Colorado Democrats spar over bill to prohibit rent-setting algorithms

A bill aimed at barring landlords from using algorithms to set rents died in the Colorado Senate on Wednesday after a group of moderate Democrats joined Republicans to reject a more forceful House version of the measure. The crux of the disagreement was an adopted amendment that bill backers charged had been written by a … Read more

Palace Arms restaurant closing in historic Brown Palace after 74 years

After 74 years, the historic Brown Palace hotel is closing its Palace Arms restaurant. The regal restaurant tucked in the lobby of the downtown Denver hotel will hold its last dinner service on Saturday, May 4, and be closed until further notice, according to Brown Palace general manager Jana Smith. Smith said this is not … Read more

Chef Amos Watts dies at 43 just weeks from reopening The Fifth String

Denver chef Amos Watts, owner of The Fifth String, has died weeks ahead of the acclaimed restaurant’s reopening. Watts, 43, died Sunday morning after a medical episode, according to his friend Justin Brunson and former mentee Caroline Glover. Neither were fully sure of the nature of the episode. “He touched a lot of folks in … Read more

$20-and-up Denver cocktails that are worth the money

Tabbing out after a night on Denver’s bar scene can be alarming these days, especially if you didn’t look at the cost of your cocktail beforehand. Things can get pricey for those who are abstaining, too, as even mocktails are creeping toward double-digit dollars. “Whether it’s liquor or produce or the price of a paper … Read more

Colorado oil and gas, climate deal includes fees, abandoned bills

Leading Colorado Democrats and the state’s oil and gas industry announced a preemptive armistice Monday — one that seeks to defuse the latest round of dueling ballot initiatives and legislation aimed at the industry and its environmental impacts. The proposals, described to reporters by Gov. Jared Polis and legislative leadership, include imposing a new per-barrel … Read more

Denverites could return to homelessness as housing vouchers expire

Denver homeless advocates this month have demanded that city leaders step in to help 42 people who faced a potential return to the streets, two years after the city worked with service providers to move them into subsidized housing. The “rapid rehousing” vouchers they received, providing significant monthly rent support, are now expiring — highlighting … Read more

Colorado transit-oriented density bill hits snag in Senate committee

Updated at 3:10 p.m. April 27: The bill that’s the centerpiece of this year’s attempted land-use reforms by Democrats in the Colorado legislature and Gov. Jared Polis has run into potential trouble, facing an uncertain fate in a Senate committee. House Bill 1313, which seeks to increase denser residential development in transit-rich areas, stalled in … Read more

Colorado police oversight bill advances, propelled by whistleblowers

Former Edgewater police officer McKinzie Rees hopes to serve and protect again, but first she must get her name removed from a so-called “bad cops list” maintained by the Colorado Attorney General’s Office. It landed there, she said, as retaliation after she reported sexual assaults by a supervising sergeant. That sergeant went on to work … Read more

Trashing “America’s Mountain,” Pikes Peak

As most Coloradans know, the lyrics to “America the Beautiful” were inspired by a trek to the summit of Pikes Peak via prairie wagon in 1893. But when Katharine Lee Bates penned a poem called “Pikes Peak,” which became an American anthem after it was set to music in 1910, she could scarcely have imagined … Read more

Verboten Brewing opens second location in Fort Collins

A new brewery with a familiar name is now open in Fort Collins. This week, Verboten Brewing and Barrel Project debuted its second location at 1611 S. College Ave., in the space formerly home to Black Bottle Brewery. It will host a grand opening the weekend of May 3, said co-owner Josh Grenz. Verboten took … Read more