Kelsey Whipple

Occupy Denver: A photo guide to the national movement's one-year anniversary

Occupy Denver took the city by storm last year. Six days after Occupy Wall Street's September 17 launch in New York, the local branch placed its finger on the city's political pulse. In the twelve months since then, the movement gained a reputation for sound, fury and controversy as it turned its at ... More >>

GIFs: Top eight sign-spinning moves city council could stop for medical marijuana dispensaries

Tonight, despite a lawsuit threat, Denver City Council is expected to ban outdoor advertising at medical marijuana dispensaries -- a move largely motivated by dislike of MMJ sign spinners. Yet as outlined by Kelsey Whipple's recent feature "Spin City! Denver's sign spinners want you to give them a t ... More >>

Reader: Fake veterans should be punished with real war experience

Reader: The legislature bans concealed weapons, so why can't colleges?

Yesterday, Kelsey Whipple wrote about a petition from CU Denver philosophy professor Chad Kautzer to prohibit concealed weapons from state campuses. Our readers responded by debating the pros and cons of the concept. Here's a post citing four reasons to consider such a ban, with one point rules legi ... More >>

Reader accuses Denver cops of breaking "Stop Police Oppression" banner at march

Kelsey Whipple's coverage of Occupy Denver's Anaheim solidarity march on Sunday noted protesters' claim that four people were arrested at the rally. Shortly after the piece went live, we heard from one person who says she was among those taken into custody -- and her account suggests she's been shak ... More >>

The CELL: Michael Chertoff talks terrorism, protesters compare it to bee stings

Last night, former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff visited the grand reopening of the CELL, the downtown terrorism prevention center, to discuss cyber security and impending concerns in the Middle East. In front of a packed house at the Denver Art Museum, Chertoff talked both Al-Qaed ... More >>

Photos: Celena Hollis vigil brings hundreds to City Park Jazz

City Park was awash in purple yesterday evening as hundreds gathered in Celena Hollis's favorite color during a vigil for the fallen Denver police officer. Exactly one week after she was shot and killed in City Park, politicians, law enforcement and residents visited the same place to celebrate her ... More >>

Reader: You can't understand homelessness until it happens to you -- and it can

Earlier this month, Kelsey Whipple wrote about Denver City Councilman Albus Brooks's decision to engage critics of the urban camping ban on social media. Like many of her posts on this controversial subject, the report has drawn plenty of fascinating commentary -- including this item from a person w ... More >>

Photos: Explore Night and Day Vintage (and be rewarded at the end of the tour)

Night and Day Vintage smells like cinnamon, and it looks like a scene inside Alice's imagination. For those who enjoy retro deco without an empty-bank-account echo, it might as well be Wonderland. Located one block west of Broadway on 11th Avenue, Night and Day has an interior that leans heavily tow ... More >>

Urban camping ban: Police delay enforcement to continue education

Today marks the announced effective date of Denver's new urban camping ban, an ordinance that makes it illegal to camp on public or private property without permission. After months of debate, followed by a two-week implementation period, both Occupy Denver and the homeless community prepared for it ... More >>

Photos: Occupy Denver marches to support 25 peers at NATO Summit

The mass protest against the weekend's North American Treaty Organization summit might be 1,000 miles from Denver, but its ties to the city are represented by at least 25 Occupy Denver protesters who traveled to attend. And when Occupy Wall Street placed a call for national action this weekend, the ... More >>

Photos: Cries of "Shame!" as camping ban passes at tense council meeting

The mood was charged from the beginning. Even before City Council voted nine to four to approve Denver's new urban camping ordinance, one audience member made a point during the Pledge of Allegiance. During its conclusion of "peace and justice for all," he shouted "ALL!" in protest against the measu ... More >>

Reader: Snooze's hiring of the homeless makes standing in line worthwhile

Kelsey Whipple's post about the owners of the Snooze being pilloried for their position on the urban camping ban proposal even as they were employing four members of the homeless community struck a chord with one potential customer. Here's her take.

