Serving Lakewood, Wheat Ridge and beyond
WEEK OF JUNE 5, 2025
VOLUME 41 | ISSUE 44
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Jeffco teachers union delivers vote of no confidence in Superintendent Dorland WHEAT RIDGE TO CONSIDER FREESTANDING ERS P2
A NEW CHAPTER FOR COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA P12
BY SUZIE GLASSMAN SGLASSMAN@COTLN.ORG
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In a December 2024 photo, staff who prepared and supplied all the food for the Holiday Bar’s Thanksgiving Community Dinner pose together. They include from left, owner Dave Killingsworth, Tom Smith, Cherise Davison PHOTO BY JANE REUTER and Gil Padilla.
WESTMINSTER
Holiday Bar and adjoining Morrison properties for sale Block of land in downtown Morrison listed for $15 million BY JANE REUTER JANE@COTLN.ORG
ANTIQUES: WHERE HISTORY MEETS CREATIVITY P14
MINSTER EVERGREEN KICKS OFF HISTORIC MONOPOLY GAME P16
Nights like May 27, when one of the world’s most popular and award-winning bands choose his bar for their after-concert party, don’t tempt Dave Killingsworth to stay in the business. The longtime Morrison business owner recently listed the Bear Creek Avenue bar, its adjoining businesses, houses and the property around it for sale for $15 million. Killingsworth knows the Black Keys — who recently held a late-night Record Hang at the Morrison Holiday Bar — are famous but not much more than that. And he’s met plenty of famous people in nearly 20 years of running Morrison’s popular live music venue. The idea of meeting more isn’t even a consideration for him. “I just had my Medicare birthday this month,” Killingsworth said. “If I had endless energy, time and money, there’s a lot more I’d like to do. But I don’t. And I don’t want to fight with the town to do it.” The things he wants to do include opening up
the walls between neighboring Tom’s Upholstering shop and Red Rocks Grill — both of which Killingsworth and his Texan brother Fred own — and creating a large restaurant/bar with garage doors, more room for dancing and other features he thinks patrons would enjoy. But that’s either a job for someone else, or an idea a new owner may not pursue, he said. While Killingsworth has put years of effort and money into expanding the Holiday, including adding a rooftop patio, two parking lots at the back, expanded bathrooms and other amenities, its future doesn’t matter to Killingsworth. Wellknown by the town’s elected officials for confronting them at their biweekly meetings about the lack of town parking and his claims that they don’t do enough to help their businesses, he says that’s not the reason he’s offering his properties for sale either. “It’s just time,” he said. “And I’m not the only one involved. My brother wants to sell, too.”
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VOICES: 12 | LIFE: 14
In a rare and highly public rebuke, the Jefferson County Education Association delivered a vote of no confidence in Superintendent Tracy Dorland during the May 29 school board meeting, accusing her of “undermining trust,” excluding educators from decision-making and destabilizing schools through topdown leadership. The vote represents a significant escalation in tensions between district leadership and its employee union, which represents more than 5,000 educators and licensed staff in the state’s second-largest district. A vote of no confidence is a formal expression of disapproval, typically used to signal that a governing body or leadership team has lost the support of the employees or stakeholders it serves. While symbolic and non-binding, it can carry significant political and public weight. “I acknowledge the concerns raised by the JCEA Operational Board and Representative Council,” Dorland said in response to the vote. “I have read the letter and I am reflecting on the feedback. I acknowledge the need to build trust with the teacher’s association.”
SEE FOR SALE, P13
Union cites breakdown in collaboration and trust
The union’s operational board and representative council voted unanimously to issue the declaration, citing what they described as a pattern of exclusion, top-down decisionmaking and lack of transparency under Dorland’s leadership. “This decision was not taken lightly,” the union stated in a letter delivered to the board prior to the meeting. “It is a reflection of the overall direction of the district under Superintendent Dorland’s leadership which has created a disconnect between the central administration and the educators, families and communities we serve.” SEE DORLAND, P4
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