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October 10, 2014 VOLU M E 1 3 | I SS UE 46
CentennialCitizen.net A publication of
A R A P A H O E C O U N T Y, C O L O R A D O
Golf at the top tier New company brings unique approach to game to Centennial Staff report City councilmembers took the first swings at a groundbreaking ceremony Oct. 3 on the 13 acres of property in Centennial that will soon be home to a new company called Topgolf. The company offers a unique approach to golf where people aim for targets, rather than holes, from an open-faced, tiered building. The building, located near the corner of South Havana Street and East Easter Avenue, will be three levels with a total of 102 bays where six individuals can play a game, which is scored similar to bowling. Topgolf director of sales and marketing, Susan Walmesley, estimates the company will bring 450 jobs to Centennial and is expecting to be open for business in the spring of 2015. The company, which started in London in 2000 but is now based in Dallas, has 13 locations in the United States and, including the Centennial location, 10 more under construction. Centennial Mayor Cathy Noon said she is excited to have Topgolf opening in the city for its first location in Colorado. “It’s a really great social activity,” she said, “even for the non-golfers.”
LOOK FOR IT NEXT WEEK
District seeking to raise scores LPS goes from first in state to fifth for English-language learners By Jennifer Smith
jsmith@colorado communitymedia.com The growth and achievement scores for English-language learners in Littleton Public Schools fell from first to fifth in the state for the 2013-14 school year, according to data presented to the board of education on Sept. 25. “It doesn’t really matter what subgroup they’re in,” said Patti Turner, director of learning services. “If they haven’t caught up, that’s what’s important to us.” The district encourages families of English-language learners to send their kids to
Centennial Mayor Cathy Noon practices a golf swing Oct. 3 at the groundbreaking ceremony for a new company called Topgolf, which is coming to Centennial in the spring of next year. Photo by Christy Steadman
District continues on Page 9
ELECTION 2014: THE RACE FOR GOVERNOR
Hickenlooper proud of record Beauprez: State needs leader Governor says unusual approach isn’t indecision
Challenger doubles down on tough approach
By Vic Vela
By Vic Vela
John Hickenlooper doesn’t worry about whether people “get” him. His “aw, shucks,” nerd-like personality and his imperfect — and sometimes meandering — way of speaking are a far cry from anything that resembles a polished, focusgroup-driven politician. Through three elections, the quirky Hickenlooper brand has resonated with voters, as evidenced by a landslide win for governor in 2010, and before that, two decisive victories in Denver mayoral races. But it is that same style that has left him wide open for political attacks. He has become fodder for Republican press releases that blast the governor as being a wishywashy failed leader who struggles while deciding over a breakfast menu, much less over areas of public policy. “Obviously, I’m a different kind of politician, but that’s what most people said they wanted,” said Hickenlooper during a recent one-on-one interview with Colorado Community Media from inside his re-election campaign office in Denver’s Lower Highland neighborhood. “They said they’re sick of the same old talking head who gets up in there in a robotic fashion and says the same platitudes that we’ve heard for a million years. That’s one of the reasons why people like me run for office. I think people deserve more.” Hickenlooper has heard the criticism before. But as he enters the final stretch of a tight re-election campaign against former Congressman Bob Beauprez, he prefers to talk about his economic record as governor. There is no question that the economy has gained steam and jobs have been created under his watch. And he largely received praised for his response to crises that made national headlines, such as the Aurora theater shooting, wildfires and last year’s statewide flooding. But Hickenlooper’s own words haven’t
It seems appropriate that a guy who likes to play in the dirt is involved in politics — a business where a lot of mud gets slung. Yes, Bob Beauprez is a former congressman and the Republican nominee for governor, but he is also a bison rancher and an avid gardener who likes getting his hands dirty. “I am obsessive about the condition of our yard and garden and all that,” Beauprez said during a recent one-on-one interview with Colorado Community Media. “I love playing in the dirt. I love plants and fussing with them and the beauty of them.” When Beauprez isn’t tending to his plants, he is on the campaign trail trying to plant the seed in the minds of voters that Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper is a failed leader who should be voted out of office. “He has this obsession with collaborating; wants to talk everything through, forever,” Beauprez said of Hickenlooper. “He can’t make a decision and he won’t make a decision.” While Beauprez hammers away at Hickenlooper on a number of issues — gun control, the death penalty and hydraulic fracturing, just to name a few — he is also out to prove the late F. Scott Fitzgerald wrong, that there are indeed second acts in American lives. Beauprez lost badly to Bill Ritter in a 2006 gubernatorial bid where he never recovered from the “Both Ways Bob” label that was pinned on him by a fellow Republican in the primary field. It would be a quite a comeback story if Beauprez unseats Hickenlooper, especially in a state that has been trending Democratic in recent elections and where voters rarely have an appetite to vote out an incumbent governor. Hickenlooper is also backed by an economy that has grown
vvela@coloradocommunitymedia.com
vvela@coloradocommunitymedia.com
‘I sit there and look back over the past four years (and) I think during all the significant issues, I think we made the right decisions.’ John Hickenlooper, Colorado governor
done him any favors this campaign. Sometimes when the governor speaks, the result is reminiscent of the Grateful Dead during an off night — the trademark style is there, but it will sometimes run off the rails, leaving those listening scratching their heads. His decision last year to grant a reprieve to death-row inmate Nathan Dunlap — who killed four people inside an Aurora Chuck E. Cheese’s restaurant in 1993 — was met with confusion and criticism. And in television interviews this year, the governor said that he has moved away from being a supporter of the death penalty (he told voters in 2010 that he was in favor of capital punishment). Hickenlooper continues on Page 9
‘...This isn’t about who you want to go have a beer with or shoot a game of pool with. This is about who can lead this state.’ Bob Beauprez, Colorado gubernatorial candidate
stronger and created jobs on his watch. But Beauprez believes voters now have the appetite to oust a governor who won his seat in a landslide in 2010 and whose quirky personality has both endeared him to supporters and irked his detractors. Beauprez spent the entire summer blasting Hickenlooper for “failing to lead” on the issue of the death penalty, having been highly critical of the governor’s decision to grant a reprieve to death-row inmate Nathan Dunlap, who killed four people at an Aurora Chuck E. Cheese’s restaurant in 1993. Beauprez said Hickenlooper should have either chosen to go forward with the execution or grant clemency, rather than Beauprez continues on Page 9