This week's civic news centers on one evening. On Tuesday, Nov. 17, Centennial City Council takes up two of the biggest money questions it handles all year. Here's what the city's legal notices put on the calendar, and why each item matters.

The 2027 budget gets its public hearing

Council will hold a public hearing on adopting the 2027 Budget on Tuesday, Nov. 17, at 7 p.m. at the Civic Center, 13133 E. Arapahoe Rd. Copies of the proposed budget are available on the city website or in person at the Civic Center.

Why it matters: The budget is the city's spending plan for next year. It shapes the services and projects residents rely on.

Look one week ahead

Some weeks are about what's happening right now, and some are about getting a head start. This is the second kind. The Streets at SouthGlenn has posted its holiday-season lineup on its official events calendar. Two of the biggest listings arrive just after this issue's Nov. 11–17 window. If your household runs on a shared calendar, now is the time to pencil them in.

Grand Holiday Parade: Friday, Nov. 20

SouthGlenn's calendar lists the Grand Holiday Parade for Nov. 20, which lands on a Friday this year. A parade at the end of a workweek and school week is easier when you decide early who's coming, who's driving and whether dinner happens before or after. Each listing on the calendar links to its own page. Check the parade's page for start time and day-of details as the date gets closer.

## What's on the agenda

On Tuesday, Nov. 17, Centennial City Council is scheduled to take up two of the biggest money questions a city handles. The first is how much to spend next year. The second is what the city charges in sales and use tax. Both are set for public hearings at 7 p.m., according to the city's legal notices page.

That evening is the last day of this issue's week. For residents who want a say, the deadline that matters most comes a day earlier.

## The budget: two years proposed, 2027 up for adoption

Hello, friends. Beau here, Chief Canine Correspondent, reporting from the season of crunchy sidewalks.

When cold snaps settle over Centennial, two things show up in our driveways and garages: ice melt and antifreeze. Humans see safer steps and happier engines. A Labrador sees a mystery seasoning and an intriguing puddle. That gap in perspective is why we need to talk.

The salty sidewalk situation

According to the ASPCA, ice melts are commonly made from different kinds of salt. Most pets meet them in a very ordinary way. They walk across a treated area and lick their feet afterward, or they eat snow with ice melt mixed in. Some pets like the salty taste and will eat it straight from the packaging if they can reach it.

If you planted a honey locust, maple or fruit tree in the last few years, its trunk could use one more fall chore before winter settles in. Colorado State University Extension's PlantTalk Colorado says sunscald, often called southwest injury, primarily strikes Colorado trees from December through March. CSU suggests wrapping in late October or early November. If the week of Nov. 11 finds your young trees still bare-trunked, this is the week to catch up.

What sunscald actually is

On a clear winter day, intense sun at a low angle heats the south and southwest side of a deciduous tree's trunk. That warmth coaxes bark cells out of dormancy. When temperatures fall below freezing after sunset or with a change in weather, those newly active cells and the conductive tissue beneath them die.

You won't see the damage right away. CSU says it can show up later as sunken, discolored bark that may crack or fall off in patches, exposing dead tissue. It most often appears on the southwest side of young trunks. CSU also notes that sunscald is less frequent in places with cloudy, sunless winter days, which helps explain why it is a Colorado concern.

A profile drawn from public sources.

The week of Nov. 11 is when many Centennial households start their Thanksgiving lists: who's hosting, who's bringing pie, how many folding chairs to borrow. For some neighbors in the south metro, though, the list starts with whether there will be enough groceries at all. That's the gap Hope Starts Here Food Bank set out to fill.

Where it started

In its own description on the volunteer-matching platform JustServe, the food bank says it "started as a means to feed families in need in the South Denver Metro Area." That's the part of the region Centennial calls home. The phrasing describes a response to families close by, not a distant regional operation.

Thanksgiving is Thursday, Nov. 26, which makes this week, Nov. 11 through 17, a good low-pressure window for a practice run. Skip the deep clean for now. Instead, try out the kitchen habits you'll want on the big day while the stakes are only a weeknight dinner.

