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August 27, 2020
ARAPAHOE COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
EnglewoodHerald.net
VOLUME 100 | ISSUE 27
State cracks down on large events, not protests
Joyce Neufeld, president of the Food Exchange Resource Network, shows off the network’s Englewood warehouse. Last year, 202,000 area residents were served through the food pantries of the network.
Conservatives see ‘clear double standard’ in protest policy
PHOTO BY JOSEPH RIOS
BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Food pantries collaborate to feed thousands Food Exchange Resource Network operates out of large warehouse BY JOSEPH RIOS JRIOS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Denver resident Maria, who declined to give her last name, was
doing house cleaning services before the COVID-19 pandemic forced her out of a job. Maria receives benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), a federal program that helps low-income Americans purchase groceries — but sometimes, the program doesn’t provide enough support for her. So, to get food she’ll occasionally go to Community Ministry of Southwest
ments such as recorders, which are popular for children in elementary school, the instruments are being shelved as a precaution against COVID-19. “We sing all the time. That will be the hardest adjustment,” said Dynda. “Hopefully we can incorporate rhythms and transfer that to mallet instruments and drums. But the lack
Colorado officials in recent weeks took enforcement action against events that threatened to overrun the state’s limits on crowd sizes, but the crackdown called attention to the lack of similar enforcement regarding racial-justice protests around metro Denver in recent months. The office of Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser issued a ceaseand-desist letter in late July to Live Entertainment, the company behind a planned July 26 rodeo in Weld County and at least one other event that have drawn as many as thousands. The office proactively sent cease-and-desist orders to an organizer, Adixion Music, as well as a venue, Imperial Horse Racing Facility, to stop such events in the future, according to a governor’s office news release. Gov. Jared Polis called such gatherings “dangerous superspreader events” at an Aug. 4 news conference, referring to large crowds’ ability to spread coronavirus. “People who put themselves at risk aren’t just putting themselves at risk — they’re putting their family, their neighborhood and community at risk, and we cannot stand for that,” Polis said at the news conference.
SEE SCHOOLS, P24
SEE STATE, P8
Denver’s food pantry at 1755 S. Zuni St. “To tell you the truth, it’s very helpful when you don’t get (enough support from SNAP). It’s hard for people to survive like that, but I’m glad there’s places like this one,” said Maria as she packed a grocery cart of food from the pantry into her car on Aug. 20. SEE FOOD, P4
Englewood Schools teachers talk about return In-person classes see many changes because of COVID-19 pandemic BY JOSEPH RIOS JRIOS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
By the time the first day of school rolls around in Englewood on Aug.
27, life will look different inside Rebecca Dynda’s music classroom at Clayton Elementary School. Masks will be worn by students spaced out six feet apart in the classroom. Rather than sitting on the floor like they typically do, students are to be sitting on chairs. The school’s custodian will disinfect the room in between classes. Singing is no long a part of music class. And rather than playing wind instru-
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 10 | LIFE: PAGE 12 | SPORTS: PAGE 17