Comment on Munch Madness bracket Day 12: Local Favorites and Chains in the Sweet Sixteen

As the Trump-Biden rematch shifts into high gear, many Americans like me are left wondering whether this is really the best we can do in a country of 330 million people. The group No Labels sought to prove that it wasn’t, that we could find two extraordinary leaders–one Republican and one Democrat—to run for president on a unity ticket and offer a better path forward for America. Against withering attacks from the two-party system, No Labels built the infrastructure and secured the ballot access necessary to launch such a ticket.

Nine years ago, one of Silverthorne’s few income-restricted housing properties was sold to a private firm. The sale — at a price that was double the property’s assessed value — raised worries in the high-cost mountain community that the new owner of the Blue River Apartments might lift rent caps that had kept its 78 units affordable when the requirements lapsed. That expiration had been set for this year, and local officials were sufficiently concerned that they struck a deal with the new Greenwood Village-based owners to extend the affordability protections through at least the end of 2025, in exchange for $650,000. But if the town had known about the sale ahead of time back in 2015, said Ryan Hyland, Silverthorne’s town manager, then officials could have tried to cobble together the money to buy the apartment complex — or arrange its sale to someone else. As Colorado faces a tidal wave of expiring affordability requirements in the coming years, state lawmakers hope to give local authorities the opportunity Silverthorne didn’t have.

In 1999, the U. S. women’s soccer team captivated sports fans across the globe when it won the World Cup and became the first team in the female league to do so on home soil. The championship title was a pivotal moment for women’s sports that inspired a generation of young girls, among them Miranda Spencer and Annie Weaver. “I remember the 1999 World Cup and the Fab Five and the rest of that group, the ’99ers,” said Weaver, who was 5 years old then.

Editor’s note: The opinions of the smart, well-read women in my Denver book club mean a lot, and often determine what the rest of us choose to pile onto our bedside tables. So we asked them, and all Denver Post readers, to share these mini-reviews with you. Have any to offer?

Colorado is known for producing some of the best beer in the world, but cocktail fans here also have access to bars where mixology keeps step with some of the nation’s best. Need proof? The 18th annual Spirited Awards, part of the esteemed Tales of the Cocktail conference in New Orleans, recently announced its roster of 2024 regional honorees, which included three Denver bars.

A defunct provision of the Colorado Constitution that limits marriage to between a man and a woman may finally be stripped from the state’s guiding document under a proposed amendment introduced in the state Senate. The resolution, filed late last week by Sen. Joann Ginal, a Fort Collins Democrat, requires support from two-thirds of state senators and representatives.