Denver in 5 minutes: What you need to know today, Dec. 20

(Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

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Greetings. Here’s some reading. We’ve got the uneven recovery, gender-neutral bathrooms, a giant and expensive new sign, trouble in Wyoming and more. Onward.

LoDo in 1889.  (Library of Congress)

LoDo in 1889. Check out more of the map. (Library of Congress)

Report: Only Colorado’s wealthiest workers are doing better.

“The lowest-paid 20 percent of workers are making 1.7 percent less in real dollars today then they did in 2000, and middle-income workers are 2.3 percent lower in their pay,” as Denver Business Journal reports based on Colorado Center on Law and Policy data. Overall, though, median household income last year surpassed 2007 levels. (DBJ)

Single-stall bathrooms in Denver will be gender neutral by 2018.

The change could be helpful to “older people, parents of small children, people who don’t want to wait in line and transgender people as well,” says Daniel Ramos of One Colorado. (Denverite)

DIA’s getting a giant new sign.

Here’s what $11.5 million of LEDs will look like:

A rendering of a planned $11.5 million sign for Denver International Airport. (Denver International Airport)

A rendering of a planned $11.5 million sign for Denver International Airport. (Denver International Airport)

Biogas may smell bad.

The Heartland Biogas Project, one of the largest of its kind in the U.S., will be forced to shut down by Weld County. Converting cow manure and food scraps into natural gas apparently raises a stink, with 600 complaints registered by neighbors. The plant’s permit was declared invalid. (CPR)

Wyoming in trouble?

Our northern neighbor may be “the most economically troubled state in the country,” as a Bloomberg opinion piece argues. Unemployment is pretty normal there, but Wyoming is extremely dependent on energy extraction, and it doesn’t have any of the large metro areas that have seen much of the recent years’ growth. (Bloomberg)

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Morton’s is moving:

The steakhouse will be shut down from Jan. 21 to Feb. 10 as it moves from Wynkoop Street to 1745 Wazee. (BusinessDen)

Also, a developer proposes 40 new town homes and duplexes around 4045 Pecos Street in Sunnyside. There’s a map in the article. (BusinessDen)

Also:

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Denverite members have made the decision to financially support local journalism that matters to you. Ready to tell your networks why? Sharing our “About” page with your own personal comments could really help us out.