Neighborhood activists are increasingly giving up hope that what they believe is overdevelopment in the City and County of Denver by politically powerful developers can be stopped by means other than lawsuits. A key neighborhood lawsuit against Denver City Council involving three proposed apartment houses in a single family home area has been brought by the West Highlands Neighborhood Association and is scheduled for a three day trial May 28 to 30 in Denver District Court. In addition, the Cherry Creek North Neighborhood Association filed suit last month against the City Council over the approval of the development at 245 Columbine.

Mayor Michael Hancock and his administration are seen by some as being tightly controlled by real estate developer Pat Hamill, CEO of Oakwood Homes, and other developers who funded his successfully mayoral bid in 2011.

Similarly, the Denver City Council races are funded by developers and public union supporters and some citizens feel excluded from having any input on issues that matter to them. Citizens pack City Council meetings to oppose a development and find that whatever they have to say is ignored or mocked by members of the City Council followed by inevitably lopsided votes in favor of the developers.

Annette Woodward of 253 Adams Street went to the City Council meeting concerning the 245 Columbine project and said that she was “appalled at the lack of respect afforded the citizens of Denver who spoke in opposition to the development.” She noted that Councilmember Chris Nevitt showed disdain for those who took time to express their views declaring that “no young people” were speaking in opposition, only some “old people.” She added that Susan Shepherd attacked the same citizens declaring that they were elitists who didn’t care about things that concern ordinary Coloradans.

Residents in the West Highlands area believe that Nevitt and Shepherd are using a “take no prisoners” approach toward citizens who oppose developments in Denver. Red Peak Properties sought to tear down several homes at 32nd and Lowell in a West Highlands area of Denver and build high-rise apartments. Resident Ellen Cormack and a female friend stopped by Councilwoman Shepherd’s home as she had stopped by theirs when running for office. In addition, Shepherd had not responded to emails from residents opposing the project despite repeated assurances from her that she would.

When they told Shepherd that some people in the community were considering a recall drive, Shepherd purportedly “lost it” jumping off the couch pointing her finger in Cormack’s face yelling, “How dare you threaten me with a recall!” Cormack and her friend quickly got up to leave but Shepherd grabbed her arm and continued to yell at her until she and her friend managed to escape.

Hardball Tactics

The next day Cormack soon got a lesson in hardball politics, in which the aggressive politician is able to turn the table and claim “victim status” against the citizens. Shepherd had Michael Kadovitz, Democratic co-captain of Colorado House District B, prepare an open letter titled “Community is Unity: Letter in Support of Civility and Councilwoman Shepherd.” In it he claimed that the two women had undertaken “a heated verbal assault leveled at [Shepherd] with shouting and threats of a recall.” Kadovitz claimed that the assault had “unfolded in front of her family, including her four-year-old child, who had special needs.” He denounced the women as “bullies” and demanded that citizens “maintain a civil manner” when addressing elected officials.

The letter was signed by dozens of political activists from Rev. Butch Montoya to Diane Dunne, Vice Chair of House District 4, and the letter was printed in full in the “Your Hub” section of The Denver Post.

At the same time Shepherd had Chris Nevitt, then Denver City Council President, write another open letter which he read during a City Council meeting declaring the two women were responsible for an “appalling incident” that was “out of line” and stating “City Council members deserve the right to privacy in their homes.” A story in The Denver Post by Jeremy Meyer reiterated Nevitt’s charges. Shepherd was quoted saying the incident “left me shaken.”

The two women, who had no access to The Denver Post, were successfully ostracized and belittled by the political hardball tactics of Shepherd and Nevitt.

But the citizens are not giving up or taking the abuse they have endured from City Council members lightly. Instead they have begun to fight back by bringing lawsuits against the Denver City Council.

Multiple Lawsuits

In addition to the Cherry Creek North and West Highlands lawsuits there are at least two other cases where citizens are reportedly considering suing the Denver City Council. The first is the Hentzell Park controversy where open space land was taken for a swap with Denver Public Schools purportedly for a potential school.

The second is the 70-acre Buckley Annex redevelopment at Lowry, the last remaining parcel transferred by the Department of Defense to the Lowry Redevelopment Authority (LRA) from the old Lowry Air Force Base. Residents have been arguing that LRA has proposed wildly excessive density that will badly affect the surrounding low density neighborhoods and could potentially cause traffic gridlock on streets like Quebec at certain times of the day.

Residents discovered, to their consternation, that LRA’s Executive Director Monty Force’s contract provided for bonuses based on density giving him financial incentives to ignore citizens’ concerns on excessive overdevelopment of the 70 acres. Local resident Gregory Kerwin declared, “I cannot think of any other public official in Colorado who has a personal financial interest in contracts he and his agency arrange.”

On April 4 the Denver Planning Board unanimously approved a staff recommendation that the Buckley Annex general development plan be approved, notwithstanding numerous neighborhood complaints concerning the project’s density, height and potential to snarl traffic.

Residents found the members of the Planning Board, all of whom were appointed by the Mayor of Denver, to pay little or no attention to neighborhood concerns. Christine O’Connor, president of Lowry United Neighborhoods, stated that the massive density causes the project simply not to work. In frustration she declared, “It’s a fiction on which Denver Planning is letting developers take the lead. The people who are paying taxes — these are the ones you should be listening to.”

Neighborhood activist Ken Horwege noted, “Neighborhoods groups are finally realizing that the process is rigged against them and nothing they say in any city controlled forum makes any difference. Fortunately, the developers haven’t gotten around to buying the courts yet. Lawsuits are the one and only way citizens have any input on what happens in their backyard. It’s a sad state of affairs, but the blinders are finally being lifted from our eyes. Suing the bastards is the only realistic avenue the citizens have for their concerns to be heard and we are going to be using it more and more.”

