AURORA | One of the worst mass shootings in the nation’s history hit Aurora in 2012 when a gunman killed 12 and wounded more than 50 inside a packed movie theater.
The July 20 shooting at the Century Aurora 16 theater shocked the nation and for several weeks kept Colorado’s third largest city squarely in the world media’s glare.
Police say the accused gunman, James Holmes, 24, toted an arsenal of weapons into the theater that night during a midnight showing of “The Dark Night Rises.”
A short time after the film started, police say Holmes threw two smoke devices into the packed theater No. 9 and opened fire with a high-powered AR-15 assault rifle. The gun, which Holmes purchased legally, was equipped with a high-capacity magazine that held 150 rounds of ammunition.
In addition to the assault rifle, police say Holmes, who was wearing body armor from his head to his feet, also carried a shotgun and a Glock pistol.
The shooting rampage sparked mass chaos as ambulances couldn’t get to the theater to carry away victims. Police officers used their patrol cars to rush some gravely wounded theater goers to area hospitals.
A short time after the shooting, police arrested Holmes outside the theater. Despite his body armor and arsenal of weapons, police said Holmes didn’t put up a fight when officers stopped him. He has been in jail since his arrest and is awaiting trial on a dozen murder charges as well as more than 50 counts of attempted murder.
The victims of the theater shooting ran the gamut from a six-year-old girl out with her family, to a 54-year-old man who had taken his teenaged children to see the film.
Police later found several explosives inside Holmes’ booby-trapped apartment on Paris Street in north Aurora. It took investigators more than a day to clear the third-story apartment of all the devices.
In the days after the shootings, a picture of Holmes began to emerge. A San Diego native, he moved to Aurora in 2011 to participate in a graduate-level neuroscience program at the University of Colorado School of Medicine at the Anschutz Medical Campus. He lived a short distance form the campus and didn’t have a job before the shootings.
In June, just a few weeks before the rampage, school officials said Holmes withdrew from the university. In court hearings and documents, officials revealed Holmes had visited a psychiatrist at the school before the shootings and that he may have made threats before dropping out.
A short time before the shootings, Holmes mailed a package to that psychiatrist, Dr. Lynne Fenton. In court testimony, police said the package included burned money and a brown spiral-bound notebook. Reports said the notebook contained crude, stick-figure drawings of the theater shooting.
In his several court appearances since the shootings, Holmes has sat quietly near his attorneys, his hands and feet shackled and a wide-eyed expression on his face. At the time of the shootings and during his first few court appearances, the accused killer had his hair dyed bright orange, but the dye has since worn off.
His lawyers haven’t discussed many specifics about the case in open court and a gag order bars anyone involved in the case from discussing it publicly. But Holmes’ lawyers have said in court that he is mentally ill, laying the groundwork for a likely insanity plea.
One court hearing in November was cancelled after Holmes apparently tried to harm himself in his jail cell, but he appeared healthy at a hearing a few weeks later.
Holmes is scheduled to appear in court again in early January for a preliminary hearing readiness conference. If the preliminary hearing scheduled for Jan. 7 goes forward, it could include a trove of previously unreleased information about the shooting.
Fan-fare-well looking concrete after decades of derelection
By SARA CASTELLANOS
Staff Writer
The bulbous eyesore on Havana Street could soon be demolished.
The Aurora City Council on Dec. 3 approved a plan to purchase and demolish the aging, bulbous building on Havana Street, bringing to end decades of uncertainty for the vacant building. Lawmakers approved the measure 8-2.
The city will use money loaned from its water fund’s operating reserve to pay up to $4 million for the building, its demolition and property. The council approved an amendment before passing the measure that would shift the loan from the water department to another city fund if no developers are interested in the property within 25 years to shield water ratepayers. City Finance Director Jason Batchelor said the practice of loaning money from one government agency to another was a relatively common practice. The city has done it before, he said, to purchase golf carts and finance the construction of Murphy Creek Golf Course.
City staff and council members said that if vacated, the land could generate tax revenue that would help pay for the initial investment.
“We have lost millions of dollars on sales tax on that property, sitting there, doing nothing,” said Councilwoman Barb Cleland.
