United Airlines flight 2408 was scheduled to depart DIA at 5:58 p.m. Sunday, . But passengers exited the plane down airstairs soon after the flight left the Denver airport gate, before the plane took off, United spokesperson Russell Carlton wrote in an email to The Denver Post.

“The aircraft was screened and cleared, and passengers returned to the gate where we provided them with food and water,” Carlton said.

DIA staff and the Denver Police Department both responded to the reported bomb threat, an airport spokesperson confirmed.

Denver law enforcement is working with the FBI to investigate the threat, according to the police department. No additional information about the bomb threat was available on Monday.

“Any threat or hoax threat can potentially be a federal crime, including threats to critical infrastructure such as airport operations,” FBI Denver Public Affairs Officer Vikki Migoya said. “No dangerous materials were located on the aircraft. The investigation into the source of the threat is ongoing.”

None of the 200 passengers or seven United crew members was injured. The plane safely left for the Washington Dulles International Airport at 11:33 p.m. Sunday, Carlton said — nearly six hours after its scheduled departure time.

This is a developing story and may be updated.

Those toll revenues — about $62 million a year from I-25 and I-70, not including fines paid by violators caught crossing double white lines — have been earmarked mostly for highway construction projects over the next decade. The projects include the overhaul of I-70 west of Denver and the proposed expansion of Interstate 270.

But the Bustang “has become a backbone of the state’s transit operations along the interstates,” giving Coloradans “more transportation choices to get where they need to go,” Colorado Department of Transportation Director Shoshana Lew said Friday.

The at current levels costs $50 million a year, and keeping the state’s fleet of 80 buses rolling over the next five years otherwise would require annual of around $30 million, CDOT officials told state transportation commissioners at a workshop session on Wednesday.

Colorado lawmakers’ initial grant funding to support the service as an experiment runs out in July.

run as frequently as every 45 minutes on I-25 and I-70, and on numerous “Outrider” routes around Colorado. Fares for riders boarding at Denver Union Station range from $10 to downtown Fort Collins, $12 to Colorado Springs, $28 to Glenwood Springs and $43 to Grand Junction (a 230-mile route).

This week, Lew told the state transportation commissioners that CDOT can tap “excess toll revenues” from I-25 express lanes to pay for the I-25 Bustang service. CDOT can do the same along I-70, though the high cost of the Bustang service linking Denver with Grand Junction likely will also require other funds, she said.

A 2009 state law allows the use of express lane revenues for public transit, in addition to road construction projects, along the interstates.  However, the  restricts the use of the revenues to projects along the roads where the tolls were collected.

Drivers in Colorado take more than 34 million express lane trips a year, according to a CDOT .

Sustaining Colorado’s intercity bus transit is “a top priority,” Lew wrote in a letter to commissioners. Bustang provides “vital connections across our state. …a national model of success,” she said.

Over the past two months, CDOT leaders have been meeting with city and county officials, and business groups, along I-25 and I-70, looking for ways to sustain Bustang. Lew told commissioners most would support using toll revenues “as long as there was a commitment that the capital projects in the 10-year plan would get built.”

Bustang has been expanding. CDOT officials last year added a second daily run between Denver and Crested Butte. They launched a Bustang Outrider route linking Sterling in northeastern Colorado with .

A state transit connections is exploring possible new routes, such as service between Gunnison and Montrose in southwestern Colorado; Limon and Denver; and Salida and Colorado Springs.

Statewide, Bustang ridership has tripled since 2019 – a counterpoint to the lagging ridership on Regional Transportation District buses and trains within metro Denver — with 385,248 intercity bus boardings in 2025, up 24% from 2024, CDOT records show.

But the temporary shows there deserve a moment of your attention — even if you only have a few minutes to spare. They are, generally speaking, quick and easy to consume, sometimes educational, and always family-friendly. Plus, they give some of the region’s most talented artists a chance to get their work before the public.

The current exhibition, “A Cut Above,” is a good example. Nestled into a small space on the walking bridge that leads to the A Concourse, it����ap a neat little showcase for 20 Colorado craft makers who work in wood. The objects are all impressively made.

