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CORRECTIONS
In the story “The Delores Project celebrates 25 years of housing solutions in Denver” on Page 11 in the April edition of The Denver North Star, the location of the organization’s celebration was incorrect. It will take place May 23 at Mile High Station.
Email linda@cotln.org if you notice a possible error you would like us to look at.
Connecting Generations wraps up school year with North High
BY ERNEST GURULÉ SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
ere is a portal separating Denver North High School from a retirement community minutes away. It is an invisible tunnel that erases time, connecting young and old, while also wiping away decades of division.
Credit for the portal is shared by two residents of the Gardens at Saint Elizabeth (GSE), Rick Wohlers and Donna Lucero, along with a revolving group of North High students. Wohlers is a retired Navy Lieutenant Commander, and Lucero is a long-time Denver educator. Wohlers left Boston for Denver three years ago. It was not so much a desire to be near the mountains but a move made out of necessity. His wife’s Alzheimer’s disease had created a challenge too big for one person. It was a heartbreaking period for him, he said. But one that left him with few other choices.
“If something had happened to me … ,” Wohlers said, his voice trailing o , unable to complete his thought. His decades-long love of his wife, a young woman who left the convent but not her faith, he said, made any other choice but to be with her impossible.
But his son lived in Golden and had things gone bad, there would be someone here to ll the breach. “It was just much easier having her here,” Wohlers said. e move put Wohlers in a di erent world. Since joining the Navy as a Seattle teen, the world’s oceans had been part of his life. As an operations o cer working with radar and sonar, salt water and sea air were his oxygen.
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As he settled into his new life and learning the lay of the land, he was shocked–pleasantly though — to learn there was a high school across the street.
“I walked over in the morning,” the exuberant Wohlers remembered. “I said, ‘I’m gonna make this a mission as long as I’m here.’” With that, Connecting Generations was born.
Connecting Generations is the tissue that unites North High students with older adults living at the Gardens at Saint Elizabeth. e nexus allows students to visit and learn about generations they might have only read about. Speaking with veterans like Wohlers, for example, provides a bridge that crosses time.
Over the course of the current school year, students from a leadership class interviewed residents and documented their life stories. Students from the Native American Leadership class made educational presentations to residents and displayed poster boards on topics they’d studied in the auditorium at the Gardens.
A band from the school and the JROTC color guard joined Gardens’ events for Labor Day and Veteran’s Day. Residents, in turn, attended soccer and basketball games, music performances and the recent school production of “Shrek the Musical.”
“I really like the kids,” Wohlers nods. But as you watch him speak of the program, you wonder if respect isn’t the better word. Over the three years he’s been part of Connecting Generations and the many interviews, the many conversations he’s had, Wohlers says he’s learned much more than he’s shared.
From the students, many of whom are Latino and Native American, “I learned their history,” he said. “It was more than fascinating.” For Lucero, a retired DPS tutor, the program was less an awakening and more a continuation. e soft spoken Los Alamos, New Mexico, native has been volunteering at North High and DPS for years. But no amount of familiarity has diluted her a nity for the young students nor lessened her desire to give back. “ e interaction between generations,” Lucero said, “was so delightful.” Each, the young and the old, formed new impressions about what the other generation was all about. It was such a joy.”
Because of her long relationship with the school and, now a generation of students, Lucero has a history with a few long ago high schoolers, a few of whom are now moms and dads. She smiles as she shares her bond.
Wohlers, too, has similar bonds. He’s sat and talked with students at the Gardens, been to the school and taken in his share of Viking basketball games. He’s even watched as a few kids have left to “wear the uniform.” ere’s one young woman, now a Marine, he holds a particular a ection and pride for. He watched another young man, now a graduate, for whom he has a special regard.
He recalled Senior Night and the young man’s last basketball game. “He always wore two di erent shoes…I’d never seen that,” Wohlers laughed. “He was a good kid.”
Wohlers plans to relocate to Seattle soon, closer to the ocean he loves. e lifelong ‘call of the sea,’ he said, is in his blood. But the time he spent on terra rma and the connections he made with so many new young friends, he rates as the same grand adventure.
Fatal crash on Sheridan at West 32nd Avenue kills father of two
BY ALLEN COWGILL SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
At 7:50 a.m. April 30, a driver of a car struck a person on a motorcycle on Sheridan Boulevard near 32nd Avenue. e person on the motorcycle was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to the Wheat Ridge Police Department, which is investigating the incident.
A family GoFundMe identi ed the victim as Brian Licon. It noted that Licon was married and a father of two. He had an 11-month-old daughter, as well as a 4-year-old daughter
who is battling Leukemia. e Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) Crash Data Dashboard shows nine fatal crashes along this section of Sheridan Boulevard between West Colfax Avenue and West 52nd Avenue between 2019 and 2023. ose deaths include four pedestrians, four drivers and one person on a bike. DRCOG is working with cities along the boulevard on a safety study to improve road conditions. Alex Rose, the public information o cer for the Wheat Ridge Police Department, said no arrests have been made as of May 5, but the investigation is ongoing.
Members of the Connecting Generations program with the Gardens of Saint Elizabeth attend a production of “Shrek the Musical,” performed by students at Denver North High School. APPLE PHOTOS CLEAN UP
The Highlands Street Fair is back and bigger than ever
BY JACQUI SOMEN
One of Highland Square’s most exciting events is coming, and it’s going to be bigger than ever.
