Arvada Press 042822

FREE

Week of April 28, 2022

JEFFERSON COUNTY, COLORADO

A publication of

INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 14 | LIFE: PAGE 16 | CALENDAR: PAGE 19 | SPORTS: PAGE 24

Man of the Year: Jeff Cannon

2021 Arvada Man of the Year Jeff Cannon.

5th generation Arvadan recognized for contributions to Chamber of Commerce, Jaycees

BY RYLEE DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Jeff Cannon doesn’t like being the center of attention. Cannon — this year’s Arvada Chamber of Commerce Man of Year — is a 5th generation Arvadan who volunteers with the Chamber, Sister Cities International, the Arvada Jaycees in addition to his work with North Metro Community Services, where he is a support partner who helps developmentally disabled individuals.

“I always try to sit in the back and help. I don’t like being the guy in front. It’s very nice to have (the award). I’m deeply honored by it and I still want to be the guy who

Woman of the Year: Gillian McCarron

PHOTO BY RYLEE DUNN

does my little part. If we all do our little parts, we’ve got a pretty wonderful Arvada,” Cannon said.

Arvada Chamber of Commerce President Kami Welch praised Cannon’s work with the Jaycees and the Arvada Harvest Festival Committee and general contributions to the community. “(Cannon) has made a lasting impression as a volunteer in Arvada for over 40 years. His leadership in particular with the Arvada Jaycees and Arvada Harvest Festival has helped maintain a cultural fabric of our community that makes Arvada a great place to live and do business,” Welch said.

While the Harvest Festival was canceled last year, Cannon is hopeful for the event’s return, emphasizing it’s importance to the community ahead of its centennial anniversary.

“We’re trying as hard as we can to nail down a location and keep the city happy about what we’re SEE CANNON, P2

VOLUME 17 | ISSUE 45

2021 Arvada Woman of the Year Gillian McCarron.

Philanthropist honored for work with underprivileged youth, AEDA board of directors

BY RYLEE DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Gillian McCarron is a woman of many hats. This year’s Arvada Chamber of Commerce Woman of the Year is the owner of Lakeside Insurance, serves on the Arvada Economic Development Association’s Board of Directors, volunteers with the Arvada Vitality Alliance and is the Chairperson of the Arvada/Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth’s board.

With all of those responsibilities, it’s easy to see why McCarron was named Woman of the Year, but hard to process how she manages it all.

The answer, according to McCarron, is prioritizing things she’s

COURTESY PHOTO

passionate about.

“I think it’s picking and choosing.

At first, I found it hard to say ‘no’ to people. Now, I pick where I want to focus my time and what I’m passionate about and where I want to be spending my time,” McCarron said.

One of those passions is the Arvada/Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth, an organization which recognizes disadvantaged students in Arvada and Wheat Ridge schools and awards them grants and scholarships.

McCarron said she first became familiar with the organization when she and a friend attended an AWRSAY luncheon and McCarron was struck by the perseverance of the students the nonprofit works with.

“I was just moved by the stories of young students going through so much in their lives. Students who go to school and there’s so many things going on in their lives outSEE MCCARRON, P2

2 Arvada Press

April 28, 2022

9th annual Hope House 5K and Fun Run set for May 7 at Lake Arbor Park Event proceeds benefit teen moms working toward self-sufficiency; last year’s event raised $68k STAFF REPORT

The 9th annual Hope House 5K and Fun Run will take place on May 7 at Lake Arbor Park, with the 5K slated to kick off at 9 a.m. and the Fun Run starting at 9:30 a.m. The event will also feature a Diaper Dash for crawlers, walkers and toddlers, and a vendor village featuring snacks and face painting.

Registration is open on Hope House’s website. Last year’s event raised a record-breaking $68,000

CANNON FROM PAGE 1

doing. The Harvest Festival started in 1925, so we’re almost 100 years old. It’s been a tradition for so long that I’d hate to see it go by the wayside. We’re just trying to get it to 100 years,” Cannon said.

Aside from his work with the Jaycees and the Harvest Festival Committee, Cannon volunteers with Sister Cities International, a

MCCARRON FROM PAGE 1

side of school that most kids don’t have to deal with. Helping them graduate and go to college, it moved me,” McCarron said.

Years later McCarron serves on AWRSAY’s board and helps the organization award 15 scholarships a year to Red Rocks Community College. This year, she joined the board of another organization — the Arvada Economic Development Association.

McCarron had previously served

The scene at last year’s Hope House 5K.

A group of runners pose after the 2021 Hope House 5K.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF HOPE HOUSE

for the nonprofit, which helps teen moms with childcare and working toward self-sufficiency.

Prizes will be awarded for the top three fastest 5K times in the following categories: Adult Male, Adult Female, Youth Male (12 and under) and Youth Female.

nonprofit that partners cities across the world together to strengthen global bonds (Arvada’s siter cities are Jinzhou, China and Kyzylorda, Kazakhstan).

Cannon said that he enjoys volunteering with Sister Cities because he believes in the impact that international connections can make — as exemplified by the lighting of the Arvada Water Tower in Ukrainian colors to show support for the country amid its war with Russia.

“That’s the kind of thing we need to be doing. Helping not just our-

selves but other people around the world. What better way to make friends than have international ties and be part of what they’re doing and trying to accomplish? They see what we’re doing, and I think it makes it a better world if we’re all trying to get along,” Cannon said.

Cannon also emphasized the work that the Chamber of Commerce does to help the local business community.

“The chamber’s work is really important. They give small businesses that can’t afford it the resources

they need and the information they need. The chamber does amazing work,” Cannon said.

He said he was surprised to win the Man of the Year award, as he’d gone back to working full time with North Metro Community Services helping developmentally disabled individuals get out and engage in the community.

“Other than falling out of my chair, I was pretty shocked. I’d gone back to work full time; I didn’t think people remembered some of the things that I did,” Cannon said.

on AEDA’s retention committee and said her position on their board helps her learn more about the city’s business needs and allows her to help direct those businesses to resources AEDA provides.

She said that the community support she and her husband, Mike, have received at Lakeside Insurance made it a simple decision to give back to the business community.

“This community allowed us to have a growing, thriving business.

Being able to give back is a big part of that. That’s why it’s easy for me to give hack and help others,” Mc-

Carron said.

“It’s just the people,” McCarron continued when asked what makes Arvada special. “It’s such a great community of people who are active and involved and really want to see the community thrive. I always say, I’m surrounded by individuals who inspire me every day and you keep giving back because you see people doing good things and I want to help too.”

Arvada Chamber of Commerce President Kami Welch praised McCarron’s work in the community. “(McCarron) is a passionate supporter of the Arvada community.

She has dedicated her time and tal-

ent to serve on various boards and with local charitable organizations that directly impact the health of our community,” Welch said.

For her part, McCarron was in disbelief when she found out she won the award.

“It’s kind of crazy. When I received that call that I’d be getting that award, I was stunned. I didn’t feel like I do that much that I’d be recognized for that. It’s super humbling. I feel super honored to be recognized. I know so many previous Man of the Year and Woman of the Year recipients and it’s an honor to be recognized alongside them,” McCarron said.

Curious or confused about reverse mortgages?

Corbin Swift

Call me for a confidential, free, in-home review of this retirement changing product.

Vice President | Reverse Mortgage Specialist NMLS #1883942 Colorado Lic #100514955

Cell (720)812-2071 Corbin@RMofCO.com 6530 S Yosemite St#310 Greenwood Village, CO 80111

“Helping those in my community with their mortgage needs for over 36 years.”

All applications are subject to underwriting guidelines and approval. Not all programs available in all areas. Rates and terms are subject to change without notice. Licensed and regulated by the Division of Real Estate. Cl Partners LLC dba Reverse Mortgages of Colorado, NMLS# 1846034, licensed in CO, MT License # 1846034, and TX. This is not a commitment to lend. Restrictions apply. Not all applicants will qualify.

Arvada Press 3

April 28, 2022

Electric Cherry hosts Record Store Day celebration in Olde Town Arvada Olde Town record store features Record Store Day exclusives from Olivia Rodrigo, Green Day, DeeLite

BY RYLEE DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

After missing out on the occasion during its first two years of business, Electric Cherry, a record

store in Olde Town Arvada, was finally able to celebrate Record Store Day this year.

On April 23, the shop hosted its first ever Record Store Day celebration, featuring RSD exclusives from Olivia Rodrigo, Green Day and others along with free pizza and a general sale.

Record Store Day is an annual event that began in 2007 to celebrate the culture of independent record stores. Artists who participate typically release special RSD editions of vinyl’s — this year’s slate includes special issues from David Bowie and Mariah Carey.

Electric Cherry Owner and Founder Ally Skiba said that her shop would be featuring 150 new RSD exclusives, and 200 used original press records donated by locals who patronize her shop. All goods in the shop were 10% off to celebrate the occasion, and Skiba provided pizza to the first customers who visited during record store day.

Skiba said that although Electric Cherry features other goods — the shop features wares made by local artists and artisans curated by Skiba — records are the core of the shop.

“Vinyl is the heartbeat of the shop. Although I have been an artist since I was a kid and I appreciate art — environmental goods and supporting other women – music is truly the ground floor of what’s going on here,” Skiba said.

She added that Record Store Day allows a unique opportunity for independent record stores to stand out and for vinyl enthusiasts to check out unique pressings and releases.

“There’s a huge reason to support indie record stores overall.

SEE RECORDS, P4

ADVERTISEMENT

‘Community Solar’ Makes Solar Power Available to Condo Owners and Apartment Dwellers

Driving around the metro area and elsewhere, you have probably noticed huge installations of solar panels on open land and wondered who built and who benefits from them.

Bigger installations, such as in the Mojave Desert, are utility-scale installations owned by electric utilities to replace fossil-fueled generators. Smaller installations, such as the one north of 64th Avenue on Highway 93, are owned by community solar companies or nonprofits.

The concept of community solar is to rent or sell portions of such installations to individual utility customers. The kilowatt-hours generated by those solar panels are then credited to the usage on subscribers’ electric meters.

It’s a perfect solution for customers like Rita and me, who sold their home and are now living in an apartment or condo building where they can’t install their own solar panels. The really neat Jim Smith’s popular political column, “Talking Turkey,” appears on page 2 of this Thursday’s YourHub section of the Denver Post. If you don’t subscribe to the Post, you can read his column (and previous ones) at www.TalkingTurkey.online.

thing about community solar is that when you move, your solar generation is merely reassigned to your new electric meter — no need to buy new panels.

Small businesses can also take advantage of community solar. Golden Real Estate, for example, moved last November from its solar-power office on South Golden Road into a storefront on Washington Avenue in downtown Golden.

Community solar is the only way that we can continue to be solar-powered even though we can’t install solar panels.

Denver-based SunShare describes itself as the nation’s oldest community solar company with over 10 years’ experience building and maintaining “solar gardens” across the state. Their website says that they have built 116MW of solar panels and have 14,000 subscribers and three utility partners. Learn more at their website, www.MySunShare.com.

Community solar was legalized in Colorado in 2010 with the passage of the Community Solar Gardens Act (HB 1342). The following year, SunShare opened for business, and, in 2015, the Colorado Energy Office partnered with GRID Alternatives to construct a com-

www.MySunShare.com

munity solar demonstration project to serve low-income Coloradans.

Colorado Springs Utilities was the first utility to create its own solar garden for 278 subscribers in 2011. That 0.5MW installation has since grown to a 2MW installation serving 435 customers.

Community solar can be a good deal for rural landowners, providing a predictable revenue stream for otherwise non-producing acreage.

Renting or buying photovoltaic panels in a solar garden costs money, so you’re still paying for electricity, but the rule of thumb is that what you spend on community solar electricity is about 10% cheaper than buying the same amount of electricity from the utility.

Some of us don’t worry about the size

of the savings but simply “go solar” because it’s the right thing to do.

To learn more, in addition to visiting SunShare’s website, I suggest Googling “community solar Colorado.” You’ll find other companies offering community solar, learn the history of it in Colorado and decide if it’s right for you.

You may find that existing solar gardens are sold out and that you’ll have to get on a waiting list for a future solar garden.

Whether you are putting solar panels on your own property or subscribing to a solar garden, consider upsizing your investment instead of basing it on your current usage, since the chances are that you’ll be buying an electric vehicle and you’ll want electricity from the sun to power it, too.

Help Us Find a Home for Our Woodway Curve Treadmill

Rita and I have downsized and have to give up our Woodway Curve nonelectric treadmill. We paid $5,995 + $1,000 for delivery. I’m asking $2,000 and will deliver it free locally.

If a Slowdown in the Real Estate Market Westminster Ranch Listed by Jim Swanson move-in ready south-facing ranch home Is Coming, April Statistics Don’t Show It This $559,000 with updates at 3865 W. 63rd Ave. is ready

Last week I predicted a slowdown in the real estate market because of the abrupt and severe increase in mortgage rates, and I stand by that prediction, but it will not be apparent, I believe, until we see the market statistics for May 2022.

April statistics won’t be available until mid-May, but at right is a table showing March statistics over the past 6 years. As you can see, especially in the last two columns, the seller’s market was only accelerating. Despite a surge in new listings and a high number of pending and closing listings resulting in a record low number of active listing, the median days in the MLS was at its lowest — 4 days — and the ratio of closed price to listing price was at its highest.

Although the numbers for April aren’t yet available, I checked the pending and closing listings from April 1 through April 24th on REcolorado, the Denver

for new owners. The corner lot and low maintenance yard is great for pets. The open floor plan features a large living room with vaulted ceiling, plus a dining area with French doors adjacent to the kitchen. Quality kitchen appliances are included. There are 2 bedrooms and 2 baths on the main level, and 2 bedrooms, a full bath, and a nice family room area in the basement. You'll like the high ceilings in the basement. Built in 1987, the Arlington Meadows neighborhood MLS, and found that DOM was still only has great access to Denver and Interstates 25, 76 and 70. The Tennyson light rail four, and the ratio of sold price to listing station is only 10 blocks away, as well as the large Tennyson Knolls park. View price had swollen to 105.5%. more pictures and take a narrated video tour at www.ArlingtonMeadowsHome.info, Keep in mind, however, that those then call your agent or Jim Swanson at 303-929-2727 for a private showing. listings which are pending now or have closed in April probably had interest Jim Smith rates that were locked in back in March Broker/Owner, 303-525-1851 before the abrupt increase in mortgage Jim@GoldenRealEstate.com interest rates which I still believe will 1214 Washington Ave., Golden 80401 soften the market in May and beyond.

Broker Associates: Here are a couple other statistics as of JIM SWANSON, 303-929-2727 April 24th that suggest an increased CHUCK BROWN, 303-885-7855 seller’s market: only 4,995 active listings Congratulations to David Dlugasch, DAVID DLUGASCH, 303-908-4835 top-producing Broker Associate for TY SCRABLE, 720-281-6783 in the entire MLS, and 10,649 pending the First Quarter of 2022 listings.

ANAPAULA SCHOCK, 303-917-1749

4 Arvada Press

April 28, 2022

RECORDS FROM PAGE 3

Every day, we’re battling Amazon, big box shops. We can get a lot more (records) that aren’t mass produced. Record Store Day is a holiday for music lovers. It’s a day for everyone to get together, enjoy music, shop small. There’s always exclusive releases and that’s the point of the holiday,” Skiba said.

Skiba herself is originally from the East Coast and moved to Colorado about six years ago.

She opened Electric Cherry in February 2020 — right before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

She said that while she had to make sacrifices in the early days, she’s noticed an uptick in vinyl interest throughout the pandemic.

“I was a vinyl delivery girl for the two months we were mandated to close. I drove around delivering records — never thought I’d have to do that,” Skiba said.

“Due to COVID, vinyl is making a huge resurgence. Which is interesting — starting a business that during a pandemic but also starting a business that I think, ironically, people were interested in a lot,” Skiba continued.

Skiba’s love affair with vinyl can be traced back to her grandfather, who manually pressed records for over 30 years, and her own background as an art-

ist and proximity to the music scene. She said she had a goal to open a record store but called it a “far away dream” until Electric Cherry came to fruition.

“My grandfather and my grandmother, every moment spent with them revolved around learning or expressing myself or appreciating music,” Skiba said.

“I had a lot of friends who were in bands — I would do a lot of band photography. I was always immersed in something… art has also done that as well, but music might have come first.”

Skiba said that although she didn’t have any business experience before opening the shop, she relied on expertise shared with her by other women in the industry to make Electric Cherry successful.

“I do feel like paying my dues helped me become an entrepreneur. I didn’t have a business degree — I have a fine arts degree. It really took learning from other women that helped me open this place and teach me about business,” Skiba said.

Her efforts are paying off thus far. Electric Cherry has carved out a niche in Olde Town as the district’s home for all things arts and music and recently celebrated its two-year anniversary. The shop hosts live music throughout the summer, details of which can be found on their Facebook page.

Skiba herself was recently named a Badass Woman of Arvada by the city’s Chamber of Commerce.

Crates of records at Electric Cherry.

Electric Cherry owner Ally Skiba in her shop.

OPEN

10AM - 2AM

DAILY

(Off-Track Betting)

Ultimate Sports OTB at In the Zone Sports Bar & Grill

A display of clothes and home goods at Electric Cherry.

Friendly tellers to help if you are new to wagering, Self-service totes for our experienced bettors.

Place your wagers on horses and dogs, collect your winnings at the counter!

80 TVs displaying Horse & Dog races, as well as your favorite Sporting Events.

Reserve your seat now for our Kentucky Derby Party, Saturday May 7th, 2022!

(303-279-3888) • 15600 West 44th Ave. Golden, CO ultimatesportsotb.com • inthezonebar.com

The interior of Electric Cherry, a vinyl shop in Olde Town.

PHOTOS BY RYLEE DUNN

Arvada Press 5

April 28, 2022

Arvada City Council meeting includes financial update, IGA with CDOT concerning homeless camps 2021 finances show positive revenue stream, challenges with inflation; IGA allows CDOT to clear camps

BY RYLEE DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

The April 18 meeting of the Arvada City Council included an update on the city’s financial status, the approval of an intergovernmental agreement between the City of Arvada and the Colorado Department of Transportation pertaining to the removal of homeless camps and updates to the City Code.

Mayor Marc Williams was absent from the meeting and was excused by his fellow councilmembers.

2021 year-end financial report Arvada Director of Finance Brian Archer delivered the 2021 Year End Financial Report, which saw positive revenue, but challenges brought on by inflation and other factors.

