Northglenn, CO

NORTHGLENN, Colo. — A Colorado axe throwing hall in Northglenn will host people from across the country for a tournament this week.

"The Fall River 40, which is a national Tier 1 tournament- we're part of the World Axe Throwing League- so with that, we get to host this large tournament and get throwers from all across the U.S. to come and compete in this space," Zach Silver, the owner of , said.

There are two Lizzie's Axe Throwing locations. You can find the Northglenn hall off West 104th Ave.

"We've been throwing in this location for just about a year. We opened last October, so we've been throwing in this location for just about a year," Silver said.

With that name you might be thinking, "Who is Lizzie and where did that name come from?"

"It's based off of Lizzie Borden, who was an axe murderer, back in the 1800s. She was acquitted, so not guilty, " Silver said.

While the story behind the business could be considered pretty dark, since Lizzie beat the case, Silver said he feels it's OK.

There are a total of four throwing disciplines including knives, hatchet, big axe and duels.

"We have a pro team here at Lizzie's made up of some incredible axe throwers and knife throwers," Silver said.

That passion for axe throwing took Lizzie’s Axe Throwing team to Iowa, California, Alaska, and more, to compete. Being on a team is a commitment that dedicated member Don Swedberg said he takes pride in.

"The biggest thing for me is just the camaraderie. It is a sport that has been around for centuries, not as it is today, but it's something WATL has been around about seven years. So, it's really organized the sport of axe throwing," Swedberg said.

As Lizzie's Axe Throwing gets ready for the tournament, Swedberg said no matter your level of skill you can come on out to have some fun.

"It's one of those things i mean, whether it be a date night or a family night. It's fun to just come out and throw some axes. It's also good to get your frustrations out," Swedberg said.

Swedberg shared that he throws about three times a week especially with their tournament coming up this week.

The sixth annual Northglenn Food Truck Carnival is rolling back into town May 19-21 with a whooping 62 mobile food businesses serving everything from barbecue to Tibetan cuisine.

It started in 2016 as part of an initiative by the Northglenn City Council to host regional-sized events with the goal of improving the quality of life for its residents and attracting visitors to Northglenn. (The other two events are Pirate Fest and Magic Fest, which is no longer in operation.)

The free event is one of the largest (if not the largest) food truck festivals in the state, hosting between 45,000 and 60,000 attendees over one weekend at E.B. Rains Jr. Memorial Park, Northglenn’s flagship park and city hub.

However, it’s not just a food truck festival. As Ashley Garst, special events coordinator for the City of Northglenn explains, “When we concepted the event, my then-co-worker had a good relationship with the carnival, and I was really into the food truck community, and we said, ‘Let’s slam these two things together.’ So the Food Truck Carnival is literally a full, traditional hard-metal carnival and then a large food truck show.”

For the carnival, Northglenn brought in Wright’s Amusements, which travels throughout Colorado, New Mexico, Arkansas and Texas, and claims to be the longest-running carnival in North America. The 55-year-old, independently owned carnival will bring fifteen to twenty amusement rides to Northglenn along with classic carnival snacks, midway games and other entertainment.

On the other side of the park, it's all about eating. Each of the 62 trucks is scheduled for a single day of the event, providing multi-day attendees variety and choice. Garst says that popular staples like barbecue, pizza, tacos, mac and cheese, and desserts will be available each day. “Mac’ N Noodles is definitely a traditional favorite,” Garst says of one truck that dishes out comfort-food mashups like Bacon Cheeseburger Mac and Carnitas Mac, with slow-roasted pork, roasted green chiles and tomatoes.

Another popular standby is the Radical Sasquatch Dumpling Company, which was started by Matt Faurot and Lucas Doverspike in 2017. It aims “to show people how versatile and wide ranging the dumpling can be," according to its website. "With so many different cultural styles and flavors to play around with, it is fun and easy to get creative with new combinations of fillings, dough and cooking methods,” it continues. Its dumplings range from traditional options like pork gyoza and cheddar pierogi to more creative takes like jerk chicken dumplings and Philly Mac Buns.

For sweets, Garst calls out Em’s Ice Cream, a Denver staple that serves made-from-scratch, small-batch flavors such as honey lavender made with cold-steeped organic lavender flowers, and coffee toffee made with Boulder Organic Coffee that’s brewed for 24 hours and mixed with English toffee chunks.

