Snack Down

Ingrid Newkirk, the president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, must not fly very often. Last month the head of the militant animal-rights group sent a letter to Frontier Airlines CEO Sean Menke, suggesting that if he wanted to help the company fight its way back from bankruptcy,…

Sporting Chance

I was scrolling through my DVR listings last week, dutifully recording Top Chef and Escape to Chimp Eden — yes, I know I could do a series recording and save time, but I hate series recording, because your box always picks up every episode aired, and just like that, 40…

Olympics Travel a Hurdle for Local News Media

The 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, are producing huge headlines three months before the opening ceremonies, slated for August 8, and the extravaganza will undoubtedly stir tremendous local interest. After all, the United States Olympic Complex is based in Colorado Springs, and many of the athletes who will compete…

This Guardian Angel Bleeds Red

Four Guardian Angels meet in the 1400 block of Ogden Street at dusk for their weekly march up and around Colfax Avenue, where they patrol the streets and alleys, looking to deter gang activity and other crimes — and to search for new recruits. Three wear the recognizable Angels uniform:…

Game Changers and Tie Breakers:

Is the winner from Tuesday’s pair of primaries Barack Obama, with his narrow defeat in Indiana and powerful showing in North Carolina? Or are the real winners the Denver waiters, valets, taxi drivers, doormen and hotel maids who look forward to seeing two entrenched delegations come to town, fighting for…

Is Re-create 68 a Thing of the Past?

So Tent State University is on the outs with their protest brethren at Re-create ’68. What gives? Last Friday, when the ACLU held a press conference to declare it had filed a civil rights lawsuit against the City of Denver and the Secret Service, it seemed that all was well…

Cheer or Jeer Phil Bender Tonight at the Lab

When the Laboratory of Art and Ideas at Belmar opened in the fall of 2006, founding director Adam Lerner declared his interest in searching the world for contemporary artists while simultaneously announcing his disinterest in trying to find any of them around here. And Lerner held to that outsiders-only approach…

Thin Staffing Requires Rocky Mountain News Staffers to Stretch

The age of specialization in newspapers may not be over, but given the strained financial situation in which the industry currently finds itself, staffers are frequently being asked to move outside their comfort zones. The May 6 edition of the Rocky Mountain News is a case in point, with several…

Scott Rowitz Out as Director of the Denver Film Society

The Denver Film Society has announced that executive director Scott Rowitz will be taking off for a position at the California Film Institute. Rowitz has held the post since 2002 and has overseen significant growth in general ticket sales as well as increased attendance at the Starz Denver Film Festival,…

Alice and Wonderland Street Art

Some undercover stenciler left some fresh Alice in Wonderland-themed street art in the alleyway behind the Westword building at 969 Broadway this weekend. The text reads, “We’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.” The white stencil (after the jump) features some fairies spooning. Very pretty. Just watch your step…

What’s in a Name?

Tent State University has folded up its tent and moved on — at least from Recreate ’68’s efforts to organize protests at the Democratic National Convention. “Recreate ’68 has demonstrated an inability to fulfill the needs of a growing list of individuals and organizations,” said Adam Jung, the local representative…

Worst. Colorado. Sports. Week. Ever.

We signed up for this. As sports fans, we know our passion is a losing proposition, that our beloved will betray us, that caring deeply about things beyond any measure of control will inevitably lead to feelings of profound disappointment and impotence. We know this and still we care, we…

Delegating Denver #42 of 56: Pennsylvania

View larger image Pennsylvania Total Number of Delegates: 187 Pledged: 158 Unpledged: 29 How to Recognize a Pennsylvania Delegate: No state in the union suffers from poor self-esteem issues more than Pennsylvania. Quaker Staters have played pivotal roles in the history of religious freedom, civil rights and labor laws, and…

Allegiant Air Landing Botch: Big Story or Little Story?

Few stories illustrate the different gauges broadcast media and newspapers use to determine newsworthiness than the one involving a May 4 Allegiant Air flight from Las Vegas to Fort Collins. During the landing at the Fort Collins-Loveland Municipal Airport, the plane overshot the runway by approximately ten feet, but none…

Northwest Denver’s Zoning Fight Continues

While the battle over the controversial down-zoning of two northwest Denver neighborhoods is over – City Council approved the rezoning in a marathon session Monday night – the debate about it wages on. While the two areas, one in West Highland and one in Sloan’s Lake, that will now be…

Shmuck of the Week

Right-wing radio rabble rouser Rush Limbaugh may be “dreaming of riots in Denver,” but we’re dreaming of Rush in the middle of those riots, covered in pepper spray, wrists tied together with plastic police cuffs, a baggie full of Oxycontin hanging part way out of his pocket. At the moment,…

ACLU Files DNC Lawsuit Against Feds

The ACLU announced today it had filed a lawsuit in hopes of compelling the Secret Service to release security perimeter plans for Democratic National Convention in August. At a press conference this morning, ACLU of Colorado Director Mark Silverstein, pictured, said that the Secret Service’s delay in announcing how close…

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love High Gas Prices

So it’s a beautiful Wednesday in the early evening and I’m sitting in a traffic jam at a gas station. I’ve already been here ten minutes, idling, creeping forward, jockeying for positions at the next available pump. Don’t even think about it, lady. No, no, no – Shit! I’m thinking…

First Friday, Italian Style

Jimmy Sellers, director of the Sellars Project Space (4430 Tennyson Street, 303-242-5563, www.sellarsprojectspace.com), is constantly plugging into artists around the world whose work he finds on the Internet. That’s how he hooked up with artists and pals, Massimiliano Boschini and Mauro Manuini, who both live in romantic Mantua, Italy. The…