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Denver’s airport turned off filter status lights at all water bottle filling stations. Here’s why — and what’s changing.

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Denver’s airport turned off filter status lights at all water bottle filling stations. Here’s why — and what’s changing.


Denver International Airport officials confirmed what some hawk-eyed H2O fans had already noticed — the filter status indicators on more than 100 water bottle-filling stations across DIA don’t work.

That’s because DIA shut off the indicators about a year ago. The airport’s senior maintenance official said this week that the decision was made because the indicators were throwing off maintenance cycles.

The filter indicator light is disabled on a water bottle filling station on Denver International Airport’s Concourse C on May 9, 2024, in Denver. (Photo by Jon Murray/The Denver Post)

The lights went dark about a year ago, meaning passengers had no more green, amber or red indicators to inform their drinking decisions.

But Kyle Lester, DIA’s senior vice president for maintenance, says the airport has a plan to make sure it stays on top of filter changes on the filling stations — and to ensure users can check on their status. Filters are still being changed regularly, he said, and new sensors and software now being installed will help keep them on track.

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In the meantime, the dark indicator lights have prompted concerns among some travelers, including Ted Van Anne.

The retiree and frequent flyer estimates he has visited 50 airports in the last five years. One of his most frequent stops is Denver, where he flies in before driving to visit his mother in Nebraska.

“DIA is the only airport where they consistently don’t have their lights on,” Van Anne, 63, told The Denver Post. “I have walked all over the airport looking for a green light at DIA and end up never finding one.”

Lester said the new tech-heavy system will enable DIA to more closely monitor the lifespans of the facility’s water filters The upgrades, now in progress, are intended to give hydration-minded travelers more reliable information and streamline the airport’s replacement schedule at 114 filling stations spread across the airport’s terminal and three concourses.

“I am pretty excited about the transparency of it and the efficiency it will create for us,” Lester said.

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The rationale for the big shutoff was that the indicator lights no longer matched up with the airport’s preventative maintenance schedule for filter replacements, he said.

“There were some glitches in there. I would hear that from technicians: ‘It doesn’t need replacement. We just replaced it,’ ” Lester said. “But it was more that we were responding to public comments because we were off cycle essentially.”

Once installed, the sensors should cut down on service calls that pull technicians away from other work.

Enter RTI Aquantix. The tech company produced the gear and software that tracks how many gallons of water have passed through a filter. The software then zeroes in on an anticipated filter replacement date. Lester said DIA has paid about $6,900 for the system.

As of Wednesday, maintenance staffers had installed sensors at 31 filling stations, Lester said. By the end of the month, Lester is hopeful installation will be completed airportwide.

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Signs bearing QR codes are being added at updated stations. Users can scan a code with their phone’s camera to see real-time information about the lifespan of the filters, which are good for up to 3,000 gallons each, Lester said.

The scale of the airport’s filter replacement needs is the result of Lester and his team replacing drinking fountains with more filling stations in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and shifting consumer demands.

“This is important to us,” he said. “Maybe we were caught off guard by the workload of changing out filters. Once we realized that’s not working for us, we quickly pivoted to go find a better solution.”

Van Anne is encouraged, but he’s skeptical of the new system.

“The light seems so much easier, and almost every other airport uses the light,” he said. “I guess we’ll see how it works.”

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Denver, CO

Fire destroys home under construction in northwest Denver

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Fire destroys home under construction in northwest Denver


DENVER (KDVR) — An early morning fire on Friday left a home completely ablaze in the Highlands neighborhood, just a week after another house under construction went up in flames in the same area.

The Denver Fire Department shared photos of the incident, as crews were called to 3643 Mariposa, where images show a fully consumed home under construction.

“I think they [firefighters] kicked in the neighbor’s door just to make sure nobody was at home,” neighbors Lucy and Kyle said. “Some of the other houses, their windows got blown out from the heat!”

Just 11 days earlier, on June 8, a home under construction caught fire in the same neighborhood near West 33rd and Navajo. Nobody was hurt in either fire.

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And just about two years earlier, in July, another fire in the same area ignited around West 36th and Osage. All of the properties are/were under development by the same group.

“I wasn’t present for any of the fires,” Ryan Yoffe, a member of the developer group, said.

Yoffe does say he thinks he knows how the last two fires had been set, saying it’s the City of Denver that needs to do better with surveillance.