Now in its 42nd year, the Highlands Street Fair is a community institution. From 11 a.m. to 7 p.m on Saturday, June 21, West 32nd Avenue from Irving to Perry will be bustling with food, fun and music. e Highlands Street Fair has come a long way from its humble beginnings. An initiative of the Highland Merchant Association, the rst Highlands Street Fair
lasted 45 minutes and featured dance, a clown tying balloon animals, a guitarist and a Boy Scout troop, according to e Landmark Building’s website that chronicles the history of the fair.
In 2025, there are more than 180 vendors planned to participate, including food trucks, nonpro t organizations, local businesses and jewelry, home goods, arts and crafts, and artisanal goods purveyors. e fair will also feature performances by local musicians and a workout class from Orange eory Fitness Highlands. Past events have featured dance companies, local rock bands, and ne artists.
Con rmed food vendors include Polar Bros. Nitro Ice Cream and Bohemian Wurst and international, American classic and healthy cuisine will also be available for purchase.
For the rst time in seven years, Orangetheory Fitness will lead a workout, a combination of body weight exercises and band work, at the fair. e fair’s kids area, which in the past has hosted several features such as bouncy houses and slides, is slated to get an upgrade this year as well, featuring a larger area and more family-friendly activities.
“ e Highlands Street Fair has been
a staple of the community for over 30 years,” said Nate Karnemaat, event director of the Highlands Street Fair. “ is year we will have over 180 vendors including artists, food trucks, local businesses, and more. We will have a larger kids area this year with more activities for families. We’re so excited to bring this amazing event to an even more amazing neighborhood.”
Entry to the fair, including workout, performances and kids’ area is free of charge. Learn more about the upcoming Highlands Street Fair at highlandsstreetfair.com.
Scenes from years past of the annual Highlands Street Fair from years past, which takes place 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. June 21 along 32nd Avenue from Irving to Perry streets. FILE PHOTOS
Northside local Cipriano Ortega releases debut album ‘Lo
Lo House’
Artist incorporates inspiration Denver’s northside walks, vintage sounds
BY MERYL PHAIR SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
A few years ago, Cipriano Ortega began integrating a two-string bass guitar into his music, experimenting with stripping his sounds down to the basics.
A minimalist at heart, the Denver local said that while researching blues, an African-American music genre dating back to the 1860s, he found that many players would start their music careers experimenting with a Diddley Bow, a one-string instrument.
“After I discovered that, I found an instrument that I was able to get obsessed with,” said Ortega, who began to experiment with the bare-bones sound, even constructing a few of his own.
His explorations make up the backbone of his debut album “Lo Lo House,” which was released in early April. e musician has described the 11-track record as “low-rock blues,” the minimal instrumentation combining elements of blues, jazz and rock.
“If I had an elevator pitch for anybody, it’s Morphine meets the White Stripes,” said Ortega, noting that much of the recording of the album itself was done on analog equipment to keep with the vintage, old-school vibe of the album.
“Lo Lo House” came together during an artist residency Oretego received through Breck Create, spending the summer of 2024 diving into the songwriting and recording process while living in the historic Robert Whyte house in Breckenridge.
“I found myself listening to a lot of those old-time blues records,” said the musician, nodding to his muses for the project such as Son House, Albert King and Bo Diddley. “I’ve always been enamored by these players who could create such an atmosphere and mood, just with their voice and guitar. It’s always been my goal to create that.”
Ortega said his time in the mountains was a signi cant inspiration for the album, with four songs coming out of being in the physical space. e title of the album “Lo Lo House” also pays homage to the historical setting along with bringing up associations to low rock as well as direct translations of “crazy” in Hawaiian and “grandfather” in Spanish.
“What I liked about the experience was it put me in this place to focus on the music and do some soul searching within that,” Ortega said. “ e vibe I captured
on the album will always bring me back to that place, and I loved using the unconventional recording space which became a pinnacle part of the album.”
has a lot of atmospheric qualities?” e lyrics of the album are grounded in the motifs of nightlife, solitude and making the most of what you’re given, all essential elements of blues, Ortega said. Growing up on Denver’s northside, the musician said much of the lyrics were written or inspired during night walks he would take through the city with the album’s track six, “Genie,” a direct nod to the northside.
Sonically, the album has a bit of everything from upbeat dance tunes to lo beats. Ortega said he’s heard from listeners who enjoyed the album due to its edginess along with those who have found it relaxing. Some of the most popular tracks have been “Speakeasy” along with “Promise” and “Brighter than the Moon,” he said. e album features Ortega on lead vocals, playing a two-string slide bass and a dobro. Doug Carmichael plays baritone and tenor saxophone with Bret Billings on harmonica and a lap steel guitar. Astin Lopez plays acoustic guitar, Courtlyn Carpenter on cello and Bret Batterman on drums. Batterman also worked as coproducer, having mixed and mastered the album.
“It’s a very experimental sound with experimental instrumentation that’s conventional, but not conventional in the way we’ve orchestrated it,” said the musician. “ e number one question is how can we put all these puzzle pieces together to make a composition that still
In addition to creating an atmospheric quality in his music, Ortega said he’s enjoyed experimenting with crafting sonic worlds, embracing elements of storytelling that weave in and out of the around three-minute tracks.
“Being a man of color, Indigenous and of Latino heritage, I see the way the world perceives me in certain vignettes,” he said. “ is album is about understanding who I am within those worlds but also beyond that.”
As for what’s next for the musician, playwright, actor, visual artist and poet, Ortega said he’d like to continue to re ne his sound, making it accessible to a wider audience.
