City Cast Denver

Latest Episodes:

1800 S. Broadway: Talk Back Apr 12, 2022

Show notes

We got a crap-ton of super interesting voicemails about our story on 1800 S. Broadway, the once and future weed lounge. So producers Paul Karolyi and Xandra McMahon are taking your calls and talking it out.

And if you don't know what this is about, check out part one and part two of our story on real estate developer Josh Horwitz's effort to carry on his father's legacy by opening a weed lounge in a contentious spot on South Broadway.

Do you have something to say about 1800 S. Broadway or smoking weed in public? Leave us a voicemail with your name and neighborhood and we may play it on the show: (720) 500-5418

Xandra mentioned a story she reported a few years back about weed tourism. You can listen to that whole story here: https://www.cpr.org/show-segment/as-marijuana-mainstreams-bus-tours-view-themselves-as-industry-ambassadors/

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Aurora Hired a New Police Chief to Reform the Department. Now She’s Fired. Apr 12, 2022

Show notes

Ever since the killing of Elijah McClain in 2019, the Aurora Police Department has been mired in turmoil. Now, the chief of police they hired to help reform the department has been fired. Former Chief Vanessa Wilson spoke publicly about her firing for the first time yesterday, and Colorado Sentinel managing editor Kara Mason is on the show today to explain how we got here and why it matters.

Want some of Bree’s insider tips on the best stuff in Denver? Check out today’s newsletter: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/

Chit-chat with us on Twitter @citycastdenver

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1800 S. Broadway: Part Two Apr 11, 2022

Show notes

If you haven’t heard part one of our look at 1800 S. Broadway and the dawn of public weed consumption in Denver, scroll back in your podcast feed to last Friday or click here.

When the city of Denver opened applications for marijuana hospitality businesses last year, the new program attracted a diverse mix of go-getters, from the owner of a private marijuana club who wanted to go public to a Cap Hill mansion whose owners thought weed would help attract more tourists. Among them was an enterprising young real estate tycoon, Josh Horwitz. He applied to open a weed lounge at 1800 S. Broadway, the exact spot where Habibi Hookah Cafe undermined the trust of the neighborhood with excessive late-night partying and violence. The neighbors are organizing to stop Horwitz and City Councilman Jolon Clark is opposed to his permit, but no one has heard his side of the story. Until now.

This isn’t the first time Denver has tried to set up a regulatory framework for marijuana hospitality businesses. They tried before a few years ago, but the rules were so restrictive that only one business ever opened. You can learn more about that and Denver’s long on-again, off-again relationship with weed in today’s CCD newsletter: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/

What do you think should be done about 1800 S. Broadway? Let us know on Twitter @citycastdenver

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1800 S. Broadway: Part One Apr 08, 2022

Show notes

Ever since Coloradans started taking the prospect of legal weed seriously, stoners have wanted a place to partake in public. The city of Denver opened permits for public consumption businesses a few years ago, but the regulations were so restrictive that only one business was ever able to open. But after last year’s sweeping revamp of our weed laws, a wave of new ganjapreneurs have come forward with proposals for how they’d want a public weed lounge to look and feel — and, more importantly, where one could actually open. It’s a new era of legal weed, and it’s begging the age-old question: if not here, where? Producer Paul Karolyi stumbled upon a red-hot neighborhood battle over one proposed weed lounge a few weeks ago. Today on the show, he breaks it down with producer Xandra McMahon and host Bree Davies.

Stay tuned to the show next week for part two of our look at the fight over 1800 S. Broadway. In the meantime, we want to hear from you! Are you excited to smoke weed in public? Would you want a weed lounge in your neighborhood? And how do you feel about the debate over this one in particular? Text or leave us a voicemail at (720) 500-5418‬, and we might share your thoughts on the show!

No weekend plans? No problem. Peyton’s got a rundown of all the cool stuff happening in Denver this weekend in our newsletter today: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/

Share your hot takes on 1800 S. Broadway with us on Twitter: @citycastdenver

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Early Birds and Night Owls Face Off Over Daylight Saving Time Apr 07, 2022

Show notes

Daylight Saving Time. Love it or hate it, it’s part of our lives… but if a new law passes in Colorado, it might change our concept of time forever. The bill already passed Colorado’s House of Representatives, and now the Senate is considering adopting DST year round, meaning we would never have to change our clocks again. But how would this impact our days? What does it mean for our sunrises and sunsets? And why do our ski resorts care so much about it? Today on the show, host Bree Davies took these questions to our resident weather expert, meteorologist Andy Stein, who researched everything we wanted to know about the fight over Daylight Saving Time.

A whole lot of news broke over the last few days, and City Cast Denver newsletter writer Peyton Garcia has a round-up— read and subscribe: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/

Give us your Daylight Saving Time hot takes via Twitter: @citycastdenver

We’re hiring a producer to help make City Cast Denver! If you love Denver and know your way around an .mp3, let’s talk. Email questions to paul.karolyi@citycast.fm and check out the job listing here: https://citycast.fm/audio-producer-city-cast-denver/

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Janae Burris is 8.5-Months Pregnant. But Her Comedy Special is ‘Long Overdue’ Apr 06, 2022

Show notes

Janae Burris used to fudge the numbers when people asked how long she’s been doing stand-up comedy. “I kind of stopped doing that, though,” she told the Denver Post earlier this week. “I’ve gotten to the point in my [career] that I can tell people the truth and still get jobs.” But now that the stand-up scene is finally creeping back after two years of terrible comedy over the internet, Burris is on the precipice of great change: She’s eight and a half months pregnant. To document this unique moment, she’s recording her first big comedy special in front of a live audience at the Aurora Fox Arts Center next week, and she’s on the show today to talk with host Bree Davies about being funny while pregnant.

