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Event organizers have reduced the musicfood-shopping-and-fun-packed event in Denver’s Five Points from three days to one this year, saying that corporate and other sponsors have pulled back.

Juneteenth is still a community prize for all

It’s unclear whether association with anything to do with promoting minority rights or pushing for inclusion has businesses big and small nervous and unsure what’s next to come the Trump administration’s push to dismantle those things.

Arapahoe County Commissioner

Rhonda Fields will be marching in the annual Juneteenth Parade in Denver this weekend, just like she has for years.

That won’t change.

Here in Aurora, conservatives on the City Council were in front of the Trump administration’s demands that governments dismantle Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs. They unfunded city programs a few years ago and finished ending it during the last few months.

The veteran state lawmaker, activist and now county commissioner says, however, she’s hoping a tsunami of political change since last Juneteenth — maybe the biggest and best ever Juneteenth Parade and music festival in Five Points — won’t diminish the event.

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ival, Aug. 5 in 2017 at the Aurora , a section for kids and food trucks

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File Photo by Philip B. Poston/Aurora Sentinel

10 years after Supreme Court bestowed equal rights on LGBTQ+ Americans, Pride prevails

daily issues fiats restricting or outright end-

It looks like it already has.

Trump and supporters of his nonsense couch their insistence on a “merit-only” system of hiring, education and funding by calling DEI programs “reverse discrimination.”

Event organizers have reduced the musicfood-shopping-and-fun-packed event in Denver’s Five Points from three days to one this year, saying that corporate and other sponsors have pulled back.

Everett Kelley, who is the national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, told the Associated Press earlier this year that the federal and state governments already hire and promote exclusively based on merit.

In their 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled the right to marry is “fundamental,” calling it “inherent in the liberty of the person.”

It’s unclear whether association with anything to do with promoting minority rights or pushing for inclusion has businesses big and small nervous and unsure what’s next to come in the Trump administration’s push to dismantle those things.

More than anything else, the iconic ruling made clear that LGBTQ+ people are just that, people.

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queens, yet have such a profound affinity for all kinds of cosplay and dabbling in jarring quantities and applications of fa-

queens, Trump and much of his mob should ask nicely for tips

For the past few years, millions of Americans have been offered context and historical facts that had previously been glossed over or whitewashed. We’ve all learned a lot about each other, mostly how similar we all are. Not

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Pride celebrations from that point out were just that, celebrations of a long-fought victory over cruel discrimination a dearth of common sense.

The insults are ruthless and increasingly accepted as banter that would never be accepted the same way if it targeted

For the first time since I can remember, the

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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, regularly hurls “communist groomers” as an insult for just about all things LGTBQ+.

there are “we” and “them.” The idea of isolating “others” didn’t end, but it became clearer than ever how dangerous and mistaken such a philosophy is.

Dog daze —Animals are a large part of the Aurora community and need a place to keep everyone safe

AHe said the recent push behind DEI programs, and just making people cognizant of subtle or blatant biases, has pushed the nation over the last several years to a place in time boasting the lowest gender and racial pay gaps in the workforce.

In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, proclaiming that no human could own another as a slave. Only the Union States observed the proclamation. It wasn’t until the South caved during the Civil War in 1865 that slave states turned more than 3 million slaves free.

Trump, who during his first administration offered at least tacit support of the gay and trans community, has gone silent or offers cheap slights, such as this week calling CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, who is openly gay, “Allison Cooper.”

It’s all back in full force, now, and then some.

Colorado no longer needed its “civil union” law, which at least tried to provide some sense of economic and legal equity. Before that, same-sex spouses had no legal rights when it came to making critical medical decisions or even receiving death benefits.

Most of the states, that is. Not Texas.

fter four decades in the news business, I still, regularly, tell people this is the greatest job in the world.

I’ve had the opportunity to talk with some of the most amazing and intriguing people on the planet, and ask just about anyone and everyone any question that comes to mind.

I’ve driven a police car at close to 100 mph on a training track, sirens blaring, much to the chagrin of the newspaper photographer in the seat next to me.

Post Obergefell v. Hodges decision saw same-sex couples finally enjoy the same rights as all other couples.

Trump and supporters of his nonsense couch their insistence on a “merit-only” system of hiring, education and funding by calling DEI programs “reverse discrimination.”

Here in Colorado, GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert helped build her career on dissing drag queens.

More than two months after Robert E. Lee’s surrender to Ulysses Grant, turning Texas into another free state, thousands of Black people were still enslaved in Galveston because white slave owners didn’t reveal to Black slaves what had happened.

Those were relatively few and far between. Mostly, the days were filled with feeding anxious dogs and cats, trying to track down owners, helping injured animals mend and tending to the endless chores of giving the animals a brief respite from the cages or cleaning them up from a life on the streets.

Gay and transgender Americans became even more able to live openly as other Americans, while making clear that gender or sexual orientation does not define people any more than does being straight.

Boebert was once tabbed by LGBTQNation.com as the third most prolific generator of LGTBQ hate speech in the nation, behind only Greene and GOP Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

“They” are poisoning the “blood of the country.” “They” are ruining the “fabric of the nation.” “They” are trying to “destroy the country.”

They are us. All of us.

“Sending a message to all the drag queens out there: stay away from the children in Colorado’s Third District!” Boebert tweeted previously.

derstanding, illuminating and honoring the history of Black Americans, and other minorities, moves equality in reach of everyone in the nation.

I’ve flown in all kinds of planes from antique bi-planes to fighter jets that go so fast you can feel your internal organs pressing against your spine.

daily issues fiats restricting or outright ending rights and freedoms.

The worst duty was going through the list of those whose time was up for staying at the shelter, with no one to go home to and no one interested in taking them home.

And anything any of us can do to move any of us ahead is a victory for all of us.

Trump not only set fire to DEI programs, he indulged his racist supporters who have demanded that schools, museums and other institutions stop working to educate and illuminate Americans about not only how horrific American slavery and segregation were, but how persistent the damage has been from those catastrophes for generations of Black Americans.

In the past few years, however, some of the old intolerances and hate has returned, especially for transgender Americans.

Since then, the GOP held Congress, the White House and a growing number of states have pushed bills and policies chiseling away at hard-won gay rights.

Juneteenth is maybe the perfect example of that.

I’ve spent the night in Super Max prison with former Gov. Roy Romer, who talked all night about Colorado History.

Many of the stories have been equally as horrific, though.

Although 58% of Americans support the ability for transgender soldiers to serve in the military, that number has fallen from 71% in 2019, according to Gallup polling.

Many of these people were enslaved for as much as six months after they should have been freed. It was only when Union troops reached the Gulf Coast and announced General Order No. 3 that the truth, literally, set thousands of slaves free.

Now for the good news.

Will Trump move to undo Juneteenth as a national holiday?

On those days, the dogs and cats were coaxed or dragged into a separate room for a dose of “liquid blue.” It’s a solution of pentobarbital sodium used to inject into the animals that causes rapid death. It’s not instant.

The history, detailed in this week’s Sentinel cover story, offers a catalog of insights.

I never get tired of the story, which has plenty of parallels for today.

I still have nightmares about the family of Aurora theater shooting victims, desperate to know something about their sons, daughters and friends, only to get the worst news possible in real time.

“Anything is possible with this administration,” Aurora NAACP Omar Montgomery told the Sentinel. “Depending on which side of the bed the administration wakes up on.”

Colorado continues to be an outlier. Last year, state lawmakers shored up the ability of the state to ensure the rights of transgender residents and backed up its commitment to samesex marriage.

For the dogs, a shelter employee lifts them up onto a table for the procedure. Large or very panicked dogs got their dose of blue on the floor. The workers used a special IV-syringe. One employee would stroke and soothe the dog. The other would insert the IV needle into a leg vein and push the plunger. The dog would look confused for a second or two, and then drop dead from heart failure.

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Nothing is more raw than talking to the family and friends of people shot dead or run down in the street.

No doubt the declines are, at least in part, the result of intense insults, defamation and disinformation broadcast feverishly by President Donald Trump, members of his new administration and his political acolytes.

In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, proclaiming that no human could own another as a slave.

Some of the ocean of stories come at you as both touching and repulsive.

The Aurora animal shelter, formerly Aurora Animal Care, was one of those stories.

He said the recent push behind DEI programs, and just making people cognizant of subtle or blatant biases, has pushed the nation over the last several years to a place in time boasting the lowest gender and racial pay gaps in the workforce.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is leading the charge to force out transgender members of the military, what is clearly nothing more than a hateful and irresponsible destruction of careers and U.S. military skills and talent.

I was still a young reporter when I was sent there to take a long look at the shelter in 1990. My reporting lasted several days. The impact of what I saw has lasted several decades.

“The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor.”

Someone would then carry the dead dog across the room and into a walk-in cooler, where they were stored until it was time to cremate them out back of the shelter.

Only the Union States observed the proclamation. It wasn’t until the South caved during the Civil War in 1865 that slave states turned more than 3 million slaves free.

“No more dudes in dresses,” Hegseth said at a military conference, defending his decision to boot transgender members of the military. “We are done with that s—”

It was June 19.

All those memories came back while I was editing reporter Cassandra Ballard’s story last week about the culmination of a years-long push for an expanded or new animal shelter.

“They’re just trying to erase our history,” Fields said about the Trump administration. She pointed to just days after Trump was inaugurated and how the Pentagon removed from government websites on-line histories Black heroes such as the Tuskegee Airmen and even baseball great Jackie Robinson. All this contradicts so much progress made over the past few years in getting people to understand how inclusion of Black people, brown people, Asian people, women and others doesn’t cheat white people, and especially white men, out of anything. Nothing is more appropriate than the metaphor that a rising tide lifts all boats than with the idea that un-

For the first time since I can remember, the nation worked hard at ending the idea that there are “we” and “them.” The idea of isolating “others” didn’t end, but it became clearer than ever how dangerous and mistaken such a philosophy is.

But for now, Montgomery’s NAACP is planning their local Juneteenth event with the Town Center of Aurora mall for June 21. No doubt that Montgomery, a regular in the Denver Juneteenth Parade will be marching and waving this year.

While Aurora’s amazing annual Pridefest at the Aurora Reservoir got pushed aside over a political squabble centering on access to the reservoir and funding, Aurora Pride will persist, planning for a more centralized event in August, organizers say.

It’s all back in full force, now, and then some.

Fields will.

The process itself didn’t appear remarkably painful. But the fear and angst from the animals as they were pushed or pulled through the process was ghastly.

And while the setbacks in public opinion are worrisome, the vast majority of Americans still support the rights of all LGBTQ+ Americans, and even ensuring that transgender Americans can serve in the military.

Most of the states, that is. Not Texas.

He said that equal rights for all Americans is being “woke,” and he wants the military and the United States to “leave wokeness and weakness behind.”

Plans for the new one, tentatively approved by city council, won’t come cheap. The price tag is about $51 million.

The city really does desperately need bigger and more modern facilities to handle the thousands of pets each year who run away, get left behind, get born to houses filled with animal horrors, struck down by cars, or just mysteriously appear somewhere in this city of 400,000 people and lots of animals.

“I’ll be there. So will my grandkids,” Fields said. “We just have to weather this, and someday, soon, “I’m hoping that we can reconstruct.”

It’s impossible to miss that in 1865, executive orders created a flurry of rights and freedoms.

You can’t miss the irony of an entire presidential administration and band of cultish MAGA followers who hold such open contempt for transgender people and, especially, drag

Aurora’s current animal shelter has room for about 65 dogs, large and small, and about a couple dozen cats. City records show it’s at near capacity just about all the time. Strays and abandonments are then sent elsewhere in the metroplex, usually just about as full.

Cats were the worst. They wouldn’t stand for someone trying to stick anything into their legs or paws. So they were placed in what looked like a cage-wire press. The two sides of the press closed tightly, keeping the standing cat from being able to move at all. The several cats who underwent blue that day each freaked out. The employee then put the hypodermic needle directly into the cat’s heart and injected it. Death was fast and came with an echoing silence.

For those who don’t? Consider this: As many as 30% of Americans don’t believe climate change is the result of humans. Also, about 35% of Americans don’t believe evolution is real.

“They” are poisoning the “blood of the country.” “They” are ruining the “fabric of the nation.” “They” are trying to “destroy the country.”

They are us. All of us.

Pretty easy to guess who believes what.

Happy Pride to all.

And anything any of us can do to move any of us ahead is a victory for all of us.

Since January 2025, however, the most prolific executive-order writer of all time almost

Previously, when writing about unwanted dogs or cats, I went along with using euphemisms like “put down” or “put to sleep.”

Since I was small, dogs, cats and even farm animals have always taken an interest in me, being remarkably friendly and affectionate. I always thought it was because I smell like food. Good food.

My first day at the shelter was spent learning the stories behind all the dogs and cats at the shelter. The vast majority were either brought in as strays or dropped off by a pet owner. Without pet identification, most never found their original home, if they had one.

Follow @EditorDavePerry on BlueSky, Threads, Mastodon, Twitter and Facebook or reach him at 303-750-7555 or dperry@SentinelColorado.com

Will Trump move to undo Juneteenth as a national holiday?

After I witnessed what was happening, I called the process what it is. They destroy the animal.

Follow @EditorDavePerry on BlueSky, Threads, Mastodon, Twitter and Facebook or reach him at 303-750-7555 or dperry@SentinelColorado.com

They’re not cruel. Far from it. These shelter workers are amazing people.

“Anything is possible with this administration,” Aurora NAACP Omar Montgomery told the Sentinel. “Depending on which side of the bed the administration wakes up on.”

But the reality is, Aurora, and the rest of the world, is filled with far less amazing people who acquire pets as if they were things and not animals, carelessly allowing them to breed, run away or purposely get let loose so the owner doesn’t have to deal with it.

I can’t imagine having to deal all day, every day, with scared or unhappy animals, shut into a pen they abhor. It wore on me just after a few hours. I can’t imagine years like that.

