Commerce City Sentinel Express 0504

SENTINEL EXPRESS C O M M E R C E

VOLUME 34 32

C I T Y

50cI

SSUE 48 18 ISSUE

TUESDAY , MAY 4,24, 2021 TUESDAY , NOVEMBER 2020

‘Each phase New COVID-19 restrictions will prohibit indoor dining, personal gatherings

of the disease was different’ Platte Valley doctors, nurses look back on COVID-19

BY BELEN WARD BWARD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Ann Healey, former co-owner of Colorado Community Media, speaks during a meeting announcing the sale of the print and digital news company. At right, former publisher and co-owner Jerry Healey and reporter Thelma Grimes listen.

PHOTO BY JOHN LEYBA/SPECIAL TO THE COLORADO SUN

‘Tell stories that matter:’ Colorado Community Media sold to news entity

By Ellis Arnold

A long line of cars outside the city of Brighton’s rapid testing site at Colorado Community Media Riverdale Regional Park. The site has had to close early many days in recent weeks due to high demand. Adams County’s 14-day test positivity rate Denver metro to TheAs acquisition is counties the firstcontinue for Denver-area suburbs — includinch closer to localnonprofi stay-at-home orders a nascent t that ingto this one — and two shoppers was 15.9 percent, as of Nov. 17, according Tri-County Health Department. NTLN, to Colorado’s leverage system national foundahas been acquired by a local and under of coronavirusBrighton and Commerce City’s test positivity rates were both higher than seeks tion funding to buy and bolster national partnership with the goal related restrictions, the state announced 13 percent. Forty-five people in Brighton and 29 in Commerce City have local newspapers threatened by of building a sustainable business a new level of rulesmodels that prohibits indoor died from COVID-19 related health issues.

To for limit thenews, spreaditsofownership COVID-19, faltering business and the model local dining and personal gatherings — a announcedthat on May 3. at least 15 counties moved to tighter restrictions prohibits indoor and encroachment of hedge funds and change that applies to the majority of the corporate conglomerates.

Jerry and Ann Healey, the couple personal gatherings.

The Colorado Sun, a statewide who built the company over the Denver metro area and many counties in news outlet founded and run by past decade, sold the network of

BY DAVID GILBERT other regions. former Denver Post journalists, papers that now spans eight counDGILBERT@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM The state’s COVID-19 dial, which will oversee daily operations at has ties and dozens of communities Photo by Belen Ward been in effect since September, Colorado Community Media. is the set to a joint partnership between the Colorado Community Media, of different levels of restrictions that each National Trust for Local News, or the company that produces two

Colorado Sun, national foundation to take the reins of two dozen Denver-area newspapers

dozen newspapers around the

CONTACT

US AT

NTLN, and The Colorado Sun.

303-659-2522

Contact us at 303-659-2522

INSIDE THIS ISSUE INSIDE THIS ISSUE

SEE SOLD, P2

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LOCAL LOCAL

LOCAL 3 3 • Metro Schools OBITUARIES •27J Schools moves 5 5 ask state OBITUARIES LOCAL to end Dec. 1 online-only 8 6 COVID LEGALS SPORTS quarantine 11 8 requirements.

CLASSIFIED CALENDAR • Page 3 10 LEGALS • Page 7 11 CLASSIFIEDS

BUSINESS SPORTS • With collegetoplans • Vestas lay off 200

nailed down, 19 sign employees letters of intent

• Page 6

• Page 9

Jonathan Seib is a Charge Nurse and Clinical Coordinator for the Intermediate Care and Medical Surgery unit at Platte Valley Medical Center for about three years.

Seib was a news reporter before but always had an interest in the medical profession.

“I had two goals, the first goal I became a reporter and writer for five years,” said Seib.

Then one day Seib decided to reinvent himself and became a nurse.

“I felt like I wanted to directly help people,” Seib said. “I was at a point in my life, with the support of my family, I wanted to go back to school full time, so I decided to go back to school for my other passion the medical field, and become a nurse.”

The virus hit in multiple phases and it was overwhelming for Seib and his team.

In the first phase, the staff worked with Wendy Colon in the Incident Command Center on processes. The team started prepping for what was coming and planning contingencies as more more were county is and required to patients follow based on bethe ing admitted. severity of a county’s local virus spread.

“Each phase was different and you The dialchange grew outtreatments, of the state’s rooms, safer-atwould homefiorder the policybeds. that came after and nding—physical It was the statewide stay-at-home order this intimidating, I never had to plan for something like this before,” spring and allowed numerous types said of Seib. businesses to reopen.

As patients continued to come in, state recently switched to color theThe frontline workers still consididentifiers — levels blue, yellow and ered COVID a mystery virus.

The orange rather than numbered to staff was receiving reportslevels from— the hospitals in New York, China and avoid confusion. Until Nov. 17, level red other overseas on treatmeant countries a stay-at-home order. Now, level ments that could work. red — “severe risk” — is the second“We were trying a lot of different things and treating it like the flu

Please see RESTRICTIONS, Page 2

SEE HEALTH CARE, P5

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2 Commerce City Sentinel Express

May 4, 2021

We were blessed with the opportunities to tell your stories New owners are committed to our brand of journalism

O

ur journey in journalism started in the early 1980s, as recent college graduates — me, as a reporter at The Miami Herald, then one of the country’s largest papers; Jerry in the newspaper’s advertising department.

Back in those days, rarely did editorial and advertising departments cross paths.

If it hadn’t been for a company softball team, we might Ann Macari never have met.

Healey After we married, we moved to Rhode Island to work for the Providence Journal-Bulletin.

After a few years there, we thought: Why not run our own paper? We seemed like an ideal partnership. I had editorial covered; Jerry Healey Jerry, the business end.

So we moved to Chicago to run a community paper for a friend’s father — to learn, to see how it felt, to find out whether we could make the transition from larger publications to a hyperlocal endeavor.

We decided we could. And after a year, in 1989, we rode a train to Denver, bought a small paper in Littleton and began a 22-year adventure that has defined much of our lives.

Today, our company publishes 26 newspapers and publications in metro Denver and beyond.

Journalism in any place and at any level — large, medium, small — is exciting and purposeful for those of us who ply the profession. But for Jerry and me, it also has been about our bond to our readers and advertisers. It’s personal. We have cared deeply about the quality of your lives and success of your businesses.

We were called to tell your stories with truth, accuracy, fairness and compassion.

We still remember the excitement of longtime Littleton residents at having local ownership of their paper. They understood, better than us at that time, how important it is for those who run newspapers to know the communities they cover, to understand the historic, social and economic narratives that shape a place and its people.

Between 2004 and 2020 in the United States, at least 1,800 communities lost their local newspapers, according to a recently published report. That leaves these communities without a voice, without government accountability — whether it be schools or city hall — or reliable means to connect with each other.