The exhibit does not have a complicated theme; it is more about showing off a wide range of materials and techniques that woodworkers use today. But that variety is what makes it interesting.

There are some traditional pieces that set a framework for the exhibition — functional objects, like a rustic rocking chair made from logs hewn from pine and aspen by Jon Weekly, who owns Medicine Wolf Furniture, headquartered in Denver. The company is known for harvesting trees destroyed by the recent beetle infestation and turning them into tables and dressers.

There is also a small, stand-out walnut console with copper door panels made by Chris Parnell, who works out of Colorado Springs. The piece is quietly detailed and notable for its delicate balance. Parnell says in his artist statement that the object is intended to bring “a sense of calm to the user.” That is an interesting task to assign to what is basically a cabinet, but a viewer can see what he means just by looking.

Other, more traditional pieces of furniture, though manufactured with a hand-made precision, include a sleek, updated rocking chair, coffee table and dining bench by Kevin Anderson, who works out of Lakewood. He uses woods like cherry and black walnut to create objects he describes as “enjoyable to use, repairable and built to outlive the fast-furniture trends of tomorrow.” Like many of the makers in this show, he has his eye on current economic and social issues.

One of the strengths of “A Cut Above” is that it moves easily between the ideas that woodworking can be both a functional trade and an avenue for pure artistic expression. This is where it takes some wild turns.

Consider Chris DeKnikker‘s dreamy, wall-mounted works installed in a row on the gallery’s main wall. The pieces are made from woods such as holly, cherry, walnut and poplar, which DeKnikker deconstructs into tiny fragments, nearly all the exact same size, and reconstructs into looping and curling abstract sculptures. The pieces are asymmetrical, almost psychedelic, and viewers can see whatever imagery they want in them.

Other works that tap more current art world sensibilities include Kailee Bosch‘s wall-mounted sculptures that transform finely-turned sections of cherry and maple into something resembling the abstract, geometrical art that became popular in the late 20th century — only reimagined with wood. The pieces rely on repeated gestures — like lines and circles  — joined together with bronze brackets to create grid-like compositions that are interesting to look at while retaining a rustic feel that honors the organic nature of the wood.

The show takes an even more fantastical turn with three-dimensional works by Denver artist Sean O’ Meallie. His “Light Drops” transforms basswood, maple and poplar into a pair of sculptures shaped like foot-tall balloons. O’Meallie uses spray paint and a clear topcoat to give the pieces a reflective, ultra-white surface.

In his artist statement, O’Meallie, who is also a toymaker, explains that it is the paint, and not the wood, that he wants viewers to focus on. The wood is just there to give it shape. “I imagine it could be anything behind the paint doing the job, though, like dirt or cheese,” he writes.

Like a lot of O’ Meallie‘s work (he made the popular “Ballon Running Man” public art piece installed at RTD’s Central Park train station), his objects in this show have a broad sense of humor.

There are other examples of both serious woodwork and whimsy in “A Cut Above,” though the trait that brings it all together is craft. Things are exceptionally well-made, from Cindy Drozda‘s refined jars and vases made from eucalyptus and boxwood; to Laura Kishimoto’s nuanced vaulted stool, made from oak; to Nikki Pike’s giant, three-dimensional, nut-shaped “Ovum” sculpture, made with bark gathered from local open spaces.

There is quite a bit of content packed into this offering, but many of the pieces are a quick read, and the work is spread out so that viewers can get a full, 3-D view of objects, which are set up along aisles wide enough to accommodate whatever carry-on baggage a traveler is carting around on the way to their departure gate.

All in all, it����ap a good example of how art can be done with busy consumers in mind. Slow down — just a bit — and have a look before, or after, the next flight.

IF YOU GO

“A Cut Above: Colorado Artists Working in Wood” continues through Aug. 31 at Denver International Airport����ap A-Bridge. It����ap free. More info: .

Airlines reported 794 flight delays and 30 canceled flights as of 8 p.m., according to the flight tracking site .

Departing planes were sprayed with deicing fluid for most of the day, which wrapped up before 5 p.m., according to the n.

