Week of May 19, 2022
FREE
DOUGLAS COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
HighlandsRanchHerald.net
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 12 | LIFE: PAGE 14 | CALENDAR: PAGE 17 | SPORTS: PAGE 24
Immigrants honored with citizenship during ceremony 26 new U.S. citizens hailing from dozens of countries welcomed BY ROBERT TANN RTANN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, during a May 9 ceremony at Belleview Elementary School in Centennial, granted citizenship to 26 immigrants hailing from 20 countries. Residents currently live in a slew of communities in the Denver metro area and beyond including Aurora, Centennial, Commerce City, Elizabeth, Golden, Highlands Ranch, Lakewood, Parker and Sedalia. “It was probably the happiest moment of my life,” said Fadilayda Solakkaya, who immigrated from Turkey and now lives in Parker, and is excited to have a passport, vote in elections and help her community. SEE CITIZENS, P10
BY MCKENNA HARFORD MHARFORD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Douglas County students envision a number of new initiatives, policy updates and class offerings
County health department moves forward with facility, services, staff Plans approved in May 12 meeting BY ELLIOTT WENZLER EWENZLER@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
tal health and hands-on learning, updating the dress code, outlining a student grievance policy, implementing a Sexual Assault Response Team program, dedicating money to plant trees and developing teacher education on diversity and equity, as well as technological literacy.
The Douglas County Health Department is on its way to providing services, having a facility and hiring staff as the agency prepares to fully separate from Tri-County Health Department later this year. The Douglas County Board of Health approved a list of services the agency will provide during a May 12 meeting. Some of the services included are COVID-19 response, public health emergency preparedness, restaurant inspections, immunizations and sexual health services. During an April 22 work session for the board of health, Public Health Director Mike Hill presented the list of services provided by TriCounty with information about what is expected by the state health department along with recommendations for services he believes the new health department should provide. “There are certain things that I just think are worth doing because they’re important for public health, the state expects us to do them and I think our population expects us to do them,” Hill said. The health department will provide 33 of the 60 services provided by Tri-County. Most of the services
SEE SCHOOLS, P9
SEE COUNTY, P6
26 immigrants hailing from 20 countries were officially made U.S. citizens U.S. CitiPHOTO BY ROBERT TANN zenship and Immigration Services May 9.
Student group proposes policies, classes for Douglas County Schools Suggestions for dress code, equity made
VOLUME 35 | ISSUE 24
throughout the district in the next few years. On May 10, Student Advisory Group subcommittees presented the Douglas County School Board the culmination of a year’s work on eight topics where students identified and proposed improvements. Suggestions to the board include creating electives focused on men-
THE LURE OF FLY FISHING
South Platte a great spot for anglers P14
SWAT ON SCENE
Englewood police incident resolved peacefully P19