Josh Penry

Tom Tancredo is a big bully, says Dan Maes

Dan Maes​While Governor John Hickenlooper was wrapping up his first legislative session and Tom Tancredo was riding the right-wing blogosphere last week, the also-ran in that race, Dan Maes, was demonstrating that if you only get 11 percent of the vote, it doesn't matter if you topple a thicke ... More >>

Letters: Upcoming state GOP meeting will be for martyrs only

Dan Maes can't win if Tom Tancredo stays in the race, says CO Republican boss Dick Wadhams

Dan Maes.​On Monday, Scott McInnis spokesman Sean Duffy insisted his guy wasn't a dead fish. But at this writing, he's flopping on the dock, refusing to admit that he doesn't have lungs -- or that he lost last night's primary to Dan Maes. But while Colorado Republican Party boss Dick Wadhams h ... More >>

Dan Caplis rejects Scott McInnis's candidacy -- and not because he wants the governor gig

Dan Caplis.​Anyone who thought Scott McInnis's plagiarism problems might not kill his campaign prior to yesterday's Caplis & Silverman show on KHOW likely reconsidered afterward. That's because Republican stalwart Dan Caplis joined the Denver Post is calling for McInnis to give up the ghost a ... More >>

Scott McInnis gambles, loses

​ The latest from the blogs of Denver ColoradoPols theorizes Scott McInnis tried to best Josh Penry on Pinon Canyon. But now Penry's out of the race, and the locals are liking Hickenlooper's views on the matter. Back in the day, kids used to ride bikes to school. Now, they mostly don't. Educ ... More >>

Ted Haggard's new church unlikely to feature massages -- damn it!

"Let's start off with a lesson about forgiveness."​Every day, we pluck choice posts from Denver blogs. Here are three ripe ones. 5280's Michael de Yoanna hips us to disgraced Colorado Springs pastor Ted Haggard's new church, dubbed St. James -- presumably because the name New Life Church was ... More >>

Josh Penry on taking over as Jane Norton's campaign manager

This is one politically aggressive man.​In an interview last week, Ken Buck campaign consultant Walt Klein said he thinks Jane Norton, the well-heeled frontrunner for the Republican senatorial nomination, is running scared. Shockingly enough, Josh Penry, the minority leader of the Colorado Se ... More >>

Josh Penry in Colorado politics tarot deck: Kenny Be's Hip Tip

#13 of the 22 Major Arcana: Josh Penry, the Hanged Man... Kenny Be​

Child-abuse deaths: Department of Human Services director apologizes to lawmakers for late reports

From www.cdhs.state.co.us​Earlier this afternoon, state Department of Human Services Director Karen Beye sat before a committee of lawmakers and apologized. It's "clearly unacceptable" that the department failed to complete timely fatality reviews on ten of the eleven children who died of abus ... More >>

Josh McDaniels in Denver Blogs: Why won't the mainstream media stop hating on him?

C'mon, MSM! He's humble and lovable!​Like sand through the hourglass, so go the blogs of Denver. In a fan post on Mile High Report, BroncoTiLLIDie sticks it to the mainstream media for faulting pretty much every off-the-field move the Broncos have made since Josh McDaniels became coach. Venti ... More >>

Josh Penry-John Morse idea to give university boards more leeway potentially dangerous

"Gee, I wish I could afford college."​Senate Majority Leader John Morse, D-Colorado Springs, and Minority Leader Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction, are brainstorming ways to keep Colorado's colleges from suffocating amid crippling losses in revenue from the state. Atop the mount of potential soluti ... More >>

Wake-Up Call: No Kumbaya moment at Pinon Canyon

​Last month's Kumbaya moment, which featured most of Colorado's top GOPs uniting behind gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis and the Republican Party's Platform for Prosperity, did not resound in southeastern Colorado. They're singing a different song near Pinon Canyon, a stunning swathe of ... More >>

Dan Caplis-Scott McInnis love match in the offing?

Will we need to replace Craig Silverman's face with Scott McInnis'?​While talking with Dan Caplis about his life-saving Thanksgiving earlier this week, another subject arose: his current feelings about presumed Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis. Back in August, McInnis treated ... More >>

Denver Blogs: The Nuggets lost to the Timberwolves? At home? Take that back, you lying bastard!

The Nuggets let Ryan Gomes go off. The shame...​Local blog-finding just got a lot easier. Denver Stiffs' Andrew Feinstein calls the Nuggets' home loss to the Timberwolves last night "unacceptable." And a few other choicer words. Over at Lakewood Edge, former Rocky Mountain News scribe Kevin ... More >>

Dan Maes: "I'm the only conservative candidate left" in race for governor

Dan Maes isn't getting out while the getting is good.​Locals curious if yesterday's unity press conference on behalf of gubernatorial hopeful Scott McInnis has weakened the resolve of Dan Maes, McInnis' only remaining Republican challenger, need only to listen to his voicemail-intro messages t ... More >>

