Issuu

Economic Factors, Policy Landscape Lead to Budget Shortfall

Fire and medical emergency response services are at

The Challenge

risk

South Metro Fire Rescue is facing an immediate budget shortfall due to years of rising costs, consistent increases in demand, and new state legislation. Without new revenue, the organization will not be able to maintain the high level of service for fire and emergency response that residents and businesses deserve, and have come to expect.

There’s been a 20% increase in calls for service since 2019.

This includes structure, vehicle, and wildland fires; explosions and hazmat incidents; water rescues; vehicle crashes; public or police assistance; and medical emergencies.

Emergency medical calls now account for 65% of all response – this is expected to increase with an aging population.

Costs have increased dramatically in six years; for example:

The cost for a fire engine has gone from $725,000 to $1.3 million (79% increase).

The cost for protective bunker gear has gone from $4,321 to $6,047 (40% increase).

To continue providing quality fire and emergency response, South Metro needs an additional $34 million annually.

State legislation that passed during a special session in 2024 reduces property tax revenue South Metro collects by $16 million in 2026 and $270 million over 10 years.

stations across 30 square miles 287 personnel across 800 divisions 8

residents, which will serving 571,500 in grow to 595,000 4 years municipalities and 12 counties 3

Centennial Airport, Lockheed Martin, Highlands Ranch, 4 Square Mile, and The Pinery Including:

The Bottom Line

With $34 million needed to address increased demand for services and rising costs, plus the $16 million shortfall, South Metro needs to identify how it will generate $50 million in additional funding annually.

Trumpanosis.

It’s not just for breakfast anymore.

Sorry-not-sorry to be alarmist here, folks, but all of us need to look away from our own stressful lives — or the TV or TikToks — and pay close attention to what’s going on in Washington and the White House.

The short story is, President Donald Trump is a train wreck going off the rails as you read this, and he’s taking us all down with him.

If you’ve perused this space before, you know I’m not shy about pointing out Trump’s many and serious shortcomings, nor am I alone. Many key members of his former loyal staff have repeatedly sounded the alarm about his narcissism, his temper, his lying, his corruption, his misogyny, his racism, his blundering, his deep appreciation for fascism and a long list of equally worrisome personal and psychological problems.

Even though Trump enjoys the lowest approval polls of any newly elected president in modern history, his ability to get elected not once but twice will remain both a mystery and a stain on the history of the nation.

I’m not talking about things like Trump’s lurid admiration for people like Russian President Vladimir Putin, a sadistic and cruel dictator who poisons his political enemies. Just this week, Putin casually told the world that, shucks, folks, he sure hopes he doesn’t have to lob a few nukes around Ukraine and Europe should everyone start to seriously fight back against Russia’s crimes.

That’s the Bizarro World we have wrought upon ourselves by electing a man who continues to tell the world that he was elected president in 2020 when every credible court, Republican and Democrat in the country knows that he was not.

But enough ancient history.

The flashing red lights on the nation’s dashboard aren’t about Trump telling people that windmills cause cancer or that the numerous polls showing how much Americans dislike and distrust him are fake deceits.

No, these four-alarm Trumpster fires rolled out one by one over the weekend.

Going off like a gaseous geyser on NBC’s Meet the Press over the weekend, Trump said he isn’t sure about how much due process Americans and immigrants really should get under the Constitution, which unequivocally guarantees it.

Queue the cold, deep shiver running down the spine of every non-MAGA American in the country, and half of the MAGA Americans, too.

“I don’t know. I’m not, I’m not a lawyer. I don’t know,” Trump said when pressed by reporter Kristen Welker.

It is no exaggeration to point out that due process is what sets us apart from Iran, North Korea, China and Russia.

After shrugging over his understanding of and appreciation for the most fundamental right Americans revere, Trump moved on to fixing stuff.

Trump said he was perturbed by Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum’s weekend rebuke of Trump’s insistence that the US send troops to Mexico to fight drug gangs and stuff. She reminded the world that Mexico is not at war, and that such a move would essentially be an invasion. Being told “no” by a Mexican woman didn’t settle well with Trump.

“Well she’s so afraid of the cartels she can’t walk, so you know that’s the reason,” Trump told reporters Sunday. “And I think she’s a lovely woman. The president of Mexico is a lovely woman, but she is so afraid of the cartels that she can’t even think straight.”

Moving on, Trump said he wants the federal government to close the Alcatraz museum in California and turn it back into a working prison. It was closed more than 60 years ago because it was falling apart.

On a California island, the prison became notorious as a place where inmates were abused, not unlike many prisons in the South after the Reconstruction. Trump is busy cutting all kinds of critical programs and services under the false flag of “saving money” and wants to throw

possibly billions at rebuilding something he thinks convicted felons, like himself, might find scary.

