Jeffco School Board in the News Again. Sigh.

Our far-right, tea party backed Jeffco school board majority is at it again, causing both Republicans and Democrats here in Lakewood to cringe. Here's a sampling of the latest headlines, along with links:

From Westword: Jeffco School Board's Julie Williams apologizes for posting anti-LGBT link

From Chalkbeat: Jeffco board member apologizes for sharing link to hate group on Facebook

9News: Jeffco school board member explains Facebook post

Click the links and read about Ms. Williams' "apology," if you're so inclined.

Meanwhile, the best response so far has come from Michele Patterson, President of the Jeffco PTA, who tweeted: "You only see bigoted posts in your FB feed if you're liking hateful, bigoted FB pages in the first place."

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Update:

Concerned about the actions of the Jeffco school board majority? Interested in learning more? Here are some grassroots organizations working on the issue:

Citizens for Responsible Education

Support Jeffco Kids

Jefferson County School Board Watch

Plans for a New Restaurant: Belmar Roadhouse

Lane Bryant recently completed their move one block north on Teller St, leaving the clothing retailer's former space open. It's a prime location, directly across from the Century 16 Bel Mar theater and the Grappa Italian Bistro, and I'd been hoping a restaurant might be shoehorned in.

The problem, apparently, has been the ventilation system in the Plaza Building, which was built for retail and residential, not food service.

But now it looks like a restaurant is indeed going in. The Roadhouse Hospitality Group owns 17 restaurants in Colorado-- about half in Denver and half in the mountains. Their first, Spanky's Urban Roadhouse, opened near the University of Denver in 1991. Their newest is LoDo's Wazee Supper Club, which Roadhouse purchased earlier this year.

I don't have a lot of details on their new downtown Lakewood location. Despite the "Belmar Roadhouse, LLC" notice on the front door, I've heard it won't be "roadhouse" themed, and that instead it's going to be more of a white tablecloth kind of place. Spanky's Urban Roadhouse serves breakfast, but I haven't heard if breakfast service is planned for Belmar. I have my fingers crossed, though, as I'd love more breakfast options for Belmar.

The new restaurant apparently won't be opening any time soon, however, as extensive renovations are required for the former retail space, including, I've heard, the installation of scrubbers to make sure restaurant odors don't impact residents living above.

In Photos: New Streetscapes in Downtown Lakewood

Lakewood Earth Day Celebration - Saturday, April 18th

This year, the City of Lakewood's Earth Day Celebration will be held on Saturday, April 18th from 10 am to 3 pm at the Lakewood Heritage Center. This is the event's fifth year, but its first at the Lakewood Heritage Center, having outgrown its former location at the Lakewood Cultural Center.

There will be events for kids and adults, including two free movies: The Greenest Building, about repurposing and restoring existing buildings, and Bag It, about the environmental impact of single use plastics. There will also be electronics recycling, and over 30 vendors and exhibitors. It should be both fun and informative!

For a list of events and showtimes, visit the City of Lakewood's Earth Day website.

The French Press Comes to Belmar

I've been hearing lots of good things about the French Press and its new Belmar location. For my part, I stopped a week ago or so by for a latte and a pain au chocolate and left impressed.

My pain au chocolate (i.e. a chocolate croissant) was fresh, light, and flaky-- just the way a croissant should be.

My latte was also excellent, and I think no small part of that excellence was the Pablo's espresso roast the French Press is using. (For those who don't know, Pablo's is one of the oldest cafes and micro-roasters in Denver. I've been buying my coffee from Pablo's for twenty years, and I think the decision by the folks at the French Press to go with Pablo's coffee speaks volumes about their commitment to good coffee.)

The next time I stop in, I'll get a sit down breakfast and write up a review, but until then, I can say that downtown Lakewood's got a new #1 stop for a cup of coffee.

Sprouts Coming to Downtown Lakewood

It looks like the rumor is true: A Sprouts Farmers Market is going in at the Fairfield Commons strip mall at 98 S. Wadsworth Blvd.

The 27,000 square foot grocer will join TJ Maxx, Planet Fitness, Starbucks and Chile's in the aging shopping center.

I'm super excited to have a Sprouts in the neighborhood, but I definitely have mixed feelings about the location.

In my view, Fairfield Commons is an eyesore, with a dated, cheap-looking facade and too many empty storefronts. Even the parking lot is cut up by oddly positioned berms, leftovers from previous parking configurations. It's a car-centric development, but it's difficult to get in and out of by automobile, especially with the constant traffic flow from the Starbucks' drive through.

Nevertheless, Sprouts' reputation for cheap produce will undoubtedly bring people in, myself included. I would just like to see a little bit higher quality construction materials and some bike racks. Is that too much to ask?

Jeffco School Board Unanimously Approves Changes to Lakewood Area Schools

The divided Jeffco school board came together on March 4th to approve unanimously a package of far-reaching changes to the neighborhood schools that serve downtown Lakewood.

O'Connell Middle School, located at 1275 S. Teller St., is to close at the end of this school year. With a population of just over 500 students, O'Connell is a fairly small middle school by Jeffco standards. While I don't have any hard numbers, the word on the street is that many Lakewood families open enroll their children to other district middle schools over concerns about O'Connell's low test scores.

Going forward, 7th-12th graders in most of downtown Lakewood will attend Alameda International High School as their neighborhood secondary campus. (I say most of downtown Lakewood, because students in the northwest quadrant of downtown will still attend Lakewood High School.) Alameda International has around 800 students on a campus originally designed for 1500 or so, and district officials say it can easily accommodate O'Connell's 500 or so 7th and 8th graders.

The second big change is that Stein Elementary, a neighborhood school located just north of Belmar at 80 S. Teller St., will be moving to the former O'Connell campus. Stein is seriously overcrowded, and in theory this will allow students and teachers some much needed elbow room. The current Stein campus will then close for a year for renovations before reopening as a new elementary school.

What's unknown is how parents and downtown Lakewood residents truly feel about these changes-- I can vouch for the fact the school district informational meetings that I went to were sparsely attended. When schools open and close, enrollment boundaries change as well, and that can sometimes lead to acrimonious debate. Which neighborhoods will fall into the enrollment boundaries of the freshly remodeled Stein campus? Which neighborhoods will be drawn into the borders of the re-purposed middle school building? The Jeffco school district is currently short on answers.