Sentinel Colorado 1.19.23

LAW AND REORDER

ONE YEAR LATER, AURORANS STILL WATCHING TO SEE HOW STATE REFORM AGREEMENT WILL IMPACT POLICING

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#NoPayWallHere

APD problems are so bad, someone should call the cops — somewhere else

Aurora residents, and anyone who must venture here, will surely take great comfort in hearing that cops who punch disabled women in the face, or who pass out drunk in their police cars and get promoted, “are inconsistent with the Aurora Police Department’s core values.”

That was the message the city’s latest interim police chief, Art Acevedo, imparted to a freshly disgusted community that equates “Aurora Police Department” with “Dumpster Fire.”

At this point, it’s that exclamation, not Acevedo’s euphemism, that better describes the sheer skulduggery and outright horror that erupts from APD like Old Faithful.

“Thar she blows,” was the observation from the media deck this week when word leaked out that one of the cops who has helped make APD the world-infamous entity it has become was back in the news.

Officer — nay, Agent, now — Nathan Meier is the celebrity Aurora cop who in 2019 had vodka for breakfast before starting his shift at APD. He had so much breakfast that he passed out drunk in his locked police car and had to be extricated by fellow officers and medics.

DAVE PERRY Editor

Despite committing one of the most spectacular DUIs of all time in Aurora, then-Officer Meier faced no charges for drunken driving to the place he parked his car and passed out, on duty.

As the sordid tale spilled into the public, it became clear some police administrators wanted to help out Meier by keeping it all on the down low.

Even the DA at the time speculated that had you and yours been discovered passed out drunk in your car along the road, you would most certainly have been given a free ride to the local drinky drunky holding cell. At the very least, you would have had enough blood pulled from your arm at the local ER to convict you at an inconvenient later date.

All this and more resulted in shake-ups in the chief’s office. It led to APD veteran Vanessa Wilson becoming the interim, then permanent police chief. One of the first things Wilson did is make it clear the handling of the Meier get-out-of-havingto-go-to-jail debacle would be thoroughly investigated. And the former interim chief tied into the mess suddenly resigned from the department.

Meier, however, as we all learned this week, did not.

Sources say that it wasn’t as if no one at APD tried to push Meier off of the force. Supervisors apparently worked to at least keep Meier from a cop job where anyone might recognize him or where he would have to show up in court.

“Your honor, the officer on my client’s stolen-gun-attempted-robbery-and-animal-cruelty charges is Nate Meier.”

The familiar ring from the bench would be, “case dismissed.”

Now, unable to fire him — because, well, there were no charges in the case, and he might have just been really sleepy — Meier was sent to places in APD where he wouldn’t make a mess or headlines.

Until this week. He applied for, and was apparently bestowed, a promotion in rank from officer to agent, as part of the civil service system in the city.

Acevedo, and even some conservative city lawmakers who have taken to social media to beg Meier to turn down the promotion, say the

city had no choice under current city regs but to bestow the new rank and salary increase.

“I actually had him come into my office, and we had a very frank conversation,” Acevedo told CBS news during an interview focusing on Meier’s promotion. “He as the individual has actually done what he was supposed to do, which is turn his life around. … I believe it saved his life, as a person.”

That’s nice.

The problem Acevedo and too many other police and city officials fail to appreciate is that Meier is a police officer, who should be held to higher standards than the general public. Or in the case of Aurora Police, he should be held to at least the same standards.

Meier, justly, forfeited his credibility as a guy in Aurora who gets to carry a loaded gun and enforce the law.

While shooting dead his own integrity, he also inflicted collateral damage to a department where other cops stay sober on the job and have no tolerance for those who don’t.

Aurora Police now forfeit their own gasping credibility by promoting him, and certainly by defending the promotion, or not exclaiming something even worse.

And of course there was worse, again.

“There she blows” was the call from the media as news leaked out later this week that Aurora Police Officer Douglas Harroun, 32, had been charged with the off-duty felony assault against an at-risk adult.

I have to admit, nothing distracts a public horrified by promoting drunken cops like another cop who punches a disabled woman several times in the face because he thought she was mouthy about walking her dog slowly in the parking lot as he rode up behind her in his car.

Add this to the list of APD highlights, like forcing a car filled with Black women and girls face down on scorching pavement after a bungled, erroneous stolen car check. And the time an Aurora cop pistol whipped a Black guy during a call on possible vagrancy. And there was the time a cop shot a guy in the butt through his living room window.

Last spring, after firing Wilson — apparently because conservative police-toadies on city council thought Wilson was too tough on cops who make the department so infamous — Aurora brought back former chief Dan Oates for a six-month stint.

Wilson brandished an image of upholding the promise to Aurora — after state officials and courts mandated reform — the police department would finally become “accountable and transparent.”

Oates, not so much. In fact, not at all.

In that short amount of time, Oates:

• quietly detached the strategic Community Relations unit from the chief’s immediate command.

•discretely fired and then immediately unfired a newly hired cop that was arrested in Arkansas for a drunken brawling incident.

•unilaterally refused to discipline a top police commander embroiled in a dubious scheme with another APD officer to sneak into an estranged spouse’s house, violating a restraining order, get stuff and then put it back. Rather than discipline the officer after conviction by the Internal Affairs Unit, and the Chief’s Review Board, Oates eradicated the entire review board, ignored the IA investigators and promoted the commander to division chief. Then, he carved into the IA unit.

If not for reporters at the Sentineland CBS4 News, you’d never know any of that.

Do you see a pattern here? Maybe a “pattern and practices” problem the state Attorney General called out when forcing Aurora into a consent decree to reform the police department, or else?

Obviously, those leading the Aurora City Council, city hall and the police department don’t see this as serious of a problem as the rest of the world does.

It’s nice that Acevedo says that the cops keeping Aurora’s dumpster fire in the headlines all the time don’t represent the “core values” of the department. But they absolutely represent what most people think the Aurora police department is all about, and continues to be.

It’s too bad that police union officials and their city-council sycophants think their police chief shouldn’t talk tough about these debacles, and fire cops who get arrested for anything, or behave like the criminals they’re charged with arresting.

Perpetuating Aurora’s repugnant “patterns and practices” of defending criminal and malfeasant cops only continues to impugn and discourage the vast majority of APD cops who know better, act better and deserve better than this vapid tragedy of errors.

Follow

@EditorDavePerry on Mastadon, Twitter and Facebook or reach him at 303-750-7555 or dperry@ SentinelColorado.com

This screen grab from Aurora police body cam video shows Officer Nathan Meier passed out behind the wheel of his police car as fellow officers try to extract him in 2019. An investigation later determined that Meier had passed out from drinking. SENTINEL FILE PHOTO

Editorials Sentinel

Dems catch tough-on-crime fever as car thefts soar

We all know how Colorado, California, Oregon, Oklahoma and Texas differ.

Oklahoma and Texas have become infamous as farright bastions of conservatism. Governors and Republican-held legislatures there live and breathe “tough on crime” rhetoric and legislative actions.

Political leaders in Colorado, California and Oregon, seen as largely progressive states, question whether “tough on crime” is actually tough on taxpayers and minorities and not much else.

But the most curious link among these states is that they all suffer the highest car-theft rates in the nation.

Lots of experts are trying to figure out why car theft has suddenly become a national obsession, with the Aurora metroplex second from the top across the country.

The Aurora-Denver area reports an astounding 965 car thefts per 100,000 residents, according to a National Insurance Crime Bureau report. Only Bakersfield, California, reports more car thefts per capita.

While sociologists and criminologists continue to study the phenomenon, it looks like the COVID-19 pandemic is largely to blame as inspiration for the national plague of larceny.

A plethora of parked cars, while everyone went nowhere for months, made for easy picking for car thieves. And police and insurance experts say many cars are easily stolen by thieves who know car owners often leave extra car fobs in easy-to-find places, such as under the front seat, in the glove boxes and side pockets.

It’s not a problem of just annoyance here and across the country.

Car and pick-up truck thieves are stealing about 1,000,000 cars a year, wreaking economic and practical havoc on the lives of millions of Americans.

While experts have come to understand more about why this is happening and what the effects are, police and political leaders can’t agree on what to do about it.

About a year ago, some Aurora city lawmakers thought they had the answer: get tough on crime and car thieves.

While the effort generated a great deal of tough-talk rhetoric at city council meetings, on talk radio shows and bouncing among trolls on social media, that’s pretty much all it created.

In Aurora, lawmakers wanted to push for conflicting changes. They wanted city courts, rather than district courts to handle car thefts. Why, was never clear. City legislators don’t run criminal trials. Judges do.

There was talk about ensuring anyone convicted of any kind of car theft gets at least one month in jail.

City lawmakers like Dustin Zvonek and Danielle Jurinsky hailed the notion as a way to drive down car thefts because car thieves were too smart to risk spending a month cooling their heels in the county clink just to steal the 4-Runner parked on the street with an extra key fob inside the glove box.

Actually, most car thieves, and others, are smart enough to know that Aurora’s city court can’t take felony cases, and any car valued more than $2,000 is an automatic felony.

Whatever the scheme, car thefts continue to rage in Aurora and across the metro area.

Now, Democrats have caught get-tough-on-car-theft fever.

Both sides of the aisle and Democratic Gov. Jared Polis are insisting that all car thefts be considered felonies, regardless of what the car is worth. And some Democrats say they like the idea of mandatory jail time for all convicted car thieves.

You don’t have to look any further than Oklahoma to see how that mandatory felony measure doesn’t do anything to discourage car thieves.

None of this means that legislators, state and local, police and prosecutors shouldn’t do something to stop the plague of car thefts. Just do something that makes sense and actually makes a difference.

Since the problem is national, Congress should step in to provide research for anti-theft technology or procedures, such as digital license plates that either quit working or actually say “STOLEN” when the car is reported that way.

Some conservative local and state legislators have increasingly moved away from solid science in governing. It’s being increasingly replaced with unproven and often inaccurate assumptions based on sound bites rather than deep data dives.

These pitches are great fodder for TV newscasts, but quickly wither under closer scrutiny. It would be tragic for more politicians to follow their lead.

The problem is so serious and so pervasive that legislators are right, they need to do something. But they need to do something that works.

TOM PURCELL, GUEST COLUMNIST

The stove debate is a real gas

Ilove my gas stove — almost as much as I love my Weber gas grill. So I became curious this past week when I heard that a commissioner in one of our ever-expanding federal-government agencies discussed a possible ban on natural gas stoves.

As the story goes, Richard Trumka Jr., a U.S. Consumer Product Safety commissioner, told Bloomberg that gas stoves are a hidden health hazard and that “products that can’t be made safe can be banned.”

Bloomberg says that 40% of America’s homes use gas stoves and that they “emit air pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and fine particulate matter at levels the EPA and World Health Organization have said are unsafe and linked to respiratory illness, cardiovascular problems, cancer and other health conditions .…”

If that is the case, I consider myself a gasstove survivor.

Growing up in a house with eight people, our gas stove was always cooking something.

My mother mastered the gastronomic wonders of Hamburger Helper most nights and we devoured her delicacies unaware that our little lungs, hearts and other parts of us were being put at incredible risk.

Almost daily, my dad made the best eggs, bacon, hash browns and pancakes this side of an upscale Manhattan restaurant in his trusty castiron skillet — which posed its own health dangers.

Every Friday he used it to grill up the cheapest hamburger meat he could find and the exploding grease balls nearly took my eye out on more than one occasion.

God only knows the damage my parents caused us when we suffered a power outage on a cold winter day and they cranked up every burner on the stovetop to stay warm.

My dad loved to cook with gas so much he ran a gas line from the house out to the back porch to a grill that we used every night, rain or shine, from spring until Thanksgiving, to grill up delicious, healthy and inexpensive chicken and pork.

We enjoyed hundreds of delightful meals on our back porch that way.

We had no idea that using natural gas to feed

our large family was shortening our lives and contributing to the downfall of the global ecosystem.

Nowadays you must feel guilty about having a large family and even guiltier if you choose to cook with a wondrous blue flame that can be turned up or down at will rather than use a red electric coil that heats and cools on its own sluggish schedule.

In any event, in response to the great gas-stove backlash that swept the country, the Consumer Product Safety Commission says now that there are no federal plans to outlaw gas stoves anytime soon.

But state and local efforts to ban gas stoves are gaining ground.

According to the WashingtonExaminer, nearly 100 cities and counties and 20 states have already adopted policies restricting the use of gas-powered stoves and heaters or have begun phasing them out for new construction.

Banning gas stoves isn’t the way to go, though. If there are health issues with their use, then let our creative minds in the private sector innovate gas-stove solutions — or make other cooking technologies, such as induction stoves, more affordable.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to fire up my cast iron skillet and make a fried-egg breakfast that would make my father proud.

Tom Purcell, creator of the infotainment site ThurbersTail.com, which features pet advice he’s learning from his beloved Labrador, Thurber, is a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review humor columnist. Email him at Tom@ TomPurcell.com.

Dems roll out 2023 city election candidates

AURORA DEMOCRATS ANNOUNCE SLATE OF CANDIDATES FOR 2023 CITY COUNCIL, MAYOR POSITIONS

BY CARINA JULIG, Sentinel

Aslate of Democrats announced this week at a joint press conference that they will be running for Aurora City Council in this fall’s elections.

That includes current city Councilmember Juan Marcano, who will be running for mayor.

“I’m running for Mayor to create an Aurora that puts our working families first — to create a city that is safe, clean, and thriving,” Marcano said on social media following an announcement at the Aurora Municipal Center Jan. 15.

Marcano is joined by fellow city Councilmember Alison Coombs, Pastor Thomas Mayes, anti-gang activist Jason McBride, attorney Brian Matise and community organizer Chris Rhodes, who all announced their intention to run as a slate of Democrats for city council seats.

It’s unclear so far whether other Democrats will also run for city council or the mayor’s seat this year. No other such formal announcements, nor pacts, have been announced.

The city council currently has a 6-4 Republican majority. Mayor Mike Coffman, who can cast votes in the event of a tie, is also a Republican. City council seats are technically nonpartisan, but critical city council decisions have become hyper-partisan and polarizing, particularly in recent years.

While much of the Aurora region has swung politically left in the past several years, the Aurora City Council is one of few institutions still controlled by Republicans. Just two years ago, Democrats nearly controlled the city council. At the time, the dais was split among five Democrats, five Republicans and one swing-vote unaffiiated member. That swung toward a narrow GOP domination with elections in 2021.

This fall’s election offers Democrats a shot at changing that, as five of the city council’s seats and the mayorship are up for reelection.

The terms of at-large representatives Angela Lawson and Curtis Gardner, Ward VI representative Francoise Bergan, Ward V representative Coombs and Ward IV representative Marcano all expire in November. Gardner and Bergan are Republicans. Lawson is unaffiliated and frequently votes with Republicans; Coombs and Marcano are Democrats.

After losing his Congressional seat to Jason Crow in 2018, Coffman was narrowly elected as Aurora’s mayor in 2019, beating Aurora NAACP president Omar Montgomery by just hundreds of votes.

Coffman has not officially announced whether he intends to run for a second term but in a December interview with FOX31 Denver said he does plan to run for reelection.

“I am going to run again, you heard it first,” he said in response to a question about his plans from TV news anchor Matt Mauro.

Marcano was elected to the city council in 2019. An outspoken progressive, he is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and has clashed with Coffman and the council’s conservative members on the dais and on social media. He has advocated for increasing affordable housing in the region and raising the minimum wage, along with other policies intended to benefit low-income Aurorans. Before taking office he worked as a manager and designer at several architecture firms.

The Democratic city council candidates are:

Ward IV – Jason McBride: longtime anti-gang activist Jason McBride has worked in a number of roles to serve at-risk youth in the Denver and Aurora communities, and is currently a violence prevention

specialist at the Denver-based nonprofit Struggle of Love Foundation and the executive director of McBride Impact. A native of Denver’s Park Hill neighborhood, he now lives in Aurora.

Ward V – Chris Rhodes: Rhodes works as a community organizer focused on economic justice issues at the Colorado People’s Alliance, a progressive organization that current city council member Crystal Murillo is also involved with. He previously worked with at-risk youth and people in residential facilities in California, Indiana and Maryland, according to his biography on the Alliance’s website.

Ward VI – Brian Matise: Matise is a shareholder-level attorney at the Englewood-based law firm Burg Simpson Eldredge Hersh & Jardine, where he specializes in commercial litigation, product liability mass tort litigation and class actions. Matise is an expert in special districts and has sued several metropolitan districts on behalf of homeowners. He received his law degree from the University of New Mexico in 1998.

At-large – Alison Coombs: Coombs is currently the city council’s Ward V representative. She was first elected in 2019, beating Republican incumbent Bob Roth. She works as a program manager at a residence for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and is the first openly LGBTQ person on Aurora’s city council.

At-large – Thomas Mayes: Mayes is the reverend at Living Waters Christian Center Church and has been active in the Aurora community for many years, including serving as a community liaison for the Aurora Police Department following the 2012 theater shooting and as a member of the now-disbanded community police task force. He ran unsuccessfully for an at-large city council seat in 2019.

Sentinel Colorado File

Photo

Colorado Staff Writer

METRO

New library branch open

For the first time since 2009, the Aurora Public Library officially has seven library branches.

The city held a ribbon cutting for its new library branch at Chambers Plaza Thursday morning, and will host a community celebration on Friday and Saturday, according to city staff.

The library branch at 1551 N.

Chambers Road has quietly been open since the fall, but the grand opening and celebration is intended to make more people in the community aware of the new branch as part of a push to attract more people to the library this year.

As part of that effort, APL has also extended hours at two of its branches and stopped charging late fees for books.

Obituary

Suzanne Caughron Becker

February 26, 1952 - January 8, 2023

Suzanne Becker, 70, who was born on February 26,1952, to Joe and Madalyn (Sanns) Caughron in Wichita, KS, died on January 8th in Corona, CA. She was married in 1980 to Craig Becker, love of her life and her life-partner, until his death in 2015.

She was a 1970 graduate of Glendale High School in Springfield, MO. She and her husband operated Equipment Wholesaler, a successful mailing equipment company in Denver, CO, for many years. They worked side-by-side in business as well as at home.

Suzanne was an animal lover, with devotion to her dogs, enjoyed physical fitness, and was a lifelong Democrat.