Colorado Progressive Coalition uses protest, PR to prevent foreclosure

If a house falls into foreclosure and nobody is around to hear about it, does it make a difference? What about if an entire coalition is around? This week, volunteers at the Colorado Progressive Coalition tried the second option when they accompanied local homeowner Jim Erlsten to the downtown Broad ... More >>

Photos: May Day general strike marked at Civic Center Park

Update, 3 p.m. May 1: Today, hundreds of protesters took the day off from work and school to spend it with Occupy Denver in Civic Center Park. For the local movement and its community partners -- the Mercury Cafe included -- May Day began at noon with a march and rally and will continue until dusk, ... More >>

Reader: DU Occupy the Honor Roll event fails as satire and on the facts

A recent Kelsey Whipple post focused on DU's Young Americans For Liberty and an event dubbed "Occupy the Honor Roll," in which participants equated Occupy Wall Street's calls for greater equity with the redistribution of smart kids' GPA to dumber ones. Which didn't tickle one reader's funny bone.

Photos: Denver recycling plant now welcomes food and beverage cartons

Denver's regional recycling plant is not a good place to lose your car keys. It is, however, a good place to get rid of old cartons. After five years spent educating the city not to do just that, Denver Public Works announced today that it now has the capability to recycle more containers than just ... More >>

Photos: Trayvon Martin inspires police brutality march, demand for DPD review

Laurie Fitzgerald tried to tell her grandson about Trayvon Martin, about his hoodie, about his family, but it's hard. So she taught him the basics. When asked why he's carrrying a poster of the seventeen-year-old Florida student's face, four-year-old Royce Edwards answers only, "Because Trayvon is d ... More >>

Photos: Occupy Denver marches against police brutality

On Saturday, at age six months and one day, Occupy Denver rallied downtown to protest police brutality. More than 100 people gathered with signs and chants for one in a handful of protests dedicated to the topic in the past week. Although relationships between Occupy Denver and the Denver Police Dep ... More >>

Reader: CU Boulder thinks CU Denver is no more a Buffs school than Metro State

Kelsey Whipple's post featuring her favorites among CU Denver's new mascot nominees has generated comments aplenty, including one from a reader who feels the school should stick with the Buffs. But another poster argues that's not an option.

Photos: Girl Scouts of Colorado launches statewide self-defense program

"That happened at my stepmom's school, Columbine," says one Girl Scout, about eleven years old, at the front of the group. "They shot lots of people." Behind her, another Girl Scout asks where Columbine is. Another just asks, "Why?" Too young to have read about the event in the papers themselves, al ... More >>

Readers: Is violence the right approach for Occupy Denver?

Kelsey Whipple's continuing coverage of Occupy Denver regularly generates fascinating exchanges. Here's an example: a pair of comments debating violent protests, affixed to a post about the latest efforts of the kitchen known as the Thunderdome.

Occupy Denver: Thunderdome expands to radio, goes mobile

​At the Thunderdome's last public appearance, a protest against the Colorado Democrats banquet at the Sheraton on Sunday, no one was arrested. Instead, the former Occupy Denver kitchen and erstwhile symbol of its activism served finger food. The point was clear -- feeding the homeless directly ... More >>

Photos: Occupy Denver shuts down traffic during first mass event of 2012

Occupy Denver was among groups in 27 cities to rally in support of Occupy Oakland, which experienced a recent round of 300 arrests. About 125 protesters gathered for an impromptu march that shut down large sections of traffic near Broadway and Colfax between 7:30 and 10 p.m. and attracted the attent ... More >>

The best national music releases of 2011

Readers: Pre-Occupied with Kelsey Whipple's coverage

Westword staffer Kelsey Whipple had been on the job just a few days when she started covering Occupy Denver -- and the beat has had its hazards, including getting shot in the ass, as she revealed in this three-month Occupy Denver retrospective.

