Denver, CO
Denver’s airport turned off filter status lights at all water bottle filling stations. Here’s why — and what’s changing.
Denver International Airport officials confirmed what some hawk-eyed H2O fans had already noticed — the filter status indicators on more than 100 water bottle-filling stations across DIA don’t work.
That’s because DIA shut off the indicators about a year ago. The airport’s senior maintenance official said this week that the decision was made because the indicators were throwing off maintenance cycles.
The lights went dark about a year ago, meaning passengers had no more green, amber or red indicators to inform their drinking decisions.
But Kyle Lester, DIA’s senior vice president for maintenance, says the airport has a plan to make sure it stays on top of filter changes on the filling stations — and to ensure users can check on their status. Filters are still being changed regularly, he said, and new sensors and software now being installed will help keep them on track.
In the meantime, the dark indicator lights have prompted concerns among some travelers, including Ted Van Anne.
The retiree and frequent flyer estimates he has visited 50 airports in the last five years. One of his most frequent stops is Denver, where he flies in before driving to visit his mother in Nebraska.
“DIA is the only airport where they consistently don’t have their lights on,” Van Anne, 63, told The Denver Post. “I have walked all over the airport looking for a green light at DIA and end up never finding one.”
Lester said the new tech-heavy system will enable DIA to more closely monitor the lifespans of the facility’s water filters The upgrades, now in progress, are intended to give hydration-minded travelers more reliable information and streamline the airport’s replacement schedule at 114 filling stations spread across the airport’s terminal and three concourses.
“I am pretty excited about the transparency of it and the efficiency it will create for us,” Lester said.
The rationale for the big shutoff was that the indicator lights no longer matched up with the airport’s preventative maintenance schedule for filter replacements, he said.
“There were some glitches in there. I would hear that from technicians: ‘It doesn’t need replacement. We just replaced it,’ ” Lester said. “But it was more that we were responding to public comments because we were off cycle essentially.”
Once installed, the sensors should cut down on service calls that pull technicians away from other work.
Enter RTI Aquantix. The tech company produced the gear and software that tracks how many gallons of water have passed through a filter. The software then zeroes in on an anticipated filter replacement date. Lester said DIA has paid about $6,900 for the system.
As of Wednesday, maintenance staffers had installed sensors at 31 filling stations, Lester said. By the end of the month, Lester is hopeful installation will be completed airportwide.
Signs bearing QR codes are being added at updated stations. Users can scan a code with their phone’s camera to see real-time information about the lifespan of the filters, which are good for up to 3,000 gallons each, Lester said.
The scale of the airport’s filter replacement needs is the result of Lester and his team replacing drinking fountains with more filling stations in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and shifting consumer demands.
“This is important to us,” he said. “Maybe we were caught off guard by the workload of changing out filters. Once we realized that’s not working for us, we quickly pivoted to go find a better solution.”
Van Anne is encouraged, but he’s skeptical of the new system.
“The light seems so much easier, and almost every other airport uses the light,” he said. “I guess we’ll see how it works.”
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Denver, CO
Colorado boasts two of the best coffee shops in the Americas, according to new ranking
Denverites looking for a stellar cup of Joe don’t need to travel far to savor the flavor of excellent coffee.
That’s according to The World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops, a website that rates global hospitality establishments where coffee lovers can find better brew. The website recently announced its 2026 list of the best coffee shops in North America, Central America and the Caribbean and two local companies made the list.
Sweet Bloom Coffee Roasters came in at No. 43, while Queen City Collective Coffee ranked No. 61. Not bad for a list that includes must-hit destinations in places like Guatemala and Costa Rica, which are known for their exports of coffee beans.
The World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops decided the ranking through a mix of nominations and voting by both the public and experts. Places were evaluated based on the quality of coffee served, barista expertise, ambiance, sustainability practices, and innovation among other criteria, according to the website.
Sweet Bloom Coffee Roasters, which came on the scene in 2013, helped usher the so-called fourth wave of coffee locally, which focuses on honoring the beans’ agricultural roots and using techniques like pour-over to extract more flavor from each brew. The company started with a wholesale roastery and retail shop in Lakewood before expanding to Arvada through a merger with another company called Two Rivers, and later to Westminster. In 2022, Food and Wine magazine named Sweet Bloom’s Westminster locale the best coffee shop in Colorado.
