by Mark Smiley | May 26, 2017 | Feature Story Middle Left
by Richard Colaizzi
If you haven’t noticed, craft beer is a big thing in Colorado, and the nation. You may be new to this movement, or you might be a longtime connoisseur of craft beer, or could care less about it all together. What you probably don’t know is that there is battle going on in America right now between the craft beer owner and ABInBev who is the largest owner/operator of big beer in the world (aka Budweiser).
Colorado felt this first hand in 2015 when local brewery Breckenridge Brewery sold to ABInBev. This sent a shockwave into the craft beer industry, locally and nationwide. This was not the first nor the last community craft beer to be gobbled up by the global power ABInBev. It was the first that was close to home for many Colorado craft beer drinkers and owners.
Here we are more than a
year later and ABInBev strikes again! On May 3, the North Carolina brewery Wicked Weed posted to their Facebook page that they would be selling to ABInBev. The social fallout was immediate. The comments that followed on the post were overwhelmingly negative to the decision. Many expressed the disappointment in selling out to the big bad beer monster.
Wicked Weed explained that while the growth of the brewery had been good, to get to the next level and keep (and grow) the staff, the move to go with ABInBev would help them maintain that growth and help the brand become a more nationally distributed beer. This is a topic that is debated many times in every brewery, blog, and podcast that involves beer. (By the way Brewski-Reviewski is a great beer podcast you want to check out!)
One local brewery had been collaborating with Wicked Weed and released a statement following the announcement. James and Sarah Howat 
of Black Project: Spontaneous & Wild Ales on South Broadway explained in the post saying “For us the choice is clear. At this stage, we don’t feel we are able to have a business relationship with Wicked Weed because that connection, ultimately, is one with ABInbev. Unfortunately, we don’t feel that having any connection with ABInBev is something we can do while still maintaining our mission, values, and core beliefs. We wish the best to everyone at Wicked Weed and we are happy for their success. We know they will continue to make great beers and we hope to remain personal friends in the future.”
That was just one of many in the craft beer scene to voice their disapproval of the move. While I write this and I have made many comments on air about moves like these, I believe this must be one of the toughest decisions a growing craft beer owner would make. To have a company come in and tell you they are offering you millions of dollars to buy your product and still let you be a part of the creative process makes for a difficult decision.
I do not believe this is something that many who comment, voicing their outrage and comments saying “How could you?” and “Never, I would never sell out!” have stopped to think about the magnitude that a choice like this would be. You have worked hard and built your brand but know there isn’t a whole lot you could do to keep the brewery moving forward unless you get the financial backing to do so.
I understand why Wicked Weed made this move and know they felt this was best for them. I do know that if you are in that position at some point in your career, in any field you are involved with, “Congrats you have done something right!” Now, while I understand why Wicked Weed made the choice to go with the big financial backing, I do not believe you can’t have your cake and eat it too. I find it funny that when these moves are made, the shock by the brewery that sold is surprised at the backlash they receive from the craft beer community. Especially when you sell to ABInBev.
Here is where I side with the craft beer community, I cannot and will not support ABInBev. They have done too many business dealings to try and corner the market and affect the distribution of the small beer maker. “See U.S. Justice Department in probing allegations that ABInBev seeking to curb competition in the beer market by buying distributors, making it harder for fast growing craft brewers to get their products on store shelves.” (Reuters Oct 12, 2015) I believe this will be the battle for the soul of the craft beer movement.
I wish the likes of Breckenridge and Wicked Weed the best moving forward, but since Breckenridge sold I have not, and will not, purchase their or Wicked Weed’s beer again. This is what is great about the business of beer. They have the 
right to sell the company any way they like, but I as a craft beer drinker will take my hard-earned dollar to other local breweries. See, I work twice a month at Launch Pad Brewing in Aurora serving beer and talking to this great craft beer community. I believe the craft beer community is a throwback to the all-American neighborhood pub where people go to meet, grab a beer and be part of their community. Not an all-night drunkfest that the bar has become today.
