People & Places >>

• Best Place to Sit and Ponder the Vicissitudes of Existence
  Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
  Sitting on the steps of the Immaculate Conception cathedral's gothic entryway, or on a bench inside the courtyard garden blessed by Pope John Paul II himself, you may voyeurize the entire teeming array of life on Colfax Avenue. Perps, pervs and priests by the paddy-wagon-full. Hookers enjoying... More >>
• Best Events Bulletin Board
  Alley parking lot behind Sancho's Broken Arrow and Kitty's East
  Campus kiosks, newspaper event calendars and city-specific websites are all well and good, but you can't beat the backsides of bars and adult bookstores for ambience. This bulletin board, stuck to the back of the building housing Sancho's Broken Arrow, exists for the stated purpose of providing... More >>
• Best Billboard
  Denver Health
  The enormous head stares at traffic headed east on Colfax with a cold, smarmy sneer. There's something about this man that you just don't trust. Maybe it's his surly glare, or maybe it's just the giant lettering next to him that asks, "Who Invited Syphilis to the Party?" Jesus, that's a little... More >>
• Best Graffiti Magnet
  Gates Rubber
  Wavering between old, abandoned factory and gentrifiable condominium complex, the Gates Rubber building doesn't appear to be a hotbed of, well, anything. At best, it's a little bit of Queens right off I-25. But for experienced spray-painters (and criminal trespassers), the place is an amusement... More >>
• Best New Neighborhood Project to Come Out (2 Comments)
  Gaypleton
  Have you recently moved into one of Denver's fresh new neighborhoods and found yourself trading Tupperware with a fabulously gowned and mustachioed matriarch by the name of Nuclia Waste? Then welcome to Gaypleton. The once-abandoned landing strip of the former Stapleton Airport is now taking off... More >>
• Best People-Watching
  Clayton Lane
  We're not in Kansas anymore! And that's about all we know when we land at this intersection of Second Avenue and Clayton, which used to lead directly into the Sears automotive-service area. But now this one-block stretch is all va-va-vroom, with a prettified name -- Clayton Lane -- giving a... More >>
• Best View of Downtown
  Speer Blvd. at I-25
  Two massive stone monuments etched with downtown maps stand on either side of Speer Boulevard as it leaves northwest Denver and heads down into the city. But you don't need to study those to know what lies ahead, because you can see everything in the stunning 180-degree view, from Invesco Field... More >>
• Best View of the Mountains
  The Rockpile
  Ignore that hairy back directly in front of you. Sitting in the Rockpile at Coors Field at dusk, watching the dimming light turn the glass of downtown's skyscrapers into silver and the old brick warehouses to a dusky gold, gazing beyond the Platte Valley to the mountains that gave our baseball... More >>
• Best Virtual Views of Denver
  www.arounddenver.com
  Denver is a city with great views -- but the best may be on Denverite Dave Krick's "ultimate virtual reality site," www.arounddenver.com, which offers stunning, panoramic views of assorted spots in the metro area. Seeing is believing. More >>
• Best Proof That Denver Is the Center of the Universe
  MapQuest
  Sure, you depend on MapQuest to figure out where you're going -- the majority of the country does -- but did you realize that the company that gives us direction is now celebrating its tenth year in business? And in Denver. More >>
• Best Illegal Drag-Racing Venue
  Broadway Marketplace
  Folks in the Kmart that anchors Broadway Marketplace claim that a sheriff patrols this parking lot until the Albertsons closes at midnight, but after that, the bland strip of paved land becomes the envy of Bandimere Speedway. Several nights a month, usually on weekends, Denver's illegal racers... More >>
• Best Highway Beautification Project
  "Currents and Eddies"

  Martha Daniels

  The elevated portion of I-70 that cuts across north Denver is an ugly behemoth that scarred the Swansea and Elyria neighborhoods -- which is one reason there's talk of moving the highway out of there. In the meantime, though, as part of a bigger effort to ennoble ignoble spaces along I-70, the... More >>
