city Brighton after the town where she grew up, but there are di erent accounts of this,” Kring said. “One story takes place in her hometown of Brighton Beach, New York, and another is set in Brighton, Massachusetts.”
Digging in It’s the kind of historical question that Kring really enjoys.
Kring moved to Brighton in 2001, where she met Pat Reither, the city historian. Kring said Reither told her she lived on the
BY DAVID O. WILLIAMS COLORADO NEWSLINE
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser’s o ce will consider joining a lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s declaration in January of a national energy emergency, he told Newsline in an exclusive interview. e Trump administration’s Bureau of Land Management invoked the emergency declaration to complete accelerated environmental review of a permit to expand a loading facility near Price, Utah for oil coming out of the nearby Uinta Basin. e expansion could increase oil capacity on the main rail line through Colorado by up to 80,000 barrels a day.
It’s anticipated that the expansion of what’s known as the Wildcat Loadout facility — located on publicly owned federal lands — and other nearby facilities will allow the trucking and transfer to rail of up to 75% of the oil proposed for transport in the Uinta Basin Railway project. Eagle County and state ofcials have long opposed increased oil trains along the Colorado River. In a June 27 letter to Jerry Davis, acting Utah state director for the BLM, Weiser wrote that an expedited environmental assessment for the proposed Wildcat right-of-way expansion would be a “violation of applicable laws and regulations” that would block proper public input and “subject Colorado communities to signi cant economic, environmental, and health and safety risks.”
Weiser argued there is no national energy emergency given the United States produced more oil last year than any nation in history, and he urged the BLM to follow standard, legally required procedures in reviewing the project. An attorney for Eagle County and an environmental group that successfully sued the federal government to delay the rail project, also sent letters.
separate terms. I like everything historical, and it’s what attracted me to the eld of history. Of course, I don’t want to see history disappear, especially with buildings
However, the BLM issued its approval, nding “no signi cant impact” related to the expansion, which Colorado opposes due to increased derailment, wild re and oil-spill risks,
with a belief that students deserve to be seen
BY SUZIE GLASSMAN SUZIE@COTLN.ORG
On a sunny summer afternoon in Brighton, Will Pierce leaned back in his chair and began speaking about the district he leads with an easy smile and a clear sense of purpose.
“I think we might be the district that can actually do this thing,” he said.
Pierce is referring to the ambitious and systemic goal of transforming public education so that it works for every student, particularly those who have been historically left behind due to poverty, language barriers or other challenges.
It’s the word “every” that stands out to him, and it’s grounded in the district’s mission statement: “27J Schools, in partnership with parents and community, empowers every student today to take control of their future tomorrow.”
“When you say ‘every student,’ it raises the bar,” Pierce said. “It forces us to ask who might be left out and what gaps we still need to close.”
e district uses the mission as a kind of strategic tension and a standard to evalu-
ate whether its practices and outcomes align with its core purpose.
“We want the mission to continue to be more true now than it was before, both in the outcomes that we achieve and in the practices that we see in our classrooms every day,” Pierce said.
To help guide that alignment, 27J revised its core values into what Pierce calls the district’s four pillars: Believe, Integrity, All In and Compassion.
He describes the pillars as more than words. Rather, they are a daily standard for how the district operates and what it expects from students, sta and leadership alike.
Acknowledging that “believe” sounds like “believe in Santa,” Pierce clari ed it’s more than that.
“Believe means seeing the potential in every student, and seeing every person as capable,” he said. “If you’re going to say you believe in something, then you also need the integrity to hold up a mirror and ask, ‘Are we actually doing it?’”
Budget strategy and hard truths
Despite the district’s ambitions, Pierce holds no illusions about the scale of the challenge.
“Even with the additional funding brought by the mill levy override that voters approved in 2022, we’re still about $800 per student below the state average. Multiply that by 25,000 students, and the funding gap becomes clear,” Pierce said.
is spring, the district approved a ve-year budget that includes a planned drawdown of the general fund reserve. at plan helps leaders clearly explain the stakes to the public.
“If we don’t bring in more revenue, we will have to make cuts. Our community deserves to know that ahead of time,” Pierce said.
Pierce emphasized the importance of transparency and realism, without resorting to excuses.
“Leaders sometimes say, ‘We’re broke,’ but once you start using that language, it becomes an excuse not to be excellent. And students don’t care about excuses.” at same mindset is shaping the district’s response to a recent federal funding freeze a ecting several key grants. e status of whether those grants will come through is unclear, but they are currently on hold.
“We’re looking at just under a million dollars at risk,” he said. “ ankfully, we had contingency funds to carry us through this year. But beyond that, we’ll need to adjust.”
But his biggest concern involves a potential cut to Medicaid reimbursements tied to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. “ at one is di erent. It’s over $5 million and directly impacts special education services. at would be devastating. ese are real kids, with real needs, who rely on those supports.”
Doing the most with what’s available
While many districts used pandemic relief funds to expand tutoring and summer programs, 27J prioritized its classrooms.
“We’re a district that has to focus on core instruction,” Pierce said. “We don’t have the resources for extras, so we focus on making every minute of classroom time matter.”
Dr. Justin Ralston brings global experience and commitment to RE-8
BY SUZIE GLASSMAN SUZIE@COTLN.ORG
On just his fth day as superintendent, Justin Ralston cracked a joke about still learning his way around the district o ce. But when it came to his vision for how to best serve the 2,500 students of Weld Re-8, Ralston was ready to get down to business. His approach is both personal and bold: meet every student and family where they are, listen rst and lead with love.
Ralston, a rst-generation college graduate from a four-stoplight town in Indiana, brings a deep sense of empathy and global perspective to the role. His path to Weld RE-8 includes years as a teacher and principal in Washington, D.C., and most notably, a formative period spent in East Africa, where he worked in refugee camps and taught children displaced by war.
“I still remember one boy who had been featured on the cover of a magazine carrying an AK-47,” Ralston said. “We sat together and I helped him write a capital A for the rst time. Despite everything he’d seen, he just wanted to learn. at’s stuck with me, that every child, no matter their story, deserves a shot.”
A district in transition
Ralston’s arrival comes at a pivotal moment for the district. Weld RE-8, which serves the Fort Lupton area and surrounding rural communities, has faced two consecutive failures at the ballot box: a $70 million bond and a $4 million mill levy override, both rejected by voters in 2023. e district is also bracing for the potential loss of federal education funds that
support professional development, migrant students and after-school programs.
Against this backdrop, Ralston isn’t promising quick xes. Instead, he’s inviting the community into the process.
He’s launched a 16-stop listening tour with informal meetups at places like Santiago’s and Holy Stromboli, along with a digital tool on the district’s website called “Ask Superintendent Ralston,” where anyone can submit questions directly.
“I’m not coming in with an agenda,” he said. “My job is to listen, to understand where we’re doing well and where we’re falling short, and then to co-create a plan together.”
In the meantime, he’s making himself available to every corner of the community.
Ralston is committed to holding oneon-one meetings with any sta member who asks by the end of October. He’s also launching student superintendent cabinets at every school, a practice he started in his previous district, where middle and high school students set the agenda and helped shape policy.
“If students are asking for something, we better listen and then show them their voice leads to real change,” he said.
Equity through a social work lens
Ralston’s grounding in social work, a eld in which he holds a master’s degree from Howard University, shapes how he views equity.
He spoke about the importance of noticing who is left out of a policy or classroom and working backward to include them.
“ e rst thing I’m going to do is look for who’s left out, who’s disengaged, who might be struggling with language access or something else, and then try to understand the why without placing blame,” he said. “ ere’s always a reason, and we have to gure that out in order to do better.”
As a former special education teacher, Ralston said he’s also especially attuned to
marginalized students.
at’s a pressing concern in Fort Lupton, where roughly 70% of students identify as Hispanic and many come from migrant or bilingual households.
Weld RE-8 has rea rmed its policy to deny ICE access to schools without a court order, a stance Ralston said he fully supports.
“I wouldn’t have come here if I didn’t believe this community was ready to support every student,” he said. “My job is to make sure kids are safe and learning. Period.”
In his rst week, he has already walked through facilities, met with new hires and begun responding to community questions. But he acknowledges the challenges ahead.
e district’s largest high school, Fort Lupton High, requires signi cant repairs, including roofs, HVAC systems and an updated kitchen, but lacks a clear funding source.
Ralston praised the custodial and maintenance teams for keeping the schools among the cleanest and best-maintained he has seen, despite the challenges. While he said he’s not aware of any immediate safety hazards, he emphasized that safety is the district’s top priority.
As part of his entry plan, Ralston is working with sta to review district protocols, align with Colorado law and strengthen coordination with local police.
“We’re making sure systems and structures are in place from day one,” he said.
Two of the ve principals are new. So is the COO and the Director of Exceptional Student Services, which includes special education.
And the board made the di cult decision this spring to delay another bond attempt while it rebuilds public trust.
Ralston also acknowledged the importance of immersing himself in the fabric of the community he serves.
“I plan to live in the district, send my kids to these schools, and be fully accountable. I don’t take that responsibility lightly.”
Looking forward: A community-centered vision
Ultimately, Ralston hopes to shift the narrative around public education in Weld RE-8 not just by boosting test scores, but by rebuilding relationships.
“Success isn’t only what we measure in pro ciency rates,” he said. “It’s what people say at the diner or in the bleachers. Do they feel the district is part of them? Do they feel heard?”
Asked what he wants people to say a year from now, Ralston didn’t hesitate.
“ at our kids were loved. at they were challenged. And that they were prepared. Love comes rst for me, that’s where everything starts.”
Notice the logo at the bottom right corner of this ad. It’s unchanged except for the addition of the “CENTURY 21®” branding. Last week, I finalized an “asset purchase agreement” with the owner of several other Century 21 franchise branches in Colorado, headquartered at Century 21 Elevated Real Estate in Grand Junction.
They also purchased the Century 21 branch across the street from us in downtown Golden, and will be closing that office, inviting its agents to affiliate with our office.
quickly attracted some broker associates, which made the enterprise more viable.
my continuation of this column by contacting me if you’d like to buy or list a home. If I can’t serve you myself, I’ll refer you to the
broker associate who I believe will serve you with the same professionalism as I would. Thanks for your support!
This is a big change for me, of course. I started Golden Real Estate, Inc., the same month that Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone in 2007.
At the time, I had been a RE/MAX Alliance broker associate for four years. I was purchasing a building on South Golden Road (currently the Golden Outpost), and RE/MAX wouldn’t allow it to be a RE/MAX office, because there were already three franchise offices (including my own) within a few miles. My solution was to start a new brokerage, which I was able to do, having attained licensure as an “employing broker” the year before. My vision had been to create a new RE/MAX franchise with the name “RE/MAX Sustainable Living.”
A big reason (for me) to purchase that building was its frontage on South Golden Road, where I could park the box truck which I was providing free to buyers and sellers. At the RE/MAX office, the truck was parked out of sight behind their office building. On South Golden Road it would stand as a billboard promoting me.
So, Golden Real Estate, Inc. was born, and I
I followed through on my sustainability values by adding 5kW of rooftop solar panels and, later on, another 15kW of ground-mounted solar panels to power not only the office and its heat pump HVAC system, but also my electric vehicles, those of my broker associates, and even those of the general public. It was a good life. Toward the end of the Covid-19 pandemic, a storefront became available next to the Ace Hi Tavern, and I moved Golden Real Estate into it, renting out the building on South Golden Road, but continuing to park our box truck there. Finally, I sold the building to Joe & Stacy Fowler of the Golden Hayride, who have done an amazing job of converting it into a venue called the Golden Outpost. I’m so impressed with their improvement of the site.
So what does this change to a Century 21 branch mean to you, my readers and clients? Not much, really. All our broker associates have signed on with the new owners, and I’m committing to staying as managing broker for another 12 months, after which I may stay or choose to retire. Since I’ll be 78 years old, probably the latter.
One difference you’ll notice is that this advertising becomes my sole expense, not the company’s, so I’ll continue it as long as it brings me clients. I will continue to promote our broker associates’ listings, as you see below with Greg Kraft’s new listing in Belmar, and get a small referral fee from them when I refer a reader who contacts me about listing or buying a home. In other words, please support
The National Kitchen & Bath Association recently published a report on the changes in kitchen design. Fortunately, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) summarized the report, which would cost you $2,995 to purchase. Here are some of what was written. (Find a link to the full NAR article at http:// RealEstateToday.substack.com.)
“Kitchens in 2025 are becoming about self -expression, combined with playful sophistication. As such, the colors and materials homeowners choose are becoming important—and they’re moving beyond just white,” says the NAR article.
“Color is leading the charge. Seventy-one percent of design respondents say their clients prefer colorful kitchens that reflect personali-
ty. Whether subtly or boldly, color is entering the kitchen, with pops of color being brought in through backsplashes, kitchen islands, wallpapers and even accent walls,” says the article.
