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Denver scrubbed its $40 million migrant crisis plan. Now what?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:44 GMT

The defeat of a $40 million proposal for private security corporation GardaWorld to take over migrant sheltering operations for Denver means the new mayor and City Council can pivot to an entirely different plan.Mayor-elect Mike Johnston has not publicly announced what he plans to do next, and it’s unclear what his advisers will advocate. A representative from his team said he was unavailable for an interview last week. But Johnston has told The Denver Post that the issue is critical and complicated, and one in which he hopes to work “collaboratively to identify an equitable and fair solution to this crisis.”Like his predecessor outgoing Mayor Michael Hancock, Johnston recognizes that the increasing number of migrants making their way to non-border towns like Denver is forcing local governments across the country to come up with strategies to help asylum-seekers without negatively impacting their residents. Hancock has said repeatedly that officials have to balance the desire ...

Dramatic protests in Iran over women’s rights are the subject of a show at Leon Gallery

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:44 GMT

There is a lot to see in the series of photographs currently on display at Denver’s Leon Gallery: dramatic scenes of civil rights protests that took place in Iran last year; the defiant posturing of activists standing tall amidst chaos; the fires and the flowers that appeared at different times on the streets, alternately signifying anger and hope.In many of the photos, the protesters’ faces are obscured. The situation remains dangerous for them in Iran. (Provided by Leon Gallery)But it might be what you don’t see in these pictures, and what you can’t know about them, that tells a deeper story. There are few actual faces visible in the images, and the colorful, action-packed prints hung on the walls are all unsigned. Both the subjects here, and the photographers themselves, are compelled to remain anonymous. The situation continues to be dangerous for these 21st-century revolutionaries.The exhibition “Woman! Life! Freedom!” borrows its title from the three-word slogan that bec...

Travel can cement the bonds of friendship and prepare us for what lies ahead

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:44 GMT

Jenny and I didn’t know that those three weeks in Southern California in 1996 would be our first trip of many. That 26 years later, we’d be packing our bags for a staycation at a Boulder hotel to celebrate what was unthinkable to us at the time: her pregnancy, created in a doctor’s office, costing unfair amounts of money, and done entirely, achingly, alone.We only knew that adulthood and babies and, sigh, relationships, were still out there. Beyond our 15-year-old grasps, but floating toward us under a veil of limitless possibility and euphoric certainty. Not among our possibilities? Single parenthood. The reality neither of us had considered but that we’d both, to varying degrees, face.CaliforniaAllyson and Jenny on that first trip together in 1996, to California. (Provided by Allyson Reedy, Special to The Denver Post)Jenny and I met in a seventh-grade Spanish class in 1993. Three years later, were traveled together for our first taste of freedom.She boarded a plane from Denver wit...

Cycling documentary touring the globe highlights Colorado attorney

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:44 GMT

After a four-year career as an elite racer in road and track cycling, attorney Megan Hottman took up the cause of representing victims of crashes involving motorists. Last summer, she became one of them.Related ArticlesOutdoors | Hit-and-run driver sentenced to 20 years for hitting two cyclists near Evergreen last summer Hottman — who calls herself Colorado’s Cyclist Lawyer — was badly injured by a motorist in a crash last June. Now, she’s back riding and representing cyclists, but she also has a compelling story to tell, and it is being told in a feature-length documentary about cycling, “The Engine Inside,” currently touring the globe.The film focuses on six cyclists with inspirational stories. Three are from the United States; Hottman is the only one from Colorado. The film will be shown Wednesday at the Dairy Arts Center in Boulder, with proceeds benefiting It Could Be Me, a non-profit devoted to improving relations between cyc...

This brewery tap room also serves as a trailhead for runners, hikers and mountain bikers | Opinion

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:44 GMT

Editor’s note: This is part of The Know’s series, Staff Favorites. Each week, we will offer our opinions on the best that Colorado has to offer for dining, shopping, entertainment, outdoor activities and more. (We’ll also let you in on some hidden gems). The popularity of Golden’s New Terrain Brewing Company tap room and beer garden among runners, hikers, cyclists and mountain bikers has been fueled almost entirely by word of mouth. And, in at least one case, the sound of live music heard high atop North Table Mountain.Thomas Eggar discovered New Terrain from a vantage point 670 feet above it while trail running on North Table.“It was a random Thursday night and I had no idea this place existed,” said, Eggar, 41. “From the top of North Table Mountain, you could hear the faint (sound) of a banjo and drums. I looked down and saw a bunch of lights, a bunch of people.”Eggar was intrigued, so he ran down to check it out. It happens that New Terrain has a sta...

