Grand Junction

Reader: Teen whose family is being evicted after he stole shoes deserves empathy

Yesterday, we shared the story of a Grand Junction thirteen year old whose family is being evicted after he shoplifted a pair of shoes -- because, he said, his feet were cold. Amid the claims and counter-claims from the participants, one of our readers focused his attentions on the teen and the rela ... More >>

Video: Thirteen year old's shoplifting bust leads to family eviction notice just before Christmas?

'Tis the season for Scrooge stories -- and a report out of Grand Junction was made to order. A GJ mom says she and her three kids are being evicted from their apartment after her thirteen-year-old son shoplifted a pair of shoes from Kmart -- because, he says, his feet were cold; see the video below. ... More >>

Reader: Grand Junction isn't even a good place to get smashed

Vance Johnson, once a key member of the Three Amigos, moved to the Western Slope years ago and is putting his second restaurant in Grand Junction, which he plans to call Vance's Epicurious. But some people aren't impressed by the former Bronco's choice of locations.

Yaron Segal, MIT researcher, commits suicide in custody after bust for soliciting sex with children

Israeli-born Yaron Segal was a Yale-educated researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology doing highly technical work in the area of solar cells. But his final chapter deals not with the development of clean energy but a lonely death at the end of a homemade noose. He killed himself after ... More >>

Chris Hrasky of Explosions in the Sky: "We still basically feel like we're amateurs who are still kind of figuring out what we're doing"

Explosions in the Sky (due tonight at the Boulder Theater) is an instrumental rock band based out of Austin, Texas. For the last thirteen years, the quartet has been creating a kind of anthemic, instrumental guitar rock that sparkles with impressionistic melodies building to a cathartic apex, not un ... More >>

10 first videos on MTV to mark 30th birthday: Bet you forgot how terrible they were (VIDEOS)

Videos below.​MTV debuted thirty years ago -- and I was there. The cable system in my conservative hometown of Grand Junction began airing the net on day one -- and my friends and I were instant converts. We used the wall-to-wall music clips as near-constant background media even though many, ... More >>

Osama bin Laden death celebration at Mesa State College in Grand Junction (VIDEO)

Video below.​In our post about how Osama bin Laden's death was experienced by the Facebook generation, we noted that localizing this story was unnecessary, because it impacted all of us, wherever we were. Which is why spontaneous celebrations broke out in New York City, Washington, D.C. -- an ... More >>

Medical marijuana advocate predicts close vote in Grand Junction try to ban dispensaries

​By this evening, Grand Junction residents should know if the majority of residents voted to ban medical marijuana businesses within city limits. Since a prohibition against retail sales in unincorporated Mesa County passed last fall, such an outcome is a done deal, right? Not so, says ban opp ... More >>

Culinary calendar for the week ahead: Wine, pork and much more

​The wine will be flowing this week, at events ranging from Grand Junction's VinCO 2011 to the Pinot Posse Tag Team Winemaker Dinner. But there's more on Colorado's culinary plate this week: everything from workshops, to dry-sausage and hog-slaughtering events. Here's a taste:

The Mural of the Story

Denver Nativity Scene: What grinch stole this Christmas mural?

​Denver's holiday display wasn't always such an orgy of bad taste. Back in 1935, just three years after the Denver City and County Building was completed, muralist Louise Emerson Ronnebeck created a 76-foot-long Nativity painting for its pediment -- a painting that has since gone missing. What ... More >>

Barack Obama gay? A terrorist? A gangster? See the Grand Junction billboard going viral

Full board below.​Last week, we told you about WhoSaidYouSaid putting up its 100th anti-Barack Obama billboard in cities like Denver, Fort Collins and Grand Junction. But a different board is causing a considerably larger foofaraw in GJ thanks to images of Obama as gay, a terrorist, a gangster ... More >>

Medical marijuana ban in Grand Junction: Will dispensaries file suit to stop it before January 1?

Tae Darnell.​The arrest of Grand Junction's Jack Duke for allegedly teaching his six- and seven-year old daughters how to smoke marijuana took place against the backdrop of a 6-1 decision by GJ's city council to ban dispensaries within town limits as of January 1. Local dispensary owners are r ... More >>

Four-year-old boy shoots two-year-old sister

Flickr​In August, after Lakewood's James Chavez was arrested for leaving a loaded gun in his kindergartner's backpack, a police spokesman called the situation a "tragedy waiting to happen." He'd probably describe the situation in the western Colorado community of Dinosaur in much the same way ... More >>

Homeless abuse case fallout: Two more Grand Junction cops in spotlight after three were fired

A tent damaged by GJ police.​Last month, we told you about claims that Grand Junction Police officers had vandalized a homeless camp -- assertions followed by the firing of three GJPD members. But the story's not over. In recent days, another cop's resigned and a colleague's been placed on le ... More >>

Body farm: Rotting corpses to be studied near a landfill?

