Downtown Denver should be one of the safest places in America during the Democratic National Convention, said Elbra Wedgeworth. And missing out on it due to concerns about traffic and congestion means missing out on history, said Tami Door.

The two civic boosters spoke Wednesday during an Urban Land Institute panel discussion at the Curtis Hotel, attended by about 100 people.

"I personally think this is probably one of the safest places you're going to be able to be in America, because you'll have so many people on the streets," said Wedgeworth, president of the Denver 2008 Convention Host Committee.

Voters will decide next month whether state Rep. Douglas Bruce, reviled by Democrats and often ostracized by his fellow Republicans, gets to keep his job, reports Tim Hoover.

Bruce, appointed by a vacancy committee to represent House District 15, covering northeast Colorado Springs, just completed his first, rocky session in the House.

In the Aug. 12 Republican primary, he faces Mark Waller, a lawyer and an Air Force veteran, who says Bruce has been an embarrassment. The winner will face Democrat Michelle Maksimowicz, but in heavily Republican Colorado Springs, the seat is almost certain to be decided in the primary.

The Dems are coming!  The Dems are coming! But where are they going to stay?

Barack Obama likes the gated Englewood manse of Level 3 CEO James Crowe. So we hear that's Obama-ville during the DNC - together with hotel suites for making deals and spinning wheels.

Hillary and Bill Clinton are booked into the Brown Palace. That's where Oprah is trying to stay. I had heard that she was renting a house in Country Club - but she was sniffing around the Brown last week.

Gov. Bill Ritter today expressed reservations about moving state employees to a four-day work week, saying he was concerned customer service might suffer, reports Tim Hoover.