April 9, 2026: A historical mystery in Grand Junction; The appeal of Colorado's most diverse city

Summary

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Colorado Matters – April 9, 2026

A Historical Mystery in Grand Junction & The Appeal of Colorado’s Most Diverse City

Hosts: Ryan Warner & Chandra Thomas Whitfield
Guests: Tom Hess (CPR West Slope Producer), Philip Gover (History Colorado), Dave Perry (Editor, Aurora Sentinel)

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Episode Overview

This episode of Colorado Matters dives deep into two significant Colorado stories. First, the ongoing quest to locate a lost cemetery at the site of a former Indian boarding school in Grand Junction—a search tied to reckoning with the painful legacy of Indigenous boarding schools. Second, the spotlight shifts to Aurora, Colorado’s most racially and ethnically diverse city. Here, Dave Perry, editor of the Aurora Sentinel, unpacks current issues in policing, homelessness, community life, and a celebration of local unsung heroes and athletes.

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1. The Search for Teller Institute Cemetery in Grand Junction

(Segment begins ~00:11)

Background & Importance

• The former Teller Institute in Grand Junction, a federal Indian boarding school, operated near the turn of the 19th century, forcefully taking Indigenous children from their families.
• Many students died at these schools, but the location of the school’s cemetery remains a mystery.
• Locating the cemetery is necessary before the land can be transferred or a memorial held.

Key Points

• Efforts so Far

  • Researchers have found written references and newspaper accounts confirming student deaths and mention a cemetery.
  • Extensive surveys, including ground-penetrating radar, were conducted by History Colorado—without success.
  • Documentation is scattered, inconsistent, and often contradictory.

  "A little bit of a needle in the haystack, but for those families that have been in that area for a while may have at least some idea of a location so we can go do a more detailed look."
  — Philip Gover [00:11], [04:47]

• Why the Effort Matters

  • Inspired by discoveries of mass graves of Indigenous children at boarding schools in Canada.
  • Both federal and Colorado state governments are assessing past school sites, aiming to acknowledge and memorialize tragic histories.

• Obstacles

  • Property records and student records are incomplete; sometimes a student's attendance is only found due to records from other schools.
  • One ambiguous old irrigation map refers to a “pastor near cemetery” but without clear directions.

  "Except for one generalized irrigation map mentioned the pastor near cemetery, but it doesn't really state, you know, is that quarter mile? Are we talking right up butts up against it? Is it north of it, south of it, east of it, west of it? None of that's given in there."
  — Philip Gover [03:36]

• Next Steps

  • Surveying areas that once belonged to the property but now belong to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
  • Crowdsourcing knowledge at a local event (April 21, Clifton Library) to collect oral histories or clues from long-time residents.

  "We're trying to get those who may have taken a look into the boarding schools to come, but also the general public that may have a connection or some knowledge..."
  — Philip Gover [04:47]

• Long-Term Plans

  • Potential transfer of the property to entities like Colorado Mesa University, county/city, or even Colorado tribes (Southern Ute, Ute Mountain Tribe).
  • State seeks to hold a memorial ceremony, but only after site is properly honored and cemetery located.

Notable Quotes

• "The history Colorado basically started looking into all these locations that were operating kind of around the turn of the 19th century."
  — Tom Hess [02:17]

• "The state wants to eventually transfer it to a public entity. ...But before any of that...they want to have some kind of ceremony to honor the boarding school."
  — Tom Hess [05:49]

Key Timestamps

• Introduction to the search: [00:11]–[06:31]
• Event info and oral history appeal: [04:16]–[05:46]

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2. Aurora: Diversity, Community, and Local Issues

(Segment begins ~07:49)

The Aura of Aurora

• Aurora is cited as the most racially and ethnically diverse city in Colorado.

• The city’s diversity is evident in its neighborhoods, business corridors (e.g., Havana Street), and even grocery aisles.

  "They've embraced that and elevated inclusivity so that you can learn about people from all over the world without having to get on a plane and go there."
  — Dave Perry [11:04]

Media and Community Representation

• Discussion of role and evolution of modern local journalism—changing newsroom dynamics, taking on multiple roles, and the mission of the Colorado Ethnic Media Exchange (See Me).

  "Something that I frequently tell my peers is this is stuff they didn't teach in J school."
  — Dave Perry [08:57]

• Correction of stereotypes and over-generalizations about Aurora, both race-related and economic.

  "People forget that Aurora, this is not their first rodeo by any means, and they've saddled up to solve a lot of problems."
  — Dave Perry [12:12]

  “There is truly no place in Aurora that I would be uncomfortable walking at 2 o'clock in the morning anymore than I would be uncomfortable walking anywhere at 2 o'clock in the morning.”
  — Dave Perry [14:48]

• Pushback against national mischaracterizations (e.g., false claims about immigrant gangs by Donald Trump) with local perspective.

Key Timestamps

• Diversity & representation: [07:49]–[12:12]
• Responding to stereotypes & Trump’s statements: [12:12]–[15:36]

Collaborative Ethnic Media

• The Ethnic Media Exchange’s impact—sharing stories about African and Latino communities, not as monoliths but with nuance about national origins, politics, and cultures.

  “It's too easy to generalize immigrants and just also people of color and different, different cultural backgrounds. And the ethnic scene is really much more diverse and complicated…”
  — Dave Perry [16:00]

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3. Current Affairs in Aurora

(Segment begins ~17:52)

Police Reform

• Aurora under a state consent decree after patterns of discrimination and excessive force, especially toward people of color, were identified.

• Ongoing reforms focus on training, community trust-building, oversight (by an "independent" monitor), and tackling police shootings which still disproportionately affect men of color.

• Civil Service Commission’s unique dual role in recruiting/hiring and discipline appeals for police.

