“Books on subjects related to the professional hit man are hard to find. But there are a few publishers out there who have the backbone to provide those of us who take life seriously with the necessary educational materials.” — from Hit Man: A Technical Manual for Independent Contractors. Paladin…
Paul Fox hits the brakes, and his pickup swerves onto the shoulder of 62nd Avenue, in the industrial fringe of Adams County. A dump truck roars by, shaking the ground as it passes, but Fox doesn’t notice. He’s pointing out the window toward a huge mound of dirt, weeds and…
When new Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke held Dan Issel’s big feet to the fire last week, any casual observer of Denver’s beleaguered NBA franchise had to wonder: What is Issel to do? Wave a wand and transform his motley collection of slew-footed children and graying journeymen into the Los Angeles…
Chile Today, Hot Tomorrow Greener pastures: Mmm…I can taste a special “with” and feel the sweat prickling on my forehead after just a few bites. Thank you for getting Chubbys “right” in “The Heat Is On,” Harrison Fletcher’s August 3 column. I’ve been going there for over twenty years, and…
The sun isn’t up yet, and already Ernie Cordova is sweating. He’s hunched over the grill at the Chubby Burger Drive-In, getting ready for the morning rush. A mound of hamburger sizzles to his left. A mound of scrambled eggs and chorizo sizzles to his right. Bubbling in an aluminum…
In the computer-generated photographs of Rocky Flats in the year 2006, the squat, proletarian buildings where plutonium was once shaped into deadly pits have been airbrushed away. The artist was wise to get rid of them: Those vast, concrete edifices were an anachronism, a Cold War artifact from a loony,…
Dawn Everhart met her first spirit guide when she was three years old. Suffering from rheumatic fever in a small hospital room in California, Everhart was scared and couldn’t sleep. She lifted her heavy eyelids and realized she wasn’t alone: A sleek black panther was on her bed. It didn’t…
In the world of Ufology, it’s tough to be taken seriously. “There’ll be a sighting somewhere, and it’ll be a fantastic sighting,” says Mike Curta, state director of the Colorado Chapter of the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON). “Five hundred people saw it, and there’ll be an interview with a doctor,…
Our state legislators must be so jealous. First the Colorado Board of Education decides to flaunt the Constitution by demanding that the slogan “In God We Trust” be posted in public schools. (Hint to the Colorado Board of Education: Posting “In Math We Trust” might be more appropriate.) Then a…
There are many types of niche magazines that might seem to have a shot at thriving in the Denver marketplace — ones focusing on, say, Broncos worship, sport utility vehicles or constructing a wardrobe exclusively by shopping at Eddie Bauer. Few observers would have expected, though, that a glossy African-American…
Monty Doiel had his first inkling of trouble as he turned right at the end of Mercaderes Street onto Estafeta. The corner is hard and angular, difficult under the best of circumstances. Doiel had hoped his new black Nike Air ACG cross-trainers with the reverse-tread grip would provide an advantage…
Blowing Hot and Cold Feel the burn: Our thanks to Westword and Eileen Welsome for bringing the dirty and disturbing history of Rocky Flats to a whole new audience in the current series “From Cold War to Hot Property.” She does her homework, and it shows. In 1986, my sister…
United We Standby Rise and shine: I am writing in regard to the July 20 Off Limits item about United Airlines — the worst piece of “journalism” I have ever seen. It showed no professionalism or factual support whatsoever. Who knows why everyone loves to hate United so much? Is…
Last month, after waiting almost four years for an explanation, the public heard what happened the night two-year-old David Polreis was killed. Renee Polreis, who’d adopted the boy from Russia six months before his death, told a rapt courtroom that she apparently “lost it” the night of February 9, 1996…
Neuropsychologist Steven Gray sees many kids who have been diagnosed with Reactive Attachment Disorder. Working with them, he’s been struck by a common theme. “Most parents have a label for their child,” he says. “They’ll say, ‘I love my child, but my child is the child from hell.’ I hear…
When the Atomic Energy Commission chose Rocky Flats as the site for its new nuclear-weapons plant, no one gave much thought to the wastes the plant would produce — nor would they think much about those wastes in the decades to come. In the beginning, the paper bags, cardboard boxes…
It must have seemed like a good idea at the time. Last year, when several individual defectors from the Aryan Brotherhood, the notorious white-supremacist prison gang, expressed an interest in cooperating with the government against their own, federal officials rose to the occasion like Shriners at a testimonial dinner. They…
For years, opening day at Cheyenne Frontier Days has been “Colorado Appreciation Day.” But on Saturday, not a single appreciative Colorado official returned the favor by joining in the parade of cowboys, baton twirlers, Shriner cars and Minuteman missiles winding its way through downtown Cheyenne. Even if he didn’t ride…
If the established television-news purveyors in town were hoping that Channel 31’s foray into their territory — an hour-long broadcast unveiled at 9 p.m. on July 16 — would stink like the cast of Survivor after a long day on the beach, they wound up disappointed. The initial broadcast by…
Hall of Famer Robin Roberts was once asked to recall his greatest thrill in an All-Star game. The Phillies’ estimable right-hander answered immediately: “When Mickey Mantle bunted with the wind blowing out in Crosley Field.” Your Colorado Rockies should be so lucky. The recent eleven-game losing streak that likely spelled…
In the spring of 1951, engineering consultants for the Atomic Energy Commission crisscrossed the West, discreetly scoping out potential locations for a new government plant. Their mission was urgent and of the utmost secrecy; not even the governors of the states where the sprawling facility might be located had been…
Two men in their mid-twenties are talking outside a Capitol Hill bar. It’s 5:17 p.m. on July 5. Dirty D: “There’s this new guy in town. He’s from Philadelphia. He’s short, stocky.” Jerry Bronze: “Put him against Butz?” Dirty D: “Nah, he’ll kill him.” Bronze: “What about Crane?” Dirty D:…
