Local News

  The Chatfield dog park will soon be fenced and reduced in size by a third, the Colorado State Parks board voted unanimously July 15 after a contentious public hearing.

The changes are necessary, park staff explained, for two reasons:

First, the Army Corps of Engineers, which owns the land and leases it to the state parks service, wants to keep dog park users out of the Platte River’s spillway channel, said Ken Brink, assistant director for field operations. The best solution, he said, is to simply build a fence.

Deer Creek Middle School teacher David Benke will be honored on a national stage during a school safety conference July 26 to 30 in Orlando, Fla.

Benke, who has received countless accolades for quickly subduing a gunman Feb. 23 outside the school, is among a handful of special guests including school staff, police and school resource officers from around the country. About 400 people are expected to attend the week-long National School Safety Conference, which is being held in a hotel near Disney’s Epcot Center.

This year’s Summerset Festival, scheduled for Sept. 18-19 at Clement Park, is looking for exhibitors to celebrate the end of summer.

The arts and crafts area welcomes those who are interested in marketing their own original creations. Business and nonprofit booth exhibitors can showcase their new or local business and network with other local business owners.

Nonprofit agencies use their booths to educate and fund-raise. Dog and pet-related exhibitors are invited to participate in the annual Fun Day for the Dogs, a mini-event held during Summerset.

A Lakewood liquor store worker who repeatedly sold alcohol to teenage customers pleaded guilty June 29 to charges stemming from a recent police sting operation.

Van Pham, 47, was earlier indicted on 10 counts by a grand jury in the 2007 sale of alcohol to teens, one of whom was involved in a fatal collision in the Green Mountain area. Pham was on probation and prohibited from working in a liquor store when he sold a beer on April 14 at Alameda Square Liquors to an underage man working for the Lakewood Police Department.