Print
E-mail
Comment
Honorable mentions of 2008
Barton released
Terry Barton, the woman locally infamous for starting the Hayman Fire in 2002, was released from federal prison June 1 after serving six years for arson. Originally sentenced to six years in federal prison and 12 years in state prison, an appeal cut her Colorado sentence to six years, which she served concurrently with the federal sentence.
The Hayman Fire burned more than 137,000 acres of mostly forested land in four counties — Park, Teller, Jefferson and Douglas — destroyed 133 homes, more than 400 other buildings and forced the evacuation of 8,000 people.
Barton still must serve 15 years of probation and 1,500 hours of community service. In a related case, insurance companies tried to recoup $7 million in losses from the U.S. Forest Service. In November a federal judge turned that down, ruling that the forest service wasn’t responsible because Barton went outside her assigned duties when her actions started the fire.
Stakes are high
On Nov. 4, when voters approved Amendment 50 on the state ballot, they opened the way for voters in Cripple Creek, Blackhawk and Central City to change the way they conduct gambling.
While Blackhawk and Central City have yet to hold elections, Cripple Creek voters decided the question on Dec. 16 with a 276 to 13 vote allowing expanding gambling to 24 hours a day, adding table games such as craps and roulette and raising the stakes to $100. Changes go into effect July 1, 2009.
In 1991, voters approved a constitutional amendment allowing the three towns to establish gambling and setting the types of games and hours and limiting the per-bet maximum stake to $5. After establishing gambling, many of Cripple Creek’s empty historic buildings were filled with casinos and, for many, life was good.
With a total smoking ban in place and the national economy in a downturn, local casinos were hurting and owners felt being allowed to raise the stakes and make other changes after 17 years in stasis would give the casinos and the cities a much-needed economic boost.
If the scheme works as owners and city governments expect it to, increasing revenue and fueling an employment and housing boom, 78 percent of the added tax revenue will go to local community colleges.
The Cripple Creek City Council will probably set new gambling device fees, while casinos get ready to change floor plans, train dealers and buy new gambling devices and the state gaming commission creates new rules.
Twisters
In an area that gets an average of one tornado every five years, Aug. 23 was an eventful day — tornados touched down in Douglas, Park and Teller counties. The first tornado touched down at 2:15 p.m. at the northeast corner of Eleven Mile Reservoir in Park County. The tornado traveled southeast along the western shore of the reservoir for about five or six miles, causing minor injuries among campers, damaging campgrounds and overturning vehicles.
Two other tornados touched down about 45 minutes later. The first was in Douglas County near Rainbow Falls Park, where one camper suffered minor injuries. That tornado was on the ground for about one-third of a mile.
A few minutes later another tornado touched down in Teller County near the Ridgewood subdivision. Both tornadoes snapped and toppled trees, leaving so many downed large trees in the damage path that the U.S. Forest Service had to hire crews to salvage them.
The weather service stated that most of the damages caused by the Teller County tornado were indicative of an EF-1 — or relatively weak — tornado.
Rock the vote
With the withdrawal of four amendments from the Nov. 4 statewide ballot, it went from the longest ballot since 1912 with 18 ballot issues to merely long at 14. Despite the length of the ballot and dire predictions earlier in the year based on the state’s issues with voting machines, there were few problems with this year’s election.
Teller County Election Central was ready for the estimated 60 percent of voters who mailed in their ballots or voted early. Election officials were even ready for a record turnout of 94 percent of registered voters.
The only glitch in the system wasn’t a glitch at all. It was the time it took to generate the three voter tapes necessary for each county precinct, something that had to be done before votes could be counted. The last tape came off the printer at 10:30 p.m., minutes after Barack Obama was declared the winner of the presidential campaign in Colorado. He didn’t win in Teller County nor did any other Democratic candidate for any office.
Teller County voters also rejected most of the ballot issues, approving Amendment 50, which allowed voters in gambling towns to extend gambling hours, add table games and raise stakes from a maximum of $5 to a max of $100. Also, if it had been up to Teller County voters, Referendum O would have passed, making it more difficult to change the state constitution through ballot initiatives. Statewide voters rejected initiative reform.
