16th Street Mall is no party, says one critic

The 16th Street Mall turned thirty yesterday, and it’s looking better than it has in years, with the best yet to come as work continues on the Union Station project. The mall’s official birthday celebration will be Tuesday at Skyline Park — but some critics won’t be coming to the…

Reader: Who leaked the Romney/Rosa Linda story to Westword?

I stopped by Rosa Linda’s Mexican Cafe last night, and the place was packed. Packed full of TV cameras, full of people who’d heard about the controversy that erupted after Cafe Society first reported that the family that owns the restaurant had declined to let Romney supporters use their place…

Reader: Beware overeager petitioners on the 16th Street Mall

The 16th Street Mall turned thirty yesterday, and the city will be marking the occasion with a celebration at 11:30 a.m. next Tuesday at Skyline park. In the meantime, we headed downtown to do our own mall crawl, and offer stories along the way. Readers contributed their own insights on…

Reader: Aguirre family at Rosa Linda’s are true Americans

An artist who lived in northwest Denver clued me in to the little storefront burrito joint that had just opened in his neighborhood in northwest Denver, a spot decades away from being tagged with the nickname “LoHi” or labeled a “hippest hipster neighborhood” by Forbes. I’ve been eating at Rosa…

Reader: Does this Saran Wrap make my butt look big?

Governor John Hickenlooper has declared this first week of October “Colorado Fashion Week,” but judging from the response to one photo in our slide show of Colorado-created fashion, one designer needs to go back to the drawing board…or the kitchen cupboard… See also: – Colorado Fashion Week: Behind the Scenes…

Presidential debate winner: The University of Denver

No matter how the presidential candidates do in tonight’s debate — whether Mitt Romney continues to do his imitation of Bert on Sesame Street or Barack Obama trips over his teleprompter — a clear winner has already emerged: The University of Denver…

Reader: Romney visits Chipotle to support Latinos? Gotcha

Campaigning in Colorado yesterday in advance of his appearance at tonight’s debate at the University of Denver, Mitt Romney stopped at the Chipotle in Stapleton — where he ordered extra guac with his burrito. He also got a side of sarcasm from our readers. – See also: Photo: Mitt Romney…

Reader: Big Blue Bear and the dancing stick figures should go!

Just in time for Denver’s closeup in the international press, “I See What You Mean,” aka the Big Blue Bear, has gotten a facelift. But by simply sprucing up the sculpture outside of the Colorado Convention Center, Denver missed a bet. So last week, we offered up several more meaningful…

Now Showing: Adam Gildar gets straight to the art

For Now Showing, our fall arts guide inserted in the September 27 issue of Westword, we asked dozens of luminaries on the local arts scene — including winners of the Westword MasterMind awards — to take a survey about the state of the arts. We published many of the responses…

Walmart debate should make presidential debate look like chit-chat

The presidential debate won’t be at University of Denver until tomorrow night, but the great debate is already raging in Denver: Does a Walmart belong in the development going in the former University of Colorado property at Ninth and Colorado? And if it does, should it benefit from tax-increment financing?…

Reader: Beers for Romney? Never mind. Ale to the chief!

President Barack Obama has been drinking beer on the campaign trail, trying to convince undecided voters that he’s a regular guy. In 2008 Obama got branded a wine-slurper, but he’s got a distinct alcoholic advantage in this year’s race against teetotaling Mormon Mitt Romney. But as Jonathan Shikes notes, Obama…

Reader: Don’t reopen Century 16, the “thug theatre”

Should Aurora’s Century 16, the complex that includes the theater where thirteen people were shot to death on July 20, reopen? That’s what Cinemark, the owner, has decided to do, and when the City of Aurora posted a survey on Facebook asking what should be done with the complex, the…

Gaylord Entertainment officially checks out: Bye-bye, Aurora

Six months ago Gaylord Entertainment Co. made its case to Colorado, explaining why a proposed 1,500-room, $824 hotel/resort/convention complex in Aurora was a good deal — good enough to justify the state offering big tax incentives. Today, the company that made that pitch no longer exists…