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October 22, 2015 VOLUME 14 | ISSUE 40
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LoneTreeVoice.net D O U G L A S C O U N T Y, C O L O R A D O
SCHOOL BOARD RACE
Fundraising figures so far favor challengers Third-party money pays for TV ad in support of incumbents By Mike DiFerdinando mdiferdinando@coloradocommunitymedia.com
Honey bees and butterflies share space on a rabbitbrush shrub in a pollinator garden at the Hidden Mesa Open Space trailhead. The garden is part of a recently-certified monarch way station. Photos by Chris Michlewicz
People prop up pollinators Local efforts take aim at global epidemic By Chris Michlewicz cmichlewicz@coloradocommunitymedia.com
Norma Grigs holds a pod containing milkweed seeds. Grigs, 87, has become known as “Norma Milkweedseed” for her efforts to distribute the seeds to county residents. She grew the seedlings for the Hidden Mesa pollinator garden.
Douglas County residents are spearheading local initiatives to combat a global issue: the rapid decline of pollinators. Monarch butterflies, honey bees and a host of other insects share space on a rabbitbrush shrub in a pollinator garden at an official monarch way station recently certified by the nonprofit Monarch Watch. Built by Douglas County with the help of Eagle Scout Jack Vasquez, the pollinator garden and way station at the Hidden Mesa Open Space trailhead south of Parker provide a source of milkweed, nectar and shelter on the western fringe of the monarchs’ migratory path through North America. It’s just one of the components in a grassroots effort to save the pollinators, which the North American Pollinator Protection Campaign estimates are responsible for one out of every three bites of food eaten in the U.S, including nuts, fruits, coffee and chocolate. Because of economic impacts to the honey industry, much of the focus has been
placed on saving bees. But there are parallel campaigns to prop up all pollinators, from bats and flies to butterflies and birds. “A lot of people don’t put the whole ecosystem together,” said Jackie Sanderson, natural resource specialist for Douglas County Open Space. “They just say, ‘I like plants, but I don’t like bugs.’” But, she pointed out, one often cannot survive without the other, and the ramifications from the domino effect of decline are frightening to consider. A plea to ‘bee’ educated In recent decades, bees have taken on a growing list of enemies — new pathogens and parasites, impacts to their habitat from development, and the aggressive use of pesticides that don’t distinguish between threatened larvae and other insects. Perhaps the most fearsome foe is Colony Collapse Disorder, which the U.S. Department of Agriculture classifies as a “mystery problem” that has caused the global bee population to plummet. The disorder results in a dead colony with no adult bees or dead bee bodies but with a live queen and honey and immature bees still present.
In contrast to recent Douglas County School Board races, candidates challenging the school district’s reform policies have raised more money than their opponents as of the first reporting deadline. David Ray, Anne-Marie Lemieux and Wendy Vogel have combined to raise $51,765, nearly $44,000 more than the three incumbent candidates during the reporting period that ended Oct. 8. Those totals do not reflect third-party money being spent to try to influence voters. Kevin Larsen, Craig Richardson and Richard Robbins have raised $7,793, according to the most recently released campaign finance reports. By this time in the 2013 campaign, the candidates who supported the school district’s reform policies had outraised their opponents DCSD continues on Page 12
WHAT THEY’VE RAISED A look at the campaign fundraising totals of candidates through the first reporting period, which ended Oct. 8, in the 2015 Douglas County School Board race: Incumbents
Challengers
Craig Richardson: $3,020
David Ray: $19,015
Kevin Larsen: $2,800 Richard Robbins: $1,973 Total: $7,793
Anne-Marie Lemieux: $17,805 Wendy Vogel: 14,945 Total: $51,765 Source: tracer.sos. colorado.gov
INSIDE: Turn to Page 5 for coverage of the candidate forum at SkyView Academy.
Pollinators continues on Page 9
Lone Tree updates comprehensive plan Encourages balanced growth, better defines border with Castle Pines By Mike DiFerdinando mdiferdinando@colorado communitymedia.com Lone Tree recently updated its comprehensive plan, which will help guide the growth of the city. The plan, which was last updated in 2007, now outlines areas more specifically for growth, encourages more balance in the type of development and more clearly defines its border with the Castle Pines to the south. The city is required to review the plan every three years, according to its
charter. “Some of the major elements that were updated included a revised vision statement, we added a section on redevelopment— principally in the commercial area — and a stronger emphasis made on supporting balanced growth — residential, commercial and recreational development,” said Jennifer Drybread, a senior planner for the city. Lone Tree was incorporated in November 1995. A major impetus for incorporation was residents’ concerns relating to land use, the quality of development along the C-470 corridor, and their desire for greater input over development decisions affecting their future, according to the plan. Plan continues on Page 9
Workers continue construction on the newest addition to the Charles Schwab campus in Lone Tree. The company is now one of the largest employers in the city and region. Photo by Mike DiFerdinando