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Week of September 15, 2022
ARAPAHOE COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
EnglewoodHerald.net
VOLUME 102 | ISSUE 31
Lack of funding halts bridge projects City stops updates BY ROBERT TANN RTANN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Two major infrastructure plans in the City of Englewood — one to replace the aging South Broad-
way bridge over U.S. Highway 285 and one to create a new bridge for bicyclists and pedestrians crossing Oxford Avenue — have been paused due to “budget constraints,” according to a city statement. “The city will no longer share updates on the project status until additional funding can be identi-
fied,” the city said in a social media post Sept. 9. The hold comes following concerns previously raised by city officials about the integrity of the South Broadway bridge, which was completed in 1955. “Bridges built in the (1950s) and 60s had a typical service life of
about 50 years,” said Jake Warren, Englewood’s project manager, in an interview last year. “Modern bridges are designed with an anticipated service life of 75 years.” That bridge’s replacement had been paired with plans to add a SEE BRIDGE, P15
AllHealth Network, Englewood police launch mental health program Mobile Response Units on call BY TYLER SHAW TSHAW@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Luc Hatlestad. “If you’re not already in the system, you’re basically not at the front of the line.” The county has been inundated with evictions since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. As of July 2022, the rental program has worked with 2,703 households, according to Hatlestad, who added
Instead of sending Englewood police to low-level mental health 911 calls, dispatchers have started sending a Mobile Response Unit (MRU) van staffed with mental health and medical professionals. The change is due to a pilot program launched by AllHealth Network, a nonprofit that provides mental health and substance use treatment, with the Englewood Police Department, the nonprofit announced in an Aug. 30 news release. Under the program, a trained dispatcher asks 911 callers a series of questions to determine if the Mobile Response Unit van, staffed by a registered nurse and a behavioral health case manager, should respond instead of police. “In their first week in-service (the MRU) has handled around 30 calls for service,” Englewood Department Resource Coordinator Sgt. Reid McGrath said in the release. “Calls that would
SEE RENT, P4
SEE HEALTH, P15
As of Sept. 1, Arapahoe County has narrowed eligible applicants for its emergency rental assistance program to those already facing the legal jeopardy of an eviction. PHOTO BY ROBERT TANN
Arapahoe County scales back emergency rent service Facing ‘backlog’ of applications BY ROBERT TANN RTANN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Arapahoe County partially hit the brakes on its Emergency Rental Assistance program and, as
of Sept. 1, is only accepting applications from those already in the court process of an eviction in an attempt to catch up on a “backlog” of cases. Before that, anyone concerned about their rent or mortgage could apply. “Our people are working through this backlog of applicants,” said county spokesperson
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 14 | LIFE: PAGE 16 | CALENDAR: PAGE 19 | SPORTS: PAGE 26
CHOOSING YOUR GOODBYE
Doulas hope to help ease fears of dying P16