NEWS
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Sheriff releases report on Arapahoe High tragedy
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FLEURISH
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Girls & Guys Night Out funding Girls Inc. college scholarships
Nearly 10 months after the tragedy at Arapahoe High School in Centennial, the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office has released a 38-page investigative report.
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LOCAL
Jeffco rallies to protest school board
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Jefferson County students organized at Clement Park, Oct. 11, and the group continues to protest the changing of the curriculum of AP U.S. history classes.
Girls Inc. Girls & Guys Night Out benefits inner city schoolgirls to help them climb out of their inner city environs and aim for college.
Volume 32 • Number 47 • October 16, 2014
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303-773-8313 • Published every Thursday
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Index
**SPECIAL 2014 ELECTION SECTION INSIDE**
Page 4........................................ Opinion Pages 10-19...............................Fleurish Pages 20-25.................................Legals Page 25................................. Classifieds TheVillagerNewspaper
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s t i m m u s
Noted mountaineer to speak at cancer benefit By Peter Jones The idea of climbing Mount Everest seems challenging enough – until one mulls the prospect of doing so blind, or being the climber who serves as his sightless friend’s eyes as they scale the world’s highest mountain. Eric Alexander did not so much climb Nepal’s Sagarmāthā “because it was there” – but because he could – and so could his friend Erik Weithenmayer, who had gone blind as a teenager, but never lost his vision for adventure. The image of “Eric” and “Erik” climbing in tandem – working together, but not always getting along, at 29,000 feet of tension and thrill – may even have resonance to those whose “mountains” are metaphorical, but no less challenging. “Your mountain might be cancer or a loved one who has it,” Alexander said. “I would just say it’s maintaining hope – that positive attitude where you’re looking up and ahead and not just focusing on the negative, because that will absolutely bring you down and cause you to fall.” Alexander will bring those analogies closer to home on Thursday, Oct. 30, at The Wildlife Experience in Douglas County when he speaks for Wings of Hope at an annual benefit for pancreatic-cancer research. The presentation in the museum’s IMAX theater will include video and photos. In his book The Summit: Faith Beyond Everest’s Death Zone, Alexander details his lifetime of climbing some of the most dangerous peaks in the world and the teamwork, courage and faith that he says made it possible. The Villager recently asked Alexander about the mountains – literal and otherwise – that have taken him to the peak in more ways than one. Continued on page 2
s ’ e il f g n i b m i l C Place Your Bets South Metro Chamber hosts casino debate
By Bob Sweeney The South Metro Denver Chamber hosted a debate on Amendment 68, Oct. 7. Chamber Board member,
Your mountain might be cancer or a loved one who has it.
- Eric Alexander, author and mountain climber “When you see that ladder over a bottomless crevasse and your heart rate increases through the roof, you think, why on earth would I step on that ladder?” climber Eric Alexander said. Photo courtesy of Eric Alexander
Jeff Wasden, did a masterful job as moderator – asking questions of a four-member panel comprised of two proponents, and two opponents of Amendment 68. This ballot question is whether to allow a casino operation at Arapahoe Park horse track to be voted upon Nov. 4.
Representing approval of the Amendment 68 ballot issue were attorney Chris Paulson and racetrack representative Sean Tonner. In opposition were legislative consultant Rick Reiter and State Sen. Bill Cadman. An audience of around 30 interested parties and media
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