One Colorado Press Conference Rescheduled Due To Weather

Due to the Colorado House and Senate being closed today because of the weather, Once Colorado's press conference originally scheduled for today -- February 23rd -- has been canceled. Please stay tuned for a rescheduled date and time.

Log Cabin Republicans Response to CPAC Invitation

Following two days of productive discussions with leadership of the American Conservative Union (ACU), Log Cabin Republicans has been given an invitation to speak at this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) as part of the panel “Putin’s Russia: A New Cold War?” In response, Log Cabin Republicans National Executive Director Gregory T. Angelo issued the following statement:

It will be an honor to represent Log Cabin Republicans at CPAC 2015 as part of the panel “Putin’s Russia: A New Cold War?” with Seth Cropsey, Carly Fiorina, Cliff May, and Amanda Brickell Bellows.

There has been a great deal of confusion over the last 48 hours regarding the Log Cabin Republicans role in CPAC 2015. After some very fruitful conversations with the leadership of The American Conservative Union, we would like to express regret if anyone associated with The American Conservative Union felt unfairly maligned. That was never our intention.

For years, all we have wanted is for Log Cabin Republicans to be able to provide a meaningful contribution to CPAC, be it as sponsors, speakers, or panelists. Now is not the time to make the perfect the enemy of the good. Log Cabin Republicans will continue working toward full sponsorship of future CPACs. In the meantime, I look forward to bringing the gay conservative perspective to CPAC 2015 on behalf of Log Cabin Republicans, as well as the message that when conservatives focus on unity rather than division, we win.

The panel “Putin’s Russia: A New Cold War?” will take place at CPAC 2015 at 12pm Saturday, February 28.

DGLCC Board elects new members, announces changes

The DGLCC announced that four new members have been elected to its Board of Directors and that some Board members are transitioning to new positions.

The newly-elected Board members and their respective roles are:
Ceelee Chainey, ambassadors;
Craig Brown, events;
Danielle Jordan, membership;
Topher La Fleur, PR and communications

Board members who will continue in their current roles are Wade Frisbie, Co-chair of the Board, Kay Feldman, Secretary and Dave Donaldson, Board member.

Sally Taylor has transitioned to Board Treasurer and Jim Smith has been elected to Co-chair with Wade. Pamela Howard has moved into a new role as the Special Projects Liaison.

The Board of Directors is very excited about these changes and would like to extend a welcome to the new members and thank existing ones for their dedication.

Everyone is encouraged to attend the next Business After Hours, hosted by Danielle Jordan at Blush & Blu on Feb. 26th, to meet the new Board members and learn more about the roles of those starting new positions.

Nice To See StevieB: Beard Today, Gone Tomorrow

By StevieB

School has begun with fervor and abandon of all personal time and space. Week one; just as an ice breaker saw our hero write a paper on Shakespeare's tragedies focusing on Macbeth. Fun. And, over in history class I researched the debate of the native people living amongst the American continent before 1492. Although nothing should get in the way of blogging, my life quickly came to developing the new habits. That part of life, the establishing of new habits, always throw me for a loop. One professor wants all work turned in on Mondays, the other on Thursdays. I'm pretty sure I have it figured out, now.

I did find time to shave off the beard. Although I couldn't possible work up the courage to shave completely. A radicle trim had to suffice. On my trip annual visit to a local museum I snapped the last known photo of my 2014 beard....

Then later that night, hanging out in the boyfriends bathroom I trimmed down my face like a sheep being trimmed in early spring....

A year of beard, gone. Meh. No big deal. Time for 2015 and more follicle frivolity.

This post originally appeared on Steven Bennet's website Nice to See StevieB. Republished with permission.

10 Trends to Try for 10 Days of Denver Restaurant Week 2015

From the New York Times to the Wall Street Journal, Denver’s dining scene has been hot in the press recently, and now residents and visitors will have an opportunity to see what all the buzz is about with substantial savings during Denver Restaurant Week, Feb. 20-March 1, 2015.

For ten days, nearly 300 of Denver’s finest restaurants will offer multi-course dinners for the tasty price of just $30 per person. The only challenge? With so many choices, how do you decide where to go?  Here are ten Denver Restaurant Week trends to get you thinking.

1.    Gluten-free or vegan, no problem! There are 169 restaurants offering gluten-free items, and in true Colorado fashion, a whopping 93 have vegan options.

2.    The new kids on the block. It's always exciting to try a restaurant brand new to Denver Restaurant Week! Here are a few hotspots that should make your list: Cart-Driver; Cebiche Highlands; Cheeky Monk Belgian Beer Café; Chowder Room; Dorchester Social Eatery; Timberline Steakhouse DIA; Season’s 52; and Stoic & Genuine.

3.    Tried and true. Many of Denver's top restaurants participate in this culinary event year after year, offering tasty multi-course meals of signature dishes and exciting new plates. You can't go wrong with one of these Denver Restaurant Week staples: Barolo Grill; Bistro Vendome; Broker Restaurant; Carmine's on Penn; Denver Chophouse & Brewery; Elway's Cherry Creek; The Fort; The Greenbriar Inn; Luca; Maggiano's Little Italy; McCormick's Fish House & Bar; Rioja; and The Summit Steakhouse.

