News-Press Douglas 3.28.13
Castle Rock
Douglas County, Colorado • Volume 11, Issue 1
March 28, 2013
Free
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourcastlerocknews.com
Voucher dispute moving forward Colorado Supreme Court will decide whether to take up contentious issue By Jane Reuter
jreuter@ourcoloradonews.com
could be pivotal to fighting a wildfire. “We’re one of the few if not the only municipal fire department in the state that trains with a helicopter,” said Lt. Patrick Richardson, wildland team coordinator with Castle Rock Fire and Rescue. “If we don’t practice, the last place we want to learn to do this is in an actual fire. Burning Tree is a perfect example.” Richardson led nearly 60 firefighters from the Castle Rock and South Metro fire departments in wildland training at the vacant Dawson Ridge subdivision. Rampart
A plaintiff in the Douglas County School District voucher case says the state appeals court erred in several area Feb. 28 in upholding the voucher program. The process to take the case to the Colorado Supreme Court is under way. An attorney on the other side, representing families who had originally received vouchers, says the program’s design keeps private schools and government separate, ensuring its constitutionality. The two sides likely will get to argue those points again, though the case doesn’t automatically move to the higher court. It first must be approved for review by a certiorari, an order from a higher court that directs the lower court to send the case to it. The Colorado Supreme Court receives more than 900 certiorari petitions annually stemming from Court of Appeals decisions, and agrees on average to hear one of every 14 petitioned cases. Director of Taxpayers for Public Education Anne Kleinkopf, among the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against DCSD and the Colorado Department of Education, has no doubt this petition will be granted. “The issues are of such great public importance and they are such novel legal is-
Training continues on Page 6
Voucher continues on Page 8
More than 50 firefighters from the Castle Rock and South Metro fire departments participated in a wildland fire training March 21 in Castle Rock’s Dawson Ridge. The training exercise prepared firefighters for coordinating helicopter drops during firefighting efforts. Photos by Rhonda Moore
Training links agencies, airpower Crews practice for helicopter drops during wildfires By Rhonda Moore
rmoore@ourcoloradonews.com Castle Rock firefighters take fire season seriously, with wildfire training to fight a blaze from all directions. The town’s fire department hosted wild-
land training in March, to prepare local agencies for the possibility of fighting fires from ground and air. It is a possibility that is real in Douglas County. Castle Rock was among the agencies that in 2011 responded to the Burning Tree Fire, which claimed 1,600 acres in Franktown. The fire was contained with the help of Rampart Helicopter of Castle Rock. The company contracts with Douglas County to respond to area wildfires. Pilots with Rampart Helicopter participate in the air-to-ground training that
There’s nothing musty or dusty about county’s libraries Douglas branches have distinct personalities By Rhonda Moore
rmoore@ourcoloradonews.com An early morning visit to the Lone Tree Library is a cross between stepping into a childhood play land, a workplace and a multi-cultural complex. The Lone Tree branch opened in 1986 as the Oakes Mill Library, circulating about 2,400 items in its first year. Today, the branch that sits minutes from the Park Meadows shopping center welcomes about 45,000 visitors per month, with a 2012 circulation of 830,000 items. Its visitors include residents who have relocated to Colorado from across the globe, reflecting the diversity of the Lone Tree patrons. “Our library is one of the more diverse in the district,” said Aspen Walker, Douglas County Library District branch manager at the Castle Pines and Lone Tree branches. “We’re seeing an amazing amount of use.” Visitors to the Lone Tree branch on a re-
cent March morning included transplants from Austria, Honduras and Japan. Many were at the branch for childhood story time. Some joined the activities to help perfect their language skills, including Miwa Inatsugu from Japan. “I come just to hear people speak,” Inatsugu said. Inatsugu visits the library a few times a week, her 17-month-old baby in tow. She was surprised to learn that among the library’s services is a free English tutoring program. It is among dozens of programs offered free of charge at the district. Programs include history research, tech tutoring, business start-up support, free legal aid, author visits and job-seeking help. To expand its programming, the library finds community partners such as the Arapahoe/Douglas Works! workforce center, which provides job skills training and employment matches through the state labor department. On March 21, more than 30 people attended a free class at the Philip S. Miller branch in Castle Rock to perfect interviewLibraries continues on Page 27
The public access computers at the Philip S. Miller library in Castle Rock are routinely reserved. The computers provide internet access free of charge to library patrons. Photo by Rhonda Moore