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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2011 Stories by Melanie Asmar

• Wildcat Dairy raid: Five workers deported, criminal charges against six others dropped

  published Nov 25, 2011

  In June, we told you about an immigration raid on Morgan County's Wildcat Dairy that led to the arrests of eleven workers and caused fear among many others. This week, the Colorado Immigrant Rights C... More >>

• Cranbeary the widowed Denver Zoo polar bear gets another chance at Thanksgiving romance

  published Nov 23, 2011

  Cranbeary has been unlucky in love. Frosty, a 25-year-old male who was the last bear destined to mate with the Denver Zoo's frisky female, died of liver cancer a month after Cranbeary arrived in Denv... More >>

• Dr. Louis Hampers, accused of stalking Deborah Sherman: No extra house arrest freedoms

  published Nov 22, 2011

  News that reporter Deborah Sherman is out at 9News -- and the dearth of details as to why -- has dragged disgraced doctor Louis Hampers into the news again. Westword first reported on the link betwee... More >>

• George the rare black rhino, R.I.P.: Denver Zoo euthanizes 28-year-old endangered animal

  published Nov 21, 2011

  George the black rhino, who lived at the Denver Zoo since he was a baby, was euthanized last week. At 28, he was the ninth-oldest zoo rhino in the world. Given that, he suffered from a list of icky a... More >>

• Immigration review pilot program that may close low-priority cases coming to Denver

  published Nov 18, 2011

  Local immigration advocates are cautiously optimistic about a pilot project to review open immigration cases in Denver and close those deemed to be of low priority. The program, described in this New... More >>

• Life Skills Center: DPS board votes to shutter alternative school, which vows to appeal

  published Nov 18, 2011

  This year may be the last for the Life Skills Center, a last-chance high school that Westword profiled in 2007. Last night, the Denver Public Schools board voted to shutter the struggling alternativ... More >>

• Child protection ombudsman office up and running, investigating 50 calls thus far

  published Nov 17, 2011

  In the six months since it opened, the Office of Colorado's Child Protection Ombudsman has investigated fifty calls ranging from complaints that entire counties are corrupt to more specific cries for... More >>

• Five ways to improve Colorado cantaloupes' image

  published Nov 16, 2011

  Colorado's cantaloupes have gotten a bad rap lately -- and perhaps rightfully so. A listeria outbreak traced to melons from Jensen Farms in Holly has been linked to 29 deaths. But not all of the stat... More >>

• 

  2011 Denver #WebAwards winners announced!

  published November 17, 2011

  Westword recognized the best of the local Web again in 2011 with the Denver Web Awards, held on Wednesday, November 16, 2011 at... More >>

• John Youngquist, East High School principal, resigns to take DPS principal development job

  published Nov 15, 2011

  East High School's principal is leaving -- though under less dubious circumstances than the principal at West High, who suddenly resigned earlier this year. In an e-mail to parents, East principal J... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Five tough roller derby girls tell us the girliest thing they do ... including get their periodr

  published Nov 14, 2011

  Roller derby girls are tough as shit. After all, the game they play involves dashing around an oval on roller skates, intentionally colliding into opponents and oftentimes sending them careening off c... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Photos: Roller derby super-fans spotted at the WFTDA championships

  published Nov 12, 2011

  Every sports team needs super-fans -- and that includes roller derby teams. Twelve of the best from around the country are at the 1stBANK Center this weekend, competing in the WFTDA Championships, and... More >>

• A few memorable quotes from last night's WFTDA roller derby championships

  published Nov 12, 2011

  Maybe it's because the skaters have names like Psycho Babble and Britches n' Hose, but the running commentary provided by roller derby announcers can at times sound like narration for an X-rated movie... More >>

• Rocky Mountain Rollergirls: Will they be national roller derby champs two years in a rowr

  published Nov 11, 2011

  "Rocky, Rocky, Rocky! Fight, Fight, Fight!" That's the cheer of the number-one roller derby team in the country: Denver's own Rocky Mountain Rollergirls, who kicked all sorts of spandex-ed ass last ... More >>

• Parking meters are free tomorrow (thanks, Veterans Day!), but not overnight

  published Nov 10, 2011

  Tomorrow is a city holiday, which means legions of city employees won't have to show up to work (with the exception of police and fire folks, Denver Health doctors, airport workers and the animals at... More >>

• Colorado Meth Project: Our suggestions for its new online campaign (Hey, Ted Haggard!)

  published Nov 09, 2011

  The Colorado Meth Project, which has been scaring the crap out of children since 2009, is back with -- you guessed it! -- some more scary stuff. Along with seven other states that have programs funded... More >>

• Outward Bound Denver makes its new home at underutilized Camp Rollandet in NW Denver

  published Nov 08, 2011

  Seven acres of underutilized, wilderness-like city land in northwest Denver is experiencing a rebirth. The former Camp Rollandet, which was once owned by the Camp Fire Girls before being purchased by... More >>

• Meet Bodhi, the Denver Zoo's first male elephant: Bring on the green weenie!

  published Nov 07, 2011

  The green weenie is here. The Denver Zoo has welcomed its first male elephant, a seven-year-old named Bodhi who hails from Ohio. Thanks to a new exhibit called Asian Tropics, the zoo will soon have s... More >>

• David Sirota bars Education News Colorado reporter from Emily Sirota on election night

  published Nov 03, 2011

  Update about the Jimenez-Draper Carson race below. By now, you've heard that Anne Rowe and Allegra "Happy" Haynes won seats on the Denver Public Schools board, and that incumbent Arturo Jimenez narrow... More >>

• West High: Meet the two new academies moving into the low-performing school next year

  published Nov 03, 2011

  West High School is not closing. At least not yet. That point was hammered home repeatedly today at a gathering of West High leaders, media and community members to talk about the future of the low-pe... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Bridezilla Campout: A night spent sleeping on city property for the perfect wedding venue

  published Nov 01, 2011

  The bridezillas were peaceful at first. So were the groomzillas, the maids-of-honor, the moms, the grandmas and, in at least one case, a man who volunteered to sleep outside the behemoth Wellington We... More >>

• Willie Clark, Bronco Darrent Williams's killer, found guilty of murdering witness in 2006

  published Oct 31, 2011

  Update, Monday, October 31: Willie Clark, who was convicted last year of murdering Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams, was found guilty again today -- this time of murdering a witness named Kalonnia... More >>

• DPS: Task force to survey community about whether to delay first day of school to avoid heat

  published Oct 31, 2011

  With the temperature dropping outside, it's getting harder to remember when Denver's children were sweltering in their classrooms two months back. But Denver Public Schools hasn't forgotten. In fact,... More >>

• Ted Turner, media mogul and buffalo protector, to accept award in CO for saving prairie dogs

  published Oct 25, 2011

  Though he's probably most famous for fathering 24-hour cable news, World Championship Wrestling and, to budding environmentalists in 1990 the world over, the Saturday-morning cartoon Captain Planet a... More >>

• Robert Walters sentenced to life without parole for the beating death of Brittney Brashers

  published Oct 24, 2011

  A judge sentenced 25-year-old Robert Walters to life in prison without parole today for the murder of his former girlfriend, Brittney Brashers. Though the sentence was mandatory, Judge Anne Mansfield... More >>