May 2, 2013
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourarvadanews.com
Jefferson County, Colorado • Volume 8, Issue 49
New festival offers education, entertainment Sustain Arvada Festival focuses on teaching residents efficiency By Sara Van Cleve
svancleve@ourcoloradonews.com The Arvada Festivals Commission has combined education and entertainment to create the city’s newest festival — the Sustain Arvada Festival. The inaugural festival will be 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 11, in Olde Town Arvada at 57th Avenue and Olde Wadsworth Boulevard. The festival is hosted by the Arvada Festivals Commission and the Arvada Sustain-
Open carry ban eyed
ability Advisory Committee and will feature more than 50 local exhibitors to discuss with residents how to live sustainably. “The focus of this is on what sustainability means to us in Arvada as a community and on an individual level,” said Sustain Arvada Festival co-chair and ASAC member Chuck Clark. Presentations discussing the sustainability advisory committee’s main topics — local food, transportation, recycling, energy audits, water conservation and residential gardening — will take place throughout the day. Exhibitor presentations begin at 10:30 a.m. with Star Acre Farms and feature other exhibitors such as FasTracks Gold Line, SustainAbility, iCast and ResourcSmart Arvada, Center for Resource Conservation and CSU Extension.
Other exhibitors in the areas of energy, agriculture, community vitality, waste, transportation, education and outreach will be at the festival to talk to residents about sustainable living. In addition to FasTracks discussing public transportation, Boulder Nissan and Medved Chevrolet will display hybrid cars. “It’s a multigenerational event because people in the older generations can learn about being sustainable, and there are a lot of activities for kids,” Clark said. Activities for children include arts and crafts focusing on repurposing, earthfriendly games, a climbing wall, alpacas and Pedalpalooza — which are contraptions made from bicycles that children and adults power.
The festival will also feature three food trucks and six food carts with some gourmet options, said Judith Denham with the Festivals Commission. The event is also a “zero waste” event, where the majority of the waste will be diverted from a landfill to recycling and composting through Zero Hero. The Festivals Commission encourages attendees to carpool, use public transportation, walk or ride a bike to the event to promote sustainable transportation. A secured bike valet will be available for bicyclists. For more information on the Sustain Arvada Festival and a complete schedule of events and presentations, visit www. arvada.org/about-arvada/sustain-arvadafestival
Safety firSt
Jeffco may prohibit openly carried firearms in some buildings By Glenn Wallace
gwallace@ourcoloradonews.com Two recent incidents involving openly carried firearms in Jefferson County facilities led county officials to suggest the practice be limited. At the April 23 staff briefing, the Jefferson County commissioners heard from Sheriff Ted Mink, and Assistant County Attorney Writer Mott, requesting that the commissioners adopt an emergency ordinance to allow certain county buildings to prohibit the open carrying of a gun. Due to the discussion, the proposed ordinance will be placed on a future commissioners meeting for discussion and possible approval. “It’s constitutionally recognized, not illegal, but it is alarming,” Mink said. Human Services Executive Director Lynn Johnson said that some individuals come into Human Services offices concerning emotionally charged issues. “What I found in this most recent incident, our deputies hands were somewhat tied,” Johnson said. In that case, the individual was asked to leave the firearm in his vehicle, and refused, becoming confrontational with security. Mink said the sheriff’s department would initially look to enact the ban for three departments that experience “more volatile situations” — those include Human Services, the District Attorney’s office, and his own. County Clerk and Recorder Pam Anderson said she is interested in having a ban apply to her department areas as well. Library Division Executive Director Pam Nissler said a recent threat evaluation by the Sheriff’s Department found the county’s libraries to be “soft targets” for violence, and she too favors a ban there as well. Anyone with a concealed-carry permit would still be allowed to bring a Firearms continues on Page 19
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Lilly Yocum, 5, left, and Levi Yocum, 7, ride their bikes through a safety course featuring various road signs to learn about bike safety during the Bike Rodeo April 27 at Secreast Recreation Center. Photo by Sara Van Cleve
Practice breaks through layers to find relaxation Yoga nidra brings stress relief, peace to participants and people with PTSD By Sara Van Cleve
svancleve@ourcoloradonews. com Yoga generally trains on keeping the body healthy, but yoga nidra is credited with going deeper than just the physical body. Sandy Kline teaches that practice at Asana Studio, 5701 Yukon St. The class begins with Kline guiding students for 30 minutes through Pavanmuktasana, a series of 21 yoga movements to focus on joint movement, warming every joint in the body. The second half hour, students lie down and go through a calming meditation that goes beyond the physical and into the mental and emotional layers, expanding students’ self-
Yoga instructor Sandy Kline helps student Nikki Rose find perfect form while practicing Pavanmuktasana, a series of 21 joint-freeing moves, during a yoga nidra class on April 23 at Asana Studio, 5701 Yukon St. Photo by Sara VanCleve awareness. “There are layers or sheathes to everyone,” Kline said. “You can look at each one of them. It’s like peeling away an onion and getting to the heart. It’s all the onion, but there are different layers.” In ancient tradition, there are five different “bodies,” or
“koshas” in Sanskrit, and the different elements of yoga nidra tap into each, Kline said. Pavanmuktasana focuses on the physical body. The next sheath is the “breathing body,” which focuses on the life source — breath. “All I do is say draw your awareness to your breath,” she
said. “That’s what we’re doing is growing awareness.” To tap into the next “body,” the mental and emotional body, Kline tells students to imagine opposites — hot and cold, heavy and light, chaos and peace. At first they think of them separately, and then try to mentally feel both at once. Similar images are used to tap into the “wisdom body,” but they are often opposite archetypes, like an erupting volcano and flowers on a hillside. “When I use archetypes, people see whatever they pick,” Kline said. “It works through the senses at the same time still using opposites. You want gruesome images to balance out pleasant and calming ones.” Imagining polar emotions, ideas and memories helps many people, including veterans and first responders with post-traumatic stress disorder, confront issues and help them heal. Yoga continues on Page 19