We're closing out an emotional month for our country.

A deadly terrorist attack, catastrophic wildfires and a horrific mid-air collision.

It's been a lot.

But through it all, we've seen our first responders go above and beyond humanity at its finest.

Here in Colorado, our leaders are focusing on how to keep our communities safe.

We have a lot to discuss on this week's Colorado Inside Out.

Hi, everyone, I'm Kyle Dyer.

Let's get right to introducing you to this week's panel.

We have Westword founder and editor Patty Calhoun, along with Eric Sangamon, columnist of Colorado Politics and the Colorado Springs and Denver Gazette's Krista Kafer, a columnist with the Denver Post.

And Penfield Tate, Denver attorney and community leader who served in both the Senate and House of the Colorado Legislature.

Let's start this week by talking about the arrests and mass deportations that are underway, and that the national focus on Colorado is getting stronger and brighter.

Governor Polis says we are not a sanctuary jurisdiction.

he's getting a lot of pushback on that.

In any event, in Aurora, Ice has now moved into Buckley Space Force Command and using that facility, part of it, as a processing and detention center.

Patty, I will start with you.

There's a lot here.

And it changes by the minute.

So we heard this week.

NBC broke it.

That Aurora operation in Aurora would start yesterday.

And there is no operation Aurora that it was canceled or at least postponed.

And we heard that Buckley was being prepared for operation Aurora.

I guess they were going to house the immigrants in those secret balls on the base.

But now, supposedly, it's not going to be at Buckley.

never were the people, the military people on Buckley supposed to be involved?

Ice was going to be coming in.

Now Guantanamo's going to be retrofit.

So basically, we don't know much about when operation Aurora will hit.

What we do know is there was a long term mission set up that busted 50 people at a house at a warehouse party on Sunday night.

Those people we think are in the Geo facility.

There have been no real criminal charges brought against them.

We have a few gang members who've been picked up.

One in Denver, one in New York City.

So people are being arrested.

There is action being taken.

But when the hammer is going to come down on Aurora, we don't know yet.

Okay, Eric.

Well, there's no doubt that Aurora in particular is in the bull's eye, in the bull's eye of this administration.

Donald Trump made that clear before the election.

When he did that rally out of the Gaylord complex in Aurora.

No surprise there.

There's also really no argument, at least for me, that a country needs to have borders.

It needs to have control of its borders.

That there is a distinction between citizens and non-citizens.

And if you want to deport some bad actors with bad criminal records, that is fine.

But we also need to bring some humanity to this discussion.

Every immigrant has a story, and most of them are stories of courage.

Their stories of striving.

That doesn't mean that they can all inhabit this country, but we need to honor their stories and honor and dignify them as humans.

And that is what is missing from this entire conversation.

and maybe we should have some humanity as part of this discussion.

Krista, I'm with Eric.

Yeah.

There are people who should be deported.

violent criminals, for example.

Even people say, you know, young men that came here illegally came over the border illegally to get work.

They took that risk.

Some of them may have to go home.

What are we talking about?

People who have been in this state, in this country for a long time may not have the papers.

I don't think we treat them the same.

And I know they're afraid.

I know that people who are here under the asylee program, some of them are concerned people who are here on humanitarian parole.

They're afraid that these programs are going to be taken away, and they're going to be treated as common criminals, and that is wrong.

As Eric said, these are part of our community, the families they are, they're they're one of us.

yeah.

They may not have the papers, but they're one of us.

How do we treat them?

I think it speaks a lot to who we are as a country.

And my hope is that we will be our better angels and not our worst selves.

Okay.

I hope for that, too, Krista.

But, you know, when you look at this situation, I start from a big picture.

And what this administration is learning rapidly is there's a difference between campaigning and fanning the flames and getting people all worked up and then having to govern.

And the problem they're having now is in their governance.

What they're doing doesn't make a lot of sense.

they're focusing their efforts.

Now, these sweeps in either blue cities or blue states, Colorado, Denver, Chicago, New York, it's weird that they're not focusing any of this on southern states that actually touch the border, that actually have immigration issues.

But theirs is different because many of those southern states and communities rely on immigrants to keep their local economies afloat, even if they're not documented And I've heard some columnists say that the administration's concern is with immigrants of color, not white immigrants, and they need to think about how they address this issue, because the way they're acting, that appears to be perhaps accurate.

