The Denver North Star July 15 2023 Online Edition

Dragon Boat Festival Brings Culture, Community to Sloan’s Lake

La Raza Park Officially Designated as Historic Cultural District

By Eric Heinz

Afixture of North Denver, La Raza Park is now the city’s third historic cultural district.

The City Council recently voted unanimously (11-0) to approve the designation as it has significant historic and cultural value to the area. Councilwoman Amanda P. Sandoval, who represents the district where the park is located, headed the effort along with city staff and community members.

“I am proud to have worked on the application with the community,” Sandoval said. “It wasn't long ago that Denver had segregation, blatant racism. When I was growing up, our father would share stories of him having to use colored-only water fountains, having to go through the back door of businesses to sell newspapers in the east side, being hit with a ruler at school because he was speaking Spanish.”

By Basha Cohen

Dragon-boat heads are bobbing in the boathouse marina of Sloan’s Lake. The steady sound of practicing teams’ grunts and chants wafts through the air as the Dragon Boat Festival returns for its 21st year, celebrating the Year of the Water Rabbit (and the Year of the Cat in Vietnamese culture).

The highly anticipated festival comes to the shores of Sloan’s Lake on July 22 and 23 with more than 40 teams racing. In addition, there will be three multicultural performance stages featuring traditional and contemporary instrumental, vocal, choral and percussion music, as well as celebratory dances.

An Asian arts marketplace with more than 60 vendors will be featured, along with culinary delights from Taste of Asia. As one of Denver’s signature summer events, the Dragon Boat Festival reaches visitors from throughout Colorado and is a perfect backdrop for showcasing one of northwest Denver’s greatest assets, Sloan’s Lake.

Between COVID-related lake closures and hate crimes that have plagued the Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities for the last several years, the re-emergence of the festival in 2022 was a true celebration of culture and community.

“We are the largest AANHPI celebration of the Rocky Mountain region,” said Sara Moore, executive director of Colorado Dragon Boat. “We had an estimated 170,000 attendees last year. It is a testament to how supportive Coloradans are to ensuring a safe space for culture and diversity.”

Importantly, an education and empowerment sec tion of the marketplace helps raise awareness of hate and racism in the AANHPI communities and how people can become allies.

To get a true feel ing of the festival and the cultures

that it celebrates, the opening ceremony starts at 9:45 a.m. on July 22.

Shaolin Hung Mei Kung Fu, the traditional 75-foot-long Chinese dragon, will parade throughout the south side of the park to the main band stage. The dragon is a spectacular explosion of color and glorious creativity that symbolizes chasing away negative energies and sending good luck, good fortune and a safe day of racing to all of the teams, vendors and attendees.

A storyteller will follow, presenting the history and culture behind dragon-boat racing followed by a Buddhist monk and congregational chanting that will offer a formal blessing for the event. The dragon and monks will then make a final procession to the shoreline, where they will hold a ceremonial purification and “eye dotting” ceremony.

“Dotting the eyes, nose and ears of the dragon boats awakens the boats’ ‘senses,’ sight, smell, hearing … and imbues the boats with the spirit of life to ensure a safe day of racing,” Moore said. “We end the ceremony watching the dragon twist and turn as it performs a spectacular, traditional Chinese dragon dance.”

One division of the Dragon Boat races feature colorful flag-catching, Taiwanese-style boats with 18 paddlers, one drummer and one flag catcher each. At the finish line, the flag catcher has to lean out and grab the flag to win the race.

A Hong Kong-style division features slimmer, sleeker boats that travel faster on the water with 20 paddlers. It is mesmerizing to watch them calibrate synchronically as they paddle for the win.

Laurie Dunklee, a northwest Denver neighbor and former journalist for the North Denver Tribune, reflected on the origins of this annual event.

“The Dragon Boat is deeply embedded in China’s culture, with each

The city has hundreds of historic landmark designations along with several dozen historic districts, but there are only two other historic cultural districts, one in Five Points and another in La Alma-Lincoln Park.

Historic cultural districts are intended to preserve areas of historically marginalized communities, and this is only the third such district in the city.

Historic cultural districts are intended to preserve areas of historically marginalized communities, and this is only the third such district in the city. Sandoval said there is much work to be done with other BIPOC communities to ensure preservation. La Raza Park embodies that disparity in the landmark process.

“When we take a close look at our (historic) designations and the history that was represented in our local landmarks, we realized that our existing local landmarks tell a very narrow history of Denver, one which over-represents upper-class White males,” said Becca Dierschow, a senior planner with the city of Denver, during a City Council presentation. “As you can see from this chart of all the history, only 13% of the designation applications represent historically excluded communities.”

The La Raza Park district is restricted to just the 2.2-acre park, located at 1501 W. 38th Ave.

La Raza Park has served as a focal point for the North Denver community, even as the demographics of the surrounding area changed. The Latino population steadily grew in the neighborhoods near the park between 1945 and the 1990s. The area was home to pivotal moments within the Chicano Movement of the 1970s and ’80s.

See PARK, Page 14

Competitors celebrate after winning a flag-catching competition at a past Dragon Boat Festival at Sloan’s Lake.

PHOTO BY MARC PISCOTTY

PUBLIC SAFETY Councilwoman Ortega’s Rail Buffer Bill Dies

COMMUNITY CCH to Split Former Clarion Between Rentals, Shelter

PHOTO BY BASHA COHEN

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Music, Yoga, Beer and More: Tennyson Street Fair Set for July 22

By Eric Heinz

Tennyson Street is about to come alive for a street fair, filled with vendors, music and various activities.

The Tennyson Street Fair will take place from 10 a.m.-7 p.m. July 22 between 41st and 43rd avenues.

planner with Team Player Productions, which is organizing the event, said people will notice it's definitely not the same event.

“We were looking for something in the summer to kind of bookend activities,” Horpedahl Slater said. “A couple exciting things about the Tennyson Street Fair are we’ll have one stage that will have two different yoga sessions, and three bars at the event all featuring beer from the local breweries.”

The event is sponsored by the Tennyson Berkeley Business Association (TBBA). An updated schedule and list of bands, vendors, musicians and activities is available at tennysonstreetfair.com.

SCHEDULE OF STAGE EVENTS

• Group yoga and barre exercises will be led from 10-11 a.m. and 1:30-2 p.m.

• Jenn Cleary Trio will perform from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

• Hat Trick will perform from 2:30-4:30 p.m.

For the Leadership Regis program has selves around that will bind tainable their

“I can now has changed Jaquez, who tain Prep in children with was to come that I couldn't

It has not only potential but since the moment Jaquez is who wrapped northwest their achievements with parents This year, ing at-risk gram. As part three weeks part in classes, Jackie Robinson to human literacy in dents from Lonnie director of Regis men’s was proud served as role

“It's been back every whole different an interview

The event is similar to the Highlands Street Fair, but Kristen Horpedahl Slater, an event

• Earl Nelson & The Company will perform from 5-6:30 p.m.

Explaining the Vote to Bring SROs Back to Schools

n overwhelming majority of students, staff, principals and teachers supported bringing back school resource officers (SROs). For those in the community who oppose armed police officers in our schools, I would like to explain my support and the 4-3 vote to reverse the previous board policy that banned officers from schools.

I received hundreds, maybe thousands, of emails expressing strong opinions on this issue. I have been accused of being a racist and supporting the school-to-prison pipeline and principles of white supremacy.

I have been asked to resign by those who blame the deaths and shootings of students and staff at and around schools on the previous board's ban on officers in schools.

I would like to explain my position and why I don’t believe that SROs are the reason our education system leads kids to the socalled school-to-prison pipeline.

When my son was in middle school, he played football. Early in September, one of the coaches, who was also an RTD bus driver, asked me if I would support another kid to play football. He said that the kid rode the bus all day, had dirty clothes and he was pretty sure he wasn’t in school. He wasn’t, and I got him enrolled in middle school, which was very difficult.

He didn’t have an address and was sleeping on his aunt’s floor; his mother was a drug

Aaddict who refused to come to the school. I picked him up every day in a van I bought from my brother because at this point, I was taking five kids, all Black, to football practice and games, and they wouldn’t fit in my car.

I had to find friends to pay for their fees and equipment so they could play. One day this kid didn’t come out of school, and nobody had seen him. It took me two weeks to find him at an alternative school.

