City Cast Denver

Even with Omicron slowly waning, Denverites are still not going downtown at a rate anywhere close to pre-pandemic levels. The lack of hustle and bustle has led the City of Denver and the Downtown Denver Partnership to propose yet another plan to “reactivate” the 16th St. Mall: rent-free pop-up shops to fill all the empty storefronts. Host Bree Davies and Producer Paul Karolyi speculate on the future of downtown with Westword editor Patty Calhoun. Then, Colorado’s own skiing sensation Mikaela Shiffrin shocked the world this week at the Beijing Olympics, prompting another round of the age-old debate: Should Denver make a bid to host the Winter Games? For more on Denver’s unique relationship with the Olympics, check out our two-parter from last summer: The Case For A Denver Olympics (with Downtown Denver Partnership board chair Robert Cohen) The Case Against A Denver Olympics (with former Colorado governor Dick Lamm) Paul mentioned that even elephants are getting into yoga in Denver now. Here’s a gallery of photos courtesy of The Denver Gazette: https://denvergazette.com/multimedia/elephant-yoga-at-the-denver-zoo/collection_52340c18-888e-11ec-9d91-874d09fbd4e4.html It’s your last chance to submit a Denver love story before Valentine’s Day on Monday! Email yours to [email protected] or leave us a voicemail: (720) 500-5418. If you don’t have plans yet, we’ve got a round-up of Valentine’s Day events in our newsletter today. You can read that and subscribe here: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/ What do you think about Denver hosting the Olympics? Let us know on Twitter @citycastdenver.

The King Soopers strike last month showed Coloradans what organized labor can accomplish to improve working conditions… but what about public workers, who don’t currently have the right to collective bargaining under state law? That’s where the Communication Workers of America (CWA) 7799 comes in. They’re a coalition of workers at Denver Public Library, the University of Colorado, Denver Health and UC Health who are working with state lawmakers to beef up Colorado’s labor laws and, they say, strengthen our public institutions in the process. Adjunct professor Alex Wolf-Root and library worker Liana Kiddy-Gan join host Bree Davies to talk about why collective bargaining is so important for public workers like themselves. To find out more about CWA 7799 and ways to get involved in the fight for collective bargaining rights, visit their website: www.cwa7799.org Wolf-Root mentioned that collective bargaining tends to help close race and gender gaps in the workplace. A true academic, he passed along a few links to relevant research after the interview: “How today’s unions help working people” and “The Union Advantage for Women.” Colorado House Majority Leader Daneya Esgar explains her support for their campaign in this editorial for The Gazette: https://gazette.com/denver-gazette/we-owe-public-employees-collective-bargaining And here’s your reminder to send us your Denver love stories by this weekend, for inclusion in our special Valentine’s Day episode! Leave us a voicemail at 720-500-5418, or email us at [email protected] Get your Denver food news fix in today’s newsletter! You can read it and sign up at https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/ And join the conversation on Twitter! @citycastdenver

There are so many people experiencing homelessness in Denver. And in some ways, Colorado’s problem is bigger than any other state’s — according to a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development study, Colorado’s “chronically sheltered” population has grown more than 250% in the last 14 years. Recently, two 9News reporters discovered that this uptick in folks looking for shelter has led them to places they’ve not typically gone before — like the airport. Jeremy Jojola and Zack Newman are back on the show to discuss their latest investigation into why arrests have tripled at the airport in the last few years, and how it’s all connected to Denver’s greater housing crisis. Definitely check out Jeremy and Zack’s original report: https://www.9news.com/article/news/investigations/homeless-crisis-denver-airport/73-096826a3-658f-4036-a3d3-83bba7fda134 And keep sending us your Denver love stories! Call us at 720-500-5418, or send us an email at [email protected], and tell us about that special person, place, or pet. For more Denver news fresh in your inbox every weekday morning, subscribe to the CCD newsletter: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/ Follow us on Twitter @citycastdenver

One day in 1925, Kate Slaughterback and her adopted son Ernie were riding horses near Hudson, Colorado, when they were beset by rattlesnakes. Being no ordinary frontierswoman, Kate shot and clubbed 140 of them to death, earning her the nickname Rattlesnake Kate. Nearly 100 years later, another extraordinary Colorado woman stumbled across a dress made entirely out of rattlesnake skins and found herself beset by inspiration. A former member of The Lumineers, Neyla Pekarek wrote and recorded her first solo album based on Kate’s story a few years ago, and now, with help from the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, she’s adapted it into a full-blown musical. Host Bree Davies sits down with Pekarek to talk about what she saw in the little-known story of Rattlesnake Kate and why she deserves her place in the history of the Old West. “Rattlesnake Kate” is in previews this week ahead of the big opening this Friday. You can learn more about it and find tickets here: https://www.denvercenter.org/tickets-events/rattlesnake-kate/ Plus, after hearing about the upheaval in the Douglas County School District yesterday, we checked in with parents Nara Altmann and Ishmeet Kalra. They helped create DougCo Schools’ equity policy in 2020, which the new conservative board majority has been dismantling alongside their efforts to oust former superintendent Corey Wise and cancel mask mandates. Catch our episode with Altmann and Kalra from last August about the equity policy here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0ksJbnJksbUQdvIyVBjcK1 At the end of last week, Mayor Michael Hancock announced a series of new public safety programs and policies. Peyton’s got a full rundown in today’s newsletter, which you can read and subscribe to right here: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/ Are you excited to see Rattlesnake Kate: The Musical? Let us know on Twitter: @citycastdenver

In a private (and allegedly illegal) meeting last week, two conservative members of the Douglas County School Board issued Superintendent Cory Wise an ultimatum: resign or be fired. It was the latest in months of drama between students, teachers, parents, administration, and the newly elected, now-majority conservative board. Colorado Newsline reporter Chase Woodruff was on the ground in Castle Rock when thousands of protesters were gathering outside district offices last week, and he joins host Bree Davies to explain what’s been happening in DougCo’s contentious school district and why it all went off the rails at Friday night’s impromptu board meeting. You can read Woodruff’s latest piece on the situation in DougCo, which was published before Wise’s firing, here: https://coloradonewsline.com/2022/02/04/protest-douglas-county-school-board-oust-superintendent/ Check out our daily newsletter for an even deeper dive on the DougCo drama: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/ Chat with us on Twitter: @citycastdenver

