Never Let Hate Take Root In Your Heart

by Mark Smiley | May 25, 2019 | General Featured

Holocaust Survivor Shares Memories And Advice

by Ruthy Wexler

At 98, Jack Welner’s face shines with the eager ebullience of a 6-year-old. His eyes twinkle with fun. That’s the kind of boy Welner was back in Lodz, Poland — helpful, fun-loving, excited about life — and by all accounts, that’s the kind of man he became. In between, however, came the Holocaust, and — because Welner is Jewish — unimaginable suffering.

Through Auschwitz, Dachau, labor camps, a death march — how, people ask, did you stay the same person? Looking back over the years, Welner explains how he kept bitterness out of his heart and held onto the twinkle in his eye.

Take This, You’ll Need It

It’s not that Welner forgot what happened. He shares memories so vivid, you are there: watching how fast the Germans turn a corner of Lodz into a barbed wire ghetto; seeing guards shoot Jews in the ghetto streets “just for practice”; pretending — along with the seven other family members crammed into one room with no toilet or running water — that the beet leaves your mother salted and fried taste just like herring.

“We were starving [in the ghetto],” recalls Welner. “Just before we got on the train [for Auschwitz], we got a little piece of bread. Late that night, we arrived. I helped mother down from the train. She still had her bread. She pushed it into my hand. ‘Here. Take this. You’ll need it.’”

Welner’s eyes fill with tears. “Those were the last words my mother said to me.”

Look For Luck

After the war, when Welner was in a safer place — Denver, CO! — and heard “even a little bit of antisemitism” he’d speak up. “I left Poland to get rid of SOBs like you, so you better shut up.”

“Later,” he adds, “we’d become friends.”

But back when hatred of Jews was law, Welner searched for small ways to survive. In a labor camp near Dachau, a guard kept beating Welner with a 2×4 so brutally, “I knew I would die if he kept it up … so I sank to the ground and began crying. Not so much from pain, but I had to … do something.”

Welner adds emphatically: “In my mind, I was saying, ‘I will survive you, you SOB!’”

Later on in that camp, “… my luck changed. A machine operator took a liking to me. I was suffering from an ulcer. He let me lie down. He brought me rinds of bread to eat.

“He saved my life,” concludes Welner, who, after the war, traveled twice to Munich to bring food to that guard.

Welner was still able to feel empathy.

Many had lost that capacity.

“I had a cousin, blonde, she survived by working as a maid in a Warsaw hotel, disguised as a Christian,” Welner recalls. “When the [Warsaw] ghetto was burning, someone laughed, ‘Look, the bedbugs are frying.’ Her family was inside that ghetto and she had to stand there, crying, saying nothing …”

Welner shakes his head. He tells how, upon arriving back in Lodz after being liberated, the first words he heard from a Christian were, “Oh, a lot of you Jews are still alive.”

 L’Chaim (To Life)

Welner shares such memories seriously, like one delivering a valuable package. Now one more person knows and will not forget. But he is not inclined to dwell on or analyze the horror. Asked about antisemitism, Welner shrugs. “That’s how it was. Always the Jew was the scapegoat.”

When the subject turns, however, to his three children, six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, Welner’s face lights up like a 100-candle birthday cake. He enthuses at length about each one. It glows when he converses about travel or music. And when he sings.

Welner loves to sing.

 “I love Italian,” he rhapsodizes. “I still remember songs from Italy [where he was in a DP camp].”

In the ghetto, Welner recalls, there was a Jewish composer who wrote satiric songs. Welner sings one in Yiddish, then translates: “Such a disaster, you have to eat every day, the stomach always wants more and more…

“We needed to laugh,” he recalls.

Welner adores jokes. Laughing uproariously (but never ruining the punch line), Welner tells a joke about the cow from Minsk. The farmer and the bull. The one where two friends enter a bakery: “‘Moishe, look at that wonderful bagel!’ ‘Oh, but it’s got a big hole in the middle!”’

Optimist

“I see the bagel, not the hole,” Welner explains. “I’m an optimist.”

At 31, Welner anticipated a happy future when he met a beautiful girl, Adele. They married and moved to Denver. Seven years later, Adele died, leaving Welner with three small children and a broken heart.

Welner moved to Israel for five years to be near his sisters, then back to Denver, where he worked as a carpenter and raised his kids. Despite the disappointment of a subsequent marriage not working out, “My father always enjoyed life,” recalls Welner’s daughter Beverly. “Our home was filled with love and laughter.”

