Best Consumer Watchdog With New Bite 2003 | Jack EhnesCalifornia State Teachers Retirement System | Best of Denver® | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Denver | Westword
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Best Consumer Watchdog With New Bite

Jack Ehnes
California State Teachers Retirement System

As Governor Roy Romer's insurance commissioner in the mid-'90s, Jack Ehnes was a local consumers' hero, always fighting for the little guy. Although most of his innovative reforms have since been undone, he's still in there pitching for Colorado consumers -- albeit indirectly. As chief executive officer of the California State Teachers Retirement System, the third-largest public pension fund in the nation, Ehnes is part of the group's lawsuit against Qwest Communications, its founder Phil Anschutz, former chief executive Joseph Nacchio and several investment-banking companies. The suit, filed in December, accuses them of engaging in fraudulent schemes that cost California teachers $150 million from investments in Qwest stocks and bonds. The defendants deny the claims. Welcome back, Jack.

Best Non-Random Act of Kindness -- Legislative

State Representative Paul Weissmann

We've missed Paul Weissmann, a Louisville bartender in his real life, who enlivened many a session as a senator at the Statehouse. Now the Democrat is back as a state representative, and he's not wasting any time proposing improvements. While several of his suggestions have run up against the Republican wall, he's managed to push a few through on his own. For example, Weissmann wanted the Capitol dome reopened to visitors (it had been shut first out of safety concerns, then budgetary cutbacks), so he volunteered to staff the visitors' desk at the base of the Capitol stairs at lunchtime.

Best Non-Random Act of Kindness -- Legislative

State Representative Paul Weissmann

We've missed Paul Weissmann, a Louisville bartender in his real life, who enlivened many a session as a senator at the Statehouse. Now the Democrat is back as a state representative, and he's not wasting any time proposing improvements. While several of his suggestions have run up against the Republican wall, he's managed to push a few through on his own. For example, Weissmann wanted the Capitol dome reopened to visitors (it had been shut first out of safety concerns, then budgetary cutbacks), so he volunteered to staff the visitors' desk at the base of the Capitol stairs at lunchtime.

Best Non-Random Act of Kindness -- Judicial

Denver District Court Judges

Colorado's courts are in a world of hurt financially, as is every other governmental institution these days, and court employees will be missing out on several days' pay this year. To help ease the pain for 120 Denver District Court workers, the district's twenty judges each contributed $600 to an employees' fund, just in time for the holidays. "We're all in this together," said Judge John Coughlin, who proposed the do-good idea. Not quite: The judges earn $104,000 a year, far more than most of their employees -- but they're still among the lowest-paid district-court judges in the country.

Best Non-Random Act of Kindness -- Judicial

Denver District Court Judges

Colorado's courts are in a world of hurt financially, as is every other governmental institution these days, and court employees will be missing out on several days' pay this year. To help ease the pain for 120 Denver District Court workers, the district's twenty judges each contributed $600 to an employees' fund, just in time for the holidays. "We're all in this together," said Judge John Coughlin, who proposed the do-good idea. Not quite: The judges earn $104,000 a year, far more than most of their employees -- but they're still among the lowest-paid district-court judges in the country.

Best Non-Random Act of Kindness -- Parental

Caitlyn Craig Memorial Fund

Fifteen-year-old Caitlyn Craig, a Chatfield High School student, died in a car accident this year -- one of a half-dozen teens from the southern suburbs who've been killed in crashes recently. To help ensure that the tragic count diminishes in future years, Craig's family has set up a memorial fund in her name, with the money going toward re-establishing a driver's education course at Chatfield -- one of many educational programs that have been eliminated because of budget cuts.

Best Non-Random Act of Kindness -- Parental

Caitlyn Craig Memorial Fund

Fifteen-year-old Caitlyn Craig, a Chatfield High School student, died in a car accident this year -- one of a half-dozen teens from the southern suburbs who've been killed in crashes recently. To help ensure that the tragic count diminishes in future years, Craig's family has set up a memorial fund in her name, with the money going toward re-establishing a driver's education course at Chatfield -- one of many educational programs that have been eliminated because of budget cuts.

Best Non-Random Act of Kindness -- Professional

Orphan Memorial
Riverside Cemetery

Think you've got it bad today? Times were much tougher during the Silver Panic, when families were large and "orphan trains"

brought more than 1,500 abandoned children to Denver from the overcrowded East. Some of the children handed over to the Denver Orphans' Home for safekeeping didn't survive bouts with pneumonia and diphtheria; 22 children who died at the home between 1890 and 1910 were buried in tiny, unmarked graves at Riverside. But those graves are unmarked no longer: Cliff Dougal, Riverside's office sales manager, was inspired by Lola Russell of the Northglenn Senior Center to raise $2,500 to pay for a granite memorial at the cemetery. That memorial, inscribed with the names of the orphans who died in Denver, was dedicated this past October.

Best Non-Random Act of Kindness -- Professional

Orphan Memorial
Riverside Cemetery

Think you've got it bad today? Times were much tougher during the Silver Panic, when families were large and "orphan trains"

brought more than 1,500 abandoned children to Denver from the overcrowded East. Some of the children handed over to the Denver Orphans' Home for safekeeping didn't survive bouts with pneumonia and diphtheria; 22 children who died at the home between 1890 and 1910 were buried in tiny, unmarked graves at Riverside. But those graves are unmarked no longer: Cliff Dougal, Riverside's office sales manager, was inspired by Lola Russell of the Northglenn Senior Center to raise $2,500 to pay for a granite memorial at the cemetery. That memorial, inscribed with the names of the orphans who died in Denver, was dedicated this past October.

Best Non-Random Acts of Kindness -- Educational

Daniels College Prep Program

Before he died, Bill Daniels, the cable entrepreneur, poured much of his considerable fortune into the Daniels Fund, which subsidizes numerous good works. But perhaps its most impressive accomplishment is the Daniels College Prep Program, which has helped hundreds of students attend college -- despite their "non-traditional" high-school profiles. The intensive pro-

gram includes college-prep workshops, summer seminars on a local campus, and volunteer coaches in the senior year of high school to help students prepare for college -- and, perhaps, apply for a Daniels Scholarship.

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