Dr. Scott Sampson has just been appointed the Denver Museum of Nature and Science’s Vice President of Research and Collections and Chief Curator. He is overseeing a staff that includes 15 PhD scientists and is responsible for all of the museum’s collections which include nearly 1.5 million artifacts.

While the position is an important one in the natural museum world, this local appointment has caused a whirlwind of publicity due primarily to the fact that Dr. Sampson is “Dr. Scott” — the on-air paleontologist and scientific advisor to PBS’ incredible kids’ show Dinosaur Train.

Sampson is also the author of the highly-touted book Dinosaur Odyssey and the host of the Discovery Channel series Dinosaur Planet. He is a “rock star” in the somewhat staid and insulated world of paleontology.

The reason why Dr. Scott has become such a media star is that there has never been a kids’ show quite like Dinosaur Train which was created by Craig Bartlett and produced by The Jim Henson Company. Children’s television has slowly evolved from being overwhelmingly entertainment-based in the 1950s to attempting to educate children in an entertaining way led by PBS’ Sesame Street which first aired in 1969. Dinosaur Train, which first hit the airways in 2009, takes television education for small children to a whole new level.

The idea for the show came to Bartlett when he noticed that his son loved to place his toy dinosaurs on top of his toy train set and have them travel around his bedroom. Dinosaurs on trains he figured were like chocolate and peanut butter, a “can’t miss” concept with kids.

Intellectually Stimulating

While educational kids’ television primarily attempts to help them learn to count and know the alphabet, Dinosaur Train seeks to impart an extraordinary high level of accurate paleontology, natural science and geology to its viewers. Parents are accustomed to being at best mildly entertained by children’s television shows. In the case of Dinosaur Train, however, even the most highly-educated parent finds it intellectually challenging to try to keep up with the show’s educational content.

While the show can be simply enjoyed by preschoolers as a story about a fun and “diverse” dinosaur family that likes to takes a train around the Mesozoic world to visit other dinosaurs, there is no attempt by the show to dilute its educational mission which is led by Dr. Scott.

The Glendale Cherry Creek Chronicle sat down with Dr. Scott Sampson just prior to his introductory lecture before a packed audience at the IMAX Theater auditorium at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science on April 16.

Sampson indicates that there was in fact pushback from PBS executives on the high level of complex natural science on a show aimed at preschoolers. He was able to convince PBS to give the concept a try arguing that young children have an amazing ability to learn and they would in some cases absorb more of the show’s scientific content than parents.

He notes that at his lectures he holds up a toy replica of a Brachiosaurus and asks the adults how many of them could correctly state the paleontological name given to this dinosaur. A couple of hands will normally go up. But when he asks the kids to identify the dinosaur most of the children will raise their hands and they will gleefully shout in unison, “Brachiosaurus!” to the amazement of the adults in the room.

On Dinosaur Train the kid dinosaurs are regularly claiming that they “have a hypothesis” and those hypotheses are explored during the show to see if they are valid. After lectures children come up to Dr. Sampson declaring they “have a hypothesis” and then lay out their case once again to the wonderment of their parents

Encouraging Exploration

Sampson indicates that it is not his goal to create a new generation of future paleontologists, but instead to get kids to go outside and explore the natural world around them. He takes on that cause with an almost missionary zeal. He notes that in little over a single generation American kids have gone from regularly being outdoors to spending a majority of their awake time indoors. This he explains has greatly exacerbated childhood obesity, adolescent diabetes, ADHD and other maladies for young people across the country.

While a generation ago parents would kick their children out the house to go play until it was dark, today these children spend more time inside in pre-schools and at home in front of television sets. Sampson notes that while the children are probably physically safer than they have ever been, they are stagnating both mentally and physically at a key time in their development as humans.

He believes that every hour a child spends exploring nature in an unstructured setting, whether in a backyard garden, creek area or park, he or she is physically and mentally growing at a rate far in excess of what would occur if they were passively sitting inside in front of a television set.

He declares, “Getting kids abundant unstructured time outside is critical to their mental health. I think things are more important in this century.”

Sampson of course appreciates the fact that Dinosaur Train is itself a television show but at the end of every show he implores children to: “Get out, Get into Nature, and Make your own Discoveries!” He indicates that he believes that children in fact take the admonition to heart and do head out to make their own explorations.

He also indicates that parents do not need to make nature exploration too complicated. Just bring binoculars and a magnifying glass and head outside and make sure the child has fun.

Sampson’s newest book will flesh out his contention that exploration of nature is a critical component in a child’s education and his ideas on making sure children get that opportunity.

In the meantime Denver has, right in its own back yard, the world’s best known paleontologist and a pied piper for children living a full and healthy existence — Dr. Scott Sampson.

The University Park Home Tour on May 5 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. opens the doors to some of the most varied and inspiring homes in the area as well as the historic Chamberlin Observatory. They include homes that range from Spanish Colonialism with Islamic influences to a turn of the century 1910 home that blends all of the best architectures. In addition to walking the halls of these remarkable homes, festivities include the Tour de Classics Car Show featuring decade-defining makes and models including two of the sleekest Ferraris on the market.

