GLUTEN-FREE GROWTH
September 8, 2016 VOLUME 15 | ISSUE 34
More people are cutting gluten from their diet, but the reasons vary. PAGE 12
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Board doesn’t accept Benevento’s resignation Two-term director announced last month his intention to step down By Mike DiFerdinando mdiferdinando@coloradocommunitymedia.com District E will be without a voice on the Douglas County Board of Education longer than expected after the board did not formally accept Doug Benevento’s resignation in a 3-3 vote at a special meeting Sept. 6. The district encompasses Lone Tree, Acres Green, Castle Pines and eastern Highlands Ranch.
Technically, the vacancy for the board position has not yet occurred since the resignation was not accepted. Benevento announced Aug. 17 he was resigning effective immediately. He made his announcement public in a self-written opinion piece in a Denver media outlet as well as privately to school board President Meghann Benevento Silverthorn the same day. Benevento, who did not attend the Sept. 6 meeting, said he was resigning because he had accomplished what he set out to
do in his seven years on the board and didn’t believe there was much else that could be accomplished before the 2017 board election. Silverthorn notified the other board members of Benevento’s resignation via email the day she was notified but did not forward his one-sentence resignation letter, she said. While Silverthorn, board Vice President Judith Reynolds and James Geddes voted to approve the resignation, board members Wendy Vogel, David Ray and AnneMarie Lemieux voted not to accept it. The three opposing board members expressed concerns that Benevento had
given up his seat early in order to strategically give a replacement a year on the board and an advantage in the next election and said they had not received the resignation in writing, which they said did not follow board procedure. Three years into his second term, Benevento has been a strong supporter of school choice and pay-for-performance for teachers as a member of the reformminded majority on the board, which includes Silverthorn, Reynolds and Geddes. Benevento, an attorney who lives in Highlands Ranch, was first elected in 2009 and re-elected in 2013.
Board continues on Page 5
Wounded detective showing progress Dan Brite, shot near Parker, is former Lone Tree police officer By Kyle Harding and Chris Rotar Staff writers
A construction crew begins work on the center pier of a light rail bridge at RidgeGate Parkway and I-25 on Sept. 1. Traffic will be restricted to the right lanes until November while crews build a bridge that will lead to a new rail station. Photo by Tom Skelley
Work on light rail bridge underway RTD closes lanes on RidgeGate Parkway By Tom Skelley tskelley@coloradocommunitymedia.com
A map shows new stations and the extension of light rail tracks being built for RTD’s Southeast Rail Extension Project. Courtesy image
Construction on RidgeGate Parkway began Sept. 1, restricting traffic to outer right lanes 24 hours a day as the building of a light rail bridge to a new station at the southeast corner of RidgeGate Parkway and I-25 in Lone Tree gets underway. The bridge is part of the Southeast Rail Extension Project, connecting a 2.3-mile stretch between Lincoln Station — north of Lincoln Avenue and I-25 — and RidgeGate. Left lane restrictions will be in place seven days a week between Havana Street and the northbound ramps for I-25. Far right lanes will remain open throughout the project’s duration. In an email, Marta Sipeki, spokesperson for RTD’s FasTracks program, said the expanded system will give commuters an alternative to sitting in traffic jams on I-25. “Riders will have increased accessibility, improved mobility and connectivity,” she said. “People from throughout the metro area will have an option to travel to the employment centers in the RidgeGate area via light rail.” The expansion project includes the construction of two other stations — a Kiss-n-Ride at Sky Ridge Avenue near Sky Ridge Medical Center and a station at the future Lone Tree City Center east of I-25 — in addition to the Rail continues on Page 9
Doctors were seeing “promising progress” by the detective who was hospitalized after being shot by a man authorities say was acting in a suicidal manner before being killed in an exchange of gunfire with law enforcement. Dan Brite, a 2½-year veteran of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, underwent surgery at Parker Adventist Hospital the night of Sept. 2 before Brite being moved to the facility’s intensive care unit. He remained in critical condition but was “responding to stimulus” on Sept. 4, two days after he was shot near a Parker middle school, a sheriff’s office spokesman said. Shooting continues on Page 9
JAGUARS JUMP OUT Rock Canyon fends off more than 25 other cross country teams to seize the Warrior Invitational. PAGE 23