The top trending kitchen colors? Green, blue, and brown — in that order. All-white and all-gray kitchens are giving way to earth tones.
Retro is in. “Design elements of the 1950s and 1970s are showing up in kitchens today,” the article says. That’s good news for a listing I have coming up next month in Golden’s Beverly Heights. It has a wood cooking stove that is only avail-able for purchase outside of closing. 47% of kitchen professionals also tout minimalism in cabinetry and hardware.
Clickable links for each column can be found at www.JimSmithColumns.com
May 29, 2025 — Divorcing Couples With a Home Need a Realtor With Specialized Training
May 22, 2025 — Home Sharing Helps Single Seniors Deal With Finance and Loneliness, Allowing Them to Age in Place
April 24, 2025 — Lennar to Build 1,500 Geothermal Homes; My Review of the Mustang Mach E
April 17, 2025 — Redfin Report Highlights the Increasing Cost of Buying versus Renting a Home
June 6, 2024 — Here Are Some Simple Steps to Take to Avoid Unpleasant Surprises After Closing
Mar. 21, 2024 — What’s Behind the Buzz About ‘Indoor Air Quality’ and ‘Sick Building Syndrome’?
Feb. 22, 2024 — Most Sellers Don’t Know How to Interview a Listing Agent. Here’s Some Guidance.
Dec. 21, 2023 — D.R. Horton Inks Deal to Build Homes With OSB Made From Grass Instead of Wood
posted on our Real Estate Today Substack blog. Scan the QR code at left to open and subscribe to it — free of course. Each article and listing is there, often with additional content and graphics, plus useful hyperlinks.
My other Substack is Talking Turkey, a left-of-center political blog. It is not in print anywhere. Click on the QR code at right if you would like to see what I have to say.
$419,900
April 10, 2025 — The Typical Wood-Frame, SiteBuilt Home So Common Since the ’90s May Soon Be a Thing of the Past
Mar. 27, 2025 — Here’s How Money Is Handled at a Real Estate Closing
Mar. 20, 2025 — Thinking of Using a Reverse Mortgage to Purchase a Home? Here’s Some Information
Mar. 13, 2025 — Will Colorado Be Able to Sustain Its ‘Green Agenda’ Under Pressure From Washington?
Mar. 6, 2025 — 62% of Americans Think a 20% Down Payment Is Required, But It’s the #1 Myth
Nov. 23, 2023 — Scamming Has Become An Industry, and We’re All Prospective Victims
Sept. 28, 2023 — Insurance Companies Are Pulling Out of California. Is That in Our Future?
Aug. 10, 2023 — What Are Some Common Mistakes That Homeowners Make When Selling?
June 15, 2023 — Don’t Let Capital Gains Tax Deter You From Cashing Out on an Investment Property
May 11, 2023 — Do Agents Inflate the Cost of Buying or Selling Your Home with ‘Junk Fees’?
Apr. 20, 2023 — What Are Some Affordable Ways to Make Your Home More Attractive to Buyers?
This penthouse condo at 7130 W. Alaska Dr. #D offers incredible views and natural light with floor to ceiling windows on the north and south facing walls. Hardwood floors throughout except for the main bedroom and office, which are carpeted. A wall mounted 65" flatscreen TV is in the living room and there is an electric fireplace. There is a second electric fireplace in the bedroom. The kitchen is completely equipped with GE stainless steel appliances and there are granite countertops for easy cleaning. The stacked washer/dryer is located in a closet along the hallway and in an adjacent closet is the Climate Master Water Source Heat Pump which was installed in March 2020 at a cost of $8,000. This unit provides superior and reliable heating and cooling throughout the year. There is a deeded parking space and storage area (#6) on the 2nd floor of the adjacent parking structure. A flexible non-conforming bonus room offers space for an office or other needs. Located in the heart of Belmar, shopping, restaurants and other amenities are only footsteps from the front door. Come enjoy the convenience of this great condo. See listing agent Greg Kraft’s narrated video tour at www. GRElistings.com, or call him at 720-353-1922 to see it.
Condo
$250,000
Rarely does one find a condo complex that is so well managed and provides so many amenities for the monthly dues. Heat and hot water are included. This unit at 3460 S. Poplar St. #307 in the Morningside complex has been nicely updated except for the kitchen, with new flooring and an enclosed balcony. The building's laundry room serves only as backup, since you have a spacious laundry room in the unit. When visiting, there's a keycard so you can visit the community center across the street at 7100 S Poplar. You'll be so impressed at the condition of the indoor and outdoor swimming pools, the separate spas for men & women, each including a steam room, sauna and fitness equipment. Included is one reserved space in the secure garden-level garage. A storage locker is also included. Take my narrated video tour of both the condo and the fitness center at www.GRElistings.com, then call me at 303-525-1851 to arrange a private showing. You’ll agree with me, this is one of the best condo communities ever!
Feb. 27, 2025 — As Society Deals With Homelessness and Affordability, Expect a Greater Focus on Manufactured Homes
Feb. 20, 2025 — We Have a Tool to Help You Find the ‘Perfect’ Home That’s Not on the MLS
Dec. 26, 2024 — As Pro-Tenant Laws Expand, Some Small Landlords Are Considering Cashing Out
Dec. 19, 2024 — What Are the Costs of Buying or Selling a Home in Colorado?
Nov. 7, 2024 — We Need to Take Seriously the Pollutants Emitted When Cooking With Gas
Oct. 31, 2024 — Cooperative Living Presents an Attractive Alternative for Downsizing Seniors
Sept. 26, 2024 — Some Thoughts on Keeping Your Death From Becoming an Undue Burden on Your Heirs
Sept. 5, 2024 — What Knowledge and Skills Should You Expect Your Real Estate Agent to Have?
Aug. 8, 2024 — Seniors Over 70 Might Consider Downsizing Into a Rental, Not a Smaller Home
July 25, 2024 — Many Homeowners Don’t Understand Title Issues, Which Could Lead to Big Problems Later On
Mar. 16, 2023 — Here Are Some Ways to Make Your Home More Accommodating to Seniors Feb. 9, 2023 — Understanding Indoor Air Quality and How It’s Managed in Super-Insulated Homes
Oct. 27, 2022 — Sales Taxes May Be Lower, But Property Taxes Are Higher in Unincorporated Areas
Oct. 6, 2022 — How to Make Sure That the House You Buy Will Not Be a ‘Money Pit’
Sept. 22, 2022 — What Steps Can You Take to Make Your Home More Energy Efficient?
July 28, 2022 — Aging in Place vs. Moving to a 55+ Community: Here Are Some Considerations
May 26, 2022 — Reflections on Selling Our Home and Moving Into a 55+ Rental Community
Jan. 6, 2022 — Marshall Fire Is a Wake-up Call for Building More Fire-Resistant Homes
Dec. 2, 2021 — My Favorite Home Improvements When Purchasing a New-to-Me Home
Oct. 14, 2021 — Court Rules That Sending an Email Can Bind You, Even Without Signing It Oct. 7, 2021 — What Are the Most Common Foundation Issues You Might Encounter in a Home?
Jim Smith,
Century 21 Golden Real Estate 303-525-1851
BY MONTE WHALEY MONTE@COTLN.ORG
A district court’s decision to dismiss a lawsuit trying to block the construction of a water pipeline from the Cache La Poudre River in Larimer County to ornton means the project can continue as planned, city o cials said Monday. e Larimer County District Court on ursday ruled in favor of the City of ornton and the Larimer County Commissioners who in May approved the Larimer portion of the 70-mile pipeline which will diver water from the Cache La Poudre to help feed housing growth in ornton.
Environmental group Save e Poudre led a lawsuit claiming that commissioners should have required that ornton send the water down the Poudre River in Fort Collins instead of putting it in a pipeline. e commissioner’s decision violated multiple sections of the county’s land use code, according to Save e Poudre.
But the Larimer District court said Save e Poudre o ered their opposition to the commissioner’s decision, but no evidence the board abused its discretion in granting the 1041 permit for the pipeline project, ornton city o cials said in a news release.
BY BELEN WARD BELEN@COTLN.ORG
Two Weld County towns will get a boost to help build low- to moderatecost housing units, the county commissioner agreed.
e Town of Firestone and the Town of Johnstown will both get Private Activity Bonds approved by the Weld County Board of Commissioners, according to a news release on July 1.
“We are happy to support these organizations in their housing development endeavors,” Commissioner Chair Perry Buck said. “ is funding mechanism allows Weld County to support critical initiatives that might otherwise be challenging to nance.”
In Frederick, Big Red Development LLC will receive $7.7 million to build 129
”Mere disagreements with the conclusions reached does not render a Board’s judgment an abuse of discretion, nor may this Court reweigh the evidence or substitute our own judgment of that of the (Board of Commissioners),” the court states.
“We appreciate that the court provided a comprehensive evaluation of the facts in this case and found that both the city of ornton and Larimer County abided by and complied with all County regulations and state laws,” said ornton City Attorney Tami Yellico in the news release.
“When the city of ornton engaged with Larimer County for this permit, both governments took intentional initiative and time to understand the complexities of the project and its impacts. is engagement between two governments provided deep insight and consideration for how to best meet the concerns and needs of both the communities represented.”
“With this court proceeding complete and the court’s nding nalized, ornton will keep its focus on constructing the ornton Water Project in order to deliver the high-quality water that the community owns to ensure safe and clean drinking water for its customers,” states a City of ornton news release.
Key to ornton development e Larimer Commissioners in May approved the nal 10-mile section of the 70-mile pipeline, which has been the focus of controversy for over a decade. ornton bought the water rights to the river in 1986 and city o cials say the water they are conveying is already being diverted at a point at the Larimer County
a ordable housing units for 300 low- to moderate-income residents.
In Johnstown, the Kentro Group will get $4 million to develop 135 a ordable housing units at Waggoner Crossing apartment complex, according to ocials.
e Private Activity Bonds are authorized by the federal government and allocated to counties, cities and towns. e bonds o er tax-exempt nancing to support projects that develop community infrastructure, a ordable housing, and promote economic growth.
County o cials said the Private Activity Bonds are crucial for developing affordable housing in communities and helping businesses and nonpro ts obtain funding for important community projects.
e bonds function as a pass-through issuer, so no county tax dollars are used for this process and the County does not incur any debt or nancial responsibility that would a ect taxpayers. Developers can bene t from lower borrowing costs, and the interest on these bonds is exempt from federal income tax.
For more information about PABs, visit the Weld County Department of Finance and Administration webpage.
canal.
ornton o cials say the river’s water will be key in helping develop housing projects in the city for years to come while critics have said diverting water from the Cache La Poudre would damage and drain the river.
But ornton o cials point out that the granting of the 1041 permit for the pipeline project came after two lengthy public hearings along with meetings with Larimer County residents to ease
Each grade level and content area has clear learning goals, not just in reading and math, but also in science, social studies and career readiness.
He emphasized the need for innovation, even when it challenges outdated accountability systems.
“We have dashboards and internal measures to track growth,” he said. “But if you’re only focused on the state test, you’re going to stay the same. And we need to move forward.”
One publicly available dashboard reects the outcomes families care about most: safety, connection and engagement.
“When we asked parents what mattered most, no one said ‘test scores.’ ey said, ‘I want my child to feel seen. I want them to like school. I want them to want to go.’”
Relationships matter at same student- rst mindset guides how 27J addresses chronic absenteeism, which occurs when students are absent for more than 10% of the school year.
“We don’t focus on chasing kids down for attendance. We focus on understanding why they’re not showing up,” Pierce said. “Do they feel safe? Do they think someone cares that they’re there? at’s what we’re trying to address.”
Instead of punishment, the district prioritizes trust, family outreach and a stronger school culture.
“We removed cell phones during the
fears about the impact of the pipeline. e commissioners also added 83 conditions the city must meet to mitigate the e ects of the pipeline.
e rest of the pipeline will run through Weld and Adams County before ending south of ornton. No additional diversions will be made once the pipeline is built, o cials say.
e pipeline – called the ornton Water Project – is expected to begin delivering water to ornton in 2028.
school day so students would engage more with each other. And we’re working to make school more engaging, so kids want to be there.”
A district that does what it says
According to Pierce, what sets 27J apart is its commitment to follow through.
“We’re not promoting a vision we can’t deliver. We’re doing the work rst,” he said. “I’ve worked in places where the words didn’t match the actions. at’s not how we lead here.”
e district continues to evolve with its growing student population and shifting identity.
“We used to be a small agricultural district. Even as we’ve grown, we’ve tried to keep that close-knit, family feel and that culture of care.”
