If you have an event taking place in the Denver area, email information to carlotta.olson@gazette.com at least two weeks in advance. All events are listed in the calendar on space availability.

Wednesday

Maude Latour — With Maris, 6 p.m., Marquis Theater, 2009 Larimer St., Denver, $35 and up. Tickets: marquisdenver.com.

Maude Latour – The Sugar Water Tour — 6 p.m., Marquis Theater, 2009 Larimer St., Denver, $35 and up. Tickets: marquisdenver.com.

Emei — With Haiden Henderson, Ashley Mehta, 7 p.m., Bluebird Theater, 3317 E. Colfax Ave., Denver, $36.81. Tickets: axs.com.

Vanessa Collier — 7 and 9:30 p.m., Dazzle at Baur’s, 1080 14th St., Denver, go online for prices. Tickets: dazzledenver.com/#/events.

JoJo — With Emmy Meli, 7:30 p.m., Ogden Theatre, 935 E. Colfax Ave., Denver, $50.47 and up. Tickets: axs.com.

The Dead & Down — With Shaky Oaks, 7:30 p.m., Skylark Lounge, 140 S. Broadway, Denver, $18.08. Tickets: skylarklounge.com.

Yamato: The Drummers of Japan — 7:30 p.m., Main Stage, Lone Tree Arts Center, 10075 Commons St., Lone Tree, $40-$65. Tickets: lonetreeartscenter.org.

DYAO Side-by-Side — Annual Side-by-Side Concert with musicians of DYAO’s Young Artists Orchestra and the Colorado Symphony musicians, 7:30 p.m., Boettcher Concert Hall, 1000 14th St., Denver. Tickets: coloradosymphony.org.

Lamont Wind Ensemble — 7:30-9:30 p.m., Newman Center for the Arts, Gates Concert Hall, 2344 Iliff Ave., Denver, $5 for reserved parterre seats or free general admission ($3 fee to purchase online)Tickets: newmancenterpresents.com.

The Dangerous Summer — With Elektric Animals, 8 p.m., Lost Lake Lounge, 3602 E. Colfax Ave., Denver, $23.60-$26.60. Tickets: lost-lake.com.

Skegss — 8 p.m., Gothic Theatre, 3236 S. Broadway, Englewood, $38.36. Tickets: axs.com.

Joshua Redman Group — Featuring Gabrielle Cavassa, 8 p.m., Boulder Theater, 2032 14th St., Boulder, $60 and up. Tickets: axs.com.

Open Mic Musicians — 9-11:30 p.m., sign up at 8:30 p.m., Mercury Café, Jungle Room, 2199 California St., Denver, $5; mercurycafe.com.

CARLOTTA OLSON, The Denver Gazette

Former state Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis is under investigation by the Denver and Boulder district attorneys’ offices, nearly a month after legislative staff determined the Longmont Democrat had likely forged at least one letter of support in an ethics probe.

Spokespeople for both offices confirmed their involvement in the investigation Tuesday. The Denver District Attorney’s Office began investigating after “the matter was referred to us by the State Senate,” spokesman Matt Jablow said in an email. “The investigation is ongoing.”

Jablow declined to provide additional details, and the exact nature of the investigation is unclear. But Denver Democratic Sen. Julie Gonzales, who chaired an ethics committee investigating Jaquez Lewis’ behavior toward aides, said she spoke with both the Denver and Boulder district attorneys “about the materials we received from (Jaquez Lewis) as part of the Senate Ethics Committee process.”

The Denver DA’s office also requested an interview with Gonzales, she said, as well as copies of the letters Jaquez Lewis submitted to defend herself against an ethics probe into her treatment of her staff. Gonzales said a constituent of Jaquez Lewis previously contacted Boulder prosecutors and then emailed Gonzales to ask if charges would be filed against the now-former senator.

That email, Gonzales said, prompted her conversations with the two counties’ district attorneys.

Jaquez Lewis earlier submitted five letters, purportedly from supporters and former staff members, as part of her defense against the ethics investigation. One was later determined to have been faked, legislative staff told Gonzales and other members of the Senate Ethics Committee last month.

A second person, Tara Mastracchio, confirmed to The Denver Post on Tuesday that she also did not write a letter attributed to her in Jaquez Lewis’ ethics hearing.

“I am disappointed and disillusioned by the behavior of the prior senator over the last few weeks,” Mastracchio said after reviewing the letter. “I maintained my integrity and loyalty standing by her over the last several months, but now feel like I’ve been a pawn in desperate and manipulative tactics.”

Under Colorado law, using deceit in an attempt to influence a public servant is a felony, as is the use of certain forgeries.

In an interview, Jaquez Lewis said she had not been contacted by law enforcement. She reiterated an earlier assertion that she tried to withdraw the first letter from the public record after realizing it was “submitted accidentally.” She declined to comment on the record about the letter from Mastracchio.