Craig was the light in Suzanne’s soul and when he passed it began to flicker and to slowly disappear. Being with Craig is what she wanted the most.

Suzanne was preceded in death by her husband Craig, her parents, and her brothers, Tim and Tom. She is survived by her sister-in-law, Cheryl Doxsee and her husband Bud, of Crestview, FL; her nephews, Brian Gonzales and his wife Heather, of Eastvale, CA; and Bryan Crowder of Concord, NC; several cousins and many friends.

No services are planned at this time. Cremation is under the direction of the Pierce Brothers Crestlawn Funeral Home in Riverside, CA. Memorials may be sent to the Alzheimer’s Association or the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

The Aurora Public Library system originally had seven branches but closed four following the 2008 recession. Since then, all but the previous Chambers location had been re-opened. The new branch is within walking distance of several local schools and will be “a great amenity for that part of town,” director of Library and Cultural Services Midori Clark previously told The Sentinel.

“Chambers Plaza Library provides a safe learning space for students, parents and community members,” Clark said in a statement about the new location. “This seventh library branch contributes to our purpose of improving lives with learning opportunities for the Aurora community; this branch will make library services accessible to neighboring schools, as well as the culturally diverse communities in this northeast side of the city.”

The nearly 4,000 square foot library is staffed by existing library employees and cost the city approximately $96,000 to design and set up, Clark said last year. Funding came from the city’s library impact fee, which is part of the 2019 capital impact fee supporting new growth in the city.

APL also saved money by using upcycled furniture from other libraries, Clark said.

The community celebration is scheduled for noon to 4 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and will include ”special programs hosted by staff of Chambers Plaza Library on Friday, performances on Saturday, as well

as food and activities for all ages to enjoy on both days,” a news release said.

The Chambers Plaza library will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

— CARINA JULIG, Sentinel Staff Writer

EDUCATION

CCSD staff can’t be sued for expulsion

Cherry Creek School District officials cannot be sued in their personal capacity for their roles in expelling a student for making an antisemitic post on Snapchat even though their actions were deemed unconstitutional, a judge ruled earlier this month.

In September 2019, a Cherry Creek High School student referred to in court documents as C.G.  posted a picture of himself and several friends on Snapchat in a thrift store wearing vintage hats. The hats resembled WWII-era military garb, and the post was captioned “Me and the boys bout to exterminate the Jews.” According to court documents, the student deleted the post and offered an apology within several hours.

After the post circulated throughout the community and came to the attention of law enforcement, the district ultimately suspended C.G. for one year on the grounds that he violated school conduct. C.G. and his parents then sued Cherry Creek in U.S. District Court in Colorado, alleging that his First Amendment rights had been violated.

The case was dismissed in 2020 and then appealed in the 10th Circuit Court. A number of free speech organizations, including the ACLU, the Foundation for Individual Fights in Education and the Cato Institute all filed “friend of the court” briefs in support of the student during the appeal process.

In 2021, director of the the Mountain States Anti-Defamation League Scott Levin told The Sentinel that the incident had caused a lot of pain to the local Jewish community and the ADL hoped it could be “a teachable moment for students and for others about the inappropriateness of Holocaust analogies.”

As first reported by Colorado Politics, in July the Court of Appeals ruled in C.G.’s favor, saying that his First Amendment rights had been violated and sending the case back to a lower court to rule on whether the administrators involved in his expulsion deserved qualified immunity.

Qualified immunity protects government employees from being held personally liable when they are sued in the course of their work unless they violate clearly established legal precedents. The doctrine is controversial in legal circles because it sets a very high bar for prosecuting public officials.

The original lawsuit was filed against the school district, former superintendent Scott Siegfried, former chief of staff Chris Smith (who

is now superintendent) and Cherry Creek High School’s principal, assistant principal and dean.

In a ruling, U.S. District Court in Colorado Judge R. Brooke Jackson ruled that the administrators were protected by qualified immunity because they followed existing legal precedent at the time. The lawsuit against the district itself will be ongoing.

This case in large part hinged on a Supreme Court ruling that went into effect while C.G. and his family’s lawsuit was underway. In 2021, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of a Pennsylvania cheerleader who was suspended from the cheer squad after making a profane Snapchat post off of school grounds. The Supreme Court ruled that her First Amendment rights were violated, and that schools can only regulate off-campus student speech when it is significantly disruptive to the classroom.

C.G.’s lawsuit was the first case regarding schools’ ability to regulate online speech that takes place off campus to reach federal appellate court since that ruling.

In the ruling, Jackson said that the Supreme Court case was in C.G.’s favor, and was the precedent the 10th Circuit cited for overturning the original ruling.

“Because—as the Tenth Circuit held in its remand order—C.G. has properly pled a violation of his First Amendment right to free speech, the question at this stage is whether a reasonable school official would have known in September 2019 that it was unlawful to discipline C.G. for anti-Semitic content posted online and off-campus,” he said.

Jackson said there was no precedent at the time, and therefore the administrators could not be held personally liable for how they handled the situation.

“Given the distinction between disparaging a cheerleading squad and noting that one is about to ‘exterminate the Jews,’ it is not clear that a reasonable school official even after Mahanoy would have known that disciplining C.G. was unlawful—let alone that the official would have divined that impropriety two years earlier,” Jackson said. “School officials are not required to be clairvoyants.”

— CARINA JULIG, Sentinel Staff Writer

Interested buyers attempting access of schools

Aurora Public Schools is asking organizations interested in purchasing the Sable and Paris school buildings not to go on school grounds at unscheduled times.

“It has come to our attention that there have been attempts from some interested parties to access the buildings after school hours to take photographs,” the district said in a Thursday afternoon email. “This is not allowable and causes security concerns for our school staff. Interested parties are prohibited from attempting to access the campus at any time other than APS organized

not formally investigate Meier for drunken driving. Then Deputy Chief Paul O’Keefe said he wanted to protect Meier, who he believed could have been suffering from a medical problem.

Former Arapahoe County District Attorney George Brauchler said at the time he did not have enough evidence to prosecute Meier due to the failure of police to take a sample of Meier’s blood and case law that limits the admissibility of information shared during the internal affairs process. Brauchler openly speculated that a civilian in Meier’s situation would have been treated differently by police.

O’Keefe resigned when thenchief Vanessa Wilson announced she would be opening an investigation into his handling of the Meier incident. Meier kept his job, though he was demoted and temporarily suspended.

— MAX LEVY, Sentinel Staff Writer

Man dies of stabbing

Police are investigating the relationship between a man found stabbed to death near an Aurora auto service center Jan. 10 and the person suspected of stabbing him.

Police were called to 10955 East Mississippi Avenue at about 7:30 p.m. after reports of a stabbing there.

“Once on scene, officers found a man suffering from apparent stab wounds,” Aurora police Agent Matthew Longshore said in a statement. “He was pronounced deceased at the scene a short time later.”

The man’s identity and certain

cause of death will be released later by coroner officials.

“The circumstances leading up to the stabbing are still under investigation and detectives are actively pursuing leads,” Longshore said. “The relationship between the deceased and the suspect are not yet known.”

As of Jan. 11, there were no arrests.

Police said anyone with information can call Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867. Tipsters can remain anonymous and still be eligible for a reward of up to $2,000, police said.

— SENTINEL STAFF

COURTS

Dentist accused of setting fire

An Aurora pediatric dentist accused of setting a fire that damaged a transformer at a solar power array outside Las Vegas last week told investigators he wanted to send a message supporting clean energy and denied his intention was sabotage, police said in an arrest report obtained Wednesday.

“I burned it,” Mohammed Reza Mesmarian told police detectives during questioning following his arrest Jan. 5 at a trailer home parked at a campsite near Lake Mead, the Colorado River reservoir outside Las Vegas.

“Mesmarian admitted he knew setting a vehicle on fire could cause damage to the (transformer) unit, but stated he did it for the big message, larger picture, greater good,” his arrest report said. “He explained the greater good was clean energy.”

Mesmarian, 34, remains jailed without bail pending mental health evaluations and a court hearing Feb. 1. If he is found fit for trial, he could face felony terrorism, arson and other charges that could get him decades in state prison.

He told police the fire early Jan. 4 that damaged Chicago-based Invenergy’s Mega Solar Array “represented moving forward in the world,” the report said.

Mesmarian told police he had been in Las Vegas for several days during the New Year holiday, thought the solar farm about 25 miles (40 kilometers) northeast of Las Vegas was a Tesla facility, and he believed the transformer was connected to “the network.”

The solar array provides electricity by contract with several Las Vegas Strip properties operated by MGM Resorts International. When Invenergy shut it down, the casino company switched to the statewide electric grid. An MGM Resorts official said there was no effect at Strip properties.

Mesmarian told police he was born in Iran. His attorney, Nick Pitaro, said Wednesday his client is a U.S. citizen and a college graduate. His first name is spelled Mohammad in public records in Colorado. His online professional profile said he attended the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

Pitaro declined additional comment about Mesmarian’s case pending the mental competency hearing in state court in Las Vegas.

Mesmarian’s arrest in Nevada followed several attacks and arrests involving electrical substations in states including Washington, Oregon and North Carolina, and an order by federal regulators for a

Read it your way

review of security standards at the nation’s electricity transmission network.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has also issued a national terrorism advisory bulletin, listing U.S. critical infrastructure among possible targets of violence.

Allegations against Mesmarian bear similarities to a Utah case involving a man arrested in 2016 and later sentenced to federal prison for using a rifle to damage an electric substation, causing a power outage in rural Kane and Garfield counties.

The man, Stephen Plato McRae, spent several months before his arrest targeting power facilities in remote parts of Utah and Nevada as part of what he described as a “master plan” to shut down power in the West, according to court documents.

McRae told an informant that he was “stopping global warming,” and he railed against fossil fuels. The court papers said he was planning another act of sabotage — “the grandmomma” as he described it — to disable a larger power substation in Nevada.

In Mesmarian’s case, Las Vegas police found an iPhone linked to Mesmarian and laptop computers in a burned Toyota Camry registered to his mother, who lives in Idaho.

Mesmarian was seen on security video positioning the car, rigging it to burn, and sitting and watching the fire for about 15 minutes before walking away, according to his arrest report. Mesmarian told police he “felt peace” and had no regrets.

No employees were at the sprawling facility at the time. Damage was discovered after they arrived the following morning.

Mesmarian also faces escape

charges after police said he tried twice to slip the grasp of arresting officers. He later told police “he wanted to experience the feeling of what Black Lives Matter protesters felt when they were tazed by police.” Police did not report using a stun gun on Mesmarian.

Repeated phone calls Wednesday to Mesmarian’s child dentistry and braces practice in Aurora went to busy signals.

Records show that Mesmarian’s dentist license is active but was restricted last July by the Colorado Dental Board, and that Mesmarian filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy last Oct. 5.

U.S. Bankruptcy Court records show he claimed $1.4 million in liabilities, mostly business debts related to equipment leases, but also a student loan debt of about $20,000. He claimed $17,601 in personal assets.

Dental Board discipline stemmed from a complaint about “potential unsanitary conditions including improper disposal of infectious waste and uncapped syringes” at Mesmarian’s practice, dating to October 2021.

The board called for Mesmarian to complete continuing education courses over the course of 12 months. A Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies official said Wednesday it was not clear if he had done so. The attorney who represented Mesmarian in the case said he no longer represents him.

An attorney who represented Mesmarian in the bankruptcy case did not immediately respond to messages from The Associated Press.

— THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Reform over function

BY MAX LEVY, Sentinel Staff Writer

Ayear after the state imposed reform mandates on the beleaguered Aurora Police Department, the tumult continues.

Since the city entered into a consent decree with the Colorado Attorney General’s Office in 2021, three Aurora police chiefs have promised change. One, Vanessa Wilson, visibly pursued reform efforts and was fired. Another, Dan Oates, disbanded or diminished two internal oversight entities charged with monitoring police conduct and discipline. A third, Art Acevedo, was chosen to take the reins just a few months ago, even though he sued the last police department he was hired to fix.

To date, the consent decree — containing dozens of reforms to hiring, training and policies that city leaders advertised as the birth of a new era of equity and accountability — has played out amid rising crime rates and a dependable stream of complaints of officer misconduct.

Without question, the challenge of at once tackling crime and reforming a department under fire for its disproportionate brutality against people of color is daunting and mirrors the reality facing urban police forces across the country. Police officials, including Acevedo, say the balancing act is at least possible.

The consent decree is meant to ensure oversight of the department as well as the kind of good-faith participation in reform efforts required to lower crime through more equitable policing.

But one year in, the activists whose protests precipitated promised change say they’re skeptical that the consent decree will yield meaningful reform.

“I don’t think it’s had the impact that was believed at all,” said Candice Bailey, a local activist and former member of the Community Police Task Force, which was disbanded in 2021 after the Aurora City Council declined to extend its term.

“It’s a lot of smoke and mirrors and performative action. What’s been done in the dark is the problem, and the lights are out.”

Some state lawmakers have become skeptical, too.

State Sen. Rhonda Fields, D-Aurora, said that while police had continued working to drop the crime rate during the first year of the decree, they had made few new inroads with the communities most affected by police violence.

“We do have crime issues, and they’re addressing those,” she said. “But community engagement and involvement is something (police) say they value, but they haven’t really put steps or effort into showing they welcome that.”

In recent weeks, new controversies — over the promotion of one cop who escaped a drunk driving charge in 2019 and the arrest of another for allegedly attacking a disabled woman — have only fueled community concerns about police accountability.

Forced consent

The consent decree, and the current turmoil inside the department, can be traced back to a stunning episode of police brutality in August 2019.

Several months before the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis sparked a global movement against police violence, Aurora police choked a 23-year-old Black man, Elijah McClain, until he passed out.

When paramedics arrived, they injected him with what was deemed a fatal overdose of ketamine.

McClain was accosted by Aurora police while walking home from a nearby convenience store, where he’d gone for a can of iced tea.

In the weeks and months that followed, information about the killing trickled out of the police department. Officers justified their actions, saying McClain had been agitated and became aggressive. Then-police chief Nick Metz backed them up.

“I think overall the officers did a good job trying to calm Elijah down,” he said.

Before retiring in 2019, Metz rejected calls for reform in media interviews.

“This is not a department that needs to be fixed,” he told the Denver Post. He stepped down from the department just a few months later amid a scandal where Metz protected the job of a drunken police officer who had passed out in his squad car and had to be rescued.

Metz’s comments about McClain set the stage for a series of findings and pronouncements that favored the department’s version of his death. Union leaders insisted that the officers did nothing wrong.

An internal review board signed off on the officers’ decision to forcibly restrain and choke McClain, even as he cried and vomited on himself, stating that their actions were “within policy and consistent with training.”

In November 2019, former 17th Judicial District Attorney Dave Young said his office did not believe police had behaved criminally during the encounter with McClain.

Young’s decision not to treat Mc-

Clain’s death as a crime inflamed tensions between activists and police, and stoked public outrage that coincided with unrest caused by the murder of Floyd.

As the summer heated up, state and local officials were bombarded with tens of thousands of calls and messages asking that the circumstances of McClain’s death be re-examined. More than a million people signed a Change.org petition demanding justice for McClain.

Ultimately, the killing of McClain was a pivotal moment for the city, despite the push against reform by Aurora police and factions within city leadership.

In August 2020, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser announced his office’s investigation into police misconduct in Aurora and ultimately revealed a 32-count grand jury indictment against the officers and paramedics most closely involved in McClain’s death. He said the investigation revealed that Aurora police routinely used excessive force, particularly against people of color.

He also accused Aurora Fire Rescue paramedics of illegally administering ketamine.

“The recent incidents involving Aurora Police have impacted not only community trust, but also officer retention and morale,” the report from Weiser’s office stated. “Many in the community perceive that Aurora Police does not hold accountable officers who use excessive force or otherwise engage in racially biased actions.”

Weiser’s investigation culminated in the city tacitly acknowledging the need for outside oversight of its police department by agreeing in November 2021 to operate under a consent decree.

Photo by PHILIP B. POSTON/Sentinel Colorado File

Photo

Amid continued promises and plans to reform the Aurora Police Department, claims of progress and inertia

Consent decrees: promises without admissions

A consent decree is a legal agreement, enforceable by a judge, in which none of the parties involved admits wrongdoing. The Aurora decree includes 70 reform mandates meant to break a pattern of excessive force and racial bias by police officers. They include:

Reducing racial disparities in arrest rates.

Reducing incidents of use of force.

Monitoring and updating use-of-force policies.

Increasing the number of minority candidates hired as police officers.

Reducing actual and perceived bias in policing.

Developing a new system for collecting data about police interactions with community members.

Once the department has adjusted its policies and training to meet the demands of the decree — which the decree says should take no more than two years from the day it began — a three-year monitoring period will commence.

To monitor the department’s compliance with the decree, the city hired IntegrAssure, a Florida-based risk-management firm led by former Manhattan prosecutor Jeff Schlanger. At a forum in early 2022, Schlanger promised impartiality, despite the fact that his firm’s work is being funded by $4.7 million from the city it’s charged with monitoring.

“There will be a contract … which essentially guarantees our independence,” he said. “But independence does not mean that we will not collaborate with the city and the city agencies.”

In a report published Jan. 15, IntegrAssure warned about missed deadlines, ongoing problems with the police entity tasked with reviewing use-of-force incidents and significant flaws in the department’s system for collecting information about stops of civilians, which IntegrAssure said prevents the city from complying with state law.

Of the 58 mandates scrutinized by IntegrAssure between August and November, half were said to be on a “cautionary track,” meaning the monitor questioned whether the city would be able to meet expectations.

“Both the Monitor and the City have gotten a better understanding of the capability, or lack thereof, for the APD to simultaneously deal with the substantial number of Mandates calling for significant change,” the report says.

“The Department, under the leadership of the new interim Chief has prioritized meeting these deadlines and has assigned additional resources to help make it happen.”

Much of the monitor’s concern stemmed from APD’s failure to meet deadlines for adopting policies having to do with stops, documenting contacts, uses of force and other topics. Some of the deadlines are several months past due, though the monitor said the delays were “understandable” and expressed optimism about the city coming into compliance in the near future.

