City Cast Denver

Before comedian Josh Blue was headlining world tours and making Simon Cowell bust a gut on America’s Got Talent, he was living in Cap Hill spending every night at Denver’s legendary club — Comedy Works. It was there that he got to rub elbows with some of his heroes, and work on routines that would launch him into comedy stardom. City Cast Denver host Bree Davies chatted with Josh about his recent America’s Got Talent run, how his cerebral palsy has shaped his comedy, and why he thinks Denver is one of the best cities for this industry. More Denver happenings are just a few clicks away. Subscribe to the CCD newsletter here: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/Follow us on Twitter! @citycastdenver

Whether you’re spending the day in love with love or grumpy with the greeting card companies, this Valentine’s Day special episode is for you. Because we asked you for your best Denver love stories — tales about that special someone, place, or pet — and we were bowled over by all the good Denver-y vibes you shared. So join Host Bree Davies as she listens and reacts to a few of your Denver love stories. And don’t miss today’s CCD newsletter! We’ve got EVEN MORE of your Denver love stories there to share: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/Which Denver love story was your favorite? We’ll tell you ours if you tell us yours on Twitter. We’re @citycastdenver. 

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.htmlIt’s your last chance to submit a Denver love story before Valentine’s Day on Monday! Email yours to denver@citycast.fm 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-bargainingAnd 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 denver@citycast.fmGet 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-a3d3-83bba7fda134And keep sending us your Denver love stories! Call us at 720-500-5418, or send us an email at denver@citycast.fm, 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/0ksJbnJksbUQdvIyVBjcK1At 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 denver@citycast.fm. 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 @citycastdenverAnd 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