Residents at the meeting who live near the building said Fan Fare is an eyesore and should be torn down.
“The (dilapidated) condition effects property values,” said Barbara Dutton, a Sunnyvale neighborhood resident who said she’s lived nearby for more than 50 years.
Aurora resident and critic of the plan to buy Fan Fare, Duane Senn, agreed the building is blight, but said it wasn’t the city’s role to purchase the building. Senn’s argument that the building was overvalued, was partially addressed by Councilman Bob LeGare and Councilwoman Marsha Berzins.
“I think there are a lot of misgivings about using this money, and it’s a lot of money … but if we don’t do this now, when is this going to get done?” Berzins said.
“I commend the owner for getting what they wanted,” LeGare said. “I think that at some point it will sell, but it’s not likely to have any serious looks at it until that building is torn down.”
Councilwomen Molly Markert and Renie Peterson voted against the proposal.
City matches Denver with camping ban, affecting homeless people
By SARA CASTELLANOS
Staff Writer
Weeks after Denver passed a homeless camping ban in May, Aurora officials considered passing one of their own, but the discussion never developed into an actual ordinance. Aurora council members talked about a ban to dissuade Denver’s homeless from migrating into Aurora.
“I think you can’t be too careful,” said Councilwoman Marsha Berzins at a Public Safety Committee meeting this past summer.
Councilman Bob Roth said he received comments from about 15 of his Ward V constituents saying they were concerned about homeless people from Denver coming to Aurora, and they thought city officials should pursue a camping ban like Denver’s.
Some community members said they expected Denver’s homeless to cross the border into Aurora if a ban was not in effect.
At Aurora Warms the Night, which gives hotel vouchers to homeless people on the coldest nights, executive director Mary Hupp said in May she expects a Denver ban to push some homeless east across Yosemite, which divides the two cities.
“If we have different rules on one side of Yosemite, it may encourage a flow of people back and forth,” she said.
Ultimately, no ban was passed.
City Manager George “Skip” Noe said he doesn’t expect Denver’s homeless to come to Aurora because there’s nothing here for them.
“At this point we don’t have any of the things that would really be big draws for these populations like shelters and soup kitchens,” he said.
Not fast, but back on track
By SARA CASTELLANOS
Staff Writer
RTD staff members in July cobbled together enough money to award a contract to Kiewit Infrastructure Co. to construct the $350 million FasTracks light rail project in Aurora that will be completed by late 2015.
Now, the city is buzzing with positivity, land owners are marketing their plans for new housing and office space projects to be built along the light-rail stations, and developers are interested in building out Transit-Oriented Development projects.
RTD board member Tom Tobiassen, whose district covers Aurora, calls it a “resurgence of optimism.
“There’s a lot of renewed interest in developing the land around the future light-rail stations, now that the light rail is actually on the horizon,” he said.
When Greenwood Village-based land owner David Erb got word that RTD gave the green light to the Aurora FasTracks project, he said he was shocked and thrilled, and had renewed faith in the TOD project he had been planning since 2009.
Erb had temporarily tabled his plans for the residential project he was planning for the East 2nd Avenue and Abilene Street light-rail station when RTD ran into financial problems.
“RTD’s costs were going higher and their sales tax revenues were going lower, so the I-225 line was placed in limbo, as were our plans,” he said.
Finally, solid plans came into place for a train to run through the land he owns near the intersection of 2nd and Abilene.
“All of a sudden here in the past couple months it has sprung to life,” Erb said. “We dusted everything off that we had prepared a couple of years back and now we’re ready to go.”
Erb’s vision for the area around the light-rail station includes five four-story apartment and condominium buildings with about 770 units, for a total build-out cost of about $76 million.
Transit-Oriented Development plans were adopted by the city in 2009 and 2010 for all of the stations except for the Aurora City Center and Montview stations, which were already designed in the city’s master plan.
The I-225 light-rail line will include eight stations to be constructed along the east side of the highway. The corridor is a total of 10.5 miles long, and TOD projects will be constructed around all of the light-rail stations.
