Littleton Independent May 22, 2025

4675 S. Windermere St. in Englewood.

Navigation center for homeless opens doors

BY ELISABETH SLAY

e facility in Englewood that houses the Tri-Cities Homelessness Navigation Center and the Bridge House Ready-to-Work program held its opening ceremony May 15.

At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Englewood City Manager Shawn Lewis said the opening of the center was a great day for the city.

“It’s an incredible moment for Englewood and the Tri Cities and really the whole region, in terms of our response to homelessness and the good that this organization has done in other places and will now be doing here in Englewood,” Lewis said.

At-large Englewood City Council member Kim Wright said the facility will be extremely bene cial to those who need its services.

“I think there’s a large population in Englewood that needs services that this has to o er,” Wright said.

Chris Charles, the housing manager of the Englewood Bridge House facility, is a graduate of the Ready-to-Work program. He said it is great to see the vision for this faculty come to life.

“It’s been a long time. I was in the program when all of the groundbreaking and everything on this started, and it’s cool to be able to walk in and see it all come to fruition and everything’s done and being a part of it,” Charles said.

On one side of the 13,150-square-foot facility, located at 4675 S. Windermere St. in Englewood, is the Ready-to-Work program of Bridge House, a Boulder-based nonpro t that provides services for adults experienc-

ing homelessness. is side of the building contains 49 beds for unhoused individuals who are seeking housing placement and other services.

e Ready-to-Work (RTW) program is a year-long residential employment program designed to help people experiencing homelessness move into a full-time working and housed lifestyle, said Scott Medina, director of community relations for Bridge House.

“ ese trainees will live in the RTW program for, on average, a year while they work for us and are paid an hourly wage,” Medina said. “ e goal is to graduate within a year’s time with a full-time job and housing, both of which we help them to get.”

Estate-plan tool saluted by chamber

The Nokbox helps ease path for survivors

BY ISABEL GUZMAN ISABEL@COTLN.ORG

Many families nd themselves in a scramble trying to organize funeral arrangements, managing estates and tracking down accounts after losing a loved one.

For Maria Fraietta, a long-time Littleton Public Schools teacher and real estate agent, the challenge became personal when she and her brothers struggled to nd all of their dad’s possessions and documents when he died in 2021.

“We spent hours at my brother’s kitchen table guessing passwords,” Fraietta wrote on the website for her business, e Nokbox. “After realizing the mound on the table was only growing by the day, we headed to the local o ce store to set up a box for all of the keys, paperwork, important documents and cards that we kept nding.” us, the rst Nokbox — Next of Kin Box — was born.

In 2024, only 32% of American adults reported having a will, according to the 2024 Wills and Estate Planning Study by Caring.com, an online senior care platform. Since many don’t have estate plans, families are left behind in confusion during times of loss. Tools like e Nokbox help bridge that gap. e Nokbox has since grown into a comprehensive organizational system designed to make life easier for families during di cult times. e Nokbox o ers an array of products such as the original Nokbox, which includes folders, checklists and document protectors, among other items. Also available to purchase is the Nokbox reproof box, the Nokbox Lite, password books and Nokbox Lite group packs.

Each Nokbox kit covers 15 essential categories, which includes everything from life insurance policies and funeral directives to veterinary records and storage

Representatives from the Tri-Cities Homelessness Initiative, City of Englewood, Arapahoe County Board of Commissioners, Bridge House and more cut the ribbon at the grand opening of the Tri-Cities Homelessness Navigation Center and Bridge House Ready-to-Work facility, which is located at

PHOTO BY ELISABETH SLAY

CCM papers acquired in deal with Arizona group

National Trust for Local News announces partnership with Times Media Group

e National Trust for Local News on May 13 announced a restructuring of its Colorado operations — known as Colorado Community Media — that centers on a partnership with Times Media Group.

e National Trust will transfer ownership of 21 local publications concentrated in metro Denver to Times Media Group (TMG), a community news publisher based in Tempe, Arizona, whose owner has personal roots in Colorado.

e National Trust will retain ownership of seven publications stretching from Brighton to Idaho Springs, and will continue to grow and operate the Trust Press, a community printing press that serves the Front Range media ecosystem. e organizations will enter into a strategic partnership around shared services and print production.

“ rough this strategic partnership with Times Media Group, we can reduce our footprint in greater Denver without reducing local journalism there, all while positioning ourselves to grow in the parts of Colorado where the need for our unique model is greatest,” Will Nelligan, chief growth o cer at the National Trust for Local News, said in a statement. “While it wasn’t an easy decision, we think it’s a positive outcome from all perspectives that sets the stage for a more resilient, equitable, and vibrant media ecosystem in the state.”

e seven newspapers retained by the National Trust are the Brighton StandardBlade, Fort Lupton Press, Canyon Courier, Clear Creek Courant, Northglennornton Sentinel, Westminster Window and Golden Transcript. ese titles will become part of the Colorado Trust for Local News, a subsidiary of the National Trust dedicated to building an equitable, resilient, and vibrant future for local news across Colorado.

Times Media Group owns and operates more than 60 publications in Arizona and California — free weekly newspapers, magazines, specialty publications and robust digital platforms that reach hundreds of thousands of readers. e news brands shifting to Times Media Group include newspapers like the Arvada Press, Littleton Independent and Parker Chronicle, as well as two shoppers.

e majority of Colorado Community

“We couldn’t be more excited to serve the communities in Colorado.”

Steve Strickbine, president and founder of Times Media Group

Media’s employees were o ered positions with Times Media Group, while others will stay with the Colorado Trust for Local News.

“We couldn’t be more excited to serve the communities in Colorado. We know how much community news means in this state, and we understand the terri c legacy created over the years by these publications and their teams,” said Steve

Medina said the client selection process for RTW requires an application and initial internship to see if someone is a good t for the program.

Strickbine, president and founder of Times Media Group. “ is partnership is a good t for Times Media Group and the National Trust for Local News. I look forward to the great journalism ahead and the new ways we’ll create for our advertisers to reach their customers and clients.”

e National Trust for Local News acquired Colorado Community Media in 2021 to ensure its nearly two dozen news-

papers had a future and would not become news deserts. Leadership told employees that e Trust was approached by Times Media Group in recent months and discovered the company shared its mission of preserving and growing local news.

Last fall, the National Trust opened the Trust Press in Denver, a community printing press designed to serve publishers across Colorado who are struggling with the rising costs of producing their journalism. e press has now taken on its rst seven printing partners. As part of the transaction, TMG will print with the Trust Press.

As another part of the transaction, TMG will provide shared services to the Colorado Trust for Local News, including page design, digital infrastructure, advertising sales, and circulation management. Other terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

On the other side of the building is the Tri-Cities Homelessness Navigation Center, and it contains 20 beds. Tri-Cities Homeless Initiative is an organization started by Englewood, Littleton and Sheridan to address homelessness issues in those communities.

Medina said the navigation program is designed to navigate clients to housing outcomes in a short amount of time.

“Most clients will stay there one to four weeks as they work with case managers to meet speci c goals and housing,” Medina said. “ is is a completely separate program from RTW.”

“If they are an appropriate candidate for the program, they will be accepted,” Medina said. “If it’s not a good t, we will refer them to other resources that are better suited.”

Medina also said the selection process for the navigation side of the faculty will be more open-ended, since it is shorterterm with a higher rotation of clients.

e opening occurred about a year and a half past its initial schedule. e facility was delayed due to a utility replacement and was originally supposed to open in fall of 2023. en a redesign in 2024 had a completion goal for the end of that year.

Funding for the project comes from

many places, including the federal government, the State of Colorado, Arapahoe County, and the cities of Englewood, Littleton and Sheridan, as well as philanthropic foundations.

“As a key component of the workforce development strategy in the Tri-Cities Homelessness Plan of Action, the Readyto-Work program aims to help approximately 34 people transition out of homelessness each year, based on the success of similar programs in Boulder and Aurora,” said Tim Dodd, Englewood’s deputy city manager.

e project began in 2020 after Englewood, Littleton and Sheridan worked to develop the Tri-Cities Homelessness Plan of Action.   rough a survey of those experiencing homelessness and stakeholders, the cit-

ies were able to determine four themes that needed to be addressed. ey are: governance model, family system, chronic individual system and workforce development.

e cities then worked with Bridge House to conduct a study to determine if the organization’s Ready-to-Work program would be feasible in their communities.

e Tri-Cities Homelessness Action Plan was crafted to ease the burden of homelessness throughout the Tri-Cities community. Clients can access the Ready-to-Work program through referrals, and the Navigation Center will provide walk-in services.

For more information on the plan and its projects, visit tricitieshomeless.com.

Leadership for Times Media Group, Director of Operations Nadine Johnson and founder and President Steve Strickbine, were in the Colorado Community Media o ces on May 13, 2025, to announce the deal. PHOTO BY COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA STAFF

Home Sharing Helps Single Seniors Deal With Finance and Loneliness,

Married seniors living in long-time family homes that are bigger than they need often call me and other Realtors about downsizing, and I have written many times about the options they face, including the option that Rita and I chose, which was to sell our home and move into a 55+ rental community.

Widowed seniors face a more pressing problem. The retirement income, including Social Security, which supported them and their late spouse is now reduced as much as by half, and maybe it’s not enough to support them in their beloved home.

That’s where a Denver non-profit called Sunshine Home Share Colorado comes in. Sunshine completes background and credit checks on all participants in the program. All applicants must have three verifiable references. Home seekers must provide proof of income. Sunshine also completes a 1-2 hour social work intake with each program participant, assessing for mental health, emotional health, physical health, and substance abuse.

Allowing Them to Age in Place

A senior homeowner with no mortgage or lots of equity may be able to do what we did — sell the home and live off the proceeds, plus his or her reduced retirement income, for the rest of their expected life. Another solution is to take out a reverse mortgage, even if he or she owns it free and clear, and live of that equity for the rest of their life.

But there’s another option which not only addresses finances but also that big killer of seniors — loneliness. You could consider taking in a roommate — or “boommate” — but how do you find and screen such a person so it doesn’t lead to something even worse than running out of money?

Home providers must be over 55 years old; home seekers only need to be over 18. The rent could be up to $1,000 per month, reduced by mutual agreement when the home seeker provides services such as snow shoveling, housekeeping, lawn care, taking out the trash, or providing transportation to the home provider for medical appointments, etc.

Home seekers do not provide any personal care such as showering, toileting, and assistance transferring between bed and chair. For that, the home provider would have to secure appropriate professional service providers.

The matching process typically takes eight weeks, which includes a 2-week trial period. The organization provides periodic check-ins later on to make sure that the fit still works.

Home in Golden’s Village at Mountain Ridge Listed by Jim Smith

OPEN May 24, 11am - 1pm

Homes in this late-’90s subdivision backing to the foothills come on the market rarely and sell quickly. This one at 165 Washington Street is especially sweet, with the most awesome chef’s kitchen you’ve likely ever seen. Beautiful hardwood floors grace the main floor, with newer berber carpeting upstairs and in the walk-out basement. The Table Mountain views from every level, but especially from the primary suite, will take your breath away. If you’re a soccer fan, the pix and awards in the main-floor study will leave you wishing for autographs! Sorry, the seller won’t be at the open house this Saturday from 11 to 1. A narrated video walk-through is posted at www.GRElistings.com

$1,495,000

4-Bedroom Tri-Level in Arvada Listed by Kathy Jonke

The housemate has to have an income to support their rent payments and is expected to be gone for employment purposes most days. Typical “service exchange” work can range from 5 to 20 hours per week. The more work is done, the less rent the home seeker is expected to pay, all negotiated up front.

All home shares are month-to-month, with the average home share lasting only a year, but they could last five years or longer. Having the third-party involvement of Sunshine makes it easy for either party at any point to say, “sorry, this isn’t working for me.”

One of the biggest problems faced by single or widowed seniors is loneliness. It’s a big reason that moving into a 55+ community makes sense, and I have seen that work in person from living in such a community — especially for the single residents. However, many seniors want to “age in place,” to stay in their long-time home as long as possible, and home sharing can make that possible not only financially but by providing some healthy companionship.

Sunshine Home Share operates throughout the Denver metro area. If you think this idea would work for someone in another state, check out the National Shared Housing Resource Center at nationalsharedhousing.org

This Column Now Appears Bi-Weekly “Real Estate Today” will be on this page every other week, so the next time you’ll see it will be June 5th. On those alternate weeks, you will find a half-page ad on a related topic. Next week it will be on a topic related to sustainability. One June 12th it will be about well-being.

The organization’s website provides stories of matches they have made and FAQs. Go to www.SunshineHomeShare.org. Their phone number is (720) 856-0161. Their office is in north Denver.

Our Attempt to Resurrect Our Free Box Truck Has Not Succeeded

You may recall that we launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds to get our truck back on the road so that multiple non-profits, not just our clients, would have it to use for free. Well, we only raised $2,000. Rather than return that money, we are going to divide the proceeds among those nonprofits that used it the most, including BGoldN, Family Promise and the International Rescue Committee.

Here Are Some of My Previous Columns on Related Topics

Find and download each of them online at www.JimSmithColumns.com

Jan. 2, 2025 —Is a Reverse Mortgage Right for You?

Oct. 31, 2024 — Cooperative Living Presents an Attractive Alternative to Downsizing Oct. 17, 2024 —Understanding the Different Kinds of 55+ Retirement Communities (CCRCs)

Sept. 26, 2024 — Keeping Your Death from Becoming an Undue Burden on Your Heirs

Aug. 8, 2024 — Seniors Might Consider Downsizing into a Rental, Not a Smaller Home

Also: Trusts as an Estate Planning Strategy

Feb. 8, 2024 — ‘Empty-Nest’ Baby Boomers Own Twice as Many Big Homes as Millennials with Children

Aug. 17, 2023 —Should You Consider a Reverse Mortgage as Part of Your Retirement Plan?

Mar. 16, 2023 — Here Are Some Ways to Make Your Home More Senior-Friendly Dec. 29, 2022 — Have You Considered Cohousing — An Explanation and Some Examples July 28, 2022 — Aging in Place vs. Moving to a 55+ Community: Some Considerations

Townhome-Style Condo in Centennial Listed by Chris Sholts

$489,000

$575,000

This updated, 4-BR/2-bath tri-level at 6337 W. 68th Place is in a quiet, established neighborhood. Each level has been thoughtfully renovated. The vaulted main level has new luxury vinyl plank floors, and there’s new paint throughout. The galley kitchen has new cabinets, complemented by white appliances. The upper level has 3 bedrooms with new carpet and an updated full bathroom. The lower level has a spacious family room with a red brick fireplace and above-grade windows. There is a 4th bedroom, laundry, and updated 3/4 bathroom on this level. The windows and siding were replaced in 2018, and a new roof is being installed! A video tour is posted at www.GRElistings.com. Call Kathy at 303-990-7428 to request a showing.

This updated 2-story condo at 5555 E. Briarwood Ave. has a finished basement, offering the perfect blend of comfort, style, and convenience. Located in the heart of the Summerhill neighborhood, this home has thoughtful upgrades and a bright, open floorplan. The main level is ideal for entertaining with its inviting family room, complete with wood-burning fireplace. It flows into the formal dining area and opens to a private patio. The updated dine-in kitchen boasts stylish countertops and laminate wood flooring. All appliances are included. A stylish half bath with tile flooring rounds out the main floor. Upstairs, the vaulted primary suite has dual closets and a beautifully updated ensuite bath. The finished basement has a large recreation room, laundry area, and ample storage. A private patio is just steps from the neighborhood pool and hot tub. More information at www.GRElistings.com

Bruce Stahlman, Littleton notable, dies of cancer

Former city o cial with history of civic involvement

passed away May 7

BY ISABEL GUZMAN ISABEL@COTLN.ORG

Bruce Stahlman loved baseball and frequented Colorado Rockies games. He ran three marathons, including one in Alaska. He served on a mental health task force.  And “he was an all-world father and husband,” said Kelly Stahlman, Bruce’s wife.

But what Stahlman will be remembered for is his commitment to the Littleton community. He served as a Littleton city council member from 2007 to 2015, and was mayor pro tem from 2011 to 2013. Stahlman served as liaison to the Littleton Fire Department, now South Metro Fire Rescue, and helped guide the district’s emergency response and public safety initiatives.

In addition, he served Littleton Public Schools as part of the Mental Health and Safety Policy Advisory Committee from 2014 to 2015. He also was part of multiple committees and boards such as historic preservation commission, ne arts board, planning commission and was board president of Friends of the a Library and Museum, a charity that supports Bemis Library and the Littleton Museum.

