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Pam Bondi shines bright in this
Yesiree, Bob. Nothing says “transparency” like the government sneaking out a redhot memo on the Fourth of July Weekend making it clear that years of shocking claims about a Jeffrey Epstein client list was all fiction, including the part in February where Attorney General Pam Bondi said the list was on her desk. Or not.
Newly minted Trump Attorney General Pam Bondi, a bastion of credibility and legal prowess, could not stop herself from promising making public all the dirty details of the Epstein case, and she was going to be naming names.
Even with the Trump Administration cavalcade of cosplayers’ constant fascination with salacious gossip and conspiracy theories, the Epstein debacle rises to the top of “can’t make this stuff up.”
This happened:
The nation’s most famous and furious right-wing-nuts have salivated over the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, practically from the day it broke. While the story hails back to 2005, when Epstein was first tabbed by police for some of his horrific sexual crimes, the story burned whitehot when the Miami Herald in 2018 published a series of stories, closely examining parts of the scandal.
Interest in the story has revolved around the sordid details about Epstein’s crimes and the rich and famous people associated with him.
But the far-right fascination has been about allegations that the government conspired for years to protect Epstein from his own crimes and criminal behavior. In addition, the conspiracy theory has extended to include efforts by the government to protect a cadre of rich and famous people who participated in Epstein’s sexual crimes.
The most alluring part of all this melodrama, for the wing-nuts, has been the determination to make public the so-called “client list.” It’s believed — desperately — to connect the rich and famous pals of Epstein to prostitutes and sex-assault victims.
Trump’s acolytes, and Trump himself, have fanned the flames of this controversy for years, and especially this year.
During a Fox News interview in February, she not only confirmed that the “client list” existed, having been shrouded in secrecy for years by the Biden administration, but that the list was “sitting on my desk” for her to review and prepare for release to the public.
“It’s a new administration and everything is going to come out to the public,” she said. That was after an episode of White House cosplay where clueless Bondi scripted a “Clue” episode for select influencer wingnuts to come for “secret” folders revealing juicy secrets and, probably, a secret decoder ring.
As it turned out, there was nothing new in the secret folders, and the wingnuts turned on Bondi’s fraud.
Now, those wild, whacky wings-nthings are calling for Bondi’s resignation for revealing yet another version of the “truth” and “facts.”
No client list. Never existed, despite what was on her desk, and what a vexed Elon Musk said about Trump being on the list, after his very public break-up with the president in May.
She has become the enemy of the crazy people as she hid behind a holiday weekend news dump and the White House Kween of Kredibility, Karoline Leavitt.
Leavitt clarified for media dunces, including the rare Trump skeptic at Fox News, that when Bondi said she had the client list on her desk, she meant she has some other stuff there, which is really raunchy and offered no new information about the Epstein case.
That “truckload” of Epstein evidence the Biden White House was hiding? Just stuff. No story here. Move along.
Bondi, like so many members of the Trump Cosplay Cotillion, spent what little credibility she was able to muster by making it through her oath when she was sworn in.
Since then, just like Trump, it’s been nothing but a gushing river of political lies, half-truths, propaganda and disinformation from one of the most important parts of the U.S. government.
She’s getting a bad shake out of dishing up lies she didn’t know would come back to haunt her so viciously,
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say those who haven’t yet spurned her. Yet, like Bondi, they have for years eked out sustenance living on “but her emails” and “but Hunter’s laptop.”
Who would have guessed that the same woman who lied and schemed as the Florida attorney general would become such an disreputable beacon
of bull, angering the right, the left and all of those who pay even marginally close attention to what she says and does? We all did.
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DAVE PERRY Editor
Attorney General Pam Bondi, left, listens as President Donald Trump, right, speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House, Tuesday, July 8, 2025, in Washington. AP Photo/Evan Vucci
Aurora lawmakers tentatively approve new regulations for dormant oil wells
BY CASSANDRA BALLARD,
Aurora is moving to create a required space and replugging standards for non-producing and “orphan” oil and gas well setbacks to ensure long-term environmental safety.
“Plugged wells are wells that are no longer producing,” said Jeffrey Moore, manager of the city’s Energy and Environment division. “All the surface equipment has been removed. There’s been some cement placed into the pipe of the well in the ground, and that has been covered up and so there’s not much left to see there.”
Orphan wells are non-producing wells with no clear ownership, often on government land.
Currently, Aurora has 68 plugged wells, but this number is expected to increase significantly, Moore said.
“We will have hundreds more in the future, because one day, decades from now, all the wells that are currently producing will be plugged,” Moore said.
Moore said that about half of Aurora’s existing wells have already been replugged, many of which were drilled in the 1970s or 1980s. Most will be replugged in the future to prevent leaking into the aquifers and to make sure they are compliant with state rules that require replugging before drilling within 1,500 feet of old wells.
Leaching oil or gas into the water or on the surface is only part of the problem with closed oil and gas wells.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, 3.2 million abandoned oil and gas wells exist in the United States, the Associated Press reports. About a third were plugged with cement to prevent leaks. Most
haven’t been plugged at all.
Many of the wells release methane, a greenhouse gas containing about 86 times the climate-warming power of carbon dioxide over two decades.
Colorado has strict regulations affecting how wells must be plugged, and replugged. The state reported as many as 47,000 unplugged wells across Colorado as of 2025, according to state environmental records.
“Fortunately, we have not had any leaks from plugged wells in Aurora,” Moore said. “But we know offsetting jurisdictions that have had that.”
Moore said he is considering a “three-pronged approach” to managing these wells, which involves using a designated setback area, a city easement and new replugging authority.
The setback area applies to the land’s owner and the developers, he said.
The setback would be 150 feet by 150 feet, which is about half an acre, with specific restrictions including no utilities within 25 feet, no buildings within 50 feet and no residences, schools or hospitals within 100 feet of the plugged well.
Utility setbacks were also reduced to 25 feet above ground and maintained at 25 feet below ground, with a possible variance. Schools and hospitals were also added to the 100-foot setback.
“The goal of the setback area is to provide that space around the well with no structures inside,” Moores said.
The land can be used for parks, open spaces and parking lots, along with agricultural livestock in rural areas.
“That space can be used by developers for a number
of requirements, as long as it’s in compliance with the pros manual,” Moore said.
A limited easement granted by the property owner to the city also allows the city to test the plug, which would be reported at the county level.
“The easement is simply for the city staff to go and do a non-invasive soil test on an annual basis to make sure that there’s no leaks that are occurring,” Moore said.
City staff also proposed creating a replugging authority, which would apply to well operators or licensed rig contractors.
“The goal would be to repair a well, bring it up to modern standards if needed,” Moore said, adding that the work would require a state permit and agreement with the surface owner. “It does require the operator to reclaim the surface back to the original condition.”
Moore said the city’s collaboration with developers over the past year helped them make some of the adjustments, which included reducing the setback size from 200-by-200 feet to 150-by-150. They also allowed the authority to be shared between the city, the landowner and the state.
Developers would also no longer be responsible for determining well condition or conducting replugging. Instead, it would be oil and gas operators and licensed rig contractors with a state permit.
