Denver news in 5 minutes: What you need to know today, Nov. 16

4 min. read
Color photograph of Miss Juneteenth with two young girl attendants, Five Points, 1989. (Denver Public Library/Western History Collection/ARL47) juneteenth; five points; archive; denver public library; denver; colorado; history;

Howdy-ho, neighbors. I just read all this news and I need to put it somewhere... somewhere like your minds. It's a great roundup today, if I say so myself, with lots of bonus stuff that wasn't in the newsletter.

Color photograph of Miss Juneteenth with two young girl attendants, Five Points, 1989. (Denver Public Library/Western History Collection/ARL47)
Your weekend:

This curated list should serve you just fine. It's got volunteer mural-painting, an anniversary production of "RENT," beer-and-cookies pairings and more. (Denverite)

Clear weather here for a few days is in the Denver forecast, plus a nice big storm for the mountains on Friday. (Denverite)

Eater has pulled together a descriptive list of 17 ramen shops around Denver. (Eater)

Two galleries just opened in converted garages. Ray Mark Rinaldi explains. (The Know)

New cities:

How will driverless cars change us? Chenoe Hart argues that "when travel becomes fully autonomous, we will always be traveling: families or co-workers in quiet concert on giant roads, moving in a cluster of moving buildings, chasing good weather, hardly aware that we’re going anywhere at all." (NYT)

A vertical farm will grow lettuce indoors in River North, Kate Tracy reports. (BusinessDen)

Denver saw positive results from all that public toilet testing they've been doing for the last 18 months. Soon, they'll build two permanent new facilities — a surprisingly rare thing. (Denverite)

Every city household that is eligible for municipal trash and recycling services — about 176,000 in all — can get compost pickup now. (Denverite)

Climate and health:

The West has warmed faster than the rest of the nation, wildfires are worsening, and crucial  winter precipitation may decline, as Maya Kapoor reports. (High Country News via Independent)

Denver Health doctors claim they've documented the first fatal marijuana overdose after a baby ingested weed and died of heart failure. (9News)

Some of Denver's hospitals are turning over 40 percent profit margins, as Ed Sealover reports. Only Denver Health is unprofitable, and that's because it takes on many more uninsured and Medicaid patients.“The bottom line is I would say the Affordable Care Act has been very good for the most part for Colorado. It's been profitable," one analyst tells Sealover. (DBJ)

Governance:

Lots of Republicans are running for governor right now, but only one member of their party has managed to win that election since 1974. His name was Bill Owens, and we asked what made him special. (Denverite)

Denver's new director of public works, Eulois Cleckley, will oversee the creation of a local transportation department and will have a "critical role" in spending some of that new money voters just approved. He says he's a transit fan. David Sachs reports. (StreetsBlog)

A plan to create an Office of Public-Private Partnerships is moving forward with a notable change that gives Denver City Council the final say on deals with private partners for major projects. But there are still concerns. Erica reports. (Denverite)

Sexual harassment:

A second Democratic lawmaker has been accused of inappropriate conduct. A much younger field organizer says state Rep. Paul Rosenthal groped him at a campaign event in 2012. He's filed a formal complaint; Rosenthal says he did nothing wrong. John Frank reports. (DP)

Buying stuff:

Red Rocks is trying to clamp down on scalping by requiring that tickets in the first four rows be used by the original buyer, Dylan Owens reports. (The Know)

The Colorado Mills mall will reopen on Nov. 21 after months of hail repairs. If you go, you'll see the work isn't quite done, but the management hopes customers won't mind. Adrian reports. (Denverite)

Cherry Cricket's going to open a Ballpark location next year, as Kailyn Lamb reports. (BusinessDen)

Denver investors are buying Alfalfa's Market in Boulder, Shay Castle reports. (Camera)

Recent Stories