On May 7, Stahlman died following a nearly seven-year battle with brain cancer.

In 2018, Bruce noticed he was having issues with his balance. Kelly pressured him

An

to visit a neurologist, but went straight to the hospital after a family friend who was a neurologist recommended it. After a visit to the ER, the Stahlmans discovered he had glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer, and was told he had about a year to live – after undergoing surgery to remove the massive tumor.

He beat the odds and participated in innovative treatments, including the Novocure Optune portable device, which extended his life expectancy. Stahlman wore the device on his head every day, as it worked to disrupt cancer growth by using Tumor Treating Fields, or electric elds.

“All Things Senior” Douglas County Event

With his wife, the Stahlmans raised three sons, including twins — Mark and Eric — who were born prematurely and with cerebral palsy. ey were in the neonatal intensive care unit for months. Mark was non-verbal and non-mobile and used a computer to communicate, while Eric was verbal and non-mobile.

Both boys died from medical complications — Mark died of a blood clot in 2014

wouldn’t have worked at Arc rift Stores for 15 years absent their arrival.”

From 2006 to 2023, Stahlman held the role of CFO at Arc rift Stores, a major nonpro t organization that supports individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Stahlman’s impact on Littleton and the broader south metro community will be remembered through his public service,

use the information.

During Littleton’s 2025 State of the City address, the Littleton Business Chamber presented Fraietta with the Business of the Year award for e Nokbox.

“Interestingly, our company and product is a direct response to innovation. We live large parts of our lives online, in the forms of banking, socializing, re-

passwords, as well as the many papers that still come in and that we’ve saved, Fraietta said.It can be a lot to manage while we are living, much less after we die. e Nokbox is designed to create an index and paper trail for everything in life, both physically and digitally, so we can breathe easier knowing we’ve got it all organized — no matter how old we are.”

Bruce and Kelly Stahlman with their two sons, from left, Eric and Mark, at a Rockies game in 2014. COURTESY OF KELLY STAHLMAN

Bruce Stahlman served as Littleton mayor pro tem and was the chief financial o cer of Arc Thrift Stores for 17 years. COURTESY OF KELLY STAHLMAN

The Nokbox, a company that helps families prepare after-death plans, won the Business of the Year 2024 award at the Littleton State of the City on May 14. Pictured, from left, are Susan Desparrois, Maria Fraietta, Anna Bray and Angela Christensen.

PHOTO BY ISABEL GUZMAN

Economic Factors, Policy Landscape Lead to Budget Shortfall

Fire and medical emergency response services are at

risk

The Challenge

There’s been a 20% increase in calls for service since 2019.

This includes structure, vehicle, and wildland fires; explosions and hazmat incidents; water rescues; vehicle crashes; public or police assistance; and medical emergencies.

Emergency medical calls now account for 65% of all response – this is expected to increase with an aging population.

Costs have increased dramatically in six years; for example:

The cost for a fire engine has gone from $725,000 to $1.3 million (79% increase).

The cost for protective bunker gear has gone from $4,321 to $6,047 (40% increase).

To continue providing quality fire and emergency response, South Metro needs an additional $34 million annually.

State legislation that passed during a special session in 2024 reduces property tax revenue South Metro collects by $16 million in 2026 and $270 million over 10 years.

South Metro Fire Rescue is facing an immediate budget shortfall due to years of rising costs, consistent increases in demand, and new state legislation. Without new revenue, the organization will not be able to maintain the high level of service for fire and emergency response that residents and businesses deserve, and have come to expect.

Did You Know?

South Metro is a full-service department Here are a few key facts:

stations across 30 square miles 287

personnel across 800 divisions 8

residents, which will serving 571,500 in grow to 595,0004 years municipalities and 12 counties 3

Including:

Centennial Airport, Lockheed Martin, Highlands Ranch, 4 Square Mile, and The Pinery

The Bottom Line

With $34 million needed to address increased demand for services and rising costs, plus the $16 million shortfall, South Metro needs to identify how it will generate $50 million in additional funding annually.

‘The bike guy’ assists Charles Hay program

Paul Altenhofen’s children attended the school where he now helps with bicycles

BY ELISABETH SLAY ESLAY@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

When Paul Altenhofen rst laid eyes on the large tower of old and damaged bikes, he took in the chaotic sprawl of mangled bike frames, at tires and sun-bleached seats.

But amid the wreckage, Altenhofen saw promise.

One-by-one, he set aside about 30 of the sturdiest-looking ones — battered, but xable — and loaded them up for the long process of bringing them back to life for Charles Hay World Elementary School’s bike program, which he was asked to assist with by educator Kelly Wilbert.

“Kelly called me up and asked me to help sort them out, pick them out, clean them up so she can do some bike units with her physical education courses,” Altenhofen said.

Wilbert said the program initially started several years ago when a few educators secured grants to provide bikes for the elementary schools and the middle school.

After the new Charles Hay World Elementary School was built in 2018, the bike sheds that previously stored the bikes were removed, and the bikes were stored and forgotten about in Englewood High School’s eld house.

Wilbert led the school’s Wellness Committee and began e orts to restore the bike program. With support from Super-

intendent Joanna Polzin and Englewood Parks and Rec, a new shed was built.

As a lifelong cyclist, former bike shop owner and former Englewood Schools parent, Altenhofen didn’t hesitate to be helpful with the program.

“Over the last six months or so, I’ve been working on (the bikes) — xing ats,” Altenhofen said. “I’ve had some help from some of the parents also — half a dozen

parents that have come and helped out — xing ats, adjusting brakes, straightening handlebars, doing all of the things that are necessary to get these bikes rideable.”

Altenhofen’s connection to Charles Hay is personal — his two children attended the school years ago when it was still housed in an older building. at connection, paired with his passion for cycling, made him the perfect partner for Wilbert’s

REVERSE MORTGAGES

vision of a schoolwide bike program.

“I was the obvious choice, because I’m the biker nut, the bike mechanic. I had my own shop at the time,” Altenhofen said. “I was somewhat known in the community as the bike guy.”

Wilbert said Altenhofen is the “biggest relief” in the process of creating this program.

“A good part of my energy over the last few years has been trying to get this program to come to fruition,” Wilbert said. “I could facilitate the approval of the shed, the planning of it, the fundraising and purchase of it. But when it actually came to getting the bikes back in working order, I was in need of an absolute bike guru and Paul Altenhofen is exactly that.”  e original club, formed years ago, was small and informal — just an afterschool gathering for kids who had bikes or could borrow one of the refurbished ones. Altenhofen would repair them, and the group would ride around the neighborhood.  But construction and school transitions interrupted the momentum. Now, thanks to renewed interest and a dedicated partner in Altenhofen, the program has grown.

“It’s pretty satisfying — from a bunch of junk to a bunch of actual usable, nicequality bicycles,” Altenhofen said. “ ere must have been a hundred or 150 bikes over there in that pile, and we just pulled out the ones that looked better.”  Altenhofen brings decades of experience to the role. He worked in bike shops for 25 years and ran his own for 15. ese days, he’s a mechanic at REI, where he continues to lend his expertise — now also bene ting the next generation of riders.

Paul Altenhofen assesses one of the many bikes in the Charles Hay World Elementary School fleet during a bike lesson. PHOTO BY ELISABETH SLAY

Oil well blowout in Weld exposed people to benzene

Chemical plume in tiny Galeton flowed for almost five days before the well was secured and sealed

BY MARK JAFFE THE COLORADO SUN

e oil well blowout last month in rural Galeton, which sparked the evacuation of nearby homes, spewed dangerous levels of toxic chemicals as far as 2 miles away, according to preliminary tests by a Colorado State University team.

Benzene, a known carcinogen and respiratory irritant, was found in concentrations 10 times above federal standard for chronic exposure, and was among dozens of chemicals detected.

“People were potentially exposed to a chemical soup,” said Emily Fischer, a CSU professor of atmospheric science. e uncontrolled blowout of the Chevron Bishop well in Galeton, a community of 256 about 7 miles northeast of Greeley, began the evening of April 6, sending a white geyser of water, crude oil and gas high into the air.

It was almost ve days before the well was secured and sealed. e failure of wellhead equipment caused the blowout and it was not related to either drilling or fracking the well, Chevron said in its preliminary assessment.

“We know the when,” said Kristen Kemp, a spokesperson for the Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission, which oversees oil and gas drilling. “And we know the what: an uncontrolled release of wellbore uid due to a failed barrier. … We are still investigating the why.”

Chevron, CDPHE report lower emissions levels

e ECMC is overseeing the investigation and the remediation of the site, but deferred to state air regulators on emissions.

PROGRAM

“On a bicycle, the most common problem is at tires. Especially here in Colorado — we have goathead thorns everywhere,” he said. “Aside from that, we have to have brakes that work, wheels that don’t fall o , pedals that don’t fall o , saddles that don’t slip. ere are half a dozen crucial safety issues that have to be checked.”

For Altenhofen, it’s not just about xing bikes — it’s about unlocking something deeper for kids who might not otherwise have the chance.

“Everybody should have a bike they can ride,” Altenhofen said. “It’s tremendously useful. It’s e cient transportation. It’s fun. A lot of kids don’t have the chance to do that unless they have an adult helping them out one way or the other.”

While he’s proud of what’s happening at Charles Hay, Altenhofen hopes to see a bike unit in every school across Englewood — every child, all 2,400 of them, with access to a bicycle and the means to maintain it.

Both Chevron and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment have been conducting air quality tests and have not detected levels as high as those measured by the CSU team.

CSU reported its initial ndings to CDPHE, but the department said its Air Pollution Control Division had not yet received or reviewed the university’s full air monitoring data.

e di erence in readings comes from a di erence in the way researchers did their sampling.

CSU’s data show higher levels because researchers followed the pollution plume streaming from the well.

Emissions from a point source — like a smokestack — move on the wind, forming a band that becomes more diluted as it travels farther from the source and is less dense at its edges than in its center.

Using a mobile air lab in a Chevy Tahoe, CSU graduate student Lena Low and Matthew Davis, a postdoctoral researcher, tracked the plume while the geyser from the well was at full force.

On the evening of April 8, Low tracked the plume taking samples at about 1 mile downwind from the well, with the highest reading 35.5 parts per billion of benzene at the plume’s edge — that yielded a calculation of about 100 ppb at the center.

Low used a canister to grab a sample of the air for laboratory analysis.

ere was no question of heading into the plume. Even at the edge, “it smelled horrible and felt hot,” Low said. “It was very unpleasant.”

At 2 miles, just using the instruments in the Tahoe, the methane level was about 20 ppm.

e federal Agency of Toxic Substances and Disease Registry sets the long-term exposure level at no more than 9 ppb. Colorado’s health guideline value is the same.

Davis sampled the area midday April 8 and recorded levels of 22 ppb of benzene a mile away and 5.4 ppb 2 miles away.

“ is is one of the most important things that public schools can do — step in and help kids to have things they wouldn’t otherwise have,” Altenhofen said. “Not just bicycles, but experiences, education … Bicycles are just one of the things that public schools can do.”

Wilbert said this year’s bike unit brought both challenges and successes. With limited gym access and rainy weather, riding was di cult, but she said students made great progress.

Her plans for next year include scheduling during the drier fall season, adding more small bikes and improving helmet organization with adjustable, color-coded options.

“Riding a bike o ers so many things — it’s an exercise that you can do while connecting with others or on your own, it o ers independence, transportation for those under driving age, a way to explore the outdoors, a way to lessen pollution, and it’s a lifelong activity,” Wilbert said. “I hope that our kids appreciate biking for all of these reasons and now see the value more clearly. I hope they gain independence, connection, physical and emotional wellness, con dence, calm and all of the things that come from it.”

ARAPAHOE COUNTY

All County facilities will be closed Monday, May 26, in observance of the Memorial Day holiday.

Email COG@denverymca.org to register.

Feeling Crafty? Plan Your Entries Now Public Competitions at the Arapahoe County Fair

In-Person Exhibit Entry: July 20–21

Entries Displayed: July 24–27 arapahoecountyfair.com/ publiccompetitions

Beauty and the Bees Join Arapahoe County CSU Extension Horticulture Specialist Lisa Mason for a free talk about bees and pollinators, May 1, 2–3 p.m. at Centennial YMCA Center of Generations. Lisa manages the Native Bee Watch, a citizen science program that monitors native bees. Learn what you can do in your own yard to support pollinators and bees.

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State aims to have Summer EBT rolled out on time

Half a million students expect to receive food benefits this summer around Colorado

BY ANN SCHIMKE CHALKBEAT

e families of about 450,000 Colorado students in preschool through 12th grade received extra grocery money from the state this month to cover the cost of food during summer break.

e $120 per child preloaded onto electronic bene ts cards is part of the Summer EBT program for children from low-income families. In addition to the families that have already received the bene ts, state o cials expect to provide the grocery bene t, which is mostly funded by the federal government, to around 50,000 more students through the summer.

Last year, many families received their Summer EBT bene ts late, sometimes just as the new school year was starting. But this year is di erent, with most families getting the money on May 1.

Rolling out the Summer EBT program is among several steps Colorado leaders

have taken in recent years to reduce the number of children who go hungry. In 2022, voters approved a ballot measure to provide free school meals to the state’s public school students regardless of family income. e program has been so popular, it’s cost more than state o cials anticipated.

In an e ort to sustain the program amid serious state budget troubles, lawmakers found the money to keep the program fully funded through December. ey’ll also send two ballot measures to voters in November that, if approved, would raise enough additional money to continue the program after December.

Colorado students in public school preK-12 are eligible for Summer EBT cards if their families receive public bene ts such as SNAP, Medicaid, or Colorado Works, or if they qualify for free or reduced-price school meals. (Although free school meals are now o ered to public school students regardless of family income, most schools still ask families to ll out free or reducedprice meal eligibility forms or similar forms that gauge family income.)

State o cials anticipate that more than 500,000 Colorado children in preschool

SEE SUMMER EBT, P9

Teacher arrested on suspicion of sex assault

David Feil, 49, worked at Douglas County’s Roxborough Intermediate School

BY SUZIE GLASSMAN SGLASSMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Douglas County Sheri ’s O ce detectives arrested a Roxborough Intermediate School teacher on suspicion of sexually assaulting a child.

David Feil, 49, who has a Littleton address, was taken into custody by detectives

with the Special Victims Unit on May 12. He faces two counts of sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust.

Feil has worked for the Douglas County School District since 2014. He was released on $50,000 bond from the Douglas County Detention Facility on May 14.

According to the sheri ’s o ce, the investigation is ongoing. O cials did not release further details about the allegations but are asking anyone with information or potential additional victims to contact Detective Clay at sclay@dcsheri .net.

e sheri ’s o ce emphasized that a charge is merely an accusation and Feil is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Bond reduced for Main Event shooting suspect

BY HALEY LENA HLENA@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

e bond for Nevaeha CrowleySanders, the 23-year-old woman facing charges related to a shooting at Main Event entertainment center in Highlands Ranch earlier this year, was reduced.

Following her arrest in early February, Crowley-Sanders had been held on a $1 million cash or surety bond. In a packed courtroom at the Douglas County Justice Center in Castle Rock Monday afternoon, Douglas County District Court Judge Elizabeth Volz reduced Crowley-Sanders’ bond to $250,000 cash or surety. A check of jail records on May 15 showed CrowleySanders was not in custody.

Crowley-Sanders is facing multiple charges, including assault in the rst degree and attempted murder in the rst degree.

Just before midnight on Feb. 8, Crowley-Sanders was allegedly in a physical altercation with an acquaintance in the women’s restroom in the entertainment center when she alleg-

edly pulled out a handgun and red it several times, according to a police a davit.

Along with the bond reduction, Volz imposed speci c criteria. She said Crowley-Sanders may not have a rearm, cannot go near the Main Event entertainment center, cannot contact the victims and must have GPS monitoring.

Prior to the judge’s ruling, the prosecution argued that there were public safety concerns if Crowley-Sanders were to make the reduced bond. ey said the decisions that Crowley-Sanders made on Feb. 8 to open re in a public setting put a lot of people at risk of harm and that she was willing to in ict harm.

When Volz asked the prosecution what the safety concerns would be for the community, they argued that there are scenarios, such as not knowing where an incident like this could occur again or who might be around Crowley-Sanders, that would make giving a speci c example di cult.

MiDian Shofner, left, stands with Trianna Sanders-McNeil, the mother of Nevaeha Crowley-Sanders, after a May 12 bond hearing at the Douglas County Justice Center in Castle Rock.

