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Denver’s affordable housing shortfall a misery shared in cities across the Western Hemisphere

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:16:25 GMT

Mayors of 250 cities from Canada to Chile didn’t have to look far to see one of the chief concerns they came to discuss during the first Cities Summit of the Americas held in Denver on Thursday and Friday.Issues like the digital divide, sustainable development and accommodating migrants were all discussed, but those are more hidden. Denver’s lack of affordable housing was on full display just outside the Colorado Convention Center, and for many, it was a struggle they knew all too well.“What would it feel like if everybody were housed in your community,” Charlie Clark, mayor of the Canadian city of Saskatoon, asked those attending a panel on “Cities for Adequate Housing” held Thursday afternoon.The question, one he has asked others before, came to him again as he walked downtown, he said. He noticed the large number of unhoused people living on the streets. Then he noticed the heavy presence of armed security guards. And he also recalled the strug...

A bill that would increase pay transparency for Colorado’s gig drivers is teetering

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:16:25 GMT

When Colorado lawmakers in January unveiled a bill designed to increase transparency for ride-hail and delivery drivers, the tech companies sounded a cooperative tone.“We’ve long supported many of these ideas,” an Uber spokesman said.“Fair deactivations and pay transparency are important issues,” a Lyft representative said.But three months later, those companies and other business groups are lobbying heavily against the legislation, warning consumers about “unprecedented fees” and safety concerns that, they argue, would allow dangerous drivers to stay behind the wheel.Now, with just a week left in the legislative session, the future of the bill is murky. The Senate Finance Committee has bumped votes on SB23-098 multiple times, with key lawmakers voicing concern about portions of the proposal, including a state-run review board to oversee driver activations.“It doesn’t have the votes and I’m not the swing vote,” Sen. K...

Downtown office valuations flat as Denver retail, hospitality properties rebound

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:16:25 GMT

Commercial property owners in Denver are seeing less of a change in valuations this cycle than residential property owners.The median commercial property increased 17 percent in value compared to two years prior, while residential properties saw a median increase of 33 percent, according to the Denver assessor.The hospitality and retail sectors led the way on the commercial side, Assessor Keith Erffmeyer told a Denver City Council committee on Tuesday. Hotels and motels saw a median 33 percent increase, while retail properties saw a median 17 percent increase.Erffmeyer said those sectors were “really regaining what they had lost in COVID.”“That’s kind of a bounceback to where they were,” he said.Warehouse properties in the city saw a median 16 percent increase. The median change for office buildings in LoDo and the Central Business District, however, was an increase of just 0.5 percent.That reflects the lingering impact of the pandemic on office building owners, who are seeing many ...

Former VF Corp. CEO sells Cherry Creek home for $6M

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:16:25 GMT

The former CEO of Denver-based VF Corp. has sold his Cherry Creek home for $6 million.Steven Rendle, who oversaw the relocation of the company’s headquarters from North Carolina to the Mile High City, retired in December.He and wife Julie sold their 5,400-square-foot home in the 400 block of Milwaukee St. on April 14, according to public records. They had bought it in 2018 for $3.65 million.Related ArticlesBusiness | Bittersweet restaurant property in West Wash Park listed for sale or lease Business | Unprecedented gains in Colorado home values preview budget-busting property tax hikes next year Business | RiNo office building made out of wood on track to be completed this year Business | The Wonder Academy preschool to close in downtown Denver after landlord sells property to developer Business | Pikes Peak summit builder accused by city of shoddy work at 14,000 feet The home was purchased by David and ...

Here are some of hottest mud-season hotel deals in Colorado

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:16:25 GMT

Mud season is one of the best times for hotel deals in the high countrySure, the convivial Après-ski culture makes winter the prime time to visit local ski resorts, but with 300 days of sunshine in Colorado, there’s never really a bad season in the mountains, is there?The spring snowmelt — often called mud season — brings a quiet, crowd-free experience, made even better by major deals. So, raise a toast to mild, high-country weather, having the golf course to yourself, long nights of fireside reading, catching first glimpses of the state’s earliest blooming flowers, and first-class service at these four- and five-star resorts.AspenAspen’s still known as a ski town, but gone are the days of the town’s resorts shutting down completely when the lifts stop turning (only to reopen when international crowds return in June for events like Aspen Ideas Festival, the Food & Wine Classic, etc.). Now, a secret season draws in Coloradans looking to enjoy Aspen without the tourist...

