STEP DENVER HAS BEEN SUCCESSFULLY HELPING ADDICTS GET OFF THE STREETS And Executive Director Paul Scudo, himself a former addict, is watching the choices being made by our Mayor and he's got some thought on that. He joins me at 1pm to talk about what works, what doesn't work, and how Step Denver has been able to help so many men while REQUIRING they take responsibility for their lives. I'd love for you to support Step Denver in any small way by clicking here.
TIME TO HELP SUPPORT POLICE DOGS! You may not know that there are different kinds of police dogs but my favorite are the therapy dogs who help all sorts of people. There is a big event coming up specifically to support those dogs and to make sure they have everything they need. The Rex Run for Pawsitivity is on August 26th and you can participate by clicking here. I'm talking to Deputy John Gray from the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office who will be bringing Rex, the pup the event is named after, in for some cuddles and ball throwing.
YOUR XCEL BILL IS GOING UP AGAIN Of course it is. Of course. They say they need more money from you to pay for the decommissioning of five coal powered power plants. Green energy sure is expensive. Read more here. We're supposed to be happy that the rate hike COULD have been bigger I think. Aren't you happy? The PUC made some noise about cost overruns at renewable projects but Xcel blew them off so expect to pay more for those overruns in the future. From the Colorado Sun article:
Xcel Energy estimated the cost of the Cabin Creek project at $88 million. As of Dec. 31, Xcel had spent approximately $78.1 million, or 88%, of the budget, but is now projecting the project will cost $98.6 million. Blank said he was troubled by more than $289 million in higher costs for eight projects from Xcel Energy’s initial estimates bringing to total $544 million — a 109% increase. Xcel Energy said those initial project estimates are merely markers and that a true assessment of costs comes when the utility applies for permission to build the project.
Just "markers". Okay.
WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENED TO CENTURA? Lots of you have asked me this question and this story in the Colorado Sun explains it. It is the result of a de-merger between the two companies that originally formed Centura years ago. Why they split I do not know, nor does this story address that.
WOODY PAIGE SAYS THE MONFORT BROTHERS NEED TO SELL This column is paywalled but it explains the ownership situation at the Rockies, who are heading towards their worst season ever, and that's saying something. Paige says the two majority owners, who frankly have done a lousy job spending big bucks on players that haven't panned out while PAYING to send maybe the best Rockie ever to the Cardinals, need to go. Read it here. The Rockies have just about beaten the baseball fan out of me this year. I'm not kidding, it's been that bad.
WE ALREADY KNEW THIS ABOUT RED ROCKS Some of the best photos of my life have been taken at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, where the sun hits the rocks just right and double rainbows appear behind the stage just as Gary Clark, Jr lights up the stage. Now it's been declared one of the Most Instagrammable Locales in the country. We are so lucky to live here.
CONGRATS TO THE EASY VEGAN They won the Great Food Truck Race and are now looking to put down roots with a brick and mortar restaurant. If you want fun vegan food, they have a popup on weekends at two different farmers markets. One part of this story has me perplexed, and it's this:
The pair plan to ride their momentum into a brick-and-mortar location, which will be a different name and concept.
Please, if you know co-founders Taylor Herbert and Alexi Mandolini tell them that changing the name and concept after getting free press from winning this show is a TERRIBLE idea. This is a New Coke marketing disaster. Keep the name and the concept, build it out and THEN open a new joint with a new name and concept. Lesson number one in marketing is DO NOT SQUANDER EARNED MEDIA.
THE NEW NORMAL IN COLORADO EDUCATION IS NOT OKAY What is the "new normal"? According to Joyce Zurkowski, chief assessment officer at the Colorado Department of Education it's really low achievement levels for students that we're supposed to think are okay compared to other really low achievement scores. Read an editorial about it here.