PHOTO BY HALEY LENA

Volz told the courtroom that every defendant is entitled to be released while waiting to see if the prosecution can prove the defendant committed the crime. She added that for bond hearings, it’s her job to determine whether a released defendant would ee and whether the community would be safe.

e defense asked the judge to consider reduding the bond to $100,000 cash of surety. In addition to pointing out that CrowleySanders has no criminal history, has stable housing, is the provider for her 2-year-old son and is get-

ting an education in the medical eld, the defense spoke about the 84 letters of support for CrowleySanders, 18 of them provided to the judge.

ese letters included some written by an assistant professor at Metropolitan State University in Denver, clergy members from New Hope Baptist Church and family members, among others.

e defense also mentioned that they had spoken with multiple victims of the Feb. 8 incident and said that they were supportive of Crowley-Sander’s release.

“ is is a long journey, and today, this mother, this family was able to feel a win,” said MiDian Schofner, an advocate for the Crowley-Sanders family.

Crowley-Sanders addressed the court during her May 12 hearing.

“I’m not a ight risk,” CrowleySanders said. “I will abide by the laws of the state.”

She said that upon her release, she would immediately go back to work and continue to pursue her education to become a medical assistant.

Crowley-Sanders added that she will demonstrate to the community that she is not a danger.

Following the court proceeding, family and friends embraced one another and thanked the judge for allowing Crowley-Sanders to speak.

“ ose who don’t know her,nally got a glimpse of who she is,” Schofner said.

Crowley-Sanders’ arraignment has been set for 4 p.m. July 28.

SUMMER EBT

through 12th grade will receive Summer EBT bene ts this summer. Most received or will receive the money automatically. But some — including those who recently moved to Colorado or enrolled in a new school — may have to ll out an application on the Colorado Department of Human Services website. Students who’ve misplaced their existing bene ts card should call the Summer EBT support center at 800-536-5298 to get a new card sent.

Children in families that receive Summer EBT cards can still take advantage of free summer meals at local schools or other sites.

Reprinted with permission from Chalkbeat, a nonpro t news site covering educational change in public schools. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters.

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Health o cials worry about Medicaid as budget bill advances

BY CAITLYN KIM AND JOHN DALEY CPR NEWS

Colorado’s two members on the House Energy and Commerce committee took di erent views and votes on the changes Republicans are proposing for Medicaid as the party looks for cuts to fund its budget reconciliation package.

Republican Rep. Gabe Evans voted with his party to advance the changes to the federal health insurance program for children and low-income people, while Democratic Rep. Diana DeGette voted against it. e measure passed Wednesday afternoon along straight party lines, 30-24, after a marathon 26-hour mark-up session.

According to a Congressional Budget O ce estimate, under the Republican changes, 10.3 million people will lose coverage over the rst decade it’s in effect. Millions more would lose coverage due to the A ordable Care Act changes approved by the committee.

“You can’t save $700 billion and not cut anybody o of Medicaid,” DeGette told CPR News. e CBO estimated the Medicaid changes would save $625 billion.“You’re going to have red tape and a whole bunch of people who are working fall o of Medicaid because they’ll get thrown o by the states.”

e Denver congresswoman argues that new work and documentation requirements under the proposal would make it harder for eligible people to access their bene ts.

“ ey can’t do the paperwork. And we saw that in two states,” DeGette said, pointing to Georgia and Arkansas. “ ey tried to do a work requirement. It ended up throwing a whole bunch of people o of Medicaid who were working and it ended up costing more money.”

Evans countered the bill will prevent waste, fraud and abuse, and that Democrats weren’t seeking to preserve coverage for eligible recipients.

“We’ve heard, what is it now, almost 24 hours of arguing to keep 1.4 million illegal immigrants on the rolls and 1.2 million people who aren’t eligible for Medicaid,” Evans told CPR News, citing what he said are CBO’s numbers.

e House provisions would require states to check eligibility for Medicaid patients every six months, versus yearly. And it would strengthen work requirements. People between the ages of 19 to

64 would have to work, go to school or volunteer at least 80 hours a month to receive Medicaid. ere are exemptions, including for pregnancy, people with dependent children or those with complex medical issues.

“You have somewhere around foursome-odd million folks of able-bodied workers who are choosing not to work,” Evans added. “And that work requirement is not just work, it’s community volunteering, it’s school, and there’s a whole host of exceptions to it.”

Upwards of 128,000 Coloradans could lose health coverage through the proposed work requirements, according to an analysis prepared by the liberal-leaning Urban Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, both national nonpro t organizations.

e group found nearly nine in 10 adults in the age group covered by the work requirement could satisfy the exemption criteria, suggesting that either the change would have minimal impacts on enrollment or result in people losing coverage simply because they fail to prove their extenuating circumstances.

Two provisions have state implications e two biggest provisions that would hit Colorado have to do with immigrants and the so-called provider tax.

Undocumented immigrants are not eligible for federal Medicaid. However, some states have used their own dollars to provide a health insurance plan for some undocumented people. In Colorado, that coverage applies to children and mothers during pregnancy and up to a year after delivery. e Republican plan would punish states by dropping the federal matching rate (known as FMAP) for people under the Medicaid expansion from 90 percent to 80 percent unless they change their policies.

e bill would also prohibit states from establishing any new provider taxes — or increasing existing ones — to draw down extra Medicaid dollars. Colorado’s version of the tax is known as the Hospital Provider Fee.

e provider taxes paid by hospitals help cover the state’s Medicaid costs by increasing the federal government’s matching payments, with some of that extra money ultimately going back to the hospitals themselves.

It’s helped keep some hospitals a oat. It also made it possible for Colorado to

expand Medicaid under the A ordable Care Act to cover 400,000 more low-income adults, sharply reducing the number of people who come to hospitals without insurance.

“Federal cuts would threaten the health care of hundreds of thousands of Coloradans, and Governor Polis continues to urge Congress to avoid devastating federal cuts to health care that would hurt our economy and our health care system,” said Shelby Wieman, a spokesperson for Democratic Gov. Jared Polis.

She noted Colorado does not have the resources to replace reductions made by Congress.

“Colorado already only gets .90 cents back for every dollar we send to Washington, and Medicaid cuts would make it worse. Costs would go up for everyone’s insurance because of cost shifting from uncompensated care. e more than one million Coloradans who get their health care through Medicaid are watching, which is why the Governor has urged Congress to avoid deep cuts to Medicaid,” she said in an emailed statement.

Weiman said the governor’s o ce is reviewing how the changes will impact the state’s budget and, depending on the scope of any cuts, Polis may be forced to call a special session to ensure the state’s nances stay in balance.

DeGette echoed those concerns. If the federal government reduces payments to Colorado, she said, “I’m going to guarantee you Colorado doesn’t have the money to make up the di erence for any Medicaid recipients.”

But Evans challenged the idea that the state couldn’t nd savings to o set increased Medicaid costs.

“We’ve seen Colorado shovel tens of millions of dollars to illegal immigrants above and beyond actual Coloradans,” he said, adding, “[the department that oversees Medicaid] is the third-worst performing department in the state of Colorado … that’s per the 2024 statewide audit.”

e governor’s o ce pushed back on Evans’ characterizations as inaccurate, saying the state has been “very aggressive about preventing and pursuing fraud.”

A spokesman for the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, which administers the state’s Medicaid program under the name Health First Colorado, said the state doesn’t have any speci c details yet on the potential im-

pact of the reconciliation bill in Colorado, because things are still very much in ux.

“Congress is in the early stages of their reconciliation process. We are currently reviewing the language released Monday to understand what the impacts may be to our Medicaid and CHP+ programs and the Coloradans who are covered by them,” said public information o cer Marc Williams, in an emailed statement. “We expect the language to evolve as Congress considers the proposals, and we will be updating our estimates as we learn more on our website.”

Concern from hospitals and patient advocates

e state’s hospitals, which are trying to protect access and preserve Medicaid, are watching the situation carefully as well and expressed relief that Republicans aren’t pursuing deeper cuts.

“ e original Congressional Medicaid cut concepts oated earlier this year would have devastated the health care safety net,” said the Colorado Hospital Association in an emailed statement. “CHA is deeply grateful to the entire Colorado Congressional Delegation for their leadership and for helping ensure that several of the most damaging Medicaid proposals were excluded from the Energy and Commerce package.”

A hospital room at Denver Health. Jan. 1, 2025. PHOTO BY KEVIN J. BEATY / DENVERITE

MEDICAID

e statement noted that CHA representatives were in Washington, D.C. earlier this month to advocate against those provisions. e group said it appreciates what it sees as progress re ected in the current draft.

But it noted that as the reconciliation process goes on, the association “remains concerned about provisions that could still pose serious risks and reduce state exibility and funding, potentially leading to coverage losses, patients seeking more costly emergency instead of preventive care, and service line or hospital closures.”

Donna Lynne, CEO of the state’s agship safety net hospital, said nearly half of

BLOW OUT

Fourteen families within a half-mile of the wells voluntarily evacuated with Chevron providing help with living and housing expenses.

Most of the houses are now wrapped in plastic and being decontaminated.

“ e whole area looks like Chernobyl,” Carol Hawkins, a Weld County activist opposing drilling, said after driving through the area from her home in Ault.

Monitoring at nearby elementary will continue e emissions readings are dependent on meteorological and atmospheric conditions, CSU’s Fischer said. For example, multiple measurements were taken at the Galeton Elementary School, which is

Denver Health’s patients are enrolled in Medicaid, and it already is inadequately funded for providing that care. She said Republicans’ changes will make that situation more di cult.

“Some of the provisions like adding work requirements (and) requiring more frequent eligibility checks will have the same impact” as direct cuts, Lynne said. “I think our concern is that the net e ect of the bill will be, there’ll be more uninsured patients, and we don’t get reimbursed for any of them.”

“I think there are multiple ways that this bill passes costs onto the state and Colorado simply can’t a ord it,” said Adam Fox, deputy director of the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative, a group that advocates for health access. “It will cost us tens, if not hundreds of millions of dollars to administer work requirements that are proposed,

next to the well site, but was upwind and all those readings were comparable to the ambient background level of 2 ppb. e school had been closed from April 11 to April 22.

But during the early morning, when the air cools and becomes more dense, the benzene likely became more concentrated leading to even high emission levels.

CDPHE sent its Mobile Optical Oil and Gas Sensor of Emissions air monitoring van, known as MOOSE, to the area after the incident soon after the well failure and stayed through April 11. e MOOSE recorded maximum levels of 9 ppb to 10 ppb of benzene about 2 miles downwind of the incident location on two di erent deployments.

On April 11, CDPHE also placed a stationary monitor at the school and said it will continue monitoring until the school year ends May 23. CDPHE said

that just add administrative barriers when people need care.”

Fox spoke from D.C., where he and other Colorado advocates have been making the rounds, visiting members of the state’s delegation. He said he’s telling members and their sta that “work requirements add administrative burden for every Medicaid enrollee. Even if they are given an exemption, they have to prove that exemption.”

But that argument didn’t persuade Evans, who, in a statement after the vote, said, “ is bill follows through on our promises to cut waste, fraud, and abuse while simultaneously protecting coverage for Colorado’s most vulnerable populations.”

A loss of coverage for a large number of Coloradans covered by Medicaid would impact the bottom line of hospitals, community health centers and clinics that rely

it has not observed any measurement above the state’s health guideline value for benzene since beginning measurements at the school.

“Chevron has multiple air monitors in and around our locations. e night of the Bishop well incident, our on-going air monitoring was in place,” the company said in a statement.

Chevron conducted air monitoring and collected approximately 3,000 measurements that were analyzed by independent laboratories.

“Air monitoring continues in and around the area surrounding the site and the community, and all measurements that we have received from the laboratories have been below levels of concern,” the company said.

Monitoring at the school will continue for the “next few years” according to a note to parents from Kim Hielscher, the school’s principal, and Jay Tapia, the dis-

on Medicaid reimbursements to keep the doors open.

“I think what we’ve really tried to underscore that aspect that these proposals will still end up stripping coverage from thousands of Coloradans. It will take millions if not billions of dollars out of our healthcare system and our healthcare providers can’t take that hit,” Fox said, who cited a national estimate that with work requirements, hospitals could see over a 20% reduction in Medicaid reimbursement. “ ere are many rural hospitals and clinics and providers that will either have to reduce services or close their doors altogether. at means everybody in those communities loses access to healthcare.”

is story is from CPR News, a nonpro t public broadcaster serving Colorado. Used by permission. For more, and to support Colorado Public Radio, visit cpr.org.

trict superintendent.

Measurements of exposure to emissions can be elusive, said Andrew Klooster, who as the Colorado eld advocate for the environmental group Earthworks uses an infrared camera to document emissions violations.

“Chevron probably had air monitors at the edge of its site but this pollution plume ew right over them,” Klooster said. “What happened in Galeton is rare. is isn’t something we routinely encounter.”

“It is a cautionary tale for even with Chevron having all these best management practices in place it happened,” he said. “Galeton is rural. What if it happens in proximity of homes and growing communities as we see on the Front Range?” is story was printed through a news sharing agreement with e Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned nonpro t based in Denver that covers the state.

Curiosity, the quiet super power

If you want to build stronger relationships, at work, at home, and everywhere in between, there’s one often overlooked super power that is more overlooked and even more e ective than charisma, charm, or even competence. It’s curiosity.

Curiosity isn’t about being nosy. It’s about being genuinely interested in other people, what they care about, what makes them tick, and what they’re navigating in life. Curiosity sends a message that says, “You matter to me.”

e best salespeople already know this, at least when it comes to their clients. Ask a top performer about their biggest accounts, and they’ll light up. ey’ll rattle o the names of spouses and children. ey’ll know who has a golden retriever named Max and who has an anniversary next Tuesday. ey’ll know which client is a die-hard Notre Dame fan and which one skis Beaver Creek every winter.

WINNING

work, teammates, operations sta , even their own leaders, their answers get vague, and the connection is same pattern shows up in our friend circles, communities, and even families. e people we do life with often get the least of our curiosity. We assume we know them already, or we’re too distracted to ask a deeper question.

ey’ve earned that level of trust because they’ve earned the right to know their clients on a deeper level. And that kind of trust only comes through curiosity. But here’s the gut-check: When I ask those same salespeople what they know about the people who support them at

IRecently, I asked a few friends and golfing buddies some simple questions about the guys in our group, people we’ve played dozens of rounds with and shared plenty of meals. e results were humbling. No one could name another guy’s birthday or anniversary. No one remembered where anyone had gone on vacation. When I asked about wives’ favorite restaurants, a few answered quickly, others guessed. en I asked their child’s favorite color. One guy cautiously o ered, “I think it’s pink?”

I pressed further: “What music are your wife and kids listening to right now?” Silence. A few chuckles. And then a quiet

realization: we didn’t know nearly as much about the people closest to us as we thought we did.

Why? Because we stopped being curious.

We live in a “me”-centered world. Social media encourages us to share everything we’ve accomplished, what we’re doing, and what we think. Somewhere along the way, we lost the habit and the desire to ask meaningful questions of the people right in front of us.

Here’s the irony: we all want deeper relationships. We want stronger teams at work, better marriages, tighter friendships, and more connected families. But instead of leaning into them, we double down on ourselves.

If we want to grow closer to others, we must ip the script. We have to move from “me talk” to “they talk.” at’s how relationships deepen, trust builds, and walls come down.

Want stronger teams? Ask your coworkers what they love doing outside of work. Learn their kids’ names. Celebrate their birthdays. Discover what lights them up, and follow up when they share something personal.

Want to reconnect at home? Get curious

Don’t forget that you can change lanes

nsights and encouragement can show up in the most unexpected places.

WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT

again. Ask your spouse what they’ve been dreaming about lately. Ask your kids what music they’re into and why. Ask better questions, and then really listen. Curiosity doesn’t cost a thing, but it pays dividends in every relationship. e truth is, most people have a powerful story to tell. But they rarely get asked to tell it. When you become someone who’s genuinely curious, you give others the gift of being seen, not for what they do, but for who they are.

Yes, your story matters. But when you become great at asking about someone else’s story, you unlock a level of connection, trust, and relationship that most people only wish they had.

Be curious. Stay curious. Watch every relationship around you grow stronger. As always, I’d love to hear your story at gotonorton@gmail.com. When we learn how to lean into curiosity, life truly becomes better than good.

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.

Just about a week ago, I was heading across town to run some errands and found myself stopped at a light. ere were three lanes going in my direction, and I sat in the middle lane, with cars to the right and left of me. Directly in front of my car was a rather large truck covered with ladders and other work items.