It was June 19.

I found out that most of the people who worked there were like me, they liked animals. Animals liked them. What keeps them going are those moments when the owner rushes in to get their dog or cat, and the happy reunion is like a satisfying Hallmark Christmas movie. Same for when someone comes in looking for new family members to adopt, long before they called them “rescues.”

All this contradicts so much progress made over the past few years in getting people to understand how inclusion of Black people, brown people, Asian people, women and others doesn’t cheat white people, and especially white men, out of anything. Nothing is more appropriate than the metaphor that a rising tide lifts all boats than with the idea that un-

The problem is, their problem becomes all our problems and especially a problem at the shelter.

$51 million is a lot of money. But a new shelter will allow for more pets to stay longer, remain healthier, and get a better chance of going to a home where they’re wanted and properly cared for.

Fields will.

“I’ll be there. So will my grandkids,” Fields said. “We just have to weather this, and someday, soon, “I’m hoping that we can reconstruct.”

I’m from a rural part of Colorado and learned very young that animals are not people. But I also learned, as I got older, that part of living in a community of people includes being responsible for the entire community. If you don’t like taxes going to cops, paved streets and city employees who lure loose dogs out of Parker Road, the solitary life out toward Limon is the life for you.

It’s impossible to miss that in 1865, executive orders created a flurry of rights and freedoms.

But in Aurora, we need to support this critical program and do more to keep animals who go there from making it their final destination.

Since January 2025, however, the most prolific executive-order writer of all time almost

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

A woman carries a sign during a parade to mark Juneteenth on Saturday, June 19, 2023, in Denver.

(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

DAVE PERRY Editor

Inside the kennels at the Aurora Animal Shelter. File

Photo by Heather L. Smith/Aurora Sentinel

Safety concerns prompt new regulations for Aurora cabarets, event centers

—

The Aurora City Council on June 23 approved a new ordinance to change its cabaret license to include openroom venues and private event spaces, after recent safety concerns and shifting entertainment trends.

“This will put the onus on them,” Councilmember Danielle Jurinksy, the bill sponsor, said during the meeting.

“This will put the responsibility on them. They will need a trained bartender. They will be under the same rules as bars and restaurants with checking IDs and over-serving.”

For more than 40 years, Aurora has required cabaret licenses for liquor-licensed establishments that feature a dance floor, which include bars, breweries and hotel restaurants, said Treavor Vaughn, the city’s licensing manager, during the Monday study session.

The current cabaret license doesn’t require private event spaces to obtain a liquor license or maintain the same safe alcohol serving practices as other establishments, and it also doesn’t allow for a standing-room-only environment like a music venue to obtain a license, which has become more of a staple in many modern concert venues, Vaughn said.

Increasingly, the venues draw public safety concerns, city officials say.

In 2024 alone, Aurora documented four shootings, including one homicide, at so-called event centers, many operating outside liquor licensing rules. Of the 12 event centers expected to be impacted by the ordinance, six hosted events that should have had liquor licenses but didn’t, according to the city council

packet.

The problems aren’t new. In 2021, a mass shooting at Mississippi and Peoria left one dead and five injured after 100 rounds were fired during an unregulated late-night event. That center was reportedly owned by a church and rented out to a group with “questionable ties,” Vaughn said. That same year, five people were shot in a separate event on East Colfax.

The events are essentially underground nightclubs with no video surveillance, no crowd control, and no accountability, Vaughn said.

The proposed changes are two-part. First, to create a new open floor cabaret license for venues with more than 250 patrons, and second, to extend licensing requirements to private event centers that allow liquor consumption and dancing without having a liquor license.

Vaughn and Councilmember Danielle Jurinsky said that a large venue in Aurora recently expressed interest in this type of setup, prompting the city to consider a new “open floor” cabaret license class.

“It’s a common type of license that a lot of jurisdictions have to address the higher intensity uses that come with latenight entertainment, particularly when they’re connected to alcohol,” Vaughn said.

Jurinsky said that as they were looking into the changes, she and Vaughn decided they could solve another issue they’ve noticed by adding private event spaces to the change. One of the more urgent reasons for the ordinance stems from the city’s growing frustration with private event centers, which rent out space for parties and events but aren’t

required to hold a liquor license.

“A number of these have had illegal events,” Vaughn said.

The city has been seeing birthday parties that are concerts with door charges, security and no oversight, he said

The new ordinance will now permit venues with standing-room-only setups to apply for an open-floor cabaret license, and require private event spaces to do the same.

Venues would need to obtain Fire Department approval for their crowd management plans to prevent so-called “crowd crush” incidents, which occur when large, unmaintained crowds cause people to get trampled. The 250-person threshold is based on National Fire Code standards, which also trigger requirements for crowd control planning and management, Vaughn said.

Under the proposed ordinance, event centers where alcohol is consumed and dancing occurs would now be required to obtain a cabaret license, even if they don’t hold a liquor license.

The ordinance establishes a new Open-Floor Cabaret license class for businesses with a capacity of over 250 persons that intend to operate with a standing-room-only environment.

This will require a fire department-approved crowd control plan and prohibits the service of glass bottles, bottle buckets or bottle service unless patrons are provided with a table and seating, the packet said.

Vaughn said that one main reason they would prohibit glass bottles is that they can be used as projectiles.

The inside of the Victory Grange event center in north Aurora is shown shortly after the March 23, 2024, shooting that claimed the life of a

VIP bottle service will be limited to 750ml distilled spirit bottles and restricted to parties of at least three patrons. Additionally, it requires the establishments to keep 14 days of video surveillance available to police enforcement, with one reason being that the homicide that happened last year was made more challenging for police officers because there was no surveillance, Vaughn said.

Event centers without a liquor license will now be subject to the cabaret license requirement if they permit alcohol consumption and feature a dance floor, similar to establishments with a liquor license. The license will also ensure accountability for managing noise and other negative impacts on surrounding neighborhoods. The license will also be required for establishments to either use liquor-licensed caterers or develop a liquor control plan for events serving alcohol after 10 p.m., even if those events do not otherwise require a liquor permit, according to the packet.

Essentially, it will ensure that event hosts are of “good moral character,” meaning they can pass a background check similar to that required for liquor license holders, and it will encourage the hiring of state-licensed liquor caterers to manage alcohol service.

Jurinsky said that the people who own the event centers and apply for the cabaret license will now be held to the same standards as establishments with a liquor license, which include providing proof of lease or property ownership, undergoing a background check and demonstrating good financial standing.

“It is a pretty scrutinous process to

apply for a liquor license,” Jurinsky said. “One thing that this will do is like, you know, this will end people renting out these event spaces, and the event center owners saying, ‘Well, here’s the keys. Have a great day,’ and they just take off.” The city also plans to exempt municipal facilities and permitted special events that already fall under regulated liquor service, focusing enforcement on full-time, for-rent, private venues.

State legislators created a new caterer’s liquor license in 2023, but it hasn’t been funded or finalized, Vaughn said. The city expects that to be addressed in the upcoming legislative session. In the meantime, event centers will be expected to create improved alcohol service plans for late-night events.

The ordinance was fast-tracked from the study session on Monday to the city council meeting. An amendment was added that will require businesses to maintain either liquor liability insurance or general liability insurance with a liquor liability endorsement.

The limits of coverage will be determined by the finance director and added to the second reading of the ordinance in a future city council meeting. The amendment was proposed by the city attorney and added to Sections 6 and 7 of the ordinance to ensure financial responsibility and protection.

Councilmembers Alison Coombe and Crystal Murillo were opposed to the ordinance, which Coombs said she did not object to the insurance requirement itself, but to the process of amending the ordinance on the floor without prior public review of the entire bill’s language.

CASSANDRA BALLARD, Sentinel Staff Writer

teenager during a shooting inside the crowded center. Aurora Police Department

AROUND AURORA

Tit for tat tactics persist between protesters and Aurora city lawmakers

A pending First Amendment lawsuit against the City of Aurora and public commenting canceled during the city council meeting didn’t stop MiDian Shofner and others from finding ways to disrupt last Monday’s city council meeting.

“I ask that you listen, not with just your ears, but with your conscience,” Shofner said before speaking repeatedly for each agenda item. This was the opening statement for many of the speakers during the June 23 meeting.

Shofner has led months of protests during city council meetings linked to the death of Kilyn Lewis, an unarmed Black man who was killed by an Aurora SWAT officer during his arrest in May 2024. Lewis was accused of a shooting earlier that month in Denver For months, she and a handful of other protesters have appeared at a portion of city council members set aside for public comment on issues not on that night’s agenda.

Last Monday, Shofner virtually spoke during the public hearing portions of the city council meeting to protest an earlier move by city lawmakers to cancel the “public invited to be heard” session, she told the Sentinel.

At the June 9 city council meeting, city lawmakers permanently canceled the public comment part of each meeting to stymie their regular oratories and disruptions. The council agreed to end the comment segments until a lawsuit filed by Lewis’ family members against the city for wrongful death is complete.

In turn, Shofner and her attorneys, Andy McNulty and Mari Newman, announced June 19 they were suing the, arguing that the city singled out and aimed to silence Shofner’s First Amendment rights by cancelling the public comment portion of the council’s bi-weekly meetings.

At Monday’s city council meeting, Shofner and more than five other individuals signed up for each public hearing and agenda item that allowed for public comment — all unrelated to the Lewis issue or police matters — to protest and bring attention to their demands for either the city council or city staff to intervene in the Lewis case.

After an investigation last year, the 18th Judicial District declined to file charges against the office who fatally shot Lewis, Michael Diek, and Aurora’s police chief said Dieck did not stray from any APD policies during the shooting.

Aurora is currently under a consent decree imposed by the Colorado attorney general after an investigation in the police department determined the agency exhibited years of “patterns and practices” of using excessive and deadly force, especially against people of color.

Monday wasn’t the first time Lewis protesters had feigned interest in speaking on a variety of agenda items just to draw attention to the Lewis shooting.

The contrivances have prompted some city lawmakers to find ways to curtail their regular appearances, comments and disruptions. Many of the new public comment rules are directed at them, but the legal argument both sides are working to establish is whether the rules are directed at Shofner’s speech or at the group members for breaking council rules during meetings.

“We did not change the rules because of anyone’s speech,” Françoise

Bergan said. “We will listen to anyone, including non-residents of Aurora, but they need to follow the rules, and this group has refused to do so. That’s why we have changed the rules. Their intentional disruptions are the reason, not their speech.”

The protest last week by the group occurred during the meeting’s public hearings and public comment for agenda items, with each person who spoke staying somewhat “on track” with the item, while strategically spelling out the name “Kilyn Lewis.” The interruptions caused the meeting to run an additional hour and a half to two hours over, with the meeting finally ending at 11 p.m. that night.

Some of the speakers taunted city lawmakers, pointing out how long the meeting had been extended despite bypassing the public comment segment of the meeting.

The situation caused tensions to run high, with council members cutting each other off, ignoring meeting procedures and snapping at one another. By the end, most of the virtual cameras of city lawmakers had been turned off, and many of the participants sounded exhausted.

In the final speeches, Mayor Mike Coffman and council members Danielle Jurinsky, Bergan and Alison Coombs all shared their opinions on the situation, concluding the night with a “grand finale.”

“This is completely unhinged,” Coombs said. “I cannot believe that we are in a meeting of the City Council of the City of Aurora where members of the public have come to speak to us, and we’re raising all kinds of claims about their legal status, debt status and personally attacking them. I am speechless.”

She said that former Mayor Steve Hogan would have never treated people this way, even if he thought they were ill-informed and disrespectful.

Coffman pushed back, accusing the Lewis family of using contrivances to seek money from Lewis’ death.

“Our city attorney, under the request of counsel, the majority of council basically said, we’re not going to settle cases that don’t have merit, and this officer-involved shooting does not,” Coffman said, explaining that the officer in the shooting was cleared in multiple investigations. “We are not writing a check.”

As of now, there have been no changes to the meeting being held virtually, and the “public invited to be heard” session is still canceled until the lawsuit between Kilyn Lewis’ family and the city is finalized.

Hearings in the new lawsuit between Shofner and the city have not been set yet.

Shofner’s attorney, McNulty, told the Sentinel that responses from the city for a court date are due by July 18 and replies are due by July 25.

– Sentinel Staff

SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION

Federal grants at risk for Community College of Aurora, Hispanic-serving schools statewide

The Community College of Aurora does not turn students away. It serves immigrants with limited English knowledge, Coloradans experiencing homelessness, students pursuing careers in the trades, concurrently enrolled high schoolers and students who are the first in their family to attend college.

That mission of accessible education guides Adriana Cordova, CCA’s ac-

ademic advising director, in her work. A CCA graduate herself, Cordova knows what it’s like to be nervous and at times lost in college.

“I’m a first-generation student, and I migrated here in 2003 from Sonora, Mexico. The expectation was always for me to go to school, and it wasn’t easy,” said Cordova, who graduated in 2017 and went on to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees. “At CCA, I was able to get a hang of what college was.”

Part of what has made CCA feel like home for Cordova is the diversity and welcoming environment she said she has experienced at the college.

Some of the resources that support the CCA community, including peer instructors, college readiness programming and faculty training workshops, are funded by the federal government

through a $2.5 million grant, distributed over six years. The college was eligible for the grant because it is a federally-designated Hispanic-serving institution — one of 16 in Colorado and 615 in the United States. But now federal grants for such institutions could be at risk.

Colorado’s Hispanic-serving institutions range from community colleges in the suburbs of Denver to regional public universities nestled up north in Greeley and south in Alamosa County along the Rio Grande. They vary in size and focus, but they all enroll at least 25% Hispanic students and serve a high proportion of low-income students.

