Local News

Miniature candy-bar wrappers crinkle as a dozen men seated at a circle of tables take bites, stacking the wrappers in small piles and listening intently as others take turns speaking.

They come from all parts of the metro area. Among them are a construction worker, a musician, an unemployed welder and a stand-up comedian.

Their backgrounds vary, but stories of divorce, financial struggles and incarceration are common.

Jeffco Public Schools community superintendent Holly Anderson resigned last month, and the district has hired a successor for the high-level job.

Dan Cohan, a former high school principal who was serving as the schools’ executive director for the same region, which includes the Columbine, Chatfield, Dakota Ridge, Evergreen and Conifer areas, is already working in the position, Superintendent Cindy Stevenson said.

A quilt-like assemblage of heirloom vegetables and native flowers has made its way to the once-unlikely location of the Ken-Caryl Valley.

A community garden, a sight sometimes more common than grass in high-density urban areas, is making the tradition of growing one’s own food a reality for an affluent community unable to do so in their own yards.

The Ken-Caryl Community Garden, a modest enclosure of 38 small plots built on Jeffco Open Space land neighboring the community center at 1 Club Drive, held its grand opening June 11.

Lockheed Martin Space Systems plans to cut about 1,200 jobs by the end of the year, including positions at its Waterton Canyon location, the company announced Tuesday.

Most of the layoffs will affect middle management, which is being reduced by 25 percent, the company said.

The company did not announce how many jobs would be cut locally but did say the Waterton Canyon location would be affected. Positions will also be eliminated at the company’s locations in Sunnyvale, Calif., and in Delaware Valley, Pa.