Lone Tree Voice 1029

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October 29, 2015

A NN UA L

Voluntary Contribution PROGR A M

VOLUME 14 | ISSUE 41

Look for the special insert inside this week’s paper LoneTreeVoice.net D O U G L A S C O U N T Y, C O L O R A D O

Forum shows power of students School board candidates field questions from those they affect most By Mike DiFerdinando mdiferdinando@coloradocommunitymedia.com It’s a rainy morning on Oct. 21, and the students of Mountain Vista Media are hard at work in the high school’s newsroom. The next evening they will host a student-run forum for the candidates in the Douglas County School Board race. There’s only a day left to finalize plans for the live stream, social media hashtags, live blog and candidate questions before the forum in the auditorium at Mountain Vista High School in Highlands Ranch. “We’re not giving them the questions ahead of time to answer or even think

about,” said Tara O’Gorman, Mountain Vista Media editor. “When someone is put on the spot, they answer more truthfully.” O’Gorman and fellow editor Katie Pickrell have spent the past six weeks organizing the production of the forum with their classmates. Mountain Vista Media has 60 students involved in media from broadcast to yearbook, a website and news magazine. They routinely publish school, local and national news and opinion pieces on their website, Vistanow.org. The journalism students are also active on Twitter and Instagram @vista_now. A voice for students The Mountain Vista Media students collected candidate-forum questions from students at other Douglas County high schools and also will take questions Forum continues on Page 13

Tara O’Gorman, right, and Katie Pickrell prepare for the student-sponsored school board candidate forum Oct. 21 in the Mountain Vista Media room. Photo by Mike DiFerdinando

High voter turnout expected Election officials project at least 100,000 will cast ballots By Mike DiFerdinando mdiferdinando@coloradocommunitymedia.com

Valor Christian players celebrate after winning their second consecutive state title. Photos by Jim Benton

Clutch homers carry Valor to title Eagles break up two no-hitters to win second straight championship By Jim Benton jbenton@coloradocommunitymedia.com Valor Christian delivered two dramatic hits on Oct. 25, and coupled with good defense and pitching the Eagles claimed their second straight Class 4A state softball championship. The Eagles avenged their only loss of the season with a 2-1 victory over Wheat Ridge in the state title game at Aurora Sports Park and finished the season with a 23-1 record. “We got dramatic, timely hits,” said Valor coach Dave Atencio. “We’ve been playing long ball all year. And with (Lauren) Foster in the semis and then (Abigail) Zuschlag, we got the big long ball.” Sophomore pitcher Alexandria Kilponen, with fans yelling “Ali Kat” behind her, was once again a dominant force in the state tournament and worked out of a key situation in the title game. “Kilponen came through,” added Softball continues on Page 5

With three seats open on the Douglas County Board of Education, county officials are expecting the trend of high voter turnout for school district races to continue Nov. 3. There are 224,956 registered voters in Douglas County, and officials estimate more than 50 percent of voters will cast ballots. In District A, incumbent Craig Richardson will take on Wendy Vogel. Board President Kevin Larsen will face off with Anne-Marie Lemieux in District C. Incumbent Richard Robbins and David Ray will vie for the District F seat. The county has already received more than 20,000 mail-in ballots, according to Douglas County Clerk and Recorder Merlin Klotz. According to Klotz, the county had received 29,000 ballots at the same point prior to the 2013 election. But there are several factors that could have accounted for the difference, Klotz said. “If you look at the sample ballot for 2013 vs. the sample ballot for 2015 you will note that Amendment 66 (taxes) and Proposition AA were on the 2013 ballot and drew a lot more interest than the current statewide ballot issue,” Klotz said. “Even the local city issues and races were more aggressive in 2013.” School board elections in 2009 and 2011 brought out 27 percent and 48 percent of registered voters, respectively. In 2013, more than 50 percent of Douglas County voters sent in their ballots. Douglas County election officials are estimating 100,000 to 130,000 ballots will be submitted for this year’s election. Election continues on Page 4

ONLINE:

The win, one player said, “was the best feeling ever, what you dream about.”

Go to the Voice’s website at LoneTreeVoice.net for election results the night of Nov. 3.


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