Week of December 22, 2022
FREE
DOUGLAS COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
HighlandsRanchHerald.net
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 12 | LIFE: PAGE 14 | CALENDAR: PAGE 17 | SPORTS: PAGE 22
VOLUME 36 | ISSUE 3
School board heads to trial over meetings-law allegations Battle is costly
BY MCKENNA HARFORD MHARFORD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Douglas County School District is still on track to go to trial next month over alleged violations of the Colorado Open Meetings Law regarding the firing of former superintendent Corey Wise.
The lawsuit brought by Representative-elect Bob Marshall against the school district’s Board of Education and members Becky Myers, Board President Mike Peterson, Christy Williams and Kaylee Winegar is scheduled for a pretrial conference on Jan. 20, with a three-day trial starting on Jan. 30. Marshall sued the board members in February, alleging they held a
series of one-on-one meetings about firing Wise to evade the Colorado Open Meetings Law, which requires any meeting of a board quorum, or three members of a board, where public business is discussed or formal action taken to be open to the public. School district financial reports show the district has paid around $27,000 this year to Gessler Blue, but
school board member David Ray indicated at the Nov. 15 board meeting that the cost of the lawsuit was closer to $90,000. Myers, Peterson, Williams and Winegar maintain that they did not break the open meetings law. In a preliminary order issued in March, Douglas County District SEE SCHOOLS, P10
Group A strep causing concerns in Denver metro area Complicates trifecta of viruses BY THELMA GRIMES TGRIMES@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Jamie Noebel, Highlands Ranch Community Association director of communications and events. According to Noebel, the association partners with the Douglas County Sheriff ’s Office a few times a year to have coffee, donuts, cookies and juice. As part of the Douglas County Sheriff ’s Offices Community Outreach program, staff from the department go out into the community and engage with residents. Community Resource Deputy
With a trifecta of illnesses already hitting the Front Range hard with spikes in COVID, RSV and the flu, state health officials are now concerned with the increasing number of group A strep cases in children. Brian Spencer, with the Colorado Department of Health and Environment, said the state health department is closely monitoring the increase in pediatric hospitalizations caused by group A strep. Group A strep is a bacteria that can cause many different infections. Group A strep infections most commonly cause sore throat, a mild and common condition that doctors say can be easily treated. While rare, group A strep infections may be severe and cause diseases like pneumonia, sepsis, toxic shock syndrome and necrotizing fasciitis. “We are working with hospital partners in a coordinating role to ensure resources are available for those who need them,” Spencer said in the Dec. 15 news release. According to the state health department, two school-age children with group A strep died in the Denver metro since Nov. 1. The total number of invasive group A strep cases reported in Colorado among pediatric patients
SEE COOKIES, P4
SEE STREP, P13
Community Resource Deputy and Public Information Officer Jason Blanchard talks with a kid.
PHOTO BY HALEY LENA
Sheriff’s deputies, children decorate cookies Special event in Highlands Ranch BY HALEY LENA HLENA@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Children’s laughter filled the air while smothering green and red frosting onto sugar cookies with staff from the Douglas County Sheriff ’s Office. Deputies, dispatch and members from records joined the Highlands
Ranch Community Association in an afternoon of laughter, learning and decorating at Eastridge Recreation Center. With just over 130 people joining the first ever cookie decorating with a cop event, staff members had to go out to get more cookies. “We want to give kids in the community the opportunity to get to know our deputies. We have found it to be a great way for the kids to meet and ask questions of their heroes, and good one-on-one time for the parents to ask questions,” said