The problem of ABInbev is not going away anytime soon; at what point do we recognize the monopoly is already there? The great thing about beer in America is we have a choice on where to drink our beer, and for this beer drinker I will continue to drink at the little guy’s place and take my money there. You can always find me every other Saturday at Launch Pad (with its rocket-themed taproom) smiling and enjoying a wonderful craft beer. Launch Pad is located at 884 S. Buckley Rd. in Aurora.
I can also be found at festivals volunteering and po
uring craft beer for guests. One of the next festivals to look forward to is Denver’s Summer Brew Fest set for July 28 and 29, 2017. Visit www.denverbrewfest .com/summer for more information and until the next time, raise your glass.
Casey Bloyer is the Executive Producer of The Peter Boyles Show and The Dan Caplis Show. He is also host of The Bloyer Effect Sunday nights 8-11 p.m. on 710 KNUS. He is the co-host of Brewski-Reviewski with Connor Shreve, news reporter at 850 KOA. Brewski-Reviewski is a bi-monthly podcast talking about all things craft beer in Colorado. Twitter @Breviewski; Facebook www.facebook.com/ craftbeerradio; email brcraftbeer@gmail.com.
by Mark Smiley | May 26, 2017 | Featured Stories & Advertisers
by Mark Smiley | May 26, 2017 | Featured Stories & Advertisers
Rents Soar, Wage-Home Affordability Gap Widens; Motels, Tiny Houses, Cars And Streets Are The Last Resort
by Glen Richardson
They’re the hip and the homeless and they’re both facing identical problems: finding an affordable place to live! Some live on the streets, others sleep in their car or on a friend’s couch — and then there are those who bounce between motels, living week to week, shelling out what little cash they have for seedy bedrooms. Blame it on the skyrocketing cost to rent an apartment or buy a home in Denver.
The current rental market is unforgiving, and thousands of people find themselves on Denver’s streets. Others are on the brink of homelessness or being pushed out of the city. According to Yardi Matrix — the firm providing information on all Denver apartments 50 units or larger — the average rent for an apartment in Denver is $1,366, a 4% increase compared to last year. Studio apartments in Denver rent for $1,196 a month, while one-bedroom apartments ask on average $1,254 a month; the two-bedroom average is $1,542.
For those who can afford a home this year’s selling season is heating up an already hot market. According to the Metro Association of Realtors February’s 3,878 active listings were an all-time low for any m
onth on record, and only the third time active listings have dropped below 4,000. The average home price in February was $402.516. By April the average had climbed to $439,161, up 3.41% from March and up 10.53% year over year, a new record high! Big worry now: “The price of housing is on a higher trajectory than wages, and the affordability gap in the middle is getting wider,” warns Steve Danyliw, Chairman of DMAR Market Trends and a Denver real estate agent.
Rent, Buying Options
The average size for a Denver apart
ment is 846 sq. ft., but varies by type. A studio averages 507 sq. ft., while a one-bedroom apartment offers a more generous square footage of 707 sq. ft. Two-bedrooms have an average size of 1,012 sq. ft.
The most affordable neighborhoods in Denver are Virginia Village, where the average rent goes for $1,183/month and East Colfax, where it averages $1,200/mo. The citywide average asking price is $1,366/mo. Among the most expensive rental neighborhoods are the Highlands at $1,748, Congress Park at $1,750 and LoDo at $1,773. Those newly built luxury Cherry Creek high-rise apartments start at $1,472 and go as high as $5,925.
Year-to-date average sold prices of homes in metro Denver through April have increased by 6.05% compared to last year, 9.53% from 2015 to 2016, and 12.99% from 2014 to 2015. In Wash Park where construction is starting on 29 new one and two bedroom condos priced from $325,000 to $685,000, a dozen are already under contract and the homes won’t be ready for move-ins until May 2018. The 500-1,300 sq. ft. units have one reserved parking space and buyers can grab a second spot for $25,000. In 1969, median home prices throughout the Denver area were less than twice median family incomes. Prices first became unaffordable in the metropolitan area in the 2000s.
Families In Motels
Shelters are full, transitional housing is limited, and so is affordable permanent housing. Adding to the struggles for homele
ss people is a strong sentiment against them by the City. Municipal ordinances and the Denver Planning Board punish homeless people by banishing them from public places. In 2005, Denver set out to end homelessness within 10 years. That deadline passed in 2015 and thousands can still be found in sleeping bags along Cherry Creek or on cramped emergency shelter cots during bad weather. Others sleep in the backseat of cars parked in neighborhoods from Hilltop to LoDo.
