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Michael Roberts

Michael Roberts began his career with Westword in 1990 as music editor. In 1999, he took on a new role, full-time media reporter, as author of a column called The Message. In 2008, he became the lead writer for Westword‘s news blog, The Latest Word, a position he held until January 2023. Michael continues to freelance for Westword, covering everything from business to sports and the media; he also contributes to Jazziz, a national music magazine. He holds a bachelor’s degree from what is now Colorado Mesa University and master’s degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Northwestern University.

michaelrobertscolo@gmail.com

Colorado’s Ten Most Popular Fourteeners

By Michael Roberts

Because of the fifth death on the Aspen area’s Capitol Peak in just over six weeks, Colorado’s fourteeners have been in the news for tragic reasons lately. But a new survey reveals that these majestic attractions are more popular than ever, with the number of hiker-use days during 2016 exceeding the 2015 total by more than 50,000. The data also identifies the ten most popular fourteeners in the state, as well as those where hikers are less likely to encounter a crowd.

Getting Credit (or Not) for Finding Rebecca Bartee’s Killer After 18 Years

By Michael Roberts

More than eighteen years after 18th Judicial District deputy DA Rebecca Bartee’s June 7, 1999 murder, authorities have made an arrest, booking Robert Lee Williams, a seventy-year-old who was still living in the apartment building where the slaying took place. The case was broken thanks to a tip received by CBS4 reporter Brian Maass earlier this year, yet multiple news agencies in Colorado aren’t giving credit where credit’s due.

Meet Victor Mitchell, Outsider Candidate for Colorado Governor

By Michael Roberts

Victor Mitchell, a successful entrepreneur and onetime state legislator, is seeking the Republican nomination for governor of Colorado in 2018. In the following in-depth interview, Mitchell details his unexpected personal story, his rise to business success and proposals that he sees as differentiating him from other candidates.

See Flags for 20 Denver Neighborhoods and Meet the Artist Waving Them

By Michael Roberts

Steven Chester’s day job is as a Denver city planner. But when he’s off the clock, he still celebrates the Mile High City, albeit in a completely different way. For his Flags of Denver project, he’s set out to create a flag for all 78 officially designated Denver neighborhoods. And as indicated by the twenty he’s produced so far (see all of them here), his love of design and fascination with the history of each area have come together in a way that’s well worth saluting.

How #SelfieSaturday Murder Helped Convince Denver to Buy a Strip Club

By Michael Roberts

Denver City Council has announced a plan to purchase PT’s All Nude II, a defunct strip club at 8315 East Colfax, for $1.3 million, in an effort to spur an economic revival in the area. The building was shuttered in 2016 because of numerous public-safety issues, with the most prominent among them being a September 2015 murder on an evening promoted as #SelfieSaturday.

Video-Game Journo Brian Crecente Knew the Future Wasn’t in Newspapers

By Michael Roberts

Brian Crecente, who recently took over as editorial director for Glixel, the ambitious video-game website of Rolling Stone magazine, following impressive runs at gaming-centric Kotaku and Polygon, is easily among the most accomplished alumni of the Rocky Mountain News, which cratered in February 2009 just prior to its 150th anniversary. Even though he left the Rocky a decade ago, when editors wanted to move him from the gaming beat into a more traditional role amid widespread staff departures, he gives the paper credit for being ahead of its time when it comes to covering his favorite subject. But today, he doesn’t see many dailies giving anything other than short shrift to video games in general, despite the industry racking up an estimated $91 billion worldwide in 2016.

The Six Least Expensive Metro Denver Homes for Sale Right Now

By Michael Roberts

Even though housing prices in metro Denver have been moderating in some areas thanks to an increase in inventory, home buyers in Denver still face huge challenges, including a shortage of modestly priced properties and the speed with which the ones that are listed disappear. But while the majority of lower-priced houses showcased on MetroDenverHomeListings.com at present are already under contract, we managed to find six listings near or under $200,000 that are still active at this writing.

Racist Gang Leader’s Death Impacts One of State’s Biggest Murder Mysteries

By Michael Roberts

On August 27, the Colorado Department of Corrections revealed the death of inmate Benjamin Davis, one of the state’s most notorious prisoners, at Wyoming State Penitentiary, to which he’d been transferred. Davis, who is is suspected of committing suicide, was the reputed leader of a white-supremacist prison gang known as the 211 Crew and a potential player in the 2013 execution-style murder of CDOC executive director Tom Clements.

Blazin’ Hit Radio, Pot-Friendly New Home of Larry and Kathie J, Goes Live

By Michael Roberts

Today, August 28, marks the debut of Blazin’ Hit Radio, the new online home of Larry and Kathie J, whose popular KS 107.5 morning show was canceled after a contract dispute earlier this year. The station is sponsored by The Green Solution, a powerful Colorado marijuana dispensary company with a growing national profile, and its signature show, which will broadcast live from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. weekdays, promises to combine an uncensored variation on the humorous antics that scored big ratings in Denver for fifteen years with a mix of hip-hop, reggae, contemporary hits and throwbacks.

Denver Go Topless Day 2017 Makes Its Mark Internationally (NSFW)

By Michael Roberts

Organizers of Denver Go Topless Day 2017, which took place August 26 in downtown Denver, call the event a rousing success. The number of participants was estimated at more than 1,000, and no reports of negative interactions from folks on the 16th Street Mall and Civic Center Park have surfaced at this writing. Moreover, the Denver event is making its mark internationally, as it was highlighted by GoTopless.org alongside similar gatherings that took place across the globe.

