People & Places >>

• Best Slogan for the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver
  "Rocky Mountain High"
  If it's good enough for Colorado's second official state song, "Rocky Mountain High" should work just fine as a slogan for the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Not only is it inclusive of the entire region -- and planners are touting this as a convention not just in Denver, not just in newly... More >>
• Best Next Official State Song (1 Comment)
  "The Foreclosure Blues"
  Paul Fiorino didn't win the governor's seat last November -- in fact, the artist/dancer's candidacy registered barely a blip at the polls -- but he hasn't forgotten the little people. He not only feels their pain, but he's experienced it firsthand as a victim of foreclosure. So he composed "The... More >>
• Best New State Motto
  "Everybody's High"
  Now that the Colorado Legislature has approved "Rocky Mountain High" as the second official state song (joining that ever-hummable ditty "Where the Columbines Grow"), should we upgrade the rest of our slogans and symbols? Starting with the state motto? From Colorado's days as a territory, the... More >>
• Best New State Nickname
  "The Highest State"
  Although it marked the hundredth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, 1876 didn't have much going for it besides the Battle of Little Big Horn and the admission of Colorado to the Union -- timing that saddled this state with the dull, dull, dull "Centennial State" nickname. Although... More >>
• Best New State Grass
  The legal kind
  The legislature adopted blue grama grass as the official state grass in 1987, but even though it's native to Colorado, this state has no business endorsing any ground cover. Besides, as Mason Tvert continues his campaign to get the possession of marijuana legalized in Colorado, our state's... More >>
• Best New State Animal
  The Lobbyist
  The Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, adopted as the official state animal in 1961, is doing just fine without any help from us. A much more endangered species is the Colorado lobbyist, whose very existence -- and legal foraging range -- is threatened with extinction by the passage of Amendment 41. More >>
• Best New State Bird
  Joe Nacchio prosecution
  witnesses
  The lark bunting, named the official state bird in 1931, is a migrant -- and so are many of the executives who flew in and out of Qwest after collecting their stock options. But now they're back in Colorado, and as they've shown in court, these birds can really sing. More >>
• Best New State Fish
  Sushi
  In 1994, the greenback cutthroat trout was named the state fish, supplanting the rainbow trout, which had long been considered the unofficial state fish. Still, when was the last time you saw trout on a Denver menu? Meanwhile, there's a sushi joint on just about every corner. Such raw ambition... More >>
• Best New State Folk Dance (1 Comment)
  Go Ger Swing
  Legislators adopted the square dance as the official state folk dance in 1992, but it's so, well, square -- particularly since Colorado is jam-packed with more jam-band fans per capita than any other state in the union. In honor of this peculiar set of folks, the Go Ger Swing -- that dazed,... More >>
• Best New State Fossil
  James Dobson
  Governor Dick Lamm made the mighty stegosaurus our state fossil in 1982, 150 million years after it lived in Colorado. Just a few years later, a new dinosaur moved into Colorado when child psychologist James Dobson established his Focus on the Family headquarters just north of Colorado Springs. More >>
• Best New State Tree
  Ailanthus
  The Ailanthus is also known as the Chinese sumac (because it looks like a sumac) and Tree of Heaven -- but there's nothing heavenly about this rapidly growing, unbearably stinky tree that's springing up from sidewalk cracks and patches of dust all over town. Still, it has one decided advantage... More >>
• Best New State Mineral
  Titanium
  What has rhodochrosite, the state mineral since 2002, done for us lately? Compare that with the titanium sheathing on the Frederic C. Hamilton Building. It's elemental and should be the state mineral. More >>
• Best New State Rock (2 Comments)
  The Fray
  Give Girl Scout Troop 357 of Lakewood a special merit badge for convincing the legislature to make Yule marble the official state rock in 2004. Coincidentally, that's about the time some real rock -- as fashioned by the Fray -- was coming into its own. C'mon, Colorado: There's more to this... More >>