As a Holocaust Survivor, Welner spoke to schools and groups in Denver and surrounding areas. Then in 1995, the Shoah Foundation sent Lori Goldberg to interview Welner.      

The two connected.

“We became best friends, sharing life’s joys and challenges,” says Goldberg, who, coincidentally, in the first years of their relationship, saw Welner on Tuesdays.

“He was my Morrie,” she says, alluding to the book, Tuesdays with Morrie. “From Jack, I learned about courage, resiliency, hope, and love.”

My Motto

“Jack has taught me, no matter how difficult life can be, one should never give up hope, one should never stop loving,” said Goldberg.

“My motto,” Welner says, “is, ‘Don’t let the past ruin your future. If you live in the past, you don’t have a future.’”         

“I receive so much more from Jack than I could ever give,” says Welner’s caregiver, Linda Chambers. “It is an honor to know him. He will not allow hate to grow in his heart.”

Hey Mama: You’re The Best

by Mark Smiley | Apr 29, 2019 | General Featured

Chronicle’s Guide To Showing Your Mom How Much You Appreciate All She Has Done For You

Mum’s the word in May. The English idiom expressed by William Shakespeare in Henry VI reminds us May 12 is Mother’s Day. It’s the special day when you get to celebrate your first best friend and the person you turn to when you need advice.

Mothers are like glue. Even when you can’t see them, they’re still holding the family together. For most women motherhood is a joy — a least some of the time. It is the catalyst that opens new connections as well as new stresses in a woman’s relationships with her partner, siblings and friends.

The idea of honoring mothers with a special day dates from the 19th century; In 1908, Anna Jarvis led a campaign to celebrate Mother’s Day in May. In 1914 a resolution by Congress and a presidential proclamation established the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day. Here’s Chronicle’s guide for showing your mother, grandmothers, sisters, aunts and friends how special they are:

Afternoon Tea

Let mom relax in style at the Brown Palace’s Traditional Afternoon Tea in the historic hotel’s legendary atrium lobby. You’ll be served tea, scones, pastries and dainty sandwiches, all artfully prepared by the hotel’s culinary staff. More: She’ll enjoy the soothing sounds of a harp or pianist playing classical, jazz and pop standards. Information 303-297-3111.

Or, take her to Mother’s Day afternoon tea at the historic Molly Brown House where she will love the savory sandwiches, sweet treats and specially blended tea, plus a chance to stop in the museum store. Information: 303-832-4092.

Dining With Mom

Mother’s Day only happens once a year so it’s best to make the most of it by bringing the family together at the Monaco Inn Restaurant. A dining experience like no other, specials include Lamb Shank, Lamb Chop & Grilled Shrimp, New York Steak & Fried Shrimp and Grilled Trout all priced under $25. The regular dinner menu is also available for mom and the family. Brunch is being served from 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Information: 303-320-1104.

Mother’s Day brunches are happening all over the city. A top choice is the Dom Perignon champagne brunch at Ellyngton’s in the Brown Palace downtown known for its carving stations and seafood selections. Information: 303-297-3111. Or, dazzle your mom this year at Dazzle Restaurant & Lounge on Curtis St. with live jazz performed by the Julie Monley Quartet from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. on Mother’s Day. Information: 303-839-5100. Other choices are the Tavern Lowry (303-366-0007) serving a brunch buffet from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. and the Del Frisco’s Grill (303-320-8529) in Cherry Creek.

Flowers

Present mom with a fragrant bouquet of freshly cut, elegantly arranged flowers. Choose from these top floral shops that can help you find the perfect arrangement for mom:

Bloom — Upscale florist offering chic floral arrangements plus accessories for mom on 3rd Ave. at University Blvd. Information: 720-941-2862.

Bouquets — Located in lower downtown, it was named one of America’s top 10 florists by Bon Appetit Magazine. Information: 303-333-5500.

Flower Power — A cozy, unfussy Wash Park neighborhood florist offering a sizable selection of flowers. Information: 303-777-6266.

Perfect Petal — Creative Highlands florist providing custom arrangements plus a boutique section with gifts for mom. Information: 303-480-0966.

Theater

Treat mom to an afternoon of exhilarating musical theatre with Sweat or Wicked at the Denver Performing Arts Complex or indulge her love for classical music during a performance of Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique at Boettcher Concert Hall also in the DCPA. Information: 303-893-4100.

Or for a hilarious comedy both you and mom will enjoy, get tickets to Noel Coward’s silly, rebellious 1925 comedy Hay Fever. It opens Mother’s Day weekend and plays at the John Hand Theater in Lowry each weekend through June 8, Fri.-Sat. 7:30 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m. Information: 303-455-7108.

