When trying to come up with topics to discuss each week on Colorado Inside Out, I look to all sorts of news sources, talk with our panelists and, as is the case this week, listen to my 19-year-old daughter, Eliza. She is a sports genius who texted me the breaking news about Denver in exclusive talks about getting a professional women’s soccer league expansion. At a time when the news topics can be complex or stressful, I knew I wanted to include this exciting news and it just so happens that one of our Insider panelists is with the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce so there’s lots of positive possibilities to discuss!

Crime and Immigration:
Our Insider panel discussed the violent home invasion in Aurora this week. A migrant couple from Venezuela was robbed and tortured allegedly by 16 suspected Venezuelan gang members at the Edge of Lowry Apartment complex, which received national attention last summer for gang violence. Aurora’s new police chief Todd Chamberlain has been very upfront about the investigation with the media and the community. Westword editor Patty Calhoun: “What is surprising [is that] at long last, the Aurora police chief is really being transparent.” Patty went on to mention how this week brought the second anniversary of when Denver Mayor Mike Johnston declared a state of emergency because of the flood of immigrants arriving in the city. She also shared how some migrants then moved out of Denver and into Aurora, creating issues for that city that have now made national headlines.

President-Elect Trump’s plan to eliminate Daylight Saving Time:
The President-Elect says Daylight Saving Time is costly to the American economy and wants to eliminate it in his second term. This topic is nothing new to Colorado. The debate over permanent daylight time started in the 1980s in the Colorado legislature. In 2022, Colorado passed a bill to keep the state on Mountain Daylight Time permanently, but it hasn’t happened yet because there has to be action at the federal level. We’ll see what happens. The Insider panel questions if this is pressing for the administration.

Labor and Unions:
A proposed bill for the upcoming legislative session aims to change Colorado’s 80-year-old union formation and collective bargaining law. The Labor Peace Act, signed into law in 1943, sets Colorado apart from other states in that it requires two elections to permit a union security agreement. The bill seeks to eliminate the second vote which requires all employees in a unionized workplace to pay representation fees. The proposed bill aims to eliminate this requirement, potentially shifting the balance of power towards unions. Carly West, VP of Government Affairs with the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, is against the upcoming legislation. “The Labor Peace Act has been really critical for Colorado in terms of our economic competitiveness,” West said. “We actually rank above both right to work states and closed union shop states when it comes to job growth and economic competitiveness, so this has been a win for Colorado.” Denver Attorney and former State Senator and State Representative Penfield Tate added some historical context to the law. “80 years ago, it was used as a tool, the second vote was to limit the ability of blacks and Latinos to be involved in the agricultural and the mining industries, and keeping them out and keep and suppressing wages.” Colorado Sun reporter Jesse Paul expects this to be one of the top issues before the 2025 Colorado Legislature.

Denver in exclusive talks to get a National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) team.
The panel talks about how this will be a big boost to the city’s reputation as a sports hub, economic development, and the growth of women’s professional sports. The expansion fee before the Denver ownership group is pricey and estimated be in the $105M -$120M range. It would be the largest expansion fee ever in U.S. women’s sports. “We know what a team looks like in terms of the economic activity that brings on game days, when we have people come in from out of town, folks are downtown, they’re visiting bars and restaurants and staying in hotels, and there is a lot of economic vibrancy that comes from having those sports teams, not to mention the national clout that we get out of this as well,” Carly West said. Penfield Tate mentioned about his father’s involvement in getting Major League Baseball to grant Colorado an expansion team in the early 1990s. Like the Rockies’ expansion bid, the ownership group vying for the new women’s soccer club is promising to build a new stadium for the team. NWSL will make a final decision in January.

It is great to end on a hopeful and happy note as we prepare for a holiday week. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah and Happy Kwanzaa.