Calhoun: Wake-up Call

The deadline to turn in signatures pushing initiatives for Colorado’s general-election ballot in November was 3 p.m. August 8, and as Westword was broadcasting a Facebook Live interview with Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams, word came down that a U-Haul loaded with petitions for 75 and 78 — which…

Today US. News & World Report unveiled its annual Best Places to Live rankings for cities in the United States — and Denver is #1 for 2016. That the Mile High City rated the top spot isn’t that surprising, though, considering that Denver has been one of the country’s “cool cities” for years.

At 11 a.m. on Sunday, November 29, Governor John Hickenlooper will be on the steps of the State Capitol, greeting the participants in the seventeenth annual Sand Creek Massacre Spiritual Healing Run. Last year, on the 150th anniversary of the raid that Colonel John Chivington led on a peaceful camp…

Just in time for Thanksgiving — and yet another predicted snowfall — the Lawrence Street Community Center has gotten the green light to open its doors. This is the day-shelter for the homeless that had been in the works for several years, promised back when Denver officials approved the urban-camping ban…

There’s been lots of noise coming from construction projects all over Denver — and lots of noise from neighbors of these projects. But no area has seen more development — or more irate neighbors — than northwest Denver. Tonight, those neighbors will be sounding off at Denver City Council Chambers,…

As I drove south along Speer Boulevard this morning, I passed a dozen sign-fliers — some begging for help, some begging for money, some begging for beer — as well as several new signs posted along Speer by the Denver Police Department warning against trespassing in certain medians, or under…

While there’s plenty of talk about ugly buildings popping up all over Denver, there are definitely some designs worth celebrating — and Mayor Michael Hancock did just that yesterday, when he and Brad Buchanan, executive director of Denver Community Planning and Development, honored sixteen projects at the 2015 Mayor’s Design Awards…

The Rocky Flats Lounge has been a landmark on highway 93 for more than sixty years — first as the payroll office for the brand-new Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant, then as a dive frequented by bikers riding along the foothills and, for the last two decades, as the metro…

The meeting of the board of History Colorado originally scheduled for this morning was cancelled — no quorum — but that doesn’t mean boardmembers have been inactive since the Colorado Legislature approved a revised structure for the board this past spring, and Governor John Hickenlooper appointed eight members to the…

Jim Bishop will soon be king of his castle again. More than forty years ago, Bishop started building a stone castle in Wetmore, just outside of the San Isabel National Forest, adding rooms, features and height — always height. The castle, which now stands over 160 feet tall, has become…

Think the wheels of justice turn slowly? Today Denver Public Schools will dedicate the Joe Shoemaker School, an elementary school that opened last month as the Hampden Heights Expeditionary School at 3333 South Havana Street, at the edge of southeast Denver. Meanwhile, a request to return nine acres of land…

Forget Hatch chiles. It’s time to celebrate the Pueblo chile — and this is the weekend to do it, since September 5 is Pueblo Chile Day, a new event at the Colorado State Fair. “The Pueblo Chile has been a centerpiece of popular fair foods at the Colorado State Fair, making…

A week after History Colorado CEO Ed Nichols announced that he was retiring, History Colorado yesterday announced the transition leadership that will guide the organization as its board of directors — a new board appointed by Governor John Hickenlooper in July — hunts for a new CEO.  Robert E. Musgraves, the…

Since it opened over six years ago in downtown Denver, Cafe Options has taught people a lot. And those are just the people who have stopped into the breakfast/lunch spot and gotten a taste of this ground-breaking operation run by Work Options for Women; hundreds of women have also gotten hands-on…

The bus stops here…and here…and here. The 16th Street Mall shuttle is one of those features that’s both loved and loathed. Many Denverites (and even more visitors to the city) appreciate the free ride along the mall; others says they don’t like the endless interruptions and noise and would prefer…

On August 1, thousands of people followed the urging of the banner outside the History Colorado Center to “step into the story” and went inside for a celebration of Colorado Day complete with cowboy tricks, rare artifact displays from the museum’s usually off-limits treasure trove, and cake. But the revelers,…

When the crowds disembarked at Union Station a year ago this Saturday for the gala reopening, they saw a stunning transformation of the century-old terminal, now a grand public space full of bars, restaurants, lounging areas and, overhead, the Crawford Hotel. What they didn’t see were the two model-train layouts…

Plutonium has a very long half-life — so it shouldn’t be surprising that plans for a Rocky Flats Cold War Museum have been going very slowly. It’s also not surprising that proponents of the museum, which would tell the history of the former nuclear weapons plant sixteen miles northwest of…