Last year a federal review panel heard some amazing excuses from corrections officials about why their jails and prisons have exceptionally high rates of sexual assault. One sheriff even claimed inmates were faking stories of rape in order to get cookies from researchers…
If you’ve ever heard an “Occupy your mom” joke, you’ll know that Occupy memes have gone just about as far as the national movement’s politics. But the University of Denver has jumped on the bandwagon: The twenty or so members of the school’s Young Americans For Liberty took on wealth…
The details are in about President Barack Obama’s visit to the CU-Boulder campus at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. The venue? The Coors Events Center, where he’ll be speaking only days after today’s Wyclef Jean concert, which will probably need a good airing-out due to what could be a truly astounding amount…
Ted Nugent’s comment that if Barack Obama is re-elected, the Nuge will “either be dead or in jail by this time next year” has elevated the Motor City Madman to the status of talking point/progressive whipping boy in this year’s presidential race. Which is amusing to yours truly, given that…
Colorado Street Medics, subject of this week’s feature, “Medic!,” are protected by Good Samaritan laws, but their practice only goes so far: They will rinse out your eyes post-pepper spray, bandage your cuts, offer you sun-screen, keep you awake for your concussion and splint your limbs, but they will not…
Last night, Denver’s future Independent Monitor and two other candidates spoke at their first community forum before the selection is whittled down. While Eddie Aubrey hails from Washington, Stephen Connolly and Julie Ruhlin live in Califonia, and all three boast experience from the Golden State. Within the next month, one…
An ethnic Nepali, Sher Mizer fled the violence of his country, Bhutan, when he was twelve years old. His family ended up in a refugee camp, where a tarp and some bamboo became their home. Mizer yearned for education, and thanks to a scholarship, he was able to study in…
The urban camping ban, currently scheduled for a May 7 city council vote, is moving too quickly for Denver neighborhood leaders. On Saturday, the Inter-Neighborhood Cooperation urged the council to push its decision back until past May 12, when the group will discuss it internally. But councilman Albus Brooks, chief…
Catholics are pushing back against a decision by the Catholic Campaign for Human Development to cut off funding to an immigrant advocacy group in Durango because it has ties to an LGBT advocacy group that supports the legalization of civil unions. The progressive national nonprofit Catholics United has started a…
This morning, the ACLU of Colorado requested a formal investigation of the Denver Police Department’s conduct with Occupy Denver during the past six and a half months. The complaint, delivered to Police Chief Robert White and the Office of the Independent Monitor, cites both First Amendment freedoms and evidence of…
Destined for Deportation begins with the personal. Jeanette Vizguerra, a mother of three children who are United States citizens and is now facing deportation, explains that she came to America not for money, but for safety. Her husband drove a bus in Mexico and was hijacked at gunpoint three times…
When Tia Jones got the call yesterday, she was elated. The Family and Senior Homeless Initiative reached its goal three and a half years early when it helped its 1,000th family transition into permanent housing on February 8. One month and sixteen more families later, it’s time to celebrate. As…
In February, Catholic Charities testified that if Colorado lawmakers legalize civil unions, it may stop providing adoption and foster care services. Now, it seems that another Catholic organization, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, has cut off funding to an immigrant advocacy group in Durango because it belongs to a…
The Denver Housing Authority did not stand on authority. Yesterday, the latest phase of Denver’s newest city housing community broke ground with passed-out pinwheels, high school drummers and speakers ranging from Mayor Michael Hancock, Representative Diana DeGette and councilwoman Judy Montero to the Flobots’ Jonny 5. Named after the Spanish…
When House Bill 1156 was killed last month before even making it to the full chamber, its supporters started immediately on a stronger effort to add transparency to the state’s foreclosure processes. But the tactics have changed: Instead of creating another bill, they created a constitutional amendment targeted at requiring…
Although Denver’s proposed urban camping ordinance is not scheduled for final consideration until May 7, the sides for and against it are already preparing for battle. Last week, the ACLU of Colorado organized an online petition against the ban, with Occupy Denver taking a stance this weekend. In a letter…
As city council continues to consider Denver’s proposed urban camping ban — and constituents continue to debate it — the Denver Rescue Mission continued a twelve-year tradition yesterday by dispatching a crew of staffers and homeless people to collect trash in and around Coors Field before the Rockies home opener…
Editor’s note: This is the latest profile in Kelsey Whipple’s ongoing series highlighting local political activists. They were wearing black, and they carried coffins. This is Carolyn Bninski’s strongest early memory of political activism, a lifestyle she would later take up and pursue for more than forty years, and it’s…
Colorado is one step closer to (hopefully) dominating the silver screen once again. Today, the House Appropriations Committee approved $3 million to fund a bill to increase the state’s film incentives. As explained in our cover story, “The Reel West,” the number of movie cameras pointed at Colorado has dwindled…
Packed with opposition in orange “Homes Not Handfuffs” buttons, yesterday’s City Council committee meeting initiated the first public discussion of Denver’s proposed, hotly debated urban camping ban. With the proposal come as many accusations as questions, many of them involving concerns it could criminalize the city’s homeless population. Key in…
“Everyone take a deep breath.” So began today’s first public meeting about the proposed urban camping ban, organized by City Council’s Land Use, Transportation & Infrastructure Committee in front of a group so large it breached fire code. While organizers stressed its purpose as an informational meeting — many more…
When it comes to the national Occupy movement, Blair Preston is less concerned with apathy than with access. In his time visiting Occupy Denver, it was the second issue that restricted his involvement, not the first, and he noticed the same problem gripping other protesters. To find a solution, he…