“I’m excited to report back to you that we ended the year positive in our revenue. Our expenditures are in line with the budget, but — as you have heard in other presentations this year — that has been getting tighter and tighter. Inflation is front and center and the ability to do what we’ve been doing is getting more expensive,” Archer said.

Archer relayed that the city spent $9 million on patching, milling overlay and concrete for 61 land miles of roads. The city

issued 367 building permits — 113 single family detached, 254 duplex and 17 commercial — producing $6.6 million in building revenue for the city.

Archer added that the city usually gets around eight commercial building permits in a fiscal year.

The Arvada Police Department was able to respond to priority 0 or 1 calls in under five minutes with response time improvements in all four sectors, according to Archer.

Additionally, Arvada’s unemployment rate dropped to 3.4% — below the national level of 3.9% and the state level of 4.2%. “(Unemployment) is back to levels not seen since 2019. If you remember, in 2019 we came and talked about the ability for businesses in to expand in Arvada was low because they didn’t have the workforce. And I think we’re back there again,” Archer said.

Property tax and sales tax revenues were both up, with sales tax rising in large part due to the rise of electronic shopping, which was the third highest source of sales tax revenue.

“We had a good financial year from a revenue perspective. We are certainly feeling the pressure — just like everybody else — from an inflationary period of time,” Archer concluded.

Councilmember John Marriott asked if the city’s fiscal plan accounted for increased inflation, and while Archer said it did, he added that the city would be working on updated models that include a higher inflation rate to reflect current trends.

“Inflation helps us on the revenue side but hurts us on the

ESCAPE THE INDOORS RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL LAWN SERVICES, LANDSCAPING AND PLANTING SERVICES

720-201-7561 7700 W. 120TH AVE. BROOMFIELD, CO WWW.OLSONOUTDOORS.COM

expenditure side,” Marriott said.

IGA with CDOT Council unanimously approved an intergovernmental agreement with the Colorado Department of Transportation that will allow CDOT authorities to remove homeless camps on CDOT properties. The IGA includes a provision requiring the city to notify campers 10 days in advance of a camp’s removal and CDOT will reimburse up to $5,000 per cleanup.

Denver and Adams County have entered into similar IGA’s, according to Arvada City Manager Mark Deven. Deven said that the IGA will reduce the load on the APD’s community outreach response and CORE teams, which currently deal with unauthorized encampments within city limits.

“The timely cleanup of these encampments is critical to not only helping CDOT control their property, but also, if you leave these encampments in place and don’t address them, they will expand. By being able to go in and address these encampments quickly, we’re able to control our costs, be able to deal with them in a responsible manner,” Deven said.

Deven added the city team estimates that there will be no fiscal cost to the city as a result of the IGA, since CDOT will reimburse up to $5,000 and the involved organizations are hoping to clean up the encampments before they grow and thus become more costly to remove.

Councilmember Bob Fifer endorsed the IGA as a tool for managing the city’s homeless situation.

“I think it’s a good collaboration and it’s something that’s dire… I think it’s a huge win for us in the ability to manage the situation,” Fifer said.

The resolution authorizing the IGA passed unanimously with a 6-0 vote.

City code amendments City council unanimously approved three amendments to the City Code, chiefly pertaining to the handling cases usually heard by the Board of Adjustment. All proposed amendments passed 6-0.

Since the new Land Development Code was adopted 24 months ago, only one case has qualified to be heard by the BOA. The amendment will allow Arvada’s planning commission to sit as the Board of Adjustment, similar to how council can sit as the city’s Housing Authority.

Deven said that the amendment doesn’t eliminate the BOA, but rather cleans up how relevant cases can be handled.

Another amendment to the City Code recognizes Juneteenth — June 19 — as an officially recognized holiday by the city.

Juneteenth commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans.

“We believe it supports the historical and current significance of Juneteenth. We also believe it supports and acknowledges and encourages our team members to observe the holiday and celebrate our inclusive culture. And we also believe it helps to meet our total compensation philosophy since approving this holiday would make us competitive with other cities in the region,” Deven said.

ALL OF OUR WORK IS 100% GUARANTEED. PLEASE REACH OUT FOR ALL OF YOUR LAWN AND LANDSCAPING NEEDS.

Arvada and Westminsterʼs premier lawn care and landscaping company, Olson Outdoors is a local, family-owned business founded in 2014. We take great care in both residential and commercial lawn care by adhering to a truly traditional, craft-based approach.

We offer fully customized landscaping, sprinkler, installation/repair/maintenance, plus a full line of planting services. We have a vast array of Colorado climate friendly shrubs, grasses, and trees housed in their local Broomfield greenhouses.

6 Arvada Press

April 28, 2022

Colorado will have hundreds more air pollution sources to permit

Colorado Department of Public Safety Ozone Alert Day.

How the state is gearing up

BY MICHAEL BOOTH THE COLORADO SUN

The EPA downgrade of Northern Front Range ozone pollution to “severe” from “serious” on April 12 will require hundreds of Colorado companies to get emission permits from a criti-

cally backlogged state system, but health officials say their request for a steep budget increase from lawmakers will clear the jam and improve the air.

State health officials April 12 said they welcomed the EPA’s announcement knocking the Denver metro area and other major U.S. cities into a tougher enforcement category for ozone, saying the long-anticipated move would

Home Sellers Are Losing Thousands of Dollars. How? 1. When they receive offers over asking price 2. Sellers are choosing part time agents 3. When sellers choose a team who have horrendous staff overhead 4. Continued next week 5.

Ed Tomlinson “Mr Real Estate” Contact today! 303-596-5555 ed@edtomlinson.com Real Estate Services Metro Broker Professionals

“help build upon Colorado’s strategies to protect and improve the air we breathe.”

The move means state permits will be required for 473 more sources of pollution that contribute to ozone, as the threshold drops from 50 tons of covered pollutants a year to include all those sources emitting 25 tons or more, Air Pollution Control Director Michael Ogletree said. That will nearly triple the “major source” locations that need to be permitted, to a total of 730, state officials said.

Previously, the environmental nonprofit WildEarth Guardians had said many of the sites now required to get permits would include the oil and gas industry, at drilling and collection locations.

That new work will run headlong into a state health permitting system already assailed by courts and environmental groups as years behind, potentially endangering the health of more Coloradans living in highly polluted areas.

One set of permits at a key polluter, the Suncor Energy refinery in Commerce City, expired in 2012, and another in 2018, with a state court judge in January ordering Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment officials to finish renewing the permits “without delay.” When the state did issue a revised permit that it said put important new restrictions on Suncor, the regional EPA office sent the proposed permit back for tougher revisions in March.

State officials said April 12 they have 52 major source polluters backlogged for review of new permits or renewals. They say that is a significant reduction from the 143 permits overdue in 2015.

“Our pollution control division is really at a transition point,” CDPHE Director Jill Hunsaker Ryan said in an interview. “It’s been under-resourced for two decades. We’re changing the way that we fund it. And I’m on a mission to really modernize and

rightsized it to meet today’s air quality demands.”

Gov. Jared Polis and the health department are asking the legislature to approve more than $40 million in new general fund spending to quickly beef up the air pollution division with new permit engineers, experts who will model expected pollution, and experts to monitor existing pollution, according to Ryan and Ogletree.

The boost in spending is aimed at clearing the backlog of overdue permit renewals and preparing for the onslaught of newly permitted sources, they said.

The boost will add more than 100 full-time positions to the understaffed division and will allow for expanded technology including aerial monitoring of pollution sites, Ogletree said.

“We right now have a permitting database from the 1990s, and we have a request for several million dollars to be able to upgrade that,” Ryan added.

A budget with whistleblowers in mind?

Lack of pollution modeling staff and permitting procedures too friendly to industrial polluters were among the criticisms leveled at the health department by internal whistleblowers in 2021.

The whistleblowers, from the Air Pollution Control Division’s modeling staff, asked the EPA Office of Inspector General to investigate, and the EPA’s detailed objection to the Suncor permit indicated federal officials are listening closely.

Environmental groups that have been demanding stronger, faster action by state health officials say they are cautiously optimistic about the bigger budget and change in emphasis by CDPHE leadership. They add that they are not about to let down their guard.

“Health professionals in our state see and treat the real health impacts of poor air quality everyday. They are unequivocal about the dire impacts that air pollution SEE POLLUTION, P10

Arvada Press 7

April 28, 2022

City of Arvada hosts Earth Day celebration at Majestic View Nature Center Event includes educational booths, litter pickup contest, poster contest STAFF REPORT

The City of Arvada held an Earth Day celebration on April 22 at the Majestic View Nature Center.

The festivities ran from 9 a.m. to noon and included educational booths put on by organizations including Two Ponds National Wildlife Refuge and the Arvada Forestry Department as well as a litter pickup contest and a poster contest.

The event is the first of four events the Nature Center is hosting to celebrate its 20th anniversary, with Arvada Trails day set to follow on June 4, a pollinator garden event set for June 18 and a 20th anniversary party scheduled for Aug. 6.

The winner of the litter pickup contest received a free rain barrel, while the top three poster-makers in the Earth Day Poster Contest got a free tree to be planted in the Arvada school or park of their choice.

Anna Hoover, the Nature Center’s Director, said that celebrating Earth Day highlights the importance of helping take care of the environment.

A tree is planted at the Nature Center as part of Arvada Earth Day festivities.

“The importance of celebrating Earth Day is to make sure people are aware of the amazing resources we have and how we all have to have some impact on protecting it.

Whether it’s picking up after your

dog at Arvada parks or getting more hands on, it doesn’t matter what level of engagement you have,” Hoover said. “...We all have to engage in our environment, otherwise it’s going to disappear.”

A family participates in the litter pickup COURTESY PHOTOS contest on Earth Day.

NOW OPEN IN CANDELAS! Primary care services to support you and your family We offer a full range of services: • Annual Well Visits • Well Child Visits • Routine vaccinations • Sports physicals Virtual Visits Available

Marlena Szewczyk, MD

Ginger Todd, PA

Visit sclhealth.org/candelas to learn more SCL Health Medical Group – Candelas | 15389 W 91st Drive, Arvada, CO 80007 | 303-603-9300 We accept most major medical insurance plans, including Medicare & Medicare Supplemental Plans.

8 Arvada Press

April 28, 2022

Legislature homes in on school discipline Bill calls for better training, record keeping and limits on punishment

BY ERICA MELTZER AND JASON GONZALES CHALKBEAT COLORADO

Through more training for police who work in schools, more transparency around student discipline, and new limits on the use of handcuffing and seclusion rooms, advocates hope to see schools become safer and more supportive places, especially for students of color and those with disabilities.

A bill expected to be introduced in the Colorado House this week calls for significantly more data collection, more public reports on school discipline practices, and fewer loopholes that allow Colorado school districts to essentially police themselves when it comes to seclusion and restraint.

Critically, the bill would give the Colorado Department of Education the authority to order school districts to correct their practices when they violate students’ rights.

The larger goals are to improve school climate and prevent students from entering the school-toprison pipeline.

“We want to set kids up for success,” said Krista Spurgin, executive director of the Colorado

A bill is reviewing school discipline practices in Colorado.

chapter of Stand for Children, an advocacy organization. “If kids are constantly getting in trouble or being told they’re a troublemaker or even getting arrested, you start to see that cycle repeat itself.”

JEFFERSON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Season Finale Sunday, May 8 -- 3:00 p.m.

at the COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES

Maestro William Morse leads JSO in a memorable finale and symphonic farewell!

Concert info and tickets at www.jeffsymphony.org

PHOTO BY STACEY RUPOLO FOR CHALKBEAT

The bill makes three main changes.

• It would require the state education department to collect more data on school climate, student discipline, and law enforcement referrals and make that information easily accessible. The data would be broken down by race, ethnicity, gender, family income, English learner status, and disability status to make it easier to see which student groups are most affected by certain discipline practices.

• It would limit the use of physical restraints and seclusion rooms. It would ban handcuffing students except in limited circumstances. It would require schools to document physical holds that last longer than a minute and prohibit using offices and broom closets for student seclusion.

• It would set new standards for school resource officers, including that they have experience working with youth and want to work in schools. It would give school officials more say in evaluating officers’ performance and in which officers work in schools.

Advocates hope that by gathering more data and making it more publicly available, they can identify exemplary schools and schools that rely too much on suspensions, expulsions, and other discipline practices that can derail children’s school experience. This data could help develop new policies and direct resources, they said.

“Eventually we would like to get to a place where we have a vision for school and student success that includes a healthy school climate and provides a safe and supportive learning environment for all students,” said Leslie Colwell of the Colorado Children’s Campaign. “To get there, there are some steps that need to happen first. We think this bill lays the foundation for this work that

needs to come first.”

The bill developed from conversations that started after a school discipline reform bill was withdrawn last year amid fierce opposition from law enforcement and suburban school districts.

But advocates insist this year’s effort is not a re-do. The effort was informed by statewide conversations last summer about improving school climate. Advocates tried to identify steps that would lead to concrete improvements without casting police as the problem or limiting how they do their job.

For example, last year’s bill included a long list of infractions that police would be prohibited from responding to when they occurred on school grounds. Instead, this year’s bill calls for a model policy for school resource officers, the recruitment of officers who want to work in schools, and roles for both school and police officials in evaluating school resource officers, rather than officers only reporting to their police supervisors.

Several of the bill’s provisions deal with the use of seclusion and restraint, practices that overwhelmingly affect students with disabilities.

State Rep. Mary Young, a Greeley Democrat and former school psychologist, said she doesn’t aim to ban seclusion or restraint. In her job, sometimes a child needed to be in a quiet room to calm down or an adult needed to place a child in a hold so they wouldn’t hurt themselves or another student.

“We just want to make sure they’re done appropriately so children are safe,” she said.

Young has worked on the bill with state Rep. Leslie Herod, a Denver Democrat who was a driving force behind last year’s withdrawn school discipline bill and 2020’s landmark police reform bill.

Young said this year’s bill should provide better definitions and clearer reporting requirements while still allowing flexibility to respond to student behavior.

“We’re trying to make sure that we as a state are doing it in a way that we are reducing behaviors instead of increasing them,” Young said.

A 2017 law already requires school districts to conduct annual reviews of their use of seclusion, which means shutting a student in a room, and restraint, which the law defined as putting a student in a physical hold for more than five minutes. But they don’t have to post that information publicly or share it with the Colorado Department of Education.

A Chalkbeat investigation found wide variations in how school districts tracked and reported this information. Some districts’ reviews were several pages long and full of data. Others were just a few sentences with no data at all. Even when districts included data, it was inconsistent. Some lumped seclusion and restraint together, while others separated SEE DISCIPLINE, P12

April 28, 2022

Prepare for power outages today WITH A HOME STANDBY GENERATOR

$0 MONEY DOWN + LOW MONTHLY PAYMENT OPTIONS Contact a Generac dealer for full terms and conditions

REQUEST A FREE QUOTE CALL NOW BEFORE THE NEXT POWER OUTAGE

(833) 750-0294

FREE

7-Year Extended Warranty* – A $695 Value! *To qualify, consumers must request a quote, purchase, install and activate the generator with a participating dealer. Call for a full list of terms and conditions.

Arvada Press 9

10 Arvada Press

April 28, 2022

POLLUTION FROM PAGE 6

has on community health,” said Sabrina Pacha, director of the nonprofit Healthy Air & Water Colorado. Her group and others want the state to look at the cumulative effects of other area polluters when considering whether to approve each new permit.

“We also need an expansion of community-based monitoring so that we know what is in the air we are breathing, not just at polluting facilities but in our neighborhoods, too,” she said.

The 2022-23 budget proposal “is an important first-step investment” toward better air quality, said Jared Bynum, communities and justice advocate at Conservation Colorado.

Environmental advocates also point to some of the same state budget elements touted by air pollution officials, including millions of dollars in spending to replace high-polluting diesel school buses with clean electric models in coming years. Better buses for school children, “so quiet and clean,” are important for communities highly impacted by past pollution, Bynum said.

A state health department release on the EPA’s ozone announcement noted the other cities whose problems are now being reclassified as severe:

‘Our pollution control division is really at a transition point. It’s been under-resourced for two decades.

We’re changing the way that we fund it. And I’m on a mission to really modernize and rightsized it to meet today’s air quality demands.’

Jill Hunsaker Ryan, CDPHE Director

Chicago-Naperville; Dallas-Fort Worth; Houston-Galveston-Brazoria; Morongo Band of Mission Indians, in the Coachella Valley area east of Los Angeles; and New York-Northern New JerseyLong Island.

Colorado air experts have said the Denver metro area’s ongoing ozone problems arise from a few major contributors: industrial and auto emissions that have not been cut as quickly as necessary; hotter summers that increase pollution volatility; and ozone-contributing wildfire smoke blowing east from a sharply increasing number of superfires in states to the west and northwest.

Part of the Colorado shortfall on ozone comes from changing EPA standards. While metro area ozone levels are stubborn and creeping up, they are also hitting

the increasingly rigorous recommendations of scientists and doctors. The 2008 EPA standard of an average 75 parts per billion fell to 70 parts per billion in a 2015 revision. Many Front Range pollution monitors frequently registered over 80 parts per billion in the heat of 2021, state records show.

Cutting ozone-causing pollutants often goes hand-in-hand with efforts to trim Colorado’s greenhouse gas emissions — mitigation policies can cut both forms of pollutants at the same time.

Yet state moves to cut vehiclebased emissions, for example, are resisted by drivers and many businesses, and criticized by environmental groups as too slow.

An “Advanced Clean Trucks” rule to require gradual replacement of fossil fuel engines with cleaner electric and hydrogen

models has been delayed until 2023, though community and environmental advocates are now petitioning the Air Quality Control Commission to get it done sooner. In 2021, state air pollution officials proposed a set of commuting rules for large employers aimed at cutting miles driven but withdrew the proposal after sharp opposition from employers and trade groups.

While promoting changes in the new budget, state health officials say they also anticipate air quality improvements from a recent list of legislation and department rules that did pass.

They cite new limits on emissions from oil and gas operations, the continuing closures of coal-fired power plants that are the biggest polluters in the state, increasing electric vehicle sales, and new Colorado Department of Transportation rules on reducing emissions when planning major road projects.

“We have so much on our plate from past legislation,” Ryan said.

“We’re going really fast, and we will get it all done. It just takes time.”

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.

Paid Advertisement

Arvada Fire District Board Elections May 3rd 2022.

