Denver police engaged protesters today on the Auraria Campus, parking about a dozen police vehicles on the scene. Students had set up camp on the Tivoli Quad on Thursday, joining the movement of demonstrators on college campuses across the country, protesting Israel’s war in Gaza. Officers surrounded the camp and began attempting to remove the two dozen or so people who refused to clear out.  According to one student who was still present midday Friday, many of the two dozen or so students camped out had been there overnight. At 12:29 p.m., the Auraria Campus posted on X, formerly known ..read more

When Ana Marina Sanchez recently took a trip to Mexico, she made a stop in the state of Oaxaca to connect with some local artisans. Sanchez runs Ana Marina Studios, a jewelry store at the RISE Westwood Campus. Oaxaca, Sanchez said, is an epicenter of arts, culture and culinary traditions rooted in its indigenous history. It’s a state also fighting to preserve that history through art and food.  Connecting with artists out there was inspirational for Sanchez. “It’s one of the states that represents the richness of indigenous cultures,” Sanchez said. “As a Mexican immigrant, I’m so happy an ..read more

The artist Cheyanne, played by Iliana Lucero Barron, dips and swipes a paintbrush against a canvas that the audience can only imagine but never see for themselves.  Cheyanne stares intently at the painting, her eyebrows pulled closer together. Stage left her boyfriend Rodrigo is aiding her father Frank, a former house painter ailed by dementia’s demons.  The stage lights flicker. Play director Phil Luna leans over from his seat in the audience:    “We are still working on the lights,” Luna said.  Iliana Lucero Barron (left) and Angelo Mendez open a dress rehearsal ..read more

By Cassidy Ritter, Special to Denverite Foodies rejoice! This weekend’s happenings are packed full of food and drink events ranging from the Big Stir Festival and Mile High Asian Food Week to an ice cream pop-up. Other events include the circus and several Día del Niño celebrations. Whatever you get up to, make it a great weekend! Notes: Events with an * are taking place virtually or outdoors. Friday, April 26 Just for fun BizLifeCon. Town Hall Collaborative, 899 W. 5th Ave. 8:15 a.m.-10 p.m. $99 (Friday only), $199 (Friday and Saturday). Kids and family Paper Bag Piñata Craft. Blair-Caldw ..read more

Joining students on college campuses across the country, organizers with Students for a Democratic Society started an encampment at Auraria Campus Thursday to protest Israel’s war in Gaza, which has killed about 34,000 Palestinians according to recent reporting from the New York Times. While pro-Palestinian organizers have been protesting the war for months, a newer wave of protests has been sweeping the U.S. after college administrators at Columbia University suspended students and police made arrests at an encampment at the university’s campus in New York City last week. Since then, police h ..read more

Denver’s new migrant response program is up and running, but councilmembers worry about communication efforts and those not eligible for the program.  City Councilmembers in Wednesday’s Safety and Housing committee received an update on the new Denver Asylum Seeker Program, or DASP, which launched on April 10.  The program moves the city away from emergency sheltering measures to what the city says will be a money-saving and proactive approach of focusing on long-term housing, rent and food assistance and job training for six months. New immigrants qualified for the program if they w ..read more

This weekend’s free or discounted admission day at some of the city’s cultural institutions will coincide with a celebration of Denver’s up and coming. In Mexico Día del Niño, or Children’s Day, started in 1925 following a world conference on child welfare held in Geneva, Switzerland that summer. It is celebrated on April 30.  Partnerships between Golden Triangle organizations and the Mexican Cultural Center have come together for over two decades, curating neighborhood-wide festival programming that celebrates Denver’s youth.  Here are six cultural organizations offering free genera ..read more

A Denver city employee will be sent to El Paso for about a month to continue spreading the word on the city’s new migrant response program.  On Wednesday, City Council members in the Safety and Housing committee were given an update on the city’s new Denver Asylum Seeker Program. Councilmembers were given breakdowns of budgets and next steps in the process, which will see a move from emergency sheltering work to a focus on providing new immigrants with housing, rent and food assistance and job training for six months. When the program was announced in early April, Denver Human Services se ..read more

Everyone wanted to lip sync in drag when DeMarcio Slaughter started emceeing the main stage at Denver’s annual PrideFest two decades ago. “It was 15 drag queens out of 17 performers,” he remembered. That history is one reason why this year’s talent pool stood out to him so much. A significant portion of the 21 people who tried out for the event’s Center Stage last week did more than silently move their mouths. They sang. They spun in midair. One did a Celtic dance. Another slayed a violin. “The live talent was something we haven’t seen with such consistency,” he said. “Maybe the medium is chan ..read more

More than 24,000 of apartments in the Denver area are vacant so far in 2024 — a figure that has held steady compared to the end of 2023. Average rent is up $5, to $1,875. That’s according to the Apartment Association of Metro Denver, which released its quarterly report Tuesday. The slight change in average rent continues months of relative stability after rent rose steadily in 2021 and 2022. At the end of 2023, average rent dropped by $18. Now it’s back up by $5. But the median rent — the middle range in the metro area — is up by $13 compared to the end of 2023. The report takes into account ..read more