Professional Services Sector

Crowley inmates settle riot lawsuit for $600,000

On the eve of a 25-week trial that promised to focus on claims of poor training and worse management, the nation's largest private prison company has reached a settlement with nearly 200 former inmates over a 2004 riot at the Crowley County Correctional Facility in southeastern Colorado. The uprisin ... More >>

Terrell Griswold: State reprimands prison doctor David Oba over inmate's death

Most physicians go through their entire careers without ever running afoul of state regulators. But two years after a 26-year-old inmate with chronic kidney problems died while under his care, prison doctor David M. Oba has received a sharply worded letter of admonition from the Colorado Department ... More >>

Thomas Wierdsma, GEO prison exec, on losing end of civil suit by abused daughter in law

Back in February, our Alan Prendergast reported about allegations of intimidation and harassment against Thomas Wierdsma, a senior vice president for The GEO Group, which operates more than one-hundred prisons around the world. including the ICE detention center in Aurora. The accuser: Wierdsma's d ... More >>

Private prisons' blueprint for success: more lobbying, less security

The use of private prisons by states and the federal government continues to increase, yielding billions in annual revenues for two dominant companies in the industry -- despite a lack of solid research that America's experiment with for-profit incarceration actually saves taxpayers money in the lon ... More >>

Terrell Griswold: Mother questions inmate's "natural" death in private prison

On October 28, 2010, a 26-year-old inmate named Terrell Griswold was found slumped over and unresponsive in his cell in the Bent County Correctional Facility, a private prison in southeastern Colorado. The official cause of death is listed as cardiac hypertrophy, or an enlarged heart. But Lagalia Af ... More >>

Barry Fey and Harry Tuft to inducted in Colorado Music Hall of Fame this February

​The next set of inductees into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame have been announced. This February, legendary concert promoter, Barry Fey, and Denver Folklore Center founder, Harry Tuft, two Colorado music icons, will take their rightful place in the hall alongside John Denver and Red Rocks Am ... More >>

Wells Fargo to be targeted by Denver protesters in week of actions "to restructure Wall Street"

​Update, below: Wells Fargo will be the target of several actions this week by the Colorado Progressive Coalition, including plans to "move in" to a branch on Thursday with lamps, pillows and coffee pots to protest the bank's high number of foreclosures. Dubbed the Mile High Showdown, the acti ... More >>

Live Nation and Universal Music form super-company

​Live Nation Entertainment, which now houses Ticketmaster, House of Blues and Ticketweb has announced a partnership with the Universal Music Group to create a joint-venture management company for managing and strengthening the label's acts. This is the first time a major label has teamed up di ... More >>

Immigrant activist groups protest Wells Fargo and its investment in private prisons (PHOTOS)

Jeanette Vizguerra.​Many people Wells Fargo claims to serve gathered to protest its investment in private prison companies such as GEO, Inc., which owns an Aurora detention center. Protesters marched on an East Colfax branch as part of a national day of action to educate people about the hypoc ... More >>

Kurt Riggin: Complaints in Park County medical marijuana case dismissed after long legal fight

Kurt Riggin.​"It's finally over," says Kurt Riggin about his twisted legal odyssey. He'd originally been accused of attempting to influence a public servant and criminal impersonation in Park County stemming from advocacy on behalf of a medical marijuana patient who claimed law enforcement was ... More >>

Private prisons thrive on greed and bad policy, new report says

​Back in the lock-em-up frenzy of the 1990s, overcrowded state prison systems relied heavily on the emerging private prison industry to handle their excess inmates. Now that state prison populations are falling, you might expect the private sector to be taking a few hits, too -- but guess agai ... More >>

Harley Lappin: Private prison industry woos another top public official

​There are two revolving doors in every prison system. One is for the inmates, many of whom fail on parole and keep coming back. The other is reserved for top administrators who, even amid scandal, move easily from high-powered positions of public trust to high-paid jobs in the private prison ... More >>

Breaking News: Peter Ore joins the Soda Jerk Presents team

Marquee Magazine​Just received some pretty major news on the concert promotions front: Peter Ore (pictured right), former Vice President of Booking for Live Nation, has joined the Soda Jerk Presents family. "Working with Peter is going to be a huge step as we continue to grow the company," sa ... More >>

Bug Bedlam! Denver's bedbug infestation one of the worst in the U.S.