Your Arvada Firefighters Support

1. Leah Martin 2. Bob Dyer 3. James Whitfield Absentee ballot application available at arvadafireco.gov Paid for by Arvada Professional Firefighters Local 4056 Not Authorised by Any Candidate.

Arvada Press 11

April 28, 2022

Bill aims to prevent runaways, improve mental health results Focus on foster care, residential centers

BY JENNIFER BROWN THE COLORADO SUN

Colorado would have to create new standards for residential centers that house foster children as well as examine how best to prevent kids from running away from those centers under a new legislative proposal.

The bill follows high-profile scrutiny of the 24/7 residential centers, including a joint Colorado Sun/9News investigation that found that children and teens are running away daily and that two boys who ran away from different facilities were struck by cars and killed.

The legislation from Rep. Dafna Michaelson Jenet, a Democrat from Commerce City, would require the state to partner with a university to build the new quality-assurance system. And it would require a public, online dashboard where parents and others could see whether centers are safe and are improving kids’ mental health.

In addition, the state would have to create a task force of experts, former foster youth and child welfare officials to examine why children run away and how to prevent them from fleeing residential care. The bill proposes to name the panel after Timmy MontoyaKloepfel, who was 12 when he ran away from Tennyson Center for Children in Denver in June 2020 and died after he was hit by a Chevy Tahoe.

The legislation was crafted by a team of child advocates including Colorado Child Protection Ombudsman Stephanie Villafuerte, who has been seeking change at residential institutions since 2019, when she called for a public website similar to the state’s day care center website that would offer data on outcomes.

“Where is our sense of urgency for children who have severe behavioral health issues that are in an isolated, 24-hour, seven-daya-week facility?” she said in an interview, after the legislation was introduced. “We have been alerted — between citizens calling our office and people responding to news media articles — and three years later, we still have not designed a system that would show us what’s going on in those facilities.

“I think it’s unconscionable. I’m exhausted by systems that put adults’ needs, our bureaucracies, our budgets and everything before the needs of kids. And this is one of those issues.”

Villafuerte studied a new quality-assurance system for Florida youth residential centers, which that state created in partnership with Florida State University child welfare experts. The ombudsman said she already has consulted with social scientists at the University of Denver and

Stephanie Villafuerte, Child Protection Ombudsman of Colorado at the Ralph L. Carr PHOTO BY KATHRYN SCOTT Colorado Judicial Center in 2020 in Denver.

Colorado State University.

The requirement that the state would partner with an institution of higher education means that the state child welfare division, within the Colorado Department of Human Services, would not have sole responsibility for designing the new evaluation system. It’s another sign of mounting frustration between the ombudsman’s office and the state department, which initiated a task force to address the runaway problems after The Sun/9News investigation but has not sought any major policy changes.

The news organizations found that in a three-year timeframe, Denver police were called to Tennyson Center for Children 938 times, one-third of the time because a child ran away. Denver police were called to Mount Saint Vincent about twice per week throughout 2019 and 2020, so often that the police department told the residential center it was not a “taxi service” to bring back runaway children.

Similar to Timmy, 15-year-old Andrew Potter was killed in 2018 after running away from Devereux Cleo Wallace in Westminster. He died after being struck by a suspected drunk driver on Wadsworth Parkway.

The state child welfare division keeps track of how many foster children run away from foster homes and residential centers, but not many other details about those cases.

“When they run, this state has no consistency on how we locate them, when we bring them back, the treatment or evaluations that

they should receive,” Villafuerte said. “And at this point, I can’t even tell you the exact number of youth in our state who have run from out-of-home placements, foster care, residential treatment facilities, how long they’ve been gone, when they returned and what happened to them while they were on the run.”

The task force, which would include young people who spent time in residential facilities, would consider ideas to prevent kids from running away, and to prevent kids from running into harm on the streets. For example, residential centers could make sure children with a history of running away have phone numbers to call for help. Also, the state could set up a standard protocol for kids who have returned Paid Political Ad

t Bob Dyer c e l E

from running away to make sure they get proper mental health treatment. The group also could review current state regulations that restrict when staff can physically restrain a child.

The scrutiny of residential centers comes as many centers have shut down in Colorado. Since 2007, 44 facilities have closed, a loss of 2,200 therapeutic beds, according to the Colorado Association of Family and Children’s Agencies. The closures follow a nationwide call by child advocates and federal officials that more children should live in foster families or with relatives, rather than institutions.

But now Colorado has a severe shortage of options for kids with the most acute behavioral health issues, meaning kids are sent out of state for treatment, a situation the child protection ombudsman called “unacceptable.”

“In extraordinary circumstances, these facilities are necessary,” Villafuerte said. “They are important for a very small segment of our youth to get the care that they need.”

The proposal says the new quality-assurance system would go into place by July 2026, with a preliminary report due next year.

The bill is the latest from Michaelson Jenet to tackle the children’s mental health crisis.

Another piece of legislation she introduced this session would allow county child welfare divisions to set up agreements with local agencies that could take in children who have been picked up by law enforcement but cannot go home. That bill arose after counties said children were sleeping in county buildings and waiting hours in the back of police cars when they had no family to house them or it wasn’t safe to bring them home.

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.

Meet Bogey

Dog (#242497): Bogey is a 3-year-old, male Sharpei. Lovers of this For Arvada Fire Protection District Board breed will appreciate “I love this community and have Bogey for his handsome Election May 3, 2022 always enjoyed my service to the colors, impressive "A person with respect for the Department's past wrinkles and stoic (yet citizens. With 3, andyour visionvote for itsMay future" profoundly good-natured) 2022, I would be proud to once personality; and while he appears to be lacking some For moreserve information, Bob Dyer atof(720) 883-8345 of the resilience he might have built up had he been again you contact as a Director socialized as a young pup, and now as a young adult Endorsed by The Arvada Fire Fighters Local #4056 District Paid for by Bob Dyer the Arvada Fire Protection is a bit reserved encountering the unfamiliar, his ideal Board. I would appreciate your family will give him the time and space needed to warm up to his new environment before being pressured with vote and thank you in advance. expectations around how he navigates his day.

For questions or comments, please contact me at 720-883-8345.”

Sincerely,

Bob Dyer Candidate for Arvada Fire Protection District Board

Paid for by Bob Dyer

303.278.7575

FoothillsAnimalShelter.org info@fas4pets.org

12 Arvada Press

DISCIPLINE FROM PAGE 8

them. Some reported holds that lasted less than five minutes. Others didn’t.

And because districts don’t have to submit their annual reviews to any government agency, there is little oversight.

Even when the state found that districts were in violation of state rules, the state had no enforcement powers. The bill gives the state new enforcement powers to order corrective action plans and compensatory services for students and to monitor school districts that have ongoing problems.

Jennifer Levin, director of public policy for the ARC of Colorado, said many of the students who are placed in holds or closed in seclusion rooms aren’t able to tell their parents what happened.

Parents see bruises or notice that their child is more withdrawn, but don’t know what happened.

By requiring schools to document all holds that last longer than a minute, Levin hopes to open up more conversations about what can be done to head off student outbursts before they happen.

“Any time a student is placed in

April 28, 2022

‘Any time a student is placed in any of these types of restraints, whether it is physical restraint or seclusion, it brings up trauma, and we find students who are suddenly very fearful and anxious about schools, and some of these students don’t have the capacity to verbally express what happened.’

Jennifer Levin, director of public policy for the ARC of Colrado

any of these types of restraints, whether it is physical restraint or seclusion, it brings up trauma,” Levin said. “And we find students who are suddenly very fearful and anxious about schools, and some of these students don’t have the capacity to verbally express what happened.”

Spurgin said that collecting more data is a necessary step to understand what’s happening in schools and find the right solutions.

“Our students of color are targeted, more specifically our male students of color,” Spurgin said.

“The disaggregated data we will get from this bill is so important.

Often you hear anecdotal reasons why certain student groups are disciplined more, arrested more, handcuffed more, but until we have the data, I think it will be hard to convince educators that there is bias in the system.

“It’s not pointing a finger, but pointing out what happens when

we see students of color as more problematic than white students.”

It’s not clear whether this measure will face significant opposition. School districts, especially small rural ones, consistently push back against requirements that they share more data or do more training. They say the requirements are burdensome and costly and make it harder to educate students.

The difficulties of the pandemic and staff shortages have amplified those objections. At the same time, many educators say student behavior problems and mental health needs have grown.

Bill supporters say they don’t intend to cast blame on classroom teachers or district administrators. They want teachers to have more tools, not fewer, to respond to challenging behavior.

“We have a sense that these disparities exist — that isn’t disputed at this point — but the data around this is not easy to find,” Colwell said. “We don’t know what is actually happening. We need that before we can start to figure out solutions.”

This story is from Chalkbeat Colorado, a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools. Used by permission. For more, and to support Chalkbeat, visit co.chalkbeat.org.

NOW HIRING!

Seasonal Garden Market in Golden Beautify your home with the highest quality and largest variety of annuals, perennials, herbs, vegetables, hanging baskets and more.

Corner of Ulysses & S. Golden Road 17204 S Golden Rd., Golden, CO 80401 720-692-8153 • April 29-June 30 9 AM-6 PM MONDAY-SATURDAY, 10 AM-5 PM SUNDAY | DENVER • GOLDEN • CASTLE ROCK • LITTLETON • ERIE • BOULDER

Arvada Press 13

April 28, 2022

EPA downgrades Colorado’s ozone problem to ‘severe’ Will force more cuts to pollution

BY MICHAEL BOOTH THE COLORADO SUN

The EPA has downgraded Colorado’s North Front Range ozone problem to “severe” from “serious,” a long-expected move that requires state and local officials to take stronger runs at cutting the health-damaging pollution.

“The proposed reclassifications would require the State of Colorado to apply more stringent air quality measures to sources across the area,” an EPA release said, in announcing the proposed change after months of pressure from environmental advocates who said the deadlines to do so had already tcome and gone.

“Under the ‘severe’ reclassification, these requirements include the use of reformulated gasoline in summer months and a reduction of the threshold requiring control measures on emissions sources from 50 tons per year to 25 tons per year,” the EPA said.

In a previous interview that will be published on April 12, Colorado

officials said the pending EPA downgrade will require hundreds of companies to get emission permits from a state system already critically backlogged. State health officials say their steep budget request is designed to clear the jam and improve the air.

It will mean state permits will be required for 473 more sources of pollution that contribute to ozone, as the threshold drops from 50 tons of covered pollutants a year to include all those emitting 25 tons or more, Air Pollution Control Director Michael Ogletree said. That new work will run headlong into a state health permitting system already assailed by courts and environmental groups as years behind, potentially endangering the health of more Coloradans living in highly polluted areas.

One set of permits at a key polluter, the Suncor Energy refinery in Commerce City, expired in 2012, and another in 2018, with a state court judge in January ordering Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment officials to finish renewing the permits “without delay.” When the state did issue a revised permit that it said put important new restrictions on Suncor, the regional EPA

ETHICS IN BUSINESS

office sent the proposed permit back for tougher revisions in March.

“Our pollution control division is really at a transition point,” CDPHE Director Jill Hunsaker Ryan said in an interview. “It’s been under-resourced for two decades. We’re changing the way that we fund it. And I’m on a mission to really modernize and rightsize it to meet today’s air quality demands.”

EPA Regional Administrator KC Becker said, “Ground-level ozone remains one of the most challenging public health concerns we face, affecting large numbers of Coloradans and their families.”

The reclassification “will make sure we are leveraging all available measures and resources as we move forward to reduce ozone pollution” with the state and other partners, she said.

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.

‘Under the ‘severe’ reclassification, these requirements include the use of reformulated gasoline in summer months and a reduction of the threshold requiring control measures on emissions sources from 50 tons per year to 25 tons per year.’

EPA

Local company, Veteran owned, Integrity focused

AWARDS LUNCHEON

The Rotary Club of Golden, the Golden Chamber of Commerce, the Jeffco Economic Development Corporation, and the Golden Civic Foundation cordially invite you to join us for the 17th annual Ethics in Business Awards Luncheon.

Friday, May 6, 2022, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Sheraton Denver West Hotel 360 Union Blvd., Lakewood Two organizations will be honored, one for-profit and one non-profit, for leading the way in business ethics, integrity, and civic and social responsibility.

The keynote speaker will be Hanna Skandera, the President and CEO of the Daniels Fund, a $1.8 billion private charitable foundation. The Daniels Fund transforms communities through grantmaking and college scholarships in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. She has served as Secretary of Education for the State of New Mexico, as Undersecretary for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and as Deputy Commissioner for Governor Jeb Bush.

SOLAR SYSTEMS

The master of ceremonies will be the always-popular Ed Greene, now going into his 44th year in Denver television.

Luncheon tickets are $60 per person; prepaid reservations are required. Seating is limited, so make your reservation early at ethics.goldenrotary.org. For more information, contact Tom Hughes at 303 278 2823.

Help honor ethics in business!

Residential and Commercial Connects to CORE and Xcel VOTED BEST ROOFING COMPANY TWO YEARS IN A ROW! THANK YOU.

CALL NOW FOR MORE INFORMATION

303-770-ROOF w w w.Va l o r Ro o fa n d S o l a r.c o m

14 Arvada Press

LOCAL

April 28, 2022

VOICES Don’t be bait for the bad guys

I

regularly catch two to three per hour and sometimes I can net dozens in a single day. Not to mention the occasional overnight haul. And such a variety!

“We’ve been trying to reach you ... you are entitled to compensation!” Or “Click here to check the status of your command.” And “Claim your complimentary chips to play at Lucky Casino!” Plus, what catch would be complete without the ubiquitous offers of coupons, discounts and even more free stuff?

I’m referring, of course, to phish, phishing emails to be exact. Phishing is the fraudulent practice by cybercriminals of using emails to induce people like you and me to willingly — and usually unwittingly — provide our personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.

These emails often appear to come from reputable organizations. I get a spam net full of emails from recognizable “sources” such as Amazon, Kohl’s, Walgreens, GEICO and CVS ... some of which I actu-

ally do patronize. By the way, the “command” referenced above means my “order” from Amazon.

I’m often threatened by the “IRS,” by any number Andrea Doray of virus detection companies, “PayPal,”... on and on and on. “Someone has run a background check on you!” or “Negative items have been added to your credit report!”

To combat truly awful consequences, I must “Take action NOW or [fill in the blank with disaster]!” Some emails are elaborately engineered, mirroring organizations’ actual graphics (known as spoofing) to reel in even more than my personal info ...

I must send money orders or Bitcoin to retain my protection, avoid arrest or – gasp!

– risk exposure for my supposed online viewing behavior.

Fortunately, both my Gmail

ALCHEMY

and Outlook email accounts cast wide nets, snaring most of these nefarious messages in spam filters, which I then promptly report. But here’s the thing about phishing emails: our spam-catchers are overwhelmed.

Researchers estimate that of the 15 billion emails sent to our unsuspecting inboxes daily, more than 45 percent (and perhaps up to 75 percent) of this global content is spam.

That’s a pretty big kettle.

So I’d like to be your guide to spotting – and catching – phishing emails before something rotten happens. First, always check domain names ... that is, where the email is being sent and where it’s coming from.

For example, I received a phishing email to “dzdvffsd52az0@gmail.com.” Hmmm.

And the sender? “Skinny199811@googlemail.com.”

Surprisingly, I don’t know Skinny 199811 (and googlemail.com is not a legitimate domain).

Grammar and spelling errors are rampant, as is unusual language — that “com-

mand” instead of “order,” for instance. And one of the most recognizable hooks is urgency: Act NOW or something really really bad is going to happen to you, even if it’s missing out on one of the best offers you’ve ever received in your whole entire life.

Don’t bite! If you’re concerned, or maybe just curious, input the URL of the organization by hand to check if something is truly amiss.

I also still receive the “foreign prince” emails from kind-hearted souls around the globe who desire to leave their substantial inherited wealth only to me ... if I provide my bank account for the deposit.

But today’s sharks are much more sophisticated. With one in every 99 emails likely to be a phishing attack, without a strong line of defense, we’re all often little more than bait.

Andrea Doray is a writer who wants to remind us that the businesses and organizations being spoofed are also victims here. Contact Andrea at a.doray@andreadoray.com.

You will find connection at the Benchmark Theatre

I

f we’ve learned anything from the last two years, it’s that all of us, at one point or another, will get sick.

It’s not an enjoyable truth to ruminate on, but one that was repeatedly proven in the midst of a global pandemic.

And while playwright Noah Diaz wrote “You Will Get Sick” before COVID-19, the show’s themes have rarely been as pertinent as they are in modern times.

“There’s just something about the humanity of the play,” said Christy MontourLarson, resident guest director at Lakewood’s Benchmark Theatre. “The show has a great sense of humor and also asks the right questions about your rights when you get sick, how you get through difficult times and

A publication of

Call first: 27972 Meadow Dr., #320 Evergreen, CO 80439, 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

how social/economic status makes things difficult.”

The world premiere workshop production of “You Will Get Sick” runs at The Bench at 40West, Clarke Reader 1560 Teller St. in Lakewood, through Saturday, May 14.

Performances are at 8 p.m. on Thursday through Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday. The cast features Peter Trinh, Edith Weiss, Sonsharae Tull, Brian Kusic and Josue Miranda.

A part of Benchmark’s “Aftermath”-themed 2021/2022 season, the show is told in the second person and explores

COMING ATTRACTIONS

how someone learns to live with a body that is consumed by sickness. As MontourLarson explains, the show follows a man who receives a heartbreaking diagnosis but can’t bring himself to admit it out loud. Instead, he hires a woman to tell the people in his life that he’s sick.

“The play is funny at times, heartwarming at other times and very thought-provoking,” she said. “It’s always exciting to work on new plays, because playwrights are the backbone of the American theater and we need to support new and exciting talents.”

Diaz contributed to bringing the production to life and the theater made some bold storytelling choices, like staging it in the round. And the hope is audiences – the final but

most important ingredient of powerful storytelling – will be moved by the story.

“It’s quite an honor to share this work for the first time with the Colorado community, especially because when you go see a brand-new play, you get to be part of shaping its future,” Montour-Larson said. “I hope it stirs people’s emotions and leaves them thinking a few days later. I think we’ve all developed a kind of community hunger for that energy when a group of people are all in a room together.”

Information and tickets can be found at www.benchmarktheatre.com.