The federal Hispanic-serving institution designation is in the spotlight with a recently filed federal lawsuit in Tennessee that argues these programs

unconstitutionally discriminate based on ethnicity. The lawsuit, filed by the state of Tennessee and the anti-affirmative action group Students for Fair Admissions, “is about ensuring that opportunity is extended to everyone on an equal basis,” according to a statement from Students for Fair Admissions. Students for Fair Admissions declined an interview request for this article but referred to the written statement. The lawsuit argues that the federal Department of Education’s Hispanic-serving institution program discriminates against institutions and students in Tennessee, a state that has no colleges with such designation. While many colleges in Tennessee serve some low-income and Hispanic stu-

dents, none meets the 25% threshold.

“A federal grant system that openly discriminates against students based on ethnicity isn’t just wrong and un-American—it’s unconstitutional,”

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said in a statement.

The federal government awarded slightly more than $228 million to Hispanic-serving institutions in 2024, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Although the money goes specifically toward Hispanic-serving institutions, each institution must use its grants for programs and services that are open to all of its students, regardless of race or ethnicity.

Gina Garcia, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, studies higher education issues and has published extensive research on Hispanic-serving institutions. Garcia cautioned that a loss of these federal grants could be “devastating” to these institutions, which typically use the money for student support and innovation.

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one group, because the money goes to the institution, to make the institution better, and so anything the institution does is going to be for every student,” Garcia said.

Julianna Montoya graduated from Metropolitan State University of Denver last month, with a major in public health, two minors in biology and pre-health care and a concentration in community health education. In the fall, the first-generation college student will pursue a master’s in public health at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

Attending a Hispanic-serving institution allowed her to “find safety and support as a Latina.”

“I entered college with a million nerves about navigating the higher education system,” Montoya said. “I came in with my sister who is 16 months older than me, and we were really trying to figure out who we are as individuals. She and my peers here have been a support for me.”

MSU, which has 16,500 total undergraduates, became a Hispanic-serving institution in 2019, after a 12-year process that focused on recruitment, retention and data collection.

In 2007, the university enrolled 13% Hispanic students. Now that number is 37%. Since becoming a Hispanic-serving institution, it has received $14 million in federal grants.

Manuel Del Real, MSU’s executive director of Hispanic-serving institution initiatives and inclusion, said the designation has been helpful to “communicate that we are here for our students.” He emphasized that the grants are beneficial to all MSU students, whether they are Hispanic or not.

“If you were a student here and you had a teacher’s assistant in your class, you benefited from these grants,” he said.

and create a classroom environment that is optimal for the success of our Latino and Latina students, and for the unique needs of all of our students,” Marquez said.

For Cordova, supporting students means connecting them with resources that span beyond academic support, including food assistance, counseling and housing services.

“We don’t just help them get signed up for classes,” Cordova said. “We ask, ‘What’s going on with work? What’s going on with family?’ We want them to graduate, but we treat them like humans in the process.”

— Delilah Brumer, Colorado Newsline

COPS AND COURTS

were.

“The Supreme Court’s unanimous affirmation of both Ray and Owens convictions ensures that the criminal justice system will seek out those who attack that justice system by killing witnesses,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Ann Tomsic said in a statement Tuesday. “On behalf of the victims’ families and the community that was so stunned by these murders, we are grateful the Court recognized that the trial, despite its complexities, was fair and the verdicts were sound

Current Arapahoe County District Attorney Amy Padden said that this final question about the murder case of Marshall-Fields and Wolfe ends the possibility of further threats to the community by the convicts.

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Del Real said he is not focused on the ongoing federal lawsuit by Students for Fair Admissions because “even if the designation goes away, we’re still going to stick to our mission and values.”

Top Colorado court upholds 2005 Aurora murder conviction against Robert Ray

“The Colorado Supreme Court has made it clear: Robert Ray will remain exactly where he belongs — behind bars for the rest of his life,” Padden said. “Justice has prevailed. The victims’ families and our community can take comfort in knowing these killers will never walk free.”

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“These are capacity-building grants, and what that means is that they do not allow you to give any of the funding or any of the opportunities specifically to

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What most stood out to Montoya was taking a health care ethics class with a Latino professor who “walked in with his marginalized identity, as well as his background as a professional in the field.”

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“Yes, we’re thankful for getting these grants,” Del Real said. “But whatever happens, we’re going to continue being an institution that’s minority serving, and that continues to serve all of our students.”

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The Colorado Supreme Court turned back a new trial request from a man convicted in the 2005 murder of the son of Arapahoe County Commissioner Rhonda Fields, and his fiancée.

— Sentinel Staff

The high court turned down a request by Robert Keith Ray, who was convicted in 2009 for his part in the murders of Javad Marshall-Fields and Vivian Wolfe in Aurora.

Aurora police probe link in 2 fatal stabbings of homeless men near Colfax Police are trying to determine whether two fatal stabbings of homeless men early June 29 in northwest Aurora are somehow related.

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The federal Hispanic-serving institution designation was created in 1992, stemming from concerns that Hispanic students were largely enrolled in colleges and universities with poor educational outcomes and low government funding.

Between the years 2000 and 2020, Hispanic post-baccalaureate enrollment has tripled in the U.S., according to the Postsecondary National Policy Institute. However, enrollment and degree completion gaps remain. In Colorado, the four-year graduation rate for Hispanic students is 44%, compared to 59% for white students, according to the nonprofit Excelencia in Education.

These inequalities are why Hispanic-serving institution grants and designations matter, said Angela Marquez, the vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion and chief of staff at Community College of Aurora.

“We want to be culturally responsive

Ray and Sir Mario Owens were convicted of killing Gregory Vann in July 2004 at Lowry Park in Aurora. They were later accused and convicted of gunning down a witness to Vann’s murder, Javad Marshall-Fields. Owens and Ray killed Marshall-Fields and his fiancee, Vivian Wolfe, so Marshall-Fields couldn’t testify about the Lowry Park shooting, prosecutors said.

Owens and Ray were convicted in all three of the murders.

Evidence photos from the drive-by shooting cases against Sir Mario Owens and Robert Ray. PHOTO VIA 18th JUDICIAL DISTRICT.

Rhonda Fields went on to become an activist for gun control and sentencing accountability, eventually winning a seat in first the state House and then the state Senate. She was elected to the Arapahoe County commission last fall.

In commenting on a unanimous decision issued Monday, Justice William W. Hood III said that while there were some issues surrounding evidence in his first trial, the questions did not rise to a level of potentially undermining the fairness of the trial nor influencing the jury’s guilty verdict, according to the court opinion.

Both Ray and Owens were sentenced to death for the 2005 killings.

Owens also was denied a new trial in 2017 by an Arapahoe County District Court, who said Owens’ voluminous claims of an incompetent legal team and tainted jury were unfounded.

Death sentences for both Owens and Ray were commuted to life in prison in 2020 after Colorado repealed its death penalty.

Gov. Jared Polis’ commutation of the sentences, after the 2020 repeal of the death sentence in Colorado, was harshly criticized by Fields and other Aurora prosecutors.

“In a stroke of a pen, Gov. Polis hijacks justice and undermines our criminal justice system,” Fields said after the 2020 commutation of Owens, Ray and other death-row inmates linked to Aurora cases.

Current local prosecutors said the high court review highlighted how grave and solid the cases and convictions

Police were called to 1535 Moline St. at about 1:45 a.m. 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. “

The man’s identity was not released. Aurora Highlands Market 2 deep banner

“There are no additional details, no suspect information and no arrests have been made at this time,” police said.

At about 6:30 a.m. police were called to a bus stop on Peoria Street just north of East Colfax Avenue after reports of an unresponsive man.

“Upon arrival, officers located a man with apparent stab wounds,” police said in a statement. “He was pronounced deceased on scene.”

“Preliminary investigation indicates that both victims were experiencing homelessness,” Aurora police spokesperson Matt Longshore said in a statement Monday. “While the circumstances leading up to the fatal stabbings are not yet known — including whether the victims were specifically targeted because of their housing status — the department activated its Homeless Abatement and Relocation Team (HART) on Sunday.”

The team will work with Aurora police investigators and offer outreach and offer services to individuals in the area.

It’s unclear when the stabbings may have occurred.

Wells said investigators are looking for possible security video from nearby buildings.

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

Thinking about taking a stab at IV therapy? Ask some questions first

BY TOM MURPHY, AP Health Writer

IV therapy clinics are springing up around the Aurora metro area and across country, touting quick ways to recover from a hangover or a hard workout. But doctors and regulators preach caution.

The services have been on a growth spurt since the COVID-19 pandemic, offering drips that promise to boost energy, gird immune systems or relieve joint pain. This is done from bags of intravenous fluids normally seen hanging next to hospital beds.

There are dozens of these clinics across the Aurora region, some as chains, others integrated into other medical businesses.

Customers must be willing to fork over as much as couple hundred dollars for each session — in some cases for a mixture of vitamins and supplements that would be considerably cheaper in pill form.

Proponents say this approach helps customers hydrate faster and absorb more of a vitamin or supplement than they would by swallowing pills.

But Dr. Sam Torbati, co-chair of emergency medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, says the therapy mostly helps people create “expensive urine,” with the body

clearing what it doesn’t use.

Just how many clinics there are is hard to count, partly because some businesses just provide IV therapy while others offer it as part of a medical spa.

The practice grew popular during COVID-19, when access to doctors became limited and people grew more concerned about their immune system health, according to the American IV Association, an industry group.

Regulators in Ohio are following the trend closely in their state, which now has around 200 clinics. These businesses were largely unheard of there before the pandemic, said Cameron McNamee, a spokesman for the Ohio Board of Pharmacy.

Doctors say there are some good questions to pose before any treatment starts.

Customers should ask the person starting the IV how long they have been doing their job and what sort of training they have, said Torbati. They also should know what’s in the IV drip. For instance, “Wonder Juice” treatment offered by the Restore Hyper Wellness franchise combines six vitamins and supplements that are available, in oral form, on the pharmacy store shelves.

Knowing all the ingredients comes in handy if someone has an allergic reaction.

Also ask where the company gets its drugs, if any are used. The answer should be a licensed pharmaceutical wholesaler, according to McNamee.

Otherwise, the drug could be counterfeit or substandard. Ohio regulators have suspended the licenses of businesses that purchased drugs on Facebook.

Customers also should make sure the clinic is in decent shape when they visit.

“If the office isn’t clean, then the IV room’s probably not clean either,” McNamee said.

Regulators concerned because they don’t like that a nurse or a paramedic often helps a customer decide on an IV therapy and then delivers the treatment. Rules can vary, but many state regulators say a doctor, physician assistant or nurse practitioner should be involved.

The clinics often run on standing orders, which are issued by a doctor with the idea that they give the nurse or paramedic permission to treat patients according to certain protocols.

Hospital emergency rooms regularly operate on the same kind of or-

ders, according to Dr. Chris Seitz, an emergency physician and chairman of the American IV Association’s scientific advisory board.

“Many nurses saw patients before I ever could get to them in the emergency department and initiated care like IV fluids,” he said.

Regulators also worry about the role customers play in picking their own treatments.

“A patient cannot enter a doctor’s office or hospital and demand an IV any more than a patient can direct his or her own appendectomy,” Kentucky officials said in a March statement.

But Seitz says there should be a partnership between any care provider and the patient, with the provider helping the patient make the right decision.

“Patients have a requirement and a need to be the CEO of their own health,” he said.

Patient choice feeds another worry: the mixing of ingredients for specific treatments, a practice known as compounding.

South Carolina regulators said in a 2023 statement that this should result from a valid care provider order, “not from a patient-driven menu akin to a fast-food restaurant.” However, proponents say the ad-

dition of vitamins or drugs to an IV treatment should not be confused with mixing prescription drugs in a lab.

“It’s just pretty simple low-hanging fruit in terms of clinical complexity,” said Jeff Cohen, a co-founder of the American IV Association. IV therapy clinics do provide some care. They can help cancer patients or pregnant women stay hydrated. Some treatments offer relief from migraine pain.

But many drips require the creation of a sterile, soluble vitamin or supplement that is safe to put into someone’s veins. That’s more expensive to make than a vitamin that may cost a few cents a pill, Torbati noted.

Customers will need to determine whether the added expense is worth it.

“Usually within eight hours, all that expensive therapy (is) peed out,” he said.

Jacobson

IF YOU GO

Date: July 5, 9 a.m. - 1 p.m..

Place: Hogan Park at Highlands Creek, 24495 E 35th Drive in the Aurora Highlands

Tickets: Free

Details: theaurorahighlands.com

scene & herd

Art in the Park food and market series at the Aurora Highlands

A fusion of art, shopping food and community are slated for July 5 at Hogan Park at Highlands Creek 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.

Patriotic salute to tunes, brews and fireworks

The Symphony of the Rockies will headline a star-spangled night of music, food and fireworks at Breckenridge Brewery July 3, offering an early start to Independence Day celebrations, this time in Littleton.

The concert, set for 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. in the brewery’s Farm House Beer Garden, will feature patriotic favorites including Stars and Stripes Forever and the 1812 Overture. The evening will conclude with a fireworks display — weather and fire conditions permitting.

Breckenridge Brewery will serve food and drinks from its bar and food truck throughout the event. Outside food and beverages are not allowed. Attendees are encouraged to bring blankets for seating; seniors and disabled guests may bring chairs.

Gates open at 6:30 p.m. for VIP ticket holders and at 7 p.m. for general admission. General admission prices are $40 for adults, $34 for seniors, $20 for students, and $13 for children 12 and under. Children under 2 are free.

VIP table tickets, which include seating for up to eight guests and dedicated food and beverage service, are available for $475. No refunds will be issued due to inclement weather or cancellation of the fireworks due to drought restrictions.

Organizers advise guests to bring ponchos if rain is in the forecast.

IF YOU GO

Date 8 p.m. - 10 p.m. July 3.

Breckenridge Brewery Littleton. 2990 Brewery Lane

Details and tickets: symphonyrockies.org

City July 4 fireworks festival

Live music, shopping and a diverse sampling of Colorado cuisine will be offered up at the Aurora Municipal Complex ahead of the city’s fireworks show starting at 6:30 p.m. July 4.

