World Politics

Civil unions bill on way to governor's desk, One Colorado plans celebration event

It's been a long time coming. After a bill to legalize civil unions in Colorado fell short in both 2011 and last year, the measure finally passed the Colorado House today. Next, the legislation heads to the desk of Governor John Hickenlooper, who's promised to sign it. This breakthrough delights B ... More >>

Marijuana State of the State event to take place as John Hickenlooper makes speech of his own

Miguel Lopez.​Today, as Governor John Hickenlooper delivers his State of the State address at the Capitol, cannabis activists will gather at nearby Lincoln Park for what they're calling the Marijuana State of the State Rally. The event will take place from 10:30 a.m. to (naturally) 4:20 p.m. ... More >>

Attorney General John Suthers decries Senate's inability to pass THC driving limit bill

John Suthers.​When House Bill 1261, which would have set THC driving limits, was killed on Monday, many people -- including most of the bill's supporters, and just about all of its opponents -- were surprised. John Suthers, Colorado Attorney General and medical marijuana dispensary foe was out ... More >>

Why do Mexicans cut down agave plants?

Sole looking for some Tea Partiers to help film a video this Saturday somewhere downtown

​Sole, aka Tim Holland, is looking for a little help from fans to fill the streets with Tea Party extras this weekend for his newest video, "White Rage." The filming will be going down Saturday at a currently undisclosed location downtown around 2 p.m. Click through for full details if you're ... More >>

John Hickenlooper off to a fast start with three executive orders

HIckenlooper.​The inauguration ceremony was cold, but Governor John Hickenlooper is off to a blazing start. Hickenlooper issued three executive orders in the first few minutes of officially holding office, taking aim at economic development and improving the efficiency of state government.

John Hickenlooper making appointments fast -- but only half as many as when he was mayor

Hickenlooper.​John Hickenlooper is moving fast to build his administration. Since December 31, he's announced more than a dozen appointments, including three yesterday alone: Barbara Kelley will remain as director of the Department of Regulatory Agencies, Larry Trujillo will continue as head o ... More >>

Facebook and John Suthers, Colorado attorney general, make nice, clearing way for state pages

John Suthers.​Colorado Attorney General John Suthers is embracing Facebook nearly a year after the state essentially unfriended the massive social network. The agreement between the AG's office and Mark Zuckerberg's operation means state agencies, including Suthers's, can belatedly join the 21 ... More >>

John Hickenlooper will walk from city to state office a week from today

John Hickenlooper, governor-elect​A week from today, at 8:30 a.m., John Hickenlooper will resign his job as the mayor of Denver, then leave his office at the City and County Building (where he had a stripe painted around the top of the room at a point exactly a mile high) and walk across Civic ... More >>

Ask Tom Tancredo: Why does the Mexican government encourage a mass exodus to the U.S.?

Scott McInnis, 2010 Shmuck of the Year nominee

​Westword is asking readers to help us select a Shmuck of the Year by rolling out a new candidate each week throughout the month of December. The winner -- loser -- will be announced on January 3. Our first candidate was the newly fired Josh McDaniels. This week, say hello to Scott McInnis ... More >>

Fantasy Voter Fraud

Ask the bartender: How did the cocktail culture survive Prohibition?

​Sean Kenyon knows how to pour out both drinks and advice. A third-generation bar man with almost 25 years behind the bar, he is a student of cocktail history, a United States Bartenders Guild-certified Spirits Professional and a BAR Ready graduate of the prestigious Beverage Alcohol Resource ... More >>

Dan Maes tops 10 percent, which means he's not the Biggest Loser in CO elections... but close

Dan Maes.​Tom Tancredo was about to concede the gubernatorial race, but many more Colorado contests were up in the air when I walked into the ballroom of the downtown Marriott, site of the Colorado Democratic Party's election party. And what was on the TVs? Not CNN, not local newscasts shunted ... More >>

Tom Tancredo only real Republican running for governor, spokesman says: Sorry, Dan Maes

Tom Tancredo.​This weekend, the Denver Post shared polling data showing Democrat John Hickenlooper held a "comfy" 10 point lead over main challenger Tom Tancredo in the governor's race. But Tancredo operations manager Cliff Dodge rejects that, dismissing the Post's survey as "totally inaccura ... More >>

