September 3, 2020
FREE
DOUGLAS COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
HighlandsRanchHerald.net
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 6 | LIFE: PAGE 8 | SPORTS: PAGE 15
Fire agencies pitch in on Colo. blazes, hurricane First responders deploy to locations in need of extra assistance BY NICK PUCKETT NPUCKETT@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Firefighters from across the metro area were deployed to assist at the scene of Colorado wildfires and with the aftermath of Hurricane Laura on the Gulf Coast. South Metro Fire Rescue and the Castle Rock and Denver fire departments each sent first responders to assist with the blazes raging in the state. Also called into service were members of the West Metro Fire Protection District, which covers significant portions of Jefferson and Douglas counties, and the Arvada and Thornton fire agencies. Among the blazes where local fire agencies have been assisting is the Pine Gulch Fire, centered 18 miles north of Grand Junction, which had engulfed more than 139,000 acres as of Aug. 30, making it the largest wildfire in the state’s recorded history. The fire was about 77% contained as of that date, with 646 people working to douse the blaze, according to the federal National Wildfire Coordinating Group. SEE AGENCIES, P10
BY ELLIOTT WENZLER EWENZLER@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
The Highlands Ranch Metro District will begin exploring the possibility of a temporary senior center
E-learning teachers express frustration, anxiety One Douglas County educator cites crying by colleagues, high stress BY ELLIOTT WENZLER EWENZLER@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
been affected by the virus outbreak. Metro district staff gave the board of directors a presentation about the possible options for an interim senior center including leasing a space and remodeling an existing metro district building. The board voted to hire an architect and begin preliminary plans for
As Douglas County e-learning teachers geared up for their first week of classes, starting Aug. 31 after a weeklong delay, some expressed frustration and anxiety over the coming weeks, saying their student rosters continued to change, technology presented challenges and expectations from administrators remained unclear. In the preceding two weeks, the Douglas County district had pivoted to a new model for high school e-learners, and in middle and elementary schools, some teachers still didn’t have final rosters for their students or direction on how to grade their assessments as of Friday, Aug. 28, according to district teachers. Now, some teachers interviewed by Colorado Community Media are describing themselves and their colleagues as -- in the words of one -- “at a breaking point.” “I’ve never seen my colleagues under the amount of stress they’re under right now,” one district high school teacher for e-learning said.
SEE CENTER, P17
SEE TEACHERS, P13
Firefighters from South Metro Fire Rescue Brush 33, based in Centennial, push back against the Cameron Peak Fire in the Arapahoe and Roosevelt national forests in northern Colorado on Aug. 24. COURTESY PHOTO
Metro district to explore interim senior center Fly’n B House is being eyed as possible location
VOLUME 33 | ISSUE 41
after its board approved the idea in an Aug. 25 meeting. While the metro district originally planned to build a standalone center for seniors, the project was put on pause after COVID-19 struck the state. In May, the board decided to put the senior center aside until the beginning of next year when their budget team hopes to have a better sense of how their revenues have
STREET ART THRIVES IN TOUGH TIMES Walls talk in era of COVID, Black Lives Matter P8
SPORTS: AN EARLY-SEASON CHALLENGE
Mountain Vista teen sets course record at Vista Nation invitational P15