The death of journalism in any community is a tragedy and a crumbling of our democratic foundation. That’s not happening here because the new owners of our company — a joint partnership between the nonprofit National Trust for Local News and The Colorado Sun — are committed to the same brand of journalism that we have brought you. (Please see accompanying story.)

They are talented, innovative and mission-driven. They will not only

ensure the papers’ legacies in your communities continue, but also that community newspapers thrive in new and creative ways. And we ask you — our readers, businesses, advertisers and community leaders — to continue to support them as you’ve supported us.

It is difficult to sum up this journey of ours in a few, good words.

In the beginning, it was Jerry and me and a handful of passionate, part-time freelance reporters working out of a bookshop.

When the opportunity arose to acquire the historic Littleton Independent and two other neighboring papers, we couldn’t find a bank to take a chance on us. Family stepped in and gave us a loan, like any bank, with interest and a strict, no-fudging repayment timeline.

We stepped away for some years to explore other interests. But in 2011, the opportunity to help turn around a group of struggling community papers drew Jerry back. And little by little, more papers, some also struggling, were added. There were those who doubted the wisdom of investing financially and emotionally in an industry many have labeled as dying. And, certainly, some of the papers we acquired no longer had the reader and advertising support they once enjoyed.

But they did have roots, deep roots, some going back more than 100 years —the Golden Transcript, for instance, is 153 years strong.

How do you let such legacies go without a fight?

The fight required perseverance, creativity, difficult decisions, a lot of energy for long days and — the key — a small army of editorial, advertising, production and business staff who believed fervently in commu-

SOLD FROM PAGE 1

With the Healeys looking toward retirement and hoping to leave the company in good hands, publisher Jerry Healey said the deal was the best he could have hoped for.

“We were looking for new owners who understand the purpose of community newspapers,” Jerry said. “Someone who believed in our mission to tell stories that matter in our communities, not just in sending profits back East. They have the heart and vision for what could be a way to preserve and grow local papers everywhere, not just ours.”

Ann said she has total confidence in the new owners.

“They’re in it for the right reasons,” she said, “and they really care about journalism.”

The acquisition charts a new path forward for family-owned legacy newspapers, said Larry Ryckman, the editor and co-founder of the Colorado Sun. “This is a cool opportunity to demonstrate to Colorado and the country that we can find a way to keep local journalism in local hands,” Ryckman said. “My expectation is we’ll hire additional people. Readers will keep seeing the journalism they trust and support, but we can

Jerry and Ann Healey, left, sold Colorado Community Media to a national and local partnership between the National Trust for Local News and the Colorado Sun designed PHOTO BY JOHN LEYBA/SPECIAL TO THE COLORADO SUN to bolster local journalism.

breathe some energy into both the print and digital operations.”

The approach will be gradual and thoughtful, he said.

“We don’t want to come in and say how to run the shop,” Ryckman said. “I want to be humble and listen to readers and employees and figure out the best way forward. Job one is to not break anything.”

Newspapers for sale The Healeys began quietly hunt-

ing for a buyer around Thanksgiving 2020, Jerry Healey said.

He approached Laura Frank, the executive director of the Colorado News Collaborative or COLab, a nonprofit statewide network that works to strengthen local journalism, asking if she knew of any potential buyers who would preserve and grow local news. Frank connected him to Elizabeth Hansen Shapiro, CEO and co-founder of NTLN.

nity newspapers.

Colorado Community Media’s success belongs to its people. Our staff throughout the years has been incredibly talented. They have worked together through good times and bad to deliver the news to you every week. Jerry and I are profoundly grateful for their dedication, contributions — and friendships.

We feel privileged to have helped local businesses achieve direct access to readers. We feel rewarded that we told the stories that otherwise would not have been heard.

There are so many, but a few in recent years include the joyful drive-by pandemic celebration of a woman’s 100th birthday. Economic challenges of local shopping centers. Black students confronted by racism. Comprehensive local election guides. The quest of a man dying of cancer to complete his dream. A year-long look at the state of mental health in one county. Families’ struggles to pay the rent when jobs were lost. High school graduations. And all those triumphs and defeats in our community sports pages.

Jerry and I are leaving for a few reasons: We are nearing retirement.

We would like to spend more time with our children and granddaughter. We would like to see what else is in store for us. But we also felt it was time for new energy and vision for our papers and the communities they serve.

We feel fortunate to have found new owners who can bring that.

For Jerry and me, that means we can say goodbye, feeling secure about these papers’ future, and blessed for having had the opportunity to tell your stories.

The timing was serendipitous, Shapiro said. Just over a month earlier, NTLN had published its concept paper through Harvard University’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy.

The situation in local news nationwide is dire, the concept paper says.

Though many small familyrun operations remain profitable around the country, they face serious headwinds from declining advertising revenue and print subscriptions. Digital advertising struggles to make up the difference, especially as corporate behemoths like Facebook and Google have gobbled up much of the available online ad revenue.

Waves of consolidation and acquisitions have left a third of America’s newspapers in the hands of 25 companies as of 2018, the paper says, with more than 1,800 newspapers shut down in the last 15 years.

“The most powerful newspaper owners are now private capital holding companies whose expectations for profit and return have strongly influenced local newsrooms’ size, quality, and resource levels,” the paper reads in part.

Corporate ownership entangles newspapers in a “downward spiral” that slashes newspapers’ legitimacy and capabilities, it says.

SEE SOLD, P4

Commerce City Sentinel Express 3

May 4, 2021

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Our Family Helping Your Family

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

taborfuneralhome.com

FIKE

allieventcenter.com

PEARSON

Gertrude Louise (Trudy) Fike

Mildred Louise (Unrein) Pearson

1/29/1919 - 4/30/2021

Trudy passed away at her home in Brighton, Colorado on April 30, 2021 of natural causes at the age of 102. She was born January 29, 1919, the daughter of Leo and Elsie Nussbaumer of Alliance, Ohio. She graduated from Alliance High School and Alliance Business College. She married Harold E. Fike on August 11, 1940. He was a Reserve Army Officer and served in World War II and the Korean War. They had three children and the family accompanied him on tours of duty to Saipan, Hawaii, the Philippines and Puerto Rico. They retired in Boulder, Colorado in 1962. After her husband’s death, she entered the business world as an employee and associate of Martin T. Hart of Denver. They were the founders of Little

April 20, 1944 ~ April 27, 2021

Valley Wholesale Nursery in Adams County, Colorado.

She is predeceased by her husband, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Harold E. Fike and daughter, Carolyn. She is survived by her daughter, Cynthia L. Thorngren of Brighton, Colorado and her son, Harold E. Fike, Jr. of Hendersonville, NC; her grandchildren John, Carl, Elyssa and Shaughnessy; and her great-grandchildren Alexandra, Henry and John.

Interment will be May 5, 2021 at Fort Logan National Cemetery. There will be a celebration of life on June 19th at the Farm. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to her favorite charities including Guide Dogs for the Blind, Salvation Army and Heifer International.

