A Hispanic-owned firm that won millions of dollars’ worth of contracts as an electrical supplier at Denver International Airport actually is nothing more than a front company operating a bogus pass-through scheme to take advantage of affirmative-action rules, a city hearing officer has ruled. The company, Denver-based M&N Electrical Supply…
Susan Casey, who’s running for Mary DeGroot’s soon-to-be-vacant city council District 6 seat, wants the public to know she’s not the typical kind of money-and-politics candidate. She won’t take donations from PACs, corporations, or “special interests.” Her campaign slogan is “Soccer Mom for City Council,” and her literature guarantees that…
The room’s only source of illumination is the wavering morning sunlight filtering though the fence, past the basketball court and into a bank of windows along one wall. Already, the dulcet sounds of new-age flute music float from a portable tape player, a backdrop to the soft shuffling of feet…
Don’t Slam the Door Do I hold the record for generating the most indignant and irate replies to a letter? It is truly gratifying to find that you have such a righteous readership (Letters, May 10 and May 17). You may let them know I am leaving Los Denverles forever…
Detective James Rock remembers it as one of the worst professional decisions he’d made in 24 years with the Denver Police Department, although there was no way he could have known that at the time. He simply made one of those judgment calls that cops make a dozen times a…
Five years ago, the best minds in Colorado sat down with Governor Roy Romer and brainstormed a way to make environmental cleanups faster and cheaper. At least that was the idea. Present were leaders from industries, higher education, regulatory agencies and the environmental movement. The result of the one-day think…
What’s in a name? Rather than carry heavy tomes through the rest of Denver’s mayoral campaign, clip and save this handy guide: In Funk & Wagnalls Standard Desk Dictionary, a “crony” is simply a friend. Webster’s New World Dictionary turns up the heat, defining “cronyism” as “favoritism shown to close…
Enough is enough. The World Boxing Council, a collection of crooks that competes against two other collections of crooks to control the world’s supply of human fighting flesh, last week pronounced Mike Tyson its number-one heavyweight contender. Perfect. That puts Leg-Iron Mike just a couple of angry lurches away from…
Four years ago, the Colorado Legislature passed a bill designed to make it more difficult for stalkers to track down their prey. What the law may have done instead is give potential victims a false sense of security. Senate Bill 91-74, enacted in 1992, limits access to driver’s license information,…
Two years after Mayor Wellington Webb tried to sell the Winter Park ski resort to the Winter Park Recreational Association for as little as $24.5 million, an appraisal commissioned by the city itself has valued the resort at nearly three times that amount. The Webb administration won’t make the appraisal…
Art of the Deal Calhoun, you are too kind. After reading your “Indecent Exposure,” in the May 10 issue, I took a look at the alleged art. Mutombo should sue. Herb Powers Denver Patricia Calhoun’s column was the most mean-spirited piece I have ever read. Shame. Denver should be honored…
When Geno Marcovici went into the hair-plug business last year, he didn’t give much thought to demographics. “I could have really narrowed it down,” he recalls. “But then I realized it was simple. Who wants a hair transplant? A man. We see millionaires from Aspen and dishwashers from Mexico. Here’s…
Some people just can’t face the prospect of former senator Bill Armstrong getting an honorary degree from the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs on May 19. So they plan to turn their backs on him. While Armstrong receives his doctorate in “humane letters” at the urging of CU president…
Clara Munoz has finally gone home. Last week she boarded an Immigration and Naturalization Service bus bound for El Paso, Texas. Once there, INS agents watched as she and other passengers walked across the bridge into Mexico. At that point, Munoz and her compatriots became the responsibility–and headache–of the Mexican…
“This is my home bar,” Joe Canavan says as he looks down into his bourbon and water. “I’ve been bitching about how uncomfortable these stools are since 1946. That’s when I heard about this place. I was working across the street from here, and we heard they’d opened a bar,…
Cherchez la femme: Nope, Denver’s never had a mayor named Mary–as was readily apparent reading between the lines of the two dailies last week. For example, although the city has seen plenty of mayoral candidates in heavy pancake makeup, Mary DeGroot’s lipstick is a first–as was Denver Post reporter Tracy…
Far be it from us to kill the joy on Blake Street. But before Colorado Rockies fans begin lining up to buy playoff tickets, they’d do well to think about what happens on Monday. The Rox’s 7-1 start was astonishing, to be sure. Those comeback wins against the Mets and…
Representative Pat Schroeder, who’s still irked by Newt Gingrich’s recent remarks that women are unfit for combat, just may get the chance to prove him wrong. But it’s coming at a price. The Army is currently paying forty civilian women $500 each to subject themselves to a six-month regimen of…
The Ball’s in Your Court Regarding Patricia Calhoun’s column “Court Time,” in the May 3 issue: I have a suggestion for all those rich folks who have nothing better to do with their time (and money) than sue each other: Get a five-dollar annual pass to the City of Denver’s…
Anyone contemplating renting out a room in a residence that’s not up to code might want to consider this: Apart from gang members and assorted dime-store hoods, the fastest-growing segment of Denver’s heat-packing population is the city’s Department of Zoning Administration. In fact, every single one of the concealed-gun permits…
Westword staffers took home seven first-place newspaper writing awards at the Society of Professional Journalists’ annual state awards banquet last Friday–more than any of the state’s three major dailies. Sports and film columnist Bill Gallo led the way with first-place finishes in sports commentary and arts and entertainment criticism. Staff…
At first, Tony Behrendt’s room in the lower level of his parents’ posh Boulder home seems like a typical college-student hovel–it’s dominated by an unkempt bed, stacks of CDs, and posters and photos plastered on virtually every flat surface. Take a closer look at those pictures, however, and you’ll realize…