4.    It’s all about the extras. Many restaurants are offering a bottle of wine, cocktails, beer or a 4th course as part of their restaurant week menu. Here are a few of the restaurants offering something extra: At Southern Hospitality choose a Colorado draft beer, house wine, whiskey or Moscow Mule; enjoy a glass of house wine or house made limoncello at Colore Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria; iFish Japanese Grill & Sushi is offering both a sushi starter and large carafe of hot, cold or house infused sake; share a bottle of wine at Racines and at Limon choose an amuse bouche to share.

5.    The spirit of dessert. With most restaurants offering some sort of dessert in their multi-course meal offering, this is not the time to count calories. This year, several restaurants are boozin’ up their desserts with beer, wine or whiskey. Try one of these over-the-top desserts: Modena Wine Café is featuring a selection of alcohol infused ice creams including Left Hand Nitro Stout and a Cosmo Sorbet; the Figgy Pudding Brandy sauce with orange ice cream at Duo; Belgian Chocolate Torte with Housemade Porter Ice Cream at Cheeky Monk Belgian Beer Café; and bourbon Vanilla Bean Crème Brûlée at Charcoal Restaurant.

6.    No shortage of short ribs. It’s all about the beef, ‘bout the beef…no chicken! Colorado is ranching country, and as you would suspect, beef is what’s for dinner on many Denver Restaurant Week menus. Blackbird, The Berkshire, Coohills, The Dorchester, Spruce Farm and Fish and Spuntino are just a few of the restaurants offering short ribs, each with their own unique flavor. Randolph's Restaurant will feature a buffalo short rib and - not to neglect chicken entirely - Altitude Restaurant is offering a chicken fried short rib on their menu.

7.    How would you like your mushrooms? Mushrooms are hot in 2015, and some of the tastiest offerings include: Winter Mushroom Ragu from 1515 Restaurant; Crespelle ai Funghi from Panzano; Wild Mushroom Duzelle Arancini from Charcoal Restaurant; and Cup of Morel Mushroom Soup from Bent Fork American Grill.

8.    What was that again? There is no shortage of exotic items on Denver Restaurant Week menus. Some of the more memorable ones: Bones is offering Escargot Potstickers; The Nickel will have Squid Ink cavatelli; Corridor 44 will have Caviar Potato Chips; and Coohills will offer Wild Burgundy Snails.

9.    There’s something “fishy” happening in Denver. When you realize most fish is shipped by airplanes, then airports become seaports – making Denver one of the largest and busiest “seafood ports” in America and Denver restaurants are offering excellent fish choices during Denver Restaurant Week. For example: Humboldt Farm Fish will be dishing out smoked trout dip with potato chips and sweet onion jam; while Kevin Taylor, Vita and Beatrice & Woodsley will offer their own versions of Colorado Striped Bass with plenty of delicious complementary sides.

10.  Read all about it! Some of the restaurants recently featured in articles on Denver in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal that are participating in Denver Restaurant Week include: Rioja, Euclid Hall Bar & Kitchen, Bistro Vendome, The Squeaky Bean and Jax Fish House.

See the full list of restaurants and menus at DenverRestaurantWeek.com.

Spotlight Theatre presents “Enchanted April”

Spotlight Theatre presents “Enchanted April” February 21 through March 21 at the John Hand Theater in Lowry. with performances on Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30.p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m and Saturday, Mar 21 at 2 p.m.. Tickets are $21 Adult, $19 Students/Seniors and available by calling 720-880-8727 or online at www.thisisspotlight.com.

Based on the 1922 best-selling novel by Elizabeth Von Arnim, Barber fashions a romantic comedy that begins in the gloomy days of post-WWI London. From there, four ladies embark on a month-long holiday at an Italian villa in order to escape their humdrum lives. There, among the wisteria blossoms and Mediterranean sunshine, all four bloom again-rediscovering themselves in ways that they could never have expected. Throw into the mix two self-absorbed husbands, a charming Italian Landlord, and a scene-stealing maid and the result becomes astounding.

Paid Summer Art Internships Available at MOA

MOA is recruiting summer interns for Design and Build Summer Session 2015. The program is open to high school seniors and undergraduate level students. Interns are PAID and will work in a studio environment with a professional artist in residence. Visit the Design and Build website for more details on how to apply.

Denver Dumb Friends League Offers Free Cat Spay/Neuter Clinics for World Spay Day

In honor of World Spay Day, the Dumb Friends League is offering free cat spay and neuter surgeries through its mobile clinics on Tuesday, Feb. 24, at the Northglenn Recreation Center.

The Dumb Friends League will have two mobile clinics available at the Northglenn Recreation Center, located at 11701 Community Center Drive. The clinics will open at 7:30 a.m. and are first-come, first-served. The first 100 people to bring their cat to be spayed or neutered will receive a free gift. The League is expecting a large turnout and is encouraging people to arrive as early as possible.

