News-Press DCCR 10.31.13
Castle Rock
October 31, 2013
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A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourcastlerocknews.com
Douglas County, Colorado • Volume 11, Issue 32
County prepares for Election Day 34,000 ballots already sent in amid forecast of high turnout By Ryan Boldrey
rboldrey@ourcoloradonews.com As of Oct. 25, more than 34,000 ballots had already been returned in Douglas County for the 2013 election that will decide four school-board 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 centers throughout the county —
regardless of where they live — right up until 7 p.m. Nov. 5 when polls close. Weekday hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at all five centers, as well as 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 2 and 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day. Registration is open to all new Colorado residents who have lived in the state since Oct. 15. Inactive voters who did not receive a ballot must update their voter registration in order to participate. According to Arrowsmith, residential addresses will be verified on site at time of registration, making accompanying ballots immediately valid. Voters can expect to see early election results at www.
douglasvotes.com by 7:30 p.m. Nov. 5 and they will be updated every 90 minutes throughout the night, he said. For more information, please visit www. douglasvotes.com.
VOTING SERVICE AND POLLING CENTER LOCATIONS 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
Sculpture to be sold at auction ‘Global Warming’ piece will benefit school art funds By Virginia Grantier
vgrantier@ourcoloradonews.com
ment in the body” that horses can sense. She said when a rider tries breathing techniques - such as exhaling twice as long as inhaling, it often calms a horse so quickly, it’s like “you’ve flipped a switch.” Riders learn subtleties of their horses’ movements and behaviors — big and little things. For example, Chapparo told students that when a horse is licking its lips, it’s processing what’s happening, or what’s being asked of it. When the horse finishes processing, it predictably will give a little sigh, as if to say “I know what you want me to do,” she said. Often people with no yoga experience or horse experience and no horse — school horses are available — take the class. Workshop participant Jo Knize, a physical therapist and longtime yoga practitioner, says the horse and saddle is a great stabilizer of the pelvis for yoga movements.
Along with the football autographed by Peyton Manning and other items to be auctioned at a Nov. 1 event to raise money for student art programs in Douglas County, there will be this: the sculpture removed this summer from Castle Rock Town Hall after Mayor Paul Donahue expressed concerns it could be politically contentious. Because of the controversy surrounding it, and because of the high quality of the $800 bronze — an 8-inch-high piece resembling a melting earth — there’s buzz that it could sell for a significantly higher price at the upcoming masquerade ball at the Cielo at Castle Pines events center. The event is being put on by Stars for Douglas County, a nonprofit organization that supports visual arts in public schools. “I’ve had several people in town tell me they’re interesting in purchasing the piece,” said former Castle Rock Mayor Randy Reed, who was one of several people who urged the current mayor and council to reconsider the piece’s removal — to no avail. “Some people extremely like the art — and there are some people that are interested in having it because of the mayor’s attempt to censor art,” Reed said. The sculpture is currently in the care of Alison Stewart, art coordinator for the Stars program. She remembers the piece well because when it was bought by the Castle Rock Public Art Commission, she was the commission’s chair. Stewart said she thinks the town council’s decision to remove it was “darn silly.” The commission members bought it because “it was a really, really nicely done piece.” “It never occurred to any one of us that there might be political connotations,” she
Yoga continues on Page 12
Auction continues on Page 12
Yoga instructor Danny Chapparo, standing, of Castle Rock, directs students at her recent equine yoga workshop in a southeast Douglas County arena at Two Hawks Ranch. Photo by Virginia Grantier
Equestrian yoga not such a stretch Animals’ feedback helps reinforce techniques By Virginia Grantier
vgrantier@ourcoloradonews.com At the start of a recent yoga class, some were restless, their hooves trying to take them somewhere else, but near the end of class, heads were dropping low and some seemed to be sleeping. This even though there was thunder — a storm building not far from the outdoor arena in southeast Douglas County. That’s typical, says Daniela “Danny” Chapparo, 43, an equestrian and yoga teacher and owner of Ashva Yoga studio in Castle Rock, who in addition to other classes offers equestrian yoga workshops. She said the classes are mainly for the horses’ riders, who exercise on the horses and sometimes off, attempting yoga positions while near or leaning against the horse. The yoga and breathing exercises POSTAL ADDRESS
help a rider become more flexible and balanced on the horse, and also noticeably calm the horses. Chapparo said the horse is a great teacher. “Horses live in an emotional environment. It wants to flee if it senses danger,” she said. The horses mirror the emotion sensed from the riders and help the riders become aware of their emotional state — something they wouldn’t get by sitting on a mat. “It’s a whole different awareness,” Chapparo said. The riders also work with the horses, doing such things as picking up the front hooves and pulling the horses’ front legs out in a lateral stretch. “Horses like it when we try to understand and connect with them. It’s a gift to them,” Chapparo said. Chapparo, who gives talks to various groups, such as at the February National Convention of Competitive Trail Riders, said “breathing is a subtle energy move-
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