In addition to traditional favorites, several trucks will be making their Food Truck Carnival debut. “One of the trucks that I’m most excited about is Tibet’s Food Truck, since we’ve never had a Tibetan food truck at the event,” Garst says. “We have a breakfast truck coming on Sunday named Freshly Laid, and a classic New Yorker truck coming on Sunday as well called Big Apple Bodega. And on Friday, we have an Asian trailer called Umai Express.”

Other enticing options are the Mississippi catfish platter from Deja Roux Cajun & Soul, whose owners were born and raised in Hattiesburg, Mississippi; Korean cheese dogs from Mukja; Indian fried tacos from the Roadrunner, which is driving from New Mexico for the event; and frozen fruit soft-serve from Ba Nom a Nom.

Garst and her team have been planning the Food Truck Carnival since February. There will be 25 staff members and fifty volunteers working during the three-day event.

The city has partnered with Maui Wowi, Santa Barbara Lemonade Company, Avant-Garde Events, Bruz Beers and Satire Brewing Company to offer cocktails, spirits and beer at the festival, and all alcohol sales will benefit the Northglenn Community Foundation, which supports Northglenn citizens through utility assistance, a backpack program to distribute school supplies to kids, holiday gift programs, free bike helmet giveaways and more.

In addition to the main attractions, there will also be mobile retailers, live music and entertainment like balloon artists all weekend long. “Plan to have a whole day, ride some rides, listen to some music, eat multiple meals. It’s a full day of fun,” advises Garst.

Northglenn Food Truck Carnival will be held at the E.B. Rains Jr. Memorial Park from 4 to 9 p.m. on May 19, noon to 9 p.m. on May 20 and noon to 5 p.m. on May 21. Admission is free, and carnival day passes are available for $35 (there's also a $5 off coupon available online). Parking at the Wagon Road RTD Parking Lot at 120th & Huron is highly recommended to avoid construction closure and traffic.

Almost 16,000 fake businesses have been filed with the Colorado Secretary of State's Office since early 2022, a new lawsuit claims.

A complaint filed Sept. 8 by the state Attorney General's Office names a primary defendant who swore that an address for a residential townhome in Northglenn was the principal place of business for 15,638 entities formed and filed with the state from February 2022 until late August of this year.

The lawsuit, filed in Denver District Court, names Marcio Garcia Andrade as a primary defendant and 10 others who were involved in the filings, as well as Jumpstart Incorporations Inc., which was the cardholder named on some filing payment methods. The company's website describes itself as a group of experts and professionals who help businesses grow from inception to operation.

The onslaught of allegedly fake filings comes at the same time that Secretary of State Jena Griswold has reported record-high new business filings. A little over one year ago, $8.4 million was unlocked by the state Legislature to temporarily lower new business filing fees from $50 to $1.

The year concluded with a record number of new filings — over 175,000 — driven in large part by a 37% year-over-year increase in filings in the fourth quarter alone. That increase was later beaten by an even hotter first quarter.

Assuming a $49 credit applied to each of the fraudulent business formations while the lower filing fees were in effect, the lawsuit argues that the state is owed $766,262 worth of claimed credits that went to fake businesses.

"With a limited amount of money, fraudulently filed entities deprived deserving Colorado entrepreneurs and small business owners of the benefit," the complaint said.

Even without the 16,000 businesses included in the lawsuit, Colorado still experienced record growth in new businesses, the Colorado Department of State said in an email. With the filings identified in the lawsuit removed from totals, LLC filings grew by 23% in the fiscal year 2022-23 compared to the previous fiscal year, a spokesperson said.

According to the lawsuit, Griswold's office first noticed the fraudulent filings in May 2023.

"Hundreds of new businesses were flooding into their system, often mere minutes apart, all claiming registered agents reachable at the Northglenn Address, and originating from foreign IP addresses — despite the businesses claiming domestic status," the attorney general's complaint said.

Law enforcement later discovered that the occupant of the Northglenn address, at 2236 East 109th Drive, had not given consent to use the address in the business filings since September of 2022.

