Arvada Press 122922

Hope Connection and Community’s

Santa’s Workshop distributes 2,000 gifts

Ed Brady sworn in as Arvada police chief

BY RYLEE DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Arvada City Hall was packed on Dec. 19 for the swearing-in ceremony of recently named Arvada Police Chief Ed Brady. A 29-year veteran of the Arvada Police Department, Brady was selected to succeed retiring Chief Link Strate by City Manager Lori Gillis through an internal hiring process.

Brady became available for the position after this year’s election, where he ran for Je erson County Sheri and eventually lost to Regina Marinelli in a close race.

As Strate recently told the Arvada Press, he was feeling the strain of guiding the department through a grueling four years, which have included the COVID-19 pandemic and the murders of two Arvada Police Ofcers; Gordon Beesley and Dillon Vako .

Free program supports kids aged 0 to 18 in Arvada and Wheat Ridge

BY RYLEE DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

It’s giving season in Arvada, with scores of local nonpro ts organizing holiday gift drives. Hope Connection and Community hosted its Santa’s Workshop at the Early College of Arvada on Dec. 17, handing out 2,044 toys to 1,022 children from 837 households.

is is the second year HCC has hosted a gift drive, following the ‘Tree of Hope’ last year, which served over 500 kids and was also hosted at the Early College of Arvada. HCC Founder and President Julia Walker the nonpro t wanted a more personal approach and developed the idea for Santa’s Workshop.

What transpired was 110 volunteers working tirelessly to organize and display thousands of donated

Unsure of his next step, when Brady became available to take the reins at APD, Strate knew what to do.

“When you have that person in your department and you just know it,” Strate said of Brady. “And Arvada has that luxury to where you have that guy — he’s the guy.”

Arvada Mayor Marc Williams echoed Strate’s sentiment regarding Brady.

“When God closes one door, He opens a window,” Williams said. “ at’s what we’ve seen happen here in the City of Arvada. We had an excellent police chief in Link Strate; he is moving into a welldeserved retirement.

“We knew we had the right internal candidate for that position,” Williams continued. “It was a city manager selection, and we were all thrilled with her decision to elevate Ed Brady to that position.”

Brady thanked the Arvada city team, police department and those who came before him in his speech following the swearing-in.

“ ank you so much for this

’Tis the season! Over a hundred volunteers helped out with HCC’s Christmas toy drive.

PHOTOS BY RYLEE DUNN

Volunteers wrap presents at Hope Connection and Community’s Santa’s Workshop gift drive.

Hope House Christmas Shop empowers teen moms by making gifts accessible

Six years into its points-for-presents model, Hope House Christmas Shop serves over 220 moms

BY RYLEE DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Myra Gutzman’s had a good year — she got her driver’s license, bought a car, graduated high school, got a job and moved into a ordable housing with her twoyear-old son, Lucious — but wasn’t sure how she could a ord Christmas presents for her family.

Luckily, Gutzman attends classes and events organized by Hope House; an Arvada-based nonpro t that helps teen moms work toward self-su ciency. For the sixth year, Hope House’s Christmas Shop has allowed teen moms to collect points at programs throughout the year, which they can “spend” on gifts donated by the nonpro t’s supporters.

anks to her attendance over the last year, Gutzman earned 350 points by partaking in Hope House programs, which she used to get Christmas presents at the nonpro t’s annual Christmas House, held on Dec. 17.

“It helps so much with getting Christmas presents for my son and my family,” Gutzman said. “It feels nice, really nice. It makes you want to come to more classes — the classes are good to come to anyways, so it’s a win-win.”

Gutzman said she attends a variety of classes, including life skill classes and individual therapy, which Hope House o ers for free.

Gutzman’s been attending Hope House programs for about a year and a half. She was introduced to the nonpro t by a classmate at Florence Crittenton High School; a Denver-based school for teen moms.

“I had a friend that came here; we went to Florence together,” Gutzman said. “Having support for anything that comes up in life — (Hope Hosue) just helps with everything. ey help with gas; at the classes, they o er you get points all year towards the Christmas Shop. It helps so much.”

is year’s Christmas Shop saw 120 volunteers help out by organizing gifts and wrapping presents.

Jenny Macias, Hope House’s Director of Partnerships, said the nonpro t sends out a blast to donors in November and quickly starts to see gifts ooding in. She added that Hope House moved away from a previous Christmas House model where moms were “adopted” by donors because they felt like the point system is more aligned with their mission.

“Why we switched was it aligns with our mission of empowering moms,” Macias said. “ ey can feel a lot of pride with using the points that they earned.”

Macias also said it helps alleviate anxiety during a stressful time of the year.

“( e goal of the Christmas Shop) is taking that stress o ,” Macias said. “Most of our teen moms come from poverty. To be able to shop for their family without spending a ton of money, it’s empowering and joyful.”

Macias added that Hope House is planning on replicating and opening more service centers across the state over the course of the next year.

You Can Help Families Stay Warm This Winter

Energy insecurity a ects more than 1 million Coloradans.

By supporting Energy Outreach Colorado with a gift today, more of our neighbors in need will have a place to turn for help.

You can give the gift of warmth at www.energyoutreach.org/donate

Shoppers at the Hope House Christmas Shop peruse donated books.

Volunteers wrap presents at the Hope House Christmas Shop.

PHOTOS BY RYLEE DUNN

Arvada-based Mothers’ Milk Bank welcomes 17,000th donor

from 7 months to 5 years in age. With her most recent donation, she became Mothers’ Milk Bank’s 17,000th donor.

BY RYLEE DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Holly Polodna believes in a simple guiding principle: “Give what you’re able to give.” For Polodna’s family, that’s looked like donating platelets, blood, and, in her case, breast milk.

Polodna’s donated her extra breast milk — she says she’s consistently had more than enough to feed her kids — after the births of all three of her children, who range

e Arvada-based milk bank works with 150 to 200 donors per month and tries to approve 100 new donors each month as well, according to MMB’s Director Rebecca Heinrich.

“17,000 is an astonishing number because it’s grown exponentially year over year,” Heinrich said. “ ere are only so many moms out there who are actively feeding their own infants but have more milk than their babies need. We want to make sure everyone knows there’s a need out there and we’re grateful for everybody.”

e screening process to become a donor involves a verbal interview, a written screening form, a signo from a healthcare provider and a blood test. Heinrich said the majority of recipients of donor milk are infants in the hospital or NICU.

Polodna said she heard about MMB while attending a Baby and Co. class and was immediately inspired to donate and added that since her 7-month-old will be her last baby, she wanted to give while she’s able to.

“I was instantly like, ‘I’ll do that,’” Polodna said. “It immediately got to my heart. I had been a platelet donor; my parents had been blood

SEE DONOR, P4

Holly Polodna

Have You Considered Cohousing? Here’s an Explanation and Some Examples

Cohousing puts like-minded people together in “intentional communities.” Many people, Rita and me included, resonate with the idea of community housing, where everyone has their own private home with kitchen and living room, but share meals occasionally in a common house, perhaps share a community garden, but above all share the same values.

But bringing together likeminded families with the money to buy the land and build the individual units as well as the common elements can be difficult, resulting in few local examples of cohousing communities.

