Arvada Press 011223

Je erson County nonprofits receive unexpected $350K in grants from Community First Foundation

City of Arvada extends micromobility pilot program through 2023

Shareable electric scooters sticking around while

city team gathers data

BY RYLEE DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Shareable micromobility vehicles are sticking around Arvada for at least the next year. e City of Arvada extended its micromobility pilot program — which began with Bird scooters coming to town in 2022 — for the rest of 2023.

e extended program will include changes to the vehicle’s service area — restricted to one mile around each G-line stop in the rst iteration — and exibility for vendors to adjust e-bike and e-scooter numbers in their eet since the city has not seen e-bikes mobilized yet.

Nonpro ts across Je erson County are starting 2023 with a little more money in the bank.

Over the holiday season, Arvadabased Community First Foundation awarded 18 organizations $350,000 total in grants. e funds will go toward furthering art, science and culture-based projects that promote civic engagement.

Several recipients said the funds were a complete surprise.

Nathan Richie of Golden History Museum & Park said grants like this typically have a very involved application process. However, the museum didn’t apply for it. Instead, CFF reached out to the museum based on other grant applications.

“ is never happens in the grant world,” Center for the Arts Evergreen’s Lisa Nierenberg said.

Lakewood Arts Council’s Dorothy Lessem described how she and her colleagues “looked at each other and

thought, ‘Is this real?’” when they rst heard about it.

Community First Foundation con rmed the grants ranged from $700 to $30,000. It partnered with the Scienti c and Cultural Facilities District to identify Je co nonpro ts actively working to increase inclusivity in the county. SCFD shared grant applications it’d received, and CFF worked quickly to award the grants before Jan. 1.

“ e information we needed was already in the grant applications nonpro ts submitted to SCFD,”

Jaime Aguilar, program o cer for Community First Foundation, said in a Dec. 23 press release. “ … Now, we can support civic engagement through diversity, equity and inclusion e orts in our community without the added burden for nonpro ts to submit a new grant application.”

For instance, the Golden History Museum received $26,000 toward its work with Indigenous communities. It recently completed an American Indian Ethnography, mainly focused

on Arapaho, Cheyenne and Ute peoples’ histories.

e museum wants to use the ethnography as a “sca old to build upon” and not a lone project, Richie stated. He hoped to use the grant to bring tribal leaders to Golden for a site consultation visit and perhaps start an ethnobotanical garden.

“ is means a great deal to us,” Richie said of the funding. “It’s an investment to continue doing that work. … It’s a much larger commitment that we’re making in Golden to elevate Indigenous voices and communities.”

Meanwhile, the Lakewood Arts Council and Center for the Arts Evergreen both plan to use grant funds for educational programming. e two received $13,000 and $30,000, respectively.

“It was the perfect way to end the year,” Nierenberg said.

Lessem felt similarly, describing how the Lakewood Arts Council just

Arvada’s Manager of Mobility and Planning Innovation John Firouzi said at the end of the year, the city team will make a presentation to city council containing data collected by Firouzi’s team and a public survey. At that point, Director of Public Works Jaqueline Rhoades will decide the future of micromobility in Arvada.

e pilot program allows for a maximum of two vendors to operate within city limits. Firouzi said that Bird is intending to continue with the program and is in the process of updating their permits. Firouzi added that Lime — another popular e-bike and e-scooter vendor — has begun an application to operate in Arvada.

Firouzi said the city team will gauge feedback from vendors to decide how to expand the service area.

“We’re going to geographically expand the areas incrementally, to see if there’s demand from the public and what the usage looks

CWESTEMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

At left, Raelene Whiteshield does a jingle dress dance as members of Cozad Jrs, background right, play the drum and sing during the Oct. 2 Autumn Fest at Golden History Museum & Park. The museum recently received a grant from Community First Foundation toward its work with Indigenous communities.

FILE PHOTO BY CORINNE WESTEMAN

Q & A: Link Strate

BY RYLEE DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

After 35 years with the department, former Arvada Police Chief Link Strate announced his retirement on Dec. 1 — shortly after, Ed Brady was named Arvada’s next police chief.

While his tenure with the Arvada Police Department has come to a close, Strate’s three decades in Arvada law enforcement — including his four-year run as chief, which coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, a national dialogue about police and the murder of two APD o cers — give him a unique insight into the city’s challenges regarding policing.

e Arvada Press interviewed Strate shortly before Brady was sworn in. e conversation has been edited for clarity. e rst part of the interview concerns Strate’s career accomplishments with APD, while the second part pertains to policing in general in Arvada and beyond.

Editor’s note: this interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.  Arvada Press: How did you decide it was time to retire?

Link Strate: I’ve been here for 35

years. I started here in Arvada, right out of college. I felt incredibly fortunate to get an opportunity to start my policing career at an agency like Arvada.

And then once I got here, I just fell in love with this community and this department; I raised my daughters here and all of that. So, I knew this was home.

Early on, I didn’t want to go anywhere else. After 35 years, I didn’t intend to retire this early. But after

the last four years, and certainly the last two years with the murder of Gordon Beesley and Dillon Vako , it was di cult.

It was di cult to watch the department go through that. It was di cult to see that in everybody’s eyes and to recognize that. And quite frankly, (I began) to wonder if I could do that again. I just didn’t know if I could I could do that again.

So, I recognized that I had an incredible career here, just very fortunate for everything that was a orded to me. And it was probably time.

AP: Did you grow up in Arvada?

LS: I was born in Kansas but grew up in Arizona. But my parents, my mom still has a ranch in southern Colorado. So, Colorado was where I spent all my summers. And having grown up in Flagsta , it was a little too small. I didn’t want to do policing there. So, I came up to Colorado, and was fortunate to get here.

AP: How did your career here begin?

LS: When I got here, I just wanted to be a good cop. at was my goal. I wanted to learn how to be a good police o cer. And then, you know, I thought after being here about nine years, I’d see what that Sergeant thing was all about, and did that.

e rst 21 years of my career, I was a police o cer and supervisor as a sergeant, and then I didn’t get into command sta until the back half of my career. And then was a motorcycle o cer. I was a eld training o cer a rearms instructor. When I made sergeant, I worked in investigation.

And as a commander, I oversaw investigations for a number of years, and worked in patrol sectors as a commander. I enjoyed those times

CORRECTION

In a recent edition of the paper, a story about Carol Whipple, the Arvada duathlete who won international acclaim and has competed in more than 20 championships in 13 countries, contained some incorrect information.

very much.

I feel so grateful for that because I got to do everything in the department. And I would say to somebody, looking for a career in law enforcement, that’s really one of the draws is that you get to have a number of di erent careers within your career, you can do motorcycle o cer for ve years, you can work in investigations, your work in crime scene investigations, (you can) work as a detective.

You can put a number of ve-year careers together in one career, have done all sorts of di erent things. And it’s kind of unique in that sense, you get to do because working as a detective is completely di erent than working in a patrol o cer.

AP: What are your proudest accomplishments from your time here?

LS: One of the things I am most proud of is the fact that I spent the rst 20 years of my career, like I said, as a police o cer and supervisor. And those were the formative years. For me, those were what really dened me as a police o cer.

And as a leader, I didn’t just rise to the ranks. I really spent the vast majority of my career working in the eld, either in investigations or patrol of tra c. And so quite frankly, as I look back at my career, attaining chief is not my proudest moment. Being a police o cer and a supervisor for 21 years is my proudest moment. at’s what I gained the most joy from in this job.

AP: Your tenue as chief coincided with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. How were you able to guide the department through that?

LS: So, the rst thing I’ll say, it’s not me; it’s the department. It’s the people that we have here. We have great leaders; we have great people in positions that are key to communicating. We hire really high-quality individuals, you know, our hiring standards, that mean, the people who become police o cers here could do a lot of di erent things.

ey’re highly educated, they’re highly motivated. ey’re intelligent people. And they could do other things. ey choose to do this because it’s something they truly want to do.

And so, it’s not me. I’d love to say that I shepherded the organization through this, the organization carried itself through this because of the quality of the people that are here. Without a doubt.

I will say that when I rst got into the chief’s position, one of the rst things that we were looking at was sta ng at that point. We were trying to get the department sta ed. We got

She no longer works for the National Park Service, and she won a bronze medal in duathlon and a gold medal in cross duathlon in 2022. e paper regrets the error. Email corrections to k ore@coloradocommunitymedia.com.

