Douglas County

Marijuana: California Supreme Court upholds local pot shop bans like ones in Colorado

States across the country, including Alaska, are coming up with their own versions of Amendment 64, which allows adults 21 and over in Colorado to use and possess small amounts of cannabis. But if the authors of those measures want to make sure retail marijuana operations are legal in every communit ... More >>

Marijuana: Boulder rejects pot shop ban, but councilman urges caution moving forward

Update: Yesterday, we noted that the Boulder City Attorney's office planned a presentation suggesting that city council approve a moratorium until at least 2014 on new marijuana retail outlets legalized under Amendemnt 64; see previous coverage below. Last night, the council chose not to go forward ... More >>

Marijuana: Amendment 64 blasted by Douglas County sheriff, Mason Tvert responds

The powers-that-be in Douglas County really, really oppose Amendment 64, the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act. Yesterday, the Dougco commissioners passed a strongly worded resolution against the measure, while Sheriff David Weaver launched a salvo that paints a world in which Amendment 64 is law ... More >>

Nancy Sebring, ex-Colorado educator, quits Iowa supe job over sexy e-mails

Betcha the folks at the Boulder Valley School District are breathing a sigh of relief.... Nancy Sebring was reportedly a finalist for the BVSD's top job last year. Instead, she was slated to become the superintendent in Omaha, until her prospects were felled by the release of sex-obsessed e-mails, ... More >>

Chris "Birdman" Andersen lawyer alleges blackmail re: child-porn case

Update: After news broke yesterday that Chris "Birdman" Andersen's Larkspur home had been searched in relation to a child-porn investigation, we've heard from authorities, but not from representatives of the inquiry's target. Now, however, Andersen's attorney has stepped forward, asserting that his ... More >>

Sexting classes for parents: Sheriffs answer some uncomfortable questions

Last night, roughly thirty parents watched detective Tony Garza and his fellow officers talk about sexting for an hour and a half. The trend is a rising one in Douglas County and the nation, Garza says, and it recently became the inspiration for renewed efforts to educate the community about its rep ... More >>

Gaylord hotel project: Meet the locals in love with it (and one guy against it)

Frank Gray is president of the Castle Rock Economic Development Council in Douglas County. Yet at a public hearing yesterday on six projects vying for big-bucks state tourism incentives, Gray eschewed his county's own project and, like many of the 23 people who testified, spoke in favor of Gaylord E ... More >>

Colorado Business Committee for the Arts announces finalists for 2012 awards

Supporting the arts is just good business. That's the basic message of the Colorado Business Committee for the Arts, which was founded in 1985 and has grown to over 130 members, just announced the finalists for the 25th annual CBCA Business for the Arts Awards. And not only does this award come with ... More >>

Thanksgiving play mentioning savages and God: Perfectly fine or over the line on race, religion?

Update: Arrowwood Elementary parent Rachel Drummond had objections to a play scheduled for her daughter's second-grade class today, due to references to Native Americans as "savages" and a speech that overtly referred to a higher power. However, Douglas County School District public information offi ... More >>

Lora Thomas: Ethics complaint highlights bitter feud between coroner and sheriff

Any way you slice it, the very, very, very strained relationship between Douglas County Coroner Lora Thomas and Sheriff Dave Weaver can't be good for homicide investigations in the county. Both sides have accused the other of interfering with and jeopardizing their work, and now a backer of the sher ... More >>

12-year-old sexual abuser moves back home after treatment, victims' families not notified

Roxborough.​When child sexual abusers return to their old neighborhood, the families of young victims are supposed to be notified in advance, so they have some time to ready themselves and prepare their kids. But that didn't happen in the case of a twelve-year-old who came home just seven mont ... More >>

School voucher program stopped: Dougco appeal would waste taxpayer money, ACLU says

Michael Martinez.​"School Vouchers on Hold" read a weekend headline in the print Denver Post. But while plaintiffs, including the Colorado branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, technically requested a preliminary injunction to stop the Douglas County Choice Scholarship Program, Judge ... More >>

Douglas County voucher plan gives public funds to discriminatory religious schools, suit claims

Videos below.​Update below: A lawsuit filed this morning in Denver District Court challenges the legality of a Douglas County voucher program set to go into effect this fall partly on the grounds that it diverts public money to religious institutions. Yet plaintiffs include the Interfaith Alli ... More >>

Medical marijuana vote in Castle Rock: Power players face off over last Douglas Co. dispensary

Rob Corry​In the ongoing bureaucratic battle over medical marijuana, Castle Rock has already witnessed its fair share of skirmishes. Amber Ostrom, owner of the city's one and only dispensary, Plants 4 Life, had to jump through numerous legal hoops before she was allowed to keep operating. And ... More >>

Indian Gulch fire near Golden: Burned acreage increases to 1,502 (VIDEOS)

​Update: The Indian Gulch fire near Golden is a top wildfire priority nationally; at this writing, it's in the number one slot on the feds' Inciweb.org website. And while the winds that were helping to fuel the blaze have died down to a significant degree, they did significant damage, increas ... More >>

Christopher Wells, 3 others charged in killings of his ex, Amara Wells, & Robert Rafferty (56 & 57)

Fox 31​Update: Christopher Wells may have been in custody at the time the bodies of his ex-wife, Amara Wells, and Robert Rafferty were discovered -- but the Douglas County Sheriff's Office still believes he played a key role in their deaths. Along with Josiah Sher, Matthew Plake and Micah Wood ... More >>

Reader: Carol Chambers's pursuit of long prison sentences for 1st time offenders costs plenty

Jacob & mom.​Alan Prendergast followed his initial story about tween Jacob Christenson, who faces a second-degree arson charge in Douglas County for a fire set last May, with a suggestion that district attorney Carol Chambers talk publicly about the case. Thus far, however, this invite has onl ... More >>

