Who among us hasn’t had the annoying, and sometimes dangerous, experience of trying to navigate a sidewalk left unshoveled after a snowfall? Even though there are ordinances designed to address such situations, there always seem to be a couple property owners in a neighborhood who fail to get it done.
Boulder’s police department is taking a new enforcement approach to this problem, one that we like. Instead of giving out tickets, the police will give offenders a warning and 24 hours to clear the walk. If the property owner doesn’t comply, the city will hire out the job and give the property owner the bill.
The approach seems to work. According to a story in the Daily Camera, police have given out 219 warnings for unshoveled walks since October and only 10 residents failed to get the job done and were billed. That’s a lot more efficient than issuing tickets.
This approach quickly brings sidewalks to a safe condition and unburdens the court system.
Thanks for the measurements. Speaking of snowfall, we’d like to take a quick moment to bid adieu to Mike Gillespie, who for the last 28 years worked as the snow survey supervisor for the Colorado Department of Natural Resources. Having dutifully trudged through snow along Berthoud Pass several times each winter to provide one of the state’s most important measures — snowpack — we couldn’t send him packing without thanking him for his efforts.
Unfortunate victim. And that brings us to another exit: the closing of the 22-year-old Adoption Alliance, which specialized in placing special-needs children in permanent and foster homes. The alliance is an unfortunate victim of the economic downturn. It currently works with about 200 families whose cases will be transferred to other agencies. While some of those transitions could be bumpy, the nonprofit should be remembered for its larger body of work, which included placing 2,500 children with adoptive or foster families.
Can has cheezburger — and a coronary. We doubt if the food police — or First Lady Michelle Obama, for that matter — would approve, but we like Denver City Councilman Albus Brooks’ goal to bring In-N-Out Burgers to Colorado. Fast food, in general, may be bad for you. But for those of us who eat our fast food within reason, there is no better option than the high-cholesterol, artery-clogging, fresh-never-frozen California chain burgers. You can happily join In-N-Out’s cultish following across much of the West — Denver could be as hip as, say, Midvale, Utah — and know that Consumer Reports says it’s the best burger chain in the country. Try the double meat. If it kills you, and it might, you’ll die with a smile on your face.
Short Takes is compiled by Denver Post editorial writers and expresses the view of the newspaper’s editorial board.