On the other hand, the monitor praised the department for being close to rolling out a new “constitutional policing” policy, which is designed to help officers understand when they can legally stop, detain and arrest people. They said a final draft of the policy had been approved and would likely be rolled out in the coming months.

As it had in past reports, the monitor admonished the internal Force Review Board for its alleged reluctance to critically evaluate officers’ use of force, writing that “there is currently no critical analysis of officers and the number of use of force incidents in which they have been previously engaged.”

Part of measuring the department’s compliance with the consent decree will be a computerized system allowing officers to record information, including demographic data, about contacts with citizens. While Aurora police reportedly have set up a contacts form, the monitor said neither they nor the department had been able to pull aggregate data from the system.

The problem impacts the monitor’s ability to gauge how well the city is complying with the consent decree’s mandates designed to fight racist policing.

IntegrAssure also warned that the city was not able to submit information to the state to comply with the statewide law enforcement reform bill that laid the groundwork for the attorney general’s investigation of APD.

The monitor questioned whether an information technology unit should be set up within APD to facilitate the rollout of that system as well as changes to computer-aided dispatch, recordkeeping and other projects.

Both mandates having to do with accountability and transparency were deemed to be no more than 25% complete and on a cautionary track.

The monitor is responsible for signing off on new policies in APD, which is one of the ways they gauge the department’s compliance with the decree, along with participating in meetings like those of the Force Review Board, and evaluating enforcement data and other metrics.

Notwithstanding the city’s struggles with hitting the deadlines in the decree, the monitor again stressed that the city was cooperating with the reform process.

“The third reporting period of monitoring activity has been marked by cooperation and apparent good will of all parties and stakeholders in the process,” IntegrAssure wrote.

“While there are a few areas of significant concern, including concerns arising from missed deadlines, the Monitor believes there is genuine interest among the parties to achieve the goals of the Consent Decree and effectuate its provisions as quickly as possible so the resulting reforms are seen and felt on the streets of Aurora.”

Some community leaders, including Pastor Thomas Mayes, president of the Denver Ministerial Alliance, said they did not believe IntegrAssure is doing enough to challenge the police department on its compliance with the consent decree, and that too much of the work is happening out of public view.

“The community feels like that monitor is in the back pocket of the city,” Mayes said. Mayes announced this week he’s seeking a seat on the Aurora City Council during the November election.

“I’m not that pleased with the work the monitor has done.”

After Wilson’s firing, which led activists to question the city’s commitment to reform, Schlanger, praised the city’s “exemplary cooperation” in the reform process at a news conference, saying that, “while we know that there are changes coming to the leadership of the police department, we fully expect, and in fact have been assured, that that degree of cooperation will continue.”

Schlanger wrote in an email to The

Sentinel responding to community concerns that the implementation of the consent decree was envisioned as a “marathon,” with the city taking around five years to update and fully implement policies, and retrain officers.

“It is not until the new policies are implemented on the street after appropriate training, that the full effect of reform will be able to be felt by the residents of Aurora,” he wrote.

“It is natural that there is frustration with the pace of change and we are working hard to explain the process and the progress that APD and AFR are making toward substantial compliance. We con-

tinue to seek out instances when residents of Aurora feel that members of their public safety agencies have acted inappropriately.”

Schlanger mentioned that the monitor’s website allows members of the community to communicate with them directly, and that they welcome feedback.

“Notwithstanding the fact that the full effect of the reforms has not yet been felt, I am confident that with the continued leadership and commitment of APD, AFR, and the City, both APD and AFR will be all that they can and must be for the residents of Aurora,” he wrote. “The process is designed and committed to

Aurora City Manager Jim Twombly

Photo by PHILIP B. POSTON/Sentinel Colorado File Photo

Pastor Thomas Mayes addresses the press regarding the selection process of the new police chief.

Photo by PHILIP B. POSTON/Sentinel Colorado File Photo

Attorney General Phil Weiser announces that the beginning of the Consent Decree set between the AG’s office and the Aurora Police Department, Nov. 16, 2021 at the Aurora Municipal Center.

Photo by PHILIP B. POSTON/Sentinel Colorado File Photo

making sure that happens.”

The attorney general’s office plays a nominal role in the enforcement of the decree, leaving IntegrAssure as the only eyes on the ground in Aurora.

Weiser said in statements that his office has been meeting regularly with the monitoring team and that they are “committed to ensuring that Aurora keeps the promises it made to improve and comply with state and federal law.”

Erin Plinyak, a deputy monitor with IntegrAssure, wrote in an email to The Sentinel that 11 people were working on the monitoring team for Aurora, with most of the work being done remotely.

“While there is not any team member who is physically in Aurora full time, the Monitor and members of the team are present in Aurora at least monthly for three to four days,” she wrote.

“That being said, there is full-time communication with the City through the various meetings, which the Monitor and team members attend virtually and scheduled and unscheduled check in calls with various members of both APD, AFR and (the Civil Service Commission), as well as with the Deputy City Manager, the City Attorney’s Public Safety Manager, as well as the Attorney General’s Office.”

Department spokeswoman Faith Goodrich wrote in a December email that members of the monitor team attend meetings with the police chief twice a week as well as weekly Force Review Board meetings, weekly discussions about the Force Review Board, weekly policy meetings and ongoing meetings about police recruiting and hiring.

Goodrich also said that, while the department was striving to meet the deadlines established by the decree, the goal of police was to successfully implement the reforms therein.

“The objective of all parties involved is to have the best end product, which means that while we strive to meet the deadlines, we are not going to substitute expediency for getting it right,” she wrote.

5 chiefs in 3 years

Leadership changes, perhaps more than any other factor, have complicated the department’s ability or willingness to reform itself since the introduction of the consent decree.

In response to a question about the impact that unstable leadership had on APD’s ability to implement the goals of the decree, Goodrich wrote that “stability is critical to any organization, however, despite recent changes, the department continues to strive to meet the monitor’s goals.”

Upon being chosen to run the department by city management, Wilson said police treatment of non-white people was a “systemic problem” warranting change, but it would take time to fully address. During her tenure as chief, she fired police who had damaged the image of the department, including three officers who took photos imitating the death of McClain and a former union leader who sent an email to officers mocking the department’s program to recruit a more diverse pool of officer candidates.

Wilson’s firing in April fueled backlash and suspicion among some political leaders and activists, who accused the city of backing away from the goals of the agreement. City Manager Jim Twombly made the decision to oust Wilson after months of criticism of police leadership by new conservative council members.

While Twombly claimed Wilson’s fir-

ing was merit-based, Wilson said in a news conference she was fired for getting rid of problem cops and trying to reform the department. She has since pressed for a wrongful firing lawsuit against the city.

An attorney for the McClain family, Qusair Mohamedbhai, called Wilson’s firing “suspicious” and said the city was “already regressing soon after the ink has dried on the consent decree.”

Several Democratic state lawmakers in a joint statement warned that the action would “set back the critical and long overdue efforts currently underway in Aurora to ensure accountability and integrity in our police department.”

To replace Wilson, Twombly brought in retired Aurora police chief Dan Oates on an interim basis, and, despite assurances to the contrary, he immediately began big changes. He dismantled an internal police chief review board and reduced the staffing of the Internal Affairs Bureau, only informing IntegrAssure of the decision after it was made.

“The dissolution (of the Chief’s Review Board) was clearly within the purview of the Consent Decree and the Monitor should have been consulted before dissolution,” IntegrAssure wrote in its quarterly report, saying it had discussed the problem with the city and that they had “received assurances from the City that such a failure will not occur again.”

“While Chief Oates’s dissolution of the Chief’s Review Board removed formal input from his staff in the process, Chief Oates indicated that he would confer with various members of his executive staff before rendering disciplinary decisions,” they wrote.

Oates managed all of this against the backdrop of an unfolding departmental scandal in which an Aurora police commander helped another officer violate a restraining order by illegally going to the home of the officer’s estranged wife.

The Sentinel and other outlets reported last year that Oates not only turned down a recommendation to discipline the commander involved but also promoted her to chief of the department’s patrol division. He also fired a new-hire police officer who was arrested out of state on alcohol and disorderly conduct charges, then reversed the firing, despite the officer being on, and having violated, probation.

Regardless, city management celebrated Oates and his six-month interim tenure when he left in December. City officials pointed to his efforts to reduce crime in the city, although analyzed data supporting those claims was not available.

The city’s first attempt to find a replacement for Wilson was a public failure. Two of the three finalists for the job dropped out amid criticism that the recruitment process was rushed and not transparent. Aurora’s City Council rejected the last remaining candidate.

In November, as the end of Oates’ contract neared, the city named Art Acevedo as Oates’ replacement, making him the third person to serve as police chief or interim chief in 2022. Oates described Acevedo as a personal friend and said he’d encouraged Acevedo to take the job.

During the summer of 2020, Acevedo was chief of the Houston Police Department. With the Black Lives Matter movement in full swing, he garnered national attention as a police leader open to calls for reform. In 2021, he left Houston to lead Miami’s police department, but the job was short-lived. He clashed with local elected officials over what he described

as their meddling in cases of police discipline. Acevedo was fired from his job in Miami in October 2021 and filed a lawsuit against the city.

Acevedo has so far declined to say whether he will seek the permanent chief’s job in Aurora. His contract doesn’t bar him from applying.

During conversations with The Sentinel, Acevedo said he did not “look at the consent decree as a challenge” but that he wanted to educate Aurora police and the public about what the decree requires

of the department.

“I want our cops to understand that no one is saying they’re broken. The majority of people know that, 99 times out of 100, you’re doing great work,” he said.

“But just because you’re doing great work doesn’t mean that there hasn’t been instances where we can do better, and we want them to understand that this means that we’re going to be investing and provide them with the tools and the training and policies.”

Aurora Interim Police Chief Dan Oates

Photo by PHILIP B. POSTON/Sentinel Colorado File Photo

APD Chief Vanessa Wilson shows one of two photos of the three police officers mocking the death of Elijah McClain.

Photo by PHILIP B. POSTON/Sentinel Colorado File Photo

Protestors gathered for a press conference, Nov. 23, 2019, at the Aurora Municipal Center, after the APD released the body camera footage of Elijah McClain the previous evening.

Photo by PHILIP B. POSTON/Sentinel Colorado File Photo

APD can perform and change, chief says

On January 17, Acevedo told The Sentinel that the department share’s the community’s desire to see the reforms in the consent decree enacted quickly.

“I’m thinking our greatest critic would agree that the majority of our officers are committed, thoughtful, professional, caring members of our public safety agency,” he said, adding that the problems identified by the attorney general’s office were “a failure, ultimately, of the people responsible for oversight of the department.”

The chief said changes in the chief’s office and tackling an increase in violent crime in particular have split the department’s attention between those priorities and implementing the decree.

He argued that it was more important for the department to enact reforms completely rather than implement them all on time.

“I’d rather be criticized for maybe taking more time than was desired by the monitor and the community than be criticized for not really implementing the best reforms and the best practices that are available to us,” Acevedo said. “There’s no science behind those deadlines.”

When asked whether he thought it was reasonable for members of the public to expect to see the decree having an impact in its first year, he said it would depend on which changes they were watching for.

As an example, he said it wouldn’t be enough to look at the frequency of officer-involved shootings and other use-offorce incidents, and that each incident needed to be evaluated individually to determine whether they were justified.

He added that the department is committed to reducing the use of force so that police use only minimal and lawful amounts of force during encounters with the public.

“To me, success looks like no arbitrary number in terms of deadly force encounters, because at the end of the day, if we have one deadly force encounter between police and an individual out in the public space, whether it’s one or 20, each one is a separate, standalone incident,” he said. “What success looks like to me is that when we have these incidents, that they are actually justified legally and morally.”

But community leaders remain concerned that the department’s institutional approach to dropping crime is simply more racially biased policing.

Reflecting on the last year, state Sen. Rhonda Fields, D-Aurora, said she had seen mostly “more of the same” from the department, not the kind of change that comes from police working with communities.

“The city leadership really, in my view, is not interested in community engagement,” Fields said. “It was demonstrated in the way they fired Chief Wilson and the way they went through that process.”

City spokesman Ryan Luby pushed back on accusations that the city is not interested in community engagement, saying the department’s seven-person Community Relations Section participated in and hosted more than 200 community events since last May, in addition to offering educational programming to people who want to learn more about Aurora police.

Luby stressed that the section was created in 2021, and that “providing perspective on the section’s growth since its launch helps to underscore the time and

commitment the department has invested in supporting the community it serves while rebuilding trust.”

“From the beginning of the process, we have consistently emphasized the importance of community voice and involvement,” city spokesman Ryan Luby said in a statement.

“Like former Interim Chief Oates and Chief Wilson, Chief Acevedo strongly advocates for productive community engagement opportunities and relational policing as he has in all his previous leadership roles around the country. As he continues to get his bearings in Aurora and build relationships internally and externally, he intends to increase the frequency of feedback sessions.”

The section was relocated from APD headquarters to the District 1 station in November, moving it away from the chief’s office but closer to patrol officers and where much of the section’s work is done geographically, according to IntegrAssure.

Information about progress on the decree is published on the monitor’s website in regular reports and has also been shared during town halls and in Aurora City Council policy committee meetings. The monitor also assembled an advisory group consisting of community members such as Mayes and Aurora NAACP president Omar Montgomery in 2022 to facilitate the exchange of information between the monitor and the public.

Fields expressed concern that police will continue to focus their efforts disproportionately on people of color. Driving along the Colfax Avenue corridor, she said, “there’s not a day that goes by when I don’t see a person of color sitting on the curb with their hands zip tied.

“They need to start addressing the issues in the consent decree that address racial bias in policing,” she added. “And as long as they lag behind, we’re going to see the same behavior demonstrated over and over again.”

Aurora Police body cam screen grabs that investigators say show Aurora Police Officer John Haubert pistol whipping and strangling a trespassing suspect July 23, 2021. Sentinel Colorado Screen Grab

Screen grab from a video taken by witness Jennifer Wurtz, and posted to Youtube, depicting Aurora police wrongfully arresting a family with children and forcing them face down onto the hot asphalt of a parking lot, August 2020. Sentinel Colorado Screen Grab

Hundreds of protestors turned out to Aurora City Hall June 6, 2020, focusing on the death of Aurora blacks at the hands of local police.

Photo by PHILIP B. POSTON/Sentinel Colorado File Photo

Dope new digs

THE LONG-AWAITED RECREATION CENTER IN SOUTHEAST AURORA FUNDED BY CANNABIS SALES OPENS WITH A BEVY OF AMENITIES

BY SENTINEL COLORADO STAFF

New year, new recreation center.

The Southeast Recreation Center and Fieldhouse opened Jan. 17 after nearly two years of construction. This is the second rec center opened in the city within the last four years, both of which were fully funded by marijuana tax revenue.

The 77,000-square-foot facility cost $41.9 million and features many expected amenities — such as a gym, community rooms and a child watch area— but also a climate-controlled indoor field that will provide space for athletes of all ages all year round a unique 1/9 mile-long track with grade changes that simulate a variety of conditions found in Colorado’s topography. There is also a 125,000 gallon swimming pool, a lazy river and a 20-foot-tall waterslide.

Ward VI Aurora City Councilperson Francoise Bergan said that, after she was first elected in 2015, area residents complained en masse about the region not having a public gym. Many people would flock to nearby Parker or Centennial. The closest of Aurora’s major rec centers, the Central Recreation Center at 18150 E. Vassar Pl., is about a 15 minute drive from the new gym without traffic.

In 2019, local lawmakers committed to spending $2 million per year for 25 years from the marijuana retail funds for the new facility. Bergan said during those budget negotiations her ward has often been described as a more affluent area in the city, but there are a lot of working families there, too — which makes for an ideal location for another recreational center.

“After an extensive community engagement process, the feedback received guided the creation of this exceptional facility,” Aurora Parks and Recreation director Brooke Bell said in a statement. “We look forward to the community enjoying the space they helped envision for years to come.”

SOUTHEAST RECREATION

CENTER AND FIELDHOUSE

• 25400 E. Alexander Drive

• Weekdays 5:30 a.m. - 8:30 p.m.

• Saturday 8 a.m. - 7:30 p.m.

• Sunday 8 a.m. - 6 p.m.

• 720-859-4949

• Online: ow.ly/KNsQ50MswqA

Lego Pop-Up at Stanley Marketplace

The Sound of Music at the PACE Center

scene & herd

3rd Annual Can Bash at Dry Dock Brewing Co. — North Dock

Jan. 28 and 29, during Stanley business hours. 2501 Dallas St. Aurora, CO 80010. Visit www.stanleymarketplace.com/events/lego-popup/ for more information.

A recent report showed that a full quarter of all toys purchased in 2022 were made by adults, accounting for approximately $9 billion in contributing sales.

Given that pretty wild little chestnut of info, you’ll understand why this event could be considered worth attending by humans of all ages.

Lego makes retail sets strictly for those of us 18 and older, and can cost as much as $849.99, which the Millenium Falcon set currently runs. The AT-AT set, also from Star Wars, sells for the same price, with total piece counts of 7,541 and 6,785 respectively. Neither of which are for the faint of heart.

Jan. 13 - Feb. 4 with showtimes at 2:00 and 7:00 p.m. 20000 Pikes Peak Ave., Parker, CO 80138. Visit http://parkerarts.org/event/thesound-of-music/#event-description for more information.

The catalog of Rodgers and Hammerstein features a bevy of objectively good musicals like South Pacific, Oklahoma and The Sound of Music, the latter of which is luckily showing at the PACE Center in Parker.

This final production of Rodgers and Hammerstein is one of the world’s most objectively beloved musicals in the Broadway musical pantheon, earning five Tony awards, including Best Musical.

RZA and the Colorado Symphony Present: 36 Chambers of Shaolin and A Ballet Through Mud at Boettcher Concert Hall

JeffCo

Sketchbook Nature Journaling Basics at Lookout Mountain Preserve and Nature Center

Jan. 21 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. 910 Colorow Rd. Golden, CO 80401.

Visit http://www.jeffco.us/Calendar. aspx?EID=9760 for more information.

How’s that turn of phrase go?

Jan. 21 from noon to 5 p.m. Reservations are $30. 2801 Tower Rd., Aurora, CO, 80011. Visit www.drydockbrewing.com for more information.