ROSALES

Naomi M. Rosales

July 6, 1978 ~ April 26, 2021 Naomi M. Rosales, 42, of Brighton, was born on July 6, 1978 in Boulder, Colorado to parents, Keith R. and Judith K. (Hartling) Hartman. Naomi was a 1996 graduate of Centaurus High School in Lafayette, Colorado and attended Metro State College and Front Range Community College.

She married Jose Rosales on September 28, 2001 in Brighton, Colorado.

Together with her husband, Jose, they owned and operated Rosales Landscape in Brighton. She was a member of St. Augustine Catholic Church where she also volunteered and enjoyed teaching Sunday school.

Naomi held her real estate license and was a substitute teacher for Brighton School District 27J. Naomi was an avid fan of the Denver Broncos, loved to travel and enjoyed the outdoors, boating and camping.

One of her favorite places to spend time with friends was at Horsetooth Reservoir in Fort Collins. She loved to work and was a leader, always organized and

took charge of any task put in front of her.

Naomi was a loving and dedicated wife, mother, daughter, grandmother and friend.

She touched many lives and will be dearly missed.

Along with her husband, Jose, survivors include her mother, Judy Hartman of Lafayette, CO; sons, Luis and Ruben (Felicia); and daughter, Isabella all of Brighton, CO. She is also survived by grandchildren, Ruben, Jr., Nehemiah, Joey, Noah and Roman.

Recitation of the Rosary was on Monday, May 3, 2021, at 6:00 p.m., with Funeral Mass on Tuesday, May 4, 2021, at 11:00 a.m., all at St. Augustine Catholic Church, in Brighton, Colorado. Interment followed at Fairview Cemetery, in Brighton.

Please share memories of Naomi and condolences with her family by visiting her obituary online at www.

TaborFuneralHome.com.

Mildred Louise “Millie” Pearson was born in Herington, KS on April 20, 1944 to her parents Marguerite (Chalker) and Celestine “Dempsey” Unrein. She was baptized into the Catholic Church on April 25, 1950 in Brighton, Colorado. As a young girl Millie learned to play accordion and piano. She had fond memories of her father bringing friends and having her play for them. As the oldest of eight children, she loved telling stories of her younger siblings running and sliding across the wood floor in their stalking feet.

She attended Cathedral High School in Denver, Colorado and married Henry Swanson Jr. just after high school. Together they had four children: Robert A. Swanson (Michelle), Donald G. Swanson, Stephanie L. Neison, and Terence S. Swanson (Cynthia).

Mildred was a loving mother who always encouraged her children to do their very best in everything they chose to do. She made sure they were able to participate in sports and private music lessons, even when it was hard financially. She always told them “you can do anything you want to do in life as long as you don’t hurt yourself or anyone else.”

She taught her children the importance of attending church and prayed for them daily. She always made every skinned knee or scrape seem insignificant with the love that she treated them with.

Holidays were always a special time for Millie and her family, with festive decorations, amazing food, and fun activities. She took pride in everything she had and everything she did, and she always made sure to take care of the things she had been blessed with.

Millie spent many years as a teacher’s aid at Northeast Elementary in Brighton, Colorado and touched the lives of many children. She also spent several years as the manager of the Payless Shoe Store in Brighton, Co.

Mildred and Henry had a wonderful marriage of 36 years and together with their children made many great memories. They enjoyed trips to Estes Park for hiking and camping, spending time at home gardening, and spending quality time as a family. Henry passed away in 1997 and a couple of years later she met Richard W. Pearson. Richard and Mildred were married on April 28, 2002. They shared 19 amazing years of traveling the world, sharing the love of all their children and grandchildren, sharing stories of their childhoods, decorating their home, and loving each other in sickness and in health.

Mildred is survived by her husband, Richard Pearson; three sons: Robert, Donald, and Terry; grandchildren: Fathom, Ryan, Dustin, Dylan, Brittany, Kayli, Aubrey, Breanna, Joshua, and Kira; great-grandchildren: Harper and Hattie; and siblings: Gene Unrein (Kathy), Linda Unrein, Shirley Schissler, Art Unrein (Leslie), and Phil Unrein.

She is preceded in death by her mother and father; brother, Ken Unrein; sister, Sarah Anderson; late husband, Henry Swanson; and daughter, Stephanie Neison.

Mildred will be loved and missed by all who knew her, but we can find comfort in knowing that she is forever at peace with our Father in Heaven.

Recitation of the Rosary was on Sunday, May 2, 2021, at 6:00 p.m., at Tabor Funeral Home, in Brighton, Colorado. Funeral Mass was Monday, May 3, 2021, at 11:00 a.m. at St. Augustine Catholic Church, in Brighton, Colorado. Interment followed at Elmwood Cemetery, in Brighton.

Please share memories of Millie and condolences with her family by visiting her obituary online at www.

TaborFuneralHome.com.

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May 4, 2021

SOLD FROM PAGE 2

Though some newspapers have been preserved by local “angel investors” or billionaires who take them on — as is the case at the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and Colorado Springs Gazette — that model is not replicable on a large scale.

NTLN draws inspiration from public radio, which in recent decades has built a diversified funding model built on grants, foundations, underwriting and listener support, while still retaining local control.

“The new business model is ‘all of the above,’” Shapiro said. “It’s advertising, philanthropy and small-dollar giving. We’re pragmatists — let’s get the news funded as many different ways as we can.

Multiple revenue streams preserve independence.”

The CCM acquisition — the terms and price of which are confidential — brings together an array of funders.

The deal was funded by FJC, a boutique public charity that specializes in nonprofit loans, Shapiro said. The loan is guaranteed by the American Journalism Project, a venture philanthropy organization; the Colorado Trust, a health equity organization; and the Gates Family Foundation, a philanthropic group with its roots in Denver’s Gates Rubber Company.

A grant from the Colorado Media Project, a grant-funded initiative that advocates for journalistic innovation, supported a portion of the legal costs and connected NTLN to local funders.

Operational support is being provided by the Knight Foundation, a national arts and journalism philanthropic group; the Google News Initiative, which partners with local news organizations; and the Democracy Fund, a nonpartisan foundation that seeks to strengthen civic engagement.

None of the foundations will have any say over CCM’s content or editorial direction, she said.

Acquiring CCM is an exciting chance to prove the NTLN concept, Shapiro said.

“There has to be more to the story of American journalism in the 21st century than all the destruction we see,” she said. “This is setting up CCM for the long term. It’s not going to get sold to a conglomerate or hedge fund and shut down. We’re setting these papers up on strong footing, but it’s going to be up to the communities to keep them that way.”

Here comes the Sun NTLN provided the funding for the acquisition and will provide consulting and business services, but the ultimate goal is to hand off control and ownership to The Colorado Sun, Shapiro said.

