March 3, 2016
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Commissioner helps drive economic growth Term-limited Jill Repella, of Highlands Ranch, has not decided what’s next By Shanna Fortier sfortier@coloradocommunitymedia.com
Douglas County Commissioner Jill Repella is in the last year of her second term as commissioner for District 3. Courtesy photo
Jill Repella, a Douglas County commissioner in the last year of a two-term run and a former candidate for Colorado lieutenant governor, never planned on taking the political road. Over the past eight years, Repella has focused on creating a business-friendly environment that has generated new jobs and on being an ambassador for the 16th-fastest growing county in the country. And
though she has not yet revealed her next step, some colleagues say she should stay in politics. “We can talk about parks and bike trails and open space all you want, but when you’re talking about a family and they are trying to put food on a the table…. the quality of life begins with jobs,” said Jack Hilbert, a former Douglas County commissioner who served alongside Repella from 2008-13. “That’s why Jill was unbelievable — she really gets the relationship between government and economic development and where to focus.” Repella, 51, a Republican, is leaving the three-member commissioner board because of term limits.
“Politics was never something that I envisioned myself going into,” she said, while sitting recently in a conference room at the Douglas County Sheriff’s substation in Highlands Ranch. “But I’m very much a problem solver and I think that problem-solving thinking is what led to a lot of success.” Repella was working in commercial architecture and architectural design in San Diego when she decided to move back to Colorado in 1994 to raise her children in Highlands Ranch, where she has remained since. “I felt the family values were pretty strong in Colorado,” she said,
Repella continues on Page 4
Teens: Give us choice to opt out of P.E. classes Students in sports and activities would be eligible for waiver
By Mike DiFerdinando mdiferdinando@coloradocommunitymedia.com Some high school students who participate in sports and other activities that require physical exertion would like to opt out of taking physical education classes and replace them with academic classes of their choice. The Douglas County School District’s Student Advisory Group presented the proposal at the Feb. 16 board of education meeting. The district requires high school students to take two physical education classes, a total of one credit, to graduate. Health classes can be taken for half of those required credits. “P.E. waivers have already been Opt out continues on Page 7
Mary Ellen Patrick shows a fellow member’s handmade necklace. The women’s creations are for the yearly Wind Crest Mini-Mall, a crafts show held at Wind Crest in the fall. Photos by Alex DeWind
Spreading sunshine in their wake Wind Crest Women’s Club uses creativity to build community outreach By Alex DeWind adewind@coloradocommunitymedia.com
PLAYOFF ACTION
Local high school basketball teams compete in the state tournament. PAGE 21
Last year, Wind Crest Women’s Club knit 262 caps for newborns at Littleton Adventist Hospital and 312 chemotherapy caps for Children’s Hospital Colorado in Denver. They used the leftover yarn to
crochet scarves for the Denver Rescue Mission. No doubt about it, the club is living its goal to help others. “Our purpose originally was to do things for friends in the community,” club treasurer Mary Ellen Patrick said. “Now it’s turned into an outreach program.” The Women’s Club started in 2008 as a social meetup and creative outlet for residents at Wind Crest, a retirement community near Santa Fe Drive
and C-470. Founder Grace Breffle, who died last year, had a closetful of arts and crafts, club members say. “She was very creative in making something out of nothing,” Liz Yount said. About 30 women ages 66 to 98 meet every Monday for an hour-and-a-half in Wind Crest’s Town Center game room. They make food-tray favors for residents in Mill Vista, a nearby memory care unit. They design colorful vests and Wind Crest continues on Page 27
How much sun protection does the make-up or moisturizer I use every day provide? 303-945-2080 Kimberly Neyman, MD - Chief of Dermatology
See page 5 for answers to this and other frequently asked questions regarding sunscreen.