Courier View Pikes Peak 10-2-2013
Pikes Peak
Teller County, Colorado • Volume 52, Issue 40
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CRIPPLE CREEK
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourtellercountynews.com
Center plans October event By Norma Engelberg Contributing writer
With Rentfrow’s input and photos, Applegate writes the text as well as the 100,000 lines of code for the app, which offers bonuses such as up-to-the-minute road and weather reports. “There are hundreds of thousands of apps out there, but these guys have put capabilities in a travel app that you aren’t Printed on recycled going to find in some other cities,” said newsprint. Please recycle this copy. Mike Perini, founder of Perini and Associates public-relations firm. “There are even things for kids to do.” Applegate started his program training
Elizabeth Connell is looking for sponsors, not for herself, of course, but for Woodland Park Panther Recycling. Connell, youth employment program specialist at Woodland Park RE-2 School District, is the Panther Recycling program developer. The program needs help from the Teller County community, she said. Woodland Park Panther Recycling, which started up at the Woodland Park Middle School in January, is a venue for recycling unwanted electronics. Besides helping the community keep electronic devices out of landfills, the recycling depot also teaches needed job skills to the school district’s special-education students. Panther Recycling has recently had an influx of televisions because of a new state law nonprofit organizations such as Discover Goodwill and ARC of Colorado are no longer taking used televisions for resale. Students enrolled in the program learn how to use power tools to take electronics apart for their recyclable parts, while at the same time, they learn about running a business. “According to the Colorado Association for Recycling, 296 jobs are created for each ton of computers recycled each year,” Connell said. “Our program not only helps the environment, but also teaches job skills to a population of students who will have a difficult time finding jobs. It’s perfect, they learn skills for jobs those skills are creating.” These students get the premise behind e-recycling. When Connell asked them why they are participating in the program, one of them answered that “recycling electronics isn’t about making money; it’s about helping the environment.” Another said “if you leave your electronics outside, chemicals may seep into the ground and contaminate our water and that can hurt our animals.” Senate Bill 12-133, which went into effect Aug. 1, was approved last year by the Colorado General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. John Hickenlooper on Earth Day 2012. The law bans electronics, everything from computers and monitors to DVD players and tablets, from landfills and enforcement includes fines of up to $10,000 per violation. The law requires all Colorado counties to make a “good-faith” effort to provide electronic waste recycling to their citizens. According to the law, a good-faith effort might include having two collection events in the county each year or opening a permanent collection facility. Those counties that can’t achieve that effort can ask for an exemption. Saving Teller County from opening a permanent facility or seeking an exemption, Panther Recycling is now offering two collection events per year, one in April to correspond with Earth Day and one on Oct. 12 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Woodland Park Middle School. “America Recycles Day is in November, but recycling in October makes it less likely we’ll be recycling in the snow,” Connell said, adding that even October could be
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By Pat Hill
phill@ourcoloradonews.com
POSTAL ADDRESS
75 cents
State’s new e-recycling law explained
App thrusts town into 21st century What seems like magic is the result of brain power and shoe leather. With a tap of the finger tip, the Cripple Creek mobile app yields instant information in response to the user’s query. Casinos, restaurants, lodging, shopping, shuttles and parking, the app reveals all about each category. Instead of asking for directions, the app zeroes in on the exact location in Cripple Creek. The technology wizards who designed the app are John Applegate and Bill Rentfrow, shift manager and slot technician, respectively, at Century Casino. “Bill took all the photos and gathered the data and I created the back end,” Applegate said. “We list everything about the business; if there’s a web page, email or social media, we’ll include that at no extra charge.” The app is available only through the iPhone and most of the information is available offline. “Most people have some kind of connectivity these days, but if you don’t, the offline feature beats a lot of apps right there,” Rentfrow said. The Cripple Creek Mobile App is reliable. “Our app is bullet-proof, does not crash at all,” Applegate said. The app is user-friendly. “With the little buttons on the side you can email; you don’t leave the app except for phone calls,” Rentfrow said. Because of the human connection, the information is 99 percent accurate, Applegate said. “We go out and actually find the gold,” Rentfrow said. “If you data mine, you get a lot of inaccurate information, pulled in from the Internet, or some other source.” As the go-to guy, Rentfrow pounds the pavement to ensure the app’s information is correct, that a restaurant remains open or a casino is still in the chips. “I keep in
October 2, 2013
John Applegate, left, and Bill Rentfrow, have designed a mobile app for the Apple iPhone that, with a press of the finger, reveals everything you’d ever want to know about Cripple Creek, including where your car is parked, just in case you forgot. Photo by Pat Hill
‘There are hundreds of thousands of apps out there, but these guys have put capabilities in a travel app that you aren’t going to find in some other cities.’ Mike Perini, founder of Perini and Associates public-relations firm
constant contact; believe me, if there’s something wrong, somebody’s going to bust our chops,” he said.