News

Ah, let the season of petty politics begin. Statehouse Republicans have their boxers in a bunch because Governor Bill “Greenjeans” Ritter has nominated Matt Baker (pictured) to serve on the Public Utilities Commission. And everyone knows that Baker is…well, he’s…he’s an unregenerate tree-hugger, is what he is…

Denver’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Marade (March + Parade) is usually one of the largest King parades in the country. But the festivities, and the way King’s message is presented, has generated debate from people who believe the holiday needs to be less of an exercise in platitudes…

We know you’re busy. So we’ve compiled this list of the essential stuff you might have missed, or might want to see again, from this week at blogs.westword.com. Enjoy. This slide show offers up some essential do’s and don’t’s of Western wear from the National Western Stock Show parade. We…

Looks like we’ll have Steve Horner to kick around a little longer. On Thursday, he left another message for Westword’s editor, telling her of his upcoming nuptials and plans for another ladies’ night lawsuit. We’ll drink to that!…

The writers. It’s tempting to say that we, the viewing audience, did too—after all, we didn’t have to watch the ceremony this year. But honestly, the Globes are often the most entertaining of the annual awards telecasts, since they pride themselves on being less stuffy than the Oscars and the…

An anti-graffiti bill pushed by Littleton Republican Jim Kerr and Lakewood Democrat Andy Kerr was quashed in a House committee earlier this week after Lawmakers complained that the language in House Bill 1023 – which would make it illegal in Colorado to be in possession of “graffiti tools” – was…

Day One Day Two January 11, 2008 By David Amram San Francisco | In the summer of 1948, at the same time that Jack Kerouac was wandering America, I hitchhiked across the country, from Washington D.C. to San Jose, California to visit my girlfriend. On my weekends off from my…

Day One Day Two January 11, 2008 By Audrey Sprenger San Francisco | There is an alleyway in San Francisco named for Jack Kerouac. It links Grant and Columbus Avenues, the main drags of Chinatown and North Beach. Identified by a proper city sign and locatable on city maps it…

The January 16 announcement that former Governor Bill Owens and his wife, Frances, will be divorcing after 33 years of marriage was handled briefly and with decorum by the Denver Post and the Rocky Mountain News. This decision echoes the approach taken by the papers around the time of the…

In 1998, Westword published its fifteenth Best of Denver issue, a celebration of the city that saluted everything from Best Local Girl Made Good (Pam Grier, an East High grad and ’70s star suddenly back in fashion with Jackie Brown) to Best Game: Super Bowl XXXII, that day in January…

A crew of friends from Denver traveled thousands of miles to help the children of Haiti, the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country, and were profiled in the January 3 feature “The Social Conscience of a Missionary.” They brought shoes, school supplies, clothes, money and, most importantly, friendship to Haitians from kindergarten…

Back in November Westword published “The Poisoned Pen of Fort Lyon,” which examined the toxic history of Fort Lyon, a frontier fort turned veterans’ hospital turned prison. Since the place was turned over to the Colorado Department of Corrections in 2001, there have been numerous instances of inmates being exposed…

Chipotle is the great democratizer. Unlike other fast food companies, our home-grown burrito chain attracts a wide cast of characters into its space shuttle-like eateries. It’s earth-friendly enough for the hippies. Quick enough for the corporate lunch break drones. And cheap enough for the broke folks. The Barack Obama of…

Colorado Public Radio has finally landed a second FM signal in the Denver area. On January 16, the network announced that it had agreed to acquire KFDN, at 88.1 FM, from California-based Educational Media Foundation for $8.2 million. Once the Federal Communications Commission approves the transaction, as all parties expect…

“Cry, Cry Again,” Patricia Calhoun, January 10 A Crying Shame I thought “Cry, Cry, Again” was interesting, informative and amusing. Deep down, it made it uncomfortably clear to me that, again, sexism in this country might prevent a very qualified woman from being president. That’s a shame. We must get…

When most of us leave one job for another, we might get a week or two off to put our affairs in order if we’re fortunate, and considerably less time if we’re not. By this standard, Rick Reilly is the luckiest man in the galaxy. In late October, ESPN announced…

On a sunny afternoon last fall, Muhammad Ali Hasan walked into a diner in Meeker, a farming town in Colorado’s northwestern corner. It was the thick of hunting season, and the Meeker Cafe, an old brick building dotted with mounted deer heads, was filled with men who had just come…

The trial began Wednesday against three people, Glenn Morris, Julie Todd and Koreena Montoya, who were arrested on October 6 and charged with blocking the annual Columbus Day Parade. Charges against a fourth anti-Columbus Day agitator, Russell Means, were dismissed by a Denver County Court Judge (eliciting a cheer from…

Somebody with the Guerilla Garden — the erstwhile graffiti advocacy syndicate and clearinghouse for corporate entities who want graf writers to throw up paid ad pieces — has been busy these days. Seen above, the Garden’s gorilla mascot has been popping up all over the city recently. Here are some…