Just ask the people who tried a couple years ago to create the Ralston Creek Cohousing community next to the Geos Community in Arvada. They did all that work and were ready to put down the money when the land they wanted to buy was snapped up by a developer. Deeply disappointed, the community-without-ahome has now disbanded, no longer even publishing an email newsletter, according to www RalstonCreekCohousing org

The concept of cohousing with likeminded neighbors has always appealed to me, but the opportunity never present-

ed itself. In Golden there’s a longestablished and highly successful 27townhome cohousing community called Harmony Village, but turnover is close to zero because the members are so happy — and healthy!

Here are some other cohousing communities in the metro area, if you want to check them out. I’ve posted the websites for each at GoldenREblog.com

Aria Cohousing, just east of the Regis University campus in northwest Denver, has 28 units under one roof. It was founded in 2017.

Hearthstone Cohousing, on the former Elitch Gardens site in northwest Denver, has 33 townhomes plus a common house. I sold a unit there in 2021.

Highline Crossing Cohousing, along the Highline Canal east of Santa Fe Drive and north of C470, has 40 homes, built in 1995.

Wild Sage Cohousing, in north Boulder’s Holiday neighborhood, has 34 attached townhomes. A block south of this community is Silver Sage Village, an 18-unit cohousing community restricted to senior citizens — the first in the country. It offers only independent living, no

Common houses are a typical feature of cohousing communities, such as this one at the Homestead Cohousing community. It has a guest apartment, woodworking shop, laundry room, mail room and meeting/dining room with kitchen for preparing community meals.

assisted living or nursing care.

Other cohousing communities in our state can be found in Colorado Springs, Ft. Collins, Bayfield, Lyons, Ridgway and Lafayette.

Looking beyond Colorado, I’m inspired by a project taking shape 20 miles north of Pittsburgh. It will be built on the campus of Chatham University’s Falk School of Sustainability and Environment (See aerial photo at right.) Chatham is the alma mater of Rachel Carson when it was called the Pennsylvania College for Women. You probably know Carson’s groundbreaking book in 1962, Silent Spring, which is widely credited with sparking environmental consciousness in the United States and worldwide, leading initially to the banning of DDT.

The cohousing community being built there is appropriately named the Rachel Carson Ecovillage. What makes this project particularly exciting is that, by being located on the campus of a college devoted to sustainability and the environment, it serves as an onsite laboratory and example for the students as well as a great intergenerational home for environmentally conscious families.

As you might expect, the homes will be all-electric, built to Passive House standards, and solar-ready. See website at www.RachelCarsonEcovillage.org.

The Falk School of Sustainability and Environment was created in 2010 and occupies land donated with a stipulation that the land must remain under Chatham University’s ownership, so the homes in the ecovillage can be purchased for prices ranging from $225,000 for a studio condo to $580,000 for a 2BR suite that be customized as a 4-BR unit, but the land is subject to a 99-year land lease from the university.

While that may not seem ideal, it solves the problem of land acquisition

which stymied the Ralston Creek Cohousing community. To quote from the Ecovillage website:

There is no profit built into these costs — they will be offered for sale at the cost to build them….

The Common House is a shared facility of approximately 2,500-3,000 square feet. It includes a dining/ meeting room, a kitchen, mail/package pick-up, and two guestroom suites. Other amenities may be included, as well.

The units will be designed and constructed to conserve energy and minimize carbon emissions. To avoid combustion of fossil fuels, they will be allelectric, which makes it possible for them to be powered entirely by renewable energy. The units will be designed to meet high indoor air quality standards. It is our intent to be able to monitor building performance after construction to see how well they meet these goals.

Sustainability is a common theme in all cohousing communities, which makes sense, because valuing and caring for your neighbors translates logically to caring for the planet as a whole.

Learn more about the cohousing concept at www.Cohousing.org, or read Creating Cohousing: Building Sustainable Communities

Jim Smith

Broker/Owner, 303-525-1851

Jim@GoldenRealEstate.com

1214 Washington Ave., Golden 80401

A community meal at least once a month is typical, as at the Aria Cohousing community, allowing members to get to know each other better, part of being an “intentional community.”

Broker Associates:

JIM SWANSON, 303-929-2727

CHUCK BROWN, 303-885-7855

DAVID DLUGASCH, 303-908-4835

TY SCRABLE, 720-281-6783

GREG KRAFT, 720-353-1922

Most cohousing communities are designed to leave cars on the periphery, as in Harmony Village.

Golden mother of three seeks to break “taboo” of donating breast milk

‘It immediately got to my heart. I had been a platelet donor; my parents had been blood donors; I was raised in a culture of ‘You give what you’re able to give.’

donors; I was raised in a culture of ‘You give what you’re able to give.’ This is such a unique time in my life in that four years from now, if I wanted to give milk, I wouldn’t be able to. It feels really good to be able to do it while I can.”

While the donation process takes commitment, according to Polodna, she felt that she’s learned new methods during each pumping period and sought to ‘Perfect (her) craft’ this time around.

“Practice makes perfect — I’ve gotten better at donating every time,” Polodna said. “After my first son was born, I had an idea of how to pump milk and how to maximize production, but I didn’t do it very well. Each time I’ve gotten better and better at it. Part of it was to continue giving to those who really are in need, but also this desire to perfect my craft.”

Polodna shared some of the lessons she learned along the way; finding the right shield size — the standard shield size of 6 millimeters was too big for her — and getting in a routine — Polodna’s had success pumping first thing in the morning and also at night — helped her get into a routine.

“It takes time to get your system down,” Polodna said. “The same time every day, the way that I do it, all of my things are in the same place. It becomes part of your life rather than something you’re trying to fit in the nooks and cran-

nies.”

Heinrich says that the team at MMB keeps donors in the loop about what’s going on at the milk

bank, how to get their milk to MMB, where the donors are at in the process, and making sure donors have everything they need.

Over the past year, that’s meant keeping donors informed about the formula shortage that plagued most of the country — including Jefferson County — throughout the past year. In June, Governor Jared Pois signed an executive order subsidizing the shipment of donor milk from MMB to help combat the crisis.

Heinrich said the additional outreach is to ensure that donors know that their contributions are valued throughout the process.

“It’s such a valuable gift that moms are sharing with us,” Heinrich said, “And we want them to feel appreciated, understood and to know that they’re not just a donor number to us; they’re a critical resource that allows us to help infants. We want them to know they’re so valuable and so treasured.”

Polodna credited MMB’s community atmosphere for why she’s kept donating to them, adding that MMB’s Donor Relations and Outreach Manager Lena Gregory remembers her son’s name, specific things about her life and makes her feel valued as a donor.

She added that she’s never felt pressured to donate to MMB. This year, one of Polodna’s friends — a mother of two — was coming up a bit short of producing enough milk for her kids and couldn’t find formula due to the shortage.

“I’ve never felt like they expected me to donate my milk,” Polodna said. “I’m always really grateful to partner with them in their mission. Mother’s Milk Bank does understand that they’re my pri-

mary source of donation, and they respect my decision to share milk outside of MMB on the few instances where I’ve done so.”