Occupy Denver: Police return to enforce anti-encumbrances ordinance on a nightly basis

In the week since Occupy Denver was evicted on December 21, the Denver Police Department has kept Chief Robert White's promise to remove any and all structures on a daily basis. Last night, this feat involved nine officers, eight police cars, two Public Works trucks and one arrest when police visite ... More >>

Occupy Denver: The injuries and memories behind three months covering the movement

On December 23, Occupy Denver quietly celebrated three months of loud, tense and occasionally fiery statements downtown. In that time span, the local chapter of the national movement has kept busy -- and kept Westword busy -- with stories that change not just daily, but hourly. If you've been follow ... More >>

Updated: Occupy Denver's latest eviction ends in flames, arrests and Tebowing

​Update, 12:50 p.m. December 21: The criminal charges of the nine protesters arrested during Monday night's raid include arson, obstructing a street and throwing missiles. Among them, one name stands out: Nicole Sisneros, a homeless protester who was discussed on last night's episode of Countd ... More >>

Readers slam Westword cover subject Corey Donahue

Occupy Denver greeted by Police Chief Robert White while awaiting eviction

Robert White.Update, 4 p.m.: Public Works announced it is "re-evaluating" its plan to evict Occupy Denver. For the moment, Denver Public Works is backing away from its plan to remove structures from Occupy Denver's encampment at Civic Center Park. After receiving a warning notice to remove the fort ... More >>

Occupy Denver marks its two-month anniversary today: the photo story

Today marks the two-month anniversary of Occupy Denver, a movement cemented in three firm evictions, four large-scale altercations, eight Saturday marches, and more than eighty arrests, many of them repeat charges. Six days after the anniversary of Occupy Wall Street, the branch that started it all, ... More >>

Reader: If honking to support Occupy Denver protesters is outlawed, only outlaws will honk

​Yesterday, Kelsey Whipple shared the bizarre story of a man ticketed by a Denver Police officer for honking two or three times in support of Occupy Denver protesters. If an edict against celebratory horn-tapping is strictly enforced, one reader envisions at least one rich source of potential ... More >>

Occupy Denver marks two-month anniversary of Occupy Wall Street with peaceful first march

​Today's initial celebration of Occupy Wall Street's two-month anniversary ended with the largest display of honks from passing cars the local movement has heard in a while (at least without a ticket). The day has been designated a national cause for action for occupations across the world, an ... More >>

Occupy Denver: Large police presence moves in on three tents with pepper spray and arrests

​Update, 8:44 p.m. November 12: According to Occupy Denver's website, sixteen arrests have been confirmed so far. The group remains mobilized downtown. While both Civic Center Park and Lincoln Park have been closed, protesters will be allowed to camp outside again in the future, but will not b ... More >>

Occupy Denver profile: Meet Fort Love, the occupation's first neighborhood in Lincoln Park

​Yesterday morning, 22 people woke up sweating against each other in the same Occupy Denver fort. The situation was better than that one time they forgot to build in ventilation and woke up without air, but it reinforced the need for a second entrance. In the week that Occupy Denver's first se ... More >>

Reader: Age doesn't necessarily equal wisdom at Occupy Denver or anywhere else

​One of the best things about blog comments is the way random wisdom or funny observations can pop up at any moment. Consider the following, from Kelsey Whipple's post about the clashes between police and Occupy Denver protesters this past weekend.

Occupy Denver: Biggest riot squad presence to date, pepper bullets, multiple arrests (PHOTOS)

​Update, 11:01 p.m. October 29: Twenty people were arrested during what has been Occupy Denver's most violent day in weeks. All evidence of the Thunderdome and the front desk has been removed, and officers offered protesters the chance to claim their belongings one at a time as the area was cl ... More >>

Occupy Denver and the Colorado Progressive Coalition take on Wells Fargo, Tom Donohue

​Occupy Denver and the Colorado Progressive Coalition combined forces for a civil disobedience tour de force today, with events taking on both Tom Donohue, the president and CEO of the US Chamber of Commerce, and Wells Fargo. The only problem: The police got there first. Both times.

