Denver, CO

Letters: Housing the homeless — too many Denver residents say, “Not in my neighborhood”

Published

1 year ago

December 22, 2023

Press Room

Letters: Housing the homeless — too many Denver residents say, “Not in my neighborhood”

Housing the homeless: Too many say, “Not in my neighborhood”

Re: “Hotel proposed as homeless shelter serving families,” Nov. 24 news story

I continue to be amazed and appalled by how some members of a neighborhood — just about any neighborhood where the City of Denver is trying to house homeless adults and children — are vehemently opposed to the idea. It’s a prime example of vilifying the “other” — similar to the way Trump said immigrants are “poisoning the blood of America.”

The latest instance of this was in the Hampden neighborhood, in City Council District 4, where a hotel will house families with children. It brought out people’s fears of the formerly homeless bringing down property values, harming businesses, downgrading the performance of students in public schools, rampant drug and alcohol abuse — was raping and pillaging the village included?

We cringe and turn away when encountering homeless encampments, but now we are cringing and turning away when our newly elected mayor is actually carrying out some of his campaign promises. Perhaps you feel that there hasn’t been enough done to ensure that your community would be safe with “these people” in your midst. But no community, no neighborhood is ever totally safe for all, regardless of who does or doesn’t live there.

Each of us must look into our hearts, overcome our fears, and be ready to give those in the most desperate of situations an opportunity to better their situation. Or maybe we should just put them all on a bus and send them to some other city.

Christine Soto, Denver

The progress not made

In reading Ken Follett’s new “The Armor of Light,” which vividly describes the difficult life and economy for working people in eighteenth-century England, I was constantly struck with the similarities we are still living through today: a powerful, influential minority controlling politics and passing laws to their advantage, incessant war with staggering human and monetary costs funded at the expense of social programs.

The likes of William Pitt and Napoleon are being accurately channeled today by Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and their like. With a beholden superior judicial system and overbearing religious involvement, the déjà vu feeling is inescapable. True, we have made substantial scientific and engineering advances and even landed men on the moon since then, but those achievements were made despite most policymakers, not because of them. The poor are still poor, the 1% are still obscenely wealthy, women’s rights and racial equality are unrealized, and trickle-down has never worked. Welcome to 1802 all over again.

William Orth, Parker

To the anonymous letter writers

Re: “Bullying through anonymous mail,” Dec. 17 letter to the editor

I had a similar experience almost two years ago, and a previous letter to the editor indicated this has happened to numerous other people. Since the uninformed, anonymous MAGA correspondent(s) seem to read the opinion page religiously, please inform him, her, or them that they are not intimidating anyone, changing anyone’s mind, or dissuading them from using their critical thinking skills. The writer(s) could better use the excess time they seem to have on their hands by volunteering at their church (since most MAGAs profess to be “Christians”).

Nicolett Darling, Kersey

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Denver, CO

Colorado State Patrol urges drivers to remain in Denver amid winter weather in the mountains

Published

53 minutes ago

December 25, 2024

Press Room

Colorado State Patrol urges drivers to remain in Denver amid winter weather in the mountains

GEORGETOWN, Colo. — The Colorado State Patrol said the “best option” is to remain in Denver amid winter weather that’s impacting roadways in the mountains.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, the agency said westbound Interstate 70 is closed at Georgetown due to unsafe conditions between Georgetown and the Palmer Divide.

There is limited lodging and parking in Clear Creek County, according to CSP. The agency said the “best option is to stay in Denver.” It is unclear when the roadway will reopen.

Eastbound I-70 traffic was held at the Eisenhower Tunnel due to a crash just east of the tunnel, according to CSP. The roadway has since reopened.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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Denver, CO

How Broncos’ Alex Singleton, Wil Lutz ended up in the Colorado Ballet’s rendition of “The Nutcracker”

Published

11 hours ago

December 25, 2024

Press Room

How Broncos’ Alex Singleton, Wil Lutz ended up in the Colorado Ballet’s rendition of “The Nutcracker”

If you find yourself in a Christmas chariot this week, perhaps a pair of Broncos will be carrying it.

Denver inside linebacker Alex Singleton and kicker Wil Lutz looked like pros over the weekend at the Colorado Ballet’s performance of “The Nutcracker.”

The duo made brief appearances in the ballet’s rendition of the Christmas classic on Sunday night at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House downtown.

They carried out a chariot with a ballet dancer inside at the start of the Arabian Dance. Then they stood on the stage and posed for a minute before their appearance was finished.

It lasted, Singleton told The Denver Post, maybe two minutes.

And it was nerve-wracking.

“Oh yeah,” Singleton said on Tuesday. “I didn’t know what to do. But it was kind of funny, we just stood there.”

The whole thing came about because the Broncos and the Colorado Ballet each have Dr. James Genuario on their medical staff.

That helped clear the path for Singleton, who is on injured reserve after tearing his ACL in September, to participate.

“That was my first question: Can I do it? And he was like, ‘Yeah, you’ll be fine,’” Singleton said. “I mean, I think the dancer weighed about 80 pounds and the carriage weighed about 10. So I carry more than that every day, which is nice.”

Range of motion is no problem exactly 10 weeks post-operation for Singleton.

“I got to 152 degrees,” he said. “Regular life is normal.”

Performing in a ballet, though, is hardly normal life. Singleton and Lutz had exactly zero advanced prep work for their big debut.

“I think it started at 6:30, we showed up about 6,” Singleton said. “At intermission, before we did it, they showed us how to do it and that was it. We just had to make sure the costumes fit us. … But it was really cool. We got to watch from backstage, meet all the people. It was really cool to see how it all runs and everything.”

Did you see Will Lutz and Alex Singleton in the Nutcracker with the @ColoradoBallet?🎄#BroncosCountry | @gs_off_field pic.twitter.com/Lon7TMqNj1
— Guerilla Sports (@guerillasports_) December 24, 2024

Singleton said he was not particularly familiar with “The Nutcracker,” Tchaikovsky’s famous ballet.

“I still don’t know the story,” he said. “We asked a couple of the dancers and they were explaining it to us. So I kind of know that it’s like a dream for the little girl where the Nutcracker comes alive, but that’s about it.”

Singleton, of course, was Denver’s leading tackler the past two years, a captain this fall and was calling Denver’s defense before tearing his ACL in Week 3 at Tampa Bay. The injury happened early in the game, but Singleton played the rest of the game with it before being told the severity of the injury that evening. He had ACL surgery on Oct. 15 in Los Angeles and then returned to spend time around the team and rehabilitate here.

Lutz has been a model of consistency in his second year kicking for the Broncos. Three days before appearing in the show he knocked home a pair of field goals against Los Angeles, including a season-long 55-yarder.

Lutz is now 29 of 32 for field goals on the season. The only kick of less than 50 yards he’s missed was a game-sealing block by Kansas City in Week 10. Lutz has also made all 38 extra points on the year.

His 90.6% field goal rate is sixth in the NFL among kickers with more than 20 field goal attempts.

On the Colorado Ballet’s social media channels, Singleton gave himself a 7 out of 10 and Lutz an 8 of 10, with the kicker saying he was proud that he didn’t blink once.

In the locker room, at least one teammate was skeptical.

“Oh my god, I had no idea what was going on,” tight end Adam Trautman told The Post. “All they did was pick something up. Now, if they’d have danced or something, that would have been elite. But no chance they can move like that.”

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