Week of January 6, 2022
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DOUGLAS COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
LoneTreeVoice.net
INSIDE: CALENDAR: PAGE 9 | VOICES: PAGE 10 | LIFE: PAGE 12
VOLUME 20 | ISSUE 46
Douglas County poised for more growth The Tattered Cover holiday pop-up at Park Meadows mall opened in October and will go through mid-January.
COURTESY PHOTO
Tattered Cover reflects on pop-up experience in Lone Tree Staff also discuss best reads of 2021, most anticipated in 2022 BY JESSICA GIBBS JGIBBS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Tattered Cover opened its first pop-up site to be located at Lone Tree’s Park Meadows mall in
October and will wind down the venture in the coming days. The space, called “Tattered Cover + Kids,” boasted more than 1,200 children’s titles. The store had 1,800 total titles, stocking best-selling adult novels as well. The seasonal store also gathered children’s gifts and special events. The locally owned bookstore marked 50 years running in 2021 and has satellite locations in Denver International Airport, five
BY JESSICA GIBBS JGIBBS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
High turnout at a COVID-19 testing site in Douglas County created “unsafe traffic conditions” recently
as Colorado sees “a significant increase in demand for testing.” Spokesman Brian Spencer with the Colorado Joint Information Center said by email that rising case counts across Colorado are being fueled by the omicron variant, and that paired with the typically high demand for COVID-19 testing near the holiday season is causing traffic at some testing sites. “We still have (testing) capacity across the state,” Spencer said.
BY MOLLY ARMBRISTER SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
The City of Lone Tree said through its Twitter account on Dec. 26 that the state’s drive-through site on Sky Ridge Medical Center’s campus was seeing heavy traffic and up to two-hour wait times. The city urged people to consider testing at other nearby locations. On Dec. 27, Sky Ridge Medical Center requested that the state close its testing site on the campus
After a decade of growth that far outstrips the Denver metro area as a whole, Douglas County shows few signs of slowing down, driven by high levels of demand and new development in expanding towns like Castle Rock, Lone Tree and Parker. There’s no doubt the entire metro area has grown at an unprecedented rate in the last decade. But Douglas County, home to smaller towns, scattered development and plentiful open space for years, was especially ripe for growth in 2010. From 2010 to 2020, Douglas County’s population grew by 25% to just over 360,000 people, according to the most recent data available from the Colorado State Demography Office, compared with just under 16% growth for the entire metro area. And while the COVID-19 outbreak in early 2020 slowed migration, and growth, across the board, Douglas County still grew more than twice as fast as metro Denver over the course of the year. Douglas County’s population grew 2.5% from 2019 to 2020, while the metro area expanded by less than 1%, according to the demography office’s data. Since Douglas County’s population was much smaller to begin with, it makes sense that its rate of growth
SEE TESTING, P23
SEE GROWTH, P11
Denver metro area stores, and will soon open a Westminster location in addition to its pop-ups. Park Meadows Senior General Manager Pamela Kelly said by email that Tattered Cover was a great addition to the shopping facility. “They have an outstanding long-term reputation and Park Meadows is very excited to be a SEE BOOKS, P22
Demand for COVID-19 testing jumps Traffic plagued one Douglas County testing site, forcing early closure
25% expansion in 10 years outpaces metro area
FOOD OF THE HOMELAND
HELPING IMMIGRANTS
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Local restaurateurs teach and serve
Littleton program thrives amid grant milestone