A midsummer’s parking lot the-

LINDA SHAPLEY Publisher

MINDY NELON Marketing Consultant

lshapley@coloradocommunitymedia.com

mnelon@coloradocommunitymedia.com

LISA SCHLICHTMAN Editor-in-Chief

AUDREY BROOKS Business Manager

lschlichtman@coloradocommunitymedia.com

abrooks@coloradocommunitymedia.com

Columnist opinions are not necessarily those of the Press. We welcome letters to the editor. Please include your full name, address and the best number to reach you by telephone.

KRISTEN FIORE West Metro Editor

ERIN FRANKS Production Manager

Email letters to kfiore@coloradocommunitymedia.com

kfiore@coloradocommunitymedia.com

efranks@coloradocommunitymedia.com

RYLEE DUNN Community Editor

LINDSAY NICOLETTI Operations/ Circulation Manager

Deadline Wed. for the following week’s paper.

rdunn@coloradocommunitymedia.com

lnicoletti@coloradocommunitymedia.com

Columnists & Guest Commentaries

To opt in or out of delivery please email us at circulation@ coloradocommunitymedia.com

SEE READER, P15

Arvada press A legal newspaper of general circulation in Jefferson County, Colorado, the Arvada Press is published weekly on Thursday by Colorado Community Media, 27972 Meadow Dr. Suite 320, Evergreen CO, 80439.

POSTMASTER: Send address change to: Arvada Press, 750 W. Hampden Ave., Suite 225, Englewood, CO 80110

Arvada Press 15

April 28, 2022

READER FROM PAGE 14

atrical production Shakespeare’s words sound great almost anywhere. It’s a kind of magic trick that few others have figured out. And if you want to hear the proof, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) is bringing back its Shakespeare in the Parking Lot education program.

And it’ll be stopping by the Thornton Arts & Culture Center, 9209 Dorothy Blvd., at noon on Saturday, April 30.

The performance will feature an abridged production of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” centered around a pickup truck set in the parking lot. According to provided information, the cast members are local actors and DCPA teaching artists, including Shannon Altner, Ryan Omar Stack Grant Bowman and Chloe McLeod.

For tickets and other stops along the tour, visit denvercenter.org. `Foreigners’ take audiences to Argentina There are numerous ways for a theatrical experience to be more than something that is simply observed. In Maru Garcia’s production of “Foreigners,” she uses appointed “tour guides” to take audiences through a period of turmoil in 1970s Argentina.

Running at Colorado Free University, 7653 E. 1st Place in Denver, through Sunday, June 12 at 6 p.m. on Sundays, Wheat Ridge Theatre Compa-

ny’s “Foreigners” (written by Griselda Gambaro and translated by Marguerite Feitlowitz) lets people bear witness to a time when authority spun out of control in the quest for total power. The cast includes Jim Hayes, Mellisa Taylor, Gisselle Gonzale and Suzie Duarte, Information and tickets can be found at https://wheatridgetheatre.com/.

Clarke’s Concert of the Week — Freddie Gibbs at the Fox Theatre and Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom If you’re going to talk about the best rapper alive (I know what you’re like), then Freddie Gibbs has to be in the conversation. The Gary, Indiana, MC has been releasing top notch records for nearly 20 years, but he didn’t really hit his stride until the mid-2010s, when he collaborated with Madlib on the album, “Pinata.”

While Gibbs astounds every time he’s on the mic, he still doesn’t have the wide acclaim he deserves. But the positive aspect of this is you can still see him a great, intimate venues. And you’ll have two options this time around: you can see him at the Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St. in Boulder at 9 p.m. on Friday, April 29 and Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom, 2637 Welton St. in Denver, at 8 p.m. on Saturday, April 30.

Tickets for the Fox show can be purchased at axs.com and Cervantes’ at ticketmaster. com.

Clarke Reader’s column on culture appears on a weekly basis. He can be reached at Clarke.Reader@hotmail.com.

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

ST. JOAN OF ARC C AT H O L I C C H U R C H

Proclaiming Christ from the Mountains to the Plains www.StJoanArvada.org 12735 W 58th Ave · 80002 · 303-420-1232 Daily Masses: 8:30am, Mon-Sat Confessions: 8am Tue-Fri; 7:30am & 4:00pm Sat Saturday Vigil Mass: 5:00pm Sunday Masses: 7:30, 9:00, 11:30am, 5:30pm

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.

To advertise your place of worship in this section, call Erin at 303-566-4074 or email eaddenbrooke@ ColoradoCommunityMedia.com

ABOUT LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Colorado Community Media welcomes letters to the editor. Please note the following rules:

advocating for or against a political candidate or ballot issue will not be published later than 12 days before an election.

• Email your letter to kfiore@coloradocommunitymedia.com. Do not send via postal mail. Put the words “letter to the editor” in the email subject line.

• Publication of any given letter is at our discretion. Letters are published as space is available.

• Submit your letter by 5 p.m. on Wednesday in order to have it considered for publication in the following week’s newspaper.

• We will edit letters for clarity, grammar, punctuation and length and write headlines (titles) for letters at our discretion.

• Letters must be no longer than 400 words.

• Letters should be exclusively submitted to Colorado Community Media and should not be submitted to other outlets or previously posted on websites or social media. Submitted letters become the property of CCM and should not be republished elsewhere.

• Letters advocating for a political candidate should focus on that candidate’s qualifications for office. We cannot publish letters that contain unverified negative information about a candidate’s opponent. Letters

• Please don’t send us more than one letter per month. First priority for publication will be given to writers who have not submitted letters to us recently.

• Submit your letter in a Word document or in the body of an email. No PDFs or Google Docs, please.

• Include your full name, address and phone number. We will publish only your name and city or town of residence, but all of the information requested is needed for us to verify you are who you say you are.

OBITUARIES YARRINGTON

Jenny Lee (Gotsch) Yarrington March 26, 1931 - March 21, 2022

A Celebration of Life service will be held on May 3, 2022, at 10:30 am at King of Glory Lutheran Church in Arvada, Colorado where she and her second husband, Glenn W. Yarrington, served faithfully many years.

Jenny was born in St. Louis, Missouri on 3/26/1931 and quietly left us for heaven on 3/21/2022. Jenny, a loving mother and a LAWLER

woman of deep faith, was known to all as a fabulous cook and especially for her wonderful Christmas cookies every year. She also loved the outdoors, reading and gardening. Jenny is survived by her two children, Scott Truesdell of South Carolina, Lee Truesdell of California, and numerous grandand great-grandchildren.

Jane Elizabeth Lawler

July 31, 1965 - January 29, 2022

Jane Elizabeth Lawler died after losing the fight with a disease she has dealt with for many years. Jane was a former resident of Arvada, attending school at St. Anne’s, St.

Peter and Paul, and Marycrest High School.

She is survived by her husband, Dave Preston and three children, Katrina Brekke, Joe Kochevar and Tom Kochevar.

In Loving Memory Place an Obituary for Your Loved One.

303-566-4100 obituaries@coloradocommunitymedia.com Self placement available online at arvadapress.com

16 Arvada Press

LOCAL

April 28, 2022

LIFE

Despite fussy reputation, orchids are far from delicate

BY DEBORAH GRIGSBY DGRIGSBY@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

O

rchids have been around for millions of years and thrive on every continent except Antarctica.

But with such a hearty ancestry, how do you keep from killing them once you bring them home from the grocery store?

Whether you’ve purchased one for yourself or received one as a gift, you may be among those that find orchids intimidating. Although growing in popularity, expert growers say these exotic beauties are, perhaps, among the most misunderstood of all houseplants.

A brief history of orchids Opinions on when and where orchids first appeared on earth are as varied as the plant itself. However, research points to sometime between 60 and 190 million years ago.

The Chinese philosopher and statesman Confusious often wrote about orchids, immortalizing their beauty and fragrance in his poetry.

Other formalized references to orchids appear in print between 350 B.C. and 287 B.C. in Theophrastus’s “Enquiry Into Plants,” an early manual that described and classified plants.

In early Greece, orchids were revered as symbols of fertility, as the Greek word óchis translates as testicle, inspired by the shape of its root. In some stories, women would ingest large amounts of orchis roots if they wanted to have a son and less if they wanted a girl.

Orchids eventually made their way to the wealthy in England through financed collecting expeditions. Many publications cite instances of “orchidelirium” or orchid madness during Victorian times.

Voracious appetites for cultivating, selling, and trading the unusual flowers among the upper class gave rise to organized groups of collectors and early orchid publications and societies.

Many rare species died en route from their native habitat or at the hands of inexperienced handlers, driving up the price exponentially.

Some orchids were so soughtafter by anxious collectors that entire species were destroyed.

A recent article by The Guardian’s reporter Patrick Greenfield tells of modern-day orchid smugglers in England have warranted increased security around the Kew Royal Botanic Gardens to prevent theft of rare and unusual spe cies.

About that grocery store orchid Today, orchids can be found almost anywhere, including your local supermarket florist and the garden section at hardware stores.

According to Althea McKinney, an orchid expert and greenhouse

Orchids often bloom in the winter, which can be very gratifying, while other outdoor plants are dormant. The 10,000 square-foot Fantasy Orchids greenhouse in Louisville, Colorado, is home to 30,000 to 50,000 orchids at any given time.

Orchids are the largest group of flowering plants on earth. Unfortunately, they are also among the most misunderstood.

Their exotic blooms and aerial roots often give the impression of being demanding and challenging when it comes to care.

However, orchid experts say they are one of the most resilient and longest blooming houseplants available to plant lovers of all skill levels.

Aerial roots from orchids are not uncommon.

They help the plant absorb moisture and micronutrients from the air. Excessive aerial roots may indicate the orchid needs repotting.

attendant at Fantasy Orchids in Louisville, Colorado, home to the

Orchids often bloom in the winter, which can be very gratifying, while other outdoor plants are dormant. The 10,000 square-foot Fantasy Orchids greenhouse in Louisville, Colorado, is home to 30,000 to 50,000 orchids at any given time.

PHOTOS BY DEBORAH GRIGSBY

most extensive collection of orchids in the Rocky Mountain region, most

grocery store orchids are of the Phalaenopsis variety, more commonly known as moth orchids. They are monopodial, meaning they typically grow from a single stem.

But buying an orchid is the easy part, right?

Well, yes.

But McKinney says caring for your orchid can also be easy.

She said that what gets most newly-minted orchid lovers in trouble is the care tag that comes with the orchid.

McKinney said some tags instruct the owner to toss the plant in the garbage after it blooms.

Other tags will say water the plant with ice cubes.

“It’s really just a marketing thing,” she said. “They want to provide a cheap plant and then get you to buy another. I can tell you that watering an orchid with ice cubes will damage the root structure over time.”

So what’s the secret to not killing them?

McKinney says it’s simple.

Orchids, by design, thrive on benign neglect.

They need only water, fertilizer and sunlight.

No classical music is required.

To be fair, orchids are a little different than other household plants.

“They grow in the same jungle as your typical snake plants, spider plants and monsteras, but those plants all grow on the jungle floor. Orchids grow up in the trees,” McKinney said.

And that means watering them beckons a whole new school of thought.

“If you think about it, the orchid’s roots are pretty exposed in their natural environment, so water rushes over them,” she said. “And then they dry out pretty quickly, compared to a typical houseplant that grows in soil.”

But the main thing to remember is that orchids never sit in water for prolonged periods.

McKinney recommends watering your new orchid by plunging it, still in its slotted plastic container, into lukewarm water.

The idea is to quickly saturate everything in the pot and then let it dry out between waterings.

Overwatering is among the most frequent causes of orchid deaths.

“I usually suggest soaking your orchid for no more than five minutes, or just or just running water through the pot for 30 seconds,” she said. “That’s all there is to it.”

And while you’re watering, think about light and fertilizer.

“We fertilize every single time we water,” McKinney said. “A lot of people will come in with a plant, and I can tell that has been 10 feet away from a window, they have not fertilized it the entire they’ve had it—and get frustrated because they can’t get SEE ORCHIDS, P17

Arvada Press 17

April 28, 2022

Greenhouse attendant Althea McKinney stands among thousands of orchids at Fantasy Orchids in Louisville, one of the largest retail and wholesale orchids suppliers to the state. She said growing orchids in Colorado is not as difficult as many believe—there are approximately 20 species of orchids that are native to the Centennial State.

PHOTOS BY DEBORAH GRIGSBY

ORCHIDS FROM PAGE 16

it to rebloom. Light, nutrients and proper watering is the key.”

She said just follow the instructions that come with the bag of fertilizer, but don’t go crazy.

Over-fertilizing can burn your orchid’s root system.

Yes, but can they survive in Colorado?

Orchids belong to the most prominent plant families in the world and come in many forms, shapes, sizes and colors.

They have learned to thrive in various locations, including marshy bogs and mountain tops.

McKinney said there are close to 20 species of orchids native to Colorado.

Experts at the Denver Botanic Gardens say that number is closer to 25, albeit orchids native to Colorado are dormant most of the year and are far more diminutive than their glamorous tropical cousins.

These orchids are found in moist

Like fine dust, orchid seeds float away from a seed pod. They are among the smallest seeds in the world. While it is possible to grow orchids directly from seed, it can take more than two years before any leaf growth is visible.

shaded ravines and at altitudes between 8,000 and 11,000 feet.

Peak bloom times range between late May and early September.

Unfortunately, McKinney says Colorado’s cool, dry climate is not the biggest challenge to growing healthy orchids in the Centennial State.

The biggest threat is the internet.

“There’s a lot of misinformation floating around on the internet;

much of it comes from YouTubers who don’t grow orchids in an environment like ours,” she said.

“People try to mimic what people are doing on the other side of the world, which is a death sentence for these plants, which are very easy to care for.”

Plants grown at Fantasy Orchids are already climatized to Colorado’s low-humidity environment.

To learn more, visit Fantasy Or-

‘If you think about it, the orchid’s roots are pretty exposed in their natural environment, so water rushes over them. And then they dry out pretty quickly, compared to a typical houseplant that grows in soil’ Althea Mckinney

chids at www.fantasyorchids.com or visit their 10,000 square-foot orchid greenhouse at 830 W. Cherry St., Louisville, CO.

FROM

$

1,949

1,699 *

$

50

Save now with

Get the most out of your lawn this spring.

% OFF*

Your First Application

SCHEDULE YOUR APPOINTMENT TODAY!

1-855-723-9333

CRIMSON CANYONS & MESAS NATIONAL PARKS TOUR 10 days, departs May - September 2022

Las Vegas • Grand Canyon • Bryce Canyon • Zion • Capitol Reef • Arches & Canyonlands • and more — Experience the red rocks of these 6 iconic national parks.

Travel through deserts, forests, mountains, and to the very edge of the Grand Canyon on this tour.

TM

*Requires purchase of annual plan. Special price is for first Lawn application only. Requires purchase of annual plan, for new residential EasyPay or PrePay customers only. Valid at participating TruGreen locations. Availability of services may vary by geography. Not to be combined with or used in conjunction with any other offer or discount. Additional restrictions may apply. Consumer responsible for all sales tax. †Purchase of annual lawn plan required for Healthy Lawn Analysis, which is performed at the first visit. ◆Guarantee applies to annual plan customers only. BBB accredited since 07/01/2012. ©2022 TruGreen Limited Partnership. All rights reserved. In Connecticut, B-0153, B-1380, B-0127, B-0200, B-0151.

promo code N7017

1-866-943-9321

* Prices are per person based on double occupancy plus $199 in taxes & fees. Single supplement and seasonal surcharges may apply. Add-on airfare available.

Offers apply to new bookings only, made by 6/30/22. Other terms & conditions may apply. Ask your Travel Consultant for details.

18 Arvada Press

April 28, 2022

County clerks reassure voters while watching for cyberattacks Officials push back against fraud claims, stay alert

‘There is no question right now, every agency is indicating that the risk of Russian initiated cyber security threats has increased.’

BY JESSICA GIBBS JGIBBS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

While local counties’ clerks and recorders say they are still taking steps to unravel false claims of widespread election fraud two years after the 2020 presidential election and ahead of the June primaries, they are also on the lookout for potential cyberattacks after warnings from President Joe Biden that such attacks are increasingly likely.

“It’s definitely nerve-wracking, but something that we are starting to get used to,” Adams County Clerk and Recorder Josh Zygielbaum said. “It’s the world we live in now, and we do everything we can to protect the system and to protect ourselves and our workers and our voters.”

The cybersecurity threat level is similar to past elections, or the worst-case scenarios election offices have prepared for, metro area clerks said.

“There is no question right now, every agency is indicating that the risk of Russian initiated cyber security threats has increased,” Jefferson County Clerk and Recorder George Stern said.

But Stern said “long before we had internal threats to our elec-

George Stern, County Clerk and Recorder

County clerks are on the lookout for potential cyberattacks after warnings from PresiSHUTTERSTOCK dent Joe Biden that such attacks are increasingly likely.

tions,” cybersecurity and the security of election from foreign interference “has been top of

mind,” Stern said. Regular probes from countries including Russia, Iran, North Korea and others are

directed toward state and local election offices, looking for vulnerability in the system.

Clerks said their offices partner with homeland security, the FBI, and state and local departments to monitor cyberthreats.

“If something viable looks as if it’s surfacing, we are notified about it and we can respond,” Zygielbaum said. “We employ the most modern protection from a technology standpoint that there is out there.”

Staff go through cybersecurity training “every single election” regardless of how many times they have received it, Stern said.

For All Your Synthetic Turf Needs Artificial Turf Installer

Electric Power Brooms

20+ Years of artificial grass, pet turf and putting green installation experience.

Keep your turf fluffed up and free of debris with our electric power brooms! www.uspowerbroom.com

TCool Infill Distributor

Tour Greens/XGrass Dealer

Antimicrobial infill that prevents urine smell and keeps your turf up to 50 degrees cooler!

Exclusive partner that offers Arnold Palmer Design Par 3’s & Short Game Greens.

Maintenance Solutions - DIY OxyTurf Cleanser for turf disinfecting/cleaning that smells like fresh cut grass! Removes pet odors and kills 99.9% of all germs.

