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Week of April 27, 2023
ARAPAHOE COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
LittletonIndependent.net
VOLUME 134 | ISSUE 40
Littleton Main Street to see tree removals Disease dooms 64 BY NINA JOSS NJOSS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Visitors to downtown Littleton later this spring may find themselves stumped as they notice the lack of
trees on the once-leafy streets. The city of Littleton will soon remove 64 of the 81 trees on Main Street, due to their infection by a common fungal disease called thyronectria canker. “The majority of the trees on Main Street are honey locust trees and they have thyronectria canker, which
is a really common disease that is in honey locust trees,” said city forester Mary Danser during an April 11 study session. “Once it starts, it spreads — wind and water and that sort of thing — and since we have so many planted so close together, the spread happened quickly.”
Why remove the trees?
The disease presents itself as bumpy or visibly sunken areas on the trees that grow small, discshaped fruiting bodies. Over time, these spots decay, cause deformations in the tree and compromise its SEE TREES, P13
A look at property taxes supporting South Suburban Increases, costs examined BY NINA JOSS NJOSS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
But this week, the voices on the other end of the phone were calling the Englewood restaurant for a different reason. “Somebody calls me every day, crying,” Shiou said. She gestured to the front of the restaurant, where her son, Englewood Municipal Judge and former mayor Joe Jefferson, was
On May 2, South Suburban Parks and Recreation district residents will elect two board members to the district’s fivemember board of directors. As part of its responsibilities in governing the district, the board sets the annual budget, which includes setting mill levies. South Suburban, which formed in 1959, is a regional provider of parks and recreation services. Thirty-nine percent of the district’s funding comes from property taxes, communications manager Becky Grubb wrote in an email to Colorado Community Media. Property taxes are used to fund capital projects, administration costs, operations and maintenance for parks, trails and open spaces and to subsidize nonfee-based programming, Grubb wrote.
SEE TWIN DRAGON, P8
SEE PARKS & REC, P9
Shiou Jefferson and her son, Joe Jefferson, put in orders and console guests who are sad about the restaurant’s closure.
PHOTO BY NINA JOSS
Twin Dragon to close after 47 years Restaurant has played big role in Englewood life BY NINA JOSS NJOSS@COLOADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Within 15 minutes of opening on the morning of Friday, March 21, the Twin Dragon was bustling with
activity. Owner Shiou Jefferson prepared takeout orders and seated regulars for lunch as the phone rang off the hook. Any other week, the voices on the other end of the phone calls would have been ordering sesame chicken and crab rangoon for pickup, or giving staff a heads-up that they were coming in with a group later that night.
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 12 | LIFE: PAGE 14 | CALENDAR: PAGE 17 | SPORTS: PAGE 20
FORAGING AND FEASTING Learning the skills to make weeds into tasty treats P14