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Week of April 20, 2023
ADAMS & JEFFERSON COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
WestminsterWindow.com
VOLUME 78 | ISSUE 26
New Thornton ward boundaries draw criticism BY LUKE ZARZECKI LZARZECKI@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Suncor Energy’s Commerce City plant.
the sulfur dioxide levels must be that high for over an hour. Within hours, a state news release said, the levels had “dropped significantly.” Despite the drop in the monitored sulfur dioxide levels, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment urged families in the future to limit outdoor exercise,
Mayor Jan Kulmann is denying claims that she and other councilors moved city ward boundaries last fall to make it easier for their friends to get elected. Kulmann said the changes that moved part of Thornton’s Woodglenn neighborhood out of Ward 4 and into Ward 2 were done to keep the neighborhood whole. “I think the ask was that the neighborhood be together, I didn’t care which ward it was in, so I didn’t know if (Bedolla) would or not,” Kulmann said. But Ward 4 City Councilor Karen Bigelow said she sees the move as gerrymandering, shifting the city’s ward boundaries in an effort to get two Kulmann-friendly candidates, Angie Bedolla and Nicole Matkowsky, a better shot at winning the election. Under the old map, the two would have run against each other. “Do I believe that they redistricted Angie’s neighborhood into Ward 2 because they wanted to run Nicole
SEE SUNCOR, P31
SEE WARDS, P8
COURTESY OF THE COLORADO SUN
Suncor released sulfur dioxide spikes, state says Commerce City refinery had equipment failure BY MICHAEL BOOTH THE COLORADO SUN
The Suncor refinery in Commerce City sent potentially dangerous spikes of sulfur dioxide into the
surrounding neighborhood early April 12 after an equipment failure, though the state health department’s notice didn’t go out until that evening. Sulfur dioxide detected from Suncor leapt to 155 parts per billion and 186 parts per billion, while the EPA’s National Ambient Air Quality Standards are 75 parts per billion. But to reach an official exceedance,
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Riverdale Ridge looks strong P14