Author

Showing 4467 - 4488 of 24708

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

Claim: Christopher Colbruno’s Naked March Led to Denver Sheriff’s Coverup

By Michael Roberts

A new lawsuit claims that the decision by Denver Sheriff Department personnel to march Christopher Colbruno naked into Denver Health violated his basic rights as a human being. The suit is the second to be pressed over the matter, after a filing from a civilian investigator who said he was fired by the DSD, which has been accused of failing to report some complaints about the treatment of inmates, in part because he refused to destroy video of the incident.

TABOR, the Amendment That Won’t Die, Staves Off Doom Again

By Michael Roberts

The Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, which requires tax increases to be okayed by popular vote, was approved in 1992, meaning that it’s been in place for nearly a quarter-century and a pain in the neck to legislators for the same amount of time. Six years ago, a coalition of lawmakers and other notables filed suit in federal court to overturn it. But their efforts have been stymied again, this time by a U.S. District Court ruling that says the plaintiffs don’t have standing to have brought the suit in the first place.

Jamaal Edwards’s Mixed Verdict in Double Killing, Claimed Role of Acid

By Michael Roberts

Jamaal Edwards, who was charged with two counts of first degree murder after a double murder in January 2015, has been found guilty of a lesser charge in one of the deaths. In the second slaying, the jury failed to reach a verdict, resulting in a mistrial. A new trial has been ordered in the latter case, which took place amid an ugly incident that Edwards is quoted as summing up with the two-word phrase, “Shit happened.”

What Denver Renters Love and Hate Most About Living in the Mile High City

By Michael Roberts

The new Denver Renter Confidence Survey from ApartmentList.com reveals that most local renters give the Mile High City excellent marks, placing it among the most highly rated large cities in the country. But there are warning signs in the findings, including great discontent with high rent costs and other daily expenses, as discussed in our recent post “Why It’s So Hard to Make a Living in Denver Despite Strong Economy.”

Eli Stokols About Reporting on a White House Where Truth Is Optional

By Michael Roberts

Former Denver reporter Eli Stokols left Fox31 in favor of Politico in early 2015, and since then, he’s seen his star rise on the national journalism stage. He was recently named a White House reporter for the Wall Street Journal, and from this high-profile position, he has a closeup view of the Trump administration, for better or worse.

Why DPS Sent Warning About Netflix Suicide Show 13 Reasons Why

By Michael Roberts

Denver Public Schools has sent a letter to parents about 13 Reasons Why, a Netflix series about a high school student who leaves behind audio recordings that explain her reasons for committing suicide. The district’s decision was based in part on a subject of the show’s final tape, a school counselor who essentially brushes off the student’s revelation that she’s been raped. Shortly thereafter, the student takes her own life.

Denver Has Many More Real Estate Agents Than Real Estate Listings

By Michael Roberts

Experts suggest that the number of real-estate listings in Denver’s red-hot housing market is at an all-time low. But there’s no shortage of real-estate agents looking to sell those homes. Right now, there are more agents than there are properties on the market in Denver, and perhaps as many as ten times more.

Why It Took Seven Years for Cesar Reyes-Marquez to Pay for Deadly Triple Shooting

By Michael Roberts

Cesar Reyes-Marquez has now been found guilty a second time for killing Servando Morelos-Avila nearly seven years ago. The long delay occurred because the first judgment was tossed out over improper jury instructions. The result was a second trial, during which Reyes-Marquez was convicted of similar charges stemming from a fight that spun out of control, with at least two other people winding up seriously injured.

Arturo Hernandez Garcia Temporarily Freed After ICE Detention: New Hope?

By Michael Roberts

Last night, May 2, Arturo Hernandez Garcia, a Mexican immigrant and former sanctuary seeker who was detained on April 26 by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, received a temporary reprieve that will allow him to attend his daughter’s graduation from high school. During this brief period of freedom, his attorney hopes to convince an appeals court to take another look at his case, which his supporters see as representing everything that’s wrong and unjust about the current U.S. immigration system.

Denver Cruisers to Replace Iconic Weekly Rides With Monthly Events

By Michael Roberts

Since its founding in 2005, the Denver Cruiser Ride has sponsored bicycle rides in the Mile High City that doubled as rolling costume parties every Wednesday throughout the summer. But for 2017, DCR founder Brad Evans has announced that the weekly rides will be replaced with five monthly events. In the meantime, he’s launching two new projects: Bike City, a cycling advocacy group, and happy hour meetups called City Spark that he sees as a way to bring together veteran Cruisers, longtime residents and folks who’ve just moved to the area to build a larger and more cohesive community.

Recalling Kevin Edwards, 14th to Die After Colorado Ski Resort Accident This Season

By Michael Roberts

Kevin Edwards, a 59 year old from Boulder, has been identified as the man who died at Loveland Ski Area on April 28. Edwards, the fourteenth person to die as the result of an accident at a Colorado ski resort during the 2016-17 season, was a devoted athlete whose last Facebook post, shared five days before his death, testified to his love of the activity he was enjoying when he lost his life.

New Kelsie Schelling Search: Police Dig Up Field Near Former Home of Ex-BF

By Michael Roberts

Less than a month after excavating the backyard of a Pueblo home once occupied by the former boyfriend of Kelsie Schelling, a Denver woman who disappeared in February 2013 soon after she learned she was pregnant, police used heavy equipment to dig up portions of a field not far from the residence as part of a reinvigorated search effort. No new evidence was unearthed, but a recent post on the Help Find Kelsie Facebook page suggests that Schelling’s loved ones believe an arrest could be in the offing.

Colorado Film Incentive Money Slashed: “We Won’t Be Able to Compete”

By Michael Roberts

The $3 million budget for incentive money to lure filmmakers to Colorado, which had been marked for elimination in March, has instead been slashed to $750,000. Colorado Film Commissioner Donald Zuckerman, who argued in this space for the $3 million figure to be increased last October, is relieved that some money remains for the program. But he sees little chance of attracting big Hollywood productions to the state for the next year as a result of this development.

Season’s First Colorado Drowning? Man Dead in Commercial Rafting Accident

By Michael Roberts

What appears to be the first fatal accident on a Colorado waterway during the 2017 season happened yesterday, April 30. The thus-far-unidentified victim was a man taking part in a commercial rafting trip on the Arkansas River. The casualty is the first of its kind to have taken place in April over the past three years, a period that’s been particularly deadly in Colorado.

Garett Bolles, Broncos’ Number-One Draft Pick: Biggest Risk Since Tim Tebow?

By Michael Roberts

The Denver Broncos’ selection of Utah tackle Garett Bolles with the twentieth pick in last night’s NFL Draft is the squad’s riskiest first-round choice since Tim Tebow in 2010. Like Tebow, Bolles is getting great reviews as a person. But the notices are much more scattered when it comes to his skills as a player, especially one who’ll be able to contribute right away.

Carfentanil: How Elephant Tranquilizer Is Tied to Colorado Heroin Deaths

By Michael Roberts

Carfentanil, an extremely powerful synthetic opioid best known as an elephant tranquilizer, has been linked to two heroin-related deaths in Colorado. But a local expert on addiction who’s recently helped treat patients who’ve used the substance says it could have played a role in even more fatal overdoses, thereby quietly contributing to the shocking rise of heroin deaths in Denver and Colorado as a whole.