😵‍💫 Meow Wolf plans major layoffs

😵‍💫 Meow Wolf Layoffs

Even with a brand new location now open in Texas and another on the way, Meow Wolf has announced plans to lay off 165 positions across the company and at all of its locations, Denver’s Convergence Station included. It’s not yet clear how many Mile High workers will be impacted, but officials have promised robust severance packages. [Denver Post 🔒]

⚖️ The Christian Glass Trial

The criminal trial for former Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Deputy Andrew Buen is underway for his involvement in the fatal shooting of 22-year-old Christian Glass in June 2022. Prosecutors called Buen’s actions that night “aggressive and excessive.” The trial is expected to continue into next week. [CPR]

• A refresher: We unpacked what happened that night with CPR criminal justice reporter Allison Sherry. [City Cast Denver 🎧]

☢️ The Ol’ Rocky Flats Debate

Recent construction activity at the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge is sparking fresh debate in a decades-old controversy. As the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service gets started on plans to build a pedestrian bridge in what some believe to be the “most contaminated” area of the former nuclear weapons site, locals wrangle with the contested question of just how dangerous Rocky Flats actually is. [9News]

📱 Beware Scam Calling

If you get an unexpected phone call from the Denver Sheriff Department about a warrant for your arrest and an urgent Bitcoin request — it’s not the Denver Sheriff Department. City officials are warning Denverites about a scam call making the rounds that purports to be from the DSD. In some instances, the scammers may even offer you a fake badge number. [Denverite]

• Tip: If you ever get a call from an official institution (like a bank, utility company, or the police department) urgently requesting money or sensitive personal information, hang up and call the company directly via a verified phone number. Here are some more tips from the FTC on recognizing and reporting phone and internet scams.

Hey loyal readers and listeners. We love to hear from you! Got a question about something going on in the city? A spicy take on a trending topic? Commentary on a recent podcast episode or newsletter? We want to hear it 💌 Here’s the latest from the inbox:

🌷 The City’s Empty Flower Beds

A group of volunteers are taking it upon themselves to plant flowers in Civic Center Park this year after Mayor Johnston cut funding for the flowers earlier this year. Still, Savannah T. has some choice words for him:

• “Hearing that Johnston cut the Civic Center Park garden budget has got to be my least favorite thing he has done yet!! (Perhaps an exaggeration but still!) No springtime flowers in front of our STATE CAPITOL?!?! They are so so beautiful every year and a symbol of the start of beautiful spring here in Colorado! That's low Johnston, so low.”

📚 Another Denver-Based Book Rec

After checking out my list of novels set in the Mile High, Robert F. wanted to add one more:

• “This was a really fun Colorado-based fiction read too: Catering to Nobody by Diane Mott Davidson.”

💖 A Little Love

Gabrielle wrote in with a kind note:

• “I just wanted to say a great big THANK YOU to you and all the hard work you do. Your email is the only email I actually read and look at from my daily bombardment of emails. I think it’s informative and really fun as well. You’re giving a great service and you’re doing a great job. You. Are. Appreciated. 🌸🌈🩷”
  
  If you agree with Gabrielle, consider taking your appreciation to the next level and becoming a paying member of City Cast Denver to support the work we do 🙏

Denver's Best and Worst Streets to Bike On

From Broadway to the dense thoroughfares of Capitol Hill to the Cherry Creek Trail, the city can be both an enraging and an enjoyable place to bike. Veteran bike courier Matt Sanchez explains the good, the bad, and the complicated nature of the Denver cycling experience.