Arvada Press 060823

Arvada homeless ministry in talks with city to move out of Olde Town

DRINK UP!

New law will allow small retailers to serve complementary beverages at special events P5

Mission Arvada struggling to fund salary for sta members

BY RYLEE DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Months after the City of Arvada held a study session to address the issue of homelessness within the city, city team members have begun meeting with representatives from Mission Arvada — a homeless ministry based at e Rising Church in Olde Town — to discuss moving Mission Arvada out of the historic district.

e homeless ministry has been at the center of a debate between city stakeholders over its location in the heart of Arvada’s most tra c commercial district.

Additionally, Mission Arvada (while the two names are sometimes

used interchangeably by stakeholders, Mission Arvada refers to the homeless ministry and e Rising refers to the church congregation) is struggling to pay its employees because the City of Arvada declined to sign o on Mission Arvada’s application for a Department of Housing and Urban Development Emergency Solutions Grant last September, according to Mission Arvada Program Director Karen Cowling.  Mission Arvada serves about 60-65 homeless individuals a day — roughly 500 per quarter — and has helped over 165 people get into permanent housing over the past two years, according to Cowling. e ministry works with people experiencing homelessness and works to help them apply for jobs, housing, mental health and career support, and other necessities.

Arvada City Manager Lorie Gillis explained that the decision to decline signing o on Mission Arvada’s application was prompted by the

ministry’s location in Olde Town — a factor that Gillis said also in uenced the city team to begin examining the possibility of helping Mission Arvada move locations.

“We just recognized that there’s an opportunity for e Rising to be in a space that’s more functional and e cient for them to continue doing the good work they’re doing,” Gillis said.

“We’re just working with them on considering locations, there really isn’t an agreement as far as what, transactionally, the city will be doing,” Gillis continued. “We’re just trying to help them out. ey’re in Olde Town, in close proximity to an elementary school and commercial units, so it’s not an ideal place for a navigation center for unhoused individuals. ere have been some unfortunate incidents as a result.”

As the jurisdiction where Mission Arvada is located, the City of Arvada

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The Centennial State’s very own superstar Hazel Miller finally gets her due P6

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Students learn worldwide dance styles at Bella Diva World Dance Studio P14

Sign outside Mission Arvada showing respect for unhoused individuals.

PHOTO BY RYLEE DUNN

SEE MISSION ARVADA, P2

would have needed to sign o on the application for it to be submitted. Since it did not, Mission Arvada was ineligible to apply for the grant.

Now, Cowling says the ministry will lose its funding for the salary of Berzette Green — a case manager who Cowling says has been instrumental in helping homeless individuals get into permanent housing.

“My case manager is a person with prior lived experience with homelessness,” Cowling said of Green. “She helps support her mother and daughter who both have disabilities. She has to have a full salary. ...We’re on a string and a prayer right now.”

e ministry has set up a fundraiser that has been sent out to e Rising’s community, but Cowling says that despite the help, she is struggling to see how the ministry will a ord to keep Green on past the next few months.

A recent grant has freed up $15,000 for Green’s salary, plus an anonymous donation of $5,000, which, combined, should keep Green gainfully employed through roughly December. Past that, Cowling says, lies uncertainty.

Ongoing debate about Mission Arvada’s location

Cowling asserted that Mission Arvada is the only true wraparound

homeless service center in Je erson County. e ministry o ers a variety of services including housing navi-

gation, showers, laundry service, mental health assistance and vital document recovery.

ree years ago, Je erson County stated its desire to build two homeless navigation centers in the area to provide a full spectrum of services for unhoused people.

Last March, the City of Arvada spent $2.75 million for a property located at 51st Avenue and Marshall Street in order to submit a bid for one of the navigation centers. e county is still in the process of deciding which sites will become home to the navigation centers, and ground has not been broken on either one.

Former Arvada City Manager Mark Deven — whose tenure with the city ended with his retirement e ective Oct. 7, 2022 — cited the county’s plan in an email to Cowling explaining why the city wouldn’t sign o on the HUD grant application, according to an email obtained by the Arvada Press dated Sept. 27, 2022.

“ e City of Arvada has been asked to support the Emergency Services Grant Application that Mission Arvada/ e Rising has been invited to submit to the Colorado Department of Local A airs,” Deven said. “Respectfully, the City of Arvada has declined to support this application.

“ e City is currently engaged in a regional collaboration to establish two housing navigation centers in Je erson County… As part of this initiative, the City Council approved the purchase of a site for the North Je co Housing Navigation Center at 5045 Marshall Street,” Deven continued.

Deven then went on to say that he felt that Mission Arvada’s location in

Olde Town precluded it from being a suitable homeless ministry.

“Mission Arvada’s location in Olde Town is within close proximity to a private elementary school as well as businesses and residential units,” Deven said. “ is is not an appropriate location for a housing navigation center… ese conditions have become a burden to the Olde Town

Deven concluded his email by recommending that Mission Arvada nd a new location.

“In the course of discussing your request with council members and City team members, it was suggested that Mission Arvada could seek a partnership with another service provider wherein navigation services could be provided in a more appropriate location,” Deven said.

“ e City and the community must focus on a more permanent, sustainable, well coordinated and systematic approach to addressing the needs of unhoused individuals and families within a more appropriate location,” Deven continued.

Moving Mission Arvada out of Olde Town is a position shared by other important power brokers in the community. In emails between local stakeholders obtained by the Arvada Press exchanged around Christmas of 2022, Arvada Mayor Marc Williams seemed to support the idea of shuttering the homeless ministry.

“As you know, there are several of us who want to shut down the Rising in Olde Town,” Williams said. “I get emails from their supporters, but their support is misplaced… Enough is enough.”

Steven Howards, an Olde Town building owner, echoed Williams’ sentiments.

“I too own a signi cant amount of property in Olde Town and am very frustrated,” Howards said. “ e Rising Church is a crummy neighbor that lacks compassion for the Olde Town community, which is a sad, sad commentary.”

Cowling attributes a lot of the issues discussed by stakeholders to communication breakdowns between di erent government agencies and service providers in their jurisdictions.

“I think part of the issue is that there’s some breakdown in collaboration with the county and with the cities and how to make that all happen in terms of funding and whatnot,” Cowling said. “So yeah, we’re the only navigation center and housing navigation center and a shelter in pretty much all of Je erson County that does what we do.”

An unlikely partnership

Despite both sides seemingly being at odds with each other, the Arvada city team and Mission Arvada sta have come together recently to discuss a solution. On the table, Cowling said, is a move out of Olde Town.

“We’ve been working with the city,

The exterior of The Rising Church, where Mission Arvada is housed.

PHOTO BY RYLEE DUNN

Man arrested after barricading himself in stolen car

BY RYLEE DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

A 36-year-old man, Arturo Chavarin, was taken into custody by Arvada Police after a three-hour standoff with officers, according to APD Public Information Office Chase Amos. The standoff occurred near 54th Avenue and Cody Street around 6:30 a.m. on May 31.

Following the standoff, Charavin

was taken into custody and taken to the Jefferson County Jail, where he will face potential charges of Felony Menacing, Auto Theft and Narcotics Possession.

Officers were on patrol in the area when they ran a check on a red Toyota 4-Runner parked near 54th and Cody. In doing so, the officers found that the vehicle was reported stolen out of Denver. At this time, officers observed Chara -

vin “asleep” in the driver’s seat.

When officers maneuvered police cars to block the vehicle, Charavin woke up and attempted to flee by moving the vehicle. Charavin also stated that he was holding a gun, which officers confirmed.

When officers tried negotiating with the suspect, Charavin said he was “Not walking away” and “Not going back to prison.” Charavin

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was confirmed to have a prior felony parole violation warrant out for his arrest. After negotiations stalled, the Jefferson County Regional Swat Team arrived to assist.

At about 9:47 a.m., Charavin threw his firearm — which was later found to be a replica — out of the vehicle. He was then apprehended by authorities and taken to the Jefferson County Jail.

Survey of 2,500 UK Households With Heat Pumps Showed 81% Satisfaction Level

Because of their higher fossil fuel costs, other countries are far ahead of the United States in the adoption of home electrification, including for heating. The United Kingdom is one of them, and The Guardian recently reported on a survey of 2,500 households which have made that switch. I’m not aware of a similar survey here, where there may not be enough heat pump households to survey.

HVAC contractors in America have been slow to offer or recommend the replacement of gas forced air and gas boiler heating systems with heat pumps, mostly because they are unfamiliar with them. When a homeowner needs to replace their current HVAC system, the vendor who has been servicing that system is most likely to recommend replacing it with a “newer, more efficient” model. So far, I have found only one company which installs and services both traditional gas-fueled heating systems and electric heat pump systems — always recommending the latter. That company, which I have mentioned previously, is Sensible Heating & Cooling, 720-876-7166.

Here are some key excerpts from The

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Guardian’s article, a link to which I’ll post on www.GoldenREblog.com:

The survey of more than 2,500 domestic heat pump owners and more than 1,000 domestic gas boiler owners in England, Scotland and Wales over the last winter is thought to be the largest investigation into how households have responded to heat pumps to date….

Households have been slow to take up government vouchers worth £5,000 to help cover the cost of replacing a gas boiler with a new heat pump. Slightly more than a third of the scheme’s grants were taken up in the last financial year.

However, the survey, which was undertaken by Eunomia Research and Consulting, found that 81% of households were as satisfied or more satisfied with heat pumps compared with previous heating systems, including gas boilers, electric heating, or oil and LPG boilers….

On running costs, which is another key area of concern for households considering a heat pump, the survey found that two-thirds of heat pump owners and 59% of gas boiler owners were satisfied even without extensive energy efficiency upgrades….

“The government should now have the confidence to move forward quickly with its proposal to.… streamline outof-date planning rules to make it easier and cheaper for everyone to make the switch to cleaner, safer and more efficient heating with a heat pump,” [said Clem Cowton, director of external affairs for Octopus Energy, a local energy supplier.]

Littleton Ranch Just Listed by Chuck Brown

Renewables Surpassed Coal & Nuclear for First Time in 2022

Since 2007, the use of coal for electricity generation has generally been in decline, while the use of renewables has been on the rise. Electricity generation from nuclear had remained relatively flat over the last two decades but has experienced a slight decline in recent years. In 2022, net generation of electricity from renewables reached 0.91 billion megawatt-hours, topping both coal and nuclear (0.83 and 0.77 billion megawatt-hours, respectively). In 2022, renewables accounted for about 21% of all net generation of electricity.

Notes:

Renewable sources of power include wind, solar, hydropower, biomass, and geothermal energy. “Other” category includes petroleum liquids, petroleum coke, batteries, chemicals, hydrogen, pitch, purchased steam, sulfur, miscellaneous technologies, and electricity gen-

erated from non-renewable waste. Electricity net generation is the amount of gross electricity a generator produces minus the electricity used to operate the power plant.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration

Are You Interested in or Curious About Cohousing?

Cohousing is an intentional, collaborative neighborhood that combines private homes with shared indoor and outdoor spaces designed to support an active and interdependent community life.

