City Cast Denver

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-13179992The 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-showThe 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/5xiPsLlR1vg2lhNhTFUXBnEvery 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: @citycastdenverDon’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: @citycastdenverDon’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: @citycastdenverDon’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: @citycastdenverDon’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.