July 29, 2016 VO LUM E 1 4 | IS S U E 39 | FREE
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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
‘I caught a Pikachu in her kitchen’ From left, Brittany Rickson, Matt Shircliff and Jill Zablonski often come to O’Brien Park in Parker to hunt for new types of Pokémon. “I know I’m addicted to Pokémon Go…” Rickson said. “This could be like Candy Crush all over again.” Photo by Casey Van Divier
Smartphone users around metro area catch Pokémon fever By Casey Van Divier Special to Colorado Community Media Clark Wilson, 12, was at summer camp in Massachusetts earlier this month when the new app, Pokémon Go, was released for iPhone and Android. “All the camp counselors were talking about it as soon as it came out,” Wilson said. Though the campers weren’t allowed to play the game during camp, counselors started catching Pokémon immediately.
“The app was pretty big news,” said Wilson, back home in Highlands Ranch and looking for Pokémon with his mom at Civic Green park last week. “I downloaded it after I got home.” The Pokémon franchise, once limited to trading cards and video games, is growing larger and larger since the release of Pokémon Go on July 6. Though the app is free to download, in-app purchases generated more than $14 million in just five days, according to SuperDataResearch. The eagerly awaited app — which uses augmented reality technology — hit the top of U.S. sale charts 13 hours after its Pokemon continues on Page 4
Grace Davis report not presented at meeting Sherman & Howard lawyer was unwilling to discuss investigation in public session By Mike DiFerdinando mdiferdinando@coloradocommunitymedia.com
Steve Hall sits astride his Harley-Davidson Electric Glide cruiser outside the Platte River Bar and Grill in Littleton on July 19. Hall says if he dies riding his bike he will die doing what he loves most in life. Photos by Tom Skelley
Freedom, safety steer helmet debate Doug Vickery models a popular motorcycle helmet at his motorsports store in Arapahoe County on July 19. Vickery says he has a stock of personal helmets that are “trashed” from his days as a professional racer.
Fatality stats not enough to sway some riders By Tom Skelley tskelley@colorado communitymedia.com Brahm Bechtold rides a Harley-Davidson cruiser, a bike he says is made for taking it easy and enjoying the scenery. He and his wife and passenger, Dagmar, say
new motorcyclists should wear helmets, but they feel safe without them because they take it slow. “The wind’s in your hair, you’re having fun and just kind of putting along. It’s nothing fast, no tight turns, it’s a lot slower,
A lawyer with the Denver-based law firm that handled the investigation into allegations of intimidation of a student by two school board members declined to discuss his findings at the July 19 Douglas County Board of Education meeting. Gordon W. Netzorg of Sherman & Howard LLC, who conducted the investigation and wrote the report that cleared board members of wrongdoing, was scheduled to present but did not attend the board meeting. Report continues on Page 15
NATURAL REMEDY Holistic approach to medicine focuses on treating the entire body. PAGE 12
Helmets continues on Page 6
2016 Douglas County
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