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Sloan’s Lake neighbors left with nowhere to park as city expands neighborhood bikeways

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Sloan’s Lake neighbors left with nowhere to park as city expands neighborhood bikeways


DENVER — Neighbors within the Sloan’s Lake space felt blindsided this week after they got here dwelling to seek out new “No Parking” indicators in entrance of their properties alongside twenty third Avenue.

“It’s such a hardship for all of us. And from groceries to lugging the youngsters as much as getting the canine out, we actually don’t know what we’re going to do,” stated resident Ashton White. “I believe their plan is extreme, after which not notifying us about it. It’s a bummer.”

White says the indicators have been his first discover that his avenue was about to be dramatically modified as a part of the town’s neighborhood bikeways mission.

White and his neighbors reside in rowhouses on twenty third Avenue, which wouldn’t have garages or alleys for different parking choices. Even close by intersecting streets like Julian and Irving are virtually all the time full with automobiles from residents on these streets, he stated.

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“It eradicated like six parking areas [on each side], and the robust half is we don’t have any storage areas. We don’t have any alley entry,” White stated. “Like, the place the heck are we speculated to park?”

Metropolis of Denver

A diagram from the town’s “Denver Strikes” web site reveals deliberate alterations to twenty second and twenty third Avenues

In keeping with the town’s Denver Strikes web site, neighborhood bikeways are created to “prioritize people who find themselves biking, strolling, and rolling” by decreasing the velocity and quantity of automobiles.

One webpage reveals median islands alongside the center of twenty third Avenue on both aspect of the intersection with Julian Road. It describes the “N Julian Road: Neighborhood Bikeway” mission as “proposed,” but additionally reveals that public remark resulted in Might 2021. Denver7 reached out to the town for clarification on the standing of the mission, however has not but obtained specifics.

The brand new indicators seem to mark the start of building on the road, which might convey pedestrian refuge islands, cease bars and two-stage flip queue containers for bicyclists to the road.

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“With all our initiatives, our aim is to deal with security and mobility whereas making an attempt to stability the wants inside our Denver communities,” Denver spokesperson Vanessa Lacayo stated. “We admire the suggestions on this mission, and all initiatives.”

White says he and most of his neighbors frequently journey bikes, and use the bike lanes already in place alongside twenty third Avenue. He hopes metropolis leaders can alter the plan to nonetheless go away parking areas by his dwelling.


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Denver, CO

La Alma-Lincoln Park in Denver to get new roller loop, expanded skate park in makeover

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La Alma-Lincoln Park in Denver to get new roller loop, expanded skate park in makeover


Six months after city officials fenced off part of La Alma-Lincoln Park because of drug use and violence, it’s getting a makeover.

The Denver City Council approved a two-year, $1.3 million contract Monday that will pay for architectural and engineering design for changes planned at the park, located southwest of downtown along Mariposa Street between west 13th and 11th avenues. It passed in a block vote.

The redesigned green space will include a new walking loop, expanded skate and playground areas, a new roller loop, a “rhythm skate plaza” and added picnic groves, according to city documents. The project will also relocate the basketball and tennis courts.

In a description of their planned services, Livable Cities Studio, the company that will design the project, said the park “holds many significant neighborhood memories for the community.”

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“The conditions of the existing features at the park are severely deteriorated and the available programming is not meeting current recreational desires,” according to the document.

The planned redesign comes after the city solicited community feedback and created a vision plan for the 15-acre park in July 2023.

“This is good timing, I think, for this neighborhood and this community,” said Councilwoman Jamie Torres, who represents District 3, where the park is located. “It’s a really good opportunity for the community to reimagine what the park will look like for the future.”

Last August, the city closed parts of the park as officials attempted to curb rising drug sales, violence and vandalism in the area. Parkgoers and a nearby charter school complained about human waste, syringes and physical fights in the park.

The park was also closed for periods in 2021 and 2022 after several shootings, including a fatal one in which Gary Arellano, 63, was killed while trying to break up a fight in the park.

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Last year, Torres said the influx of drug use was related to Mayor Mike Johnston’s All in Mile High homelessness initiative, which closed off portions of downtown known for homeless encampments.

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What’s next for Denver’s budget and mayor following immigration hearing in D.C.? No one’s sure.

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What’s next for Denver’s budget and mayor following immigration hearing in D.C.? No one’s sure.


After weeks of anticipation followed by a six-hour hearing, Denver officials hope they can put Mayor Mike Johnston’s testimony before Congress behind them.

But it may not be that simple.

During Wednesday’s hearing about the immigrant-friendly policies enacted by Denver and three other cities, members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform threatened the mayors with criminal charges. President Donald Trump and other Republicans have also vowed to cut the cities off from millions of dollars in federal support.

