Transcript Wheat Ridge
August 1, 2013
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A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourwheatridgenews.com
Jefferson County, Colorado • Volume 30, Issue 6
Corrections leaving Colfax site Commissioners look for another site for transition program By Amy Woodward
awoodward@ourcoloradonews.com
Mark Meyer gets a hug from his mother, Pat Meyer, while giving remarks at a “Celebration of Life” event for his sister, LeAnn “Annie” Meyer at Denver’s Willis Case Golf Course on July 28. Photos by Vic Vela
Friends, family honor ‘Annie’ Meyer Laughter, tears in remembrance of her life By Vic Vela
vvela@ourcoloradonews.com By all accounts of those who knew LeAnn “Annie” Meyer, it was fitting that on a day filled with heartbreak and tears, it was music and smiley-faced balloons that would soar above the grief. Family members and friends of Meyer — whose body was found in Park County last month and whose death is being investigated as a murder — gathered in Denver for one final sendoff to celebrate the life of the 52-year-old woman who called Wheat Ridge her home. “We don’t want you to feel sorry for the family,” Mark Meyer, Annie’s brother, told the large crowd of supporters at Willis Case golf course on July 28. “A smile will be 100 percent better.” Meyer — who served in the Air Force and who would later thrive as a bank information technology specialist — had been missing for about five months before her remains were found on a Park County property on July 4. Meyer’s former roommate,
Jeffco’s Board of County Commissioners announced it abandoned efforts to build a correctional facility near West Colfax and Wide Acres road, and will scout for another location. “We are no longer looking at that site along Wide Acres road for that facility,” said Kathryn Heider, public information officer for Jeffco. The commissioners directed Ralph Schell, county administrator, to suspend the proposed exchange agreement scheduled for approval on Aug. 6 at the next commissioner’s business meeting. The deal received little support by some Jeffco residents, more than 30 of whom attended the commissioners’ meeting on July 23. “Your constituents are very concerned,” said Rob Thorsheim who, like many others in attendance at the commissioner’s meeting, said they felt blindsided by the pending deal and wanted to stop the exchange. Jeffco is looking to build a new 58,000-square-foot corrections facility as part of the county’s Community Corrections Program. The county entered into a land exchange agreement with Colorado Investment and Development Company in 2012. The agreement allowed the company to buy the property at Colfax in order to build a new corrections facility, and then swap the site for the New York Building on Kendall Street, which currently operates as the county’s transition house for released offenders. According to County Commissioner Casey Tighe, the county has no replacement site under consideration at this time. He said the commissioners are reviewing the entire site-selection process.
Fundraiser slated for Summers Pat Meyer is comforted by family members as she holds an American flag that was presented to her by military service members during a “Celebration of Life” event for her daughter, LeAnn “Annie” Meyer at Denver’s Willis Case Golf Course on July 28. Melissa Miller, 54, of Lakewood, has been charged with her murder. But no one at the golf course was talking about Miller or the way Meyer died. They were there to celebrate the way she lived. “Annie was so down to earth,
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and she never judged anybody, which I think was the best thing about her,” said Kim Case, who worked with Meyer at downtown Denver’s U.S. Bank branch, and who had known her since the late 1990s. “Annie would plop herself down on my desk in her holey jeans and just talk. She was so great.” When Meyer wasn’t working, she enjoyed spending time with her friends. Among them were Gina Gabbie of Thornton and Stephanie Falk of Wheat Ridge, who sang along to one of Meyer’s favorite songs, “What’s up?”, by 4 Non Blondes, during a light-hearted musical break. Gabbie and Falk joked that Meyer must have heard them
sing the catchy chorus about a hundred times during karaoke outings with friends. “She probably had her earplugs in every time,” Gabbie quipped. While the day was filled with songs and laughter, there were also plenty of tears shed, especially when military service members played “Taps” and presented Pat Meyer, Annie’s mother, with an American flag in honor of her service to her country. But instead of a 21-gun salute, Meyer, an avid golfer, received a 21-golf club salute, as Meyer continues on Page 9
A fundraiser has been scheduled for ailing former State House District 22 Rep. Ken Summers, who is being treated for encephalitis. The Lakewood Republican was in critical condition this week, with reports surfacing that Summers’ illness was caused by the West Nile Virus. A benefit that will help cover the cost of Summers’ medical bills will be Wednesday, Aug. 7, at the Capstone Group in Denver, 1576 Sherman St., beginning at noon. State House Speaker Mark Ferrandino, D-Denver, and Rep. Frank McNulty, RHighlands Ranch, are helping to organize the fundraising effort. Donations can also be sent to: Ken Summers Medical Relief Fund, c/o Teen Challenge. P.O. Box 239, Englewood, CO 80151.
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