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September 26, 2014 VOLU M E 1 3 | I SS UE 44
CentennialCitizen.net A R A P A H O E C O U N T Y, C O L O R A D O
A publication of
Arapahoe High probe goes to DA
SNOW IN SEPTEMBER?
Sheriff expects to hold press conference next week on school shooting By Jennifer Smith
jsmith@colorado communitymedia.com
Families visited South Suburban Ice Arena’s free Touch-a-Truck event on Sept. 20 to get up close and personal with lots of of emergency, construction, maintenance and transportation vehicles. Favorites included playing in the “snow” thanks to the ice rink’s Zamboni, and a horse, of course. Participating organizations include the Arapahoe County Sheriff ’s Department, City of Centennial, City of Littleton, Federal Express, RTD, HealthSource of Highlands Ranch East, Arapahoe Rescue Patrol, Littleton Fire and Rescue, South Suburban Parks and Recreation and Stadium Medical. Photo by Stephanie Ellis
Advocating to breathe freely Denver to host 5K run/walk event for lung cancer awareness By Christy Steadman csteadman@colorado communitymedia.com
Lung cancer is not limited to people who smoke. “Any one with lungs can get lung cancer,” said Teresa MacKillop, co-chair of the Denver Free to Breathe event. “And that’s a fact.” MacKillop’s sister died at the age of 39 after being diagnosed with lung cancer 11 months prior. Her mother died from lung cancer at 71, after being diagnosed one year prior. Both had never smoked, she said. A fundraising and awareness event, the 5th annual Denver Free to Breathe 5K Run/ Walk, will take place at 8:40 a.m. Oct. 5 at Washington Park, 701 S. Franklin St., Denver. Funds will go toward lung cancer research, and programs for early treatment and detection. “No one wants to talk about cancer at all,” said Dana Tasker, of Centennial, a third-year participant of the event. “But it’s important to find out early, and that’s what the fundraising helps.” Tasker lost her mother, Linda Lefrancois, a former Centennial resident, to stage IV adenocarcinoma lung cancer. When Lefrancois went to doctors because of suffering with a severe cough, they told her it was bronchitis, Tasker said. “It’s a deadlier cancer because people don’t know they have it,” Tasker said. Lefrancois was diagnosed with the cancer in July 2009. She passed away in May 2010. Generally, by the time a person has symptoms, he or she is already in the late stages of cancer, stage three or four,
IF YOU GO What: 5th annual Denver Free to Breathe 5K Run/Walk When: Oct. 5; registration and checkin: 7:30 a.m.; walk begins: 8:40 a.m. Where: Washington Park, 701 S. Franklin St., Denver, 80209 How to register: online (closes Oct. 1), $30; mail-in (must be received by Sept. 29), $33; event day, $35 Why: Raise awareness of lung cancer. Funds will go toward research and programs for early treatment and detection. For more information: www.freetobreathe.org.
LUNG CANCER FACTS • Smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer. But people who have never smoked account for 20,000 to 30,000 lung cancer diagnoses every year. • Exposure to radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer, and the leading cause in people who have never smoked. • Lung cancer accounts for 27 percent of all cancer deaths. It claims more lives than breast, prostate and colon cancers combined. Source: www.freetobreathe.org MacKillop said. “Testing is not where it needs to be,” she said. Genetic predisposition may play a role in developing lung cancer, but professionals only know of about 23 genetic markers to test. “There could be hundreds,” MacKillop said. There are 288,000 people diagnosed with lung cancer every year, MacKillop said, and every year, 160,000 people die from the disease. She said the five-year survival rate is very low — only 16 percent. The goal of Free to Breathe is to double lung cancer survival by 2022. Other types of cancers get a Cancer continues on Page 23
Linda Lefrancois passed away from lung cancer in 2010. In this photo, three of her grandchildren, Delaney, Jalyn and Michael, walk in her memory during the 2011 Free to Breathe event. This year, the event takes place Oct. 5 at Washington Park in Denver. Photos courtesy of Dana Tasker
Team Linda participates in the 2010 Free to Breathe 5K run/walk. The team consists of friends and family of the late Linda Lefrancois, a former Centennial resident who passed away from lung cancer in 2010. This year, the 5th annual Denver Free to Breathe event takes place Oct. 5 at Washington Park.
Arapahoe County Sheriff Dave Walcher provided an update on the Arapahoe High School shooting investigation on Sept. 22, saying he expects to conduct a full press conference by Oct. 3. “I do want to release as much as I can, as much as I can legally do,” he said. Walcher’s office has been investigating since Dec. 13 of last year, when Arapahoe senior Karl Pierson shot fellow student Claire Davis before turning the gun on himself. He died in the school library. She languished in a coma until her death on Dec. 21. Walcher has sent a summary of the full investigation to District Attorney George Brauchler for his review, and adds that there are two pending legal issues surrounding the release of documents that he thinks will be resolved this week. Walcher is also in talks with an outside agency, which he declined to identify at this time, to Davis perform a review of the entire tragedy. “I think there are things we can learn as a community,” he said. “I’m not saying anyone did anything wrong, just that there are things we can learn. … We don’t need another investigation, but I want to go as far as we can go back in Karl Pierson’s life, and even look at our own response to everything.” He said other entities involved will participate in the press conference, and that there are some reasons for the delay in releasing information that were out of his department’s control. In a letter to parents dated Sept. 9, Littleton Public Schools Superintendent Scott Murphy addressed the district’s silence on the subject thus far. “As I’ve said before, LPS has the ability to communicate accurate information to all of you directly, and we have a legal and ethical commitment to the privacy of our community,” he said. “Additionally, you will recall my position that we will never publicly discuss safety and security measures, as that puts our students, faculty and families more at risk. LPS has strong relationships with our community and local media. We will not, however, participate in creating controversy that compromises student safety and privacy.” Murphy outlined some changes in security that took effect at the beginning of the school year, including partnering with the Littleton Police Department and the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office to increase the number of school resource officers, and enhancing security measures with funds from the 2013 bond program. “LPS is committed to being part of a larger community of mental health professionals,” he wrote. “To that end, the LPS Board of Education has allocated an additional $810,000 to increase the number of counselors, social workers, and psychologists in our schools. … We are committed to continuous improvement in all areas, which provides students with a safe and healthy place in which to learn and work. Nothing is more important.”