Denver, CO
Denver City Council rejects Gaza cease-fire proclamation in tense meeting
The Denver City Council on Monday rejected a proclamation that would have added Denver to the growing list of American cities that have called for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
That final vote — 8-4 — came via a hastily launched virtual meeting after council members vacated the council chamber at the Denver City and County Building following repeated disruptions of the meeting by pro-Palestinian demonstrators. Councilman Chris Hinds was unable to cast a vote due to issues logging into the online meeting.
Once the final vote was tallied and the results were shown on screens inside the room, the protesters — who numbered in the hundreds between the main chamber and overflow room — rallied in the building’s fourth-floor corridor. Chants included “Cease-fire now.” “Free, free Palestine” and “Vote them out.”
“We’re super disappointed but I don’t think it’s a surprise,” Emily Ingraham, one of the protesters who spoke in favor of the proclamation on Monday night, said after the final vote. “But there is always hope and we are going to keep fighting.”
The proclamation would have been a symbolic measure that would have been stamped with the city seal and forwarded to President Joe Biden and members of Colorado’s congressional delegation if approved.
The version the council voted on Monday was significantly pared down compared to a longer original draft that co-sponsors Sarah Parady and Shontel Lewis, two of the council’s most progressive members, discussed with colleagues at a committee hearing last month.
It outlined action steps already released by the United Nations Children’s Fund, or UNICEF. Those included calls for “an immediate and long-lasting humanitarian ceasefire” in Palestine and Israel and “[s]afe and unrestricted humanitarian access to and within the Gaza Strip to reach affected populations wherever they are.”
“The cease-fire is the floor. We are asking for liberation,” Lewis said in comments that drew cheers from the chamber. “None of us are free unless all of us are free.”
Despite the narrowed language, opponents on the council noted they have received extensive comments from constituents who support Israel that were not reflected in that draft.
“I think that our communities deserve better from us as elected officials,” said District 5 Councilwoman Amanda Sawyer, who revealed during a committee meeting last month that she has a neighbor serving in the Israeli military. “We are divided up in a way that I haven’t seen us be divided in a very, very long time.”
One council member — District 7 representative Flor Alvidrez — indicated that her no vote was motivated in part by the behavior of the pro-Palestinian attendees at the meeting who regularly interrupted speakers they disagreed with.
During the public comment session, several speakers called out rising incidences of antisemitism in Denver and around the country.
One speaker, Elliot Fladen, said the proclamation “doesn’t call for peace, it calls for cessation that will allow Hamas to re-arm.”
Parady addressed antisemitism directly as she laid the case for calling for a cease-fire.
“I am here today to say that the killing in Gaza must stop, and I will be here tomorrow to say that we have to grapple with resurgent antisemitism and the fomentation of bigotry in our politics,” she said.
Parady, Lewis, and Councilmembers Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez and Jamie Torres voted in favor. Other politicians in the room Monday included progressive state Reps. Elisabeth Epps and Tim Hernandez.
The proclamation language included estimated death tolls from the conflict to date. They largely follow the latest reporting from The Associated Press, which counts the Palestinian losses from the war at more than 28,000 people, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza. Of those, more than 12,000 are children.
The war was ignited by Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7. Hamas killed about 1,200 people, a majority of them civilians, and took 250 hostages. According to Israeli authorities, about 100 hostages are still being held by Hamas, The AP reports.
Monday’s meeting was tense even before the cease-fire proclamation was called up. Earlier in the afternoon, the council tried and failed to override Mayor Mike Johnston’s veto of a measure that would have banned sweeps of homeless encampments when temperatures are below freezing. One supporter of that measure, Jerry Burton, got up and shouted at the council members after that vote and was flanked by a Denver sheriff deputy as he walked into the hall. Many protesters Monday were there to support both measures.
Monday was the second time in four months that pro-Palestinian demonstrators have altered the direction of a Denver City Council meeting. In late November, the council walked out of its chambers and postponed the rest of its agenda after protesters refused to stop speaking out against Denver hosting the Global Conference for Israel at the Colorado Convention Center later that week.
Other major American cities have recently passed measures calling for a cease-fire in Gaza including Chicago, San Francisco and Atlanta. In Minneapolis, the City Council overrode a veto by Mayor Jacob Frey, who is Jewish, last week to reinstate a cease-fire resolution.
That measure goes much further than the proclamation that was rejected in Denver on Monday. It called for the U.S. to stop funding the Israeli military.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Denver, CO
Alexandar Georgiev reflects on trade, his time with Avalanche: “A lot of positivity”
SAN JOSE — Alexandar Georgiev was traded on a Monday and he was in net for his new team barely more than 72 hours later.
It’s just a blur of logistics and text messages for anyone who gets traded in the middle of an NHL season. So much to figure out in such a short period of time.
Georgiev spent two-plus seasons as the starting goaltender for the Colorado Avalanche. Then, in an instant, he wasn’t. During all of the welcomes, goodbyes and “OK, what do I need to focus on next?” conversations, Georgiev did have some time to reflect on what just happened.
“I thought about it the evening after I got traded,” Georgiev told The Denver Post on Wednesday, a day before his new team, the San Jose Sharks, will face his former club. “The number that stood out for me was probably 95 wins in two years and two months. That’s a lot of good hockey.”
The Avalanche acquired Georgiev shortly after winning the Stanley Cup in 2022. Colorado has an established pattern of not expending a lot of salary cap space on its goaltenders, so after Darcy Kuemper helped the club to a championship and earned a big contract, it was with someone else.
