Am wondering if I should move to Parker after I went up there five days in a row last week. First it was JP Cocina & Cantina on Wednesday like I mentioned (correction to what I had written last week, their happy hour is still to come)…then it was to Emagine Parker to watch the Fast & Furious original on Friday. Yes, I took things way too far and completely shaved off my locks (shoulder length) so I could feel like Vin Diesel while watching…then it was Fiesta Parker on Saturday where I got there right as the rain was at its strongest. Still a fun event and plenty of people there. I'm still not entirely sure whether or not the Lucha Libre fighter was actually hurt, but if he was, I hope he's recovering. If he's totally fine, I have no sense of what reality actually is.
The roast pork belly grain bowl at Salady, with the Ssamjang Mayo.
Saturday night was trying out Salady which just opened up off of Parker Road just south of E-470. It's a franchise out of Korea with over 400 locations, two of which are in the US and both are in Colorado (this one and one in Westminster). Finally, the Farmers Market on Sunday where I got to try out a few different things including Tiramisano, Yummy Yummy hummus, and a Philly cheesesteak from Rugby Scott…hands were full on the way back to the car, and the stomach was very satisfied. It was a scorcher out there, though.
As an FYI on Emagine Parker, I didn't realize this fully when they first opened up, but they're going to be running plenty of throwbacks…all my fellow nerds will be very pleased to know that the Lord of the Rings trilogy is coming in September…and no, we're not talking about the normal editions, we're talking the extended editions up to 4 hours that'll test how much your friends, family, and partners actually love you.
What I didn't get to: Castle Pines Vino in the Village, but someone (I am strictly sworn to anonymity) was kind enough to provide their review to me:
Vino in the Village Returns to Castle Pines, Rain and All
The evening kicked off with a bit of drama, courtesy of some wind and rain that swept through the tents. Guests ducked under cover for a few minutes, but it didn't take long to decide that a little weather wasn't going to get in the way of a good time.
A lineup of the area's favorite fine dining establishments showed up in full force, serving up delicious bites for guests to enjoy as they wandered from tent to tent. Dodd's Wine Vault brought its usual great lineup, pouring samples of wine and spirits throughout the night.
To close things out, there was a dessert spread worth saving room for, everything from classic cookies to mini key lime pies. And of course, no Vino in the Village is complete without the night's favorite photo op: champagne poured straight from a donkey's back.
The Devil You Know (or didn't)
There's a rock on the western horizon you've almost certainly looked at and may even know what it is. From Castle Rock it's a well-known rock formation. Up close it's a granite outcrop at 9,748 feet, the tallest mountain in the Rampart Range, with a small wood-frame building bolted to the top of it. You hike up and take a flight of stairs right to it.
That's Devils Head, and the Forest Service calls it the last full-time fire lookout in Colorado. It gets staffed through the summer, and on a clear day whoever's up there can spot a fire seventy-five miles out.
The name goes back to prospectors in the late 1800s, and it isn't the side you see from town. From the southwest, looking back northeast, the rock reads as a face lying flat and staring up, horns and all. Trees have grown in since and softened it. It carried a couple of other names on the maps first and only became Devils Head officially in 1923. There's a poem posted up there, written by a woman named Margaret Ann Hughes Ellis in 1991, that settles it better than the maps did: “Only God could have made this place, even tho' it has a devil's face.”
In 1907 the brand-new Forest Service planned seven principal lookouts running the Front Range from New Mexico to Wyoming. Only four ever got built and this is one of them. The first station, in 1912, was a fire finder, a table bolted to the rock, and a shed with a telephone, and getting to it took a full day on horseback.
