Arvada Press 123021 by Colorado Community Media

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December 30, 2021

JEFFERSON COUNTY, COLORADO

A publication of

INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 12 | LIFE: PAGE 14 | CALENDAR: PAGE 11 | SPORTS: PAGE 16

Mural of Johnny Hurley outside the Rocky Mountain Commisary by Denver-based artist Grow Love.

A new trash can is delivered.

PHOTO BY RYAN DUNN

VOLUME 17 | ISSUE 28

Jeffco Schools report on fall test results Academic achievement was better than last year, but still lags pre-pandemic levels

ARVADA’S YEAR IN REVIEW 2021

In-person events resumed, from shows at the Arvada Center to Trick-or-Treat Street to holiday events like the Eggnog and Cider Competition. The Arvada Resiliency Taskforce came together to help the city’s small business community navigate the pandemic, and only a handful of shops had to close their doors. Arvada’s resilience showed through at every turn. Residents stood up for what they believe in and made their voices heard, all while continuing to support one another’s endeavors.

During the Dec. 15 Jeffco Schools Board of Education study session, results of district test scores for the fall semester were presented to the board by District staff. Acadience, MAP (Measure of Academic Progress) and Social, Emotional and Behavioral (SEB) Screener results were discussed. This article will cover the academic results. SEB Screener results will be the topic of future reporting. Data in this reporting is drawn from the District’s presentation. Carol Eaton, executive director of Instructional Data Services, and Justin Houck, director of Instructional Assessment, started things off with the academic parts of the presentation. Eaton said the district has seen somewhat of a rebound from last year’s results, tempered by the fact that scores are not yet back to pre-pandemic levels. Houck said achievement gaps within student groups persist, and the District is continuing to monitor what it knows about them and attempting to address them at the school and system level. MAP and Acadience test administration is still not back to normal. Some students still tested remotely, but fewer than in Fall in 2020. MAP participation was higher than last year, but agin, not black to pre-pandemic levels.

SEE REVIEW, P2

SEE SCHOOLS, P4

Local children enjoy Scrumptious’ apple cider sorbet and eggnog ice cream in Olde Town Square. PHOTO BY RYAN DUNN

The felled Olde Town ChristCOURTESY OF APD mas tree.

BY RYAN DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

t’s been a tough year in Arvada. On the heels of months of COVID-19 induced lockdowns, the city was plunged into mourning when a tragic shooting claimed the lives of Arvada Police Officer Gordon Beesley and “Good Samaritan” Johnny Hurley in June. The months that followed saw the city grieve as community members came together for vigils, memorials and celebrations of life. At every turn, residents delivered on the promise of the phrase “Arvada Strong.” Still, the collective trauma of June 21 will likely be felt for years. While the shooting certainly

seems like the defining moment of Arvada’s 2021, the community has plenty to celebrate. Street murals and arts festivals enlivened Olde Town, two new city councilmembers were elected in November and a citizen action group stood their ground against tech-giant Amazon in an all-time David vs. Goliath tale.

BY BOB WOOLEY BWOOLEY@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

2 Arvada Press

December 30, 2021

REVIEW FROM PAGE 1

The city said goodbye to the final remaining homestead of Ralston Crossing, converted Olde Town into a pedestrian mall and broke ground on the long-debated Residencies at Olde Town Station — a sign of the changes fulfilled and the changes to come. All told, it’s been a rough 12 months. Hope was nearly restored when holiday festivities brought cheer to Olde Town this December, but a gale-force wind knocked down the city’s Christmas tree and took care of any stray flickers of optimism. Take a look back at what the heck happened in Arvada this year: Olde Town becomes pedestrian mall A temporary measure put in place during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic became a semi-permanent feature of Olde Town Arvada, when parts of Olde Wadsworth Boulevard, Grant Place, Grandview Avenue and Webster Street were turned into a pedestrian mall. New medians were implemented, road striping removed, crosswalks repaved, and outdoor seating areas created as part of the conversion effort, which began on June 30 and was completed on Oct. 15. The area was initially closed to vehicle traffic on June 12, 2020. The semi-permanent pedestrian mall infrastructure will remain in place for five years, during which

— —

The new Arvada City Council. From left: John Marriott, Lisa Smith, David Jones, Marc Williams, Lauren Simpson, Randy Moorman, PHOTOS BY RYAN DUNN Bob Fifer.

time the city team will conduct traffic surveys and gauge community response to the change before deciding whether to make it permanent. “We are moving toward a revisioning of what the space can be and with that will come the opportunity to have some more outdoor space to have some more public art and to look at different activations over time,” Olde Town Business Improvement District Executive Director Joe Hengstler said. The addition of public art became a reality when three muralists pained sprawling street murals on the closed streets in early Sept. in advance of the Jackalope Arts Festival, which was held on Sept. 18 and 19. “I just think public art adds

positivity to the community,” Chelsea Hart, one of the muralists said. “There are so many good aspects when creating public art and putting it into a community. I’m happy to be a part of that positive change. I hope it brightens someone’s day.” Amazon warehouse proposal shot down by city council After months of public discourse and a marathon sevenhour city council meeting, Amazon’s proposal to build a last-mile delivery warehouse on Indiana Street was voted down by a 5-2 city council vote on June 15. Amazon’s proposal to build a 112,485 sq. ft. “last-mile” Delivery Station warehouse in Arvada — referred to as “Project Indiana” — involved annexing of unincorporated county land into the city, rezoning some of the land parcels and approval of the warehouse development plan. The 36-acre site in question borders the Maple Valley neighborhood and the Ralston Creek trail, a habitat for bobcats, coyotes, deer, and other species of wildlife. A group called the Ralston Valley Coalition — formerly known as Protect Maple Valley Park —

formed to oppose the development based on a number of concerns that the group has raised. The council meeting began at 6 p.m. on June 14 and concluded at 2 a.m. on June 15. Council chambers were filled with audience members — many of whom were decked out in green Protect Maple Valley Park/Ralston Valley Coalition shirts and had come to voice their displeasure with Amazon’s proposal. “Voters have entrusted you with a lot of power,” a resident of the Maple Valley Park neighborhood said. “Your decision will impact my home, my mind, my emotional well-being. Many others feel the same way I do. Please make the right decision.” Mayor Marc Williams and former Mayor Pro-Tem Dot Miller were the two dissenting votes. Olde Town Arvada shooting In one of the most tragic events in Arvada’s history, three people were killed, including a veteran police officer and the suspected gunman, in a shooting in Olde Town Arvada on June 21.

The Johnny Hurley memorial at Olde Town Square.

SEE REVIEW, P3

Arvada Press 3

December 30, 2021

REVIEW FROM PAGE 2

Gunfire rang out from Olde Town Square, visitors took refuge — and, in some cases, shrapnel — in nearby shops and alleys as an apocalyptic pall came over the city’s historic district. We would later find out the details of what happened; gunman Ronald Troyke, armed with an arsenal of firearms and a manifesto declaring his hatred for Arvada Police officers, shot veteran APD Officer Gordon Beesley fatally in the back before Johnny Hurley — a civilian shopping at the Army and Navy Surplus Store across the street, ran towards the gunfire and shot Troyke dead. A months-long investigation would later reveal that APD Officer Kraig Brownlow mistook

Hurley for Troyke and shot and killed him to prevent further casualties. Brownlow was cleared of wrongdoing by the District Attorney but is no longer with the police department. Memorials, vigils and fundraisers for Beesley and Hurley came from all facets of the community, with “Arvada Strong” quickly becoming the mantra of residents grappling with the tragedy. A large mural of Hurley was painted at the Rocky Mountain Commissary, his former workplace, and community members flocked to Beesley’s squad car outside of city hall for months, writing messages and leaving flowers for the fallen officer. As the community came together to grieve the loss of two adored figures and process shared trauma, one thing became clear: Hurley and Beesley will never be forgotten by Arvadans.

