November 11, 2021
FREE
DOUGLAS COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
LoneTreeVoice.net
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 14 | LIFE: PAGE 16 | CALENDAR: PAGE 19 | SPORTS: PAGE 22
School board victors set sights on mask rules Winners say they’ll work with health agency, superintendent
BY JESSICA GIBBS JGIBBS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
performing arts. About 10 people will perform at the group’s show in Lone Tree. One member is blind. Another has autism. There’s a dancer with cerebral palsy who operates a powered wheelchair with their head, and a man who is quadriplegic. “I have a wonderful, wonderful group of dancers,” she said. The 64-year-old Wagner has used
Lone Tree residents threw their support behind a proposal to raise sales taxes for the next decade on Election Day. As of Nov. 4, in unofficial returns, the “yes” vote on city Ballot Issue 2E had 58.3% of the vote to the “no” vote’s 41.8% out of 4,510 votes counted up to that point. The city council in August approved placing a measure on the ballot asking to raise sales tax by 1%. Council and staff touted the proposal as having many benefits for Lone Tree and its residents, with little cost. The city anticipated a $12 million budget deficit if it did not begin bringing in more revenue, or a cumulative gap of $100 million in the next 15 years. Councilmembers and staff attribute stagnant sales tax revenue in recent years in part to shifting consumer habits and online shopping. The city has not increased its 1.5% sales tax since 1995. The ballot measure would increase sales tax revenue by up to $15.6 million the first year and last for 10 years. Revenue would be used for city services such as public safety, maintaining roads and infrastructure, and parks and open space maintenance. Some critics argued that now is not
SEE DANCE, P20
SEE SALES TAX, P20
It was a celebratory mood at the election-night watch party of the Kids First slate for Douglas County school board, held at the Ascent on Main in Parker on Nov. 2.
SEE SCHOOLS, P12
PHOTO BY JESSICA GIBBS
Shows feature dancers with and without disabilities Spoke N Motion performs Nov. 14 in Lone Tree BY JESSICA GIBBS JGIBBS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Teri Wagner wants people to change how they define who a dancer is. Most people think of a slim, fit ballerina jumping and twirling, she said.
Lone Tree voters favor tax hike Measure passes with wide margin
BY JESSICA GIBBS JGIBBS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
One candidate called it the race of a lifetime. And after months of simmering tension within the electorate, the Douglas County School Board election did indeed draw national attention as it became another contest defined by COVID mask-mandate disputes and critical race theory, or CRT. At stake was whether the Douglas County School District would begin “backing away from COVID and masking, and backing away from CRT, and backing away from some of the sex ed” programs in place, candidate Mike Peterson told Colorado Community Media. “I think it’s a macro issue that we’re seeing nationwide, and it’s about who has the role in raising their children,” he said. The district has followed masking guidance from the Tri-County Health Department, among other
VOLUME 20 | ISSUE 38
“You don’t think of somebody who may be a little bit overweight in a wheelchair,” she said. So in 2012, Wagner co-founded Spoke N Motion, a dance troupe of people with and without disabilities, and of varying ages. The Littleton-based group will perform at the Lone Tree Arts Center on Nov. 14. The show is part of Lone Tree Art Center’s Passport to Culture program, which aims to introduce young children to the
OLD PUMPKINS A FARM FEAST Lone Tree nonprofit fights food waste P2
ACCESSING THE OUTDOORS
Colorado provides recreational opportunities for people with disabilities P16