What you need to know about Denver in 5 min.

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.

Become a member and be a better Denverite every day.

Denver Public Schools will close for three weeks starting Monday due to coronavirus

Several have already closed because parents have tested positive for COVID-19.

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

Esteban L. Hernandez

Mar. 12, 2020, 7:05 p.m.

Mar. 12, 2020, 7:05 p.m.

Denver Public Schools is closing for three weeks starting on Monday, the district said Thursday.

School buildings will be closed March 18 through April 3 for students so schools can be disinfected.

DPS will offer free meals to students in need through April 7, including breakfast from 8 to 9 a.m. and lunch from noon to 1 p.m. at Abraham Lincoln High School, Place Bridge, Shoemaker Elementary, Lincoln High, North High, Montbello, Manual and Baker. However the district will not offer busing to and from the meals in order to avoid grouping children.

DPS does not have plans for childcare for parents.

Three DPS schools were closed this week for deep-cleaning due to COVID-19 exposure. The schools were closed after parents of students there tested positive for COVID-19.

One student at a school closed this week, John H. Amesse Elementary School, was being tested for the disease.

The last district-wide shutdown happened in April 2019 when the FBI searched for a young woman suspected of making threats against local schools.

This is a developing story.

An unplowed road in Denver's East Colfax neighborhood. Nov, 24, 2020.

Mile High United Way opens space in its headquarters for people experiencing homelessness

"A building is more than a building."

A coronavirus community testing site run by the city on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020, at Paco Sanchez Park in Denver. (Esteban L. Hernandez/Denverite)

Snowfall prompts the city’s free coronavirus testing sites to open later than usual

The sites will open at noon.

The Denver Health campus on November 23, 2020.

Frontline workers accuse Denver Health of union-busting as coronavirus puts pressure on the system

Denver approved a new contract with the hospital authority responsible for treating the city's most vulnerable populations.

A strip mall and a Burger King on West Colfax Avenue across the street from the Auraria RTD station on November 23, 2020.

Homes and businesses will replace parking lots, a Burger King and a strip mall on West Colfax

It's a whopper.

Denver City Councilman Kevin Flynn at a meeting. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

Denver cracks down on unlicensed short-term rental hosts — through the platforms

Airbnb and others face daily fines of $1,000 when a home that's listed by a host who does not have a license from the city is rented.

A still provided by Denver police showing Antonio Blackbear pointing an air soft gun at police officers inside an unmarked cruiser.

Denver cops who fatally shot Antonio Blackbear in September were legally justified, DA decides

Police shot and killed Blackbear on Sept. 9 in the Lincoln Park neighborhood.

A sign for a lost tortoise outside of the O’Reilly household in Platt Park. Nov. 18, 2020.

Who’s seen Munch the tortoise?

He is the size of a big hamburger.

Everyone we met at the annual Denver Feed a Family event on Bruce Randolph Avenue in Cole. Nov. 21, 2020.

The Daddy Bruce turkey drive helped fill some seriously hungry bellies and souls this year

Volunteers found that packing boxes helped meet some outstanding psychic needs unique to 2020.

Colorado's Federal Security Director Larry Nau hands Oleg Faktorovich a medal during a memorial for his brother, Eduard, a TSA agent who died after contracting COVID-19. Nov, 21, 2020.

TSA honors a fallen agent as its brass pleads with passengers to be safe at DIA

Regardless of what happens, TSA workers will have to keep working as long as planes keep flying.

Denver Health. April 1, 2020. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

Denver Health, the city’s ‘safety net’ hospital, preps for more coronavirus patients and staff shortages before and after Thanksgiving

There's a teeny bit of good news?

A mock-up of a sanctioned urban campsite in the parking lot of Belong Church in North Capitol Hill. Oct. 2, 2020.

Denver’s first sanctioned camp sites will open in Capitol Hill church parking lots early next month

They are to shut down six months later.

Mayor Michael Hancock speaks during Gov. Jared Polis' press conference on COVID-19 at the Governor's Mansion in Capitol Hill. Nov. 17, 2020.

Denver clarifies new coronavirus restrictions

"We're in for a rough few months here, but I see a light at the end of the tunnel."

Marvyn Allen, health equity and training director with One Colorado, stands in Denver's Inspiration Point Park. Nov. 18, 2020

For this year’s Transgender Day of Remembrance, Colorado’s trans communities come together virtually to mourn and commemorate lives lost

Virtual vigils present challenges and opportunities for attendees.

This scary blue horse appears to have been impaled by a peppermint spear. Lonnie Hanzon's "Camp Christmas" under construction at Stanley Marketplace. Nov. 15, 2019. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

Things to do in Denver this weekend without spreading the coronavirus, Nov. 20-22

We're focusing on virtual events this weekend.

An ADU in Westwood on June 19, 2020. (Donna Bryson/Denverite)

Help is available for west Denver homeowners struggling to stay in their homes

A new program allows them to sell the land under their homes into a land trust and use the cash to pay down their mortgages.

The Denver Art Museum, Nov 13, 2019. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

So what’s going to happen to all the museums and music venues under Denver’s new restrictions?

We made some calls.

Chris Washington returned on Oct. 31, 2020 to the building where he lived before an August fire in a neighbor's apartment. Washington and other former residents were shocked to find they faced eviction proceedings after being displaced by the fire at Pine Creek Apartments.

After fleeing a fire at a southeast Denver apartment building, former residents were shocked to learn they faced eviction proceedings

Now, some former tenants are banding together to fight back with a class action lawsuit against their landlord.

Denver Streets Partnership Executive Director Jill Locantore lights candles in the window of her City Park West home for a World Day of Remembrance for people killed in traffic crashes. Nov. 18, 2020.

48 people killed while walking, rolling, biking and driving around Denver this year get a COVID-style memorial

The International Day of Remembrance is a little different this year.

A body camera worn by Officer Austin Barela shows him firing on a vehicle. (Source: Denver Police Department)

New body cameras would automatically start recording when officers draw their weapons

Denver's sheriff and police departments are a step closer to replacing some of their body cameras with newer technology.

A facilities crew wipes down surfaces at Bruce Randolph School during an extended COVID-19 spring break. March 19, 2020. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

Denver Public Schools shifting to remote learning after Thanksgiving

As the coronavirus cases rise across Colorado, the state’s largest school district is going remote.