🏫 DPS will close 7 schools

🏫 DPS Moves Forward With School Closures

Despite pushback and protests from the community, DPS district officials unanimously approved Superintendent Alex Marrero’s proposal to close seven schools and shrink three others to accommodate declining enrollment. [Denver Post 🔒]

• Why you should care: We asked a former education policy advisor and DPS parent what this will mean for the city at large. [City Cast Denver 🎧]

🚔 Local Law Enforcement Complaints Drop

According to a new report from the city’s Office of the Independent Monitor, public complaints against Denver law enforcement have dropped 16% for the police department and 37% for the sheriff's office since this time last year. [Axios Denver]

• Broader context: The new data appears to track with a statewide confidence boost in police that led Colorado voters to pass $350 million in fresh funding for state law enforcement agencies, despite a notable increase in fatal police shootings. [CPR; Denver Post 🔒]

🛏️ City Cancels Plans for Newcomer Shelter

City officials have abandoned plans to turn a former elementary school in Sunnyside into an emergency shelter for newcomers, saying they don’t expect any surges of new arrivals in the foreseeable future. The city closed its last newcomer shelter last month. [Denverite]

🌎 Why Trump Tapped Denver Exec for Cabinet

An oil and gas industry CEO from Colorado was recently selected to be President Trump’s secretary of energy — did his questionable stance on climate change have anything to do with it? And what might it mean for the future of the climate? [City Cast Denver 🎧]

Last week’s answer: You can find this distinct piece of Denver art outside Understudy, a gallery within the Denver Convention Center. Kudos to readers Bryant P. and Annie O., who didn’t know where to find this work, but absolutely recognized the unmistakable style of local artist Shantell Martin. This snapshot is just part of Martin’s 2017 sprawling 20,000-square-foot sidewalk mural “Don’t Hide.”

👏 A round of applause for our quickest correct guessers:

• Leah J. was the first to write in with the correct answer!
• But Christine R., Darrin A., Jackie P., Eileen L., Piper R., and several others weren’t far behind!

This Week’s Photo:

🕵️ Do YOU know where this coffeeshop mural is? 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!