News & Views
‘The Big Deal’ about marijuana
The numbers rolling into the Colorado Department of Education speak for themselves: school expulsion for drug violations overwhelmingly associated with marijuana use and dealing have rocketed up at alarming rates in this state. Consider: Drug violations reported by...
Middle school tennis, anyone?
I'm an especially proud tennis coach today. Denver Montclair International School's inaugural tennis team technically started last fall, when most of the 6th graders you see in this picture weren't sure how to hold a tennis racquet or where the service line even was....
Helping kids with epilepsy
Three years ago, 16-year-old Chelsea Hutchison died after experiencing a seizure in her sleep. The official cause of death: Sudden Unexplained Death in Epilepsy, or SUDEP, which accounts for roughly 18 percent of deaths of people with epilepsy. No one knows exactly...
Denver Health bucks national healthcare trends
Psychiatric hospitals for adults are closing. Psychiatric hospitals for kids? They're even more difficult to find these days. They don't make enough money. Getting insurance to cover the costs of psychiatric treatment is, well, let's just leave it at "difficult." So,...
Oh, look! More docs reject marijuana legalization
The proclamation is clear and direct. It states: For Colorado's public health and safety, we are opposed to legalizing marijuana for recreational use. In other words, Colorado, vote no on Amendment 64 when you see it on the November ballot. As if raising kids to...
Helping kids get down to business
Core Values Consulting in Colorado is offering fantastic instruction in business leadership to students in grades 4-12. Check out the company's Junior Executive Leadership Program, which is designed to help kids learn more about the meaning of success, team dynamics...
A trip to the garden center
From the files of "Out of the Mouths of Babes" -- and as recounted on my Facebook Wall to the delight of dozens of friends, who offered enthusiastic thumbs up: Christine Tatum is recovering from the trauma of visiting a garden center with her 5-year-old son and...
Lazy journalism in the NYT compounds ignorance
I love journalism. I love many journalists. I have a long track record of going to the mat to improve and protect journalism. Lazy journalism? That's a different story entirely. Please, allow me to dissect (or is that "rip to shreds?") a New York Times story by Jesse...
Talkin’ teen depression
As far as I'm concerned, one of the coolest and most helpful news organizations in the country -- and probably even on the planet -- is The Mash. It's guided by experienced journalists working for the Tribune Co., and written mostly by students. The Mash produces news...
Close marijuana dispensaries near schools already
I recently shared some of my thoughts with I-News Network about marijuana dispensaries operating near Colorado schools. Check out the resulting story by Katie Kerwin McCrimmon. (The photo at left was taken for I-News by Joe Mahoney.) As you'll see in the comments...
Read the book
Clearing the Haze is a guide designed to help parents determine whether their child may have a substance problem and, if so, how to begin to address it. This book includes the voices and insight of experts in substance abuse counseling, young people in recovery, and parents who have lived the nightmare of adolescent addiction.