When the light turned green and we started to move forward, I was a bit frustrated because the truck, which I could not see around, was going a little bit under the speed limit. I sat behind that truck, frustrated that we were not going the speed limit. I was laser-focused on the back of the truck. I knew its license plate number, how many ladders were on the machine, and I even recited to myself the “How’s my driving” number on the bumper. I could not see around the truck, but I had plenty of time to memorize it. I stayed in that spot for several blocks, more than a mile, the whole time not angry but mildly frustrated by wanting to go a little faster. For whatever reason, I eventually took my eyes o the back of that vehicle and realized that there were open lanes on both sides of me. When I put on my blinker and moved one lane over to the right, I found no other cars on the road with us.

Economy facing many challenges

SFINANCIAL STRATEGIES

I had been so focused on the truck right in front of me; I did not even notice the possibilities around me. Quite frankly, it was a bit embarrass-

ing to recognize what I had been doing. And doing to myself! As I re ected on that embarrassing mile, it struck me how often, when faced with di culties, we actually do the same thing. We get focused on the hardship, the struggle, what we cannot seem to overcome, and we miss the paths that are open to us, the multitude of opportunities that are available, and the people ready to help. I know whatever struggle you are facing is di cult; mine is as well. But on those days when things seem the most daunting, when your struggle seems to be all that you can see in front of you, I would encourage you to take a moment and make sure that you have

looked at the space around you. Do not miss the opportunity to change lanes. A deep breath and a look around will do wonders for your view. You have got this.

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.

Patricia Kummer

pring is a time of renewed hope, with longer days, warmer weather, green grass and pretty owers blooming. But while nature ourishes, a dark cloud looms over the economy. Five months into the new year, economic growth is slipping, and so far, 2025 does not appear to be the turnaround year of positive change. Instead, consumers, business owners and investors are struggling with in ation, declining economic growth and daily volatility in portfolios of all risk levels. Hope springs eternal, however, and there is still a chance we could get through this decline without going into recession.

Let’s take a closer look.

is month, the rst-quarter gross domestic product (GDP), the rate at which our economy is growing, was announced. ere was actually a contraction, or negative growth, of three-tenths of 1%. e news sent the markets into a heavy sell-o amid concerns of a recession. e technical de nition of a recession is two consecutive quarters of negative GDP. Since we have one quarter under our belt, all attention is focused on this second quarter and whether there will be slight growth or another contraction. Mariner’s chief economist, William Greiner, has been predicting for most of this year that our GDP will land somewhere between 1.5% and 2%. While that is considerably lower than last year, it would still be enough to keep us out of a recession. Greiner remains optimistic, putting the chance of recession this year at only 40% — more positive than the majority of economists, who are predicting a worse economic outlook for 2025. Reasons for concern include¹:

• Changes in economic policies under President Trump

SHUTTERSTOCK

Jim Roome

Moves to convert o ces to homes come to Downtown

BY ANDREA DUKAKIS CPR NEWS

Developers in U.S. cities have become bullish about the possibilities of what they call “adaptive reuse,” converting old o ce buildings into residential units. It’s an idea they are betting will solve the many problems a icting the nation’s cities: namely, post-pandemic vacancies in o ce buildings, empty city centers and a lack of a ordable housing.

Downtown Denver is no exception, where a third of o ce space is vacant and many buildings are seen as good prospects for conversion. Recently, e Luzzato Company bought two towers on 17th Street in downtown Denver for $3.2 million, a tiny fraction of the $112 million the two buildings sold for in 2008. e developers plan to have 700 residential units with retail space on the lower oors.

e architectural rm Gensler has worked to identify o ce buildings in downtown Denver that have the most potential for these conversions and has also created a tool for assessing which buildings are good prospects. Ryan Warner spoke with Gensler’s Josie Hyde. Here are takeaways from their conversation.

What are the economic conditions in Denver that make these conversions more than just a pipe dream?

“ ey’ve always been a challenge but they’re very doable. We’ve done plenty of them across the country, and really what it takes is nding the right buildings. And so even though the economics are somewhat challenging, one of these buildings just sold for a very good price, and so that one’s going to be much easier to convert. But if you start with the right buildings, the cost will be lower to start with.”

And the realities of downtown o ce space mean that there are deals to be had?

“ ere are. I think one of the factors… is we’ve got about 13 million square feet of o ce space downtown, and when we think of that square footage, [much of the vacant space] is these 1970s, 1980s buildings that actually trend in the right direc-

• Trade de cits and potential tari s

• Weakening consumer demand

• Pessimistic CFO outlook

• Major nancial institutions estimate a 50% to 60% chance of recession this year

Reasons for optimism include:

• Strong job growth and low unemployment

• Public and private investments in infrastructure and technology

• e potential of arti cial intelligence to drive economic growth

Consumers still make up almost 70% of our GDP, so watching what we buy is key to understanding how the second quarter will unfold. Tari s have driven up the cost of many items, from dollarstore trinkets to automobiles. Now, consumers are more worried about egg prices and less concerned about buying

tion to be converted. So for us here in the city and county of Denver, [with] these ‘70s and 80s buildings, we have about 80 percent of the buildings that are suitable. Some of the things to look for are a great oor plate; so, how far the windows are from the elevators is important because if they’re too far away, then you won’t be able to get light into the apartments. And also thinking of the oor to oor heights are always great for o ce buildings, so when we convert them to residential, they already have taller ceilings.”

The fundamental question of course is whether it makes more economic sense to just destroy a building and build something new or convert it?

“It is costly, but I would say in some cases it’s much better than replacing the entire building because we’ve got embodied carbon in the concrete that we want to preserve when possible from a sustainability perspective. And, you can save 50 percent of the construction time.”

discretionary items that can wait. Investors, too, are playing the waiting game to gauge whether the economic impact of these changes will trigger a slowdown. At the same time, the stock market is repricing itself. e best performers of last year are coming down in value as the price-to-earnings ratios of high- ying tech stocks fall. e market is now focused on anticipating how consumer spending will shift next, bringing more undervalued stocks into the game. ese are all good reasons to have a strong, actively rebalanced portfolio strategy in place. Such an approach would have triggered a sale on US largecap growth stocks toward the end of last year, and the investment of the proceeds into underdog value stocks. is is the ultimate opportunity to see “buy low, sell high” at work in real time.

1. Bureau of Economic Analysis

Patricia Kummer

is

managing director for Mariner, an SEC Registered Investment Adviser.

These two o ce towers on 17th Street in Denver have been bought by developers who plan to convert the space to 700 residential units with retail space on the lower floors.

PHOTO BY HART VAN DENBURG CPR NEWS

Rocky Mountain Prep celebrates 100% acceptance rate Charter network brings all 12 schools together for a high-energy signing day that doubles as a vision for the future

BY SUZIE GLASSMAN SUZIE@COTLN.ORG

e Denver Coliseum roared to life with the energy of a rock concert as more than 4,000 students, families and educators gathered for Rocky Mountain Prep’s Senior Signing Day. Lights pulsed, music boomed and students danced through the aisles to celebrate a milestone that was years in the making: 100% college acceptance across RMP’s graduating class.

e May 14 event marked the second time RMP has achieved universal college acceptance across its graduating class, re ecting the charter network’s broader commitment to long-term student success.

As part of the ceremony, each senior walked the stage and declared their next step after high school, whether college, military service or a career, while younger RMP students, including elementary and middle schoolers, watched from the stands.

“ is is not just a ceremony. is is a declaration… a movement,” said RMP CEO Tricia Noyola. “Our students are leading the way and we are right there with them.”

A milestone for the RMP network

Rocky Mountain Prep operates 12 schools in the Denver metro area, including early childhood, elementary, middle and high school campuses. Founded with a mission to combine academic rigor and a culture of love, the network serves a diverse student population with a strong emphasis on equity, joy and college readiness.

According to data from the Colorado Department of Education, 79% of students at RMP RISE High School qualify for free and reduced lunch, and 83% identify as Black or Hispanic. At RMP SMART, those gures climb to 92% and 95%, respectively, underscoring the signi cance of universal college acceptance among historically underserved students.

Free Vacation Bible School!

Noyola explained that the 100% college acceptance rate is part of a concerted effort that begins before students can even spell the word.

“You need an entire system built around the idea and the goal that every single child can and will do it,” Noyola said. “ at starts in pre-K and kindergarten with incredible instruction, and by ninth grade, every class and every day includes intentional time focused on how this is going to get them to where they want to go.”

With this year’s event, RMP celebrated not only its graduating seniors but the full scope of its pre-K through 12th-grade pipeline. Students from every RMP school attended the ceremony, holding up college pennants and waving homemade signs.

“Yes, it’s about the seniors,” Noyola said. “But this is a celebration of our movement at Rocky Mountain Prep. It’s culminating with our seniors, but it’s just as important that younger students are here. is becomes a touchstone for them — they see it and say, ‘ at’s something I want to do.’”

Peak moments and proud speeches

For RMP seniors, the ceremony served as a high-energy celebration of achievement and a glimpse of the future. Many students were members of Peak+, RMP’s early college program that allows high schoolers to earn college credit while still

in school.

Seniors took the stage one by one to announce their post-graduation plans, from local institutions like Metropolitan State University of Denver to schools across the country.

e event also featured performances from the RISE cheer team, a student poetry reading and a musical number from RISE’s spring production of “ e Wiz.”  Seniors had the chance to publicly thank the individuals who supported them most throughout their educational journey, presenting roses to family members in a moment of gratitude.

“Today is about the celebration and decision of our choices for the future,” said student speaker Nadiah Spikes. “We’ve learned lessons both in and out of the classroom, formed lasting friendships and supported each other through challenges. While we may take di erent paths from here, the bonds we created in high school are like no other.”

Fellow student speaker Emily Gomez echoed the sentiment.

“Never believe anyone who says you cannot do it just because you’re di erent from them,” she said. “Live life embracing your di erences, your culture, your values. Find resources and centers that will help celebrate you, that will help recognize you, because you are a change maker. You are the movement.”

RMP seniors from the Class of 2025 take the stage at the Denver Coliseum to declare their post-graduation plans during Rocky Mountain Prep’s Signing Day celebration.

PHOTO BY SUZIE GLASSMAN

BY BEN MARKUS CPR NEWS

Sports betting revenue keeps rising

Coloradans love to gamble on sports. And the addition of new ways to wager, like parlays and live bets, have helped to boost industry revenues, despite the randomness of sporting events that can leave sportsbooks occasionally at a loss. Because at the end of the day, the house rarely loses for long.

Gambling companies, including DraftKings and FanDuel, brought in $475 million in gross gaming revenue in Colorado last year (wagers minus payouts), a 21% increase over 2023, according to data from the Colorado Department of Revenue. It’s almost double the rate of revenue growth in 2023, which was 11%.

e new data shows the industry has yet to fully mature, about ve years after Colorado allowed the rst legal sports wagers.

e increased interest in sports betting means more tax revenue for Colorado.

Last year, Colorado collected $31.9 million from those bets. And Colorado will get to keep all that money thanks to the recent passage of Proposition JJ, which allows the state to keep tax revenues over the previous TABOR-mandated cap of $29 million. e money goes to a variety of things, most notably for water plan projects.

Parlay bets increased profits

It’s unclear if there are more people betting in Colorado or if the people betting are just wagering more. One of the biggest changes in the industry is the growth of parlay bets, where gamblers string together a series of things like: Nuggets to win, Nikola Joki to record a 30-point game, and total points to go over 200 points. It’s a higher-risk, higherreward bet that the apps heavily promote through incentives, like bigger payo s. Parlays are a win-win for the industry. “ ese parlays make the sportsbooks

OFFICE TOWERS

Is it possible that only parts of these buildings will be converted to housing units?

“When you have larger buildings, if you’re looking at buildings that might have more than three to 400 units planned, it might be bene cial to convert only half the building or a portion of the building. We’ve talked to so many local building owners, developers…and

more money, but people also like to bet them; it’s more fun for the bettor,” said Ryan Butler, who covers the industry for Covers, a gambling website. ere are many apps on o er in Colorado for sports bets, but DraftKings and FanDuel now control about 70 percent of the U.S. betting market, in part because they added enticing parlay options to their apps. “So DraftKings and FanDuel created that technology quicker than anyone else, that’s why they rose to the top,” said Butler. He said younger bettors in particular prefer parlay bets. “ ey just like the lottery ticket aspect of it.”

e vast majority of sports gamblers will not develop an addiction, the national rate is estimated at up to 3 percent. But there’s concern that addiction rates are higher among young men, who are growing up with unlimited sports gambling on their phone.

Colorado has granted millions to be-

they’re all just waiting for the right time. But there is a sense of urgency of being able to convert, and I think there’s an understanding that it’s possible.

What is the most successful conversion project you could point to?

“We’ve done quite a few buildings. I think of the Franklin Tower [in Philadelphia], which was done right at the beginning of the pandemic. [ e developers] were looking at just converting the top half of the building, and as it was getting constructed, it was so popular and got

havioral health providers and educational campaigns. e Colorado Limited Gaming Control Commission announced $2.9 million in grants in February, up from $2 million the year before.

Beyond parlays

e sportsbook has long been a relatively small part of casino pro ts, so the app developers are looking ahead to a more lucrative business: fully online casinos, things like poker and blackjack, not just sports.

“Everything is based o of that goal,” said Butler.

Only a handful of states allow online casino games, but they are hugely profitable. In the rst quarter of this year, DraftKings reported $881 million in sports betting revenue across 25 states and Washington DC, and $423 million revenue in the just ve states that allow it to operate casino games online.

Any such plan would face a lot of hur-

leased so quickly that they lled out the rest of the building before they completed construction, and that one was a lot of glass on the building. ey added balconies to the building by moving some of the walls in a little bit on the exterior. So it’s been an incredible project that was done years ago.”

I suppose there’s also an assumption that we’re never fully coming back to work like we did pre-pandemic. You’re sort of locking in a long-term reality here for a downtown, right?

dles in Colorado. e handful of physical casinos operating in the state, which are mandated by law to be located in three historic mining towns, would likely ght any proposal to expand online gambling to phone apps.

Sports are unpredictable

While last year saw large growth in sports bets and revenue, there are periods when the house loses. In Colorado, sports gaming revenues dropped 20 percent in March, compared to March of last year.

Sportsbooks said that’s because more favorites won than anticipated in the recent March Madness men’s basketball tournament. DraftKings reported that more than 80 percent of favorites won, the most in more than 40 years. And bettors tend to put their money on the favorites. at’s just the nature of sports.

“ at’s why people watch sports and want to bet on sports, it’s part of what makes the customer experience great,” said Jason Robins, CEO of DraftKings, on a Friday investor conference call. “So there are periods where you’re gonna have quarters two, three in a row sometimes with bad outcomes.”

Colorado bettors are the best?

Butler has data on hold percentage by state, and Colorado has the lowest hold percentage in the U.S. Hold percentage is the money that sportsbooks keep for every dollar wagered.

“So one can extrapolate that Colorado has the best bettors,” said Butler. “It makes sense: higher education level, really loyal fans, pretty a uent demographic.”

So when it comes to sports betting, Colorado is winning in more ways than one. is story is from CPR News, a nonprofit public broadcaster serving Colorado. Used by permission. For more, and to support Colorado Public Radio, visit cpr.org.

“You’re right. I think what’s most important to focus on is that we’re really looking at more of a lifestyle in terms of our downtowns in lieu of just an o ce building centric area. So I think if we think of it more as mixed use and really make it a live, work, play [environment] for both residents and o ce workers, I think you can have that balance much easier than what we’ve done in the past.” is story is from CPR News, a nonprofit public broadcaster serving Colorado. Used by permission. For more, and to support Colorado Public Radio, visit cpr.org.

A football betting board shows the odds of weekends-worth of games. Betting companies continue to post record revenues from sports betting in Colorado. SHUTTERSTOCK

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State of City event shares vision

Sustainability, growth, culture are highlights of plans

BY ISABEL GUZMAN ISABEL@COTLN.ORG

Gathered at the 2025 Littleton State of the City were Mayor Kyle Schlachter, City Manager Jim Becklenberg and Chief of Police Doug Stephens — plus numerous other city leaders and community members.

Schlachter opened the event by re ecting on the city’s recent achievements in nancial management and sustainability, highlighting successes from 2024 and sharing his vision for the future.

