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Today's News

  • Observatory property gets green light for development

    The old Observatory property, which longtime Evergreen residents remember as the home of a charming café-saloon with a retractable roof, has been platted for three large lots suitable for commercial development.

    Located across the highway from the El Rancho restaurant, the ramshackle shell of the former nightspot is one of Evergreen’s prominent eyesores.

    For the last two years, the Phoenix-based owners have been laying the groundwork for development on the triangular-shaped 7-acre parcel.

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  • Loss of Rocky affects us all

    I don’t like Bob Dylan, but I can’t help but repeat one of his most famous song titles over-and-over in my mind.

    “The Times They Are A-Changin.”

    Last week saw the end of an era in Colorado as the Rocky Mountain News closed after nearly 150 years of publishing newspapers.

    With its closing, prep sports coverage as we’ve grown to know it, will forever be different.

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  • Lady Cougars overcome their nerves

    Inexperience has been the buzzword around the Evergreen girls basketball team all season.

    At times, their inexperience showed in ways that hurt the Cougars’ chances to win games. Other times, you’d never have guessed most players on the team were in their first year of varsity ball.

    On Feb. 24, the Cougars showed a little of both, with the more poised version of the two-headed monster winning out.

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  • Stimulus needed

    DENVER — Evergreen’s formula for success offensively goes something like this: Knock them down, spread them out, cut them up and keep knocking them down.

    That formula never reached critical mass Feb. 28 as the fifth-seeded Cougars failed to hit enough 3-pointers to create that all-important chain reaction against fourth-seeded Thomas Jefferson.

    “We didn’t shoot real well,” Cougars coach Scott Haebe said. “We knew coming in we were going to have to knock down some shots to spread out their defense.”

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  • Forecaster takes dim view of economy

    Now that the economy has been blown out of the water by reckless real-estate lending and a massive $800 billion stimulus plan is in the works, don’t expect things to get much better in the next few years.

    The downturn that began in the fourth quarter of 2007 gathered momentum in 2008 and landed full blast in 2009, and it will continue into 2010 and beyond, said Keith Hembre, chief economist with U.S. Bancorp of Minneapolis.

    Hembre’s credentials include being designated one of “the top five economic forecasters for 2008” by Business Week magazine.

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  • You can help with Great Backyard Bird Count

    I have just mailed in a count for the Great Backyard Bird Count to the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology at Ithaca, N.Y. This count is a joint effort of the Laboratory of Ornithology and Audubon. It is such an easy count to do that I thought some of you might be interested in taking part next year.

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  • What is the answer in Afghanistan?

    By Hannah Hayes

    The sixth anniversary of the war against Iraq is fast approaching. While there is a commitment to be out in May 2010, many are holding their collective breath. The extended stay of some troops is a given in most people’s minds. Iraqis and peaceniks will call it “not out.”

    But just in case the U.S. actually leaves Iraq, aren’t those who worship endless war in luck? We can redouble our efforts in Afghanistan. It’s less than 1,500 miles away.

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  • Jeffco way behind in processing food stamp applications

    Jeffco leads the state in failing to process applications for food stamps on time, and officials are blaming the situation on a soaring number of applicants and inadequate employee training.

    Federal law mandates that counties are responsible for processing food assistance applications within 30 days, and states must achieve at least 90 percent compliance or face sanctions. Colorado currently processes just 74 percent of applications on time and could face more than $1 million in fines from the federal government.

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  • Wakeman officially named county attorney -- finally

    Jefferson County has a new county attorney.

    Well, sort of.

    Ellen Wakeman was named county attorney Feb. 24 after serving for more than two years as the acting county attorney. She stepped in when her predecessor, Frank Hutfless, resigned in January 2007 and has been running the show ever since.

    “I’m very optimistic about a new era for Jefferson County,” Wakeman said.

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  • Death takes a holiday: Unincorporated Jeffco seeing longest murder drought since late 1940s

    On July 23, 2007, a Realtor arrived at a home he was selling on Scenic Drive just west of U.S. 285, about halfway between Indian Hills and Aspen Park.

    A body was on the lawn. Robert Alurac, a 41-year-old Lakewood man, had been murdered.

    There hasn’t been a murder since then in unincorporated Jefferson County, a stretch of 590 days as of March 4. That’s the longest Jeffco has gone without a murder since the late 1940s, when there were no murders between November 1948 and February 1951.

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