  "At this point, though, there's been some rebuilding of trust, but ... there have been numerous people who have been killed by rural police and almost all of them people of color."
  — Dave Perry [18:16]

  "I think if we were to say that there's one focus for us ... it would be on accountability and truly independent organization that stands aside from the police department..."
  — Dave Perry [21:59]

Recruitment & Diversity

• Striving for a police force that reflects community diversity, with renewed efforts post-consent decree, though challenged by previous federal rhetoric against DEI.

  "That's the antithesis of what this police department and any really police department needs to do is have a department that looks, looks like and reflects the community they serve."
  — Dave Perry [23:34]

Homelessness: Aurora's New Approach

• The city built a $38 million regional navigation center (converted hotel) to blend emergency shelter, transitional housing, and supportive services, with levels of shelter based on participation in employment and sobriety programs.

• Facility had initial troubles (building not ready, negative first impressions); concern over inability to assist elderly displaced by economic hardship.

  "Homelessness is one of those things that a lot of times we paint with a broad brush. And actually, there's a lot of reasons behind homelessness. ... There is this large community that cannot be served by this $38 million project."
  — Dave Perry [29:12]

  "What this organization wants to make clear is this is a transitional facility. It is not an end game."
  — Dave Perry [33:38]

Highlights from the “Nine Lives” Series

• Annual feature spotlighting nine unsung residents—immigrant bus drivers, community activists, poets, and others whose stories reflect Aurora’s diversity and resilience.

  "Nine Lives...look at nine people in Aurora that don't always rise to the top. They aren't stars ... but they've just got really cool stories to tell."
  — Dave Perry [26:12]

  “He practically has taken over the department and taught them how to train people from cultures all over the place... to become not only good bus drivers, but really good stewards of the school district and the kids themselves.”
  — Dave Perry [26:12], recounting the story of Jingli

Celebrating Student Athletes

• Hometown heroes, such as two sisters from Centennial (Lauren and Sienna Betts), contributed to UCLA's first NCAA national championship in women’s basketball.

  "Having your own family on the team is something that a lot of people don't get to experience. ... She's my best friend. I'm just so happy for our family and for her. It's amazing."
  — Lauren Betts [46:54]

Upcoming Issues & Election Coverage

• The 2024 election is expected to feature competitive Democratic primaries as Aurora's political demographics continue to shift.

  "We're seeing really stern and furious interest in primary races. ... a contest between different flavors of liberalism and Democrats."
  — Dave Perry [36:19]

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4. Everyday Life & Closing Thoughts

Water Conservation & Equity

• Aurora is leading the charge on water restriction policies due to drought, with debate about how policies affect residents of different economic means.

  "How do these policies affect everybody? And especially folks that are working really hard and trying to keep their head above water on a whole lot of levels."
  — Dave Perry [38:33]

What Makes Aurora Special?

• Unanimous: the food! Aurora’s culinary scene offers global flavors across its neighborhoods.

  "The food. Without a doubt, the food... if you want a banh mi that will make you salivate ... or if you want to get Iraqi flatbread ... you can eat your way around the world just by traveling up and down the boulevard."
  — Dave Perry [40:26]

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Notable & Memorable Quotes

• “Snark is us.”
  — Dave Perry [08:22]

• "A continent, not a country."
  — Host [17:50], on Africa

• "There is a place around the world that does not have some gourmet offering in Aurora, I would like to know what it is. And I’m sure somebody will soon move there."
  — Dave Perry [41:08]

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Key Timestamps

• Teller Institute cemetery segment: [00:11]–[06:31]
• Aurora Sentinel/Dave Perry interview: [07:49]–[41:56]
  • Diversity & community context: [07:49]–[12:12]
  • Policing: [17:52]–[25:05]
  • Homelessness: [29:04]–[34:44]
  • Student athletes: [34:44]–[36:13]
  • Water conservation & final thoughts: [37:41]–[39:58]
  • Favorite Aurora feature (food!): [40:26]–[41:56]
• Lauren & Sienna Betts/UCLA victory story: [45:18]–[47:44]

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Takeaways

This episode offers a microcosm of Colorado’s broader reckoning with history, and a vivid portrait of Aurora’s dynamic present. From unearthing lost gravesites to complex policy debates around police reform and homelessness, and the celebration of everyday heroes, the episode surfaces the voices, tensions, and joys that define the state’s most diverse communities.

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Transcript

[Host]

From CPR News, this is Colorado Matters. State officials want to find a troubling piece of history, but they need help.

[Philip Gover]

A little bit of a needle in the haystack, but for those families that have been in that area for a while may have at least some idea of a location so we can go do a more detailed look.

[Host]

The latest on a years long effort to find a cemetery on the grounds of a former Indian boarding school. Then, from a new approach to policing and helping the unhoused to honoring student athletes and everyday heroes, there's a lot going on in Aurora, the state's most diverse city.

[Dave Perry]

They've embraced that and elevated inclusivity so that you can learn about people from all over the world.

[Host]

We check in with another member of the Colorado Ethnic Media Exchange, talking with Dave Perry, editor of the Aurora Sentinel. And two sisters, hometown heroes from Centennial help make history for ucla.

[Chandra Thomas Whitfield]

This is Colorado Matters from CPR News and krcc. I'm Chandra Thomas Whitfield. As Colorado works to investigate the lasting impact of federal Indian boarding schools in the state, a piece of the puzzle in Grand Junction remains elusive. The former Teller Institute property in Grand Junction once housed indigenous students taken from their families across the West. Now officials are hoping Grand Junction residents can help them answer one of the biggest lingering questions. Where's the school's cemetery located? CPR's Tom Hess has been following the story and he joins us now live. Hi, Tom.

[Tom Hess]

Hi, Chandra.