Let’s throw back a few beers and swing around some golf clubs, eh?

To celebrate National Can Appreciation Day, Dry Dock is running their annual Can Bash for a third year!

This unique event will give hop heads a unique opportunity to smash full, or relatively full, cans of low-fill or expired suds with provided woods and irons.

It’s being described as Top Golf meets a destruction room, all mashed up with one of Colorado residents’ favorite topics of which to feign omnipotence… craft beer.

Reservations are $30 and that gets you 50 minutes on the “driving range,” a table for up to six people and three cases of low-fills or expired beer. That said, you can be rest assured that the barley pops that will be sacrificed are unavailable to be sold to the public in any other capacity. Waste not want not, right people?

Tickets can be purchased at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/canbash-2023-tickets-487145093087

Stanley Marketplace is getting in on the Lego craze and hosting a fun pop-up display, being built by the Colorado/Wyoming Lego User Group. The display’s theme is centered around a winter carnival. There are still two more months of the winter season remaining, after all.

The display will be available for viewing during the weekend of Jan. 28 until 3 p.m. Jan. 29 in the Common Area of the Stanley.

Monster Jam at Ball Arena

The storyline, should you happen to live under a rock, revolves around Maria Von Trapp, governess to the Von Trapp Family, during WWII in Austria. During this time she is considering whether to join a convent, but as you’ll see she is struck by Cupid’s arrow, falls in love with the widower Captain Von Trapp, and fortunately, his seven children as well.

The show runs until Feb. 4, with showtimes at 2:00 and 7:00 p.m. with tickets starting at $34.

Stanley Marketplace Health and Wellness Day at Stanley Marketplace

Feb. 17 and 18 at 7:30 p.m. Prices range between $15 and $98. 1000 14th St. Denver, CO 80202. Visit www.coloradosymphony.org for more information.

From the slums of Shaolin, 1/10th of Wu Tang strikes again… in the concert halls of Denver. With Oboes, Timpani Drums and the other orchestral accouterments that aren’t as fun to say as Oboe and Timpani.

Anyhow, this creative double feature is going to start strong with a screening of the classic Kung Fu film 36 Chambers of Shaolin, with RZA performing spoken word pieces and mixing in music from Return to the 36 Chambers, which was Wu Tang Clan’s debut album. Following the film, a live performance of a brand new work created by RZA will take place. A Ballet Through Mud will be performed alongside classical music curated by RZA.

Ticket prices vary on a wide scale and can be purchased at www. coloradosymphony.org/tickets.

Candlelight: Sci-Fi and Fantasy Film Scores at Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum

It’s the journey, not the destination. During which, moments of reflection, inner-peace and other mindfulness-esque revelations may take place. Some would say that’s the intention for, and benefit of, nature journaling — to provide an opportunity to connect personally, deliberately, with the natural world, whether it be through documenting what you see through words, illustrations or both.

The JeffCo Open Space Nature Journal Club is providing the chance to get a firm grasp on the basics of Nature Journaling with guided instruction and real-time experience with their Sketchbook Journal Basics class in Golden.

The class will cover journaling basics and fundamentals and is the perfect occasion to develop basic drawing skills and learn about the simplicities of the practice.

You must provide your own sketchbook, but writing and drawing material will be available if you opt not to bring your own. It is also recommended that you bring a lightweight chair should you need a place to take a load off while you’re deep in the process of finding yourself in your new nature journal.

Feb. 10-12. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. Friday, 11:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Saturday, 11:00 a.m. Sunday. Ticket prices start at $23. 1000 Chopper Cir. Denver, CO 80204.

February! FEBRuary!! FEBRUARY!!! You saw it here, faithful readers — Monster Jam is coming back to Denver. And you know what that means! Three days of vehicular behemoths creating pure havoc, kicking up the dirt throughout Ball Arena.

These 12,000 pound machines of pure brawn and metal will take part in an intense competition of speed and maneuvering skill. Worldclass drivers will go head-to-head in races for the Event Championship. And what’s a Monster Truck Rally without Gravedigger!? It will be in attendance with a few other notable trucks.

Tickets can be purchased at https://www.monsterjam.com/ en-US/events/denver-co/feb-102023-feb-12-2023.

$23 will get you a whole seat, but you’ll only need the edge!

Jan. 21 all day. 2501 Dallas St. Aurora, CO 80010. Visit www.stanleymarketplace.com/stanley-events/ for more information.

Making a New Year’s resolution to be healthier is certainly a popular one, albeit often forfeited to lack of commitment and love of all things bad. “Less hedonistic” may be a better resolution, as it is relative to one’s own ability and desire.

Be that as it may, Stanley Marketplace is providing an opportunity to hear a bevy of speakers on a multitude of topics including nutrition, mental health, sleep cycles and back pain, to name a few. You will also have an opportunity to sample some of the sofferings provided by the fitness services at the marketplace. You can finish off your day by relaxing with a chair massage which will be located in the marketplace. The entirety of the event will take place in the common area of Stanley.

Feb. 9 Showtimes at 6:30 and 9:30 with prices varying from $35 to $65 depending on seating selection and showtimes. 7711 E Academy Blvd, Denver, CO 80230. Visit www. feverup.com/m/121068?event_ source=similar_plan, for more information.

We’ve got the perfect date night for the “nerdy” types, but really for any fans of classical music. Under the glow of candlelight, and based on the tentative posted setlist, attendees will be treated to an hour of true classics performed by a string quartet. Reviews are as glowing as the aforementioned candlelight, so if you, your family or your significant other enjoy the scores from films such as “A Space Odyssey,” “Lord of the Rings” and “Pan’s Labyrinth,” you may want to consider checking out this quiet evening at Wings Over the Rockies.

The weather can be precarious this time of year, as we know, so do yourself a favor and dress appropriately for indoor and outdoor activities.

The class is free, but requires registration, which can be done at www.jeffco.us, through the calendar page.

The National Western Stock Show plays host to nearly every variety of cattle in the beef game. During the 16 days the event is in town, you might see the standard Black Angus or the more exotic Yak, depending on the day of attendance.

Photos by PHILIP B. POSTON/Sentinel Colorado

Riders compete during a Jumper Show in the Cinch Arena at the Events Center of the National Western Complex, Jan. 15 during the 117th National Western Stock Show. In this event, equestrian athletes compete where the fastest and highest jumping pair is considered the winner.

Photos by PHILIP B. POSTON/Sentinel Colorado

Adjacent to the Cinch Arena in the Events Center of the National Western Stock Show Complex, you’ll find rows of stalls occupied by elegant equines. Awaiting competition, these gentle giants can be seen and pet by visitors.

Photos by PHILIP B. POSTON/Sentinel Colorado

Preps

Keenon Clement admits he might just be watching basketball instead of coaching it this season if it wasn’t for the group that came together at Vista PEAK.

The veteran coach couldn’t even contemplate hanging up his whistle and clipboard, however, given the intriguing and unique squad that he gets to work with at the gym every day.

That group has given him plenty to be satisfied about — and even more to look forward to in the coming weeks — as they are off to a 9-3 start and earned the program’s first-ever win over rival Rangeview Jan. 13.

through things with the coaching staff last season and now has earned its completed trust.

“Nasir and I fought tooth and toenail last year about ‘here’s how I want you to play,’” Clement said. “We had all those disagreements last year and now we have a senior point guard who half the time I’m asking ‘what do you want?’ He’s a coach on the floor and a leader. We have two games this year where he just put the ball in his hands and said go make a play and he did.”

One of those games came against Rangeview in front of house that was so packed that spectators had to be turned away and the doors locked.

Herd mentality

“It truly is a special group of human beings and truth be told, if it wasn’t for them, I would be done,” Clement said after Vista PEAK’s big win over 2021-22 state champion Lewis-Palmer prior to winter break.

“They are unreal,” he added. “They are so fun to be around, they handle coaching and they know my style. ...You don’t walk away from something like this.”

BY COURTNEY OAKES Sports Editor

Indeed, Vista PEAK has made some runs in past years, but this one seems different for a variety of reasons. The Bison have experience, depth and size, a key ingredient that hasn’t existed in the past.

The arrival of junior transfer Carson McDonald — a 6-foot-8 frontcourt player formerly of George Washington — to add with 6-9 junior Kyree Polk and some other players that play bigger than their height such as junior Alante Monroe-Elazier is a major factor.

The Bison also have a four-year varsity player at point guard in senior Nasir Mills, who worked

Mills had a chance to be a hero with the ball in his hands as the final seconds ticked down, but he drew the defense to him and passed the ball into the corner to junior teammate Julian Carrizales, who knocked down a 3-pointer that stood up in a 51-48 victory.

It delivered the first-ever win for Vista PEAK in its history against Rangeview, which had won the first nine varsity meetings of the two Aurora Public Schools programs.

“Hearing the crowd roar when you’re running down the clock is a scary feeling, but we just had to make a play,” Mills said. “At first, I beat them off the dribble and I was going to take it, but then I saw No. 5 help and as soon as I passed it and saw JuJu jump, I knew it was perfect. That was probably the most exciting play of my career right now.

“It’s been four long, hard years losing to Rangeview and now we finally got one.

Vista PEAK also has role players like Carrizales, whose only basket of the game was the game-winner against Rangeview. He came into the game on the recommendation of a teammate who believed he would make the clutch shot.

“Coach always tells me take your moment and tonight was my moment, so I took it,” said Carrizales, who came off the bench to score eight points at a critical juncture of his team’s win over Lewis-Palmer prior to winter break.

Vista PEAK also defended well and has allowed just an average of 44.3 points per game in the early going. That has given the Bison a chance in every game they’ve played — two of their losses have been by a combined eight points — and the offense continues to show signs of improvement.

McDonald’s inside-outside ability has him leading the way in scoring average at nearly 11 points per game, but six others average five or more and have shown they can hurt opponents depending on how the game flows.

Assuming health and continued gelling as the Bison play in the City League (formerly the Denver Prep League), Clement expects his team to be a factor come the postseason.

“We’ll pick a fight with anybody come February,” he said. “I’m not going to say we’ll be the baddest dudes on the block, but we’ll be in the conversation.”

BOYS BASKETBALL

ABOVE: Julian Carrizales, center, celebrates with teammates Javon Lowman, left, and Nasir Mills, right, after hitting a go-ahead 3-pointer in the closing seconds of regulation that held up to give the Vista PEAK boys basketball team a 51-48 win at Rangeview Jan. 13. BELOW: The addition of 6-foot-8 Carson McDonald (15) has been a boon for the Bison on both ends of the floor. Photos by Courtney Oakes/Sentinel Colorado

Preps

BOYS WRESTLING

Raptors place eight to take second in Armando Rodriguez TOC

The Eaglecrest boys wrestling program again honored the memory of late assistant coach Armando Rodriguez with its annual tournament and very nearly took home the top prize when it was all over.

The Raptors had three champions, five finalists and eight top-four placers when the tournament ended Jan. 14, but it left them a scant two points behind Central of Grand Junction, which earned top honors in a field of 28 teams.

Eaglecrest had weight winners at 106 pounds (junior Adonias Cantu), 126 pounds (sophomore Alijah Gabaldon) and 215 pounds (junior Dalton Leivian), along with runners-up in junior Ethan Diaz (120) and senior Marcel Gordon (190) on its way to 234.5 points, while Central of Grand Junction earned 236.5 points with a pair of champions.

Coach Javier Quintana’s Eaglecrest team also got a third-place finish from junior Thayne Lundy at 165 pounds, plus fourth-place results from junior Gabe Rangel (157) and senior LaDainian Gordon (175).

Smoky Hill and Overland tied for 23rd place as they each scored 33 points, while Aurora Central finished 28th with a total of three points. The Buffaloes had a top-six placer in junior Zach Brophy, who was sixth at 165 pounds, while the Trailblazers’ highest placer was junior Eric Kelly, who won the seventh-place match at 144 pounds.

Cantu — who gained some momentum prior to winter break with a sixth-place finish at the Reno Tournament of Champions — dominated his way through the tournament with two wins by fall, another by major decision and finally a technical fall in the championship match.

Now ranked No. 7 in Class 5A at 113 pounds by On The Mat, Cantu posted a 15-0 technical fall win over Francisco Villa of Center.

Gabaldon, a new addition to the Eaglecrest lineup who earned the No. 10 ranking at 132 pounds, earned his way to the championship match at 126 pounds with two wins by fall and two others by decision, but trailed Denver South’s CJ Morm (ranked No. 12 in 4A) into the third period with the title on the line.

In the final minute, Gabaldon earned a takedown to tie the match, then held Morm’s shoulders to the mat for the pin with 29 seconds remaining as Eaglecrest coaches and wrestlers leaped out of their chairs in excitement.

Leivian added a third title for the Raptors with his fifth pin in as many matches. Ranked No. 5 in 5A, Leivian faced No. 11 Eli Stevens in the championship match and earned the victory with a pin just over three minutes into the contest.

Diaz, who ascended to the No. 1 spot in On The Mat’s 5A rank-

ings at 120 pounds, earned three wins to get a chance to face Jefferson’s Samuel Rosales, who was the 3A runner-up last season at 106 pounds. Rosales built a 7-2 lead in the second period with an escape and a takedown and rode Diaz out for the rest of the match to win.

No. 13 in 5A, Gordon came up against Central of Grand Junction’s Tyler Ziek, who won the match by fall in the second minute of the opening period.

GIRLS SWIMMING Cherokee Trail finishes as runner-up at annual Smoky Hill Invitational

The Cherokee Trail girls swim team enjoys swimming in the Smoky Hill pool and also enjoyed taking home some hardware from a favorite meet Jan. 14.

The Cougars accrued 690.5 points over two days of competition to finish as the runner-up behind

runaway winner Columbine at the top of the 12-team field in the annual Smoky Hill Invitational, a result that sent them home with a trophy.

Freshman Bella Lane finished in a tie for the championship of the 50 yard freestyle and later came in third in the 100 freestyle as the top individual results for coach Kevin Chatham’s Cherokee Trail team, which had all three relay teams finish in the top four. Senior Morgan Walker and junior Emme Metzmaker made two individual event finals apiece as well and sophomores Ella Drakulich and Olivia Jisa one apiece for the Cougars.

Lane claimed a share of the 50 crown as she touched the wall in 24.70 seconds, exactly the same as Legend’s Katie Ketter, while Ketter later won the 100 in which Lane finished in third place. Walker finished fifth in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke and Metzmaker took fifth in the 200 freestyle and sixth in the 100 for the Cougars.

Host Smoky Hill picked 405 points to finished in sixth place in the team standings as freshman Mya Noffsinger led the way. In her first Smoky Hill Invitational, Noffsinger turned in runner-up finishes in both the 500 yard freestyle and 100 backstroke.

Coach Susan Stone’s Buffaloes also qualified for the championship finals in two relay events (the 200 yard medley and 400 yard freestyle), both of which included Noffsinger. Eve Niemann and Alana Behrens Fassrainer also swam on both relays, which each finished in sixth place.

Eaglecrest rounded out the Aurora area representation in the field and came in 11th place with a total of 160 points. The top result for coach Jillian Fehringer’s Raptors came with the ninth-place finish of the 200 yard freestyle relay team of senior Nalani Fierro, junior Shannon Beaulieu and sophomores Alex Jones and Lauren Menefee.

WEEK PAST

The week past in Aurora prep sports

MONDAY, JAN. 16: There were no contests held as schools were closed to recognize Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. ...SATURDAY, JAN. 14: The Eaglecrest girls wrestling team earned the championship of the Arvada Invitational by just half a point, as it outlasted Loveland 134-133.5 to finish atop a field of 12 teams. A total of 15 Raptors earned top-five places — including multiple placers at 105, 135 and 140 pounds — and championships came from Natalie Replogle (135), Gianna Falise (155) and Blythe Cayko (190). ...Guard Siraaj Ali capped an 18-point performance for the Overland boys basketball team with the game-winning shot to lift the Trailblazers over host George Washington 74-73. Ali was joined in

›› See PREPS, 21

Left: Eaglecrest’s Alijah Gabaldon won the 126-pound championship match at the Armando Rodriguez Tournament of Champions Jan. 14. Above: Cherokee Trail’s Keean Lloyd (21) blocks a shot by Cheyenne Central’s Joe Sawyer in the Cougars’ 72-61 home loss Jan. 14.

Bottom left: Cherokee Trail’s Bella Lane, right, hugs Legend’s Katie Ketter after the two tied for first in the 50 yard freestyle at the Smoky Hill Invitational Jan. 14. Bottom right: Regis Jesuit’s Joe Dorais (3) had a big week shooting 3-pointers for the Raiders. (Photos by Courtney Oakes/Sentinel Colorado)

double figures by Hamza Mursal with 15 and Nehemiah Winchester with 12. ...Joe Dorais connected on six 3-pointers on his way to 27 points to pace the Regis Jesuit boys basketball team to a 65-55 non-league win over Arapahoe.

TaRea Fulcher added 13 and Damarius Taylor chipped in nine for the Raiders. ...The Eaglecrest girls basketball team picked up its 10th consecutive victory with a 50-44 win over Rangeview in a crosstown meeting of local programs. Laci Roffle scored 15 points and Nia McKenzie contributed 14 in the victory. ... Despite three players scoring in double figures, the Cherokee Trail boys basketball team fell behind visiting Cheyenne Central early and couldn’t catch up in a 72-61 loss in the Cougars’ first game on their home floor. Keean Lloyd tallied 18 points, Alonzo Rodgers had 14 and Naode Ghide 10 for Cherokee Trail. ... The Grandview boys wrestling team finished in third place among 21 scoring teams at the challenging Arvada West Invitational as seven Wolves made it onto the medal podium. Jonathan Montes Gonzales won Grandview’s only championship in the 138-pound weight class, while Nehemiah Quintana (126) and Charlie Herting (157) each finished as the runner-up in their respective weights.