Trash hauling service begins Republic Services’ waste hauling trucks and trash cans adorned with the city of Arvada logo began dotting Arvada’s streets the week of July 5, as the city’s new single-hauler waste hauling program commenced service after months of public consternation. About a year before Republic’s trucks hit the streets of Arvada, city council voted 4-3 to approve the single-hauler contract, which included an opt-out fee for those wishing to continue with their previous service provider. In 2019, council had decided to put the issue on the ballot, but later voted to take the measure off the ballot. The backlash to council’s decision was swift and widespread; the four councilmembers who voted for the proposal faced (failed) recall attempts, and public comments at council meetings largely centered around trash hauling for

months. When the program finally rolled out in July, many residents spoke favorably of the service, while some reported confusion regarding what to do with their old cans and delays in receiving new carts. “I’m quite disappointed that it’s all down to one service and greatly reducing the value of so many other services,” longtime Arvada resident June Ammerman said. “My answer to that dilemma was to let this trash service have this section of the city and give everybody a piece of the pie.” Others had more positive views on the change. “So far, so good,” Lynn Thompson said. “I received the correct sized cans a couple weeks ago. Tuesday was my first trash pickup, but it went fine! Put the can out, the truck came by and emptied it — kind of as expected!” SEE REVIEW, P4

Climate Change Vulnerability Is Increasingly an Issue for Homebuyers Perhaps you read these articles in last week’s YourHub. They’re reprinted here for the readers of this newspaper. It’s not surprising, given the extreme weather we’re witnessing, including here in Colorado, that 63% of people who moved during the pandemic say that climate is or will be an issue where they now live, according to a Redfin survey of 1,000 Americans who moved since March 2020. Many of the respondents said they researched climate issues before making their move. In another survey by ValuePenguin, more than half of Americans fear they would not be able to recover financially from a climate-induced catastrophe. An earlier Redfin survey showed that Americans between the ages of 35

and 44 were most likely to say that “natural disasters, extreme temperatures and rising sea levels” all influenced or will influence their decisions on where to move. Here in Colorado we’ve been blessed to experience fewer and less dramatic impacts from climate change. But those impacts are knocking on our door. Consider last summer’s fire smoke, or this month’s hurricane-force winds, or our current drought. Our water supply depends on snowpack, and rising winter temperatures result in more rain and less snow. Even though we’re east of the continental divide, we, like the Western Slope and the states west of us, are dependent on the dwindling Colorado River water, which is transported from the Western Slope to

Our Downtown Location Doubles as a Gallery for Noted Golden Photographer Todd Caudle

In the picture at right, Todd Caudle mounts one of six large-format photographs in our new office at 1214 Washington Ave. He lives in Golden proper and is well-known for his photos of such local landmarks as Castle Rock. (See one of them below.) His popular desk and wall calendars, books and note card sets are sold at Red Wagon, 1118 Washington Ave., but our office is the only place you’ll find his large-format photographs. All six of the photos displayed above our desks are for sale. As they sell, other photographs by the noted photographer will take their place. His collection features Colorado scenes, and we’ll feature his Golden photographs. You can view all his many photos at www.SkylinePress.com/gallery/fine-artprints/. See below for a screen shot.

We are welcoming you to come look at the photos, not just talk to one of our broker associates or me about real estate. Todd is a Golden treasure, and we are delighted to provide a brick-andmortar outlet for his work. His photos are adding a splash of color to our office.

the Front Range through tunnels. Because we experience fewer effects of climate change, I foresee increased migration from other parts of the country, including “tornado alley,” to Colorado as their current homes experience climate change’s increasing impact. In researching this topic, I came across a Fall 2021 white paper from SitusAMC entitled “The Burgeoning Insurance Costs for Real Estate.” It assesses the impact of increased losses from catastrophes, mostly caused by climate change. Although the focus of the white paper is on the ability of insurers to cover increased claims and the effect of those increased claims on residential and commercial insurance rates, it also made some interesting observations about the migration of people to and from states with high insurance claims and expected future risks from climate change.

So guest what? With the sole exception of California, people are moving to states where they will be more at risk rather than less. Texas, which accounted for 40% of all insurance claims in the first half of 2021, has had the highest influx of people from other states. Florida, despite its risks, was a close second. In recent years I’ve seen many of my sellers relocating to Florida, and it’s hard for me to understand. So there you have it — a Redfin study that says Americans are considering climate change risks before making their move, while another study shows that more people are moving into states and areas of high risk. Could both be true? I’m not sure what to believe now!

Happy New Year to our readers and clients!

Just Listed: 3-BR Patio Home in Arvada This paired ranch-style patio home at 7857 Allison Court boasts a large kitchen with granite counter tops, gas cooktop, breakfast bar and tray ceiling in the dining room. The main-level master suite has a soaking tub, double vanities, tile floor, a large walk-in closet, and new carpet. It leads out to an All-Season glass sunroom. The other main-level bedroom has an over$515,000 sized double closet, new carpet, and large window. When you enter the home, you see the premium hardwood floors and vaulted ceilings in the living room with a pellet stove. Walk out to the Trex type deck with plumbed gas connection for a BBQ. The downstairs is loaded with extras! A home theater is wired with surround sound. The 4-person steam room has bench seats and dual rain shower heads. There’s a large kitchenette with lots of cabinets, wet bar, dishwasher, small refrigerator, and wine cooler. The large, carpeted bedroom has a walk-in closet and double entry doors. There is a gym with equipment for sale, and a room with built-in bookshelves that we’re calling a bonus room. Come and see this low-maintenance home with yard work, snow removal, exterior roofing, painting and plumbing costs covered by the HOA. They also take care of water, trash, and street maintenance. Interior photos and a narrated video tour are posted at ArvadaPatioHome.info. Listed by David Dlugasch, who will hold it open Sunday, January 2nd, 11am to 2pm. Call him at 303-908-4835 for more information.

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4 Arvada Press

REVIEW FROM PAGE 3

Election 2021: City Charter reviewed, Smith and Moorman elected to council In the Nov. 2 municipal election, Lisa Smith and Randy Moorman were elected as first-time city councilmembers, replacing outgoing councilmembers Dot Miller and Nancy Ford. John Marriott was re-elected to a third term. “It’s been a very humbling experience to see people from all backgrounds and affiliations come together to support me. It’s an honor to be elected and

December 30, 2021 I hope to represent everyone fairly and equitably. I’m excited to do my best for Arvada,” Smith said on election night. “I knocked doors since July and I worked really hard to reach out to voters and meet them and hear what their concerns and issues were,” Moorman said. Arvadans approved three out of the four proposed changes to their city charter. Ballot Question’s 3D, 3E and 3F passed by wide margins. The proposed charter changes were brought forth by the city’s charter review committee, which convenes every 10 years to determine if any changes

SCHOOLS FROM PAGE 1

Acadience is a K-3 skills-based reading assessment, administered three times per year. The District uses four performance levels: Well Below Benchmark, Below Benchmark, At Benchmark and Above Benchmark to determine student performance. The Well Below Benchmark category, indicates a student has 10% 20% likelihood of achieving subsequent early literacy goals and will likely need intensive support. Below Benchmark indicates 40%-60% like-

to the city’s charter are prudent. The four ballot measures were recommended by the committee, which is made up of city team members and Arvada residents. Measure 3D proposes increasing the amount of time city council has to fill an unanticipated vacancy - such as if a councilmember resigns or is elected to a higher office during their term - from 30 to 45 days. Measures 3E and 3F would increase the amount of time citizens have to gather signatures for initiative petitions and referendum petitions, respectively, from 30 to 60 days. The story is different for

lihood of achieving subsequent early literacy goals and will likely need strategic support. At Benchmark indicates 70%-85% likelihood of achieving subsequent early literacy goals and will likely need core support. Above Benchmark indicates 90%-99% likelihood of achieving subsequent early literacy goals and will likely need more advanced skills in addition to core support. Acadience Results The Fall 2021 Beginning-of-Year performance trend for grades K-3 combined show an overall increase in scores compared to last year, but still lagging behind 2019, pre-pandemic results.

Measure 3C, which would have eliminated a charter provision that disallows an Arvada resident who is employed by another city to serve on city council. “I’m not surprised by the ballot issue that failed. The other three, I fully expected them to pass. I don’t know why people feel so strongly about (3C). There’s a real strong feeling against it,” Mark McGoff, Arvada Charter Review Committee Chairperson said on election night. Olde Town Christmas Tree felled by wind A pessimist would call it a fitting end to a difficult year, an optimist might

For example, scores in the Well Below Benchmark category were at 23% — that’s down from last year’s 28%, but still four percentage points below the 19% from 2019. When added together, 65% of students scored in the At Benchmark and Above Benchmark categories in Fall 2021, compared to 58% last year. In 2019, 69% of students who took the test scored in those two categories. Broken down by grade, the biggest improvement in achievement, compared to last year came from Grade 1, with Above Benchmark scores increasing from 26% last year to 41% this year. Well Below Benchmark scores fell from 42% in Fall 2020 to 29% this year. However, this year’s Well Below Benchmark scores are still 7% higher than 2019 numbers. Overall, 20,052 students (98% of those eligible) took the Acadience tests. According to the presentation performance gaps still exist among gender, students with disabilities and English language learners. MAP MAP is an adaptive reading and math test given three times per

deem it a signal of new beginnings. Either way, high winds brought down the Christmas tree in Olde Town Square on Dec. 15, toppling a staple of the Olde Town landscape that stood in the square since 2006. We’re sad about the tree going down. The Christmas tree is kind of a landmark here this time of year. Ultimately, this isn’t going to squash our holiday spirit,” Hengstler said. Arvada Police Department Public Information Officer Dave Snelling said there hadn’t been any injuries due to the wind or falling tree, but “a lot of broken hearts.”

year. The reading test is given to all students grades 3-10. Math is given to grades 3-8 and all high school students taking algebra 1, geometry or an equivalent course. There are five performance levels — High; High Average; Average; Low Average and Low, used in scoring. MAP looks at how Jeffco students score compared to other students across the nation. Fall 2021 MAP Reading results for elementary students saw 50% of students score in the High and High Average levels, with 19% scoring at the Average level. A combined 30% of students scored at the Low Average and Low levels. Math scores were lower with 39% of students scoring at the High and High Average levels, 22% at Average and a combined 40% scoring at the Low Average and Low levels. Middle school students had reading scores of 50% at the High and High Average levels, 21% at Average and roughly 30% of students scoring at the Low Average and Low levels. Middle School Math scores (like elementary results) were lower on average than reading scores, with 40% at High and High Average level, 22% Average and 39% at Low Average and Low levels.