Polodna gave her friend her extra breast milk. While the American Academy of Pediatrics does not encourage sharing unprocessed breast milk, a survey conducted by AAP in 2019 found that over 50% of mothers were not concerned by informally shared breast milk.

For her part, Polodna says she hopes to help normalize breast milk donation, which she feels carries a taboo.

“There’s weirdness to it, a little bit of taboo about it,” Polodna said. “There’s something really intimate about breast milk; ‘This came from my body for the feeding of my infant.’ The same way donating blood is donating your very life to possibly save the life of someone else, donating breast milk can improve or save the life of another.”

In her home, she’s done so by sharing her donation journey with her children and opening up a dialogue about breast milk and donation.

“We’ve been able to have good conversations about it,” Polodna said. “When I’d pump, they’d see me freeze the milk and they asked where it was going. I tell them, ‘We have more than enough milk and we want to give it to babies whose mommies are still working on getting them milk.”

At the end of the day, Polodna said she just wants to do her part.

“I think of not being able to take care of my baby and not being able to feed them, and that’s what these moms with babies in the NICU are going through,” Polodna said. “If I can take a little bit of their load off, that’s what I want to do.”

Mothers’ Milk Bank’s 17,000th donor, Holly Polodna, with her family.

COURTESY PHOTO

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GIFTS

toys for kids of all ages. Families formed a line at the front and slowly worked their way through Santa’s Workshop, picking out toys and having their presents wrapped by volunteers.

Walker said her goal this year was to serve as many families as possible due to the di culties facing scores of households this year.

“Knowing that this year has been nancially challenging for most fueled my drive to impact as many kids as we could,” Walker said. “I rmly believe that being in need does not mean someone deserves less than anyone else. We want our programs to provide a sense of welcoming and acceptance, no matter what your socioeconomic status is.”

HCC sent out a yer complete with a hyperlink to 18 schools between Arvada and Wheat

Ridge in order to register families in need for the toy drive. e nonpro t then grouped any siblings together, so that if one family member was registered, all kids in that family could get presents.

Walker said it was important to her to serve young children and teens as well.

“Our teenagers are encouraged to grow so quickly but ultimately; they are still kids and deserve to celebrate Christmas with their families as much as their younger siblings,” Walker said.

“I could not bear the idea of a 16-year-old kid watching their younger siblings open gifts while

they sit without.”

Walker added that she was thankful for the kindness of those who participated in the event.

“I am humbled by the kindness that exists in our community,” Walker said. “I am humbled by the generosity that over owed for our program and families.

“To get this level of support means we have the community’s trust and that is the most important part to me,” Walker continued. “It is my job to take that trust and keep it safe by conducting our e orts with transparency and being exactly who we say we are.”

Santa makes an appearance at his workshop.

PHOTOS BY RYLEE DUNN

High schoolers volunteer to help out at Santa’s Workshop.

FROM

opportunity to be the next police chief here in Arvada,” Brady said.

“Your belief in me has been humbling. Just as humbling has been the belief of other members of the city, the police department, other sup-

porters and my family. It’s remarkable, thank you all for showing up this evening.

“I’m honored to follow in the line of the many great police chiefs in Arvada; many of them are here tonight,” Brady continued. “I’d like to congratulate Chief Link Strate on a wonderful career. He led us through four of the most di cult years this agency has ever faced.”

Brady concluded by giving his thanks to the community.

Meet Ma!

PHOTOS BY RYLEE DUNN

Arvada Mayor Marc Williams embraces new Police Chief Ed Brady.

Casa Bonita to open in May

BY ANDREW FRAIELI AFRAIELI@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Casa Bonita in Lakewood will open in May 2023, according to an announcement by “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. Dana Rodriguez, the Denver-based executive chef for the project, joined in the announcement.

“Casa Bonita has brought so much joy to so many people over the years – we wanted to share the news of our May reopening as our holiday gift to the people of Colorado,” Rodriguez said in a statement.

e two Colorado natives bought the bright pink restaurant and childhood staple in September, only months after it went bankrupt in April 2021 due to the pandemic, for a reported $3.1 million.

Group A strep causing concerns in Denver metro area

Complicates trifecta of viruses

BY THELMA GRIMES TGRIMES@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

With a trifecta of illnesses already hitting the Front Range hard with spikes in COVID, RSV and the u, state health o cials are now concerned with the increasing number of group A strep cases in children.

Brian Spencer, with the Colorado Department of Health and Environment, said the state health department is closely monitoring the increase in pediatric hospitalizations caused by group A strep.

Group A strep is a bacteria that can cause many di erent infections. Group A strep infections most commonly cause sore throat, a mild and common condition that doctors say can be easily treated. While rare, group A strep infections may be severe and cause diseases like pneumonia,

sepsis, toxic shock syndrome and necrotizing fasciitis.

“We are working with hospital partners in a coordinating role to ensure resources are available for those who need them,” Spencer said in the Dec. 15 news release.

According to the state health department, two school-age children with group A strep died in the Denver metro since Nov. 1.

e total number of invasive group A strep cases reported in Colorado among pediatric patients since Nov. 1 is now 11. Typically, Spencer said there are one or two cases reported per month in patients under 18 years old.

Local health o cials are concerned because kids and adults can get strep along with other viral respiratory illnesses like COVID, u and RSV at the same time.

While strep is a common infection kids get each year, Dr. Sam Dominguez, an infectious disease specialist at Children’s Hospital Colorado, said 2022 has seen a higher number of “invasive” cases of bacterial infections.

“It is common and easy to treat,” he said. “ e invasive cases are relatively rare to see.”

For health o cials at local hospitals and clinics, this is another complication to an already stressed system dealing with higher-than-usual cases of RSV in children along with u and COVID cases increasing.

In November, Children’s Hospital sounded alarms about the unseasonably high rate of RSV cases, noting that hospital beds were in short supply because of the severity of the respiratory virus.

Dr. Ben Usatch, the UCHealth ER director at the Highlands Ranch hospital, said his doctors and sta have treated more younger patients this year than they are accustomed to.

With the Children’s Hospital south campus just across the street, Usatch said as they have lled up beds, the Highlands Ranch hospital is receiving an over ow of young patients.

“We will de nitely take them, happy to do it,” he said. “With adults and kids, we are seeing the big three — COVID, RSV and u cases are running rampant. With young patients, management is di erent and you have

to make di erent decisions.”

Currently, Usatch said the hospital is lucky if they do not see more than 18 respiratory cases in the emergency department per day.

HealthOne Chief Medical O cer Reginald Washington said he has seen the e ects of the current season at both the adult and children’s level.

Washington, who serves adults at Presbyterian/St. Luke’s and children at Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children, said hospitals experience the trifecta of illnesses every year. is year, he said, is raising more concern as cases and hospitalizations are higher.

Washington said while treatable, u, COVID and RSV have similar symptoms to strep, which means kids and adults could have strep along with another virus.

With u and RSV season starting earlier than usual, local health o cials said it is important for parents to be cognizant of a child’s symptoms and if anything is suspected, get them tested.

Washington said there is a speci c test to diagnose all current viruses spreading across the Front Range. While there are not as many treatments for respiratory viruses, Washington said the sooner a patient is diagnosed with strep the better, because the disease is treatable and requires antibiotics.

