Late Night Denver Convention News:

• Oprah Winfrey has forked over $50k for a house in Denver for convention week.

• Protest groups are appealing yesterday's ruling in their federal lawsuit against the City and County of Denver and the Secret Service. They will file their appeal in the streets of Denver. The ACLU of Denver says it won't appeal the decision.

• How well received was yesterday's announcement that 1/2 the tickets for Obama's acceptance speech will be reserved for Coloradans? 60,000 tickets were requested in 24 hours.

• An E-town concert has been set for August 25 with James Taylor, David Crosby, Graham Nash and Ani DiFranco. Tickets go on sale Thursday, the cost is $50 to $85.

This is an open thread.

Bill Clinton will speak at the Democratic Convention in Denver Wednesday night, before the VP candidate. Wednesday night is also when the balloting takes place.

Sen. Barack Obama is off to Hawaii tomorrow on vacation. That means no VP pick until next week, less than 3 weeks out from the Convention.

There's still no resolution as to whether there will be a roll-coll vote at the convention or whether Hillary will ask for her name to be placed in nomination. Newsweek's Jonathan Alter, in Catharsis in Denver? today writes [More...]:

Unconventional Denver, an anarchist protest group, says if Denver turns its $50 million security grant over to programs that help the people and calls off its occupation of Denver, it will sit the convention out.

Otherwise, they intend to show the Convention is just a bunch of corporations and lobbyists partying behind closed doors and a wall of heavily armed police. Their goal is to disrupt the spectacle. Democracy is not behind those doors, it's in the streets. That's where hope and change can happen. [More...]

Update 8/7: Here's my breakdown of yesterday's federal court decision upholding Denver's planned protest zone.

In a 71 page ruling available here, a federal judge in Denver today upheld Denver's planned protest zone for the Democratic National Convention, finding the plan does not run afoul of the First Amendment. As the Denver Post reports:

The demonstrators wanted the public-protest area moved closer to the delegates coming in and out of the Pepsi Center, and they wanted parade routes to end closer to the venue.

Law-enforcement officials and Denver representatives argued during a one-day trial that there has been a robust effort made to allow groups of all backgrounds to demonstrate and that security concerns superceded the demonstrators' need to be closer to the delegates.

The last paragraphs of the ruling:[More...]

ABC News has the latest on whether Hillary Clinton will put her name in nomination alongside Barack Obama at the Democratic Convention.

Answer: It's not clear.

Friday, the New York Daily News said she was not going to submit a request.

...."She is not going to submit the signed request," the [Clinton] insider told the Daily News. "People are still circulating petitions on her behalf, but this is a done deal."

Party rules stipulate that Clinton must ask in writing to be nominated herself and also submit a petition signed by 300 to 600 delegates. Without her signed request, petitions of support are meaningless.

Today's update: [More...]

Update: 2/3 of tickets will go to residents of Rocky Mountain States. 1/2 will go to residents of Colorado.

Final update: Go! Tickets available here, first come, first serve. More information available here. You must be able to show you have a place to stay since transportation and lodging is not being provided. They are encouraging Republicans and Independents to attend.

Volunteering is not required:

While volunteering is not a prerequisite for recipients, Coloradans who volunteer with the Campaign for Change will have the opportunity to receive all-star seating for Barack Obama’s speech.

More....

Oh, come all ye faithful? The city and County of Denver yesterday issued a parade permit to a group of Hillary Clinton backers for Tuesday, August 26.

Hillary Clinton supporters will march through Denver during the Democratic National Convention to show appreciation for the New York senator's historic primary run and urge the party to place her name in nomination.

The city issued a permit Tuesday to Colorado Women Count/Women Vote for a parade on Aug. 26 - the 88th anniversary of women's suffrage and the date Clinton is rumored to be speaking at the DNC.

Also participating: "18 Million Voices, a national organization of Clinton supporters."

Hillary supporters, who will be arriving by buses from all over the country, have a place of their own to gather: [More...]

Westword is Denver's award-winning, alternative, free weekly paper. It has a section devoted to the Democratic Convention, called Demver. Today's irreverent orientation video is by its "resident fake drunk cowboy" and friends at Wrist Deep Productions.

Given all the anger in the comments here today on serious subjects, hopefully it will make everyone lighten up a bit. This is an open thread.

Denver officials announced today that the protest zone for Invesco Field where Sen. Barack Obama will deliver his nomination acceptance speech will be in the parking lot. The lot will be fenced.

The fenced-in area will be about 53,000 square feet in Lot J. Delegates entering the convention will pass by the area from between 200 and 400 feet away after they are dropped off for the night's speech by Sen. Barack Obama.

Protesters will be allowed to use bullhorns, and the city will provide a stage, amplification equipment, and at least two speakers that will be located outside the zone and pointing toward Invesco Field at Mile High.

Here's the map (pdf) showing Lot J.

In related news, the protesters are offering Denver a "doo doo accord" (pdf copy here) and yes, it's just what it sound like -- it's in reponse to the City Council's upcoming final consideration of a law banning protesters from carrying buckets of the human stuff.

Senator Edward Kennedy won't be in Denver for the Democratic Convention, but he taped a five minute video that will be shown.

He'll be missed by all and our best wishes go out to him for successful treatment so that he can attend the inauguration in person in January.

Denver's 9 News ran a story last night on the 120 credentialed bloggers at the DNC. I'm in it for a few seconds. During the taping I told them about the Big Tent which will offer space and a home base to hundreds of other bloggers without media credentials and gave them the address. It was 101 degrees out but the reporter, Adam Chodak, took his crew there and included it in the story. [More...]

With 23 days to go to the Democratic National Convention in Denver, it's no surprise that local news coverage is expanding daily.

In addition to writing TalkLeft, for the past four years I've been blogging daily on local issues at Elevated Voices, the blog of Denver's terrific monthly magazine, 5280. Now we have a special blog just for the DNC, DNC Daily. (The RSS feed is here.)We're just getting started and more writers will be joining us, but bookmark it now.

The August issue of the magazine is now out, I just picked mine up at Whole Foods. It's terrific -- especially the pullout guide to everything Denver, from where to eat, shop, party, relax, get a quick beauty fix and more. I'm going to keep it in my 4th Amendment tote bag at all times to have ready answers for the out-of-towners. (Tote bags available here.)

Much of the issue is available free online. Here are some highlights: [More...]