TURN TO THE COLORADO SUN FOR NEWS ACROSS THE STATE The Colorado Sun is a journalist-owned, award-winning news outlet that strives to cover all of Colorado so that our state — our community — can better understand itself. In this way, The Sun contributes to a more vibrant, informed and whole Colorado. The Sun, launched in 2018, is committed to fact-based, in-depth and nonpartisan journalism. It covers everything

from politics and culture to the outdoor industry and education. Now, The Colorado Sun co-owns this and other Colorado Community Media newspapers as a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy. The Sun is CCM’s partner for statewide news. For Colorado Sun stories, opinions and more, and to support The Sun’s misssion as a member or subscriber, visit coloradosun.com.

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Arvada Press 5

December 30, 2021

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6 Arvada Press

December 30, 2021

New developments in Aguilera-Mederos case D.A. and protestors want to reconsider truck driver’s 110-year sentence BY BOB WOOLEY BWOOLEY@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Rogel Lazaro Aguilera-Mederos, 26, sentenced to 110 years in prison for a deadly I-70 crash that took the lives of four people, will receive a resentencing hearing on Jan. 13. On Dec. 27, Judge A. Bruce Jones set the resentencing hearing date. Jones called on the defense and prosecution to file resentencing memos with the court by Jan. 10. A written statement from King’s office said on Dec. 17 they initiated a process to set a hearing for the reconsideration of Aguilera-Mederos’ sentence. King’s office said this will not overturn the conviction supported by the evidence in this case; but allows the court greater flexibility than it had during the initial sentencing. The case has drawn national interest and King’s office has undergone intense scrutiny in the wake of the 110-year sentence handed down by Judge A. Bruce Jones. Colorado law required consecutive mandatory minimum sentences be served for the convictions because several of the counts were considered “crimes of violence.” At the initial sentencing, King’s office requested Aguilera-Mederos

A crowd of around 100 people attend a rally to demand a change in Colorado’s sentencing laws and show support for Rogel PHOTOS BY BOB WOOLEY Aguilera-Mederos, convicted of 27 counts for his role in a deadly crash on I-70.

be given the mandatory minimum for his convictions. That request was granted, but still didn’t give Jones the legal authority to impose a lighter sentence. King’s written statement said the impact of the accident on victims SEE RALLY, P7

A man holds a large banner in support of Rogel Aguilera-Mederos.

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Linnea Wolle, a sophomore on the Luther College tennis team, has been named to the 2021 American Rivers Conference Fall Sports All-Academic Team. This is the first time she Wolle has been so honored. To qualify for allacademic team honors, a studentathlete must be in their sophomore, junior or senior year of eligibility; have maintained a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or greater on a 4.0 scale; have attended the school for at least a year; and be a member of the varsity team. Academic all-conference teams are sponsored three times a year, fall, winter and spring.

The Fall Sports All-Academic Team is comprised of student-athletes from the sports of men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s cross country, football, volleyball, women’s tennis and women’s golf. Eleven of the 17 members on the Luther roster who were eligible for this award were so honored, the highest single team total of the nine women’s tennis teams in the league. During the 2021 fall schedule, the Norse captured their third consecutive and record 29th conference title, posting a mark of 8-0. Wolle is a 2020 graduate of Ralston Valley High School. She is majoring in Mathematics and Statistics. She is the daughter of Aaron and Heidi Wolle of Arvada.

Arvada Press 7

December 30, 2021

Arvada Elks give out 125 food HAPPY HOLIDAYS! baskets to local students, community members in need MAKE 2022 YOUR YEAR We will be open New Year’s Eve from 10am-4pm. We will be closed New Year’s Day so that our employees can spend time with their families.

Decades-long philanthropic tradition continues BY RYAN DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

The Arvada Elks Lodge continued a tradition that dates back at least 40 years when it gave out 125 baskets of two weeks’ worth of food to local students and community members in need on Dec. 18. More than forty Elks members volunteered to pack baskets and make deliveries. Dan Daigle, the organizer of the basket giveaway, said that the event began as a philanthropic effort within the Elks own community and spread to local public schools in 1996. “The Elks are an organization that believe in charity. For many years we took care of all of our own families and people we know in our community. Then, one of our members, Bob McCoy, used to go to a lot of schools and take baskets for his family and friends, and he found out that there are a lot of school that have less fortunate families that don’t have food all the time,” Daigle said. Once the Elks were made aware of the needs of disadvantaged students in the community, they

RALLY FROM PAGE 6

and their families was paramount. “When my team and I spoke to the surviving victims and families of those who lost their lives about the possibility of resentencing, it was their specific desire to be heard in this process,” it said. “So, yesterday, we filed another motion requesting that the court expedite that hearing so they would have the opportunity to be heard by the presiding judge who best knows the facts of the case and the evidence presented at trial. We understand and appreciate the frustration of those seeking immediate consideration and ask for patience as we take the steps allowed by law before the judge who knows this case and the community that was impacted.” King’s office filed a motion in District Court Dec. 21 requesting modification of the AguileraMederos’ sentence pursuant to Colorado Revised Statute 18-1.3-406, for an expedited hearing. According to King’s statement, her office requested the Court set a date for the hearing to take place no later than Dec. 27. Meanwhile, Aguilera-Mederos’ case is becoming something of a cause célèbre, attracting attention from notable social media influencers and social justice groups. Kim Kardashian spread the word about the sentence to her 70 million Twitter followers and nearly 4.8 million

began reaching out to local school administrators to find out which families need extra help around the holidays. School faculty members give the Elks names of individuals in need or a headcount for the total number of baskets needed by the school, and the Elks volunteers provide baskets containing turkey, stuffing, milk and other food items. Daigle said that recipients are typically asked to pick up the baskets from the Elks Lodge on Yukon Street, but that volunteers made 15 deliveries this year because of concerns from folks about being able to come to the lodge in-person. The food in the baskets are supplied by funds raised from membership dues and philanthropic campaigns throughout the year, including the Elks car show and craft show. Daigle said that outside of JeffCo School District families, the basket giveaway benefits disadvantage seniors. He added that any leftover food will be donated to Laradon Hall, a nonprofit that works with children and adults with developmental difficulties. The Elks holiday food basket giveaway is an annual event. Daigle said that next year, the Elks will not be doing deliveries and baskets must be picked up at the lodge. people have signed a change.org petition requesting Governor Jared Polis to commute the sentence. A rally to generate support for sentencing reform and call on Polis to reduce Aguilera-Mederos’ sentence was held in front of the state capitol, Dec. 22. Speakers at the event included Leonard Martinez, Aguilera-Mederos’ new attorney. “Rogel is humbled and appreciative of the support he is receiving from the people not only in Colorado but nationwide,” Martinez said. “We want to thank the Governor for accepting the application for clemency and are hopeful that he will do the right thing and free Rogel. The entire legal team for Rogel will keep moving forward with any and all options to get Rogel home and back with his family, but it is support like today that is helping us open the doors for the dialogue to occur.” State Representative Alex Valdez also spoke to the crowd of roughly 100 people. “The Colorado Democratic Latino Caucus believes that the victims and their families deserve justice—but Mr. Aguilera-Mederos’s 110-year sentence is not justice,” Valdez said, on behalf of the Legislature’s Latino Caucus. “This tragic case reaffirms the need for a felony sentencing structure that is fair, consistent, and focused on rehabilitation, and we commit to continuing to work alongside the Polis administration to end racial disparities and ensure access to justice for all.”

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8 Arvada Press

December 30, 2021

Two in custody after carjacking, hours-long standoff with Arvada Police Both suspects facing charges for overnight incident, previous warrants BY RYAN DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Two suspects are in custody after a carjacking led to an overnight standoff with the Arvada Police on Dec. 21. The standoff took place on

the 6000 block of Estes Street and was resolved at around 9 a.m., approximately 8 hours after the initial call, according to Arvada Police Department Public Information Officer Dave Snelling. Around 1 a.m., police received a call of a suspicious vehicle on Estes Street and arrived on the scene shortly after. Responding officers found a black Ford pickup truck and learned that the suspect associated with that vehicle was armed and went into a house.

