WANT TO BUY SOME AMAZING YET AFFORDABLE ART? The Affordable Arts Festival is consistently named one of the best art festivals in the country and it's this weekend! I'll check in with Jim DeLutes to get all the details, and you can find out more and check out some of the art here.
LET'S CHECK IN WITH DA GEORGE BRAUCHLER About Douglas County's crime stats for a hot minute, shall we? The numbers are down and the criminals aren't from around here.
ABOUT THAT STUPID RETREAT FOR DENVER'S CITY COUNCIL After what I'm sure was a massive amount of blowback the retreat to a fancy resort in the mountains for 10 city council members has been cancelled...for now. I should say "postponed" because we've already been told it CAN'T be cancelled. City Council President Amanda Sandoval had this to say to CBS Colorado:
"This week has been an especially difficult time for all who work for the City and County of Denver. One hundred seventy-one employees have been laid off, creating great disruption for them, their families, and their colleagues. Our full attention must now be on supporting one another and helping our city move forward from this challenging period with the best interests of our constituents at heart.
"With that in mind, and after consultation with the full Council, I have decided it is best to postpone our planned professional development and team-building workshop. It will be rescheduled for a future time and place to be determined.
So does this mean they lose the 26k? Or they will do it there later? I'd like to know the answer to that. Even some council members had begun to express discomfort at the optics.
THE REPUBLICANS SHOULD HAVE THEIR PLATFORM POSITIONS Based on polling data from across Colorado that asked residents what their big concerns are. The Colorado Health Foundation did their Pulse Poll and this is what they found out:
One of the key findings in this year's poll is that concern over government jumped to the top of the list. Respondents feel like government is not going to address or ease their other problems. which includes rising prices.
"This year cost definitely dominates the conversation. The top four issues that Coloradans identified as most serious are all related to cost. 90-percent nearly of Coloradans said that the cost of living is an extremely serious concern, followed closely by the cost of housing, cost of healthcare and homelessness," said Katie Peshek with the Colorado Health Foundation.
Republicans need to be able to CLEARLY tie our outrageous cost of living to the Democrat policies in this state. It's not hard. Increased regulations, increased minimum wage, increased health care mandates, increased building and landlord regulations, higher fees, it's all there, ripe for the picking. Here is a handy graph with the things Coloradans said they were most concerned about.
You should check the whole thing out here, and it's not all bad news. When it comes to some of the worst metrics, like having to skip meals because there is no food, or being afraid of losing housing, those numbers are DOWN from previous years. But there is a whole lot of opportunity in these surveys.
DENVER WOMAN LOOKING FOR WORK AFTER ANTI-JEW SCREED After her kids were at a Jewish summer camp where Hamas supporters thought it would be cool to fly over the camp in paragliders OVER CHILDREN FROM ISRAEL, Jewish mom and writer Bethany Mandel decided to write this column about it to show how mainstream Jewish hate had become. She named the woman who sent her hateful messages about her CHILDREN and now Danielle Gordon is no longer employed by Fidelity Investments in Denver. FAFO. It's about time people had to deal with the consequences of their horrible behavior when they say on their LinkedIn profiles that they are “dedicated to working in inclusive, respectful, and ethical places.” She needs to look up what inclusive actually means.
COLORADO'S BAN ON THERAPY FOR GENDER DYSPHORIA WILL BE HEARD BY THE SUPREMES I hate the way this is framed by our media. From our friends at Fox 31:
The case Chiles v. Salazar focuses on a 2019 state law banning conversion therapy for minors.
The words "conversion therapy" are entirely inaccurate in this context and are used specifically because actual conversion therapy, where mostly religious counselors use questionable tactics to "turn" kids straight, is not only ineffective it's also cruel. But helping a kid with gender dysphoria become more comfortable with their ACTUAL gender is not nearly the same. We know from a LOT of studies that most (like 80%) of kids who aren't "confirmed" as the other gender eventually get comfortable with their bodies and avoid a lifetime of medicalization. Talking to kids to help them get there is far more sound than simply affirming a misguided notion about changing gender. Now the US Supreme Court is going to hear a challenge on free speech grounds and I can hardly wait for Weiser to argue that medicalizing kids, which is increasingly being abandoned in other countries without a medical profit motive, is better care.
HEARING LOSS LEADS TO DEMENTIA And up to 32% of dementia cases can be linked to untreated hearing loss. There is ZERO reason not to address this, people. Call Dr. Patty at Colorado Tinnitus and Hearing Center if you need help.
HERE YOU DO IT, SAYS THE LEGISLATURE To the Governor. There are two bills being put forth by members of the Joint Budget Committee that seem to me to punt budget cuts to the Governor's office. I've reached out to Barb Kirkmeyer for clarification.
