Cooper, the Broncos’ outside linebacker, was arrested Thursday night for the second time in about a week. The 28-year-old defender, according to online records, was booked at the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office detention facility on a charge of domestic violence and misdemeanor charges of harassment and violation of a protection order.

The details paint an even scarier picture. Cooper and his girlfriend were arrested last Thursday night and given a court order to stay away from one another. Only records indicate that Cooper’s girlfriend called police this Thursday, a few hours after the Broncos completed organized team activities, to say that the Broncos edge-rusher had shown up at her apartment and knocked on the door for “five to 10 minutes.”

According to an affidavit, Cooper sent her at least 20 messages. Both were under court protection orders that forbid them from interacting, stemming from a June 4 incident in which the woman endured “strangulation with hypoxia and traumatic brain injury,” the affidavit reads.

“I started to cry and he pressed, like, further — (because) he had me held up against the wall — he just pressed further and then dropped me and just started screaming at me that it was my fault and that I, like, caused this, and that I was like, a (expletive),” she told police, according to the affidavit.

Cut him. Now.

This isn’t just about football. It’s about trust. It’s about accountability. It’s about decency. What was becoming a distraction for a franchise riding high during a championship window has taken a more awful, serious turn.

The Broncos have to ask themselves a simple question today: Which cost is greater? I Or the stain on a franchise from a story that gets worse by the day?

For Carrie Walton-Penner and Greg Penner, this shouldn’t even be a discussion.

You move on.

Cooper isn’t just a danger to a team’s image anymore. He’s become a danger to another human being. A second arrest, and every unseemly anecdote that’s emerged since, removes any benefit of the doubt. All Cooper had to do to keep his career on track and his team out of the headlines was … nothing.  He couldn’t.

If the Broncos do nothing in response, then what does that say about them?

“We had a long visit with Coop,” Payton, the Broncos’ coach, said Thursday afternoon as voluntary organized team activities (OTAs) wrapped up with Cooper in attendance, “and now the process plays out.”

And Coop did what he did anyway.

“I haven’t (talked about it with the team), and yeah, my instincts told me not to right away,” Payton continued. “(At) this time next week, we have three days of mini-camp. We’ll have a number of speakers. I think there’ll be a time, though, to talk about it.”

That time is right here. Right now. As a best-case scenario, NFL precedent suggests a hefty suspension for Cooper is coming — most likely for six games, regardless of what the courts decide.

The Post’s Luca Evans reported late Thursday night that officials added felony second-degree strangulation charges to the Broncos defender’s case. The veteran linebacker pleaded not guilty in court last week and was seen practicing this past Thursday at OTAs — the last voluntary team session before mandatory mini-camp begins Tuesday. Cooper is slated for a motions hearing on July 6, and a potential jury trial in late July.

Last year, the NFL suspended Chiefs receiver Rashee Rice six games after the wideout pled guilty to two third-degree felony charges stemming from a road-racing incident in Dallas. In 2024, the league suspended then-Arizona wideout Zay Jones for the first five games of the regular season after Jones was charged with misdemeanor domestic battery in Florida. Those charges were later dropped. The suspension wasn’t.

And when it comes to replacements — no, Von Miller isn’t necessarily the logical answer here, either.

For one, the 58 you knew and loved is Von gone. Miller hasn’t played on more than 37% of his team’s defensive snaps since 2022. Pro Football Focus hasn’t given him a grade better than 85.8 (out of 100) since 2021. PFF says The Vonster missed 20% of the tackles he attempted last fall with Washington.

The popular scouting site’s wonks pegged Miller in 2025 as a 64.4-rated defender. Which, we’ll grant you, is solid for a then-36-year-old edge guy. It’s also a drop of 21.1 points from the 85.5 overall grade Vonster collected as a member of the Buffalo Bills in 2024.

Meanwhile, Broncos linebacker Jonah Elliss is 23. PFF graded him out with a 75.8 score overall during the regular season. Elliss recorded three sacks and 18 hurries on 370 snaps, per the site’s advanced metrics, and … didn’t miss a tackle.

Dondrea Tillman is 28. PFF gave him a 68.5 overall grade, with a run-stopping grade of 72.3, which ranked 19th in the league among edge-rushers. Missed-tackle rate: 15.4%.

Que Robinson is 25. He landed a 65.4 overall PFF grade on just 163 snaps as a rookie last fall. Missed-tackle rate: 16.7%.

It’s easy to put 2 and 2 together and come up with a 58 reunion. Only that’s fuzzy math.

The Broncos don’t just have cheaper, younger options than Miller. They have better ones, already on hand.

Per Spotrac.com, the Broncos, as of Friday morning, at $30.36 million. The site said Vonster was worth a 1-year, $5.8-million deal , which would certainly fit the budget.

But does he fit the building? Payton’s built a culture in Dove Valley around his image, his standard. Von takes up a lot of oxygen in any locker room he joins. But especially the one here, where 58 is already revered.

To general manager George Paton’s credit, the roster is already buffered in case of a long-term Cooper absence. We haven’t even mentioned Drew Sanders yet. And defensive coordinator Vance Joseph slathered Robinson with all kinds of love Thursday when asked about the second-year defender’s upside for 2026.

“After the season, watching the cut-ups (of game tape) … when Que played, he played really well,” Joseph said. “He looked like a guy who could be a future starter for us … so it’s our job to keep improving with Que, and get him more reps.”

If Payton is serious about accountability and trust, a window on the Broncos’ defense is about to open. A Super Bowl flag is on the ground, now, waiting for the next man to pick it up and run to daylight.

The Republican gubernatorial candidate has attended only one debate alongside his two opponents. He’s never run for office before and has few prominent Republican officials backing him. His backstory is extensive and full of the sort of bizarre detail that, in a pre-Donald Trump world, would likely have caused his campaign to implode before it left the launchpad.

And after the June 30 primary, Marx very well may be Colorado Republicans’ candidate for governor.

“This is pretty wild,” he said recently, standing in front of his nonprofit’s indoor shooting range, a handgun holstered in his waistband. “Someone like me, running for governor.”

The comment appeared to come less from bewilderment at how far he’d come than from vindicated confidence. And it belied what has been a thoroughly, carefully atypical campaign — one that has leaned on the 60-year-old’s charm, his direct outreach to voters and his use of the now-familiar pitch of a political outsider who shares voters’ distaste for elected politicians and campaign-speak.

As he’s outraised other Republicans and seized headlines, Marx has also been bombarded with questions about his background from reporters and from skeptical conservatives.