As a result of the incident, the state has implemented additional verification measures and blocked new submissions from specific IP addresses suspected of fraud, the state spokesperson said. He said it was the largest instance of suspected fraudulent business filings that the state has seen tied to one person or address.

The lawsuit describes Andrade as a "self-styled serial entrepreneur" who was previously court-ordered to halt fraudulent credit services through a company called Grand Teton Professionals. It says Andrade had a role for that company by marketing Wholesale Shelf Corporations, a business registered with Colorado that uses the Northglenn address.

That company sells old, unused corporations to buyers who want to assume the same identity as the corporation to bypass some elements of starting a new one, making it easier to get access to credit.

The lawsuit argues that such corporations can present challenges for lenders in verifying the age and creditworthiness of a corporation and that fraudulently filed shelf corporations "cause havoc in the Colorado marketplace."

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Cumming Group, an international project management and cost consultancy firm, is hosting a groundbreaking event for the highly anticipated Northglenn City Hall. The groundbreaking ceremony will take place on Monday, June 5 at 5:30 p.m. at the future site of the new City Hall, the corner of Community Center Drive and Memorial Parkway. Members of the community, local leaders, and stakeholders are invited to attend.

The current facility, nearly 40 years old, has minimal resources, inadequate safety infrastructure, and lacks the proper space to provide services to the community efficiently. The groundbreaking ceremony for the new facility will mark the beginning of an exciting chapter in Northglenn’s civic development.

Design for the new Northglenn City Hall was headed up by Denver-based Anderson Mason Dale Architects with FCI Constructors to serve as the general contractor. Cumming Group will provide project and cost management services and its team will manage the project from construction kick-off through final completion, ensuring full project transparency for the local community.

The new Northglenn City Hall aims to be an inspiring civic resource for residents, a vibrant gathering place, and a proud anchor of the Civic Center. It will foster a sense of pride, camaraderie, and community among Northglenn’s residents and employees.

“The new Northglenn City Hall represents our commitment to providing exceptional services to our community while embracing sustainability and innovation,” shared Mayor Meredith Leighty. “We are thrilled to break ground and begin this transformative project.”

Key Features of the New City Hall Include:

“Our team is excited to continue the relationship with the City of Northglenn, bringing insights learned from previous projects into the development of this City Hall Building,” said Nate Richards, senior project manager at Cumming Group. “Commitment to this project is critical to understand the needs of both the community and the City staff who will be utilizing the facility every day for decades to come.”

Scheduled for completion in the Fall of 2024, the funding for the new City Hall, estimated at $33.78 million, has already been fully secured without imposing new taxes on Northglenn residents. The city has allocated funds generated by the ½% sales tax and the 4% Special Marijuana Tax, both dedicated exclusively to capital projects.

For Craig Robinson, the last straw was the interruption of his morning lap swim workout.

The lifeguard on duty that day in March had to use the restroom, which meant Robinson, a retired physician’s assistant and avid swimmer, had to get out of the pool, walk to a bench and wait.

“There wasn’t any coverage,” Robinson, 69, said. “When they were done, we got back in the water. It was pretty acute and clear this was a big problem.”

The Northglenn Recreation Center, where Robinson swims, had been struggling for months to keep its lifeguard chairs staffed full-time. Rec center leaders had shortened the operating hours of the community pool to help make do.

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During the bathroom intermission, Robinson and the other lap swimmers’ frustrations boiled over and, together, they had a stroke of genius. Why shouldn’t the group, all retirees in their late 60s, apply to become lifeguards themselves?

What started out as a half-joke quickly morphed into a legitimate idea for how to solve their problem, Robinson said.

“It doesn’t have to be teenagers and college kids,” Robinson said. “We can help the community and help ourselves.”

Robinson is now part of a small group of senior citizens in Northglenn that has trained to help with a statewide lifeguard shortage affecting Colorado pools. Recreation departments across the state have hundreds of open guarding jobs, citing a decline in applications for the seasonal gig.

The shortage has meant cities had to shorten hours at public swimming pools last summer and, in some cases, close pools altogether for the season. Lifeguards are a required presence at most large public pools under state law.

The 'Immortals' had to re-learn skills with each other's support

To help avoid the same problems this year, Robinson and five other seniors in Northglenn began the interview process to start guarding themselves.

