Denver, CO
Mayors of Denver and Aurora discuss a possible truce as they face growing economic challenges
Shaun Boyd is Your Political Reporter at CBS News Colorado. Share you story ideas with her by sending an email to yourreporter@cbs.com.
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The Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce held its State of the Cities event Wednesday, just days after releasing a new report that shows a slowing economy in Colorado.
The report, by economists at the Chamber and Boulder Leeds School of Business, finds unemployment and foreclosures are up year over year while consumer confidence and home sales are down. The one bright spot is jobs, which are up .1%.
The mayors of Denver, Aurora and Northglenn say they are feeling the shift.
“Our sales tax in Northglenn is down,” said Northglenn Mayor Meredith Leighty. “In May, we’re looking at a decrease of 2%.”
The mayors assured the Chamber’s small business owners they were doing what they could to help. They say the lack of affordable housing is among their biggest challenges.
“Right now, the cost of materials is going up, the cost of land is going up, and the cost of labor is going up,” said Denver Mayor Mike Johnston.
He says the city is giving tax breaks for middle income housing projects. Northglenn just opened a new townhome complex and senior living facility.
Coffman says he’s focused on redeveloping 30 blocks of Colfax Avenue.
“Transitioning back from retail over to multi-family residential — a mix of market-rate housing and affordable workforce housing.”
Economists at the Denver Metro Chamber say while Colorado ranked among the top states in real GDP, employment, income growth, and home price appreciation from 2008 to 2023, it ranked among the bottom 10 states in 2024.
If a cooling economy isn’t troubling enough, an icy relationship between Coffman and Johnston is complicating things further.
Johnston shrugged off the year-long standoff.
“There is no distrust, is no damage. My door is always open,” he said.
Coffman vehemently disagreed.
“There is an issue and there is distrust,” he said.
Aurora sued Denver saying it violated their mutual aid agreement during the George Floyd protests and then sent gang-affiliated migrants to Aurora.
Your Political Reporter Shaun Boyd, who moderated the event, ask the mayors what it would take to bury the hatchet. One suggested quarterly meetings that include the mayors and their top staff. The other agreed.
The Chamber’s State of the Cities event included more than 400 business and community leaders and focused on collaboration — not only between cities but between local government and the business community.
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.
Subscribe to our new food newsletter, Stuffed, to get Denver food and drink news sent straight to your inbox.
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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