Herald HRH 10-31-2013
Highlands Ranch
Douglas County, Colorado • Volume 26, Issue 50
October 31, 2013
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourhighlandsranchnews.com
County prepares for votes to pour in 34,000 ballots already cast amid forecast of high turnout By Ryan Boldrey
rboldrey@ourcoloradonews.com
From left, sisters Belinda, 3, and Madelyn Kisicki, 2, enjoy the pumpkin patch Oct. 26 during the Highlands Ranch Community Association’s annual Trick or Treat Street.
HappY HalloWeen! Astronauts, bumblebees, little police officers and firefighters, werewolves and more will no doubt clamor for candy all over Highlands Ranch for Halloween, but many got a head start on their hauls Oct. 26 at the Highlands Ranch Community Association’s annual Trick or Treat Street, where kids filled up their goody bags at the Recreation Center at Eastridge and picked out pumpkins to take home and carve.
As of Oct. 25, more than 34,000 ballots had already been returned in Douglas County for the 2013 election that will decide four schoolboard seats and help determine the outcome of two state ballot measures. According to the county’s clerk and recorder, Jack Arrowsmith, that number accounts for just under 18 percent of the approximately 193,000 ballots that have been mailed out. That said, Arrowsmith predicts that this year’s turnout could easily be over 50 percent and very possibly closer to 60 percent. School board elections in 2009 and 2011 brought out 27.4 percent and 48 percent of registered voters, respectively. “One can never tell what voter turnout is going to be,” Arrowsmith said. “But I would predict that we are going to have a much higher turnout than we did in 2011.” For those who still need to register, mail registration closed Oct. 15 and online registration closed Oct. 28, but people can register in person at any of the five service
PHOTOS BY RYAN BOLDREY
Vote continues on Page 17
voting service and polling center locations Brayden Murphy, 4, takes a timeout in the pumpkin patch during the Highlands Ranch Community Association’s annual Trick or Treat Street celebration Oct. 26.
Castle Rock: Douglas County Elections Office, 125 Stephanie Place Highlands Ranch: Sheriff Substation, 9250 Zotos Drive Lone Tree: Park
Meadows Center, 9350 Heritage Hills Circle Parker: Town Hall, 20120 E. Main Street Parker: The Wildlife Experience, 10035 S. Peoria Street
Healing touch applied to animals Holistic approach aids horses, dogs, more By Ryan Boldrey
rboldrey@ourcoloradonews. com In 20 years, Carol Komitor has taught close to 5,000 students, and between all of them, touched hundreds of thousands of animals — literally. Komitor, a Highlands Ranch resident, founded Healing Touch for Animals in 1996, combining a background in veterinary medicine with her passion for holistic healing. “I thought I was going to go the avenue of massage,” she said, “but it turned out to be more energybased.” Komitor, who at the time had
13 years of background as a veterinary technician, was introduced to holistic healing through a workshop, and was far from sold at first. Once she started participating in some of the exercises, however, she began to experience the energy flowing directly through her. “It was a tactile experience,” she said. “I started to explore whatever I could get my hands on. I then spent half a day at Tattered Cover (in Denver) and bought several books on what energy healing was all about.” After becoming certified as a massage therapist and as an instructor, her careers began to slowly intertwine, and the next thing she knew she was helping to heal animals, horses, dogs, and cats mostly — mixed in with the occasional zoo or farm animal —
and using a holistic approach to assist with animals afflicted with cancer and other ailments from scar tissue to broken bones. After a breakthrough with a show horse that had been left for dead, she knew she was on the right path. “Animals have an energy field that is 10 times greater than humans,” she said. “I can see it. And opposed to the human field which is made up of layers, an animal’s field is just one layer that is made up more of pixels.” Understanding that humans and animals are alike in that when either has a balanced, clear and open energy system they possesses their own inherent ability to assist in healing is the underlying key, she said. That holistic work
Healing continues on Page 18
Highlands Ranch resident Carol Komitor founded Healing Touch for Animals in 1996. Her teachings and care have touched more than 5,000 humans and 100,000 animals since. Courtesy photo by Rick Giase
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