“Lo Lo House” is Ortega’s debut album, having released his debut EP “A Whole New Low” in 2023. “Lo Lo House” is available on all streaming platforms while hard copy CDs are available for purchase on lo-lo-house.com.
Ortega plays a two string bass guitar, the simplicity of the sound setting the tone of the album.
The album cover of “Lo Lo House” by Cipriano Ortega, released April 4, 2025.
“Lo Lo House” is Cipriano Ortega’s second album. His EP “A Whole New Low” was released in 2023. PHOTOS BY TODD PIERSON
Denver Property Tax Relief Program opens for qualifying residents
BY COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA STAFF
ERIC@COTLN.ORG
Denver is accepting applications for its annual Property Tax Relief Program. e city stated the program is now managed by the Department of Housing Stability (HOST) and provides nancial assistance to older adults, people with disabilities and families.
e Denver Property Tax Relief Program provides a partial refund of property taxes paid, or the equivalent in rent, to qualifying Denver residents. Eligible applicants will receive a payment of at least $372, with an average refund of $1,000.
Qualifying residents can apply to receive a refund on their 2024 property taxes from now until April 30, 2026. With more than 3,000 residents bene ting last year, the city said it aims to increase participation this year by expanding access with online applications.
Applicants must be Denver residents and meet income and residency requirements. e program is open to: Homeowners who:
• Were 65 or older all of 2024, or
• Were disabled all of 2024, or
• Had a dependent child who lived with them all of 2024, and
• Owned and lived in their home within Denver for all of 2024,
• Paid 2024 property taxes in full, and
• Had income at or below 60% of Denver’s Area Median Income (AMI). Renters who:
• Were 65 or older all of 2024, or
• Were disabled all of 2024, and
• Lived in a rental dwelling where 2024 property taxes were paid,
• Paid rent at all properties lived in throughout 2024 within the City and County of Denver, and
• Had income at or below 25% of AMI (individual applicants) or 30% of AMI (two adult applicants in the same household).
Applications will be accepted online at denvergov.org/propertytaxrelief through April 30, 2026. e application portal is available in English and Spanish, and residents are encouraged to apply early, as funds are limited and will be distributed on a rst-come, rst-served basis.
To support residents who may have di culty completing the online application, HOST and its community partners will host in-person assistance events throughout the city. Dates and locations will be posted on the program’s website. In addition, residents can get help by contacting Colorado Housing Connects at 1-844-926-6632 (call or text, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.) or the CARE Center at 303-838-1200 (call or text, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m.5:30 p.m.).
“ e Property Tax Relief program is here to help people, especially seniors, who are struggling with high housing costs and xed incomes,” said Jamie Rife, the executive director of the city’s Housing Stability department. For more information or to apply, visit denvergov.org/propertytaxrelief.
In Denver’s GES neighborhoods, new worker center aims to build power, not just jobs
BY ROSSANA LONGO-BETTER ROSSANA@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
In Denver’s Globeville and ElyriaSwansea neighborhoods — long shaped by industry, immigrant labor and environmental injustice — two grassroots organizations are joining forces to rewrite the narrative of economic survival.
El Centro de los Trabajadores and Tierra Colectiva, the community land trust of the GES Coalition, have partnered to launch a new worker center aimed at connecting local residents with job training, labor protections and long-term pathways to stability.
But leaders say this e ort is about more than just employment. It’s about dignity, power and building a future that belongs to the people who have called this community home for generations.
“We don’t have to wait for someone else to come and save us,” said Nola Miguel, director of Tierra Colectiva. “We can build these solutions ourselves — with our neighbors, for our neighbors.”
Rooted in organizing, focused on justice e new worker center — set to open in the heart of GES — will focus initially on three high-demand industries: con-
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struction, hospitality and childcare. But Mayra Juarez-Denis, executive director of El Centro de los Trabajadores, emphasized that the vision goes beyond skills training.
“We see the whole worker — not just the job seeker,” Juarez-Denis said. “It’s about connecting them to the right resources, making sure they’re treated with dignity, and helping them dream bigger for themselves and their families.”
is is the third worker center El Centro has established in Denver, but it’s the rst rooted deeply in a historically working-class neighborhood like GES — an area facing increasing pressures from development and displacement.
“ is is about expanding the opportunities for working-class families to create generational wealth,” Juarez-Denis added. “Not just any job — but good jobs, with respect, stability and a future.”
Connecting labor justice with housing justice
For both organizations, the partnership was a natural t.
Tierra Colectiva has spent years organizing to prevent displacement and secure community ownership of land and housing in GES. El Centro de los Trabajadores has fought to protect workers’ rights and provide pathways to economic advancement.
“Housing justice and labor justice are deeply connected,” Miguel said. “It’s about building power at the community level — so families can stay, work and thrive right here.”
at local focus, leaders say, is essential in a city where economic development often leaves longtime residents behind.
“We’ve seen too many investments come into neighborhoods and just pass through — never really bene ting the people living there,” Miguel said. “ is partnership is about making sure that when resources come to GES, they stay here.”
A model for community-led solutions e timing of this initiative feels especially urgent.
Across Colorado and the nation, working-class and immigrant communities continue to face rising costs, labor exploitation and housing insecurity. But this project — born from community organizing — o ers a di erent approach: one centered on local voices, grassroots power and long-term vision.
“We want this center to be a place of belonging,” Juarez-Denis said. “A place where workers feel safe, respected, and connected to opportunities that will help their families thrive — not just today, but for generations to come.”
As construction gets underway, both organizations hope this model can inspire other neighborhoods — proving that investing in people, listening to residents and building collective solutions is not just possible, but essential.
