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July 15, 2021
JEFFERSON COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
JeffcoTranscript.com
VOLUME 37 | ISSUE 51
Wheat Ridge named All-American City Council member says going through application process a reward in itself
Concerns remain about Delta variant, low teen vax rates
BY BOB WOOLEY BWOOLEY@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
The National Civic League has named Wheat Ridge an All-American City for 2021. The award has been given to 10 cities each year since 1949. According to the National Civic League, the All-American City designation recognizes a community’s ability to bring residents, organizations and governments together to solve the challenges of their communities. Every year, the award focuses on a specific topic. Each community vying for the award submits three projects their city has worked on that year. At least one of those projects has to be focused on that year’s topic. Council woman Rachel Hultin helped spear-head the Wheat Ridge effort this year. She said she knew Wheat Ridge was already an All-American City and she wanted it to be officially recognized. So, with help from Council member Val Nosler-Beck and City Manager, Patrick Goff, the process to get Wheat Ridge that national recognition was officially under-
Jeffco doing well on COVID-19
BY PAUL ALBANI-BURGIO PALBANIBURGIO@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Each of the three civic projects, the group highlighted, required a 2000-word essay. The three projects submitted include the Wheaties Academy, Sustainable Wheat Ridge and the Wheat Ridge Together Initiative. Wheaties Academy, a grassroots leadership program, was also helmed by Hultin. Its goal is to create community leaders that would expand and diversify the civic voice.
While some Colorado counties have seen new COVID-19 case spikes in recent weeks, Jeffco has so far avoided that fate. Instead, the county’s sevenday case incidence rate has been flatlined at around 23 new cases per 100,000 county residents since mid-June after declining rapidly for the two months before that. Those current sustained case levels represent the lowest case levels Jeffco has seen in over a year. “Jefferson County is doing quite well I am very pleased to say,” Jefferson County Public Executive Director Dr. Dawn Comstock told Colorado Community Media on July 9. “Compared to other regions of the country and most other areas of our state, Jeffco has higher vaccination coverage, low communitywide spread currently and low
SEE WHEAT RIDGE, P7
SEE COVID, P6
Wheat Ridge City Council member Rachel Hultin holds a sign announcing Wheat Ridge’s selection in the semifinals of the All-American City competition. COURTESY OF RACHEL HULTIN
way. The application process is a big task to take on. “Senior staff put a lot of time into this. It’s a very time-intensive process,” Hultin said. “So, Patrick Goff’s support was really critical. This was at the peak of the pandemic when the city’s capacity was in a pretty heightened triage type of state.” She said the group met every Friday morning from January until the competition, June 9, putting together the 20-page application.
AUTOMEZZI XXXI EXOTIC ITALIAN CAR AND MOTORCYCLE SHOW Don’t miss the largest gathering of Italian Marques in the Rocky Mountain region! Sunday, July 18, 2021 • 9am - 1pm Denver Kickers Sport Club in Golden
Info and Tickets: www.AutomezziColorado.com INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 12 | LIFE: PAGE 14 | CALENDAR: PAGE 17 | SPORTS: PAGE 19
FREE RANGE THERAPY How a horse and a trail can be good for the soul
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