Then the war changed who worked there. Short on men after 1917, the Forest Service hired a thirty-year-old Denver Times employee named Helen Dowe in 1919. She was Colorado's first female fire lookout. She often gets called the country's first, but that was Hallie Morse Daggett, who took a tower in California years earlier. Dowe worked three seasons on that rock. National magazines picked it up and she got thousands of letters from women, a lot of whom went and applied. A Denver Post writer in 1920: “She has demonstrated that a woman is fully as efficient as a man as a forest fire lookout, probably more so.” I think we've fully confirmed the second half of that sentence at this point…
The tower you climb today went up in 1951, and I like how it got there. A hundred members of the 973rd Construction Battalion out of Fort Carson took the old one apart, hauled the materials in by mule, and lifted them by hand up the side of the granite. They finished in September, then cut the mile and a half of trail you hike now and built the staircase. Before that, rangers got up the rock on a log with steps cut into it and a wooden ladder.
Getting there is about an hour. You take Highway 67 west out of Sedalia about ten miles, turn south on Rampart Range Road, and drive another eight and a half to the trailhead.
The hike is short but it doesn't feel short. A mile and a half each way, a bit under a thousand feet of climbing. Don't let the mileage fool you though. The trailhead already sits around 8,880 feet and you finish at 9,748, so if you're not acclimated you'll feel it. There were people working the trail with poles, and my friends are in good shape and still asked me to back off the pace. My watch said 3.26 miles round trip and about an hour and twenty of moving, though I was up there closer to an hour and forty-five once you count standing around, which you will. It climbs through aspen and pine, the granite starts showing up in slabs, and the boulders run pink because of the feldspar in them. Then you walk through a split in the rocks and there's a small cabin on the left. That's the lookout's, and they live in it in season, which is why the sign at the bottom of the stairs reads 143 steps above cabin. That's the last stretch, a staircase pinned to the granite. I counted to about eighty. At the top it's 360 degrees of Rampart Range in every direction. You can see Pikes Peak and all the way to Denver when it's clear.
One thing to set expectations on. The stairs and the deck that wraps the tower are open to anyone, but you only get inside the cab if somebody's up there working it. The Forest Service says it's open when staffed, typically late May into early September. I went this summer, inside that window, and the cab was shut with nobody up in it.
Two things you might not expect up there. In late spring and early summer, native ladybugs migrate to Devils Head by the thousands and pack themselves into cracks in the rock. One landed on me at the top. And right now, from late July into early September, the harvester ants send out winged swarms to start new colonies. Both are on a sign at the summit, and both are harmless.
Two ways to take this one. Go in the next couple of weeks and it's a good way to close out summer while the road is easy and the light is long. Or hold it for fall, which I haven't done yet. The trail guides all point at it. 10Adventures tells you to hike it in autumn for the aspen color from the lookout, and Day Hikes Near Denver puts it on its aspen list.
Timing is the open question this year. CBS Colorado is telling people to move the usual leaf trip up about a week, because a hot dry year has stressed the aspens and more than three quarters of the state is in severe drought or worse. Their windows put the mountains west of Denver at September 13 to 24, and Pikes Peak and the southern Front Range at September 23 to October 3. Devils Head sits between the two at 9,748 feet, so I'd watch it.
If you wait, don't wait too long. Rampart Range Road closes every year by December 1 and doesn't reopen until spring. Although I did call earlier in the year to see if it had opened yet and was told sternly that it's always open…not sure that particular individual was completely informed. Check before you go up when the conditions are tougher.
A few practical things. There's no water, but there are vault toilets at the campground at the base of the trail. The Forest Service says the lot holds 25 cars and it fills by mid morning on a good day. Don't park along the dirt road, it blocks emergency access, and there's a signed overflow lot about a half mile out. Hours are an hour before sunrise to an hour after sunset, no camping, no fires. Cell service is spotty. Afternoon storms build fast up here and the risk is not hypothetical: on a Sunday afternoon in June 2019, lightning hit a party of eight climbers over at the Chicken Head Ranch climbing area on Devils Head. Three of them were struck and one had to be carried out by search and rescue. If there's any hint of storms, go a different day. And dogs are welcome on the trail but they're not allowed on the tower stairs or inside the lookout, so somebody waits at the bottom.
