5280 Magazine – May 2018

20 |^5280 |^ MAY 2^018

A LIBRARY

Assistant editor Mary Clare

Fischer’s first job as a teen-

ager was at a Michigan

library. So it was particular-

ly fitting that she examined

the changing role of local

libraries in “Shelf Life”

(page 40), a piece com-

memorating the centennial

anniversaries of the Denver

Public Library’s Byers and

Smiley branches.

Behind The Stories

JASON HATFIELD

Photographer

Jason Hatield wasn’t

assigned to shoot

photos for this issue’s

“Iconic Places” fea-

ture (page 76), which

highlights some of the

most stunning loca-

tions in the Mountain

West region. Yet the

Highlands Ranch

photographer’s skills

still proved useful:

He’d already captured

mesmerizing shots

of three of the 10

featured sites. One

such image depicts

the brilliant north-

ern lights above

a pitch-black Hid-

den Lake Trail in

Montana’s Glacier

National Park. From

a distance, Hatield

thought the glowing

cloud was light pol-

lution—but he was

delighted to ind out

he was witnessing

the aurora borealis.

As this issue went to

press, the lensman had

just returned from a

trip to Alaska where

he chased the polar

lights even farther

north. Hatield’s work

has also been featured

in Men’s Journal.

NATASHA GARDNER

Articles Editor

Covering politics often

entails side-by-side

comparisons of two

candidates. But as Col-

oradan after Coloradan

iled to run for this

year’s crowded guber-

natorial race, articles

editor Natasha Gard-

ner saw a chance to

look beyond the names

to better understand

how elections work in

the Centennial State.

In “43: Inside he

2018 Gubernatorial

Election” (page 88),

she focuses on what it

took to win the state’s

highest post in the

past—and what it will

take this year and go-

ing forward. “Colorado

was already a politi-

cally dynamic place,”

Gardner says. “But this

year, we have a new

primary system that is

forcing campaigns to

strategize diferently.”

he result? The race

to pick the next gov-

ernor is going to

be contentious.

KASEY CORDELL

Features Editor

As a journalist who

regularly covers vet-

erans and as the wife

of a space weather

forecaster (seriously),

features editor Kasey

Cordell is intimately

familiar with both

boots on the ground

and the celestial bod-

ies above us. Until

she began reporting

“Space Games” (page

106), though, she

hadn’t realized those

interests collided in

the form of two Colo-

rado Springs–based

Air Force units. The

Space Aggressor

squadrons train the

U.S. military on how

to determine if GPS

signals and other

satellite communi-

cations are being

disrupted—and on

how to continue

operating with-

out them. “What

surprised me most,”

Cordell says, “was just

how much the civilian

world relies on these

technologies too.”

“ONE LOOK

AROUND THE

DOME THAT

NIGHT MADE

IT CLEAR THAT

THIS IS WHERE

YOU CAN FIND

MANY OF GRAND

COUNTY’S

MOSTLY INVIS

IBLE LATINOS.”

—Writer

Martin J. Smith on

the Grand County

soccer field that

has served as a

community builder

for the region

(“The Big Tent,”

page 62)

3

52

80

Dave Buresh/the

Denver Post

via Getty Images; Illustrations by Dierdra Olin

Childhood Haunts

We (Metaphorically)

Returned To In This

Month’s Issue

A PLAYGROUND

When editorial assistant

Shane Monaghan was

about 10, he often left his

southeast Denver home

for the refuge of Hampden

Heights Park. There, he’d

while away the hours on

the basketball court and

playground. Like him, play-

grounds have since grown

up, a trend he chronicles

in “Play A Different Way”

(page 24).

AN AMUSEMENT PARK

One of associate food edi-

tor Callie Sumlin’s favorite

places to go as a child was

Lakeside Amusement Park.

Decades later, she writes

about being thankful that

the dilapidated park still

exists in a vastly different

Denver (“Along For The

Ride,” page 28).