Denver Built ‘Baby Boom’ To Propel Planet Into Supersonic Era

by Mark Smiley | Apr 1, 2019 | General Featured

Planned 2019 Test Flight To Hit Speeds Of 1,688 MPH;

Denver Co-Founders Raise $150 Million For Start-Up Firm

The XB-1 aircraft dubbed Baby Boom — a one-third-scale supersonic demonstrator — being built by Denver-based Boom Supersonic plans its first test flight later this year. Designed to reach speeds of up to 1,688 miles per hour or twice the speed of sound, it is the prototype for a commercial 55-passenger plane with a range of 5,180 miles to be introduced by 2023.

Co-founded by Denverites Blake Scholl and Josh Krall in 2014, the firm had raised $151 million by January of this year. Among the startup investors were several venture funds that kicked in $33 million in March 2017. In December 2017 Japan Airlines invested another $10 million, enough to build the XB-1 “Baby Boom.” Then in January Boom Supersonic was given another $100 million by Apple founder Steve Jobs’ widow Laurene Powell Jobs.

Boom says its aircraft — with a price estimate of $200 million — will produce a sonic boom at least 30 times quieter than the Concorde, which was also dogged by high operating costs and fuel consumption plus low capacity utilization. Boom estimates that fares for its aircraft will be 75% lower than the Concorde and comparable to current business class tickets, due to better fuel efficiency.

Pre-Orders Booming

Boom has 76 pre-orders for the 55-seat plane. The first commercial airline to back the venture with investments was British airline Virgin Atlantic that has options for 10 of the new aircraft. They made the deal 14 years after the final flight of the Concorde. In addition Japan Airlines has the option to purchase up to 20 Boom aircraft and will assist efforts to hone the aircraft’s design and passenger experience, according to the companies.

Called the Boom Overture, the 55-seat plane will be able to fly from New York to London, Paris to Montreal, and Madrid to Boston in under four hours — less than half the time of conventional jets. Although the plane will have fewer than half the seats of a Concorde, company officials say it will have a much better range — a staggering 5,180 miles.

The supersonic jet will also be more economical, and its sonic boom will be “at least 30 times quieter” than Concorde, the company claims. They also say that when it comes to landing and take-off: “Overture will be as quiet as the subsonic aircraft flying similar routes today.”

Mach 2.2 Speed

The firm says its jetliner — expected to enter service by the mid 2020s — will fly at speeds of Mach 2.2, 10% faster than the British-French joint venture Concorde, which popularized supersonic jet travel in the 1970s.

With 500 viable routes, there could be a market for 1,000 supersonic airliners with business class fares. It expects to keep the delta wing configuration of the Concorde but would be built with composite materials. It would be powered by three dry 15,000 20,000 lbf (67-89 kN) turbofans; a derivative or a clean sheet design will be selected in 2019.

General Electric Co., Honeywell International Inc. and Netherlands-based TenCate Advanced Composites are among suppliers for the Denver firm’s supersonic jets.

Accessible Planet

The Denver-based company was founded for the express purpose of making our planet dramatically more accessible. “We are taking proven science and engineering and using it to build a Mach-2.2 airliner that will kick off the supersonic era. And we are making the company a place where the best people on the planet can be inspired and enabled to do the best and most meaningful work of their careers,” says Founder-CEO Blake Scholl.

Speed isn’t about going really fast Scholl says, “It’s about closeness. It’s about making far-away places feel like they’re right around the corner.” His point: Some people say that speed makes the world smaller. But at Mach 2.2, the planet is as big as ever. Life is bigger when it is experienced in person — with supersonic speeds, we’ll all experience a bigger world than ever before.

Over long distances people don’t think in miles and kilometers. They think in hours,” the CEO clarifies. He explains it this way: Crossing the U.S. takes about five hours. Going from New York to Dubai takes about 14. Speed isn’t about going really fast. It’s about closeness. It’s about making far away places feel like they’re right around the corner. If we can fly twice as fast, the world becomes twice as small, turning far off lands into familiar neighbors.

Founding Trio

Making high-speed travel mainstream is exactly why Scholl who lives in Denver and is the father of three founded Boom Supersonic. With a BS in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon, he has held leadership roles at Amazon and Groupon and co-founded mobile technology startup Kima Labs that was acquired by Groupon in 2012.