More photos and the full backstory are here.
Wednesday, September 9 — two dinners, one night, both in Castle Rock.
Dinner Club is the one where you show up at 6:30pm and sit down with five neighbors you've never met. We do the matching and make the reservation, and the restaurant gets revealed the day of. You order off the menu and pay for your own food and drinks. Afterward we all spill over to Wild Blue Yonder for the after-party.
Use code SEAT5 for $5 off — grab a seat here.
Couples Dinner (55+) runs the same night if you'd rather bring your person. Same idea, different room. We're still locking in the restaurant, but should have one soon.
Use code COUPLES10 for $10 off — grab a table here.
Both codes expire Monday, August 31. Signups close Monday, September 7 at 6:30pm.
Help Wanted
Local jobs and opportunities across Douglas County.
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NJR Handyman
A little taste of what Nick's been building
You've met NJR Handyman before. Here's what Nick's been up to lately: a custom mudroom bench he built and installed by hand, with a shiplap wall, bench seating, and built-in storage below.
That's the everyday NJR difference. One local guy, start to finish, no crew you've never met and no markup on materials. Built-ins, barn doors, flooring, trim, and the whole to-do list.
Got a project in mind? → njrhandymanservices.com
Saddle Up
Music & Concerts
The Parker Hotel - James Hurtado Live at The Upper Deck - Thu 8/27, 6pm–8pm
Tailgate Tavern & Grill - Jason Wulf Band at Tailgate Tavern - Thu 8/27, 6pm–10pm
Bar Hummingbird - Castle Rock - Live Music at Bar Hummingbird - Thu 8/27, 6pm–10pm
Tailgate Tavern & Grill - Sarah P and the Haypullers at Tailgate Tavern - Thu 8/27, 6pm–10pm
Tailgate Tavern & Grill - Jim Hyatt Band at Tailgate Tavern - Thu 8/27, 7:30pm–11:30pm
Prost Brewing Company - Live Music with Lindley at Prost Highlands Ranch - Fri 8/28, 4:30pm–8:30pm
The Groove at Lyric - Friday Night Live: Jenny Shawhan at The Groove - Fri 8/28, 5pm–8pm
Lone Tree Golf Club & Hotel - Music on the Patio: Josh Blackburn at Lone Tree Golf Club - Fri 8/28, 6pm–9pm
Larkspur Community Park - Larkspur Music in the Park — Lookin Back (Classic Rock) - Fri 8/28, 6pm–8pm
Pines Bar and Grill - Live Band - Fri 8/28, 6pm–9pm
The Parker Hotel - Haile's Ghost Live at The Upper Deck - Fri 8/28, 6pm–8pm
Bar Hummingbird - Castle Rock - Live Music at Bar Hummingbird - Fri 8/28, 6pm–10pm
Wide Open Saloon - Trouble Bound at Wide Open Saloon - Fri 8/28, 7pm–10:30pm
Studio@Mainstreet - Overnight Ugly at The Studio - Fri 8/28, 7pm–11pm
Takoda Tavern - Nikki Z & The Vizzion - Fri 8/28, 7:30pm–11:30pm
Tailgate Tavern & Grill - Guild of Ages at Tailgate Tavern - Fri 8/28, 7:30pm–11:30pm
Sinners & Saints - Whiskey Sky — Live at the Altar - Fri 8/28, 8pm–11pm
Tailgate Tavern & Grill - Mile Hi Groove at Tailgate Tavern - Fri 8/28, 8:30pm–12:30am
Tailgate Tavern & Grill - Rick Berthod at Tailgate Tavern - Sat 8/29, 12pm–4pm
Tailgate Tavern & Grill - Sarah P and the Haypullers at Tailgate Tavern - Sat 8/29, 12pm–4pm
Wide Open Saloon - Saturday Acoustic Show at Wide Open Saloon - Sat 8/29, 2pm–5pm