15-foot python goes missing in Chatsworth; owners of small pets warned

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:44 GMT

Chatsworth residents have been asked to be on the lookout for a 15-foot reticulated python that escaped from a home and could be a danger to cats and smaller dogs.The snake disappeared from its owner's backyard in the 10500 block of Willowbrae Avenue on July 3, according to a post on the MyChatsworth Facebook page. Alex Villalta says the 8-inch thick constrictor snake is "really friendly to humans" but has the potential to eat cats and small to medium-sized dogs. The snake is light in color and had been a family pet for several years. Villalta said his son was sad the snake was missing and pleaded with the public to help find the snake. “Please do not kill her,” the post reads. Anyone who locates the snake was asked to call Los Angeles Animal Services at 888-452-7381.

This bill will make it harder for California school boards to ban books — and it’s picking up steam among lawmakers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:44 GMT

California may make it harder to ban books in public schools — as it dives into the contentious, national debate pitting the First Amendment against conservative values.A new bill — AB 1078 — was approved by the Assembly and passed through the Senate Education Committee last week. The bill would require a two-thirds vote from a school board to remove books from the classroom and impose fines on school districts that refuse to provide materials with “inclusive and diverse perspectives.”“Our students of color and our LGBTQ+ students should not be threatened for their viewpoints, and they should not have education withheld from them,” said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, a proponent of the bill.It’s a belief that the bill’s author, Assemblymember Corey Jackson, D-Perris, hopes will create a more “accurate, inclusive and equitable education system for all students in California.” But despite passing in the c...

Committee to weigh ‘safe parking’ sites for twice-convicted Bay Area rapist’s pending release

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:44 GMT

SANTA CRUZ — The decision on where to house a 71-year-old twice-convicted rapist appeared no closer to conclusion Monday than when he was deemed eligible for conditional release and outpatient care in October 2019.“It’s 46 months later, and we don’t have a single property,” attorney Stephen Prekoski said on behalf of his client, Michael Cheek during a court hearing. “How long will the court tolerate that? It’s not a rhetorical question.”An effort for a housing committee designated to come to mutual agreement on Cheek’s placement appeared to have been stymied by concerns about the applicability of the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act, a law governing all state boards and commissions.During this week’s hearing, Santa Cruz County Superior Judge Syda Cogliati chided the committee’s representatives, including The Department of State Hospitals, its contractor Liberty Healthcare Corp., defense and prosecution attorneys and the County of Santa Cruz for foisting blame on each other for the lack...

Golf sensation Rose Zhang, 20, cherishes first US Women’s Open as a professional

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:44 GMT

PEBBLE BEACH — Phenom Rose Zhang gave a half-hearted wave to the cheering gallery surrounding the 18th green at Pebble Beach Golf Links after she three-putted for a bogey-6 to wrap up her first U.S. Open as a professional.Zhang, the 20-year-old former Stanford University sensation, didn’t often wow the throng of fans who followed her around the picturesque and historic venue Sunday, but she did enough to post her third top-10 finish in as many pro starts.She closed with even-par 72 for a 1-over-par 289 total. Her 1-under 71 in the second-round was her low round for the tournament and it sandwiched by 74 in the first round and 72 in the third round.“My mindset going into the round was pretty steady,” Zhang said.”I knew I had to be somewhat aggressive. Being aggressive at Pebble means hitting greens and just trying to convert putts from everywhere. Unfortunately, that’s not what I really did. Overall, I think it was a solid game plan. I did what I needed to do to keep the ball in play...

Editorial: Stop two Bay Area legislators’ assault on open government

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:44 GMT

California lawmakers are trying to use the remote-meeting experience of the COVID pandemic as an excuse to permanently gut public access to critical government boards.In April, we warned about troubling legislation by Assemblymember Diane Papan, D-San Mateo, that would shield local officials like those of a city council or school board from having to appear at public meetings. The Assembly has delayed consideration of Assembly Bill 1379 until next year.Meanwhile, another Bay Area legislator seeks to similarly hinder public access to meetings of powerful state agency boards such as the Public Utilities Commission, Air Resources Board, Coastal Commission, Board of Parole Hearings, and the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training.If Sen. John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, gets his way with Senate Bill 544, commissioners could actually phone it in as they make decisions on everything from setting PG&E rates to protecting our coastline to disciplining bad cops. And members of the pu...