Denver, CO

Neighbors voice disapproval after hundreds of trees bulldozed in Green Valley Ranch for new Aurora sewer line

Published

1 year ago

August 11, 2023

Neighbors voice disapproval after hundreds of trees bulldozed in Green Valley Ranch for new Aurora sewer line

DENVER — Construction is, of course, a common site on the Front Range, with bulldozers, backhoes and trucks clearing the way for new infrastructure and homes. But the location of one infrastructure project near Denver International Airport has neighbors scratching their heads in disbelief.

“I was shocked when that 30 feet easement ended up being from way over there to way over there, 120 feet wide in some places,” said Kelvin Klink.

Klink is talking about wide swaths of trees in a natural wetlands area near North Dunkirk Street and East 53^rd Avenue in Denver’s Green Valley Ranch neighborhood that were bulldozed for a new Aurora sewer line.

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“Let’s not cut down the few trees that we have,” said Katrina Johnson as she was walking to work.

“It’s extremely unsightly,” Klink said. “The pipeline comes right next to a pond where the pelicans hang out.”

Klink lives nearby and estimates crews removed hundreds of decades-old cottonwoods and other trees.

“If they had sharpened their pencils some, they could have avoided the unnecessary cutting of a lot of trees,” Klink said. “Since it’s benefiting the city of Aurora, and I’m not challenging their need to do it, it would have been nice to have more communication with the community.”

For its part, the City of Aurora says it did host a number of community meetings that were poorly attended prior to launching the project.

“We definitely try to minimize impact to not only the customers in the area, but also the environment,” said Andrea Long, project manager for the First Creek Interceptor Project, a regional masterplan with Metro Wastewater. “So from day one on the project, we worked with environmental specialists on the design team to help mitigate impacts to wildlife.”

Long says she is sensitive to community concerns.

“Oh yeah, definitely,” Long said. “I live in a community, as well. I have young children — we enjoy the outdoors, we love the trees, we love wildlife. So I would never want to do anything to harm that.”

Long says in the end, the First Creek location through GVR was the most feasible location and while its disruptive now, it will have long-term benefits.

“We have limitations from an engineering perspective of where that can go,” Long said. “People don’t think about sewers until their toilet doesn’t flush or they can’t wash laundry or do dishes or cook supper or give their kids a bath. I don’t want them to have to worry about those things. They shouldn’t have to.”

As for neighbors, they’re now promising to hold Aurora and Denver accountable in terms of returning the area to its natural state.

“All the ground that was disturbed is supposed to be put back to the same grade and same condition that it was,” Klink said.

“I just would hope that whether it’s Aurora or Denver that they have a plan on how to rebuild that habitat,” Johnson said. “It’s critical out here this close to the wildlife refuge at the old Arsenal.”

Aurora Water did pay the Denver Forestry Department about $159,000 for the trees that it removed. Because of that agreement, the Office of the City Forester in Denver is now responsible for replacing the trees if it chooses to do so.

The project is scheduled to be completed in May 2024.

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Denver, CO

Suns lookahead: Phoenix looks to end Christmas skid in holiday matchup vs. Denver Nuggets

Published

8 hours ago

December 22, 2024

Press Room

Suns lookahead: Phoenix looks to end Christmas skid in holiday matchup vs. Denver Nuggets

The Phoenix Suns will play in their fourth consecutive Christmas Day game Wednesday against the Denver Nuggets at Footprint Center.

The week begins with a Monday game at Denver and finishes with a back-to-back set: Friday’s home game against the Dallas Mavericks and Saturday’s matchup at Golden State.

It’s nice to play on the most celebrated holiday of the year, especially at home.

Family and loved ones in town. Everyone watching on national television.

A festive time for celebrating and gift-giving, but the Grinch keeps showing up and ruining Christmas for the Suns.

Phoenix is 1-7 in its past eight Christmas games, losing the past three to the Golden State Warriors, 116-107, in 2021; at the Denver Nuggets, 128-125 in overtime, in 2022; and against Dallas, 128-114, last year.

What’s even crazier is the Suns lost to teams that either won an NBA championship or reached the finals that season.

The Warriors won it all in the 2021-22 season, the Nuggets took it in 2022-23 and the Mavericks advanced to the finals before losing to the 2023-24 NBA champion Boston Celtics.

The Suns last won on Christmas in 2009, beating the Los Angeles Clippers, 124-93, at home. Phoenix went more than 10 seasons without playing on the holiday until the 2021-22 season, the year after it reached the 2021 finals.

Phoenix is 12-9 overall on Christmas.

Christmas 2021: Curry leads Warriors past Suns

The Suns played the centerpiece Christmas game in 2021 against the Warriors during their historic 64-win season. They entered the marquee matchup with a 26-5 record and on a five-game winning streak, but lost at home.

Phoenix bolstered the best home record that season at 32-9 with one of those rare losses coming on Christmas. The Suns didn’t score in the final three minutes while Otto Porter Jr. scored the game’s final seven points.