Officers learned that both suspects have outstanding felony warrants. One is a fugitive out of the Colorado Department of Corrections as an escapee and the other is wanted on felony drug warrants out of Denver. The suspects stayed in the house and refused to come out for hours. Patrol tried negotiating with them and eventually called in the Jefferson County S.W.A.T. team. After about 8 hours of deliberations, the suspects came out separately before 9 a.m. within an hour of each other.

Snelling said that one suspect has minor burns on his hands because there was a small fire inside the house but declined to give more information on the fire. No civilians were injured. “This is another example of how our community is impacted by auto theft,” Snelling said. Both suspects are in custody at the Jefferson County Jail and will face charges from the carjacking and standoff as well as outstanding charges from their previous warrants.

Car dealership donates $10,000 to Hope House Colorado BY RYAN DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Larry H. Miller Dealership staff presenting Hope House Colorado COURTESY LARRY H. MILLER DEALERSHIP staff with a $10,000 check.

As part of its “5 Days of Giving” campaign, Larry H. Miller Dealerships donated $10,000 to Hope House Colorado, an Arvada-based nonprofit that provides selfsufficiency programming for teen moms on Dec. 20. Hope House was one of 10 nonprofits that received funds as part of the campaign. In its sixth year, “5 Days of Giving” saw the multi-state car dealership chain give out

over $95,000 in donations to organizations including Boulder Voices for Children, Denver Dumb Friends League, Food Bank of the Rockies and YWCA Boulder County. Larry H. Miller Liberty Toyota General Manager Todd Hilleboe said Hope House was selected because of the work the organization does. “We are definitely honored to be a small part of the work that is being done by Hope House,” Hilleboe said. “To see the positive impact on the

lives of these young women is truly wonderful, and we appreciate all of the hard work being done by so many.” Hope House Director of Development Lisa Schlarbaum said the donation was investment in the future of the moms Hope House works with. “This donation is changing lives here at Hope House. Our moms are aged 15-24, so the financial help that is being provided is truly making an impact now and for years to come,” Schlarbaum said.

FEB 4 - MAY 22, 2022 Charming, handsome, and a compulsive liar, Dorante arrives in Paris looking for a good time. He falls in love with the beautiful Clarice, but his dishonest ways throw him into a tangled web of mistaken identities and false accusations. After lying his way into a world of trouble, can Dorante lie his way back out again? Fiendishly clever and a bit naughty, this updated adaptation of the classic French farce weaves wordplay and swordplay into a madcap, comic romp!

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Arvada Press 9

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December 30, 2021

Despite fewer reported cases, COVID up in sewage tests Signs indicate more virus prevalence, but vaccinated people may not know they’re infected BY ROBERT TANN RTANN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Testing of wastewater at the Englewood-Littleton sewage plant is finding record-high signs of COVID prevalence in the south metro populace, while the number of people receiving positive COVID

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tests has dropped — a situation that may show vaccinated people are not getting sick enough to feel the need to test, a Colorado researcher says. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, South Platte Renew, a wastewater treatment plant in Englewood that is the third largest in Colorado, has been on the front lines of helping health officials make sense of the state of the virus. The plant collects daily samples of sewage produced by about 300,000 people, according to Pieter Van Ry, the site’s director, covering populations in Arapahoe, Douglas and Jefferson counties. Samples are sent to various labs both in-state and outside Colorado that test for the virus’s genome, an indicator of how prevalent COVID may be in a given community. In recent weeks, tests have shown higher amounts of COVID being detected in South Platte’s wastewater than at any other point of the pandemic. But reported cases for the area are down by about half their record peak from last winter. The reason has to do with the difference in how the wastewater and clinical tests are conducted. “We use wastewater surveillance to supplement our human clinical testing,” said Rachel Jervis, an epidemiologist at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. “It’s really complementary information to give us more data about COVID in a particular community.” About 50% of people who catch

Blair Corning, deputy director of environmental programs at South Platte Renew, stands on one of the plant’s clarifiers. Since the onset of COVID, the facility has been PHOTO BY ROBERT TANN sampling wastewater and sending it off for testing.

COVID will “shed (the) COVID virus in their stool,” regardless if they have symptoms, according to Jervis, meaning it can be an early indicator for how much the virus is spreading in an area. But unlike a clinical test such as a nasal swab or saliva sample, wastewater testing can’t show how many people are currently infected. “We’re really just looking at the volume of the genetic material of COVID,” Jervis said. “We’re not able to link it to an individual person and so we can’t use it to align the case data.” Some of South Platte’s waste samples find their way to Carol Wilusz, a professor and researcher at Colorado State University, whose lab has been testing wastewater for COVID

twice a week since August 2020. Wilusz and her team begin by filtering the sample in order to isolate the viral material before extracting its RNA data. Then, through an enzymatic process, they are able to turn the RNA into DNA. After this, they test the DNA using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect the virus’s genetic material and how much of it there is. This produces a copy number, similar to a viral load, that can be used to gauge how present COVID is in the wastewater. The data is then sent to CDPHE and, along with data from other labs and testing facilities, is published on their dashboard. SEE WASTEWATER, P22

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December 30, 2021

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12 Arvada Press

December 30, 2021

LOCAL

VOICES

Sometimes goals fall short, and that’s OK

HITTING HOME

Michael Alcorn

y lovely wife is a manager of people—both by vocation and, in large part, by disposition. And, accordingly, she’s been spending a great deal of time over the last couple weeks doing the dreaded “year-end evaluation” process with her people. Predictably, I received a “Does not consistently meet expectations.” But that’s another story for another day… Of course, this process is nothing new. Anybody out there in human resources has, no doubt, gone through much the same process recently. Heck, even back when I still had a regular job, I always went through a year-end evaluation. Of course, as a music teacher, these usually came in May, the people doing the evaluations rarely understood what I did, and, once I earned “tenure” (sometime back in the Clinton administration), those evaluations rarely counted for much. But, still, … As I look back at my 2021, I realize that there are some goals I set for myself that I achieved, some I set that I failed at and some I set that were ridiculous to think about in the first place. For instance, I had hoped that I would have finished my next book this year. The only reason I really set out to make that a goal for this year was that, by coincidence, I finished my last book at the end of 2020, and it just seemed like a year was

plenty of time to get the next idea out of my head and onto paper. But, of course, the creative process scoffs at timelines, and it turns out that having a single idea but trying to manipulate it three different ways doesn’t actually lead to an “end of process” efficiently. But still, I probably have about three-fourths of the story laid out, so it was far from a wasted year. Is that a fail? I don’t think so. One of the things I think we should have learned from 2020 and 2021 is that sometimes plans/hopes/goals fall short due to things entirely beyond our control, and sometimes they fall short because our original thoughts were, it turns out, too ambitious. My school teacher friends are dealing with an ancillary of this right now. They started school in the Fall with high hopes that the only serious problem they’d be dealing with was severe learning loss; it turns out, they’re having trouble getting to the point of addressing that at all right now, because a big part of what they’re dealing with is mental health issues and, frankly, exhaustion. I think one of the hopes and goals we all had for ourselves at this time last year was that the new vaccines would put an end to the chaos of COVID. But, since then, we’ve had one devastating wave cut through us, and we’re on the cusp of another wave right now. And if you’re inclined to turn your nose up and blame

“those extremist anti-vaxxers,” I would just remind you that the National Hockey Association has about a 97% vaccination rate, and they just shut down business for two weeks, and have cancelled their players’ participation in the Olympics. In other words, I think many of us take this week and look back at the year that was, and give ourselves a mental report card. This year, I would just encourage you to separate, in your mind, the things you had control over from the things you had little control over, and grant yourself a little grace. And for those of you inclined to make New Year’s resolutions coming off those evaluations, try to insert in your thinking a little flexibility. As my wife calls them on her evaluations, your “growth opportunities” may not be exactly where you expect them to be. Until “the New Normal” actually stabilizes, maybe just staying on your feet is actually a pretty good starting point for next year. Happy New Year, Everyone! Michael Alcorn is a former teacher and current writer who lives in Arvada with his wife and three children. His new novel, “Valkyrie’s Kiss,” a finalist in the ScreenCraft Book Competition, is available now at mjalcorn@comcast.net. His opinions are not necessarily those of Colorado Community Media.

