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July 9, 2020
DENVER, COLORADO
A publication of
VOLUME 93 | ISSUE 35
Future still uncertain for Rosedale school Denver Public Schools exploring idea to lease shuttered building to third party BY CHRISTY STEADMAN CSTEADMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
When she was in elementary school in the early 1960s, Jo Peters learned to fold a flag properly. She was one of eight in the color guard at Rosedale Elementary School, and remembers raising the flag every morning and taking it down every afternoon. “Denver was a wonderful place to grow up,” said Peters, now an Englewood resident. “I would love to see the (Rosedale) school preserved, for its historical value.” The fate of Rosedale Elementary, 2330 S. Sherman St., is still undetermined. But Denver Public Schools has decided to explore the possibility of leasing it to a third party.
City to relocate existing camps now set up in Capitol Hill, elsewhere BY DONNA BRYSON DENVERITE
factors we’ve had in our state.” While Colorado was “one of the first states to successfully transition” out of the stay-at-home phase of coronavirus restrictions into a “safer at home” phase with more economic activity — and, so far, has been spared the type of severe COVID-19 increases seen in nearby states — Colorado’s rate of new cases has risen for the last two weeks, Polis said.
Denver will be opening temporary, sanctioned and serviced camps where people experiencing homelessness can shelter amid the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing the city to clear other camps that have sprung up around town. Mayor Michael Hancock said July 1 it had not yet been decided how many sanctioned camps would be needed or where they would be located, saying the neighborhoods that will host them could be anywhere in the city and people in houses there would need to be informed before the unhoused move in. Nonprofits who had lobbied for sanctioned camps said the first would be opened in the coming weeks, but did not say where. Hancock, who had resisted the idea of sanctioned camping, said during a news conference that “COVID has introduced a new reality.” “By providing alternatives, we will be able to step up our enforcement” of Denver’s ban on urban camping, Hancock said. Hancock said people now camping near Morey Middle School in Capitol Hill would be the first to be targeted
SEE VIRUS, P6
SEE HOMELESS, P9
The halls of Rosedale Elementary School, 2330 S. Sherman St. in Denver, have been empty since 2005. Some neighbors of the building are advocating for it to reopen as a public school to serve the neighborhood’s children.
SEE ROSEDALE, P11
COURTESY OF FACEBOOK GROUP DPS REOPEN ROSEDALE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Colorado closes bars, nightclubs after young crowds spread virus Some counties get more relaxed phase of social distancing BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Just 12 days after Colorado allowed bars and nightclubs to open in-person service statewide, a concerning
Denver to open new camps for homeless
uptick in COVID-19 cases fueled by young Coloradans forced state officials to pump the brakes and close drinking establishments again. “Our uptick, like the major spikes in other states, is largely among the younger demographic,” Gov. Jared Polis said at a June 30 news conference. “I think it is partially attributable the bars and nightclubs and also potentially to the large public gatherings and the protest movements that we’ve seen outside. Those are two
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 8 | LIFE: PAGE 10
A PRIMARY WINNER
PERIODICAL
Lisa Escárcega, the former head of the Colorado Association of School Executives, has won the Democratic primary race to represent Denver on the State Board of Education P4