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Adam Lee’s Widow Launches Web Attack on Ski Area Where He Died

By Michael RobertsFebruary 8, 2018

Late last year, as we’ve reported, Loveland Ski Area employee Adam Lee was killed while working on the Magic Carpet, a conveyor belt-type lift for beginning skiers. A report about the accident issued by the Colorado Passenger Tramway Safety Board revealed that there was nothing mechanically wrong with the lift, which didn’t stop until its mechanism crushed Lee to death, but leaves unanswered questions about why he was working beneath it for more than an hour. Now, Erika Lee, Adam’s widow, has created a website that castigates the resort even as it reveals the pain she’s feeling after losing her husband in such a tragic way.

Colorado Supreme Court Approves Redistricting Ballot Initiatives Amid Opposition

By Nora OlabiFebruary 7, 2018

Fair Districts Colorado, a coalition of civic organizations and former state elected officials, is pushing for a ballot initiative that would upend redistricting and, it says, put an end to gerrymandering. A group resisting the plans has called for more transparency and less partisan influence, going so far as to take the plan to court and file a counter initiative. But now that the court battle is over and the petition is set to circulate, the fight may be close to over. Here’s what to expect.

Eric’s Law Author: We Care More About Saving Dogs Than Letting People Die

By Michael RobertsFebruary 7, 2018

In recent days, as we’ve reported, the Fremont County coroner’s office identified human remains found on the Arkansas River in July 2017 as Eric Ashby, a rafter who vanished while searching for New Mexico author Forrest Fenn’s $2 million treasure the previous month. Ashby is the namesake of Eric’s Law, a piece of legislation that would require individuals to tell authorities when they witness someone in life-threatening situations, as four people believed to have been with him at the time he went missing apparently didn’t do. But while bill sponsor Representative Jim Wilson, whose district includes Fremont County, sees the need for such a law as obvious, he acknowledges that the idea has received some serious pushback despite the tragic circumstances of Ashby’s death.

Nearly Three Heroin/Opioid Overdoses Per Day in Denver During 2017

By Michael RobertsFebruary 7, 2018

As we’ve reported, heroin deaths in Denver rose 933 percent over a fourteen-year span beginning in 2002, with at least 31 people dying from overdoses of the substance in 2016. Final numbers for 2017 heroin deaths in Denver aren’t yet available, but new figures from assorted local agencies reveal the depth and breadth of the current opioid crisis in the city. Narcan, a nasal spray that quickly counters overdose effects from heroin and similar substances, was used by emergency personnel sent out on OD calls more than 900 times in Denver during 2017, or an average of just under three times per day. And this is only a portion of the actual total, since Narcan is now available without a prescription.

Samuel Failla, Vail Instructor, Dies While Skiing Outside Resort

By Michael RobertsFebruary 7, 2018

Samuel Failla was such an accomplished skier that he taught others how to enjoy the popular winter sport at Vail ski area. But when he ventured out of bounds east of the resort this week, tragedy followed. Yesterday, February 6, the 24-year-old was positively identified by the Eagle County coroner after dying during a skiing excursion in the backcountry.

Seven Ways Crocs Could Be Cool Again

By Teague BohlenFebruary 6, 2018

Can we call it a comeback? Niwot-based shoe company Crocs recently announced the launch of a new line of the eponymous footwear, a signature collection by noted actress and shoe-wearer Drew Barrymore, called The Drew Barrymore Hearts Crocs Color Block Collection. Except the “Hearts” is really just the heart symbol, because 2018 and because texting and because the death of language.

Catholic Church Shutters Beloved Hispanic Parish in North Denver

By Ana CampbellFebruary 6, 2018

Our Lady of Visitation began in the ’40s, serving the mostly Latino, mostly agricultural workers who tilled fields in north Denver. Last year, the Archdiocese of Denver unexpectedly announced it would merge OLV with a nearby parish, leaving its congregants reeling — and determined to save the little church in Goat Hill.

“My Family Can’t Get a F*cking Break:” Montbello Reacts to Double Homicide

By Michael RobertsFebruary 6, 2018

The Denver Office of the Medical Examiner has identified the two victims of a double homicide in Montbello on February 3 as Byron Ware, seventeen, and Abisai Ponce Gutierrez, eighteen. As their loved ones mourn their shocking deaths, which took place on the same block where the burning body of a murder victim was dumped just eighteen months ago, members of the community are scheduled to take part in a march today, February 6, that will call to an end of violence in the fast-growing neighborhood.

Denver’s Much-Hated Slot Homes: Moratorium Against New Ones Coming

By Michael RobertsFebruary 6, 2018

Over the past couple of years, we’ve written about the proliferation in Denver of slot homes, two multi-unit buildings on a single lot that can be separated by a gap of only a few feet. Such structures are at the heart of Denver Cruisers founder Brad Evans’s campaign against fugly homes in the Mile High City, and one reader likened them to 1950s prison complexes. Denver city councilman Rafael Espinoza, who spoke to us in 2016 about the need for new rules related to garden court buildings, a variation on slot homes, was instrumental in the creation of a draft amendment to deal with the slot home phenomenon, and at a council committee meeting this morning, he’ll argue in favor of placing a moratorium on their construction.

Sheriff Terry Maketa May Be Off Hook in Sexy Scandal After Partial Mistrial

By Michael RobertsFebruary 6, 2018

Ex-El Paso County sheriff Terry Maketa may finally be off the hook in regard to a years-long scandal described in our previous coverage, on view below. Yesterday, February 5, the jury in his latest trial on corruption allegations found him not guilty of two misdemeanor charges but deadlocked on a pair of felonies. As such, the judge in the case declared a partial mistrial.

Why Denver Library’s Central Branch Shouldn’t Be Only Heroin Safe-Use Site

By Michael RobertsFebruary 6, 2018

For Representative Leslie Herod of Colorado House District 8, a recent tour of North America’s first supervised injection site confirmed her belief that centers like it can be an important way for Denver, and Colorado as a whole, to address the growing heroin and opioid crisis, especially given where injection drug users here have been congregating in the absence of such a facility: the Denver Library’s central branch.

“Don’t Be a F*cking Nazi”: Antifa, White Supremacists Clash at CSU

By Michael RobertsFebruary 5, 2018

On Friday, February 2, a feared confrontation between members of a white supremacist group and Antifa protesters outside a controversial event on the Colorado State University campus came to pass. Although no arrests took place, multiple reports say things got physical between the antagonists, with injuries suffered on both sides.