Each design plan calls for different developments to complement the commercial and residential projects associated with TODs. For example, the Iliff Station area plan calls for a central park, the Florida Station plan identifies a high-density housing district south of Florida Avenue, and the Peoria/Smith Station plan includes the design for a series of public parks between the existing Sand Creek Regional Greenway and the station.
Nancy Freed, deputy city manager, said TOD sites could also offer Class A office space — something Aurora has desired for years.
City officials at the Aug. 15 committee meeting underscored the significance of Aurora’s FasTracks light-rail project finally coming to fruition.
“This will fundamentally change the city,” said Dave Chambers, director of the city’s public works department at the Infrastructure and Operations Committee.
With all the light-rail construction scheduled to happen in the city in the coming months, city officials are planning for some hardships. For example, some lanes on all major arterials in the city will be closed at one point or another and businesses will be impacted, Chambers said.
There is also a possibility that the construction firm will work on developing several parts of the light-rail line at one time, rather than building in a linear fashion.
“They don’t just put rail lines down overnight,” Chambers said. “There’s a lot of work.”
But the benefit will be huge.
“Think about how good it’s going to look when it’s done,” he said.
Gaylord hotel goes from hype to hope
By SARA CASTELLANOS
Staff Writer
City officials have until some time next month to decide how to move forward with the Gaylord Hotel and Conference Center project, the economic development flop the city faced this year.
The Colorado Economic Development Commission allowed Aurora more time — almost four months past the original deadline — to finalize project details after the Tennessee-based Gaylord hotels brand was sold to Marriott International Inc.
Under the deal made to Marriott, Gaylord would continue to own its hotel properties and would reorganize itself to become a real estate investment trust in January 2013, focused mostly on group-oriented destination hotels in urban and resort markets.
“Aurora then has time to make adjustments, look for another partner in the project and move forward,” said Kathy Green, director of communications and marketing for the Colorado Office of Economic Development & International Trade at a commissioners meeting in September.
Before the division was sold to Marriott in May, the commissioners had awarded the hotel project about $81 million in tax rebates over 30 years to help build the project.
If there are “substantial” changes to the original hotel plans, Green said Aurora would need to resubmit another application for state tourism incentives next year.
The City of Aurora has also offered an additional $300 million in tax rebates to help with the construction of the $824 million Western-themed hotel and conference center, which calls for 1,500 hotel rooms and 400,000 square feet of exhibition and conference space to be located in Aurora near the Denver International Airport.
The hotel could be constructed by another developer, but Gaylord could still play a role in development, the city’s economic development officials said. As a REIT, the organization would not be able to build new development, said Brian Abrahamson, vice president of corporate communications for Gaylord, in August.
Gaylord “still loves” the Aurora location for a large-scale hotel and conference center project, though, he said.
“As a REIT, however, we cannot be in the ground-up development role. In order for the project to go forward with our involvement, we need to bring on other investors, particularly until the project is up and running.”
The nine-member board of the Colorado Economic Development Commission took testimony from about 50 people at meetings held in the spring before awarding the hotel project tax rebates.
Hoteliers, residents, business owners and architects were among those who talked about the Gaylord project — some of whom said the project would “cannibalize” the Denver hotel industry and consume valuable public funds. Meanwhile, others said the project would put people back to work and spur economic growth throughout the state.
“The RTA was not created by the state legislature to negatively impact existing businesses in the region,” said John Desmond, executive vice president of Urban Planning and Environment for the Downtown Denver Partnership.
Greg Leonard, general manager for the Grand Hyatt Denver, said the Gaylord project would cannibalize existing hotel business and contribute to a decline in the number of room stays for Denver-based hotels.
“The impact on 500-room hotels will be significant and damaging,” he said.
Other people who spoke against the project said they did so because they believe Gaylord Entertainment should be paying the entire bill for the project and not relying on public subsidies, and some also said they were disappointed with the lack of transparency surrounding the Gaylord project.
Denver-based attorney and former state lawmaker Joel Judd said he’s against the project because it would require the state to pay for sales tax revenues that would have otherwise gone to local school districts.
The hotel would attract people that would want to visit and spend money in other cities besides Aurora, said P.W. McCallum, executive director of the Grapevine Convention and Visitors Bureau.
