One of the newest businesses in the Highlands neighborhood is In Season Local Market, located at 3210 Wynadot Street. In Season provides fresh, local food to the community. Their mantra “if it’s not from here, it’s not in here” refers to their requirement that nothing they sell comes from farther than a 250 mile radius of Denver.

According to Todd Stevenson, who co-owns the business with Shannon Mclaughlin, “we started In Season as a way to provide high quality, clean and sustainable food that is grown locally to the community.” Their philosophy is that good food can come from close by and does not need to be shipped from all over the country. Because the food is grown locally, the shelves will change throughout the seasons, and only what’s in season will be available. What you can expect from In Season are things like meat grown without antibiotics and vegetables grown in clean, healthy soil.

Stevenson lives in the Highlands neighborhood, and loves having a home and business in such a com-

munity-minded neighborhood. He said that as they were mov- ing in and setting up, several neigh- bors stopped by to express their appreciation and support. He said that neighbors said they were

grateful to have a place to buy locally grown food and hopeful that the busi- ness will grow.

In Season opened January 30th and approximately 350 people came through the store, according to Stevenson. Five of their local vendors attended the grand opening to showcase their prod- ucts and show their support for In Season’s concept. Some of the vendors involved with the grand opening were Urban Baby Gourmet, which is owned by some of the members of Highlands Mommies, Socolofsky Farms from Bennett, MM Local Foods, and Nana’s Coffee Cakes.

Online Dating p. 10
Racing Duathlon p. 18
Shopping at True Love p. 15

Susan Shepherd, a veteran politi- cal organizer and Highland Mommy, may make a surprise entrance into the race to succeed Rick Garcia.

Paula Sandoval, the term-limited State Senator in District 34, has aleady announced her intention to seek the City Council vacancy created by the appointment of Councilman Rick Garcia to a position with the Obama administration.

Sandoval, wife of longtime North Denver pol and former legislator and school board member Paul Sandoval, had been actively trying to clear the field in a race to succeed Garcia. A special election must be called within sixty days of the city council declaring a vacancy. This makes for a whirlwind campaign, in which an incumbent State Senator has an extraordinary advantage. But Sandoval has never run against substantial competition, and some political observers wonder how she would fare against a well- funded opponent. And Sandoval will almost certainly face an election bat-

tle for a full-term city council seat next year.

S h o u l d Sandoval win a special election, it would set off a follow-on suc- cession battle for the vacancy in her seat, already a

mary campaign to assume the seat in January 2011. State Representatives Jerry Frangas (District 4)and Joel Judd (District 5) and former school board member Lucia Guzman are contending to fill the Senate seat that represents North Denver.

Should either Judd or Frangas win the vacancy contest (an purely intra- party affair), another vacancy would occur. In Frangas’ case, three candi- dates, Amber Tafoya, Dan Pabon and Jennifer Coken are competing, while in Judd’s case, Crisanta Duran, Mark Thrun, John Swiontek and Jose Silva are vying for the seat.

Councilman Rick Garcia will leave his city council post sometime this month, as President Obama has appointed him to a regional post with the Housing and Urban Development Department.

Garcia leaves having transformed politics in North Denver, transition- ing between a largely insider game to a more open era with politics more closely matching the rapid changes in the area.

Garcia twice won elections against the old North Denver political machine, first winning the Regional Transportation District director seat, then defeating two candidates sup- ported by the old North Denver machine, Timber Dick and State Senator Rob Hernandez. Garcia won by developing a broad coalition of reformers and neighborhood activists, and winning support from progres- sive Anglos and Hispanics alike.

Garcia emerged from the political fights as a new model councilman, strongly advocating for neighbor- hood needs. One of the first steps in his tenure was touring the dis- trict with newly elected Mayor John Hickenlooper, examining area prob- lems up and close and personal, and concluding as Hickenlooper, Garcia and top mayoral aides walked from 13th and Yates all the way back down- town, along what would soon become a light rail route.

Citywide issues would also be a feature of Garcia’s time in office. He chaired the council’s Public Safety committee, played a leadership role in the Denver Regional Council of Governments, and campaigned hard for the city’s new Justice Center.

From the DRCOG position, Garcia was influential in trying to put North Denver in the mix as light rail was rolled out in the area.

