05-07-25 Interview - Rob Dawson on Cherry Creek's Cow Invasion

One texter sent me this. Mandy actually said Andy because they forgot the end. But my feelings aren't heard. Don't worry about it. Andy, please make an announcement about I twenty five to the north between Dacona and Firestone.

There are four wrecks both sides of the road.

It's very dangerous, so take your time if you are headed north between Dacona and Firestone. Things are a hot mess. Second, I just uploaded a photo I made Chuck take a photo of the chicken rub recipe that I was just talking about. You marinate you can do boneless chicken breast. I don't really do that. I do boneless chicken thighs. Marinate it in this chicken rub, throw them on the grill.

Oh so good.

Now you may have just heard the news story with Rob Dawson and cows in Cherry Creek or and something, and I needed more information. So we now have the intrepid Rob Dawson on the phone to answer questions about cows in Cherry Creek. Rob, how many cows are we talking about it?

First of all, thanks for having I knew you were going to text me as soon as I saw you text I knew it was going to be about that. There were there were six they they were walking through the streets. Actually, I just have to say something now.

When they got off.

The trailer here, yeah, very disorganized.

One of them walked. I mean the horn was inches away from myself.

Oop.

So recording this.

I was like, Rob, you were going to protect yourself with your cell phone. You've got to steer with giant horns and you throw off your cell phone.

Rob, we need to talk about self defense. I'm a little bit worried about you.

Well, I thought that you can't make sud and movement. So I just, oh, yeah, there, that's what I was turning. I have myself out.

Before the before the steer walked up.

To my well, I want to make a quick announcement, and I being serious about this. There is no pope yet. We've got black smoke coming out at the Vatican. And so that was just an FYI, no pope today, No pope today now, Rob. So they brought six steers into Cherry Creek. Now, paint a picture for me, Rob, because you know we're radio people.

Were the steers on leashes? What was going on?

Like?

Who was walking.

Guys on horses?

Were kind of starting them, but they were not on any sort of leaves. They were walking kind of being pushed with the horses. Although along this route right before the elementary school, there was a car parked on the street and.

One of the steers almost hit the car.

So the horse just got in there at the last second.

Can you imagine that insurance claim? Do you call your insurance age. You're like, yeah, my car was damaged when a steer ran into it. Okay, where did this happen? Cherry Creek And they're like, wait, what so this sandwich place that's here right, tell me about this sandwich place. So essentially they're bringing the steers down so you can see what your roast beef used to look like, what are we doing?

Now?

I was thinking about that too, But this is Mendocino Farms. You and your audience is going to love this, Mandy, because it's the California based, LA based sandwich eatery. They do sandwiches, saladeetering, and they're open up their first location in Cherry Creek now, I guess to endear themselves to Colorado.

They were aware.

That the steers didn't make it for the Stack Show parades this year because they were stuck in the snow on the way up here, so they decided, I guess that it would be a good idea.

And their logo is a cow.

To do a promotion with the mini parades or Cherry Creek. And then the steers and the staff delivered some of their food to Elementary School of Brownwell Elementary for teacher Appreciation Week. I said, your audience is going to love this because the SoundBite I had to use it. I was like, so why Terry Creek And the woman, the manager said, oh, well, well, there's a lot of California's man miss us and know about us, and we just thought it would be a great place to pay.

And I walked past it. It was passed.

I bet, I bet, I just I find this and you know what, here's the thing. We're sitting here talking about their brand new business on the radio. So obviously it was the right kind of pr stunt. It just it would be like chick fil A opening a store by bringing in a bunch of like baby chickens, you know what I mean. Like, here's what your food looked like before we killed it to put it on a bun so you can eat here. I mean you know, I don't know. It just seemed like an odd choice to me.

One of the other media members said, oh, yeah, this is a restaurant opening. It's a little weird, but okay.

Yeah, okay, all right, yeah, there we go. Okay, Rob, That's really all I needed to know. I just needed to Did they get them back onto the trailer without incident, I'm guessing or we would have heard about.

That they did.

I did hear some conversation they were they were rounding up the horses.

First time I thought.

They like one guy was like, wait, wait a minute, should we leave like one horse behind.