“ is is the power of organizing,” Juarez-Denis said. “When workers and neighbors come together, we can create the future we deserve.”
Tierra Colectiva debuts two new homes in Globeville
BY ERIC HEINZ ERIC@COTLN.ORG
Voices echoed through the two homes within the Tierra Colectiva pipeline of income-restricting housing, the hallmark of a newly minted domicile.
e Tierra Colectiva Community Land Trust recently hosted an open house for people to see some of the work that’s been done to create more a ordable housing, particularly for residents in the Globeville, Elyria and Swansea neighborhoods.
e land trust, operated under the umbrella of the GES Coalition, seeks to help people on income-restricted budgets nd permanent housing, rather than renting from place to place, particularly in a market like Denver where people can end up spending more than half their income on housing per month.
Nola Miguel, the director of Tierra Colectiva, said the two new homes will be occupied by families that have been on the organization’s waitlist for at least two years. One of the families, she said, had been renting a basement that was not suitable for families.
One of the homes o 47th Avenue has three bedrooms and another has two. e homes sell between $200,000 and $225,000, and people are required to prove their total income to qualify for the lower prices.
e latest homes to be added to Tierra Colectiva’s roster of income-restricted housing were designed by the Denver Housing Authority’s West Denver Renaissance Collaborative with construction provided by Habitat for Humanity.
Tierra Coletiva has sold 15 homes at or
below market rates, with 23 more homes in its planned pipeline. e organization is also part of a program at 49th Avenue and Washington Street that will bring 170 rental units below market rates for income-restricted renters.
Raymunda Carreon, one of the owners, shared her story at a recent meeting hosted by Tierra Colectiva.
“I was displaced from several places,” Carreon said with the help of an English translator. “It was really challenging to work with the landlords. ere was a lot
of rental increases and … we were living in unstable circumstances in those homes.”
Carreon said she was elated when she was approved for one of the Tierra Colectiva homes.
“We were out searching for a new rental place. Sometimes there were none available,” Carron said. “And so, it was really hard for me, nancially, but also health
wise. I had a lot of health issues happening, and because I was really stressed, I had to go see the doctor a lot. Now, I feel better mentally. I know I’m not going to be able to make a lot of money o of the home. But to live in one of the homes, especially now with the market value, would not be possible.”
More information can be found at gescoalition.org/community-land-trust.
People gather inside one of the new homes provided by Tierra Colectiva for incomerestricted residents. PHOTOS BY ERIC HEINZ
People gather outside one of the new homes provided by Tierra Colectiva.
Denver North High School’s former valedictorian plans to pursue doctorate at Harvard
BY LONDON LYLE
SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
Rico Givens Padilla walked into North High School as a freshman in 2017 with a clear vision.
“He set himself apart from other kids immediately,” said Kathy Ho man, his former college counselor at North High School. “He immediately was like, ‘I’m going to be president.’ He immediately got involved in student council.”
Givens-Padilla grew up in a single-parent household in government housing, but, according to Ho man, he knew the importance of education from an early age. e SUNNYSIDE Neighborhood Scholarship is awarded to a high school senior demonstrating involvement in community service living in the Sunnyside neighborhood. In 2021, Rico GivensPadilla was named the high school senior. Givens-Padilla organized initiatives like the school’s annual blood drive and took leadership roles from the start. Ho man recalled, “He was class president for three years in a row. He took all the advanced classes he could, and just kind of set himself apart immediately; it’s cool to be smart, it’s cool to be involved.”
Now, Givens-Padilla, who graduated as valedictorian from North in 2021, is graduating from Harvard University. His journey from North Denver to Harvard was marked by persistent e ort, community support and a deep-rooted passion for activism and social justice. His commitment to his community and academic excellence recently earned him admission into multiple prestigious Phd programs, including Columbia, Princeton, Yale, and Harvard, where he ultimately chose to stay.
“I was admitted to the programs in English at Columbia, and Princeton, American Studies and African American Studies at Yale, and African American Studies and English at Harvard,” Givens-Padilla said. “I actually decided to stay at Harvard last month. I was able to announce it to my friends and family at my thesis presentation.”
His thesis at Harvard focuses on an intricate and nuanced topic, representational ethics surrounding the sexual lives of enslaved people.
“Because of such domination under the institution, scholars of the slave narrative and neo-slave narrative have at times avoided discussing enslaved sexuality to avoid romanticizing the institution or imbuing the situation with matters of consent that weren’t there necessarily,” he said. “My argument is that by avoiding the questions of consent, or rather in foreclosing the enslaved consent, we foreclose them the possibility of sexuality, which I see as a fundamental aspect of human existence.”
At North High, Givens-Padilla was known not only for his academic achievements but also for his relentless activism. He became the student body president three times, regularly engaging in initiatives that addressed social and political issues. He vividly recalled organizing protests during signi cant national moments.
“ e biggest walkout we led was alongside the walkouts of students across the country for the March for Our Lives protests following the Parkland High School shooting,” he said. “ ere were also protests after the rst Trump election.”
His activist roots trace back even before high school.
“In middle school, I was drawn to in-class debates and researching arguments,” he said. “I decided early on that I wanted to be a lawyer. Protest and holding government o cials accountable became an important part of my identity.”
His experiences were shaped signicantly by North Denver’s rich history of activism, particularly the Chicano movement.
“Many activists of the Chicano movement were active in North Denver,” he said. “ e National Chicano Youth Conference happened in Denver in 1969. ere were family members, friends intimately involved. ere’s something active and resistant about the soil of North Denver.”