• Best Endangered Historic Building
  Hangar 61
  Hangar 61, one of the last remnants of Stapleton Airport, is a masterful, mid-century modernist structure with a dramatic form that resembles a cluster of pie slices but is actually a composition of fragmentary hyperbolic arches held in place by massive concrete anchors. Built to house Ideal... More >>
• Best New Building in the City
  Denver School of Science and Technology
  Early this year, Governor Bill Owens and Mayor John Hickenlooper presided over the grand opening of a new charter school. Built on land donated by Stapleton developer Forest City, the Denver School of Science and Technology is aimed at high school students with a gift for math, science and high... More >>
• Best New Building in the 'Burbs
  Martin Luther King Jr. Library
  Old downtown Aurora has gotten pretty rundown over the years -- and that's precisely why the city's officials have put so much time and money into revitalizing it. The centerpiece of their efforts is the new Martin Luther King Jr. Library, a downright glamorous-looking neo-modern building by... More >>
• Best Building Makeover
  Tivoli-Union Brewery
  The old Tivoli brewery that now serves as the Auraria Higher Education student center received a couple of interior updates after it quit shipping suds in 1969. But it wasn't until last year that the seven-story, circa 1890 building got a facelift that stripped away years and many layers of... More >>
• Best Newspaper Preservation Act
  Colorado Historic Newspaper Digital Project
  The JOA may have preserved Denver's two competing dailies, but Brenda Bailey-Hainer and her Colorado Historical Newspaper Digital Project may save many, many more with their statewide historic newspaper database, searchable by both subject and publication. More >>
• Best Makeover
  Denver Post redesign
  At this time last year, practically everything about the Denver Post was unattractive in the extreme. The photographs were blurry and indistinct; the type style was smudgy and clotted; the layout was haphazard. Then a team led by Damon Cain, the paper's managing editor for presentation and... More >>
• Best Hair on a Media Personality -- Male
  Jeremy Hubbard
  Channel 31
  Jeremy Hubbard took over Channel 31's weekend anchor slot from Phil Keating, who had a lock on great locks. That's a big barber chair to fill, but Hubbard is up to the challenge. His follicles frequently shoot skyward like geological outcroppings, yet the shape and size of the ledges and... More >>
• Best Hair on a Media Personality -- Female
  Susie Wargin
  Channel 9
  Many women who make the transition from radio to television aren't allowed on screen until they've been given the regulation beagle-ears haircut that's rightly regarded as a broadcast cliche. Fortunately, KOA-banterer-turned-sportscaster Susie Wargin has avoided this fate. Her lush,... More >>
• Best Hair on a Media Personality Gone National
  Woody Paige
  ESPN2's Cold Pizza
  Back when being a columnist for the Denver Post was his main gig and not an occasional sideline, Woody Paige looked like his hair had been scissored by someone who used a Tupperware tub to compensate for far-sightedness. But after being chosen to dish on ESPN's Around the Horn a few years back,... More >>
• Best Hair on a Media Personality's Newborn
  Baby Elizabeth
  Channel 9
  Channel 9 morning anchor Kyle Dyer, a past winner of the coveted Best Hair honor, gave birth to daughter Elizabeth on Friday, January 28. The following Monday, the first footage of the baby was aired by the station, and Dyer's on-air partner, Gary Shapiro, noted that Elizabeth had her mom's... More >>
• Best Hair on a Media Canine
  Dylan
  Channel 31
  As the constant companion of Channel 31 traffic-helicopter pilot Rob Marshall, Dylan, a golden retriever, doesn't have a lot of room to roam; viewers of Good Day Colorado usually see him lying on the floor of the chopper, waiting for his next Scooby snack. Yet despite these live-TV limitations,... More >>
• Best Media Name, Religious
  Jennifer Cabala
  Channel 4
  So, Jennifer -- how does it feel to be worshiped by Madonna? More >>
• Best Media Name, Secular
  Taunia Hottman
  Channel 9