I guess one of the.

Steers got loose, the force would be able to chase it.

But I wasn't around for that part. But I was just hoping they all got the trailer.

Okay, wow, can you imagine what this is like for the steers, Like, you know, here they are, they're just minding their own beswax right. They're out on a farm or ranch somewhere. They're in the wide open spaces, they got grass whatever steers do out there. And then they're like, hey, guys, hop in the truck, and you hop in the truck, and then all of a sudden, You're like in the big city. It's almost like a cow version of crocodile Dundee.

And they looked annoyed essentially with the selby they were. They were put into like a pen. It makes a pen in the middle of the street at the elementary school for about a half hour.

So the kids can watch.

But the kids have views were blocked by all the adults taking chelfies with the.

With the animals. So that was interesting too. They got a chance the kids.

There you go.

So we got steers in Jerry Creek and sandwiches to boot.

It's that kind of day.

Rob.

Thank you for the clarification. Let's just confused me. I'm not. I was like what what?

And I kind of wasn't paying full attention to the news story the first time it played, and I it was I didn't, but apparently I did hear it correctly.

You did, Yeah you did, Cols and Jerry Creek.

All right, Rob Dawson, to see you later. Yea, thank you are wonderful, wonderful news man.

Rob Dawson. I don't even understand that.

But okay, let's talk for a moment about the US News and World Report. Annual report on states What States are the Best to live? And this is what it says on their Best States ranking. Some states shine in healthcare, some sort in education, some excel in.

Both, or in much more.

The Best States rankings by US News draws on thousands of data points to measure how wealth states are performing for their citizens. In addition to healthcare and education, the rankings take into account of state's economy, it's roads, bridges, internet and other infrastructure, it's public safety, it's natural environment, the fiscal stability of state government, and the opportunity it

Now, what does this matter?

Well, it matters because as businesses look to move or open or expand, they're looking for places that are going to have a good worker base.

They're looking for places that people are.

Going to want to move if they need to bring in experience people from other areas.

They're looking for.

Places where there's a good quality of life because happy people make happy employees. And I don't know if you guys knew this, but Utah's right over there. I mean, it's it's like right over there.

So we need to be.

Concerned about Utah's ascension and more concerned about where we are going.

Now this year it goes like this.

I'm gonna give you starting number one, because I already gave you Utah. No point in expanding the you know, the tension around it. Number two New Hampshire Live for or Die. Whenever anyone says New Hampshire, in my mind I respond, live for or die, which is their state motto. And now they're number two. Idaho right after that. Idaho is a beautiful state, but people in Idaho and Montana can be a little odd in my view, not bad, just odd, not the friendliest group of people. And now

Two in education.

That is amazing to me When I was a kid that schools were not good in Florida, I mean, and those of you who are who are hate listening right now are like, well.

That explains a lot about you.

That being said, i have to give a lot of credit to Jeb Bush. And I'm not a huge Jeb Bush fan. Like I love George W.

Bush. I'm an unabashed George W. Bush fan. I don't like everything he did.

In hindsight, I have great, great reservations about the entire Iraq War.

But nonetheless I love the guy.

His brother Eh, he's okay, but he was a great governor and he was one of the first governors that I was aware of that's centered reading in schools. Everything was about making sure kids could read, because if they can't read, they can't do anything else. And so he really aggressively focused on reading. And now number one in education is just number two in education.

Is stunning to me. But it just goes to show.

You what a good plan, what great phonics education, what a solid foundation can do for kids as they get older. Just a point of order for Denver Public schools, throwing that out there. Number seven, Vermont, number eight, South Dakota. Guess what South Dakota is right there? Number nine Massachusetts, But then you got to have Massachusetts winner, number ten Washington State. So Colorado not in the top ten. Colorado is number eleven. Wait is this the right Let me

Um bum bum bum. Let me see here, you guys, get back to where we're try this again and do this and do this.

Okay, let me see I just put the wrong link in here. Oh, come on, one moment, Well, I find the right thing. And if I still have a wrong on the block, I'm gonna be super mad about about that. Um and try this makes great radio Zach vamp for me.

