Reefer Madness Reference Lights Up Social Consumption Advisory Meeting

If you want to keep a marijuana meeting going smoothly, don’t mention “reefer madness.” The second-to-last meeting of Denver’s Social Consumption Advisory Committee took an interesting turn on March 24 when Dan Landes, owner of City, O’City and the soon-to-reopen Campus Lounge, and the group’s business representative, used that term — and offended some members of the committee.

Eight Shootings Near RiNo in Two Weeks, Gang Violence Rising?

As many as eight possibly gang-related shootings have taken place near the booming RiNo area over the past two weeks or so according to Mark Ungar, president of the Whittier Neighborhood Association, including a thus-far-unsolved broad daylight gun-down near 31st and Gilpin earlier this month that resulted in serious injuries for two men.

Places Besides Cherry Creek Mall That Could Start Charging for Parking

After the success (meaning: lack of violent uprising) that was Denver’s response to Cherry Creek Mall charging an hourly rate for parking, the newest entity to embrace the idea is Boulder’s Chautauqua Park. The plan, which Boulder is hoping to pilot this summer, would charge drivers $2.50 an hour (which is reportedly double the rate for parking in the rest of the city of Boulder) to park not just in the lot at the main trailhead, but along Baseline Road and even in the surrounding residential neighborhood.

Have You Heard? RiNo Is Hip.

The River North neighborhood is hip. So hip that even its abbreviation, RiNo, is cool. But there’s a lot more to this neighborhood than hipsters, bustling restaurants and cool street art. Keep reading for seven stories about RiNo (including one that challenges that very nickname). 1. Welcome to Denver’s Hottest…

Top Chef Wouldn’t Be Coming to State Without Incentives That Could Get Cut

Reports that incentive money to attract film and television productions to Colorado could be a victim of budget cuts arrived in close proximity to news that this very fund had convinced producers of Bravo’s Top Chef to film the show’s upcoming fifteenth season in Colorado, specifically Denver, Boulder and Telluride. Colorado Film Commissioner Donald Zuckerman, who shared his arguments for why the incentives should be increased from their current level of $3 million (far less than in states such as New Mexico, Utah and Georgia) for a Westword post published last October, says the Top Chef deal would never have happened without this monetary lure and fears significant harm to the burgeoning local film-and-TV industry if the budget blade chops off the resource.

Ten Ways to Avoid Being Killed in an Avalanche

In Colorado, we tend to hear about avalanches when they have fatal consequences, as was the case with a Garfield County slide caused by snow bikers in February that overtook two people, killing one of them. But at this time of year, when winter is transitioning into spring, avalanches that don’t get media attention are happening all the time, and many, if not most, of them could have deadly consequences if folks are in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Does Ken Salazar’s Rejection of Governor Run Open the Door to Mike Johnston?

Ken Salazar, a former Colorado Senator and Secretary of the Interior under President Barack Obama, has revealed that he will not run for governor in 2018. This announcement would seem to be good news for Mike Johnston, a former state senator who is currently the best known Democrat to have announced his gubernatorial candidacy. But Johnston’s response to the development is more about saluting Salazar than celebrating this turn of events.

Have #SanctuaryCampus Demonstrations Had Any Effect at Colorado Universities?

Since the election of President Donald Trump, there have been multiple demonstrations at universities in Colorado around the #SanctuaryCampus movement, which calls upon schools of higher education to make formal declarations or enact policies that ensure that undocumented students are protected from deportation. In Colorado, they included demonstrations on November…

Where Colorado Republicans Stand on GOP’s American Health Care Act

The American Health Care Act, the measure intended to replace Obamacare, has been the target of criticism aplenty since its introduction in part because of predictions that it would disproportionately hurt the poor and elderly in Denver and beyond. This reception, not to mention President Donald Trump’s threat to unseat any Republican who votes against the bill, has put GOP members of Congress in a difficult position, and those from Colorado have reacted with varying degrees of support and obfuscation.

Eight Reasons Why Investors Are Backing Cannabis Startups

Baker, a Colorado-based marketing-automated platform, isn’t the only cannabis startup gaining traction. The green rush is going strong, and investors who have never before backed a cannabis company are looking to help blaze the trail. We talked to a few experts in the industry about why investors are interested.

Colorado Cannabis Industry Veterans Create 420 on the Block

Veterans in Colorado’s cannabis industry are the new kids on the block for 4/20. Since there’s no High Times event set for April 20 in Colorado this year, local companies are coming together to create their own 4/20 commemoration that will be representative of the state’s marijuana industry. The Green Solution, The Hemp Connoisseur (THC) magazine, incredibles and New Earth Muziq are partnering to host 420 on the Block in the 1000 to 1200 blocks of Broadway on Thursday, April 20.

Activist Queen Phoenix Pleads Not Guilty to Marijuana-Related Felony Charges

Dezy Saint-Nolde, better known by her activism name, Queen Phoenix, has emerged as a prominent organizer of protests and demonstrations in recent months. These included the thousands-strong November 10 protest against Donald Trump’s election, the February 18 Defend our Constitution march, a health-care rally on February 25, and a Demand Russia-Trump…