Consulting / Training / Wholesale Turf Sales We offer installation/sales training, design/consulting services and wholesale pricing to landscapers/contractors.

www.AllThingsTurf.com | 720-450-2626

SEE ATTACKS, P20

Arvada Press 19

April 28, 2022

powered by

Thu 5/05

Featured

Featured

Featured

Fontaines DC @ 8pm Ogden Theatre, 935 E. Colfax Ave., Denver

Tue 5/10 METZ @ 2pm Bluebird Theater, 3317 E. Colfax Ave, Den‐ ver

Crobot @ 6pm Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St,, Den‐ ver

Danzig

2MX2: Cinco De Mayo Party @ 4pm Number Thirty Eight, 3560 Chestnut Pl, Denver

Featured

Tony Medina Music: Tony Medina and Michael Van Lowe at The Buegrass Candelas @ 7pm The Bluegrass - Candelas, 18068 W 92nd Ln #400, Arvada

Featured

Lake Street Dive @ 7pm Red Rocks Amphithe‐ atre, 18300 W Alameda Pkwy, Morri‐ son Cera Gibson @ 8pm Hi-Dive, 7 S Broadway, Denver

@ 6pm Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St, Den‐ ver

Cradle of Filth @ 6pm Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St,, Den‐ ver

Featured

Mon 5/09 Featured

Tantra Speed Date Denver! (In-Person Speed Dating!) @ 6:30pm / $45-$100 Full Moon Books & Event Center, 9106 West 6th Av‐ enue, Lakewood. help@ tantrany.com

Daniil Trifonov @ 7:30pm Gates Concert Hall, Denver

MC Magic

Secret Sisters Eric Thorin: Kyle Tuttle Band w/ Sweet Lillies @ 8pm Cervantes Master‐ piece Ballroom, 2637 Welton St, Denver

@ 9pm Herman's Hideaway, 1578 S Broadway, Denver

24kGoldn

Fri 5/06

@ 8pm Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom, 2637 Welton St, Denver

Featured

Armand Hammer @ 7pm Marquis Theater, 2009 Larimer St, Denver

@ 7pm Red Rocks Amphithe‐ atre, 18300 W Alameda Pkwy, Morri‐ son

Wed 5/11 Featured

Featured

Sat 5/07 Daniella Katzir Music: Denver Ukefest! Duo with Casey Cormier

Stevie Nicks

@ 7pm Swallow Hill Music Association, 71 E Yale Ave, Denver

@ 1:30pm Red Rocks Amphithe‐ atre, 18300 West Alameda Parkway, Morrison

Club Seating: Paramount Theatre Mark Normand @ 7pm / $39.50 Paramount Theatre, 1621 Glenarm, Denver

Rozu

The Pamlico Sound w/ Sweet Plot

@ 6pm Marquis Theater, 2009 Larimer St, Denver

@ 8:30pm Your Mom's House, 608 E 13th Ave., Den‐ ver

My Blue Sky and The Long Run at The Buffalo Rose

Sun 5/08

@ 7pm Buffalo Rose, 1119 Washington Ave, Golden

@ 1pm The Denver Sports Castle - A Non Plus Ul‐ tra Venue, 1000 Broadway, Denver

The Art of Banksy (Peak)

Trace Mountains @ 7pm Globe Hall, 4483 Lo‐ gan St, Denver

Jens Lekman @ 8pm Bluebird Theater, 3317 E Colfax Ave, Den‐ ver

Western Centuries Slaughter Beach, Dog @ 7pm Globe Hall, 4483 Logan St, Denver

The best place to promote your events online and in print. Visit us @ https://jeffcotranscript.com/calendar

@ 9pm Goosetown Tavern, 3242 East Colfax Av‐ enue, Denver

powered by

20 Arvada Press

April 28, 2022

ATTACKS

FROM PAGE 18

That helps staff recognize what attacks might look like. All equipment requires two-factor verification, and there is a paper trail for each ballot.

“That can prove accurate results, and a successful election,” Stern said.

Douglas County Clerk and Recorder Merlin Klotz declined to speak for this story. Klotz is one of several public officials who sued the secretary of state because of a software update the state conducted on county election equipment. The suit seeks to see if the update deleted any data, a claim the secretary of state’s office refuted in a motion to dismiss the suit.

Boosting transparency The Adams, Arapahoe and Jefferson County clerks said while they are working to mend relationships with voters who doubt election security, they emphatically believe those individuals are a small minority of the electorate.

“We still receive plenty of emails from people who believe the Big Lie,” Zygielbaum said.

Clerks said they receive form letters, copied-and-pasted arguments from people who appear to be local residents but also people outside their county borders.

“Just perpetuating the false narratives that the elections were fraudulent,” Zygielbaum

|

‘It’s definitely nerve-wracking, but something that we are starting to get used to. It’s the world we live in now, and we do everything we can to protect the system and to protect ourselves and our workers and our voters.’

Josh Zygielbaum, County Clerk and Recorder

said.

The letters come in waves. A spate of several in one day, followed by a lull.

“It’s important for our staff, for election judges, and for voters,” Stern said, “to understand that we are discussing conspiracy theories here and that the vast, vast majority of people in Colorado understand our elections are secure.”

Arapahoe County Clerk and Recorder Joan Lopez emphasized the election system is not connected to the internet, and that she believes voters trust their local elections system.

“We have gone above and beyond to make sure that they are informed,” Lopez said.

Lopez estimated that people who doubt election security ac-

arvadacenter.org

|

720.898.7200

count for about 1% of Colorado’s population. That doesn’t mean offices have eased efforts to boost faith in U.S. elections.

County clerks’ offices have expanded or created additional designated webpages to educate people about the life of a ballot and how local elections function.

As “forensic audit” became a buzzword last year, Lopez said, the office tried to assuage people’s concerns by encouraging them to see the see the process firsthand.

“I’m telling you, once somebody goes through a tour, they really go ‘Wow, I can’t believe all you guys do,’” Lopez said.

When Stern encounters people who doubt election security, he says “I invite them in.”

“What I find is that they are convinced that something is wrong because they heard it from someone who said something about a report that had some data from somewhere,” Stern said.

During elections, the office offers “a tour of every single aspect of it while it’s happening,” Stern said.

“I personally lead them. We invite anyone in who wants to see the process up close,” Stern said.

Zygielbaum stresses that election equipment watching is conducted by bipartisan teams.

Audits are performed during elections to ensure accuracy.

They also host tours for anyone who wants one.

“We stick to the facts, and hopefully the truth will prevail,” Zygielbaum said.

Physical safety Domestic threats toward election staff’s safety, stoked by conspiracies about a stolen election, have simmered down, clerks said, and numerous election related bills were introduced during the 2022 Colorado legislative session.

“We have heard from cowardly people sitting behind their computer screens over the course of the last year who are threating election workers — Colorado residents with families and kids — because of something they heard about election integrity and have no proof of,” Stern said.

“It’s sick. It’s oftentimes illegal and we are always reporting it to law enforcement agencies, but it just needs to stop.”

Stern said his staff is as politically diverse as the bipartisan election judging teams who work during an election.

“They are Republicans, they are Democrats, they are unaffiliated members, and they are getting threats in equal numbers,” he said. “It is hard on morale. It is hard for us to get good applicants to want to be in this space.”

Stern said he could not confidently say if turnover in his office is attributable to threats, but that the majority of his office is committed to the job despite sometimes facing an intimidating climate.

“The more they hear from cowards, the more they want to stick with this work so that we aren’t letting the cowards win,” he said.

“We hear the noise,” Stern said, adding he staunchly believes threatening people are a fringe minority in the state and are not representative of Colorado voters.

“Someone threatening your life resonates a lot more loudly than the five people who told you you’re doing a good job,” he said.

Lopez watched with relief as the Vote Without Fear Act was passed by the state legislature.

In the November 2020 election, two men came to the ballot box at county offices, filming voters who came to drop off their ballot.

One of them openly carried a firearm.

“He was very hostile any time somebody approached him and said what are you doing,” Lopez said of her staff’s attempts to speak with the men.

“Every voter that came in had to pass this gentleman,” she said.

With no laws prohibiting his conduct, staff’s hands were tied, Lopez said.

House Bill 22-1086, signed into law on March 30, now prevents someone from openly carrying a firearm within any polling location or within 100 feet of a ballot drop box while an election is underway.

The Adams County Clerk and Recorder’s Office is undergoing construction to heighten security.

Until now people seeking services from elections staff had to go inside the election office. Now the county is installing window desks similar to what people might see at the DMV, Zygielbaum said.

Closer to Election Day, Zygielbaum will wear a bulletproof vest. His election staff also underwent active shooter training.

“That was a direct response to 2020,” he said.

Zygielbaum said he expects active shooter training to become an annual practice in collaboration with the Adams County Sheriff’s Office. He called the process eye-opening for his office. Most his employees have been in elections for most their career.

“This is something that is new to all of us. We used to be able to go to work and run elections under the assumption that we would all go home at the end of the day. And that’s changed,” he said. “Something that is supposed to be the foundation for our American institution is under attack.”

Arvada Press 21

April 28, 2022

PROTECT YOUR HOME 365 DAYS A YEAR BACKED BY A YEAR-ROUND

NATIO

INSTALLS ON NEW & EXISTING GUTTERS

2

uPVC Frame

Hanger Existing Gutter

EXCLUSIVE LIMITED TIME OFFER!

15

%

OFF

YOUR ENTIRE PURCHASE *

+

10

SENIORS & MILITARY!

%

OFF

+

2

D

WARRANTY

Micromesh

4

ER GUA

LIFETIME

1

3

’S

GU

TT

1

R

E

N

TH

CLOG-FREE GUARANTEE

5

“LeafFilter was a great investment for our home.”

–Bill & Jan.

%

OFF

TO THE FIRST 50 CALLERS ONLY! **

FINANCING THAT FITS YOUR BUDGET!

1

Promo Code: 285

Keeps Out All Debris Completely sealed system protects your gutters — and entire home — from damaging debris.

Subject to credit approval. Call for details.

1

CALL US TODAY FOR

A FREE ESTIMATE

1-844-618-9585

WE INSTALL

YEAR-ROUND!

Mon-Thurs: 8am-11pm, Fri-Sat: 8am-5pm, Sun: 2pm-8pm EST *For those who qualify. One coupon per household. No obligation estimate valid for 1 year. **Offer valid at time of estimate only 2The leading consumer reporting agency conducted a 16 month outdoor test of gutter guards in 2010 and recognized LeafFilter as the “#1 rated professionally installed gutter guard system in America.” Manufactured in Plainwell, Michigan and processed at LMT Mercer Group in Ohio. See Representative for full warranty details. CSLB# 1035795 DOPL #10783658-5501 License# 7656 License# 50145 License# 41354 License# 99338 License# 128344 License# 218294 WA UBI# 603 233 977 License# 2102212986 License# 2106212946 License# 2705132153A License# LEAFFNW822JZ License# WV056912 License# WC-29998-H17 Nassau HIC License# H01067000 Registration# 176447 Registration# HIC.0649905 Registration# C127229 Registration# C127230 Registration# 366920918 Registration# PC6475 Registration# IR731804 Registration# 13VH09953900 Registration# PA069383 Suffolk HIC License# 52229-H License# 2705169445 License# 262000022 License# 262000403 License# 0086990 Registration# H-19114

22 Arvada Press

April 28, 2022

Polis opposes ban on flavored tobacco, nicotine products Bill would siphon $25 million in annual tax revenue

‘This bill has probably been lobbied more than any other bill that I’ve seen in my four years here at the state Capitol.’

BY SHANNON NAJMABADI THE COLORADO SUN

Gov. Jared Polis says he doesn’t support a bipartisan bill that would ban the sale of flavored tobacco and nicotine products, including menthol cigarettes, because he prefers a local regulatory approach.

But some city and county leaders explicitly support the measure, now stalled in the legislature, and two organizations that represent local governments and fiercely defend their localcontrol powers, the Colorado Municipal League and Colorado Counties Inc., aren’t fighting it.

There’s another reason the Democratic governor may oppose House Bill 1064, which is aimed at reducing teen nicotine use: It would siphon as much as $25.2 million — of an expected $167.7 million — in annual tax revenue from the state’s fledgling preschool program, a signature Polis initiative.

The debate this year over House Bill 1064 highlights the outsize role the tobacco indus-

Matt Soper Republican Rep. of Delta try plays in the Colorado Capitol, where it successfully defeated efforts to increase tobacco taxes in 2016 and 2019.

In 2020, the Polis administration negotiated with tobacco giant Altria, the maker of Marlboro cigarettes, on a bill that placed a measure on the ballot to raise cigarette and tobacco taxes and enact a tax on nicotine products, including vape cartridges. The measure, Proposition EE, passed, raising millions of dollars to fund free preschool slots and helping the Flavored tobacco projects continues to be debated by lawmakers.

SEE TOBACCO, P23

SHUTTERSTOCK IMAGE

Carpet • Hardwood • Laminate • Vinyl • Tile

EMPIRE TODAY® MAKES

Beautiful New Floors Easy!

Schedule a FREE In-Home Estimate!

Call 1-877-401-2062

Sales (except CA, MA, UT) and installation are provided by independent contractors.

Licensure at EmpireToday.com. CSLB 1047108

© 2022 Empire Today, LLC

Arvada Press 23

April 28, 2022

TOBACCO

‘As a general philosophy, the governor prefers local control because our local governments are closest to the people they represent and can weigh the pros and cons and determine how to best address these kinds of issues in their area.’

FROM PAGE 22

governor accomplish a campaign promise.

This year, House Bill 1064, which is aimed at outlawing products that critics say market to children with fruity flavors and colorful packaging, is drawing similar tobacco industry interest.

The measure is one of the most-lobbied bills before the legislature this year, with more than 140 lobbyists and lobbying firms representing more than 85 clients supporting, opposing or monitoring the measure. That’s nearly one-quarter of the entire lobbying corps.

The companies lobbying on the bill are spending big money on their efforts to shape the measure.

Altria and another tobacco giant, Reynolds American, respectively spent $149,000 and $173,000 on lobbying from July 2021 through the end of March.

The national nonprofit Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids is leading the charge to support the bill, and has spent nearly $181,000 on lobbying through the end of March. It has 25 lobbyists and lobbying firms working on the measure.

Lawmakers have acknowledged the supercharged nature of the debate.

“This bill has probably been lobbied more than any other bill that I’ve seen in my four years here at the state Capitol,” Republican Rep. Matt Soper, of Delta, said during a committee hearing in March.

Others say the fight highlights the folly of trying to fund essential services with sin taxes, which are often meant to discourage a certain behavior.

“It’s not hard to see that that’s on a collision course,” said Rep. Marc Snyder, a Manitou Springs Democrat. “The more successful you are at accomplishing the social and health policy, the less revenue you have.”

Local control “in the eye of the beholder” The governor declined to answer repeated questions from the Colorado Sun about whether he is worried the measure will slash preschool funding generated by Proposition EE. Polis has a hard time seeing how a statewide approach to

Conor Cahill, a spokesman for Gov. Jared Polis’ office

regulating flavored tobacco and nicotine products makes sense, spokesman Conor Cahill said, noting that the governor signed legislation in recent years giving local governments regulatory authority over tobacco products.

“As a general philosophy, the governor prefers local control because our local governments are closest to the people they represent and can weigh the pros and cons and determine how to best address these kinds of issues in their area,” Cahill said in a written statement.

A number of cities and towns in Colorado have already passed their own flavor bans, including Aspen, Boulder, Carbondale and Glenwood Springs.

Colorado counties believe they lack the legal authority to pass flavor bans, though a few have increased taxes on the products as a way to try to discourage their use.

Additionally, some mayors say the local efforts have limited effect.

“They’re just not working,” Edgewater Mayor John Beltrone told lawmakers of local ordinances. “Our high school — Jefferson High — is two blocks away from a smoke shop in Lakewood that doesn’t have these restrictions.”

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock vetoed a flavor-ban ordinance passed by the Denver City Council last year, in part because he believed state action would be more effective.

“It is not a prohibitive enough barrier if our youth are simply able to travel across Denver’s border to the nearest

Prepare for power outages today WITH A HOME STANDBY GENERATOR

$0 MONEY DOWN + LOW MONTHLY PAYMENT OPTIONS Contact a Generac dealer for full terms and conditions

REQUEST A FREE QUOTE

CALL NOW BEFORE THE NEXT POWER OUTAGE

(866) 977-2602

*To qualify, consumers must request a quote, purchase, install and activate the generator with a participating dealer. Call for a full list of terms and conditions.

convenience store and obtain flavored tobacco products,” Hancock wrote in a letter issuing his veto.

Kevin Bommer, executive director of the Colorado Municipal League, said the group’s members are split; some support the bill while others don’t want to be told what businesses they can have in their community, referencing concerns from vape shops who say the bill would put them out of business.

Some three dozen Colorado municipalities have adopted regulations on youth access to vaping products that are less restrictive than a ban, according to the Rocky Mountain Smoke Free Alliance, an association that represents about 125 small Colorado vape stores.

Those policies include only selling vaping products in agerestricted stores or imposing stiff penalties on those caught selling to minors, said Joe Miklosi, a former state lawmaker lobbying for the association, which opposes the bill.

The governor’s concern about local control is “a curious position, actually,” Bommer said, citing Polis’ “unwillingness to support local control on building codes and sales taxes.”

“I guess local control is in the eye of the beholder,” he said.

Health officials say the products pose health risks Health officials say flavored tobacco and nicotine products pose a serious public health risk, especially for children of color and those with low socioeconomic backgrounds.

No Clipping Required.

FREE

7-Year Extended Warranty* A $695 Value!

The AARP® Auto Insurance Program from The Hartford.1

FREE duffel

bag when you request your free quote!3

Alarm about the flavored products dates back to at least 2018, when the U.S. Surgeon General said there was an epidemic of e-cigarette use among young people, fueled by “new types of e-cigarettes that have recently entered the market.”

Soon after, there was an outbreak of severe lung injuries tied to vaping products containing THC. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has tightened regulations on flavored nicotine products but some manufacturers switched to synthetic nicotine to evade the added scrutiny. The omnibus spending bill passed by Congress earlier this year would close that loophole and leave manufacturers with 30 days to ask the FDA to continue selling their products.

At Girls Athletic Leadership Schools in Denver, school officials have caught pre-teens with vaping devices that look like mascara wands or have fruity flavors like pineapple, said Carol Bowar, the school’s executive director. The products are more discreet than smoking marijuana or a cigarette, she said, and students caught with the products tell school officials they are able to buy them without being carded.

“It’s a really deadly, addictive substance that’s disguised as something benign. And that is what’s troubling,” Bowar said.

Nicotine is particularly addictive for preteens and teenagers whose brains are still developing, said pediatrician Anne Shelton, a member of the Colorado Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. That group supports the legislation.