Flight delays at DIA included 242 delays on Southwest Airlines, 225 delays on United Airlines and 189 delays on SkyWest, according to FlightAware. SkyWest canceled 16 flights, followed by Southwest with five cancellations, Lufthansa with four, American Airlines with three and United and Frontier with one canceled flight each.

Cold weather is expected to linger overnight, with thermometers expected to drop to 18 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.

“Some snow finally returns to the lower elevations for Friday,” . “Not a big storm, but it will be more winter-like with light snow for the lower elevations, and a few inches and slick travel for the mountains.”

As of Thursday morning, , expected snowfall totals included:

• 1/2 inch in Commerce City and Denver, with up to 1 inch possible
• 1 inch in Aurora, Arvada, Broomfield, Centennial, Highlands Ranch, Lakewood, Littleton and at Denver International Airport, with up to 2 inches possible
• 2 inches in Boulder, Castle Rock and Parker, with up to 3 inches possible
• 3 inches in Estes Park, with up to 6 inches possible
• 4 inches in Coal Creek Canyon and Eldora, with up to 9 inches possible
• 5 inches on U.S. 40’s Berthoud Pass near Winter Park, with up to 8 inches possible
• 6 inches at Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park, with up to 9 inches possible
• 7 inches on Colorado 14’s Cameron Pass near Gould, with up to 9 inches possible

Snow will be possible in Denver between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. Friday, according to . The winter weather was previously forecast to continue into Saturday morning.

The issued for most of Colorado’s Front Range and Eastern Plains will start Friday night and continue into Saturday morning, when temperatures are expected to drop as low as 18 degrees, .

“If not drained or protected, damage to above-ground irrigation lines will likely occur,” the watch stated. “A hard freeze could kill sensitive vegetation and damage fruit trees.”

Freeze Watch Friday Night

Hard freeze expected with lows 18-25 Friday night. Damage to early season vegetation, fruit trees, and above ground sprinkler systems possible.

Move any freeze sensitive vegetation indoors if you can, and drain above ground sprinkler systems.

— NWS Boulder (@NWSBoulder)

FAA officials ordered the ground stop at 3:49 p.m. and lifted it at approximately 5 p.m., according to an agency alert.

Weather sensors at DIA recorded gusts as high as 32 mph on Saturday afternoon, with sustained wind speeds reaching 25 mph, according to the

Airlines reported 212 and three canceled flights as of 5:55 p.m., according to the flight tracking site FlightAware, including 74 delayed flights on Southwest Airlines, 54 delayed flights on United and 48 delayed flights on SkyWest.

One person was injured and a plane suffered “substantial” damage when a United Airlines flight collided with two de-icing trucks at Denver International Airport in March after taxiing without clearance, according to investigators.

The United plane was parked on a de-icing pad when the flight crew heard what they believed to be the de-icing crew wrapping up the task and debriefing, according to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board.

The flight crew conducted all post-de-icing checks and received clearance to taxi from air traffic control, the report stated. However, when they started to move, they hit the de-icing trucks, pushing at least one onto its side. At that time, the flight crew was informed by the de-icing team that they had not been cleared to exit the pad and that the plane had hit the trucks, according to the report.

United Airlines initially reported that a de-icing truck had hit the plane.

One truck driver sustained minor injuries in the March 6 collision, which happened at about 10:24 a.m. None of the 136 people on board the Nashville-bound United plane — including pilots, flight attendants and passengers — were injured, according to the report.

The United plane, a Boeing 737, suffered “substantial” damage to the wings, which hit the trucks, according to the preliminary report.

Federal transportation officials said the investigation remains ongoing and involves NTSB specialists, the Federal Aviation Administration and United Airlines.

The investment that Denver International Airport made in the new security checkpoints certainly paid off during the government shutdown. The wait times were hardly affected, and my visitors had no troubles at all. Great job, DIA!

Tobi Howell, Idaho Springs

Support public health intervention at immigration center

Re: “Adams Co. Health Department admonishes ICE detention center,” March 30 news story

It is appalling to read that the ICE detention center in Aurora is acting with impunity in not complying with the public health inspection and not following recommendations intended to protect the health and safety of detainees and staff alike. All the Adams County Health Department can do at this point is “admonish” them!