“Today’s traveler is sophisticated, today’s guest is not going to stay in the four walls of a resort complex,” he said.
The project would also spur retail and housing development around DIA, said Tom Ashburn, an Aurora resident and retired employee of Xcel Energy.
“When we look around the airport today we see a lot of land and opportunity,” he said. “There hasn’t been much significant development around the airport since it opened. What better project than Gaylord to spur economic development in the region?”
Chris Dunn, a landscape architect, said the project would become the “catalyst for the long-envisioned aerotropolis adjacent to DIA.”
According to HVS Consulting & Valuation Services, the 1,500-room hotel was estimated to bring 1,500 jobs to Aurora and about $284 million in new revenues per year to Aurora, while Denver stands to earn about $61 million in revenues per year. Competing studies say the hotel could have cost Denver up to $186 million in visitor spending and hotel revenue between 2016 and 2019.
High times ahead for Aurora after state voters end marijuana prohibition
By SARA CASTELLANOS
Staff Writer
Marijuana advocates rejoiced this November when voters passed Amendment 64, legalizing private consumption of marijuana for people ages 21 and over.
Voters in Arapahoe County approved the amendment by a margin of about 17,000 votes. About 142,300 people voted to approve the amendment. The amendment passed by about 22,000 votes in Adams County with about 95,000 people voting for it.
Amendment 64 allows adults over 21 to possess up to an ounce of marijuana but not use it publicly. The amendment also allows people to grow up to six marijuana plants in a private, secure area, and allows commercial pot sales.
But Aurora is still waiting to decide how it will address the commercial sale of pot.
Aurora City Council members agreed Dec. 17 to form a special committee at a meeting to determine, among other things, whether the city should ban the commercial sale of marijuana.
They could also take another route, though, and ask voters in Aurora whether they want to opt-out, similar to the city-wide ballot question they posed to voters in 2010 about banning medical marijuana dispensaries. In 2010, a majority of Aurora voters opposed a city-wide ballot question to legalize medical marijuana sales within city limits. The final tallies for Arapahoe, Adams and Douglas counties show that voters in Aurora decided to prohibit dispensaries within city limits by a margin of 42,347 to 39,224.
The committee will be composed of council members Renie Peterson, Molly Markert, Bob Roth, Barb Cleland, Brad Pierce and Bob LeGare. City Manager George “Skip” Noe said local and state lawmakers are still waiting to see how the federal government will tackle the issue, since marijuana is still illegal at the federal level. “There’s a whole lot of up-in-the-air,” he said.
Crime rises in Aurora in addition to horrific theater shootings
By BRANDON JOHANSSON
Staff Writer
Crime in Aurora spiked in 2012, largely because of the July 20 theater shootings.
According to data through the first nine months of 2012, murder is up 136 percent compared to the same stretch last year, with 26 slayings this year compared to 11 last year.
Almost half of those murders, though, happened in one incident: the July 20 rampage at the Century Aurora 16 theater, which left 12 dead and more than 50 others wounded.
Last year, Aurora had an unusually-low 12 murders in the entire year, almost a 50-percent drop from the 23 murders in 2010. By the midway point this year, the city already had nine murders, putting it on pace to see more murders than the previous year.
The theater shootings also caused a major spike in the number of people who fell victim to aggravated assaults. That data point climbed 11 percent, from 582 during the same stretch last year to 647 this year. But because much of the rise is the product of a single incident, the number of aggravated assault incidents is actually fairly flat, with 481 compared to 478 last year.
In all, violent crime, which includes murder, sexual assault, robbery and aggravated assault, is up 5.4 percent compared to last year.
Still, other crimes that weren’t impacted by the theater case are also up.
According to the data, property crime, which includes burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft, was also up 4 percent.
Overall, major crime in Aurora was up almost 5 percent, with 8,901 incidents through the first nine months of 2012 compared to 8,490 during the same stretch in 2011.
Aurora’s crime has generally been down in recent years and spikes like those police have seen in 2012 have been rare. Since 2005, all major crime down is 30 percent. In 2010, crime inched up slightly for the first time in nearly a decade with a 0.6 percent increase.