Tunes from Ninety Percent 90s, followed by Starling Circus Acts and ending with Groove ‘N Motion will fill the night air before it all gets real with one of the most spectacular fireworks shows in the region at 9:30 p.m.

Members of the public will be able to park on a first-come, first-served basis in the public surface lots adjacent to the complex. Available parking will be indicated using signs. For those who can’t or don’t want to drive, the Regional Transportation District R-Line light rail train also stops a few blocks away at the Aurora Metro Station.

The city on its website advises attendees not to bring glass bottles, outside alcoholic beverages, unauthorized speakers or any animals besides service animals.

Participants can bring their own food, blankets, chairs and non-alcoholic drinks, or treat themselves from variety of food trucks.

For questions or to request help or accommodations as a person with disabilities, members of the public can call 303-739-7170.

IF YOU GO

Where: City of Aurora Municipal Center Great Lawn, 15151 E. Alameda Parkway, limited on-site parking. Follow the signs.

When: Venue opens at 6 p.m. Live music starts at 6:30 p.m. Fireworks at 9:30 p.m.

Tickets: The event is free

Details: AuroraGov.org/Events

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.

Additionally, she said the Colorado Renaissance Festival is known for its fully immersive environment, where every visitor becomes part of the show.

The cast is a highlight for many, renowned for being one of the most interactive festivals around.

“We are known for having one of the friendliest and most interactive casts in the country. Look for them throughout the day in the lanes and enjoy the small one-on-one interactions just as much as the big, impressive stage shows,” Ekiss said.

Tens of thousands of attendees are expected to visit the festival throughout the summer, drawn by the mix of entertainment, shopping, food and fantasy.

“I also play the Queen on the weekends, and my favorite part is meeting the children and making them smile -especially at Royal Teatime,” Ekiss said. “I think the little moments can be just as magical as the big ones.”

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

Aurora pursues crack down on gas-station psychoactive drugs and paraphernalia

‘Really, it’s gray market area items, and it’s basically the businesses or these entities taking advantage of the lack of enforcement’

BY CASSANDRA BALLARD, Sentinel Staff Writer

City lawmakers are moving forward with a measure intended to crack down on what they say are under-regulated psychoactive products and drug paraphernalia, sold in dozens of places such as Aurora vape shops, liquor stores and convenience stores.

The measure, moved June 23 to the council floor for a future vote, includes a sixmonth moratorium on opening new vape and smoke shops in the city, giving the city more time to prepare new zoning laws.

“Really, it’s gray market area items, and it’s basically the businesses or these entities taking advantage of the lack of enforcement,” Trevor Vaughn, Aurora’s licensing manager, said.

The proposed ordinance would ban drugs like “poppers” or amyl nitrate, Amanita Muscaria a hallucinogenic mushroom, hemp weed like Delta-9 and paraphernalia that includes rose meth pipes and crack kits.

All of those drugs and items are often sold under legal or mislabeled pretenses, according to city licensing inspectors.

“These items are, in a way, illegal or age-restricted,” Vaughn said. “So we’re just trying to consolidate these codes and regulations so that we can basically handle it all on a single inspection and communication, and address this.”

One of the reasons it’s overlooked is that there appears to be a lack of community attention, in the sense that these products go unnoticed unless someone is looking for them and knows what they are, he said. Socalled gas station rose meth pipes for example are sold as little fake roses in a little glass pipe or jar with a cork, though drug users use it as paraphernalia for smoking meth or crack.

“When I talk to these operators, they do know, and oftentimes they’ll either not answer or state something incorrect about the actual use of these items,” Vaughn said.

The connection between the ordinance and the moratorium is that vape and tobacco

shops are notorious for selling many of these products as well.

The measure seeks a way to limit the number of vape and similar shops in the same way the city restricts liquor stores in an area. Gardner was not in favor of that measure, which is being sponsored by council members Alison Coombs and Rueben Medina.

“From my perspective, we have an issue of just not having clear enough regulations in place in our zoning codes about spacing, location and things of that nature,” Coombs said.

“So we could have a block or strip mall that’s all vape and tobacco shops, and so we want to make sure that’s not what’s happening.”

Early research in four separate studies has found a correlation between tobacco vape stores and crime, which is comparable to that of liquor stores and crime, according to a study published in the National Library of Medicine. Vaughn cited one of the studies from the University of California that cited the “gray market psychoactive items and drug paraphernalia were being sold in these outlets.”

“We see a similar correlation,” Vaughn said. “We’re seeing a high concentration of these businesses in the poorer areas of town, or in areas where there are open-air drug markets, and that’s not just in Aurora. I’ve seen that elsewhere. That kind of fuels it.”

The moratorium, slated for first reading at the July 7 city council meeting, along with the drug and paraphernalia ordinance, aims to prevent new vape and smoke shops from opening for up to six months, giving the city more time to develop new policies on zoning and spacing between similar businesses.

The moratorium would not close any existing businesses that have already been licensed by the city. It would apply to businesses with 15% or more floor space dedicated to vape/smoke products, and it aims to prevent the over-concentration of these businesses in some regions of the city.

Nitrous oxide is made and sold mainly for culinary purposes, like whipped cream canis-

ters, but it has long been used as a recreational drug. Many studies, including the National Library of Medicine and the Yale School of Medicine, have shown that prolonged use causes brain cell death and other forms of brain damage.

“I’ve seen a huge increase in nitrous oxide products in stores,” Vaughn said. “It used to be just the little ‘whip-its,’ but now we’re seeing large canisters of it.”

These canisters can contain between 600 grams and 2,000 grams, whereas the average whipped cream canister only requires about 6 grams of nitrous oxide. They also come in flavors like strawberry, Vaughn said.

“It’s just exploded, and there’s no regulation in Colorado on this,” Vaughn said. “A lot of states have started taking this up, and I think you’re going to hear about it more given how much I’ve seen this grow in Colorado.”

When it comes to a drug like Kratom, an addictive stimulant “supplement,” which is legal in Colorado, the ordinance incorporates state Senate Bill 25-072, which outlines legal thresholds for Kratom products and rules around proper labeling and age restrictions.

“They didn’t assign any agency to verify that or do compliance checks,” Vaughn said. “Nor did they assign any particular agency to go to retail and check and make sure that the products are in compliance with the new state law.”

Amanita muscaria, a legal mushroom, is not permitted to be added to food ingredients. It contains a psychoactive substance called muscimol, which is different from psilocybin, which is a regulated mushroom in Colorado, Vaughn said. It’s a different psychoactive substance that’s often found to contain synthetic additives that are also psychoactive.

“These products are pretty sketchy and have some other stuff in them,” Vaughn said. “Some of these products, they’ve also been found to mislabel the other way, where they have nothing in them, but they’re trying to trick the consumer that they have something in them.”

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment food inspectors are in charge of maintaining psychoactive mushrooms being ingested, but they are limited and have no authority at the retail level. They would handle it at the distribution level, but many of the retailers have them shipped from out of state.

“I think the vape stores and some of these outlets know that, if they get it shipped in, they can dodge that,” Vaughn said. “No regulation on that, and no prevention, as far as it ends up in the hands of kids when they’re selling it that way.”

There are other products, such as Mad Honey, which is honey gathered by bees from poppy plants and is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA has put out warnings that they are dangerous and highly addictive, Vaughn said.

One of the last prominent products being examined is hemp products with high THC levels. These include products such as Delta-9 and Delta-8. These are legal at some “dosages” in Colorado, but Vaughn said he found some in a local vape shop with higher doses than what the state legally allows to be sold.

“There seems to always be something new or something that they’ve added or come up with chemically,” he said.

Vaughn said the city added a rule-making process in this ordinance to try to keep up with the “gray” area drug products as they adapt and change.

“These are safety and health issues for substances that are intoxicants that are legal in our state,” Coombs said. “There’s a pretty high amount of regulation on the manufacturing, the businesses and everything else, but when there are these unregulated products, it’s dangerous. You don’t know what’s in them, and the people who are consuming them don’t know what’s in them. So I think it’s our responsibility to address those issues.”

Drug paraphernalia sold in Aurora stores. CITY OF AURORA

Right: Junior midﬁelder

Makayla Sellyei (11) tied for the lead on the Cherokee Trail girls soccer team with eight goals, while she helped the Cougars to an Aurora-best nine wins in the 2025 season. Sellyei earned a spot on the 2025 Aurora Sentinel All-Aurora Girls Soccer Team.

Below top: Senior Victoria Perozo (10) scored or assisted on 22 of Overland’s 27 goals in 2025 and led all Aurora area players with 17 goals to earn a spot on the All-Aurora ﬁrst team.

Below bottom: Senior Brooke Metcalfe (13) helped the Regis Jesuit girls soccer team win ﬁve more games than in 2024 as she tallied seven goals and dished out three assists.

PHOTOS BY COURTNEY OAKES/AURORA SENTINEL

In a season in which the Aurora area bowed out of the Class 5A girls soccer state playoffs after just one round, the talent was spread out.

The 2025 Aurora Sentinel All-Aurora Girls Soccer Team — which is picked by the Sentinel in conjunction with balloting of Aurora area coaches — includes a wide variety of representation.

punch on a team that needed every goal it could get. Smith — who took the vast majority of the team’s corner kicks — ended up as the team leader in goals with six, which included a converted penalty kick, while she added an assist.

In the first season under Rick Wolf as head coach (who stepped in to take over for longtime coach Will Cropper), Regis Jesuit finished with a 7-5-4 record and lost a home playoff game to Fairview. It was a massive improvement on the 2-11-2 mark from 2024.

Pitch performers

The city’s three state playoff qualifiers — Cherokee Trail, Grandview and Regis Jesuit — lead the way in selections, while Eaglecrest, Overland and Smoky Hill also have picks.

Cherokee Trail led Aurora programs in the win column with a strong 9-4-3 record during a campaign that ended with an overtime road loss to Columbine in the 5A playoffs.

BY COURTNEY OAKES Sports Editor

Coach Jose Rosales’ team — which finished as the Centennial League runner-up behind Cherry Creek — with talent in several places on the field. The Cougars had two first team all-league performers that led the way in junior Sam Garofalo on defense and junior Makayla Sellyei in the midfield.

Garofalo played a key role on a defensive unit that allowed an Aurora-low 17 goals for the season, while she countered that with a whopping eight of her own. Not coincidently, Cherokee Trail finished 7-0-1 when she scored. Sellyei earned a share of the team lead with eight goals of her own, including a hat trick against Vista PEAK Prep and both goals in an Arapahoe Derby victory over rival Grandview.

Longtime coach Brian Wood coached his final season with Grandview and guided the Wolves to a 5-8-3 record that included five one-goal defeats. Grandview allowed a paltry 22 goals for the season with a strong defense led by two All-Centennial League first team performers in senior Ivy Daniel in the goal and sophomore Allie Smith on defense.

Daniel — who is bound for Gordon College — led Aurora keepers with a 1.213 goals against average as she played 1,187 of the 1,200 minutes played by the Wolves. She finished with four shutouts and allowed one goal two other times.

Smith most certainly helped out with the defensive effort, but she also provided some offensive

Leading the way for the Raiders was senior midfielder Brooke Metcalfe, a Division I signee (Northeastern). Metcalfe earned a spot on the All-Continental League first team as well as the All-Aurora top unit after a season in which she tallied seven goals and also dished out three assists.

Joining Metcalfe on the All-Aurora first team from Regis Jesuit on the backline is senior Riley Shea, another All-Continental League first team performer. With help from Shea (also a captain), the Raiders yielded just 20 goals, which was half the number from the previous season. Regis Jesuit finished with six shutouts.

The area’s leading scorer played for Overland in senior Victoria Perozo, who spent time all over the field for the Trailblazers. Perozo racked up 17 goals during a season in which she earned All-City League first honors. Perozo added a handful of assists to boost her season point total to 35, second-best among local players. She either scored or assisted on 22 of 27 total goals for Overland (6-9), which doubled its win total from last season.

Rangeview tallied 31 goals on the season and the majority came from the combination of senior Hazel Bonansinga and freshman Zulekya Perez, who tallied 28 points apiece. Bonansinga earned All-City League second team distinction and also a spot on the All-Aurora first team with 11 goals (one behind Perez for the team lead), while she paced coach Vic Strouse’s Raiders (5-8-1) with six assists.

Eaglecrest had a drop in the win column, but still had one of the area’s top midfield talents in senior Annika Boex, an All-Centennial League first team performer. Boex is headed to Northern Arizona to play with her older sister, Micala. Smoky Hill also had one of the area’s top midfielders in sophomore Lauren Nesbitt, an All-Centennial League first team pick. Nesbitt tallied 10 goals and had six assists for 26 points.

ALL-AURORA GIRLS SOCCER

Preps

TRACK & FIELD

Cherokee Trail’s Powe wins Colorado Gatorade POY for girls track & ﬁeld

Six weeks after she won her second career Class 5A state championship, Cherokee Trail’s Kaeli Powe earned recognition as the state’s top female track & field athlete.

Gatorade named its Colorado Player of the Year June 24 and the nod went to Powe, who capped an outstanding prep career with a second straight Class 5A state championship in the triple jump, reached the medal podium (top 10) individually in two other events and also made it as part of a relay team for coach Chris Faust’s Cougars.

Powe — who will compete at the University of Central Florida in the fall — successfully defended the state championship in the triple jump in blustery conditions at Jefferson County Stadium May 15. Powe’s last attempt in the finals yielded a winning mark of 41 feet, 4 1/2 inches, which put her well in front of the field despite uncertainty introduced by a minor foot injury. It did not, however, match her season-best, a Colorado-leading 42-1 3/4 (wind-aided) achieved at the Broomfield Shootout.