The appalling conditions inside the detention center have been well-documented by the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, including insufficient medical and prenatal care, extreme temperatures, nutritional neglect, and deteriorating mental health.

We cannot accept these injustices and the human suffering that is being inflicted on our community members. We are not helpless! is making its way through the state legislature. It would expand the health department����ap authority and subject the detention center to a civil penalty and/or revocation of its license for failure to comply with its directives.

I implore everyone to contact their state legislators today and demand the passage of this bill.

Maureen Daly, Wheat Ridge

Troubled waters for our republic

America is the Titanic.

Trump 2.0 is the iceberg.

The 99% are the steerage class.

The 1% get all lifeboats.

It took the Titanic 2 hours and 40 minutes to sink. It’s taken America 250 years. Democracy isn’t unsinkable after all.

Scott Stoddard, Aurora

Don’t cut the education all Americans need — especially now

Re: “,” March 28 news story

No, no, no to cuts to social studies testing and learning. Inflation is spiking because high-level decision makers didn’t understand the importance of the Strait of Hormuz, and Colorado thinks we should de-emphasize both geography and economics? It’s never a good time to tell teachers, students, and parents that civics doesn’t matter, but now? When our democracy is in peril? To save a million bucks? What’s tested is taught, and what’s not tested is not taught. Our state and our country depend on people who understand civics, history, geography and economics. Cutting it is foolish.

Joan Jacobson, Lakewood

Go ahead, try out that turn signal

Modern-day automobiles can drive themselves and park themselves. They come with global tracking systems that direct motorists to their destinations. Cars are capable of providing verbal answers to spoken questions, playing favorite songs on demand, brewing coffee, showing films, placing bets and reciting poetry.

Many even come with something called “turn signals” that indicate a driver’s intention to turn. However, these require thoughtfulness and respect and, therefore, here in the United States, they are rarely used.

Craig Marshall Smith, Highlands Ranch

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The $150,000 contract with Axon Enterprise is for a year, allowing 50 cameras. The deal replaces the city’s contract with the controversial company Flock Safety, which expired Tuesday.

Seven of the 13 council members voted in favor of the deal, siding with Mayor Mike Johnston and citing the benefits to public safety. Councilwoman Flor Alvidrez cast one of the consequential swing votes, ultimately supporting the contract despite her concerns over possible misuse of the data.

“If we start to see subpoenas or other concerns come up, then I’m happy to address those,” she said. “But I’m not going to not use this technology (just) because that might happen.”

Alvidrez voted in favor of the contract with council members Darrell Watson, Kevin Flynn, Chris Hinds, Diana Romero-Campbell, Amanda Sawyer and President Amanda Sandoval. Council members Sarah Parady, Shontel Lewis, Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez, Stacie Gilmore, Paul Kashmann and Jamie Torres voted no.

Those opposed to the contract said they were concerned about ways the system could be exploited.

“The possible misuse of this system cannot be ignored,” Kashmann said. Axon and companies providing similar technology “are only a few clicks away from being one giant surveillance system.

“If that doesn’t terrify us, I wonder why?”

Johnston, whose administration proposed the Axon contract, has been an ardent supporter of the license plate-reading technology, saying it����ap a vital tool to help solve crime in the city.

Last year, the technology played a significant role in 16 homicide investigations, according to the mayor’s office. The cameras also helped in the recovery of more than 400 stolen cars and the removal of more than 60 firearms from the streets, the office said.

Car thefts decreased in Denver during the Flock pilot program, a drop that officials attribute to multiple factors beyond just the cameras. In 2023, more than 12,000 cars were stolen in the city. In 2024, thefts declined to about 8,500.

“Keeping Denver safe means giving our officers effective tools to combat crime while ensuring our rights are protected. This contract does both,” Johnston said of the Axon deal in a statement following the vote. “We’re proud to have Council’s support to move forward with this common-sense technology. … And with these strengthened privacy and data protections, we are ensuring that no federal agency or federal agent can access this data — now or ever.”