His version of the story was that he had a dirty T-shirt and was being teased and bullied because he didn’t have decent clothes. He pulled a small pocket knife out of his backpack, didn’t open it, and threatened the three kids who were picking on him. His mom didn’t come to the meeting, and he was told he had to go to another school. I stopped being able to find him to take him to football because the aunt kicked him and his mom out of the house.

Another kid had a pair of Vans with holes in them and kids teased him. I offered to buy him a pair of shoes, but he had a lot of pride, and said “no way.” He stole a pair instead. I watched with a broken heart both kids go down a path toward prison and a third kid who joined a gang and ended up in a juvenile facility for three years. His story is too long to tell here.

I watched as the four kids I sponsored to play football were excessively suspended and often did not have anyone to advocate for their side. For these kids, curfew tickets,

See SCHOOLS, Page 12

PHOTOS COURTESY OF TENNYSON STREET FAIR

CHARMAIN LINDSAY

Productions, which will notice something in the activities,” Horexciting things we’ll have yoga sesfeaturing Tennyson (TBBA). An vendors, at tennyEVENTS will be led from 11 a.m.

2:30-4:30 p.m. will perform

Porter-Billups Leadership Academy Graduates New Class of Seniors

By Sara

Knuth, Regis University, for The Denver North Star

For the newest group of Porter-Billups Leadership Academy seniors through Regis University, the summer enrichment program has been a place for them to be themselves around people they trust, create memories that will bind them together and learn how attainable their goals are.

“I can now confidently say that this program has changed my life,” said PBLA senior Natalia Jaquez, who will graduate from Rocky Mountain Prep in the spring. “We all arrived here as children with no sense of who (we) were or what was to come of this program. PBLA is a program that I couldn't be more emotionally indebted to. It has not only motivated me to live to my fullest potential but has also served as a moral compass since the moment I stepped on campus.”

Jaquez is one of the rising, high-school seniors who wrapped up their last summer on Regis’ northwest Denver campus June 29, celebrating their achievements in a graduation ceremony with parents and academy leaders.

This year, PBLA is in its 28th year of supporting at-risk Denver kids through its summer program. As part of the program, students spend three weeks in June at Regis University, taking part in classes, from learning about the values Jackie Robinson lived starting in fourth grade, to human rights in seventh grade, to financial literacy in ninth grade. The academy serves students from fourth to 12th grade.

Lonnie Porter, the co-founder and executive director of the academy and former coach of the Regis men’s basketball team, told the students he was proud of their work — and the ways they served as role models for each other.

“It's been a great year. Just seeing these kids back every year — it takes my excitement to a whole different level every time,” Porter said in an interview during the academy. “I get a chance

to see them and to bond with them, talk with them and give them some advice, ask questions that they might have about life and just to help them grow. It doesn't get any better than this.”

Portland Trail Blazers head coach, former Denver Nuggets star and PBLA co-executive director Chauncey Billups agreed.

“This is my favorite part of every summer, to be able to come back and see how much our kids have grown, not only physically but mentally,” he said. “It's just become very emotional every year, to be honest with you, because this is why we do it. Life is going to happen, no matter what. I think that your environment matters … the time prior to us having them, sometimes, they go through a lot of tough things. So, this is kind of a safe haven for our kids to come here, where they learn and meet new friends. They just have a wonderful three weeks. I just love it.”

For Jaquez, the program has equipped her with skills for life.

“They've always given me independence and treated me like an adult here,” Jaquez said. “Ever since I was little, coming to a college campus

made me feel grown and made me feel assertive and who I am … in school, you're taught to memorize, but here, you're taught how to live your life.”

Throughout the program, the academy relies on support from its teachers, staff and community partners. In the last week of the program, students participated in outdoor events led by Regis Doctor of Physical Therapy students.

Olli Lusk, a third-year physical therapy (PT) student, said the program’s goal is to offer support to the academy — and introduce them to the possibility of pursuing a career in physical therapy.

“The PT program wanted to get involved and introduce kiddos to our profession and hopefully get them interested and know that that's an option for them,” Lusk said. Activities ranged from learning about muscles activated while playing sports to learning about anatomy with brains and hearts.

On the last day of the academy, students participated in business-oriented events, including “Out-of-the-Box Marketplace,” led by PBLA teacher Kelley Dawkins, who instructed stu-

dents about financial literacy.

There, students sold products they created during the academy. Students also spent a portion of their time inventing new products that they pitched to an audience in a “Shark Tank”style event. Products included waterproof hockey tape and an innovative device that helps people catch and release household bugs.

“It's really cool to see the different grade levels and how the products that they're inventing really relate to where they are in life,” PBLA teacher Meredith Blatner said.

For Jaquez, that kind of experience over many summers created lifelong benefits.

“This program has made my dreams become within reach and has broadened my horizons,” Jaquez said. “I couldn't be prouder of my peers and how far we have come.”

PBLA plans to host its annual golf tournament on July 31. The organization’s annual gala, set for July 29, will feature a keynote address by Colorado Buffaloes head football coach and NFL legend Deion Sanders. Tickets can be purchased at porterbillups-denver.org/gala.

Students of the Porter-Billups Leadership Academy pose for a photo at the end of the school year.

PHOTO COURTESY OF SKIP STEWART / REGIS UNIVERSITY

Arkins Park Celebrates the Opening of a New Community and Performance Venue

By Toni Tresca

After years of planning, negotiations and construction, the Arkins Park community performance and art venue is now complete.

Denver Parks & Recreation (DPR) and RiNo Art District, a 501(c)(6) nonprofit art organization partner of the park, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony recently to commemorate the opening of a brandnew community and performing arts venue in Arkins Park.

“This has been an amazing journey over 12 years,” said Denver Mayor Michael Hancock.

“This is the culmination of a lot of visionary people, a lot of imagining things that didn’t exist, a lot of thinking outside the box about how we could breathe life and energy into an area of Denver that had, quite frankly, been perennially overlooked and underinvested in. This is a powerful example of how we come together to use assets we already have to meet the needs of our community.”

The opening of the 4,000-square-foot adaptive reuse space at Arkins Park is the result of years of advocacy by the RiNo Art District. With seating for up to 200 people and standing room for up to 450, the location will offer flexibility for Denver's performing arts, nonprofits, creatives and the larger community.

“Working with the (DPR) has just been such an incredible opportunity to be kind of the intermediary between private and public for the community,” said Charity Von Guinness, executive director for RiNo Art District. “Those buildings that were previously in the space were city owned and slated for demolition; it really was the community that came together to say they wanted to see these buildings revitalized and used as a community resource hub for creativity.”

The project was made possible by a unique partnership with DPR, in which RiNo was in charge of fund-raising, building out and managing the structures inside Arkins Park. Gordon D. Robertson, DPR's director of planning, design and construction, said the park was built in three phases.

“The park was initially funded with bond funding from the city, and so we were excited to deliver a new park to what was essentially becoming a new portion of the Five Points neighborhood,” Robertson said. “While that park was being delivered, we were in negotiations with the RiNo Art District on the initial building, which was an exciting project that

brought together a new city library, new artist-in-residence spaces and the new location of the Comal Heritage Food Incubator. Then, as soon as we opened that space (in August 2021), the RiNo Art District turned their gaze over to the other building in the park and raised a bunch of money to fund their vision for a new cultural center.”

Although the city intended to demolish the buildings on the property in order to create more green space, the neighborhood had other plans.

“The community came out loud and clear and said, ‘We have lots of exciting ideas for how we can use these buildings.’ So, we took a step back and allowed the neighborhood to really work with us and drive the boat,” Robertson said.

After hearing from constituents in the area that they wanted to make the park more accessible to the community, DPR issued a request for project proposals in 2017. After reviewing RiNo's proposal for the neighborhood, DPR knew they were the right organization to collaborate with.

“We really felt like RiNo understood the neighborhood,” said Robertson. “They represent the artists, who are the core of the community, and were instrumental in helping us keep art and culture in the neighborhood.”

The new structure, designed by Tres Birds and built by Mark Young Construction, features a stunning high-barreled wood ceiling, a modular seating stage and doors that open into Arkins Park's green space.

“Finding the right design always takes a bit of push-pull,” said Robertson. “It was important for us to honor the park while at the same time keeping an open mind to new, innovative ideas. RiNo was very interested in creating a space for theater experiences, and we were interested in that, but we didn’t want it to only be a theater. So, we kept pushing and pulling to make sure the venue space was very adaptable to a lot of community uses.”

Arkins Park is now open to the public following the ribbon-cutting last month, and DPR and RiNo are enthusiastic to work with the neighborhood to create engaging programming there.