“I have not been contacted by a district attorney, and it sounds like Sen. Gonzales is wanting to continue a political fight with me,” Jaquez Lewis said.

Jaquez Lewis resigned her Senate seat last month just hours before the Senate Ethics Committee was set to deliberate about whether she had mistreated her aides. She’d previously been removed as a sponsor of a bill aimed at addressing wage theft because she allegedly refused to sign off on paying her aide. Last year, The Post also reported allegations that she’d created a hostile work environment.

Her resignation ended the probe, but during the committee’s last meeting, senior legislative staff told the committee they had heard from the supposed author of one supportive letter who denied that she had written it.

“Under no circumstances was I the author of the letter that bears my name,” the former staff member told legislative staff, as relayed by Ed DeCecco, the director of the Office of Legislative Legal Services. The staff member said she hadn’t spoken with Jaquez Lewis for a year and that she was “dumbfounded” to have heard her name mentioned during a previous committee meeting, DeCecco said.

The former staff member did not return a message seeking comment Tuesday. Jaquez Lewis, besides saying the letter was submitted by mistake, told legislative staff that the “letter was information she had … from years ago” and that the letter “was based on conversations” between her and the former staff member, DeCecco told the committee last month.

DeCecco also asked Jaquez Lewis to provide evidence confirming that the other four letters, one of which was anonymous, were genuine — or to provide contact information for the letters’ purported authors. The legislative staff had not heard from any of the authors by the last committee meeting on Feb. 18, DeCecco said.

One of the authors of another supportive letter, Denice Walker, confirmed to The Post that she wrote the letter submitted to the legislature. Another purported author did not return messages seeking comment.

Gonzales said she hadn’t yet spoken with investigators, who reached out to her roughly two weeks ago, and she didn’t know if they’d contacted other lawmakers.

“I think that it is incredibly important for us as senators to hold ourselves to account,” Gonzales said. “If district attorneys want to investigate this matter, that is their purview under the law. That is their work to do.”

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Originally Published: March 11, 2025 at 1:59 PM MDT

DENVER — Monday felt like a spring day in Denver: 70 degrees and sunny.

Opening Day for the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field is still more than three weeks away, but Monday was opening day for about 18 new ambassadors that will patrol 40 blocks around the ballpark, from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week.

Last fall, businesses and residents in the Ballpark District decided to create a General Improvement District (GID) for the neighborhood. The Rockies and other organizations support the GID.

“They came together because they wanted to make a difference in their district,” said Luke McCarthy, operations manager for the Ballpark Ambassadors. “They wanted to see a change.”

Property owners pay a fee, which is based on property value, into the GID budget each year. During a press conference last week, representatives from the GID said that equates to $1.3 million for the 2025 budget, with the district anticipating that number to be closer to $2 million after outreach to other funding sources.

That funding will go toward the Ballpark Ambassadors, with the stated goals of safety and security, cleaning and maintenance, outreach and navigation for people experiencing homelessness, and overall hospitality.

“We’re the eyes and ears on the street for the emergency services,” McCarthy explained. “So we’re the first first responders before we can get the people the help they need.”

That includes people living on the street.

McCarthy said ambassadors train with “outreach specialists” with the Denver Police Department “on how to handle maybe an aggressive, unhoused situation.” He added that the ambassadors’ company, Block by Block, provides de-escalation training for speaking with the unhoused. Block by Block serves similar street outreach programs across the country.

“No one is armed, no one is to cause conflict or any confrontation on the street in public space,” said McCarthy. “We build profiles on these [unhoused] individuals to be able to see exactly what resources they need and get them long-term assistance to get off the street.”

The Colorado Coalition for the Homeless was part of the early conversations surrounding the GID. Cathy Alderman, chief communications and public policy officer for the coalition, said those conversations were “very productive,” despite the organization having some hesitations.

“Operating in the downtown Denver area, we’ve seen different attempts at privatizing security, and sometimes that does lead to harassment or, you know, an air of enforcement against people experiencing homelessness,” she explained. “We just wanted to make sure that if folks are, you know, approaching people that are living outside, or who are forced to wait outside until a shelter opens, that they’re doing it compassionately and with the goal of maybe resolving some of their issues, instead of just trying to get them to move out of sight.”

Alderman said like any program of this nature, there will likely be adjustments needed and “the devil’s in the details,” but she is optimistic that the program will make progress.

“Anytime you have a diverse group of business owners and a particular neighborhood that come together to create, you know, a better environment for everybody, that it sparks collaboration, and you start to get to know your neighbors better,” she said.

The General Improvement District is hiring an executive director, while the ambassadors program is also hiring.

“A lot of the ambassadors are your Denver locals,” McCarthy told Denver7. “They live around this neighborhood. They come and were born [and] raised here. They really want to see the improvements themselves. And it’s time they rolled up their sleeves and got to work.”