“On the day of the event, neighbors come together to celebrate the beauty of an old Denver neighborhood, tour beautiful new and older homes and feel the pride of top rated University Park Elementary,” says Katie Mochan, home tour chair and parent volunteer. Among the highlights are a gorgeous Craftsman bungalow built in 2008 and a modern Mediterranean-inspired home built from scratch on an empty lot by a longtime local family. People are greeted with a custom fountain in the foyer, Brazilian cherry floors throughout plus hibiscus trees winding from the outside in. Advance tickets can be purchased in the office at University Park Elementary on South Saint Paul or at www.uparkelemen tary.org/home-tour.

Wash Park’s 15th Tour

Featuring five homes on the east side of Washington Park, the 15th Annual Wash Park Tour is May 11, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. One of the Valley’s most distinctive tours, it showcases homes ranging from historic renovations to contemporary new builds and updated architecture that fuses old with new. Included is the Wash Park Street Fair along the 900-block of South Williams, featuring food trucks, plants from Steele Garden, plus artwork from local elementary students.

The Wash Park Home Tour draws more than 1,500 attendees each year with proceeds benefiting Steele Elementary. In recent years the tour committee decided to donate a portion of the proceeds to the Denver Public Schools Educational Outreach Program. Last year this program served more than 2,100 homeless students in the Denver area, with more than 500 of those students not living with a parent or guardian.

Tour homes include a historic craftsman cottage on Gilpin, a custom home on Williams, a renovated Tudor on Vine and two new builds on Race. Tickets for the tour can be purchased in advance at www.wash parkhometour.org or directly from Steele Elementary students. On tour day, tickets can be purchased at any house on the tour, at Steele Elementary School or at the Street Fair.

Queen Anne Charm

The Baker Historic Neighborhood Assn. (BHNA) gives visitors the chance to catch a glimpse of the charm of the late 1800s to early 1900s. Doors open to the area’s treasured homes on June 1 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. As visitors stroll from home to home they can imagine riding down the tree-lined streets with horse and buggy.

Queen Anne architecture predominates in the district but includes Denver Square, Dutch Colonial Revival, Classical Revival, Italianate and a few new-fangled Craftsman Bungalows. The area’s well-known edifices include the Mayan Theater, the Gothic Fairmont Elementary, the ramparts of the First Avenue Presbyterian Church and the stone St. Peter & St. Mary Episcopal Church topped with a Celticesque High Cross. The First Free Methodist Church (1910) and the Venetian-inspired Byers School (1902) have been converted into residences.

The Tour also hosts a Silent Auction and separately the association is holding a Baker Bargain Bonanza. As a Bonanza participant  First Avenue Presbyterian will give tours of the church’s interior during home tour hours. Tickets are available through PayPal on the tour website www.bakerhometour .com or can be purchased from students at Lincoln and Fairmount Elementary. On tour day tickets can be purchased at the Episcopal Church of St. Peter and St. Mary. Proceeds support both Baker historic district schools and the district’s preservation efforts.

While the Denver Botanic Gardens is already a popular summer attraction for both Cherry Creek Valley residents and visitors, adding the Bill Hosokawa Memorial Bonsai Pavilion and Tea Garden to the existing Shofu-En Japanese Garden has increased traffic even more. Last summer the Gardens unveiled the $1.2 million renovation of Shofu-En, the Garden of Wind and Pines, which was one of the most anticipated aspects of the master development plan.

Designed to be tranquil places to think and meditate, Japanese gardens first appeared on the island of Honshu, Japan. The physical appearance of Japanese gardens is influenced by the distinct characteristics of the Honshu landscape: rugged volcanic peaks, narrow valleys, mountain streams with waterfalls and cascades and lakes and beaches of small stones. Japanese gardens feature bonsai which is a Japanese art form using miniature trees grown in containers.

The Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco is the oldest public Japanese garden in the United States but the venue that really popularized Japanese gardens in America was the Columbian Exhibition in Chicago in 1893. The Agricultural Building at the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893 housed a Japanese exhibit that included a garden. It has been noted by several authors, including Denise Otis, that after Americans saw Japanese gardens in the late 19th century, they “became prized features on the estates of those who collected gardens in different styles.”

Popular Exhibit

According to Public Relations Manager Will Jones, the Botanic Gardens have also earned rave reviews for their Japanese garden.

“These new additions have enhanced our visitor experiences and things are going very well,” said Jones. “Many of the bonsai specimens in our collections have been donated by local and national bonsai artists and having a Japanese Garden in a Rocky Mountain environment has been very successful.”

These additions were a long time coming as the Japanese Garden Master Plan was initially created in 2004. In 2007 the Denver Botanic Gardens’ Board of Trustees approved a comprehensive institution-wide Master Development Plan which included the construction of a Bonsai Pavilion.

When You Visit

Furnished sparingly and usually quite dim, the Tea House (chashitsu) is meant to convey the feeling of a rustic hut, which serves as a setting for the contemplative acts of the tea ritual. Built at this site in 1979, the tea house was designed by Dr. Koichi Kawana. It was constructed in Japan, disassembled and shipped to Denver where a team of Japanese craftsmen thoroughly reassembled it. The path visitors take to reach the Tea House is comprised of stepping stones that are sprinkled with water before guests arrive to inspire slow, contemplative movement. Before entering the Tea House, guests rinse their hands and mouths at the Water Basin (tsukubai) for ritual purification. The Tea Ceremony Garden Gate (rojimon) represents the beginning of the tea ceremony and the symbolic threshold between everyday life and the meditative, spiritual space of the ceremony. Next guests pass through the Middle Gate (nakakuguri) which is the only nakakuguri in North America.