The Denver Broncos — what a week. From news of the team officially being put up for sale to a lawsuit alleging John Elway was a hungover slob in a past head coach interview, we’re here to talk about this mess of a football team. Producer Paul Karolyi is joined by City Cast Denver contributor Jake Shapiro and Westword editor Patty Calhoun to talk about what this means for the future of the Broncos, and if Denver could ever accept Aaron Rodgers as the city’s next football darling. In the second half of this Friday Chat, producer Xandra McMahon, host Bree Davies, and newsletter writer Peyton Garcia share their Denver love stories… and we want to hear YOUR Denver love stories, too! Whether it’s about a special person, a pet, or a place — what’s happened in Denver that makes you feel those warm fuzzies? You can leave us a voicemail at 720-500-5418, send us a text, or email us at [email protected]. And stay tuned for something sweet in time for Valentine’s Day! Head on over to our newsletter for your Friday event roundup! https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/ And while you're at it, follow us on Twitter! @CityCastDenver

Billions of people all over the world celebrated the Lunar New Year on Tuesday, including here in Denver, where Mimi Luong’s family has made it their mission to share the holiday with everyone. Her grandparents, her dad, and her uncles all fled Vietnam during the fall of Saigon in 1975. When they arrived in Denver, they had nothing. But Mimi’s family worked hard to build a piece of home here and that dream eventually led to the Far East Center — a shopping plaza in Southwest Denver that celebrates Asian culture and heritage. This weekend, the Far East Center will host Lunar New Year festivities after taking a year off because of the pandemic. For more details on the events visit: https://littlesaigondenver.com/ Newsletter writer Peyton Garcia has a robust roundup of other Lunar New Year events happening in Denver. Subscribe here: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/ We would absolutely love it if you shared photos from any Lunar New Year fun happening in your area this weekend. Tweet us @citycastdenver And be sure to share your Denver love stories with us! Whether it’s about a person, a pet, or a place — what’s happened in Denver that makes you feel those warm fuzzy butterflies? Leave us a voicemail at 720-500-5418, and stay tuned for a something sweet, just in time for Valentine’s Day.

Earlier this week, Mayor Hancock announced that he was letting Denver’s indoor mask mandate expire on Thursday. This means the days of mask requirements and proofs of vaccination will soon be a thing of the past. Though he cited waning numbers of Omicron cases and hospitalizations, the mayor also stated that we’re still dealing with an ongoing “public health emergency.” Today on the show, host Bree Davies talks with Dr. Jonathan Samet — a pulmonary physician, epidemiologist, and dean of the Colorado School of Public Health — about where we are with the Omicron variant and if this latest lifting of the mask mandate means we’re in the clear. Producer Paul Karolyi caught mushroom fever and went down a rabbit hole of local wildfire science, ecology, and mycology. You can learn all about it in today’s City Cast Denver newsletter, which you can read and sign up for here: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/ We love Twitter! Find us there: @CityCastDenver

There is a special place in Denver with all the best old junk: shelves of antique tools, a ratty old flightsuit, bright yellow bombs hanging from the ceiling (decommissioned, we hope), and all sorts of hidden nooks and crannies filled with dusty treasures of yesteryear. Surplus Tools & Commodities now bills itself as a “unique shopping experience,” but long before all the artists and scavengers discovered its secrets, Roger Cox’s grandfather opened the shop in 1947 selling government surplus. Host Bree Davies lives a few blocks away, so when she saw Roger’s note that the shop is closing later this year, she invited her friend, artist Lauri Lynnx Murphy — who has been making art out of Surplus’s goods for decades — for one last spin through the aisles. Wanna see photos of the treasure we found on our visit to Surplus Tools & Commodities? Subscribe to the CCD newsletter! https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/ Share the weirdest thing you’ve purchased at Surplus Tools with us on Twitter: @citycastdenver

If you’ve visited Denver’s Downtown Aquarium recently, you probably noticed something fishy. According to numerous current and former employees, the current owners have allowed the place to deteriorate, with issues ranging from paint chips in the stingray pool to piles of expired food for sale to not-so-subtle anti-mask messaging. So Host Bree Davies sat down with Westword reporter Catie Cheshire to talk about her recent investigation, including her undercover trip to the aquarium’s restaurant. They discuss the aquarium’s unique regulatory situation, the current owners (they run a chain of seafood restaurants!), and what, if anything, can be done to clean up this mess. To read Cheshire’s whole cover story for Westword, find it on newsstands or online here: https://www.westword.com/news/aquarium-downtown-denver-landrys-stingray-fish-starbucks-employee-complaints-13300068 The Irish Snug is gone!!!!!!!! Bree lamented the loss of a Colfax favorite in our newsletter today. Read that and subscribe here: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/ We’re keeping it real on Twitter every day. Join us: @CityCastDenver

Too many neighborhoods in Denver lack access to fresh food. It’s an ongoing problem as the city continues to grow and become more expensive, and the mom and pop markets get put out of business by the grocery conglomerates. But this week, one Republican lawmaker decided he had a plan to solve Colorado’s food desert problem: just put groceries into existing liquor stores. Hmmm…easier said than done. For this week’s Friday chat, City Cast Denver producer Paul Karolyi chats with host Bree Davies, and Westword editor Patty Calhoun about why food in liquor stores is actually a bad idea. Plus, the three discuss the exciting proposal to turn the historic Black farming settlement of Colorado’s Wild West days — Dearfield — into a National Park. Like the music you heard on today’s show? It comes from the local group, Bluebook, who have a new album out soon. You can check out two of the tracks from the upcoming record on their website: https://www.thisisbluebook.com/listen Folks can also listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/thisisbluebook or Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/thisisbluebook Get all the news and recommendations in your inbox every weekday morning. Subscribe to the CCD newsletter: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/ Connect with us on Twitter: @CityCastDenver