Arvada Police Chief Link Strate in his o ce in 2020.

ARVADA PRESS FILE PHOTO

Recently retired former Arvada Police Chief shares insight into state of department, policing

GRANTS

FROM

moved into the 40 West Arts hub, which is across the parking lot from its former location next to Casa Bonita. us, the grant will be a major boost as the organization tries to revamp its educational programming since the move, she described.

It’s hoping to partner with Denver and Je co teachers to provide art activities, supplies and training for students of all ages. e studio also o ers exhibit space for local students, and the grant will help continue that e ort, Lessem added.

TION GRANT RECIPIENTS

•40 West Arts

•Apex Arts & Humanities Agency

•Arvada Center for the Arts & Humanities

•Benchmark Theatre

•Center for the Arts Evergreen

•Colorado Chord Company of the Denver MountainAires Barbershoppers

•Colorado Environmental Film Festival

•Colorado Folk Arts Council

•Denver Audubon

•Evergreen Players

•Filipino-American Community of Colorado

•Foothills Art Center

•Foothills Park & Recreation District –Arts & Events

•Golden History Museum & Park

•Lakewood Arts Council

•Miners Alley Playhouse

•Tesoro Foundation

•The Venue Theatre

Harvesting ‘Atmospheric Rivers’ to Replenish Aquifers & Fill Reservoirs

A recent article in the San Francisco Chronicle caught my attention. It spoke of harvesting the rainfall from otherwise catastrophic “atmospheric rivers” to refill reservoirs. Another piece by the Environment Defense Fund in Oct. 2021 discussed research being conducted by the California Department of Water Resources and UC Santa Barbara on harvesting excessive rainfall to replenish underground aquifers. I have posted links to both those articles at www.GoldenREblog.com

Meanwhile, we are reminded daily that the Colorado River is drying up and both Lake Mead and Lake Powell, as a result, are suffering reduced levels that threaten to sideline their vital hydroelectric turbines.

I’m reminded of those amazing 20th

Century California water projects which brought water all over that state to meet both agricultural and urban demands, and it got me thinking about the possibility of creating another grand project to divert some of those ocean-bound flood waters to both in-state reservoirs and to Lake Powell (elevation 3,700) and Lake Mead (elevation 1,200). Not only could it help with the Colorado River problem, but it might help in some small way to reduce flooding.

Replenishing aquifers is a good idea, but can that be done at speed? I’m not knowledgeable in this area, but it seems to me that new reservoirs would have to be built to hold the water that is to be pumped into those aquifers.

Capturing flood waters on our side of the Continental Divide is already being

Media Literacy Needs to Be Taught in High Schools

This week I was made aware of a social studies teacher in Chicago who introduced media literacy as a 5-week segment of her class at Whitney Young High School. A link to the chalkbeat.org article is posted at www.GoldenREblog.com

The inspiration for adding media literacy was the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. To quote the Chalkbeat article, the teacher “scrapped her lesson plans for February and spent the entire month focused on media literacy. Among her goals: to help her juniors and seniors discern fact from fiction, identify credible sources of news, and spot misleading information.”

Every citizen, not just high school

students could benefit from learning, at the very least, that news outlets carry both hard news stories and opinion pieces and learn how to recognize the difference.

They should learn about QAnon and its origins and the outsized role it has played in recent events, not just the Jan. 6 insurrection. They should learn that “if it sounds too good to be true or too bad to be true,” it may not be true and how to use the internet (such as snopes.com and other fact-checking sites) to research such items and not to forward those juicy and seductive emails or blog posts without doing so.

No one likes to be duped, right?

South Golden Ranch Just Listed by David Dlugasch

This ranch at 16030 W. 14th Place is a gem. It has hardwood floors throughout the main level. The newly remodeled kitchen has stainless steel appliances and granite countertops. It has all new windows, electrical panel, A/C, clean air system, high efficiency forced air heating system, sprinkler system front and back, fenced yard, SimpliSafe alarm system and so much more. Off the dining room is a large deck with mountain views. The main level has two bedrooms and a full bathroom, with two nonconforming bedrooms and a tiled 3/4 bathroom in the basement. The lower level family room is huge! It has a separate bar area, and space for a theater, playroom, pool table, or whatever. Walk out to your beautiful backyard with a covered deck, fire pit, patio, and an upper deck for BBQing. The oversized garage is an added bonus with a 220V outlet for an electric vehicle. Enjoy Orchard Park one block away with tennis courts, swings and lots of open space. You are minutes away from I-70, Colorado Mills, downtown Golden, and walking distance to South Table Mountain trails. See interior photos and take a narrated video tour at www.SouthGoldenRanch.online. Call 303-908-4835 for a showing.

handled by the many reservoirs such as Chatfield and Cherry Creek Reservoirs designed specifically for that purpose. Chatfield is owned by Denver Water, but Cherry Creek is owned by the Army Corps of Engineers. The dams for each are higher than needed in order to accommodate sudden downpours, flooding only park land and facilities.

Historically, reservoir operators have

applied long-time weather patterns, not just current forecasts, to determine when to release or not release water downstream. As climate change causes unprecedented disruptions to historic weather patterns, it offers opportunities to learn from its destabilization of those historic weather patterns and find ways to adapt to such phenomena as atmospheric rivers.

Here’s a Solution to Those Snow-Covered Rutted Streets

Does your street still look like this — over two weeks after the snow stopped falling?

Would you pay $1 or $2 to have someone plow your street before it gets beaten down, rutted and icy?

If you live in the City of Golden, this is not a problem. It’s the only city I know of which has committed to plowing every residential street, no matter how small the snowfall. (If you know of another city that does that, let me know, and I’ll share it.)

If your street is not being plowed, there’s a solution in plain sight, but only if you have an HOA or neighborhood association. Lobby your HOA to hire a person or company to plow your street immediately after each snowfall. The cost will be in proportion to how many

streets and homes are in your subdivision, but regardless of size, I bet your association could find a person or company who would do it, and the cost would probably compute to no more than $2 per household per storm. Ten plowing events a year? Maybe $20 per household, but even it if were twice that, wouldn’t it be worth it?

Your association would probably not even have to raise their monthly dues for such a small expense. Google “snow plowing companies near me,” and get some quotes. Be your neighborhood hero and solve this recurring problem!

(If your HOA, not the city or county, owns your streets and/or if your community is gated, the HOA must maintain your streets and is probably already plowing them when it snows.)

Price Reduced on Downtown Denver Loft

If you're looking for loft living, this is as good as it gets! Walk to everything in Downtown Denver — Coors Field, Performing Arts Complex, 16th Street Mall, Lodo, Union Station, shopping, restaurants, and light rail, including the A-line to DIA. The 12-foot ceilings and four massive pillars, plus huge windows with views of nearby skyscrapers — this is the loft life you’ve been looking for! It comes with three garage spaces, which is probably more than you need. Rent them out for $150-200 each to create a nice cash flow! This is a rare opportunity, so act fast. No open houses. More info & pix at www.DenverLoft.info

Jim Smith

Broker/Owner, 303-525-1851

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

Congratulations to David Dlugasch, our 4th Quarter top producing broker associate

Sawyer Payne, Jake Oudakker, Layla Smith and Emily Canfield rehearse their lines for “Bye Bye Birdie” at The Venue Theatre in April 2018. The theater was among the 18 Je co nonprofits that received grants recently from Community First Foundation.

FILE PHOTO BY SARA HERTWIG

our department fully sta ed, we actually had some over hires and over hires anticipating that we would lose people which you always do just churn through some people. And then COVID (hit).

Just like everybody else, we didn’t know what it was on the front end. We had our o cers responding to calls in hazmat suits — complete suits — because we didn’t know how contagious this was. We didn’t know how deadly it was.

e police o cers were here every day. And so, you saw the police department operating — and at times, operating with limited resources because of the demands that were being asked of us.

But what we did right at the beginning, we put into place a very detailed operational plan. And the reason that’s important is that we saw across the country departments make really bad decisions on how they were going to respond to and deal with violations of COVID.

So, we had a conversation at the department level, at the command level as leaders about the fact that we knew when COVID was over, how we treated our community was going to impact that relationship in the long term. So, we wanted to make sure that we didn’t come out as an occupying enforcement agency that we were working through this with our community that we were trying to gure out what was best for the community.

And so, enforcement, we recog-

nized early on, was not the primary or even for most incidences, a reasonable response to that. It was education, it was trying to because we were all learning what this was.