Here in Jefferson County and Denver, we have several successful cohousing communities, including Harmony Village, a 27-unit townhome community in Golden, and Hearthstone Cohousing, a 33-townhome community built on the former Elitch Gardens site in northwest Denver. Both communities have common houses for group meals and other community activities. The common houses also have guest apartments that members can rent for visiting guests.

tainability and CohoUS at Hearthstone Cohousing, 4700 E. 37th Ave., Denver, on June 14, 5 to 8 pm, for a “discussion and networking event.” Attendees can take a tour of the complex from 5:00 to 5:45pm. At 6:30pm, there will be a short talk from CohoUS executive director Trish BeckerHafnor, followed by a discussion of what it means to live in a cohousing space, the myths about cohousing, and how cohousing benefits the environment.

I wrote about cohousing in metro Denver in my Dec. 29th column, which you can read at www.JimSmithColumns.com

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Cohousing communities like these are self-managed with volunteer officers, and members pitch in to help with community chores. Needless to say, everyone knows each other by name, too! It’s all about being in community.

That won’t interest most people, but if it interests you, you can join Women in Sus-

Mines moon dust-moving challenge draws international competitors

BY CORINNE WESTEMAN CWESTEMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

When building up an annual event, the inaugural one sets the foundation, but the second one is the all-important adhesive that the next iterations are built on.

From May 31-June 1, Colorado School of Mines cohosted the second annual Over the Dusty Moon Challenge with Lockheed Martin. College students from across the world demonstrated the moon-dustmoving designs they’ve been building since September.

e Mines team — the Rock Hoppers — and four other teams from Europe and Australia designed machinery to move moon dust, or regolith, as e ciently as possible in a set amount of time.

is nal phase of competition had teams assemble their machinery, explain it, and then use it to move the regolith both vertically and horizontally. is year’s competition had a new wrinkle, as competitors’ designs also had to remove pebbles and rocks from the simulated moon dust.

e ve teams were judged on the amount of regolith transported, system mass, energy consumed, dust tolerance and generation, autono-

my, and overall performance. SpaceTeam AGH from Poland’s AGH University of Science and Technology won rst place and a

$5,000 prize.

e Aussienauts from Australia’s University of New South Wales took second place and the $4,000 prize; and the multi-national team Spaceship EAC placed third for the $3,000 prize.

Along with Mines’s Rock Hoppers, the MoonAixperts from Germany’s RWTH Aachen rounded out the ve competing teams in the nal phase. e challenge started in September with participants submitting their conceptual designs, and the best ones were selected to advance to the May 31-June 1 physical demonstrations.

As Lockheed Martin’s Kirk Shireman stated in a Mines press release: “Creating challenging, experiential educational opportunities like Over the Dusty Moon ensures we are tapping into the next generation of innovative and forward-thinking engineers, as we are one step closer to a sustainable presence on the Moon.”

For more information about the challenge, including next year’s event, visit overthedustymoon. com.

Spaceship EAC, a multi-national team representing several European colleges, celebrates winning third place in the Over the Dusty Moon Challenge May 31-June at Colorado School of Mines.

COURTESY OF COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES

Gov. Polis signs expansion of gallery license act into law in Olde Town Arvada

provement districts and downtown development authorities throughout the state.

BY RYLEE DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Art galleries and other small businesses will now be treated similarly to other retailers under the liquor code thanks to an act that Gov. Jared Polis signed into law in Olde Town Arvada on June 2. HB 1061 allows small retailers to have public events in their establishments during which a glass of wine, cocktail or beer can be served.

Polis signed the act into law at Adiluna Boutique in Olde Town Arvada, one of a handful of galleries in the historic district. e goal of the legislation, according to Polis’ communications team, is to support small businesses.

e idea for the law came from conversations between business im-

Lawmakers found that there was no simple way for small retailers, including clothing stores and galleries, to have events where alcohol may be served. Previously, to do so, retailers would have to have a special event permit and partner with a nonpro t.

Olde Town Arvada BID Director Joe Hengstler said that these concerns had been brought to his attention as well by local shopkeepers.

“We heard from so many business owners within the community who wanted the process simpli ed,” said Hengstler. “We are always looking for ways to support our local businesses and with the street closures now in place, it makes sense to give businesses another opportunity to increase their foot tra c by hosting creative events.”

e bill was a bipartisan e ort that was signed into law at approximately 3:40 p.m. on June 2.

HB 1061 allows small retailers to have public events in their establishments during which a glass of wine, cocktail or beer can be served.

FILE PHOTO BY SCOTT TAYLOR

Music legend and Arvada resident Hazel Miller inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame

BY RYLEE DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Two of Colorado’s most esteemed musical acts will be inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame on June 10, as Hazel Miller along with Big Head Todd and the Monsters will be honored for their respective achievements as individuals as well as their longstanding collaborations.

Over the past four decades, Miller has earned a reputation as one of Colorado’s consummate performers, playing countless shows throughout the state including multiple stops at Red Rocks — where she and Big Head Todd will be inducted into the Hall at as part of an already-sold-out show — and a recent trip to the Capitol, where she was honored with a proclamation for her contributions to the state.

Big Head Todd and the Monsters was founded in 1986 in Boulder and reached national commercial success in the 90s, particularly with their 1993 album “Sister Sweeter,” which has since been certified platinum.

Miller began collaborating with the Monsters in 1995 with the track “Wearing Only Flowers,” before accompanying the band on a number of tracks. Their collaboration has extended to multiple tours together, which Miller partook on until 2001 when she decided to focus on her career in Colorado.

Karen Radman, the Colorado Music Hall of Fame’s executive director, said that both acts were selected because of their impact in Colorado and beyond. The frequent collaborators, who Radman said have long been on the Hall’s shortlist, were inducted together in an effort to keep with the Hall’s tradition of thematic induction classes.

“In the past, we’ve done larger induction class where we put together thematic induction, whether it be a genre of music, an era in Colorado music history,” Radman said. “And since we weren’t going to do a really large induction class, we really wanted to ensure we were inducting Hazel along with Big Head Todd for both their col-

Hazel Miller photographed at a recent performance.

COURTESY OF HAZEL MILLER SEE HALL OF FAME, P10

Je co Clerk and Recorder commemorates Pride Month

BY JO DAVIS JDAVIS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

e Je erson County Clerk and Recorder’s o ce celebrates Pride this month with limited edition rainbow seals for marriage licenses and souvenir pens for signing. e o ce that issues every marriage license for Je co provides this option while supplies last. e Pride license is available to any couple getting married in June.

is inclusive commemoration of marriage re ects Je co Clerk and Recorder Amanda Gonzalez’s goal to protect marriage rights for everyone.

“I’m proud to serve as the rst out LGBTQ Clerk in Je erson County, and it’s a privilege to protect the right to marry here, no matter who you are or who you love,” Gonzalez said.

A spokesperson for the Clerk’s o ce added that “couples not interested in the Pride seal are welcome to get the regular, raised county seal embossed instead.” e seals and pens are only available upon request, so you must ask for the Pride Month marriage license. e licenses allow for open support of the LGBTQ community by allies as well.

“Recently we’ve heard a lot about stores hiding their Pride sections, but in the Je co Clerk’s o ce, we’re proud to celebrate love in technicolor with the LGBTQ community and their allies,” Gonzalez said.

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Amanda Gonzalez, Je erson County Clerk & Recorder, holds a Je erson County marriage certificate with the limited edition Pride seal and signing pen.

COURTESY OF JEFFCO CLERK AND RECORDER

Image of the limited edition Pride month seal. COURTESY IMAGE

When online classes head outdoors

about much more than the schoolwork.

BY JO DAVIS JDAVIS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

ere are some things that kids cannot learn in an online classroom. at’s why Destinations Career Academy of Colorado social studies teacher Hunter Sta ord started Outdoor Leadership for CODCA students.

“Outdoor Leadership is a Career and Technical Education class at CODCA, a public, mostly online high school that serves students across the state of Colorado,” a school spokesperson said.

e class is hybrid in that it is conducted via Zoom for much of the year. e students have lectures, book discussions and projects, but four times a year, they get to go outside for the class, too.

e course is written, taught and guided by Sta ord. He designs the lessons for the Zoom classes and the outdoor trips. ey take about four trips a year.

First Aid certi cation near Westminster in October and snowshoed three miles to High Lonesome Hut near Fraser in February.

On all of these trips, the students learned some kind of survival skills, like avalanche safety, navigation and environmental safety.

e nal trip was a rafting trip combined with volunteer work with Je co Open Spaces. e students volunteered at Crown Hill Park on

“We rafted down class three whitewater, dodging rocks and getting splashed by rapids along the way,” Sta ord said.

Afterward, Sta ord heard some good feedback from the students, who had great things to say about the trip.

“Some students were nervous to raft but ended the day with ‘I LOVE rafting!’” Sta ord said.

Sta ord explained that the class is

“Outdoor Leadership at CODCA is a pretty cool place where kids of many di erent backgrounds and levels of comfortability in nature come together and spend extended periods of time in Colorado’s public lands,” Sta ord said. “ e relationships, connection to nature and con dence gained from these experiences will stay with each student in their own unique way for the rest of their lives.”

His program is designed to work alongside the CODCA curriculum. He’s not subverting the importance of online school. e school has found that o ering the option is necessary in today’s world.

Instead, Sta ord is trying to give students access to Colorado’s outdoors, a space he has found personally healing.

“I care deeply about spending time in nature,” he said. “It has healed me, taught me life lessons and brought me close to many special people in my life. Unfortunately, there are many barriers to spending time in nature. Fear of risks, transportation issues, access, cost of gear and many more reasons keep kids and adults from experiencing the joy of the natural world.”

For more information on CODCA, visit the website.

Before rafting, the students helped Je co Open Spaces at Crown Hill Park.

PHOTO BY HUNTER STAFFORD

Students of COCDA earn real-world experience with class aimed at skill-building and o ine adventures

Plugging orphaned wells: County, Hickenlooper discuss sealing abandoned drilling sites

BY SCOTT TAYLOR STAYLOR@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Beyond the rusting rigs and the pumps and tanks littered around the site, an abandoned oil well is pretty much indistinguishable from a working site.

It’s what exists under that equipment that has county o cials concerned.

“Every oil eld looks di erent,” Adams County Commissioner Lynn Baca said May 25 standing at an orphaned well site about 11 miles due east from Brighton’s Barr Lake. “ is particular one has some outbuildings and it can have lines in the ground. So mitigating that, cleaning it up, we estimate it will take about $150,000 per well to do that. So with 304 abandoned wells in Adams County, we can’t do that. It’s not fair to make the taxpayers carry that burden.”

Adams County hosted a tour on May 25 of the well site in an unincorporated part of the county. Called the Greenmeier #9-30 site, it features a rusting wellhead and pump jack connected to nearby production equipment and four tanks via

a series of underground pipes and owlines.

U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper, an advocate of capping and clearing those abandoned sites, was the guest

of honor as county o cials joined with industry experts to demonstrate the steps they must go through to close the county’s abandoned wells once and for all.

“Orphan wells are a constant nagging source of pollution,” Hickenlooper said. “But they are also ticking timebombs especially when they are out in areas that never really became big plays. You have a lot of wells that were built by small operators who didn’t have the resources to properly plug them and make sure they don’t have methane leaking out for the next decade.”

