Colorado bought 100,000 coronavirus tests from S. Korea-- using emergency funds. They're here now.
@GovofCO
says he kept it under wraps so they weren't confiscated (by feds or others).
Long day of debate prep. Finally have a moment to soak in the reality that an employer can’t fire me because I’m gay. (Grateful to work at CPR, which wouldn’t have.)
Also ... it’s Pride and I’ve never said on air or online that I’m gay.
I’m gay.
I'm wrapping up work on tomorrow's
@ColoradoMatters
and, on my way home, I plan to stop by a favorite Denver gay bar for a drink. I will do my small part to keep these spaces open. They have been oases for me since before I came out to family.
In the pandemic, home is where we were told to stay. To be safe. "Home" entered our vocabulary like never before-- "work from home," "safe at home."
Today, so many Coloradans fled their homes. Hundreds of homes have been lost. I am so sorry the safest place became the opposite.
Addresses in Colorado are like...
Denver: 410 Taft
Denver suburbs: 1276431 Pinebrookhurstwood Court Lane
Prospect New Town: Daytime Dance Party Circle
Grand Junction: 312 D 1/64 Road
Ken Felts, of Arvada, came out of the closet at age 90. With the isolation of the pandemic, memories of his one true love began to surface. He told his daughter first. Then the world. She says he never used to wear bright colors. They sit down with
@ColoradoMatters
next week.
I’ve been thinking about my high school French teacher. I experienced a lot of bullying, and she let me eat lunch in peace in her classroom. It only recently dawned on me, fully, that she sacrificed her own peace and alone time.
"We're united in our love for Colorado Springs."
The winner of the mayoral race uses some of his remaining campaign funds to release an ad with the man who lost.
The spot encougares people to get involved in their city and to attend forthcoming neighborhood listening sessions.
"Governor Polis plans to write to the State Department as well as the Ukrainian ambassador, informing them that Colorado is ready to welcome refugees," according to a release from the office of
@GovofCO
.
NEW: Denver gets its first queer cultural district.
"Lavender Hill spans Capitol Hill, City Park West, City Park, Cheesman Park, Baker, and Five Points. The plan is to ensure queer stories are a recognized part of the area’s rich historical narratives."
Whatever the outcome, remember that Colorado’s 3rd congressional district was redrawn such that Republicans are at an even greater advantage.
#copolitics
I was bullied for being gay starting in middle school, so it was a moving experience today to speak with the Allies in Diversity club at Centennial Middle School in Boulder. No such group existed when I was a kid.
(The kids just put up this hallway mural.)
May I suggest this simple and wondrous tool to property owners whose sidewalks remain death rinks? They’re cheaper than the ticket you’d get for failing to clear the path!
In high school, someone distributed 100s of biz cards that said “Ryan Warner: The San Francisco Treat.”
I’ve been called the “f” word. It stung most from a kid in synagogue.
This was several years before I came out. It was so isolating.
You’re not alone.
#NationalComingOutDay
Today marks two years since Colorado’s first COVID case. It’s also been about two years since I adopted Bob. Little did I know how much global turmoil he’d snuggle me through. Bob, I’m grateful you leapt into my life.
“In what can only be described as a stunning turn of events, political veteran and former Secretary of State Wayne Williams has conceded the Colorado Springs mayoral runoff to political newcomer and businessman Yemi Mobolade,” reports
@KRCC
.
I just got off the phone with Kendrick Castillo's boss. She says he was brilliant. He worked at a company that makes valves for all sorts of things-- kitchen equipment, medical devices. They're going to name assembly techniques after him. An engineer's dream, I imagine.
Since I was a kid, people have told me I need a thicker skin. Now at 45, it doesn't seem all that likely to occur. I try to remind myself that my sensitivity is a tool I bring to interviews.
Denver’s airport is looking for alternatives to the underground buses/trains between the terminal and concourses.
@DENAirport
’s CEO tells us the concepts he’s seriously considering involve walkable bridges from A to B to C. Tunnels are too costly.
Bridges must be long and high.
“This isn’t politics. It’s the Constitution that will disqualify the former president if he’s disqualified,” says J. Michael Luttig. The former federal judge help craft the strategy that resulted in Colorado blocking Trump from the ballot.
Full interview:
Nelora Ward, of Wheat Ridge, lost her son Jerry 6 years ago. She says he always came to Denver Pride. She made sure to bring him today, and asked us to say hello.
Hi Jerry!
He took photographs our souls craved, but our own cameras could not capture.
RIP, John Fielder.