“We still require the developer to locate a well,” Moore said. “They need to survey it and put it on their site plan.”
The proposed ordinance was approved by city council to move forward to the meeting in July.
A bulldozer waits to lower pipe at a drilling site just north of Murphy Creek in Aurora.
File Photo by Marla R. Keown/ Aurora Sentinel
Sentinel Colorado Staff Writer
Navigation campus delays push Aurora to further fund day resource center shelter
The Aurora Day Resource Center is continuing as the city’s overnight shelter as the Regional Aurora Navigation Campus will not be ready to open until the end of the year, city officials said.
“This agenda item is to provide some additional funding to Advance for operating the Aurora Day Resource Center in the interim, until we open the Navigation Campus,” said Emma Knight, manager of Homelessness Behavioral Health, Housing and Community Services.
Aurora is allocating $130,000 in unspent public safety funds to Advance, the city’s contractor, for continued operation of an emergency overnight shelter for single adults at the Aurora Day Resource Center on the Fitzsimons campus. This funding will help sustain shelter services until the opening of the city’s new Navigation Campus, which is expected in the fourth quarter of this year.
That campus is a remodeled hotel and convention center complex purchased by the city to create a unified center for overnight and long-term housing and a variety of services for homeless people.
Advance started operating overnight shelter services at the Day Resource Center in October 2024, even though it fell outside of the original agreement with the city for day services and future operations at the upcoming Navigation Campus, according to supporting documents.
The funds were made available after the city’s 2024 Homeless Services Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) process left $130,000 in Public Safety funds unallocated. These dollars are now being redirected to bridge the gap in emergency shelter until the Navigation Campus becomes operational.
“Some additional Public Safety dollars that were not allocated during our NOFO process and fit quite well into what we would normally use them for,” Knight said.
Under the agreement, services will be funded through December 31 unless terminated earlier due to the opening of the Navigation Campus.
— Cassandra Ballard, Sentinel Staff Writer
Aurora lawmaker challenged police shooting activist to a ring fight. She got a dance offer instead
Councilmember Danielle Jurinsky, in a social media video post, publicly proposed a charity ring fight with local activist MiDian Shofner, after an interaction between the two last week.
“MiDian, if you don’t meet me in the ring, I better never hear my name ever come out of your mouth again,” Jurinsky said in the video. “The ball is in her court, and I mean, that’s with all respect, it would be a sanctioned event.”
She was met with a sharp rebuke and a counter-proposal: a dance-off.
Whether in earnest or jest, the throwdown is the latest skirmish between some members of the Aurora City Council and family members and activists linked to the police shooting of Kilyn Lewis last year.
For months, Shofner and others have appeared at city council meetings, demanding that the city fire Aurora SWAT officer Michael Dieck, who fatally shot Kilyn Lewis during his arrest at an
Aurora apartment last year. An outside police investigative team and a former district attorney both said that Dieck’s actions were not criminal in shooting Lewis. Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain said Dieck’s actions did not violate APD policy.
“I fight for two reasons,” Shofner said. “I fight for protection and I fight for justice for my people. I don’t fight for charity. I don’t fight for fun.”
Sometime Monday, a video of Jurinsky was posted on Jeff Fard’s, aka Brother Jeff, Facebook page where the council member said that in response to something Shofner said to her, she had to think it through and “she wanted to set it up.”
“I want to know my dear, you meet me in the ring or what, because I’m ready to go,” Jurinsky said into the camera, speaking to Shofner. “How long do you need? You don’t get to just run your mouth anymore. You say you’re from Montbello. Back it up. Let’s go. Let’s fight for charity.”
The small clip was taken down from Fard’s Facebook almost immediately, and then it was announced he would release the whole video the next day with Shofner live to watch it with him during his livestreamed show on Facebook.
Jurinsky told the Sentinel that this is all in reference to an interaction she had with Shofner last week. She said on Wednesday when she was holding a candidate meet and greet event for multiple city council candidates at her bar JJ’s Place, including herself. Shofner showed up to protest, and while she was telling Shofner to get off the property and was walking toward her to show Shofner where the property line was, she said Shofner told her she would “find out” what would happen to her if she took one more step.
In the video, Jurinsky said she had to “play it in her head what happened.”
She said it was in reference to Shofner making several comments about her wanting to fight Jurinsky, as she interpreted the exchange in the bar parking lot.
On the show in the longer cut of the video, Jurinsky said she asked Shofner and the people who came with her to leave her property. The group, including Shofner, said Jurinsky was a renter and didn’t own the property. Jurinsky said, “want to bet?” and started walking toward her with her hand out in a betting gesture. Both women told the story similarly, while Shofner said she found the gesture threatening.
“I told her if she kept approaching me with her hand out, I’m going to take that as a threat,” Shofner said on the show. “She stopped abruptly in her tracks, because I’m assuming she understood what it is that I said.”
Shofner said, Jurinsky stopped and put her hand down like Shofner asked, and then she asked Shofner, “Or what?”
“Put your hand back up and you’ll see,” Shofner said she told Jurinsky.
In the video, Jurinsky does not specify what Shofner said to her, but implies that Shofner said something that gave her the impression she wanted to fight, so when she took a minute to think about it later she decided to call Fard and make it happen, in a ring, for charity.
Shofner said she isn’t interested in throwing punches.
“There’s community out here trying to do interventions for young people,” she said. “And you and I getting into a boxing ring for a charity match where I can guarantee violence, I’m not sure our young people are going to see that as conflict resolution.”
Jurinsky told the Sentinel that the idea of a charity boxing match is not unusual. She said A1 boxing does a lot
of youth programs in Aurora to keep the youth productive and off the street. She said that the idea to fight was not hers in the first place, but a direct response to “take her up on her offer to find out what happens if I take one more step towards her, and not to dance.”
Jurinsky said that Shofner and the rest of her group have been singling her out and she’s felt attacked for a while through comments about her appearance, calls for boycotts on her business and other threats of violence. Although Shofner has never publicly called for boycotts or threatened violence, some of her supporters have.
“She’s trying to create some ring to meet me in,” Shofner said on the show. “News flash, Danielle, you’ve been in the ring with me this whole time. I’ve been fighting for justice, and you’ve been running from it.”
Shofner said she was not only dismissive of the violence but said she was insulted by Jurinsky’s use of coded language that reinforced stereotypes.
“The racist rhetoric is very evident,” Shofner said, referring to Jurinsky’s implication that Montbello is a place where people grow up to fight, and her vocalization change, which she said could be considered a form of cultural appropriation.
“Instead of offering dialogue, she wanted to offer violence,” Shofner said. “Because charity or not, fighting is violent.”
Shofner said that the notion of controlled violence within rules reminded her of broader issues with police force.
— Cassandra Ballard, Sentinel Staff Writer
Aurora seeks clarity in filing eluding charges for ignoring unmarked police cars
Aurora is updating its traffic laws to align with those of the state, allowing officers in unmarked vehicles to pursue fleeing suspects and write them tickets for evading officers.
