Does this sound like an internal conversation you’ve had with yourself today?
A possible inner monologue of yours, perhaps without the word 'please'It's Election Day. I know. I already voted. Can you just tell me when the results are in, please?
If this resembles something you might have heard your mind say, I’m here to quiet that voice and replace it with ten other things from our newsroom that you could talk to yourself (or others) about as we eagerly await the results part of Election Night:
10. Do You Know The Difference Between "Ok" And "Ok."? Teens Do.
Ok.
It’s a simple enough affirmative response to something — or it used to be. But if one teenager texted that one-word sentence, period included, to another teenager, it’d be fighting words.
The period, in the digital, has found enormous power. It carries emotional weight. Its presence or absence completely changes the tone of a text.
(I'm going to go out on a limb here and say I completely agree. And I'm not a teen.)
The first chapter in our Teens Under Stress series is all about cell phones — texting, screen time, social media, language,...passive aggressive punctuation.
Please tell me you've read some of those stories, or at least that you've read our Twitter threads about them?
9. Here’s Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Blucifer, The Demon Horse of DIA.
It’s Mustang.
Does knowing that fact change the way you feel about the giant fiberglass beast? Tell me what you think in the form of voting in a very scientific Twitter poll (it is Election Day, after all).
8. Denverite ranked every RTD Denver rail station and Southmoor was only second-worst.
(Hart Van Denburg/CPR News)
Spoiler alert: Union Station was ranked above Southmoor.
It's about time Denverite did some power rankings of a Denver thing that Denver people love to talk about: transportation (now, whether they love talking about how much they love transportation in Denver is different thing).
Compiled by Denverite city reporter David Sachs, the rankings are a blend of several important things like data from Denver's official transit-oriented development (TOD) plan, Sachs' personal journeys traveling to each of the stations and his background as a transportation reporter, and a consultation with the TOD manager for the City and County of Denver.
Have a look-see at the list and let me know: Did Denverite rank your station accurately?
7. Speaking of RTD: RTD is proposing 'significant' cuts to bus and train service over a major driver shortage.
Last month, the Regional Transportation District said they will soon consider a proposal to cut a "significant amount of service for a temporary period," to deal with ongoing bus driver and train operator shortages.
While the RTD board has not yet made any definitive decisions about service cuts, they've had lots of discussions about making those decisions, and we'd had some, too — like this AMA on Reddit with CPR News' transportation reporter Nathaniel Minor.
First, I want you to read all the comments on that thread. Next, I want you to tell me: Did your train or bus show up on time today?
6. Have You Been To The Denver Art Museum's Unusually Large, Practically Exclusive Monet Exhibition? Not Everyone Loves It.
What does it mean that the Denver Art Museum is hosting the biggest Claude Monet exhibition in this country in 25 years? And that Denver is one of only two cities in the world to host it?
Sure, it means a lot. But is it very meaningful? As the city’s biggest, best-funded art museum, it certainly sends a message.
“It’s like: This is what your city says is the most important thing for you to be looking at right now,” longtime Denver art critic Ray Rinaldi says.
"But it’s not the most important thing for you to be looking at right now. Right now you need to look at work that addresses race, and you need to look at work that addresses the environment...This is where a well-funded museum with some courage can step up.”
Have you been to the Monet exhibit? Tell me.
Also, tell us:
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5. 166 Children Were Abused By Colorado Clergy. Just One Priest Went to Prison
A new report shows more 166 Colorado children were sexually victimized by 43 priests over 70 years (and that Colorado’s three Roman Catholic dioceses spent decades trying to cover up that abuse).
Only one priest is serving time for a crime.
But special investigator Bob Troyer said making a criminal case against any of them would be a challenge.
“The pattern I’m talking about (with the church) we will take reports, keep them close, transfer the priest, tell the family ‘you did the right thing,’ all is good now,” Troyer said.
“That’s the frustrating thing. It worked.”
- Special Report On Colorado Catholic Clergy Sex Abuse Details 70 Years Of Allegations, Cover-Ups And Shoddy Records
What's Inside The Colorado Attorney General's Special Report On Catholic Clergy Sexual Abuse - Who Are The Priests Named In The Colorado AG’s Special Report On Clerical Abuse?
- ‘I Feel Lucky That It Wasn’t Me’: Catholics Grapple With Revelations About Prominent Priests
4. Erin Martinez Waited Years For The Federal Report On Why Her Home Exploded. Now That It’s Out, She’s Disappointed
Two and a half years ago, Erin Martinez's Colorado home in blew up. The explosion — linked to an oil and gas well in Weld County — killed Martinez's husband and her brother. Martinez herself was seriously injured.
After the incident, the National Transportation and Safety Board sent an investigator to Firestone and promised Martinez a thorough report on what happened, why it happened and how it could be prevented in the future.
The report finally landed late last month. It states what happened and why — that the explosion occurred due to ignition of natural gas from lines then owned by Anadarko Petroleum Corporation and likely severed during home construction.
But does it include how something like this could be prevented in the future?
“There are no recommendations on how we can keep these things from happening again,” Martinez said.
3. And Now, For Something Completely Different: What’s With The Orange Balls That Hang From Power Lines In Colorado’s Canyons?
You probably saw them while you were driving on I-70 this weekend.
Feel free to call them by their official name: aerial marker balls. And the reason they exist is so that helicopters and low-flying planes don't hit electrical wires (they're an extra precaution since anything that flies isn’t supposed to fly lower than the electrical towers).
But I really do want to know if you've asked yourself that question before, so please tell me.
2. We Have An Interesting Podcast About Life After Marijuana Legalization. It's Called 'On Something.'
You should listen! It's all about the political, legal and cultural effects marijuana legalization has on people.
And I say 'people' because I mean actual people and their actual, personal stories and experiences with marijuana — from addiction, to immigration, to reparations.
Season One just wrapped up a few weeks ago and it's very binge-able. Please do so before the next dinner party you attend so you can discuss it.
1. None Of That Working For You? How About Looking Pictures Of Small Dogs In Snow.
You may remember such Colorado snowstorms as 'the one that happened last week when it was still October.'
I certainly remember. My car certainly remembers. And surely these small dogs remember, because 3 to 7 inches of snow is a lot when you are a dog that is 2 to 3 inches off the ground.
Denverite put it quite eloquently: Big dogs may be the stars of snowstorms, but small dogs are the heroes.
That's it! You made it through an important and exhaustive list of good stories that are Election unrelated. And we'll be here, Election Night pizza in hand when you're ready to check the results.
In the meantime, I'd like to use the final sentence of this article to say please follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
