A state effort to ease Colorado’s dire shortage of health care workers will offer tuition-free training for several thousand students, providing a much-needed boost to hospitals and clinics. The Care Forward Colorado Program will invest $26 million of federal COVID stimulus funding into the program for two years, guaranteeing free schooling for students interested in […]
Littleton
Posted inEducation, News
How a Colorado Springs school co-op saves hundreds of thousands of dollars in health insurance costs
Pat Bershinsky has gifted his nearly 220 staff members $1,000 every Christmas for four years and once again gave bonuses this summer. The leader of one of Colorado’s school cooperatives has the extra cash because of a decision he made four years ago on employee health care. Bershinsky, executive director of the Pikes Peak Board […]
Posted inEducation, News
Bus assistants, language interpreters and other support staff — in short supply at Colorado schools — are seeking unions and better pay
Carolina Galvan nears the outer edge of her dream each time she steps into her classroom at Valdez Elementary School in Denver. She wants to be a teacher with her own classroom of students, but since she was unable to finish the schooling required to earn a teacher’s license, her role as a paraprofessional sets […]
Posted inHealth, News
This Littleton detox center feels like a relaxing hotel. Is this the way out of the fentanyl crisis?
LITTLETON — Each private room has a queen bed covered in a plush, gray comforter, plus a flat-screen TV and a remote control to browse Netflix and Hulu. For lunch and dinner, restaurant menus circulate and meals arrive via Uber Eats. Guests can log into their jobs from their rooms, or read a book beside a […]
Posted inHealth, News
Colorado health systems are making progress — finally — on combining mental and medical care
Laura Andrus, who has battled cancer and lung problems for years, told her doctor it felt like she was slipping into a depression worse than she had ever felt before. As inconclusive medical tests piled up, offering no information about why Andrus wasn’t feeling well and whether the cancer was back or if she had […]
Posted inSun Investigation
Sexual abuse, misconduct allegations kept quiet for decades at world-renowned Colorado Center for the Blind
More than a dozen previously unreported instances of sexual misconduct and abuse spanning at least two decades at the Colorado Center for the Blind in Littleton have surfaced during an internal investigation of the school’s parent organization. Among the offenses were the alleged sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl by a summer youth camp counselor […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Employees with disabilities can get the job done
America needs workers. The latest reports from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics show more job openings than people to fill them. Yet, as desperate as they are for employees, employers continue to put barriers in front of job applicants with disabilities. They would do well to remember that individuals in the disabled community can […]
Posted inGrowth, Housing, News
Denver suburbs look to address homelessness as more camps move south and community tension builds
LITTLETON — Cyclists and joggers along the South Platte River Trail call police on a regular basis these days to report homeless campers. Residents also notify authorities when someone is sleeping on a sidewalk outside a storefront. And then, while officers are responding to those reports of unauthorized camping or trespassing, other Littleton residents call […]
Posted inColoradans, News
Future funding uncertain for Littleton Immigrant Resources Center that has aided hundreds
The future of Littleton’s only affordable resource center for immigrants seeking citizenship has been uncertain for years. But following a recent City Council budget meeting, members appear poised to pull funding from the center by fall of 2022. On Sept. 11, the city council voted 5-2 to move ahead with cutting the Littleton Immigrant Resources […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News, Politics and Government
Littleton passed an ordinance requiring that gun stores take steps to prevent burglaries. Half of the city’s shops are struggling to comply.
Two of Littleton’s four firearm retailers will miss the deadline to comply with a first-in-the-state safe-storage law intended to prevent store burglaries, citing contractor delays and supply shortages. Littleton police, however, say they feel confident the retailers are on the path to compliance. Littleton City Council passed an ordinance in February requiring gun dealers to […]