Ken Buck's last name rhymes with "Shmuck," and that's no hoax (like global warming)

Ken Buck.​Ken Buck: Too extreme for Colorado? How about, Ken Buck: Too embarrassing for Colorado. We seem to have our own Joe Biden in the house, a guy who can't stop putting his foot in his mouth. In some ways it's refreshing to see a politician who's not slick enough to lie and obfuscate e ... More >>

Dan Maes spokesman not worried about falling below 10% support, thinks TV ad may turn tide

Dan Maes.​Last week, Colorado Republican Party boss Dick Wadhams said he wasn't worried about Dan Maes falling beneath 10 percent support. But plenty of other folks seem to be, judging by today's Denver Post, which outlines the prospect of the GOP winding up with minority party status if Maes ... More >>

John Elway and Pete Coors top Jason Clark's quest for a new Craigslist running mate

Jason Clark.​Polish your resume and bone-up on the issues; independent candidate for Governor Jason Clark went back to Craigslist today to replace his departed lieutenant governor. Clark set his sights a littler higher this time. Here's the ad, written in the third person with exclamation po ... More >>

Myrl Serra, DA for 7th Judicial District, busted for unlawful sexual conduct, indecent exposure

Myrl Serra.​Colorado Attorney General's office spokesman Mike Saccone confirms that Myrl Serra, district attorney for the 7th Judicial District, which covers several Western Slope counties, is in Montrose County jail following his arrest this morning on three startling charges: unlawful sexual ... More >>

Monica Marquez Supreme Court selection disappoints Clear the Bench's Matt Arnold

Monica Marquez.​Clear the Bench Colorado's Matt Arnold -- the man behind an effort to vote out three current Supreme Court justices for allegedly unconstitutional rulings -- was far less than thrilled by Governor Bill Ritter's appointment of Monica Marquez to the court. Indeed, he says that i ... More >>

I'm a Mexican working for the Border Patrol. Am I a hypocrite?

Letters: Monica Alonzo's coyotes story should be required reading on the immigration issue

Medical marijuana: Does using $9 million in fees for budget shortfall screw MMJ patients?

​Although Governor Bill Ritter signed medical marijuana bills earlier this year, he's never been a big fan of the stuff. Still, he hopes to use $9 million in MMJ fees to help fill a $60 million budget hole -- a decision that angers advocates upset by the tremendous backlog of unprocessed licen ... More >>

Tom Tancredo has a new running mate -- Pat Miller, not Michelle Malkin

From the cover of Pat Miller's latest book.​Just in the nick of time, Colorado gubernatorial candidate Tom Tancredo has a new running mate on the American Constitution Party ticket. And no, it's not Michelle Malkin. Former state representative and author Pat Miller will be Tancredo's lieutenan ... More >>

Dan Maes to announce lieutenant governor pick at noon today

Dan Maes.​This just in: Dan Maes will announce his choice for lieutenant governor during an event at noon today. Will his pick be the sort of person Northern Colorado Tea Party director Lesley Hollywood outlined earlier this morning? Or a person with more standard establishment credentials? We ... More >>

Dan Maes meeting with Denver Post over complaints about unfair governor-race coverage

Dan Maes.​Another day, another Denver Post story that treats Republican gubernatorial nominee Dan Maes like an empty-walleted joke. It's no surprise, then, that Maes, who earlier threatened to limit the Post's access if the paper didn't start treating him fairly, has scheduled a meeting with ... More >>

9.12 Project Colorado chair on Tom Tancredo's ultimatum, Ken Buck's "dumbasses" comment

Ken Buck.​The major GOP races in Colorado don't want for drama this year -- or comedy, depending on your perspective. Tom Tancredo's high noon ultimatum to Scott McInnis and Dan Maes was followed by Ken Buck's "Weld County bullshit" statement and another comment in which he called Tea Party bi ... More >>

Tom Tancredo's ultimatum to Scott McInnis, Dan Maes: John Hickenlooper's wet dream?

