Northglenn Thornton
Sentinel
November 22, 2012
50 cents
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ournorthglennnews.com, ourthorntonnews.com
Adams County, Colorado • Volume 49, Issue 15
D12 seeks tech grant By Ashley Reimers
areimers@ourcoloradonews.com
Adams County Sheriff’s Office Capt. John Williams hands a $12 King Soopers voucher to Aurora resident Ruth Nyman during the ninth annual Operation Free Bird event at the corner of West 64th Avenue and Federal Boulevard in unincorporated Adams County. In all, Nyman said she waited in line for five hours to attend the event. Photo by Darin Moriki
Operation Free Bird draws thousands Program puts turkey on the table for needy By Darin Moriki
dmoriki@ourcoloradonews.com Nearly 25,000 people stood in line for about an hour at a time Nov. 19 to participate in the annual Operation Free Bird event, where about 6,000 families received a hand up to help them through the holiday season. Adams County Sheriff Doug Darr said each person that came to the event, stationed at the corner of West 64th Avenue and Federal Boulevard, left with a $12 King Soopers voucher that allowed each family to purchase a traditional Thanksgiving turkey and a few extra fixings. Another two dozen organizations, including the Adams County Clerk and Recorder’s Office and Southwest Adams County Fire Department, were on hand to provide community members with assistance and information on free pro-
grams. “What we’re really doing is helping them with something that they otherwise might not have at all,” Darr said If we didn’t do this, some of these families wouldn’t have anything for the holidays, and that’s just not right.” Darr said the event first conceived by Deputy Sheriff Larry Medina in 2003 as a way to build a relationship with the Adams County community, especially among the county’s Hispanic community. “If you really want to make a difference and if you want to have some impact, normally it can only be done because there is a relationship and some trust there,” Darr said. “I think this is how you build a community and trust to create that relationship, and I think that’s how you get people who used to not care much about you to say, ‘Those guys are OK, and if we need some help, they’ll help us.’” POSTAL ADDRESS
‘This is just about the best goodwill that I think we can create, so we’re going to continue on.’ Sheriff Doug Darr Rocky Autos owner David Rothrock primarily funded event when it first started off, but Darr said more people joined in as the effort gained momentum over the years. Last year alone, Darr said nearly 6,000 store certificates were distributed to needy families. What’s more, Darr said all of the event’s expenses are paid through the contributions of local businesses, community organizations and individual donors. He said many county employees even gave up a few hours of their weekend to help out to make sure that community members received the help they need. “This is just about
the best goodwill that I think we can create, so we’re going to continue on,” Darr said. “We don’t care if people come from Denver or Arapahoe counties — if they are in need and we have the ability to help them, we’re going to help them.” Westminster resident Katrina Winter said she stood in line for nearly an hour and a half to attend the event with her two granddaughters, 10-year-old Jasmine Lopez and 6-year-old Arianna Lopez. Winter said she was thankful for the hand up, because she has struggled in recent years to raise her three of her grandchildren. Aurora resident Ruth Nyman said she waited in line for five hours receive a free voucher that will feed four other members of her family on Thanksgiving. “It’s a blessing,” Nyman said. “If it wasn’t for them, I’m not sure what we would do. What they do for us and the community is absolutely awesome.”
Administrators at the Adams 12 Five Star School District are keeping their fingers crossed. The district recently applied for a Race to the Top grant, which if awarded, would enable it to implement a new personalized technology system in three schools. For the first time, districts, instead of just states, had the opportunity to apply for federal funding through the Race to the Top grant program. Adams 12 applied for a $9.92 million grant that would invest in a software system that would personalize education for every single student in the school. Amy Bruce, grant director for Adams 12, said the goal is to provide a mobile device, like a laptop or tablet, to every student and teacher that connects them through a platform into a learning management system to work in a blended learning environment. “This platform helps teachers oversee all of their students,” she said. “They are able to access each student’s profile and provide specific learning resources. The student, parent and teacher all have access to what the student it working on virtually. It allows the child learning journey to be very transparent.”
The personalized technology program would be implemented into the STEM Launch School, STEM Magnet Lab School and Northglenn High School. Those schools focus on science, technology, engineering and math. Bruce said the primary decision to implement into the STEM schools is because the staff already has a reform mindset and are looking and thinking about instruction differently. In year three of the four-year grant, Bruce said the district will expand the program into two or three more schools that feed into Northglenn High School, adding an additional 1,400 students to the program. “Why we buy into our STEM model is because the model has the kids actively engaged,” Bruce said. “We have business and industry partners helping us to create authentic problem solving situations for our kids, which gives such meaning to their learning.” The district should know whether it was awarded the grant next month. Bruce is hopeful after the general support she received from the community. She said she received letters of support from Gov. John Hickenlooper, U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, the Colorado Department of Education and the Colorado Legacy Foundation.
Water, sewer rates increase Adjusted fees are in response to projected use, cost growths By Darin Moriki
dmoriki@ourcoloradonews.com Thornton residents will experience an increase in water and sewer rates beginning Jan. 1. City Council unanimously approved a 3 percent water and 6 percent sewer rate increases Nov. 13. Thornton finance director Chuck Seest said both the sewer and water fees will flow into two designated sewer and water funds used to “maintain adequate cash reserves and debt service coverage based on expected future operating and capital costs.” In all, he said the water fund increase will generate about $1 million in additional revenue, while the sewer fund increase will generate an additional $500,000. Seest said water rates are increased every two years in response to customer demands, regulatory requirements and inflationary costs. He said the looming increase is lower than the recent 4 percent
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inflation measurements taken over the past two years. While the ordinance will allow for a 3 percent water rate increase next year, no rate increases are reflected for 2014. Seest said this adjustment will result in a slight average summer residential water bill increase from $50.01 to $51.49 and an average winter residential water bill increase from $19.59 to $20.17. The second part of the ordinance, which calls for a 6 percent sewer rate increase and no rate increase for solid waste, was attributed to an 8 percent rate increase imposed by the Metro Wastewater Reclamation District for treatment services charged to the city. Seest explained these sewer rates are adjusted annually based on rate increases charged by the wastewater treatment facility. He said Metro Wastewater Reclamation District rate increases must be passed onto customers, because about 72 percent of the sewer fund’s operating costs is dedicated to paying these rates. The projected 6 percent sewer rate adjustments and charges will result in an average residential sewer bill increase from $17.61 to $18.66.