The government of Burma (also known as Myanmar) is undergoing a transformation of sorts. As explained in this week’s cover story, “A World Away,” Burma has been a dangerous place for decades due to civil wars and the oppressive policies of the former ruling military junta. In the past year,…
Violeta Pando couldn’t sleep last night. After all, today is the last for a six-week pilot program to review the deportation cases of all non-detained immigrants in Baltimore and Denver — including the case of her wife, Sujey Pando. “The hours that I did sleep, which were very few, I…
Update: The State Board of Education has approved new standards for charter school authorizers — the school districts and one quasi-state agency that approve new charter schools. But the standards aren’t mandatory. As the Colorado Department of Education’s Amy Anderson tell us, state board members classified them as “guiding principles”…
This week’s cover story, “A World Away,” tells the story of Drucie Bathin, a 46-year-old refugee from Burma who has made it her life’s work to help other, newer refugees. She has a soft spot for the teenagers. To help them connect to their heritage, and stay out of trouble,…
Tim Tebow is big news. In fact, he’s such big news that it’s no longer acceptable for non-sports fans to not know who he is. Don’t worry: Westword has your back. For all of you who think NFL stands for National Forensic League and spend your Sundays and Monday evenings…
In the past four years, more than 2,000 Burmese refugees have arrived in Colorado. Though the state provides support, some of them struggle to navigate language, laws and customs of their new home. But Drucie Bathin, who came to the U.S. in 1999, can help. She heads the Colorado Rangers…
Drucie Bathin pulls her black Toyota Yaris parallel to the curb on Rosemary Street in east Denver and opens her car door to the frigid December air. Colorado’s cold winters are a visceral reminder that she’s thousands of miles from the humid jungle of her native Burma, the war-torn Southeast…
The Consumer Electronics Show, that yearly technology bacchanal, kicks off today in Las Vegas. It’s an orgy of smartphones, tablets, Justin Bieber and … gospel singers belting out tweets? You better believe it. A host of Colorado companies are there, showing and telling and (hopefully) generating buzz. Here, we present…
Colorado Congressman Jared Polis has called for a government investigation into alleged abuse suffered by gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender immigrants detained by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE). “Here we have people who are at their most vulnerable — many without access to any legal assistance — who are being…
The defeat of a bill to legalize civil unions in the last legislative session was a heart-breaker for those in favor of marriage equality. After passing in the Senate, the bill was defeated in a House committee by one vote — with all six of the panel’s Republicans voting against…
Some acts of art vandalism are clearly inspired by outrage. Take, for example, El Dildo Bandito, the nom de guerre of a man who stole 22 ceramic penises from an art display in Boulder. Others are inspired by drunkenness, as may have been the case with Carmen Tisch, charged with…
The case of Carmen Tisch, the 36-year-old woman who scratched, punched, rubbed and then peed in close proximity to a $30 million painting at the new Clyfford Still Museum, is definitely weird. But it’s certainly not the first act of strange art vandalism Colorado has seen (though it’s in the…
Cats don’t give a shit about much of anything. Catnip, maybe. And birds and laser pointers. But reuniting with their owners after six long months of separation? Kitty cat don’t care. Kitty cat don’t give a shit. That’s exactly what went down this morning, when lost cat Waylon was greeted…
The media (Westword included) loves a good lost-cat-found story. Three months after a Broomfield calico named Willow made national news (and got fondled by Anderson Cooper) when she turned up in New York City, the headlines are shouting about a tabby named Waylon who was found in Golden last week…
Denver Police Department headquarters, the behemoth building at 1331 Cherokee Street, will cut its hours in 2012 in order to “streamline the department’s workforce,” the department announced this week. Starting Sunday, January 1, the lobby will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. That’s quite a cut-back; currently, the…
The Charter School Institute board is once again complete. Last week, Governor John Hickenlooper appointed a ninth member: Liz Aybar, who once served as principal of the now-shuttered P.S. 1 Charter School in Denver. Aybar and the other eight board members have their work cut out for them, as explained…
Colorado Gives Day, the 24-hour online charity blitz that won Best Philanthropic Endeavor in our 2011 Best of Denver contest, raised a total of $12.7 million for 928 local nonprofits on December 6 and 7 of this year. So which nonprofits garnered the most donations?…
In real life, Santa is jolly. But on Twitter, he can be an a#$hole. There are dozens of fake Santa Twitter accounts. While some of them are earnest — like this tweet from @NorthPolePost: “Ho ho ho! What a busy few days. First chance to put my feet up in…
The amount of money Colorado spends on children is shrinking at a time when the number of children — and the number of children in poverty — is rising, according to a report released today by the Colorado Children’s Campaign. President Chris Watney says it’s disheartening to watch the safety…
Kenneth Scott, abortion protester extraordinaire, recently added more firepower to his legal defense: He is now being represented by the Thomas More Society, a national pro-life law firm. In June, Scott and his wife, Jo, were served with a civil complaint by the U.S. Justice Department, alleging that the Scotts…
Back in May, the governor signed a bill to increase efforts to stop bullying, adding that students who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender should be protected — especially after a number of gay teen suicides. One Colorado, a statewide LGBT advocacy group, took the ball and ran with it,…
ColoradoSchoolGrades.com, a new website developed by a coalition education advocacy groups, attempts to simplify the process of figuring out whether a school is a gem or a lemon. Using the same data used by the state to label schools on a scale from “performance” to “turnaround,” the easy-to-use website gives…
