Denver has experienced an inordinate amount of rain and storms this spring and early summer, and with these storms, Westerly Creek again climbed over its banks. In fact, it was the second 100 years flood in three years. “It is absolutely remarkable how much rain has been coming in the area,” said meteorologist Fred Johnson. “Westerly Creek was several feet over the banks, and we didn’t expect to see that for another 100 years, since we just had a similar flood.” [Read more…] about Westerly Creek to be Renamed “Floody Creek”

The beginning of summer brings lots of sunshine (normally), days at the pool, and much longer days. The sun comes up earlier, and goes down later. And with no school, parents become more lax on the bedtime schedule. This often causes meltdowns and all sorts of random whining and unnecessary crying. “It’s really hard to get the kids into bed when the sun is still out, and their rooms are light,” said resident Megan Lima. “The sundial doesn’t match the actual time, so it is a real challenge sometimes to get them inside, much less to bed.” [Read more…] about Stapleton Residents Tinting Kids’ Windows in Hopes of Keeping Them in Bed Longer

Many residents in Eastbridge as well as the rest of Stapleton have fought tirelessly to keep King Soopers out of Eastbridge. They have united in their fight to get a natural grocer, or in many cases, anything except a King Soopers. Complaints have ranged from the lack of organic food choices, to the poor service at Soopers, and even the proposed design of the planned structure. However, many of these complaints were quieted and even reversed in the last two weeks after Evergreen announced it had inked two Troy Guard restaurants, owner of Tag, Guard & Grace, and Bubu. “After really looking into some things, I don’t think a Soopers there will be all bad,” said recent flip-flopper Adam Miller. “It’s not about the restaurants at all. Sure it will be nice to be able to walk over to a couple of really cool restaurants, or have friends see Stapleton as a dinner destination. I mean, that’s nice, but I’m not a sellout. It’s about Soopers listening to the community, which it seems they are doing.” Former Soopers opponent Kate Penningroth agrees. “I don’t know why it is taking so long for them to build that thing,” says Penningroth. “I mean, start digging already. In fact, many of us are interested in helping out if they need some extra free hands to help move along the construction process.” Although the restaurants have not been finalized, Guard is planning to have a Mexican restaurant as well as his first breakfast-focused eatery. “Sure, pretty soon there will be a light rail to take people to the downtown experience,” says resident Ron Shelton. “But, why not have people take that rail east to the bubble to enjoy a Stapleton dining experience. Why can’t Stapleton be as cool as downtown, but with kids instead of the homeless?” Many Stapleton residents seem to be ready to put aside their differences with Soopers and get moving with the town center. “I’m not saying I’m going to kiss and make up,” says Miller. But, maybe I’ll forgive and forget.” Now, if Evergreen signs a liquor store and a coffee shop, there will thousands of Stapleton workers prepared to start digging.]]>

Stapleton parents often control their kids’ playdates as well as play times and locations. This, of course, essentially makes it so parents are choosing their children’s’ friends. Some Stapleton parents are fine with that. “These are four to eight year old kids,” exclaimed Kathy Gregory. “They aren’t developed mentally enough to be choosing their own friends. There are certain evils I can see in kids that maybe my son can’t see. I do my best to make it so he is not meeting up with that kid, even if I like his parents.” Annie Weber agrees but for different reasons. “Hey, these kids could be friends for life,” says Weber. “If I don’t like their parents, I don’t want to be stuck sitting next to them at birthday parties, having dinners at each other’s houses, etc. just so our kids can hang out. So, yeah, I like to try to select my kid’s friends so that I am comfortable hanging out with their parents.” [Read more…] about New App “Kinder” Helps Elementary Schoolers with Playdates

It’s no secret that Stapleton is full of over-bearing helicopter parents. In fact, this writer has seen kids on monkey bars wearing safety harnesses. But there is a new wave of parenting moving through Stapleton. It’s called free range parenting. In essence, free range parenting is the idea that we should give our kids the same freedom that our generation had when we were kids. Furthermore, the idea is that it will help build kids’ self-confidence and actually help them mature more quickly. The concept is slowly gaining momentum in Stapleton. [Read more…] about Free Range Stapleton Kids Roam One to Two Blocks Without Supervision

The Central Park Rec Center is one of the nicer rec centers in the Denver community. It features a very nice basketball court, a pool, a weight room, fitness rooms, and a lounge area among other things. However, the center has struggled to reach membership goals, and typically is underutilized by the Stapleton community. “We could use a lot more traffic,” said Central Park Rec Center manager Amanda Kimball. “We are never near capacity, and it would be nice to have a little more energy, plus obviously, more funding and revenue. So, we worked with the city to close that gap, at least for the summer.” [Read more…] about Central Park Rec Center Transitions to Juvenile Detention Facility for Summer

Evergreen Development grew tired of waiting for King Soopers and the Stapleton community to iron out their issues. So, they took it upon themselves to get the project moving forward. “We knew Forest City has been saying, ‘the project won’t move forward until we have the grocer,’” said Evergreen developer Mark Mullenix. “So, we were in a bad spot playing the waiting game. But then we thought, maybe if we can create an ideal situation in the rest of the town center, we can make people forget about how shitty Soopers is.” [Read more…] about Evergreen Puts Cart Before Horse with Big Success

In a recent study conducted by the University of Colorado at Boulder, researchers acknowledged that according to data, Stapleton parents do love their kids more than Americans who are not living in Stapleton. “We looked at several different factors,” said research director Dr. Keith Geary. “How much time people spend with them, how much money they spend on them, how many extra-curricular activities they are enrolled in, among many other factors. In all cases, Stapleton parents ranked significantly ahead of the mean of loving kids in America.” Geary says the study not only compared Stapleton to all of America, but went down to the city and neighborhood level. “It was important for us to see if there was another neighborhood out there that loved there kids as much as Stapleton parents do. Data says there is not.” [Read more…] about Report: Stapleton Parents DO Love Their Kids More