colorado, aren’t allowed to sign partisan candidates’ ballot-access petitions.

“For those people who say, ‘now you’re making people pay-to-play,’ my response to that is if a 63-yearold woman can get volunteers and go get her signatures — me — without having to pay for them, I think anyone can do it,” she said.

(Kirkmeyer had to collect 1,500 signatures to make the ballot in the 8th Congressional District last year.)

Barbara Kirkmeyer talks to a

District 8 voter with election 2022 banners behind her.

Kirkmeyer’s position is notable because some in the Colorado GOP want to ban candidates from gathering petition signatures to make the primary ballot. A right-wing contingent in the party is pushing for a rules change because they view candidates who make the ballot by gathering signatures as less ideologically pure than those who go through the caucus and assembly process.

iry is also pushing for alterations to Colorado’s presidential primary elections after votes cast for Democratic candidates such as Pete Buttigieg and U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who dropped out of the contest between when ballots were mailed to voters and Election Day, ended up being meaningless.

“ e Secretary of State and the legislature should x this problem, and we think there are a number of ways to do that,” iry told e Sun. “We’re very much hoping that they will pick one.”

iry declined to endorse a speci c solution.

“If we suddenly started advocating for one, that would distract attention from the fact that what needs to be solved is the problem,” he said.

ere’s interest in, at a minimum, requiring the disclosure of how many votes are cast in presidential primary elections for candidates who are no longer in the race. at information wasn’t shared in 2020. Another idea that has been discussed among lawmakers is moving Colorado toward Alaska’s election model.

Sen. Je Bridges, D-Greenwood

A Rate Worth Getting Excited

Village, is leading the push on the presidential primary front.

“I’m working on a way to make sure that Coloradans’ voices are heard in the presidential primary,” he said. “Last election, more than 150,000 votes were just thrown away. at’s unacceptable and we’ve got to x it.” He said speci c policy proposals were still in the works.

Finally, iry is interested in campaign nance changes.

“I think Colorado’s contribution limits are too low and actually hurt our democracy,” he said.

Candidates for four state-level, statewide o ces in 2022 could raise up to $1,250 from individual donors and state lawmakers were allowed to collect up to $400. ose limits are set to rise for the next two election cycles to re ect in ation.

iry said he’s also concerned about undisclosed political spending by political nonpro ts, which don’t have to disclose their donors.

e Sun refers to those organizations as dark-money groups.

“I think anybody who’s spending money on a campaign ought to have to disclose what they’re doing with their money,” iry said.

e legislative session runs through early May. e earliest a measure changing Colorado’s primary process could go before voters is November 2024.

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.

VOICES LOCAL

I

Tale of 2 districts FROM THE EDITOR

n Arapahoe County and Douglas County we are watching a tale of two school districts unfold. at tale is all about how teachers are compensated and what it will all mean as the scenarios play out.On one side, in Douglas County, you have a situation where voters said no to a mill levy that would have resulted in teachers getting pay raises. In November, voters pretty soundly rejected the measure.

Thelma Grimes

Whether it was because they were still feeling a little saucy over how the school board handled the termination of the former superintendent, or, just didn’t want more money to go to the government, even if it is a school district, doesn’t matter. What matters is it did not happen and the district, which is located in the ninth richest county in the nation, is paying a teacher a starting salary of just over $43,000.

I have to give credit to Superintendent Erin Kane and the school board — they didn’t let the election rejection halt discussions. ey are trying to be creative in what to do next. e most recent discussion centers around having a ordable housing built just for teachers. at means low-income apartments.

However, the problem here is besides paying teachers like crap, the current messaging throughout Douglas County seems to also be against building a ordable housing.

Without a ordable housing, good teachers, good cops and the much-needed working class is going to disappear. at leads us to neighboring Arapahoe County. Arapahoe County is home to another large school district, Cherry Creek. Cherry Creek seems to be a lot more focused on keeping good teachers and recruiting new ones.

It’s no secret there is a teacher shortage not just in Colorado but nationwide. ere are not enough substitutes, certi ed teachers and paraprofessionals at any level. at means districts who treat teachers better are going to at least fare better as the battle to meet sta ng levels drags on.

Recently, Cherry Creek opted to pay teachers a starting salary of $57,000. Let’s put that in perspective. If you are a teacher currently working in Douglas County but can’t a ord to live there — you are likely to drive from a metro city to the north. If you were a teacher in Douglas County driving past Cherry Creek to teach for $14,000 a year less — would you stay? Would you want to keep going to a district where the residents outright said no to you having a better life?

e e ect of what is happening is going to become clear in years down the road. Douglas County might go from being the ninth richest with one of the best school districts in the nation to much worse.

ink about the good families currently raising their kids in Douglas County. Parents are going to start looking at whether or not their children are receiving a quality education. If they realize the neighboring district not only pays teachers more but provides students a better education because their good teachers went there — they too are going to leave.

Who can blame them? As parents, we want our kids to have the best education possible. I moved from another state for that very reason, to make sure my adopted daughter got the education she deserves. Other parents will do the same even if it means moving one district over.

In Cherry Creek, teachers are going to feel more appreciated. ey are going to feel as though residents believe in them and they are going to work for those students even as times are tough. In Douglas County, teachers are receiving a clear message that while the school board and superintendent are doing their best with the resources they have — their best may not be good enough to stay.

elma Grimes is the south metro editor for Colorado Community Media.

LINDA SHAPLEY Publisher lshapley@coloradocommunitymedia.com

MICHAEL DE YOANNA Editor-in-Chief michael@coloradocommunitymedia.com

Englewood, CO 80110

Phone: 303-566-4100

Web: LittletonIndependent.net

SouthPlatteIndependent.net

To subscribe call 303-566-4100

Humility — the lost character trait of success

hile working with one of our clients, I had the opportunity to observe an interaction between a leader and someone on their team. We had all been working on a project that spanned several months, and the leader was an integral part of making the project a huge success as they battled behind the scenes removing roadblocks, pushing decisions through and advancing timelines.WINNING

others will soon nd themselves with no one left to lead.

I love this quote by Ezra Taft Benson, “With pride, there are many curses. With humility, there come many blessings.”

When it was announced that the project was nished and considered a huge success, the leader was asked to share a few words on an all-company meeting. As she began to talk about the project, she started by naming each and every person who contributed to the success that the team had achieved. Not only did she mention everyone by name, but she also included something special about everyone’s contribution. She even went as far as saying she played a very small role, if any role at all.

In a world where many strive for attention or are OK with receiving the accolades for the hard work of the people around them or on their team, it was so refreshing to witness such humility. You can probably guess that she has a very loyal team with hardly any turnover at all.

Humility isn’t only about giving others the proper credit, it’s also being humble enough to admit when we have made mistakes. Now just as some like to receive the accolades and take credit for work they did not do, there are some people who refuse to admit their mistakes, instead nding a way to blame others. And just as the leader described above who developed a loyal following, the leader who takes the credit and who shifts the blame on

ERIN ADDENBROOKE Marketing Consultant eaddenbrooke@coloradocommunitymedia.com

AUDREY BROOKS Business Manager abrooks@coloradocommunitymedia.com

Pride can be a dangerous thing. When it is about the satisfaction we feel when we have achieved a goal or realized a dream, that can be inspiring. It becomes dangerous when it leads to egotistical and narcissistic behavior. I heard it said that egotism is the only disease that makes everyone else sick except the person carrying the disease.

We are leaders in some way, even if it means we are leading ourselves for now. ere are many traits that today’s leader must try and master as they grow personally and/or professionally. Leading with character, empathy, integrity, honesty, transparency, vulnerability, a servant’s heart, courage, respect and humility, just to name a few. Again, in a “me” centered world, humility shows up last or sometimes not at all. Whether we are leading at home, at work, in our community or in our house of worship, humility shows up when we start to live in a “we” centered world.

e Merriam-Webster de nes humility as freedom from pride or arrogance: the quality or state of being humble. Where leaders or people striving for success sometimes make the mistake is that they believe they need to

Columnists & Guest Commentaries

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

Littleton

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THELMA GRIMES South Metro Editor tgrimes@coloradocommunitymedia.com

NINA JOSS Community Editor njoss@coloradocommunitymedia.com

ERIN FRANKS Production Manager efranks@coloradocommunitymedia.com

Email letters to letters@coloradocommunitymedia.com

Deadline Wed. for the following week’s paper.

W

geographic information specialists on the redistricting process, according to the city. Members of the election commission are nonpartisan and are appointed by city council as part of the city’s boards and commissions recruitment process.

In addition to population equity, the election commission will consider contiguity and compactness of districts and will try to keep them as rectangular as possible. ey will also try to preserve “communities of interest” within the same district.

“(State terminology doesn’t) de ne what communities of interest are,” Norton said. “But if you really drill down, that could be something like (a homeowner’s association). People move into di erent communities for di erent reasons, so we really try to keep those together versus breaking down an entire planned community.”

e election commission will also focus on having no minority vote dilution or gerrymandering, meaning they won’t create districts based on minority populations or political interests.

“We really are just looking at basic numbers,” Norton said.

Public outreach

“( e election commission) will hopefully come up with a number of recommended maps showing where they recommend moving lines and how that impacts numbers,” Nor-

NORTON

FROM PAGE 14

be seen as always being strong, showing their strength by being strongwilled. ey confuse anything less with being seen as meek or weak. e reality is that some of the strongest leaders in history have also been the humblest.

Humility is not just a necessary quality of leadership, it is often an overlooked quality of success in whatever we endeavor to do. Successful salespeople show humility as they give their surrounding team credit for the sale. e humble spouse who gives credit to their better half. e teacher

ABOUTLETTERSTOTHEEDITOR

Colorado Community Media welcomes letters to the editor. Please note the following rules:

• Email your letter to letters@coloradocommunitymedia.com. Do not send via postal mail. Put the words “letter to the editor” in the email subject line.

• Submit your letter by 5 p.m. on Wednesday in order to have it considered for publication in the following week’s newspaper.

• Letters must be no longer than 400 words.

• Letters should be exclusively submitted to Colorado Community Media and should not submitted to other outlets or previously posted on websites or social media. Submitted letters become the property of CCM and should not be republished elsewhere.

• Letters advocating for a political candidate should focus on that candidate’s qualifications for office. We cannot publish letters that contain unverified negative information about a candidate’s opponent. Letters advocating for or against a political candidate or ballot issue will not be published within 12 days of an election.

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ton said. “And then we will start the public outreach part.”

e city plans to display proposed district maps at public buildings such as the Littleton Center, the Littleton Museum and the Bemis Public Library, Norton said. ere will also be maps online for citizens to explore.

“ ere’ll be opportunity, while these are on display, for citizens to drop o comment cards or… we’ll have a comment form online that they can go in and ll out,” she said. “We want to get that feedback.”

After receiving some comments, the city will host an open house to summarize the feedback it has received and allow community members to ask questions and share more thoughts with the election commission, Norton said. e election commission will make a determination in late May or early June and plans to present their nal map to council a few weeks later, she said.

Norton said the group plans to have new districts con rmed six to eight weeks before potential candidates can turn in nomination petitions for the November municipal election. at way, the city can have time to notify citizens whose districts have changed.

“By the time the election comes around, hopefully not too many citizens are shocked that they don’t have a district two or a district four candidate on their ballot because they’re not in those districts anymore,” she said.

Norton said the election commission will have a public meeting about redistricting on Feb. 23.

or coach who gives all the credit to the student or player for putting in all the hard work. e faithful who gives God all the credit, honor, and glory for their blessings.

Life is so much easier when we live, work, and love from a position of humility. As always, I would love to hear your story at gotonorton@gmail.com. And when we learn to live a humble life, putting pride aside to achieve lasting success, 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.

tion. Letters are published as space is available.

• We will edit letters for clarity, grammar, punctuation and length and write headlines (titles) for letters at our discretion.

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• Keep it polite: No name calling or “mudslinging.”

Speed dating events in metro Denver o er alternatives to swiping

BY NINA JOSS NJOSS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

On a ursday night in late January, dozens of people walked past displays of tarot cards and crystals towards a dim room at the back of Full Moon Books in Lakewood. A man at the room’s entrance asked them each to remove their shoes. e smell of burnt sage lled the air.

For a while, people mingled. e event was not to start until 7 p.m., and stragglers arrived until moments before the doors closed. When it was time, a woman wearing a pink velvet robe asked everyone to sit in a circle.

“For all the new people, this is where we’re all going to get naked,” the woman joked. Everyone laughed, and she continued, “ ere will be none of that. is is just a really fun, safe event.”

Danny Neifert, a facilitator of an event called Tantra Speed Date, was playing with the stereotypical understanding of the word “tantra.” For many people, the term brings sex to mind. Although tantra is a spiritual practice that includes sexuality, Neifert said it has more to do with connection.

“Tonight, for the sake of simplicity, we’re just going to swap out the word ‘tantra’ with ‘connection,’” she said to the group. “It’s about connecting to yourself, connecting to the person that’s standing in front of you, connecting to the room, connecting to the building, the soil, the snow, the stars — you ll in the blank in a way that makes sense to you.”

For the next several hours, the attendees took turns rotating from person to person, doing mindful activities with a new partner at each station. At one, a partner mirrored the others’ physical actions. Next, strangers gave each other back massages. Some stations involved speaking — about gratitude, letting go or joy — and at others, people danced.

is event is one of several forms of speed dating in the metro Denver area, where singles are stepping out of their comfort zones to nd hope,

chemistry — and maybe even love — beyond the screens and swiping of modern dating.

Paying attention

Guy Shahar is a founder of e Tantra Institute, a New York-based company that aims to help people become “better lovers” through sacred sexuality. e company teaches courses about sexuality, tantra and relationship skills, in addition to hosting events like Tantra Speed Date.

Since 2017, Tantra Speed Date has hosted over 550 events in 40 cities for attendees of all ages.

“Most of the stations are really just about (giving) people instructions that show them how to put their attention on each other,” Shahar said about the speed dating event.

In his eyes, lack of attention is the number one challenge people face in modern dating, partly because of technology and partly because of the number of potential partners.

“A hundred years ago, who could you date? e people from your neighborhood, the people around you,” he said. “Now you can date anybody in the world… You open up any of those dating apps and you could be swiping on a di erent person in less than a second.”

His speed dating event, he said, is designed to put people in situations where they must focus on each other.

“Like a mirroring exercise, right?” he said. “I’m watching you, and I’m responding to what you’re doing… My attention is on you… Getting people to bring their attentions to each other is a really beautiful way to fool them into connection and intimacy.”

Once people surrender to paying full attention, Shahar said it’s easier to tell if there is chemistry between them.

After the initial connection, Shahar said other things become important as a relationship continues.

“ at connection isn’t necessarily compatibility,” he said. “You might have an amazing connection, or let’s say amazing chemistry… but their habits might be totally not compatible with yours. If you want a sustaining relationship, then you need to nd some points of compatibility or you need to be able to work with habits.”

at being said, Shahar thinks having the opportunity to initially sense a

connection is a powerful way to see if there’s any potential with a person.

“(To) just start your relationship o with that kind of intimacy and connection just seems like a really great, really beautiful way to get yourself o on the right foot,” he said.

Is a few minutes enough?

For speed dating skeptics, it may seem improbable that a person could have any sense of real connection after an encounter that lasts only a matter of minutes.

Dr. Randi Smith, a practicing psychologist and psychology professor at Metro State University Denver, said a few minutes might not be enough to tell a lot about a potential partner –but it can show some things.

“ ere’s some really recent research that suggests that we’re able to pick up on somebody’s relationship anxiety, their attachment anxiety, in a very brief interaction,” she said. “So can we predict whether this relationship will have legs, whether it will have a future? Probably not, but we might be able to weed out some people whose anxiety might prevent them from

having a good relationship with us.”

In addition, Smith said quick interactions can give people a sense of physical attraction and even immediate emotional attraction based on how it feels to talk to a potential partner.

On a deeper psychological level, she said people at speed dating events are probably thinking about reciprocity of liking. is idea is that people tend to like those who like them.

“Speed dating is very strategic, right?” she said. “You have little time, you’ve got to gure out how to make these choices, and so our brains are going into high strategic, albeit

Full Moon Books is Lakewood is one of the Tantra Speed Date venues in Colorado.

PHOTO BY NINA JOSS SEE SPEED DATING, P17

SPEED DATING

unconscious, responses. And it doesn’t make a lot of sense for a person to invest energy and interest into somebody who’s not going to reciprocate that energy and interest.”

Alex Zaborenko, who attended the January Tantra Speed Date event, said reciprocity is important to him in terms of relationship goals as well, not only attraction. As someone who is looking for non-monogamous relationships, he said online dating pro les and open communication help him nd people who have the same goals in mind.

“I don’t want or need just one magic person to connect with me on every level that I might connect with a partner,” he said. “Once I reached the conclusion, then it just felt much better that I can communicate what I’m looking for honestly and they can choose what they want to do with that information.”

Are you worth my (client’s) time?

For Abby Rosenblum, investing time and energy in the right people is part of her business model.

Rosenblum is the founder and head matchmaker at e Social: Modern Matchmaking, a Colorado-based service that also hosts speed dating events.

Rosenblum’s services focus not only on helping her clients nd potential partners, but also on building their con dence and making dating enjoyable.

“ e sad part is I think we’re almost taught that dating should be di cult, should be frustrating and should be some kind of just negative thing in your life,” she said. “So a lot of the work I do is trying to teach people that dating can actually be fun, which is a crazy concept to almost everyone.”

When setting up dates, Rosenblum looks for people with values and physical appearances that t with what her clients are looking for.

“And then the other thing I look for too (is) like, is this person ready to date?” she said. “Are they in a good place? … Because you can meet the greatest person ever tomorrow, but if they’re like, ‘I just got red from my job and I hate everything,’ you might not connect with them in as good of a way.”

Rosenblum works mainly with singles in stable careers who are looking for serious, committed and monogamous relationships. As a matchmaker, she helps lter out potential partners who do not align with her clients’ stages of life so she can ensure they are investing their time and energy in relationships that could have a future.

Rosenblum, who works mainly with heterosexual clients, often collaborates with the head matchmaker at Denver’s Cupid, a matchmaking service that works with LGBTQ+ singles.

Like Smith, she doesn’t think speed dating events are a silver bullet for knowing if a relationship will work, but she said they can still be bene cial. Her company hosts speed dating at its events, including a single mingle that happened the rst week of February in Englewood.

In Rosenblum’s speed dating games, participants receive conversation prompts to help people learn something about their partners, from travel dreams to relationship goals.

“It’s like, ‘OK, am I curious to get to know them more?’ she said. “ at’s really the only thing you need to know after that ve minutes, because it’s hard to know anything else… What’s the harm in meeting again?”

A new hope for dating

Andrea Cunningham has been dating on and o for the past 10 years. She decided to attend the January Tantra Speed Date event when her housemate invited her because she thought it would introduce her to spiritually open minded people.

“He actually said, ‘Do you want to go to a woo-woo speed dating event?’ and my thought was ‘Oh, yeah, that might be my kind of people,’ because I’m not nding a lot of woo-woo folks on OkCupid,” she said.

At 58 years old, Cunningham is looking for someone who is compassionate, exible and open to “more heart-centered ideas,” she said.

Going into the speed dating event, Cunningham was feeling skeptical, she said. Mainly, she thought speed dating would be intimidating, but it wasn’t.

