.....Advertisement.....
.....Advertisement.....

Local News

  • Dogged determination: Lynda Fine still working to establish off-leash dog park

    A plan to use part of a Foothills Park & Recreation District park for a dog park has run into some snags, but the woman behind the proposal is not giving up.

    “It was a curve I wasn’t expecting, but that just pumps me up even more to get this done,” said Lynda Fine, who’s been trying since November 2008 to establish an off-leash dog park in the area. “We can’t just sit back and let this drag on.”

    Click here to read more...
  • Kopp rips boost in vehicle registration fees

    South Jeffco’s state senator says an increase in vehicle registration fees will take money from Colorado taxpayers at a time when they can least afford to give it.

    “My issue with this bill was that we’re in a recession, and family budgets are crunched,” said Sen. Mike Kopp, a Littleton Republican. “Maybe now is not the best time to gin up a very large new fee that functions basically like a tax on people.”

    Click here to read more...
  • Family escapes South Jeffco house fire

    Five members of a South Jeffco family escaped uninjured March 25 after waking up to find their home in flames.

    The early-morning blaze left the home at 7377 S. Flower St. uninhabitable, and the family will be displaced for at least six months.

    The fire may have started near a backyard grill, according to Micki Trost, spokesperson for West Metro Fire Rescue. Flames traveled up the rear of the home and worked their way in, causing extensive damage. The homeowner woke up and was able to evacuate his wife and three daughters ages 7, 8 and 11.

    Click here to read more...
  • County ‘sales pitch’ irks citizen budgeters

    Some members of the citizen panel asked to prioritize $277 million in county spending over the next four years are growing tired of the “sales pitch” from the county and want to get to work.

    Click here to read more...
  • County must borrow more to build animal shelter; groundbreaking now scheduled for June 15

    The weak economy and an “unrealistic fund-raising timeline” have forced the county to borrow more money for the Table Mountain Animal Center project, according to the shelter’s spokesman.

    “It was never realistic for us to reach $3 million in actual money by the time they break ground,” said Ben Drotar, TMAC spokesman. “With the current economic climate, and the problems that pretty much happened at the end of October, that threw a little wrench in the spokes.”

    Click here to read more...
  • County still behind on food-stamp applications

    Nearly 200 Jeffco families awaiting food assistance have endured waits between 35 and 40 days — five to 10 days longer than federal law allows.

    Click here to read more...
  • School official arrested on suspicion of attempted sexual assault on a child

    Don Jenkins, Jeffco Public Schools’ chief information officer, was arrested March 19 for investigation of Internet luring of a child and attempted sexual assault on a child.

    Jenkins was arrested by the Aurora Police Department after an undercover Internet sting operation.

    “This is devastating news for us on so many levels,” said Jeffco Public Schools Superintendent Cindy Stevenson. “Accusations like these violate our organizational values and our mission of protecting children.”

    Click here to read more...
  • Kopp holds first virtual town hall meeting

    State Sen. Mike Kopp’s first “virtual town hall meeting” went off with only one technological glitch on March 23, but the bigger issue may be ensuring that constituents who don’t agree with Kopp get a chance to weigh in.

    Click here to read more...
  • DA Storey wants to extend term limits for his office

    For Jeffco District Attorney Scott Storey, eight is definitely not enough.

    Term limits mean that Storey must leave office when his second four-year term ends in 2012, but he’s determined to stick around. And so, he will soon propose to the county commissioners that the limits be extended to let him seek another term.

    “As it applies to the DA, and as it applies to those offices that are not necessarily policy-makers but have a specialty attached to them — like the sheriff, for example — I felt like eight years is not enough,” Storey said.

    Click here to read more...
  • Open Space could save $5 million by refinancing loans

    The Jefferson County Open Space Division might be able to buy more land after it refinances more than $70 million in loans to take advantage of low interest rates.

    “Unfortunately, the economy is bad, but it also creates the opportunity for us to do better with our bonds,” said Open Space Director Ralph Schell.

    Schell said the open space program took out about $160 million in loans in 1999 to buy land. The county currently pays an average interest rate of 4.94 percent on the remaining debt, but prevailing rates are nearly 2 points lower.

    Click here to read more...