The Sun was founded by former Denver Post journalists who left in 2018, following moves by Alden Global Capital, the newspaper’s hedge fund ownership, that slashed dozens of news staff and moved the newsroom from downtown Denver to the newspaper’s Adams County printing plant.

Jerry and Ann Healey, left, sold Colorado Community Media to a national and local partnership between the National Trust for Local News and the Colorado Sun designed to bolster local journalism. From left: Jerry Healey and Ann Healey, former CCM owners, Fraser Nelson and Marc Hand of the National Trust for Local News, Colorado Sun editors Dana Coffield and Larry Ryckman, National Trust CEO Elizabeth Hansen Shapiro, and Lillian Ruiz of the National Trust.

PHOTO BY JOHN LEYBA/SPECIAL TO THE COLORADO SUN

Since its founding, the Sun has proven to be resilient and well-supported, said Ryckman, the editor and co-founder.

“Our business model is so simple it sounds naive,” Ryckman said.

“Treat readers with respect. Don’t scam them with clickbait, autoplay videos or pop-up ads. Give them journalism worthy of their support. We’ve seen tremendous growth in readership and paying membership.”

The Sun is in a growth phase, he said.

“We started with 10 full-timers, and we’ll have 16 next month, and we’re aiming for 20 by midsummer,” he said. “We do have statewide ambitions, and our goal is to fill the gaps and do the stories others aren’t doing.”

CCM fits nicely into that goal, he said. Like the Sun, CCM will be operated as a public benefit corporation, meaning while it remains for-profit, it has no obligation to maximize shareholder profits.

“Strictly for-profit means you do whatever you can to make as much money as you can,” Ryckman said.

“If that means layoffs or selling real estate, so be it. In a public benefit corporation, you need to treat it like a business, but the first goal is to serve the public. Journalism is too important to be in the hands of strip-mining hedge funds.”

Ryckman said he hopes to bolster CCM’s existing strengths and connections to the communities it serves.

“CCM will remain independent, but we can find ways to help and collaborate on the business and news side,” he said.

The two already have an established working relationship — CCM reporter Jessica Gibbs and Colorado Sun reporter Jesse Paul recently

took home an award from the Society for Professional Journalists for a series on how COVID affected public health workers.

“We can be great resources,” Ryckman said. “We’re run by journalists. We’ve got Pulitzer Prize winners on staff. The Sun is the most collaborative place I’ve ever worked, and that’s the spirit I want to bring to this endeavor.”

It’s too soon to say what staffing will look like going forward, but Ryckman said they have no plans to fire anyone, and a new digital editor is likely. The Sun will also begin a search for a new permanent publisher for CCM, though Jerry Healey will stay on for a time as a consultant.

The Sun’s leadership plans to listen to readers to figure out a path forward, said Sun editor Dana Coffield.

“These are changing times, and we need to listen to what news consumers are telling us,” she said.

“There’s great journalism being produced, but it may not be presented in the ways readers want to receive it. We’re looking at web platforms that are more readerfriendly, email newsletters, more of a social media presence. We’ll start with the basics, and can get more excited and ambitious from there.”

That doesn’t mean print editions are going away, she said.

“We hope to do print for a very long time,” she said. “But a robust internet product is important too.”

In good hands For the Healeys, the deal is a great outcome for the crowning achievement of their professional lives.

“We’ve taken this company as far as we can take it, and it’s time for someone else to take it to the next

level,” Jerry said.

The company wasn’t in danger of closing, he said, though the past year has been tough.

Half the company’s advertisers either backed out or cut ads last spring, and reporters each took a week of furlough. Several salespeople who left weren’t replaced.

CCM received $255,800 in Paycheck Protection Program loans last year, according to federal records.

“I’m not afraid to say PPP money got us through last spring,” he said.

“The government stepped up. We would have gone into our savings to keep it going, but we wouldn’t have closed the newspapers. It gave us the ability to focus on the company and pay the bills.”

The company had strong showings in the third and fourth quarters of 2020, Jerry said.

“Advertisers were coming back, and I’m most proud of my management during COVID,” he said.

The company stayed bullish, with the Healeys buying seven newspapers from Landmark Community Newspapers in October.

Ann said the acquisition is a win for the newspapers, some of which date back more than a century — or in the case of the Golden Transcript, to the Gold Rush.

But it’s also a win for readers, she said.

“These days people can get lost in the cacophony of social media and snap judgments, and it’s easy to lose sight of what’s important,” she said. “We’re making sure these communities still have their voices heard through active, high-quality journalism. We feel like we’re just a small part of the history of these papers and these communities, but we’re so excited for this opportunity to hand them off and make them better and stronger.”

Commerce City Sentinel Express 5

May 4, 2021

HEALTH CARE FROM PAGE 1

at first,” Seib said. “It was not the best way to go and we were doing our best. Our unit was taking COVID-19 patients plus added challenges.

The nurses, myself included, were also training to take ICU patients. If there were too many sick patients we took the entire Intermediate Care population from ICU to free up ICU.” Seib and his team had to make quick decisions, educating peers on how to care for the COVID-19 patients which had become an entirely new population in the unit.

“It was very overwhelming at first and honestly, it’s been the hardest thing I’ve had to do. It is still a confusing virus because it hits some people so hard,” said Seib.

The team and Seib watched patients for days wondering if they were going to tip one way or the other - for better or worse. The nurses leaned on each other for support.

“It was hard every step of the way watching these patients and waiting. Ultimately, sometimes it pans out. A lot of times it didn’t, and the patients didn’t make it. It was extremely difficult for all of us and taking a toll on our team, our charge nurses and myself personally,” said Seib.

Family safety Seib’s family lives with his Mom and Stepdad, both in the high-risk group. Seib had conversations with his family on the best way of keeping a distance away from each other in their small house. His routine when he got home was to change his clothes in the garage every night and shower. He would not let his wife in the bathroom when she would come up to ask about his day.

“I was just nervous all the time, especially because we didn’t understand a lot about the virus,” Seib said. “We didn’t know how long it lived on surfaces. We also backed up all my clothes, leaving them for a couple of days, and then washing them,” said Seib.

He came to rely on others, from his co-workers to his family.

“We learned about helping each other as a team and watching out for each other. There were a lot of

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people giving and opening up their hearts and sometimes their wallets.

It’s finding the little ways to say thank you and be grateful. I hope the lesson that we can take away from this, is we learn to take care of each other,” said Seib.

The impact of the pandemic hits the Emergency Department Dr. Scott Hackman has been an emergency physician for more than four years at Platte Valley Medical Center through the Brighton Community Emergency Physicians Group. Hackman grew up in the rural health systems moving around a lot with his family in the Midwest Kansas, and Nebraska area. His Dad was a hospital administrator.

“I learned from him that there’s a definite need in the rural areas for healthcare. So initially, I thought I’d go into family practice,” said Hackman.