His strongest legacy will lie in land use, and historical districts that should create long-term stability in several Denver neighborhoods. As scrape-offs and duplexes dominated development in North Denver with the rise of an unsustainable housing bubble, Garcia labored for years to craft a compromise between develop- ers and neighborhood preservation advocates. His first instinct was to balance the rights of private property owners in the hope that developers would choose better options than lot line to lot line duplexes and triplexes that were at odds from traditional neighborhood housing options. But in the end, he helped push through a rezoning that would be mirrored city- wide in the new zoning code update. It was bruising battle for Garcia, reflecting the tough tradeoffs in the issue and fast pace of change in North Denver.

In many ways, Garcia was of a piece with the new North Denver. Harvard-educated, he instinctively rejected identity politics for a more aspirational variety, in some ways pre- saging the powerful message Obama would ride to the White House a half- decade later. It’s also safe to say that Garcia was frustrated with the pace of change within city government, as the city was benighted with two major budget crises during his service.

Garcia’s new job will have him serve as HUD Regional Director for the six states in HUD’s Rocky Mountain Region which includes Colorado, Montana, North Dakota,

Is history repeating itself in Denver Public Schools (DPS)? Has the Board of Education committed similar grievous errors in the manner it treats a particular group of citizens and the schools they attend? An assessment by Chungmei Lee of the Harvard Civil Rights Project published in 2006 concludes that since the district returned to neighborhood schools in 1995 DPS administrators and the board of education have acted in ways that have contributed significantly to the re-segregation of DPS. Willful or not, DPS efforts such as the reconfigur- ing of North High School, Lake Middle School and creating a market for char- ter schools have failed. In the process, the requests and interests of students and parents, largely Latino, are being ignored by DPS in a way eerily familiar to this retired teacher to late 1960s DPS actions. As then, actions by the district have resulted in increased re-segrega- tion for Latino students. More Latino students have diminishing contact with other ethnic groups. Scores of studies, including the assessment by Lee, clearly reveal that segregation results in ineq- uity for students from impoverished backgrounds, in particular for people of color.

In 1969, a group of Denver families, principally from Park Hill, sued DPS for deliberate segregation of Denver Public Schools. In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling that found for the plain- tiffs. The court ruled that the effect of the district’s actions deliberately placed students in segregated schools. In 1995, when the court order was ended, DPS returned to neighborhood schools, most of which reverted to segregated schools because of housing patterns. Since that time, segregation in DPS has increased and at certain schools more so than others. The surge in Latino population coupled with the migration of whites to the suburbs has accelerated this trend. In 1970, DPS still had a majority popula- tion of whites. By 1980, the district had become a majority minority school dis- trict. By circa 2000, the district’s student population was majority Latino. Yet, only three of the seven board of educa- tion members are Latinos, Theresa Pena, Arturo Jimenez and Andrea Merida, just elected in November, 2009. Jimenez and Merida represent northwest and south- west where, at least, a preponderance of Latino students attend school.

Consistent with actions taken by pre- vious boards, DPS has isolated Jimenez and Merida ignoring their pleas to transform Lake Middle School into an International Baccalaureate (IB) World school. This program, part of the pres- tigious IB program, rooted in Geneva, Switzerland and in existence for over 40 years, is a program of instruction that focuses on the whole child. The cur- riculum is very extensive ranging from the basics to art. George Washington High has a very successful IB program. In fact, until Denver School of Arts opened, GW regularly led the district in reading scores. Incidentally, no charter school has ever had such success.

The previous board voted in November, 2009, to co-locate West Denver Preparatory School, a charter school, at Lake with a scaled down version of IB World. Both Jimenez and Merida strenuously objected. It should be pointed out that they represent the majority of the Lake Middle School community. Once the new board was installed, Jimenez sought another vote. He had apparently been assured by newly elected board members, Mary Seawell and Nate Easley, that they would support his motion. Instead, both voted against his motion to recon-

sider co-location. Seawell had previ- ously told community members that she supported the parents’ plan to continue the IB World program as had previously approved by the board. Instead, she led the effort to ensure that West Denver Prep would be co-located at Lake and at another location in North Denver. DPS administrators also claim IB World didn’t add enough students in less than five years.

Denver Arts and Technology Academy (DATA) existed for nine years as a failing school by the district’s own standards – low CSAP scores, declining enrollment and over 50% annual faculty turnover. Yet, at no time during DATA’s failing existence did Tom Boasberg, cur- rent DPS superintendent, or his pre- decessor, now Sen. Michael Bennet, offer any public comment that the dis- trict was concerned with DATA, that it should improve or be closed. Only after the election of Arturo Jimenez, did DPS resolve the issue and the school finally closed last year. Then, despite Jimenez’s protests, the district almost immediately granted another charter to Cesar Chavez Academy, still under investigation by Pueblo City Schools and the Colo. Department of Education. Apparently, DPS did not conduct a thorough background check on Chavez Academy. It would have learned that the CEO made over $250,000 annually and that his wife also collected an annu- al salary of approximately $150,000. Chavez Academy had granted extra time for certain students on CSAP tests and that there may have been financial wrongdoing. The school employs only nonunion teachers as did DATA.

