1-Color
March 6, 2014
Free Douglas County, Colorado | Volume 11, Issue 49 A publication of
castlerocknewspress.net
Referendum organizers turn in signatures Supporters of keeping the open-carry ban turn in 2,657 signatures to town clerk By Virginia Grantier
vgrantier@coloradocommunitymedia. com They needed 1,887 signatures, but they got more. The effort to thwart a recent Castle Rock Town Council decision to repeal a ban on open-carrying of firearms in municipal buildings resulted in 2,657 signatures, said Siegfried “Ziggy” Guentensberger, one of the referendum organizers. The repeal of the ban was set to take effect on Feb. 27, but because the petition drive garnered enough signatures prior to that date it’s now on hold. Sally Misare, Castle Rock’s town clerk, now has up to 30 days to verify the signa-
tures. There is also a required protest period through April 7 to allow for the filing of any protests challenging the correctness of the process. After those steps are taken, town council will either reverse its decision on repealing the ban or direct staff to prepare an ordinance setting the matter for a special election. Guentensberger, who’s a volunteer baseball coach through the town’s recreation center, said he doesn’t know if he’s “built” to be a political activist, but he has been passionate about this issue. “I think it was really worth it,” he said, about the referendum effort that started soon after the town’s council’s Jan. 28 repeal decision. “I think people are becoming aware of it — this way it didn’t get just `snuck by.’” He said this experience reiterated for him why people need to pay attention to their local governments, and get a little Referendum continues on Page 9
A petition drive to gather enough signatures to force Town Council to overturn its recent decision to repeal the opencarry laws in public buildings and open space around Castle Rock (or have the item placed on a ballot) concluded Feb. 26 when organizers turned in 2,657 signatures — nearly 800 more than they needed to place the repeal on hold. Photo by Ryan Boldrey
High life proposed in Larkspur Retail marijuana could mean higher incomes for residents By Virginia Grantier
vgrantier@coloradocommunitymedia. com
Rock Canyon High School seniors, with Wish Week 2013’s featured child Mara Dawkins (in pink), wipe their eyes after hearing about a former Wish Week beneficiary who has since died. Photos by Jane Reuter
Rock Canyon again shatters Wish Week record Money raised will make nine childhood dreams come true By Jane Reuter
jreuter@coloradocommunitymedia.com
From left, students Riley Hayes , Tori Pavillard, Caroline Skibness and Morgan Harrison display Rock Canyon High School’s record-setting Wish Week 2014 check.
Rock Canyon High School set another Make-A-Wish Foundation record Feb. 28, raising more than $72,500 in a week of fundraisers both on and off campus. The money will make real the dreams of nine children. It’s the fourth year a in a row RCHS has set a state, and likely a national, record for the foundation. In 2013, the school raised about $60,500. Isaac Lucero, the Lakewood eighth grader featured during Wish Week 2014, was ill and unable to attend Friday’s check unveiling and final rally in the RCHS gymnasium. But he was there for the week’s other events,
and already is planning a summer trip to New York City — the wish RCHS students ensured he’ll realize. “There are always the stereotypes about high school students, that they have a bad attitude about everything and are self-centered,” Isaac’s mother Desiree said. “But these students do an incredible thing. “It was more than Isaac could ever have dreamed of, so much more than I had ever imagined. He’d get home at night and couldn’t sleep because he was so amped up from the events. He was on cloud nine all last week.” Isaac, diagnosed with lymphoma at the age of 10, has suffered through years of seizures and the effects of chemotherapy. His long-term prognosis is good, but his mother said, “He had to grow up very fast. He didn’t get to be a kid.” In Isaac’s absence, some students held Wish continues on Page 9
Residents of Larkspur, population 100plus, could start receiving roughly between $2,000 and $20,000 per year from the town just for living there. That is, if voters OK allowing retail marijuana businesses and a 5 percent excise tax on sales, estimates a referendum organizer, James McVaney. According to the referendum’s proposed ordinance regarding the tax, the town could reap up to $45,000 the first year and then no more than an additional 3 percent above that, keeping it under the required TABOR cap. But all revenue after that would go to residents, McVaney said. Larkspur Mayor Gerry Been said the town council — which decided not to act on the proposed ordinances in a referendum organized by McVaney and Michelle Michelle Barhenn — was recently “forced to an election.” But Been said if that’s what voters want “that’s what I’m willing to do.” And he indicated the revenue possibilities are intriguing. “You’ve got to look at the revenue possibilities, in my book,” he said. “I’m staying neutral, but there’s lots of possible revenue.” Voters will decide on the proposed ordinances — to approve retail marijuana regulations and approve the 5 percent excise tax — at an April 8 election. In the past, the town hasn’t been welcoming to marijuana operations. Been said Marijuana continues on Page 9
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