But towards the end of Hackman’s training, he learned that he liked emergency medicine better.

“I fall in love with it as a career choice, as well as a lot of opportunity with patients in a variety of situations. It was an evolution, though, it wasn’t like a light went off,” said Hackman.

When the virus hit, Hackman and his colleagues were just starting to learn about the virus and were not sure just how it was evolving.

“It was rather shocking. Then it became very apparent in the latter stages of March into April of 2020, it’s going to be a very big problem,” said Hackman.

Patients were coming in with massive amounts of oxygen requirements that he’d not seen in his career. Many didn’t have huge underlying health problems to explain how they had become so ill.

“We didn’t quite know how to handle it other than just by increasing their oxygen requirements, Hackman said. “Initially, we are intubating a lot of these patients early on.

Then we kind of evolved and figured out a little better strategy.”.

The doctors were challenged because there not any studies to follow and had to use whatever information that was coming out of New York, with its high volume of patients early on compared to the rest of the country.

“The critical care doctors our hospital, and pulmonologist were

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all trying to get out as much information to the rest of the country as they could,” Hackman said. “We figured out there was a better strategy than just ventilating. We used a better strategy called flow nasal canula, a heated high flow which is a lot of oxygen coming through but allows the lungs to remain elastic.

It’s’ a little less stress on the lungs than a ventilator.”

The ER doctors found other ways to treat their patients. Three months into the pandemic they tried another type of treatment called a Bipap - a mask that forces air in using higher pressure versus the more invasive ventilator management.

“We kind of went back and forth a little bit as a group, our ER group met with the sound doctors to hear their stories on the floor, because they are the hospital critical care people managing the patients and telling us kind of what we can do in the Emergency Department to help the survival rates in ICU for these people,” said Hackman.

After trying different treatments, Hackman and his team determined the right strategy was to stick with the heated high flow for patients requiring large amounts of oxygen.

“Some of those patients eventually had to be intubated, but a large majority did not. They just had very long hospital stays eventually discharged either to home or like a skilled nursing facility,” said Hackman.

Hackman said many of those patients still are not back to their baseline.

Second stage of the pandemic.

“We are still seeing the acute

patients coming in occasionally and not as often. What we are seeing largely now is secondary effects from the pandemic from when a patient was admitted a while back, but still is having difficulties, we’re starting to determine the gravity of what this virus has done to people,” said Hackman.

Hackman took care of Brighton Police Chief Paul Southard when he was admitted to the hospital for three weeks with COVID on a ventilator. Southard recovered and was released but Hackman said it had a profound effect on the hospital, the community, and the police.

“I think his case was the initial shockwave that went through the department and for me, it impacts every aspect of our life,” Hackman said. “The gravity hadn’t hit me until I saw how his case evolved, he recovered and it was a success.”

Not every case went as well.

“We’ve had a few patients that did not succumb in the Emergency Department, but they did not survive in the hospital. Try to explain it to people, and they kind of get it, but it’s hard,” he added.

Hackman recently had one patient pass away before he could get the vaccine.

“I do feel since the vaccine has been readily available that this is becoming a preventable illness. The high-risk population, most of the deaths that I saw were over 65-yearsold,” said Hackman. “I did have a few sicker patients, but not a lot of death under that age group. That group now I think, has largely been vaccinated, and I’m not seeing those high-risk cases anymore. So that’s, good, said Hackman.

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6 Commerce City Sentinel Express

LOCAL

May 4, 2021

SPORTS

A bevvy of Bulldogs moves on to college sports Nineteen sign letters of intent

McKenna Yates Cross country/track Lewis and Clark “I’d always dreamed of going out of state,” she said. “To do that plus be able to run, that’s a bonus. It’ll be a fun experience.”

BY STEVE SMITH SSMITH@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

It took two full tables to accommodate the 19 Brighton High School athletes who signed their college letters of intent on April 26 at the school.

Colleges from the West Coast, the Midwest and the Northern Plains were among the schools the BHS studentathletes chose.

“With this commitment comes expectations. But it also provides opportunities for them to become better in their sports and in the classroom,” said BHS athletic director Lindsey Solano.

“Some of you, I’ve coached for just a couple Vershon of years. A couple of Brooks you, I’ve coached in every sport you could sign up for,” said Joel Flancher, whose son was one of the signees. “I’m proud to see this group. I’m proud to have taken part in you guys getting better. You Deni Jackson guys deserve it.”

Fourteen of the graduates are leaving the state, including Vershon Brooks (football, Lutheran College, and Deni Jackson, volleyball, Arizona Christian. Of the remaining five, one Jordan is staying in the Denver area, and one is heading Sandoval 45 minutes north to Greeley. Distance from home played a part in most of the college choices.

But not all.

Kynzi Booth

Kynzi Booth Nebraska Wesleyan Track and field “I spent a lot of summers in North Carolina

McKenna Yates

Kenny Sailas University of Northern Colorado Wrestling “For me, the distance of the college I chose was important because I am Kenny Sailas a mama’s boy. So, I gotta stay close to home,” he said.

James Thomas Rugby Central Washington “I’m excited to start a new chapter,” he said.

James Thomas

Side by side Girls basketball teammates Carly Pomrenke and Liyah Bruin sat side by side during the ceremony. Pomrenke chose McPherson College, while Bruin chose St. Louis Community College.

Carly “Distance from home Pomrenke played a factor,” Pomrenke said. “I wanted to be close but not too close.”

“I knew I wanted to leave Colorado,” Bruin said. “I wanted to get out.”

“I’m blessed to have Liyah Bruin had the opportunity to be with them,” said BHS girls basketball coach Jim French. “Carly put in years of shooting the basketball. She can do it in her sleep. If I needed a one-person press, Liyah was the one. She’s the type who can guard a person baseline

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Football contingent

Eli Bowman

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Eli Bowman South Dakota School of Mines/Technology “I wanted something reasonably close and in combination with football,” he said.

Zaine Hood Black Hills State “I pictured going across country,” he said.

Alex Gallagher South Dakota School of Mines “I wanted to play somewhere close so I could drive home,” he said.

Other sports

Jespyn Bishop

Jespyn Bishop Water polo McKendree University “Water polo isn’t a popular sport around here,” he said. “But being near St. Louis and Chicago?

It’s definitely not close.”

Jadon Lockwood

Jadon Lockwood Golf Otero Junior College

Levi Tucker Garden City Community College “I’m ready to get out,” he said. “I’m excited to get to the next level.”

Alek Martinez Bakersfield CommuLevi Tucker nity College “Distance didn’t play a part,” he said. “I knew I was meant to be in California.”

Their coach is Justin Stringer, who has yet to coach them in a game.

“They are the driving force behind our proAlek gram,” Stringer said.

Martinez “They kept showing up, even though we got shut down at every turn. They are awesome kids. I’m proud to have them.”