He’s said he was forced to kill a man as a child and, when asked by , he replied, “Does it matter?” He once ran martial arts schools in Hawaii and is a black belt in “Cajun Karate,” a form of martial arts created by his dad, Karl.

He describes himself as a “high-risk humanitarian” who trains law enforcement and provides trauma relief to people in the United States and overseas, including in conflict zones. Another humanitarian confirmed that Marx was in Iraq a decade ago and that, though he was largely behind the front lines, he was present when medical workers came under fire at least twice.

Marx also talks frequently about praying to free people from demons that, , can be attracted by porn or unmarried couples living together. In one 2023 podcast, Marx and that, after his dog identified a supernatural presence in a couple at a pool, he set a woman free from “five demons that had been assigned to her.”

In an interview with The Denver Post, Marx said it didn’t matter if reporters believed him and that he was comfortable with scrutiny of his background, even as it’s drawn .

Voters will decide, he said, arguing that he was qualified because of their support.

“Judge us by the ability to run a campaign,” he said, “and look at the guy who’s never done it, nothing — but stepped into it, was aware of the problem and the need, (and) assessed what needed to be done to win. I have avoided some pitfalls of doing it the old way, but the action I’ve taken has broken records.”

Marx raised $2.67 million through late May, the most of any Republican gubernatorial candidate up to that point in at least 20 years. To get on the ballot, he submitted more than 28,000 signatures, more than any gubernatorial campaign since at least 2014. Those signatures were not verified because Marx earned ballot access through an assembly vote.

U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, who did not return messages seeking comment; musician Ted Nugent; three county sheriffs; and Mark Geist, who defended the U.S. embassy in Libya in 2012. (Marx’s campaign has also paid Geist and his wife for consulting and security work.)

Dick Wadhams, a former chairman of the state GOP and critic of Marx, said Marx had run “the strangest campaign I’ve seen in all the years I’ve been involved in this business.”

He argued that Marx’s beliefs about demons and his assertions that he’s helped tens of thousands of women and children — some amount of which he’s claimed to have rescued, alongside more he’s said he’s helped by providing them stuffed animals and trauma support — were so outlandish that they would cost the party in down-ballot races in November.

Kristi Burton Brown, another former state party chair, questioned Marx’s apparent disinterest in policy discussions and debates. His opponents, state Rep. Scott Bottoms and state Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer, have called him a fraud and a con man; both said they would not support him should he win the nomination.

‘New territory for a political campaign’

But Wadhams and Burton Brown both acknowledged that Marx’s campaign had proven successful, marshalling what Wadhams described as Marx’s  base of support and expanding it with direct mail and “very aggressive social media outreach.” Marx’s campaign has spent $725,000 on mailers — nearly what Kirkmeyer and Bottoms have raised combined — and he’s leaned into videos and podcast appearances.

When the moderator of one debate, a conservative talk show host, sent Marx a letter pressing him for specifics on his background, Marx skipped the event and organized a rally instead. His campaign later released photos showing more people had attended his event than the debate.

“We are in such new territory for a political campaign in Colorado — frankly, in the nation,” Wadhams said, incredulous at Marx’s TV interviews.

A quick look at the Colorado governor candidates running in this month’s Democratic, Republican primaries

Marx has eschewed dense policy discussions -- an intentional choice, he said, to let voters' eyes adjust to his background.

That hasn't been a concern for his supporters. Marx is likable, which is "gold" in politics, said Jeff Hunt, a conservative activist and radio host. He first met Marx at , where Marx teased his candidacy.

" 'He doesn't have policy chops' -- alright, well, he still outraises everybody," Hunt said. " 'He’s got a unique background' -- well, he’s still driving more people to his events. 'He won't debate' -- he still has energy and big rallies. (His opponents) are trying to figure out an angle. But when you're dealing with somebody who has such a big personality force, it����ap just not landing."

Hunt continued: "I've told him (that) if I was a political strategist, I would not ever have told him to tell the stories he has told or the things he has written about in his book ... That����ap part of the enjoyment I have in this whole process. Alright man, you are 100% yourself."

Marx has said he was the victim of profound abuse as a child. In his memoir, he wrote that his stepfather made him behead a cat at age 3. Marx wrote that at age 7, his stepfather put his hand around his own and forced him to shoot and kill a man. His stepfather, he alleges, then smeared blood on him and buried the man beneath the house.

The sheriff of Simpson County, Mississippi, where the shooting allegedly took place, did not respond to messages seeking comment.

A Marine veteran who moved to Colorado to work for Focus on the Family, Marx founded All Things Possible in 2003 "to reach people with the gospel of Jesus Christ through outreaches and crusades primarily to youth," according to the group's first tax filing. By 2024, ATP's annual revenue had surpassed $7.6 million.

A closer look at ministry

ATP has done outreach to youth in prisons and focused on "trauma response," Marx said, which includes handing out stuffed animals loaded with recorded prayers and songs. In an email, All Things Possible said the ministry was separate from Marx's campaign. Marx said he and his wife resigned from the group after he announced his candidacy.

But overlap remains: Marx's campaign address is at the ministry's training center outside of Colorado Springs, which is also the home he sold to the nonprofit for nearly $3 million in 2024. His campaign manager was also listed as an ATP board member on its most recent tax returns.

Marx has said he and his group have worked overseas, including in Iraq, Syria, Israel and southeast Asia. Its tax filings show it has spent more than $4.3 million on those efforts in recent years, though those documents also state ATP had no standing personnel or offices in those countries.

Dave Eubank, the American head of the Myanmar-based , said he met Marx in California roughly 15 years ago. He later invited Marx to Myanmar, where Eubank's group supports rebels and civilians caught in that nation's civil war.

The trip served as Marx's introduction to "high-risk humanitarianism."

Within a year, Marx asked if Eubank and his medics would like to go to Iraq to help civilians amid fighting between the Islamic State military group and Kurdish and Iraqi military units. Eubank said Marx's group funded his efforts.

"I think he came to Syria once while we were there, briefly, and then he came to Iraq multiple times while we were there," Eubank said, praising Marx as a friend and ally. "Usually it was during some lull in the fighting, but not always. He was in at least one ... maybe two engagements with us, when we were providing medical care when we came under direct fire."

Marx has also said he called in an airstrike on Islamic State militants. Eubank said he hadn't heard that story before it came up during Marx's 9News interview in late May. When Eubank was working in the Middle East, he said, the U.S. military had dropped smoke at his request to cover escaping civilians. (The Post sought comment on Marx's claims from U.S. Central Command, which oversees the Middle East. In an email, an unnamed representative said military officials "have nothing for you on this.")

