There’s a cliche about jury duty.

Only a chump gets stuck serving on a jury.

Anyone with any brains, so it goes, can get themselves excused.

Well I may be proof of the cliche.

This chump served on a jury.

And it was a blast!

A couple weeks ago, I received a summons in the mail.

I admit I had doubts about serving. I thought briefly about concocting a good reason to be excused.

Don’t get me wrong. Unlike some, I always wanted to serve on a jury. I’ve spent years in courtrooms as a reporter, covering trials. I even testified as an eye-witness in an attempted murder trial. I’m proud to say I helped put a guy away for 25 years to life!

But I didn’t look forward to spending a long, boring day at the El Paso County Courthouse.

Experience has taught me that reporters never are chosen for juries. We always get bounced from the pool.

But rather than beg off, I reported to the Jury Commissioner‘s office in the courthouse.

There, I met about 300 people waiting in line, filling out forms, reading magazines, watching TV and otherwise killing time.

But before long I heard my name called and off I went to the fourth floor and the courtroom of Judge Christopher E. Acker.

There, I was seated with 11 other potential jurors.

He gave us a basic overview of the proceedings. We were going to decide a criminal domestic dispute.

A woman claimed her ex-husband — they were married 20 years and had three children — had violated a mutually agreed upon “no contact” clause in a court protection order.

Acker turned us over to the prosecutors and a defense attorney for questioning. During the Q & A, we learned two of the four women in the jury pool had been convicted of domestic violence. A third woman had worked as a paralegal in the prosecutor’s office. As I expected, they were excused along with the fourth woman along with two men.

Shocking to me, I survived and got to hear the case with five other men: Jim Reeder, a high-tech expert, George the retired teacher, Kevin the retired Navy officer, Craig the cellphone sales exec and Ben the teacher/musician.

El Paso County Judge Christopher E. Acker

It was a great experience. Ours was a classic “he said, she said” domestic dispute. Our immediate verdict was unanimous: the man was stupid.

But, we also agreed there was reasonable doubt about whether a crime had been committed. We didn’t think he intended to break the law. And the judge had told us intent was an element we were to consider.

I appreciated the thoughtful work of my fellow jurors. I enjoyed meeting them and getting to know a little about each of them. In fact, I’d enjoy hoisting a cold beer with them someday!

And it chipped away the skepticism I previous held toward juries. Ours was serious-minded and determined to get to the truth. And I’d like to think they were a pretty representative group of all juries.

Thanks, guys!

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ARE THESE ATTORNEYS NUTS? They actually let me serve on a jury! is a post from: Side Streets

A huge new Lowe’s home improvement center opened in earlly March as part of the new University Village Colorado on North Nevada Avenue.

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It sits on the east side of Monument Creek across from the Crestline Manor Mobile Home Park, which has been there for years along Mark Dabling Boulevard.

Lowe’s and the rest of the new shopping area sit atop a new retaining wall, towering over the mobile home park on the other side.

The problem is that Lowe’s has an outdoor garden center and lumberyard. To communicate with employees who are outside, it installed a public address system.

Folks in the Crestline Manor must have thought Lowe’s was hosting a heavy metal rock concert. The volume was so high on the speakers that they could hear every word. Often, from inside their homes.

Even worse, the announcements started at dawn and went well into the evening.

So, a neighbor contacted The Gazette.

Problem solved.

A call to Lowe’s produced immediate results. The store manager turned down the speakers and drove over to Crestline to pass out his card and solicit input for residents to see if it was still too loud.

Neighbors are grateful the big box retailer isn’t a big bully. Lowe’s pledged to be a good neighbor to Crestline. So far, that promise is being kept.

In fact, anyone with questions or complaints about Lowe’s is invited to contact the company:

Lowe’s Customer Care by mail:

Lowe’s Customer Care
P.O. Box 1111
North Wilkesboro, NC 28656

By phone:            1-800-445-6937
By email:             customercare@lowes.com

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THE LOWE DOWN — new neighborhood retailer not a loud bully is a post from: Side Streets

And now, more and more of those signs are using Light-Emitting Diodes or LEDs.

