City Cast Denver

These days, it seems like the Casa Bonita news faucet never turns off. This week, the new owners Matt Stone and Trey Parker (ever heard of ‘em??) announced that renowned Denver chef Dana Rodriguez would be taking over the CB kitchen. The internet all but imploded and so did the City Cast Denver team. So producer Xandra McMahon, host Bree Davies, and newsletter writer Peyton Garcia are on the show today to talk through those reactions and nervous feelings. Plus, Peyton has a curated restaurant recommendation to get you through your weekend. For more about chef (and possible future mayor) Frank Bonanno, he was one of our very first guests when we launched this show back in March. You can hear that episode right here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5w7mP3I6DQ8P7fZk5OMSCF?si=00ddd5163eec485dGet Peyton’s Plate in your inbox on Fridays! And a healthy digest of news and cool events throughout the week: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/

The Bookies has been an institution in Denver for decades. Tucked away inside a nondescript Glendale strip mall, the bookstore has served generations of curious young readers and helped teachers curate their classrooms affordably for more than 50 years. But in July, the bookstore lost its owner and steward, Sue Lubeck — and the fate of the quirky bookseller was unknown. Enter Nicole Sullivan, owner of BookBar across town. Host Bree Davies sat down with The Bookies’ new owner to talk about her plans for the beloved Denver staple. Plus, we chatted with one of The Bookies’ many longtime employees about how Sue Lubeck’s kindness was so infectious. Get more news delivered to your inbox every weekday by signing up for the City Cast Denver newsletter: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/Share your Bookies memories with us on Twitter: @citycastdenver

It’s no secret that Denver’s a pretty expensive place to live these days. But there’s hope — in recent years, voters have approved measures to help ease the burden of high housing costs. Still, there’s a lot of mystery around how, exactly, affordable housing gets built in Denver. Today on the show, Host Bree Davies speaks with developer Kimball Crangle of Gorman & Company, who has built affordable housing all over Colorado, to explain how it works, why it's important, and how you can help.Also: Denver recently proposed a new affordable housing policy. The Department of Community Planning and Development has a whole mess of documentation for Denverites to dig through, plus dates and times for open houses and focus groups to talk about the proposal, if you’re into that sort of thing: https://www.denvergov.org/Government/Agencies-Departments-Offices/Community-Planning-and-Development/Denver-Zoning-Code/Text-Amendments/Affordable-Housing-ProjectThe first announced changes to Casa Bonita are here! Read the latest in our daily City Cast Denver newsletter: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/Chat with us on Twitter: @citycastdenver

Way back in the spring of 2019, Denver became the first American city in the country to decriminalize psilocybin, or magic mushrooms, with 50.56% of voters in favor. That left many Denverites worried about where decriminalization could lead — like Jeff Hunt, who said this to CBS4: “What I’m afraid we’re going to see happen now is people go, ‘Denver is a place where I’m not going to get prosecuted, so we’re going to increase the use of these drugs.’” Well, Jeff, the first batch of numbers are in! Today on the show, host Bree Davies sits down with Kevin Matthews, the former West Point cadet who led the decriminalization campaign. He’s been working with the city to monitor the situation and last week he presented a report and some interesting recommendations for next steps to City Council. To see Matthews’ whole presentation to City Council last week, click here: http://denver.granicus.com/player/clip/14561?view_id=180&redirect=trueFor more on the push toward legalization across the country, Matthews was quoted in this recent New York Times piece about veterans leading the charge: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/11/health/veterans-psychedelics-ptsd-depression.html?referringSource=articleShareSubscribe to our newsletter for more news and cool events! https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/Follow our twitter account for nonsense and memes! @citycastdenver

Like many American cities, Denver is home to many buildings, streets, and monuments commemorating problematic figures from our sometimes violent and racist past. Slowly but surely, we’re changing that. Like this past weekend, the Byers Branch Library in La Alma Lincoln Park was officially renamed in honor of John Emhoolah Jr., “Thunderbird Man,” a Kiowa and Arapaho elder who spent his life advocating for Native American education and religious liberty. City Cast Denver producer Paul Karolyi was at the ceremonial renaming ceremony on Saturday, and he has the story. For more on why Denver Public Library wanted to rename the Byers Branch, here’s a brief summary of his support for the Sand Creek Massacre: https://history.denverlibrary.org/news/william-n-byers-contributing-massacreWhat’s the latest on Denver’s pandemic protocols? Supply chain issues? And housing crisis? Get all that and more in our weekday morning newsletter: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/We don’t always tweet. But when we do, we use the handle @citycastdenver