Local health o cials said there are some unusual circumstances that could be causing the increased rate of illness this year. ose circumstances are three years in the making as the pandemic pushed society to wear masks to decrease the spread of COVID.

Now, masks are o and some kids are being exposed to viruses and infections for the rst time and their immune systems are not used to it.

While there is no vaccine to prevent group A strep, the state health department said there are steps that parents, guardians and caregivers (including child care facilities) in Colorado can take to help protect children and families.

Washington and Dominguez said children should be up to date with COVID-19, u, and chickenpox vaccines, as getting these infections can increase risk for acquiring a group A strep infection.

COURTESY OF CASA BONITA

VOICES

Lawns require special care in winter

nter lawn care for a wide variety of turfgrasses slightly di ers from that of spring, summer and fall. Your lawn is no longer in the active growing season. In fact, most warm season lawns go dormant around this time.

Wi

Lawn care in the winter is still just as important as other seasonal maintenance practices as your winter care will greatly determine how well your lawn comes out of dormancy in the spring.

Although you shouldn’t have to spend as much time maintaining your lawn during the active growing season, winter lawn maintenance is still a vital part of caring for your lawn.

How to mow your lawn in the winter

It’s getting cooler outside and it’s obvious that you won’t need to mow as frequently as you have been all year. Our recommendation is to keep your grass a bit taller than normal.

When grass is too short, it doesn’t o er as much protection for the base of the grass blades and allows frost to get into the growing areas of your lawn. Keeping this area as protected as possible with slightly taller grass creates a barrier-like protection for the grass blades and stolons.

Be careful not to mow your lawn if there’s a lot of moisture from snow or ice as this may damage the grass blades. Make sure the lawn is dry and only mow when temperatures are about 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

Now is an excellent time to service, or winterize, your lawn mower so that it’s fully operational and ready for the spring once mowing season resumes!

How to water your lawn in the winter

Irrigation maintenance practices during the winter aren’t usually as important in areas that receive rain or snow. In most areas, you will just need to water your lawn less than

GUEST COLUMN Valerie Smith

the active growing season.

However, if you are in an area that receives a really dry winter, be sure to water your lawn enough so that the soil receives nourishment and keeps grass blades from drying out. Your lawn is dormant—this doesn’t mean it is dead and doesn’t still need water.

The best winter fertilizer for lawns Fertilization should generally take place during the active growing seasons such as the spring, summer and fall. ere is really not a need to apply fertilizer once temperatures consistently drop below 40 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s similar to giving someone a pill while they are sleeping—it won’t be as e ective.

It’s best to prepare your lawn with the nutrients it needs to survive winter dormancy during the fall. Learn more in our blog, Fall Secrets to Achieve a Healthy Spring Lawn. However, when spring comes, it will be time to fertilize your lawn. Researching di erent fertilizers that match your lawn’s needs is something you can go ahead and start doing. e Lawni ®Spring Fertilizer Box is an easy-to-use liquid fertilizer program powered by Catalyst TechnologyTM to help plants better absorb nutrients with the use of less product.

Watch for winter weeds

Keep an eye out for winter grass weeds. Applying an herbicide during the winter isn’t always e ective since your lawn is dormant, which is why it’s best to apply products preventively in the fall.

Some research has shown that it’s safe to apply glyphosate, a nonselective herbicide, on dormant bermuda grass to kill o other weeds without damaging the bermuda grass. e e cacy of this is not as high as it would be in warmer temperatures, but it can still be done

when applied properly.

If you have a lot of weeds, make note to apply a pre-emergent herbicide in the fall next year to prevent them. Common winter weeds to look out for include: Purple Deadnettle, Chickweed, Annual bluegrass (Poa annua), and Henbit

Weed control products and other winter lawn treatments aren’t as e ective in the winter as other times of the year, which is why it’s best to apply these products preventively in the fall season before temperatures get too cold. Read and follow product labels thoroughly.

Winter lawn insects to look out for

Most pests are going to be inactive at this time since it’s so cold outside. However, oftentimes insects and pests will burrow under objects in the lawn like lawn ornaments, toys that have been left out, weeds, rotted branches, etc.

A good way to keep them from overwintering in your lawn and causing damage in the spring again is by removing a lot of these objects from your lawn so that pests don’t have a place to take shelter from the cold.

Either hand-pull or apply a postemergent herbicide to keep any weeds that have survived cooler temperatures and consider relocating any lawn objects to your garage or outdoor shed.

You can also apply a broad-spectrum insect control product to treat any insects or bugs you may spot in the meantime.

Certain insects like grub worms, ants, eas, ticks, chinch bugs and spiders are sometimes known to survive during the colder parts of the year if they have places to take shelter.

Insect control products aren’t as e ective in the winter as other times of the year, which is why it’s best to

Solitude on a snowy day

When I moved to Denver, I found an apartment o York Street and 13th Avenue. I was excited to be so close to all the happenings of the city — the Denver Botanic Gardens, parks, museums and countless restaurants.

I am a city gal, and the noise of the city merges easily with my daily

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apply these products preventively in the fall season before temperatures get too cold. Read and follow product labels thoroughly.

How to control lawn disease in the winter

It’s pretty di cult to detect most lawn diseases during the winter season—especially if you have a warm season lawn that goes ocolor and dormant as temperatures drop.

Oftentimes, symptoms of disease don’t begin making an appearancze until the spring as the lawn greens up and disease patterns are easier to distinguish.

It’s still a great idea to apply disease control products preventively during the fall to keep diseases from taking over during the winter season. You may still notice some lawn diseases like snow mold.

Disease control products aren’t as e ective in the winter as other times of the year, which is why it’s best to apply these products preventively in the fall season before temperatures get too cold. Read and follow product labels thoroughly.

Avoid excessive tra c

Your grass is probably dormant, meaning it’s not going to put a lot of energy into restoring itself after heavy tra c. Taking as much care of your lawn as you can by reducing tra c while it is “asleep” is one of the best preventative maintenance practices you can perform.

It keeps your grass from having to spend a bunch of energy restoring itself when it comes out of dormancy. Instead, let your grass focus its energy on ourishing as it comes out of dormancy.

is article was written by Sod Solutions Content Strategist, Valerie Smith. For all media inquiries or for high-resolution photos, contact Cecilia Brown at cecilia@sodsolutions.com.

GUEST COLUMN

Holly G. Haynes

routine — the clattering of the tra c, the honking of horns and the laughter, or yelling, of a passerby.

en, on a crisp autumn or winter day, the rst snowfall of the season blankets the city, and a hush fol-

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lows. ese days, to me, are magical and I am reminded that we all need to slow down and enjoy a little quiet time. I like to take a leisurely stroll around the Denver Botanic Gardens, a local park or in my neighborhood. Usually, there are few people out and many wonderful sights to take in. It’s really a walking meditation.

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It has been more than a decade since I lived in that apartment o York and 13th, but I still appreciate the quietness that follows the snow, and now I have the good fortune of working at the Denver Botanic Gardens. So, when the snow begins, I always venture out for a

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NYE options for every kind of partier

Celebrating the new year can be a tricky proposition — some people really love going out and doing a big party with lots of folks, music and lights. For others, it’s a quiet night in with a few favorite people.

