Week of April 27, 2023
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An edition of the Littleton Independent A publication of
VOLUME 22 | ISSUE 23
Therapy dogs join Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office Council officially opposes construction defect laws Members urge reform BY TAYLER SHAW TSHAW@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
ton Public Schools, and Riley, who works in Cherry Creek Schools. “I want to thank Cherry Creek Schools, and Deer Trail and Byers, and Littleton Schools for … their willingness to jump into this program with us and seeing the benefits,” Brown said. Tom Turrell, the superintendent of the Byers School District 32-J, said he can’t share his support enough. “Out of both Byers and Deer Trail, we work hand-in-hand in many, many projects, and this
As the number of municipalities opposing Colorado Senate Bill 23-213 grows, the Centennial City Council is voicing its opposition not only to the bill, but also state construction defect laws, which the officials say limits forsale multifamily residential development. “Our condo units used to be 20% of our total units of property, singlefamily residential property. We’re now down to 3%,” said Councilmember Christine Sweetland. “Having an entire segment of the marketplace removed is not helping with the price points in our city and our state.” The council unanimously passed a resolution opposing the construction defect laws during its April 18 council meeting. “I think this resolution gives us an opportunity to really go to our state legislators and let them know the impact that it’s having on our community,” Sweetland said. According to the city’s staff report, the construction defect laws include the Construction Defect Action Reform Act, portions of the Colorado Consumer Protection Act, and “other laws related to construction defects.” “Despite a desire for developers to offer for-sale condominium development, nearly all of the development has been apartment construction,” the staff report states. The report noted that, according to the University of Colorado’s 2023 Business Economic Outlook, apartments
SEE BEAR AND OTIS, P8
SEE COUNCIL, P4
Sheriff Tyler Brown swears in Bear, left and Otis during the April 20 swearing-in ceremony at the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office. PHOTOS BY TAYLER SHAW
Otis and Bear sworn in BY TAYLER SHAW TSHAW@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
The sound of applause, laughter and puppies barking echoed at the Arapahoe County Sheriff ’s Office as Sheriff Tyler Brown swore in two new school therapy puppies, Otis and Bear. Otis, an 8-week-old black Labrador, will work alongside Deputy Drew Matthews, a school resource officer who works at Byers and Deer Trail schools.
Bear, an 8-week-old chocolate Labrador, is teamed up with Deputy Candace Gray, a school resource officer at Cherry Creek Academy. Starting next school year, the pair will divide their time between all the Cherry Creek Schools in Centennial and unincorporated Arapahoe County. “This puts us at five therapy dogs that are connected to our school resource officers, which is amazing. And they voluntarily take this on,” Brown said during the April 20 swearing-in ceremony. The other therapy dogs include Rex and Zeke, who work in Little-
INSIDE: CALENDAR: PAGE 9 | VOICES: PAGE 10 | LIFE: PAGE 12
FORAGING AND FEASTING Learning the skills to make weeds into tasty treats P12