And I wanted to add one thing.

Everything is so uncertain.

They're leaks coming.

Things get pulled.

Grants may or may not be happening.

But there is no question that grants and services provided by immigration service companies here in Denver, they have gotten stop work orders and they have had to stop helping.

All right.

Hold on.

Well, it's going to be a ride.

I also want to talk about how congressional leaders have invited Denver Mayor Mike Johnson to testify next month in Washington as part of an investigation into our city's immigration policies.

But this week, the mayor really tried to shift focus instead on his 2025 goals for our city.

There is a lot of eyes on this man right now, and our city.

Obviously, the request from Congress was done in a gotcha spirit.

They want him there to grill him, maybe even to embarrass him.

If I know anything about Mike Johnson, as he's very good on his feet and I think he could handle, a few amateur Republican congresspeople, and I hope he goes of course, so much of his goal centered around the homeless issue.

And I really think that issue needs a reframe.

I mean, Mike Johnston, Mayor Johnston is always focused on how many people he's getting off the street, how many people he is putting into housing.

That is all worthwhile.

But at the same time, the total homeless count in Denver is growing.

And ultimately, the metric it strikes me needs to be is homelessness in Denver on the rise or on the fall?

If it is rising, what are all those factors and what do we do about those factors?

Because it doesn't do any good, just to continue to get people off the streets and put them into home.

Yes, and into homes.

Yes, it does some good on an individual basis, but ultimately the problem keeps getting worse.

The root, the root problems.

Okay.

Krista, do you remember that moment in Monty Python, in the Holy Grail when they said, on second thought, let's not go to Camelot.

It's a silly place.

And I should have done it in the accent, but that's what I would tell Mike Johnston.

On second thought, let's not go to DC.

It's a silly place.

Those hearings are dog and pony shows.

I know I was a congressional staffer and I'd have to say to him, don't go.

you have, but you have better, better chance of getting something actually done staying here in Denver.

And I'll actually speak up for Mike Johnston.

He, when he took immigrants into shelters back, I don't know if it was last year or the year before when we had an influx.

It was the middle of winter.

You don't tell people in the middle of winter.

Hey, you know, good luck.

There's a bridge.

Stay there.

You put them somewhere where they can get shelter, where they can get a roof over their head.

Now, a lot of those folks have now moved on to other cities.

They're looking at, other solutions.

But he did the right thing giving him a chance to talk about that to Congress on one hand, sounds like a great idea.

The idea that any of those congresspeople will actually hear what he has to say.

Slim chance.

On second thought, let's not go to DC.

It's a silly place.

you know, I agree with Krista.

in terms of.

It's a silly place, but I agree with Eric.

I think Mayor Johnston ought to go, and he ought to begin with two things.

When he speaks, number one, he ought to say, you know, you had a comprehensive immigration reform policy last year and you killed it.

So you have nothing.

So mayors like me and governors like Governor Polis have to do the best we can with no coherent federal guidance.

What have you done other than try to run around and lock people up and let them respond to that?

I think you use it as an opportunity to state your message and state your priorities in terms of the mayor's priorities moving forward.

He wants to get more unhoused off the street.

I agree that's what we need to do.

He wants to decrease, violent crime.

I think that's something we have to do.

I would also offer to the mayor, follow the advice of Patty Calhoun and Westword on the ten great ideas to revive downtown Patty.

If I may, I would add two more.

Number one, restore some on street parking And number two, it's called economic development.

Go to Macy's, go to Nordstrom's, go to someone and cut a deal You need something that starts to generate the dynamic.

Figure out how you do that.

Okay, I.

Think maybe Casa Bonita West.

I think he should definitely go to DC.

Let's remember, Mike Johnson went to DC to talk about the migrant issue on behalf of other mayors.

So he's not scared to go there.

He should follow up if he's getting this very charitable invitation.

the speech on Wednesday was planned before he got the invitation from Congress.

He stuck to his six bullet points and the things he wanted to focus on.

I agree with getting more people off the streets, but it's also important to get the people out of their houses and on the streets, and that's downtown.

So if he can really open the 16th Street Mall by this summer, activate it a little early to get Macy's or Nordstrom's down there, but he can certainly push for some very, very smart programs.