I’d wager that if you’re one of the latter, you probably don’t need any input from me. You’ve got your evening all sorted out. If, on the other hand, you’re looking for some options on what to do to ring in 2023, I’ve got you covered.

Celebration level: a swanky ballroom party

Dr. John and Randy Newman. Francis will be performing at Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom, 2637 Welton St. in Denver, at 8 p.m. and he’ll be joined by Karina Rykman. is is the perfect event for those who want a relaxed New Year’s evening out — just a night of enchanting music with a bunch of follow music lovers. Get your tickets at https://cervantesmasterpiece.com.

eventbrite.com.

Celebration level: big party with you and all your friends (several times over)

For some people, one party isn’t enough (I’m not sure who these people are, but I’ve been reliably assured that they exist). So, if you want to live it up at the end of 2022 but want to see what’s going on in several places, then the Denver NYE Bar Crawl is the way to go.

Celebration level: family

fun and an early bedtime

Are you a parent looking for something fun to do with your children to celebrate 2023 but don’t want to try to keep them up until midnight? Why not head over to the Children’s Museum of Denver at Marsico Campus, 2121 Children’s Museum Drive in Denver, for their Noon Year’s Eve event?

e party begins at 9 a.m. and will be held in the museum’s Snow Days experience. According to provided information, the aim is to bring all the fun and excitement of Times Square with ball drops on the hour from 10 a.m. through 3 p.m. e event will feature music, treats from e Teaching Kitchen, sock skating, sledding and other surprises.

Reservations are required to guarantee entry and walk-ups accepted as space allows. Visit https://www. mychildsmuseum.org/ for everything you need.

HAYNES

FROM PAGE 10

walk around the Denver Botanic Gardens or Cheesman Park to take in the beauty of our little slice of nature. ese snowy days highlight the beautiful textures and patterns of plants. From the stunning seed heads of perennials to the movement of the ornamental grasses or the architecture of an evergreen, it is the perfect time to connect to the beauty of nature.

What to be on the lookout for? Here are a few suggestions:

• Chocolate ower (Berlandiera lyrata)

• Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)

• Blue grama grass (Bouteloua gracilis)

• Little bluestem grass (Schizachyrium scoparium)

• Smooth Sumac (Rhus glabra)

• Pinon pine (Pinus edulis)

Along with gorgeous textures and beautiful patterns, these plants provide many bene ts to wildlife. Because so many people are learning about these bene ts, there is a wonderful movement going on in the world of home gardening — people are starting to turn in their notice when it comes to doing fall clean-up in their ornamental garden beds. Leaving your grasses and perennials up through mid-spring provides protection to many bene cial pollinators and their eggs, as well as valuable food for our songbirds during the colder months.

For those who want to get out and do something unique without all the raucous celebration that will hit later in the evening, the Colorado Symphony’s annual presentation of A Night in Vienna might just be the perfect t. e concert begins at 6:30 p.m. at Boettcher Concert Hall in the Denver Performing Arts Complex, 1000 14th St. in Denver. According to provided information, the symphony will be performing a range of polkas, waltzes and marches, all conducted by Christopher Dragon. ose in search of something a little more re ned and who love really great music will nd a lot to love here. Get details and tickets at https:// coloradosymphony.org/.

Celebration level: a really good house party with killer tunes

Anyone who tells you a piano isn’t cool hasn’t heard this timeless instrument played properly. So many of your favorite singer/songwriters, regardless of the genre, have rst started some of your favorite tunes on just a piano. So, the alt-rock that Neal Francis has spent the last handful of years re ning puts him in a great musical tradition of artists like e Band,

Celebration level: big party with you and all your friends ose looking for an evening full of activity and fun should check out Punch Bowl Social’s, 65 Broadway in Denver, New Year’s Eve bash, which kicks o at 9 p.m.

According to provided information, the evening’s festivities will include a live DJ (playing all the bangers of yesterday and today, I’m assured), games, activities and much more. Punch Bowl Social’s full menu of drinks and food will be available during the party. ere’s also a VIP option, which includes a private space to celebrate the holiday, with a complimentary midnight toast and light bites. There’s a $10 cover and VIP entry costs $50. Get tickets at www.

Some of the 10 participating locations in this year’s event include the Ginn Mill, Tom’s Watch Bar, Ice House Tavern, Retro Room, Zanzibar and e Re nery, each with its own special drinks and deals.

Participants can check in any time between 8 and 10:30 p.m. and will receive a map with all participating bars, lounges and nightclubs so they know where to visit. People are also encouraged to dress to the nines — after all, you’re going to be showing o in a lot of di erent spaces.

Details and all the pertinents can be found at www.eventbrite.com.

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

Sam J. Catanzaro, 92, passed away in his home on December 12, 2022. Preceded in death by his wife Kathy of nearly 66 years in 2017 and a grandson Nicky (2022), he is father of 10 children, 34 grandchildren, and 35 greatgrandchildren. He was one of the founders of the Arvada Associated Modelers club and a lifetime member.

Funeral Mass will be held January 9, 2023, at 11:00 AM at Spirit of Christ Catholic Church, 7400 W. 80th Avenue, Arvada, CO. In lieu of owers, donations can be made to the American Cancer Society (www.donate3.cancer.org) or Alzheimer’s Association (alz.org). Please visit www.HoranCares.com for complete obituary.

In Loving Memory

I am hoping that, by the time you read this, we have received our rst snowfall of the season and that this article will encourage you to take a few minutes to go for a quiet walk and see what mother nature has to o er. Take in the architecture of the Colorado blue spruce (Picea pungens) or the playful pompom seedheads of the pale purple cone ower (Echinacea pallida) or the patterns in the New Mexico agave (Agave parryi ssp. neomexicana). May you open your eyes to the beauty of gardens at rest and be able to enjoy the quiet solitude of a snowy day.

Holly G. Haynes is a plant mapping coordinator with the Denver Botanic Gardens

CATANZARO

Sam J. Catanzaro

Clarke Reader

PHOTO BY HOLLY

Loveland Ski Area partnered with the Chris Anthony Youth Initiative Project to get fifth-graders onto the ski slopes

BY OLIVIA JEWELL LOVE OLOVE@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Coloradans can always look to the west and see the mountains in the distance, but for some who live in the inner cities of Colorado, actually getting to the mountains can be a bigger task. irty- ve fth-graders hit the slopes in Loveland for the rst time on Dec. 13, some even experiencing the mountains for the rst time.

Students from Laredo Elementary School in Aurora came to Loveland Ski Area to ski with professional skier and Snow Sports Hall of Fame inductee Chris Anthony.

Anthony has been working with kids for many years and has hosted his youth program at Loveland for the past three.

e Chris Anthony Youth Initiative Project works to improve the lives of kids through educational enrichment. One of the ways the foundation does this is by busing classes of fth-graders out to Loveland ski area to spend a day learning to ski.

Anthony’s foundation pays for the bus, winter clothes, ski rentals and passes for the children to come experience the slopes. Most kids who come have never skied, and some have never spent time in the mountains despite living in Colorado.

Peter Zola is the teacher for the fth-graders at Laredo Elementary School.