“The way the ordinance is written, it says, ‘a motor vehicle that the driver willfully increases his or her speed or extinguishes his or her lights in an attempt to elude such police officer, or willfully attempts in any other manner to elude the police officer,’” said Commander Matt Brukbacher, during a recent study session.
“We’re seeing a lot of problems
ARAPAHOE COUNTY
Thriving CommUNITY
with enforcement from our unmarked units that are very well marked with emergency equipment, but are not a black and white with a light bar on top,” he said.
Under current city law, eluding charges are often dismissed if the pursuing officer is not in a traditionally marked police vehicle, which has raised concerns among some council members about situations where someone is impersonating an officer.
“So they have to still demonstrate that a person reasonably would know that they’re eluding an officer, basically, regardless of the marking on the vehicle?” Coombs said.
Brukbacher said the charge involved specialized unmarked police units, and much of the fleeing was considered intentional and evident.
“The reason that this came up is specifically to my gang unit, who drive pickup trucks, but they’re unmarked, but they have a lot of (emergency) lights,” Brukbacher said. “A lot of individuals that they try to contact will take off from them and elude, and it may not rise to the level of felony eluding. So we try to charge it in a misdemeanor or in municipal court, and we’ve had judges that have read the letter of law with model traffic code and said, ‘Well, I’m sorry, you’re not in a marked car, so we can’t accept this charge.’”
Still, officials acknowledged concerns from the public about potential police impersonation.
“So, you know, there’s been situations just recently where it was someone impersonating a police officer that ended up in a tragic situation,” Councilmember Françoise Bergan said. “So if somebody has lights and is asking you to pull over, you can just call 911 to verify that.”
City Attorney Pete Schulte and Brukbacher agreed and said they can call 911 to verify the officer’s legitimacy, and that would also be added to the police report if the person does go to court.
“Frankly, we’ve had a number of scary instances of people impersonating police officers recently, and so I
ly officers,” Coombs said.
The ordinance is targeted at individuals with a clear intent to escape police contact, Brukbacher said. He said this usually refers to people who accelerate to get away or even turn off their headlights to hide.
“We still talk about that safety aspect and point to well-lit areas and areas like that, and those are mitigating factors,” he said. “This is truly for people who have a very clear intent to evade law enforcement contact.”
City Attorney Pete Schulte said that a resident’s due process will be respected. If someone is charged, they would receive a public defender if they cannot afford a lawyer and would be able to use evidence like calling dispatch to verify if the police officer is legitimate.
“We’re not going to be unreasonable about these,” Schulte said. “If there are extenuating circumstances, we’re definitely going to take those into account.”
— Cassandra Ballard, Sentinel Staff Writer
SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION
Community College of Aurora offers crisis grants to help students stay in school
A broken down car. Medical bills. Or not enough money for rent.
Many of the Community College of Aurora’s 8,500 students routinely face these types of emergencies.
The challenges are often big enough to cause them to drop out.
To prevent that, the Community College of Aurora is part of the growing number of colleges and universities that provide students with a small amount of emergency financial assistance to help keep them in school.
Last school year, CCA gave over 30 students one-time grants of up to $500 each.
“It is a low amount, right?” said Reyna Anaya, CCA vice president of student success. “But the impact may prevent a student from stopping out.”
In total, CCA spent $16,000 on the emergency-aid program in the 2024-25
that amount by more than a third next year thanks to a $10,000 grant from national nonprofit NASPA – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education. CCA was one of five colleges out of a nationwide pool of 300 applicants to receive the $10,000 grant to support students.
Still, CCA administrators worry the funding won’t be enough to keep up with the need, especially if the Trump administration follows through on threatened cuts to federal safety net programs.
“The need is very high,” Anaya said. “And as we are seeing funding cuts and resources being pulled back, we recognize the need is going to be higher and we’ll be serving more students.”
The CCA aid program is a sign of how more colleges and universities, in Colorado and across the country, are following the lead of K-12 schools in offering students support with basic needs.
CCA school leaders have long known that students needed help with more than just academics, but saw the demand for this help grow during the pandemic. Many Aurora community college students are from lower-income backgrounds and face more personal and financial challenges in finishing school.
Most students are also enrolled parttime, meaning they have less financial aid and are likely working to support themselves through college.
CCA first surveyed students in 2023 about what they needed to succeed, and based on the feedback, it invested heavily in food resources. Since then, it has also slowly built out its emergency-aid program to help students when life issues arise.
CCA students don’t have to ask for the money themselves; they can be referred by a professor or an administrator, said Andrea Rascón, CCA project coordinator for student success.
The $10,000 NASPA grant will help the school invest more in the program. The grant is part of the organization’s national effort to strengthen college retention by addressing non-academic barriers that disproportionately affect students who are from low-income backgrounds and those who are the first
alone hasn’t correlated to students completing college, according to a Temple University HOPE Center study. Other studies, including one that reviewed Georgia State University’s pioneering program, show emergency grants can help students graduate.
CCA leaders said they aim to increase the effectiveness of the grants by providing coaches who work one on one with students facing an emergency. Coaches then can understand the challenges the student is facing and connect them to other community resources or academic services.
The program has grown in popularity in the last year, and many students spread information by word of mouth, Rascón said. School officials plan to begin tracking how many students stay in school next year to make a stronger case for expanding the program.
—
Jason Gonzales of Chalkbeat Colorado
COPS
AND COURTS
Aurora man reports killing his wife more than a day after the shooting, police say
A 60-year-old Aurora man called police from a southeast Aurora bus stop July 6 night to report that he had fatally shot his common-law wife the previous day while they were inside their nearby apartment.
Police said Phil Jay Atchue called dispatchers to report the fatal shooting at about 11:30 p.m. July 6.
Atchue made the call from a bus stop near their apartment in the 900 block of South Ivory Circle, according to a statement from Aurora Police spokesperson Joe Moylan.
He told police he shot the unidentified woman at about 9:30 a.m. the previous day.
“Officers then responded to the apartment where they located a firearm, and a 61-year-old woman deceased from apparent gunshot wounds,” Moylan said.
The woman will be identified at a later date by coroner officials.
Police have asked for first-degree murder charges in the case, which will be handled by the 18th Judicial District.
— Sentinel Staff
Police seek suspect in string of East Iliff Avenue office mall break-ins
Police are asking for the public’s help in finding a man they say has broken into the same commercial-office businesses numerous times in two months, stealing as much as $10,000 in cash.
Arapahoe County Sheriff investigators say the same man has been spotted on security video breaking into businesses in a commercial business strip mall in the 7700 block of East Iliff Avenue, just west of Aurora.
“Investigators believe he’s responsible for at least eight burglaries that occurred from April 28, 2025, through May 25, 2025,” Arapahoe County Sheriff spokesperson Ginger Delgado said in a statement.
The man has been caught on video breaking into the businesses and then rummaging through offices, “targeting only cash.”
Investigators say the man is white or Hispanic, about 5-feet-5 inches tall, possibly taller, with dark hair and some facial hair.
“He’s been seen wearing a hoodie, ripped blue jeans, and black or white shoes.,” Delgado said.