Denver’s Phamaly Theatre Company doesn’t just accommodate theatre artists with disabilities, they welcome them and celebrate them — they are them. Actor, director, and advocate Regan Linton is one of the filmmakers behind the 2021 documentary imperfect that takes audiences into this “sacred space,” as she calls it, as the actors and crew members put on a production of Chicago. The documentary won the audience award for best documentary at last year’s Denver Film Festival, and today, City Cast Denver host Bree Davies talks with Linton about disability representation and affirmation, the importance of vulnerability, and why this film is for everyone. You’ll hear clips from imperfect in this episode, but you can stream it online (for $10, which includes access to all the other films in the Slamdance Film Festival) starting today at slamdance.com. And find out more about Phamaly and their upcoming production, The Spitfire Grill, on their website. Sign up for our daily newsletter, which, today, includes a local theatre round-up! https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/ Have a favorite Phamaly Theatre Company production? Let us know on Twitter: @citycastdenver

Vail Resorts isn’t just the biggest ski resort operator in Colorado, it’s the biggest operator in all of North America. But now, more than 40,000 skiers and snowboarders across the country are fed up with how Vail Resorts does business. A petition circulating in the ski and snowboard world aims to hold the company accountable for things like “mismanagement of the ski area, the failure to treat employees well, or pay them a livable wage, and the failure to deliver the product we all paid for and bought with hard-earned money during a pandemic.” So we called up Jason Blevins in Eagle, CO. When he’s not hitting the slopes at Beaver Creek, he’s reporting on all things outdoors for The Colorado Sun. He’s also a former ski bum, and walked City Cast Denver host Bree Davies through this skier vs. multi-million dollar corporate ski resort conflict. Sign up for our daily newsletter to get an even bigger head start on the news of the day: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/ And we love tweets! Follow us: @citycastdenver

The mass shooting across Denver and Lakewood last month led to the deaths of five people, many of whom were leaders in the local tattooing community, including Alicia Cardenas. But as Westword's Culture Editor Emily Ferguson discovered when she was reporting on an art opening at a local parlor, the Denver tattoo community has a dark history of violence that long predates the events of December 27, 2021. Host Bree Davies sat down with Ferguson to talk about how Cardenas and a new wave of artists revolutionized the city’s tattoo scene and discuss Ferguson’s own experience of reporting on this community before and after the tragedy. Content warning: Ferguson recorded an interview with Cardenas 12 days before the shooting. This episode includes clips from that interview. For more on the Denver tattoo story, we highly recommend Ferguson’s story, including some pretty epic photos of 1970’s tattoo artists: https://www.westword.com/arts/denver-tattoo-murders-history-alicia-cardenas-peter-poulos-13222137 Remember last week’s episode when City Cast CEO David Plotz came on to ask his embarrassing Denver questions? Our producer Paul Karolyi dove deep into the question of baking at altitude in our newsletter today, and your next focaccia will thank you for reading. Subscribe and read that issue here: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/ Join us on Twitter for more Denver chit-chat: @citycastdenver

Ten days after more than 8,000 grocery store workers across Denver walked out on strike, Kroger-owned King Soopers and the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 7 announced a tentative agreement on Friday morning. Union president Kim Cordova said that the new three-year contract would address "the company's unfair labor practices and ensures that our members will receive the respect, pay, and protection they warrant.” But really, that’s for the workers to decide, and a vote is scheduled for today. So producer Paul Karolyi called up someone who’s been through this before. Miguel Jimenez worked for King Soopers from 1984 through 2006, including during several contract negotiations and strikes, and he shares his perspective on today's pivotal vote. At one point in this conversation with Jimenez, Paul mentioned Ernie Duran Jr. He was Kim Cordova’s predecessor as president of the UFCW Local 7, and his tenure ended with quite a flameout of controversy. For the whole story, we recommend this deep dive into the tense 2009 union presidential election by past City Cast Denver guest Melanie Asmar: https://www.westword.com/news/can-a-mild-mannered-bakery-clerk-solve-the-grocery-workers-labor-strife-5106281 Just how bad is crime in Colorado? Here’s the Denver Post article Paul referenced with a deep dive into the data: https://www.denverpost.com/2022/01/23/colorado-crime-rate-homicides-shootings-assaults/ Is the King Soopers strike of ’22 ready for the history books? Or will workers reject the contract and return to the picket lines? No matter what, we’ll have the story in our weekday morning newsletter. Subscribe here: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/. Hang out with us on Twitter @citycastdenver.

For this week’s Friday news roundup, City Cast Denver host Bree Davies and producer Paul Karolyi are joined by Westword editor and founder, Patty Calhoun, to discuss a couple legacy businesses in the city that are undergoing some big changes. First, in a lengthy investigative piece, Denverite found that some employees of Denver’s largest independent bookstore, Tattered Cover, are less than satisfied with the new owners who took over in 2020 and started aggressively expanding the business. Then, Denver Business Journal revealed this week that Tom’s Diner on Colfax might be coming back from the grave as…a 1970s-era Las Vegas-style cocktail lounge? By the way, we want to find the best fried chicken in Denver, and we want your help! Email your pick to [email protected] or leave us a voicemail explaining why at 720-500-5418. Subscribe to the CCD newsletter for great food recommendations around the city: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/ You can also talk to us about fried chicken on Twitter: @citycastdenver

People have been moving to Denver since, well, Denver became Denver. And it’s no secret, this tension between longtime residents and new folks is kinda the crux of our struggle as a city. So we thought, what better way to help get new Denverites acclimated than to bring in our boss David Plotz. He’s a lifelong Washingtonian, but as CEO of City Cast it’s part of his job to get to know all the cities that are part of our network: Chicago, Houston, Salt Lake City, Pittsburgh, and of course, Denver. So today on the show, David asks City Cast Denver host Bree Davies and producer Xandra McMahon some of his most embarrassing Denver questions, like: “What the heck is Red Rocks and do you actually get to sit on the rocks?” and “Does the altitude really affect your life that much?” City Cast is growing and we’re hiring in a lot of cities! Check out the list here: https://citycast.fm/jobs/ Get all the Denver news and recs you need in your inbox every weekday morning. Subscribe to the CCD newsletter here: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/ How would you answer David’s questions about Denver? Let us know on Twitter: @citycastdenver