“We don’t know how the political winds may shift, but we can always put ourselves in the best positions to drive under any circumstance. at happens by being bold, by being collaborative and always striving towards that long term vision of where we want to be,” Schlachter said at the Ashley Ridge event center on May 14.  e address centered on themes of partnership, arts and culture, safety, and environmental stewardship. Becklenberg took the podium to spotlight major developments the city has undergone, including budget practices that were nationally-recognized by the Federal Government Finance Ofcers Association, the relaunching of the Littleton Leadership Academy and improved infrastructure.

He credited the passage of Littleton’s Ballot Issue 3A in 2021 — which increased the city’s sales and use tax rate from 3% to 3.75% — for enabling a dramatic expansion of neighborhood street repairs and capital improvements. In 2025 alone, the city earned nearly $2.94 million from the 3A capital fund, according to Littleton’s sales and use tax reports.

“ is revenue has enabled us to do more than quadruple the work we’re doing on our neighborhood streets, and we’re continuing to ramp up that work more and more as we go into the future,” Becklenberg said.

Historic preservation was another focus, with Becklenberg

Man gets 14

announcing updates to surveys of mid-century architecture to ensure protective policies are in place.

“High quality gardens in Littleton also means historic preservation, as this year we’re updating our surveys of mid-century architecture so that we can ensure that we have policies in place to protect it,” he said.

Looking ahead, Schlachter pointed to Littleton’s most recent strategic plan, Horizon 2027, which outlines Littleton’s goals for the next two-to-three years. e strategic plan was in uenced by the annual budget cycle and the 2019 Envision Littleton Comprehensive Plan, a 20-year plan that guides future developments, redevelopments and other community enhancements.

According to Horizon 2027, the strategic plan envisions that “in 2040, Littleton will be de ned as a vibrant community with a rich culture; a sustainable community with natural beauty; a robust and resilient economy; a safe community; providing high quality governance.”

Sustainability was also featured prominently in the address. Schlachter emphasized the importance of partnerships with experts and neighboring cities, as

years

Parker in 2023.

collection to inform climate action.

“But there’s a second key component here, which is information gathering (which is) crucial to reduce pollution and to understand what our greenhouse gas emissions are like. We have to be data-driven in that e ort,” he said.

In September 2024, the City of Littleton joined forces with the City of Englewood and later, the City of Sheridan, to launch the Sustainable Business Partnership, a free program for local businesses and nonpro ts that supports and rewards sustainability e orts. e program is an extension of Colorado Green Business Network.

In addition to incentivizing local businesses to adopt sustainable policies and practices, the Environmental Stewardship Board provided city council with recommendations to address climate change last June. Among the suggestions are to make all city garden equipment and eet vehicles electric, and to conduct an audit of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions, which Littleton’s Sustainability Coordinator, Laura Rosenbaum, has been working on over the past few months.

“I’m excited to partner with the

ties team and the overall public works to better understand how we can move towards electri cation of our vehicles and reduce our carbon emissions, not only for Littleton, but for the region and the state as a whole,” Rosenbaum said.

e rise of the arts and culture scene of Littleton was another feature of the address. Robert Michael Sanders, executive director of the Town Hall Arts Center, said he’s noticed more people looking for artists and art education in Littleton.

“We’ve done some great things this past year with collaboration. We worked with Voices West and Littleton Symphony Orchestra to put on a magni cent production of ‘ e Hunchback of Notre Dame’ … we had over 100 people on that stage,” he said.

To conclude the address, four local businesses were recognized by the Littleton Business Chamber:

• New Building: Colorado Veterinary Special Group

• Repurposed Building: Genesis of Littleton

• Business of the Year: e Nokbox

• Outstanding Business Community Leader: McDonald Automotive Group

for fatal hit-and-run in Parker

CORRECTIONS

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Media asks readers to make us aware of mistakes we may have made.

Email sgilbert@coloradocommunitymedia.com if you notice a possible error you would like us to take a look at.

Tory Conyers, 46, was convicted of vehicular homicide, other charges

BY HALEY LENA HLENA@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

An Aurora resident has been sentenced to 14 years in the Department of Corrections following a conviction of vehicular homicide and eeing the scene, charges that stem from an incident in

In late February, a jury found Tory Conyers, 46, guilty of vehicular homicide, hit-and-run causing death, reckless driving, eluding law enforcement and theft. During Conyers’ sentencing hearing on May 12, Douglas County District Court Judge Elizabeth Volz gave Conyer 600 days of credit for time served.

Around 8 p.m. on Aug. 21, 2023, Parker police responded to a theft call at a local Walmart in which Conyers was seen on surveillance video stealing a cart full of mer-

chandise before driving o in a vehicle.

O cers attempted to stop the vehicle near Parker Road and Plaza Drive but Conyers did not stop. For safety reasons, o cers called o the pursuit when another call came in for a pedestrian that was struck by a vehicle.

Conyers had run a red light and struck 51-year-old Jossy Pinto who was crossing the designated crosswalk at Parker Road and Lincoln Avenue. Pinto died at a local hospital following life-saving measures.

With the assistance of the Aurora SWAT Team, Conyers was later taken into custody.

Conyers had told the judge at his May 12 court appearance that he did not see Pinto and argued that he wanted to tell the person he borrowed the vehicle from about the incident before he turned himself in, adding that he knew he would be caught.

“I never denied driving that vehicle,” Conyers said during his May 12 sentencing hearing. He added that he does not blame anyone else for his actions.

Genesis of Littleton won the repurposed building award by the Littleton Business Chamber on May 14.

PHOTO BY ISABEL GUZMAN

Lime rolls a new Glider onto Denver

streets

Looks like a bike, rides like a scooter

BY ANDREW KENNEY DENVERITE

What do you call something that looks like a bike but rides like a scooter? A scicycle? A booter?

Whatever you want to call it, its o cial name is the LimeGlider, and it’s the latest rentable micromobility vehicle to hit Denver’s streets.

Lime, the dockless vehicle giant, deployed about 250 of its newest wheeled contraptions on May 14. e LimeGlider looks like a bike, with two spoked wheels and a seat.

But instead of pedals, it has a throttle, and it’s smaller than the company’s ebikes.

“It sort of behaves like a seated scooter, but I think for use cases, it’s more similar to a bicycle, right?” said Zach Williams, senior director of government relations for Lime in Colorado.

An ‘inclusive vehicle’

e company is positioning them as its “most inclusive vehicle to date.” Its wheels are signi cantly larger than a scooter’s, which makes it better able to handle curbs and obstacles. At the same time, its lower pro le could make it easier to mount and less intimidating than the company’s e-bikes, Williams said. e Glider was in development for several years, with the design process focused in large part on women and older riders, who may nd it uncomfortable to

swing their legs onto a taller bike, Williams said.

“It’s a lower vehicle with a much lower center of gravity. Your feet on the running boards are pretty close to the ground, and so it feels really stable, really easy to plant your feet on the ground. I think it’ll be really attractive for more novice riders, many of whom gravitate to standing

scooters,” Williams said. e vehicle is designed for longer trips across town, while a scooter is most useful for traveling a mile or so, Williams said. Lime deployed the vehicles in small tests last year. One early reviewer called them a “sit-down scooter,” which is, sadly, probably better than “booter.” (Ed. note: Could not disagree more.) e city

will classify the new vehicle as a bike, but it will track it as a distinct category.

A writer for Wired said they “felt nimbler and easier to maneuver” compared to Lime’s bikes. Another reviewer was impressed “by the feeling of stability.”

e Gliders also have a sizable basket, a seat cushion and a place to mount a phone. Lime currently operates about 5,000 vehicles around the city, of which 4,500 are scooters and the remainder are bikes, according to the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure.

e Gliders made their full debut in Seattle several days ago, with Denver’s eet close behind. ey’ll show up rst in the central city, but riders can take them anywhere in the local service area.

e vehicles will soon appear in the Lime app as a third option alongside e-bikes

e rollout comes as city leaders are considering new regulations for the city’s dockless mobility eets, which are run by

“I wouldn’t say the political situation necessarily [was a motivating factor], but I do think it is a signal of how committed we are to Denver,” Williams said.

He added that Lime chose Denver for the early deployment because it is one of the company’s strongest markets.

e Glider was developed by Lime and is fairly distinct from the rest of the scooter market, though it does resemble some seated cooters like the Veo Cosmo. is story is from Denverite, a Denver news site. Used by permission. For more, and to support Denverite, visit denverite. com.

A woman rides a LimeGlider. COURTESY OF LIME

BY JANE REUTER JREUTER@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

When Comedy Works owner Wende Curtis’ attorney rst took her to the future site of her second club in Greenwood Village’s Landmark complex, she was lost.

“My tiny world is downtown and Cherry Creek,” she said. “I had to follow him out there. I didn’t know where the hell I was.But I knew I wanted to expand in that direction. I needed to open another club; I felt like the city could handle it. And if I was going to go to a suburb, my gut instinct was that I’d go to where there was more money per household.”

Zip code scanners Curtis got for her downtown location in 2004 had already given her the data to back the decision up. It showed a lot of the downtown club’s customers were driving in from the suburbs. But she suspected there were potentially many more.

“We were very busy downtown, and I felt I was missing a part of the population

Comedy boom

Curtis and other metro-area comedy venues are riding a nationwide wave.

Stand-up comedy ticket sales have tripled over the last decade, and many credit the internet and social media — and speci cally Net ix — for transforming the industry.

According to Bloomberg, Net ix started funding new stand-up comedy in 2013, with specials from Mike Birbiglia, Iliza Shlesinger and Aziz Ansari.

“ e company saw stand-up as an underexploited genre, a low-cost way to get hours of programming and some famous names on the platform,” according to the Bloomberg article.

Net ix quickly scaled the business from a handful of specials annually to dozens, paying high dollars for big names like Jerry Seinfeld and Kevin Hart.

Competing services rst viewed Net ix’s investment in comedy as irrational, but comedians didn’t. And while other streaming services have since gotten on board, Net ix remains the king of comedy.

in the Denver metro area,” she said. “If you live in Castle Pines and you’re driving downtown ve days a week, are you going to drive down there again on Saturday?”

While the downtown Comedy Works is dark and intimate, Curtis designed the Greenwood Village site very di erently — with not only more seating capacity but more space overall. e nished 21,000-square-foot Comedy Works South that opened in October 2008 includes a restaurant and martini bar. ese features are not available at the original site. Also unlike downtown, parking is free and easy to nd.

While those added amenities attract customers, they also re ect what Curtis felt suburban customers wanted.

“I knew when I built something in the suburbs I was going to have to make it roomier,” she said. “Downtown is tight. People move to the suburbs to have space, and I think they expect it.”

Comedy Works South is a Landmark anchor that’s stood the test of time, with numbers that consistently exceed Curtis’ expectations and reinforce her initial instincts that suburban residents would support a comedy venue.

e exposure it gave comedians brought their talents to a wider audience, and the appreciation for comedy spun into the real world. Ticket sales for live comedy shows topped $900 million in 2023.

Why is comedy so popular? It’s not just because it’s funny.

Comedians use humor to speak truth to power while giving audiences a bit of relief from the absurdities and emotions of everyday life.

“ eir craft allows them to push boundaries and provoke deeper thought through laughter, sparking joy, conversations and, sometimes, fresh perspectives,” according to an article in Medium.

It also has health bene ts. Laughter releases chemicals in our bodies and brains that instantly relieve stress and boost mood. And it helps bring people together, crossing political, cultural and societal barriers in a way few other things can.

For all those reasons, Comedy Works is just one comedy business venturing beyond the city limits.

Rotating Tap

Denver comedian Steve Vanderploeg is now a regular performer at Comedy Works. But a few years ago, that wasn’t the case. So he started his own suburban comedy business.

“Within a few years, it started winning local awards,” Vanderploeg said. “It turns out breweries are very good locations for comedy because they need entertainment just as much as other venues.”

He’s since expanded to breweries throughout the metro area, including Arvada, Brighton, Lakewood and Littleton. Most of the shows are free, as many brewery owners wanted to keep their regulars happy. But it also makes comedy fans happy. Many can’t a ord or don’t want to pay for tickets, food and drinks — a two-item food or beverage minimum is required at Comedy Works. And scattering shows at breweries in neighborhoods throughout the area makes seeing a show logistically easier.

“One thing that makes us di erent is we actually bring comedy to these deeper pockets of the ‘burbs,” Vanderploeg said. “A lot of times people don’t want to go downtown. Bringing the comedy to them has helped grow the love for comedy around Denver.”

“I thought Comedy Works was never going to pass me — which means you get paid to work on the weekends,” he said. “I thought I’d never get that opportunity, so I needed to build opportunities for myself.”

Vanderploeg suspected breweries could be good venues for stand-up comedy. Not everyone agreed.    “I had a couple comedians telling me breweries were terrible locations for comedy shows,” he said. But like Curtis, Vanderploeg followed his instincts, launching Rotating Tap Comedy in spring 2019. He started at south metro Denver’s Chain Reaction Brewing — the owners were his childhood hockey buddies.

A Rotating Taps venue is also a good place for new comedians to test their stand-up chops. Vanderploeg typically books a mix of newer and more experienced comedians together.

“ ese are mostly locals I work with — it’s a big network,” he said. “We like to give opportunities to those coming up because that’s why I started it — to give myself opportunities. But in order to keep it sustainable, we also have to bring in seasoned pros that

e newest metro-area entertainment venue is part comedy club, part variety show theater and part arcade. Husband-and-wife team Brandon Riks and Stacey Bell opened Gnarly’s in late December, taking over the former Miners Alley Playhouse site in down-

COMEDY

Riks and Bell believe their business lls a gap in the popular tourist town.

“ ere’s a lot of stu to do in Golden, but we feel it’s geared toward an older crowd,” Riks said. “ ey’ve got the playhouse, where you can catch an awesome musical or play, and the Bu alo Rose, plus lots of good places to eat and drink. But there’s not really a good hangout place for families or college kids, for comedy or some other type of adult-themed variety show.”

e couple has some history to back their theory up. While they’re new to comedy, Riks and Bell are experienced in business, running Lakewood’s Gnarly Toybox vintage toy store since 2018.

Riks and Bell carried that theme to Gnarly’s in Golden, including a vintage toy museum with everything from He-Man to Ninja Turtles to Garbage Pail Kids. Harkening back to simpler times, all Gnarly’s arcade games are set to free play.

“As long as you have a ticket to the show or a wrist band for the arcade, games are set on free play,” Riks said.

Because the theater only holds about 100 people, Riks and Bell shifted their plans from doing comedy full time.

“We know quite a few comics, and we’d always talked about how Golden would do really well with a comedy club because there’s nothing anywhere near,” Riks said. “But with 100 seats, our original thoughts of pulling famous comedians into the theater seemed a little bit unreachable. We’d have to charge too much for the tickets to pay them.

“So the plan is to become someplace cool enough and well known enough that when other comics are in town, they want to do a set at Gnarly’s,” he said. “And also to maximize the abilities of the space. We landed on making it a variety show theater on top of a comedy club.”

While most of Gnarly’s comedians will focus on adult content, the variety shows are designed to be family

friendly, featuring ventriloquists, magicians and jugglers. Riks plans to o er six-to-eight half-hour variety shows daily. Gnarly’s has a liquor license but for its day shows, it’ll accent an old-school soda bar and exotic snack bodega.

In Riks’ vision, it will o er something for everyone.

“Dad can sit down and have a beer, let the kids run in the arcade and catch a quick juggling show,” he said. Riks and Bell aim to o er three-to-four comedy shows a week and keep the price friendly, too. He expects it will generally be $20 a ticket.

What If Theatre

found it a little calculated. I was trying really hard to nd the points within my act to gauge what would get maximum laughter from the audience. With improv, you are feeling out the audience and your teammates for what works best with the people who are in this space, at this time. And it will never be repeated.”

Carletti sees a di erence in demographics in suburban audiences. People in their 20s and 30s tend to frequent downtown venues.

Well-rehearsed stand-up comedy is one way to get laughs. But in Lakewood, Joy Carletti and Colin Iago McCarthy are placing their bets on improv. e two opened What If eatre in October 2023, producing six inhouse shows a year and bringing in improv troupes from throughout the Front Range.

“I feel like our audiences skew both older and younger. I see people who live here coming to see the shows, and I’m very grateful for that,” she said. “I think the arts should be accessible to people – you should have art where you are. Asking people to come to the city is not for everyone. So let’s meet people where they are.”  Evergreen also has an improv group. e Evergreen Players Improv Comedy troupe, known as EPiC, performs twice each year at the Center Stage eater. It also offers classes and ensemble groups for all experience levels and ages.

e business taps into not only their love of improv, but for each other. e two met while doing improv in San Francisco, returning to McCarthy’s home town of Lakewood to eventually open the theater.

ey follow a form of improv called the Harold, a longform improvised format that emphasizes patterns, themes and group discoveries instead of a traditional plot or story. So while their shows are designed to be funny, they’re carefully constructed to include much more than just humor.

e house ensemble, for instance, goes by the name Streaky Bacon — inspired by a Charles Dickens quote.

