DENVER – The Denver metro area will heat up Sunday to near 100 degrees, prompting the National Weather Service to issue a heat advisory.

The advisory is in effect from noon to 7 p.m. Sunday for most of the metro area. Temperatures ramp up to near 100 degrees in the afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.

The NWS advises residents to drink plenty of water, stay in an air-conditioned room, and check up on relatives and neighbors.

If you need to go outside, wear lightweight and loose-fitting clothing and try to limit strenuous activities to early morning or evening.

Denver will open its currently operating rec centers during normal business hours to visitors and guests seeking relief from the heat. Denver Public Library branches are also open to the public during normal business hours.

The extreme temperatures will not only impact Father’s Day but should stick around for Monday, too. However, slightly cooler temperatures in the 70s and 80s return on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Moon Alert: There are no restrictions to shopping or important decisions today. The Moon is in Libra.

Happy Birthday for Saturday, June 15, 2024:

You are charming and seductive; hence, you are popular with friends, co-workers and family. The truth is, you have a genuine interest in others, which flatters them. This is a slower paced year. Take time to rest and rejuvenate yourself. Concentrate on your needs and people who have your back.

ARIES

(March 21-April 19)
★★★★
Short trips and opportunities to communicate to others will please you. You want to see new places and meet new faces! Nevertheless, loved ones, partners and spouses will be important to you today. Be ready to compromise and listen. Tonight: Conversations.

TAURUS

(April 20-May 20)
★★★★
This is a good day to deal with your possessions — caring for them or cleaning or repairing them. You also might have some excellent moneymaking ideas as well. (Someone might ask you to help them or perform a service for them.) Tonight: Healthy choices.

GEMINI

(May 21-June 20)
★★★★
Four planets are in your sign now, giving you energy and power! This is an excellent day to shop for wardrobe items for yourself. It’s also a good day to schmooze. People will listen to you because they’re attracted to your confidence and optimism. Tonight: Play!

CANCER

(June 21-July 22)
★★★
Very likely, you want to do things low-key today. You’ll welcome a chance for some privacy in pleasant surroundings. Relax with a cup of coffee. Put your feet up. Don’t try to do too much. Take time off to replenish yourself. Tonight: Cocoon.

LEO

(July 23-Aug. 22)
★★★★
This is a popular time for you, which is why you’re enjoying the company of younger, creative people. Their influence might trigger ideas that make you change your future goals. This is why you need to talk to someone today. Seek ways to do this. Tonight: Discussions.

VIRGO

(Aug. 23-Sept. 22)
★★★
People notice you now because four planets are at the top of your chart, which makes you look attractive, successful and affluent to others. Certainly, this is an advantage you can use. Now is the time to ask for approval or permission or to explore opportunities that interest you. (Timing is everything.) Tonight: Check your belongings.

LIBRA

(Sept. 23-Oct. 22)
★★★★
This is a wonderful day to travel or explore. Whatever you do can expand your horizons or your knowledge of the world in a delightful way. New love with someone “different” might begin. Accept every chance to learn or take courses. Things will go your way today! Tonight: Relax.

SCORPIO

(Oct. 23-Nov. 21)
★★★
This is a private day for you, which is why you’ll enjoy moments of solitude if you can swing this. (Not always easy to do.) You also might want to catch up on loose ends regarding red-tape issues with shared property, taxes, debt and inheritances. Tonight: Solitude.

SAGITTARIUS

(Nov. 22-Dec. 21)
★★★
Partnerships and close friendships are a strong focus for you now. In fact, with Jupiter opposite your sign, you will encounter people who want to help you in various ways. It’s also a good time to explore the help of experts and professionals A conversation with a friend, perhaps a female acquaintance, could be significant for you today. Tonight: Friendships.

CAPRICORN

(Dec. 22-Jan. 19)
★★★
In a curious way, today you’re noticed more than usual. In fact, some people will know personal details about your private life. (Do be aware of this in case you have to do some damage control.) Meanwhile, this is a productive day for you, because you’re motivated and energetic to get things done. Tonight: Be mindful.

