Littleton 5.9.13
May 9, 2013
Arapahoe County, Colorado • Volume 124, Issue 15
75 cents
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourlittletonnews.com
Leaders tackle health matters
Group wants to promote all-around wellness By Jennifer Smith
jsmith@ourcoloradonews.com
Although 12-year-old Andre Jackson is blind, driving instructor Tina Giberti, right, ensures his first experience driving a car is a memorable one. Giberti verbally guided Jackson through a series of driving obstacles, including a skid recovery course, at MasterDrive in Centennial. The annual event is a partnership between the Colorado Center for the Blind and MasterDrive, a local driving school. Photos by Deborah Grigsby
Getting a feel for the wheel Students discover driving not just visual experience By Deborah Grigsby
dgrigsby@ourcoloradonews.com For most American teenagers, driving a car has become a rite of passage, but for Andre Jackson that passage almost didn’t happen.
That’s because Jackson is legally blind. But thanks to a partnership with MasterDrive in Centennial, Jackson and 30 of his classmates at the Colorado Center for the Blind in Littleton got a chance to test their driving skills on May 2 in a customized driving class. Before getting behind the wheel, students were required to attend an hour-long class, familiarizing them with the functions of the car, the course and general safety.
“What we do is, essentially, give these kids an experience they may otherwise never get,” said Spencer Pace, a driving instructor with the nationally franchised driving school. “And that’s the chance to drive a real car.” Under the careful eye of trained driving instructors, the low-vision and blind students were verbally coached through a series of driving obstacles, including a slalom Wheel continues on Page 10
Couple kicks off civil unions in Littleton Pair had brief ceremony on day law took effect By Jennifer Smith
jsmith@ourcoloradonews.com It’s not every couple that can say they were both Eagle Scouts. “We’re really similar, so we get along pretty well,” said Tommy Craig. He and Josh Wells were united in the first civil union performed at Littleton’s Arapahoe County Courthouse on May 1, the day the law making the unions legal in Colorado took effect. Matt Crane, Arapahoe County Clerk and Recorder, said seven couples obtained civilunion licenses in the county that day, and none was issued the next day. Craig and Wells do have a lot in common, enjoying camping, hiking, biking, running and snowshoeing together. They even look enough alike that people often assume they’re brothers. “We don’t walk hand-in-hand places like POSTAL ADDRESS
straight couples would,” said Wells. It took time for them to be comfortable enough to say something other than that they’re friends or roomates, not brothers. “Now I say, `No, that’s my husband,’” said Wells, an aerospace engineer. The Highlands Ranch couple has been together for 12 years. They had a commitment ceremony in September 2004, in front of about 100 guests. Their parents walked them down the aisle, they exchanged rings and lighted a unity candle. They both wore white tuxedoes and had a maid of honor and a best man each. “We just wanted to make the commitment to each other and have it be acknowledged by our friends and family,” said Wells. They’ve considered themselves married ever since, and will continue to say they are married — “civilly unioned” or “civil united” just don’t roll off the tongue as easily. “When marriage becomes an option, we’ll do that too,” said Craig, dean of a middle school. Unions continues on Page 10
Community leaders are taking your health to heart, and they want you to join them. Organizers of the Littleton Community Retreat met at Buck Recreation Center April 30 for a nutritious breakfast and discussion about how best to promote good health in the city. They’re gearing up for a big event at Snow Mountain Ranch near Winter Park on Oct. 18 and 19, when everyone in the community is invited to Lawton join the conversation. Geoff Lawton of Littleton Adventist Hospital came armed with data. Colorado is perpetually in the top 10 states for suicide rates, he said, so mental health and substance abuse should be a focus. He suggests increased economic distress could be a factor, as it is with another big problem he points out — lack of access to care.
Health continues on Page 24
Police officer dies in crash He was off duty, riding motorcycle in Aurora Staff report
Judge Christine Shauche officiated the first civil union in Littleton’s Arapahoe County Courthouse May 1, for Tommy Craig (center) and Josh Wells. Courtesy photo
LITTLETON INDEPENDENT (ISSN 1058-7837) (USPS 315-780) OFFICE: 9137 S. Ridgeline Blvd., Suite 210, Highlands Ranch, CO 80129 PHONE: 303-566-4100 A legal newspaper of general circulation in Englewood, Colorado, the Littleton Independent is published weekly on Thursday by Colorado Community Media. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT ENGLEWOOD, COLORADO AND ADDITIONAL MAILING OFFICES. POSTMASTER: Send address change to: 9137 S. Ridgeline Blvd., Suite 210, Highlands Ranch, CO 80129 DEADLINES: Display advertising: Thurs. 11 a.m. Legal advertising: Thurs. 11 a.m. Classified advertising: Mon. 12 p.m.
A Littleton police officer was killed in a traffic crash in Aurora on May 6. Officer Kevin Denner was off-duty and riding his personal motorcycle when the accident occurred about 11:30 a.m. at the intersection of Belleview Avenue and DeGaulle Street. A police press release says the Littleton Police Department, city council and all city employees are mourning the loss of a felDenner low employee and friend. “Kevin was a gentle giant who cared for his community and his family,” said Deputy Mark Edson of the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office, who once worked with Denner at LPD. “Another tragic loss in the LPD family.” Aurora police say Denner was riding his
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Officer continues on Page 7
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