Anyone with information about the
man is asked to call the sheriff’s tip line at 720-874-8477 and can remain anonymous.
— Sentinel Staff
Man critically injured in July 4 shooting at Aurora condo complex
An unidentified man was critically injured by gunfire late July 4 and was found bleeding in the parking lot of a west-Aurora condo complex by residents there.
Police were called to Edenbrook condos at 384 S. Ironton St. at about 11:30 p.m. after reports by residents of gunfire.
Unidentified residents in the complex went into the parking lot to investigate, police said in a statement.
“That is when they located the man and drove him to the hospital,” Aurora police spokesperson Matthew Longshore said in a statement. “Circumstances leading up to the shooting are not known and the victim remains hospitalized with life-threatening injuries.”
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
Aurora police ID suspect in murder of 2 homeless men
Aurora police say they have confirmed that the stabbing deaths last week of two homeless men in northwest Aurora were linked, and they say they have arrested a suspect.
Police have accused Ricky Roybal-Smith, 38, in connection with the stabbing deaths and are asking prosecutors to bring first-degree murder charges against him.
Police said Roybal-Smith is currently being held in a Denver jail on unrelated charges and is expected to be transferred to the jail in Adams County, where he will face charges in that county’s courts.
Aurora police were called to 1535 Moline St. at about 1:45 a.m. July 1 after reports of an unresponsive man on a sidewalk there.
“When officers arrived at the scene, they located a man suffering from apparent stab wounds,” police said in a statement. “Officers performed lifesaving actions, but the man died at the scene.”
At about 6:30 a.m. July 1, police were called to a bus stop on Peoria Street just north of East Colfax Avenue after reports of another unresponsive man.
“Upon arrival, officers located a man with apparent stab wounds,” police said in a statement. “He was pronounced deceased on scene.”
Police investigators determined both men were homeless and became suspicious about the similarities in the attacks.
Three days later, police said the investigation was still underway and did not release details about the suspect’s motive for the murders.
Police said earlier this week they were searching for security video from the areas of the stabbings in hopes of finding clues. Police did not say Wednesday what led them to suspect Roybal-Smith.
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
Weighty matters
WHICH STRENGTH TRAINING METHOD IS BEST FOR YOU? EXPERTS BREAK DOWN THE OPTIONS
BY STEPHEN WADE, AP Sports Writer
When it comes to weight-resistance exercise, you can choose free weights such as dumbbells or barbells. Or weight machines, which are often driven by cables or levers. You can use resistance bands or tubes to build strength. Or try pushups and pullups — old standbys that create muscle overload by using your own body weight.
These four basic options for strength training present fitness possibilities for young or old or beginners. And they offer flexibility for use in the gym, your home or in a hotel room during travel.
You’ll probably wind up using a combination of the four, and they all have their pros and cons. They are appropriate for all ages and can be augmented with aerobic exercises like walking or running — or even climbing stairs.
Let’s let Dr. Rafael Escamilla, a biomechanist and physical therapist at Sacramento State University in California, and Dr. Michael Stone, a sports scientist at East Tennessee State University, walk us through the possibilities and their pluses and minuses, depending on your age, your motivation and your goals.
Both are internationally recognized experts, college professors and former competitive weightlifters who still work out almost daily. Both suggest a medical check if you’re just starting out and the guidance of a trainer at the beginning. Most suggest strength training two or three times per week.
Dumbbells and barbells
We’re talking primarily about dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells and medicine balls.
“If you’re relatively healthy, free weights are the way to go,” Stone told The Associated Press. “They have more carryover to daily life — to lifting things. It transfers better. In daily life you pick up your grandchildren, pick up the groceries.”
Free weights are also more versatile, accommodating natural movements that a machine will not allow. Free weights require the user to focus on balance, activating additional muscle groups than simply those targeted.
Stone reminded that you need not use much weight. Just a pound, or a kilo or two, will do it. Start slowly and increase the weight gradually.
“I would also strongly suggest that if you’ve never lifted weights before, go find somebody who knows something about it,” Stone added.
Weight machines
This is probably the least intimidating option for the beginner. The machines offer stability and a fixed pattern of movement and they give beginners a chance to get familiar with the movements involved in strength training.
“Machines are a good way to start,” Escamilla told The Associated Press. “They’re safe and easy and you don’t need a lot of technique or skill to do them.”
Escamilla pointed out they also reduce the risk of injury, isolate muscles and help build
confidence as you’re starting out. The machines also are more time effective.
“Start here and then you can gravitate to free weight and other options,” Escamilla said.
Resistance bands and tubes
These are the most portable options. They can help to build muscle, improve flexibility and balance, and avoid the need to sign up for a gym membership. The bands or tubes are made of elastic and come in a variety of sizes and resistance levels — how far they stretch and how difficult it is to stretch them.
Bands also come in fabric models.
“They take up no room to pack and they’re supercheap,” Escamilla said. “You can take them with you as you travel — just throw them in your suitcase.”
You can use them to work your legs, arms, back, chest and shoulders and other muscle groups. They can be used in many configurations and may be less intimidating than dumbbells or barbells.
“The bands won’t cut it for a 300-pound (140-kilo) football player,” Escamilla added. “But they’re good for your average person — your average adult.”
Bodyweight resistance
The idea with every weight-resistance exercise is to overload the muscles. Your own bodyweight can be used to do this.
Exercises like pushups, pullups, squats,
lunges and planks and others fall into this category.
“Your body weight can be used as a form of resistance,” Escamilla said. “You can get a good workout doing these and you need almost no equipment.”
No matter the option, Stone emphasized the need to vary your exercises — both the types and the number of repetitions. You can also vary locations, perhaps choosing an outdoor gym for your workouts.
Outdoor gyms are often found on beaches like the one at the popular Barceloneta beach in Barcelona, Spain.
“You can’t do the same number of sets and repetitions all the time and expect to get better results,” Stone said. “You get stale and monotony can set in.”
a way to learn about lives we haven’t lived—and representation on stage matters more than ever.”
“We’re here to fill the world with new stories,” the group said, “and we’re just getting started.”
IF YOU GO
scene & herd
Shifted Lens Theater focuses on building an inclusive stage for new Colorado voices
A newly established community theater in Aurora is taking center stage with a mission to reimagine what theater can based on who it is for with a week-long “Fresh Looks” festival, in its second year.
Shifted Lens, a grassroots theater company based in Colorado, is f presenting new and underproduced plays and musicals while creating an inclusive environment for neurodivergent and LGBTQIA+ communities. The theater group sees performance as a form of connection and conversation, choosing stories that aim to shift perspectives and elevate voices not often heard.
“Our work centers around building a safe and welcoming third space for all, especially those who often feel excluded from traditional artistic settings,” the company said in a statement. “We believe storytelling is
Shows:
• July 11 7:30 p.m.
“If, The: Iphigenia” by Oliva Buntaine
• July 12, 2:30 p.m. “The Festival” by Sarah J. Baker
• July 12, 7:30 p.m. “A Murther of Crows” by Jessica Austgen
• July 13, 2:30 p.m.