“ ink about a kindergartner walking into school for the rst time. Maybe they don’t speak English yet, or maybe they’ve never had a book read to them. ey’re already starting behind. And if we’re not careful, that student gets labeled,” Pierce said. “Teachers may start to see them as less capable, and the student starts to believe it, too.”
Such early labeling can shape a student’s trajectory, leading to lowered expectations, missed opportunities and diminished con dence. Educators and leaders across 27J are working to disrupt that cycle.
Pierce believes 27J can change that.
“We’re starting to see it. Kids are beginning to believe in themselves, and teachers are believing in them, too. at’s the work. And if any district can do it, I think it’s us.”
BY BELEN WARD BELEN@COTLN.ORG
United Power promoted Jonathan Aust to Senior Vice President and Chief Energy Resource O cer, according to a press release on July 2.
“We are fortunate to have someone with the professional background and high level of expertise that Jonathan brings to this position,” said Mark A. Gabriel, President and CEO. “His more than 20 years of experience in the energy industry has already been an asset to the cooperative while working with our power sup-
and the agency directly cited its authority under Trump’s January executive order declaring a national energy emergency, allowing for the fast-tracking of fossil fuel projects.
Before a recent fundraiser here for his 2026 gubernatorial campaign, Weiser said he had not heard about the expedited approval of the Wildcat Loadout or had time to debrief the ruling.
“I am sorry to hear that. I’m not shocked, but it’s a sign of the times we’re in — the lack of stewardship to protect our land, air, and water is appalling,” Weiser said. “We’re going to have to be creative to nd every way we can to make sure that these decisions aren’t being made hastily with long-term, harmful consequences.”
In May, 15 states — led by the attorneys general in Washington and Cali-
ply team the past few months, learning the details of United Power’s many power purchase agreements.”
Aust will replace Dean Hubbuck, who is retiring in August. He started working with United Power as the coop’s Vice President of Energy Resource Planning earlier this year.
According to o cials, before joining United Power, he worked as Vice Presi-
fornia — led a lawsuit challenging the legality of Trump’s energy emergency executive order. Calling it a “fake” emergency designed to line the pockets of Big Oil, Washington Attorney General Nick Brown pointed to the order’s exclusion of clean energy projects as it strips away vital environmental protections.
e May lawsuit claims Trump’s declaration of a national energy emergency is a violation of the National Emergencies Act itself, which is designed to prevent frivolous or partisan declarations.
“We don’t think it is a real emergency,” Weiser said Saturday. “Up until now, this national energy emergency order hasn’t a ected Colorado. But given these dynamics (of the expedited BLM approval), we’re going to be looking at that to make sure that we can do all we can to protect Colorado.” Brown and California Attorney General Rob Bonta cited what they deemed illegal fast-tracking of environmental reviews by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation
dent of Power Operations for Western Area Power Administration, a hydropower marketing group based in Lakewood. He led a team of more than 80 employees supporting power operations that covered a seven-state region and two balancing authorities, delivering power to energy providers across their region.
Aust has previous experience serving as Vice President of Information Technology for SCADA/EMS, a supervisory control and data acquisition energy management system supporting the WAPA control center across 15 states, according to o cials.
Additionally, Aust served on several
in violation of the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act, among other key environmental laws.
“ e only ‘emergency’ is that the president disagrees with policies to address climate change in Washington state and elsewhere,” Brown wrote in May. “He is illegally using emergency authorities to keep the nation reliant on energy sources like coal, oil and gas.”
Weiser has previously said he will keep all of his options open in opposing the Uinta Basin oil expansion as it seeks to vastly expand oil-train tra c along the headwaters of the endangered Colorado River, which supplies water to more than 40 million people. e BLM approval in a two-week window now has him questioning Trump’s national energy emergency rules.
leadership industry committees, including multiple that represent the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC). He was also honored in 2022 with the WECC Outstanding Contributor Award.
“As we expand our many power contracts and continue to diversify our resources, we need a leader like Jon in this key role,” stated Gabriel. “His ability to lead a team, coupled with his extensive knowledge of the industry, will help continue to build a new portfolio of power that re ects the cooperative’s focus on diverse power sources and integration of local generation.”
“So we didn’t have an ability to make this case [back in May], but we at the time said that we would be looking closely at whether and when it would a ect Colorado and we’d be ready to le,” Weiser said Saturday. “And with this, now we have to look at it.”
is story is from Colorado Newsline. Used by permission. For more, and to support the news organization, visit coloradonewsline.com.
— we’ve lost some good ones,” Kring said.
“After that term, I joined the Cultural Art Commission, which was my connection. I also wrote the background histories for the mural of Historic Brighton, painted by Hans Joseph Geist at Founder Plaza, and the mural “Brighton’s Women of Inspiration,” painted by Frank Garza on the H&R Block building on Main Street. I also volunteered for Adams County, the City of Brighton, and Fort Lupton.”
Kring’s 35-year-plus career includes authoring more than 10 books and over 100 magazine articles on various subjects. Her latest book, “A Stroll rough Elwood Brighton’s Stories Told in Stone,” demonstrates her diverse writing skills.
Brighton’s roots
Kring said Carmichael was a railroad worker turned developer who would buy
property and then resell it to developers. He operated out of Denver and purchased the rst land here in Brighton in 1879.
He had quite a life, even before he came to Colorado.
“Carmichael was at Gettysburg during the Civil War; he served twice because he was young,” she said. “He contracted typhoid fever and nearly died. ey sent him home to his mother, but when he returned, he fought again at Gettysburg and later at Elmira, where he guarded Confederate prisoners. His last rank was Major, and he was always called Major.”
Kring said Carmichael built an opera house, and it was the largest in the north at the time, until it burned down.
“He also had a business building on the Bridge Street called the Carmichael Building. ey had his name up, but they took (the building) down when they opened South Main Street so people could go straight through to South Main.”
Today, Carmichael Park, located near Brighton’s City Hall, is named after Daniel.
Kring said the most common tale told about naming the city claims that his wife, Alice, named the city Brighton after the town where she grew up, something she has been unable to con rm.
“I’ve reviewed the old Brighton Blade newspapers and then researched Adams County records,” Kring said. “ ey had some records from before Brighton had its newspapers. However, Alice’s obituary, a sometimes referenced source, is missing, so I’m unsure if one ever existed.
If his wife was responsible, it’s unlikely the name came from her birthplace since it’s likely she was born in Lancaster, Pa. It’s also possible that it was marketing ploy by the Daniel Carmichael. When Carmichael was developing the region, he wanted people to escape the dust and grime of the city in Denver and come to a beautiful prairie and resort in Brighton, Colorado. Historian named Dr. Gene E. Hamaker has suggested that his wife Alice might have told her husband the name based on a trip she took to Brighton
Beach, New York, Kring said.
It’s also possible that his sister named Brighton, not his wife, and historians mixed the two up.
“To date, there is no single record of who and why Carmichael named Brighton,” Kring said. “On the maps, the name began to change to Brighton two years before the rst plat ling by Carmichael in 1881, because the town name had to be recorded in the plat ling. But the post o ce was called Brighton, the Fulton Ditch.” If it was named for another city, she doesn’t know which one, but she’s continuing to research.
“ e mystery remains unsolved because it could also be a common name,” Kring said. “ ere are 26 cities in the U.S. named Brighton and 43 places worldwide called Brighton, but I’m going to nd out,” Kring said.
For more information, email Kring at brightonhistorydetective@gmail.com or visit her page at www.facebook.com/ BrightonHistoryDetective
BY DELILAH BRUMER COLORADO NEWLINE
As Colorado school districts wait to hear about the fate of $80 million in federal funds that the Trump administration unexpectedly put on hold, school o cials are reluctant to lay o sta or cancel programs. But with the start of the new school year only six weeks away, time is running out.
e funds, which school o cials had expected to receive on July 1, were set to be used for after-school programs, teacher training, migrant education and Englishlanguage learning, among other initiatives. States learned the funds would be withheld with just one day of notice, leaving districts scrambling to fund programs they were already committed to o ering and pay sta whom they had already hired.
Gov. Jared Polis led a roundtable with superintendents, teachers and education nonpro t leaders at West High School in Denver, where he blasted the withholding of funds as “harmful and opaque.”
“ ese are very di cult decisions that districts now have to make, and it has to happen in the next couple of weeks,” Polis said.
e federal Department of Education has not provided a timeline on the funds, which in a notice to states it said are under review. e funds $6.8 billion nationwide were already approved by Congress. Colorado’s share of that withheld money was
originally estimated at $70 million, but Polis said an updated estimate is $80 million.
If the federal funds are not restored, Jefferson County Public Schools will lose out on $3.3 million it had already allocated. at would result in cuts to sta and programs meant for coaching new teachers, supporting English language learners, lowering truancy rates and conducting family outreach. One of the district’s services that would need to be scaled back is a program that sends sta across Je erson County in a re-
furbished bus to meet with parents, hand out resource yers and sign up kids who are recent immigrants for support services.
“We’re very worried about how to run our programs without that funding,” said Tracy Dorland, Je erson County Public Schools superintendent. “ is has an impact not only on our students, which is the most important impact, but also on our workforce.”
With potential layo s looming, Melissa Gibson, the executive director of the Col-
orado Association of School Executives, said superintendents and principals are having to make tough choices in the coming weeks.
“Every district leader is approaching this with students at the center and trying to mitigate the damage as much as possible,” Gibson said. “Every school community invests in them in di erent ways, but this is challenging.”
Both of Colorado’s U.S. senators, along with the state’s four Democrats in the House, sent a joint letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon “demanding answers on the stalled education funds,” according to a Tuesday announcement.
“School districts throughout Colorado are depending on these funds to deliver critical services to students across the state,” the letter said. “ e delay and uncertainty around the distribution of this funding have made it incredibly di cult for school districts to plan and hire sta for the next school year.”
During the roundtable, Polis declined to specify if Colorado plans to sue over the withheld funds, but he said the state is “exploring all available options” to get the funding restored.
“We are being very aggressive, to ght for these funds and for the schools,” Polis said. is story is from Colorado Newsline. Used by permission. For more, and to support the news organization, visit coloradonewsline.com.
Resolution aims at bills that violate Colorado’s home-rule
BY MONTE WHALEY MONTE@COTLN.ORG
e City of ornton this week sent a clear message of support to six home rule cities suing the State of Colorado and Gov. Jared Polis for overstepping onto lo-
cal land use policies. Westminster is one of the cities that is part of the lawsuit.
e six cities claim that two bills passed in the 2024 Legislature violate the Colorado Constitution. e cities are seeking an injunction against the enforcement of the legislation as well as an executive order from Polis.
“I think we’ve seen over the last several years, many di erent attempts to take away home-rule authority,” ornton City Councilwoman Jessica Sandgren said Tuesday night. “We know what’s best for our city.”
Sandgren introduced a resolution backing the lawsuit, which the council passed unanimously. Mayor Jan Kulmann added she wanted the city to send a copy of the resolution to Polis.
e resolution targets House Bill 241304 – regarding minimum parking requirements- and House Bill 24-1313
– aimed at housing in transit-oriented communities – that purport to place statewide mandates governing land use and zoning legislation on a limited group of home rule cities.
e resolution also cites Polis and his executive order “declaring that municipalities failing to comply with the …bills… will be deprioritized for competitive or discretionary funding opportunities, including grants, contracts, loans, and tax credits.”
e resolution states that the City of ornton “a rms its longstanding support of the powers granted by the Constitution of the State of Colorado, which include home rule authority over zoning and land use planning.”
American culture has many virtues. Near the top is society’s languid, easy-going, unhurried pace. It borders on torpor. It’s uplifting to observe strangers smiling and o ering greetings when they pass and so many rolling with punches, not getting into ti s over trivial slights. And you can’t beat the civility, comity, and respect with which Americans treat each other, even those with whom they strongly disagree. But what warms the heart’s cockles most is the populace’s appreciation for good-natured ribbing, chuckle-causing humor, which can only be attributed to Americans being one big happy family.
Okay, back to Earth. What was your reaction while reading that? Were you ba ed, scratching your head? Did you smile, catching the irony? Did it induce some other reaction, perhaps causing you to have an eye-popping, jaw-tightening, teeth-grinding sensation? Or was it between or a blend of light-heartedness and intensity?
American culture has an array of virtues, but, of course, none of those listed above. And therein lies our problem. We’re a frenetic people, which Merriam-Webster de nes as “marked by fast and energetic, disordered, or anxiety-driven activity.”
My intention here isn’t to deliberate on American virtues but to ascertain why we’re not only a hurrying people but also
JERRY FABYANIC
In sports, halftime is more than a breather; it’s a recalibration. It’s a chance for coaches and players to analyze what’s working, what’s not, and what needs to change to win. Even with hours of prep and lm study, surprises happen. e opposing team may roll out a new strategy. Injuries change the game. Momentum swings. And regardless of the scoreboard, teams don’t coast. Even when they’re up by 20, great teams use halftime to regroup and refocus. Because one good half doesn’t win the game.
