📚 Bookstore giant bids on Tattered Cover

🚒 Lake County Wildfire Continues to Grow

Firefighting crews are working to contain a wildfire burning in the Pike & San Isabel National Forest near Twin Lakes. Officials believe the cause of the fire that ignited Tuesday night was an improperly extinguished campfire. As of yesterday afternoon, the fire had grown to nearly 450 acres and several nearby residential areas were ordered to evacuate. [Denver Post 🔒]

• Yep, it’s wildfire season: And Boulder-based climate scientist Dr. Daniel Swain, for one, says you shouldn’t get your hopes up for a mild year. [X]

📚 Barnes & Noble Bids for Tattered Cover

Following years of financial turmoil, ownership changes, and a bankruptcy filing, one of Denver’s oldest, most beloved independent bookstores might just be acquired by Barnes & Noble. Several undisclosed parties have expressed interest in purchasing Tattered Cover since owners announced plans to sell in March, but the national bookstore giant has reportedly come in with the highest initial bid. [BusinessDen 🔒]

🧑‍⚖️ Aurora’s ‘Tough Love’ Approach to Homelessness

Aurora City Council has OK’d the creation of a specialized court to process offenses committed by people experiencing homelessness, dubbed the H.E.A.R.T. Court (Housing, Employment, Addiction, Recovery, and Teamwork). Offenders will be put on court-mandated probation and required to participate in recovery services. Mayor Mike Coffman says the idea is to reduce homelessness with “tough love.” [CBS]

🗳️ Why a Local Millionaire is Funding Election Reform

Local multimillionaire Kent Thiry is financing a new campaign to bring ranked choice voting to Colorado. If his supporters can gather enough signatures to land a measure on the ballot, voters will decide this fall whether or not to overhaul the state’s election system. Why? We asked our best political experts to explain it. [City Cast Denver 🎧]

• What’s ranked choice voting anyways? Let me break it down for you. [Hey Denver]

Last week’s answer: Big Bear Ice Arena in Lowry Field — your East Denver hub for skating lessons and hockey leagues — submitted by City Cast Denver’s executive producer and resident hockey lover, Paul Karolyi.

👏 Big claps for our correct guessers:

• Katey B. was the first to write in with the correct answer!
• But Elise M. and Emily L. weren’t far behind!

This Week’s Photo:

🕵️ Do YOU know where to find this larger-than-life sculpture of love? Bonus points if you can tell me the name and the artist! Be among the first to respond with the right answer and you’ll get a special shoutout in next Friday’s newsletter.

✨ Special thanks to reader Niki V. for submitting this week’s photo!

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

Debating Democracy, RTD's Rough Week, and Indian Restaurant Ripoffs

Signature-gathering began this week for the campaign to bring ranked choice voting to Colorado, and the effort is being bankrolled by local millionaire and DaVita founder Kent Thiry. What’s his endgame? And what might it mean for the future of Colorado’s elections? Plus, did RTD riders just have the worst week in Colorado commuter history? We dig into those stories and more news from this week on today’s City Cast Denver podcast.