“The Synergists” by Dylan Malloy
Where: The People’s Building, 9995 E Colfax Ave.
Tickets: $17-$28
Details: ThePeoplesBuilding. com
Turn the page on fun with ‘Book Trivia’
Join the Arapahoe Library District and Dry Dock Brewery for a night of bookish trivia. Come on your own or bring friends to build a dynamic trivia team. We will put everyone’s literary knowledge to the test, enjoy cold beverages and spend time out in the community together.
IF YOU GO
When: 6 p.m. July 15
Details: https://arap.li/4e5vuzt
Location: Dry Dock Brewing Company, 15120 E. Hampden Ave
Art in the Park food and market series at the Aurora Highlands
A fusion of art, shopping food and
community are slated for July 19 at Winged Melody Park as part of a free market in the park series.
Participants are invited explore other pieces in the huge, open-air gallery of large-art installations across the park, including “Broken but Together” by Michael Benisty and “The Only Way Out is Through” by Snyder and Olivia Steele.
“Pack your blankets, lawn chairs, and coolers,” organizers say. “Everyone is welcome to bring their own food and drinks, or get treats from nearby food trucks.” This week’s vendors include: The Progressive Pantry, Hooked by Shan, Korf Kreations, Mamas Money My Treats, La Bloom, Corf Coffee Mobile, StephanieH TupperAdvantage, Snowy Leopard Art, Natural Cottage Pantry, Blizzful Beech, Jordan Crafts Co, Mouna’s Boutique.
IF YOU GO
Date: July 19, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m..
Place: Winged Melody Park at Highlands Creek, 24495 E 35th Drive in the Aurora Highlands Tickets: Free
Details: theaurorahighlands.com
City Park Jazz returns with free concerts on Sundays through August
City Park Jazz will launch its 39th annual summer concert series June 1, bringing 10 weeks of free Sunday evening performances to the City Park Pavilion through Aug. 3.
The 2025 lineup celebrates the diversity of jazz and features an all-local roster, including returning favorites Chris Daniels and The Kings
with Freddy Gowdy, ATOMGA, Dzirae Gold, and Buckner Funken Jazz. The series will also showcase internationally recognized Zimbabwean percussionist Blessing Bled Chimanga and a tribute to late Denver jazz pianist Neil Bridge featuring The Bridge 12 and his wife, Karen.
This year’s season finale on Aug. 3 will start at 5:30 p.m. and feature a three-hour “Brass Band Extravaganza” with performances by Colorado Youth Bands Brass Band, Rowdy Brass Band, Tivoli Club Brass Band and Guerilla Fanfare.
Concerts run from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Sundays and attract crowds of up to 12,000 people. The family-friendly events include a curated selection of vendors and food trucks. Attendees are encouraged to bring blankets, lawn chairs, and refillable containers for filtered water, while adhering to Denver park rules prohibiting glass.
IF YOU GO
Buckner Funken Jazz: July 6, Chris Daniels & The Kings w/Freddy Gowdy; July 13, Better Sensory Perception; July 20, Colorado Jazz Repertory Orchestra; July 27, Dzirae Gold; Aug. 3: Brass Band Extravaganza Featuring:
Colorado Youth Bands Brass Band, Rowdy Brass Band Tivoli Club Brass Band and. Guerilla Fanfare
Time: 6 p.m.
Where: Denver City Park Pavillion: 2001 Steele St, Details:: CityParkJazz.org
Renaissance Fest in Larkspur
Step beyond the castle gates and into a world of kings and queens,
knights and jousts, jesters, witches and wandering minstrels as the Colorado Renaissance Festival returns to Larkspur for its 48th season.
Nestled within towering castle walls, this beloved summer tradition transforms a forested hillside into a bustling village, where the clang of swords, the scent of roasted turkey legs and the melodies of lute music fill the air. This year’s event promises both beloved traditions and exciting new additions. Kristy Ekiss, operations manager and performer, said among the headliners is Adam Crack, a Guinness World Record-holding whip artist, who will perform during the festival’s first three weekends. New artists will also join the bustling artisan marketplace, including a stained glass creator, a permanent jewelry booth and talented graphic artists.
“I think people enjoy getting away from digital entertainment and stepping into a 360 theatrical experience,” Ekiss said.
As the Colorado Renaissance Festival celebrates nearly five decades as part of the state’s summer traditions, organizers are excited to welcome back returning guests and first-timers alike.
“We are honored to be celebrating 48 seasons as a part of the Colorado community and can’t wait to see everyone,” Ekiss said.
IF YOU GO:
Where: 650 Perry Park Ave in Larkspur
When: Weekends only through Aug. 3
Tickets and Details: $14-$32 at coloradorenaissance.com or call 303-688-6010
ALARMING DEVELOPMENT
AURORA MIGHT “WIND DOWN” ITS SIREN SYSTEM FOR A MORE UPDATED EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM
BY CASSANDRA
The weather is one of Colorado’s longest running jokes that too often is far from funny.
Lethal flooding, tornadoes, blizzards, hail storms and wildfires have long been a part of life in the varied state, and more so recently than historically.
Not only do state and local governments worry about another Marshal Fire scenario, which without warning or expectation tore through suburban Boulder neighborhoods in December 2021, but they have since then moved toward paying closer attention to the key to survival: emergency notification.
Aurora is looking to update its emergency alert systems, telling residents to rely on their phone and media alerts over the city’s aging outdoor siren system.
“The sirens were never supposed to be folks’ primary warning system,” said City Manager Jason Batchelor. “It’s a very antiquated system, and so there are much better systems out there to give folks much more pinpointed notifications about what’s going on.”
The city has four central systems that they use to notify residents about warning notifications like tornado warnings.
CodeRED, Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS), social media and the siren system.
CodeRED is an opt-in reverse notification system that allows people to sign up through the city’s website for various types of alerts.
“We tag it as alert Aurora on the web-
site,” said Matthew Chapman, battalion fire chief. “When you go to the website, every single page that you navigate to has emergency alerts at the top.”
The link on the website will allow residents to enter their specific addresses for emergencies closest to them. This could include weather alerts or other emergencies, such as an oil spill or gas leak. City staff do not send out weather alerts through this system. They are instead automated within the system and sent through the Weather Service.
So, a tornado that is close but not within the boundaries or heading toward the boundaries of the city would not automatically cause the sirens to come on.
IPAWS is an agreement between local, state, federal, tribal and other territorial agencies to send automatic alerts to personal phone devices, TV and radio stations, and internet-based services.
“The biggest one for this is an agreement we have with the federal government and state government to access the system,” Chapman said. “The biggest one would be the Wireless Emergency Alerts. So those are very similar to the Amber Alerts. It’s the same technology, the same process, where we’d be able to push out a message to our residents. That’s where we probably hit the most people in an alert and warning situation.”
The city also has access to the Emergency Alert System and TV and radio, where the alerts interrupt with the message. The city also offers other internet-based services and roadside signs.
Emergency officials realize, however, that the days of most of the community sitting in front of a television or listening to the radio simultaneously are long, long gone. So, too, are most eyes fixed on Facebook and X, formerly Twitter.
