Today's Features

Everyone loves an underdog.

Nemo, a dachshund-beagle mix, was found abandoned in a box-store parking lot in Joplin, Mo. But even though a good Samaritan rescued the 3-month-old pup, his future didn't look bright. Nemo was born with a deformed right front leg. Instead of a normal leg, he had two small legs attached to each other, a useless appendage.

Abandoned dogs with severe deformities usually don't get adopted, and in many cases they are euthanized.

 By Alison Mahnken

For the Courier

Hope for animals and for the community was the inspiration for a center housed at Foothills Animal Shelter in Golden.

The Hope Center for Humane Education consists of a large room available for public events and private functions, and the space serves many of the shelter’s goals, from educating the public about homeless pets to fund-raising to animal training.    

Joshua Arne, a member of Boy Scout Troop 640 in Littleton, earned his Eagle Scout rank on Oct. 24.

To attain the rank of Eagle Scout, Joshua earned 22 merit badges and served his troop in a variety of leadership roles. He completed a community service project, building two raised flower beds at Rocky Mountain Feline Rescue. He is a member of the Order of the Arrow in Scouts and the Denver Zoo Boy Scouts Explorer program. 

Foothills Park and Recreation golf director Tom Woodard started playing in a junior program at Denver’s City Park at 9 years of age, when instructors correctly recognized a budding golf prodigy.

The family had moved from Midland, Texas, to Denver into a house just two blocks away from the course, where some of the neighborhood kids worked as caddies.

“I just followed them down there,” said Tom Woodard, 56, Foothills’ golf director for the last six years. “It just took off from there.”