So, we didn’t see pulling some dad and kid out of the park because they were playing baseball or, you know, yanking some little old lady out of the grocery store because she didn’t have a mask on, something like that. We knew that that would not play well in our community. And we didn’t want to fracture that relationship.

AP: How did nationwide conversations about policing in the wake of George Floyd’s murder impact the department?

LS: (COVID) was the rst issue. And then obviously, we saw George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis, we saw that the public outcry for that. And then we saw the national narrative and the response to that. We can all look at that, and (APD Detective) Dave (Snelling) taught tactics, arrest tactics, for years and years and years, there was nothing about the tactic — kneeling on his neck — that was something none of us knew. at wasn’t something we taught and wasn’t something we recognized, that wasn’t something that we did.

But we were all painted with the same broad-brush law enforcement is. And so, to try to manage our own community to try to manage your own police department, and to speak to that to our community — we couldn’t, I can’t, control what happens in Minneapolis, I can’t control what happens in New York, I can’t control what happens in Denver.

We can only run our own police departments, but our training our hiring standards, our practices are so contrary to what we saw happen in Minneapolis. But we were answering for that. And it was very difcult. And we could see the impact that had on our o cers, we could see how disheartening it was as they were going out there doing the right things for the right reasons.

But they were being called all sorts of things as we all remember. So that was di cult. One of the de nite pluses in that was the support that we had from our community. We heard that voice. We’ve got bombarded with communications that didn’t really generate or originate inside our own community, but we were still responding to that.

But our own community was very supportive. ey reached out to us and our political leaders spoke to their support of the Arvada Police Department. And so strategically what we did, is we created a communication that outlined our hiring standards, our training standards, our policy and why what you saw happen in Minneapolis was not re ective of the Arvada Police Department.

I think what you’ll see and we’ve already started to see some of that, you will see communities that are going to demand from their police departments what Arvada has been doing for decades; educational requirements, CALEA certi cation that we’ve had for over three decades. Prior to George Floyd’s murder, we’d been teaching antibias training for over 20 years.

Law enforcement always needs to grow and change. And if you have an agency that hasn’t, that’s a problem.

AP: As chief, how did you lead the department amid the murder of two APD o cers; Gordon Beesley and Dillon Vako ?

Gordon Beasley was just an amazing individual. Johnny Hurley, for all accounts, was an amazing, amazing individual. Two really tragic losses of life.

Gordon was the rst o cer that was killed since Michael Northey, which was in the ‘70s. And the way he was killed — ambushed and killed — was a di cult thing.

And that starts to amplify those conversations with families about

whether or not they want their spouse to do this job. Whether they should do something that is a little less targeted as for what they do, and then certainly safer.

And as we’re working through that, as every other agency trying to nd, and recruit, and train appropriate police o cers, our standards been higher than other agencies that have a GED requirement or something else. So our pool is smaller, it just becomes more difcult for us. But we don’t lower our standards, we continue to do that.

And then as we’re managing that, and we’re moving through that, and we’re mourning as an agency and trying to nd our way forward, Dillon (Vako ) is murdered. And, again, what a ne young man. He was hired in the midst of all of this stu . And his young life is cut short. And again, we’re in that process again, where we haven’t even fully grieved Gordon, and we’re dealing with the grief of Dillon and trying to process that and it certainly takes its toll on the agency.

All the leaders in the room and all of us as cops, we would rather accept that risk ourselves than to ask those who work for us to accept it. at’s the di cult part.

So that’s when you start seeing families really have conversations with the o cers and say, ‘I’ve asked you before, I’m telling you now: you need to nd something else to do. I can’t sit here and wonder whether you’re going to be OK or not.’

AP: How is sta ng at the department currently?

LS: Our hiring is doing very well. And it’s trying to manage those that are reevaluating their career choice. I think today we’re down — and this includes my retirement — we’re down 27 positions.

And we are continuing to hire. We have 10 that are graduating from the academy that will be put into eld training, and we have 13 that we will be putting in the academy at the beginning of the year. And so, our ability to continue to attract high-quality people is there.

It’s just keeping up with now, in those 27 positions, we have also added positions to the organization. So those are counted in there, as well. But I think we are at a point

like,” Firouzi said. “And if there are areas where there are where there’s demand for e-bikes, e-scooters — or there’s less demand, we’re going to build that boundary based on what that looks like.

“There has been a desire to extend the micromobility program towards the central and western part of Arvada,” Firouzi continued. “So, that’s going to be kind of our focus outside of the transit areas to see what the demand looks like.”

Firouzi said that part of the impetus for expanding the coverage area is that data shows the scooters are not being used for their intended purpose of supplying “last-mile” transportation to G-line stops.

“We had over 10,000, trips in 2022,” Firouzi said. “And a lot of those trips were short trips, just about a mile away from where

the scooter was picked up. And a lot of them were to different destinations within neighborhoods, but they didn’t necessarily correlate with transit stations. We had made an assumption that people would use these to catch the G line; we didn’t see as much activity on that

Firouzi also acknowledged that there have been concerns with improper scooter parking. He explained that there will be an audit system in place for city team members to let vendors know about observed misuse of the scooters and that repeated parking infractions from the same account will result in monetary penalties of a ban from the ridesharing app.

Meet Ma!

now to where we’re actually we’ve stem the tide.

You’re going to see in the next six months, next year, that we will start to catch up and we will get those positions lled. But here’s what’s really important to recognize: when someone leaves, it takes us a year to get that position lled, because we had to go through the recruiting, and then we have to train them in the academy, which is four months, we have to train them in eld training after the academy, which is an additional four months. It is a year from when one police o cer walks out the door to where we actually have a functioning police o cer out there on the street doing that job.

AP: How did county and statewide policies regarding incarceration enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic impact the department?

LS: We need to continue to make sure that we keep pace with a city that is experiencing change. Our demographics are changing, our crime rate is changing. We are growing somewhat, but our exposure to crime is not in correlation to our growth in population, if that makes sense.

So, what I’m saying is our population may only be growing by 2% a year. But our crime, because of what is occurring around us is growing at a greater rate than that. We certainly saw the impact, after the pandemic, and then the national

narrative on policing, we see the impact of policies at the state level and national level that are impacting our ability to arrest and incarcerate those people.

From those policies, we are seeing an increase in crime. And so that is something that we’re going to have to manage our tactics and strategies as we address that.

We have to adjust because here’s what’s frustrating for a police ofcer or for a police chief is, we’re very, very good, especially here in Arvada, and I can’t overemphasize this, we’re very good at identifying those that are committing crimes in our community, locating them, and then putting together everything that is necessary to hold them accountable for that crime.

All of those pieces that we are in control of we can do, the other pieces aren’t. And so instead of being locked up or having some other solution that prevents them from continuing their criminal behavior, they’re out there repeating their crime.

And that makes it very di cult. It also is disheartening on the o cers and you have to ask yourself as a police o cer, ‘What’s the point? Why am I doing this? I’ve done my part, but there’s no consequences.’  As a state, we start to gure out how that looks.

I can tell you as a chief of police if there is an alternative to arrest and incarceration, we’re all for that. If we can do something other than jail, somebody, great, let’s, let’s nd those alternatives.

However, if you have somebody that is committed to a criminal

lifestyle, and the only thing that’s going to prevent them from doing that is to take away their access to the community, then we need to do that, we need to stop them from committing these crimes over and over and over again.

AP: What is APD doing to address homelessness in Arvada?

LS: It’s incredibly complex. I would ask the question, ‘How much do we really care?’ Because we say we care as a society. And we say we care so much that we don’t want these people to receive in-house type of treatment.

However, if you go out on the street, and you see some of these individuals, and you recognize that they’re not competent or capable to take care of even their basic human needs and control their own bodily functions, you have to wonder how humane it is to leave them out there. It is heartbreaking.

And unfortunately, a lot of the time that is left at the feet of law enforcement — ‘You guys deal with this problem.’ And we don’t have the resources, the capacity to do that.

Fortunately, in Arvada, I think we have a city that wants to take a much broader, holistic approach to addressing some of that. But as a society, as a country, we are failing at a massive level, trying to gure out what we need to do for these people.

feel better. And we can say that we care. But clearly, we don’t. Because all you have to do is go out there and see these people to realize that we don’t care, because this is perfectly acceptable (to people), what’s happening, and it is just heartbreaking.

AP: What are your plans for retirement?

