August 20, 2020
FREE
DOUGLAS COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
LoneTreeVoice.net
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 12 | LIFE: PAGE 14 | SPORTS: PAGE 21
Douglas County students return to school They come in for orientation as hybrid learning gets underway BY JESSICA GIBBS JGIBBS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Douglas County students are back in district schools. The Douglas County School District brought students back to class 20% at a time the week of Aug. 17, meaning students would have one day of school that week, as they underwent orientation for a starkly different school year than those of pre-pandemic times. The third-largest school district in Colorado with 68,000 students — and Douglas County’s largest employer, with 8,300 people on the district’s payroll — DCSD opted for a “hybrid” learning model during the on-going COVID-19 health crisis. Students enrolled in hybrid learning will attend two days in-person and three days online at home each week. Several students who were first to return on Aug. 17 said they are glad to be back with friends and teachers and that they enjoy smaller class sizes. But they also miss friends SEE SCHOOL, P4
BY NICK PUCKETT NPUCKETT@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Jeanny Welsch would tell herself whenever she made a trip to Safeway from her nearby home at the Enclave in Lone Tree that, next time, she
Douglas County, Tri-County in talks over relationship Health agency, 3 counties seek a compromise, officials say BY ELLIOTT WENZLER EWENZLER@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
and non-residents, to take part in cleaning up a couple blocks in the city. “How big of an impact is it? No one can really say,” said Steve Sorensen, cofounder of the Lone Tree Sustainability Team. “We’re trying to make people aware of what they can do on a regular basis. It’s still our home. We have to, for better or worse, take
Not long after Douglas County commissioners announced that the county would withdraw from the TriCounty Health Department amid the COVID-19 pandemic — a decision that sparked an outpouring of comments from county residents — commissioners began discussions with the department about the possibility of staying with the agency, according to Tri-County’s top official and a county commissioner. Now, Tri-County and all three of the counties it serves — including Adams and Arapahoe — are working to find a way they could all remain together, officials told Colorado Community Media. “We’re all in discussions. We’re trying to figure out what are the best interests of all three counties and Tri-County Health,” Commissioner Lora Thomas said in an interview last week. In an Aug. 13 meeting, Tri-County’s board of health created a committee to explore whether its bylaws could be changed to appease Douglas County,
SEE TRASH, P16
SEE TALKS, P18
Alex Guenther, 11, and Brady Guenther, 8, pose on Aug. 17, when they returned to Cougar Run Elementary School in Highlands Ranch for orientation. COURTESY PHOTO
Lone Tree residents pitch in to stash trash Volunteers wield garbage bags to make a difference
VOLUME 19 | ISSUE 28
would bring a garbage bag. “When I walk to Safeway, I think, ‘Gosh what are people thinking?’” Welsch said, as she emptied her bag full of garbage at a nearby public trash container. “I guess this is the next time.” A group of 20 Lone Tree residents spent their Saturday morning Aug. 15 picking up garbage. The Lone Tree Sustainability Team made a call out to as many people, residents