Transcript Wheat Ridge
WHEAT RIDGE 1/31/13 January 31, 2013
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A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourwheatridgenews.com
Jefferson County, Colorado • Volume 29, Issue 32
Panel discusses gun safety approaches By Hugh Johnson
newsroom@ourcoloradonews.com Six panelists outlined a multifaceted approach to keeping Jefferson County communities safe from violence at state Sen. Cheri Jahn’s, D-Wheat Ridge, first community listening session at the Wheat Ridge Recreation Center. In response to the school shootings at Sandy Hook and questions about the rela-
tionship between mass-murderers, guns and mental illnesses, Jahn and state Rep. Sue Schafer from District 24 addressed the issues of mental health and public safety on Saturday. “I have not made any decisions any way,” Jahn said. “I am in the listening mode ... I would be happy to take all your phone calls downtown, your e-mails downtown. We need to have a really thoughtful conversation around all of this.”
Lesley Dahlkemper, president of the Jefferson County Board of Education, told listeners that 38 school resource officers are on site at schools throughout the county. About 63,000 children, staff and faculty members have been trained in lockdown and lockout procedures. Wheat Ridge Police Chief Daniel Brennan said the answer to safety is not about focusing on guns, mental health or gangs individually but in a question of why society as a whole is so violent.
“The No. 1 cause of death for males between the ages of 15 and 24 is firearms,” Brennan said. He touched on mental health, stating the best aid is often given in prison after it’s too late. Former Sen. Moe Keller, now vice president of Public Policy at Mental Health of America Colorado, attacked the demonizing of the mentally ill by the mass media. “One in four Americans has a mental health issue ... It affects all of us,” Keller
Construction to widen 32nd under way Crews begin preliminary work at intersection to make new lanes By Sara Van Cleve
svancleve@ourcoloradonews. com The first phase of construction to widen 32nd Avenue and Youngfield Street began Jan. 24. Work is being done by Concrete Works of Colorado, which hosted a pre-construction meeting informing residents about the upcoming project on Jan. 23. The project, once complete, will widen 32nd and Youngfield to make room for double left turn lanes in each direction as well as a right turn lane and a right straight through lane. 32nd will be widened from Wright Court to Alkire Street and Youngfield will be widened from 31st Avenue north just past 32nd. The project has been broken down into three phases and several subphases after that to keep the construction timeline clear to residents. Phase 1 of the project, which is now under way, will last through June 24 and has been broken into three subphases. Phase 1A will consist of irrigation and drainage work near Braum Court and work on the east side of Youngfield Service Road from the Conoco to La Quinta as well as on the south abutment of Interstate 70. Contractors will also try to get
an irrigation line down the middle of Youngfield starting 350 feet south of 32nd and Youngfield continuing about 550 feet north of the intersection, Wright said. “It won’t change any lane configurations,” Wright said. “It will still be one lane of traffic going each direction.” Phase 1B will consist of work on the south side of 32nd from Alkire to Youngfield. Zinnia Court will be closed for 10 to 15 days during 1B as asphalt is being repaved. The closure is expected to be around mid-May. During phase 1C, Zinnia Court will be reopened and Zinnia Street will be closed for about 15 to 20 days. “We’ll be flip-flopping those side streets so there will be access to the neighborhood,” Wright said. “It’ll just be whichever one is open at the time, but there shouldn’t be issues of access at that time.” Wright said throughout the project Concrete Works of Colorado will work with the local schools to help maintain as much traffic flow as possible, especially during drop-off and pick-up times. “We really do encourage people, if they have another access, to come in through the east side, to try to avoid 32nd,” he said. “No matter what we do, it’s going to be impactful, but we’re going to try to minimize that as much as possible.” The widening of the intersection has been a long time coming. The intersection has been congested for years as about 13,700 cars travel
Chris Baerren of Baerren Concrete Co. stands over a grout pump along the southbound lane of Youngfield Street and West 32nd Avenue where construction begins to widen this intersection Friday, Jan. 25, in Wheat Ridge. Photo by Andy Carpenean through it daily. “That intersection doesn’t function very well today,” said Russell Higgins, the field supervisor with the city of Wheat Ridge. “One of the things we understood was is to add dual lefts to get that to work.” Some residents expressed concerns that the project isn’t addressing traffic issues on ramps to I-70,
but Higgins said that will be a later project when enough funds are available. “We do recognize there are some problems (with the I-70 ramps) and this is the first project in a process to alleviate some of that congestion. It doesn’t fix everything,” Higgins said. “We recognize that, but it is a process to do projects.”
For up-to-date information on the construction, visit the Public Works page at www.ci.wheatridge. co.us. A link to sign up for e-mail or text updates on traffic is available on the website. Construction plans are available for viewing at City Hall, 7500 W. 29th Ave.
Perlmutter pushes for weapons limitations By Darin Moriki
dmoriki@ourcoloradonews.com U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, who serves the seventh district, reiterated his support for federal gun control efforts during a phone conference town hall meeting Friday. “On one side of the district is Columbine and on the other side of the district is Aurora,” Perlmutter said. “I was going to too many
funerals last July and visited with families, first responders, law enforcement officers and medical staff. It was a very horrible, gruesome situation and murders that were done with an assault rifle and some other weapons with high-capacity magazines.” The mobile town hall meeting — which included about 11,000 residents — followed his announcement a few hours earlier to become the co-sponsor in the House of Rep-
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resentatives for the Assault Weapons Ban of 2013, which would prohibit 157 specific weapons and ammunition magazines that have more than 10 rounds. Perlmutter supports banning Perlmutter some assault rifles, semi-automatic weapons and highcapacity ammunition magazines. The bill was introduced to the Senate by California Sen. Dianne Feinstein and was expected to be introduced to the House of Representatives this week as of press time on Jan. 28. “The terrible toll that it takes on individuals, families and communities have to be considered when you’re looking at this,” Perlmutter said. “These 150 types of weapons should really be in the hands of military and law enforcement
personnel — they’re not meant for self-defense or hunting. We don’t want to do anything to the Second Amendment rights of those who want to hunt or need something for self-defense, but these are for really for military or law enforcement.” During the bill’s introduction, Perlmutter read a letter crafted and signed by 14 relatives of seven moviegoers killed in the Aurora theater shooting. “Our loved ones were gunned down and an entire generation of our families taken away in a matter of seconds,” the letter read in part. “We listened to the 911 tapes played in court and sat in agony as we heard 30 shots fired within 27 seconds, wondering if one of those bullets killed our children.” Under the proposed bill, Perlmutter said gun owners who now own an assault weapon will be allowed to keep it but will be subject to a background check, if they
choose to sell or transfer it to another person. Perlmutter said the bill is particularly important because it would close loopholes left in the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, which barred the future manufacturing of 19 specific semi-automatic firearms and banned the possession of magazines holding more than ten ammunition rounds. “It’s going to be a very difficult bill to pass,” Perlmutter said. “I don’t want anybody to have any illusions about that. There is a lot of work to be done, but I am supportive of that and will work on behalf of those families from Aurora and Newtown.”
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