But in 2011, crime was again down, this time 2.8 percent.
According to the city’s numbers through the end of September:
• Sex assaults were up 3 percent, from 139 to 143.
• Robberies were down 6 percent, from 384 to 360.
• Burglary was down 14 percent, from 1,605 to 1,367.
• Larceny was up 10 percent from 5,101 to 5,634.
• Motor vehicle theft was up 8 percent from 668 to 724.
Aurora’s spike in violent crime seems to mirror a trend nationally, as the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics reported violent crimes unexpectedly jumped 18 percent in 2011. That marked the first such rise in almost 20 years, and came at a time when property crimes saw their first spike in a decade.
Man accused of throwing toddler against the wall nets murder conviction
By BRANDON JOHANSSON
Staff Writer
An Arapahoe County jury this year convicted Ted Madrid of all the counts against him — including first-degree murder — for the 2011 slaying of his girlfriend’s 2-year-old son.
The verdict means a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole for Madrid, 32. He was also convicted of two counts of child abuse resulting in death.
Jurors deliberated for about a day before returning the verdict after Madrid’s trial in October.
Madrid told police he was babysitting Caden Rodgers and while the two were roughhousing, he tried to throw the tot onto a bed. He missed the bed, though, and Caden struck his head, knocking him unconscious. The boy never regained consciousness and later died at an area hospital. Madrid was arrested that night.
Madrid’s lawyer called the death an accident and said Madrid should be convicted of a lesser charge.
But prosecutors said that while Madrid may not have wanted to kill Caden, the boy’s death wasn’t an accident, either. Madrid’s failure to call 911 for 90 minutes after Caden hit his head lead to the toddler’s death, prosecutors said.
Madrid’s sentencing hearing, at which Rodgers’ family will likely have a chance to address the court, is scheduled for Jan. 3.
Madrid has been in jail since his arrest.
Former Aurora DARE officer gets suspended sentence for taking explicit photos of teenage runaway
By BRANDON JOHANSSON
Staff Writer
A former Aurora DARE officer accused of forcing a 15-year-old runaway to take sexually explicit photos of herself received a suspended three-year prison sentence in 2012.
Former Officer Michael Mangino also served 90 days in jail and was ordered to participate in a sex offender treatment program. If he fails in the sex offender program, Mangino could face the three-year prison term.
Mangino pleaded guilty to felony exploitation of a child in April as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors.
Mangino, 51, was charged with sexual exploitation of a child and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, both felonies.
The 29-year APD veteran also faced a misdemeanor charge of official misconduct.
After the plea, Aurora police Chief Dan Oates issued a statement that said the felony conviction for Mangino is appropriate.
“Mr. Mangino is now a convicted felon and sex offender. This is a fitting conclusion to his despicable behavior,” the statement said. “Our heart goes out to the victim. As terrible as Mangino’s actions were, I am pleased that our investigators discovered his crime, addressed it head-on and worked aggressively to achieve justice. The Aurora Police Department is glad to be rid of Mr. Mangino.”
The incident involving the 15-year-old girl happened in early March 2011 when Mangino arrested the runaway, according to police. Police said Mangino had the girl take sexually explicit photos of herself on Mangino’s personal cell phone.
Three get serious prison time in gruesome 2010 slayings of Aurora couple
By BRANDON JOHANSSON
Staff Writer
Three suspects in the 2010 slayings of an Aurora couple received hefty prison sentences in 2012.
Janelle Kimberly Harris and Terrence McNeal were both convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to prison this year for the November 2010 slayings of Tiffany Durst and Terrence Scott George. The first-degree murder convictions carry a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
A third defendant, Tiera Homes, cooperated with investigators and reached a plea deal. Under the terms of the plea, she testified against Harris and McNeal in exchange for prosecutors dropping the first-degree murder charges, among others, and agreeing to a 32-year-sentence.
Police and prosecutors say McNeal plotted the slayings because he believed Durst “snitched” on him in a 2008 burglary case. They say he recruited Harris and Homes and the trio kidnapped Durst, threw her in a trunk and drove her to an Aurora field where McNeal strangled her. Police say Homes drove the car that night and waited in it while Harris and McNeal walked Durst into the field and McNeal killed her.