Will higher pay lure more teachers? Bill aims to boost salaries 50% by 2030

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:16:25 GMT

Michael Rodriguez loves teaching 7th grade at Oakland Unified’s United for Success Academy, but to help pay the bills, he’s got a side gig making branded T-shirts and hoodies for restaurants and other small businesses around his neighborhood.“At night and on the weekends, I’ll be grading tests while I pump out 20 hoodies,” said Rodriguez, 51, who’s paid $78,000 to teach. “That’s the kind of stuff we have to do while also being expected to give the highest quality of education that we can.”But a new proposal in Sacramento aims to put a lot more cash in the pockets of teachers such as Rodriguez: Assembly Bill 938 would boost school teacher and staff pay a whopping 50% by 2030. Jeff Freitas, president of the California Federation of Teachers, the bill’s sponsor, acknowledged it’s “a big and bold idea.”“We make no mistake about that,” Freitas told the Assembly Education Committee this week. “...

Editorial: Horrific death of 8-year-old Sophia Mason must be independently examined

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:16:25 GMT

Sophia Mason, the 8-year-old girl whose 55-pound body was found decomposing in a bathtub last year, might be alive today if Alameda County social workers had not dismissed the danger the child was in.Records and reporting by this news organization over the past year show that social workers ignored at least eight separate warnings in the 15 months before Sophia’s death that she was being abused and in danger. But no one in the county has been publicly held accountable. No one.Not the social workers who dismissed warning signs. Not Michelle Love, head of the Department of Children and Family Services; Andrea Ford, director of the county’s Social Services Agency; nor County Administrator Susan Muranishi.And not the elected Alameda County Board of Supervisors. Supervisors Nate Miley and David Haubert last year promised an investigation of Sophia’s death, but nothing happened.The stonewalling has gone on too long. The board must hire an independent outside investigator to figure out how...

Opinion: What police departments can do to prevent racist cops

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:16:25 GMT

The Mercury News and East Bay Times story published April 16 “What Can Be Done About Racist Cops?” puts forward several possible answers to its own question but never seems to land on what I consider to be the best one: We need to fix the problem where it starts.The hiring process for the average police department is broken and all but incentivizes cops to embrace insular group think and cliques within cliques.Applicants are required to have 60 units of college credit, most commonly achieved through an associate’s degree in criminal justice or related fields of study. This field of education is certainly relevant for policing; it makes the career choice a real all-or-nothing enterprise for the applicant. If they aren’t hired as an officer or decide they want to move into another field, their options may be limited to corrections, probations or parole — important occupations but maybe not their desired goal.There’s nothing wrong with a lifetime career in policing, but currently...

Russian official: Ukrainian drones strike Crimea oil depot

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:16:25 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A massive fire erupted at an oil depot in Crimea after it was hit by two of Ukraine’s drones, a Russia-appointed official there reported Saturday, the latest in a series of attacks on the annexed peninsula as Russia braces for an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive. Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Moscow-installed governor of Sevastopol, a port city in Crimea, posted videos and photos of the blaze on his Telegram channel. Razvozhayev said the fire at the city’s harbor was assigned the highest ranking in terms of how complicated it will be to extinguish. However, he reported that the open blaze had been contained. Razvozhayev said the oil depot was attacked by “two enemy drones,” and four oil tanks burned down. A third drone was shot down from the sky over Crimea, and one more was deactivated through radio-electronic means, according to Crimea’s Moscow-appointed governor, Sergei Aksyonov. Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, a move that mo...

Confiscan una ‘pajilla de vampiro’ a un viajero en el aeropuerto de Boston

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:16:25 GMT

(CNN) — Un viajero en el Aeropuerto Internacional Logan de Boston fue arrestado después de que se descubrió que tenía en su equipaje de mano una llamada “pajilla de vampiro”, que puede usarse como arma.El hombre de 26 años se dirigía a Chicago desde Boston el 23 de abril, según un correo electrónico de Daniel Vélez, portavoz de TSA New England. En Twitter, Vélez explicó que la Policía Estatal de Massachusetts confiscó la pajilla del bolso de mano del hombre y finalmente lo arrestó.Vélez le dijo a CNN que, si bien en algunos estados se permiten pajillas de vampiro en el equipaje facturado, es ilegal llevarlas en Massachusetts.Detienen a una estadounidense en Sydney después de que el personal del aeropuerto encontrara una pistola de oro en su equipajeEl hombre fue acusado de portar un arma peligrosa, según un comunicado de la Policía Estatal de Massachusetts. Su nombre no fue revelado por la policía.¿Qué es una pajita de vampiro?La imagen que Vélez publicó del artícu...