Community News

By Charley Able • August 7th, 2009

JEFFERSON COUNTY – Christine Bachmeyer Phillips, chief deputy District Attorney, is the 1st Judicial District’s newest District Court judge.
Gov. Bill Ritter appointed Phillips Thursday. The appointment is effective immediately.
The 1st Judicial District encompasses Jefferson and Gilpin counties.
Phillips has been the chief deputy DA since 1993. She has prosecuted misdemeanor and traffic cases as well as [...]

JEFFERSON COUNTY – A herd of horses and a donkey seized in an animal neglect investigation need new homes.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office was awarded ownership of the 17 animals by court order after their owner, John McCulley was charged with 38 counts of animal neglect and one count of animal cruelty.
The 17 animals now [...]

 
 
LAKEWOOD – Police investigators Tuesday jailed a suspect in the predawn shooting death of a man he shared a house with at 5300 W. Arizona Ave.
Details still were sketchy in late afternoon, but a Lakewood Police Department spokeswoman said three men were in the house when the shooting occurred. The role of the third man [...]

DENVER -  Jefferson County’s four confirmed cases of drug-resistant salmonella infection tops the list in two large outbreaks of the illness investigated by the state health agency since late June.
And the tainted ground beef that is believed to be the cause of both outbreaks could still be on store shelves, according to the Colorado Department [...]

 
LAKEWOOD – Folks frustrated with the rise in identity theft, Internet scams, fraud and financial crimes as well as other threats to their homes, family, safety and health browsed through dozens of information at Saturday’s Community Safety Fair.
District Attorney Scott Storey pulled together a wide range of community safety and health groups for the event [...]

LAKEWOOD – Work crews will close the West 6th Avenue eastbound off-ramp to Union Boulevard this weekend to accommodate crews working on FasTrack’s West Corridor light rail line.
The off-ramp is scheduled to close from 8 p.m. Friday through 5 a.m. Monday to relocate an agricultural water ditch across the ramp. The crews are changing the [...]

SUBMITTED BY: Nancy Braden, Public Information
Jefferson County Department of Health and Environment
JEFFERSON COUNTY: Jefferson County Public Health received positive test results for plague Wednesday from a flea specimen collected from a prairie dog die-off at the Westminster Hills Open Space/Dog Park at 105th Avenue and Simms Street.
The area of concern includes the entire dog park [...]

LAKEWOOD – The Environmental Assessment for the state highway department’s U.S. 6/Wadsworth study will be presented to the public at a public hearing Wednesday, July 22 at Lakewood City Hall.
Written comments on the EA can be submitted through Aug. 28, but the public hearing will give the public a chance to deliver their comments directly.
The [...]

SUBMITTED BY: Nancy Braden, Public Information, Jefferson County Public Health
 
JEFFERSON COUNTY – Jefferson County Public Health, in conjunction with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, has confirmed the first human case of West Nile virus for the 2009 Colorado season. The case was reported from Jefferson County, and the patient is recovering at [...]

The Jefferson County Public Health Department reminds residents that, as summer approaches, so does the risk of contracting certain animal-borne diseases such as rabies, West Nile Virus, Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome, bubonic plague, tularemia, and Colorado Tick Fever. All are diseases that can be carried by various animals and insects (rodents, mosquitoes or ticks) and then [...]

SUBMITTED BY: Jacki Kelley, Public Information Director
                                   Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office
JEFFERSON COUNTY -With the Fourth of July rapidly approaching, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office would like to clarify Colorado law as it applies to the use and possession of fireworks in the unincorporated areas of Jefferson County.
A good rule of thumb: Any device that explodes [...]

SUBMITTED BY: Katie Reinisch, Communications Director, House Majority Office
 
DENVER – They talk the talk, they walk the walk and they bike their bikes: they are the hard-core bicyclists of the House Democrats!
On Wednesday’s Bike to Work Day, Speaker of the House Terrance Carroll, Rep. Michael Merrifield (D-Colorado Springs, and sponsor of several pro-biking bills), Health Committee [...]

 SUBMITTED BY Nancy Braden, PIO/Health Communications coordinator Jefferson County Public Health
The novel influenza A (H1N1) virus took center stage in April of this year and within weeks had infected people in the United States and across the globe. Public Health officials around the world sounded the alarm, our media, government, and community partners responded accordingly [...]

GOLDEN – Jefferson County Public Schools’ proposed general fund budget, which will be presented at two public hearings in June, includes a $14.7 million increase in operating costs.
If approved by the district’s Board of Education, the entire budget would total $990,404,900 and the general fund, which pays for day-to-day operation of the district and its [...]

Two Lakewood residents await state Senate confirmation after Gov. Bill Ritter nominated them to the Great Outdoors Colorado board of directors.
Former state legislator Norma Anderson and attorney James R. Spaanstra were nominated Thursday.
If both are confirmed, Jefferson County would have four representatives on the 17-member panel. Ritter also nominated Timothy P. Daly of Evergreen to serve on [...]

 
EDGEWATER – With brushes in hand, elected officials from seven metro area communities kicked off the 2009 Brothers Redevelopment Inc. Paint-A-Thon Tuesday and, by summer’s end, more than 100 houses will sport fresh paint courtesy of the program.
Lakewood City Councilman Tom Quinn wielded one of those paint brushes, starting the primer coat on the house [...]

LAKEWOOD KIDS WATCH BILLS BECOME LAW: Pupils at Foothills Elementary School got a lesson in government Friday when Gov. Bill Ritter visited the school to sign three energy bills into law, including one that provides loans to schools for alternative energy projects.
Rep. Andy Kerr, D-Lakewood, sponsored the bill with Sens. Gil Schwartz, D-Dist. 5, and [...]

St. Anthony Central Hospital and Panorama Orthopedics & Spine Center have announced a partnership to provide a full spectrum of orthopedic services.