Prost Brewing Company - Live Music with Vinyl Nation at Prost Highlands Ranch - Sat 8/29, 5:30pm–8:30pm
Bar Hummingbird - Castle Rock - Live Music at Bar Hummingbird - Sat 8/29, 6pm–10pm
The Stagecoach Saloon - Walker Williams Live at The Stagecoach Saloon - Sat 8/29, 6:30pm–10:30pm
105 West Brewing Company - Live Music: Blues Frequency at 105 West - Sat 8/29, 6:30pm–9:30pm
Tailgate Tavern & Grill - Guild of Ages at Tailgate Tavern (Patio) - Sat 8/29, 7pm–11pm
Wide Open Saloon - Off Ramp at Wide Open Saloon - Sat 8/29, 7pm–10:30pm
Studio@Mainstreet - Radio Revolution at The Studio - Sat 8/29, 7pm–11pm
The Whiskey Lodge - Saturday Live Music at The Whiskey Lodge - Sat 8/29, 7pm–10pm
Takoda Tavern - Don Lindley Family Duo - Sat 8/29, 7:30pm–11:30pm
Miller Park Amphitheater - Summer Concert Series: Still the Same — A Bob Seger Tribute with the Denver Pops Orchestra - Sat 8/29, 8pm–10:30pm - $34-$44
Tailgate Tavern & Grill - Mile Hi Groove at Tailgate Tavern - Sat 8/29, 8:30pm–12:30am
Tailgate Tavern & Grill - Andre LaMotte on the Patio at Tailgate Tavern - Sun 8/30, 9am–12pm
Tailgate Tavern & Grill - JC Jonathan Cernan at Tailgate Tavern - Sun 8/30, 12pm–4pm
Studio@Mainstreet - Hazel Blue Duo at The Studio - Sun 8/30, 1pm–4pm
105 West Brewing Company - Live Music: Sarah P & the Dirty Logger at 105 West - Sun 8/30, 2:30pm–5:30pm
Tailgate Tavern & Grill - Wicked Addicted at Tailgate Tavern - Sun 8/30, 5pm–9pm
Savina's Mexican Kitchen - Savina's Summer Concert Series: Union Gray - Wed 9/2, 6pm–9pm
Food & Drink
Cherokee Ranch & Castle - Afternoon Tea at the Castle - Fri 8/28, 1pm–3pm - $74.95
Downtown Parker (check in at Parker Chamber Office, 19751 E. Mainstreet) - Parker Wine Walk — August 2026 - Fri 8/28, 4:30pm–7:30pm - $25-$30
Cherokee Ranch & Castle - Whiskey Tasting: Wild World of Bourbon - Fri 8/28, 6pm–9:15pm - $86.95
Cherokee Ranch & Castle - Afternoon Tea at the Castle - Sat 8/29, 1pm–3pm - $74.95
Arts & Culture
LaLa's Coffee & Boba - Pampas Fall Wreath Workshop at LaLa's - Thu 8/27, 11am–1pm - $45
Cherokee Ranch & Castle - Castle Tour at Cherokee Ranch & Castle - Fri 8/28, 10am–11:30am - $21-$24
Monk & Mongoose Coffee Co - Summer's Last Chapter Flower Arranging - Fri 8/28, 5pm–7pm - $119.22
Highland Heritage Regional Park - Broadway in the Park - Fri 8/28, 6pm–7:30pm
O'Brien Park - Art in the Park 2026 - Sat 8/29, 10am–5pm
Cherokee Ranch & Castle - Castle Tour at Cherokee Ranch & Castle - Sat 8/29, 10am–11:30am - $21-$24
Honnibrook Craft Meadery - Castle Rock: Mead & Magic - Sat 8/29, 7pm–9pm
PACE Center - Benise - 25 Years of Passion! - Sat 8/29, 7:30pm–9:30pm - $54.50-$64.50
Douglas County Libraries - Highlands Ranch - Author Event: Jacqueline St. Joan - Sun 8/30, 5pm–6:30pm
O'Brien Park - Art in the Park 2026 - Sun 8/30, 8am–4pm
The Schoolhouse - Parker Arts Lecture: Colorado's Wild West - Wed 9/2, 6:30pm–8pm
Cherokee Ranch & Castle - Arts Afield 2026 at Cherokee Ranch - Wed 9/2, 8:30am–1pm - $39
Nightlife & Entertainment
Alidade Brewing - Plant Bingo by Fun With Ferns - Thu 8/27, 6pm–7pm - $30
Sinners & Saints - Latin Night at Sinners & Saints - Thu 8/27, 7pm–10pm - $10-$15
