February 27, 2014
50 cents Jefferson County, Colorado | Volume 30, Issue 35 A publication of
wheatridgetranscript.com
City officials explain pay or serve warrants By Hugh Johnson
Stewart’s heart-shaped sculptures on display at the Meet the Artist event. Photo by Hugh Johnson
one
Artist builds connections
SCULPTURE at a time
By Hugh Johnson Building community is more than just budgets, designs and development. It’s about people connecting with others over a shared interest. Artist Melinda Stewart, a teacher at the Clyfford Still Museum and Denver Public Schools, builds community through her sculptures. Stewart was the latest to be featured in Cultural Commission’s Meet the Artist events that take place at local businesses throughout the city. Held on the third Thursday of the month, February’s event was at Kataluma Chai Co. on 38th Avenue. The series has featured 12 local artists. Stewart gave a presentation detailing how she creates her sculptures and had a few of her works on hand for people to view. Perhaps the most notable characteristic of Stewart’s work is that most of her pieces are heart-shaped. They aren’t the cute Valentine’s Day hearts either. These hearts are detailed replicas of the organs beating inside the human body. Stewart believes that hearts invoke a strong response that will hopefully get folks talking. “People come to a heart with a suitcase of ideas. Like it’s not a neutral image,” she said. “I think most people are either incred-
ibly drawn to that or they’re repelled by that but either way, they have a response ... Hopefully, I’m creating a piece of art that lets them develop their own interpretation of the piece or maybe change it or tweak it.” The sculptures do produce a response. After handling one of Stewart’s paper clay pieces, Wheat Ridge resident, Donald Nash, began talking about some of the encaustic paintings he’s done. Encaustic paint is made from beeswax and has a texture that is interesting to touch. Nash is a painter who has attended nearly every meet the artist event since it’s inception about a year and a half ago. For him, the events present an opportunity to meet new people. “The support of community is always a warm, welcoming feeling to any artist,” Nash said. So many times you go and nobody knows what the strange person next door does ... It’s nice to let the neighbors know what you’re doing.” Sadly, these events are coming to an end. Milly Nadler, a member of the Wheat Ridge cultural commission, is stepping down as the event organizer. She hopes that someone will fill in the void in the near future, or Wheat Ridge could lose such a vibrant aspect of the community.
With Stewart’s heart-shaped sculptures on display, young Wheat Ridge residents enjoy chai tea while at the Meet the Artist event. Photo by Dan Williams
Wheat Ridge staff informed state Rep. Sue Schafer that they are opposed to House Bill 14-1061, concerning the elimination of jail time for failure to pay fees. At the Feb. 3 study session, council held a legislative forum in which they provided recommendations to District 24 Rep. Sue Schafer. One of the items, House Bill, 141061 would eliminate jail time for those who don’t pay court fines. According to City Attorney, Gerald Dahl, the bill is being initiated by the American Civil Liberties Union in Colorado. Dahl said the ACLU has been investigating “pay-orserve” warrants. These warrants require defendants to either pay fines monetarily or pay their fines through imprisonment. The practice has invoked the ire of the ACLU who believes it violates the U.S. and Colorado Constitutions and targets those too poor to pay. Joseph Salazar,D-District 31, and Lucia Guzman, D-District 34, are the primary sponsors of the bill. Another publication recently released an article about pay-or-serve warrants which featured stories from residents who had been jailed. Wheat Ridge was one of the cities highlighted for excessive use of payor-serve warrants. Dahl and Wheat Ridge Judge, Christopher D. Randall, believe the matter is more complicated than simply throwing a person in jail if they cannot pay a fine. “Nobody is jailed at sentencing who cannot pay a fine. Nobody. Second of all no one is incarcerated who is truly unable to pay a fine,” Randall said. Randall said that warrants aren’t issued because someone is poor but they are generally issued for failure appear in court, or failure to request a payment plan or some alternative to the sentencing. He also said that most everybody who decides to plead guilty and receives a fine has 30 days to pay it , during which they can apply for a payment plan to alleviate any financial burden. It’s continued delinquencies with no communication that may result in a warrant being issued. Dahl said that imprisonment is necessary to enforce the payment of fines. He said the city hopes to come to terms on an option that will allow Wheat Ridge to maintain local control.
Medical claims expedited for Flats
Jerry Harden, left, and Jeff Schultz, right, stand quietly during a town hall meeting in Denver on Wednesday, Feb. 20. Representatives and directors from the Department of Energy, Department of Labor and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) held a two-day informative town hall meeting for Rocky Flats workers on how to qualify and apply for medical compensations. Photo by Amy Woodward
By Amy Woodward
awoodward@coloradocommunitymedia.com
POSTAL ADDRESS
Printed on recycled newsprint. Please recycle this copy.
Former workers at Rocky Flats may be able to bypass the complex federal claims process and move to the head of the line to receive medical compensations for illnesses stemming from radiation exposure at the plutonium trigger manufacturing plant. Rocky Flats workers were made part of a Special Exposure Cohort (SEC) in early January which allows for this alternative route. In order to qualify for the SEC class, employees must have worked at least 250 days at the plant between April 1, 1952 and Dec. 31, 1983 and they must have been diagnosed with one of 22 specified cancers including bone and renal cancers. Other cancers including breast, colon and brain, among others, must have an onset at least five years after first exposure. “It’s a lot shorter path to getting paid,” said Jeff Schultz, founder of Rocky Flats Nuclear Workers, a nonprofit advocacy group for former Rocky Flats workers. Schultz and his wife worked at Rocky Flats for 16 years from 1983. Around nine
years ago, his wife was diagnosed with kidney cancer and was told her claim would be processed but Schultz and his wife are still trying to prove she got cancer from working at the plant. “It’s good news for a lot of people, there are a lot of claims out there that were denied that are now going to be revisited,” he said. “It didn’t help my wife any but we have high hopes of pushing those years out.” During the town hall meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 19, in Denver, Stuart Hinnefeld, director for the division of compensation analysis and support for NIOSH answered questions as to why the SEC class did not include later years at the plant. “After 1983 it’s not so clear to us that we don’t have sufficient records, it may be reasonable to do it but we haven’t reached a final decision on that yet,” Hinnefeld said. “There’s still work that needs to be done to reconstruct the later years.” Still, for workers and their surviving families that fit in the 15 year window, their claims may finally be validated. “This is about justice. For years, Rocky Flats workers risked their lives to protect Flats continues on Page 11