Email Author Melanie Asmar

Awards

• 2012 - GLAAD Media Awards, published May 5, 2011

  "Coming Out in America"

• 2012 - National Association of Black Journalists Awards, published March 17, 2011

  "Say What?"

• 2012 - Clarion Awards/Association of Women in Communications, published May 26, 2011

  "Passing on Education"

• 2011 - Education Reporting Awards/National Education Writers Association, published June 10, 2010

  "Teacher's Fret"

More

2009 Stories by Melanie Asmar

• First-ever statewide teacher survey points to need for more instructional time

  published Jun 30, 2009

  ... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  This weekend, just say no to porn

  published Jun 25, 2009

  If there were an award for the catchiest first paragraph in a press release e-mailed to Westword this week, the one from Laguna Beach-based New Life Ministries would win it, no contest. "As the pas... More >>

• How would you slash $70 million from the city budgetr

  published Jun 23, 2009

  Go ahead. Pretend you're Mayor John Hickenlooper. It's your job to cut $70 million from the 2010 city budget proposal and you've got a list of chopping-block contenders in front of you. Do you cut b... More >>

• Colorado cops teaching Mexican investigators the open-court ropes

  published Jun 22, 2009

  This week, Colorado's finest will teach a group of 22 Mexican investigators and prosecutors the ins and outs of bringing bad guys to justice using an open-court judicial system, as Mexico continues t... More >>

• Mention a billboard, get a free dinner at the Broker

  published Jun 18, 2009

  Want some free king crab legsr How about a gratis rack of lambr From now until at least the end of the summer, the Broker Restaurant, at 821 17th Street, is offering a free dinner to anyone who menti... More >>

• Free beer still flowing for Coors employees

  published Jun 18, 2009

  I know you've been worried. Or worried-ish. But rest assured that, unlike their peers up at Molson Coors in Canada, the approximately 2,800 employees at MillerCoors in Golden will continue to get thei... More >>

• Anti-gay incidents in Colorado rose slightly in 2008, report says

  published Jun 16, 2009

  Colorado saw a slight increase in the number of bias-motivated incidents against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in 2008, according to a report released today by the National Coalition... More >>

• New Einstein Bros. Bagels opens in Lowry

  published Jun 16, 2009

  According to a quick count of the locations on the official Einstein Bros. Bagels website, Denver just got its twelfth Einstein Bros. Bagels shop, in Lowry's Town Center at Second Avenue and Quebec. ... More >>

• Obama says he "loves" Jared Polis's reality show. Really, prezr

  published Jun 11, 2009

  President Obama and I disagree... about the awesomeness of CNN's YouTube-y reality show Freshman Year, starring Colorado's own freshman congressman, Jared Polis of Boulder. According to Polis, Obama... More >>

• Not-So-New Urbanism: Lowry

  published Jun 11, 2009

  The Congress for the New Urbanism is holding its annual conference in Denver June 10-14, complete with bus tours of our most well-known new urbanist enclaves. But how do you judge walkable, neighbor... More >>

• Reggie Rivers takes on Highlands Ranch, Lifetime movie-style

  published Jun 11, 2009

  Former Bronco-turned-television-host-and-author Reggie Rivers' gig as Channel 4's weekend sports anchor ends today. But he's not too worried. "I'm kind of excited. Fortuitously, I'm getting laid of... More >>

• Is that gourd goodness in your pocketr Or...

  published Jun 05, 2009

  Step 1: Place mind in gutter. Step 2: Look at the cover of today's "Grow" section in the Denver Post. Step 3: Giggle. Step 4: Wonder why there's a third round object at the base of the tallest go... More >>

• Denver's underground needle exchange launches a website

  published Jun 03, 2009

  USED, Denver's underground syringe exchange program (and the subject of the Westword feature "Why Doesn't Colorado Get the Point of Needle Exchange Programsr"), has gone digital with a new website: ... More >>

• Jesus tells Colorado native Heidi Montag to love the mean people on her new reality show

  published Jun 02, 2009

  Denver pizza entrepreneur Mark Huebner isn't the only Coloradan scoring points for engaging in a "Verbal Fight/Physical Fight" on television these days. Crested Butte's Heidi Montag -- along with he... More >>

• Video: Five people arrested during yesterday's Prop 8 protest

  published May 27, 2009

  Soulforce in Colorado, a Denver-based nonprofit dedicated to ending oppression against gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender people, has posted a YouTube video of yesterday's protest of the Calif... More >>

• Who was Angie Zapata? Her murderer's trial didn't tell the whole story.

  published May 28, 2009

  Those who followed last month's trial of the man who murdered eighteen-year-old Angie Zapata know a lot about what her life was like on July... More >>

• Seven unanswered questions about the trial of Angie Zapata's killer

  published May 28, 2009

  On April 22, Allen Andrade, an unemployed 32-year-old who had spent time in prison for a string of non-violent crimes, was convicted of... More >>

• The Colorado education system's Pluto coverup

  published May 26, 2009

  Unless you live in Illinois -- and more specifically, unless you live in Illinois on March 13 every year -- Pluto is no longer a planet. And now, thousands of future Colorado schoolchildren will nev... More >>

• Prop 8 protest today at 3 p.m. on Colfax

  published May 26, 2009

  In case you haven't heard, the California Supreme Court issued a ruling hours ago upholding Proposition 8's ban on same-sex marriage, which that state's voters approved in November. (Read all about ... More >>

• The Westword Meth Project: Vote for your favorite fake anti-meth slogan

  published May 22, 2009

  Tweet a request for fake anti-meth slogans and ye shall receive. Earlier today, we posted a blog offering alternative slogans for the fledgling Colorado Meth Project's new ad campaign. The ads are a... More >>

• Other slogans for the Colorado Meth Project

  published May 22, 2009

  Noticed any disturbing anti-meth billboards on your drive home latelyr The ads, brought to you by the Colorado Meth Project, began sprouting up alongside Denver roadways -- as well as on TV, radio,... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Sorry, Jared Polis: You're fired (from your CNN series)

  published May 21, 2009

  The last time we blogged about Freshman Year, CNN's You Tube-y reality show about two totally different congressmen picked to serve in the House, we had these predictions for forthcoming episodes: C... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Speaker to nine-year-old who planned gay-marriage rally: "Ethan, you are part of a generation that understands equality"

  published May 18, 2009

  With the sleeves of his white, button-down dress shirt rolled up and his skuffed Pumas untied, nine-year-old Ethan stood on the steps of the state Capitol Saturday afternoon and addressed the more t... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Baseball, soccer, gay-marriage rally: one Denver nine-year-old's Saturday schedule

  published May 15, 2009

  Meet Ethan. He's nine and in Mr. Kimmal's third-grade class at the Montclair School of Academics and Enrichment in west Denver. He likes soccer, football, baseball, basketball, swimming and skiing. ... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Got the swine flur Prepare to be eliminated!

  published May 15, 2009

  Concern over swine flu may be waning, but that didn't stop one trenchcoat-ed, nunchuck-ed man from taking H1N1-related matters into his own hands, Mortal Kombat-style. As the Summit Daily News repo... More >>