“It basically says good plays should have comedy and drama in as equal layers as in good, streaky bacon,” Carletti said. “We believe yes, we’re creating comedy, but there should be some drama and vulnerability because that makes the comedy brighter.”

e shows typically revolve around familiar themes, including “Law and Order,” or a version of “Vacation.”

Another show featured a teenager who saves the world.

“A suburban audience that might not have seen an improv show doesn’t know what they’re going to get,” Carletti said. “We feel thematic or genre shows tend to hook a suburban audience more.”

Hooking suburbanites on improv is exactly what the couple hopes to do. She believes it o ers a very di erent experience than stand-up.

“I wanted a place where folks who were more of a theater audience could see improv and feel like it was accessible to them,” Carletti said. “Improv is collaborative. It is about listening and teamwork. It allows people to tell their own stories and it’s very human.”

While Carletti appreciates stand-up comedy, she sees improv as a di erent comedic art form — one that requires coordination with fellow actors and the audience.

“I’ve done stand-up. at’s one person alone on a stage. My own experience is it was a little isolating, and I

Comedy in Denver metro

Whether it’s stand-up or improv, all four business owners agree that Denver and its suburbs are among the top places to see comedy — or to be a comedian.

Curtis believes decades of bringing top-notch comedians to the city has made metro-area residents a sophisticated comedy audience.

“Comedy Works is the Red Rocks of comedy in the country,” she said. “I have leverage even with the bigger acts because it’s Comedy Works. e reputation gives me clout.We’ve developed people that like stand-up comedy. e Denver crowds are smart. You give them smart comedy and they respond. It’s turned into a great place for comedy and comedians.”

Vanderploeg agreed, saying the many stages that offer chances for new and more seasoned comedians to practice their material has improved the quality of local comedy for everyone.

“Denver is one of the best comedy scenes in the country,” Vanderploeg said. “Denver has shows most nights of the week, so there are opportunities for comedians to get up and develop, practice. Just by sheer stage time, we blow pretty much every other city out of the water. It’s kind of in the culture here. ere’s something about Denver that loves standup.”

Beyond developing the comedy business, Carletti sees laughter as not an option, but a necessity for individuals and our modern world.

“It’s so important to have small theaters and small comedy venues, not just in Denver but everywhere,” Carletti said. “ ere’s something about being in a room with a lot of people laughing and experiencing it live, whether it’s improv, stand-up or whatever. Live theater is phenomenal. And the need to laugh right now is so

Comedian Steve Gillespie entertains the crowd at Stranahan’s Distillery as part of Rotating Tap Comedy. SPAWOLOGY PRODUCTIONS

Comedian George Lopez on stage at Comedy Works South in Greenwood Village. COURTESY OF COMEDY WORKS

FROM PAGE 18

Gnarly’s co-owner Brandon Riks stands in front of the bar at the comedy/variety show venue he and his wife Stacey Bell launched recently in downtown Golden. COURTESY OF GNARLY’S

Get ‘On Your Feet’ at Littleton’s Town Hall Arts Center

BY CLARKE READER

e music made by Gloria and Emilio Estefan during their prime is some of the most popular music of its time, and still holds a place of love for many fans. Not only were they massive successes, but they introduced the world to Latin rhythms and culture.

ere simply wouldn’t be the enormous success of artists like Shakira, Maluma and Bad Bunny without them.

e story of the Estefans is coming to the stage as “On Your Feet!” at Littleton’s Town Hall Arts Center, 2450 Main St., from Friday, May 23 through Sunday, June 22. Most performances are at 7:30 p.m. ursday through Saturday, and 2 p.m.

on Sunday. ere will be a special fundraiser performance for the Denver Actors Fund on Monday, June 9. One hundered percent of the money raised during that performance will go to the fund.

“As a Latina and a person who did grow up hearing Gloria Estefan’s music, this show and story meant a lot to me, because it hits so close to home,” wrote Iliana Lucero Barron, assistant director of the production, in an email interview. “I connect with the cultural aspect, I connect to the familial dynamic, to the dynamic of being an artist, and of course, the joy and celebration of the music and impact it had on the music industry.”

With a book written by Alexander Dinelaris Jr. and score built around the Estefan’s music, the show follows the arc of

Gloria and Emilio’s careers, from their beginnings in the Little Havana neighborhood of Miami and as members of the Miami Sound Machine, to Gloria’s triumphant return to the stage in 1991. Along the way, the pair encounter plenty of challenges and joys as they navigate the music world.

Taking on the role of Gloria is Andrea Camacho, and she said she immersed herself in several di erent facets of history to get the character right.

“My approach to her has been studying a lot of her history, Cuban history and the American history of the time she grew up in. I want to be as authentic as I can be, and with all of those factors, I feel as I am able to nd her in my own life,” Camacho wrote in an email interview. “As a Ven-

ezuelan, I am proud of our abilities as Latines to go above and beyond, to nd a better life for the people around us and to chase our dreams.”

Music and dance were a huge part of the Estefans’ lives, and both art forms are among the highlights of the show. To get the dancing right, choreographer Chelley Canales tapped into previous performances from concerts and videos.

“I crafted these numbers by using a blend of resources, most prominently the source material,” Canales wrote in an email interview. “I grew up loving Gloria and dancing to her videos, and it was so fun these past few months to rewatch them and view concert footage with the

Andrea Camacho

Chelley Canales

lliana Lucero Barron

Matt Zambrano

Thu 5/29

Neil Z @ Carillon at Belleview Station @ 3pm Carillon at Belleview Station, 4855 Niagara St, Denver

Tony Medina Music: The Blues Jam at The Alley hosted by Tony Medina @ 5pm The Alley, 2420 W Main St, Littleton

AGON @ 5pm

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, 2907 Huron St, Denver

Eric Golden @ 6pm

Toley’s on the Creek, 16728 E Smoky Hill Rd Suite 11C, Centennial

Big Sad 1900 @ 6pm Marquis, Denver

Keith Hicks @ 8pm

Appaloosa Grill, 535 16th St, Denver

Denco @ 9pm Larimer Beer Hall, 2012 Larimer St, Denver

Fri 5/30

MARO @ 7pm Bluebird Theater, 3317 E Colfax Av, Denver

The Losers Club @ 7pm Globe Hall, 4483 Logan St, Denver

Sat 5/31

Caffeine and Chrome – Classic Cars and Coffee at Gateway Classic Cars of Denver @ 8am

Tony Medina Music: The Alley Presents "Waiting For A Name" (New band with Tony Medina) @ 7pm

The Alley, 2420 W Main St, Littleton

Nevan Castañeda: Golden Goose Car Show - Nevan as ELVIS @ 12:30pm Wild Goose Saloon, Parker

Mon 6/02

Red Rock Vixens @ Qs Pub and Grille (Night 2) @ 7pm

Gateway Classic Cars of Denver, 14150 Grasslands Drive, Englewood. market ing@gatewayclassiccars.com, 618271-3000

¡Viva México! A Dance Spectacular @ 6:30pm

Ellie Caulkins Opera House, Speer Boulevard and Arapahoe Street, Den‐ver

��s Pub and Grill, 10133 W Chat�eld Ave, Littleton

Sun 6/01

Adam Bodine @ 9:30am Dazzle Denver, 1080 14th Street, Denver

2TheXtreme @ 10am / $19.95

Air & Space Museum, 7711 East Acad‐emy Boulevard, Denver. info@wingsmu seum.org

Kid Astronaut + The Nebula @ Skyline Beer Garden @ 10am Skyline Beer Garden, 1601 Arapahoe St, Denver

Animation Basics @ 8am / $189 Jun 2nd - Jun 6th

Valor Center, 3775 Grace Blvd, Orches‐tra Room, Highlands Ranch. 303-4713000

DJ Rockstar Aaron @ 6pm

The Angry Clover, 15350 E Smoky Hill Rd, Au‐rora Knolls

Tue 6/03

Minsk @ 5:30pm Marquis Theater, 2009 Larimer St, Denver

Ryan Bingham and The Texas Gentlemen @ 7pm

Red Rocks Amphitheatre, 18300 West Alameda Parkway, Morrison

Rocco @ 5:30pm Gothic Theatre, 3263 S Broadway, En‐glewood

Wed 6/04

Mark May @ 3:30pm Sonesta Denver Downtown, 1450 Glenarm Pl, Denver

Thievery Corporation @ 5:30pm Red Rocks Amphitheatre, 18300 West Alameda Parkway, Morrison

Stephen Brooks @ 6pm Dazzle Denver, 1080 14th Street, Denver drouth @ 6pm Hi-Dive, 7 S Broadway, Denver

Thu 6/05

Cousin Curtiss @ 6pm

Levitt Pavilion Denver, 1380 W Florida Ave, Denver

MoonShroom @ Velvet Banjo @ 7pm Velvet Banjo, 741 E Colfax Ave, Denver Barrington Levy w/ Tomorrows Bad Seeds @ 7pm Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom, Denver

Winners and losers in school finance bill

Shift to weighted model has wide range of e ects on districts in metro area

cate at least $10 billion for all districts and institute charter schools combined. is gure will be updated midyear based on actual enrollment, assessed valuations and local tax revenue. e nal bill also caps state construction grants at $150 million to free up additional operational funding.

Even with these adjustments, school funding will increase statewide next year, although some districts with shrinking enrollment will see no additional money beyond a “hold harmless” guarantee — a provision that ensures districts receive at least as much funding as the previous year, even if their enrollment declines.

A new revenue stream

As part of a late-session amendment to the School Finance Act, lawmakers also created the Kids Matter Fund, a dedicated account that will receive a small percentage of state income tax revenue

beginning in the 2026-27 scal year. While it won’t immediately change funding levels, the fund is expected to support total program costs through 2030, then shift toward base and categorical funding. at long-term infusion could eventually help districts with high-cost student needs, though its exact impact remains to be seen.

Sen. Chris Kolker, who represents Arapahoe and Je erson counties, said the idea came from a shared concern that lawmakers could one day reverse course and divert money away from K-12 education. By designating 0.065% of state income tax into a trust beginning in the 2026-27 scal year, the amendment ensures a baseline of protected funding for public schools.

“Let’s put a priority that we’re funding education,” Kolker said. “Granted, it may not be up to the adequacy amounts by those studies, but it’s a start, based on the formula.”

How it will roll out

When the legislature passed a new school nance formula in the spring of 2024, it promised that no district would lose funding immediately. at promise held for the 2024-25 school year:

• Every district was guaranteed at least as much total program funding as the previous year.

• A “hold harmless” provision ensured that even districts with enrollment declines received at least the same amount of funding they got for 2023-24.

However, the shift toward the new funding formula o cially begins in the 202526 school year. is year, districts’ funding will be calculated based on the greater of

• What the district received in 2024-25 (the hold harmless oor), or

• A phased-in amount that moves 15% closer to what the new, weighted formula

By 2027-28, the transition will accelerate, and by 2031-32, Colorado plans to fully fund schools using the new formula.

How several major metro districts are

A look at ve of Colorado’s largest districts shows how uneven the impact will be over time, according to the scal note attached to House Bill 25-1320 and data from the Colorado Department of Educa-

Adams 12 Five Star Schools: RelaFor the 2024-25 school year, Adams 12 received a slight funding increase over the 2023-24 school year. However, by 2025-26, the district is projected to face a slight decrease of approximately 1.6%. Ongoing enrollment declines and fewer qualifying high-needs students are under the new weighted formula, contrib-

Adams County School District 14: Adams 14 saw at funding for 2024-25 compared to the previous year. For 2025-26, projections show a minimal decrease of about 0.6%. Despite longterm enrollment loss, the district’s high concentration of at-risk and multilingual learners helps stabilize funding levels.

• Cherry Creek Schools: Solid inCherry Creek Schools received a solid funding increase in 2024-25 and is projected to receive an even larger one in 2025-26, with a projected gain of 7.8%. Stable enrollment and a growing population of at-risk and multilingual learners align well with the new funding priorities, placing Cherry Creek in a strong nancial position. While its enrollment has remained stable, Cherry Creek’s at-risk and multilingual student populations have grown. at demographic shift aligns with the new weighted funding priorities, resulting in a projected 7.8% increase in funding from 2024-25 to 2025-26.

• Douglas County School District: Relatively at. Douglas County saw a modest increase in 2024-25 and is projected for a at to slight increase of about 0.8% in 2025-26. While enrollment is declining, strong local property wealth and demographic balancing help the district maintain relative stability under the phased-in new formula.

Colorado Education Association Vice President Liz Waddick holds up a sign at a school funding rally at the Colorado Capitol on Thurs., March 20, 2025 in Denver, Colorado. PHOTO BY JASON GONZALES / CHALKBEAT

1. ACRONYMS: What phrase does the acronym URL stand for?

2. MOVIES: What is the name of the ghost that haunts the girls’ bathroom at Hogwarts (“Harry Potter” series)?

3. HISTORY: Which decisive battle ended the Revolutionary War?

4. LITERATURE: What is the pseudonym of the author Eric Arthur Blair?

5. GENERAL KNOWLEDGE: Which of the national parks is the most visited in the United States?

6. TELEVISION: Which medical series is based at Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital?

7. GEOGRAPHY: What is the capital of Denmark?

8. U.S. STATES: In which state is Glacier National Park located?

9. U.S. PRESIDENTS: Who was the rst vice president to die in o ce?

TrIVIa

10. SCIENCE: What are elements like neon, helium and radon called?

Answers

1. Uniform resource locator.

2. Moaning Myrtle.

3. e Battle of Yorktown.

4. George Orwell.

5. Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

6. “House, M.D.”

7. Copenhagen.

8. Montana.

9. George Clinton.

10. Noble gases.

(c) 2025 King Features Synd., Inc.

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SERVICE DIRECTORY

OCTOBER 17, 1962 AT RECEPTION NO. R0830030, COUNTY OF ARAPAHOE, STATE OF COLORADO.

Street Address of Property 4183 South Decatur Street, Englewood, CO 80110 NOTICE OF UNCLAIMED OVERBID FUNDS

I sold at public auction, at 10:00 A.M. on 11/6/24, at The East Hearing Room, County Administration Building, 5334 South Prince Street, Littleton, Colorado, 80120, to the highest and best bidder for cash, the real property described above. An overbid was realized from the sale and the funds must be claimed by the Obligor/Grantor(s) on the evidence of debt and/ or Deed of Trust or other persons entitled thereto within six months from the date of sale. THE STATE OF COLORADO REQUIRES US TO NOTIFY YOU THAT YOUR PROPERTY MAY BE TRANSFERRED TO THE CUSTODY OF THE STATE TREASURER IF YOU DO NOT CONTACT US BEFORE 5/6/2025 as part of the "Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act", pursuant to Colorado law.

First Publication: 4/24/25

Last Publication: 5/22/25

Name of Publication: Littleton Independent

Date: 4/14/25

Michael Westerberg, Public Trustee in and for the County of Arapahoe, State of Colorado

By: Michael Westerberg, Public Trustee

©Public Trustees' Association of Colorado Revised 9/2012

Legal Notice NO. 0314-2024

First Publication: 4/24/25

Last Publication: 5/22/25

Name of Publication: Littleton Independent NOTICE OF UNCLAIMED OVERBID FUNDS

CRS 38-38-111(2.5b)(3a,b,d)(5) PUBLIC TRUSTEE SALE NO. 0249-2024

To: Obligor/Grantor(s) on the evidence of debt and/or Deed of Trust or other person entitled. You are advised that there

NOTIFY YOU THAT YOUR PROPERTY MAY BE TRANSFERRED TO THE CUSTODY OF THE STATE TREASURER IF YOU DO NOT CONTACT US BEFORE 4/2/2025 as part of the "Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act", pursuant to Colorado law.