“People are eager to see these spaces come to life with creative making and activity and are really rooting for this park to succeed,” Guinness said. "The excitement at the ribbon-cutting ceremony was palpable, and the community's support has been invaluable.”

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Performers prepare backstage at the Arkins Park community and performance center.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF SIDE CAR PR

A celebration for the opening of the Arkins Park community and performance center recently took place.

Community

Colorado Coalition for the Homeless to Split Former Clarion Between Rentals, Shelter

By Eric Heinz

Situated much like the United Nations building, a thin crescent of a structure, the former Clarion Hotel was recently purchased by the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless (CCH) to create transitional housing and interim shelter.

The former Clarion, 200 W. 48th Ave., will now be called Renewal Village, according to Cathy Alderman, a spokesperson for CCH.

“The ability to convert properties into housing means that we don’t have to wait to build, get tax credits and all of the stuff that makes a new build more expensive and a more lengthy process,” Alderman said. “So we have kind of continually been looking for other properties that would be appropriate for conversion.”

CCH began purchasing existing properties in 2019, and then during the COVID pandemic they were able to purchase and rent hotels and motels, specifically for people without permanent housing who had advanced health risks from catching the virus.

The Denver City Council recently approved a $10.4-million contract with CCH to help support the acquisition. The total amount was around $27 million, which was made up with grants and donations, Alderman said.

The property will provide 108 income-restricted rental studios and 107 sin-

gle-room-occupancy units to be operated as individual shelter rooms.

The rental studios will be income-restricted for individuals who earn no more than 30% or 50% of the area median income. State housing vouchers will serve individuals with the lowest incomes and those who potentially have no income at all, according to the Denver Department of Housing Stability (HOST).

State housing vouchers at Renewal Village will ensure that residents pay no more than 30% of their income on rent, and it will shelter some people who have no income.

“The hotel is in pretty good shape,” Alderman said. “About half of the rooms will be for longer-term supportive housing, and about half of the rooms are for what we refer to as residential care. Not necessarily like assisted living, but it’s for people who are currently experiencing homelessness and have mental or physical health conditions that need a little more assistance.”

Some of the existing renovations CCH will need to make before it reopens the hotel, slated for late this year, include adding accessibility for people with disabilities.

The property is the largest hotel in Denver to be converted into shelter and housing for individuals experiencing homelessness, according to HOST.

What makes this hotel different from others CCH has acquired is that it has a large kitchen that used to serve a restaurant on the ground floor. This will allow CCH to provide meals for its tenants, particularly those who are in severe residential care, and there are spaces for counseling and for people to find permanent supportive housing.

Alderman said CCH is working to establish an RTD bus line in the future, as the

hotel is located outside of walking distance for certain services, but until then she said the coalition can shuttle people with a van to downtown if they need to.

Additionally, Alderman said the nearby former La Quinta Inn, 3500 Park Avenue West, which the city of Denver purchased in 2022, will be demolished to make way for a facility with about 200 rooms that will also serve people experiencing homelessness.

Root Down in LoHi Says ‘Knock-Off Restaurant’ Intrudes on Its Trademark

By Justin Wingerter, BusinessDen

The company behind a popular restaurant in LoHi is suing what it calls a new “knock-off restaurant in the neighborhood” and demanding the newcomer change its name.

Edible Beats, an employee-owned restaurant group, runs Root Down in LoHi, Vital Root in Berkeley and four other locations. It takes issue with Rooted, a restaurant that opened in May at 3940 W. 32nd Ave. in the West Highland neighborhood.

“Rooted…intentionally and blatantly copies the Root Down and Vital Root restaurant concepts and, incredibly, opened its knockoff restaurant in the neighborhood where both Root Down and Vital Root are well-established restaurants,” Edible Beats wrote in a June 27 lawsuit.

The lawsuit accuses Rooted of violating Edible Beats’ trademark of “Vital Root.” It refers to Rooted as being “just down the street from Root Down and Vital Root.” Rooted is two miles away from Root Down and a mile from Vital Root, in a different neighborhood.

Shannan Reese, a spokeswoman for Rooted, said “the parties are in active con-

versations to find a resolution” and therefore Rooted “will not be commenting on the lawsuit.”

The root of the dispute between Justin Cucci, founder of Edible Beats, and Nicholas Kayser, owner of Rooted, is that Kayser’s girlfriend is a neighbor of Cucci. The two chefs became friendly in 2020 and 2021, as Kayser found success with his Rooted restaurant in Boulder’s Avanti food hall and decided a brick-and-mortar location would be next.

“What Mr. Kayser never told Mr. Cucci was that his ‘new’ restaurant was going to move into the same Highlands neighborhood as Root Down and Vital Root, use the (name) Rooted and copy the concepts of Edible Beats’ restaurants,” last week’s lawsuit alleges.

Among the similarities between Root Down, Vital Root and Rooted, according to the lawsuit: They include the word “root”; they are American restaurants with local ingredients; they have open concept kitchens; their logos use bold serif font and they have plants on the walls.

“Edible Beats employees have spoken with neighborhood regulars who inquired as to

the affiliation between Rooted…Root Down and Vital Root,” the lawsuit claims.

Edible Beats is asking U.S. District Court Judge S. Kato Crews to prohibit Rooted from using the Rooted name, force Rooted to pay it “all profits Rooted has received by its conduct,” and require Rooted to pay any attorney fees and court costs that Edible Beats spends

on the case.

Edible Beats is represented by attorneys Andrew Lillie, Emily Cooper and Ellen Levish with the Denver office of Holland & Hart, a Colorado-based firm. When asked to comment, they deferred to Megan Baldwin, director of strategy at Edible Beats, who declined to.

The former Clarion Hotel, 200 W. 48th Ave., was purchased by Colorado Coalition for the Homeless in December with the intent of reopening it by the end of this year as Renewal Village, with 215 rooms.

PHOTO BY ERIC HEINZ

The restaurant Root Down, seen here in spring 2020, is located at 1600 W. 33rd Ave. in LoHi.

Crime Stoppers Ups American Elm Double Murder Reward to $25K, No Further Details

By Eric Heinz

The Denver Police Department (DPD) announced June 22 that the reward for information related to the double murder on April 24 of two American Elm restaurant employees has been raised from $5,000 to $25,000, but they did not provide any additional details related to the incident.

“To this day, the department continues to devote significant investigative resources to the case, as we do with every unresolved homicide,” said Matt Clark, a commander in the DPD major crimes unit. “Investigators assigned to this case are diligently working to identify and apprehend the individual or individuals responsible for the deaths of everyone.”

The victims, Emerall Vaughn-Dahler, 34, and Ignacio “Nacho” Gutierrez Morales, 58, were shot to death at the restaurant at 4132 W. 38th Ave. on April 24.

Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas said investigators have pinned the time of the murders between 10 a.m. and noon the day the incident took place. DPD said they are still looking through footage to see if they can identify a suspect, but they have not seen any so far. Police also said they have not determined a motive for the murders.

“At this point, we have not identified the individual or individuals responsible for these deaths,” Clark said. “This is a challenging and complex investigation. We’re getting tips. We’ve reviewed and are gathering surveillance video. We’re analyzing forensic evidence.”

Denver Metro Crime Stoppers is a nonprofit organization that works with police to obtain information on serious crimes.

“This is such a tragic event, and we have

How To Reduce Your Ozone Impact This Summer

By Kelsey Simpkins

overwhelming support from the entire community, which allowed us to increase this reward,” said Dan Goracke, the vice president of Denver Metro Crime Stoppers. “As with most of the cases, someone has information that will hopefully help law enforcement close this case and give answers to these two families. There is no piece of information that is too small. Anyone who has information, please contact our hotline.”

Andrew Dhaler, the husband of Emerall Vaughn-Dahler, spoke during the press conference.

“These last two months have been some of the toughest I've ever had to deal with,” Dahler said. “To look at that photo and just know that she’s not gonna be here ever, it’s really hard. But I know with the support of my family friends in this community we can find out who did this and why. That's what we're looking for today. We're looking for justice.”

Danica Woolard, the sister of Emerall, also spoke during the press conference.

“The last few months have been a nightmare,” Woolard said. “All I want is for my sister's murder and Ignacio’s murder to be solved. And for whoever did this to pay for it. So if anybody has any information, no matter what, even if you don't think it's significant, please come forward.”

