FOX 31'S DAVE FRASER WILL TELL US WHEN THIS COLD WILL BREAK Because JUMPIN JEHOSEPHAT is it cold outside. Even Jinx the Saint Bernard was like "no thank you" this morning. He joins me at 12:30 to discuss.
JOHNSTON TELLS RESTAURANT OWNERS TO FEEL THE VIBRANCY A group of restaurant owners that represent a LOT of downtown places got together to craft and send a letter to Mayor Mike Johnston. In the letter, they complained that they are barely hanging on and asking the Mayor to DO SOMETHING. They not only complained about safety, but the idiotic changes that include adding bike lanes no one uses and infrastructure that makes it harder for people to come downtown. The Mayor's office responded by telling them how good everything is! First, from the Denver Gazette:
"You ran your entire campaign platform on restoring our Downtown Denver business districts," Query said in his letter. "It has gotten worse since you took the position of Mayor, even though you have received $550M towards stewarding it in a different direction."
The Boulder-based chef behind BRF Restaurant Group said downtown’s traffic plan and new bike paths implemented in the last two years have taken up parking spaces and made it more difficult for customers to come to their businesses. In addition, food trucks are taking parking spots and bringing in more competition, he said.
He also pointed to the series of stabbings on 16th Street Mall over a January weekend, when two people were killed and two injured.
So surely the Mayor can understand, right? Check out what the Mayor's spokesperson sent back:
“That’s why Mayor Johnston has helped remove large tent encampments, increased police patrols, and is bringing more than $500 million in transformative investments. There’s more work to do, and Mayor Johnston will continue to partner with local businesses, restaurants, and residents to ensure downtown is a safe and thriving part of our community,” she said...She added that the city has been investing in increasing the presence of both police and community safety officers, focusing on high-priority areas, such as LoDo, Larimer Square, Upper Downtown and Capitol Hill, as well as working with partners to reduce shoplifting and theft and increasing mental health response for individuals in crisis.
Mmmkay. Note nothing about the bike lanes at all. May I take a "victory" lap for a moment? When they decided to jack up minimum wage sky high I said it would kill restaurants. When they kept saying it was a housing issue I kept saying it was an addiction issue. Why don't they just listen to my show? And I am probably right when I say I bet a vast majority of these restaurant owners voted Democrat for Denver Mayor. Not saying they get what they deserve but I am saying elections have consequences. If we had a functioning Republican party this is a huge opportunity but you know we don't. Now there is a bill that would allow local governments to pass a tip offset that would lower the costs of labor for restaurants if local municipalities took advantage of it. So essentially they are saying I was right.
FREE SPEECH REALLY IS UNDER ATTACK In his comments to other leaders in Munich, JD Vance rightly called out Europe for its recent crackdowns on free speech and pointed out that Europe had veered away from the shared ideals with the US. But have they? We have example after example of Democrats right here in the US attacking and complaining about free speech. In Colorado, Democrats are trying to make it a crime to "deadname" someone who has decided to change their gender appearance. John Kerry complained about the First Amendment, and now CBS's Margaret Brennan tries to make free speech the problem.
So what is happening here with the Left? Why are they suddenly anti-free speech? Perhaps because their own speech is failing to win over voters? The cure for hate speech is better speech, it always was and always will be. The Democrats think the cure for hate speech is banning speech, but who gets to be the decider on what is hateful and what is not? That's the real question and I sure don't want John Kerry to be on that committee.
SENATOR JACQUEZ LEWIS IS OUT After she LIED to an ETHICS committee by producing a letter in her defense allegedly written by a former staffer. When called out, she abruptly resigned from the Colorado Senate. Good. She obviously didn't deserve to be there. Now we'll have another unelected member of the Senate, just what we need.
TIME TO REFORM THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION And the latest Power Gab tells you how the organization has been politicized.
ADVANCE COLORADO IS TRYING TO PROTECT YOUR GAS STOVE This is good news, as Democrats are hellbent on the electrification of everything. Advance Colorado is pushing a measure that would prevent the Legislature from banning your propane or natural gas heaters or stoves or even gas powered lawn mowers. Read it all here and I'll get Michael Fields on asap to discuss.
COLORADO DEMS BIG UNION GIVEAWAY PASSES THE SENATE And this is appalling and another reason that our business climate has dropped dramatically since Democrats have taken over. A bill that would upend 80 years of labor law in Colorado in a move that is a clear giveaway to the unions has passed the Senate, though Governor Jared Polis says he won't sign it without serious concessions, which don't seem to be coming. You can read about it here, but it simply makes it much, much easier for a union to steal the money from employees who don't want to be a part of the union.