• Best Source on State Symbols
  Colorado State Archives
  One-stop shopping for all you need to know -- and more -- on state symbols and emblems, including the state tartan, gemstone and insect. More >>
• Best New Name for Commerce City
  Commerce City
  "If you have an ugly girlfriend and she changes her name, she is still ugly," Commerce City mayor Sean Ford says, by way of explaining his opposition to renaming his town. Not that Commerce City is a town without pretty, he hastens to point out; the ugly truth is that all those... More >>
• Best Threat to the Tranquility of Highlands Ranch (3 Comments)
  The Question Alliance
  There's a growing threat to the manicured Pleasantville atmosphere of Highlands Ranch: the Question Alliance. Spearheaded by locals James and Diane Schrack, the Question Alliance is essentially the community-outreach wing of the increasingly loud and proud Highlands Ranch Democrats. These... More >>
• Best Real World: Denver Cast Member
  Alex
  We thought long and hard about this. Far longer than any member of The Real World: Denver has ever thought about, well, anything. And although a prize should probably go to the Real World producers for finding an entire cast capable of out-vapiding LoDo, Alex is the up-front winner. For a while... More >>
• Best Real World: Denver Artist
  Rodney Wallace
  Local artist and arts booster Rodney Wallace hasn't been exactly glued to The Real World, but the producers were stuck on his bold, graphic paintings. They put five of Wallace's pieces in the Real World: Denver house -- the former home of B-52 Billiards on Market Street -- along with pool... More >>
• Best Museum on a Reality Show
  Clear Creek History Park
  Before season nine's high-profile conclusion at Red Rocks, three ruthless Amazing Race teams had to strip-search Golden's rustic Clear Creek History Park, amid the squawking heirloom chickens, for the final clue that would lead them to the amphitheater and the million-dollar prize. Though it's... More >>
• Best Denverite on a Reality Show
  Mike Nickels
  Mixed martial-arts expert and tattoo artist Mike Nickels made his mark on Spike TV's The Ultimate Fighter. For several months, he lived in a house in Las Vegas with a bunch of bad-ass dudes, chatting for the reality-TV camera and jockeying for position. Nickels was finally knocked off the show... More >>
• Best Religious Ad
  "Anna Nicole and Jesus"
  Made you look! And that was the intention when Trinity United Methodist Church in downtown Denver placed an ad in the dailies headlined "Anna Nicole and Jesus" that offered this brief sermon: "Most feel pity for the short life of Anna Nicole Smith. She struggled and searched to find herself. Her... More >>
• Best New Job for
  Ted Haggard
  Demented Divas! Understudy
  Ted Haggard should be so lucky as to get a gig with Demented Divas!, the Las Vegas-style comedy drag show that takes over Lannie's Clocktower Cabaret every Tuesday evening. Not only could Nuclia Waste give him a few lessons in being comfortable in his own skin -- even if it is silver and... More >>
• Best Activist (10 Comments)
  Rita Bertolli
  Rita Bertolli was fresh out of film school in 2004 when she battled a housing project slated for a ravine behind her parents' Green Mountain home to a standstill. Last fall, she set her sights on bigger game, leading a grassroots group that challenged a developer's plan to trade a "drainage... More >>
• Best Denver Export
  The Denver Drill
  Forget the Denver Boot, that dreaded clamp invented here more than fifty years ago that has since immobilized vehicles around the globe -- and inspired many choice epithets directed at the city of its origin. Today Denver has an export we can truly be proud of: the Denver Drill. This maneuver,... More >>
• Best Liquid Asset
  Denver Water
  This past year, Men's Health magazine evaluated the public water supplies of a hundred U.S. cities, examining the "most recent data on levels of arsenic, lead, halo-acetic acids and total trihalomethanes (linked to cancer), and total coliform bacteria, plus the number of EPA water-system... More >>
• Best Source of Water News
  Coyote Gulch
  Colorado's water may dry up, but John Orr will keep pouring it on. Orr, who works for the city's wastewater treatment department, started Coyote Gulch in 2002 as a blog about local and national politics but soon started posting about his passion, water. Although he still comments regularly on... More >>
• Best Building Block (2 Comments)
  DenverInfill
