The deadline is fast approaching for My Favorite Place in Denver, a program created by the Denver Department of Community Planning and Development that’s currently soliciting nominations for favorite places in town from residents and visitors alike. We’ve already weighed in on our least favorite places and my personal favorite:…
Dear Mexican: One of the things I have found enjoyable and profound is the use of language by Chicanos, mexicanos and Mexican-Americans. Humor and a sardonic sense of history, in my view, are encapsulated in many everyday expressions. Two examples I can think of are the use of huey (or…
On Wednesday, September 24, members of the Sand Creek Massacre Commemoration Commission will head northeast from Eads along Chief White Antelope Way to the banks of Sand Creek, where 150 members of the Arapaho and Cheyenne tribes were killed by volunteers led by Colonel John Chivington on November 29, 1864…
Dear Mexican: A very close friend of mine is supposed to become a U.S. citizen. He was brought here by his parents when he was nine and has been illegal since then. When the laws changed, he went through a lot of hoops, and it really didn’t look good for…
Joseph Hutchison didn’t set out to write a poem about Silas Soule. But he’d been thinking for a while about the Sand Creek Massacre — a dark chapter in Colorado’s past that he’d never learned about when he was a student at Skinner Junior High, writing his first poem. He’d…
Dear Mexican: The Mexican-American community is the most adversely affected by the influx of illegals. Only the politicians have any gain from lumping all Hispanics into the “Latino” category. Are proud, hardworking Mexican-Americans actually willing to continually diminish their own children’s American future purely to facilitate the radical Chicano politicians’…
A hundred miles east of Denver is a rise that, at around 5,900 feet, is the highest point between Denver and Kansas City — or between Denver and Chicago, or between Denver and New York, depending on who’s doing the measuring and who’s doing the bragging. This rise marks what…
The dog days of summer are behind us — but every dog can still have its day on a local patio. That’s because on July 1, new regulations took effect in Denver for restaurants that want to turn over at least part of their patios to pooches, and Racines, which…
Sean Azzariti spent six years in the Marines and was deployed to Iraq twice. Today he’s fighting for the right to use medical marijuana. “When I first got out of the military, in October 2006, I was diagnosed with severe PTSD,” he recalls. The doctors prescribed heavy prescription drugs, but…
Dear Mexican: I’m from the southeastern United States, and people think — correctly, in some cases (see: Bush, G.W.) — that everyone here is dumb. Is there a similar place in Mexico where other Mexicans think the people are inbred mouth-breathers?Swanee Señor Dear Gabacho: Jalisco. Dear Mexican: I am a…
Long before there was a renovated Union Station with its fancy Terminal Bar, even long before Lower Downtown was nicknamed LoDo, the area had a Terminal Bar. It was a down-and-dirty workingman’s joint, named for both the nearby Union Station and the long-gone Terminal Annex Post Office; three happy hours…
Dear Mexican: I see lots of Mexican-Americans struggling in grade school and high school. Many Mexican-American activists claim it’s because they don’t speak English at home or the schools don’t teach them well. But I see lots of Asian-Americans in the same schools who do really well. Many of them…
UPDATE: The steep price of putting in new airport train messages hasn’t stopped Denver from recording two new greetings to kick off 2015. The latest voices of the DIA people mover are new Denver Bronco DeMarcus Ware and pro skier Lindsay Vonn. For more than a decade, the trains ran…
Dear Readers: The Mexican just got married to a chica caliente, and he’s taking her on a honeymoon to the motherland so she can learn the proper art of tortilla-making. In the meantime, I offer this Best Of edition, because I plan to do all of my work this week…
What’s your favorite place in Denver? This morning the Denver Department of Community Planning and Development — whose office is definitely not the favorite place of people applying for building permits and zoning variances — launched the Favorite Place in Denver campaign, part of an attempt to “launch a citywide…
Dear Mexican: I’m not Mexican, but my son-in-law is. He is intelligent, bright, enthusiastic and pleasant to spend time with. He came here, illegally, at the age of eighteen, with his aunts. He and my daughter are married, have a three-and-a-half-year-old son, and have gone through the entire process of…
Dear Mexican: I’m a handsome exemplar of the bronce race living in the motherland. I’m dating a beautiful and wonderful gringuita who is soon taking a trip over the border from the U.S. to Mexico for the first time to visit me and my pinche big family. There are a…
Dear Mexican: What is with the many gringos/gabachos who constantly slaughter Spanish words? Spanish is easy to pronounce (and spell) compared to English. The vowels (a, e, i, o, u) are always pronounced the same way. In English, vowels vary a lot — difficult for new learners. All of the…
Dear Mexican: I am from an Arabic-speaking country. After my education is completed here, I’ll be returning to my country or to Kuala Lumpur. Since I’ve been in this country, I’ve noticed there’s a rising tide of hatred toward Mexicans. I’ve talked to Mexicans, and they all say they’re proud…
Dear Mexican: I have some questions and observations. During George W. Bush’s administration, there was a lot of talk about comprehensive immigration reform (amnesty, to some). One remark that I recall was made by a Mexican and was something like, “Go back to Europe!” Aren’t Mexicans of European descent, also?…
The newly renovated Union Station isn’t hosting its official grand reopening until July 26, but it’s already seeing plenty of looky-loos – and there’s plenty for them to look at, including more than 600 pieces of art. For our money, though the real masterpiece is the historic sign that just…
Dear Mexican: I noticed that Mexican people don’t generally smoke. I’m not condoning smoking, but it’s interesting to see how some groups do or don’t smoke, and I have yet to see a Mexican person smoke cigarettes. Does the tobacco industry not target Latinos?Fulminating Fumador Dear Gabacho Smoker: American Lung…
