Serving the community since 1866
WEEK OF AUGUST 24, 2023
VOLUME 157 | ISSUE 34
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Foothills Art Center finishing up work on Astor House campus Creative Campus off 15th Street reopening this fall
Marquez scheduled for sentencing Sept. 15
BY CORINNE WESTEMAN CWESTEMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
If all goes according to plan, Foothills Art Center’s long-awaited Astor House campus will open later this year. FAC started renovating and building onto the historic structure at 822 12th St. last May, with plans to finish this month. However, Executive Director Hassan Najjar said the project’s hit delays and other challenges that have made the opening date a “moving target.” Still, Najjar and Board President Melanie Smith were hopeful the bulk of the campus will be ready this year. Some exterior work, including the landscaping, must wait until spring. FAC is leasing the former boarding house museum, which had been unused for about six years, from the City of Golden. Smith said FAC is using grants and private donations SEE ASTOR HOUSE, P2
Marquez, Avila plead guilty in fatal Rock Rest hit-and-run BY CORINNE WESTEMAN CWESTEMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
On Aug. 15, Hassan Najjar, executive director of Foothills Art Center, stands in the future main entrance of the Astor House campus. The main entrance will be in the PHOTOS BY CORINNE WESTEMAN new building adjacent to the historic Astor House.
VOICES: 14 | LIFE: 16 | CALENDAR: 19 | SPORTS: 22
The two men charged after a truck drove into a crowd outside Golden’s Rock Rest Lodge last October have pleaded guilty to separate charges in the case. The alleged driver, 30-year-old Ruben Marquez, has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, three counts of vehicular assault and one count of attempted second-degree assault. Adrian Ponce, 26, was killed in the Oct. 9 incident. Three Rock Rest employees were seriously injured, and other people at the scene sustained minor injuries. During Marquez’s Aug. 17 arraignment, Judge Lindsay VanGilder SEE HIT-AND-RUN, P6
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FANTASTIC NEIGHBORHOODS Magic hidden just beyond the sidewalk in fairy gardens P16