The trio then returned to Durst’s apartment and waited for her boyfriend, George, to return home from a graveyard shift at a nearby fast-food restaurant.
When George walked in, McNeal killed him. Prosecutors said when investigators found George’s body, he was laying face down on a picture of he and Durst.
Police found George’s body a short time after the slayings, but didn’t find Durst’s body until six months later.
Prosecutors considered seeking the death penalty against McNeal, but announced in 2011 that they would not.
New DA for ArapCo comes from outside the department
By BRANDON JOHANSSON
Staff Writer
Arapahoe County got a new top prosecutor in 2012, marking the first time in more than 40 years that the new district attorney came from outside the current ranks of prosecutors.
Republican George Brauchler topped Democrat Ethan Feldman in the November election after beating Leslie Hansen in the Republican primary last spring.
Brauchler’s election came as the DA’s office prepared to prosecute James Holmes, the man accused of killing 12 and wounding more than 50 others at the Century Aurora 16 theater.
It’s a situation local legal experts say they haven’t seen before: A new district attorney from outside the current administration stepping in to such a high-profile capital case midway through.
“They are going to have to get up to speed very, very quickly,” said Karen Steinhauser, a former Denver prosecutor now teaching law at the University of Denver and working in private practice.
Steinhauser said it’s uncommon enough for a new DA to be someone from outside the current administration. Typically, the new DA is someone from within the current administration, something that was the case in Arapahoe County for more than 40 years before this fall’s election.
And experts say the changeover can often involve a heavy turnover among prosecutors, either because the newly elected district attorney wants to bring in new personnel, or because prosecutors loyal to the former DA opt to leave.
Bob Grant, who was elected DA in Adams County from 1992 to 2005, said transitions are usually fairly smooth.
“A transition always occurs, and there are always big cases going on, that’s what you have staff for,” he said.
Grant said he doesn’t remember a situation like this locally, but that’s something people have been repeatedly saying since the slayings.
“Of course, there has never been a case like this, 70 victims, it boggles the mind,” he said.
As for tangible impacts the change could have on the case, Grant said it’s important to note that because of the scale of the case, and because of a possible insanity defense, there is a chance Holmes’ case won’t even be that far along by the time January rolls around.
A decision on whether prosecutors will seek the death penalty likely won’t be made until after the new DA takes over.
Since being elected, a judge has ruled that Brauchler should have access to the Holmes’ case. He has been in court for some of Holmes’ hearings since Election Day, too.
Beyond the Holmes case, Brauchler has said he plans to review pending cases where 18th Judicial District prosecutors have sought to file “habitual offender” charges. But, Brauchler said, his primary focus will be on changing the way the designation is used going forward.
During the campaign, Brauchler said he supports the designation in some cases, but argued that the current administration had sought it too often.
Once he takes over in January, Brauchler said he will likely use the designation less frequently in new cases, but will also take a look at cases where Chambers’ prosecutors have sought the designation. If his staff sees a case where maybe the designation wasn’t warranted, Brauchler said that case could get a second look.
“I think that I would leave the door open to discussions about anything that hasn’t yet been resolved,” he said.
But, Brauchler said, his primary focus with regard to habitual criminals will be how to use the designation in future cases.
“What I’d rather do is focus on what I have to deal with at the moment and moving forward in the future,” he said.
Bizarre bank robbery and mass arrest leaves mark on department, lives and courts
By BRANDON JOHANSSON
Staff Writer
Aurora saw one of the strangest bank robbery cases in recent memory this year — one involving a frustrated music teacher, an unpayable loan and a controversial traffic stop.
Federal prosecutors say Christian Paetsch, a former music teacher and accomplished violinist, was angry in early June about a loan with a Wells Fargo bank at East Hampden Avenue and South Chambers Road. A day after the bank refused to renegotiate his loan, he stormed in with two pistols and robbed the place of more than $25,000 in cash.