Marx said ATP's goal is now to "equip and encourage" law enforcement . In a statement, Colorado Springs Police Lt. Korey Hutchinson, the lead investigator of the Colorado Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, said his department "has not conducted any direct work or formal collaboration" with ATP.

"However, we have heard positive feedback from ICAC units and personnel across the country regarding the assistance and support they provide," Hutchinson said, referring to ATP's "wellness support for investigators of child exploitation crimes."

Marx said his group also helped train law enforcement involved in .

Abigail Meyer, spokeswoman for the U.S. Marshals Service, which led the operation, said that, "according to those who ran this operation," Marx's group was not involved.

Political outsider or not, in the gubernatorial campaign -- audits of the state budget, support for police and immigration enforcement, strict Medicaid work requirements, tax relief, school choice -- will be largely familiar to voters in the Republican primary.

His website's includes a number of questionable statutory and constitutional citations; one statute it references has been repealed, and another purports to link a constitutional prohibition on sex discrimination to homeowner's insurance spikes. He told The Post that the platform was written by an "attorney who did work for Elon Musk."

Marx said he's withholding some plans for the general election. Besides, he argued, the GOP primary wouldn't be decided on policy.

"I don't think Barb or Scott ... are three degrees different on policy positions (from me)," he said, referring to Kirkmeyer and Bottoms. The real difference, he argued, will be who can convince voters they can win.

"And I think, just naturally, I'm comfortable in that arena."

Producers of these multi-artist, music discovery events have seen record-high costs and ticket prices for fans, which have led to cratering sales and, in some cases, outright closures. Some beloved events have already disappeared from the calendar this summer — see Grand Junction’s Country Jam Colorado, which is absent in 2026 despite a solid, 33-year run.

But even as that and other such as Pitchfork Music Festival have disappeared, been paused, or faced an alarming decline in ticket sales, like Coachella did in 2024, a new festival scene is rising in Colorado.

This summer sees the first version of the DIY Blucifer’s First Rodeo, while Trinidad’s ambitious Fancy Spider is back for Year No. 2. Most of Colorado’s marquee fests have also managed to hold on year after year, despite major pandemic disruptions; see also Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Rockygrass, and Bravo! Vail Music Festival. And events such as Fort Collins’ jam-packed, highly diverse and smoothly run have even, against the odds, grown.

That’s partly because small fests are becoming both more attractive to music fans and easier to put on for producers, especially in this era of $5 per-gallon gas and creeping inflation. Big fests tend to have big prices, due to their need to pay for both the household names and the infrastructure, ranging from site rentals to insurance and security guards. Passes to at Snowmass Town Park, for example, start at $224 for a single day, with three listed acts per date (Benson Boone, Tim McGraw and Red Clay Strays are overall headliners). A full-fest pass starts at $400.

With 3 acts per day, that comes out to about $75 per act. By contrast, multi-stage fests offer performances that overlap so you’re not likely not likely to see all of them, but you’re also not likely to get bored. The annual , Sept. 11-12 at the National Western Center, charges $165 per day but offers more than two dozen acts including Kygo, Troyboi, Tiësto and Sidepiece. (It’s the same venue where the Unhinged metal-and-tattoo festival announced — and then canceled — its inaugural event last year.)

It’s not just about the math, of course, as there are no extra points for seeing the most acts — unless that’s your thing — or saving the most money. The idea is to be joyously surrounded by music, not constantly clocking your journey like a fitness app. To wit: in Snowmass, home of the aforementioned JAS Aspen Labor Day Experience, you can find the free Mountainside Music Festival, June 11-13 on the Fanny Hill (ski hill) Stage, “featuring folk, pop, country and alternative acts performing against the destination’s stunning vista backdrop,” organizers said. It’s hard to beat that deal if you’re looking for stunning mountain scenery.

In that spirit, here are five smaller, more affordable summer music festivals on the Front Range that offer an alternative to big events — and possibly the most bang for your buck.

Indiewood Street Festival

Denver’s nonprofit Swallow Hill Music debuted this outdoor event last year in a street-party format with a focus on local indies such as Barbara and Rootbeer Richie & the Reveille. It sold out, encouraging another version in Englewood with national and local acts Sam Burchfield, Bluebook, the Animeros, the Crooked Rugs and Frail Talk. Tickets for the event at South Broadway and West Hampden (just north of Highway 285 in Englewood) are $20-$25, with reduced prices for kids 4-12. Free for kids under 3. (June 6; )

The UMS and Blucifer’s First Rodeo

One weekend, two major local music festivals. That’s the deal with the overlapping Underground Music Showcase and upstart Blucifer’s First Rodeo. The UMS is Denver’s long-running indie music fest that’s being rebooted in the RiNo Arts District, July 24-26 at various venues, after closing up shop on South Broadway last year. It features more than 200 shows for a full-fest price of $110, which is a killer deal by any standard, and national headliners such as 54 Ultra, slenderbodies, Goldie Boutilier, Kaash Paige, Tommy Newport, Charlotte Sands, MAVI, Twin Shadow, King Mala, Deb Never, The Droptines and Bad Nerves. Tickets and a full lineup are available at .

This is a pivotal debut for the event in RiNo, whose Business Improvement District is supporting it with a $1 million investment over the next few years. With 160 local bands on tap, it’s a mostly-Denver music fest that continues the event’s 25-year legacy of supporting the music scene here.

and with a no-less-impressive local lineup, is the July 23-26 event Blucifer’s Favorite Rodeo, a brand new music-fest that’s filling The UMS hole on South Broadway and elsewhere. With another 160 Front Range bands at multiple independent venues, it’s a great excuse to discover and celebrate Denver acts such as Pink Hawks, Colfax Speed Queen, and Team Nonexistent. All-access passes ($69) are already sold out, but you can buy 2-day wristbands for the South Broadway-centric dates for $59 (covering 150 acts at 15 or so venues) and buy a DIY-pass (including all-ages shows and Saturday’s D3 satellite festival) for $39. ()

The funny thing? Some metro area acts are playing both, given that artists would be crazy to turn down a paying gig at a music-discovery event, even if it appears to be competing with another one. (There are no hard feelings from either fest, organizers have told The Denver Post). Can both survive, or even thrive? We’ll find out next month.

Youth on Record Block Party and Youth Music Festival

Can’t get enough local music? Check out the Youth on Record Block Party, which is operated by the so-named student music-education nonprofit. The 12th annual event is set to return Sept. 19, outside at Youth on Record (1301 W. 10th Ave. in Denver), with a free, all-ages celebration of local culture. That includes “hundreds of all-ages music lovers each year for a day-long festival,” organizers said. “Join us for powerful performances from emerging artists, food trucks, community vendors, and free activities.” Lineup to come. Learn more about the all-ages event at .