LS: I would do another little pitch for the city of Arvada and the PD, the retirement options that we have here, the retirement program, are good. And since I didn’t really plan this — I mean, if you’d asked me six months ago, I didn’t plan on retiring at this time, the opportunity came because Ed (Brady) was going to be available — I didn’t know what was in the tea leaves, I have a year to kind of reassess and take a look and see if there is something else that I want to do.

But family is going to be a priority. I think every cop after 35 years recognizes the sacrifice the family has made for them. All those missed events. And so now to get the opportunity to focus on the family, while you can’t make up, you know, maybe try to reconnect.

And I have grandkids now, so (I want to spend) time with those grandkids and my two daughters and sons-in-law, and certainly my wife, Lisa, would be the priority.

Link Strate

COURTESY ARVADA POLICE DEPARTMENT

Gold Line Grab-N-Go rebrands to Gold Line Collective

Shop on Grandview to feature local vendors and artisans

BY RYLEE DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Vendors, artists and artisans local to Arvada will now have a new venue to showcase and sell their wares: Gold Line Collective, a rebrand of Gold Line Grab-N-Go, will have a soft launch on Jan. 28 and a grand opening on Feb. 4.

e revamped shop — which will remain under Drew and Sheena Gordon’s ownership at the same location on Grandview Avenue — will feature artists, clothing, candles, owers and other goods from locals, who may contact Shopkeeper Lynn Davis at colo ower303@gmail.com.

Gold Line Collective will have shelves and larger spaces open for vendors and plan to keep some space open so it can consistently add new vendors.

Davis said the idea to rebrand the shop came from conversations she had with the Gordons, who wholeheartedly supported the idea.

“I saw the need for it myself,” Davis said. “After COVID, a lot of people including myself were working out of homes and selling online. While that’s great, selling in person, being around the community and having like-minded people around you can inspire creativity. e Grab-N-Go was not what the community was wanting or needing.

“I don’t think there were enough people living in that area that needed those items,” Davis continued. “It was mostly people from the G-line, and they were wanting more local products and to see what Arvada’s about. We have so many incredible people (in Arvada), why not put them in one space.”

e Gold Line Collective will have di erent hours from the GrabN-Go: 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays. e shop can still be reached by phone at (720) 609-2325. Davis said she’s unsure what will happen with the shop’s website at this point.

Davis said she hopes the change

will help encourage others to make art.

“I think being able to see local people’s stu in the storefront will be a huge inspiration to someone who thinks, ‘I can do this,’ or ‘I can cre-

ate a space like this and help other people out,’” David said. “We plan to showcase vendors, have their information listed and showcase them on social media as well.”

A painting titled ‘The Hummingbird and The Beagle’ for sale at Gold Line Collective. PHOTOS COURTESY OF LYNN DAVIS

Watercolor cards and paintings by Maya Boniek at Seeds of Gratitude LLC.

The interior of Gold Line Collective, where a sign with info about becoming a vendor is featured.

Internal investigation fails to find cause of December Je co-wide shelter-in-place order

BY ANDREW FRAIELI AFRAIELI@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Last month Jefferson County sent out an emergency shelter-in-place order meant for a small number of Jeffco residents. Instead, it was sent to most of the county, and the county still doesn’t know why.

According to a press release from Jeffcom 911, Jeffco’s communication authority, human error was ruled out. Rave Mobile Safety, which provides the infrastructure for sending out the alerts, was unable to replicate the situation causing the alert being distributed too wide, according to the press

release. The internal investigation found that the filter meant to limit the amount of residents that received the alert was not applied, but again, for reasons unknown.

The press release continues that Jeffcom 911 has transmitted 20 emergency alerts since the incident and has had no issues with any of them. It continues that, “Jeffcom 911 has implemented additional administrative oversight measures when administering emergency notifications as further precaution…”

Residents of Jeffco can sign up to receive these emergency alerts at Jeffcom911.org.

January is Blood Donor Month, and donations are needed

BY OLIVIA JEWELL LOVE OLOVE@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

According to the American Red Cross, the winter months are the most di cult months to collect blood donations, which is why January has been designated as National Blood Donor Month.

e American Red Cross, America’s Blood Centers and the Association for the Advancement of Blood & Biotherapies are encouraging people to schedule appointments to donate blood in 2023.

Emily Kuper, a public health nurse in Clear Creek County, explained that the need for blood is constant and vital in the health care industry.

“Anyone can need blood at any time,” she said.

People need blood transfusions for a variety of medical conditions, including acute or chronic illnesses. Kuper said long-term illnesses like cancer or sickle cell disease can require frequent transfusions, and people in accidents needing surgery can require emergent transfusions.

Kuper also explained there are di erent types of blood donations, including whole blood, power red, platelet and plasma donations. Information on the di erent types

of donations can be found on the American Red Cross’ website.

“Here is a New Year’s resolution we should all make: become a regular blood donor in 2023, and start now as we mark National Blood Donor Month,” said Debra BenAvram, chief executive o cer of AABB, in a press release.

COURTESY OF JEFFCOM 911

A blood donor squeezes a stress ball during donation.

FILE PHOTO BY OLIVIA JEWELL LOVE

‘Here is a New Year’s resolution we should all make: become a regular blood donor in 2023, and start now as we mark National Blood Donor Month.’

Debra BenAvram, chief executive o cer of AABB

VOICES LOCAL

Colorado GOP failed to close ranks, and lost

Ia m reluctant to add to the many opinions regarding the current state of the Colorado Republican Party. My status as a former chair in a major county compels me to speak about the ongoing drama because of my vantage point regarding how the party should function.

A cascade of events exists to point to how the Colorado GOP got to its current state. What matters is concentrating on how the future can be shaped and how to rebuild.

One incident in 2022 shows precisely how di cult the road forward will be. According to lings on TRACER, the El Paso County Republican Central Committee had approximately $70,600 in its bank accounts as of Oct. 30, 2022. To compare and contrast, other GOP major-county parties throughout Colorado had balances of between $3,000 and $24,000 in their accounts on the same date.

e reason for this di erence is that those other county parties spent money to support and elect

JOE WEBB

Republican candidates in their locales. e specifics are a matter of public record on TRACER.

I assure you that if the El Paso County GOP had spent $50,000 to elect Republican candidates, some of them would have been elected. ere would have a smaller margin of loss in El Paso County for those candidates who were defeated. But the El Paso GOP did not spend and support.

e restraint that the leadership in El Paso County showed in expenditures for candidate support is why going forward it is reasonable to presume that the Colorado GOP is dead. What they did in e ect was exercise a post-primary veto over GOP candidates. ey said that “those candidates are not good enough in our opinion, therefore we will not support them.”

e purpose of the Republican Party is to elect Republican-a liated candidates. If you do not wish to support Republican-a liated candidates, then what is your purpose in existing?

If you do not wish to support Republican nominees that are chosen by voters, are you not a Republican in name only?

Some will object and mention a number of di erent reasons why GOP candidates should not be supported, like a lack of total delity to the platform. I have sympathy for those arguments, but once the nominee is chosen, then it is time to close ranks behind them. ere are reasons for hope in terms of electing Republicans and conservatives. What I see happening is that people of means will look at the current situation in the Colorado GOP and decide to fund their own endeavors to elect candidates of their choosing who are in agreement with those people of means. ey may or may not agree with the “grassroots” who lead the EL Paso County Republican Party cur-

rently. ose people of means will act as they do because they care about Colorado and wish to have less government rather than more. ey want to persuade others that Republican-a liated candidates have the better agenda for Colorado’s future. ey will also travel down this path because, like many Coloradoans, they do not trust the leadership of the Colorado GOP.

What the current El Paso County leadership did in 2022 is far more consequential than most currently realize. If what I predicted comes to pass, then the consequences of their actions of non-support will be larger than is currently seen.

eir actions would amount to a betrayal by the “grassroots leadership” of the grassroots faithful. It would make the dreaded “Establishment” far more consequential than it is currently. No one within the Colorado GOP should desire that at all.

Joe Webb is the former chairman of the Je co Republican party.

Northglenn celebrates Betty grace Gibson

For the late Betty grace Gibson, being a self-taught artist didn’t mean never taking an art class or workshop. As her daughter, Linda Drumm, recalls, being selftaught meant was taking things she learned in these kinds of educational environments and adding her own spin on them.

“She would take the techniques she learned and tweak them so they could be used her way,” Drumm said. “She just enjoyed what she was doing and was always exploring art all the time.”