...The Vista PEAK boys wrestling team ended up in second place at the Frederick Invitational, which featured a mix of 14 teams from multiple classifications. The Bison dominated the upper weights as they got championships from Ezekiel Taylor (190 pounds), Oscar Valdez (215) and heavyweight Joseph Maes, while 150-pounder Zachary Voltura lost in the title match. ...The Regis Jesuit boys wrestling team competed in California at the Five Counties Invitational and tied for 17th as a team. Garrett Reece lost in the championship match at 132 pounds, while heavyweight Dirk Morley to lead the Raiders. ...The Gateway and Hinkley girls basketball teams fell to Denver North (58-15) and Chaparral (80-12), respectively. ...The Overland girls wrestling team finished in eighth place at the Poudre Shooting Stars Invitational with a total of 54.5 points. Violet Garcia (110 pounds) and Vianca Mendoza (120) each finished in third place. Reagan Perez (125-pound gold) and Keeley Holt (155-pound silver) placed highest in their respective brackets to lead the Vista PEAK girls wrestling team to tie for 18th place at the Vista Ridge Alpha Tournament. ...FRIDAY, JAN. 13: In front of a packed house and playing the back end of a doubleheader after the boys game, host Rangeview held off rival Vista PEAK for a 59-55 girls basketball victory.

Amirah Pena scored 19 points, Eianna Jackson 16 and Ashlyn Stapleton 10 for the Bison. ...Coryn Watts poured in 20 points, while Hana Belibi had 17 and Iliana Greene 11 for the Regis Jesuit girls basketball team, which handled Chaparral 68-44 to win its Continental League opener. ...The Over-

land girls basketball team picked up its 10th win of the season with a 53-15 victory over Thornton. ...The Hinkley boys basketball team won its second straight contest as it defeated Kennedy 54-48. ...Alejandro Flores scored 22 points, Christopher Perkins added 15 and Camron Crisp notched 14, but the Aurora Central boys basketball team fell to George Washington 93-62 on the road. ...THURSDAY, JAN. 12: The Smoky Hill boys basketball team racked up a season-high in points in a 97-46 nonleague win on the road at Manual. Camron Crisp and Christopher Perkins tallied 16 points apiece and Simeon Veasley added 10 as the Aurora Central boys basketball team rode a big second half to a 57-43 home victory over Gateway

Josh Arce scored 11 to lead the Olys. ...Damarius Taylor poured in 23 points to place the Regis Jesuit boys basketball team to a 64-44 win over Chaparral to tip off Continental League play. TaRea Fulcher added 17 and Nick Frontz 16. ...Jamaea Johnson-Gonzalez and Shaya Kelley tallied 18 points apiece and Alayna McClain contributed 15 in the Aurora Central girls basketball team’s 52-38 victory over Gateway in a Colorado League contest. ...Jenesse Byrd’s 15 points, plus 12 from D’Ahja Horton and 10 from Maddie Kilmer led the Rangeview girls basketball team to a 68-16 triumph over Regis Groff. ...The Grandview girls swim team won the last four events and seven in all in its Centennial League visit to Cherry Creek, but the Wolves fell to

the Bruins 97-86. Amelia Brown claimed first place in the 200 yard freestyle and 100 yard backstroke, while Megan Doubrava won the 200 yard IM, Keira Vail took the 50 yard freestyle and Paige Dailey dominated the 100 yard breaststroke, while the Wolves claimed both the 200 yard and 400 yard freestyle relays. ...The Cherokee Trail girls swim team won all 12 events in a 148-23 Centennial League victory over Mullen. Sarah Woren won twice individually, while Sierra Bryan, Laurel Kieffer, Carly Slater, Sydney McCoy, Lily Rosh, Sydney Tarr and diver Kate Rollie also placed first in addition to a relay sweep for the Cougars. ...The Eaglecrest boys wrestling team downed Cherry Creek 48-36 in a Centennial League dual matchup in

Vista PEAK’s Kyelin Sanders, left,

around Rangeview shot blocker DeMarco Duncan to make a pass during the Bison’s 51-48 win Jan. 13. Top right: Rangeview’s Jenesse Byrd (2) uses her left hand for a layup after getting past Vista PEAK’s Eianna Jackson during the first half of the Raiders’ 59-55 win over the visiting Bison on Jan. 13. Left: Eaglecrest’s Natalie Replogle settles in on her way to a pin of Regis Jesuit’s Clare Kishiyama in an exhitbition match following the Raptors and Raiders girls wrestling dual on Jan. 12. (Photos by Courtney Oakes/ Sentinel Colorado)

which each team won five contested matches. Blake Saddler (106 pounds), Ethan Diaz (120), Alijah Gabaldon (132), Gabe Rangel (157) and Thayne Lundy (165) won by fall for the Raptors. ...Gunner Lopez, Josh Gerarde, Mason Hartshorn, Maxwell Kibbee, Marcus Nesbitt and Cayden Bird earned wins by fall for the Grandview boys wrestling team in a 78-6 Centennial League dual win against Overland, which got its points from Eric Kelly’s win by pin at 144 pounds. ...The Vista PEAK boys wrestling team defeated Abraham Lincoln 70-12 in a City League dual match in which the Bison received seven wins by forfeit and had Jorge Hernandez-Garcia, Zachary Votura, Thade Holmes and Joseph Maes win by fall and Ezekiel Taylor by major decision. ...The Hinkley boys wrestling team dropped two matches in a tri-dual to Denver East (66-15) and Englewood (40-24).

Marco Duran (113 pounds) posted the only win in a contested match by

›› See PREPS, 22

Top left:

ducks

the Thunder. ...Zach Brophy’s win by decision at 165 pounds put the Smoky Hill boys wrestling team on the scoreboard in a 67-3 Centennial League loss to 3A No. 1 Mullen.

...The Eaglecrest girls wrestling team took a 66-12 dual meet victory against visiting Regis Jesuit in a match in which only four official matches were contested, followed by five exhibition matches. The Raptors won all four official matches via falls from Arianna Sanchez (105 pounds), Jordan Heibult (120), Gianna Falise (155) and Blythe Cayko (190).

...WEDNESDAY, JAN. 11: The Grandview boys basketball team went on a 10-1 run to break open a tie game with Rangeview on its way to a 51-45 road win in an all-Aurora matchup. Gallagher Placide scored a game-high 16 points for the Wolves, who also got nine from Alex Riddick, while Kenny Black-Knox (12) and Royce Edwards (11) scored in double digits for the Raiders. ... The Regis Jesuit boys basketball team rallied from a seven-point deficit in the fourth quarter into a tie with Cherry Creek near the midway point of the fourth quarter, but didn’t score again in a 64-60 loss. TaRea Fulcher scored a team-high 17 points, but had two free throws to tie the game in the closing seconds go astray. Joe Dorais added 15 points and Nick Frontz 12 for the Raiders. ...The Grandview girls basketball team — playing without star Sienna Betts — fell to Valor Christian 78-41 in a rematch of last season’s Class 5A state championship game. Deija Roberson finished with 12 points and Benedicte Kalala nine for the Wolves. ...Hana Belibi (21 points), Coryn Watts (20) and Sophia Meyer (13) scored in double figures for the Regis Jesuit girls basketball team in a 66-41 win over parochial school rival Mullen. ...The Aurora Central boys wrestling team topped Gateway 30-12 in a match with four contested matches. The Trojans got wins by fall from Juan Cooper and Moses Mampanya while the Olys got pins from Julian Moreno and Asmir Huskic

TUESDAY, JAN. 10: The Eaglecrest girls basketball team continued to streak with a 44-25 victory over Chaparral in which it outscored the visitors 16-2 in the second quarter. Nia McKenzie paced the Raptors with 14 points, while Laci Roffle and Anjolene Ramiro added 10 apiece. ...Cai’Reis Curby scored 17 points, Alejandro Flores added 16 and Camron Crisp 11 as the Aurora Central boys basketball team defeated Skyview 56-42 on the road. ...The Cherokee Trail boys basketball team triumphed over Rampart 81-51 in a non-league road contest that saw eight players score is points or more. Alonzo Rodgers led the Cougars with 19 points, while Tony Niyongabo added 12. ...The Hinkley boys basketball team got into the win column for the first time on the season with a 49-40 home victory over Regis Groff. …The Overland girls basketball team dominated a non-league matchup with Kennedy in a 65-26 victory. ...DeAndre Brown was the

only player in double figures for the Eaglecrest boys basketball team with 12 points as the Raptors fell at Rock Canyon 55-40. ...Despite five 3-pointers and 17 points from Mareon Chapman, the Rangeview boys basketball team saw a non-league contest with Chaparral get away in the final quarter of a 68-51 loss. ...Siraaj Ali’s 18 points and 10 apiece from Jaleel Dixon and Israel Littleton led the Overland boys basketball team in a 74-56 loss to Lewis-Palmer.

Alayna McClain and Shaya Kelley combined for 30 points, but the Aurora Central girls basketball team fell to Skyview 55-41.

WEEK AHEAD

and Eaglecrest goes to Arapahoe. Regis Jesuit is also in action with a 6 p.m. Continental League match at Chaparral. ...The Centennial League is also active in girls swimming as Cherokee Trail (vs. Overland), Grandview (vs. Eaglecrest) and Smoky Hill (vs. Cherry Creek) all take to their home pools for 5 p.m. meets.

prep sports

The week ahead in Aurora

THURSDAY, JAN. 19: The Centennial League boys wrestling schedule includes a trio of 7 p.m. duals in which Grandview is home to Cherry Creek, Smoky Hill plays host to multiple teams

...The Regis Jesuit girls basketball team heads out to Rock Canyon for a 7 p.m. Continental League contest. ...FRIDAY, JAN. 20: The Aurora Public Schools Championship girls swim meet is scheduled to be contested at Rangeview, as Aurora Central, Gateway, Hinkley and the Raiders gather for the longtime annual meet. ...The Grandview boys wrestling team begins competition in the rugged Top of The Rockies tournament, an annual tradition hosted by Centaurus High School. ... Both area ice hockey teams return to competition as Regis Jesuit is home to Cas-

tle View in a 5:40 p.m. contest at Family Sports Center, while the Cherry Creek co-op ice hockey team has an 8 p.m. puck drop at the APEX Ice Arena against Ralston Valley. ...The Regis Jesuit boys basketball team welcomes Rock Canyon in for a 7 p.m. Continental League showdown. ...Some girls-boys basketball doubleheaders are in store at Eaglecrest (vs. Overland) and Cherokee Trail (vs. Smoky Hill) with girls games scheduled for 5:30 p.m. and boys at 7 p.m. ...SATURDAY, JAN. 21: The Cherry Creek coop ice hockey team plays host to Fort Collins in a 3:10 p.m. contest at Family Sports Center. ...The Eaglecrest and Regis Jesuit girls wrestling teams head to Douglas County for the Tiara Challenge tournament. ...The Regis Jesuit girls swim team heads to Cherry Creek for a 12:30 p.m. dual meet as two of the top Class 5A state championship contenders face each other head-to-head. ...The

Regis Jesuit ice hockey team heads north for a 5:40 p.m. contest against Monarch at the Boulder Valley Sports Stable. ...MONDAY, JAN. 23: Several Aurora boys basketball teams wrap up non-league play as Smoky Hill plays host to Chaparral, Grandview is home to Columbine and Cherokee Trail visits Golden for 7 p.m. tilts. ...TUESDAY, JAN. 24: Regis Jesuit heads to Mountain Vista for a Continental League doubleheader in girls-boys basketball in which the girls play at 5:30 p.m. and the boys at 7 p.m.

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 25: A girlsboys basketball doubleheader is on the schedule at Eaglecrest as Cherokee Trail visits for a 5:30 p.m. girls contest and 7 p.m. boys game. Overland is at Cherry Creek and Smoky Hill is home to Arapahoe in standalone 7 p.m. boys games. ...Cherokee Trail visit Arapahoe in a rescheduled Centennial League boys wrestling dual scheduled to start at 7 p.m.

Top: Grandview senior Simon Kibbee holds the ball as he looks for a cutting teammate during the Wolves’ 51-45 boys basketball win at Rangeview Jan. 11. Above left: Eaglecrest’s Anjolene Ramiro (4) passes the ball as she is trapped by two Chaparral defenders during the Raptors’ 44-25 win over the Wolverines Jan. 10 that pushed their winning straek to nine games. Above right: Grandview’s Amelia Brown claps after the Wolves won the 200 yard freestyle relay at a Centennial League girls swimming dual at Cherry Creek Jan. 12. Brown won two individual events, but the Wolves fell 97-86. (Photos by Courtney Oakes/Sentinel Colorado)

Because the people must know

COMBINED NOTICEPUBLICATION CRS §38-38-103

FORECLOSURE SALE NO. 0535-2022

To Whom It May Concern: This Notice is given with regard to the following described Deed of Trust:

On October 14, 2022, the undersigned Public Trustee caused the Notice of Election and Demand relating to the Deed of Trust described below to be recorded in the County of Arapahoe records.

Original Grantor(s)

David H. Fikes and Meghan E. Seabury

Original Beneficiary(ies)

Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., as Beneficiary, as nominee for Freedom Mortgage Corporation, its successors and assigns

Current Holder of Evidence of Debt

Freedom Mortgage Corporation

Date of Deed of Trust

December 11, 2019

County of Recording

Arapahoe

Recording Date of Deed of Trust

December 18, 2019

Recording Information (Reception No. and/ or Book/Page No.)

D9139252

Original Principal Amount

$385,241.00

Outstanding Principal Balance

$371,635.29

Pursuant to CRS §38-38-101(4)(i), you are hereby notified that the covenants of the deed of trust have been violated as follows: Failure to pay principal and interest when due together with all other payments provided for in the evidence of debt secured by the Deed of Trust and other violations thereof.

THE LIEN FORECLOSED MAY NOT BE A FIRST LIEN.

Lot 3, Block 8, Stratus at Eagle Bend Subdivision filing No. 1, County of Arapahoe, State of Colorado.

Also known by street and number as: 7611 South Yakima Ct, Aurora, CO 80016.

THE PROPERTY DESCRIBED HEREIN IS ALL OF THE PROPERTY CURRENTLY ENCUMBERED BY THE LIEN OF THE DEED OF TRUST.

NOTICE OF SALE

The current holder of the Evidence of Debt secured by the Deed of Trust, described herein, has filed Notice of Election and Demand for sale as provided by law and in said Deed of Trust.

THEREFORE, Notice Is Hereby Given that I will at public auction, at 10:00 A.M. on Wednesday, 02/15/2023, at The East Hearing Room, County Administration Building, 5334 South Prince Street, Littleton, Colorado, 80120, sell to the highest and best bidder for cash, the said real property and all interest of the said Grantor(s), Grantor(s)’ heirs and assigns therein, for the purpose of paying the indebtedness provided in said Evidence of Debt secured by the Deed of Trust, plus attorneys’ fees, the expenses of sale and other items allowed by law, and will issue to the purchaser a Certificate of Purchase, all as provided by law.

First Publication 12/22/2022

Last Publication 1/19/2023

Name of Publication Sentinel

IF THE SALE DATE IS CONTINUED TO A LATER DATE, THE DEADLINE TO FILE A NOTICE OF INTENT TO CURE BY THOSE PARTIES ENTITLED TO CURE MAY ALSO BE EXTENDED;

DATE: 10/14/2022

Susan Sandstrom, Public Trustee in and for the County of Arapahoe, State of Colorado

By: /s/ Susan Sandstrom, Public Trustee

The name, address, business telephone number and bar registration number of the attorney(s) representing the legal holder of the indebtedness is:

Amanda Ferguson #44893

Heather Deere #28597

Toni M. Owan #30580

Halliday, Watkins & Mann, PC 355 Union Blvd., Ste. 250, Lakewood, CO 80228 (303) 274-0155

Attorney File # CO11900

The Attorney above is acting as a debt collector and is attempting to collect a debt. Any information provided may be used for that purpose.

©Public Trustees’ Association of Colorado

Revised 1/2015

COMBINED NOTICEPUBLICATION CRS §38-38-103

FORECLOSURE SALE NO. 0552-2022

To Whom It May Concern: This Notice is given with regard to the following described Deed of Trust:

On November 1, 2022, the undersigned Public Trustee caused the Notice of Election and Demand relating to the Deed of Trust described below to be recorded in the County of Arapahoe records.

Original Grantor(s)

Bryce Collin Hansel

Original Beneficiary(ies)

Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., as beneficiary, as nominee for Loandepot.com, LLC, its successors and assigns

Current Holder of Evidence of Debt loanDepot.Com, LLC

Date of Deed of Trust

June 29, 2020

County of Recording

Arapahoe

Recording Date of Deed of Trust

July 02, 2020

Recording Information (Reception No. and/ or Book/Page No.) E0080916

Original Principal Amount

$303,200.00

Outstanding Principal Balance

$299,343.47

Pursuant to CRS §38-38-101(4)(i), you are hereby notified that the covenants of the deed of trust have been violated as follows: Failure to pay principal and interest when due together with all other payments provided for in the evidence of debt secured by the Deed of Trust and other violations thereof.

THE LIEN FORECLOSED MAY NOT BE A FIRST LIEN.

LOT 40, BLOCK 1, PARK PLACE VIL-

LAS SUBDIVISION FILING NO. 1, ACCORDING TO THE RECORDED PLAT THERETO FILED FOR RECORD IN PLAT BOOK 111 AT PAGE 26, RECEPTION NO. 167883 OF THE RECORDS OF ARAPAHOE COUNTY, COLORADO, SUBJECT TO THE DECLARATION RECORDED ON OCTOBER 20, 1995 IN BOOK 8152

AT PAGE 689, RECEPTION NO. 110781, OF THE RECORDS OF THE OFFICE OF THE CLERK AND RECORDER OF ARAPAHOE COUNTY, COLORADO, COUNTY OF ARAPAHOE, STATE OF COLORADO. Also known by street and number as: 4642 S Abilene Cir, Aurora, CO 80015. THE PROPERTY DESCRIBED HEREIN IS ALL OF THE PROPERTY CURRENTLY ENCUMBERED BY THE LIEN OF THE DEED OF TRUST.

NOTICE OF SALE

The current holder of the Evidence of Debt secured by the Deed of Trust, described herein, has filed Notice of Election and Demand for sale as provided by law and in said Deed of Trust.

THEREFORE, Notice Is Hereby Given that I will at public auction, at 10:00 A.M. on Wednesday, 03/01/2023, at The East Hearing Room, County Administration Building, 5334 South Prince Street, Littleton, Colorado, 80120, sell to the highest and best bidder for cash, the said real property and all interest of the said Grantor(s), Grantor(s)’ heirs and assigns therein, for the purpose of paying the indebtedness provided in said Evidence of Debt secured by the Deed of Trust, plus attorneys’ fees, the expenses of sale and other items allowed by law, and will issue to the purchaser a Certificate of Purchase, all as provided by law.

