Back in the late ’80s, when this city was still smarting from another super-sized Super Bowl humiliation, a national news correspondent noted that Denver had never been number one in anything but air pollution. Although the Environmental Protection Agency finally gave Denver’s air a clean (or close enough for the…
On August 8, news organizations in Denver received a fax topped with a grabby logo reading “Koleen Brooks: Defender of all that is right…and having fun doing it!” Following this pronouncement was a description of Playboy pinup Brooks (“the internationally famous single mother and controversial former mayor of Georgetown, Colorado;…
With the Rockies banging around in their familiar fourth-place hell and the bewildered Nuggets awaiting the Eye Chart Era (that’s B-Z-D-E-L-I-K, Doc, and let’s see here, looks like: T-S-K-I-T-S-H-V-I-L-I), local fans find themselves yearning for some real sport — the invasion of Iraq, say, or the start of football season…
There Auto Be a Law Hacks and flacks: Regarding Patricia Calhoun’s “Take a Memo,” in the August 15 issue: Wow! How refreshing it is to read a real piece of journalism that is based on the truth. It is so frustrating and discouraging to see the public-relations machines of these…
From an old brick building overlooking the South Platte, Susan Baird is quietly redesigning Denver. Peering over maps and diagrams of pipelines, she traces the routes of long-forgotten creeks and gulches and imagines a lush trail running through a battered industrial zone. Under her steady gaze, downtown streets disappear underground,…
Denver pioneered the idea of buying parkland in the mountains long before Boulder or Jefferson counties launched their vaunted open-space systems. The city owns 14,000 acres, most of it in Jefferson County. Denver’s relationship to its mountain park system is much more complicated than its suburban counterparts, however. Since the…
Denver’s parks range from tiny pockets of greenery to acres of open space. Every resident has a favorite among the more than 300 parks in the system; here are snapshots of four of them. Bluff LakeWhen Stapleton Airport closed, parks officials were shocked to discover a ribbon of wildland running…
Oscar Paniagua called himself El Mensajero de la Verdad, “The Messenger of Truth,” and claimed he could place people’s prayers directly in the lap of the Lord. Today, that could be a short trip for him. Paniagua, who left behind a slew of victims when he fled Denver almost two…
As anyone who’s been within eyesight of a working television knows, this week marks a quarter-century since Elvis Presley toppled off a Graceland toilet and landed in rock-and-roll heaven. But the exhaustive reports about the Pelvis’s life and legacy appearing on Today, Good Morning America and plenty of other national…
At Denver Water’s annual employee car show, God is in the detailing. “She’s a garage queen,” says Jerry Trujillo of his 1931 Ford Roadster. Trujillo’s a paving coordinator at the water department, and his off hours are few. Nevertheless, through years of effort and heavy reliance on the kindness of…
A radio station’s success is determined not only by the number of ears listening at any given time, but by the ages of the people attached to them. Programmers pinpoint specific demographics under the theory that particular advertisers will gladly open their wallets in order to reach them; the majority…
Larry Butler is losing his chops. That’s bad. It was really a matter of timing more than anything else. In the summer of 2001, Fox TV called Larry at his Morrison home, practically begging him to compete in a televised tournament. “I was still ranked quite high,” he recalls. But…
The Fight Stuff Boxed set: Regarding Harrison Fletcher’s “Cruz Control,” in the August 1 issue: I’ve lived in Denver for over 22 years and I’ve read Westword regularly since the mid-1980s. I am continually amazed at the quality of writing and the compelling subject matter that Fletcher and his fellow…
Dropping down Route 9 from Hartsel into Lake George is like entering a thicket of gauze. A clear Colorado day gives way first to haze, then gray, then brown. Smoke grows thicker by the mile. Behind the smoke, the sun glows orange. To the north, a billowing cotton-candy cloud roils…
Jonna Cohen and Michael Sobol knew they were taking a risk when they joined thousands of other protesters at the gates of an Army base in Georgia last November. With the nation spluttering in patriotic fervor and the bombing of Afghanistan under way, it wasn’t the ideal time for a…
There was a time when Colorado bars weren’t allowed to open until the polls closed. This year, though, you can vote in a bar — or close enough. On August 13, the banquet room of the Wynkoop Brewing Co. will be the official polling place for registered voters living in…
If you’re going to suffer through an undergraduate business degree, work a demeaning restaurant job in order to pay tuition, sell out for the sake of money — well, you might want to apply the life lessons of Jason Holben — line cook, Hawaiian-shirt enthusiast, master of discretion, entrepreneur. “I…
The editor position at the Denver Post isn’t synonymous with long-term employment. Over the past decade, three men — Gil Spencer, Dennis Britton and Glenn Guzzo — have served as the Post’s editor, and many journalists believe a fourth person, Neil Westergaard, deserves this designation as well. (In an exchange…
When Greg Moore was announced as the Denver Post’s new editor (“Changing of the Guard,” May 9), he shared with Westword his assessment of the paper as a whole. “I think there are some good writers here,” he said. “I think our sports coverage is energetic and comprehensive and quite…
In the tumult of an ugly and tragic year, the realm of public villainy has expanded to accommodate Arab terrorists with a lust for mass destruction, Catholic priests with a taste for little boys, and wealthy corporate swindlers with their manicured mitts in your bank account. There’s no end in…
Time’s Up Violators will be towed: I was amused by Julie Jargon’s “Yeah, That’s the Ticket,” in the July 25 issue, and appalled when I read at the end of her parking-division timeline that John Oglesby is still on leave — and still getting a paycheck. Denver should give that…
She never sees it coming, the shot that drops her. One moment Terri Cruz is gliding across the ring, snapping that jab, firing that right, when all of a sudden there’s canvas, and she’s like, “Whoa. Damn. This is reality.” Arturo Jr., Terri’s older brother, sits in the audience. He’s…