Learn more about Burris’ special, “Long Overdue,” and get your tickets to the taping here: https://www.aurorafoxartscenter.org/janae-burris-is-long-overdue

Maybe you heard that election denier and My Pillow Guy, Mike Lindell, was on the steps of the Capitol yesterday for an election conspiracy rally? Peyton Garcia has more on that event, and all the other news you need to get through your day in the CCD newsletter. Subscribe here: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/

Let’s be friends on Twitter! @citycastdenver

Looking to advertise on City Cast Denver? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads at citycast.fm/advertise

Is Colorado's Outdoors Overcrowded? Or Do We Just Need to Learn How to Camp Better? Apr 05, 2022

Show notes

It might be a false spring, but can you blame us for letting a little nice weather get us excited for camping season?! Some of us, at least. Host Bree Davies has never been super outdoorsy, and all the gatekeeping around the best spots and the reports of overcrowding at our state and national parks don’t make it seem that appealing. So we invited Blackpackers founder and outdoors educator Patricia Cameron to help make it all feel a little more approachable.

Check out this piece Cameron published in 2019 about her journey to the outdoors: https://www.elevationoutdoors.com/go-outside/feet-to-the-ground/

One of Denver’ biggest companies is going to court. Learn all about dialysis giant DaVita and the eccentric former CEO at the center of the case in today’s CCD newsletter: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/

What are your favorite hikes or campsites? Let’s swap notes on Twitter: @citycastdenver

Looking to advertise on City Cast Denver? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads at citycast.fm/advertise

How Can Colorado Tackle the Crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People? Apr 04, 2022

Show notes

“There is no accurate picture” of how many indigenous people have been murdered or gone missing in Colorado, according to our guest today, Raven Payment. Amid a growing, international movement to address the crisis of MMIR — Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives — she helped form a task force to take on the issue locally. Step one? Push for legislation to create a state office that can figure out exactly how big this problem even is. Today on the show, Host Bree Davies talks with Payment, who identifies as Kanien'kehá:ka and Anishinaabe, about her work on the task force and how the creation of this office could help Indigenous people all across Colorado.

Our guest Raven Payment mentions a couple of times how the Urban Indian Health Institute’s 2017 report on MMRI was a catalyst for organizing around this issue. If you’re interested, here’s a link to that report: https://www.uihi.org/resources/missing-and-murdered-indigenous-women-girls/

30,000 hippies are descending on an as-yet-undisclosed location in Colorado this summer. It’s an annual event called the Rainbow Gathering, and it’s got lots of folks really worried. Catch up on the whole backstory in today’s newsletter: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/

Hang out with us on Twitter! We’re at @citycastdenver

Looking to advertise on City Cast Denver? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads at citycast.fm/advertise

Rush Hour at Union Station Apr 01, 2022

Show notes

Union Station is a mess. At least that’s what news outlets keep saying about the transit hub and fancy downtown hangout. In the last six months, complaints of violence, open drug use, and people sleeping in the public space have become the narrative of Union Station, painting it as a scene of constant chaos. At the beginning of 2022, Mayor Hancock responded by swarming the place with police — as a result, he said that DPD had made 700 arrests since January.

The City Cast Denver crew hadn’t made a trek down to the shiny train station since before the pandemic, and knew it was time to see for themselves what was going on there. Host Bree Davies and producers Paul Karolyi and Xandra McMahon met up with Denverite reporter Kyle Harris — who has covered issues at Union Station extensively — for a walk around the downtown spot. They wanted to see for themselves what, exactly, was so concerning.

Read more of Kyle Harris’s original reporting on Union Station for Denverite:

We spent 18 hours at Union Station. Here’s everything we saw and heard.

A swanky Union Station high rise holds clues about how the rich and poor will coexist (or not) downtown

Denver police have arrested more than 700 people at Union Station this year — only a third for drug crimes

Just a note: Street sweeping starts today! Find out when to avoid that parking ticket in your neighborhood and more in today’s City Cast Denver newsletter. Read and subscribe: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/

Say hello on Twitter: @citycastdenver

Looking to advertise on City Cast Denver? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads at citycast.fm/advertise

The Underground Music Showcase is Fun. But Can It Be a Tool for Social Good? Mar 31, 2022

Show notes

News broke last week that local music non-profit Youth on Record was buying a stake in the Underground Music Showcase, one of Denver’s biggest annual music festivals. But this is far from any run-of-the-mill music biz deal: YOR’s Executive Director, Jami Duffy, sees the UMS as a platform to propel a “musicians’ middle class” in Denver and beyond. Today on the show, Duffy chats with host Bree Davies about her long-term plans to turn a staple Denver music fest into a pipeline for careers in the arts, while also cultivating a better experience for music fans.

Read and sign up for the City Cast Denver newsletter, where today, Peyton Garcia tells the story of how the modern day coffee break has its origins in a labor dispute that happened in CO: https://denver.citycast.fm/newsletter/

Tell us your favorite UMS stories on Twitter: @citycastdenver

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