CHRISTOPHER

Avenue (city hall, police building and library in separate buildings).

Municipal court sessions were held in the round Council Chambers. In the 1980’s, the police and court moved to its own building at 88th Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard.

en much later the courts moved to the city hall building on 76th Avenue. Now, the judicial function will still be on the site where they were in 1961, but in their own separate building. e decision to build a new court facility is long overdue and will be a welcomed improvement.

Clock is ticking on national debt ceiling

While President Biden and Speaker of the House Kevin McCartney jockey for position on negotiating a deal on cutting spending in order to raise the debt limit, the clock is ticking away.

As I write this column, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen speculates that there are up to ten days left before the United States cannot pay their accrued bills and loans.

Plain and simple, the threat of the United States government defaulting on its debt has huge global and national consequences. It could well be the tipping point to send us into a full recession which is the last thing America needs right now.

Let’s not play “Russian Roulette” with our nancial future. Biden and McCarthy need to quickly reach some compromises which are salable to both Congressional houses. Hopefully, McCarthy can deliver with his Republican majority in the House. While the Republican House has leverage to wield and Biden wants to save all the funding approvals, the fate of the nation is far more important. Let’s hope they understand and act accordingly.

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• Email your letter to letters@coloradocommunitymedia.com. Do not send via postal mail. Put the words “letter to the editor” in the email subject line.

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• Letters should be exclusively submitted to Colorado Community Media and should not submitted to other outlets or previously posted on websites or social media. Submitted letters become the property of CCM and should not be republished elsewhere.

• Letters advocating for a political candidate should focus on that candidate’s qualifications for o ce. We cannot publish letters that contain unverified negative information about a candidate’s opponent. Letters advocating for or against a political e Westminster Angels were a semi-pro baseball team (no pay) which sprang up in the 1975 baseball season. Some Ranum High School players and college guys who had graduated from Ranum came up with the idea. ey wanted to experience semi-pro ball. e J.V. high school coach, Chris Dittman, thought it was a great idea and things started happening. anks to Westminster Window articles and an interview with Chris, I got the low down. ese guys were pretty good baseball players. In fact, some of the players were later drafted by major league teams. e shortstop from Grand Canyon University was also a quarterback and later played with the San Diego Chargers for several seasons. e team had a sponsor who popped for the snazzy uniforms. Ken Cornish who owned Industrial Disposal was a big supporter. e team played the Arvada Dons, Broom eld Athletics, Englewood Redbirds, Boulder Collegians, Pueblo Merchants, Olympia Brewers and the Colorado Springs Blue Sox. Home games were played at Ranum High School.

Who were the Westminster Angels?

Here is a piece of Westminster history you won’t nd in the history books. Do you have any clue who the Westminster Angels were?

Perhaps they were an acapella men’s group? Or maybe a volunteer group of retired nurses? Or how about a committee of mixed denominations of Westminster churches addressing human needs?

Nope, it was none of those.

The college med student pitcher e Angels did a six game road trip to Kansas in August playing in Dodge City, Fort Hayes and Liberal. Unfortunately, they lost all six games due to the opponents’ extremely good pitching, according to Coach Dittman. ey wrapped up their one and only season nishing third in the state semi-pro tournament in Pueblo. Ditt- candidate or ballot issue will not be published within 12 days of an election. man was named Coach of the Year.

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For the season, the Angels nished 18-18 which isn’t too shabby a start.

A fun thing for me in reading all of the Window clippings was a photo and write up about Angel’s ace pitcher Mike Archer. Mike is a fellow Westminster Rotarian and was my family doctor for more than 30 years.

Dittman shared with me that Archer was in med school at C.U. during the baseball season. During the Kansas tournament in Liberal, Mike drove his own car from Westminster to Liberal to pitch the game that day and afterwards hopped back in his car and drove to back Boulder to attend classes the same day. Now that is being a dependable player and dedicated student!

While the team only played one season, it was a good experience for the players and an opportunity for Westminsterites to see baseball played a cut above high school ball. So now, you know who the Westminster Angels were.

Let’s hear it for the Nuggets!

It only took 47 years to do it, but the Denver Nuggets are in the championship round in the National Basketball Association.

