City Cast Denver

We knew Denver’s air quality was bad, but we didn’t know it was this bad. Whistleblowers within the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment say the people in charge have been overriding requirements of the Clean Air Act and endangering the health of Coloradans. Bree speaks with Colorado Sun reporter Michael Booth about his reporting on the whistleblower complaint and what it means for the quality of the air we breathe. Want to monitor the air you breathe yourself? Here’s a list of recommendations for air quality apps. Subscribe to our morning newsletter for more Denver news, and follow us on Twitter @citycastdenver.

Governor Jared Polis announced that starting this Friday, all Coloradans at least 16 years old will be eligible for the vaccine. But where does that leave our disabled community members? Bree speaks with disability advocate Rosemary McDonnell-Horita about her personal struggle getting a shot, her work on Polis’s Health Equity Response Team, and the work that still needs to be done to make sure all Coloradans have access to a vaccine. Follow Rosemary on Twitter @ricearosie. The healthcare provider we found offering at-home vaccination appointments in at least some of Denver’s suburbs is called Bloom Healthcare. Subscribe to our morning newsletter here, and follow us on Twitter @citycastdenver.

It’s been three years since the first Lime scooter zipped down Denver’s streets, and the city is on its second major effort to regulate the aging scooter and bike-share fleets. This new proposal would eliminate the permit process that allowed scooters to spread as far and fast as the market allowed, replacing it with (yet another) public-private partnership and provisions designed to promote access all over the city. Host Bree Davies speaks with Jill Locantore of the Denver Streets Partnership, a coalition of advocates for people-friendly streets, about why they’re backing the new effort — for now. The City Council’s Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is debating the proposed scooter regulations tomorrow, so find your council member and make your voice heard! Also on the show today, the first installment of a new segment we’re calling VOICE on the Street. It’s a partnership with Denver’s street paper, the Denver VOICE, which provides opportunities to Denverites experiencing homelessness and other forms of economic inequity. If you’d like to support VOICE vendors like this episode’s guest John Alexander, head over to denvervoice.org/donate. They even have Venmo, so if you want to get a little help directly to John, follow this link and add his name to the note attached to your transfer. Follow us on Twitter: @citycastdenver. Subscribe to our newsletter for photos of our night at Mizuna and learn more about us at citycast.fm/denver.

This week marks the 20th anniversary of Mizuna, one of Denver’s favorite fine dining destinations and the flagship of Frank Bonanno’s restaurant empire. But earlier this year, Frank’s landlord told him they’re planning to sell the Capitol Hill building that houses Mizuna and three other Bonanno spots. We joined the 20th anniversary festivities at Mizuna earlier this week, and our host Bree Davies spoke with Frank about how he’s processing the news and thinking about the future. For more Mizuna memories, check out the restaurant’s instagram @mizuna_denver. They’ve been posting photos and reminiscing about old times all week. Follow us on Twitter: @citycastdenver. Subscribe to our newsletter for photos of our night at Mizuna and learn more about us at citycast.fm/denver.

We had a whole plan for how this week was supposed to go. But then a man with a gun shot and killed 10 people at a King Soopers in Boulder. It’s a tragic loss for the whole Front Range community, and we felt compelled to show up ahead of schedule, with a personal reflection from our host Bree Davies and a conversation with KUNC reporter Leigh Paterson. Leigh recently wrapped up a two-year project reporting on guns and gun violence in America, and she helps put the events in Boulder in a broader context. We’ll be back with what we planned for our first episode on March 25. Don’t forget to subscribe to our daily newsletter, too. All that and more at citycast.fm/denver.

Go ahead and try to define Denver. Is it an oil-rich cowtown? A tech-friendly ecotopia? Or maybe it’s something entirely its own, changing before our very eyes. Post-Zaidy’s, post-El Chapultepec, post-COVID, what is Denver all about? Starting March 25, join us every weekday morning for 15 minutes to get all the Denver news you need (and want) to know. We promise to ask hard questions and refuse easy answers.