Colorado is having a tough time. The ramifications of widespread wildfires and the Aurora theater shooting are still coming into focus, and many questions won’t be answered for months. But we’re not going anywhere. In Westword’s annual attempt to chronicle on paper — to count the ways, if you will…
CU-Boulder has spent a lot of time and effort trying to ditch its party-school reputation — by, for example, cracking down on the annual 4/20 celebration this year. Nonetheless, Newsweek has just placed the university third on its new party-school list, using unusual criteria: the number of arrests and disciplinary…
From purple mountains majesty to amber waves of beer to 300 days of sunshine per year, there’s a lot to love about Colorado…even this summer, the most trying in recent memory. No sooner had we recovered from killer cantaloupes than the state faced crippling droughts. Then came the fires, which…
“Catch Him If You Can,” Kelsey Whipple, July 26 Place Your Vets Thanks for your coverage of Mr. Stolen Valor Himself. I’ll bet I’m not the only veteran of military service (Vietnam, in my case) who finds this issue painful to read about, but one which nonetheless needs all the exposure it…
Last spring, the Scarlet Ranch swingers club closed up shop at 424 Broadway in Denver and moved to meatier digs: the former Northwoods Inn steakhouse in Littleton, an 18,000-square-foot log cabin-esque retreat on several acres of “beautifully manicured landscape.” A year later, owner Kendall Seifert reports that the massive facility…
Sugar rush: You won’t find too many alternative lifestyles at Masterpiece Cakeshop, meanwhile. An online petition condemning the Lakewood bakery for its policy of not working with gay weddings garnered well over 4,000 signatures. And last weekend, for the second Saturday in a row, protesters gathered outside the store in…
If Barack Obama wins Colorado, he’ll win the election. That’s what the president said today in a campaign stop in Denver — and based on the focus of his speech, it’s clear that his campaign believes women’s issues are a key component of the battle to secure votes in this…
Denver blog posts are feeling pretty good about themselves. Predominantly Orange’s Kim Constantinesco notes that Peyton Manning likely won’t play beyond the first quarter in tomorrow’s game against the Bears, whether he missed last season or not. Mile High Mamas’ Amber Johnson offers 11 budget-friendly back-to-school shopping tips every parent…
In Grand Junction circa mid July, advocates for Amendment 64, the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act, launched an electronic billboard message featuring televangelist Pat Robertson, who’d spoken positively about the measure. Robertson subsequently asked that the message be removed, so it’s now been changed to feature an even more famous…
The tension between state medical marijuana laws, which allow patient use, and federal regulations that criminalize all pot has existed for years, with occasional court rulings — like the 2011 conviction of Highlands Ranch MMJ grower Chris Bartkowicz — touching on the contradiction. But a just-issued decision in Arapahoe County…
A week after Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney brought his campaign to Jefferson County, President Barack Obama is making stops in Colorado, highlighting the importance of this key swing state. Today, thousands of supporters filed into the Auraria Event Center to hear Obama speak, which he’s scheduled to do moments…
In the wake of the Aurora theater shooting, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals canceled a Denver protest in deference to the victims. But now, PETA has made the tragedy the centerpiece of a new PR blitz. The organization has written a letter to the Arapahoe County Sheriff Office…
In June, as concerns about gun violence cropped up in the wake of several high-profile shootings, state Senator Michael Johnston co-hosted a meeting at the northeast Park Hill office space he shares with the Prodigal Son Initiative, an anti-gang organization. The attendees, which included city officials, youth nonprofit leaders and…
It’s been a tough few months for Colorado, and homestate heroes Matt Stone and Trey Parker know it. On Tuesday, the South Park creators talked to press at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House about their latest success, the hugely popular and distinctly brazen comic musical The Book of Mormon, which…
Earlier this week, we noted that an Aurora theater shooting joke told by Jeffrey Ross, a yukster participating in a roast of ex-Denverite Roseanne Barr, wouldn’t be part of the Comedy Central broadcast this weekend. Such attempts at mining humor from the tragedy have been ripped in most corners. But…
Last February, when Amendment 64, the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act, was approved for the November ballot, backers of several other pot-related measures, including Initiative 70, Legalize2012’s proposal and the Relief for the Possession of Cannabis Act, were trying to duplicate this feat. But at the Monday deadline set by…
After speaking in Denver today, President Barack Obama will fly to the Western Slope for a campaign event at Grand Junction High School — my alma mater! And if he looks out his window en route, he just might see the crop design pictured above. Who’s responsible for this bit…
While the state and country cope with the Aurora theater shooting, many have come together to aid the victims and their families. But others have turned their attentions in a completely different direction. Recently, a string of public, poorly timed jokes has attracted national attention for targeting the tragedy with…
This morning, headlines are screaming about the New York City Police aiming a subpoena at Twitter in regard to tweets about launching an Aurora-theater-shooting-like attack on a Broadway theater. But little of the coverage I’ve seen has given a complete context of the alleged threat from the @obamamistress account, which…
When Colorado Senator Michael Bennet defeated Republican challenger Ken Buck in the 2010 U.S. Senate race, observers were surprised — but they also saw in Bennet’s approach a potential template that might be applied elsewhere. Last night, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow outlined the concept, pointing out in a segment on view…
Last month, Denver Broncos star defender Elvis Dumervil was arrested in Miami after what was portrayed as an armed road-rage incident. Dumervil responded by retaining the legal services of Harvey Steinberg, an attorney with a seemingly magic touch when it comes to getting pro footballers out of trouble — and…
Since James Holmes fired shots into a movie theater in Aurora, killing twelve people, politicians across the country have launched heated debates about gun control. Now, Representative Diana DeGette has entered the fray with proposed legislation that she says could help prevent this kind of tragedy in the future. The…
