Week of February 17, 2022
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DOUGLAS COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
LoneTreeVoice.net
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 12 | LIFE: PAGE 14 | CALENDAR: PAGE 17 | SPORTS: PAGE 22
VOLUME 20 | ISSUE 52
Treatment, understanding of Alzheimer’s advanced in 2021
Douglas County School Board President Mike Peterson listens to discussion during a Feb. 8 study session.
PHOTO BY JESSICA GIBBS
Future of mill levy, bond measures uncertain amid DCSD controversies, committee chair says Mistrust persisted during talks about compensation, capital needs BY JESSICA GIBBS JGIBBS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
At their first public meeting following the firing of former Superintendent Corey Wise, members of the Douglas County School Board were given a warning: One of the few issues uniting them could be in peril amid the glaring division among leadership. All seven school board directors have consistently agreed that improving compensation is an urgent issue in the district. Some have said passing a mill levy override — and possibly a bond — in November could be the only remedy. The board unanimously voted to form a Mill Bond Exploratory
Committee, or MBEC, on Jan. 25. The ad hoc committee’s purpose is to assess operational and capital needs of the district, as well as the likelihood of passing a mill levy override or a bond in November. A Feb. 8 study session covered a lengthy list of capital needs in the district, from new buildings to bolstering security to updating IT equipment. The 2021-22 Master Capital Plan identifies between $765 million and $847 million in capital projects, including $423 million for new construction. During the session, Sandra Brownrigg, chairperson of MBEC, said the district could be headed down a “death spiral” with the odds of voters passing funding measures this year decreasing after two weeks of board controversies, she said. “If I were one of the people who sits at home and pops popcorn and watches this like it’s a reality TV show, I would be on social media go-
REACHING READERS
Book clubs are no longer just confined to living rooms P14
ing … there’s just no way that you guys can come together,” Brownrigg said. In the past two weeks, the board majority took controversial steps toward changing the district’s equity policy. Minority board directors publicly alleged the majority violated open meeting laws by privately plotting to oust the superintendent. The board majority later fired Wise without cause. Large protests unfolded throughout the district, and a lawsuit followed. “Letting a superintendent go in February and putting funding on the ballot in November, those two things usually don’t go hand in hand,” Brownrigg said. “Having a conversation in public about your colleagues probably doesn’t increase the likelihood people are going to vote for funding.” Brownrigg gave the district a 60% chance of passing a funding SEE SCHOOLS, P18
Possible link between COVID-19 and brain is among recent developments BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
In the second half of 2021, the world of Alzheimer’s research saw renewed excitement in a class of experimental Alzheimer’s drugs, according to a nonprofit that pushes for the prevention and cure of the disease. The buzz came amid the news that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Aduhelm, or aducanumab, for the treatment of Alzheimer’s, a memory-affecting disease that worsens over time. “It is the first new treatment approved for Alzheimer’s since 2003,” the FDA said in a news release. The Colorado branch of the nonprofit Alzheimer’s Association highlighted some advancements made in understanding the disease in 2021.
Treatments advance The key difference between the new treatment and old methods is that Aduhelm is the first drug approved by the FDA that addresses the underlying biology of Alzheimer’s, said Jim Herlihy, spokesperson SEE ALZHEIMER’S, P8
THREATS REPORTED
Littleton school officials receive death threats
P4