So here we are, our own halftime. Six months into the year. e locker room of life. What’s our score? Are we winning, losing, or tied?
Some of us may be riding high, crushing goals, building relationships, and running on momentum. If that’s you, celebrate the wins, but don’t take your foot o the gas. What got you here may not get you through the next six months. Double down on what’s working and stay humble. Great teams don’t assume the second half will be just like the rst.
Others might nd themselves breaking even. You’re in the game, but not ahead. Like a team tied at the half, you’ve got options: you can settle, or you can surge. e second half is wide open, and a clear shift in strategy, attitude, or energy could create that breakthrough you’ve been waiting for.
And then there are those of us who feel like the rst half hit like a blitz. e losses weren’t just on pa-
why it’s a prime cause of our fragmentation. It comes down a fourletter word: T-I-M-E. We’ve been subjugated by it and blithely march in accordance with its directive.
Our language reinforces that. ink about why we call the time piece many wear on their wrist a “watch.” ink of verbs associated with time like spend or earn, gain or lose, use or waste. Each treats time as a commodity, an object, something tangible. at’s disconcerting enough, but there’s a more sinister aspect of time today: It’s been monetized. Time is money! And as the old maxim goes, waste not, want not. Except that time isn’t like other items you can waste then later replenish, assuming you’re a uent. Unlike other commodities, you can’t restock time. It keeps ticking no matter if you spend yours dawdling or working feverishly. Ticking. ink of how that correlates to time. Ticking of a clock, although nowadays clocks rarely tick. ey used to beginning with the invention of the mechanized time piece. Before that, people referenced a sun dial, which worked, of course, only on sunny days. But before either of them, time as we know it didn’t
exist. Nature ruled. Modern time isn’t just a commodity that can be measured, apportioned, or spent, however. We moderns have developed a psychological and emotional relationship with it. For example, it can drag on or y by. Paradoxically though, they generally cause the opposite impact of what our behavior yearns for. Time drags when we’re bored, impatient, or in a hurry. It ies when we’re engaged in something meaningful like working on a craft, reading a book, or hiking a trail. Or watching the sun rise or set.
In her short book “Time,” Polish-born Eva Ho man dissects Americans’ relation to time. Having grown up under communist rule in post-WWII Eastern Europe, she has the advantage of perspective on a number of angles. ere, she says, time crawled, but here time is everything, particularly money. And they’re intricately interwoven.
In America, wealth as a barometer of standing—success—increasingly has noxious consequences at the personal level. Ho man posits the pressure for upward mobility with its accompanying characteristics including extreme competition and shame for not making it big with salaries, promotions, houses—the list goes on—is a serious stress inducer. Her point resonated with me because of a conversation I had with someone that’s etched in my memory. He said he
per; they were personal. Maybe you lost a job, a deal, a relationship, or even someone you loved. Maybe the hits were emotional, nancial, or physical. And no amount of preparation could’ve stopped the storm that came. If that’s your halftime story, hear this: the second half is not cancelled. is is where I want to o er real encouragement. I’ve seen too many people write o the rest of the year when the rst half goes sideways. ey call it a “lost season” and start counting down to January 1. at mindset will keep you down. As the saying goes, ghters don’t lose because they get knocked down. ey lose because they stay knocked down.
It’s time to get back up.
Zig Ziglar said, “If we don’t like who we are, what we are, and where we are, we can change who we are, what we are, and where we are by changing what we put into our mind.” at’s not theory. at’s truth. Our mindset is the control center of our outcomes. And what we feed it matters: positivity, scripture, wise counsel, hope.
And if we’ve been brought to our knees in the rst half, maybe our second half starts right there, on our knees in prayer. Surrender doesn’t mean defeat. It means you’re no lon-
ger trying to ght every battle alone. God has been with you every step of the way. He’s not leaving you now. In fact, He’s waiting for you to lean in. Whether it’s prayer, community, or trusted advisors, tap into your sources and resources. is is not the time to isolate.
I’ve lived through my share of rough rst halves. Seasons where the light at the end of the tunnel seemed far o . But I’ve also lived to see how everything can change in a matter of months. If we choose to shift. If we choose to believe. If we choose to act.
Now is the time to regroup, recharge, and realign. Let’s make the adjustments. Let’s take the lessons from the rst half and apply them with re to the second.
Let’s not just play the second half. Let’s win it. Let’s go.
Where are you halfway through 2025? What is your second-half strategy? If you would like to know more about my faith or why I rely on it so much, or if you just want to share your story, I would love to hear it at gotonorton@gmail.com. And whether we are maintaining our lead or building our comeback strategy, when we play both halves with passion and purpose, it really will be a better-than-good life.
Michael Norton is an author, a personal and professional coach, consultant, trainer, encourager and motivator of individuals and businesses, working with organizations and associations across multiple industries.
was “driven” when it came to his lifestyle choices and career success.
“Really,” I replied. “Driven is passive voice, which means something must be driving you. What is it?” at exchange happened when he was in his thirties, but now in middle age, he’s happily questioning that.
But the problem with commoditizing time doesn’t reside solely at the personal level. It carries over to cultural, ethnic, and racial attitudes that foster stereotypical assumptions and assertions about di erent groups’ practices and work ethic. And those are injurious and can be lethal for a democratic society.
Ho man cites Romanian poet Carmen Firan, who likewise grew up in the gray communist world. Firan posits in America it’s sold everywhere and is even included in our throwaway parting line— Have a nice day—used to get a customer to hurry along.
“ e Soul,” Firan suggests, “is lying lonely somewhere on a shrink’s chair, in front a computer screen or in a cell phone.” She wrote that in 2008, which adds an ironic twist to the old saw that says the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Jerry Fabyanic is a former Clear Creek Courant columnist and author of “Sisyphus Wins” and “Food for ought: Essays on Mind and Spirit.”
MWORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT
y MS symptoms have been more acute this week. It is not that they are getting worse; it is just that things have been harder to do these past few days. Walking takes more energy than I would like, getting in and out of the car is more di cult, things like that. As I have navigated through this week, I have been thinking a lot about dreams and goals. I have wondered if I have set ridiculous or unattainable goals for myself. And gone as far as to grapple with the question, “Are dreams for the future a good thing, not particularly helpful but not a bad thing, or in some way detrimental to our view of reality?”
While mulling over these questions, I realized we all, at some point, struggle with this kind of question. So, I want to share a window into my thought process, hoping you will nd encouragement in the ideas I put forth.
For me, physically, I dream of completing a 5K. My rst choice would be to do it at a jog, but honestly, just being able to cover that distance, even if it were with the aid of a walking stick, would be very exciting.
is dream is why, when on a particularly bad day, I nd myself counter sur ng to just move around a room, I wonder if visions of a 5K help or hinder me?
After looking at it from many di erent sides, I have concluded that dreams and goals are not only good for me, but they are the best thing I can do. Dreams set standards for me beyond my immediate. ey give me something to work toward. More than that, they keep me from boxing myself in or limiting my world. My dreams keep me doing my exercises, and slowly, I am watching my strength return.
Bread often feels less like a food and more like an elemental fact of life. Practically every culture has their own form of bread and along with water, it’s treated as one of the basic elements of life.
All the meanings of bread are explored in the Bell Projects’, 2822 E. 17th Ave. in Denver, second e Bread Show, which is on display through Sunday, Aug. 3. e biennial exhibition features 25 artists working in a range of styles, from sculpture, painting, ber, and photography to collage, installation and mixed media, all exploring the power of the food. “ ere’s something so simple about bread, but when you think about it, it has so much cultural and family signicance,” said Lindsey Bell, curatorial director at Bell Projects. “ e artists went really deep with the idea of bread — they just took it and ran with it.” is year’s participating artists come from Denver and beyond and include Miguel Aguilar, Tramaine Gardner, Christy Pyle and Brandon Vargas. e show was originally launched in 2023 and nd artists re ecting on themes as diverse as “sustenance, family rituals, food politics, labor, nostalgia, and joy,” according to provided information.
“It’s wonderful to see so many di erent interpretations on display. e exhibit moves from more serious interpretations to fun puns and plays on words,” Bell said. “Bread can mean so many things, including money, so there’s a lot of creative freedom. e artists took a lot of care to create something meaningful.” Bell added that some of the works on
display get particularly powerful, tackling contemporary concerns like the politics of consumption, communal rituals and the layered symbolism bread carries across cultures.
No matter what your personal feelings are about bread, the hope is visitors come away thinking di erently about the food and what it means to their lives.
“We hope that when people leave, they’re will be something new on their mind when they next interact with bread. It’s something so simple, but it’s also a universal connector that binds us all together,” Bell said. “ is is my favorite show we do and it’s a real treat to put on an exhibition like this.”
More information is available at www. bell-projects.com
Take a Vacation from Life at Walker Fine Art
To say we’re living in stressful times would be the biggest of understatements. Add that to the fact that the summer is so busy and hot, and we could all use a little calm and quiet.
Denver’s Walker Fine Art Gallery, 300 West 11th Ave. No. A, has just the reprieve you need with Untethered. It features the work of Sabin Aell, Derrick Breidenthal, eresa Clowes, George Kozmon and Sara Sanderson, all of whom provide an oasis with works “inspired by wide-open landscapes, elemental textures and or-
ganic rhythms,” according to provided information.
If you’re looking for a bit of a mini vacation, this is your exhibit. And don’t miss the opening reception from 5 to 8 p.m. on Friday, July 18.
Details are available at https://www. walker neart.com/.
Make the Trip to Oz at Littleton Town Hall Arts Center
People are never going to tire of the story of “ e Wizard of Oz,” and there are all kinds of versions of the tale to cater to every audience. e Littleton Town Hall Arts Center is bringing a youth perspective to the fairytale with “ e Wizard of Oz Jr.”
e show runs at the Center, 2450 Main St. in Littleton, from Friday, July 18 through Saturday, the 26th. Performances are at 7 p.m. on the 18th and 26th and 11 a.m. Monday through Friday. Presented by the Teen Intensive eater Program, the story of Dorothy, Toto, Tinman, Scarecrow and the Cowardly Lion comes to delightful life as they journey down the Yellow Brick Road to the Emerald City. Get tickets at https:// townhallartscenter.org/event/wizard-ofoz-jr-performances/.
Clarke’s Concert of the Week — Alabama Shakes at Red Rocks e Alabama Shakes only released two albums in the 2010s, but still managed to make an enormous impact on the alt-rock world. Fronted by powerhouse vocalist Brittany Howard, the band wonderfully blended classic rock, blues and
soul, and the end result was both familiar and new. e group has been on hiatus since 2018 but they’re working on new music and are getting back on the road. e Alabama Shakes are coming to Red Rocks, 18300 W. Alameda Parkway in Morrison, at 8 p.m. on Sunday, July 20. ey’ll be joined by Lee Fields, a fantastic R&B singer. is is a concert many people have been eagerly awaiting, so don’t miss out. Get tickets at www.axs.com.
Clarke Reader’s column on culture appears on a weekly basis. He can be reached at Clarke.Reader@hotmail.com.
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allieventcenter.com
July 27, 1937 - December 15, 2024
Alan Raymond Rice, a devoted father, respected veterinarian, and passionate local historian, passed away on December 15, 2024, at the age of 87.
Alan was born on July 27, 1937, in Denver, Colorado, and was raised on the family’s Soda Creek Ranch in Dillon, Colorado, where he developed a lifelong love of the mountains and a deep connection to the history of Summit County. He later made his home in Brighton, Colorado, where he lived for the remainder of his life.
Inspired by a childhood love of cows, Alan pursued a career in veterinary medicine, earning his degree from Colorado State University in 1961. He was a member of the FarmHouse fraternity during his time at CSU. After graduation, he worked as a Federal Veterinarian in Wyoming for one year before joining Brighton Animal Clinic in 1963, where he built a long and respected career dedicated to the care of animals, retiring after 40 years.
In 1965, Alan married Carole Delventhal, with whom he shared many years of love and partnership until her passing in 2017.
Beyond his professional life, Alan was a man of many interests. He was a member of the Brighton Rotary Club and enjoyed camping, reading, and exploring history—especially that of his beloved Summit County. He gave numerous lectures and presentations on the region’s history and took special pride in the preservation of the “Rice Barn,” built by his grandfather, father, and uncles in 1918, now listed on the Colorado State Register of
Historic Properties.
Alan was preceded in death by both his parents and beloved wife, Carole. He is survived by his brothers Larry Rice of San Antonio, Texas and Bob Rice of Casa Grande, Arizona, daughters Christine (Kevin) Delventhal of Brighton, Colorado and Charlene (Darren) Lazaruk of Calgary, Alberta, son Matt (Kelley) Rice of Bonita Springs, Florida, seven grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.
