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October 3, 2019
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Initiatives tackle climate change Proposals push for taxing electricity and natural gas use BY NANCY PROFERA SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
tion on veterinary spaces for surgery, as well as a new space for animal behavior, said Joan Thielen, communications specialist with the Denver Dumb Friends League. The center is named after Leslie Malone of the Malone Family Foundation. The foundation agreed to donate $20 million in matching funds during the campaign. The organization also helped fund the Denver Dumb Friends League equine center near Castle Rock, which opened in 2012. Thielen said the nonprofit has raised all the needed funds for the campaign and that construction is
Denver city officials and residents continue to push for climate policy as two new carbon tax initiatives are planned for next year’s ballot. A recent citizens initiative was introduced, as well as one by Denver City Council members. Each propose funding a new Denver Office of Climate Action and Resiliency. The citizens initiative gained enough signatures to be on the November 2020 ballot. “We missed the deadline for November 2019, but certified for the 2020 ballot,” said Ean Tafoya, a representative for Resilient Denver, a citizens activist group fighting climate change. This initiative would establish an excise tax on commercial and residential building electricity and natural gas use. The bill exempts businesses using below average energy consumption. Meanwhile, Denver City Council has introduced a similar bill proposing an excise tax on businesses, but unlike the citizens initiative, it would not tax residences. This bill is also designed to help fund a proposed new climate office.
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Denver Dumb Friends League volunteer Jim Thoeming gets ready to take one of the shelter’s dogs out for a walk. He said that you can tell in a dog’s behavior what kind of life it had before coming to the shelter. Some are timid around humans and won’t take treats at first. KAILYN LAMB
Taking care of our four-legged friends Denver animal shelter opens new space, continues renovation project BY KAILYN LAMB KLAMB@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
After more than 40 years of using the same animal kennels, the Denver Dumb Friends League was well overdue for an upgrade to its shelters. The newly named Leslie A. Malone Center features new kennels, better drainage and soundproofing. The kennels are also set up in a way that
means dogs will no longer have to go from one end of the shelter to get to adoption rooms or checkup areas. This helps cut down on the animal’s stress, said Jasmine McCormick, an adoption associate for the Denver Dumb Friends League. “It’s all the little things that are really amazing,” McCormick said. “In the adoptions lobby it’s been better on the animals for sure. They seem happier to me in those kennels.” The renovation project was launched two years ago as part of a $40 million capital campaign that has several phases, including the shelter space. The organization, which runs as a nonprofit, is also doing construc-
THE BOTTOM LINE PERIODICAL
“I used to think the job of being a disc jockey would be great. Now they just get in the way of the music.” Craig Marshall Smith, columnist | Page 8 INSIDE
VOICES: PAGE 8 | LIFE: PAGE 10 | CALENDAR: PAGE 5 VOLUME 92 | ISSUE 47