Givens-Padilla credits his educators and mentors at North for fostering his growth.
“Many of my educators saw that spirit in me and did what they could to foster that,” he said. “My teachers were really focused on building community. e school isn’t just a place where students go to passively receive a curriculum, but it’s built on relationships with an understanding of community as a form of resistance.”
He particularly highlighted the importance of unique academic opportunities at North, like ethnic studies courses.
“Taking classes with Carla Cariño, my AP government and ethnic studies teacher, provided rare opportunities for students to have anti-colonial and decolonial thought courses as early as high school.”
Ho man pointed to the role of school counselors and community resources as essential to student success at North High School.
“We have a plethora of resources, and Rico used them all,” she said. “He connected with teachers, he went to the Future Center a lot. e Future Center is brought to us by the Denver Scholarship Foundation and TRiO and Gear Up. ese full-time college advisors work with every single student, connecting them to scholarships, college visits, and one-on-one meetings.”
Beyond academics, Givens-Padilla’s involvement extended to grassroots campaigns during his high school years. “I worked on David Ortiz’s campaign for the Colorado legislature, helping ip what was previously a rather conservative district,” he said.
“At the same time, I took a course through Harvard’s pre-college summer program about criminal law, and I thought deeply about issues like mass incarceration, gender issues, and police brutality.”
Givens Padilla shared advice for current North High students aspiring to follow a similar path.
“Look backward,” he said. “ ink of our forebears as inspiration. We’ve been through worse. ings might seem dark, but we’ve been through worse, and we can outlast this moment if we get to work and stick to what is important.”
Ho man expressed pride not just in Givens Padilla’s academic accomplishments but also in his impact on the community.
“I think Rico knew the importance of education immediately, and that’s how he was going to make a di erence,” Ho man said. “He had a very supportive mom, always here at North, which is special.”
As Givens Padilla prepares to enter Harvard’s PhD program in African American Studies and English, he carries forward
Rico Givens Padilla was the valedictorian of his Denver North High School class. He is graduating from Harvard University this year COURTESY PHOTO
FREE SUMMER EVENTS
Shaping the Future by Learning from Our Past: The many communities of West Colfax
One of the Northside neighborhoods that we have not yet explored is West Colfax. I am going to spend the next few months lling that gap with a few columns on the history of the area.
Colfax Avenue runs east to west from the plains up into the mountains. Designated U.S. 40, it was the main road to the Rockies before Interstate 70 went in. At one point, some people considered it the longest main street in the country. During the gold rush, this route, called e Golden Road, was where prospectors traveled west to look for riches.
Colfax was named for Schyler Colfax, an Indiana journalist, abolitionist, congressman and Ulysses S. Grant’s Vice President. He was also charged but not found liable in a major bribery scandal during Grant’s term. Because he came west and passed through Denver, his name seemed to be a good t for the long cross-country road.
In West Denver, as you traverse Colfax you nd Federal Boulevard on the east then travel to Sheridan on the west. e northern boundary is Sloan’s Lake and the neighborhood runs south to about West 10th Avenue.
From the 1870s, the northern section was part of the town of Highland. To the east was North Denver, and to the south lay the Lakewood Gulch. Along the South Platte two small neighborhoods, Colfax and Brooklyn, developed on the west side of the Platte, between the river and Federal Boulevard and between Sixth Avenue and North Denver. is is now under the Colfax and I-25 viaduct. East of the river
was Auraria and what we now call West Denver. A small wooden bridge connected the two sides. ere have been diverse communities there over time. In its earliest days it was camping grounds for nomadic Indigenous people. Much of the area was later reserved for land grants to veterans of nineteenth century American wars.
However, because it was so far from where most of these veterans lived, many sold their land to speculators, some of whom actually farmed and developed it. One of those men was omas Sloan who moved from Ohio to Colorado in 1859. Sloan’s Lake carries his name. I will cover the lake in a future column.
For many years, the area along the South Platte between Colfax and 13th Avenue was home to Denver’s poorest residents, many of whom were immigrants. Called “ e Bottoms,” it was also known as “Jim Town” or “No Man’s Land.” e towns of Colfax and Brooklyn were part of that. In the earliest days the population was a mix of Anglo-Americans, Germans, and other northern European migrants, all down on their luck.
Over time, as members of each group gained some wealth, they moved out and another struggling group took their place.
e area held small, wooden houses, small stores and a large number of saloons and other entertainment establishments. Good water and sanitation were mostly non-existent and the air stank of coal smoke, sewage and decay.
To the north, the newer residents were Irish and Italian. From the 1880s Eastern European Jews moved in. And when their time came to move out, the Irish and Italians moved to North Denver and the Jews spread out and built their communities along West Colfax.
By the 1890s, Denver had annexed the whole area. e next chapter of the story came when the City of Denver decided
to clear out the riverfront neighborhood while building the Colfax Viaduct and razing the homes and businesses. ey saved a few of the larger structures including the Solf building with its round corner tower and the Brooklyn building, which later became a restaurant called Brooklyn’s. Much later, Mile High Stadium and Meow Wolf lled in more of the area. Most recently large apartment buildings are crowding in as well.
Rebecca A. Hunt
This 1920s photo shows construction of the Colfax viaduct. In the background are some of the homes that stood in the Brooklyn neighborhood..