If Trump truly wants to scare folks straight, why not sentence them to Mar-a-Lago for 30 days of golf and dinner with Trump? Talk about scared straight. If that doesn’t reduce crime, how about having to be a congressional aid for Marjorie Taylor Greene or Lauren Boebert? No doubt people would choose Alcatraz in its current condition over that kind of cruel and unusual punishment.

But wait, there’s more.

After throwing Alcatraz out there, as if it were as real as invading Canada, Trump said that the tariff wagon would now begin dumping on: foreign movies, or at least movies made in foreign places.

“The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account yesterday. “This is a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat. It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda!”

It makes no sense to anyone but Trump and his butt-kissers, since it is American movie companies that save big money by filming sometimes in foreign places.

I think we all agree that Trump would not be the type to watch foreign films screened in the U.S. I can’t imagine his sitting through “The Lives of Others” without creating a ketchup stain on the screen.

And Dealin’ Donnie ended his weekend flurry of stable ingeniousness with his pièce de résistance: Pay immigrants to leave the country, ours, not theirs.

On its surface, paying undocumented immigrants to high-tail it for anywhere but here for $1,000 and a bus or plane ticket sounds like a workable solution to Trump’s “Operation Aurora,” which was to be the beginning of mass deportation of millions and millions of immigrants. Finding out now that what everyone but his loyal cabinet told him is true, that mass deportation would cost hundreds of billions and pretty much be impossible, even Trump can run a calculator well enough to figure that deporting about 12 million illegal immigrants at $1,000 each is only $12 billion! Compare that to current ICE estimates of $17,000 per immigrant to harass, threaten, talk about, track down, lose, come up empty-handed, harass some more, track some more, lose, find, arrest, jail and then deport, maybe, Trumportation sounds like a winning bargain for everyone — except the immigrants, and, well, the rest of the country.

What Trumportation fans don’t take into account is the estimated $98 billion a year that illegal immigrants pay in income taxes to the federal, state and local governments. Trump will ship that revenue out along with the immigrants who work and pay those taxes. Likewise, Trump would be deporting about $300 billion in annual spending power that immigrants generate after they get their paychecks. So the U.S. economic toll for Trumportation would actually be about $420 billion, according to real experts at places like Carnegie and American Immigration Council. Of course that doesn’t count the economic downturn businesses who employ about 10 million immigrants would face, unable to replace those workers.

But as we’ve all learned in just 100 days, this Trump administration is all about the show, not the substance. From the Gulf of America to banning mandatory paper straw abuse, it’s hard to take all of this seriously, until you seriously look at how dangerous all this is.

If you know someone who just can’t face the news of what Trump is doing, help them through it. If you know someone who understands fully what Trump is and likes what he does, pray for their recovery.

In the meantime, support legitimate media that ask questions and get answers from Trump and others. More dangerous than Trump and his acolytes are those media that either accidentally or purposely tell their readers and listeners that this is all OK.

Follow@EditorDavePerryonBlueSky,Threads,Mastodon,Twitterand Facebookorreachhimat303-750-7555ordperry@SentinelColorado.com

DAVE PERRY Editor

President Donald Trump talks with reporters on Air Force One as he heads back to Washington, Sunday, May 4, 2025, from West Palm Beach, Fla. AP

Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta

A metro community rallied to share u shot experiences. en the government stopped the study

BY LAURAN NEERGAARD. AP Medical Writer

Some Denver area parents got texts during this winter’s brutal flu season with videos sharing why people in their neighborhoods chose flu shots for their kids, an unusual study about trust and vaccines in a historically Black community.

But no one will know how it worked out: The Trump administration canceled the project before the data could be analyzed -- and researchers aren’t the only ones upset.

“For someone like me, from the Black community who income-wise is on the lower end, we don’t often have a voice,” said Denver mom Chantyl Busby, one of the study’s community advisers. “Having this funding taken away from this project sends a horrible, horrible message. It’s almost like telling us all over again that our opinions don’t matter.”

How to talk about vaccines with parents – or anyone – is taking on new urgency: At least 216 U.S. children died of flu this season, the worst pediatric toll in 15 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Unvaccinated children are fueling one of the country’s largest measles outbreaks in decades, and another vaccine-preventable disease — whooping cough — is soaring, too.

Michael Osterholm, who directs the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy and worries the country is entering “scientific dark ages.”

At Denver Health, Dr. Joshua Williams is a pediatrician who every day has vaccine conversations with confused or worried parents. Some even ask if they’ll get kicked out of his practice for refusing immunizations.

Nope, Williams says: Building trust takes time.

“The most satisfying vaccine-related encounters I have are the ones in families who had significant concerns for a long time, came to trust me over the years as I cared for broken arms and ear infections – and ultimately vaccinated their child,” he said.

But in the TikTok age, Williams wondered if digital storytelling – seeing and hearing what led other families to choose vaccination – might help those decisions. He chose flu shots as the test case — just under half of U.S. children got one this season. And Black children are among those most at risk of getting seriously ill from influenza.

