All the News About Denver’s Best Residential Community Since 1960

• Volume 59, Issue No. 10 • October 2020

Dahlia Zimmerman-Voll, 11, joined hundreds of people who gathered in City Park on Sept. 18. The impromptu vigil occurred hours after news broke of the death of Supreme Court Justice and feminist icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Zimmerman-Voll described Ginsburg, the second woman appointed to the nation’s highest court, as her idol. Photo by Rebecca Zimmerman

Critical Moment

Get Registered And Ready For The Most Bizarre – And Most Important – Election Of Our Lifetimes

news analysis

Over the years, we’ve cultivated a citywide reputation candy bars, put up unparalleled outdoor decorative displays featuring dry ice and animatronic monsters, and attract carloads of eager trick-or-treaters from across the metro area. have for decades, our own neighborhood ghosts and legends will be here to send a chill down our spines. Spooked dogs and shattered mirrors

Elizabeth Hall lives in a particularly spiritually active 1949 ranch on Niagara Street. Over the last decade, she says her ghostly cohabitants have moved large, potted plants late at night, shattered mirrors, played phantom music, and spooked dogs, children, and house sitters.

Once, she was on the landline phone with a friend telling them about the paranormal occurrences. “My friend told me that I should politely ask the ghost to leave,” Hall says, “so I said, ‘You want me to politely ask the ghost to…’ and the call disconnected!” Hall and her friend tried to call each other back several times but were stopped by a disconnect and dial tone. Hall doesn’t know if her house has a haunted history but plans to do some research.

In a recent Facebook post, she said she doesn’t much mind her spectral roommates, “Although I do still get freaked out every once in a while.” Visit from the Evans sisters

Spooky phenomena has also transpired at the graceful, 115-year-old Park Hill home of Kelli Theis.

She recalls “benign paranormal activity” from the time she By Penfield W. Tate III For the GPHN

The time has come to decide. And the time has come to vote. I know it sounds cliché, but this probably is the most important election of our lifetimes. And the most bizarre.

The stakes could not be higher. All 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives are up for election. No one seriously expects Democrats to lose their 232 to 198 majority control of the

Key Election Info

• Oct. 9: Ballots mailed • Oct. 26: Deadline to register to vote or update your registration and receive a ballot in the mail. • Nov. 3: Election Day. In Colorado, you can register and vote in person up to 7 p.m. • Check out ColoradoVotes.gov to register to vote, change your address, sign up to track your ballot, and more. • See page 5 for more began restoration of the third floor, mysterious stomping and U.S. House of Representatives. In fact, this margin could grow.

The big play this election cycle is for the U.S. Senate and the presidency. In the Senate the alignment is currently 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats and two Independents, who typically caucus with the Democrats. In total, 35 seats are up for election – 23 held by Republicans and 12 held by Democrats.

The math is clear, if Democrats can pick up four seats, they will have a majority in the Senate to go with their majority in the House. Ground zero for this battle is in Colorado, Maine, North Carolina, and Arizona, where Democrats hope to pick up seats – and in Michigan and Alabama, where they need to maintain incumbents.

Campaigning by Zoom

The pandemic has made this the most challenging of campaign seasons. Most importantly and understandably, people have been preoccupied with preserving the health of themselves and their families and hopefully maintaining steady employment. As a byproduct, almost no inperson events have been held.

If you have been invited to a candi

Beware The Witching Hour

From Phantom Music To Unexplained Foot-Stomping, Park Hill Filled With Stories Of Paranormal Activity

By Rebecca Zimmerman and her family moved in, and Theis says the haunting ramped up For the GPHN considerably when her family made renovation plans. When they

As the shadows of autumn grow longer and a chill permeates door slamming became frequent occurrences. When the remodel the smoky air, as always our neighborhood collectively awaits the was completed, the noises promptly stopped. Halloween season with much anticipation. “We are honored to live in a house built in 1905 and we always

for celebrating like no one else. We hand out full-size continued on page 10

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we will Halloween observe All Hallows’ Eve in 2020, but it has not dampened Park Hill’s love of the macabre. And just as they 2020

continued on page 4 Photo by Cara DeGette

Inside This Issue

PAGE 2

News Briefs: City Faces $190M In New Budget Cuts; Updates On East Area Plan, Group Living Rules

PAGE 6

New Businesses Open At 28th and Fairfax

PAGE 9

Watch Your Step: These Craftsmen Stamped Our Sidewalks

PAGE 12

Hoodoos And Other Delights At The Paint Mines

PAGE 13

Five Ways To Be An Antiracist This October

Upcoming GPHC Meetings

Community meetings are currently conducted virtually on the first Thursday of each month. The next meetings are Oct. 1 and Nov. 5 at 6:30 p.m. Link to attend at greaterparkhill.org/ join-us/community-meetings/. Check greaterparkhill.org for information and details to participate.

Critical Moment