Answers are available on Medicare LIVING AND AGING WELL

Brandon Davis

ave you ever had a question concerning Medicare, but not sure about who to turn to for the answers? Tired of all the advertisements from various plans ALWAYS trying to sell you something? Need some local advice how to protect your Medicare benefits from suspected Medicare fraud, abuse or errors? There are two (2) local programs that are federally funded to help answer your questions and offer some advice to protecting your Medicare benefits! The first program is the State Health Insurance Assistance Program (known as “SHIP”). It is a program of dedicated, certified, and trained counselors. These counselors have gone through intensive training on the various parts of Medicare, Medicare Advantage Plans, and Medicare Supplements policies (known as Medigaps). Our SHIP counselors understand that circumstances differ between one beneficiary and another. Even if you are currently working, have job insurance, and are eligible for Medicare, we can help provide advice on your options. If you are transitioning from Medicaid to Medicare due to eligibility, SHIP can

A publication of

Call first: 14143 Denver West Pkwy., Suite 100, Golden 80401, 303-566-4100 Mailing Address: 750 W. Hampden Ave., Suite 225 Englewood, CO 80110 Phone: 303-566-4100 Web: ArvadaPress.com To subscribe call 303-566-4100

provide next-step advice to you on making that transition as smooth as possible. Whether you are thinking about Medicare, already enrolled, or have a question for a friend or family member, we can help you find the answer to these questions! The second program is the Senior Medicare Patrol (also known as “SMP”) which provides advice and education to people with Medicare and caregivers to protect beneficiaries from suspected fraud, errors and abuse. The purpose of the Senior Medicare Patrol is to empower and assist Medicare beneficiaries, their families, and caregivers to protect, detect and report health care fraud, errors and abuse. If you are new to Medicare or currently enrolled, it’s NEVER too late to learn how to protect and safeguard your healthcare benefits. This program can help equip you on how to protect healthcare information (i.e. your Medicare card and number). Your Medicare Summary Notice is a quarterly record from your plan displaying where you used your Medicare card for services. It may say “This is NOT a bill” but it’s important to take a few minutes to review it to make sure there are not

any errors! Lastly, the Senior Medicare Patrol serves as a local resource for you to report any suspected Medicare fraud or insurance agent marketing violations (e.g., uninvited calls or visits). These two programs are at NO COST to you and funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in partnership with the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies, Division of Insurance. Brandon Davis is the Program Director at Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies. Please join us for our next virtual online presentation at 10 a.m. on Feb. 3, when Davis will present about these programs and how they can help answer your Medicare questions. For additional information please visit www.drcog.org/SHIP or call SHIP at 1-888-696-7213. This column is hosted by the Seniors’ Council of Douglas County. For more information, please visit www.MyDougCoSeniorLife.com, email DCSeniorLife@ douglas.co.us or call 303-663-7681.

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Arvada Press 13

December 30, 2021

Dazzle celebrates 25 years of jazz

azz is one of America’s quintessential creations — one that continues to influence and inspire, even for people who may not consider themselves fans of the genre. Dazzle, Denver’s jazz nightclub, has been one of the key places keeping the artform on stage in the Mile High City for the last quarter-century. And it’s kicking off 2022 with a multi-evening birthday celebration, marking 25 years of operation. “We have a dedication to good music and people know whenever they come to Dazzle, the music will be phenomenal,” said Kelley Dawkins, marketing director with Dazzle, 1512 Curtis St. “With our menu, we’re a great way to have a fun, high energy night out without you having to put a lot of energy into it. And we’ve done such a great job building a local following that nourishes the love of jazz.” The first performance of the birthday celebration will be Convergence featuring Roberta Gambarini at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 7 and 8. Rico Jones and Max Light will be featured in the 9:30 p.m. show on Jan. 7. The 9:30 p.m. performance on Jan. 8 is called “Dazzle Mixtape” and will feature violinist and 2018 Grammy-nominee Sara Caswell, saxophonist Anisha Rush, trombonist Mark Patterson, pianist Jacquelyn Schreiber, bassist Gabe Rupe and drummer Colin Stranahan. The final show will be at 6 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 9 and is Patterson’s “Group Stories” featuring Dale Bruning and Caswell. According to provided information, Dazzle began in 1997 at 930 Lincoln St. before moving to its current location. Like every other live venue, it struggled during the pandemic,

but Dazzle strove to make things a bit easier for musicians. That led them to participate in their Bread & Jam program, “a weekly VIP jam session where musicians can rekindle old musical relationships and find new ones.” Clarke Reader They also get a hot meal out of the deal. “We wanted to reexamine how we fit in the greater musical community in Denver because we want everybody to win,” Dawkins said. “We’re doing our best to support musicians in any way we can.” While jazz may not be the most popular genre, it still elicits passion from fans of all ages. And Dazzle aims to remain there for musicians to share their love of the form. “Traditional jazz often appeals to an older crowd, and while there’s definitely still an audience for that music, it’s nice to see the different ways jazz is evolving. There are so many blurred lines between genres, meaning it’s very easy to slide from jazz to R&B and pop,” Dawkins said. “Dazzle has always loved being the small club in the middle of Denver where you can hear amazing national and international acts and great local music. But now we’re moving to the place for the best local music, with occasional national and international acts stopping in.” For tickets and information, visit dazzledenver.com.

COMING ATTRACTIONS

casing a new exhibit to kick of 2022 — one that celebrates some of the biggest achievements in aerospace. Skyward: Breakthroughs in Flight is on display at the museum, 7711 E. Academy Blvd. in Denver, which is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday. According to provided information, featured artifacts include fabric from the Wright Flyer that went to the moon with Neil Armstrong, an American flag signed by Charles Lindbergh, fabric from the Lockheed Vega that Amelia Earhart flew solo across the Atlantic and more. Visit WingsMuseum.org/Skyward for more information and tickets. Factory Fashion celebrates drag culture Factory Fashion is starting off the new year with a program aimed at helping teens show their true selves. Drag Tween-Teen Fashion begins on Sunday, Jan. 9 and runs for the rest of the month, with single sessions and a multi-week course that teaches participants everything from wig maintenance to drag make-up and performance techniques. The series culminates with a finale performance at Stanley Marketplace on

Saturday, Jan. 30. Part of the Aurora-based community arts collective Factory Five Five, Factory Fashion is located at the Stanley Marketplace, 2501 Dallas St., Suite 200, in Aurora. For information and to sign up, visit factoryfivefive. com/fashion.

Clarke’s Concert of the Week — Charley Crockett at Ogden Theatre Charley Crockett is one of the most prolific and underrated musicians in music today, living in the nebulous space between blues and country music. His crooning style is straight out of classic country music, while his guitar playing is equally indebted to blues legends. Last year he released “Music City USA,” — not only his best but one of the best releases of the entire year. Crockett will be performing at the Ogden Theatre, 935 E. Colfax Ave. in Denver, at 9 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 8. Ensure you don’t miss it by getting tickets at axs.com. Clarke Reader’s column on culture appears on a weekly basis. He can be reached at Clarke.Reader@hotmail. com.

Kiss the sky at Wings Over the Rockies Wings Over the Rockies is show-

Recovery campus planned to fight homelessness BY JENNIFER BROWN COLORADO SUN

Eight years ago, Colorado repurposed an old Army fort surrounded by farm fields into a homeless recovery center, a peaceful campus on the plains, far from the gritty streets where its residents previously slept. More than 1,700 people have lived at Fort Lyon, about three hours from Denver in Las Animas, and about half of them left with housing. Now, as Denver and its suburbs are dotted with tents and parks have been shut down to clean up trash, plans are in the works for two more recovery campuses — both much closer to the epicenter of Colorado’s homelessness crisis. Gov. Jared Polis has tagged $45 million in his budget request to turn a former, now-empty youth corrections facility in the mostly vacant fields not far from Denver International Airport into a site that could house up to 350 people. The second recovery campus is planned for a to-be-determined location in the Denver area — whether that’s in the city proper or one of the suburbs is unknown. And judg-

ing by the “not-in-my-backyard” fights over Denver’s sanctioned tent camps during the last year, the metro area will at some point in the near future begin arguing over which neighborhood or suburb should host the project. For now, though, talks are in the works about what the recovery campus should include and a wish list is beginning to take shape: an all-encompassing residential center where people could receive medical detox, addiction treatment, job training and peer mentorship from folks who’ve experienced addiction and homelessness. Ideally, residents could stay as many months as they needed — up to two years even — and walk out with enough stability to work and pay rent. The governor has asked for $50 million for the Denver-area project, which, like the Adams-Arapahoe county campus, would be funded from one-time federal coronavirus aid in the American Rescue Plan. The plan is to have Denver’s Department of Housing Stability collaborate with various other city and county agencies and nonprofits. SEE HOMELESS, P23

Memory In Loving

Place an Obituary for Your Loved One. 303-566-4100 obituaries@coloradocommunitymedia.com Self placement available online at ArvadaPress.com

14 Arvada Press

December 30, 2021

LOCAL

IS COLORADO HOME TO AN

LIFE

ANCIENT

ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY? The question is testing archaeological limits

BY DAVID GILBERT COLORADO SUN

n the winter solstice in 1997, Greg Munson stood beside an unusual basin pecked into the stone along the exit trail to Cliff Palace, grandest of the cliff dwellings in southwestern Colorado’s Mesa Verde National Park. As the sun set on the shortest day of the year, Munson, a former Mesa Verde park ranger and researcher, watched as the sun appeared to plunge into Sun Temple, an enigmatic structure perched on a promontory atop Chapin Mesa across the canyon from his vantage point. “It was amazing to think that maybe I was the first western person to see this event in nearly 800 years and recognize it for what it was,” Munson said. Munson and his colleagues may have been looking at one of the most advanced astronomical observatories in the ancient world, according to recent studies by data scientist Sherry Towers. Researchers have long theorized that Sun Temple contains solar, lunar and

astronomical alignments in its placement and architecture, and Towers’ research suggests it could be far more complex than previously believed. But unraveling Sun Temple’s mysteries is made more difficult by the troubled history between researchers and the descendants of the people who built it. Towers’ research uses computer modeling to theorize that Sun Temple is shot through with sight lines pointing not just to the rise and set of the sun at crucial dates, such as equinoxes and solstices, but to lunar cycles and an array of major stars that figure into Pueblo cosmology that may have its origins among the Ancestral Puebloans. Towers has also further developed theories that Sun Temple’s construction incorporates advanced geometry, including a standard unit of measurement, and walls built to the proportions of the golden rectangle and Pythagorean 3:4:5 triangles. “It’s sheer genius,” Towers said of Sun Temple’s construction. “The architect did this with no known writing or numerical system, no computers.