  DenverInfill is a geeky love letter to the city of Denver -- a nostalgic testament to what it once was, and a joyous celebration of what it could become. Ken Schroeppel, urban planner with Matrix Design Group, has created a comprehensive and interactive guide to all infill development proposed... More >>
• Best Online Ramblings of a Renaissance Man
  Wash Park Prophet
  It's hard to pigeonhole Andrew Oh-Willeke, the erudite scribe behind the Wash Park Prophet blog. Is he a hard-nosed gadfly? A bookish legal theorist? A flighty postmodern philosopher? A romantic poet? In fact, he's all four -- and much more. One day he'll be crunching numbers on gang members in... More >>
• Best Blog -- Cultural
  www.hughgrahamcreative.com
  What do Spalding Gray, good design, a dog named Maddie, environmental awareness and "Mile High Stories" have in common? Hugh Graham! A longtime fixture on Denver's arts-and-culture scene -- a former Significant Guy, and the other half of artist/River North Arts District co-founder Jill Hadley... More >>
• Best Blog -- Political
  www.progressnowaction.com
  All of politics is personal -- very, very personal -- for the folks over at ProgressNow.org. Since lawyer (and former Westword intern) Michael Huttner started his troublemaking squad of truth-seekers, they've made news as often as they've reported it, creating the catchy "Both Ways Bob" campaign... More >>
• Best Offspring of a National Blog
  Colorado Confidential
  When David Bennahum, the president and CEO of the Center for Independent Media, a progressive organization based in Washington, D.C., decided to create his first state-based spinoff, he looked to Colorado. His creation went live last year, quickly establishing itself as a lively and... More >>
• Best Left-Wing Media Criticism (1 Comment)
  Colorado Media Matters
  Like Colorado Confidential, Colorado Media Matters is the initial regional foray by a national organization -- in this case, Media Matters, a Washington, D.C., outfit founded by former right-winger David Brock. Overseen by the indefatigable Bill Menezes, an ex-Denver Post staffer, the Colorado... More >>
• Best Right-Wing Media Criticism
  The Independence Institute
  Conservative pundits constantly fulminate about liberal media bias but seldom bother trying to prove their case. So props to the Independence Institute for "Unabashed Bias," an analysis that attempted to show that the Denver dailies regularly engaged in slanted coverage of referenda C and D, two... More >>
• Best Capitol Idea
  Reopening the Dome
  After being closed since 9/11, this year the State Capitol dome finally reopened to the public. Although you now must sign up for a tour (free, but only available Monday through Friday) and still have to climb 99 steps to the top, your efforts are rewarded with a great view from the pinnacle of... More >>
• Best Political Ad
  Ken Gordon
  State senator Ken Gordon didn't win his bid for Colorado Secretary of State, but his campaign was far from all wet. Building on his Best of Denver-winning ad from 2006, Gordon donned a wetsuit and hopped in a tank full of circling sharks at the Downtown Aquarium -- all to emphasize the fact that... More >>
• Best Statesmanship
  Ken Gordon and Mike Coffman
  While other political campaigns devolved to the usual heightened rhetoric and low blows, Ken Gordon and Mike Coffman kept the race for secretary of state not just civilized, but downright informative as they assessed problems with the system. And when those problems were so amply illustrated in... More >>
• Best Capitol Pet
  Buckley
  When Mike Coffman moved from the Colorado Treasurer's office to the nearby digs of the secretary of state, he left five-year-old golden retriever Buckley behind. The dog had grown up in the treasurer's office, and when a staffer asked if the dog could stay on, newly elected Treasurer Cary... More >>
• Best Capitol Watchdog (1 Comment)
  Ron Binz
  Back in the early '80s, Ron Binz became the first head of the Office of Consumer Counsel, a consumer-advocacy agency that represented consumers before the Public Utilities Commission -- and regularly pissed off not just major utilities, which had previously had the PUC almost all to themselves,... More >>
• Best Freshman in the Colorado Legislature
  Chris Romer
  The name is familiar, even if the face owes more to Bea than Roy Romer, Colorado's governor from 1986 to 1998. But Chris Romer is clearly his own man. After winning a three-way primary for the District 32 slot, Romer just kept running right through the election and on into the Colorado Senate,... More >>
