November 26, 2020
$1.00
An edition of the Littleton Independent A publication of
VOLUME 19 | ISSUE 50
Health chief ‘cautiously optimistic’ BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
A Girl Scout works to assemble “birthday kits” — shown at right — for low-resource families.
COURTESY PHOTOS
Delivering a celebration Girl Scouts in Centennial area assemble ‘birthday kits’ for families in need BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
The words “food pantry” and “low-resource families” conjure up familiar images: Lines of parents down on their luck, collecting donated groceries to keep themselves and their children afloat. Usually absent from that scene is any consideration for celebration —
the essentials must come first. Five young girls from the Centennial area came to Parker to change that. “It’s not really an issue that gets much (attention), but it’s still an issue that people can’t celebrate their birthday,” said Josey Dooley, 12, who has been a Girl Scout since first grade. Dooley and her fellow Scouts started on a project in February to assemble “birthday kits” — boxed cake mix, canned frosting, birthday candles, balloons, favors, party hats and cards — for low-resource SEE CELEBRATION, P23
Last spring as the pandemic emerged, health officials thought “we need to throw the kitchen sink at it” because there was no time to spare and less was known about the virus, said John Douglas, head of Tri-County Health Department. Now that Colorado is trying a new set of coronavirus-related restrictions — still short of a stay-at-home order — Douglas says he’s Douglas hopeful that the current measures can stop the state’s steep spike in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. “I am cautiously optimistic that if we can get as many counties as possible to move to this level of reduced community capacity, we have a pretty good chance at turning the curve on community transmission,” Douglas said, referring to the tighter limits under Colorado’s new level red. It’s a “kind of halfway step” between level orange and a stay-at-home order, Douglas said. The new level still allows retail at a “reasonably high level” of capacity and lets personal services — such as hairstyling, massage therapy and dog SEE CHIEF, P4
INSIDE
Some of the “birthday kits” made and delivered to SECOR Cares by Centennialarea Girl Scouts sit on a cart at the food pantry in Parker.
Find out what the new COVID-19 restrictions mean for local residents P2
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 10 | LIFE: PAGE 12 | CALENDAR: PAGE 14 | SPORTS: PAGE 15
ONLINE COVERAGE
Read about the high school football playoffs at CentennialCitizen.net