Tom Tancredo.​This past weekend, Tom Tancredo told Patricia Calhoun that with a few days, he'd make some kind of announcement about the governor's race, which is a mess on the Republican side thanks to Scott McInnis's plagiarism problems and Dan Maes's assorted challenges. And that's one campa ... More >>

Tom Tancredo calls Dick Wadhams's criticism of his guv run ultimatum "bulls**t"

Tom Tancredo.​There's a lot of bullshit in Colorado politics lately. Mere days after senatorial candidate Ken Buck boasted that he wears cowboy boots "with Weld County bullshit, not D.C. bullshit," Tom Tancredo uses the same word to characterize Republican Party boss Dick Wadhams' criticism of ... More >>

Jon Caldara shoots off his mouth, but at least he's a straight shooter

Jon Caldara.​"There's nothing more enjoyable than pissing off liberals," said Jon Caldara, head of the Independence institute, at the think tank's annual ATF -- Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms -- event on Saturday, a free-for-all of free-market talk, drinking alcohol, smoking cigars and shooting ... More >>

Signed, sealed and rejected: These political activists are rabble with a cause

Ken Buck a new Tea Party star, says Time magazine

Happy Ken.​Ken Buck's looking more and more like your likely Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate, and the national media establishment is starting to notice. No less a magazine of record than Time is wondering if he's the latest Tea Party star -- and if onetime frontrunner Jane Norton will ... More >>

Colorado's Michelle Malkin leads the Know Nothing Nation

Tom Tancredo's Tea Party "lunacy" about Obama and Kenya a First Lady quote, he insists

Photo by John JohnstonTom Tancredo -- a "minor figure" big enough to be slapped by the White House.​Former Colorado congressman Tom Tancredo has been making the Tea Party circuit of late, with his remarks about topics like civics literacy tests prompting conservative heavyweight Dick Armey to ... More >>

Ask a Mexican: The April Fool's Day Minuteman Project edition

​Editor's note: Because this week we present the 2010 version of our annual Best of Denver issue, some of our regular features are taking the week off -- but not Gustavo Arellano's Ask a Mexican column, spiced up just for April 1. Dear Readers: In honor of April Fool's Day, I turn this column ... More >>

Betsy Markey: Tea Party anger over her health-care vote didn't lead to threats, says advocate Lesley Hollywood

This is the tongue-in-cheek illustration Lesley Hollywood uses on her Facebook page.​Representative Betsy Markey's "yes" vote on the landmark health-care bill this past weekend made her a marked woman, with both the Gun Owners of America and former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin targe ... More >>

Abortion rights a hill Diana DeGette's willing to die on in healthcare debate

Will Nancy Pelosi get so mad at Diana DeGette that she actually blinks?​Just because the House of Representatives passed a healthcare bill this weekend doesn't mean it'll stay passed. Denver congresswoman Diana DeGette is leading a group of reproductive-rights supporters who are mad as hell th ... More >>

Kenny Be's Worst Case Scenario: Spring Break in Summit County, part 2

Are U.S. State Department warnings about the dangers of traveling in Mexico harshing your buzz? Keep it local this year! Help create the party that transforms Summit County into the "Cancun of the Colorado Rocky Mountains..."

When Catholics got a pass across the border

Denver Post and 9News vet Amy Herdy's journalistic mission to Pakistan

Amy Herdy. Journalist Amy Herdy has jumped from place to place in recent years. Her first job in this market was as a reporter for the Denver Post -- but she left that position to take a behind-the-scenes role at 9News, as documented in the 2007 Message column "Life Swap." From there, she shift ... More >>

Q&A with Saúl Hernández of Jaguares

Colorado Connection

A powerhouse of a woman speaks for Unique Lives.

Get Small

Comedy Central re-elects Lil' Bush.

Crazy Like a Fox

They like to be in America.

Get Out the Vote

Do Mexicans in the U.S. care about Mexican elections?

Spies, Lies & Portable Tapes

The feds were already suspicious of scientist Wen Ho Lee. Then they discovered he’d downloaded every secret in the nuclear arsenal.

Emerald Ire

A Colorado publisher puts out a book too hot for the U.K.

CHANGING OF THE GUARD

EMBATTLED ADJUTANT GENERAL IS ON THE WAY OUT, ROMER SAYS.