Home Care In Westminster, CO

Many of us have already realised that this generation are facing very real pressures from their devices

Paul Swaddle, leader of the Conservative Group, Westminster City Council

THANKS to the Netflix series Adolescence, discussion about the issues faced by our children and young people has been all over the media over the last couple of weeks.

Many of us have already realised that this generation are facing very real pressures from social media and their peers through their phones and digital devices, even as the prime minister Sir Keir Starmer suggested recently that the series had alerted him to the problems.

Although my children are beyond school age, my wife is a teacher and so we regularly discuss what it is like to be at school today.

Our Westminster Conservatives’ Young People team, led by Councillor Tim Barnes, are also highly experienced in the issues of this critical area.

That’s why we are surprised that Westminster Labour have not looked to address the concerns of parents and carers about mobile phone use in schools.

Several London boroughs have introduced bans and other measures in recent months but there’s been silence on this issue here.

The Conservative party has pushed for legislation and votes in parliament but these have not been supported by the Labour government.

But we are listening.

Last week Councillor Karen Scarborough raised concerns with primary school heads and listened to what they had to say.

We have brought these thoughts together and will be pushing for action from the current city council and pressing for changes that support teachers, parents, carers, and our young people.

The time has come to help protect our youngest residents.

We are proposing a ban on smartphones in primary schools.

In practice many of our schools do this already but we want to help make it easier for those schools that have faced opposition to do what they think is needed.

Particular care needs to be taken for those with special educational needs and disabilities, too.

We also want to see better support for secondaries and academies that want to develop their own policies and we will back every school to put in place the measures they think are needed.

Parents and carers also need help to find out what’s the best action to take and how to manage their children’s phones, inside and outside of school.

It can be a struggle to keep up with the technology and we will look to help with information on how to best manage their children’s phones and access.

There are several effective charities and initiatives that work across the United Kingdom which we will bring to Westminster and make available to parents and carers.

In practice, much of this is incremental to what is happening in schools already.

But we are determined to provide solutions and support to help fill in the gaps across our city and provide clear direction where the current Labour leadership have been utterly silent.

Sir Keir thinks our plan to ban phones in schools is “completely unnecessary”.

We know those who take care of children are more concerned.

If you would like to express your views on this issue or support our plans visit: westminsterconservatives.com/BanSmartPhones

NEW YORK (AP) - This time, the giant schnauzer went the full Monty.

After coming close in the last two years, Monty the giant schnauzer won the top prize at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show Tuesday night, leaving handler and co-owner Katie Bernardin almost too emotional to speak.

“He always tries so hard, and we’re just proud of him,” she told the crowd at Madison Square Garden.

The spirited schnauzer bested six other finalists to become the first of his breed tapped as Westminster’s best in show, the most prestigious prize in the U.S. dog show world. The dog won the huge American Kennel Club championship in December, and he’d been a Westminster finalist twice before.

A standout because of “everything from his attitude to his structure,” Monty is bold, cocky and fun, according to co-owner Sandy Nordstrom.

“He’s just a really cool dog,” she said in an interview before his win, which will be his last. The 5-year-old is retiring from showing.

The runner-up was, for the third time, a whippet known as Bourbon. Other finalists included a bichon frisé called Neal, a Skye terrier named Archer, and a shih tzu called Comet who’s been a finalist before.

Also in the mix were a German shepherd named Mercedes, who came in second last year, and an English springer spaniel called Freddie.

Each dog at Westminster is judged according to how closely it matches the ideal for its breed. Winners get a trophy, ribbons and bragging rights, but no cash prize.

During a break between semifinal rounds, security personnel surrounded and ousted someone along the sidelines of the ring. The group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which has protested the dog show for years, said on X that a supporter was removed after holding a sign.

Westminster says it celebrates all dogs. The show champions that compete also are household pets, and some do therapy work, search-and-rescue or other canine jobs.

“A good German shepherd is an all-purpose dog,” said Mercedes' co-breeder and co-owner Sheree Moses Combs of Wardensville, West Virginia. Some of her pups have become service dogs for wounded veterans, she said.

“Dog shows are fun, but that is what our breed is all about,” she said.

While Monty got this year’s trophy, other hopefuls also scored points with spectators.

During two nights of semifinals, spectators shouted out breeds and names of canine competitors as if they played for one of the pro teams that call the Garden home, the NBA’s New York Knicks and NHL’s New York Rangers.

