Home Care In Berthoud, CO

The Surveyor

After a career running, managing and opening grocery stores across the country, Brett Wing has decided to run for an opening on the Town of Berthoud’s Board of Trustees. Appointed as a planning commissioner in September 2022, he says his experience and ability to deliver results would be an asset on the town board.

“I think my pitch would be my experience in working in hundreds, literally hundreds of towns, working with communities, doing developments, taking either old, tired stores or making them into state of the art beautiful ones, taking abandoned lots buildings and making them into something viable and quaint. Creating jobs and creating businesses that enhance the community through property taxes, sales taxes, employment, things like that. That’s my track record for many, many decades.” Wing explains.

Born in London, his family moved to Boulder where Wing attended Boulder High School and later the University of Colorado. During that time, he also started what would become his career. “I went to work at the Safeway on 28th and Arapahoe and I was a bagger. Now, fast forward like 45 years, I spent my whole career in the grocery industry,” Wing says.

Between 2016 and 2020 he was the president and chief operating officer of ShopRite, a major northeast grocery retailer based in New Jersey.

Now retired and residing in Berthoud, Wing wants to leverage the tools he has built up over his career to keep Berthoud special. In addition to serving on the planning commission, Wing also serves as the president of his metro district. “I feel like I’m representing the residents because the developers are these big powerful people who kind of like to do their own thing,” he says. “I’m pushing against those guys all the time because someone’s got to really look out for the residents. So I think it’s the same thing for running for the town board.”

For Wing, the town’s most vital role is to manage growth, starting with the mayor and Board of Trustees. “I think our job is to listen to everybody and say—Okay—is there a compromise there? Yes, we need to grow but we need to keep this small-town feel. It’s so important.”

Connected to growth is addressing housing affordability. He says a recent relator mailer received in the mail showed Berthoud with one of the highest median home prices in the Front Range at $600,000. Wing talks about Fort Collins often ranking high on ‘best places to live in America’ lists, “And yet our medium price house is higher. That’s a problem. I think we really need to address that,” he states.

A major fan of the town’s 2021 Comprehensive Plan, Wing says the document is the guiding light for managing growth in Berthoud. “Somebody has spent a fair amount of money to have some really smart people do that work, I think what we need to do is follow this,” he says. With options for zoning and different land uses for different areas, Wing says, “Let’s follow this plan.”

Drawing on his background in private business, attracting local business to Berthoud is another area Wing would emphasize. “I think we are a really rich environment for local businesses.” Citing increasing traffic flows on U.S. 287 and high incomes in Berthoud, he says it is important for the town to have the right mindset and be business friendly. “I just think we need to have the right pro-business attitude. And don’t confuse that with, you know, 14-story high rises, that’s not the program.”

One theme that encapsulates Wing’s approach to governing for Berthoud’s future is understanding the town’s brand and working towards preserving it. He talks about Berthoud’s brand and what attracts people here and keeps people in the town like open spaces and a small-town atmosphere. “I think it’s the same way with a city, what is our brand? What do you want to see? What do you not want to see? That’s incredibly important.”

Wing says the growth of Berthoud is inevitable in many ways and the same is true for every other nearby town within a half-hour drive. “I don’t think we can have a small-town mentality. We can have a small-town brand,” he says. “You can’t have a small-town mentality. You’ve got to think bigger—because we’re going to be bigger.”

US-40 Berthoud Pass in Colorado remains closed after an avalanche buried 10 cars around 11:20 am on Sunday, January 14, 2024. The closure is in both directions between Robins Roost and Henderson Mine Road, just south of Winter Park. No injuries were reported, and all vehicles and passengers caught in the avalanche were safely rescued.

The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) has been working on clearing the road, but they faced challenges due to additional bank slides that re-covered the roadway with snow. After the avalanche that buried 10 cars Sunday, two additional slides covered the road Tuesday afternoon, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation. There is currently no estimated time for the highway to reopen as crews work to clear snow and reduce the avalanche danger.

“Crews clearing earlier slides have encountered additional bank slides that have re-covered the roadway with snow,” CDOT wrote in an email Monday evening. “Additional snowfall and forecasted high winds through tonight make Berthoud Pass too hazardous for travel until additional snow-removal operations can be completed.

Reports are trickling in from Colorado that due to Berthoud Pass’ closure on Sunday, along with the closure of Vail and Loveland passes due to heavy snowfall, it was taking passengers roughly 7 hours to make it from Winter Park Resort to Denver. Under normal circumstances with good weather and minimal traffic, the drive from Winter Park to Denver typically takes around 1.5 to 2 hours. These closures have highlighted the heightened avalanche danger in the region, especially given the heavy snowfall and windy conditions expected to continue throughout the week.

Furthermore, travelers in Colorado’s high country, including those using Interstate 70, should be prepared for possible safety closures, which can be implemented with short notice due to extreme conditions or high avalanche danger. These closures are also necessary for avalanche mitigation and snow removal operations.