IMAGES: TOP LEFT: Dr. Sherry Towers at the edge of the cliff beside Sun Temple in 2015. Towers believes the enigmatic structure may have been an advanced astronomical observatory. COURTESY PHOTO TOP RIGHT:Cliff Palace in the 1930s. NATIONAL PARKS SERVICE

BOTTOM LEFT: December sunshine over Sun Temple. PHOTO BY JEREMY SHOCKLEY BOTTOM RIGHT:A diagram of Sun Temple drawn by pioneering archaeologist J.W. Fewkes. NATIONAL PARKS SERVICE

‘Some feel we shouldn’t be preserving these sites, that we should allow them to decay as Mother Nature intended. But that’s contrary to our policy to preserve these places for future generations.’ Elizabeth Dickey, Mesa Verde National Park’s head of cultural resources They laid it out with yucca cords and sticks. They were the Michaelangelo of their time.” Mesa Verde National Park, established in 1906, features some of the most well-preserved Ancestral Puebloan sites in the Southwest. More than 22,000 people may have lived on and around Mesa Verde at the beginning of the 1200s. But by the beginning of the 1300s, the area was depopulated, likely as a result of

a prolonged drought or other social pressures. The inhabitants largely resettled in Arizona and the Rio Grande Valley of New Mexico, where their descendants live today as the Pueblo and Hopi people. (The park’s former inhabitants were once called the Anasazi, though the term – which is commonly cited as meaning “ancient enemy” in the Diné language – is considered derogatory by Pueblo people and has

fallen out of use). Mesa Verde’s crown jewels are its cliff dwellings, sprawling structures built in alcoves beneath the mesa tops, with likely uses including habitation, food storage, ceremony and ritual. More than 600 cliff dwellings are scattered throughout the park, though they represent just a fraction of the more than 5,000 known archeological SEE MESA VERDE, P15

Arvada Press 15

December 30, 2021

MESA VERDE FROM PAGE 14

sites within park boundaries. Amid this archaeological treasure trove, Sun Temple stands out. Built nearly 800 years ago by the Ancestral Puebloans, Sun Temple shows no signs of habitation – no hearths, no food storage, no trash middens. The D-shaped 122-foot-by64-foot structure encloses several roofless circular rooms. They do not appear to be kivas, the subterranean rooms used for ceremonies and rituals. Nor were they tall enough to be watchtowers. “We know it’s monumental public architecture,” said Elizabeth Dickey, Mesa Verde National Park’s head of cultural resources. “But how was it used? That we can’t say.” Finding alignments Towers’ work follows earlier hypotheses about the site’s astronomical alignments, dating to the earliest modern researchers. Sun Temple was first excavated by J.W. Fewkes, a pioneering archaeologist and ethnographer who worked in the park in the early 20th century – and gave Sun Temple its modern name. Fewkes theorized that Sun Temple’s south wall was aligned to the summer solstice sunrise, though later investigation found the wall is off from the sunrise by several degrees. Nevertheless, in the decades that followed, researchers built on Fewkes’ theories, owing in part to Sun Temple’s commanding view of the surrounding landscape, and growing awareness of the Ancestral Puebloans’ knowledge of astronomy. Munson, who along with other researchers surveyed Sun Temple in the 1990s and 2000s, studied the alignment between the winter solstice sunset and the pecked basin at Cliff Palace across the canyon. Towers, who built on work by Munson, Kim Malville and Dr. Jonathon Reyman, said her research brings a new data-driven, analytical approach that has been lacking in archeoastronomy — the study of how ancient people observed the heavens. “You can find alignments in almost any building if you go looking for them,” Towers said. To check her work, Towers created a computer model of Sun Temple, then rotated it in more than 200 configurations. She said only in its real-world positioning does Sun Temple most closely match the alignments of major stars in the mid-13th century, when Sun Temple is believed to have been built. As her research has broadened, Towers said she believes many sites around Sun Temple may hold more astronomical alignments. From a boulder covered in ancient carvings at nearby Balcony House, Towers says the winter solstice sunrise would appear to emerge from the vertex of an L-shape formed by a cliff face and the top of Chapin Mesa across the canyon, though she has not yet had a chance to observe the phenomenon in person. Towers acknowledges that while her research is intriguing, she has had little discourse with Pueblo and Hopi people about it.

“These places are considered sacred, and there’s a lot of trust that needs to be built to achieve that relationship,” said Towers, who is working for the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies in Germany. “I wish I lived in Colorado so I was in a position to work on that. Would Pueblo people see value in the work I do? Maybe, maybe not.” Living, breathing places Observing the movement of the heavens has been important to Pueblo and Hopi people throughout their known history, said Phillip Tuwaletstiwa, a Hopi geodesist. “There were very precise ways of tracking the sun,” Tuwaletstiwa said. “The job fell to a man our people called the Sun-Watcher, who observed the solar journey.” Observing the sun was important timekeeping for both agricultural and ceremonial functions, he said, calling the solstices – the longest and shortest days of the year – important dividing lines. “The sun actually appears to stand still for a few days on either side of the solstice,” he said. “Pinpointing the exact day can be tricky. In our communities, on the winter solstice, we worry. If we aren’t walking the proper path, following the Hopi way, will the sun leave its winter house? It’s a period of apprehension. When it moves after a day or two, there’s a sigh of relief.” Observing the movements of the sun and moon demonstrate a fundamental Hopi belief in the dualities of existence, Tuwaletstiwa said. “Shadow and light, birth and death, sun and moon,” he said. “The sun is predictable, steady. It comes up every day, and if you watch its movements for a year, you’ve nailed it. The moon is nothing like that. It appears and disappears, and its full cycle across the sky, what’s called the lunar maximum and minimum, takes years to observe. The opposites in nature help balance each other.” Tuwaletstiwa, as a geodetic surveyor, helped measure the orientation of ancient buildings in Chaco Canyon, a major Ancestral Puebloan cultural center in northwestern New Mexico. His measurements helped form the underpinning of research hypothesizing that Chacoan buildings were also built around numerous astronomical alignments. He hasn’t made up his mind on Towers’ theories, saying the SunWatcher system was so effective without advanced architecture that he believes sites like Sun Temple — or the Sun Spiral, an apparent astronomical observatory on Fajada Butte in Chaco Canyon — may have been places for communities to collectively celebrate solar and lunar cycles rather than to strictly measure points on the calendar, such as the winter solstice on Dec. 21 this year. The cyclical nature of time speaks to a mindset Tuwaletstiwa wishes modern researchers could better grasp: that to Pueblo and Hopi people, places like Mesa Verde are not abandoned. “We don’t like that word, abandoned,” he said. “We don’t think in terms of the time between events. We have migrated many

times. We didn’t vanish. We were many places before Mesa Verde, and many places after. I visited the veterans’ cemeteries in Normandy, and I treated them with respect and gratitude. In Chaco and Mesa Verde, those are my ancestral people. I need to treat them with respect as well. To us, these are living, breathing places.” Tuwaletstiwa said it’s difficult to conclusively speak to the connection between modern Hopi and Pueblo astronomical observances and those of the Ancestral Puebloans, because there are dozens of beliefs and customs among different clans and groups. And yet, between the analytical nature of archaeology and the intimate nature of Indigenous heritage and spirituality, Tulawetstiwa sees another complementary duality. “When we talk about Mesa Verde, tree ring studies, carbon dating and DNA are one side, and the stories and spirits of Native people are on another side,” he said. “They can inform each other. I don’t see them as in conflict.” Drawing archaeology and ethnography closer together is an essential task to understanding places like Sun Temple, said Munson, the researcher whose studies helped inform Towers’ work. “The architecture, the way things were built, that’s the ‘how,’” Munson said. “The ethnography, the people, that’s the ‘why.’ Without the why, there’s now how.” Munson founded the Society for Cultural Astronomy in the American Southwest, or SCAAS, an organization that invites Indigenous scholars to participate in archeoastronomy research. The group is also raising funds to preserve and digitize Fewkes’ work, which includes significant ethnographic resources recorded at the tail end of the 19th century. Repairing damaged trust Though the distance between archaeologists and the descendants of Ancestral Puebloans is narrowing, generations of strife can take time to overcome, said Tim Hovezak, the former head of cultural resources at Mesa Verde. “To say there’s damaged trust is putting it mildly,” he said. “There’s been a long history of exploitation of people who were at the time powerless to do anything about damage to their cultural heritage.” Though the cliff dwellings of