“Love you, Lumpy!” someone yelled to a Pekingese named Lumpy, who earned laughs for his ambling gait.

The arena erupted with cheers for Penny the Doberman pinscher and for a golden retriever named Tuffy, a representative of a popular breed that has never won. The judge also gave some recognition to Tuffy and another crowd favorite, Calaco the Xoloitzcuintli. His breed (pronounced shoh-loh-eets-KWEEN'-tlees) are hairless dogs with deep roots in Mexico.

A trip to Westminster is a reminder of dogs' variety, even just among purebreds. While big, “working” dogs had their day at Westminster on Tuesday, so did terriers.

First-round competitor Brina, for instance, is a 158-pound (71.6 kilogram) Neapolitan mastiff. The jowly breed was developed to be an imposing guard dog, but Brina’s owner, Yves Belmont, Ph.D., said he also is impressed by its intelligence. He keeps several of the dogs at his Atlanta-area home.

“I’ve been struck by this breed since I was 12. ... They’re so unique,” Belmont said as Brina napped in her crate, equipped with a two-gallon (7.5-liter) water bucket.

Meanwhile, Tyra the miniature bull terrier also strutted her stuff in a first-round ring. Formally called GCH CH Rnr’s Top Model, she’s named after fashion model Tyra Banks.

The hardy terrier breed is “a big dog in a small package, but they always keep you smiling,” said owner and co-breeder Jessica Harrison of Austin, Texas. Asked where the 2-year-old Tyra falls on the mischief meter, Harrison smiled, “like a nine, for sure.”

“You can’t be upset with them because they’re just so cute,” she said as Tyra rolled on her back to get a belly rub from a passerby at the Javits Center, the convention venue that hosted the first-round judging of each breed.

Westminster also featured agility and obedience events that allowed mixed-breed and purebred dogs. The agility prize went to a border collie named Vanish, and an Australian shepherd called Willie triumphed in obedience.

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

The company's planned acquisition includes taking over the lease of a Wheat Ridge dispensary.

A Denver-based cannabis company plans to acquire a Wheat Ridge business and take over its dispensary lease, according to federal filings.

Trees Colorado LLC signed an agreement on Jan. 31 with Beddor Claude LLC, which does business as Chronic Therapy, to acquire the company and its licensed dispensary at 10030 West 27th Ave., in Wheat Ridge.

If the deal is approved, the Trees Corp. subsidiary will purchase Chronic for $1.75 million, of which nearly $1.49 million will be paid upon the closing. The remaining $262,500 will be held back for up to two years to satisfy obligations regarding compensation for harm or loss, according to a filing with the United States Securities and Exchanges Commission.

The acquisition is subject to the regulatory approval of the Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division, the filing said.

Trees Colorado also signed a five-year lease on Jan. 31 for the Wheat Ridge dispensary location. The lease has two five-year renewal options.

Base rent on the 4,898-square-foot property is $8,600 monthly for the first year and will increase to $9,679 per month by the fifth year. That’s $20.60 per square foot in the first year and $23 per square foot by the fifth year.

The lease will not begin until Trees' acquisition is completed, and the lease will be voided if the deal doesn’t close by July, according to an SEC filing.

Trees also announced on Feb. 1 that the company named a new chief financial officer. Mikayla Gilbert, 32, was promoted to the new role, replacing former CFO Edward Myers.

Trees promoted Gilbert from within. She had previously served as the business's controller, a position she'd held since October 2023.

Her base salary as CFO will be $120,000 with the opportunity for a discretionary annual bonus, according to an SEC filing. She'll report to the company's interim CEO Adam Hershey.

Gilbert worked previously for Desibl LLC, before which she held other roles at Trees Corp. from 2020-2023.

Trees Corp. is headquartered in Denver and sells products and services for the regulated cannabis industry.

It was one of the first public companies to receive a Suitability Approval from the Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division to acquire licensed cultivation, manufacturing and retail operations assets across the state, according to its website.

Chronic Therapy’s dispensary cultivates more than 40 types of marijuana strains, according to its website.

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In the latest in his series on eminent Victorians, Neil Titley turns his attention to the country’s only four-time prime minister, William Ewart Gladstone

William Ewart Gladstone, the saviour of fallen women – well, 12 of them – in 1861

IN 1898, the immortal Scottish bard William McGonagall penned the verse:

“Alas! the people now do sigh and moan

For the loss of Wm. Ewart Gladstone,

Who was a very great politician and a moral man,

And to gainsay it there’s few people can.”