[Chandra Thomas Whitfield]

Researchers have been looking for burial sites on this property for years. What have they found to date?

[Tom Hess]

Not what they're looking for, and it's not for lack of trying. They've found references to a school cemetery in archives from the school. They know that students died at the school both from newspaper accounts and from archives. But locating where these burial sites might be has just proven difficult. One of the most recent efforts that wrapped up was they did a whole survey of the property using ground penetrating radar. History of Colorado worked with a team to cover the whole property. They were looking for anomalies that might point them in the right direction, but they came up empty.

[Chandra Thomas Whitfield]

Remind us why is the state doing this?

[Tom Hess]

Yes. So listeners will remember that in recent years there has been a number of news stories about bodies being discovered on the location of former boarding schools, in some cases mass graves. This started in Canada where they were finding a ton of First Nation children. And so in light of that, both the federal government, the state government started these initiatives to look in and kind of reckon with some of this history. The Teller School, which is now the Grand Junction Regional center was one of those schools in Colorado history. Colorado basically started looking into all these locations that were operating kind of around the turn of the 19th century. Now, the state still owns the land at the Teller Institute. It eventually became a home for disabled adults. Now the Department of Human Services still has the property, and they want to transfer that. But before they can do it, they want to memorialize the history there. They want to have, like a ceremony. And all of that is sort of predicated on finding the cemetery.

[Chandra Thomas Whitfield]

What's made locating this area difficult?

[Tom Hess]

Well, the first problem is the documentation around all of this is a mess. Philip Gover is the senior director of Tribal and Indigenous Engagement for History of Colorado. He says what information they have is scattered. It's inconsistent and it's sometimes contradictory.

[Philip Gover]

Except for one generalized irrigation map mentioned the pastor near cemetery, but it doesn't really state, you know, is that quarter mile? Are we talking right up butts up against it? Is it north of it, south of it, east of it, west of it? None of that's given in there.

[Tom Hess]

And it's not just the record about the property history. Colorado has been trying to track down which students actually went there, which tribes they came from, and that's a mess, too. Sometimes they only know a student was in Grand Junction because a different boarding school in a different state had a record of transferring them there.

[Chandra Thomas Whitfield]

So where are they turning now?

[Tom Hess]

Well, there's still a couple of efforts ahead. The first is more surveying the property. The original property actually extends into an area that is now owned by the Department of Veterans Affairs. So they're going to survey that, too, and see what they can find. They're also looking through old records still, hopefully to find some sort of clue. But they're going to crowdsource some knowledge from Grand Junction residents as well. On April 21, they're going to have an event at the Clifton Library, and they're asking for folks who may have heard stories that might offer a clue to where the cemetery is.

[Philip Gover]

We're trying to get those who may have taken a look into the boarding schools to come, but also the general public that may have a connection or some knowledge of the boarding school space. So let's say someone my age and I'm in my mid-50s now as a grandchild, might have had a grandparent who may not even have worked right at a school, but was aware of a location of a cemetery at one time that would have been more noticeable and maybe got lost in time there and had been told, like, over in here. I was told don't go play. That's where the cemetery was over in this space or some kind of aspect, it's a little bit of a needle in the haystack. But for those families that have been in that area for a while may have at least some idea of a location so we can go do a more detailed look.

[Tom Hess]

And there has been local interest and research into this property. There are historians, college professors who have also tried to connect these dots as well.

[Chandra Thomas Whitfield]

What's the plan for the space long term?

[Tom Hess]

Well, the state wants to eventually transfer it to a public entity. Colorado Mesa University, Mesa county, the city of Grand Junction have all been brought up. They've also expressed the interest in handing it over to some of Colorado's tribes that would be the Southern Ute tribe or the Ute Mountain Tribe. They've been consulted on this process as well. But before any of that history, Colorado and Gover need to kind of tie up all their work here. They want to have some kind of ceremony to honor the boarding school, sort of acknowledge that pass and and they want to mark the history. And a big part of doing that is they gotta first track down these burial sites.

[Chandra Thomas Whitfield]

Sounds like they have a lot of work to do. Tom, thanks for the update.

[Tom Hess]

Thank you.

[Chandra Thomas Whitfield]

Tom Heth is our Weston Slope producer in Grand Junction. Read his ongoing reporting on this issue on our website cpr.org when we come back, what's going on in the state's most diverse city? This is Colorado Matters from CPR News and krcc. Today we continue our monthly check ins with publications that are part of the Colorado Ethnic Media Exchange, also known as See Me. It's a collaborative of media outlets based here in Colorado focused on covering diverse communities across the state, something they say has been extra challenging amid growing national pushback against diversity, equity and inclusion policies and practices. Member outlets, which includes a wide range of publications from Asian Avenue magazine to the Spanish language publication El Sol de Val, support each other by sharing advertising, events and training resources in an effort to increase sustainability. Dave Perry, editor of the Aurora Sentinel, joins us now to tell us about some of what readers can expect in their upcoming April issues. Dave, thanks for joining us.

[Dave Perry]

Chandra, thank you for having me. I appreciate the opportunity to talk to your audience. We've got a lot going on. As I tell people frequently, Aurora is the best newstown in the world, that there is never a shortage of interesting things, interesting people and a lot of controversy, too.

[Chandra Thomas Whitfield]

While prepping for this segment, I read about you. Dave Perry is the snarky editor of the Aurora Sentinel, Aurora magazine, and Colorado Table. I love that. So go snarky or go home, right?

[Dave Perry]

Exactly. Snark is us.

[Chandra Thomas Whitfield]

Well, sounds like you wear a lot

[Dave Perry]

of hats, as everybody does in this business. Now, what's happened is we were all trained in journalism school to do beat reporting or something like that. And as newsrooms and newspapers have evolved and downsized, we've all had to take on a lot of hats and a lot of responsibilities that we never really did before. And something that I frequently tell my peers is this is stuff they didn't teach in J school. And we use that on a regular basis.

