⚖️ Mayor Johnston takes on ‘the bad guys’

🏗️ Historic Barth Hotel Scores Renovation Funding

The 144-year-old historic Denver landmark located downtown on 17th Street has been selected as the latest project to be funded by the Denver Downtown Development Authority. It’s set to reopen as low-income senior housing. While the DDDA approved a $6 million loan, the total cost of the project is expected to be about $22 million. Construction is slated to begin next spring. [Denver Business Journal 🔒]

⚖️ Denver Leaders Publicly Denounce ICE

At Monday’s City Council meeting, council members Flor Alvidrez, Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez, Diana Romero Campbell, and Sarah Parady all called on state and city leadership to push back on a funding package currently facing the U.S. Senate that includes $10 billion for ICE. [Denverite]

• Mayor Mike Johnston meanwhile joined more than 40 other cities signing onto an amicus brief formally supporting Minnesota’s lawsuit challenging the immigration crackdown in the Twin Cities. “ICE isn’t keeping us safe from the bad guys,” he said, announcing the move. “Right now, they are the bad guys.” [Denver7]

🏳️‍🌈 Cast of ‘Shrek the Musical’ Defy Calls to Remove Pride Flags

Cast members of the show currently on a multi-week run at the Parker PACE Center paused the live performance for an unscripted moment of defiance last week. A member of the cast informed the audience they felt pressured by center staff to stop using pride flags in one of the show’s musical numbers after the town received multiple complaints. “We respectfully, as a cast, and peacefully and with fire in our eyes, protest this request,” the cast member said. Videos of the moment spread quickly on social media. [Westword]

• The Town of Parker, however, says while it notified the show’s producers about the complaints, it never demanded the flags be removed. “As a Town-owned performing arts venue funded in part by taxpayer dollars, the Town has a responsibility to remain neutral,” an official statement read.
• Dive deeper: Is this a case of art censorship? What does the pride flag symbolize? Is Shrek a gay icon? We discuss the controversy and more with two “Shrek-xperts.” [City Cast Denver 🎧]