1-Color
February 27, 2014 Douglas County, Colorado | Volume 27, Issue 15 A publication of
highlandsranchherald.net
Sheriff candidates tackle issues at debate Three hopefuls talk guns, visions for future of county By Virginia Grantier
vgrantier@coloradocommunitymedia. com Lora Thomas, Douglas County’s coroner running for sheriff, said at a Feb. 22 sheriff candidates’ debate she supports teachers being armed in schools. She wasn’t alone. Candidate John Anderson, a Castle Rock police commander, said he supported it, too, if teachers were trained, deputized — and suggested a pager system so that in an emergency teachers could press a button and the school resource officer would know immediately which room the emergency was in, and so what level of assistance that particular teacher, based on training, could provide. Candidate Tony Spurlock, Douglas
County undersheriff, said he was a “Second Amendment guy.” But he also talked about the chaos of gunbattles and that even trained officers make mistakes in those situations. He said there might be better options for protecting students than arming teachers and said it would cost a lot of money to train teachers. The three Republican candidates, who are seeking to replace term-limited David Weaver, met for the debate at Creekside Recreation Center in Parker When asked about the candidates’ position on gun-free zones, Thomas said she generally didn’t support gun-free zones, Anderson, talked about Constitutional rights, although specifically expressing support for prohibiting guns on airliners and courtrooms. Spurlock said that regarding the issue of open carrying of firearms, he didn’t think it was right to restrict it in parks and trails. Sheriff continues on Page 13
About 200 people showed up for the Feb. 22 Douglas County Sheriff ’s debate in Parker. Candidate Lora Thomas is standing; candidate John Anderson is seated at the far end of the table and candidate Tony Spurlock is in the middle. Photo by Virginia Grantier
Ex-deputy coroner sentenced Carter Lord gets three years probation for embezzlement, forgery By Hannah Garcia
hgarcia@coloradocommunitymedia. com
Rep. Frank McNulty, R-Highlands Ranch, speaks to students from Cresthill Middle School Feb. 20 at the Colorado State Capitol as part of Human Trafficking Advocacy Day. Photos by Hannah Garcia
‘It absolutely can happen here’ Cresthill Middle School students study, campaign against human trafficking By Hannah Garcia
hgarcia@coloradocommunitymedia. com The wind didn’t do much to dampen the spirits of a group of Cresthill Middle School students huddled on the steps of the State Capitol Building in Denver on Feb. 20. Cold fingers and whipping coats aside, they were here for a purpose. It was Human Trafficking Awareness Advocacy Day at the capitol, and it marked a milestone for an endeavor Sonja Herring’s advanced history class has been working on since last semester. After studying the Civil War, the topic of slavery has been a theme in the class since mid-October. “Kids have this belief that slavery is over,” Herring said. “But, that’s far from the case.” Herring said she had the students find their own articles on modern slavery for study, and they were shocked by what they found. “They came in the next morning enraged,” the teacher said. “They were saying things like, `why are we not hearing about
A student from Sonja Herring’s Cresthill Middle School class takes notes during a presentation at the Colorado State Capitol on Human Trafficking Advocacy Day on Feb. 20. this?’ They were just appalled by the lack of coverage.” This was the starting point for a yearlong, comprehensive project. Herring broke her students into groups to tackle different
Carter Lord received concurrent probation sentences on Feb. 24 after he was found guilty of embezzlement and forgery for crimes he committed while serving as a deputy coroner for Douglas County in 2010. Lord, 66, was sentenced to three months each for two counts of embezzlement and one count of forgery, each to run concurrently. He was convicted of Lord the crimes on Dec. 19, 2013 by a jury. All of the charges are classified as Class 5 felonies. In October 2012, the criminal justice division of the Colorado Attorney General’s Office filed a complaint against Lord accusing him of embezzling firearms, which had been collected as evidence, from the Douglas County Coroner’s Office. “Those guns should have never been sold,” Judge Vincent White said to Lord, calling it a “violation of the public’s trust.” Four guns were released to Lord for destruction, although only one was destroyed, according to the Colorado Attorney General’s Office. Lord resold one of the guns and kept two to sell at The Stock Shop, a store he owned in Sedalia. Lord falsified documents to hide those crimes. At his sentencing hearing, prosecutor Janet Newburg said calling for probation was “appropriate.” “I think it’s obvious to everyone in this courtroom today that this is a probation case,” Newburg said, referencing his age and the fact that this is Lord’s first felony Deputy continues on Page 11
parts of the enterprise, ranging from working on outreach to adults to social media campaigns and a petition drive. Trafficking continues on Page 11
Printed on recycled newsprint. Please recycle this copy.