“I think maybe my whole idea about speed dating was wrong,” she said. “Maybe you’re not just awkwardly trying to talk with people 10 times in a row for ve minutes. Maybe there’s more to it than that… at was welldesigned.”

After her experience (and several dates that arose from the event), she said speed dating might be giving her new hope after taking a pause from dating for a while.

“I was trying to do a little online, I wasn’t getting anywhere, I stopped,” she said. “ en this came up — it may kick me into gear again.”

Renewing excitement about dating and personal connection is a goal of many speed dating events, especially in a world where fewer and fewer people feel connected to each other.

In Shahar’s speed dating events, re-connecting is the greatest bene t and goal.

“If you are tired of feeling disconnected from the world, and you want to have a moment of connection, this is a really great way to step into that,” he said. “Is it for everyone? No, I don’t think it’s for everyone. But it is for people that are like, ‘Hey, I want to create something magical within my relationship life and my dating life.’”

Abby Rosenblum’s company co-hosted a speed dating event at Brewability Lab in Englewood on Feb. 2.

PHOTO BY HAN LOYD; HEPCAT PHOTOGRAPHY

Danny Neifert and her demonstration partner show an activity where partners mirror each others’ actions at Tantra Speed Date.

PHOTO BY NINA JOSS

Attendees chat at the Single Mingle event, co-hosted by The Social: Modern Matchmaking at Brewability Lab in Englewood on Feb. 2.

PHOTO BY HAN LOYD; HEPCAT PHOTOGRAPHY

World premiere on Denver stage

‘Laughs in Spanish’ plays through March 2

BY SONYA ELLINGBOE SELLINGBOE@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

e world premiere of “Laughs in Spanish” by American author Alexis Scheer plays through March 2 at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts and is set in the Wynwood section of Miami, Florida.

Scheer, who is also an experienced actor, was born and raised in a Jewish-Colombian household in Miami and knows Wynwood well. e gallery where her play is set lies on this strip, noted for its colorful murals and art galleries.

We found her new work highly entertaining.

As the play opens, gallery manager Mariana (award-winning Stephanie Machado) is faced with empty walls — the artwork stolen and a major opening scheduled for that evening, tied in with the annual Art Basel showings. Her assistant, Carolina

IF YOU GO

The Denver Center box o ce phone number is 303-893-4100 and the website is denvercenter.org. The Denver Center is at 14th and Curtis Streets in downtown Denver. Also playing: “Hotter than Egypt” through March 12 in the Kilstrom Theatre. Next scheduled: “The Color Purple” and “The 39 Steps.”

(Danielle Alonzo) and Caro’s boyfriend Juan (Luis Vega), a policeman, are there with her, searching for the missing art. Sirens are sounding out on the street.

“I need to think,” wails a ustered Mariana. Also present: Jenny (Olivia Hebert), Carolina’s friend.

Mari’s mother, Estella (Maggie Boll), a former lm actress, is visiting to help with the opening by means of a “special live performance” at the opening ... and needs help with her own problem: She is facing an upcoming court date.

e gallery is set up for a party, even though the art is still missing ...

“I will probably be charged as ac-

cessory to a crime,” Estella says. It seems that in the ‘80s, friends asked her to carry two suitcases across a border for them. “I thought they were lled with guavas,” she says.

Mariana and her mother talk about art and politics throughout

the play and about how artists push for changes in the world — whether or not successful.

is leads to Estella talking about roles she will not play: the maid or the one who handles the cocaine — Hispanic stereotypes. She is presently working the night shift ... is she a brujera? (One who combines healing and intuition about the spiritual world?)

Maggie Bo ll, who plays Estella, is a widely experienced actor and playwright. Her skill was apparent as she dominated the scene, and her daughter made it quite clear that she did not want to be like her mother!

Mari continues to listen as Estella tells her that she wants Mari to know her as more than a mother: as a person with hopes and dreams and ambitions out there in the world ... e playwright does a good job of developing a mother-daughter relationship that sends one home with something to consider ...

“Laughs in Spanish” plays through March 12 in the Singleton eatre, with evening and matinee performances.

A whole new immersive Disney world

An yone who has fallen in love with a Disney animated lm knows one of the great joys of the studio’s work is getting lost in the astounding worlds that have been created.

Now, fans of Disney can wander through many of their favorite worlds in a much more literal sense, thanks to Disney Animation: Immersive Experience.

“ is year is Disney’s 100th

anniversary, so we wanted to do something that really honored all the animators,” explained J. Miles Dale, an Oscar-winning producer and creative director of the experience. “What we created is a little bit educational, a little bit entertaining, and provides access to things most wouldn’t be able to see. It all combines to give that magical experience people have come to expect from Disney.”

Created in partnership with Walt Disney Animation Studios and Lighthouse Immersive Studios, the Disney Animation: Immersive Experience is on display at Lighthouse ArtSpace , 3900 Elati St. in Denver.

As Dale explains it, a trip to the famous Disney archives provided a wealth of inspiration for the creative team as they put the exhibit together. Seeing the early pencil sketches of seminal moments like Cinderella’s dress transformation was awe inspiring for the team.

“It was important for us to show how these characters and worlds were created. When you see how it was made and who made it, you appreciate the animation more,” he said. “I love hearing kids who are inspired to be animator after seeing the exhibit. ey feel the magic and see some of themselves in these characters.”

According to provided information, additional exhibit features include interactive features within the projection show that move with visitors, and custom bracelets that light up in sync with the projections and speci c movements.

ere’s also the Gazillion Bubbles e ect, where 500,000 cubic feet of galleries are lled with bubbles.

e cumulative e ect is to give visitors an experience like visiting one of Disney’s famous parks — one lled with wonder and escape.

“In a way, watching a movie is a passive experience, but this is

COMING ATTRACTIONS

very active. You are in the movies, immersed by them,” Dale said. “ e totality of the experience makes it multigenerational. I can’t really think of anything my mother, me, my kids and their kids could all go to together like this.” Visit lighthouseimmersive.com/disney/Denver for details and tickets. disneyimmersive.com.

Sadeqa Johnson brings ‘The House of Eve’ to Tattered Cover Sadeqa Johnson’s newest book, “ e House of Eve,” is a moving testament to an important truth — the more things change, the more they stay the same. An examination of racism and women’s rights in the pre-Roe era, Johnson blends both wit and powerful humanity to remind all of us how much work there still is to do.

In support of the book — which was selected as Hello Sunshine/ Reese Witherspoon’s February book club pick — Johnson will be stopping by at the Tattered Cover Colfax , 2526 E. Colfax Ave. in Denver, at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 25. She’ll be speaking with L. Alison Heller, a lawyer and author. e event is free and no registration is required. Find the details at www.tatteredcover.com/event.

BIFF celebrates power of story in 19th season e 19 th annual Boulder International Film Festival is back for another season of brilliant lmmaking, a chef competition and much more.

Running from ursday, March

Stephanie Machado and Olivia Hebert appear in the world premiere of “Laughs in Spanish” at Denver Center for the Performing Arts. PHOTO BY JAMIE KRAUS PHOTOGRAPHY

Clarke Reader

Thu 3/02

Teague Starbuck

@ 6pm Modern Brew - Kitchen, Coffee, Bar, 8221 S Holly St, Centennial

Shallow Side

@ 8pm Wild Goose Saloon, Parker

Wild Love Tigress @ 105 West Brewing @ 6:30pm 105 West Brewing Company, 1043 Park St, Castle Rock

Sterling Ranch, 8155 Piney River Ave

RMRR March 5th 9:00 am- 5K

Johnson Lake at Clement Park @ 9am / $10

8116 W. Bowles Avenue, Littleton

Mon 3/06

YouthTuber - Rooney @ 3:15pm / $176

Mar 6th - May 1st

Rooney Elementary, 2200 S Coors St, Lakewood. 720-996-0894

Modern Swing Mondays @ 6pm / $10

Stampede, 2430 South Havana, Aurora

Tue 3/07

Culinary: The Luck of the Irish (16+yrs) @ 1am

Mar 7th - Mar 6th

PACE Center, 20000 Pikes Peak Avenue, Parker

ARTS: Coffee & Painting @ College View @ 5:30pm

Denver Parks and Recreation (CGV), 2525 S. Decatur St., Denver. 720-913-0654

Wed 3/08

Scotty Austin @ 8pm Wild Goose Saloon, 11160 S. Pikes Peak Drive, Parker HE$H @ 9pm The Church Denver, 1720 S Alcott St, Den‐ver

Fri 3/03

Ninety Percent 90s @ 8pm Wide Open Saloon, 5607 US-85, Sedalia El Chaval De La Bachata @ 9pm / $40 Stampede, 2430 South Havana, Aurora

Sat 3/04

Blarney on Belmar @ 12pm Belmar, 439 S. Upham Street, Lakewood. janet@see-janet-work.com, 303-815-3504

Volleyball: Youth - IntroductoryAge 6 to 8 - Spring 2023 @ 3pm Mar 4th - Apr 29th

Parker Fieldhouse, 18700 E Plaza Dr, Parker

Fleming Mansion Walkthrough (for permit holders only) @ 6pm

Fleming Mansion, 1510 S. Grant St., Den‐ver. 720-913-0654

Neil Z @ 7pm Earls Kitchen + Bar, 8335 Park Meadows Center Dr, Lone Tree

Wax Tailor @ 7pm Gothic Theatre, 3263 S Broadway, Englewood

Flag Football: Youth - Ages 12 to 14 - Spring 2023 @ 12am

Mar 8th - May 6th

Salisbury Sports Complex, 11920 Motsen‐bocker Road, Parker

Ladies Night @ 6pm / $10

Stampede, 2430 South Havana, Aurora

Cody Cozz @ 7pm

Wide Open Saloon, 5607 US-85, Sedalia

Dirty Side Down Band: Dirty Side Down @ Lincoln Station @ 7pm

Lincoln Station Coffee/Pizza/Music, 9360 Station St, Lone Tree

Christine Elise @ 9pm

Gothic Theatre, 3263 S Broadway, Englewood

Fleming Mansion Walkthrough (for permit holders only) @ 10pm

Fleming Mansion, 1510 S. Grant St., Den‐ver. 720-913-0654

Steve Bug: Into The Void @ 11pm Void Studios, 1790 S Bannock St, Denver

Wax Tailor @ 9pm Gothic Theatre, 3263 South Broadway, En‐glewood Sun 3/05

Sandra Wong @ 7pm Swallow Hill, 71 E Yale Ave, Denver

DJ Rockstar Aaron: Forbidden Bingo at 'Bout Time Pub & Grub @ 8pm Bout Time Pub & Grub, 3580 S Platte River Dr A, Sheridan

Thu 3/09

Scott Bartlett/SBCreations: The Mad Souls w/ Scott Bartlett & Rick Monroe @ 8pm Herman's Hideaway, 1578 S Broadway, Denver

Jill Tasei: Comedy Show @ 7pm

Suite 150, Littleton

Art students’ work coming to gallery

SONYA’S SAMPLER

Littleton’s Senior Baccalaureate art students will exhibit their art at the Depot Art Gallery, 2069 W. Powers Ave., Littleton, from March 6-19, with a reception on March 10 from 4 to 6 p.m. Open to the public. See depotartgallery.org.

Parker Symphony

“Shakespeare in Love” is the title for Parker Symphony’s concert on Feb. 24 at the PACE Center, 20000 Pikes Peak Ave., Parker. Call ahead for tickets: 303-805-6800, parkerarts.org.

Lone Tree Arts Center

“ e Hammersteins: A Musical Family,” at Lone Tree Arts Center, 10075 Commons St., Lone Tree, will feature Andy Hammerstein III with Broadway stars Teri Hansen, Edward Watts, Michelle Liu Coughlin and Robert Sims, with pianist Cathy Venable. Tickets: $40-$50. Call 720509-1000, lonetreeartscenter.org.

Denver Art Museum

“Speaking With Light: Contemporary Indigenous Photography” opens Feb. 19 at the Denver Art Museum, through May 21 in the Gallagher Family Gallery. Included in general admission. See denverartmuseum.org.

Littleton Museum

“Christopher Warren: REinterpretating REcreating Nature” opens at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 16 and continues during Littleton Museum hours through May 14. is body of work includes sculptures created throughout the career of Colorado

READER

FROM

2 through Sunday, March 5, the festival will be screening 66 films from 20 countries, with 45

artist Christopher Warren, including works from the Digital Era, with topography the major focus. Artist’s talk: Feb. 17 at 4 p.m. e museum is at 6028 S. Gallup St., Littleton, 303-795 3950.

Cherry Creek Theatre

“A Moon for the Misbegotten” is presented through Feb. 26 at the Pluss eatre in the Mizel Center, 350 S. Dahlia St., Denver. Box ofce: 303-800-6578. Next for Cherry Creek eatre: May 5-21: “ e Headliners” by Je rey Newman, directed by Nick Sugar, music directed by David Nehls. See cherrycreektheatre.org.

filmmakers and subjects in attendance. According to provided information, the event will also feature the return of the popular Adventure Film Pavilion, the CineCHEF food competition and a live recording of The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast

Company. 303-871-7720, newmancenterpresents.com.

Wonderbound

Wonderbound Studio: “Reckoning at the Red Herring Tavern” by Garrett Ammons will be presented March 2-12 at Wonderbound Studios, 3865 Grape St., Denver. Unit #2. Note: Some performances are sold out. 303-292-4700, wonderbound.com.

Core New Art Space

CORE Members’ Exhibits at new location: 6501 W. Colfax Ave., Lake-

with Scott Feinberg. For those who can’t attend the screenings held at the Boulder Theater , 2032 14th St., some of the films will be able to watch as part of the BIFF at Home! virtual program , running from Monday, March 6 to Sunday, March 19. Find the full schedule, ticket options and more at biff1.com.

wood. Gallery hours: Friday, 5-10 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. 303-297-8428, coreartspace. com.

Staged reading

Stories on Stage: “ e White Chip” a staged reading from Sean Daniels’ wise and funny play about his personal journey from addiction to recovery, featuring Geo rey Kent, Martha Harmon Pardee and Eric Sandvold. Su Teatro Cultural and Performing Arts Center, 721 Santa Fe Drive, Denver. Tickets: $24, 303-4940523, storiesonstage.com.

String quartet

Englewood Arts Presents: Feb. 25, 2 p.m., Colorado Symphony String Quartet. Borodin and Dvorak Quartets. Dmetri Pogorelov and Liz Drabkin, violin; So a Basile: viola; Chloe Hong, cello. Tickets: ebertoluzzi@ hotmail.com or visit englewoodarts. org. Concert in Hampden Hall in the Englewood Civic Center, 1000 Englewood Parkway.

Hall of Fame

Littleton’s Libby Bortz will be inducted into the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame on March 15.

Arvada Center

Arvada Center, 6901 Wadsworth Blvd., will present: “Our Town” by ornton Wilder, Feb. 24 to May 21 and “ e Book Club Play” by Karen Zacarias March 17 to May 18. Tickets start at $45. 720-898-7200, arvadacenter.org.

Lakewood play

Performance Now eatre Company presents “Carousel” at Lakewood Cultural Center, 470 S. Allison Parkway, Lakewood, from March 17 to April 2. 303-987-7845, PerformanceNow.org.

band that’ll be in town - Kentucky’s White Reaper . The group specializes in the kind of indie guitar rock that has unfortunately gone out of style in the last decade or so. Thankfully, their latest album, “Asking for a Ride,” keeps that sonic palette going strong.

Clarke’s

Concert of the Week — White Reaper at Summit Music Hall

My original pick here was going to be Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band at Ball Arena, but since tickets sold out pretty much instantaneously (at exorbitant prices, no less), let’s instead turn our attention to another great rock

In support of the album, White Reaper will be performing at Summit Music Hall , 1902 Blake St. in Denver, at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 2. They’ll be joined by openers Militarie Gun and Mamalarky. Get tickets at www.livenation.com.

An art student’s journal is shown in connection with the Littleton Senior Baccalaureate exhibit coming in March to the Depot Art Gallery.

PHOTO BY PEGGY DIETZ

Vi seniors experience special art class

Cook looks to advance self expression

BY HALEY LENA HLENA@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Accomplished sculptor Rosalind Cook breathes art and passion into Vi at Highlands Ranch by sharing her love for art through teaching classes that allow others to creatively express themselves.

As Cook and her husband got into their seventies, Cook sold her art studio and home in Tulsa, Oklahoma and moved permanently to Colorado.

With a home in the mountains and her children in Denver, Cook and her husband spend the winter at Vi at Highlands Ranch, a senior living community.

Taking her experience from teaching sculpting classes throughout the country, Cook recently taught an acrylic painting class at Vi.

“I thought, you know what… they have this great art studio at Vi and they’re just a few people that come in and do a little watercolor and I thought, I want to shake things up a bit and do some big sort of impressionistic acrylics,” said Cook.

Hoping to let people loosen up, laugh and have fun, participants were also served wine, ice tea and appetizers.

Cook was so inspired by the class that she plans to do an art class each month at Vi, including a class for the

about their own work,” said Cook. “A gentleman in there who has had a stroke and he could only paint with one hand, it was one of the most creative of all the paintings.”

Cook encouraged each person to do what they felt like, which is why

have an imaginary trash can, so all the ‘I can’ts’ or ‘I won’t be able to compare mine to someone’ - all that gets put in an imaginary trash can and taken out of the room and then we can start having fun.” said Cook.

Cook’s passion for art, especially sculpting, began after she had her rst child and she started taking classes.

“I describe it as the ‘aha’ of my life,” said Cook. “It was like something I knew was going to be a part of my life.”

While raising three children, sculpting was just a hobby. As the children got older, Cook took the medium more seriously and began studying sculptors such as Glenna Goodcare, who did the Vietnam Women’s Memorial.

Cook’s art career started when she entered some art shows and soon got accepted into some galleries.

“ en I wanted to move into lifesize work and so I had to go back and ll in some empty holes,” said Cook.

To immerse herself into lifesize work, Cook took two years of anatomy and even spent a portion of a summer in Italy, studying the work of famous sculptors.

Faces, emotion and movement were captured in Cook’s 30 year career.

Among many tremendous sculptures, Cook has done commissioned work for World Vision Headquarters in Washington, life-size sculptures for Compassion International in Colorado Springs as well as for the Cleveland Heart Clinic.

“It’s like there was something so intrinsically ful lling,” said Cook. “I always feel like my work is coming through me and not from me.”

Rosalind Cook standing by her painting from the acrylic painting class she taught.

PHOTO BY BRETT O’ BRIEN

Labor market, a ordability collide

Realtor summit notes large number of job openings in Colorado

BY TAMARA CHUANG THE COLORADO SUN

Housing and jobs are so connected that it was di cult to avoid the intersection of the two at an economic summit held last week for the Colorado Realtors Association.

Jobs in Colorado? So, so many job openings. Two for every unemployed person in the state. Available houses for sale? So, so few houses are available at a ordable prices, whatever those may be. at disconnect tempered the positive outlook that some had about the better years ahead and what the real estate industry can expect in 2023 and 2024.

“A ordability, or lack thereof, will remain our biggest hurdle. And people won’t come here and the jobs won’t move here, the companies won’t be here if we don’t o er some kind of a ordable housing,” said Kelly Moye, a Realtor at Compass Real Estate. “So, we’re trying to gure out how we do that. e regular market, with the way it works with supply and demand, just pushes prices up or down. at’s the way it goes. But is there anything that we can do as a city, as a state to help create a situation where everybody can live here?”

e data-heavy conference pointed to a possible reason for Colorado’s limited supply of workers: Not enough places for everyone to live.

