News

A party at Fairmount Cemetery? Ghoulish as that may sound, the resting place’s tranquil, tree-dappled setting is the perfect backdrop for a celebration this evening of Colorado’s August 1, 1876 statehood. As Westword noted in its recent exploration of Alameda Avenue, Fairmount has always freelanced as a Denver park, since…

Washington Post op-ed columnist Michael Gerson gives a shout-out to Colorado governor Bill Ritter today, in a column that notes how two governors in battleground states — Ritter and Tim Kaine of Virginia — spent time as Catholic lay missionarie, and then coinsiders how the two might play as vice-presidential…

Okay, here’s the deal: I’m cheap. And because I’m always on the prowl for new and/or bizarre brands of cereal to check out for my Milking It: Cereal Killers & Thrillers blog in Cafe Society, I frequent Big Lots!, where I recently made an unexpected discovery. The store, which specializes…

Lucy Roucis, a regular with Phamaly (Physically Handicapped Amateur Musical Actor’s League)both as a performer and an acting coach, has Parkinson’s. Although she’s a radiant performer, over the years you could clearly see her problems — and the involuntary shaking — escalating. On Monday, Lucy finally had the brain surgery…

Well, hot damn, Colorado Division of Wildlife, look at you stepping up your high-tech game! Go on with your bad self! Currently up on CDOW’s website at www.wildlife.state.co.us/NewsMedia/Videos is a new video series entitled, “a.m. Colorado.” The videos, which were all filmed in high-definition and recorded in digital audio, look…

Really? Why, that’s fascinating! This week, Westword explores the strange odyssey of Timothy Thomason, a cancer patient who went to the downtown Denver jail in 2006 for what amounted to an expired medical marijuana permit, had his life-sustaining pain medication confiscated — and was detained for mysterious reasons after a…

Way too late for this summer’s Mojave-esque heat-wave, Baskin-Robbins has announced plans to bring its 31 flavors to 60 new locations in the Denver area. It’s big news, considering that of the company’s 6,000 ice cream shops worldwide, only 13 are on the Front Range. But if you’re flush with…

Chappelle’s Show veteran and all-around funny guy Bill Burr is stopping at Comedy Works this weekend. We caught up with Burr just after the recent earthquake in Los Angeles. Westword (Amber Taufen): How are you? Bill Burr: Well, I just got back from vacation, and we just had a nice…

The first act of The Hot L Baltimore ends in a chaotic and hilarious babble, with almost all of the characters talking at once and Suzy, the hooker, dropping a towel to reveal that she’s naked. The young boy, Jamie, is so startled by this that he drops the box…

“On a Roll,” Jason Sheehan, July 24 Pleased to Meat You Jason, we were so pleased to read your review of Hamburger Mary’s. Not that we haven’t found your column insightful and inspiring before, but it’s the rare heterosexual who has the balls to call a minority out on the…

Denver’s diagonal crosswalks — loved by walkers, loathed by drivers — are often the cause of confusion for tourists and other visitors schlepping around downtown: “You can do what?” their puzzled faces seem to say as they watch local pedestrians waltz right through intersections. To provide better guidance, the city…

(See Adam Cayton-Holland’s “DNC Orientation Video” at Demver, Westword’s DNC blog.) What is it about a completely and utterly media-saturated event that makes me want to turn my pen away from my reporter’s notepad and violently stab it into my eyeball? It could be that since I am allegedly a…

To read Alan Prendergast’s blog about the Denver jail’s heavily redacted policy on pain meds and release procedures, click here. They let Timothy Thomason go shortly before 8 p.m. on August 26, 2006. He had spent less than 24 hours in the downtown Denver jail, but they were among the…

Mark Paschall, Jeffco’s finest. Former Jefferson County Treasurer Mark Paschall’s second trial for allegedly soliciting a kickback from an aide’s $18,000 bonus is underway out at the Taj Mahal. (The first one, back in February, ended in an acquittal on one charge and a hung jury on the other.) Although…

Cruise to Demver, Westword’s DNC blog, to see Adam Cayton-Holland’s guide to surviving the Democratic National Convention. There’s a boot, there’s beer in a boot, and there’s a dude in cut-off jean shorts. So there’s pretty much something for everyone…

An old high school is the now the center of CSU’s art world. Just a block or so east of the Colorado State University campus (1400 Remington Street) is the stately old Fort Collins High School, a red-brick, Georgian revival-style building constructed in the 1920s. As you can see from…

A new musical — aptly titled Iraq War, the Musical! — attempts to make sense of the nonsense our current administration is spouting. We caught up with director Paul Cross to ask him about his singing, dancing extravaganza. Westword (Amber Taufen): How did you come up with the idea for…

Oh, meaty joy! After a year and a half of searching for its first central Denver location, Tony’s Market has finally sealed the deal on the former Planned Parenthood office building, 950 Broadway, right across the street from Westword. The 53-year-old building (formerly a car dealership) was the frequent scene…

The Great Clown’s Inn, which Jon Solomon visited a few days before it closed, isn’t the only Alameda alcohol institution to shut down. The Valverde Yacht Club, which never had any yachts but was within spitting distance of the South Platte from its perch at 1101 West Alameda, is boarded…

As we told you Monday, there’s rampant idling going on at Denver International Airport’s 45 Minute Waiting Area, and the folks in DIA’s environmental-services division are waiting to take action – in the form of signs reminding idlers that their irresponsibility uses more gas, harms their vehicles, and, of course,…