As previously reported in The Denver North Star, a silent auction and fundraiser to benefit the victims' families at Hops & Pie restaurant raised at least $35,000. A GoFundMe page, which had a goal of raising $100,000, has exceeded $150,000.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867 or online at metrodenvercrimestoppers.com.

You can’t see it, smell it, or taste it. This invisible pollutant even accumulates the most on hot and sunny bluesky days, when the Colorado air appears clear. Yet, ground-level ozone is the Front Range’s most pressing air quality problem, impacting our health and environment each summer.

Ozone is simply three oxygen atoms stuck together. High up in the atmosphere, ozone serves an important purpose: it protects us from the sun’s ultraviolet radiation. But at ground level, high concentrations of ozone are toxic to people: irritating our throats and lungs, making it difficult to breathe, increasing our susceptibility to respiratory infections, and exacerbating ailments such as asthma.

So where does this pollution come from?

Ground-level ozone is formed when two chemicals, volatile organic compounds (VOC) and nitrogen oxides (NOx), react in the sunshine and heat that build up on summer days. These emissions come mainly from our gas-powered vehicles, lawn equipment, and oil and gas production.

Both colorless and odorless, ozone is different than wildfire smoke (sometimes mentioned as PM2.5) or the infamous “brown cloud” from decades past. Yet while we cannot see it or smell it, we still have the power to reduce ground-level ozone in the Front Range each and every day.

First, sign up for ozone alerts from the Re-

gional Air Quality Council (RAQC). Visit SimpleStepsBetterAir.org/signup-for-alerts to sign up for emails and/or text “BetterAirCO” to 21000 to receive air quality alerts on your phone. When a high ozone day is anticipated the next day or happening now, the RAQC will send you a text or email to let you know.

Second, to reduce your emissions, take some Simple Steps for Better Air. Skip two car trips per week by carpooling, combining errands, and walking, taking a scooter, bike, bus, or the light rail to get where you need to go. Ride RTD for free in July and August 2023, as part of their Zero Fare for Better Air program to reduce ground-level ozone in the summer months.

More simple steps: Fuel up your car after 5 p.m., and don’t idle in the driveway or parking lot—instead, turn the car off and on again. Consider a low- or zero-emissions vehicle, like an electric vehicle (EV), when it's time to purchase a new vehicle. Switch to electric lawn equipment, or mow after 5 p.m. when possible, to keep emissions from building up in the heat of the day. And as many of us do these days, work from home at least one day a week and eliminate your commute altogether! Visit SimpleStepsBetterAir.org for more information about how to reduce your ozone impact this summer and help your Colorado community breathe easier.

Defendants Receive Decades in Prison for 2021 West Colfax Murder

By The Denver North Star Staff

Prosecutors with the Denver District Attorney’s Office recently announced four of five men involved in a 2021 crime spree that resulted in the shooting death of 18-year-old Shmuel Silverberg have been sentenced to decades in prison.

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Noah Loepp-Hall was sentenced to a stipulated prison sentence of 65 years. Aiden Sides was sentenced to a stipulated prison sentence of 41 1/2 years. Isaiah Freeman was sentenced to a stipulated 30-year prison sentence. Samuel Fussell was sentenced to 21 1/2 years.

Seth Larhode will be sentenced July 21. All of the defendants were ages 18 to 21 at the time of the crimes, which extended into Lakewood and Aurora.

“These five young men went on a vicious rampage that left one man paralyzed, a son dead and members of Denver’s Jewish community reeling,” Denver District Attorney Beth McCann said in a news release. “I wish peace for Shmuel Silverberg’s family and friends and the other victims of these horrendous and brutal crimes as well as their families and friends. I also want to acknowledge the Denver police officers and our prosecutors, investigators, victim advocates and support staff who worked incredibly hard

and with great sensitivity to bring these cases to conclusion.”

Around 11:30 p.m. on April 17, 2021, Denver Police responded to a reported shooting at Yeshiva Toras Chaim School, located at 1555 N. Stuart St.

The five suspects arrived at the location in two vehicles, according to a police affidavit. They fired shots at Silverberg near North Stuart Street and West Conejos Street, according to the affidavit.

Silverberg ran to the back of the school as the suspects essentially chased him as they drove their vehicles into the parking lot, the affidavit says.

Other crimes the suspects committed included shooting a man as he sat in his car at an Aurora gym. All five suspects entered guilt pleas in April, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

“We are forever grateful to the Denver Police Department and the Denver District Attorney’s Office for their tireless work on behalf of our son,” the parents of Silverberg stated. “Their care, concern and sensitivity to our feelings and needs were unparalleled. We thank them for being there for us when we needed them and for taking the time to make sure that we understood all the proceedings.”

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Police Officers to Return to Denver High Schools

By Gannon Rothman

Denver Public Schools’ Board of Education has decided to return police officers to certain campuses, and it will implement a long-term safety plan in response to recent violence.

The divided school board voted to overturn its 2020 decision to initially remove school resource officers (SROs) from schools after some board members said police unfairly target students of color and that the policy contributes to a “school-to-prison” pipeline.

The return of police officers to Colorado’s largest school district comes after a March incident in which two East High School staff members were injured in a shooting that involved a student, sparking a debate about whether SROs should come back to schools.

Denver North High School Principal German Echevarria said the effectiveness of the decision will depend on having the right officer in the building.

“Our job is to use them as a resource,” said Echevarria, who took over as principal last year. “Ultimately the school is who makes all the decisions based on behavior and follow-up for incidents.”

Before becoming the principal at the school, Echevarria was the assistant principal for about three years. He has lived in North Denver for more than 20 years and has two children who attend North High School.

In a survey conducted at North High School, Echevarria said 80% of the staff and 88% of students who responded said they feel safe in the building on a daily basis.

Another survey given to North High families and students in April shared by the school had about 79% of families responding that they wanted the officers back in schools; 32% of students said they wanted them back; 19% said they do not want them back; and nearly 50% said

they were unsure.

“The relationship is really going to be key on how students, staff and the community feel with (SROs’) return,” Echevarria said.

According to a survey received from the Denver School Leaders Association (DSLA), 80% of principals who participated said they are in favor of officers returning to schools, though 60% of them believed the school board and superintendent should make the decision. Data from Denver Classroom Teachers Association (DCTA) showed the majority of teachers preferred each school make the decision.

Charmaine Lindsay, board member for DPS District 5 and an advocate of SROs, said it should be up to the board and administrators to decide where officers should be placed.

bers who voted for their return.

“This is about deterrence,” Baldermann said. “If it stops one kid from bringing a gun to school, I think it’s worth it.”

But Board Vice President Auon’tai Anderson said the decision to reinstate officers would send the wrong message to students of color across Denver schools.

Anderson has been one of the members behind the pushback to keep SROs out of schools. He, along with members Scott Esserman and Michelle Quattlebaum, sought an alternative method using “community resource officers,” in which police are stationed near the school.

Under its recently released long-term safety plan, DPS outlined its specific strategies for mental health, bullying prevention and staff support.

In the plan, the district will “develop Guiding Principles that outline the exceptions and future vision for the relationship with DPS and SROs to align to DPS core mission and values.”

Citations and arrests will also be monitored and will be provided in quarterly reports to the DPS Board’s consent agenda through the end of the 2025-26 school year.

“We are going to develop a criteria that will hold SROs accountable, which didn’t exist last year,” DPS Superintendent Alex Marrero said.

“Since the pandemic, youth violence has gone way up. The problem is kids bringing handguns. We shouldn’t say we can’t have school resource officers,” Lindsay said.

Lindsay recently called on bringing back SROs for the purpose of preventing gun violence (For more perspective from DPS Director Lindsay, please see her guest column on page 2).

Scott Baldermann, board member for District 1, was involved with the initial 2020 policy for the removal of SROs, but was one of three mem-

Additionally, SROs who do not follow the district’s policy, administration policy or the district’s discipline matrix will promptly be removed by Marrero, who said he hopes the plan invites members of the community to take it seriously.

The plan calls for officers to return in the fall to the same DPS-managed comprehensive high schools where they were placed following the East incident. In an interview, Marrero said a permanent place for SROs will be identified this fall, for which he will advocate for community involvement.

these cases

2021, Denshooting located at the location police affidanear North Street, acschool as him as they parking lot, the committed inin his car suspects entered the District the Denver Denver District work on Silverberg sensitivity to unparalleled. We when we time to make proceedings.”

“Since the pandemic, youth violence has gone way up. The problem is kids bringing handguns. We shouldn’t say we can’t have school resource officers."