That reminds people downtown is a fun place to go compared to many other parts in the city, it's just as safe.

It's the heart of Denver and people should be there in Aurora this week, the city council announced some changes to its homeless policies.

And the meeting was virtual because of safety concerns and pass interruption from the public.

And the plan is for it to continue that way.

The meetings to go virtual for the time being with no public comment.

Krista, I want to start with you.

I get why they're meeting virtually.

There's threats against them.

And then as for the public comment, people were abusing that they had a chance to, you know, give what they had, what they believe criticism is comments to the Aurora City Council.

And instead of doing that, there was yelling.

There was, rude behavior.

And so they had to turn that part of the meeting off, basically, and not allow public comment because people were not handling it responsibly.

And now they have virtually because there are threats.

I think it needs to be, known to the public that if you behave this way, this is what's going to happen with your city council.

They're not going to let you speak and they're going to meet virtually.

But ultimately they have to hear from the citizens.

I think.

I mean, allowing that, but also making it very clear that if you start screaming, yelling, swearing that your mic will be turned off, you will not be heard.

The reality is this when you run for office and you get elected, you did that voluntarily.

You said, I want to be out representing the people in front of the public, doing things you can't then decide to hide because it's uncomfortable.

And we have virtual meetings.

How you treat people is often more important than what you do, and that works both ways.

The citizens who come and comment have to be respectful and show the appropriate decorum when they're dealing with city council, but city council also has to extend that to them.

But when you get to a dynamic where you start meeting virtually because you don't want to be in touch with people or you don't want to be exposed to them, you're going down.

I think A Dangerous Path often said, I got some of my best ideas and aisle 13 to the grocery store because someone would stop my daughter and I and say, why did you do this?

Or what about this?

Or what about that?

That's the dynamic tension you need if you're going to serve.

And Aurora needs to figure that out pretty.

Quickly, okay.

All right.

Aurora isn't the only city council that's had to deal with this.

There are many in the metro area that have had problems.

Denver, for example, had a problem when they were allowing virtual comments.

There wasn't the eight second delay, which is what I would argue everyone needs.

And there were racist epithets spewed at young black students testifying before City council.

It was appalling.

So every one of these councils has to figure out a way to let their citizens speak.

Maybe it's virtual with that eight second delay.

Maybe in Aurora it can be an in person and all the Ice agents cooling their heels while they wait to find out what they have to do it.

Buckley can throw out the troublemakers.

The public comment thing in Aurora has turned into a circus they need to get to.

I think it was Krista or Penn who used the word decorum.

They need to bring decorum back.

And that's the responsibility of both sides of whatever divide there is.

Secondly, with regard to the substance on the homeless thing, yes, Aurora has a different approach than Denver, and I am okay with that.

we used to refer to our 50 states as laboratories of democracy.

And what Oregon does doesn't have to be the same as what Arkansas does.

I think the same concept holds true of different municipalities around the region.

They do not have to have the same approach.

They can take different policies.

And let's then see evaluate which works and which one, others want to follow and copy.

So now in Aurora, they do not have to give a 72 hour notice that they're going to sweep an encampment.

And then also they don't have to have a place for people to go.

So all right.

And it's January.

Yes.

Can I add one more thought to this.

And it goes to Eric's point about decorum.

If you if you state the ground rules up front, the people who have been disruptive, their whole objective is they want to be heard.

And if they understand that, if they don't comport themselves in a certain way, that they won't get an opportunity to speak or they'll be thrown out of the room, they'll behave But sometimes the point is to be disruptive.

And that's when you get thrown out, except too often, particularly in the culture we're living in.

Pam, getting thrown out is the purpose.

It's it's what makes the news.

It's not the substance of your comment that makes the news.

It's the act of getting thrown out and that becomes your mission.

And quite frankly, that's where you wave your flag.

Okay, we have a little bit of promising news this week.

Colorado students are performing better than students in many other states, according to recent national testing, which shows that American students are falling behind in reading and their kind of average so-so in math.

But when you look a little bit closer at the Colorado, test results, kids are doing, scoring a little bit better, but they're still below the pre-pandemic levels.

And there's still that that gap between the academic haves and have nots.

Penn.

there's a problem when you're celebrating proficiency at 44%, that means 56% of the kids can't read or do math at grade level.

That's a problem for society.

