thedenverpost--2020-08-22--Kiszla: Fire Michael Malone? No. But broken trust between coach and Nuggets must be repaired.

LAKE BUENA VISTA , Fla. — Under the NBA bubble ’ s clear glass , the Nuggets ’ flaws have been exposed .
While shabby defense and untimely injuries might cost Denver this playoff series against Utah , a bigger and potentially fatal flaw could eventually cost coach Michael Malone his job .
The trust between Malone and his players is broken .
The eyes don ’ t lie , and Malone ’ s exasperation as he stood with arms folded on the sideline as Denver got blown out by 37 points in Game 3 was unmistakably recognizable to any @ @ @ @ @ @ @ kids to do their homework despite threatening to take the Xbox away .
“ I think we give in too easy , ” said Malone , questioning the resolve of players facing a win-or-start-packing scenario in Game 4 .
There is much to like about this young team and the good isn ’ t lost on Malone .
Nikola Jokic can treat the court like an artist ’ s canvas .
Jamal Murray ’ s fire is stoked with a healthy rage .
Jerami Grant bounces energetically from baseline to baseline , while @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pulling the trigger on his jumper .
But what ’ s struck me about the NBA bubble is it ’ s a petri dish that allows both the big synergies and little malignancies in a team to grow .
The problem with these Nuggets , which must be addressed in the months ahead , before there ’ s one more word of loose talk of about championship contention , is so apparent Malone can not hide it : “ Our group has to be a lot more mentally tough.
” These Nuggets are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Denver must find a player with the stubborn orneriness Montrezl Harrell brings to the Los Angeles Clippers and also find a guard whose shooting touch and health are more reliable than what Gary Harris can offer .
These Nuggets are as soft as a balloon , beautiful when all puffed up and floating along to victory .
But they can be deflated , with confidence burst , either by a hard stomp from Utah center Rudy Gobert or a little prick from teammate Joe Ingles .
While the front-office brain trust of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mightily to create a family atmosphere at Pepsi Center , the bonds in the locker room have proven flimsy under duress .
This team ’ s shaky commitment to winning and each other has been hidden in plain sight for a month , when the Nuggets failed the COVID challenge and half their roster showed up late to Orlando .
If there ’ s a glue guy in the locker room , it ’ s Will Barton .
Now that he ’ s left the bubble to rehab a chronic knee injury , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than Jokic or Murray when the going gets tough .
The coach clearly doesn ’ t trust Porter ’ s effort on defense and can see the legs of Paul Millsap are shot when Ingles blows by the veteran forward on the dribble .
In the absence of Harris , the efforts of Torrey Craig have come up woefully short .
After being blown out by the Jazz in for the second straight game , Jokic said : “ We had a lot of running around with no reason .
We didn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ And isn ’ t that the definition of a poorly coached team , whose players have stopped listening ?
Although Malone ’ s calling card is defense , in nearly every defensive stat the matters , the Nuggets rank at or near the bottom among 16 playoff teams .
“ I ’ m not coaching well enough , ” said Malone , taking full responsibility .
While social media screams for a scapegoat , you won ’ t hear me demand for Malone to be fired , even if the Nuggets get run @ @ @ @ @ @ @ five games , because one lousy series would not supersede five seasons of good work the coach has done in Denver .
In years past , however , I ’ ve watched Nuggets coaches with as different personalities as Mike D ’ Antoni and George Karl lose trust in key players from Nick Van Exel to Carmelo Anthony .
And that seldom ends well .
In pro sports , where money encourages one man ’ s business to get in way of the whole group ’ s benefit , a basketball team that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gone , gone .
The disconnect between this coach and this Denver team is not irreparable .
The series against Utah remains salvageable .
But if trust is a two-way street , Malone and the Nuggets have begun to veer off in different directions .
That absolutely must change , or more than the 2020 playoffs won ’ t end well .

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Under the NBA bubble’s clear glass, the Nuggets’ flaws have been exposed. While shabby defense and untimely injuries might cost Denver this playoff series against Utah, a bigger and potentially fatal flaw could eventually cost coach Michael Malone his job.
The trust between Malone and his players is broken.
The eyes don’t lie, and Malone’s exasperation as he stood with arms folded on the sideline as Denver got blown out by 37 points in Game 3 was unmistakably recognizable to any parent that can’t get the kids to do their homework despite threatening to take the Xbox away.
“I think we give in too easy,” said Malone, questioning the resolve of players facing a win-or-start-packing scenario in Game 4.
There is much to like about this young team and the good isn’t lost on Malone. Nikola Jokic can treat the court like an artist’s canvas. Jamal Murray’s fire is stoked with a healthy rage. Jerami Grant bounces energetically from baseline to baseline, while Michael Porter Jr. has no fear of pulling the trigger on his jumper.
But what’s struck me about the NBA bubble is it’s a petri dish that allows both the big synergies and little malignancies in a team to grow.
The problem with these Nuggets, which must be addressed in the months ahead, before there’s one more word of loose talk of about championship contention, is so apparent Malone cannot hide it: “Our group has to be a lot more mentally tough.”
These Nuggets are soft. The roster needs tough love. Denver must find a player with the stubborn orneriness Montrezl Harrell brings to the Los Angeles Clippers and also find a guard whose shooting touch and health are more reliable than what Gary Harris can offer.
These Nuggets are as soft as a balloon, beautiful when all puffed up and floating along to victory. But they can be deflated, with confidence burst, either by a hard stomp from Utah center Rudy Gobert or a little prick from teammate Joe Ingles.
While the front-office brain trust of Tim Connelly and Josh Kroenke has tried mightily to create a family atmosphere at Pepsi Center, the bonds in the locker room have proven flimsy under duress. This team’s shaky commitment to winning and each other has been hidden in plain sight for a month, when the Nuggets failed the COVID challenge and half their roster showed up late to Orlando.
If there’s a glue guy in the locker room, it’s Will Barton. Now that he’s left the bubble to rehab a chronic knee injury, Malone seems uncertain whom to trust other than Jokic or Murray when the going gets tough.
The coach clearly doesn’t trust Porter’s effort on defense and can see the legs of Paul Millsap are shot when Ingles blows by the veteran forward on the dribble. In the absence of Harris, the efforts of Torrey Craig have come up woefully short.
After being blown out by the Jazz in for the second straight game, Jokic said: “We had a lot of running around with no reason. We didn’t know what we were doing.”
And isn’t that the definition of a poorly coached team, whose players have stopped listening?
Although Malone’s calling card is defense, in nearly every defensive stat the matters, the Nuggets rank at or near the bottom among 16 playoff teams.
“I’m not coaching well enough,” said Malone, taking full responsibility.
While social media screams for a scapegoat, you won’t hear me demand for Malone to be fired, even if the Nuggets get run out of the playoffs by Utah in five games, because one lousy series would not supersede five seasons of good work the coach has done in Denver.
In years past, however, I’ve watched Nuggets coaches with as different personalities as Mike D’Antoni and George Karl lose trust in key players from Nick Van Exel to Carmelo Anthony. And that seldom ends well.
In pro sports, where money encourages one man’s business to get in way of the whole group’s benefit, a basketball team that loses that loving feeling is gone, gone, gone.
The disconnect between this coach and this Denver team is not irreparable. The series against Utah remains salvageable.
But if trust is a two-way street, Malone and the Nuggets have begun to veer off in different directions. That absolutely must change, or more than the 2020 playoffs won’t end well.


thedenverpost--2020-08-22--Nuggets guard Gary Harris upgraded to doubtful for Sunday’s Game 4

Nuggets shooting guard Gary Harris was upgraded to doubtful for Sunday ’ s Game 4 after weeks spent nursing a @ @ @ @ @ has yet to play in a game in Orlando , and his potential return could @ @ @ @ @ perimeter defense .
If he was able to play , it would be Harris ’ @ @ @ @ @ five months .
The Nuggets desperately need help on defense , where the Jazz have @ @ @ @ @ back-to-back blowout wins .
The Jazz lead 2-1 after Friday ’ s Game 3 rout @

Nuggets shooting guard Gary Harris was upgraded to doubtful for Sunday’s Game 4 after weeks spent nursing a right hip strain.
Harris has yet to play in a game in Orlando, and his potential return could immediately improve Denver’s perimeter defense. If he was able to play, it would be Harris’ first game in more than five months.
Nuggets coach Michael Malone recently expressed optimism about Harris’ eventual return.
The Nuggets desperately need help on defense, where the Jazz have combined for 38 3-pointers in back-to-back blowout wins. The Jazz lead 2-1 after Friday’s Game 3 rout.


thedenverpost--2020-08-22--Elijah McClain case leads to scrutiny of ketamine’s use during arrests

