Lone Tree Voice 072822

Page 1

Week of July 28, 2022

FREE

DOUGLAS COUNTY, COLORADO

A publication of

LoneTreeVoice.net

INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 14 | LIFE: PAGE 16 | CALENDAR: PAGE 19

VOLUME 21 | ISSUE 23

County plans to ask for extension of open space tax Ballot language will be discussed in future business meeting BY ELLIOTT WENZLER EWENZLER@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

ago and we just had so much fun with it.” Inspired by Strickland’s homebrewed creations, a group of residents pushed for a community microbrewery and were successful in making the idea a reality earlier this year. Once the equipment had a place at Vi, the process for deciding what to brew began.

The fate of Douglas County’s open space fund appears to be in the hands of November voters after two commissioners voiced support for placing it on the ballot July 18. Commissioners George Teal and Abe Laydon voted in favor of moving forward with the action during a worksession where commissioners heard from municipalities, advocacy groups, recreational organizations and residents. “To see this level of community support for something that is truly critically important, it’s overwhelming,” Laydon said. “I am with you.” The Douglas County Open Space Initiative, a citizen committee created to seek commissioners’ support for the extension, presented their proposal. Their suggested ballot language would ask voters to approve an extension – not an increase — to the 0.17% sales and use tax, which was first approved in 1994. The Open Space Sales and Use Tax, which funds acquisitions and maintenance of county open spaces, trails, parks and historic sites, is part of the county’s 1% sales tax. In 2017, the fund was used to purchase Sandstone Ranch, a 2,038-acre property now available to the public for hiking, biking and equestrians.

SEE BREWERY, P15

SEE COUNTY, P4

DEA Special Agent in Charge Brian Besser, left, and District Attorney John Kellner speak during a July 6 news conference on two PHOTO BY ROBERT TANN recent large-scale fentanyl seizures in Colorado.

Fentanyl: A growing crisis regionally, nationally Law enforcement, others grapple with solutions BY ROBERT TANN AND MCKENNA HARFORD RTANN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM, MHARFORD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

From his vantage point as a toxicologist in the emergency departments of UCHealth’s

Highlands Ranch and Anschutz locations, Dr. Kennon Heard said fentanyl is easily the most common drug involved in the overdoses he treats. “This is going to be on par with seeing a stroke or a heart attack,” Heard said, estimating overdoses are treated multiple times a week, if not daily. “It’s that common of an event.” Heard sees both people with

substance use disorder and, more frequently, people who are occasional users and often think they are taking a drug other than fentanyl. “The change is probably that we’re seeing a significant number of people … who get something they think is a pharmaceutical product,” he said. SEE FENTANYL, P6

Brewery builds community in Highlands Ranch Seniors tap into craft industry BY MCKENNA HARFORD MHARFORD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

A unique new addition is joining Colorado’s more than 420 craft brewery options, dreamt up by the residents and staff of a Highlands Ranch senior living community.

This week, the microbrewery at Vi at Highlands Ranch is planning to serve up its first brew, a honey wheat beer named “Bees Knees.” It will be the culmination of months of conversations, planning, brewing and perfecting that all started with a homebrewing hobby. “A resident really encouraged me that if I was brewing at home, I should be doing it (at Vi’s),” Executive Chef Greg Strickland laughed. “So I did a few batches a few years

Evergreen Jazz Festival July 29, 30 & 31

Big Talent! Small Venues! Great Setting!

Dancers Welcome! Free Parking! EvergreenJazz.org

303-697-5467


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Lone Tree Voice 072822 by Colorado Community Media - Issuu