Families exist by the hundreds in Denver motels each night. Two nonprofits have
transformed old motels into livable homeless spaces. They are along Colfax Ave. and on Broadway. Denver Human Services (DHS) partners with motels, providing families with vouchers for shelter. Many of those vouchers are issued for use at the Family Motel, Volunteers of America’s 45-room motel located at 4855 W. Colfax Ave. In the 1990s, VOA purchased the motel from private
owners, and engaged a homebuilder to convert the Aristocrat into an emergency shelter. In 2001 it opened with 40 rooms designated specifically for DHS.
VOA owns and operates the motel, and DHS pays for most of the rooms and provides free supportive services including three square meals daily along with housekeeping and on-site laundry. It serves about 620 people a week, mostly families staying for one to three days — though Denver residents can stay up to two weeks, and some veterans stay up to two years.
Time-Limited Housing
Joshua Station is a motel converted to transitional-housing where families stay for 15 months of programming. It provides time-limited housing, and asks tenants to participate in services during their stay and pay a non-market rate rent — no more than 30% of the family’s income, which could be $
50 or $400. “We try to mimic what renting is like in real life, but to a degree that works for our families,” explains Executive Director Amy Jackson.
In 15 years of operation, both the number of families and the program duration has grown, now serving 30 families simultaneously, each of which stay in the program around 26 months. Mile High Ministries purchased the old motel near I-25 and West 8th Ave. because existing rooms were easily transformed into 30 rooms with private bathrooms.
Since the need for transitional housing is substantial in Denver, Joshua Station has a rolling admission process. When rooms become available, the organization holds an orientation. Families interested in the program can apply, and subsequently sign up for an interview. The Joshua Station staff determines whether the family is a good fit.
Tiny House Villages
Denver gave the green light in March to construct a village of tiny homes for the homeless in the River North neighborhood. At long last the c
ity gave a zoning permit to the Beloved Community Village, a project of the Colorado Village Collaborative. It is being built on a vacant lot at 3733 Walnut St. and organizers hope to have the homes built and people moved in this month. However the city only issued the permit for six months. “Obviously, that’s a problem, so we are working to create permanent zoning,” admits Terese Howard, an organizer with Denver Homeless Out Loud.
“The way it is approved, we will hav
e to be moving every six months,” says Howard. The tiny homes can be placed on flatbed trailers and moved every six months to areas the coalition can get accepted. Nevertheless, it is Denver’s first approved housing village and construction is underway. Organizers hope to have three villages up by next winter and 10 by 2020.
The small number of tiny homes won’t put much of a dent in Denver’s homelessness problem, but organizers say Beloved Community Village provides another option for those who aren’t well suited to traditional shelters. Opponents claim it will be an eyesore and could attract crime.
Church Lot Houses
“After careful consideration, and a time of prayerful reflection, the families at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church have also decided to proceed with a Tiny House Village.” They are seeking approval from Denver for eight homes. The project will be located on a section of the Church’s north parking lot at 2015 Glenarm Pl.
The Village will consist of eight tiny, insulated homes 8 x 12 ft. each. They will have a community kitchen, a lavatory area with private showers and two toilets. Villagers would pay an affordable fee for utilities. The site will have an 8-ft. perimeter fence and secure entrance-exit, manned 24/7. The Delores Project will maintain a budget including staff for security. Colorado Construction Institute will provide the labor to build the houses and material will be donated. The Delores Project will supply management oversight — including screening and selecting residents — paid for through grants.
St. Andrew’s is an Anglo-catholic church built during 1907-1909. The building is considered one of Denver’s most beautiful Gothic style churches. When completed the village is expected to shelter 8-11 women and transgender adults. Homes will be placed on asphalt with the perimeter extending into the church rose garden and take up some staff parking.
by Mark Smiley | May 26, 2017 | Main Articles
U.S. Government Desperate To Hide Identity At Bundy Standoff Trials
by Charles C. Bonniwell
Glendale’s very own phony private investigator Charles Johnson has now made national news regarding a fake documentary he directed on the Cliven Bundy family in Nevada. His national exposure includes PBS’ Frontline documentary television series and stories in the investigative online magazine The Intercept to the apparent great consternation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States government generally.