Social media is another platform the city uses to push our emergency information to residents.
“If we hit all of these social media sites between city, comms, police and fire, PIOs, we have actually probably more followers on the social media sites than we do and CodeRED by quite a bit, and these are also good for advisory notices,” Chapman said.
The siren system is the least updated, the least used, and will cost the most to update.
“We’re dealing with a kind of a system that’s end of life for several different reasons in several different areas,” Chapman said. “This has been in place since at least the early 80s.”
The city has 58 sirens throughout the city, and it has expanded the sirens to keep up with growth, but some areas are not fully covered.
It’s an all-hazard system, but it is primarily used for tornado warnings.
Cities along the Front Range that have stopped using sirens as an emergency alert warning system include Brighton and Wheatridge, while Denver, Boulder and Englewood do operate a siren system.
Aurora’s siren system is an “all or nothing,” meaning that if they use the
system, all sirens will go off even if there is no emergency in certain regions of the city.
Another issue the city faces is the lag in time between receiving the National Weather Service’s notification and the time it takes to activate the system. Since it is not automated, the city has continued to promote the system as a secondary notification, rather than recommending it as a primary notification system.
The system has only been used five times since 2019.
“We have a system that is not completely what I would say, reliable in its current state, without a lot of repair and some maintenance on it,” Chapman said.
In addition, Councilmember Françoise Bergan reminded people in the meeting that CodeRed alerts do not go off if their phone is on silent mode.
But coordination between weather or other disaster alerts, especially for flash floods, and public notification have regularly been in the news over the past few years, and especially this week with the fatal floods near Hunt, Texas and Camp Mystic in Texas Hill Country.
Questions linger about the level of coordination and communication between NWS and local Texas officials on the night of the disaster on July 4 according to reporting by the Associated Press. The Trump administration has cut hundreds of jobs at NWS, with staffing down by at
An Aurora firefighter sprays water on a grass fire behind homes in south Aurora March 17, 2025. FILE PHOTO PROVIDED BY RESIDENT BRIANA K.
BALLARD, Sentinel Staff Writer
From a Bison to a Buffalo, David Benedict has arrived at Smoky Hill High School as its new athletic director.
On July 1, Benedict, a staple since Vista PEAK Prep opened and its athletic director for the last two years as part of more than two decades in Aurora Public Schools, began a new role in a new district, but definitely not in an unfamiliar place.
Busy summer
tween roles as a math teacher, football coach and athletic director (and also graduated from) and into an athletics support role with the Cherry Creek Schools for the 2025-26 school year, which will keep him in a position to help Benedict during the transition if needed.
“John’s leadership, work ethic and deep commitment to our students have shaped not only our athletic programs, but the broader culture of excellence we strive for every day,”
Smoky Hill principal Andre Bala wrote to staff as he announced Thompson’s departure.
spot at Vista PEAK Prep is Jordan Ivey, who was an assistant principal at Fox Ridge Middle School in Cherry Creek Schools and previously held the athletic director job at Ponderosa High School.
Massive Colorado 4th of July softball tournament comes to a close in city
The Colorado 4th of July girls softball tournament — put on annually for more than two decades by Triple Crown Sports — wrapped up after a lengthy run in Aurora July 6.
BY COURTNEY OAKES Sports Editor
Benedict did his student teaching at Smoky Hill in 2004 and has numerous familial connections to the school, which is what drew his interest when the position opened to replace John Thompson, who left the post he had since 2015.
“It’s definitely a full circle thing and this is the only place I would move to if it wasn’t Vista PEAK,” Benedict told the Sentinel. “This was a family-motivated move, because I spent a long time in the district (Aurora Public Schools) and I love Vista. It’s definitely bittersweet.”
Benedict’s connections with Smoky Hill are plentiful, as he not only taught there, but he spent time on the coaching staff when Thompson coached the school’s football team and also with Jim Opperman in the wrestling room.
Benedict is married to the daughter of another one of Smoky Hill’s former football coaches — Dan Gallas — while he and his family live just a few blocks away. He has one son enrolled at the school with another who will be in the building this year as a freshman and both will compete in athletics.
Thompson, meanwhile, shifts from a school where he spent more than three decades be-
Benedict’s new job will be more expansive than his old one considering how many more sports Smoky Hill offers than Vista PEAK Prep, which opened its doors in 2011. Conversely, Smoky Hill — which enters its 51st year — has 27 sports (including co-ops), an increase over Vista PEAK Prep, which does not have in-house boys and girls swimming (due to lack of a pool), field hockey and boys lacrosse.
One thing Benedict does not have to do is hire a new head boys basketball coach. Ray Valdez — a former assistant at Denver South — has been hired to take over for Anthony Hardin, who had a successful run in the past decade until he and the school parted ways in April. The rest of Smoky Hill’s head coaching positions are filled for 2025-26.
Another difference for Benedict is that he won’t have to balance coaching and athletic director duties. He did that for the past two years at Vista PEAK Prep, as he coached the boys wrestling program from the beginning. Prior to his departure, the school named the wrestling room — the fruits of a lot of Benedict’s labor — as “Benny’s Wrestling Room.” In his final season as head coach, Ian Bacon became the boys program’s first state champion, while his twin sister, Amelia, won the Vista PEAK Prep girls program’s first title.
Championship games in a variety of age groups and levels took place at the Aurora Sports Park to conclude a tournament that dominated venues around the city (Aurora Sports Park, Arapahoe Little League, Highline Park, Horseshoe Park and Olympic Park) and around the metro area from Denver to Westminster. According to Triple Crown, the tournament — held in conjunction with the Sparkler tournament up north — featured more than 1,100 teams (with more than 16,000 combined players) from across the country that mixed games, showcases and camps and was held with the presence of more than 600 coaches from colleges of various levels, all the way up to recently crowned NCAA national champion Texas.
A variety of Aurora area prep softball players — some of which graduated in May and many of which will play for their schools in the upcoming fall season — competed as part of a number of different club programs and found various levels of success.
Two Regis Jesuit athletes (Caitlin Fairchild and Kendal Craven, both juniors-to-be) and another from Cherokee Trail (junior-to-be Tayah Burton) played with the Colorado Batbusters National Smith team that made it into the 16-team championship bracket of the 70-team 16U Supplemental Power Pool. Riding a lot of
Taking Benedict’s
Leader of
Herd: David Benedict poses outside
power, the team that also included players from Cherry Creek, Columbine, Discovery Canyon, Forge Christian, Legend, Palmer Ridge, Ponderosa and Ralston Valley high schools lost a 9-8 decision in the opening round and finished with a 6-2 record.
In the 18U Fireworks Division played at Riverwalk Fields in Brighton, the Colorado Angels had two teams that featured Aurora area players. The Colorado Angels Gold Quimby squad that featured Grandview’s Sasha Kennedy and Madison Jaramillo, Cherokee Trail’s Izzy Becker and Eaglecrest’s Lelia Kelliher, Chessa Reid and Kaitlyn Hendrian finished with a 2-5 record, while Colorado Angels Gold Waller — coach by current Vista PEAK Prep coach John Waller — went 1-5-1 with a roster that included Vista PEAK Prep’s Amara Herrera and Rylie Camarillo.
