Kelsey Whipple

Backbeat's top five spins: This is what we're listening to this week. What's on your playlist?

As people who think about, talk about, write about, listen to and make music, it's not surprising that the most common (and favorite) topic of conversation among us is the same: "What are you listening to right now?" Stick a quarter in us, and, boy, wouldn't you know it, off we go, on and on about t ... More >>

Backbeat's top five spins: This is what we're listening to this week. What's on your playlist?

As people who think about, talk about, write about, listen to and make music, it shouldn't be surprising to find that the most common (and mutually favorite) topic of conversation among us is the same: "What are you listening to right now?" Stick a quarter in us, and, boy, wouldn't you know it, off ... More >>

Our top five spins this week, September 24-30

In this very special edition of Heavy Rotation, you not only get a through-the-keyhole view of our musical proclivities, but you also get a few words from us on our top pick of the week. Keep reading to find out what Mark Sanders considers musical comfort food, why Kelsey Whipple can't think of Spac ... More >>

The five most listened-to songs and albums of the week, August 20 through August 27

Well, lookie here. What you do know? It's the return of Heavy Rotation. Longtime readers of Backbeat will remember this feature as one in which we shared our weekly listening habits in hopes of giving you some insight into our individual sensibilities. It's been dormant for a while, but starting tod ... More >>

Video: Florence The Machine's beautiful moment of silence for Aurora theater victims

Last night's Florence The Machine show at Red Rocks is one attendees will always remember -- because of the music, of course, but also due to the expanded stretch when it stopped. According to our Kelsey Whipple, who reviewed the show, the encore began with lead singer Florence Welch asking the cr ... More >>

Reader: It's a welcome change to see investigative journalism alive and well

Update: Undocumented immigrant activists call off hunger strike, sit-in

After a six-day sit in and hunger strike, young undocumented immigrants Javier Hernandez and Veronica Gomez left their brief home at the Obama For America headquarters at 5:20 p.m. today. As the National Immigrant Youth Alliance pushes plans to spread their call for an executive order from Obama to ... More >>

Reader: Tuition and student loan relief for Americans should come before DREAM Act

Kelsey Whipple's coverage of a hunger strike and occupation of the Obama campaign's Denver headquarters has stirred up debate aplenty about the DREAM Act, which the protesters want instituted via executive order. Here's a comment from a reader who feels immigrants should have to wait in line behind ... More >>

Denver cops start enforcing urban camping ban: No arrests or citations yet

After almost a week of delay, the Denver Police Department began enforcing the city's new urban camping ordinance yesterday afternoon. Although the ban legally took effect May 29, officers extended the wait in order to provide more educational opportunities about the ordinance and its legal implicat ... More >>

Urban camping ban: Denver Police outline enforcement protocol

The Denver Police Department has released the training bulletin that details how officers should approach violations of the city's new urban camping ban. Before the ordinance goes into effect May 29, officers are partnering with homeless outreach workers to prepare a department-wide response that de ... More >>

Reader: Albus Brooks is wrong about Kenya

Photos: Denver City Council preliminarily passes urban camping ban

Before last night's epic Denver City Council meeting started, and well before its members voted nine to four to preliminarily approve the proposed urban camping ordinance, the line for public attendance stretched far outside the City and County Building. Many of these people left during the followin ... More >>

Steve Meyer, ex-mailman turned sign-flier, kicks off our new Street People series

If the mountains to the West are the first thing that Denver's visitors notice, the second are all the people standing on corners holding signs? While panhandlers, as they're commonly known, are sheltered by the First Amendment, Denver' sign-fliers are also prohibited from using profanity or being a ... More >>

Reader: Urban camping ban an emergency because of feared Occupy Denver build-up

Kelsey Whipple's coverage of a proposed urban camping ban includes a post in which city councilman/chief backer Albus Brooks argued that the issue constitutes an emergency. One reader has a theory about why that might be the case in Brooks's view.

Reader: Breaking Away deserves to be on the best bike scene list

We're on a roll! In honor of the upcoming Bicycle Film Festival, yesterday Jef Otte and Kelsey Whipple got the wheels turning with their list of the twenty best bicycle scenes in cinema, ever. "Bike porn, sweet," says bpsycle. But there was one sour note.

Reader: Urban camping ban an example of Denver as nanny

Kelsey Whipple has been covering the controversy over city councilman Albus Brooks's proposal for an urban camping ban -- and the debate can be fiery at times. Here's a comment for someone who doesn't agree with Brooks that dealing with the situation constitutes an emergency.