Indeed, Britain’s only four times prime minister, William Gladstone (1809-1898) seemed in many respects to embody Victorian respectability and politics forged by religious purpose.

Born in Liverpool, he became a member of Lincoln’s Inn, Holborn, in 1833 with the intention of becoming a barrister. However, he soon turned his ambition to Westminster.

In modern terms it is difficult to define Gladstone’s political position. He started out as a young Tory who used his maiden speech to defend the slave-owners of the West Indies (his own father owned over 2,500 slaves and received £100,000 as compensation for their emancipation).

Moving steadily to the Victorian left, he led the Liberal Party campaigns to increase equality of opportunity, expand the electoral franchise, and bring Home Rule to Ireland, earning himself the popular nickname of “The People’s William.”

His fiscal policies of laissez-faire economics and non-intervention by the state over market forces were very close to modern day Thatcherism, except that in 1896 he stated that his chief fear was “the love of money. This seems to me to be a growing evil. Also, there is a danger from the growth of that dreadful military spirit.”

However, Gladstone was also a wily politician and his colleagues were less respectful than his public.

Henry Labouchere said that he had no objection to Gladstone always seeming to have an ace up his sleeve but what he did object to was Gladstone’s pretence that God had put it there.

Oscar Wilde pointed out: “In England a man who can’t talk morality twice a week to a large, popular, immoral audience is quite over as a serious politician. There would be nothing left for him as a profession except Botany or the Church.”

Known affectionately by his supporters as the G.O.M. (“Grand Old Man”), Gladstone was known less affectionately by his political rivals as “God’s Only Mistake.”

He was fortunate to have interests outside of Parliament – in Dennis Healey’s phrase “a hinterland” – and was a noted scholar who prided himself on his knowledge of ancient Greek.

On a tour of Greece, he gave a public oration in that language forgetting that modern Greek was quite different to ancient. He was bewildered when the Mayor of Corfu thanked him for his speech but added his regret that Gladstone had delivered it in English.

Seldom sleeping for more than four hours a night, Gladstone found his relaxation in tree felling; his personal axe was a treasured possession.

He enjoyed excellent health for almost all of his long life. This was attributed to his habit of chewing every piece of food exactly 32 times. When someone said to Lord Salisbury about Gladstone: “How I wish I had his mind,” Salisbury replied: “You can have his mind if I can have his digestion.”

The one great mystery about Gladstone was his attitude over sexual matters.

He was very happily married for nearly 59 years, sincerely loved his wife, and exuded morality.

Yet throughout his life he displayed an obsession with “saving fallen women”.

He used to patrol the red-light districts of London searching for prostitutes whom he would attempt to reform, sometimes by bringing them back to 10 Downing Street so that he could recite the Bible to them. He was signally unsuccessful in this, by his own account estimating only 12 converts in 60 years.

These actions on the face of it seemed innocent and even laudable. However, as Labouchere pointed out, Gladstone rarely if ever chose to save “an ugly woman”.

“I am quite sure his conception of Mary Magdalen is of an incomparable example of pulchritude with a superb figure and carriage.”

Also, the man-about-town Algernon Bourke reported that Gladstone had given one prostitute some very odd advice: “that she should be honest in all her dealings and always to give full value for the money she received”.

Although he swore to his son that he had never been guilty of “infidelity to the marriage bed”, in Victorian terms this did not rule out other forms of sexual activity. The nicknames that were bandied around the 1880s London brothels concerning Gladstone – “Old Glad-eyes” and “Daddy-do-nothing” – gave rise to the suspicion that he was in reality a repressed voyeur. He disclosed in his diaries that after meetings with these women he would flog himself till he had scars on his back. His method of restraint was self-torture.

It was a tribute to his moral authority that the gossip about these activities failed to dent his stature. In managing to conceal the truth from the public, perhaps he also managed to conceal it from himself.

Several people commented on Gladstone’s dramatic qualities. Frank Harris: “He was a great actor and could persuade himself of anything.”

• Adapted from Neil Titley’s book The Oscar Wilde World of Gossip. www.wildetheatre.co.uk Available at Daunts, South End Green.