Vamp uh man. I think sixteen still sounds pretty solid for Colorado.

You'd like to hear it better.

Obviously that's not pull US's goal of top ten.

But yeah, it's terrible.

Yeah, I'm gonna have to come back to this because I can't get this to open. And I know that I have a a password for this because I had to make it this morning, but it's not working right now.

So that's usually how this goes. Let me do this.

I know how I can find this twenty twenty five best state.

All right.

I'm surprised to see Nebraska and Utap that high at the very least, even though you know they do some nice things going for them. I don't see a flock of people go in Nebraska or Utah.

Okay, so I am wrong on my blog. It is eleventh overall. Oh that's good. We were sixteenth in twenty twenty four. Hey, trend en, I've gone back up. Nope, then I rescind my entire thing. We've been going up and down over the last few years, mostly down. So if we pop back up, to eleven. Then I have to change my entire blog post. Never mind. The problem is is I was looking for history to try and compare, which should be easily available, but it's not, and I

You asked for one. So moving on. This is a very cool story.

And I know that there's a touchiness to people when we're talking about immigration because now all immigration has been conflated with legal immigration.

But that's not right, it's.

Not accurate right, And this story from nine News, I really like it. Denver Public Schools offers citizenship classes at three of its community hubs throughout the district, and since the inauguration of Donald Trump and the pursuit of illegal immigrants, a lot of people who have visas, green cards, and permanent residents are now feeling some urgency to go ahead and become citizens.

Now.

I don't care why someone becomes a citizen finally, but if they're here and they have legal status and they're working and they're part of the community, then I really want them to become a CITI. I want people who want to work hard and be you know, successful, I want them to become citizens. And a lot of the people they talk to in the story is they want to vote, they want to participate.

I think that's wonderful.

And now they say they've got so much demand as these classes that they can't keep up, which I also think is great.

Have you you've probably never had.

The experience to watch a class of people take their citizen their oath of citizenship is very, very moving. I mean I got to go watch it for a news story. I didn't even know any of the people, and I cried because when they take the oath of citizenship and they become an American citizen, the pride, it's like everybody's glowing with pride because, you know what, we were born here. We really got the luck of the draw, right, we were lucky enough to be born in the United States

It's so great. It's so incredibly great.

Yeah, it's like watching someone get into their dreams schools or something. With all the work that goes into it, and the tests and the studying and all that. It's something you have to be really determined to do. It's it's interesting to see some states start to require it as a graduation required from high school, which I do think is interesting. It gives you a valuable perspective about what it took for these other people to become an Immerman.

States require going to what some states require you to pass.

The new State just leave say yeah, you past the citizenship exam to earn your high school diploma.

I'll check which states right now.

The citizenship exam is not a walk in the park. It's not the hardest thing ever. If you paid attention in civics class and history, you should be able to pass it. But for people that it's not their history and it's not their you know, native language, it's just it's a wonderful thing. So I don't know if there are other classes like this around where people are coming in, but I'd love to know if there are.

These are at Denver Public Schools.

And there's a line Mandy, I work for DPS, and they've said they're not even gonna bother trying to teach these kids to English. They think that would be racist.

What what I'm if that's accurate.

That has to come straight out of the brain of Superintendent Alex Mareno, the first after Latino bilingual superintendent of Denver Public Schools, who has just given a contract extension, even though Denver Public Schools has not recovered from pandemic learning losses, not even close, and black and Latino students are slighting even further back. And yet the Denver Public School which I hope changes significantly this November, decided to go ahead and do it anyway.

That sounds like something he would do. You know, here's the thing.

If you don't teach kids who don't speak English English, you are locking them out of a huge part of the economy. You are trapping them in a small fraction of the entire economy of the United States of America. And I have friends who work in you know. You know who's a great example of what I'm about to say. The jockey, the Hall of Fame jockey Pat Day, nicest man you will ever meet in your life. And when he stopped racing, he started a ministry and he ministers

It's just part of the wonderful things that Pat does.

To me.

He is, he's an amazing man. He's a small man, but an amazing man. One of my favorite pictures is Pat Day to my left, chucked to my right. We look like that cell phone commercial with the bars. It's perfect. We'll be right back.