And so we really need to figure out, and I don't think funding is the entire answer.

And I'm not certain if more testing is the entire answer.

I've always thought good teachers was a start and adequate resources.

I mean, I've done, visits to schools where I've met with students.

And one thing I've noticed is kind of in contrast to when I went to school, which I know was a long time ago, we could take books home and do homework.

And some of these schools, they can't take the books out of the building anymore because they don't have enough, and they have to stay in the classroom.

So the next cohort of students in the class can use the book K12 as a model.

We need to continue to be very innovative with because we are failing our kids.

If 56% of them can't be proficient at grade level, Patty.

And I'm afraid the circus in Washington, D.C., the silly place is going to continue now and go to our schools.

So we get this little bit of good news about Colorado's education.

But at the same time, on Tuesday, in came a letter from the Education department in D.C. to East High School, which dared to retrofit one bathroom so it's any gender.

It's not like open urinals.

It's private enough.

And they're saying they're going to investigate.

They're going to look into it.

This is not the only school that's going to be hit up.

This way, but let's pay attention to the education first, bringing in the teachers, making sure they've got the money they need.

And let's not worry about bathrooms.

They say, because they took a girls bathroom.

So the girls are being discriminated against, right.

But there are plenty of other girl bathrooms at East.

Okay, Eric.

Penfield said it very eloquently and articulately.

We need innovation, but this is a system and all the entrenched interests in this system tend to be hostile to innovation.

We can also, if this report shows anything, it is that money.

Yes, money matters, but it is not the essential variable.

If it was the essential variable, then New York's and New Jersey and California's would be on top of the list.

That is not where they are to be found.

So we need innovation here.

And it's a system that tends to be hostile to innovation.

All right.

And lastly, Krista.

I didn't have any alcohol at lunch.

So I'm surprised I'm actually saying this, but I actually agree with the Trump administration.

I don't know if we want to write that down somewhere.

because maybe the only time in the next four years, I think if you have a boys bathroom, you need to have a girls bathroom.

There needs to be equitable access.

And, taking away the only girls bathroom on the second floor isn't right.

If you want to have a coed bathroom, an all gender bathroom, that's fine.

But don't take the girls bathroom.

does this actually need to come down on high?

You'd think not.

You think school officials would have prevailed with a little bit of reason there, but I am actually glad the Trump administration is doing this.

Okay.

All right.

before we get to this week's highs and lows, I want to get your thoughts on the legendary Dana Crawford, the preservation as developer and community leader has passed away.

I'll start with you, Patty.

People don't remember what Dana really did for the city, so there was no preservation in the early 60s when they were clear cutting all these beautiful historic buildings downtown.

She had no experience as a preservationist or as a developer.

She went down to Larimer, saw that 1400 block, which was then a skid row, and said, I am going to save it.

And she did.

And without her doing that, we would have no LoDo.

We might not have Coors Field where it is.

She really changed how the city looked.

And what we need to do is make sure we preserve her legacy and keep it looking better.

Great article in Westword that has various people's quotes and thoughts and memories of her.

Really?

You should check it out.

Everybody.

Beautifully said Patty, as I was thinking about Dana Crawford getting ready for this show, four words came to mind.

I'll just list off those four words.

She was a visionary.

She was a pioneer here.

She was a trailblazer.

And for this community, she was indispensable.

what a life she lived.

What an impact she made.

I happen to know.

Not well, her son Jack, who still lives in Denver, and wife Madeline and their family and sympathies, certainly go to them.

What a life well-lived.

That's good.

What a great human being.

I mean, at the time, as Patty was saying, it was build, baby build, right?

They were just knocking down these buildings with no care for for history, for US athletics.

And here she comes along and saves this, the street, setting the groundwork to save other places as well.

And I find myself thinking about the magic pan and a bunch of those restaurants that were, you know, that that that took that leap of faith and opened up on that street.

And, and why we still have that wonderful legacy is because of her.

You know, I agree with everything that's been said.

I had a couple words to Eric's description, fierce and determined.

This was a woman who could, as I like to say, rage Against the Machine.

But she always did it with class, with calm, with decorum.

And she got things done.

And she was not necessarily a big moneybags developer influencer.

She found a way to build consensus to get to a better end, and the city will will sorely missed her.