[Chandra Thomas Whitfield]

Dave, you're making me think about one of my first positions when multimedia was all the rage. And I remember being at a news conference. This is another state, Georgia, but a news conference with the governor, and I'm like trying to take a video. I'm trying to ask a question. I have a notebook in front of me. I'm taking notes. I was like, I don't even know what I'm doing at this point.

[Dave Perry]

It was so many things. You're right. We used to look back at that and think, how can I do all these things? You know, what I'm supposed to do is just get the story, get back and make my deadline. And now it's like I run a 501C3, which is what the Sentinel is. I'm a small business manager to be the publisher of this for just a few months until we could figure something else out. And that was four years ago. And so time flies and the responsibilities keep coming. But I have to say, as challenging as it is and stressful as it can be, it's still the greatest job in the world is I get a front row seat to some of the coolest stuff in the world and I get to tell people about it. It's great.

[Chandra Thomas Whitfield]

Well, I know we here at Colorado Public Radio have a lot of loyal, long standing listeners, but as a transplant to colorad, I always try to keep in mind that there are always new people moving here who are trying to get the lay of the land. And since this series is centered on the work that you all in the Colorado Ethnic Media Exchange do, elevating diverse voices. I'd like to note that Aurora is by far the most racially and ethnically diverse city in the state of Colorado.

[Dave Perry]

No doubt about that. And all you have to do is drive or walk down Havana street, and it's like taking a trip around the world with some of the best and most interesting cuisine there is. Even just a few minutes inside of any grocery store or even the local Costco. It makes it very clear that this is a very diverse place.

[Chandra Thomas Whitfield]

Yes. As an Aurora resident myself, I must note, just watching the scene, just people watching, you definitely get the sense that Aurora is extremely diverse.

[Dave Perry]

There's a lot going on there and people from all over the planet with all kinds of ideas and stuff. And I think that's one of the biggest benefits of Aurora, is they've embraced that and elevated inclusivity so that you can learn about people from all over the world without having to get on a plane and go there. And it makes for just a much richer community and richer conversations when things are happening. Either it's a community group or city council or something, you get perspectives from ages and ages in communities and civilizations that have been around long before the United States. And so they bring that wisdom to the table in that perspective. And I just think it makes for all in all, a richer experience for everything.

[Chandra Thomas Whitfield]

This is also why I often cringe when people make sweeping statements about, oh, that's what happens in Aurora. What's your general response to sweeping statements? I mean, it's a huge city. And not to mention, the diversity also includes economic diversity.

[Dave Perry]

It is, and it is diversity geographically that you can go out there and see some of the most fabulous, expensive homes there are, set around a gorgeous reservoir. You can also walk the Alton Bealer street just off of Colfax and see a history there that has long been troublesome for the city and a lot of the neighbors there years and years ago. People think that with the recent controversy and an influx of Venezuelan immigrants and a focus on crime and all kinds of trouble, they forget that Aurora, this is not their first rodeo by any means, and they've saddled up to solve a lot of problems. I can remember walking on Alton Beeler street with experts that were hired from across the country that was advising the city of Aurora that if you just cut access off all the streets, you could stop, drive by shootings. And so what they wanted to do is put up Jersey barriers every place so that you could not drive by. Any one of those Jersey barriers existed on Alton Bealer street and still does. They've taken the barrier away and put in a permanent piece of asphalt with some pretty flowers and stuff in there, which is more just a reminiscent of a time gone by where the city was not as entrenched in a whole lot of issues and had their own expertise on how to handle things. And I think that's one of the reasons why people look at Aurora, that it's large, so it gets a lot of headlines. There's a lot of things going on. I would say that the hidden story of that and the ones that we focus on is that wealth of expertise and diversity and inclusion that lets a lot of people try and focus on problems. The city has, just like every other city.

[Chandra Thomas Whitfield]

Well, adding to that is President Trump has broadly tried to characterize Aurora as a place that was taken over, as you mentioned, by Venezuelan gang members. What would you say is the general response you get when you're out in the community about statements like that?

[Dave Perry]

I think people that have lived here a long time and people within the city, as soon as that started happening and the message was repeated and elevated by several people on the city council a little over a year ago, the folks that I know from all over the city is like, where is this? It's like, did I miss this? Is this not my neighborhood that that's going on in? And it was. And it was totally false. It was extremely exaggerated.

[Chandra Thomas Whitfield]

Exaggerated.

[Dave Perry]

Like I said, this part of town has long been a challenge for the city and residents. And to say that, oh, well, that's just dangerous. Don't ever go there. Roll up the windows and don't make eye contact. That's just silly because there are some really cool coffee shops up there. Some of the best regional theater in the state is on Colfax, and there's just all kinds of really interesting things. There is truly no place in Aurora that I would be uncomfortable walking at 2 o' clock in the morning anymore than I would be uncomfortable walking anywhere at 2 o' clock in the morning. You know, I would be observant and stuff like that. It is not nothing like what Donald Trump tried to paint the city as.

[Chandra Thomas Whitfield]

Well, I must admit, again, as an Aurora resident, I got calls from all over the country. It's like, oh, my gosh, are you dealing with gangs? And I'm like, huh? Well. Well, last time we heard from Vera Idam, editor of fellow member publication Afric Digest, which primarily covers Colorado's African community. And I would imagine there's some overlap there in terms of coverage in the Sentinel.