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“It didn’t for me but did for my mother,” he said. “She wanted me to stay as close as I could.”

His high-school coach, Andy Roob, said Lockwood’s first appearance in the program was three seasons ago.

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Commerce City Sentinel Express 7

May 4, 2021

Metro schools ask for end quarantine requirements Key piece of data superintendents cite doesn’t tell full story on virus spread

BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

A coalition of Denver metro-area school districts sent a letter to the state public health department, saying it’s “time to eliminate mandatory COVID quarantines in Colorado’s schools.”

“Messaging from Colorado’s public health and elected officials has acknowledged, since before the new year, that rates of COVID transmission within our schools are low; that the mitigation measures we have in place are working; and that in-person schooling is critically important for many students in their social, emotional and academic development,” the April 26 letter from the school districts says.

The letter was signed onto by the superintendents of Adams 12 Five Star, Elizabeth, Mapleton, Jefferson County, Littleton, 27J (Brighton), Aurora, Englewood, Platte Canyon, Cherry Creek, Westminster and Douglas County school districts.

Many of the district leaders had been advocating for an end to school quarantine rules since before spring break and had heard that a cancellation of the rules was premature because of concerns about COVID-19

variants, the letter says.

School districts have generally been required to instruct people who come into contact with a person with COVID-19 or symptoms of the disease to quarantine.

The district leaders also noted fears that the spread of the virus in schools “would markedly increase” as older students moved from hybrid classes to more densely occupied classrooms as full-time in-person classes resumed, the letter adds.

More than a dozen Colorado school districts have been collecting data regarding in-school COVID-19 spread throughout this school year’s second semester, the letter says. The superintendents argue that the data show that in-school spread “remains extremely low (despite) the presence of COVID variants in our state and even after the transition from hybrid schooling models in mid-March to early April,” the letter says.

“Our most recent data compiled on April 23 shows that less than one-half of one percent of students and staff placed into quarantine since January have subsequently tested positive for the virus — and the rates are not increasing over the past month,” the letter says.

But the data the superintendents cite does not appear to account for the number of students and staff who chose to get tested for COVID-19 and those who chose not to undergo testing. Some may have asymptomatic cases, and some may have symptoms but choose not to get tested.

The Cherry Creek School District has cited the same type of statistic

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in past months. A March 8 report to the Cherry Creek school board says that among the 4,066 individuals who were told to quarantine since the start of the third quarter in Cherry Creek, only 17, or 0.42%, became knowingly COVID-positive during quarantine.

But the “knowingly” caveat is a nod to the limitation in the data: Not all students and staff decide to undergo testing.

“As in every other sector of the country, we are not able to account for the possibility of asymptomatic positives,” a report for a previous Cherry Creek school board meeting said. `Choppy, inconsistent school experience’ In the April letter from the coalition of districts, superintendents say that frequent school quarantines have “caused constant disruption to classroom environments, stress for students preparing for end-of-year exams, and a lack of predictability and consistency in almost every facet of a student’s school experience.”

“More than 3,000 students per week have been completing quarantines over the past two weeks across the 13 districts currently participating in the COVID data reporting effort,” the letter says.

The superintendents’ data lists “semester two participating school districts” as 27J, Adams 12 Five Star, Aurora, Bennett, Cherry Creek, Denver, Englewood, Gilpin County, Mapleton, Ridgway, Sheridan,

Westminster and Wiggins school districts.

If existing quarantine rules remain in place, the letter estimates that 10% to 20% of students in the superintendents’ districts could be told to quarantine before the summer break.

“Those quarantines would be on top of others that students and families have had to navigate throughout the school year. The most extreme case of which we’re aware concerns a student sent home on quarantine six times throughout the year,” the letter says. “But we have many students across our districts who have been out on quarantine two to three times this year and have had a choppy, inconsistent school experience.”

The combination of indoor masking for students and staff members, home isolation of COVID-positive staff and students, and directives that symptomatic individuals stay home has proven effective elsewhere in maintaining low rates of in-school COVID transmission, the letter argues.

Science says schools can be relatively safe John Douglas, head of Tri-County Health Department, in March pointed to recent findings by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that reiterated that schools have low rates of COVID-19 transmission. Tri-County Health is the local public health agency for Adams, Arapahoe and Douglas counties.

ATTENTION...

Calling all Moms, Dads, Grandparents, Aunts & Uncles

Honor your 2021 high school senior with an ad in the upcoming graduation sections of the Brighton Standard Blade, Fort Lupton Press, and/or Commerce City Sentinel Express. Only $25. For more info., Contact Teresa at 303-659-2522 or talexis@coloradocommunitymedia.com.

Don’t delay. Deadline to get your ad in this section is May 18 for the May 26 edition.

Name of Graduate:__________________________School:_________________________________ Parents’ Name:____________________Phone:_____________Address:______________________ Message:__________________________________________________________________________ Mail to: Graduation c/o MetroWest Newspapers, 143 S 2nd Place, Brighton, CO 80601. Pre-payment is required: cash, check or credit card. A representative will call for your charge card information. Make sure to include a photo.

For more info contact Teresa at 303-659-2522 or talexis@coloradocommunitymedia.com.

8 Commerce City Sentinel Express

May 4, 2021

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Thu 5/06 Colorado Vibes Vol.6 | Art Extravaganza

Featured

Editor's Voice

Monday May 10th

Women of Spirit @ 6:30pm Armory Performing Arts Center, 300 Strong Street, Brighton. rexngingerbell@msn.com, 720-980-9006

@ 12pm / Free-$10 Spectra Art Space, 1836 S Broadway, Den‐ ver

Featured Colorado Rapids @ 8pm / $18-$100 DICK'S Sporting Goods Park, 6000 Victory Way, Commerce City

“Women of Spirit (a special event for women) will resume at 6:30 p.m.

May 10. A delightful program will be presented by “The Legendary Ladies”, a women’s historical performance organization. Five women characters from the past will be presented in costume with a special stage set. Due to covid restrictions, a meal will not be served. Reservations essential to attend.