A second state title got away from Powe on a tiebreaker, as she led the long jump until club teammate Zenobia Witt of Eaglecrest matched her 18-7 1/2 on her last jump. Witt took the title based on a longer second jump. Powe also earned a medal in the 100 meter hurdles with a sixth-place showing, while she finished fifth in the 4x200 relay along with Cherokee Trail teammates Maliah Watson, Des’rae Burke and Tayah Burton.

Powe is the first Aurora-area girls track athlete to win the Gatorade award since former Regis Jesuit star Ana Holland in 2013. Trina Edmond of Aurora Central won it in 1989, while Smoky Hill’s Megan Kaltenbach earned it in 2001, 2002 and 2003.

BOYS SWIMMING

Grandview boys secure multiple All-American awards from NISCA

As the cherry on top of the best season in program history, the Grandview boys swim team garnered a significant number of spots on the National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association (NISCA) All-American list for the 20242025 season.

Annually, NISCA honors the top 100 individuals and relay teams in each event from across the country who achieve a designated time. The Aurora area is represented by Grandview as well as Cherokee Trail. All Colorado times are adjusted down slightly (proportionally to distance) due to altitude.

committed to Ohio State University — swept the 5A state titles in the distance freestyles with All-American performances in the 500 yard freestyle (where his time of 4:22.12 ranked 16th) and the 200 yard freestyle, where he was the country’s 30th-fastest swimmer with a time of 1:36.99.

Coach Dan Berve’s Wolves — who finished seventh in the tightly packed final team standings at the Class 5A boys state swim meet — had a pair of two-event champions in Oliver Schimberg and Gherman Prudnikau, who both earned All-American honors for the events they won.

Additionally, Schimberg and Prudnikau gained All-American status in the 400 yard freestyle relay along with teammates Evan Linnebur and Christian Burgeson. The Grandview foursome swam an adjusted 3:03.58, which placed it fifth in state and was good enough for 36th nationally.

The University of Minnesota-bound Schimberg won his third career 5A state championship in the 100 yard backstroke and did so with a time of 47.21 seconds that was 10th fastest in the nation, while his championship-winning 100 yard butterfly time of 47.41 placed him 16th. Prudnikau — who

GIRLS SWIMMING

Wolves’ relay makes NISCA All-America list

The National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association (NISCA) recognized the national list of All-American performers for the 2024-25 and there was a small bit of Aurora recognition.

Cherokee Trail’s All-American performance came from junior Tyson Walker, who made it in the 200 individual medley. He placed seventh in the 5A finals in the event with an adjusted time of 1:49.79 that tied him for 84th nationally.

Grandview, Smoky Hill rack up NISCA Academic All-American awards

The National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association (NISCA) recognized the national list of All-American performers for the 2024-25 and there was a small bit of Aurora recognition.

NISCA honors the top 100 individuals and relay teams in each of the 12 events who achieved a prescribed standard and that just included Grandview’s 200 yard freestyle relay team.

Swimmers from Cherry Creek, Cheyenne Mountain, Columbine, Douglas County, Fairview, Fossil Ridge, Greeley West, Highlands Ranch, Legacy, Monarch, Mullen, Poudre and Valor Christian also represented Colorado on the NISCA the All-American list. Visit sentinelcolorado.com/preps for the complete list.

NISCA honors the top 100 individuals and relay teams in each of the 12 events who achieved a prescribed standard and that just included Grandview’s 200 yard freestyle relay team.

At the Class 5A girls state swim meet in February, the Wolves’ team of sophomores Makenna Dyk and Jasia Barnes plus freshmen Paige Gust and Emma Busta placed sixth for coach James Boone’s team. The Grandview team’s time of 1 minute, 36.53 seconds, earned it a tie for 99th place on the national list of All-Americans.

SWIMMING Grandview, Smoky Hill rack up NISCA Academic All-American awards

A combined double-digit number of Aurora-area boys and girls swimmers from Grandview and Smoky Hill were elite out of the water during the 202425 season.

The National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association (NISCA) honors top student-athletes from across the country as Academic All-Americans, which are defined as graduating seniors and lettered that season with a high school program (in swimming, diving or water polo), while they also must have a minimum Grade Point Average of 3.750 on a 4 point scale or 93.7500% of the grade scale their school uses for 7 semesters/11 trimesters.

Swimmers from Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Cherry Creek, Cheyenne Mountain, Fairview, Fossil Ridge, Heritage, Lewis-Palmer, Monarch, Pine Creek, ThunderRidge and Valor Christian also represent Colorado with spots on the NISCA All-American list. Visit sentinelcolorado.com/preps for the complete list.

The girls Academic All-American list features the Smoky Hill group of Ella Ambruso, Morgan Goodrich, Julia Kaiser and Brianna Obot along with Grandview’s Anastasiya and Kateryna Fajda and Baylie Renner.

Visit sentinelcolorado.com/preps for the complete list of Colorado boys and girls swimmers to achieve NISCA Academic All-American honors.

Grandview and Smoky Hill each landed seven Academic All-American spots. The Wolves had a multiple-time swimming All-American in Oliver Schimberg, who was joined by teammates Evan Linnebur, Vince McCush and Kire Olofson on the boys Academic All-American list, which also included the Buffaloes’ Coleman Masterson, Eli Neely and Charlie Newton.

sentinelcolorado.com/preps for the complete list of Colorado and girls swimmers to achieve Academic All-American

BOYS BASKETBALL

Aurora teams takes part in Colorado Live Showcase

BOYS BASKETBALL Aurora teams takes in Colorado Live

Several Aurora area boys ball teams got the chance major exposure during the Live Showcase event, which 26-June 29 at Northfield

Several Aurora area boys basketball teams got the chance for some major exposure during the Colorado Live Showcase event, which ran June 26-June 29 at Northfield High School. The event — a scholastic live period exposure tournament put on by the Colorado High School Activities Association and the Colorado High School Coaches Association — including visiting teams from a variety of states. The Colorado representation included Aurora

The event — a scholastic exposure tournament put orado High School Activities and the Colorado High School Association — including visiting from a variety of states. The resentation included Aurora Cherokee Trail,

in a variety of

a variety of

from

Visit sentinelcolorado.com/preps for more on Aurora teams’ performances.

Visit sentinelcolorado.com/preps more on Aurora teams’ performances.

The girls Academic All-American features the Smoky Hill group Ambruso, Morgan Goodrich, ser and Brianna Obot along view’s Anastasiya and Kateryna and Baylie Renner. Visit

honors.

Grandview, Regis Jesuit and Vista PEAK peared in

brackets.

TOP: The final awards for Oliver Schimberg’s final season with the Grandview boys swim team have come in and he made the National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association All-America list in multiple swimming events, while he was also one of a double-digit number of Aurora area boys and girls swimmers to achieve Academic All-American status. Cherokee Trail senior Kaeli Powe received Colorado’s Gatorade Player of the Year award in girls track for the 2025 season. ABOVE RIGHT: Archie Weatherspoon V (5) led the boys basketball team in its appearance at the Colorado Live Showcase at Northfield High School. (Photos by COURTNEY OAKES/Aurora Sentinel)

SWIMMING

entrants

Cherokee Trail, Grandview, Rangeview, Regis Jesuit and Vista PEAK Prep, who appeared

brackets.

TOP: The final awards for Oliver Schimberg’s final season with the Grandview boys swim team have come in and he made the National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association (NISCA) All-America list in multiple swimming events, while he was also one of a double-digit number of Aurora area boys and girls swimmers to achieve Academic All-American status. ABOVE LEFT: Cherokee Trail senior Kaeli Powe received Colorado’s Gatorade Player of the Year award in girls track for the 2025 season. ABOVE RIGHT: Archie Weatherspoon V (5) led the Rangeview boys basketball team in its appearance at the Colorado Live Showcase at Northfield High School. (Photos by COURTNEY OAKES/Aurora Sentinel)

DIAMOND STARS

All-Aurora Baseball Team loaded with players from Regis Jesuit and Grandview

BY COURTNEY OAKES Sports Editor

In a virtual carbon copy of last season, the Class 5A state baseball championship slipped away from an Aurora area team and another made it to the final four.

Regis Jesuit fell to Cherry Creek for a second straight time on the last day of the 5A Championship Series and Grandview lost in the semifinals — in an all-Aurora matchup with the Raiders — but both programs were loaded with championship-caliber talent.

Regis Jesuit and Grandview players appear heavily on the 2025 Aurora Sentinel All-Aurora Baseball Team, which is picked by the Sentinel in conjunction with balloting of area coaches. Cherokee Trail is among the others represented. Pitching played a vital role for coach Matt Darr’s Regis Jesuit team, which finished 22-9 and brought home the state runner-up trophy for a second straight season. The Raiders had the area’s top mound duo in senior Luke Reasbeck and junior Hudson Alpert, who both made the All-Continental League first team and were All-State selections by the Colorado High School Activities Association (Alpert first team, Reasbeck second team).

Alpert garnered Continental League Pitcher of the Year honors after a season in which he finished with a 6-3 record and a 1.76 ERA. Alpert threw a complete game against league rival Mountain Vista in the regional championship game with 13 strikeouts to get Regis Jesuit into the Championship Series, where he started the opener against Arvada West. Alpert had to come out of the game due to injury, however, and he was unable to recover in time to pitch again.

Without Alpert, the Raiders (who got a big boost from the emergence of sophomore Mikey Kroll) leaned heavily on

Reasbeck, a Division I commitment with North Greenville University. Reasbeck was outstanding in the postseason as he allowed just three runs in 11 innings in a pair of starts. He nearly defeated Cherry Creek on the final day of the opening weekend, but the Bruins rallied for a 4-3 walkoff win after he excited. Reasbeck finished with a 5-1 record with a 1.85 ERA, while he had an impressive 53 strikeouts against just four walks.

Helping to get the most from all of Regis Jesuit arms was senior catcher Nick Wiley, the Raiders’ third All-Continental League first team performer. Wiley got on the same page often with his pitchers and was strong defensively, while at the plate he had a penchant for coming through with key hits. The Anderson University recruit led Regis Jesuit with 19 RBI, shared the team lead with four home runs and hit .389.

Regis Jesuit had one of the area’s outstanding outfielders as well in Christian Lopez, a four-year varsity starter who earned All-Continental League second team honors. Lopez — a Cal State Bakerfield recruit — had the highest average among Raiders’ regulars at .393, while paced his squad in hits (33), runs scored (22), walks (16) and stolen bases (15) and reached base via hit or walk in half of his at-bats.

Grandview loaded up the All-Centennial League first team with seven players, which helped coach Scott Henry’s Wolves finish as the runner-up to Cherry Creek in the final league standings and repeat its run to the semifinals.

While plenty of talent returned from last season’s trip to the Final Four, the emergence of younger players such as Ethan Wachsmann made a big difference.

As a sophomore, Wachsmann pitched sparingly, but he blossomed as a junior. He easily led Aurora area pitchers with eight wins (against two losses) with two complete games and one of those was a seven-inning no-hitter against

Trail. Wachsmann struck out 80 hitters in 50 1/3 innings and finished with a 1.77 ERA, while he also played regularly in the outfield when not pitching and had a strong season offensively as well.

Versatility was also a hallmark for Grandview, which had a wide variety of two-way players in its lineup. Another of those was senior Jax Pfister, who was the ultimate utility player and was acknowleged as such by league coaches. Thanks to the Wolves’ increased pitching depth, Pfister logged less innings than usual on the mound — as his 37 2/3 marked a career low in four seasons — but he finished with a 5-1 record with a save and a 2.79 ERA. Pfister didn’t hit as well as he did last season, but still drove in 17 runs, while his play at first base was vital to Grandview’s best defensive performance.

Senior Chase Chapman earns an All-Aurora spot on the infield after a campaign in which he made the all-league first

Cherokee

STARS Grandview

team and CHSAA All-State second team. Chapman played a key defensive spot at shortstop, while his hitting and speed were major assets to the Wolves’ lineup. He led Grandview in plate appearances with 104 on the season and turned in a sparkling .451 batting average to lead his squad. Chapman had a team-high 37 hits and a whopping 21 of them went for extra bases, including 16 doubles. He knocked in 24 runs to tie for the team lead, paced a “smallball” Grandview team with 24 stolen bases and scored a team-high 29 runs. He is uncommitted.

Kyler Vaughn’s junior season in baseball for Grandview was limited to a postseason appearance (in which he hit a home run) due to an injury suffered in football, but he had health on his side as a senior. Vaughn got the chance to showcase what he could do both in the field — where he used his speed to track down and prevent a variety of

balls from falling — and offensively. The Drury University committment finished only behind Chapman in both runs scored (he had 27) and stolen bases (18).

Cherokee Trail went 15-11 overall and missed the 5A Championship Series for the first time in three seasons, but coach Jon DiGiorgio’s team was hard to beat with senior Carter Wilcox on the mound.

The University of Iowa-bound right-handed pitcher had a healthy lead on other area hurlers in two categories, strikeouts and innings pitched, while he also had strong numbers in the win column and ERA. Wilcox racked up a whopping 116 strikeouts in 56 2/3 innings pitched and finished with a 5-4 record.

Also making the All-Aurora first team from Cherokee Trail is senior outfielder Landon McWilliams, who joined Wilcox on the All-Centennial League first team. McWilliams

FAR LEFT: Ethan Wachsmann had an outstanding junior season for the Grandview baseball team, as he led Aurora area pitchers with eight wins and also contributed in the field as he earned a spot on the 2025 Aurora Sentinel All-Aurora Baseball Team. FAR LEFT BELOW: Grandview senior Jax Pfister was an invaluable utility player in 2025 as both a pitcher and infielder. CENTER BELOW: Grandview senior Chase Chapman, left, played outstanding defense at shortstop and also had a batting average near .500 to earn a spot on the All-Aurora team. BELOW RIGHT: Colorado League Player of the Year Heber Almeida earned a utility spot on the All-Aurora team with his contributions on the mound and in the field in his junior season at Gateway, which qualified for the Class 4A regional postseason. LEFT: In his fourth varsity season with the Regis Jesuit baseball team, senior outfielder Christian Lopez used his speed all over the field to help the Raiders as they reached the Class 5A state championship game. (Photos by Courtney Oakes/Aurora Sentinel)

ON THE COVER: A no-hitter was just part of an outstanding junior season for Grandview’s Ethan Wachsmann, a Wake Forest commitment who helped the Wolves earn a second straight trip to the Class 5A state semifinals. He is a first-time member of the Aurora Sentinel All-Aurora Baseball Team. (Photo by Courtney Oakes/Aurora Sentinel)

paced the Cougars in batting average among regulars (.350), hits (28, including 10 for extra bases), runs scored (20) and RBI (18), which he also collected six stolen bases.

