🍽️ Star chef backs off restaurant name dispute

📉 New Poll Reveals Polis’ Declining Popularity

In a new statewide poll conducted March 20 to 25, the Colorado Polling Institute found that views of Gov. Jared Polis have shifted from majority favorable to majority unfavorable in the past calendar year. He had a 51% favorable rating in March 2025; that rating now stands at 44%.

• What about the timing? Gov. Polis is in the final year of his last term as governor and has been at loggerheads with his own party, especially its progressive wing. A couple of weeks before this poll was conducted, he called the nine-year sentence for noted election denier and disgraced Mesa County clerk Tina Peters “harsh,” drawing rebuke from all 66 Democrats in the state legislature.
• How do voters feel about TABOR? With tax day approaching on April 15, 62% of Coloradans say they have favorable opinions of our Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights law, which requires voter approval for tax increases, among many, many other things. Even Democrats like it — a plurality (48%) apparently approve.
• Coloradans’ biggest problem: The cost of housing. A whopping 59% of Coloradans see it as a “very big problem.” Healthcare costs and home insurance weren’t that far behind.
• The governor’s race: Gubernatorial candidate and U.S. Senator Michael Bennet’s popularity has followed the same trend as Gov. Polis, with decreasing favorable ratings from 45% to 40% in the past year (his unfavorable rating is up 31% to 39%). Meanwhile, his rival in the Democratic primary, Attorney General Phil Weiser, has both higher favorable ratings (from 22% to 26%) and higher unfavorable ratings (from 18% to 23%) as he has become better known in the past year.
• Legalized prostitution: State Sen. Nick Hinrichson, a Democrat from Pueblo, made waves earlier this year when he submitted a bill to legalize sex work in Colorado. Turns out a majority of Coloradans “strongly oppose” that idea, with 32% in support.
• What do you see in the data? We’re going to be talking about this poll on the podcast soon, and we want to know what you think!

🏭 Lawsuit Alleges JBS is Operating Without Air Quality Permit

An environmental group is suing the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment over allegedly allowing the Greeley meatpacking plant to operate under an expired air pollution permit and failing to issue a new one within the federally mandated timeline. JBS, for its part, says it’s “committed to compliance with all air quality regulations.” [Denver Post 🔒]

• JBS in the news: Earlier this week, workers at the plant ended a three-week strike over wages and workplace safety concerns after the company agreed to resume negotiations.

🛏️ Lakewood’s First 24/7 Homeless Shelter

The Lakewood Navigation Center, located at 8000 West Colfax Avenue, is the first overnight navigation facility in Jefferson County, according to the City of Lakewood’s housing and thriving communities manager Chris Conner. “Our outreach workers can navigate folks to ongoing, site-based case management and resources, which is something that’s never happened out here.” The center is designed to serve 100 people a day. [Westword]

🚄 Front Range Rail One Step Closer to Reality

The state reached an agreement with BNSF to use the railway for the proposed Front Range Passenger Rail, which includes a one-time cost of $333 million, plus a $30 million annual operating fee. A ballot measure is also being considered to ask voters to approve a sales tax increase to cover rail expansion and service frequency. [Colorado Public Radio]

• Inside scoop: RTD board member Chris Nicholson joins the podcast today to share exclusive details about the BNSF agreement and take us inside RTD’s split with its current CEO, Debra Johnson. [City Cast Denver 🎧]

🧀 More Mozzarella Dynasty Courtroom Drama

The world’s largest manufacturer of mozzarella is once again being sued from inside the family cheese empire. Nancy Leprino, the niece of the late James Leprino, the local cheese tycoon who founded Leprino Foods, is suing for “breach of fiduciary duty and illegal or oppressive conduct.” The business was most recently valued at $5 billion, providing cheese for pizza chains like Pizza Hut, Domino’s, and Papa John’s. [BusinessDen 🔒]

• This isn’t the first time the family business has been in hot water. We broke down one of the latest legal battles on the show. [City Cast Denver 🎧]

🌽 Michelin Star Winner Backs Off Restaurant Name Dispute

Food truck operator Maria Rangel, who we spoke to on the City Cast Denver podcast about her business Maiz back in 2022, posted on Instagram earlier this week about a “deeply disheartening” exchange she had with Alma Fonda Fina chef and Michelin Star winner Johnny Curiel about the potentially confusing name he was planning to use for his new restaurant – Maize. Rangel claims she asked Curiel to reconsider using such a similar name, but Curiel went ahead anyway. [Instagram; City Cast Denver]

• What’s next: We reached out to Curiel after seeing Rangel’s post Thursday morning, and a spokesperson for Fonda Fina Hospitality told us Curiel was changing his new place’s name to “Fonda Maize.”