SUBMITTED BY THE MEDICAL CENTER OF AURORA The Medical Center of Aurora has earned The Joint Commission’s Gold...
State Sen. Jack Tate, R-27, who announced in 2018 that he would not run for re-election when his term ends nex...
BY FREDA MIKLINGOVERNMENTAL REPORTER At the October 3 Arapahoe County Republican Breakfast Club meeting at Mag...
A social entrepreneur, community leader and minister, Dr. James Kent Hutcheson was an incredible man of vision...
BY SCOTTIE TAYLOR IVERSONCOMMUNITY EDITOR “The backbone of Colorado is in this room,” began Don Ytterberg.addr...
On October 3 the Office of the 18th Judicial District Attorney filed formal charges against Lee Andrew Fabricu...
The Greenwood Village City Council passed its 2020 budget on October 7. Total revenue for 2020 is expected to...
Cirque Dreams Holidaze brings its newest electrifying and reimagined live family holiday spectacular to Gaylor...
BY FREDA MIKLINGOVERNMENTAL REPORTER Mark Wilson is a lawyer who doesn’t like red-light cameras and is not con...
7:30 p.m., Friday, October 18, 2019 at Littleton United Methodist Church Music of the Baroque era was composed...
SUBMITTED BY THE MEDICAL CENTER OF AURORA
The Medical Center of Aurora has earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval® for Disease-Specific Care Certification for Lung Cancer by demonstrating continuous compliance with its performance standards. The Gold Seal is a symbol of quality that reflects a health care organization’s commitment to providing safe and quality patient care.
“I’m extremely proud of our lung cancer program,” said Dr. Jenifer Marks, General Thoracic Surgeon at The Medical Center of Aurora. “We are continuously working hard to provide high quality of care and patient safety. This recognition from Joint Commission is a great honor.”
The certification recognizes health care organizations that provide clinical programs across the continuum of care for lung cancer. The certification evaluates how organizations use clinical outcomes and performance measures to identify opportunities to improve care, as well as to educate and prepare patients and their caregivers for discharge.
The Medical Center of Aurora underwent a rigorous, unannounced onsite review on April 30, 2019. During the visit, a team of Joint Commission reviewers evaluated compliance with related certification standards, some of which included how their lung cancer program involves patients in making decisions about managing their disease, developing a plan of care using an interdisciplinary approach that is individualized to the patient’s assessed needs, and support for the patient’s self-management outside of the hospital by engaging family and community support structures into their plan of care. Joint Commission standards are developed in consultation with health care experts and providers, measurement experts and patients. The reviewers also conducted onsite observations and interviews.
“Disease-Specific Care Certification for Lung Cancer recognizes health care organizations committed to fostering continuous quality improvement in patient safety and quality of care,” says Mark Pelletier, RN, MS, chief operating officer, Accreditation and Certification Operations, and chief nursing executive, The Joint Commission. “We commend The Medical Center of Aurora for using certification to reduce variation in its clinical processes and to strengthen its program structure and management framework for lung cancer patients.”
The Interdisciplinary team at The Medical Center of Aurora worked together to consistently evaluate performance improvement measurements while simultaneously keeping their patients’ as their main focus at all times, and is determined to make a difference in each of their lives.
For more information, please visit The Joint Commission website.
State Sen. Jack Tate, R-27, who announced in 2018 that he would not run for re-election when his term ends next year, held a town hall meeting on October 12 at the South Metro Fire Rescue Headquarters in Centennial. Though it was sparsely attended, Tate, who has served in the Colorado legislature since 2014, spoke on several important subjects.
As he has previously, Tate talked about his belief that voters would do well to repeal the 1982 Gallagher Amendment that froze the ratio of property value in our state to 45 percent for residential and 55 percent for non-residential. Tate disputed the oft-mentioned theory that there is a conflict between TABOR (the 1992 Taxpayer Bill of Rights) and Gallagher, asserting that there has been a clash between the two only “twice in the past 27 years.”
Since 1982, when Gallagher was passed by the voters, residential property values have been rising faster than non-residential property values. As a result, the assessment rate on residential property has decreased from 21 percent in 1982 to 7.15 percent in 2019, so as to maintain the constitutionally required ratio of 45 percent residential to 55 percent non-residential. Tate was a sponsor of this year’s (required) legislation, SB19-255, that instituted the newly lowered 7.15 percent residential rate. (It was 7.2 percent last year.) Non-residential property is assessed at 29 percent of its value.