Ready for the farm?​As a proud native of Grand Junction and graduate of the city's Mesa State College, I'm not going to joke about the institution's latest gambit -- the creation of a so-called "body farm," where students will examine rotting human corpses. At least I'm going to try really ha ... More >>

Homeless camp vandalized by cops? Grand Junction activists say "yes"

Courtesy of GJPDexposedAn unkind cut.​Grand Junction isn't the likeliest spawning ground for progressive organizations. But the Western Slope community is the place to find a growing number of activists like Jacob Richards, who acts on behalf of the homeless in the area, even if it means gett ... More >>

Skunk with jar stuck on head wisely blames media

"Knowing everyone's looking at me makes this even worse!"​A skunk that got its head stuck in a peanut butter jar attracted plenty of press attention in Grand Junction over the weekend -- and it appears that the skunk didn't like it one bit. The Colorado Division of Wildlife employee was taske ... More >>

Marijuana and massage therapy don't always go together

A Flickr photo"Before you ask, no, you can't have any weed."​Part of House Bill 1284, Representative Tom Massey's attempt to regulate the medical marijuana industry, states that "the act of supplying medical marijuana or marijuana paraphernalia, by itself, is insufficient to constitute 'signif ... More >>

Albertsons workers reach tentative agreement on new contract

​In December, King Soopers employees approved a new contract offer, while Safeway workers rejected pretty much the same package. But Albertsons staffers were mostly silent -- until now. According to the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 website, "Albertsons has offered a tentative ag ... More >>

Under Fire: Ahh, peaches

​ Our former Cafe Society intern just decided to chuck college in favor of a real education: as a sous chef. In Under Fire, he chronicles his daily trials and tribulations in the kitchen. THREE DAY WEEKEND!!! WOOOO!!! While I'm not in school anymore, I still will take the liberty of enjoying ... More >>

Uranium-mine opposition and Grand Junction's glowing legacy

Grand Junction, circa the 1950s.​The Denver Post headline "Uranium Mining May Get Buried," about residents in Nunn, a town near Greeley, who oppose building a uranium mine nearby, hit close to home. I grew up in Grand Junction, and the repercussions of the supposedly safe uranium industry that ... More >>

Some things Barack Obama should check out in Grand Junction when not being screamed at by lunatics

A Flickr photoThe Colorado National Monument.​Tomorrow, President Barack Obama will visit Grand Junction for his next healthcare town hall, where he'll likely encounter folks like the ones in the video accessible here, caught in action during a GJ rally in late July. (Really dug the sign that ... More >>

This is what Barack Obama should expect at his Saturday healthcare town hall in Grand Junction

President Barack Obama will host a healthcare town hall meeting in Grand Junction on Saturday in an attempt to counter disinformation being circulated by citizens who apparently love the fact that millions of people remain uninsured and rates for the rest of us continue to grow at a shocking pace. ... More >>

The ideal healthcare system is in... Grand Junction?

What St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction will look like after completing its "Century Project." In a report about efforts to control healthcare costs broadcast on National Public Radio this morning, Len Nichols, of the New America Foundation, an organization lobbying for reform in a wide array of ... More >>

Frontier Airlines' Grand Junction fly-by sadly predictable

The Grand Junction airport will soon experience its final Frontier. The purchase of Frontier Airlines by Indianapolis' Republic Airways Holdings will likely lift the carrier from bankruptcy, and that's a very good thing. But the possibility remains that Frontier could move its corporate offices out ... More >>

Grand Junction Free Press cuts back on publication days

Valerie J. Smith. Had to take a trip to my hometown of Grand Junction on a family matter this past weekend, and while there, I happened upon a copy of the Grand Junction Free Press, a no-charge publication that's taken a dent out of the town's main newspaper, the Daily Sentinel, since its 2003 debu ... More >>

Grand Junction's food scene: pickups and empty places

Denver is what I consider a relatively accomplished culinary town, as is Boulder, where I live. And sometimes perspective is necessary to really appreciate your surroundings.  This is a roundabout way of saying I went to Grand Junction for the weekend.  The drive is always beautiful, ascend ... More >>

Searching for jobs in the suddenly struggling Colorado oil and gas industry

Not too long ago, the oil and gas industry was among the only business categories flourishing in Colorado. Even as the economy was getting softer and softer along the I-25 corridor, Western Slope communities like Grand Junction were booming. But thanks to falling fuel costs (among the rare blessings ... More >>

The week ahead: Bye-bye, battleground state -- it's back to basics

Meeting Barack Obama in Grand Junction

Daily Sentinel on the block

Best Place to Get Artsy DVDs for Cheap? Big Lots!

The Future of Movies Arrives... in Grand Junction?

Oil Shale Rush Is Déjà Vu All Over Again

Dalton Trumbo Statue Set for Unveiling

More Messages: Loud Mouths

The Message

Read Alert

Best New Destination for Candy Addicts

Enstrom's Almond Toffee

Off Limits

Sour grapes

Smoke Detector

Anne Landman has dedicated her life to being a pain in the ash. Will it make a difference come election time?

Pranks for the Memories

What they did on your summer vacation.

Hit Pick

Purple Buddha

Best Divine Save on the Western Slope

Cornerstones of Law and Liberty Plaza and the Ten Commandments
Grand Junction City Hall

Best Outdoor Gear Kits

Frostline Kits

Best Fishnet Long Underwear

Wiggy's Inc.

The Fun Is Over

Western Colorado's last family-owned amusement park takes its final ride.

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The Big Queasy

The junk-food guinea pigs of Grand Junction have had some strange gut reactions to olestra.

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