Seeing the massive change in community awareness of racism after George Floyd’s death, representatives of neighborhood groups and the city quickly started on the path toward a new name for the Stapleton neighborhood. At the same time, individuals in the community, through rallies and yard signs, are showing their support for the protests and for Black lives.
Though Denver was on target for hospitalizations, testing and positivity rates as of June 24, officials stated strongly that masks need to be worn “for the foreseeable future.”
With Gov. Polis’ signing of the Law Enforcement Accountability and Integrity Act on June 19, Colorado became the first state in the nation to implement comprehensive police reform since the brutal killing of George Floyd ignited nationwide protests.
Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen held a virtual town hall on June 3 to listen to community concerns and respond to questions. The Front Porch transcribed questions from that session and edited for length and clarity.
“For 30 years we’ve been talking about tele-medicine and thinking around the edges, but there’ve been policy barriers to really doing it on a broad scale, and Medicare and Medicaid pay only for very limited things; this pandemic really opened the floodgates to tele-health and tele-medicine, and we’ve learned very quickly how to scale this work up.”
As schools shut down across the country in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, students have had to adapt to a new reality—and seniors in college and high school are trying to creatively reevaluate what they had thought were firm plans for graduation and their futures.
As we confront uncertainty, fear, and even death in the coronavirus pandemic, we know Coloradans experienced similar traumas in World Wars I and II. Then, the community came together to face a common enemy—but also fell prey to xenophobia and racism as they looked for someone to blame.
How is Denver doing at flattening the curve? What symptoms are Denverites reporting and how does that help track illness in the community—even before tests are done? Are we having Covid outbreaks in our grocery stores? What should we do when someone isn’t wearing a mask in the grocery store? What is the projection for how well the virus will be contained in coming months?
And, in a broader view, why do bats spread pathogens; and how are llamas contributing to possible treatments?
Getting a good night’s sleep is one of the biggest changes in his life since moving into Fusion Studios, says Jesse Parris, who spent 13 years sleeping on Denver’s streets.