“It’s likely related to the amount of homelessness in the area, looking for properties under construction to live in or burn down,” Yoffe said. “The City and the Police Department need to do a better job patrolling to limit the number of homeless people camping in the neighborhood.”

Denver Fire Department officials say the most recent incidents are under investigation, but that nobody was hurt in either.

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Rockies ride Kyle Freeland’s gem, Braxton Fulford’s double to 4-3 win over Pirates

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Rockies ride Kyle Freeland’s gem, Braxton Fulford’s double to 4-3 win over Pirates


The night belonged to Kyle Freeland, who joined the 1,000 K Club. The moment belonged to Braxton Fulford. The ninth inning — and a big sigh of relief — belonged to closer Antonio Senzatela.

Fulford hit a two-run, two-out, pinch-hit double in the eighth inning off Mason Montgomery to lead the Rockies to a 4-3 win over the Pirates at Coors Field in front of a Friday night crowd of 33,596.

Fulford drove in Tyler Freeman and Cole Carrigg, who scratched out back-to-back two-out singles off Montgomery.

“I had been warming up in the cage for that at-bat for a couple of innings, so I felt pretty prepared,” Fulford said. “I got an advantage count (3-1) and I knew he was going to come with the heater and I was all over it.”

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Fulford caught Montgomery for three seasons at Texas Tech, so he knew the left-hander’s tendencies.

“It’s kind of unfortunate for pitchers that you catch, because you kind of get to see their stuff,” Fulford said. “You kind of understand more of who they are. So I do feel like I had the advantage there.”

In the ninth, the Pirates loaded the bases against Senzatela with no outs on a single by Marcell Ozuna and an error on a groundball by shortstop Ezequiel Tovar. But Senzatela struck out pinch-hitter Tyler Callihan and induced Jared Triolo to ground to Tovar, who started the game-ending double play.

“It was kind of a crazy ending to the game — bases loaded and no outs,” Freeland said. ” ‘Senza’ got a big punchout in that situation, picks up Tovar. Then Tovar gets another opportunity to turn a double play, and he gets it done.”

Before all of the late-game drama, Freeland pitched his best game of the season: 7 1/3 innings, two runs allowed on four hits, no walks, and eight strikeouts. It marked the fourth time in his career that he pitched 7 1/3 or more innings.

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“Tonight, I thought he was absolutely exceptional,” manager Warren Schaeffer said. “I thought his body language was impressive. He attacked the strike zone — relentlessly. His heater had good ‘vert’ tonight. The breaker was good. It seemed like he was in control all night.”

“Gritty” is the word often used to describe Freeland. Dominant was a more apt description on Friday night. History-making works, too. Freeland’s eight Ks gave him 1,001 for his career, joining right-hander German Marquez (1,069) as the only two pitchers in franchise history to eclipse 1,000. Freeland struck out Marcell Ozuna in the seventh for No. 1,000, and then promptly fanned Brandon Lowe for 1,001.

The hard-core Rockies fans behind the dugout gave Freeland a standing ovation.

“I’m very grateful for the fans always supporting me, and for making it this long in my career to reach some of these milestones, especially with one ballclub,”  said Freeland, who struck out eight and walked none for the second time in his career. “I definitely hear those fans when I pop out of the dugout after every inning.”

The 33-year-old Denver native blanked the Pirates for the first seven innings, giving up just two hits. Pittsburgh finally got to Freeland in the eighth, putting up back-to-back doubles by Esmerlyn Valdez and Triolo to cut Colorado’s lead to 2-1. Up to that point, it looked as if Freeland had the juice to throw a complete game, especially since he threw just 81 pitches.

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Man arrested on suspicion of murder in Denver shooting near South Park Hill, Hale

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Man arrested on suspicion of murder in Denver shooting near South Park Hill, Hale


Denver police arrested a 35-year-old man on suspicion of first-degree murder in a fatal shooting near East Colfax Avenue and North Dahlia Street.

Joseph York was arrested Thursday after detectives identified him as a suspect through interviews and surveillance video, the Denver Police Department said in a news release Friday.

Detectives believe York was arguing with the victim, 25-year-old Elijah Barr, before the shooting in the early hours of June 7, the Denver Police Department said in a news release Friday. The intersection is between the city’s South Park Hill and Hale neighborhoods.



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