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?"

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

  "Teacher's Fret"

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2010 Stories by Melanie Asmar

• Death Knell: Colorado wants reforms for its child-welfare system, but the biggest change is off the table

  published July 29, 2010

  Last fall, a committee appointed by Governor Bill Ritter made 29 recommendations for how to fix Colorado's child-welfare system. The committee... More >>

• Elvis Dumervil: Here to stay, despite teammate Darrent Williams's 2007 murder

  published Jul 23, 2010

  Back when former Bronco Brandon Marshall was considering leaving Denver, the Denver Post posited that it was because he was haunted by the 2007 murder of teammate Darrent Williams. Marshall was with ... More >>

• Roller derby: New Fort Collins team, the Choice City Rebels, accepted into national derby league

  published Jul 21, 2010

  More proof that Colorado has the most badass women per capita: The Choice City Rebels roller derby league out of Fort Collins was just accepted as an apprentice league by the Women's Flat Track Derby... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Zombie Defense Tactics: Local martial artist teaches humans to fend off brain-eaters

  published Jul 20, 2010

  Brent Bingham doesn't believe in zombies. Not the kind that rise from the dead and eat your brain, anyway. But that isn't stopping him from teaching people how to beat the living (or undead, or whate... More >>

• Denver Zoo's new general curator, Brian Aucone, returns home

  published Jul 19, 2010

  Fourteen years ago, Brian Aucone was a lowly Denver Zoo intern, cleaning up animal poo and setting up exhibits. A biology student at the University of Northern Colorado, Aucone would drive to Denver f... More >>

• Kim Kardashian's ass & other juicy details from the Carmelo Anthony-Lala Vazquez wedding

  published Jul 16, 2010

  O. M. F. G.! Us Weekly, the best magazine ever and the reason it takes us twenty extra minutes at the grocery store checkout counter because we're engrossed in reading "Stars! They're just like us!," ... More >>

• Angie Zapata: Two years after her death, LGBTQ murders at second-highest rate in a decade

  published Jul 13, 2010

  Saturday will mark two years since transgender Greeley teen Angie Zapata was beaten to death by a man she met on the Internet. Zapata's killer, Allen Andrade, was found guilty of murder; the jury als... More >>

• Carmelo Anthony and Lala Vazquez tie the knot in New York City -- and Lala crowd surfsr

  published Jul 12, 2010

  As readers of this blog no doubt know -- if only because we incessantly mentioned it last week (along with news of a proposed pickup game involving junior dreamboat Justin Bieber) -- Carmelo Anthony ... More >>

• Denver Zoo's Asian Tropics exhibit: No elephants yet, just backhoes

  published Jul 09, 2010

  Apparently, one of the most tricky parts of building a new zoo exhibit is making the fake rocks look real. You know, so they don't distract visitors from the animals and stuff. "You don't want peopl... More >>

• Justin Bieber challenges Carmelo Anthony to a basketball game: Anyone wanna place a betr

  published Jul 08, 2010

  Mystery solved. The secret meaning of Justin Bieber's cryptic tweet to Carmelo Anthony yesterdayr The floppy-haired teen idol simply wanted to play the NBA All-Star in basketball -- not convince him... More >>

• Justin Bieber to Carmelo Anthony, via Twitter: I wanna cross you over

  published Jul 07, 2010

  Guess which teen heartthrob wants to chat up Carmelo Anthony when he's in town for a concert tomorrowr None other than Justin Bieber, the throbbiest heartthrob since that swishy-bang-ed kid from High ... More >>

• National Veterans Wheelchair Games kick off in Denver on Sunday: Murderball, anyoner

  published Jul 02, 2010

  On Sunday, hundreds of military veterans in wheelchairs will gather in Civic Center Park to kick off the 30th annual National Veterans Wheelchair Games, which are being hosted for the first time in D... More >>

• Denver Zoo: Which baby animal is the cutestr!r

  published Jul 01, 2010

  The cuteness overflow-eth at the Denver Zoo. This week, the zoo posted photos of its newest baby animals: four Amur tiger cubs born last month. To the surprise of no one with eyes and a heart, the c... More >>

• Swinger websites: Herby the Love Judge doesn't approve of them

  published Jun 30, 2010

  In April, Denver Judge Herbert Galchinsky granted 9News reporter Deborah Sherman a permanent restraining order against Dr. Louis Hampers, the head of emergency medicine at The Children's Hospital in A... More >>

• 

  COVER STORY

  When this physician gets the fever, it's the women he dates who can't shake the bug

  published July 1, 2010

  Sandra Ebersohl wasn't looking to meet anybody new on ScarletLifestyle.com. The 44-year-old Colorado... More >>

• Denver Public Schools receives $14.4 million in federal money to improve six struggling schools

  published Jun 29, 2010

  Six struggling Denver schools were awarded $14.4 million in federal money to help them "turn around" -- which is education-speak for raise test scores and graduation rates. The schools -- Montbello ... More >>

• ACLU challenging Boulder's practice of ticketing homeless people for sleeping outside

  published Jun 28, 2010

  The ACLU is challenging a Boulder ordinance that penalizes homeless people for sleeping outside under the cover of blankets -- even when the city's homeless shelter is full. That's what happened to ... More >>

• Denver Zoo mourns Frosty the bear, welcomes sea lion pup

  published Jun 25, 2010

  Call it the circle of life. This week, the Denver Zoo mourned the loss of a polar bear named Frosty and celebrated the birth of an effing adorable baby sea lion named... well, nothing yet. The baby... More >>

• Top five (fake) iPhone apps that would inspire us to camp out for the latest upgrade

  published Jun 24, 2010

  Last night and this morning, thousands of people across the nation roughed it outside Apple stores to be among the first, well, thousands of people to poke the touchpad of the new iPhone 4. What's ... More >>

• Child welfare ombudsman: Panel looking to prevent deaths like Chandler Grafner's

  published Jun 23, 2010

  Today, a fifteen-member panel is meeting for the first time to hammer out the details of Colorado's forthcoming child welfare ombudsman office. The office will provide parents, caregivers, neighbors a... More >>

• Sex and babymaking resolution passed by DPS board: Study hard, kids

  published Jun 22, 2010

  Denver's public schoolchildren could soon be learning a lot more about the art of babymaking (and presumably, how to avoid it). The DPS Board of Education unanimously passed a resolution last week th... More >>

• Bill Sullivan, the target of Operation Cock Block, to be deposed in court this morning

  published Jun 22, 2010

  Bill Sullivan, the subject of our recent feature article about Operation Cock Block, will have some explaining to do this morning. He's scheduled to be deposed by lawyers for Jamie White, the man fro... More >>

• La La Vazquez wants to sell you her Jimmy Choos. For charity.

  published Jun 18, 2010

  La La Vazquez, Carmelo Anthony's soon-to-be-wife and sometimes-Colorado resident, wants to sell you the gold Gucci heels off her feet. To end poverty. Vazquez is auctioning off her goods on eBay to ... More >>

• Parent to DPS school board: Address Bromwell teacher Mary Pishney's situation now

  published Jun 17, 2010

  Two months ago, Chuck Crowley stood in front of the Denver Public Schools Board of Education and told its members that something fishy was going on at Bromwell Elementary School. A group of difficult... More >>

• Denver Public Schools debate how to teach kids to avoid the clap

  published Jun 16, 2010

  On Thursday night, the Denver Public Schools Board of Education will talk about sex, baby. More specifically, they'll talk about sex ed -- and how it's important that teenagers with raging libidos ... More >>