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September 16, 2021
ARAPAHOE COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
SouthPlatteIndependent.net
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 14 | LIFE: PAGE 16 | CALENDAR: PAGE 19 | SPORTS: PAGE 20
HOSTS ROUGH UP LITTLETON
VOLUME 76 | ISSUE 45
Potential costs of Dougco health pullout worry Arapahoe Arapahoe warns neighbor of possible legal action over Tri-County exit BY ELLIOTT WENZLER AND ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
schedule, which led to a slew of anti-mask mandate sentiments from attendees. “People in seats like yours make terrible decisions using fear,” said Shelly Thompson, who spoke during the public comment period and said she is a parent of a Littleton Public Schools student. Thompson accused Reichardt, along with the rest of the school board, of allowing the fear of
Arapahoe County’s threat of possible legal action over Douglas County’s plans to pull out of the publichealth agency serving both counties appears to hinge on whether the exit causes costly disruptions to existing health programs in Arapahoe County’s budget. Arapahoe County Attorney Ron Carl sent the warning to his Douglas County counterpart in a Sept. 3 letter. The letter came in the wake of Dougco’s moves to leave the TriCounty Health Department — which serves both counties as well as Adams County — and form its own health agency, largely over longstanding objections to Tri-County’s COVID-safety orders. Arapahoe is asking Douglas to “slow the pace so all the stakeholders — the three counties plus TriCounty — can make any necessary transitions more efficiently and effectively, and so we can properly assess the cost and process of what we need to do next,” said Luc Hatlestad, spokesperson for Arapahoe County. “The reason this partnership has lasted 55 years is because, in part, we were able to share costs, and obviously that would change if we went
SEE MASKS, P18
SEE TRI-COUNTY, P15
Littleton High School’s Brycen Mhlanga (33) gains significant yardage against Thornton at Adams 12 Five Star Stadium Sept. 10, PHOTO BY STEFAN BRODSKY but the hosts — celebrating their homecoming — prevailed anyway, 40-18. More photos on Page 20.
Furor over mask mandate at Littleton school board meeting District officials hear complaints from speakers BY ROBERT TANN RTANN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA
The Littleton Public Schools Board of Education was met with a host of attendees decrying the district’s mask mandate during a Sept. 9 meeting. Shortly before opening the meeting to public comment, board
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President Robert Reichardt faced several attendees who refused to wear masks or leave the room due to the incoming presence of a student. Littleton Public Schools, which is complying with the TriCounty Health Department’s mask mandate for students ages 2 to 11, requires people who come in contact with students to wear a mask. Reichardt was forced to call a five-minute recess to the meeting until the unmasked attendees left. Afterward, he resumed the night’s
PANDEMIC FASHIONS
Sustainability shapes style trends
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