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Week of June 23, 2022
ARAPAHOE COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
EnglewoodHerald.net
VOLUME 102 | ISSUE 19
What the end of universal free meals means for schools Districts to go from feeding thousands to hundreds BY ROBERT TANN RTANN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Ashley Cappel practices back burning, a method of stopping a wildfire from spreading by creating controlled fires, during a quarCOURTESY PHOTOS terly training event.
Ashley Cappel is Arapahoe sheriff’s first female Type 1 wildland firefighter Mother of three also works as deputy emergency manager BY TAYLER SHAW TSHAW@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
The silence of the burned environment was eerie, as Ashley Cappel and fellow firefighters lay in the ruins of the Cameron Peak Fire to rest for the night. Cappel, a deputy emergency manager and wildland firefighter for Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office, had been sent on a 72-hour SEE FIREFIGHTER, P8
Under a hot June sun, Kristy Bisbal arrives at a small stand to collect 10 brown paper bags full of sandwiches, fruit and milk. She’s been coming to the stand — run by volunteers for the City of Englewood and staff from the Englewood School District outside the city’s Civic Center — three to four times for the past week. “It helps a lot,” Bisbal said. “You don’t have to worry about how you’re going to feed your kids.” Bisbal is one of hundreds of parents who’ve participated in the district’s free summer meals program that provides food to any child younger than 18, even if they don’t attend Englewood schools. Along with food for her two children, Bisbal picks up bags of food for a friend and mother of eight who stays home with her newborn. Having access to free meals has been huge, said Bisbal, whose dollars are stretched thin as inflation continues to worsen. But with a recent decrease in federal funds for free meal programs, school districts in Englewood and Littleton are likely to go from serving thousands this summer to just hundreds.
Ashley Cappel and fellow firefighters during the Bent’s Fort deployment in April 2022.
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 12 | LIFE: PAGE 14 | CALENDAR: PAGE 17 | SPORTS: PAGE 20
Evergreen Jazz Festival Big Talent! Small Venues! Great Setting!
Order tickets by June 30th and SAVE!
EvergreenJazz.org 303-697-5467
SEE SCHOOLS, P10
July 29, 30 & 31