Local News

South Jeffco resident Kendara Peoples didn’t win the Ms. Wheelchair America pageant last month in Grand Rapids, Mich. — but she also didn’t walk away empty-handed.

Taking note of the 24-year-old’s resilient personality, the national competition’s judges invoked an honor sparingly given, the Spirit Award.

By Emile Hallez and Doug Bell

Staff Writers

The Jeffco library board is playing fast and loose with the state’s Open Meetings Law, possibly committing several violations in two recent executive sessions.

Several provisions of the law, which restricts closed-door discussions by public bodies to specific topics named in advance, appear to have been breached:

• The board appeared to offer the library system’s executive director position to a candidate on the phone without ever taking a public vote to make the job offer.

The Jeffco Sheriff’s Office has for years been losing newly trained recruits and deputies to other metro-area police agencies, which employees attribute to a longstanding hiatus of the department’s step-and-grade pay system.

Though the Sheriff’s Office said it could not provide a specific number of employees who left for greener pastures, other local law enforcement agencies have been luring away deputies since 2007 with offers of better pay, Sheriff Ted Mink said.

Admission fees won’t be charged at the Littleton Museum anytime soon, though the City Council still wants to continue looking for ways to raise money to support the facility.

The council decided not to impose admission fees at the museum after hearing six fee-structure options it had requested in January. Museum director Tim Nimz suggested options that would raise anywhere from $7,500 to $157,000 yearly but warned the fees likely would reduce attendance.