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Week of January 19, 2023
ARAPAHOE COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
LittletonIndependent.net
VOLUME 134 | ISSUE 26
Our in-depth look at the housing crisis
Meth detected in Englewood Public Library Facility is closed BY TAYLER SHAW TSHAW@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Trickling up: How housing is becoming less affordable for more Coloradans BY TAYLER SHAW AND LUKE ZARZECKI COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
A home means everything to Shelley Gilson, a 50-year-old single mother of three girls who works as a guest service agent at an airline. “It’s one word: priceless,” she
said. The rising cost of housing in the Denver area has made it difficult for her to afford a home. She spent years bounding around working for low pay, including to several affordable housing communities across the state.
Eventually, more than a decade ago, she found a home at Orchard Crossing Apartments in Westminster. It is an affordable housing community that includes Section 8 housing, the federal government program that provides vouchers to low-income families, the disabled and elderly. SEE TRICKLING UP, P16
The Englewood Public Library and portions of the Englewood Civic Center have been temporarily closed after test results found levels of methamphetamine contamination, the city announced Jan. 11. According to the city’s website, four restrooms were tested — two in the library and two on the second floor of the civic center — as well as other areas in the library and civic center. QUEST Environmental, a Colorado-based environmental consulting firm, conducted the tests. On Wednesday morning, the city received preliminary test results that showed there were levels of methamphetamine contamination that exceeded state thresholds in the restrooms and the north entrance lobby of the civic center, said Chris Harguth, the city’s director of communications. After receiving these results, the city decided to temporarily close the library, the north civic center lobby and the second-floor restrooms at the civic center. “The restrooms in the library and the restrooms on the second floor of the civic center were of the greatest concerns and will probably require more extensive remediation,” Harguth said. “We’re looking at a remodel, essentially, of the restroom areas.” The remediation process will likely involve the removal of contaminated surfaces, walls, ductwork, drywall and exhaust fans, Harguth said. Remediation will be done on the library restrooms and the two SEE METH, P8
INSIDE: CALENDAR: PAGE 13 | VOICES: PAGE 14 | SPORTS: PAGE 28
CATCH UP ON THE LATEST IN STATE CHAMPIONSHIP BASKETBALL P28