Tate believes that the Gallagher Amendment hurts parts of Colorado that have relatively little commercial property and where residential values are not rising as fast as they are in other places. He would freeze the residential assessment rate where it is today, unless the legislature lowers it. As long as we have TABOR in place, says Tate, it serves as a protection because the assessment rate can never be raised without a vote of the people. Tate says that repealing Gallagher will provide a way to finally lower non-residential property taxes to help businesses in our state by allowing residential taxes to rise naturally as actual values go up.
According to a recent article in the Denver Post, and the commonly-held belief of many in our legislature, including Tate, Colorado currently has the third-lowest effective property tax rate in the United States.
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BY FREDA MIKLINGOVERNMENTAL REPORTER
At the October 3 Arapahoe County Republican Breakfast Club meeting at Maggiano’s DTC, Barb Piper, as she regularly does, spoke to the faithful, sharing a message from Colorado Senator Cory Gardner.
North KoreaPiper delivered these thoughts from Gardner: “North Korea remains a clear and present danger to the safety of the American people. So far, no concrete denuclearization has taken place and there should be no efforts to normalize relations with this dictator, especially since, in an apparent display of its expanding military capabilities and just days ahead of planned nuclear negotiations with the United States, North Korea once again fired projectiles. We should return to maximum pressure.”
Space CommandShe said, “Senator Gardner has long pushed for Colorado to be selected as the home for U.S. Space Command and the news that Colorado Springs is the temporary headquarters is extremely exciting.”
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA)Regarding the USMCA, Piper quoted Gardner as saying, “A great portion of our economy in Colorado is dependent on trade with Canada and Mexico, and roughly a quarter-million jobs exist here because of these trade relationships. Colorado farmers produce nearly half of all the potatoes Mexico imports from the U.S. and 97 percent of the beverages Mexico imports come from Colorado.”
Prescription DrugsPiper said, “Many Coloradans are suffering from rising prescription drug costs. Sen. Gardner has presented a bill to lower costs by increasing access to generic drugs which recently passed a key Senate committee.”
A social entrepreneur, community leader and minister, Dr. James Kent Hutcheson was an incredible man of vision, faith and perseverance. He founded Colorado Uplift, Elevate USA, and Urban Youth Ministries. His impact and legacy extend globally, and all who knew him are eternally challenged by his vision and mission.
Despite his thirteen-year battle with Leukemia, he still had a contagious smile. In 1958, at South High School the Denver Post presented Kent with the MVP Gold Helmet Award. He went on to play football at Wheaton College and then catalyzed The Great Commission Training Centers in Asia which then multiplied around the globe. He then returned home to impact Denver’s Urban challenges, creating Colorado’s most successful inner-city youth program that has been recognized locally and nationally countless times. He passes the torch to his precious wife of 53 years, Diane, his children, Shauna, Jon and James, and his eight grandchildren.
He will be profoundly missed, but we are all celebrating that Kent is now home with his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. His memoir, A Most Incredible Adventure will be available on Amazon in November, but you can download this amazing book at http://bit.ly/2Vmld9R today.
Kent’s memorial will be at Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church, Saturday, October 12th at 11:00 am. In lieu of gifts, please consider a donation to the organizations he loved: ColoradoUpLift, coloradouplift.org, Urban Youth Ministries, uyministries.org or Elevate USA, www.elevatetheusa.org.
BY SCOTTIE TAYLOR IVERSONCOMMUNITY EDITOR
“The backbone of Colorado is in this room,” began Don Ytterberg.addressing members and guests of Cherry Creek Republican Women (CCRW.) “We, Americans are experiencing the best of times or the worst of times, depending on who is speaking. Everything we (Republicans) stand for is being challenged. The Dems are asking us to swallow tolerance. Give it up for the electorial college. Give it away to a national popular vote. Who counts it officially? No one! What if there is a challenge?” He cited the booming economy and low unemployment rate and difficulty in finding employees. He had three calls to action: Re-elect Sen. Cory Gardner, re-elect President Trump and take back the Colorado Senate. “The vote of suburban women is affected by the president’s behavior. The president is a real person, not a politician. He is a New Yorker, in your face businessman. He continues that in the White House and they (the Dems) can’t handle it. I am proud to have a president who stands up for me.” “Tweets are the only way he can get his message out,” commented Edie Marks. Speaking of Edie – her pitch about Cancer League of Colorado (CCRW’s Charity of Choice for the month) generated a quick donation of $2,400. by passing the hat for the all-volunteer, 50-year-old nonprofit that has donated $1.2 million to cancer research.
