Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper's plan to give city employees a day off and save taxpayers some cash sounds nice, especially if you're a city employee and the deal means you keep getting four or five-day weekends.
COLORADO'S FRONTPAGE
Face the State
Content Index: City and County of Denver
Follow this topic by RSSSolar rays bend Denver's rules
A Face the State Staff Report
August 3, 2009Nearly a year has passed since a $13 million, 7.5 acre solar panel project was dedicated at Denver International Airport. A Face the State Investigation reveals a project marred by a lax bidding process, missing records, lack of oversight and and bureaucratic finger pointing for those shortfalls.
Denver bends the rules in the name of 'green' energy
FTS staff writer Kate Melvin has the skinny on those new solar panels at Denver International Airport. How'd they end up there, and did the City and County of Denver bend the rules to make the project happen? Stay tuned for the full story, coming Monday to Face The State.
Play audio - 10:08 minutes
More >
FTS on 600 KCOL: DIA solar panels; Southwest eyes Frontier
Face The State managing editor Brad Jones visits with 600 KCOL's Keith & Gail. What's up with those solar panels at DIA, and did the city rush to build them out with little regard for their usual bidding process? Plus, Southwest Airlines eyes Frontier for a takeover. Home-town pride could - but shouldn't - get in the way of a potential sale.
Play audio - 11:48 minutes
More >
Segment 1 - The week's news: CU alums deliver; big spending at CSU; sweatin' it at work
FTS managing editor Brad Jones and staff writer Kate Melvin wrap up the week in Colorado news. More alumni than ever are donating to the University of Colorado, but that doesn't stop the implementation of a new, mandatory fee for students. North in Fort Collins, the Coloradoan reports CSU spends $60,000 in a single month on food and entertainment. And Gov. Bill Ritter and Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper want you to sweat it out for the environment.
Play audio - 14:14 minutes
More >
FTS Humor: Obey. Or Else.
Face The State Humor
April 24, 2009By Andrew Ripemoff
We’ve been really busy here lately at the Colorado Department of How to Run Your Life, where our philosophy is, "If we let people make their own decisions, they’ll just screw it up."
4/23: The Teflon Mayor's day off
Denver's "Teflon Mayor" John Hickenlooper is pressing his luck - again.
Play audio - 1:30 minutes
More >
4-20 rallies draw thousands in peaceful protest
A Face the State Staff Report
April 21, 2009Thousands of activists gathered at Denver’s Civic Center Park Monday afternoon to celebrate what has become known as International Cannabis Day to peacefully protest the prohibition of marijuana.
The latest with Denver's Teflon Mayor
April 1, 2009Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper has long been affectionately known as the city's "Teflon Mayor", having previously avoided any meaningful association with the city's many woes. But now, in the aftermath of his controversial decision to help lessen the impact of the city's revenue shortfall by firing 11 Denver sheriff's deputies, he may have to put in some overtime on a reputation makeover.
Denver made the wrong choice on furlough schedule
March 31, 2009Coming back to work after a five day vacation is tough. Just ask Denver's city employees this morning.
After a blizzard hammered Colorado Thursday morning, which sent nearly everyone home early, most city workers also enjoyed Friday off.
Segment 2 - Hickenlooper's not-so-delicate budget balance
Staff writer Rachel Boxer gets in-depth on Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper's looming budget deficit, and the difficulties he encounters dealing with organized labor.
Play audio - 8:57 minutes
More >
Hickenlooper supports pay raises in face of $56 million shortfall
A Face the State Staff Report
March 24, 2009
As Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper struggles to close to city’s $56 million budget gap by cutting sheriff's deputies and raising taxes on historic properties, he is still supporting pay raises for some city employees.
No to House Bill 1186: Ballot chasers threaten election security
FTS Opinion
February 23, 2009
By Denver Councilwoman Jeanne Faatz
If election ballots were $100 bills, voters would be a lot more careful with them. They’d keep them secure and make certain they ended up in the hands of the proper elections officials. They wouldn’t blithely hand them over to third-party collectors who appeared on the doorstep drenched in smiles.
Venue for stimulus bill signing no model for open government
A Face the State Staff Report
February 17, 2009
With a stroke of the pen today, President Barack Obama will enact the largest single federal spending package in history. He will do so inside Denver's Museum of Nature and Science, a facility heavily subsidized by Denver taxpayers and one that stands in stark contrast with Obama's own pledges regarding open government.
Black anthem singer back in Denver to explain actions
A Face the State Staff Report
February 13, 2009
The woman who shocked Denver and the nation last summer by injecting lyrics fom the “Black National Anthem” into her rendition of the “Star-Spangled Banner," was in Denver Thursday night to once again sing, but also to share the story of what lead to her headline grabbing performance.
