Denver, CO
Handful of migrants choose to battle bitter cold in Denver encampment
DENVER — A handful of migrants who did not want to stay in city shelters are battling the bitter cold in an encampment in north Denver.
“We really want people to be inside. That’s where they’re supposed to be right now,” said Amy Beck, an advocate for people experiencing homelessness.
Beck is among a group of volunteers that’s helping the migrants.
“We are keeping them safe while they go through this, really, their first serious storm as they experience this and understand what the weather can be like in Colorado,” said Beck.
Denver
Denver clearing out migrant encampment under bridge ahead of cold temperatures
5:15 PM, Jan 10, 2024
The city moved many migrants indoors before the cold weather arrived, but Beck said a small group of them refused to go.
“For various reasons, people either don’t want to or can’t go inside,” said Beck. “I’m not going to force them. I can’t force them to do that. What we can do is just keep them safe.”
Beck said many migrants don’t like the idea of living in a congregate setting with many different people surrounding them, leaving little space for privacy.
Eight to 10 migrants staying at the encampment were sleeping in their tents when Denver7 visited Monday morning. Beck and other advocates check on them often and show them how to stay as warm as possible.
“Everyone understands in the camp to use the hand warmers and feet warmers,” Beck said. “They’re all wearing three pairs of feet warmers per foot.”
Beck said volunteers also set up warming tents for them.
Follow Up
Migrants who were living under Denver bridge moved into city shelter
5:20 PM, Jan 11, 2024
Beck expects the encampment, which is located in an area away from the view of most people, will grow as soon as the city’s severe weather shelters close and people staying at those shelters return to the streets.
“We’re expecting that that could be up to a couple hundred people,” Beck said.
A spokesperson with the City and County of Denver said the number of migrants arriving in Denver has slowed in the last few days, likely due to the winter weather. They expect numbers to go back up once the cold weather moves out.
As for Beck, she knows more winter weather will eventually come. She said most of the migrants, who are from Central and South America, likely won’t be prepared.
“They haven’t experienced this in the past. And so, they really don’t have any concept of how bad it can be,” said Beck.
She hopes it won’t be as brutal as what the region is experiencing now.
Beck said the group of advocates she is working with does not need any more donations at this time.
“We have enough tents and blankets and enough gear, enough heat to keep people going for right now,” said Beck.
Handful of migrants choose to battle bitter cold in Denver encampment
Here’s how you can help refugees and immigrants coming to Denver
If you’d like to help as the city responds to this migrant crisis, you can do so with donations — either material or monetary. If opting for the former, the city is asking for the following items:
- Socks (new/unopened only)
- Bras – small/medium/large
- Women’s clothing – small/medium/large
- Men’s clothing – small/medium
- Winter hats – gender neutral and kids/one size fits all
- Winter gloves – men’s, women’s and kids/small and medium sizes
- Scarves – various sizes
- Closed toed or winter shoes for children
- Closed toed or winter shoes for women sizes 4, 5, 6 and 7
Those items can be dropped off at the following locations:
Community Ministry
1755 S. Zuni St. Denver, CO 80223
Monday – Thursday from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Para Ti Mujer
150 Sheridan Blvd. Suite 200 Lakewood, CO 8O226
Monday, Wednesday, or Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Colorado Changemakers Collective
12075 E. 45th Ave. Denver, CO 80239
Monday – Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 a.m.
Before heading out the door though, please call ahead to ask about any specific instructions for drop-off.
If you want to donate your time, you can donate money to the Newcomers Fund.
The Follow Up
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Denver, CO
Suspects sought in Denver shooting that killed teen, wounded 3 others
Denver police are searching for suspects in a Saturday night parking lot shooting that killed a 16-year-old and wounded three men, at least one of whom is not expected to survive, according to the agency.
Officers responded to the shooting in the 10100 block of East Hampden Avenue about 10:30 p.m. Saturday, near where East Hampden intersects South Galena Street, according to an alert from the Denver Police Department.
Police said a group of people had gathered in a parking lot on the edge of the city’s Kennedy neighborhood to celebrate the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro when the shooting happened.
Paramedics took one victim to a hospital, and two others were taken to the hospital in private vehicles, police said. A fourth victim, identified by police as 16-year-old William Rodriguez Salas, was dropped off near Iliff Avenue and South Havana Street, where he died from his wounds.
At least one of the three victims taken to hospitals — a 26-year-old man, a 29-year-old man and a 33-year-old man — is not expected to survive, police said Tuesday. One man was in critical condition Sunday night, one was in serious condition and one was treated for a graze wound and released.
No suspects had been identified publicly or arrested as of Tuesday afternoon.
Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to contact Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867. Tipsters can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward.
This is a developing story and may be updated.
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Denver, CO
Denver’s flavored vape ban sends customers across city lines
The new year in Colorado brought new restrictions for people who vape in Denver. As of January 1, a voter-approved ban on flavored nicotine products is now in effect in Denver, prohibiting the sale of flavored e-cigarettes and vaping products within city limits.
Just outside the Denver border, vape shops say they’re already feeling the ripple effects.
