City Cast Denver

It’s Friday and we’re back in studio rounding up the news of the week! The legislative session kicks off Monday, and after the GOP‘s face-plant in November, the Dems hold a super majority. So, what are they gonna do with all that power? Our official state politics and green chile correspondent Justine Sandoval joins producer Paul Karolyi and host Bree Davies to dish her legislative speculation. Pl...

Next time you find yourself in LoDo or wandering around near Union Station, look down. Just below the streets of downtown, there’s a maze of old, out-of-commission tunnels that used to connect our hotels, restaurants, and stores of yore. Glimpses of these alternative pathways still exist at street level, if you know where to look. Today on the show, host Bree Davies talks with Tracy Beach, author...

We’re catching you up on all the top stories of the week so far: The Broncos went from bad to worse. Tattered Cover’s OG owner passed away. Denver continues to greet busloads of migrants and asylum seekers, even as the city and aid groups are overwhelmed. The Suncor Oil Refinery was shut down temporarily, which could impact air quality (in a good way) and gas prices (in a bad way). Oh, and a 16th...

We can’t predict Denver’s future, but — what if we could get some guidance from the universe on how our 2023 will be? To start off the new year, host Bree Davies called up her favorite tarot reader, astrologer, and astral guide Lady Speech for a reading. In a take on the traditional three-card tarot spread, Lady Speech pondered our big questions: Will Denver’s mysterious “downtown dilemma” be solv...

Programming Note: We’re taking some time off around the new year. We’ll be back with new episodes starting on January 3. All this week, Bree Davies and producer Paul Karolyi counted down Denver’s top five stories of 2022. Today, we’re revealing #1, what should be done about downtown? 5. Hockeytown, USA 4. Tipping Fatigue 3. The Rise of Worker Power 2. Legal Reefer Madness 1. The Downtown Dilemma T...

Weed. It’s been legal for 10 years, and it feels more fraught than ever. All this week on City Cast Denver, host Bree Davies and producer Paul Karolyi are counting down 2022’s top five stories in Denver. Today, #2, how had legal weed changed Denver? And how has it remained the same? 5. Hockeytown, USA 4. Tipping Fatigue 3. The Rise of Worker Power 2. Legal Reefer Madness 1. ??? Continue listening...

2022, what a year, am I right? Lots of ups, lots of downs. And we made it. All this week on City Cast Denver, host Bree Davies and producer Paul Karolyi are counting down 2022’s top five stories in Denver. Today, #3, grocery workers, baristas, gig workers, cannabis growers, public employees, etc. etc. etc. 5. Hockeytown, USA 4. Tipping Fatigue 3. The Rise of Worker Power 2. ??? 1. ??? This episode...

As the days tick down to the new year, we’re looking back at 2022. All this week on City Cast Denver, host Bree Davies and producer Paul Karolyi are counting down the 2022’s top five stories in Denver. Today, #4, the bill is here. How much are you gonna tip?  5. Hockeytown, USA 4. Tipping Fatigue 3. ??? 2. ??? 1. ??? This episode originally aired on September 9, 2022. Newsletter editor Peyton ment...

Host Bree Davies and producer Paul Karolyi are counting down the top five stories in Denver in 2022. Today’s episode kicks off with some honorable mentions and #5, a turning point moment for local hockey. 5. Hockeytown, USA 4. ??? 3. ??? 2. ??? 1. ??? A longer version of this episode originally aired on July 1, 2022.  Dive into our coverage of the runner-up stories of the year: We Get Lost in Davi...

Just as we were setting our away messages and logging off for the holiday season, Denver got the biggest news of the year: the South Park guys announced an official reopening date for Casa Bonita! Host Bree Davies and producer Paul Karolyi jumped on the mic to share their first reactions to the video announcement from South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker, and their head chef, decorated c...

Denver is about to put another interesting year on the books. Depending on how you look at it, we celebrated some major victories… and took some embarrassing Ls. Today on the show, host Bree Davies is joined by producer Paul Karolyi and a couple of regulars from Westword, editor in chief Patty Calhoun and staff writer Conor McCormick-Cavanagh, to discuss their picks for the most epic wins and fail...

Tonight marks the fourth night of Hanukkah, and it’s time to settle the age-old question: who makes the best latke in Denver? Two brave home chefs stepped up to challenge three local Jewish restaurant institutions — Zaidy’s, Rosenberg’s, and Safta — at the Jewish Community Center’s first annual best latke competition earlier this week. Host Bree Davies and producer Paul Karolyi were on hand to eat...

