What you need to know about Denver in 5 min.

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Become a member and be a better Denverite every day.

Become a member and be a better Denverite every day.

Become a member and be a better Denverite every day.

Work crews returning to site of massive Colorado mine spill

Crews are returning to the scene of a massive mine waste spill in southwestern Colorado to stabilize the mine opening with steel bracing and concrete.

Dave Burdick

Jul. 08, 2016, 2:55 p.m.

Jul. 08, 2016, 2:55 p.m.

Interior of the Gold King Mine. (Flickr/EPA)

Crews are returning to the scene of a massive mine waste spill in southwestern Colorado to stabilize the mine opening with steel bracing and concrete.

The Environmental Protection Agency said Friday work at the Gold King Mine will begin this weekend and last through October.

An EPA-led contractor inadvertently triggered a spill of 3 million gallons of wastewater from the Gold King last August while doing preliminary cleanup work.

The spill tainted rivers in Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. Water utilities shut down their intake valves and farmers stopped drawing from the rivers. The EPA says the water quality quickly returned to pre-spill levels.

The spill triggered lawsuits and intense criticism of the EPA.

The agency has proposed a Superfund cleanup of the Gold King and other nearby mining sites.

The old Niles and Moser Cigar Company building at 900 Bannock St. in the Golden Triangle. May 20, 2022.

Should Golden Triangle’s Niles and Moser Cigar Company warehouse be demolished or saved?

The public has until June 9 to decide whether the former cigar warehouse should go up in smoke (metaphorically, of course).

Max Hutchinson and Kevin Bastow enter their new place in Capitol Hill. May 17, 2022.

Denver placed 597 people experiencing homelessness into housing in the past 100 days

This is the second round of Mayor Michael Hancock's housing surge, funded by emergency COVID-19 money.

Leslie and Richard Foust, who drove up from Albuquerque to watch the Avalanche game, pose for a portrait outside of the Pepsi Center, May 2, 2019. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

Things to do in Denver this weekend, May 20-22

The Denver Silent Film Festival returns!

Planter boxes at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, July 26, 2018. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

Things to do this summer in Denver now that the city is open

From a bus tour of the apocalypse to PrideFest and Juneteenth celebrations!

Jacqueline Lawrence pulls the stop cords as RTD's number 15 bus heads east. June 16, 2021.

Denver’s streets are deadlier than ever. The city’s new plans for better buses may make them safer.

“We're failing those who've died."

I-25 at rush hour, March 15, 2017. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

Luke Combs, the Rockies, Mammoth and snow will bring a traffic jam to Denver Saturday night

All of the things are happening. Stay safe and plan ahead.

The Los Limousines building at 2215 California St. May 19, 2022.

Developers propose a 25-story building across from the Mercury Cafe, at the El Paso-Los Angeles Limousine Express site

The plans include retail, office space and 646 residential units.

La Popular at 2033 Lawrence St. May 19, 2022.

Developer sets sights on La Popular, Denver’s legendary tamale manufacturer

The new project would include 37 stories of apartments, retail and more.

Planter boxes at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, July 26, 2018. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

Film on the Rocks is bringing the film series back to the amphitheater after two years of drive-ins

Film lovers can watch movies like Thor: Ragnarok, The Sandlot, Summer of Soul and more at Red Rocks!

A play area inside Shaniq Wells' before- and after-school childcare classroom at Trevista at Horace Mann in Sunnyside. April 8, 2022.

Childcare is freakin’ expensive. Where’s the money going?

Salaries are the biggest expense — and early childhood educators are paid way less than public school teachers.

Viktor Dokulevski, right, and Lilia Asenova of Denver shop for an electric bicycle at Campus Cycles in south Denver on Saturday, May 14, 2022.

Didn’t get one of Denver’s e-bike rebates? Fear not, you’ll likely have another chance soon.

Dolores Alfaro stands in her backyard garden, which has been supercharged with nonprofit GrowHaus' help. May 11, 2022.

Dolores Alfaro’s backyard in Elyria-Swansea is a farmers’ market delight!

GrowHaus continues to provide food access to Globeville, Elyria-Swansea residents like Alfaro.

A man talks into a phone at the state Capitol building, Jan. 6, 2020. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

Denver’s new area code 983 will roll out in June

The change was approved by Colorado’s Public Utilities Commission last year to help absorb a growing number of phone lines in the region.

The crowd holds hands during a vigil for George Floyd at Civic Center Park. June 9, 2020. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

Group of 12 George Floyd protesters file civil rights lawsuit against Denver Police Department

If the case goes to trial, changes could be coming to DPD.

Max Hutchinson and Kevin Bastow stand in their new place in Capitol Hill. May 17, 2022.

As they move inside, Max and Kevin hope they won’t fully leave Denver’s streets behind

The couple's time in an SOS camp helped get them into permanent housing.

Denver Public Schools buses at their home off Federal Boulevard, Dec. 14, 2019. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

DPS’s minimum wage workers call for wage hike to meet cost of living

Workers say they can no longer afford to live in a city where the median house cost is $600,000 and inflation keeps prices rising.

Jerry Burton leads a march protesting ten years of Denver's urban camping ban, the last day in a week of events decrying the "decade of doom." May 14, 2022.

Denver’s camping ban was supposed to push the unhoused into housing

Ten years later, homelessness has grown.

Instructor Anubis Heru works with Ikaika Hill inside 17 Seventy Armory and Gun Club's new "virtual" range in Five Points. Oct. 17, 2020.

City Council passes gun ban in Denver parks and city buildings — even for concealed carry permit holders

Opponents fear the new law will disproportionately target people of color.

Denver School of the Arts student Lolo Nuss belts out a musical number during the practice for the school's Festival Fringe play. May 11, 2022.

Denver School of the Arts theatre students are headed to Edinburgh Festival Fringe to perform an original musical based on their experiences with COVID, BLM, gun violence and more

“COVID was just this whole whirlwind, and then you’re just automatically thrown back into school and life."

A bronze plaque stolen from the Kingdom of Benin detailing a “court nobleman or possibly a chief showing details of his regalia.”

The Denver Art Museum takes its first steps to repatriate an artifact from the Kingdom of Benin

A bronze plaque was stolen by British forces in 1897 from what is now modern Nigeria.