Now Northglenn Arts is hosting an exhibition of Gibson’s work at the Parson eatre, 1 E. Memorial Parkway (inside the Northglenn Recreation Center). e free show runs through March.

Described by the city as one of Northglenn’s de ning artists and arts advocates, Gibson become one of the city’s rst homeowners in 1962 when she and her family moved in. According to provided information, she was a secretary at Malley Elementary School for 23 years and also served on the North Metro Arts Alliance Board for 15 years.

LINDA

MICHAEL

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

RYLEE

COMING ATTRACTIONS

She was a longtime believer in the power of art and creativity and Drumm remembers her mother always encouraging her children to try di erent hands-on activities. When Gibson saw an ad in the newspaper for people who wanted to paint together, she and ve other women joined what would eventually become the Paletteers Art Club. e organization is still active and Gibson was a member until her death in 2021 at the age of 95.

Over the course of her career, Gibson experimented with all kinds of styles and media, but watercolor and acrylic were her favorite. She started spending the summers in Taos, New Mexico, and her time there provided a constant source of inspiration, as did the students of all ages that she taught in various arts workshops.

“She instigated a lot of art projects around community,” Drumm said,

remembering her mother’s time on the Northglenn Arts and Humanities Foundation Board of Directors. “Mother wasn’t afraid to do anything and she did so many projects around the city.”

Since Gibson loved Northglenn so much, it’s only tting the city celebrates her with an exhibition that highlights the reach of her creativity.

“At the opening reception a woman came up to me to tell me that she never met my mother, but she’d seen her artwork around for years,” Drumm said. “It means a lot that my mother was that well-known and I’m honored that Northglenn wanted to honor her with this exhibit.”

For more information, visit https:// northglennarts.org/art-exhibit/.

Joe Pera Talks With You at the Paramount Theatre

I think we can all agree there’s just not enough gentleness and kindness in the world these days. I know I personally could use more of these traits as we move into a new year.

at’s why I’m going to see Joe Pera’s Comedy In Ice tour at the Paramount eatre, 1621 Glenarm Place

MINDY NELON Marketing Consultant mnelon@coloradocommunitymedia.com

AUDREY BROOKS Business Manager abrooks@coloradocommunitymedia.com

ERIN FRANKS Production Manager efranks@coloradocommunitymedia.com

LINDSAY NICOLETTI Operations/ Circulation Manager lnicoletti@coloradocommunitymedia.com

Columnists

in Denver, at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 13.

If you’re not familiar with Pera, he is the star of one of the most delightful shows I’ve ever seen, “Joe Pera Talks With You,” which ran for three seasons on Adult Swim. It is quiet and thoughtful and, most importantly of all, extraordinarily human and kind.

For a warm hug of an evening, get tickets at www.ticketmaster.com.

Start the year with `A Hall Pass to the Galaxy’

What better time than the beginning of a new year to think about the future both near and far? At Stories on Stage’s rst production of 2023, audiences are invited to do just that at “A Hall Pass to the Galaxy.” In the show, performers Annie Barbour, Cajardo Lindsey and Ann Marie Nest interpret a range of science ction stories.

e performance will be hosted in person at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 15 at Su Teatro Cultural and Performing Arts Center, 721 Santa Fe Drive in

& Guest Commentaries

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.

Email letters to kfiore@coloradocommunitymedia.com

Deadline Wed. for the following week’s paper. To opt in or out of delivery please email us at circulation@ coloradocommunitymedia.com

Arvada press

A legal newspaper of general circulation in Je erson 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

Columnist

Clarke Reader

Q&A:

Outgoing Je erson County Clerk and Recorder George Stern

BY ANDREW FRAIELI AFRAIELI@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Je co Clerk and Recorder George Stern, who was voted into o ce four years ago after winning against 20-year incumbent Faye Gri n, will be leaving o ce this month. He sees his job as done, and time for someone new to come in. Colorado Community Media spoke with Stern to ask how he’s changed the o ce and what the future might hold for him.

BRAINARD

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

Colorado Community Media: You were, as you’ve said, an outsider coming into the position of clerk and recorder. What does that mean and what di erence do you think it made?

George Stern: I had never worked in a clerk and recorder o ce before, I had never run a DMV or helped administer elections before, so I did not have any directly relevant experience and I think that gave some folks some loss when I showed

OBITUARIES

Chuck Brainard of Arvada, Colorado passed away in his home surrounded by his family. He was raised in Minnesota where he earned his degree at the University of Minnesota. During the Korean War he enlisted in the army and met his future wife, Laurie, followed by 70 years of marriage! After his discharge, he moved his family to Denver, earned his master’s at the University of Denver and was promoted to Vice President of Marketing with the Rio Grande while his family grew from 1 to 6 kids. Dad always put his family rst. He had a great sense of humor, was always a kid at heart and had a hearty laugh and big smile. He was generous with his money, time, and heart. He loved camping and traveled throughout the US and other parts of the world including Australia,

UCHIDA

omas T. Uchida, 94, of Bellefonte, formerly of Westminster, Colorado, passed away on Tuesday, December 20, 2022, at Centre Care. Born on July 31, 1928, in Seattle, Washington, he was the son of the late Toshikiyo and Sada (Iwanaga) Uchida. On March 19, 1953, he married his beloved wife, Mary (Okagawa) Uchida, who preceded him in death in 1991, after sharing over 38 years of marriage together.

He proudly served his country in the United States Army during the Korean Con ict from 1953 until he was honorably discharged in 1955 to complete the rest of his commitment in the Army Reserves. During his time in the service, he was awarded the National Defense Service Medal and the United Nations Service Medal. He then went to work as a Passenger Service Agent for UAL until his retirement in 1982.

He is survived by his children, Susan Knupp (Richard) of Bellefonte, Julie Gri s (Richard) of Cimarron, Colorado, and Donna Irvin (Brian) of Arvada, Colorado; seven grandchildren: Lindsay Knupp, Maya Knupp, David Gri s, Sara Nemkov, Amy Gri s, Jason Tyner, and Michael Tyner, and nine great grandchildren: James and Ellie

New Zealand, Hawaii, Scandinavia and Europe, Canada, Iceland, Mexico, and yearly trips to Oregon to visit his son and grandchildren. Sundays were family days and dad made them special by doing family things because family was so important to him. He showed tremendous kindness and love to our mom when she was sick, he never stopped loving her and holding her hand. Chuck loved music. He learned to play the piano as a child, the dobro as an adult and played the baritone in the Arvada Band. All his kids grew up playing musical instruments. He will be missed by his enormous loving family and remembered with fondness, stories, and love. A celebration of life will be held 1PM 1/14/2023 at Trinity Presbyterian Church 7755 Vance Dr Arvada.

Gri s, Hazel and Louis Nemkov, Peyton, Jameson, Janiah, Taleigh, and Odin Tyner.

In addition to his wife, Mary, and parents, he was predeceased by a sister, Miyoko Kodama.

omas worked at several golf shops over the years after his retirement. He loved to play golf and looked forward to playing at Belles Springs Golf Course with his son-inlaw’s father, the late Dick Knupp, Sr., and good friends, Chuck Brown, Bob Royer, Pete Mason, and Bob Schae er.

An inurnment service will be held on ursday, February 2, 2023, at 11:00 A.M., at Olinger Highland Morturary and Cemetery, ornton, Colorado.

In lieu of owers, memorial contributions in memory of omas may be made to any of the following organizations that were very near and dear to him and his family: Alzheimer’s Research and Prevention Foundation at www.alzheimersprevention. org, American Brain Foundation at www. americanbrainfoundation.org, or to DAV (Disabled American Veterans) at www.dav. org Online condolences may be made to the family at www.wetzlerfuneralhome.com.

Charles D Brainard

November 10, 1929 - December 7, 2022

Thomas T. Uchida

July 31, 1928 - December 20, 2022

BY LUKE ZARZECKI LZARZECKI@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

For the past 20 years, talk of addressing mental health issues within the health care industry circled around without much emphasis. at’s beginning to change, and it’s starting with the ne arts.

At the Colorado Resiliency Arts Lab at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, a team of doctors, therapists and literary scholars are doing just that: exploring how the ne arts can help nurses, doctors, surgeons and other healthcare workers heal from trauma.

The numbers

e team found that creative arts therapy not only decreases anxiety, feelings of burnout and depression, but also helps keep medical workers in their eld.

e study, published in the American Journal of Medicine in 2022 found that anxiety, depression, total PTSD and emotional exhaustion measurement scores decreased by 27.8%, 35.5%, 25.8% and 11.6%, respectively.

