Cross post from Ramey Johnson

It’s important to share what I am seeing and hearing from our community.

One popular Colfax business can no longer hang the American flag outside their door. The homeless living nearby take it down and shred or burn it. The employee I spoke with assumes they burn it to stay warm. He often finds foil with burn marks from illegal drugs near their area. Generally, they leave when he asks them to.

A small business owner told me, “There is nothing that anyone can do.” He seemed resigned that the situation would not change. He showed me a counterfeit $20 bill and was waiting for the police. Normally, when he asks the homeless to leave, they do, but not always. Their barred glass door has been broken twice.

One successful business owner who came from India 17 years ago is still waiting for citizenship. He is proud to be becoming an American citizen legally but frustrated with how long it takes.

Pawn shop owners tell me people pawn personal items to pay for rent, food, and gas. He estimates that probably 10% pawn personal items for illegal drugs.

A Day Labor employee told me that men come to work but likely spend money on drugs in the evening.

A small business owner shared with me that he pays over $24,000 in property taxes (“real estate taxes”). He’s not sure how much longer he can make it.

Lastly, the manager of a small business who immigrated from Vietnam when she was 17 told me she “loves to work for America.” She works 14-17 hours a day, 7 days a week. It’s clear she loves it here, but she shared that “America is becoming the communist country she fled.” She began to weep. It broke my heart to hear her say that about the country I love.

These street stories are clear evidence that progressive public policies at the national, state, and local levels can no longer be ignored. Our eyes don’t lie.

Shared by a Lakewood resident

Cross post from CBS Colorado, Karen Morfitt reporting

Authorities in Colorado are warning the public not to use the blue USPS out door mailboxes after many reports of theft and a Boulder man was taken into custody.

A Lakewood resident forwarded the following article from Denver7 pointing out that Lakewood’s push for electrification will cause more problems for an electrical grid that is already going down several times a week.

Cross-post from Denver7.com, By Jaclyn Allen

Xcel Energy customers in west Denver metro area report frequent, longer outages

LAKEWOOD, Colo — Just blocks away from the Colorado Mills Shopping Center, a suburban Lakewood neighborhood had three power outages in five days last week, with one lasting almost 24 hours.

“This stuff has to get thrown out,” said Pat Warling as she sorted through a freezer full of spoiled food Wednesday. “This summer’s been horrible. It’s been going out at least once a week, and last week was three times.”

Next door, Maryann Lamar has been keeping track of the nights she has been left in the dark on her calendar.

Read more…

Reader Recommended Business: MK) Ranch

Submitted by Joan from Lakewood

On July 26, 2024 , there were at least 20 individuals attempting to wash windows at the Wadsworth and Alameda intersection. Since both Denver and Arvada are addressing this issue, I believe the individuals are coming to a more friendly location. Very sad. Just four blocks from the City Council building and the police station yet no response.

After submitting this story to City Council, not one member responded but someone did forward the email to city staff to address. The response is below.

Why does City Council not feel the need to respond to legitimate concerns? Is responding as Lakewood “always has” enough?

City Staff Response:

“Thank you for expressing this concern regarding people trying to clean windows, we are examining all possible response options. We have also heard concerns of increased loitering at various businesses, panhandling, and issues like this relating to traffic safety, it’s important for us to acknowledge these valid community concerns. I’d like to offer some context regarding the legal and procedural changes that have occurred, which may shed light on the police responses observed in recent years in Lakewood (and across Colorado).

In the past, the City of Lakewood had ordinances addressing aggressive panhandling and panhandling in certain locations. However, a significant legal precedent was set on September 30, 2015, when Judge Christine M. Arguello of the United States District Court issued a decisive order in Browne v. City of Grand Junction. This ruling specifically targeted panhandling ordinances similar to those in Lakewood, emphasizing First Amendment considerations and challenging the city’s ability to regulate panhandling activities while upholding constitutional rights of free speech. Also in Colorado, the City of Greeley instituted a “median ban” for traffic safety and panhandling purposes, while Cranston, RI instituted a restriction on solicitation and panhandling in traffic. Both of those ordinances were defeated as well in ACLU challenged cases. Those, and other court cases around the country, have changed the way police respond to panhandling issues compared to decades past.

Following this legal precedent, the City of Lakewood repealed two specific ordinances related to panhandling, which were “Aggressive Begging Prohibited” (Section 9.50.120) and “Begging in Certain Locations Prohibited” (Section 9.50.130). Consequently, police agents were directed not to verbally warn or ask individuals on public property, holding signs or verbally seeking donations in a non-threatening manner, to “move along,” as had been done in the past, as it became a freedom of speech issue.

Instead, the focus shifted to whether a panhandler’s behavior posed a threat to public safety. Illegal behaviors, such as blocking passageways or refusing to leave private property after being instructed to do so by the owner, are now the primary concerns. Law enforcement prioritizes enforcing laws against criminal activity associated with panhandling, such as disorderly conduct, harassment, obstructing roadways, or trespassing, rather than the act of panhandling itself. We will also focus on traffic safety, such as obstructing traffic or incidents which cause safety concerns to any road user. When local businesses call and complain about people trespassing, we are responding as we always have.

