The first time Mike heard about the Occupy Wall Street movement, he was in the hospital. Due in large part to a slow heart rate — only about twenty beats per minute — he had recently undergone surgery to insert a pacemaker. Two months after his surgery and three weeks…
Last week, No On 300 announced the release of the first television spot focusing on the Denver Paid Sick Leave Initiative. The video stars Mayor Michael Hancock and directs attention to the toll the ordinance could have on the city’s budget. In contrast, the clip from pro-300 Campaign For a…
Today, President Barack Obama, who’s due back in Denver next week after a visit late last month, announced the end of the Iraq war, more or less, with the vast majority of U.S. troops due out before 2011 bids adieu. Colorado Senators Mark Udall and Michael Bennet quickly released statements…
Last night’s 7 p.m. Occupy Denver general assembly proved to be an important one as the group further develops its own democratic system, but it was likely the movement’s most aggressive and divisive yet. In it, several issues about the group’s financial structure came to a head, with one member…
During the two days of police-attended demonstrations last weekend, the last thing most people at Occupy Denver were thinking about was their stuff. A week later, this has created confusion among many who lost their belongings, which were later collected by the Colorado State Patrol while officers worked to clean…
To hear him tell it, Chris Bidwell’s trench coat is a black wool guardian angel. Last year, it prevented third-degree burn from a firecracker gone off course. Today, it serves as both picnic blanket and protector against wet grass at Civic Center Park. Bidwell’s black, military-style boots weigh ten pounds…
Occupy Colorado Springs has become a burgeoning political force in its own right of late, and the group is aligned in solidarity with Occupy Denver. The groups have united online and at general assemblies, where reps have traveled to visit each other. Last night, the Colorado Springs group gathered for…
There are plenty of differences between the Occupy Wall Street and Tea Party movements, as cartoonist Kenny Be pointed out in his post “Occupy Wall Street vs. the Tea Party: A visual guide.” But their members’ shared sense of dissatisfaction inspired The Daily Beast to use them as a barometer…
There are many faces to Occupy Denver’s protests, and some of them are legitimately funny. As further proof that not all civil disobedience is illegal or even ultimately that serious, last night the occupation debuted the protest tent. It is exactly what it sounds like, if it sounds to you…
At eight in the morning, solidarity is more than just a word. In the cold, it’s a necessity. Scianda Long’s thermal blanket looks like a giant Hershey bar wrapper, but inside a sleeping bag and a Batman blanket, it is how she slept through the night. The next morning, there’s…
This weekend, in a crowd estimated between 2,000 and 4,000 people, Susan Shepherd managed to stand out. The Denver City council member represents District 1 in an official capacity, but in the few days since her first rally with Occupy Denver, she has stepped out as a staunch supporter of…
After yesterday’s meeting between Occupy Denver reps and Michael Hancock, in which the Denver mayor reiterated his opposition to letting protesters camp, relations between the city and the 99 percent are decidedly chilly. And they got even colder overnight, after those braving the temperatures were reportedly doused by sprinklers…
Update, 5:18 p.m. October 18: When asked to describe Occupy Denver’s meeting with Hancock this afternoon, protester Al (full name withheld) went with, “It was neutral.” The less-than-exciting introduction matches the results, which take neither side any further toward agreement than before the meeting. Attended by Al, Paula Fedyk and…
Jonathan Shepard knew he would be arrested last Friday morning while defending the Thunderdome at Occupy Denver’s previous home across the street from Civic Center Park. Today, he proffers his left arm: On his wrist is a small cut where police officers had to cut into his skin slightly to…
The long-awaited, much-debated Bureau of Land Management plan for oil-and-gas drilling on public lands in northwest Colorado has something in it to annoy everybody. In other words, it’s the kind of classic, middle-of-the-road, concessions-to-all-sides-and-favoritism-toward-none compromise we’ve come to expect from the Department of the Interior under Secretary Ken Salazar –…
The Colorado chapter of the National Lawyers Guild is offering free representation to those arrested in the Occupy Denver protests. The group’s also been sending legal observers to demonstration sites — and several have shared reports with chapter president Charles Nadler about police officers treating them improperly…
A great deal of attention has been lobbed at the number of Occupy Denver arrests made over the weekend: fifty in two days. And though the Denver Anarchist Black Cross has been hugely instrumental in guaranteeing the release of the prisoners on bond, funds are running low. In an effort…
Billy Reno’s first reaction to the Occupy Wall Street movement was a desire to head to New York. But this was quickly squashed when he stopped by the local movement instead. Tonight, Reno, whose last name is spelled on the knuckles of his left hand with a diamond replacing the…
Last week, even as he was helping prepare for Occupy London’s launch, Adam Jung, a prominent figure in the protests associated with the 2008 Democratic National Convention due his role with Tent State University, weighed in on Occupy Denver’s tent city being dismantled — an action for which he blamed…
Corey Donahue has become a grinning face of the Occupy Denver movement, but this also makes him somewhat of a scapegoat. The activist for both marijuana and the occupation is politically fearless in a way that verges on foolhardy roughly as often as it’s impressive. This weekend, it ended in…
Last week, we reported on separate Occupy Boulder groups, and one participant’s hope that upcoming events would help everyone pull together. And while it was overshadowed by Saturday’s Occupy Denver arrest-fest, a Boulder march and rally appears to have accomplished this goal, with around 700 members of the 99 percent,…
Occupy Denver protests present a challenge for mainstream media outlets. The local version of the Occupy Wall Street movement can’t compare in size to the largest assemblies in the U.S. or internationally — at least not yet. But it’s still one of the biggest ongoing stories in these parts over…
