Highlands ranch herald 0711

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Herald Highlands Ranch 7.11.13

Highlands Ranch

Douglas County, Colorado • Volume 26, Issue 34

July 11, 2013

A Colorado Community Media Publication

ourhighlandsranchnews.com

celebrating independence

County looking strong on jobs Unemployment drops, average wage shows large increase By Ryan Boldrey

rboldrey@ourcoloradonews.com

One of three veterans to serve as grand marshals for the 2013 Fourth of July Parade in Highlands Ranch, HRCA employee Bill Harkness served four years in the Army Air Forces from 1942-46, serving his country during World War II. More photos from the festivities can be found on Page 11. Photo by Ryan Boldrey

Rider keeps up fight against disease Highlands Ranch man with MS joins bike event By Ryan Boldrey

rboldrey@ourcoloradonews.com When Steve Schade was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2007, his family rallied around him without hesitation and started helping raise money in search of a cure. Just 34 years old at the time, the Highlands Ranch man used to enjoy his summer evenings playing softball. He began to have difficulty seeing the ball coming at him and suddenly could no longer see colors vividly. Things were almost gray scale, he said. About the same time he also began to feel numbness in his feet and knees. “It felt like my legs were falling asleep,” he said. “I thought it was a circulation issue, that I had a pinched nerve. It wasn’t apparent at all times, but was very gradual.” With no specific diagnosis process available for multiple sclerosis, Schade underwent a year’s worth of tests, up to and including spinal taps, before receiving a “probable MS diagnosis” and beginning treatment. He has been on numerous drugs and steroids over the past six years, and does everything he can to stay sharp and active. Since the summer of 2008, one of the ways he has stayed active is by participating in the local Bike MS ride each year. Accompanied by a team of family members and friends, riding under the moniker of “Stevie’s Wonders,” he has raised more than $25,000 to go toward research of a disease that to this day has no known cure. This year, while eight members of Stevie’s Wonders pedaled 150 miles from Westminster to Fort Collins and back June 29 and 30, Schade rode the 75-mile jaunt on day one as an honorary member of NOW (No Opportunity Wasted) Novartis, teaming up on a tandem bicycle with professional cyclist Olivia Dillon. The NOW Novartis team is pedaling with different honorary members at five of the

Douglas County’s unemployment rate has dipped to 5.8 percent, the lowest it has been since the conclusion of the fourth quarter in 2008. The number comes as great news for the county, which just released its 2013 firstquarter data days after the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics put out its year-to-year statistics that showed Douglas County as having the seventh-largest increase in employment from the end of 2011 to the end of 2012, out of the 328 largest counties in the United States. Douglas County increased its total number of jobs to 98,500, up 5,000 from a year ago, a 5.1 percent increase. The study also showed the county as second in average weekly wage increase of the 328 counties — which account for 71.3 percent of all jobs and 77 percent of all wages in the country. Leading the way in weekly wage increase was California’s San Mateo County, which saw a 107.3 percent bump, vaulting from $1,563 per week per person to $3,240. Douglas County workers saw an average increase of 48 percent, increasing from $1,075 per week in 2011 to $1,591 in 2012. Wages for No. 3, the independent city of Virginia Beach, climbed only 13.3 percent. Yet while the $516 increase appears to be an astounding one, according to Douglas County spokeswoman Wendy Holmes, it is skewed by the fact that wages increased 362 percent for the industry of “management of companies and enterprises.” “When you remove that group, wages in Douglas County are only up 7.9 percent,” Holmes said, pointing to the other 18 industries that were weighed. Still, that is a positive sign for a county that between the fourth quarters in 2010 and 2011 ranked No. 318 with an 8.6 decrease in wages, all industries considered. The county only had three industries that were down, and with the addition of 5,000 new jobs there is a lot to be pleased about, said Douglas County Commissioner Jill Repella. “I would say it is because of two things,” Jobs continues on Page 12

NOW Novartis team members Steve Schade and Olivia Dillon get ready to ride the June 29 Bike MS Colorado ride that raises money for multiple sclerosis research. Schade, a Highlands Ranch resident, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2007. He went through a year’s worth of tests before being diagnosed at age 34. Courtesy photo 100 Bike MS rides around the country this summer, with a mission of showing that MS does not have to define or limit the more than 400,000 Americans who have the disease. At the Colorado ride, they were part of the 3,000-plus cyclists who helped to raise a total of $2,795,595, according to Karen Malone with Novartis Pharmaceuticals. In addition to raising money for research and to help those with the disease, Schade said the rides do a lot more for those battling MS. “Being around other people who are affected by the same thing is a great boost,” he said.

“Not a lot of people in my inner circle really understand what I am going through, so it is a really positive thing to have that sense of community and see other people who have had it 10, 15, 30 years. “You hear a lot about how devastating (MS) is and how difficult it is on people, but it really doesn’t have to be a death sentence. Within the last five to 10 years, medications and therapies have come so far and things are continuously getting better.” To learn more about the NOW Novartis campaign, please visit www.togetherMS. com. To learn more about the National MS Society, go to www.nationalmssociety.org.

what the statistics say Colorado’s highest average weekly wages 2011: 1. Denver County – $1,162 2. Boulder County – $1,114 3. Arapahoe County – $1,108 4. Douglas County – $1,065 5. Jefferson County – $976 Colorado’s highest average weekly wages 2012: 1. Douglas County – $1,591 2. Denver County – $1,222 3. Arapahoe County – $1,159 4. Boulder County – $1,134 5. Jefferson County – $1,010

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