Dr. Joshua Williams, a pediatrician whose federal funding for a vaccine awareness program was cut, examines 12-year-old patient Tiovian Darden in Denver on Tuesday, March 18, 2025.

At the same time Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. questions vaccines long proven to be safe and effective. Moves by the Trump administration are making it increasingly uncertain that COVID-19 vaccines will be available this fall. And the administration has slashed funding for public health and medical research, including abruptly stopping studies of vaccine hesitancy.

“We need to understand what it is that is creating this challenge to vaccines and why,” said

With a grant from the National Institutes of Health, Williams partnered with Denver’s nonprofit Center for African American Health to host workshops bringing volunteers together to discuss how influenza and the flu vaccine had impacted their lives. Professionals helped those who wanted to go the extra step turn them into 2- to 3-minute polished videos.

After two years of community engagement, five of those videos were part of the pilot study sending text messages to 200 families who get care at two Denver Health clinics.

In one video, a mother described getting her first flu vaccination along with her young

daughter, making her own health decisions after leaving a controlling relationship.

In another, a grandmother explained how she’ll never again miss a vaccine appointment after her grandson spent his 4th birthday hospitalized with the flu.

Seeing “people that they look like, that they sound like, who have experiences they’ve been through that can go, ‘Hey, I felt like you felt but this changed my life,’” is powerful, said Busby, who OK’d her kids’ flu vaccinations after questioning Williams during multiple family checkups.

The study’s sudden cancellation means Williams can’t assess if the texted videos influenced families’ vaccine decisions – lost data from more than two years of work and already-spent NIH dollars. It also jeopardizes the researchers’ careers. While considering next steps, Williams has asked permission of community members to use some of the videos in his own practice as he discusses vaccination.

Williams gets personal, too, telling families that his kids are vaccinated and how his 95-yearold grandmother reminisces about the terror of polio during her own childhood before those vaccinations were developed.

“We’ve lost the collective memory about what it’s like to have these diseases in our community,” Williams said, ruefully noting the ongoing measles outbreak. “I think it’s going to take a collective voice from the community saying this is important, to remind those in power that we need to be allocating resources to infection prevention and vaccine hesitancy research.”

AP video journalist Thomas Peipert contributed to this report.

• Campfire Safety on June 10: Learn about the science of fire, how to build a safe campfire and how to cook on one. We will work together to assemble the layers of a successful campfire and make edible campfire snacks to munch on while we watch the fire burn, then we’ll roast smores and learn how to prevent wild fires.

scene & herd

Roll with it: ‘Ride the Cyclone’

A thrilling blend of dark comedy and catchy tunes arrives in Aurora with the regional premiere of ‘Ride the Cyclone,’ a musical that promises to entertain and provoke. The production takes the stage at the Nickelson Auditorium at the Vintage, under the direction of Jennifer Schmitz.

Written by Jacob Richmond and Brooke Maxwell, ‘Cyclone’ follows six Canadian teens whose lives are tragically cut short in a bizarre roller coaster accident. But death is only the beginning. In a surreal twist, the teens awaken in limbo, where a mechanical fortune teller offers each a once-in-alifetime — or afterlifetime — opportunity: Tell their story for a chance to come back to life.

With a script praised for its wit and emotional depth, and music that spans a variety of genres, the musical has become a cult favorite in the U.S. and Canada. NOTE: Ride the Cyclone contains mature themes and language. Even though these characters are in high school, this “mischievous musical” is intended for mature audiences.

IF YOU GO

Where: Nickelson Auditorium at the Vintage Theatre, 1468 Dayton St.

When: Through June 8. Curtains vary.

Tickets: $20-$39

Details and sales: www.vintagetheatre.org/ or 303 856-7830

Mom’s Free Day at the Museum

This Mother’s Day, celebrate with Mom at Wings Over the Rockies! Mom gets in free at both Wings Museum locations.

Bring the whole family for a fun day of exploring historic aircraft, interactive exhibits and discovering the wonders of flight together. Family members are welcome to pre-purchase their tickets online. Mom’s free admission ticket will be available at check in.

IF YOU GO

Where: Wings Over the Rockies museums at 711 East Academy Blvd. and 13005 Wings Way.

When: Mother’s Day, April 11, noon-5 p.m.

Details and tickets: eventvesta. com/events/103747/t/tickets

Prairie Pup Adventures offers Preschool Fun at Plains Conservation Center

Preschoolers can explore nature, science and history through hands-on activities at Prairie Pup Adventures, held at the Plains Conservation Center in southeast Aurora. Programs run from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. and are designed for children ages 3–6 with a caregiver.

Upcoming topics include:

Cheyenne Native Americans on May 27: Venture to the tipis to learn about the Cheyenne tribe and how they lived for centuries off the natural resources of the prairie. Examine artifacts, listen to Native American stories, play traditional games and taste dried berries and bison jerky to explore the amazing culture and history of the Cheyenne people.