  The woman in the co-pilot seat of Channel 9's helicopter isn't a dog. Man, Taunia Hottman is hot. More >>
• Best Born-Again Media Mogul (1 Comment)
  Phil Anschutz
  Local gazillionaire Phil Anschutz is notoriously press-shy -- so what kind of business is he branching into? The press! Anschutz bought the venerable San Francisco Examiner and turned it into a free daily, then exported the concept to Washington, D.C., and may well do likewise in metropolitan... More >>
• Best TV Documentary
  Blinky
  For Blinky, videographer Brian Malone peeled away the makeup worn by Russell Scott, aka Blinky the Clown, who hosted Blinky's Fun Club on Channel 2 for an astonishing 33 years. Using archival footage and contemporary interviews with family members, sometimes-persnickety colleagues and the man... More >>
• Best News Anchor Who's a Real Clown
  Ann Lincoln
  Channel 12
  Tired of the same old Barbie and Ken clones on the local news? Tune into Channel 12's weekly LGBT news show, Colorado OutSpoken, where you'll find a breath of fresh air (and maybe a whoopee cushion) with Ann Lincoln. While she seems like a pro on this show, she's a real clown -- the kind who... More >>
• Best TV News Anchor
  Asha Blake
  Channel 2
  According to most television-news experts, viewers prefer old, comfortable faces to new, unfamiliar ones -- but Asha Blake blows right through that theory. Denver's newest anchor looks young, but she has an extremely impressive resumé, having hosted such national programs as Later Today... More >>
• Best TV Newscast -- Night
  Channel 9
  The turnover of talent on Channel 9's 10 p.m. newscast has been enormous. With the retirement of Ed Sardella, the ship-jumping of Mike Nelson and the ignominious removal of sports hunk Tony Zarrella, only anchor Adele Arakawa remains from the crew that had attracted large audiences for years,... More >>
• Best TV Newscast -- Morning
  Channel 4
  When Channel 9 raided its own morning show to fill holes at night, Channel 4 decided to rise and shine to the occasion. The chemistry between early-a.m. personalities Scott Sander, Brooke Wagner, Ed Greene, Wayne Herman and Mark McIntosh, supplemented by the ace traffic team of Luan Akin and... More >>
• Best TV Sportscaster
  Drew Soicher
  Channel 9
  Drew Soicher's move from Channel 9's early shift to its late one hasn't been controversy-free. Some viewers unfamiliar with his sardonic approach find him too shticky for their taste, and he's often tardy covering a lot of high-profile events, including most Broncos games, because he doesn't... More >>
• Best Sportscaster Upgrade (2 Comments)
  Eric Goodman
  Channel 31
  From the beginning, Channel 31's 9 p.m. newscast had a weak link: former Broncos placekicker David Treadwell, who did a fine job gabbing about sports on the radio, but looked wooden and awkward in the glare of TV lights. The arrival of Eric Goodman, who most recently worked at a Fox Sports Net... More >>
• Best TV Weathercaster
  Mike Nelson
  Channel 7
  Mike Nelson, the new weatherman on Channel 7, is as comfortable for Denver viewers as an old shoe. When Channel 9 balked at his salary demands, Channel 7 tossed lotsa cash at Nelson, and since making the move, he's done a lot more than sit back and count his money. He's forecasting up a storm at... More >>
• Best Kobe Bryant Coverage Decision
  Rocky Mountain News
  When alleged rapes are before the criminal-justice system, the question of whether to identify the alleged victims is tricky. But the matter is quite different when it comes to civil court, since money, not jail time, is at the crux of such cases. Nevertheless, even after the criminal charges... More >>
• Best Nickname in the Kobe Bryant Case
  Mr. X
  The settlement of the Kobe Bryant case robbed the public of a homegrown spectacle that might have rivaled the Michael Jackson trial -- although it's unlikely Bryant would have shown up for court wearing pajama pants. Still, voyeurs got a hint of what might have been, thanks to Eagle County court... More >>
• Best Radio Talk-Show Host
  Peter Boyles
  KHOW
  A lot of yakkers rely on stunts, shtick or the sort of speechifying that toes one ideological line or another. Not Peter Boyles, who's survived for decades in the Denver market precisely because regular listeners don't always know what he's going to say about a particular issue before he opens... More >>