I SURE HOPE DESANTIS ISN'T COORDINATING WITH THIS SUPER PAC If this document is accurate anyway. A Super PAC supporting Governor Ron DeSantis published a treasure trove of strategic information on a website, surely by accident, and in it there was a debate strategy sheet that listed the following ideas for DeSantis in the debate:
“1. Attack Joe Biden and the media 3-5 times. 2. State GRD’s positive vision 2-3 times. 3. Hammer Vivek Ramaswamy in a response. 4. Defend Donald Trump in absentia in response to a Chris Christie attack.”
Defend Trump? You gotta beat the man if you want to be the man and defending Trump is the exact OPPOSITE of what needs to happen here. Anything less than a full scale attack on Trump is weak and ineffective and makes the candidate seem weak and ineffective. That will NOT woo Trump voters who may be getting tired of footing the bill for his endless legal bills. This is just asinine advice. Trump voters have shown they want a fighter, and to win this nomination Trump is the first fighter they have to slay.
THE INDICTMENTS ARE DRIVING INDEPENDENTS AWAY FROM TRUMP And this is what I was talking about yesterday. It doesn't matter if every Republican votes for Trump if he can't win Independents and this poll says 61% of them say they are less likely to vote for him because of the indictments. 48% say MUCH less likely. If you want to win in 2024's General Election you need to pay attention to this. In this Ispos-Reuter poll, Independents find the charges against Donald Trump regarding the documents stored at Mar-A-Lago to be Totally Believable, the charges he incited violence on January 6th Totally Believable, charges he solicitied election fraud Totally Believable, all by wide margins. Do not delude yourself that Independents are frosty about Trump being indicted, they think he did it.
THIS IS WHY PEOPLE ARE PAYING ATTENTION TO VIVEK RAMASWAMY Because he comes across as genuine and principled and he can answer question from a pansexual reporter about LGBTQ issues eloquently and unoffensively.
THE GOLDEN DAYS OF STREAMING ARE OVER Remember when streaming was going to be SO MUCH cheaper than cable or satellite? We've already left those days behind. This story on the price increases of all these streaming packages is very eye opening.
THERE WON'T BE A TRUMP PRESS CONFERENCE ON MONDAY As he is actually listening to his attorneys and has decided not to have one. This is new as he refused to listen to his attorneys after the election and now you see where he is.
A DOCUMENTARY ON ELITCH GARDENS Listener Greg sent me this and I've watched about half of it this morning and it's fantastic if you're feeling nostalgic after our conversation yesterday.
THIS IS THE KIND OF ROBOT TAKEOVER I CAN GET BEHIND Now there is a robot that can clean a toilet all by itself.
IF YOU'VE BEEN FOLLOWING THE LIZZO SAGA This is a really great Substack written about Lizzo and why she should never have been hoisted to fame in the first place. It's not what you think. It's about how she is a damaged and unconfident woman playing the opposite and not having any clue how to pull it off. This is true of so many celebrities.
BAD WEDDING IDEAS TO AVOID Some of these are just so *cringe* and I hate it when people use the word cringe. But some of these...wow... Read them here. Do NOT click through to see the wedding cakes with the warning on them unless you are prepared to see why they have a warning on them. They are BAD.
TODDLER WALKS OLD DOG AND HILARITY ENSUES This is so dang cute. Watch below or click here.
PROVING ONCE AGAIN FOOTBALL IS KING IN TEXAS Check out this new high school football stadium. I bet it was built with booster money too.
FLIPPING FROM PHONE TO GAME MODE This lady has it down.
TRUMP THINKS ORANGE MAN BAD TOO And he's mad at Fox News for using photos that make him look orange and fat.
IF YOU HAVE TO HANG A LIGHT THIS IS LEGIT GENIUS And how did I not know this before now??? Watch below or click here.
WHY MOSQUITO BITES SUCK IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE Watch below or click here.
WHY DO DOGS SNIFF YOUR CROTCH? The short answer is because they can and there are a lot of things there for them to glean information about. Read more here.
WHEN DNA TESTS LAND CLOSE TO HOME This story is crazy, but not really when you think about it. A family adopted two babies over a two year period, both of which had been deserted by the biological mother in two different public places. Once they were grown, they did a DNA test and found out they are biological brother and sister.