[Dave Perry]

Absolutely. And that's one of the cool things about being a member of the ethnic media exchange is I think a lot of people have the impression that it's too easy to generalize immigrants and just also people of color and different, different cultural backgrounds. And the ethnic scene is really much more diverse and complicated than just saying, oh, they are from Africa, which is a massive continent, and there are so many different stories to be told and groups of immigrants with all kinds of different cultural customs and stuff like that. The same thing with the Latino culture. To say it's like, oh, well, they speak Spanish and that ties everybody together is really a disservice to understanding the rich diversity of Central America and South America and Mexico and Europe and everyplace else that each of those communities brings something really different and really vibrant to the community. With Afric Digest, there is overlap. There's a lot of political things happening right now, and there has been for a while. The Ethiopian community is politically very active and for the most part tends to be a little more on the conservative side. There's even some prominent Republicans who are Ethiopian immigrants, and we may be hearing their name as we move forward in the election. And so to say that, you know, while there are African issues there, there are many African communities and there's a lot of debates among themselves and intertwined with just the rest of the diverse community in Aurora.

[Chandra Thomas Whitfield]

Well, yes, we've done several shows highlighting that and talking to different members of the community and just noting this is

[Host]

a continent, not a country.

[Chandra Thomas Whitfield]

It's many countries. So always want to clarify that. So let's dig in and start talking about some of what readers can expect in the April issues of the Aurora Sentinel. Let's start with one of the biggest areas you are focusing on this month, police reform in Aurora. That's definitely a hot topic, and we've covered it here extensively here at CPR as well. So what's new there?

[Dave Perry]

What we're doing right now is standing back from all of the investigations and research and stories we've written for several years. The city is currently at a plateau with where they're going with this. And so the consent decree got handed down from the attorney general's office a few years ago. There was some immediate activity and some reforms, focusing mostly on training and and an effort by the police department to get back out into the community to rebuild trust, that a lot of people, their trust was shattered by what they saw and read and what was made clear in the consent decree when the attorney general came out and said that there are patterns and practices of abuse of force, especially against people of color. And that took the ability of the police to kind of deflect that, saying, hey, we're just doing our police duty here, and they just happened to be people of color that blew that scenario and that narrative out of the water. And so since then, we've looked really closely for years at how police are trained scrutinizing individual members and how the police handles controversy when it's forced upon themselves through internal affairs investigations, or just their own investigative officers, and how they track down and look at complaints. They've hired a new chief who's been there for almost two years now. And so they've been rolling a lot of these smaller reforms out under the observation of what's called an independent monitor who's not truly independent. They're hired by the city to essentially review and watch the reform processes as they move along. At this point, though, there's been some rebuilding of trust, but at the same time, there have been numerous people who have been killed by rural police and almost all of them people of color. And so at one point, even while they're touting reforms that have to do with training and observation and monitoring, it's still happening. And so they have to somehow come to grips with that, with the public to help them understand this is either more of the same, or that we have a remedy to prevent this going forward, or that we're just going to be as transparent as possible about this and maybe say we could have done better. It doesn't mean that these are the same problems that happened six years ago when there was a lot of headlines about how Aurora police were handling arrests in people of color. But you can't get away from the fact that there are. There are men of color, especially who are shot dead by police, when they are interacting with them, much more so than white people are. And you just can't get away from that. And it seems that at this point that the police department is reticent about taking that next step. And so that's what we're looking at at this point. I think if we were to say that there's one focus for us and several of the new city council people that were elected last November, it would be a on accountability and truly independent organization that stands aside from the police department that is able to weigh in on these and other aspects and make some kind of judgment and have some kind of power to say, no, you did not provide enough information, or yes,

[Chandra Thomas Whitfield]

you did, and you and your team are also digging into the hiring and training of new recruits as well.

[Dave Perry]

And Aurora is unique among Colorado cities in how it does that. It has a civil Service commission, and even those entities exist in other police departments. Aurora Civil Service Commission is responsible essentially for partially recruiting, but especially hiring, vetting candidates and hiring those candidates and then presenting them to the police department to put them in the academy. But the other thing that they do is they are the appeals board for police discipline. And so they have this odd dual role that's sometimes conflicting and almost always seems to be aggravating the police department and the police higher ups. And so we're looking at whether or not there is a different way that police could hire this, hire employees and still convince the public that they are doing a really good job of. Of vetting people so that they don't make the same mistakes that other police have made in generations past. And that's a difficult distinction and a difficult job for the police to do to help them understand if you hire people that have a different idea of how we should treat people of color, you're going to get a different endgame when they're suited and out in patrol cars.

[Chandra Thomas Whitfield]

And this effort is also to include more in recruiting more diverse officers as well.

[Dave Perry]

And the police department says they do that on a regular basis. That got sideways when the Trump administration came in and started having thoughts and disparaging this whole idea of DEI and inclusion and equity. That's the antithesis of what this police department and any really police department needs to do is have a department that looks, looks like and reflects the community they serve. And Aurora has strived for that for a very long time. It's just that after the consent decree, they got serious about it and were finding ways to go out and recruit people of color from different cultures, LGBTQ folks, just everything, so that that department looked and acted as diverse as the people they served. If the police are able to do that without accountability and without complete transparency, there's some question in the community as to whether or not they would reach the goal or whether or not they would be forthright about saying, yeah, we hired 60 people, and 55 of them were white males and one was a white female, and the rest may or may not have been people of color. Even though that you can look at the statistics, not being able to understand from an independent organization what the problems are and what the challenges are to make those goals makes it difficult for the police to retain their credibility when they're out in the community saying, we did the best we could. This is what we got.