A look at the data

e majority of households in America are homeowners, with ownership rates at about 65%, according to the U.S. census. Colorado’s not far o from the national numbers, with homeownership rates inching up in recent years to 65.9% in 2021.

A recent low was 62.4% in 2016 while the high of 71.3% was in 2003.

A trend happening nationwide and in Colorado for several years has been that fewer houses are being built each year. e National Association of Realtors’ data guru Nadia Evangelou calls it a housing market slump with the number of new housing starts o by 1.5 million a year. She expects that atness to continue in 2023 as the industry deals with ongoing material bottlenecks.

But another thing limiting potential homeowners from buying a house is interest rates. When they shot up last year, homebuyers had to spend a lot more to buy a lot less.

In other words, at 3% (where mortgage rates were in January 2022), the monthly mortgage payment on a mid-priced home was $1,410, according to the National Association of Realtors.

At 6%, the payment jumped to $2,010.

At 8%, it would be $2,460.

e 30-year xed mortgage rate was 6.45% on ursday, after hitting a high of 7.2% in October, according to Mortgage News Daily.

Most renters can’t a ord a starter home, which

NAR de nes as houses priced at 25% less than the median sales price. at puts the median price of a starter home at $321,600 in the U.S. Evangelou, NAR’s senior economist and director of real estate research, broke it down into a chart. Keep in mind, these are national gures: National stats on how many renters can buy a median-priced starter home right now put the number at 36%. e data comes from the National Association of Realtors.

To a ord a starter home, with a 10% down payment at a 6.1% interest rate, a buyer’s income must be $86,360 if they don’t want to spend more than one-third of their income on housing. Only 36% of renters met that income level.

In Colorado, it looks worse for renters hoping to become homeowners. NAR pulled up the similar numbers for the Denver metro area and that translated to only 14% of local renters being able to a ord to buy a “starter home,” currently at a median price of $480,000. As for a mid-priced home? e number of renters who can a ord one

drops to 6%, as seen in this updated chart below:

Housing costs a lot more in the Denver metro area, compared to the U.S. e National Association of Realtors provided Denver data to e Colorado Sun so we edited the chart to re ect local numbers. While Denver incomes are higher too, fewer residents can a ord a median-priced starter home — a mere 14%.

“It’s a double pain because they have to deal with rent prices as well as saving up for the down payment,” Evangelou said. “We’ve talked about low a ordability and low availability of homes, but when we put these two factors together, we can see what is the real impact and what challenges buyers face out there.”

And if renters can a ord Denver’s starter home, there aren’t many available, according to data from REColorado. Currently, about 32% of the 1,015 condo or single-family home for-sale listings in Denver were below $480,000. Only 89 are

for single-family homes, and only 21 are listed at less than $400,000, said Matt Leprino, a Denver-area Realtor with Remingo, who tracks the data. e number may be rising though. Leprino said he was surprised there were even that many available. “I would’ve guessed that number was below 10% last summer,” he said.

On a hopeful note, the real estate industry is counting on interest rates to drop. at may not come until next year, but in ation eased a bit in December, and the Federal Reserve raised interest rates a quarter of a point in January, compared to three-quarters of a point for several months last year.

“In 2022, home sales activity dropped about 15% per month,” Evangelou said. “In 2023, we expect home sales to continue to drop but slower, like around 7% drop. And 2024 is when the housing market will rebound and we expect to have about 10% more home sales than 2023.”

Where are the workers? Not “on the couch”

Had the pandemic not happened and Colorado’s job growth continued as forecasted years earlier, the state would have added 124,000 more jobs by now, said Patty Silverstein, president of Development Research Partners in Littleton. e pandemic put hundreds of thousands of Coloradans out of work. e state’s labor department estimates the loss at 374,500 jobs during March and April 2020. But since then, Colorado added them all back and more — approximately 466,400 jobs have been added since spring 2020 for a 124% recovery rate, according to the most recent state jobs report.

But the job growth momentum we had before the pandemic is gone, Silverstein said.

“I will suggest to you that we are not going back to that pace, given the demographics, given changes in what we’re seeing in the employment base,” Silverstein said during her economic overview at the event. “I don’t think that 124,000 — our perfect pace of growth — is even going to be possible.”

However, employers say they’re still struggling to stay fully sta ed. And that shows up in a data point that ranks Colorado as the second highest state for how many available people are in the labor force. Out of all Coloradans 16 years and older, 69% are working or looking for work (the rest are retired or not looking for work). at’s 3.2 million people, which is twice as large as Nebraska’s

workforce. Nebraska had the nation’s highest labor force participation rate at 69.8%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“It’s incredibly, incredibly tight out there. And I know many of you are thinking, ‘Well, we just need to get those people to get back out and work.’ Maybe,” Silverstein said.

“ ere are some of those folks across the country but they’re not here in Colorado. … People are not hanging out on the couch here in Colorado. ey are out working or actively looking for a job.”

e BLS, through its job openings report, estimated that Colorado had 231,000 job openings in November. At the same time, there were roughly 113,447 unemployed Coloradans. at’s two job openings for every person looking for work.

And according to Aspen Tech Labs, an Aspen-based company that tracks job openings, three of the top four industries with job openings were among the lower-wage occupations of health care, food service and retail.

Whether renters have vacated the state for cheaper housing is a little more di cult to research beyond anecdotal evidence.

Silverstein doesn’t blame the higher cost of living for chasing away lower-income earners. It’s more so about our demographics. With a shrinking number of younger workers entering the workforce, the average age of a worker continues to get older. When the Baby Boomers retire — and all Baby Boomers will be over 65 by 2030 — that will leave a big hole in Colorado’s labor force. Even the real estate industry must gure out how to maintain productivity, she said.

“ ere’s a company coming out of Buena Vista making homes in a matter of weeks. ey’re assembling them, a factory line. We need to get creative rather than putting in however many people it takes to build a home on site, they’re doing it much quicker, much faster and at a more a ordable cost by doing it in a factory,” she said, referring to Fading West modular home factory. “We need to gure out how we can use automation moving forward to do some of that and provide productivity.”

Here’s a year-old chart showing how Colorado’s population has changed and is forecast to change through 2050. ose 65 and over are the fastest growing segment of our population.

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.

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It’s time for part 2 of wage transparency laws

BY TAMARA CHUANG THE COLORADO SUN

“How much does the job pay?” is no longer much of a mystery for job seekers in Colorado, thanks to a state law passed in 2019 and enacted two years later.

Other states have followed suit in recent months, including California, Washington and soon, New York. But Colorado’s law wasn’t perfect. And now, the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act is poised for an update from some of the state lawmakers behind it.

“ ough the Equal Pay Act is working well, with these additions, it will better serve workers and employers across the state,” said Sen. Jessie Danielson, a Democrat from Wheat Ridge, who was one of the prime sponsors of the original wage transparency law.

Pushback came from out-of-state companies that didn’t ignore Colorado’s new law — they just excluded candidates from Colorado. A Commerce City engineer created a site to track violators (it’s now archived). But there was also confusion among local employers about employee promotions and whether they had to advertise the new role to outsiders.

“ e complexity of the law, the confusion amongst employers, the problem of not addressing remote work situations, because they were not contemplated in 2019 when the original bill passed, needs to be addressed for the future of the workforce,” said Loren Furman, president and CEO of the Colorado Chamber.

is bill aims to clear some of those things up. A draft shared with e Colorado Sun attempts to clarify the di erence between “career progression” for existing workers versus a “job opportunity.” e latter means a current or anticipated vacancy that needs to be lled. e former is a promotion as part of that type of job. Remote jobs are not addressed in the draft bill.

Danielson said she and other advocates, which include e Women’s Foundation of Colorado, have met with interested parties since spring to suss out their di erences. But their attempts to water down or remove protections for Coloradans who work remotely for out-of-state companies only threatens pay equity, especially for women.

“Excluding remote workers from the protections of the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act would negatively impact a

valued and critical part of our workforce,” she said.

Impact of the Equal Pay law

When introduced four years ago, Colorado’s Equal Pay law sought to equalize pay for substantially similar work. It stemmed from data showing that women and people of color often earn much less than their white or male colleagues even in the same roles. In Colorado, women earned 86 cents for every $1 earned by men, according to a 2018 analysis by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. e impact of these new policies isn’t yet known because the laws are young. It’s too soon. Existing research was deemed “not conclusive” by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.

In an analysis of recent wage transparency studies, the organization found pay transparency laws help narrow the gender wage gap by reducing wage growth among top earners, who tend to be men. But, the analysis found, these laws do not necessarily increase women’s earnings. Two studies conducted in university settings found the salaries of women faculty members increased following the pay-transparency intervention. “Paytransparency policies tend to rely on individual workers advocating for pay increases based on newly available information,” the analysis said.

But another measure of Colorado’s Equal Pay law is the impact in the United States, said Louise Myrland, vice president of programs at e Women’s Foundation of Colorado. New York City’s wage transparency law went into e ect in November. Several other states, including Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and South Carolina are considering legislation, according to the National Conference of State Legislators. Connecticut, Maryland, Nevada and Rhode Island have implemented laws similar to Colorado but they don’t require salaries to be listed.

“Colorado was the rst that made a big splash and got a lot of attention for requiring pay ranges and compensation information in job postings, we’re really leading the way,” Myrland said. “Today in 2023, because several other states have followed Colorado’s lead, about one in four workers nationwide now are covered by pay transparency laws.”

e Women’s Foundation worked

on the original law and new bill with lawmakers and other organizations that included the Colorado Women’s Bar Association and 9to5 Colorado, an organization representing working women. Danielson is joined by two of the three prime sponsors of the original bill, including Sen. Janet Buckner, an Aurora Democrat and Rep. Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez, a Denver Democrat. e fourth, Brittany Pettersen, is now a U.S. representative. Rep. Jennifer Bacon, also a Denver Democrat, is also a prime sponsor.

Equal pay stats: 631 complaints; Twitter, Lockheed fined

Complaints about the existing wage transparency law are still coming in, though activity trailed o during the year, according to the state Department of Labor and Employment.

e o ce that oversees it, the Division of Labor Standards and Statistics, received 631 complaints about violations, which included posts that shared no wages, didn’t include a description of bene ts or o ered too wide of a range (ranges must have a speci c bottom and top amount).

“Compared to the rst four months of 2022, the average number of monthly complaints in the last four months of 2022 decreased by almost 45%,” a labor department spokesperson said.

After giving the companies the chance to correct the issue, the vast majority did. e state wound up issuing citations for just four companies in 2022. ree were ned, including Lockheed Martin and Twitter. ose cases have not been publicly disclosed yet, but will be, according to the division.

e third, SpotOn Transact, a San Francisco-based payments company, paid a $16,000 ne in July based on violations related to 33 job postings that did not include compensation for jobs that could be performed in Colorado.

New labor-related proposals have popped up just weeks into the new legislative session.

An already contentious one is House Bill 1118, the Fair Workweek Employment Standards bill. It would require employers to post worker schedules ahead of time and not penalize employees who say “no” to last-minute calls for help. And workers who do respond to last-minute schedule changes would receive a “predictability pay” bonus.

“When businesses provide workers with schedules 14 days in advance and provide at least 12 hours of rest time between shifts, it’s a win-win for employers and employees alike,” Nina DiSalvo, policy director at Towards Justice, said in an email. “Employees who can schedule child care, a second

job or other responsibilities — plus know their income to budget to cover their bills — are happier, healthier, more productive and generate more pro t for the business.”

at puts a burden on employers, so there’s strong opposition to the bill already. What about weather disruptions, asked Furman, with the Colorado Chamber. Personal employee emergencies? e bill as proposed is too punitive, she said.

“An employer can be sued for changing the schedule (without) a two-week advance notice,” Furman said. “It doesn’t contemplate a snow bomb or act of God or even just an employee that has an emergency or unintended absence. … It’s just amazing to me that they haven’t contemplated the scenarios in a state like Colorado that has such weather variations.”

So… more work to be done on this bill. It’s been scheduled for a committee meeting on Feb. 16.

Do we need more laws?

As of Jan. 27, with 62 responses to the latest What’s Working reader poll on what new laws interest you most, 37.1% support no new laws because we have too many. Another 22.6% are interested in laws related to retirement while 19.4% would perk up if there was a law that would raise their salary. Take the poll yourself at https://cosun. co/worklaws.

e clear winner in the latest What’s Working poll about what new laws we need was “None. We have too many laws.” But at 37.1% of the incoming votes, it’s not the majority. I’m going to let this poll go for at least another week because I got jammed up this week. But here’s one suggestion:

“I would love to see a bill that lets the public see how much big companies pay their shareholders while causing consumer prices to skyrocket and keeping workers’ pay low.”

We can nd out tidbits like this from publicly traded companies, which must report their pro ts. ere’s also the CEO pay ratio law, which reveals how wages of CEOs at public companies are often many times higher than their workers (here’s a searchable list).

Two of the top three in Colorado — Liberty Latin America and Qurate Retail, where CEO-to-worker pay ratios are 1,055 to 1 and 686 to 1, respectively — are linked to retired cable TV mogul John Malone.

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.

How much money is being spent by chair candidates?

We will never know

BY SANDRA FISH THE COLORADO SUN

How much money are the candidates to lead the Colorado GOP and Colorado Democratic Party raising and spending? We don’t know and we won’t nd out.

at’s because there’s no state law or party bylaw that requires candidates for state party chair to report their fundraising and spending, though there are campaign nance disclosure rules for people who run for city council, legislature and Congress.

e candidates are spending money, however, and some are asking others to donate. Several of the contenders have websites, are traveling across the state to visit with local party leaders and activists, and are trying to persuade party central committee members to support their campaigns through texts, robocalls and emails.

Democratic Chairwoman Morgan Carroll and Republican Chairwoman Kristi Burton Brown are both stepping aside in the coming weeks, and there are multiple candidates to replace both of them. Whoever wins the contests — Democrats will select their new state chair April 1 while the GOP will select its new leader March 11 — will have a big in uence over the future direction of their respective parties. ey may also be paid tens of thousands a year for their work.

Carroll estimated she spent $5,000 on a website and travel costs in her rst campaign to be party chair in 2015. She was paid about $73,000 in 2022. Burton Brown said she spent about $2,000 of her own money when she ran for the job two years ago, while her opponent, former Secretary of State Scott Gessler, told e Sun he spent less than $25,000 with “a substantial number of supporters who contributed.” Burton Brown was paid about $72,000 in 2022.

is year, Tim Kubik, a party volunteer and education consultant who lives in Larimer County, aims to raise $25,000 to fund his campaign for Democratic Party chair, according to an email obtained by e Sun. A robocall delivered a similar message to prospective donors.

Kubik said he’s spending on campaign consultants and media, raising donations that are averaging $100. “Since all of my donors are family, friends, or volunteer supporters, I’d prefer not to disclose their names, as many have donated expecting anonymity under current state law,” he said in an email.

Current First Vice Chairman Howard Chou is also raising money on his website, but said “It’s not a lot.” He hopes to print yers and send mailers to central committee members.

Casper Stockham, one of the GOP chair candidates, tweeted Monday that the contest “is between We e People and big money.” He’s seeking

donations on his website. So is Erik Aadland, who is running for state party chair after losing his 7th Congressional District bid in November. Aaron Wood, a Highland Ranch activist, isn’t asking for donations on his website as part of his chair bid. Steven Varela, of Pueblo, doesn’t have a website for his GOP chair campaign.

One state party chair candidate who said he isn’t raising money is Shad Murib, a Democrat who has worked for U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper and Gov. Jared Polis. He said he wasn’t comfortable asking people for money that would go into his bank account with no disclosure of how it’s used. He is, however, allowing a friend to create bandanas for his e ort.

“We’re de nitely putting miles on the truck like never before,” said Murib, whose wife is former state Sen. Kerry Donovan, a Vail Democrat. Murib said he’d support an e ort to change state law to require reporting of donations and expenditures of candidates for state party chair.

Kubik said he wouldn’t oppose requiring such disclosure, while Chou said he didn’t think campaign nance reporting is needed for state party chair contests.

“It’s a private election,” Chou said.

“It’s like running for union president or Elks Lodge president.”

Gessler and Burton Brown also said they wouldn’t support requiring candidates for state party chair to report how much money they raise and spend.

“It’s not an election you can buy,” Burton Brown said in a text message.

“It’s a very relationship- and issuebased race.”

Both parties are slated to nish electing county-level o cers on Wednesday, with congressional and multicounty legislative district ofcers elected in coming weeks.

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.

Breaking down where dollars are being spent by both Democrats and Republicans is a tough venture. SHUTTERSTOCK IMAGE

How to defer payment on rising property tax bill

Here is how to do it

BY JESSE PAUL THE COLORADO SUN

Many Coloradans’ property tax bills are spiking because of rising home values across the state, but there is a way to put o a big hit to your wallet happening all at once.

e legislature passed a measure in 2021 aiming to ease the nancial burden by letting people defer payment on some of what they owe on their primary residence, starting in the 2023 tax year. e state-run program may not be appropriate for everyone, however, and there are some key details about the deferral you should know about before deciding whether to apply.

Here’s how the initiative, housed in the Colorado Treasurer’s O ce, works, how to sign up and why you may want to think twice before taking advantage of the option:

How does it work?

e deferral was made possible by the passage of Senate Bill 293 in 2021, a bipartisan measure brought in response to rapidly increasing property tax bills.

e bill lets residential property owners defer any increase in their annual property tax bill that’s 4% above the average they paid over the previous two years as long as the increase is above $100. Property owners can defer up to $10,000 total over multiple years.

You aren’t o the hook forever. e deferral becomes a lien against the property that’s subject to interest and must be paid o when the home is sold. e idea is to let homeowners use their unrealized property value gains to eventually cover their increased tax burden.

Property taxes are complicated, but the Colorado Treasurer’s O ce has a quick and easy (seriously, it’s very easy) way to gure out if your property tax bill has increased above 4% and how much money you are eligible to defer in a given tax year.

Here’s a link to the site to check if your property is eligible: http://colorado.propertytaxdeferral.com/

Unless you are a senior citizen or active military member (more on that below), scroll to the “TAX GROWTH CAP” section and hit “check eligibility.” You’ll need to

Join St.

enter in some basic information, but the property tax information for your home should populate automatically.

You’ll have to a rm that your home is owner occupied, not income producing, has no delinquent property taxes and that you have a “lawful presence in the United States.”

You have until April 1 to apply for the deferral.

When does the relief run out?

ere is no end-date for the deferral program, which means you can apply year after year if you’re eligible. However, there is a chance the legislature could decide at some point to limit how many people can apply each year.

Property tax revenue is collected by counties and distributed to local government entities, like school and re districts, which rely on the money to operate. Under the deferral program, the General Assembly shoulders the deferred property tax payments by sending counties the di erence between what they’re owed and what a property owner is deferring.

at means the legislature needs enough money to back ll counties and unlike Congress, the General Assembly can’t simply print money. If there are too many applicants, the legislature could decide to impose a cap.

Colorado Treasurer Dave Young, a Democrat, said right now his o ce and the legislature are expecting about 35,000 deferrals each year. Young, a former state representative who helped write Colorado’s budget, said if there are more than 35,000 deferrals the legislature may have to take a hard look at reshaping the program.

“I think we’re going to see how the economy is going and how people feel they need to utilize the program,” he said. “We may need to make adjustments. No one really knows (how much interest there is going to be) because we’ve never done this before.”

