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March 25, 2021
DENVER, COLORADO
A publication of
VOLUME 94 | ISSUE 20
Ensuring the earth is a livable space in the future Denver students with Youth Sustainability Board join teens across the U.S. for Earth Day tree planting BY CHRISTY STEADMAN CSTEADMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Those involved with the Youth Sustainability Board believe that “when you’re fighting for the earth, you’re fighting for all the people on it.” These are the words of Dakota Gelman, a junior at the Denver School of the Arts who, along with Felicia Winfrey, serves as the Youth Sustainability Board’s co-president. “This is our earth,” added Winfrey, a senior at Denver South High School. “It’s really important that we work to make it a livable space. And it’s important for youth to recognize that we can make changes.” The Youth Sustainability Board (YSB) is a student-run nonprofit that offers middle-and-high school students across Colorado “a platform to pioneer sustainability initiatives in their schools and greater communities,” states its website. YSB got its start roughly two years ago by Maddy Gawler, who, at the time, was working toward her undergraduate degree at the University of Denver; and two then-high school students who are now both in college — Hailey Hayes, a graduate of South High School, and Sam Anderson, an East High School graduate. Gawler, 24, completed her master’s degree in international development with a certificate in global corporate social responsibility in SEE EARTH, P9
Denver eatery numbers tumble Active licenses for food sellers drop 25% since January 2020 BY KEVIN BEATY DENVERITE
A group of South High School’s sustainability club members gather for a photo durCOURTESY PHOTO ing the Fridays for the Future Climate Strike on Sept. 20, 2019.
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 8 | LIFE: PAGE 10 | CALENDAR: PAGE 11
It’s difficult to say exactly how the pandemic impacted business in Denver, but data from the city’s Department of Excise and Licenses gives us a look at what’s happened over the last year. Records show that there are 25% fewer active licenses for food sellers - including restaurants, caterers and food trucks - than in January 2020. We crunched numbers for some other industries, too. Let’s begin with some basic ground rules: 1. Certain enterprises in the city must hold an “active” license to do business. You need a license, for instance, to sell food or liquor, to tattoo someone for money or to operate a pedicab. 2. Licenses stay active for a year and must be renewed. If a business owner calls it quits, she might not bother to cancel her license. Some of the businesses that closed recently, like LoDo’s famous El Chapultepec, still technically have active licenses. So declines in licenses SEE EATERY, P14
ARTS APLENTY IN TOWN
Pop-up art market celebrates women P10