They’re not thanking heaven for this 7-Eleven

Focus Property Group is striking out with some neighbors in the Ballpark neighborhood. The company wants to put a 7-Eleven at 2425 Broadway, between Silver State Lofts and the PBA Architectural firm, and across the street from the Granada Fish Company.  Tonight at 6 p.m., representatives of Focus, as well…

Wake-Up Call: We all have a duty to buy

When he kicked off Denver ArtsWeek earlier this month, Mayor John Hickenlooper echoed former Governor Dick “Duty to Die” Lamm when he told the crowd, “We all have a duty to shop.” Now Denverites will get a chance to put their money where Hick’s mouth is, when the mayor and assorted…

Wake-Up Call: The week ahead, November 24-30

It’s the economy, stupid. While chairmen of the Big Three auto-makers jetted by private plane to Washington, D.C., looking for a handout last week, hundreds of out-of-work Coloradans lined up before each prospective employer at job fairs across the state last Thursday. And on Saturday, 40,000 people descended on a…

Wake-Up Call: The rest is history

In retrospect, Denver might have been smart to delay its 150th anniversary celebration to next May, to mark the day in 1859 when the towns of Aurora and Denver officially merged into the start of the city we know today. Back in 1959, the city and state had quite a…

Salud! The naked truth on Lola’s Partida Dinner

Jamey Fader, with pants. “Tequila is a very expressive spirit,” says Sofia Partida, whose family tequila was first introduced to this country in Colorado in 2005. “That’s why we get so expressive when we talk about it.” And how. “Tequila has its fun side,” says chef Jamey Fader. “Like Sometimes…

Wake-Up Call: Looking for work is hard work

Today is officially Keep Colorado Working day – but where, exactly, are people supposed to be working? Yesterday, Intrawest Corporation– which runs Winter Park and owns Steamboat and Copper Mountain – announced companywide cuts. (Happy opening day, Winter Park!) And here in town, longtime businesses are looking at layoffs –…

Was Jimi Hendrix a Mexican?

Dear Mexican: In the biography of Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood, he describes Jimi Hendrix as part black, Cherokee and Mexican. I’ve always heard about Jimi’s grandmother being Cherokee, but this was the first I’d read about him being Mexican. I Googled Hendrix’s name with the word “Mexican” and received…

The week ahead: and the rest is history

Be a Society type. At 5:30 p.m. today, the Colorado Historical Society will host a public confab on the new History Center project, to be built in the 1200 block of Broadway – and not smack-dab in the middle of Civic Center Park, the original scheme when the entire 1300…

Visit Denver…even if you already live here

An image from the Visit Denver website. John Hickenlooper was on his second breakfast when he arrived to address the 99th annual membership meeting of the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau — so perhaps he was overcaffeinated when he urged the hundreds of business types assembled in the Seawell…

Golden: away with a manger…

“Leave Us alone — or be prepared to face the wrath of Bill O’Reilly.” Tonight, the Golden City Council will tackle an ordinance that would limit religious displays on city property during the holidays. Like a nativity, for example. Denver has avoided similar attempts by making its holiday nativity display…

Aztlan is now a myth understood

Dear Mexican: In a column some time ago, you mentioned the Aztec prophecy claiming that their “descendants would reclaim ancestral lands in the southwest U.S.” I’d appreciate it if you could shed a little light on this statement. This is the mythical state of Aztlán you’re referring to, right? What…

Happy birthday, Maggiano’s

Maggiano’s in the Denver Pavilions turns ten this week, and its is a real reason to celebrate. Unlike so many corporate-concept restaurants, this Maggiano’s — a link in a Chicago-based chain — pays attention to the community in which it is located, doing innumerable good works even while it serves…

No scoffing at Denver’s Escoffier dinner

William and Stephanie Wahl left their restaurant, Indulge, to cook at the Escoffier dinner. For those who don’t know Escoffier from etouffe, last night’s Auguste in November event offered a delicious course — eight courses, actually — on the essentials of French cooking. The duck fois gras, presented by William…

The week ahead: immigration and political emigration

Bill Ritter. Politicos across Colorado are brushing up their resumes and trading rumors about who’s going to Washington to join the Barack Obama administration — and some are looking either further afield. This morning, Governor Bill Ritter will announce an economic-development mission to Japan and China that will take forty…

Remembrance of things pasta at the Saucy Noodle

A river of memories — and red sauce — runs along the 700 block of South University Boulevard, where Sam Badis bought a little joint named Jim Sano’s back in 1964, changed the name to the Saucy Noodle, painted the walls red and added the slogan, “If you don’t like…

Andrew Romanoff loses one, wins one

Andrew Romanoff. Andrew Romanoff, the outgoing speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives, will be back at the Statehouse today, helping to choose the leadership for the next session. In his last year of his last term before the state’s term-limits law booted him out, Romanoff crafted a plan to…

News from the frozen Northland

Dear Mexican: In your October 23 column, I read that Mexicans enjoy Clamato the way Canadians do. The True North Strong and Free has a favored drink (the Caesar) made with Clamato. It is similar to a Bloody Mary but way, way better — and spicy, to boot! So don’t…

After Obama’s election, an important sign of the times

Paul Trujillo’s art captures an historic moment. Yesterday, the day that Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States, I received a note from the Fords. They’re the family who’d asked Paul Trujillo, a sixteen-year-old urban artist, to paint a piece on the back of their garage…

The mail-in ballot horror stories continue

Please, Mr. Postman. Polling places across Colorado report that the voting process is going smoothly. But there are still plenty of bumps in the road — and Mimi Kaupe just hit one of them. Since she’s working in California, she’d long ago applied to the Denver Election Division for a…

High on my Highland polling place

Keep your distance, media scum. I was the 26th person in line at 6:45. Another fifty people had arrived by the time the election workers at the Mile High United Way polling place at the edge of Highland started the countdown at 6:59: “Five, four, three, two, one… the polls…

Get out the vote. And get off my lawn

Va-va-va-vote! When I arrived home late last night, I found a flier under my doormat, “Vote for the Change We Need,” with a number to call to find my polling place today. Right above the mat, suspended from my doorknob, was a more elaborate hangtag, “Vote Obama,” with detailed information…