🗳️ Is Denver’s democracy being ‘threatened’?

🚩 City Auditor Flags Concerns With Police Watchdog

A new audit report found that the city’s Office of the Independent Monitor failed to publicly share its recommendations and evaluations of Denver’s police and sheriff departments from 2018 to 2024. City Auditor Tim O’Brien called this lack of public transparency a disservice to citizens that undermines law enforcement’s accountability. “Oversight should not be done in secret,” he said. [City Auditor’s Office]

🗳️ Denver’s Top Election Official Speaks Out

Clerk and Recorder Paul López has called Mayor Johnston’s recent budget cuts “a threat to democracy.” So we invited the top election official onto the City Cast Denver podcast to explain why he thinks the mayor’s city funding decisions could impact the integrity of Denver’s voting systems. [City Cast Denver 🎧]

• He’s not the only one: City Auditor Tim O’Brien similarly criticized budget cuts to his own office, calling the move “short-sighted” and “dangerous.” O’Brien said if the mayor doesn’t restore the budget, he will ask city council to override the decision. [CBS Colorado]

🐾 Denver Bans Animal Sales at Pet Stores

Per an ordinance passed by City Council last week, pet stores in Denver are now prohibited from selling dogs, cats, and rabbits. While there currently aren’t any stores in selling animals in city limits, council called the move a preventative measure against puppy mills and other inhumane breeders. [Westword]

🖥️ Tech Giant Palantir Moves Out of Downtown

Just five years after Palantir relocated its headquarters from Silicon Valley to downtown Denver, the software company now appears to be making its way to Cherry Creek. Public records show the company has been remodeling the sixth floor and part of the seventh floor inside a building at 205 N. Detroit Street, but the company has yet to comment. [BusinessDen 🔒]

We love when we spot something cool/weird/wacky around Denver. Like the Lakewood King Soopers at Wadsworth and Alameda selling pre-packaged, pre-roasted Hatch green chiles in $5 bundles.

We’ve never seen that before! 10/10 for convenience, but we prefer to get our green chiles in Old Denver fashion — freshly roasted on the side of the road. Where do you get yours? 📧

🎧 Let us help you celebrate green chile season:

• 28 Years of Roasting Chiles with the Morales Family
• Inside Chubby’s, the Northside's Green Chile Empire
• The Best Green Chile in Denver (and What Exactly Is Green Chile?)

Have you seen something fun or curious around town recently? We want to see it too!