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September 3, 2020
ARAPAHOE COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
SouthPlatteIndependent.net
VOLUME 75 | ISSUE 46
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 10 | LIFE: PAGE 12 | SPORTS: PAGE 16
Local fire agencies pitch in on Colo. blazes, hurricane First responders deploy to locations in need of extra assistance BY NICK PUCKETT NPUCKETT@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Firefighters from across the metro area were deployed to assist at the scene of Colorado wildfires and with the aftermath of Hurricane Laura on the Gulf Coast. South Metro Fire Rescue and the Castle Rock and Denver fire departments each sent first responders to assist with the blazes raging in the state. Also called into service were members of the West Metro Fire Protection District, which covers significant portions of Jefferson and Douglas counties, and the Arvada and Thornton fire agencies. Among the blazes where local fire agencies have been assisting is the Pine Gulch Fire, centered 18 miles north of Grand Junction, which had engulfed more than 139,000 acres as of Aug. 30, making it the largest wildfire in the state’s recorded history. The fire was about 77% contained as of that date, with 646 people working to douse the blaze, according to the federal National Wildfire Coordinating Group. SEE AGENCIES, P4
Doyle cites expanded offerings, new campus as accomplishments BY DAVID GILBERT DGILBERT@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
citizens greater impact on their city council, and would boost the city’s influence in regional decisionmaking, said councilmember Kelly Milliman, who championed the ballot measure. “We owe it to our citizens to allow them the choice,” Milliman said. If approved, the measure would not change the mayor’s duties, which
Arapahoe Community College will bid farewell to a devoted leader next spring, after President Diana Doyle announced her retirement. Doyle announced she will step down in June 2021, ending an 11-year tenure as the head of the Littleton-based college, and wrapping up a 43-year career in higher education. “My original goal was to stay here for 10 years, but in the unusual time we’re in, I decided to add one more year for good measure,” Doyle told Colorado Community Media. Doyle said she’s proud of her legacy at ACC, including adding numerous bachelor’s and associate’s degree programs, starting a veterans’ services center, developing wellness programs for students, and overseeing the development of a new satellite campus in Castle Rock, shared with Colorado State University. ACC also has a Parker campus. “There’s so much we do for students now that didn’t exist a decade ago,” she said. “But no president does their job alone. I have been blessed with a dream team of employees, students and partners.”
SEE MAYOR, P14
SEE PRESIDENT, P7
Firefighters from South Metro Fire Rescue Brush 33, based in Centennial, push back against the Cameron Peak Fire in the Arapahoe and Roosevelt national forests in northern Colorado on Aug. 24. COURTESY PHOTO
Littleton voters could decide on direct election of mayor Ballot measure would change mayor’s term from 2 years to 4 BY DAVID GILBERT DGILBERT@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Littleton voters could decide this fall whether they want to begin di-
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Arapahoe Community College president stepping down
rectly electing the city’s mayor. At a special meeting on Aug. 25, city council unanimously decided to send a draft ballot measure to a public hearing that, if ratified by council, would ask citizens if they would like to directly elect their mayor to a four-year term. Currently, Littleton’s mayor is selected to a two-year term by the seven-member city council from among their members. Making the change would give
STREET ART THRIVES IN TOUGH TIMES Walls talk in era of COVID, Black Lives Matter P12