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A Front Porch article recently alerted residents to a frightening situation. Stapleton children are receiving vaccinations at an extremely high rate, and that rate reportedly continues to go up. In fact, less than five percent of Northeast Denver parents at 17 of the 18 area schools requested exemption. From a medical standpoint, this can pose all sorts of dangers. First and foremost, many vaccinations are done with needles, which cause discomfort. Many young kids never fully recover from the trauma of a visit to the doctor’s office where they receive a few uncomfortable shots. Dr. of nothing, Mark Hendricks explains. “It doesn’t take a medical degree to understand the terrible psychological long-term torture that visit could have on a child (it does),” said Hendricks. “Some kids can even experience soreness in legs or arms where the shot was given, and may even develop a slight fever. Why are we doing this to our kids?” [Read more…] about Alarming Number of Stapleton Kids Receiving Vaccinations

Reporting crime or suspicious activity on Stapleton social media sites has always been a tricky situation. What do you report? How should I describe the potential perpetrators? Should I describe everyone as white to avoid being accused of being racist? These are all tough questions, as many times do-good residents trying to alert people to a situation end up being ambushed after making a post. “I have been on the Stapleton Community Watch site for a long time,” said resident Jon Youde. “I have seen so many times where people are trying to be helpful, but ultimately are accused of being racist or elitist. But in actuality, a crime was occurring. It’s a really tough situation.” Paul Lima has seen similar issues. “When you post an item about suspicious activity, you have to be really careful,” said Lima. “You have to really be careful in your descriptors even if you are absolutely just describing what you are seeing. One wrong adjective and you get rung up as a racist pretty quick.” Because of the backlash those who post activity often receive, posters have begun a new trend. “Instead of posting the specifics of the situation, I simply post the actual event,” said Keith Hickey who now wears a body camera at all times when in Stapleton. “I will post the suspicious video, and simply say, ‘decide for yourselves.’” Many other residents are following suit. “It has really worked out well,” said body camera wearer Maria Beatty. “Now, I can get the information to everyone quickly without having to stress about political correctness or being called a racist. It’s really been great.” The body cameras have also served as vindication for those who have been questioned in the past. “Now when I post things, there will sometimes be comments like, ‘oh, that’s what you were talking about. Yes, that is suspicious,’” said Beatty. At least 15 different people have posted suspicious videos and that trend seems to be increasing. “When I tell people that I wear one, I can tell some people think I’m crazy,” said Hickey. “But others ask where I got it and how effective it has been. I think it could ward off potential attackers even.” Be careful when hanging out in the hood. You never know who could be recording your actions.]]>

Stapleton five year old Ella Hoffman recently underwent a hearing test at the request of her parents, Michael and Linda. Unfortunately for the Hoffmans, the results were devastating. “We knew something was wrong,” said Linda. “We would talk and talk to her, and it was clear she didn’t hear us. We knew we had to take her in for testing.” That’s when the Hoffmans found out that their daughter was completely deaf, when she was watching television. “It was really hard on us at first,” said Michael. “I mean to find out your daughter, your little girl has no hearing, in any circumstance is just really hard. Really hard.” The doctors at Stapleton Pediatrics performed several different hearing tests on Ella, including ones where she was watching TV, and when she was not watching TV. “The good news for Ella is that if she is not watching TV, she can hear completely fine,” said Dr. Clark. “It’s just in the specific instances of watching television where she has trouble hearing. Well, not just trouble, she essentially has no hearing at all.” [Read more…] about Test Confirms Stapleton Child Completely Deaf While Watching TV

Recently, the DPD placed signage in Stapleton on 26th Ave. in Eastbridge in an effort to curb thieves from stealing packages from Stapleton porches. The sign states, “prevent package theft, track your packages, pick up package ASAP.” This sign is a helpful reminder to Stapleton residents to make sure they don’t leave packages unattended for too long. The sign also serves as a warning to thieves to make sure they get there right after the package is dropped off. “I totally understand what they are doing,” said resident Bobby Madison. “But to me, it seems pretty unnecessary. People are already doing the best they can to be vigilant and make sure they have neighbors grab packages or get them quickly themselves. It ends up feeling like a reminder to the criminals that there are packages to be had and to act fast on them.” Lisa Christin agrees. “Residents are starting to get wise to porch thieves,” said Christin. “I just don’t like the sign because it continues to make our neighborhood look like a tacky hotbed of crime.” From DPD’s perspective, it helps add another presence for the police force. “We can’t just have 10 troopers driving around Stapleton at all times,” said police spokesperson Aaron McClelland. “It’s the best way we can remind residents to be aware of what is going on, and make appropriate plans so people don’t continue to fall victim to petty crime. Come on, people, work with us here.” As usual, the DPD will evaluate the effectiveness of the signage after analyzing crime report data.]]>