District funds embezzled
A routine audit of Woodland Park RE-2 School District finances led to the termination and arrest of a long-time finance department worker.
Deanna Lynn Moore, 60, who had worked in the district finance department for 23 years, was charged with embezzlement of public funds, forgery, computer crime and theft in an arrest warrant issued Dec. 11. Besides criminal charges, the district also has filed civil charges in Teller County combined court.
In September, a certified public accountant began uncovering discrepancies in the books to the tune of more than $400,000 possibly missing from the 2006-07 books. District Superintendent Guy Arseneau was notified of the discrepancies on Oct. 10 and he notified the Woodland Park Police Department on Oct. 20. Moore was implicated in the missing funds and was placed on administrative leave on Oct. 23. She was later terminated.
Further investigation, looking back into previous years, brought the amount of missing money to $582,922.88 starting in the 2004-05 school year. Money had disappeared from the general fund, building fund and food service fund.
Auditors suggested a variety of monitoring and division of labor changes in the school finance department to prevent mishandling of money in the future.
CC-V gets new home
When school started for the 2008-09 school year, Cripple Creek-Victor junior and high school students took classes at the grade school, a local church, the city’s Community Center and the Aspen Mine Center while waiting for the completion of construction that started the previous semester.
Using a $10.9 million bond approved by voters in the Cripple Creek RE-1 school district, the high school and junior high building received long-awaited renovations including an enclosed staircase for junior high students. Until the stairs were completed, students had to go outside to get from the upper level to the lower level. Principal Joan Rook said this not only subjected them to the vagaries of the weather, it also created security issues.
Many of the improvements came from the need for more security, including closing off outside entrances to classrooms and video cameras in the hallways. Other improvements include an elevator, larger rooms, new cabinets and countertops, wider hallways, more windows, new lockers, a combination commons and cafetorium, athletic locker rooms and other amenities.
Special attention was given to the special education classrooms and computer labs. The district administration offices also benefited from the construction of new offices and meeting areas. Students were allowed back into most of the classroom areas on Oct. 27 and the final touches were finished in time for a Jan. 6 dedication and open house.
Every three years the Heart of Colorado Rural Philanthropy Days organization brings together grantmakers and grantseekers for three days of education and philanthropy. This year Sept. 24-26 it was Cripple Creek’s turn to host the event, bringing together groups from the five counties that make up the Heart of Colorado — Chaffee, Custer, Fremont, Park and Teller — to give and receive grant funding for a variety of nonprofit projects designed to help rural communities.
A number of seminars dealt with such issues as the boom or bust economy that has plagued the area since territorial days and how to take a nonprofit organization from surviving to thriving.
There were also dine-arounds where people came together over meals to discuss such issues as the problems of finding volunteers for first-responder organizations, community gardens, greenhouses and farms; keeping the historic character of rural areas, rivers and waterways, faith-based organizations, private and public partnerships, special events, arts and theater and senior citizens.
Guest speaker Colorado Attorney General John Suthers spoke about the contributions nonprofit organizations and rural counties make both to Colorado and the nation.
On the final day of the conference grantseekers had the opportunity to present their cases for funding to grantmakers through a series of roundtable sessions. Local organizations seeking funding include Cripple Creek Parks and Recreation, Woodland Park Farmers Market, friends organizations for both the Guffey and Lake George libraries, the Gordon Jackson Foundation, Harvest Center, the Victor Improvement Associations and Welcome Home Warrior.
Extreme compassion
Touched in some way by Michaela and Damon Christianson, hundreds of Woodland Park residents staged a Community Give Back party Dec. 20. In an extreme makeover, Woodland Park-style, the community gutted the Christianson home and replaced everything in it, including the dishes.
At 1 p.m., mother and son were delivered to their home, via limousine provided by the Midnight Rose Casino, to witness the makeover. If stunned at the size of the crowd, all friends, waiting in the front yard, mother and son were flabbergasted by the makeover, which included a decorated Christmas tree in the living room.