•Flower Power on June 24: Flowers are beautiful and serve an important role for the plants they grow on. Join us on the prairie to learn all about flowers from their parts to their pollinators through science and art.

Activities at all events include crafts, games, story time, and outdoor exploration.

IF YOU GO

Tickets: The fee is $8 per child; one adult per child is free.

Additional adults and non-participating siblings over age 6 are $5. Infants under 18 months attend free.

Details: botanicgardens.org

Venue: Plains Conservation Center 21901 E. Hampden Ave

St. Baldrick’s Head Shaving Event

Cheluna Brewing and the Stanley Marketplace are teaming up with Bert Herrera and the Aurora Fire Rescue to shave heads and raise childhood cancer funds.

IF YOU GO

Where: Cheluna Brewing, at the Stanley Marketplace, 2501 Dallas St. Date: 10 a.m. May 10

Details: www.stbaldricks.org and Facebook. com/events/540943168802769

Really, Really Rembrandt arrives at the Denver Art Museum: Masterpieces from National Gallery Metro residents a rare opportunity to experience the work of one of history’s greatest painters up close. As part of a nationwide initiative marking the 250th anniversary of the United States, the Denver Art Museum is holding two Rembrandt-related masterpieces on loan from the National Gallery of Art.

The featured works — “A Woman Holding a Pink” and “Portrait of Rembrandt,” likely painted by his workshop —w ill be on display in the museum’s European Art Before 1800 galleries through Feb. 6, 2027. The exhibit is part of the National Gallery’s “Across the Nation” program, which brings significant pieces from the national collection to museums across the U.S.

“We are honored to be among the first museums in the country to participate in this initiative,” said Christoph Heinrich, DAM’s director. “It is an incredible moment to carry the talents of Rembrandt at the DAM and offer our visitors the opportunity to interact with his brilliance.”

The exhibition places the Dutch master’s portraits alongside works by Mary Beale, Peter Lely, and Anthony van Dyck, highlighting Rembrandt’s lasting influence on European art.

IF YOU GO

When: Through 2025

Tickets: General admission includes access to the exhibit, and youth under 18 can visit for free.

Details: www.denverartmuseum. org or call 720-865-5000.

Place: Denver Art Museum, 100 West 14th Avenue Parkway

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The Aurora area contingent for this season’s Class 5A boys swimming state meet will be smaller, but potentially mighter, than last year.

A combined total of 46 individual swimmers and divers (12 fewer than last season) and 14 relay teams (identical to 2024) from five area programs — Cherokee Trail, Grandview, Overland, Regis Jesuit and Smoky Hill — earned their way to the May 8-9 meet at the Veterans’ Memorial Aquatic Center.

Once there, the local group could pack a punch.

The next largest state contingent comes from Grandview, which will have 11 swimmers in the water along with sophomore Hunter Bull (the Centennial League runner-up) in diving.

Pool promise

Among the contingent for coach Dan Berve’s Wolves is senior Oliver Schimberg, already the program’s lone multiple-time state champion who is going for a third straight 5A crown in the 100 yard backstroke. Schimberg tuned up for his latest title defense with a monster performance at the Centennial “A” League meet in which he dropped a time of 48.68 seconds that leads the state and set the records for the league meet and for the pool at Cherry Creek. The University of Minnesota recruit is also the No. 2 seed in the 100 butterfly and is a key contributor on relays, in which Grandview is seeded in the top seven in all three.

BY COURTNEY OAKES Sports Editor

Regis Jesuit looks to reclaim the championship throne it had for two straight season before rival Cherry Creek rolled to last season’s title — as it outdistanced coach Nick Frasersmith’s Raiders by more than 100 points — and will do so with a contingent that is smaller than last season.

The Raiders had 21 state qualifiers a year ago and take 16 into this season’s meet, which again will include no divers, something the Bruins have as an advantage. Cherry Creek’s Luke Ogren is the prohibitive favorite to win a third straight state championship in the 1-meter competition, which would spot the Bruins a good lead going into the swim finals.

According to the psyche sheets released by the Colorado High School Activities Association May 5, Regis Jesuit has strong bookend relays that could be key. The Raiders have posted the second-fastest time in the field in the meet-opening 200 yard medley relay, while they own the top time in the closing 400 freestyle relay.

In between, Regis Jesuit could grab significant points, especially from a talented group of young swimmers headed by freshmen Trevyn Krauss and Spencer Greene. Krauss is seeded third in the 500 yard freestyle and fourth in the 200 freestyle, while Greene checks in fourth in the 100 yard butterfly as well as 15th in a tightly-packed 50 freestyle. Sophomores Greyson Connett and Nathaniel Spencer also could contribute significantly.

Among the veterans for Regis Jesuit, seniors Reid Magner, Hugh Boris and Nolan Kohl have a state track record and all would make at least one championship final if they swim up to their seeds.