Johnson Comes To Glendale
Johnson arrived in Glendale in March 2016, claiming to be a private consultant for an unidentified “female journalist” tracking down anyone who was quoted in the Glendale Cherry Creek Chronicle critical of Mohammad Ali Kheirkhahi, the principal owner of Authentic Persian & Oriental Rugs, or his proposed massive condo development on Colorado Boulevard. Johnson also tried to gain entrance into Glendale City Clerk Sherry Frame’s Denver apartment late on a Saturday afternoon. (See “Phony P.I. Arrested: Citizens Critical of Wealthy Rug Merchants Harassed,” Chronicle front page April 2016 issue.)
Various persons who were stalked and harassed by Johnson filed complaints with the Glendale and Lakewood police departments and when he returned to Glendale several weeks later he was arrested by the Glendale Police for failing to register in Colorado as a private investigator as required by Colorado law. However, prior to going to trial in Arapahoe County on the misdemeanor charge the FBI demanded that Arapahoe County D.A. George Brauchler dismiss all charges “for reasons that cannot be disclosed.”
FBI Letter
Brauchler however indicated that he required a letter on FBI letterhead by the Special Agent in Charge of the Denver office before he would act. He then took the letter, attached it to his request for dismissal to the court, which made the letter publicly available to the outrage of the FBI. The Chronicle published the full letter as part of our June 2016 front page story “Phony P.I. — FBI Mole or Worse? All Charges Dismissed Per FBI.”
In March 2017 the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies issued a “Cease and Desist Order” against Johnson from acting as a private investigator in Colorado without obtaining a license, which the FBI was unable to block. (See “FBI Agent Provocateur Charles Issued ‘Cease and Desist Order’ From Colorado Agency,” Chronicle front page February 2017 issue.)
But it was always unclear who exactly was Charles Johnson. Was he an FBI informant, a rogue agent or something else? We now know. The man arrested by the Glendale police and pictured on the front page of the Chronicle is, in fact, an official Special Agent of the FBI whose real name is not Charles Johnson.
Johnson In Nevada
Agent Johnson went to Nevada after the standoff over the cattle of Cliven Bundy which had been seized by the BLM concerning a multiyear grazing fee dispute. A group of armed citizens had taken the cattle back from the BLM who feared a Ruby Ridge-like firefight and had backed down. But the government was now intensely committed to bringing criminal charges against Cliven Bundy, his two sons and 14 other people who were part of the standoff.
Johnson arrived in Nevada claiming he was a documentary film producer and he wanted to produce a film to be called “America Reloaded” that would be sympathetic to the Cliven Bundy family and followers. But he was, in fact, an undercover FBI Special Agent hoping to obtain incriminating statements to be used in any upcoming criminal trial. He gave out a card that was exactly the same, with one exception, as he used in Glendale with the same address in Nashville and phone number but instead of “Detective Consultant” it stated he was a director with “Longbow Productions.”
Ultimately Johnson and his camera crew obtained over 100 hours of interviews, portions of which were shown at the trial of six relatively insignificant Bundy standoff participants. The federal court ordered, over the objections of the federal prosecutors, that the minor participants be tried first followed by Cliven Bundy and his family and then a third trial of middle level participants.
Cloak Of Secrecy
Johnson was brought in under the cloak of secrecy to testify about his fake documentary. It was admitted that Johnson was, in fact, an undercover FBI agent, that Charles Johnson was not his real name, and the government would not provide his real name. He entered the courthouse through a special entrance barred from the press and the public. To hide his visage from the public all cell phones were banned from the courtroom. The federal judge prohibited any questions of Johnson about his other activities.
All of this amazing court secrecy seemed almost comical as all anyone had to do was Google the name Charles Johnson and FBI and Johnson’s arrest photo appears from the stories run in the Chronicle and on Fox 31 television in Denver. That was exactly what Trevor Aaronson, investigative reporter for The Intercept, did for his story “How An Undercover FBI Agent Ended In Jail After Pretending To Be A Journalist.” He also requested copies of the tapes, recordings and documents regarding the arrest of Johnson for his story from the City of Glendale.