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LEDs are super-bright electronic lights.

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 Imagine thousands of the brilliant little suckers flashing messages on a 30-foot-tall billboard outside your bedroom window.

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That’s happening all around the Colorado Springs region: in Security; on Austin Bluffs Parkway near Barnes Road; along U.S. Highway 24 near Petersen Road; and on Powers Boulevard near Galley Road.

All five signs are owned by Lamar Outdoor Advertising, which spent upwards of $250,000 apiece for the boards.

Here’s a photo of a two-sided board on Austin Bluffs, towering over the Fabulous TNT’s strip club:

Neighbors are divided over the LED boards. Some hate the blinking every six seconds as the message changes. Others accept them, grudgingly, as a fact of life.

Here’s a look at one that stands along South Academy Boulevard, in near Bradley Road, in Security. Folks living in modest houses amid the trees behind the storage warehouses are not thrilled with the sign.

 Lamar  owns an estimated 150,000 billboards in 44 states, Canada and Puerto Rico. Of its inventory, about 250 are LEDs.

Advertisers love them because motorists can’t ignore them. They can be networked nationwide. The message can be changed instantly for a single-day promotion. All with just a computer keystroke.

But more cities are banning them because they pose a danger to motorists, who can’t ignore them. And folks living near them object to the bright, blinking signs.

Critics include Scenic Colorado and the Council of Neighbors & Associations.

Denver and Colorado Springs don’t allow them. But they were permitted in El Paso County last year after a staff review.

Here’s a link to the 68-page report prepared for the El Paso County Commission on billboards in the county.

Screen Magazine  describes LEDS as an efficient, effective and ultrabright alternative to incandescent light bulbs.

A light emitting diode (LED) is an electronic light source. The first LED was built in the 1920s by a radio technician who noticed that diodes used in radio receivers emitted light when current was passed through them.

 The LED was introduced as a practical electronic component in 1962 (See Wikipedia). LEDs are considered more energy efficient and require less maintenance than traditional lighting. They also boast a life of about 50,000 hours–more than five years!

If you’ve been to Freemont Street, seen below, in Las Vegas or Times Square in New York City, you’ve seen LEDs in all their glory.

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These new billboards are light-years away the original billboards in the 1830s which advertised: “The circus is coming to town,” according to a history written by the Outdoor Advertising Association of America Inc.

Electronic digital billboards go back about 10 years, again according to OAAA.

Of the 450,000 billboards nationwide, about 2,000 are LEDs but the inventory is growing by the hundreds every year.

The signs cost upwards of $250,000 or more, compared to $5,000 to $50,000 for a traditional billboard.

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SIGNS, SIGNS, EVERYWHERE SIGNS . . . is a post from: Side Streets

Steve Immel, founder of Proud of our Parks Initiative

Steve Immel is like a lot of people in Colorado Springs. He works in the software industry in business development. He is raising a family. And he loves his neighborhood park.

Immel and his family live adjacent to Judge Lunt Park on the northside at Rangewood Drive and Austin Bluffs Parkway.

A few weeks ago, city parks employees removed the park’s trash cans in a citywide cost-cutting move. They took 396 cans from 128 neighborhood parks.

Immel was worried.

He didn’t want Judge Lunt to become trashy. So he got busy. He called the city’s Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Department and volunteered to adopt the park’s trash cans. The city embraced the idea and modified the Adopt a Park program to include trash cans.

(Of course, the city wants everyone to fill out an application. But it’s quick and painless.)

Then he built a Web site, which he calls the Proud of Our Parks Initiative, and began recruiting others to patrol their own parks.

His army started growing quickly. Already, the city says volunteers have adopted 47 cans in 23 parks.

Immel has partnered with the Pikes Peak Community Foundation  and raising money in hopes of paying for the trash can liners for the volunteer army. The city typically spends more than $5,000 a year on liners.

If enough money is raised, perhaps trash companies can be recruited to collect bags of trash for a reduced fee, he said.

