DOUGLAS 12/20/12
Castle Rock
News-Press
Douglas County, Colorado • Volume 10, Issue 39
A TOY STORY
December 20, 2012
Free
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourcastlerocknews.com
Council seeking to outlaw pot shops Town official wants prohibition ‘sooner rather than later’ By Rhonda Moore
rmoore@ourcoloradonews.com
Grant Atwood, 4, of Parker, picks out a toy with the help of Deputy Matthew Bach at Target, 1950 E. County Line Road. Atwood was on the hunt for anything to do with SpiderMan, trains or dinosaurs. Bach was among a group of Douglas County Sheriff’s Office deputies who volunteered their time to help brighten the holidays for 30 area kids Dec. 15. The inaugural Heroes and Helpers event paired deputies with kids identified by Douglas County Human Services and the Douglas County School District to go on a $50 shopping spree for the holidays. Photo by Courtney Kuhlen
Piecemakers sew for giving season Church group delivers 54 quilts to task force By Rhonda Moore
rmoore@ourcoloradonews.com It’s a labor of love when the quilters of Faith Lutheran Church gather for their annual projects. And it’s a gathering that takes place throughout the year. The church is host to the Piecemakers, a group of TASK FORCE’S NEEDS craftswomen The Douglas/Elbert Task Force who this year created more continues to seek sponsors for the than 150 small holiday season to help deliver gifts quilts to dis- to families within its reach, said tribute to area Suzanne Greene, executive direcservice orga- tor. The task force serves clients in nizations. Par- need throughout Douglas and Elbert ticipants in the counties and in 2010 reached more group range than 14,700 people. Among the more sought-after confrom lifelong quilters tributions the task force could use for to some who holiday distribution are gift cards to never touch a local retail outlets, movie passes and gift cards for haircuts with local stylneedle. But all make ists, Greene said. To make a donation, visit the task a contribution that this holi- force from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday day season will through Saturday at 1638 Park St. in reach children Castle Rock, or call 303-688-1114. and families in More information about the Dougcrisis through- las/Elbert Task Force is available at out Douglas www.detaskforce.org. County. “We get together because we like to have a good time and make beautiful things for those in need,” said Jill Head of Castle Rock. “This is our biggest group.” Head was among the members of the group who on Dec. 10 delivered 54 pint-
Pot shops might have to find any other place to call home, as long as it’s outside of Castle Rock, Parker and most of the rest of Douglas County. Castle Rock Town Council on Dec. 11 became the latest municipality in Douglas County to make the move to prohibit commercial marijuana operations in town limits. Town council opted to draft an ordinance to ban commercial marijuana activities and asked the town’s legal team to look into the possibility of establishing a permitting process to regulate home grow operations. The council decision came one day after Gov. John Hickenlooper signed Amendment 64, which gives Coloradans older than 21 the right to possess up to an ounce of marijuana for recreational use. The constitutional amendment also provides for commercial operations and sales in Colorado, but gives local governments and municipalities the option to ban such operations. Douglas County in November became the first county in Colorado to draft a commercial prohibition, scheduled for a Dec. 18 final reading and adoption. The county prohibition would impact unincorporated parts of the county, including Highlands Ranch. Parker’s commercial prohibition is scheduled to go into effect Dec. 23, and the City of Lone Tree is mulling a ban on commercial operations. While the amendment gives local governments until October 2013 to adopt licensing protocols, Castle Rock council members want a ban enacted as soon as possible. “I request staff to come back with a ban on sales and commercial operations sooner rather than later,” said Councilmember Clark Hammelman, District 6. “To let the public know what direction we’re headed Council continues on Page 16
CASTLE ROCK VOTE ON AMENDMENT 64
The Faith Lutheran Church Piecemakers quilting group delivered 54 baby quilts Dec. 10 at Treasures on Park Street, the thrift store operated by the Douglas/Elbert Task Force. From left are quilters Jill Head and Diane Kundracik, task force Executive Director Suzanne Greene and quilters Bev Williams and Carolyn Smith. Photo by Rhonda Moore sized quilts to the Douglas/Elbert Task Force. The quilts will be given to families with infants who turn to the task force for assistance, said Suzanne Greene, task force executive director. The task force serves families in crisis with food bank assistance, help with utilities and, in some cases, a selection of free clothing and personal items from Treasures on Park Street, the task force thrift store. If clients are new to the task force and the infant has older siblings, the siblings are invited to pick a quilt of their own, Greene said. The task force values the donation at $50 per quilt, which doesn’t begin to touch real value of the gift, Greene said. “It doesn’t include the time, love and craftsmanship that goes into each one,” she
said. The Piecemakers made 165 quilts in 2012 to contribute to the task force, the Castle Rock Police Department and to the church’s international outreach through Lutheran World Relief, said Bev Williams, a Castle Rock crafter. The goal for next year is to make 200 quilts, she said. Williams is not a quilter but joined the Piecemakers two years ago and makes her contribution by cutting, pinning and tying the quilts. She is not the only non-sewer in the group of 17 Piecemakers. Two men are part of the group, bringing a contribution similar to Williams’. “I don’t even sew,” Williams said. “I can’t sew worth beans.”
Castle Rock voters have shifted their opinion on marijuana since their 2011 decision to ban medical marijuana stores within town borders. The 2011 vote in Castle Rock to ban medical marijuana shops showed 72 percent opposed to such stores, while last month’s vote on marijuana legalization found just 52.5 percent voting against marijuana, according to Town Clerk Sally Misare. That was lower than the opposition across Douglas County, where 54 percent voted to keep marijuana illegal. Statewide, 55 percent of Colorado voters approved of legal marijuana. The town issued a report on the election results out of Castle Rock, which showed residents of The Meadows, Plum Creek and Crystal Valley Ranch opposed the amendment by as much as 60 percent. By comparison, a portion of town in Diamond Ridge, Sapphire Point and Founders approved the amendment by about 54 percent. The strongest support of Amendment 64 in Castle Rock came out of an area south of South Street and east of South Gilbert Street, with 59 percent of the voters in that precinct saying yes to 64. A complete copy of the town’s report on the election results, which reports the results by precinct, is available on the town’s website at www.crgov.com. Follow the links from the main page under “town government” to town council to watch town council meetings live. Go to the Dec. 11 council meeting and open the agenda; the results begin on page 18 of agenda item 21.