Top Model: Nicole is making a habit of defying the odds

Plenty of America’s Next Top Model episodes this cycle seems designed to slow the momentum of Louisville’s Nicole Fox. But somehow, she keeps winding up near the top of the photogenic heap, and last night was no exception. Within the first few minutes, viewers were treated with another dose of…

Did Fort Collins raid target medical-marijuana?

View Larger MapWith Colorado Attorney General John Suthers equating the proliferation of medical-marijuana facilities with crime, and other law-enforcers publicly suggesting that dispensaries are selling pot obtained from Mexican drug cartels, the pro-weed crowd has feared a crackdown on growing operations — and a raid earlier this week at 2206…

Balloon Boy gets highbrow, thanks to NPR

At last, the Balloon Boy saga has reached metaphysical ubiquity, with the last national media outlet seemingly immune to the appeal of little Falcon Heene — National Public Radio — finally surrendering. Of course, NPR being NPR, the approach taken in two stories yesterday was more highfalutin than high flying…

From the week of October 22, 2009

“Get Real,” Joe Tone, October 15 Reality Bites I’ll bet you’re sorry that you put Bachelor Mark Huebner on last week’s cover when you could have held out for Richard Heene, the swingin’ star of Wife Swap and Hey, Honey, I Floated the Kid. Who needs reality TV when you…

In Idaho Springs, bathing suits are no longer optional

Things have always been pretty steamy in the thermal caves at Indian Hot Springs, the century-old mineral baths in Idaho Springs. But lately they’ve been getting raunchy, as well, and owner Jim Maxwell has had enough. On November 1, he will require that anyone who uses the public caves wear…

Clemency for these six prisoners could save millions and serve justice — so why won’t Governor Ritter try it?

Among Governor Bill Ritter’s hits and misses, few actions have drawn as much criticism as his proposal to release thousands of inmates months earlier than originally planned, thereby cutting millions of dollars from the state’s overstressed budget. The announcement sent convulsions of anxiety through Colorado’s crime-control industry. Police chiefs braced…

Tips for dispensary goers who want to “shop local”

Where’s it all coming from? That’s the big question about Colorado’s booming medical-marijuana scene. With all these new dispensaries opening up, people want to know where, exactly, the product for sale originated. According to drug-enforcement officials quoted today in the Denver Post,, some of it may be coming from international…

Medical-marijuana advocates fight Mexican drug cartel reports with the Always Buy Colorado Cannabis pledge

Opponents of medical-marijuana laws like Colorado Attorney General John Suthers are increasingly playing the crime card — implying that the proliferation of dispensaries in Colorado is fueling illegal and increasingly dangerous behavior (without, of course, providing specific examples of the phenomenon). Today’s Denver Post adds a chorus to this tune…

Clemency candidate #7: The 400-year man

This week’s Westword feature, “The Quality of Mercy,” looks at an option for cutting prison costs that Governor Bill Ritter hasn’t tried — reducing prison time for inmates who may have received excessively long sentences and are unlikely to pose a risk to public safety. The cases discussed in the…

Kenny Be’s Yard Arteology: A Halloween fright beyond the fringe

On every block of every day, the constant cacophony of construction equipment sounds the death knell for the tiny tract houses of the University Hills neighborhood. Murdered by McMansions, the ghosts of the original homes wander the streets seeking residence in the remaining clapboard ranchettes. The ghost invasion is freaking…

Watch out for falling facade at Denver’s Central Library

Just as giant scaffolding is finally being removed from the Denver Art Museum, barriers are going up at Denver Public Library’s central branch just steps away. Why? Last month, a window sill came loose and crashed to the ground. Fortunately, no one was hurt — but crews have fenced off…

Giant scaffolding finally removed from front of Denver Art Museum

I was walking past the Denver Art Museum yesterday and almost couldn’t believe my eyes. After seven months of confusing tourists and getting ripped apart by hippie art thieves, the gargantuan construction scaffolding at the entrance to the (once-leaky) Frederic C. Hamilton Building was being removed by crews. Just as…

The Balloon Boy family 911 call: comedy gold

If you haven’t heard the 911 call made last Thursday by Balloon Boy mom Mayumi Heene, with husband Richard Heene chiming in, you owe it to yourself to justify the time you wasted wondering if future national-TV puker Falcon Heene would be all right by wasting a little bit more…