WESTMINSTER WINDOW February 7, 2013
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A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourwestminsternews.com
Adams County and Jefferson County, Colorado • Volume 68, Issue 16
Council bans retail marijuana in city limits By Ashley Reimers
areimers@ourcoloradonews.com Although possession of an ounce or less of marijuana is legal for 21-year-olds in Colorado, purchasing the drug in Westminster from retail stores is not. During its Jan. 28 meeting, Westminster City Council unanimously approved an ordinance to prohibit the retail sale of marijuana within city limits. Under Amendment 64, passed in November, local governments can choose to prohibit, by ordinance or referendum, marijuana cultivation facilities, marijuana product manufacturing facilities, marijuana testing facilities and retail marijuana stores. “To me marijuana is the gateway drug and something I never messed with,” said councilor Mark Kaiser. “I’m definitely a no on the sale.” Council previously addressed this issue during a Jan. 7 study session. It was clear then all council members were in favor of the ordinance.
“I don’t see how we can realize a benefit out of this. I personally don’t want to see this in Westminster. If I had a magic wand, I would like to go back and fix 64,” said councilor Herb Atchison. According to the staff report, should marijuana businesses be permitted within the city, the resulting demand on police, code enforcement, legal accounting and other limited resources would be significant. Kaiser agreed and said the demand on the local law enforcement would increase. “I don’t think there is enough sales tax revenue to offset what it’s going to cost us in law enforcement,” he said. Although city staff stated marijuana businesses may cause a higher demand on the Westminster Police Department, public information officer Trevor Materasso said because the city doesn’t have a background or history with marijuana facilities, it’s hard to determine whether or not law enforcement would be impacted by retail stores in the city. “For us we don’t have a track record to compare. We can’t say what specifically
Westminster City Council voted to prohibit the sale of retail marijuana in the city. File photo what demands or workload would be required,” he said. “But this was a council de-
cision and we support any decision passed by them.”
Proposed bill would get law out of bedroom Legislators target old statutes By Vic Vela
vvela@ourcoloradonews.com
Paul Robinson spins while holding onto a Cyr wheel on stage during a rehearsal of Visindi Science Circus at Westminster High School Jan. 31. The science circus is a fundraiser created by teacher Cassie Drew to raise money for Sunset Ridge Elementary. Photos by Andy Carpenean
Flying high for funds
Circus raises money for technology By Ashley Reimers
areimers@ourcoloradonews. com The circus came to Westminster over the weekend, bringing along laughter, entertainment and even some science education. Westminster High School hosted two performances of Visindi Circus on Feb. 1-2. Visindi Circus is the creation of Sunset Ridge Elementary teacher Cassie Drew. She organized the circus in an effort to raise money for technology for her school. She also wanted to give students an
opportunity to learn about science in a fun, new way. “I love the idea of fusing things together that at first done seem like they would go together, like science and circus,” she said. Drew nearly met her goal to raise $10,000, she collected a little more than $7,000 from ticket sales. She said she was not sure what the money would be used for, but was considering iPads or chromebooks for students. The circus featured science demonstrations, along with juggling, hand balancing, hula hooping, aerial acrobatics and stilt walkers, to name a few. But Drew didn’t just organize the
Alexandra Nikolova performs in an aerial fabric during a rehearsal of Visindi Science Circus at Westminster High School Jan. 31. The science circus is a fundraiser created by teacher Cassie Drew to raise money for Sunset Ridge Elementary. circus; she also directed and starred in the performance. After competing in gymnastics for 18 years, Drew was looking for a new physical challenge. She found a circus troupe called the Roustabouts, and soon found her new passion. “After I graduated college and was done with gymnastics, I didn’t know what I was going to do,” she said. “But then I found aerial acrobatics and the circus troupe, and soon I really fell in love with it.” Drew recruited her fellow
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circus-mates to perform in the Visindi Circus. She got a lot of help from her co-producer Ian Caldwell, who has traveled the world performing with circus companies. About 15 other performers also volunteered their time to make the circus a reality, including Ryan Hamity. He partnered with Drew for an acrobatics act. He said normally there aren’t many benefit shows out there, so to be a part of Visindi was a good experience. “No one is making any money, it’s all going to the school,” he said. “There was a lot of work that went into, more than I thought it was going to be. But it was good to see it all come together.” Drew said she hopes to turn Visindi Circus into a nonprofit organization and see it expand to help other school raise money for technology. For more information on Visindi Circus, visit http://visindi.org.
With apologies to Hank Williams Sr.: Your cheating heart may tell on you, but that shouldn’t result in troubles with the law, too. At least that’s what two Democratic legislators believe. A bill that would repeal a longstanding Colorado law that prohibits adultery — as well as repeal a separate law that makes it a crime to promote “sexual immorality” — was introduced in the state House of Representatives last week. “Adultery should be a matter between a person and their spouse,” said Rep. Daniel Kagan, D-Cherry Hills Village, the bill’s House sponsor. “It is wrong, in my view, to make it the state’s business to inquire into who I slept with last night.” Yes, it is against Colorado law to cheat on one’s spouse, and it’s been like that since the 1900s. To be sure, it is a toothless law with no penalty. But a separate law that the bill aims to repeal, “promoting sexual immorality,” does carry with it a potential misdemeanor charge. An example of a violation of this law would be when a hotel worker rents a room to an unmarried couple, knowing that they’re going to use the room to have sex. “It has been prosecuted eleven times in the last three years,” Kagan said of the law. “This bill keeps the police out of our private business.” Kagan is sponsoring the bill with Sen. Pat Steadman, D-Denver. They are the same two lawmakers who unsuccessfully attempted to repeal the laws during a previous legislative session. Rep. Libby Szabo of Arvada had some fun on Twitter, saying sarcastically that the bill is “another display of the (Colorado Democratic Party’s) focus on jobs and the economy.” Szabo elaborated on her tweet in an emailed statement. “It just makes you wonder what the legislative priorities are of two senior members of the Democrat legislative caucus when they’re more interested in running legislation concerning sexual immorality while more than 200,000 Coloradans are without a job,” Szabo wrote.