WEEK OF MAY 8, 2025
VOLUME 23 | ISSUE 22
FREE
19 books returned to shelves in library saga Elizabeth School District loses round in ongoing legal dispute BY NICKY QUINBY SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
fence of healthcare. McClellan has been diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma twice. Due to her diagnosis, she lacks B cells to fight infection and must get IVIG treatment monthly, which involves getting concentrated antibodies through a vein to help boost the immune system. “I happen to have a form of cancer that is just going to periodically make itself known,” said McClellan. “It’s always on the back burner … it’s easy to feel alone and isolated.” Throughout her cancer journey, she said her eyes were
Nineteen titles removed from Elizabeth School District libraries last year have been returned to circulation for now as a result of an April 28 court order, but the books are on the “sensitive topics” list so parents can opt out of allowing their children to access them, Superintendent Dan Snowberger told the Elbert County News. The order from the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver upheld District Judge Charlotte Sweeney’s preliminary injunction ordering the school district to return the books to library shelves. The appeals court had temporarily granted the district’s request for a stay of Sweeney’s injunction, but then ruled that the stay was unjustified. However, the legal battle between the ACLU of Colorado and the Elizabeth School District is far from over, and the ultimate outcome of the ACLU’s lawsuit seeking to keep the books in the libraries permanently has not been decided. The April 28 order from Chief Judge Jerome A. Holmes and Judge Nancy L. Moritz read, “Having carefully considered the parties’ arguments, we find Appellant (ESD) has not carried its burden to show the circumstances justify a stay. We therefore lift the temporary stay and deny Appellant’s motion. We also deny, without prejudice, Appellant’s request to stay the district court proceedings, and we deny Appellant’s request for expedited briefing.” The ACLU sued the district last December seeking the return 19 library books that the ESD board had voted to permanently remove. In August the board initially suspended the books and allowed community members to review specific passages and weigh in on whether or not the district should keep them on library shelves. In September, the board announced it had officially decided to remove the titles,
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Maryann Riebe, who was diagnosed with carcinoma in situ, tries on a bright purple wig during the first AdventHealth Parker hospital beauty event. PHOTO BY HALEY LENA
Building self-esteem one wig at a time at AdventHealth Parker hospital BY HALEY LENA HLENA@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
For many women, their hair is part of their identity. “When you lose that, you lose a piece of your heart,” said Karen Wilson, nurse navigator at AdventHealth Parker. Women battling cancer from across the south metro area were invited to AdventHealth Parker hospital for a free event that would help them gain that piece of identity back. But instead of going to the hospital for treatment, the patients got a day of pampering. “We want our patients to be whole and we want to put that
sparkle back in their heart and spring in their step,” Wilson said. While browsing the internet one day, Wilson came across EBeauty Community, Inc., a nonprofit organization that operates one of the largest wig exchange programs in the United States. It aims to help increase women’s self-esteem through providing free wigs to women undergoing cancer treatment. Wilson immediately called the organization and asked how the hospital could get involved. Through the AdventHealth Parker Foundation, students from the Paul Mitchell School
VOICES: 12 | LIFE: 16 | CALENDAR: 19 | PUZZLES: 22
of Denver styled about 30 women’s hair at AdventHealth Parker on May 1. As they tried on wigs to find the perfect style for themselves, got their makeup and nails done, one woman said that she started to feel like herself again. From straight to curly, long to short, brown to pink, there were dozens of wig options. A Centennial woman, Lynn McClellan, said her wig made her feel like a princess. For more than 30 years, McClellan became familiar with breast cancer while working as a mammographer. But then, she was on the other side of the
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