Max Taps Co. - Dueling Pianos Show! - Fri 8/28, 7pm–10pm
Max Taps Co. - Free Comedy Show - Sat 8/29, 7:30pm–9:30pm
Purgatory Cellars Winery - Guided Play with Evergreen Mahjong Collective - Sun 8/30, 2pm–4pm - $20
Family
Sterling Ranch CAB - Splash Bash at Sterling Ranch - Sat 8/29, 12pm–3pm
Falcon Park - Moms & Sons Kickball Tournament - Sat 8/29, 4pm–6pm
Backcountry Base Camp - Backcountry Outdoor Movie: Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl - Sat 8/29, 8pm–10pm - $30
Sterling Ranch CAB - Dive-in Movie Night: Moana 2 at Sterling Ranch - Sat 8/29, 8:30pm–10:30pm
Lone Tree Arts Center - Passport to Culture: LocoMotion - Sun 8/30, 1:30pm–2:30pm - $9
Cherokee Ranch & Castle - Princess Party at the Castle - Sun 8/30, 1:30pm–3:30pm - $53.95
Lone Tree Arts Center - Seedlings: Cheyenne Mountain Zoo - Tue 9/1, 9:30am–10:30am - $5
Fitness & Wellness
RNK Running and Walking - Chog (Chill Jog) with RNK Running - Thu 8/27, 6pm–7pm
Central Park - Puppies & Pilates with BODYBAR - Thu 8/27, 7pm
Miller Park Amphitheater - Fitness Fridays - Fri 8/28, 8am–9am
RNK Running and Walking - Saturday Long Run with RNK Running - Sat 8/29, 7am–9am
Civic Green Park - Free Yoga in the Park at Civic Green - Sat 8/29, 8am–9am
105 West Brewing Company - Yoga at 105 West - Sat 8/29, 9:30am–11am - $14-$18
Prairie Sky Park - Bluffs 8K Trail Run at Bluffs Regional Park - Sun 8/30, 7:30am–9:30am - $38.35
Lost Coffee - Lost Runners Run Club with RNK Running - Sun 8/30, 8am–9:30am
Miller Park Amphitheater - Sunday morning Yoga in the Park - Sun 8/30, 8:30am–9:30am
RNK Running and Walking - RNK Monday Trail Run: Kinney Creek Trail - Mon 8/31, 5:30pm–6:30pm
Lone Tree Brewing Company - Boot Camp at Lone Tree Brewing - Mon 8/31, 6pm–7pm
Festival Park - Monday evening Yoga in the Park - Mon 8/31, 6:30pm–7:30pm
Lone Tree Brewing Company - Run Club at Lone Tree Brewing - Mon 8/31, 6:30pm–7:30pm
RNK Running and Walking - Weekly Reset Walking Club with RNK Running - Tue 9/1, 5:30pm–6:30pm
Outdoors
Cherokee Ranch & Castle - Hike: Setting of the Sun & Rising of the Full Moon - Fri 8/28, 6:15pm–9pm - $40
Prairie Sky Park - Guided Nature Hike: Sturgeon Moon at Prairie Sky Park - Fri 8/28, 7pm–8:30pm
Backcountry Base Camp - Nature Night Out - Sat 8/29, 5:30pm–7:30pm - $15
Prairie Sky Park - Guided Nature Hike: Native American Plant Uses at Prairie Sky - Sun 8/30, 9am–10:30am
Markets
Tony's Market - Castle Pines - Tony's Market Chile Roast - Castle Pines - Sat 8/29, 11am–3pm
Festival Park - Festival Park Farmers Market - Sun 8/30, 9am–2pm
Sterling Ranch CAB - Farmer's Market at Sterling Ranch - Wed 9/2, 3pm–7pm
Festivals & Fairs
McAwesome Ranch - The 2026 Colorado Bluegrass Festival - Sat 8/29, 5pm–10:30pm - $47
Community
The Historic Maytag Ranch - Under a Wild Sky 2026 — Douglas Land Conservancy Fundraiser - Sat 8/29, 4pm–8pm - $175-$350
Park Meadows - Park Meadows 30th Anniversary - Sat 8/29, 4pm–7pm
Alidade Brewing - Summer Bash to End ALS - Sun 8/30, 12pm–5pm
Looking for more? Every Douglas County event we track lives on our events calendar: dougcosocial.com/events.