The group of retirees, which nicknamed itself the “Immortals” after Marvel’s "Eternals" movie, applied through the rec center’s traditional job portal. Robinson remembers interviewing with a staffer half his age.

The interviewer asked if he’d ever faced an ethical challenge in his life. Robinson remembers laughing.

“When you're asking a 69-year-old medical professional who's a retired lieutenant colonel from the Army, it's like, okay, ‘What do you really wanna know?’” he said.

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After the group passed their initial interviews, they went through the standard curriculum. It involves a safety class, swim tests and physical drills meant to simulate rescuing a drowning human.

Gabe Fabian, a retired sales and customer service professional, remembers head-first diving as the scariest skill she had to re-learn.

“I just wasn't used to doing it anymore,” she said.

After a few attempts, the 69-year-old was able to dive head first and retrieve a heavy brick at the deep end of the Northglenn pool. It helped have fellow seniors in her class, she said.

“It was outside of my comfort zone,” she said. “It worked out well because we had encouragement from each other.”

'As a retired person, we feel like we’re contributing somehow to something, which I really like'

Once they passed their certification course, the Immortals became official lifeguards employed by the city of Northglenn. Bosses passed out official lifeguard gear, including branded t-shirts, float tubes and, of course, a whistle.

Each of the seniors agreed to take one or two morning guard shifts during the week, so the pool could stay open for early-morning swimmers. That commitment requires opening the pool at 4:50 a.m. each day and working a 6- to 8-hour shift, monitoring lap swimmers, a water slide and free swim activities.

Leaders of the rec center have been thrilled by their presence so far. The extra staffing will help keep community pools open for the summer at full capacity, said Rich Condo, a city councilman for Northglenn, who is also an avid swimmer.

“There’s a level of commitment to wanting to help the community that’s admirable,” Condo said. “I have every confidence that these people, regardless of age, are all capable and qualified to come to my rescue, God forbid, if I have a problem in the water.”

Being on staff at the rec center has been surprisingly fun for the retirees, said Al Hooper, a retired social minister with the Archdiocese of Denver. Hooper, who also worked as aquatics director of the city of Northglenn in the 80s, is credited with getting the Immortals group organized.

“I think we all enjoy the interaction with the younger workers and vice versa,” Hooper said. “As a retired person, we feel like we’re contributing somehow to something, which I really like.”

Other Front Range rec centers are diving in, too

Other rec center leaders across the Front Range have tried a number of methods to increase lifeguard hiring. Many have raised pay, made scheduling more flexible and upped benefits, such as free rec center membership.

Many communities are also offering free certification courses thanks to a state grant program that covers the costs, which can add up to hundreds of dollars per person. Gov. Jared Polis in May announced an expansion to the grant program.

Boulder and Denver rec center leaders say the changes, along with word of mouth about guarding jobs, have helped them recruit large classes of guards for the coming season. High school and college-age applicants take up the bulk of that effort, but seniors are eligible as well, said Tim Stabbe, aquatics recreation supervisor for the city of Boulder’s recreation department.

“Everyone is welcome and it’s a great summer job for people with flexible schedules,” Stabbe said.

'You have different limitations when you're 60 and 70, but you still have something to offer'

Northglenn’s Immortals believe their success could be replicated in other Front Range communities with lifeguard shortages.

“The solution was right in front of us,” Hooper, the retired social minister, said. “Many retirees have swimming skills. They’re good in the water and capable of doing this.”

There are a few downsides to the job, according to Robinson. There are some physically challenging tasks, like moving long, heavy lane lines to one side of the pool to make room for aquatics classes.

“It’s pretty easy to get pulled in if you’re not careful,” Robinson said as he yanked the lines on a recent morning. “It can tear the flesh off your hand if you’re not careful.”

The pay isn’t that bad — around $17 dollars an hour in Northglenn and many rec centers.

Robinson only works around seven hours a week, and it’s worth it to see the community come out and safely enjoy the water. It also gives him a sense of pride in his age, he said.

“There are limitations, but everybody has limitations,” he said. “If you're 30, you have limitations. You have different limitations when you're 60 and 70, but you still have something to offer.”

Be a barista, a chef, a landscaper – just find something that gets you going, Robinson said. He, for one, is happy ending his day with a dip.

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