Immel is leading an army I’d be glad to join!

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TRASH CAN ARMY — Marching to a neighborhood park near you is a post from: Side Streets

Got a note today from Michelle Farrell, who has been the driving force behind the Swing High Project – her effort to build a true universally accessible playground in Colorado Springs.

Michelle’s daughter, Abby, has spina bifida and uses crutches, braces and a wheelchair to get around.

But it’s tough to play when you can’t reach the swings, slides, play structures because of gravel or stairs or other obstacles.

I’ve written about them a couple times.

But now, thanks to Michelle’s fundraising efforts, an accessible play structure is under construction in Memorial Park.

Here’s the latest in an e-mail from Michelle . . .

We were able to get on the playground site today and look around.  It’s coming along very well! 

We are on track for a May 22^nd grand opening date, weather permitting. 

Most of the play equipment is being installed right now, and the bathrooms are in place.  The next significant step is to pour in the rubberized surfacing, which is weather-dependent. 

Michelle’s e-mail included this great photo of Abby at the playground. Now, this is an awesome way to end the week!

See you at the grand opening in May!

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SWING HIGH update — Playground nears completion!!! is a post from: Side Streets

The Friends of Aquatics is a group of people who love to swim.

And they want everyone in Colorado Springs to have the chance to learn and enjoy the water, regardless of the economic condition.

That’s why the group founded in 1998 and has, ever since, paid for poor kids to Learn to Swim.

The group also has supported other swimming programs for seniors, handicapped, Junior Life Guard training and others.

Now, the group is trying to keep Colorado Springs swimming pools afloat in the face of a budget crisis that threatens to pull the plug on all six pools.

So they are trying to raise $250,000 and convince the City Council they can operate the two indoor pools — Memorial Park and Cottonwood Creek — as well as the Wilson Ranch outdoor pool in Mountain Shadows.

Here’s a look at the brochures they are circulating:

In addition, they have printed postcards seeking donations. Here is one of the cards.

They are taking questions at 385-6032 and will respond to inquiries e-mailed to FriendsofAquatics@gmail.com

The primary movers behind the Friend group are Deb Barry and Daisy Chun Rhodes.

 Barry retired in December after 20 years running the city’s aquatics programs.

Rhodes is a longtime city activist, serving on the Parks Advisory Board, and a founder of the Friends group back in 1998.

Both are passionate about the pools. They are doing everything they can think of to raise money for the pools. They are seeking grants. Asking for donations. Even selling coffee to raise money. Here’s a look at their offerings:

They have until March 31 to convince the City Council their plan will work to at least keep the three pools open. They are hoping to get more time from the council to pursue their fundraising efforts.

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FRIENDS of AQUATICS REFUSES TO THROW IN THE TOWEL ON CITY POOLS is a post from: Side Streets

Pikes Peak Habitat for Humanity is celebrating its 100th!

Not anniversary. It’s 100th house in Colorado Springs.

That’s 100 affordable houses for the working poor.

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Habitat opened its Pikes Peak-area operations in 1986.

Over the next 11 years it built 25 houses, relying on an all-volunteer staff and an annual budget of less than $100,000.

In 1997, Habitat hired Paul Johnson as its executive director and its first paid employee.

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Paul Johnson, executive director of Pikes Peak Habitat for Humanity

Johnson has overseen sweeping changes in the nonprofit organization’s operations. 

He added a handful of professionals who found sponsors and contributors as well as scouting out properties to rehab, vacant lots to build on and families to buy them.

As the inventory of single lots in Colorado Springs disappeared, Johnson and Habitat turned to larger pieces of property for construction. The first was a 1.3-acre parcel in the Mill Street neighborhood south of downtown.

Habitat achieved savings by clustering its projects. It could move from house-to-house quicker. Plus it could rent one portable potty and rolling trash dumper among other savings.

Then it bought 10 acres near Woodmen Road and Powers Boulevard and launched Woodmen Vistas subsdivision.

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Habitat is building 36 homes there and its partner, Rocky Mountain Community Land Trust is building 31 more.

