$1.00
April 29, 2021
ARAPAHOE COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
EnglewoodHerald.net
VOLUME 101 | ISSUE 9
‘Downtown authority’ awaits funding Voters may be asked again to OK funding for city’s major business corridors BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
broke news that the federal government had let hundreds of Black men in rural Alabama go untreated for syphilis for 40 years for research purposes. A public outcry ensued, and the study ended three months later, according to the AP. The effects of the study still linger — it’s routinely cited as a reason some Black Americans are reluctant to participate in medical research, or even go to the doctor for routine check-ups, the AP reported. But other communities also experience “vaccine hesitancy,” and making vaccination quick and easy is crucial for the state to be able to
Months after Englewood voters approved the creation of a body that would work to economically boost Englewood’s CityCenter, traditional Broadway downtown and medical areas, the public still awaits clarity on where the government entity’s funding will come from, but some details are coming into focus. In the Nov. 3 election, property owners, residents and business owners in the city’s “downtown” district approved the creation of the downtown development authority, a body that will attempt to attract more economic activity to the district. But voters turned down some of the tax and debt ballot questions that would have funded the body. Soon, the Englewood City Council could consider whether to issue a $150,000 loan to the downtown authority to cover its year-one operating expenses, a decision likely to occur in early summer, according to a statement from Dan Poremba, Englewood’s chief redevelopment officer.
SEE VACCINE, P4
SEE DOWNTOWN, P7
Gov. Jared Polis, center, visits a mobile vaccine clinic, an effort supported by state officials to bring vaccinations sites to locations COURTESY OF THE GOVERNOR’S OFFICE VIA FACEBOOK around Colorado. The state has two bus routes and was to announce a third soon.
State’s vaccine effort hopes to close gaps Colorado targets residents who face barriers to accessing vaccine shots BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Even with Colorado’s six mass vaccination sites around the state up and running — and with local health providers also putting shots in arms — state officials knew they needed to go further to reach Coloradans who can’t drive to appointments or set them up online. That’s why Colorado started organizing what it calls “equity clin-
ics” — and as of mid-April, state officials had worked with more than 100 community organizations in the effort to reach low-income areas, people of color and rural residents, too. For some communities, barriers to coronavirus vaccination aren’t just economic but can also stem from distrust, Gov. Jared Polis said. “It is important that people understand some of the legitimate roots of that skepticism, where, inexcusably, Black Americans were experimented on without their permission,” Polis told Colorado Community Media. That’s a reference to what became known as the Tuskegee syphilis study: In 1972, the Associated Press
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 8 | LIFE: PAGE 10 | CALENDAR: PAGE 12 | SPORTS: PAGE 14
PLEASURES FOR THE PALATE
The spirit and ingredients in Cajun food P10