Features

Since its completion and dedication in September 2007, the Columbine Memorial has served as a place for the public to reflect on the events of April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School and to honor the victims who lost their lives in the school shootings.

The overall design of the monument on Rebel Hill in Clement Park, with a panoramic view of the Front Range and snowcapped peaks, has stood the test of time. But the grout in the engraved lettering on granite tablets has deteriorated.

By Alison Mahnken

For the Courier

Dachshunds and dunkel and dancing, oh my! These and more were on tap at the Oktoberfest at the Highlands Ranch Town Center on Saturday.

The celebration, presented annually by the Highlands Ranch Cultural Affairs Association, debuted with the tapping of the keg at 2 p.m. and concluded with fireworks in the evening (rescheduled after the July 4 cancellation).

Thirteen years after the tragedy, a father whose son was killed in the Columbine High School shootings on April 20, 1999, has written a book about his struggle to come to terms with grief and rise above the horrible events that shattered his family's life.

"Walking in Daniel's Shoes," by Tom Mauser, is a factual and sometimes emotional account by a parent of what happens to a family when a child is murdered.

A dizzying array of dogs leapt and splashed about Sunday during Foothills Park and Recreation’s annual Doggy Dip at Deer Creek and Weaver Hollow pools.

At Deer Creek Pool, more than 100 area pooches eagerly pulled their masters through the gates to get their chance to jump into the drink. Some pooches played under water buckets that intermittently doused them, while others did Phelpsian laps to retrieve floating toys from the end of the lap pool.

Children giggled as dogs of all sizes and shapes leapt into the water and shook off on the pool deck.

Clement Park has gone to the dogs. For one day, anyway.

Foothills Park and Recreation hosted the Total Performance Disc Dogs club during the district’s Summer Concert Series on Friday.

Over a chorus of barking dogs and raucous music, Matt DiAno, a member of Total Performance Disc Dogs, shared what goes into the sport. Total Performance Disc Dogs is a group of dog-loving friends who perform all over Colorado. They specialize in Frisbee performances, but also present agility and herding performances as well.

As a tribute to the spirit of hard-working dogs that unselfishly serve humanity, a Golden Eagle Scout has created a worthy monument on the grounds of the Foothills Animal Shelter.

About 100 people turned out for the unveiling of the bronze service-dog memorial sculpture on June 12 in the courtyard at the shelter near Sixth Avenue and Indiana Street.

After various participants made their remarks, the Boy Scouts gathered around the statue and removed the silver tarp to reveal the bronze replica of a German shepherd by local artist and Rotary member Pat Madison.

For Army Sgt. Eric Bishop, last week’s homecoming from South Korea — his third overseas deployment — meant seeing his 10-month-old son, Sebastian, for the first time.

For his wife, Charlotte, who spent the last year wrangling a 2-year-old and changing and feeding their new baby, the event held simpler significance.

"I am hoping to get more sleep," she said.

Sebastian was born last June 28, and during the past 10 months he saw his father only in photos and on a computer screen. 

More people are dying every year in Jefferson County because of prescription-drug overdoses, a trend mirroring national statistics that the coroner’s office attributes to increased prescribing of opiate painkillers.

By year’s end, the office predicts, 45 residents will die from unintentional drug toxicity. And though 2010 saw a slight drop in prescription-drug deaths, the anticipated number for 2011 would represent a 73 percent rise over those of 2005.

South Jeffco resident Dean Hinds had a nostalgic surprise waiting for him when he sat down for breakfast on Veterans Day at MorningStar Senior Living — a wasp-waisted, dark-green Army jacket, a relic he had not seen since tucking it away in a trunk when he returned home from Germany after World War II.

His son in law, Bob Jones, had discovered the jacket in his home just days before, and was eager to reunite the garment with its owner.