The U.S. Department of Justice is already investigating both Chicago and New York City over their policies and Denver could be next.

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“I don’t think this is the last you are going to hear from the Oversight Committee and other committees in Congress on this issue,” U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, a Windsor Republican and member of the committee, said in an interview with The Denver Post.

The city and outside legal experts say Denver’s policies are in line with federal law, so they believe there’s little chance criminal charges will be pursued. While Johnston hopes that defense will also protect the city from losing federal funding, officials are treading carefully as they dole out any federal dollars.

But the mayor acknowledges one thing for sure: There’s no real certainty as to what steps the president and Congress will take.

“We don’t have any more information on what comes next,” Johnston said. “I think we will keep going about our business running the city. If there are other questions … we will be responsive, but we don’t have any presumption of what the next steps are.”

A threat of criminal charges

During the hearing, several committee members said they wanted to pursue criminal charges against Johnston and the other mayors who appeared alongside him, from Boston, New York City and Chicago. Whether any cases are opened is ultimately a decision for the U.S. Department of Justice.

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“I do not think you guys are bad people, but I do think you are ideologically misled,” said Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Florida, adding that she planned to “criminally refer” them to Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Luna accused Johnston of violating the federal harboring statute, which makes it a crime for anyone who “conceals, harbors or shields from detection, or attempts to conceal, harbor or shield from detection, such alien in any place, including any building or any means of transportation.”

She pointed to Denver’s policy of providing shelter to migrants who came to the city on buses beginning in late 2022 as being the basis for a possible charge against Johnston.

Legal experts say it seems unlikely such a case would hold.

“From what I observed, nobody was concealing, harboring or shielding folks from detection,” said Elizabeth Jordan, a visiting assistant professor at the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law who specializes in immigration law.

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Jordan said she thinks the threats by members of Congress are less of an actionable plan for prosecution and more of a “deliberate strategy” to scare people like Johnston who are supportive of immigrants.

“This is all part of a big rhetorical strategy that they’ve got on the federal level,” she said.

Johnston is also bullish that the city’s ordinances don’t open the city up to legal action.

“We are not in violation of federal law,” Johnston said in an interview. “There are no grounds to pursue prosecutions of our city.”

Under a 2017 ordinance, the city won’t ask anyone about their immigration status or help federal agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. But Johnston said Denver still work with ICE when it comes to violent criminals.

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Colorado lawmakers have also passed laws that block some cooperation with ICE, including stopping jails from holding inmates solely at the request of federal authorities. Like in many counties, though, the Denver Sheriff Department will notify ICE when it is about to release someone who federal agents want to detain.

Possible loss of federal funding

The committee could also follow through on threats to divert federal funds away from Denver over the city’s policies. About $150 million of Denver’s $4.4 billion budget for 2025 is federal money.

While the possibility wasn’t a major talking point from Republicans during the hearing, Trump and others have mentioned the option several times.

Rep. James Comer, R-Kentucky, the chair of the committee, opened the hearing by saying Trump’s administration is already taking action against “sanctuary cities.”

“Congress must follow by not allowing a single penny of federal funding to go to cities and states that prioritize criminal aliens over the American people,” he said.

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A day after Johnston appeared in D.C., the U.S. Small Business Administration announced it would pull regional offices from Denver and five other larger “sanctuary cities” over their policies.

In an interview after the hearing, Johnston reiterated that he doesn’t think there is any standing for Congress to take away the city’s funding, but said if that did happen, it would have a “profound impact” on the city’s services.

“In every single department, we have dollars at risk,” he said. “Going forward we’re having to be very cautious.”

If Republicans do try to divert federal funds away from Denver, a legal battle could ensue.

“If the Trump Administration moves forward with their threats, we will explore all options, including legal action, to protect the funding Denverites deserve,” said Jordan Fuja, spokeswoman for the mayor.

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The last time Trump was in office, he also took on sanctuary city policies. Those efforts were largely stalled by the courts, with the U.S. Supreme Court deciding not to take up at least one of the cases against California. That decision allowed a lower court’s ruling, which upheld the law, to stand.

Boebert said if Denver’s policies remain in place, she would advocate for federal support to be moved to other parts of the state.

Committee members will have time to prepare and direct more questions to the mayors who appeared for possible further investigation.

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Denver pathway teacher helps girls interested in architecture

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Denver pathway teacher helps girls interested in architecture


Denver pathway teacher helps girls interested in architecture – CBS Colorado

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One of the pathways offered by Denver Public Schools is helping girls learn about architecture through the Career Early College Program.

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