Counting orphans

According to the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission’s data, Adams County has 4,617 drilled wells. Of that, 2,895 have been abandoned and plugged.

Commissioner Baca, who is also a member of the state’s Orphan Wells Mitigation Enterprise Board, said orphaned wells that remain unplugged are a di erent kind of problem, and Adams County has more than 300 of them scattered around the county.

Commissioner Baca said the site is a perfect example of an orphaned well. It was rst drilled in 1975 but was abandoned in 2018. at means the owners and operators simply

U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper chats with Adams County Commissioner Lynn Baca May 25 at an abandoned oil drilling site in unincorporated Adams County. PHOTO BY SCOTT TAYLOR

SEE DRILLING, P18

HALL OF FAME

laborations as well as their individual successes.”

Big Head Todd’s Todd Park Mohr said his band rst saw Hazel at JJ McCabes in the 80s.

“We had rst seen Hazel at JJ McCabe’s when we were students at Boulder in the ’80s,” Mohr said. “We thought she was a soul diva and she knew about music we did not.  We invited her to sing on a track called ‘Wearing Only Flowers’ in 1995 but soon after she joined us a lot.  We have had the pleasure of her company on many tours, shows and trips since but still

MISSION ARVADA

because they initiated us working with them… They basically came to us and wanted to start working together to have us move out of Olde Town,” Cowling said. “They want to help us do that… So, I guess, like help us find a property — there’s a

lot of T’s that need to be crossed, and I’s that need to be dotted, obviously, very major, long process.” At the helm of the city’s delegation, Cowling says, is Gillis, who Cowling said has offered to help Mission Arvada with a real estate search, supplying an architect to help gauge building feasibility, and the potential to expand the ministry, which currently has a capacity of 75 individuals per day.

Gillis said that discussions are still in the preliminary stages and explained that no official agreements have been reached as of yet.

“Part of this is establishing our relationship with them,” Gillis said. “We’ve had a lot of that, we’ve had a lot of conversations You start slow on things like this and have the right conversations. We’re so committed to determining sustainable, well-coordinated, approaches to the needs of unhoused individuals in our community and partner with community organizations that provide services.

At the end of the day, the decision is up to The Rising’s congregation, which will have the final say on the ministry’s decision to move. The church would follow the ministry out of Olde Town; The Rising has occupied the corner of 57th and Webster for over 30 years.

Nevertheless, moving out of Olde Town could be a workable solution for both sides, Cowling said, as long as the new location is accessible by public transportation. Another condition, she added, was that if Mission Arvada moves, the City of Arvada must promise to sign off on any grants the ministry might apply for.

maintain our separate identities.  We have a close relationship beyond music and have been through a lot together over the years.”

Miller — an Arvada resident — said the collab began with ‘Wearing Only Flowers,’ but soon blossomed into a longstanding friendship.

“In the fall of ‘95, they said, ‘Well come sing on this song,’” Miller said. “A cab pulled o to my house, dropped o one CD, and left. I had a day and a half to learn this song… In 1996, I went out on tour (with Big Head Todd and the Monsters) for a month. ey said, ‘Just come and see if you like it.’ And I did that till 2001, and I had a ball.”

Miller and Big Head Todd will be inducted at the Monster’s sold-out Red Rocks show on June 10.

tion like anything is a change; that would be a little awkward at first,” Cowling said. “But I think… clients will know, we’ll make a concerted effort for them to know where we are.”

Cowling said that her team has met with city staff members about 4-5 times, which Gillis confirmed. She characterized recent meetings with city team members in more favorable terms than those which took place months ago.

“We really would not have been (considering moving) if they hadn’t approached us,” Cowling said. “But we were trying to look at the pros and cons. ...Again, not my decision, it’s our church congregation’s decision. It also gives me some encouragement that the city is meeting with us on a regular basis.”

Gillis said the potential partnership is spurred by the city’s evolving understanding of the homelessness issue, and said she hopes both sides can let go of what has been, up until this point, a rocky relationship.

Ground-level ozone is invisible and the Front Range’s biggest air quality issue. Created from pollutants like car exhaust, ozone is a leading cause of respiratory problems.

Improving our air quality takes all of us, and there are many ways to help. We encourage you to #JustSkipTwo car trips a week, mow your lawn after 5 p.m., don’t idle your car, telework a few days each week, and take the bus, bike, or walk.

Sign up for air quality alerts and learn more about the simple steps you can do to help.

SimpleStepsBetterAir.org

“I think as long as there was public transportation to our site, and it was in a fairly visible location, and it was very close to the G line specifically it would be a transi-

“We know that The Rising is a player and we went to be their partner,” Gillis said. “Some of this is just timing, too. We’re learning, and we’re working with our regional partners. There’s not a playbook. We’re really committed to the collaboration and it will really require that all of us step forward, move forward and let go of the past.”

If you could see Colorado’s air, you would want to improve it.

Hazel Miller’s current band; The Collective. From left: Je Nathanson (sax), Dana Marsh (keys), Coco Brown (vocals), Rich Lamb (bass), Hazel Miller, Brian Mikulich (drums), Cody Carbone (guitar).

COURTESY HAZEL MILLER

VOICES

What should I do if I see injured wildlife? Call *277!

After the initial shock of seeing an animal struck on the road, an elk entangled in a net (or basketball goal, hammock, or holiday lights), your mind might race to the question, “What should I do?”

Here is your answer and it’s all wrapped up in 4 characters: *277.

Why that number?

Colorado State Patrol (CSP) operates a non-emergency phone line, *CSP (which is *277). While humanrelated emergency calls should always be sent to 911, the CSP nonemergency number can be used for wildlife emergencies.

What are wildlife emergencies?

Animals that are injured and need immediate assistance are appropriate issues for a *277 call. Humanwildlife con icts, such as an animal attack or car crash, should be sent to 911.

When nearby and not involved in another call, CSP troopers or CPW o cers may respond to *277 calls about herds of elk that are moving slowly across Highway 74 and are blocking tra c for long periods of time. In this case, the trooper or o cer will calm tra c but are not allowed to interfere with the animals’ progress across the road for safety

INSIDE THE OUTDOORS

reasons.

What happens when I call *277?

Just like a 911 dispatcher, the *277 dispatcher will ask pertinent questions and will contact the appropriate agency to respond to the wildlife emergency.

e dispatcher knows the Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) o cers, CSP trooper, Je co Sheri ’s deputy or Evergreen Fire/Rescue responders on duty.

Why not call Colorado Parks and Wildlife, county animal control or a wildlife rehabilitator directly?

While those are all options, calling *277 will allow a dispatcher to make the determination of which organization is appropriate to respond to that wildlife emergency, and *277 is always available.

What about nights and weekends?

Dialing *277 is an excellent option because the caller does not have to be concerned with knowing an agency’s o ce hours. People may

have di culty thinking clearly when facing an emergency involving a su ering animal, and dialing *277 is simple and fast.

When is *277 not the right choice?

Do not call *277 when:

You see dead animals or roadkill (the state or county road crews will likely remove them, but you may also contact them to report the carcass) unless the carcass is a human safety issue, such as blocking tra c.

You have wildlife questions of a non-emergency nature (call CPW or another wildlife-based agency or nonpro t during o ce hours)

Other important details concerning animals in the road:

In the Conifer/Evergreen areas, we have state and county roads. e responsible agencies are di erent for each jurisdiction.

Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) Region 1 includes Highways 74, 285, 8, I-70, Highway 40 among others. CDOT Maintenance is responsible for roadkill removal.

Colorado State Patrol jurisdiction includes all state and interstate highways.

Je erson County roads are those not included in the above list, such as Highway 73, Brookforest and Bu alo

Park Roads. Je co Road and Bridge is the agency responsible for roadkill removal on these roads. Je co Sheri deputies respond to crashes on county highways and roads.

Wildlife carcasses discovered on personal property are the responsibility of the property owner. Options are calling a carcass removal company or in some cases, the animal may be harvested for which a permit from CPW is required.

CPW asks that residents experiencing bear encounters contact the appropriate CPW o ce to report the incident. Sta will share important information with the callers, such as how to bearproof the home and how to haze the animal, with the goal of preventing bears and other wildlife from feeling comfortable near homes. Bears that associate food with humans may become increasingly aggressive. Regretfully, when a bear breaks into a home, he is then considered a danger to human beings and may be put down by CPW o cers.

To report bear encounters, learn more about bear-proo ng, or ask wildlife-related questions, please contact CPW’s Denver o ce at (303) 291-7227.

Dem Senate leader, former GOP leader reflect on 2023 legislature

Dominick Moreno and Mark Hillman o er contrasting views of tough session

When the clock struck midnight, I was incredibly proud

By State Sen. Dominick Moreno

e 2023 legislative session, like any, was lled with ups and downs.

But after a hectic, yet productive 120 days under the Golden Dome, I am struck by how much we accomplished this session.

Newly emboldened with unprecedented majorities, Democrats remained laser-focused on the issues that matter most to Colorado families. From housing to health care, we rolled up our sleeves and had tough conversations about the challenges facing our state.

It wasn’t always pretty, but

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when the clock struck midnight, I was incredibly proud of the work my colleagues and I put in to deliver real results for families across our state.

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Our number one priority this session was addressing the housing crisis. Housing is far too expensive in Colorado, and it’s pricing folks out of their communities.

So we passed bills that will lower the cost of housing, and saved families and businesses billions of dollars on their property taxes to help keep more folks – especially those on xed incomes – in their homes.

We also worked to better support renters in Colorado through critical renter protections, including laws that reduce barriers to housing eligibility and save renters money on rental applications, and that protect lower-income Coloradans and folks

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who rely on safety net programs from being evicted.

Democrats also fought hard to save people money on their health care, including by lowering the cost of prescription drugs and improving access to critical behavioral care for our youth.

We protected consumers from getting trapped in an endless and confusing spiral of medical debt, and we expanded access to reproductive health care – including abortion and gender-a rming care.

Our package of reproductive health care bills, including my bill

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Christie Greene

GUEST COLUMN

Mark Hillman Dominick Moreno

with Sen. Lisa Cutter to break down barriers to abortion care and other critical services and make care more a ordable by closing gaps in insurance coverage, will allow Coloradans to access the full spectrum of reproductive health care services they depend on, while protecting the people who both seek and provide that care in our state.

But perhaps the most impactful change we enacted this session is our work to put a stop to the endless cycle of gun violence that is plaguing Colorado.

Just weeks before session began, we lost ve lives in a shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs. In the span of one month, students and teachers at Denver East High School were subject to gun violence not once, but twice. And that doesn’t include the everyday instances of gun violence that y under the radar but leave holes in our families and our communities that can never be healed.

We grieved alongside the LGBTQ+ community in the Springs, and the students and teachers as Denver East.

But, in the face of these tragedies, we did not throw our hands up and fail to act. Instead, we used our historic majorities to pass a critical suite of gun violence prevention bills that will raise the age to purchase a rearm to 21, remove overly broad protections for the gun industry, strengthen our “red ag” law, establish a three-day waiting period when purchasing a rearm, and crack down on unserialized, untraceable “ghost guns.”

ese are common sense, life-saving measures that meet the moment we nd ourselves in, and that will create a safer Colorado for us all.

ere are far too many successes from this session to recount in a single column. But make no mistake: this session was a transformative one for the people of Colorado.

