City Cast Denver

Russia’s attack on Ukraine has been dominating the news over the last 48 hours, impacting Ukrainians at home and all over the world. Denver is no exception. The city’s Ukrainian community and allies gathered on the steps of the state capitol this afternoon and City Cast Denver producers Paul Karolyi and Xandra McMahon were there to document the scene. UPDATE: Since this episode was originally publ...

A frothy mix of supply chain issues has set two longtime collaborators on a collision course: Westminster’s aluminum can giant, Ball Corporation, and the local brewers who like to sell their beer in cans. Ball’s always been good to small craft breweries, but the past two years have put the company in an impossible predicament. So what does this mean for your favorite neighborhood brewery? Will you...

When Parker McMullen Bushman and her business partner, Crystal Egli, founded Inclusive Journeys, they were on a mission to bring the idea of the Green Book into the 21st century. While they found enthusiastic support for their idea of an internet-based inclusive spaces travel guide, the financial backing other tech companies seemed to attract wasn’t as easy to come by. Today on the show, Host Bree...

The overdose deaths of five people in Commerce City over the weekend were a harsh reminder that fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, is wreaking havoc in our communities, and has been for some time. Fentanyl’s growing presence in Denver’s drug supply the last few years directly correlates to alarming spikes in overdoses. According to the Denver Post, “An average of two Coloradans died of fentanyl overdos...

Denver has a unique relationship with the Olympics, that's for sure. But our friends on the other side of the Rockies have been grappling with the Games lately, too. Utahns are currently discussing a bid for the 2030 Olympics, so City Cast Salt Lake host Ali Vallarta invited CCD host Bree Davies and producer Paul Karolyi to hash it out. We had a ton of fun recording this and there are a bunch of i...

It’s time for another City Cast Denver food fight! This time, the crew chows down on fried chicken, and tries to determine who does it best. Today on the show, producer Xandra McMahon is joined by host Bree Davies, newsletter writer Peyton Garcia, and special guest Keith Garcia, artistic director of the Sie FilmCenter, for an epic poultry battle. After narrowing it down to four top fried chicken s...

“As we are all keenly aware, our community is experiencing a disturbing rise in crime,” said Mayor Michael Hancock on February 3, as he stood alongside Police Chief Paul Pazen to unveil their new plan for public safety. Today on the show, City Cast Denver host Bree Davies sits down with Pazen to break down the plan. They discuss the role Pazen sees for harm reduction at Union Station, the logic be...

The pandemic has created a “once-in-a-generation” opportunity to tackle Colorado’s housing crisis. At least, that’s according to our guest today, State Senator Julie Gonzales. She’s been leading a task force of state lawmakers to figure out how best to spend $550 million in federal pandemic relief to help get our housing market back under control. But this is a big, multi-faceted problem with tons...

Before comedian Josh Blue was headlining world tours and making Simon Cowell bust a gut on America’s Got Talent, he was living in Cap Hill spending every night at Denver’s legendary club — Comedy Works. It was there that he got to rub elbows with some of his heroes, and work on routines that would launch him into comedy stardom. City Cast Denver host Bree Davies chatted with Josh about his recent...

Whether you’re spending the day in love with love or grumpy with the greeting card companies, this Valentine’s Day special episode is for you. Because we asked you for your best Denver love stories — tales about that special someone, place, or pet — and we were bowled over by all the good Denver-y vibes you shared. So join Host Bree Davies as she listens and reacts to a few of your Denver love sto...

Even with Omicron slowly waning, Denverites are still not going downtown at a rate anywhere close to pre-pandemic levels. The lack of hustle and bustle has led the City of Denver and the Downtown Denver Partnership to propose yet another plan to “reactivate” the 16th St. Mall: rent-free pop-up shops to fill all the empty storefronts. Host Bree Davies and Producer Paul Karolyi speculate on the futu...

The King Soopers strike last month showed Coloradans what organized labor can accomplish to improve working conditions… but what about public workers, who don’t currently have the right to collective bargaining under state law? That’s where the Communication Workers of America (CWA) 7799 comes in. They’re a coalition of workers at Denver Public Library, the University of Colorado, Denver Health an...