Queen City Collective has certainly earned the popular vote among Mile High City coffee drinkers if the company’s expansion is an indication. Since opening its first retail location in 2018, in a spot shared with Novel Strand Brewing Co., Queen City has expanded to seven locations between Denver and surrounding suburbs, including Wheat Ridge and Aurora.
To see the full list of must-hit coffee shops across the globe, visit theworlds100bestcoffeeshops.com. For additional recommendations, check out our list of Colorado’s best coffee shops with picturesque patios and views.
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Denver, CO
Denver beekeeper says swarm season came a month early this year thanks to warm weather
DENVER (KDVR) — With the mild winter and warm start to spring, beekeepers are seeing swarms earlier in the year and expect the season to be longer than usual.
Gregg McMahan is a dispatcher for the Colorado Swarm Hotline. It’s usually his job to send a beekeeper to collect a swarm when someone calls, but on Sunday afternoon, he decided to handle one himself.
“Nice little swarm,” McMahan said. “It’s tricky, though, because it’s hanging on a fence.”
A warm winter and spring mean swarm season has begun four weeks early.
“Never seen it like this ever,” McMahan said.
This call is to a house on Denver’s east side. When McMahan arrived, he saw a swarm had taken up residence on the fence.
“Absolutely typical, it is on the small side,” McMahan said.
He got to work, first luring them into a box when he spotted a good sign.
“See all these girls, they got their butts up, they’re fanning their wings. That’s telling us the queens in here,” McMahan said.
With the queen in hand, the rest began to follow her into the box.
McMahan said two years ago, he had 400 calls like this. Last year, only 100, the Swarm Hotline was as unpredictable as the weather, which has caused bee activity earlier in the year than ever.
“It makes it hard on the bees, you know? Two days ago, I’m collecting swarms in the snow,” McMahan said.
Rescuing them is integral to Colorado’s ecosystem. McMahan hopes people give a beekeeper a call instead of spraying them or harming them in any other way.
“They do a phenomenal amount of pollination within this state. Not only our native flowers but all the other flowers that people bring in,” McMahan said.
Slowly but surely, the swarm left the fence and moved into the box. McMahan loaded them into his truck to deliver them to their new home.
“Westminster to the Stanley Lake Wildlife Refuge, so these girls will have lakefront property tonight,” he said.
As he wrapped up, McMahan’s phone was buzzing more than the bees. Just another call to start a swarm season, he thinks, could be a long one.
“This year I’m already 20 swarms deep, so I’m expecting way more than 100 this year,” McMahan said.
To have a bee swarm removed for free from your property anywhere statewide, the Swarm Hotline number is 1-844-SPY-BEES.
Denver, CO
Denver Nuggets Altitude broadcasts now being offered in Spanish for first time ever
For the first time in the team’s history, Altitude Sports is broadcasting Denver Nuggets home games in Spanish. Kroenke Sports and Entertainment announced it has contracted a team to broadcast its games in Spanish for the playoffs.
“I think that is what the public wanted,” said Ivan De La Garza, producer for the broadcast team.
A team of three people, two commentators and a producer, sit in a press box at the top of Ball Arena. Their commentary is then synced with the traditional Altitude broadcast video and shared on the Altitude Plus application.
“With the Nuggets winning in the last five years, there is a tremendous amount of following from Latino people trying to listen to and watch the games in Spanish,” said Andres Casas, color commentator for the broadcast.
Casas said he strives to bring the same energy fans get during soccer broadcasts into the basketball broadcasts.
“That excitement that gets you. We want people to feel they are at the game,” Casas said.
“It has been so amazing to be a part of the Spanish broadcast for the Nuggets. I have been a fan of the Nuggets for my whole life,” said Jena Garcia, play-by-play commentator.
Garcia said it has been a dream come true to help bring this broadcast to her community.
“I’ve always desired to hear a Spanish broadcast, just as a fan. To be a part of it is just incredible,” Garcia said.
Those working in the broadcast said they are honored to help expand the reach of the Nuggets and sports in accessing diverse communities.
“We love sports. We are passionate, we are loud. We like to get together and enjoy sports,” De La Garza said.
“The Nuggets have a huge following, especially on the Spanish side. So, it is great for them to be able to listen to what is going on, game by game, especially into the playoffs,” Casas said.
“It is just another step of access that they are getting to be a fan of basketball,” Garcia said.
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