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Down-payment programs help Colorado’s Black first-time homebuyers in push to close historic equity gaps

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:05 GMT

Nahjee Maybin feels fortunate to be fulfilling the American dream of graduating college, landing employment and saving enough money to buy a first home for his family — particularly when he considers the myriad ways government and society historically hindered Black Americans’ home ownership prospects.The U.S. homeownership rate has inched upward over the past decade, from 64.7% of homes occupied by their owners in 2011 to 65.5% in 2021, according to the National Association of Realtors. But Black homeownership rates have lagged significantly behind. Colorado’s white homeownership rate sits around 70% compared to a 42% Black homeownership rate, according to a March report from the National Association of Realtors.Racist policies like redlining across the nation and in Colorado created generational barriers to homebuying for Black families with ripple effects that still exist today. Redlining is a discriminatory practice dating to the 1930s in which federal programs...

Denver’s only bilingual comedy mic opens doors for Latino hopefuls

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:05 GMT

When Raices Brewing Co. approached Denver comedian Ricky Ramos two years ago about starting a Spanish-English open-mic night, Ramos was dubious.“I didn’t really think it would work in a town where there’s, like, six of us right now,” Ramos said.No joke. There were very few Latino comedians performing at comedy clubs at the time, and virtually no other opportunities to perform bilingual comedy in the city, despite Denver’s population being about 30 percent Latino according to 2022 census data.Raices was unfazed by the challenge. That’s because the brewery, which opened in Denver’s Sun Valley in 2019, believes its beer is just the excuse to gather, often over cultural programs like salsa dancing and language exchanges, said bilingual program coordinator Paula Campos.“Raices is a brewery, but it started as a project about roots, to bring everyone a little piece of home,” Campos said. “It works more as a cultural platform, which allows us to give space for these ...

Alpine slides and mountain coasters provide summer fun in Colorado

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:05 GMT

Once the snow has melted off the slopes, the joys of swooshing and bumping down the Rocky Mountains are gone. Or are they? While not an athletic activity like alpine skiing and snowboarding are, riding an alpine slide or mountain coaster can fill your need for speed in the summer months.My first reaction to riding an alpine coaster in Colorado? Let’s do it again! The scenery is stunning from these rides and trip by trip, you’ll learn how to control your speed.First, there’s a difference between an alpine slide and a mountain coaster, though the names do get mangled here and there. A mountain coaster is an apparatus like a roller coaster but it is lower to the ground than the rides you see at amusement parks. Riders sit in a cart that is attached to rails. An alpine slide is what it sounds like: a giant slide on a mountain. Think of a bobsled, with a shallow seat for one or two riders. Both alpine slides and coasters are powered by your momentum – no mechanics or water involved...

Metro Denver home sales and new listings way down entering the second half of 2023

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:05 GMT

Last year was a story of sharp contrasts in the metro Denver housing market, with an active and overheated first half replaced by a colder and quieter second half. But in 2023, the storyline is following the arc of a resilient wanderer struggling to chart a course in unfavorable conditions.Home and condo sales are down by about a quarter in June compared to where they were the same month a year ago – 4,109 this June compared to 5,472 last June, according to the latest Market Trends Report from the Denver Metro Association of Realtors.For the first half of the year, there were 21,534 homes sold compared to 28,027 in the first half of 2022 and 30,433 in the first half of 2021. The region’s residential real estate industry has generated $4.8 billion less in transaction volumes this year than last.A lack of affordability and an unexpectedly large drop in new listings have contributed to the reduced sales volume. But there is also a sense that a lot of would-be buyers are wai...

Detroit-style pizza joint opens in Denver serving classic “red tops”

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:05 GMT

The restaurant: Red Tops Rendezvous; 2917 W. 25th Ave., DenverAbout: This Detroit-style pizza and Italian joint in Jefferson Park is a passion project by Culinary Creative founding partner and Michigan native Kevin Eddy. It’s an ode to Eddy’s hometown, where he grew up eating rectangular pizza with a thick, crispy crust, and covered in marinara, also known as “redtops” in Detroit.Menu: Red Tops is serving Eddy’s classic version of a Detroit-style pizza, as well as specialty thick crusts, like the Brick and Morty with a brick cheese blend, mortadella, roasted balsamic onions, whipped ricotta, chile honey and arugula. There are also other classic Italian entrees, including shrimp scampi or chicken parm.Related ArticlesRestaurants, Food and Drink | Pizzeria Locale closing all locations, dissolving the business Restaurants, Food and Drink | Two friends open all-day taco shop in Five Points Restaurants, Food and Drink | New soul food spot owned ...