I share Eric and condolences to Jack and Madeline and the family, and thank you for the time your mother was with us and what she gave us.

Yeah.

Okay.

Now let's talk about some of the highs and lows of this week.

We will start with the lows and we'll start with Patty.

I'm going back to that silly place of Washington, D.C., where they are interviewing Robert F Kennedy to run our health department.

It's extraordinary that it is still continuing.

Good for his cousin Caroline, who smacked him, and Michael Bennet, Senator Michael Bennet, who came up with an incredible discussion with him.

listen to it, watch it, read it.

If you haven't.

He did a great job.

But we don't want RFK Jr as health.

Well, it wasn't specifically didn't take place in Washington, but our seemingly deputy president, Elon Musk, chose Holocaust Remembrance Day to talk about, the political party he's supporting in Germany, AfD, the alternatives for Deutschland.

And his quote was as follows.

Quote, there is too much focus on past guilt, and we need to move beyond that.

This is a party that has historically played footsie with Holocaust deniers.

He chose Holocaust Remembrance Day to make that statement.

It speaks for itself and it's shameful.

the GOP, Colorado Republicans in particular have got to stop grousing about laying hens and the new humane standards that keep them out of those awful cages.

Clip, blaming them for high egg prices.

Egg prices have to do with the fact that millions of hens have died of avian flu, a supply and demand kind of a thing.

You'd think Republicans might know a thing or two about economics.

At least they used to.

and, you know, this desire to repeal that bill and put those those birds back in those cages is absolutely ridiculous.

So shame on them.

Okay.

mine is the Patty's point.

The the silly place.

And I talk about all of the confirmation hearings that I've been watching when I see and when I remember the background of, Lloyd Austin, General Austin and some other people.

And then I see Pete Hegseth.

I'm like, so being in the Army for a few years qualifies you to be secretary of defense?

Seriously, there's something wrong, and I understand wanting to shock and awe a nation and the world with some very controversial choices and people who are disruptors.

But there's a difference between disruptive and being competent.

And I think we need to keep sight of that.

Okay.

Don't you know that being on Fox News qualifies you to do anything?

Oh, I didn't know that.

It's true.

Okay, so I need to get there, Okay.

Stay right here.

let's check on the, positive things that you guys have on your list.

Two positive things.

It's.

We're in the middle of Lunar New Year.

Big celebration at the East Center this weekend.

Get out there.

And we've got a whole month for Black Heritage Month.

And there will be events around town.

So get out and celebrate the diversity in this town.

Good.

Since Patty played with the number two, I just want to mention two women, formidable women who have moved on from long time careers.

Michelle Fulcher, journalist par excellence dating back to the Denver Post, then, Steve School of Journalism and the last many years at Colorado Public Radio has retired.

And Harriet Crittendon, the mayor who has been the head of the Highline Canal Conservancy for the last decade or more, is stepping down from that post.

And what a difference she made in terms of that jewel for our city.

Okay, good.

Thank you.

Michelle.

Great.

That was great.

the Independence Institute redesigned their, complete Colorado the web page that's got their agree.

It's an aggregator for news, plus some original journalism.

And it looks sharp.

Okay.

All right.

again, go to some of the events for black Heritage Month.

The other thing you probably covered this one.

I wasn't here, but kudos to Mayor Johnston for fulfilling a campaign promise and moving forward to have the city acquire the Park Hill Golf course land, would be the third or fourth largest park in the city, the largest acquisition of private land for a public park.

Thank you very much.

Right here.

Very good.

Normally I end the show with my own high.

But this week is not a normal week.

I need to acknowledge the life of one of our coworkers whom we lost on Monday here at PBS12.

Gary Fultz, was our master control operator here at PBS 12 for almost ten years.

You at home might not know who Gary was because he was a behind the scenes, player, but a very integral player.

In fact, Gary, was the one who put all the programing on the air for you to watch here on PBS 12.

Gary was managing all the content, checking the audio, checking the video.

He would make sure that everything there were no problems.

He fixed everything.

And he is going to be so very missed.

Already is here at the station.

Gary was a nice guy.

And I wish so much comfort and love and the best of memories to Gary's friends and family.

And that includes the PBS 12 family, which Gary was so very, very proud to be a part of.

I am Kyle Dyer.

I will see you next week here on PBS 12.

Take good care everybody.

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