The trouble started on September 24, when affable newsbabe Katie Keifer was booked by Denver police for allegedly kicking in a window at her ex-boyfriend's crash pad. The 34-year-old Keifer was charged with misdemeanor assault, disturbing the peace and damaging private property, although her former flame refused to swear out a complaint against her. According to a police report, Keifer did her kung-fu number on the window after an argument with the onetime paramour, who works in production at Channel 4. She reportedly suffered cuts on her hands and arms while in the process of kicking glass and taking names. But that didn't stop her from looking positively radiant in the Rocky Mountain News Lifestyles section last Thursday, where she was pictured holding a regional Emmy award she'd won--sans any unsightly scratches or blemishes!
Much uglier was a bizarre incident last weekend in Boulder County involving Channel 4 and KOA radio business editor Keith Weinman, who's developed a reputation as both an on-the-air hawker (his heartfelt testimonials for advertisers' products have raised eyebrows among journalistic purists) and an off-the-air stalker. Weinman pleaded guilty last year in Boulder County Court to misdemeanor harassment and disorderly conduct, a petty offense, after two incidents during which he allegedly chased his wife onto the lot of Longmont's Frontier Honda dealership. The woman told Frontier employees that Weinman had stalked her and "smacked her around"; one of the workers later told police that the woman was wearing sunglasses that covered a black eye. He also reported hearing Weinman yell, "I just want the car--you can keep the fucking cunt."
Weinman was given a two-year deferred sentence in that case and ordered to complete a domestic-violence counseling course. Whatever therapy he may have received, however, apparently wasn't enough. After Weinman failed to show up for work last Friday, Boulder County sheriff's deputies were dispatched to his home south of Longmont to check on his welfare. According to a press release that was issued and then quickly withdrawn because of "privacy concerns," the officers forced their way into the home and found Weinman in a "semi-conscious, incoherent state, displaying amnesia-like symptoms."
According to a sheriff's department spokesman, Weinman had sustained a head injury. Although it's unclear just how he managed to sustain the injury, Weinman reportedly told the deputies he wanted to commit suicide and added that he was "going through some marital difficulties."
The Longmont Times-Call reported that Weinman had been taken to Boulder Community Hospital, where he was put on a 72-hour mental hold. A hospital spokeswoman says she "has no information" about Weinman, and the sheriff's department says it's unaware of Weinman's present whereabouts or condition. Both Channel 4 and KOA radio spokesmen were unavailable for comment this past Tuesday. Weinman's wife reportedly is out of the country--and not exactly rushing to his side.
Stay tuned, viewers. At last word, Channel 4 morning weatherman Scott Zahorik and anchor Jim Hooley were keeping their noses clean.
School bored: Denver school-board member Lee White hasn't bothered to show up for roughly half of the board meetings and study sessions held in the last few months. But there's no need for parents, teachers or, God forbid, actual students to get all huffy about it. Although White has racked up a lot of absences, it's not like he's been playing hooky. Instead, among other pressing assignments relating to the thrilling world of high finance, investment banker White has been carrying the water for boss man Pat "The Great Patsby" Bowlen, who has employed him to line up financing for the Broncos' share of a new football stadium. It's not easy scraping together $90 million worth of venture capital in a pinch, you know. And remember, if the stadium tax passes, "We All Win"--especially whatever lucky lender gets to tote the note on Patsby's loan.
Meanwhile, Citizens Opposing the Stadium Tax continue to find creative new ways to tilt at Patsby's public-relations windmill (whose gears will no doubt grind all the faster once architects officially unveil a 3-D model and high-tech "video walk-through" of the proposed new stadium this week). Spotted recently at a King Soopers magazine rack, directly in front of a special Broncos Collector's Issue and a glossy John Elway Career Tribute edition: strategically placed anti-stadium-tax pamphlets kvetching about the unfairness of it all and quoting king curmudgeon Gene Amole calling Bowlen "a freeloader.