Besides Schimberg, the Wolves feature senior Gherman Prudnikau, who is the No. 1 seed in both the 200 and 500 yard freestyles, neither of which he swam at the league meet. Senior Evan Linnebur is seeded to potentially score in two events as well for the Wolves.

Smoky Hill’s contingent of nine is led by seniors Ian Noffsinger and Charlie Newton on the experienced end of the spectrum and by talented freshmen Marshall Adams and Cooper Walkup.

Noffsinger — an Old Dominion signee — won his fourth career Centennial “A” League championship in the 500 yard freestyle (setting the Cherry Creek pool record with his 4:42.23) and is the No. 2 seed in the event, while he is also No. 8 in the 200 freestyle and Newton is seeded to score in two events as well. Both freshman go in seeded high enough for one championship final apiece (Adams is the No. 6 seed in the 500 freestyle and Walkup is the No. 8 seed in the 200 yard individual medley. The four also combine on Smoky Hill’s highest-performing relay, the 12th-seeded 400 yard freestyle unit.

Cherokee Trail has seven qualifiers with significant point potential at the top in senior Bronson Smothers and junior Tyson Walker. Both could be two-event championship finalists if they perform up to seed for coach Kevin Chatham’s Cougars, as Walker is seeded No. 2 in the 200 individual medley and No. 7 in the 100 breaststroke, while Smothers is No. 6 in the 100 butterfly and No. 7 in the 50 freestyle.

Overland has a lone individual state qualifier in senior diver Chad Hamilton, a multiple-time state placer, plus 200 medley and 200 freestyle relays.

BOYS SWIMMING

TOP: Grandview senior Oliver Schimberg posted a state-leading time of 48.68 seconds in the 100 yard breaststroke at the Centennial “A” League Championship meet May 3 at Cherry Creek High School. He is the No. 1 seed in the event going into the Class 5A boys swimming state meet May 8-9 at the Veterans’ Memorial Aquatic Center as he tries to win in for a third straight season. ABOVE: Senior Nolan Kohl, right, will try to help Regis Jesuit take a run at winning its third 5A state championship in the past four seasons. The Raiders have 16 swimmers qualified to compete this season. BELOW: Smoky Hill senior Ian Noffsinger won the 500 yard freestyle at the Centennial “A” League Championships for a fourth straight season and will go after a state title in the event. (PHOTOS BY COURTNEY OAKES/AURORA SENTINEL)

BOYS VOLLEYBALL

Eaglecrest, Grandview win regionals to move into 5A state tourney

Both Aurora area qualifiers who played on their home floors in the regional round of the Class 5A boys volleyball postseason — Eaglecrest and Grandview — helped use that advantage into berths in the May 8-10 state tournament.

Region 3 champion Eaglecrest and Region 8 winner Grandview enter the 5A state tournament as the Nos. 3 and 5 seeds, respectively, among the eight teams that will play for the title over three days at Trojan Arena at Fountain-Fort Carson High School. The Wolves (19-6) will be first on the floor among locals on the first day of the double-elimination tournament against No. 4 Legacy (213) at 1:30 p.m., while the Raptors (21-4) have a scheduled 4:30 p.m. first serve against No. 6 Discovery Canyon (20-4).

Eaglecrest will appear in the state tournament for the fourth time in as many years since boys volleyball became sanctioned and went as far as the state championship match in 2023 before falling to the same Discovery Canyon program it will see in the first round. To get to the 5A state tournament in the first season since the sport was split into two classifications, coach Chad Bond’s Raptors swept past No. 14 Arvada West (25-14, 25-22, 25-19) and No. 22 Thomas Jefferson (25-18, 25-17, 25-15) in Region 3 play May 3 behind a balanced attack.

Junior Ashton Bond paced Eaglecrest with 10 kills in the win over Thomas Jefferson, while senior Jackson Shaw had 11 in the clincher over Arvada West, while junior Dillan Ancheta and sophomore Will George each tallied double figures in assists in both matches. Senior Matthew Dye racked up 10 blocks between the two matches and senior Ethan Levakin had eight kills in both matches.

Grandview made its first state tournament appearance last season and earned its way back with consecutive victories over No. 17 Denver East (25-21, 25-18, 2519) and No. 9 Douglas County (25-17, 2521, 25-17) on its home floor in Region 8. Coach Scott Nugent’s Wolves return virtually the entire lineup that played in the state tournament last season, led by offensive forces in sophomore hitters Alex Garcia (second in the state in total kills) and Connor Deickman. Seniors Nick Safray, Ethan Carroll and Taven Johnson contribute heavily, while junior setter Devan Hall ranks second in 5A in assists.