A short time later, police arrested Paetsch after stopping more than 25 cars near an Aurora intersection at gunpoint. Police said they tracked Paetsch using a GPS device hidden in the cash he stole.
The traffic stop led to widespread criticism of Aurora police, but a judge later ruled the stop was legal.
In November, Paetsch reached a plea agreement with prosecutors, according to court records.
A judge scheduled a “change of plea hearing” for Paetsch on Jan. 24 and cancelled Paetsch’s Dec. 3 trial date.
Jeff Dorschner, a spokesman for the United States Attorney’s Office in Denver, said that under the plea agreement, Paetsch is expected to plead guilty to armed bank robbery and use of a weapon in the commission of a crime of violence. In return, federal prosecutors will allow Paetsch to continue to appeal a judge’s ruling on whether the traffic stop that led to Paetsch’s arrest was legal. Dorschner said he couldn’t say what sentence, if any, Paetsch had agreed to.
If convicted of bank robbery, Paetsch could have faced between seven and 25 years in federal
prison.
Paetsch’s lawyer argued that because the stop was unconstitutional, the bulk of the evidence against Paetsch — including money stolen from the bank, a disguise and two pistols — should be tossed. But a judge sided with police and prosecutors and said that while the stop was out of the ordinary, police acted appropriately.
With the judge’s ruling, Paetsch’s prospects at trial looked grim because prosecutors had a mountain of evidence against him, including the cash from the bank and the beekeeper mask he wore during the heist.
Belcher said after the judge’s ruling that he planned to appeal, and it appears even after the plea is reached that the appeal could go forward.
Paetsch has been free on bond since a few days after the robbery.
New APS mega-school moves into varsity sports wold
By COURTNEY OAKES
Staff Writer
The first season of varsity athletics arrived in 2012 at Vista PEAK — Aurora’s newest high school and part of the Aurora Public Schools — and the excitement is palpable at the school in the northeast corner of the city with the Bison mascot.
For athletic director Craig Lyle and several coaches who have waited patiently for the past two years, the fruits of their labor can’t come fast enough.
“When we first started, we were excited to know we would have the kids for two years before their first varsity game,” said Vista PEAK football coach Pat Rock, who has been around since Day One.
“It has been a longer wait than I anticipated,” he added. “You know it’s going to be long, but you don’t know how long.”
Vista PEAK — which won’t have its first senior class until next year and has just over 600 students in a building that’s just over a year old — is Aurora’s first new addition to the varsity prep sports scene since Cherokee Trail in 2004-05.
The Bison belong to the newly formed Colorado 7 conference, a geographically diverse group that also includes Elizabeth, Englewood, Fort Lupton, Fort Morgan, Skyview and Weld Central. All Vista PEAK sports will compete in Class 4A with the exception of football, which starts in 3A.
Leadership change coming in 2013 for both Aurora school dsitricts
By ADAM GOLDSTEIN
Staff Writer
This year proved to be a time of change for both of Aurora’s school districts, as Aurora Public Schools Superintendent John Barry and Cherry Creek Schools Superintendent Mary Chesley both said they’d leave their posts at the end of the school year.
Barry, who started as APS superintendent in July 2006, said in November he will leave before his contract expires so that the current board can choose his successor. Because of term expirations and limits, the board could change by as many as four members after its election in 2013. Barry, whose contract ends in 2014, said he wanted the current iteration of the board to pick the next APS superintendent.
Weeks after Barry’s announcement, Chesley said that she will leave her post at the end of the 2012-13 school year. Chesley, who replaced Monte Moses as superintendent in 2009, announced her decision to retire during the Cherry Creek Board of Education meeting Dec. 10. Chesley said she had agreed on a four-year tenure when she first accepted the job.
Both Barry and Chesley said they will continue to live in Aurora and stay visible at district events.
“My family and I will continue to live in Aurora (after 26 moves in 30 years in the USAF, my goal is to never pack another box again) and my wife Ellen and I will continue to attend APS events, games and performances,” Barry wrote. “We will continue to support the APS family and the tremendous work of increasing student achievement and closing the achievement gaps.”
Aurora Mayor Steve Hogan said Barry has been instrumental in changing the public perception of the district.
