Man’s head explodes after reading Woody Paige

GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo. — A 42-year-old man died on Sunday when his head exploded while trying to decipher a story by Denver Post sports columnist Woody Paige. Joseph Patrick, a computer programmer and father of two, was waiting for his grande skim vanilla latte in a crowded Starbucks here when…

Hope, and hats, spring eternal in D.C.

So far, we haven’t sighted Barack Obama wearing a brand-new Stetson during the inaugural festivities, but hope springs eternal. On Saturday, Josh Shayne, a 25-year-old Boulder-based filmmaker (he moved back home with his parents after NYU film school, an act of desperation he documents in the web production Lowered Expectations),…

The Westword.com blog shortcut, January 16 edition

Blogus interruptus. Today in Cafe Society: • Fry me to the moon. • Candy Girls: Strawberry Charleston Chew. • Colorado’s fast-expanding, fast-improving fast-casual world. Today in Backbeat Online: • Mile High Makeout: Guerillas in the mix. • This just in: Thursday is the new Friday. • Update: Mile-Hi Fidelity stream…

Denver Blogs: It’s budget season! This oughta be fun

We roped some links today, as we do every day. Think they suck? Send better ones here. Kegger money could get harder to come by at CU. (Face the State) “Here’s your chainsaw, Governor, and here’s the budget. Try not to get any blood on your tie.” (Colorado Pols) 10…

Justice Center campaign goes straight to video

In the battle over naming rights for Denver’s new Justice Center, two clear favorites have emerged: Dale Tooley, the city’s district attorney for much of the 1970s, and Philip Van Cise, the one-term DA of the 1920s who busted a sophisticated ring of con artists and took on the Ku…

Music director John “Whip” Wilbur fights to save 101.5 FM

John Wilbur, better known to Denver radio listeners as Whip, loves KTNI/101.5 FM, marketed as “Denver’s Independent Alternative.” In fact, he’s so devoted to the smart, highly entertaining station, for which he serves as music director and morning-show host, that he’s willing to admit publicly that representatives of 101.5’s incoming…

Dana Perino on Denver newspapers

As George W. Bush prepares for his return to private life, to the overwhelming joy of a few people out there, his press secretary (and Westword profile subject), Dana Perino, is saying her goodbyes, too. Today, she helmed what is expected to be her last White House press briefing –…

Delay in Rocky Mountain News bonus: coincidence or conspiracy?

Yesterday, numerous Rocky Mountain News employees received a memo letting them know that a bonus they were supposed to receive today had been delayed and would now be included in their January 30 paychecks. In all likelihood, this was a simple processing glitch of the sort that happens routinely at…

Meet Jeff Wilks, new owner of The Wolf, The Mix and KOOL 105

Oh, how times have changed in the Denver radio market. Back in 2000, KXPK/96.5 FM, then known as the Peak, sold to Emmis Communications for $36 million — a price tag that didn’t seem outrageous at the time. Cut to December 2008, when CBS peddled three high-profile Denver FMs –…

Colorado House needs to shore up its bass

Politicians are people, too — often-dorky people. As evidence, check out a January 15 video from the Colorado House that was posted by FaceTheState.com. In it, Representative Mike Merrifield leads the “Capitol Choir” in a rousing version of “Happy Birthday” directed at legislators whose personal odometers have recently rolled over…

The Westword.com blog shortcut, January 15 edition

In case you’re curious… Today in Cafe Society: • Buffalo to go. • A wake for Auld Dubliner. • Chef Bradford Heap to give it a go in Boulder. • Veggie Girl takes a bite of Parsley. • I can only hope you get some “Yes Pecan.” • In the…

The Rocky Mountain News‘ attempt to stop time

Moments ago, Westword editorial assistant Aubrey Shoe noticed something unusual about the front page of the January 14 Rocky Mountain News: It didn’t mention January 14. The date usually appears at the top of the page, centered in small print directly above the box containing featured headlines. But that area…

Salazar hearing a lovefest among chums

You might expect a confirmation hearing for a new Secretary of the Interior to be tough going, given the multiple scandals and vast challenges facing the agency after years of Bush administration bumbling and plundering. After all, the Department of the Interior manages a fifth of the land in the country,…

Criticism the cost of getting free Inaugural tickets

Today’s Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News both feature editorial-page items knocking local politicos for not sharing information about how they divvied out their allotted free tickets to Barack Obama’s inauguration on January 20. The Post went after all the members of Colorado’s congressional delegation in its unsigned salvo, while…