DENVER — Police stopped Elijah McClain on the street in suburban Denver last year after deeming the young Black man suspicious .
He was thrown into a chokehold , threatened with a dog and stun gun , then subjected to another law enforcement tool before he died : a drug called ketamine .
Paramedics inject it into people like McClain as a sedative , often at the behest of police who believe suspects are out of control .
Officially , ketamine is used in emergencies when there ’ s a safety concern for medical staff or the patient .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and has become another flashpoint in the debate over law enforcement policies and brutality against people of color .
An analysis by The Associated Press of policies on ketamine and cases where the drug was used during police encounters uncovered a lack of police training , conflicting medical standards and nonexistent protocols that have resulted in hospitalizations and even deaths .
On Monday , it will have been a year since McClain , 23 , was stopped by officers responding to a 911 call about a suspicious person wearing a ski mask and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in a chokehold twice and multiple officers pressed their body weight into him .
Paramedics were called and injected McClain with ketamine , but they incorrectly estimated his weight , giving him more than 1.5 times the dose he should have received .
He got 500 milligrams because they thought he weighed 220 pounds , but he was only 140 pounds and should have received 315 milligrams .
He suffered cardiac arrest , was later declared brain dead and taken off life support .
“ The case where somebody ’ s got six @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and needs ketamine is really pretty exceptional .
That just doesn ’ t happen very often , ” said Dr. George Lindbeck , chairman of the National Association of State EMS Officials medical director ’ s council .
“ The vast majority of these scenarios get managed at a much lower level with much less physical restraint , no need for chemical restraint or sedation.
” After McClain ’ s death , Colorado ’ s health department opened an investigation into the growing use of ketamine , first approved for use in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ attention during nationwide protests seeking police reform .
There are no federal standards for law enforcement or emergency medical personnel on the drug ’ s use .
State policies and reporting requirements vary , so it ’ s not clear how regularly it ’ s used during police encounters and why .
Most states and agencies say ketamine may be administered when someone exhibits “ excited delirium ” or agitation , which is typically associated with chronic drug abuse , mental illness or both .
The drug sedates them , is supposed to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t intended to make someone lose consciousness .
Medical professionals say excited delirium is a “ wastebasket term ” and has no standard definition .
The commonly cited characteristics include superhuman strength , imperviousness to pain and wild , uncontrollable behavior , said Dr. Paul S. Appelbaum , director of the Division of Law , Ethics & Psychiatry at Columbia University .
“ It ’ s not at all clear that these people are delirious .
Moreover , it seems pretty clear that they ’ re not all one thing , that this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the field by police who are certainly not expert in diagnosis of neuropsychiatric syndromes , ” he said .
Police are not trained on diagnosing any medical conditions , but most know first aid and CPR .
Every police agency has different criteria for calling in paramedics , according to Jimmy Holderfield , secretary for the National Fraternal Order of Police .
“ The best rule of thumb to apply here is what a ‘ prudent and reasonable ’ person would do , ” Holderfield said by email .
“ Officers are charged @ @ @ @ @ @ @ property.
” Emergency medical personnel administer ketamine when they believe it ’ s necessary , police say .
But there ’ s growing concern over whether officers are too involved in the decision and conflicting medical opinions on using it during arrests .
The American Society of Anesthesiologists opposes it and other sedatives for law enforcement purposes , saying , “ These effects can end in death when administered in a non-health care setting without appropriately trained medical personnel and necessary equipment.
” Those in favor of ketamine cite its fast-acting and short-lived @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it doesn ’ t cause severe respiratory problems compared with other sedatives .
For police , the objective is to help deescalate a tense situation and lessen restraints they need to use , Lindbeck said .
Other options include drugs like Valium or Xanax and anti-psychotics .
But Chris Burbank , vice president of law enforcement strategy for the Center for Policing Equity and a former Salt Lake City police chief is suspicious of the explanations for using it .
“ I always go back to why are we doing the business that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said .
“ This goes to traffic stops , this goes to pedestrian stops , this goes to search and seizure .
There ’ s not a need for some of these things.
” The Food and Drug Administration approved ketamine in 1970 , and its first major widespread use was as a battlefield anesthetic during the Vietnam War .
In the 1980s , recreational use of the drug , as Special K , became popular for its hallucinogenic effects .
Over the last decade , ketamine has been studied as a treatment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a nasal spray last year .
In July , a Black man in Minneapolis was injected and ended up in the hospital after his girlfriend believed he was having a diabetic seizure .
But paramedics questioned which drugs Johnson had taken , apparently not believing her , Abby Wulfing wrote in a Facebook post that ’ s gotten widespread attention .
In May 2016 , Marine veteran Willard Truckenmiller got into a fight in a bar in Naples , Florida , and showed signs of “ alcohol-induced excited delirium.
” When emergency medical @ @ @ @ @ @ @ milligrams of ketamine , then suffered cardiac arrest and died .
Another Colorado man , Elijah McKnight , 25 , was given two doses totaling 750 milligrams of ketamine after a drunken altercation with police .
He ended up on a ventilator in August 2019 , the same month McClain was injected in Aurora .
An official autopsy found that ketamine in McClain ’ s blood was at “ tolerable levels , ” but it couldn ’ t rule out an unexpected reaction to the drug , asthma attack or irregular heartbeat .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ that Aurora Fire Rescue ’ s unchecked policy and its de facto dose of 500 milligrams violated their son ’ s constitutional rights .
The lawsuit says the force officers used pushed McClain into medical distress , which compounded the “ substantial overdose ” and led to his death .
There were 902 reported instances of Colorado paramedics administering ketamine from 2018 to 2020 , and almost 17 % had complications , including cardiac arrest and oxygen deprivation , the state health department said .
In other states , police were found to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the drug .
In Minneapolis , a report conducted by the Office of Police Conduct Review found eight of those cases between 2016 and 2018 , ranging from officers requesting paramedics use the drug to emergency medical workers asking officers for their opinions on sedating someone .
The report concluded that the lack of uniform policy on how police should interact with paramedics meant cops could potentially interfere in medical decisions .
“ Even if it ’ s a homicide suspect , we would guard that person , but we don ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we — of how that person is treated for their injuries or crisis , whatever it may be that the doctor or paramedics deem appropriate to treat this person , ” Burbank said .
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DENVER — Police stopped Elijah McClain on the street in suburban Denver last year after deeming the young Black man suspicious. He was thrown into a chokehold, threatened with a dog and stun gun, then subjected to another law enforcement tool before he died: a drug called ketamine.
Paramedics inject it into people like McClain as a sedative, often at the behest of police who believe suspects are out of control. Officially, ketamine is used in emergencies when there’s a safety concern for medical staff or the patient. But it’s increasingly found in arrests and has become another flashpoint in the debate over law enforcement policies and brutality against people of color.
An analysis by The Associated Press of policies on ketamine and cases where the drug was used during police encounters uncovered a lack of police training, conflicting medical standards and nonexistent protocols that have resulted in hospitalizations and even deaths.
On Monday, it will have been a year since McClain, 23, was stopped by officers responding to a 911 call about a suspicious person wearing a ski mask and waving his arms. Police put him in a chokehold twice and multiple officers pressed their body weight into him.
Paramedics were called and injected McClain with ketamine, but they incorrectly estimated his weight, giving him more than 1.5 times the dose he should have received. He got 500 milligrams because they thought he weighed 220 pounds, but he was only 140 pounds and should have received 315 milligrams.
He suffered cardiac arrest, was later declared brain dead and taken off life support.
“The case where somebody’s got six officers on them, in a chokehold, and needs ketamine is really pretty exceptional. That just doesn’t happen very often,” said Dr. George Lindbeck, chairman of the National Association of State EMS Officials medical director’s council. “The vast majority of these scenarios get managed at a much lower level with much less physical restraint, no need for chemical restraint or sedation.”
After McClain’s death, Colorado’s health department opened an investigation into the growing use of ketamine, first approved for use in 2013, after the case got new attention during nationwide protests seeking police reform.
There are no federal standards for law enforcement or emergency medical personnel on the drug’s use. State policies and reporting requirements vary, so it’s not clear how regularly it’s used during police encounters and why.
Most states and agencies say ketamine may be administered when someone exhibits “excited delirium” or agitation, which is typically associated with chronic drug abuse, mental illness or both. The drug sedates them, is supposed to have limited side effects and isn’t intended to make someone lose consciousness.
Medical professionals say excited delirium is a “wastebasket term” and has no standard definition. The commonly cited characteristics include superhuman strength, imperviousness to pain and wild, uncontrollable behavior, said Dr. Paul S. Appelbaum, director of the Division of Law, Ethics & Psychiatry at Columbia University.
“It’s not at all clear that these people are delirious. Moreover, it seems pretty clear that they’re not all one thing, that this term tends to be applied out in the field by police who are certainly not expert in diagnosis of neuropsychiatric syndromes,” he said.
Police are not trained on diagnosing any medical conditions, but most know first aid and CPR. Every police agency has different criteria for calling in paramedics, according to Jimmy Holderfield, secretary for the National Fraternal Order of Police.
“The best rule of thumb to apply here is what a ‘prudent and reasonable’ person would do,” Holderfield said by email. “Officers are charged with the duty of protecting lives and property.”
Emergency medical personnel administer ketamine when they believe it’s necessary, police say. But there’s growing concern over whether officers are too involved in the decision and conflicting medical opinions on using it during arrests.
The American Society of Anesthesiologists opposes it and other sedatives for law enforcement purposes, saying, “These effects can end in death when administered in a non-health care setting without appropriately trained medical personnel and necessary equipment.”
Those in favor of ketamine cite its fast-acting and short-lived effects as well as scientific reports that it doesn’t cause severe respiratory problems compared with other sedatives.
For police, the objective is to help deescalate a tense situation and lessen restraints they need to use, Lindbeck said. Other options include drugs like Valium or Xanax and anti-psychotics.
But Chris Burbank, vice president of law enforcement strategy for the Center for Policing Equity and a former Salt Lake City police chief is suspicious of the explanations for using it.
“I always go back to why are we doing the business that we’re doing,” Burbank said. “This goes to traffic stops, this goes to pedestrian stops, this goes to search and seizure. There’s not a need for some of these things.”
The Food and Drug Administration approved ketamine in 1970, and its first major widespread use was as a battlefield anesthetic during the Vietnam War. In the 1980s, recreational use of the drug, as Special K, became popular for its hallucinogenic effects. Over the last decade, ketamine has been studied as a treatment for depression, and the FDA approved a nasal spray last year.
In July, a Black man in Minneapolis was injected and ended up in the hospital after his girlfriend believed he was having a diabetic seizure. But paramedics questioned which drugs Johnson had taken, apparently not believing her, Abby Wulfing wrote in a Facebook post that’s gotten widespread attention.
In May 2016, Marine veteran Willard Truckenmiller got into a fight in a bar in Naples, Florida, and showed signs of “alcohol-induced excited delirium.” When emergency medical workers arrived, Truckenmiller was given 500 milligrams of ketamine, then suffered cardiac arrest and died.
Another Colorado man, Elijah McKnight, 25, was given two doses totaling 750 milligrams of ketamine after a drunken altercation with police. He ended up on a ventilator in August 2019, the same month McClain was injected in Aurora.
An official autopsy found that ketamine in McClain’s blood was at “tolerable levels,” but it couldn’t rule out an unexpected reaction to the drug, asthma attack or irregular heartbeat.
His parents sued this month, alleging that Aurora Fire Rescue’s unchecked policy and its de facto dose of 500 milligrams violated their son’s constitutional rights. The lawsuit says the force officers used pushed McClain into medical distress, which compounded the “substantial overdose” and led to his death.
There were 902 reported instances of Colorado paramedics administering ketamine from 2018 to 2020, and almost 17% had complications, including cardiac arrest and oxygen deprivation, the state health department said.
In other states, police were found to take part in the decision to use the drug. In Minneapolis, a report conducted by the Office of Police Conduct Review found eight of those cases between 2016 and 2018, ranging from officers requesting paramedics use the drug to emergency medical workers asking officers for their opinions on sedating someone.
The report concluded that the lack of uniform policy on how police should interact with paramedics meant cops could potentially interfere in medical decisions.
“Even if it’s a homicide suspect, we would guard that person, but we don’t get in the middle — nor should we — of how that person is treated for their injuries or crisis, whatever it may be that the doctor or paramedics deem appropriate to treat this person,” Burbank said.
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thedenverpost--2020-08-23--Broncos Insider: Denver looks to defensive end Dre’Mont Jones to play bigger role in run stuffing