First Publication: 4/24/25

Last Publication: 5/22/25

Name of Publication: Littleton Independent

Date: 4/14/25

Michael Westerberg, Public Trustee in and for the County of Arapahoe, State of Colorado By: Michael Westerberg, Public Trustee ©Public Trustees' Association of Colorado Revised 9/2012

0249-2024 Exhibit A

Building 10, Unit 1031, Pinnacle at Highline, in accordance with and subject to the Declaration for Pinnacle at Highline recorded on July 17, 2001 at Reception No. B1115281 and the Condominium Map recorded on October 29, 2001 at Reception No. B1183130 in the office of the Clerk and Recorder of the County of Arapahoe, State of Colorado, together with Garage Unit G-179 and Surface Parking Unit P-148 in accordance with and subject to the Declaration for Pinnacle at Highline recorded on July 17, 2001 at Reception No. B1115281 and the Condominium Map recorded on October 29, 2001 at Reception No. B1183130 in the office of the Clerk and recorder of the County of Arapahoe, State of Colorado.

Legal Notice NO. 0249-2024

First Publication: 4/24/25

Last Publication: 5/22/25

Name of Publication: Littleton Independent

COMBINED NOTICE - PUBLICATION CRS §38-38-103 FORECLOSURE SALE NO. 0174-2025

To Whom It May Concern: This Notice is given with regard to the following described Deed of Trust:

On March 18, 2025, the undersigned Public Trustee caused the Notice of Election and Demand relating to the Deed of Trust described below to be recorded in the County of Arapahoe records.

Original Grantor(s)

Matthew M. Berry, a single person

Original Beneficiary(ies) Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. acting solely as nominee for Citywide Home Loans, LLC Current Holder of Evidence of Debt TH MSR Holdings LLC Date of Deed of Trust November 30, 2020 County of Recording Arapahoe

Recording Date of Deed of Trust December 04, 2020 Recording Information (Reception No. and/or Book/Page No.) E0169196

Original Principal Amount

$575,000.00

Outstanding Principal Balance

$560,571.99

Pursuant to CRS §38-38-101(4)(i), you are hereby notified that the covenants of the deed of trust have been violated as follows: Matthew M. Berry, a single person failed to pay principal and interest when due together with all other payments provided for in the evidence of debt secured by the deed of trust. Such failure constitutes a breach under the Note and Deed of Trust triggering the power of sale by the Public Trustee.

THE LIEN FORECLOSED MAY NOT BE A FIRST LIEN.

LOT 10, BLOCK 4, THE HIGHLANDS FIRST FILING, COUNTY OF ARAPAHOE, STATE OF COLORADO.

Purported common address: 7606 S Ogden Way, Centennial, CO 80122. THE PROPERTY DESCRIBED HEREIN IS ALL OF THE PROPERTY CURRENTLY ENCUMBERED BY THE LIEN OF THE DEED OF TRUST.

NOTICE OF SALE

The current holder of the Evidence of Debt secured by the Deed of Trust, described herein, has filed Notice of Election and Demand for sale as provided by law and in said Deed of Trust.

THEREFORE, Notice Is Hereby Given that I will at public auction, at 10:00 A.M. on Wednesday, 07/16/2025, at The East Hearing Room, County Administration Building, 5334 South Prince Street, Littleton, Colorado, 80120, sell to the highest and best bidder for cash, the said real property and all interest of the said Grantor(s), Grantor(s)' heirs and assigns therein, for the purpose of paying the indebtedness provided in said Evidence of Debt secured by the Deed of Trust, plus attorneys' fees, the expenses of sale and other items allowed by law, and will issue to the purchaser a Certificate of Purchase, all as provided by law.

First Publication: 5/22/2025

Last Publication: 6/19/2025

Name of Publication: Littleton Independent

IF THE SALE DATE IS CONTINUED TO A LATER DATE, THE DEADLINE TO FILE A

NOTICE OF INTENT TO CURE BY THOSE PARTIES ENTITLED TO CURE MAY ALSO BE EXTENDED;

DATE: 03/18/2025

Michael Westerberg, Public Trustee in and for the County of Arapahoe, State of Colorado

By: Michael Westerberg, Public Trustee

The name, address, business telephone number and bar registration number of the attorney(s) representing the legal holder of the indebtedness is:

Jessica J. Groen #40660

Sandra J. Nettleton #42411

Marcello G. Rojas #46396

Susan Hendrick #33196

Nigel G Tibbles #43177

THE SAYER LAW GROUP, P.C. 3600 South Beeler Street, Suite 330, Denver, CO 80237 (303) 353-2965

Attorney File # CO240014

The Attorney above is acting as a debt collector and is attempting to collect a debt. Any information provided may be used for that purpose.

©Public Trustees' Association of Colorado Revised 1/2015

Legal Notice NO. 0174-2025

First Publication: 5/22/2025

Last Publication: 6/19/2025

Name of Publication: Littleton Independent

City and County

Public Notice

CITY OF SHERIDAN

NOTICE OF ADOPTION OF ORDINANCE

On the 12th day of May, 2025 the City Council of the City of Sheridan, Colorado, approved on first reading the following Ordinance:

ORDINANCE NO. 10 SERIES OF 2025

AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SHERIDAN, COLORADO, REPEALING, REENACTING, AND RETITLING ARTICLE I IN GENERAL, ARTICLE II LICENSES, ARTICLE III REGULATION OF CONDUCT IN ESTABLISHMENTS SELLING

ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES, AND ARTICLE IV ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES TASTINGS OF CHAPTER 10 OF THE SHERIDAN MUNICIPAL CODE

Copies of aforesaid Ordinance are available for public inspection in the office of the City Clerk, City of Sheridan, 4101 South Federal Blvd., Sheridan, Colorado.

Legal Notice No. Arap 2564

First Publication: May 22, 2025 Last Publication: May 22, 2025 Publisher: Englewood Herald Public Notice

CITY OF SHERIDAN

NOTICE OF ADOPTION OF ORDINANCE

On the 12th day of May, 2025, the City Council of the City of Sheridan, Colorado, approved on final reading the following Ordinance:

ORDINANCE NO. 8 SERIES OF 2025

AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF SHERIDAN, COLORADO AUTHORIZING AND APPROVING A SITE LEASE AND LEASE PURCHASE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY AND BOKF, NA (SOLELY IN ITS CAPACITY AS TRUSTEE); APPROVING NOT TO EXCEED $4,000,000 PRINCIPAL AMOUNT OF CERTIFICATES OF PARTICIPATION, SERIES 2025, IN CONNECTION THEREWITH; AUTHORIZING OFFICIALS OF THE CITY TO TAKE ALL ACTION NECESSARY TO CARRY OUT THE TRANSACTIONS CONTEMPLATED HEREBY; AND RELATED MATTERS, AS AMENDED ON SECOND READING.

Amended to increase “amount not to exceed $3,500,000” to “amount not to exceed $4,000,000” in all instances.

Copies of aforesaid Ordinance are available for public inspection in the office of the City Clerk, City of Sheridan, 4101 South Federal Blvd., Sheridan, Colorado.

Legal Notice No. Arap 2562

First Publication: May 22, 2025 Last Publication: May 22, 2025

Publisher: Englewood Herald Public Notice

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that on May 13, 2025, the Board of County Commissioners for Arapahoe County adopted an ordinance, which was originally published on May 1, 2025, and which is titled:

ARAPAHOE COUNTY, COLORADO ORDINANCE NO. 2025-01

AN ORDINANCE PROHIBITING THE SALE

AND USE OF FIREWORKS WITHIN UNINCORPORATED ARAPAHOE COUNTY

Joan Lopez, Clerk to the Board

Legal Notice No. Arap 2567

First Publication: May 22, 2025

Last Publication: May 22, 2025

Publisher: Englewood Herald Littleton Independent and the Centennial Citizen

Public Notice

CITY OF SHERIDAN NOTICE OF ADOPTION OF ORDINANCE

On the 12th day of May, 2025 the City Council of the City of Sheridan, Colorado, approved on first reading the following Ordinance: ORDINANCE NO. 9 SERIES OF 2025

AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF SHERIDAN, COLORADO, AMENDING SECTION 42-8 OF THE SHERIDAN MUNICIPAL CODE REGARDING COMMUNITY JUSTICE SURCHARGE

Copies of aforesaid Ordinance are available for public inspection in the office of the City Clerk, City of Sheridan, 4101 South Federal Blvd., Sheridan, Colorado.

Legal Notice No. Arap 2563

First Publication: May 22, 2025

Last Publication: May 22, 2025

Publisher: Englewood Herald Public Notice

CITY OF LITTLETON PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE ZONING MATTER

Notice is hereby given that the following public hearing will be held by the City of Littleton at the Littleton Center, 2255 West Berry Avenue, Littleton, Colorado:

To consider several ordinances amending the text of the Unified Land Use Code (Title 10 of the City Code) to implement the 2024 State Legislation items related to accessory dwelling units (ADUs), minimum parking, landscaping on nonresidential properties, and occupancy limits. All those wishing to be heard should be present at the time and place stated.

City Council Public Hearing at 6:30 p.m. on June 3, 2025

For more information, call the Littleton Planning Division at 303-795-8076 or contact city staff at planningprojects@littletonco.gov. Further information regarding the proposed code amendments may be found on https://online.encodeplus.com/regs/littleton-co-cc/rfc.aspx?secid=3002#secid-3002.

Legal Notice No. Arap 2551 First Publication: May 22, 2025 Last Publication: May 22, 2025 Publisher: Littleton Independent Public Notice CITY OF ENGLEWOOD NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

The regular meeting of the Board of Adjustment and Appeals is scheduled for June 11, 2025 at 6:30 p.m., in the City Council Chambers, 1000 Englewood Parkway, Englewood, Colorado 80110.

Case # VAR2025-001. APPLICANT:

Hever Rodriguez. The applicant is requesting a variance to allow for an existing residential addition to encroach into the 5-foot setback in the R-1-C zone district. This a variance to Section 16-5-3, Table 5-2 of the Englewood Municipal Code.

PREMISES: 4710 S. Sherman Street

Case # VAR2025-004. APPLICANT: Angela and Wilder Wells. The applicant is requesting a variance to allow for an 8-foottall privacy fence to remain in the R-1-A zone district. This is a variance to Section 16-8-6. Table 8-6 of the Englewood Municipal Code.

PREMISES: 4983 S. Fox Street

Copies of the application are on file in the Community Development Department and may be reviewed upon request. Anyone interested in this matter may be heard at the Public Hearing by calling 303.762.2342 or emailing commdev@englewoodco.gov 24 hours prior to the public hearing for directions providing public comment virtually or in person.

By Order of the City Board of Adjustment and Appeals

Shelly Worek

Recording Secretary

Legal Notice No. Arap 2560

First Publication: May 22, 2025

Last Publication: May 22, 2025

Publisher: Englewood Herald

Bids and Settlements

Public Notice

ARAPAHOE COUNTY Invitation To Bid ITB-25-25

Arapahoe County Bid No. ITB-25-25, Arapahoe County Project C20-07, Buckley Road Median Project

Notice is hereby given that the Arapahoe County Purchasing Division will be accepting proposals to construct and modify the eastbound left turn lanes at Arapahoe Road to north-bound Olathe Street and the east-bound left turn lanes at Arapahoe Road to northbound Buckley Road.

A non-mandatory virtual pre proposal conference will be held on June 04, 2025, at 11:00 a.m., local time, via Teams. Contractors are encouraged to attend this conference to become familiar with the Specifications.

To attend the virtual pre-solicitation meeting, send the following information to Sarah Huerta, CPPB, shuerta@arapahoegov.com by 2:00PM, Tuesday, June 03, 2025:

•Contact name •Company Name •Phone Number • Email Address

All Arapahoe County solicitations can be obtained from the County’s website. The Invitation to Bid (ITB-25-25) document can be obtained by going to the Arapahoe County website www.arapahoegov.com, then go to the Finance Department, and under the Finance Department select Purchasing then go to the Quick Link for the Rocky Mountain ePurchasing website. Sealed bids (electronic submissions only) will be received and accepted online via Rocky Mountain E-Purchasing Systems (RMEPS), www.bidnetdirect.com/ colorado. until 2:00 P.M. local time on the 17th day of June 2025.

The County reserves the right to waive any or all informalities or irregularities and to reject any or all submittals.

Joan Lopez, Clerk to the Board Legal Notice No. Arap 2568

First Publication: May 22, 2025 Last Publication: May 22, 2025 Publisher: Englewood Herald Littleton Independent and the Centennial Citizen

Public Notice

NOTICE OF FINAL SETTLEMENT

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN pursuant to § 38-26-107, C.R.S., that on June 12, 2025 final settlement with Insituform Technologies, Inc. will be made by South Englewood Sanitation District No. 1 for the “2024 Capital Improvement Program Project” subject to satisfactory final inspection and acceptance of said facilities by the District. Any individual, corporation, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, limited liability company, partnership, association, or other legal entity that has furnished labor, materials, sustenance, or other supplies used or consumed by such contractor or its subcontractor, in or about the performance of the work contracted to be done or that has supplied laborers, rental machinery, tools, or equipment to the extent used in the prosecution of the work, and whose claim therefor has not been paid by the contractor or subcontractor, at any time up to and including the time of final settlement for the work contracted to be done, is required to file a verified statement of the amount due and unpaid, and an account of such claim with South Englewood Sanitation District No. 1, c/o, Darryl Farrington, Semple, Farrington, Everall &Case, PC, 1120 Lincoln Street #1308, Denver, CO 80203, on or before the date hereinabove shown. Failure on the part of any claimant to file such verified statement of claim prior to final settlement will release the District, its Board of Directors, officers, employees and agents of and from any and all liability for such claim.

s/s South Englewood Sanitation District

Legal Notice No. Arap 2550

First Publication: May 22, 2025

Last Publication: May 29, 2025 Publisher: Englewood Herald Public Notice NOTICE OF FINAL SETTLEMENT CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT (ROADWAY RIGHTSIZING MULTIMODAL IMPROVEMENTS) Project No. 24-07-07

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to Section 38-26-107,

1.

PUBLIC NOTICES

NOTICE TO CREDITORS Estate of Marilyn Bernice Hoffman, AKA Marilyn B Hoffman, AKA Marilyn Hoffman, Deceased Case Number: 2025PR30439

All persons having claims against the abovenamed estate are required to present them to the personal representative or to the District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado on or before September 15, 2025, or the claims may be forever barred.

Kimberly Raemdonck, Attorney for Personal Representative, Marietta K. Klodt 2485 W Main Street, Suite 200 Littleton, CO 80120

Legal Notice No. Arap 2521

First Publication: May 15, 2025

Last Publication: May 29, 2025

Publisher: Littleton Independent Public Notice

NOTICE TO CREDITORS Estate of PHYLLIS JOAN HARRELL, Deceased Case Number: 2025PR130

All persons having claims against the above named estate are required to present them to the personal representative or to the District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado on or before June 9, 2025, or the claims may be forever barred.

Lindsey White, Personal Representative for the Estate of Phyllis Joan Harrell Baysore & Christian Fiduciary Services.

LLC 7000 E. Belleview Ave., Suite 150, Greenwood Village, CO 80111

Legal Notice No. Arap 2547

First Publication: May 22, 2025

Last Publication: June 5, 2025

Publisher: Littleton Independent Public Notice

NOTICE TO CREDITORS Estate of Mark Christopher Valentine, aka Mark C. Valentine, aka Mark Valentine, Deceased Case Number: 2025PR30379

All persons having claims against the above named estate are required to present them to the personal representative or to the District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado on or before 09/08/2025, or the claims may be forever barred.

James McQuade

Attorney to the Personal Representative 12737 E. Euclid Drive Centennial, CO 80111

Legal Notice No. Arap 2503

First Publication: May 8, 2025

Last Publication: May 22, 2025

Publisher: Littleton Independent Public Notice

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Estate of Juliet L. Worsham, a/k/a Juliet Worsham, Deceased Case Number: 2025PR30465

forever barred.

Victoria S. Long Attorney for Co-Personal Representatives

Allyson Minerly & Jonathan Randall DANBORN, THEISSEN & DUNHAM P.C. 7400 Wadsworth Blvd., Suite 201 Arvada, Colorado 80003

Legal Notice No. Arap 2522 First Publication:

All persons having claims against the abovenamed estate are required to present them to the personal representative or to the District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado on or before September 22, 2025, or the claims may be forever barred.

Jessica Liang, Personal Representative c/o Seth M. Katz, Esq., Reg. No. 34888 KATZ, LOOK & ONORATO, P.C. 1120 Lincoln Street, Suite 1100 Denver, Colorado 80203 Attorney for Person Giving Notice

Legal Notice No. Arap 2549 First Publication: May 22, 2025 Last Publication: June 5, 2025 Publisher: Englewood Herald Public Notice

NOTICE TO CREDITORS Estate of Kristina Kathleen Colyn, Deceased Case Number: 25PR167

All persons having claims against the above named estate are required to present them to the personal representative or to the District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado on or before September 22, 2025, or the claims may be forever barred.