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Sun 5/09

Town of Erie Spring Cleanup @ 6am / Free Front Range Land�ll, 1830 County Road 5, Erie

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Mother's Day at Ironton @ 10am / Free-$50 Ironton Distillery & Crafthouse, 3636 Chestnut Place, Denver

Sunprinting @ 4:30pm Anythink Commerce City Library, 7185 Monaco Street, Commerce City. rcardenas@anythinkli braries.org, 303-287-0063

Music Bingo Every Thursday at Pour Tap House @ 7pm / Free Pour Tap House, 12433 East 104th Av‐ enue, Commerce City

Mother's Day Succulent & Crystal Terrarium Workshop @ 11am / $65 Barquentine Brewing Company, 5505 West 20th Avenue, #Suite 178, Edgewater

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Thu 5/13

DIY Garden Stepping Stone Mosaics @ 5pm Anythink Wright Farms, 5877 East 120th Avenue, Thornton. rbowman @anythinklibraries.org, 303-4053200

Tue 5/11 Featured

Comedy Night at Abbott & Wallace @ 8pm / Free Abbott & Wallace Distilling, 350 Terry Street, #Suite #120, Longmont

Fri 5/07 Featured

Getting Started With Essential Oils - Westminster @ 2pm / Free The Westin Westminster, 10600 Westminster Boulevard, Westmin‐ ster Mother's Day Wine & Chocolate Pairing at Silver Vines Winery

May 7th - Free Concealed Carry Course @ 6pm / Free Guns For Everyone, 8520 Wash‐ ington Street, #Unit K, Thornton

Sat 5/08

@ 2pm / Free Silver Vines Winery - Arvada, 7509 Grand‐ view Avenue, Arvada

Mon 5/10 Featured

Outdoor Storytime Virtual Dance Party @ 11am Anythink Wright Farms, 5877 East 120th Avenue, Thornton. rbowman @anythinklibraries.org, 303-4053200

Wed 5/12

Denver Nuggets vs. Brooklyn Nets @ 8pm / $69-$999 Ball Arena, 1000 Chopper Circle, Denver

@ 4pm Offsite, 6060 E Parkway Drive, Commerce City. 303-289-3760

Colorado Avalanche vs. Los Angeles Kings @ 7pm / $49-$999 Ball Arena, 1000 Chopper Circle, Denver

@ 10am / Free MY MAKE STUDIO, 5505 West 20th Av‐ enue, #182, Edgewater

@ 3pm / $25-$50 6345 Ivanhoe St, Unit 103, 6345 Ivanhoe Street, Commerce City

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Colorado Avalanche vs. Los Angeles Kings @ 7pm / $49-$999 Ball Arena, 1000 Chopper Circle, Denver

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Commerce City Sentinel Express 9

May 4, 2021

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

© 2016 King Features Synd., Inc.

Solution

TRIVIA 1. GEOGRAPHY: Once known as the Gilbert Islands, what is the current name of the island nation?

2. ADVERTISING SLOGANS: What product’s slogan is, “It gives you wings”?

Marsh?

9. MATH: What Arabic number is represented by the Roman numerals DCIX? 10. GENERAL KNOWLEDGE: What does a cytologist study?

3. U.S. PRESIDENTS: Who was the first president to die in office?

Answers

4. MOVIES: What was the town’s name in the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life”?

2. Red Bull

1. Kiribati 3. William Henry Harrison

5. ANATOMY: In what part of the human body is the ulna located?

4. Bedford Falls

6. TELEVISION: Which 1960s sitcom featured the catchphrase, “Sorry about that, chief ”?

6. “Get Smart”

7. HISTORY: In which century did England’s War of the Roses take place?

8. LITERATURE: The setting of which children’s book is a place called Puddleby-on-the-

5. Forearm 7. 15th 8. “The Story of Dr. Dolittle” 9. 609 10. Cells (c) 2021 King Features Synd., Inc.

Crossword Solution

10 Commerce City Sentinel Express

May 4, 2021

www.ColoradoCommunityMedia.com/Notices

PUBLIC NOTICES

Public Notices call Bobi 303.659.2522 Legals City and County PUBLIC NOTICE

inspection during the hours 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. During instances of the city facilities being closed, electronic copies may be requested via email to dgibson@c3gov.com.

C2 into 20 single family attached duplex homes (40 dwelling units) with detached garages for the property located with the boundaries of E. 64th Ave to the north, E. 62nd Ave to the south, Holly St to the east, and HWY 2 &85 to the west, zoned PUD (Planned Unit Development District).

Notice to Creditors NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Without public notices, the government wouldn’t have to say anything else.

Get Involved!

Public notice is hereby given that the following ordinance was passed as an emergency ordinance on the 26th day of April 2021, by the Commerce City E-470 Residential Area General Improvement District, Colorado, and is considered in full force and effect upon passage.

ERAGID 07 – AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF COMMERCE CITY E-470 RESIDENTIAL AREA GENERAL IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF THE DISTRICT’S LIMITED TAX GENERAL OBLIGATION LOAN, SERIES 2021 AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY.

“Trust Us!”

blopez@coloradocommunitymedia.com

Copies of said ordinance are on file in the office of the City Clerk, City of Commerce City at 7887 E. 60th Ave., Commerce City, CO, for public

BY ORDER OF THE E-470 RESIDENTIAL AREA GENERAL IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT CITY OF COMMERCE CITY BY: Jordan Roberts, Deputy Secretary Published in the Sentinel Express: Tuesday, May 4, 2021 Legal Ad No.: CCX111181

NOTICE OF SUBDIVISION PLAT APPROVAL COMMERCE CITY, COLORADO

Notice is hereby given that the following subdivision(s) will be considered for approval by the City of Commerce City Community Development Director on Tuesday, May 11, 2021.

S-754-19-20-21: C2 Greyhound Park, LLC is requesting approval of the Greyhound Park plat to subdivide approximately 3.00 acres on tract

The case file(s) and a copy of the Land Development Code of the City together with the subdivision plat are on file for review by emailing the Community Development Department at cdplanner@ c3gov.com. Any owner of property located within

300 feet of the subject property may invoke the public hearing process by submitting said objections in writing to the Director of Community Development in accordance with Sec. 213241 by no later than 5 p.m. on Monday, May 10, 2021.

Director of Community Development Commerce City Sentinel Express Tuesday, May 05, 2021.

Legal Ad No.: CCX111182

Estate of Janet R. Swank, Deceased Case Number 2021PR19

All persons having claims against the above-

named estate are required to present them to the Personal Representative or to the District Court of Adams County, Colorado on or before August 28, 2021, or the claims may be forever barred.

Norman J. Union 7631 Brighton Blvd.

Commerce City, CO 80022 Personal Representative

Legal Ad No.: CCX111175 First Publication: April 27, 2021 Last Publication: May 11, 2021 Published In: Commerce City Sentinel Express

Public notices are a community’s window into the government. From zoning regulations to local budgets, governments have used local newspapers to inform citizens of its actions as an essential part of your right to know. You know where to look, when to look and what to look for to be involved as a citizen. Local newspapers provide you with the information you need to get involved.

Notices are meant to be noticed.

Read your public notices and get involved!

Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.

- Aldous Huxley

Every day, the government makes decisions that can affect your life. Whether they are decisions on zoning, taxes, new businesses or myriad other issues, governments play a big role in your life.

Governments have relied on newspapers like this one to publish public notices since the birth of the nation. Local newspapers remain the most trusted source of public notice information. This newspaper publishes the information you need to stay involved in your community.

Notices are meant to be noticed.

Read your public notices and get involved!