Denverites are slowly returning to public buses, trains, and light rail, but ridership is still far below pre-pandemic levels. At the same time, bus drivers have been leaving the fleet in droves, and the Regional Transportation District (RTD) is still paying off huge loans from major projects of yesteryear. So why is now the right time for RTD to propose the biggest overhaul of bus routes since the 1970s? Colorado Public Radio’s transportation reporter Nathaniel Minor is back on the show to connect the dots. All of them. No matter how dispersed they are across the metro area. For more on this new RTD proposal, check out Minor’s article laying out the details: https://www.cpr.org/2022/01/12/rtd-bus-network-overhaul/ At the end of the episode, Minor suggested that listeners who want a say in this route overhaul should get in touch with their RTD director. You can find yours and their contact info here: https://www.rtd-denver.com/board-of-directors We’ve got even more Denver news in our newsletter. Subscribe now and get your first edition tomorrow morning at 6 a.m. https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/ Talk transit to us on Twitter: @citycastdenver

Welton St. Cafe has seen Five Points change — a lot. But unlike many other Black-owned businesses in the neighborhood, the restaurant has been able to stay alive — and thrive — amid the displacement and gentrification of its own community. Still, real estate pressures have crept up on the decades-old, family-run business and the restaurant is ready for a new home. Host Bree Davies and producer Xandra McMahon sat down with Chereka Dickerson, whose family has been running the restaurant for most of her life, to find out more about their campaign to raise money for the next chapter of Welton St. Cafe and how they manage to keep the spirit of old Five Points alive. If you’d like to support Welton St. Cafe’s effort to open a new restaurant space, here’s a link to the GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/c6p4h-last-man-standing Get more news in your inbox every weekday morning by signing up for our newsletter: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/ Have nice things to say about Welton St. Cafe? Tell us via Twitter: @citycastdenver

This past Wednesday morning, after negotiations with their parent company fell apart, thousands of King Soopers workers across metro Denver went on strike. We heard stories about tension along the picket lines, so host Bree Davies and producer Paul Karolyi went out to see for themselves. We heard from workers, shoppers, a protester, and one assistant manager, who really, really did not seem happy to be dealing with us or any of this. If you haven’t heard Bree’s interview with UFCW Local 7 president Kim Cordova from earlier this week, she explains why they called for a strike in the first place. You can listen to that here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6h7WKDjze5BpNYvqNFzEG0 Here’s a link to the survey Bree references in the episode: https://inthesetimes.com/article/kroger-grocery-survey-disturbing-new-report-shows-dire-conditions-for-workers We’ll be following the King Soopers strike as it develops, and you can keep up with every twist and turn in our weekday morning newsletter. Subscribe here: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/ Hang out with us on Twitter too! We’re @citycastdenver, @cocodavies, @paulkarolyi, @xandramcmahon and @peytongarcia

The Marshall Fire burned hundreds of homes and businesses in Colorado to the ground, leaving many of us to wonder: Are wildfires in urban areas becoming a common occurrence? To get a better understanding of what happened with this latest megafire, host Bree Davies talks with Dr. Natasha Stavros, a fire ecologist and the Director of the Earth Lab Analytics Hub at CU Boulder. Dr. Stavros discusses the role of climate change and the conditions that led to the Marshall Fire. She also explores how — if we were to embrace hundreds of years of indigenous knowledge on how to use fire as a tool — we could potentially change the outcomes of these disasters. Sign up for the City Cast Denver newsletter and stay up-to-date with news from around the city: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/ Chit-chat with us on Twitter: @citycastdenver

State Sen. Brittany Pettersen has served the community of Lakewood for 10 years, leading legislative efforts to fix our broken mental health safety net and impose new gun safety measures. And as of yesterday, she’s running for Congress. Pettersen hopes to replace fellow Democrat Ed Perlmutter, who has represented Colorado’s District 7 for the past 15 years. City Cast Denver host Bree Davies chats with Pettersen about her new campaign, what she has her sights on this legislative session, and how the “Red Flag Law” she co-sponsored back in 2019 could have done more in the Denver/Lakewood mass shooting on Dec. 27. It would mean so much to us if you’d subscribe to our newsletter and then tell a friend to sign up too! https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/ You can also connect with us on Twitter: @citycastdenver

With a snowstorm bearing down on Denver last Wednesday evening, Denver Public Schools sent an email to families cancelling the next day’s classes “due to severe weather" but also citing “continued severe staffing shortages.” We’ve been hearing about teacher shortages throughout the district for months, but something about this new mix of winter weather and the Omicron variant felt different. So we asked a teacher. Host Bree Davies sits down with North High School teacher Tim Hernández to hear why teachers are feeling so burned out, what are the stakes of the remote vs. in-person learning debate, and how the DPS staffing shortage is affecting his students. For more on the poetry and photography project Bree mentioned at the end of this episode, check out this piece from the Denver Post. You can also find a digital copy of the project here. Subscribe to the City Cast Denver weekday morning newsletter for even more news and cool events from around the city: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/ Hang out with us on Twitter @citycastdenver

Early on in the pandemic, employees of grocery stores were deemed “essential” and “frontline workers.” But for many of them, going to work never stopped feeling like going to war. And now, the parent company behind Colorado’s largest grocery chain, King Soopers, is playing hardball on their new contract. So starting Wednesday, approximately 8,400 King Soopers employees are planning to go on strike. Host Bree Davies sits down with Kim Cordova, the president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7, which represents King Soopers workers in Colorado and southern Wyoming, to hear how we got to this point, why the UFCW Local 7 filed a lawsuit over “scabs,” and how this strike would fit into the recent surge of labor organizing across the country. For more on the parent company’s side of this labor dispute, we recommend this Westword article with a detailed breakdown of their latest contract offer and the union's counterproposal: https://www.westword.com/news/king-soopers-rips-union-over-strike-plan-13179992 The UFCW Local 7 is planning for the strike to last three weeks, and we’ll be following all the twists and turns in our newsletter. So subscribe now to stay informed: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/ Chat with us on Twitter @citycastdenver

