❄️ Closures and other snow updates

🍄 Psychedelic Crisis Training

As Denver continues to navigate the uncharted world of decriminalized psychedelics, the City will soon begin training its first responders on how to compassionately approach and handle psychedelic-related crises. Training will include recognizing adverse effects and de-escalation techniques, as well as education on the history and broad use of psychedelics. [Denver Post]

✊ Capitol Aides Demand Their Due

Colorado legislative aides are asking for a 30% pay increase — which would bump hourly wages up from $23 to $30 — in order to attain a liveable wage, but say Democratic lawmakers have stonewalled them. For their part, legislative leaders argue the 6.8% raise they recently signed off on was sufficient, and they will continue to follow a structured plan for annual increases. [CPR]

🍺 Colorado Considers a New Sin Tax

A bill on its way to Colorado lawmakers would impose a new fee on alcohol producers that could generate nearly $100 million in annual funds for alcohol addiction treatment and recovery programs — there are similar taxes already in place for the marijuana and gambling industries. Producers and wholesalers argue the bill would penalize responsible alcohol consumers, but bill sponsors say consumers likely wouldn’t notice the change at all. [Denver Post]

📱 Is This the End of TikTok?

A bill is working its way through Congress that would effectively ban the social media platform TikTok from operating in the U.S. unless the company sells to a non-Chinese-owned entity — it's a fight that started in Colorado in 2023, when Senator Michael Bennet called for TikTok’s removal from Apple and Google app stores. [City Cast Denver 🎧]

Sen. Michael Bennet on Why TikTok Has Got To Go

Could TikTok be banned in the United States forever? New legislation going through Congress right now has put the banishment of one of the world’s most popular social media platforms on the table. But the argument against the Chinese-owned app actually began last year when Colorado’s own Senator Michael Bennet took up the fight. He sat down with City Cast Denver last year to explain why he thinks TikTok has got to go.