Stephen Labowskie figured it was going to be a pretty good day. It was June 14 when Labowskie and other early arrivals were to begin converging on the Telluride Bluegrass Festival 2000, a four-day picking marathon that was expected to draw 10,000 music fans per day. Like many festivalgoers, Labowskie,…
With books and videotapes overflowing from shelves in his small Uptown office, the pursuit of education is one of Jerry Stevens’s defining characteristics. An attorney with an active practice, he’s now completing a master’s degree in psychology; his thesis is on the recovery of the soul in the wilderness. He…
Denver’s State of the City address came early this year — but not because Mayor Wellington Webb wanted to get it out of the way before he announces whether he’s running for U.S. Senate. No, Webb had determined months ago that June 18 was the perfect date to deliver his…
The media mega-conglomerate Clear Channel has always been combative. But the bigger the company gets (at present, the firm owns approximately 1,200 stations nationwide, including eight of the most powerful signals in Denver), the more eager it seems to play rough. The San Antonio, Texas, giant was blasted in two…
But the one thing that O’Neal cannot do to save his life is shoot foul shots. While most professional players can make around 80 percent of their free throws — and some sink 90 percent or more — O’Neal is lucky to make half of his chances. This lousy record…
Trickle-Down Economics Liquid assets: Regarding David Holthouse’s “Toast of the Town,” in the June 14 issue: I have friends who have worked at Denver C.A.R.E.S., so I know all about the place. Make no mistake: Its only purpose is to warehouse drunks so they won’t offend business and moral sensibilities…
Sunday morning, coming down, Charles Caesar raises the dusty left cuff of his blue jeans to show off the burn scar on his leg. “Passed out on a steam grate,” he explains. Caesar is 43, homeless, and addicted to alcohol. “People look at me and think ‘drunk Indian.’ Really, I’m…
On the dais above a silent Jefferson County courtroom, Judge Frank Plaut cleared his throat. He was well aware that he was about to make Colorado history by handing down the first sentence from a three-judge panel in a death-penalty case. The other judges sat on either side, gazing solemnly…
For six years, local landscaper and gardening writer John Starnes has been leading summer tours of Fairmount Cemetery, a green thumb’s paradise with 75 varieties of roses. The tours were always presented through the Denver Botanic Gardens, which offers numerous quarterly classes and programs. But this year, after confused rosarians…
The Denver cops had their hands full Saturday night as drunk and happy fans of the Stanley Cup-winning Colorado Avalanche poured into LoDo for a night of car-stomping fun. Things got a little unruly, though, and at certain points, the city’s finest no doubt felt as though they were caught…
The most immediate effects of the joint operating agreement between the Denver Post and the Rocky Mountain News — fewer weekend papers, increased advertising and subscription rates, etc. — have been well documented. But there’s been other fallout as well, and in some unexpected arenas. Consider the following examples, which…
Race drivers combine the sleek daring of matadors with the bullheaded resolve of interior linemen. The average leadfoot would run his grandmother’s old Studebaker into a ditch if it meant getting to a checkered flag first. Race drivers don’t put much stock in sentiment; they’re going too fast to think…
The Purrfect Crime Where there’s smoke, there’s ire: I’ve got a great idea. Let’s get a gallon of gasoline (we’ll all pitch in) and some matches, and let’s light Kenny Be on fire. We’ll call it the Kenny Be-B-Q. Westword thought that burning a cat was so funny, let’s watch…
The three judges entered the Denver courtroom crowded with public defenders, prosecutors, death-penalty activists and friends and family of the victim. They had all gathered this March morning to hear if Donta Page would be sentenced to die for the murder of Peyton Tuthill. The crime was brutal. Page had…
It began, as all marriages must, with trust and hope, and ended, as all too many do, in resentment and suspicion. Their story begins in 1983, when Ron and Anne met through a mutual friend in college and agreed to go out on a date. “We didn’t see eye to…
Ann Schneider has worked for Xcel Energy for 27 years, and she remembers the days when the company once known as Public Service was both a good employer and a dependable provider of gas and electricity. Workers at the Denver-based utility would stay on for decades, confident that they had…
Baring some skin for the cause of animal rights two weeks ago, Cynthia Lieberman, a Denver resident and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals volunteer, showed up in a cage in Shreveport, Louisiana — where the Ringling Bros. circus was about to hit town — wearing nothing but a…
Newspaper lore is filled with tales of grizzled reporters whose wealth of experience and seen-it-all demeanor endear them to readers and colleagues alike. But such anecdotes will likely be in short supply at the Boulder Daily Camera if a new buyout proposal targeting employees over fifty — without regard to…
The Master Race World-class or world clash? As a fan of hip-hop and someone who works with youth in Denver, I thank Todd Witcher for “After the Fall,” his excellent story in the May 31 issue on Mix Master Mike and discrimination against the city’s hip-hop community by the police,…
The white wood house at 1795 Quince Avenue in north Boulder used to be a hive of activity. Young children came to visit their grandparents. Florists made stops there on birthdays and Mother’s Day and Easter. Doctors and massage therapists, community volunteers and musicians all came and went. The home,…
“I feel that the state of Colorado is trying to ban hip-hop, for obvious reasons,” began Mix Master Mike Brown, resting his large hands on the table. “They want it to go away.” The obvious reasons, explained the DJ and promoter, were these: Denver-area officials didn’t want huge crowds of…
Over the last decade, dozens of small brick bungalows in the Cherry Creek North neighborhood have been torn down to make way for expensive townhomes with faux European facades, and residents have gotten used to seeing entire blocks transformed every few weeks. While some regret the changes, everyone agrees that…