AQUARIUS

(Jan. 20-Feb. 18)
★★★★
This is the perfect day to schmooze and enjoy the company of others, especially younger people or children. Accept invitations to socialize with others. Enjoy sports events, the arts, movies, museums and sharing good times with friends. This is a great day to have fun as well as learn something new. Tonight: Explore!

PISCES

(Feb. 19-March 20)
★★★
Give yourself permission to relax at home today. Admittedly, you might be involved with domestic matters that require attention, like home repairs or entertaining at home. Either way, your focus today will be on your personal life and family issues. Tonight: Check your finances.

BORN TODAY

Actor, rapper Ice Cube (1969), actress Courteney Cox (1964), actor Neil Patrick Harris (1973)

DENVER — Across Denver, dozens of Little Free Library stands make books available to communities that otherwise wouldn’t have access. A new location in the Westwood neighborhood, outside of the Denver Indian Center, is now offering a selection of books as diverse as the kids who will read them.

Little Free Library, in partnership with Crayola and HarperCollins’ imprint for Indigenous authors known as Heartdrum, donated the new book stand and a collection of children’s and young adult books written by Black, Indigenous and People of Color authors.

The Denver Indian Center, an urban cultural gathering place that offers resources to the local American Indian and Alaska Native community, requested for the new library box to be installed in front of their building.

“They will be the first ones in Denver with an Indigenous library,” said Talia Miracle, who runs Little Free Library’s Indigenous Library Program. “Tribal communities sometimes don’t have great access to books and literacy resources. So, the program was really intended to just be able to provide those resources where they’re most needed,” Miracle said.

The books will include We Are Water Protectors, Firekeeper’s Daughter and Rez Ball, written by Byron Graves, who grew up on an Indian reservation and now lives in Denver.

Graves said as a child, he didn’t see himself portrayed in books.

“When I was in high school, and they were getting me to try to understand Shakespeare, it made me not like reading,” Graves said. “It’s really important to show kids that the books that represent them are out there.”

That’s why he wrote Rez Ball.

Drew Smith, Denver7

“One of the best writing tips you’ll ever get is write what you know,” he said. “I grew up playing basketball. I grew up on the Red Lake Indian Reservation in northern Minnesota.”

Once Graves decided to capture that unique experience in writing, “the book just kind of poured out of me,” he said.

“Basketball on a lot of Indigenous reservations is everything,” he said. “You’re playing in packed gymnasiums and the energy and the excitement and being able to go anywhere on your reservation and have people support you and high five you.”

Courtesy of Byron Graves

It’s an excitement he harnessed to draw young readers into his book. And by portraying his own experience, he hopes to show that Indigenous people are diverse and very much still present.

“We’re not just a homogenous group,” he said. “Every tribe has their own language, their own culture, their own history. And we’re not dead, we’re here.”

Rez Ball has won the American Indian Library Association Youth Literature Award and the American Library Association William C. Morris Debut Award. But Graves said the recognition that means the most comes from readers who finally feel represented.

“It was an afro-indigenous kid on the reservation where I’m from,” Graves said. “He came up to me and he said, ‘I never thought I would see myself in a book, and one of the characters in your book, that’s me.’”

Drew Smith, Denver7

But even with inclusive books like his more widely published now, access is still a challenge.

“On a lot of Indian reservations or in a lot of Indigenous communities, we don’t have a lot of public library access,” he said. “The cool thing with Little Free Libraries is it promotes literacy, and it makes the accessibility of books easier to get to.”

With a new location in Westwood, books like his will be even more accessible.

“I was writing Rez Ball for not only Indigenous readers, but reluctant readers,” Graves said. “And if they can start reading one book, like Rez Ball, then hopefully they go grab another book.”

See an interactive map of Little Free Library locations below, courtesy of LittleFreeLibrary.com