“Per the Colorado Department of Transportation – US Highway 40 Berthoud Pass remains closed due to ongoing avalanche danger and will remain closed overnight into Monday, January 15. There is no estimated time for re-opening the pass. Travelers should plan ahead and find alternate routes.”

– Grand County Sheriff’s Office

The Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC) has also issued an avalanche warning until Thursday for much of the western slope and southwest Colorado, indicating that the avalanche danger is significantly higher than in recent weeks. CAIC Director Ethan Greene emphasized the importance of checking the avalanche forecast and planning activities accordingly to avoid dangerous slopes.

“”Continuous signs of instability.” “It’s going off everywhere!” “Maybe most unstable I’ve seen in 30 years.” Those are just a few choice quotes from observers on Sunday morning. There’s no doubt conditions are dangerous. Avalanches are happening at all elevations, Small avalanches are catching and partially burying people in terrain traps. Slopes that may not scream “avalanche terrain” are sliding and can catch you by surprise. Obvious avalanche terrain is producing avalanches large enough to bury and kill a person. They are hair-trigger and can be started a distance away.”

– CAIC Forecast

U.S. Highway 40 -- more commonly referred to as Berthoud Pass -- in the Colorado mountains closed in both directions Sunday after an avalanche covered at least half of one lane.

The Colorado Avalanche Information Center and Colorado Department of Transportation both confirmed the avalanche and the closure, which is in effect from Robins Roost and Henderson Mine Road, generally between the towns of Winter Park and Empire.

RELATED: Dangerous cold maintains a grip on Colorado through Martin Luther King Jr Day

Officials did not indicate when the road might reopen but the CAIC estimated about 8 inches of snow on the ground and Sunday's forecast calls for an additional 10 to 20 inches of snow through the evening.

CDOT issued an update Sunday afternoon, saying that 10 vehicles were caught in a bank slide that happened around 11:20 a.m. No injuries were reported.

More snowfall is reportedly coming for the mountain areas with some expected to receive an additional 6 to 12 inches of snow with storm total accumulations to possibly exceed 3 feet, according to CDOT.

Around 5 p.m., the Grand County Sheriff's Office said there was no estimated time of reopening.

Austen Erblat

Austen Erblat is a digital producer and assignment editor at CBS News Colorado and is Covering Colorado First. Originally from South Florida, he's been in Denver since 2022. He plays drums and has a gray tabby cat named Sox. Meet the news team or contact us.

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'You are emblematic of excellence here in our school district,' says superintendent of Jessica May

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This story was originally published by Chalkbeat Colorado, a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools. Sign up for its newsletters here: ckbe.at/newsletters

Growing up, Jessica May saw her mother nurture many foster children over the years — 189 to be exact.

“I got to see her be a mother and a voice for those who didn’t have a voice,” she said.

May sought to continue that legacy by raising her own voice on behalf of children as a teacher at the front of the classroom.

“This is my way of doing it,” she said on Friday afternoon after being named Colorado’s 2024 Teacher of the Year in a ceremony at Turner Middle School in Berthoud.

After speeches in the gym by state and district officials and the promise of an ice cream party for the school, a beaming May headed toward the bleachers where she was deluged by students offering congratulatory hugs.

The family and consumer science teacher was one of seven finalists for the award, which is given annually by the Colorado Department of Education and other sponsors. She’ll spend the next year serving as an ambassador of sorts for the state’s teachers and will join the education commissioner’s Teacher Cabinet, a state advisory panel of educators. She’ll also represent Colorado in the National Teacher of the Year competition, visit the White House, and participate in NASA space camp.

May, who last year taught at Conrad Ball Middle School in Loveland, is in her 21st year teaching middle-schoolers in the Thompson school district. It’s an age group she appreciates. They still like hugs, want stickers, and enjoy playing Twister, but they’re also finding their way to the next stage of life, she said.

“Middle school is unique because they’re stuck between being elementary little kids and young adults in high school,” she said. “And I’m trying to help them find their voice.”

May, who has four children of her own, also helps students with life skills that run the gamut from cooking and couponing to personal finance and relationships.

“Everything that I do, if I can’t hook it to real world relevance, I don’t teach it,” she said.

Take her rice baby assignment, for example. Students learn about child development (and the challenges of parenting) by using panty hose, five pounds of rice, and a styrofoam head to fabricate a “baby” that will go everywhere with them for two weeks.

In addition to imparting real-life lessons on students, several speakers at Friday’s awards ceremony noted May’s enthusiasm and her ability to connect with kids.

“You are emblematic of excellence here in our school district,” Thompson Superintendent Marc Shaffer told May. “I couldn’t be more proud of you.”

During a short speech, May, who grew up in the northern Colorado district, described herself as “feisty” and pledged to fight for teachers’ needs in her role as teacher of the year. She also told students she loved them.

“You give us the greatest job on the planet,” she said. “Life is not about money. It is about going for your passion and knowing it in every part of your body.”

Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools. Read the original article here.