⚰️ ANOTHER funeral home scandal

🏞️ Colorado Gains New National Park

Amache National Historic Site, a former World War II Japanese internment camp near Granada, has officially joined the National Park system. An effort that has been years in the making, the announcement came just four days before the Day of Remembrance of Japanese-American Incarceration during WWII on Feb. 19. [Denver Post]

• 🌹 The Amache rose: A story of resilience blooms at Camp Amache. [City Cast Denver 🎧]

✏️ Denver May Alter Those Controversial Sidewalk Fees

Last November, Denver voters passed a hotly contested ordinance to charge property owners an annual fee to fund sidewalk improvements across the city. Fee amounts were to be established depending on a property’s size and the sidewalk that bordered it. But now, a committee charged with reviewing and refining the ordinance is proposing to instead charge homeowners a flat fee to address equity concerns. [Denverite]

• 💭 Thoughts? Let the city know your opinion on the matter with this survey. Deadline: Feb. 27.

⚰️ Yet ANOTHER Local Funeral Home Scandal

Denver investigators discovered the body of a woman who’s been dead for more than a year, along with the cremated remains of some 30 others, in the house of a former Littleton funeral home operator. The suspect faces criminal charges of corpse abuse, theft, and forgery. [Denver Post]

• NOT related: Authorities said this case is NOT related to the recent Penrose funeral home scandal where nearly 200 decomposing bodies were found improperly stored. [AP via KRCC]
• WTF is going on? These cases are, unbelievably, not the state’s first. A funeral home in Montrose was busted five years ago for illegally selling body parts on the black market. State lawmakers are considering a bill to strengthen Colorado’s notoriously lax mortuary regulations. [Denver Post]

Do you remember the first time you bragged about hiking a 14er? Or displayed impressive knowledge on the history of green chile in Colorado? Whether you’ve been here for just a few months or you made the Mile High your hometown decades ago, you’ve definitely experienced a moment when you realized this was your home. We rounded up a fun list of ways to answer the question: “You’re not a real Denverite until…”

You Treat Rockies Opening Day Like a State Holiday

Yes, the Rockies suck. But a true Denverite doesn’t care, because you’ll call in sick to attend an all-day happy hour starting at 9 a.m. if it revolves around wearing purple in LoDo on Game Day.

You Have a Wild Colfax Story

To know Colfax is to love Colfax — but it definitely takes some getting used to. You know you’ve really immersed yourself in Denver life when you can say “I saw a guy on Colfax just sharpening an ax like it was no big deal” and everyone nods in agreement like that’s a normal thing to see.

You Can Tell All the Restaurateurs Named “Pete” Apart

Pete Contos was the larger-than-life figure behind Pete’s Kitchen, Pete’s Central One, Pete’s University Park Cafe, and Pete’s Greek Town (RIP). But there’s also Pete Turner of the Illegal Pete’s empire and for the deep Denver heads, Peter Chan of Peter’s Chinese in Congress Park.

AG Phil Weiser on His Effort To Block the King Soopers/Safeway Merger

Grocery store mega-giants Albertsons and Kroger are promising smaller shopping bills with their $24.6 billion consolidation plan. But Colorado Attorney General Ohil Weiser is sounding the alarm and alleging exactly the opposite, insisting a merger would mean higher prices, fewer jobs, and worse customer service — so he’s suing to try to stop it.