Practically 108,000 folks died from drug overdoses in 2021, the Facilities for Illness Management reported this week, breaking earlier information and highlighting a public well being disaster spurred to new ranges by the COVID pandemic.
However whereas grim milestones have been in no quick provide these days, Denver nonprofit The Phoenix sees hope because it appears to increase its sober neighborhood to fulfill folks the place they’re — on this case, at concert events.
“We imagine that neighborhood is therapeutic,” stated Jacki Hillios, deputy government director of The Phoenix and a Ph.D. clinician who previously labored with households coping with psychological sickness and substance-use problems. “Health and yoga and the issues we often do appeal to a considerable amount of folks. However this (drug overdose) downside is so uncontrolled that we needed to step again and rethink.”
Advertisement
The 16-year-old Phoenix, with its Denver flagship location at 2223 Champa St., has historically targeted on actions equivalent to group hikes, Crossfit coaching, and different “transformational” programming that assist folks affected by alcohol and drug habit and use dysfunction, the latter being a extra up to date time period.
The associated fee to hitch any of its packages is 48 hours of sobriety, and the corporate boasts of getting served about 77,000 members throughout 36 states. Including music to its programming was a “no brainer,” Hillios stated.
Phoenix’s new program, Phoenix Music, features a partnership with the prevailing Ship Me a Buddy platform, which connects music followers and musicians nearly and in individual to strengthen connections amongst at-risk teams, Hillios stated. It even extends to music trade professionals, who can discover sober “pals” whereas touring together with the sober and sober-curious music followers at stay occasions searching for protected areas, meet-ups and assist.
Sunset Colorado founders Mike and Amber Camby noticed the necessity for a sober and sober-curious music competition in Denver. (Supplied by Ignite Leisure)
This system will launch on Sunday, Could 15, with an invite-only Anders Osborne & Pals live performance at The Dirty Dove, to be adopted by extra public occasions with outstanding acts at greater native venues, based on a spokesman, a few of them arriving as early as July.
“There’s in depth literature on music being a modality for therapeutic anxiousness and melancholy and folks in restoration, however the flipside of that’s that it may be actually scary to go to a live performance,” Hillios stated. “Alcohol and medicines are massively prevalent in that tradition, so how will we make sober music cool?”
Advertisement
The query has gained new momentum these days as sober and sober-curious bars and eating places have opened in Denver and throughout the nation, catering to a market searching for a much less intimidating — or a minimum of simply alcohol-free — social atmosphere. Dry January has leaked into the remainder of the yr, proponents say, as folks transfer away from alcohol in favor of much less deleterious substances and traditional-party actions.
Final yr, Sunset Colorado debuted because the state’s first sober music competition, whereas multi-day occasions equivalent to Denver’s Underground Music Showcase have dedicated to “sober bars and different assets for artists who battle with substance misuse,” amongst different current initiatives.
Veteran Denver singer-songwriter Jen Korte in April launched her “Clearheads” program at Globeville’s hip Fort Greene bar, dubbing it “a booze-free hold” made doable by assist from the Denver Music Development Fund. It presents curated cocktails, espresso drinks and kombuchas, together with meals vans, native distributors, stay music and, most vital, “a protected, alcohol-free area the place you possibly can simply be … (or for) those that simply need to go to a bar (and) dance, with out alcohol,” based on a promotional video.
Phoenix Music will debut in Denver, with smaller pilot places deliberate in Milwaukee, Boston and different markets, Hillios stated. Sober music followers will have the ability to activate their cellphone’s geolocator “to search out Phoenix of us and mob up, giant or small.”
This system takes cues from area of interest sober teams devoted to single bands or genres, such because the jam-band scene’s Yellow Balloon motion, which holds 12-step conferences at concert events. However not like Alcoholics Nameless or different conventional teams, Phoenix believes there’s a couple of approach for folks to get better. Its organizers are unafraid to achieve into the communities that want them most, serving the concentrated houseless inhabitants round its Denver location.
Advertisement
“We’re not right here to compete with different packages, however we need to provide entry to this neighborhood extra broadly,” stated Hillios, who this week gave the keynote speech on the A number of Pathways of Restoration Convention in Colorado Springs. “There’s an ethical obligation.”
Subscribe to our weekly publication, In The Know, to get leisure information despatched straight to your inbox.
The Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche are starting off their new seasons with new food menus and throwback merchandise at Ball Arena. Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, the company that owns the teams and venue, announced a new lineup of food prices, options and vendors, as well as throwback team swag at the team store.
“Both teams reloaded in the offseason,” said Jim Mulvihill with Kroenke Sports.
Advertisement
CBS
Mulvihill said the excitement around the expected success of the two teams has made its way into Altitude Authentics, the team store.
“When people are psyched for the teams, the stuff is flying off the racks,” Mulvihill said.
The Denver Nuggets is releasing its popular black city skyline jerseys on Nov. 11, more than five years after the organization rapidly sold out after the first release.
The Colorado Avalanche already released its throwback Quebec Nordiques jersey.
Advertisement
“It sold out online within 15 minutes,” Mulvihill said. “It shows there’s an appreciation for the history of the franchise.”
Ball Arena also announced plans to create fan-friendly prices on fare such as hot dogs, popcorn and some beer options. Prices can vary from $5 to $10.
“We have a championship team, and we have championship food now,” said Jared Andrews, owner of Big Belly Brothers BBQ. “We are going to pair those together. You can’t miss.”
Big Belly is one of several local eateries opening up shop in Ball Arena for the new Avs and Nuggets seasons.
Big Belly started out of inspiration from recipes Andrews learned from his grandma and a passion for smoking meats that came from his father. The company started as a food truck. Big Belly now includes three trucks, one restaurant and two stands in Ball Arena.