Broncos coach Vic Fangio was blunt when asked how defensive end Dre ’ Mont Jones can play a bigger role in his second pro season .
“ Just the ability to play the run in there against the running teams that we ’ ll see , and especially the one we open up with in Tennessee , which runs the ball extremely well and ( is ) strong and powerful , ” Fangio said .
“ He ’ s got to be able to show that he can hang in there with it.
” The Titans ranked third in rushing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) and Derrick Henry led the NFL with 1,540 yards .
After that , the Broncos face only one other team ( Buffalo in Week 15 ) that finished among the top 12 in rushing .
The Bills were eighth ( 128.4 ) .
But Fangio ’ s point is accurate : For Jones to take the next step , he must be more consistent against the run .
To that end , Jones said in a phone interview this week he added 4-5 pounds ( he ’ s listed at 281 ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a lot stronger this year , ” he said .
Without any preseason games , Jones has a small number of training camp practices to show Fangio he merits a regular spot in the rotation behind starting ends Jurrell Casey and Shelby Harris .
“ You have to do it in practice , ” Jones said .
“ The best way to do it is going against teammates and treating it like a game.
” A third-round pick from Ohio State , Jones played in a 4-3 scheme for the Buckeyes and had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Broncos .
It wasn ’ t easy .
“ I wasn ’ t really comfortable with the system last year , ” he said .
“ This year , I understand it and being around guys who know it has made me more comfortable.
” Jones hopes the second half of 2019 in particular and the Week 16 win over Detroit ( five tackles , including 2 1/2 sacks ) represents the foundation for a breakout 2020 .
“ Most definitely , ” he said .
“ I wanted to finish strong because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the next season .
The fact I finished off the way I did felt good.
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Broncos coach Vic Fangio was blunt when asked how defensive end Dre’Mont Jones can play a bigger role in his second pro season.
“Just the ability to play the run in there against the running teams that we’ll see, and especially the one we open up with in Tennessee, which runs the ball extremely well and (is) strong and powerful,” Fangio said. “He’s got to be able to show that he can hang in there with it.”
The Titans ranked third in rushing yards per game last year (138.9) and Derrick Henry led the NFL with 1,540 yards. After that, the Broncos face only one other team (Buffalo in Week 15) that finished among the top 12 in rushing. The Bills were eighth (128.4).
But Fangio’s point is accurate: For Jones to take the next step, he must be more consistent against the run.
To that end, Jones said in a phone interview this week he added 4-5 pounds (he’s listed at 281).
“That’s gotten me a lot stronger this year,” he said.
Without any preseason games, Jones has a small number of training camp practices to show Fangio he merits a regular spot in the rotation behind starting ends Jurrell Casey and Shelby Harris.
“You have to do it in practice,” Jones said. “The best way to do it is going against teammates and treating it like a game.”
A third-round pick from Ohio State, Jones played in a 4-3 scheme for the Buckeyes and had to learn a 3-4 front with the Broncos. It wasn’t easy.
“I wasn’t really comfortable with the system last year,” he said. “This year, I understand it and being around guys who know it has made me more comfortable.”
Jones hopes the second half of 2019 in particular and the Week 16 win over Detroit (five tackles, including 2 1/2 sacks) represents the foundation for a breakout 2020.
“Most definitely,” he said. “I wanted to finish strong because it does lead into the next camp and the next season. The fact I finished off the way I did felt good.”
— Kyle Newman and Ryan O’Halloran, The Denver Post
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thedenverpost--2020-08-23--Colorado tax-cut proponents and paid family leave supporters alike are counting on high voter turnou

Colorado tax-cut proponents and paid family leave supporters alike are counting on high voter turnout