He will be remembered for his deep love of learning, his compassionate care for animals, his devotion to family and community, and his enduring connection to the land and history that shaped his life.
A memorial service will be held at Rice-Tabor Funeral Home, located at 75 South 13th Avenue, Brighton, Colorado, at 11:00 a.m. on July 26, 2025 followed by a gathering at the Alli Event Center located at 100 South 3rd Street, Brighton.
A Celebration of Life will be held at the historic Rice Barn, located at 357 Cove Boulevard, Dillon, Colorado, to celebrate his life where it began and where his legacy continues. A private family ceremony will be at 10:00 a.m. followed by a public ceremony at 3:30 p.m. Please RSVP at https:// summithistorical.org/events/celebration-of-life-foralan-rice-summit-county-pioneer/ for the public event as attendance is limited.
In lieu of owers, please consider making a donation to Summit Historical Society (https:// summithistorical.org/donate/).
Fri 7/18
Alternative Sound at Prost (Northglenn) @ 5pm
The Jauntee: Down By The River Music Festival @ 3pm
Cactus Jack's Saloon, 4651 County Hwy 73, Evergreen
LVDY & Cousin Curtiss @ 5pm
Quarantina Backyard Concerts, Golden
Cousin Curtiss: Quarantina Backyard Concerts @ 5pm
quarantina backyard concerts, Golden
King Margo: Buffalo Rose - Sky Bar Stage @ 5:30pm Buffalo Rose, 1119 Washington Ave, Golden
The Steppers @ 6pm
Snowpack Taproom & Pizzeria, 11863 Springs Rd #210, Conifer
Sun 7/20
Jenny Shawhan @ 12pm
Prost Brewing Company, 351 W 104th Ave Unit A, Northglenn
The String Cheese Incident @ 6pm
A Girls’ Night Out @ Cactus Jack's Saloon & Grill, Evergreen, CO @ 8pm / US$ 27.50
Cactus Jack's Saloon & Grill, County Highway 73 4651, Colorado, Evergreen. mennextdoorun covered@gmail.com
Mumford & Sons w/ Madison Cunningham @ 8pm Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison
Tue 7/22
Disc Golf Beginner Lesson- July 22 @ 5pm
Buchanan Park Recreation Center, Physical: 32003 Ellingwood Trail, Mailing: 1521 Bergen Parkway, Evergreen. 720-880-1000
Thu 7/24
Evergreen Lake Kids Club @ 9am
Evergreen Lake House, 29612 Upper Bear Creek Road, Evergreen. 720-880-1000
Red Rocks Amphitheatre, 18300 West Alameda Parkway, Morrison
Neighbor: String Cheese After Party @ 11pm
Sugar Britches FULL BAND at Goosetown Station! @ 6:30pm
The Stillery, 10633 Westminster Blvd #900, Westminster
Cactus Jacks Tavern, 4651 Co Rd 73, Evergreen
Sat 7/19
All American 4 & 8 Mile - Denver @ 7am / $18.83
West�eld Village Park, 11550 Wolff St, West‐minster. support@bodiesrc.com
Neighbor @ 1pm
Cactus Jack's Saloon, 4651 County Hwy 73, Evergreen
Alabama Shakes @ 7pm
Goosetown Station, 514 9th St, Golden
Jeff Canada @ 7pm
Lazy Butcher - Burgers & BBQ - Cow‐boy Lounge, 30790 Stagecoach Blvd #101, Evergreen
Eric Golden @ 8:30pm The Stillery, 10633 Westminster Blvd #900, Westminster
Atomic Jones @ 6pm
Red Rocks Amphitheatre, 18300 W Alameda Pkwy, Morrison
Mon 7/21
Budding Birders @ 9am / $240 Jul 21st - Jul 25th
Bird Conservancy's Environmental Learning Center, 14500 Lark Bunting Lane, Brighton. 303-659-4348 ext. 53
Outdoor Climbing Camp @ 9am Jul 21st - Jul 24th
Buchanan Park Recreation Center, Physical: 32003 Ellingwood Trail, Mailing: 1521 Bergen Parkway, Evergreen. 720-880-1000
The Stillery, 10633 Westminster Blvd #900, Westminster
Tyron Benoit Band: Conifer Show @ 7pm
Snowpack Underground, 11863 Springs Rd #290, Conifer Cake @ 8pm Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison
Former Frederick star says new job part of his football journey
BY STEVE SMITH SPECIAL TO THE COLORADO TRUST FOR LOCAL NEWS
In the world of former Frederick High School football player Travis Letkomiller, it’s been a natural progression for his football journey. It started with the game itself.
“I have always had a true love for football, and I wanted to coach with my brother, Nick,” Letkomiller said. “We started with a group of rst-graders from Brighton and stayed with the same kids through eighth grade. rough that time, I developed a true passion for teaching kids the game I love and trying to be a light or positive gure in a kid’s life.”
Fast forward a few years, and Letkomiller found himself on the Weld Central High School football sta . He earned the head coaching slot this spring.
“Weld Central came about because one of my players’ families was from there. I randomly decided to reach out,” he said. “Small-town football is a dying breed, and I knew that’s where I wanted to be. I couldn’t be more pumped to be here at Weld.”
Letkomiller draws on personal experience from coaches who worked with him.
“Larry Frank (former Frederick basketball coach) inspired me into what a coach should be. I watched him pour his heart into every kid that ever came through that program in the early 2010s,” Letkomiller said. “I still think about the lessons he gave us and just how much passion he brought every single day. e guy was a winner in every sense of the word.”
Frank wasn’t the only one to have an impact. Di erent sports brought him di erent perspectives.
“Joe Lamb was my old position coach, and he has always been a mentor to me with coaching,” Letkomiller said. “He brought a love to the game that couldn’t be matched. I still talk to him pretty often on the phone. I take a great amount from those men into my coaching today.”
ere are plenty of plus points in the world of coaching, Letkomiller noted. It’s more than developing the game on the eld; it’s about the lasting relationships with his players
“ e most rewarding part about coaching is the relationships built and watching the development, not only as football players but the person they grow into,” he said. “Getting invited to non-football things because they want me there to support is special, and I get FaceTimes from former players who want to know how I’m doing. I think that’s a special part. I love seeing the look in the eyes of a player or team that just did something awesome. at will never get old.
“I think the past three years on sta and the last eight coaching my youth team have helped me a ton,” he added. “I’ve learned a lot, and some of
the experienced coaches who were on sta have acted as mentors to me from football all the way to being a husband/father. I have created memories and built relationships with a lot of these players, which has helped for a smoother transition.”
According to MaxPreps, Letkomiller played one year of varsity basketball (2010-2011) season for the then-Warriors. He averaged 2.5 points per game in 21 games.
In 11 varsity football games over two seasons, he compiled 16 tackles, split evenly between assists and solo e orts. He also picked up 23 yards in pass receptions.
He thinks the nerves will come when the Rebels begin their season Aug. 29 at home against Bennett. But, he said, he lives for those mo-
ments.
“Our team is a gritty ballclub that is going to have a blast out on that eld,” he said. “ is community raises hardworking kids who are going to play each play for the guy next to them. Our defense is returning most of the starters and is led by a group of seniors that play with tenacity and are hungry to take that next step.
“Our strength has to be playing together and playing fast,” he added. “We have a ton of depth at the running back spot as well, so I’m looking forward to seeing that play out. Our coaching sta is a tight-knit group and passionate about this community and group of athletes. I’m very excited and blessed for the opportunity to lead this group.”
Keep up with Weld Central football at MaxPreps.com.
A near-sold-out crowd celebrates the Fourth of July at Coors Field with a fireworks show after the game. Despite the loss on July 5 to Chicago, Rockies fans packed the house and stayed for the
BY JOHN RENFROW JOHN@COTLN.ORG
To cap an extravagant Fourth of July weekend on the diamond, the Colorado Rockies went all out to celebrate local veterans and military members with a parade on July 6. It was the nale of a packed weekend of promotions, including back-to-back reworks shows following the rst two games against the Chicago White Sox on July 4 and 5. Despite losing the rst two series games by a combined score of 13-5, the Rockies rallied on Sunday to win 6-4 in front of the home crowd. In the face of a brutal season, Colorado fans arrived in droves to root on their local team and enjoy some holiday festivities. Plus, the weather cooperated to make for a beautiful long weekend.
e Military Appreciation game on Sunday was opened by a parade around the out eld honoring past and present military members. Players shook hands with veterans in gratitude and reverence as everyone took a momentary step back from sports.
ere was also a pregame salute from multiple military branches, a national anthem performance by a veteran in uniform and an on- eld presentation of an enormous American ag.
Master Sergeant Christopher Nemeir was honored as the Hero of the Game.
In a back-and-forth game full of explosive innings, home runs from Michael Toglia and Mickey Moniak helped push Colorado over the edge to end the homestand with a win. Moniak also had a triple and an RBI double in the game, carrying the Rockies to a victory.
Catcher Hunter Goodman was also announced as a 2025 MLB All-Star, as fans celebrated the news on the jumbotron during the game.
ough the Rockies are a lowly 21-70 (as of July 8), Colorado fans knew there was no place they’d rather be on the Fourth of July than Coors Field.
A publication of
Fort Lupton Press (USPS 205880)
A legal newspaper of general circulation in Ft. Lupton, Colorado, Fort Lupton Press is published weekly on Thursday by The Colorado Trust for Local News, 143 S. 2nd Pl., Brighton CO 80601. .
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Phone: 303-566-4100
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Columnists & Guest Commentaries
Columnist opinions are not necessarily those of the Press.
We welcome letters to the editor. Please include your full name, address and the best number to reach you by telephone.
Email letters to scott@cotln.org
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Colorado Trust for Local News asks readers to make us aware of mistakes we may have made.
Email scott@cotln.org if you notice a possible error you would like us to take a look at.
Co ee with a cop Fort Lupton Police set aside one morning each month to share a few cups of co ee with residents.
Co ee with a Cop is a chance for police to meet with community members and discuss many topics, including parking regulations. To accommodate more people, they have changed their meeting location to the MultiPurpose Room at the Fort Lupton Rec Center!
e same time is on the rst Wednesday of each month at Fort Lupton Recreation Center, 203 S Harrison Ave, Fort Lupton. e next scheduled event is from 8-9:30 a.m. on Aug. 6.
Co ee with a Cop is an easy way to get to know the men and women who serve our community and tell them about the issues that matter most to you. Remember that you can always reach our police department at our non-emergency number, 720-652-4222.
Saturday pancakes
Over time, meters age and require replacement to ensure accurate measurement and efciency of water use. e majority of the meters in the City are reaching their useful life, prompting this program. e replacement of the meters is entirely free of charge to residents.
According to the city, the current meters continue to work properly; however, some meters do not transmit the data from the meter to the system. e meter must then be read manually.
Accounts with meters that can’t be manually read will be estimated. If the actual amount consumed is lower than the estimated amount previously billed, then the bill will be adjusted to re ect the higher usage. When the new meter is connected, it will re ect the correct usage moving forward.
e Fort Lupton Public Library hosts a simple pancake breakfast on the last Saturday of each month in the library’s community rooms. is month’s pancake breakfast runs from 9:30-10:30 a.m. July 26. e library is located at 370 S. Rollie Ave.
e event is combined with the library’s weekly reading program, so families can enjoy a good meal while listening to popular cult classic children’s stories that never get old. Breakfast starts at 9:30, and read-aloud starts at 10 a.m. every last Saturday of the month.
All ages are welcome.
Post o ce seeks new location in
Hudson
Due to space constraints, the Postal Service must relocate retail services to a yet-to-be-determined location within the zip code of 80642, which includes Hudson and the surrounding area.
Contractors will notify residents when they will replace meters in their vicinity. For houses with meters that are outside and accessible, the contractors will let residents know when they plan to replace the meter. For houses that have inaccessible meters that are inside, in a basement or a crawl space, residents should contact Public Works to schedule an appointment.
e desired size of the new facility needs to be approximately 2,750 square feet with adequate parking.
e relocation project will consist of procuring a suitable substitute location, as close as reasonably possible to the existing location. Retail Services will continue at the current location until necessary preparations are completed at the new location. Instead of a public meeting, the Postal Service is inviting residents and property owners to send comments on the proposal to “United States Postal Service, Attn: Hudson, CO MPO Relocation, PO BOX 27497, Greensboro, NC 27498-1103.”
For more information, contact Communications & Engagement Director Kristen Chernosky at 303-655-2146 or kchernosky@ brightonco.gov.
