1-Color
January 17, 2014 Douglas County, Colorado | Volume 12, Issue 12 A publication of
parkerchronicle.net
Hickenlooper: State of our state is strong Governor touts economic numbers during address By Vic Vela
vvela@coloradocommunitymedia.com Gov. John Hickenlooper sounded like a man running for re-election during his annual State of the State address inside the Capitol on Jan. 9, as he touted Colorado’s economic rebound and called on lawmakers to “ignore divisive politics.” The governor sounded themes of unity throughout his speech, but particularly
Gov. John Hickenlooper motions to his cabinet, seated in the House chambers in the Colorado State Capitol, during the State of the State speech in Denver on Jan. 8. Photo by Hannah Garcia
when he lauded Coloradans’ resilience during times of tragedy last year — which led to one of the most enthusiastically-received lines of the day. “Colorado does not shutdown. Colorado does not quit. Colorado does not break,” he said, to a standing ovation inside the House chamber, where all 100 state lawmakers were gathered. Hickenlooper hyped Colorado as a magnet for businesses and a state where job numbers continue to grow. And, for the most part, he stayed away from contentious issues that dominated the Legislature last year. While Democrats walked away glowingly from the governor’s speech, many Republicans voiced a “wait-and-see” response. “Well it felt good, but let’s see if those feelings continue for the rest of the year,” said Rep. Carole Murray, R-Castle Rock.
“When he talked about not wanting parties to lock down, I hope he holds to that with his own party.” Much of the governor’s speech focused on the state’s improving economic numbers. Hickenlooper said the state has experienced a significant rebound in job numbers since 2010, when Colorado was ranked 40th in the nation in job growth. Now, the state ranks fourth in that category, has added 170,000 jobs over the last few years, and has seen its unemployment rate drop from 9 percent in 2010, to its current rate of 6.5 percent. “But let’s be clear,” the governor cautioned, “the unemployment rate is not low enough, and all of us share a commitment to keep a statewide focus on this issue.” State continues on Page 10
PACE sign to be installed LED message board will announce shows at venue By Chris Michlewicz
cmichlewicz@coloradocommunitymedia.com
When Jamie LaRue accepted the executive director post in 1990, Douglas County had the worst library system in the state. It’s now the best in the country in its circulation class. Now it’s goodbye. LaRue is leaving Jan. 17. Photo by Virginia Grantier
A real page-turner
LaRue leaving after transforming Douglas County Libraries By Virginia Grantier
vgrantier@coloradocommunitymedia.com He was age 6, and bored out of his mind one day, while in the middle of playing a baseball game — even then, not a team-sports fan — when he spotted something. And he started walking. He walked right out of the baseball game, no one stopping him, and he kept walking. “I saw this blue shimmer, and it kept getting closer and closer,” recalled Jamie LaRue, now 59, and the longtime Douglas County Libraries executive director. What LaRue saw was a bookmobile in his hometown of Waukegan, Ill.,
the first one he’d ever been in. Inside, a smiling librarian. And all of those books. At age 10, that same librarian, Mrs. Johnson, handed him “The Dialogs of Plato,” which he said changed his life. He said he still remembers the sentence he opened it to: “Socrates asked `what is wise?’ ” “I’ve been thinking about it ever since,” he said. Eventually he was reading a book a day. At one point LaRue decided to become a theoretical astrophysicist until he tried to get through a trigonometry class and realized he was the “dumbest kid in the room.” It then occurred to him librarians were the people who had helped him all of his life. “The library for me was a sanctuary and intellectual playhouse,” he said. He doesn’t watch TV. He writes poetry, loves walks, reads while he walks and plays music. A popular song with
audiences — when he performed with his guitar and banjo and a friend, an acoustic duo who called themselves the “Tuna Boys” — was “Blow up your TV,” by John Prine. LaRue said he has about 300 books near his bedside that he re-reads every year, and thousands of books about everywhere else in his Castle Rock house. “Good insulation,” he smiled. And great for other things. LaRue said results of a 20-year international study following children in 27 countries show unequivocally that having 500 books in the house between the ages of 0-5 is like having two parents with master’s degrees. Predictors of such things as whether a child will grow up to happy, healthy, educated, financially secure and out of jail can all be traced back to fourthgrade reading levels.
The designers behind a $200,000 electronic message board that will go in front of the Parker Arts, Culture and Events Center say they wanted to create a window to the action inside. Sporting a 12-by-6-foot LED screen, the new gateway art piece will announce shows to passing motorists and pedestrians once it’s installed this spring. At 20-feet tall, the sign will quickly become a noticeable landmark along East Mainstreet near Pine Drive. Bob Gnaegy, signage designer for TaCito Design, Inc., said he wanted to create a look that complements the PACE Center’s architecture and “draws eyes to the building.” The sign is being built by YESCO, a company also creating a sign for the new Charles Schwab campus on Lincoln Avenue near Interstate 25 in Lone Tree. The idea was to make an aesthetic statement by designing a sculpture with a “sign carefully integrated into it,” Gnaegy said. The team wanted to avoid a typical LED sign on a stone base. The result was what looks like an “abstract artist’s easel,” which Gnaegy described as a fitting analogy for supporting PACE artists and their work in all types of media. It’s not overpowering and capably blends art and technology, he said, adding it was “appropriate to go beyond convention” because of the message board’s intended use. Councilmember John Diak said some residents don’t know where the PACE Center is located and he expressed concern that the piece “doesn’t create a brand” because the performing arts venue’s name isn’t on the sign. “Something that says `PACE Center’ would be more appealing,” he said. The venue name will be used in advertisements for upcoming shows on the large screen, according to the team charged with creating the message board. A handful of young trees lining East Mainstreet could be removed because of concerns that future growth could obstruct the sign. One councilmember suggested using planters containing flowers to replace them. The sign is expected to be the first piece in a sculpture garden that will decorate the PACE Center’s front lawn.
LaRue continues on Page 9
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