–

Charmaine Lindsay, board member for DPS District 5

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Auraria Campus Creates Consortium to Support, Honor Displaced Residents, Indigenous Groups

By Denver North Star Staff

The Auraria Higher Education Center

(AHEC), the state agency that stewards the 150-acre Auraria Campus in downtown Denver, has created the Historic Auraria Consortium, which will develop and execute a strategy to honor and celebrate the heritage of the indigenous tribal nations who once lived there.

This includes the Ninth Street Historic Park in the Auraria Neighborhood, which pre-dates the founding of Denver by two years.

AHEC hired David Olguín as the cultural and community engagement director to spearhead several strategic initiatives. Olguín will work with the Displaced Aurarian communities and indigenous communities to help amplify the stories and reconcile the history of Auraria while creating a space for information, connection and healing.

“We recognize the many opportunities to pay homage to and honor the rich history of the land and communities who lived,

worked and worshiped here before it was the Auraria Campus,” said Colleen Walker, CEO of the Auraria Higher Education Center. “David will be an integral part of this work to help preserve the legacies of the Indigenous Peoples and the families displaced by the formation of campus who were the previous stewards of this land. It’s an important time to align our actions to meet the communities’ desires and uplift the generational work already being done.”

To create the Historic Auraria Consortium, AHEC will collaborate with the Auraria Board of Directors, Community College of Denver (CCD), Metropolitan State University of Denver (MSU Denver) and University of Colorado Denver (CU Denver).

The Consortium will include community members representing the Displaced and Indigenous Aurarian communities, representatives from Auraria’s four institutions,

David Olguín

PHOTO COURTESY OF DAVID OLGUÍN

Street Scene: Highlands Street Fair 2023

and text by Eric Heinz

Perhaps one of the largest gatherings of the summer so far in North Denver, the Highlands Street Fair crowded

32nd Avenue from Osceola to Julian streets on June 24. Although the weather was unusually hot,

considering the monsoons the area has experienced recently, the street was packed with vendors and patrons, many decked out in

colorful garb. The event this year featured a larger children’s activity zone that was accompanied by the various bands and food trucks.

Photos

Councilwoman Ortega’s Rail Buffer Bill Dies

By Eric Heinz

Following the catastrophic freight derailment that took place in East Palestine, Ohio, Councilwoman Deborah Ortega revitalized a policy to prevent new development within 100 feet of railroads that ferry hazardous materials.

But because of the negative effects that the policy could have on planned development, Laura Aldrete, the director of Denver’s Community Planning and Development department, wrote that the policy could stifle new development significantly.

The City Council recently voted 5-7 to not approve the bill, with North Denver Councilwoman Amanda P. Sandoval voting against it.

“Development near railways is a key component of Denver’s growth strategy – which directly connects to our region’s investment in light and commuter rail service,” Aldrete wrote in a recent letter to the City Council. “Denver has 35 light and commuter rail stations, adjacent to freight railways, all of which have a different character and expected density.”

Aldrete also mentioned the Blueprint Denver strategy, adopted in 2019, and the city’s strategy to increase private investment and new development around rail stations.

“To be clear, overall health and safety are critical to all that we do, and we share these comments and questions with the goal of finding meaningful solutions to the challenges and opportunities facing our city as we continue to grow,” Aldrete wrote.

In a recent City Council committee meeting, Ortega revived a proposal from 2021 that would deny permit applications for development within 100 feet of a freight railway unless the application contained certain attestments, including an evacuation plan and mitigation measures.

“We were trying to find a happy medium to

Auraria

Continued from Page 8

and collaborators from the Colorado Legislature, History Colorado, Downtown Denver Partnership and Historic Denver. As the first project, the Consortium will create and oversee a long-term stewardship plan for Ninth Street Historic Park. The initiatives to be addressed by the Consortium will also include developing a historical archive of Ninth Street Park, fostering collaboration with impacted community members and establishing healing spaces.

In addition to this work, Olguín will collaborate with Lulu Lantzy, chief activation officer, on community outreach and activation of the campus, specifically for Ninth Street Historic Park.

Olguín follows a restorative, community-first approach to his reconciliation and advocacy work. He previously served as the student advisor to the Colorado Commission on Higher Education, the co-chair of the Equity Champions Coalition at the Colorado Department of Higher Educa-

figure out how … we continue to allow development to happen while at the same time making sure that the buildings are going to be safe for people to live and work,” Ortega said before the vote to kill the bill took place. “I just want to say that as we have seen more and more derailments happening on our rail corridors, this would not be accepted in the airline industry. We … across this country should be screaming and asking for our congressional delegation to support that federal legislation.”

Ortega said she hosted several meetings with community members, the National Transportation Safety Board and other factions to put together the information for the ordinance.

Four “public assembly locations” are within 100 feet of railroads, 10 are within 1,000 feet, and 58 are within a half-mile. Some of them include Empower Field at Mile High, Coors Field, Ball Arena and Elitch Gardens.

Additionally, Ortega provided data from the Denver Office of Emergency Management that stated between 2011 and 2015, the number of railroad shipments carrying hazardous materials tripled one year and quadrupled another. The committee postponed the proposal to deny permits near railroads with conditions to a later date that has not yet been scheduled.

Councilwoman Kendra Black said she has concerns that there aren’t mass evacuation plans in place in the event of a disastrous rail event, but she mentioned that derailments usually happen at grade crossings.

“What is proposed in the bill doesn’t actually solve the problem that has been identified, and that's what concerns me,” Black said, adding that the studies accompanying the bill did not adequately address the main issues.

Ortega will leave office due to term limits after July 17.

tion, legislative liaison to the State Student Advisory Council of the Colorado Community College System, RISE Education Fund selection committee member, as well as a proud member several student organizations. Olguín continues to serve Denver’s Latino community as a mayoral appointee and vice chair of the Latino Commission of Denver’s Human Rights and Community Partnerships.

Olguín, a first-generation adult graduate, obtained a Bachelor of Arts in public service from the School of Public Affairs at the University of Colorado Denver and an Associate of Arts from Front Range Community College Westminster.

AHEC stated Olguín is passionate about equity and community building because of his lived experience and his fervor to drive forward the social, political and economic mobility of marginalized communities.

Olguín said his “ambition was born out of a fundamental desire to reconcile history and, in the tradition of the ancestors and elders, to bear witness and make our testimonios known.”

A freight train derailed at the Suncor Energy refinery in Commerce City on June 16.

PHOTO COURTESY OF CHASE WOODRUFF / COLORADO NEWSLINE

June 16.

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If you could see Colorado’s air, you would want to improve it.

Ground-level ozone is invisible and the Front Range’s biggest air quality issue. Created from pollutants like car exhaust, ozone is a leading cause of respiratory problems. Improving our air quality takes all of us, and there are many ways to help. We encourage you to #JustSkipTwo car trips a week, mow your lawn after 5 p.m., don’t idle your car, telework a few days each week, and take the bus, bike, or walk.

Sign up for air quality alerts and learn more about the simple steps you can do to help. SimpleStepsBetterAir.org

LETTERS FROM MISS JILL

Multiple Intelligences

Hother’s interests as they interacted each day. This effect helped many children to take on the skills of new intelligences as they were exposed to different activities and ideas.

JILL CARSTENS

ave you ever noticed how some people in your family or friend group might be the go-to for technical type problems while others might be the person you talk to for advice about interpersonal conflicts? In general, we often label these skills by referring to a person being “right-brained” or “left-brained.”

I stumbled upon the term “multiple intelligences” (MI) when I was a young teacher and embraced it as I strived to create curricula that were inclusive to all types of learners in my classroom.

Howard Gardner, who developed this theory in the late 1970s and ’80s, took the “right brain/left brain” idea to a much more substantial level that helps to validate learners for whom auditory learning just doesn’t cut it.

As of 1999, Gardner established a list of eight types of learning modes, or “intelligences.” They are: linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, naturalistic, interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligence.

Lecture-type teaching, i.e., auditory learning, remains the norm in most of our classrooms, but what if you are a kinesthetic learner? This would mean that you need to manipulate concrete materials in order to understand ideas. Most preschoolers are kinesthetic by nature as they move through their early years in motion.

Understanding how children, if not adults, learn best can help us support them and provide environments that encourage learning in different ways. Additionally, understanding an individual’s different intelligences can also help keep home life running smoothly.