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Best of Douglas County
Don't forget to get your vote in. You can always change it or add more as you try new places.
Tons of categories. Best burger, best green chile, best cinnamon roll, etc. Takes a minute or two. No wrong answers.
Hometown Headlines
The county set the rules for November's ballot measure, and this week moves fast
TLDR: Commissioners adopted procedures on August 25 for handling voter-initiated ballot measures. The county says it has not needed them since 1994, the last time a citizen-led petition qualified here. The board also directed staff to calculate the one-time and ongoing cost of going from three commissioners to five. A work session is set for 8am Thursday, August 27, open to the public but without public comment, and a special business meeting to set the ballot title is planned for 10am Friday, August 28, which does take public comment. The timeline leaves room for a 72-hour window to challenge the ballot title before the September 4 certification deadline.
Castle Pines will vote on two annexation questions, and Council has come out against one
TLDR: Both got on the ballot by citizen petition, not by Council. Organizers filed their intent in May, turned in petitions on July 31, and the City Clerk certified both on August 3 with 1,420 and 1,406 valid signatures. Colorado requires signatures from at least ten percent of a city's registered voters. The first question would require voter approval before the city could annex property over 20 acres held by a single owner or group, and would treat multiple parcels annexed in sequence as one. The second would send any such annexation from the previous 180 days back to voters. On August 25 the Council set both ballot titles, adopted the city's own Annexation Policy, and adopted a resolution formally opposing the first measure. Setting a ballot title is not an endorsement, and the opposition resolution is a separate vote. We have the full ballot language, how the signatures were verified, and everything else Council decided that night.
Douglas County schools are asking for $54 million on the November ballot
TLDR: The school board voted unanimously Tuesday night to put a $54 million mill levy override in front of voters on November 3. If it passes, starting in 2027 it would add $33.70 a year for every $100,000 your home is worth, so roughly $168.50 on a $500,000 house. The district says the money goes to teacher and staff pay, school security including resource officers, shorter waitlists for career and technical programs including the trades, and bringing instrumental music back to elementary schools. Worth knowing how this differs from the last two asks: a bond is a one-time payment for buildings, which is what the $490 million measure in 2024 was. An override is recurring and pays for people and programs. Voters turned one down in 2022 and passed a $60 million one in 2023. Supporters say the district is still about $2,000 per pupil behind its neighbors and has the lowest teacher salaries in the metro. Opponents are focused on affordability and on the fact that an override does not expire. Board Secretary Kyrzia Parker, who supports it, said it plainly: "$300 a year, $100 a year, that might break some people."
