POLITICS
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Glendale mayor makes offbeat run for governor
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FLEURISH
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Little Hearts Luncheon a heart-warming gig
Dunafon announced his independent gubernatorial candidacy last week as a promise kept after witnessing a groundswell of Internet-based support.
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AUTO NEWS
2014 Jaguar F-Type S: a convertible for all seasons
Little Hearts Luncheon benefit for the Children’s Hospital Colorado Little Hearts Fund, attracting nearly 300 people to Wings Over the Rockies.
Volume 32 • Number 20 • April 10, 2014
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The 2014 Jaguar F-Type S convertible is the perfect convertible for the Denver metro area, where we get 305 days of sunshine per year.
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Index
Page 5........................................ Opinion Pages 12-15...............................Fleurish Pages 16-18..................................Easter Pages 19-25.................................Legals TheVillagerNewspaper
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Afrikmall to highlight African culture Greenwood Village businessman part of venture
Kelly Lear-Kaul
Coroner candidate stresses medicine over politics Lear-Kaul, M.D. is 20-year forensic pathologist
By Peter Jones Kelly Lear-Kaul, M.D. is running for coroner – and while the prospect may sound as oxymoronic as running for pediatrician, in Colorado it’s the law. “I’m not a politician. I don’t pretend to be a politician. I am first and foremost a doctor,” the candidate and forensic pathologist clarified. If that reminds Star Trek fans of retorts by the flummoxed Dr. McCoy, it should. As far as many medical professionals are concerned, a See story on page 4
By Peter Jones Cobina Lartson remembers when he realized there was a need for an African cultural and business center in the Denver area. In 2007, the Ghanan immigrant and then-public-relations officer for the Rocky Mountain Ghana Council helped organize a local celebration of the nation’s 50th anniversary as the first African nation to gain independence from colonization. The festivities included the boisterous sounds of traditional song and dance. “Because of the noise, we had to stop in the hotel,” Lartson said. “Thereafter, the idea of having a space of our own started coming up.” Such a space would be a kind of African mall, creating dozens of new jobs and offering year-round activities, as well as cultural retail and restaurants. Flash forward 2014: The soonto-open 56,000-square-foot Afrikmall is believed to be the first center of its kind in the United States dedicated to the arts, culture, food and commerce of the world’s secondlargest continent. The existing three-story building, located at 10180 E. Colfax Ave. in Aurora, is under renovation with a planned opening in late June. Once finished, Afrikmall will boast 24 storefronts and restaurants representing the likes of Ghana, Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria and Senegal, among others. First-floor tenants will include clothing boutiques, art stores and a travel agent. In addition to the retail and dining components, Afrikmall will incorporate a 6,000-square-foot reconfigurable event center and a top floor of office leasing. “The space is relatively small for the vision, but this is a start-up. We haven’t done this before,” said Lartson, Afrikmall’s CEO. “It’s good to start a little smaller and then expand. In the next five to 10 years, we hope to be in other states as well.” Afrikmall turned out to be a marriage of aspirations after Lartson’s group, which had been frustrated by
African musicians entertain last month at Afrikmall’s groundbreaking. The soon-to-open center is believed to be the first of its kind in the United States dedicated to the arts, culture, food and commerce of Africa. fundraising challenges, happened upon Greenwood Village businessman Brian Watson, who was impressed by the Afrikmall business plan. Watson’s Northstar Commercial Partners has made a specialty of
acquiring vacant buildings and converting them into centers of shared entrepreneurship. Last year, the firm bought the Innovation Pavilion building in Centennial out of foreclosure for $5 million and wound up creating a startup incubator for more
Greenwood Village investor Brian Watson, Afrikmall CEO Cobina Lartson and U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman at the March 29 groundbreaking for the planned 56,000-square-foot business and cultural center. Photos courtesy of www.bethschneiderphoto.com
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than 80 firms. This time, Watson’s Denverbased company paid $1.3 million for the foreclosed Colfax office building in the heart of ethnically diverse Aurora. “I believe in putting my money where my mouth is,” Watson said. “One of my passions is buying these vacant buildings and putting them into productivity to create jobs and opportunity and build these cultural bridges.” Afrikmall has signed a longterm lease on the building. Lartson considers the location ideal with its proximity to north Aurora’s large population of African immigrants. The Ethiopian population alone has been estimated at close to 30,000. Afrikmall is not just aimed at recent generations of the African diaspora. Hopes are that people of all backgrounds from across the metro area will visit this new hub for African culture. Among others, Lartson expects multigenerational African Americans to reconnect with the traditions of the continent. “I definitely see that interaction happening,” he said. Afrikmall could also become a center for political interface as elected leaders seek to connect with Aurora’s ethnically diverse population, especially in light of the 2010 redistricting that expanded the once Republican-safe 6th Congressional District. As testament, Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman and his Democratic opponent Andrew Romanoff both made appearances at Afrikmall’s March 29 groundbreaking. “We’re organized now,” Lartson said, noting the expansion of Denver’s African Leadership Group. “I think that has raised the awareness of what Africans can contribute in terms of electing people to power.” For Watson’s part, he hopes Afrikmall will offer a slice of the great continent to those who have never had the opportunity to go there. “Africa is one of my favorite places to visit in the world. It is just amazing,” he said. “The people I have dealt with through this process are wonderful, kind, generous individuals who just need an opportunity to succeed and chase down their dreams.”
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