WEEK OF FEBRUARY 13, 2025
VOLUME 20 | ISSUE 33
FREE
Plan OK’d for the first Whole Foods in the city BY RYLEE DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
A $1.6M UPGRADE FOR MARGE ROBERTS PARK P2
writing and drawing abilities. “It allows kids who would otherwise not really like to do writing or have trouble with dexterity have an option that feels a lot more like playing,” Lenore said. “It helps with getting used to holding a pen and being able to do simple writing and drawing tasks… It fades away naturally in about five minutes, and then they can draw again. “It’s kind of a way to get to write on the walls without getting in trouble for it,” he continued. Now, after a few months in the classroom, the Glowscape kit — which works with a lightpowered “marker” that draws on the board in the dark with a highlighter-like glow that fades after a couple minutes — was a hit. Now, kiddos like Josh say they prefer the Glowscape kit to traditional writing methods.
Whole Foods lovers in Arvada will soon be able to shop locally at their favorite grocery store as the Amazon-owned chain has received approval for a site plan that would bring the city’s first location to the Northridge Shopping Center at 80th Avenue and Wadsworth Boulevard. There is no concrete timeline for when the grocery store will be open to the public, according to Iza Petrykowska, the executive director of the Arvada Economic Development Association. AEDA has been working with Kimco Realty, which owns the Northridge Shopping Center, to bring Whole Foods to town for a little more than two years according to Petrykowska. “They are currently under construction, and they’ve had a few minor (demolition) permits approved, so they’re just going through the site plan now and getting things rolling there,” Petrykowska said. “They did get their site plan amendment approved as well this year, and we’ll be kind of in construction mode for the foreseeable future.” The location of the forthcoming grocery store is on the southwest corner of the shopping center, near the Chick-fil-A and the old Black and Read bookstore before their ongoing move down the street. The space was formerly a Hobby Lobby. Petrykowska said that most of the renovation work will be aimed at making the site usable for a grocer. “Just as with any grocery store, they’re having to install freezer and refrigerating areas for their produce and their food, and that’s probably going to be a big component of it,” Petrykowska said, “(along with) everything else that goes into the construction of a grocery store.”
SEE KITS, P7
SEE WHOLE FOODS, P2
A 55-GALLON DRUM FOUND NEAR ROCKY FLATS P7 Members of Sierra Elementary’s SSN class, along with the school’s SRO, Richard Brown.
PHOTO BY RYLEE DUNN
See how they glow A TRIUMPH FOR POMONA GIRLS WRESTLING
Resource officer works with police foundation to get specialized drawing board for elementary
P16
2025
VOTING STARTS
MARCH 1!
BY RYLEE DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Josh is a fifth-grader at Sierra Elementary School who loves to draw Sonic the Hedgehog. On the walls. His teacher, Apryl Abel, is delighted. Thanks to the work of the Arvada Police Foundation and an observant school resource officer, Josh can draw to his heart’s desire on the school’s Glowscape kit, a new whiteboard alternative that allows kids with fine motor skill deficiencies to practice reading and writing.
VOICES: 8 | LIFE: 10 | CALENDAR: 13 | SPORTS: 16
The students in Abel’s first- to fifth-grade SSN class (significantly intellectually impaired) got the device when Richard Brown, a school resource officer who works with the class, found out about the kit through the police foundation and thought it would be a good fit for Abel’s class. “We were doing a toy drive, and (Charlie Lenore, president of the Arvada Police Foundation) said his son created this toy, and I thought it was a perfect thing for this class,” Brown said. “He was like, ‘Let me see if we can get a couple donated.’ And it was the next day, he delivered them to me, and I brought them over here.” Lenore’s son, Matt, founded Bolderglow, the company that makes Glowscape kits, with his wife, Jan. Lenore said the tool helps kids who may have trouble with fine motor skills develop
ARVADAPRESS.COM • A PUBLICATION OF COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA