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June 24, 2021
ARAPAHOE COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
EnglewoodHerald.net
VOLUME 101 | ISSUE 19
Randy Penn memorial scheduled at Englewood HS Event set for Aug. 21 at former mayor’s namesake stadium BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Planes stand at Centennial Airport in 2018.
impact” and “record of decision” — which enabled the agency to move forward with the Metroplex project. The decision was announced in January 2020. The finding meant the FAA determined that a further review, called an environmental impact statement, wasn’t necessary before the plan was put into action, according to the FAA’s website. Despite the court challenge, the project went into effect as scheduled on March 26, 2020, nearly four years after the FAA put the plan in motion, according to Centennial Airport. Local officials in the south Denver metro area and beyond were hoping to pump the brakes, fearing increased noise and some pilots flying over what
After Englewood’s school board changed the name of the school district’s athletic stadium last year in honor of Randy Penn — a longtime Englewood athletic coach, teacher and former mayor who died at age 71 last September — the historic figure will soon be remembered at a memorial event at that stadium. Penn Services will begin at 5 p.m. Aug. 21 at Randy Penn Stadium, located on The Englewood Campus at 3800 S. Logan St., home to Englewood High School. The event is open to the public, said Debbie Penn, Randy’s widow. Debbie Penn asked that the public wear black, blue or white, and the dress code is casual to account for the August heat. The family would like attendees in the stadium stands by 5 p.m. Penn, who left a lasting mark on young athletes and students for decades, passed away on Sept. 3. Penn began teaching in Englewood Schools in 1981 and remained with the district until 2008, where
SEE FLIGHT PATHS, P6
SEE MEMORIAL, P6
FILE PHOTO BY ELLIS ARNOLD
Court dismisses airport’s challenge on flight paths Centennial Airport opposed FAA’s Denver Metroplex plan, fearing noise, effect on safety BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
In what may serve as an anticlimactic end to a years-long dispute between metro Denver governments and the Federal Aviation Administration, a federal court has dismissed Centennial Airport’s challenge to the FAA’s approval of a plan to reroute metro Denver airplane traffic. “I think frankly the court punted on this — didn’t want to touch
this with a 10-foot pole,” Robert Olislagers, the airport’s director, said at a June 17 meeting of the airport’s board of leaders. The FAA’s plan to optimize arrival and departure at local airports is called the Denver Metroplex project, and it includes Denver International Airport, Centennial Airport and some others. An FAA environmental-assessment study had looked at impacts the project could have on noise, air quality, wildlife, and historic and cultural resources. It said the proposed change in flight paths was expected to have “no significant impacts” on those aspects of the project’s area, including metro Denver and the Greeley area. The FAA released an official final word — a “finding of no significant
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 12 | LIFE: PAGE 14 | CALENDAR: PAGE 17 | SPORTS: PAGE 21
REEL CHANGES
Movie theaters open but the pandemic changed viewing modes P14