First Publication 1/5/2023

Last Publication 2/2/2023

Name of Publication Sentinel IF THE SALE DATE IS CONTINUED TO A LATER DATE, THE DEADLINE TO FILE

A NOTICE OF INTENT TO CURE BY THOSE PARTIES ENTITLED TO CURE MAY ALSO BE EXTENDED;

DATE: 11/01/2022

Susan Sandstrom, Public Trustee in and for the County of Arapahoe, State of Colorado

By: /s/ Susan Sandstrom, Public Trustee

The name, address, business telephone number and bar registration number of the attorney(s) representing the legal holder of the indebtedness is:

Amanda Ferguson #44893

Heather Deere #28597

Toni M. Owan #30580

Halliday, Watkins & Mann, PC 355 Union Blvd., Ste. 250, Lakewood, CO 80228 (303) 274-0155

Attorney File # CO-20367

The Attorney above is acting as a debt collector and is attempting to collect a debt. Any information provided may be used for that purpose.

©Public Trustees’ Association of Colorado

Revised 1/2015 COMBINED

Public Trustee caused the Notice of Election and Demand relating to the Deed of Trust described below to be recorded in the County of Arapahoe records.

Original Grantor(s)

OMAR A. DUWAIK

Original Beneficiary(ies)

MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS, INC., AS BENEFICIARY, AS NOMINEE FOR HIGHTECH LENDING INC., ITS SUCCESSORS AND ASSIGNS

Current Holder of Evidence of Debt REVERSE MORTGAGE FUNDING LLC

Date of Deed of Trust

July 22, 2015 County of Recording

Arapahoe

Recording Date of Deed of Trust

July 30, 2015

Recording Information (Reception No. and/ or Book/Page No.)

D5084527

Original Principal Amount

$435,000.00

Outstanding Principal Balance

$158,902.01

Pursuant to CRS §38-38-101(4)(i), you are hereby notified that the covenants of the deed of trust have been violated as follows: Failure to pay principal and interest when due together with all other payments provided for in the evidence of debt secured by the deed of trust and other violations thereof.

THE LIEN FORECLOSED MAY NOT BE A FIRST LIEN.

LOT 3, BLOCK 3, WINDSOR PARK SUBDIVISION FILING NO. 1, COUNTY OF ARAPAHOE, STATE OF COLORADO. Also known by street and number as: 12483 E CEDAR CIRCLE, AURORA, CO 80012.

THE PROPERTY DESCRIBED HEREIN IS ALL OF THE PROPERTY CURRENTLY ENCUMBERED BY THE LIEN OF THE DEED OF TRUST. NOTICE OF SALE

The current holder of the Evidence of Debt secured by the Deed of Trust, described herein, has filed Notice of Election and Demand for sale as provided by law and in said Deed of Trust.

THEREFORE, Notice Is Hereby Given that I will at public auction, at 10:00 A.M. on Wednesday, 03/15/2023, at The East Hearing Room, County Administration Building, 5334 South Prince Street, Littleton, Colorado, 80120, sell to the highest and best bidder for cash, the said real property and all interest of the said Grantor(s), Grantor(s)’ heirs and assigns therein, for the purpose of paying the indebtedness provided in said Evidence of Debt secured by the Deed of Trust, plus attorneys’ fees, the expenses of sale and other items allowed by law, and will issue to the purchaser a Certificate of Purchase, all as provided by law.

First Publication 1/19/2023

Last Publication 2/16/2023

Name of Publication Sentinel

IF THE SALE DATE IS CONTINUED TO A LATER DATE, THE DEADLINE TO FILE A NOTICE OF INTENT TO CURE BY THOSE PARTIES ENTITLED TO CURE MAY ALSO BE EXTENDED;

DATE: 11/15/2022

Susan Sandstrom, Public Trustee in and for the County of Arapahoe, State of Colorado

By: /s/ Susan Sandstrom, Public Trustee

The name, address, business telephone number and bar registration number of the attorney(s) representing the legal holder of the indebtedness is:

Amanda Ferguson #44893

Heather Deere #28597

Toni M. Owan #30580 Halliday, Watkins & Mann, PC 355 Union Blvd., Ste. 250, Lakewood, CO 80228 (303) 274-0155 Attorney File # CO-20482

The Attorney above is acting as a debt collector and is attempting to collect a debt. Any information provided may be used for that purpose.

©Public Trustees’ Association of Colorado

Revised 1/2015

COMBINED NOTICE -

PUBLICATION CRS §38-38-103

FORECLOSURE SALE NO. 0536-2022

To Whom It May Concern: This Notice is given with regard to the following described Deed of Trust:

On October 24, 2022, the undersigned

Public Trustee caused the Notice of Election and Demand relating to the Deed of Trust described below to be recorded in the County of Arapahoe records.

Original Grantor(s)

Travis Moore

Original Beneficiary(ies)

MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS, INC. AS NOMINEE FOR GUILD MORTGAGE COMPANY, ITS SUCCESSORS AND ASSIGNS

Current Holder of Evidence of Debt COLORADO HOUSING AND FINANCE

Recording Date of Deed of Trust

July 06, 2020

Recording Information (Reception No. and/ or Book/Page No.)

E0081198

Original Principal Amount

$203,741.00

Outstanding Principal Balance

$196,418.89 Pursuant to CRS §38-38-101(4)(i), you are hereby notified that the covenants of the deed of trust have been violated as follows: Failure to pay principal and interest when due together with all other payments provided for in the evidence of debt secured by the deed of trust and other violations thereof. THE LIEN FORECLOSED MAY NOT BE A FIRST LIEN. SEE ATTACHED LEGAL DESCRIPTION LEGAL DESCRIPTION CONDOMINIUM UNIT 201, BUILDING NO. 19, BRANDYCHASE CONDOMINIUMS, IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE DECLARATION RECORDED ON OCTOBER 6, 1978, IN BOOK 2863 AT PAGE 143, AND CONDOMINIUM MAP RECORDED ON OCTOBER 6, 1978 IN CONDOMINIUM MAP BOOK 36 AT PAGE 4, AND RECORDED OCTOBER 6, 1978 IN CONDOMINIUM MAP BOOK 36 AT PAGE 41, AND AMENDMENT RECORDED JANUARY 19, 1979, IN MAP BOOK 37 AT PAGE 15, OF THE ARAPAHOE COUNTY RECORDS, TOGETHER WITH THE EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO USE THE FOLLOWING LIMITED ELEMENTS: STORAGE SPACE NO. 19-201, COUNTY OF ARAPAHOE, STATE OF COLORADO. PARCEL ID: 1973-25-1-14-149

Also known by street and number as: 13494 E Jewell Avenue #201, Aurora, CO 80012. THE PROPERTY DESCRIBED HEREIN IS ALL OF THE PROPERTY CURRENTLY ENCUMBERED BY THE LIEN OF THE DEED OF TRUST.

NOTICE OF SALE

The current holder of the Evidence of Debt secured by the Deed of Trust, described herein, has filed Notice of Election and Demand for sale as provided by law and in said Deed of Trust.

THEREFORE, Notice Is Hereby Given that I will at public auction, at 10:00 A.M. on Wednesday, 02/22/2023, at The East Hearing Room, County Administration Building, 5334 South Prince Street, Littleton, Colorado, 80120, sell to the highest and best bidder for cash, the said real property and all interest of the said Grantor(s), Grantor(s)’ heirs and assigns therein, for the purpose of paying the indebtedness provided in said Evidence of Debt secured by the Deed of Trust, plus attorneys’ fees, the expenses of sale and other items allowed by law, and will issue to the purchaser a Certificate of Purchase, all as provided by law.

First Publication 12/29/2022

Last Publication 1/26/2023

Name of Publication Sentinel

IF THE SALE DATE IS CONTINUED TO

A LATER DATE, THE DEADLINE TO FILE

A NOTICE OF INTENT TO CURE BY THOSE PARTIES ENTITLED TO CURE

MAY ALSO BE EXTENDED;

DATE: 10/24/2022

Susan Sandstrom, Public Trustee in and for the County of Arapahoe, State of Colorado

By: /s/ Susan Sandstrom, Public Trustee

The name, address, business telephone number and bar registration number of the attorney(s) representing the legal holder of the indebtedness is:

Alison L Berry #34531

N. April Winecki #34861

David R. Doughty #40042

Nicholas H. Santarelli #46592

Lynn M. Janeway #15592

Janeway Law Firm, P.C. 9800 S. Meridian Blvd., Suite 400, Englewood, CO 80112 (303) 706-9990

Attorney File # 22-028426

The Attorney above is acting as a debt collector and is attempting to collect a debt. Any information provided may be used for that purpose.

©Public Trustees’ Association of Colorado

Revised 1/2015

COMBINED NOTICE -

PUBLICATION CRS §38-38-103

FORECLOSURE SALE NO. 0538-2022

To Whom It May Concern: This Notice is given with regard to the following described Deed of Trust:

On October 21, 2022, the undersigned

Public Trustee caused the Notice of Election and Demand relating to the Deed of Trust described below to be recorded in the County of Arapahoe records.

Original Grantor(s)

Oleg Dobrovolskiy and Loretta Guerrero

Original Beneficiary(ies)

Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., as nominee for Homeside Financial,

Its Successors and Assigns Current Holder of Evidence of Debt Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.

Date of Deed of Trust November 26, 2018

Arapahoe Recording Date of Deed of Trust

December 19, 2018

Recording Information (Reception No. and/ or Book/Page No.)

D8124005

Original Principal Amount $233,250.00

Outstanding Principal Balance $232,761.78

Pursuant to CRS §38-38-101(4)(i), you are hereby notified that the covenants of the deed of trust have been violated as follows:

Failure to pay principal and interest when due together with all other payments provided for in the evidence of debt secured by the deed of trust and other violations thereof.

THE LIEN FORECLOSED MAY NOT BE A FIRST LIEN.

LOT 28, BLOCK 30, AURORA HILLS (THIRD FILING), COUNTY OF ARAPAHOE, STATE OF COLORADO

Also known by street and number as: 323 S Vaughn Way, Aurora, CO 80012. THE PROPERTY DESCRIBED HEREIN IS ALL OF THE PROPERTY CURRENTLY ENCUMBERED BY THE LIEN OF THE DEED OF TRUST.

NOTICE OF SALE

The current holder of the Evidence of Debt secured by the Deed of Trust, described herein, has filed Notice of Election and Demand for sale as provided by law and in said Deed of Trust.

THEREFORE, Notice Is Hereby Given that I will at public auction, at 10:00 A.M. on Wednesday, 02/22/2023, at The East Hearing Room, County Administration Building, 5334 South Prince Street, Littleton, Colorado, 80120, sell to the highest and best bidder for cash, the said real property and all interest of the said Grantor(s), Grantor(s)’ heirs and assigns therein, for the purpose of paying the indebtedness provided in said Evidence of Debt secured by the Deed of Trust, plus attorneys’ fees, the expenses of sale and other items allowed by law, and will issue to the purchaser a Certificate of Purchase, all as provided by law.

First Publication 12/29/2022

Last Publication 1/26/2023

Name of Publication Sentinel

IF THE SALE DATE IS CONTINUED TO A LATER DATE, THE DEADLINE TO FILE A NOTICE OF INTENT TO CURE BY THOSE PARTIES ENTITLED TO CURE MAY ALSO BE EXTENDED; DATE: 10/21/2022

Susan Sandstrom, Public Trustee in and for the County of Arapahoe, State of Colorado

By: /s/ Susan Sandstrom, Public Trustee

The name, address, business telephone number and bar registration number of the attorney(s) representing the legal holder of the indebtedness is:

Erin Croke #46557

Steven Bellanti #48306

Holly Shilliday #24423

Ilene Dell’Acqua #31755 McCarthy & Holthus LLP 7700 E Arapahoe Road, Suite 230, Centennial, CO 80112 (877) 369-6122

Attorney File # CO-19-863663-LL

The Attorney above is acting as a debt collector and is attempting to collect a debt. Any information provided may be used for that purpose.

©Public Trustees’ Association of Colorado

Revised 1/2015

COMBINED NOTICEPUBLICATION CRS §38-38-103

FORECLOSURE SALE NO. 0541-2022

To Whom It May Concern: This Notice is given with regard to the following described Deed of Trust:

On October 24, 2022, the undersigned

Public Trustee caused the Notice of Election and Demand relating to the Deed of Trust described below to be recorded in the County of Arapahoe records.

Original Grantor(s)

Abenet A. Hayle and Henok Zewdu Ambelu

Original Beneficiary(ies)

Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., as Beneficiary, as nominee for Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation, its successors and assigns

Current Holder of Evidence of Debt

Lakeview Loan Servicing, LLC

Date of Deed of Trust

August 27, 2021

County of Recording

Arapahoe

Recording Date of Deed of Trust

September 01, 2021

Recording Information (Reception No. and/ or Book/Page No.)

E1137038

Original Principal Amount

$607,294.00

Outstanding Principal Balance

$621,514.90

Pursuant to CRS §38-38-101(4)(i), you are hereby notified that the covenants of the deed of trust have been violated as follows:

Failure to pay principal and interest when due together with all other payments provided for in the evidence of debt secured by the deed of trust and other violations

IF THE SALE DATE IS CONTINUED TO A LATER DATE, THE DEADLINE TO FILE A NOTICE OF INTENT TO CURE BY THOSE PARTIES ENTITLED TO CURE MAY ALSO BE EXTENDED;

DATE: 11/04/2022

Susan Sandstrom, Public Trustee in and for the County of Arapahoe, State of Colorado

By: /s/ Susan Sandstrom, Public Trustee

The name, address, business telephone number and bar registration number of the attorney(s) representing the legal holder of the indebtedness is:

Anna Johnston #51978

Ryan Bourgeois #51088

Joseph D. DeGiorgio #45557

Randall Chin #31149

Barrett, Frappier & Weisserman, LLP 1391 Speer Boulevard, Suite 700, Denver, CO 80204 (303) 350-3711

Attorney File # 00000009638537

The Attorney above is acting as a debt collector and is attempting to collect a debt. Any information provided may be used for that purpose.

©Public Trustees’ Association of Colorado

Revised 1/2015

COMBINED NOTICE -

PUBLICATION CRS §38-38-103

FORECLOSURE SALE NO. 0560-2022

To Whom It May Concern: This Notice is given with regard to the following described Deed of Trust:

On November 4, 2022, the undersigned

Public Trustee caused the Notice of Election and Demand relating to the Deed of Trust described below to be recorded in the County of Arapahoe records.

Original Grantor(s) BRENDA A. KIDD

Original Beneficiary(ies)

BENEFICIAL MORTGAGE CO. OF COLORADO

Current Holder of Evidence of Debt

U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, NOT IN ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY BUT SOLELY AS INDENTURE TRUSTEE, FOR THE HOLDERS OF THE CIM TRUST 2021-R2, MORTGAGE-BACKED NOTES,

SERIES 2021-R2

Date of Deed of Trust

May 07, 2004

County of Recording

Arapahoe

Recording Date of Deed of Trust

May 12, 2004

Recording Information (Reception No. and/ or Book/Page No.)

B4087009

Original Principal Amount

$298,839.99

Outstanding Principal Balance

$185,659.15

Pursuant to CRS §38-38-101(4)(i), you are hereby notified that the covenants of the deed of trust have been violated as follows:

Failure to pay principal and interest when due together with all other payments provided for in the Evidence of Debt secured by the Deed of Trust and other violations of the terms thereof

THE LIEN FORECLOSED MAY NOT BE A FIRST LIEN.

LOT 7, BLOCK 4, ENCORE AT SEVEN HILLS, FILING NO. 1, COUNTY OF ARAPAHOE, STATE OF COLORADO.

Also known by street and number as: 19184 E AMHERST DRIVE, AURORA, CO 80013.

THE PROPERTY DESCRIBED HEREIN IS ALL OF THE PROPERTY CURRENTLY ENCUMBERED BY THE LIEN OF THE DEED OF TRUST. NOTICE OF SALE

The current holder of the Evidence of Debt secured by the Deed of Trust, described herein, has filed Notice of Election and Demand for sale as provided by law and in said Deed of Trust.

THEREFORE, Notice Is Hereby Given that I will at public auction, at 10:00 A.M. on Wednesday, 03/08/2023, at The East Hearing Room, County Administration Building, 5334 South Prince Street, Littleton, Colorado, 80120, sell to the highest and best bidder for cash, the said real property and all interest of the said Grantor(s), Grantor(s)’ heirs and assigns therein, for the purpose of paying the indebtedness provided in said Evidence of Debt secured by the Deed of Trust, plus attorneys’ fees, the expenses of sale and other items allowed by law, and will issue to the purchaser a Certificate of Purchase, all as provided by law.

First Publication 1/12/2023

Last Publication 2/9/2023

Name of Publication Sentinel IF THE SALE DATE IS CONTINUED TO A LATER DATE, THE DEADLINE TO FILE A NOTICE OF INTENT TO CURE BY THOSE PARTIES ENTITLED TO CURE MAY ALSO BE EXTENDED;

DATE: 11/04/2022

Susan Sandstrom,

Public Trustee in and for the County of Arapahoe, State of Colorado

By: /s/ Susan Sandstrom, Public Trustee

The name, address, business telephone number and bar registration number of the attorney(s) representing the legal holder of the indebtedness is:

Anna Johnston #51978

Ryan Bourgeois #51088

Joseph D. DeGiorgio #45557

Randall Chin #31149

Barrett, Frappier & Weisserman, LLP 1391

Speer Boulevard, Suite 700, Denver, CO 80204 (303) 350-3711

Attorney File # 00000009561887

The Attorney above is acting as a debt collector and is attempting to collect a debt. Any information provided may be used for that purpose.

©Public Trustees’ Association of Colorado

Revised 1/2015

COMBINED NOTICEPUBLICATION CRS §38-38-103 FORECLOSURE SALE NO. 0563-2022

To Whom It May Concern: This Notice is given with regard to the following described Deed of Trust:

On November 4, 2022, the undersigned

Public Trustee caused the Notice of Election and Demand relating to the Deed of Trust described below to be recorded in the County of Arapahoe records.