• Best Veteran in the Colorado Legislature
  Andrew Romanoff
  He could have run for governor, but Andrew Romanoff wisely decided that he belonged at home -- as Speaker of the House, where he opens his office door every Tuesday afternoon to anyone who feels like a chat. The District 6 representative also shares on his blog... More >>
• Best New Building
  Frederic C. Hamilton Building
  There's never been anything like it in Denver -- and not just because it looks like a futuristic spacecraft (or maybe what's left after one crashes). Even as the steel framing of the structure created by Daniel Libeskind and the Davis Partnership was going up, the Frederic C. Hamilton Building... More >>
• Best New Residential Low-Rise
  Golden Row Townhomes
  Although there's been a lot of new construction in the Golden Triangle, most of it has been absolutely dreadful, with mid-rises better suited to Centennial or Reunion sprinkled between big fat Greek high-rises. But there are some noteworthy exceptions, particularly the Golden Row Townhomes:... More >>
• Best New Residential High-Rise
  Glass House
  The Central Platte Valley may be one of the oldest parts of the city, but today it looks completely new, with cool-looking modern architecture filling the once-dusty, desolate railyards. The most recent standout is Glass House, at 23 stories the tallest structure in the area. Designed by the... More >>
• Best High-Style "Green" Building
  Signature Centre at Denver West
  With fins on the roof reminiscent of a cool '50s cruiser, the swank, sleek Signature Centre presents a striking silhouette against the sky. But this building has far more going for it than flashy good looks: It's also environmentally friendly, designed by architect Binh Vinh and developed by... More >>
• Best New Light-Rail Station
  E. Louisiana Ave. and S. Pearl St.
  The innermost stop on light rail's new southeast corridor, Louisiana and Pearl is also the most citified, with its lot-free "kiss-n-ride" designation (don't even try to park in the nearby residential neighborhood) and Mark Leese's welcoming "Jurassic Leaves" sculpture/shelter aboveground. But... More >>
• Best Tribute to Money
  Colorado Business Bank
  If 17th Street is truly the Wall Street of the West, then the Ideal Building -- which now holds Colorado Business Bank -- lies at the intersection of art and commerce. At the two-story entrance, menacing marble bison guard bronze doors decorated with American Indian dance motifs. Inside, a... More >>
• Best Celebration of Finished Business (1 Comment)
  Frederic C. Hamilton Building Opening Weekend
  Just where Daniel Libeskind's new building planted Denver on the cultural map is still up for debate. But the weekend-long completion celebration definitely put our city at the center of the party map! From the 10 a.m. Saturday opening under sunny skies to a chilly Sunday-night close, the... More >>
• Best Celebration of Unfinished Business
  Highland Bridge Opening
  The opening celebration for the Highland Bridge took that old Field of Dreams cliche -- "If you build it, they will come" -- and gave it a modern twist: "If you build it and are not quite finished but all the speeches have been written, the entertainment booked and the catering tents rented,... More >>
• Best Early-Warning System
  CDOT Traveler Information
  If you like to over-plan, are looking for a convenient excuse to cancel unwanted road trips or just want to enjoy the hassles of driving without leaving your home, let this Colorado Department of Transportation website put you in the virtual driver's seat. The site offers up-to-the-minute road... More >>
• Best Political Campaign Souvenir
  "Both Ways Bob" Flip-Flops
  During the 2006 gubernatorial campaign, the highly partisan ProgressNowAction sent those who made a $10 donation something extra for their efforts: flip-flops emblazoned with the phrase "BOTH WAYS" and a photo of Republican Bob Beauprez. Proof once again that only a hypocritical stance and one... More >>
• Best Souvenirs in a Gas Station
  Conoco
  This isn't your father's Conoco station -- unless your father is Jackie Chan. In addition to the usual independent, urban convenience-store hodgepodge of noodle bowls, outdated hair dye, magazines, 3.2 beer, adult diapers and miniature pipes, the sign that greets drivers heading out of downtown... More >>
• Best Souvenirs by a Gravesite
  Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave
