Denver Doesn’t Pass the Smell Test Scratched and sniff: Just scanned over “Funky Town,” your January 10 article about the Big Stink in parts of Denver. I’m alarmed, as I’d concluded last night — through much research on the Net — that I might move to Denver. How prevalent is…
In the 1930s, skiing in Colorado was exotic. There were no real ski areas, but that didn’t stop a group of wealthy Denverites from driving up dirt roads to the top of Berthoud Pass and strapping on skis. A simple stone cairn was the only guide skiers had to the…
From the start, Winter Park has been sustained by an unusual combination of private interest and public subsidy. This hybrid, known as the Winter Park Recreational Association — a 22-member nonprofit board that runs Winter Park on behalf of the city — has at times been regarded with suspicion. When…
National Western Stock Show CEO Pat Grant may have forgotten to brief some speakers before they addressed the town’s moovers and shakers at last Friday’s Boots ‘n Business Luncheon. Denver has the “best” Stock Show facilities, said one of the honored rodeo stars of “yesteryear.” Echoed National Western announcer and…
Ask any journalist how he or she balances the quest for scoops with the desire for accuracy and you’ll probably get this answer: “It’s more important to be right than first.” But the game isn’t always played that way in the modern world of electronic media. When disaster strikes, news…
Let’s see: In the last two weeks, Steve Spurrier unexpectedly quit after twelve years as head football coach at the University of Florida because he wants to try the NFL. On the other hand, coach Chan Gailey left the pros for college, and Tyrone Willingham quit Stanford for Notre Dame,…
Orange Crushed He’s got the business-suit blues: I read Alan Prendergast’s “Pat’s Big Fumble,” in the January 3 issue. He hit the nail on the head. Consider this sentence: “There is no place for fans to hang their hand-lettered signs and no escape from the flashing ads, the corporate logos,…
It’s described as a monster. It comes through the walls, some northeast metro Denver residents say. It wakes you up at night. It attacks without warning, then quietly disappears. Hey, stick your head outside and see if it’s gone. It doesn’t really have a name, but the Big Stink –…
Tourism is suffering in Colorado, and as governor, Bill Owens is certainly in a position to help. In late September, the Colorado Tourism Office — the relatively new agency in charge of promoting the state as a travel destination and run by a board of governor-appointed representatives of the tourism…
Joining the list of bigwigs who’ve publicly berated Denver International Airport is George Mitrovich, who chided the airport in a letter to the Denver Post last month. “I have often cited DIA as a state-of-the-art airport, a model for the rest of the world,” he began. “But after barely making…
The families of the Columbine victims leave no stone unturned as they search for the truth. They keep looking under rocks, making dark discoveries — and then the worms start turning. The worms have been wiggling every which way since U.S. District Judge Lewis Babcock threw out most of the…
Glory Weisberg, longtime society columnist for the Cherry Hills Villager, was named after the American flag, and she’s not averse to wrapping it around the beat she covers. “After these terrorist strikes, there was a perception that people weren’t really interested in attending gala benefits, because they weren’t in the…
“In many ways, geese can be very smart,” notes Tom Remington, avian research leader for the Colorado Division of Wildlife. “For example, here in Fort Collins, when the students leave CSU for the holidays, the geese flock onto the campus. But when the students return, the geese leave.” On the…
The Sorrow and the Petty 2001, a spaced odyssey: The last year was definitely a year to forget, as Jonathan Shikes observed in the December 27 “Year in Review” issue. In fact, I would have been very happy if Shikes had never reminded me of how petty our behavior was…
Last summer, a local executive spotted Annabel Bowlen at Denver International Airport. The two had crossed paths before, at various social functions, and they quickly struck up a conversation. The executive inquired about Annabel’s husband. She replied that Patrick Dennis Bowlen, owner of the Denver Broncos, was feeling blue. “Pat’s…
Three agencies that collect donations from private- and public-sector employees for distribution to hundreds of good causes will ring in 2002 with new business. A partnership between Community Shares of Colorado, Community Health Charities of Colorado and Caring Connection recently won a lucrative bid to manage the workplace fundraising campaigns…
When the National Western Stock Show stampedes into town on January 12 for its yearly two-week stay, one of the regular guests won’t be part of the party. The elk, which were added to the show’s lineup of unusual livestock just a few years ago, will be staying home this…
The horror and sadness that gripped America after September 11 brought the sports world low, too, and weeklong suspensions of play in college and pro football, major-league baseball, stock-car racing and golf served as fitting tributes to the dead. So did the astonishing outburst of patriotism that rang through stadiums…
There Blows the Neighborhood Hell, no, we don’t grow: I read with interest Stuart Steers’s December 13 “Howdy, Neighbor,” wherein city planner Ellen Ittelson is quoted as saying that “most people realize Denver needs to grow to stay competitive.” Competitive? With whom or what? And for what purpose? On what…
It was the year no one wants to remember, the year no one will ever forget. For half a decade, Colorado — and the rest of the country — had reveled in high times and good spirits. Even all those predictions of a catastrophic Y2K had come to naught, and…
They say that truth is stranger than fiction; even more frightening, truth is real. The following events (compiled from items in Colorado’s daily and weekly papers — including this one — as well as reports on local TV and radio stations) actually took place this past year. They’re strange, all…
While all eyes turned to points east — and farther east — this fall, there were plenty of shenanigans happening right under our noses here in Denver. And all too often, this shameful behavior came in pairs, the better to double our displeasure. United Airlines and Argenbright Security It’s unlikely…