Original Grantor(s) Shannon L. Kaschnigg

Original Beneficiary(ies)

Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. as beneficiary, as nominee for SWBC Mortgage Corp.

Current Holder of Evidence of Debt

PennyMac Loan Services, LLC

Date of Deed of Trust

January 26, 2017 County of Recording Arapahoe Recording Date of Deed of Trust

January 31, 2017

Recording Information (Reception No. and/ or Book/Page No.)

D7011869 Book: N/A Page:

Original Principal Amount

$140,542.00

Outstanding Principal Balance

$125,821.11

Pursuant to CRS §38-38-101(4)(i), you are hereby notified that the covenants of the deed of trust have been violated as follows:

Failure to pay principal and interest when due together with all other payments provided for in the evidence of debt secured by the deed of trust and other violations thereof.

THE LIEN FORECLOSED MAY NOT BE

A FIRST LIEN. LOT 57, BLOCK 1, SAN FRANCISCO SUBDIVISION FILING NO. 2, COUNTY OF ARAPAHOE, STATE OF COLORADO.

Also known by street and number as: 14324 East Hawaii Circle #D, Aurora, CO 80012.

THE PROPERTY DESCRIBED HEREIN

IS ALL OF THE PROPERTY CURRENTLY ENCUMBERED BY THE LIEN OF THE DEED OF TRUST.

NOTICE OF SALE

The current holder of the Evidence of Debt secured by the Deed of Trust, described herein, has filed Notice of Election and Demand for sale as provided by law and in said Deed of Trust.

THEREFORE, Notice Is Hereby Given that I will at public auction, at 10:00 A.M. on Wednesday, 03/08/2023, at The East Hearing Room, County Administration Building, 5334 South Prince Street, Littleton, Colorado, 80120, sell to the highest and best bidder for cash, the said real property and all interest of the said Grantor(s), Grantor(s)’ heirs and assigns therein, for the purpose of paying the indebtedness provided in said Evidence of Debt secured by the Deed of Trust, plus attorneys’ fees, the expenses of sale and other items allowed by law, and will issue to the purchaser a Certificate of Purchase, all as provided by law.

First Publication 1/12/2023

Last Publication 2/9/2023

Name of Publication Sentinel IF THE SALE DATE IS CONTINUED TO A LATER DATE, THE DEADLINE TO FILE A NOTICE OF INTENT TO CURE BY THOSE PARTIES ENTITLED TO CURE MAY ALSO BE EXTENDED;

DATE: 11/04/2022 Susan Sandstrom, Public Trustee in and for the County of Arapahoe, State of Colorado

By: /s/ Susan Sandstrom, Public Trustee

The name, address, business telephone number and bar registration number of the attorney(s) representing the legal holder of the indebtedness is:

Alexis R. Abercrombie #56722

David W Drake #43315

Scott D. Toebben #19011

Randall S. Miller & Associates PC 216 16th Street, Suite 1210, Denver, CO 80202 (720) 259-6710

Attorney File # 22CO00298-1

The Attorney above is acting as a debt collector and is attempting to collect a debt. Any information provided may be used for that purpose.

©Public Trustees’ Association of Colorado

Revised 1/2015 COMBINED NOTICEPUBLICATION CRS §38-38-103

FORECLOSURE SALE NO. 0564-2022

To Whom It May Concern: This Notice is given with regard to the following described Deed of Trust:

On November 4, 2022, the undersigned

Public Trustee caused the Notice of Election and Demand relating to the Deed of Trust described below to be recorded in the County of Arapahoe records.

deed of trust have been violated as follows: Failure to pay principal and interest when due together with all other payments provided for in the evidence of debt secured by the deed of trust and other violations thereof.

THE LIEN FORECLOSED MAY NOT BE

A FIRST LIEN.

Condominium Unit 110C, Building C, RED SKY CONDOMINIUMS, according to the Condominium Map filed for record on January 11, 1979, in Plat Book 36 at Page 86 and Supplements thereto and as defined in the Declaration of Condominium of Red Sky recorded January 11, 1979, in Book 2918 at Page 601, records of Arapahoe County, Colorado, together with the exclusive right to use Parking Space and/ or Carport No. C110 and together with the exclusive right to use Storage Space designated 110S in Building C. County of Arapahoe, State of Colorado Also known by street and number as: 14602 EAST 2nd Ave Unit 110C, Aurora, CO 80011.

THE PROPERTY DESCRIBED HEREIN IS ALL OF THE PROPERTY CURRENTLY ENCUMBERED BY THE LIEN OF THE DEED OF TRUST.

NOTICE OF SALE

The current holder of the Evidence of Debt secured by the Deed of Trust, described herein, has filed Notice of Election and Demand for sale as provided by law and in said Deed of Trust.

THEREFORE, Notice Is Hereby Given that I will at public auction, at 10:00 A.M. on Wednesday, 03/08/2023, at The East Hearing Room, County Administration Building, 5334 South Prince Street, Littleton, Colorado, 80120, sell to the highest and best bidder for cash, the said real property and all interest of the said Grantor(s), Grantor(s)’ heirs and assigns therein, for the purpose of paying the indebtedness provided in said Evidence of Debt secured by the Deed of Trust, plus attorneys’ fees, the expenses of sale and other items allowed by law, and will issue to the purchaser a Certificate of Purchase, all as provided by law.

First Publication 1/12/2023

Last Publication 2/9/2023

Name of Publication Sentinel

IF THE SALE DATE IS CONTINUED TO A LATER DATE, THE DEADLINE TO FILE A NOTICE OF INTENT TO CURE BY THOSE PARTIES ENTITLED TO CURE MAY ALSO BE EXTENDED;

DATE: 11/04/2022

Susan Sandstrom, Public Trustee in and for the County of Arapahoe, State of Colorado

By: /s/ Susan Sandstrom, Public Trustee

The name, address, business telephone number and bar registration number of the attorney(s) representing the legal holder of the indebtedness is:

Alexis R. Abercrombie #56722

David W Drake #43315

Scott D. Toebben #19011

Randall S. Miller & Associates PC 216 16th Street, Suite 1210, Denver, CO 80202 (720) 259-6710

Attorney File # 22CO00265-1

The Attorney above is acting as a debt collector and is attempting to collect a debt. Any information provided may be used for that purpose.

©Public Trustees’ Association of Colorado

Revised 1/2015

COMBINED NOTICEPUBLICATION CRS §38-38-103 FORECLOSURE SALE NO. 0565-2022

To Whom It May Concern: This Notice is given with regard to the following described Deed of Trust:

On November 4, 2022, the undersigned Public Trustee caused the Notice of Election and Demand relating to the Deed of Trust described below to be recorded in the County of Arapahoe records.

Original Grantor(s)

Davon Johnston

Original Beneficiary(ies)

MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS, INC. AS NOMINEE FOR GUILD MORTGAGE COMPANY, ITS SUCCESSORS AND ASSIGNS

Current Holder of Evidence of Debt COLORADO HOUSING AND FINANCE

AUTHORITY

Date of Deed of Trust

September 26, 2017

County of Recording

Arapahoe

Recording Date of Deed of Trust

October 04, 2017

Recording Information (Reception No. and/ or Book/Page No.)

D7113307

Original Principal Amount

$235,653.00

Outstanding Principal Balance

$216,277.32

Pursuant to CRS §38-38-101(4)(i), you are hereby notified that the covenants of the deed of trust have been violated as follows: Failure to pay principal and interest when due together with all other payments provided for in the evidence of debt secured by the deed of trust and other violations thereof.

THE LIEN FORECLOSED MAY NOT BE A FIRST LIEN. LOT 60, BLOCK 1, THE TIMBERS FILING NO. ONE, COUNTY OF ARAPAHOE, STATE OF COLORADO. PARCEL ID:

031660343

Also known by street and number as:

15020 E Jarvis Place, Aurora, CO 80014.

THE PROPERTY DESCRIBED HEREIN IS ALL OF THE PROPERTY CURRENTLY

you

notified that the covenants of the

herein, has filed Notice of Election and Demand for sale as provided by law and in said Deed of Trust.

THEREFORE, Notice Is Hereby Given that I will at public auction, at 10:00 A.M. on Wednesday, 03/08/2023, at The East Hearing Room, County Administration Building, 5334 South Prince Street, Littleton, Colorado, 80120, sell to the highest and best bidder for cash, the said real property and all interest of the said Grantor(s), Grantor(s)’ heirs and assigns therein, for the purpose of paying the indebtedness provided in said Evidence of Debt secured by the Deed of Trust, plus attorneys’ fees, the expenses of sale and other items allowed by law, and will issue to the purchaser a Certificate of Purchase, all as provided by law.

First Publication 1/12/2023

Last Publication 2/9/2023

Name of Publication Sentinel

IF THE SALE DATE IS CONTINUED TO

A LATER DATE, THE DEADLINE TO FILE

A NOTICE OF INTENT TO CURE BY THOSE PARTIES ENTITLED TO CURE MAY ALSO BE EXTENDED;

DATE: 11/04/2022

Susan Sandstrom, Public Trustee in and for the County of Arapahoe, State of Colorado

By: /s/ Susan Sandstrom, Public Trustee

The name, address, business telephone number and bar registration number of the attorney(s) representing the legal holder of the indebtedness is:

Alison L Berry #34531

N. April Winecki #34861

David R. Doughty #40042

Nicholas H. Santarelli #46592

Lynn M. Janeway #15592

Janeway Law Firm, P.C. 9800 S. Meridian Blvd., Suite 400, Englewood, CO 80112 (303) 706-9990

Attorney File # 22-028686

The Attorney above is acting as a debt collector and is attempting to collect a debt. Any information provided may be used for that purpose.

©Public Trustees’ Association of Colorado

Revised 1/2015

COMBINED NOTICE -

PUBLICATION CRS §38-38-103

FORECLOSURE SALE NO. 0566-2022

To Whom It May Concern: This Notice is given with regard to the following described Deed of Trust:

On November 4, 2022, the undersigned

Public Trustee caused the Notice of Election and Demand relating to the Deed of Trust described below to be recorded in the County of Arapahoe records.

Original Grantor(s)

Ndubuisi Nwabunor AND Ofodile Odifu

Original Beneficiary(ies)

MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS, INC. AS NOMINEE FOR FAIRWAY INDEPENDENT MORTGAGE CORPORATION, ITS SUCCESSORS AND ASSIGNS

Current Holder of Evidence of Debt

COLORADO HOUSING AND FINANCE

AUTHORITY

Date of Deed of Trust

August 25, 2021 County of Recording

Arapahoe Recording Date of Deed of Trust

August 27, 2021

Recording Information (Reception No. and/ or Book/Page No.)

E1133973

Original Principal Amount

$486,034.00

Outstanding Principal Balance

$479,581.81

Pursuant to CRS §38-38-101(4)(i), you are hereby notified that the covenants of the deed of trust have been violated as follows: Failure to pay principal and interest when due together with all other payments provided for in the evidence of debt secured by the deed of trust and other violations thereof.

THE LIEN FORECLOSED MAY NOT BE A FIRST LIEN.

LOT 18, BLOCK 1, STERLING HILLS SUBDIVISION FILING NO. 2, COUNTY OF ARAPAHOE, STATE OF COLORADO.

PARCEL ID NUMBER: 1975-27-4-07-018

Also known by street and number as:

19906 E Villanova Pl, Aurora, CO 80013.

THE PROPERTY DESCRIBED HEREIN IS ALL OF THE PROPERTY CURRENTLY ENCUMBERED BY THE LIEN OF THE DEED OF TRUST. NOTICE OF SALE

The current holder of the Evidence of Debt secured by the Deed of Trust, described herein, has filed Notice of Election and Demand for sale as provided by law and in said Deed of Trust.

THEREFORE, Notice Is Hereby Given that I will at public auction, at 10:00 A.M. on Wednesday, 03/08/2023, at The East Hearing Room, County Administration Building, 5334 South Prince Street, Littleton, Colorado, 80120, sell to the highest and best bidder for cash, the said real property and all interest of the said Grantor(s), Grantor(s)’ heirs and assigns therein, for the purpose of paying the indebtedness provided in said Evidence of Debt secured by the Deed of Trust, plus attorneys’ fees, the expenses of sale and other items allowed by law, and will issue to the purchaser a Certificate of Purchase, all as provided by law.

Public Trustee in and for the County of Arapahoe, State of Colorado

By: /s/ Susan Sandstrom, Public Trustee

The name, address, business telephone number and bar registration number of the attorney(s) representing the legal holder of the indebtedness is:

Alison L Berry #34531

N. April Winecki #34861

David R. Doughty #40042

Nicholas H. Santarelli #46592

Lynn M. Janeway #15592

Janeway Law Firm, P.C. 9800 S. Meridian Blvd., Suite 400, Englewood, CO 80112 (303) 706-9990

Attorney File # 22-028687

The Attorney above is acting as a debt collector and is attempting to collect a debt. Any information provided may be used for that purpose.

©Public Trustees’ Association of Colorado

Revised 1/2015

COMBINED NOTICE -

PUBLICATION CRS §38-38-103

FORECLOSURE SALE NO. 0567-2022

To Whom It May Concern: This Notice is given with regard to the following described Deed of Trust:

On November 4, 2022, the undersigned Public Trustee caused the Notice of Election and Demand relating to the Deed of Trust described below to be recorded in the County of Arapahoe records.

Original Grantor(s)

AMBROSIA MOLLET-GLENN

Original Beneficiary(ies)

MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS, INC. AS NOMINEE FOR UNIVERSAL LENDING CORPORATION, ITS SUCCESSORS AND ASSIGNS

Current Holder of Evidence of Debt

MIDFIRST BANK

Date of Deed of Trust

August 02, 2018

County of Recording

Arapahoe

Recording Date of Deed of Trust

August 08, 2018

Recording Information (Reception No. and/ or Book/Page No.)

D8078628

Original Principal Amount $117,012.00

Outstanding Principal Balance $113,643.93

Pursuant to CRS §38-38-101(4)(i), you are hereby notified that the covenants of the deed of trust have been violated as follows:

Failure to pay principal and interest when due together with all other payments provided for in the evidence of debt secured by the deed of trust and other violations thereof.

THE LIEN FORECLOSED MAY NOT BE A FIRST LIEN.

LOT 20, BLOCK 4, SOMERSET VILLAGE SUBDIVISION, FILING NO. 3, COUNTY OF ARAPAHOE, STATE OF COLORADO APN #: 034520597

Also known by street and number as: 1188 S PITKIN WAY, AURORA, CO 80017.

THE PROPERTY DESCRIBED HEREIN IS ALL OF THE PROPERTY CURRENTLY ENCUMBERED BY THE LIEN OF THE DEED OF TRUST.

NOTICE OF SALE

The current holder of the Evidence of Debt secured by the Deed of Trust, described herein, has filed Notice of Election and Demand for sale as provided by law and in said Deed of Trust.

THEREFORE, Notice Is Hereby Given that I will at public auction, at 10:00 A.M. on Wednesday, 03/08/2023, at The East Hearing Room, County Administration Building, 5334 South Prince Street, Littleton, Colorado, 80120, sell to the highest and best bidder for cash, the said real property and all interest of the said Grantor(s), Grantor(s)’ heirs and assigns therein, for the purpose of paying the indebtedness provided in said Evidence of Debt secured by the Deed of Trust, plus attorneys’ fees, the expenses of sale and other items allowed by law, and will issue to the purchaser a Certificate of Purchase, all as provided by law.

First Publication 1/12/2023

Last Publication 2/9/2023

Name of Publication Sentinel IF THE SALE DATE IS CONTINUED TO A LATER DATE, THE DEADLINE TO FILE A NOTICE OF INTENT TO CURE BY THOSE PARTIES ENTITLED TO CURE MAY ALSO BE EXTENDED;

DATE: 11/04/2022

Susan Sandstrom, Public Trustee in and for the County of Arapahoe, State of Colorado

By: /s/ Susan Sandstrom, Public Trustee

The name, address, business telephone number and bar registration number of the attorney(s) representing the legal holder of the indebtedness is:

Alison L Berry #34531

N. April Winecki #34861

David R. Doughty #40042

Nicholas H. Santarelli #46592

Lynn M. Janeway #15592 Janeway Law Firm, P.C. 9800 S. Meridian Blvd., Suite 400, Englewood, CO 80112 (303) 706-9990

Attorney File # 21-026080

The Attorney above is acting as a debt collector and is attempting to collect a debt. Any information provided may be used for that purpose.

©Public Trustees’ Association of Colorado

Revised 1/2015

information. Under Commission Rule 508, if no petition is filed, the Application may be approved administratively without a formal hearing.

Any Affected Person who files a petition must be able to participate in a prehearing conference during the week of February 13, 2023, if a prehearing conference is requested by the Applicant or by any person who has filed a petition.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

For more information, you may review the Application, which was sent to you with this Notice. You may also contact the Applicant at the phone number or email address listed below.

In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, if any party requires special accommodations as a result of a disability for this hearing, please contact Margaret Humecki at Cogcc.Hearings_Unit@state. co.us, prior to the hearing and arrangements will be made.

OIL AND GAS CONSERVATION COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF COLORADO

By Mimi C. Larsen, Commission Secretary

Dated: January 10, 2023

Crestone Peak Resources Operating LLC

c/o Jillian Fulcher

Ryan McKee Beatty & Wozniak, P.C.

1675 Broadway, Suite 600 Denver, CO 80202 303-407-4499 jfulcher@bwenergylaw.com rmckee@bwenergylaw.com

Publication: January 19, 2023

Sentinel District Court Adams County, State of Colorado

NOTICE OF PUBLICATION

Case No. 22JA30032

IN THE MATTER OF THE PETITION OF:

Petitioner/Adoptive Parent 1: JULIO CESAR CELIS GONZALEZ

Petitioner/Adoptive Parent 2: FLOR MARIA LARES CERVANTES

FOR THE ADOPTION OF A CHILD: Edrick

Leonel Celis Reyes

Notice of Publication to: Raymundo Lira (biological father)

You are hereby notified that the abovenamed Petitioners have filed, in this Court, a verified Petition seeking to adopt the child named above. You are further notified that if you fail to appear and participate in the above named case, the Court may terminate your parental rights and grant the adoption as sought by the Petitioners.

