Falcon Heene

HuffPo idiot: Colorado is fifth most overrated travel destination, Denver is "weirdly bland"

At Westword, we're all about hometown/home-state pride -- hence, posts such as "50 reasons we're glad we live in Denver and not the United States" and "Happy Colorado Day: Here are 50 reasons you should be glad you live here." So you can imagine our befuddlement over a Huffington Post article calli ... More >>

Our twenty favorite Westword covers of 2012

As we point out (as if we needed to) in our Year in Review issue on stands now, 2012 was a weird, wild year for Colorado. And we would know: We've covered it online and in 52 print issues throughout the past twelve months. Choosing the images to embody the news on our front cover is often as tough a ... More >>

"Smells like dead animals" and other complaints made about a pet treat factory in RiNo

One neighbor said the air smelled like a dead body. Another described the odor as akin to the stench of "a lot of dead rodents." Yet another said he "literally dry heaved into my mouth." Those are just a few of the complaints made to the city's 311 helpline about a pet-treat factory in the hip River ... More >>

Happy Colorado Day: Here are 50 reasons you should be glad you live here

It's been a tough summer for Colorado -- the toughest in memory. But on this August 1, Colorado Day, there are still many, many reasons to celebrate life in the Centennial State. And Missy Franklin's gold medal is just the most recent. The oldest? Just take a look to the west. Can't think of any? W ... More >>

Robert McIntosh shouldn't have been busted for f-bombing a deputy, but he's still a shmuck

Robert McIntosh.​Let's get this out of the way first: Yes, any person in this country should be able to express their opinion to a cop -- even if that opinion is unsavory and even if the person uses foul language -- without getting arrested for it. You can, but it doesn't mean you should, and ... More >>

Best of Denver readers poll's funniest answers: Is Hooter's really a good break-up restaurant?

​It's always fascinating to see what comes out of our Best of Denver Readers' Poll -- especially the silly, snarky answers we get to some of our questions. We learned that jokes about your mom are still (apparently) funny, that many of you watch Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy more frequ ... More >>

Vicki Ferrari second Denver cop/American Gladiator contestant sued for excessive force

Vicki Ferrari.​Last September, we told you about a police brutality lawsuit targeting Denver Police officer Abbe Dorn, a former American Gladiator contender. Now, Vicki Ferrari -- a Dorn pal who's also a Denver cop and onetime American Gladiator contestant -- is on the cusp of a trial in a sui ... More >>

Top 10 tweets about CU firing Dan Hawkins

Dan Hawkins​Twitter Nation's got a lot to say about Dan Hawkins finally being fired as CU's football coach. And some of the comments aren't terribly complimentary, as you might expect -- although we did find a few that are sympathetic, more or less. Here are the ten most memorable tweets we' ... More >>

Saturday Night Live gives Fort Collins an intro shout-out, The Big Bang Theory plugs Coors

Nasim Pedrad as Gloria Allred.​In today's edition of Colorado references on network TV shows, we have two prominent entries -- one from the latest episode of The Big Bang Theory, a show hilarious enough to be surviving a switch from Mondays to Thursday, and Saturday Night Live, whose writers p ... More >>

Seth Brigham's $10,000 payment for dropping trou: Did it influence Boulder decorum rules?

Seth Brigham under arrest.​Seth Brigham's nipple-baring appearance at a Boulder City Council meeting in February to (sort of) protest a proposed nudity ordinance that would have banned female nipples displays led to Brigham's arrest -- an action that recently cost Boulder $10,000. But did it a ... More >>

J.R. Smith: Lawyer David Lane cites allegations "so-called victim" is shaking down J.R., Nugs

J.R. Smith.​As speculation ramps up about where Carmelo Anthony will be traded (not if), ugly reports have surfaced about another Denver Nugget who may not be long for the team: J.R. Smith. But Smith attorney David Lane says assault accusations made against him are without merit and predicts ... More >>

Carl Bruning: Sheriff candidate wants probe into online critic saying true things about him

From the Stop Carl Bruning Facebook page.​You thought kinda/sorta-plagiarizer Scott McInnis was a thin-skinned politician? Get a load of Carl Bruning, who's running for sheriff of Larimer County. He reportedly asked current Sheriff Jim Alderden to investigate an online critic whose disparaging ... More >>