Blessings in a Bag
Fort Lupton’s Backpack Program helps schoolchildren in need with a backpack of healthy food. It’s an all-volunteer program and needs volunteers. If interested in volunteering or donating, call 303-718-4440.
City committees need members
Fort Lupton is looking for several community-minded individuals to ll openings on several boards that advise the City Council and help run city programs.
e Cemetery Committee, Parks and Recreation Committee, Golf Committee, the Library Board, Public Safety Committee and the Senior Advisory Committee have openings. e openings consist of a two-year term running through the end of 2024. If you or anyone you know is interested in serving on a committee, please complete a committee application at https://www. fortluptonco.gov/966/I-WantTo-Apply-for-a-Committee on the city’s website.
weld, according to a statement. Call the Weld County Department of Public Health and Environment at (970) 400-2226 or visit: www.weldgov.com/go/radon.
Silver Sneakers
Silver Sneaker Yoga is available three times per week, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9 to 9:45 a.m. and from 10 to 10:45 a.m. at the Fort Lupton Recreation Center, 203 S. Harrison Ave.
Free short-term radon test kits
Weld County residents can receive a free radon test kit (one per household, while supplies last). Test kits can be requested online at www.drhomeair.com/ weld, according to a statement. Call the Weld County Department of Public Health and Environment at (970) 400-2226 or visit: www.weldgov.com/go/radon.
More information can be found here- https://www.fortluptonco. gov/1240/Water-Meter-Replacement-Program.
Acts of Connection seeks to lessen loneliness
Weld County and North Range Behavioral Health are working to target social isolation and build personal connections throughout the county with the Acts of Connection Initiative.
According to the group, four of ve adults younger than 24 and seniors older than 66 all reported feeling lonely at some point.
e campaign encourages everyone to nd ways to connect with others, build relationships, and promote a stronger sense of well-being and a culture of connection for all.
e Postal Service generally receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.
Fort Lupton replacing water meters
e City of Fort Lupton has hired Northern Colorado Contractors to replace the water meters in town.
Help for vets
Quali ed Listeners, a veteran and family resource hub serving northern Colorado and southern Wyoming, has several power chairs, scooters, and electric wheelchairs available.
e VA o ers urgent care services to eligible veterans at VA medical facilities or several in-network urgent care clinics that are closer to home.
To nd the closest facility to you, visit www.va.gov/ nd-locations or call 720-600-0860.
Volunteers needed
Quali ed Listeners, a veteran and family resource hub serving northern Colorado and southern Wyoming, needs volunteers to drive veterans to and from appointments, run errands for veterans who cannot get out, provide handyman services, help administer veteran and family resource guide inventory in local libraries and veterans to be trained to become quali ed listeners. Visit quali edlisteners.org/ volunteerapp and ll out the form or call 720-600-0860.
e group has sponsored a website at https://actsofconnectionweld.org/ to survey members of each group, o er some tips to help and take pledges to connect to the community and connect with other members of the community.
Visit the e ort’s website at https://actsofconnectionweld. org/ for more information.
Brighton Art in the Park seeks local artists
e City of Brighton will host its annual Art in the Park festival from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 6, at Carmichael Park, 650 Southern St.
ose artists interested in showcasing and selling their artwork can visit www.brightonartinthepark.com for more information and to apply. e deadline for booth applications is Aug. 15. is one-day festival brings together talented artists, live performances, interactive activities, and a vibrant artist market.
Quali ed Listeners also needs volunteers to drive veterans to and from appointments, run errands for veterans who cannot get out, handyman services, help administer veteran and family resource guide inventory in local libraries, and veterans to be trained to become quali ed listeners.
Donation time
e Fort Lupton Food & Clothing Bank is asking for donations of canned fruits and nuts, varieties of dry pasta and pasta dinners, peanut butter and canned meat such as tuna (including the pouches).
Other potential donations could include chicken, Vienna sausages, spam and salmon. e bank also needs personal items, such as toiletries and baby needs.
Community Reach Center launches “warm line”
Community Reach Center is o ering a warm line (303-2806602) for those who want to talk to mental-health professionals about anxiety, lack of sleep and strained relationships, among other topics. e professionals can facilitate referrals to other programs for assistance. e line is not for crisis intervention. ose feeling unsafe or suicidal should call Colorado Crisis Services (1-844-493-8255) or text 38255 or visit the Behavioral Urgent Care Center, 2551 W. 84th Ave., Westminster. Brighton’s community intake location is at 1850 E. Egbert St., on the second oor. It’s open from 8 a.m. to noon Tuesdays.
Legal advice
Drop o donations at the food and clothing bank’s back door, 421 Denver Ave., on weekdays between 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Call 303-857-1096.
Free short-term radon test kits
Weld County residents can receive a free radon test kit (one per household, while supplies last). Test kits can be requested online at www.drhomeair.com/
e Access to Justice Committee hosts a free, legal self-help clinic from 2 to 3:30 p.m. on the rst Tuesday of every month. e program is for customers without legal representation who need help navigating through legal issues.
Volunteer attorneys are available to discuss family law, civil litigation, property, and probate law. Call 303-405-3298 and ask for a Legal Self-Help Clinic at least 24 hours before.
Water aerobics
e city’s water aerobics class meets from 6 to 6:45 p.m. Tuesdays and ursdays at the Fort Lupton Recreation Center, 203 S. Harrison Ave. Call 303-857-4200.
BY JANE REUTER JANE@COTLN.ORG
As another 90-degree July day begins, a watering truck makes its way slowly around the Red Rocks Ranch neighborhood, a crew of three stopping to water each young tree.
e grass around the trees, owers and landscaping on nearby banks has long since browned and withered, and the crew’s only hope is to save the saplings, they said.
In the nearby park, a cherry red water slide, the centerpiece of a children’s splash pad and playground, is fenced o and silent, with no water to serve it.
And around the Denver metro area and beyond, a reported 30 prospective Red Rocks Ranch homeowners are living in hotels, Airbnbs and with family members, waiting to close on new homes that have no water taps to serve them.
Confused buyers, who say they are getting minimal information about the delay, are exchanging theories on a private Facebook page and pointing ngers in every direction — including at the Town of Morrison, the Mount Carbon Metro District and builder Lennar Homes.
“I’ve been continually told when I talk to Lennar that it’ll be another two weeks,” said Mary Ann Mcshan, who signed a contract to purchase a Red Rocks Ranch home in March. “ ey say the town of Morrison is going to vote, and then they say, ‘Well, they didn’t approve it. It’ll be another two weeks.’”
Information is scarce
Red Rocks Ranch is not part of incorporated Morrison, but the small town of less than 400 residents is the source of water and wastewater for what will someday be a community more than four times its size. Mount Carbon agreed to build the town infrastructure required to meet the development’s needs, but hasn’t yet completed all that work or nished a required update to its intergovernmental agreement with Morrison.
Despite the information Mcshan says she was given, the town has not posted any recent agenda items on the IGA, or scheduled any special meetings on the issue. Morrison’s attorney is, however, meeting regularly with Mount Carbon’s legal counsel on the issue.
“I don’t understand why it’s so secretive,” Mcshan said. “ e homeowners are su ering and the parties involved don’t seem to care that much. ey’re not communicating with us, and homes are still being sold.
“I could probably get out of my contract but that’s not necessarily what I want. I love the home. I just want information.”
It’s the second time in less than a year that prospective Red Rocks Ranch homeowners have been left in limbo as the metro district continues negotiating for water with Morrison.
Holding firm
But this time, the town is holding rm — as it warned it would in 2024 — on completion of the IGA between it and Mount Carbon, the agency charged with providing water and sewer to the unincorporated development.
“ e town is disappointed that future
2024, granting the district’s request to convert two irrigation meters into 39 residential taps. at allowed 39 homeowners who had also been unable to close to move into the development.
One town trustee issued a warning to Mount Carbon and Lennar at the Oct. 9 special meeting.
“You don’t make promises about water if you don’t have the infrastructure to deliver it,” he said. “I will be pressing the other members of my board to vote ‘no’ for future water taps if we don’t have the infrastructure to deliver it.”
But Mcshan said Lennar told her a different story.
“ e salesperson I worked with said there were ve remaining water meters, and if I went under contract that week, I’d get one of those,” she said. “I had the impression I’d be able to close by midMay. I’ve since learned, it sounds like those ve meters were temporary, and used for testing.”
McShan, who sold a home in Denver and is living in her Winter Park condo as she waits to close, said the lack of information is wearing on her and the other prospective homeowners. She also said she and other homeowners are not being compensated for the cost of their temporary living quarters.
homeowners have been put into this situation yet again,” Morrison Town Manager Mallory Nassau wrote in a July 2 email. “ e town has been working diligently with MCMD on a restated IGA … ere are currently signi cant infrastructure improvements that must be completed prior to the town issuing additional taps.” e issue is not new or unknown. As part of its obligations, Mount Carbon paid to improve the town’s wastewater treatment plant and for the construction of a new water treatment plant.
But the water plant is fed by untreated
water from Bear Creek, and while the current supply is enough for Morrison, it isn’t enough for the neighboring development. To tap into additional town water rights, Mount Carbon must pay to build a new diversion on Bear Creek west of the plant, along with a pump station and pipeline to transport the water.
e issue was made clear last fall when the town put the brakes on issuing more taps, saying it’s not obligated to do so until the 2008 IGA is rewritten — an e ort that’s been under way for years. It nevertheless held a special meeting in October
“I want to be informed, and to know I’m not making a mistake,” she said. “I feel as someone who’s about to spend a very large amount of money on a home, the homeowners are not the ones who should be caught in the middle of this.”
While Sutton — the trustee who warned Red Rocks Ranch in public about the issuance of future water taps — recently left the board, the town remains committed to ensuring the IGA is in place before it agrees to issue more taps.
“ e original IGA dates back to 2008 and limits the issuance of taps based on MCMD completing infrastructure improvements,” wrote Nassau, adding those improvements include ensuring the “town’s water and wastewater systems would be adequately upgraded prior to serving end users.
“We are committed to providing water and sewer to Red Rocks Ranch, noting that this requires MCMD to meet their infrastructure obligations, so we may safely and reliably provide the service to all users.”
David O’Leary, an attorney for Mount Carbon, said in October 2024 that he believed the new IGA would be ready in about a month.
Nine months later, it remains un nished and unapproved.
And the conversation about its irrigation meters to residential taps has left Red Rocks Ranch with no water for its landscaping or splash pad.
Lennar’s Red Rocks Ranch website says it is “actively selling” and o ering “incredible deals.”
A representative of homebuilder Lennar Homes, who identi ed himself only as “Aaron,” could not explain why Lennar continues to sell homes despite its awareness of the ongoing water problems. He said only that they are “caught in the middle,” and hoping for a swift resolution.
None of the Mount Carbon Metro District’s board members returned requests for comment.
“I don’t know who’s at fault,” Mcshan said. “But I do wonder, what was the situation with the IGA? What did they know while contracts were being signed?”
BY BELEN WARD BELEN@COTLN.ORG
Mosquitos collected at several testing sites in northern Weld County have tested positive for West Nile Virus, county health o cials announced July 7.
“ e increasing hot weather often leads to favorable conditions for the Culex mosquito that carries West Nile virus,” said Jason Chessher, Executive Director of the Weld County Health Department. “ e public needs to be vigilant because West Nile Virus has a permanent summer presence in Colorado.”
Weld County Public Health and Environment trapped mosquitoes in several towns in Weld County that tested positive for West Nile Virus, according to the county.
A Weld County contractor monitors the county’s traps in three zones. e most northern zone, Zone 1, includes Greeley, Evans, Kersey, LaSalle and the surrounding area. e zone near the middle county is Zone 2 and it includes Johnston, Milliken, Platteville and the surrounding area. Mosquitoes trapped in Zones 1 and 2 have tested
positive for West Nile, according to ocials.
Zone 3 is the most southern zone and it includes Fort Lupton, Dacono and Firestone and the surroundings. Tests at traps from those communities have not shown West Nile virus so far.
No human cases reported
Weld County testing will continue to monitor the West Nile Virus as o cials report an increase in Culex mosquitoes carrying the virus. According to health o cials, no human cases of West Nile have been reported in Weld County. As the weather stays hot in July and August, the number of Culex mosquitoes infected with the West Nile virus is expected to rise.
According to o cials, it takes between three and 14 days for West Nile Virus symptoms and infection to appear. e symptoms include fever, headache, nausea, vomiting, muscle aches, weakness, and rash; however, some individuals may not experience any symptoms.
If you think you have symptoms, contact your healthcare provider immediately. O cials say there are no medicines
can become complacent and satis ed simply by imagining a better world for ourselves, doing nothing to achieve that vision.
to treat or vaccines to prevent West Nile Virus. Fewer than one percent of infected people develop a serious, sometimes deadly, neuroinvasive illness.