Photos: Homeless initiative celebrates 1,000th family moving into permanent housing

When Tia Jones got the call yesterday, she was elated. The Family and Senior Homeless Initiative reached its goal three and a half years early when it helped its 1,000th family transition into permanent housing on February 8. One month and sixteen more families later, it's time to celebrate. As a fo ... More >>

Mile High Connect finds access and equity gaps in city's public transit

Since its 2010 launch, Mile High Connects has taken a long, hard, scientific look at Denver's transit system. Formed as a collaboration between nonprofit leaders and philanthropies, the group analyzed the equity and access of area transportation. The findings, which focus heavily on the distance bet ... More >>

Urban camping ban heats up packed city council committee meeting

"Everyone take a deep breath." So began today's first public meeting about the proposed urban camping ban, organized by City Council's Land Use, Transportation & Infrastructure Committee in front of a group so large it breached fire code. While organizers stressed its purpose as an informational mee ... More >>

Reader: Occupy Denver and the Tea Party have been misrepresented by the evil media

Kelsey Whipple's post about the recent Occupy Denver rally against police violence prompted not one but two posts from a reader who thinks the media is part of a conspiracy to misrepresent not only the Occupy movement, but the Tea Party as well. Here's his argument that these seemingly strange bedfe ... More >>

Occupy Denver: Police evict protesters from Civic Center Park, fence it off

Update below: For the first time in months, Civic Center Park is empty. Around 5 a.m., police officers visited the park to close it down, requesting that all protesters who had slept there overnight gather their belongings and vacate the area immediately as they watched. In the hours following, city ... More >>

Reader: Fox31's Eli Stokols should have stayed classy by not F-bombing Occupy Denverites

Kelsey Whipple's post about the profane exchange between Fox31's Eli Stokols and Occupy Denver protesters was a big conversation starter, with plenty of folks exhibiting vastly different takes on the same topic. Example: a reader who thinks Stokols should have kept himself in check despite provocati ... More >>

P&L Printing expands with a new infoshop devoted to revolutionary and oppressed voices

An outlet for radical and revolutionary expression for over thirty years, P&L Press will open its first public infoshop this week. Located in the Jefferson Park neighborhood near the space occupied by the Denver Anarchist Black Cross and P&L itself, the store will provide resources on anarchism, pri ... More >>

Occupy Denver update: 100-plus arrests, more charges added, one case misplaced

In the almost five months that Occupy Denver has maintained a presence downtown, the group has experienced more than 100 arrests. Add to this mix upwards of seventy lawyers, hundreds of court dates and an attempt at a federal injunction, and the results become tough to track. Yesterday, Westword cau ... More >>

Reader: I find matchmaker Rachel Greenwald's business appalling

Reader: Young people aren't interested in being patronized

Photos: Set designer Glenn Grassi thinks big about tiny (and livable) homes

Kelsey WhippleGlenn Grassi goes American Gothic in front of his miniature creation.​The fully functioning home in which Glenn Grassi is standing in isn't much larger than his bedroom was that time he joined the circus. It is significantly smaller than the sets he made and won national awards f ... More >>

Reader: Occupy Denver needs to come up with a real action plan...or hibernate until spring

​Has Occupy Denver finally worn out its welcome? If twelve inches of snow aren't enough to discourage the last of the protesters in Civic Center Park, the backlash over the trash in the park, the fires in the park and heckling the mayor at a vigil for the homeless who died this past year might ... More >>

Occupy Denver: Civic Center Conservancy says park can't sustain habitation (photos)

Friday marked a stark contrast between the polite Civic Center Park of yesterday and its new protest version 2.0. In the center of the park, the Civic Center Conservancy held a belated birthday party for the park's greatest supporter, former Denver Mayor Robert Speer. And in the front of the park, p ... More >>

Occupy Denver timeline: Two-and-a-half months that have shaken the city

​Monday's hearing in regard to Occupy Denver's request for a temporary restraining order against the city and county is one indication of how far the movement has come in its short life span. In the little more than two months the movement has called Broadway its ideological home, the group ha ... More >>

Readers sound off on scientology, atheism and Occupy Denver

Occupy Denver: Hickenlooper, Hancock called hypocrites at benefit to feed homeless

Thanksgiving began a day early -- and a bit shaky -- for Occupy Denver this morning when the group's kitchen collective, the Thunderdome, took to the Denver Rescue Mission to confront Mayor Michael Hancock and Governor John Hickenlooper. The politicians acted as symbolic hosts of a holiday benefit t ... More >>

Occupy Denver votes on statement to protect female and LGBTQ presence within its ranks

In light of the recent creation of Liberate Denver, an occupation offshoot focused on safer spaces and better internal relationships, Occupy Denver proper has had a few decisions to make. Last night, this meant a vote to officially recognize the roles of the female and LGBTQ members inside the movem ... More >>

2011 Denver #WebAwards winners announced!

Photos: 2011 Denver #WebAwards party

Occupy Denver's finance committee works toward nonprofit status

​In the wake of the largest upheaval in the occupation since its eviction from Lincoln Park, Occupy Denver's focus is firmly on taking the steps necessary to guarantee a safer and more permanent future. One option the group recently voted to support is taking steps toward financial security b ... More >>

Occupy Denver: Three new charges last night include triple arrestee Corey Donahue

​In the wake of twenty new Occupy Denver arrests made Saturday, three more were added to that list when Civic Center Park grew tense again last night. During an attempt to remove a newly established table from the curb, about thirty officers visited the park and dispensed pepper spray on the c ... More >>

Occupy Denver: Does police warning to remove sidewalk encumbrances hint at crackdown?

