Building managers in downtown Denver are quietly preparing for the worst during this month's Democratic National Convention.

The managers are adding security guards, putting together plans to limit access and parking at their buildings and coming up with ways to make sure tenants can get to work around crowds and street closures. They are checking whether existing emergency plans need to be tweaked for the convention.

And - though several managers were reluctant to go into much detail about their plans - some admit to preparing for something as severe as building lockdowns in the event of major mayhem.

Visitors to Colorado may know about skiing and the Denver Broncos, but thanks to a new marketing campaign, they may discover the "Unsinkable Molly Brown" and that the song "America the Beautiful" was inspired by the view from Pikes Peak.

City and airport officials have plastered Denver International Airport with banners and signs showcasing some of Colorado's most famous landmarks and people. The effort is part of an overall spruce-up at DIA in time for the Democratic National Convention and will remain in place through the end of the year.

"We wanted to put our best foot forward. We considered what we are - the first thing people see when they get here and last thing when they leave - so we wanted to make a good impression," DIA spokesman Chuck Cannon said. "We have these signs in the terminal and the concourses. We've replaced the carpeting in the terminal and Concourse A and C, and installed the moving walkway in Concourse C."

Advocacy groups and the American Civil Liberties Union said today they won't appeal a federal judge's ruling that upheld law enforcement and the city...

Neighborhoods around downtown Denver are casting a nervous eye as protesters, activists and exhibitors finalize plans for events in city parks, some...

Nearly half of the planned expenditures for the $50 million federal grant for security at the Democratic National Convention haven't been revealed publicly because they don't meet the threshold for city council approval, officials said today.

Councilman Doug Linkhart asked Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper's administration for more concrete details during a committee meeting on the subject today.

Administration officials said the undisclosed expenditures don't reach the $50,000 threshold for equipment purchases that would require council approval nor the $500,000 threshold for contracts.

City Park neighbors packed the Ricketson Auditorium on Tuesday night demanding answers about how Tent State University is going to work and where the participants are going to sleep, reports The Denver Post.

"We're concerned about what happens if 20,000 or more people spend 2 4/7 here for five to seven days," said Alice Kelly, a City Park Alliance board member. "I think it will be a disaster."

Ladies who lunch

Invitations are in the mail to the wives of governors and senators attending the DNC. Sorry, Bill Clinton,...

A leader of a group that had hoped to camp thousands of protesters in City Park during the Democratic National Convention said he hopes to announce a possible alternative on Wednesday, reports Chris Osher.

Tent State University organizer Adam Jung said the group remained disillusioned over how city officials have handled the camping suggestions.

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper and other officials have said they will stick to the city's ban against camping in the park.

The Denver City Council on Monday approved a new ordinance aimed at preventing protesters from carrying buckets of feces or material that could form street barricades, paying little heed to a treaty that protest groups signed and labeled the "doo-doo accord," reports Christopher Osher.

Three protest groups - Re-create 68, Unconventional Action and Tent State University - had signed the treaty, which called for "a moratorium on the public throwing, spraying, smearing, hosing or inducing of excrement" during the Democratic National Convention.

The protesters labeled the ordinance, which Denver police pushed, as overkill and an insult against those who they said simply want to exercise their First Amendment speech rights.

With Denver streets promising congestion and closures come convention time, a Boulder-based cycling outfit has started signing up pedalers to share the 1,000 free bikes it's gathering for the downtown area, reports Jessica Fender.

Bikes Belong, a nonprofit cycling advocacy group, is taking advantage of Denver's open bike paths and lanes during the convention and installing its own temporary parking spots walking distance from the Pepsi Center.