Abby Anderson, Kate Kenney and Sydney Cobb of Cherokee Trail plus Nikiah Light and Kiley Snyder of Smoky Hill played for the Colorado Bombers Gold 16U Light team as well.
In the Sparkler 16U Open division — which featured 245 teams — a Colorado Angels 16U National team that included Cherokee Trail’s Emma Rice, Kayla Kee and Kaylen Welch and Regis Jesuit’s Elsa Pedersen and Anna Najmulski finished 5-2-1 in play at Lutz Park in Arvada.
Grandview grad Sienna Betts part of USA U19 National Team
Former Grandview High School basketball star Sienna Betts is again headed abroad to represent the United States, as she is part of the USA U19 National Team that will play in the upcoming FIBA U19 Women’s Basketball World Cup.
The UCLA-bound Betts — a three-time Gatorade Player of the Year in Colorado and McDonald’s All-American who led the Wolves to three state championships in four seasons — earned a spot on the roster, which was finalized in June. The 6-foot-4 Betts helped the USA U18 team win the Women’s AmeriCup last year and she’ll suit up this summer for the U19 team in the July 12-20 FIBA World Cup tournament in Brno, Czechia.
Betts is one of three incoming college freshmen on the roster, which was put together by the USA Basketball Women’s Junior National Team Committee.
The FIBA U19 Women’s Basketball World Cup includes 16 teams and USA is the defending champion after winning it in 2023, which marked its third consecutive win in the tournament, which began in 1985. The USA plays in a pool with Hungary, Israel and Korea over the first three days of the tournament and then all 16 teams will play cross-pool elimination games through the championship.
Betts’ sister, Lauren — who she will play with at UCLA — also represented USA on multiple occassions. She was on the U19 team that won the FIBA World Cup in 2021 in Hungary.
Chris Carhart leaves Eaglecrest to be Denver East track coach
Shortly after leading the Eaglecrest boys track team to second place at the Class 5A state meet and the girls to third, Chris Carhart has taken the head coaching job at Denver East.
Carhart has daughters who attend and compete in distance events for Denver East and he will be able to coach them with his new position, which he has long wanted given deep family ties to the school. He departs after a long and successful career in multiple stops the Aurora area, as he led strong programs at Hinkley, Rangeview and Eaglecrest.
Carhart arrived at Hinkley as an assistant football coach under Bob Bozied in 2005 and took over the school’s track program
the following spring. He had multiple individual state champions there and led the Thunder to consecutive third place finishes in the 5A boys state meet in 2016 and 2017 before he left for Rangeview, which he built into the dominant program in the thenEMAC League. His senior-loaded Rangeview boys team looked to be one of the favorites to win the state title in 2020 before the coronavirus pandemic wiped out the spring season.
Carhart made the short jump to Eaglecrest beginning with the 2022 season and the Raptors became perennial top-five teams in boys and girls with multiple individual state championships, especially in relays. The Eaglecrest girls 4x200 meter relay team will have to go for a fifth straight 5A state title next season without Carhart or Jaylynn Wilson, a member of all four previous wins.
CHSAA unveils new logo ahead of upcoming 2025-26 season
On July 1, the Colorado High School Activities Association debuted a new logo that it will put into place beginning with the 2025-26 prep athletic season. The state’s governing body for prep athletics and activities has exchanged a longstanding flag-style logo for one shaped like a shield that includes the Rocky Mountains and three stars, which are intended to represent the organization’s high standards in academics, athletics and activities.
“This logo is more than just a new look; it represents who CHSAA is and what matters most to our membership,” CHSAA Commissioner Mike Krueger said in a statement. “The last time we had a brand refresh was in the 1980s, so it was important to us that while we looked to the future, that we were also respectful of our past, as the flag logo has represented CHSAA’s identity for the last 30-plus years.”
Leilani Caamal hosts camp
Former Vista PEAK Prep star Lelani Caamal will host a youth football camp for boys and girls 6-18 (aka Camp Showtime) July 13 in Thornton. Caamal is a member of the Mile High Blaze of the Women’s Football Alliance and she played flag football at Ottawa University after she played football and wrestled at Vista PEAK Prep. The camp costs $10, while scholarships are available. Contact fireballcaamal@gmail.com to register.
TOP: Regis Jesuit junior-to-be Caitlin Fairchild hustles towards home plate to score a run for her Colorado Batbusters National Smith team during a 16U Supplemental Power Pool game July 5 at Kennedy Sports Complex. Fairchild and Kendal Craven from Regis Jesuit and Cherokee Trail’s Tayah Burton played on the team that finished 6-2 at the recently completed Colorado 4th of July softball tournament. ABOVE LEFT: Chris Carhart, right, led the Eaglecrest boys track team to a runner-up finish at the Class 5A state track meet and has departed to take the head job at Denver East. ABOVE RIGHT: Cherokee Trail’s Kate Kenney puts a ball in play for the Colorado Bombers 16U Gold team July 3 at the Colorado 4th of July tournament. (Photos by Courtney Oakes/Aurora Sentinel)
Betts
Colorado, on or before September 1, 2025, or the claims may be forever barred. Saran Sylla
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least 20% at nearly half of the 122 NWS field offices nationally and at least a half dozen no longer staffed 24 hours a day. Hundreds more experienced forecasters and senior managers were encouraged to retire early.
The White House also has proposed slashing its parent agency’s budget by 27% and eliminating federal research centers focused on studying the world’s weather, climate and oceans.
The website for the NWS office for Austin/San Antonio, which covers the region that includes hard-hit Kerr County, shows six of 27 positions are listed as vacant. The vacancies include a key manager responsible for issuing warnings and coordinating with local emergency management officials. An online resume for the employee who last held the job showed he left in April after more than 17 years, shortly after mass emails sent to employees urging them to retire early or face potential layoffs.
Democrats on Monday pressed the Trump administration for details about the cuts. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer demanded that the administration conduct an inquiry into whether staffing shortages
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contributed to “the catastrophic loss of life” in Texas.
President Donald Trump said the job eliminations did not hamper any weather forecasting.
Regardless of identifying critical threats, how a community spreads the word to flee or hunker down is critical and a local challenge, experts say.
City officials say the certainty for Aurora is that it will cost money.
Repairs and updates are expected to cost the city more than $2 million. The city will need at least eight new sirens are currently needed at a cost of $70,000 each, 36 Sirens need a front panel upgrade at a cost of $800,000, all sirens more than 20 years old are recommended to have new speakers and electronic cabinets at a cost of $1,650,000 and the city need new software to run the system.
“There are some other applications and services out there that provide better notification,” Batchelor said. “So yes, we’re looking at those systems that would be part of our plan to wind down the system, if you would, is making sure that we’re actually providing better, more targeted notifications for folks with instructions on what they can expect and what they can do to keep safe.”
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PUBLIC NOTICE is given on June 12,
Trump’s looming Medicaid disruption could be a segue to universal healthcare
The United States finds itself once again facing a self-inflicted health-care crisis.