Repurposing: A good habit for all
If you ever converse with people of a certain older generation, you might learn, among many other things, that if a household item broke, instead of discarding it, they would attempt to repair it. Our culture has become accustomed to buying something new instead of xing it, often online rather than locally. It breaks or you no longer want it, and in less than a year it gets disposed.
us the label “disposable society.” e elevation of our land lls is growing higher and higher with cheap electronics and plastics that will never biodegrade and can leach harmful chemicals.
According to the World Health Organization, millions of electronic devices are discarded every year as products break or become obsolete. ese discarded devices are considered e-waste and can become a threat to health and the environment if they
are not disposed of and recycled appropriately. Recycling is good, but it is really the last step in a series of steps we can all take. While shopping with your child, be aware of how things are packaged and try to choose products that utilize reusable materials. It is inevitable that we will end up with some glass, aluminum and plastic containers, but take a pause before you put them in the recycling bin. How can these
As a teacher, I saved many of these items to repurpose them with my students. e children had no problem using their creativity to transform such materials into
a wide variety of new items. Perhaps it is time for our households to make such repurposing/repairing more of a norm. Learning the resourcefulness of reuse is a handy skill to teach our children. At our house, before we agree to buy something, whether it is food or goods, the routine is to check the inventory. We check the refrigerator, in the hall closet, in the garage. Half the time, we nd that we already have something that will make do or something we can alter or repair that will be as good as or sometimes better than something new. e ability to reimagine something new out of something old not only develops your child’s resourcefulness and criticalthinking skills, it saves money and results in less junk going to the dump. It might take longer than Amazon one-day shipping, but the act of repurposing is empowering, creating independence from the ad-
This place, these people
diction to buying stu .
According to a November 2024 article in HerCircle, teaching kids about conservation early helps lay a foundation for lifelong habits. e earlier we teach and validate children’s e orts at reducing, repurposing and recycling, the better chance we have that those values will stick and the better chance we have at keeping those land lls at a lower elevation. As a creative person myself, I nd it hard to throw things away. For a while, I painted old plastic juice containers trendy colors to serve as inexpensive vases. I save old beads, buttons and jewelry for multimedia art. Old clothing becomes a source of material to mend tattered jeans. I recently took a discarded dresser and with paint transformed it into a unique kitchen island.
Cities are always changing, but this section of our city has been especially prone to development and redevelopment. I will cover some of this in the coming months. In the meantime, I have a few sources linked to this article online that will tell you more about this month’s tale and give you a head start on what’s to come.
Dr. Rebecca A. Hunt has been a resident of North Denver since 1993. She worked in museums and then taught museum studies and Colorado, Denver, women’s and immigration history at the University of Colorado Denver until she retired in 2020.
There are times and places that require a person to know where they are in relation to the land, the seasons, the weather. e bonds we have with the natural world remind us that we are a small part of a majestic web between the land and the people.
Being present to “where we are” can mean stumbling upon a blooming alpine meadow or suddenly recognizing that the storm above may be turning into a tornado.
ere are times and places that remind a person they are a part of a larger com-
munity on shared land. You might be driving through the neighborhood only to see the road blocked by the North High homecoming parade or a group of people with signs marching in an organized protest. One, you might stop to cheer on, yelling the year of your graduation while you snap a pic of your sister’s son in the marching band.
e other might lead you to ask what is going on that would inspire so many people to join together this afternoon. ese experiences pluck the string of the web of the connection between the people and the land. is place and these people, our community, live within a symbiotic relationship. is land has witnessed a complicated history of the people who have called it home, from the Tséstho’e (Cheyenne), Hinono’eino’ biito’owu’ (Arapaho), Núu-agha-t v -p (Ute)
COMMON GROUND
Lisa Rogers
LETTERS FROM MISS JILL
Regis Graduation
BY COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA STAFF ERIC@COTLN.ORG
Regis University students celebrated their graduate and undergraduate ceremonies May 3 and 4, respectively.
Donald J. Mares, president and CEO of e Colorado Trust, was the commencement speaker for the graduate students, and Chief Justice Monica M. Márquez of the Colorado Supreme Court was the commencement speaker for the undergraduate ceremony.
CARSTENS
Here are some more tips:
• When shopping, buy bulk whenever possible to avoid accumulating unnecessary packaging. You can also bring your own reusable containers to hold these goods. Stores like Sprouts and some King Soopers have bulk sections for food. Local shops like Joy Fill at 33rd and Tennyson provide soaps, detergents and bulk shampoos too.
• When packaging and containers do accumulate, put on your thinking cap (or do a web search) on how you can reuse containers to hold food leftovers or to sort things such as craft items — free storage! Make sure everyone in the family has a sturdy, reusable water bottle.
• Paint is your friend. It can be used to renew old furniture and transform old items. Rather than purchasing new, check out the local thrift store and include your child in helping to upcycle your purchase with creativity.
• YouTube or Instagram are great sources for nding ways to adapt unwanted pieces of clothing into new and creative
fashions. One of my favorites is @tulipanoriginals.
• If you cannot nd a way to reuse an item, rather than setting it in the alley, try calling e Gracefull Home, a nonpro t that supplies free furniture to formerly homeless residents. ey will pick your furniture up for free and repurpose it for you!
As your children mature, help educate them about how the efforts at reducing, repurposing, repairing and recycling properly staves o climate change. ere is so much to learn about how to spend our consumer dollars in a way that does not degrade the environment. Just when things might seem to get overwhelming, knowing ways to positively impact climate change can help us realize that we do have some control by acting intentionally as we create positive habits. ese actions may seem small, but collectively have far reaching positive consequences.
