Voice
Lone Tree 4/25/13
Lone Tree
Douglas County, Colorado • Volume 12, Issue 15
April 25, 2013
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourlonetreenews.com
Woman calls bombing ‘terrifying’ Runner from Lone Tree describes scene of chaos after Boston explosions By Jane Reuter
jreuter@ourcoloradonews.com
Hannah Bailey, of Lone Tree, went to Boston to run in the city’s fabled marathon. She crossed the finish line a half-hour before two bombs exploded. Courtesy photo
Lone Tree resident Hannah Bailey was waiting in a Boston Marathon medical tent for treatment for a runner’s injury when the bombs detonated. Bailey, 37, a stay-at-home mother, had crossed the finish line at the Boston Marathon at 2:09 p.m. April 15. Two bombs exploded seconds apart at 2:49 p.m. “I was lying there on the cot when I heard the first explosion go off,” Bailey said. “Very quickly after that, I heard the doctor say, ‘We need to get these people up and out of here. We’ve got people coming in.’
“They very quickly discharged me. As soon as I walked out of the medics’ tent, first responders were trying to get by. It was just mass chaos.” Three people were killed and hundreds were injured. But standing outside the tent, Bailey didn’t know any of that yet. “I knew something had happened but didn’t quite understand what it was until I heard somebody on their cell phone saying, ‘Explosion. Don’t come to Boston.’ “As soon as I knew something had gone wrong, I felt absolute panic and fear because I didn’t know where my family was,” she said. Bailey’s bag, including her cell phone, was a city block away. She couldn’t call her husband Nick and best friend Melissa, both of whom were in Boston. “People were running everywhere,” she said. “It was very difficult to find my fam-
ily because of the chaos. I was just praying they would be OK.” She found them, safe and sound, about half an hour later. Though Bailey didn’t witness the horrific injuries many victims suffered, she described the experience as “very terrifying.” Like most of the thousands who run in the world’s oldest annual marathon, participating in the event was her long-held dream. “When I started running 2½ years ago, all I wanted to do was run Boston,” she said. “I thought it would be so neat to one day be able to qualify. “In the end, it didn’t quite end up exactly as I thought.” Boston was her eighth marathon. It will not be her last. “I am not deterred at all,” she said. “There are evil people in this world, and it’s too bad that has to exist, but we have to live, and we have to live by faith.”
Ex-police chief files complaint EEOC case alleges retaliation in firing of Lone Tree’s top cop By Jane Reuter
jreuter@ourcoloradonews.com Former Lone Tree Police Chief Steve Hasler’s attorney filed a complaint March 18 with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging retaliatory termination. After eight years at the helm of the department, Hasler was dismissed without cause in August 2012 by City Manager Jack Hidahl, which Hasler says was an act of retaliation related to a harassment/hostility complaint against Hidahl. “The city’s position continues to be he was terminated under the contract that allowed the city to do Hasler so without cause,” said City Attorney Gary White. “Beyond that, we’ll just await the EEOC’s determination.” The EEOC is responsible for enforcing federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or employee because the person complained about discrimination, filed a charge of discrimination, or participated in an employment discrimination investigation or lawsuit. Denver attorney Steven Dawes, an attorney for the Colorado Intergovernmental Risk Sharing Agency (CIRSA), is preparing the city’s response to the claim. CIRSA provides municipal insurance policies. Lone Tree is a CIRSA member. Mills did not return calls requesting comment, and Hasler had little to say. “It’s a matter of course (to file with the EEOC),” Hasler said, adding that if the commission decided to take his case, “they’ll pursue it on my behalf.” According to the EEOC’s website, “Our role in an investigation is to fairly and accurately assess the allegations in the charge and then make a finding. If we find that discrimination has occurred, we will try to Hasler continues on Page12
Printed on recycled newsprint. Please recycle this copy.
Rock Canyon Middle School archers Leland Boutilier, 14, foreground, and Kieran McCullen, 12, background, compete with more than 100 other students at the 2013 Colorado State Archery Championship, held on April 20 at Rocky Heights Middle School. Rocky Heights, with its Nighthawk archery club, is the first middle school in Douglas County to develop an after-school Olympic-style archery program. Photos by Deborah Grigsby
Archery program aims for fun Middle school becomes first in county to have club By Ryan Boldrey
rboldrey@ourcoloradonews.com Rocky Heights Middle School is right on target with the birth of its archery program. After receiving a grant from the Easton Foundation to launch the program, the school became the first in Douglas County to shoot its collective arrows skyward and even hosted the Olympic Archery in Schools state competition April 20. “It took a little while to get things in motion, but the turnout and the involvement has been just overwhelming,” said head coach Rodney Graham. “With `Hunger Games,’ movies like `Brave’ coming out, with the Olympics — which I think was probably the biggest draw — I figured we would get a pretty good pull and we did.” When the program was initiated in January, Graham and assistant coach Dave Calloway had 150 students express interest in participating. Sixty of those showed a commitment to sticking with it, but the program only had room for 32 students. “We took what we could,” Graham said. “We did a lottery drawing and pulled kids’
U.S. Archery judge Chris Dorow scores practice targets at Rocky Heights Middle School, where the 2013 Colorado State Archery Championship was held. More than 100 students from neighboring schools gave their best shot in both individual and team events. names out of a hat and did it that way.” For those who had their names drawn, not only have they had an opportunity to participate in a handful of tournaments over the past few months, but they can look
forward to continuing the sport when they move up to Rock Canyon High School in a couple years, as there is a planned program in the works. Archery continues on Page 7