Today's News

Greg Lubeck and Kurt McCluskey were teammates once in baseball. Of late, the two have been lining up opposite each other on the hard court for Dakota Ridge and Columbine.

“I realized I wanted to stay consistent with him,” Lubeck said. “Put the ball away when I needed to. I played him in the summer and I knew if I could hit against him, I could beat him.”

Lubeck was right as the Dakota Ridge No. 1 bested McCluskey 6-0, 6-1 as part of the Class 5A Jefferson County League dual between the rival programs.

While the state park system valued hosting the Rocky Mountain Balloon Festival at Chatfield State Park every year, it couldn’t extend any financial breaks to prevent the demise of the financially ailing event, a parks spokeswoman says.

"We loved the event," parks spokeswoman Deb Frazier said last week. “It was spectacular. Certainly the event is sorely missed."

Trying to find positives in a 7-0 defeat can be a difficult thing to do.

But, when you are a team in transition, such as the Columbine Rebels, the early season setbacks can become valuable teaching tools.

Shortly after the Rebels were defeated by visiting Ponderosa on Sept. 2 at Dave Sanders Memorial Field, coach Robin Ortiz gathered his girls around and discussed what transpired on the field.

A symbol of peace has taken root near the front doors of Columbine High School.

A Tree of Peace, provided by the Colorado Association of School Resource Officers, was planted Aug. 29 by students and law officers, a decade after two teenagers fatally shot 12 fellow students and a teacher at the school.

"It's a great symbol," Columbine senior Roman Richardson said as he watched the planting. Richardson, 17, remembers watching news coverage of the shootings and recalls his mother being afraid.