COVID Updates
Appointments to Get the COVID Vaccine (Eligibility)
State of Colorado’s Find Out Where You Can Get Vaccinated page
Safeway | King Soopers | Lutheran Medical Center
Jefferson County has a vaccination clinic in Arvada, which is open to those who are 70 or older. Learn more….
Educators and people 65+ will be eligible for vaccines starting Monday, February 8th. Learn more….
The state has a new hotline to answer questions, including location of vaccine providers: 1-877-268-2926. It is staffed 24 hours a day.
Jefferson County Case Summary:
Cases in Jeffco – Tues: 34,816| Tues: 34,957 (+141)
Deaths in Jeffco – Tues: 716 | Tues: 716 (unchanged)
Currently Hospitalized in Jeffco – Tues: 32| Tues: 32 (unchanged)
Known Cases in Golden – Thurs: 1344 | Mon: 1344
Recovered – Tues: 32,980 | Tues: 33,120 (+140)
Public Health References
Mines COVID Testing | Jeffco Fairgrounds COVID Testing | School of Mines COVID-19 case page. | Sign up for exposure notifications | CDC | Colorado | Jefferson County | City of Golden | Jefferson County is at Level Orange, “High Risk.”
Virtual Events
9AM Public Art Commission Meeting
The Public Art Commission will discuss directing $50K of their budget to treating and maintaining the existing pieces in the public art collection. They may ask Council for a bigger budget so they’ll have money for both maintenance and new art acquisition. They will discuss locations for a new mural, which is being funded by Foothills Art Center. See the meeting packet for more information.
10-11:30AM Everything Dinosaur Talk – Paleontology 101
10AM Mid-Morning Meditation
10:15AM Preschool Time with the Library
2PM, 3PM, or 4PM Jeffco Free Legal Clinic
3PM Hard Times Writing Workshop
6-7PM Qs and Brews Trivia
6-7PM Housing Task Force Meeting
Correction
In yesterday’s write-up about the Planning Commission agenda, I described the density variance as being a matter of open (undeveloped) space on the property. That was wrong: density is defined by the number of units per acre. The developers increased the size of the individual apartments and reduced the number of units in the most recent version, so they met the density requirement. The actual building size remained unchanged. Thanks to Don Cameron for providing this clarification.
And FYI
The new apartment project was approved by Planning Commission last night. Commissioners expressed some dissatisfaction about the order in which they were required to vote on the issues. They approved a Special Use Permit allowing 100% residential on commercially-zoned property with the understanding that the dwellings would provide affordable housing. By the time they negotiated the variances, the dwellings were no longer affordable, but permission to build apartments in that location had already been approved.
Golden History Moment
Readers showed a lot of interest in yesterday’s story about the Schwartzwalder Uranium Mine. There were a few more details that I would have liked to add, but I found references that gave different stories. Here are a few examples.
Origins of Fred Schwartzwalder’s Geiger counter:
Time Magazine:
“In 1950 Fred decided to buy a Geiger counter. For months he worked overtime at his job as janitor of the local high school in order to accumulate the necessary $100.”
Historically Jeffco – Summer, 1990:
“For Christmas, 1950, his four children pooled their gift money and bought Dad a Geiger counter.”
The agreement with Paul and Anna White (owners of the property):
Colorado Transcript 2/4/1954
“The strike was made on property owned by Paul White of Golden…. This mine site was leased from White.”
Paper by Erik Hunter
“In approximately1954, a man showed up at the workings and informed Fred that he was the rightful owner of the surface and mineral rights. Fred persevered and cut a deal with the owner, Paul White. They agreed to sell the property to the highest bidder.”
Historically Jeffco – Summer, 1990
“…he negotiated an agreement with the owners of the land, Paul and Anna White. He would pay them fifteen percent of the gross proceeds of any minerals obtained from their land.”
Proceeds from the sale of the mine:
Colorado Transcript 2/23/1956
“Purchase of the mine was not disclosed, but it is understood that Schwartzwalder had turned down the previous offers ranging from $500,000 to $1.5 million.”
Historically Jeffco – Summer, 1990
“In 1957, Fred, whose health was deteriorating, sold the mine to Golden-Denver Uranium Company for $293,000.00. He and his wife bought dentures, a house and a new car and took a trip back to Germany to see the brother he had left 46 years before. The rest of the money melted away in a series of unwise investments and speculations. “
The Rest of the Story
The mine stayed in production until 2002. More recent articles about the Schwartzwalder Mine focus on the ongoing clean-up required to prevent uranium from entering Denver’s drinking water supplies.
Many thanks to the Golden History Museum for providing the online cache of historic Transcripts and to the Golden Transcript for documenting our history since 1866!