Both Democrats and Republicans are hoping higher voter turnout for this year ’ s presidential election will play in their favor when it comes to fiscal issues on Colorado ’ s ballot in November .
Progressives are counting on energized opponents of President Donald Trump to support a statewide family and medical leave program and reject conservative proposals .
Those on the right are counting on the idea that even though voters are increasingly voting for Democratic candidates , they ’ ve been fiscally conservative when it comes to statewide ballot issues .
The most recent example was last year @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which would have allowed the state government to keep tax revenues above the Taxpayer Bill of Rights-mandated spending cap rather than refund money to residents .
In 2018 , Coloradans rejected a measure that would only have increased taxes for those making more than $ 150,000 a year .
Conservative groups have brought forward two initiatives expected to be on the ballot in November : one to require voter approval for all fees for new programs that exceed $ 100 million in revenue in the first five fiscal years and one to reduce @ @ @ @ @ @ @ % to 4.55 % .
Two other fiscal measures have at least some bipartisan support .
A repeal of the state ’ s Gallagher Amendment would prevent residential property rates from dropping in future years .
Another measure will ask voters to increase tobacco taxes and create a new nicotine tax for vaping .
“ On the ballot issue front , especially when it comes to tax issues , we still are a center-right state regardless of how they vote for specific candidates or political parties , ” said Michael Fields , executive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , who is leading the Initiative 295 campaign — the vote on fees — believes , like other political strategists in Colorado , that voters are more apt to accept tax increases at the local level where they know specifically how their money will be spent and when a tax will sunset .
“ I think both with the tax cut and the fee issue , you have a time when the legislature is looking for every way to raise revenue to fill their budget deficit and even get more than that .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ are desperate to get money in the door , I think voters want a say in that , ” he said .
Jon Caldara , president of the libertarian Independence Institute , is leading the effort on Initiative 306 , what he calls a “ very mild ” tax cut to attract employers to the state and rebuild an economy that ’ s taken a hit .
“ I think people also understand that during this recession , having more of their own money helps their families , but on a very basic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ competitive situation and we want to attract more employers here to rev the engine of Colorado , ” he said .
The campaign refers to the measure as “ The Real Fair Tax ” — a play on another proposed 2020 ballot measure called “ The Fair Tax , ” which would have raised taxes on the wealthy and cut them for everyone else .
The groups behind that effort weren ’ t able to collect enough signatures to get it on the ballot because of difficulties with signature collections amid a pandemic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bell Policy Center and proponent of the “ Fair Tax ” measure , calls Initiative 306 a tax cut for billionaires .
It would only save the average Coloradan a few dollars , but public programs , including education , that have already seen pandemic-related budget cuts could take another big hit , he said .
According to a legislative council analysis , taxpayers will pay 1.7 % less in state income tax , saving the average Coloradan about $ 37 in tax year 2020 .
A fiscal impact statement projected that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of $ 78.1 million to the state in fiscal year 2019-20 , $ 158.4 million in 2020-21 and $ 169.8 million in 2021-22 .
Wasserman said Coloradans are choosing more Democrats for office , and that means they trust their ideas and vision for the state .
So , while a tax cut or even forcing a vote on every new fee may sound like a good idea in theory , opponents will work hard to make sure people know what the measures will actually do to the state .
“ Conservatives losing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to pump money into the process to use very stark rhetoric and confuse voters , ” Wasserman said .
Supporters see their work cut out for them when it comes to ballot language , but say they get voters ’ support when they explain the measures .
It took three tries to pass TABOR , Fields noted .
He ’ s hopeful the vote on fees will pass the first time but said the wording may be confusing to some , so it will at least open up a longer-term discussion on how @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tax and fee increases keeps the power in people ’ s hands and not the politicians ’ hands , ” he said .
Caldara is optimistic the tax cut will pass .
“ The presidential election will have a shadow on everything on the ballot , but I think what it ’ ll do is give people who vote against Trump a reason to still vote for Colorado ’ s economy , ” he said .
“ Trump ’ s not going to win Colorado but will draw a lot of folks ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ backers of paid family and medical leave are also counting on Trump to bring Colorado voters out — they just think the count will go their way .
“ A lot of these initiatives and ballot measures are … of compassion , designed to help people and that is so anti who Trump is that people will be willing to make that call , ” said Rev .
Timothy Tyler .
Tyler is the pastor at Shorter Community African Methodist Episcopal Church in Denver .
The state-run leave program wouldn ’ t be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ regular contributions from employers and employees — a progressive proposal that some business groups oppose .
Proponents say they expect it to pass because the need has been highlighted so clearly during the pandemic .
Democratic consultant Portia Prescott says both Democrats and Republicans are testing the waters with some of their ballot measures , seeing what will pass and what doesn ’ t quite make it but can be revised for future years .
Despite Colorado ’ s voting record on tax issues , Prescott believes voters are paying more attention during @ @ @ @ @ @ @ COVID and the Black Lives Matter movement ’ s protests .
She thinks more people of color are energized to vote not only to get Trump out of office but also to support the Democratic vice presidential nominee , Kamala Harris .
“ Before , you could pass so many different ballot initiatives and no one would pay attention , ” Prescott said .
But now all of these issues , have , “ for lack of a better word , made the average American more ‘ woke ’ on what is happening @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” she added .

Both Democrats and Republicans are hoping higher voter turnout for this year’s presidential election will play in their favor when it comes to fiscal issues on Colorado’s ballot in November.
Progressives are counting on energized opponents of President Donald Trump to support a statewide family and medical leave program and reject conservative proposals.
Those on the right are counting on the idea that even though voters are increasingly voting for Democratic candidates, they’ve been fiscally conservative when it comes to statewide ballot issues. The most recent example was last year’s failure of Proposition CC, which would have allowed the state government to keep tax revenues above the Taxpayer Bill of Rights-mandated spending cap rather than refund money to residents. In 2018, Coloradans rejected a measure that would only have increased taxes for those making more than $150,000 a year.
Conservative groups have brought forward two initiatives expected to be on the ballot in November: one to require voter approval for all fees for new programs that exceed $100 million in revenue in the first five fiscal years and one to reduce the state income tax rate from 4.63% to 4.55%.
Two other fiscal measures have at least some bipartisan support. A repeal of the state’s Gallagher Amendment would prevent residential property rates from dropping in future years. Another measure will ask voters to increase tobacco taxes and create a new nicotine tax for vaping.
“On the ballot issue front, especially when it comes to tax issues, we still are a center-right state regardless of how they vote for specific candidates or political parties,” said Michael Fields, executive director of Colorado Rising State Action.
Fields, who is leading the Initiative 295 campaign — the vote on fees — believes, like other political strategists in Colorado, that voters are more apt to accept tax increases at the local level where they know specifically how their money will be spent and when a tax will sunset.
“I think both with the tax cut and the fee issue, you have a time when the legislature is looking for every way to raise revenue to fill their budget deficit and even get more than that. And so as you see legislators that are desperate to get money in the door, I think voters want a say in that,” he said.
Jon Caldara, president of the libertarian Independence Institute, is leading the effort on Initiative 306, what he calls a “very mild” tax cut to attract employers to the state and rebuild an economy that’s taken a hit.
“I think people also understand that during this recession, having more of their own money helps their families, but on a very basic level understand Colorado’s in a competitive situation and we want to attract more employers here to rev the engine of Colorado,” he said.
The campaign refers to the measure as “The Real Fair Tax” — a play on another proposed 2020 ballot measure called “The Fair Tax,” which would have raised taxes on the wealthy and cut them for everyone else. The groups behind that effort weren’t able to collect enough signatures to get it on the ballot because of difficulties with signature collections amid a pandemic.
Scott Wasserman, president of the Bell Policy Center and proponent of the “Fair Tax” measure, calls Initiative 306 a tax cut for billionaires. It would only save the average Coloradan a few dollars, but public programs, including education, that have already seen pandemic-related budget cuts could take another big hit, he said.
According to a legislative council analysis, taxpayers will pay 1.7% less in state income tax, saving the average Coloradan about $37 in tax year 2020. A fiscal impact statement projected that the tax cut would result in a decrease of $78.1 million to the state in fiscal year 2019-20, $158.4 million in 2020-21 and $169.8 million in 2021-22.
Wasserman said Coloradans are choosing more Democrats for office, and that means they trust their ideas and vision for the state. So, while a tax cut or even forcing a vote on every new fee may sound like a good idea in theory, opponents will work hard to make sure people know what the measures will actually do to the state.
“Conservatives losing races are seeing it’s easy to pump money into the process to use very stark rhetoric and confuse voters,” Wasserman said.
Supporters see their work cut out for them when it comes to ballot language, but say they get voters’ support when they explain the measures.
It took three tries to pass TABOR, Fields noted. He’s hopeful the vote on fees will pass the first time but said the wording may be confusing to some, so it will at least open up a longer-term discussion on how fees are used.
“Voting on tax and fee increases keeps the power in people’s hands and not the politicians’ hands,” he said.
Caldara is optimistic the tax cut will pass.
“The presidential election will have a shadow on everything on the ballot, but I think what it’ll do is give people who vote against Trump a reason to still vote for Colorado’s economy,” he said. “Trump’s not going to win Colorado but will draw a lot of folks (to the election).”
The backers of paid family and medical leave are also counting on Trump to bring Colorado voters out — they just think the count will go their way.
“A lot of these initiatives and ballot measures are … of compassion, designed to help people and that is so anti who Trump is that people will be willing to make that call,” said Rev. Timothy Tyler. Tyler is the pastor at Shorter Community African Methodist Episcopal Church in Denver.
The state-run leave program wouldn’t be supported by a tax but rather by regular contributions from employers and employees — a progressive proposal that some business groups oppose. Proponents say they expect it to pass because the need has been highlighted so clearly during the pandemic.
Democratic consultant Portia Prescott says both Democrats and Republicans are testing the waters with some of their ballot measures, seeing what will pass and what doesn’t quite make it but can be revised for future years.
Despite Colorado’s voting record on tax issues, Prescott believes voters are paying more attention during a presidential year made extraordinary because of COVID and the Black Lives Matter movement’s protests.
She thinks more people of color are energized to vote not only to get Trump out of office but also to support the Democratic vice presidential nominee, Kamala Harris.
“Before, you could pass so many different ballot initiatives and no one would pay attention,” Prescott said.
But now all of these issues, have, “for lack of a better word, made the average American more ‘woke’ on what is happening in legislation that directly affects their lives,” she added.


thedenverpost--2020-08-23--“We have so much work to do”: One year later, how Elijah McClain’s death impacted his friends and ca

“We have so much work to do”: One year later, how Elijah McClain’s death impacted his friends and catalyzed a movement

