Today's News

The Jeffco school board is considering a plan to subsidize fees for the beloved sixth-grade Outdoor Lab program that would charge less for schools with more students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunches.

Though the district has always provided funding for the program, it has not always charged schools according to income levels, Superintendent Cindy Stevenson said.

The plan would also reduce the amount of funding the school district contributes each year to the program, with the Outdoor Lab Foundation seeking more private donations to offset costs.

The Evergreen Park and Recreation District will decide in the next couple of months whether to sign a contract with an energy-conservation firm for building upgrades that could cost the district nearly $850,000 in construction costs, loan interest and consulting fees, among other things.

The EPRD board heard from McKinstry and Co. and asked questions for more than an hour at a recent board meeting.

Jefferson County commissioners voted 2-1 in favor of a controversial, emotionally charged church expansion on Lookout Mountain Road despite an enormous outpouring of opposition from neighbors and homeowners at an all-day public hearing Feb. 28.

The planning commission previously had recommended allowing the special-use permit in a residential zone on Feb. 8 in a 7-2 vote.

Commissioners John Odom and Don Rosier voted to approve the expansion from 9,000 to 30,000 square feet gross floor area. Commissioner Faye Griffin dissented.

An education consultant and yoga instructor from Evergreen will run in state House District 25, the seat now held by Cheri Gerou, a Republican from Evergreen.

The news emerged at a monthly meeting of the Mountain Area Democrats at the United Methodist Church on Ponderosa Drive in Evergreen.

“Politics have always been in my blood,” said Lorna Idol, 65. “I remember sitting around the table and discussing politics growing up in Meeker. My mother was a powerhouse in the League of Women Voters.”