Does the deferral accrue interest?

Yes.

e annual interest rate you are responsible for paying on your deferral is based on the 10-year Treasury yield and it’s locked in at the time of your application.

Martin’s Chamber Choir for an Amazing Performance!

Born the same year as Beethoven, Christian Heinrich Rinck (1770-1846) was best known as an organist and composer of sacred works (his teacher was a student of Bach). His rarely-performed Requiem for 4-part men’s choir and organ is a richly textured and deeply touching work. Also on the program will be the premiere of a new work commissioned by St. Martin’s Chamber Choir for the occasion by American composer Ross Jallo.

Friday, March 3, 7:30 pm

First Plymouth Congregational Church Cherry Hills Village

Sunday, March 5, 3:00 pm St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Denver

stmartinschamberchoir.org

For reference, the rate Wednesday morning was 3.55%. You are not responsible for paying the accrued interest until the lien is paid o .

“It’s simple interest,” Young said, “not compound.” at means that you pay the interest rate on the original deferral amount, not the deferral amount plus the interest you pay each year on top of that. In other words, if you defer $800 in property tax payments for a given year, you owe $28 in interest each year under the 3.55% treasury rate. You wouldn’t pay interest on $828 in the second year, and so on and so forth.

If you apply for deferrals in multiple years, the interest rate will change from year to year based on when you apply. e 10-year Treasury rate is high right now because of federal monetary policy aimed at tamping down in ation. It’s likely to be lower in future years.

Can I pay my lien o early to avoid more interest?

Yes, Colorado homeowners don’t have to wait until they sell their property to pay o the lien.

And it may make nancial sense to pay back the lien as soon as possible. If you pay back the lien early, you can avoid accruing more interest.

“It’s really up to the person to decide what their nances can handle,” Young said.

How are property taxes calculated?

Property taxes are determined by how much your county assessor values your property, what the state’s property assessment rate is and what your local mill-levy rate is.

A mill is a $1 payment on every $1,000 of assessed value.

at’s something every homeowner must decide for themselves. ere could be real estate consequences for having a lien on your home, and if you have a mortgage, you may want to talk to your lender before

applying for a deferral.

“ is is a safety valve,” Young said. “I don’t think it’s the right thing for everybody. I think people should go in and take a good hard look at it and say ‘does this make sense for us?’”

Young said the deferral program is really meant for people making hard choices in their budget.

“We don’t want somebody to lose their home because they can’t make a mortgage payment,” he said.

You should also know that the state will ask you for some personal nancial information, mainly about your debt situation, before approving a deferral.

How does the deferral work with my mortgage?

Many people pay their property taxes through escrow collected by their mortgage lender. e Treasurer’s O ce says your lender should be noti ed if you get a deferral and adjust your mortgage payments appropriately.

Again, you may want to discuss the deferral program with your lender before you apply.

Seniors and members of the military are eligible for a bigger deferral Coloradans 65 and older can defer all of the increase in their property taxes on their primary residence, as can active military members. at’s not new, but Coloradans may not be aware of the option because it hasn’t been well publicized.

For information on eligibility and how to apply, visit https://colorado. propertytaxdeferral.com/home.

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.

The Independence development in northwest Elbert County will likely see the number of homes increase from 920 to 1,400 after Board of County Commissioner approval on March 8. PHOTO BY CHANCY J. GATLIN-ANDERSON

Vista win over rival is instant classic

ThunderRidge loses in double overtime

rado’s No. 1-ranked team. It was also Vista’s rst win over underRidge in three years.

“I’ve been a part of a lot of basketball games in my life. at was probably the best one,” Vista coach Brian Wood said. “It would be nice if nobody had to lose on a night like this.”

In the other locker room, longtime Grizzlies coach Joe Ortiz had something similar to say: “[ underRidge and Vista] have had a lot of classic games. is was one of them for sure.”

No question.

In the second overtime, Charlie Spann’s 3-pointer from the top of the key shaved Vista’s lead to 100-99 with 52 seconds remaining.

After a Golden Eagles timeout, Vista’s Radek Homer was fouled on a driving attempt and coolly sank

both of his free throws. en, with less than 10 seconds left, Andrew Crawford’s would-be-tying 3-point attempt from the left wing seemingly went halfway down before coughing out.

Homer hit the back end of a pair of free throws on Vista’s ensuing possession to essentially seal the win for the Golden Eagles.

“ at was one of the best high school games I’ve ever played in,” said Crawford, who was sensational all night, scoring a game-high and mind-boggling 48 points. “We fought hard. We almost got it.”

e nal moments of regulation were as dramatic as any basketball game at any level could ever produce.

Spann connected on a mid-range jumper with 34 seconds left to spot underRidge a 2-point lead at 72-70.

On Vista’s next possession, Cal Baskind buried a clutch 3-pointer to return the lead to Vista with 10 seconds to go.

Ortiz then called a timeout to set up one nal play.

Ryan Doyle inbounded the ball to Crawford, whom the Golden Eagles tried to foul in the backcourt because they had three fouls to give, but no foul was called.

After making his way into the frontcourt, Crawford was fouled just beyond the arc as he ailed and heaved the ball somewhat toward the basket.

But did the foul occur on

the oor? Was Crawford fouled while shooting? Was he shooting at all? e ofcials conferred and ultimately ruled that Crawford was indeed fouled while attempting a 3-point shot.

And so, the junior went to the line for three free throws with 3.8 seconds showing on the clock and his team trail-

Crawford’s rst attempt bounced out. His second went through, knotting the score at 73-73. His third shot ricocheted o the left side of the iron, and o to overtime the two teams went. (It should be noted that Crawford was perfect from the free-throw line in the two overtime periods — he was 5-for-5 — to keep his team

“ ey all felt good,” Crawford said. “ ey just rimmed

e game appeared to be heading toward its end in the rst overtime, but Crawford and the Grizzlies had

A Baskind 3-pointer — one of the sophomore’s six triples on the night — stretched Vista’s lead to 88-81 with just 67 ticks

However, Crawford quickly responded with one of his own six treys. Moments later, the junior was fouled on a 3-point attempt and knocked down all three of his free throws to trim Vista’s lead to 89-87.

After an empty possession by the Golden Eagles, Crawford scored on a driving, twisting layup with 6 seconds left to force double overtime.

“We kept scoring, but they hit some tough shots and kept closing in,” said Homer, who scored a team-high 30 points for the Golden Eagles. “Andrew and Charlie hit some crazy shots. ey’re amazing players.”

In regulation, the two teams went back and forth the whole way. ey exchanged the lead 14 times, were tied on 14 separate

occasions and were never separated by more than ve points. Most of the night, only a point or two separated them.

Four players scored in double gures for Vista: Homer, Caden Stevens (29), Baskind (22) and Zach Bowen (10). underRidge’s leading scorers were Crawford, Spann (27) and Tommy Wight (10).

e Golden Eagles (212, 10-0 6A/5A Continental League) clinched the league title three nights before their duel with ThunderRidge — only their second league championship in program history — but have their eyes set on a bigger prize.

The Class 6A state tournament begins Feb. 22, and Wood believes his squad has a chance to go the distance. Vista, the No. 1 seed, will play 32ndseeded Bear Creek (Lakewood) in a first-round game.

“It’s single elimination, so you never know,” Wood said. “But I feel like we’re definitely one of the teams that can win it.”

But don’t sleep on the Grizzlies (13-10, 4-6), who are young — they don’t have a single senior on the roster — but seem to be peaking at just the right time. underRidge is also a program that is very familiar with the state tournament and has achieved enormous success there. In Ortiz’s 26 years leading underRidge, the Grizzlies have been to the Great Eight 16 times, the Final Four 12 times and the championship game eight times. ey’ve won the whole thing four times, including last year. underRidge drew a 13 seed and will take on No. 20 Eaglecrest (Centennial) in a Round 1 game.

“We just showed that we can play with anybody if we play like we did tonight,” Ortiz said. “Absolutely we believe [we can make a run in the playo s].”

Four Pondo wrestlers win at 5A state

Pomona takes team championship

BY JIM BENTON SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA

Ponderosa had four individual state champions at the Class 5A state wrestling championships but the Mus-

tangs once again came up short in the team race.

Pomona won its fth straight team championship with a record 278.5 points on Feb. 18 at Ball Arena while Ponderosa was the runner-up with 190 points.

e Mustangs have nished second four times in the past ve seasons.

Ponderosa’s state champi-

ons were freshman omas Verrette, who whipped Mark Cardenas of Pomona 10-1 to captured the 126-pound individual title, and junior Jacob Myers won his second consecutive state title with a pin in 35 seconds during the 132-pound title match.

Senior Brandon Cannon, who is bound for Ohio State, had two broken ngers but

outlasted Jakob Romero of Pomona, 1-0, to earn a well-deserved 138-pound championship. Tyler Eise took a 16-1 technical fall decision over Castle View’s Ian Crabtree to capture the 175-pound state title.

Other Pondo wrestlers on the podium were 113-pounder Jaylen Burge and DJ Wince at 120 pounds,

who were both second. Senior Peyton Harris, a 150-pound contestant, nished fourth and 190-pounder Westin Ho schneider was third.

“It seems like every year I come here, Pomona just comes out harder and harder every time,” said Myers.

Mountain Vista’s Caden Stevens, #22, goes up for a shot against Rock Canyon on Feb. 2. Stevens scored a game-high 22 points in Vista’s 6252 win.

PHOTO BY ALEX K.W. SCHULTZ

WRESTLING

“ eir kids just seem to get it done. We just we fall short sometimes. Pomona has a great lineup and they will continue to have a great lineup. “ ey are talking about all the younger kids they have. It really comes down to what our young kids can do.”

Pondo’s four individual state champions were highlighted by Cannon’s win after his tough battle to even be wrestling again.

I was happy with the way a lot of the guys on the team wrestled,” said Mustangs coach Jarion Beets. “We snagged a lot of state titles. It was a great win for Brandon Cannon. We’ve been in a lot of di erent tournaments but this was the one we really wanted. is is the one he really needed to cap o his high school career.”

Cannon had an aneorysmal benign bone cyst removed and then had a kidney infection which forced him out of action during his sophomore and part of his junior seasons, but he notched a satisfying win in the 138-pound championship nale and celebrated by heading to the emergency room to take care of his

ngers. Myers donned Pokemon head gear again after his second straight title victory.

“I wanted to be aggressive and I was in the match,” he said. “It was more expected this season. I wore this head gear last year and it is Pikachu from Pokemon. My little sister had it and she decided when I won a state title I had to wear it. So that’s what it was last year, this year and next year.”

Other wrestlers from south metro schools that did well included Rock Canyon senior Sammy Mobly, who was the runner-up at 157 pounds.

Chaparral’s Delcan Smith was fourth at 113 pounds and teammate Noah Kubala was a fth-place nisher at 126 pounds.

Crabtree was second at 175 pounds. underRidge’s Nic Vicic was third at 138 pounds and Legend’s Juan Diaz was sixth at 144 pounds. Jake Howell of Cherry Creek was third at 215 pounds and Legend’s Nathan Sandy was fourth. Valor Christian’s Winston McBride nished fourth in the 285-pound bracket.

In the Class 5A girls competition, Douglas County’s Jylian Cabral was fth at 115 pounds and the Huskies’ Elizabeth Sandy was fourth at 190 pounds.

Pomona senior Vincent Cabral explodes with emotion after winning the Class 5A 150-pound title after his victory over Adams City senior Seth Deaguero. Cabral and fellow senior Jose Rosales (215) both finished o their prep careers as individual state champions for the Panthers.

PHOTO BY DENNIS PLEUSS/JEFFCO PUBLIC SCHOOLS

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COMBINED NOTICE - PUBLICATION

CRS §38-38-103 FORECLOSURE SALE NO. 0618-2022

To Whom It May Concern: This Notice is given with regard to the following described Deed of Trust:

On December 20, 2022, the undersigned Public Trustee caused the Notice of Election and Demand relating to the Deed of Trust described below to be recorded in the County of Arapahoe records.

Original Grantor(s)

Ronald J Southworth

Original Beneficiary(ies)

MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION

SYSTEMS, INC. AS NOMINEE FOR REVERSE

MORTGAGE FUNDING LLC, ITS SUCCESSORS AND ASSIGNS

Current Holder of Evidence of Debt REVERSE MORTGAGE FUNDING LLC

Date of Deed of Trust

November 17, 2017

County of Recording Arapahoe

Recording Date of Deed of Trust

November 28, 2017

Recording Information (Reception No. and/or Book/Page No.)

D7134609

Original Principal Amount

$561,000.00

Outstanding Principal Balance

$240,280.38

Pursuant to CRS §38-38-101(4)(i), you are hereby notified that the covenants of the deed of trust have been violated as follows: Failure to pay principal and interest when due together with all other payments provided for in the evidence of debt secured by the deed of trust and other violations thereof.

THE LIEN FORECLOSED MAY NOT BE A FIRST LIEN.

LOTS 7 AND 8, BLOCK 43, SOUTH BROADWAY HEIGHTS, COUNTY OF ARAPAHOE, STATE OF COLORADO.

Also known by street and number as: 4430 S Sherman Street, Englewood, CO 80113.

THE PROPERTY DESCRIBED HEREIN IS ALL OF THE PROPERTY CURRENTLY ENCUMBERED BY THE LIEN OF THE DEED OF TRUST.

NOTICE OF SALE

The current holder of the Evidence of Debt secured by the Deed of Trust, described herein, has filed Notice of Election and Demand for sale as provided by law and in said Deed of Trust.

THEREFORE, Notice Is Hereby Given that I will at public auction, at 10:00 A.M. on Wednesday, 04/19/2023, at The East Hearing Room, County Administration Building, 5334 South Prince Street, Littleton, Colorado, 80120, sell to the highest and best bidder for cash, the said real property and all interest of the said Grantor(s), Grantor(s)' heirs and assigns therein, for the purpose of paying the indebtedness provided in said Evidence of Debt secured by the Deed of Trust, plus attorneys' fees, the expenses of sale and other items allowed by law, and will issue to the purchaser a Certificate of Purchase, all as provided by law.

First Publication: 2/23/2023

Last Publication: 3/23/2023

Name of Publication: Littleton Independent

IF THE SALE DATE IS CONTINUED TO A LATER

DATE, THE DEADLINE TO FILE A NOTICE OF INTENT TO CURE BY THOSE PARTIES ENTITLED TO CURE MAY ALSO BE EXTENDED;

DATE: 12/20/2022

Susan Sandstrom, Public Trustee in and for the County of Arapahoe, State of Colorado

By: Susan Sandstrom, Public Trustee

The name, address, business telephone number and bar registration number of the attorney(s) representing the legal holder of the indebtedness is:

Alison L Berry #34531

N. April Winecki #34861

David R. Doughty #40042

Nicholas H. Santarelli #46592

Lynn M. Janeway #15592

Janeway Law Firm, P.C. 9800 S. Meridian Blvd., Suite 400, Englewood, CO 80112 (303) 706-9990

Attorney File # 22-028970

The Attorney above is acting as a debt collector and is attempting to collect a debt. Any information provided may be used for that purpose.

©Public Trustees' Association of Colorado Re-

vised 1/2015

Legal Notice NO. 0618-2022

First Publication: 2/23/2023

CRS 38-38-111(2.5b)(3a,b,d)(5)

PUBLIC TRUSTEE SALE NO. 0320-2022

To: Obligor/Grantor(s) on the evidence of debt and/or Deed of Trust or other person entitled.

You are advised that there are overbid funds due you. This Notice is given with regard to the following described Deed of Trust:

THEREFORE, Notice Is Hereby Given that I will at public auction, at 10:00 A.M. on Wednesday, 04/19/2023, at The East Hearing Room, County Administration Building, 5334 South Prince Street, Littleton, Colorado, 80120, sell to the highest and best bidder for cash, the said real property and all interest of the said Grantor(s), Grantor(s)' heirs and assigns therein, for the purpose of paying the indebtedness provided in said Evidence of Debt secured by the Deed of Trust, plus attorneys' fees, the expenses of sale and other items allowed by law, and will issue to the purchaser a Certificate of Purchase, all as provided by law.

First Publication: 2/23/2023

Last Publication: 3/23/2023

Name of Publication: Littleton Independent

IF THE SALE DATE IS CONTINUED TO A LATER

DATE, THE DEADLINE TO FILE A NOTICE OF INTENT TO CURE BY THOSE PARTIES ENTITLED TO CURE MAY ALSO BE EXTENDED;

DATE: 12/16/2022

Susan Sandstrom, Public Trustee in and for the County of Arapahoe, State of Colorado

By: Susan Sandstrom, Public Trustee

OF THE PROPERTY CURRENTLY ENCUMBERED BY THE LIEN OF THE DEED OF TRUST.

If applicable, a description of any changes to the deed of trust described in the notice of election and demand pursuant to affidavit as allowed by statutes: C.R.S.§ 38-35-109(5)

LEGAL CO-GRANTOR'S NAME HAS BEEN

CORRECTED BY SCRIVENER'S AFFIDAVIT

RECORDED 03/09/2022 AT RECEPTION NO.

E2027163 IN THE RECORDS OF ARAPAHOE COUNTY.

NOTICE OF SALE

The current holder of the Evidence of Debt secured by the Deed of Trust, described herein, has filed Notice of Election and Demand for sale as provided by law and in said Deed of Trust.

NOTICE OF SALE

The current holder of the Evidence of Debt secured by the Deed of Trust, described herein, has filed Notice of Election and Demand for sale as provided by law and in said Deed of Trust.

at public auction, at 10:00 A.M. on 10/26/22, at The East Hearing Room, County Administration Building, 5334 South Prince Street, Littleton, Colorado, 80120, to the highest and best bidder for cash, the real property described above. An overbid was realized from the sale and the funds must be claimed by the Obligor/Grantor(s) on the evidence of debt and/or Deed of Trust or other persons entitled thereto within six months from the date of sale.

THE STATE OF COLORADO REQUIRES

The name, address, business telephone number and bar registration number of the attorney(s) representing the legal holder of the indebtedness is:

Amanda Ferguson #44893

Heather Deere #28597

Toni M. Owan #30580 Halliday, Watkins & Mann, PC 355 Union Blvd., Ste. 250, Lakewood, CO 80228 (303) 274-0155 Attorney File # CO21123

The Attorney above is acting as a debt collector and is attempting to collect a debt. Any information provided may be used for that purpose.

©Public Trustees' Association of Colorado Revised 1/2015

EXHIBIT A 0614-2022

THEREFORE, Notice Is Hereby Given that I will at public auction, at 10:00 A.M. on Wednesday, 04/19/2023, at The East Hearing Room, County Administration Building, 5334 South Prince Street, Littleton, Colorado, 80120, sell to the highest and best bidder for cash, the said real property and all interest of the said Grantor(s), Grantor(s)' heirs and assigns therein, for the purpose of paying the indebtedness provided in said Evidence of Debt secured by the Deed of Trust, plus attorneys' fees, the expenses of sale and other items allowed by law, and will issue to the purchaser a Certificate of Purchase, all as provided by law.

