September 9, 2021
FREE
DOUGLAS COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
LoneTreeVoice.net
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 12 | LIFE: PAGE 14 | CALENDAR: PAGE 17 | SPORTS: PAGE24
Students walk out in anti-mask protest Hundreds urged personal choice as mandate went into effect BY JESSICA GIBBS JGIBBS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
The Sept. 1 walkout started when three students emerged from Legend High School in Parker and meandered toward a nearby park. Two more followed shortly after, and for a moment the small group was the only sign of protest. Then came dozens, and within minutes, hundreds of students and parents had amassed across the street from the high school. They held signs calling masks child abuse, public health officials liars, and demanded masks remain optional. SEE WALKOUT, P4
BY ELLIOTT WENZLER AND JESSICA GIBBS EWENZLER@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Douglas County commissioners have appointed a Castle Rock Town Council member and chair of the county’s public health advisory committee as an interim member of the Tri-County Health Department board. Kevin Bracken, Castle Rock’s mayor pro tem, has been a vocal critic of Tri-County Health’s
As COVID cases rise, local hospital ICUs fill up ‘Vast majority’ of hospitalized virus patients are unvaccinated BY THELMA GRIMES TGRIMES@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Hundreds of students and parents protested mask mandates in Douglas County PHOTO BY JESSICA GIBBS Schools on Sept. 1.
County names a critic to Tri-County Health’s board Bracken blames agency for ‘punishing the kids’ with mask rules
VOLUME 20 | ISSUE 29
handling of COVID-19 throughout the pandemic. He frequently goes head-to-head with Tri-County Executive Director John Douglas in public meetings and has previously written the agency urging fewer COVID-19 precautions in schools, such as mask-wearing rules. Bracken was named to step in for Zach Nannestad, whose resignation from the Tri-County Board of Health in late August marked the third time this year that Douglas County has lost one of its representatives on the board. His appointment comes as Douglas County has been making moves to exit Tri-County and set up its SEE TRI-COUNTY, P2
Castle Rock Mayor Pro Tem Kevin PHOTO BY JESSICA GIBBS Bracken.
As COVID-19 cases continue to go up across the metro area due to the highly-transmissible delta variant, hospitals are admitting more patients to ICU beds, and UCHealth is postponing non-urgent medical procedures. According to the Tri-County Health Department, as of Sept. 1, hospitals in Douglas County had reached 95% capacity for ICU beds. Inpatient beds were exceeding 85%. In neighboring Arapahoe County, ICU beds were at 83.4% capacity to start the month of September. Adams County increased to 91.3% capacity. As hospitals are dealing with the increase in cases, UCHealth made the call last week to postpone nonurgent surgeries as the system faces the highest number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients since January, when cases neared 500. At the start of September, UCHealth reported more than 260 hospitalizations due to confirmed or suspected COVID patients. UCHealth has 12 hospitals. In the Denver metro area, UCHealth has SEE COVID, P8
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