Wanna get away, Denver? Southwest makes bid to buy Frontier Airlines

Several outlets are reporting that Southwest Airlines is trying to outbid Republic Airways and swoop up Denver’s bankrupt hometown airline, Frontier. From the Associated Press: A court had already approved the sale of Frontier Airlines Holdings Inc. to the parent of Republic Airways for $108.8 million, but that deal can…

Maybe Frontier can sell its Emmy on eBay

Frontier Airlines may have gone bankrupt, but at least they did it with style: The above ad, called “Leather Seats,” has nabbed the Denver-based carrier a regional Emmy, according to a release…

Crocs, 7, a fashion faux pas gone wild

A couple weeks back, the Washington Post delivered to the nation an obituary for Niwot-based Crocs, outlining the company’s demise in a story that’s since been reprinted in papers throughout the country. Last year the company lost $185.1 million, slashed roughly 2,000 jobs and scrambled to find money to pay…

CNBC: Colorado No. 3 for doing business

We’re not that well educated, our transportation is West Virginia-esque, and you really want that much for that Highlands loft? But Colorado still ranks among the best states to do business in, according to a new study-type thing by CNBC.com. The financial-news channel scored all 50 states in a variety…

Is Denver Funville or Snoozetown? The government wants to know

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. But what happens in Denver? It’s too boring to tell stories about anyway. That’s the impression that a Wednesday story in the Wall Street Journal may have left on readers. Headlined “Government Meeting? Stay Away From Fun City,” the article was about how…

If you’re reading this in your pajamas, there may be hope yet

The number of Colorado companies executing large numbers of jobs at once is falling, the Denver Business Journal reports this morning, a sign that slightly less sucky times may lie ahead: (T)he number of Colorado workers let go in June’s mass layoffs declined by more than half, to 832 in…

Dog-friendly businesses face the dog days of summer

“Have you ever wondered why you are required by law to keep [dogs] under control, but people are not required to keep their children under control around us?” You have? Well, here’s the answer: Because they’re fucking dogs! Children are people. Dogs are animals. Dogs are not people. It’s an…

Video: Troubleshooter Tom Martino pimps Efusjon

Sometimes Westword stories will veer together. Whether through randomness or fate, the act of completely dissimilar topics or profile subjects colliding can either result in beautiful synergy — i.e., marijuana and Chinese food — or in a twisted wreckage of irony and pain. Case in point: Tom “The Troubleshooter” Martino…

Happy Birfday Blinky!

Happy Birfday Blinky. Denver’s TV clown turned antiques store owner turned one-man nostalgia machine for anyone who grew up in the Mile High City in the 1960s, 70s and 80s celebrated his 88th birfday on June 30 with a meal at White Fence Farm in Lakewood. The staff there knew…

The buffalo roam at the Terry Bison Ranch

The Terry Bison Ranch is still the best place to stay when you’re visiting Cheyenne Frontier Days, which began July 18 and continues through July 25. Straddling the Wyoming/Colorado border, the place is a massive working ranch — with bison, camels, llamas, goats and all of your other standard farm…

McDonald’s ranks Denver the sixth best city — whatever that means

The Denver Business Journal posted this little ditty earlier today, reporting that McDonald’s — a national hamburger chain known for helping our children get super fat for decades — considers Denver one of America’s happiest cities for families. I have absolutely no idea what this means — I can only…

Get your fake moon rocks here

Been looking everywhere for realistic representations of the lunar surface? Look no more. Zybek Advanced Products, a Boulder-based firm just chosen for assistance by a University of Colorado-affiliated nonprofit dedicated to promoting space-industry entrepreneurship, has built “a full-scale plasma processing facility… used for manufacturing high-volume glass and mineral materials,” including…

Selling Denver’s Wells Fargo Center

Today’s online Wall Street Journal features an unusual story about Denver’s Wells Fargo Center, whose owner, an Australian real-estate investment firm called Macquarie Office Trust, has been trying to peddle it since earlier this year. The piece isn’t about a sale but a possible sale. Sources cited by the Journal…

About-to-be-remodeled DIA winning awards just the way it is

Officials at Denver International Airport recently floated ideas about an ambitious redesign of the facility’s terminal — although none of them were as interesting as those envisioned by Westword’s own Kenny Be. (Take a gander at his notions here, here and here.) In the meantime, Fentress Architects, the original airport’s…

Boulder’s Lou Barnes on the “stupid” credit market

Got iffy credit? Then don’t hit up Boulder West Financial Services. In recent days, Lou Barnes, one of the firm’s owners, was quoted saying this in a recent New York Times article about tight mortgage rules: “The credit pendulum is stuck at ‘stupid.’ I am turning down loans every day…

Grocery-workers union recalls Soopers’ first King

The contract dispute involving workers at King Soopers, Safeway and Albertsons has been quiet of late, with United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Local 7 seeking to maintain member loyalty during this period via releases about, for example, pension reductions that would go into effect if the store’s latest…

Expert to Frontier’s new owner: Don’t go changin’

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Robert D. Drain’s approval yesterday of Republic Airways Holdings’ plan to purchase Denver-based Frontier Airlines was widely expected and went according to Hoyle — and while other bidders can step forward in the next thirty days, you can bet none will. Now, the clock is running…

Louisville’s lack of eco-hipsters makes it number one

The home page of the Chamber of Commerce in Louisville is out of date. At this writing, it declares the community to be “The # 3 Best City to Live in the United States.” However, CNNMoney.com has just declared the burg to be number one on a list of America’s…