ARVADA PRESS 1/31/13
January 31, 2013
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourarvadanews.com
Jefferson County, Colorado • Volume 8, Issue 36
Perlmutter pushes for weapons limitations By Darin Moriki
dmoriki@ourcoloradonews.com
Staging a comeback The new Arvada Center Executive Director Philip Sneed poses near artwork in Art of the State display. Photo by Andy Carpenean
New director began acting career at center By Sara Van Cleve
svancleve@ourcoloradonews.com Taking the call as Arvada Center’s new executive director is somewhat of a homecoming for Philip Sneed. Sneed performed in the Arvada Center’s second-ever production, “The Contrast,” in 1976. “That was my debut in the Denver metro acting scene,” Sneed said. “I worked here a lot in the late ’70s before the Shakespeare Festival, then I went away to graduate school in California and came back for a year or two in ’83 and ’84 and worked on the main stage, with the children’s theater, and in the scene shop. I pretty much made my living at the Arvada Center as an actor and carpenter at the time.” In the 1980s, Sneed began to produce and direct and eventually ran a theater in northern California for 12 years. As a producer, Sneed learned how to write grants, start a 501c3 nonprofit and other necessary skills to run a center. In 2006, Sneed returned to Colorado where he ran the Colorado Shakespeare Festival until just recently. While with the Shakespeare Festival, Sneed was also a guest director at the Arvada Center’s Black Box Theater and brought several of the Shakespeare Festival’s production to the center. “We negotiated to co-produce another
‘What’s great about this place is it’s not just a fantastic theater company. It has art galleries, there’s dancing, there’s music, there’s so much here.’ Philip Sneed, executive director Shakespeare play, ‘Twelfth Night,’ which I also directed,” he said. “That production of ‘Twelfth Night’ was the first Shakespeare that’s been done here since the 1983 production of the same play, which I was an actor in. We didn’t pick ‘Twelfth Night’ for that reason, it just happened to be a coincidence.” While running the Colorado Shakespeare Festival, Sneed helped grow the festival and its finances greatly, a task he is looking forward to doing with the Arvada Center, he said. “I personally know Philip, and he’s done a couple shows here, so we’ve worked together,” said Arvada Center publicist Melanie Mayner. “Knowing Philip, I see such a great match with him, and it’s an exciting time coming up for us indeed.” The Arvada Center’s funding has been a topic of discussion with the center, City Council and the city of Arvada this past year. “I think the challenge, of course, and one of the things among my top priorities, is to raise more money,” Sneed said.
“To go out into the community and raise more from individuals, foundations, corporations, wherever we can find additional dollars. That’s been my job everywhere I’ve worked.” Why the Arvada Center means so much to him and the community, Sneed said, is because it has something for everyone. “What’s great about this place is it’s not just a fantastic theater company,” he said. “It has art galleries, there’s dancing, there’s music, there’s so much here. I find at this point in my life and career, it’s exciting to have an impact on all of the arts.” Sneed said he hopes to still be at the Arvada Center when it celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2026. “I’d love to be here for the 50th anniversary and be able to say ‘I was in this building in 1976 and am 50 years later,’” he said. “(Being at the Arvada Center) means a tremendous amount to me personally. I feel extremely privileged to be given the opportunity to come here and make a difference.” Sneed will be on the job Feb. 4.
Police charge cyberbully with harassment 15-year-old student charged with five counts following derogatory Instagram posts Staff Report Arvada Police have charged a 15-year-old with five counts of third-degree harassment for cyberbullying classmates at the beginning of January.
The 15-year-old, whose name is not being released because he is a minor, is a Jefferson County Public School student. The charges were brought about after the student posted “Burn Book” photos on Insta-
gram under the name “Ananymous” on New Year’s Day. The postings included photos of students from a Jeffco high school and derogatory and sexual comments about the students. Jeffco Schools is cooperating
with Arvada Police’s investigation. Arvada Police remind parents to talk to their children about all forms of bullying and recommend parents know which social media sites their children use.
U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, who serves the seventh district, reiterated his support for federal gun control efforts during a phone conference town hall meeting Friday. “On one side of the district is Columbine and on the other side of the district is Aurora,” Perlmutter said. “I was going to too many funerals last July and visited with families, first responders, law enforcement officers and medical staff. It was a very horrible, gruesome sit- Perlmutter uation and murders that were done with an assault rifle and some other weapons with high-capacity magazines.” The mobile town hall meeting — which included about 11,000 residents — followed his announcement a few hours earlier to become the co-sponsor in the House of Representatives for the Assault Weapons Ban of 2013, which would prohibit 157 specific weapons and ammunition magazines that have more than 10 rounds. Perlmutter supports banning some assault rifles, semi-automatic weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines. The bill was introduced to the Senate by California Sen. Dianne Feinstein and was expected to be introduced to the House of Representatives this week as of press time on Jan. 28. “The terrible toll that it takes on individuals, families and communities have to be considered when you’re looking at this,” Perlmutter said. “These 150 types of weapons should really be in the hands of military and law enforcement personnel — they’re not meant for self-defense or hunting. We don’t want to do anything to the Second Amendment rights of those who want to hunt or need something for self-defense, but these are for really for military or law enforcement.” During the bill’s introduction, Perlmutter read a letter crafted and signed by 14 relatives of seven moviegoers killed in the Aurora theater shooting. “Our loved ones were gunned down and an entire generation of our families taken away in a matter of seconds,” the letter read in part. “We listened to the 911 tapes played in court and sat in agony as we heard 30 shots fired within 27 seconds, wondering if one of those bullets killed our children.” Under the proposed bill, Perlmutter said gun owners who now own an assault weapon will be allowed to keep it but will be subject to a background check, if they choose to sell or transfer it to another person. Perlmutter said the bill is particularly important because it would close loopholes left in the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, which barred the future manufacturing of 19 specific semiautomatic firearms and banned the possession of magazines holding more than ten ammunition rounds. “It’s going to be a very difficult bill to pass,” Perlmutter said. “I don’t want anybody to have any illusions about that. There is a lot of work to be done, but I am supportive of that and will work on behalf of those families from Aurora and Newtown.”
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