A quick note on where these tips come from: Rubi didn't supply material for this week's column, so every tip below comes from cited references. Most of it comes from the CDC's Preventing Food Poisoning guidance, which is built around four steps: Clean, Separate, Cook and Chill.

The five tips

1. Clean as you go, one food at a time. (From cited references: CDC)

A Colorado prize for a story about Mars

The 2026 Colorado Book Awards are a program of Colorado Humanities, and this year's History prize went to a book about Mars. The Martians: The True Story of an Alien Craze that Captured Turn-of-the-Century America, by David Baron, was named the 2026 winner in History. It was published by Liveright, an imprint of W.W. Norton.

This is a Book Spotlight, not a review. No one at Centennial Pulse has read the book for this piece. Instead, it covers what the award listing says, what the book sets out to do, and why it might suit your nightstand this November.

What the subtitle promises

Fall walks around Centennial give dogs plenty to think about: drifting leaves, busy squirrels, neighbor dogs and a sidewalk full of fresh smells. Coming back when called has to compete with all of it.

Earlier Kacy's Corner columns laid the groundwork. The walks column covered a clear "Yes" marker, check-ins and using sniffing as a reward. The calm column covered settling and changing the situation instead of repeating cues. This week those pieces come together in a skill the series hasn't tackled yet: a recall your dog actually wants to answer.

Why a kind recall works

Red Dog Behavior describes its training as force-free and relationship-based, built on trust and mutual understanding. The calm column noted that the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior (AVSAB) supports reward-based methods. For recall, that means the goal is simple. Coming back to you should be one of the best deals on the walk, and it should often lead straight back to the fun.

A pie plan, sorted early

Thanksgiving lands on Thursday, Nov. 26 this year. That makes mid-November the stretch when the holiday menu turns from a vague idea into an actual shopping list, and when the question of who's handling dessert starts to feel urgent. If pie is the part of the meal you'd happily hand off to a professional, there's a local option sitting right on the city's own calendar.

The City of Centennial Events Directory lists a Thanksgiving Pie Pre Order with Mile High Pie Company, hosted at Curate A Local Mercantile, 8242 S University Blvd. #150, Centennial, CO 80122.

What the listing tells us

Snow season is a good time to spend ten minutes in the driveway. Colorado's Passenger Vehicle Traction Law isn't only a mountain-pass rule. The Colorado Department of Transportation says it can put traction and chain laws in effect on any state highway, and it implements the traction law "during winter storms, or when conditions require."

Being caught unprepared costs real money. CDOT lists a $100 fine plus a $33 surcharge for not complying. If your vehicle ends up closing a travel lane, the penalty can reach a $500 fine plus a $157 surcharge. Here are five small moves that help you avoid both. (CDOT Traction Law)

1. Measure your tread against 3/16 inch

Under the law, passenger vehicles need tires with at least 3/16" of tread depth. Most tread gauges read in 32nds of an inch, so you're looking for 6/32 or more. Check all four tires, not just the fronts. As the next tips explain, every tire counts.

A quiet Sunday on purpose

For the first time in weeks, Broncos fans get a Sunday off. The NFL's official Denver schedule labels Week 10 the "Broncos' Bye Week," and it falls right in this issue's Nov. 11–17 window. There is no kickoff to plan around and no Monday-morning film session at the office coffee maker. Players get a chance to rest before the schedule turns demanding again.

The timing works out well, because Denver went into the break having played its best stretch of the season.

How Denver got to the top of the division

Wednesday is Veterans Day, the first day of this week's issue. For many of us, the day comes with a familiar script: a thank-you, a handshake, maybe a post online. Those gestures matter. But there's a quieter thing many veterans are rarely offered, and it costs nothing but attention. It's someone who asks a real question and then actually listens to the answer.

Why listening is the harder kindness

Thanking someone for their service takes about three seconds. Listening takes longer, and it asks something of the listener: the patience to let a story go where it goes. It's tempting to steer the conversation toward the dramatic, toward what we've seen in movies, or toward our own opinions about a war or a policy. Steering is how a conversation becomes about us.

Good listening flips that. You ask one open question, then let the other person decide how much to say, what to skip and when to stop. Silence isn't a problem to fix. It's often where someone is deciding whether to trust you with the next sentence.