According to a 2017 Harvard paper by Katie Davis, “conceiving of intelligence as multiple rather than unitary in nature, the theory of multiple intelligences, or MI theory, represents a departure from traditional conceptions of intelligence first formulated in the early 20th century, measured today by IQ tests, and studied in great detail by cognitively oriented psychologists.”

One of the reasons I have enjoyed learning about MI, and as the Harvard paper asserts, is that rather than continuing to look at intelligence as a have or have-not status progressing from birth, MI opens the door to us all having the potential to develop skills that are innate to us that can be nurtured as we make our way into the world; “a combination of heritable potentials and skills that can be developed in diverse ways through relevant experiences,” continues Davis.

I have saved all the journals from my teaching career and found the ones where MI was influencing my methods. Finding ways to reach all the children often came in the form of finding out their hobbies and interests. Capitalizing on that, I developed a curriculum based on those interests, and the children began to adopt some of each

Schools

Continued from Page 2 driving offenses, marijuana tickets, shoplifting all lead to a probation system that is insurmountable. Private corporations profit off kids being on probation, but that’s a whole other subject.

Back to my vote to allow the return of SROs, I am personally invested and involved. I am in an interracial marriage, and I have 10 kids of color who are my grandkids, who go to or have gone through Denver Public Schools, including two at East and one at McAuliffe.

For every child that carries a loaded gun to school there is a story that started long before the symptoms of sitting in a class -

As we honored all the different ways of learning in our classroom, all of the intelligences, students had the opportunity to appropriate new knowledge through a personal context, through their best intelligences. This bleeds into the idea of constructivist theory where we “allow” children to be part of building their own smarts.

One way or the other, if we strive to present information and the acquisition of knowledge in a wide variety of formats, not just auditorily, we give children the opportunity to develop a much richer intelligence as well as offer them the chance to develop numerous ways of learning rather than just one.

Additionally, we don’t want to pigeonhole our kids. Just because they may be brilliant at math or tennis does not mean that we inundate them with math workbooks or insist they play tennis every available moment. With the awareness of MI, we can honor that dominant intelligence, yet nurture others to help a child become well-rounded in their knowledge.

I had a preschool student who was literally obsessed with insects. His very well-intentioned mom immersed him with toys, books and videos that supported this obsession. However, at school, this was the only thing the child wanted to do or talk about. So I went about adding provocations to this child’s preschool routine.

How about we construct a “bug house” in the blocks or learn about other animals and plants that have relationships with bugs. I wanted to help this child use the bug obsession, perhaps an early proclivity to a naturalist intelligence, to broaden his learning. And it worked! He began engaging in a greater variety of activities at school as well as interacting more with his peers.

Discovering a particular person’s dominant intelligence can be incredibly gratifying and validating, especially in a world where the traditional definitions of intelligence still dominate. Using the theory of MI we can embrace our particular, individualized skills and talents in order to find our own unique places in the world and hopefully choose vocations where they can be used to their advantage.

MI allows us all to have a valid skill and focuses on individual strengths that we can in turn share. Embracing all of the diverse ways that people present themselves in their best intelligences are, I believe, great ways to include everyone, harness multiple ways of approaching problems and keep our perspectives fresh.

Jill Carstens taught for 30 years and now enjoys writing for this publication! You can view more of her writing on Instagram @lettersfrommissjill. Email her with comments or story ideas at jill@denvernorthstar.com.

room with a loaded gun. SROs need to be there because of the symptoms, not the underlying inequities, unfair punishments, and lack of advocacy, resources and mental health services. Besides being a possible deterrent to violence, SROs can develop trust with students and are often who students turn to when they are facing abuse inside and outside the school environment.

The decisions of whether SROs will be in schools are ultimately up to the individual schools and the superintendent. As a school board member, I do not believe that I have a right to take that choice away, which is why I stand by my vote.

Charmaine Lindsay is the Denver Public Schools’ Board of Education representative for District 5. She was appointed to the board in 2022.

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Characters Find Comfort in ‘The Little Italian Hotel’

Forty-nine-year-old Ginny Splinter, known as “Advice Angel,” is polished and poised in her life as well as her fashion.

Two Simple Steps to Your Summer Body

hen I started this column weeks ago, summer seemed a long way off. But last week, all of a sudden we reached that point we always do in July here in Denver; delayed though it was, the sun is getting hotter.

WSome behaviors recommended by this sort of advertising, like eating well and exercising, can be effective wellness tools. But health is not the main goal of a “Seven-Day Bikini Body Cellulite Reduction Challenge,” or “Rock Hard Abs in 5 Minutes a Day.”

We can embrace our wellness practice as a gift to our current and future selves. Hydrate, eat well, move, sleep, breathe and connect, not because some TV show tells us to, but because it is so much more possible to do the things we want and need to do in this world when we are well.

WENDY THOMAS

Her fairytale life and marriage have been the subject of a spread in a glossy magazine, and her inimitable style and gorgeous husband make the listeners of her radio show, “Just Ask Ginny,” take heed. She graces listeners in Greenham, England, with her expert advice to help them overcome their life challenges, relationship and otherwise. Life is perfect.

Or so Ginny thinks at the opening of “The Little Italian Hotel” by Phaedra Patrick. The unraveling soon begins, however, when a radio caller asks Ginny how well she really knows her husband and questions whether Ginny’s life is really as perfect as it seems.

With the call still on her mind, Ginny heads home to make Adrian, her successful and dashing car salesman husband, an Italian feast and surprise him with a luxurious, three-week Italian vacation for their 25th anniversary. Instead, he surprises her by asking for a divorce and moving out.

Shocked and heartbroken, Ginny impulsively decides to downgrade her trip and take four brokenhearted listeners on the Italian vacation with her. Once they arrive at the charming but somewhat rundown Hotel Splendido in the fictional Vigornuovo, Italy, Ginny and her fellow travelers share their stories and help each other come to terms with their losses while exploring the sites and soaking up the stunning landscape.

Ginny, along with a yoga-loving schoolteacher, a quiet carpenter, an irritable octogenarian and a suspicious property developer, make up the ensemble cast whose differences dim in the face of their shared experiences of loss.

The charming and good-looking hotel owner, Nico, adds another layer to the story with his culinary prowess, grief over his broken marriage and competition with his lifelong friend who owns the wildly successful hotel up the hill.

Themes of romance and self-discovery overshadow the elements of aging, grief and loss, making this more of a comfort read than a deep emotional exploration. Readers looking for a quiet summer read can escape to the beautiful Italian countryside where problems are easily overcome and heartaches are miraculously healed in “The Little Italian Hotel.” Check it out now at Denver Public Library.

Summer is in full swing at the library! Visit the Denver Public Library branch near your or go to denverlibrary.org/events to see what’s happening. Join us at the Smiley Branch Library from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Aug. 5 for the annual Denver Days Community Gathering. Enjoy free ice cream and family activities, and bring your extra garden produce to swap with neighbors!

Wendy Thomas is a librarian at the Smiley Branch Library. When not reading or recommending books, you can find her hiking with her dogs.

The temperatures are rising, and many of us start to fret about being invited somewhere we need to wear a swimsuit. The body we’ve been wrapping in sweats all winter (even more than usual this year!) will soon be on display. And along with those sweaters coming off, that sound you hear? It’s the avalanche of “summer is here” advertising content flooding the internet, magazines, TV and every other nook possible.

Even this year, as cold and rainy as it’s been, it is happening. You know the type of advertising I’m talking about: “Get your beach body ready!” Beauty brands hawking cellulite-busting creams and potions. Friends posting status updates about their weight-loss progress accompanied by the obligatory swimsuit shots.

Supplements that promise to give you that swimsuit body in just days with no diet or exercise necessary. This is not a new thing. In 1961 a magazine ad proclaimed, “Summer’s wonderful fun is for those who look young … High firm bust, hand span waist, trim, firm hips, slender graceful legs. A Bikini Body!”

The concept of the swimsuit body is nothing more than a myth constructed to make profit from our insecurities. The “bikini body” traps consumers into believing they must change to be acceptable.

Our obsession with looking “beach ready” just shows how normalized objectification is. One Twitter poll reports that 63% of respondents have avoided going somewhere public due to self-consciousness regarding their body in a swimsuit.

Let me say that again: Well over half of people surveyed avoided going out because they were ashamed of how they looked. So how can we change that? We can start by abandoning the idea of the perfect swimsuit body. As a society, we must become more accepting and loving, and it has to start with accepting ourselves. We can find validation in our talents, skills and the way we improve the lives of others instead of chasing happiness by emulating a person in a magazine.

