Local News

Park district employees stand to get raises ranging from zero to 6 percent under the terms of a new pay-for-performance compensation policy hashed out in a special district board meeting on Dec. 29.

Under the new policy, employees are not entitled to the 3.5 to 4 percent automatic cost-of-living increases they received in the past. A fixed amount of money, about $50,000, will be distributed according to merit.

The Evergreen Ice Melt Barrel was stationed at its lonely outpost on Evergreen Lake for the third year at 10 a.m. Jan. 1.

Sponsored by the Mountain/Foothills Rotary Club, the barrel is monitored until it falls in the drink, signaling the approach of spring. The public is invited to bet on when the barrel goes for a swim. The winner gets $1,000. Second place is $400. Proceeds go to the Evergreen park district’s special needs program (60 percent), DriveSmart (20 percent) and the Rotary Foundation.

A man crossing Evergreen Parkway near Ponderosa Drive was hit by an unidentified vehicle that then fled the accident scene about 11:45 p.m. Dec. 31.

The victim, identified as Shawn Michael Stover, 31, of Denver, was transported to St. Anthony Hospital with moderate injuries. The Colorado State Patrol is looking for any information to find the driver, who remains at large.

According to a release by the State Patrol, the make, model and color of the vehicle are unknown.

The patrol asks anyone with information about the incident to call 303-239-4583.

The charred remains of what once was the Maixner family’s log-cabin-style home sit quietly in the Homestead Hills neighborhood this week. The air still carries hints of a campfire scent, but all is silent except for the cracking sounds of the settling trees that were reduced to charcoal.

It looks, to many, like a devastating misfortune — one that occurred on Christmas Eve, no less. But to the Maixner family, community goodwill has brought a ray of light into their difficult days.