Hey everybody! The circus is town!

Hi! I'm Matt Campbell
As a native of Colorado and Denver I never would have imagined the transformation that has taken place over the past 20 years. Development, commercialization, gentrification, etc... There is a hint of sophistication in the air that didn't exist when I was a kid. Not the kind of sophistication that comes with time and experience and achievement, but the kind that is painted on, and over a culture and history. Denver is a city with an identity crisis. So eager for attention it will morph into almost anything. In the summer people act like it's L.A. In the winter they think it's New York. To busy trying to be somewhere else, it forgets to be itself.

However, no matter my own feelings, it is obvious that for the arrival of the circus, eh, convention, Denver brought it's "A" game. Gone are the landmarks of a free wheeling era when Larimer Street was a sea of flop houses and bars, our football team played in a baseball stadium, North Denver was Italian, and the police wore uniforms with pearl buttons. In their place are restaurants and hotels, efficient public transportation, a state of the art stadium that is a day away from being part of American history, mixed neighborhoods, and a security force that is armed to the hilt. And if weren't partly due to those changes, I wouldn't have the chance to be in Denver for this extraordinary time.

I am proud to call Denver my city this week.

When else would I get an interview with Harry Shearer on the street? When else would Dan Rather answer my question about the state of corporate media? When else would I have a pass around my neck that allows me to eat free sandwiches and drink free beer? I have seen 16th Street mall crowded before, but not Pro-Lifers shouting at Pro-Choicers with bull horns, and vice-versa. It's been a while since the Pepsi Center has seen the Nuggets deliver any sort of gold, but maybe the Democrats can use it to propel themselves to victory. Civic Center park looks like it does normally, except the city tried to move the local riff-raff out so the out of town riff-raff would have a place to stay. The energy on the street has been palpable, and that is one rare feeling for Denver.

And there is an identity this week, even if it's just a sense that we are all in it together. Hell, I get to play reporter! Ah yes, from Obama action figures to the fight to ban bird porn(I'm not kidding), the circus is in town. And all the clowns with it.

Fort Collins releases report on homelessness

Fort Collins is joining the nationwide effort to eliminate homelessness. On August 21st they released their report on the what homelessness looks like in the Choice City.
The Fort Collins Mayor, Doug Hutchinson and the community leaders who've been worked on this effort talked about the results of their study.
They were joined by Philip Mangano, director of the US Interagency Council on Homelessness.

KRFC's Caroline Harding reports on the press conference, and she talked to Rep. John Kefalas, who's a member of Governor Ritter's committee on the Homeless.