🤠 Howdy, friends! Welcome to Thursday.

• Today's weather: Sunny, with a high of 87.

🎂 Happy birthday to our member Megan Manek!

Today's newsletter is 965 words — a 3.5-minute read.

Sixty-six million years ago, a Tyrannosaurus rex went for a stroll across what's now North Dakota.

Why it matters: Denver scientists just retraced its steps, unearthing what they say is the first known trackway left by an adult T. rex.

Paleontologists from the Denver Museum of Nature & Science and Liverpool John Moores University, who jointly made the discovery, say the trackway offers a rare look at how the dinosaur actually moved.

• Their discovery was published Tuesday in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

By the numbers: The 23-foot path holds four three-toed prints, each about 3 feet long — with a 13-foot stride.

• Scientists clocked the dinosaur's pace at 3.5–4.5 mph, roughly a brisk human walk.

The intrigue: The remarkable find started with a Colorado teacher recovering from knee replacement surgery.

• Longtime museum volunteer and Northglenn High School teacher Kent Hups was hunting for an easier route out of a rocky valley in 2025 when three giant toes stopped him in his tracks, he told National Geographic.
• "Hey just found a t Rex footprint!!!!!!" Hups texted Tyler Lawson, DMNS' senior curator of vertebrate paleontology.
• Lyson was skeptical — until he predicted exactly where a second print whould sit if Hups was right. The crew dug there, and struck it, National Geographic reports.

What's next: Three prints are expected to be airlifted by helicopter from the site this fall and transported to the DMNS for further study.

• The museum plans to offer updates from the recovery with visitors this winter.

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Stanley Marketplace's new owner doesn't want its $40.9 million takeover to be obvious.

Why it matters: Stanley has become one of metro Denver's defining mixed-use success stories, drawing 1.3 million visits annually.

• But Denver-based Magnetic Capital's promise to preserve Stanley's character will soon be tested.

What they're saying: "Continuity for us is a big kind of north star," managing partner Chris Carroll tells Axios.

Catch up quick: Magnetic Capital bought Stanley from longtime owners Westfield Co. and Flightline Ventures last month.

What we're watching: Twenty-one Stanley businesses have leases set to expire between this November and the end of 2027, per a JLL financing memo Axios obtained.

• Carroll says tenants have shown strong interest in staying and many want to grow.

Caveat: He didn't rule out rent increases and says Magnetic will approach each tenant individually.

Full story ... Subscribe to Axios Arapahoe County

Colorado's growing wolf population is bringing more conflict — and increasingly lethal consequences.

The latest: Wildlife officials have killed three yearling gray wolves in the past month, including two on Monday, after repeated livestock attacks.

Why it matters: The lethal removals highlight the tension at the heart of Colorado's wolf reintroduction push as the wolf population grows and conflicts with ranchers increase.

By the numbers: Colorado Parks and Wildlife killed yearlings from the Copper Creek and Three Creeks packs in Pitkin and Rio Blanco counties Monday after each was linked to four livestock attacks, the agency confirmed.

• Last month, CPW also killed a yearling from the One Ear Pack after it preyed on four calves.
• CPW said the attacks continued despite ranchers using nonlethal deterrents, including cameras, range riders and hazing.

Zoom out: Wolves have injured or killed nearly three dozen livestock since July, per agency data.

• At least 19 wolves have died since Colorado began reintroducing them in December 2023.

What we're watching: The rules governing wolf management could also change at the federal level.

• President Trump this month ordered Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to determine within 90 days whether gray and Mexican wolves should be stripped of Endangered Species Act protections.

Meanwhile, Colorado's plans to bring in more wolves are uncertain.

What they're saying

💰 Democrat gubernatorial candidate Phil Weiser has raised nearly $687,000 compared to his Republican counterpart Victor Marx's roughly $625,000, new campaign finance numbers show.

• Notably, Marx is spending at a much higher rate than Weiser. (Denver Post 🔑)

🚩 Denver's Board of Ethics voted unanimously yesterday to investigate two complaints alleging City Attorney Miko Brown tried to steer city legal work to her former law firm. (CBS Colorado)

🚨 A Colorado man was among the two pilots injured Sunday when an Amazon cargo jet overshot its runway in Miami, killing five people on the ground. (Denver7)

❌ United Airlines scrapped plans for a commemorative 9/11 flyover with a Boeing 777 and four fighter jets over Denver tomorrow following unspecified public concerns. (FOX31)

Convict Coffee Company's newest location is a case study in serendipity.

Zoom in: Founder Dan Klehm inadvertently opened his third metro-area location this month on Colfax Avenue, next door to R&R Head Labs, a barbershop that hires formerly incarcerated people.

• Klehm's shops raise money to fund programs aimed at reducing recidivism.

How it works: Convict Coffee Company donates 25 cents from every drink sold to charitable programs, including ReShape Minds and Second Chance Center.

• Its recipients change quarterly, and in all, the company says it's raised more than $200,000 since April 2024.

The intrigue: Klehm wasn't trying to find a new storefront when he tried tracking down an espresso grinder listed for sale online. By coincidence, he contacted R&R Head Labs about a haircut the same day.

• After reaching the seller, Klehm learned an entire storefront was for sale, eventually securing the space for Convict Coffee's third location.

If you go: The shop is at 2260 E. Colfax Ave.

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✌️John is OOO this week.

🎶 Alayna is listening to this easy, breezy song by The Sways.

🐟 Esteban recommends the miso grilled Chilean sea bass from Rōmyō in Larimer Square.

Thanks to our editor, Gigi Sukin.