World Spay Day is an international campaign that shines a spotlight on spaying and neutering to help save the lives of companion animals. The campaign promotes spay/neuter as a simple, humane and effective way to curb pet overpopulation and reduce the number of homeless pets in the United States and abroad.

“Our goal is to make spay and neuter clinics more accessible to more people,” said Amanda Beals, outreach manager at the Dumb Friends League. “As a community, we’re actively working together to combat pet overpopulation, ultimately reducing the number of homeless pets that come into our shelters.”

The Dumb Friends League has two mobile clinics—the Meow Mobile and Lulu Mobile—that provide spay and neuter services at reduced fees, subsidized by Dumb Friends League donors, to pets in underserved communities within the Denver metro area six days a week. Each surgery is performed by a veterinarian licensed in the state of Colorado. Last year alone, the two Dumb Friends League mobile clinics spayed and neutered more than 8,700 owned pets.

Good Chemistry – Denver’s Gay-Friendly Dispensary

Good Chemistry, Denver’s gay-friendly dispensary, is guided by four core principles:

SCIENCE – Good Chemistry believes that Cannabis has significant therapeutic benefits and work to support and expand its study.

ACCESS - Good Chemistry believes that many barriers exist which fundamentally restrict access to safe reliable medical grade cannabis and search for meaningful ways to remove them.

DIGNITY - Good Chemistry believes in the fundamental and inalienable right of a person to choose their medical treatment. Recognizing that often patients who take cannabis are subjected to unfair treatment under the law, Good Chemistry is committed to defending and protecting the rights of their patients.

COMPASSION - Good Chemistry recognizes that medical cannabis is a potent and effective medicine for many patients who cannot afford it and is dedicated to providing for those in need.

Madeon - Pay No Mind ft. Passion Pit

Electronic music phenom Madeon has released the video for his brand new track "Pay No Mind" featuring Passion Pit. "Pay No Mind" is now available as one of six instant downloads to fans who pre-order the deluxe version of Madeon's upcoming debut album Adventure.

HUD Clarifies Policy for Transgender Residents in Federally Funded Shelters

Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued guidance clarifying that single-sex shelters receiving federal funds must respect the gender identity of all residents and provide access to sex-segregated shelters based on gender identity.

HUD’s announcement clarifies the agency’s position on an issue that has been left unresolved since the 2012 LGBT Equal Access Rule. This rule prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and marital status in all public housing programs and services administered or funded by HUD. This new guidance on the LGBT Equal Access Rule provides much-needed clarification with respect to grantees obligations on treatment of transgender shelter-seekers.

Statement from NCLR Policy Director Maya Rupert:

“We applaud HUD for issuing this critical explanation. Discrimination against transgender shelter-seekers is one of the most significant and dangerous types of housing discrimination that the LGBT community faces. People attempt to access shelters at one of the most vulnerable moments of their lives. Forcing a transgender person to be housed by the wrong gender at a shelter is a terrible violation, and has resulted in many of them being denied access to emergency shelter. HUD clarifying that this constitutes discrimination will save the lives of many transgender people. We look forward to continuing to work with HUD to ensure that this guidance is fully integrated into the LGBT Equal Access Rule.”

Today’s announcement means that all shelters receiving any funds from HUD—which constitutes a significant percentage of shelters operating in the country—must allow transgender and gender non-conforming people access to the shelter that corresponds with their gender identity. This new guidance also discourages shelters from requesting any documentation as proof of a shelter-seeker’s asserted gender identity and urges grantees to provide cultural competency training for facility staff on best practices on working with the transgender community.

Ricky Martin's "A Quien Quiera Escuchar" Tops the Charts

The global superstar Ricky Martin debuts at No. 1 on the Latin albums chart for the U.S. and Puerto Rico with his new release A Quien Quiera Escuchar  (To Whoever Wants to Listen), which debuted February 10 on Sony Music Latin.

Vatican welcomes LGBT Catholics

Dozens of LGBT Catholics received priority seating this week in an audience before Pope Francis at the Vatican. 

"This is a sign of movement that's due to the Francis effect," said Sister Jeannine Gramick, co-founder of the Catholic gay rights group that helped organize the event.

New defense secretary selects openly gay chief of staff

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter this week named Eric Fanning as his new chief of staff. Fanning, who is openly gay, was the highest-ranking LGBT person in the Department of Defense while serving as undersecretary in the Air Force. Fanning, a former member of the Victory Fund board of directors, has served in the Navy, the House Armed Services Committee, the Department of Defense and the White House under President Bill Clinton.

Chile nears settlement with same-sex couples

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet

Chilean officials met this week with an LGBT advocacy group to discuss a possible settlement with three same-sex couples seeking marriage rights. The settlement calls for the Chilean government to drop its opposition to marriage equality and for a marriage bill to be introduced in the Chilean Legislature.