The pair had spent the past week at the Eagle Fire Lodge and Conference Center, while the makeover team, led by Tyler and Stacey Lambert, American Craftsman Homes, worked a transformation. The project was initiated by April Babin and Cindy Smith, who own Summit Salon and Spa.
For the Christiansons, the makeover was a lull in the ongoing stress of Damon’s suffering the effects of the MRSA virus, a staph infection that can be fatal. As a result of her son’s disease, Christianson retired from 20 years of teaching special education at Columbine Elementary School to care for her son. Within a year, she had gone through her life savings, due to the expense of the treatments.
The makeover was a stunner, as she had only asked Babin to see if she could arrange to have someone come in and fix the leaking shower. The Lamberts looked and went from there. The event was televised by three Colorado Springs stations and the Christiansons took on the aura of local celebrities.
Mine gets new life
For Cripple Creek residents, especially those who live near the expansion area of the Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mining Co., 2008 was a red-letter year. As some mounted a vigorous campaign against the expansion, mainly because it included 42 acres in town, others, such as the city fathers, were less strident.
The 42 acres included reclamation of the 200-foot-high wall visible from the city’s Heritage Center. Many felt the slope was too high, the proportions of the graded slope too steep.
For the opposition, led by Carl Poch, the four-year expansion scheduled to begin in 2012, was about preserving quality of life in Cripple Creek. Poch, who threatened lawsuits throughout the approval process, lives just beyond the 42 acres.
For the mine, the expansion was a business decision designed to extract $200 million worth of gold, 110 tons of ore and 250 tons of overburden, from the additional 5,000-plus acres of the project.
With only one “no” vote from Allison Baker, the Teller County planning commission granted conditional approval Aug. 13 to the mine’s application to extend the Cresson Mine project through 2016. The conditions included the mitigation of noise and lighting, for instance.
Teller County commissioners Bill Buckhanan, Bob Campbell and Jim Ignatius approved the application, after a four-hour hearing that included voices of support and opposition, with the exception of the 42 acres. This month, the mine submitted a revised plan for the high wall, which is open for review by the public. The state of Colorado has yet to approve the mine’s application.
Terry Barton, the woman locally infamous for starting the Hayman Fire in 2002, was released from federal prison June 1 after serving six years for arson. Originally sentenced to six years in federal prison and 12 years in state prison, an appeal cut her Colorado sentence to six years, which she served concurrently with the federal sentence.
The Hayman Fire burned more than 137,000 acres of mostly forested land in four counties — Park, Teller, Jefferson and Douglas — destroyed 133 homes, more than 400 other buildings and forced the evacuation of 8,000 people.
Barton still must serve 15 years of probation and 1,500 hours of community service. In a related case, insurance companies tried to recoup $7 million in losses from the U.S. Forest Service. In November a federal judge turned that down, ruling that the forest service wasn’t responsible because Barton went outside her assigned duties when her actions started the fire.
Stakes are high
On Nov. 4, when voters approved Amendment 50 on the state ballot, they opened the way for voters in Cripple Creek, Blackhawk and Central City to change the way they conduct gambling.
While Blackhawk and Central City have yet to hold elections, Cripple Creek voters decided the question on Dec. 16 with a 276 to 13 vote allowing expanding gambling to 24 hours a day, adding table games such as craps and roulette and raising the stakes to $100. Changes go into effect July 1, 2009.
In 1991, voters approved a constitutional amendment allowing the three towns to establish gambling and setting the types of games and hours and limiting the per-bet maximum stake to $5. After establishing gambling, many of Cripple Creek’s empty historic buildings were filled with casinos and, for many, life was good.
With a total smoking ban in place and the national economy in a downturn, local casinos were hurting and owners felt being allowed to raise the stakes and make other changes after 17 years in stasis would give the casinos and the cities a much-needed economic boost.
If the scheme works as owners and city governments expect it to, increasing revenue and fueling an employment and housing boom, 78 percent of the added tax revenue will go to local community colleges.
The Cripple Creek City Council will probably set new gambling device fees, while casinos get ready to change floor plans, train dealers and buy new gambling devices and the state gaming commission creates new rules.
