A controversy has been brewing at Denver’s Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library after several historical artifacts were removed from public display, raising concerns and frustration within the community.

Library staff said the removal was a misunderstanding, explaining that the items were taken down to protect fragile artifacts from potential damage. However, former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb and other community members argue that the issue isn’t about preservation, but rather a lack of communication, especially during a sensitive time for race relations.

“I worked full time, went to school full time,” said Dr. Faye Rison, a pioneering educator and community advocate. Rison, who has decades of work and personal achievements displayed at the Blair-Caldwell Library, hopes her contributions will inspire others, especially Black women striving to break barriers.

“I think if I can do it, they can do it. And I’ve told that to many, many women who made a difference,” she said.

Rison expressed concern when she visited the library late last year and found her display missing. “And nobody could tell me what happened,” she said.

Webb was also upset to learn that a replica of a mayoral desk, which had been displayed on the third floor, was quietly removed.

 “It’s not their stuff to move,” Webb said.

He stressed that the removal of the display should have gone through a formal process, with proper communication and consideration. “We have to go through the process. If there are concerns or if they want to go digital or more interactive, it has to be a process by which you do that. One, it is not good manners. It’s not even courteous to take other people’s stuff and just take it or move it without their knowledge.”

Webb’s comments reflect broader frustrations within the community, a sentiment shared at a recent town hall. There, interim Library Director Theresa Liguori offered an apology. “We apologize for any feelings of erasure. That was never our intent,” Liguori said.

Special Collections Director Rachel Vagts explained that exposure to light had already caused significant damage to items, including a signed Tuskegee Airmen display.

“Only one signature is still visible; we can’t get that back,” Vagts said.

Library officials also face challenges related to ownership of the artifacts. Many items were donated informally, and the library does not legally own them. Liguori clarified, “If you want us to preserve or loan these items, we need proper agreements in writing.”

The library is working to collaborate with families to document ownership and provide additional context for the artifacts, a step they say was overlooked two decades ago.

“These artifacts carry deep stories. They deserve to be told right,” said Dexter Nelson II, Museum Manager.

The artifacts have been returned to display, but the conversation surrounding preservation, representation, and future renovations at the library is just beginning.

It was a youth league play. Only the youth leaguer sitting next to me would never have done it.

“That’s illegal,” Easton English said. The 8-year-old from Parker then rose higher in his seat in Section 126 at Coors Field. “That is Illegal!”

Sure is. When you’re on the express train to 100-plus losses, you’re going to come up with creative ways to lose over 162 games. The Rockies managed to find a new one on Saturday against the big, bad Yankees.

The Local Nine gave up a 10-spot in the top of the fifth that featured three walks, seven hits, 14 batters and a viral moment from second baseman Adael Amador.

As Yankees first baseman Paul Goldschmidt looped a single over the infield and into short right, the sublime gave way to ridiculous. At game speed, Amador appeared to lose his glove in midair as the ball went whizzing over his head. Only on replay, it didn’t look as much “lose his glove” as “fling his glove at the ball during mid-flight.”

“I haven’t talked to him about that,” Rockies interim manager Warren Schaeffer said after Colorado was smushed, 13-1, dropping to 9-43 in a season that’s still got 110 games left. “I’m not quite sure what that was. We’ll get to the bottom of it.”

Actually, young Easton already did. MLB rule 5.06 (4) (C) awards the batter and runner three bases if the fielder is adjudged to have deliberately thrown his glove at a live batted ball and said glove touches that ball. There’s no penalty if the ball is not touched or the removal is perceived to have been accidental. Amador told The Post’s Corey Masisak, through an interpreter, that the glove accidentally slipped. The umpiring crew agreed.

Amador stayed in the game. Goldschmidt’s single made it 9-1 Yankees. The Bronx Bombers plated two more after that to put the game away, so the airborne glove became a moot point.

But back in Section 126, where Easton was watching the game with his family, it became another Rockies learning experience. Another perfect example of what not to do.

Easton, you see, is a center fielder with the Parker Knights 8-and-under baseball team. His father, Kevin English, is one of the Knights’ assistant coaches.

“You ever see a flying glove in Parker?” I asked Kevin.

“Never seen it,” he replied.

“You ever teach a flying glove in Parker?” I asked.

“Never would teach that,” he countered. “Don’t think it would ever come up beyond t-ball.”

