Serving Lakewood, Wheat Ridge and beyond
WEEK OF FEBRUARY 20, 2025
VOLUME 41 | ISSUE 29
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Jefferson County’s plan for moving forward BY SUZIE GLASSMAN SGLASSMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
For years, Joel Newton has watched Jefferson Jr./Sr. High School shrink, not just in size but in opportunity. His daughters saw electives disappear. Sports teams struggled to find enough players. Teachers came and went. As executive director of the Edgewater
Collective, Newton has spent the past decade working to strengthen schools in the Jefferson articulation area, but the challenges have only grown. Now, Jeffco Public Schools is proposing a major restructuring — one that would merge Jefferson students into Wheat Ridge High School and Everitt Middle School while repurposing the Jefferson building for a career-focused program or
part-time Career and Technical Education center. As a result, Jefferson Jr./Sr. High School would close for the 2026-27 school year for construction and planning. District officials say the change is necessary to provide students with better academic opportunities, pointing to a boundary study showing that enrollment has steadily declined, from over 700 stu-
dents at its peak to fewer than 450 projected in the coming years. Lisa Relou and Claire Takhar, district officials leading the transition, said Jefferson’s low enrollment makes the school unsustainable. But for many families, predominantly Latino, working-class and deeply rooted
A DOGGONE GRIDLOCK
SEE FUTURE, P6
Resignation plan moves ahead for federal workers BY SUZIE GLASSMAN SGLASSMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
LAKEWOOD OKS STREET P2 IMPROVEMENTS
WESTMINSTER
WINDOW
CHILDREN THRIVE IN HIGH LIFE P10
2025
MINSTER VOTING STARTS
MARCH 1!
WINDOW
The annual Goldens in Golden event on Feb. 8 drew an estimated 7,500 people and 3,000 dogs to celebrate National Golden Retriever Day. Attendees were trying to find parking, with many forced to park a mile or more away. Some even walked along the train tracks from the eastern edge of town. No tails were wagging at a city council meeting later that week, where calls were made to learn some new tricks to manage future events. COURTESY OF VISIT GOLDEN AND F4DSTUDIO See story on, P2
VOICES: 10 | LIFE: 12 | CALENDAR: 13 | SPORTS: 16
U.S. District Judge George O’Toole has reversed his earlier ruling to delay the deadline for President Donald Trump’s administration’s resignation offer, known as a “Fork in the Road,” after determining the unions who brought the lawsuit didn’t have legal standing to challenge the order. The program is now closed. According to McLaurine Pinover, spokesperson for the Office of Personnel Management, around 75,000 federal employees accepted the offer. According to reporting by NPR, “Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, one of the plaintiffs, called the decision a setback but not the end of the fight.” The judge didn’t rule on the legality of the program. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser had joined a coalition of 21 state attorneys general in filing an amicus brief challenging the controversial directive issued by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. The lawsuit argued that the directive violates federal ethics regulations and labor laws. It’s unclear what, if anything, Weiser’s next step will be. Colorado Community Media has reached out to the AG’s office since the judge’s ruling. SEE FED WORKERS, P15
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