Fifth Death on Colorado’s Most Dangerous Fourteener in 43 Days

By Michael Roberts

On Saturday, August 26, a thus-far-unidentified 21-year-old man died in a fall from Capitol Peak, a fourteener in the Elk Mountains near Aspen. The man is the fifth Capitol Peak death since July 15, a span of 43 days, or just over six weeks. And while the fourteeners in the Elk Mountains range are considered to be Colorado’s most dangerous, the number of fatalities on Capitol Peak during 2017 to date is unprecedented in recent memory. Capitol Peak registered four fatalities in the decade and a half prior to this year.

Susan Phelan: From Powerful Women of Wrestling to CO Radio/Music Badass

By Michael Roberts

One of the most acclaimed current series on Netflix is GLOW, a fictionalized look behind the scenes at Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, an 1980s-vintage made-for-television creation that became a cult favorite and not-so-guilty pleasure for a generation of viewers. But Susan Phelan doesn’t need to watch the show, because she lived it for real. Before becoming an on-air traffic reporter for a slew of high-profile Denver-Boulder radio stations, including KOA, KBCO, KBPI and The Fox, as well as a badass bassist for bands such as Ryan Chrys and The Rough Cuts, she appeared on Powerful Women of Wrestling, aka POWW, a GLOW spin-off of sorts that also spawned a syndicated TV program enjoying a second life on YouTube.

Denver Go Topless Day 2017 Dos and Don’ts (NSFW)

By Michael Roberts

Denver Go Topless Day 2017, a rally and parade along the 16th Street Mall, is scheduled to take place on Saturday, August 26. Details are below. Plenty of first-timers are expected to join the gathering, which celebrates equality and demonstrates against the idea that it’s okay for men to appear topless in public but either distasteful or (in some locations) illegal for women to do likewise. With that in mind, Mia Jean, a longtime DGTD organizer who served as our guide for last year’s edition, offers her thoughts on the get-together as a whole and what marchers should or shouldn’t do if they want to reflect the true spirit of an event that’s predicted to draw more than the 1,000 folks fellow planner Matt Wilson says participated in 2016.

WTF: Metro Denver Rents Are Going Down and Up at the Same Time

By Michael Roberts

A real estate pro recently argued that renting makes more sense than buying in Denver right now, particularly for newcomers to the area, because an increase in the number of available rental units is finally leading to better deals. But while August rents in many metro communities are actually down from last month, or rising at a more modest pace than during the craziest periods of the past few years, they’re still up in almost all parts of metro over this time last year for both one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments, sometimes by double-digit percentages.

Police Infiltrate Anti-Fascist Group: “A$$hole at the Protest Was a Cop”

By Michael Roberts

This week, attorney David Lane expects to file a motion to dismiss charges against members of the Colorado Springs Socialists, a student protest group, over a March demonstration in Colorado Springs on the grounds of “outrageous conduct” by local law enforcement. The reason? Lane argues that undercover officers were improperly embedded among the non-violent protesters, whose largest offense at the rally appears to have been jaywalking.

Marijuana Industry More Stable Than Journalism, Says Reporter Jumping Ship

By Michael Roberts

Veteran journalist Peter Marcus is leaving the ambitious ColoradoPolitics.com website he helped launch last November in favor of a communications director position with Terrapin Care Station, a marijuana dispensary chain that’s spreading beyond Colorado. And in explaining the factors that led to his decision, he makes an observation that speaks to the divergent trajectories of the two professions.

Caroline Boyle’s Guilty Plea Is Her Ticket to the Cancer Faker Hall of Fame

By Michael Roberts

Yesterday, August 22, a U.S. District Court judge sentenced Highlands Ranch resident Caroline Zarate Boyle after she pleaded guilty to ripping off her former employer, the U.S. Postal Service, by pretending to have cancer. This admission and the punishment she’ll receive as a result, outlined below, have earned her a place in the Colorado Cancer Faker Hall of Fame, which has inducted seven members in the past eight years.

Colorado 14ers: Tips for Staying Safe

By Michael Roberts

Colorado fourteeners are gorgeous, but they can also be deadly. Since caution is key when attempting to summit these magnificent peaks, we reached out to Lloyd Athearn, executive director of the Colorado Fourteeners Initiative, who offers the following ten tips for challenging Colorado fourteeners safely.

Ed Perlmutter Challengers Dropping Like Flies — Except for Dan Baer

By Michael Roberts

On July 11, when Ed Perlmutter announced that he was dropping out of the 2018 Colorado governor’s race, he also said he wouldn’t run again for U.S. representative in the state’s 7th Congressional District in part because “there are a lot of good people in my race…. Sometimes you need to move on and somebody else needs to come in.” But yesterday, Perlmutter revealed that he’d changed his mind and will now seek reelection to Congress. This decision has caused three of those good people to step aside, including state senator Andy Kerr, who abandoned ship this morning, August 22. That leaves outsider candidate Dan Baer as the only 7th CD Democratic hopeful other than Perlmutter left standing, and his campaign’s comments about the latest developments are far from unequivocal.

Teachers Are Crowdsourcing Supplies Amid School Underfunding

By Michael Roberts

In Colorado, which has an extremely healthy economy but ranks 42nd in educational funding per pupil, teachers such as Stuart Sanks are increasingly turning to online crowdsourcing and benefit events to pay for school supplies or student extracurricular activities. And that’s not to mention how often they’re reaching into their own pockets to make sure the kids they teach are getting the scholastic opportunities they deserve, whether they’re part of a comparatively wealthy demographic or not.

Why Frustrated Denver House Hunters May Finally Be About to Get Lucky

By Michael Roberts

Denver’s housing market has been red hot for the past few years, with buyers of more modest means often finding themselves priced out of properties thanks to bidding wars that routinely generate over-list offers. But as indicated by the presence of a “Price Reduced” sign on a home in a sought-after part of Centennial, as seen in the photo above, this situation may finally be about to change.