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WEEK OF JUNE 26, 2025
VOLUME 98 | ISSUE 30
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Council, community members discuss safety on 32nd Avenue Meeting focuses on section between Irving, Perry streets BY ALLEN COWGILL SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
Miss Linan’s sister started the program in 2004 with the goal of helping to teach and preserve a connection to Mexican heritage. It is thriving with three sections of students participating from grades three through eight. An Emmy Award-winning YouTube video demonstrates the skill, if not joy involved when even the youngest students perform. A link to the video is in this article online. “They love the ‘gritos’ part of the performance,” said Linan. Gritos is when one of the band members yelps out loud in excitement while playing.
In May, Denver City Council President Amanda P. Sandoval, the representative for north Denver, hosted a community meeting with the West Highlands Neighborhood Association to address community concerns about safety and parking issues on West 32nd Avenue between Irving Street and Perry Street. Dozens of residents attended as well as business owners. Staff in attendance included people from the Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI), including DOTI Executive Director Amy Ford. Also present were three officers from Denver Police District 1. Sandoval said she has heard safety concerns from the community about the street, including intersection safety, drivers speeding, drivers running stop signs and drivers not yielding to pedestrians. She also said there have been concerns about restrictive permit parking and a lack of parking enforcement as well as issues about the new speed humps on West 29th Avenue, which are causing traffic to divert to parallel streets. The council president said she used to hear concerns about speeding on 29th Avenue. After the speed cushions were installed, she said that slowed traffic on that street. During the open forum, many residents expressed similar concerns about safety on West 32nd Avenue. One resident suggested adding speed cushions on the street in the problematic section, which was met with applause from the room. DOTI Community Planner Rolando Melgoza said DOTI was going to study the change in traffic patterns on West 32nd Avenue as well as West 26th Avenue to see how the changes to West 29th Avenue have affected speed and volume on the parallel collector streets. Melgoza said that it’s considered best practice to wait a few months after a street is changed so traffic patterns can normalize.
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SEE SAFETY, P15
Student-musician Max Diaz, an eighth-grader at Bryant-Webster Dual Language School, flanked by musicians Leanna Chacon and Faviola Garcia, who are part of an adult mariachi band. PHOTO BY JILL CARSTENS
Bryant-Webster’s Mariachi Juvenil keeps heritage front and center BY JILL CARSTENS SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
If you are new to the north Denver area, you may not be aware of how much of its charm comes from deep roots in the Latino culture. Bryant-Webster Dual Language School is keeping this heritage alive and well through their Mariachi Juvenil after school band program. Within the brick walls of this historic building, music teacher Jacquie Linan, or Miss Linan, guides students in this joyful Mexican artform. When asked about the additional benefits of the program, eighth-grader and trumpet player Max Diaz said, “Being
in the mariachi band has helped me to try new things and become more social.” He has participated in the band since he was in the third grade. “He’s not afraid to try anything after participating in mariachi,” added his dad, Nathan Diaz. The student mariachi band is supported by a combination of funds from Denver Public Schools, grants and donations. Miss Linan has been the band director for about ten years and has close ties to this music form. “When I was a kid, my dad was a musician broker and actually provided the first mariachi band to Casa Bonita when they opened in the 1970s,” she said.
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