The Bonsai Pavilion includes a small indoor gallery that houses tropical and subtropical specimens in the warmer months and temperate species in winter. The expansive outdoor space is full of bonsai specimens that are constantly changed out as all the landscape plantings grow and change continuously with the seasons.

Both the Bonsai Pavilion and Tea Garden were named for the late Dr. William Hosokawa who was a prolific author and accomplished journalist known for speaking for civil rights and advocating for collaboration and cooperation between people.

“Bill Hosokawa had one of the most important voices in Colorado during the 20th century,” explained Botanic Gardens CEO Brian Vogt. “Away from the intensity of public discourse, he loved the tranquility of gardens. How appropriate that he is remembered in such a peaceful place that honors his remarkable life and legacy.”

Upcoming Events

Denver Botanic Gardens will be hosting the first spring one man bonsai show featuring Harold “Hal” Sasaki May 13-20.

According to Jones, Sasaki’s trees will include ancient specimens collected from the Rocky Mountains and traditional species such as Japanese black pine, Japanese white pine and trident maple. Sasaki will present ideas about bonsai including how bonsai as an art form is evolving in North America. He will also provide specific information about each bonsai on display during an artist conversation on Thursday, May 14 from 6 to 7:30 p.m.

The Rocky Mountain Bonsai Society will hold its annual show on Father’s Day weekend, June 15 and 16 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. The Gardens is also planning a fall show of bonsai artists from the Rocky Mountain Bonsai Society sometime in October. The dates and details are being finalized.

For more information visit www.botan icgardens.org or call 720-865-3500.

The Missouri Plan was heralded as a true good government reform that took raw politics out of the judicial selection process and provided a state with the best possible individuals for judicial office. A majority of states have now adopted some version of the Missouri Plan. In 1966 Colorado jettisoned the election of judges system and went to a merit-based selection process with a change to the Colorado Constitution approved by voters.

Like all reforms by human beings, however, the merit selection of judges began to show its own corruptions. Vanderbilt University law professor Brian Fitzpatrick asserts that the Missouri Plan does not get rid of politics but simply hides it from public view and the politics of the selectors, rather than voters, becomes paramount. In many merit selection states the state bar association becomes the most powerful group and their biases become all important. Today there is a battle to take from the lawyers and other privileged elites the right to control the process enshrined by the Missouri Plan.

In Colorado any and all attempts to reform the state’s version of the Missouri Plan is fought by an amalgam of special interests groups including the Colorado Bar Association, the Colorado Judicial Institute and the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System. The latter group is headed up by former State Supreme Court Justice Becky Love Kourlis who has become the loudest voice in the state fighting off any and all attempts at reform.

Ms. Kourlis fiercely claims that politics plays no role in the picking of judges in Colorado and that our judges, to the greatest extent possible, are committed to applying the law to the facts free of political prejudice. Of course nothing could be further from the truth. The Colorado Supreme Court is one of the most political entities in the State of Colorado. There are no philosopher kings sitting on judicial benches in Colorado. They are simply men and women in black robes whose biases and prejudices are well known to all who work with them.

In many cases judges are selected in Colorado based on the old adage, “It’s not what you know but who you know that counts in life.” There is no person who better typifies that adage than Ms. Kourlis herself whose entire legal career has been based on inherited wealth, privilege and knowing the right people.

She is the daughter of former Colorado Governor John Love who took office in 1963 in large degree because he had no strong political beliefs and as a moderate Republican he offended no one. He was one of the principal backers of bringing the Winter Olympics to Colorado only to be shut down by the voters. In 1973 he resigned in the middle of his third term as governor to become Richard Nixon’s Energy Czar. He resigned five months later in the middle of the Watergate scandal. He then became of counsel to the large Denver legal firm of Davis Graham & Stubbs as well as CEO of Colorado’s leading concrete and potash maker Ideal Basic industries. He also became a very wealthy man. His kind demeanor and lack of partisan hard edges made him many friends in both parties.

Becky Love grew up in an atmosphere of wealth and privilege. She attended Graland Country Day in Denver and Kent Denver prep school in Cherry Hills. After graduating from Stanford University her first job was procured for her by her father as an intern in the Nixon White House down the hall from infamous Watergate figure John Dean.

She scurried out of Washington with her father as the Watergate scandal grew. She went to Stanford Law School where she graduated sans any honors or distinctions. Upon graduation she once again depended on his influence to get her a job. This time it was with law firm Davis Graham & Stubbs where John Love was a highly influential partner. If you are a person who actually believes in merit alone for advancement you don’t return to your home town and join your father’s law firm. But even with her father’s help she failed at Davis Graham & Stubbs and after two years left the firm to marry Western Slope sheep rancher Tom Kourlis. She started a solo practice in Craig, Colorado, but she found she didn’t particularly like practicing on her own. Her Front Range family connections didn’t prove very helpful in the dog-eat-dog world of Western Slope solo practitioners where there is little or no “mentoring.”

She abandoned her solo Western Slope practice in 1981 when Charlie Meyers, the former dean of Stanford Law School, recruited her to join the national firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher that was opening an office in Denver. Forgetting how much she disliked practicing in a large firm she commuted by airplane several times a month. But that job too didn’t work out and she quit once again and went back to a solo practice. That’s when her father’s connections once again saved the day. While governors overwhelmingly appoint judges from their own party on occasion they will cross party lines for family friends. Governor Roy Romer was a friend of her father from the days when they both served down at the state capitol in the late 1960s. He appointed her a Colorado district judge.

But she quit that job too, when her husband was appointed Romer’s commissioner of agriculture in 1993. She then became a mediator for the Judicial Arbiter Group in Denver. Once again the job didn’t last very long and she had Roy Romer appoint her to the Colorado Supreme Court in 1995.