Scott Gessler: Sec. of State dumps moonlighting scheme, will try to get by on $68,000 per year

Scott Gessler.​Secretary of State Scott Gessler's plan to moonlight for his old law firm because he couldn't get by on just $68,000 per year created an apparent conflict of interest of off-the-charts proportions and a golden opportunity for satire: See Kenny Be's hilarious Gessler cartoon and ... More >>

Bed bugs: How bad is the infestation in Denver?

"I heart Denver!"​ Are bed bugs a big problem in Denver? Missy Henriksen, spokeswoman for the National Pest Management Association, which is currently hosting its inaugural National Bed Bug Forum in nearby Broomfield, assures us that the decision to host the confab in Colorado had nothing to d ... More >>

Chipotle menu changes: What's taken - and what hasn't - a year into the chain's "Low Roller" menu revamp

​When hometown hero Chipotle unveiled a new "Low Roller" menu last spring in Denver, featuring novel options like single tacos, small salads, pozole and kids items, some people heralded it as a disaster of biblical proportions - fire and brimstone coming down from the skies, human sacrifice, d ... More >>

Colorado Cannabis Convention fight will land in court

Inside the convention hall in April.​The original promoter of the Colorado Cannabis Convention, Raymond Springsteel, believes he could put on a concert on the moon. Several people he used to work with think that's where he's already living. While the busy booths, scantily clad dispensary gir ... More >>

Sprint breaking Colorado labor law?: Workers fired for catching shoplifter still haven't been paid

Mike McGee has been told he must wait another month for his check.​In our Tuesday story about Mike McGee and Paul Shoemaker, two Sprint employees who were fired for catching a shoplifter, Shoemaker said he didn't plan to file a lawsuit against the company over the dismissal, even though he saw ... More >>

Sweet Victory

Stephanie Villafuerte supporters stand tough

Not everyone is out to get Stephanie Villafuerte.​Stephanie Villafuerte's nomination as U.S. Attorney for Colorado hasn't gone smoothly. Opponents continue to suggest that she may have taken part in accessing a federal database for political reasons -- the very thing for which former ICE agent ... More >>

Chipotle needs a new ad man? How about Adam Cayton-Holland?

Celebrate local furniture and lighting designers

Modern in Denver Takes a Chance on Print

LANS Corp. Faces the Music

Trading Spaces

Mel’s is out, and Iron Mountain is in.

Coors, of Course

Oh, Henry!

Memory Lane

A farewell to architect Eugene Sternberg and landscape architect Jane Silverstein Ries.

Best Architectural Event

Museum of Contemporary Art/Denver building selection process

Best Singer-Songwriter -- Female

Judith Avers

Mind Over Matter

The University of Denver salutes architect emeritus Cab Childress.

The Law Firm of Smith & Wesson

Other employees at her office were packing. So why did she get canned?

Best Garden Tour

American Society of Landscape Architects Tour

Man Overboard!

The City of Denver wants Ocean Journey to reel in its spending.

Park Place

An ambitious plan to expand Denver's parks may take root if the political climate is fertile.

Best Help for Women in Tough Times

Sista's in the Spirit
Charlene Ferguson

Best Cave Tours -- Family

Glenwood Caverns & Historic Fairy Caves
Glenwood Springs

Courting Chaos

When the workers' compensation appeals system bogged down, judges felt the pain, too.

Best Alternative Nickname for 'Convergence Corridor'

Pink-Slip Prairie

Best local TV commercial

Colorado Lottery

Judging the Judge

After a year on the Jefferson County bench, Brooke Jackson knows it can be a real hot seat.

Off Limits

Advice and Dissent

Does the city have to keep hiring the same big-bucks, well-connected lawyer as a consultant?

ADVICE AND DISSENT

BROWNSTEIN HYATT GETS STIFFED ON A LEGAL BILL.

A FIRM NO

A BLOODY BATTLE IS HINTED AT IN A LAW FIRM'S COUNTERSUIT AGAINST AN EX-RTC BIGWIG.

OPEN AND SHUT-UP CASE

THE CLIENT

GENTLEMEN PREFER BONDS

FOR THE FIRMS THAT CRANK OUT DIA'S FINANCIAL PAPERWORK, THE PROFITS ARE SKY-HIGH -- AND THE WORK IS ALL LEGAL.

TRICKLE-DOWN ECONOMICS