Steven Colyn, Personal Representative 824 Jenny LN Berthoud, CO, 80513

Legal Notice No. Arap 2546

First Publication: May 22, 2025

Last Publication: June 5, 2025

Publisher: Littleton Independent Public Notice

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Estate of Stephen Sigmund Braunstein, a/k/a Stephen Braunstein, a/k/a Steve Braunstein, Deceased Case Number: 2025PR30406

All persons having claims against the above named estate are required to present them to the personal representative or to the District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado on or before September 8, 2025, or the claims may be forever barred.

Eric Braunstein, Personal Representative

c/o M. Carl Glatstein, Esq. Glatstein & O'Brien, LLP 2696 S. Colorado Blvd., Suite 350

Denver, Colorado 80222

Legal Notice No. Arap 2510

First Publication: May 8, 2025

Last Publication: May 22, 2025

Publisher: Littleton Independent Public Notice

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Estate of JONATHAN ANDREW SIGLER, aka JONATHAN A. SIGLER, aka JONATHAN SIGLER, Deceased Case Number: 2025PR030372

All persons having claims against the above named estate are required to present them to the personal representative or to the District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado on or before September 15, 2025, or the claims may be forever barred.

Julius A. Sigler, Jr., Personal Representative c/o Nicole Andrzejewski 5347 S. Valentia Way, Ste. 335 Greenwood Village, CO 80111

Legal Notice No. Arap 2520

First Publication: May 15, 2025

Last Publication: May 29, 2025

Publisher: Littleton Independent Public Notice

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Estate of JENNIFER LEE ROBERTSON, a/k/a JENNNIFER L. ROBERTSON, a/k/a JENNIFER ROBERTSON, Deceased

Case Number: 2025PR30447

All persons having claims against the above named estate are required to present them to the personal representative or to District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado on or before September 15, 2025, or the claims may be forever barred.

Jeanne Robertson Personal Representative 7575 South Telluride Court Centennial, Colorado 80016

Legal Notice No. Arap 2517

First Publication: May 15, 2025 Last Publication: May 29, 2025

Publisher: Littleton Independent Public Notice

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Estate of Blanche M. Lane, aka Blanche Marie Lane, aka Blanche Lane, Blanche M. Neal, aka Blanche Marie Neal, aka Blanche Neal, Deceased

Case Number: 2025PR30434

All persons having claims against the abovenamed estate are required to present them to the personal representative or to the District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado on or before September 15, 2025, or the claims may be forever barred.

Pamela Annette Hawkins and Gaelen Wayne Lane, Co-Personal Representatives c/o Seth M. Katz, Esq., Reg. No. 34888 KATZ, LOOK & ONORATO, P.C. 1120 Lincoln Street, Suite 1100 Denver, Colorado 80203

Legal Notice No. Arap 2519

First Publication: May 15, 2025

Last Publication: May 29, 2025

Publisher: Englewood Herald

Public Notice

NOTICE OF FINAL SETTLEMENT

BID PACKAGE #19 Centennial Stadium

(Long Jump Removal and Replace) GC Services

Notice is hereby given that Littleton Public Schools in the county of Arapahoe will on June 17, 2025 pay retainage and make final settlement with James R. Howell & Co., Inc. for BID PACKAGE #19 – Centennial Stadium (Long Jump Removal and Replace) GC Services. Any person, co-partnership, association of persons, company or corporation that has furnished labor, material, team hire, sustenance, provisions, provender or other supplies used or consumed by the contractor identified above or any subcontractor thereof in or about the performance of the work contracted to be done or that has supplied rental machinery, tools, or equipment to the extent used in the prosecution of the work whose claim therefore has not been paid, by the contractor or subcontractor, must file a verified statement of the amount due and unpaid on account of such claim, which statement must be filed on June 17, 2025. Claims must be submitted to Board of Education to Littleton Public Schools at the school district’s Property Management Department, 5776 S. Crocker Street, Littleton, CO. 80120 on June 17, 2025 Final Settlement will be made and verified claims must be timely filed with Littleton Public Schools. Failure on the part of the claimant to file such statement prior to or on the established date will relieve the School District from any and all liability for such claim, Dated: May 14, 2025

Legal Notice No. Arap 2536

First Publication: May 22, 2025

Last Publication: June 5, 2025

Publisher: Littleton Independent Not consecutive publications Public Notice

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Estate of Carl W. Lane, aka Carl Wayne Lane, aka Carl Lane, aka Wayne Lane, Deceased Case Number: 2025PR30435

All persons having claims against the abovenamed estate are required to present them to the personal representative or to the District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado on or before September 15, 2025, or the claims may

be forever barred.

Pamela Annette Hawkins and Gaelen Wayne Lane, Co-Personal Representatives c/o Seth M. Katz, Esq., Reg. No. 34888 KATZ, LOOK & ONORATO, P.C. 1120 Lincoln Street, Suite 1100 Denver, Colorado 80203

Legal Notice No. Arap 2518

First Publication: May 15, 2025

Last Publication: May 29, 2025

Publisher: Englewood Herald Public Notice

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Estate of CHARLOTTE EVE KINDT, a/k/a CHARLOTTE E. KINDT, and a/k/a CHARLOTTE KINDT, Deceased Case Number: 2025 PR 30387

All persons having claims against the abovenamed estate are required to present them to the Personal Representative, or to the Arapahoe County Justice Center of the County of Arapahoe, Colorado on or before September 15, 2025, or the claims may be forever barred.

Personal Representative: Kurt H. Kindt c/o Christopher M. Haws Taft Stettinius & Hollister L.L.P. 675 Fifteenth Street, Ste. 2300 Denver, Colorado 80202

Legal Notice No. Arap 2523

First Publication: May 15, 2025

Last Publication: May 29, 2025

Publisher: Littleton Independent Public Notice

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Estate of Bruce E. Patrick, a/k/a Bruce Edward Patrick, Deceased Case Number: 2025PR30451

All persons having claims against the above named estate are required to present them to the personal representative or to District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado on or before September 22, 2025, or the claims may be forever barred.

Barbara B. Patrick

Personal Representative

c/o Keith L. Davis, Esq. Davis Schilken, PC 4582 S. Ulster St. Ste. #103 Denver, CO 80237

Legal Notice No. Arap 2558

First Publication: May 22, 2025

Last Publication: June 5, 2025

Publisher: Littleton Independent Public Notice

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Estate of Randall Strong Stites, a/k/a Randall S. Stites, a/k/a Randall Stites, a/k/a Randy Stites, Deceased Case Number: 2025PR030371

All persons having claims against the above named estate are required to present them to the personal representative or to the District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado, on or before 09/08/2025 or the claims may be forever barred.

Leslie A. Frost

Attorney to the Personal Representative 6898 S. University Blvd. Ste. 110 Centennial, CO 80122

Legal Notice No. Arap 2512

First Publication: May 8, 2025

Last Publication: May 22, 2025

Publisher: Littleton Independent

Name Changes

PUBLIC NOTICE

Public Notice of Petition for Change of Name

Public notice is given on April 17, 2025, that a Petition for a Change of Name of an adult has been filed with the Arapahoe County Court.

The petition requests that the name of Skyler Mia Elena Avila be changed to Skyler Mia Elena Guerrero Case No.: 2025C100320

By: Ivan Marchena

Clerk of Court / Deputy Clerk

Legal Notice No. Arap 2500

First Publication: May 8, 2025

Last Publication: May 22, 2025

Publisher: Littleton Independent PUBLIC NOTICE

Public Notice of Petition for Change of Name

Public notice is given on April 28, 2025, that a Petition for a Change of Name of an adult has been filed with the Arapahoe County Court.

The petition requests that the name of Matthew Hunter Balthazor be changed to Matthew Hunter Lyon Case No.: 25C100326

Ingemansen

By: Sarah

Clerk of Court / Deputy Clerk

Legal Notice No. Arap 2548

First Publication: May 22, 2025

Last Publication: June 5, 2025

Publisher: Littleton Independent Public Notice

PUBLIC NOTICE OF PETITION FOR CHANGE OF NAME

Public Notice is given on 5/6/2025 that a Petition for a Change of Name of an Adult has been filed with the Arapahoe County District Court.

The Petition requests that the name of KIERSTEN ELYSE MINER be changed to KIERSTEN ELYSE LIZARDO Case Number: 25CV30989

By: Clerk of Court/Deputy Clerk

Legal Notice No. Arap 2529

First Publication: May 15, 2025

Last Publication: May 29, 2025

Publisher: Littleton Independent PUBLIC NOTICE

Public Notice of Petition for Change of Name

Public notice is given on April 21, 2025, that a Petition for a Change of Name of an adult has been filed with the Arapahoe County Court.

The petition requests that the name of Angelo Enrique Rios be changed to Adam Luxson Lenaya Case No.: 25C100349

Clerk of Court / Deputy Clerk

Legal Notice No. Arap 2527

First Publication: May 15, 2025

Last Publication: May 29, 2025

Publisher: Littleton Independent

Public Notice

Public Notice of Petition for Change of Name

Public notice is given on May 2, 2025, that a Petition for a Change of Name of an adult has been filed with the Arapahoe County Court.

The petition requests that the name of Ashley Marie Stock be changed to Ashley M. Hardman Trujillo CASE NUMBER: 2025C38375

By: Kim Boswell

Clerk of Court / Deputy Clerk

Legal Notice No. Arap 2538

First Publication: May 15, 2025

Last Publication: May 29, 2025

Publisher: Littleton Independent

PUBLIC NOTICE

Public Notice of Petition for Change of Name

Public notice is given on April 17, 2025, that a Petition for a Change of Name of a minor child has been filed with the Arapahoe County Court.

The petition requests that the name of Sumaya Arab Mohumed be changed to Sumaya Hajir Dahir Case No.: 25 C 100337

By: Deputy Clerk

Legal Notice No. Arap1234

First Publication: May 8, 2025

Last Publication: May 22, 2025

Publisher: Littleton Independent PUBLIC NOTICE

Public Notice of Petition for Change of Name

Public notice is given on May 1, 2025, that a Petition for a Change of Name of an adult has been filed with the Arapahoe County Court.

The petition requests that the name of Nancy Lynn Schlie be changed to Nancy Lynn Christensen Case No.: 25C100350

By: Sarah Ingemansen Clerk of Court / Deputy Clerk

Legal Notice No. Arap 2541

First Publication: May 15, 2025

Last Publication: May 29, 2025

Publisher: Littleton Independent

PUBLIC NOTICE

Public Notice of Petition for Change of Name

Public notice is given on May 6, 2025, that a Petition for a Change of Name of a minor child has been filed with the Arapahoe County Court.

The petition requests that the name of Aniyah Leeann Brown be changed to Aniyah Leeann Brown-Martinez Case No.: 25C100404

By: Sarah Ingemansen

Castle Rock race is more than just a workout

Climb4Change turns 200-step challenge into celebration of community, inclusion

BY JULIA KING SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA

ink you’ve got what it takes to climb 200 stairs — again and again?

On June 14, Castle Rock’s Philip S. Miller Park will host Climb4Change, an event that blends physical endurance with giving back. Participants will ascend the 200 steps of Challenge Hill — some once, others for an hour-long challenge — to bene t Castle Rock’s therapeutic recreation program for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).

e event, which is the only race permitted at Challenge Hill each year, o ers various challenges to suit all skill levels: a timed sprint to the top, a trail run with stairs and a family-friendly fun run. For many, Climb4Change is not just a race. It’s a space for community and connection.

Heather Tidwell, a volunteer at the event and Castle Rock resident, is the mother of a son with a disability and has long recognized the value of inclusive community programs.

“People realize it’s not just another race. It’s not just another event to participate in. Many people truly have a great heart and are looking for a good cause on top of going to do something fun,” she said.

Climb4Change doubles as an outreach opportunity, where attendees can connect with vendors and other families, share experiences and discover support they might not have known existed.

“So often you feel like you’re on an island, and it’s important to have a community around you,” Tidwell

FINANCE BILL

• Je erson County Public Schools: Steep losses. Jeffco Public Schools is protected from immediate funding cuts in 2024-25, thanks to the hold harmless provision. For the 2025-26 school year, the district is guaranteed to receive at least as much funding as it did in the 2024-25 school year.

However, long-term challenges are building. Without the hold-harmless protections, scal note projections show Je co would face a 14.9% drop in total program funding under the state’s new weighted formula. Several factors are driving this risk: Several factors are converging:

TOWN HALL

Miami Sound Machine. e energy they had on stage was incredible. I hope to bring that nostalgia and sense of fun to our stage as well.”

With so much going on in the world, “On Your Feet!” is a great opportunity for people to get carried away by the music and a story that celebrates its empowering ability.

added. “We’re all created for community … and being able to get o that island or bring people onto the island with you is important.”

Colorado is widely recognized as one of the most disability-friendly states in the U.S., thanks to its strong Medicaid waivers, home- and community-based services, and top-ranked outcomes in education and employment for individuals with disabilities. After years of military moves, this made the state an ideal place for Tidwell’s family to settle, she said.

Castle Rock has a strong community that o ers a network of services to people with IDD, anchored by organizations like Wellspring, a local nonpro t that o ers a broad range of programs.

One of its most visible e orts is the Castle Rock Collective, which is a café on Perry Street. Operated in partnership with World Orphans, the Collective o ers adults with IDD meaningful employment and a chance to build valuable skills.

Wellspring also helps address a critical need — a ordable housing for adults with IDD — through a partnership with the state, the Douglas County commissioners and the Castle Rock Town Council.

at kind of comprehensive support is what sets Castle Rock apart, said Rebecca Erickson, who has worked in the town’s therapeutic recreation program for the past seven years.

“It just highlights and shows you how unique our community is — how much love is in this community for people of all abilities,” Erickson said. “I’ve had families even share with me that they’ve moved here for the services.”

at sense of community comes to life at events like Climb4Change, where after chatting their way up and down Challenge Hill, participants can explore booths at the base o ering hands-on experiences like meeting a therapy horse or trying out adaptive bikes — while con-

• Enrollment loss: Je co’s student population continues to shrink, reducing its funding needs under both formulas.

• Property value surge: Rising home values increase local tax collections, reducing the amount of state funding Je co quali es for.

• New formula weighting: e new funding model places greater emphasis on at-risk and multilingual learners, areas where Je co’s demographics o er fewer additional dollars compared to other metro districts.

What the shift means for metro districts

e 2025-26 school year marks the beginning of Colorado’s shift toward a new vision of school funding, one that prioritizes student needs more heavily but also leaves some communities facing complex adjustments.

While families may not notice dramatic changes im-

“I hope that people leave with a smile on their face and a rhythm in their step,” wrote director Matthew Americo Zambrano in an email interview. “I hope that for the two hours they are in the theater, they can forget about all the things outside of Town Hall and let themselves be swept up in the celebration of cultura, family, community, music and dance.”

Tickets are available at https://townhallartscenter. org/event/on-your-feet/. is coverage comes courtesy of a grant from the Littleton Arts and Culture Program. As a matter of policy, funders exercise no control over editorial decisions.

necting with local resources and one another.

“I love re ecting back years and years and years, and my kids now that are grown, wearing them on my back or on my hip and doing it together as a family,” Erickson said.

Last year’s event raised about $2,000, and this year’s organizers hope to double that impact. Sponsored by Developmental Pathways, Climb4Change kicks o at 7 a.m. on June 14, with registration open through June 9 and walk-ups welcome the morning of.

More info is available at CRgov.com/Climb4Change.

mediately, the foundation for bigger nancial shifts is being laid now. Districts like Je co and Adams 12 will need to plan carefully to navigate tighter budgets, while Cherry Creek and others may nd new opportunities to invest in expanded programs and services.

e hold harmless protection provides a temporary cushion, but districts like Je co face growing nancial challenges as the transition accelerates. By the end of the decade, Colorado’s school nance landscape will look very di erent from what it does today.

Charter schools will also see a share of the phased-in formula funding.

Another late-session amendment requires that charter and institute charter schools receive a per-pupil amount tied to their authorizing district’s incremental increase in 2025-26, ensuring they bene t proportionally as Colorado begins implementing the new formula.

Climb4Change participants ascend Challenge Hill at Castle Rock’s Philip S. Miller Park to raise money for therapeutic recreation programs. PHOTOS BY JOHN LEYBA / COURTESY OF THE TOWN OF CASTLE ROCK