First Publication: 2/23/2023

Last Publication: 3/23/2023

Name of Publication: Littleton Independent

IF THE SALE DATE IS CONTINUED TO A LATER

DATE, THE DEADLINE TO FILE A NOTICE OF INTENT TO CURE BY THOSE PARTIES ENTITLED TO CURE MAY ALSO BE EXTENDED;

DATE: 12/16/2022

Susan Sandstrom, Public Trustee in and for the County of Arapahoe, State of Colorado

By: Susan Sandstrom, Public Trustee

THEREFORE, Notice Is Hereby Given that I will at public auction, at 10:00 A.M. on Wednesday, 03/22/2023, at The East Hearing Room, County Administration Building, 5334 South Prince Street, Littleton, Colorado, 80120, sell to the highest and best bidder for cash, the said real property and all interest of the said Grantor(s), Grantor(s)' heirs and assigns therein, for the purpose of paying the indebtedness provided in said Evidence of Debt secured by the Deed of Trust, plus attorneys' fees, the expenses of sale and other items allowed by law, and will issue to the purchaser a Certificate of Purchase, all as provided by law.

First Publication: 1/26/2023

Last Publication: 2/23/2023

Name of Publication: Littleton Independent

IF THE SALE DATE IS CONTINUED TO A LATER DATE, THE DEADLINE TO FILE A NOTICE OF INTENT TO CURE BY THOSE PARTIES ENTITLED TO CURE MAY ALSO BE EXTENDED;

DATE: 11/22/2022

Susan Sandstrom, Public Trustee in and for the County of Arapahoe, State of Colorado

By: Susan Sandstrom, Public Trustee

The name, address, business telephone number and bar registration number of the attorney(s) representing the legal holder of the indebtedness is:

Erin Croke #46557

Steven Bellanti #48306

Holly Shilliday #24423

Ilene Dell'Acqua #31755

McCarthy & Holthus LLP 7700 E Arapahoe Road, Suite 230, Centennial, CO 80112 (877) 369-6122

Association of Colorado Revised 9/2012

of Publication: Littleton Independent COMBINED NOTICE - PUBLICATION

To Whom It May Concern: This Notice is given with regard to the following described Deed of Trust: On December 16, 2022, the undersigned Public Trustee caused the Notice of Election and Demand relating to the Deed of Trust described below to be recorded in the County of Arapahoe records.

Original Grantor(s) William G. Reedy Original Beneficiary(ies) Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., as Beneficiary, as nominee for First Horizon Home Loan Corporation, its successors and assigns Current Holder of Evidence of Debt Citibank, N.A., not in its individual capacity but solely as Owner Trustee for New Residential Mortgage Loan Trust 2018-5

Date of Deed of Trust January 27, 2005 County of Recording Arapahoe Recording Date of Deed of Trust February 03, 2005 Recording Information (Reception No. and/or Book/Page No.) B5016575

Original Principal Amount $154,000.00

Outstanding Principal Balance $121,106.08

Pursuant to CRS §38-38-101(4)(i), you are hereby notified that the covenants of the deed of trust have been violated as follows: Failure to pay principal and interest when due together with all other payments provided for in the evidence of debt secured by the Deed of Trust and other violations thereof.

THE LIEN FORECLOSED MAY NOT BE A FIRST LIEN.

ATTACHED EXHIBIT "A"

Also known by street and number as: 4585 South Elati Street, Englewood, CO 80110.

THE PROPERTY DESCRIBED HEREIN IS ALL OF THE PROPERTY CURRENTLY ENCUMBERED BY THE LIEN OF THE

That part of Lot 5, Block 1, Jernberg Subdivision, described as follows: Beginning at a point 135.3 feet North of the Southwest corner of Lot 5; Thence North along the West line of said Lot 5, 60 feet; Thence East 82.48 feet, more or less, to the East line of said Lot 5; Thence South along the East line of said Lot 5, 60 feet; Thence West 82.48 feet, more or less, to the point of beginning; and that part of Block 2, Wollenweber`s Broadway Gardens, adjoining the above described property, described as follows: Beginning at a point 135.3 feet North of the Southeast corner of Lot 5, Block 1, Jernberg Subdivision, which point of beginning is 369.3 feet, more or less, West and 135.3 feet North of the Southeast corner of Block 2, Wollenweber`s Broadway Gardens, the true point of beginning; Thence North 60 feet along the East line of Lot 5, Block 1, Jernberg Subdivision; Thence East 44.43 feet; Thence South 60 feet; Thence West 44.43 feet to the point of beginning, County of Arapahoe, State of Colorado.

Legal Notice NO. 0614-2022

First Publication: 2/23/2023

Last Publication: 3/23/2023

Name of Publication: Littleton Independent COMBINED NOTICE - PUBLICATION CRS §38-38-103 FORECLOSURE SALE NO. 0612-2022

To Whom It May Concern: This Notice is given with regard to the following described Deed of Trust: On December 16, 2022, the undersigned Public Trustee caused the Notice of Election and Demand relating to the Deed of Trust described below to be recorded in the County of Arapahoe records.

Original Grantor(s) Sunil Stephen AND KRISHNAPRIYA DARSHINI SUNIL

Original Beneficiary(ies)

PUBLIC SERVICE CREDIT UNION

Current Holder of Evidence of Debt CANVAS CREDIT UNION Date of Deed of Trust May 22, 2014

County of Recording Arapahoe Recording Date of Deed of Trust September 15, 2014

Recording Information (Reception No. and/or Book/Page No.)

D4085492

Original Principal Amount $30,000.00

Outstanding Principal Balance $15,794.23

Pursuant to CRS §38-38-101(4)(i), you are hereby notified that the covenants of the deed of trust have been violated as follows: Failure to pay principal and interest when due together with all other payments provided for in the evidence of debt secured by the deed of trust and other violations thereof.

THE LIEN FORECLOSED MAY NOT BE A FIRST LIEN.

LOT 10, BLOCK 1, WILLOW CREEK FILING NO. 5, COUNTY OF ARAPAHOE, STATE OF COLORADO.

Also known by street and number as: 7855 South Trenton Street, Centennial, CO 80112.

The name, address, business telephone number and bar registration number of the attorney(s) representing the legal holder of the indebtedness is:

Alison L Berry #34531

N. April Winecki #34861

David R. Doughty #40042

Nicholas H. Santarelli #46592

Lynn M. Janeway #15592

Janeway Law Firm, P.C. 9800 S. Meridian Blvd., Suite 400, Englewood, CO 80112 (303) 706-9990

Attorney File # 21-025829

The Attorney above is acting as a debt collector and is attempting to collect a debt. Any information provided may be used for that purpose.

©Public Trustees' Association of Colorado Revised 1/2015

Legal Notice NO. 0612-2022

First Publication: 2/23/2023

Last Publication: 3/23/2023

Name of Publication: Littleton Independent COMBINED NOTICE - PUBLICATION CRS §38-38-103 FORECLOSURE SALE NO. 0590-2022

To Whom It May Concern: This Notice is given with regard to the following described Deed of Trust:

On November 22, 2022, the undersigned Public Trustee caused the Notice of Election and Demand relating to the Deed of Trust described below to be recorded in the County of Arapahoe records.

Original Grantor(s)

Randall M. Johnson

Original Beneficiary(ies)

Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. ("MERS") as nominee for Loan Simple, Inc., Its Successors and Assigns

Current Holder of Evidence of Debt NewRez LLC, F/K/A New Penn Financial, LLC, D/B/A Shellpoint Mortgage Servicing

Date of Deed of Trust

March 25, 2015

County of Recording

Arapahoe Recording Date of Deed of Trust

April 02, 2015

Recording Information (Reception No. and/or Book/Page No.)

D5032362 Original Principal Amount $155,000.00 Outstanding Principal Balance

$134,581.56

Pursuant to CRS §38-38-101(4)(i), you are hereby notified that the covenants of the deed of trust have been violated as follows: Failure to pay principal and interest when due together with all other payments provided for in the evidence of debt secured by the Deed of Trust and other violations thereof

Attorney File # CO-22-947588-LL

The Attorney above is acting as a debt collector and is attempting to collect a debt. Any information provided may be used for that purpose.

©Public Trustees' Association of Colorado Revised 1/2015

Legal Notice NO. 0590-2022

First Publication: 1/26/2023

Last Publication: 2/23/2023

Name of Publication: Littleton Independent City and County Public Notice ARAPAHOE COUNTY

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING PROPOSED BUDGET AMENDMENTS

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that on Tuesday, February 28, 2023 at 9:30 a.m., or as soon thereafter as the calendar of the Board of County Commissioners permits, in the East Hearing Room of the County Administration Building, 5334 South Prince Street, Littleton, Colorado, the Board of County Commissioners of Arapahoe County will meet to consider the following proposed budget resolutions:

RESOLUTION:

WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners adopted the 2022 and 2023 Annual Budgets pursuant to Statute; and

WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners will consider the following budget amendments to both the 2022 and 2023 Annual Budgets; and WHEREAS, this matter has been published pursuant to Section 29-1-109, C.R.S., as required by law.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of County Commissioners of Arapahoe County to amend the adopted 2022 Annual Budget as follows:

a. Transfer $20,664 from General Fund, Sheriff’s Office and recognize and appropriate the same amount in the Central Services Fund, Sheriff’s Office for additional upfitting expense to asset number 303521 for an unmarked bomb squad vehicle and asset number 303081 for an unmarked school resource officer (SRO) K9 vehicle.

b. Transfer $50,000 from the unappropriated fund balance in the Arapahoe Law Enforcement Authority (ALEA) Fund, Sheriff’s Office to fund increased spending on personnel including overtime, incentive pay and salaries as well as associated benefits.

c. Transfer $651,000 from the Cash in Lieu Fund, Open Spaces to the Open Spaces Sales Tax Fund, Open Spaces and recognize and appropriate the same with $308,000 for the reimbursement of the Cheyenne-Arapahoe Park project and $343,000 for the Dove Valley Regional Park project.

d. Transfer $60,705 from the Self-Insurance Liability Fund, County Attorney and recognize and the same amount in the Central Services Fund, Administrative Services for three totaled vehicles in the Sheriff’s Office.

e. Transfer $350,000 from the unappropriated fund balance in the Workers Compensation Fund, County Attorney to cover higher claims payments for 2022.

f. Recognize and appropriate $1,154 in the General Fund, Coroner’s Office for State reimbursement for toxicology tests.

g. Recognize and appropriate $20,395 in the General Fund, Human Resources for the Kaiser Permanente performance guarantee for Wellbeing.

h. Recognize and appropriate $38,990 in General Fund, Public Works & Development for reimbursement from Open Spaces for project management completed during the third quarter of 2022.

i. Recognize and appropriate $4,396 in General Fund, Sheriff’s Office for donations received from Back the Blue K9 force for the purchase of school resource officer medical kits and other miscellaneous K9 equipment.

j. Reduce revenue and appropriation by $154,191 in the General Fund, Sheriff’s Office for reduction in the contract for the RISE program that began in July.

k. Recognize and appropriate $55,464 in the Forfeiture Fund, Sheriff’s Office with $31,908 being from Front Range Task Force seizure funds and $23,556 being from various other seizure cases. l. Reduce the appropriation in the Grant Fund, Administrative Services by $475,000 for an inadvertent duplicate appropriation for the Coroner body scanner equipment.

m. Recognize and appropriate $1,113,931 in the Grant Fund, Sheriff’s Office for the State Criminal Aliens Assistance Program (SCAAP) grant received in 2022.

n. Recognize and appropriate $110,020 in the Infrastructure Fund, Public Works & Development for Rural Transportation Impact Fees received during 2022.

o. Reduce the revenue and appropriation by $871,460 in the Infrastructure Fund, Public Works & Development for the Quincy/Gun Club Intersection Improvements project that was supplemented but had already previously been budgeted.

p. Appropriate $9,837 in the Central Services Fund, Sheriff’s Office that should have been included in resolution 22-248m from the second quarter budget review of 2022 related to the purchase of drones and a pole camera.

q. Reduce the appropriation by $82,885 in the Central Services Fund, Administrative Services for an appropriation that should not have been included in resolution 22-362i related to funding for some totaled vehicles.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of County Commissioners of Arapahoe County to amend the adopted 2023 Annual Budget as follows:

r. Transfer $637,822 from the unappropriated fund balance in the General Fund, Administrative Services from the funding received by the Metro Football Stadium District related to the sale of the Broncos to be used for youth programs

s. Transfer $1,200,000 from the unappropriated fund balance in the General Fund, Administrative Services to reappropriate the Public Health Department transition funds unspent in 2022.

t. Transfer $500,000 from the unappropriated fund balance in the General Fund, Administrative Services and recognize and appropriate the same amount in the Self Insurance Liability Fund for increases in the County’s insurance premiums.

u. Transfer $11,900 from the General Fund, Clerk & Recorder and recognize and appropriate the same amount in the Central Services Fund, Clerk & Recorder for the purchase of a new plotter.

v. Recognize and appropriate $26,339 in the General Fund, Community Resources for the purchase of a vehicle for the Centennial Homeless liaison to be paid for with intergovernmental agreement funds.

w. Transfer $1,236 from the General Fund, Sheriff’s Office to the General Fund, Information Technology Department for ten field ops licenses for the Traffic Unit.

x. Transfer $119,973 from the General Fund, Information Technology to the General Fund, Sheriff’s Office for warranty, maintenance and replacement of the KUBL Detentions camera system.

y. Recognize and appropriate $61,428 and increase the FTE count by 0.50 FTE in the General Fund, Sheriff’s Office and by 0.50 FTE in the Grant Fund, Sheriff’s Office for an Office of Emergency Management position with funding from Littleton Police Department and the Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG).

z. Appropriate $65,194 in the Central Services Fund, Sheriff’s Office to replace two bomb suits.

aa. Transfer $140,000 from the General Fund, Administrative Services and recognize the same amount and appropriate $703,544 in the Central Services Fund, Public Works & Development for the funding gap related to the replacement of a tandem truck, skid steer, skeleton bucket, and roller.

bb. Appropriate $39,318,024 in the Capital Expenditure Fund, Facilities & Fleet Management to roll forward the unspent balance of the Detention Medical Expansion project.

cc. Appropriate $51,512 in the Central Services Fund, Sheriff’s Office to replace a totaled Centennial patrol vehicle.

dd. Transfer $15,000 from the Open Space Sales Tax Fund, Open Spaces and recognize and appropriate the same amount in the Central Services Fund, Open Spaces to purchase a snow plow, lightbar and toolbox for a vehicle that was approved at the third quarter budget review.

ee. Transfer $700,000 from the Recreation District Fund, Open Spaces and recognize and appropri-

ate the same amount in the Open Spaces Sales Tax Fund for the Dove Valley Regional Park project.

ff. Recognize and appropriate $2,131,001 and increase the headcount by 6.00 FTEs in the Public Health Fund, Public Health to accommodate additional needs from the two grant-funded nurse home visit programs.

gg. Recognize and appropriate $287,000 in the General Fund, Community Resources for funding from the Tri-Cities IGA for homeless services related to the Tri-Cities Action Plan ($185,000) and funding from the City of Centennial IGA for the Homeless Services Liaison ($102,000).

hh. Transfer $102,203 and 1.00 FTE from the General Fund, Strategy & Performance Department to the General Fund, Finance Department to move the analyst position due to a reorganization.

ii. Recognize $447,250 in additional revenue in the General Fund, Sheriff’s Office to true-up the Centennial IGA that was not completed when the 2023 budget was finalized.

jj. Recognize and appropriate $81,841,490 in the Grant Fund, Administrative Services to budget the balance of the remaining ARPA funding ($75,629,664) and ERA2 funding ($6,211,826) in 2023.

kk. Recognize $88,000 and appropriate $110,000 in the Social Services Fund, Human Services for the JusticeWorks contract increase.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Budget Officer shall file a certified copy of this Resolution with the Division of Local Government and with the affected spending agencies.

Legal Notice No. Arap 1159

First Publication: February 23, 2023

Last Publication: February 23, 2023

Publisher: Englewood Herald Littleton Independent and the Centennial Citizen Public Notice CITY OF ENGLEWOOD NOTICE OF ADOPTION OF ORDINANCE

On the 21st of February, 2023, the City Council of the City of Englewood, Colorado, approved on final reading the following Ordinance: BY AUTHORITY ORDINANCE NO.

SERIES OF 2023

AN ORDINANCE APPROVING THE CITY OF ENGLEWOOD WATER EFFICIENCY PLAN (Council Bill No. 08) Copies of the aforesaid council bill are available for public inspection in the office of the City Clerk, City of Englewood, Civic Center, 1000 Englewood Parkway, Englewood, Colorado 80110 or it can be found at http://www.englewoodco.gov, Government, Legal/Public Notices.

Legal Notice No. 301775

First Publication: February 23, 2023

Last Publication: February 23, 2023

Publisher: Englewood Herald

Public Notice

ARAPAHOE COUNTY, COLORADO

PUBLIC NOTICE & OPPORTUNITY FOR PUBLIC COMMENT

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the general public and any interested parties are invited to provide comment and input regarding the County’s plan to utilize HOME Investment Partnerships Program-American Rescue Plan (HOMEARP) funds to address community needs and provide housing solutions for people experiencing homelessness.

The County’s HOME-ARP plan will establish funding priorities and allocations for the $2,691,031 entitlement allocation, and will be completed as part of a substantial amendment to the 2021 Annual Action Plan. Eligible activities within the HOMEARP program will be evaluated and considered for funding based on the consultation and public participation process, the needs assessment and gap analysis, and the overall application process, and will include projects within the following categories: rental housing, tenant-based rental assistance, supportive services, acquisition and/ or development of non-congregate shelter, nonprofit operating assistance or capacity building, and HOME-ARP administration and planning.

A draft of the Arapahoe County HOME-ARP plan will be available for review by any interested parties during a minimum 15 day public comment period, beginning Wednesday, March 1, 2023 through Friday, March 17, 2023. The plan will be available online at: https://arapahoegov.com/334/ Reports. The HOME-ARP plan will also be available by request made to Jeremy Fink at jfink@ arapahoegov.com or (303)738-8062 or by TDD (303) 738-8033, or in person at Arapahoe County Community Development offices located at 1690 W. Littleton Blvd., Suite 300, Littleton, CO 80120. Interested parties that would like to submit comments and input to help guide HOME-ARP funding decisions can submit comments to Jeremy Fink via email, phone, or in person (contact information listed above.)

The County will consider any comments (written or verbal) received during the public comment period when preparing and submitting the HOME-ARP plan. As such, a summary of the comments will be incorporated into the final document.

The County encourages citizen participation, emphasizing demographic diversity and the involvement of low-to-moderate income residents, particularly residents and interested parties located in areas served HOME-ARP projects.

If you need special accommodations or translation services to review the HOME-ARP plan and/ or to submit comments, or if you would like to request related documents in a language other

than English, please contact Jeremy Fink (contact information listed above.)

Legal Notice No. Arap 1157

First Publication: February 23, 2023

Last Publication: February 23, 2023

Publisher: Englewood Herald Littleton Independent and the Centennial Citizen

Public Notice

CITY OF ENGLEWOOD

NOTICE OF APPROVAL OF A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE

On the 21st of February 2023, the City Council of the City of Englewood, Colorado, approved on first reading the following Council Bill:

BY AUTHORITY

COUNCIL BILL NO. 11 INTRODUCED BY COUNCIL MEMBER

A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE AMENDING ENGLEWOOD MUNICIPAL CODE

REGARDING HOTEL, BED AND BREAKFAST

LICENSURE

Copies of the aforesaid council bill are available for public inspection in the office of the City Clerk, City of Englewood, Civic Center, 1000 Englewood Parkway, Englewood, Colorado 80110 or it can be found at http://www.englewoodco.gov, Government, Legal/Public Notices.

