Earlier today, we told you that the birdshot pellet put up for sale by Aurora theater shooting survivor Carli Richards sold for the asking price of $1,650. Westword has since spoken with the man who bought it, Georgia-based forensic consultant Anthony Meoli. Meoli says he bought the pellet to help…
Update: Shortly after the publication of our post about Aurora theater shooting survivor Carli Richards deciding to sell a pellet removed from her body after being wounded by gunman James Holmes, we received word via e-mail from SerialKillersInk.net owner Eric Holler revealing that the pellet had been purchased by “a…
The first batch of prospective jurors in the Aurora theater shooting case reported for jury duty this afternoon. They listened to introductory remarks about the case from Judge Carlos Samour and then filled out an eighteen-page questionnaire that will help the judge and attorneys choose who will serve on the…
Jury selection in the trial of Aurora theater shooter James Holmes is scheduled to start the afternoon of Tuesday, January 20, when the first 250 of 9,000 summoned prospective jurors will report to the courthouse. Out of those 9,000, 24 people — twelve jurors and twelve alternates — will be…
Arturo Hernandez Garcia, an undocumented immigrant who has been in sanctuary at the First Unitarian Society of Denver Church for three months, has suffered another setback in his case. Attorneys for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have declined to join Garcia’s motion to re-open the case. If ICE had agreed…
Lawyers for a Christian bakery owner who refused to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple are calling out a member of the Colorado Civil Rights Commission for a comment she made in which they say she compared the baker “to slave owners and perpetrators of the Holocaust.” At…
A federal judge has found that Bill Sullivan, the subject of our 2010 cover story “Operation Cock Block,” committed “inherently deceptive acts in furtherance of a Ponzi scheme.” According to the judge’s ruling (on view below), Sullivan knew the company he was working for, Bridge Premium Finance, was defrauding investors…
If you ask those in favor of Amendment 67 and those opposed to it what it would do, you’ll get very different answers. Opponents say it would ban abortion. Supporters say that’s not the point. The point, they say, is to make it so unborn babies are treated the same…
Calling all aspiring screenwriters! The Colorado Screenplay Mentoring Program is now accepting submissions of screenplays from local writers looking for feedback on their works-in-progress. From now until December 15, the program will accept up to fifty screenplays on a first-come, first-served basis. Each screenplay will be reviewed by an expert,…
This summer, we brought you the saga of Colorado’s state fish, the greenback cutthroat trout. Biologists worked to bring back the species, which was once thought extinct, only to discover they’d saved the wrong fish. But the biologists didn’t give up and efforts are now underway to grow the state’s…
Nineteen-year-old Jaime Leon Rivas, whose immigration case we wrote about this past spring, is back in the custody of federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement. His crime? Going to visit his older brother at the GEO detention facility in Aurora, which houses undocumented immigrants detained by ICE. Although Leon Rivas was…
Update: Online voting has begun in the “I Heart My RTD” student art contest. The website features sixteen designs created by middle school students in the Aurora and Cherry Creek school districts and asks users to vote for their favorite. Two designs will ultimately be chosen to be adapted for…
It’s looking very likely that Quentin Tarantino will start filming his next movie, a Western called The Hateful Eight, in Colorado later this year. Today, the San Miguel County Commissioners voted to approve a special use permit for Tarantino to film on the picturesque Schmid Ranch outside Telluride, says Karen…
Earlier this week, Lakewood became the first Colorado city to pass an ordinance aimed at increasing condo construction, which has slowed to a near-halt in the metro area as builders back off for fear of getting sued for construction defects. The ordinance makes it more difficult for homeowners’ associations to…
Update: Prosecutors in the James Holmes case say it’s “unprecedented,” “insulting” and “unnecessary” for the judge to tell victims of the Aurora theater shooting to control their emotions while testifying at the trial of James Holmes, the accused gunman. Holmes’s defense attorneys filed a motion last week asking Judge Carlos…
This week’s cover story, “Magnetic Attraction,” tells the tale of Zen Magnets, a Denver company founded in 2009 by University of Colorado grad Shihan Qu. The company sells — you guessed it — magnets. But these aren’t just any magnets. They’re tiny, high-powered spherical magnets that can be used to…
High-achieving East High School and struggling Manual High School will not partner to create a ninth-grade academy serving students from both schools, Denver Public Schools told the communities in a pair of letters. “We heard considerable feedback from both the Manual and East communities on this proposal, and we’re no…
This may be one of the most important conclusions in a review of Aurora’s response to the July 2012 theater shooting: “No one died who could have been saved.” However, the report does point out that several aspects of the police, fire, paramedic and public information response were problematic or…
Smart and self-assured, with jet-black hair and the faintest of goatees, Shihan Qu is the reigning king of magnet balls. His ascension to the throne wasn’t so much the result of hard-won battles against other magnet magnates as it was the outcome of a process of elimination. While other companies…
The Denver Zoo has a strange tradition when it comes to naming its flamingos: It calls them after rock guitarists like Hendrix and Page. In August, the zoo welcomed three new fuzzy grey chicks, and it’s holding a contest to name them. The zoo is soliciting monikers for these lovable…
Same-sex couples can once again obtain marriage licenses in Denver, thanks to a ruling issued today by the Colorado Supreme Court and on view below. The high court lifted stays against Denver County Clerk Debra Johnson and the clerks in Boulder and Adams counties, allowing all three to begin issuing…
As many cannabis lovers (and readers of this fine newspaper) know, hemp is now legal in Colorado. But it’s not an unregulated free-for-all. State regulations allow the Colorado Department of Agriculture to test the crops of up to a third of registered growers to make sure said crops’ THC content…
