This December will mark seventy years since the Royal Gorge Bridge was strung 1,053 feet above the Arkansas River where it cuts through a sheer canyon a dozen miles outside of Canon City. The project was the brainchild of Lon Piper, a San Antonio toll-bridge promoter who conceived the undertaking...
All Vets Are Off After reading Gayle Worland's March 25 "Doctor's Orders," about a distinguished physician dying in his own hospital, I've decided to take the necessary steps. Instead of sending my ailing body for treatment to Presbyterian/St. Luke's, I'd investigate the possibility of a good veterinary hospital close by,...
Honk If You Hate Jesus of the Week Let me second Sandra Metz's March 18 letter as to your offensive Jesus of the Week feature. Would you do the same for the leader of any other religion? I have defended your paper due to its sometimes excellent articles, despite many...
The Gang's All Here Regarding Steve Jackson's current series, "Dealing with the Devil": Each time I read about Brandy DuVall, the savagery sickens me. If I could make a deal with the devil, it would be to purge that whole family, as well as eternal damnation and excruciating pain for...
Momy Drearest Regarding Eric Dexheimer's "Honor Thy Mother," in the January 28 issue: What is a putz? Ciaran Redmond. If it weren't for the humor of his stupidity, his story would be as pathetic as most losers' stories are. John Rael via the Internet And Justice for Some I am...
Coming to a Head The March 11 juxtaposition of the third installment of Steve Jackson's "Dealing with the Devil," the Brandy DuVall torture/rape/murder trial coverage, and Eric Dexheimer's Deitz v. University of Denver story, "Head Case," was most interesting. If Peter Buirski is still teaching Freud's misogynist theories as viable...
Nearly a year before a rat's nest of tape recordings and a Pandora's box of kitschy souvenirs became props for the interminable Bill and Monica show, Moises Kaufman's Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde had already earned kudos as the surprise hit of the off-Broadway season. A year's...
The Master Builder Regarding Stuart Steers's "Building for the Future," in the February 18 issue: David Tryba's dream of a walkable city means the recovery of something wonderful and tangible. Americans are so inured to the convenience of driving that we've lost the very thing that makes life really wonderful:...
Love It or Leave Regarding Tony Perez-Giese's "Waiting to Exile," in the January 21 issue: Loi Nguyen's problems as a resident alien who finished his time in prison and now is in limbo awaiting deportation is truly underwhelming in its tragedy. It is unfortunate that he sits in limbo at...
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...