From lowering the cost of housing and health care to defending our democracy and addressing the climate crisis, Democrats got to work, and I am proud of the results we’ve delivered for our state.

I look forward to continuing our work next session, and to creating a healthier, safer, and stronger Colorado that works for us all.

Dominick Moreno is Democratic state Senate majority leader and represents parts of Adams and Arapahoe counties.

Disciplined leaders can avoid legislative chaos

By former state Sen. Mark Hillman

For the rst time I can recall, this year’s session of the Colorado General Assembly concluded with frenzy and confusion more typical of what we see in Washington, D.C.,

than what’s expected of our citizen legislature.

It’s not unusual for a few complicated bills to linger until the waning hours. However, this year’s 120-day session ended on Monday, May 8, with these ignominious developments:

• On Day 117, still 156 bills – onequarter of the 617 introduced since Jan. 9 – remained unresolved. With just two weeks to go, 335 bills were still in limbo.

• A bill a ecting all Colorado taxpayers was unveiled barely twoand-a-half days before the session ended and heard in committee that same day, before it was available to the public.Committee hearings are intended to allow public comment, but only two people, a consultant who helped write the bill and a veteran lobbyist, testi ed in committee on Sunday.

• Yes, the House and Senate were in session on Sunday – the rst time the Senate conducted the public’s business on a Sunday since 1939. is is not a partisan critique to suggest that Democrats cannot conduct business in an orderly fashion. To the contrary, for four years (20052008), Democrats managed the calendar well enough to adjourn early. ose Democrats could certainly o er pointers to current leaders. Several factors contributed to this year’s logjam.

Few in either party expected last November’s election to be a landslide for Democrats. Many Democrat-aligned interest groups scrambled to prepare more aggressive bills than would have been possible in a centrist-oriented legislature. With large Democratic majorities, far-left progressives suddenly had a ghting chance to pass controversial bills, and traditional liberals had to decide whether to improve those bills or take heat for killing them. (During my rst session in 1999-2000, Republicans were in the same boat with conservatives often frustrated by moderates.)

Outnumbered more than 2-to-1 in the House, Republicans were left with only one card to play when facing sure-to-pass bills that in amed their constituents: delay. Democrats, in turn, took the rare step of limiting debate on at least 15 bills, allowing as little as one hour for discussion.

What could Democrats have done di erently?

Most obviously, adhere to legislative deadlines. Each senator and representative can introduce ve bills. ose ve bills were to be introduced by Jan. 25 in the Senate and Jan. 31 in the House.

Yet by the end of those two weeks, the Senate had introduced just 90 bills (2.5 per senator) and the House 171 (2.6 per representative). More bills (292, not counting those related to the budget) were introduced late than on schedule, which only happens with permission from leadership.

Lawmakers are procrastinators,

and lobbyists relentlessly request “just one more bill.”

Leaders must enforce deadlines to maintain order and to reduce stress and fatigue among the legislature’s professional sta which is responsible for writing and updating bills as amended.

Each bill drafter is responsible for multiple bills, so when a complicated bill must be completely rewritten overnight to facilitate legislative compromise, that drafter gets little sleep which can result in errors.

Each General Assembly meets for two sessions, so leaders should remind lawmakers not to waste time on bills that aren’t “ready for primetime” and to use the interim months to develop them for the following year.

Some have suggested constitutional changes, either reducing the legislative session to 90 days or allowing legislators to meet yearround.

A full-time legislature would simply multiply existing problems. Many legislators have minimal real-world experience, so allowing them to be professional, full time lawgivers, imposing their purported wisdom on those who actually produce goods and services, would be a terrible mistake.

Trimming 30 days from the annual session would cause legislators to prioritize, but it should be combined with postponing the starting date by 30 days so they can spend that month re ning bills and be ready for business on Day One.

Coloradans deserve better than this year’s chaotic circus. at improvement is possible with disciplined leadership, regardless of which party is in charge.

Mark Hillman is a former Republican state Senate majority leader and state treasurer. He operates his family’s farm near Burlington.

Germaine Helena Piper of Arvada transitioned peacefully to eternal life on May 25, 2023 at the age of 84.

“Manie” had a unique perspective on life, and a heartwarming sense of humor. e ve children she raised on her own remember her as compassionate, courageous, creative, sel ess, and gracious. She had the ability to put people at ease, and talk to anyone.

She loved to laugh! She enjoyed nding treasures at garage sales and reading cook books from cover to cover, and painting and watching birds. She said the rosary many times each day, and was an avid reader of religious books. Celebrating Christmas was always a priority. Easy to like, and easier to love, her presence will be missed by many.

Born in Denver to Lynnwood and Margarite (Telgmann) O’Leary who preceded her in passing, she is survived by siblings Lynnwood “Bud” O’leary Jr. of Evergreen; Jacqueline Schuster, Marlene Clermonts, and Colleen Ken eld, of Northglenn.

Germaine is also survived by ve blessed children, Matthew (Eileen), Mark (Becky), Gerianne Piper-Bell (Shawn), Michael (Christy), Jeannie Cole (Tom), and was a grandmother of 16, and a great grandmother of 2.

e Mass of Christian burial was at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church on June 7, 2023. Additional information is available at www.aspenmortuaries.com

In Loving Memory

PIPER

Germaine Helena Piper

Be Studio is an all-inclusive space for people young and old to feel the music and express themselves. For dancers who want to break out of the traditional dance studio format, the international company based in Denver could be a dream come

Striving to bring the magic of global movement to people in Colorado, Caitlin BroznaSmith founded the dance studio that brings a piece of global culture along with self-expression and con dence with each class.

“It was so important to include people from where these cultures are sourced,” said Brozna-Smith. “I found people from Polynesia to teach Polynesian dance… teachers from Iran. We really have this beautiful, electric group of dancers from all over the

Among a multitude of dance styles, students can learn the soft style of Hula ‘Auana, Tahitian dance, Bollywood, Belly Dancing, adult ballet and Ginga Vibe, which draws on styles from the African Diaspora including Funk, Afro-Caribe, Dance Hall, Soca, Lambada and Samba.  e studio also o ers Taiji Fit, a halfhour mind and low-impact body workout that combines traditional T’ai Chi with mindfulness and modern Western tness. Inspired by the Bollywood style of dance, BollyX Fitness is a 50-minute cardio workout and GROOV3 Hip Hop Dance Fitness.

Within the Bella Diva studio, both the

Students learn worldwide dance styles at Bella Diva World Dance Studio

BY HALEY LENA HLENA@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

teaching sta and students are multinational. e dance teachers come from ve di erent countries and teach a range of students from 29 di erent countries.

To bring as much authentic culture into Denver, many teachers have gone abroad to study di erent styles of dance.

“ e people (teachers) who are not native from the cultures that we’re teaching travel and learn from the source because it’s really important that we do cultural appreciation and cultural exchange,” Brozna-Smith said.

Samba

Samba, the high energy and fast footwork style is not just a dance form, it is a lifestyle.  ose who teach Samba at Bella Diva make sure they are staying true to the culture and teach the students the history of where the dance originated.

teach countries.   styles (teachers) the from source appreciation exchange,” Brozna-Smith abso-

“I am very careful when I am teaching my students because I am not Brazilian, it is not my culture, but it is something that I am absolutely fascinated with and love,” said instructor Chelsi Vecchiavelli. “I spend a lot of time outside of class researching, asking experts, listening to podcasts, consulting my mentors who are Brazilian and who are my teachers.”

Born out of the slave trade when it was down in Brazil, Samba was a means of hope and joy and is a dance of resistance and raises up against oppression.

Samba schools have often been located in a favela, which is the poor neighborhoods within Rio De Janeiro. Vecchiavelli said there

Caitlin Bronza-Smith performing.

OF CAITLIN BRONZA-SMITH

is a big connection between the people and the culture, which is something she wanted to bring back to her classes in the U.S.

Since spending time in Brazil earlier this year, Vecchiavelli has implemented a sense of community within her classes.

e class starts with a warm-up, which can di er each week, but tends to be drill focused. Students start to move their bodies by working on hip movements, endurance and strengthening the ankles.

After warming up, the class begins to stretch out every part of their body to help prevent injuries. e class then moves to work on technique, whether it is adding the ourishes of the arms during Samba no pé or gaining speed and endurance for the style.

In Brozna-Smith’s Samba class, her students warm up to the upbeat rhythm of the drums.

Just as Brozna-Smith has her students perform for one another during the class, Vecchiavelli has integrated improvisation at the end of her class.

e students gather in a circle and with an energetic song playing, they dance with each other.

e end of class time is not about technique or who has the best footwork, it’s about connecting with one another as that is what the culture is about. Western dancers are often trained to perform, but this style of dance is about looking each other in the eyes, singing and embracing the joy that comes along with Samba.

“We need to recognize that we’re dancing it from a place of privilege,” said Vecchiavelli. “We’re not able to connect to it in the same way that people in Brazil can, and so I try to make sure that we at least know the context of it.”

Bella Bro World Dance

For an hour each week, men take part in a high-intensity, choreographybased workout. Led by Kyle Kastner, the group’s heart rate increases and sweat pours down as Kastner focuses on moving fast.

Having been the only consistent man who danced at Bella Diva for eight years, Kastner felt the need to bring more men into the fold, as male representation in dance in America is not as strong as in other cultures.

Kastner believes the American culture is dismissive and even undermining of male dancers.

“I actually think that it is incredibly masculine to dance, and when you look at other cultures around the world, dance is ingrained,” Kastner said. “It’s not gendered. ere may be gender norms within it, but gender is not important.”

With the goal of creating a space for men to feel free to use their bodies in a creative way, Kastner created Bella Bro World Dance. ere are about eight individuals who are regulars to the class.  Kasnter gains inspiration for his class

from Bollywood and Brazilian Samba no pé. It is not just the energy that those styles of dance bring but embracing the masculinity of the Indian culture and bridging the gap between di erent stylings that is being shown in Samba no pé.

Bella Bro World Dance recently worked on a piece inspired by a lm based on a true story. e character they are portraying was a great warrior and fought in battles. Although it appears that the dancers are not doing much, their moves are incredibly complex and take a lot of strength to complete.  roughout the class, the students started to learn how to move their bodies in new and challenging ways and discover things about themselves, Kastner said. e class also helps rede ne what masculinity is and shift the focus from a toxic idea of masculinity to a much more embracing, accepting idea of what it could be.

In his class, he helps the students learn how to use their inherent male privilege as a superpower for good.

“ at’s something I’ve de nitely been working with the men on is understanding that just because we are men, we have privilege that others don’t,” said Kasnter. “And then especially if we are white men with privilege that others don’t (have), to use that in a bene cial positive way for society and community as a whole.”

instructor of the Iranian Persian style of dance in Colorado, Delsie KhademGhaeini is honored to represent her community and to be a vessel for cultural outreach by sharing Iranian culture through dance.

