Denver, CO
Denver Nuggets superfan Vicki Ray sues team owner Kroenke Sports and Entertainment over season ban
Denver Nuggets superfan Vicki Ray is suing team owner Kroenke Sports & Entertainment after the company banned her from games and revoked her season tickets over claims she grabbed a referee and hit a player in the face.
In a lawsuit filed Monday in Denver District Court, attorneys for Ray claimed the company violated the Colorado Consumer Protection Act, breached a contract with Ray, failed to act in good faith and inflicted emotional distress by revoking her tickets and banning her from games for the season.
Ray, 72, is seeking unspecified monetary damages and other relief, including an injunction that prevents Kroenke from enforcing the ban and restores her season tickets, according to the complaint.
Ray’s decades-long fan relationship with the Nuggets drew a spotlight after she received a phone call and letter from Kroenke over claims of inappropriate contact with a referee and player in February.
While the complaint does not refer to specific incidents, Ray told The Denver Post she was accused of grabbing a referee and hitting a player in the face by Ball Arena officials at games in early February.
Ray denied those claims to The Post and denied any misconduct in the complaint filed Monday.
Kroenke officials did not cite any specific incidents in the phone call or letter banning her for the season and have refused to meaningfully discuss the issue with Ray, according to the complaint.
Instead, attorneys for Ray from the Greenwood Village firm Baker Law Group claim Kroenke Sports & Entertainment banned her because they wanted to resell her season tickets at a higher price, suggesting “a potential manipulation of ticket availability and pricing.”
Ray experienced a “notable decline in her mental and physical health” because of stress and isolation, along with being subjected to “unwarranted scrutiny and speculation within the fan community and the public at large,” the complaint states.
Attorneys for Ray also disputed that a video provided by Kroenke Sports & Entertainment as evidence of Ray’s misconduct shows any wrongdoing.
A Kroenke spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment Monday, but company officials previously said Ray’s tickets were revoked “due to repeated violations and warnings of the NBA’s Code of Conduct as well as Ball Arena’s Code of Conduct,” despite repeated warnings.
This is a developing story and may be updated.
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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 (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.
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