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06_25_25_Headlines Ainsley Coogan
Safeway strike
The strike against the Safeway grocery chain is into its second week, and has expanded to include the Boulder store at Iris Avenue and 28th Street.
The labor union United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 says the key issues between them and the company are staffing levels, wages, and protections for worker health benefits, according to The Denver Post.
The strike includes at least two Denver stores, and Safeway outlets in Lakewood and Aurora. A store in Colorado Springs joined the strike earlier this week. More stores are expected to join, according to the Post, although the union has not identified them.
The Daily Camera said the Iris and 28th Safeway is the first Boulder County store to join the walkout.
Contract negotiations resumed last week, after the strike began, but broke off after several days. No new talks are scheduled at this time.
DPS teacher contract
Denver Public Schools has tentatively agreed to a new contract agreement with the district’s teacher’s union. The agreement comes after a “marathon” of an 18-hour bargaining session and “months of collaborative negotiations.”
Under the new three-year contract agreement, educators will receive three $1,000 cost of living increases, as well as one $1,000 bonus this year.
In the 2025-2026 school year, the deal mandates that all classrooms exceeding 30 students will be reported to the class size committee, as specific efforts have been taken to address this issue.
The agreement will now go to the teacher’s union members for a ratification vote. If they approve it, it goes to the DPS Board of Education for final ratification.
Public lands sale stricken from budget
A provision mandating the sale of millions of acres of public lands, much of it in Colorado, has been removed from the Republican budget bill that is now in Congress.
The provision was stricken late Monday after the Senate Parliamentarian ruled the possible sale was outside of the scope of the rules for the bill, according to the Denver Post.
If it had remained, more than 14 million acres of federal public land in Colorado would have been eligible for sale. Conservation groups are calling Monday’s ruling a major victory for those who want to keep public lands in the hands of the public.
After the ruling, Democrat Joe Neguse, who represents Colorado’s Second Congressional District, said on X that Democrats would keep using every tool available to them to protect public lands.
Salvation army contract extended
The city of Denver has extended the Salvation Army’s contract at the Crossroads homeless shelter after a split city council vote. Nine of 13 council members approved the $4.5 million contract for upcoming 2025 operations.
Advocates for the extension argued that the contract needed to continue or else the shelter could shut down. Jamie Rife, the executive director of Denver’s Department of Housing Stability, says that “it would be very difficult to continue operations at the site.”
Members of the city council who cast votes against the contract cited the scrutiny that the Salvation Army has faced for months. They argued that they cannot protect the roughly 300 unhoused people who use the facility.
Back in March, a Salvation Army employee was charged with sexually assaulting a woman who was staying at a shelter in northeast Denver. That same shelter was the site of a double homicide the year before.
Ana Miller, an advocate for Housekeys Action Network Denver, told The Denver Post that the Salvation Army have shown time and time again that they are not able to do the job that they have been contracted to do.”
Bike to Work Day
Today is Bike to Work Day in Boulder, and all over Colorado. Thousands of cyclists are expected to take part in this annual Rite of Summer, which goes all the way back to the 1970s.
There are breakfast stations for riders all over town, including one right here at KGNU, where cyclists can pick up a free breakfast. Stations are open from 6:30 a.m. until 9a.m.
Bike to Work Day is the highlight of Bike Month, when folks are encouraged to leave the car at home and enjoy a walk or bike ride to work.
There are plenty of breakfast stations in Denver, too, many of them courtesy of the Colorado Department of Transportation. C-DOT reminds everyone that taking part helps to improve air quality and reduce traffic congestion.