Mosquito mitigation
According to health o cials recommend following the four “D’s” to prevent mosquito bites:
• DRAIN standing water around your house weekly. Remember to drain water from tires, cans, owerpots, clogged rain gutters, rain barrels, toys and puddles.
• DUSK and DAWN are when mosquitoes are most active. Limit outdoor activities and take precautions to prevent mosquito bites during these times.
• DEET is an e ective ingredient to look for in insect repellents. Other repellents containing picaridin, IR3535, oil of lemon eucalyptus, or para-menthane-diol are also e ective against mosquitoes. Always follow the product label instructions carefully.
ere are dangers in dreams and goals. Dreams that come with inaction are little more than the equivalent of our mind’s behavior as a couch potato. We watch reels of what we can imagine, but never strive to reach that place. We
On the other hand, dreams that are accompanied by us mentally berating ourselves, because we are not reaching a goal as quickly as we think we should, are equally detrimental. Our self-critics are the most brutal naysayers we will ever face, and they are often the voice
• DRESS in long sleeves and pants, and a hat, in areas where mosquitoes are active.
For more information about preventing mosquito bites and West Nile Virus,
stopping us.
e sweet spot in dreams and goals comes in the combination of imagination and action. It is in that zone where we both celebrate advances and recognize areas where improvement is needed that dreams can change our world.
My hope for you is that in your struggle, whatever it is, you will dream big, take steps toward your dream, and celebrate every motion forward.
including a map of mosquito zones and trapping and testing updates, visit weld. gov/go/zoonosis.
Jim Roome lives in Arvada with his wife, Beth. He spent 34 years in public education. Lessons learned from the one two punch of being diagnosed with MS shortly before his best friend was diagnosed with terminal cancer led him into a new pursuit as a freelance writer and speaker. He uses his life experiences and love of stories to inspire, educate and encourage local, national and international audiences. Contact him at jim.roome@gmail.com.
1. TELEVISION: In the show “Ted Lasso,” what does the sign over the locker room doorway say?
2. ANIMAL KINGDOM: How many words are dogs believed to understand, on average?
3. U.S. STATES: Which two states don’t observe Daylight Savings Time?
4. LITERATURE: In the “Harry Potter” book series, how many balls are used in a Quidditch match?
5. GENERAL KNOWLEDGE: Which company owns car makers Porsche and Audi?
6. GEOGRAPHY: Which country is home to Lake Como?
7. MOVIES: What are the names of Cinderella’s stepsisters?
8. ACRONYMS: What does the computer acronym DOS stand for?
9. MEDICAL: What is the condition called
solar erythema?
10. PSYCHOLOGY: Someone su ering from alektorophobia is terri ed by what?
Answers
1. “Believe.”
2. Dogs generally know an average of 89 words and phrases, but the number can range from 15 to 215.
3. Hawaii and Arizona.
4. Four balls of three di erent types (the Qua e, two Bludgers and the Golden Snitch).
5. Volkswagen AG.
6. Italy.
7. Anastasia and Drizella.
8. Disk Operating System.
9. Sunburn.
10. Chickens.
(c) 2025 King Features Synd., Inc.
$11,853,987.80 $0.00 $0.00$557,905.19($31,118.19) $0.00($172,159.76)$12,208,615.04
$25,746,228.60$9,363,287.28$4,454,818.56$45,956,251.74$3,240,509.26($13.71)($24,696,241.54)$64,064,840.19 $0.00
$19,507,119.06$16,227,303.27
Semi Annual Report For Six Months
Adams County Treasurer Semi Annual Report For Six Months
Treasurer
evidence and testimony from City staff and other interested parties, including the public at large; and
WHEREAS, the City Council has reviewed the proposed amendments to the LUDC, and has found the amendments, as provided herein, to be in the best interest of the health, safety, and welfare of the community.
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED by the City Council of the City of Brighton, Colorado, as follows:
Section 1. Section 9.03(M) is hereby amended as follows:
Any sign other than traffic control signs, that is erected, constructed or maintained within, over or upon a public right-of-way, except sidewalk signs in conformance with Section 9.07, other signs otherwise granted permission for such location by the City or the Colorado Department of Transportation, or signs explicitly permitted within Section 9.06 K.
Section 2. Section 9.06(K) is hereby enacted as follows:
K. Brighton Identity Signage.
Brighton identity signage is intended to generate a unique sense of place for Brighton by incorporating themed signs at gateways and themed wayfinding elements for important features throughout the City. Brighton identity signage may be located either on a site or within the right-of-way. Brighton identity signage shall not count toward the total sign allowance on a site.
a. Location. Primary gateway signs may be located at any of the following intersections: (1)Highway 85 and West Bridge Street (CO7); (2)I-76 and East Bridge Street; (3)I-76 and East Bromley Lane; (4)I-76 and Eagle Boulevard; and (5) E-470 and Sable Boulevard (South 4th Avenue).
b. Quantity and Height.
(1) One primary gateway sign shall be allowed per intersection.
(2)Any quantity of artistic elements per Section 9.10 E. shall be allowed to accompany the primary gateway sign. (3)Primary gateway signs may not exceed 80 feet in height.
Denver, CO 80203
Deadline for Affected Persons to Petition: August 11, 2025
The Notice and documents related to this matter can be found on our “Hearing eFiling System Document Search” page here https:// oitco.hylandcloud.com/DNRCOGPublicAc-
Notice The City of Brighton is seeking candidates for Mayor and City Council positions in each
for the November 4, 2025,
election. Nomination petitions will be available in the Office of the City Clerk at 500 South 4th Avenue beginning August 5, 2025. Completed nomination petitions must be filed by 5:00 p.m. on August 25, 2025. Office hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on Friday. The Clerk’s Office is closed between 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. for lunch. Please call City Clerk Natalie Hoel at 303-655-2056 or Deputy City Clerk Erin Kelm at 303-655-2031 with questions.
Legal Notice No. BSB3954
First Publication: July 17, 2025 Last Publication: July 24, 2025 Publisher: Brighton Standard Blade Public Notice
ORDINANCE NO.
INTRODUCED BY: Snyder
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BRIGHTON, COLORADO, AMENDING PORTIONS OF ARTICLE 9 OF THE LAND USE AND DEVELOPMENT CODE RELATING TO GATEWAY SIGNAGE
WHEREAS, the Land Use & Development Code (the “LUDC”) contains certain provisions related to land use, zoning, design standards, including regulations related to signage throughout the City of Brighton (the “City”); and
WHEREAS, the City Council previously provided input to help create the Brighton Community Identify Design Plan (the “Plan”), which incorporates gateway and wayfinding signs throughout the City, including in public rights-of-way; and
WHEREAS, certain amendments to the LUDC are necessary to allow for the signage in the Plan; and
WHEREAS, the Planning Commission held a pubic hearing on June 12, 2025, to review the proposed amendments and has recommended approval;
WHEREAS, in accordance with the public notice requirements of the LUDC, a notice of public hearing was published on the City’s website for no less than fifteen (15) days prior to the City Council public hearing; and WHEREAS, at the public hearing, the City Council received and considered all relevant
tion 9.10 E. shall be allowed to accompany the trail gateway signs and wayfinding signs. (3)Trail gateway signs and wayfinding signs may not exceed 20 feet in height.
n. Lighting. Trail gateway signs and wayfinding signs may be internally or externally illuminated.
o. Location. Artistic elements may be located in conjunction with any of the Brighton identity sign types as referenced in Section 9.06 K. Artistic elements may also be located independently of any additional signs.
p. Quantity and Height. (1) Any number of artistic elements shall be allowed per intersection.
(2) Artistic elements may not exceed 80 feet in height when in conjunction with a primary gateway sign.
(3) Artistic elements may not exceed 40 feet in height when in conjunction with a secondary or tertiary gateway sign.
(4) Artistic elements may not exceed 20 feet in height when in conjunction with a trail gateway sign, a wayfinding sign, or as an independent artistic element.
q. Lighting. Artistic elements are not intended to be lighted.
Section 3. Findings. The City Council finds determines that the amendments set forth herein: (i) further the purpose of the LUDC; (ii) are in accordance with the Comprehensive Plan and have been considered for both their long-range effects and immediate impacts; (iii) promote the public safety, health, and general welfare of the community of the City of Brighton; and (iv) improve the effectiveness and efficiency of administering the LUDC.
Section 4. As provided in City Charter Section 5.9(A), this Ordinance, either as presented or as amended, shall be published in full as it was adopted prior to taking final action. This Ordinance shall be in full force and effect five days after its final publication, as provided in City Charter Section 5.8.
INTRODUCED, PASSED ON FIRST READING, AND ORDERED PUBLISHED THIS 1ST DAY OF JULY 2025.
CITY OF BRIGHTON, COLORADO /s/ GREGORY MILLS, Mayor
ATTEST: /s/ NATALIE HOEL, City Clerk
c. Lighting. Primary gateway signs may be internally or externally illuminated.
d. Location.
(1) Secondary gateway signs may be located at any of the following intersections:
(1)All intersections where the primary gateway signs are permitted; (2)Highway 85 and Weld County Road 4; (3) South 4th Avenue and East Bromley Lane; (4)Highway 85 and 136th Avenue; and (5)South 27th Avenue and 136th Avenue.
(2) Secondary gateway signs may be located at any of the following river crossings:
(1) East 168th Avenue and the South Platte River; (2)E-470 and the South Platte River; and (3) East 120th Avenue and the South Platte River
e. Quantity and Height.
(1) One secondary gateway sign shall be allowed per intersection or river crossing.
(2)Any quantity of artistic elements per Section 9.10 E. shall be allowed to accompany the secondary gateway sign.
(3) Secondary gateway signs may not exceed 40 feet in height.
f. Lighting. Secondary gateway signs may be internally or externally illuminated.
g. Location. Tertiary gateway signs may be located at any of the following intersections:
(1)All intersections where the primary gateway signs are permitted;
(2) All intersections where the secondary gateway signs are permitted; and (3)All river crossings where the secondary gateway signs are permitted.
h. Quantity and Height.
(1) One tertiary gateway sign shall be allowed per intersection.
(2)Any quantity of artistic elements per Section 9.10 E. shall be allowed to accompany the tertiary gateway sign.
(3) Tertiary gateway signs may not exceed 40 feet in height.
i. Lighting. Tertiary gateway signs may be internally or externally illuminated.
j. General.
(1) Trail gateway signs are intended to create clear directional guidance for local and regional trails that pass through Brighton. They are intended to mark entrances to Brighton, trailhead accesses, directions to connecting trails, and similar destinations.
(2) Wayfinding signs are intended to guide residents and visitors to local places within and around the City of Brighton. The wayfinding signs are primarily intended to be installed at a pedestrian scale and used by foot traffic but could also be located along roadways to guide drivers to different destinations.
k. Location. Trail gateway signs may be located at any intersection or along trails, with priority for the following intersections:
(1) Longs Peak Street at the Fulton Ditch Trail; (2) East Bridge Street at the Brighton Lateral Ditch Trail; (3) Prairie Center Parkway at the Brighton Lateral Ditch Trail; (4) East 132nd Avenue at the Fulton Ditch Trail; and (5) East 120th Avenue at the Burlington Ditch Trail.
l.Wayfinding signs may be located at any intersection or along streets or along trails.
m. Quantity and Height.
(1)Up to four gateway and wayfinding signs shall be allowed per intersection.
(2)Any quantity of artistic elements per Sec-
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF COLORADO, Plaintiff, vs.
OSCAR HERNANDEZ-GONZALEZ and CONCERNING PARTY KAREN REYES-HERNANDEZ and SEVEN THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED NINETEEN DOLLARS IN UNITED STATES CURRENCY, TO THE ABOVE-NAMED DEFENDANT and CONCERNED PARTY, GREETINGS:
You are hereby summoned and required to file with the Clerk an answer to the Complaint, which has been filed with the Court within thirty days after service of this Summons upon you. If you fail to do so, judgment by default will be taken against you for the relief demanded in the Complaint.
If service upon you is made outside the State of Colorado, or by publication or if a copy of the Complaint is not served upon you with this Summons, you are required to file your Answer to the Complaint within thirty-five days after service of this Summons upon you.
This is an action for forfeiture pursuant to C.R.S. §16-13-307 of the currency that was seized in Adams County, Colorado by officers of the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Department on April 9,2025 as being derived from activity constituting a class one public nuisance.
A copy of the Summons, Complaint and Temporary Restraining Order may be obtained at the Adams County District Attorney’s Office, 1000 Judicial Center Drive, Suite 100, Brighton, Colorado 80601.