[Chandra Thomas Whitfield]

Dave Perry is the editor of the Aurora Sentinel. The newspaper is part of the Colorado Ethnic Media Exchange, a collaborative of media outlets that cover diverse communities across our state. State. Our conversation continues after the break with the city of Aurora's new approach to addressing homelessness in the Sentinel special series that honors everyday heroes. I'm Chandra Thomas Whitfield. This is Colorado Matters from CPR News and krcc. Let's get back to my guest today, Dave Perry, the editor of the Aurora Sentinel. The newspaper is part of the Colorado Ethnic Media Exchange, a collaborative of media outlets that cover diverse communities across our state. Aurora, by the way, is the most racially and ethnic diverse city in the state. Also in April, you are bringing back a feature that has become something of a signature of your publication, the Nine Lives series.

[Dave Perry]

Nine Lives. That's great to participate in it and also to read it. What we do is look at nine people in Aurora that don't always rise to the top. They aren't stars, they aren't famous, they aren't in the public eye on a regular basis, but they've just got really cool stories to tell. And last year, one of the people we featured was Jingli, who is a Chinese immigrant. He was an economics professor in Beijing, moved to this country, needed a job. And so he took a position at Aurora Public Schools driving a school bus. And Aurora Public Schools started looking at how they could hire immigrants to take some of these jobs because they have a shortage of bus drivers and they don't have a shortage of immigrants in Aurora. And so they found the perfect world there. Jingli not only embraced the job, he practically has taken over the department and taught them how to train people from cultures all over the place, speaking different languages as their first language to become not only good bus drivers, but really good stewards of the school district and the kids themselves. And so he has become kind of like a child psychologist. He knows all of his kids. He knows when they're having a good day or a bad day, what they need help with. Just an amazing guy. And so those are the kinds of stories that we're able to tell once a year and collect those, tell people, hey, here's what's going on. One of our own board members that we featured, who is Jovan Mays, he was poet laureate for the city of Aurora for a while and kind of was below the radar, the Colorado Lynching Project. He's been prominent in that effort for some time. And we were able to bring students from CSU as interns to do an in depth focus piece on that. And they went out to Lyman, where there was a notorious lynching over 100 years ago and were able to explore how it affected that community, how it explored. They were able to explore how they were able tothe state moved kind of past that and mostly tell people that it's still there. And we never really got over it. And it still affects people in a whole lot of different ways. And so we were able to focus on Javon one time and just help people understand how growing up in Denver, he became attracted to this story and really wanting to do something with it and share it with other people as a project more than just something to talk about when he's at dinner with friends.

[Chandra Thomas Whitfield]

So nine Lives is really about uncovering those stories that many people might miss.

[Dave Perry]

Yes.

[Chandra Thomas Whitfield]

And, you know, we love that at cpr, too.

[Dave Perry]

Yes.

[Chandra Thomas Whitfield]

Well, another major issue you are tackling is homelessness and the city of Aurora's new approach. Tell us about that.

[Dave Perry]

Aurora is no stranger to homeless controversy, like Denver and a lot of communities here. And even though a lot of the elected officials there kind of felt like they were being picked on more than anyplace else, we were able to help readers understand Aurora is an awful lot like Honolulu, Hawaii, Delaware. Every place in the country is having a lot of issues with homeless, starting with a pandemic and moving forward at the same time, we were able to help people understand that homelessness is one of those things that a lot of times we paint with a broad brush. And actually, there's a lot of reasons behind homelessness. And even the homeless populations themselves and the people who don't have homes are as varied as this city or any other city that's been the focus of our coverage is rather to place blame on someone or something and say, well, here's what the fix is to show people how complicated this problem is. And now we're able to show people how complicated the solution is. Aurora has built a $38 million navig center that is regional in cooperation with two counties and some other communities. And the idea is that they call this a hybrid, where if you are homeless, you can definitely and everybody can find what's called a cot and a meal. And so everybody is welcome and not turned away to have a safe place that's warm to spend the night and to get something to eat. Beyond that, though, what they're trying to do is encourage people to find their own path back to self sufficiency. And so if you can show that you are willing to work toward getting a job, and if you have issues with addiction or sobriety to work on conquering those, then you can move up to level two, which is you get a pod. And so it's kind of like a dorm room or something. And it's pretty nice, actually. And so you get your own pod, and it's your own space that you keep until you move out, out or to the next level. The ultimate level, because this is built in an old, very large hotel, is that you can have a private room. And to do that, you have to prove that you are really on your way to sobriety and actually conquering your addiction and that you have a job. And the last that we had heard when we were doing one of the stories looking in depth at how this works, is that you paid this organization 30% of your income to stay in this private room, which is essentially what is the rule of thumb that we should all be paying is 30% of our income for where we live and

[Chandra Thomas Whitfield]

also paying it forward into this process.

[Dave Perry]

Exactly. Practically, it isn't working quite the same way. And so they've retracted some of the things that they wanted to do right off the bat. First of all, they realized that the building itself has had problems, and we've reported extensively on that, as has cpr, that it was not really ready for primetime at the time, that they brought in a lot of folks.

[Chandra Thomas Whitfield]

Yeah, I've heard a lot of regret wishing that they had taken more time to prepare the building.

[Dave Perry]

And it created a lot of chaos. And so people who were attracted to this got a bad taste of it, and they don't want to have anything to do with it now. And so they're out there in the public eye and even at city council meetings telling people, this is what I don't like. This is what they're doing wrong. And so it's got kind of a cloud hanging off over it. They're ready to move to the next level, and we really want to report on that and how they are going to fix these things. We were talking to some of the officials out there, and they said one of the most interesting things, that they were surprised at the number of elderly people who have disability issues, mostly because of their age and how ill equipped this system is to handle them. And what. Essentially the story that we're finding from some of these clients that were out there is there is a growing population of elderly people who worked their whole lives and had stable housing and got to a point where either their pension or Social Security just isn't enough to make rent. And so eventually they become.

[Chandra Thomas Whitfield]

I can totally see that.