Twisters
In an area that gets an average of one tornado every five years, Aug. 23 was an eventful day — tornados touched down in Douglas, Park and Teller counties. The first tornado touched down at 2:15 p.m. at the northeast corner of Eleven Mile Reservoir in Park County. The tornado traveled southeast along the western shore of the reservoir for about five or six miles, causing minor injuries among campers, damaging campgrounds and overturning vehicles.
Two other tornados touched down about 45 minutes later. The first was in Douglas County near Rainbow Falls Park, where one camper suffered minor injuries. That tornado was on the ground for about one-third of a mile.
A few minutes later another tornado touched down in Teller County near the Ridgewood subdivision. Both tornadoes snapped and toppled trees, leaving so many downed large trees in the damage path that the U.S. Forest Service had to hire crews to salvage them.
The weather service stated that most of the damages caused by the Teller County tornado were indicative of an EF-1 — or relatively weak — tornado.
Rock the vote
With the withdrawal of four amendments from the Nov. 4 statewide ballot, it went from the longest ballot since 1912 with 18 ballot issues to merely long at 14. Despite the length of the ballot and dire predictions earlier in the year based on the state’s issues with voting machines, there were few problems with this year’s election.
Teller County Election Central was ready for the estimated 60 percent of voters who mailed in their ballots or voted early. Election officials were even ready for a record turnout of 94 percent of registered voters.
The only glitch in the system wasn’t a glitch at all. It was the time it took to generate the three voter tapes necessary for each county precinct, something that had to be done before votes could be counted. The last tape came off the printer at 10:30 p.m., minutes after Barack Obama was declared the winner of the presidential campaign in Colorado. He didn’t win in Teller County nor did any other Democratic candidate for any office.
Teller County voters also rejected most of the ballot issues, approving Amendment 50, which allowed voters in gambling towns to extend gambling hours, add table games and raise stakes from a maximum of $5 to a max of $100. Also, if it had been up to Teller County voters, Referendum O would have passed, making it more difficult to change the state constitution through ballot initiatives. Statewide voters rejected initiative reform.
District funds embezzled
A routine audit of Woodland Park RE-2 School District finances led to the termination and arrest of a long-time finance department worker.
Deanna Lynn Moore, 60, who had worked in the district finance department for 23 years, was charged with embezzlement of public funds, forgery, computer crime and theft in an arrest warrant issued Dec. 11. Besides criminal charges, the district also has filed civil charges in Teller County combined court.
In September, a certified public accountant began uncovering discrepancies in the books to the tune of more than $400,000 possibly missing from the 2006-07 books. District Superintendent Guy Arseneau was notified of the discrepancies on Oct. 10 and he notified the Woodland Park Police Department on Oct. 20. Moore was implicated in the missing funds and was placed on administrative leave on Oct. 23. She was later terminated.
Further investigation, looking back into previous years, brought the amount of missing money to $582,922.88 starting in the 2004-05 school year. Money had disappeared from the general fund, building fund and food service fund.
Auditors suggested a variety of monitoring and division of labor changes in the school finance department to prevent mishandling of money in the future.
CC-V gets new home
When school started for the 2008-09 school year, Cripple Creek-Victor junior and high school students took classes at the grade school, a local church, the city’s Community Center and the Aspen Mine Center while waiting for the completion of construction that started the previous semester.
Using a $10.9 million bond approved by voters in the Cripple Creek RE-1 school district, the high school and junior high building received long-awaited renovations including an enclosed staircase for junior high students. Until the stairs were completed, students had to go outside to get from the upper level to the lower level. Principal Joan Rook said this not only subjected them to the vagaries of the weather, it also created security issues.
Many of the improvements came from the need for more security, including closing off outside entrances to classrooms and video cameras in the hallways. Other improvements include an elevator, larger rooms, new cabinets and countertops, wider hallways, more windows, new lockers, a combination commons and cafetorium, athletic locker rooms and other amenities.
Special attention was given to the special education classrooms and computer labs. The district administration offices also benefited from the construction of new offices and meeting areas. Students were allowed back into most of the classroom areas on Oct. 27 and the final touches were finished in time for a Jan. 6 dedication and open house.