The Redesign of North High School was a similar DPS failure. A small group, Padres Unidos, convinced the district that the school was failing. Dr. Darlene LeDoux, the principal who had been assigned to the school for only two years, was forced out. Teachers were required to reapply and the overwhelm- ing majority refused. The new principal, Jo Ann Trujillo-Hays, was reassigned from Academia Ana Maria Sandoval, a dual language elementary school. With an inexperienced faculty and a trau- matized student population, the school floundered for two years. Ms. Trujillo returned to her previous assignment and, once again, the district offered no explanation to the community for the painfully obvious failure.

North Denver’s experiences with charter schools have been mostly negative. Yet, the district persists in its efforts to create a market for them. While most parents have chosen regu- lar neighborhood schools over charter schools, neighborhood schools are being ignored while charter schools are being hailed, without adequate evidence, as the future of education in our commu- nity.

What can reasonable people con- clude from the attitudes and behav- iors of the members of the Board of Education and administrators? Are similar mistakes being made in 2010 as were made in 1969? Is the district discriminating, willfully or not, against Latinos? Are they being further seg- regated and isolated from other ethnic groups in DPS? According to Chungmei Lee, that is apparently the case. Readers can learn more by Googling Denver Public Schools: Resegregation , Latino Style.

Certainly, most North Denver resi- dents don’t have children in the public schools. Yet, we all have a moral obli- gation to all young people that they have equal access to a quality education without being discriminated against by Denver Public Schools.

easy with my body type and history. Also, lifting weights has many auxil- iary fitness benefits. As we age, we lose muscle mass, and that mass is generally replaced by fat. So weight training is necessary to stop the clock, if not to roll it back. Lean muscle mass is directly connected to our overall metabolic rate. That metabolic rate has everything to do with how many calories we burn while resting. So I have chosen to focus first on my strength goal, but to reach my goal, there are two barriers. The first is avoid- ing injury, much more of a concern as I near age forty-three. A bad left shoulder means I have to be careful throwing up big weight (limiting maximum weight workouts). My right elbow has also been hurting a bit. But with concentrated weight workouts for the bench just twice a week, there is enough recovery time to keep working hard (or, what I con- sider to be working hard) and hopefully staying injury free. The second barrier is finding the time to workout, and the need for relatively quick progress.

Reviewing the science,* this is how I have decided to pursue the bench press goal. (This conclusion is a personal one; every individual should carefully con- sider their own circumstances.) Muscle development is based upon a number of factors, including what is called “time under tension.” Additionally, muscles have two flavors of fibers, fast and slow twitch. The fast twitch fibers are what are needed to push a big weight, and they are what are lost first with age. Focusing on fast twitch muscles means explosive movements. This has gained commercial credibility (or hype) with plyometrics (and the TV infomercial P90x) and in

One of the challenges of getting fit is knowing what to do. For general fitness, of course, almost any exercise is a huge improvement over a sedentary existence. But if you have ambitious goals, ones that are almost out of reach, and limited time, the path chosen must emphasize effectiveness and efficiency.

But so much of what is written con- flicts. The vast majority of information on the web, in magazines, and put forth in books is poorly sourced, and much of it panders or pushes products. All the while, there is a tremendous volume of scientific research being done, some of it using new technology that can precisely measure what the body is doing (muscle biopsies after workouts, anyone?) and uses blood markers to ferret out the processes at the cellular level. But there are big controversies even in the sci- ence, and particular papers and journal articles are often too narrowly written to give the reader a sense of confidence in building an exercise program.

From the last issue, you’ll remember my personal goals were a little unde- fined and even contradictory. I wanted to improve flexibility, bench press 225 pounds, achieve a fairly high level of cardiovascular capability, and lose some girth. With limited time, cold weather and long hours of darkness, making progress was going to be a difficult.