In total, half of the eight-team field is made up of Centennial League teams with No. 1 Littleton Public Schools (24-1) and No. 7 Valor Christian (16-8) also in the mix. The tournament concludes May 10 with semifinal matches at noon and 2 p.m., followed by the state championship match at 6 p.m. No. 18 Cherokee Trail (Region 7), No. 21 Overland (Region 4) and No. 24 Regis Jesuit (Region 1) dropped both of their regional matches and failed to advance, as did the area’s trio of 4A regional qualifiers in No. 13 Aurora West College Prep Academy (Region 4), No. 19 Hinkley (Region 6) and No. 22 Gateway (Region 3). For full boys volleyball regional results in both classifications, visit sentinelcolorado.com/preps.

GIRLS TENNIS

Regis Jesuit advances seven lines to Class 5A individual state tourney

The lion’s share of Aurora representation in the Class 5A girls tennis individual state tournament — scheduled for May 8-10 at the Denver Tennis Park — comes from Regis Jesuit, the area’s only qualified for the team state tournament.

All seven lines for coach Jen Armstrong’s Raider — freshman Madeline Dickey, junior Otylia Martino and senior Rebecca Gelfer at Nos. 1-2-3 singles, respectively, plus doubles teams of junior Lilly Beebe and senior Cait Carolan (No. 1), senior Molly Goodwin and junior

Helen Adams (No. 2), sophomore Abigail Puschaver and senior Brooklyn Craven (No. 3) and freshman Rachel Osborn and senior Sophia Simoes (No. 4) — will be in action on the opening day when the tournament is played between Denver Tennis Park and Denver South High School. Regis Jesuit’s players qualified out of the Region 8 tournament it hosted, which saw all three singles players win their brackets, as did the Nos. 2, 3 & 4 doubles teams. Beebe and Carolan had to go the long way, however, as they lost in the championship match and got in via a playback win over Cherokee Trail’s Leila Harrison and Elisabeth Brossart. The Cougars — the area’s other representation in the field — didn’t go away emptyhanded. The No. 3 doubles team of freshman Lillian Wilson and junior Aninkaely Madeje earned a state spot despite a finals loss to Puschaver and Craven.

Rounding out the area’s state contingent is Grandview’s No. 3 doubles team

of sophomore Ella Vail and junior Bethany Savacool. The Wolves’ duo came out of the Region 6 tournament to make state and will oppose Regis Jesuit’s Puschaver and Craven in the opening round. For complete Class 5A girls tennis individual brackets and results, visit sentinelcolorado.com/preps.

GIRLS SOCCER

Trio of Aurora area teams make 5A pitch playoffs

The Colorado High School Activities Association issued the 32-team Class 5A girls soccer state playoff bracket May 4 and the field included three Aurora area programs in No. 16 Regis Jesuit, No. 21 Cherokee Trail and No. 26 Grandview. All three teams were scheduled to play in opening round contests May 6 (visit sentinelcolorado.com/preps for results and coverage), with the Raiders (74-4) set to play host to No. 17 Fairview (9-

ABOVE: Players and coaches on the Grandview boys volleyball team pose with the plaque they won as champions of the Class 5A Region 8 tournament on May 3 at Grandview High School. The Wolves swept Denver East and Douglas County to earn a spot in the May 8-10 5A state tournament. LEFT: Regis Jesuit freshman No. 1 singles player Madeline Dickey makes a return during the Class 5A Region 8 girls tennis tournament May 1 at Regis Jesuit High School. Dickey won her match and is joined by the full set of her teammates for the May 8-10 tournament at the Denver Tennis Park. BELOW LEFT: Junior Dillan Ancheta, right, sets a ball as junior Ashton Bond watches during the Eaglecrest boys volleyball teams’ sweep of Arvada West in the Class 5A Region 3 tournament that sent the Raptors on to the 5A state tournament. BELOW RIGHT: Seniors on the Grandview girls soccer team were honored before their game against Regis Jesuit May 1 at Legacy Stadium. The Wolves and Raiders played to a 1-1 tie and both qualified for the Class 5A girls soccer state playoffs.

5) as the lone local team to open at home. The Cougars (9-3-3) drew a matchup with No. 12 Columbine (9-3-3) — a team they lost to 2-0 earlier in the season — in a road contest at Lakewood Memorial Field, while the Wolves (5-7-3) were sent to Halftime Help Stadium to take on No. 7 Rock Canyon (11-2-2).

The 5A girls soccer state tournament continues with second round matchups May 9 (highest remaining seeds host) and quarterfinals March 12 at Englewood High School and Trailblazer Stadium.

BOYS LACROSSE Cherokee Trail, Grandview, Regis Jesuit in 5A playoffs

The Class 5A boys lacrosse state tournament field of 24 teams included three from the Aurora area to start in No. 8 Regis Jesuit, No. 11 Cherokee Trail and No. 20 Grandview.

