March 3, 2016
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Health tour gives area residents a voice Participants describe blessings, challenges of life in rural area By Rick Gustafson Special to Colorado Community Media The Kiowa Town Hall was the first of four stops in the Colorado Health Foundation’s two-day Eastern Plains Listening Tour. On Feb. 22, community leaders from Kiowa met with the foundation’s president and CEO Karen McNeil-Miller to discuss the pros and cons of rural living as they pertain to the general health of residents. McNeil-Miller emphasized the no-
tion that health goes well beyond what happens between patients and doctors, and that leaders influence the health of their communities through the decisions they make. “For most people in the community that are decision-makers, many of the decisions they have to make have a health impact or a health outcome attached to them,” she said. “If they can think about that as they are making those decisions, look through a health lens, it can go a long way in moving their community forward.” Kiowa Trustee Larry Perreault, county 4-H assistant Lore Denson, Elbert County Coalition for Outreach director Pam Witucki and Kiowa Town Administrator Michelle Oeser offered several of
Elbert County’s outdoor activities, such as 4-H, as examples of programs contributing to healthy living, but also expressed concerns for health challenges common to many rural communities. “We are hearing many common themes, behavioral health, mental health and substance abuse being at the top of the list, access to care being next,” said McNeil-Miller. “In the rural communities it’s, ‘We just need a doctor nearby.’ In some of the more resourced communities it’s, ‘We have plenty of docs, but nobody’s taking Medicaid or additional Medicare patients.’” McNeil-Miller launched her statewide listening tour a month after taking Tour continues on Page 9
Colorado Health Foundation CEO Karen McNeilMiller speaks to community leaders during a Feb. 22 stop on the Eastern Plains Listening Tour. Photo by Rick Gustafson
Murder suspect pleads not guilty Geerdes allegedly shot cohort at location of marijuana grow By Rick Gustafson Special to Colorado Community Media
Horton, played by sophomore Seth Beebe, searches for his lost clover in a field of clovers. Photo by Rick Gustafson
‘Seussical’ brings fun to stage Elizabeth production was ‘high-energy’ effort By Rick Gustafson Special to Colorado Community Media When Elizabeth High School’s drama department pondered a musical, the obvious choice just had to be “Seussical.” With Horton and Jojo, and a hat-clad cat in tow, students
and teachers put on a show … four of them actually. Guided by the Cat in the Hat (junior Megan Kelly), “Seussical” combines the meter and stories from 15 Dr. Seuss favorites, weaving a musical journey through the places we can go, into the land of Who-hearing Horton the elephant (sophomore Seth Beebe) and inside the life of Whoville’s Jojo (senior Kristin Dodd) — “the thinks she can think.”
“We get ‘Horton Hatches the Egg’ and ‘Horton Hears a Who’ combined with the Cat and the Hat and the Lorax,” said teacher and music director Allison Wagstaff. “Everything kind of weaves itself together.” Producing a rock opera with 34 high school cast members and a live student orchestra took the time and patience of three dedicated teachers: Musical continues on Page 9
Elbert County resident Shawn Edward Geerdes has pleaded not guilty to murder in the first degree and to eight other charges related to the slaying of a 44-year-old Parker resident, Jason Dosa, in September 2015. Geerdes appeared with his two public defenders in Elbert County District Court in Kiowa on Feb. 22 and remained silent during the proceedings. According to the complaint, Geerdes and Dosa were partners in a marijuana grow in a greenhouse just outside of the town of Agate. Geerdes When the deal “fell apart,” Dosa allegedly made an early-morning visit to the greenhouse on Sept. 20 to claim a share of the grow, and authorities believe Geerdes shot Dosa at least five times with a .22-caliber firearm. Dosa’s body was discovered by Jefferson County sheriff’s deputies responding to a car fire in a ravine near Deer Creek Canyon just before noon on Sept. 20. Once the blaze was extinguished by firefighters from the Inter-Canyon Fire Suspect continues on Page 9
ELBERT COUNTY NEWS (USPS 171-100) OFFICE: 9137 S. Ridgeline Blvd., Suite 210, Highlands Ranch, CO 80129 | PHONE: 303-566-4100 A legal newspaper of general circulation in Elizabeth, Colorado, the Elbert County News is published weekly on Thursday by Colorado Community Media, 9137 S. Ridgeline Blvd., Suite 210, Highlands Ranch, CO 80129. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT ELIZABETH, COLORADO and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address change to: 9137 S. Ridgeline Blvd., Suite 210, Highlands Ranch, CO 80129 DEADLINES: Display: Thurs. 12 p.m. | Classifieds: Mon. 10 a.m. | Obits: Mon. 10 a.m. | Legals: Thurs. 11 a.m.