June 25, 2015 VOLUME 91 | ISSUE 45
2015 WINNERS
INSIDE! 2015 WINNERS GUIDE LakewoodSentinel.com J E F F E R S O N C O U N T Y, C O L O R A D O
A publication of
Out-of-school lunch IF YOU GO The Lunch Box Express feeds children up to the age of 18 in areas with lower-income households. The program comes to Mountair, 5620 West 14th Ave., Lakewood. from 11-11:30 a.m., Monday through Friday. For further information on the program, visit www. lunchboxexpress.org. For information on donations or volunteering, contact Jewish Family Services at its website www.jewishfamilyservice.org or call 303-5975000.
IN THE LUNCHES As part of the USDA’s Summer Food Service Program, all lunches are nutritionally balanced and include milk. Some of the ingredients in the lunches are: Hummus Chicken salad Tuna salad Breadsticks Sunflower seeds Whole grain crackers Applesauce Raisins Soy nuts
City, charity join forces to provide summer meals By Clarke Reader
creader@colorado communitymedia.com For many children, finding something fun to do every day can be a challenge. But for others, being able to eat every day is their primary concern. The City of Lakewood is working with Jewish Family Service’s Lunchbox Express to help make sure that worry is lifted. “We just started coming to Lakewood last week,” said Doug Vega, the Lunchbox Express program coordinator. “There is no registration required, no paperwork or documentation needed — kids just show up and get lunch.” This summer, Lunchbox Express is bringing free lunches to all children 18 and younger at Mountair Park, 5620 W. 14th Ave., a city park that also houses a community farm. The program has existed for five years, but Jewish Family Services took over management two years ago. It offers free lunches to all younger than 18 throughout the metro area, the only stipulation being
The City of Lakewood is working Jewish Family Services’ Lunchbox Express program this summer to provide healthy food to children in need. A bus with free lunches will visit Mountair Park daily. Photo by Clarke Reader that children eat the meals at the giveaway site. The program focuses on areas with a high need and looks at schools’ free and reduced lunch population to gauge where services are needed. Last year, the program
provided 29,000 lunches in the metro area and expects that number to increase to 35,000 this year. The program has started off slow in Lunch continues on Page 22
Local fed workers wait for news on data breach Data incident may affect up to 4 million employees By Clarke Reader
creader@colorado communitymedia.com
Neglected rats, geckos and mice seized in Lakewood Ninety-six geckos are being taken care of at Foothills Animal Shelter after they were seized from a Lakewood home. Photo courtesy of Foothills Animal Shelter
Homeowner may have been running a breeding operation, sheriff ’s department says By Clarke Reader
creader@colorado communitymedia.com
F
oothills Animal Shelter took in 123 rats, 96 geckos and six mice after they were seized from a home at 3784 S. Moore St. in Lakewood on June 17. Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and Animal Control responded to an anonymous tip concerning a large number of rodents living in poor conditions in the garage of the Moore Street home. The homeowner eventually al-
lowed animal control access to the garage, according to Jacki Kelley, public information director for the sheriff’s office. Deputies found the animals in homemade cages that had no light and minimal ventilation. Some cages also had a lot of standing water. Animal control found 116 dead rats and four dead mice in the cages. In addition, there were 60 exotic snakes owned by a separate individual that were being well taken care of. The homeowner may have been running a breeding operation and selling animals to pet stores, according to the sheriff’s department. The West Metro Drug Task Force responded to the home, as well, to investigate an illegal marijuana grow inside the home. Approximately 100 plants were seized as evidence. The live animals were taken to
Foothills Animal Center, thanks to a partnership with law enforcement agencies, said Jennifer Strickland, the shelter’s director of community relations and development. “We typically see around 500 to 1,000 animals that are ‘other’ — not dogs or cats — a year,” she said. “Just not often in a large scale like this.” The rats’ health and behavior are being closely monitored, Strickland said, and their adoptability also is being evaluated. The geckos are also receiving care but have not been released to the shelter. Therefore, none of these animals is currently available for adoption. The Jeffco sheriff’s department has not released the name of the homeowner, but Kelley said he may face charges for animal neglect or cruelty and cultivation of marijuana.
The recent data breaches in the federal government’s Office of Personnel Management system are still being investigated. But while that is in process, the thousands of federal employees who work at the Denver Federal Center in Lakewood and throughout Jefferson County are hoping no news is good news. “When I found out about the breach, I was somewhat surprised,” wrote Federal Center employee Kathryn Yoder in an email interview. “I am required to have training every year on the proper handling of personally identifiable information. After the news settled in, my surprise gave way.” Yoder, who said her viewpoints are her own and not representative of her employer, said she has been receiving periodic emails updating her on the investigation. “We hear about these things in the news often enough in both the private and public sectors to understand that there is always a risk that something like this could happen,” she said. The Federal Center, south of Sixth Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard, houses 28 different agencies in 44 federal buildings, including the U.S. Depatment of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management and the General Services Administration, according to its website. It employs more than 6,000 people and is the largest concentration of federal agencies outside of Washington, D.C. According to information provided by Edmund Byrnes of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the organization became aware of the intrusion in Workers continues on Page 22