🏳️‍⚧️ Feds pressure Jeffco over trans kids

🛫 Travel Frenzy at DIA

An estimated 1.3 million passengers are expected to pass through DIA from March 11 to March 29, all while the ongoing shutdown of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has people pointing fingers about who to blame for longer security lines.

• Busiest days: The busiest expected days at the airport are March 13, 15, 20, and 22. Those are Fridays and Sundays.
• Busiest times: DIA says every day, peak security times are 3- 4:30 a.m., 8-10 a.m., and 3- 5 p.m..
• Here’s a hack: You can check the security wait times on the airport’s website, or even reserve your security time!
• Want to help? DIA is accepting grocery and gas gift card donations for TSA workers who continue to work during the shutdown.Gift cards can be dropped off in collection bins and lock boxes in the Great Hall in the main Jeppesen Terminal and the Final Approach Cell Phone Lot. [KDVR]
• Time to spare?: Check out our fav local eats at the airport! [City Cast Denver]

🚭 Aurora’s Mixed Messages on Nicotine

Starting April 11, tobacco and kratom retailers in Aurora will have to pay $500 a year to apply for a license to sell these products. This license, among other new rules, is part of a new push from Aurora lawmakers to keep tobacco away from children. [Westword]

• Another approach: Denver is taking a different avenue for protecting kids from tobacco, with a flavored tobacco ban. [🎧 City Cast Denver]
• Coming soon: Aurora’s new $600 million Zyn factory started producing nicotine pouches in February. [🎧 City Cast Denver]

🐘 Colorado GOP in Turmoil (Again)

Colorado GOP chair Brita Horn announced she will resign her position next month, pointing to an “enduring divide” within the party. This announcement comes after calls for her resignation, multiple “no-confidence” votes, and comments from her vice chairs that they were unable to work with her. Horn is the third state GOP officer to resign in the past year. [Denver Gazette]

🍻 Where Does the Political Action Really Happen?

Pub on Penn, Champagne Tiger, Brown Palace. They are all hotspots for state lawmakers looking for a reprieve from the august chambers of the capitol building, but every political faction has its fave.. On today’s podcast, Representative Yara Zokaie reveals where insiders are hanging out when they aren’t under the gold dome. [🎧 City Cast Denver]

🏳️‍⚧️ Feds Crack Down on Jeffco Over Trans Kids

After an investigation, President Trump’s Department of Education decided that Jeffco Public Schools has violated Title IX by allowing transgender students to compete in female sports and access female facilities, including overnight accommodations.. The federal government has requested the school district rescind these policies and proposed a settlement that would require district to issue a public statement committing to “biology-based definitions of the words ‘male’ and ‘female,’” [Denver Post 🔒]

• We’ve been here before: Last year, the U.S. Department of Education found that the all-gender restrooms at East High School also violate Title IX. [🎧 City Cast Denver]