Taryn Walker

highlandsranchherald.net — Honeybee populations have declined by 40 percent in the United States, according to a recent U.S. Department of Agriculture report But losing honeybees isn't the only thing people should be worried about. Native bees are disappearing too. "Not many people know this, but one mason bee can pollinate the same amount as 100 honey bees. It's exponentially better for us. Mason bees are solitary, don't group in hives and aren't aggressive. They live in our midst, do their job and die in the fall. Whatever eggs they laid in summer - that population comes out and does it all over again each year," Jessica Goldstrohm of Higlands Ranch said.

highlandsranchherald.net — Wearing a khaki visor labeled "The Honey Gal" and a giant smile, Debra Ann Rivera called out to the crowd as she squirted whipped caramel honey onto wooden sticks for visitors to try. "I've got Colorado honey!" Rivera calls herself the honey gal because that's who she is and what she does. She's one of hundreds of vendors who sell products at famers markets in the Denver metro area. On a recent Wednesday, Rivera was working the market at Aspen Grove in Littleton. It's one of five locations run by Metro Denver Farmers' Market.

centennialcitizen.net — Bridgette Yeboah-Spaun had no idea she would fall in love with someone in the United States when she came here from Ghana to study nursing, she said. Four years later, she was elated to take pictures with her husband, Ben, shortly after becoming a U.S. citizen. She was among 50 immigrants to be naturalized by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Centennial on June 8. Yeboah-Spaun recently earned her master's degree in nursing from Regis College in Weston, Massachusetts. Now that she's working as a nurse practitioner, she has goals of going back to Ghana and building a free clinic for her home village.

currentargus.com — By Taryn Walkertwalker@currentargus.com Posted: 02/10/2013 08:00:57 AM MST Click photo to enlarge The list of products that can't be recycled in Carlsbad is much longer than the list of items that can, but the city is making progress. Rainbow Recycling, a division of CARC Inc., has been in operation for 22 years, and with Mary Garwood now at the helm of the organization, Carlsbad may start to get a little greener. When Garwood took over in 2007, only 170 tons of recyclable matter each year? was making its way to the Rainbow Recycling's location at 103 Greene Street.

currentargus.com — By Taryn Walkertwalker@currentargus.com Posted: 01/25/2013 07:05:39 AM MST Click photo to enlarge Six-year-old Emma Hernandez walked into her parents bedroom at almost 4 a.m. Monday morning complaining that her arm hurt. Little did they know she had just been hit in the wrist by a stray bullet allegedly fired by two teenagers from the street outside the home. Mark and Erica Hernandez live in a quaint tawny house on Carver Street in southwest Carlsbad with their two daughters, Emma, 6, and Lily, 18 months. Emma's recovering quickly, and she's surrounded by plenty of well-wishers and get-well gifts, but the family says their sense of security was shattered with Monday's shooting.

www.portasouthjetty.com — Police officer fired An officer at the Port Aransas Police Department was fired following an internal investigation that was conducted after a complaint by a Portland woman who said the officer used excessive force against her, according to city records. Former Sergeant Michael Bustos, who had been with PAPD since 2008, filed an eight-page grievance letter with Port Aransas City Manager David Parsons stating that he was "wrongfully" terminated. Bustos was terminated Wednesday, Aug. 14. According to the internal investigation conducted by Lt. James Stokes, at 5 p.m., Saturday, July 27, Bustos was directing long lines of traffic into the ferry loop at the intersection of Cut-off Road and Cotter Avenue.

www.portasouthjetty.com — When two Port Aransas teachers set off to study ecosystems in the Arctic this summer, their intentions weren't just to research. This trip also was about passing along several messages to their students: A message to be kind to the planet. A message that science is everywhere; including outside the classroom. And a message to inspire continual learning, even when it is during summer break. Brundrett Middle School's seventh and eighth grade science teacher Andrea Skloss and Port Aransas High School's science teacher Jill Smith made sure to enjoy themselves while working with University of Texas Marine Science Institute oceanographer Ken Dunton and his team.

currentargus.com — By Taryn Walkertwalker@currentargus.com Posted: 01/31/2013 01:31:33 AM MST A man who is accused of killing and raping a 1-year-old in 2004 is in court again. Curtis Jones, 26, of Carlsbad, was first arrested when he was 17 on July 30, 2004, just six days after his girlfriend's 20-month-old daughter was declared brain dead. The cause of death, according to the autopsy, was blunt force trauma to the head. Three female prosecuting attorneys from the attorney general's office in Santa Fe walked in to Carlsbad's district courtroom 1 Wednesday morning with confidence in facing Jones' case and they came baring evidence as well as their first candidate willing to testify.

currentargus.com — By Taryn Walkertwalker@currentargus.com Posted: 12/19/2012 08:37:26 AM MST Click photo to enlarge Friends and family members are grieving the death of Adrian Fierro, a man who would have celebrated his 20th birthday the same weekend he died from a gunshot wound to the head. Tuesday afternoon residents of the RV park where Fierro was found dead gathered to mourn the loss of an outgoing man who loved himself and loved life, they said. A wooden plaque and black Sharpie marker were left sitting on a cinderblock for anyone wanting to leave kind words.

highlandsranchherald.net — The morning started out with a couple of yawns, then progressed to cartwheels and dirt shoveling as warm sunshine beat down on fields of tall grass near Highlands Ranch Mansion. It was a perfect day to plant fruit trees and a welcome reprieve from weeks of off-and-on rain. For many of the Starry Sky Girl Scouts unit, it was the first day of "summer," as several Highlands Ranch schools let out the day before. But on this particular early morning, May 28, these 30 girls meant business: It was time to earn their tree badge.

highlandsranchherald.net — A proposal for development of roughly 20 acres of the Highlands Ranch Backcountry Wilderness Area includes a ropes/challenge course and an archery range. Megan Lindsey, chair of the Backcountry Planning Areas Advisory Committee, presented those ideas and more to delegates at the Highlands Ranch Community Association study session on May 20. The 20 acres for potential development have not yet been determined, Lindsey said. "We don't know specifically where the planning areas are for the potential development," she said. BPAAC, which was founded in 2012, is a committee within the HRCA that serves as an advisory board and is "charged with presenting information for potential uses of development in the Backcountry," according to Lindsey.

highlandsranchherald.net — Synergy HomeCare of Denver donated flowers to be delivered by Daisy Girl Scouts Troop 3933 and Boy Scouts from Troop 461 on May 8 at Orchard Park Health Care in Centennial. Children ages 5 to 8 went room-to-room hand-delivering colorful carnations to residents for Mother's Day. Patients had just wrapped up lunch and were surprised by the cheerful greeting, as the event was called "Mother's Day Surprise." Synergy representative Kim Paul said the thought of seniors not having family with them for the holiday made her think of the idea.