  William "Buffalo Bill" Cody may have been the greatest marketing man ever born, so he'd be proud to know that the Denver park that holds his grave also boasts the state's best souvenir store. Three years after Buffalo Bill was buried on Lookout Mountain, his foster son, Johnny Baker, asked... More >>
• Best CU Recruiter
  Hank Brown
  Remember the University of Colorado at Boulder before Hank Brown took over as president? The institution's reputation had fallen to subterranean depths after a series of public embarrassments and subsequent investigations, and previous prez Elizabeth "Betsy" Hoffman's ineffectual attempts to set... More >>
• Best Hair on a TV Personality -- Male
  Chris Tanaka
  Metrosexuality comes naturally to sportscaster Chris Tanaka. Rather than stick with the typical hair helmet favored by style-challenged on-air males, he rocks a spiky/sexy cut that tells members of the younger demographic that he knows about scoring in every sense of the word. There aren't many... More >>
• Best Hair on a TV Personality -- Female
  Crystal Egger
  It's not often that a single station sweeps the much-coveted Best Hair category. But the moment morning forecaster Crystal Egger hit Fox 31's airwaves, her locks made her a lock for this honor. She wears a blond swoop over her right eye that blends boldly into what appear to be yards of silk... More >>
• Best Nose on a TV Personality
  Drew Soicher
  Drew Soicher's the reigning jester of Denver sports anchors, but what happened to his snout back in the day isn't funny. A childhood accident thoroughly scrambled his cartilage, and before the injury had fully healed, he took a softball in the proboscis that damaged it permanently. Today, one of... More >>
• Best TV Anchor
  Jim Benemann
  Talk about growing into a role. During the '90s, when he was on Channel 9's staff, Jim Benemann was a solid TV presence, but the passage of years since then has given him a gravitas only hinted at by his earlier work. That's not to say he's a stiff -- Benemann comes across as downright avuncular... More >>
• Best TV Sportscaster
  Marc Soicher
  Although big brother Marc preceded Drew Soicher to Denver, he failed to catch on with viewers at Channel 4, in part because he always seemed a little too slick for his own good. (The same criticism was occasionally leveled against his hair.) But an interim slot with FSN Rocky Mountain showed him... More >>
• Best TV Weathercaster
  Marty Coniglio
  From his earliest years on Denver television, Marty Coniglio has been one of the market's most credible forecasters. Why? He's cautious about his predictions and aware of technology's limitations, never implying that he knows with metaphysical certitude precisely what sort of clothes viewers... More >>
• Best Return of a TV Forecaster (7 Comments)
  Sunny Roseman
  Longtime residents will remember Rob "Sunny" Roseman as a younger counterpart to the late Leon "Stormy" Rottman on Channel 9 back in the '80s; they were paired in an ad campaign with the slogan "Sunny days and Stormy nights." Since then, Roseman has worked as an actor and a silkscreen printer,... More >>
• Best Return of a TV Wackadoo (3 Comments)
  Dan Daru
  When he hit Denver screens in 2000, Daru quickly carved out a niche as the resident loon on Channel 2's morning show. That gig ended when he and his wife, former Channel 2 anchor Wendy Brockman, moved to Florida. But last year they returned, and Fox wisely hired Daru to pick up where he'd left... More >>
• Best TV Fact-Checkers
  Adam Schrager and Raj Chohan
  Television news is frequently bashed for its superficiality. Frankly, a lot of those gripes are justified -- but not in the case of Adam Schrager and Raj Chohan of Channel 9 and Channel 4, respectively. In the run-up to the 2006 election, they did a fine job of examining the myriad claims made... More >>
• Best Unsung Investigator
  Tony Kovaleski
  Because Channel 7 isn't partnered with one of the Denver dailies, the station's scoops aren't automatically ballyhooed, as Channel 9's are in the Post and Channel 4's are in the Rocky. However, the dogged Tony Kovaleski regularly forces the papers to follow his lead (and to credit his station),... More >>
• Best TV Newscast -- Night
  Channel 9
  Thirty years or so as an almost unassailable ratings champ has made 9News's 10 p.m. offering Denver's newscast of record. Anchors Adele Arakawa and Bob Kendrick are supplemented by a reporting team that ranges from veteran power hitters like Paula Woodward to next-generation journalists with... More >>
• Best TV Newscast -- Morning
  Channel 4