Commerce City Sentinel Express May 4, 2021 * 1

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Commerce City Sentinel Express 11

May 4, 2021

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12 Commerce City Sentinel Express

May 4, 2021

News Briefs Adams 14 superintendent search Adams 14 School District is entering the last phases of its search for a new superintendent. The district partnered with JG Consulting in its superintendent search.

The timeline included the first round of interviews Thursday and Friday, April 28 and 29; interviews of the finalists Monday and Tuesday, May 3 and 4; and a start date of July 1 for the district’s new superintendent.

The consulting firm also made surveys available for district residents.

In English, the link is https://www. surveymonkey.com/r/RWCNNB7.In Spanish, visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RTH335J. No Memorial Day parade Commerce City will not play host to the state’s largest Memorial Day parade for the second year in a row, thanks to coronavirus.

Instead, the plan in conjunction with the Commerce City Veterans Commission is to honor those who have died in service of their country with a Memorial Day program at Veterans Memorial Park, 6015 Forest Drive.

The ceremony will include a color guard, the national anthem, a wreath laying, and more. Details will be posted at c3gov.com/parade.

‘In Memory’ display for Wall That Heals event extended The city of Brighton said the deadline to submit names for the “In Memory” display (part of “The Wall That Heals” program coming to

Brighton over Labor day weekend) is July 31.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund’s In Memory program honors those who returned from the war and later died. The wall will be in Carmichael Park, 650 E. Southern St. To apply online, visit www.VVMF. org/In-Memory-Program.

Gummball rally The fourth annual Gummball Rally is set for 9 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 21, at Riverdale Regional Park, East 124th Avenue and Brighton Road.

The 5K run is in memory of Adams County sheriff’s deputy Heath Gumm, who died in the line of duty in January 2018.

The fee is $30 for racers 13 years of age and older (T-shirt guaranteed with a paid entry by Sunday, Aug. 6), and older, $10 for those 12 and under with a T-shirt guaranteed with a paid entry by Aug. 6 and free for racers 12 and under (no T-shirt).

Visit https://gummball5k.itsyourrace.com/event.aspx?id=11277.

ONGOING Help for Homes Senior meals Eagle View Adult Center and Volunteers of America are offering a box of five frozen meals delivered to your home. You must be 60 or older and be a resident of Brighton.

The suggested contribution for the meals is $2.50 meal / $12.50 per box, although the ability to pay is not the

deciding factor if you are eligible.

Boxes are delivered Thursdays.

Call 303-655-2075 and leave your name and phone number.

Eagle Express rides Barr Lake State Park will offer virtual rides aboard the Eagle Express. Join Ranger Michelle and her friends as they read a story about our natural world that is sure to entertain your preschooler while teaching them about plants, animals and our planet. Call 303-659-6005.

COVID-19 vaccines The Salud clinic in Fort Lupton, 1115 Second St., is offering COVID-19 vaccinations to those 70 years of age and older, healthcare workers and workers in the state’s 1b category.

You don’t need to be a patient Register at saludclinic.org.

Legal self-help clinic The Access to Justice Committee hosts a free, legal self-help clinic from 2 to 3:30 p.m. the first Tuesday of every month.

The program is for customers who don’t have legal representation and need help navigating through legal issues.

Volunteer attorneys are available to discuss such topics as family law, civil litigation, property and probate law. Call 303-405-3298 and ask for the Legal Self-Help Clinic at least 24 hours in advance.

Help for vets Qualified Listeners, a veteran and family resource hub serving

northern Colorado and southern Wyoming, has a number of power chairs, power scooters and electric wheelchairs available. .

To find the closest facility to you visit www.va.gov/find-locations.

Qualified Listeners also needs volunteers to drive veterans to and from appointments, run errands for veterans who cannot get out, handyman services, help administer veteran and family resource guide inventory in local libraries and veterans to be trained to become qualified listeners. Call 720-600-0860.

COVID-19 testing Here’s where you can receive a test for COVID-19: Brighton Advanced Urgent Care, 2801 Purcell St. Call 303-659-9700 or visit https://advurgent.com/locations/brighton/ Brighton Salud, 1860 Egbert St. Testing is available on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Visit https:// www.saludclinic.org/covid-testing Fort Lupton Salud, 1115 Second St. Testing is available on Tuesday and Thursday. Call 303-697-2583 or visit https://www.saludclinic.org/covidtesting online.

Alcoholics Anonymous The Brighton chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous meets at 147 S. Second Place. Meeting times are 10 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. Sundays, noon and 7:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 6 p.m. Thursdays and 9 p.m. Fridays.

Call 303-659-9953 or visit www. brighton1aa.org.

- E D U C AT I O N A L A DV E R T I S E M E N T -

Learn how your neighbors are accessing $100,000s from home equity with Colorado’s number one reverse mortgage lender.

F

rom Larimer Square to the Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Denver is truly a great place to call home and enjoy retirement.

With the Rockies at your doorstep, there are virtually unlimited opportunities for adventure. Denver is also No. 3 on the list of America’s Best Cities* for a Healthy (and More Affordable Retirement).

What you may not know is a reverse mortgage loan from AAG may help you get even more out of your retirement.

A reverse mortgage is simply a way for you to convert some of your built-up home equity into cash for your retirement — cash to pay off large bills or high-interest credit card debt, make home improvements, cover medical expenses, build a bigger rainy-day fund, or simply get out and enjoy more of the Mile High City.

If you choose, you can wait to repay your loan when you permanently leave your home. Although a reverse mortgage requires no monthly mortgage payments, you are still responsible for paying for the maintenance of your home, property taxes, homeowners insurance, and, if required, HOA fees.

“Working with Jarred Talmadge and AAG was a very nice experience,” said AAG customer Angela Pendergraft. “No pressure or feelings of anxiety. He answered all our questions and concerns leaving us feeling comfortable with our decision to do a reverse mortgage.”

If you want to learn how a reverse mortgage can specifically improve your retirement, AAG Market Sales Manager Jarred Talmadge, NMLS# 1842043, and his team are ready to assist you.

Jarred can also address all your questions and concerns by calling (303) 957-3653 today.

To qualify for a reverse mortgage, you must: Be 62 or older Own your own home Live in it as your primary residence Have sufficient home equity (no mortgage or low mortgage balance) ACT NOW FOR A FREE INFO KIT

(303) 957-3653

*https://www.bestplaces.net/docs/studies/americas_best_cities_for_a_healthy_retirement.aspx NMLS# 9392 (www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org). American Advisors Group (AAG) is headquartered at 18200 Von Karman Ave., Suite 300, Irvine, CA 92612. AAG conducts business in CO (Regulated by the Division of Real Estate; to check the license status of your mortgage loan originator, visit http://www.dora.state.co.us/real-estate/index.htm). These materials are not from HUD or FHA and were not approved by HUD or a government agency. For full legaldisclosure, please visit: www.americanadvisorsgroup.com/disclosure