Local News

Jefferson County is funneling an additional $750,000 into an open space acquisition tied to the Jefferson Parkway, money that will be used to help purchase a mineral-rights lease.

Though the money is not included in the $5.1 million the county has already dedicated to the former Rocky Flats land deal, the $750,000 could be paid back to the county from an escrow account early next year, staff said.

Jefferson County Public Library trustee Lynne Heinekamp will be retiring from the board effective Jan. 1, she announced last week.

Heinekamp, whose term would have expired on Sept. 30, 2012, cited personal reasons for the decision, namely that she will be caring for her 3-year-old great grandson.

“It was with a heavy heart, and I’ve loved it all,” Heinekamp said during a Dec. 8 board meeting. “But this is necessary. I need to be home.”

County commissioners appointed Heinekamp to the seven-member library board in 2009.

Young gearheads at Colorow Elementary School and Summit Ridge Middle School have cultivated a love for LEGOs, an enthusiasm shared with prior generations of children who grew up to become engineers, designers and other successful professionals.

But the modern building blocks are technological leaps ahead of those found scattered on floors and lodged between couch cushions 20 years ago. Today’s LEGOs often incorporate autonomous robotic programs, and students can craft tiny machines to precisely execute an unlimited number of tasks.

An unidentified virus infected roughly a quarter of Normandy Elementary School’s students last week, including a number of staff who called in sick.
Beginning Dec. 1, the school noticed a spike in the number of children whose parents phoned them in absent — 135 students. By comparison, only 29 students were called in sick the previous day.