Mountain Music Festival

Evergreen is again hosting this student-run fest with some celebrity shine on its headliner, and a bevy of performers that reinforce Colorado’s identity as a roots-music haven. This year features The Bacon Brothers — longtime actor Kevin and sibling/Emmy-winning composer Michael — with performances from Alex Hagar, Grady and the Hootin’ Bandits, Michael Morrow and the Culprits, Christie Huff, and Neoni. The one-day event, presented by the Wooden Hawk Foundation, takes place at Buchanan Field (32003 Ellingwood Trail in Evergreen). Tickets range from $32.46 (early bird) to $42.85 for adults, $10 for youth 6-18, and free for 5 and under. (Aug. 16, )

Fancy Spider Music Fest

Downtown Trinidad’s walkable Fancy Spider Music Fest is run by some folks in the know — founders Curtis Wallach and Suzanne Magnuson also own and operate the Trinidad Lounge, and Wallach co-owns Denver’s legendary Hi-Dive — and it’s expanding in its second year. Expect indoor and open-air shows from more than 50 local and regional acts in diverse genres, organizers said, from punk and hip hop to folk, metal and jazz. Tickets for the event, taking place across various venues in this southern Colorado border town, are $100 for full-fest access. Single-day passes, if capacity allows, and other options will go on sale later. (Oct. 9-11, )

Friday-Sunday. There’s no better place to nosh on a gyro, sip some ouzo or otherwise immerse yourself in Greek culture than this weekend’s 60th annual Denver Greek Festival. The joyous event, which last year hit record attendance of more than 30,000, according to organizers, runs Friday, June 5, through Sunday, June 7, with “an expanded festival footprint, indoor dining, faster food service, two new Plaka vendor areas, new menu offerings” and more.

Visitors can enjoy traditional dance and music (including choir concerts inside the cathedral), cathedral tours, cooking demos and tributes. The family-friendly event takes place at Assumption of the Theotokos Greek Orthodox Cathedral, 4610 E Alameda Ave. in Denver, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $3-$5 per day; kids 12 and under are free. Call 303-388-9314 or visit for more details.

St. John’s Cathedral goes 3D

Opens Thursday. Capitol Hill’s gorgeous, 121-year-old landmark St. John’s Cathedral will try something different as it premieres the immersive, projection-driven new show “Celestia” on Thursday, June 11.

Created by Canada’s Paquin Entertainment Group and Normal Studio, “the custom installation will reimagine the revered space and Gothic Revival architecture as a living canvas, inviting the community and audiences of all ages to embark on a visually stunning and emotionally profound journey through a fusion of light, projections and original music,” producers wrote. (Translation: They’ll have animated, 360-degree projections set to a soundtrack.)

It takes place at 1350 N. Washington St. in Denver. Tickets to the 8:30 and 9:45 p.m. performances, some featuring a live choir on Fridays and Saturdays, are $38 for kids 2-15, and $49-$64 for adults, with discounts available, via .

Meow Wolf’s “phenomenal” summer

Opens Friday. There’s never a shortage of things to do at Meow Wolf Denver, where the Convergence Station immersive-art installation supports the on-site Perplexeplex venue and its widely varying bookings, ranging from trash-fashion and drag shows to buzzy, touring indie rockers and stand-ups.

But inside the exhibition, Meow Wolf is bringing back its Phenomenomaly programming Wednesdays through Sundays from June 5 through Aug. 9, with “performance spectacle” and “new mysteries and an evolving cast of creatures,” according to the company. That means roving bands of artists, actors, dancers, puppeteers and more, performing 2-7 p.m. on those select dates through August. First up? The June 5-7 shows from Love Art City, an Afro-futurist movement house.

It’s located at 1338 First St. in Denver. Tickets, which include the Phenomenomaly performances, are $50 for adults and $33 for kids 3-11, with $15 parking. Call 866-636-9969 or visit for more details.

LGBTQ Pride and doggie-drag shows

Friday and Saturday. The LGBTQ celebration known as Pride Month starts on June 1 in Denver, with dozens of ongoing activities that culminate in the reimagined Denver Pride parade and festival, coming to 16th Street and the Uptown neighborhood the final weekend of June. For quirky starting events, look to the doggie drag show The Mutt Strut, which takes place 10 a.m.-7 p.m. on Friday, June 6, at Skiptown Denver (3833 Steele St., Suite 1332). Visit for more.

The free event beats Union Station’s own version of a doggie drag-show, the also-free Paws with Pride, to the punch by a mere day, as the latter event returns for its third annual run on Saturday, June 7. Hosted by drag queen Talia Tucker at 1701 Wynkoop St. in Denver, Paws with Pride has a costume contest and runway show, with food and drink specials at Terminal Bar and pet-friendly vendors and local artisans, producers said. Visit for more details.

The investigation comes after more than 200 people attended a May 22 public meeting in which nearly two dozen people described a culture shift at the small state agency that they worried is undermining Colorado’s indigent criminal defense community.

In a statement Friday, the commission called the concerns “serious and consistent” and said it will investigate the complaints and determine “what, if any,” action should be taken.

Joanna Landau, executive director of the Office of the Alternate Defense Counsel, told The Denver Post in an interview Monday that she welcomes the commission’s probe.

“I support the commission’s decision to open an independent and impartial investigation,” Landau said. “I stand by my leadership choices at the ADC, but I am also responsive to feedback. I expect the investigation to show that while my leadership style differs from the previous executive director, my actions have been consistent with what I am hired to do.”

Landau defended her nine-month tenure at the state agency, which employs about 41 people and contracts with about 1,200 attorneys and support staff statewide to represent indigent defendants. The office pays private defense attorneys to represent people who cannot be represented by the , typically when public defenders have conflicts of interest.

Contracted attorneys raised concern about Landau’s leadership both during the May 22 meeting and in conversations with The Post, saying she created a culture of fear within the agency. They said Landau is so focused on cutting costs that they worry attorneys will not be able to mount complete defenses for poor clients.

Landau was hired in September and replaced former executive director Lindy Frolich, who led the agency for 20 years.

On Monday, Laundau described the complaints as expected pushback to change and said she was not hired to “maintain the status quo.”

“It is important to acknowledge, first of all, that any leadership change after two decades of someone‘s leadership would create discomfort and uncertainty among longtime staff, contractors,” Landau said. “I was hired to come in and do things differently. And it doesn’t mean things before were done wrong, it is just, this is the way we are moving forward with the ADC.”

