July 14, 2016
GROWING GAME
VO LUM E 29 | IS S U E 34 | FREE
Cricket is more than a sport for those who play to stay connected with their homelands. PAGE 12
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Meeting outbursts highlight tension Frustration, anger erupt in school board setting
By Mike DiFerdinando mdiferdinando@colorado communitymedia.com Years of back and forth between the reform-minded majority of the Douglas County School Board and members of the community in opposition boiled over last month. The June 21 school board meeting began with protests outside the school district administration building on Wilcox Street in Castle Rock in support of Ponderosa High School student Grace Davis.
Community members and parents protest in support of Ponderosa High School student Grace Davis outside the Douglas County School District building on June 21. Photo by Mike DiFerdinando
The meeting itself was stopped several times because of outbursts from the audience — with members of the community calling for the resignation of the school board’s president and vice president and several protesters being escorted out of the room. Board president Meghann Silverthorn put an early end to the meeting because of the disruptions. The meeting highlighted the tensions and divide between the two sides of the school district community. Increasingly, the tone has become uncivil, with outbursts becoming common at board meetings. Tension continues on Page 5
Former teacher faces lawsuit in sex-abuse case Parents seek damages to pay for son’s counseling By Alex DeWind adewind@coloradocommunitymedia.com
Maggie Headrick interviews a client at the Valley View Cares free grocery program near Titan Parkway and Santa Fe Drive on July 1. The interview process appraises clients’ financial needs to help them create a successful budget. Photos by Tom Skelley
Helping families get ‘over the hump’ Douglas County church fights food insecurity with free grocery ‘store’ By Tom Skelley tskelley@coloradocommunitymedia.com
Charlene Schlieker retrieves a grocery bag from a shelf at the Valley View Cares free grocery store in Littleton on July 1. King Soopers donates bags and carts to the program.
Many Douglas County residents don’t realize some of the people closest to them are skipping meals or choosing between paying for medicine, rent or food. Robert Peterson wants them to know that hunger and food insecurity are very real problems, and that he and others are there to help. “The biggest thing is recognizing the need in Douglas County. Most of us in Highlands Ranch don’t realize our neighbors are going hungry,” Peterson said. As pastor of outreach for Valley View Christian Church, Peterson oversees Valley View Cares, a free grocery “store” inside the church that operates every Friday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and Satur-
days from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Since May 20, the church near the intersection of Santa Fe Drive and Titan Parkway has been inviting people to take a grocery cart and peruse the store’s shelves, taking what they need to provide nutritious, satisfying meals for their families. The program is open to everyone, not only residents of Douglas County. Clients have come from Littleton, Aurora, Elbert County and other areas. Peterson acknowledges that residents of Douglas County — which has a median household income of about $103,000 — have a high standard of living and most don’t have to worry about hunger. But he also knows they aren’t invulnerable. “Life happens,” he said. “You have no idea what someone is going through… A death in the family, someone’s lost their job… We want to help those families get over the hump. This gives them the margin to pay their rent, pay for medicine.” Hunger continues on Page 8
The parents of a young boy sexually abused by former ThunderRidge High School teacher Jeffery Falk filed a civil lawsuit against him in Douglas County court on July 5, according to the parents’ attorney, Michael Sawicki. “The suit alleges Falk abused a longtime friendship with the parents to abuse their son,” Sawicki said in a media release. The suit seeks damages from Falk to pay for the boy’s emotional and psychological counseling. Falk, 52, was sentenced to 21 years in prison on June 15 after pleading guilty to three counts of sexual exploitation of a child, Class 3 felonies. Following his prison sentence, Falk will serve 15 years on intensive supervised probation as a sex offender. Falk taught math at ThunderRidge for 19 years until he retired in July 2014. He was arrested in September 2015 on charges including sexual exploitation of a child, stalking and computer crime, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office said. The victim and his family have been kept anonymous in the suit to protect the child from further invasion of his privacy, Sawicki said. The Dallas-based attorney has a national practice and represents people injured by sexual violence. Case continues on Page 8
HEADING TO RIO Mountain Vista graduate Mallory Pugh is named to U.S. women’s Olympic soccer team. PAGE 22