Denver had to face a hard truth this week: so far in 2021, 73 people have been killed on the city’s roadways. That’s the highest number of traffic deaths Denver has seen since the Vision Zero plan was implemented in 2016. The plan hoped to end all traffic deaths by 2030, but clearly the numbers are going in the wrong direction. Why? Host Bree Davies and producers Paul Karolyi and Xandra McMahon discuss the age-old Denver question: Who really owns these streets? Plus, the crew debates whether Denver’s bid for the 2026 World Cup is a good idea or not. Paul mentioned a website that leaks all of FIFA’s dirty secrets. Here’s a New Yorker story about it: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/06/03/how-football-leaks-is-exposing-corruption-in-european-soccerFor more on Colorado’s obsession with big SUV’s, check out Nate Minor’s story for CPR News: https://www.cpr.org/2021/10/01/colorado-suvs-sales-carbon-emissions-pedestrian-safety/Our newsletter writer Peyton Garcia cooks up an extra special newsletter every Friday. Don’t miss another one: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/Let’s be friends on Twitter! @CityCastDenver 

Last week, it was announced that the boarded-up Denver Diner would not re-open, but instead become a Chase Bank. The beloved late-night dining spot that had served the city for decades (even long before it became The Denver Diner in the ’90s) was going away for good — leaving Denver with even less options for a 24-hour gathering place with affordable meals. Today on the show, host Bree Davies reminisces with fellow Denver Diner enthusiast Kalyn Heffernan about their mutual love for a dining spot that acted as an intersection for humanity and proved to be one of the most physically and economically accessible meeting places in the city. Plus, we hear from newsletter writer Peyton Garcia about hers -and some of your- favorite diners in Denver. Wondering what diners still exist in the Mile High City? Westword has an excellent survey of the current diner scene: https://www.westword.com/restaurants/late-night-food-diners-denver-12725841Get more dirt on Denver in your inbox every weekday by signing up for the City Cast Denver newsletter: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/Share your Denver Diner memories with us on twitter: @citycastdenver

Jenny Shank grew up in southeast Denver, but when it was time for school, she was bused all over the city — from an elementary school with a Chicano-rooted curriculum on the West Side to a predominantly Black middle school near Five Points. And it was those experiences that informed her new George Garrett Fiction Prize-winning collection of short stories, “Mixed Company.” It explores all the awkward, comical, and challenging ways that very different kinds of Coloradans can still find ways to connect. Host Bree Davies sits down with Shank to talk about their shared history with Denver Public Schools and busing, and how they understand their similar education experiences differently today. “Mixed Company” comes out later this month. For more details on how to get yourself a copy or attend an upcoming reading, check out Shank’s website or RSVP to this reading she's doing in January with a couple of other local authors.For more on Denver’s history of busing, check out our episode from September 8 with playwright Alicia Smith Young! We’re trying some new stuff in our newsletter this week! Check it out and tell us what you think: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/If you follow, we’ll send you some really good tweets today from @citycastdenver

If you’ve tried to watch the Nuggets or the Avalanche on TV at all in the last three years, you may have noticed that well, you can’t. That’s because Denver is going into its third season of a blackout, thanks to a dispute between Altitude, the regional sports network that broadcasts our teams, and Comcast, the metro area’s most popular cable provider. While the corporate giants battle it out in court, fans are left to try to watch games in person, switch cable providers, or find less-than-legal streams online. Today, Host Bree Davies chats with Denver Post reporter and City Cast Denver sports expert Jake Shapiro about why, exactly, local sports fans are shut out from watching their teams on TV.Get news you can use every weekday morning by signing up for the City Cast Denver newsletter: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/Give us your Altitude TV/Comcast hot takes via Twitter: @citycastdenver

Walk into SAME Café on East Colfax, and it looks like your average fast-casual lunch spot. But there’s A LOT of good stuff going on under the surface. SAME, which stands for So All May Eat, is a donation-based “participatory” restaurant. Anyone can go in and get a freshly cooked meal made with local produce. All you have to do is give something back to the community in exchange — be it a donation of produce, money, or your time. Host Bree Davies sits down with SAME Café’s new executive director Brad Reubendale to talk about SAME’s 15-year anniversary, his winding journey to this job, and the restaurant’s new “trauma-informed design.”For more on SAME Cafe’s 15-year anniversary, check out this article from 5280 Magazine: https://www.5280.com/2021/11/celebrating-one-of-the-countrys-oldest-pay-what-you-can-restaurants/The holidays are just around the corner! Do you have a favorite tradition around this time of year where you like to give back or connect with our community? Let us know your favorite ways and places to give — and receive — via email at denver@citycast.fm or leave us a voicemail at (720) 500-5418‬For more Denver news and cool events, subscribe to our newsletter: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/Have you ever had lunch at SAME Café? Tell us how it was @citycastdenver