The Home Front: Rise in attempted suicide among middle school students

Your daily roundup of the biggest stories from newspapers across Colorado

“A presentation of the Healthy Kids Colorado 2017 survey shows a rise in attempted suicide with middle school students in Cañon City at 11.9 percent compared to 11.3 percent in 2015. Cañon City High School saw that same number decrease from 12.4 percent in 2015 to only 7.4 percent in 2017,” reports The Cañon City Daily Record. “Lauren Cikara presented some of the findings of the survey, which is conducted every two years, Monday during the Cañon City School District’s board meeting. The attempted suicide percentage at CCHS is in line with the state average for high schools of 7 percent but the 11.9 percent at Cañon City Middle School and Harrison School is more than four percent higher than the state average at middle schools of 7.7 percent.”

“A 17-year-old Denver student associates her first years at East High School with the loss of her childhood innocence and an awakening to the injustices of the world, alleging her attempts to report being raped by a classmate were met with inaction and belittlement,” reports The Denver Post. “‘They took my friends, sanity, dignity, identity — and the only thing I could control was getting an A,’ she said while sitting next to her mother at her attorney’s office Tuesday. ‘The only thing they couldn’t take from me was my work ethic.’ The student and her parents, using pseudonyms to protect the teenager’s identity, this week sued the leaders of East High School, former Superintendent Tom Boasberg and Denver Public Schools, alleging they failed to report her 2016 rape to authorities while sheltering the male student who ultimately pleaded guilty to sexual assault.”

“Some residents share his support for apartments in single-family neighborhoods because they provide rental income for the owner and additional housing stock. But others worry dense housing will lead to a crunch for parking, a change in the character of neighborhoods and undue pressure on infrastructure,” reports The Durango Herald. “The city started allowing ADUs in some neighborhoods during 2014. Officials tried to address residents’ concerns with regulations to keep the new units from overwhelming neighborhoods, said Scott Shine, the city’s planning manager.”

“The Humane Society has seen more animals than usual, 641, come through its doors this year, including cats, dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs, birds, ferrets and chickens. In previous years, Humane Society management said that number has been around 600,” reports The Steamboat Pilot & Today. “This summer, the Humane Society took in some animals from Colorado shelters impacted by wildfires. The organization also received a grant-funded transport truck, which allowed the Humane Society to take in more dogs.”

“Longmont City Council members voted 6-1 Tuesday night to give their final approval to an ordinance imposing affordable housing requirements on builders and developers,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “The ‘inclusionary housing’ ordinance generally requires that 12 percent of the available square footage in a new residential development be dedicated to units affordable to low- and moderate-income buyers and renters. Councilwoman Bonnie Finley cast the only dissenting vote, telling her council colleagues that there will be ‘unintended consequences.'”

“What a difference a year makes: In a Dec. 17, 2017 article in the Daily Planet, Telluride Ski Resort officials were hoping they could open Lower Misty Maiden; they bemoaned the difficulty of pushing ‘a blade of snow half a mile’ and expressed gratitude for high-tech artificial snow,” reports The Telluride Daily Planet. “This year, 84 inches of natural snow have already blessed the upper mountain, and Telski officials are opening terrain left and right. Today (Wednesday), notable chairlifts 4, 5, 6 and 9 will all be open.”

“Bicycle parts, tents, sleeping bags, food wrappers, shopping carts, blankets and a plush sofa seat all sat crumpled Tuesday in what had been Colorado Springs’ largest homeless encampment in years. The people who owned these things had scattered as police and skid loaders descended to empty the so-called ‘Quarry,'” reports The Colorado Springs Gazette. “At dawn, heavy equipment manned by city employees plowed through the roughly 10-acre encampment, removing thousands of pounds of abandoned belongings and loading it all into dumpsters purchased for about $3,000. A drone operator and police officers stood watch, many holding clipboards to write trespassing citations, but no tickets were issued.”

“Northeast Fort Collins residents, you have until Dec. 26 to get your bid in for the soon-to-be-vacant City Council seat representing the area,” reports The Fort Collins Coloradoan. “If everything follows the plan from there, Council member Bob Overbeck’s replacement will be selected Jan. 15 and sworn in Jan. 22. Whoever fills the seat will have to run in the April 2 election to keep the seat and fill out the remaining two years on Overbeck’s term.”

“An unidentified suspect was shot and killed Monday evening in the western Colorado town of Rangely as police were seeking an arrest, according to information released by the Garfield County Sheriff’s office in conjunction with the Ninth District Attorney’s Office,” reports The Glenwood Springs Post Independent. “Rangely Police and deputies from the Rio Blanco County Sheriff’s office had located a vehicle reported missing and were attempting to arrest the suspects when shots were fired, according to the news release. One suspect was shot and later declared deceased, the news release said, but no officers were injured. The names of the suspects and the officers involved have not been released.”

“Pueblo’s homeless community will have to wait a little bit longer before the city’s temporary shelter opens. The city had hoped the shelter at 901 W. Ninth St. would be up and running earlier this week, but that didn’t happen,” reports The Pueblo Chieftain. “Monday night, City Manager Sam Azad said that the building that used to serve as the home of Pueblo Foods couldn’t be entered until late Thursday and that city staff has been busy working on repairs the structure requires. The building needs new walls to separate men from women and a ramp needs to be installed to comply with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. Azad also said some electrical issues were encountered on Monday that needed to be dealt with.”

“Like an alpine skier slaloming down challenging terrain, the Eldora ski resort on Tuesday answered pushback from its customers by rolling back a new limited pay-to-park policy that had been set to take effect this weekend,” reports The Boulder Daily Camera.Eldora, the county’s backyard ski area just 21 miles west of Boulder, has been weathering a flurry of public criticism since posting a new parking policy on its website last week, proposing to charge $20 for vehicles with fewer than three occupants on peak visitation days — weekends, holidays and to-be-determined weather-driven days — running from Saturday through April 14. However, late Tuesday night the resort released a statement saying the parking charges, which it anticipated would have been applicable on about 49 days, would not take effect.”

“A structure fire caused significant damage to a home Tuesday evening and claimed the life of a dog inside,” reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald. “Berthoud Fire Protection District responded to reports of a structure fire in the 22000 block of Weld County Road 3 at 7:25 p.m., according to spokeswoman May Soricelli.”

“The Aspen Skiing Co. is in discussions with ESPN about extending its contract for Winter X Games, with an announcement possible by next month, sources said Tuesday. ‘I’m optimistic,’ Skico CEO Mike Kaplan said. ‘We would love to continue with it,'” reports The Aspen Times. “Kaplan said an announcement about a new contract could be made by next month’s 18th Winter X Games at Buttermilk, scheduled for Jan. 24 to 27.”

 

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