Katherine Reed, an art therapist for the program, said that 12% saw a reduction in the desire to leave the profession.

“It’s amazing in how basic it really is, and yet it’s creating these incredible results,” Reed said.

The program

Dr. Marc Moss, a doctor who is part of the CORAL team, said the program received funding from the National Endowment for the Arts in 2019 to prove the value of the ne arts, after the National Endowment for the Arts requested proposals to show Congress that art was worth the money spent.

“It’s easy to say, ‘Wow, it’s great having a symphony’ or ‘It’s great having parks and etc.,’ but what’s the value of that?’” Moss said.

“ ey wanted to have more scienti c evidence.”

From the results of the study, CORAL did just

FROM

PAGE

that. e program o ers group art therapy cohorts to healthcare workers to help them process their day-to-day lives.

It’s a 12-week program with weekly 90-minute sessions with between eight to 15 participants. Each session is guided by a creative arts therapist.

CORAL o ers art, music, dance and writing therapy with hopes to add drama therapy in the near future.

Reed explained that art intrinsically creates community, helps the healing process and connects people. ose characteristics are key to helping people overcome their trauma.

She said a reason burnout remains prevalent is due to the way humans isolate themselves and avoid conversations and expressions about what happened. In the group sessions, participants can show each other they aren’t alone and validate each others’ experiences.

Historically, she said, art was the basis of expression and commu-

nication. Egyptian Hieroglyphics morphed into language.

Over the course of her 20-year career as an art therapist, Reed said she has a front-row seat to the limitations of language on expression, especially in children. Children — and adults — may lack the words or rhetoric to describe their experiences or their feelings, and music, painting, drama and other forms of art can act as a backdoor to expressing those feelings.

“(Children) can show you with sound and music what it feels like in their brain to remember the impact,” Reed said. “It’s a way of communicating that bypasses language. When we talk, we’re constantly ltering our words.”

It deepens the healing and clients don’t need to know how to draw, play an instrument or act out. It’s about interpreting your own symbols, song lyrics and paint color choices to nd meaning.

Common causes

Witnessing trauma like death, injury, illness and medical ethical dilemmas are all themes that come up in the workshops. In medical school, classes don’t necessarily exist to teach students

how to deal with it.

“You get into real-life medicine and suddenly (there are) personalities, narratives, stories and family members you’re not necessarily equipped to manage. You know how to transplant that heart, but do you know how to manage the mother’s panic or the father’s anger?” Reed said.

Another root cause can be the American healthcare system in general. Reed said doctors may need to see 20 patients in one day, which limits the time to actually talk with them since then they need to document those appointments.

at leads to longer hours and less time with loved ones, making it harder to nd a work-life balance.

A lack of emotional learning for healthcare workers also hints at a broader issue at hand in general. Many parallels exist between healthcare workers and students, who may not know how to express or manage their own feelings, Reed said.

rough art therapy and CORAL, healthcare workers can learn to manage those feelings. Not only for their own well-being, but also to be more successful in their day-

to-day job.

Economic value

A lack of those tools can lead to higher rates of turnover, and Moss said it makes the program all the more valuable.

“Turnover is expensive,” Moss said.

at piques interest in hospital administrators. Less burnout and turnover of employees is coste ective. Moss said the COVID-19 pandemic ampli ed the need for mental health resources for hospitals and administrators are looking for ways to do that.

So much so that the Children’s Hospital agreed to start a program outside of the grant. Once the grant from the National Endowment for the Arts nishes its 10year period, not only does Moss think more programs will exist in Colorado, but also all across the country.

He sees a larger multicenter study occurring at multiple different hospitals in di erent cities to expand the evidence on the e ciency.

Healthcare workers engage in visual art making through the CORAL program that o ers art therapy to nurses, doctors and others within the medical profession.

Dance therapy is one form of art therapy the CORAL program provides.

SCREENSHOTS

interest in this o ce.

I think it turned out that, with the right team in place — which we have an awesome one — and the right mindset of leadership to put constituents rst and thinking about how we can be constantly improving, that relevant experience is not important. What is important is just running the o ce e ectively and making sure we’re always prioritizing the people we serve.

CCM: You’ve stated that you find politics to be broken. How so, and how within the context of the local office of Clerk and Recorder?

GS: I’m perfectly comfortable saying our politics are broken, I think we see that at every level. But, I think one of the things that I feel strongly about is that too many people today run for o ce to be someone, not to do something. And, as a result, make a lot of noise, do whatever they can to get coverage of that noise and end up driving us farther apart, making things more divisive, and not really having the government do good for people.

What I try and do in government is focus on doing something. I’m not holding onto the office, or running again for the office — I came into this role to improve this office and I think, thanks to our team, we did a really great job with that, and now I’m moving on. I don’t need to keep holding office just because, I

just want to move onto whatever is next.

CCM: You don’t see it as an option to stay for as long as your predecessor?

GS: If I felt like the work I promised the voters required another term or two, I’d be here for another term or two. But, we got done what we set out to get done, so it was time for me to move on.

CCM: How much of the successes you’ve had as Clerk and Recorder did you have in mind before you took the position?

GS: What I had was much less specific and much more high level — it was a method of building a 21st-century Clerk and Recorder’s Office.

We run the DMV. The DMV is, in most people’s minds, the worst government agency that exists, and then you ask them why and it’s long lines, and long waits, and people just having to come in-person and stand around in a lobby and wait for an hour and a half and then be told you don’t have the right paperwork and be sent away and have to come back and do it all over again.

So that’s obviously broken — in the 21st century you should be able to do anything from your couch on a Sunday, watching a Broncos game.

And so, it was things like that, hearing from a lot of voters that Lakewood, a city of 150,000 people, only had one 24-hour election drop-box. I come in and start asking why, and it’s because we never used data to drive those decisions,

we just put drop boxes wherever it was easy, not where the numbers suggested we should. Lakewood now has 10, because it’s a big city and it should.

It was more, ‘this office is in bad need of modernization, so let’s do it.’ Most of the things that we did were not my ideas, they were mostly front-line employee ideas. They’ve been doing this for a long time, they’ve been saying this for a long time, they just didn’t have someone willing to listen to them and put it into place.

Or, in some cases, I was adopting best practices from other counties or other states, or from businesses. So no, I did not come in with most of these ideas, I just came in with a desire to bring things into the 21st century and I looked around and listened to my employees and other county, state and private sector people.

CCM: What do you see as the longterm impact of these changes? Are you hoping someone comes along and improves it even more?

GS: To the second part, totally. I hope that my successor makes things even better. I do not have all the ideas — I did what I said I was going to do, and now it’s time for someone else to come up with new ideas and to put those in place and keep it moving forward.

People’s expectations change, and the way that we can serve constituents changes, and we should keep improving on that.

The crux of what we did was bring that everything had to be done in-person during business

hours in one or two locations to everything can be done from anywhere. And that, I hope, will continue a long time. Given where people’s habits are, and what they expect — before COVID, but especially during and after — of being able to do everything remotely, I hope will stay.

CCM: What are your plans for the future?

GS: I wish I knew, but I don’t. Most immediately, I’ve got a twoyear-old and a seven-month-old who I’m going to spend a lot more time with, and I’m going to start to figure out what’s next.

I have spent time in both the private and public sectors. I like both. I’m looking for work in a system where I can make an impact and solve programs and so on. I’ll be looking for whatever the next challenge is that lets me do that.

CCM: Anything else you want to tell the people of Jefferson County?

GS: I’ve said it many times, but I always think it’s important to emphasize that the attention is on the elected official, but we’ve got 115 employees here who are awesome public servants, and nothing I’ve done in the last four years would be possible without them. And, most of them are going to stay on long after I’m gone which is a great thing for the county.

They’re the ones doing this work, they’re the ones that helped to make all the improvements, and I have great confidence that they’re going to keep doing that good work.

Sun 1/22

Fillmore Auditorium (Denver), 1510 Clark‐son, Denver

Mon 1/23

Bend & Blaze Denver @ 6pm 2828 Speer Blvd, Denver, CO 80211, USA, Denver

Colorado Avalanche vs. Washington Capitals @ 7pm / $57-$999 Ball Arena, 1000 Chopper Circle, Denver

Arvada West girls hoops start 2023 with 42-point win

BY DENNIS PLEUSS JEFFCO PUBLIC SCHOOLS

ARVADA — A new year, but the same winning result for Arvada West’s girls basketball team on Jan. 4.