It’s Friday, which means the City Cast Denver crew is back for a roundtable discussion on all things Denver. Producers Paul Karolyi and Xandra McMahon, newsletter writer Peyton Garcia, and host Bree Davies discuss the upcoming Stock Show, its lax stance on vaccination requirements, and what the whole agricultural enterprise historically means for Denver. Plus, SPOILER ALERT: the team discusses “Don’t Look Up,” the most-watched movie on Netflix ever that just so happens to be created by some Colorado-connected folks. In the show, Paul mentions the Colorado Encyclopedia entry for “The First National Western Stock Show” : https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/first-national-western-stock-show The song featured at the end of today’s episode was “Seeds We Sow” by David Lawrence and the Spoonful: https://davidlawspoonful.com/

Two years ago, thousands of Denverites took to the streets to protest the murder of George Floyd. Many politicians joined the protesters, lending weight to their calls to defund the police and reform our criminal justice system. But at the Denver City Council meeting this past Monday night, when a five-year, $4.7-million contract with a controversial gunshot detection technology went up for a vote, only one councilperson stood against it. Councilperson Candi CdeBaca joins host Bree Davies to explain why she opposes Denver police’s use of ShotSpotter and why we’ve seen so little movement on criminal justice reform since the protests. For more on ShotSpotter, check out our episode from last September when Bree interviewed Axios Denver reporter Alayna Alvarez about the technology and the controversy surrounding it: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5xiPsLlR1vg2lhNhTFUXBn Every Friday, Peyton puts together a carefully curated list of things to do, read, watch, see, and eat in Denver over the weekend. Subscribe to our newsletter right now and get this week’s in your inbox tomorrow: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/ What do you think about the ShotSpotter contract extension? Let us know on Twitter @citycastdenver

What do Jay-Z, John Elway, Jeff Bezos, and Peyton Manning have in common? They’re all rumored to be interested in buying the Denver Broncos. And that might be exactly what the team needs after five straight losing seasons — to say nothing of all the behind-the-scenes drama around former owner Pat Bowlen’s last will and testament, which pitted brother against sister in a years-long legal battle over ownership of the team. Broncos president Joe Ellis said that an “ownership transfer” would be happening after this season. Now that the Broncos have officially been eliminated from playoff contention with a loss last weekend, host Bree Davies sits down with Ryan Koenigsberg and Zac Stevens of the DNVR Broncos Podcast to talk about Mr. Bowlen’s legacy in Denver, what a new owner could mean for the team and the city, and what we should make of those wild rumors. Jay-Z? Really??? When important Denver news breaks, you can trust that we’ll break it down for you in our newsletter. Subscribe now to make sure it hits your inbox every weekday morning: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/ When someone posts a dank Denver meme, you can trust that we’ll retweet it. Follow us @citycastdenver

It seems ironic that in a state that touts healthy lifestyles like hiking and biking and being outdoors, we have some of the worst mental health stats in the country. For a long time, Colorado has landed at the bottom of lists ranking state suicide rates and access to mental health care. Why? Susan Greene, a reporter for Colorado News Collaborative, recently published a six-month investigation into why Colorado’s mental health care “safety net” — the publicly funded community health care centers that are supposed to serve the uninsured — is failing so many Coloradans. She chats with City Cast Denver host Bree Davies about how our system got so broken and what it means for the people who need care most. To read Greene’s whole story, here’s the version that was published in The Denver Post: https://www.denverpost.com/2021/12/05/colorado-mental-health-centers-investigation/ This story is part of a broader project from the Colorado News Collaborative, called On Edge. You can learn more about the project and read all their stories exploring Colorado’s mental health system here: https://colabnews.co/projects/on-edge-colorado-mental-health/ Want news and great Denver recs right in your inbox every weekday morning? Subscribe to the CCD newsletter: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/ Connect with us on Twitter: @citycastdenver

Denver entered the new year under a dark cloud of tragedy. First, a man shot and killed 5 people last Monday in downtown Denver and Lakewood. Though the perpetrator’s motive is still unclear, he reportedly knew most of the victims through the tattoo and body modification community. Three days later, grass fires fueled by high winds forced tens of thousands of Coloradans to evacuate their homes in Superior, Louisville, and unincorporated Boulder County. According to the Boulder County Office of Emergency Management, 991 homes were destroyed, making the Marshall Fire the most destructive in Colorado history. Host Bree Davies, Producer Paul Karolyi, and Newsletter Writer Peyton Garcia come together to discuss what happened and share a few stories. Do you have a connection to the shooting or the fires? We would love to offer up City Cast Denver as a platform for stories about victims, personal experiences of the fires, or anything else you’d like other Denverites to hear about these two tragedies. Leave us a voicemail with your name and neighborhood at 720-500-5418. We’ll be collecting stories and sharing ways you can help the victims of the shooting and the fire in our daily newsletter. All you have to do is subscribe here: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/ Chat with us on Twitter @citycastdenver

The City Cast Denver team is taking some time off until the new year but we didn’t want to leave you hanging. To look back on some of our favorite episodes of 2021, we’re handing out some well-deserved superlatives. Today’s superlative is best steward of Old Denver…Who could it be?! City Cast Denver will return January 3, 2022 with fresh episodes. Peyton has some special newsletters in store to get you through the holidays. Don’t miss out: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/ Our Twitter is taking a holiday too but we promise to post some really good tweets in the new year: @citycastdenver Don’t peek! But here’s a link to this guest’s original episode, including a description and all the links you need to learn more.

The City Cast Denver team is taking some time off until the new year but we didn’t want to leave you hanging. To look back on some of our favorite episodes of 2021, we’re handing out some well-deserved superlatives. Today’s superlative is the guest with the most alluring voice…Who could it be?! City Cast Denver will return January 3, 2022 with fresh episodes. Peyton has some special newsletters in store to get you through the holidays. Don’t miss out: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/ Our Twitter is taking a holiday too but we promise to post some really good tweets in the new year: @citycastdenver Don’t peek! But here’s a link to this guest’s original episode, including a description and all the links you need to learn more.