  After Ed Greene was transferred to the night shift, Channel 4's morning program began to drift in ways that suggested the station was ready to concede defeat in the time period. But recently, the show has received an infusion of energy from new meteorologist Stacey Donaldson, a recruit from... More >>
• Best Marathon TV Newscast (1 Comment)
  Channel 9/Channel 20
  When Channel 9 and Channel 20 became sister stations, execs began looking for ways to share resources, including the human kind. One result was the four-hour morning programming block split evenly between the stations. From 5 to 7 a.m., familiar faces like Gary Shapiro, Kyle Dyer, Susie Wargin... More >>
• Best Jazz Station Here or Anywhere (1 Comment)
  KUVO
  Jazz radio signals are an endangered species in these United States, and for a while late last year, the folks at KUVO feared their station was bound for extinction, too. But while there have been painful behind-the-scenes changes and job cuts, the format appears to be safe for the time being.... More >>
• Best New-Music Radio Station (2 Comments)
  Radio 1190
  Fewer and fewer stations employ local DJs today, instead relying on syndicated shows or far-flung jocks who voice-track long-distance, using the same playlists across the nation. So thank goodness for Radio 1190, the outstanding station at the University of Colorado at Boulder, which employs a... More >>
• Best World-Music Radio Show (1 Comment)
  TerraSonic
  Joel Davis, the man behind TerraSonic, brings the world to Denver every Saturday afternoon. He's a veteran musical explorer, and his deep knowledge of indigenous sounds from around the globe results in a program that's simultaneously accessible and adventurous. Last year, the show moved from... More >>
• Best Radio-Station Swap
  Classic Country for ESPN Radio
  At 1600 AM, KCKK had spun classic country for years -- but when execs at Lincoln Financial Media, the station's owner, decided to flip to ESPN programming, the format seemed doomed. Then Tim Brown of NRC Broadcasting rode to the rescue, striking a deal that moved the style to 1510 AM, call... More >>
• Best Really Old Oldies Station
  Studio 1430
  The very airwaves that emanate from Studio 1430 AM feel a bit gentler, a bit less abrasive than those that beam from other stations. Judging by commercials for retirement communities and all-inclusive cruise vacations, as well as station IDs that extol the virtues of the Autumn Years ("Relax --... More >>
• Best Radio DJ
  Bret Saunders
  Bret Saunders handles his show so smoothly that his efforts don't always receive the attention they deserve. He's got eclectic musical tastes -- he regularly writes about jazz for the Denver Post -- and if KBCO's sonic signature restrains him to some degree when it comes to song choices, he more... More >>
• Best Radio Talk-Show Host (17 Comments)
  Jay Marvin
  Air America Radio, which supplies most of AM 760's content, isn't in the best of health; the network filed for bankruptcy last year, and while it was subsequently purchased by Green Family Media, the recent departure of comic-turned-senatorial-candidate Al Franken doesn't help. But Jay Marvin... More >>
• Best Spellcheck Snafu
  "Donald Armsful"
  A reprint of a Washington Post story that ran on page one of the December 3 Denver Post included a subhead identifying former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld as "Donald Armsful." It was probably a spellcheck error, but there's always the possibility that a Rumsfeld sympathizer at the Post... More >>
• Best Spellcheck Snafu -- Runner-Up
  "Al Lies at DenverPost.com"
  At the end of an article about an Aspen mansion that Denver Post business scribe Al Lewis wrote last year, his e-mail address -- alewis@denverpost.com -- was printed as allies@denverpost.com, which he read as Al Lies at DenverPost.com. Lewis says spellcheck was the culprit, and there's no reason... More >>
• Best Unknown Cable Network
  HDNet
  One of Denver's biggest cable operations is a mystery to most Denver cable subscribers. HDNet and its sister service, HDNet Movies, both owned by Dallas billionaire Mark Cuban, employ a staff of around 200 full-time employees who work at Colorado Studios in Stapleton. The channels have a growing... More >>
• Best Denver Insult (2 Comments)
  Dave Barry
  It's an honor to be savaged by someone as talented as Dave Barry -- and when Congressman Tom Tancredo called Miami a Third World country, he might as well have put a "kick me" sign on Denver's back. In honor of the Super Bowl arriving in Miami, Floridian Barry wrote a column welcoming visitors... More >>