Landau said she sat down with staff when she started the job for “candid” discussions and “extensive listening” about what needed to change at the agency. Her approach since then has been based on those conversations, she said. She declined to discuss specifics, citing the need to ensure staff can speak to her confidentially.

“It was clear (that) whoever the new executive director was, Joe Schmoe to me to anyone, there would be changes,” she said.

The agency has for years worked with a largely relationship-based structure, she said, an approach that left some contracted attorneys without the same access to support from the central state office as others. That is part of why she has put in place new structures and policies aimed at formalizing that support.

“A small, relationship-based structure isn’t inherently equitable to everyone,” she said. “So a more organized communication structure does help to create that equity. What I am trying to do is create professional guidance so that the contractor who is brand new and only knows whoever they interviewed with to get on the panel can still have the same level of support that a longtime contractor has.”

Part of that has been a shift toward group roundtable events and trainings, she said. Attorneys complained during the May 22 meeting that they can no longer get staff on the phone to answer questions, and some said their emails to the office went unanswered. One employee who spoke on the condition of anonymity said staff were told to stop answering contractors’ questions.

“I haven’t told anyone to stop talking to contractors,” Landau said. “I just want every contractor to have the same level of access to support. So that is part of my leadership goal.”

Jim Castle, a longtime Denver defense attorney who has been a vocal critic of Landau, said Monday that roundtables do not offer the confidentiality that contracted attorneys need to have helpful, substantive discussions about their cases.

“Now, really, the problem is the contractors don’t have any resource to talk to confidentially for assistance,” he said. “And that is what the agency is supposed to do.”

He also dismissed Landau’s suggestion that the broad critique of her leadership is a knee-jerk reaction to change.

“None of this was a problem until everybody got to see for nine months what is going on,” he said. “It����ap not like people were trying to run her out of town the moment she walked in.”

Landau also denied staff and contractor complaints that she’s created a culture of fear of retaliation in the office, and denied that the ouster of longtime ADC employee Jonathan Rosen was retaliation. She declined to discuss the specifics of his situation.

“But I will say that I followed legal and HR protocols in every personnel decision I have made,” she said. “And I firmly deny the suggestions that any of my actions have been retaliatory.”

She reiterated a stance she took with the legislature that the office needs to be fiscally responsible while providing constitutionally sound defenses to clients charged with crimes.

“It was clear we needed to make a targeted argument to get every dollar we could for our contractors so they could represent clients,” she said of the budget process. “That was my duty. It is also my duty to make sure we use taxpayer money effectively.”

Landau said that the office is working to overhaul the billing system and said issues with timely payments predate her tenure. Between November and mid-February, 97% of invoices were paid within 30 days, Landau said. She also acknowledged that she splits her time between Colorado and Utah, where her teenage children live, and said that both the commission and hiring staff were aware of her parenting arrangement when she was hired to head the state agency.

“I work remotely and fully when I am there,” she said. “It was negotiated when I accepted the job.”

She added that her “main focus is the work of providing the indigent community with high-quality representation.”

“That’s behind everything I do here,” she said.

The scope of the investigation by the nine-member volunteer commission that oversees the Office of the Alternate Defense Counsel was not immediately clear Monday, nor was it clear whether the commission would conduct the investigation itself or hire an outside investigator. A co-chair of the commission declined to provide more information Monday.

The commission solicited “complaints” in its statement Friday and said it would investigate any complaints received and issue written findings. The timeframe for the investigation was not clear.

Of course, it’s meant to be funny. After all, we live in a landlocked state 1,000 miles from the nearest ocean. The water we are known for is frigid melted snow that feeds many of the major rivers of the West.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t find a place to cool off in the water or have a beach-like experience on a hot summer afternoon. High-elevation lakes are usually too cold for a swim — OK maybe for 10 minutes in July before it clouds up and storms. At lower elevations, mostly in man-made reservoirs, the water warms for what can be a comfortable swimming experience, or floating in a canoe or fishing from the shoreline.

We’ve put together a guide for going for a dip this summer. Keep in mind, as the snow melts in spring and the rivers run high, the swimming conditions can range from comfortable to deadly. Swimmers die every summer in Colorado, as frigid water can make the body lock up in seconds. A life jacket is always a good idea in deep water.

Also, for boat owners, most lakes require inspections for invasive zebra mussels.

Lake Pueblo State Park

In southern Colorado, a region known as the state’s “banana belt” for its mild climate, this reservoir is one of the most reliably warm swimming holes in the state.

With 4,600 acres of water and 60 miles of shoreline, multiple marinas, picnic facilities and hundreds of campsites, it’s a water lover’s paradise, especially if you moved here from a warmer state.

Motor boats are allowed, and you’ll see plenty of people water-skiing and tubing on a hot day. If you have a boat, better yet a friend with a boat, you can find secret coves to while away the day.

Getting there:  Turn west on US Hwy 50 (Exit 101). Drive four miles to Pueblo Blvd. Turn south and go four miles to Thatcher Blvd (Hwy 96). Turn west and go four miles to the south park entrance. For the north entrance (where the campgrounds are) turn on McCulloch Blvd. Turn south and go 4 miles to Nichols Road.

Entry fee: $10/vehicle

John Martin Reservoir State Park

This large reservoir hides in the rolling prairie of southeast Colorado, 20 miles west of the town of Lamar. All types of boats are allowed and the water is usually comfortable for swimming. You can take a dip anywhere you like, and there’s a swim beach at Lake Hasty located below the dam.

Aside from the water, it’s also a bird-watcher’s paradise, with more than 400 species known to frequent the area. It’s a far enough drive from Denver that you’ll experience few, but still close enough for a long day trip or easy weekend at one of the hundreds of campsites.

Getting there: Take US Highway 50 west from Lamar approximately 20 miles to Hasty. Turn south on CR 24 (School Street) and proceed approximately 2 miles. The Visitor Center is on the right just past the curve.

Entry fee: $10/vehicle

Paradise Cove

Before the internet, this was a secret swimming hole near Guffey in southern Park County, spread through word of mouth.

Today it’s hugely popular yet still stunning place to take a dip. A short hike from the parking lot takes you down to the water, fed by a waterfall, surrounded by steep rock walls.

The area is administered by the Bureau of Land Management, which has made the area day-use only. There are toilets and trash receptacles at the parking lot.

Getting there: From U.S. Highway 160 in Park County, turn left onto CR 42/Twin Rocks Rd and drive 6 miles. Turn left onto Teller CR 1 and drive 6 miles. Turn right onto CR 11 for 4 miles. Turn right onto Teller CR 112 and continue approximately 3 miles. Guffey Gorge is on the right side.

