✈️ Is ICE headed to DIA?

🚰 Is Your Lawn About to Go Thirsty?

After Denver’s warm and dry winter, the Board of Water Commissioners is considering implementing some restrictions on water use starting as soon as Wednesday. On Wednesday the board will consider a Stage 1 drought declaration, which Denver hasn’t seen since summer of 2013. The U.S. Drought Monitor has already said Denver’s been in a “severe drought” for more than a month. [Denverite]

• What would be the mandatory restrictions? Some of the restrictions include not watering from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., restaurants only offering water upon request, hotels changing sheets less often, and washing commercial vehicle fleets no more often than weekly. [Denver Water]
• What can individual residents do? Denver Water is asking customers to keep their sprinklers off until mid-to-late May, hand water plants and trees, take shorter showers, and reuse water when washing dishes.
• How long will it last? Denver Water staff recommend that the Stage 1 drought declaration remain in effect through April 30, 2027, or until further notice.

📚 New Bookstore Drops Controversial Leader

Kwame Spearman, former Tattered Cover CEO, is leaving his role at the new Denver Book Society after online protests over his past comments about ICE. Rich Garvin, who clarified in a statement that he has always been the “sole financial investor and owner” of Denver Book Society, says that he “end[ed] the working relationship” because Spearman was “not aligned” with the Denver Book Society’s direction and needs. Spearman says they had always planned for him to split off. [Denverite; Westword]

• What was going on online? Commenters brought up past interviews and comments Spearman made while running for mayor in 2023; we discussed the whole uproar on the podcast when Denver Book Society opened a couple weeks ago. [🎧 City Cast Denver]

🛄 Will DIA Be Staffed by ICE Agents?

President Donald Trump has deployed ICE agents to airports across the U.S. to supplement TSA during the partial government shutdown. Denver International Airport has indicated that ICE agents will not be staffing checkpoints at this time. [Denver Post 🔒]

• So, where are the agents? A list obtained by CNN had 13 airports where the agents are reportedly set to be deployed starting this week.

⛷️ Ski season is melting away

Several ski areas around the state have announced they will be closing early, attributing the short season to Colorado’s lowest snowpack in decades. At least five resorts have already closed. Telluride will close on April 5, Steamboat will close on April 12, and Aspen Snowmass, Eldora, and Winter Park will close on April 19. [Colorado Public Radio]

✈️ Could a DIA Lawsuit Attract Unwanted Attention From Trump?

An attorney for Denver International Airport, Everett Martinez, claims decisions by senior appointees of Mayor Mike Johnston and Denver City Council have put federal funding for the airport in peril. Martinez alleges he warned city leaders and, in response, he was passed over for a promotion. The mayor’s spokesperson calls Martinez’s lawsuit “40 pages of horses***.” So what’s really behind the he-said-he-said?? [ 🎧City Cast Denver]