December 26, 2013
50 cents Jefferson County, Colorado | Volume 30, Issue 27 A publication of
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SANTA ON THE RAILS Paige Zadler, 2 and her brother, Drake, 4, visit with Santa in his caboose at the Colorado Railroad Museum’s annual “Santa Claus Special” on Dec. 14. Little Drake Zadler asked Santa for a green car for Christmas. Photo by Amy Woodward
Striding into the future Group focuses on self-sufficiency By Clarke Reader
creader@ourcoloradonews.com The mission of Stride is to provide the pathway to self-sufficiency, and the organization has been working for more than 20 years to provide that service to those in need. “We started because we saw a lot of community members weren’t seeing any self-sufficiency issues being covered,” Jessica Shochat, development coordinator with Stride said. “Most of our families are in Jefferson County, but we help some in
Adams and Denver as well.” Shochat said the bulk of the group’s clients are in Lakewood, Wheat Ridge and Arvada. The criteria for receiving aid from the group is people must have dependent children living with them. According to Shochat, Stride currently serves around 70 families, and helps with all kind of issues, from financial literacy to mental health services. The organization also has a transitional housing program, which helps families find safe housing for up to two years. “We find out what areas our clients need help with, and then direct them to the proper community partner,” she said. “Our case managers are on hand to provide individual support for what they may need.” Stride with groups like the Jefferson
County Center for Mental Health, Action Center and mpowered in Denver to provide as much as possible to the families. “We get referrals from a lot of sources, from homeless shelters and social services,” said Carl Hansen, one of the group’s case managers. “There is a lot of word of mouth about us, and we get many people coming in who have heard about us in that way.” One of the people who heard about Stride from word of mouth is Karen Barker, who along with her son, works with Hansen. “It’s been great, and I’m very lucky to have found Carl through a friend,” she said. “We were couch-hopping for a bit, Future continues on Page 5
Jeffco Board raises eyebrows in first meeting Hiring process of lawyer leaves unanswered questions By Clarke Reader
creader@ ourcoloradonews.com It only took until the first full meeting of the new Jefferson County School Board for fears to be renewed about changes the new board will make.
New board president Ken Witt, John Newkirk and Julie Williams outvoted Lesley Dahlkemper and Jill Fellman to hire Brad Miller of Miller Sparks LLC, a Colorado Springs law firm, to represent the board — not the district. Allen Taggart, the district’s in-house legal counsel, retired on Dec. 19. Miller represents the Falcon School District, which is east of Colorado Springs, and has done work for several Colorado
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charter schools. Questions are being asked about this action, however, because Dahlkemper and Fellman were only notified about the potential hire two days before the vote via e-mail, and there was no public interview process. “I voted ‘no’ because we had so little time before the hiring was brought up, and we don’t know anything about cost,” Fellman said. “The charge for Mr. Miller is going to be around $90,000 a year, which is around $7,500 a month. That is the cost of two new teachers, and I’m not sure we need this new lawyer.” The board was booed twice during the meeting, both times about the hiring of Miller. The move was also a break with tradition, since normally the district does the hiring, with the board approving those
hires. Fellman said that she was left with a lot of questions, including how Miller will communicate with the rest of the board. “There is a cost for him to have secretarial support, but we don’t know how much that cost will be,” she said. Fellman said that Witt directed board members to Miller’s website for references, but there are only testimonials on the site, which carries a different meaning to Fellman. “This makes me uneasy. The hiring of this lawyer sets a lot of precedents in my mind,” Fellman said. “This is a brand new board, and we want to establish trust, but it’s going to difficult with this hanging over our heads.” Calls were made to Witt, Newkirk and Williams for comment, and were not returned.
Cyclists to ride through Golden Golden will officially take part in Stage 7 for the USA Pro Challenge 2014, officials announced on Dec. 18. The race will start in Boulder and travel through Golden with a grand finish with three laps around the state’s Capitol. A challenging climb on Lookout Mountain will also be incorporated into the race, according to race organizers. “The 2014 USA Pro Challenge is going to be the most exciting year yet,” Rick Schaden, owner of the USA Pro Challenge said in a statement. “Boulder, Golden and Denver have been such great hosts over the history of the race, so we decided to work them all into the final day of competition. These three iconic Colorado cycling locations are going to create one grand finale.” Starting on Aug. 18 to Aug. 24, the stages of the 2014 USA Pro Challenge will include: Stage 1: Monday, Aug. 18 - Aspen and Snowmass Village Circuit Race Stage 2: Tuesday, Aug. 19 - Aspen to Mount Crested Butte Stage 3: Wednesday, Aug. 20 - Gunnison to Monarch Mountain (mountaintop finish) Cyclists continues on Page 5
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