Denver in 5 minutes: What you need to know today, Dec. 22

Hi there. We've got a forward-looking read of the day's news in Denver and beyond today, from the impact of the new minimum wage to some worrying trends for the housing market.

View from Colorado State Capitol roof across Civic Center to the unfinished white granite Denver City & County building. 1932. (Louis Charles McClure/Denver Public Library/Western History Collection/MCC-3116)

Westminster has plans near transit:

The city is working to add market rate (read: full price) housing and commercial near the parking garage at the Westminster light rail station. An affordable housing community also is in the plans, as Molly Armbrister reports. (DBJ)

What do restaurants do now?

Adrian explores how the minimum wage increase will affect Colorado's restaurants. There's some interesting data in here, and of course a full spectrum of forecasts. (Denverite)

A new plan for sidewalks:

Denver's sidewalk situation is patchy, mostly because it's on individual property owners to build and maintain them. The "leading contender" for a new policy: The city could allow owners to pay an optional fee that would be used for a citywide program, while presumably ramping up enforcement on those who don't pay, as David Sachs reports. (Streetsblog)

I wrote about a pet peeve of mine: the signs/lack of signs for Denver's transit and trails network. (Denverite)

He was sentenced to 98 years for two robberies.

And then Colorado prisons released him after 10 by accident. Rene Lima-Martin proceeded to serve "five spotless years" on parole with his children, until a former prosecutor discovered that the former inmate was released in error. So, now a judge asks: Should he go back to jail? No one was hurt in the alleged crime back in the '90s, as Danika Worthington reports. (DP)

Five hotels want to star in the Hunter S. Thompson movie.

Apparently Aspen has gotten too rich to accurately represent Thompson's life the '70s, so the producers are looking for sets around Durango and other towns. (Durango Herald)

No bonus for Mr. RTD.

Dave Genova, the general manager of the regional transit service, was denied a bonus this year due to problems including the A Line debacle, as Cathy Proctor reports. The 10 percent bonus could have been worth $27,500. (DBJ)

Affordability at a long-time low:

A new report finds metro Colorado counties are at their least affordable level in nine years, meaning incomes aren't keeping up with prices – and that situation could get worse as mortgages get more expensive, driving first-time buyers out of the market, as Aldo Svaldi reports. Dang. (Denver Post)