Occupy Denver clashes with police (again) over tents raised for cold weather (PHOTOS)

​As the weather hit thirty degrees and the season's first snow closed in on Occupy Denver last night, members turned once more to tents as a refuge from the elements. Because this was the reason the state patrol raided the camp two weeks ago, the four new tents lasted only an hour. Nights like ... More >>

Occupy Denver: Five people hospitalized for exposure to the cold

​Update, 3:11 p.m. October 26: Occupy Denver's most recent report, via its Twitter account, is that a total of five people have been hospitalized within the past day. The group is urging people to contact Mayor Michael Hancock's office to advocate on behalf of protesters using tents to stay wa ... More >>

Occupy Denver clashes with police over the creation of a cardboard structure (PHOTOS)

​Occupy Denver clashed with the Denver Police Department again last night over a recently built cardboard shelter in Civic Center Park. Later dubbed "the Thundercube" because of the symbol the Thunderdome has become regarding the group's rights, the small, ceiling-free fort was built from abou ... More >>

Occupy Denver's all-day concert closes out a week of peace

​Update, 11:20 p.m. October 22: The close of tonight's Occupy Denver concert was a completely different scene from only one week ago. Although it ended with police presence, the number of cops left is the same 10 to 15 who stayed from last night until about 5 a.m. to monitor those who have gro ... More >>

Reader: Cops took all the parking near library so they could earn overtime re: Occupy Denver

​The opinions keep coming for our Occupy Denver coverage. Here's an interesting view about the costs involved in law-enforcement's approach to protesters, and how savings might be realized, from comments on Kelsey Whipple's post about weekend arrests.

The police moves in on Occupy Denver's largest gathering yet -- with pepper spray (PHOTOS)

Big pics below.​Update, 10:11 p.m. Saturday: Mayor Michael Hancock's office has announced that an additional 24 people were arrested in tonight's protest. Their arraignment is scheduled for 8 a.m. tomorrow at the Van Cise-Simonet Detention Center. In the meantime, police are present at Civic ... More >>

Occupy Denver: See photos of our first two profile subjects in police custody

Big pics below.​Patricia Hughes had better be careful. Hughes is the subject of reporter Kelsey Whipple's third Occupy Denver profile of the week. But this morning, our own Brandon Marshall happened to snap photos of Whipple's first two subjects, Corey Donahue and Pat Marsden, in police custo ... More >>

No Halloween costume ideas? Denver Center Theater Company has you covered -- until 5 p.m.

Kelsey WhippleA (pretty rad) costume from Tantalus.​The most unpopular costume left at the Denver Center Theatre Company's pre-Halloween sale is a coat from a production of Black Elk Speaks. Around twenty of them line the first of about eight long racks remaining at the Newman Center tor Theat ... More >>

Reader: "Glad I was not the only disappointed fan"

Misfits missed a step​When Misfits played at the Summit Music Hall over the weekend, there was no shortage of face paint, spikes and skeletons wrapped around mikes. Dependably, the fanfare was there, even if the band only has one original member and seems to have lost a step. H.P. McGregor, wh ... More >>

Occupy Denver prepares for the cold with donated supplies

The Occupy Wall Street movement is, in many ways, a numbers game. The same is true of its Denver affiliate, where the numbers might be smaller but the fervor for the cause -- the causes, really -- maintains a strength in direct proportion to its national parent. During a three-hour span this afterno ... More >>

Welcome to the future: Coca-Cola's 100-flavor soda machine incites confusion, awe

Kelsey WhippleMeet Coca-Cola's freestyle soda fountain: 100 flavors to choose from before you still opt for Dr Pepper.​The Qdoba at Sixth and Grant has housed Coca-Cola's 100-flavor freestyle soda fountain for three weeks now, but the Terminator of the carbonated world is still creating lines ... More >>