Every three years the Heart of Colorado Rural Philanthropy Days organization brings together grantmakers and grantseekers for three days of education and philanthropy. This year Sept. 24-26 it was Cripple Creek’s turn to host the event, bringing together groups from the five counties that make up the Heart of Colorado — Chaffee, Custer, Fremont, Park and Teller — to give and receive grant funding for a variety of nonprofit projects designed to help rural communities.
A number of seminars dealt with such issues as the boom or bust economy that has plagued the area since territorial days and how to take a nonprofit organization from surviving to thriving.
There were also dine-arounds where people came together over meals to discuss such issues as the problems of finding volunteers for first-responder organizations, community gardens, greenhouses and farms; keeping the historic character of rural areas, rivers and waterways, faith-based organizations, private and public partnerships, special events, arts and theater and senior citizens.
Guest speaker Colorado Attorney General John Suthers spoke about the contributions nonprofit organizations and rural counties make both to Colorado and the nation.
On the final day of the conference grantseekers had the opportunity to present their cases for funding to grantmakers through a series of roundtable sessions. Local organizations seeking funding include Cripple Creek Parks and Recreation, Woodland Park Farmers Market, friends organizations for both the Guffey and Lake George libraries, the Gordon Jackson Foundation, Harvest Center, the Victor Improvement Associations and Welcome Home Warrior.
Extreme compassion
Touched in some way by Michaela and Damon Christianson, hundreds of Woodland Park residents staged a Community Give Back party Dec. 20. In an extreme makeover, Woodland Park-style, the community gutted the Christianson home and replaced everything in it, including the dishes.
At 1 p.m., mother and son were delivered to their home, via limousine provided by the Midnight Rose Casino, to witness the makeover. If stunned at the size of the crowd, all friends, waiting in the front yard, mother and son were flabbergasted by the makeover, which included a decorated Christmas tree in the living room.
The pair had spent the past week at the Eagle Fire Lodge and Conference Center, while the makeover team, led by Tyler and Stacey Lambert, American Craftsman Homes, worked a transformation. The project was initiated by April Babin and Cindy Smith, who own Summit Salon and Spa.
For the Christiansons, the makeover was a lull in the ongoing stress of Damon’s suffering the effects of the MRSA virus, a staph infection that can be fatal. As a result of her son’s disease, Christianson retired from 20 years of teaching special education at Columbine Elementary School to care for her son. Within a year, she had gone through her life savings, due to the expense of the treatments.
The makeover was a stunner, as she had only asked Babin to see if she could arrange to have someone come in and fix the leaking shower. The Lamberts looked and went from there. The event was televised by three Colorado Springs stations and the Christiansons took on the aura of local celebrities.
Mine gets new life
For Cripple Creek residents, especially those who live near the expansion area of the Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mining Co., 2008 was a red-letter year. As some mounted a vigorous campaign against the expansion, mainly because it included 42 acres in town, others, such as the city fathers, were less strident.
The 42 acres included reclamation of the 200-foot-high wall visible from the city’s Heritage Center. Many felt the slope was too high, the proportions of the graded slope too steep.
For the opposition, led by Carl Poch, the four-year expansion scheduled to begin in 2012, was about preserving quality of life in Cripple Creek. Poch, who threatened lawsuits throughout the approval process, lives just beyond the 42 acres.
For the mine, the expansion was a business decision designed to extract $200 million worth of gold, 110 tons of ore and 250 tons of overburden, from the additional 5,000-plus acres of the project.
With only one “no” vote from Allison Baker, the Teller County planning commission granted conditional approval Aug. 13 to the mine’s application to extend the Cresson Mine project through 2016. The conditions included the mitigation of noise and lighting, for instance.
Teller County commissioners Bill Buckhanan, Bob Campbell and Jim Ignatius approved the application, after a four-hour hearing that included voices of support and opposition, with the exception of the 42 acres. This month, the mine submitted a revised plan for the high wall, which is open for review by the public. The state of Colorado has yet to approve the mine’s application.
Submit a Comment
|
You must be logged in to post a comment.
|
Not yet a registered member?
Click here to become one. |
