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Meet Colorado’s 12 billionaires, not all of which are continuing to build wealth
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State, Westword

Meet Colorado’s 12 billionaires, not all of which are continuing to build wealth

By Michael Roberts | Westword In these United States, the rich almost always get richer. But several of Colorado's 12 billionaires have proven to be an exception to this rule. According to Forbes's recently published list of global billionaires, some of the state's richest people have seen their wealth shrink in the 2020s, including one entrepreneur whose current net worth is around one-fifth the size it was just three years ago. The overall trend definitely isn't toward shrinkage. Forbes points out that as of late April, the planet boasted 2,781 billionaires, 26 more than the previous record, set in 2021. Moreover, the portfolios of these individuals are collectively valued at around $14.2 trillion, approximately $1.1 trillion higher than 2021's standard-setti...
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Did Colorado Just Have Its Worst Sports Week Ever?
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State, Westword

Did Colorado Just Have Its Worst Sports Week Ever?

Colorado's professional sports teams took a major hit last week as the Nuggets, Avalanche, Rockies and Rapids all lost in epic fashion. By Chris Perez | Westword There are bad sports weeks, and then there are bad Colorado sports weeks. After what we just witnessed between May 12 and May 19 — with the Denver Nuggets choking away their second-round series at home to the Minnesota Timberwolves after going up 3-2, the Colorado Avalanche getting bounced by the Dallas Stars in double overtime (at home), the Colorado Rockies being swept by the San Francisco Giants after winning seven straight, and the Colorado Rapids losing to Rocky Mountain Cup rival Real Salt Lake — some of us are wondering whether it was the worst week ever in Colorado sports history...
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Some surprised with renewal of Denver City Council term limit proposal
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Local, Westword

Some surprised with renewal of Denver City Council term limit proposal

By Catie Cheshire | Westword Denver City Council members Amanda Sandoval and Amanda Sawyer have reintroduced the idea of decreasing city term limits from three to two terms, much to the surprise of many other members of council. The pair initiated the discussion in August 2023, saying many of their constituents had brought it up on the campaign trail. At that time, other members expressed concern with the idea and believed the topic to be closed. “Last August, I thought the conversation was complete,” Councilman Chris Hinds said during a May 20 Charter Review Committee meeting. “I haven't heard anything from constituents about council term limits.” READ THE FULL STORY AT WESTWORD
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Jefferson County is considering a new trailhead west of Arvada, to the chagrin of nearby residents
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Local, Westword

Jefferson County is considering a new trailhead west of Arvada, to the chagrin of nearby residents

By Bennito L. Kelty | Westword After four decades of buying enormous tracts of land west of Arvada, Jefferson County is considering new hiking trails in an unblemished area less than thirty miles from downtown Denver. Property owners in the private community located right next to the proposed trailhead aren't keen on the idea, however. "I'm not afraid to say not in my backyard. They're talking about endangering myself and my family," says Steve Bisque, the president of the Blue Mountain Land & Homeowners Association and a member of the family that developed the neighborhood. At some point during the next four years, the county could install a trailhead and a parking lot at 9775 Blue Mountain Road, Arvada, which is just a stone's throw from the entrance to Blue Mountain Estates...
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Hot dog anyone? Denver vendors may be unlicensed and lacking sanitary standards
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Downtown Denver, Westword

Hot dog anyone? Denver vendors may be unlicensed and lacking sanitary standards

By Catie Cheshire | Westword When hordes of patrons file out of Denver sports arenas and music venues, they’ll inevitably encounter someone hawking hot dogs, ready to fill bellies directed by inebriated brains. Because who’s saying no to a bacon-wrapped glizzy at 2 a.m.? But city officials, pointing to a surge of unlicensed hot dog vendors in Denver, warn against partaking in street dogs. Without proper health inspections, they say, you could be signing up for more than just a hangover. “Unfortunately, with the dangerous lack of sanitary standards being practiced by some of the unlicensed hot dog carts, people may find themselves sick the next day and assume it is because of the alcohol they consumed the previous night — instead of the hot dog and bacon sitting u...
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Denver Elementary students face racist slurs during City Council meeting
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Denver Elementary students face racist slurs during City Council meeting