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The first house built by Pikes Peak Habitat for Humanity in its 10-acre Woodmen Vistas subdivision

So far, Habitat has built a dozen. 

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The 100th house will be the lucky 13th and two or three more are poised to start soon.

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 In fact, Habitat is having a groundbreaking ceremony at 3 p.m., on Wednesday, March 10.

Everyone is invited.

The ceremony will feature My Tien Truong and her family, who will help build the house and then move in when it is completed in about six months. They will pay off their zero interest loan to Habitat over 30 years.

Here’s a story I wrote about the project in September 2007.

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HAPPY 100th to HABITAT FOR HUMANITY is a post from: Side Streets

OK, this is not what you think. Nobody died.

It’s a post about Colorado Springs turning off 10,000 of the city’s 25,500 streetlights to save $1.25 million.

Crews from Colorado Springs Utilities are in the process of darkening lights all over the city.

 As of Wednesday, 3,106 streetlights had been deactivated, achieving $499,000 in savings.

There is a long way to go to reach the goal.

So far, crews have shut off about 48 percent of the targeted lights along arterial streets — major roads.

Only about 28 percent of the targeted residential streetlights have gone dark.

What are the adoption fees?

For an entire year of service and maintenance lower-wattage (under 175 watts) lights cost $100 and higher-wattage (over 175 watts) cost $240. Higher-wattage lights are usually found along busy, multi-lane roads. Currently, citizens may adopt a lower-wattage light for $75 for the rest of the year.

 Citizens who adopt a light after July 1, 2010 will be charged $50 for lower-wattage lights and $120 for higher-wattage lights. For further information about fees call 385-5903.

Among those upset is Art McDonnell, seen here with his light, who lives on a cul de sac in Village Seven.

He’s owned the home 22 years and used to take the light for granted.

Then, as president of the Village Seven  Homeowners Association, he started to realize how lucky he was to have the light when other neighbors complained about living in the dark and asked for streetlights.

He discovered they are expensive and began to appreciate his solitary beacon.

Now he’s upset the light is out.

He said folks using a nearby entrance to Village Seven’s network of greenways will risk being hit by cars as they come and go in the dark.

And he finds it ironic the entrance will be dark but the greenways are lit because Village Seven homeowners pay for private lighting.

The city feels it has no choice because is trying to bridge a $28 million overall budget gap.

Turning off streetlights is one of many cost-cutting steps being taken.

 Already, a police helicopter has been sold.

 Bus service is being curtailed.

 Community centers shuttered. Pools closed.

 Trash cans removed from parks. 

 McDonnell is considering filing an appeal to get his light turned back on. Folks can do that by appealing in an e-mail to askcity@springsgov.com. You can learn more about the program on the city’s Street Deactivation page at SpringsGov.com.

And watch the page in coming days for information on an “adopt a streetlight” program the city is developing so folks like McDonnell and his neighbors can pay to keep their light burning.

Crews are doing more than just disabling each light’s photo cell that automatically turns lights on at dusk, said Bryan Babcock, who oversees streetlight maintenance at Springs Utitilies.

In the process, they are swapping out old, inefficient mercury vapor bulbs with newer, more energy-efficient high-pressure sodium bulbs. About 2,500 of the old mercury vapor bulbs still remain in the city.

The photo cells are being replaced by $3 plastic plugs. Once removed, the cells are being tested before storage.

McDonnell said neighbors are burning porch lights in the absence of their streetlight. He said lessons he learned during Neighborhood Watch programs put on by the HOA have convinced folks of the value of lights in deterring crime.

In fact, in 2008, the U.S. Justice Department published a 50-page report that concludes streetlights deter crime.

Scientist John Bullough of the Light Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute reportedly disagrees. He was quoted last August in USA Today saying that there is little evidence to suggest streetlighting deters crime.

Bullough did warn cities not to darken intersections because lighting prevents traffic wrecks.

The USA Today article described how cities across the country are turning out streetlights to save money.

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NEIGHBOR MOURNS LOSS OF LONGTIME FRIEND is a post from: Side Streets