Dick Wadhams still likes hot Republican-on-Republican action

Dick Wadhams ​After Tom Tancredo declared that he fully intended to run for governor, Colorado GOP head Dick Wadhams insisted that he was okay with such a challenge to frontrunner (and unity fan) Scott McInnis, announcing in this space, "I've always been a proponent -- and I've said this inces ... More >>

Scott McInnis unity platform fix is in

Where Scott McInnis leads, all of his former rivals plan to follow.​Last Thursday, Tom Tancredo confirmed in this space that he was part of a group coming up with a unity platform Republican Scott McInnis could use against Bill Ritter in the 2010 gubernatorial campaign -- and that if all went ... More >>

No "Republican saliva test" required in "Platform for Prosperity," says Scott McInnis spokesman

Scott and Josh: Together again for the first time.​Update below: A short time ago, Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis joined one former rival (State senator Josh Penry), an ex-rep who was a whisker away from challenging him (Tom Tancredo), a former guv (Bill Owens) and conservat ... More >>

Scott McInnis: Is he more politically skillful than we thought?

"Can't we all just get along?"​Political observers have spent a lot of time har-dee-har-ing at Scott McInnis over the years -- and indeed, he's made plenty of errors and gaffes during his time in the public eye. Note his prediction that fellow Republican Bob Schaffer would lose the 2008 Senat ... More >>

Tom Tancredo open to keeping hat out of ring if deal with Scott McInnis can be struck

Tom Tancredo has gone from fully intending to run for governor to entertaining the possibility of backing Scott McInnis.​A lot's happened in Tom Tancredo's world during the past week. Last Thursday, Tancredo said in this space, "I fully intend to run" for governor in 2010, adding that he plan ... More >>

Dick Wadhams on Tom Tancredo's impending run for governor

Dick Wadhams isn't leading the "Run Tom" parade. But he swears he's not putting up roadblocks, either.​Yesterday, Tom Tancredo confirmed his plans to run for governor now that state senator Josh Penry has dropped out of the race. That throws a kink into frontrunner Scott McInnis' dream of a un ... More >>

Tom Tancredo: "I fully intend to run" for governor

Photo by John JohnstonTom Tancredo wants to run for all the right reasons.​A short time ago, Tom Tancredo was at Denver International Airport. "I'm going to Houston," he said. "I have a speech I'm making to the Texas Coalition for Immigration Reform, or something like that." But Tancredo took ... More >>

Josh Penry radio appearance turns into subtle Scott McInnis bashing session

See! Josh Penry really does want to spend more time with his family.​Josh Penry made his decision to pull out of the 2010 gubernatorial race official yesterday, issuing a statement that stops considerably short of formally endorsing his main conservative rival for the office, Scott McInnis. He ... More >>

Wake-Up Call: Tom Tancredo for governor of Colorado?

​When I last talked with former Congressman Tom Tancredo -- about marijuana, of all things, which he'd like to see legalized, even though he's never so much as attempted to inhale -- he was just back from an October Constitution Party event in Phoenix, where he'd been urged to run for presid ... More >>

What's making Josh Penry wave the white flag?

Josh Penry's getting out even before the getting's good.​There weren't a lot of hints in advance regarding state senator Josh Penry's decision to pull the plug on his gubernatorial campaign, which he's expected to do later today. This past Thursday, Penry spokesman Andrew Cole roundly ridicule ... More >>

Live blog: Bill Ritter's budget meets the Joint Budget Committee

Bill Ritter is budgeting his time -- and timing his budget.​Editor's note: Westword is live blogging Governor Bill Ritter's presentation to the state's Joint Budget Committee about his proposed 2010-11 budget. The state is facing a $1.02 billion shortfall. The most recent posts are at the top. ... More >>

Fast-track this: Five untapped Colorado energy sources

Thar she blows: The Penry-Huttner Geothermal Project.​The Department of the Interior just designated six renewable energy projects, including a 400-megawatt solar tower, as "fast-track" developments deserving of the highest priority. All six of the projects happen to be in California. Hard t ... More >>

Josh Penry campaign scoffs at Scott McInnis' reasons for not debating

"Put down your weapons. I come in peace."​This morning, gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis' responded to critics of his decision not to debate his fellow Republican rivals with a Denver Post op-ed in which he argued that while "GOP candidate forums" are fine, direct faceoffs will do more ha ... More >>

Denver Blogs: Josh Penry, truthiness master

"Are you calling my dad a liar? Screw you, Colorado Pols!"​Local bloggery worth perusing. Colorado Pols says gubernatorial candidate Josh Penry isn't letting facts stand in his way when he talks about the state's alleged "hiring spree." If the facts would just clear out when they saw him comi ... More >>

Denver Blogs: Josh Penry is all for more water, except when he isn't

Josh Penry, champion of water projects (when convenient).​Our daily round-up of local bloggage. Colorado Pols has an interesting little bit about Josh Penry's sudden and quite convenient about-face on water projects. He seems to like them better when there are a bunch of water geeks hanging o ... More >>

Denver Blogs: Happy Columbus "Americas Day"!

