Week of August 4, 2022
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DOUGLAS COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
ParkerChronicle.net
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 14 | LIFE: PAGE 16 | CALENDAR: PAGE 19
VOLUME 20 | ISSUE 36
More clucks come to county with Slim Chickens
State halts work with Douglas County health contractor
Restaurant offers drive-through, dine-in BY ELLIOTT WENZLER EWENZLER@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Parker has a new option for chicken fans as Slim Chickens opened its first store in the community July 25. After about two years of design, permitting and construction, the restaurant is now offering dine-in and drive-through at their store located at Pine Lane and Parker Road. Slim Chickens — based in Fayetteville, Arkansas — focuses on providing never-frozen chicken with handmade ingredients and menu options for a variety of people. “Our chicken is really tender, it’s measurably different,” said franchisee Will Smith. “Our buttermilk we make in house.” Menu items include wings, chicken tenders, wraps, sandwiches, chicken and waffles and salads. Options for sides are fries, mac and cheese, fried pickles, fried okra, fried mushrooms, coleslaw, SEE CHICKENS, P10
County will continue contract with Jogan Health BY ELLIOTT WENZLER EWENZLER@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
A Douglas County health contractor, hastily hired during the county’s divorce from Tri-County Health in 2021, has been cut off from new work by the state, recently settled a lawsuit with a former business partner and is under investigation by the state’s labor department. The county health department stands by its decision to hire Jogan Health and says it sees no reason to end their multimillion-dollar contract prematurely. Jogan Health was hired by Douglas County in November 2021 after the county board of health approved an order disallowing local mask requirements, resulting in Tri-County halting its COVID services in Douglas County. At the time, the state and Tri-County had been working with Jogan on vaccine clinics and both mentioned the company to the new county health department, said county spokesperson Wendy Holmes. In January, however, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment told Jogan the department was “seriously worried” about the company continuing work in the state, according to public records obtained by Colorado Community Media. “The complaints are just piling up,” wrote Daniel Rockwell, a supervisor with the state health department, in a Jan. 25 email to Jogan Health.
From left, owner Will Smith and general manager Jimmy Gibson pose for a portrait PHOTO BY ELLIOTT WENZLER inside the new Slim Chickens.
As Tri-County Health disbands, different paths emerge Counties’ price tags to go solo will vary BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
The embattled Tri-County Health Department lists 10 staff members as its “executive team,” a collection of leaders that oversee priorities like emergency pre-
paredness, disease surveillance and environmental health. Arapahoe County has scooped up six of those leaders — plus TriCounty’s former director of nursing — to work for its upcoming single-county health department as Tri-County prepares to dissolve at the end of this year. Adams County will absorb one of those 10 leaders, plus Tri-County’s former policy expert. Douglas County has not hired
REPORT NOT AVAILABLE Commissioners not releasing findings in $17,000 Thomas investigation P4
any of those key Tri-County staff members. Dr. John Douglas, head of TriCounty, says he doesn’t think the politics surrounding Tri-County’s decisions on the pandemic played a role in general in determining which counties the health agency’s high-level staff will end up working for. But the disparity is one example SEE APPROACH, P22
SEE JOGAN, P12
ART IN THE OPEN
There’s plenty of sculpture to see in parks and public places
P16