Sitting at the intersection of engineering, design, and marketing, Josh Krall — who also lives here — co-founded Boom with Scholl. He also attended Carnegie Mellon and has an MBA-MPP from Chicago Booth. Co-founder of two startups, his technical work includes owning multidisciplinary design automation software used for conceptual and preliminary aircraft design. He is leading Boom’s efforts to re-imagine the experience of flying and to craft the company’s brand.

Andy Cipra is the third member of the Boom team. He served as head of marketing at Denver’s Dish Network where he created partnerships with Southwest Airlines, Apple and Netflix. Most recently he was Chief Marketing-Commercial Officer for several start-ups in the healthcare and technology space. He holds a Mechanical Engineering degree from Purdue and an MBA from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business.

Councilman Flynn Halts Efforts To Install More Photo Red-Light Cameras

by Mark Smiley | Jan 28, 2019 | General Featured

by Julie Hayden

Investigative couple, Denver City Councilman Kevin Flynn and his wife, uncovered evidence that put the brakes on Denver’s plans to install more controversial red-light cameras at city intersections. “We’re such a fun couple,” he quips about their recent “investigative date night.”

Last month, the Denver City Council was poised to spend $1.2 million on a plan to expand its red-light camera program. It first launched in 2008 and the city sends tickets to drivers who go through a red light or stop in the crosswalk at those intersections. Currently there are red-light cameras at four Denver intersections: West 8th Avenue and Speer Blvd, Quebec Street and East 36th Avenue, 6th Avenue and Kalamath and East 6th Avenue and Lincoln Street. The new proposal would have moved the 6th and Lincoln camera to Alameda Avenue and Santa Fe and added two new red-light cameras at 13th Avenue and Lincoln and 18th Avenue and Lincoln.

Flynn is an award-winning former reporter with the Rocky Mountain News and was the transportation reporter when Denver first installed the red-light cameras more than a decade ago.

He and his wife armed with a stopwatch app and phone camera discovered that the timing of the yellow lights at two of the intersections in question is so short it’s virtually impossible to get through them before the light switches to red. He says. “The laws of traffic cannot trump the laws of physics. It takes a certain amount of time to stop a moving vehicle, so you always have to take into account the real-world situation.” Flynn found the yellow light at 13th and Lincoln is just three seconds long, the minimum allowed by federal law and the 18th and Lincoln yellow light is 3.5 seconds long. Flynn points out, “That’s just trapping people.”

With the support of Denver Police and City traffic engineers, Flynn wrote a memo to other Councilmembers proposing they postpone the contract adding red-light cameras and try lengthening the timing of the yellow lights.

While some argue red-light cameras improve safety, many feel red-light cameras are just cash cows for cities like Denver. The City raked in more than a million dollars in 2017 from the thousands of tickets generated by the red-light cameras. The money goes into the City’s General Fund. In November 2018, Aurora residents overwhelmingly voted to get rid of red-light cameras at 10 intersections in that city. Data from Aurora showed that accidents had actually increased at the red-light camera intersections. A 2011 audit by then Denver City Auditor Dennis Gallagher concluded Denver’s photo radar system did little to show it had any other purpose other than bringing in revenues.

Councilman Flynn says lengthening the yellow light times should address the safety issues without unfairly ticketing drivers. “We don’t need the 75 bucks per driver that badly that you have to induce violations that don’t have to occur, “Flynn says noting the Denver City budget is in fine shape. “The point is, you have to specifically engineer the traffic at each intersection on its own. There can’t be a blanket rule.”

Flynn points out that lengthening yellow light times has worked elsewhere. In Loma Linda, California, Flynn says an intersection with a red-light camera was averaging 249 tickets a month. They added 7-tenths of a second to the red-light camera and now hand out only one ticket every five days. “That’s the kind of safety I want to bring to Denver, “Flynn says.

City Council members voted unanimously to put off adding red-light cameras while City staff tries out longer yellow lights. That process could take up to nine months.

One other problem with the proposed new red-light camera contract, it listed the wrong intersections, so Flynn says they were going to have to postpone it anyway.

Denver Not Reporting 10% Of City’s Workers’ Comp Costs New Audit Reveals

by Mark Smiley | Dec 17, 2018 | General Featured

Revenue, Cost, Liabilities Not Fully Accounted For; City Pays From Agency Funds Rather Than Workers’ Comp

According to a new audit released in late October by Denver Auditor Timothy M. O’Brien, CPA, the city is not reporting up to 10% of its workers’ compensation costs — approximately $3 million during the three-year audit period — in the proper fund. More: Because the actuaries do not have all the cost information, some of the liabilities associated with workers’ compensation are not recorded at all.

