by Mark Smiley | Aug 27, 2021 | Glendale City News
WeldWerks And Boulder Beer Celebrate With Their Flagship Beers
by Mark Smiley
Juicy Bits: The flagship IPA from WeldWerks is regarded as one of the best IPAs in the country.
On September 7, 2021, National Beer Lover’s Day celebrates the grains, hops, and brewing methods across many eras. Beer and the process of brewing beer may predate known history. As varied as the methods, grains, and flavors, beer continues to change and evolve.
Virginia colonists brewed beer. William Penn included a place for brewing beer within the Pennsylvania colony. It can still be visited at Pennsbury Manor today. The first President of the United States recorded a recipe for brewing beer in his notes. Samuel Adams holds a place in both beer and tea history in this country. There were a few beer lovers and patriots among the nation’s founders.
The United States also derives its rich brewing history from beer-loving German immigrants during the mid-1800s. Some of those family names are as familiar today as they were 100 years ago.
While some names have faded into the past, smaller batch brewers continue to experiment with old and new recipes. The crafting of beer carries deep traditions, often requiring years of training and experience in the trade. Depending on the brewery, the path to brewmaster may take years to develop the skill and expertise. Eventually, a brewmaster gains the knowledge necessary to produce a quality beer every time. One particular requirement is a passion for the craft.
Advanced Fluid Dynamics: A New England Double IPA that starts with orange creamsicle and vanilla notes from the Lotus, and then Sabro is added to bring in some more tropical notes, specifically coconut.
The brewer will master lagers, ales, malts, and stouts. They may even specialize. However, their ability to ferment the perfect beer under each condition and bring out the flavor of the grain and yeast will be key. Managing temperature and timing for an IPA or studying grains all go into their education. Each process varies, and a brewmaster knows this.
Neil Fisher, Co-Founder and Brewer at WeldWerks Brewing Co. in Greeley, is such a
Hazed & Infused: The brewers at Boulder Beer Company have blended together four different hop varieties to give Hazed a unique aroma, with just enough yeast for a full mouth feel and a smooth, easy finish.
brewer. Juicy Bits, their New England IPA brewed with Citra, Mosiac, and El Dorado hops is the flagship beer for WeldWerks. It can be found in most liquor stores and is regarded as one of the best IPAs in the country. It scores a 95/100 on the popular Beer Advocate website which is no small feat.
WeldWerks also has Advanced Fluid Dynamics: Cryo Hop Double India Pale Ale brewed with Cryo Citra and Cryo Sabro hops and Lupulin Lotus Powder. It checks in with an 88/100 score and is another solid beer worth considering when picking up your next beer for the National Beer Lover’s Day holiday.
Another beer worth considering when stocking up is Hazed & Infused from Boulder Beer, an American Pale Ale. This beer is a unique infusion of floral hops that creates a piney, earthy, floral ascent, belayed by a complex, dank, and fruity backbone. It also ranks high with an 83/100 score on Beer Advocate.
The next time you visit a liquor store and are considering buying beer but are confused by the plethora of options, these three are safe bets and most likely will please a variety of palates.
by Mark Smiley | Aug 27, 2021 | Travel
Decorated Gymnast: Simone Biles medaled with silver for team competition and bronze for the balance beam in the Toyko Olympics this summer. She is the first woman to capture five All Around World Championship titles, she is the most decorated gymnast in World Championships history.
Straight from the world stage, the best gymnasts in the U.S. featuring the most decorated gymnast of all-time, Simone Biles, will headline the Athleta Presents Gold Over America Tour coming to Ball Arena on October 3, 2021. Biles, who medaled with silver for team competition and bronze for the balance beam, will be joined by her teammates: Jade Carey who won gold in floor exercise, Jordan Chiles and Grace McCallum who won silver for team competition, and MyKayla Skinner who won silver in vault.
Tickets can be purchased at www.Ball Arena.com. By purchasing the Gold Squad Premium Upgrade, fans will have an opportunity to dance in the show finale with all the gymnasts.