Roohallah Mobarez, Highlands Ranch dental assistant, charged with sex assault on four kids

Big pic below.​The last thing a parent wants to worry about when sending a child to the dentist is that an assistant will do terribly inappropriate things while the young patient is drugged or defenseless. But that's one possible interpretation of info released thus far about Roohallah Mobarez ... More >>

David M. Flores caught red-handed, allegedly uses dyed bills from Highlands Ranch bank job

Large photo below.​The phrase "getting caught red-handed" wasn't invented specifically for David M. Flores, 48, but it certainly seems appropriate to his situation. Following a Highlands Ranch bank robbery, Flores was busted on an aggravated robbery charge after handing a Walmart clerk red-sta ... More >>

Culinary calendar for the week ahead: peaches, pizza classes and the Denver Burger Battle

​Everyone knows that Colorado peaches are among the best in the world -- and it's harvest season! Celebrate at the Lafayette Peach Festival on Saturday. And if peaches aren't your thing, there are dozens of other options on the culinary menu this week. Here's a taste:

Officer-involved shooting in Douglas County leaves suspect in critical condition

The Stagecoach.​Thus far, the Douglas County Sheriff's Office is sharing only the barest details about a Saturday afternoon shooting outside the Stagecoach, a Franktown watering hole -- other than the fact that both a deputy and the suspect were shot in an exchange of gunfire, with the former ... More >>

Michael Tesman: Text messaging victim, stun gun help lead to alleged kidnapper's arrest

Michael Tesman.​The arrest of Michael Tesman on charges of second-degree kidnapping came together like the law-enforcement equivalent of aligning planets. Credit goes to the reported victim, Tesman's ex-wife, who was able to text message her son about the situation, plus a helpful bartender a ... More >>

Michael R. Frazier -- not the other Michael Frazier -- busted for Internet exploitation of a child

Michael R. Frazier -- who shouldn't be confused with the other Michael Frazier.​The Parker Police Department's announcement that it had arrested Michael R. Frazier, 47, in an Internet sex sting isn't particularly out of the ordinary -- except for the final paragraph. "Attached is a mug shot o ... More >>

Let us prey: Volunteer youth minister charged with sexual assault on a child, detectives investigating possibility of more victims

William "Bill" McLaughlin is accused of ministering in an especially sick way.​Volunteer youth minister William "Bill" McLaughlin has been in Douglas County jail since mid-December on a $500,000 bail thanks to multiple charges of sexual assault on a child. But the Douglas County Sheriff's Offi ... More >>

Josh McDaniels in Denver Blogs: Are you purposefully getting rid of players whose jerseys I just bought?

Is this the next Broncos jersey to be obsolete?​It's Denver Blogs, our daily roundup of locally oriented bloggery. Over at Bronco Talk, Mr. East offers a hilarious diatribe about all the Broncos jerseys he's purchased shortly before the players in question have been sent packing. His latest b ... More >>

Douglas County Republicans' John Ransom turns down chance to crow about school-board victories

A happy (not surly) John Ransom.​Update.: Several hours after this blog was published, Douglas County Republican Party chairman John Ransom gave me a shout after all. Look below to read about the events that preceded his call as well as his subsequent comments... Original post: Some guys are ... More >>

Douglas County school allows parents to opt out of letting their kids watch President Obama's speech to the nation's schoolchildren

Courtesy of the White House"No, ma'am. I won't be trying to turn your child into a Communist...."​ Last week, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan sent a letter to principals across the country, on view later in this post, informing them that President Barack Obama would be delivering a speech t ... More >>

Mile High Murder, No. 34: Dominick Wilmer charged with vehicular homicide in deaths of Jonathan Richardson and Grace Cruthers

View Larger Map The crash that took place during the wee hours of August 15 on Titan Road near Rampart Range Road, an area captured in the graphic above (if you have problems seeing the image, click "View Larger Map"), certainly qualifies as a tragic accident. But according to the Douglas County She ... More >>

Kenny Be's Worst-Case Scenario: Today is Pork Meadows Mall Appreciation Day!

Click image to enlarge. According to the official 2009 City of Lone Tree calendar, February 19 is the official Park Meadows Mall Appreciation Day. Since December of last year, when the owners started threatening to declare bankruptcy if they could not renegotiate some $27 billion worth of loans wit ... More >>

A Split Decision for Mighty Mouse

Best of Westword Winners From 1986

Schlep-Happy

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

More Messages: There's Got to Be a Morning After

Letters to the Editor

From the week of October 7, 2004

Follow That Story

Employee Benefits

Rave Heart

Sheriff's departments across Colorado choose not to remain silent about raves.

Unnecessary Roughness

A Denver Bronco's domestic-violence case gets complicated.

Letters to the Editor

From the week of May 11.

Letters

Hell on Wheels

Colorado Highways are safer now than they've been in decades. So what are drivers so mad about?

Let Us Pray

Twenty Years of Denver

Fight the Power

Public Service's juiced-up power lines to Park Meadows spark a lawsuit.

Off Limits

All Fired Up

The politicians aren't the only ones packing heat in fast-growing Elbert County.

Stiff Competition

A grave situation in Douglas County: Who gets to bury the bodies?

Heaven is a suburb

The streets aren't paved with gold down in the brand-new city of Lone Tree --yet.

STRANGE BUT TRUE

THINGS YOU DID IN DENVER WHILE YOU WERE STOPPED DEAD IN TRAFFIC ON THE WAY TO DIA.

OUR TOWN

GREENLAND LIES JUST MINUTES SOUTH OF DENVER, BUT IT'S A MILLION MILES AWAY.EXIT, GREENLAND A TWO-HORSE TOWN IS PUT OUT TO PASTURE.