“The city should account for all workers’ compensation costs in the designated fund, so we know what the self-insured program is actually costing the people of Denver,” Auditor O’Brien makes clear.

State law requires employers to provide medical care and treatment needed at the time of the injury or occupational disease and during the disability. The city’s workers’ compensation activity is accounted for primarily in a dedicated fund.

Salary Deemed Benefit

However, the audit found revenues, costs and liabilities are not fully accounted for in the dedicated fund. Specifically, salary continuation costs are not paid out of the dedicated fund. Instead, these costs are paid directly by the agency without recording all related liabilities in any fund.

Salary continuation is when the city provides paid disability leave to eligible employees if the employee has a disability due to an on-the-job injury or disease and is unable to perform the duties of the position or any other position. Salary continuation begins after an employee misses three days and files a workers’ compensation claim.

The city considers salary continuation to be a benefit and pays for it out of individual agency funds rather than the Workers’ Compensation Fund. This matters because it means the city is underreporting the total cost to the city of workers’ compensation in the city’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report. The city has agreed to add disclosure of salary continuation costs and related liability to the 2018 financial statements.

Lacks Formal Plan

The city also lacks a formal strategic plan process for the workers’ compensation program. Without comprehensive and targeted measures tied to well-documented strategy, the city cannot determine if the self-insured program is cost-effective and achieving strategic goals. More evaluation of different workers compensation models could help ensure that the city has identified all available cost savings opportunities.

“While the program’s performance has improved in many aspects, the city is not fully analyzing the total cost of the workers compensation program,” Auditor O’Brien said. “Without reviewing performance, how can the city know it’s getting the best deal? Reducing unwarranted costs is a primary goal.”

Finally, the balance policy for the city’s workers’ comp claim fund does not match the actuary’s recommendation. The city uses a third-party firm to calculate the fund’s liability and to make a recommendation on how much above that liability the city should be able to pay due to the uncertainty of claims. The workers’ comp fund has a target funding range $1 million below the actuary’s recommended level.

Puzzling City Decision

Auditor O’Brien questions this decision because the city has more funds on hand than the recommended levels, but the agency disagrees and chooses not to consider a policy to require the funds stay at the recommended level.

“Given that the funding levels have greatly improved, I find it puzzling for the city to have more money on hand than needed but not consider making it policy to keep at least the actuarial recommended amount available,” Auditor O’Brien said.

The audit also found room for improvement in updated polices and in efficiency and effectiveness of the risk management information system.

City’s Watchful Eye: Denver City Auditor Timothy M. O’Brien, CPA, is the watchdog keeping Denver business dealings straightforward and trustworthy. His latest audit just released reveals the city is not reporting up to 10% of its workers’ compensation costs — approximately $3 million during the three-year audit period — in the proper fund.

Workers’ Comp Costs: City considers salary continuation to be a benefit and pays for it out of individual agency funds rather than the Workers’ Compensation Fund.

Paid Disability Leave: Salary continuation begins after an employee misses three days and files a workers’ compensation claim.

Happy Holiday Sale At Le Grue’s

by Mark Smiley | Nov 19, 2018 | General Featured

Denver Landmark Holds Retirement Sale

Holiday shoppers will find bargains galore at Le Grue’s flower and Christmas store. LeGrue’s has been a must see decorating destination for 40 years at 476 South Broadway in Denver. The expansive store has one of the largest galleries of artificial Christmas trees in the area and has every style of holiday lights and decorations you could imagine.

But the owners are retiring after receiving an offer to purchase the building that was too good to pass up. That’s resulting in a new adventure for them and great deals for shoppers.

You will be able to find high quality artificial Christmas trees and decorations as well as silk flowers and plants. Le Grue’s also offers antiques and unique gifts. And everything in the store is for sale at huge discounts, as much as 50% off or more. “Everything must go,” the owners explain. They expect it will go fast and suggest people stop by and check it out sooner rather than later.

LeGrue’s owners say their customers and business neighbors have become their friends over the years and they say a special “Thank You” for all the support and great memories. “Le Grue’s has been an amazing journey,” they say. “And we are looking forward to new possibilities, adventures and beginnings.”

Le Grue’s is centrally located at 476 S. Broadway in Denver. The retirement sale is underway and will run through the beginning of the New Year.

Denver Landmark Closing: Le Grue’s, a shopper’s destination for 40 years on South Broadway, is closing its doors and holding a retirement sale.