In Iranian culture, there are a couple of di erent stylizations of dance as there are di erent minority groups and languages, all of the groups have their own folk dancing and style of dancing. e style Khadem-Ghaeini teaches is not a regional style of dance in Iran, it is shared across all of those cultures.

Iranian culture is deeply rooted in poetry, therefore, a lot of the music has poetry in it.

Khadem-Ghaeini said the style she teaches is more of a staged kind of style of dancing, a style that is closely related to what is seen in current pop styles of dance. She focuses on the quality of the movements. e movements are more structured and re ned compared to some of the more theatrical styles of dancing.

“Depending on what region they’re from, there might be dance movements that are associated to the kind of farming that they might have done or in the southern region, along the Persian Gulf, there may be dance movements that are related to shing,” Khadem-Ghaeini said.

Her classes focus on connecting with the music by using the uidity of the arms, hands and wrists, which can be very emotive. One form of movement that di erentiates the Iranian style of dance from other styles that also use

arms and hands is the use and curving of the spine. e combination of the arm, hand and spinal curves is subtle to the eye.

According to Khadem-Ghaeini, the aesthetics of Iranian culture has a lot of curves and a lot of geometry. Many of the shapes in the body that dancers create are very curved, even mirroring the way Persian calligraphy curves and moves are showing up in dance.

Another important piece of Iranian Persian dancing is learning the history of Iranian culture and sending messages and making statements. With the current revolutions taking place in Iran, Khadem-Ghaeini and her students performed at the University of Denver, choosing songs that relate to the woman-led revolutions.

“When I’m dancing, it’s a much deeper connection to music,” said Khadem-Ghaeini. “It’s not just about trying to hit my body a certain way that that music hits… but the poetry and the music that has like thousands of years of history, that is part of Iranian culture, to me, every time I do a performance is deeply involved for me.”

Being a student at Bella Diva World Dance

Having studied dance since she was a little girl, Elizabeth Buckius has trained in di erent kinds of studios with strict teachers in traditional ballet. She said that Bella Diva is the most welcoming, supportive and caring studio.

Students at the Denver-based studio are of all ages, all orientations and all shapes and sizes. e people bring an electric energy into the studio and by embracing the cultural aspect of the di erent styles of dance, everyone — from sta to students to the costume designer — has created a strong community within the walls of the studio, according to Buckius and sta at the studio.

“What makes us unique is also what makes us stronger,” said Brozna-Smith. “We’re able to really learn empathy by putting ourselves in somebody else’s shoes or position and life.”

Along with the positive and supportive energy in each classroom, there is a lot of curiosity as well. e studio focuses on learning about different cultures and becoming a global citizen. Buckius said it’s a great way to learn about other parts of the world.

Bella Diva also focuses on being body positive and being a healthy place for dancers. And with such multicultural sta and students at the studio, the studio has become a strong and vibrant community in Denver and internationally.

“We really want to be rooted in the actual traditions that we’re studying,” said Buckius. “So even though we’re here in Colorado, we want to make sure we’re connecting with the actual traditions at the world dance studio.”

LEARN MORE

Iranian Persian Currently, the only performing

Bella Diva World Dance Polynesian Performing Company.

Bella Diva World Dance Studio teaching sta , who come from five di erent countries and 12 heritages.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF CAITLIN BRONZA-SMITH

Bella Diva World Dance Studio is located at 4309 E. Mississippi Ave. Glendale, CO 80246. For more information, visit belladivadance.com.

Life/Art Ensemble takes dance into the world

When many people think of starting a dance organization, they probably conjure up images of children or teenagers awkwardly guring out how to get their feet to do what their minds want them to. But Life/ Art Dance Ensemble got its start in 2009 with a di erent audience in mind.

“I am a registered dietitian nutritionist and my very rst job out of college was with Volunteers of America, Colorado Branch. I coran the Healthy Aging program there and we would bring nutrition, exercise, and fall prevention classes to low-income residences for older adults,” explained Jessica Riggs, artistic director and founder of Life/ Art. “I also learned that entertainment budgets at these residences weren’t high and that there was a lack of quality entertainment available, particularly for those who had impaired mobility or couldn’t a ord tickets to a show.”

And from that experience came the idea of bringing dance directly to older adults.

In the 14 years since its founding, the organization has expanded to o er contemporary dance performances all over the metro area.

“We work with live music and di erent creative concepts to take

COMING ATTRACTIONS

dance out of the theater and move it into the world,” Riggs said. “We’re trying to expose people to what dance can be and collaborate with as many di erent groups as we can.”  e metro dance scene can often be very siloed, Riggs said, so collaboration has become a crucial feature of nearly every project the organization engages with. Some examples include the annual Life In Motion: A Colorado Dance Film Festival, which showcases Colorado dance lm artists, and the Convergence event, which is a cost-sharing show featuring all kinds of local dance organizations, like Rocky Mountain Rhythm and Front Range Contemporary Ballet Company.

While summer is a bit of a quiet time for Life/Art when it comes to public performances, there’s always something to work on. e organization is currently preparing for this year’s Convergence performance and a dance haunted house, also slated for the fall.

But, in the meantime, the work with older adults never stops. at is

due, at least in part, to the 2021 expansion of their program to feature inclusive dance classes taught in the DanceAbility method. According to Riggs, this allows the residents to be able to dance themselves, regardless of any physical limitation they might have.

“ ere are many physical, mental, and emotional bene ts to dance,” she said. “Our primary goal in serving older adults is to improve their quality of life, social and mental health, mood, and overall sense of well-being.”

Find more information about Life/ Art and its work at www.lifeartdance.org/.

Explore all the arts at Denver Fringe Festival

You never know what you’re going to see at the Denver Fringe Festival, but that’s what makes it such an adventure. e fourth annual event, which runs at 12 venues all over RiNo and Five Points from ursday, June 8 through Sunday, June 11, brings more than 150 performances to audiences thirsting for something original.

According to provided information, the festival will feature “eight original plays, six immersive experiences, a two-day KidsFringe with free shows for families, street performances” and more. With the aim of promoting access to the arts and showcasing diverse artistic voices, you really can’t go wrong. All the details can be found at https:// denverfringe.org/.

Films for Foodies kicks o with ‘Chef’ e clever folks at Denver Film, Dazzle and Denver Arts & Venues have gone and added to food,

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music and a night under the stars to an already great activity — a night at the movies.

ey’re kicking o their Films for Foodies series on Tuesday, June 13 with a screening of Jon Favreau’s “Chef” at the Galleria @ Denver Performing Arts Complex, 1400 Curtis St. in Denver. On the music side, Raul Murciano’s Colorado Mambo Orchestra will be performing, and Fritay Haitian Cuisine, Areyto Puerto Rican Food and HipPOPs food trucks will be on hand serving food.

Get all the information for this delicious cinematic evening at www. artscomplex.com/events/summerat-the-arts-complex.

Clarke’s Concert of the Week — Cub Sport at the Marquis

It is di cult to put a nger on the kind of music Australia’s Cub Sport makes. ere are elements of electronic-based groups like Cut Copy, to be sure, as well as alternative-leaning pop like e 1975 and Walk the Moon. But really, their style is all their own. All I know is, their fth album, “Jesus at the Gay Bar,” is one of the year’s best thus far. It’s fun and funky and gets you moving but makes you a bit sad, too. It has something for everyone.

In support of the album, the Cub Sport will be performing at the Marquis, 2009 Larimer St., Denver, at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, June 14. ey’ll be joined for the show by opener crêpe girl. Get tickets at www. livenation.com.

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

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Clarke Reader

Thu 6/15

Ava Maybee: if we're being honest tour @ 6pm Ogden Theatre, 935 E Colfax Ave, Denver

Jason Boland & The Stragglers w/ Jeremy McComb @ 8pm Globe Hall - CO, 4483 Logan St., Denver, CO 80216, Denver

The Ephinjis @ 9pm Hi-Dive, 7 S Broadway, Denver

Fri 6/16

ILLENIUM: Trilogy: PreParty @ 7pm Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St,, Den‐ver

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KGNU Presents TAARKA at Swallow Hill @ 8pm Swallow Hill, 71 E Yale Ave, Denver

Sat 6/17

Max Styler with Kyle Kinch & Erin Stereo @ 12pm X Denver, 3100 Inca St, Denver

Amorphous Presents: The Ampli�cation Tour @ 7pm Larimer Lounge, 2721 Larimer St, Denver

Sun 6/18

City Park Denver Public Art Tour @ 10am Denver Arts and Venues, Varies Locations for Public Art Tours, Denver

Vibes In The Park: Continuing the Juneteenth Celebration - 21+ @ 8pm / $20 Summit, 1902 Blake St, Denver

Mon 6/19

Jack Kays @ 8pm Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St,, Den‐ver

Temples @ 8pm Bluebird Theater, 3317 E Colfax Av, Den‐ver

Grandson @ 8pm

Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St, Den‐ver

Tue 6/20

Black Moon Howl @ 8pm Mercury Cafe, 2199 California St, Denver

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Rotating Tap

Comedy @ Landlocked Ales @ 8pm LandLocked Ales, 3225 S Wadsworth Blvd, Lake‐wood

Film On The Rocks: Black Panther @ 7pm Red Rocks Amphithe‐atre, 18300 West Alameda Parkway, Morrison

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Post Animal @ 8pm Bluebird Theater, 3317 E Colfax Av, Denver

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

Stephanie Poetri @ 8pm

Globe Hall, 4483 Lo‐gan St, Denver

Comedian Jenny Zigrino: Jenny Zigrino in Denver! @ 8pm The Black Buzzard, 1624 Market St, Den‐ver

Lyn Lapid @ 8pm Globe Hall, 4483 Lo‐gan St, Denver

Wed 6/21

Downtown Denver Public Art Walking Tour @ 5:30pm

Denver Arts and Venues, Varies Locations for Public Art Tours, Denver

Lolita Worldwide: LADAMA at Levitt Pavilion with Lolita @ 6pm Levitt Pavilion Denver, 1380 W Florida Ave, Denver

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Arden Jones @ 7pm Larimer Lounge, 2721 Larimer St, Denver

Whiskey Wednesday @ Stranahan's! - Presented by Rotating Tap Comedy @ 8pm Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey, 200 S Kalamath St, Denver Elf Power @ 8pm Lost Lake Lounge, 3602 E Colfax Ave, Denver

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walked away, leaving all the equipment above ground to rust and ow lines underground to leak.

“ e well operator declared bankruptcy and had to walk away and now we are trying to get it cleaned up,” Baca said. “Sites like this can stay toxic for years. e challenge for Adams County is that we are in the Denver Metro area and we are in a federal non-attainment area already. And when we have wells that emit toxic gases incessantly, it a ects our air quality. I know we are standing in a eld in unincorporated Adams County, but orphaned wells are found throughout Adams County, not just the unincorporated areas.”

Adams County has a partnership with Civitas Resources, Greeneld Environmental Solutions and CarbonPath to nd those sites, determine if they are leaking chemicals and where and then get them cleaned up. ose companies are working together to clean up nearly 50 orphaned well sites around northeastern Colorado, including in Adams County.

e process involves surveying the site with the latest chemical-seeking equipment, and Green eld’s Chris Rice demonstrated how they zero in on leaks with infrared cameras and a series of sensors that pull in the air and use lasers to determine their chemical makeup. ey can determine where the leak is coming from, what it’s leaking and determine how best to cap it and get the site cleaned up.