A Flickr photoA Columbus Day Parade in San Fran.​Our daily gathering of local bloggage. On the Huffington Post's local page, Jim Thomas makes the case for changing the name of Columbus Day. And unlike most of the things written on the topic, his take is reasonable and measured. Colorado Pol ... More >>

Chantell Taylor: Colorado Ethics Watch really is nonpartisan!

Chantell Taylor.​While crowing earlier today about an Institute exposé focusing on uncompleted conflict-of-interest forms that embarrassed the Bill Ritter administration, the Independence Institute's Jon Caldara scoffed at the notion that Colorado Ethics Watch might take action against the De ... More >>

Denver Blogs: Even more reasons to believe this Rocktober

The only thing that sucks about more baseball...​Another week, another five days of cruising the local blogosphere for decent reading. Today's edition: Purple Row makes an excellent observation: Not only did the Rockies threaten to win the division, but that division was much less sucky than ... More >>

Momentum keeps building for Josh Penry

Josh Penry.​"Time For Josh Penry to Make His Move in Republican Guv-Nomination Race," a blog published about this time yesterday, noted that Penry seems to be filling the GOP vacuum that his principal rival, Scott McInnis, has left gaping thus far. The Washington Post's Chris Cillizza apparent ... More >>

The Westword.com blog shortcut, September 10 edition

Photo by Eric Syl GruneisenTalk about a Killers photo.​Someone told me about this show.... Today in Backbeat Online: • Last Night: The Killers at Red Rocks. • Monolith Q&A: Red Wire Black Wire. • Monolith Q&A: The Glitch Mob. • Monolith Q&A: The Thermals. • MTV reports on what's in ... More >>

Time for Josh Penry to make his move in Republican guv-nomination race

Josh Penry and familiy look all-American in a photo from his website.​Jane Norton's forthcoming entry into the U.S. Senate campaign is meant to energize Republicans who know appointee Michael Bennet is vulnerable but can't figure out which of their foot soldiers is capable of taking him down. ... More >>

Denver Blogs: Romanoff's Dem-olition

He looks like an Andy, doesn't he?​Our daily foraging for edible bloggage. Are the Democrats sabotaging Andrew Romanoff? (Daily Kos via Colroado Pols). Which Post is right about Josh Penry: Washington's or Denver's? (Colorado Independent) And just like that, hockey season is back. Which is ... More >>

Scott McInnis spokesman Sean Duffy about the "extraordinary double standard" used against his candidate

Sean Duffy.​Got a call moments ago from Sean Duffy, spokesman for Scott McInnis' gubernatorial campaign, responding to a post about what I consider to be the candidate's two latest mistakes: complaining in writing about an impending Republican Party straw poll that he could well lose and then ... More >>

Odd couples show off their fun bags for Denver Mag

John Hickenlooper and Bill Ritter let their hair down (click to enlarge).​In today's Denver Post, media writer Joanne Ostrow takes on the September cover of Denver Magazine, in which Channel 31 stars Libby Weaver and Natalie Tysdal are transformed from anchors to shank-ers. After spotlighting ... More >>

Josh Penry would like to grill barbecue thieves

Josh Penry pricing new grills: "Man, these things are expensive!"​Josh Penry may be quickly becoming the leading Republican candidate for governor, thanks to the rapid implosion of Scott McInnis' campaign and the difficulties Ryan Frazier is having in regard to gaining traction -- but not ever ... More >>

Wake-Up Call: Republican candidates on parade

​Politicians were out in force at the Arapahoe County Republicans fundraising roast of former congressman Tom Tancredo on Saturday. John Suthers, the only GOP member currently elected to a statewide office. Mike Coffman, who moved from a statewide office to fill Tancredo's seat in the Sixth Co ... More >>

Shmuck of the Week: Josh Penry

​This week's shmuck is state Senate minority leader Josh Penry of Grand Junction. He's also gunning for Bill Ritter's Governor job, and the short version of the past few weeks' convoluted saga of schmuckitude is that Penry cares a lot more about his political future than his constituents. (Whi ... More >>

Josh Penry about to announce gubernatorial bid?

A really unposed-looking photo of Scott McInnis and Josh Penry from Penry's campaign website circa 2005. According to Grand Junction's Daily Sentinel newspaper, state senate minority leader Josh Penry, who represents GJ, is planning an announcement on Saturday, July 11, in regard to speculation tha ... More >>

Death-penalty bill: Politicos willing to raise taxes to keep the killing option open

A Flickr photo You've got to admit it was a legislative masterstroke. As a House-passed bill to end capital punishment in Colorado and use the approximately $900,000 in savings to investigate so-called "cold cases" neared a Senate vote, opponents led by Democratic senator John Morse and Republican ... More >>

Jon Caldara on today's Barack Obama protest

In addition to buying a full-page ad needling President Barack Obama, who's in town today to sign a $787 billion economic-stimulus bill, Colorado Republican Party chairman Dick Wadhams is also taking part in a protest at the Colorado State Capitol co-starring a number of big names in local conserv ... More >>

John Lynch for Governor? GOP chief floats former Bronco's name

Doing the math on the Roan Plateau

Pandering Over Parole at the Statehouse

Timber!

Tempestuous political winds are blowing through Colorado's busiest forest.