September 10, 2015
THIS WEEK IN
VO LUM E 28 | IS S U E 42 | FREE
LIFE
LOCAL
Purchasing local eggs boosts farm families, state economy
Page 14
HighlandsRanchHerald.net D O U G L A S C O U N T Y, C O L O R A D O
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RARE LOSS: NO. 1 VALOR TUMBLES
ELECTION 2015
School board field set Trust, tax dollars and school choice among dividing issues By Mike DiFerdinando mdiferdinando@coloradocommunitymedia.com The race for the three open seats on the seven-member Douglas County Board of Education will pit three incumbents against three challengers endorsed by the group Douglas County Parents this November. In District A, incumbent Craig Richardson will take on Wendy Vogel. • School district DCSD Board President wants U.S. SuKevin Larsen will face preme Court ruling off with Anne-Marie on vouchers. Lemieux in District C. Page 4 And incumbent Richard Robinson and David Ray • Meet the school board candidates. will vie for the District F Page 5 seat. The challengers are rallying behind concerns over trust and transparency with the current board, what they consider to be the mismanagement of tax dollars, and losses in educational opportunities for students. “After over a decade as a regular volunteer in my children’s classrooms, I began noticing changes that were negatively affecting our schools,” Lemieux said. “I became worried that district leadership was more concerned with marketing expensive pilot reforms rather than wisely spending educational tax dollars with the primary goal of student success.” Current school board members say they are proud of what they have accomplished during the past few years, especially when it comes to student achievement, teacher pay and school choice. “I’m most proud of the very, very strong
INSIDE
Valor Christian’s Cole Baker, right, and Pomona’s Masavik Dominguez roll to the ground during a nonconference game Sept. 4 at Valor Stadium. Third-ranked Pomona defeated top-ranked Valor 28-14. For more, see Page 25. Photo by Paul DiSalvo
Climbing rents raise frustration Denver market brutal for apartment tenants By Jennifer Smith jsmith@colorado communitymedia.com Millennials flocking to Colorado for jobs and new, more liberal social policies. Baby boomers retiring in droves, looking to downsize. Those are just a couple of reasons there are long lines of prospective tenants at apartment leasing offices, competing for rare vacancies in the Denver metro area. Apartment rents are up at least 5 percent in most metro-area cities since summer 2014, but there is no shortage of people willing to pay them. In south metro-area communities, renters and those still looking for a place are faced with some of the highest rates in the state, with the average onebedroom going for more than $1,000 a month in most places. For two bedrooms, it’s generally around $1,500 or more, according to apartmentlist.com. Meanwhile, available units are hard to come by. The vacancy rate in the metro area was 4.5 percent as of June, according to the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp. The national average is about 7 percent, the U.S. Census Bureau reports. Those who are comfortably ensconced in a single-family neighborhood with a 30-year mortgage, perhaps paid off, might not think rent is an issue that will affect them. But who does it affect? Faces of renters Well, there’s J. Renee Smith. The single mom is paying $950 a month for a small, two-bedroom apartment near Littleton High School. She works two jobs and gets what she calls a “measly” amount of child support. “Since my ex left, I have struggled to finish school, pay off loans and keep
DCSD continues on Page 4
Scott Willey and his girlfriend pay $1,190 a month for a 650-square-foot apartment in Englewood. Courtesy photo bills out of my credit, which has also declined,” she said. “When I had to look for an apartment, prices soared sky-high even for a one-bedroom, and maintenance has been very bad. … Fortunately I was able to grab a second job, thus wearing myself thin on top of being a single mom and a chauffeur. Rent prices are ridiculous.” At the other end of the spectrum is 74-year-old Cinni Hines. She’s lived her whole life in Littleton. In 2002, she had a mobile home until the owner of the park she lived in sold to a development company that evicted everybody. Hines and her husband, Patrick, picked themselves up and got a twobedroom apartment in downtown Littleton, and things were going along OK until Patrick died five years ago. She ended up getting a roommate to avoid having to move. “Rent goes up all the time, but Social Security doesn’t,” she said. “We rent in Littleton because we want to stay in Littleton. Most of us are interested in what’s going on. And I love living downtown, because I don’t drive.” Rent continues on Page 13
ON THE RISE A look at the median rental rates in July for a two-bedroom apartment in some metro-area communities: (with state rank in parentheses and percentage increase from 2014 at far right) Boulder: $1,800 (1), +0.4 percent Highlands Ranch: $1,720 (2), +9.4 percent Broomfield: $1,700 (3), +2.5 percent Lone Tree: $1,640 (4), +6.6 percent Littleton: $1,570 (5), +5.1 percent
Vista golfer aces test of honesty By Jim Benton jbenton@coloradocommunitymedia.com
Nobody can remember the last time, if ever, a Mountain Vista golfer carded an under-par round in a league golf tournament. Senior Austin Hardman was 3-under-par after when he called a penalty on himself for having 15 clubs — the rules allow for a maximum 14 — in his bag as he was playing the ninth hole of his round Aug. 31 in the Continental League tournament at Lone Tree Golf Course. Golf continues on Page 6
Denver: $1,560 (6). +5 percent Englewood: $1,490 (7), +11 percent Centennial: $1,430 (8), +2.4 percent Westminster: $1,360 (9), +16.5 percent Golden: $1,340 (10), no change Lakewood: $1,330 (11), +6.6 percent Thornton: $1,310 (12), +8.4 percent Arvada: $1,250 (15), +4.8 percent Aurora: $1,200 (16), +7.7 percent Source: Colorado Rental Price Monitor, apartmentlist.com
Austin Hardman shot 2-under-par despite calling a four-stroke penalty on himself. Courtesy photo