Imagine a great slogan. State legislator Federico Peña was a dark-horse candidate for mayor back in 1983, but he stood out in a crowded field with his progressive politics, his ethnic background, his age — he was just 36 — and a very smart slogan: Imagine a great city…
Michael Hancock hasn’t yet taken office as mayor of Denver. That’s on tap for later today. But Hancock’s already being pressured by some arts advocates to take another look at the recent merger of the Denver Office of Cultural Affairs and the Division of Theatres & Arenas into Arts &…
Michael Hancock may have gotten off to a sleepy start as the mayor-elect (more like a nightmare, dealing with that Denver Players mess). But with yesterday’s introduction of his “Dream Team” to steer the city’s financial future, Hancock’s administration is definitely waking up…
Denver has a lively downtown — sometimes too lively, if you’re on the 16th Street Mall at prime begging time — and it promises to get even better if the Downtown Denver Partnership makes good on its vow to bring a public market to the center of town…
Jaycee Dugard got a $21 million settlement from California, a book deal and a two-hour, prime-time interview with Diane Sawyer Sunday night. Kristen Stillman got a bill from Denver County and a story in the August Glamour, hyped on the contents page — under a story on jeans that make…
Dear Mexican: Say the immigrant makes a few bucks and goes back to his/her home town. Think they’ll put up with the shit that prompted them to move in the first place? (How ya gonna keep them down on the farm…). Putting the Red Into Redneck Dear Gabacho: Absolutely not…
The Denver skyline is changing — fast. On Monday, CenturyLink will start taking down the blue Qwest signs that have glowed like alien azure orbs above downtown Denver for a decade. We were discussing this development while waiting for the fireworks show that has become a nightly feature at Elitch…
Mayor-elect Michael Hancock, back from a brief vacation yesterday, introduced his new chief of staff, Janice Sinden, and said he’s still looking for a new police chief. No matter his choice, Denver’s next top cop is unlikely to get the same warm welcome that greeted consensus-builder Sinden — and will…
While mayor-elect Michael Hancock continues to collect resumes for the numerous appointments he must make, a group of retired police officers will be gathering today to ask Hancock to appoint a new safety manager — the sixth person in that position in a year — who will be more sympathetic…
Dear Readers: Ever since the Mexican national soccer team thrashed the American side 4-2 in last month’s Gold Cup final, Know Nothings have railed about how Mexis in the U.S. root for El Tri against the norteamericanos. They’ve invaded the Mexican’s mailbox with preguntas sobre fútbol, so rather than answer…
While hired guns fight over the future of the iconic National Western Stock Show, at 8 p.m. tonight Colorado Public Television takes a trip to a quieter time — back to 1951, when a newfangled media form known as “television” was sweeping the country, kids were learning to “duck and…
If the National Western Stock Show moves to Aurora — and don’t hold your breath for a big financial farewell from Denver voters — it will leave one big gap in a part of Denver that’s already been a dump site for polluting industries and a neighborhood-dividing Interstate. So why…
Back in the wild, wild West, rustlers were shot for stealing your property. Here in the mild, mild West, they hire lawyers and lobbyists and ask you to help build their new corral. Because now it looks like Denver will not only lose the National Western Stock Show to Aurora,…
Visit Denver’s Rich Grant got a call last year from a reporter for a national magazine who was looking for the quintessential Colorado drink. But while this state is swimming in craft beer, the tourism booster came up dry on the hunt for a Colorado cocktail…
Dear Mexican: Just suppose that all of the southwestern United States had remained in Mexican hands. Would the Mexicans have done any better with it than they have with the present confines of Mexico? Reversible Reconquista? Dear Gabacho: The gran parlor game! If we turned back the clock and changed…
When Elitch Gardens first moved from northwest Denver to a new, city-subsidized home in the Platte Valley, the amusement park promised fireworks every night. But the real fireworks were set off by cranky neighbors worried about the noise, and the nightly shows fizzled. Now, sixteen years later, they’re finally back…
Aurora is so eager to have Gaylord Entertainment build its giant convention center/hotel/resort there that it’s pushing for a $300 million tax subsidy for the project — but only if Gaylord doesn’t use the word “Denver” in the name of the hotel. Other options?…
If only Ron Paul and Barney Frank had introduced their federal marijuana-legalization proposal one day earlier, the Great Legalization Debate might have turned into a truly great discussion. Instead, last night’s “debate” at Casselman’s more closely resembled an episode of Family Feud — which turned R-rated when Corey Donahue lit…
Gaylord Entertainment says its huge convention-and-hotel complex plan for Aurora is not contingent on the National Western Stock Show leaving its home for 105 years in north Denver and moving right next door to the new project. And what does the Stock Show say?…
Dear Mexican: I’m wondering how Mexicans feel about the communities of American expats springing up all over Mexico (especially those who live near or in these communities)? Also, are there places in Mexico where it doesn’t get so hot that Americans are generally pretty comfortable year ’round? Could you name…
Four months after it opened in an unlikely below-ground spot just off the 16th Street Mall, Diego’s Mexican Food and Cantina won the People’s Choice award for green chile at Denver’s Cinco de Mayo celebration. And with good reason, we discovered when we dropped in this past weekend: This stuff…
While Denver City Council was approving a proposal to turn the city’s back yards into a barnyard, Aurora was attempting to rustle the National Western Stock Show. The city dangled a $300 million incentive to lasso the annual event for a new complex that would be built by Denver International…