[Dave Perry]

Evicted. And they're on the streets, and they saw this as a shining light to them, saying, I can get into here, pay 30% of my Social Security to stay there for good. And what this organization wants to make clear is this is a transitional facility. It is not an end game. This is not a place to ride out your homelessness for good as a permanent solution. And so there is this large community that cannot be served by this $38 million project. And we're looking into, if not this, then what? And why is it that it would fall upon communities singularly? Or at least cities like Aurora have this idea that we have to solve this by ourselves. Why isn't this a project for the Denver Regional Council of Governments or for the state of Colorado or even just the metro mayor's ability to look at this as this affects all of us equally and in the same way and regionally, we need to find an approach to help these and other people.

[Chandra Thomas Whitfield]

Lot to unpack there lots. Now as the school year wraps up, you're also highlighting student athletes.

[Dave Perry]

We have one of the strongest prep sports departments in the state. And our sports editor, Courtney Oakes, who has been with the Sentinel for more than 20 years, is almost a celebrity among high school athletics and athletes. And so one of his favorite things to do is to take a look back at the year and look at who has risen above hundreds and hundreds of students to really do something unusual, either athletically or just themselves. And one of the stories that he told was just amazing recently. And I think he's going to focus on this kid a little bit more is he's a teenage boy who lives with a single mother and has two younger kids. And not only did he become a star on the basketball team for his school and really shine there, he also helps other kids stay on the team that are struggling academically so that they don't lose the ability to do that. So he kind of goes out of his way to help other folks.

[Chandra Thomas Whitfield]

Folks.

[Dave Perry]

Mostly, though, he's the father figure to these two younger brothers and makes sure that he gets them to school and come back. And so somebody who you think would put everything they've got just into their game and looks like he does, has a story behind him saying that he is able to do so much more and actually puts out for everybody in the community.

[Host]

Heartwarming.

[Chandra Thomas Whitfield]

Anything you can tell us coming up in May or this summer, we are

[Dave Perry]

going to be thick in the election. And like I said, Aurora is a great Newstown and full of controversy right now. Over the past few decades, I would say as we watched the thinning of the Republican Party on the eastern part of the metro area, where not that long ago every state and county position was a Republican and that has now inverted and every single state House seat, state Senate seat and the commissioner seats and other seats from both counties are elected Democrats. And so for the first time, we're seeing really stern and furious interest in primary races. And so now this looks like it's going to be a contest between different flavors of, of liberalism and Democrats. And I think that'll be really interesting as we watch that unfold. And it already is.

[Chandra Thomas Whitfield]

Ooh, exciting. That'll be one to watch.

[Dave Perry]

Political popcorn from the eastern side of the metro area.

[Chandra Thomas Whitfield]

Wow. A wide range of stories coming out in the Sentinel, from accountability reporting to inspiring young people. Dave, before we let you go looking ahead, what would you say are some of the biggest issues you're seeing in Aurora?

[Dave Perry]

I think personal economics, just like the rest of the country that even last night the city council took a hard look at its water restriction in light of the drought and really is in front of the parade metro wide and even across the state at restricting water usage and asking people desperately to cut back so that the worst does not happen. And we get to a point there's actually some type of water rationing or you just can't even take a hose out to your front yard. But in that conversation they talked about the equity of that. And it's something that I think a lot of us overlook, saying that there's a lot of people in Aurora that don't have fancy sprinkler systems and they have to be out there with a hose while they're fighting two or three different jobs and schedules and getting the kids to school and everything else.

[Chandra Thomas Whitfield]

I can relate.

[Dave Perry]

And so how does these policies affect everybody? And especially folks that are working really hard and trying to keep their head above water on a whole lot of levels. And I think that's something that we'll be focusing on a lot, especially as we move into the fall election where people are looking for all kinds of governments, local, state and national to help everybody move along through problems with health care and childcare care and the cost of gasoline and how to just keep making sure that you can keep on

[Chandra Thomas Whitfield]

keeping on well with that water issue. I'm feeling more and more excited about the fact that we chose artificial turf when we redid our backyard. I was like, that would have been so stressful trying to get a new lawn up and going amid restrictions.

[Dave Perry]

And everybody is feeling the exact same way that we're all learning how to say xeriscape one more time. And it's like, is it more than yucca plants? And the city is happy to tell you it is much more and that there are different types of grasses that you can go out that are perfectly fine. That don't need a lot of water. They don't look like a golf course of what we normally think a golf course looks like. But this is not a green emerald community. This is a green desert.

[Chandra Thomas Whitfield]

Exactly. And our skin can prove it.

[Dave Perry]

Yes.

[Chandra Thomas Whitfield]

I've used the most lotions and creams ever in the state in my entire life. Now, before we let you go for real, I promise as a journalist, we really get to see and hear a lot about the communities we cover. And we often get that behind the scenes look, as you mentioned. What would you say you love most about Aurora, Colorado?

[Dave Perry]

The food. Without a doubt, the food that if you want a banh mi that will make you salivate just by seeing the bread come out of the oven three times a day, or if you want to go and get Iraqi flatbread that is baked on a brick wall, this is the place where you can go and and eat your way around the world just by traveling up and down the boulevard.

[Chandra Thomas Whitfield]

Speaking of which, I actually had the opportunity to try Haitian food for the first time in Aurora. Mama Josie's delicious. And they were so nice and just hospitable and just welcoming. So gotta go back.

[Dave Perry]

If there is a place around the world that does not have some gourmet offering in Aurora, I would like to know what it is. And I'm sure somebody will soon move there. Whether it's Russian, like some of the best borscht in the world is in Aurora all the way down to, like you said, there are Middle Eastern treats and tout du jour, which is a place where the Vietnamese get to show off their French baking skills in ways that nobody else can. It's a lot of fun just to go into these places and it's certainly fun to eat every that they put out.

