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October 10, 2014 VOLU M E 1 2 | I SS UE 49
ParkerChronicle.net A publication of
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D O U G L A S C O U N T Y, C O L O R A D O
State, district differ on waiver Board of Ed says DCSD must comply with READ Act By Jane Reuter
jreuter@coloradocommunitymedia.com
Parker resident Jenny Hartin and her son, Andrew, run through a few recipes in one of Hartin’s 3,000 cookbooks. She runs a Facebook page called “The Cookbook Junkies” that has more than 12,700 devoted followers. Photo by Chris Michlewicz
‘Cookbook Junkies’: a delicious habit Parker woman’s Facebook group cooks up 12,700 members By Chris Michlewicz
cmichlewicz @coloradocommunitymedia.com If the cooking community speaks a universal language, Jenny Hartin is undoubtedly fluent. A few years ago, she was a paralegal working in Manhattan. Now a stay-at-home mom in Parker, she presides over a domain of devoted cooks from every corner of the country. Hartin created a Facebook group called “The Cookbook Junkies” in 2010; it has since exploded in popularity, amassing 12,700 members, as of Oct. 6. The online forum enables cooks from all
walks of life to share family recipes, swap tips and techniques, and perhaps most importantly, bond over a love of precise food prep. It was, of course, Hartin’s obsession with cookbooks — she owns about 3,000, give or take — that sparked the idea for the group, but the recipe guides have become almost secondary to the friendships that have blossomed out of “The Cookbook Junkies” page. “There are a lot of lonely people out there who are connecting now,” she said. “I’m not in this for the glory. This is making me feel more fulfilled.” What started as a private group for “people who don’t want their families to know how much they spend on cookbooks” became a place for like-minded people to find a shoulder to lean on. Without “The Cookbook Junkies,” Hartin says she would lead a somewhat isolated existence. She quit working to take care of her 10-year-old son, Andrew, who has
autism, but felt cornered by a friendless world of monotony. Six years ago, Hartin created a blog about Andrew (and cooking) that gained a following, and that soon morphed into “The Cookbook Junkies,” a community of “easy-going people with a great sense of humor who are all willing to help each other,” she said. Beverly Babarovich, a founding member of the group, can attest to the helpful nature of her fellow “junkies,” not to mention the therapeutic benefits of the relationships she has built. She considers Hartin one of her best friends, even though they’ve never met in person. “She’s pulled me through some hard times,” Babarovich said. “I lost a son a year ago, and she was one of the first people to call me. I’ve never laid eyes on her, but she’s been a brick.” Cooks continues on Page 16
Donated locks call attention to alopecia
Waiver continues on Page 16
169 years for man in chase Judge sentences CJ Galley for endangering public, police By Chris Michlewicz
Rocky Vista University partners with Ulta
cmichlewicz @coloradocommunitymedia.com
Staff report The second-floor hallway of Rocky Vista University was littered with clapping students and hair clippings. The students, most of them clad in blue, crowded around two chairs with two stylists from Ulta on Sept. 30. As first-year osteopathic medical student and student government association president Sohayla Rostami sat nervously in one chair and student Stephanie Thibodaux sat in the other, the crowd began counting down from five. Then the stylists cut off 8 inches of hair from each woman amid wild cheering. This collaboration between RVU students and Ulta Beauty was an effort to raise awareness of alopecia areata, an autoimmune disease that results in the loss of one’s hair. September is Alopecia Areata Awareness Month and all donated hair went to Pantene Beautiful Lengths, a partnership between Pantene and the American Cancer Society. The event was organized by several firstyear students, including SD Rostami. After lectures on autoimmunity and dermatology, student doctor Danika Evans discussed her personal experience with alopecia. Evans first
The Douglas County School District and the Colorado Department of Education have a legal “difference of opinion” over the district’s ability to use state legislation to opt out of a K-3 reading assessment. A department of education official said the district can’t use the Innovation School Act to waive its participation in a state test. The DCSD board adopted a resolution Sept. 2 to submit an innovation waiver to the Colorado Board of Education, noting specific concerns with a time-consuming series of state-mandated reading ability tests in the Reading to Ensure Academic Development Act. The resolution said several elementary schools instead will meet the goals of the READ Act “using locally developed and locally approved programs.” The board’s resolution authorized Superintendent Elizabeth Fagen to assist interested elementary schools in filing a waiver application. But the CDE, which must approve all such plans, said the act can’t be used that way.
LEFT: Eight-year-old Lina Cosner holds up a clump of hair she donated Sept. 30 to Pantene Beautiful Lengths, a nonprofit that helps call attention to alopecia areata, an autoimmune disease. RIGHT: Stylists from Ulta Beauty cut the hair of volunteers who donated more than 100 inches of hair to Pantene Beautiful Lengths during an alopecia awareness event at Rocky Vista University Sept. 30. Courtesy photos began losing her hair at 15 years old, a time that proved to be very traumatic. Today, Evans wears a wig most of the time, though she sometimes opts for a headscarf. When she does that, though, she sometimes receives
comments like, “how is chemo going,” which can be, as she says, “a little awkward.” She appreciated the hair-cutting event because there Locks continues on Page 16
A Douglas County judge ordered CJ Galley to spend 169 years in prison for leading a high-speed chase that prosecutors said endangered the public and pursuing officers. Galley, 24, was convicted on 18 criminal counts stemming from a February 2013 chase that seriously injured an officer and wreaked havoc on roads in Parker and Castle Rock. The Northglenn man was found guilty in June of attempted first- Galley degree murder of a police officer, among several other felony charges. Before handing down the sentence in a packed courtroom Oct. 2, Douglas County District Court Judge Richard Caschette said Galley “taunted law enforcement” in the months prior to the chase, which happened when the North Metro Drug Task Force attempted to execute a felony warrant on Galley for assaulting an officer. Caschette said he showed a long pattern of disregard and disrespect for laws, and openly doubted Galley’s potential to rehabilitate and Galley continues on Page 16