Entry fee: $6/vehicle

Boulder Reservoir

This 700-acre reservoir, owned by the city of Boulder, boasts one of the largest swim beaches in Colorado, with picnic facilities and even lifeguards. There are locker rooms, showers and even a restaurant, all within an easy drive from anywhere in the Denver area.

Boating is allowed, though all watercraft, down to inflatable kayaks, must have a permit, purchased from the city’s website.

It’s not as remote or quiet as some lakes, but for an easy day or half-day trip to the beach, it’s hard to beat.

Getting there: 1777 Broadway, Boulder, CO

Entry fee: $12/individual, $20/vehicle

Jackson Lake State Park

This lake has something not all Colorado lakes do: Long sandy beaches and campsites right along the water. No wonder it’s been named one of the Top 15 Park Beaches by Reserve America. There’s plenty of room to spread out and sunbathe, go fishing or take a swim.

The lake is huge, 2,500 surface acres, with multiple boat ramps and a marina, and all types of boats are allowed. Swimming is permitted on the west and south shores.

Getting there: From Denver, head east on I-76. Take the second Wiggins exit (exit 66). Turn left (north) on CO 39/CO 52. Drive approximately 9 miles. Continue half a mile past Goodrich. Turn left onto County Road Y.5 and stay on County Road Y.5

Entry fee: $10/vehicle

River water parks

Colorado’s recreation economy has long embraced thrilling whitewater rafting on many of Colorado’s rivers. The water on these river runs is usually ice-cold and dangerous.

Many cities and towns have developed water parks where people can surf, tube or paddle-board in purposely-built play waves, leading to a burgeoning surf culture far from any saltwater, usually with a wetsuit until the melt-off ends.

You’ll find such water parks throughout the state, including Buena Vista and Salida on the Arkansas, Glenwood Springs on the Colorado, Del Norte on the Rio Grande and Fort Collins on the Cache La Poudre.

Hot springs

We get it, 70-degree water isn’t for everyone. Colorado has ice and snow, but it also has fire, water bubbling to the surface heated by geothermal forces.

They range from free, primitive “hippie dips” to posh commercial resorts and everything in-between. Here are a few of the best for a classic summer poolside experience: Sand Dunes Recreation in the San Luis Valley; Mount Princeton Hot Springs near Buena Vista; Glenwood Springs, with the largest hot springs pool in the world; and Pagosa Hot Springs.

Executive Director Al Gardner issued a four-page directive Wednesday exempting at least 14 types of policy violations from default investigation by the department’s Public Integrity Division, a civilian unit created in 2019 to investigate internal affairs complaints and policy violations for the sheriff’s department.

The directive also empowers a team within the sheriff’s department to screen complaints from inmates and others to determine whether the complaints should be .

That team will also screen some sexual assault allegations against deputies, and will handle investigations into body-worn camera policy violations unless it finds a deputy intentionally turned off their camera or it is at least a deputy’s third violation of the policy, according to the directive.

The thrust of the change is to empower first-line supervisors to handle minor disciplinary issues to try to “unburden” staff from onerous and “unnecessary” internal affairs investigations, Sheriff Elias Diggins said Thursday.

He said he hopes the move will improve morale, retention and hiring at the chronically understaffed agency, where he said the outside scrutiny leaves deputies feeling like they are walking on eggshells.

“We have created, with the system we put in place, an eggshell culture,” he said. “We want to put deputies on solid ground, make sure they are doing their jobs, give the support they need — and if there is an issue that needs to go to internal affairs, that process still exists.”

The unilateral shift raised alarm among the . Julia Richman, a member of Denver’s Citizen Oversight Board, called the directive “disheartening.”

“The board is never in favor of reduced accountability, reduced transparency and a lack of engagement in the community about big changes. This is just that,” she said.

Lisabeth Pérez Castle, the city’s independent monitor, said in a statement that the vague new approach to discipline does not clearly explain how safety officials will comply with city laws regarding the monitor’s oversight. The directive reduces transparency and exposes the city to potential liability, she said.

The new process will also make it difficult to know whether the sheriff department is “addressing all allegations of misconduct or if it is selectively enforcing rules against some staff members, but not others,” she said.

It was complaints about unfair and incomplete internal investigations by the sheriff’s department that prompted city officials to create the Public Integrity Division — which is housed within the Department of Public Safety, rather than the sheriff’s office — after a pair of outside reviews found significant problems with the sheriff department’s internal affairs process.

The division took over internal affairs investigations for the sheriff’s department, which runs Denver’s jails and provides security in the city’s courts.

Diggins noted he was interim sheriff during the push for the Public Integrity Division and was part of implementing the reforms.

“What I would call them is perhaps changes that may have been thought to be good at the time, but what we have today is a system that does not work well,” he said. “We have 50%-plus of our staff under investigation because of the measures that were put into place back then. That is unheard of in any law enforcement agency.”

Under the new approach, first-line supervisors will be responsible for investigating some categories of infractions and determining whether the policy violation warrants an internal affairs investigation, he said. If a deputy violates the same type of policy three times in three years, the fourth violation must be sent over to the Public Integrity Division, Diggins said.

Supervisors will be empowered to offer coaching and verbal counseling, and to recommend that deputies go through additional training, he said, adding that he personally taught an hour-long training on the new approach to supervisors on Wednesday. The supervisors will document the counseling in the sheriff department’s human resources software.

Richman, the Citizen Oversight Board member, does not believe first-line supervisors are equipped to thoroughly review misconduct allegations and make informed decisions on what warrants further review.

“If that was a process that had worked in the past, we would not have had to develop independent oversight, because supervisors could be trusted to do complete, thorough and sufficient reviews,” she said. “But they don’t. They don’t have time. They don’t have expertise. They can’t be bothered with it because it is a huge pain.”

Diggins said he has the “utmost faith” that supervisors will “hold people accountable when necessary.”

Gardner wrote in the directive that the changes are designed to ensure the Public Integrity Division “functions as originally envisioned.” He did not return a request for comment Thursday.

“These changes are also necessary to reaffirm the Denver Sheriff Department����ap (DSD) authority over personnel matters that should rightfully be addressed and resolved by DSD,” the directive reads. “As a result of previous adjustments to the process, DSD has been left with limited decision-making authority regarding employee conduct, and the PID has been inundated with administrative matters better suited for DSD review.”

The Public Integrity Division is used primarily for the sheriff’s department; Denver’s police and fire departments rely on their own internal affairs bureaus. The division also handles complaints about high-ranking leaders within the Department of Public Safety.