“Every year we have at least two or three kids who have spent most of their life out on the plains in sight of the mountains but never in the mountains,” Zola said.

Zola has been taking his class to ski for eight years and said he always sees great behavior out of his students during this trip. He attributes that success to the active learning the kids get to see and experience on the mountain.

Anthony sees kids get o the bus with a wide range of emotions, from excitement to nervousness for the day. After a day on the slopes, he sees a common thread between all of them.

“No matter what, at the end of the day, all of them, you can see a bright light ignited in the process,” Anthony said.

Some of the kids were star-struck upon seeing Anthony, one even asking the hall of famer to sign his lunchbox.

After donning their coats and dancing out the

morning jitters, the fth-graders were ready to go get tted for skis.

irty- ve fth-graders getting tted for boots, skis and helmets all at the same time was a bit chaotic, but the sta ers at Loveland have done this before. e kids buzzed with excitement and quickly learned about the cumbersome feeling of ski boots.

After getting their skis ready to go, the kids

Loveland saw flurries all day while the kids skied.

PHOTO BY OLIVIA JEWELL LOVE

headed out to the snow with the instructors. ey learned how to put on their skis and quickly learned how to get up after they inevitably fell down.

Dan Huston is the director of the ski and ride school at Loveland. He said one of the biggest barriers for people being able to ski is location/ transportation.

“ e mountains and ski areas usually aren’t very close to urban population centers. We’re unique in that we are 56 miles from Denver,” he said.

After working with the program for a few years, Huston knows the impact it has on kids.

“ ey’re gonna remember this for the rest of their lives,” he said.

Mailene Hernandez, one of the fth-graders on the trip, had a lot to say about the day. She said the bus ride to the ski area was full of mixed emotions, but mostly excitement.

“It was a little bit chaotic, but it was good,” Hernandez said. “I was kinda feeling excited and nervous at the same time.”

Hernandez took to the sport easily and said the process of getting into her skis was pretty natural.

“While I was putting them on I guess I felt a little wobbly, but it was pretty easy,” she said.

Hernandez also had some advice for other kids who might be learning to ski for the rst time.

“It’s really a fun experience, but I do recommend having some ski clothes because of how cold it is, and because you’re going to fall,” she said.

She also went on to say how much of a blessing Chris Anthony was to her class and how happy she was that they even got the opportunity to come.

After lunch, the kids got their skis back on and some of them graduated from the Magic Carpet over to the ski lift. Skiing down the hill was a good opportunity to work on turns and pizza wedges for the fth-graders.

Anthony himself skied along with the kids throughout the day, helping to pick them up when they fell. His presence made the day even more exciting for the kids, with high- ves all around.

Hernandez and other students agreed that if they had the opportunity to ski again, they would de nitely take it.

Flu cases, hospitalizations on the rise

BY THELMA GRIMES TGRIMES@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Flu cases are on the rise, and according to state health o cials, hospitalizations are higher this year than they have been in the past 10 years. e surge has a variety of causes, including people not getting the u shot as consistently as in past years.

Dr. Ben Usatch, UCHealth ER director at Highlands Ranch Hospital, said COVID vaccinations brought on this onslaught of “mixed emotions” that resulted in other annual shots being a ected — u shots being one of them.

“ e bottom line is u vaccines are the best protection to get through the season,” Usatch said.

“ ey do not hit the target right on the head, but they make a big di erence.”

In reality, said Dr. Reginald Washington, HealthOne chief medical o cer for Presbyterian/St. Luke’s

Hospital and Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children, with all the u strains, the vaccine’s e ectiveness is between 50% and 70%. But even with those odds, people fare better through the season with the shot that has nothing to do with COVID.

“Flu vaccines are not 100% e ective,” Washington said, “they never have been. is year, it is 70% e ective. People are just tired of being told to get a vaccine. But it does need to be updated every year.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Prevention (CDC), recent studies

show that getting a u vaccination can reduce the risk of u illness between 40% and 60% during u season.

Even with the vaccination burnout, Colorado residents have already exceeded last year’s u-shot numbers, according to the Colorado Department of Health and Environment, with 1.68 million getting the u shot. Last year at the same time, 1.66 million were vaccinated. Still hospitalizations are increasing and health o cials say people are

Two students pose with their ski instructor and teacher, Peter Zola.

PHOTOS BY OLIVIA JEWELL LOVE

FROM

not getting the shot at rates they did before the COVID pandemic.

Brian Spencer, with the state health department, provided data showing that pre-pandemic numbers had higher rates of vaccinations in Colorado. During the 201819 u season, 1.9 million got the u shot. In 2019-20 just over 2.1 million got the annual shot.

“In some states, u cases and hospitalizations are at their highest marks since the H1N1 u pandemic back in 2009,” said Dr. Eric France, chief medical o cer of the state health department. “Flu vaccines are recommended for everyone aged 6 months and older, with rare exceptions. Flu vaccines are the best way to prevent spreading the u to people who are most at risk, including older adults, young children, people who are pregnant, and people with certain chronic health conditions.”

According to the state health department, it can take up to two weeks for the shot to be fully e ective, which means during holiday gatherings this month, the unvaccinated can spread the u faster.

On a national level, the CDC reported at least 13 million have had the u already this year, with 120,000 hospitalized. ere are more than 7,300 deaths reported.

According to state health data, cases in Colorado include: • ere were 306 people hospital-

Flu vaccinations still have not gone back to pre-pandemic numbers and cases and hospitalizations are increasing. SHUTTERSTOCK

ized with in uenza during the week ending Dec. 3, for a total of 952 people hospitalized with u since Oct. 2.

• ere have been 1,700 RSV-associated hospitalizations in the vecounty Denver metro area, which includes Adams, Arapahoe, Douglas, Je erson and Douglas counties,

since Oct 1. e state health department recommends:

• Adults 65 years and older should get one of three speci c u vaccine types. If one of these three products is not available, people aged 65 years and older can get any other age-appropriate in uenza vac-

cine. People can talk to their doctors about which vaccine is best for

• Children younger than 9 years old who are either getting the u vaccine for the rst time or have only previously received one dose of the vaccine should get two doses of the vaccine. e second dose should be given at least 28 days after the

• Pregnant women have more serious complications if they get the u. e u vaccine can be given in any trimester of pregnancy.

Medicare, Medicaid, CHP+, and most private health insurers cover the full cost of the u vaccine. Coloradans without health insurance can still get the u vaccine for free at certain health care providers. Call ahead or schedule online with your local pharmacy or health care clinic to make an appointment for the u

With the trifecta of COVID, RSV and u cases increasing, Dr. Sam Dominguez, the infectious disease specialist at Children’s Hospital Colorado, said children should not only get updated u vaccinations but should also have the COVID and chickenpox vaccinations.

With RSV and group A strep cases increasing, Dominguez advised parents that being fully vaccinated and keeping kids home when sick will help decrease illness this season.

Washington said besides vaccinations, practicing good hygiene in washing hands and getting tested for COVID, RSV and the u when symptoms are persistent is important.

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Amy Bahl is back in the coaching saddle with Ralston Valley

BY DENNIS PLEUSS JEFFCO PUBLIC SCHOOLS

ARVADA — Amy Bahl stepped way from coaching high school basketball after winning back-toback Class 4A girls basketball state championships in 2017 and 2018 at Evergreen High School.