As a result, I am putting my goals in order of time, not priority. While working to build a cardiovascular base, I am a focusing on my bench press goal first. This is a cop out, probably, because I like lifting weights, it doesn’t take tre- mendous time commitment and is fairly

ed. note: In December, we ran a col- umn by Denver City Councilman Rick Garcia that described what we felt was a balanced approach to the issue of regulation of medical marijuana dis- pensaries in Denver. In this issue we run dissenting view from Denver City Councilwoman Carol Boigon, one that we consider alarmist, but may be held by many. Denver and Colorado voters have spoken about medical marijuana, revealing majority sentiments about the reasonable access to marijuana by those who have medical need and about the glaring failures of our now 30 year- old War on Drugs. Given the abuses of the pharmaceutical industry, including a history of pushing dangerous drugs, and the clear societal costs of alcohol abuse, we fail to see why dispensa- ries should face heavier burdens than liquor stores or pharmacies. And while it seems that there is suddenly a dispen- sary on every corner, that is an artifact of government’s failure to regulate, and then artificial deadlines. As the business matures, many of these will close, just as rapidly as they opened, and the busi- nesses that serve their customers best will remain. Boigon’s view is consider- ably different...

More than 400 medical marijuana dispensaries have applied for use per- mits in Denver, most of them in the last two and a half months. Constituents on all sides of the issue have contacted me: patients depending on marijuana to ease their illnesses, caregivers seeking to provide a service, and deeply concerned residents trying to protect their neigh- borhoods from crime and their children from harm.

In 2000, Colorado voters authorized the use of medical marijuana for adults suffering from certain illnesses, includ- ing cancer, and for pain. Denver voters were strong supporters of the initiative. In 2007, Denver voters by 57% to 43% authorized the City to make enforce- ment of possession of less than 1 ounce of marijuana a low priority, despite fed- eral laws making possession a felony. In 2007, Denver District Judge Larry Naves ruled that the state had adopted its rules regulating medical marijuana by pro- cedures that violated state law. In July of 2009, the State Board of Health, the proper authority to adopt those rules, refused by a series of divided votes to adopt new state rules to regulate medi- cal marijuana. In October 2009, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a memo- randum saying that it would not be prosecuting marijuana users who were “in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state laws providing for the medical use of marijuana.” In November 2009, the City of Denver announced its intention to regulate through licensing, zoning and taxation the sale of medical marijuana within the City and County of Denver.

Since the Naves decision, the City has received more than 400 applica- tions for medical marijuana dispensa- ries, where the product can be grown, manufactured, packaged, sold and used in business, industrial, mixed use and agricultural/open space zone districts throughout the City.

I believe Denver voters said clearly that sick adults whose health would benefit from marijuana should have it. They did NOT authorize creating a new industry in medical marijuana for

Denver’s favorite doggie, Lulu,
cruises around the city highlighting
a different neighborhood each
month.

What kind of portrait do the books she keeps around her at her store, West Side Books, paint of her? Who is this woman and why does she have so many books?

floor, stacked on chairs. She carries all kinds of books, but says if she had to name specialties, she’d say she’s into Americana, women travelers, history, and per-

She must, because she’s spent most of her adult life selling books, start- ing in the early 70s at Jerry’s Used Books on East Colfax. She’s had time to develop a philosophy of the value books have in our lives, and to turn that philosophy into reality at WSB.

One visit will convince you that this is no ordinary used bookstore. Bookcases placed at odd angles lead you deeper and deeper into the mys- teries of the human mind and heart. You can spend an afternoon exploring the folklore section when you came for a cookbook. An art book propped on a ladder distracts you from your search for information on Denver his- tory. You open an old leather-bound volume because it’s a classic, but then the aged-ivory, cotton-soft pages and musty smell take you back to your grandmother’s house.

wonder, and books, their authors and their readers are a big part of that wonder. People write books on all sorts of strange subjects, and other people want to read them. She makes a game of trying to guess what the author was like, who the readers are.

Lois. She wonders what’s on their bookshelves, what books were turning points in their lives. She gets to know her customers, many of whom remember her from the 80s, when she owned Capitol

Lois says readers need a place of comfort, stimulation, balance, and respite and is pleased when people say they feel good in her shop – she knows it’s serving an important func- tion in their lives. She’s insistent that the people on the staff are a big part of what makes WSB the comfortable place it is.

Although about 25% of her sales are over the Internet, Lois believes the per- son-to-person transaction is important. Discussing ideas and books and get- ting help in choosing them is nourish- ing and healing, she says. She’s happy to be part of that process.

Books – their size and shape, the weight of the paper, the typeface, the smell of the ink, the sound of the pages turning – provide a framework for the messages between their covers.

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