Other than the semifinal and title runs of Grandview and Regis Jesuit, the most significant achievement in Aurora baseball came from Gateway, which won the Colorado League championship and ended a lengthy postseason drought. Coach Rashad Mason’s Olys went from nine wins in 2024 to 12 wins in 2025 and earned a spot in the 4A postseason, which ended in the first round with a loss to top-seeded Pueblo County. A big part of Gateway’s resurgence was the play of junior Heber Almeida, who contributed in multiple ways.

Almeida won Colorado League Player of the Year honors for a season in which he hit .390, finished second on his team in runs scored with 30 (also second among all Aurora

DISTRICT COURT, ARAPAHOE COUNTY, COLORADO

NOTICE TO NON-CUSTODIAL PARENT BY PUBLICATION Case No. 2025CV102

In the Matter of the Petition of:

Parent/Petitioner: Ryan Reid for Minor Child: Ryder Janis

to Change the Child’s Name to: Ryder Reid

Notice to: Chynna Janis

Notice is given that a hearing is scheduled as follows:

Date: July 9, 2025

Time: 9:15 a.m.

Location: Division 34 Webex-Arapahoe for the purpose of requesting a change of name for Ryder Nathan Janis.

At this hearing the Court may enter an order changing the name of the minor child.

To support or voice objection to the proposed name change, you must appear at the hearing.

Date: May 5, 2025 Ryan Reid 5161 S. Quintero St. Centennial, CO 80015

First Publication: June 19, 2025

Final Publication: July 3, 2025 Sentinel

DISTRICT COURT, ADAMS COUNTY, COLORADO

NOTICE OF HEARING BY PUBLICATION

PURSUANT TO §15-10-401, C.R.S.

In the Matter of the Estate of: Ethel Elizabeth Kohler aka Ethel Kohler, Deceased.

To: All known and unknown Heirs.

Last Known Address, if any: Unknown

A Non-Appearance Hearing is scheduled on Application for Informal Appointment of Personal Representative in the Matter of the Estate of Ethel Elizabeth Kohler aka Ethel Kohler, deceased for the lands located in Morgan County, Colorado, and described as follows:

Township 5 North, Range 60 West, 6th

P.M., Section 18: Lots 3 & 4, NE/4, W/2SE/4, E/2SW/4

will be held at the following time and location or at a later date to which the hearing may be continued:

Date: July 22, 2025

Time: 8:00 a.m. Address: Adams County District Court 1100 Judicial Center Drive, Brighton, CO 80601

David John Kohler

6637 Jannie St. North Richland Hills, TX 76180

Simon Tolbert

Atty Reg #: 43094

Mountain States Energy Attorney & Advisors, PLLC dba Tolbert Law Office, PLLC 1800 Gelman Pl. Ste. 1002 Denver, CO 80202 Phone: 720-588-8645

First Publication: June 19, 2025

Final Publication: July 3, 2025 Sentinel IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE EIGHTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA NOTICE OF PETITION TO TERMINATE PARENTAL RIGHTS PENDING STEP-PARENT ADOPTION AND NOTICE OF HEARING CASE NO.: 05-2023-DR-36148

IN RE: The Matter of the Adoption of: CAMDYN CRUISE BRETZ DATE OF BIRTH: 6/19/2013 MINOR CHILD

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that a PETITION TO TERMINATE PARENTAL RIGHTS PENDING ADOPTION BY STEP-PARENT HAS BEEN FILED. This Petition was previously CONSTRUCTIVELY SERVED VIA PUBLICATION.

There will be a Hearing on the Petition to Terminate Parental Rights Pending Step-Parent Adoption before Judge Michelle Studstill on the 15TH day of JULY, 2025 at 3:30 p.m. This Hearing shall take place at the Brevard County Courthouse, 2825 Judge Fran Jamieson Way, Viera Florida 32940. PLEASE CONTACT THE JUDGE’S ASSISTANT AT 321-633-2000 TO FACILITATE. The Court has reserved 30 minutes for this Hearing.

If you executed a Consent to Adoption or Affidavit of Non-Paternity and a Waiver of Venue, you have the right to request that the Hearing on the Petition to Terminate Parental Rights be transferred to the County in which you reside. You may object by appearing at the Hearing or filing a written objection with the Court.

UNDER SECTION 63.809, FLORIDA STATUTES, FAILURE TO FILE A WRITTEN RESPONSE TO THIS NOTICE WITH THE COURT OR TO APPEAR AT THIS HEARING CONSTITUTES GROUNDS UPON WHICH THE COURT SHALL END ANY PARENTAL RIGHTS YOU MAY HAVE REGARDING ANY MINOR CHILD

SUBJECT TO THIS PROCEEDING.

BY:

reidshawn943@gmail.com

First Publication: June 5, 2025

Final Publication: July 3, 2025 Sentinel IN THE CIRCUIT COURT THIRD JUDICIAL CIRCUIT MADISON COUNTY, ILLINOIS NOTICE BY PUBLICATION Case No. 23-LA-1316

Jeannie Short, Individually and as Special Administrator of the Estate of Robert Short, Deceased, Plaintiff

A.W. CHESTERTON COMPANY, et al., Defendants.

NOTICE IS GIVEN YOU Rickie Don Short, unknown heirs of Robert Short, and unknown heirs of Rickie Don Short that a Motion to Allocate Settlement Proceeds in this case, which involves a claim you may have as a next of kin of Robert Short, will be heard via Zoom teleconference on July 29th, 2025 at 10 am CST (9AM MT/8 am PT), before the Honorable Judge Andrew Carruthers, Madison County Courthouse 155 North Main Street, Courtroom 327, Edwardsville, IL 62025, or before such other judge as may be sitting in his stead. Zoom link: https:us06web.zoom.us/ j/87333202491?pwd=ZrcWUhFGz1ozbxFMVh2MdYFqTmwMVK.1

Meeting ID: 873 3320 2491 Passcode: 342538

UNLESS YOU file your answer or otherwise file your appearance in this case in the office of the Clerk of this Court, on or before July 29, 2025, or appear at the hearing on said date, A JUDGMENT MAY BE ENTERED ADJUDICATING YOUR RIGHTS AND THIS HEARING MAY PROCEED IN YOUR ABSENCE.

Dated: June 17, 2025

/s/ Clerk of the Circuit Court

/s/ Megan Williams By: Attorney — IL Bar No. 6302125

One Court Street

Alton, IL 62002

Phone: 618-259-2222

Fax: 618-259-2251

First Publication: June 26, 2025

Final Publication: July 10, 2025 Sentinel

NOTICE OF FINAL SETTLEMENT

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN pursuant to § 38-26-107, C.R.S., that on July 24, 2025 final settlement with Conroy Excavating, Inc, will be made by East Cherry Creek Valley Water and Sanitation District, for the “2024 Well Decommissioning, Site L-14” subject to satisfactory final inspection and acceptance of said facilities by the District. Any person, co-partnership, association of persons, company or corporation that has furnished labor, materials, team hire, sustenance, provisions, provender, or other supplies used or consumed by such contractor or his or her subcontractor in or about the performance of the work contracted to be done or that supplies, laborers, rental machinery, tools, or equipment to the extent used in the prosecution of the work whose claim therefore has not been paid by the contractor or subcontractor, at any time up to and including the time of final settlement for the work contracted to be done, may file a verified statement of the amount due and unpaid on such claim with East Cherry Creek Valley Water & Sanitation District, c/o, Mr. Dave Kaunisto, District Manager, 6201 S. Gun Club Road, Aurora, Colorado 80016. Failure to file such verified statement or claim prior to final settlement will release the District and its employees and agents from any and all liability for such claim and for making final payment to said contractor.

East Cherry Creek Valley Water & Sanitation District

First Publication: June 26, 2025 Final Publication: July 3, 2025 Sentinel

NOTICE OF FINAL SETTLEMENT

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN pursuant to § 38-26-107, C.R.S., that on July 24, 2025 final settlement with Conroy Excavating, Inc, will be made by East Cherry Creek Valley Water and Sanitation District, for the “2024 Well Decommissioning, Site A-3/L-3” subject to satisfactory final inspection and acceptance of said facilities by the District. Any person, co-partnership, association of persons, company or corporation that has furnished labor, materials, team hire, sustenance, provisions, provender, or other supplies used or consumed by such contractor or his or her subcontractor in or about the performance of the work contracted to be done or that supplies, laborers, rental machinery, tools, or equipment to the extent used in the prosecution of the work whose claim therefore has not been paid by the contractor or subcontractor, at any time up to and including the time of final settlement for the work contracted to be done, may file a verified statement of the amount due and unpaid on such claim with East Cherry Creek Valley Water & Sanitation District, c/o, Mr. Dave Kaunisto, District Manager, 6201 S. Gun Club Road, Aurora, Colorado 80016. Failure to file such verified statement or claim prior to final settlement will release the District and its employees and agents from any and all liability for such claim and for making final payment to said contractor.

East Cherry Creek Valley Water & Sanitation District

First Publication: June 26, 2025

Final Publication: July 3, 2025 Sentinel

NOTICE OF HEARING BY PUBLICATION

INTERESTED PERSONS AND OWNERS BY DESCENT OR SUCCESSION

PURSUANT TO § 15-12-1303, C.R.S. Case No. 2024PR31054

In the Matter of the Estate of: ELAINE FRANCES VINCENT, aka ELAINE F. VINCENT, aka ELAINE VINCENT; Deceased.

To all interested persons and owners by descent or succession: Jacqueline Pelletier, Marie Witter, Kyle Pelletier, Renne Beason, Andrea Smith, Steven Pelletier, Brock Pelletier, and Tess Dove.

A Petition for Determination of Heirs has been filed alleging that the above Decedent died leaving the following property:

Titled Ownership Estate of Elaine Frances Vincent

Description of Property 100% of Decedent Estate of Elaine Frances Vincent

Location of Property

Arapahoe County District Court probate case 2024PR31054

The hearing on the petition will be held at the following time and location or at a later date to which the hearing may be continued:

Date: August 14, 2025 Time: 8:00 a.m.

Address: 7325 S. Potomac St, Centennial, CO 80112

Courtroom or Division: 12

This is a hearing without appearance; attendance is not required or expected.

Note:

You must answer the petition on or before the hearing date and time specified above.

Within the time required for answering the petition, all objections to the petition must be in writing, filed with the court and served on the petitioner and any required filing fee must be paid.

The hearing shall be limited to the petition, the objections timely filed and the parties answering the petition in a timely manner. If the petition is not answered and no objections are filed, the court may enter a decree without a hearing.

Personal Representative: Marco D. Chayet, #29815, 18th Judicial District Public Administrator Jennifer R. Oviatt, 18th Judicial District Deputy Public Administrator Chayet & Danzo, LLC 650 S. Cherry St., Ste. 710, Denver, CO 80246 P.O. Box 460749, Denver, CO 80246

Phone Number: (303) 355-8520 Fax Number: (303) 355-8501

E-mail: PublicAdministrator@ColoradoElderLaw.com

First Publication: June 26, 2025 Final Publication: July 10, 2025

Sentinel

NOTICE OF HEARING BY PUBLICATION

INTERESTED PERSONS AND OWNERS BY DESCENT OR SUCCESSION

PURSUANT TO § 15-12-1303, C.R.S. Case No. 2024PR30668

In the Matter of the Estate of: CANDACE M. LYKKEN, Deceased.

To all interested persons and owners by descent or succession: Pamela Torkelson, Susan Thomey, and Sjanet Erhard.

A Petition for Determination of Heirs has been filed alleging that the above Decedent died leaving the following property:

Titled Ownership Estate of Candace Mae Lykken

Description of Property 100% of Decedent Estate of Candace Mae Lykken

Location of Property

Arapahoe County District Court probate case 2024PR30668

The hearing on the petition will be held at the following time and location or at a later date to which the hearing may be continued:

Date: August 14, 2025

Time: 8:00 a.m.

Address: 7325 S. Potomac St, Centennial, CO 80112

Courtroom or Division: 12

This is a hearing without appearance; attendance is not required or expected.

Note:

You must answer the petition on or before the hearing date and time specified above.

Within the time required for answering the petition, all objections to the petition must be in writing, filed with the court and served on the petitioner and any required filing fee must be paid.

Personal Representative: Marco D. Chayet, #29815, 18th Judicial

District Public Administrator

Jennifer R. Oviatt, 18th Judicial District

Deputy Public Administrator Chayet & Danzo, LLC 650 S. Cherry St., Ste. 710, Denver, CO

80246 P.O. Box 460749, Denver, CO 80246

Phone Number: (303) 355-8520 Fax Number: (303) 355-8501

E-mail: PublicAdministrator@ColoradoElderLaw.com

First Publication: June 26, 2025

Final Publication: July 10, 2025 Sentinel

NOTICE OF HEARING ON INCLUSION

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that there has been filed with the Board of Directors of the Green Valley Ranch East Metropolitan District No. 10, City of Aurora, Adams County, Colorado, a petition praying for the inclusion of certain property into the boundaries of the Green Valley Ranch East Metropolitan District No. 10. All interested persons are hereby notified that they should appear at a public meeting on Friday, July 11, 2025, at 10:00 A.M., via video conference at https://us06web. zoom.us/j/83550667551?pwd=mp3HbMOFpzbau6xAEihPhbDkwCRMa5.1 and via telephone conference at Dial-In: 1-719-359-4580, Meeting ID: 835 5066 7551, Passcode: 113762, and show cause in writing why the petition should not be granted.

