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"

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2009 Stories by Melanie Asmar

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  FEATURED STORY

  Drink beer out of a bowling pin. No, really!

  published May 12, 2009

  A recent trip to Elitch Lanes, at 3825 Tennyson, for a friend's surprise birthday party turned up another (totally awesome) surprise: bowling pin-shaped Budweiser bottles. They're appropriate, curvac... More >>

• Got dirty needlesr Dispose of them anonymously this week

  published May 11, 2009

  This week, the Denver-based Hep C Connection will do all it can -- legally -- to get dirty needles off the streets. Beginning today, the organization is hosting its first-ever Drop To Stop week, whe... More >>

• In Zapata case, sixty years added to murderer's life sentence

  published May 08, 2009

  Allen Andrade will likely spend the rest of his life in jail. A judge today added 60 years to the life sentence he received for killing transgender Greeley teen Angie Zapata last summer, piling on ti... More >>

• What makes Denver happyr Pot...

  published May 06, 2009

  This afternoon, dozens of 16th Street Mall walkers had this experience: You're walking along, sipping on a Frappucino and poking at your iPhone, trying to look busy and important enough so the panha... More >>

• published May 04, 2009

  ... More >>

• Latino community set to march in Greeley tomorrow

  published May 01, 2009

  Over the past few years, Greeley has become a hotbed for immigration issues in Colorado. In 2006, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents raided the Swift meatpacking plant there, arresting more... More >>

• Denver's underground needle exchange raises some dough

  published May 01, 2009

  USED, Denver's underground syringe exchange program and the subject of the recent Westword feature ""Why Doesn't Colorado Get the Point of Needle Exchange Programsr," will be able to stay afloat a l... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Today is the last day to weigh in on Denver's dog parks... and Denver's dog poop

  published Apr 30, 2009

  Hey, dog lovers. Hey, dog haters. Hey, dog-poop haters and uh, dog-poop lovers. You have until 5:30 p.m. today to answer the city's 44-question dog park survey and help determine the future of Denve... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Live blog: The Angie Zapata trial, April 21

  published Apr 21, 2009

  Editor's note: Melanie Asmar is live blogging the Greeley trial of Allen Andrade, the man charged with murdering Angie Zapata, a transgender teen. Look for updates here -- and click these links to c... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Live blog: The Angie Zapata trial, April 20

  published Apr 20, 2009

  Editor's note: Melanie Asmar is live blogging the Greeley trial of Allen Andrade, the man charged with murdering Angie Zapata, a transgender teen. Look for updates here -- and click these links to c... More >>

• The Angie Zapata trial: A summary of the evidence so far

  published Apr 20, 2009

  The trial of Allen Andrade, who's accused of killing transgender Greeley teen Angie Zapata last summer, continues today at 8:30 a.m. So far, as noted in live blogs filed during the April 16 and Apri... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Live blog: The Angie Zapata trial, April 17

  published Apr 17, 2009

  Editor's note: Melanie Asmar is live blogging the Greeley trial of Allen Andrade, the man charged with murdering Angie Zapata, a transgender teen. Look for updates here -- and click this link to cat... More >>

• Live blog: The Angie Zapata trial, April 16

  published Apr 16, 2009

  Editor's note: Melanie Asmar is live blogging the Greeley trial of Allen Andrade, the man charged with murdering Angie Zapata, a transgender teen. Look for updates here. 4:50 p.m.: Court is recesse... More >>

• Opening arguments in transgender murder trial expected today

  published Apr 16, 2009

  Jury selection continues this morning in the trial of the man accused of killing Angie Zapata, a transgender teenager who was beaten to death last year in her Greeley apartment. Opening arguments ar... More >>

• Jury selection underway in Angie Zapata transgender murder case

  published Apr 15, 2009

  Jury selection is underway in the trial of the man accused of killing Angie Zapata, a transgender teenager. Allen Andrade, 32, is accused of beating Zapata to death in her Greeley apartment after fi... More >>

• Denver's Leopold Bros. distillery gets mad props

  published Apr 13, 2009

  The Leopold Bros. distillery in Denver got a shout-out in Saturday's Wall Street Journal. Columnist Eric Felten, author of the weekly column "How's Your Drinkr", called its gin the best of the new, c... More >>

• Task force unveils plan for city rec centers

  published Apr 13, 2009

  The city's Recreation Center Task Force has unveiled its final recommendations in a nine-page document that outlines a long-term plan for Denver's 29 recreation centers. The doc, released late las... More >>

• Two more local Starbucks bite the dust

  published Apr 10, 2009

  Two more area Starbucks shops will close as a result of the company's latest round of cutbacks: one at 7777 East Hampden Avenue at Tamarac Square and another at 5350 South Santa Fe Drive in Littleton.... More >>

• Transgender murder trial starts next week in Greeley

  published Apr 10, 2009

  Jury selection in the trial of the man accused of killing Angie Zapata, a transgender teenager beaten to death last summer in Greeley, starts Tuesday in Weld County. State anti-violence and gay-righ... More >>

• Did Governor Ritter flip-flop on needle exchanger

  published Apr 08, 2009

  Listen to Ritter's testimony on a 1998 bill seeking to legalize syringe exchange in Colorado. Colorado lawmakers last tackled the legalities of syringe exchange -- the topic of this week's feature ... More >>

• Why doesn't Colorado get the point of needle exchange programs?

  published April 9, 2009

  He's young, maybe 21 at the most. His clothes look neat and clean, his hair recently cropped. When he gets out of a late-model SUV and crosses... More >>

• Former radio jock Jo Myers reveals a lot -- including stuff about her three nipples -- in her new book on death and dying

  published Apr 03, 2009

  I'm just going to come out and say it: Jo Myers, formerly of KOSI's morning show, has a third nipple. Know how I know thatr I read her book, Good To Go, The ABCs of Death and Dying. The chapter cal... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Denver wins cat-olades for its microchipping tuna-flavored sidewalks

  published Mar 31, 2009

  If you're furry, sleepy and sort of bitchy, Denver is apparently where you want to be. The Mile High City was recently named one of the top 10 cat-friendly cities by the national CATalyst Council, a... More >>

• The folks who run Thornton's new half-funeral home, half-wedding chapel sure are nice

  published Mar 30, 2009

  One of the first clues was the slideshow. It was about halfway into yesterday's grand opening ceremony at the Highline Circle of Life Center in Thornton -- a facility that's half-funeral home, half... More >>

• The Denver Post's giggle-worthy fart story

  published Mar 27, 2009

  The Denver Post is a little late to the fart party. Today, the Post had a story about the court battle between two Apple iPhone app creators -- one of them based in Loveland -- over the phrase "pul... More >>