Root Down in LoHi says “knock-off restaurant” intrudes on its trademark

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:05 GMT

The company behind a popular restaurant in LoHi is suing what it calls a new “knock-off restaurant in the neighborhood” and demanding the newcomer change its name.Edible Beats, an employee-owned restaurant group, runs Root Down in LoHi, Vital Root in Berkeley and four other locations. It takes issue with Rooted, a restaurant that opened in May at 3940 W. 32nd Ave. in the West Highland neighborhood.“Rooted…intentionally and blatantly copies the Root Down and Vital Root restaurant concepts and, incredibly, opened its knock-off restaurant in the neighborhood where both Root Down and Vital Root are well-established restaurants,” Edible Beats wrote in a June 27 lawsuit.The lawsuit accuses Rooted of violating Edible Beats’ trademark of “Vital Root.” It refers to Rooted as being “just down the street from Root Down and Vital Root.” Rooted is two miles away from Root Down and a mile from Vital Root, in a different neighborhood.Shannan Reese, a spokeswoman for Rooted, said “the parties are i...

2 firefighters die battling blaze on New Jersey ship carrying 5,000 cars

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:05 GMT

(AP) — Two firefighters were killed battling a blaze that began when cars caught fire deep inside a cargo ship carrying 5,000 cars at a New Jersey port, Newark's fire chief said Thursday. Responding firefighters found five to seven vehicles already on fire when they reached the 10th floor of the cargo ship at Port Newark around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday night. The blaze quickly extended to the 11th and 12th floors, and as firefighters were pushed back by the intense heat, two of them were lost, Fire Chief Rufus Jackson said at a news conference.Firefighters weren’t initially able to find their colleagues and outside rescue companies from around the state were called in. They were found and removed from the structure, but unfortunately they lost their lives, Jackson said.Marine traffic trackers show the Grande Costa D’Avorio, which was built in 2011, arrived from the Port of Baltimore several days earlier.Two firefighters were killed battling a blaze deep inside a cargo ship on July 6, 202...

Biden briefed on 'incredibly important' White House cocaine investigation

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:05 GMT

(AP) — President Joe Biden has been briefed on the investigation into the discovery of cocaine on the lobby floor of the White House West Wing, and thinks it is “incredibly important” for the Secret Service to determine how it got there, officials said Wednesday. U.S. Secret Service agents found the powder during a routine White House sweep on Sunday, in a small, clear plastic bag on the ground in a heavily trafficked area, according to three people, who were not authorized to speak about an ongoing investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. On Wednesday, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the White House had confidence in the Secret Service. “The president think it's incredibly important to get to the bottom of this,” she said. D.C. Fire Department vehicles are seen outside the White House grounds, Sunday night, July 2, 2023 in Washington. (Anthony Peltier via AP)Biden was at Camp David with members of his family for the holiday weekend when the...

The case of the missing bacteria in Bay Area poop

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:05 GMT

Our gut is experiencing its own extinction event.New Stanford research has discovered that the gut of the average Bay Area resident has only half as many species of bacteria as hunter-gatherers in remote northern Tanzania, a decline attributed to the industrialized world’s changing diets and lifestyles.And while it’s not yet proven what role these missing bacteria play, scientists know that our body’s complex inner ecosystem of bacteria, known as the microbiome, helps digest food, synthesize vitamins, and fend off infections.“It’s very clear that industrialization has impacted our gut microbiome in a profound way,” said microbiologist Justin Sonnenburg, co-author of findings reported this month in the journal Cell. “We have lost species that were part of human biology for most, or all, of our evolutionary history.”How are we different? The poop of a dozen Bay Area volunteers was home to an average of only 277 bacterial species, compared to 730 species in the ...

Person struck and killed by Caltrain in Mountain View

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:05 GMT

MOUNTAIN VIEW — A pedestrian died Thursday morning after they were hit by a Caltrain, according to a spokesperson.The deadly incident took place around 1:30 a.m. at the Rengstorff Avenue grade crossing in Mountain View, according to Caltrain. The southbound train was carrying 14 passengers, and no other injuries were reported.“No matter what the circumstances, it is always regrettable when a life is lost,” A Caltrain spokesperson said in a statement Thursday morning. “Caltrain reminds everyone to be safe around train tracks.”The victim’s identity was yet to be released by the Santa Clara County Office of the Medical Examiner-Coroner as of Thursday morning. Mountain View police were handling the investigation into the collision.Related ArticlesCrashes and Disasters | India train collision photos: 83 bodies recovered still unidentified The death was Caltrain’s third fatal collision of 2023. The first was in January, when a person was...