Jill Carstens taught for 30 years and now enjoys writing about that time here and in her recently published memoir, “Getting Over Vivian.” Find out
com.
ROGERS
and O héthi Šakówi , and at least 48 other tribes that have and still call this land home. Including recent Venezuelan immigrants, this land has not discriminated in its welcome.
e welcome of community is another thing. Our collective history is lled with military, legislative, racial and and religious colonization and genocide, as well as landgrabs, mining and agricultural rushes that molded this land into the image of the industrialists, capitalists and politicians at the expense of anyone who did not resemble or act like them.
is “nation-building” led to streams, rivers and oods of migrants and immigrants who brought their families, hoping for a new start. ese families became communities who settled into this place with their labor, businesses, farms, churches, and food. Our history, our story echoes that of the larger country. And throughout that history there has always been a stronger story of community coming together, mutual support and celebration of one another.
e North Denver community has a long history of people and families stepping up to strengthen the web of our collective and communal place. You see the name of Rudolfo “Corky” Gonzales on a library and a park, in history and poetry classes in our schools. I was a young child when Gonzales was a leading voice for Chicano and Indigenous communities to ght segregation and racism in our schools. He and the Chicano movement were not in my school textbooks, but his in uence and action were already inspiring my classmates. Corky Gonzales stood up to the storms of culture
and climate, staking a claim of place, culture and history in a world of boundaries that do not lie on land or in the blood of ancestors. When you read his epic poem, “I Am Joaquin,” listen for the sound of the strum on the string of our history that ties into the web of this land and this community. His activism is in the soil of this city and in the air that lls the lungs of local justice activists today, and in the story of his family still standing for community, like his granddaughter Serena GonzalesGuitierrez, who serves today as an at-large member of the Denver City Council.
We are living in a time and place that is requiring us to learn more about how our lives are interconnected through the quaking of tectonic shifts in politics, culture and climate. Where we are can be completely di erent within a matter of moments. One moment joining a celebration of joy in shared culture, the next running from people who might be there to harm us, our neighbors, our loved ones. In strange and confusing times like these, understanding and strengthening the web of our community is vital. Our stories of this place must include ourselves, our family, our neighbors, our workplaces as well as those neighbors we don’t agree with or that guy who lives in a tent under the bushes at the corner.
is web is attached to the land and rocked by the seasons, the weather, and cultural upheaval. In this column I hope to explore the theme of place — this place — in North Denver as the seasons roll, the weather rocks, and the story of our community evolves on this land, our common ground.
Lisa Rogers, a North Denver native, is a community resilience strategist dedicated to creating pathways through community engagement to innovative urban sustainability solutions. She can be reached at lisa.rogers.sustainability@gmail.com.
Developer accused of duping buyer of $17M Regis apartments
BY JUSTIN WINGERTER BUSINESSDEN
e buyer of a $17 million apartment building on the city’s northside says he was defrauded by its developer, who misled him about Regis University’s longterm lease there.
Slipstream Properties, a small, Glendale-based developer of multifamily buildings, turned 4923 King St. into the 29-unit Vincent J. Boryla Apartments between 2016 and 2018, when the university signed a 10-year lease. Catamount Constructors handled construction.
e building’s namesake, Boryla, was a professional basketball player who won a gold medal in 1948 and later became general manager of the Denver Nuggets. He was a Regis University donor, and his son attended Regis High School before a professional football career.
In August 2023, the apartment building was bought for $17 million by MJM Real Estate Investments, a Tennessee company registered to a Robert Maxwell in Nashville. Soon after, MJM learned that not all was as it seemed, according to a lawsuit it led April 25.
“MJM was alerted by Regis to the problems plaguing the premises,” that lawsuit recalls.
A boiler failure in the winter of 2021
TAYLOR
• Hinge: hips push back or forward while keeping the back straight and core engaged, using the posterior chain (whole back body).
• Push: Forces a load away from the body, such as pushing objects away or performing a push-up.
• Pull: Pulls a load towards the body, like pulling a weight or performing a pull-up.
• Rotate: Twisting or turning the body.
• Locomote: walk, run, roll, swim, this is simply you moving your body under your own steam!
Mimicking our everyday life and the activities we aspire to do can help us hone our program. Squatting: getting o a park bench, a chair lift, or, more importantly, the toilet. Lunges: rising from the ground, using the stairs, or ice skating. Putting a bag in the overhead bin or rock climbing are great examples of why we need overhead pressing and pulling. Getting the toaster out from under the counter or golfing? SO rotational!
How much weight should we lift? To start, none! e rst step is to be sure we can move through each pattern 10 or so times using just our body weight for resistance. If that feels easy, great. You’ve just done your warm-up. Add a weight that feels challenging for 8-10 repetitions without sacri cing your form. Once you can do 8-10 repetitions comfortably, it’s time to make it harder.
Progressive overload gradually challenges your body and inspires your musculoskeletal system to get stronger. e most important word in those last two sentences is “gradually.” Just as in so much of life, patience is key to sustained progress here. ere are many ways to make your training more challenging. e main three are:
• Increase resistance: how much weight we use.
• Increase endurance: how many repetitions we complete.
• Increase tempo: how fast we move the weight. ( is is one where I encourage you
was improperly xed, causing further damage to the boilers, and an air conditioning problem before the sale wasn’t xed at all, according to MJM.
“(Slipstream) and Regis had a pattern and practice in which Regis would defer maintenance, damaging the premises, and Slipstream would pay for the damage,” MJM claims.
at surprised MJM, which says it was told that the Regis lease was a triple net,
to talk to a professional. Moving weight quickly leads to not just strength but power. Power can be key to sustaining an active lifestyle, but I always encourage form over speed for beginners until healthy movement patterns under manageable loads have been established).