The City Cast Denver team is taking some time off until the new year but we didn’t want to leave you hanging. To look back on some of our favorite episodes of 2021, we’re handing out some well-deserved superlatives. Today’s superlative is the biggest bagel fan…Who could it be?! City Cast Denver will return January 3, 2022 with fresh episodes. Peyton has some special newsletters in store to get you through the holidays. Don’t miss out: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/ Our Twitter is taking a holiday too but we promise to post some really good tweets in the new year: @citycastdenver Don’t peek! But here’s a link to this guest’s original episode, including a description and all the links you need to learn more.

The City Cast Denver team is taking some time off until the new year but we didn’t want to leave you hanging. To look back on some of our favorite episodes of 2021, we’re handing out some well-deserved superlatives. Today’s superlative is the guest most likely to get stuck in the gum tree…Who could it be?! City Cast Denver will return January 3, 2022 with fresh episodes. Peyton has some special newsletters in store to get you through the holidays. Don’t miss out: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/ Our Twitter is taking a holiday too but we promise to post some really good tweets in the new year: @citycastdenver Don’t peek! But here’s a link to this guest’s original episode, including a description and all the links you need to learn more.

The City Cast Denver team is taking some time off until the new year but we didn’t want to leave you hanging. To look back on some of our favorite episodes of 2021, we’re handing out some well-deserved superlatives. Today’s superlative is the guest who is most likely to make your mouth water and tummy grumble…Who could it be?! City Cast Denver will return January 3, 2022 with fresh episodes. Peyton has some special newsletters in store to get you through the holidays. Don’t miss out: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/ Our Twitter is taking a holiday too but we promise to post some really good tweets in the new year: @citycastdenver Don’t peek! But here’s a link to this guest’s original episode, including a description and all the links you need to learn more.

The City Cast Denver team is taking some time off until the new year but we didn’t want to leave you hanging. To look back on some of our favorite episodes of 2021, we’re handing out some well-deserved superlatives. Up first: the guests who are most likely to get your toe tappin’…Who could it be?! City Cast Denver will return January 3, 2022 with fresh episodes. Peyton has some special newsletters in store to get you through the holidays. Don’t miss out: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/ Our Twitter is taking a holiday too but we promise to post some really good tweets in the new year: @citycastdenver Don’t peek! But here’s a link to this guest’s orginal episode, including a description and all the links you need to learn more.

All week, we’ve been revisiting the biggest Denver story of the year — Casa Bonita’s bankruptcy and eventual sale to South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker. And now it’s time for the thrilling conclusion. Host Bree Davies and Producer Paul Karolyi revisit the not-too-distant past — late November — when Matt and Trey began unveiling their plans for CB 2.0, starting with a very exciting hire: Chef Dana Rodriguez. Oh, and here’s that 5280 Magazine story about Raquelita’s that Paul mentioned. Here’s how we described this episode when it initially aired on November 22: For the last 20 months, the fate of Casa Bonita has been uncertain. Would Denver’s original “immersive experience” survive a pandemic, not to mention a bankruptcy? Things were looking up when Matt Stone and Trey Parker (you know, the guys who created South Park) announced they were purchasing CB. But optimism quickly turned to skepticism and hardcore fans wondered: Was our landmark of kitsch and fun in danger of being changed forever? Turns out, things are changing. But it sounds like… for the better? Last week, news broke that Parker and Stone have hired renowned chef Dana Rodriguez, the culinary visionary behind hit restaurants like Super Mega Bien and Work & Class, to improve the food. Host Bree Davies called up the chef to find out what, exactly, she has planned for CB 2.0.

The biggest Denver story of the year was undoubtedly Casa Bonita, and the watchword for this second chapter of the story is “uncertainty.” Because back in August, South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker announced they'd be buying the place. We all knew that Matt and Trey found the Mexican restaurant in a strip mall comical, but did they get it? Like, if they were going to be the stewards of this place, did they really understand what made it special? Join Host Bree Davies and Producer Paul Karolyi as we revisit that moment of uncertainty after the South Park guys bought the pink palace, when we took a tour with Westword editor Patty Calhoun and Bree interviewed David Thomas, “professor of fun” — both of whom really helped us understand what makes Casa Bonita so dang fun. Here’s how we described this interview back when it aired on October 6: It’s official: Trey Parker and Matt Stone have purchased Casa Bonita. So, now what? Will the Lakewood landmark stay the same, or become a fully South Park-themed eatertainment destination? While the iconic restaurant’s future hangs in the balance, we wanted to know: What really makes Casa Bonita fun? Host Bree Davies and Producer Paul Karolyi took an official tour of the still-closed-for-dining immersive eatery with David Thomas, the “Professor of Fun.” David explains why Casa Bonita is more than just a theme restaurant — it’s an architecturally designed masterpiece that invites play, stirs imagination, and ensures that all who visit will be transported to another place and time for an experience that can be hard to put into words. The City Cast Denver Crew joined Westword editor Patty Calhoun for the Casa Bonita tour, too — you can read her take on CB and the concept of fun here.

City Cast Denver will return with new episodes on January 3. In the meantime, we’re looking back at some of our favorite moments of the year. First up, probably the story of the year in Denver, it’s the Casa Bonita saga. Join Host Bree Davies and Producer Paul Karolyi to look back at all the ups and downs, starting today with our first interview on the topic from back in April just after Casa Bonita’s owners filed for bankruptcy. It was a dark time for the pink palace, to be sure. Here’s how we described this episode when it initially aired on April 15: Get Eric Cartman on the phone, Casa Bonita needs help. More than a year into the pandemic, the iconic Mexican restaurant slash immersive entertainment experience filed for bankruptcy earlier this week. There have been reports of community efforts to raise money to save the place, but until now it’s been unclear exactly how that might work. Andrew Novick, who’s visited Casa Bonita 300 times, and entrepreneur Danny Newman, who helped save My Brother’s Bar, have been working behind the scenes, and they’re on the show today to explain their strategy and how you can help.