Produced by MagicSpace Entertainment and promoted by AEG Presents/Concerts West, the show brings all the excitement of a gymnastics competition to hometown arenas nightly as each gymnast performs some of their most famous routines mixed with career highlights, personal videos, and social media interactions.
Silver Medalist: MyKayla Skinner won a silver medal in vault at the Toyko Olympics. She is acclaimed for her indomitable tenacity and daredevil skills. She is the oldest U.S. Olympic gymnast since 2004, with a resilience and competitive spirit that have earned her a reputation as a powerhouse performer and model teammate.
Simone Biles (World Champions)
Previously announced participants include 2016 gold and silver medalist in Rio and Dancing With The Stars champion Laurie Hernandez; All-American, NCAA National Champion, and viral video sensation Katelyn Ohashi; winner of three gold medals in 2019 and 2020 at the Tokyo World Cup Morgan Hurd; elite gymnast Shilese Jones; former USA Gymnastics Women’s Athlete of the Year Chellsie Memmel; 2021 French Olympian Melanie De Jesus dos Santos; and 2018 NCAA National Champion from UCLA where she achieved 10 perfect 10’s Peng-Peng Lee.
“The Athleta Presents Gold Over America Tour will match athleticism and entertainment,” said Biles. “The show embodies the themes of empowerment and togetherness which was on display in Tokyo. Together, all the gymnasts on this tour want to inspire the next generation of women and athletes.”
These women are not only athletes at the top-of-their-game, but also the ultimate squad. The show emerges from their personal values of empowerment, friendship, positive body image, mental health awareness, and self-confidence. A crew of gymnastic dancers under eye-popping LED video screens and lights rounds out the experience.
To sign up for more information about VIP packages and a chance to participate in the show finale of the Athleta Presents Gold Over America Tour, visit www.GoldOverAmericaTour.com. Follow on Instagram & Facebook @GoldOverAmerica Tour, Twitter @GoldOverAmerica and YouTube. #GoldInAllOfUs.
by Regan Bervar | Aug 27, 2021 | Main Articles
“It seems as though all the devils were let loose on me; and if you think this is an exaggeration, ask anyone you meet who has lived in my district.”
by Luke Schmaltz
Colfax Avenue is revered, reviled and renowned — a pulsating conduit of commerce, crime and culture. If you live in Denver, you have inevitably been swept into its current, and the experience has no doubt left an indelible impression.
East Colfax: An artist’s rendition of what East Colfax might look like once the project is complete. This rendering is the intersection of Colfax and Krameria.
At any given moment along America’s longest avenue, nearly every type of human being on the move can be observed; pedestrians, drivers, motorcyclists, public transit customers, bicyclists, scooterists, skateboarders, and folks of questionable mental alertness doing their best to stay upright as they stagger along their way. According to a recent post on the RTD-Denver .com website, approximately 20,000 people travel this route every day going to and from work, play, and myriad other destinations. Related metrics posted on denver gov.org state, “Over the next 20 years, the corridor is expected to experience 25% growth in the number of travelers, 67% growth in employment and 25% growth in population. Denver cannot continue to grow and create more people-friendly spaces without efficiently moving more people through the East Colfax corridor.”
Current Projections
Colfax And Downing: The Colfax BRT would run from Broadway to Yosemite St. in Aurora.
It is apparent that, with the current rate of growth in the Mile High City, the need to access this route will far outweigh the volume per hour capacity and thus, the Colfax Corridor BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) Project was initiated by the City and County of Denver. According to a quote on the Streets blog.org website from Jill Locantore (of the Denver Streets Project) this initiative, “is going to allow Colfax to carry more people than it does today. If you get more people out of their cars and on the buses, you have nearly infinite capacity for people, compared to very limited capacity for personal vehicles.”