Progressive overloading happens after we’ve mastered an exercise. Usually, this means we have completed the same routine eight to 12 times. is is just a general guideline. If the last two repetitions are still challenging, stick with it until they aren’t. If it is still challenging you, it is still changing you! If you think you aren’t progressing as fast as you should, rst, work to banish the word “should.”
requiring Regis to pay for maintenance, taxes and insurance coverage.
“In reality, Regis had borne little to no responsibility for maintaining the premises,” last month’s lawsuit states.
By the summer of 2024, the university was demanding reimbursement for
Progress looks di erent for every single body. en, make sure you are checking your workout support boxes: warming up before you lift, getting enough rest between workouts, eating enough, staying hydrated, and integrating some mobility training into your routine. And make sure you aren’t overtraining. You may need to scale back the intensity for a while to build up supporting muscles and neuro pathways before it’s time to progress.
No matter what you see on Facebook, you can start resistance training on your own. If a trainer is in your budget, do it! I’m always happy to make recommendations for great folks doing great work in the neighborhood. But if it’s not, don’t be fooled into thinking you are stuck. I know it’s not easy for so many reasons; don’t let overcomplicating it be one of them.
Resistance training is for everyone. And that means you. So start today. If you are sitting down reading this, Stand up! ere, you started. One squat done. May as well keep going.
Erika Taylor is a community wellness instigator at Taylored Fitness, the original online wellness mentoring system. Taylored Fitness believes that everyone can discover small changes in order to make themselves and their communities more vibrant, and that it is only possible to do our best work in the world if we make a daily commitment to our health. Visit facebook.com/erika.taylor.303 or email erika@taylored tness.com.
$42,000 it had spent on repairs and warning MJM that ve boilers would soon need to be replaced at a cost of $140,000, alongside $100,000 in cooling system xes. ose expenses fell on MJM.
For that it blames Slipstream. e buyer says the local developer tricked it into thinking the lease with Regis was a triple net and that the 33,000-square-foot building was in good condition. It accuses Slipstream of common law fraud, breach of contract, and negligence.
“ is is the rst we’ve heard about this,” Peter Eklund, a partner at Slipstream, told BusinessDen. “We haven’t heard from the buyer until this. Other than that, we don’t have any comment.”
A spokeswoman and legal director for Regis, which is not accused of wrongdoing and is not a party to the case, declined to discuss the lawsuit or its lease along King Street.
MJM’s attorney is Leah Capritta with the Denver o ce of Holland & Knight. is story was printed through a news sharing agreement with BusinessDen, a news site covering local business news in the Denver metro area.
The Vincent J. Boryla Apartments at 4923 King St. in Denver are seen on Thursday, May 1, 2025. PHOTO BY JUSTIN WINGERTER / BUSINESSDEN
TARIFFS
Jimmy Funkhouser is the owner/ founder of FERAL, an outdoor gear and clothing store that sells new and used goods, located on Tennyson Street near West 41st Avenue.
Funkhouser said doesn’t think most people understand the headache that tari s are going to have if they are not dropped.
“I can tell you it is not going to be insigni cant,” he said.
He said that if the tari s stick, there will be a price increase of 10-25% on the new clothing and outdoor gear that he sells, and that will be the rst wave of price increases in May.
“I think a lot of people don’t realize retailers don’t really have a lot
of control over price,” Funkhouser said. “Every brand that we work with, they tell us what we have to sell new items for, and the brands set the price.”
Funkhouser said that it will be the small-clothing and outdoor brands, especially the local ones, as well as the small retailers that will be a ected the most. Because they conduct a much lower volume of business, they will have less leverage to negotiate on the impacts of tari s.
FERAL is unique in that about 60% of their inventory is used.
Funkhouser says their plan is to not increase their prices on used outdoor clothing and used gear. He said he thinks that “recommerce” will have an opportunity for consumers that might be seeking value if price increases do come to tari s.
SCHOOL FAIR
For Flores, seeing his classmates sing and dance was a highlight of the fair.
“I really enjoyed the performing and singing to express my feelings to other people,” he said with a big smile.
Mariachi was very important to Flores, who didn’t take the chance to perform lightly. He saw music as a way for him and other teenagers to connect with one another and enjoy life.
“Music is something to share,” Flores said. “It’s something that everyone can connect to.”
For many, the connection and sense of community present in abundance at ursday’s fair couldn’t come at a better time. President Donald Trump’s administration’s campaign
of mass deportations, hostile and xenophobic rhetoric toward immigrants and targeting of international students has made for a polarized political landscape.
Will the national atmosphere change the fair? No, Martin said, although she does worry about funding for future events seeking to embrace North’s student diversity.
“It’s more important than ever,” said the language teacher. “I am myself an immigrant, so I understand how much fear there is. I think this gives students a safe space where they can be themselves.”
For Ka , the connection and energy she found on ursday was reason for hope.
“One of the words I had was ‘esh,’ which means love, on my poster. I kept saying, ‘ is is the word, love everyone!’” Ka said. “I think that, without having to say it, there was just the feeling of love here today.”
Jackson Lopez, a team member at FERAL, stands behind the front desk of this Tennyson Street retail store specializing in new and used outdoor clothing and outdoor equipment.
PHOTO BY ALLEN COWGILL
Erick Flores performs a Mariachi tune April 25 onstage during the Denver North High International Fair.
