🤣 Casa Bonita owners anger Trump

📺 South Park Does It Again

Amid a national political controversy over Paramount’s recently FCC-approved merger with Skydance, Casa Bonita owners Matt Stone and Trey Parker agreed to a $1.5 billion contract for 50 more episodes of South Park on Comedy Central. When the season 27 premiere episode was finally available for streaming on July 23 after weeks of delay due to the protracted negotiations, it skewered Paramount and President Trump’s complaints over his since-replaced portrait at the Colorado Capitol building. [Westword]

• The president responds: “This show hasn’t been relevant for over 20 years and is hanging on by a thread with uninspired ideas in a desperate attempt for attention,” a White House spokesperson said.

🚸 “Uproar” Over Traffic Flow Changes on Alameda

Denver’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure is planning to put part of Alameda Avenue on a “road diet” by removing some lanes in an effort to slow traffic. But a group of Wash Park neighbors are already gathering signatures to stop the changes, arguing that drivers will start opting for side streets and have a negative impact on “neighborhood livability and the vitality of local businesses.” [Denver Gazette]

🍃 “Do More. Do Less. Do Something.”

The city’s Office of Climate Action, Sustainability and Resiliency recently launched a $3 million campaign with billboards, bus shelters, and social media ads emblazoned with a call for Denverites to “do something.” Critics say that the money generated by the voter-approved 0.25 percent sales tax hike in 2020 could be spent more efficiently on concrete projects. [Denverite]

🦌 Huge New Wildlife Overpass Coming to Interstate 25

Colorado’s Department of Transportation is set to construct what CDOT officials call the “world’s largest” wildlife overpass over I-25 just north of Monument. The $15 million project is designed to allow migrating elk, mule deer, pronghorn, and other animals to pass over six lanes of traffic unharmed. [Axios Denver]

Now officially two years into his time as mayor, Mike Johnston has been working on ending unsheltered homelessness and deciding which neighborhood projects will make it into the Vibrant Denver bond package, which City Council is set to vote on August 4. But those are far from the only hot-button issues on his desk right now. Host Bree Davies and producer Paul Karolyi recently sat down with Mayor Johnston to dig into the city’s toughest issues and ask him a big question: Is he starting to think about his next job?

Are the Broncos Getting Bond Money?

Debates over the Vibrant Denver bond package have been getting spicy, particularly when it comes to the inclusion of two projects for the west side – repairs and replacements of the 6th Avenue bridge and 8th Avenue viaduct – which also happen to be the priciest line items at $50 and $89 million. These also happen to be infrastructure projects that could benefit an area that the Broncos are looking at building their new stadium. Could they be a “secret subsidy” for Denver’s NFL franchise, as one transit advocate alleged to us last week?

“No secrets,” Johnston promises. “Those are two of the most important east-west arteries. There's a lot of development happening on both sides of I-25. They're gonna be important and I think that's why they were on the list.”

But has the mayor been talking to anyone from the Broncos about infrastructure in that area? “I've talked to the Broncos every week for the last two years,” Johnston says. “I talked to them a lot about all sorts of things in the same way I talk about a lot of projects.”

The mayor also explained how he’s thinking about public support for the team’s work on a new stadium. “If they want to build the stadium, they build it how they want to build it at their cost on their dime. It is usually our obligation to make sure people can get in and out of that stadium. So the public accessibility, whether there's a sidewalk you can get a wheelchair on, or bike access, or a road — if there is supporting infrastructure, that's only where the city plays a role. But we would not anticipate playing a role in building a stadium, no.”

He’s stated multiple times that keeping the team in the city is a top priority. “My opinion is, I want them, if they stay in Denver, to be additive and integrated to any neighborhood that they stay in or enter so that they're a built part of that community and that experience. The community has a voice in what the community benefits would be for any type of project, whether it stays at Mile High or goes someplace else.”

Has Mayor Johnston Flip Flopped on Bike Lanes?

Transportation advocates have been grumpy with the mayor lately, especially bicyclists who once supported him. As a candidate, he won their support with pledges to “expand the Denver Moves bicycle network,” make car-free streets permanent, and make streets safe for everyone.