She lasted at the Supreme Court longer than any other job she ever had enjoying the languid pace that state’s highest court is known for. But after a decade on the State Supreme Court she became restless once again. She spread the rumor that she was on George W. Bush’s short list to be appointed to the United States Supreme Court. She got that rumor planted in the press and she even got it included in her online Wikipedia biography. That claim was in fact devoid of any factual basis. Like her father Ms. Kourlis is the epitome of a liberal country club Republican. George Bush’s Supreme Court vetters were looking only for arch conservatives that were members in good standing of right wing legal associations such as the Federalist Society. The only short list that Becky Love Kourlis was ever on was her own.

With inherited wealth from her father Becky did not actually have to work so she quit the Supreme Court in 2006 to establish the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System at the University of Denver. From that perch she fights off any and all reforms to the Colorado’s version of the Missouri Plan extolling the virtues of the so-called merit selection of judges system. She does so as a disservice to all Coloradans. Reform is needed as the judicial selection system should not be simply controlled by the privileged few. Ms. Kourlis is Exhibit A to the proposition that the selection of judges in Colorado is not based on merit but who you know and that needs to change.

— Editorial Board

What I’d like to do here is apply the progressive thought process on rifles and shotguns and handguns to a weapon of mass destruction — a pressure cooker.

Now from my reading I know that pressure cookers have been used as IEDs in Afghanistan, Pakistan and any other country in the world that ends in “stan.” Note to self: Never fight a war in a country that ends in “nam” or “stan.” Also remember an age old adage — never fight ugly poor people because they have nothing to lose. One of my father’s sage bits of advice was never fight an ugly guy — if you’re going to fight pick some pretty boy who wants to protect his face and not hit you.

The Denver Post did something highly insensitive. I was terribly offended and even now cannot accept the blatant insensitivity of the otherwise politically correct Denver Post. As you recall that rag endorses driver’s licenses for illegal aliens and any kind of gun control they can imagine.

Many media outlets won’t accept gun store ads and yank any gun ads after a shooting like the old adage — anytime there is a plane crash you pull airline ads off the air. But, The Denver Post, WTF?!

Why would those insensitive bastards at The Denver Post run a Macy’s sale ad selling pressure cookers? Have you sir, at long last, no shame?

That’s right the same people who shamelessly bring you the Thanksgiving Day Parade — who want to put pressure cookers on sale. What has become of this country?

So I have decided to apply our politically correct principals to pressure cookers. I will ask you a series of questions:

1) Why do you need more than one pressure cooker?

2) Why does it have to be more than three quarts?

3) What if a child draws a picture of a pressure cooker at school? How many days detention?

4) What about electric pressure cookers that need extension cords? I don’t think we should sell any extension cords longer than five feet.

5) What about aluminum pressure cookers? The so-called Saturday night pressure cooker.

6) What about housewives that aren’t fully trained in the use of a pressure cooker being allowed to buy one?

7) How about buying pressure cookers at yard sales? I find that dangerous as well.

Do you have a place you can lock your pressure cooker up at home to keep it away from children?

9) In the words of VP Joe Biden, all you’ll need now is one of those double sauce pans to throw hot water off the deck of the house when a couple of camping cub scouts come by because as you know Dr. Jill Biden doesn’t need a pressure cooker.

10) Background checks before anyone goes into Bed Bath & Beyond to buy a pressure cooker.

11) A three-day waiting period after you buy your cooker before you can pick it up.

12) Can’t sell your pressure cooker on Craig’s List.

13) The ability to take a five-quart cooker and turn it into an eight-quart cooker without the government’s knowledge.

14) How about if these cookers fall into the wrong hands — what about the children?

15) Mothers: do you feel comfortable in having your daughters learn the fine art of pressure cooking?

16) What about serial numbers on pressure cookers — I think it’s about time.

17) What about when grandma passes away? Can she pass that pressure cooker down to the next generation?

18) What about Home Depot and Ace Hardware selling nails? Weren’t they also part of this terrible tragic event? Shouldn’t we limit the amount of nails anyone can buy? I know I do.

19) How do we keep pressure cookers out of the hands of the mentally ill? Doesn’t HIPAA protect that when it comes to buying pressure cookers?

20) When they come to take my pressure cooker — they will have to pry it out of my cold, dead hands. Me and Chuck Heston. Him with a musket, me with a pressure cooker.

Stay aware, stay awake, stay alive.

Knock, knock.

Who’s there?

Pressure cooker police! Open up!

Oh yeah? Say hello to my little pressure cooker.

Peter

There were times I would cringe when someone’s child would grab my hand with their sticky fingers. What did this child possibly touch to have such sticky fingers? They could easily catch a spiral from Peyton Manning. And then it happened. I now have a child with sticky fingers. Toddler App seems to have the urge to use my devices while enjoying his pretzels and peanut butter. Essentially, my iPad is enjoying the peanut butter as well. With spring upon us, even though the season seemed to skip the month of April, I thought it would be a good time to disinfect my technology devices. The devices can only handle so much stickiness and allergic sneezes.

