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November 12, 2020
JEFFERSON COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
JeffcoTranscript.com
VOLUME 37 | ISSUE 18
Jeffco school board member resigns, leaving opening BY YESENIA ROBLES FOR CHALKBEAT COLORADO
City Councilwoman Amanda Weaver loads a goat into her pickup in Wheat Ridge.
PHOTO BY BOB WOOLEY
Wheat Ridge goats are on the move Community program brings a taste of life on the farm, to the city BY BOB WOOLEY BWOOLEY@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
On an early Wednesday morning near the parking lot for the Kipling
section of the Clear Creek Trail, bleating goats are being loaded into the back of a pickup while a steady stream of cars rolls past the nearby liquor store.
This somewhat unexpected scene is courtesy of a partnership between the city of Wheat Ridge and a SEE GOATS, P31
Democrats roll to victories in an increasingly blue Jeffco Voter rolls show definite shift over last decade BY PAUL ALBANI-BURGIO PALBANIBURGIO@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
It’s been over 100 years since there was a Jefferson County Board of Commissioners without a Republi-
can commissioner. But that will be the case come January after Democrats won the two seats up for election in 2020 to take over the entire board for the first time since the late 1880s. It’s a result that might have seemed surprising — shocking even — as recently as 2017 when Republicans still held two of the three seats. But it was par for the course in
2020 as Jeffco voters also preferred the Democratic candidates running for president and Colorado’s US Senate seat by double digit margins, flipped the First Judicial District Attorney’s office blue and chose to send Democrats to the state house in six of the seven districts with more than 250 voters in Jefferson County. SEE JEFFCO, P6
The five-member Jeffco school board soon will have an open seat. Board member Ron Mitchell announced his resignation during a board meeting Thursday night citing health needs and a desire to spend more time with family. “All of my past sins from a health point of view are beginning to catch up with me and one of the things I need to do is a better job of taking Mitchell care of me,” Mitchell said, adding that he didn’t want the public to worry. His resignation will be effective Nov. 12. Mitchell, 75, represents Jeffco’s District 5 which includes the southern part of the district bordering Denver and Arapahoe County. Mitchell is serving a second term on the board which was set to run until next November. Mitchell was first elected to the board after Jeffco voters recalled three conservative board members. He ran for reelection unopposed in 2017. During his tenure, Mitchell served as board president and most recently as one of two board vice presidents. His colleagues on the board praised him as they accepted his resignation. Board member Stephanie Schooley recalled meeting Mitchell when she was a parent at a school meeting. “You made our community feel heard and feel like we were a part of a conversation that mattered,” Schooley said. SEE BOARD, P18
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 12 | LIFE: PAGE 14 | CALENDAR: PAGE 17 | SPORTS: PAGE 20
KEEPING THE FAITH
COVID-19 forces churches in the metro area to adapt in a variety of ways P14