Highlands Ranch Parkway: a weekend closure, and a trail that is shut for the season
TLDR: The Longfellow Lane access point at Highlands Ranch Parkway closes at 6am Friday, August 28 and reopens 8am Monday, August 31 so crews can pave in one shift instead of several, which the county says shortens the schedule by about a week. Use Burntwood Way to get in. Expect single-lane traffic in both directions between Broadway and Burntwood Way, and delays of up to 15 minutes. Separately, the bike and pedestrian trail connecting East Highlands Ranch Parkway and Ridgeglen Way between Burntwood Way and Broadway is now closed for the remainder of the project, not just this week. Use the signed detour and the crossing at Burntwood Way. All of it is weather dependent.
Coyote Ridge Park renovations start next month
TLDR: Castle Pines' Parks and Recreation Advisory Board met August 20 and got an update on the Coyote Ridge Park renovation, with construction expected to begin in September. The board also worked through trail signage and looked at phasing options and amenities for the first phase of Soaring Hawk Park.
What Life Time in Castle Pines will actually cost
TLDR: Life Time doesn't publish pricing for the Castle Pines club, which is why nobody has been able to answer the question everyone keeps asking. A grand opening breakdown shared publicly this week by Castle Pines area agent Mariel Ross, who flagged it as subject to change, puts an individual at $329 a month, two adults at $489, three adults at $579, and $100 for each child 13 and under. Her own household of two adults and three kids lands around $789. One detail worth catching: the child rate stops at 13, so a 14-year-old is priced as an adult. Those are most likely pre-opening rates, since Life Time says waitlist members get a discount that goes up once the club opens, and nearly 7,500 people are already on that list. The club is on track for November in The Canyons, with four indoor and five outdoor pickleball courts.
A Parker veteran got his Purple Heart 21 years late
TLDR: Joel O'Connor enlisted in the Army after September 11, 2001 and served two combat tours in Operation Iraqi Freedom. He was injured in Iraq on July 4, 2005, and earned the Combat Action Badge that year for his actions under enemy fire. The Purple Heart recognizing those injuries never came. This month it finally did, after a congressional office tracked the medal down. He was pinned at Cherokee Ranch and Castle with his wife Natalie, their three daughters, and a room full of neighbors there for it.
A Legend High senior spent a semester working the Senate floor
TLDR: Mark Durden, now a senior at Legend High School, spent a session in Washington as one of 30 U.S. Senate Pages. He found out the program existed by accident, on a family vacation, when they picked up gallery passes to the Senate Chamber and noticed high schoolers working the floor. He applied through Senator John Hickenlooper's office, got in that December, and moved into the Daniel Webster Senate Page Residence on Capitol Hill. Pages start class at 6am and then report to the chamber to run documents and messages. His takeaway was watching senators go at each other in debate and then be friendly the second the cameras were off. The whole thing started with the Parker Youth Commission, which is currently recruiting.
Castle Rock firefighters are out with the boots September 4 through 7
TLDR: More than 100 Castle Rock Fire and Rescue members, their Explorers and their families take part in Fill the Boot every year, collecting for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and research into ALS and related diseases. It starts Friday, September 4 at Bubbles Liquor World, 675 Genoa Way, from 4 to 7pm, then runs September 5 and 6 from 8:30am to 4pm and September 7 from 9am to noon, at the King Soopers at Promenade and Ridge Road, the Home Depot on Allen Street, around Festival Park, and at S. Perry and Rio Grande. Local 4116 and the department raised $36,922 in 2024 and $47,319 in 2025, fourth among Colorado IAFF locals both years. It is personal there. Firefighter Jeff Dunn, who joined in 2002, died of ALS, and Lt. Matt Osborn points to research finding firefighters face nearly twice the ALS mortality risk of non-firefighters.
The county's community foundation just had its biggest year ever
TLDR: The Douglas County Community Foundation got more than 70 applications this grant cycle and gave out a record $99,500 across 25 organizations, 17 of which had never received money from them before. Add the $32,000 in scholarships from last quarter and 2026 is the largest grant year in the foundation's history. Their golf tournament at The Club at Ravenna sold out at 80 golfers and raised more than $100,000 on its own.
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