Sentinel Northglenn 4/18/13
Northglenn -Thornton
April 18, 2013
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A Colorado Community Media Publication
ournorthglennnews.com, ourthorntonnews.com
Adams County, Colorado • Volume 49, Issue 36
Commissioners repeal jail cap process By Darin Moriki
dmoriki@ourcoloradonews.com Some city officials say they were pleased with a sweeping resolution that will repeal the county’s jail cap and associated inmate fee system but will wait to see what the Sheriff’s Office will do over the next few weeks. The move, which was unanimously approved without discussion by the Adams County commissioners during their April 15 meeting, rescinded the caps placed on the number of inmates who can be sent by cities to the county jail and the $45 daily fee assessed to cities who exceeded allotted caps. “I’m very encouraged that the commissioners acknowledge that municipalities
and the county have a genuine need for municipal inmates to be in the county jail,” Ward 3 City Councilmember Beth Humenik said. “However, to the best of my knowledge, the sheriff’s position has not changed. It is my understanding that the sheriff will have an announcement coming out soon so we are waiting to hear what the sheriff’s response will be.” The cap restrictions, which began on Jan. 1, 2012, previously stood at 30 and was divided among nine municipalities based on their population in Adams County. The caps, set by Sheriff Doug Darr, were as follows: Thornton, eight; Westminster, five; Aurora and Commerce City, four apiece; Northglenn and Brighton, three each; and one each for Federal Heights, Ar-
vada and Bennett. The commissioners later approved a resolution in October 2012 to double the initial soft jail cap to 60, waive all cap-related fees incurred by the municipalities beginning on Jan. 1, 2012, and allow the Sheriff’s Office to 13 certified deputies to ease staffing crunches. But efforts to pass the measures were delayed twice — once in December 2012 and again in January 2013. “The repeal is a great deal for us and all the surrounding cities in Adams County,” Northglenn Ward I City Councilmember Wayne Dodge said. “Everything is about money. I know his (Darr) issue is money and our issue is money, but when you keep pushing it downhill our way, it affects everyone downhill.”
The move also came on the heels of the Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee’s recommendation “to staff a total of 1,255 beds, located in a total of eight dorms, in an effort to alleviate, to the degree possible, the jail-wide bed shortage including the existing municipal court bed cap issue.” The committee, which was established in September 2011 by the commissioners, began meeting in May 2012 and are tasked with resolving staffing and management issues in the jail. “It is thought, with reasonable expectation, that staffing for the 1,255 beds would provide all jurisdictions more available jail beds,” Adams County District Court Judge and Committee Chair C. Vincent Phelps said in an April 15 letter addressed to the Commissioners.
Elections bill stirs passions Democrats see more involvement; Republicans predict greater fraud By Vic Vela
vvela@ourcoloradonews.com
Zandra Shaver, the owner of A Creative Corner and Friends in Thornton, paints a second layer of glaze onto several plates made by children in the Arapahoe House-sponsored “I’m Going Places” program. Photo by Darin Moriki
Thornton woman fosters love of ceramics By Darin Moriki
dmoriki@ourcoloradonews.com
H
undreds of ceramics mold blocks line the entrance of A Creative Corner and Friends on Pearl Street in Thornton, where owner Zandra Shaver opens her studio and classroom to anyone who has a desire to learn. “We teach people whatever they want to learn here,” Shaver said as she applied a layer of green glaze to a ceramic plate made by a student group from the Arapahoe House in Thornton. “We do a little bit of everything in here, even though the main focus is ceramics. If you come in here and you say, ‘I want to learn how to sew an apron,’ POSTAL ADDRESS
‘We teach people whatever they want to learn here. We do a little bit of everything in here.’ Zandra Shaver we’ll teach you that.” Shaver, 65, said she decided to open her shop nearly 14 years ago at 8550 Pearl
St., so that people from all walks of life can find an outlet — it is a place that, she says, is molded from a foundation of faith and a love of art. “I love people,” Shaver said. “This is a Christian shop, so we treat everyone respectfully and with kindness just like we’d like to be treated. Teaching is a joy because you can share your knowledge with somebody who many not know anything about ceramics.” Shaver said she first began to learn about the art of ceramics in high school, where she learned how to make vases and other household objects. She then pursued it as a hobby nearly 25 years ago, when she
A Democratic-sponsored bill that would put in place sweeping changes to how Colorado elections are conducted passed a state legislative committee on April 15, following a lengthy and heavily debated hearing that went deep into the night. House Bill 1303 would change the state’s election code to allow for sameday voter registration and would put ballots in the mailboxes of every registered voter. The bill also would do away with a system where “inactive” voters — those who did not vote in the previous election — do not continue to receive mailin ballots. Democrats say the changes would encourage more involvement in the voting process, and would save taxpayer dollars on things like voting equipment, because fewer people would need to vote in person. The bill’s sponsors argue that Colorado voters want greater voting access and that legislators should respond to their desires. “People have demanded that we reform our elections system, and it is time for us to design an election system around our voters,” House Majority Leader Dickey Lee Hullinghorst, DGunbarrel, a bill sponsor, told members of the House State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee. But Republicans argue that the changes could lead to greater voting fraud and that the Democrats’ efforts on the bill are self-serving attempts to boost their own party’s voter rolls. Applause erupted from the audience when Rep. Tim Dore, R-Elizabeth, questioned the sponsors’ motives, telling committee members, “I don’t hear the outcry from voters.” “I’m trying to get my arms around why we’re doing this,” he said.
Ceramics continues on Page 23
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Vote continues on Page 23
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