City Cast Denver

Way back in the early ’90s, the Denver-style-Mission-style burrito rolled into town thanks to Chipotle. They introduced a massive meal you could eat with two hands — a steamed tortilla chock-full of rice, beans, meat, and all sorts of toppings. Illegal Pete’s appeared just a few years later in Boulder with a similar style burrito, but a restaurant environment all its own. Today on the show, the City Cast Denver crew gets together to talk about these burrito behemoths and tries to decide who makes the best Denver-style-Mission-style meal in the Mile High City.Want more of Peyton’s culinary recs? Check out the City Cast Denver newsletter: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/Tell us where you stand on the Chipotle/Illegal Pete’s debate on Twitter: @citycastdenver

In this morning’s episode, Bree talked to documentarian Sara Terry about her new film A Decent Home, which is premiering this Saturday at Denver Film Fest. It was a fascinating, wide-ranging conversation, so we wanted to share a little bonus excerpt. It’s about the scene in the documentary where Sara visits Mobile Home University, a Colorado-based program that teaches people how to buy and make the most money possible out of mobile home parks. Here’s a great piece from the Denver Post’s Sam Tabachnik about Mobile Home University if you want to learn more: https://www.denverpost.com/2021/09/05/mobile-home-university-rv-horizons-impact-communities-frank-rolfe-dave-reynolds/Stream Sara Terry’s new documentary, A Decent Home, online: https://watch.eventive.org/denverfilmfestival/play/6154d7761d62fd003e42366d Or catch a screening in-person, as part of the 44th Annual Denver Film Festival:Sat, Nov 6th, 4:00 PM @ Maglione Theater (Sie)Sun, Nov 7th, 2:30 PM @ AMC House 3Thu, Nov 11th, 4:15 PM @ Maglione Theater (Sie)Want more news in your inbox every weekday morning? Sign up for the City Cast Denver newsletter: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/Tell us your experience with housing in Colorado via twitter: @citycastdenver

After filmmaker Sara Terry almost lost her home in 2008, she thought a lot about housing stability and inequality. In Terry’s new documentary, A Decent Home, she tackles an often unseen side of the housing crisis — the precarious nature of mobile home parks — with the vigor of a career journalist and the humanity of a natural storyteller. Today on the show, Host Bree Davies talks with Terry about her film and the people she chose to profile, particularly the residents of Aurora’s Denver Meadows mobile home park as they fought to stay housed. Terry also discusses the documentary’s exploration of predatory park owners across the country, who make their money by squeezing every last penny out of people on the margins of society. Terry is hosting a convening this Saturday ahead of the premiere at 4 p.m. It will feature former residents of Denver Meadows alongside activists and elected officials. The event is set to run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and space is very limited, so if you’re interested act fast. Email gretchen@adecenthomefilm.com if you’d like to attend. Stream A Decent Home online: https://watch.eventive.org/denverfilmfestival/play/6154d7761d62fd003e42366d Or catch a screening in-person, as part of the 44th Annual Denver Film Festival:Sat, Nov 6th, 4:00 PM @ Maglione Theater (Sie)Sun, Nov 7th, 2:30 PM @ AMC House 3Thu, Nov 11th, 4:15 PM @ Maglione Theater (Sie)Find the full Denver Film Fest schedule of screenings, both in person and virtual, here: https://www.denverfilm.org/denverfilmfestival/dff44/Want more news in your inbox every weekday morning? Sign up for the City Cast Denver newsletter: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/Tell us your experience with housing in Colorado via twitter: @citycastdenver

Yes, voter turnout was low. And yes, there weren’t any major offices up for grabs. But there were a lot of important issues at stake in Denver’s election, and we stayed up all night — okay, some of the night — to see what happened. Bree, Peyton, Paul, and Xandra break down what voters approved, what they rejected, and what that’s going to mean for all of Denver. As the fallout from the election unfolds, we’ll have plenty of coverage in our newsletter. Subscribe here: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/You heard our first reactions to the results. But we want to hear from you, too! Tweet us your hottest election takes @citycastdenver

In the spring of 1958, Marilyn Van Derbur was on University of Colorado’s ski team, worried about moguls and final exams. By fall, she was crowned Miss America. Decades later, she used her Miss America platform to support and advocate for survivors of sexual abuse — something Van Derbur herself endured throughout childhood at the hands of her father. But now, after more than 60 years of philanthropy and advocacy, she’s decided to sell her Miss America crown. Host Bree Davies sits down with Van Derbur to talk about what the crown has meant to her and why she decided to sell it now.Van Derbur’s crown, as well as a collection of other Miss America memorabilia, will be going on auction through Heritage Auctions starting November 4, 2021. The bidding will reportedly start at $20,000.Want the results of today’s election delivered straight to your inbox tomorrow morning at 6 a.m.? Subscribe to our newsletter today: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/We promise to send you some really good tweets today @citycastdenver