Nearly 30% of Colorado high school students used vapes, ecigarettes and similar products in 2019, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Among young adults who use tobacco, more than 80% started with flavored products, according to a study by the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health.

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.

ON AVERAGE, AARP MEMBERS ENJOY

$5072

SAVINGS

ON AUTO INSURANCE

when they switch from companies like

GEICO, State Farm and Allstate Your savings could be even more!

Call The Hartford 1-833-498-1989

Call The Hartford now to request a FREE money-saving quote.

1-833-498-1989 No coupon necessary.

Not an AARP member? If you’re 50 or over, request a FREE quote and more information today!

AARP and its affiliates are not insurers. Paid endorsement. The Hartford pays royalty fees to AARP for the use of its intellectual property. These fees are used for the general purposes of AARP. AARP membership is required for Program eligibility in most states.

The AARP Auto Insurance Program from The Hartford is underwritten by Hartford Fire Insurance Company and its affiliates, One Hartford Plaza, Hartford, CT 06155. It is underwritten in AZ by Hartford Insurance Company of the Southeast; in CA by Hartford Underwriters Insurance Company; in WA, by Hartford Casualty Insurance Company; in MN, by Sentinel Insurance Company; and in MA, MI and PA, by Trumbull Insurance Company.

Auto is currently unavailable in Canada and U.S. Territories or possessions. Specific features, credits and discounts may vary and may not be available in all states in accordance with state filings and applicable law.

Applicants are individually underwritten and some may not qualify.

1 In Texas, the Auto Program is underwritten by Redpoint County Mutual Insurance Company through Hartford of the Southeast General Agency, Inc. Hartford Fire Insurance Company and its affiliates are not financially responsible for insurance products underwritten and issued by Redpoint County Mutual Insurance Company.

2 Average savings amounts based on information reported by customers who switched to The Hartford from other carriers between 1/1/20 and 12/31/20. Your savings may vary. 3Gift is a limited time offer and not available in all states. Email address required in most states. Allow 4-7 weeks for delivery. Bottle not included. *Based on customer experience reviews shared online at www.thehartford.com/aarp as of October 2021.

006131

24 Arvada Press

LOCAL

April 28, 2022

SPORTS

Ralston Valley piles up the runs in 5A Jeffco rivalry game

BY DENNIS PLEUSS JEFFCO PUBLIC SCHOOLS

ARVADA — Ralston Valley senior Markus Hamre is swinging a big hammer this season.

Hamre belted his 10th home run of the season and finished off a 14-4 victory for the Mustangs on April 21 at Nate Jurney Field. His sacrifice fly RBI induced the 10run mercy rule in the bottom of the sixth inning.

“I probably haven’t been in this kind of zone for this extended amount of time,” Hamre said of his 5-game home run hitting streak. “I’m just trying to stay in it. Stay calm, cool and collected.”

Hamre has 32 RBIs on the season, including knocking in a run in each of the past six games. He belted a pair of home runs and drove in six runs earlier this week when Ralston Valley rallied from a 11-5 deficit to pull out a 12-11 win.

“What (Hamre) does best is hitting the ball to all fields,” Ralston Valley coach Brad Madden said of his big lefty bat. “That is what makes him so dangerous. It’s hard to pitch to him because he can hit it to any part of the park. He is our guy. He is our horse and we’re going to ride him.”

A-West (11-5, 2-1 in 5A Jeffco) actually grabbed an earlier 2-0 lead off a solo home run by senior Zachary Quimby in the first inning and an RBI by senior Mason Hagel-Pitt when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

Ralston Valley senior pitcher Kris Levensteins had a bit of a strange pitching line in his complete-game victory. He gave up four runs on four hits while only walking one. However he also hit five batters while striking out seven.

“He (Levensteins) gets the job done and he competes,” Madden said. “When he just pitches he is pretty darn good.”

Ralston Valley junior Diano Benallo slides across home plate during the Mustangs’ 5-run bottom of the second inning April 21 at Nate Jurney Field. The Mustangs defeated rival Arvada West 14-4 in the Class 5A Jeffco League game. PHOTOS BY DENNIS PLEUSS/JEFFCO PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Arvada West shortstop Tucker Deal prepares to fire across the diamond as Ralston Valley senior Andrew LaPerle scrambles back to second base during the Class 5A Jeffco League game April 21 at Nate Jurney Field. Ralston Valley won 14-4 in five innings.

A-West freshman Tate Deal belted a 2-run home run in the top of the fourth inning to cut Ralston Valley’s lead to 6-4, but it was all Mustangs after that. Junior Diano Benallo ripped a 2-run single in the bottom of the fifth inning to extend the lead to 8-4.

Ralston Valley had eight different players drive in runs and finished off the game in style with a 6-run bottom of the sixth inning.

“We’ve left a few games where we’ve been at the six or seven runs and said that wasn’t enough,” Madden said. “Today we finally made sure it was enough. It was good for us to keep on building on the lead.”

Senior Andrew LaPerle did something that Madden — threetime state championship coach at Golden and Green Mountain — has never seen. LaPerle went 4-for-4 with four doubles.

“As a team during BP (batting practice) we were all swinging it really well,” LaPerle said. “During BP we took care of business. Then we came out here and did the same thing.”

Lakewood (11-4, 2-0) stands at the top of the 5A Jeffco League standings after the first week into conference play. The Mustangs (9-6, 2-1) dropped behind the Tigers and into a 4-way tie for second place in league after a 7-0 road loss to Dakota Ridge.

For the first time in a very long time, there is not a single 5A Jeffco team in the top-10 of the CHSAANow.com5A baseball poll last week. Valor just dropped out of the rankings this week after a 4-game losing streak and the skid reached five games with an opening conference loss to Lakewood.

Dennis Pleuss is the Sports Information Director for Jeffco Public Schools. For more Jeffco coverage, go to CHSAANow.com.

Late goal gives Columbine victory over Arvada West on the soccer pitch

BY DENNIS PLEUSS JEFFCO PUBLIC SCHOOLS

LAKEWOOD — Columbine’s girls soccer team continues to head in the right direction.

The Rebels — No. 6 in last week’s CHSAANow.com Class 5A rankings — captured their fifth straight victory April 18 at Lakewood Memorial Field with a dramatic 2-1 victory over Arvada West.

A centering pass from junior Thai Quallich found senior Kacie Laurie with a minute to play in regulation.

Laurie was able to head the ball past A-West senior goalie Veronica Vessa, who was brilliant in net keeping the Wildcats in the game.

“It was a great service from Thai Quallich,” Columbine coach Brian Todd said of the eventual gamewinning goal with exactly a minute

Columbine senior Kacie Laurie (17) has the advantage on Arvada West senior Ashlyn Craig while both chase down a loose ball during the Class 5A Jeffco League game April 18 at Lakewood Memorial Field. The Rebels pulled out a 2-1 victory to remain undefeatPHOTO BY DENNIS PLEUSS/JEFFCO PUBLIC SCHOOLS ed in league play.

to play in regulation. “Kacie snuck around the backside and had a free header. It was tough conditions for the goalie looking right into the sun, but it was a clean header and a great finish.”

It was the third goal of the season for Laurie and sixth assist of the year for Quallich, who also leads the Rebels with nine goals.

“On that last play we knew we just had a minute left,” Laurie said.

“Since we had so many chances anyone would do whatever to get one it.”

A-West (6-4-1, 2-2 in 5A Jeffco) took a 1-0 lead in the seventh minute with a goal by junior Ellie Pugliese.

However, Columbine (8-1-1, 4-0) dominated the scoring chances and tied things up in the 15th-minute with a rocket shot by junior Andrea Iljkic.

SEE SOCCER, P25

Arvada Press 25

April 28, 2022

C R O S SWO R D P U Z Z L E

SOCCER FROM PAGE 24

“Credit to Arvada West, its defensive shape and goalkeeper played really well together,” Todd said. “I would agree that we had the better of the play and created the most chances. We just didn’t finish them.

That has been a little bit of the story for us this season.”

It was the sixth game this season for Columbine where the outcome was determined by two goals or less.

The Rebels edge rival Chatfield a week ago to open conference play.

“We are starting to put away late chances,” Laurie said. “A win is a win.”

The win kept Columbine neck and neck with No. 2 Valor Christian (9-0, 4-0) for the conference title. The two will meet in both teams’ 5A Jeffco League finale on Monday, May 2, at Valor Christian High School.

“I think it’s going to go through Valor again. They are the reigning league champs,” Todd said. “We are just looking to putting us in a position when we got to Valor to be in the running to have a chance at a league title. We’ve got games before that, but we are on track right now.”

Columbine won its sixth straight with another 2-1 victory against Ralston Valley (6-2-1, 2-2) on April 21, at the North Area Athletic Complex.

“We have a long road ahead of us still,” Laurie said. “We still have to work on creating and finishing chances. Grinding through these close games are going to help us as we get later in the season.”

A-West ended its two-game losing streak April 21 with a 3-0 victory against Lakewood at the NAAC following the Columbine/Ralston

Columbine freshman Sophia Ashbrook (8) attempts to settle a ball to her feet in front of Arvada West sophomore Landyn Lessley on April 18 at Lakewood Memorial Field. A late goal gave Columbine a huge 2-1 victory against A-West.

PHOTO BY DENNIS PLEUSS/JEFFCO PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Valley showdown.

Dennis Pleuss is the Sports Information Director for Jeffco Public Schools. For more Jeffco coverage, go to CHSAANow.com.

Answers

© 2016 King Features Synd., Inc.

Solution THANKS for

PLAYING!

CLASSIFIEDS

26 Arvada Press

April 28, 2022

COLORADO COMMUNIT Y MEDIA

Career Training

Help Wanted

TRAIN ONLINE TO DO MEDICAL BILLING! Become a Medical Office Professional at CTI! Get trained & certified to work in months!

888-572-6790.

The Mission, Program Information and Tuition is located at CareerTechnical.edu/consumer-information (M-F 8-6 ET)

Night Time Inspection Tech / Part-Time Position inspects all exterior lighting for retail and commercial properties documenting all outages.

• Drive Company vehicle to specific locations and indicate all outages on provided site map •This position is part-time - (3) nights per week averaging 25-30 hours •Night Shift - Flexible Schedule - Great second job •Must have clean driving record and must pass drug screening test.

Contact info: Jobs@ coloradolighting.com

Help Wanted Direct Support Professional Brighton Day Program Responsible for providing support to adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities Hiring Range: $17.00- 19.55 per hour depending on experience Contact info: Please visit https://www.nmetro.org/jobopportunities/ for the full job description and qualifications

Wildlife Property Seasonal Colorado Parks and Wildlife is hiring a temporary employee to work at Mt. Evans State Wildlife Area. The position will start June 1 and remain through September. Job duties include property management such as weed spraying, fence building and repair, planting food plots, timber management, and trail maintenance; equipment maintenance; building maintenance, including cleaning restrooms weekly. Applicants must be able to apply herbicide, perform physical labor, and have a valid driver’s license. Experience with the job duties and with agricultural type equipment is beneficial but not required. The work week is somewhat flexible and offers 32-40 hours per week.

Please send a resume or inquiries to Will Spence, Wildlife Technician, by May 6, 2022.

Contact info: Will Spence, Wildlife Technician. will.spence@state.co.us

CLASSIFIED AD SALES

303-566-4100 classifieds@coloradocommunitymedia.com

SERVICE DIRECTORY ADS

Contact Erin, 303-566-4074 eaddenbrooke@coloradocommunitymedia.com

Help Wanted

CAREGIVER NEEDED Seeking an experienced and passionate caregiver for an elderly 85yr old male. We are looking for someone who is responsible, compassionate, has patience, someone else’s loved one like they were your own, or how you would want your loved one to be taken care of.

Contact info: timothymaines787@ gmail.com

Propane Cylinder Delivery Driver Valley Wide Cooperative is coming to Colorado. Join a quickly growing company. Hiring propane cylinder exchange drivers and an Operations/Sales Lead. visit www. valleywidecoop.com for information and to apply.

Contact info: Shane.McConnell@valleywidecoop. com 208-995-5507

LEGITIMATE WORK AT HOME No Sales, no Investment, No Risk, Free training, Free website. Contact Susan at 303-646-4171 or fill out form at www.wisechoice4u.com

Drivers

WE NEED DRIVERS! 40 year company, great pay!

Start from home and drive your car!

Day or night shifts. $3,000 sign on bonus, paid training, paid time off and benefits! Interview today!

Contact info: Quicksilver Express Courier 303-350-4189 www.qec.com

Driver/Sales/Route Sales Company seeking 4 - 6 money motivated individuals,! Rock n Roll to over $1000 per week ! Must like loud music, as we are in the music industry! Paid training! Company Vehicle! No Weekends! Must have valid Drivers License.

Call Dave now! 800-441-3639 Contact info: United Wholesalers 1-800-441-3639

Need to get the word out?

Advertise with us to find your next great hire!

Call us at

C AREERS

303.566.4100

DEADLINES CLASSIFIED LINE ADS: MONDAY, 11 A.M. SERVICE DIRECTORY: THURSDAY, 5 P.M. LEGALS: THURSDAY, 3 P.M.

Help Wanted

NOW HIRING

Clear Creek Courant Reporter The Clear Creek Courant, which has covered “history as it happens” in Georgetown, Empire, Idaho Springs and surrounding areas, is seeking an experienced reporter to help continue a tradition of excellence by covering government, breaking news, events, features and more. The Courant is a staple of these mountain communities and aims to capture the charm of smalltown mountain living.

We’re looking for an ambitious journalist who is passionate about local news and loves to chase down important stories and tell them in a way that connects with readers on multiple platforms.

The right candidate must also be able to shoot and edit images and post content to social media platforms. Video skills are a plus.

Responsibilities include: • Generating six stories a week.

• Demonstrating effective use of social media tools to source stories and drive traffic to website and print products.

• Ensuring accuracy, objectivity, fairness and correct spelling in all reporting.

• Meeting deadlines without exception.

• Working collaboratively with other reporters on shared editorial projects.

• Keeping the Clear Creek Courant website and social media updated.

Qualifications: • A degree in journalism or communications • Two years of experience in reporting • Must be available to work some nights and weekends • Digital photography experience • Must have a current driver’s license or the ability to get one

Details: • Full time with benefits, salary range $16-18/hour

Interested? Email West Region Editor Kristen Fiore: kfiore(at)coloradocommunitymedia.com with a cover letter, links to previously published work and three references.

NOW HIRING

Accounting Assistant and Legal Advertising Specialist Colorado Community Media is hiring a detail-oriented administrative specialist to assist in posting receivables and to schedule legal notices. The job would be full time in our business office reporting to the Business Manager.

Job responsibilities include: • Post payments in our ad management software (will train in Account Scout).

Create and maintain daily files.

•Assist customers with questions on their balances and/or payments.

•Take in orders for legal notices to publish in our weekly publications. Format and schedule orders properly for production and record-keeping purposes using ad management software.

•Flow ad files onto pages for insertion into weekly publications using design software (will train in InDesign) •Proof pages to ensure accuracy •Act as customer service representative for both AR and legal notice publishing process Preferred skills: •Experience in accounts receivable preferable •Superior attention to detail •Ability to build and maintain solid customer relationships with professionalism and speed •Proficiency in Microsoft Office programs Once the candidate is fully trained this job can be performed part in-office (in Englewood) and part remote. Starting pay $14.50-$16.50/hour.

Applicants please send your resume to Audrey Brooks at abrooks@coloradocommunitymedia.com

CLASSIFIEDS

Arvada Press 27

April 28, 2022

COLORADO COMMUNIT Y MEDIA

Market Place

Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous

Misc. Notices

Donate Your Car to Veterans Today! Help and Support our Veterans. Fast - FREE pick up.

100% tax deductible. Call 1-800245-0398

BATH & SHOWER UPDATES in as little as ONE DAY! Affordable prices - No payments for 18 months!

Lifetime warranty & professional installs. Senior & Military Discounts available. Call: 855-761-1725

WIDOWED MEN AND WOMEN OF AMERICA. A social club offering many exciting activities and life long friendships.

Social hours for all areas of Metro Denver.

Visit Widowedamerica.org for details In your area!

Merchandise Firewood

Split & Delivered $350 a cord Delivery $50. Stacking $50 Call 303-647-2475 or 720-323-2173

Health & Beauty DENTAL INSURANCE - Physicians Mutual Insurance Company. Covers 350 procedures.

Real insurance - not a discount plan. Get your free dental info kit!

1-888-623-3036 www.dental50plus.com/58 #6258.

VIAGRA and CIALIS USERS! 50 Generic Pills SPECIAL $99.00 FREE Shipping! 100% guaranteed.

24/7 CALL NOW! 888-445-5928 Hablamos Espanol

Medical Attention oxygen therapy users!

Inogen One G4 is capable of full 24/7 oxygen delivery. Only 2.8 pounds.

Free info kit. Call 877-929-9587

Miscellaneous The Generac PWRcell solar plus battery storage system. Save money, reduce reliance on grid, prepare for outages & power your home. Full installation services. $0 down financing option. Request free no obligation quote. 1-855-270-3785

Looking for assisted living, memory care, or independent living? A Place for Mom simplifies the process of finding senior living at no cost to your family. Call 1-833386-1995 today!

Aloe Care Health medical alert system. Most advanced medical alert product on the market. Voiceactivated! No wi-fi needed! Special offer w/code CARE20 for $20 off Mobile Companion. 1-855-521-5138 Prepare for power outages today with a GENERAC home standby generator $0 Down + Low Monthly Pmt Request a free Quote. Call before the next power outage: 1-844-334-8353 AT&T Internet. Starting at $40/ month w/12-mo agreement. 1 TB of data/month. Ask how to bundle & SAVE! Geo & service restrictions apply. 1-888-796-8850 !!OLD GUITARS WANTED!!

GIBSON, FENDER, MARTIN, Etc. 1930’s to 1980’s. TOP DOLLAR PAID. CALL TOLL FREE 1-866-433-8277 Put on your TV Ears & hear TV w/ unmatched clarity. TV Ears Original - originally $129.95 - now w/this special offer only $59.95 w/code MCB59! 1-833-530-1955 Scrap Metal, Batteries, Appliances, Wiring, Scrap Plumbing/Heating, Cars/Parts, Clean out Garages/Yards, Rake, Yard work done w/chainsaw, Certified Auto Mechanical / Body Work & paint available Also can do inside or outside cleaning 303-647-2475 / 720-323-2173

CLASSIFIEDS

CLASSIFIED AD SALES

303-566-4100 classifieds@coloradocommunitymedia.com

SERVICE DIRECTORY ADS

Contact Erin, 303-566-4074 eaddenbrooke@coloradocommunitymedia.com

Hero takes stress out of managing medications. Hero sorts & dispenses meds, sends alerts at dose times & handles prescription refill & delivery for you. Starting at $24.99/month. No initiation fee. 90-day risk-free trial!