The name and address of the petitioner and the general description of the property proposed for inclusion in the petition is as follows:

PETITIONER: AURORA 310 PROPERTY LLC

ADDRESS: 4100 E. MISSISSIPPI AVENUE, SUITE 500 GLENDALE, COLORADO 80246

PROPERTY DESCRIPTION: A PARCEL OF LAND LOCATED WITHIN THE NORTHWEST QUARTER OF SECTION 13, TOWNSHIP 3 SOUTH, RANGE 66 WEST OF THE SIXTH PRINCIPAL MERIDIAN, CITY OF AURORA, ADAMS COUNTY, COLORADO.

A full and complete legal description of the properties petitioned for inclusion are on file at the offices of Icenogle Seaver Pogue, P.C., 4725 S. Monaco Street, Suite 360, Denver, Colorado 80237 and is available for public inspection during regular business hours 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. BY ORDER OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS: GREEN VALLEY RANCH EAST METROPOLITAN DISTRICT NO. 10

By: ICENOGLE SEAVER POGUE A Professional Corporation General Counsel to the District

Publication: July 3, 2025 Sentinel

NOTICE OF HEARING ON INCLUSION

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that there has been filed with the Board of Directors of the Green Valley Ranch East Metropolitan District No. 11, City of Aurora, Adams County, Colorado, a petition praying for the inclusion of certain property into the boundaries of the Green Valley Ranch East Metropolitan District No. 11. All interested persons are hereby notified that they should appear at a public meeting on Friday, July 11, 2025, at 10:00 A.M., via video conference at https://us06web.zoom. us/j/83550667551?pwd=mp3HbMOFpzbau6xAEihPhbDkw.1 and via telephone conference at Dial-In: 1-719-359-4580, Meeting ID: 835 5066 7551, Passcode: 113762, and show cause in writing why the petition should not be granted.

The name and address of the petitioner and the general description of the property proposed for inclusion in the petition is as follows:

PETITIONER: Aurora 310 PROPERTY LLC

ADDRESS: 4100 E. Mississippi Avenue, Suite 500 Glendale, Colorado 80246

PROPERTY DESCRIPTION: A PARCEL OF LAND LOCATED WITHIN THE NORTHWEST QUARTER OF SECTION 13, TOWNSHIP 3 SOUTH, RANGE 66 WEST OF THE SIXTH PRINCIPAL MERIDIAN, CITY OF AURORA, ADAMS COUNTY, COLORADO.

DISTRICT NO. 11 By: Icenogle Seaver Pogue A Professional Corporation General Counsel to the District

Publication: July 3, 2025 Sentinel

NOTICE TO NON-CUSTODIAL

PARENT BY PUBLICATION Case No. 2025CV156

In the Matter of the Petition of:

Parent/Petitioner: Lindsay Lowther for Minor Child: Remy Rae Hernandez Lowther to Change the Child’s Name to: Remy Ray Lowther

Notice to: Rolando Hernandez, non-custodial parent.

Notice is given that a hearing is scheduled as follows:

Date: July 30, 2025 Time: 9:45 a.m. Location: Division 34 by Webex

for the purpose of requesting a change of name for: Remy Rae Hernandez Lowther.

At this hearing the Court may enter an order changing the name of the minor child.

To support or voice objection to the proposed name change, you must appear at the hearing.

Date: May 8, 2025 /s/ Lindsay Lowther 19716 E. Oxford Dr. Aurora, CO 80013

First Publication: June 19, 2025

Final Publication: July 3, 2025 Sentinel

REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS/PROPOSALS

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE THAT Aerotropolis Area Coordinating Metropolitan District, a quasi-municipal corporation and political subdivision of the State of Colorado, is soliciting qualifications and proposals from qualified contractors to be selected as the North Area B Drainage Phase 1A Contractor for the Aurora Highlands Project in Aurora, CO.

Please be advised that the Aerotropolis Area Coordinating Metropolitan District is planning to publish this Request for Qualifications/Proposals contemporaneously on BidNet. A full copy of this Request for Qualifications/Proposals will be available at the following link: https://www.bidnetdirect. com/private/supplier/solicitations/search, use the BidNet search tool for open solicitation named “North Area B Drainage Phase 1A” Reference No. 2025 - 1005.

Qualification/Proposal submittals must be electronically submitted via BidNet before 12:00 p.m. Mountain Time on Thursday July 31, 2025. Qualifications/Proposals will not be accepted after the foregoing submission deadline, and hardcopies of Qualifications/Proposals will not be accepted.

A public opening will be held at 2:00 p.m. Mountain Time on Thursday July 31, 2025 via Microsoft Teams. A link to this event can be found in the Request for Qualifications/Proposals.

For further information contact: Tim Hammer Sr CM Project Manager tim.hammer@aecom.com

Publication: July 3, 2025 Sentinel

VEHICLES FOR SALE

2015 JEEP CHEROKEE VIN-687486

2021 KAWASAKI EX400 MOTORCYCLE VIN—AB5569

Extreme Towing 303-344-1400

Publication: July 3, 2025

Sentinel

NOTICE TO CREDITORS BY PUBLICATION

PURSUANT TO §15-12-801 C.R.S. Case No. 2025PR30628

Estate of SANTIAGO REYES TALAMANTES aka SANTIAGO R. TALAMANTES aka SANTIAGO TALAMANTES, Deceased.

All persons having claims against the above-named estate are required to present them to the Personal Representative or to the District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado, on or before November 3, 2025, or the claims may be forever barred. Michael Talamantes

Personal Representative 344 Basilwood Way Highlands Ranch, CO 80126

Attorney for Personal Representative Abby C. Boyd

Atty Reg #: 47699

Kingsbery, Johnson & Love LLP 2672 North Park Drive Ste. 100 Lafayette, CO 80026

Phone: 303-443-4694

First Publication: July 3, 2025

Final Publication: July 17, 2025

Sentinel

NOTICE TO CREDITORS BY PUBLICATION

PURSUANT TO §15-12-801, C.R.S. Case No. 2025PR238

Estate of Kendalyn Hansen, Deceased.

All persons having claims against the above-named estate are required to present them to the Personal Representative or to the District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado, on or before November 1, 2025, or the claims may be forever barred. Debra Boutwell

Personal Representative 33 Pelican Roost 3 Brule, NE 69127

First Publication: July 3, 2025

Final Publication: July 17, 2025 Sentinel

NOTICE TO CREDITORS BY PUBLICATION

PURSUANT TO §15-12-801, C.R.S. Case No. 2025PR277

Estate of Chad Earl Howeth aka Chad E. Howeth aka Chad Howeth, Deceased. All persons having claims against the above-named estate are required to present them to the Personal Representative or to the District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado, on or before November 1, 2025, or the claims may be forever barred. Kathleen Mi Young Personal Representative 6667 S. Jackson Ct. Centennial, CO 80121

First Publication: July 3, 2025 Final Publication: July 17, 2025 Sentinel

NOTICE TO CREDITORS BY PUBLICATION

PURSUANT TO §15-12-801, C.R.S. Case No.

Ste. 502 Denver, CO 80222

Phone: 303-268-3991

First Publication: June 26, 2025

Final Publication: July 10, 2025 Sentinel

NOTICE TO CREDITORS BY PUBLICATION

PURSUANT TO §15-12-801, C.R.S.

Case No. 2025PR30572

Estate of Louella MacDonald Creager aka Louella MacDonald-Creager, Deceased.

All persons having claims against the above-named estate are required to present them to the Personal Representative or to the District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado, on or before October 26, 2025, or the claims may be forever barred.

Attorney for Personal Representative

Kristi Radosevich

Atty Reg #: 34335 Karnopp, Radosevich & Preston, LLC PO Box 2708 Elizabeth, CO 80107

Phone: 303-646-2763

First Publication: June 26, 2025

Final Publication: July 10, 2025 Sentinel

NOTICE TO CREDITORS BY PUBLICATION

PURSUANT TO §15-12-801, C.R.S.

Case No. 2025PR30607

Estate of Mary Louise Stern, Deceased.

All persons having claims against the above-named estate are required to present them to the Personal Representative or to the District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado, on or before October 20, 2025, or the claims may be forever barred.

Lisa L. Casey Personal Representative P.O. Box 56 Granger, IN 46530

First Publication: June 19, 2025

Final Publication: July 3, 2025

Sentinel

NOTICE TO CREDITORS BY PUBLICATION

PURSUANT TO §15-12-801, C.R.S.

Case No. 2025PR30618

Estate of Arthur Thomas Moore aka Arthur T. Moore aka Arthur Moore, Deceased.

Joe Battaglia and Angelo Zaffuto

Personal Representatives 445 Nile St./ 10101 W. Roma Ave. Aurora, CO 80010 /Phoenix, AZ 85037

First Publication: July 3, 2025

Final Publication: July 17, 2025

Sentinel

NOTICE TO CREDITORS BY PUBLICATION

PURSUANT TO §15-12-801, C.R.S.

Case No. 2025PR30619

Estate of Hannelore Rivelli aka Lori Rivelli, Deceased.

All persons having claims against the above-named estate are required to present them to the Personal Representative or to the District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado, on or before October 26, 2025, or the claims may be forever barred.

Renate Rivelli

Personal Representative c/o Baker Law Group, PLLC 8301 E. Prentice Ave., #405 Greenwood Village, CO 80111

First Publication: June 26, 2025

Final Publication: July 10, 2025

Sentinel

NOTICE TO CREDITORS BY PUBLICATION

PURSUANT TO §15-12-801, C.R.S. Case No. 2025PR30627

Estate of Philip J. Zimmerman, Deceased.

All persons having claims against the above-named estate are required to present them to the Personal Representative or to the District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado, on or before October 27, 2025, or the claims may be forever barred.

Carol A. Zimmerman

Personal Representative 7803 S. Windermere Cir. Littleton, CO 80120

First Publication: June 26, 2025

Final Publication: July 10, 2025

Sentinel

NOTICE TO CREDITORS BY PUBLICATION

PURSUANT TO §15-12-801, C.R.S. Case No. 2025PR95

Estate of Mary Georgia Lynn Berish, Deceased.

Theresa Robinson

Personal Representative 1935 Dayton St., Aurora, CO 80010

303-506-6060

First Publication: July 3, 2025

Final Publication: July 17, 2025 Sentinel

NOTICE TO CREDITORS BY PUBLICATION

PURSUANT TO 15-12-801, C.R.S. Case No. 2025PR30594

Estate of Robert Wayne McBride, Jr. aka Robert W. McBride, Jr., aka Robert W. McBride II aka Robert W. McBride, Deceased.

All persons having claims against the above-named estate are required to present them to the Personal Representative or to the District Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado, on or before October 17, 2025, or the claims may be forever barred.

Richard B. Vincent

Atty Reg #: 13843 Vincent & Romeo, LLC 5460 S. Quebec St., Ste. 333 Englewood, CO 80111

Phone: 303-604-6030

First Publication: June 26, 2025

Final Publication: July 10, 2025 Sentinel

PUBLIC NOTICE OF PETITION FOR CHANGE OF NAME OF A MI- NOR ARAPAHOE COUNTY COURT, COLORADO Case No. 2025CV445

PUBLIC NOTICE is given on April 10, 2025, that a Petition was filed for a Change of Name of a Mi- nor has been filed with the Arapahoe County Court.

The Petition entered that the name of

Aaron Santiago Rodriguez Cabrera be changed to Aaron Santiago Serech Rodriguez.

/s/ Clerk of Court/ Deputy Clerk

First Publication: June 19, 2025

Final Publication: July 3, 2025

Sentinel

PUBLIC NOTICE OF PETITION FOR CHANGE OF NAME OF A MINOR ADAMS COUNTY COURT, COLORADO Case No. 2012DR2131

PUBLIC NOTICE is given on June 12, 2025, that a Petition was filed for a Change of Name of a Minor has been filed with the Adams County Court.

The Petition entered that the name of Viola Elena Lucero be changed to Viola Elena Sanchez.

/s/ Michal Anne Lord-Blegen/ District Court Judge

First Publication: June 26, 2025

Final Publication: July 10, 2025

Sentinel

PUBLIC NOTICE OF PETITION FOR CHANGE OF NAME OF A MINOR ARAPAHOE COUNTY COURT, COLORADO Case No. 2025CV178

PUBLIC NOTICE is given on June 2, 2025, that a Petition was filed for a Change of Name of a Minor has been filed with the Arapahoe County Court.

The Petition entered that the name of Stephen Hawk Hughes be changed to Hawk Stephen Hughes.

/s/ Clerk of Court/Deputy Clerk

First Publication: June 19, 2025

Final Publication: July 3, 2025

Sentinel

PUBLIC NOTICE OF PETITION FOR CHANGE OF NAME OF A MINOR DENVER COUNTY COURT, COLORADO Case No. 2025CV31046

PUBLIC NOTICE is given on March 24, 2025, that a Petition was filed for a Change of Name of a Mi- nor has been filed with the Denver County Court.

The Petition entered that the name of Manuel Ayala be changed to Manuel Garcia Ayala.

/s/ Clerk of Court

First Publication: June 26, 2025

Final Publication: July 10, 2025

Sentinel

PUBLIC NOTICE OF PETITION FOR CHANGE OF NAME OF AN ADULT ARAPAHOE COUNTY COURT, COLORADO Case No. 2025C100497

PUBLIC NOTICE is given on June 10, 2025, that a Petition was filed for a Change of Name of an Adult has been filed with the Arapahoe County Court.

The Petition entered that the name of Reuel Shashank Indurkar be changed to Reuel Karr.