Legal Notice No. 301774

First Publication: February 23, 2023

Last Publication: February 23, 2023

Publisher: Englewood Herald Public Notice

CITY OF ENGLEWOOD

NOTICE OF ADOPTION OF ORDINANCE

On the 21st of February, 2023, the City Council of the City of Englewood, Colorado, approved on final reading the following Ordinance: BY AUTHORITY ORDINANCE NO. SERIES OF 2023

AN ORDINANCE AMENDING ENGLEWOOD

MUNICIPAL CODE SECTIONS TO REFLECT

CURRENT SALES AND USE TAX RATE (Council Bill No. 07)

Copies of the aforesaid council bill are available for public inspection in the office of the City Clerk, City of Englewood, Civic Center, 1000 Englewood Parkway, Englewood, Colorado 80110 or it can be found at http://www.englewoodco.gov, Government, Legal/Public Notices.

Legal Notice No. 301773

First Publication: February 23, 2023

Last Publication: February 23, 2023

Publisher: Englewood Herald Public Notice

CITY OF ENGLEWOOD

NOTICE OF ADOPTION OF ORDINANCE

On the 21st of February, 2023, the City Council of the City of Englewood, Colorado, approved on final reading the following Ordinance: BY AUTHORITY ORDINANCE NO. SERIES OF 2023

AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTION OF AN INTERGOVERNMENTAL SUBGRANTEE AGREEMENT FOR 2022-2023

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT (CDBG) FUNDS BETWEEN THE ARAPAHOE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AND THE CITY OF ENGLEWOOD (Council Bill No. 06)

Copies of the aforesaid council bill are available for public inspection in the office of the City Clerk, City of Englewood, Civic Center, 1000 Englewood Parkway, Englewood, Colorado 80110 or it can be found at http://www.englewoodco.gov, Government, Legal/Public Notices.

Legal Notice No. 301771

First Publication: February 23, 2023

Last Publication: February 23, 2023

Publisher: Englewood Herald Public Notice

CITY OF LITTLETON ELECTION NOTICE SPECIAL MUNICIPAL ELECTION TUESDAY, MARCH 7, 2023

ELECTION HOURS: 7:00 A.M. TO 7:00 P.M.

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that on Tuesday, March 7, 2023, a special municipal election will be held in the City of Littleton, Colorado for the purpose of amending the Littleton City Charter

THE FOLLOWING BALLOT QUESTION WILL BE VOTED UPON:

BALLOT QUESTION 300:

Shall Section 45. Initiative of the Littleton City Charter be repealed and reenacted as Section 45. Initiative and Referendum, to require the adoption of Colorado Revised Statutes §31-11103 through 118 and future modifications thereof, excepting 31-11-105(1) as related to municipal initiatives, referenda and referred measures, and repealing Sections 46 and 47, in order to provide consistency with state law, including setting the percentage of signatures required for a citizen initiative and referendum at 5% and requiring the city to follow the timeframes required by statute for the timing of elections?

 YES  NO

ELECTION INFORMATION:

Ballots will be mailed to all active eligible electors beginning February 13, 2023. Ballots must be returned by 7:00 p.m. on Election Day, MARCH 7, 2023.

A voted ballot (in the return envelope) may be mailed by U.S. Postal Service, or the voted ballot (in the return envelope) may be dropped off at the City Clerk’s office, 2255 West Berry Avenue, Littleton, CO 80120, during normal business hours, Monday through Friday*, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., except on Election Day, MARCH 7, 2023, when the hours will be 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., or at the Arapahoe County Administration Building at 5334 South Prince Street, Littleton, CO 80120 in the secure 24-hour drop box. If you have not received your ballot or need a replacement or absentee ballot, ballots may be obtained at the office of the City Clerk, 2255 West Berry Avenue, Littleton, CO 80120. *The drop box at the City Clerk’s office will not be available on Monday, February 20 as the city offices will be closed in observance of President’s Day.

Any person wanting to verify his or her current voter registration status may call the Arapahoe County elections office at 303-795-4511, the Douglas County elections office at 303-660-7444, or the Jefferson County elections office at 303271-8111, as applicable.

Colleen L. Norton, City Clerk City of Littleton 2255 West Berry Avenue Littleton, CO 80120

Telephone: 303-795-3780

Legal Notice No. 531043

First Publication: February 23, 2023

Last Publication: February 23, 2023

Publisher: Littleton Independent Public Notice CITY OF ENGLEWOOD NOTICE OF APPROVAL OF A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE

On the 21st of February 2023, the City Council of the City of Englewood, Colorado, approved on first reading the following Council Bill: BY AUTHORITY COUNCIL BILL NO. 10 INTRODUCED BY COUNCIL MEMBER

A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE FIRST AMENDED INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITIES OF SHERIDAN, ENGLEWOOD, LITTLETON AND THE COUNTY OF ARAPAHOE, COLORADO FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A TRICITIES HOMELESSNESS COORDINATOR POSITION

Copies of the aforesaid council bill are available for public inspection in the office of the City Clerk, City of Englewood, Civic Center, 1000 Englewood Parkway, Englewood, Colorado 80110 or it can be found at http://www.englewoodco.gov, Government, Legal/Public Notices.

Legal Notice No. 301772

First Publication: February 23, 2023

Last Publication: February 23, 2023

Publisher: Englewood Herald

Metropolitan Districts

Public Notice NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING ON PETITION FOR EXCLUSION OF REAL PROPERTY IN THE INVERNESS WATER AND SANITATION DISTRICT

NOTICE is hereby given to all interested persons that a Petition for Exclusion of Real Property has been filed with the Board of Directors of the Inverness Water and Sanitation District. The Board of Directors has fixed Wednesday, March 22, 2023, beginning at 3:00pm or as soon thereafter as possible, via Zoom Meeting; (https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85450811347?pwd= T0F1dUZNbGcrSDJybVlPaEtUZHhkdz09) as the date, time and place of a public meeting at which said Petition shall be heard.

The property requested to be included is the Northern ~ 186’ of the existing Lot 1B, Inverness Subdivision Filing No. 7, 15th Amendment totaling ~ 2.86 acres located in Douglas County. The exact legal description is available at the office of the District, 188 Inverness Drive West, Suite 150, Englewood, CO during normal business hours.

The name and address of the Petitioner is: Reunion Inverness RE LLC

Jeff Jones, Manager 2911 Turtle Creek Blvd Suite 1100 Dallas, TX 75219

All interested parties may appear at said hearing to show cause in writing why such Petitions should not be granted.

By order of the Board of Directors of the Inverness Water and Sanitation District.

s/Luis E. Tovar District Manager

Legal Notice No. 530163

First Publication: February 23, 2023

Last Publication:

14 Metropolitan District (“District”). Any qualified, eligible elector of the District interested in filling such vacancy and serving on the Board of Directors should file a Letter of Interest with the Board on or before the close of business, Monday, March 6, 2023.

Letters of Interest are available and can be obtained from the Section 14 Metropolitan District, c/o Ann E. Finn at Special District Management Services, Inc., 141 Union Boulevard, Suite 150, Lakewood, CO 80228, (303) 987-0835.

SECTION 14 METROPOLITAN DISTRICT

By: /s/ Ann E. Finn, Secretary

Legal Notice No. 531084

First Publication: February 23, 2023

Last Publication: February 23, 2023

Publisher: Littleton Independent Public Notice

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING ON PETITION FOR EXCLUSION OF REAL PROPERTY IN THE INVERNESS METROPOLITAN IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT

NOTICE is hereby given to all interested persons that a Petition(s) for Exclusion of Real Property has been filed with the Board of Directors of the Inverness Metropolitan Improvement District. The Board of Directors has fixed Wednesday, March 22, 2023, beginning at 3:00 pm or as soon thereafter as possible, via Zoom Meeting (https:// us02web.zoom.us/j/85450811347?pwd=T0F1dU ZNbGcrSDJybVlPaEtUZHhkdz09) as the date, time and place of a public meeting at which said Petition shall be heard.

The property requested to be excluded is the Northern ~ 186’ of the existing Lot 1B, Inverness Subdivision Filing No. 7, 15th Amendment totaling ~ 2.86 acres, located in Douglas County, Colorado. The exact legal description is available at the office of the District, 188 Inverness Drive West, Suite 150, Englewood, CO during normal business hours.

The name and address of the Petitioner is:

Reunion Inverness RE LLC

Jeff Jones, Manager 2911 Turtle Creek Blvd Suite 1100 Dallas, TX 75219

All interested parties may appear at said hearing to show cause in writing why such Petitions should not be granted.

By order of the Board of Directors of the Inverness Metropolitan Improvement District.

s/Luis E. Tovar

District Manager

Legal Notice No. 530164

First Publication: February 23, 2023

Last Publication: February 23, 2023

Publisher: Littleton Independent Bids and Settlements

Public Notice

NOTICE OF FINAL SETTLEMENT

BID PACKAGE #07 Furniture CMGC Services at Arapahoe HS, Heritage HS, Littleton HS and Options.

Notice is hereby given that Littleton Public Schools in the county of Arapahoe will on March 7, 2023 pay retainage and make final settlement with OfficeScapes for BID PACKAGE #07 Furniture CMGC Services at Arapahoe HS, Heritage HS, Littleton HS and Options. Any person, co-partnership, association of persons, company or corporation that has furnished labor, material, team hire, sustenance, provisions, provender or other supplies used or consumed by the contractor identified above or any subcontractor thereof in or about the performance of the work contracted to be done or that has supplied rental machinery, tools, or equipment to the extent used in the prosecution of the work whose claim therefore has not been paid, by the contractor or subcontractor, must file a verified statement of the amount due and unpaid on account of such claim, which statement must be filed on or before February 28, 2023. Claims must be submitted to the Board of Education to Littleton Public Schools at the school district’s Property Management Department, 5776 S. Crocker Street, Littleton, CO. 80120 on or before February 28, 2023. Final Settlement will be made and verified claims must be timely filed with Littleton Public Schools. Failure on the part of the claimant to file such statement prior to or on the established date will relieve the School District from any and all liability for such claim, Dated: February 02, 2023.

Legal Notice No. 530978

First Publication: February 2, 2023

Last Publication: February 23, 2023

Publisher: Littleton Independent

Not consecutive publications

Public Notice

NOTICE OF FINAL SETTLEMENT BID PACKAGE #33 ACADEMY SPORTS TURF GC SERVICES

Notice is hereby given that Littleton Public Schools in the county of Arapahoe will on March 7, 2023 pay retainage and make final settlement with Academy Sports Turf for BID PACKAGE #33 CONCRETE GC Services at Field ES. Any person, co-partnership, association of persons, company or corporation that has furnished labor, material, team hire, sustenance, provisions, provender or other supplies used or consumed by the contractor identified above or any subcontractor thereof in or about the performance of the work contracted to be done or that has supplied rental machinery, tools, or equipment to the extent used in the prosecution of the work whose claim therefore has not been paid, by the contractor or subcontractor, must file a verified statement of the amount due and unpaid on account of such claim, which statement must be filed on or before March 1, 2023. Claims must be submitted to the Board of Education to Littleton Public Schools at the school district’s Property Management Department, 5776 S. Crocker Street, Littleton, CO. 80120

on or before March 1, 2023. Final Settlement will be made and verified claims must be timely filed with Littleton Public Schools. Failure on the part of the claimant to file such statement prior to or on the established date will relieve the School District from any and all liability for such claim,

Dated: February 09, 2023.

Legal Notice No. 531020

First Publication: February 9, 2023

Last Publication: February 23, 2023

Publisher: Littleton Independent Not consecutive publications

ARAPAHOE COUNTY

ITB-23-05

NOTICE TO BIDDERS

PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that there is on file with the Arapahoe County Department of Public Works and Development, Transportation Division, the specifications for Arapahoe County BID NO. ITB-23-05, Arapahoe County

Project RB22-025, Arapahoe County Drainage

Improvements for Structure No. ARA 41.6-0.6 Over Cottonwood Creek.

Sealed bids (electronic submissions only) will be received and accepted online via Rocky Mountain E-Purchasing Systems (RMEPS), www. bidnetdirect.com/colorado. until 2:00 P.M. (our clock) local time on the 23rd day of March 2023, for furnishing all labor, tools, materials, and equipment required to construct said public improvement per the plans and specifications.

All bids must clearly reference ITB-23-05 on the electronic submittal. Such bids as are received will be publicly opened and read aloud via Microsoft Teams, at 2:15 P.M. local time on the above stated day.

These Project plans and specifications are available to all interested Contractors through the Rocky Mountain E-Purchasing System Website only located at http://www.govbids. com/scripts/CO1/public/home1.asp. The Project Plans and Specifications will be available on February 23, 2023. Electronic versions of the Plans obtained by any other means than as described above may not be complete or accurate, and it is the Bidder’s responsibility to obtain a complete set of the Project Plans and Specifications. The Project Plans and Specifications will be available for public examination only at the Arapahoe County Department of Public Works –Transportation Division located at 6924 S. Lima St. Centennial CO, 80112.

The Work generally consists of the construction of two drainage inlet structures and associated outfall structure. Removal and replacement of concrete curb and gutter, sidewalks, and asphalt pavement along Inverness Road in unincorporated Arapahoe County

Each bid shall be made on the Form of Bid provided in the Contract Documents, and no Bidder may withdraw his bid for a period of sixty (60) days from the date set for opening of bids. Each Bid must be accompanied, in a sealed envelope separate from the one containing the Bid, by a bid bond on an approved form in the amount equal to ten percent (10%) of the Bid price, made payable to Arapahoe County, Colorado which shall be considered as liquidated damages and shall be forfeited to the County if said Bid is accepted and the Bidder fails to execute the Contract within 10 calendar days after the acceptance of the Contractor’s Bid by the County. Note that the Contractor shall submit one (1) complete bid package and an additional copy of the Form of Bid and any Addendum Acknowledgement Forms.

The Work herein provided for shall be done under written Contract with the Contractor submitting the Bid, which is deemed to be in the best interest of the County. Upon review of Bid prices, the County may be required to add or delete portions of Work from this Project.

The successful Bidder will be required to furnish, as part of the Contract Documents, an insurance certificate in the amount specified in the Standard Special Provisions, a Performance Bond and Labor and Materials Payment Bond, each in an amount equal to 100% of its Contract Amount, said bonds to be issued by a responsible corporate surety approved by the County and shall guarantee the faithful performance of the Contract and the terms and conditions therein contained and shall guarantee the prompt payment of all materials and labor, and protect and save harmless the County from claims and damages of any kind caused by the operations of the Contractor.

The County will hold a MANDATORY pre-bid conference for all interested parties at 10:00 AM on the 8th day of March, 2023.

The conference will be held via Microsoft Teams. RSVP is required to receive the link to participate. Attendance by prospective Bidders is required. The County will post copies of the Pre-bid Meeting Minutes as an Addendum on the Rocky Mountain E-Purchasing System Website and the County is not responsible for ensuring receipt of the Pre-bid meeting minutes from the website or providing information discussed or clarifications of discussion at the pre-bid conference to those who did not attend.

Arapahoe County reserves the right to reject any and all or part of any and all Bids, to waive any informalities or irregularities therein, and to accept the Bid that is in the best interest of the County.

ARAPAHOE COUNTY, COLORADO

By: Joan Lopez, Clerk to the Board

Legal Notice No. Arap 1158

First Publication: February 23, 2023

Last Publication: February 23, 2023

Publisher: Englewood Herald

Littleton Independent and the Centennial Citizen

Summons and Sheriff Sale

Public Notice

COUNTY COURT, COUNTY OF ARAPAHOE, STATE OF COLORADO

1790 W. Littleton Blvd. Littleton, CO 80120 (303)-645-6600

Plaintiff: BOW MAR SOUTH, INC.

vs. Defendant: JOYCE AMEN MAYBERRY LIVING TRUST

Attorney for Plaintiff: ORTEN CAVANAGH HOLMES & HUNT, LLC

Jonah G. Hunt, No. 34379 Joseph A. Bucceri, No. 41211

Address: 1445 Market Street, Suite 350 Denver, CO 80202

Phone Number: (720) 221-9780

Fax Number: (720) 221-9781

Email: jbucceri@ochhoalaw.com

Case No.: 2022C43875 Division: A1

SUMMONS [BY PUBLICATION]

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF COLORADO

TO THE ABOVE-NAMED DEFENDANT: JOYCE AMEN MAYBERRY LIVING TRUST:

You are hereby summoned and required to appear and defend against the claims of the Verified Complaint (“Complaint”) filed with the Court in this action, by filing with the clerk of this Court an Answer or other responsive pleading. You are required to file your Answer or other responsive pleading within 14 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 Verified Complaint may be obtained from the clerk of the Court.

If you fail to file your Answer or other responsive pleading to the Complaint in writing within the applicable time period, 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 against real property situated in Arapahoe County, Colorado more particularly legally described as:

Lot 6, Block 3, Bow-Mar South, County of Arapahoe, State of Colorado.

Dated: February 14, 2023 ORTEN CAVANAGH HOLMES & HUNT, LLC

By: /s/ Joseph A. Bucceri Joseph A. Bucceri, No. 41211

This Summons is issued pursuant to Rule 304(f), Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure.

Legal Notice No. 531073

First Publication: February 23, 2023

Last Publication: March 23, 2023

Publisher: Littleton Independent Public Notice

DISTRICT COURT, ARAPAHOE COUNTY, STATE OF COLORADO

Case No.: 2022CV031730

Division: 15

COMBINED NOTICE OF SHERIFF'S SALE OF REAL PROPERTY

Plaintiff: SADDLE ROCK METROPOLITAN DISTRICT, a Colorado nonprofit corporation

v. Defendants: HARP LLC; CITY OF AURORA NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES DEPARTMENT;

Regarding: LOT 33, BLOCK 1, SADDLE ROCK NORTH SUBDIVISION FILING NO. 3, COUNTY OF ARAPAHOE, STATE OF COLORADO.

Also known and numbered as: 22537 E Hoover Pl, Aurora, CO 80016

TO THE ABOVE NAMED DEFENDANTS, Please take notice:

You and each of you are hereby notified that a Sheriff's Sale of the referenced property is to be conducted by the Civil Unit of Sheriff's Office of Arapahoe County, Colorado at 10:00 A.M., on the 6th day of April 2023, at 13101 E. Broncos Pkwy, Centennial, CO 80112; phone number 720-8743845. At which sale, the above- described real property and improvements thereon will be sold to the highest bidder. Plaintiff makes no warranty relating to title, possession, or quiet enjoyment in and to said real property in connection with this sale.

**BIDDERS ARE REQUIRED TO HAVE CASH OR CERTIFIED FUNDS SUFFICIENT TO COVER THE MINIMUM BID AT TIME OF SALE. **

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE LIEN BEING FORECLOSED MAY NOT BE A FIRST LIEN ON THE SUBJECT PROPERTY.

DATED in Colorado this 10th day of January, 2023.

Tyler S. Brown Sheriff of Arapahoe County, Colorado By: Sgt. Trent Steffa, Deputy Sheriff ATTORNEY FOR THE PLAINTIFF:

vs. Defendant: DAVID G. BALINT

Attorney for Plaintiff: ORTEN CAVANAGH HOLMES & HUNT, LLC

Jonah G. Hunt, No. 34379 Joseph A. Bucceri, No. 41211

Address: 1445 Market Street, Suite 350 Denver, CO 80202

Phone Number: (720) 221-9780

Fax Number: (720) 221-9781

Email: jbucceri@ochhoalaw.com

Case No.: 2022C36846 SUMMONS [BY PUBLICATION]

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF COLORADO TO THE ABOVE-NAMED DEFENDANT: DAVID BALINT:

You are hereby summoned and required to appear and defend against the claims of the Verified Complaint (“Complaint”) filed with the Court in this action, by filing with the clerk of this Court an Answer or other responsive pleading. You are required to file your Answer or other responsive pleading within 14 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 Verified Complaint may be obtained from the clerk of the Court.