Benefits vs. Drawbacks
The project proposes the replacement of side-running BRT with two repurposed center lanes for transit-only vehicles which passengers will access via elevated, wheelchair accessible platforms. Among the advantages listed on a denvergov.org web page are better-organized traffic flow, reduced crashes, improved travel efficiency, reduced conflicts with parking and other related curbside activities as well as streetscaping opportunities. Another listed benefit will be “improving pedestrian safety by moving transit lanes to the center.” This is where some highly questionable oversight may be at work, as the idea of people disembarking from public transit in the middle of Colfax and presumably making their way from the center to one side of the street elicits images of pedestrians being mangled by oncoming traffic a-la the 1980s video game Frogger. Sure, travelers will no doubt be instructed to use the crosswalk, but those who exit the BRT shuttle toward the rear of the vehicle — at the furthest point from the crosswalk — will inevitably take a shortcut to the sidewalk and simply jaywalk across the street. It is Colfax Avenue, after all — not exactly a place where people go to follow the rules. Add the winter conditions present in Denver half the year, the pedestrian danger could elevate to Ice Road Trucker Frogger.
BRT: The East Colfax Corridor Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Project is still in the planning stages and may not see completion until 2028. Image: Denvergov.org
While popular among developers and city agency personnel, BRT presents a host of pressing concerns among residents and local business owners. The driving lanes will be reduced to just one lane for motor vehicles traveling east and west from Broadway in downtown Denver all the way to Yosemite St. in Aurora. Artist renditions of the proposed configuration present the very picture of congestion — a condition that could spell certain doom for streetside businesses.
Insight From A Bureaucracy Outsider
Velvet Elvis: Colfax Museum curator Jonny Barber (aka Velvet Elvis) has some transit enhancement ideas that are a bit more eccentric than those of the Colfax BRT.
Jonny Barber is a celebrated Denver musician, highly sought-after Elvis impersonator (The Velvet Elvis), curator of the Colfax Museum and administrator of the popular website ColfaxAvenue.org (along with wife Anistacia). Barber is considered by many to be the preeminent local authority of all things Colfax Avenue, including past iterations as a well-managed thoroughfare. He recalls how from the late 1800s until around 1950 or so, much of the traffic on Colfax was managed by streetcar trolleys which shuttled residents from west to east and back again. He contends that the original tracks still exist beneath a few layers of asphalt, and that perhaps a step back in time is a better approach. “Yes, we need transit on Colfax,” he begins. “Is BRT the answer? I don’t know but while we’re at it — we might as well do something a little sexier — like bring back the trolleys.”
A Crowded Kitchen
Meanwhile, BRT planners postulate the project will not reach completion until 2028, with a host of bureaucratic agencies acting as stakeholders, the process will no doubt be hindered by a quagmire of negotiations, objections, and red tape of every stripe. To elaborate on the complexity of the various agencies at play, CDOT (Colorado Department of Transportation) owns the actual road that is Colfax Avenue, RTD operates the public transportation vehicles, the City of Denver DOTI (Department of Transportation and Infrastructure) is responsible for maintenance and operation, and the FTA (Federal Transit Authority) is overseeing the entire BRT project. All parties must agree on how things will be managed, paid for, contracted, and carried out. Such a complex proposition is not just a traffic jam, but a multi-vehicle pileup that works well as a fitting metaphor for the future of Colfax Avenue.
by Mark Smiley | Aug 27, 2021 | Main Articles
Left Wing Money To Pour Into Republican Primaries Next Year
by Glen Richardson
Who Does He Work For: Jon Caldera of the free-market Independence Institute, who is not a Republican, is lobbying hard for Colorado Republicans not to opt out of open primaries. The principal beneficiary of his lobbying is Kathryn Murdoch, the wealthy highly progressive New York Democrat.
According to Jon Caldera of the Independence Institute, a self-described free market think tank in Denver, the seemingly moribund Republican Party of Colorado is on the verge of a great victory in Colorado in 2022. He stated so in an opinion piece in The Denver Post and in emails to everyone of the approximately 520 Republican State Central Committee members. What is surprising about the communications is that Caldera is not a Republican, and moreover almost no other political commentator in the state believes the Republicans are on the verge of victory in Colorado. True, the 10-year reapportionment of Congressional, State House and State Senate districts is being done this year by an independent commission, from one that was gerrymandered heavily in favor of Democrats, but little else seems to favor Republicans in Colorado.
