Best TV Anchor 2013 | Ron Zappolo | Best of Denver® | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Denver | Westword
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Best TV Anchor

Ron Zappolo

In 2000, longtime sports staple Ron Zappolo moved into the anchor seat at Fox31, helping to establish the credibility of the station's fledgling news operation even as he boosted its profile. Then, last year, he announced that he would be returning to sports reporting, and the knowledge that his days dispensing hard news were dwindling seems to have freed him up. Over the past few months, he's delivered some of the most relaxed, confident and personality-filled performances of his long career — a fine swan song preceding his scheduled April 5 shift to his new/old gig.

Best TV Newscast

CBS4

A newscast rises and falls based in large part on the likability of its regulars, and CBS4 has that base covered: News anchors Jim Benemann and Karen Leigh, ably assisted by main forecaster Ed Greene and sportscaster Vic Lombardi, specialize in balancing accessibility with substance. But what really pushes the station's flagship news offering over the top is the investigative work of journalists such as Brian Maass and Jodi Brooks, who regularly tell compelling stories that matter for reasons of content and not just as ratings bait.

Best TV Weathercaster

Marty Coniglio

Predicting the weather remains an inexact science, particularly in Colorado; no amount of fancy gadgetry or eye-candy graphics can change that. And given that most rain-and-snow prognosticators are dealing with the same data, the best of the bunch stand out for the way they handle their screwups. As such, Marty Coniglio bought a lot of goodwill when, after blowing the forecast of a storm that caused epic citywide traffic jams a few weeks back, he let colleagues pelt him with snowballs on camera. Such a sense of humor makes us less likely to take Coniglio's name in vain when predictions turn cold.

Best Use of the Sun

Grassroots Grown

Colorado is well known for indoor-grown marijuana, but because of our short growing season, the outdoor kind is another story. Grassroots Grown is trying to change that by nurturing everything it sells in massive greenhouses on a seventy-acre plot outside of Boulder. The result is suntanned, dark-green buds that might not have the shiny, artificial luster of their indoor counterparts, but certainly pack a massive punch in the potency department. We were most impressed last fall by their 707 Headband x Maui cross and a lemony sample of Vortex.

Best Vegan Market

Nooch Vegan Market

Vegans know that typical grocery stores are minefields of animal products — they not only lurk in foodstuffs, but also in cleaning supplies, personal hygiene products and more. Nooch Vegan Market is more of a gold mine than a minefield, though; everything on the shelves is vegan, and you'll find some locally made items that you simply can't get anywhere else, including Denver Seitan Company's wheat meat and assorted flavors of Sweet Action Ice Cream. You'll also find vegan belts and wallets for the menfolk, vegan cleaning supplies — vegan products for every part of your life. When you want to know it's plant-based and fits your ethics, and you don't want to spend hours reading labels, Nooch is the place to drop your grocery dollars.

Best Vending Machine

Forest Room 5

Bartender Paul Garcia serves multiple roles at Forest Room 5, but one stands out on his business card. Garcia is curator of the bar's kooky vending machine, which means he scours thrift stores to find enough odds and ends to restock its wares twice a week with items including take-home marijuana tests, American Spirit cigarettes, expandable sponge spiders and various pulp-fiction novels from the 1970s. (As of this writing, both Cosmic Crusaders and 2061: Odyssey Three were still available.) Customers can also use their coins, $1 and $5 bills to purchase insect putty, ovulation predictors and pepper or basil seeds while they last. And if your strangely shaped item gets stuck, no worries: There's always an employee available to help you get the rusty used wrench you bought out of the machine. True story.

Best Vending Machine for Guilty Pleasures

Don's Club Tavern

Molly Martin

No matter what decisions you make on your night out, Don's Club Tavern has got you covered in the best of times and the worst of times. And we're not just talking about the friendly dive's good-time vibe and generous hard-alcohol selection: Immediately to the left of the bar is a particularly well-stocked vending machine, where drinkers and pool-players can find Spam and cans of tuna, along with Hot Pockets, Cracker Jack, frozen pizza to pop into the bar's microwave, and even a pregnancy test (it costs $5 with button B5). How you sneak it into the bathroom to take it is up to you.

Best Vintage Knickknacks

Night & Day Vintage

Anna Duarte and Amy Bates-Nelson were both avid vintage collectors and selling on separate Etsy pages long before they met, but their formal introduction was kismet, and Night & Day Vintage was born. The combined collection of vintage treasure filling the Golden Triangle storefront is staggering, but in a manageable way, juxtaposing furniture, old suitcases, pinecone mugs and other kitchenware, vinyl hula albums, retro movie lobby cards, cowboy boots, accessories and a hand-picked selection of very fine vintage clothing. Non-vintage items include handcrafted Frida Kahlo portrait jewelry, dangling, filigree-ringed earrings and big floral clips that can double as brooches, as well as a sweet line of earrings and necklaces showcasing tiny carved wooden birds.

Best Vintage Store

The Amazing Garage Sale

The secret to every junk store worth its salt is wise curation, and Judy Lesta nails it at her North Boulder buy/sell/consign vintage-and- antique emporium. With a soft focus on mid-mod furniture and the accessories to match, from lamps to jewelry, the Amazing Garage Sale is clearly the best garage sale you've ever been to — even if the prices don't necessarily stick to the usual "next stop, Goodwill" credo of front-yard bargain shopping. But consider what you're getting: a real Eames chair, a green-glass bubble lamp or perhaps a beautiful oak filing cabinet.

Best Way to Borrow a Zine

Denver Zine Library

The ten-year-old Denver Zine Library has moved up in the world and is now firmly ensconced in the sprawling collective known as 27 Social Centre, where it shares street-side space with the Denver Community Health Collective. This has given the volunteer-run library room to spread out and grow its collection of more than 10,000 independent publications. The DZL is still free; anyone can walk in to browse and check out the zine of his or her choice. Visit the website for library hours and a schedule of workshops, readings and events.

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