Denver mustang rears its ugly blue head
February 9, 2009
With all the serious economic news jumping to the front of nation's newspapers, we were surprised but pleased to see that Denver International Airport's ugly blue horse made the front of Saturday's Wall Street Journal. And we couldn't agree more with the headline: "Blue Mustang Sculpture Shocks Visitors, Perturbs Poets; 'Because of This Thing, People Think They Are in Hell.'" The horse quite possibly qualifies as the worst public art in the country.
Segment 1 - The week's news: Rent controls, red light cameras, 'endangered' places?
FTS managing editor Brad Jones and staff writer Kate Melvin review the week in Colorado news, with a focus on local stories you might have missed.
Play audio - 9:25 minutes
More >
Segment 1 - The week's news: Alien invasion plans and other weird laws
FTS managing editor Brad Jones visits with staff writer Kate Melvin for a look at the week in Colorado news. A Denver initiative to plan for alien invasion is put on hold, the state's smoking ban may be relaxed, and lawmakers waste their time with a new cat identification law.
Play audio - 9:42 minutes
More >
Segment 1 - This week's news: Vail's expensive motto search, Denver's red light cameras
FTS managing editor Brad Jones visits with staff writer Kate Melvin for a look at the week in Colorado news. Highlights: Vail is spending taxpayer dollars on a new marketing slogan, a suburban Mayor is super excited about trash service, and Denver's red light cameras get a failing grade.
Play audio - 12:11 minutes
More >
Time For Drug Sanity in Denver
FTS Opinion
January 1, 2009By Brian Vicente
Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey needs to face the facts. Marijuana isn't meth and it's time we stopped treated the two substances the same way.
Mason v. Mitch, round 420
December 22, 2008Denver's favorite marijuana activist, Mason Tvert, is mad. Again.
Tvert, who has led successful campaigns to decriminalize marijuana and make marijuana prosecution the city's lowest law enforcement priority, is upset that Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey plans to crack down on parents growing the plant.
Segment 1 - The week's news: Polis the 'moderate', Xmas at the Guv's mansion...
Face The State's Kate Melvin joins FTS managing editor Brad Jones for a look at the week that was in Colorado news. Is Jared Polis a closeted free-marketeer? "Puffer patrols" in Denver and Aurora are out to save you from yourself, and first lady Jeanne Ritter sucks it up and re-uses Christmas ornaments at the Governor's mansion.
Play audio - 12:45 minutes
More >
Time to think critically about early childhood education
FTS Opinion
December 8, 2008
By Krista Kafer
Common sense tells you the world is flat. Science says otherwise, of course, but it was only after two centuries and a whole lot of scientists that the world's leaders were finally convinced. Truth is sometimes counterintuitive. We’d like to think we're more enlightened in 2008, but many of our leaders today are just as likely to dismiss scientific evidence as those six centuries ago.
Segment 1 - The news: Fallout from Obama's Pueblo visit, Denver 'safety tips'
FTS's Brad Jones and Kate Melvin recap the week in Colorado news.
Play audio - 10:52 minutes
More >
Denver City Attorney claims "no cost" to taxpayers for DNC trials
A Face the State Staff Report
December 3, 2008The back and forth between a group of Denver defense attorneys and city officials over expenses associated with the prosecution of protesters arrested during August's Democratic National convention continues with Denver City Attorney David Fine telling Face The State Tuesday in telephone interview that "there is no cost you can attribute to my office."
11/26: Taxpayers on the hook for Obama rally
Taxpayers are on the hook for Barack Obama’s huge rally in Denver.
Play audio - 1:30 minutes
More >
Debate over DNC trial tab heats up
A Face the State Staff Report
November 21, 2008On Thursday's Mike Rosen Show, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper criticized a coalition of defense attorneys who have alleged that the city could spend $500,000 to prosecute protesters arrested during August's Democratic National Convention.
11/20: Unelected bureaucrats stifle growth
In a sluggish economy, we should be encouraging growth, right? Not in Downtown Denver.
Play audio - 1:30 minutes
More >
Still no word from Denver Police on Obama-related overtime costs
A Face the State Staff Report
November 14, 2008Citing looming budget cuts as the reason for delay, the Denver Police Department continues to hold up calculating the overtime bill related to President-elect Barack Obama’s Oct. 26 rally at Civic Center Park.
Hickenlooper passes the buck on budget cuts
November 11, 2008The Denver City Council adopted Mayor John Hickenlooper’s $914 million budget Monday night, with Councilwoman Jeanne Faatz casting the only dissenting vote.