5-9-13 Villager

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Volume 31 • Number 24 • May 9, 2013

What’s Inside

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Coffman in trenches of military and business

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Cancer League Hope Ball ‘Dedicated to the Ones We Love’

www.villagerpublishing.com

303-773-8313 • Published every Thursday

CCHS grad nominated for Student Academy Award

Sofi Choinski makes an impressive acting debut as Daisy, a conflicted tomboy, in Bombshell.The film was nominated for a Student Academy Award.

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I love my mommy because…

‘Bombshell’ explores darkness of sibling relationship

Don’t Miss:

County • Arapahoe underwhelmed by civil unions

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Littleton cop killed in • Off-duty motorcycle crash

Page 8 Chamber honors small business, community involvement Page 12

Index

Page 5..............................................Opinion Page 8.........................................Classifieds Page 10.............................Service Directory Pages 15-19 ...................................Fleurish Page 23..........................................Business Pages 25-32......................................Legals

TheVillagerNewspaper @VillagerDenver

By Peter Jones his will not be the best Fourth of July for Daisy, a 10-yearold tomboy. She will miss the fireworks so her single mother can go out with her boyfriend. Her older brother, Jude, is equally unimpressed by his housebound babysitting duties. When Daisy scampers downstairs in a baseball cap, a grungy tank top and sneakers, Jude is slouched on the couch, channel surfing through Night of the Living Dead. “Stop taking my clothes,” the boy chastises his sister. The dynamics of a young sibling relationship – love, resentment, rivalry, confusion – are

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summed up in a matter several words and even fewer facial expressions. “Parts of the story are autobiographical,” said Erin Sanger, the filmmaker who directed the 14-minute Bombshell. “I was in many ways a tomboy growing up and I really looked up to my brother. I would dress androgynously, not because I was trying to make a statement or even understood that gender was involved at all – but just because I thought my brother was really cool and I wanted to dress like him.” The fragile relationship between Daisy and Jude is thrown a sudden jolt when two older boys drop by to invite Jude to some Independence Day hijinks. The excited middle-schooler reluctantly lets his admiring, but naive kid sister tag along. Continued on page 6

Cherry Creek High School graduate Erin Sanger was recently nominated for a Student Academy Award for her short film Bombshell. The 23-year-old graduate of New York University’s film school will next direct a documentary about an Afghan war veteran. Photo courtesy of Erin Sanger

Cherry Creek Dam Race set for June 15 By Jan Wondra The name may be new, but the race and what it commemorates is not. The Cherry Creek Dam Race, what we used to know as the Greenwood Village GooseChase, is back and better than ever. “This was always a big deal with a small-town feel,” said organizer Mark Crowley, of KNUS, the radio sponsor of the race. “I watched the community come together over this and thought ‘We need to bring this back.’” The Villager newspaper will join KNUS as media sponsor of the event, which will begin and end in Village Green Park in Greenwood Village. While the race is local, it will make a big difference in the world. That’s because the Cherry Creek Dam Race will benefit Project C.U.R.E., which helps fund medical supplies for disaster and developing areas overseas. According to CEO Dr. Doug Jackson, the Project Continued on page 6

County OKs agreement for oil industry Companies can fast track drilling if they agree to new rules

By Peter Jones In a state where carrots and sticks have been offered back and forth over oil exploration, Arapahoe County has again erred on the side of the carrot. Last week, the Board of Commissioners unanimously approved an agreement that will allow oil companies to fast track their drilling applications in unincorporated Arapahoe County if they conform to the county’s standards in such areas as noise, water and transportation. Firms would sign a memorandum of understanding that would require them in many cases to exceed standards imposed by new state industry regulations, which take effect in August. Among

other stipulations, companies would allow the county to inspect their drilling operations and would have to notify the county of any oil spills, simultaneous to notification of state regulators. In return, those companies would pay lower fees and the county would expedite their drilling permits. Commissioner Rod Bockenfeld, the Centennial Republican who chairs the county board, says oil companies will essentially have two choices. “If they’re asking for a streamlined process, they’re agreeing to the memo of understanding upfront,” he said. “If they don’t like it and want to come to us through the special review process, we can have that discussion. But the board will be ruling with its landuse authority given by the state Constitution to exercise the protection of our constituents.”

The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission supports the county’s new policy. Although that state commission is generally charged with overseeing the actual drilling, cities and counties are given leeway to enforce their own land-use rules, much in the way they regulate other industries. For example, Arapahoe County has comparatively stricter rules on the testing of private well water. The county has also required oil-industry vehicles to keep off school bus routes during certain hours. Arapahoe County Public Works will monitor industry activity to ensure compliance with the signed memo. Violations would be brought to the Board of Commissioners. “Many of the oil and gas companies have learned real quick what the hot buttons of the board

members are and they’ve made adjustments,” Bockenfeld said. Still, some residents do not think the county has gone far enough. An organization called What the Frack?! Arapahoe had asked officials to impose a moratorium on oil drilling to further strengthen environmental regulations, especially as pertaining to hydraulic fracturing or fracking. Most agree that the county would be powerless to outright ban that controversial process, which involves the pumping of water, sand and chemicals into the ground to unearth oil and natural gas. Last year, the Board of Commissioners nixed a slate of county-level oil regulations that had been proposed by county staff and citizens groups. Those regulations were staunchly opposed by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.


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