She’s back.

Bahl has taken over the helm of Ralston Valley’s girls basketball program this season after longtime coach Je Gomer retired after the end of last season. Gomer coached 19 years at Ralston Valley racking up 351 wins with the Mustangs.

“I’m part of this community. I live like four minutes up the road,” Bahl said of why she wanted the job at Ralston Valley. “My kids will eventually go here.”

Bahl nally got to coach her rst home game Dec. 20 against Arapahoe. e Mustangs used a 24-point second quarter to grab the lead to eventually take a 54-47 victory over the Warriors.

“ at was exciting,” said Bahl who did continue coaching at the club level during her hiatus from high school. “It was fun to be at a homecourt gym with the crowd, energy and high school girls.”

Ralston Valley (6-2 record) extended its winning streak to four games with the nal victory before Winter Break.

“It feels good,” Ralston Valley senior Finley Timon said of the rst home win of the season. “We had a bunch of pressure on us being the rst home game. We had a lot of the community come out for us. We wanted to impress for them.”

Timon was impressive in the fourth quarter. e senior scored eight straight points for the Mustangs over a ve minute stretch in the fourth quarter. A defensive block on one of the court by Timon led to her second 3-pointer of the quarter with 3:15 left in the fourth quarter, extending Ralston Valley’s lead to 49-41.

“Fourth quarters are big, especially against teams like Arapahoe who know how to play in the fourth quarter under pressure,” Timon said. “ at is when you have to hit shots and knock those down.”

Junior Sophia Sabus sealed the victory for the Mustangs going 4-for-4 from the free-throw line in

the nal minute to hold o a rally by Arapahoe (4-4).

“All our points were tough points. Nothing was easy,” Bahl said. “ e girls stepped up and made some big shots tonight. It was a good ow with e cient shots.”

Sabus nished with a team-high 20 points with 15 points coming in the rst half. Ralston Valley had four di erent players — Elyssa Cardella, Ciana Wilder, Hannah Gruber and Margot Mulhern — make baskets in the third quarter.

Wilder nished with 9 points and 9 rebounds. Mulhern had 6 points and 8 rebounds to help the cause.

“I think there are a lot of girls who are capable of a lot of things,” Bahl said of her team. “We want to use them because you are a lot easier to guard when you just use one (scorer).”

Timon echoed the same sentiments.

“We want eight scoring players throughout the team,” Timon said. “Everyone contributes and own

their roles. at is what matters.”

Ralston Valley returns after the Winter Break with a home game Jan. 4 against Cherry Creek (71). e Bruins are No. 3 in this week’s CHSAANow.com Class 6A

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girls basketball rankings.

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

Amy Bahl is back on the girls basketball high school bench. Bahl led Evergreen High School to a pair of Class 4A state title in 2017 and 2018. She has returned to the high school ranks this year as Ralston Valley’s girls basketball coach.

Ralston Valley junior Sophie Sabus (2) drives to the basket while being guarded by Arapahoe senior Shannon McInally (14) during the non-league game Dec. 20 at Ralston Valley High School. The Mustangs won their first home game of the season with 54-47 victory.

PHOTOS BY DENNIS PLEUSS/JEFFCO PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Small drop unlikely to reverse skyrocketing home prices

Sellers, buyers play waiting game

BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Danielle and Stephan Storinsky “saw the writing on the wall.” It foretold how the housing market might change. So, earlier this year, the married couple sold their Arvada townhome.

ey timed it just right. ey capitalized before concerns about in ation took center stage. ey sold their home when the metro area was gripped by historically high housing prices.

ey bought their townhome about ve years ago for $285,000. ey sold for $521,000.

“ at part’s pretty nice because now we have a decent amount of money to put down on something,” Stephan Storinsky said.

But now, on the other side of cashing in, they nd themselves playing a waiting game. Even with the tidy pro t they hauled in, they are struggling to nd a home at a good value.  Houses on the market today “are just not worth the price that people are asking,” said Stephan Storinsky.

e couple are living with parents, constantly keeping their eyes open for a good deal.

e couple isn’t alone. While the number of available metro area houses shot upward in a year, so has the number of days those homes are sitting on the market until they sell, according to the latest report by the Colorado Association of Realtors.

One sign of the cooling real estate market are For Sale signs outside homes, an indication realtors are no longer overwhelmed by prospective clients.

e shift comes as mortgage rates — the amount of interest people pay on their home loans — ticked steadily upwards in recent months, making housing that’s been rising in price for the better part of a decade even costlier. e only light at the

end of the tunnel lately could be a slight drop in interest rates. But a drop in home prices might not be in the cards, one metro-area realtor says.

“I think it’ll be a small increase throughout the rst half of the year and then potentially a small decrease the last half of the year,” said Andrew Abrams, a real-estate broker in Denver who has rental properties in Je erson County.

But, overall, home prices are expected to keep going up, Abrams said.

As it is, the market is stagnating. Not only are there buyers like the Storinskys playing a waiting game, but many prospective sellers don’t want to leave behind the cheaper mortgage payments they clinched before, likely on mortgage loans with lower interest rates.

“Sellers are hesitant to sell at a lower price than their neighbors from last spring and leave their low interest rate behind, and buyers are afraid what the future will bring in terms of interest rates and home prices,” opined Kelly Moye, a Realtor in the Boulder and Broom eld area, in a statement.

A short break in price hikes

A deeper dive into the data shows that the median, or typical, price of a Denver area single-family home has seen a seven-month decline.

e price sat at $587,500 in November — still eye-catchingly high, but just a 1.3% increase from a year earlier, according to the Realtor association’s December report.

By contrast, in December 2021, the change in median home price was up a whopping 18.3% from a year earlier.

Something to keep in mind is that fall months typically see a slowdown in price growth and home sales each year. But the degree of the slowdown since March “has been more dramatic than normal seasonality, and I think that is dictated by interest rates,” Abrams said.

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DOLLAR

It’s a calculation that means big changes for families looking to buy homes. Take, for example, a $600,000 home with a 20% down payment.

If the mortgage interest rate sits at 6.5%, the family’s monthly mortgage payment would be about $3,700, Abrams said. On the other hand, at the 3.5% rate locked in by buyers in years past, the mortgage monthly payment would be $2,800.

Feeling priced out

And so the Storinskys’ strategy to cash out while the market was at a high has come with a down side.

They were “originally looking at around $650,000, but interest rates the way they are, we’re probably down into the max $600,000. But probably, more realistically, $550,000 to $575,000 is where we’ll end up,” Stephan Storinsky said.

The Storinskys are scouring the north and west metro area for a home – Lakewood, Arvada, Wheat Ridge and part of Westminster.

Danielle Storinsky, 31, a legal assistant, and Stephan Storinsky, 35, a utilities technician, said they’ve been more fortunate than many people in the market.

But the homes he and his wife have seen don’t seem worth it. The listed pictures of a place may “look great,” but in person leave something to be desired, he said.

“I’ve lived here my whole life, and I’ve seen what houses have

sold for,” Stephan Storinsky said. “So for me, it’s just not worth it.”