The world knows Elijah McClain ’ s name now .
In the year since he died , McClain ’ s family and those who stood with them have watched rallies in his honor grow from a few dozen standing outside Aurora ’ s city hall to several thousand marching the city ’ s streets .
The story of a 23-year-old massage therapist , who played his violin for shelter animals , dying after police tackled him , put him in a chokehold and then pinned him as paramedics injected him with a heavy sedative has torn at people ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ home from a convenience store when police stopped him because of a suspicious person call .
Community members previously not involved in protests and activism found their voice , and McClain ’ s face and name have been painted in murals , projected on downtown Denver buildings and shared via viral social media posts .
The world has joined the family ’ s outrage — nearly 90,000 people donated to an online fundraiser for the McClains and more than 5 million signed an online petition demanding the officers be held accountable .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the city and state level .
New investigations are underway .
But there is so much more work to be done , family friends and community organizers say .
“ When you fight a good fight for long enough , you ’ re going to win , ” said Lindsay Minter , a McClain family friend and member of Aurora ’ s Police Community Task Force .
“ We haven ’ t won the war yet , but we ’ re winning battles.
” The McClains are demanding the police officers and paramedics @ @ @ @ @ @ @ death be fired and arrested .
And they aren ’ t speaking publicly until that happens .
There ’ s nothing new to add , they say .
“ I haven ’ t gone through his belongings yet , I am waiting for a better frame of mind before I tackle the box his bloody clothes are in , ” Sheneen McClain , Elijah ’ s mother , wrote on Facebook last week .
“ I need my energy for that and other motherly responsibilities , I can ’ t entertain the world @ @ @ @ @ @ @ y ’ all .
I ’ m a mother mourning the death of her son .
Murderers are free and nothing has stopped the rest of their gang yet.
” As the anniversary of McClain ’ s death approaches , The Denver Post sought to go deeper than slogans shouted at protests to ask those deeply impacted by McClain ’ s death what it will take to improve relations between police and the people they serve .
In the middle of the night , working alone at a gas station in Aurora , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cops .
“ Sometimes at 3 a.m .
I can have a Black man acting the fool in my parking lot , roaming along on the floor , messing with my gas pump , and the first thing I ’ m supposed to do is call the police , get him out of there , get him for trespassing , ” said Gentry , who sold McClain three drinks the night he died .
“ Since Elijah McClain , I don ’ t call the police on men anymore.
” McClain came into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but he did that often , she said .
“ He spoke to everybody and he told me thank you , ” she said .
“ He paid just like a normal customer.
” On his walk home , police officers stopped McClain after a man named Juan called to report a suspicious person .
“ Those police officers came ready with the intent to catch a robber , ” Gentry said .
“ That ’ s what was in their brains .
They came in thinking they were going to solve @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” She ’ s afraid the police will kill again .
“ The people who are supposed to protect and serve us , I ’ m afraid of , ” she said .
“ My kids walk down Billings and Colfax every day .
It could have been any of them.
” To move forward , the police will need to earn her trust again , she said .
To start , the department should better screen recruits .
“ We need to actually get to know the police officers before we let @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said .
It would help if she knew the officers patrolling her area , she said .
“ It would make me a bit more comfortable than having a stranger roll up on me , ” she said .
“ But I don ’ t know , Aurora police , I ’ ve had different encounters with them , and every time they stop someone , they ’ re stopping someone with the thought of , ‘ I ’ ve got a criminal.
’ And not just Black or Mexican people , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ here , too.
” Lindsay Minter was criticized the first time she tried to incorporate McClain ’ s name into Denver protests of George Floyd ’ s killing .
People in the crowd said she was distracting from Floyd ’ s death .
But with persistence , thousands soon chanted his name as they marched the streets in Aurora and Denver .
“ I ’ m so proud of the community of Aurora for rising up , for standing up , for showing up for their own community , ” Minter said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ but once they found out all the facts they rose up.
” Minter has been close to the McClain family since last August .
She attended the first rallies .
She ’ s been there despite death threats and hateful stares .
The creation of the Police Community Task Force — which she attributes to organizing she and others led at City Council meetings in the fall — was a step forward .
The series of public events the police department was hosting during that time was important , she said .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trying to engage and build bridges across to the community to redeem the relationship , ” Minter said .
“ They ’ ve erased all of the progress they were making at the end of 2019 , because 2020 was a whole different story.
” Aurora police Chief Vanessa Wilson needs to announce her plan to fix the department and then be transparent as it is executed , Minter said .
The chief also needs to hold public meetings with residents for feedback on how to build trust , which is so broken @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are driving their loved ones to the hospital instead of calling an ambulance , she said .
“ That doesn ’ t mean basketball games , or riding bikes with cops .
We ’ re asking them to treat us with dignity and respect just like they would their own family , ” Minter said .
The city also needs to ban its use of ketamine — a sedative used on McClain– by paramedics , she said .
The department needs to recruit and retain more officers of color from Aurora and who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said .
At the end of 2019 , about 80 % of the department ’ s officers were white in a city where about 45 % of the population is white .
For change to be effective , more of the city ’ s residents need to speak to the Police Community Task Force about how they want to be policed , she said .
Minter is wary when others say a healthy relationship between police and Aurora residents can be built .
“ I don ’ t know , ” she said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ know.
” Marna Arnett sees McClain ’ s face as she walks her neighborhood .
But instead of his warm smile emanating as he massaged away her chronic pain , Arnett now sees the 23-year-old ’ s face adorning posters as the face of police brutality in Colorado .
“ It ’ s kind of bittersweet , ” Arnett said .
“ It ’ s great that people are coming together to do it but , man , I miss his giggle .
I miss talking to him.
” In their last conversation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to drive .
She tried once this year to get a massage — but cried the entire session .
Arnett said she ’ s glad people are finally talking about racial injustice .
“ I ’ m grateful he has a voice , but I ’ m just really upset it had to come about this way , ” she said .
“ Somebody had to die , many somebodies had to die , for us to actually go , ‘ This is enough.
’ ” The police department , she said , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ground up.
” “ The city of Aurora needs to think long and hard about outsourcing policing so they can dismantle and rebuild , ” Arnett said .
“ They have been woefully out of control for decades , to be quite honest.
” Vanessa Peoples : Injured by Aurora police in 2017 and settled claims with the city When Vanessa Peoples heard about McClain , she couldn ’ t help but think about her own violent experience with police just two years earlier .
On July 13 , 2017 , Aurora police @ @ @ @ @ @ @ check .
As Peoples tried to check on her mother , she was choked and thrown to the ground , her arm twisted behind her back as officers hogtied her .
Peoples suffered a dislocated shoulder , and officers kept her in the hobble for 30 minutes as she cried in pain .
She was charged with obstruction — which was later dismissed — and Aurora settled a lawsuit .
Distrust never left .
Not with Peoples , and not with her children .
“ I don ’ t care for the police @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they get that gun and badge , they forget that they ’ re human .
They have authority over anybody and they feel like they can hurt people and get away with it.
” Police had that mentality when they encountered McClain , she said .
“ They were thoughtless , they didn ’ t care and they did what they did without thinking twice , ” Peoples said .
“ They felt like he was in the wrong and they were right so whatever they say goes .
That ’ s just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she said she wants officers to stop and think .
“ At the end of the day you got ta think , ‘ How would I feel if somebody treated my family like this ?
’ ” Peoples said .
The Rev .
Thomas Mayes received a warning about the Aurora Police Department just before his 16th birthday .
“ My father said , ‘ I will take your keys and your license if I find you ’ re driving into Aurora .
Because they will kill you , ’ ” Mayes said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Fifty-two years later , Aurora ’ s white residents and leaders are reckoning with video evidence that shows how police treat the city ’ s Black community , Mayes said .
They were forced — through body camera footage , bystander videos , protests and media reports — to pay attention to McClain and the trauma of children handcuffed on hot pavement .
“ For me , it was this : I listened to the cries of Elijah , ” he said .
“ I listened to the cries of George Floyd .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ m sorry.
’ That killed me , that he was apologizing .
He had done nothing wrong .
He was just trying to live.
” Mayes has served on various community police boards over the past 30 years , including the Police Community Task Force .
The city must undergo deep structural change , he said .
The city needs to shift power from the city manager to an elected mayor , who can more easily be held accountable , he said .
The city also needs to rework its Civil Service Commission @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fired from the police and fire departments .
In several instances , the commission has reinstated cops fired for bad behavior .
The task force needs the authority to look at the city and police department budgets and make spending recommendations .
It can ’ t become another committee that has no real power and is just a formality so that the city can say it worked with the community , he said .
“ I was hoping at this time in 2020 , we ’ d have been so much further ahead @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ d hope we ’ d be more transparent and be in a healing mode .
I would have hoped we ’ d thrown away our Band-Aids and done some surgery and root some things out .
But we haven ’ t .
We ’ ve still got our salve out.
” Emerald Bixby remembers clearly the moment Elijah McClain noticed the hunting knife she carries on her backpack .
“ His eyes got all wide and he was like , ‘ Whoa , ’ ” she said .
“ He balked a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weapon .
He didn ’ t have a place in his mind or his heart for that.
” That ’ s why , a year after her coworker died , she just can ’ t fathom that he reached for an Aurora police officer ’ s gun , as officers have claimed .
“ There ’ s no way in hell , ” she said .
But at the same time , she watched the body camera footage of the arrest , and she believes the officers did think McClain was reaching for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was a mistaken perspective , but honest , ” she said .
To Bixby , McClain ’ s arrest , sedation and death are complicated , full of nuance that is sometimes lost when the crowds gather and chant his name .
She sees a three-pronged path forward , one that includes independent investigations of police by a state board , changes to police training and protocols around deescalation , and a review of the circumstances in which medical personnel can forcibly sedate someone , as was done to McClain .
“ It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ officers to step back and say , ‘ Hey , we didn ’ t mean to scare you , ’ ” she said .
“ If they had just communicated more calmly and honestly and respectfully , it would have deescalated immediately.
” Shortly after McClain ’ s death , his family were on hands and knees pulling weeds at the site where police confronted him as he walked home .
Candice Bailey got a call about the family ’ s work and arranged for someone with a lawn mower to help cut @ @ @ @ @ @ @ meet the McClains .
Bailey has been at Sheneen McClain ’ s side since then , through tearful phone calls and passionate rallies , through testifying at the statehouse in support of a police accountability bill and through every decision by officials that has devastated the family .
“ It ’ s been a hell of a ride , ” Bailey said .
But the work toward change is barely started , she said .
“ A lot of people are like , ‘ We did it !
’ ” she said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ expletive ) , in my personal opinion .
The officers are still working.
” It ’ s insulting that anyone would think the work is over with the passage of Colorado ’ s police accountability bill and the new investigations into McClain ’ s death .
“ If you ’ re not on a police oversight committee , if you ’ re not on a budget oversight committee , if you ’ re not plugging away on legislation , you ’ re not doing ( expletive ) .
” Much focus has been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but other entities need tough scrutiny as well : district attorneys , Aurora Fire Rescue , the state health department , and even the U.S. Constitution that still contains language declaring slaves to be three-fifths of a person .
“ This is a culture across the nation , not just in the Aurora Police Department , ” she said .
“ If we ’ re never getting to the root causes of this , there ’ s going to be a million more Elijah McClains .
We ’ re going to have a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have so much work to do .
Work just keeps piling up.
” When McClain ’ s name became a national rallying cry for racial justice this summer , Brandy Nalyanya felt guilty .
The Smoky Hill High School student heard about the 23-year-old ’ s death last August , but she didn ’ t speak up .
She is not missing her second chance .
“ I knew this time I had to really speak out and use my voice and get other youth to use their voices , ” Nalyanya said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 17-year-old organized a rally in the school parking lot , leading chants .
They set up a voter registration table , and student leaders spoke about their own experiences with police and the Black Lives Matter movement .
“ I ’ ve always been taught that when you feel hurt or pain or uncomfortable , ” Nalyanya said , “ instead of feeling angry or using emotions to turn toward something destructive , use it to make sure no one feels the way you felt.
” She wants the Aurora Police Department to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ needs patrolling the neighborhoods of people of color .
She wants police to check their biases and address what she perceives as a consistent trope that “ Black people are thugs and more aggressive.
” Nalyanya has watched as scandals involving Aurora police have emerged this year .
She studied the video of Brittney Gilliam and her young nieces and daughter being mistakenly detained this month , wondering how close it was to her home .
“ It feels like it ’ s creeping closer and closer to someone I know and love @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s really scary — it ’ s like , who ’ s next ?
” Eric Behrens sometimes played video games with McClain until one day McClain pawned his PlayStation because he thought it was a distraction .
“ He was always trying to work on himself , ” Behrens said .
The two were massage therapists and became friends through the job .
On the night McClain was stopped by police , Behrens was in the apartment complex across the street , visiting friends for a game night .
When he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and blocked roads .
“ I found out later that was Elijah , ” he said , remembering his friend as gentle , spiritual and optimistic .
Seeing how McClain was treated by police changed Behrens ’ perspective on law enforcement .
“ Kind of like everyone else , I was like , ‘ Maybe that person didn ’ t cooperate , ’ or something like that , ” he said of past instances of alleged police brutality .
“ And then there came Elijah .
I was like , ‘ How the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
’ My mind was so blown .
I was in disbelief.
” Police departments should not be allowed to investigate themselves , he said , but rather should be investigated by an independent law enforcement agency .
And there should be a more robust early-warning system to prevent future police misconduct by evaluating officers ’ mental health and flagging those who receive the most complaints , he said .
“ Not everyone deserves to be a cop , ” he said .
“ Maybe the job gets too stressful .
If that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ start to lose your cool out there — like these guys were — then you need to take a step down , get off the streets and focus on files or something like that.
” Behrens doesn ’ t believe all police departments should be defunded — there are good officers , he said .
But departments like Aurora , where misconduct happens regularly , should be , he said .
“ Nobody likes the Aurora Police Department , ” he said .
“ You don ’ t look them in the eye @ @ @ @ @ @ @ them .
It ’ s not really a scary community , but the police can be a little scary .
”