A few things to consider when it comes time to spring clean your tablet, computer or mobile device:

1.         Turn it off before cleaning!

2.         Spray cleaner on a soft cloth, preferably not a paper towel and not on the device directly.

3.         Anything with a high alcohol content will disinfect and dry quickly.

4.         Use condensed air to clear out the cracks and crevices.

5.         Remember to clean the phone case too.

6.         Give back to your child to reapply stickiness.

7.         OK. You can skip Step 6.

It is also time to spring clean the contents of the device. Contacts on the device are typically missing content, such as email addresses or phone numbers, or are duplicated. There are a few solutions to clean up contacts. Scrubly is a PC-based software program that will clean up contacts by merging most social media contacts (i.e. Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter) with email contacts (i.e. Outlook, Gmail). This program was the most thorough in cleaning contacts. An app, ContactClean, will clear up mismatched and missing content, however it lacks merging of social media content. Also, it is a good time to clean up your apps. One in four apps are viewed only once. That means 25 percent of your apps can be deleted. Clearing the apps from your device will make your device work more efficiently. Use this time to back up your device to your PC as well.

Now that the phone is clean, the focus can turn to spring cleaning your house. There is a Denver-based app called BrightNest that can assist in turning those cumbersome chores into easy-to-solve tasks. The app is visually appealing, easy to search and the suggested tasks are not complicated to complete. This last part was exciting since I struggle with common household tasks. Mrs. App typically asks, “How long is this going to take? Do you really know what you’re doing?” My answer, “Who knows and no.”

For gardening, Garden Plan Pro is helpful in assisting with when, what and how to plant flowers. If growing grass with bald patches is considered being a green thumb, then I’m Mr. Garden! Since that is not the case, any assistance in turning my grass green and the front of my house colorful with flowers is greatly appreciated. One downside is this app is expensive ($10), but considering my dearth of gardening knowledge, it is affordable. It beats wandering around Home Depot for hours.

Mother’s Day is soon upon us, so don’t forget to order flowers. Guys, did you read that? Make it a simple task by using Florist Now, which will allow you to order flowers via the app. Just remember, regardless if you’re using an app or a website, make sure you’re on a secure wireless network to protect your financial information. With this app, you don’t have an excuse not to order your Mom or wife flowers. Now that I think of it, I don’t have an excuse either.

As many of you know, I’m a Boston native and spent countless times attending the Boston Marathon and Patriots Day ac-

tivities. I’m sure the tragedy has affected you and your family, as much as it has affected me and my family. Information regarding this event raced through social media at lightning speeds. Over the course of six days, in excess of 12 million tweets were sent with numerous Boston hashtags. Technology such as Twitter is quickly becoming the first line of information over traditional news sources. My thoughts are

with those that lost their lives and were injured in this tragic event. Give your family an extra hug this month. Boston Strong.

Brian educates businesses how to improve quality assurance, reduce needless recurring communications expenses and maintain healthy network equipment. He offers a free How Technology Can Reduce Expenses While Improving Customer Relations Seminar, which is available upon request. Additionally, he would like to meet technology companies that would like to resell his software, which can be privately branded as their own, and provide a recurring revenue stream.

At Highlands Ranch

Golf Course

by Laura Lieff

In an effort to raise money for the USA International Youth Rugby Foundation, new Glendale CitySet tenant World of Beer hosted a fundraiser that attracted people from all over the Cherry Creek Valley. The event featured a silent auction that included items such as a Todd Helton bat and a rugby jersey autographed by the USA Eagles and a raffle. Shaun Davies and Stan Moaali from the USA Eagles national rugby team and Mark Sztyndera from the German national team were also in attendance. All three men play for the Glendale Raptors as well.

“Events like this are crucial to the USA International Youth Rugby Foundation because they help further rugby awareness in Colorado,” said Foundation Board member and owner of O’Brien Rugby Barret O’Brien. “We want kids to learn as much as possible about the game of rugby and this is a great way to ensure that we accomplish our mission.”

The goal of the Youth Rugby Foundation is to educate, promote and support youth rugby in the state of Colorado and beyond. The second most popular sport in the world, rugby is played in 117 countries by 2.5 million registered players. Rugby continues to grow dramatically in the United States and players under 18 years old make up the largest segment within USA Rugby. There are more than 650 high school rugby programs and 28,000 players in the United States.

“We are always looking for new ways to help grow the game by providing youth teams with the funds they need to practice, travel, have the best coaches possible and have the proper equipment,” said Dan Hattrup, who handles a lot of the Foundation’s fundraising efforts and is an assistant rugby coach for Glendale. “From our roots over a decade ago, the USA International Youth Rugby Foundation has been dedicated to growing the international game of rugby here in the United States and we want to continue in that successful path.”

Supportive Venue

Hattrup pointed out that collaborating with companies that enjoy promoting local teams is very important to the Foundation.

“World of Beer was a great choice for this event because it’s located right in the middle of CitySet and is quickly becoming a destination spot in Glendale. By reaching out to see how they can get involved with local charities, World of Beer has made it clear that they want to focus on the local community which we really appreciate.”

According to Hattrup, the Glendale rugby club was asked to provide players for the Colorado Selects (Colorado’s youth all-star team) and the Foundation was asked to fund their trip to the Collegiate Rugby Championship in Pennsylvania. The Championship takes place June 1 and 2 and the all-star team would compete in the high school division at that tournament.

The Foundation’s successes include funding USA Under-19 national team tours to Australia, Trinidad and Tobago and the Junior World Cup in Chile. More recently, the Foundation funded Raptor Rugby Academy tours to the Las Vegas International (where three players were selected to the US national camp) and provided financial support to cover USA Rugby CIPP (national membership) dues, equipment costs and scholarships for elite athletes.

