June 25, 2015
VOLU ME 31 | ISSU E 52 | 50 ¢
2015 WINNERS
INSIDE! 2015 WINNERS GUIDE WheatRidgeTranscript.com J E F F E R S O N C O U N T Y, C O L O R A D O
A publication of
Youth rally to save five orphans in China Group bikes to protest against Chinese government’s treatment of religious practice By Christy Steadman
csteadman@colorado communitymedia.com
Eleven-year-old Aila Verheijke’s grandmother told her a story of being tortured until she was blind and deaf. “If my grandma would have continued being tortured,” she said, “I might not have a grandma.” Jimmy Ma’s mother was jailed and missing for an entire year. “I never smiled once in that year,” Ma, 15, said. “Every single day, I tried to find my mom.” Verheijke’s grandmother and Ma’s mother, who now live in California, are Falun Gong practitioners who say they survived the Chinese Communist Party’s persecutions of the religious practice. Ma and Verheijke are two of 30 youth ranging in age from 11 to 23, representing 15 countries, who are biking to 19 U.S. cities to bring awareness of the persecutions in China. They call their cause Ride to Freedom. The group, which began its trip June 1 in Los Angeles, camped at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds on June 18 before heading to the state capitol in Denver for a
ABOUT FALUN GONG Falun Gong is a religious practice of the school of Buddha guided by the three main principles of truthfulness, compassion and forbearance. It also includes cultivating the heart, mind and body. The practice was first introduced in China by Li Hongzhi in 1992. An estimated 200 million people now practice Falun Gong worldwide. Practitioners read scripture individually and as a group. Falun Gong is also known to have a health and wellness feature to it, as practitioners perform a set of simple exercises, along with meditation. — Information provided by Carla Wolf, Falun Gong coordinator at Washington Park in Denver.
About the persecutions
The Chinese Communist Party banned Falun Gong in 1996 and persecutions of practitioners began in 1999. The ban and persecutions are believed to be linked to former Chinese Communist Party head Jiang Zemin’s fear and jealousy of Falun Gong. People of all ages are subject to persecution, which has left children orphaned. Persecutions can include being jailed, abusive discipline, brainwashing and torture. As of April, more than 3,000 deaths and more than 63,000 accounts of torture had been documented. — Information gathered from www.faluninfo.net.
rally the next day. “All of us here are representing free
The youth with Ride to Freedom camped at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds on June 18 before rallying at the state capitol in Denver on June 19. The group’s mission is to awareness of the Chinese Communist Party’s persecutions of Falun Gong practitioners. Their journey began in Los Angeles on June 1, and will end in Washington D.C. for a candlelight vigil mid-July. Photo by Christy Steadman countries,” said Kristin Feng, 15, of New Jersey. “We want China to be a free country, too.” Besides the U.S. and China, the youth come from Argentina, Austria, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Israel, India, Iran, Peru, Russia, Singapore and Tanzania. Some have a first-hand connection to the persecutions, such as Verheijke and Ma, born in China and now living in San Francisco. But everyone in the group joined the cause because they believe individuals should have the freedom to practice their
Employee-owned pharmacy endures POSTAL ADDRESS
WHEAT RIDGE TRANSCRIPT (ISSN 1089-9197)
OFFICE: 722 Washington Ave, Unit 210 Golden, CO 80401 PHONE: 303-566-4100 A legal newspaper of general circulation in Jefferson County, Colorado, the Wheat Ridge Transcript is published weekly on Thursday by Mile High Newspapers, 722 Washington Ave, Unit 210, Golden, CO 80401. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT GOLDEN, COLORADO and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address change to: 722 Washington Ave., Unit 210 Golden, CO 80401 DEADLINES: Display: Fri. 11 a.m. Legals: Fri. 11 a.m. Classifieds: Mon. 5 p.m.
