Your Guide to Community, Politics, Arts and Culture in North Denver DenverNorthStar.com PUBLISHER’S NOTE No Matter Who Owns It, It’s Your Community Newspaper PAGE 2
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Volume 5, Issue 8
| May 15, 2024-June 14, 2024
Leash Laws: They’re No Walk in the Park
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ALWAYS FREE!
Getting to The Other Side with The Help of an Academy By Jill Carstens
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park rangers. Quesada added, “Denver Parks and Recreation is committed to expanding our dog parks to allow a safe place for Denver residents to take their dogs with a goal of having every resident live within a 2-mile radius or less of a dog park.” However, the issue may not be the quantity of dog parks but their quality. Many residents travel beyond city limits seeking better conditions—more space, more greenery and a more liberating experience for their dogs. For some, neighboring cities like Westminster and Littleton offer more appealing alternatives. Westminster Dog Park boasts the largest off-leash area in the region, and recent efforts to reduce its size have met strong local resistance. Chatfield Dog Park in Littleton boasts a pond that’s “pawfect” for an afternoon dip. Innovative solutions like designated off-leash hours or adopting Boulder’s Voice and Sight program, which allows dogs to roam off-leash once certified, are popular. "It requires a test and training," explained Anabel, a North Denver resident and owner of a certified dog named Marvin. "But it’s your responsibility to ensure they don’t bother anyone." While similar proposals have been made to Parks and Rec in the past, they are not up for consideration at this time, according to Quesada. Instead, the focus remains on creating new and improved spaces, such as the upcoming Central Street Dog Park in the Lower Highlands, scheduled for summer 2025 and backed by $850,000 from the Elevate Denver Bond. In the meantime, some residents find it’s worth the occasional trek to more accommodating locales. During the hot summer months, LoHi resident Kevin Barr takes his husky-Malamute mix, Merle, to the cooler confines of Chatfield Dog Park. The rest of the year, Barr said he and Merle come to Berkeley Dog Park up to four times a week. "Denver is definitely dog-friendly compared to other cities," Barr asserted, citing Salt Lake City as an example.
eth Heard was at a crossroads. He had failed probation three times and was facing time in jail. Growing up with family issues and raised by his grandmother, his problems were about to go from bad to worse. But then Heard’s probation officer mentioned The Other Side Academy (TOSA). Suddenly the dusty filaments of long-buried goals and dreams began to resurface, along with hope. And hope, along with the willingness to do some hard work, is all one really needs to be accepted into the academy, which is free. Students of TOSA are housed in beautiful old Victorians in Capitol Hill. The newest students are responsible for upkeep as the older students mentor them while holding down jobs at one of TOSA’s enterprises: a moving company located in RiNo and the organization's new consignment furniture boutique at 3125 Federal Blvd. “You’re immediately part of a team when you enter the residence,” Heard said. The enterprises provide participants with work skills, such as retail expertise, showroom staging, inventory management, marketing, sales, bookkeeping and customer service. “They also learn the critical soft skills needed to stay employed,” TOSA Director Lola Strong said. Heard is a crew lead at The Other Side Furniture Boutique, managing employee-students, scheduling deliveries and pick-ups, and updating the website, marketing and social media for the store as well as assisting customers. “Everyone here has a voice,” he said. “We have a meeting every morning where we talk about what needs to be done or review what we could do better.” Heard said he stays very busy, “moving and shaking,” and that he enjoys interacting with people and all of the activity that the job offers. When asked how students deal with criticism as they are learning skills, he said there is a lot of peer modeling from the staff who have all had similar struggles. Students engage in feedback meetings twice a week for two hours where they learn how to criticize constructively and, in turn, accept feedback with grace. “It was hard for me at first,” Heard added, “and I had a lot of anxiety about the feedback meetings, but then I got used to it and I learned how to use the feedback.” There’s a “great metaphor in running a gently used furniture boutique by people who are transforming their lives,” founder and board chair Joseph Grenny said. “But the thing that will really move you is interacting with the students who will offer you five-star levels of customer service,” Grenny added.
See LEASH LAWS, Page 15
See ACADEMY, Page 14
TRANSPORTATION Protected Bike Lane Coming to West 29th Avenue PAGE 4
ENVIRONMENT Everyday Should Be Earth Day at Sloan’s Lake PAGE 4
EDUCATION Centennial’s Bike Bash Draws Hundreds PAGE 6 New Social Studies Requirements for Colorado Students PAGE 6
COMMUNITY Cine Mexicano Features ‘Dos Tipos de Cuidado’ PAGE 9 Postal Customer
PHOTO BY LONDON LYLE
Kevin Barr's husky-Malamute mix, Merle, smiles for the camera at Berkeley Dog Park. By London Lyle erkeley Dog Park, a popular spot among Denver's canine community, often receives mixed reviews. Visit on any given afternoon and you might hear it described as "a depressing litter box" by regulars. One local labeled it a "post-apocalyptic wasteland" on the r/Denver subreddit. Harsh, but perhaps understandable: The off-leash dog park looks less like a park and more like a gravel parking lot, with little greenery in sight. Despite its dull appearance, the park remains a popular choice. When it comes to tiring out their pups, Denverites who live in apartments have two options outside of investing in one of those trendy dog treadmills that cost a fortune. Take Fido for a very long walk or take him to the “post-apocalyptic, depressing litter box” and throw the tennis ball for an hour. Beyond Berkeley, Denver offers a number of similar off-leash dog parks: Fuller Dog Park and Greenway Off-Leash Dog Park share Berkeley’s basic setup; just swap “litter” for “sand.” Sand is great for bone-burying purposes, but as temperatures rise, Denver’s pups lack opportunities to paddle in the creek or gallop across grassy hills. So why are the leash laws so stringent in the Mile High City, which is often ranked among the most dog-friendly cities in America? “I’ve been ticketed numerous times. Everyone has,” said a Jefferson Park visitor who requested anonymity to avoid further fines. “I mean, I get the safety aspect of it, but if no one is around, I don’t see why it’s a big deal for my dog to be off leash,” he added as his unleashed dog chased after a bird. According to Yolanda Quesada, a spokesperson for Denver Parks and Recreation, the strict leash PRESORTED rules prioritize the safety STANDARD of park visitors, leashed U.S. POSTAGE pets and local wildlife, along with preserving the Denver, CO natural environment. EnPermit No. 2565 forcement, she notes, is EDDM up to the discretion of the
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