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Mesa Verde were known to the Pueblo, Hopi, Ute, Diné and other Native people for centuries, they were largely left alone. But white settlers in the late 1800s began pillaging the sites almost as soon as they discovered them, knocking down walls and hauling off wagonloads of artifacts to sell to collectors. Some early archaeologists exhumed human remains, shipping them to far-flung museums. “Some of us are actively working to restore trust,” Hovezak said. “We’re trying to be more cognizant of Native views, and the Pueblos are becoming more proactive on their own behalf.” Several Pueblo groups either declined to comment for this story or did not respond to requests for comment. Some differences will likely remain, said Dickey, the park’s current head of cultural resources. “We listen closely to descendant groups, but we can’t always enact their wishes,” Dickey said. “Some feel we shouldn’t be preserving these sites, that we should allow them to decay as Mother Nature intended. But that’s contrary to our policy to preserve these places for future generations.” Early attempts at stabilizing sites were haphazard. Fewkes poured Portland cement atop Sun Temple’s walls, a practice that would “leave us aghast today,” Dickey said. Dickey said the Parks Service takes a “light hand” with preservation, employing stonemasons who specialize in ancient-style stone cutting and mortar mixing. Deciphering the mystery of Sun Temple may continue to prove elusive, Dickey said. “A lot of the tribal members we consult with will tell us they know what these places were used for, what they mean,” Dickey said. “But they say it’s not for us to know. These are private, sacred things. Our insatiable curiosity is disrespectful to them. As scientists, we want to know everything. We want to dig until we find the answers. But sometimes, we have to learn to let go.” This story is from The Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned news outlet based in Denver and covering the state. For more, and to support The Colorado Sun, visit coloradosun. com. The Colorado Sun is a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy, owner of Colorado Community Media.

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16 Arvada Press

LOCAL

December 30, 2021

SPORTS

Impressive first quarter leads to Arvada West win BY DENNIS PLEUSS JEFFCO PUBLIC SCHOOLS

ARVADA— It was a quarter that Arvada West’s boys basketball team would like to repeat as many times as possible. The Wildcats grabbed a commanding 26-5 lead over Denver North after the first eight minutes Dec. 17 at Arvada West High School. The quick start eventually led to a 62-29 victory for the Wildcats (3-3 record). “We had really good energy and communicated really well,”A-West junior Carson Nichols said of the first quarter. “We came out of the gate with a lot of fast-break layups. Zion hit two 3-pointers. Everything was going good for us.” A-West junior Zion Thomas was unstoppable early pouring in all of his 12 points for the game in the first quarter. Junior Jasper Padia added 14 points while Nichols scored a game-high 18 points for the Wildcats. “We you let the game come to you and you aren’t forcing things the five guys on the court all get involved,” Parriott said. “Our team is going to have to have production from Zion, Jasper and Carson. They have to produce for us to give us a chance to beat good teams.” Denver North (6-4) was led by sophomore Jacob Giron’s 13 points. The Vikings have won four of their last six games. Denver North doesn’t return to the court until after Winter Break. A-West has one final non-league game before taking about a twoweek hiatus between games. The SEE ARVADA WEST, P17

Arvada West junior Zion Thomas (5) drives for a layup during his 12-point first quarter Dec. 17 against Denver North. The Wildcats PHOTO BY DENNIS PLEUSS/JEFFCO PUBLIC SCHOOLS took a 62-29 victory against the Vikings in the non-league game.

Chatfield ends skid, hands Green Mountain first loss BY DENNIS PLEUSS JEFFCO PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Green Mountain senior Corbin Jantzer (11) takes the ball up in the paint while being challenged by Chatfield senior Jake Marschall (5) and Chase Miller. The Rams suffered their first loss of the season with

LITTLETON — Chatfield got a much-needed win Dec. 21, heading into its Winter break. The Chargers ended a 4-game losing streak with a solid 49-33 victory over previously undefeated Green Mountain it what was a throwback to what used to be one of the best boys basketball rivalries in Jeffco during the late-1990s and early-2000s. “This is huge. This is a game-changer,” Chatfield junior Shay Rumsey said after he scored a game-high 14 points. “We were heading downhill. We just had to work together. I think we finally found it tonight.” The Chargers (4-5 record) definitely discovered their capability on defense. Chatfield held Green Mountain (4-1) to just 13 points in the second half after holding a

slim 23-20 halftime lead. “That is credit to (Chatfield),” Green Mountain coach Mike Puccio said of the Rams being held to a season-low 33 points. “They took us out of everything we wanted to do. We had good looks at times. Looking at the stats, we shot 25 percent. You do that and you aren’t beating anybody in the league (Class 4A Jeffco).” Coming into Tuesday’s 4A Jeffco versus 5A Jeffco showdown the Rams and Chargers were on opposite sides of the spectrum when it came to close games. Green Mountain — ranked No. 7 in the CHSAANow. com 4A boys basketball poll — had won its previous three wins by a total of 14 points. On the other hand, Chatfield had lost its last three games by a total of 10 points. “We finally got a full week of practice with all of our guys,” Chatfield coach Erik

Buehler said. “We were on the same page defensively. I knew with this group they could defend like that. Those kids are really tough defensively and that should be our calling card moving forward.” Seniors Cooper Francy and Luke Davis had 12 points each to lead the Rams. The Rams have one final game before Winter break. Green Mountain heads downtown to Ball Arena to face Fredrick. The Warriors were sitting just outside the top-10 rankings in 4A this week. “It’s a learning experience,” Puccio said. “Credit again to Chatfield. We didn’t lose it. They took us out what we wanted to do.” Rumsey and senior Marquis Jones (11 points) led the Chargers offensively. Chatfield did have an issue at the SEE CHATFIELD, P17

Arvada Press 17

December 30, 2021

Arvada West junior Carson Nichols, right, scored a game-high 18 points in the Wildcats’ 62-29 home victory against Denver North on Dec. 17. PHOTO BY DENNIS PLEUSS/JEFFCO PUBLIC SCHOOLS

ARVADA WEST FROM PAGE 16

Wildcats hit the road to face Lakewood at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 21. “It would be nice having some confidence going into break having won three in a row,”Parriott said.“I think it’s a big game. It’s the next game so that makes it big too.” The Wildcats had back-to-back losses last week to start the Fairview Tournament in Boulder. AWest lost in the first round against Denver East and then suffered a 23-point loss to area-rival Ralston Valley in the consolation bracket. Parriott believes his team has learned a lot from the 61-38 loss to rival Ralston Valley in the Fairview Tournament back on Dec. 8. “Hopefully we are better for it,” Parriott said after back-to-back

CHATFIELD FROM PAGE 16

free-throw line. Buehler admitted he “couldn’t watch” at times as the Chargers finished the night 8-for24 (33.3 percent) from the charity stripe. “That is something we’ll be working on,” Rumsey said of baker’s dozen of missed free throws in the second half. “We just weren’t locked in when we went to the free-throw line. We

wins following the loss.“We’ll find out soon. We’ll play them again and other teams that are physical and tough. Hopefully we learned a lot.” There doesn’t appear to be a juggernaut in the 5A Jeffco League this season. Ralston Valley (6-3) is the hottest team in the conference coming off winning the Ralston Roundup Tournament title Friday night with a 2-point victory over Doherty. It was the fifth straight win for the Mustangs. “I really think we could be up there,” Nichols said of the 5A Jeffco League. “We have a chance to compete and be up there with the best in Jeffco. We have a lot of work to do, but I believe we have the energy and depth.” Dennis Pleuss is the Sports Information Director for Jeffco Public Schools. For more Jeffco coverage, go to CHSAANow.com. need to change our mindset.” Chatfield returns to action with home games against Erie (Jan. 5) and rival Columbine (Jan. 7) in a non-league game at the start of the New Year. “I told the guys we’ve had one of the harder schedules in 5A during the preseason. It’s to get ready for 5A Jeffco,” Buehler said. “Hopefully we can springboard off of it.” Dennis Pleuss is the Sports Information Director for Jeffco Public Schools. For more Jeffco coverage, go to CHSAANow.com.

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22 Arvada Press

December 30, 2021

WASTEWATER FROM PAGE 10

A clarifier at South Platte begins the process of separating solids from the wastewater.

Wastewater from South Platte is sent to various labs, including one at Colorado State University.

PHOTOS BY ROBERT TANN

Stacey Walker, a laboratory services manager at South Platte Renew, bottles a sample of wastewater.