The Glendale story 
was a subsidiary story to one Ryan Deveraux and Trevor Aaronson wrote in The Intercept titled “The Bizarre Story Behind the FBI’s Fake Documentary About the Bundy Family.” Embedded in the online story at The Intercept are portions of the fake documentary with Johnson as the director and interviewer trying to get the Bundy family and others to criminally implicate themselves as well as telephone calls with Johnson and Bundy family members.
PBS
PBS’s Frontline has a documentary series titled “American Patriot: Inside the Armed Uprising Against the Federal Government” in which they did a segment on May 16 titled “FBI agents posed as filmmakers infiltrate the Bundy family” in which they reveal Johnson’s fake documentary. Interestingly Frontline, in playing the videos of Bundy and followers as well as Johnson’s phone calls, distorted Johnson’s voice to hide his identity perhaps not realizing that Johnson was already an infamous figure and that the same video and phone calls were on The Intercept’s site without distortion.
Poor Track Record
The FBI’s history of pretending to be film makers and journalists is highly dubious and controversial. In the FBI’s scandalous persecution of alleged Atlanta Olympic bomber Richard Jewell, the FBI tried to get the innocent Richard Jewell to waive his constitutional rights by informing him they were simply doing a training film about bomb detection. The FBI then leaked his name to the press. It was later determined that the deadly bomb was, in fact, planted by Eric Rudolph, an anti-abortion activist. Jewell, found innocent, later sued the FBI and got a large monetary settlement.
The FBI pretending journalists became so tainted that in June 2016, four months after Johnson’s foray into Glendale, then Director of the FBI James Comey announced the FBI would rarely use that ruse and only after consultation with the deputy attorney general.
First Bundy Trial In Nevada
The first Bundy Nevada trial which ended April 24, 2017, did not go well for the government. None of the six defendants were found guilty of the main two conspiracy charges that were the core of the government’s case. Two of the defendants were found guilty of other charges including Gregory Burleson who was found guilty of eight charges, inter alia, threatening and assaulting a federal officer, interstate travel in aid of extortion, and brandishing a weapon.
The website for Frontline states that the Johnson fake documentary footage was used to help convict Burleson. Frontline did not reveal that Burleson was, until just prior to the Bundy standoff, a paid informant for the FBI in Arizona.
Federal Judge Gloria Navarro declared a mistrial for the four defendants not convicted of any charges and set the retrial to June 26, 2017. Charles Johnson is expected to once again testify under strict secrecy even though he has now become a highly visible public figure.
It is expected that the government may try to take a different approach at the retrial as defense attorneys stated that the jurors split 10 to 2 for acquittal for two defendants and a majority for acquittal on the other two defendants.
Giglio — Impaired Witness
The FBI and/or the federal prosecutors may be facing ethics charges relating to Charles Johnson. Under the 1972 U.S. Supreme Court case of Giglio v. United States when a federal employee is to testify the relevant agency must disclose any information that reflects negatively on its employee’s credibility to the prosecutors and the prosecutors in turn must disclose such information to the defense attorneys. The fact that Johnson was arrested in Glendale, that he clearly lied to the Glendale police and is under a Cease and Desist Order from the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies would all appear to be mandatory Giglio disclosures.
According to The Intercept no Giglio disclosures were made to the defense attorneys regarding Johnson. While Federal district courts have a general reputation of looking the other way concerning FBI and prosecutorial misconduct Federal appellate courts are often not so lenient.
It is expected that Glendale’s own phony P.I. Charles Johnson will be prominently in the national news for the duration of the three Bundy trials in Nevada notwithstanding all of the secrecy efforts by the U.S. government.
But what was a super-secret FBI undercover agent doing in Glendale in the first place? Why would the FBI want to harass a city clerk on a Saturday afternoon as well as local citizens who just didn’t want a massive condo project on Colorado Boulevard? It is difficult to fathom a legitimate purpose and, of course, the FBI refuses to justify to the public its activities. The complete lack of transparency, even at the local level, may be one of the reasons why public opinion polls show ever decreasing approval ratings for what was once viewed as the nation’s preeminent law enforcement agency.