Remember, there are only two steps to having a summer body. Buy a swimsuit and put it on your body. And while that is easy to say, undoing the years of that voice in the back of your head worrying about whether your belly is hanging out over your swim trunks can take time. It can take therapy and patience and grace. So if thinking about a “summer body” inspires you to make positive choices that support your wellness, great.

But if it causes you to abandon hope and give up your wellness practice because you are sure you will never reach some sort of bikini body ideal, then even though it isn’t easy, remind that voice that if we can’t accept and honor ourselves, we can’t possibly accept and honor anyone else. Which, right now, seems like a pretty important thing for us as a species to figure out how to do.

Erika Taylor is a community wellness instigator at Taylored Fitness, the original online wellness mentoring system. Taylored Fitness believes that everyone can discover small changes in order to make themselves and their communities more vibrant, and that it is only possible to do our best work in the world if we make a daily commitment to our health. Visit facebook.com/erika.taylor.303 or email erika@ tayloredfitness.com.

ERIKA TAYLOR

Our obsession with looking “beach ready” just shows how normalized objectification is. One Twitter poll reports that 63% of respondents have avoided going somewhere public due to selfconsciousness regarding their body in a swimsuit.

Northside Retiree Writes Letters to Tackle Social Isolation

“That’s one of the things I’ll do, talk about the trees. I’ll write ‘go to a window you’re near and look out. What trees do you see?” She also includes comic strips and quiz questions.

Rabinowitz interjected, “By asking questions, you’re stimulating memories.”

KATHRYN WHITE

Twice a month, Mary Wilham takes a packet of five letters to the post office near her house in the West Highland neighborhood. In the days that follow, her letters make their way to intended recipients: people who are strangers to Wilham, residents in long-term care facilities in towns Wilham has been to or would like to visit someday.

“That gives me a topic to write about,” Wilham said, “I’ll ask questions about it.”

Wilham has volunteered for the organization Letters Against Isolation (LAI) since shortly after it was founded in April 2020.

Wilham learned about LAI from her friend Ellen Rabinowitz. During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Rabinowitz, who had been a volunteer at Denver Zoo, was looking for ways to volunteer from home. She came across LAI online, and was immediately drawn to the story of how it began.

Two teen sisters in Boston, Shreya and Saffron Patel, had been reaching out to their grandparents routinely. One day they noticed that their grandmother, isolated in London at the time, was enthusiastic about a letter she had received from a friend. It brightened her day at a time when she really needed it.

The sisters wondered if they could have that kind of effect in Boston. They reached out to nearby long-term care facilities and within days had residents lined up to receive letters.

Today, LAI’s 22,000-plus volunteers have sent more than 654,000 cards and letters in 16 languages.

Social isolation and loneliness have reached levels so significant in the U.S. that this year the Surgeon General weighed in.

Dr. Vivek H. Murthy, 19th and 21st Surgeon General of the United States, calls attention to “the serious public health issue” in the 2023 advisory, “Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation: The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory on the Healing Effects of Social Connection and Community.”

“Loneliness is far more than just a bad feeling,” Murthy said. “It harms both indi-

Park

Continued from Page 1

Several incidents, according to the city, which included police confrontations with the Latino community, forced a swimming pool that was once operational in the park to close in 1984.

La Raza Park was renamed in 2020 after

vidual and societal health. It is associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, depression, anxiety, and premature death. The mortality impact of being socially disconnected is similar to that caused by smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day, and even greater than that associated with obesity and physical inactivity. And the harmful consequences of a society that lacks social connection can be felt in our schools, workplaces, and civic organizations, where performance, productivity, and engagement are diminished.”

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) makes an important distinction, especially for those focused on improving social connectedness and decreasing feelings of loneliness.

“Loneliness and social isolation are different, but related. Loneliness is the distressing feeling of being alone or separated. Social isolation is the lack of social contacts and having few people to interact with regularly.”

“Senior loneliness was always a problem,” Rabinowitz said, “but the public wasn’t aware of it until we were suddenly all isolated.”

“It’s been a bonding experience for our volunteers as well,” continued Rabinowitz. “You’ve got thousands of people around the

the city scrapped the name Columbus Park, which it had been named since the 1930s.

In 2022, Denver Landmark Preservation published a historic context study of Denver’s Latino, Chicano and Mexican-American communities titled “Nuestras Historias,” which compiled several sites within communities as being historically and culturally significant, and which included La Raza Park.

world doing this, just because it’s the right thing to do, and we have all bonded in a way.”

Facilities or programs that serve older adults can sign up on the LAI website, where they indicate how many letters they’d like to receive and in what languages.

Volunteers sign in every two weeks at lettersagainstisolation.com to select the number of letters they’d like to write during that cycle, and which facility they’d like to send their letters to. If the volunteer knows multiple languages, they can choose to write letters in them.

For volunteers unsure what to write, Rabinowitz points to resources on the website.

“There are blogs about what to write to a stranger,” she said. There are blogs on a host of topics volunteers might be curious about as they get started: card decorating tips, holiday guidelines, jokes and trivia, and monthly “dates of distinction.”

Wilham recalled a tip she gained from one of the monthly volunteer Zoom parties: “If you’ve just met someone, what three things might you say about yourself?”

Wilham, who used to work as an arborist, likes to incorporate trees and birds into her letters.

Festival

Continued from Page 1

boat having an ornately carved dragon’s head at the bow and a tail at the stern,” Dunklee said. “The paddles symbolically represent the claws. With its strength and power, the dragon rides the clouds in the sky and commands the wind, mist and rain.”

“The Dragon Boat Festival is a statutory holiday in China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, held around the summer solstice,” Dunklee continued. “Most celebrations involve eating zongzi (sticky rice treats wrapped in bamboo leaves), drinking realgar wine (yellow wine with realgar, a miner-

The Surgeon General’s advisory on loneliness and isolation outlines ways to foster social connection. Recommendations are tailored to stakeholder groups such as health care, education, philanthropy, parents and caregivers, media, tech companies, and community-based organizations.

Recommendations for individuals include investing time in relationships, minimizing distractions during time spent with others, seeking opportunities to serve and support others, engaging with people of different backgrounds and experiences, participating in community groups, reducing activities that lead to feelings of loneliness and disconnection, finding time for civic engagement, and demonstrating the value of connection in everyday interactions.

Last summer, Rabinowitz and LAI co-founder Shreya Patel visited North Denver’s Dayspring Villa on West 26th Avenue, where LAI volunteers have been sending letters and cards for over two years. Not far from the kitchen nook where Wilham decorates and writes 10 cards a month, Dayspring Villa has a basket in a common area where residents can pick up letters and read them.

During the July 2022 visit, Rabinowitz and Patel sat down with a Dayspring Villa resident who has enjoyed reading the letters.

“It brings a moment in our day where the world stops, and someone from another place has taken the time to send us a short message, or a long letter, or a picture that gives us some joy to our hearts,” she said.

Kathryn has lived in north Denver since around the time the Mount Carmel High School building was razed and its lot at 3600 Zuni became Anna Marie Sandoval Elementary. She’s raised two children in the neighborhood, worked at several nonprofits and volunteered with the Alzheimer’s Association Colorado Chapter.

such as smallpox, course the The county vard and tion of Denver Catholic hospital It was first at 19th Avenue then became 18th Avenue tral Denver. near northwest The Northside so those who treated in doctors. Many family members childbirth sician when of the working-class borhoods midwives, a trip to the The new its own hospital, saw them “pest houses.” and Federal Boulevard, that had originally tel.

too far out facility to tional

al often used as a pesticide and considered an antidote for poison), and racing dragon boats. Chinese folklore holds that the festival commemorates the death of the poet and minister Qu Yuan (c. 340-278 BC). Qu Yuan committed suicide by drowning himself in the river. It is said that the local people, who admired him, raced out in their boats to try to save him.”

With culture as the backdrop and the mountains and lake as its frame, this free, two-day event celebrates everything beautiful about Colorado summers and the cultures in our midst.

For more information, visit cdbf.org. Additional volunteer opportunities are available for those interested in getting involved.

THE DENVER NORTH STAR FILE PHOTO / DAVID SABADOS La Raza Park has been officially designated as a Denver historic cultural district, which will help preserve the history and legacy of the iconic open space.

PHOTO BY KATHRYN WHITE

Volunteers like Mary Wilham send personal notes on upbeat, hand-decorated cards for the organization Letters Against Isolation.

When

problems.