It's time for another #listenlocal podcast recommendation from our friend Berry of Podcasts in Color, the largest database of podcasts produced by people of color in the world. Berry's pick this month is From the Margins to the Center, a new podcast from House of Pod. Hosted by Becca Mendoza Nunziato and Jeanette Harris-Courts, this show "unapologetically amplifies voices of marginalized folks." Please enjoy the episode included here, featuring Natasha Pepperl on foster care, and subscribe anywhere you listen to podcasts. Learn more at houseofpod.org and follow Berry on Twitter @podcastsincolor.

It’s been a year, Denver. Maybe not a particularly great one, but it wasn’t all bad. And that’s why, for the final new episode of 2021, the City Cast Denver crew is calling out the wins and fails of the last year in this complicated city we all love. City Cast Denver will be in your feeds all next week and the week after with some fun re-runs, so stick with us! And Peyton is cooking up some special newsletters to get your through the holiday break. Don’t miss out, subscribe now: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/ Tell us what your Denver win and fail of the year is on Twitter: @CityCastDenver

Burnout is hitting nurses hard as we barrel toward the pandemic’s second anniversary. Nearly one in five nurses in Colorado plans to quit their job in the near future, according to an American Nurses Foundation survey. Hospitals across the state are already strained by the number of COVID patients they’re seeing, and staff shortages could make the situation worse. Nurse Tara Rynders talks with guest host Avery Lill about the pressures nurses face and how they could be better supported. Rynders shares that her organization, The Clinic, is helping nurses at hospitals across Denver through art and play-based workshops. If you want to watch the full performance of “COVID Stories” by The Clinic click here: https://www.theclinicperformance.com/covid-stories Want to know more about your city? We’ve got a newsletter for you: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/ We’d love to hear from you on Twitter! @citycastdenver

So apparently Denver International Airport just needs a billion more dollars to finish the construction project that’s already over-budget, overdue and over the top with its new, sparkly white floors that look like snow. The Great Hall renovation project has been a headache for more than four years now, but it’s supposed to make the travel experience… better? Somehow? Denver Post reporter Jon Murray has been covering the project since the beginning, and he’s back on the show with guest host Avery Lill to explain why the project has taken so long, where all that money is supposed to come from, and who all of this hoopla is really for. For more details on next steps for the Great Hall project, here's Murray's latest for the Denver Post: https://www.denverpost.com/2021/12/10/denver-airport-terminal-project-completion/ Wanna know what’s on Peyton’s Plate this week? Subscribe to our weekday morning newsletter, and get personal restaurant recs and food news in your inbox every Thursday. https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/] Don’t you wanna be Twitter friends? Hit us up @citycastdenver

For a long time, schools have been used to erase Indigenous identities. Take the boarding schools of the 19th and 20th centuries where children were forced to shed their culture and assimilate into a Euro-Christian one. And the erasure can still be seen today in curricula and the staggeringly low graduation rates for Indigenous students. But a new charter school in southwest Denver hopes to reclaim what’s been lost and invest in the future of Denver’s 200 different Indigenous tribes. On a recent visit to the American Indian Academy of Denver, City Cast Denver guest host Avery Lill met the school’s founder, Dr. Terri Bissonette. Want to feel even more connected to your city? Sign up for the CCD newsletter: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/ Hey are you on Twitter? We are too! @citycastdenver

Former Denver Broncos wide receiver Demaryius Thomas died last Thursday at the age of 33. He last played for the Broncos in 2018, but he left an enduring legacy here in Denver, where teammates, sports reporters, and fans alike spent the weekend swapping stories of Thomas’s kindness and quiet pursuit of “everyday greatness,” as ESPN reported. Our friends at the DNVR sports network recorded a raw conversation sharing some of their and their listeners’ experiences with Thomas, and we loved it, so please enjoy this bonus episode today. Here’s how they described it: It is a hard day for Broncos Country, the NFL, and anyone who had the pleasure of meeting or just watching Demaryius Thomas. The impact DT left on the world is being felt by the thousands of messages pouring in of what he meant to them.. We spent this episode remembering our favorite memories of Demaryius Thomas, looking back at all the good times and we also asked and share some of the moments our listeners and community had with DT. It’s a hard episode but one that we needed to have to truly remember the man DT was on and off the field. RIP Bay-Bay, you’ll always be remembered. You can subscribe to The DNVR Sports Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google, Pocket Casts, Spotify, or anywhere else you get your podcasts.

Christmas lights have been a tradition for so long, it’s hard to imagine December without them. We heard a rumor that Denver was the birthplace of these magical twinkling bulbs — so we called up Colorado history expert Dr. William Wei to find out more. Guest host Avery Lill chats with Dr. Wei about his latest book, Becoming Colorado, which traces the state’s history using the backstories of one hundred objects, including a box of Christmas lights. We also went on a mission to find the folks behind the brilliant light displays at Denver’s City and County Building and connected with Nate, Madeline, and Heidi Webb . The Webbs have run their event lighting company Blazen Illuminations in Colorado for more than two decades and they share the secrets to what makes those holiday light shows so fun to watch. Find out about more fun holiday stuff going on in Denver by subscribing to our weekday newsletter: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/ Have a favorite local Christmas lights display you think we should know about? Tell us on Twitter: @citycastdenver

Where does Denver’s power come from? It’s a deceptively complex question, loaded with all kinds of personal, political, and global implications. But one thing is certain, less and less of the electricity that powers our city is coming from coal. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, coal-fired power plants provided 36% of Colorado’s electricity in 2020, down from 68% in 2010. So this weekend on the show, we’re bringing you a little perspective from outside the city. Our friends at the Institute for Science & Policy at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science are producing an eight-part podcast exploring the transition away from coal in one of the most coal-reliant cities in the state — Craig, Colorado. This episode includes the first part in that series. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and click here to learn more: https://coalatsunset.org Here’s their description for this first episode: There's a popular saying in Craig: "Coal keeps the lights on." But in 2020, the electrical utility Tri-State announced that it would close its coal-fired power plant and coal mines in Craig by 2030. The news was like an earthquake. Hundreds of jobs would be lost. The town now faces the prospect of massive economic disruption as its primary industry disappears. In our first episode, we travel to Craig to hear from coal workers who are bracing for change and one local business owner who's already looking for ways to reinvent the town's identity. Plus, we'll talk with the CEO at the center of the decision that changed everything. What will Craig do now?