DATED: June 25, 2025
/s/Todd Bluth
Senior Deputy District Attorney 1000 Judicial Center Drive Suite 100 Brighton, CO 80601 (303) 659-7720
Legal Notice No. BSB3949
First Publication: July 17, 2025
Last Publication: August 14, 2025
Publisher: Brighton Standard Blade Public Notice
STATE OF WISCONSINCIRCUIT COURT – SAUK COUNTY
APPROVED AS TO FORM: /s/ YASMINA GIBBONS,
Deputy City Attorney
Legal Notice No. BSB3951
First Publication: July 17, 2025
Last Publication: July 17, 2025
Publisher: Brighton Standard Blade Metro Districts
Public Notice
NOTICE OF SPECIAL MEETING AND NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARINGS RE: PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO 2024 BUDGET
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of Ridgeline Vista Metropolitan District (the “District”) , County of Adams , State of Colorado, will hold a speical meeting at 10:00 am on July 17, 2025 (the “Board Meeting”) for the purpose of conducting such business as may come before the Board. Pursuant to § 32-1-903 CRS, as amended, this meeting will be conducted electronically, telephonically or by other virtual means.
FURTHER, NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a proposed amended budget has been submitted to the District for the fiscal year of 2024. A copy of the proposed amended budget has been filed in the office of Community Resource Services of Colorado, where the same is open for public inspection.
During the Board Meeting, the Board will conduct a public hearing to consider objections of the District’s electors prior to considering the adoption of such proposed amended budget .
Any interested elector within the District may inspect the proposed budget amendment and file or register any objections at any time prior to the final adoption of the 2024 budget amendment. Directors and members of the public that wish to participate in the meeting without visiting a physical location may do so via teleconference by dialing (720) 707-2699 and entering Conference ID: 876 5972 5692 or videoconference on https://us06web.zoom. us/j/87659725692
This meeting is open to the public.
BY ORDER OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS RIDGELINE VISTA METROPOLITAN DISTRICT
Legal Notice No. BSB3952
First Publication: July 17, 2025
Last Publication: July 17, 2025
Publisher: Brighton Standard Blade
Summons and Sheriff Sale
Public Notice SUMMONS
SERVICE BY PUBLICATION IN THE DIS-
CREATIVE FINANCE, INC.
815 Business Park Road PO Box 454 Wisconsin Dells, WI 53965, Plaintiff,
v.
MELISSA MARIE SCHUMANN 14787 Madison Street Brighton, CO 80602 Defendant.
Case No. 25CV204
SUMMONS
THE STATE OF WISCONSIN
To each person named above as a Defendant:
You are hereby notified that the Plaintiff named above Creative Finance, Inc., by its attorney, Christopher M. Kern, filed a lawsuit or other legal action against you.
Within Forty (40) days the 25th day of June, 2025, you must respond with a written demand for a copy of the Complaint. The demand must be sent or delivered to the Court, whose address is: Clerk of Circuit Court, Sauk County Courthouse, 510 Broadway Street, Baraboo, Wisconsin 53913, and to Plaintiff’s attorney, Christopher M. Kern, 815 Business Park Road, PO Box 454, Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, 53965. You may have an attorney help or represent you.
If you do not provide a proper answer within forty (40) days, the Court may grant judgment against you for the award of money or other legal action requested in the Complaint, and you may lose your right to object to anything that is or may be incorrect in the Complaint. A judgment may be enforced as provided by law. A judgment awarding money may become a lien against any real estate you own now or in the future, and may also be enforced by garnishment or seizure of property.
Dated this 25th day of June, 2025.
General Counsel for Plaintiff
Signed By: Christopher M. Kern
Christopher M. Kern
State Bar Number: 1093883
Creative Finance, Inc.
815 Business Park Road
P.O. Box 454
Wisconsin Dells, WI 53965
Phone: (608) 254-6855
Fax: (608) 253-5005
legal@creativefinanceinc.com
Legal Notice No. BSB3939
CREDITORS Estate of Barbara Lee Brown, a/k/a Barbara L. Brown Deceased Case Number: 2025PR030342
All persons having claims against the abovenamed estate are required to present them to the personal representative or to District Court of Adams, County, Colorado on or before November 17, 2025, or the claims may be forever barred.
Richard B. Vincent #13843
Attorney to the Personal Representative 5460 S. Quebec St., Suite 333 Englewood CO 80111
Legal Notice No. BSB 3171
First Publication: July 17, 2025
Last Publication: July 31, 2025
Publisher: Brighton Standard Blade
PUBLIC NOTICE
NOTICE TO CREDITORS Estate of Zbigniew Tadeusz Klimas, aka Zbigniew T. Klimas, aka Zbigniew Klimas, Deceased Case Number: 2025 PR 30439
All persons having claims against the abovenamed estate are required to present them to the Personal Representative or to the District Court of Adams County, Colorado on or before November 17, 2025, or the claims may be forever barred.
Monika Irena Klimas, c/o Solem Woodward & McKinley, PC, Personal Representative 750 W. Hampden Ave, Suite 505 Englewood, Colorado 80110
Legal Notice No. BSB3947
First Publication: July 17, 2025
Last Publication: July 31, 2025
Publisher: Brighton Standard Blade
PUBLIC NOTICE
NOTICE TO CREDITORS Estate of Gail Paula Cummiskey Peak, Deceased Case Number: N/A
All persons having claims against the abovenamed estate are required to present them to counsel on or before November 3, 2025, or the claims may be forever barred.
Melissa Dalla Hammond, Esq. Dalla Hammond, P.C. 12245 N. Pecos
Design company is giving the city $80,000 to buy the impacted land
BY CORINNE WESTEMAN CORINNE@COTLN.ORG
Since Golden’s DeLong Park opened in June 2022, people have pushed their strollers, walked their dogs and jogged with friends along the park’s sidewalks. But, unbeknownst to many of them, one of those sidewalks was mistakenly built in a neighboring yard. And now, three years later, the City of Golden and the construction company are xing it. e Golden City Council approved buying about 2,700 square feet of land at 400 24th St. at its July 8 meeting. at’s where the sidewalk was built and the city will use money from design company IMEG, LLC to do so, city sta con rmed. The Pallagi family, the current property owners, will receive $80,000 for the sidewalk-impacted land and $7,000 for
fence installation.
e parties will close on the land purchase later this summer.
‘We don’t know why it happened’
In 2017, the City of Golden bought a 1-acre residential property o 23rd Street from the DeLong family. e long-term plan was to turn it into a park.
e project was in the planning, design and construction process for about ve years, according to previous Transcript coverage, and about 80 city o cials and residents hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony for it on June 7, 2022.
Assistant to the City Manager Steve Glueck con rmed how DeLong Park was designed in 2019, which included a completed property survey. e design included using city right of way for Vernon Street — which had never been built out as a street — to put a sidewalk between 23rd and 24th streets, Glueck explained.
“In the preparation of nal construction plans, the sidewalk connection was erroneously shifted down the hill to a location closer to the corridor for the abandoned Welch Ditch,” he stated in
CO 80601.
Witness my hand and seal of said Court this 3rd day of July, 2025.
Alana Percy Clerk of the District Court
Legal Notice No. BSB3948
First Publication: July 17, 2025
Last Publication: July 17, 2025 Publisher: Brighton Standard Blade ###
Notice NOTICE OF HEARING ON PROPOSED
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the proposed budget amendments for the year 2024 have been submitted to the Pinnacle Farms Metropolitan District Nos. 2 and 10 (collectively, the “Districts”). Such proposed budget amendments will be considered at a meeting and public hearing of the Board of Directors of the Districts to be held on August 11, 2025, at 3:00 p.m., or as soon thereafter, via telephone and videoconference. To attend and participate by telephone, dial 833-4351820 and enter meeting ID: 160 115 3374 and passcode: 686901. Information regarding public participation by videoconference will be available at least 24 hours prior to the meeting and public hearing online at https://www. pinnaclefarmsmd.com/
beinvolvedas acitizen.Localnewspapers provideyouwiththeinformationyou needtogetinvolved.
a council memo. “ e connection was subsequently constructed in that location, encroaching on and e ectively cutting o part of the property at 400 24th Street.”
Joseph David Pallagi and his family have owned 400 24th St. since 1988. Pallagi reportedly tried to tell project representatives about the encroachment during construction in 2021, and again in fall 2024, according to Glueck’s memo.
After the July 8 meeting, Glueck said it’s unclear exactly whom Pallagi tried to tell, whether it was city employees or elected o cials, or someone from the construction company. Pallagi then had health problems and didn’t pursue it further, until he ran into a Golden Public Works employee last fall.
At that time, he brought the issue up again, and the city looked into it. Glueck said that once the mistake was veri ed, the city sought a resolution with the Pallagi family and IMEG.
After several weeks of meetings and negotiations and after agreeing it would be too di cult to move the sidewalk, all three parties found a resolution, Glueck said.
Now that the City Council has approved it, the parties plan to close on the land transaction in late July or early August, Glueck said.
Glueck wrote to City Council that IMEG, which did the park’s nal construction plans, believed there was likely a miscommunication among the park design team. However, “accountability for the error lies with them,” Glueck wrote.
On July 8, he added: “We can document what happened, but we don’t know why it happened.”
us, the company is paying Golden $87,000 so the city can buy the impacted land and pay the Pallagi family to install a fence. is includes the 6-foot-wide sidewalk, the square footage between the sidewalk and the park boundary, and a 3-foot-wide bu er on the other side, Glueck described.
In the council memo, he also stated how IMEG is covering all the city’s direct costs, including some legal reimbursements. e only exceptions are the “minimal” closing costs and the insurance policy, which the city is paying.
of Yolanda D. Langlais, Deceased
Number: 2025 PR 155 All persons having claims against the abovenamed estate are required to present them to the Personal Representative or to the District Court of Weld County, Colorado on or
States have used 1873 act to limit medical abortions
BY SARA WILSON COLORADO NEWSLINE
U.S. Sen John Hickenlooper is renewing a call to repeal part of a 19th-century law that conservative activists have used to restrict medication abortion access in cities across the country.
“ ese extreme Republicans and dustcovered laws from 1873 should not be directing a women’s right to make her own health care decisions,” the Colorado Democrat said during a virtual panel with Colorado OB-GYNs and reproductive health leaders.
Hickenlooper is a sponsor of the Stop Comstock Act, which would repeal the Comstock Act of 1873, a measure that outlaws the mailing of “lewd” and “indecent” material. Anti-abortion activists have sought enforcement of the dormant law to essentially enact bans on many abortions, including medication abortions where patients receive mifepristone and other drugs in the mail after consulting with a doctor. Mifepristone is also used in many miscarriage treatments.
e federal tax break and spending cut bill signed into law by President Donald Trump last week cuts Medicaid reimbursements for Planned Parenthood — though that provision was temporarily blocked by a judge — and advocates worry that it could add strain to an already under-attack reproductive health system.
“We know that many of those people (on Medicaid) will not be able to seek care and other institutions or other avenues, and we know that places that are able to continue providing sexual health care are going to face increased demand and increased weight,” said Dr. Rebecca Cohen, a Colorado OB-GYN.
Pueblo City Council has voted twice since 2022 to oppose a proposed city ordinance that would have used the Comstock Act to restrict abortion access in the city. In October 2024, the council voted 4-3 to kill the ordinance before it
moved to a nal vote. If it had passed in Pueblo, it almost certainly would have been struck down due to Colorado’s Reproductive Health Equity Act.
“Abortion opponents have seized on the idea that the Comstock Act could be misused to ban the mailing of mifepristone and other drugs used in medication abortions,” Cobalt President Karen Middleton said.
Backers of the so-called “Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn” project have helped over 20 local governments, mostly in Texas, pass ordinances to ban abortion
by enforcing the federal law, most recently Big Sandy in Texas with a population of about 1,300.
Hickenlooper called the legislative effort a “marathon.” Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the U.S. Senate and a 220-212 majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“ e issue with this circumstance, like every circumstance, is there are a number of reasonable, moderate Republicans that have been pushed to the corner, and they are threatened with primaries with tens of billions of dollars against them if they violate anything that the White House is trying to push,” he said. “At some point, when we have a breakthrough election, this will be the kind of thing — all the debris that is accumulated from the Trump years — we’ll be able to clean it out.”
Melisa Hidalgo-Cuellar, the chair of the Cobalt Abortion Fund, said the organization has seen a nearly 1,200% increase in funding for people accessing care at telehealth-only clinics that mail abortion medication to patients. It can be di cult to travel to a brick-and-mortar clinic for people without reliable transportation, who don’t have child care or who live far from a physical clinic.
“You really see that people are opting for this because it’s a more convenient and a ordable option for a lot of abortion seekers,” Hidalgo-Cuellar said. Hickenlooper’s bill was assigned to the Senate Judiciary Committee when it was introduced. is story is from Colorado Newsline. Used by permission. For more, and to support the news organization, visit coloradonewsline.com.