PL E ASE RECYCLE T HI S C OPY
There is a timeless quality to Wheat Ridge Professional Pharmacy. The classic-looking neon mortar and pestle sign still hangs above the front door. The location has been a pharmacy since some time in the 1960s by the employees’ best reckoning. Inside, the no-frills interior is small and tidy. The counter is staffed by a rotating cast of employees, many of whom have been there for a decade or more. They joke that all the store is missing is a soda fountain. Many of the customers also speak to the longevity of the business too. Customers like Clarke Semsack started coming to the pharmacy as a child with his dad. Now the 62-year-old Wheat Ridge resident said he keeps coming back for the people. “It’s convenient, no wait, and it’s homey,” he said. The staff is always happy to see Semsack too. He often brings in an extra ice cream or two from Dairy Queen for them.
Change beneath surface
For all that has stayed the same at the pharmacy, recent years have also brought great turmoil. In 2009 the owner, Dennis Montas, died suddenly. The pharmacist had run the store for 34 years and was highly regarded throughout the community. The following owner maintained the business, but recently put it up for sale. After months of uncertainty, and facing likely closure, six of the current employees pooled resources and bought the business in March. The group vowed to keep the business open as long as they could. The six, including pharmacists and technicians, “felt for the community, that this would be the best thing to do,” according to pharmacist and new co-owner Paul Beasley. Nancy Dallinger, one of the new owners and a technician there for 15 years, said the ownership transition did not go as smoothly as the group hoped. The store’s major supplier of overthe-counter and prescription drugs stopped deliveries until the new group could secure enough financing for making the expensive purchases needed to fill the shelves.
beliefs, Feng said. “As a young person, you don’t get opportunities to change things often,” said Laila Will, 16, of Berlin. “Not enough people know about the persecutions. I believe we’re making a difference.” Falun Gong is a peaceful practice, said Carla Wolf, Falun Gong coordinator at Washington Park in Denver. It encourages people to be an individual, which is “threatening for a government that wants Youth continues on Page 4
Wal-Mart comes to Wheat Ridge Smaller Neighborhood Market store part of 38th and Wadsworth urban renewal plan By Nick Evans
Special to the Transcript
Pharmacist Paul Beasley hugs his granddaughter Emma. He said she often is brought by to visit while he’s on duty, but today she was feeling under the weather, and actually in need of some medicine. Photo by Glenn Wallace As supplies dwindled, the staff had to refer the majority of their customers to competing pharmacies. Large contracts to supply medications to nursing facilities had to be transferred as well.
On the mend
Staff at the pharmacy are hopeful for a turnaround, though. The supply issue is resolved, shelves are stocked, and the employee/owners expressed a belief that the pharmacy offers something the big chain stores cannot. “We know a person by name, and greet them when they come in,” Dallinger said. She added that the store offers more one-on-one time and flexible spending plans than the chain stores can. “We feel the trend is coming back ... more support for local business,” Beasley said. Semsack said he was one of the customers who had to go to a different pharmacy for a while, but ended up coming back to Wheat Ridge as soon as he could, saying it is close to his house and felt like the right thing to do. “They’re just very nice,” he said, adding “and take very good care of me.”
Wheat Ridge City Council unanimously approved an agreement with the urban renewal authority (Renewal Wheat Ridge) to build retail locations on 38th and Wadsworth. A Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market will sit at the center of the new shopping center. “This is not a typical 180,000-squarefoot Super Wal-Mart. It’s much smaller and will only take up 40,000 square feet,” City Manager Patrick Goff said. Other retail locations such as restaurants and coffee shops are given an additional 40,000 square feet. Because of confidentiality agreements, no specific retail locations except for Wal-Mart were given. Potential examples include Chipotle, Five Guys and Starbucks. The remainder of the land will be used to build 37 town homes; Goff compared them to similar ones being built at 38th and Depew. “When we look at the town homes at 38th and Depew, they averaged about $300,000 and sold out in less than a year,” Goff said. The city negotiated with Renewal Wheat Ridge for a budget of $6.25 million. Goff said the funds will only pay for public improvements and will not go to tenants. Examples include better sidewalks, pedestrian lighting, planting trees and storm drainage. TKG will serve as developer for this massive project. They agreed to finance up to $8.25 million in public improvements, with the promise Renewal Wheat Ridge will reimburse TKG up to $6.25 million. Sally Tasker served as special counsel to oversee the 38th and Wadsworth redevelopment. “The source of revenue to pay this $6.25 Wal-Mart continues on Page 4