Week of March 9, 2023
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DOUGLAS COUNTY, COLORADO
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INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 12 | LIFE: PAGE 14 | CALENDAR: PAGE 17 | SPORTS: PAGE 22
VOLUME 21 | ISSUE 15
SUMMER CAMP LISTINGS In this week’s paper!
Home prices see biggest sustained dip in more than a decade Will pattern hold? BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
It’s a statistic that, not long ago, homebuyers could have only dreamed of: The median price of a
single-family home in the Denver area dropped by more than $90,000. The drop from $660,000 in April to $569,800 this January represented the steepest, longest sustained decline in median sales price for single-family homes in the Denver metro area since the start of 2010. That’s according to the Colorado
Association of Realtors, whose data goes back to that year. Statewide, the decline in the median price of a single-family home from April to January also represented the steepest, longest sustained decline in that same period. While that warrants some celebration, that downslide only erased
2022’s price increases — the steep hikes of 2020 and 2021 haven’t been wiped away, and housing affordability remains dismal in the metro area and around Colorado. Cooper Thayer, a young Realtor in Douglas County, knows people SEE HOUSING, P6
Bridging the gap between local shopping and online Student creates app BY HALEY LENA HLENA@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
and retain staff in recent years. During the Feb. 28 meeting, the Board of Education unanimously approved a proposed 3.5% base increase for all licensed staff, such as teachers, as well as a 2-2.5% step increase, a 6% increase for classified
When local businesses started to close down due to the pandemic, University of Denver student JohnPaul Evans wanted to help. Three years later, Evans, who grew up in Parker, launched Harvester, a website that connects shoppers to their local businesses. While talking with an owner of a running shoe store, Evans learned that many business closures were influenced by the pandemic, but the problem started years before COVID-19. “The issue kind of started back around 2012, 2013 when online shopping kind of took off and especially online shopping with large retailers,” said Evans. As Evans saw that online shopping made shopping too convenient of
SEE TEACHERS, P7
SEE APP, P3
Cherokee Trail Elementary School teacher Leighanne Brown uses new literacy curriculum to teach her students the science of reading. The Douglas County School District is in the process of implementing three science-based reading programs at all elCOURTESY OF DOUGLAS COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT ementary schools this year.
Hansen calls boost in teacher pay a ‘Band-Aid’ More funding needed BY MCKENNA HARFORD MHARFORD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
In the hopes of gaining a slight advantage this hiring season, the Douglas County School District
board approved salary increases for staff earlier than in the past, bumping starting pay from $43,680 to $45,209. Currently, Douglas County School District has one of the lowest starting pays in the Denver metro area and Superintendent Erin Kane said the district has struggled to attract
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