March 17, 2016
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SouthPlatteIndependent.net
Candidates make case at youth forum Inspire Colorado holds its first gathering in Denver By Kyle Harding kharding@coloradocommunitymedia.com The questions to the state Legislature candidates covered a wide range of topics, but the focus on relevancy to a younger generation was clear: “How,” Cherry Creek High School junior Sarah Hait wanted to know at the the inaugural Inspire Colorado candidate forum, “are you going to engage a new demographic in politics?” Hait posed the question to the candidates vying for Senate District 26 — state Rep. Daniel Kagan, D-Cherry Hills Village,
and Arapahoe County District 1 Commissioner Nancy Doty, a Republican from Littleton. Kagan was in attendance, and Doty, who missed the March 8 forum due to a death in her family, gave her Doty answers to Colorado Community Media by email. To Hait’s question, Kagan encouraged students to visit the Capitol to see the Judiciary Committee he chairs at work or to take a tour. “I love it when young people take an interest in politics,” he said. “I cherish that.” Doty said she would embrace social media networks that younger people use.
“Young people today get a lot of their information from social media such as Twitter, Facebook and Snapchat,” she said. “Let’s use those forms Kagan of communication to educate those folks on the issues that face us.” The forum, held at History Colorado Center in Denver, drew about 50 students, giving them a chance to meet and ask questions of a slate of state legislature candidates. Senate District 26 covers Littleton, Englewood, Sheridan, Cherry Hills Village, Greenwood Village, west Centennial
and parts of Aurora. The candidates are vying for the seat in the November election because state Sen. Linda Newell, D-Littleton, is term-limited. Also present were candidates for House District 8, covering northeast Denver, and House District 32, covering north central Denver. The forum was moderated by Luc Hatlestad, editor-at-large of 5280 magazine, and included opening remarks from Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams, who assured the teenagers that, despite their age, they can affect the political process. He told them about his own experience getting involved in politics as a high school student in Virginia. Forum continues on Page 7
WHAT’S INSIDE
From Littleton to the world: Local stages were the springboard for larger fame for three women. See Page 4
Film director Oliver Stone, center, talks about censorship during a panel discussion with writer-author-filmmaker Matt Zoller Seitz, left, and Walter Chaw, general manager of Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Littleton. Photo by Chris Michlewicz
Fans get up close with filmmaking legend
Oliver Stone visits Littleton movie theater
By Chris Michlewicz cmichlewicz@coloradocommunitymedia.com It’s not every day that moviegoers get to be up-close and personal with legendary film director and screenwriter Oliver Stone. Stone, the driving force behind such blockbusters as “Platoon,” “JFK” and “Born on the Fourth of July,” covered a range of topics during a visit to the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Littleton March 6. He discussed the success and turmoil surrounding two of his most talked-about movies,
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“Natural Born Killers” and “U-Turn,” which an audience of approximately 75 people had the chance to watch back-to-back. Stone was the centerpiece of a panel discussion with Alamo general manager Walter Chaw and Matt Zoller Seitz, editorin-chief of RogerEbert.com and author of “The Oliver Stone Experience,” a book that takes readers through the life and career of Stone. The book is due out in September. Following are a few snippets of the conversations with the Academy Awardwinning director. On ‘Natural Born Killers’ and its reception Stone referred to the 1994 tale of murder and mayhem as a “very controversial” com-
mentary on the media in the early 1990s and the growing tendency of cable news networks to latch onto the most gruesome crimes and report on them endlessly. The movie, starring Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis as a pair of psychotic lovers on a killing spree, was the subject of numerous product-liability lawsuits, and the makers were “accused of being an accessory to murder,” Stone said. “(Author) John Grisham started (the) whole thing with a buddy in Louisiana whose friends were killed,” and said the movie “incited young people” to commit violent acts. But there were also elements of the film that, under closer examination, reveal a
Technology: Tablets offer benefits, challenges for learning. See Page 16
Sports: Littleton Lions open season with a win. See Page 26
Oliver Stone continues on Page 7
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