For policy violations that are shifted back to the sheriff’s purview — which the directive calls “performance issues” — the sheriff will still refer some of the matters to the Public Integrity Division if they reach a certain threshold of severity or are repeated, according to the directive.

For a number of the exempted violations, the threshold for an internal affairs investigation is “only if an incident or actual harm occurs,” according to Gardner’s directive.

That is the standard set for bringing weapons and cellphones into a secure area, safeguarding department property, monitoring the radio, misusing department letterhead, badges or insignia, secondary employment violations, and recommending bondsmen or attorneys to inmates.

“If you leave your weapon unsecured in the facility but no one gets hurt, it’s OK?” Richman said. “How could that possibly be a policy in a correctional facility?”

Richman said the approach may incentivize deputies to overlook policy violations if such violations rarely rise to serious discipline.

“The culture in public safety departments and in Denver is to take care of your own,” she said. “This approach takes (that stance) and possibly has an impact that says, ‘Don’t report, it is not considered a big deal, you won’t have to be disciplined for it.'”

Norris is a longtime Denver resident and professional distiller who spent more than a decade crafting highly coveted whiskies at Stranahan’s and Laws Whiskey House. He helped popularize one-off, specialty batch releases locally through the launch of Stanahan’s Snowflake program, which sees drinkers line up for days ahead of a release in hopes they can buy one of the rare bottles.

Whiskey enthusiasts today know that the more rare the release, the more money it could fetch on the secondary market. Sought-after whiskies like Pappy Van Winkle and Yamazaki 18, for example, can sell for many times their retail value — if they remain unopened.

But Norris contends that treating whiskey like collector’s items is missing the point.

“What good is a record if you don’t play it? What good is a painting if there’s a tarp on it?” he said. “(Whiskey) is not a skull that����ap supposed to sit on a shelf in a museum. It����ap a magic elixir that can deepen conversation and make a good night great.”

With his new venture, , Norris hopes to inspire people to stop hoarding and start drinking. Over the next couple years, he plans to release eight different whiskey expressions made by barrel-aging one of his original bourbon recipes in a variety of casks to invoke different flavor profiles. Though each will be a one-time offering, Norris is incentivizing drinkers to break the seal by hosting chef-driven pop-up dinners to celebrate each release and selling bottles with an accompanying zine.

The first, called The Control, debuted this month and, as the name suggests, it will be the only expression that is not cask-finished. That way, people can get a taste of the unadulterated baseline recipe, which features a mash bill of 75% corn, 21% rye and 4% malted barley. The whiskey was aged for seven years in new oak barrels and about 400 bottles are available, Norris said.

The Curated Barrel Project initially came together around 2024, when Norris found himself sitting on 30 barrels of well-aged whiskey. He originally contracted Southern Distilling Co. in North Carolina to distill the spirit in 2019, when he was working as an industry consultant, with the intention of selling it to a future client.

U.S. law requires “straight bourbon” to be aged for at least two years. As Norris’ spirit was approaching the maturation deadline, the pandemic hit.

“We just put a pin in it. I looked up three years later and now I have five-and-a-half-year-old whiskey,” he said. “I ordered samples of it, it was really good. Selfishly, I didn’t want to get rid of the barrels.”

Future releases will see the whiskey aged in Cognac barrels, Port wine barrels and other spirit casks.

In addition to launching The Curated Barrel Project, Norris is working to open a yet-to-be-named distillery in Arvada. It is technically a separate endeavor from the bottle releases, but will specialize in making — you guessed it — whiskey. Construction is finishing up on the space at 5525 W. 56th St., #400, Norris said, and he intends to sell The Curated Barrel Project����ap products while spirits for the forthcoming distillery are aging.

Folks who attend The Curated Barrel Project����ap upcoming whiskey pairing pop-up dinner will get to preview the new distillery, where the event will be hosted. On May 28, Norris is welcoming former “Top Chef” contestant chef Manny Barella, co-owner of Riot BBQ and Chicken Riot, to serve a four-course menu and only 50 tickets will be available. In a somewhat uncanny move, attendees will be asked to bring their own plates and flatware.

“I think it����ap a really cool opportunity for people to bring a piece of themselves into that event… I think that fosters a connection,” he said. (Dishes will be washed prior to departure from the event, he added.)

Between that and the zine — which includes a QR code to a custom playlist and artwork done by Norris himself — The Curated Barrel Project attempts to disconnect whiskey enthusiasts from the internet and reconnect them to a good old-fashioned sensory experience.

“I have very fond memories of going out and buying a new record, bringing it home, carefully unwrapping it, reading the jacket, and putting the record on the first time, and just being completely immersed in a moment,” Norris said. “I thought, why can’t whiskey be like that?”

The Curated Barrel Project����ap first batch release, The Control ($99), is now on sale, as are tickets to the pop-up dinner with chef Manny Barella on May 28 ($250 per person). The company is also offering memberships ($800) to those who want to be guaranteed a bottle from all eight batches, plus a special bonus bottle that won’t be available for purchase to the general public. For more information, visit .

The mounting complaints about Joanna Landau, the agency’s new executive director, came to a head during a two-hour public meeting attended by more than 200 people late Friday afternoon, just before the start of the three-day holiday weekend.

Staff and contracted attorneys for the Office of the Alternate Defense Counsel, known as ADC, said Landau has cultivated a culture of fear within the agency since she was hired in September and put such a heavy emphasis on keeping costs low that attorneys worry the office’s increasingly shoestring approach may ultimately limit their ability to mount complete defenses for their clients.

The small state agency contracts with private defense attorneys to represent indigent defendants who cannot be represented by the , typically when public defenders — the first choice for indigent defense — have a conflict of interest.

“(In) four decades of being a contract defender, the defense community has never had a more heightened level of concern about ADC leadership, nor a more widespread disillusionment about the fairness of providing effective representation to the poor than at this very moment,” James Castle, a longtime Denver defense attorney, said during Friday’s meeting, hosted by the that oversees the Office of the Alternate Defense Counsel.

Landau did not return requests for comment Tuesday.

The commission hired her in September to replace longtime ADC director Lindy Frolich, who retired last year after 20 years in the job. Landau previously held a variety of positions related to indigent defense in Utah, including working as the executive director of , an organization that supports indigent defense in the state.

But that resume didn’t make for a smooth transition into the Colorado agency, current and former ADC staff members told The Denver Post.

Landau quickly implemented a strict hierarchy at the agency, requiring subordinates to work up a chain of command before contacting her — an about-face from Frolich’s collaborative approach, attorneys said. Landau also tamped down on communications between staff and contracted attorneys, limiting the support contractors were accustomed to receiving from the central state office, they said.