There are so many people experiencing homelessness in Denver. And in some ways, Colorado’s problem is bigger than any other state’s — according to a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development study, Colorado’s “chronically sheltered” population has grown more than 250% in the last 14 years. Recently, two 9News reporters discovered that this uptick in folks looking for shelter has led them to...

One day in 1925, Kate Slaughterback and her adopted son Ernie were riding horses near Hudson, Colorado, when they were beset by rattlesnakes. Being no ordinary frontierswoman, Kate shot and clubbed 140 of them to death, earning her the nickname Rattlesnake Kate. Nearly 100 years later, another extraordinary Colorado woman stumbled across a dress made entirely out of rattlesnake skins and found her...

In a private (and allegedly illegal) meeting last week, two conservative members of the Douglas County School Board issued Superintendent Cory Wise an ultimatum: resign or be fired. It was the latest in months of drama between students, teachers, parents, administration, and the newly elected, now-majority conservative board. Colorado Newsline reporter Chase Woodruff was on the ground in Castle Ro...

The Denver Broncos — what a week. From news of the team officially being put up for sale to a lawsuit alleging John Elway was a hungover slob in a past head coach interview, we’re here to talk about this mess of a football team. Producer Paul Karolyi is joined by City Cast Denver contributor Jake Shapiro and Westword editor Patty Calhoun to talk about what this means for the future of the Broncos,...

Billions of people all over the world celebrated the Lunar New Year on Tuesday, including here in Denver, where Mimi Luong’s family has made it their mission to share the holiday with everyone. Her grandparents, her dad, and her uncles all fled Vietnam during the fall of Saigon in 1975. When they arrived in Denver, they had nothing. But Mimi’s family worked hard to build a piece of home here and t...

Earlier this week, Mayor Hancock announced that he was letting Denver’s indoor mask mandate expire on Thursday. This means the days of mask requirements and proofs of vaccination will soon be a thing of the past. Though he cited waning numbers of Omicron cases and hospitalizations, the mayor also stated that we’re still dealing with an ongoing “public health emergency.” Today on the show, host Bre...

There is a special place in Denver with all the best old junk: shelves of antique tools, a ratty old flightsuit, bright yellow bombs hanging from the ceiling (decommissioned, we hope), and all sorts of hidden nooks and crannies filled with dusty treasures of yesteryear. Surplus Tools & Commodities now bills itself as a “unique shopping experience,” but long before all the artists and scavengers di...

If you’ve visited Denver’s Downtown Aquarium recently, you probably noticed something fishy. According to numerous current and former employees, the current owners have allowed the place to deteriorate, with issues ranging from paint chips in the stingray pool to piles of expired food for sale to not-so-subtle anti-mask messaging. So Host Bree Davies sat down with Westword reporter Catie Cheshire...

Too many neighborhoods in Denver lack access to fresh food. It’s an ongoing problem as the city continues to grow and become more expensive, and the mom and pop markets get put out of business by the grocery conglomerates. But this week, one Republican lawmaker decided he had a plan to solve Colorado’s food desert problem: just put groceries into existing liquor stores. Hmmm…easier said than done....

Denver’s Phamaly Theatre Company doesn’t just accommodate theatre artists with disabilities, they welcome them and celebrate them — they are them. Actor, director, and advocate Regan Linton is one of the filmmakers behind the 2021 documentary imperfect that takes audiences into this “sacred space,” as she calls it, as the actors and crew members put on a production of Chicago. The documentary won...

Vail Resorts isn’t just the biggest ski resort operator in Colorado, it’s the biggest operator in all of North America. But now, more than 40,000 skiers and snowboarders across the country are fed up with how Vail Resorts does business. A petition circulating in the ski and snowboard world aims to hold the company accountable for things like “mismanagement of the ski area, the failure to treat emp...

The mass shooting across Denver and Lakewood last month led to the deaths of five people, many of whom were leaders in the local tattooing community, including Alicia Cardenas. But as Westword's Culture Editor Emily Ferguson discovered when she was reporting on an art opening at a local parlor, the Denver tattoo community has a dark history of violence that long predates the events of December 27,...

Ten days after more than 8,000 grocery store workers across Denver walked out on strike, Kroger-owned King Soopers and the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 7 announced a tentative agreement on Friday morning. Union president Kim Cordova said that the new three-year contract would address "the company's unfair labor practices and ensures that our members will receive the respect, pay...