Stapleton resident Michael Dinnebier is married with three kids, a six, four, and two year old. They live a normal Stapleton life, which is to say they have an above average standard of living and their kids want for nothing. Due to having three kids, they have an abundance of toys, scooters, bikes, balls, sleds, wagons, kites, pool toys, and anything else you can think of. All of this stuff, takes up a lot of space. “It’s really incredible how much stuff we have,” said Dinnebier. “Every time I feel like we are purging stuff, more stuff takes its place. I don’t even know where it comes from. Probably Stapleton Swap.” [Read more…] about Stapleton Man Realizes He Will "Probably Never" be Able to Park in Garage Again

Maya Addison turned six last week, and her family threw a big birthday party for her at her home. Almost 20 little kids came to the Disney-themed party, and there were lots of balloons, cake, decorations, music, party favors, and anything else you can think of. Although everything went well, Maya’s mom Karen decided this would be the final birthday party thrown in their home. “That’s it,” said Karen. “We are done having birthday parties in this house. Too many kids, too many messes, too much stuff. Moving forward, we will be having destination birthday parties like everyone else does when their kids get to be this age.” Karen says that although it seems like you save money by not renting a facility, there really isn’t that much of a savings if at all. “After buying all the theme stuff and decorations, you might as well have just had it at a pool, the Bladium, or a trampoline park or something,” said Karen. “Plus, you’re not in charge of the cleanup. In hindsight, that really would have been the way to go.” Karen admits she will miss throwing birthday parties in the house. “More than anything, it’s a sign the kids are getting older,” said Karen. “It used to be so fun when you could just have your friends come over and one or two of their little friends to celebrate those early birthdays. Now, they have school, sports, and other activities, and you don’t want to leave kids out. So, you end up inviting all these kids. It’s just too many to have in a house.” Karen says she is already reviewing options for next year’s party. “Really, it just has to be somewhere else. Anywhere but our house.”]]>

Recently, the Stapleton MCA passed a controversial policy in regards to screening potential buyers before they would be allowed to move into Stapleton. “I call it extreme vetting,” said MCA President Paul Harris. “Extreme vetting. Extreme. Stapleton has almost no problems being caused by anyone coming in here. But, it’s better to be safe than sorry.” Harris has said the new vetting process is in its infant stages, but they do have the beginnings of the general requirements. “Obviously, you either have to have kids, or plan to have kids,” said Harris. “Dog ownership is also a plus.” Harris refused to go into more specifics, but an unidentified source within the MCA spoke with The Stapletonion and mentioned several other of the screening processes being considered. “On the extreme vetting sheet we received, there are definitely some troubling items,” said the anonymous source. “One of the items concerns how hot the mom, or soon to be mom is. It is encouraged that they be at least a seven on a scale of ten. They even have photo examples of what a seven would be as a reference.” There is also an item regarding wealth. “They want to know what kind of car they drive, and what year,” said the source. “It lists preferences such as BMW’s, Volvo, Audi, and so on. But, there are also acceptable things such as newer Toyota 4 Runners, Subaru Outbacks, and whatnot.” Possibly most disturbing in regards to the extreme vetting list is the screening on race. “It does ask for ethnic background,” says the source. “It doesn’t say that it won’t take other races, but it says behind the question in parenthesis ‘white is strongly preferred.’” The MCA says the vetting process will go through a four month trial run to see if it is effective and to see if any changes or additions need to be made. “Nothing is perfect the first time through,” said President Harris. “There most certainly will be some things we missed, and we will reassess that after the trial period.” At this point, the community does not seem to be behind the new process. “I think it’s pretty disgusting,” said resident Nikki Adkins. “So, if someone wants to buy a home in Stapleton and can, they are putting them through an extra process on top of that? That’s embarrassing.” Resident Kyle Jackson agrees and feels adding the screening process is unnecessary. “Don’t the prices of the homes in Stapleton dictate most of these criteria already?” asked Jackson. “The market has already spoken, and that is who it says can live here. Don’t think we need a checklist for that.” The MCA says that a small panel including President Harris will review the applications and move them along if the candidates meet the requirements. “We want people to be able to enjoy Stapleton,” said Harris. “Provided they meet our guidelines.” The guidelines may seem a little strict at first; however, it is termed ‘extreme vetting.’ Editor’s Note:  The MCA referenced in the above article is completely fictitious, and in no way reflects the values of the actual Stapleton MCA.  ]]>

Recently, the Solid Waste Management Division of Denver delivered new garbage cans to many unsuspecting Denver residents. The new cans are similar to the recycle cans, and the massive effort is an attempt to reduce the labor intensive job of trash pickup, and create a more automated process. Residents had been asked to request either a small, medium, or large bin. For the many who did not respond, the default was the medium-sized bin. The change appears to be a good idea, and may even encourage people to recycle more or consider composting. The problem for many Stapleton residents is, there just seems to be a lot of trash here. “The first pick up week did not go well,” said resident Dave Noelting. “I thought the can we had would be big enough, but I forgot how much we overflow the two trash cans I normally set out. Plus, we usually have extra bags we set around those cans, and that has never been a problem. This change is going to affect our lifestyle.” Other residents worry about holidays. “What is going to happen after Christmas,” asks Amy Penny. “We normally have ten big bags out there the next week. Now what?” [Read more…] about “Extra Trash Service Day” About to Become Very Big in Stapleton