One RTD driver recently described Union Station as a “hellhole,” and concerns with safety, drug use, littering, and public urination are mounting. The city’s response? More policing. Today on the show, Producer Xandra McMahon chats with host Bree Davies and producer Paul Karolyi about other possible solutions to social issues that don’t involve more versions of law enforcement. Plus, the crew tackles a horrific editorial the Denver Gazette ran this week that targeted our unhoused neighbors. Oh, and we’re joined by a special guest whose voice you’ll be hearing more often on the show! A note: On the show today, we read part of a response from Benjamin Dunning from Denver Homeless Out Loud, regarding the Denver Gazette’s editorial. Here’s the full version of the statement he sent to us: “Peoples ignorance when it comes to homelessness is amazing as evidenced by the editorial 'Denver’s drifters glamp on taxpayers’ tab.' from the Denver Gazette. The article has no declared author. We take this as evidence of them being unable to accept responsibility or accountability. The shaming sentiment they put on our homeless communities with their coined word is disrespectful. Their stupidity and lack of insight is evidenced by statements like “It’s bad for the unfortunate soul who chooses that life as well as for the neighbor who has to put up with it.” No one, and I mean no one chooses to be homeless. To sit behind a locked door and call the police on folks stuck in homelessland, over and over and over only makes things worse. 70% of calls to the STAR program are for unwanted persons and not for emergencies. Apparently there is a person who alone has called emergency services 500 times. It is sicking the disrespect we show our homeless communities. And this anonymous author is no different. The SOS camps do a great job offering help with dignity and respect. So when folks are offered some help with dignity, are we to shame them as grifters? Makes you wonder what kind of grift this author is manufacturing. Here is a bit of what enduring homelessland actually looks like. Glamping my A**- Being chased from street to street by city officials week after week, month after month. No rest, never sleeping with both eyes closed. Asking for housing and being told there is none. Asking where you could go and being told an “overcrowded emergency shelter during a pandemic”. Not a safe place at all. How about housing? Efforts to address homelessness should emphasize housing. Housing ends homelessness. Shelters do not work, they never have. Is the anonymous author willing to accept housing vouchers at their properties? Trust me the anonymous author owns property. (remember the grift they were on we mentioned earlier) Many folks on the streets have housing vouchers that private landlords refuse to accept. Making a problem even worse. People who have housing being denied the right to access the housing they have been granted. Only then to be shamed by Karen's excessively calling the police on them. But then that is what stupid people do. Make their problems worse and then blame it on someone else.” And here’s the Denver Gazette’s “Denver Drifters Glamp on Taxpayer’s Tab” Find Peyton Garcia’s best of local gift guides in today’s newsletter: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/ Tell us what you thought of the Denver Gazette piece on Twitter: @CityCastDenver

A traditional holiday celebration in Spain and Latin America, La Posada has never really taken root here in Denver. But maybe that should change? Miguel Aviña certainly thinks so. He and his band, iZCALLi, put on an annual concert commemorating the event, and this weekend it’s going to be bigger and better than ever, with a jam-packed line-up taking the stage at Meow Wolf’s Perplexiplex Saturday night. Host Bree Davies sits down with Aviña to talk about the meaning of La Posada, his favorite Christmas music to perform, and what to expect at iZCALLi’s big bang of an end-of-year show. Looking for a little more local holiday music for your weekend? One of the acts joining iZCALLi on stage for La Posada, Kayla Marque, live-streamed a set of holiday tunes on PBS12 last year. Catch “How COVID Stole Christmas” here: https://www.facebook.com/PBS12.CO/videos/1357156864622162/ The songs we featured in this episode include: “Corriendo Con Todo” off of iZCALLi’s 2018 album “IV” “Villain” off Kayla Marque’s 2020 record “Left Brain” We’ve got plenty more recommendations for your Denver weekend in our newsletter. All you’ve got to do is subscribe: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/ We promise to send you some really good tweets today: @citycastdenver

Did you know that today is actually a holiday here in Colorado? Happy Margaret Coel Day! So we thought, what better way to celebrate than to share this audio documentary our producer Paul Karolyi made last year featuring Coel and her work? She’s best known for her Wind River mystery novels, but before she got into fiction, she published a historical biography of Arapaho Chief Left Hand, who famously uttered these famous words about Boulder Valley: “People seeing the beauty of this valley will want to stay, and their staying will be the undoing of the beauty.” Or did he? This is a story about exactly that uncertainty, as well as the nature of storytelling itself and land acknowledgements. This audio doc originally appeared on the podcast Range & Slope, where you can hear a couple of Paul’s other audio docs, like this one about Beau Jo’s so-called Colorado-style pizza or this one about Fort St. Vrain, Colorado’s first and still only nuclear power plant.

The LoDo nightclub Beta was once one of the top EDM clubs in the country, if not the world. But after a few high-profile violent incidents over the summer, a couple of undercover police raids, and one off-the-wall Von Miller party, Beta is on the verge of losing its liquor license, which would effectively shut it down for good. So what happened? Host Bree Davies sits down with Westword reporter Conor McCormick-Cavanagh to break down the story and the self-proclaimed “made man” at the center of it all — Beta’s owner, Valentes Corleons. Plus, Producer Paul Karolyi called up Corleons to get his side of the story. For more on the Beta situation, here’s McKormick-Cavanagh’s latest for Westword. Every Thursday in our newsletter, Peyton is reviewing a Denver restaurant and sharing the inside scoop on Denver restaurants. Subscribe now to make sure Peyton’s Plate hits your inbox tomorrow morning: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/ Have you ever been to Beta? Let’s talk: @citycastdenver