Englewood Herald > News
So long, 2008
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| The Democratic National Convention drew thousands to Denver and the surrounding areas in August. File photo |
New schools superintendent leads our top 10 stories of the year
By Tom Munds
Englewood Schools selected Sean McDaniel as its superintendent, and his leadership has guided the district through changes with proposals on the table.
McDaniel told those at a meeting introducing the four finalists for the post that he is a fourth-generation educator and became a teacher because he loves kids.
Before coming to Englewood, McDaniel was school superintendent for the Coweta, Okla., schools and he was selected in March from four finalists to be superintendent and replace Jim McCabe, who was retiring.
School board president Heather Hunt said the board unanimously selected McDaniel because they felt he had the qualities they were looking for as an excellent communicator, a team builder and a strong leader.
McDaniel was to start work in August but, to help the district, he reported to work in Englewood at the end of April so he could be part of the key spring decisions on important issues like the budget and staffing.
He came to a district facing challenges that included a tight budget, declining enrollment and a need to improve student achievement and went to work closely with the school board and staff to deal with the issues.
Actions taken since McDaniel became superintendent include the district offering free full-day kindergarten to all students for the first time, creating of a committee and taking steps to go green such as a recycling program in all schools, no longer using polystyrene trays daily in the lunch rooms and changing to more environmental friendly chemicals in the print shop and photo lab.
Just before the Christmas break, McDaniel presented a proposal to reinvent the district, including having all elementary school students in four buildings, housing the early childhood education program in the fifth building, Maddox, and closing down or leasing the Lowell Building.
2- Golf course reopens
Most of the Englewood Golf Course facilities closed September 2005 and, July 11 ceremonies marked the reopening with a new name, Broken Tee at Englewood Golf Course. The facility underwent a major makeover.
Englewood leased 55 acres of land to the developer for the River Point at Sheridan project. Part of the agreement was relocation and rebuilding the par-3 course and the driving range, redesigning six holes on the east side of the river and building three new holes west of the river.
The course opened to rave reviews as a more challenging course that was more fun to play.
3- Englewood Days canceled
The Greater Englewood Chamber of Commerce announced Sept. 23 that plans didn’t work out and Englewood Days would be canceled for 2008.
A grass-roots effort put on the event for three years. In 2008, the chamber came out of hibernation and added Englewood Days to its list of planned activities.
However, plans didn’t work out so the event was canceled. Even before the end of the year, residents again were working to plan and put on the daylong event that included crafts, entertainment, food and a car show.
4- Chamber revived
New leadership and new enthusiasm sparked the effort to bring the Greater Englewood Chamber of Commerce out of hibernation.
A series of events, including departure of the staff, led to the chamber going dark in October 2007.
The chamber board of directors reorganized, hired Michael Morton as the new director and began offering events and activities to re-establish the organization as an active part of the city’s business community.
5- Arts Center land deal
Members of the Englewood Cultural Arts Center Association signed a two-year-option to buy the block-long parking lot in the 3400 block of South Acoma Street.
The land is owned by the Englewood Urban Renewal Authority and was part of the 1984 urban renewal project. Most of the land is being used for parking by the businesses in the 3400 block of South Broadway.
Plans are to build a two-story building for the center that will include a theater, studios rehearsal rooms and a restaurant. To met that goal, the association needed to raise about $15 million.
6- No takers for Flood
Englewood School District made the decision to educate all middle school students in one building starting in September 2007. Sinclair became Englewood Middle School and the district sought proposals for development of the Flood Middle School property.
Flood Middle School occupies the entire east side of the 3900 block of South Broadway. The building’s main entrance is on Lincoln Street and the property includes vacant land on the east side of Lincoln.
No offers were received by the first deadline, March 31. The district hired Bob Simpson as a consultant to help market and sell the property.
Some interest surfaced later in the year and in early December, negotiations were said to be in progress with two parties.
7- State medalist
Englewood High School junior Justin Williams battled his way to runner-up honors at the State Class 4A High School Wrestling Tournament.
Williams, the Pirates 215-pounder, won the regional title then advanced to the finals only to lose a tough 5-4 decision in the battle for the state title.
Williams’ second-place finish was the best performance by a Pirates wrestler in more than a decade.
8- Arapahoe goes blue
The Democratic National Convention came to Denver in late August, and soon after, a political milestone was reached in Arapahoe County.
“Quite frankly, it was time for change,” said Mike Hamrick, chairman of the Arapahoe County Democratic Party.
Before former U.S. Sen. Barack Obama’s Nov. 4 victory, Arapahoe County had not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since Lyndon Johnson.
In more recent years, Arapahoe County had increasingly been part and parcel to the bluing of Colorado. Obama’s registration push this fall in Colorado marked the first time that Arapahoe County has boasted more registered Democrats than Republicans.
Overall, Arapahoe has, during the last several years, become a “swing county,” boasting an almost three-way split between the two major parties and unaffiliated voters with Democrats keeping about a 6,000-voter edge over Republicans, who once dominated the county.
9- Record voter turnout
Registration pushes by political parties coupled with interest in the presidential race produced a record Arapahoe County voter turnout for the November general election.
Nearly 269,000 of the 287,000 registered voters cast ballots in November, eclipsing the 2004 total of about 235,000 votes cast.
10- Humane Society management removed
Arapahoe County Court removed Colorado Humane Society’s top management, took possession of all society assets, and appointed a custodian to oversee the property and care of the animals at the shelter on South Platte River Drive.
