April 3, 2015 VOLU M E 1 3 | I S SUE 22
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Hospital grows with community Service area expected to have 100,000 more people in 2022 By Chris Michlewicz
cmichlewicz@colorado communitymedia.com Nowhere is the need to keep up with growth and development more important than at Parker Adventist Hospital. Accessible medical care is perhaps the
most vital infrastructure component for a region experiencing rapid growth. Serving an area that encompasses 460,000 people is no easy feat, which is precisely why the hospital has made a habit out of planning ahead. By 2022, hospital officials estimate that the population it serves will reach nearly 562,000. Parker Adventist has shelled out space for growth during previous phases of construction, and is in the midst of a Hospital continues on Page 9
Construction workers pour concrete for the new parking garage, which will add 175 spaces to help address parking issues at Parker Adventist Hospital. Courtesy photo
Welcome, Scooter and Atlas
School funding options explored
The dogs join the sheriff ’s office K-9 unit after intense training By Mike DiFerdinando
mdiferdinando@colorado communitymedia.com When the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office recruits new officers for its K-9 unit, personality is everything. “If it’s a really mellow dog and a mellow handler, you’re going to have a snail in a couple of years. If it’s a really hyper dog and a hyper handler, you’re going to have a firecracker that’s just waiting to go off,” said Douglas County K-9 Lt. Tommy Berella. “You want to find a balance.” According to Berella, finding the right dogs with the right temperament for such a demanding job can be challenging. “If you look at a dog and it’s in its kennel, cowering, that’s a dog that’s probably had some issues in the past, and that’s one we won’t take,” Berella said. “If one is trying to eat you through the fence the entire time and going crazy, that’s not good.” The sheriff’s office thinks they have found a perfect match with their two newest recruits, Scooter and Atlas. Both dogs are Belgian Malinois and came from Vohne Liche Kennels in Indiana. Scooter is just shy of 2 years old and Atlas is 3. The sheriff’s office has been working with the kennel since 2002 and has purchased and trained 12 dogs with them. The dogs were paid for by the group Friends of the Douglas County K-9 Unit. The sheriff’s office will have a total of six K-9 teams now — each team consists of one K-9 and one K-9 handler. Scooter will be partnered with deputy Brad Proulx and Atlas will be partnered with deputy Tyler Morris. Both officers are new to the K-9 unit— having passed through a rigorous application and testing process prior to being selected. The pair spent six weeks in Indiana training with their new partners in the early part of the year and have returned home now to begin their new duties. “We started at about 8 a.m. every day and worked 10-hour days. It would be either drug work, where we search different types of buildings and different types of cars, bite work or obedience,” Proulx said. “They are already pre-trained, so they’re not considered green dogs.” When the dogs find drugs or something of interest they will indicate it to their officers by a change in behavior — usually by sitting or lying down. They train once a week to keep their skills and noses sharp. K-9 continues on Page 9
This year is the last chance to ask voters to maintain taxes By Jane Reuter
jreuter@colorado communitymedia.com Representatives of 13 Douglas County School District School Accountability Committees let the school board know they want a bond measure to fund capital needs on November’s ballot. They pre— Percentage sented a position of the 84 school statement to the district facilities board during a redeemed in need of cent meeting. significant capital School board improvements, President Kevin with five Larsen said the categorized at board hasn’t yet “high risk of made a decision component about the potenfailure.” tial ballot issue. Doug Benevento, — Number board vice presiof facilities dent, said at a considered in good recent meeting condition he won’t support
BY THE NUMBERS
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Deputy Brad Proulx and his partner Scooter, a Belgian Malinois who will be 2 years old in June, training at the Douglas County Sheriff ’s Office training facility March 25. Photos by Mike DiFerdinando Atlas is one of two new K-9 officers at the Douglas County Sheriff ’s Office. Atlas, along with Scooter, was paid for by the group Friends of the Douglas County K-9 Unit.
such a question until the state addresses its schoolfinance formula. Larsen said the district is considering every potential financing angle and prioritizing needs. “Only after we’ve done that next phase do we know what the solution is to be,” he said. “I think we have an obligation to say, is this only solved by bond debt or are there other solutions? I don’t think putting it on the ballot is a foregone conclusion.”
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— Average age in years of school district buildings
53
— Age of the oldest building in the district, Douglas County High School in Castle Rock
128,000
— Number of students projected to be enrolled in the Douglas County School District by 2040. That’s double the present enrollment Source: Douglas County School District
Schools continues on Page 9