It’s no secret that RTD has been struggling for years. Even before the pandemic, the regional public transportation provider was experiencing a drop in ridership, despite the state seeing a population boom. Then there was the bus driver and light rail operator shortage, the organization’s ever-consuming debt, constant bus schedule changes, and whole routes being cut. Recently though, $34.2 million in federal transit aid made its way to Colorado… but RTD didn’t get any of it. Instead, the millions of dollars landed in Boulder. Host Bree Davies talks with RTD Board Director Shontel Lewis about what happened with this money and why the transit organization continues to struggle. Read Shontel’s Op-Ed for the Denver Post about CDOT withholding federal transit funding: https://www.denverpost.com/2021/10/25/rtd-cdot-federal-funding/Looking for more local news? Subscribe to the City Cast Denver weekday newsletter: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/Tell us about your commute on twitter: @citycastdenver

It’s Halloween weekend and the City Cast Denver crew created a special episode to celebrate the spooky season. Today on the show, Denver’s Clerk and Recorder Paul López joins Host Bree Davies to share a ghostly tale involving one of the Mile High City’s oldest (and possibly haunted?) hotels in downtown. Will you be able to guess which one it is? Then, professional fright expert and haunted house actor Danielle Look shares her tips and tricks for scaring the pants off people. She’s also got some recommendations for the scariest spots in town. Looking for good trick-or-treat destination recommendations and other spooky things to do this holiday? Check out today’s newsletter, which is packed with Denver Halloween weekend fun: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/ Tag us in your Denver Halloween fun this weekend on Twitter: @citycastdenver

It’s election season here in Denver, but elections are far from the only way to make changes you want to see in your community. Take, for example, the group of kids who recently pitched Councilwoman Kendra Black on building a skate park in her southeast Denver district. Is that really how it works? Host Bree Davies sits down with Black to talk through why their pitch clicked with her and how she plans to make it a reality.If you want to show your support for Councilwoman Black’s skate park project, there are two good ways to do that right now. First, as she mentions in this episode, you can get in touch with her office and potentially join a steering committee to work on it directly. You can find contact info for her office her: https://www.denvergov.org/Government/Agencies-Departments-Offices/Denver-City-Council/Council-Members/Kendra-Black-Council-District-4Second, you can let the Parks and Recreation Department know how strongly you feel about skate parks or any other outdoor adventure and alternative sports infrastructure. They’re running a survey right now, and as you heard from Councilwoman Black, they take the results from this kind of thing really seriously. Find that survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DPROutdoorsBree briefly mentioned how her husband Gregg helped Joyce Foster get Denver’s first skate park built downtown. For the whole crazy story, we recommend this longread from Westword that was published when the park opened in 2001: https://www.westword.com/news/a-tough-grind-5067465?storyPage=2Halloween is this weekend. Do you have plans yet? Peyton is rounding up all sorts of spooky events and activities in our newsletter this week, so subscribe now: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/Our tweets are here: @citycastdenver

There’s been a battle brewing over kids and vaping for the past few years — and now Denver is mired in the haze. It all started when Councilmember Amanda Sawyer thought her daughter was buying bubblegum-flavored vape juice on the internet. But now her proposal to ban the sale of all flavored smoking products has evolved into a passionate, multi-sided debate, and the only thing that’s clear is that not everyone can get what they want. Host Bree Davies talks to Denver Post reporter Noelle Phillips about why this proposal was so provocative for so many different kinds of Denverites.For more, Noelle’s piece on the push to ban sales of flavored smoking products is here: https://www.denverpost.com/2021/10/25/denver-flavored-tobacco-vape-ban/Keep up with all the breaking Denver vaping news in our newsletter. Subscribe here: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/Tweet us @citycastdenver

The National Western Stock Show has been a big deal in Denver for decades, drawing farmers, ranchers, equestrians and rodeo enthusiasts to the city. This two-week long event at the beginning of every year is also big business — and Mayor Hancock thinks its worth investing in, to the tune of $190 million. This election, Denver will vote on a bond package that includes measure 2E, which asks voters to approve the construction of a 10,000-seat arena along with renovations to an existing Stock Show Complex building. Host Bree Davies talks to #NoOn2E campaign manager Sarah Lake and Alfonso Espino, a representative of community activist group, GES Coalition. Lake and Espino make their case for why voters should think twice before signing off on a multi-million dollar project in the middle of a community that has seen neglect by the city for decades. Don’t miss yesterday’s show with Bree and at-large councilwoman Deborah “Debbie” Ortega — who represented the National Western Center’s surrounding neighborhoods on council from 1987 to 2003 — about why Denverites should vote #YesOn2E. Get more news in your inbox every weekday by signing up for the City Cast Denver newsletter: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/Tell us your thoughts on the bond measure on Twitter: @citycastdenver