VOLUME 129 | ISSUE 36
WEEK OF NOVEMBER 7, 2024
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Tattoo artist has designs on success P14
Dougco settles on Meridian for probation services BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
After hearing loud opposition from Lone Tree residents, Douglas County’s leaders halted a plan to place an office that monitors people after they are convicted of crimes near a neighborhood. Now, the county has found a new location. County Commissioner Abe Laydon, who in May pushed Commissioner George Teal to back off the earlier Lone Tree-area spot, expressed support in October for the new location. Off Meridian Boulevard, south of the E-470 toll highway and east of Interstate 25, the newly selected location will offer probation services. “It is this perfect combination of a great deal for us fiscally — it’s in the perfect location right in Meridian,” Laydon said, adding, “There’s really no neighbors to complain or be upset about the adjacency, yet it’s a wonderful facility that will house some really significant departments within our county.” A change in the state’s court system drove the need for a new office. Colorado’s court system is made up of 22 judicial districts, and a new district is on the way. Today, the 18th Judicial District includes Douglas, Arapahoe, Elbert and Lincoln counties. But state lawmakers — driven by population growth and a political split in the region — decided to break up the district, moving Douglas, Elbert and Lincoln counties into Colorado’s first new judicial district in decades. As part of that retooling, Douglas County officials had been poised to add a probation office near the light rail station off Lincoln Avenue near I-25. Residents of the Heritage Hills gated community expressed wide opposition to the plan to place the probation office near their neighborhood, including at a community meeting in May with a frustrated crowd of more than 200 people. Area residents expressed fears about safety. The newly selected location, farther east, sits SEE PROBATION, P11
FIND ELECTION RESULTS ONLINE Lauren Ochsenschlager, owner of The Haunt Tattoos & Oddities in Elizabeth, in her tattoo parlor. The Haunt opened in August 2023. COURTESY PHOTO
VOICES: 12 | LIFE: 16 | CALENDAR: 19 | PUZZLES: 21
Results from Tuesday’s elections occurred after our press deadline. To find results, analysis and more election news, scan the code at right or go to colorado communitymedia.com/ elections-2024
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