Week of January 12, 2023
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JEFFERSON COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
GoldenTranscript.net
VOLUME 157 | ISSUE 4
Jefferson County nonprofits receive unexpected Court denies $350K in grants from Community First Foundation travel request
for defendant in fatal hitand-run case Avila’s arraignment continued to Feb. 21 BY CORINNE WESTEMAN CWESTEMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
$700 to $30,000. It partnered with the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District to identify Jeffco nonprofits actively working to increase inclusivity in the county. SCFD shared grant applications it’d received, and CFF worked quickly to award the grants before Jan. 1. “The information we needed was already in the grant applications nonprofits submitted to SCFD,” Jaime Aguilar, program officer for Community First Foundation, said in a Dec. 23 press release. “ … Now,
Ernesto Avila, the man arrested as an accessory in the fatal hit-andrun outside a Golden bar, has had his arraignment continued to Feb. 21. The court also denied Avila’s request to travel to Puerto Rico to visit family. Avila, 25, and Ruben Marquez, 29, were arrested on Oct. 9 after Marquez reportedly drove Avila’s truck into a crowd of people outside The Rock Rest Lodge. One man was killed, and several others were injured. The District Attorney’s Office has filed 17 charges against Marquez, including first-degree murder, vehicular homicide, and multiple assault charges. He’s scheduled for a preliminary hearing Feb. 3. Avila, the truck’s owner, was believed to be a passenger during the incident outside The Rock Rest. He’s been charged with one felony count of accessory to a crime. He appeared in court on bond Jan. 9 for a scheduled arraignment. However, his defense attorney asked for a continuance to allow more time for negotiations with the District Attorney’s Office.
SEE GRANTS, P5
SEE DENIED, P3
At left, Raelene Whiteshield does a jingle dress dance as members of Cozad Jrs, background right, play the drum and sing during the Oct. 2 Autumn Fest at Golden History Museum & Park. The museum recently received a grant from Community First Foundation FILE PHOTO BY CORINNE WESTEMAN toward its work with Indigenous communities. BY CORINNE WESTEMAN CWESTEMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Nonprofits across Jefferson County are starting 2023 with a little more money in the bank. Over the holiday season, Arvadabased Community First Foundation awarded 18 organizations $350,000 total in grants. The funds will go toward furthering art, science and culture-based projects that promote civic engagement. Several recipients said the funds were a complete surprise. Nathan Richie of Golden History
Museum & Park said grants like this typically have a very involved application process. However, the museum didn’t apply for it. Instead, CFF reached out to the museum based on other grant applications. “This never happens in the grant world,” Center for the Arts Evergreen’s Lisa Nierenberg said. Lakewood Arts Council’s Dorothy Lessem described how she and her colleagues “looked at each other and thought, ‘Is this real?’” when they first heard about it. Community First Foundation confirmed the grants ranged from
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 14 | LIFE: PAGE 16 | CALENDAR: PAGE 19 | SPORTS: PAGE 24
EMOTIONAL LEARNING, ART, GOOD MEDICINE P16