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Week of March 23, 2023
ADAMS COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
Northglenn-ThorntonSentinel.com
VOLUME 59 | ISSUE 33
Communities try design to improve public safety State dollars aim to prevent crime with environmental changes BY BRITTANY FREEMAN AND CULLEN PURSER ROCKY MOUNTAIN PBS
Mike Burns bought a home right on the river near Delta, Colorado, with plans to spend the summers
fishing outdoors with his grandkids. But those kinds of excursions haven’t always felt safe, since the family learned more about what had been happening in their new neighborhood. “Crime, drugs, theft, things like that,” he said. “Because of the things that are going on, it’s created some anxiety in us.” It turns out the Burns family had moved to a 2,000-foot stretch of dirt road that is at the epicenter of
roughly 10 percent of every call the small local sheriff ’s office receives. The sheriff sent more deputies to patrol the area but that has left some neighbors even more unnerved. “You’ve got four or five sheriff ’s vehicles parked next to your yard,” neighbor Steve Martinez said. “What are people going to think about what kind of neighborhood it is that you’re living in?” But there’s a new sense of hope on this rural Delta County road these
days, thanks to an infusion of state dollars set aside to prevent crime — not with more police officers — but with environmental improvements. The Crime Prevention Through Safer Streets grant program is providing communities with millions of dollars funds for projects like installing new lighting and fences, removing overgrown vegetation in highcrime areas, and building sidewalks SEE SAFETY, P9
‘Forever chemical’ rule could come at a cost for cities With proposed PFAS rule, Northglenn, Thornton and Westminster are looking at their options BY LUKE ZARZECKI LZARZECKI@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
It comes after a study was finished regarding multimodal transportation on Federal Boulevard, according to the agreement
With the Environmental Protection Agency drafting a new rule that regulates the amount of PFAS, or ‘foreverchemicals,’ in public water systems, Thornton, Northglenn and Westminster are looking at their options. The rule, according to a news release from the EPA, would be the first-ever national drinking water standard for six different kinds of PFAS, poly-fluoroalkyl substances. The maximum level for two of those types, PFOS or PFOA, would be 4 parts per trillion.
SEE BUS STOPS, P4
SEE CHEMICALS, P6
A dozen bus stops along Federal Boulevard will get ADA upgrades, according to an agreement Westminster officials signed March 13. FILE PHOTO
Westminster adding and improving 12 bus stops on Federal Boulevard BY LUKE ZARZECKI LZARZECKI@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Bus travel along RTD’s northern Federal Boulevard routes will get more accessible after Westmin-
ster City Council unanimously approved an agreement with the Colorado Department of Transportation and the Denver Regional Council of Governments to build or reconstruct 12 bus stops.
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 12 | OBITUARIES: PAGE 13 | LIFE: PAGE 14 | SPORTS: PAGE 20
T S E B F THE O T S E B
2023
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