Here’s our last interview— recorded at his home outside Silverthorne:
Poppies on Colorado Blvd. is an old Denver Naugahyde dreamscape. The menu is teeming with comfort foods from my childhood— garlic bread and potato skins and French dip. It always makes me happy.
🧵 792 days since the first COVID cases in CO and I’m + for the first time. I feel cruddy, but am glad I’m boosted. Matzah ball soup from Zaidy's is a comfort.
My worried mom INSISTED I get Paxlovid. So I did. I’ll share my experience as it unfolds. This isn’t medical advice.
The first woman to be democratically elected head of state in Africa, who’s also a Nobel Prize winner, tweeted about a Colorado statehouse race this weekend.
JUST IN: A Colorado company will make low-cost ventilators. A member of
@govofco
's innovation task force tells us Ft. Collins manufacturer
@woodward_inc
will begin making low-cost ventilators to increase Colorado's supply.
#COVID19Colorado
THREAD: This is Tommy Rhine. He’s been a cobbler in Denver for 40 years.
He says his business is on the brink.
“I mostly deal with downtown business people and a lot of them aren’t going into work. So they don’t need shoes.”
He says he hasn’t been able to pay rent for months.
Sometimes there are stories I'm so excited to share with you that I feel like a little kid spinning with excitement.
This is one of them. Coming soon: the story of a small town trying to preserve an island.
And yes this is in Colorado.
Juuuuust in time for the end of Pride, an anonymous postcard arrived -- helpfully explaining that I'm gay because my mom was stressed.
Sweetheart, we'd all be gay if maternal stress was the cause. (I redacted the name of the veterinarian she cited.)
Today I’m the (still swishy and awkward) host of a public radio show
@CPRNews
— surrounded by brilliant and accepting colleagues.
I hope gay kids today
@pdhsofficial
have it easier than I did.
Know this: It eventually gets better.
On my way to work, I saw kids headed to their first day of school. I found myself rooting for them quietly... to find friends, to find acceptance, and to be open to educators who will change their lives.
My stepfather died today. A short tribute:
Hubbie, I live in a state you introduced me to — because you went to CC and owned a body-building gym in the Springs.
I chose grad school in Boston after you helped me fall in love with New England.
Wherever you are now, be at peace.
Me (after the 2016 presidential election): Do you think you’ll see a female president in your lifetime, Pat Schroeder?
Schroeder: I had always hoped, but I really worry I won't now.
Schroeder, Colorado’s first congresswoman and a former presidential candidate, has died at 82.
This is Robert Sharpe. We now know that he died in the
#MarshallFire
.
He was "a naturalist and was concerned with children’s rights. He worked in the construction industry for many years."
His loved ones ask that any donations be made to the Boulder Co. Wildfire Fund.
A Casa Bonita THREAD you won't see elsewhere:
Understandably, there's a lot of focus on the South Park guys trying to buy it. But let's not forget
@andrew_novicain
. He and his team have helped raise almost $70,000 to pay stiffed artists and vendors-- including the mariachi band.
CSU grew plants for three seasons to see which ones thrived in the tough Rocky Mountain climate. They chose seven "top performers," some of which are simply breathtaking.
Learn more here:
Denver right now: Sure would be a pity if that 3-lane road you take every day went down to 1 lane.
Me: Oh. I’ll just take an alternate route.
Denver: We’re working on that one, too.
Absurd moment in US healthcare:
I am having an out-patient operation Friday. (Nothing too dire). I just got a phone call from the hospital to pre-register. It ended with "Would you like to pay what you'll owe now?"
No. I think I'll wait 'til you sew me back up. Thanks.
JUST IN: A federal judge has ruled against the Kansas Highway Patrol in favor of drivers (often Coloradans). The KHP must stop detaining motorists w/o reasonable suspicion, the so-called "Kansas 2-Step."
@AnthonyCottondp
will have more shortly. Meantime:
I would like to thank the infinitely patient associates
@Nordstrom
in Cherry Creek who disrobed a mannequin so that I could buy a deeply-discounted flight suit— the last in the store.
I often think of words
@GovofCO
used early in the pandemic.
"It's not about what you can get away with."
I've gone back to them when I wonder if something's safe. A hotel stay. Seeing an older friend outside on Thanksgiving.
"It's not about what you can get away with, Ry."
“Vermin” is language the Nazis used.
Grandpa Pete, wherever you are, I know you didn’t serve so former presidents would talk about other Americans this way.
If perhaps
#Pride
puzzles you, I’ll just share how much it means that I can be visible.
Even after coming out to family & friends, I didn’t integrate an important aspect of myself into work and public life.
So it is a joy to be a part of the
#JoyofPride
project along Colfax.