Colorado

Lakewood non-profit helping Colorado families turn houses into homes with free furniture day

Published

2 years ago

January 13, 2024

Lakewood non-profit helping Colorado families turn houses into homes with free furniture day

Every day the team at American Samaritan brings new life to old furniture.

“Our phone rings on a continuous basis we are still not able to get out to all the people that want to donate to us,” Douglas Evans said.

The family-run nonprofit has an entire showroom of used items, things not everyone can always afford, but often need.

Roughly 8,000 square feet filled with sofas, lamps, dining tables, and chairs.

“For a lot of people who needed furniture larger items, they are too expensive to purchase new they maybe don’t have the means to transport to their house, single mom or elderly and they can’t lift a couch,” Evans said.

While their focus is on filling the need for those more necessary items. The family-run shop has found a soft spot for a sort of, luxury item, the piano.

Evans’ daughter Rebecca has been playing since she was four- it was while trying to find her first piano he ended up with three, and their collection began.

“83 pianos later,” Rebecca Evans said.

She’s now 13 and the resident piano expert.

“It’s been a family journey I’ve been here along the way so I kind of helped build it a little bit I’ve just seen how it works,” she added.

With so many pianos, she thought it was time to do something different and now runs their “Pianos to the People” program.

“There’s children who want to want to play the piano they just can’t, so we try to break that barrier for them,” Evans said about the program.

They are now giving pianos to children and families who can’t afford them.

“We like to put music in front of children like they did with me because it’s a way to communicate it’s just something that so magical,” she said.

While not everyone will benefit from a free piano, they’re mission to provide as much help as they can to the community continues by offering a free furniture day.

Now, so popular families line up to get inside.

“Here is a line like out to the curb 100 plus people,” Douglas Evans said.

Financially he says it’s a loss, but the impact to those they serve and the feeling they get to hold on to, is priceless.

The first free furniture day of the new year is Saturday 10 a.m. at the American Samaritan showroom at 8400 W Colfax Ave, Lakewood, CO 80215.

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Colorado

Denver nostalgic-themed bar opens after lengthy permitting delays

Published

10 hours ago

April 14, 2026

Press Room

Denver nostalgic-themed bar opens after lengthy permitting delays

South Broadway’s newest bar in Denver is a “nostalgic-forward neighborhood cocktail bar” called the Good Luck Club. However, it’s been anything but lucky.

“It would have been really helpful to have a road map of here’s how you open up a bar,” said Ben Hamilton, Good Luck Club’s general manager. “Here are the steps you need to take.”

It’s finally open, six months behind target, thanks to a guessing game they didn’t know they were playing.

“I was like jumping over hurdles and navigating a maze to try to figure out and put all the pieces of the puzzle together,” Hamilton added. “There was a good list of complications that we ran into when we were filing for our liquor licenses, our zoning permits, our assembly permits.”

Ben Hamilton, the general manager of the Good Luck Club, talks about the delays he new Denver bar faced in opening.

CBS

However, the city knows about the problems behind the permit process.

Tuesday marks exactly one year since Denver Mayor Mike Johnston signed his first executive order overhauling the city’s permit process with a new office.

“It’s really hard for our customers to understand what is needed for every type of construction project that could be out there,” said Robert Peek, the director of development systems performance with the Denver Permitting Office.

Hamilton says that was exactly what he and his team faced: “It seemed like it was never the full answer.”

That’s why the Denver City Council approved a $4.6 million contract with ComplyAI for a tool that will help streamline and speed up the process.

“It’ll do an initial review of their applications and their plans and identify anything that I’m missing or anything that is approvable for the city,” Peek said.

The software could shave weeks off the process, and hopefully, in the future, businesses like the Good Luck Club can serve the community more quickly.

“We see this as part of our larger effort to really revitalize our local economy by getting these businesses and homeowners to move into their homes,” Peek said.

The permitting office is just beginning the implementation process to integrate the artificial intelligence tool into the system. They hope to launch it to the public by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, the Good Luck Club is having its grand opening on April 30.

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Colorado

Colorado Avalanche coach suffers facial fractures after being hit with a puck

Published

22 hours ago

April 13, 2026

Press Room

$Colorado Avalanche coach suffers facial fractures after being hit with a puck$

The Colorado Avalanche’s head coach will not travel with the team this week due to injuries he sustained after being hit with a puck during a game over the weekend.

Jared Bednar will stay at home as the team travels for two of its last regular season games in Canada, according to a statement from the team. Bednar was diagnosed with facial fractures and a corneal abrasion, but is expected to make a full recovery without surgery.

During Saturday night’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights, a stray puck hit by the Knights’ Keegan Kolesar went over the boards and into the Avalanche’s bench. Bednar was struck on the right side of his face and taken to the hospital to be evaluated.

The assistant coaching staff, which includes Dave Hakstol and Nolan Pratt, took over after Bednar left the game. Pratt told reporters in the postgame press conference that the hit was “unnerving.”

“It’s scary when the pucks are flying in there, it happens all the time,” Pratt said, adding that it was “unfortunate tonight.”

But the team recalibrated and returned to play, Pratt said.

The Avalanche lost in overtime, but have already secured their playoff spot.

Pratt and Hakstol will lead the Avalanche in the Monday night game against the Edmonton Oilers and Tuesday’s game against the Calgary Flames. The team will return to Denver’s Ball Arena for its final home game before playoffs on Thursday.

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Colorado

Evacuation order lifted following brush fire east of Colorado Springs

Published

1 day ago

April 13, 2026

Press Room

Evacuation order lifted following brush fire east of Colorado Springs

The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office has lifted an evacuation order east of Colorado Springs that it issued Sunday due to a fire near North Curtis and Garrett roads. “It is safe to return to the area,” the Sheriff’s Office wrote in a social media post. Investigators were working to determine the size and cause […]

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