As we see in the news, efforts are underway in the City of Denver to address the issue of mass immigration while other municipalities are identifying what the implications will be for them. What is most visible as people drive around Lakewood are more people on the street participating in activities such as window washing in traffic or panhandling on streets or nearby businesses. Again, we are examining all of our options, which may include education, enforcement and engineering changes. Obviously, the safety of all of our road users is of critical importance and know that we are striving to uphold public safety, and will examine local ordinances and state laws for ways to address any public safety concerns like we always have.”

Guest Post from Lenore Herskovitz

On Tuesday, July 30 at 5:30 p.m. the Budget and Audit Board is holding a meeting in the City Manager’s Office Cabinet Room (2nd floor above City Council Chambers). This meeting is significant because the board will be discussing the results of a recent community survey that focused on sundowning Tabor refunds permanently in Lakewood.

The City had budgeted up to $74,000 for the survey conducted by Magellan Strategies. It appears that the City is using OUR money to find a creative way to word a ballot issue to take away OUR money. Although the public is not permitted to comment at this meeting, it is interesting to pull back the curtain (similar to exposing the Wizard in the Land of Oz) and see how voters are lulled into believing that giving up our Tabor refunds is for OUR greater good.

This is an “in person only” meeting. The members of the board will be discussing their recommendations for City Council. If you have any interest in the future of your Tabor refunds, please attend this important meeting and let the board know we are watching.

Promoted Post

News Release from Anita M. Springsteen, Esq.

UPCOMING PRESS CONFERENCE

Topic: COVER UP OF CIRCUMSTANCES OF ELIJAH MCCLAIN’S DEATH BY THE STATE OF COLORADO GOVERNMENT

When: 3:00 PM on Wednesday, July 17, 2024 (following Oral Argument before the Court of Appeals at 2:00 PM).

Where: Front entrance at the Ralph L. Carr Judicial Center, 2 East 14th Avenue Denver, CO 80203.

Civil Rights Attorney Anita Springsteen will be holding the press conference following Oral Argument to the Colorado Court of Appeals (in Case Number 2023 CA 1322, Sturgell v. CDPHE, et. al.) to address collusion by high level public officials, including the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) and the Colorado Attorney General’s Office, to conceal public records and protect bad actors responsible for the death of Elijah McClain (and for injuring thousands like him). This continues to put the public at risk today.

The appeal addresses public rights under the Colorado Open Records Act and abuses of the system, such as unfair fees for public records and delay tactics, to conceal wrongdoing by government actors.

It also addresses severe and ongoing consequences to public safety when records are illegally withheld, resulting in deaths and injuries.

Although authorities would have the public believe that justice has been served in the Elijah McClain case and that legislation has resolved the ketamine issue – the real truth has not yet emerged. This appeal marks only the beginning.

The underlying truth regarding death and injury to thousands of Coloradans (especially People of Color) caused by forcible injection with ketamine continues to be ignored and concealed by the highest officials of Colorado government.

Despite an inadequate prosecution of officers and paramedics in the McClain case, justice has not been served. The worst actors (such as “medical directors” who misused their medical licenses and conflicted “regulators” at CDPHE) remain unpunished – protected by the CDPHE and in utter hypocrisy, by the prosecutors themselves – the Attorney General’s Office.

In order to protect bad actors, CDPHE remains in violation of the Colorado Open Records Act – still refusing after four years of litigation to release copies of the fifty 2-page ketamine waivers given to fire districts. Waivers allowed paramedics to recklessly inject and kill innocent people without doctor supervision based on false claims of “excited delirium” – a condition they knew was fake and has now been officially debunked and outlawed.

Why won’t CDPHE release the waivers? Because they know the waivers were illegal and that every time ketamine was injected, it was also illegal – making the state liable for thousands of injuries.

The Emergency Medical Practice Advisory Council (EMPAC), an illegal entity overseen by CDPHE, approved ketamine waivers. EMPAC had no actual authority to waive the use of a deadly Schedule III controlled substance, or to illegally sign waivers.

Why does this matter? This system of cover up continues to put Coloradans in danger as CDPHE fails to regulate paramedics and continues to employ those responsible for the ketamine deaths.
Also, many Coloradans died because CDPHE refused to fill CORA requests as required by statute, blocking Plaintiff’s public safety investigation meant to save lives. CDPHE willfully and wantonly caused further deaths, like that of Hunter Barr. This blatant disregard for public safety and lack of accountability cannot stand.

Government attempts to contain the damage by focusing only on the injury to Elijah McClain and only on lower-level bad actors, while still failing to provide real justice for anyone hurt by ketamine, must not be tolerated.

Plaintiff and I call for a legitimate investigation into the injuries of all Coloradans injected with ketamine, and federal prosecution of those who violated the law.

We also ask for the CORA statutes to be protected and for the end of EMPAC.

For media inquiries, contact:
Anita Springsteen, Esq. at 720-838-3421 or [email protected]
Owner of the Springsteen Law Firm, LLC – www.springsteenlawfirm.com
Former City Councilor for the City of Lakewood
Vice-chair of Legal Redress for Rocky Mountain NAACP

(The press conference is not on behalf of RMNAACP, and statements made do not necessarily reflect the views of RMNAACP)