Elise Schmelzer, Shelly Bradbury, Sam Tabachnik

The world knows Elijah McClain’s name now.
In the year since he died, McClain’s family and those who stood with them have watched rallies in his honor grow from a few dozen standing outside Aurora’s city hall to several thousand marching the city’s streets.
The story of a 23-year-old massage therapist, who played his violin for shelter animals, dying after police tackled him, put him in a chokehold and then pinned him as paramedics injected him with a heavy sedative has torn at people’s hearts and minds. McClain was walking home from a convenience store when police stopped him because of a suspicious person call.
Community members previously not involved in protests and activism found their voice, and McClain’s face and name have been painted in murals, projected on downtown Denver buildings and shared via viral social media posts. The world has joined the family’s outrage — nearly 90,000 people donated to an online fundraiser for the McClains and more than 5 million signed an online petition demanding the officers be held accountable.
The protests and public pressure forced changes at the city and state level. New investigations are underway. But there is so much more work to be done, family friends and community organizers say.
“When you fight a good fight for long enough, you’re going to win,” said Lindsay Minter, a McClain family friend and member of Aurora’s Police Community Task Force. “We haven’t won the war yet, but we’re winning battles.”
The McClains are demanding the police officers and paramedics involved in their loved one’s death be fired and arrested. And they aren’t speaking publicly until that happens. There’s nothing new to add, they say.
“I haven’t gone through his belongings yet, I am waiting for a better frame of mind before I tackle the box his bloody clothes are in,” Sheneen McClain, Elijah’s mother, wrote on Facebook last week. “I need my energy for that and other motherly responsibilities, I can’t entertain the world, I’m not a celebrity y’all. I’m a mother mourning the death of her son. Murderers are free and nothing has stopped the rest of their gang yet.”
As the anniversary of McClain’s death approaches, The Denver Post sought to go deeper than slogans shouted at protests to ask those deeply impacted by McClain’s death what it will take to improve relations between police and the people they serve.
Mariah Gentry: Shell station attendant
In the middle of the night, working alone at a gas station in Aurora, Mariah Gentry now hesitates to call the cops.
“Sometimes at 3 a.m. I can have a Black man acting the fool in my parking lot, roaming along on the floor, messing with my gas pump, and the first thing I’m supposed to do is call the police, get him out of there, get him for trespassing,” said Gentry, who sold McClain three drinks the night he died. “Since Elijah McClain, I don’t call the police on men anymore.”
McClain came into the store wearing a black ski mask, but he did that often, she said.
“He spoke to everybody and he told me thank you,” she said. “He paid just like a normal customer.”
On his walk home, police officers stopped McClain after a man named Juan called to report a suspicious person.
“Those police officers came ready with the intent to catch a robber,” Gentry said. “That’s what was in their brains. They came in thinking they were going to solve a problem and they created a problem.”
She’s afraid the police will kill again.
“The people who are supposed to protect and serve us, I’m afraid of,” she said. “My kids walk down Billings and Colfax every day. It could have been any of them.”
To move forward, the police will need to earn her trust again, she said. To start, the department should better screen recruits.
“We need to actually get to know the police officers before we let them become police officers,” she said.
It would help if she knew the officers patrolling her area, she said.
“It would make me a bit more comfortable than having a stranger roll up on me,” she said. “But I don’t know, Aurora police, I’ve had different encounters with them, and every time they stop someone, they’re stopping someone with the thought of, ‘I’ve got a criminal.’ And not just Black or Mexican people, but white people who are less fortunate out here, too.”
Lindsay Minter: Friend of McClain family, community organizer, member of Police Community Task Force
Lindsay Minter was criticized the first time she tried to incorporate McClain’s name into Denver protests of George Floyd’s killing. People in the crowd said she was distracting from Floyd’s death. But with persistence, thousands soon chanted his name as they marched the streets in Aurora and Denver.
“I’m so proud of the community of Aurora for rising up, for standing up, for showing up for their own community,” Minter said. “It took them a while, but once they found out all the facts they rose up.”
Minter has been close to the McClain family since last August. She attended the first rallies. She’s been there despite death threats and hateful stares.
“We haven’t won,” she said.
The creation of the Police Community Task Force — which she attributes to organizing she and others led at City Council meetings in the fall — was a step forward. The series of public events the police department was hosting during that time was important, she said.
“Through this whole process, APD was trying to engage and build bridges across to the community to redeem the relationship,” Minter said. “They’ve erased all of the progress they were making at the end of 2019, because 2020 was a whole different story.”
Aurora police Chief Vanessa Wilson needs to announce her plan to fix the department and then be transparent as it is executed, Minter said. The chief also needs to hold public meetings with residents for feedback on how to build trust, which is so broken between the city and community that people are driving their loved ones to the hospital instead of calling an ambulance, she said.
“That doesn’t mean basketball games, or riding bikes with cops. We’re asking them to treat us with dignity and respect just like they would their own family,” Minter said.
The city also needs to ban its use of ketamine — a sedative used on McClain– by paramedics, she said. The department needs to recruit and retain more officers of color from Aurora and who speak languages other than English, she said. At the end of 2019, about 80% of the department’s officers were white in a city where about 45% of the population is white.
For change to be effective, more of the city’s residents need to speak to the Police Community Task Force about how they want to be policed, she said.
Minter is wary when others say a healthy relationship between police and Aurora residents can be built.
“I don’t know,” she said. “I just don’t know.”
Marna Arnett: Massage client
Marna Arnett sees McClain’s face as she walks her neighborhood. But instead of his warm smile emanating as he massaged away her chronic pain, Arnett now sees the 23-year-old’s face adorning posters as the face of police brutality in Colorado.
“It’s kind of bittersweet,” Arnett said. “It’s great that people are coming together to do it but, man, I miss his giggle. I miss talking to him.”
In their last conversation, Arnett offered to teach the 23-year-old to drive.
She tried once this year to get a massage — but cried the entire session.
Arnett said she’s glad people are finally talking about racial injustice.
“I’m grateful he has a voice, but I’m just really upset it had to come about this way,” she said. “Somebody had to die, many somebodies had to die, for us to actually go, ‘This is enough.’ ”
The police department, she said, “needs to be rebuilt from the ground up.”
“The city of Aurora needs to think long and hard about outsourcing policing so they can dismantle and rebuild,” Arnett said. “They have been woefully out of control for decades, to be quite honest.”
Vanessa Peoples: Injured by Aurora police in 2017 and settled claims with the city
When Vanessa Peoples heard about McClain, she couldn’t help but think about her own violent experience with police just two years earlier.
On July 13, 2017, Aurora police came to her home for a welfare check. As Peoples tried to check on her mother, she was choked and thrown to the ground, her arm twisted behind her back as officers hogtied her.
Peoples suffered a dislocated shoulder, and officers kept her in the hobble for 30 minutes as she cried in pain. She was charged with obstruction — which was later dismissed — and Aurora settled a lawsuit.
Distrust never left. Not with Peoples, and not with her children.
“I don’t care for the police,” Peoples said. “When they get that gun and badge, they forget that they’re human. They have authority over anybody and they feel like they can hurt people and get away with it.”
Police had that mentality when they encountered McClain, she said.