Stephen Curry punched out a game-high 33 points to go with six assists to just one turnover while Chris Paul led the Suns with 21 points and eight assists to two turnovers and six rebounds.

Devin Booker managed just 13 points on 5-of-19 shooting.

Christmas 2022: Booker injured early, Suns fall in OT

In 2022, the Suns lost Booker within the first five minutes of their Christmas loss to the Nuggets at Ball Arena in Denver as he aggravated a groin injury. Scoring just two points, he had missed the previous three games.

Landry Shamet came off the bench to deliver 31 points to match a career-high, and Nikola Jokic posted another insane triple-double of 41 points, 15 rebounds and 15 assists, but the game will forever be remembered for Aaron Gordon’s ferocious one-handed dunk in overtime over Shamet, who tried to take the charge on the play.

Gordon was first called for an offensive foul, but after review, the call was overturned because Shamet was ruled outside of the restricted area.

Gordon missed the ensuing free throw, but his dunk gave Denver a 126-123 lead with 24 seconds left.

Christmas 2023: Doncic 50-piece dooms Suns

Then last season, Luka Doncic cooked the Suns for 50 points in leading Dallas to victory at Footprint Center. Shooting 8-of-16 from 3, Doncic became the seventh-fastest to reach 10,000 career points.

Grayson Allen scored a team-high 32 points to lead the Suns, going 8-of-17 from 3 while Kevin Durant and Booker combined for just 36 points on 10-of-25 shooting.

The Suns were without Bradley Beal (right ankle sprain) and Jusuf Nurkic (personal reasons) while the Mavericks won despite Kyrie Irving being sidelined due to a heel injury.

The Suns now have another chance to win on Christmas.

Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.

Support local journalism: Subscribe to azcentral.com today.

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Denver, CO

Esther Romero

Published

16 hours ago

December 22, 2024

Press Room

Esther Romero

OBITUARY

Esther Romero (Lopez), 84, entered into eternal rest surrounded by her loving family. Born in Mt. Harris, Colorado, a small coal mining town near Steamboat Springs, her family moved to Denver in 1950. She graduated from North High School in 1957 and was the first in her family to attend college. She left for Colorado State College now UNC in 1958 where she soon met the love of her life and future husband Richard Romero. Esther graduated in 1961, married a week later, and together moved to Castle Rock where she began her career as an educator. Before long they returned to Denver where their three daughters were born. In 1972, Esther became one of Denver Public Schools first bilingual bicultural teachers and soon earned her Masters Degree from UNC. A passionate advocate, she understood the value of building a strong educational foundation in a child’s home language and honoring culture while also learning English. She taught at Elmwood, Del Pueblo, and Fairmont elementaries. A founding member of the Congress of Hispanic Educators (CHE), Esther served as president for many years helping to ensure children in DPS had access to a quality bilingual education. She continued this work through her final days. Esther taught for 30 years, was recognized as a master teacher of children, an exceptional mentor and coach to future educators, and served as a liaison between CU-Denver and DPS. She was a member of Delta Kappa Gamma.

Esther enjoyed traveling with family and friends to Mexico, Europe, South America, the Caribbean, and almost all fifty states. She and Richard were avid Broncos fans holding season tickets since 1970, traveling to two Super Bowls. She loved organizing family gatherings, gambling trips, camping, reading, puzzles, and playing games with family. She had the unique ability to make everyone feel seen, heard, valued, and loved.

She was preceded in death by her parents Luis and Tommie G. Lopez, devoted husband Richard Romero, brother Baltazar Lopez ( Lourdes) and survived by her loving daughters Rosana (Dean) Trujillo, Carla (Arturo) Perez, Diana (John) Romero Campbell, and her grandchildren Arturito, Juliana, Claudia, Sofia, Orlando, Geronimo and Alicia, her sister Alice (Joe) Marquez, brothers Louie (Pat dec.) Lopez, Davey (Pat dec.) Lopez, Robert (Shari) Lopez, Ray (Melva) Lopez, and numerous extended family members. Please see www.cfcscolorado.org for service details.

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Denver, CO

Denver Salvation Army needs more bell ringers to support the community

Published

23 hours ago

December 21, 2024

Press Room

Denver Salvation Army needs more bell ringers to support the community

The Salvation Army provides shelter, meals, and support for families in need in our community every day, but they need help to raise those donations.

They have put out a call for paid and volunteer bell ringers to collect donations vital to support their programs and services.

All of the donations raised go to serve the Denver community. Funds go to serve families struggling to feed their children or provide gifts during the holidays as well as disaster services and much more for the residents of the Denver metro area.

Bell ringers get to pick their hours and location, and friends and families are encouraged to volunteer together and give back to the community.

Those interested in volunteering can sign up online at www.registertoring.com. To find a paid bell ringer position, applicants can visit the Salvation Corps nearest to their neighborhood.

A listing of all Denver area Corps locations is available at visiting.denver.salvationarmy.org. Applicants must be 18 or over to have a paid bell ringing position.

Christa Swanson

Christa Swanson is a Digital Media Producer at CBS Colorado in Denver.

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