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December 18, 2014 VOLU M E 1 2 | I SS UE 37 | F R E E
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CastleRockNewsPress.net D O U G L A S C O U N T Y, C O L O R A D O
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Warming hearts
Voting change?: Castle Rock mulls moving town elections to Novembers. See Page 5
Season of suits: Check out Santa’s many looks this season. See Page 13
Top athletes: Savannah Heebner of Castle View joins the cast of South Metro athletes as Players of the Year. See Page 22 Women from Faith Lutheran Church in Castle Rock donated handmade quilts to the Douglas/Elbert Task Force Dec. 9.
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Women from Castle Rock’s Faith Lutheran Church donated more than 75 handmade quilts to the Douglas/Elbert Task Force Dec. 9 as part of Colorado Gives day. The women met every Thursday for a year to design and sew the quilts they hope will keep the less fortunate warm this holiday season. The quilts used donated fabric. The group also made small, lap-sized quilts for Alzheimer’s patients that are adorned with different textural elements for patients to hold.
PHOTOS BY MIKE DIFERDINANDO The homemade quilts took a full year to make.
State’s top court hears voucher arguments Justices could take up to nine months for decision By Jane Reuter
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jreuter @coloradocommunitymedia.com Colorado Supreme Court justices asked pointed questions about the potential impact of voucher programs on public schools, among other issues, during the long-awaited oral arguments surrounding the Douglas County School District’s choice scholarship program. The court could take up to nine months to issue its decision, though it has ruled in as little as a month on some cases. The ruling will apply to all other courts in the state. The chambers were packed Dec. 10, with requests for seats exceeding the room’s 195-seat capacity. The demand prompted the court to livestream the proceedings. Among those with a front-row seat for the arguments were John
Michael McCarthy, center, an attorney representing Taxpayers for Public Education, argues their case against the Douglas County School District’s voucher program during a packed Dec. 11 hearing at the Colorado Supreme Court. Pool photo/RJ Sangosti, Denver Post Carson, who was president of the DCSD board when the program was implemented in 2011, former board member Justin Williams, current board president Kevin Larsen and board member Rich Robbins. Justices hit both sides with questions during the hour-long
session, which included 30 minutes of argument each from attorneys for DCSD and plaintiffs Taxpayers for Public Education. The parent-led Taxpayers for Public Education initially filed the suit in 2011 against DCSD and the Colorado Department of Education after the district
implemented its pilot program designed for 500 students. It allowed the students’ parents to use state-provided per-pupil revenue toward tuition at private, mostly religiously affiliated schools. A Denver judge ruled the Voucher continues on Page 19