Jeffco Transcript

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July 30, 2020

JEFFERSON COUNTY, COLORADO

A publication of

JeffcoTranscript.com

VOLUME 37 | ISSUE 3

SPECIAL REPORT

Hate crime Colorado’s public health officials are under attack charge fi led Workers face threats, vandalism, job loss amid in Lakewood COVID-19 crisis attack BY JESSICA GIBBS | COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA AND JESSE PAUL | THE COLORADO SUN

Joni Reynolds, the head of Gunnison County’s public health department, entered kind of a routine as the coronavirus crisis descended on Colorado earlier this year: Long hours. Sleepless nights. A police escort home. A wave of threats over her efforts to keep her community safe amid the pandemic made her fear for her safety. There were also suspicious packages left outside her house and sent to her office, both of which were unsettling but weren’t dangerous. “References to Nazism. Calling me Mrs. Hitler,” Reynolds said, recounting the contents of the hate mail she received. “Calling me vile names — curse words. Threatening harm to me, my family, my home. Assuring they would remove me from my job and take ‘all my worldly possessions.’” SEE OFFICIALS, P4

Eric Breemen has been charged with a class five felony bias-motivated criminal charge BY JOSEPH RIOS JRIOS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

92 confirmed resident cases and 26 confirmed deaths, according to state data. The disease has also had a major impact on the staff, with 36 confirmed cases and 13 more suspected. But last week, more than three months after the first case involving a resident of the facility was confirmed, Mountain Vista got some much-needed good news: the state resolved that the assisted-living portion

As an investigation into an alleged assault on Lakhwant Singh continues, the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office has filed a class five felony bias-motivated crime charge against Eric Breemen — a 36-year-old Denver resident who is accused of hitting Singh with his car in April. On April 29, Breemen allegedly ran over Singh, owner of Two Angels Liquor Store in LakeBreemen wood, at the store at 2589 S. Lewis Way, according to an affidavit and interviews with Singh’s family. The Sikh Coalition, which works to protect the constitutional right to practice faith, launched a public campaign in June that called on the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office to charge Breemen with hate crime charges. The group told Colorado Community Media in June that before Singh was attacked, Breemen told Singh and his wife that they don’t belong in the country and accused him of being from the Middle East.

SEE COVID, P18

SEE HATE CRIME, P9

Health workers collect patient information from people waiting to be tested for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, outside the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s lab in Denver’s Lowry neighborhood on March 11. PHOTO BY JOHN INGOLD/THE COLORADO SUN

Inside a deadly outbreak: ‘Everyone was scared’ Nursing home administrator details struggle against virus BY PAUL ALBANI-BURGIO PALBANIBURGIO@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Jane Runge has always dressed up for her job as an administrator at the Mountain Vista Senior Living Com-

munity in Wheat Ridge. But when the COVID-19 crisis arrived, she started wearing scrubs instead. “You never knew what to expect,” said Runge. “We didn’t know if we were going to have staff show up and so for me if it meant cleaning a room, I cleaned a room. It was all hands-on deck.” Mountain Vista, which includes both assisted living and nursing care facilities, has been the the county’s deadliest COVID-19 outbreak, with

INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 10 | LIFE: PAGE 12

WHO’S THE BEST? PERIODICAL

Here’s our annual look at the region’s best businesses, services, attractions and more, as chosen by our readers.

INSIDE THIS EDITION


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