1-888-684-0280

Pets

Eliminate gutter cleaning forever!

LeafFilter, the most advanced debris-blocking protection. Schedule free LeafFilter estimate today. 15% off Entire Purchase. 10% Senior & Military Discounts. Call 1-855-9952490

Need to get the word out?

Marketplace Classifieds

Dogs

Classic

DISH TV $64.99 190 Channels + $14.95 High Speed Internet.

Free Installation, Smart HD DVR included, Free Voice remote. Some Restrictions apply. Promo Expires 1/21/23. 1-833-872-2545.

HughesNet – Finally, super-fast internet no matter where you live. 25 Mbps just $59.99/mo! Unlimited Data is Here. Stream Video. Bundle TV & Internet. Free Installation. Call 866-499-0141

Advertise with us to find a good home for your favorite Ford

Wanted to Buy Wants to purchase minerals and other oil and gas interests. Send details to P.O. Box 13557 Denver, Co. 80201

TRUCK

Doodle Puppies

Golden Doodles and Bernedoodles Home-Raised Heath Tested and Guaranteed Standard and Mini Size available Schedule a visit today!

(970)215-6860 www.puppylovedoodles.com

TO ADVERTISE CALL 303-566-4100

Call us at

303.566.4100

Home for Sale

REAL ES TATE

2495 SELL YOUR HOME ½ %

$

OR

over 500k

up to 500k

If Buying a home in Denver Metro & I’m Agent

SELLING only?

1%*

**listing commissions fees **+buyer agent co-ops

TO ADVERTISE CALL 303-566-4100

DEADLINES CLASSIFIED LINE ADS: MONDAY, 11 A.M. SERVICE DIRECTORY: THURSDAY, 5 P.M. LEGALS: THURSDAY, 3 P.M.

Become a published author. We want to read your book! Dorrance Publishing trusted since 1920.

Consultation, production, promotion & distribution. Call for free author`s guide 833-719-3029 or visit dorranceinfo.com/acp

Paying top cash for men’s sportwatches!

Rolex, Breitling, Omega, Patek Philippe, Heuer, Day-tona, GMT, Submariner and Speedmaster. Call 833-603-3236

COLORADO COMMUNIT Y MEDIA

MARKETPL ACE

BUYING only?

Up to 1% credit of sale base price* *equal to 33% of my commission paid *applied to Buyer closing costs

Full Service Saving THOUSANDS $$$

Charles Paeplow Cornerstone Homes Realty

720-560-1999 • charlespaeplow@yahoo.com

*Commissions subject to change

CLASSIFIEDS

28 Arvada Press

April 28, 2022

COLORADO COMMUNIT Y MEDIA

SERVICE DIRECTORY CLASSIFIED AD SALES

SERVICE DIRECTORY ADS

Contact Erin, 303-566-4074 eaddenbrooke@coloradocommunitymedia.com Cleaning

Automotive

Carpet/Flooring

Protect your catalytic converters from being stolen!

HOME & WINDOW CLEANING

HOME CLEANING HOME&&WINDOW WINDOW CLEANING

We install Catalytic Converter Cages!

303.423.9378(WEST) Bonded * Insured

“We’ll Make Your House Happy!”

303.423.9378(WEST) 303.423.9378 (WEST) Bonded * Insured

Bonded • Insured

“We’ll Make Your House Happy!”

“A” Rating on Angie’s List & 5 Stars on Google

Regular or One-Time Service

Call Mountain Muffler Lived-In or Vacant Homes

Carpet

Since 1994

303-278-2043 2200 Ford St. Golden www.westsidecleaning.com

n:

Call Ke

720-244-3623 Cleaning

your free

estimate!

www.mountainmuffler.net

Keeping you safe by social distancing, mask wearing & disinfecting while we’re in your home

Solutions

• CARPET REPAIRS •RE-STRETCHING • PET DAMAGE

Call today for

METALBUILDING “We’ll Make Your House Happy!”

Bonded * Insured OUTLET CORP.

LOCAL BUILDINGS FOR 30+“A”YEARS! Rating on Angie’s List & 5 Stars on Google · SHOPS & GARAGES Regular or One-Time Service · EQUIPMENT STORAGE · SELF STORAGE · BARNS & AGRICULTURAL Lived-In or VacantBUILDINGS Homes · EQUESTRIAN FACILITIES · COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS Since 1994 www.westsidecleaning.com · AND MORE...

Call today for your free estimate!

303.948.2038

Keeping you safe by social distancing, mask wearing & disinfecting while we’re in your home

Spring Cleaning Special 20% off Residential/Commercial Riley 720.382.0932 Riley@arrowheadwindowcleaning.com

Concrete/Paving

METALBUILDINGOUTLET.COM HOME & WINDOW CLEANING Concrete/Paving

• patios • sidewalks • garage floors • • porches • stamped/colored • exposed agregate • lic.& ins. free estimates

720-218-8849 www.delsolconcrete.com

Quality Concrete Service Since 1968 FREE Estimates • Concrete Specialist

Capra Concrete, INC Patios • Sidewalks Driveways • Retaining Walls Colored and Stamped Concrete

Phone: 303-422-8556 Cell: 720-364-2345 msmiyagi33@gmail.com

Since 1994or One-Time Service Regular Regular or One-Time Service Lived-In Vacant Homes Lived-In or or Vacant Homes

westsidecleaning.com Since 1994 www.westsidecleaning.com

“We’ll Make Your House Happy!”

Bonded * Insured

Regular or One-Time Service

RESIDENTIAL Lived-In or Vacant Homes CONCRETE WORK

TM

Call today for your free

HOME REPAIRS & REMODELING estimate!

• Drywall • Painting • Tile • Trim Driveways, sidewalks Since 1994 patios, www.westsidecleaning.com • Doors • Painting • Decks • Bath Remodel 25 years exp. References avail.

• Kitchen Remodels • Basements & Much More!

Keeping you safe by social distancing, mask wearing & disinfecting while we’re in your home Small jobs welcome.

We Never Mark Up Materials Saving you 25%-35% All Work Guaranteed • A+ BBB Rated

Drywall “We’ll Make Your House Happy!”

A PATCH TO MATCH

Call Today for a FREE ESTIMATE 303-427-2955

Bonded * Insured Hauling

Service

HAULING

House/Garage/Yard clean outs Storm Damage Cleanup Highly rated & screened contractor by Electronics recycling avail.

Home Advisor & Angies list HOME & WINDOW Mark: CLEANING 303.432.3503 Call Ed 720-328-5039 303.423.9378(WEST)

Cut Rate Hauling

Bonded * Insured

List & 5 Stars on Google Bob’s Home Repairs “A” Rating on Angie’sTrash / Rubbish / Debris All types of repairs. and Junk Removal Regular One-Time Reasonableor rates 30yrs Exp. Service

303-450-1172

303.423.9378(WEST) Bonded * Insured

“We’ll Make Your House Happy!”

Since 1997 - Lincensed Insured -onBonded “A” Rating onAngie’s List & 5 Stars Google

Weekly, Bi-Weekly, 3Weeks, Monthly, Regular or One-Time Service Move-In, Move-Out Call today for Lived-In or Vacant Homes FREE ESTIMATES your free estimate!

TOM NGUYEN: OFFICE & CELL: 303-349-3153 Since 1994 www.westsidecleaning.com exceptionalhousecleaning@gmail.com exceptionalhousecln.wixsite.com/home

Keeping you safe by social distancing, mask wearing & disinfecting while we’re in your home

Visa-M/C • Paypal • Venmo

HOME & WINDOW CLEANING Handyman 303.423.9378(WEST) Bonded * Insured

Michael’s Handyman Services “A” Rating on Angie’s List & 5 Stars on Google

Home Beautification Regular or One-Time• Service • Home Repair & Interior Painting

Call today for Professional and Reliable your free Year Round Service estimate!

Rubin (720)434-8042 Since 1994 www.westsidecleaning.com Kerwin (720) 519-5559 Keeping you safe by social distancing, mask wearing & disinfecting while we’re in your home

Lived-In or Vacant Homes

Call today for

Lived-In or Vacant Homes

303-301-4420 your free

estimate!

Since 1994 www.westsidecleaning.com

Keeping you safe by social distancing, mask wearing & disinfecting while we’re in your home

MINOR HOME REPAIRS

No job is tooHOME small • Free Estimates & WINDOW CLEANING 303.423.9378(WEST) Bonded * Insured

“We’ll Make Your House Happy!”

“A” Rating on Angie’s List & 5 Stars on Google

$$ Reasonable Rates Call today for On: $$ • Home Renovation and Remodel your freeFurniture Lived-In or Vacant Homes Trash Cleanup • Old • 30 years Experience Mattresses estimate!

• Appliances • Dirt • Insured Old fencing • Branches • Concrete Since 1994 www.westsidecleaning.com • Satisfaction Asphalt • Old Sod • Brick • Mortar Guaranteed Keeping you safe by social distancing, mask wearing & disinfecting while we’re in your home

“We’ll Make Your House Happy!”

EXCEPTIONAL HOUSECLEANING # 1 ,INC.

303.423.9378(WEST)

Drywall Repair Regular orSpecialist One-Time Service

Handyman

Cleaning HOME & WINDOW CLEANING

“We’ll Make Your House Happy!”

“A” Rating on Angie’s List & 5 Stars on Google

Call Today Call today for for youryour free Freeestimate!

Estimate!

“A” Rating onyouAngie’s List & 5 Stars on Google Keeping safe by social distancing, mask wearing & disinfecting while we’re in your home

Handyman 303.423.9378(WEST)

CALL 303-429-0380 HOME & WINDOW CLEANING Driveways Tear Outs & Replace

“A” Rating on Angie’s List & 5 Stars on Google

Buildings, Metal HOME & WINDOW CLEANING 303.423.9378(WEST)

DEADLINES CLASSIFIED LINE ADS: MONDAY, 11 A.M. SERVICE DIRECTORY: THURSDAY, 5 P.M. LEGALS: THURSDAY, 3 P.M.

303-566-4100 classifieds@coloradocommunitymedia.com

“A” Rating on Angie’s List & 5 Stars on Google

Kitchen Remodeling

Landscaping/Nurseries

Regular or One-Time Service Lived-In or Vacant Homes need-cabinets.com

Call today for

Landscape & Concrete your free

estimate!

Since 1994 www.westsidecleaning.com

Cabinet Sales Landscaping • Yard Cleanup • Sod Kitchen Remodeling Concrete • Sprinklers • Fertilization Laminate Counters HOME & WINDOW CLEANING Keeping you safe by social distancing, mask wearing & disinfecting while we’re in your home

303 421-5980 email artistic@q.com “We’ll Make Your House Happy!”

Tree Trimming/Cutting • Planting Retaining Walls • Flagstone 303.423.9378(WEST) Fencing • Gutter Cleaning Bonded * Insured Power Raking • Aerating

720-436-6158

“A” Rating on Angie’s List & 5 Stars on Google

Regular or One-Time Service Lived-In or Vacant Homes

Call today for your free estimate!

Since 1994 www.westsidecleaning.com Keeping you safe by social distancing, mask wearing & disinfecting while we’re in your home

All of Flat Work by by AllPhases Phases of Flat Work

T.M. T.M.CONCRETE CONCRETE

Driveways, Sidewalks, Patios Driveways, Sidewalks, Patios Tear-outs, stamped & colored Tear-outs, stamped & colored concrete.

Quality work, Lic./Ins. concrete. Quality Reasonable rates work, Lic./Ins. "Small Jobs OK!" Reasonable rates 303-514-7364 "Small Jobs OK!" tmconcrete.net 303-514-7364

tmconcrete.net

TO ADVERTISE CALL 303-566-4100

Arvada Press 29

April 28, 2022 Drywall

Lawn/Garden Services

Painting

A & H DRYWALL, LLC Call for FREE Estimate 24/7 Any Drywall Needs... Hang • Tape • Texture • Painting Match any texture, remove popcorn Armando 720.448.3716 • Fully Insured

Weekly mowing, edging, trimming, aeration, fertilizing, maintenance and more.

Helpful Ace Hardware Pro Painters is a residential painting company which specializes in exterior and interior painting. Our core values are honesty, integrity, service, quality and beauty and our focus is on delivering an outstanding customer experience. We currently include a full color consult, test pints and a detailed walkthrough with all of our paint jobs.

HVAC

Call John 303-922-2670

Serving Arvada, Lakewood, Wheat Ridge and Golden

Furnace Serving theand FrontBoiler Range Specials since 1955

Sod, Rock, Mulch, Retaining Walls, Sprinklers, Sprinkler Repair, Flagstone, Fence Repair, Power Rake, Fertilize, Aeration, Yard Clean-Ups, Shrub Trimming/Removal, Rock Removal, Weed Control, Trash Hauling and Much More!

Senior Discounts Year Round!

Alpine Landscape Management Weekly Mowing, Aerate, Fertilize, Spring Clean-up, Trim Bushes & Small Trees, Senior Discounts

720-329-9732

Free Estimates Estimates ••720-327-9214 Free 720-327-9214 Painting

PEREZ PAINTING LLC Interior / Exterior Paint Specialist Front Door Refinishing Specialist

Painting

Commercial/Residential Services:

Check out our reviews on google!

We guarantee satisfaction. Call Today!

Family owned & operated!

Trae Francque

720-653-8379

ttpropertymain@gmail.com • Reasonable rates, Reliable service • Customer satisfaction Guaranteed

Have a Hail Damaged Roof?

- Call Golden Spike Roofing - We are 100% Local & Have Great References - Roofing • Siding • Paint • Windows • Gutters

- Call Dave Vaughn 720-427-7422 - davegoldenspikeroofing@gmail.com

Roofing

Plumbing

Bob’s Painting, Repairs & Home Improvements 30 yrs experience Free estimates 303-450-1172

We Provide Quality Painting •Hardscaping- Flagstone/Pavers: patios, walkways, porches, pool decks. Structural retaining walls, Xeriscaping, flower bed walls, outdoor living and entertainment areas, pergolas etc •Concrete- driveways, sidewalks and patios, decorative concrete, concrete demolition & disposal.

•Demolition- buildings, sheds, driveways, junk, existing landscape etc.

•Drainage solutions- French drains, runoff water from different elevation solutions , gutter water runoff solutions, French drain replacement etc.

•Tree & shrub services- tree and shrub trimming, removal, planting new vegetation etc •Annual landscape maintenanceinstallation of river rock, mulch, or any other desired ground cover. We can remove & replace your old steel edging with new, rust proof, edging!

•Sod/New Lawn Install-New lawn creation; Replacement of grass damaged by drought, neglect or irrigation systems needing sprinkler repair.

•We offer spring and fall cleanups which would include preparing the entire landscape for the upcoming season.

(Sprinklers, trimming vegetation, leaf removal, shrub/tree trimming etc) •Sprinkler system/irrigation- new installations, replacements, sprinkler repair, coverage issues etc. Our first priority is always water conservation, we use smart technology to save you water!

Roofing/Gutters

720-298-3496

$$ Reasonable Rates On: $$

Mark: 303.432.3503 Refs. avail

helpfulacehardwarepropainters.com

FULLY INSURED

LAWN SERVICES

• Leaf Cleanup • Lawn Maintenance • Tree & Bush Trimming/Removal • Removal/Replacement Decorative Rock, Sod or Mulch • Storm Damage Cleanup • Gutter cleaning • All of your ground maintenance needs Servicing the West & North areas

Give us a call to set up a free estimate! (720) 432-6125

Serving the Front Range sinceHeaters 1955 Furnaces • Boilers • Water Rooftop • Mobile Water HeatersHVAC • Rooftop HVAC •Furnaces Commercial Commercial Residential • Install •• Residential Repair • Replace Install Inspections • Repair • Replace Free Furnace & A/C Startups

Landscape & Garden

720-982-9155 lawnservice9155@q.com

• Benjamin Moore Paints • Labor and Materials Warranty • Free Estimates • Color Consultation Included • Kind/Highly Communicative Staff

Long lasting Specialty Services interior & exterior Over 40 yrs. experience References and guarantees available.

Call Frank

303.420.0669

PLUMBING & SPRINKLERS

Free Instant Phone Quote Repair or Replace: Faucets, Sprinklers, Toilets, Sinks, Disposals, Water Heaters, Gas Lines, Broken Pipes, Spigots/ Hosebibs, Water Pressure Regulator, Ice Maker, Drain Cleaning, Dishwasher Instl., for coupons go to vertecservices.com CALL Vertec 303-371-3828

DIRTY JOBS Done Dirt Cheap

Plumbing

Drain Cleaning Specialist Camera & Sewer Repairs Plumbing Repairs 24/7 - 35 yrs experience No extra charge for weekends

Call for a free phone quote

720-308-6696

Front Range Plumbing

303.451.1971 Commercial/Residential

For all your plumbing needs

• Water Heaters • Plumbing Parts

SENIOR DISCOUNTS www.frontrangeplumbing.com

Roofing/Gutters DEPENDABLE ROOF AND GUTTER REPAIR Repairs are all I do!

Wind Damage & Fix Leaks Gutter repair/cleaning 40 years experience FREE Estimates

(720)209-4589

Service Directory Advertise with us to promote

YARD CARE

303-425-7531 Sprinklers

Tree Service

Just Sprinklers Inc

A-1 Stump Removal

Licensed and Insured

Affordable Rates Residential /Commercial

• • • Service & Renovations • • Install, Repair • • • Winterization • System Startup

Mowing Aeration Power Rake Overseeding Sod

(303) 425-6861

Family Owned & Operated Ask About Lawn Services

(303)425-1084

Free Estimates & Senior Discounts

Looking for new customers?

Lawn &

Hail & Storm Damage Repairs & Replacements Insurance Claims Roof Financing Options

Classifieds your local small business!

Classifieds

Call us at 303.566.4100

Tree Service JAY WHITE Tree Service Serving with pride since 1975 Call Jay (303)278-7119 Licensed and Insured Firewood For Sale

Stump grinding specialist

Most stumps $75.00 and up $55 Minimum.

