Highlands Ranch
Herald
Douglas County, Colorado • Volume 25, Issue 52
November 15, 2012 A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourhighlandsranchnews.com
Drug task force folds Economy takes toll after 27 years By Rhonda Moore
rmoore@ourcoloradonews.com
Author Carron Barrella fields a question Nov. 9 at the 2012 Highlands Ranch Veterans Day Celebration. Barrella, who wrote the book “More than 36 Days” about four former Marines who served on Iwo Jima during World War II, was accompanied by those veterans. From left are Joe Weinmeier, Max Brown, Jim Blane and Don Whipple. Photos by Ryan Boldrey
Highlands Ranch salutes veterans Iwo Jima survivors share stories at library By Ryan Boldrey
rboldrey@ourcoloradonews.com On a Friday night two days before Veterans Day, Laura Di Rito and her fiance, Marine Cpl. Neal Hamilton, spent some idle time walking through the Highlands Ranch Veterans Memorial. Di Rito, after all, has an extremely personal connection to the memorial. Of the 504 tiles presently representing veterans — both living and dead — with some connection to Highlands Ranch, two of them belong to her grandfathers. Her maternal grandfather, Earl Harris, spent three and a half years in a prison camp during World War II after surviving the Bataan Death March. Her paternal grandfather, John Di Rito, served in Korea, earning the Medal of Commendation. “Look at how many heroes we have
here,” she said. “It’s sad to see some of these that are pretty recent, but it’s a cool place for the families to be able to come, because a lot of times military gets buried somewhere else, so it’s a nice remembrance for them.” “It’s nice to be recognized and remembered,” echoed Hamilton, who served from 2003-2007. “That Highlands Ranch has something like this, it’s always here, and you can always come, not just on Veterans Day. To me, it means that it was worth something, that somebody noticed and that the nation has your back.” The war on terror has claimed the lives of three of Highlands Ranch’s own, all of whom are memorialized at the monument. Veterans Day, though, is a chance to do more than just pay one’s respects to those who gave their all, but an opportunity to thank those who fought for America’s freedoms. On Nov. 9, the 2012 Highlands Ranch Veterans Celebration gave community members a chance to do just that. Members of Highlands Ranch American Legion Post 1260 kicked off the ceremony at the library Veterans continues on Page 10
The Presentation of Colors, courtesy of the Highlands Ranch American Legion Post 1260, kicked off the 2012 Highlands Ranch Veterans Day Celebration on Nov. 9.
McNulty won’t hold leadership role Former speaker wins final term in House By Ryan Boldrey
rboldrey@ourcoloradonews.com While Frank McNulty’s fourth victory in state House District 43 came with another Douglas County landslide, the former House speaker’s fellow Republicans did not fare as well Nov. 6. The Republicans, who had controlled the state House 33-32, gave up five seats to the Democratic Party in the 2012 election, forcing McNulty out as speaker as the Democrats took a sizable 37-28 advantage. McNulty, who has served in the state House since 2006, was elected as speaker in 2010. And despite easily defeating Democratic challenger Gary Semro 63 percent to
37 percent in the election, the decision was made afterward that the Highlands Ranch incumbent would not seek a leadership role within his party this time around. McNulty said that “maintaining and growing a majority is a much difMcNulty ferent proposition” than maintaining continuous leadership, and he pointed to the fact that he is term-limited as one reason he chose not run for the role of minority leader in 2013. Mark Waller of Colorado Springs, one of 10 Republicans who were elected without Democratic opposition, will fill that role. In seats that were contested by both parties, the Democrats won 37-18. Analysts seem to be in agreement that
McNulty’s handling of the civil-unions bill this past session had a lot to do with the recent Democratic takeover in the House, and the Democrats appear to be making a point with their selection of openly gay Rep. Mark Ferrandino to replace McNulty as speaker, making the passing of civil unions more likely in 2013. “With the Republicans losing control of the house in Colorado, and all of the discussion that is being had within the party about its future, the party right now is clearly on the wrong side of demographic trends,” said Norman Provizer, who holds a Ph.D. in political science and is a professor at Metro State University. “This election indicated a changing trend in gay issues, and not just in Colorado, but nationwide.” Fight Back Colorado, a pro-LBGT-rights organization, launched a major grassroots McNulty continues on Page 10
The economy caught up with a regional drug task force in place for nearly 30 years, leading to the dissolution of the South Metro Drug Task Force. The task force dissolved after nearly 27 years of street-level drug enforcement in a decision officials call difficult but well-considered. The Arapahoe and Douglas sheriff’s offices announced the decision to disband the regional task force Nov. 8, about two months after the board voted to dissolve the unit that was the primary narcotics agency for Douglas, Arapahoe and Elbert counties. About 14 agencies participated in the task force, providing resources that included officers who primarily served as undercover agents paid for by local taxpayers, federal grants and asset forfeiture seizures. At its peak, about 10 agents, a sergeant and commander from the Douglas and Arapahoe sheriff’s offices provided the lion’s share of the resources to the task force, with staff contributions from the participating police departments, said Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson. Robinson served as the chairman of the task force board. In July, when dissolution discussions began, the task force was made up of seven agents, a sergeant and commander, with contributing officers from the Littleton, Parker, Englewood and Greenwood Village police departments, Robinson said. “The difficulty we had is we’ve never been able to get the resource numbers up to a level we would have liked to,” Robinson said. “That’s just life. There are other priorities people need to focus attention on.” Douglas County shifted its task force agents to the pattern crimes unit, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office. The unit was established in 2005 to address crimes that are committed by semiorganized, habitual or career criminals who commit crimes with a repetitive pattern in Douglas County. As a result of the dissolution of the South Metro Drug Task Force, the pattern crimes unit is composed of 10 investigators, including officers from the Parker, Lone Tree and Castle Rock police departments. “We will continue to investigate illegal drugs, intervene on drug sales and enforce drug laws here and across county borders,” said Douglas County Sheriff Dave Weaver. “This changes nothing in the way that we share information and partner with other agencies.” Task force continues on Page 10
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