Archive for the ‘Thornton News & Politics’ Category

The $4.7 billion commuter rail project that Denver area voters approved in 2004 continues to see unprecedented cost increases.  The severely mismanaged project now is forecast to cost taxpayers $7.8 billion, $968.3 million more than the previous estimate. The Annual Program Evaluation (APE) presented to the RTD Board of Directors this week continues to highlight [...]

The first conviction in one of many scandals to rock Adams County in recent years has yielded stunning results.  Dennis Coen, former vice president of Quality Paving, has been found guilty of 62 felonies. Coen was complicit in a scheme carried out by his employees and Adams County staff that bilked taxpayers out of millions [...]

Adams County Commissioner Skip Fischer announced this week that he will not seek reelection for a third term.   One of two commissioners now on the board with ties to the county’s scandalous history, Fischer saw the writing on the wall and will slip into history rather than go down in defeat in November. As a [...]

With apparently nothing better to do Thornton City Council once again appears set to continue the ‘Boulderization’ of the city.  Its latest efforts revolve around bringing agriculture into a wholly suburban environment and catering to a few residents while impacting everyone. ‘Urban farming’ is a trendy way for yuppie city dwellers to get back to [...]

The City of Thornton has offered to help Adams 12 Five Star Schools with its budget mess by taking over some of the expenses associated with middle school sports.  The city’s generosity however gives rise to bigger questions as to whether or not it is the city’s responsibility to provide the district a bailout. Middle [...]

Much like the ‘Big Dig’ in Boston, the FasTracks rail project in Denver has become synonymous with the word boondoggle.  Despite RTD’s promises that they had corrected their numerous failures, we have learned that they have once again severely underestimated costs. The Denver Business Journal reported on Wednesday that the cost of the Northwest rail [...]

Whispers about the possibility of Thornton forming its own county are now a very loud chorus with city council now openly asking if it is time to break ties with Adams County.  Scandals, questionable dealings, the lack of openness and a poor rate of return for the city and its citizens have all taken what [...]

As expected, the Colorado Supreme Court upheld the Democrat backed maps for the decadal redistricting and in doing so the political landscape for the north Denver metro area has changed dramatically. The new maps will have repercussions for the next 10 years and gives Adams County residents a real opportunity at electing representatives that more [...]

Twenty five days.  That is how long the Adams County Sheriff’s Office is accused of jailing a deaf man without providing any means to communicate with him.  Continuing a troubling trend of problems with county government, the story has now gone national with Drudge Report and the Associated Press highlighting the story. The sheriff is [...]

In a letter to the editor of the Northglenn-Thornton Sentinel a resident took to lamenting partisan politics at Thornton City Hall.  Considering the source is as partisan as they come, the dispatch is almost comical. Linda Wisniewski rips into freshly seated Thornton Mayor Heidi Williams, apparently concerned about Williams’ party affiliation, campaign contributors and associations.  [...]