If you fail to file your Answer or other responsive pleading to the Complaint in writing within the applicable time period, 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 against real property situated in Arapahoe County, Colorado more particularly legally described as:

Lot 32, Block 9, Dry Creek Townhomes, County of Arapahoe, State of Colorado.

Dated: February 14, 2023

ORTEN CAVANAGH HOLMES & HUNT, LLC

By: /s/ Joseph A. Bucceri

Joseph A. Bucceri, No. 41211

This Summons is issued pursuant to Rule 304(f), Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure.

Legal Notice No. 531075

First Publication: February 23, 2023

Last Publication: March 23, 2023

Publisher: Littleton Independent Public Notice

DISTRICT COURT, ARAPAHOE COUNTY, STATE OF COLORADO

Case No.: 2022CV031011 Div: 202

COMBINED NOTICE OF SHERIFF'S SALE OF REAL PROPERTY

PLAINTIFF: SABLE LANDING

CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION

v. DEFENDANTS: ROY M. TREGGIARI

TO THE ABOVE NAMED DEFENDANTS, Please take notice:

You and each of you are hereby notified that a Sheriff's Sale of the referenced property is to be conducted by the Civil Unit of the Sheriff's Office of Arapahoe County, Colorado at 10:00 O’clock

A.M., on the 23rd day of March, 2023, at 13101 East Broncos Parkway, Centennial, CO 80112, phone number 720-874-3845. At which sale, the above described real property and improvements thereon will be sold to the highest bidder. Plaintiff makes no warranty relating to title, possession, or quiet enjoyment in and to said real property in connection with this sale.

BIDDERS ARE REQUIRED TO HAVE CASH OR CERTIFIED FUNDS SUFFICIENT TO COVER THE MINIMUM BID AT THE TIME OF SALE.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE LIEN BEING FORECLOSED MAY NOT BE A FIRST LIEN ON THE SUBJECT PROPERTY. Judgment is in the amount of $16,402.55.

This is to advise you that a Sheriff’s sale proceeding has been commenced through the office of the undersigned Sheriff pursuant to under Order for Default Judgment and Order and Decree for Judicial Foreclosure dated November 10, 2022 and C.R.S. 38-38-101 et seq. by Sable Landing Condominium Association the holder and current owner of a lien recorded on February 20, 2019 at Reception No. D9014549 in the records of the Clerk and Recorder of the County of Arapahoe, State of Colorado. The foreclosure is based on a default under the Condominium Declaration for Sable Landing recorded on 10/18/1978 at 1903900, Book 3100 Page 471 in the records of the Clerk and Recorder of the County of Arapahoe, State of Colorado. The Declaration establishes a lien for the benefit of Sable Landing Condominium Association against real property legal described as follows:

Condominium Unit 937, Condominium Building

9, Sable Landing, according to the Condominium Map for Sable Landing Subdivision Filing No. 1, Phase 5, recorded in Plat Book 48 at Page 35, and as defined in the Condominium Declaration recorded October 18, 1979 in Book 3100 at Page 471; and amendments and supplements thereto, County of Arapahoe, State of Colorado.;

And also known as:

14852 E. Kentucky Dr. #937, Aurora, CO 80012-1706.

The attorney representing the legal owner of the above described lien is: Kate M. Leason, Reg No. 41025, Altitude Community Law P.C., 555 Zang Street, Suite 100, Lakewood, Colorado 802281011, 303.432.9999.

DATED:

Plaintiffs: DAVID B. COX AND LORNA L. COX vs. Defendants: GREGORY L. MITCHELL, if living, AND CINDY L. MITCHELL, if living; any unknown heir thereof either named Defendant; and all unknown persons who claim any interest in the subject matter of this action

Attorney for Plaintiffs: Kyle England, Esq. #51343 SPAETH & DOYLE LLP 501 S Cherry Street, #700 Glendale, CO 80246 Kyle@spaethanddoyle.com 303.385.8058 Case No.: 2022CV32188 Div.: 21

SUMMONS BY PUBLICATION

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF COLORADO TO THE FOLLOWING DEFENDANT(S):

All Defendants listed above and any person(s) who claim any interest in the subject matter of this action.

You are 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 the court an Answer or other response. You are required to file your answer or other response with 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 entered against you by the Court for the relief demanded in the Complaint, without any further notice to you.

Legal Notice No. 531014

First Publication: February 9, 2023

Last Publication: March 9, 2023

Publisher: Littleton Independent

Misc. Private Legals

Public Notice

TO: CARL FILLER: You are notified that you have 10 days after publication for this notice of levy to file your claim of exemption with the County Court of Arapahoe Court, 1790 W. Littleton Blvd., Littleton, CO 80120 in Case 2016C036917

entitled: WELLS FARGO BANK N.A., Successor by Merger to WELLS FARGO FINANCIAL NATIONAL BANK v. CARL E. FILLER, a/k/a CARL EDWARD FILLER, a/k/a CARL FILLER, a/k/a CARL EDWARD FILLER III, CARL E. FILLER III, a/k/a CARL FILLER III $587.49 garnished at Sooper Credit Union, 5005 W. 60th Ave., Arvada, CO 80003

Legal Notice No.531052

First Publication: February 16, 2023

Last Publication: March 16, 2023 Publisher: Littleton Independent Public Notice

DISTRICT COURT, ARAPAHOE COUNTY, COLOARDO

Court Address: 7325 S. Potomac St., Centennial, CO 80112

Case No.: 2021CV32024 Division/Ctrm.: 15

Plaintiff: APPLE VALLEY EAST CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION, INC, a Colorado nonprofit corporation v. Defendants: EMMANUEL MCKINNON; YVONNE MCKINNON; BAYVIEW LOAN SERVICING, LLC; CITY OF AURORA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIVISION REHAB PROGRAM; and PUBLIC TRUSTEE FOR ARAPAHOE COUNTY

SHERIFF’S COMBINED NOTICE OF SALE

This is to advise you that a Sheriff sale proceeding has been commenced through the office of the undersigned Sheriff pursuant to an Order for Judgment and Decree of Foreclosure dated October 28, 2022 , and C.R.S. 38-38-101 et seq. by APPLE VALLEY EAST CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION, INC., a Colorado nonprofit corporation, the holder and current owner of a lien recorded on April 8, 1974 in book 2226 at page 205, and the supplement thereto recorded October 7, 1974 in book 2280 at page 603 and second supplement recorded October 31, 1974 in book 2286 at page 494, in the records of the office of the clerk and recorder of Arapahoe County, Colorado.

CONDOMINIUM UNIT A, BUILDING 72, APPLE VALLEY EAST CONDOMINIUMS, ACCORDING TO THE MAP RECORDED APRIL 8, 1974 IN MAP BOOK 26 AT PAGES 30 TO 33, INCLUSIVE AND SUPPLEMENTS THEREOF AND AN AFFIDAVIT CORRECTING SAID MAP RECORDED SEPTEMBER 3, 1974 IN BOOK 2271 AT PAGE 256, AND THE CONDOMINIUM DECLARATION FOR APPLE VALLEY EAST CONDOMINIUMS, RECORDED APRIL 8, 1974 IN BOOK 2226 AT PAGE 205, AND THE SUPPLEMENT THERETO RECORDED OCTOBER 7, 1974 IN BOOK 2280 AT PAGE 603 AND SECOND SUPPLEMENT RECORDED OCTOBER 31, 1974 IN BOOK 2286 AT PAGE 494, COUNTY OF ARAPAHOE, STATE OF COLORADO

Also known by street and number as 72 Newark Street, Unit A, Aurora, Colorado 80012. Record owner of real property:

Yvonne Mckinnon

Association/Foreclosing Entity/Holder of Debt

Foreclosed: APPLE VALLEY EAST CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION, INC, a Colorado nonprofit corporation

Interest foreclosed: Statutory lien for unpaid assessments per C.R.S. § 38-33.3-316, as perfected by the Condominium Declaration for Apple Valley East Condominiums, recorded on April 8, 1974, at Reception No. 1415965, Book 2226, Page 205 in the Clerk & Recorder’s Office for the County of Arapahoe, Colorado (“Declaration”). More accurately defined in the Order for Judgment and Decree of Foreclosure, issued by the Court on October 28, 2022, a certified copy of which was recorded on November 14, 2022, at Reception No. E2111351 in the Clerk & Recorder’s Office for the County of Arapahoe, Colorado (“Order”).

Amount of judgment entered on October 28, 2022: $30,423.31 with post-judgment interest at 18% per annum. The amount of the foreclosed lien is not stagnant.

Amount of foreclosed lien as of December 7, 2022: $33,153.38

Attorneys for Association: Moeller Graf, P.C.; Associate Attorney Gail R. Gudder, Reg. No. 17820; ggudder@moellergraf.com; 385 Inverness Pkwy., Ste. 200, Englewood, CO 80112; Phone: (877) 279-4499.

THE PROPERTY TO BE SOLD AND DESCRIBED HEREIN IS ALL OF THE PROPERTY CURRENTLY ENCUMBERED BY THE LIEN DESCRIBED ABOVE.

THE LIEN BEING FORECLOSED MAY NOT BE A FIRST LIEN.

The covenants of said Declaration have been violated as follows: failure to pay assessments that have come due, more accurately described in the Order.

THEREFORE, NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Civil Unit of the Sheriff’s Office for the County of Arapahoe, Colorado, will sell the real property described above and the improvements thereon at 10:00 AM, on the 6th day of April 2023 at 13101 E. Broncos Parkway, Centennial, CO 80112, to the highest and best bidder. The Association and its attorney do not make any warranty relating to title, possession, or quiet enjoyment in and to said real property in connection with this sale.

BIDDERS ARE REQUIRED TO HAVE CASH OR CERTIFIED FUNDS SUFFICIENT TO COVER THE MINIMUM BID AT THE TIME OF SALE.

3,

80110

All persons having claims against the above named estate are required to present them to the personal representative or to the District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado on or before July 5, 2023, or the claims may be forever barred. Bruce A. Avila, Personal Representative 2754 S. Winona Ct. Denver, CO 80236 Legal Notice No. 531074

NOTICE TO CREDITORS Estate of MICHELLE LEA DICKERSON, AKA MICHELLE L. DICKERSON, AKA MICHELLE DICKERSON, Deceased Case No.: 2023PR030078

All persons having claims against the abovenamed estate are required to present them to the Personal Representative or to the District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado on or before June 09, 2023, or said claims may be forever barred. CHRISTOPHER GORDON #42569, Personal Representative 3650 S YOSEMITE ST STE 214 DENVER, Colorado 80237

Legal Notice No. 301749

First publication: February 09, 2023

Last publication: February 23, 2023 Publisher: Englewood Herald

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Estate of Lawrence John Schipper, Jr., also known as Lawrence J. Schipper, Jr ., also known as Lawrence J. Schipper, also known as Lawrence J. Schipper II, Deceased Case Number 2023PR30115

All persons having claims against the abovenamed estate are required to present them to the personal representative or to District Court of Arapahoe, County, Colorado or on or before June 16, 2023, or the claims may be forever barred. Leslie Ann Weller Personal Representative 37 Brooks Road Moorestown, NJ 08057

Public Notices

Legal Notice No. 531032

First Publication: February 16, 2023

Last Publication: March 2, 2023

Publisher: Littleton Independent

Public Notice

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Estate of Katherine Lee Peters, Deceased

Case Number: 2023PR30127

All persons having claims against the above named estate are required to present them to the personal representative or to District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado, on or before June 16, 2023, or the claims may be forever barred.

Terry Richardson & Judy Richardson,

Personal Representatives 10101 Burnt Store Road Lot 121

Punta Gorda, FL 33950

Legal Notice No. 531053

First Publication: February 16, 2023

Last Publication: March 2, 2023

Publisher: Littleton Independent

Public Notice

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Estate of FRANK R. HARPER, III, aka FRANK RODERICK HARPER, III, aka FRANK R. HARPER, aka FRANK HARPER, Deceased

Case Number: 2023PR30054

All persons having claims against the above named estate are required to present them to the personal representative or to the District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado on or before June 27, 2023, or the claims may be forever barred.

Amanda Anne Harper

Personal Representative

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

Legal Notice No. 301763

First Publication: February 16, 2023

Last Publication: March 2, 2023

Publisher: Englewood Herald

PUBLIC NOTICE

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Estate of Muriel J. Wright, also known as Muriel Jean Wright, and Muriel Wright, deceased

Case Number: 2022PR31449

All persons having claims against the above named estate are required to present them to the Personal Representative or to District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado on or before June 09, 2023, or the claims may be forever barred.

Michael J. Wright

Personal Representative 2195 Primo Rd., Unit E Highlands Ranch, Colorado 80129

Legal Notice No. 301747

First publication: February 09, 2023

Last publication: February 23, 2023

Publisher: Englewood Herald

Public Notice

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Estate of Marcia Sue Patullo, also known as Marcia S. Patullo, also known as Marcia Sue Osborne, Deceased Case Number: 2023PR30059

All persons having claims against the above named estate are required to present them to the personal representative or to District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado or on or before June 9, 2023, or the claims may be forever barred.

Gregory S. Johnson

Personal Representative 16661 Oakmoor Place Parker, CO 80134

Legal Notice No. 531027

First Publication: February 9, 2023

Last Publication: February 23, 2023

Publisher: Littleton Independent

PUBLIC NOTICE

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Estate of Elsie E. Beazley, aka Elsie Beazley, and Elsie Elizabeth Beazley, deceased Case Number: 2023PR30116

All persons having claims against the above named estate are required to present them to the Personal Representative or to District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado on or before June 23, 2023, or the claims may be forever barred.

John E. Beazley, Personal Representative 33280 Wyndham Circle Elizabeth, Colorado 80107

Legal Notice No. 531083

First publication: February 23, 2023

Last publication: March 09, 2023

Publisher: Littleton Independent

Public Notice

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Estate of RICHARD ARTHUR MARTINEZ, a/k/a RICHARD A. MARTINEZ, a/k/a RICHARD MARTINEZ, a/k/a RICH MARTINEZ; a/k/a RICK MARTINEZ, Deceased

First Publication: February 9, 2023

Last Publication: February 23, 2023

Publisher: Littleton Independent PUBLIC NOTICE

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Estate of Bryan Joseph Bignell a/k/a Bryan J. Bignell and Bryan Bignell, Deceased Case Number: 2023 PR 30039

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

Shane J. Bignell Personal Representative c/o Poskus & Klein, P.C. 303 East 17th Avenue, Suite 900 Denver, Colorado 80203

Legal Notice No. 531057

First Publication: February 16, 2023

Last Publication: March 2, 2023 Publisher: Littleton Independent Public Notice

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Estate of Wilbur Wright McConnell, also known as Wright McConnell, aka W. Wright McConnell, aka William McConnell, aka William Wright McConnel, Deceased Case Number: 22PR30360

All persons having claims against the above named estate are required to present them to the personal representative or to the District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado on or before March 6, 2023, or the claims may be forever barred.

James Michael McConnell,

Personal Representative c/o Renet Greer | Greer Law, LLC 7899 S. Lincoln Ct, #100 Littleton, CO 80122

Legal Notice No. 531016

First Publication: February 9, 2023

Last Publication: February 23, 2023

Publisher: Littleton Independent PUBLIC NOTICE

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Estate of Brian Thomas Ghent, deceased Case Number: 2022PR436

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

William Riley Austin, Jr.

Personal Representative 4101 S. Navajo St., Apt 528B Englewood, CO 80110-4497

NOTICE TO CREDITORS Estate of Ruth J. Wiedemeier, a/k/a Ruth Jane Wiedemeier, a/k/a Ruth Wiedemeier, a/k/a Ruth Wiedemier, Deceased Case Number: 2023PR030086

All persons having claims against the above named estate are required to present them to the personal representative or to the District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado on or before June 20, 2023, or the claims may be forever barred.

David Kirchner, Personal Representative c/o Timothy J. Parks, Esq. Hutchins & Associates LLC 1999 Broadway, Suite 1400 Denver, CO 80202

Legal Notice No. 531046

First Publication: February 16, 2023

Last Publication: March 2, 2023

Publisher: Littleton Independent PUBLIC NOTICE

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Estate of ROSS NAVARRO, aka ROSENDO NAVARRO, Deceased Case Number: 2023 PR 30008

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

Gregory J. Templeton

Personal Representative Meurer Law Offices, P.C. Nicole G. Andrzejewski 3801 E. Florida Avenue, Suite 906 Denver, CO 80210

Legal Notice No. 531056

First Publication: February 16, 2023

Last Publication: March 2, 2023

Publisher: Littleton Independent Public Notice

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Estate of JAMES EDWARD TURRE, A/K/A JAMES E. TURRE, AND JAMES TURRE, Deceased Case Number 23 PR 30031

All persons having claims against the abovenamed estate are required to present them to the Personal Representative or to the DISTRICT COURT OF ARAPAHOE COUNTY, COLORADO, on or before June 21, 2023 or the claims may be forever barred.

Steven J. Turre, Personal Representative 6500 W. Mansfield Avenue #17 Denver, CO 80235

Legal Notice No. 301762

First Publication: February 16, 2023

Last Publication: March 2, 2023

Publisher: Englewood Herald

Public Notice

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Estate of JAMES PATRICK CLANCY, AKA JIM CLANCY, AKA JAMES P. CLANCY, AKA JIM P. CLANCY, AKA JAMES CLANCY, Deceased Case Number: 2022PR215

All persons having claims against the above named estate are required to present them to the personal representative or to the District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado on or before June 25, 2023, or the claims may be forever barred.

Jane Van Horn Zeal

also known as Donald Harvey Kearns, and Donald Kearns, Deceased Case Number: 2023PR030121

All persons having claims against the above named estate are required to present them to the personal representative or to District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado on or before June 9, 2023, or the claims may be forever barred.

By /s/ Richard M. Arnold Attorney for Personal Representative 7691 Shaffer Parkway, Suite A Littleton, CO 80127

All persons having claims against the above named estate are required to present them to either of the co-personal representatives or to the District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado on or before June 23, 2023, or the claims may be forever barred.

David M. Kearns Co-Personal Representative 67 Monroe Street Middlebury, VT 05753

And Sean A. Kearns Co-Personal Representative 458 Eudora Street Denver, CO 80220

Legal Notice No. 531065

First Publication: February 23, 2023

Last Publication: March 9, 2023

Publisher: Littleton Independent

Case Number: 2023PR30021

All persons having claims against the abovenamed estate are required to present them to the personal representative or to the District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado on or before June 9, 2023, or the claims may be forever barred.

Tricia D. Martinez, Personal Representative 9945 Ashburn Lake Drive Tampa, FL 33610

Legal Notice No. 531030

Legal Notice No. 531039 First Publication: February 16, 2023 Last Publication: March 2, 2023 Publisher: Littleton Independent Public Notice

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

John D. Gordon Co-Personal Representative 2557 S. Columbine Street Denver, CO 80210 James R. Gordon

All persons having claims against the above named estate are required to present them to the personal representative or to the District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado on or before 6/9/2023, or the claims may be forever barred.