First Publication: January 12, 2023

Final Publication: February 9, 2023

Sentinel NOTICE OF ASSUMED NAME FILING IN MINNESOTA

ASSUMED NAME: OSCAR JONAS GA-

NAWAY

PRINCIPAL PLACE OF BUSINESS: In Car of 6031 South Tempe Way, Centennial, CO 00000 United State of America

NAMEHOLDER(S): Ganaway Oscar I. Jones, Oscar Jonas Ganaway, Jonas Oscar Ganaway, Jonas Ganaway, Oscar J. Ganaway, Ganaway Oscar Jonas.

Minnesota Secretary of State Original File # 1360659700021

Date: December 28, 2022 /s/ Steve Simon, Secretary of State

First Publication: January 12, 2023

Final Publication: January 19, 2023

Sentinel NOTICE OF FINAL PAYMENT

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the AEROTROPOLIS AREA COORDINATING METROPOLITAN DISTRICT of Adams County, Colorado, will make final payment on or after February 6, 2023, to: Dynalectric Company, Inc.

345 Sheridan Boulevard Lakewood, CO 80226 for all work done by said Contractor for the Aerotropolis Area Coordinating Metropolitan District, relating to the Street Lighting project, all of said work being within or near the boundaries of Aerotropolis Area Coordinating Metropolitan District, in the City of Aurora, State of Colorado, as follows:

42nd Avenue Phases 1 and 2

Denali Boulevard North/South Collector

Any person, co-partnership, association of persons, company, or corporation that has furnished labor, materials, provisions, team hire, sustenance provender or other supplies used or consumed by such Contractor or its Subcontractors or Suppliers in or about the performance of the work contracted to be done and whose claim therefore has not been paid by the Contractor or its Subcontractors or Suppliers at any time up to and including the time of final settlement for the work contracted to

be done, is required to file a written verified statement of the amount due and unpaid on account of such claim with Aerotropolis Area Coordinating Metropolitan District,

Attention: Denise Denslow, 8390 East Crescent Parkway, Suite 300,Greenwood Village, CO 80111 with a copy to McGeady Becher P.C., 450 E. 17th Avenue, Suite 400, Denver, CO 80203-1254 at or before the time and date hereinabove shown.

Failure on the part of any claimant to file such written verified statement of claim prior to such final settlement will release AEROTROPOLIS AREA COORDINATING METROPOLITAN DISTRICT, its Board, officers, agents, and employees of and from any and all liability for such claim.

BY ORDER OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Aerotropolis Area Coordinating Metropolitan District

First Publication: January 19, 2023

Final Publication: January 26, 2023

Sentinel NOTICE OF FINAL PAYMENT

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the AEROTROPOLIS AREA COORDINATING METROPOLITAN DISTRICT of Adams County, Colorado, will make final payment on or after February 6, 2023, to:

JHL Constructors, Inc. 9100 E Panorama Dr, Ste 300 Englewood, CO 80112

for all work done by said Contractor for the Aerotropolis Area Coordinating Metropolitan District, relating to the Trib T First Creek Structures and Main Street Project, all of said work being within or near the boundaries of Aerotropolis Area Coordinating Metropolitan District, in the City of Aurora, State of Colorado, as follows:

42” Concrete Spig Plug Box Culvert and Bridge Rail and Colloidal Wall Traffic Circle/Roundabout Grading and Concrete Tributary Seed and Mulch Electrical Design (PCO 105) and Light Fixtures

Surveying at The Aurora Highlands Parkway and Denali Boulevard Main Street Paving, Sidewalk, Curb and Gutter

38th Parkway Roadway

The Aurora Highlands Parkway Manholes Pond 8507N Outlet

Any person, co-partnership, association of persons, company, or corporation that has furnished labor, materials, provisions, team hire, sustenance provender or other supplies used or consumed by such Contractor or its Subcontractors or Suppliers in or about the performance of the work contracted to be done and whose claim therefore has not been paid by the Contractor or its Subcontractors or Suppliers at any time up to and including the time of final settlement for the work contracted to be done, is required to file a written verified statement of the amount due and unpaid on account of such claim with Aerotropolis Area Coordinating Metropolitan District, Attention: Denise Denslow, 8390 East Crescent Parkway, Suite 300,Greenwood Village, CO 80111 with a copy to McGeady Becher P.C., 450 E. 17th Avenue, Suite 400, Denver, CO 80203-1254 at or before the time and date hereinabove shown. Failure on the part of any claimant to file such written verified statement of claim prior to such final settlement will release AEROTROPOLIS AREA COORDINATING METROPOLITAN DISTRICT, its Board, officers, agents, and employees of and from any and all liability for such claim.

BY ORDER OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Aerotropolis Area Coordinating Metropolitan District

First Publication: January 19, 2023

Final Publication: January 26, 2023

Sentinel

NOTICE OF HEARING WITHOUT AP-

PEARANCE PURSUANT TO C.R.P.P. 24

****** Attendance at this hearing is not required or expected. *******

In the Matter of the Estate of: Karen Marcia Morris, a/k/a Karen M. Morris, a/k/a Karen Morris, Deceased.

To all interested persons:

A hearing without appearance on the Petition for Adjudication of Intestacy and Formal Appointment of Personal Representative (name of motion/petition and proposed order) is set at the following date, time, and location:

Date: Monday February 6, 2023 (Select a future date no less than 14 days from service)

Time: 8:00 a.m.

Address: Arapahoe County Justice Center, 7325 S. Potomac St. #100, Centennial, CO 80112

***** IMPORTANT NOTICE*****

Any interested person wishing to object to the requested action set forth in the attached motion/petition and proposed order must file a written objection with the court on or before the hearing and must furnish a copy of the objection to the person requesting the court order. JDF 722 (Objection form) is available on the Colorado Judicial Branch website (www.courts.state. co.us). If no objection is filed, the court may take action on the motion/petition without further notice or hearing. If any objection is filed, the objecting party must, within 14 days after filing the objection, contact the court to set the objection for an appearance hearing. Failure to timely set the objection for an appearance hearing as required will result in further action as the court deems appropriate.

Attorneys for Petitioner:

Brian R. Boyes, #39849 Bordeaux & Boyes, LLC 323 W. Drake Rd., Suite 120 Fort Collins, CO 80526 (970) 488-2737 Brian@BordeauxandBoyes.com

First Publication: January 5, 2023

Final Publication: January 19, 2023

Sentinel

NOTICE OF INTENT TO DESTROY RECORDS

At North Aurora-King-Swenson Chiropractics, 2499 Peoria St., Aurora, CO 80010. We will be destroying medical records on 4/30/23 for the years through December 31, 2015. To request a copy of your records, please call 303-341-5353 on or before April 30, 2023.

First Publication: January 19, 2023

Final Publication: February 9, 2023

Sentinel

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING ON PROPOSED SERVICE PLAN HARVEST MILE METROPOLITAN DISTRICT CITY OF AURORA, COUNTY OF ADAMS, STATE OF COLORADO

PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that, pursuant to Section 32-1-204(1), C.R.S., and Section 122-32 of the City of Aurora municipal code (the “City Code”), a proposed Service Plan (the “Service Plan”) for Harvest Mile Metropolitan District (the “District”) has been filed with the City of Aurora, Office of Development Assistance, and is available for public inspection at the offices of White Bear Ankele Tanaka & Waldron, 2154 East Commons Avenue, Suite 2000, Centennial, CO 80122 (303) 858-1800 or by email request to Tate Crosby at tcrosby@wbapc.com.

Colorado will hold a public hearing on the Service Plan on February 13, 2023, at 6:30 p.m. or as soon thereafter as the City Council may hear such matter (the “Public Hearing”). The Public Hearing will be held via teleconference with advanced posting of call-in and log-in information on the City’s website (https://www.auroragov. org/city_hall/mayor___city_council). Depending on public health guidelines at the time, it may be possible to attend the public hearing in-person at the Aurora Municipal Center, 15151 E. Alameda Parkway, Aurora, Colorado 80012. If this in-person option is available, it will be publicly stated on the City’s website. The purpose of the hearing is to consider the Service Plan, and to form a basis for adopting a resolution approving, conditionally approving, or disapproving the Service Plan. All protests and objections must be submitted in writing to the City Council at or prior to the public hearing or any continuance or postponement thereof in order to be considered. All protests and objections to the Service Plan for the District shall be deemed to be waived unless presented at the time and in the manner specified by the City Code.

NOTICE IS FURTHER GIVEN that pursuant to § 32-1-203(3.5), C.R.S. and Section 122-34(e) of the City Code, any person owning property in the District may request that such property be excluded from the District by submitting such request to the City Council no later than ten (10) days prior to the public hearing. The City Council shall not be limited in its action with respect to exclusion of territory based upon such request. Any request for exclusion shall be acted upon before final action of the City Council under § 32-1-205, C.R.S.

Publication: January 19, 2023 Sentinel NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING ON SERVICE PLAN IN RE THE ORGANIZATION OF CIELO COLORADO METROPOLITAN DISTRICT, COUNTY OF ADAMS, STATE OF COLORADO

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that, pursuant to § 32-1-204(1), C.R.S., a Service Plan (the “Service Plan”) for the proposed Cielo Colorado Metropolitan District (the “District”) has been filed with the City of Aurora, Office of Development Assistance, and is available for public inspection at the offices of White Bear Ankele Tanaka & Waldron, at 2154 E. Commons Ave., Suite 2000, Centennial, CO 80122 or by calling 303-858-1800.

A public hearing on the Service Plan will be held by the City Council of the City of Aurora (the “City Council”) on February 13, 2023, at 6:30 p.m., at the Aurora Municipal Center, 15151 E. Alameda Parkway and via teleconference, or as soon thereafter as the City Council may hear such matter. The public may attend or participate virtually by following the call-in and log-in information on the City’s website (https:// www.auroragov.org/city_hall/mayor_city_ council).

The purpose of the hearing is to consider the Service Plan and to form a basis for adopting a resolution approving, conditionally approving or disapproving the Service Plan.

A general description of the land contained within the boundaries of the proposed District is as follows: approximately 158 acres of vacant land located south of 48th Avenue, north of E. Colfax Avenue, and in between N. Manila Road and Imboden Road in Aurora, Colorado.

NOTICE OF PUBLIC SALE

Security Self Storage, in accordance with C.R.S. 38-21.5-103, hereby gives Notice Of Sale, to wit: On FEBRUARY 16, 2023 at 2 P.M. at 2078 S Pontiac Way, Denver, CO 80224 will conduct a sale on Lockerfox. com prior to the sale date for each storage space in its entirety to the highest bidder for cash, of the contents of the following units to satisfy a landlord’s lien, Seller reserves the right to refuse any bid and to withdraw any property from sale, The public is invited to bid on said units.

Diane Wolf: clothes, shoes, totes, bags, boxes, misc. Casey Locke: totes, washer, dryer, AC unit, camping gear, misc. Douglas Urrata: plumbing supplies, car batteries, boxes, misc. Lyndsey Loy: boxes, totes, clothing, misc. Charles Knapp: furniture, vacuum. Angelique Medina: sofa, strollers. Joshua Staffen: furniture, space heater, bikes, tires, luggage, misc. Diane Wolf: sofa, bags, totes. James Sisneros: furniture, totes, luggage, medicine cabinet, misc. Joshua Staffen: totes, boxes, grill, tool bar, baby items, shampooer, misc. Sean Flynn: smoker, mattress, sofa, humidifier, snowboard, vinyl printer, golf clubs, misc.

First Publication: January 19, 2023

Final Publication: January 26, 2023

Sentinel

NOTICE OF PUBLIC SALE

Security Self Storage, in accordance with C.R.S. 38-21.5-103, hereby gives Notice Of Sale, to wit: On FEBRUARY 16, 2023 at 2 P.M. at 2025 S Holly, Denver, CO 80222 will conduct a sale on Lockerfox.com prior to the sale date for each storage space in its entirety to the highest bidder for cash, of the contents of the following units to satisfy a landlord’s lien, Seller reserves the right to refuse any bid and to withdraw any property from sale, The public is invited to bid on said units.

Shawn Kohler: furniture, mattress, misc. Anne Flanigan: furniture, boxes, vacuum. Taniesha Witherspoon: heater, vacuum, walker, boxes, totes. Marissa Vasquez: boxes, bags, paintings, misc. Joshua Capra: vinyl printer, speakers, car parts, skateboard, totes, misc.

First Publication: January 19, 2023

Final Publication: January 26, 2023

Sentinel

NOTICE OF PUBLIC SALE

Security Self Storage, in accordance with C.R.S. 38-21.5-103, hereby gives Notice of Sale, to wit: On FEBRUARY 16, 2023 at 2 P.M. at 9150 Pierce St., Westminster, CO 80021 will conduct a sale on Lockerfox. com prior to the sale date for each storage space in its entirety to the highest bidder for cash, of the contents of the following units to satisfy a landlord’s lien. Seller reserves the right to refuse any bid and to withdraw any property from sale. The public is invited to bid on said units.

Sean McClain: TV, lamps, mattress, bags, misc. Kelly Hinkle: bikes, toys, boxes, bass, tools, floor jack. Tiffany Lobato: mirror, furniture, vacuum. Robert Meizo: washer, dryer, sofa, air compressor, vacuum, ladder, boxes. Melissa Stryker: totes, luggage, misc. Jason Magana: furniture, vacuum, TV, mattress, tools, misc. Sky Lepage: boxes, totes, vacuum, luggage, furniture, misc. George Pacheco: washer, dryer, refrigerator, boxes, roll top desk, microwave, oven, misc. John Kincaid: furniture, tools, totes, bed, vacuum, file cabinet, misc. Kelly Valley: laptop, microwave, toys, snowboard, furniture, weights, misc.

NOTICE OF FINAL PAYMENT

On or after February 2, 2023, THE CHERRY CREEK SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 5 of ARAPAHOE COUNTY, STATE OF COLORADO, will make final payment to MARK YOUNG CONSTRUCTION, LLC as the general contractor for the renovation project at POLTON ELEMENTARY, located at 2985 S Oakland Street, Aurora, Colorado, 80014. All claims relating to this contract must be filed with David Henderson, Deputy Chief of Operations, Cherry Creek School District No. 5, 9301 E Union Avenue, Greenwood Village, Colorado, 80111 before February 2, 2023.

Board of Education Cherry Creek School District No. 5 County of Arapahoe State of Colorado

First Publication: January 19, 2023

Final Publication: January 26, 2023

The District is located within the City of Aurora, Adams County, Colorado. Harvest Mile Metropolitan District is a proposed Metropolitan District. A general description of the land contained within the boundaries of the District is as follows: approximately 309 acres of vacant land located west of N. Powhaton Road, north of I-70, south of E. 26th Avenue and east of E-470. Public Improvements to be provided by the District include all services needed for the area and permitted under the Special District Act, subject to limitations on operations and maintenance, fire protection, golf course, and television relay and translation, as set forth in the Service Plan. It is intended that the District will provide a part or all of the Public Improvements for the use and benefit of all anticipated inhabitants and taxpayers of the District. The primary purpose of the District will be to finance the construction of these Public Improvements. The improvements will be financed in part through a series of bonds or other instruments with a term not to exceed 40 years, issued in a total amount not to exceed $90,000,000, and with a maximum debt service mill levy of 50 mills, except for the portion of debt that is equal to or less than 50% of the District’s assessed valuation where an unlimited debt service mill levy may be imposed, and provided that if, on or after January 1, 2004, there are changes in the method of calculating assessed valuation or any constitutionally mandated tax credit, cut or abatement; the mill levy limitation applicable to such debt may be increased or decreased to reflect such changes.

NOTICE IS HEREBY FURTHER GIVEN that, the City Council, City of Aurora,

Pursuant to § 32-1-203(3.5), C.R.S., any person owning property in the proposed District may request that such property be excluded from the District by submitting such request to the City Council no later than ten days prior to the public hearing.

BY ORDER OF THE CITY

COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF AURORA

Publication: January 19, 2023

Sentinel NOTICE OF PUBLIC SALE

Security Self Storage, in accordance with C.R.S. 38-21.5-103, hereby gives Notice Of Sale, to wit: On FEBRUARY 16, 2023 at 2 P.M. at 4480 S Buckley, Aurora, CO 80015 will conduct a sale on Lockerfox. com prior to the sale date for each storage space in its entirety to the highest bidder for cash, of the contents of the following units to satisfy a landlord’s lien, Seller reserves the right to refuse any bid and to withdraw any property from sale, The public is invited to bid on said units.

Stephanie Kay Tagg: vacuum, boxes, luggage, misc. Neal Wade Haddock: shelving units, shop vac, boxes.

First Publication: January 19, 2023

Final Publication: January 26, 2023

Sentinel

First Publication: January 19, 2023

Final Publication: January 26, 2023

Sentinel

NOTICE OF PUBLIC SALE

Security Self Storage, in accordance with C.R.S. 38-21.5-103, hereby gives Notice Of Sale, to wit: On FEBRUARY 16, 2023 at 2 P.M. at 9750 W. JEWELL AVE. LAKEWOOD, CO 80232 will conduct a sale on Lockerfox.com prior to the sale date for each storage space in its entirety to the highest bidder for cash, of the contents of the following units to satisfy a landlord’s lien, Seller reserves the right to refuse any bid and to withdraw any property from sale, The public is invited to bid on said units.

Ceiria Fox: portable AC, TV, toolbox, rims, bags, clothes, vacuum, misc. Richard Casias: fire hydrant, boxes, furniture, misc. Cindy Cespedes: bikes, fishing poles, ladder, air compressor, tools, punching bag, misc. Mickel Wojtyszyn: furniture, totes, boxes, misc. Pauline Lane: furniture, boxes, speaker, ladder, mini fridge, misc. Christopher Allen: ATV, tools, mini fridge, totes, chain saws, misc. Christopher Allen: snow blowers, tools, totes, misc. Evelyn Jacobucci: boxes, desk, coats, strollers, misc. Dominique Medrano: totes, luggage, cooler, misc.

First Publication: January 19, 2023

Final Publication: January 26, 2023

Sentinel

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