The Next Big Event

For those who missed the World of Beer event and would like to help the Youth Rugby Foundation, the Fourth Annual Chip in for the Players Golf Tournament provides that opportunity. The event takes place on August 1 at 2 p.m. at Highlands Ranch Golf Course. Sponsors include Guinness Black Lager, Earls, CB & Potts, Lodo’s Bar and Grill, RK Mechanical, CoBank and the Little Pub Company, along with the tournament’s newest sponsor, Core Power.

Hattrup says that players this year should look forward to the return of the Earls “drive the green” challenge on the 17th hole and the other competitions, along with some new challenges on the course.

“The Youth Rugby Foundation hosts a variety of fundraising events to help support rugby programs and teams throughout the year and we are always happy to see new faces at these events,” he added. “We hope to see everyone on August 1!”

For more information visit www.usa iyrf.org or contact Dan Hattrup at dan@ glendalerugby.com.

Good or bad, I have spent the lion’s share of my time around women. I was raised by my mother and my sister, most of my educators and supervisors have been women, I have dated more than my share of women and a lot of my friends are of the female persuasion. With that said I am confident that I am qualified to share with you the following “woman speak” translations or what I like to call “what she really meant is…”

1.         “Do I look fat?” What she really meant is… Please pay me a compliment; I am looking for an ego boost. No, she doesn’t want the truth.

2.         “Do what you like!” What she really meant is… There will be hell to pay if you do whatever it is you want to do.

3.         “Give me a second to get ready.” What she really meant is… It’s going to be a while.

4.         “I’m fine.” What she really meant is… I am far from fine, but since you’re not capable of reading my mind and there is no way I am going to tell you my true feelings we should just drop it.

5.         “Whatever you want” What she really meant is…You better know what I want and give it to me.

6.         “We need to talk” What she really meant is… You’re in trouble and this won’t be a discussion, I’m about to hammer you, buckle up.

7.         “Do you really want to go?” What she really meant is… I don’t want to go.

8.         “I’ve been busy” What she really meant is… I am not interested in you. Take the hint.

9.         “I hope you and the boys have fun tonight” What she really meant is… I don’t trust you and I hope your night is horrible.

10.       “Who’s that girl?” What she really meant is… Have you been intimate with that woman?

11.       “Let’s start as friends” What she really meant is… I’ve had too many guys hit and run so if you want some of this you’re going to have to put the time in.

12.       “I can’t believe we just did that” What see really meant is… I do this all the time.

13.       “I’m not that kind of girl” What she really meant is… I’m not that kind of girl — with you!

14.       “You’re such a jerk!” What she really meant is… I am totally into you and tonight could be your lucky night.

15.       “It’s getting late” What she really meant is… You’re done.

16.       “I’m not sure what I’m looking for” What she really meant is… I know exactly what I want, it’s just not you.

17.       “Are you hungry?” What she really meant is… I’m starving, get me some food now!

18.       “I don’t need help, I got it.” What she really meant is… You’re a bum and I can’t believe you’re not helping me.

19.       “No, you don’t have to buy me anything.” What she really meant is… I’m about to find out how cheap you really are on my birthday.

20.       Number 20 is all you! I want to hear your “woman speak” translation! What is your favorite or do you need me to translate for you?

Either way, head on over to the NEW www.themoderndater.com and give us your best shot! Don’t forget my radio show, The Modern Dater every Saturday at 7 p.m. on 630 KHOW or listen to the podcast which can be found on themoderndater .com as well. If you’re a date friendly business and you want to get listed in the Sheik’s dating directory contact me at the moderndater@gmail.com and I’ll get you all set up and visible to Denver’s dating community. Happy Translating!

by Charles C. Bonniwell

A combination of the autopsy reports from the Denver Medical Examiner, the recently unsealed arrest warrants and testimony at a hearing on whether three men should stand trial for murder has produced a highly detailed account of how exactly and why four women and a man were brutally murdered at Fero’s Bar and Grill on 351 South Colorado Boulevard in the early morning hours of October 17, 2012. The quintuple murder is considered one of the grisliest in the history of the Cherry Creek Valley.

Dexter Lewis Jr. (age 22) and brothers Lynell (age 24) and Joseph Hill (age 27) were desperately short of cash in the fall of last year. Lewis had a fiancée who was three weeks short of giving birth. His father had been a West Side Crip who had been murdered at age 23 by a 13 gang member in 1994. He had gotten out of prison in February 2012 after serving a three-year sentence for robbery and was on the highest level of parole supervision that exists in Colorado.

Lynell, in turn, did not have the money to make an upcoming restitution payment on another criminal case. In August 2011 he had plead guilty to the crime of harassment involving physical force in Arapahoe County for which he received a nine-month deferred sentence which allowed him to stay out of jail as long as he stayed out of trouble. The failure to make restitution payments could have endangered his deferment from jail. He and his brother Joseph are the sons of a Detroit minister.

The three men decided to rob Fero’s Bar and Grill to alleviate their money problems. Joseph was renting a condominium from the bar’s owner Young Fero at Cedar Pointe in Glendale. Cedar Pointe is a relatively upscale tree-lined townhome complex where four of the last five mayors of Glendale have lived.

The men invited along Demarea Harris who, unbeknownst to them, was a paid informant for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. According to Harris he was unaware of the three friends’ intention for robbery and thought they were going to drink and play pool.

To avoid being recognized by Young Fero, the Hill bothers decided to wear Halloween masks — the Hulk and Iron Man.

Tragedy Begins

Lewis and Harris entered the bar at some time past 1 a.m. on October 17 and sat down to eat dinner. Lewis told Harris that he too knew Young Fero because she once threw him out of the bar for being drunk. In addition he knew another of the three other women at the bar that night as she had gotten him and his girlfriend forced out of his apartment.