At Tokerz Head Shop in Aurora, located about a block and a half from the Denver city line, owner Gordon McMillon says customers are beginning to trickle in from Denver.
“I was in shock it passed, to be honest,” McMillon said. “Just because of how many people vape in Denver. But we’re hoping to take care of everybody that doesn’t get their needs met over there anymore.”
One of those customers is Justin Morrison, who lives in the Denver area and vapes daily. He stopped by the Aurora shop a day after the ban went into place.
Morrison says the ban won’t stop him from vaping. It will just change where he buys his products.
“I’m going to have to come all the way to Aurora to get them,” he said. “It’s pretty inconvenient. I smoke flavored vapes every day.”
The goal of the ban, according to public health advocates, is to reduce youth vaping.
Morrison said flavored vapes helped him quit smoking cigarettes, an argument frequently raised by adult users and vape retailers who oppose flavor bans.
“It helped tremendously,” he said. “I stopped liking the flavor of cigarettes. The taste was nasty, the smell was nasty. I switched all the way over to vapes, and it helped me stop smoking cigarettes completely.”
McMillon worries bans like Denver’s could push some former smokers back to cigarettes.
“If they can’t get their vapes, some will go back to cigarettes, for sure,” he said. “I’ve asked people myself, and it’s about 50-50.”
While McMillon acknowledges it will bring more business to shops outside Denver, he says the ban wasn’t something he wanted.
“Even if it helps me over here in Aurora, I’m against it,” he said. “I feel like adults should have the rights if they want to vape or not.”
More than 500 retailers in Denver removed their flavored products. For many, they accounted for the majority of their sales. Denver’s Department of Public Health and Environment says it will begin issuing fines and suspensions to retailers found selling flavored tobacco products.
Both McMillan and Morrison say they’re concerned the ban could spread to other cities. For now, Aurora vape shops remain legal alternatives for Denver customers.
Despite the added drive, Morrison says quitting isn’t on the table.
“It’s an addiction. You’re going to find a way to get it. That’s why I don’t see the point of banning it here,” Morrison said.
Denver, CO
Planning to begin in Denver for American Indian Cultural Embassy
Denver will be the site of the United States’ first-ever American Indian Cultural Embassy.
Funding for the project was approved by Denver voters in the Vibrant Denver Bond measure.
The vision is for the embassy to welcome Native people back home to Colorado.
On the snowy day of CBS News Colorado’s visit, Rick Williams observed the buffalo herd at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge.
“These animals are sacred to us,” said Williams, who is Oglala Lakota and Cheyenne. “This was our economy. They provided everything we needed to live a wonderful lifestyle.”
Williams is president of People of the Sacred Land and a leader in the effort to build an American Indian Cultural Embassy.
“‘Homeland’ is a special term for everybody, right?” Williams asked. “But for people who were alienated, for American Indians who were alienated from Colorado, they don’t have a home, they don’t have a home community that you can go to, this is it. And I think that’s sad.”
The First Creek Open Space — near 56th and Peña, near the southeast corner of the Arsenal — is owned by the City and County of Denver and is being considered for development of the embassy.
“To have a space that’s an embassy that would be government-to-government relations on neutral space,” said Denver City Councilmember Stacie Gilmore, who represents northeast Denver District 11. “But then also supporting the community’s economic development and their cultural preservation.”
Gilmore said $20 million from the Vibrant Denver Bond will support the design and construction of the center to support Indigenous trade, arts, and education.
“That sense of connection and that sense of place and having a site is so important if you’re going to welcome people back home,” added Gilmore.
“What a great treasure for people in Colorado,” Williams said as he read the interpretive sign at the wildlife refuge.
He said the proposed location makes perfect sense: “Near the metropolitan area, but not necessarily in the metropolitan area, we would love to be near buffalo. We would love to be in an area where there’s opportunities for access to the airport.”
The Denver March Powwow could one day be held at the embassy.
Williams dreams of expanding the buffalo herd nearby and having the embassy teach future generations Indigenous skills and culture.
The concept for the embassy is one of the recommendations emerging from the Truth, Restoration, and Education Commission, a group of American Indian leaders in Colorado who began to organize four years ago to study the history of Native Americans in our state.
And the work is just beginning.
“We have to think about, ‘how do we maintain sustainability and perpetuity of a facility like this?’” Williams said. “So there’s lots of issues that are going to be worked on over the next year or so.”
Williams added, “One day our dreams are going to come true, and those tribes are going to come, and we’re going to have a big celebration out here. We’re going to have a drum, and we’re going to sing honor songs, and we’re going to have just the best time ever welcoming these people back to their homeland.”
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston’s staff sent the following statement:
“We are excited about the passing of the Vibrant Denver Bond and the opportunity it creates to invest in our city’s first American Indian Cultural Embassy. We are committed to working hand-in-hand with the Indigenous community to plan and develop the future embassy, and city staff have already been invited to listen and engage with some of our local American Indian groups, like the People of the Sacred Land. We are not yet at the stage of formal plans, but we are excited to see the momentum of this project continue.”
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