Hearts and Glowers Robin Chotzinoff's "Detective Lynch Gets Her Man," in the February 11 issue, was a wonderful valentine to love--and a real shocker to find in Westword. Since when did you decided to run heartwarming stories? Next thing you know, you'll be running a pet column. Francie Dillon via...
Nothing Personal I never appreciated Westword as much as I did when I read Patricia Calhoun's "Personal Foul," in the February 4 issue. You had to read all that "penis" talk, uncensored, to realize how idiotic that Tyrone Braxton case was. This is the sort of case that gives lawsuits...
Green Acres I loved Stuart Steers's December 17 article, "The Village People," on the Greenwood Village annexation. Having taught at Cherry Creek High School for over 25 years, I have some experience with what Greenwood Village considers "solutions" to the constantly growing traffic problems. For instance, a favorite solution is...
The Denver Veterans Affairs Medical Center is a place where people expect to get healed, not hurt. But one center employee says he was in serious pain after the hospital's chief of police confronted him about $80 worth of unpaid parking tickets he'd racked up in the hospital lot. William...
Sprawl in the Family Regarding Alan Prendergast's "The Sprawlful Truth," in the January 14 issue: What is it about the American West that makes us so impervious to experience? California ought to be a lesson emblazoned on our noggins: single-family housing, no mass transit, arterial and freeway traffic jams, horrifying...
Airheads The symbol of a blow-up doll on your December 31 Year in Review issue was particularly appropriate, since Westword is so often full of hot air. Jayne Riley Denver It has been refreshing to move to a new city and discover original literary instincts in Westword. Just wanted to...
For Adults Only It upsets me that your recent covers--the December 31 Year in Review and the January 7 issue--have been so vile. You have a right to print whatever you like, but surely parents have a right to go out to dinner with their kids without this stuff at...
Attitude is everything, these kids agree. Although they can't prevent cops from stopping them--they accept that--they know that too much attitude can make all the difference after you're pulled over for some minor thing, but really for "driving while brown" or "driving while black." Juan Hernandez made the mistake of...
The woman is hunched over in her wheelchair, a pillow supporting her torso, head lolling, body clenched in on itself, feet tensely touching. Someone smooths her hair, gently tilts up her head. She grimaces, though whether from grief or pain--because of an involuntary reflex--it's impossible to tell. Now the people...
Mary Christmas Thank you for Harrison Fletcher's "Virgin Rebirth," in the December 10 issue. What a pleasure to read--and what a nice story this holiday season! Joy Friedel Denver The statue described and pictured in the article appears to be Our Lady of St. John of the Lake. Auraria library...
Nuts to That! Talk about crazy! I never thought I'd see the day when bleeding-heart liberal Patricia Calhoun would bleed for a Republican, much less Tom Tancredo ("Crazy for You," December 3). Coloradans should be proud of their new congressman, not just because he's man enough to admit his weakness,...
Prairie Home Companion After reading Patricia Calhoun's "Little Grouse on the Prairie," I don't know what to hope for. If the stadium vote is jeopardized because of the legislature's greedy addition of Park Meadows and Lone Tree's commercial area, that's good. But if it means that we have to go...
Rage Before Duty Regarding T.R. Witcher's "Hell on Wheels," in the December 3 issue: The failure to properly define the term "road rage," and its all-encompassing use to define every conceivable traffic infraction, has led to even greater misunderstandings. Its misuse has diminished drunk driving by making it a version...
Faster Than a Speeding Ballot Kenny Be's "1998 Overloaded Voter Guide," in the October 22 issue, was a perfect summation of this campaign season. I plan to take it with me when I vote, because it's the only thing I've seen that makes sense of these ballot measures. I'm only...
Win SOme, Lose Some Talk about sore losers! Patricia Calhoun needs to get over herself: The Broncos got their new stadium fair and square ("Let Us Pray," November 5). Just because Calhoun is out of step with the majority of Denver-area voters (what a surprise!), she wants to play the...
Think of John Elway and the rest of the Broncos' offense trying to score without their front line. Or the Avalanche endlessly trying to kill an eternal double penalty. Now you know what it's like to work in Secretary of State Vikki Buckley's division of commercial recordings, which is struggling...
No Paean, No Gain Regarding Robin Chotzinoff's "What's Your Status?" in the November 12 issue: Just another paean of praise for Chotzinoff and her talent for deflating the pompous (the New York Times, for instance), for reporting with accuracy and compassion (the farmers she asked the Times's absurd question about...
It used to be so simple. Each fall, when the leaves turned and you wanted chile, real chile, the kind that made your sinuses clear and your belly warm, you'd drive past the tracks and beyond the highway to an empty lot in the country, where an old farmer wearing...
Plugging Away Chris LaMorte's September 10 "The Mom Squad" teaches us how, through the magic of one dead little girl and the power of the Internet, people without actual lives of their own can fill the long days and nights by exchanging cyberjabber over America's telephone system. And unlike its...
Touched by and Angle Patricia Calhoun's "An Unhealthy Situation," in the October 8 issue, hit the nail on the head. How can organizations work effectively to help victims if the organizations can't work together? Thanks for bringing this to the public's attention. I hope you plan to continue coverage of...
Ex Marks the Spat Regarding Ward Harkavy's "Fact or Friction?" in the October 1 issue: The very idea that gays come from bad families, smothering mothers, etc., is absurd, to say the least. I know many gays, including myself, who come from very loving families where "the lifestyle" was never...
An Old-Age Problem I could not read Stuart Steers "Dying for Dollars," in the October 15 issue, to completion because of the painful memories it brought back. After a stay in Lutheran Hospital, my mother was transferred to Cedars Health Care Center for rehabilitation in late 1996. I chose Cedars...