ARE PEOPLE MORE IMPORTANT THAN WOLVES? Western slope lawmakers hope so as they want to redirect several hundred thousand dollars from the stupid wolf re introduction program into a program to offset super high insurance rates. Read it here.
THE GOOD AND THE BAD OF MILE HIGH STADIUM Lots of decisions will be forthcoming about the future of the current Mile High Stadium and this article does a deep dive on the possibilities for the Broncos to stay downtown. I think it all depends on if they can get the land around the stadium for an entertainment district.
DID THE MAYOR'S OFFICE USE LAYOFFS TO GET RID OF TROUBLEMAKERS? We now have two cases where laid off employees say they were targeted because of something other than performance. One is the husband of a City Council member who is a frequent critic of Mayor Mike Johnston, and now we have a woman with a lawsuit currently pending against the mayor. Jessica Calderon filed suit in early June after she says she faced
"political retaliation in violation of the First Amendment and sex discrimination, Calderon alleges that she was denied promotions that were given to male colleagues and that Sanders repeatedly confronted her about her connection to Latinos United Neighbors Association and its founder, Lisa Calderón, who ran against Johnston in the 2023 mayoral race."
I mean, that seems kind of fishy, does it not? My feeling is the Mayor's office is going to have to do much better job in explaining why these folks were fired if he wants to avoid getting sued...again. This is probably why seniority based layoffs are the easier way to go.
EUGENICS IS BACK, BABY! This column by my pal David Strom is stunning. Stunning for the embrace of death that is happening around the world in the name of compassion and cost saving. I mean in some sense Canada is solving their organ donation problem by killing people and using their organs so there's that. Now fashion retailers are using Medical Aid In Dying TO SELL CLOTHES. I have long supported the concept of allowing suffering people with no chance of recovery from a terrible illness to end their lives. However, I did NOT sign up for people with depression being helped by the state to kill themselves so their organs can be harvested and no one has to pay for therapy. This is horrifying.
THE GOP GAY CONGRESSMAN PROBLEMS There have long been closeted Republicans who vote against gay rights and even express disgust at gay issues but secretly have relationships with men. I genuinely don't care, except for ONE THING. It makes them very compromisable. Now there is an article in the Daily Mail which spoke to men who say they have had longtime "relationships" with closeted gay men in Congress and other high levels of government. I have a high degree of certainty that now Democrat politician Charlie Crist is totally gay, and got married to a woman only because his name was being bandied about for Veep at one point. Questions have long swirled about Tim Scott, who also got married when he was being considered for high profile jobs. I think it's incredibly sad that any person would feel that they have to hide who they are to be in political office and the GOP has no one to blame but themselves. Stop hating on gay people and let them be.
THE CASE FOR LAUREN BOEBERT'S RE ELECTION Y'all know I've been tough on Lauren Boebert. But something has happened since she's been sworn in as the Representative of Colorado's 4th District: she's been working for the people in her district. There has been no drama, no outbursts, no tomfoolery. She's just been working hard on issues that are important to the 4th. I can't tell you how happy this makes me and I'm going to be far more comfortable voting for her in the mid terms than I was in the last election. This column lays out the case for her re election.
I DON'T KNOW WHO THIS MAN IS BUT I ADMIRE HIM Because who else would come up with this?
DID YOU MISS THE SHREK RAVE?
IT'S THE KPOP CPR SENSATION! I'm going to stick with Pink Pony Club but you can totally do this.
KYLE CLARK ADDRESSES THE SALE OF 9NEWS And one thing I looked up this morning was the rule on how many television stations one company could own in a market. This is what I got from the FCC website:
Local Television Multiple Ownership
An entity is permitted to own up to two television stations in the same Designated Market Area (DMA) if either:
The service areas – known as the digital noise limited service contour – of the stations do not overlap; or
At least one of the stations is not ranked among the top-four rated stations in the DMA based on audience share. However, an applicant may seek to make a showing, based on the particular facts and circumstances, that a top-four combination would nonetheless serve the public interest despite the prohibition.
That would seem to indicate that they are going to have spin off either Fox 31 or 9News and from a purely business decision I bet 9 News is more profitable. Maybe not depending on salaries and whatnot, but they have better ratings. One thing is for sure, this isn't the last we've heard about this. Kyle breaks it down here.
PUT A LID ON IT
SOUTH STANDS YOU'VE GOT A NEW JOB TO DO AT BRONCOS GAMES
YES, THESE ARE RED FLAGS And you would do well to pay attention to them.
WHAT DOES A CELL PHONE BAN IN SCHOOL REALLY DO? A teacher from Alabama, where they have banned phones in schools, has a report from two weeks in.
It's time to ban cellphones in school. Period.
TULSI GABBARD SNATCHES SECURITY CLEARANCES FROM PEOPLE WHO ABUSED THEM I personally would like more information about HOW they abused them but one of them was a CNN analyst so heh. I freaking love Tulsi Gabbard in this role.