The 41-person state agency contracts with roughly 1,200 attorneys and support staff statewide to represent indigent defendants. Insiders were puzzled by Landau’s laser focus on tightening purse strings — there is no indication, aside from it being a lean budget year, that the agency faced any direct outside pressure to cut costs, they said.

At the core of the criticism Friday was a sense that Landau’s top-down, arms-length approach to leadership is undermining what has long been a thriving indigent defense community. Nearly two dozen speakers raised concern during the meeting, some fighting tears, with several calling for Landau to be fired.

“We have people and staff members who have been working for this agency for decades,” said Jennifer Henslee, a longtime ADC contractor. “That is something to be proud of. And she’s dismantling it. Because she is so awful as a leader. This is a disaster. Disaster.”

‘Culture of fear’

In February, Landau reprimanded a longtime ADC employee, Jonathan Rosen, when he voiced concerns about Landau’s treatment of another employee in the office. That reprimand — for insubordination — eventually led to Rosen’s departure from the office in March.

“When I confronted her about her behavior, there was no discussion about what she did and why she did it,” Rosen said. “It was just, ‘You are wrong, you shall be punished.’ I’m not saying she can’t do these things. What I am saying is she is causing a lot of damage and it is negatively impacting the people who support the clients.”

He’d been a key resource for contracted attorneys since 2013 — he was, for many, their first call when they needed advice on a tricky legal situation — and his forced departure raised alarm both inside the office and out.

Formerly robust in-office Tuesdays dwindled as other employees began to fear retaliation for crossing Landau, said a current employee who spoke to The Post on condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation.

“It has been heartbreaking to see the change since Joanna took over,” she said. “There is just a culture of fear that has taken over. …No one is in the office anymore. And when they are, everyone is tiptoeing around like, ‘Are you OK? Are you OK?'”

That rigid top-down approach put off contracted attorneys, many of whom could make more money by taking private clients, but who do ADC work because they are passionate about it, attorneys said in Friday’s meeting. JB Katz, a longtime attorney contractor, resigned in May over Rosen’s ouster, she told The Post.

“ADC contractors have been a previously quiet, committed workforce who have worked and sacrificed for the good of the poor and disadvantaged for many years,” Castle said. “Director Landau’s only significant contribution during her imperious leadership over the last year has been to awaken the sleeping giant of incredible and altruistic contractors. They will no longer be silent. The clients, the workers and justice demand they speak up.”

Delayed billing, focus on costs

Landau’s perceived focus on cost-cutting drew significant criticism from contracted attorneys both during and before Friday’s meeting, with attorneys describing delayed billing and increased scrutiny of their expenses.

One attorney received pushback from ADC when the attorney requested funding for a second paralegal to help sift through thousands of pages of discovery in a murder case, Rosen said.

“I have yet to hear anybody tell me their clients have been better served by any of the changes she has made,” he said. “Representation is harder; clients are not being well-served. (Contractors are) not interested in sticking around.”

The agency’s payments to attorneys for completed work have also slowed under Landau’s tenure, taking weeks longer to be issued and causing problems for attorneys who rely on timely payments, multiple attorneys said during Friday’s meeting.

Defense attorney Amelia Power said her firm has yet to be paid for a hearing for post-conviction relief she handled in November.

“I worry this is a result of extreme examination of costs and hours that is coming from the top, specifically Joanna,” Power said.

In in January, Landau wrote that she was committed to balancing budget constraints with defendants’ constitutional rights. The agency received $83 million in funding for the 2026-2027 fiscal year, state budget records show.

“I focused on fiscal responsibility and the extreme economic stress facing Colorado, while knowing the Constitution requires the ADC to ensure Colorado’s indigent clients are represented by competent defense teams,” she wrote in the letter.

Members of the Commission for the Alternate Defense Counsel, who are appointed by the Colorado Supreme Court, agreed to consider the raised concerns after Friday’s meeting and said they planned to follow up with an announcement about next steps in the coming days.

The group had not issued such a statement by Tuesday afternoon.

The price to fly is , according to

In early February, before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, average domestic airfare in the country clocked in at $326, according to Kayak, which was about 6.5% more expensive the same time the previous year.

After the war began, plane tickets kept rising, Kayak data showed.

By mid-March, average domestic airfare rose to $361 — about 19% higher than 2025’s plane ticket costs, according to Kayak.

As of May 11, the most recent available data, average domestic airfare reached $383 — about 30% more expensive than this time last year.

out of Denver International Airport for those last-minute travelers looking to get away. The cheapest routes are based on the averages of the company’s cheapest round-trip flight prices on economy class, according to their methodology.

Las Vegas

If you’re in the mood for late nights, neon and a gamble, the cheapest average airfare out of DIA to Sin City will set you back about $124 in May, . A weekday average price for one of many hotel options is around $149 per night and $196 nightly on the weekends, the travel website found. August and October are the busiest travel months in Las Vegas,

Chicago

The cheapest airfare to the Windy City out of DIA this May could cost you, on average, $157. , the average price for a hotel room on a weekday is $336 — on weekends, that bumps up to about $405 per night. The travel website found that August and July were the most popular based on their past two years’ worth of data and advised avoiding those months if you want to cut back on crowds.

Los Angeles

The most affordable airfare to access the sun, sand and celebrity sightseeing this May can set you back an average plane trip ticket of $122. Booking a hotel room costs, on average, $260 for a weeknight and $284 nightly on the weekends, . The travel website also found July and August to be the busiest months for travelers, so keep in mind if you’re looking to claim some prime beach seating.

Mexico City, Mexico

Take in the history, excellent food and cultural landmarks from our neighbors to the south this May for the cheapest average flight price of $270. A hotel room in Mexico City, Mexico can set you back $113 per night for a weeknight and $110 on weekends. Kayak found December and October to be the busiest travel months based on their data.

Miami

For $150, you can budget airfare out of DIA and be singing “Bienvenidos a Miami” in no time. A weeknight hotel price can cost around $189 on average while a weekend night can set you back $251. Kayak found December and March to be the busiest travel months.

Seattle

If you’re in the mood for water, mountains, cityscape and greenspace, you can book a plane trip out of DIA to Seattle for about $156, on average. Booking a weeknight hotel room can set you back, on average, $334 per night while the weekend is looking like $371, according to Kayak. The travel website said August and July are the most popular months to visit the city.

Washington, D.C.

Maybe a museum-heavy trip is more your style. In that case, the cheapest plane trip to the nation’s capitol in May would cost around $152. A hotel room will tack on another $270 for weeknights, on average, and $249 on weekends. August and July are listed as Kayak’s busiest months of the year in the city.