The mountain area’s newspaper since 1958
WEEK OF DECEMBER 5, 2024
VOLUME 66 | ISSUE 3
$2
Rocky Mountain Academy of Evergreen student Morrison speed camera vandalized celebrates success in statewide UNC Math Contest and out of service
BY TIM WEIGHART SPECIAL TO THE CANYON COURIER
A student at the Rocky Mountain Academy of Evergreen has made it to the second round of the University of Northern Colorado’s Math Contest for the first time in many years. The student, seventh grader Tucker Jack Martin, solved six of the ten problems, all of which were very difficult — many students across the state only got one or two problems correct. Much of Martin’s success can be attributed to months of hard work. “Tucker has been so persistent,” said Katrina Glaser, Tucker’s math teacher and leader of the school’s MathCounts club. “These problems have a high failure rate, but Tucker will learn what he did wrong, say, ‘Oh, okay,’ and get right back to it. It’s very satisfying to see his hard work pay off.” Martin also emphasized that the guidance and knowledge of his teachers was an essential part of his success. “My math tutor Mr. Short helped me and my friend over the summer, and we also have a weekly elective class of MathCounts to help us practice.” MathCounts is a nationwide nonprofit program that aims to make math more fun than the average classroom unit. The program, alongside state contests like the one the UNC hosts annually, brings a passion for math out of students that traditional classes rarely do. “It’s way harder and way more fun,” Martin said. “We’re not just learning math; we’re learning strategies for a bunch of different logical problems.” The club prepares for these difficult contests by studying a variety of model questions provided by UNC and MathCounts in the
Town plans to hire new ticket vendor before returning controversial device to its streets BY JANE REUTER JREUTER@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Tucker Jack Martin and Katrina Glaser in front of the middle school building at the academy.
SEE MATHCOUNTS, P26
HAPPENINGS: 7 | VOICES: 10 | LIFE: 12 | PUZZLES: 20
PHOTO BY TIM WEIGHART
Morrison’s speed camera was vandalized last month and is out of service, likely until early 2025, according to Town Manager Mallory Nassau. But the needed repairs aren’t the only issue keeping it off Morrison’s streets. The town plans to hire a new vendor to process the tickets, after months of revenue tracking showed the current company is taking an outsized portion of the money. Additionally, town leaders say many people aren’t paying the $40 citation, which is also impacting total revenue for the town. At an October town board meeting, Nassau said she anticipates Morrison will end 2024 with $134,000 in speed camera revenue — significantly less than town leaders had anticipated. The town contracted with Louisiana-based Emergent Enforcement Solutions for automated traffic monitoring and enforcement. “We expected to get some sort of revenue from it,” said Town Trustee Katie Gill. “The vendor’s billing to the town to manage the system has been huge. It didn’t turn into very much revenue for the town. “I think it’s also that lots of people aren’t paying the tickets,” Gill continued. “We still have to pay the vendor to manage the process, but the revenue doesn’t come in.” Nassau said she’ll have final numbers SEE CAMERA, P6
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