A GUN BILL THAT PUNISHES CRIMINALS PASSES THE HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE And unlike the horrible other gun bill that just punishes law abiding citizens this one actually increases penalties for stealing a gun. Read this bit:
"Guns when they are stolen are not used for putting food on the table; they are used in violent crime. They are used typically by people that can't buy a firearm legally. And the vast majority of crimes committed in Colorado, in the 90% of those gun crimes, those guns used are acquired illegally," said Republican state Rep. Ryan Armagost.
Seems like if 90% of guns used in crimes are stolen maybe that's where we need to focus our attention? This bill has bipartisan support for good reason.
DEMOCRATS KILL DELIVERY TAX REPEAL Of course they did. Because they love to talk about "saving Coloradans money" while doing nothing to actually save Coloradans money. Read it here.
THE KING SOOPER STRIKE IS OVER and other than being a total inconvenience when I needed to buy fish it was a nothingburger. There will be more negotiations that I don't care about. You can read about it here.
WANT TO FEEL BETTER? TURN OFF YOUR INTERNET ON YOUR PHONE Our smartphones are turning out to be a net negative if you ask me. This new study showed that just turning off your constant internet access had a HUGE impact on overall wellbeing and mental wellness. Read it here, we're going to talk about it.
HOW ABOUT AN OFFLINE EVENING? An event in London sold out quickly when people found out they would be required to drop their phones in a deposit box for the evening. People paid to play games and just talk to other people without their phones. Genius, really.
WHY SOME PEOPLE REMEMBER THEIR DREAMS And other don't. A recent Italian study went deep to try to figure out why some remember dreams and some don't, and it found that those who think dreams are important, whose minds wander during the day, and have longer periods of light sleep remember them better. Except me, who says yes to all those things but still doesn't really remember dreams. I'm jealous, actually.
YOU CAN BEAT BAD GENES WITH GOOD CHOICES That is the result of a study that showed factors like smoking and exercise are more important than genetics when it comes to when you die. Read it here.
SOUTHWEST CUTS CORPORATE JOBS AS they try to recover from some very rough years and manage new, more expensive labor contracts. They aren't cutting frontline employees, though they did offer buyouts in this last year to airport employees. This is the first involuntary layoff in the company's history and I think it's good they start with managers. We all have too many managers.
TRUMP BLAMES UKRAINE FOR RUSSIA'S INVASION I would love to see the Ukraine war wrap up. It's a money sucker we had nothing to do with creating and I'm ready to stop sending money we don't have under the guise of protecting Europe when they can't be bothered to pay for their own defense. But I have to say this is nuts. Trump blamed Ukraine for STARTING the war, which began with a ground invasion by Putin's Russia. I realize Trump is sucking up to Putin to get a peace deal done, but this is just absurd.
BUT HE GOT THE RECEIPTS RIGHT Holy smokes, watch this.
PHISH COMING TO FOLSOM FIELD And the hippie jam band is moving from the traditional Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City to the stadium in Boulder. Why? I have no clue, Phish isn't really my jam. See what I did there?
GEN Z DOESN'T CARE ABOUT THE CLIMATE MUCH And this has to be so sad for Greta Thunberg to find out her generation flies WAY more than other generations, doesn't recycle, doesn't conserve water or so much of anything except throw paint on paintings to end oil. Read it here.
I LAUGHED HARD AT THIS ONE AS we found out from DOGE that there are MILLIONS of people on the social security roles that are well over 100 years old, this gem popped up on X.
SHOULD THE BRONCOS TRADE FOR DEEBO SAMUEL? A to Z discusses!
IS A GENDER BENDING MUHAMMED NEXT? I doubt it, but there will be a black woman playing Jesus Christ in a production of Jesus Christ Superstar for some reason. Hollywood is stupid.
AN ASTEROID MAY HIT US IN 2032 And who knows I may be ready for this all to be over by then anyway.
TODD HELTON GOES TO SPRING TRAINING I wish greatness were contagious from a neck grab.
AND NOW AN ELK EATING A CARROT Watch below or click here.
THIS SEEMS MEAN Watch below or click here.
DON'T BE AFRAID TO FLY Watch below or click here. Air travel is truly a miracle if you ask me. Don't be afraid.