On October 3 the Office of the 18th Judicial District Attorney filed formal charges against Lee Andrew Fabricus in connection with the death of his 60-year-old brother Dale Fabricus on September 24 on East Heritage Parkway in southeast Aurora. Fabricus was charged with Murder 1 after Deliberation and Murder 1 – extreme indifference, along with a charge of assault and two vehicular homicide charges, one for driving under the influence.
He remains in jail, and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on October 15 at 8:30 a.m. in Division 408 of the the Arapahoe County Justice Center at 7325 S. Potomac Street in Centennial.
The Greenwood Village City Council passed its 2020 budget on October 7. Total revenue for 2020 is expected to be $54.8 million. Expenditures for the year are projected at $50.2 million, resulting in an increase in the city’s fund balance of $4.6 million. The city’s mill levy for residential property taxes will remain at 2.932 mills, one of the lowest in the state.
The executive summary included with the budget says, about the total revenue, “The amount represents an increase of $600,379 or 1.1% when compared to the prior year’s amended budget. The rather modest increase is primarily the result of lower than anticipated growth in sales tax during the current fiscal year, as well as, a significant reduction in intergovernmental and grant-related revenue.” It goes on, “An ongoing exposure facing the city is its dependency on sales and use tax revenues. More than 60% of the city’s total revenue is attributable to sales and use tax collections, making the organization especially reliant upon, and vulnerable to patterns in consumer and commercial spending.”
One capital expenditure for 2020 that was changed from the proposed amount after the city council budget workshop on September 23, was the budget for a city hall interior remodel. Initially proposed to be $1,500,000, it was reduced 90 percent to $150,000 by the city council “for additional vetting, as well as the refinement of anticipated costs.”
At the end of 2020, GV’s cumulative fund balance is projected to be $46.7 million, of which $21.3 million is considered unassigned, meaning it is “available to meet the needs of the community without regard to spending limitations otherwise imposed by the city or external agencies.”
Included in the restricted amounts in the remaining $25.4 million in GV’s fund balance is a $10.2 million operating reserve, much like a “rainy day fund.” There is also $9.9 million for capital projects to which the city has committed but not yet completed.
A set-aside fund for the acquisition of open space, created by city council policy, will have $1.2 million by the end of next year, including $500,000 added to it in 2020. In recent years, city council only added $100,000 to it annually, but at the September 23 budget workshop, it was decided to quintuple the amount added in 2020. That may be related to the fact that GV is exploring the acquisition of several acres of open space in the general vicinity of East Belleview Avenue and South Colorado Boulevard.
A new addition to the list of restricted and committed amounts of the citywide fund balance is $1,664,236, added after the September 23 budget workshop, for traffic safety projects, “based on collections/expenditures associated with the photo red light program.”
Cirque Dreams Holidaze brings its newest electrifying and reimagined live family holiday spectacular to Gaylord Rockies’ bubly™ theater with 60 unforgettable performances as part of the inaugural “Christmas at Gaylord Rockies.” This critically-acclaimed extravaganza is a Broadway musical and new Cirque adventure wrapped into the ultimate gift for the entire family. Tickets are on sale now for all performances between November 22, 2019 and January 4, 2020.
Cirque Dreams Holidaze has been hailed by the New York Daily News as “a delicious confection of charm, sparkle and talent by the sleigh load.” It’s “the perfect holiday gift and show everyone will enjoy,” raved Broadway World of the sold-out performances that “Dazzled…at the Kennedy Center,” Washington Post. The Tennessean proclaimed it “a dazzling holidaze spectacle…for both young and old” at the Grand Ole Opry House.
Broadway Director and Cirque Dreams Founder, Neil Goldberg, has searched the world to “deck the halls” at Gaylord Rockies with an exclusive, in-the-round theatrical experience including a remarkable cast of astonishing cirque artists, singers, dancers and talent. Audiences will be mesmerized with never before seen acts, holiday splendor, theatrical innovation and much more.
Experience jaw-dropping costumes, breathtaking aerial artistry and gravity-defying feats in this themed extravaganza of Christmas, New Years and all the holidays of the season with original music and a new twist on favorites such as “Deck The Halls,” “Winter Wonderland” and “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.” This action-packed family celebration is performed on stage and in the air by toy soldiers, snowmen, penguins, reindeer, gingerbread, carolers, Santa and holiday costumed characters flying, balancing, and stretching imaginations. It’s “Las Vegas…meets family entertainment…meets musical theatre” touts the Boston Globe.
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