“They were thoughtless, they didn’t care and they did what they did without thinking twice,” Peoples said. “They felt like he was in the wrong and they were right so whatever they say goes. That’s just not right.”
More than anything, she said she wants officers to stop and think.
“At the end of the day you gotta think, ‘How would I feel if somebody treated my family like this?’ ” Peoples said.
The Rev. Thomas Mayes: Pastor, longtime community organizer, member of Police Community Task Force
The Rev. Thomas Mayes received a warning about the Aurora Police Department just before his 16th birthday.
“My father said, ‘I will take your keys and your license if I find you’re driving into Aurora. Because they will kill you,’ ” Mayes said. “He was so right.”
Fifty-two years later, Aurora’s white residents and leaders are reckoning with video evidence that shows how police treat the city’s Black community, Mayes said. They were forced — through body camera footage, bystander videos, protests and media reports — to pay attention to McClain and the trauma of children handcuffed on hot pavement.
“For me, it was this: I listened to the cries of Elijah,” he said. “I listened to the cries of George Floyd. Elijah McClain said, ‘I’m sorry.’ That killed me, that he was apologizing. He had done nothing wrong. He was just trying to live.”
Mayes has served on various community police boards over the past 30 years, including the Police Community Task Force. The city must undergo deep structural change, he said.
The city needs to shift power from the city manager to an elected mayor, who can more easily be held accountable, he said. The city also needs to rework its Civil Service Commission, which oversees who is hired and fired from the police and fire departments. In several instances, the commission has reinstated cops fired for bad behavior.
The task force needs the authority to look at the city and police department budgets and make spending recommendations. It can’t become another committee that has no real power and is just a formality so that the city can say it worked with the community, he said.
“I was hoping at this time in 2020, we’d have been so much further ahead,” he said. “I’d hope we’d be more transparent and be in a healing mode. I would have hoped we’d thrown away our Band-Aids and done some surgery and root some things out. But we haven’t. We’ve still got our salve out.”
Emerald Bixby: Former coworker at Massage Envy
Emerald Bixby remembers clearly the moment Elijah McClain noticed the hunting knife she carries on her backpack.
“His eyes got all wide and he was like, ‘Whoa,’ ” she said. “He balked a little bit that I was carrying a weapon. He didn’t have a place in his mind or his heart for that.”
That’s why, a year after her coworker died, she just can’t fathom that he reached for an Aurora police officer’s gun, as officers have claimed.
“There’s no way in hell,” she said. But at the same time, she watched the body camera footage of the arrest, and she believes the officers did think McClain was reaching for the gun.
“I think it was a mistaken perspective, but honest,” she said.
To Bixby, McClain’s arrest, sedation and death are complicated, full of nuance that is sometimes lost when the crowds gather and chant his name. She sees a three-pronged path forward, one that includes independent investigations of police by a state board, changes to police training and protocols around deescalation, and a review of the circumstances in which medical personnel can forcibly sedate someone, as was done to McClain.
“It would have been very easy for the officers to step back and say, ‘Hey, we didn’t mean to scare you,’ ” she said. “If they had just communicated more calmly and honestly and respectfully, it would have deescalated immediately.”
Candice Bailey: Friend of McClain family, organizer, member of Police Community Task Force
Shortly after McClain’s death, his family were on hands and knees pulling weeds at the site where police confronted him as he walked home.
Candice Bailey got a call about the family’s work and arranged for someone with a lawn mower to help cut the weeds. Then she went to meet the McClains.
Bailey has been at Sheneen McClain’s side since then, through tearful phone calls and passionate rallies, through testifying at the statehouse in support of a police accountability bill and through every decision by officials that has devastated the family.
“It’s been a hell of a ride,” Bailey said.
But the work toward change is barely started, she said.
“A lot of people are like, ‘We did it!’ ” she said. “We haven’t done (expletive), in my personal opinion. The officers are still working.”
It’s insulting that anyone would think the work is over with the passage of Colorado’s police accountability bill and the new investigations into McClain’s death.
“If you’re not on a police oversight committee, if you’re not on a budget oversight committee, if you’re not plugging away on legislation, you’re not doing (expletive).”
Much focus has been on Aurora police, she said, but other entities need tough scrutiny as well: district attorneys, Aurora Fire Rescue, the state health department, and even the U.S. Constitution that still contains language declaring slaves to be three-fifths of a person.
“This is a culture across the nation, not just in the Aurora Police Department,” she said.
“If we’re never getting to the root causes of this, there’s going to be a million more Elijah McClains. We’re going to have a million more George Floyds.”
“We have so much work to do. Work just keeps piling up.”
Brandy Nalyanya: Senior at Smoky Hill High School
When McClain’s name became a national rallying cry for racial justice this summer, Brandy Nalyanya felt guilty.
The Smoky Hill High School student heard about the 23-year-old’s death last August, but she didn’t speak up. She is not missing her second chance.
“I knew this time I had to really speak out and use my voice and get other youth to use their voices,” Nalyanya said.
Along with another student, the 17-year-old organized a rally in the school parking lot, leading chants. They set up a voter registration table, and student leaders spoke about their own experiences with police and the Black Lives Matter movement.
“I’ve always been taught that when you feel hurt or pain or uncomfortable,” Nalyanya said, “instead of feeling angry or using emotions to turn toward something destructive, use it to make sure no one feels the way you felt.”
She wants the Aurora Police Department to think about how many officers it really needs patrolling the neighborhoods of people of color. She wants police to check their biases and address what she perceives as a consistent trope that “Black people are thugs and more aggressive.”
Nalyanya has watched as scandals involving Aurora police have emerged this year. She studied the video of Brittney Gilliam and her young nieces and daughter being mistakenly detained this month, wondering how close it was to her home.
“It feels like it’s creeping closer and closer to someone I know and love,” Nalyanya said. “It’s really scary — it’s like, who’s next?”
Eric Behrens, Massage Envy coworker
Eric Behrens sometimes played video games with McClain until one day McClain pawned his PlayStation because he thought it was a distraction.
“He was always trying to work on himself,” Behrens said.
The two were massage therapists and became friends through the job. On the night McClain was stopped by police, Behrens was in the apartment complex across the street, visiting friends for a game night. When he left, he drove around police barricades and blocked roads.
“I found out later that was Elijah,” he said, remembering his friend as gentle, spiritual and optimistic. Seeing how McClain was treated by police changed Behrens’ perspective on law enforcement.
“Kind of like everyone else, I was like, ‘Maybe that person didn’t cooperate,’ or something like that,” he said of past instances of alleged police brutality. “And then there came Elijah. I was like, ‘How the hell can someone do that to Elijah?’ My mind was so blown. I was in disbelief.”
Police departments should not be allowed to investigate themselves, he said, but rather should be investigated by an independent law enforcement agency. And there should be a more robust early-warning system to prevent future police misconduct by evaluating officers’ mental health and flagging those who receive the most complaints, he said.
“Not everyone deserves to be a cop,” he said. “Maybe the job gets too stressful. If that’s the case, and you start to lose your cool out there — like these guys were — then you need to take a step down, get off the streets and focus on files or something like that.”
Behrens doesn’t believe all police departments should be defunded — there are good officers, he said. But departments like Aurora, where misconduct happens regularly, should be, he said.
“Nobody likes the Aurora Police Department,” he said. “You don’t look them in the eye. You don’t go near them. It’s not really a scary community, but the police can be a little scary.”


