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Why Phil Anschutz Might Rather Watch the Denver Post Die Than Try to Save It

By Michael RobertsMarch 29, 2018

After the Denver Post announced that it would be laying off thirty people, or around 30 percent of the newsroom staff, the Denver Newspaper Guild, which represents 25 of those getting pink slips, put out an open call for a wealthy benefactor to buy the publication from Alden Global Capital, the hedge fund that’s been stripping it down like a stolen car for years. Billionaire Phil Anschutz seems to fit this bill, and he has a notable interest in newspapers, having purchased the Colorado Springs Gazette in 2012. But a story shared by Denver City Councilman Kevin Flynn suggests that Anschutz may prefer to let the Post die in order to replace it with a resurrected version of the Rocky Mountain News, which was shuttered in February 2009.

Denver City Council Doesn’t Seem That Into Michael Hancock Investigation

By Michael RobertsMarch 28, 2018

Last night, March 27, the Denver City Council met in executive session to discuss the possibility of launching an investigation into inappropriate texts sent by Mayor Michael Hancock to Detective Leslie Branch-Wise during the 2011-2012 period when she was on his security detail. But the members emerged without making any commitment to such an inquiry despite another letter from Branch-Wise’s attorney (it’s shared below) urging them to take action.

“Kratom Ruined My Life,” User Says

By Michael RobertsMarch 28, 2018

After Denver banned kratom for human consumption last November, advocates, including the communications director for the Libertarian Party of Colorado, spoke out on behalf of the herbal substance, calling it an effective pain reliever that can be substituted for much more dangerous opioids. But one Denver-area resident who spoke at length to Westword warns that kratom isn’t always benign, especially for people, like him, with addictive personalities. In his words, “Kratom ruined my life.”

Colorado Could Again Become “Hate State” If Anti-LGBTQ Bill Passes

By Nora OlabiMarch 27, 2018

Nearly two months since Republicans at the Capitol voted to defund the state’s civil rights agency, they are taking another jab at the LGBTQ community with a bill that would give religious institutions and individuals with “moral convictions” and “sincerely held religious beliefs” the ability to deny a wide range of services, including everything from denying transgender people access to restrooms corresponding with their gender identity, denying marriage-related services to same-sex couple to the denial of foster care and adoption services by religious organizations.

Three Ways to Kill the Death Penalty in Colorado

By Michael RobertsMarch 27, 2018

The Colorado Supreme Court recently upheld a lower court’s decision to reverse David Bueno’s first-degree-murder conviction because evidence that might have helped him was withheld in his death-penalty case. Michael Radelet, a University of Colorado Boulder sociology professor and author of The History of the Death Penalty in Colorado, the definitive work on its subject, sees the Bueno case as a particularly compelling argument in favor of ending capital punishment in the state once and for all, and he sees multiple possibilities for how it might finally happen.

Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Fever Hits Colorado’s Luxury-Home Market

By Michael RobertsMarch 27, 2018

Bitcoin and other forms of cryptocurrency are ultra-trendy among investors, speculators and others who dream of making a quick fortune. But they’re also becoming increasingly mainstream, especially among the super-rich, as illustrated by what appears to be a first for the luxury home market in Aspen. One seller with a spectacular property in the exclusive Starwood development has announced that interested buyers can pay for it using this form of exchange, a digital asset that’s secured using cryptography.

Post Broncos Writer Joins Site She Saw as Trying to Destroy Newspapers

By Michael RobertsMarch 27, 2018

The Denver Post isn’t only losing thirty newsroom staffers via layoffs dictated by it’s “vulture” hedge fund owner, Alden Global Capital. The broadsheet is also bidding farewell to Nicki Jhabvala, Nick Kosmider and Nick Groke, three prominent sportswriters and Denver Broncos specialists who are leaping to The Athletic, a rapidly growing online sports website whose apparent interest in wiping out daily newspapers Jhabvala chastised in a tweet sent out mere months ago.

Hulking Hemp: Using Cannabis to Elevate Your Nutrition

By Madeline St. AmourMarch 26, 2018

For Heather DeRose, hemp made sense because it checks off a lot of nutritional boxes. It’s high in magnesium, vitamins B and E, iron, zinc and omega-3 acids. Many of the vitamins it contains help support proper brain function, which in turn helps her epilepsy, she said.

Why Denver Post Staffers Not Targeted by Layoffs Could Still Be Leaving

By Michael RobertsMarch 26, 2018

The Denver Post announced thirty layoffs, or nearly one-third of its newsroom staff, on March 14. Just shy of two weeks later, we still don’t know the identities of all those who’ll be leaving, and that information won’t be made official for two more thanks to a complicated system that allows some laid-off workers to “bump” individuals who haven’t been notified that their positions could be in danger. But at present, no daily reporters are being targeted, with the layoffs focusing on what Denver Newspaper Guild administrative officer Tony Mulligan refers to as “the second set of eyeballs.”