Rich Block of the Waverton Group, a Denver company that specializes in taking over failing businesses and charities, said no one wanted to close down the charity and his job was to fix it. He put out an appeal for donations so the society and animal shelter can continue to do business as usual.
McDaniel told those at a meeting introducing the four finalists for the post that he is a fourth-generation educator and became a teacher because he loves kids.
Before coming to Englewood, McDaniel was school superintendent for the Coweta, Okla., schools and he was selected in March from four finalists to be superintendent and replace Jim McCabe, who was retiring.
School board president Heather Hunt said the board unanimously selected McDaniel because they felt he had the qualities they were looking for as an excellent communicator, a team builder and a strong leader.
McDaniel was to start work in August but, to help the district, he reported to work in Englewood at the end of April so he could be part of the key spring decisions on important issues like the budget and staffing.
He came to a district facing challenges that included a tight budget, declining enrollment and a need to improve student achievement and went to work closely with the school board and staff to deal with the issues.
Actions taken since McDaniel became superintendent include the district offering free full-day kindergarten to all students for the first time, creating of a committee and taking steps to go green such as a recycling program in all schools, no longer using polystyrene trays daily in the lunch rooms and changing to more environmental friendly chemicals in the print shop and photo lab.
Just before the Christmas break, McDaniel presented a proposal to reinvent the district, including having all elementary school students in four buildings, housing the early childhood education program in the fifth building, Maddox, and closing down or leasing the Lowell Building.
2- Golf course reopens
Most of the Englewood Golf Course facilities closed September 2005 and, July 11 ceremonies marked the reopening with a new name, Broken Tee at Englewood Golf Course. The facility underwent a major makeover.
Englewood leased 55 acres of land to the developer for the River Point at Sheridan project. Part of the agreement was relocation and rebuilding the par-3 course and the driving range, redesigning six holes on the east side of the river and building three new holes west of the river.
The course opened to rave reviews as a more challenging course that was more fun to play.
3- Englewood Days canceled
The Greater Englewood Chamber of Commerce announced Sept. 23 that plans didn’t work out and Englewood Days would be canceled for 2008.
A grass-roots effort put on the event for three years. In 2008, the chamber came out of hibernation and added Englewood Days to its list of planned activities.
However, plans didn’t work out so the event was canceled. Even before the end of the year, residents again were working to plan and put on the daylong event that included crafts, entertainment, food and a car show.
4- Chamber revived
New leadership and new enthusiasm sparked the effort to bring the Greater Englewood Chamber of Commerce out of hibernation.
A series of events, including departure of the staff, led to the chamber going dark in October 2007.
The chamber board of directors reorganized, hired Michael Morton as the new director and began offering events and activities to re-establish the organization as an active part of the city’s business community.
5- Arts Center land deal
Members of the Englewood Cultural Arts Center Association signed a two-year-option to buy the block-long parking lot in the 3400 block of South Acoma Street.
The land is owned by the Englewood Urban Renewal Authority and was part of the 1984 urban renewal project. Most of the land is being used for parking by the businesses in the 3400 block of South Broadway.
Plans are to build a two-story building for the center that will include a theater, studios rehearsal rooms and a restaurant. To met that goal, the association needed to raise about $15 million.
6- No takers for Flood
Englewood School District made the decision to educate all middle school students in one building starting in September 2007. Sinclair became Englewood Middle School and the district sought proposals for development of the Flood Middle School property.
Flood Middle School occupies the entire east side of the 3900 block of South Broadway. The building’s main entrance is on Lincoln Street and the property includes vacant land on the east side of Lincoln.
No offers were received by the first deadline, March 31. The district hired Bob Simpson as a consultant to help market and sell the property.
Some interest surfaced later in the year and in early December, negotiations were said to be in progress with two parties.
7- State medalist
Englewood High School junior Justin Williams battled his way to runner-up honors at the State Class 4A High School Wrestling Tournament.
Williams, the Pirates 215-pounder, won the regional title then advanced to the finals only to lose a tough 5-4 decision in the battle for the state title.
Williams’ second-place finish was the best performance by a Pirates wrestler in more than a decade.
8- Arapahoe goes blue
The Democratic National Convention came to Denver in late August, and soon after, a political milestone was reached in Arapahoe County.
“Quite frankly, it was time for change,” said Mike Hamrick, chairman of the Arapahoe County Democratic Party.
Before former U.S. Sen. Barack Obama’s Nov. 4 victory, Arapahoe County had not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since Lyndon Johnson.
In more recent years, Arapahoe County had increasingly been part and parcel to the bluing of Colorado. Obama’s registration push this fall in Colorado marked the first time that Arapahoe County has boasted more registered Democrats than Republicans.
Overall, Arapahoe has, during the last several years, become a “swing county,” boasting an almost three-way split between the two major parties and unaffiliated voters with Democrats keeping about a 6,000-voter edge over Republicans, who once dominated the county.
9- Record voter turnout
Registration pushes by political parties coupled with interest in the presidential race produced a record Arapahoe County voter turnout for the November general election.
Nearly 269,000 of the 287,000 registered voters cast ballots in November, eclipsing the 2004 total of about 235,000 votes cast.
10- Humane Society management removed
Arapahoe County Court removed Colorado Humane Society’s top management, took possession of all society assets, and appointed a custodian to oversee the property and care of the animals at the shelter on South Platte River Drive.
Rich Block of the Waverton Group, a Denver company that specializes in taking over failing businesses and charities, said no one wanted to close down the charity and his job was to fix it. He put out an appeal for donations so the society and animal shelter can continue to do business as usual.
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