Since the advent of mail-in balloting and ballot harvesting along with open primaries where unaffiliates can vote in Republican primaries, Republicans have lost almost every statewide election along with the State Senate. The number of registered Republicans in Colorado is plummeting and has dropped by over 22,000 voters so far in 2021 alone. So, what is going on?
The Colorado Republican primaries are becoming more and more lucrative for consultants and others. Kathryn Murdoch of New York City, the extremely wealthy and very progressive daughter-in-law of billionaire Rupert Murdoch, has decided to become a major player in Colorado Republican primaries. As outlined in an article in the Colorado Sun, Murdoch funded, through a series of corporations including Unite Colorado, over two million dollars to five Republican primaries in Weld and Jefferson counties (HD22, HD48, HD49 HD63 and SD63). She did so in order to ensure conservative Republicans would not win in strong Republican districts. She sought Republicans who would help Democrats get progressive legislation passed at the State Capitol.
Murdoch Five: The five Republican liberals were elected over conservatives in primaries in Weld and Jefferson County with massive cash infusions on behalf of their candidacy by Kathryn Murdoch and Unite Colorado.
Senator Barbara Kirkmeyer
Representative Dan Woog
Representative Tonya Van Beber
Representative Colin Larson
Representative Michael Lynch
Unite Colorado was spectacularly successful getting Colin Larson, Michael Lynch, Tonya Van Beber, and Dan Woog to be the Republican nominees to the State House, and Barbara Kirkmeyer to the State Senate. Since all were in strong Republican districts, the “Murdoch 5” won their general elections. One of the first actions was to replace conservative Patrick Neville of Douglas County as Republican minority leader in the House with more Democrat friendly Hugh McKean of Loveland.
The enormous success of Murdoch in Colorado was spearheaded by Terrance Carroll, the former Democratic Speaker of the Colorado House who became the president of Unite Colorado in 2019. Flushed with success, Kathryn Murdoch is expected to provide many more millions to Carroll to help turn the Colorado Republican party blue. The roadmap is generally not to challenge incumbent conservative Republicans, but rather to wait until
Biggest Republican Primary Donor: The wealthy New York progressive Democrat Kathryn Murdoch is the biggest donor to Republican primaries in Colorado. She is determined to get Republicans elected in strong conservative districts who will help Democrats pass highly progressive legislation.
they are term limited. Non-incumbents seldom have many resources and therefore the Murdoch candidates will have an enormous advantage over any non-incumbent conservatives. Moreover, the Murdoch candidates almost never run as liberal Republicans and their campaign literature is seldom any different from conservatives. It is estimated that Murdoch and Carroll will take the 2022 and 2024 election cycles to complete their work in taking over the Colorado Republican Party
King Of Republican Primaries: Terrance Carroll, the former Democrat Speaker of the State House, has more money to spend in Republican primaries in Colorado than anyone else in the state thanks to New York progressive Kathryn Murdoch.
In response, grassroot Republicans have begun a campaign to only allow Republicans and not unaffiliated voters to vote in Republican primaries and thereby greatly reducing the influence that Murdoch and Carroll would have in Republican primaries. This so-called Opt Out campaign (which the publisher of this paper has supported) is greatly opposed by some large Republican donors and their consultants, believing it would reduce their influence over the party, and believing they could work with Murdoch and Carroll easier than with the grassroots of the Republican party.
That is where Jon Caldera and the Independence Institute comes in. The Independence Institute is not required and does not reveal its donors, but it is assumed it is the same as the wealthy donors to the Republican and Democratic parties and may include Kathryn Murdoch. It would appear Caldera’s job is to convince Republicans that withstanding every indication to the contrary, Republicans in Colorado are on the verge of victory but only if they do not Opt Out. The opportunity to Opt Out under state law occurs only every two years. If Caldera is successful, Murdoch and Carroll will have ample time to successfully complete their endeavors. Of course, behind the scenes many top Democratic operatives are cheering Caldera and the Independence Institute on. The Democratic operatives believe that if Caldera and the Independence Institute are successful in stopping the Opt Out campaign it could guarantee a very progressive future for Colorado for decades to come.