A hearty congratulations and best wishes to coach Malone and his Western Conference Champs are in order. anks to stellar performances from Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, the Nuggets swept the formable LA Lakers in four straight games. Now, that is exceptional given the Lakers track record.

In the meantime, we wait to see if the Nuggets will face the Boston Celtics or the Miami Heat representing the Eastern Conference. Denver fans are hyped to be the NBA Champs. Go Nuggets!

Bill Christopher is a former Westminster city manager and RTD board member. His opinions are not necessarily those of Colorado Community Media. You can contact him at bcjayhawk68@gmail.com.

Private dog park site gaining pup-ularity

BY MCKENNA HARFORD MHARFORD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Since Elle Ritt started renting her Wheat Ridge yard to fellow dog owners in November, she’s hosted birthday parties for pups, pooch photoshoots and doggie play groups almost every weekend.

Ritt is one of dozens of renters in the Denver metro area on a website called Sni Spot, which links people interested in sharing their yard with local dog owners who want a private fenced area to let their pups o -leash. rough Sni Spot, renters set an hourly rate per dog and time slot availability for users to book.

With two older dogs who need less exercise, Ritt said she wanted to let other dogs take advantage of her large yard and, so far, there has been no shortage of demand.

“It’s just mindblowing how frequently it’s used,” she said.

Ritt said a majority of her visitors don’t have their own yards and prefer to avoid public dog parks because of reactive or sensitive pups. e site allows users to tailor their search to t needs like a taller fence height or not having other dogs or animals visible.

Dr. Rebecca Ruch-Gallie, a 23-year veterinarian at Colorado State University’s Community Practice clinic, said the uncontrolled nature of dog parks leads to risks like ghts and disease transmission, which is why she typically recommends other ways to exercise dogs, such as daycare or private yard time.

In addition to walks and playtime, RuchGallie said some dogs need to run and all dogs bene t from exploring new routes and places.

Ruch-Gallie said she will sometimes take her pups on what she calls a “sni -ari.”

“ ey take in the world much di erently than we do, so give them those di erent scents to pick up and opportunities to see and smell di erent things,” she said. “Sometimes they just want to go, go, go and get their energy out and other times they just want to meander and take the sni s in.”

Mike Rieber, who has been renting his fenced pasture in Parker since October, said one of the best perks of sharing his yard is seeing how excited pups get to check out new scents and release their energy.

“ ey call it a Sni Spot and I never really understood how important that was to a dog, but that’s the rst thing they all do when they get here is smell everything,” Rieber said. “Especially with the repeat dogs, as soon as their paws hit the ground, boy, they’re o .”

Ritt’s experience has been similar, she said, adding that Sni Spot has been mutually bene cial, not just for the dogs, but also the humans. She’s received multiple thank you notes from visitors and attests that catching glimpses of visitors always makes her smile.

“It’s so cute to peek in the backyard and see grown men laying on their stomachs taking pictures of their puppies,” Ritt said.

Another Sni Spot user, Lyndsey Leach, who rents her Lakewood backyard, agreed. Leach lost her own pooch three years ago but remains an avid dog-lover. “It’s so nice when they’re comfortable and running around,” she said. “I’m always happy when they’re happy.” None of the three renters report issues with destroyed yards, rude users, neighbor complaints or unruly animals.

In addition to the positive mental health benefits, Leach said renting her yard is a convenient passive income and gives her the flexibility to be away from home if needed. Leach estimates that since she started in January, she’s had about 50 visitors and made around $400.

“I don’t really have any expenses associated with it, other than eaten tennis balls,” she joked.

Rieber said he didn’t originally think he would make much money from the app but has been happy with the extra cash. He noted the demand is only picking up in the warmer months, though he got a fair share of visitors during the winter as well.

“We’re not trying to maximize our revenue, we’re doing this more as a service for young people that have dogs and need a place that’s private,” he said.

For Ritt, her most recent month was her most successful, cashing in over $1,000, and before that, she averaged a few hundred dollars monthly.

“One of our dogs has had a ton of health issues, so it’s like SniffSpot funds her care,” Ritt said. “It truly has been a notable supplemental income.”

To learn more, visit sniffspot.com.