WEEK OF MARCH 6, 2025
VOLUME 24 | ISSUE 1
FREE
Lawmakers offer more mental health help for youth Bills tackle insurance coverage and cell phone use in schools BY MONTE WHALEY MWHALEY@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Nathan Elliot, managing principal with the OJB Landscape Architectural Firm assisting in the High Note Regional Park Development, speaks about the PHOTO BY HALEY LENA design and amenities of the north and south sides of the park at a Friends of the Park meeting in Lone Tree.
Lone Tree residents react to sports field plans South Suburban says proposal for High Note Regional Park is based on anticipated population BY HALEY LENA HLENA@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
With a mixture of support and concern, the anticipated construction of the City of Lone Tree’s largest park, High Note Regional Park, has gained much community interest. Lone Tree has partnered with the South Suburban Parks and Recreation District to construct a nearly 80-acre, multi-faceted regional park along Happy Canyon Creek, near Interstate 25 and RidgeGate Parkway. “We obviously can’t fit everything into this 80-acre park,” said Austin Good, Lone Tree’s assis-
tant city manager. “It’s a large park, but we’re not going to be able to fulfill all the community’s needs in it.” Located between the RidgeGate Parkway Station and the Lyric neighborhood, the regional park is split into two halves. The south side is organized around an event/community space, with attention on natural elements. The north side focuses on the use of multipurpose sports fields. The City of Lone Tree has invited residents to give input, and the five multipurpose fields have raised concerns, including potential lighting and traffic issues, health and safety risks, environ-
VOICES: 10 | LIFE: 14 | CALENDAR: 17 | PUZZLES: 19
mental impacts and that they won’t align with the natural feel of the park. However, there are residents — such as parents of athletes and sports managers — who are excited for the new fields. Claiming there is a lack of sports fields in Douglas County, these residents said there is a demand for these fields as it is currently difficult to schedule games and practices. It’s been a planned park space
A park has been planned to be built in the area for about two decades, starting in 2000 when Lone Tree residents voted to annex the RidgeGate area, which
included the idea for a future regional park. It “has always been identified as a regional park,” Good said. The east side of RidgeGate was not within the boundaries of the South Suburban District, and in 2018, was incorporated so all of Lone Tree is within one park provider. In 2020, Lone Tree and South Suburban began an initial study and planning efforts for the park and began taking public input the next year. Part of the input included a public survey in which more than 300 residents participated. SEE FIELD PLANS, P2
Legislation aimed at improving the mental health of Colorado’s children is gaining ground after garnering bipartisan support among lawmakers, say bill advocates. “I think everyone is aware that there is a mental health crisis among our kids,” said Zach Zaslow, VP of Community Health and Advocacy at Children’s Hospital Colorado. “I think (lawmakers) are stepping up to be helpful in fighting this crisis.” Zaslow, Dr. Lauren Eckhart, clinical director for the Colorado Springs division of the Pediatric Mental Health Institute at Children’s Hospital Colorado and about 100 parents, health care providers and primary care physicians were at the State Capitol to hail the passage of two key bills — HB 25 1002 and HB 251135. Both measures passed the State House and now are headed for Senate hearings before they are voted on by the whole legislature. Zaslow said neither measure costs taxpayers but could likely save lives in the long term. HB 1002 tries to cut the disparities between standard physical health and mental health benefits. The measure would ensure private health insurance carriers are not denying coverage for medically necesSEE MENTAL HEALTH, P6
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