The benefit of the top eight seed for the Raiders (10-5) included a bye for the

May 7 opening round and also a second round home game at noon May 10, where they will face the winner of a first round matchup between No. 9 Mountain Vista and No. 24 Columbine. Coach Ross Moscatelli’s Regis Jesuit team ended the regular season with an 11-3 loss to undefeated and No. 1 Cherry Creek May 2. Cherokee Trail (9-6) secured a seed that allowed it to play at home for the opening round, as it welcomed No. 22 Erie (6-9) to Legacy Stadium May 7 with the winner moving on to play May 10 at No. 6 Denver East (10-5). Coach Matt Cawley’s Cougars — who have more than doubled last season’s win total — lost to Cherry Creek in the penultimate contest of the regular season, then downed Northfield 10-5 to close it out. Grandview (6-9) posted back-toback wins over Kent Denver (13-11) and Eaglecrest (18-2) in its last two games to

›› See PREPS, 16

PHOTOS BY COURTNEY OAKES/ AURORA SENTINEL

Editorials Sentinel

There’s no faking real news, and Trump needs you to rebuke that

The Sentinel is not fake, and neither is the news we report. In the dangerous, mythical and deliberate alternate reality that President Donald Trump, his regime and his supporters are trying to impose on America, the nation has one hope: the legitimate media.

Even before he was re-elected in November, Trump and his campaign turned to a strategy that has been tried and true by despots in the United States and all over the world. Trump knows how other tyrants have succeeded in their grifts by attacking and trying to undermine the messenger, this newspaper and thousands like it across the country.

Using media outlets like Fox News, One America News Network, Newsmax and a growing army of social media trolls and right-wing propaganda websites, the Trump regime works to groom Americans for their own nefarious purposes. The Trump regime has provenly and repeatedly outright lied about critical and trivial matters, nearly every day.

The proof is irrefutable and prolific.

Trump’s most recent scheme seeks to throw doubt on just how impervious the First Amendment is, and even whether the solid foundation of the nation instilled by the Constitution — creating a nation led by a Congress and run by a president —.can exist under the tyranny of Trump.

It is a treacherous and vile chaos that offers nothing but danger to Aurora, to Colorado, to the nation, and to the world.

Trump and complicit elected Republicans continue trying to sow doubt and distrust and hatred for the American press for the sole purpose of controlling the message and manipulating truth, reality, Congress and you. It’s a scheme so fraught with peril that the framers of the Constitution and the nation installed powerful free press rights unlike any in history.

This week, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued a report saying that a free press is “no longer a given in the United States.”

The nation’s creators had seen despotism. They knew then just as enlightened Americans know now, that only the legitimate press can keep America free from corruption and tyranny by being allowed to keep citizens informed about what their government really does and what leaders really say.

Only an unfettered and independent media can provide the transparency and accountability needed to keep government officials accountable.

Because of the provable truth the mainstream American press reveals about Trump, his supporters, his collaborators in Congress and his regime, have labeled us “enemies of the people.”

It’s an old phrase strategically used by despots and dictators around the world for generations.

Trump’s message speaks loudly to a small but sizable group of Americans who are sympathetic to his message of selfishness, greed, intolerance and despair.

He and other Republicans have not only ignored science, truth and pragmatism, they’ve turned their followers against it.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has worked daily for weeks to undermine real science. Here in Denver, a research project finding out just how successful a program is that runs positive social media messages to minority parents, who are vaccine hesitant, was canceled by the Trump administration. While much of the work was complete, and appeared promising, the project is now unable to vet and analyze data in a way that legitimate science demands.

Real science sets out to uncover the truth and substantiate findings, whereas Kennedy and Trump officials have already made clear they look to further pseudo-scientific goals, promoting information that serves a purpose, not the truth and reality.

Now the target is all sorts and levels of programs created to elevate minorities into jobs and careers that their race, their culture or their sexual preference or gender previously was used to hold them back.

Falsely claiming to end racism by ending diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, the Trump Administration is trying to end one of the nation’s most successful efforts to address unrelenting racism and bigotry.

By working to silence universities and their scientists, research advocates, businesses and even the press, Trump and his acolytes work to drag the nation back to a time even before the Civil Rights era.

The notion of a “color-blind” nation cannot come from a government steeped in bigotry and racism, banning Muslims, arresting minority students, tormenting LGBTQ+ citizens and refusing to admit and address the persistent ways that people of color in the United States are treated differently than their white counterparts.

Reporters, editors and photographers hold beliefs about politics, government, religion, culture and science as varied and disparate as everywhere else in the nation, because we are the nation. If there is one underlying motivation among every journalist that’s ever worked at Sentinel Colorado, or at newspapers like ours across the country, it’s the pursuit of justice, for everyone. Journalists are bound and driven to ensure that our work promotes justice for the poor, the rich, Blacks and whites, Muslims and Catholics, atheists and zealots, victims and criminals, the right and the left.

The Sentinel, like so many others, seeks the facts, the truth and to hold decision makers accountable to it. Journalists do this not as enemies of the people, but as advocates for the people, all of them.