PHOTO BY BASHA COHEN

considered racing dragon the festipoet and Qu Yuan himself in people, who boats to try and the this free, everything beauand the culcdbf.org. Addiavailable involved.

Early Healthcare on the Northside

In the 1870s, Denver had a shortage of hospitals. The county ran the Arapahoe County Hospital to treat the poor who had serious illnesses such as smallpox, diphtheria, cholera and of course the ever-present tuberculosis.

The county hospital was at Speer Boulevard and 8th Avenue, at the present location of Denver Health. St. Vincent’s was a Catholic hospital that also treated the poor. It was first located in the red-light district at 19th Avenue and Market Street, which then became St. Joseph Hospital at East 18th Avenue and Humboldt Street in central Denver. There were not any hospitals near northwest Denver.

The Northside had its share of doctors, so those who were ill and wealthy could be treated in their own homes by their own doctors. Many other people depended on family members to nurse them through childbirth or illnesses, only calling a physician when absolutely necessary. Residents of the working-class and immigrant neighborhoods of north Denver got help from midwives, family and, if things got too bad, a trip to the charity hospitals.

The new town of Highland was hoping for its own hospital, even though some people saw them as dangerous, in fact calling them “pest houses.” Down at West 17th Avenue and Federal Boulevard, known simply as Boulevard, there was a two-story building that had originally been the Grandview Hotel. When that failed, mostly because it was too far out from Denver, it briefly became a facility to treat those with mental and emotional problems.

In 1874 the Episcopal Church brought in its newest bishop, John Franklin Spalding. The bishop and his wife, Lavinia, became the drivers of a movement to build an Episcopal hospital in Denver. While he began to look for a location, she organized the Ladies’ Aide Society to make sure that the new hospital had enough supplies to be the best medical facility in Denver. They intended to be open to all, of whatever race or ethnicity, and to rich and poor alike.

What they found was the old Grandview Hotel. There were some advantages to the site. It was on Boulevard, which was a good dirt road. The small lake next door offered a ready supply of fresh, artesian, spring water. But there were a few problems as well.

It was an hour-long ride from the center of Denver. In fact, the doctors frequently complained about having to drive, in the dead of night, through The Bottoms, which was Denver’s riverside slum. The building also needed a lot of work. And it was in an area that did not yet have many residents. But it was inexpensive and available.

St. Luke’s Hospital opened its doors on June 27, 1881. The first patients arrived soon after, but there were never enough to truly make ends meet. The women’s group and a steady group of supporters spent considerable time finding food, supplies and money.

After President James Garfield was assassinated, the country mourned and then got back to business. Many shops had made makeshift memorial bunting of black-andwhite cotton cloth.

The ladies had donated materials, and their servants made bedding, surgical drapes and bandages from the fabric. One support-

er even gave a cow so that the patients could have fresh milk.

The Ladies’ Aide Society members collected donated food to feed patients and sometimes staff. In October 1882, the women held their first St. Luke’s Gala Ball. It added $2,000 to the coffers and became an annual event.

During the 10 years St. Luke’s was in northwest Denver, the hospital rarely had enough patients to make ends meet. Eventually they negotiated contracts with the Rio Grande and Burlington railroads to treat worker injuries. This brought them closer to solvency.

By 1891 it was clear to everyone running

Denver Sets Sights on Vision Zero

What do you think the appropriate number of deaths due to traffic crashes is? The city of Denver still thinks that number should be zero.

ALLEN COWGILL

In May, the Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI) announced its new six-year action plan for Vision Zero, or the goal of having zero traffic deaths. This comes after two recent record years of traffic deaths in Denver, with 84 traffic deaths in both 2021 and 2022. As of July 1, there have been 41 traffic deaths in Denver this year, on pace to match the past two years.

Rolf Eisinger, Vision Zero program manager with DOTI, shared that as the previous five-year action plan came to a conclusion, the department had an opportunity to reflect on what worked and what didn’t.

He said that during community engagement for Denver Moves 2050 (the long-term transportation plan for the city), Denver residents made it very clear that the goal of zero traffic deaths is a priority.

Eisinger said that DOTI is starting to see success with the program in certain areas, and that now is the time to scale up efforts.

DOTI’s Vision Zero action plan advocates for additional resources for up to 11 additional full-time employees, on top of an additional $6 million to $10 million per year in planning and programming costs.

The philosophy around Vision Zero started in Sweden in the 1990s, and the country is one of the safest in transportation. The concept assumes that people will make mistakes, and that the transportation system should be designed to prevent serious injuries or deaths when people make those mistakes.

DOTI has identified “High Injury Network” streets, or the small percent of dangerous streets in Denver that are accounting for a disproportionate amount of fatalities

and injuries.

In North Denver, those high-injury network streets are Federal Boulevard, Sheridan Boulevard, Speer Boulevard, West 38th Avenue, West Colfax Avenue and West 29th Avenue. These larger “arterial” streets account for 83% of serious-injury and fatality crashes in the city.

DOTI has also identified clusters where crashes are taking place. In North Denver, the area around the intersection of West Colfax and Sheridan is one of them. DOTI is hoping to make safety improvements to these streets to have the greatest impacts on safety.

Eisinger said residents can expect to see improvements on high-injury network streets similar to what happened on Santa Fe Drive in the Art District. DOTI installed plastic flex posts along with paint to narrow the road and “give more space to vulnerable road users such as people walking.” Pedestrians, people on bikes and people riding motorcycles are over-represented in traffic crashes. For example, pedestrians make up 7% of trips in Denver, but they represent 31% of traffic fatalities.

Eisinger also said that there will be a new focus on leveraging transit as an opportunity to improve safety.

“When you are looking at the mode of transportation, (the) motor vehicle is the common cause in almost all of the traffic fatalities,” he said, “but when we look at modes that are very safe, we are finding that transit is it. Once someone is on a bus or a train, they are incredibly safe in getting where they need to go. We have not seen a fatality of somebody on transit.”

He highlighted that DOTI is looking for ways to expand transit in Denver through plans for East Colfax Bus Rapid Transit and, in the longer term, Bus Rapid Transit on Federal Boulevard.

The Vision Zero plan also calls for reducing speed limits on major roads to 25 miles per hour. Einsinger said that higher speeds make

crashes more frequent, and make the crashes more severe because people don’t have as much time to react when they are going faster.

“Eighty-four people were killed last year on the roadways. If we want to reverse the trend, we are going to have to make some changes,” he said.

DOTI spokesperson Vanessa Lacayo also mentioned that reducing speeds means fewer crashes, which in turn means less traffic jams due to collisions. In a recent study, speed was a factor in 28% of traffic deaths in Denver.

In terms of potential effects to North Denver, DOTI has improvements planned for Federal Boulevard funded by the Colorado Department of Transportation between West 23rd Avenue and West 27th Avenue, including a new pedestrian crossing at West 25th Avenue. The project is out to bid for a contractor.

Bus Rapid Transit is also planned for Federal Boulevard led by CDOT, and that project will kick off later this summer. Safety improvements are planned for West Colfax Avenue between Sheridan Boulevard and Irving Street.

That project is also out to bid for a contractor and is scheduled to start construction in winter 2023 or spring 2024. DOTI is also planning safety projects for West 38th Avenue.

“Currently, we are getting ready to begin a study along 38th Avenue from Sheridan Boulevard to Fox Street to help identify safety and mobility improvements that could be implemented in the short-, mid- and long-term,” Lacayo said. “As that gets underway, we’ll reach out to the public to weigh in. Additionally, we’re working with CDOT to explore other safety improvements on that corridor.”

This comes in addition to the improved traffic signals that were recently installed at 38th Avenue and Sheridan.

Allen Cowgill is the City Council District 1 Appointee for the Denver DOTI Advisory Board.

the hospital that it needed to be nearer to the population center. So, the board accepted two lots and purchased additional land at East 20th Avenue and Pearl Street in central Denver.

After the new St. Luke’s buildings opened in 1892, the old site on Boulevard stood empty. Beginning in 1892, the nearest hospital was St. Anthony Hospital near Sloan’s Lake.

Dr. Rebecca A. Hunt has been a Denver resident since 1985. She worked in museums and then taught Colorado, Denver and immigration history at the University of Colorado Denver until she retired in 2020.

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PHOTO COURTESY OF THE DENVER PUBLIC LIBRARY WESTERN HISTORY AND

St. Luke’s Hospital, shown here in 1881. The dirt road on the right side is Federal Boulevard.