Advertisement
“I never thought we would be this large of scale,” Andrews said. “We started on a food truck. I remember our first dollar that came in, and I said, ‘Wow, this is actually happening.’”
CBS Colorado asked Andrews about where all the flavors for his barbeque come from.
“Really, it is the smoker that does all the work,” Andrews explained. “We have the patience on the burnt ends. We cook them for 15 hours, pull them off the smoker and then put them back on for another three to four hours.”
As for the lineup of merchandise, the Avalanche are working on restocking its jerseys that rapidly sold out.
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Warriors -1.5; over/under is 233.5
BOTTOM LINE: Denver faces Golden State in Western Conference action Thursday.
Golden State finished 48-34 overall and 29-23 in Western Conference action a season ago. The Warriors averaged 19.7 points off of turnovers, 15.6 second-chance points and 43.6 bench points last season.
Denver went 50-32 overall and 32-20 in Western Conference games during the 2024-25 season. The Nuggets averaged 120.8 points per game while shooting 50.6% from the field and 37.6% from deep last season.
Advertisement
INJURIES: Warriors: Alex Toohey: day to day (knee), De’Anthony Melton: out (knee), Moses Moody: day to day (calf).
Nuggets: None listed.
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston’s administration agreed to restore some funding for the Office of the Clerk and Recorder, but called malarkey on Clerk Paul López’s claim that election integrity was in danger for the 2026 midterms.
After Johnston proposed cutting his budget by $210,000, López last month blasted the mayor, saying he would have to close eight ballot drop boxes and a polling center for the 2026 election as a result.
But in his letter to the City Council on Monday, Johnston wrote that “little evidence” had been presented to support the argument that the clerk’s funding request was necessary or that services would need to be “meaningfully reduced” under the proposed budget.
“Providing millions in new funding to the clerk when every other department is making cuts would result in even steeper cuts to other programs and personnel,” he wrote.
Advertisement
The budget proposed for the clerk in 2026 would have marked a reduction of nearly $4.5 million, or 24%, from the 2024 budget, when there was a presidential election. But the proposed amount was also 3% higher than the clerk’s budget was in 2022, the year of the last midterm election.
In his letter Monday, Johnston said he would add $800,000 to the clerk’s office budget.
López said he had provided proof of increasing costs and that the latest proposal was still $2.7 million short of what his office needs.
“Even after our own cuts, the shortage proposed by the mayor will harm Denver voters and undermine turnout in the 2026 primary and general midterm elections,” he said Monday.
López asked the City Council to amend the 2026 budget to add $2.7 million to his office’s spending plan.
Advertisement
The quarrel between elected officials comes as Denver is facing a bleak budget outlook for 2026. The city is expected to bring in $200 million less in revenue than originally anticipated. Already, Johnston’s office has imposed layoffs, a hiring freeze and service changes to help make up for that shortfall.
The mayor, whose office has wide latitude to write the city’s spending plan, proposed his 2026 budget — with $77 million in contract and service cuts — on Sept. 16. The City Council then voted to recommend 16 changes, amounting to $18.7 million more in spending, on Oct. 10.
Johnston ultimately addressed 11 of the council’s recommendations and added $4 million in additional spending.
Those extra dollars will come from interest earned on federal grant dollars awarded through the American Rescue Plan Act, Johnston wrote. He noted that funding is a one-time infusion that won’t be available next year.
Here are some of the other recommendations the mayor’s office accepted:
Advertisement
Johnston agreed to add $2.9 million to the Temporary Rental and Utility Assistance Program, bringing it to $15.1 million in spending for 2026. The council had asked him to add $7 million. The mayor’s office will also add $2 million for this year’s budget, bringing 2025 funding for the program to $16 million.
The Department of Transportation and Infrastructure will create a new system for residents to appeal parking citations without having to attend court. Johnston’s proposal originally abolished the city’s parking magistrates, eliminating any non-court options for residents who want to appeal their ticket. There is no new cost associated with this item.
Johnston’s team agreed to add the full $125,000 that council requested to the Denver Immigrant Legal Services Fund. That brings the budget for those services to $750,000 in 2026.
The mayor’s office will restore $120,000 to the Auditor’s Office budget. The council requested the restoration of nearly $500,000.
Mayoral appointees will be moved under the mayor’s office budget rather than being spread out among various departments. This change has no cost.
City Council president Amanda Sandoval said she received the letter and was “eager to review the details” with the rest of council.
“I’m encouraged that he agreed with some of City Council’s recommendations to the 2026 budget,” she said in a written statement. “This demonstrates the strength of our collective leadership and our shared commitment to serving Denver residents responsibly and equitably.”
Johnston said several council requests couldn’t be addressed without making further cuts elsewhere. Among those items were requests to restore $500,000 in funding for the city’s Support Team Assisted Response, or STAR program, which deploys behavioral health clinicians to people in distress. Johnston said that if the council is willing to consider a 5% budget reduction to their own budget, that savings could be used for STAR.
Here are some of the other council requests that the mayor’s team rejected:
Johnston said the city won’t spend $500,000 for the Denver Day Works program, which helps homeless people find low-to-no-barrier work experience. He said the city’s workforce development program also assists homeless people.
He also rejected a $600,000 request for the WorkReady Denver Program, which connected immigrants with jobs during the height of the migrant crisis. The mayor also pointed to the city’s workforce development program to absorb these services.
The city won’t add $1.36 million for right-of-way enforcement, Johnston wrote. He said some right-of-way enforcement positions will be filled once the hiring freeze is lifted.
The council will have a chance to propose amendments Nov. 3 and has until Nov. 10 to approve Denver’s final budget.
Stay up-to-date with Colorado Politics by signing up for our weekly newsletter, The Spot.
