Features

By Aaron Cole, Auto Columnist

It’s hard to focus too long on the 2013 Kia Sportage.

     The car before us is currently one of the best-selling compact crossovers in the U.S. right now, a four-door sales behemoth that produces only 176 horsepower in base trim. I mean, it’s not as if the Sportage speeds away like an Internet conspiracy theory with power numbers like that. Something else is afoot here.

Gardening is a rewarding hobby with thousands of devotees. Backyard gardens provide beauty and aesthetic appeal to a landscape, and they can be a source of homegrown food and a natural habitat for outdoor wildlife. A self-sustaining garden can be an efficient addition to any home, but gardens require upkeep and dedication.
    A self-sufficient garden sustains itself through proper planning and execution. Such gardens can almost take care of themselves so long as the soil is healthy soil, the seeds are reused and organic material is produced.

Many homeowners aim for a picture perfect lawn complete with rolling acres of soft, green grass. But Mother Nature may have other things in mind, providing homeowners with less-than-stellar growing conditions for their lawns, plants and other foliage. Frustration can mount when a yard is muddy, is especially shady or has soil that doesn’t seem to grow a thing. In such instances, homeowners may have to go the extra mile to get the yard they desire.

BRIGHTON — New leadership in place at the Armory is working to take the facility to the next level. Events and Downtown Initiatives Manager Gary Montoya took over as manager of the cultural arts center at the beginning of the year and said he is looking forward to the challenge.

According to Montoya, the events division is focusing on bringing in a balance of entertainment that is going to be of interest to the Brighton community.

BRIGHTON — HeART of Brighton is working to finalize the details for the city’s first blues festival. The Brighton Blues Blast will feature local, regional and nationally known acts and will kick-off May 31 and continue the evening of June 1 at the Armory.

BRIGHTON — Christmas is going to be a little different for the Mckeough family this year.

Normally Owen, his wife, Sarah, and their children Alex, 4, and Paige, 1, would celebrate the holidays together with their families in Brighton, but this year Owen is deployed in Afghanistan and he will be celebrating the holidays with his unit.

According to Sarah, Owen left for Afghanistan in September on his second deployment with the Army Reserve’s 396 MP Unit and is currently stationed at the Bagram Air Base.

By Aaron Cole, Auto Columnist

Just in time for climate change to turn the United States into a sweatbox and bless Canada with a 9-month growing season, Jaguar makes all-wheel drive luxury cars again.

Seriously, I love snow. I just wish we had more to drive on.

Al Gore had it all wrong. Put every man, woman and child in the backseat of an extended-wheelbase 2013 Jaguar XJ AWD and they’ll be recycling plastic from individually wrapped bananas quicker than you can say “Inconvenient Truth.”

Colorado’s outdoors makes a great holiday gift for family, friends, teacher and everyone on your shopping list. Avoid the mall madness and shop online for gifts starting at $5.

BRIGHTON — By all accounts, Cherry Creek’s Daryl McNeil had quite a night Friday in his team’s 49-21 win over Brighton High School in the opening round of the state 5A football playoffs.
    McNeil, a senior, ran for 189 yards on just eight carries and scored three touchdowns.

    So it begs the question. What sort of an evening did fellow running back Tahj Willingham have? He ran for 200 yards on 18 tries and scored the other four Bruins’ touchdowns.