Week of December 29, 2022
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DOUGLAS COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
HighlandsRanchHerald.net
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 10 | LIFE: PAGE 12 | CALENDAR: PAGE 15
VOLUME 36 | ISSUE 4
RTD suspends C and F light rail lines Local travelers impacted BY NINA JOSS NJOSS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
being one of them. “The bottom line is flu vaccines are the best protection to get through the season,” Usatch said. “They do not hit the target right on the head, but they make a big difference.” In reality, said Dr. Reginald Washington, HealthOne chief medical
After suspending operation of the C and F light rail lines during the pandemic, RTD is permanently discontinuing rail service on these lines along with other changes that will go into effect on Jan. 8. The changes come as part of RTD’s System Optimization Plan, which “aims to increase ridership and address changing travel needs while improving service performance, efficiency and quality,” according to RTD’s website. “It was recommended that C/D service along the Southwest corridor and E/F service along the Southeast corridor be consolidated to improve service reliability north of I-25/Broadway Station, where trains consistently encountered delays because of heavy train traffic,” the system optimization plan reads. The plan was developed through ReimagineRTD, a two-year effort to evaluate and forecast the changing transportation needs of the region as the district moves past the COVID-19 crisis. According to RTD’s website, the effort was informed by travel patterns and public sentiments. Littleton Public Works Director Keith Reester represented Littleton during the ReimagineRTD efforts. He said the C line has been closed since the pandemic began, so RTD’s recent announcement is just formalizing what has been going on for the last 20 months. “It’s not really unexpected, they’re formalizing some of the service changes they made when COVID started and really impacted ridership,” he said. “Over the last couple of years, ridership levels have dropped so much.” The C line used to run between Littleton-Mineral Station and Union Station, whereas the D line runs to the downtown business loop. Reester said residents who previously used the C line will still be able to get to wherever they need to go by riding the D line, but some riders will now have to make a transfer if they want to go to Union Station.
SEE HEALTH, P7
SEE RTD, P6
From left: Cooper Bingham, Cooper Bilbrey, Gavin Hamann and Jaxson Remmick pose for a photo. The four teenagers are set to travel to the second annual National High School Cornhole Championships in Myrtle Beach, S.C., where they’ll look to defend their national title in the team portion of the event. COURTESY PHOTO
Teens look to bag cornhole title — again Team won $8,200 last year for ThunderRidge BY ALEX K.W. SCHULTZ SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
If two years ago you had told Cooper Bilbrey, Cooper Bingham, Gavin Hamann and Jaxson Remmick that
cornhole would have them traveling all over the country, landing sponsors and competing for big bucks for their school, they wouldn’t have believed you. And why should they have? We’re talking about cornhole here — you know, the simplest of simple games where someone stands 27 feet away from an angled slab of plywood and attempts to toss a small bag filled
with resin pellets into a 6-inch-wide hole in the board. There can’t be any opportunities or riches or glory in a game like that, right? Wrong. Last December, Bingham, Hamann and Remmick (along with Jake Thayer, who isn’t on this year’s team; Bilbrey joined the squad SEE CORNHOLE, P8
Flu cases, hospitalizations on the rise Officials push for vaccinations BY THELMA GRIMES TGRIMES@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Flu cases are on the rise, and according to state health officials, hospitalizations are higher this year
than they have been in the past 10 years. The surge has a variety of causes, including people not getting the flu shot as consistently as in past years. Dr. Ben Usatch, UCHealth ER director at Highlands Ranch Hospital, said COVID vaccinations brought on this onslaught of “mixed emotions” that resulted in other annual shots being affected — flu shots