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CORRIDOR | PG 7
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S O U T H
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Fine Arts Foundation presents outstanding young women FLAIR | PG 12
M E T R O
VOLUME 35 • NUMBER 33 • JULY 6, 2017
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TheVillagerNewspaper
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Chillin’ down on the way to work Thousands hit the pedals hard on Bike to Work Day
Centennial Mayor Cathy Noon gives a photographer a blast from a portable cooling fan powered by a smartphone. Noon made a stop at the city’s Bike to Work Day station at the Arapahoe Road Trailhead on June 28. The fan is usually mounted on handlebars to cool down the rider. At right is fellow cyclist Lisa Whitaker. See more photos on page 3. Photo by Stafan Krusze
State Patrol honors Cmdr. Schmitt’s work for ‘Move Over’ law Colorado State Patrol Maj. Steve Garcia, commander of the state’s motorvehicle traffic division, attended the regular meeting of the Greenwood Village Council on June 19 to honor one of the city’s finest police officers, Cmdr. Eric Schmitt, who will be leaving the city in July for the Branson, Mo. police department. Here are portions of his commendation letter honoring Schmitt:
In the last 20 months, the members of the patrol along with the citizens of the State of Colorado have experienced the loss of three State Troopers. They are: Taylor Thyfault May 23, 2015; Jaimie Jursevics Nov. 23, 2015; and Cody Donahue Nov. 15, 2016. During our time of grief and mourning, one of the first phone calls Chief Scott Hernandez and I received was from Chief Jackson, who immediately wanted to know how he could help. Although, an agency as large
as the Colorado State Patrol has the manpower during times of crisis, the gesture and leadership in the coming days in planning three funerals and hosting hundreds of officers from across the nation who are coming to pay their respects was sorely needed as your department truly stepped up to assist us. I am here today to talk about Cmdr. Schmitt in particular. As you are aware, Trooper Cody Donahue was killed in November due to a driver that failed to follow the state law to move over for e m e rge n c y vehicles. We are still in the judicial process of this case, so I will spare you the details, but it brought to our attention
that the need to educate the public about the need to move over for emergency vehicles is critical to the safety of all first-responders. A senseless death that could be prevented is as easy as moving over. After the funeral for Trooper Donahue, Cmdr. Schmitt contacted us and asked permission to utilize the call number for Trooper Donahue, which is 1C3. This call number was retired in honor of Trooper Donahue, and Cmdr. Schmitt asked if he could use the number to name a law enforcement team allegiance to help educate the public about the need to move over for emergency vehicles, and ultimately Cmdr. Schmitt wanted to save lives. The lives of troopers, police officers, sheriff deputies, firefighters, EMS personnel, CDOT, public works and tow-truck drivers. Through his leadership, his perseverance and his in-
novative ideas, his 1C3 operations as of today have generated: 3,829 stops; 2,219 moveover violations; 56 arrests for DUIs, warrants, driving under restraint, habitual T.O. One eluded arrest, and two stolen cars recovered. In law enforcement, we talk a lot about saving lives. Although this is a difficult thing to quantify, I will tell you with 100 percent certainty, through the leadership of Cmdr. Schmitt, he and law enforcement across Colorado have saved lives thru the 1C3 operations. Included in the enforcement efforts was a public outreach by Velma Donahue and the Donahue Family. Two weeks ago, Gov. Hickenlooper signed into law an amendment to the current statue of the move-over law that increased the penalties for not moving over for Continued on Page 2