Parker Chronicle 0814

Page 1

August 14, 2020

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DOUGLAS COUNTY, COLORADO

A publication of

ParkerChronicle.net

INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 12 | LIFE: PAGE 14 | SPORTS: PAGE 16

VOLUME 18 | ISSUE 39

County, towns see encouraging revenue trends But too early to know what coming months will bring, official says BY ELLIOTT WENZLER EWENZLER@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Darien Wilson is interviewed by reporters at a Highlands Ranch home July 2. Wilson is the Democratic candidate for District 3 in the county commissioner election. PHOTO BY ELLIOTT WENZLER

The issue igniting the county election Tri-County Health pullout now hottest topic in commissioners’ races BY ELLIOTT WENZLER AND JESSICA GIBBS COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA

When the 2020 race to elect two of the three Douglas County commis-

sioners kicked off, candidates were gearing up for a race focused on long-standing issues like transportation, growth, school safety and gun control. That was before COVID-19 arrived, followed by last month’s move by the current commissioners to pull the county out of the Tri-County Health Department. And suddenly, a whole new set of political topics took center stage.

Now, commissioner hopefuls are sparring over government maskwearing orders, personal liberty and, most significantly, whether or not it’s time for the county to create its own health department. “I think that’s a lot of what the election will come down to — a debate over whether the county should remove itself from Tri-County SEE ELECTION, P4

Families, teachers grapple with return to school BY JESSICA GIBBS JGIBBS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Christina Pease planned to start a part-time job when her oldest child, Caleb, began kindergarten at South Ridge Elementary School in Castle Rock this fall. She wanted to contribute to her family’s income after he made the transition.

RALLY SUPPORTS TEACHERS

‘It’s very refreshing, because we’ve been under attack’ P2

But as school drew closer, anxiety built up in her 6-year-old son. A new school. New teachers. No friends he knew. The list of stressors did not stop with the nervousness he felt toward starting kindergarten. COVID-19 hurled more unknowns into the mix. School would look far from normal with pandemic precautions in

place, Pease said. She expected that to make things harder for him. Then the Douglas County School District announced on July 25 it would reopen schools on a “hybrid model,” with children learning in class two days a week and at home online three days a week. SEE HYBRID, P6

CLIMBING FOR A CAUSE

A University of Denver student summits peaks to help the homeless P14

As the COVID-19 pandemic and related business restrictions continue to loom over local economies, Douglas County leaders are keeping a close eye on indicators such as sales tax revenue as the figures become available. From January through May, the county’s sales tax revenue, which depicts how much local buying is happening, was up nearly 6% compared to the same period last year, according to county data. “We were all kind of expecting a big decrease,” said county budget director Martha Marshall. Even with the early increase in revenue, Marshall wouldn’t draw any conclusions about the future impact of the virus on the county’s economy, she said. “It’s way too early to understand what the coming months will look like,” she said. “There are too many variables to understand what direction it will take in the future.” Douglas County’s month-to-month data for this time period compared to last year shows just how difficult finding a trend can be. In January, the county saw a 15.5% increase in sales tax revenue compared to 2019 and in February, a 12.9% increase. Growth slowed in March, however, as the pandemic and mandated shutdowns SEE TAX, P7


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