To be sure, the nation is not up against tough health-care challenges, such as another pandemic, or how to ensure that people who need mental health care can get it. Because of Trump’s so-called Big Beautiful Bill, the healthcare system in every state, town and community is about to absorb the unavoidable shock inflicted by Trump’s spending and tax cut bill.
Every single consumer will pay for the mistake, rural, middle-class, poor and elderly Americans will be hit hardest.
In what looks like a ham-handed attempt at cruelty, Trump and just barely enough Republicans needed to pass the tax-cut-and-spend bill agreed to force massive cuts of the nation’s Medicaid program, about $1 trillion over a decade, back-loaded.
Republicans tried to sell the scheme to Americans, saying that it would “strengthen” Medicaid by forcing some people to work to get the benefits and ensure that no non-citizens could qualify.
Trump and Republican members of Congress, including Colorado representatives Gabe Evans of Thornton and Lauren Boebert of Windsor, offer numbers and arguments that made no sense to any real independent experts. They agreed that once the cuts and changes take full force, far fewer Americans will qualify for the insurance, and those who do will receive fewer benefits.
It does not mean that those people won’t be sick, or as sick.
The cruel part of all this is that there will be people who become injured or ill who won’t receive medical care, because they have no way to pay for it.
Many of those supporting the cuts to publicly funded healthcare see this as the consequences of “choosing” to be poor, underpaid or underemployed.
What they don’t realize is that removing $1 trillion from the U.S. healthcare system does not create $1 trillion in tax and healthcare savings. That $1 trillion cut would provide for $1 trillion in services. Many hospitals and healthcare practices depend on that revenue as part of their business model. Since much of those “savings” will impact small and rural hospitals, and many fixed overhead costs are just that, fixed, existing insured and wealthy patients will pay more for the same service, most likely much more. That’s according to every real expert weighing in on this, just like they did with Obamacare.
These are the experts who said that the cost of healthcare would rise under Obamacare, because Congress failed to control prices, allowing hospitals, doctors and insurance companies to charge what they want.
President Barack Obama signed his signature health bill into law in 2010 because Americans had complained fiercely about mushrooming insurance costs and insurance companies that charged outrageous rates and then yanked away coverage when someone got sick.
Obama was mistaken in thinking that if he created a plan that appeased everybody, insurance companies, doctors, hospitals, drug companies, poor people and sick people, we could create a health-care system that gave us what we all wanted. In appeasing insurance companies, Obama set in motion a race to the bottom for high-premiums for crappy policies that require huge out-of-pocket expenses. Insurance companies complain that despite that, they can’t afford to keep at this scam because people are so sick and treating them to stents and statins all the time is making them go broke.
The answer is obvious to everyone but Washington.
Somebody has to lose for consumers to gain. It’s not complicated nor mysterious. It’s simple economics. Somebody has to make less money for what they’re doing right now: Drug companies, doctors, hospitals, bedpan makers. If they don’t make less, then Americans pay more.
Already, study after study, year after year makes clear that Americans pay not just more for healthcare than other Western nations, but they pay far more and get far less than any other modern nation on the planet. The nation spends 17% of all the money we make on healthcare, nearly double for far more inferior healthcare than what citizens in many European nations pay.
Thanks to Trump and complicit Republicans, that’s about to get far worse.
The rest of the world has proven repeatedly that the only thing that works for citizens and the healthcare industry is some kind of single-payer universal care. In the U.S., it’s called Medicare, and it works. Rather than preserve it for the most expensive group of Americans there are to treat, just offer it to everybody. Healthy, sick, young, old, employed and unemployed. We all pay in. Medicare controls the costs. For-profit hospitals lose some. Wealthy doctors lose some. Wealthier drug companies lose some. Insurance companies lose large.
But Americans win, just like in every other successful nation that shakes their heads at our stubborn stupidity.
Congress should take this opportunity to avoid the imminent catastrophe they’ve created by clawing into Medicaid, and create a national single-payer, public option, and then watch what happens.
20 years after — Justice, memory and a mother’s love
On a warm summer evening of June 20, 2005, my life was shattered.
My son, Javad Marshall-Fields, and his fiancée, Vivian Wolfe, were driving down a quiet street in Aurora when they were ambushed, shot downed and murdered. They had just graduated from Colorado State University, filled with dreams, plans, and purpose. But those dreams ended that night because Javad made a courageous choice to engage in the justice system. He was scheduled to testify in a murder trial.
Their lives were taken in an instant. Mine was changed forever.
The shock was indescribable. It felt like the Twin Towers had fallen all over again — only this time in Colorado, in my own life. My family was devastated. My faith and community were shaken. I was a mother forced to bury her only son, and I didn’t know how to go on.
My family, friends, co-workers, and faith community lifted me up when I needed it most – they refused to let me slip into darkness.
That collective power saved me.
From the very beginning, the Aurora Police Department and the 18th Judicial District poured their hearts into finding those responsible. Within eight weeks, arrests were made. Over the course of three difficult trials, each of the defendants was found guilty and sentenced to life without parole. The evidence was strong, and the jury confirmed what we already knew — that justice was necessary and deserved.
Still, there was no roadmap for what came next. Grief is a long road, but in time, I found a way to channel it into action.
I entered public service, not because it was easy, but because it became necessary. I served in the Colorado House of Representatives for six years, then went on to serve in the State Senate for the maximum of 8 years. Today, I serve as a county commissioner in Arapahoe County. Each step has been driven by my desire to make a difference, especially for victims, families, and communities touched by violence.
None of this would have been possible without the community that believed in the common good —neighbors, voters, survivors, and supporters helped light a path forward. Together, we’ve transformed tragedy into impact.
In memory of Javad and Vivian, we established the Fields-Wolfe Memorial Fund. Since 2005, this scholarship has empowered students to pursue their dreams at Colorado State University, the
same place where Javad and Vivian studied, and cultivated their intellectual potential. Through this fund, their legacy lives on in the success of the next generation of leaders, and every diploma earned by our scholars is a symbol of resilience and remembrance.
On July 26, we will gather at the Denver Botanic Gardens for a 20th Anniversary Gala: Profiles in Courage. This special evening will honor Javad and Vivian’s lives, acknowledge the journey of healing, and celebrate the students who are carrying their legacy forward. The community is invited to join us.
To the law enforcement professionals who worked tirelessly on this case, to the jurors who upheld the truth, to the CSU family, and to every community member who stood beside my family in the darkest days — I thank you. Your support gave me strength when I had none. Your belief in justice and healing made my public service possible.
Twenty years later, the pain is still real. The hole left by their absence never closes. But I’ve learned that grief and purpose can coexist. Out of deep loss, something meaningful has grown. Javad and Vivian stood for courage. For integrity. For possibility. And though their lives were stolen, their light continues to shine.
Rhonda Fields is a former Colorado State RepresentativeandStateSenator.Shecurrently servesasArapahoeCountyCommissionerforDistrict5.SheisthefounderoftheFields-WolfeMemorial Fund.
RHONDA FIELDS, GUEST COLUMNIST
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