🚧 The one-way streets becoming two-ways

💰 City Slaps Cannabis Lounge with $10K Fine

The Denver Department of Licensing & Consumer Protection has formally issued Tetra Cannabis Lounge — one of the city’s first licensed cannabis consumption venues — a $10,000 fine and a one-year probationary period following several infractions, including advertisements for psilocybin during an event last year.

• The other side: The owner of the lounge says he plans to appeal the decision, saying there wasn’t enough of an investigation into the alleged infractions and that he’s being “targeted” by the city. [Westword]

🚘 Heads Up! Major Traffic Changes on 13th and 14th Avenues

Work began last week along 13th and 14th avenues in the East Colfax neighborhood to convert the two eastbound one-way streets to accommodate two-way traffic. While nearby residents have long requested the change, many say the city did a poor job notifying people it was happening, citing several “near-misses” as drivers navigate the new traffic pattern. [Denverite]

🥖 Leven Supply Is Back Open

Three days after the popular Wash Park deli and cafe was abruptly seized and shuttered for more than $140,000 in unpaid taxes, it was back to business as usual on Friday. Leven’s owner said the “unfortunate situation” was an accounting error. In a comment on our Instagram page, they said that employees at Leven Supply were “paid the whole time we were closed.” [Denver Post 🔒]

🚏 RTD Prepares for Layoffs

Roughly $250 million short for next year’s $1.5 billion budget, RTD leaders are reportedly planning layoffs in the coming months. It’s not yet clear which, or how many, employees will be impacted. [Denver Post 🔒]

• What’s next? Back in December, we asked RTD CEO Debra Johnson about her plan to get the transit agency back on the right track. [City Cast Denver 🎧]

🔎 City Auditor Scrutinizes Major Mental Health Nonprofit

Auditor Tim O’Brien says the Caring for Denver Foundation — a nonprofit that distributes taxpayer-funded grants to behavioral health and substance misuse programs — needs stronger due diligence protocols and better fiscal transparency. Among the issues the auditor highlighted in a new report, Caring for Denver funds were used for 173 meals at the swanky RiNo cocktail bar Death & Co.

• The other side: Caring for Denver says the auditor’s claims are “hyperbole.” The organization rejected seven of the auditor’s 15 recommendations for improvement. [CPR]

What is “Colorado-style pizza” and can one pizza joint from Idaho Springs really lay full claim to the title? Where did the honey-on-the-crust thing come from, and who’s truly responsible for inventing it? Culminating from a years-long investigation into the origins of Colorado’s pizza culture and a truly iconic local institution, City Cast Denver’s own Paul Karolyi finally had the chance to pose those existential pizza questions (and more) to the man behind the myths himself — longtime Beau Jo’s owner Chip Bair. We’ve got the full interview on our podcast today, with plenty of great stories only Chip could tell.

Catch up with our other pizza-related coverage:

• The Inconvenient Truth About 'Colorado-Style' Pizza
• Pizza Myths, Mysteries, and Madness (with local pizza expert Carol Helstosky)
• First-Ever Colorado Pizza Festival Comes to Longmont This Fall
• Is Denver’s Best Pizza Actually in … Longmont?
• Take our Denver Pizza Quiz: Name! That! Slice!