New Briefs
Help Make Your Neighborhood Safer
Do you want to make you and your neighbors safer?
Consider organizing a Neighborhood Watch for your block. This is a great way to get to know your neighbors and help reduce crime where you live. For more information, please contact the Greater Park Hill Community, Inc. office at 303-388-0918. We will put you in contact with someone who can help you get started.
Street Sweeping Season Kicks Off April 1
Denver Public Works is reminding residents that street sweeping begins April 1.
Residents can avoid getting ticketed and stuck with hefty fines by signing up for email and text reminders. Pocketgov.com is a mobile web application that provides user-friendly access to city services via mobile device or a home computer. After creating a simple user profile, residents can receive both email and text notifications.
Pocketgov also connects citizens with access to other Denver Public Works services like recycling, large item pickup and trash pick-up schedules. Residents can also report potholes and graffiti by snapping a picture, tagging its location, then submitting the photo.
Don’t Be Tax Scammed
The State of Colorado has implemented a process for state tax refunds this year due to an increase in online refund fraud.
Most taxpayers will receive their refund via check, even if they requested a direct deposit. Attached to the check will be a letter, informing the taxpayer the reason for the check being issued. The letter will instruct the taxpayer to verify the refund amount is correct.
If the taxpayer received a check and has not yet filed their taxes, or the amount is not what they were expecting, please contact the Colorado State Department of Revenue fraud hotline at 303-205-8338. This phone number will be listed on the letter.
A verification will be completed, and the taxpayer will then receive a fraud verification letter.
Get Reunited With Your Money
The Great Colorado Payback is responsible for reuniting Coloradans with their lost or forgotten assets.
For example, if you have lost track of a bank account, stock certificate, or a retirement account; misplaced a rebate check, reimbursement or paycheck from a business; or moved prior to receiving your Colorado state tax rebate, the bank, business or state agency is required by law to file a report and forward those assets to the unclaimed property office of the Colorado State Treasurer.
Even businesses lose track of property and payments, occasionally resulting in unclaimed property. Corporations, schools, hospitals, and small businesses are also listed among the many individuals whose assets are in the possession of the State.
The Colorado State Treasurer currently maintains a list of more than 1.7 million names of individuals as well as businesses for whom property is available. People can check names at missingmoney.com to see whether they have money or property to claim.
To see if you or someone you know may have money or property being held by Colorado visit missingmoney.com or the state site at colorado.gov/apps/treasury/ucp/claims/index.jsp. Other sites to check include the Savings Bond Treasury Hunt at treasurydirect.gov/indiv/tools/sbtdhunt.htm, and Housing and Urban Development at hud.gov/offices/hsg/comp/refunds/index.cfm.
Smith Road and FasTracks Update
In March, Smith Road between Moline and Peoria streets was closed permanently due to continued construction on the Peoria Station that will serve the RTD FasTracks East Rail Line and the I-225 Rail Line.
With Smith Road closed, the new through route will utilize Moline Street and 33rd Avenue. These roadways have been improved as a result of this project, with the following features:
• Newly paved roadways
• Addition of sidewalks within the area
• Drainage improvements
• Installation of curb and gutters
This closure was approved as part of the project in 2009, when the Federal Transit Administra tion issued its approval of the East Rail Line.
Metro Caring Opens New Hunger Relief Center
Metro Caring opened a new facility in March at 1100 E. 18th Avenue. The new Hunger Relief Center building is 16,000 square feet – three times larger than the previous facility at the same location. It will enable Metro Caring to distribute nutritious food and offer programs to a much larger number of people.
“The goal of Metro Caring is to make sure that food justice prevails, food waste is mitigated, and all families in our community are well fed,” said Lynne Butler, President of the Hunger Relief Center. “ But a growing number of families are ‘food insecure’ in the Denver area and don’t always have access to enough food or nutritious food. Many of these people are under-employed or unable to keep up with the rising costs of living.”
The new facility will have capacity to serve up to 125 families a day and 625 families per week — about 7,500 people each month.
The Hunger Relief Center also features a Rooftop Learning Garden where students from area schools will come and explore container gardening through experiential learning. The facility also offers a community health services center offering immunizations, flu shots and mental-health counseling.
Effort Launched To Improve Sexual Assault Awareness
Mayor Michael B. Hancock and Denver public safety and criminal justice officials have launched a public awareness campaign to focus on improving public response to sexual assault.
A friend or family member is typically the first person a victim confides in after an assault and each person’s reaction is the first step in a long path toward justice and healing. Knowing how to respond is critical – a negative response can worsen the trauma and foster an environment where sexual assault predators face zero consequences for their crimes.
Research documents that sexual predators attack an average of six times, which means one failed response can result in five more victims. The campaign, Start by Believing, is designed to stop this cycle by informing the public and fostering a positive community and public service response. Organizers have launched a webpage, startbybelieving.org with resources, videos and survivor stories, and answers to frequently asked questions.
The Start by Believing campaign is a national endeavor developed by End Violence Against Women International (EVAWI).
If you or anybody you know has been sexually assaulted, help and resources are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week by calling the Blue Bench at 303-322-7273 or by visiting the Denver Health Medical Center Emergency Department at 777 Bannock Street. For more information, visit www.denvergov.org/startbybelieving.
Volunteers Needed for Repairs in City Park
The City Park Alliance recently completed its 2015 assessment of the Mile High Loop. The 2015 assessment (available at cityparkalliance.org) includes information on trail conditions and provides recommendations for repair and improvement. This report was submitted to Denver Parks and Recreation as part of a public-private partnership to maintain the Mile High Loop trail in City Park.
On April 22 from 9 a.m. to noon, Denver Parks and Recreation, in partnership with the City Park Alliance and Starbucks, will be restoring the Mile High Loop trail. Volunteers are needed to help spread crusher fine on the Mile High Loop Trail, stain and paint the wooden playground, remove debris, and spread fibar in the playground along with other projects needing maintenance.
Registration is needed for this event. Please E-mail tina.myers@denvergov.org or call 303.698.4904 to participate.
Bad Actors: A Pollution Control Reminder
Stormwater runoff from construction activities can have a significant impact on water quality. As stormwater flows over a construction site in Park Hill, it can pick up pollutants like sediment, debris, and chemicals and discharge it directly to Ferril Lake in City Park and the South Platte River without treatment via the storm sewer system. These pollutants can destroy aquatic habitat and worsen the existing algal blooms in Ferril Lake. It’s important to consider pollution controls in construction projects such as covering stockpiles, reducing the amount of fertilizers used in new plantings, and creating stabilized gravel entrance and exit points for heavy construction equipment. For bad actors like this, it’s best to report them directly to the Denver Wastewater Management using 311.
This construction site pictured below, near the corner of 19th and Bellaire Street, lacks erosion and sediment controls that are standard industry practice. The site also lacks s stabilized entrance areas for heavy equipment and has little or no containment for materials stored on site. Photos and story by Greg Davis