In the Wildcats’ rst game after Winter Break, A-West hammered Silver Creek 62-20 to improve its record to 8-1 on the season. It was the fourth straight win for A-West with its only a loss to undefeated D’Evelyn in the Je co Jungle Jam tournament championship game Dec. 10.

“I knew we would start a little slow,” A-West coach Brady Meeks said of the rst game of 2023. “We missed a bunch of layup at the start, but I thought the girls fought through that and got back to A-West basketball.”

e Wildcats’ defense smothered Silver Creek (3-6 record) for the majority of the game. e Raptors were held to just one made eld goal through the rst half. A 3-pointer by Silver Creek senior Allie Hartman and the Raptors going 9-for-10 from the free-throw line accounted for all 12 rst-half points for Silver Creek.

“I was proud of our defensive intensity for sure,” Coach Meeks said of holding the Raptors to just 20 points and ve made eld goal for the entire game.

A-West senior Ellie Pugliese shined on both ends of the court. e senior co-captain poured in a season-high 21 points, including several strong drives to the basket to go along with a trio of 3-pointers.

“We were saying in the locker room before the game that 2023 is the year to prove ourselves to everyone,” Pugliese said. “Everyone thinks we are an underdog, but we want to prove to teams that we can play.”

Pugliese and fellow senior co-captain Brooke Meeks started the second half with back-to-back 3-point-

ers to push A-West’s lead to 40-12. Pugliese made a pair of free throws early in the fourth quarter to go over 20 points for the rst time this season before taking a seat on the bench.

“We have a lot of players who can score the basketball, but Ellie has been one of our o ensive spark plugs this year,” Meeks said of Pugliese single-handedly outscoring Silver Creek.

“It’s not surprising for her to get us going, but I’m even more impressed that she took three chargers tonight.”

According to Coach Meeks, she was top-15 in the nation last year in taking defensive charges.

Starters sophomores Sara Walker (8 points), Taylor Swanson (7 points), junior Malorie Byrne (2 points) and Meeks (8 points) gave the Wildcats plenty of balanced scoring. Sophomore Gigi Grieve came o the bench for 8 points, including a line-drive 3-pointer midway through the second quarter that brought the A-West bench to its feet.

“I’ve always believed that our program has had depth, but I believe this year we have a di erent type of depth,” Coach Meeks said. “We have scoring from multiple ways.”

Pugliese said that a few of the big goals for the Wildcats this season is 20 wins and going deep enough in the 6A state tournament to play in the state quarter nals down at the Denver Coliseum.

“We have been wanting to go out on a strong note, especially our seniors,” Pugliese said. “We want to help everyone out and make everyone feel good about this team.”

Dennis Pleuss is the sports information director for Je co Public Schools. For more Je co coverage, go to CHSAANow.com.

Blake Weslin sparks Green Mountain in win over Golden

BY DENNIS PLEUSS JEFFCO PUBLIC SCHOOLS

LAKEWOOD — Green Mountain junior Blake Weslin had a memorable 64 seconds to close out the rst quarter on Jan. 6.

Weslin scored 12 points over the nal 64 seconds to close out the rst quarter in the Rams’ eventual 75-51 home victory over rival Golden.

“My teammates were nding me the ball and we were getting stops on defense,” Weslin said of his dozen points in a little over a minute. “We were getting buckets in transition and getting open looks. I just shoot my shot and they fell.”

e junior guard had a driving layup and was fouled to make a make a 3-point play the hard way to start the remarkable run with 1:04 left in the quarter. Weslin then drained a 3-pointer with 32 seconds left. He

made another 3-pointer with 1.9 seconds left and was fouled to complete a rare 4-point play.

“It’s not a surprise. We’ve seen that over-and-over,” Green Mountain coach Mike Puccio said of Weslin getting hot o ensively and nishing with a game-high 28 points despite not playing in the fourth quarter. “With multi-sport guys sometimes it takes awhile to get going. I’m proud of him. He is a dog and has something to him. It’s great to see him have that success in a big moment.”

Weslin was on Green Mountain’s football team that advanced to the Class 3A state semi nals this past Fall season.

Golden turned the ball over with .5 seconds left. An inbound pass from senior Benson Wachter was perfect to Weslin who tipped the ball in at the

Arvada West senior Ellie Pugliese (10) is fouled by Silver Creek sophomore Izzy Spagnoletti (14) on a drive to the basketball during the first half Jan. 4 at Arvada West High School. Pugliese had a game-high 21 points to lead the Wildcats to a 62-20 victory. A-West begins Class 6A Je co League play on the road against rival Ralston Valley on Friday, Jan. 13.

PHOTO BY DENNIS PLEUSS/JEFFCO PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Golden senior Xavier Nuss (10) drives the lane on Green Mountain juniors Chris Scott (24) and Austin Beeson (22) during the first half Jan. 5 at Green Mountain High School. The Rams won the Class 5A/4A Je co League opener for both teams 75-51.

PHOTO BY DENNIS PLEUSS/JEFFCO PUBLIC SCHOOLS

SPARKS

FROM PAGE 16

buzzer to nish o the run.

“To be fair we have that play. Benson threw an unbelievable pass,” Puccio said of the play at the buzzer. “As soon as Benson let it go I knew we would have a shot at it. It was a great paired e ort. It was awesome.”

Green Mountain (6-5, 1-0 in league) held at least a 20-point lead for the majority of the second half. Wachter pitched in 15 points. Junior Austin Beeson and sophomore Simon Landsford both had 7 points each as 10 di erent Rams scored in the Class 5A/4A Je co League opening win.

“We’ve told them that this isn’t a normal league deal,” Puccio said of just playing everyone once in the 11-team conference this season. “If we want to hang (league banner) we can’t slip up any night.”

Golden (3-8, 0-1) was led by juniors Slade Pike (15 points) and Alex Erger (10 points). However, a poor rst-half shooting performance dug too much of a hole for Golden to dig out of.

“I think what hurt us is we weren’t hitting shots and they were hitting everything,” Golden coach Lou Vullo said. “At halftime we were 1-for-16

and they were 5-for-9 on 3-pointers. at really hurt us.”

Golden nished 7-for-30 from 3-point range, while Green Mountain was 10-for-20 from long distance.

Green Mountain hits the road the middle of next week. e Rams travel to Conifer on Wednesday, Jan. 11, to face the Lobos (3-6).

“It’s a good mindset,” Weslin said as conference play gets going. “We just have to keep building our team. Get people more con dence.”

It doesn’t get any easier for Golden. e Demons host Dakota Ridge next Wednesday. e Eagles (8-2, 1-0) are No. 6 in the current CHSAANow. com Class 5A rankings. Dakota Ridge won its league opener over Alameda International on Friday night in a big way. e nal was 125-23.

“It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. It is what we believe in the room,” Vullo said after the Demons’ 3-8 start to the season. “I know what we have and the kids play super hard for us. Our non-conference schedule didn’t do us any favors and we play the two toughest teams in the league right after Winter Break.”

Dennis Pleuss is the sports information director for Je co Public Schools. For more Je co coverage, go to CHSAANow.com.

CROWSS UP DRO ELZZ

Green Mountain junior Blake Weslin (far right) battles for a rebound with Golden senior Thor Hansen (45) during the Class 5A/4A Je co League opener for both the Rams and Demons on Jan. 5 at Green Mountain High School. Weslin led Green Mountain to a 75-51 victory. The junior had a dozen points in the final 64 seconds of the first quarter.

PHOTO BY DENNIS PLEUSS/JEFFCO PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Careers

Help Wanted

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

DRIVER

Class B CDL propane delivery truck driver for Spring Valley Gas, Elizabeth.

P/T & F/T positions; responsible for propane delivery and customer service.

HazMat/Tanker endorsement. Propane certification a plus. Insurance age requirement 26 with clean MVR. SVG is building a team, not just a job!

Starting salary based on experience & qualifications. Call 303-660-8810.

Market Place

Classifieds

Instruction

GUITAR LESSONS

Beginner

want

Songs – music theory etc. Lessons are taught in my home. 30 years teaching experience. Any day, any time flexible scheduling. Call Leon 303-427-1953

Misc. Notices

Merchandise

Firewood Split

Health & Beauty

DENTAL INSURANCE -

Physicians Mutual Insurance Company. Covers 350 procedures. Real insurancenot a discount plan. Get your free dental info kit! 1-855-526-1060 www.dental50plus.com/58 #6258.

