Good morning, Denver.

Retired Air Force JAG officer Jennifer Rider has volunteered nearly 250 hours at Freedom Service Dogs in 10 months—she cares for and trains puppies to become service dogs for people in need.

She works several times each week to support the nonprofit's mission.

Today, at the new NREL facility in Golden, construction crews are using Hilti’s Jaibot drilling robot (a machine that drills precise holes using digital coordinates to ease the worker shortage) to speed up installations.

An operator drives the semi-autonomous robot so workers can focus on other essential tasks.

Evergreen High School will have a full-time school resource officer going forward after last week's shooting injured two students and a 16-year-old shooter died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound—part-time officers were on duty when classes were canceled and victims remain hospitalized.

On Sept. 13, 2025, Denver’s Levitt Pavilion hosted the inaugural Indieverse music festival—featuring national acts OK Go, Bartees Strange, and Dehd along with local bands Dead Pioneers and Pink Fuzz—and the event drew a large crowd even after a brief rain cleared to reveal a rainbow.

Today, the Michelin Guide released its 2025 ratings awarding stars to three new restaurants—Kizaki, Margot and Mezcaleria Alma—and naming Denver's Wolf's Tailor as the first restaurant in Colorado to earn two Michelin stars.

The guide also lists several Bib Gourmand picks for quality meals at lower prices—highlighting a growing emphasis on diverse local dining options.

Denver-area Head Start programs face a rule that will bar undocumented children from enrolling, although injunctions currently block the change and experts say its overall impact may be small.

Solangel, a local immigrant mom whose son thrived in Head Start, worries the policy will harm vulnerable families—while some argue it frees up spots for U.S. children.

Aurora Community College set a new record with over 9,500 students enrolled for fall and expects more to register until late October.

College leaders say new online courses—such as concurrent enrollment programs for high schoolers—and expanded support services drove the growth.

Denver Clerk and Recorder Paul López and Mayor Mike Johnston clashed over a $200M city budget shortfall as Johnston's office set a 5% cut target, cutting $4.5M without López’s input—raising concerns over potential polling center closures.

López warned the proposed cuts would reduce election operations while the mayor aims to save costs with recent job cuts and departmental reductions.

Kristin Jenny, a three-time Ironman competitor, received a $332 bill from Boulder Community Health for March 2022 physical therapy appointments even though her insurance had paid, and Anthem BCBS reprocessed the claim—reclassifying the service as non-covered and leaving her to dispute the charge before it is due Sept. 27.

Denver's affordable housing policy, which offered grace periods before new rule requirements took effect, has led to a surge in luxury apartment projects downtown.

Vacancy rates fell from 7% to 6.4% last quarter, and developers plan thousands of new amenity-rich units + the policy now sparks debate over its impact on long-term affordability.