• Best Radio Sports-Talk Host
  Tim Neverett
  560 ESPN
  The Fan may be the best-known sports-talk broadcaster in Denver, but it no longer has the best morning show, and Tim Neverett can take much of the credit for that. Working in conjunction with Denver Post columnist Jim Armstrong (a past winner of this prize, and deservedly so), Neverett keeps the... More >>
• Best Radio-Host Return
  Jay Marvin
  AM 760
  During the late '90s, Jay Marvin manned the afternoon-drive slot on KHOW, and his show was a highlight of the era -- animated, thought-provoking and consistently unpredictable. Marvin subsequently left for Chicago, but when execs at AM 760 decided to add a local host to the station's primarily... More >>
• Best New Denver Radio Station -- Commercial
  AM 760
  Not so long ago, talk-radio aficionados even slightly to the left of John Wayne were pretty much out of luck in these parts. After all, most attempts to broaden the spectrum -- e.g., KNRC -- have ended badly. It's too early to say if AM 760 will reverse this trend, but the station has a better... More >>
• Best New Denver Radio Station -- Public
  KGNU-Denver
  Of course, some lefties feel the kind of programming that dominates AM 760 isn't liberal enough, which explains why KGNU has thrived in Boulder for so long -- and without much of a Denver audience, since KGNU's signal had trouble reaching very far into the city. The solution came when KGNU... More >>
• Best Radio Station -- Period
  Radio 1190
  When it debuted in 1998, Radio 1190 was a godsend for the disgruntled radio listener -- a blast of fresh, inspiring music spun by CU students whose sense of excitement burst through the speakers. Nearly seven years later, the thrill isn't gone. DJs come and DJs go, but the station continues to... More >>
• Best Commitment to Local Music by a Commercial Radio Station
  The Mountain
  A lot of for-profit radio outlets talk a good game about supporting local bands and musicians, but it's mostly lip service. The Mountain is an exception to this rule. On The Mountain Homegrown Show, a specialty program that airs Mondays at 10 p.m., host Jake Schroeder, of Opie Gone Bad renown,... More >>
• Best Radio DJ
  Uncle Nasty
  KBPI
  Once upon a time, on radios very much like those commonly sold today, DJs had unique personas that set them apart from everyone else on the airwaves. But such individuality has been on the wane since corporations discovered that air personalities, like nuts and bolts, cost less when they're... More >>
• Best Four-Legged Radio Talk-Show Team
  Dan Caplis and Craig Silverman
  KHOW
  Communities that have banned pit bulls may want to rewrite their laws to cover Dan Caplis and Craig Silverman, KHOW's new team. Like the controversial breed of canines, they won't let go once they've sunk their teeth into someone -- especially when that someone is embattled University of... More >>
• Best New Job for Ward Churchill
  Ralphie's liberator
  No, you can't fire Ward Churchill for what he's said. And the University of Colorado Regents won't buy him out, for fear of what everyone else will say. So why not merge the school's two longest-running scandals and let Ward Churchill lead Ralphie off the ignominious field of CU's roughest legal... More >>
• Best Homage to Ward Churchill
  "Die Hippie Die"
  South Park
  One-time University of Colorado film students Trey Parker and Matt Stone took note of their alma mater's most infamous professor with an episode of South Park called "Die Hippie Die," in which a character named Crunchy referred to "little Eichmanns," using Ward Churchill's most infamous utterance. More >>
• Best New Job for Betsy Hoffman
  Romance novelist
  The title Terms of Endearment is already taken, but during her four and a half years at the University of Colorado, president Elizabeth Hoffman has collected enough dramatic material to keep an author busy for decades. And with her background in medieval studies -- Hoffman may not know when to... More >>
• Best New Job for Bill Owens
  President, Focus on the Family