“He will be missed. He was the right guy in the right position at the right time. He’s made a tremendous impact along with the board itself in terms of changing the face of Aurora Public Schools,” Hogan said. “I think he has helped tremendously to change the impression of the district, from one of ‘you just don’t want to go to school there,’ to one of ‘this is a successful, innovative, improving, on-the-way-up school district and it’s a great place to be.’ That’s about as good as it gets.”
A graduate of the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Barry came to Aurora Public Schools in 2006 as a retired two-star general and a former wing commander. As a pilot, he logged more than 3,000 flight hours in F-4s and F-16s and flew more than 270 hours of combat time over Iraq. Before retiring from the Air Force in 2004, he’d served as the military assistant to Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney and led the investigation into the 2003 space shuttle Columbia disaster.
Chesley, who logged decades in the district as a teacher and an administrator before becoming superintendent, said her timeframe for retirement was in place from the beginning of her tenure.
“This timeline is what the board and I agreed to in January 2009,” Chesley said at the board meeting. “At that time, I was committed to moving, to the best of my ability, the district’s mission forward while also making decisions and recommendations to fund our mission.”
Chesley acknowledged the contributions of staff, administrators and students during her time as superintendent, four years that have seen steady growth in state assessment scores and consistently high ratings from the Colorado Department of Education.
Board President Jennifer Churchfield said the board would begin interviewing Assistant Superintendent Harry Bull as a possible replacement to start at the beginning of the 2013-14 school year. Bull, who is the acting assistant superintendent of human resources, has also worked as a teacher, principal and a high school executive director in the district.
“I have personally observed Dr. Bull’s performance in various roles for the past seven years since my election to the board in 2005. Dr. Bull consistently puts the student first and I look forward to interviewing him for the position of superintendent,” Churchfield said.
The board has not finalized a timeframe for choosing Chesley’s replacement.
Alton Scales tabbed as new CCA Prez
By ADAM GOLDSTEIN
Staff Writer
Officials from the Colorado Community College System announced in June that Alton Scales has been named as the new president of the Community College of Aurora.
Scales, the former chief executive officer for Colorado Mountain College’s Breckenridge and Dillon campus, was one of five original finalists for the position revealed in March. Scales started his formal duties as CCA president on July 23, the same day that Interim President Geri Anderson returned to her full-time position as vice president for student and academic affairs and provost for the Colorado Community College System.
Scales, along with four other candidates from community colleges across the country, toured CCA’s CentreTech and Lowry campuses in April. In May, officials from the Colorado Community College System announced that Scales and Christine Chairsell were the two final candidates.
McCallin had the final say on the decision after the field had been narrowed to two candidates in May. Following the departure of Linda Bowman as president in February, McCallin said she was looking for a president who could follow the same example of innovation and progress. Bowman, who served as CCA president for 12 years, became the face of the school, working with city officials and administrators from Aurora’s public school districts. Under Bowman, CCA ramped up the technical training programs available at its Lowry campus, the number of concurrent enrollment college classes for high school students grew and the scope of its curriculum expanded.
McCallin said she wanted someone who would take similar steps as the college’s new president.
“I think it helped the process. It attracted a very good pool of candidates from which to choose. Dr. Bowman is leaving the college in excellent shape,” McCallin said. “It’s always going to be difficult to follow in those footsteps, because she’s done some very innovative things. I think that Alton has some real innovative spirit in him as well.”
In feedback with the college during his application process, Scales stressed his role as an educator, stressing his commitment to “academic freedom and a full exchange of ideas.”
“I’m an educator. I enjoy it. If you hang with me for 30 minutes or within 20 feet, I’m going to impart something whether you know it or not. I’m going to give you some new information, some different information. That’s just how I’m wired. I like solving problems,” Scales wrote, adding that he’s liable to draw from his graduate studies in manufacturing at the University of North Texas. “Manufacturing has set the standards for all quality assurance programs, and I look at things in terms of systems and how we can take some of the slack out of systems,” he wrote. “It’s important to keep some slack in but (also) to design organizations in ways that are more efficient in doing what we do, in ways that are responsible, agile and maintain the human component.”