Politics & Government

Appearing as a guest star on the lineup of upcoming reality TV shows might give new Denver mayor Michael Hancock the national media attention he craves…..

Governor John Hickenlooper has walked a taut tightrope on energy issues since taking office, pushing for more natural gas drilling in a state already leading the region in drilling starts, while at the same time nudging the industry toward greater disclosure of the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing or “fracking”…

This weekend’s Western Conservative Summit at Colorado Christian University attracted four announced or prospective Republican presidential candidates, including high-profile Texas governor Rick Perry. But while long-shot Herman Cain’s victory in a straw poll may have startled outsiders, it hardly came as a shock to Summit co-chair John Andrews…

As we reported yesterday, Doug Lamborn said that being associated with Barack Obama was like touching a tar baby during a Friday radio appearance — a gaffe for which he’s now apologized. But did he need to? An editorial in the Colorado Springs Gazette suggests it was really no big…

Is Michael Bennet the only Washington politician whose reputation has been enhanced by the debt-ceiling debate? Bennet was recently at the center of a Fox News love fest — and this morning, The Early Show’s Chris Wragge introduced him as a “common-sense guy” before inviting to tee off on the…

Friday through Sunday, Colorado Christian University hosts the Western Conservative Summit, an event that’s drawn plenty of the right’s notables. But how to pick who to see? Sexiness, of course! We’ve ranked the twenty main speakers in order of smoulder — and plenty of these guys (and one gal!) definitely…

What? You didn’t get your invitation to the wedding of Asma Hasan, author of Why I Am a Muslim, and Tahir Ali? It’s an extravaganza you won’t want to miss — if Malik and Seeme Hasan, through their Hasan Family Foundation, could pay $300,00 for losing gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis’s…

Yesterday, after being officially inaugurated as Denver’s mayor, Michael Hancock invited locals to come to a Denver Botanic Gardens concert and get-together to celebrate. And thousands accepted. Photographer Stephen Cummings was on hand to capture the lively scene. Page through below to see shots of your friends and neighbors, plus…

Now that Michael Hancock is officially Denver’s mayor, does he already have a mole… who tweets? That’s the political guessing game surrounding 5280 Shadow, a mysterious Twitter feed that purports to offer inside scoop, most of it Hancock-related. Check out some examples…

Michael Hancock is now officially Denver’s mayor — and predictably, the speech he delivered to mark the occasion today was heavier on celebration than specifics. But other than hat tips to mayors from Speer to Hickenlooper and a quote from Plato (“This City is what it is because our citizens…

The U.S. Air Force has delayed release of an environmental impact study of its proposal to conduct intensive low-altitude training flights across a wide swath of southern Colorado — flights as low as 200 feet that had raised concerns among local ranchers and residents seeking the quiet life…

Jefferson County officials should not be encouraging pet owners to believe that “There Is No Poop Fairy.” As the illustration above indicates, scat scofflaws won’t respond to any poop-pickup commandments unless they are being watched over by real, live poop fairies…..

This week, proponents of the Denver Paid Sick Leave Initiative turned in more than triple the number of signatures needed to make the ballot. But they face plenty of obstacles, including the newly announced opposition of mayor-elect Michael Hancock…

When you’re in your third year of law school, you want something a bit meatier than dusty lectures and heavily footnoted case studies. If you’re Jon Bellish, that means you head for The Netherlands — and the trial of a man charged with some of the most heinous war crimes…

“During my tenure as Auditor, I have never had to write a transmittal letter as detailed and scalding as this one,” Denver City Auditor Dennis Gallagher wrote in the cover letter to his office’s recent audit of the Career Service Authority, the agency that provides human resources for 8,500 Denver…

One of the most astonishingly racist and sexist campaign videos in recent memory attacks Janice Hahn, who’s running for U.S. Representative in California; she’ll face Tea Party fave Chris Huey in a special election on July 12. And as it turns out, the clip, on view below, has a local…

You won’t find many prisons where the subject of rape behind bars is openly discussed, by inmates or staff — not because it isn’t a problem, but because it is. A Bureau of Justice Statistics report estimates that more than 200,000 adult prisoners endured sexual assaults in 2008, roughly one…

In May, Denver Paid Sick Days Initiative spokeswoman Erin Bennett predicted that the measure, which would mandate paid sick days for all non-governmental workers in Denver, be they full-time or part-time employees, would strike a chord with voters. And she thinks the number of signatures her group will turn in…

Many people Wells Fargo claims to serve gathered to protest its investment in private prison companies such as GEO, Inc., which owns an Aurora detention center. Protesters marched on an East Colfax branch as part of a national day of action to educate people about the hypocrisy they see in…

We’ve noted in this space before before the tendency among Colorado governors to load up the state parole board with former Denver police officers, as if the job was essentially an $85,000-a-year private security gig. Judging from John Hickenlooper’s new appointments to the board, that streak is very much alive…

Jared Polis and his longtime partner, Marlon Reis, are expecting their first baby this September. But the media and members of the public shouldn’t have any expectations about learning more details. At least not yet…

A week from today, Colorado is cutting — pun intended — Medicaid funding for circumcisions. According to the Associated Press, the state will join seventeen others in making the cost-saving move, which will likely please circumcision opponents, such as Paul Russo, the subject of a 1996 Westword story called “Boys…