Lawmakers wisely let records veto stand

Gov. Jared Polis’ veto of a bill to extend Colorado Open Records Act response deadlines for requests made by the public and businesses will stand after legislators Friday abandoned their effort to override it.

“While we believe our bill is reasonable and fair to both records requesters and those who must fulfill records requests, we also acknowledge the concerns raised by the Governor, the press, and a coalition of groups who want to ensure their access to public records is not compromised,” the sponsors of Senate Bill 25-77 wrote in a statement.

The Senate voted to lay over the bill until May 9, which is after the legislative session ends.

The letter from Sens. Cathy Kipp, D-Fort Collins and Janice Rich, R-Grand Junction, and Reps. Michael Carter, D-Aurora, and Matt Soper, R-Delta, says they have asked for and received commitments from the governor’s office and a broad coalition of stakeholders and advocates “to continue conversations on this topic with a goal of finding solutions that are both transparent and fair to everyone.”

A successful override vote, which requires twothirds support in each chamber, had seemed possible because the bill passed the Senate 27-6 and the House 45-19. But there was pressure on lawmakers to uphold the veto from various groups, including the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition, the League of Women Voters of Colorado, the Independence Institute and Colorado Common Cause. Pressure also came from some journalists who were uncomfortable with the bill giving favorable status to a “newsperson” as defined by Colorado’s press shield law.

“I don’t want special, faster access,” 9NEWS anchor Kyle Clark said in an April 21 commentary on his Next program. “I want the public to see what its government is doing. Whether it is you or me asking for those records, we both have the same right to them. That’s why they’re called public records.”

Kipp had said that SB 25-077 was necessary because records custodians are “essentially drowning in CORA requests.”

“Over the past decade, the volume and complexity of records requests have grown dramatically,” the sponsors’ statement says. “In many cases, we have seen requests grow from a few dozen to several hundred each year. Governmental entities have the complex job of making records available in a timely manner while protecting the privacy of students and other members of the public whose data they may hold.”

“While the public has a right to public information,” the statement adds, “the cost of fulfilling these requests is rarely covered by the allowed fees. Subsidizing these requests diverts resources away from our core missions as public servants, like educating children and maintaining infrastructure.”

The measure would have given records custodians five working days, rather than three, to fulfill CORA requests made by the public and an additional 10 working days, rather than seven, if “extenuating circumstances” exist. The bill exempted journalists from the lengthened timelines, but governments could have taken up to 30 working days to fulfill requests made “for the direct solicitation of business for pecuniary gain” and charge a “reasonable cost” — rather than the maximum hourly rate in CORA —

to do so.

CFOIC had asked Polis to veto the measure because it “creates additional unnecessary barriers for people seeking to gain a better understanding of state and local government activities in Colorado, which is the very purpose of CORA.”

“By extending CORA response times to three weeks if governments claim that ‘extenuating circumstances’ apply — which happens frequently — SB 25-077 essentially gives records custodians an excuse to further delay providing public records within a reasonable period of time,” CFOIC’s letter said. “We know from the freedom-of-information hotline we’ve run for the past 12 years that government entities often miss the statutory deadlines, and there’s not much that Coloradans can do about it.”

We also argued against imposing additional barriers on obtaining public records when requesters already face high fees in many instances. CORA’s maximum hourly research-and-retrieval rate rose 23 percent last July 1 to $41.37/hour (after an initial free hour). CFOIC has counted more than 1,500 cities, towns, counties, state agencies, special districts, school districts and public universities that have raised their rates since then.

“It would certainly be convenient for the Executive Branch to agree to weaken CORA, but as a representative for the people of Colorado, I support more, not less, openness and transparency,” Polis wrote in his April 17 veto statement.

The governor criticized the bill for creating “three classes of open records requests that are subject to different timelines: those made by mass media, those made for pecuniary gain, and all other requests.”

“Essentially, under this bill, speed to access public information is determined by who you are,” Polis wrote. “A newsperson, a member of the public, and a person seeking financial gain may all request the same information and, under this bill, get access to that information on different timelines. To ensure fairness and confidence in public transparency, all legitimate requests for public transparency under CORA should be treated equally under the law, without preference for some requestors over others.”

SB 25-077 contained some minor provisions that would have helped records requesters.

It required government entities to post on their websites rules and policies about how to make CORA requests as well as their records retention policies. The bill also required records custodians to provide requesters, if they asked, “a reasonable break-down of costs that comprises the fee charged for research and retrieval of public records.”

The bill additionally clarified that a government entity must allow electronic payments for public records if that government entity lets the public pay for services or products electronically. Some governments still require requesters to write paper checks for public records, interpreting a 2023 CORA amendment to mean that records custodians don’t have to accept credit cards if that designated person doesn’t take credit cards for other services or products.

Jeff Roberts is the executive director of the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition. Follow the coalition on Facebook, X or BlueSky.

JEFF ROBERTS, GUEST COLUMNIST