October 2, 2014 VOLU M E 31 | I SS UE 1 4 | 5 0 ¢
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Council eyes moratorium extension Move holds up licenses for marijuana businesses By Hugh Johnson
Leavell uses a device which applies a light rotating feeling, such as tickling, to directed areas loosening the muscles in Sloper’s back. Photos by Crystal Anderson
Scoliosis patient raises funds for holistic treatment By Crystal Anderson
POSTAL ADDRESS
Kara Sloper and her family have been reaching out to friends, colleagues, and neighbors seeking funds to cover a life-changing scoliosis therapy for a year. Last Thursday, she started treatment. In early spring 2013, Sloper, 14, was diagnosed with scoliosis, or the sideways curving of the spine. Her curve, known as a “S” Curve, curves approximately 57 and 51 degrees, causing pressure and pain within her lungs, vertebrae, neck and head. “I can’t do much physical exercise because it’s hard to breathe,” Sloper said. “I can’t pick up my little cousins, I get headaches, my neck hurts a lot and I feel nauseated.” After diagnosis, Sloper and her grandparents, who live in Elizabeth, Colorado, began researching nontraditional treat-
Kara Sloper, left, and Dr. Jane Leavell work on loosening the muscles in the back with a “wobbling” technique. ment options across the state, finding Dr. Jane Leavell and the Rhino Scoliosis Center, 4045 Wadsworth Blvd., a good fit. “I’m doing this treatment because the doctors, the stuff that they do is insufficient,”
Sloper said. A nonsurgical scoliosis treatment facility, Rhino works with patients to help reduce the curvature of their spine in a gentle, healing way. Rather Treatment continues on Page 4
Fracking task force gets down to business WHEAT RIDGE TRANSCRIPT (ISSN 1089-9197)
OFFICE: 722 Washington Ave, Unit 210 Golden, CO 80401 PHONE: 303-566-4100 A legal newspaper of general circulation in Jefferson County, Colorado, the Wheat Ridge Transcript is published weekly on Thursday by Mile High Newspapers, 722 Washington Ave, Unit 210, Golden, CO 80401. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT GOLDEN, COLORADO and additional mailing offices.
Group holds first meeting in bid to find compromises By Vic Vela
vvela@colorado communitymedia.com
A commission charged with finding legislative solutions to issues surrounding hydraulic fracturing met for the first time on Sept. 25, with members acknowledging the arduous task ahead. “I think it goes without
saying we have a tremendous task and challenge, a very difficult task ahead of us, and we should not be naive to think that it won’t be challenging,” said Randy Cleveland, a task force co-chairman and presiFracking continues on Page 4
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Gov. John Hickenlooper addresses an oil and gas task force during a Sept. 25 meeting inside the Colorado Division of Wildlife headquarters in Denver. Photo by Vic Vela
Wheat Ridge City Council will look to set a new 90-day moratorium on the issuing of licenses for marijuana establishments, as it considers special-use permits and the prohibition of marijuana licensing altogether. In front of a packed house at the Sept. 22 study session, council discussed issues concerning licenses for marijuana establishments. Council enacted an emergency 90-day moratorium Aug. 18 on the processing of applications for all new marijuana establishments. The moratorium was suggested after a proposed establishment at W. 38th Avenue and Miller Street invoked the ire of many residents. Due to current restrictions on retail and medicinal marijuana centers — which must remain three-fourths of a mile from each other and 1,000 feet away from schools, day cares, alcohol and substance abuse clinics and principle campuses of colleges and universities — the location at 38th and Miller became available once a center at 38th and Kipling closed down. Residents complained that 38th and Miller is too close to Everitt Middle School, Discovery Park and the recreational center. The issue prompted council to evaluate how to regulate the application and licensing process, a discussion which has reopened the debate on whether marijuana is needed at all. Police Chief Dan Brennan updated council on the statistics so far for service calls to marijuana establishments. He noted that most calls were for alarms that had been tripped or triggered, 98 percent of those calls ended without incident. Since 2009, at marijuana establishments Wheat Ridge’s Police Department has responded to five burglaries, three disturbances, 13 incidents of suspicious activity and one incident involving juveniles attempting to coerce older residents to purchase marijuana for them. Brennan also said WRPD has responded to two instances of aggravated robberies in which customers were robbed at gunpoint after purchasing marijuana. Councilman Jerry DiTullio of District One proposed allocating special-use permits for marijuana establishments at the Aug. 18 meeting. With special-use permits, applicants would have to justify to council and the surrounding neighborhood the need for a new establishment, regardless of a whether a location is available. DiTullio called for staff to bring forward a more comprehensive plan, looking at special use permits for marijuana establishments at a future meeting. He also proposed that council enact a second moratorium to give them more time to deal with the issues beyond the holidays. District Four Councilwoman Genevieve Wooden asked if council would consider prohibiting further licensing for marijuana centers, citing that neighboring municipalities have said no to marijuana altogether. She also suggested looking at potential locations for new establishments given the current spatial restrictions. Council members Kristi Davis and Tim Fitzgerald of Districts Two and Three respectively, contended that due to the current restrictions on marijuana establishments, the city could not physically contain many more centers than the five it currently has. Given that, Fitzgerald said a prohibition on all licenses would mostly be for show. “We’ve looked at that map two or three times and we know that there’s not very many places if any, where additional places can go,” Fitzgerald said. “That kind of a ban turns out to be more theater than reality because there just aren’t any more places.” City council will look to extend the moratorium and discuss options for marijuana licenses at a future session.