💘 Is dating in Denver especially hard?

🔎 Council Member Ethics Probe Mounts

The Denver Board of Ethics has decided a probe into first-term city council member Flor Alvidrez over inappropriate spending and mistreatment of staff warrants further investigation. While the board can’t formally penalize Alvidrez, it could recommend action. Fellow council members could also choose to formally censure her. [Axios Denver]

💘 Where Are All the Single Men?

In the early 2000s, Denver had a nationally recognized nickname: “Menver.” It was a nod to the astonishing amount of available single men in the Denver metro, a fact that was even confirmed by a 2014 survey from Pew Research Center. But now, single Denverites say that’s not the case anymore. [Denver Post]

• What happened to Menver? We had Denver Post reporter Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton on the show to share what she found in her research. [City Cast Denver 🎧]

📪 Property Tax Statements Are On the Way!

The City of Denver has just mailed out 240,000 property tax statements to homeowners across the county. And if you’re one of them, you’d better start pinching your pennies — officials note the average Denver home saw a 36% increase in property value last year, leading to a 17% average increase in property taxes for the average single-family residence. [Denverite]

Last week’s answer: You can find this mural on the back wall of Watercourse Foods in North Cap Hill.

• This colorful mural of a banjo-wielding buffalo is the standardly dope work of local artist Cody Kuehl (his repertoire contains a variety of equally epic woodland critters playing instruments, as well as a lineup of Western-inspired illustrations and prints). In his official artist statement Kuehl says:
  
  “The myth and ethos of the West lives strong even today in American culture. The lone gunman of the west stands tall as an enduring symbol that people strive towards. The history that we try to live is a double-edged knife that cuts both ways, however. These paintings strive to build up and undercut, live into and criticize the american west as a force in our history that is both a powerful story of American ideals and a fundamentally flawed American character study.”

🙌 Mega kudos to our quickest correct guessers:

• Benjamin F. was the first to write in with the correct answer!
• But Alicia Y., Aundya A., Thomas D., Cassi L., and Russell H. weren’t far behind!

This Week’s Photo:

🕵️ Do YOU know where to spot this proud pizza baron? Here’s a ✨ hint ✨ — You’ll find him safeguarding the parking lot across the street from a popular pizza parlor in a little municipality to the west of Denver that thinks of itself as a “small town next to the big city.”

Be among the first to respond with the right answer and you’ll get a special shoutout in next Friday’s newsletter!

📸 Want to submit a photo? Send me a snapshot of somewhere in Denver, and I’ll consider it for an upcoming photo trivia segment!

'Outside Festival’ Revealed, Suncor’s Big Fine, and DIA’s Foot-Eating Walkway

In a historic settlement, the Suncor Oil Refinery is finally having to pay up over pollution issues. Ean Thomas Tafoya, State Director of Green Latinos, joins the City Cast Denver podcast to parse through the lawsuit, plus dig into the details behind a new outdoor-themed festival coming to Civic Center Park, and more stories that mattered this week.