Secret Santa Delivers Layaway Surprise

Since U. S. Rep. Lauren Boebert opted to change her address to one clear across the state late last year, the race for Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District has fallen out of the media glare that seemingly shines on the controversial Republican congresswoman wherever she goes. But Colorado’s largest district by land mass — taking in Grand Junction, Gunnison, Durango and Pueblo — may prove a critical contest in a closely divided Congress where the major parties are always hungry to flip a seat.

Patty Damon can see St. Anthony Hospital’s Lakewood campus from her house, but starting in May, she may not be able to go there any longer without digging deep into her pockets. Damon has insurance through Anthem BlueCross BlueShield of Colorado, which is in a dispute with St. Anthony’s owner CommonSpirit Health.

Film on the Rocks will screen “The Matrix,” “The Wizard of Oz” and other fantastical titles as part of its 25th anniversary year at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Oh, and “Shrek.” The movie series, programmed by Denver Film, will again feature five films, with $20 tickets per screening ($35 for VIP seats) and pre-show entertainment from host and Denver comic Janae Burris, followed by live musical performances and the movie. The 1939 fantasy “The Wizard of Oz” is celebrating its 85th anniversary in 2024.

A new brewery with a familiar name is now open in Fort Collins. This week, Verboten Brewing and Barrel Project debuted its second location at 1611 S. College Ave., in the space formerly home to Black Bottle Brewery. It will host a grand opening the weekend of May 3, said co-owner Josh Grenz. Verboten took over Black Bottle’s lease in February and Grenz has since been working on a “cosmetic remodel” to update the bar tops, table tops and chairs.

Jordan and Taryn Bennett took advantage of low mortgage rates during the pandemic to snag a condo in the Uptown neighborhood. But they need more space with a dog in residence and a child on the way. Interest rates, rather than helping them, are blocking them this time around. The young couple, both 30, are turning to a newer type of housing product known as “build-to-rent,” or BTR, for some flexibility  They zeroed in on an infill townhome community called Dominic Row in Denver’s popular Highlands neighborhood, before deciding to move into a rental home near Sloans Lake. “People like us don’t want to go back into apartments.

We had expected that seeing a total solar eclipse in the path of totality would be the highlight of our trip. In hindsight, it was also the perfect excuse to be together, three generations on a simple road trip through five states. On April 6, three of us set out from Lakewood — me, my 23-year-old son Ryan and 85-year-old mother, Mary — toward Oklahoma, near the Texas and Arkansas borders.