Lewis then texted the Hill brothers a coded text message, “G-4,” which meant that everything was set for the robbery. Harris went to the bathroom and when he emerged the Hill brothers had entered the bar with their Halloween masks carrying a gun and a knife. The trio ordered Fero and the four patrons (three women and a man) to the floor demanding their wallets and credit cards and Joseph began rifling the cash register.

The male patron, 29-year-old Kansas State graduate Ross Richter, refused to drop to the floor. This upset Lewis who in a rage began stabbing him while one of the Hill brothers held the four women at bay with the gun. Joseph stabbed Richter 21 times including seven wounds to his arms indicating that Richter was trying to fend Lewis off. The torso wounds were four times to the chest, three times to the abdomen and seven in the back.

After disposing of Richter, Joseph passed the knife to Lewis who began stabbing the two women. It is surmised that the next victims were Kellene Fallon (age 44), a resident of a nearby hotel, and Tereasa Beesley (age 45) the owner of the Maxim Lounge, a Denver bar, who were fatally stabbed between 10 and 14 times. Fallon was stabbed four times in the face, twice in the chest and five times in the abdomen, Beesley was stabbed 10 different times with one wound to the head, one to the breast and eight to the back.

Finally Joseph and Lewis began passing the knife between themselves while stabbing Richter’s companion that night, Daria Pohl (age 21), a sophomore at Metropolitan State University and bar owner Young Fero (age 63). Pohl was stabbed at least 23 times. The last to die was apparently bar owner Young Fero. Lewis told Joseph to kill Fero as “they couldn’t have any witnesses.” Joseph then bent down and slit Fero’s throat.

“It was pretty horrific,” declared Michelle Weiss-Smaras, a veteran of the Denver Coroner’s office who has seen many grisly crime scenes.

Greg McCrary, a former FBI profiler, told The Denver Post, “It’s different than killing someone with a gun from a distance. The victim is pleading, crying, coughing and yelling. It’s bloody. It’s awful.”

Attempt To Cover Their Tracks

The men decided that if they torched the bar it could destroy incriminating evidence. The men took off and obtained a canister of gasoline from a nearby Loaf ’N Jug. They spread the gasoline around the bar and lit the accelerant.

Lewis’s girlfriend then took him and Harris home while the Hill brothers left in the car they had brought to Fero’s. As Harris was being left off Lewis kissed him, told him he loved him and then informed Harris that “blood in, blood out.”

While the accused hoped that the fire would destroy evidence the accelerant was nowhere enough to create the type of blaze desired. A Glendale police officer spotted the fire about 1:47 a.m. which brought the Glendale Fire Department quickly to the fire followed shortly thereafter by Denver and Glendale officers.

Harris apparently felt guilty about the killings and within a few hours notified the authorities of who was involved declaring that “these were innocent people who shouldn’t have been killed.”

Within less than 10 hours of the murders the Denver Police, along with U.S. Marshals and ATF agents, arrested the Hill brothers at the Best Inn and Suites hotel in the 4500 block of Quebec Street where Joseph worked as a night manager. Almost simultaneously the authorities’ arrested Lewis at Shepherds Motel at 1525 Valentia Street, where he had been staying for the previous two months.

Violent Mystery

One of the mysteries of the case was why the accused murdered all five people with the single knife and did not shoot any of the victims. That question was perhaps answered when the police located the masks used in the robbery and the gas can from Loaf ’N Jug. Along with those items they found a gun, which upon closer inspection turned out to be a non-lethal BB gun.

Another question often asked is why the victims did not fight back more when the accusers had only a single knife and an unused gun. At least regarding victims Fallon and Beesley the autopsies reveal that the two women had very high levels of alcohol in their system. Beesley’s Blood Alcohol Concentration was .202 g/100 mL while Fallon’s was .324. The remaining three victims had low levels of alcohol in their blood.

According to a federal agency a woman with Beesley’s level of alcohol in her blood would be in a stupor, with impaired sensations and in danger of falling unconscious. Fallon’s very high alcohol level would cause severe central nervous system depression, close to unconsciousness and she would be in danger of death from alcohol poisoning.

Other questions remain including why rob Fero’s Bar and Grill where three of the suspects knew the bar owner and could potentially be identified. Moreover the total amount stolen was only $170 or $42.50 per robber. Fero’s Bar and Grill was a low volume establishment and highly unlikely to have any substantial cash readily available. While some have surmised that the robbers were hoping to find drug money there is no evidence that Young Fero ever dealt in drugs and she was perpetually short on funds due to slow business in recent years at the bar.

The defense attorneys appear to have little to work with in defending their clients other than attacking the credulity of Harris. Tom Hammond, attorney for Joseph, has stated, “Demarea Harris is a proven liar.” But following Joseph’s arrest, he apparently talked to the police and his statement matches 90 to 95 percent those of Harris, according to the prosecutor Matthew Wenig.

Death Penalty?

The next key aspect of the case is whether the Denver District Attorney’s Office will seek the death penalty against one or more of the defendants. While adjoining Arapahoe County regularly seeks the death penalty in cases and has three people on death row, the City and County of Denver seldom does.

In 1998 Denver DA Bill Ritter sought the death penalty against white supremacist Nathan Thill for the murder of an African immigrant at a bus stop in downtown Denver. But Thill’s trial resulted in a hung jury and Thill later plead guilty to murder in return for the DA not seeking the death penalty.

The decision to seek the death penalty in the Fero’s murder case will have to be made by Denver DA Mitch Morrissey within 63 days of the defendants’ formal arraignment.