English brought the crew to 20th & Bleak because it was a rare Saturday matinee and because Yankees slugger Aaron Judge was in town. He expected some jaw-dropping moments. He didn’t count on a teaching one.

“I mean, that was like 8U ball, that one,” Kevin said. “That many runs (in an inning)? That’s what youth baseball is all about.”

Come for the party deck, stay for the life lessons. The Rockies are 2-10 since firing manager Bud Black, and Colorado finishes May with the Cubs and Mets on the road.

“Everybody knows it’s not Bud’s fault,” Kevin said. “That’s a good baseball guy right there.”

Kevin knows good baseball guys. In the English family, the pastime is more than a legacy deal — it runs in the blood. Kevin’s dad, Randy, was a pitcher at Oklahoma State in the late ’70s. As a Poke, his position coach was Tom Holliday — father of Rockies legend Matt Holliday and grandpa of next-gen baseball standouts Jackson and Ethan.

“Every now and then, (my dad messages me), ‘Hey, the Rockies, they just (stink), don’t they?’” Kevin chuckled. “I’m like, ‘Yeah.’”

Yet English wants to watch the games with his son, the way his dad watched games with him. Even if it means forking over $89.99 to the team directly for streaming access, or $19.99 per month.

“I like bringing my son out because I’m trying to teach him young,” Kevin continued. “It’s a game of failure, right? … You’re going to fail more than you succeed. ‘Watch them do the little things. Watch them hustle. Watch them just do little things over and over before the play.’”

Watch them chuck a glove at a single while it’s in the air!

“It’s kind of funny, because my son never really showed a ton of interest in baseball (before this year),” said Kevin, who, yes, named his Easton after the iconic baseball equipment company.

“I never made him play. I’m not going to be like that. But this year, kind of his first year at it, we’re going pretty good.”

In fact, Dad says, their Knights had more wins (12) than the Rockies (nine) as of Saturday night. Must be the coaching.

“Are you rooting for the Rockies or Yankees?” I asked Easton.

“Yankees.”

“How come?”

“Aaron Judge.”

“What advice would you give Rockies players right now?”

“They should pretend it’s a scrimmage and have fun. Don’t worry if people are on base. Just do what you do.”

Please don’t.

“You know, (Easton) asked me, ‘Are the Rockies any good?’ It’s like, ‘They’re not that good, no. But, you know, they have been good. They have been to a World Series. Rocktober, that was fun.’

“But you just tell them, like, ‘Hey, you’re going to be on teams that aren’t always the best, right? They’re not always good, but your attitude and effort is what you can control when you go out there and you play hard, right?’ So, yeah. You know, (the Rockies) are not going to be bad forever.”

He chuckled again.

“At least, you hope not.”

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Originally Published: May 24, 2025 at 7:44 PM MDT

A metro Denver man kidnapped four women at gunpoint and sexually assaulted them after he found them on hookup websites, according to an arrest affidavit.

Glen Orion Meridith, 36, was arrested May 13 on suspicion of eight counts of sexual assault, three counts of kidnapping and menacing and one count of assault related to drugging a victim.

Aurora and Denver police identified Meridith while investigating four assaults across the two cities in December, January, February and March, detectives wrote in the affidavit.

The assaults followed a similar pattern — Meridith would meet the women, some of whom were escorts, through websites or apps for personal ads, including the site “Mega Personals.”

He would then pick up the victims in his red Jeep and, in some cases, give them money before he pulled out a gun and pressed it to their necks or temples. He threatened them and forced them into the back seat, where the doors were locked with child locks, then took their phones and sexually assaulted them multiple times.

Meridith would sometimes snort or smoke cocaine and drink during the assaults and record them on his phone, investigators said. He forced one of the women to take cocaine during an assault.

Several of the women reported choking, struggling to breathe and vomiting during the assaults, police wrote.

With two victims, he accused them of being responsible for him being robbed after previous “hookups,” but the women told police they had never met Meridith before. In one incident, Meridith kept the victim in his car for 13 hours after the assault as he drove around Denver before she was able to escape, investigators said.

After the other assaults, Meridith would drive to a different location and threaten to kill the women if they didn’t leave immediately.

Investigators believe there may be other victims in the case, and anyone with information can contact the Denver Police Sex Crimes Unit at 720-913-6040.

Meridith is in custody at the Denver County Jail on a $1 million bond. He’s set to appear in court on June 12.

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