Michael Clancy, Personal Representative 46 Bancroft Road, Northampton, MA 01060

Legal Notice No. 531015

First Publication: February 9, 2023

Last Publication: February 23, 2023

Publisher: Littleton Independent

NOTICE TO CREDITORS Estate of Terry Lee Banza, aka Terry L. Banza, aka Terry Banza, Deceased Case Number: 2023PR30092

All persons having claims against the above named estate are required to present them to the personal representative or to District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado on or before June 9, 2023, or the claims may be forever barred.

Jonathan P. Banza, Personal Representative 2224 Waylon Dr. Johnstown, CO 80534

Legal Notice No. 301748

First Publication: February 9, 2023

Last Publication: February 23, 2023

Publisher: Englewood Herald

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Estate of JUDITH ELLEN BRENNING, Deceased Case Number: 2023PR30100

All persons having claims against the above named estate are required to present them to the personal representative or to District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado or on or before June 16, 2023, or the claims may be forever barred.

Nicole M. Harrington

of Kathleen Marie Beckett, deceased Case Number: 2023PR30026

All persons having claims against the above named estate are required to present them to the Personal Representative or to District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado on or before June 09, 2023, or the claims may be forever barred.

Marie Elizabeth Weschler Personal Representative 12278 Utica Place Broomfield, Colorado 80020

Legal Notice No. 301746

First publication: February 09, 2023

Last publication: February 23, 2023

Publisher: Englewood Herald Public Notice

NOTICE TO CREDITORS Estate of Michael A. Van Horn, Deceased Case Number: 23PR30170

All persons having claims against the above named estate are required to present them to the personal representative or to the District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado on or before June 25, 2023, or the claims may be forever barred.

Jane Van Horn Zeal Personal Representative c/o 6060 Greenwood Plaza Blvd #200 Greenwood Village, CO 80111

Legal Notice No. 531077

First Publication: February 23, 2023

Last Publication: March 9, 2023

Publisher: Littleton Independent

Public Notice

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Estate of LOIS JEAN LEHRER, a/k/a LOIS J. LEHRER, a/k/a LOIS LEHRER Deceased Case Number: 2023PR30150

All persons having claims against the abovenamed estate are required to present them to the Co-Personal Representatives or to the Arapahoe County District Court on or before June 23, 2023, or the claims may be forever barred.

Linda L. Moss, Co-Personal Representative 3987 Blue Pine Circle Highlands Ranch, Colorado 80126

Keith J. Lehrer, Co-Personal Representative 174 Players Club Dr. Castle Rock, Colorado 80104

Legal Notice No. 301777

First Publication: February 23, 2023

Last Publication: March 9, 2023

Publisher: Englewood Herald

Public Notice

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Estate of Darrell F. Freeland, also known as Darrell Forrest Freeland, and Darrell Freeland, Deceased Case Number: 2023PR30061

All persons having claims against the above named estate are required to present them to the personal representative or to the District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado on or before June 16, 2023, or the claims may be forever barred.

Vicki Lynn Spangler Personal Representative 3709 S. Galapago Street Englewood, Colorado 80110

Legal Notice No. 531041

First Publication: February 16, 2023

Last Publication: March 2, 2023

Publisher: Littleton Independent

PUBLIC NOTICE

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Estate of Caroline Goforth Butler, deceased Case Number: 2023PR60

All persons having claims against the above named estate are required to present them to the Personal Representative or to District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado on or before April 24, 2023, or the claims may be forever barred.

Richard M. Butler Personal Representative 1309 W Harmony Dr Fort Collins, Colorado 80526

Legal Notice No. 531082

First publication: February 23, 2023

Last publication: March 09, 2023

Publisher: Littleton Independent Public Notice

PUBLIC NOTICE

NOTICE TO CREDITORS Estate of Carla Beer, deceased Case Number: 23PR25

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

Taryn Lemery, Personal Representative 2390 S. Madison st Denver, Colorado 80210

Legal Notice No. 531040

First publication: February 16, 2023

Last publication: March 02, 2023

Publisher: Littleton Independent PUBLIC NOTICE

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Estate of D Kathleen Johnson, aka Kathleen Johnson, Deceased Case Number: 2023PR19

All persons having claims against the abovenamed estate are required to present them to the Personal Representative or to the District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado on or before June 23, 2023, or the claims may be forever barred.

Robert Johnson, Personal Representative 1773 Poppy Court Lafayette, Colorado 80026

Legal Notice No. 301776

First Publication: February 23, 2023

Last Publication: March 9, 2023

Publisher: Englewood Herald Public Notice

NOTICE TO CREDITORS Estate of Martha M. Urioste, a/k/a Martha Urioste, a/k/a Martha Maxine Urioste, Deceased Case Number: 2022PR31445

All persons having claims against the above named estate are required to present them to the personal representative or to the District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado on or before June 16, 2023, or the claims may be forever barred.

Achieve Law Group Attorney to the Personal Representative 146 W. 11th Ave. Denver, Colorado, 80204

Legal Notice No. 531012

First Publication: February 9, 2023

Last Publication: February 23, 2023

Publisher: Littleton Independent Public Notice

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Estate of Katherine B. Nevin, a/k/a Katherine Bernadine Seil Nevin, a/k/a Katherine Bernadine Nevin, Deceased Case Number: 2023PR30135

All persons having claims against the abovenamed estate are required to present them to the personal representative or to District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado on or before June 23, 2023, or the claims may be forever barred.

Thomas Nevin, Personal Representative c/o Keith L. Davis, Esq. Davis Schilken, PC 7887 E. Belleview Ave., Suite 820 Denver, CO 80111

Legal Notice No. 531085

First Publication: February 23, 2023

Last Publication: March 9, 2023

Publisher: Littleton Independent Public Notice

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Estate of ROBERT LEVINARD STEINERT, a/k/a ROBERT LEE STEINERT, a/k/a ROBERT L. STEINERT, a/k/a ROBERT STEINERT, Deceased

Case Number : 2023PR30085

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

David L Steinert Co-Personal Representative 14553 E Wagon Trail Drive Aurora, CO 80015

Laura Thompson Co-Personal Representative 13757 E. Marina Drive, Unit B Aurora, CO 80014

Legal Notice No.531036

First Publication: February 16, 2023

Last Publication: March 2, 2023

Publisher: Littleton Independent

Public Notice

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Estate of Elizabeth A. Rykhus, also known as Elizabeth Ann Rykhus, also known as Elizabeth Rykhus, Deceased Case Number: 2023PR030120

All persons having claims against the above named estate are required to present them to the personal representative or to District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado on or before June 23, 2023, or the claims may be forever barred.

Sarah Lynn Hagan

Personal Representative 11287 E. 162nd Place Brighton, CO 80602

Legal Notice No. 531068

First Publication: February 23, 2023

Last Publication: March 9, 2023

Publisher: Littleton Independent

Public Notice

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Estate of Craig W. Rader, a/k/a Craig William Rader, a/k/a Craig Rader, Deceased Case Number 22 PR 30935

All persons having claims against the abovenamed estate are required to present them to the Personal Representative or to: the District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado on or before June 9, 2023, or the claims may be forever barred.

David C. Walcher, Personal Representative 4047 South Sable Circle Aurora, CO 80014 dwalcher@msn.com

Legal Notice No. 531026

First Publication: February 9, 2023

Last Publication: February 23, 2023

Publisher: Littleton Independent

Public Notice

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Estate of Linda Van Gilder Kelley, also known as Linda V.G. Kelley, and Linda Kelley, Deceased Case Number: 2023PR30004

All persons having claims against the above named estate are required to present them to the personal representative or to the District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado on or before June 16, 2023, or the claims may be forever barred.

JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A,

Personal Representative 1455 16th Street, Suite 407, Floor 4 Denver, CO 80202

Legal Notice No. 531033

First Publication: February 16, 2023

Last Publication: March 2, 2023

Publisher: Littleton Independent

Name Changes

PUBLIC NOTICE

Public Notice of Petition for Change of Name

Public notice is given on February 6, 2023, that a Petition for a Change of Name of a minor child has been filed with the Arapahoe County Court.

The petition requests that the name of Martin Lucas Nakayama be changed to Lucas Martin Nakayama

Case No.: 2022CV247

By: Michael James Spear

Senior Judge

Legal Notice No. 531070

First Publication: February 23, 2023

Last Publication: March 9, 2023

Publisher: Littleton Independent

PUBLIC NOTICE

Public Notice of Petition for Change of Name

Public notice is given on February 7, 2023, that a Petition for a Change of Name of an adult has been filed with the Arapahoe County Court.

The petition requests that the name of Perla Maria Wilson be changed to

Miranda Wilson

Case No.: 23 C 100087

By: Clerk of Court / Deputy Clerk

Legal Notice No. 531067

First Publication: February 23, 2023

Last Publication: March 9, 2023

Publisher: Littleton Independent

PUBLIC NOTICE

Public Notice of Petition for Change of Name

Public notice is given on February 9, 2023, that a Petition for a Change of Name of an adult has been filed with the Arapahoe County Court.

The petition requests that the name of Fiona Marie MacKendrick be changed to Mia Amelia MacKendrick. Case No.: 23 C 100110

By: Kim Boswell Clerk of Court / Deputy Clerk

Notice No. 531072

Publication: February 23, 2023 Last Publication: March 9, 2023

Public Notice is given on February 3, 2023, that a Petition for a Change of Name of an Adult has been filed with the Arapahoe County Court.

The Petition requests that the name of lzac Johnathon Garcia be changed to lzac Johnathon Delgado.

Last publication: March 09, 2023

Publisher: Englewood Herald

PUBLIC NOTICE

Public Notice of Petition for Change of Name

Public notice is given on January 25, 2023, that a Petition for a Change of Name of an adult /a minor child has been filed with the Arapahoe County Court.

The petition requests that the name of Rachel Lillie Jane Fields be changed to

Imani Lillie Jane Fields Case No.: 23 C 100060

By: Clerk of Court / Deputy Clerk

Legal Notice No. 531035

First Publication: February 16, 2023

Last Publication: March 2, 2023

Publisher: Littleton Independent

PUBLIC NOTICE

Public Notice of Petition for Change of Name

Public notice is given on February 2, 2023, that a Petition for a Change of Name of a minor child has been filed with the Arapahoe County Court.

The petition requests that the name of Abram Moreno Jacobo be changed to Abram Moreno Jacobo

Case No.: 23 C 100043

By: Clerk of Court / Deputy Clerk

Legal Notice No. 531042

First Publication: February 16, 2023

Last Publication: March 2, 2023

Publisher: Littleton Independent

PUBLIC NOTICE

Public Notice of Petition for Change of Name

Public notice is given on January 23, 2023, that a Petition for a Change of Name of an adult has been filed with the Arapahoe County Court.

Legal Notice No. 531059

First Publication: February 16, 2023

Last Publication: March 2, 2023

Publisher: Littleton Independent PUBLIC NOTICE

Public Notice of Petition for Change of Name

Public notice is given on February 2, 2023, that a Petition for a Change of Name of an adult has been filed with the Arapahoe County Court.

The petition requests that the name of Olalekan Emmanuel Amusat be changed to Olalekan Lion Emmanuel Case No.: 23 C 100080

By: Kim Boswell Clerk of Court / Deputy Clerk

Legal Notice No. 531055

First Publication: February 16, 2023

Last Publication: March 2, 2023

Publisher: Littleton Independent PUBLIC NOTICE

Public Notice of Petition for Change of Name

Public notice is given on February 3, 2023, that a Petition for a Change of Name of an adult has been filed with the Arapahoe County Court.

The petition requests that the name of Devin James Chaney be changed to Devin James Thornton Case No.: 23 C 100081

By: Clerk of Court / Deputy Clerk

Legal Notice No. 531066

First Publication: February 23, 2023

Last Publication: March 9, 2023

Publisher: Littleton Independent PUBLIC NOTICE

Public Notice of Petition for Change of Name

IN THE MATTER OF THE PETITION OF: CHRISTOPHER MILLER, FOR THE ADOPTION OF A CHILD. MODERN FAMILY LAW

Cynthia Griffin, Esq., #50552 4500 Cherry Creek Drive South, Suite 700 Denver, CO 80246

Telephone: (720) 880-5091

E-mail: cynthia.griffin@modernfamilylaw.com

Case Number: 2022JA030029

NOTICE OF ADOPTION PROCEEDING AND SUMMONS TO RESPOND PURSUANT TO §19-5-105(5), C.R.S.

To the above-named Respondent(s):

You are hereby notified that a Petition for Adoption has been filed and if you wish to respond to the Petition, you must file your Response with the clerk of this Court within 35 days after this Notice is served on you.

Your response must be accompanied by the applicable filing fee of $192.00.

Your failure to file a Response, or to appear, within 35 days after service, and, in the case of an alleged father, your failure to file a claim of paternity under Article 4 of Title 19, C.R.S., within 35 days after service, if a claim has not previously been filed, may likely result in termination of your parental or your alleged parental rights to the minor child.

The following documents are also served herewith: (check as appropriate)

for (Stepparent, Kinship, Custodial)

to Terminate the

(JDF 520).

[x] Consent to Adoption by Custodial Parent

The petition requests that the name of Abigail Lyn Berry be changed to Abigail Lyn Jepson Kuhl

The petition requests that the name of Andrew Carlson Woodward be changed to Andrew Woodward Carlson

Case No.: 23C100042

By: Kim Boswell Clerk of Court / Deputy Clerk

Legal Notice No. 531017

First Publication: February 9, 2023

Last Publication: February 23, 2023

Publisher: Littleton Independent PUBLIC NOTICE

Public Notice of Petition for Change of Name

Public notice is given on February 3, 2023, that a Petition for a Change of Name of a minor child has been filed with the Arapahoe County Court.

The petition requests that the name of Ian Gonzalez Salinas be changed to Ian Salinas

Case No.: 23C100049

By: Judge Colleen Clerk

Legal Notice No. 531081

First Publication: February 23, 2023

Last Publication: March 9, 2023

Publisher: Littleton Independent

PUBLIC NOTICE

Public Notice of Petition for Change of Name

[x] Notice of Hearing

[x] Proposed Findings of Fact [x] Verified Statement of Fees

Motion to Waive Family Assessment Home Study

DATED: October 13, 2022

Clerk of Court/Deputy Clerk

Legal Notice No. 531010

First Publication: February 9, 2023

Last Publication: March 9, 2023

Publisher: Littleton Independent Public Notice

TO: Joshua Zancanelli

The petition requests that the name of Gianna Noelani Ditsworth be changed to Gianna Noelani Palmer

Case No.: 2023 C 100027

By: Clerk of Court / Deputy Clerk

Legal Notice No. 531021

First Publication: February 9, 2023

Last Publication: February 23, 2023

Publisher: Littleton Independent PUBLIC NOTICE

Public Notice of Petition for Change of Name

Public notice is given on February 3, 2023, that a Petition for a Change of Name of a minor child has been filed with the Arapahoe County Court.

The petition requests that the name of David Chukwuebuka Samson be changed to David Chukwuebuka Njoku

Case No.: 23 C 100045

By: Clerk of Court / Deputy Clerk

Legal Notice No. 531058

First Publication: February 16, 2023

Last Publication: March 2, 2023

Publisher: Littleton Independent PUBLIC NOTICE

Public Notice of Petition for Change of Name

Public Notice is given on February 07, 2023, that a Petition for a Change of Name of a Adult has been filed with the Arapahoe County Court.

The Petition requests that the name of Paanaakalamakealakupono Cheri Smith be changed to Keala Cheri Smith.

Case No.: 20230100094

By: Laqunya Latrese Baker Clerk of the Court / Deputy Clerk

Legal Notice No. 301767

First publication: February 23, 2023

Public Notices Public Notices

Public notice is given on January 19, 2023, that a Petition for a Change of Name of a minor child has been filed with the Arapahoe County Court.

The petition requests that the name of Ethan Yaw Aggrey be changed to Ethan Asongwed Yaw Aggrey Case No.: 22C100569

By: Clerk of Court / Deputy Clerk

Legal Notice No. 531011

First Publication: February 9, 2023

Last Publication: February 23, 2023

Publisher: Littleton Independent

PUBLIC NOTICE

Public Notice of Petition for Change of Name

Public notice is given on January 30, 2023, that a Petition for a Change of Name of an adult has been filed with the Arapahoe County Court.

The petition requests that the name of Talia Rae Cella be changed to Talia Rae Cella Hutchison Case No.: 23 C 100068

By: Kim Boswell Clerk of Court / Deputy Clerk

Legal Notice No. 531076

First Publication: February 23, 2023

Last Publication: March 9, 2023

Publisher: Littleton Independent PUBLIC NOTICE

Public Notice of Petition for Change of Name

Public notice is given on February 3, 2023, that a Petition for a Change of Name of a minor child has been filed with the Arapahoe County Court.

The petition requests that the name of Daniel Tochukwu Samson be changed to Daniel Tochukwu Njoku Case No.: 23 C 100047

By: Clerk of Court / Deputy Clerk

Public notice is given on February 1, 2023, that a Petition for a Change of Name of an adult has been filed with the Arapahoe-Littleton County Court.

The petition requests that the name of Jackman Carlos Steele be changed to Jackman Carlos Gonzalez Case No.: 2023 C 100077

By: Clerk of Court / Deputy Clerk

Legal Notice No. 531047

First Publication: February 16, 2023

Last Publication: March 2, 2023

Publisher: Littleton Independent

PUBLIC NOTICE

Public Notice of Petition for Change of Name

Public notice is given on January 23, 2023, that a Petition for a Change of Name of an adult /a minor child has been filed with the Arapahoe County Court.

The petition requests that the name of ECATERINA GABRIAL be changed to ECATERINA RUSU Case No.: 23 C 100051

By: Judge Colleen Clark

Legal Notice No. 531071

First Publication: February 23, 2023

Last Publication: March 9, 2023

Publisher: Littleton Independent Children Services

YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED that Jacob Eugene Urban and Megan Marie Urban have filed an Amended Petition for Adoption in the County Court of Merrick County, Nebraska, referenced as Case No. AD 22-1, and is requesting that Jacob Eugene Urban adopt the minor child, C.J.Z. An abandonment hearing is scheduled for March 21, 2023, at 3:00 p.m., in the Merrick County Court. A separate hearing on the underlying adoption and whether such adoption is in the best interests of the minor will be scheduled by the Court following the hearing on the issue of abandonment. You have been identified as the father of the minor child born around April of 2011. You have the right to (i) deny paternity, (ii) waive any parental rights you may have, (iii) relinquish and consent to the adoption of the child, (iv) file a Notice of Objection to the Adoption and Intent to Obtain Custody anytime during the pregnancy or as late as ten business days after birth, or (v) object to the adoption in court within forty-five days after the receipt of notice. In order to deny paternity, waive paternal rights, relinquish and consent to the adoption, or receive additional information to determine whether you are the father of the child in question, you must contact the attorney representing the biological mother: Erin M. Urbom, 202 W. 3rd Street, Grand Island, NE 68801, Telephone: (308) 382-2128. If you wish to object to the adoption and seek custody of the child, you must seek legal counsel from your own attorney immediately.

Legal Notice No. 301764

First Publication: February 16, 2023

Last Publication: March 9, 2023

Publisher: Englewood Herald ###

303-566-4088