“We can go use this project as a headline moment, an example for others, on a private-public partnership that we can use to tackle all the orphaned wells across the United States and, of course, across Colorado,” CarbonPath CEO Tyler Crabtree

said. “What we do is provide additional a bridge to nd additional private funding to supplement federal dollars. Essentially, for every well that gets plugged up with federal dollars, we want to raise money from private citizens and corporations to do their part to plug another well site.”

e state created the Orphan Wells Mitigation Enterprise in 2022, requiring well operators to pay a fee — $225 per well that produces more than 15 barrels of oil or 22 MCF of natural gas per day and $125 that produces less than that. It’s expected to generate $10 million per year to help clean up orphaned wells.

e U.S. Department of the Interior has set aside another $25 million to help Colorado to locate and clean up the wells. Both of Colorado’s Senators, Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet, have been strong advocates for getting the wells closed nationally.

“Getting a program like this was a high priority in the bipartisan infrastructure bill,” Hickenlooper said. “One way to get into that bill was to make sure we look at the entire nation and how much methane and other escaping hydrocarbons are getting into the air from those wells that are not producing anything.”

Weld, Adams and Arapahoe counties are responsible for the vast majority of oil and natural gas pulled from the Colorado ground — with Weld County outproducing everyone. In 2022, wells in Weld County produced 131.8 million barrels of oil and 976.9 million MCF of natural gas — 82% of all oil produced in Colorado that year and 51% of all natural gas. Adams County produced 9.6 million barrels of oil and 37.2 million MCF of natural gas in 2022, a distant second in Colorado oil production behind Weld and sixth place in natural gas behind Weld, Gar eld, La Plata, Rio Blanco and Las Animas counties.

CSU scientists delve into cattle guts to cut emissions

Fight against greenhouse gases enters new dimension

BY RAE SOLOMON KUNC

In many ways, the research pens at Colorado State University are what you’d nd on your standard cattle feedlot. ere are cows, of course, plenty of mud, and the inevitable odor of livestock.

But this feedlot, at CSU’s agricultural research and education center in Fort Collins, doubles as a scienti c laboratory. It’s where researchers in the AgNext program — a specialized research group for sustainability in animal agriculture — are learning about the greenhouse gases cows produce as they stand around digesting food. e feedlot is tricked out with millions of dollars of equipment that allow scientists to track everything that goes into each cow, along with some of what comes out.

Specialized feed bins use radiofrequency identi cation (RFID) technology to track every ounce of corn consumed on a per cow basis. Another piece of equipment called the GreenFeed machine analyzes the gases cattle exhale. It’s a bit like a high-tech gumball machine, dispensing tasty cow treats — alfalfa pellets — on a schedule, and at the beckoning of a smartphone app operated by researchers.

On a chilly afternoon in March, Colorado State University Animal Sciences Professor Sara Place demonstrated the technology, tapping a button on her phone. A high-pitched electronic chime sounded and the alfalfa pellets dropped into an opening at cow level, catching the attention of a big-eyed angus who moseyed up for a bite to eat.

“He’s got his head stuck in the machine and he’s chowing down a little bit of a snack,” Place explained.

Despite common misconceptions about the perils of bovine atulence, most methane comes out of the cow’s front end in the form of enteric emissions. at means each time an cow gets a snack from the GreenFeed machine, Place has an opportunity to get information.

“ e air gets pulled from around the animal’s face, and whatever they’re respiring out goes directly into the machine,” Place said. “We can get real time methane emissions data from that.”

Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas that has a warming power 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide in the rst 20 years of emission. e animal agriculture industry, which includes all operations that raise animals for meat or dairy, produces more methane than any other human activity in the U.S.

Climate experts say we’re run-

ning out of time to prevent climate catastrophe. To avoid the worst of it, experts say it is imperative to cut greenhouse gas emissions dramatically before 2030. Environmental groups have ambitious goals to reduce agricultural methane emissions by 30% globally by the year 2030.

But when it comes to emissions from the livestock sector, the science is still just emerging, and it’s not yet clear if the cuts will come in time—or how.

Place hopes to change that with her work in the research pens.

“We want to nd solutions that can help mitigate those emissions to cut the climate impact of beef,” Place said.

A tricky proposition

Reducing the climate footprint of beef is a complex problem. According to Kim Stackhouse Lawson, director of CSU’s AgNext program, producing methane is just part of being a cow.

“ ey’re biologically supposed to make methane,” she said.

e gases are the byproduct of a complex fermentation process that happens inside a cow’s largest stomach, called the rumen. Changing that equation involves tinkering with the complex microbiological ecosystem inside a living animal’s stomach, which means there’s still a lot we don’t know.

For instance, there is still no experimental data on baseline emissions from the livestock industry.

“ e data is not granular enough,” Stackhouse Lawson said.

e best understanding of the cattle emissions picture comes from the Environmental Protection Agency’s greenhouse gas emissions inventory, which derives its data from a model that uses emissions factors - essentially multipliers from a chart, so the data is based on equations rather than direct measurements from the animals themselves.

Stackhouse Lawson said the inventory does a decent job of estimating livestock emissions at the scale of the entire U.S. But for individual operations trying to account for the carbon footprint of their own herds, those numbers are too generalized to tell the full story.

“ ere’s too much variability between animals, there’s too much variability within region,” she said.

Stackhouse Lawson’s team is only now doing the work of developing more precise numbers. She cited surprising initial data from CSU’s research pens that shows the quantities of methane cows produce can vary wildly from animal to animal, suggesting an entirely new frontier for the research.

“Is there a genetic component?” She wondered. “Would we select animals that have lower methane?”

e CSU team is also looking at other variables like feed additives that can cut emissions outright.

John Tauzel, senior director for global agriculture methane with

the Environmental Defense Fund, explained successful additives

“will change the biome of the cow’s stomach to reduce the amount of methanogens—the organisms that create the methane.” It’s a solution he went on to describe as “really, really complex,” because of the complicated structure of the livestock industry and the biological intricacies of cattle microbiomes.

at complex problem remains only partially-solved, in part due to lack of funding for the research. Tauzel pointed out that only 2% of federal funds that support research and development for climate adaptation and mitigation in agriculture go toward reducing enteric emissions.

“We need more investment in that

space if we’re going to meet the reductions in timeframes that we need,” Tauzel said.

at investment is starting to come.

Just last week, the team at AgNext announced it had received a $1 million Conservation Innovation grant from the US Department of Agriculture. e money will support continued research into emissions on the feedlot. It will also allow the researchers to expand their inquiry into cattle emissions to look at cows grazing in a pasture setting.

Stackhouse Lawson hopes more funding could be part of the next Farm Bill currently being negotiated in congress.

SEE EMISSIONS, P20

Until more federal dollars start owing, the research being done on cattle emissions is dependent on industry to ll the funding gap.

Industry’s stake in reducing emissions

Five Rivers Cattle Feeding bills itself as the world’s biggest cattle feeding operation. e Northern Coloradobased company runs 13 feedlots across six western states, with the capacity to fatten up to 900,000 head of cattle at any given time. A cow typically spends about six months on one of Five Rivers’ feedlots, during which time it can put on anywhere between 500 and 700 pounds.

“What we’re all about is e ciency,” said Vice President of Environmental A airs and Sustainability Tom McDonald. “[We’re] getting cattle to perform at their best while they’re at the feedlot.”

Part of that commitment to cattle performance includes support for the ongoing work at CSU’s research pens. “ e whole goal here is to learn what our greenhouse gas footprint is, and then how can we improve it?” McDonald said.

All of the emissions research animals at CSU are on loan from Five Rivers. e company also supplies the animals’ feed and has donated $600,000 worth of equipment to the cause, including the GreenFeed machines that collect and analyze cow exhalations.

McDonald said his company expects to recoup that sizeable investment and then some in the eventual e ciency gains made possible by the research.

Methane, after all, isn’t just a greenhouse gas. “Methane is energy,” McDonald said. “When energy is lost, that’s a wasted resource.”

CSU researcher Sarah Place said reducing methane emissions from

cows could actually mean more beef to go around.

“[Methane] is basically feed calories the animal eats that actually get lost to the atmosphere,” Place explained. at means the less methane a cow exhales as it digests, the more weight it puts on that ultimately becomes beef. In other words, a lower emitting cow is more e cient at converting corn feed to body mass than a higher emitting cow.

McDonald likened the company’s interest in lowering cows’ methane emissions to any other sound business decision.

“When we upgrade equipment at the feed mill, we look for energy efcient equipment. We strive to reduce our energy usage in those areas,” he said. “From a cattle performance standpoint, we utilize the tools avail-

able to help the cattle grow faster, gain faster.”

A race against the climate time horizon

But for all the enthusiasm from the agriculture industry, the work at AgNext and a handful of related research facilities around the country is still young. Scientists are working to translate promising treatments from the pristine laboratory setting to actual, scalable applications in the feed lot.

“We’ve got a lot of exciting research that is underway,” Stackhouse Lawson said. “But it’s not ready yet.” at’s a problem, according to Ben Lilliston, director of climate and rural strategies at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, a climate and agriculture think tank.

“[ e technologies] are not proven yet,” Lilliston said. “We need to have emissions reductions really quickly, like in the next seven years. Speculative technologies are… You know, it’s not to say that they’re not worth exploring, but [I] wouldn’t rely on them

as a real climate mitigation strategy.”

Apart from the scarcity of feedlotready solutions, Lilliston points to factory farming itself – an industrial system hell-bent on continual growth - as the main culprit.

“Even if you’re able to reduce emissions a small amount by some of these scienti c advances, if you’re going to continue to grow and expand the number of animals that are part of that system, then you’re going to negate those gains,” he said.

He thinks of the emerging technologies as a distraction from the bigger question that we’re not asking: how many beef and dairy cows do we need in this country? After all, a more immediate solution to the livestock methane conundrum is to have fewer cows.

“Reducing the cattle herd is the clearest way to reduce actual emissions,” Lilliston said.

Of course, a smaller cattle herd would mean less meat and dairy on the market, which would impact consumers’ meal choices. It’s a situation John Tauzel doesn’t nd feasible.

“For various reasons, whether that’s social, whether that’s economic, livestock products are going to continue to be part of a signi cant portion of the global diet for the foreseeable future,” Tauzel said.

at’s why he believes advancing research on livestock methane emissions is critical.

“If people choose to eat a hamburger, we want to make sure that when they eat that hamburger, it has the lowest methane footprint possible,” Tauzel said.

As for Place, she wants to nd solutions that simultaneously work for consumers, cattlemen and the climate.

“At the end of the day, we want to make sure we create practical solutions that can be adopted in the real world,” Place said.

After all, people like their burgers. It just might be easier to alter the microbiome of an animal’s gut than it is to change the cravings of a hungry planet.

is KUNC story via e Associated Press’ Storyshare, of which Colorado Community Media is a member.

A cow looks up from its meal at CSU’s AgNext climate smart research pens on March 10, 2023. An RFID tag attached to the animal’s ear allows the feed bin to keep track of how much food that particular animal is taking in. Later, a GreenFeed machine will analyze the animals’ greenhouse gas emissions. COURTESY OF KUNC

State breathes life into lifeguard training

hours, and stay open longer this summer,” Polis said in his announcement.