  Four years ago, Colorado's governor was rumored to be in line for president. The rumors just didn't say president of what. And now, eighteen months after his separation torpedoed whatever political future Bill Owens might have had, why not simply send him south to Colorado Springs and make him... More >>
• Best Quote by Bill Owens
  On Hunter S. Thompson's death
  Among the accomplishments of Hunter S. Thompson, this state's most famous adopted son, was that he "certainly increased substantially the alcohol consumption at the Woody Creek Tavern," Governor Bill Owens pronounced. All of Colorado is still on fire over that one. More >>
• Best Candidate for Colorado's Next Governor
  Andrew Romanoff
  Andrew Romanoff, the 38-year-old Speaker of the House, displayed the savvy of a longtime pol when he brokered a budget deal in the General Assembly this spring. He cares about people as much as he does the political game, though. He also loves dogs and is single -- which means we won't have to... More >>
• Best Rumor Producer
  Bill Owens
  By refusing to talk about his separation from his wife, Governor Bill Owens has kept the rumor mill grinding away 24/7 -- and what a wonderfully voluminous gusher of gossip it's produced. Among the most prevalent whispers, none of which are supported by the slightest evidence: Owens is or was... More >>
• Best Campaign Commercials
  Anti-Marilyn Musgrave ads
  Coloradans for Plain Talk wanted Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave to be defeated in the worst way -- and they proved it with attack advertisements they financed to undermine her candidacy. The commercials, which featured a pink-suited Musgrave surrogate picking a soldier's pocket and robbing a... More >>
• Best Reaction to the Coors Light Twins
  Ben Nighthorse Campbell
  At an April 2004 event announcing Pete Coors's intention to run for the Senate, Rocky Mountain News columnist Mike Littwin asked retiring Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell if he had any problems with advertisements starring the buxom Coors Light Twins. Seconds later, upon eyeballing a flier with... More >>
• Best Slip of the Tongue by a Colorado Politician
  Pete Coors
  Back when he was running for U.S. Senate rather than running a brewing company, Pete Coors debated Ken Salazar on Meet the Press. When it came to weapons of mass destruction, the Republican hopeful pronounced, Iraq was less of a concern than "Iran and North Dakota" -- a declaration that came as... More >>
• Best Behind-the-Scenes Political Power Brokers
  Jared Polis, Tim Gill, Rutt Bridges and Pat Stryker
  With so much attention being paid to high-profile contests like the Salazar-Coors face-off, few people concentrated on races for the Colorado Senate and House of Representatives -- with four notable exceptions. Jared Polis, Tim Gill, Rutt Bridges and Pat Stryker, a quartet of well-heeled... More >>
• Best Online Scourge
  Mike Zinna and Fonzi
  Since copping the "Best Online Gadfly" award last year for his eye-poking, gossip-dishing website, Mike Zinna has moved from the scandal-mongering fringe to the center of the political upheaval in Jefferson County. His efforts to expose "Pinky T," the insiders who anonymously faxed him... More >>
• Best Local Blogger
  Rake's Progress
  "This is not what I wanted to be when I grew up," confesses Traver Kauffman, the blogger behind Rake's Progress in his "one-line bio," but we're awfully glad that this is what he became. Proving that blogs can be both entertaining and erudite, the literate, literary Rake's Progress raises the... More >>
• Best College Journalists
  Megan Fromm
  Mesa State College
  Heath Urie
  University of Northern Colorado
  Many journalism students graduate without picking up much real-world reporting experience -- but Megan Fromm and Heath Urie are notable exceptions. Fromm, who edited the Mesa State Criterion, sued her college for the minutes of a meeting that was closed but shouldn't have been; Urie, the student... More >>
• Best Monument to Free Speech
  Dalton Trumbo Fountain
  University of Colorado
  Dalton Trumbo was a true talent and, as a onetime member of the Communist Party who refused to rat out his fellow travelers, a true victim of a political witchhunt that burned through the University of Colorado fifty years ago. Long may his fountain stand on the Boulder campus, as a reminder... More >>