Local News

The McDonald’s next to Walmart is closed for about a month after a grease fire Saturday morning that damaged the restaurant.

The McDonald’s at 902 Swede Gulch Road is closed for repair and is awaiting inspections to make sure it is up to building and environmental health codes, Evergreen Fire-Rescue Chief Garry DeJong said.

“Any time there is a fire involving a food preparation organization, they must go through more than just regular repairs,” DeJong said. “There are a lot of additional inspections involved.”

Joan Ridgely of Golden was the winner of Evergreen Newspapers’ Easter Egg Hunt this year. Ridgely said she used the library to research clues and found that Eden Park was the former name for Dedisse Park, where she searched for and discovered the egg on Easter morning.

Scott Benefield, president of the Jeffco school board, is resigning effective June 30.

"I'm resigning for personal reasons," Benefield said in a June 20 interview. "There's things going on in my family, and with the board work, it was the right thing to do. I enjoyed my time working on the school board and feel we've made a lot of progress and done a lot of good things."

Benefield was elected to the school board in 2005, representing the northern parts of the county, including portions of Arvada, Standley Lake and Westminster.

Although nearly 18 months remain in the race for the 6th Congressional District seat, an early look shows that the two Democratic challengers are facing hurdles when it comes to fund-raising.

"It's been slow," says John Flerlage, one of two Democrats running to oust Rep. Mike Coffman from his congressional perch in November 2010. Flerlage, a South Jeffco Democrat, says his fund-raising has been difficult because of the economy.