Denver has used fixed license plate-reading cameras since the first one was installed at the intersection of Federal Boulevard and West Sixth Avenue in 2018. The Denver Police Department also has license plate reading cameras mounted to some of its vehicles.

Some council members asked that the mayor’s office and the council continue to work on developing a citywide ordinance that would set some surveillance safeguards even as the new contract rolls out.

Johnston’s office convened a Surveillance Task Force last year that is in the process of developing that policy. Parady, one of the task force members, said she couldn’t say how long that would take, but said a draft was being developed.

“There will be an ordinance coming forward at some point,” Flynn said. “But I think it����ap appropriate to do the contract ahead because, again, I believe the contract has stronger safeguards and recourse than an ordinance will have.”

The council had been scheduled to vote on the Axon contract last week, but Flynn, a supporter, used a council rule that allowed him to unilaterally postpone it by a week. Ahead of Tuesday’s vote, three former Denver mayors — Michael Hancock, Federico Peña and Wellington Webb — penned an opinion article in The Denver Post encouraging the council to adopt the contract.

A change from Flock

Denver started a pilot program with Flock’s license plate readers at Denver International Airport, which had been struggling with high vehicle thefts, in 2023. The next year, officials expanded the program to other parts of the city, placing 111 cameras at 70 intersections.

In April 2025, Johnston’s administration attempted to extend the contract for two more years, but the council rejected the proposal, citing concerns about the company creating a mass-surveillance network.

The company also faced national scrutiny after to help carry out President Donald Trump’s mass-deportation efforts.

In August, nearly 1,400 times in 2024 and 2025, before the city asked last April to be removed from Flock’s national database.

After the council’s initial rejection, Johnston’s office extended Flock’s contract twice without council approval by signing agreements below the $500,000 cost threshold that requires a council vote.

The cameras snap photos of passing cars, capturing images of license plates and any identifiable features — say, a scratch or a dent — and using the information to help investigate crimes, such as car thefts, hit-and-runs, kidnappings and homicides.

Flock’s cameras were taken down Tuesday, said Tim Hoffman, the director of policy for the mayor’s office.

Axon has other city contracts

Johnston’s team announced the contract with Axon in February, saying that it would provide a more secure option compared to Flock. Unlike Flock, the company doesn’t have a nationwide database system. Denver also wouldn’t share its data with other jurisdictions unless they have agreed to certain restrictions. Axon will have a shorter retention period for photos — 21 days, instead of 30 under Flock.

The mayor’s office opted to bring the contract to the council despite it being well below the council-approval threshold. The council also hosted a one-hour courtesy public hearing last week to hear feedback from residents about the contract.

Axon already contracts with the city for some other police equipment, including body-worn cameras, Tasers and a livestream camera system called Fusus that uses hundreds of cameras throughout the city. The new license plate cameras have livestreaming capabilities as well.

Sandoval cast the deciding vote on the new contract Tuesday, saying she had wrestled with which way to go.

“I’ve made a lot of hard decisions,” Sandoval said. “And I can’t remember making a harder one.”

Denver International Airport sensors logged a record-breaking 88 degrees at 2:50 p.m., busting the of 86 degrees (set Saturday) and 85 degrees (set March 19.)

Before this year, the hottest March day on record was 84 degrees on March 26, 1971, according to the National Weather Service.

Wednesday’s weather also shattered Denver’s daily record high for March 25, which was 75 degrees in 2012.

The recent stretch of sweltering spring days is thanks to a that is moving east slowly. Meteorologists and weather historians say it may end up being one of the most expansive heat waves in American history, according to The Associated Press.

logged temperatures well into the 90s on Wednesday, including 96 degrees in Greeley and Mack; 94 degrees in Fountain, Florence and Pueblo; 92 degrees in Denver and Southglenn; 91 degrees in Loveland; and 90 degrees in Lakewood, Aurora, Longmont and Fort Collins.

Colorado is one of 14 states that have seen their hottest March day on record this month, and a group of international climate scientists called said this week a heat wave of this magnitude “would have been virtually impossible without human-induced climate change.”

Denver is set to see a , with highs in the 50s, before warm weather returns this weekend, forecasters said.