thedenverpost--2020-08-23--Safe ways for your kids to socialize during COVID-19

School dances and Friday night football games are staples of the social calendar during a typical fall semester .
Not so in the age of COVID-19 , which has upended nearly every aspect of the academic year .
That may be all the more reason to stay connected to friends and family — albeit safely .
Social-emotional learning is one of the most important things that schools provide to students , and as experts weighed in on the reopening debate , it was one of the primary reasons they advocated for getting students back into the classroom ASAP .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ start remotely , kids may need to find different ways to fill the gaps in their social lives normally filled by daily face-to-face interaction with their peers .
According to June Gruber , associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Colorado Boulder , it may not be too difficult .
“ There are multiple avenues that we learn and acquire information about emotions and can promote social-emotional development in youth , ” Gruber said .
“ These are opportunities children often have in the classroom , but we can continue @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Denver Post spoke with parents and educators to get tips on how they are integrating socialization into their children ’ s lives this fall .
José Ramón Lizárraga , assistant professor of learning sciences and human development at CU Boulder , studies how young people and teachers use digital platforms to learn and to connect with one another .
Video games — long reviled by parents — actually can go a long way to making youth feel part of a peer community , he said , especially those that are played live in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as Animal Crossing or Minecraft .
“ One of the things many of us are challenging or questioning is that face-to-face or sharing of physical space is the only way to be social , ” he said .
“ In their everyday activities , young people are already using digital technology to engage socially.
” He ’ s not just referring to kids old enough to be on social media .
Durango mom Whitnie Stopani has a 5-year-old son named Lucca who uses the app Marco Polo to send videos back and forth @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ equivalent to texting , but for children.
” Faylyn Emma , a high school teacher at the virtual school Colorado Connections Academy , said her students often spend up to six hours a day online completing coursework .
They ’ re familiar with platforms like Zoom , so allowing them to use video chat to host a virtual party or card game can offer a welcome change of pace , she said .
Dino Reyes , dean of culture at Lake Middle School in Denver , used to host school-wide assemblies that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ celebrated students who exhibited those values .
He plans to take the concept virtual this year with a YouTube series he hopes will help bring students together online .
“ Basically think of ‘ Sesame Street ’ or ‘ Yo Gabba Gabba ’ — a modern , urban version of that , ” Reyes said .
Despite his support for digital platforms , Lizárraga said they are no replacement for face-to-face socialization .
“ In an ideal world , we ’ d be doing both things , ” he said .
Evergreen resident @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sacrificed social gatherings when schools closed abruptly in March .
Sam , 16 , and Charlie , 17 , play in the orchestra and jazz bands , respectively , at Conifer High School and also formed their own rock band with several friends .
In early June , when they wanted to get the band back together , Cence said she conferred with the other kids ’ parents to ensure they were all on the same page .
The band now practices in Cence ’ s basement and has developed what she called @ @ @ @ @ @ @ know the families really well , and we know that all of us have been very , very careful , ” she said .
“ It ’ s been about trusting families.
” Stopani agrees .
Because her now-4-month-old daughter was born during the pandemic , other families have been understanding of her need to be cautious .
Many in her bubble , including Stopani , have been tested for COVID-19 .
They adhere to safety protocols like washing the toys their kids play with and keeping a thermometer on hand to take @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in-person interaction ( Lucca , the 5-year-old ) is pretty wild at the start of it , ” Stopani said .
“ But he ’ s great about wearing his mask.
” Because of the way COVID-19 is transmitted person to person , experts advise that groups spend as much time outside as possible .
Luckily , Colorado is not short on pleasant weather or outdoor activities .
Stopani and her family moved to a new house with a backyard so they could have friends over to watch movies on the back porch @ @ @ @ @ @ @ still 6 feet apart .
No matter the medium , Lizárraga encourages families to center play time around fun .
That may seem obvious , but it ’ s important to remember especially in uncertain times .
“ It allows kids to , in many ways , start imagining or putting themselves in a magical world where the world is not so messed up as it is right now , ” he said .

School dances and Friday night football games are staples of the social calendar during a typical fall semester. Not so in the age of COVID-19, which has upended nearly every aspect of the academic year. That may be all the more reason to stay connected to friends and family — albeit safely.
Social-emotional learning is one of the most important things that schools provide to students, and as experts weighed in on the reopening debate, it was one of the primary reasons they advocated for getting students back into the classroom ASAP. But as several districts across Colorado prepare to start remotely, kids may need to find different ways to fill the gaps in their social lives normally filled by daily face-to-face interaction with their peers.
According to June Gruber, associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Colorado Boulder, it may not be too difficult.
“There are multiple avenues that we learn and acquire information about emotions and can promote social-emotional development in youth,” Gruber said. “These are opportunities children often have in the classroom, but we can continue to cultivate outside the classroom.”
The Denver Post spoke with parents and educators to get tips on how they are integrating socialization into their children’s lives this fall.
Leverage digital platforms
José Ramón Lizárraga, assistant professor of learning sciences and human development at CU Boulder, studies how young people and teachers use digital platforms to learn and to connect with one another.
Video games — long reviled by parents — actually can go a long way to making youth feel part of a peer community, he said, especially those that are played live in real time with other players, such as Animal Crossing or Minecraft.
“One of the things many of us are challenging or questioning is that face-to-face or sharing of physical space is the only way to be social,” he said. “In their everyday activities, young people are already using digital technology to engage socially.”
He’s not just referring to kids old enough to be on social media. Durango mom Whitnie Stopani has a 5-year-old son named Lucca who uses the app Marco Polo to send videos back and forth with his friends. She called it “equivalent to texting, but for children.”
Faylyn Emma, a high school teacher at the virtual school Colorado Connections Academy, said her students often spend up to six hours a day online completing coursework. They’re familiar with platforms like Zoom, so allowing them to use video chat to host a virtual party or card game can offer a welcome change of pace, she said.
Dino Reyes, dean of culture at Lake Middle School in Denver, used to host school-wide assemblies that focused on a value or virtue and celebrated students who exhibited those values. He plans to take the concept virtual this year with a YouTube series he hopes will help bring students together online.
“Basically think of ‘Sesame Street’ or ‘Yo Gabba Gabba’ — a modern, urban version of that,” Reyes said.
Create a trusted friend “bubble”
Despite his support for digital platforms, Lizárraga said they are no replacement for face-to-face socialization.
“In an ideal world, we’d be doing both things,” he said.
Evergreen resident Laura Cence has two high schoolers who sacrificed social gatherings when schools closed abruptly in March. Sam, 16, and Charlie, 17, play in the orchestra and jazz bands, respectively, at Conifer High School and also formed their own rock band with several friends.
In early June, when they wanted to get the band back together, Cence said she conferred with the other kids’ parents to ensure they were all on the same page. The band now practices in Cence’s basement and has developed what she called a “friend bubble.”
“We know the families really well, and we know that all of us have been very, very careful,” she said. “It’s been about trusting families.”
Stopani agrees. Because her now-4-month-old daughter was born during the pandemic, other families have been understanding of her need to be cautious. Many in her bubble, including Stopani, have been tested for COVID-19. They adhere to safety protocols like washing the toys their kids play with and keeping a thermometer on hand to take temperatures.
“Whenever we are having in-person interaction (Lucca, the 5-year-old) is pretty wild at the start of it,” Stopani said. “But he’s great about wearing his mask.”
Because of the way COVID-19 is transmitted person to person, experts advise that groups spend as much time outside as possible. Luckily, Colorado is not short on pleasant weather or outdoor activities.
Stopani and her family moved to a new house with a backyard so they could have friends over to watch movies on the back porch or play video games together, but still 6 feet apart.
No matter the medium, Lizárraga encourages families to center play time around fun. That may seem obvious, but it’s important to remember especially in uncertain times.
“It allows kids to, in many ways, start imagining or putting themselves in a magical world where the world is not so messed up as it is right now,” he said.