The Avs signed Georgiev to a three-year contract. For the first two seasons, he provided a strong return on investment. Great first season, up-and-down second year, but a strong finish during the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Then, in his contract year, things went off the rails. Georgiev started poorly, improved his play and then had more stumbles. His last two starts for the Avs were a snapshot of this season — pulled in the first period in Buffalo, then lights-out great in Detroit.
Colorado overhauled the positions in 10 days, first trading backup Justus Annunen for Scott Wedgewood, then flipping Georgiev, Nikolai Kovalenko and a second-round pick to San Jose for Mackenzie Blackwood and Givani Smith.
“Yeah, honestly not too much emotions, I would say,” Georgiev said. “It just happened. Management just made decisions. You do your job. They do theirs. You have to accept it.
“Obviously I was planning to keep going, to help get us in a playoff spot and fight for the (Stanley) Cup. But this is how it developed and I’m excited for a new chapter here.”
When the Avs made the second trade, Georgiev was ranked 79th out of 80 goaltenders in goals saved above expected, according to Money Puck. He has shown the ability to snap back from a deep funk before — just refer to the end of last season and Game 1 of the playoffs in Winnipeg, followed by his work the rest of that postseason. But Colorado’s decision-makers decided it was time to move on.
Georgiev has made two starts for the Sharks — a win in St. Louis three days after the trade, and a last-minute loss Tuesday night to Winnipeg.
“(Georgiev) has been good,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “He competes in there. He’s quick. I think he made some big saves when we needed them (Tuesday night). They had some really good chances before the tying goal and they could have easily gone up earlier than that. I thought he gave us a chance to win.”
This will be a new challenge for Georgiev. The Sharks have rebounded from a horrible start and appear to have a young, fun team on the rise. But that rise isn’t really expected to kick into high gear for another year or two. There are probably going to be some long nights and a lot of shots to face.
They also have a clear-cut goalie of the future. Yaroslav Askarov, just up from the AHL, was sitting about 15 feet to Georgiev’s left in the Sharks’ locker room after practice. Also in the room was Evgeni Nabokov, one of the greatest Russian goalies ever and part of San Jose’s front office.
Just like Blackwood, the future is very uncertain for Georgiev. Both goalies can be unrestricted free agents after this season. Georgiev should have a chance to rebuild his value with the Sharks, and getting to work with both Nabokov and Askarov could help determine if his future can be in San Jose.
The future is what’s most important now. There will be more time to reflect on the past once the future is settled.
“A lot of positivity,” Georgiev said of how he’d sum up his time in Denver. “It was a great group of guys. That was so awesome. The expectations were so high. That’s what I loved about it. It felt like we were fighting for something special. It’s all about the final goal, the Cup there. That was a lot of fun. I learned a ton.
“Winning is so much fun. Being in a position with a really, really good team and having that opportunity every night is just incredible. I’m happy I got to experience that, and I will experience that on another team again.”
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Denver, CO
Bo Nix talking Super Bowl as the Denver Broncos try to earn a playoff berth
The Denver Broncos are one win away from earning a playoff berth. The Broncos (9-5) can clinch their first playoff berth since the 2015 season with a win Thursday against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Peyton Manning was the quarterback the last time the Broncos reached the playoffs.
Denver quarterback Bo Nix knows what’s a stake in the game against the Chargers (8-6), but he doesn’t want his teammates to view the game as a one-and-done in terms of earning a playoff berth. The rookie is thinking big.
“We’ve got three games to win three and go into the playoffs and win a Super Bowl,” Nix told reporters on Tuesday.
The Broncos have won four consecutive games, their longest winning streak since the 2023 season, when they won five consecutive games. Nix wants the Broncos to win their final three games of the regular season and enter the playoffs riding a seven-game winning streak.
However, if the Broncos want to extend their current streak and earn a playoff berth, they must defeat the Chargers.
“We’ve talked about it all year, ‘The next game is the most important game. Right now, this is what’s important to us. It’s the most important,” Nix told reporters on Tuesday. I think this next one would put us on track for where we want to go. So, we have a lot of work to do. The job’s not finished, so that’s what we’re going to do.”
Denver, CO
Economic hardship applications granted for Denver historic homeowners
The Denver Landmark Preservation Commission approved owners’ applications for economic hardship regarding two damaged historic homes.
This decision came after the owners requested the buildings to be demolished in June. A request that was denied.
The historic homes at 1600 Colfax Ave. and 1618 Colfax Ave. were built in 1895. Both buildings are located in the Wyman historic district.
Annie Levinsky, Executive Director of Historic Denver, Inc. explained their importance to the Denverite in a 2018 interview, stating the homes are some of the last of their kind along Colfax Ave.
The discussion on the fate of the structures has been ongoing. Community groups pushed back against the idea of demolition in 2018. At that point, the owners developed plans to restore and preserve the structures. However, they were never implemented. Construction costs increased from the beginning of the project planning in 2019 through 2022, the owners said, making the plan no longer feasible.
A fire at 1600 E Colfax Ave. in March 2024 caused significant damage to the structure. The owners said the structure was already deteriorating prior to the fire and the costs of restoration were too high.
The owners submitted applications to demolish the buildings in April 2024. After the commission denied their request, they filed appeals arguing that the cost to repair the homes outweighs the potential value after they’re restored. They claimed that the inability to demolish the buildings would cause economic hardship.
Estimates provided in the appeals state the rehabilitation of the 1600 structure reflects a negative value of $6 million, while the 1618 structure reflects a negative value of $4.1 million.
Both appeals were approved at the Commission’s Dec. 17, 2024 meeting.
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