Gary Faulkner, if you think Osama's put a bounty on you, you really are crazy

Watch out, Gary!​The vote is in: Here's our latest Shmuck of the Week: Bend over, media. You -- and by "you," I mean "us," too -- have been enabling self-proclaimed Osama hunter Gary Faulkner. With Greeley's latest micro-celeb now claiming bin Laden's put a hit on him, the story's gone from e ... More >>

David Lane threatens to sue University of Wyoming over refusal to let Weather Underground founder William Ayers speak on campus

David Lane has given the University of Wyoming a very short deadline.​Attorney David Lane loves big issues and controversial clients, including former CU professor Ward Churchill, wrongfully convicted Timothy Masters or Balloon Boy dad Richard Heene. And now, he's taken on another cause that' ... More >>

Marijuana advocate Mason Tvert on why he joined a ballot-petition lawsuit -- and the future of his marijuana-legalization initiative

Mason Tvert doesn't think many current rules about petitioning make sense.​On Tuesday, we told you about a lawsuit over the rules pertaining to ballot initiatives that's supported by some strange bedfellows -- among them the Independence Institute's Jon Caldara and Mason Tvert, the marijuana a ... More >>

Ward Churchill appeal: If he doesn't win, "tenure means nothing anymore," says lawyer David Lane

Ward Churchill hasn't given up on getting his CU job back.​Last April, a jury found that controversial CU professor Ward Churchill had been fired from his job in part because of statements he'd made. But jurors like Bethany Newell only awarded Churchill $1 in damages -- and in July, Judge Larr ... More >>

Timothy Masters wins $4.1 million payment from Larimer County judicial district -- and there's probably more where that came from

Timothy Masters, as seen in a 2008 Channel 4 report, is finally getting paid for time served.​Timothy Masters, whose 1999 murder conviction was tossed following revelations about DNA-shaped holes in the case reported by the Denver Post and other news organizations, will receive $4.1 million fr ... More >>

Are Denver cops auditioning for Crank Yankers?: DPD officers allegedly make prank call about suicide scare

Wonder if that cop was named Seymour Butz...​Colorado's become Hoax Central lately thanks to the bizarre case involving a certain Balloon Boy. But the latest alleged pranksters are hardly Richard Heene clones. Rather, they're members of the Denver Police Department. As first reported by Chann ... More >>

Balloon Boy family shouldn't have to pay for sheriff to "look pretty on TV," lawyer says

Wasn't chasing this sucker more fun than rescuing Mr. Whiskers?​Two weeks ago, David Lane, attorney for Balloon Boy dad Richard Heene, griped that a $47,000-plus restitution charge for leading law-enforcement officials on a wild experimental-craft chase was way too high. That complaint has no ... More >>

Larimer Sheriff Jim Alderden wants guns on campus -- and he's not the only one

Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden​Emphatic Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden -- the target of new complaints from Balloon Boy lawyer David Lane about restitution charges -- is the latest to join the fight to prevent a gun ban at Colorado State University, which previously allowed concealed ... More >>

Balloon Boy dad Richard Heene's latest TV appearance nearly causes more vomiting

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy Remember that beautiful day in October when Balloon Boy Falcon Heene puked on the Today Show as his dad, Richard Heene, tried to convince America that the entire fiasco involving his runaway "experimental craft" had been genui ... More >>

UFO believer Jeff Peckman's letter to Barack Obama: "'Tear down this wall' of UFO secrecy"

Jeff Peckman, Ronald Reagan and UFOs -- three great tastes that taste great together.​When last we heard from UFO booster Jeff Peckman (on December 2), he was alienated by the suggestion of some Denver council members that the threshold for putting initiatives before city voters needed to be r ... More >>

Richard Heene and wife Mayumi to plead guilty in Balloon Boy hoax

Richard Heene during the infamous Today Show appearance when son Falcon puked for the nation.​That e-mail blast attorney David Lane mentioned around this time yesterday came through at 12:51 a.m. today. In it, Lane confirms that Richard Heene and his wife Mayumi will enter guilty pleas tomorro ... More >>

The Boulder police try to unfriend a Boulder Mall Crawl Facebook page

From the week of October 29, 2009

Wake-Up Call: My life has gone to pot

​It's been three weeks since we first posted news of our search for a medical-marijuana reviewer. Within five minutes of that posting, we had our first application for this extremely part-time job. Within ten minutes, our first media inquiry. And the applications and media calls keep coming. ... More >>