September 1, 2016 VOLUME 150 | ISSUE 38 | 50¢
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J E F F E R S O N C O U N T Y, C O L O R A D O
Taking no tips for a year Wheat Ridge eatery said to be liking the change By Joey Reuteman Special to Colorado Community Media
The main street of Heritage Square is barren and barricaded with a fence marking the area as a construction zone as demolition continues on the once-popular destination for tourists and locals. Property owner Martin Marietta announced closure of the square in February last year. By October and November, most of the businesses had closed their doors to business. Photo by Christy Steadman
Heritage Square hangs in balance Old main street halfway demolished while amusement park runs on
By Christy Steadman csteadman@coloradocommunitymedia.com With demolition of the old commer-
cial section of Heritage Square half complete, property owner Martin Marietta still does not know what the land will be home to in the future. Although a couple of things are being discussed, there’s “nothing definitive,” said Pete Bovis, the square’s property manager with Martin Marietta. But “residential, big box retail and
mining … are not options for the next life of the property,” said Bovis, explaining that’s not the direction the company wants to pursue. Martin Marietta bought Heritage Square — a longtime entertainment and tourist destination at 18301 W. Colfax Ave. — in December 2011. Since the Square continues on Page 6
Jeffco may be site of close political fight Candidates, parties will make numerous appearances in county
Unlike other areas of the world, tipping at a restaurant is almost universally commonplace in the United States. However, Abrusci’s Italian Restaurant in Wheat Ridge is shifting away from this cultural norm by becoming one of the first restaurants in the Denver area to use a service charge. Abrusci’s restaurant manager Marvin Williams says that after doing away with tipping in July of 2016, he has seen customer service and the customer experience improve. “Although it may have started as a compensation for the employees, something to allow them to have a constant living wage, it’s developed into more of giving great service.” Williams sais that the restaurant was not trying to shift how restaurants think about tipping. Instead, he says the decision to implement the service charge was to create a more consistent income for the staff. “Jeff and Nancy (Progar, the owners of Abrusci’s) had come to a point where the servers were having a lot of difficulty making ends meet. They had seen this (use of a service charge) being done on the East Coast and West Coast, and they found it intriguing that they could put everybody on a salary or a higher hourly wage and take away all of the negative stuff that comes with just trying to rely on tips.”
By Clarke Reader creader@coloradocommunitymedia.com Jefferson County has long had the reputation as being a bellwether in elections, and residents can expect to hear and see a lot from local, state and national candidates as Election Day nears. “Jeffco has one of the most diverse voting populations in our state,” said Don Ytterberg, chairman of the Jefferson County Republican Party. “You have chunks of the mountains and foothills on the west side, and more urban areas on the east side of Arvada and Lakewood, as well as Edgewater.” With roughly 566,000 residents — about one-tenth of the entire population of the state — Jefferson is the fourth most populous county in Colorado. It can be said to be a purple county, in which there are a relatively even number of Democrats, often identified as blue, and Republicans, often identified as red, generally with a high number of unaffiliated voters. Among active registered voters in the
Eatery continues on Page 6
Graphic illustration by Ben Wiebesiek county as of Aug. 1, there were 111,374 Republicans, 109,140 Democrats and 128,938 unaffiliated voters, according to the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office. Colorado has been very important in the past couple elections, not only to the presidential races, but in the U.S. Senate and House contests, because it was unclear which way the state as a whole would go, said John Straayer, a political science professor at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. Straayer’s concentration is Colorado and legislative politics. This year, he noted, the mystery
might be gone when it comes to the presidential race. “Everything I’m seeing shows Colorado leaning pretty heavily in favor of the Democrats,” he said. “I look at voter registration data from August 2012 to where we are now, and there’s an increase of about 22,000 Democrats in Jefferson County, and 10,000 Republicans.” Still, the Jefferson County Clerk and Recorder’s Office currently shows roughly 2,000 more active Republican voters than Democrats. Election continues on Page 5
POMONA GETS OFF TO STRONG START The Panthers began the season in fine form, beating one of the best schools in the state. Read this story and other prep sports news on PAGE 18.
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