Free estimates. Call or Licensed & Insured. Text 41 years experience.

10% off when coupon presented A father and son team!

Terry 303-424-7357 Corey 720-949-8373

Majestic Tree Service 720-231-5954

Tree & Shrub Trimming, Tree Removal Stump Grinding Free Estimates/Consultations Licensed and Insured

30 Arvada Press

April 28, 2022

Women’s Bean Project celebrates rebuilding lives A new facility planned in Denver

plishments on April 20 at the organization’s annual fundraiser and graduation ceremony called Ready, Set, Grow. She was one of three current graduates featured in a video shown to the hundreds of supporters in the room.

Beside the changes for each of the women crossing the stage, there’s another big change coming to the program in the next couple of months. The Women’s Bean Project is opening a brand-new facility, growing to 20,000 square feet at a repurposed car dealership in Athmar Park from 10,000 at its current location at a former firehouse in Curtis Park.

About 70% of a woman’s time at the Women’s Bean Project is spent working, and 30% spent in program activities — such as computer or financial literacy classes — or personal development tasks like creating a sobriety plan, CEO Tamra Ryan said. (Olivia Sun, The Colorado Sun via Report for America) The new location gives the nonprofit room to grow the number of women it serves. At the end of three years, CEO Tamra Ryan estimates they will employ a hundred women a year in full time jobs, up from about 60 women in the program now.

“I would say four out of five

BY MARGARET FLEMING THE COLORADO SUN

Sabina Dyer was in a treatment center when she applied for a slot at the Women’s Bean Project in Denver. She needed a job and had heard good things about the nonprofit that uses employment to help train women for the workforce from a previous graduate of the organization. The organization hires women struggling to find employment to make and manufacture products from black bean soup to jellybeans.

Dyer got the job, tried her best to show up on time and every day, and soon got promoted to a lead position. After she graduated from the program, she landed the role of shipping supervisor, a rare opportunity to be permanently hired for a job within the organization.

“If I would’ve worked somewhere else, I probably would have relapsed or I would have probably went back to that lifestyle, because I wouldn’t have been happy,” Dyer said. “But I’m happy here and I feel like the work is meaningful. And it just changed my life and my perspective on life, too.”

Dyer celebrated her accom-

Tim Edwards and Sarah Shipman of Palace Construction and Tamra Ryan, CEO of the OLIVIA SUN - THE COLORADO SUN VIA REPORT FOR AMERICA Women’s Bean Project.

STANDARD BLADE B R I G H T O N

SERVING THE COMMUNITY SINCE 1903

75cI

SENTINEL EXPRESS C O M M E R C E

C

COURIER A

N

Y

www.canyoncourier.com

est. 1958

O

N

DENVER Since 1926

C I T Y

D D

50cI

II

S S

P P

A A

T T

C C

H H

Your Local News Source

SEE PROJECT, P31

FORT LUPTON PRESS S E RV I N G T H E C O M M U N I T Y S I N C E 19 0 6

75cI

Jeffco

www.ColoradoCommunityMedia.com

Arvada Press 31

April 28, 2022

PROJECT FROM PAGE 30

qualified applicants, we don’t have space for currently,” Ryan said.

The new facility will create jobs for the for-profit side of the organization and increase opportunities to take on jobs for other companies. Through the expansion, more women will have the chance to break out of the cycle of poverty through employment.

The Women’s Bean Project has served over 1,000 women since its founding in 1989, with the intention to help them gain independence and self-sufficiency.

“What we truly believe is that when you change a woman’s life, you change her family’s life,” Ryan said.

“I want to hire another graduate” All the women learn the basics of food production, safety and manufacturing during the sevenmonth program. They learn to make 50 different products that are sold online and in supermarkets across the country. Participants spend their time in production, on the shipping line with Dyer, or doing a variety of other tasks.

Nearly a third of the women’s paid time is spent in programming and coursework. Participants can attend trauma response groups, brush up on their math, reading and writing, enroll in computer and GED classes, get help getting a driver’s license, and receive resume and cover letter advice. On Wellness Wednesdays, speakers come in to talk about empowerment, art and community involvement.

“I’ve seen a couple different women grow,” Dyer said. “And that’s what the whole mission is here, so it’s really great to watch.”

All women are assigned a volunteer job coach from the community who meets with her for an hour each week. Five social work interns called participant advocates meet with the women to help address basic needs like housing, which the program does not provide.

Women’s Bean Project CEO Tamra Ryan said the new building will expand the organization’s business and personal development programming.

OLIVIA SUN - THE COLORADO SUN VIA REPORT FOR AMERICA

After graduating from the program, the women go on to another full-time position. Within one year after graduation, about 95% of women are employed. Ryan said the organization prioritizes skills that can transfer to their next job after graduation.

Important skills are having consistent attendance, good communication with supervisors, the ability to take direction, and being able to pay attention to details.

Ryan said she wants employers to know that if a woman graduated from their program, she is a great employee.

“I think the best testimony is when somebody comes back and says, ‘Hey, she is so awesome, I want to hire another graduate,’” Ryan said.

“Serve more women better” The new facility is set to open by mid-June. The organization’s production area alone is increasing to 9,000 square feet from just 2,500 currently. The number of production lines will go to six from two.

The program will grow slowly in

the new building, adding 15 more women to its ranks in the first year. Ryan anticipates 40 more hires within three years, increasing the size of the program to 100 women. But adding more jobs isn’t the only benefit of the new space.

The current facility lacks private meeting spaces, so a woman and her participant advocate might have to sit in the corner where others could overhear them. The new building offers small and large meeting rooms, as well as phone boothstyle rooms for private work and conversations. Ryan said the new facility was designed with safety and privacy in mind.

“Maybe she needs to call a shelter to see if there’s a bed that night,” Ryan said. “She doesn’t have to do that out in the open.”

Health and wellness experts from the community often come in to provide services to the women, but those resources will be expanded with more space. A dedicated wellness area will offer facials, visits from optometrists

and dental hygienists, and trauma-informed yoga. A computer lab and classroom space will also build upon existing programs that lack their own rooms in the current building.

A goal in constructing the new facility is to thoughtfully make a safer environment for the women. Ryan said the upcoming move directly ties into the overarching objectives of the strategic plan, which guides all departments of the organization.

“The building will allow us to serve more women better,” Ryan said.

The company makes more than a million dollars per year from its manufacturing business, but fundraises about the same amount through grants and donations. The cost of personal-development programming is mainly covered by fundraising, most of which occurs at Ready, Set, Grow.

The April 20 annual fundraiser usually brings in about $250,000 in an hour. Ryan said it’s powerful to see hundreds of people gather in celebration of the women in the program.

“It’s just so cool to see so many people show up to be supportive,” Ryan said. “And then to not just be supportive by physically being there, but to give.”

Ryan, several members of the board of directors and a former graduate spoke about the impacts of the program and encouraged guests to donate. The graduates received several rounds of applause and a “I really still dream of a day when we’re no longer necessary,” Ryan said in her speech to guests. “Until then, today we are presenting you with an opportunity to invest in the future of a woman who has chosen to come to the Bean Project to change her life.”

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.

www.ColoradoCommunityMedia.com/Notices

PUBLIC NOTICES

Public Notices call Sheree 303.566.4088 Legals City and County Public Notice NOTICE OF ANNEXATION PETITION ACCEPTANCE The following resolution can be viewed in its entirety in electronic form by going to www.arvada. org/legalnotices and clicking on Current Legal Notices. The full text version is also available in printed form in the City Clerk’s office. Contact

720.898.7550 if you have questions.

R22-026 A Resolution Accepting an Annexation Petition Concerning 7850 Alkire Street, Finding Said Petition Substantially Compliant with C.R.S. 31-12-107(1), and Setting a Public Hearing for June 6, 2022, 6:15 P.M. for City Council to Determine Whether the Area Meets the Requirements of C.R.S. 31-12-104 and 105, and Is Considered Eligible for Annexation.

Legal Notice No. 413792 First Publication: April 21, 2022 Last Publication: May 12, 2022 Publisher: Jeffco Transcript PUBLIC NOTICE

legals@coloradocommunitymedia.com

A public hearing will be held before the Arvada Planning Commission scheduled for May 17, 2022 at 6:15 p.m., Arvada City Hall, 8101 Ralston Rd., Arvada, when and where you may speak on the matter to consider the Comprehensive Plan Amendment of the Square Lake Sub Area Plan, approximately located from 60th Avenue to 52nd Avenue between Sheridan Boulevard and Tennyson Street. Members of the public may attend.

To submit written public comment to be considered by the Commission, email comments to cedboardsandcommission@arvada.org by 5 p.m. on 5/16/2022.

Additional information can be obtained from https://www.arvadapermits.org/etrakit3/search/ project.aspx?activityno=CP2021-0004 CITY OF ARVADA PLANNING COMMISSION

/s/ Patricia Connell, Legal Notice No. 413860 First Publication: April 28, 2022 Last Publication: April 28, 2022 Publisher: Jeffco Transcript PUBLIC NOTICE A public hearing will be held before the Arvada Planning Commission scheduled for May 17, 2022 at 6:15 p.m., Arvada City Hall, 8101 Ralston Rd., Arvada, when and where you may speak on the matter to consider the PUD Development Plan of Candelas Filing No. 1, Amendment No. 4 PDP and PP, approximately located at 9367 McIntyre Street. Members of the public may attend. To submit written public comment to be considered

by the Commission, email comments to cedboardsandcommission@arvada.org by 5 p.m. on 5/16/2022. Additional information can be obtained from https://www.arvadapermits.org/etrakit3/search/ project.aspx?activityno=DA2021-0150 CITY OF ARVADA PLANNING COMMISSION /s/ Patricia Connell, Secretary Legal Notice No. 413859 First Publication: April 28, 2022 Last Publication: April 28, 2022 Publisher: Jeffco Transcript

###

Arvada Legals 4.28.22 * 1

32 Arvada Press

April 28, 2022

How youths are utilizing state’s free mental health service

BY DANA KNOWLES, BRIAN WILLIE ROCKY MOUNTAIN PBS

Anaisa Lua does her best to create a welcoming and safe space for her clients. A quote framed and hanging on her office wall sums it up: “Vulnerability is the courage to show up and be seen.”

“Therapy allows a space for people to feel accepted and understood. I feel that it’s a space for them to truly be their genuine selves. Sometimes they share about walking in the world and having to hide,” said Lua. Lua is a therapist working with I Matter Colorado, a program that provides funding for six free therapy sessions for all young people in Colorado under the age of 18 (under 21 for those receiving special education services). Often times, therapy can cost anywhere from $100 to $150 per hour and Lua says I Matter Colorado helps eliminate that financial barrier.

“Especially if you have multiple children and you’d like all of them to get services, you might feel like you need to prioritize one versus the other,” said Lua. I Matter is the state’s response to a growing mental health crisis facing so many young people who are trying to navigate life during a pandemic. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, mental health emergency room visits increased from 2019 to 2020 by 25% for young people aged 5-11 and 31% for adolescents aged

16-year-old Aarav Varma utilized a Colorado program that provides six free therapy sesCOURTESY OF ROCKY MOUNTAIN PBS sions to youth.

12-17. The leading cause of death for people aged 10 to 24 in Colorado is suicide.

Aarav Varma is a 16-year-old sophomore in high school. He said the isolation he experienced during school lockdowns was almost unbearable, “COVID shaped me as a person and it tore me apart being online — it hurt so much I was feeling down every day.”

Varma found out about I Matter Colorado through school. “I had to

use I Matter because I was feeling a little bit sad being online over the last year, it really took part of me away being on Zoom calls eight hours a day,” Varma said.

The program is the first of its kind in the country. Governor Jared Polis signed a bipartisan bill this past July that provided $9 million to the Colorado Department of Human Services, Office of Behavioral Health to facilitate I Matter. So far 1,923 youth have utilized one ses-

sion, 1,221 have had two sessions, and 753 have had three or more sessions. 141 therapists are available.

Lua said one of the best parts of the program is that the kids get to choose their own therapists, giving them a sense of autonomy.

“They are able to log on themselves and they are able to read through the profiles of the clinicians and they decide who they feel connected to and who they want to see,” she explained.

For Varma, the I Matter sessions helped him feel less isolated.

“We do have a ray of hope, there’s a ray of light that we can see finally.

We are not alone in this. I Matter is the true thing that can help kids feel like they are not alone. No one is ever alone,” he said.

Now that Varma is going to school in person, he can get back to exploring some of the things he loves like graphic design, chemistry and creating things. He says he might go into the psychiatric field when he grows up to help other people with their mental health struggles.

Currently, a bill is making its way through the state legislature that would extend the program two extra years if it passes.

This story is from Rocky Mountain PBS, a nonprofit public broadcaster providing community stories across Colorado over the air and online.

Used by permission. For more, and to support Rocky Mountain PBS, visit rmpbs.org.

AWRSAY 2022 Student Recognition Since 2001, the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth (AWRSAY) has recognized youth who have overcome a major life obstacle or adversity.

AWRSAY seeks to acknowledge these deserving youth by providing recognition to all and, in the case of high school seniors, scholarship opportunities to Red Rocks Community College.

We hope that through community encouragement, support and recognition, Arvada and Wheat Ridge youth will grow to be confident members and leaders in our communities.

AWRSAY is entirely volunteer-driven. We encourage you to become involved by nominating a deserving youth or supporting AWRSAY through funding, mentoring, or youth employment. Please join us in congratulating the 2022 AWRSAY Recognized Students and Scholarship Awardees!

Recognized Students Destiny Beaumont Madylin Dickey Elijah Eison Amor Fernandez Rodrigo Herrera Emilia Lingad Damion Richie Aide Sabinas Sage Schlegel-Cristensen Lacy Smith Angel Liebelt Lailani Aguirre Nate Bierbrauer Maya Calderon Roen Casari Zander Dyer Thaddeus Evans Kendyl Gillette Luca Mestemaker Lyla Skubish Wyatt Wilson Evan Yellowfox Bailey Owens Berenice Manuel Saucedo Frieda Martinez Jancy Mendoza Mancia

Arvada High School Arvada High School Arvada High School Arvada High School Arvada High School Arvada High School Arvada High School Arvada High School Arvada High School Arvada High School Arvada West High School Drake Middle School Drake Middle School Drake Middle School Drake Middle School Drake Middle School Drake Middle School Drake Middle School Drake Middle School Drake Middle School Drake Middle School Drake Middle School Exel Academy Jefferson Jr./Sr. High School Jefferson Jr./Sr. High School Jefferson Jr./Sr. High School

Meadow Mondragon Elijah Mortensen-Medina Obeth Perez Luna Abel Uballe Matthew Zullo Biancen Estrasda Na’jailah Sillemon Ryley Sundbye Zaria Tell Grayson Fox Cassidy Boggus Jon Troy Chapman Hunter Kozney Devin Thoma Jackson Wallace Addison Kegerreis Drew Kellogg Rebecca McNeil October Maxwell

Jefferson Jr./Sr. High School Jefferson Jr./Sr. High School Jefferson Jr./Sr. High School Jefferson Jr./Sr. High School Jefferson Jr./Sr. High School Mandalay Middle School Mandalay Middle School Oberon Middle School Oberon Middle School Pomona High School Ralston Valley High School Three Creeks K-8 Three Creeks K-8 Three Creeks K-8 Three Creeks K-8 Wayne Carle Middle School Wayne Carle Middle School Wayne Carle Middle School Wheat Ridge High School

Scholarship Awardees Club Scholarships Arvada Sunrise Rotary Scholarship Chris Angelo Arvada High School Arvada Jefferson Kiwanis Scholarship Maeve Carroll Arvada West High School Lake Arbor Optimist Scholarship Sophia Pramuk Arvada West High School Arvada Rotary Scholarship Navaeh Sena Arvada West High School Wheat Ridge Kiwanis Scholarship Naiarah Velasquez Arvada West High School Wheat Ridge Optimist Scholarship Divinity Delmastro Jefferson Jr./Sr. High School Wheat Ridge Rotary Scholarship Tayler Barker Warren Tech North

Founder Scholarships Jerry Jelinek Scholarship (In Memoriam) Lorenzo Moralez Arvada High School Ron Sloan Founder Scholarship Jeremy Chavez, Jr. Arvada High School Duane Youse Founder Scholarship Van Hmung Arvada West High School Duane Whisler Scholarship (In Memoriam) Dave Murphy Arvada West High School

Bill Johnson Founder Scholarship (In Memoriam) Trinity Garcia Jefferson Jr./Sr. High School Dan Macy Founder Scholarship Ilia Ortiz Baeza Jefferson Jr./Sr. High School Diane Hegeman Founder Scholarship Ellysia Vega Jefferson Jr./Sr. High School Curt Gilmore Founder Scholarship (In Memoriam) Victoria Beagle Wheat Ridge High School

Founder Scholarship Awards

Founders Scholarship Awards are special recognitions in honor of the significant contribution and dedication of those individuals who had the vision to bring our community together for the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth.

AWRSAY Founder – Duane Youse (Arvada Jefferson Kiwanis) AWRSAY Founder – Bill Johnson (Jamie Johnson – Community Member) AWRSAY Founder – Dan Macy (Career Counselor / Academic Advisor Red

Rocks Community College, Arvada Campus)

AWRSAY Founder – Curt Gilmore (Jane Gilmore – Community Member) AWRSAY Founder – Diane Hegeman (Community Member) AWRSAY Founder – Ron Sloan (Director of the Colorado Bureau of

Investigation, Retired; Arvada Jefferson Kiwanis)

Thank You!

The Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth program exists solely through the efforts of many dedicated volunteers. The scholarships, recognition ceremony and program activities are funded by generous in-kind and monetary contributions made by numerous individuals, service clubs, organizations and businesses.

Arvada Chamber of Commerce Arvada-Jefferson Kiwanis Arvada Rotary Arvada Sunrise Rotary Arvada Vitality Alliance Businesses located in Arvada & Wheat Ridge City of Arvada Jeffco Public Schools City of Wheat Ridge Jeffco Public Schools Lake Arbor Optimist Wheat Ridge Kiwanis

Red Rocks Community College The RRCC Foundation Wheat Ridge Foundation Wheat Ridge Optimist Wheat Ridge RotaryRed Rocks Community College The RRCC Foundation Wheat Ridge Foundation Wheat Ridge Optimist Wheat Ridge Rotary

Visit our website to learn more about AWRSAY: rrcc.edu/AWRSAY