/s/ Clerk of Court/ Deputy Clerk

First Publication: June 26, 2025

Final Publication: July 10, 2025 Sentinel DISTRICT COURT, ARAPAHOE COUNTY, STATE OF COLORADO CONSOLIDATED NOTICE OF PUBLICATION

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT IN THE FOLLOWING ACTIONS FILED IN THIS COURT UNDER THE “UNIFORM DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE” AND “UNIFORM CHILD CUSTODY JURISDICTION” ACTS, due diligence has been used to obtain personal service within the State of Colorado and further efforts would be to no avail; therefore, publication has been ordered: CASE NUMBER NAME TYPE OF ACTION

2025DR000388 Gabriela Valdez Leyva v Pedro Cesar Perez Ramos Dissolution

2025DR000447 Marisela Oliva Coronado v Benjamin Vicente Perez Dissolution

A copy of the Petition and Summons may be obtained from the Clerk of the above Court between 7:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.; failure to respond to this service by publication within thirty-five (35) days of the publication date may result in a default judgment against the non-appearing party.

SHANA KLOEK CLERK OF THE COURT 7325 S. POTOMAC ST. CENTENNIAL, CO 80112

Publication: July 3, 2025 Sentinel

Pedestrians struck by car on Himalaya Road; one dies, one injured

One man was killed and another injured June 29 night while walking on the shoulder of Himalaya Road in northeast Aurora when the men were struck by a car.

Police said three men were walking south on the shoulder of Himalaya north of East 64th Avenue when the crash occurred.

Two of the three men were struck from behind by a Mazda sedan.

“Both were taken to the hospital — one died from his injuries, and the other remains hospitalized with serious injuries,” police said in a statement. “The driver of the Mazda, an adult female, and the third pedestrian who was not hit, remained on scene and cooperated with investigators.”

Police said they do not think alcohol was a factor in the crash.

The crash marked the 18th traffic-related fatality in Aurora this year.

—Sentinel Staff

Fatal crash in Aurora leaves one dead inside burning Jeep

Police said it appears the driver of a fatal crash lost control of their vehicle in northeast Aurora early June 30, struck a tree, engulfing the vehicle in flames.

Police were called at about 12:30 a.m. after reports of a burning vehicle on Airport Boulevard just south of Smith Road.

When rescuers arrived, they discovered a Jeep fully engulfed in flames.

“Once the fire was extinguished, a single deceased person was found in the driver’s seat,” police said in a statement. “Investigators believe the Jeep Renegade was northbound on Airport Boulevard when it lost control, struck a tree, and came to rest in a nearby parking lot where it caught fire.”

Aurora Police spokesperson Matt Longshore said investigators are determining whether speed was a factor in the crash. The driver was not identified. The crash marked the 19th traffic fatality in Aurora this year.

—Sentinel Staff

Two teenagers arrested in Aurora shooting that killed 18-year-old

Police say two teenagers, 17 and 19, face second-degree murder and robbery charges in the shooting death and injury of two other teenagers last week in northwest Aurora.

Police were called to the 3100 block of Ursula Street at about 7:15 p.m. May 21 after reports of a shooting. When police arrived, they reported that two males had been shot.

“One of the victims, an 18-year-old Wheat Ridge man, sustained life-threatening injuries and was rushed to a local hospital, where he later died,” Aurora police spokesperson Joe Moylan said in a statement. “He has since been identified by the Adams County Coroner’s Office as Ernesto Jae Sandoval.” The other shooting victim is a 17-year-old Denver boy, who is expected to recover from his shooting injury, police said.

This week, police said they arrested a 17-year-old boy who is linked to the shooting. Today, police arrested Yoel Uriel Romero, 19, of Aurora.

Both suspects face charges of second-degree murder and aggravated robbery, Moylan said.

Police said they investigation continues.

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

/S/Melissa Mansfield

If passed, the US will need years to recover from

Trump’s massive tax cut bill

Congress is closer to passing a massive tax and spending package that Republican leaders tout as a win for American families. It’s spin and deceit.

The so-called Trump Big Beautiful Bill is a $4.5 trillion giveaway to wealthy Americans that will widen the wealth gap, hollow out essential safety nets, and mortgage the nation’s future, all while throwing relative crumbs to working people in Colorado and across the country.

The bill is a cheap-plastic Trojan horse for permanent tax cuts to the wealthy, padded with gimmicks and draconian cuts to programs that millions of Americans depend on.

According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, wealthiest households would gain an average of $12,000 per year under the plan. Meanwhile, the poorest Americans would lose a net $1,600 annually.

Colorado Democratic Sen. John Hickenlooper made it clear in his comments on the measure after it passed the Senate by one vote: “It’s outright cruel.”

For middle-income Americans, the average tax benefit would amount to a whopping $500 to $1,500 a year. The amount is nothing compared to the still-painful damage caused by inflated prices for nearly everything against wages that, for most working-class Americans, have never kept up.

In return for token tax breaks, Americans are expected to accept massive cuts to Medicaid and food assistance — programs that serve 111 million people. Among the most cruel provisions are new 80-hour-per-month work requirements for recipients, including older adults and parents of teens. These changes would leave nearly 12 million more people uninsured and kick 3 million off food stamps.

And while working families are squeezed, businesses will enjoy a virtual buffet of tax breaks, from immediate deductions for equipment and research to permanent rate cuts.

America has been here before with equally dismal results. This is nothing more than “trickle-down” policies that never, ever delivered for average Americans.

Even for those Colorado residents who are indifferent to the fate of the state’s poorest, struggling residents and what will happen to them when they’re shut out of Medicaid coverage, the deep and senseless cuts to the critical program will result in so much worse for so many.

Medicaid is far more than the last resort to healthcare for working single mothers and poor children. In Colorado, tens of thousands of elderly people, who worked hard their entire lives, depend on Medicaid for nursing home care. In many cases, they depleted their savings, their homes and cars to qualify for Medicaid to help pay for assisted living care that easily costs more than $120,000 a year. Without Medicaid, these vulnerable residents face homelessness.

Likewise, all residents across the state’s most conservative, rural communities face losing what little hospital and clinic care they have. Those facilities cannot exist without Medicaid recipients choosing close-to-home care over a trip to one of Colorado’s larger cities.

For that and other bill “highlights,” Aurora Democratic Congressperson Jason Crow called it the “worst bill” he’s seen since he joined Congress.

While Republicans tout the bill as a way to national fiscal prudence, it’s more than 900 pages of boondoggle pork spending.

Nearly $350 billion would be poured into mass deportation operations, border wall construction, and the militarization of immigration enforcement. It includes hiring 10,000 new ICE officers and mass detention funding.

And, clearly, the Trump administration’s effort to deport millions of immigrants is nothing but Trump cosplay, dramatics and rhetoric. Despite that, the impact of this bill doesn’t even account for the disaster inflicted on the American economy if the billions poured into mass deportation actually worked.

Other boondoggles include vanity projects such as $40 million for Trump’s proposed “National Garden of American Heroes,” a new children’s savings account branded “Trump Accounts,” and the elimination of taxes on gun silencers and short-barreled rifles.

More political theater disguised as policy.

And the worst part of this disastrous bill? The real cost.

Republicans claim the package won’t raise the deficit, if you don’t do the math. The CBO puts the real price tag at $3.3 trillion added to the deficit over the next decade. GOP lawmakers are simply ignoring this reality, using accounting tricks that would “make Enron executives blush,” in the words of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

This bill is not a serious attempt to govern. It is a campaign document, stuffed with ideological wish-list items, reckless cuts, and tax favors for the rich. The problem for Republicans backing this boondoggle will be the very politics they’re pandering to. Once, responsible rural and conservative Americans see the damage this bill has caused, the next congressional election will result in a tsunami of candidates who promise to try and reverse all the damage.

We agree with Colorado Gov. Jared Polis in his assessment of the quagmire.

“Republicans in the Senate voted to kick Americans off health care, raise costs on insurance, kill jobs, increase our deficit and debt, and make it harder for kids to access food,” Polis said. “This shameful vote comes at the expense of hardworking Coloradans. This bill is bad for our communities, bad for our economy, and will increase the deficit and balloon our national debt.”

Like most clear-thinking Colorado residents, we appeal to the state’s four Republican members to kill this bill when it gets back to the House for the sake of their constituents, as well as their tenure.

MICKE ROSEN

Army’s 250th birthday parade outshines left’s angry mobs

On June 14, a trio of events intersected. It was the birthday of the United States Army, but far more than a typical birthday it was the 250th. It was also Flag Day, commemorating the adoption of the flag of the United States by resolution of the Second Continental Congress in 1775. And, coincidentally, it was also the 79th birthday of President Donald Trump. I say “coincidentally,” because the first two of these events were obviously of greater significance than Trump’s birthday as, with his characteristic modesty, he’d certainly concede.

Not coincidentally, it was the day picked by a virulently anti-Trump, radically leftist group that goes by the childishly idiotic name of “No Kings.” (At first glance I thought they hated Elvis Presley.) It recruited 175 like-minded outfits to join in a mass protest in “2,100 cities and towns” labeled the “No Kings Nationwide Day of Defiance.” The roster included the ACLU, Democratic Socialists of America, the American Federation of Government Employees, the American Federation of Teachers, and even some communist groups. “No Kings” bragged it’s goal was to “upstage Trump’s self-coronation event by grabbing more of the attention.” Hardly a self-coronation, plans for the celebration of the Army’s 250th birthday, started two years ago, well before Trump’s election.

Attending or even watching the parade on TV with 7,000 troops marching in combat fatigues and other uniforms amidst Abrams tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles, motorized cannons, and warplanes flying overhead is the last thing that crowd would want to do. For most of them, patriotism is a dirty word. No Kings claimed 5 million people joined their protests. I’d rank their credibility on this estimate about low as Hamas’ daily count of civilian casualties in Gaza.

But even if there were 5 million protestors, that would be a mere 1.4% of America’s 344 million population. That leaves quite a few who didn’t participate. On the other hand, here’s my ballpark guesstimate of how many Americans on June 14 much preferred the celebration in Washington, the military parade, patriotic music and fireworks: Counting active-duty military personnel, reservists, the national guard, military veterans of all the services, their families and friends, 77 million people who voted for Trump in 2024, the many millions of Americans who are thankful for our military, our police, our ICE and border patrol officers, patriots who still love our country, and even some Democrats, I’d put that number at more than 200

million.

As an Army vet myself, I had a lump in my throat watching all that. Despite the petty whining of leftists, the US Army deserved nothing less than a parade like this on its 250th birthday. As for the recognition of Trump’s birthday being a “self-coronation” overshadowing the event, the gift of an American flag to him by a member of the Army’s Golden Knights paratroop team and some soldiers in front of the podium singing “Happy Birthday” took just 10 minutes. (A thinly-clad Marilyn Monroe singing a sultry version of “Happy Birthday” to JFK on his 45th birthday in 1962 at a Democrat fund-raiser in NYC’s Madison Square Garden had a different flavor. I doubt Melania would approve.)

Crowds in the Denver protest ironically waved Mexican, Palestinian and LGBTQ+ flags, which was not quite the intent of Flag Day. There were some American flags but I suspect that was more for show than love of country for many of the anti-American protestors. It’s an irrational contradiction when illegal immigrants who deserted Mexico to come here wave Mexican flags and burn American ones while they fight deportation back to Mexico.

Predictably, this “mostly peaceful” protest ultimately turned unlawful and violent when some assaulted police, started fires, obstructed roadways and attempted to block I-25, with some 35 arrests made. The First Amendment protects your right to “peaceably” assemble and to “petition the government for a redress of grievances.” These are not peaceful acts or petitions. No one has a right to break the law because they disagree with it.

As their protest moved theatrically to the Governor’s mansion (where Jared Polis and his spouse don’t actually reside) one leftist fool proclaimed that Polis is a just another of the “corrupt politicians who run this country.” As if the Democrat politicians who run Colorado aren’t leftist enough for him. Another speaker was cheered for advocating revolution, shouting “This is what democracy looks like.” No. Angry mobs, in general, that disturb the peace, assault the police, set fire to vehicles, obstruct immigration officers from doing their job, and incite revolution isn’t democracy, it’s mobocracy. Trump’s election was democracy.

Longtime KOA radio talk host and columnist for the Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News Mike Rosen now writes for CompleteColorado. com.

CO 80128

First Publication: June 19, 2025 Final Publication: July 3, 2025

NOTICE TO CREDITORS BY PUBLICATION

PURSUANT TO §15-12-801, C.R.S. Case No. 2025PR30214

Estate of George Renaud, Deceased. All persons having claims against the above-named estate are required to presthem to the personal representative or to District Court of Arapahoe County, on or before October 6, 2025, or the claims may be forever barred. Cheryl Lynn Renaud-Denbow, Personal Representative 5311 Highway 73 Evergreen, CO 80439

First Publication: June 5, 2025

Final Publication: June 19, 2025

NOTICE TO CREDITORS BY PUBLICATION

PURSUANT TO §15-12-801, C.R.S. Case No. 2025PR30226

Estate of Connie Greeno Harris aka Connie G. Harris aka Connie Harris aka Connie Ellen Greeno aka Connie E. Greeno,

All persons having claims against the above-named estate are required to present them to the Personal Representative or to the District Court of Adams County, Colorado, on or before October 6, 2025, or the claims may be forever barred. Attorney for Personal Representative Heather J. Manolakas Peck Feigenbaum, PC 132 Midland Ave., Unit 4 Basalt, CO 81621

First Publication: June 5, 2025

Final Publication: June 19, 2025 Sentinel

NOTICE TO CREDITORS BY PUBLICATION

PURSUANT TO §15-12-801, C.R.S. Case No. 2025PR30331

Estate of Ronald Lee Scott aka Ronald Scott, Deceased. All persons having claims against the above-named estate are required to present them to the Personal Representative or to the District Court