“It’s hard to compete with people from out of state who come from California” and bring large sums of cash, he added. “Seems like you’re pricing the locals out of market.”

The Colorado Association of Realtors defines the seven-county Denver metro area as Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas and Jefferson

counties. The association’s latest report is based on November data.

Long-term price drop unlikely, Realtor says

Abrams takes issue with predictions that raise the specter of a housing market crash.

“I disagree pretty strongly, and I think the practices that were done before the Great Recession are dramatically different than

the market today,” Abrams said, adding that “the lending practices back then were just not nearly as

Before the Great Recession, banks were giving loans to people they knew couldn’t keep up with them, Abrams said.

Another difference: Fewer houses are on the market today, Abrams said.

In metro Denver, there were about 7,300 homes on the market as of Nov. 1, but in 2006, there were about 3 1/2 times more homes available, Abrams said.

Though it’s tough to predict the market amid concerns over inflation and interest rates, the metro Denver housing market could behave in a more stabilized way in 2023.

A sign calls attention to a home for sale Dec. 5 in southeast Denver.

PHOTO BY ELLIS ARNOLD

New homes in Elbert County are shown on the county’s website, where a notice is posted seeking a consultant to assess the county’s housing needs. PHOTO FROM ELBERT COUNTY WEBSITE

MCA Denver spotlights southern Black heritage

The Dirty South exhibit runs through Feb. 5

BY CHANCY J. GATLIN-ANDERSON SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA

Every morning when Nikki Swarn goes to work at the radio station, she is greeted with the smiling faces of Black creators, all who share their stories on the airwaves about how R&B and hip hop music has impacted their lives and inspired their art.

As a person of color, Swarn, the general manager and program director at 104.7 e Drop, is impacted daily by the positive representations of Black music, art and other media artists. Swarn believes that it is important to highlight positive narratives of people of color.

“It is all about dignity, respect and recognition of the contributions we have made, not only to American culture, but cultures around the world,” said Swarn. “We are a diverse people with beautiful, important stories that must be told. ere’s nothing like seeing ourselves, our cultures, our power depicted in uplifting stories of encouragement that solidi es our value and our voices.”

e Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, in collaboration with Swarn’s 104.7 e Drop, are hosting the museum’s latest cultural exhibit, “ e Dirty South: Contemporary Art, Material Culture and the Sonic Impulse.” e exhibit runs through Feb. 5 and explores the aesthetic legacies and traditions of Black culture in the South as seen through the lens of contemporary Black musical expression. e exhibit, originally organized by the Virginia Museum of

Fine Arts, has worked its way around the United States highlighting southern Black culture. It is wrapping up its nationwide tour in Denver.

“ e Dirty South exhibition is a re ection of the profound in uence African American southern culture has had on America. e vehicle of hip-hop, the exploration of social justice, the Black body, religion, cultural values, and more are enveloped throughout this poignant moment in history. So often stories from people of color have been left out of positive narratives in many forms of media, art and entertainment,” said Swarn. “We are so proud to partner with the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver as we re-de ne contemporary art and celebrate a social movement that feeds the soul, tells our truths and our diverse story. We are proud to be the only city west of the Mississippi to display and close out the tour of this phenomenal exhibition — so tting as we stand in the illustrious light and history of Five Points, the Harlem of the West.”

Nora Burnett Abrams, the Mark.

G. Falcone director at MCA Denver, shared why the partnership with 104.7 e Drop is so special for the exhibit and for Denver.

“104.7 e Drop is so much more than an incredible radio station — it also serves as a dedicated community advocate and champion of cultural life in this city,” Abrams said. “It is an honor to be partnering with e Drop to help share the story of our current exhibition, “ e Dirty South,” which celebrates the vibrance and diversity of Black culture. Together we are creating dynamic, relevant and expansive opportunities for museum visitors and

listeners of 104.7 e Drop to engage meaningfully in this exhibition.”

Swarn encourages everyone to see “ e Dirty South” exhibit because it is iconic, engaging, emotional and draws all the senses, she said.

“Recognition of the southern diaspora and its in uence on America and beyond, is tasted, smelled, seen and heard in this exhibition. It is an open invitation to partake in a culture whose narrative has not always been its own,” said Swarn. “ e

exhibition elicits so many feelings and emotions (that) multiple visits may be required. Bring your family, friends and students to see it up close, then engage in conversations about its impact.”

To learn more about “The Dirty South: Contemporary Art, Material Culture and the Sonic Impulse” or the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, visit mcadenver.org. To learn about 104.7 The Drop, visit thedrop303.org.

Any person, co-partnership, association of persons, company or corporation that furnished labor, material, drayage, sustenance, provisions or other supplies used or consumed by said contractor or his sub-contractors in or about the performance of the work contracted to be done by said Triple M Construction and its claim has not been paid, may at any time on or prior to the hour of the date above stated, file with the Finance Director of the City of Arvada at City Hall, a verified statement of the amount due and unpaid on account of such claim. Dated this December 16, 2022

Bids and Settlements

Public Notice

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

by said contractor or his sub-contractors in or about the performance of the work contracted to be done by said Noraa Concrete Construction and its claim has not been paid, may at any time on or prior to the hour of the date above stated, file with the Finance Director of the City of Arvada at City Hall, a verified statement of the amount due and unpaid on account of such claim.

Dated this December 16, 2022

CITY OF ARVADA /s/ Kristen Rush, City Clerk

Legal Notice No. 415407

First Publication: December 29, 2022 Last Publication: December 29, 2022 Publisher: Jeffco Transcript

affordable housing for individuals and families who are chronically homeless and 4) To increase the supply of affordable, accessible housing for person with disabilities.

If applicable, all financing of project costs and operating expenses will be the responsibility of the owner. Rents that are established for the project will be commensurate with other comparable rents for similar rental units in the areas in which the project is located. In all cases, however, rents cannot exceed the maximum allowable HUD Fair market Rent published for Jefferson County.

The PBV units will be leased to eligible lowincome households referred by AHA or to eligible tenants in occupancy of the unit at the time of the submission of the proposal. Rental assistance is

available for a total not to exceed 18 units. AHA reserves the right to award less than the maximum vouchers available or requested.

Note: Participation in the PBV Program requires compliance with Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity Requirements, and Federal Labor Standards will apply to eligible projects.

Proposal documents can be obtained from the Arvada Housing Authority’s website: Website: https://arvada.org/residents/city-neighborhoods/ section-8-housing-choice-voucher-program

All proposals should be submitted via email to dkothe@arvada.org. Only proposals in response to this invitation will be accepted for consideration. Owners/Developers will be notified by letter of the acceptance or rejection of their proposals. AHA will also publish its notice of selection of PBV proposals on the Arvada Housing Authority website as well as the Arvada Press. All proposals MUST be received no later than 5:00 P.M., Monday, January 23, 2023.

Questions can be directed to Dena Kothe at dkothe@arvada.org or 720-898-7476

Legal Notice No. 415389

First Publication: December 22, 2022

Last Publication: January 5, 2023

Publisher: Jeffco Transcript

Basin Street Blues, 2014, Bisa Butler (American, born 1973), cotton denim. COURTESY OF CLAIRE OLIVER AND IAN RUBINSTEIN