“We are thrilled that so many local governments across the state applied for this funding so that families, friends, and neighbors can dive right into the summer.”

upfront to start,” Brehm said. “With the grant, we will defer the payment of those [lifeguard] certi cation costs.”

BY JOHN RENFROW JRENFROW@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Countless public pools opened over the Memorial Day weekend as schools let out and summer approaches. But whether they remain open throughout the season is another matter.

e state of Colorado is boosting aid along the Front Range and across the state to help local pools avoid that outcome.

Gov. Jared Polis announced nancial help on May 30 for nearly 50 cities and districts as part of the Lifeguard Training Initiative — a follow-up to his administration’s Pools Special Initiative, launched last summer.

e initiative was announced early this month at the Northglenn Recreation Center, along with administrators, local o cials, lawmakers and community members.

“We are making a splash with this exciting support for lifeguards, part of our ongoing work to make sure that pools can safely open earlier, expand

e grants, implemented by the state’s local a airs and labor departments, ranged from $1,000 requests to $20,000, the maximum. In the end, the state allocated mixed amounts, but exhausted almost all of the available funds, leaving just $200 to potentially allocate supplementally..

South Suburban Parks and Recreation District (SSPRD), which reported a signi cant shortage of lifeguards earlier in the month, received $10,700 — the highest-allocated amount awarded to more than a dozen districts or cities. Cities like Aurora and Boulder received the same amount.

Part of the shortage lies with the expensive cost of training lifeguards. Many prospective employees may be dissuaded by the idea of paying to obtain lifeguard certi cation.

ough it won’t solve the main shortage problem, having the funding helps, said SSPRD Aquatics Manager Karl Brehm, who came down from a lifeguard stand himself to talk to Colorado Community Media.

“It will help us reach a demographic that is lacking in having the funds

A full-course lifeguard training at South Suburban through Red Cross costs $175. Community First Aid, CPR and AED training/blended learning costs $80. But after 75 hours of work, South Suburban reimburses course fees [excluding the $40 certi cation fee].

Other communities received smaller amounts. e City of ornton got $6,892, Commerce City, $1,462, and Parker, $4,499. e Town of Castle Rock received $7,873 and Brighton received $1,687.

A national lifeguard shortage affects roughly a third of public pools throughout the country. Colorado has struggled similarly. e state grant money aims to help train and retain lifeguards, which can be di cult to do these days, according to Brehm.

“I have seen, more and more, less interest in the position,” Brehm told Colorado Community Media in May.

Brehm said South Suburban, like many other area pools, must hire throughout the season to try and maintain strong employee numbers.

e funds from the state help provide time for pools to keep hiring and training ongoing, Brehm added. He described the support as not a favor, however, but a public service.

Publication Date: July 6, 2023

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“It hearkens to a safety situation. People want to have the pools open. We want to have them open. But there’s a barrier that stands there,” Brehm said in response to the funding. “Having the state recognize that it is something that people want, and there’s a barrier to it, I look at it as a civic responsibility. ere is a need, and it is being met.”

The lifeguard shortage has become a crisis nationwide. Local pools and recreation centers have worked overtime to ensure its e ects on them are minimal this season. COURTESY OF THE CITY OF BRIGHTON

More than $250,000 allocated to help open pools across the Front Range

BY ROBERT DAVIS YELLOW SCENE MAGAZINE

Andrew Sorensen and his wife Samantha were elated when they bought their home in Broom eld’s Baseline neighborhood in September 2022 after nearly a year of bidding on homes that were overpriced and uninhabitable in some cases.

However, Sorensen said that excitement quickly turned to trepidation after the couple learned that their home was controlled by a metropolitan district, a controversial tool that Colorado developers use to build homes.

Sorensen’s home is part of Baseline Metropolitan District 3, one of nine metro districts that are responsible for developing homes and maintaining the necessary infrastructure like roads, water lines, and

are often paid back through property tax mill levies.

So far, the metro district has codied about $764 million in bonds that it can issue to investors. e debt incurred by these bonds would be paid back by Baseline homeowners over the next several decades.

ere’s just one catch: e board members that set the Baseline Metropolitan District’s tax levels all work for McWhinney Real Estate Services, the developer building the neighborhood.

“When McWhinney owns the land, the rights to develop it, and the right to charge Coloradans whatever the company would like to nance the project via bonds, can you call it anything but self-dealing?” Sorensen asked Colorado lawmakers in February.

Like other homeowners in Colorado, Sorensen wants greater transparency and responsiveness from his metropolitan district’s governing board. For example, Sorensen said

He added that they also have no say in whether McWhinney raises the district’s mill levy in the future. is could e ectively price Sorensen, and other homeowners, out of the neighborhood if they are unable to keep up with property tax increases, he said.

“ ese practices should be far more heavily regulated than they are,” Sorensen added.

Metro districts and homebuilding

Metropolitan districts have come under increasing scrutiny in recent years as Colorado’s challenges with housing a ordability continue to fester.

ese districts were created in the 1980s to help solve a very practical problem. Colorado’s economy was under signi cant pressure as employment nosedived in government, retail, and hospitality due to enormous speculation in the state’s housing market. As a result, local government tax receipts declined

unable to support new infrastructure ects even as the state’s population increased.

Metro districts o ered tax-hobbled jurisdictions an alternative nancing model for infrastructure projects. Instead of only using tax subsidies, metro districts can raise debt from private investors by selling bonds and use those proceeds to fund construction. ese districts then collect property taxes from homeowners to pay for their maintenance expenses. In 2000, there were about 200 metro districts in Colorado. Today, there are more than 2,300 metro districts in Colorado, according to the Special District Association of the Division of Local Government. Groups like the Colorado Association of Home Builders say metro districts can improve housing a ordability by reducing the per unit infrastructure costs by between $30,000 and $40,000. But homeowners like Sorensen think there need

Homeowners say they want some way to make Colorado’s special districts more transparent and engaged with their residents.

FILE PHOTO

Homeowners fed up with metro districts but changes are hard to come by

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Golden baseball fi nishes historic season as 4A state runner-up

BY DENNIS PLEUSS JEFFCO PUBLIC SCHOOLS

PUEBLO — It wasn’t the hardware Golden’s baseball program wanted to drive home with June 3, but a Class 4A state runner-up trophy is one that should be proudly displayed forever at Golden High School.

“It’s only the third time we’ve been here in the school’s history and rst time in 20 years,” Golden coach Jackie McBroom said of the Demons making the state championship game at Rawlings Field in Pueblo against Severance. “It is de nitely an accomplishment.”

In the end, the No. 6-seeded Silver Knights of Severance took a 1-0 victory over No. 4 Golden to win the school’s rst ever state team title. e lone run was scored in the top of the second inning when Severance senior Joe Tamburro scored on a pitch that got away from Golden senior catch Noah Wicks.

“I’m proud of everyone. We just played great team baseball,” Wicks said. “We knew what we were going into. We knew we had a great team. We made the championship game which was our goal. Sadly, we didn’t win, but we had a great season. I’m proud of everyone.”

Golden (25-6 record) had a di cult road to the championship game. After a solid 9-0 shutout victory over Summit during the opening round of the double-elimination state tournament May 26, the No. 4-seeded Demons su ered an 8-5 loss that same day to top-seeded Holy Family, sending Golden into the consolation bracket.

e uphill battle begun.

Golden stayed alive with a 8-1 victory over Riverdale Ridge on May 27 at Mountain Lion Stadium at UCCS to advance to the Final Four last weekend.

Seniors Laif Palmer and Wicks — who got the wins on the mound against Summit and Riverdale Ridge — both had brilliant pitching performances Friday, June 2, at UCHealth Park in Colorado Springs.

Palmer had 13 strikeouts in a 3-2 victory over Lutheran. It would be the nal game the hard-throwing righty would pitch in a Demon uniform.

Palmer has committed to Oregon State University, but will likely get selected in the Major League Baseball Draft coming up in early July to give him the option to turn pro.

“I’m proud of every single one of these guys,” Palmer said. “ e whole year all of them played their hearts out. I love all these guys. It just sucks it had to end this way, but we had one hell of a season.”

Wicks not only came in to get the nal out against the Lions when Palmer hit his 110-pitch count, Wicks threw a complete-game 3-hitter against Holy Family in a 4-1 Golden win Friday afternoon.

e victories June 2 sent Golden into Saturday’s situation to be in the championship game against Severance.

e Silver Knights had the luxury of advancing straight to the title game after a 3-0 start to the tournament that included wins over Cheyenne Mountain, Pueblo County and Holy Family the pervious week.

Golden junior pitcher Braeden McCarroll was equally up the task Saturday against Severance with Palmer and Wicks not in the mix to pitch after combining for 200 pitches on the hill Friday. e junior matched Severance ace Mason Bright to keep the Demons within reach.

“Braeden gave us a chance to win,” McBroom said. “He did just as good as (Palmer and Wicks) did. Give credit to their pitcher (Bright), but we needed to do better and scratching a run across.”

Bright was on top of his game on the mound throwing a complete-game shutout victory. Severance’s ace had only given up three singles

who came in to pinch-run for McCarroll.

e home-plate umpire called Romero out on the close play at the plate for the nal out of the game.

“I actually threw it and thought we had one more out to go,” Farris said of his game-winning assist. “I was celebrating in the out eld thinking we had just got the second out and then I saw the dogpile and ran in. It’s surreal. It really is.”

Bright picked up his 12th victory of the season while relying on the stellar defense behind him that didn’t commit an error in the 12th straight victory for the Silver Knights (23-6) to end the season.

“Brycen had a wonderful throw from the out eld that won us that game,” Bright said. “I’m very thankful for that.”

Golden had ve baserunners in scoring position during the game, but couldn’t push a run across the plate.

“It was a bang-bang play at the plate. at’s just how it works out sometimes,” McBroom said of the nal play.

— a pair by Wicks and one by sophomore Jaydon Stroup — through six innings.

Bright had only thrown 79 pitches going to the bottom of the seventh inning, but a leado triple by McCarroll give the Demons the opportunity to send the game into extra innings.

“He (Bright) is a very evenknelled kid,” Severance coach Kevin Johnson said of the senior that nearly threw 80 innings for the Silver Knights this season with an ERA below 2.00. “He made good pitches to get the strikeout and then the y out.”

Golden junior Noah Welte pinch-hit with no outs, but struck out. Senior Daine Hart hit a y ball to left eld. Severance left elder Brycen Farris made the catch and red to third baseman Noah Hertzke. Silver Knight catcher Angie Dominguez caught the throw from Hertzke and put down the tag on Golden sophomore Andrew Romero,

Severance High School opened its doors in August of 2019. e Silver Knights faced Golden High School, which is the oldest continuously operating high school in Colorado having opened in 1873…150 years ago.

“We just started this school four years ago,” Bright said. “I’m on top of the world right now.”

e 4A state championship game was scheduled to be played at 10 a.m. Saturday at UCHealth Park in Colorado Springs. e decision was made round 9 a.m. that the eld in Colorado Springs was unplayable due to wet conditions, so the game was moved to a 3 p.m. in Pueblo after the 2A state championship game.

