News
ELBERT 1/3/12
Elbert County
January 3, 2013
75 cents
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourelbertcountynews.com
Elbert County, Colorado • Volume 117, Issue 49
Off-duty deputy rescues family
2012: A WILD RIDE
Heap pulls mother, child, dog from burning home By Deborah Grigsby
dgrigsby@ourcoloradonews.com
In one of our Images of the Year, Ty Hamaker, of Centennial, Wyo., takes a shot from the bull Nike Blend after being bucked June 1 during the Elizabeth Stampede PRCA Xtreme Bulls rodeo. Turn to pages 4 and 5 for more photos that helped make 2012 a special year. File photo by Courtney Kuhlen
National Western gets ready to roll Livestock judging, displays, rodeos, entertainment on tap By Tom Munds
tmunds@ourcoloradonews.com Cowboy boots and hats will be in abundance Jan. 12-27 for the 107th edition of the National Western Stock Show. Each day’s schedule can include activities such as livestock judging and sales, rodeos, displays and entertainment, drawing hundreds of thousands of patrons through the turnstiles. While special events draw a lot of attention, the National Western is billed as the Super Bowl of livestock shows and sales. There are judging competitions for horses, cattle, sheep, swine, goats, llamas, bison, yaks, poultry and rabbits. Other livestock-related events include a sheepshearing contest and the catch-a-calf competition, where young livestock enthusiasts try to catch a calf to keep and then are judged the next year on their ability to raise and care for the animal. There also are numerous livestock sales where millions of dollars change hands as thousands of animals are sold to new owners. The National Western Stock Show is Colorado’s largest trade show. The 2010 show drew about 637,000 people. The show events are spread among a number of facilities. Stock show activities are centered at the National Western
The Westernaires Big Red team presents the flags at one of the rodeos at last year’s National Western Stock Show. Several teams from the youth riding club, which is based in Jefferson County, will take part in this year’s National Western, which runs Jan. 12-27. Courtesy photo Stock Show Arena and Hall of Education near 46th Avenue and Humbolt Street, the Events Center at 1515 E. 47th Ave. and the Denver Coliseum. A general admission ticket is required to get into the National Western Stock Show. The ticket entitles the holder to visit the trade show, displays, stock shows and auctions. Ticket prices vary from $12 to $17 for
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an adult, with high-priced tickets required on the weekend. Tickets for children 3 to 11 are $2 to $3, depending on the day. Children under 3 get in free. The general admission ticket also is good for visits to the Children’s Ranchland and petting farm, open daily on the third floor of the Expo Hall. In addition, there are a variety of activities at the new Ames Activity Pavilion including stick horse rodeos, kids’ pedaltractor pulls, horseshoe pitching and dummy roping contests. The pavilion is open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and the daily activity lists are posted on the website. There are a total of 42 entertainment events requiring admission tickets that range in price from $8 to $100 each. The entertainment schedule includes: two MexiWestern continues on Page 7
An off-duty Elbert County deputy should be wearing a big red cape instead of a badge after busting his way into his neighbor’s burning home to save an expectant mother and toddler. Up early, feeding his own newborn, Sgt. Joel Heap heard glass breaking outside his Arapahoe County home around 2:15 a.m. on the morning of Dec. 11. “I looked out the window, thinking someone was breaking into the car,” he explained. “The car was fine, but when I looked across the street, the neighbor’s garage was engulfed Heap in flames.” Heap woke his wife and instructed her to call 911. “That morning, I had my clothes all laid out, pressed and ready to go, which is something I never do,” he said. Rushing across the street, hoping to access the home via the interior garage door, Heap said he couldn’t because flames were too high. From the front porch, he then pounded on the door, calling to any occupants inside. “No one answered, but I was gonna get into that house, one way or another.” With his shoulder to the door, two solid hits forced the frame to collapse. Tracie McKnight, a neighbor he barely knew, who was in her last trimester of pregnancy, stood motionless at the top of the stairs. Heap told her the house was on fire, she had to get out and to tell him who was still inside. “I think at first she thought I was a burglar, but she said it was just her, her daughter and the dogs.” Heap led the woman and toddler through heavy smoke and across the street where his wife and neighbors waited to help. “As we left, I could see flames hitting the second story where the girl would have been sleeping, but that night, she slept with her mother.” Heap thought the dogs would follow. “But when I looked behind me, I saw them go back inside.” A confessed dog lover, Heap went back to save the family pets. “I made it about 10 to 15 feet inside the door, where the dog and I just stood there,” he said. “It was a standoff as I debated how I was going to get the animal out.” Heap grabbed the medium-sized dog and bolted through the door. “Again, I thought the other dog would follow, but it didn’t.” Attempting a third trip back inside the burning home, Heap said conditions worsened and he was forced to turn back. Firefighters found the dog frightened, but alive, curled up inside a dollhouse in the toddler’s bedroom. Cunningham Fire Protection District Chief David Markham said McKnight was evaluated by a local hospital as a precaution. Deputy continues on Page 7