As we longingly wait for snow to blanket the Mile High in time for the holidays, there’s always the mountains — the place where we can reaIly get that Colorado winter experience, AKA hot springs! And boy, does our fair region have a lot of different kinds of places to choose from. So are you looking for a hideaway in the woods or a swimming pool at a resort? Do you prefer wearing a swimming suit o...

Or does parking have a Denver problem? It’s an age-old question that’s become particularly controversial lately, with increasing concerns over the vitality of downtown. So what could be done to fix our parking problem? And is parking even the right thing to focus on? Host Bree Davies gets to the bottom of it with Denver’s number one urban planning power couple: Frank and Jill Locantore. Frank was...

This weekend, we’re excited to share the first episode from the new season of Laws of Notion, the podcast produced by The Institute of Science and Policy at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. This new season is all about a big story we’ve been talking about all year: water. There’s not enough of it! Or maybe we just don’t know what to do with the water we’ve got? There are a lot of challenge...

The cost of groceries is too damn high! And it could be going even higher, based on the reporting from our guest for this week’s news round-up. Denver Post reporter Megan Ulu-lani Boyanton joins host Bree Davies and producer Paul Karolyi to talk about Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser’s look into the local impacts of the proposed $25 billion Albertson’s/Kroger merger, the old law driving up th...

An astounding 85% of all pizza cheese is supplied by the Denver-based company Leprino Foods, which is controlled by one man, the reclusive billionaire James “Jim” Leprino. But that’s pretty much all we knew about Leprino until recently, when his nieces took him to court and forced the family’s billion-dollar succession drama into the public record. Producer Paul Karolyi sits down with reporter Hel...

In a highly controversial vote two years ago, Coloradans narrowly approved a proposal to reintroduce wolves to the state. But a breakdown of the vote revealed the more complicated challenge ahead: urban voters, who may not have direct interactions with the wolves, overwhelmingly said yes, while rural voters — like ranchers, who have concerns about livestock safety — tended to skew against the meas...

While Colorado Springs is still dealing with the aftermath of the Club Q shooting, there’s something else that’s clung to the city in a negative way: its reputation as a conservative, fundamentalist Christian stronghold that espouses strong anti-LGBTQ beliefs. That stereotype has never defined it for the people who actually live there, though — and now that the world is looking at Colorado’s secon...

The alleged shooter who opened fire inside Club Q last month, killing five people, had prior run-ins with law enforcement, including reportedly threatening members of his own family with a homemade bomb. It would seem to be a textbook scenario for use of Colorado’s red flag law to prevent the purchase of weapons used in the attack. But that didn’t happen — and that’s left many wondering if orderin...

It’s another Friday news roundup! This week, podcaster and cannabis expert Ann Marie Awad joins producer Paul Karolyi and host Bree Davies to dig through local stories big and small. First, the crew discusses the recent controversy around the Colorado Healing Fund and talk about “solidarity not charity” models of giving, like mutual aid networks. Then, Paul, Ann Marie, and Bree dig into a highly c...

Ten years after Lakewood baker Jack Phillips refused to bake a cake for a gay wedding, a similar case went before the Supreme Court this week — yet again involving a Denver-area professional refusing to serve same-sex couples. But the make-up of the court is very different, and the outcome is anyone’s guess. CPR’s justice reporter Allison Sherry was in Washington this week to hear oral arguments,...

Denver lost so many restaurants to the pandemic — RIP Racines, To The Wind, Tables, Piatti, etc. — but there are great new spots popping up all the time and plenty of old favorites going strong! So we’re looking back at a killer year in Denver dining with Westword’s food editor Molly Martin, who just published her annual list of 100 restaurants we can’t live without. Is the food hall trend flounde...

Sure, Denverites love the Parade of Lights and the tree lighting at Union Station. But what else is there to do here during the holiday season? Today on the show, host Bree Davies is joined by newsletter editor Peyton Garcia for a rundown of some of the best Christmas-y things to do, see, and eat in the Mile High. From pop-up bars and holiday markets to tamale tastings and visits with Santa, we’ve...

The Denver Post published a blockbuster three-part investigation last week, unveiling the spokes of an international criminal conspiracy with Denver as a key hub — the Denver Art Museum, in fact. Their fifth floor Bunker Gallery is so-named for Emma C. Bunker, “The Scholar,” as she was known in court papers connected to the scheme. From her Denver home, she validated and elevated the false claims...