From your linked article:
Yampa Valley Regional Airport Manager Dave Ruppel says traffic controllers in Denver had cleared the small plane for takeoff after the United Express pilots apparently reported they were already on the ground before they had actually landed.
Without more specific information I'm going to assume that the journalist incorrectly characterized the airport manager's remarks to mean the CRJ crew advised ATC they were on the ground at HDN when in reality they likely canceled their IFR clearance while still airborne, which would allow ATC to issue the takeoff clearance to the King Air. A perfectly normal and run off the mill situation at uncontrolled airports throughout the US.
Also, I don't see any reference to "on the deck" in the linked article, has the wording been changed since your original post?