[Chandra Thomas Whitfield]

Well, you're speaking my language, being from New Orleans originally. So we love when people show off their culinary skills.

[Dave Perry]

Yes.

[Chandra Thomas Whitfield]

Dave Ferry with the Aurora Sentinel. Thanks for your time.

[Dave Perry]

Thank you very much for letting me come in and share some stories about Aurora.

[Chandra Thomas Whitfield]

That was Dave Perry, editor of the Aurora Sentinel, talking with me about some of what he and his team have been working on. To check them out, visit sentinelcolorado.com that's sentinelcolorado.com his interview is part of a series of regular check ins we're doing on Colorado Matters with members of the Colorado Ethnic Media Exchange, also known as See Me. It's a collaborative of news outlets based here in Colorado focused on elevating the voices of diverse communities across the state. They share advertising, events and training resources in hopes of increasing sustainability for all member outlets, which includes a mix of publications from Afric Digest, which covers Colorado's African community, to the Spanish language publication El Sol de Val. I'm Chandra Thomas Whitfield. You're listening to Colorado Matters on CPR News and krcc. A new state law is requiring that schools have cell phone policies in place for students by July. They'll have to decide whether students will have access to their phones during the school year day or whether they'll need to be locked away. CPR's Elaine Tassey talked with some students who had their own ideas about what schools should do.

[Elaine Tassey]

About 80 students from the St. Vrain Valley School District in and around Longmont met recently for the 18th annual Doing Democracy Day. Students group up, brainstorm on current topics and share their ideas with judges who pick a winner. Two teams grappled with how to implement the new law about self esteem. It requires each school district to develop a policy about how and when students can use them during the school day and post the policy on the school's website for implementation next school year. Here's some of the ideas students came

[Dave Perry]

up with a three strike style enforcement

[Chandra Thomas Whitfield]

we already take health. Why not put in a way to learn how to use them? Students turn in their phones at the beginning of the day and don't see them through the entire day. You can't be on your phone during class, but it can be near you. Use during lunch breaks, passing periods or for emergencies. If students lose privilege after three strikes, they might find a way to skip class.

[Lauren Betts]

Designated phone spots in the classroom where the students would place their cell phones and wouldn't be able to access them.

[Elaine Tassey]

Students basically felt some access to phones would be their preference, but not everyone grappling with this issue feels the same way. Executive director of Stanford Children Colorado, Krista Spurgeon has a different position position she says the policy should not allow phones to be used during school hours.

[Krista Spurgeon]

That is our ask to district statewide is to consider policies that are district wide K12 away all day policies, she said.

[Elaine Tassey]

Otherwise, the burden is on the teachers to police the phones.

[Krista Spurgeon]

They're undoing what happened in the hallway. They're undoing that distraction that just restarted the spat that just happened or whatever was just seen on social media. It takes about 20 minutes to rest.

[Elaine Tassey]

The new law applies to all school districts and charter schools. Districts around the state have been thinking and planning about how to implement the law at the start of the upcoming school year. One thing that's not required is uniformity. That means school districts can have one policy in an elementary school and a different policy at a high school to best meet the needs of students of different ages. I'm Elaine Tassey, CPR News.

[Host]

Before we leave you today, a big nod to history made on the basketball court this week and a big moment of pride for Colorado.

[Sienna Betts]

And for the first time since 1978, UCLA is back on top of the women's basketball world. The Bruins have captured their very first NCAA national championship.

[Host]

That was the sound of the UCLA Bruins women's basketball team capturing the program's first ever NCAA championship against the South Carolina Gamecocks, a milestone victory fueled in large part by two hometown standouts from Centennial. Sisters Lauren and Sienna Betts, both key contributors for ucla, helped lead the Bruins to victory. Victory. Lauren, a senior, has emerged as one of the nation's elite post players, and her younger sister Sienna, a freshman forward, was at her side the whole way this season, making their shared journey to a national title even more remarkable. The Betts sisters, both alum of Grandview High School in Aurora, grew up playing side by side in Colorado, now sharing the biggest stage in college basketball and making history in the process. Process together after the game. The gravity of the moment was not lost on Lauren, who was understandably emotional as she talked to ESPN's Holly Row on what it meant to win a national championship alongside her baby sister.

[Lauren Betts]

She's gonna make fun of me because I'm crying, man. I'm. I really can't even put it into words, man. Having your own family on the team is something that a lot of people don't get to experience. And I'm so grateful for her. She's made the season my favorite season I've ever experienced, and she's my best friend. I'm just so happy for our family and for her. It's amazing.

[Host]

Congratulations to the vet sisters Lauren and Sienna and their family for a storybook ending to March Madness. And it's likely just the beginning for Lauren. She is widely projected to be a top five pick in the 2020 WNBA Draft taking place on Monday. Lauren I'm pretty sure I speak for many here in Colorado in saying good luck and you got this. We all look forward to seeing where you land in the league.

[Sienna Betts]

All I do is win, win, win, no matter what. Got money on my mind. I can never get enough. And every time I step up in the building, everybody hands go up and they stay there and they say yeah, and they stay there.

[Chandra Thomas Whitfield]

Thanks for joining us today and to the Colorado Matters team, Sandy Batulga Tyler

[Dave Perry]

Bender, Carl Bielik, Anthony Cotton, Pete Kramer, Andrea Dukakis, Zan Huckpechone, Matt Herz, Tom

[Tom Hess]

House, Michael Hughes, Pedro Lumbragno, Shane Rumsey,

[Host]

Haley Sanchez, Ryan Warner.

[Chandra Thomas Whitfield]

And I'm Chandra Thomas Whitfield. This is CPR news, news and krcc.