Turning Back the Pages

30 years ago – September 27, 1985

Jo Lasley, 14, is five feet tall and 92 pounds. Prior to Wednesday, she had a desire to play on the Gilpin County RE-1 School football team. When asked why she wanted to play football she said, “I have liked football for a long time and I basically wanted to see if I could do it.” At the beginning of this week, Lasley caught a cold and as of Wednesday night she decided to quit the team because it was more than she physically could handle. Had Lasley decided to continue practicing for the football team, she would not have been qualified to play in the school games until she attended the required number of practices. Barry Wood, the football coach, said she had attended four practices. It is a requirement of all members of the team that they attend nine practice sessions before participating in the games. A lawsuit filed in a Denver federal court by Lasley’s mother, Pat Cohen, against the Colorado High School Activities Association and Dan Ryan, the RE-1 principal, will be dropped, Cohen said. The lawsuit was originally filed on September 20 against the CHSAA and Ryan primarily because the school was informed it would be disqualified from competition in all sports if Lasley was allowed to play on the team. Cohen said Ryan was secondary in the lawsuit. Wood and Ryan did not object to Lasley playing on the team. Cohen said, “Dan (Ryan) is very supportive of her playing.” Lasley said Wednesday that “it is hard, because of my size, to be effective” when she attended the afternoon practices.

Make that two people who have been retrieved from mine shafts during September in Gilpin County, after suffering only minor injuries. The most recent incident occurred on Saturday, September 21, at a mine near Russell Gulch. After falling an estimated 80 feet into the mine, Robbie Smith, 22, of Wheat Ridge was rescued by Van Cullar and John Starkey, along with a number of other locals. According to the report prepared by Gilpin Undersheriff David Martinez, Smith had tried to climb down a piece of cord into the shaft when he slipped and fell. Two people that were with Smith at the time reported the accident to the sheriff’s department. Upon arriving at the scene, Martinez could call down to Smith but could not see him. Smith thought he had a broken arm and a broken jaw. Emergency medical technician Dick Allen of the Gilpin County ambulance service confirmed that Smith did have a broken arm. After being removed from the shaft, Smith was transported to Lutheran Medical Center in Wheat Ridge. Martinez reported that Smith was allegedly drinking 80-proof alcohol prior to climbing down the shaft. Earlier this month a woman and her motorcycle were retrieved from a mine shaft south of Russel Gulch.