DENVER Since 1926
SWEPT AWAY:
50 CENTS
February 9, 2017
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First curling team in 20 years to represent state at national tourney P6
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DENVER, COLORADO
A publication of
Crossing county lines for health awareness Metro counties partner for Hidden Sugar campaign BY CHRISTY STEADMAN CSTEADMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Joan Maes Biros pours a blueberry smoothie for attendees of her cooking class. The class is held every Wednesday and is one of many programs the Westwood Community Center offers youths of all ages as a place to go after school. PHOTOS BY IAN WARREN
Cooking up something good BY IAN WARREN SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
Volunteer Joan Maes Biros hosts a cooking class every Wednesday afternoon in Eagle Bear Hall at Westwood Community Center. On this day, participants decorate cupcakes and make blueberry smoothies. Julieanne, who declined to give her last name and might want to be a doctor or a teacher when she grows up, is the first to show up. Soon, more participants come: a mom with her three children, another small family and a few teens. The cooking class is one of several programs offered by the community center at 1000 S. Lowell Blvd. in southwest Denver. They include a food drive, computer classes, a senior lunch provided by Volunteers of America and the Garden of Hope that offers community members the chance to grow fresh vegetables. To learn more about Westwood Community Center, visit swic-denver.org.
Julieane, 8, tried out the smoothie. Julieane, who usually goes to the library, decided to join in on making smoothies and decorating cupcakes.
Denver resident Andrea Pérez recently took her 5-year-old daughter Yizel to the dentist. The Jan. 14 visit didn’t go very well — Yizel had to get five fillings that Saturday. “I was not happy about that,” Pérez said. “It clicked right away. I thought, I have to do something.” So the following Thursday, Pérez, 25, who is expecting her second child in June, took a pledge to reduce the amount of sugary beverages that her daughter consumes. The pledge is offered through a new metro-wide campaign called Hidden Sugar, which can be accessed online at www.Hidden-Sugar.org. The campaign is meant to target parents and caregivers with children ages 0 to 6. Hidden Sugar is spearheaded by six metro-area health departments that joined forces to form the Healthy Beverage Partnership —Jefferson County Public Health, the Tri-County Health Department (Adams, Douglas and Arapahoe counties), Denver Environmental Health, Denver Public Health, Broomfield Public Health and Environment and Boulder County Public Health. The purpose of Hidden Sugar, said Allison Wilson, Jefferson County Public SEE SUGAR, P5
THE BOTTOM LINE PERIODICAL
‘They think it’s all one and the same and that if you try to change the exchange, you’re trying to change the law or Obamacare ... and that’s not true.’ Jim Smallwood, state Senator | P2 INSIDE
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LIFE: PAGE 7 VOLUME 90 | ISSUE 16