🪧 Labor union busted for labor violations

🚍 RTD Announces Major Service Disruptions

Light rail riders mark your calendars — beginning May 26, RTD will suspend service on its downtown loop through September for an intensive $152 million reconstruction project. RTD’s L, D, and H lines will be impacted. This will be the most extensive construction project on the RTD system since it launched in 1994. [Denver Post]

• Be prepared: RTD commuters can sign up for email or text alerts to stay in the know about service disruptions and schedule changes.

🪧 Local Union Busted for Unfair Labor Practices

The organization that’s supposed to be the state’s largest proponent of fair labor practices is being reprimanded for violating federal labor laws. A judge from the National Labor Relations Board found that Kim Cordova, president of United Food & Commercial Workers Local 7 (UFCW7) — a union that represents 23,000 workers in Colorado and Wyoming — has refused to bargain in good faith with employees and ignored complaints about workplace conditions. [CO Sun]

• Flashback: You might remember Cordova from her time on the frontlines of the local King Soopers strikes in 2022. [City Cast Denver 🎧]

🏨 Where Will Denver Newcomers Go Now?

Mayor Johnston has plans to close several shelters serving the city’s new arrivals from South and Central America, while the city of Aurora joins other municipalities in refusing to serve the incoming population at all. On a state level, Governor Polis has joined calls for more border security — but what does this all mean for Colorado’s newcomers? [City Cast Denver 🎧]

Last week’s answer: This mural by local artist Moe Gram can be found on the side of RiNo’s Catbird hotel

• We had Moe on the City Cast Denver podcast a few weeks ago to chat all things Mile High, and careful listeners will remember she talked about this very mural (skip to the 3:50 mark). Recognize the pink character on the far right? Yep, that’s the one and only Bree Davies, City Cast Denver podcast host.
  
  “Well, gentrification gentrifies, and there was a new hotel going up in Five Points, and it just felt important that the people who are responsible for preserving Denver's culture be highlighted in a space like that. I didn't want to create another mural that was just a cute, funky design that made people feel excited about traveling here. I wanted to add a little bit of an acknowledgement about where people are and where they're going and, you know, just a little love note to my favorite ladies — artist and activist Kalyn Heffernan, prolific poet Suzi Q. Smith, poet LadySpeech, and artist and educator Karma Leigh.”
  
  Hear more from Moe 👇

MAJOR claps for the single reader who remembered we mentioned the mural on our show and posted it on our Instagram 👏

• Danielle R. 🎉

This Week’s Photo:

🕵️ Do YOU know where to spot this tiled mosaic? 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!

Johnston's New Newcomer Plan, Broadway Bike Lane Debuts, and RIP New Saigon

Mayor Johnston announced plans to close several shelters serving new arrivals. Meanwhile, Aurora City Council signed a proclamation to solidify its “non-sanctuary city” status. And where is Governor Polis in all of this? The City Cast Denver crew breaks down these stories plus new bike lane drama, a beloved restaurant’s closure, and more news of the week.