VIAGRA and CIALIS USERS! 50 Generic Pills SPECIAL $99.00 100% 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

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. 1-866-479-1516.

FREE $20 Cash App Everyone! Yes It’s Real. Very Limited supply until we run out! Go to Free20Now. com

MobileHelp, America’s premier mobile medical alert system. Whether you’re home or away. For safety & peace of mind. No long term contracts! Free brochure! 1-888489-3936

!!OLD

GUITARS WANTED!!

GIBSON, FENDER, MARTIN, etc. 1930’s to 1980’s. TOP DOLLAR PAID. CALL TOLL FREE 1-866-433-8277

Miscellaneous

Donate Your Car to Veterans Today! Help and Support our Veterans. Fast - FREE pick up. 100% tax deductible. Call 1-800245-0398

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

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

Attention Homeowners! If you have water damage and need cleanup services, call us! We’ll get in & work with your insurance agency to get your home repaired and your life back to normal ASAP! 855-7677031

Safe Step. North America’s #1 Walk-in tub. Comprehensive lifetime warranty. Top-of-the-line installation and service.

Now featuring our free shower package & $1600 off - limited time! Financing available. 1-855-4171306

Caring for an aging loved one? Wondering about options like seniorliving communities and in-home care? Caring.com’s Family Advisors help take the guesswork out of senior care for your family. Free, noobligation consult: 1-855-759-1407

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: 1-855-948-6176

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 1-877-729-4998 or visit dorranceinfo.com/ads

Miscellaneous

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

Free high speed internet if qualified. Govt. pgm for recipients of select pgms incl. Medicaid, SNAP, Housing Assistance, WIC, Veterans Pension, Survivor Benefits, Lifeline, Tribal. 15 GB internet. Android tablet free w/one-time $20 copay. Free shipping. Call Maxsip Telecom! 1-833-758-3892

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. 1-877-539-0299

Eliminate gutter cleaning forever! LeafFilter, the most advanced debrisblocking gutter protection. Schedule free LeafFilter estimate today. 20% off Entire Purchase. 10% Senior & Military Discounts. Call 1-833-6101936

BY BRUCE GOLDBERG SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA

e creators of a new lm that will premiere this spring hope it will help the state’s residents and leaders better understand what the state needs to thrive in the future.

Set to premiere on April 6, “ e Five States of Colorado” is a production of Denver-based HaveyPro Cinema and Colorado Humanities, a nonpro t dedicated to promoting humanities education through community-based programs.

It’s a follow-up to Jim Havey’s 1989 lm that was the original “Five States,” which was Havey Productions’ rst historical documentary production. e new version will be his last, as Havey plans to retire.

e lm focuses on Colorado’s history, how it came to be and where it’s going.

“We could probably make a lm just about what happened between 1990 and today,” said Nathan Church, partner in HaveyPro Cinema who also serves as its art director and editor. “But we’re trying to look at the whole history of Colorado. ere’s a lot to cram in there. We can’t cover everything, but we hope to get a good overview.”

e U.S. Congress set Colorado’s boundaries in 1861, from four di er-

A history lesson in a

ent territories.

“ ese straight lines represent no river, no mountain range, no tribe or language group - yet within the state are many divides both geographic and human,” Colorado Humanities said in a news release.

e organization points out that the “ ve states” model reveals Colorado’s regions and each has its own history, geography and economy. According to Colorado Humanities, “each region engenders a certain loyalty from its citizens and has some common ideas how things should be done.”

“ e ve-state model is based on the idea that Colorado’s borders are a square. It was drawn arbitrarily,” Church added. “It was closed within one square that way to protect the gold-bearing regions for the Union, as this was right around the Civil War.”

A partial look at the regions entails: Southern Colorado includes Pueblo

and the San Luis Valley; Western Colorado covers mountain ranges, including North, Middle and South Park; the Eastern Plains include the Front Range north of the Arkansas River; the Front Range includes a dense population from Fort Collins to Colorado Springs; and Metropolitan Denver has its own region because of its in uence in politics and the economy.

“Some of the issues we face today are things we’ve been dealing with in Colorado in time immemorial, all the way back to the ancestral Puebloans,” Church said. “ ere was a major drought in the 1200s, and evidence shows the Puebloans moved out likely because of that. e entire Southwest is now in a mega-drought that has been going on for the better part of a decade.”

e state’s recent rapid growth in population is another topic of concern.

“ at connects with climate change, which is changing the water picture throughout the state,” Church said. “ ese topics touch all the regions.” Colorado Humanities recruited 26 scholars and community leaders to ensure that the new version of “Five States” ensures accuracy, inclusiveness and relevance in the lm.

“One thing that gives us comfort is (they’re) advising us about topics to cover,” Church said. “ ey’ll review the script and the lm. We’re counting on those scholars to guide the development of this lm. “We really hope it will both educate people about the history of the state and inform them about current issues with that historical perspective.”

For its influence on politics and the economy, Metropolitan Denver is considered its own region as one of the five states of Colorado.

Golden High School asks for community’s help with annual food drive

BY CORINNE WESTEMAN CWESTEMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

e Golden High School boys basketball team is hoping to donate 3,000 items for its 2023 Jamie Wiggins Food Drive, and is asking for community members’ help to reach that goal.

e annual food drive honors Jamie Wiggins, a Je erson County teacher and GHS basketball parent who died in 2018.

e food drive runs through Jan. 18, when the basketball team hosts Wheat Ridge High School at 7 p.m. Community members can bring food items to the Jan. 18 home game, or donate them at GHS during school hours between now and Jan. 18.

All items will be donated to BGOLDN, formerly known as the Golden backpack program, which supports local children and families

READER

FROM PAGE 10

experiencing food insecurity. According to Terre Deegan-Young, a player’s grandmother who’s help-

ing the team organize the annual food drive, the need is greater than ever this year.

Wall, he’s aces in both senses of the word. Just check out “Night Herding Song,” a track that features just a few guitar strums and Wall crooning away. It still gives me chills.

Deegan-Young has been involved with BGOLDN since 2008. Because the price of groceries continues to rise and with the holidays now over, she’s hoping the community will help the team meet its goal over the next two weeks.

Last year, the team collected 2,700 items, totaling about $1,250 and weighing about 455 pounds, Deegan-Young explained. is year’s goal of 3,000 items will provide Golden children with snacks during the school day and meals for their families.

e greatest items of need for the pantry include cooking oil, peanut butter, cereal, canned tomatoes, canned fruit, canned tuna and canned chicken.

Additionally, BGOLDN also needs individually wrapped snack items such as fruit snacks, Gold sh crackers and pretzels. Items shouldn’t include nuts.

Items can be donated between 3:45-8:15 p.m. Jan. 18, during the GHS basketball game. People can also donate items at GHS during school hours before Jan. 18.

St. in Denver. He’ll be performing at 9 p.m. on ursday, Jan. 19 and Friday, Jan. 20. Get tickets at www.ticketmaster.com.

just the one that comes from the singer’s throat, but the one that comes from their pen as well. Fortunately for Canada’s Colter

His take on country is perfect for this time of year, so you absolutely shouldn’t miss his two nights at the Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop

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

2022.

For further information call Sarah Walters, Deputy City Clerk, at 720-898-7544.

Dated this 12th day of January, 2023 /s/ Sarah Walters Deputy City Clerk

CITY OF ARVADA, COLORADO

Legal Notice No. 415473

First Publication: January 12, 2023 Last Publication: January 12, 2023 Publisher: Jeffco Transcript Public Notice

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT at the meeting of the Arvada City Council to be held on MONDAY, January 23, 2023, at 6:15 p.m. at the Municipal Building, 8101 Ralston Road, Arvada CO, City Council will hold a public hearing on the following proposed ordinance and thereafter will consider it for final passage and adoption. For the full text version in electronic form go to www.arvada.org/legalnotices, click on Current Legal Notices, then click on the title of the ordinance you wish to view. The full text version is also available in printed form in the City Clerk’s office. Contact 720.898.7550 if you have questions.

The Golden High School boys basketball team hopes to collect 3,000 items for its 2023 Jamie Wiggins Food Drive. Community members are invited to donated shelf-stable food and/or individually wrapped snacks at GHS through Jan. 18.

FILE PHOTO BY CORINNE WESTEMANN

Boys basketball team hoping to collect 3,000 items