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“My family and I have been getting harassed by police officers since I can remember,” Denver resident Paul Lopez told Denver police chief Gerry Whitman during a March 10 meeting. It was one of the few moments of passion in what was a restrained gathering at police headquarters between department…

It’s lights out for the Denver Repertory Theatre Company’s new space, an 18,000-square-foot warehouse at 2162 Market Street that David and Bonnie Riley leased last November with the idea of putting in two theaters, artist studios and a coffee shop. Unfortunately, a neighbor had something else in mind. Last month,…

Look, we all know it’s going to happen. Pretending that it won’t isn’t going to make it go away. And shrieking hostile racist threats whenever anyone brings it up isn’t helping, either. You’ve really got to stop doing that. Whether we like it or not, Denver Public Schools superintendent Jerry…

Channel 9 executive producer Nicole Vap, who oversees her station’s investigative teams, says that when Denver-area reporters talk shop, one of the first things they complain about is access to public records — and earlier this year, she switched from griping to taking action. Vap teamed with Channel 4’s Brian…

Putting the Public on Notice Land sakes: Surely no one is surprised at the content of “Grazin’ Hell,” Alan Prendergast’s article in the April 7 issue. It’s all too drearily familiar in today’s political climate. The very word “public” puts an institution in the crosshairs of the current batch of…

Taking the oath of office can be a solemn moment in the life of a public servant. For William G. Myers III, a longtime lobbyist for grazing and mining interests, the occasion was an excuse for a corporate bash. On October 4, 2001, Myers attended a reception in his honor…

A promotional postcard for this year’s Starz Denver Pan African Film Festival features a thuggish-looking white boy with headphones around his neck. Clad head to toe in hip-hop garb, he is a sign of the urban style that is ubiquitous not only in high schools, shopping malls and playgrounds across…

Jim Dahl had a drunken dream. A dream to organize the biggest pub crawl ever — and then hold it along Colfax Avenue, Denver’s most liquid asset. “There are a lot of new bars that have opened and that are doing well,” says Dahl, whose day job is with a…

Growing up, most kids played some variation of Butt Ball. Though decidedly gay-porno-sounding in retrospect, the game was pretty innocent, even if it did fixate on players’ asses. Not sexually, though: The goal was simply to inflict the most pain possible. It was fun, people. Damned fun. Kids would gather…

Do you know that a civil war has been raging in the African nation of Uganda since 1988? Are you familiar with the Lord’s Resistance Army, a rebel militia that restocks its depleted ranks by kidnapping Ugandan children — approximately 20,000 of them over the past decade-plus? Have you heard…

Last Writes The easy way out: Thanks to Michael Roberts for “Death Wish,” his Message in the March 31 issue. I hate almost every take on Hunter Thompson’s death that I’ve read. He’s no hero for his final act. This was one last pimp — only to the whole world…

As we know, theres no crying in baseball. No crying when the first six batters all smash ropes off you and by the bottom of the second, your earned-run average looks like the dinner tab at Mortons. No crying when the left-field bleachers are so sparsely populated you can hear…

“And this is the Black Lung,” said Mrs. Carlson, brushing that same invisible strand of hair from her face. We were in sixth-grade science class, had just finished the filmstrip series Happy Hormones and You and were headed toward the dreaded book-on-cassette Ann Landers Talks Teen. But first we had…

What you need to know up front about Jack the monkey is that he doesn’t instantly get along with everyone he meets. Like many people, really, Jack needs to spend a little time with you before you truly earn his trust. Perhaps Jack’s owner should have considered this before he…

In academia, the rule has always been “publish or perish.” Or, if your name is Ward Churchill, publish — then perish. Institutions of higher education wish to appear as esteemed as possible in the public eye, so they demand results from the people they employ. You want tenure, professors? Then…

In an essay in the hagiographic March 24 issue of Rolling Stone devoted to Hunter S. Thompson, director Bob Rafelson wrote of seeing Thompson’s body before it was removed from the author’s Woody Creek home following his February 20 suicide. Afterward, Rafelson’s wife asked how Thompson looked. “Surprised,” he replied…

It Was the Best of Times… Readers’ digest: Always enjoy your Best of Denver issue — discovering new places to eat, people-watch, shop, etc. Almost as enjoyable is reading the readers’ choices. A few always stun me, and this year is no exception: 1) Best Hair on a Media Personality…

A cheerleader in her black, gray and white uniform was talking with a gangster in blue behind Montbello High School one afternoon last September. The girl, Janeisha Lewis, had a solid GPA and a goal of joining the Navy; she carried her pom-poms in a duffel bag over her shoulder…

When staffers go through the Ski Train at the end of each run from Winter Park to Union Station, they find backpacks, boots and cell phones. Lots of cell phones. “And everyone has ‘Mom’ programmed in,” says Jim Bain, Ski Train president and CEO. “So don’t lose your phone, because…

Ben Kronberg knew something was up when nobody would let him go to the gym. His brother was hanging out at his apartment, as was the twin sister of his girlfriend, photographer Anna Newell, and they were adamant that he not work out. “I didn’t know what their problem was,”…