“Both teams played very well. It was four hits to four hits. It was a very even ballgame,” Johnson said. “Both kids pitched their behinds o .”

McCarroll will likely step into the roll of the Demons’

Golden coach Jackie McBroom has a meeting at the mound during the late innings against Severance in the Class 4A state championship game June 3 at Rawlings Field in Pueblo. The Demons lost 1-0 to finish as the 4A state runner-up.

PHOTO BY DENNIS PLEUSS/JEFFCO PUBLIC SCHOOLS

RUNNER-UP

FROM PAGE 24

top pitcher next season with the graduation of Palmer and Wicks.

“I just want to tell Braeden to keep doing what he is doing,” Wicks said. “He is a great baseball player. A great pitcher and honestly, a very good dude overall.”

Golden graduated seven seniors — Palmer, Wicks, Hart, Jaydon Hord, Hayden Carbone, Xavier Nuss and Jonathan Cochenour — that helped lead the Demons to a

third straight 4A Je co League title along with the deepest playo run since Golden won the 4A state title back in 2003.

“I think we set the tone for the next few seasons,” Palmer said. “We are a winning program. is should set the bar. We’ve got great coaching and great kids coming through the program. I think everyone is a gritty player and plays their heart out.”

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

Golden senior Noah Wicks, left, gets chased down by Severance third baseman Nolan Hertzke during the fourth inning June 3 at Rawlings Field in Pueblo. The Demons suffered a 1-0 loss in the 4A state championship game.

PHOTO BY DENNIS PLEUSS/JEFFCO PUBLIC SCHOOLS

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St. Michael & All Angels’ CHURCH

PARKING LOT behind the church

$7.00 / banker box or $25/car trunk load/ pick-ups negotiable

TELL YOUR FRIENDS

WIDOWED MEN AND WOMEN OF AMERICA.

A social club offering many exciting activities and life long friendships. Social hours for all areas of Metro Denver. Visit Widowedamerica.org for details In your area!

Garage Sales

YARD / GARAGE SALE

73rd Ave. and Vance Arvada 9am3pm

Friday and Saturday June 9th and 10th

Furniture, kitchen stuff, tools, books, collectibles and much more

Garage Sales

1st Annual Lamar Heights Community Garage Sale,

Saturday, June 10th from 9-5:30 pm

If you have things to sell, please RSVP using the QRC below, text 734.578.8521 or email kate.otto@porchlightgroup.com. Once you RSVP, you will be added to the garage sale map and given balloons for the day.

CLASSIFIED

303-566-4100

classifieds@coloradocommunitymedia.com

SERVICE

Contact

Merchandise

Antiques & Collectibles

27th Year for “Old Farm Item Sale”

8258 Inspiration Place, Parker. 9am - 6pm, June 9th, 10th and 11th.

3 wagon wheel hubs, 3 wood wagon wheels, 3 rotary hoe wheels, 1 cultivator, 1 1952 Case Tractor with bucket and snow blade, 20 assorted iron wheels, 1 garden cultivator, lots of farm and yard art, 3 cream cans, 4 planter tables, 100 new dowel sticks 3 sizes, cast iron buckets, 1 barn wood wheelbarrow, ladders, lumber and old iron, galvanized buckets and old tubs, 2 small wagons, lots of cheap nuts and bolts, 1 wash tub. No children clothes or items. Builders and collectors sale. Cash only.

Please join us for a huge Christmas in June

Garage Sale

Friday June 9th 8am-4pm and Saturday June 10th 9am-1pm

Clothes, furniture, kitchen, books, old electronics and so much more!

Come shop and see our smiling faces!

Jefferson Avenue United Methodist Church 4425 Kipling Street, Wheat Ridge. Please park in the south lot

Huge Annual Antique, Collectible & Horse Drawn Farm Equipment Sale

Horse Drawn Farm Equipment, Wood Wheel Wagons, Buggy, Steel Wheels, Misc. Farm Tons of Collectibles. Gas Pumps.

Thurs-Sun June 8th - June 11th 8:00am-4pm

10824

E Black Forest Dr Parker 80138 720-842-1716

Old Crows Antiques featuring The Root Beer Bar

An Antique destination in Littleton Colorado

Join us on Memory Lane. Something for everyone. Visit us for store info Instagram: @oldcrowsantiques www.facebook.com/ oldcrowsantiques www.oldcrows antiques.com 303-973-8648

Firewood

Split & Delivered $450 a cord Stacking $50 Call 303-647-2475 or 720-323-2173

Health & Beauty

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DENTAL INSURANCEPhysicians Mutual Insurance Company. Covers 350 procedures. Real insurancenot a discount plan. Get your free dental info kit! 1-855-526-1060

to be more safeguards in place to limit the amount of debt that metro districts can issue.

For example, the more than $760 million in bonds that the Baseline Metropolitan District can issue is about 72% greater than the city and county of Broomfield’s total outstanding debt, according to Broomfield’s latest comprehensive financial statement. Collectively, the 2,300 metro districts in Colorado hold more than $1 trillion in debt, which dwarfs the state of Colorado’s more than $37 billion of total debt.

“Unchecked, some of these financial structures could easily lead down a road of mass foreclosures or whole communities defaulting,” Sorensen said.

Metro districts also don’t seem to be helping to make Colorado homes more affordable. Colorado’s median home price has skyrocketed by more than 93% over the last decade from about $288,000 to more than $558,000 as of March 2023.

Rents for a two-bedroom apartment in major cities like Denver

and Boulder have also increased significantly. In Denver, rents have increased by 120% from about $830 in 2013 to about $1,967 today, according to data from RentCafe. Boulder’s average rent has increased by 137% over the same time period, from about $1,060 to more than $2,300, according to RentCafe.

Recent reform efforts

Despite some glaring issues with metro districts, legislative reform efforts have been hard to come by in part because of the strong lobbying efforts from developers.

Colorado lawmakers introduced multiple bills during the 2023 legislative session aimed at metro districts. One bill, House Bill 23-1090, sought to prohibit the directors of metro districts from purchasing the bonds that they issue through another entity. It was introduced by Democrat Rep. Mike Weisman of Aurora and Sen. Robert Rodriguez of Denver.

Weisman told the House Finance Committee that the bill is designed to create “higher restraint” on the part of metro district directors before they issue debt on behalf of the homeowners they represent.

“I want to be clear that there is a role for government debt. The state

TURN TO THE COLORADO SUN FOR NEWS ACROSS THE STATE

The Colorado Sun is a journalist-owned, award-winning news outlet that strives to cover all of Colorado so that our state — our community — can better understand itself.

In this way, The Sun contributes to a more vibrant, informed and whole Colorado. The Sun, launched in 2018, is committed to fact-based, in-depth and non-partisan journalism. It covers everything from politics and culture to the outdoor industry and

has it for school and fire districts,” Weisman told the committee. “But in just about every other case, those who purchase the debt do so at an arm’s length from those who issue it.”

However, HB23-1090 attracted significant pushback from groups like the Associated Builders and Contractors Rocky Mountain Chapter, the International Council of Shopping Centers, and the Colorado Chamber of Commerce to name a few. The Senate Local Government & Housing Committee voted to postpone the bill indefinitely by a 4-3 margin at the end of March.

Instead, lawmakers passed Senate Bill 23-110, a bipartisan bill that explicitly allows metro district directors to purchase this kind of debt. SB23-110 also requires additional transparency from metro districts regarding the debt issued and requires the entity to get the opinion of a registered municipal advisor regarding the market fairness of the debt incurred.

SB23-110 also gained the support of many lobbyists who did not support HB23-1090 such as the Adams County Regional Economic Partnership, the Colorado Infrastructure Council, and the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce.

Supporters of the bill like Maryann McGeady, an attorney with McGeady Becher P.C., a law firm that represents special districts, told lawmakers that SB23-110 ensures there is a standard set of best practices for all metro districts to follow. This includes clarifying information that needs to be included in a metro district’s service plan and which entities will be responsible for maintaining the district after it is complete.

But Colorado residents like Alex Plotkin, who lives in Boulder, told lawmakers that SB23-110 would simply add to the financial problems that homeowners in metro districts face.

“Statewide, this is becoming a multi-billion dollar issue with no signs of abating,” Plotkin told lawmakers in March. “So as the citizens of Colorado are struggling financially, representatives at all levels are further exacerbating the issue by enabling additional financial burden on countless citizens who have no say in the matter.”

Governor Jared Polis signed SB23-110 into law on April 3.

This Yellow Scene Magazine story via The Associated Press’ Storyshare, of which Colorado Community Media is a member.

education.

Now, The Colorado Sun co-owns this and other Colorado Community Media newspapers as a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy. The Sun is CCM’s partner for statewide news.

For Colorado Sun stories, opinions and more, and to support The Sun’s misssion as a member or subscriber, visit coloradosun.com.

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 ordinances and thereafter will consider them for final passage and adoption. For the full text version in electronic form go to www.arvada.org/legal-notices, and click on Current and recent Legal Notices to access legal notices. The full text version is also available in printed form in the City Clerk’s office. Contact 720.898.7550 if you have questions. The full text version is also available in printed form in the City Clerk’s office. Contact 720.898.7550 if you

have questions.

CB23-014: An Ordinance Repealing And Reenacting Section 62-39, Criminal Mischief, And Adding Sections 62-79, Criminal Tampering-Service, 6280, Criminal Tampering-Property, 62-81 Criminal Liability of Business Entities, and 62-82, Criminal Liability of an Individual for Corporate Conduct, of Article II Miscellaneous Offenses, of Chapter 62, Offenses, to the Arvada City Code.

CB23-015: An Ordinance Amending Various Sections of the Arvada City Code to Reflect the Change in Name from North Jeffco Park and Recreation to Apex Park and Recreation District.

CB23-016: An Ordinance Amending Subsection (i) (1)(vii), Sentencing Authority, Sentencing Options, Of Section 58-1, Jurisdiction and Powers of the Municipal Court, of Article I - In General, of Chapter 58, Municipal Court, of the Arvada City Code.

CB23-017: An Ordinance Repealing and Reenacting Section 2-211, Leasing of City-Owned Property, of Article VI, City Property, of Chapter 2, Administration, of The Arvada City Code.

CB23-018: An Ordinance Amending Certain Provisions Within the Land Development Code, of

the Arvada City Code to Add the Zoning District, Commercial, Neighborhood.

Legal Notice No. 416418

First Publication: June 8, 2023

Last Publication: June 8, 2023

Publisher: Jeffco Transcript

37th Annual MILE HIGH HOOK & LADDER

In Partnership with South Metro Fire Rescue

Saturday, June 17, 2023

PARADE: 9 a.m. – 10 a.m.

Littleton Blvd West through Historic Downtown Littleton

MUSTER: 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Arapahoe Community College 5900 S. Santa Fe, Littleton

FREE • EDUCATIONAL • FUN!

• Firefighters & Other First Responders

• Antique & Modern Fire Rescue Apparatus

• Rescue Demonstrations

• Fire Truck Rides

• Junior Firefighter Games

• Emergency Helicopter Landing