By Hannah Metzger | Westword Two young Black girls went before Denver City Council to ask for help for their school. Instead, they became the victims of a racist tirade. Fourth- and fifth-grade students from Monarch Montessori spoke during the council's weekly public comment session on Monday, May 13, requesting assistance in getting a yurt for their school. But less than a minute into their testimony, a voice from the online Zoom shouted at the girls to "go back to fucking Africa," followed by a series of insults and racial slurs. Council staff unsuccessfully tried to mute the anonymous speaker, but the racist rant continued for around thirty seconds, with the female-sounding voice repeatedly calling the children the N-word before the Zoom was eventually ...
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Eight measures expected to make November ballot, dozens more possible
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State, Westword

Eight measures expected to make November ballot, dozens more possible

By Hannah Metzger | Westword The list of ballot measures awaiting Colorado voters in November is growing. State lawmakers voted to send five measures to the ballot before the Colorado Legislature adjourned on May 8, adding to two citizen-initiated measures that had already officially qualified for the ballot: an effort to include economic impact statements before the questions on ballot measures, and another to cap property tax revenue increases at 4 percent each year. The five legislative ballot proposals would let the state keep all sports betting tax revenue to fund water projects; create an excise tax for gun and ammo purchases to fund victim services; remove the ban on same-sex marriage from Colorado's constitution...
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Voters might get chance to tell schools to notify parents of signs their kid is transgender
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State, Westword

Voters might get chance to tell schools to notify parents of signs their kid is transgender

By Hannah Metzger | Westword Days after a new state law began allowing Colorado students to choose their names at school, an effort to require parental notification for such behavior started petitioning for the November ballot. Initiative 142 would require that public school staff inform parents if they obtain any information that a student is experiencing "gender incongruence," defined as a difference between the student's biological sex and gender identity. If a child uses a different name or pronouns at school — or even if an employee overhears students talking about their gender identity — their parents would have to be notified. Advocates of the proposed initiative say they started printing petitions last week. They must collect 124,238 signatures by August 5 t...
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Bob Gardner’s infamous filibusters, policy prowess made him one of the GOP’s most effective weapons
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State, Westword

Bob Gardner’s infamous filibusters, policy prowess made him one of the GOP’s most effective weapons

By Hannah Metzger | Westword Eighteen years after he was first elected to the Colorado Legislature, state Senator Bob Gardner concluded his final legislative session on Wednesday, May 8. Twenty-four state legislators will vacate their seats this year, but Gardner has called the Capitol home for the longest. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 2006, serving through 2014 before joining the Senate in 2016. Now term-limited, Gardner is one of only two current legislators expected to complete the maximum eight years in both chambers, and he started two years earlier than the other — Senator Kevin Priola, who was first elected in 2008. Following a career under the gold dome, Gardner, age 70, is stepping away from public office. He plans to return to his law pract...
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‘The Most Legit Dude’ in the Colorado Capitol: Senator becomes unlikely celebrity
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State, Westword

‘The Most Legit Dude’ in the Colorado Capitol: Senator becomes unlikely celebrity

By Hannah Metzger | Westword One Colorado legislator has become the subject of fan pages, a weekly holiday and an effort to replace Mayor Mike Johnston’s greeting at the Denver airport with his voice instead. As state Senator Perry Will walks through the Colorado Capitol Building on Friday, May 3, staffers stop him to ask for photos. Dozens of people roam the halls wearing bolo ties — Will’s signature look — in homage to the year's last “Perry Will Friday,” which has been celebrated every week since the legislative session began in January. Now four months in, with legislators preparing to adjourn this week, Will is a bona fide celebrity under the gold dome. “I just love it. I crave it,” Will says. "I'm not your garden-variety legislator, but I work across the ai...
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