An advantage of wastewater testing, Wilusz said, is that it is involuntary as opposed to clinical testing, which may show a skewed picture based on who is choosing, and not choosing, to get tested. “Testing of wastewater is completely unbiased, it doesn’t matter if you’re a Democrat or a Republican or rich or poor,” she said. “Regardless of who or where you are, you’re getting tested in an unbiased fashion.” Since the end of October, viral copies in wastewater collected by South Platte have hovered at around 300,000 per liter, shooting past last winter’s COVID peak, when copies per liter were 263,000. This comes as clinical cases from tests in the area have sharply decreased to well under 100,000 per day, a case count comparable to summer 2020. Wilusz said it appears that COVID is more prevalent in the area than it was last year but thanks to climbing vaccination rates and the return of masking policies, fewer people may be getting sick and feeling the need to test. Still, Jervis, the epidemiologist at CDPHE, urged more people to get tested routinely and said clinical testing remains a crucial tool in the fight against COVID. “While we use wastewater data to understand trends, wastewater data can’t be used for any individual to make behavioral choices,” she said. “And so the only way to know whether you could have COVID and could be exposing your family and friends is if you get tested.” Go to tinyurl.com/cdphedata and scroll down to select “South Platte” to view data on wastewater and clinical tests on CDPHE’s dashboard.

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Arvada Press 23

December 30, 2021

HOMELESS FROM PAGE 13

“This is exactly what our community is crying out for us to address,” said Britta Fisher, who heads the city’s Department of Housing Stability. The key to getting people off the streets and into treatment is having space ready at the moment they’re ready to accept it — not two weeks later, or after telling them they need to visit multiple government offices to obtain a valid ID, she said. “If you’ve come to that decision, in that golden hour where you’ve decided ‘I need to do something about my addiction or about my mental health,’ and then you face a daunting gantlet to get services, … it’s very easy to see that one more barrier can set somebody back to say, ‘Ugh, I can’t do this right now,’” she said. Opioid crisis plays role Fisher points to the opioid crisis and the skyrocketing deaths from counterfeit opioid pills laced with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that has caused 624 deaths in Colorado so far this year. While about 1% of Denver residents are homeless, 17% of overdoses last year were among people who are homeless. In 2020, 370 people in Denver died of drug overdoses and this year’s deaths are on track to climb even higher. The Denver area lacks enough medical detox options, as well as residential programs for people who need treatment and lack insurance or are on Medicaid. Right now, those who can get beds typically are allowed to stay for about 14 days, which is not nearly enough time to stabilize after potentially years of living on the streets, Fisher said. And outpatient programs that send people back to their tent or a shelter at night do not work, she said. “You can’t go home to the street and think that is going to be a great environment to support sobriety,” Fisher said. The homelessness and drug crisis is so huge that Fisher suspects Colorado would have no trouble filling up two new recovery campuses in addition to Fort Lyon. “At this point, we are in such a crisis that I think we need a lot of beds,” she said. “We need more beds, more infrastructure, more staffing to help with what we

are facing as a community.” As for where this new center would go, Fisher said she’s still focused on the model and not the location. It’s possible, she said, that instead of one large campus, the recovery center ends up split among two or three locations – one with medical detox, another with job training, etc. She wants to hear ideas from the suburbs. “There are lots of regional partners here and they may have opportunities that they may want to bring forward and say, ‘We think this place could make sense for this and here’s how and where,’” Fisher said. “I don’t think this is a Denver-only or even a Denver-led. I think this is really about the region coming together. It’s not anything any one city can necessarily pull off on their own. There are folks in every community that need these types of services.” “Each county needs to contribute” Jefferson County, which has no homeless shelter, is working to stand up two “housing navigation” centers that would include shelter beds as well as permanent housing. Kelli Barker, who coordinates services for the homeless in JeffCo, is already facing a host of questions about where those navigation centers will go — and trying to balance the NIMBY sentiment with selecting neighborhoods that would qualify the projects for tax credits. “I have no easy solution,” she said. “Community engagement is really important for any site. It’s an urgent public need and ultimately it has to go somewhere.” Barker wholeheartedly supports a homeless recovery campus for Denver and its suburbs. “This would be so huge for the metro area,” she said. “Each county needs to contribute to the solution.” Services would be needed Wherever it’s located, the recovery campus needs an array of services so “people can chart their own pathway” to recovery, Barker said. Some might need medical detoxification to begin. Others will need medicationassisted treatment, such as methadone or suboxone. Later, they will want community college courses and training in auto mechanics or culinary arts. Most of all, people will need the space and time to recover, she said. Living on the street or in shelters, people are in a constant state of

crisis. “We know from the way our brains work that when you are in survival mode, wondering, ‘Where am I going to sleep tonight, where am I going to use the restroom,’ you are living minute to minute,” she said. “You can’t address any long-term goals. People use (drugs) to survive on the streets, to numb the pain of being in survival mode.” But when people who are homeless move into housing, with support from peers and therapists, their “nervous system relaxes” and they can start to “address the underlying trauma,” Barker said. The governor’s office said “all possibilities to bring this to fruition are still being considered,” and emphasized the need for a collaborative effort among various cities and counties. “In the wake of this pandemic, we have seen a rise in homelessness in many cities that need bigger, bolder solutions in partnership with local governments who ultimately must deliver results for their communities,” Polis’ spokesman Conor Cahill said in an email. “We look forward to discussing details in the coming months.” Fort Lyon has 49% success in permanent housing Fort Lyon sits on 552 acres in the Lower Arkansas Valley, where a grassy oval is surrounded by dormstyle living as well as homes that once housed Army officers. Last fiscal year, 390 people lived at Fort Lyon, before the pandemic caused the recovery campus — run by the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless — to take a break from admitting people from March-June 2020. Most of those 390 people came from Denver, Colorado Springs and Pueblo, and most returned to the Denver area, though some got jobs and housing in the community around Las Animas, according to an annual report from the Coalition for the Homeless. Of the 390, 49% left with permanent housing. The average stay lasted 11 months. A statewide referral network – including mental health centers, detox and substance abuse treatment clinics, the criminal justice system and the Coalition for the Homeless medical clinic – invites people to move to Fort Lyon. James Ginsburg, who ran Fort Lyon for its first 5 1/2 years and now runs a nonprofit for the homeless

in Lakewood, hopes to help develop plans for a Denver-area recovery campus. He has no doubt it would fill up — about 30 people each morning come to his nonprofit, called RecoveryWorks, for hot showers and food. The center, which also has 10 beds for people who are homeless and need acute medical care, spends each afternoon helping people apply for housing. The region is in major need of long-term, residential care to help people break the cycles of homelessness and addiction, he said. “People spend 40 years getting ill and it’s going to take longer than 30 days to get well,” Ginsburg said. “At the end of the day, people don’t want to self-destruct. But it’s the only life they’ve known.” Ginsburg said he is hopeful that, especially after the way the pandemic exposed the depth of the homelessness crisis, that the public will support the homeless recovery campuses. He wants people to see that having a recovery center in the neighborhood is better than having people without homes sleeping in doorways and setting up tents along sidewalks. “Everybody says they want it, just not in their neighborhood,” he said. “We have to continue to articulate the truth. Ignoring it is not going to make it go away.” To serve the city and the suburbs, a new Denver-area recovery center is likely to sit closer to homes and businesses than the campuses of Fort Lyon and the potential AdamsArapahoe site, which is the former Ridge View Youth Services Center. Ridge View, most recently a privately run program for teenage boys, is a 560-acre campus with seven living areas. The vast property has an industrial kitchen, an auto mechanic workshop, a football field and gymnasium. Funding for the two new recovery campuses is part of a $200 million package proposed by Polis that also includes a competitive grant program for local communities to build shelters and housing. This story is from The Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned news outlet based in Denver and covering the state. For more, and to support The Colorado Sun, visit coloradosun.com. The Colorado Sun is a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy, owner of Colorado Community Media.

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Public Notices call Sheree 303.566.4088 Legals City and County Public Notice CORRECTION NOTICE NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING INVITING PUBLIC REVIEW AND COMMENT REGARDING A SUBSTANTIAL

AMENDMENT TO THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT (CDBG) 2020 ANNUAL ACTION PLAN On November 25, 2021, the City of Arvada published a public notice regarding it’s proposal to amend its 2020 CDBG Annual Action Plan to reallocate 2020 CDBG formula funding allocated to the Housing Strategy Incentive Fund to Public Services to prevent, prepare for and respond to the COVID 19 pandemic. This publication commenced a 30-day public comment period for the Amendment starting November 25, 2021 through December 24, 2021. This notice also stated that a public hearing would be held on January 3,

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2022 for citizens and other interested parties to provide comments regarding the amendment. The announcement of a public hearing was in error. This notice serves as a correction to inform the public that there will NOT be a public hearing for the substantial amendment to the 2020 CDBG Annual Action Plan on January 3, 2022. Legal Notice No. 411967 First Publication: December 30, 2021 Last Publication: December 30, 2021 Publisher: Jeffco Transcript

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December 30, 2021

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