​Last night, Occupy Denver sleepers were greeted around midnight by police officers who asked them to clear the sidewalks. Although a few people did so, the group as a whole remained in the same space, and it's unclear whether the warning comes with future action. It should be noted, however, ... More >>

Occupy Denver has a new mailbox -- but city, postal service aren't sure if it's legal

​One of the main tricks of any newly developing occupation movement lies in making it as permanent as possible. This tactic includes, but is not limited to, occupying the same park for more than a month, establishing regular assemblies and rallies and making it through the winter. Although man ... More >>

Reader: Occupy Denver behind other Occupy Wall Street sites, dog leader or no dog leader

​Kelsey Whipple's post about Occupy Denver electing a Border Collie mix named Shelby as its leader became a magnet for conversation that went well beyond the effectiveness of this idea. Here, one veteran occupier likens Denver's site to others -- and finds it wanting.

Occupy Denver elects a new leader: Shelby, a Border Collie mix

Shelby.​At three and a half years old, Shelby is too young to vote but not to be voted for. Last night, she almost ruined her greatest accomplishment to date when, during announcements at Occupy Denver's 7 p.m. general assembly, she ran into the center of the circle for attention. It would be ... More >>

Occupy Denver: 21 police cars respond after Halloween try to occupy City Council meeting

​On Halloween night, an evening notorious for tricks, treats and the increased police presence that mix requires, Occupy Denver was met by 21 police cars over an hour an a half. After a failed attempt by protesters to meet with city council, ten police cars monitored six occupiers outside the ... More >>

Reader: An open letter to Occupy Denver

​Kelsey Whipple's Friday post about Occupy Denver's suspension of its first member -- a woman named Molly -- inspired one reader to write an open letter to the organization as a whole. It's tough stuff. Check it out below.

Occupy Denver's Michael Hancock meeting: Mayor refuses to bend on park occupation

​Update, 5:18 p.m. October 18: When asked to describe Occupy Denver's meeting with Hancock this afternoon, protester Al (full name withheld) went with, "It was neutral." The less-than-exciting introduction matches the results, which take neither side any further toward agreement than before th ... More >>

Occupy Denver: 24 protesters charged, five must post bond

Pat Marsden.​Update, 5 p.m. October 15: The names of the final two Occupy Denver protesters charged after Friday night's protest have come out. Aaron Petrovich was charged with assault, while Scott Green, the final arrest, was charged with unlawful conduct on state property and made it out of ... More >>

Occupy Denver profile: The morning after, Patricia Hughes is a medic and a survivor

Full pic below.​As of 5 a.m. today, it's officially the morning after. The time between 11 p.m. and right about now has left many of the Occupy Denver protesters, particularly those who aren't accounted for, just a little worse for the wear. Patricia Hughes is nursing her wrist, but the Ace b ... More >>

Reader: Businesses against Paid Sick Leave might have fought minimum wage law, too

​The rhetoric over the Denver Paid Sick Leave Initiative is already at boiling temperature. Kelsey Whipple's recent post about a rally opposing the measure drew this response from an impassioned supporter.

Five reasons the circus is way creepier when you're an adult

​The things I remember about going to the circus as a child are limited, but they are awesome. I distinctly recall riding an elephant -- though my parents do not -- and only recently have I accepted the vegetarian guilt that comes with that potentially false memory. This was before I saw It an ... More >>

Larron Jackson, former Bronco, writes about incarceration, the NFL and the church

Even now, 62 years old in the church that is his second home, Reverend Larron Jackson can split his life easily into three separate metaphors. Those words, in turn, found their way into the title of his recent autobiography, The Ghetto, the Gridiron and the Gospel, a painfully honest if not quite te ... More >>

PETA set to protest the circus every day it's in Denver (PHOTOS)

A small but sturdy herd of PETA activists is stomping its feet against the circus' stay in Denver. The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals supporters took their grievances against Ringing Bros. & Barnum & Bailey's treatment of its elephants to the front of the coliseum this afternoon in hop ... More >>

Paid sick days initiative detractors & supporters share why they're on opposite side of issue

Myra Crenshaw.​As seen in Contagion, the movie whose trailer features Gwyneth Paltrow dying, mass sickness -- and the mass hysteria that can come with it -- are relegated mostly to the fictional world. The two made an appearance today, however, at two separate meetings to discuss the 2011 Denv ... More >>