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part 2 of 2 Tom Tancredo has been stirring the political pot in Colorado for two decades. In the Seventies, he and other freshman legislators who hated environmental laws and other government mandates were dubbed the “House Crazies.” They were successful in installing a new speaker, rancher Bob Burford. When…

It is autumn in northwest Denver, and the smell of roasting green chile is why. From now until the first frost, the fragrance will hit you as you drive down Federal Boulevard, past the hand-lettered signs with neon green letters reading: HATCH/PUEBLO CHILI! FREE ROASTING! At least fifty two-bushel burlap…

part 1 of 2 In the midst of a mind-numbing ramble about the Founding Fathers, lecturer Marty Nalitz finally said something worth remembering: “Every one of those guys was a right-wing, Bible-thumping fundamentalist!” Nalitz, whose real job is hosting talk radio on the nationwide USA Patriot Network, was preaching to…

Continental divide: There was good news–and bad–coming from the Yellowstone Regional Airport outside Cody, Wyoming, last week. In order to ensure that Continental Airlines continued to provide daily jet service to the area, the airport had agreed to provide a “revenue guarantee” for the airline. Last year that guarantee amounted…

The young man sitting in the downtown coffeeshop pulled the newspaper clipping out of his schoolbook. The dominant article on the page reported that the 50,000 hikers a year who climb Colorado’s 54 peaks over 14,000 feet–commonly called Fourteeners–were seriously damaging plants and soil. A much smaller article next to…

Denver mayor Wellington Webb has gone to court to force his 32-year-old son to get treatment for apparently long-standing addictions to alcohol and cocaine. Recently, the mayor asked Denver Probate Judge Field C. Benton to place Allen Wayne Webb in the custody of the alcohol and drug abuse division of…

Douglas Clark, a military doctor at Fitzsimons Army Medical Center in Aurora, is facing criminal charges and a court-martial as a result of sexual harassment accusations brought forth by a female civilian radiation therapist. Army officials are now considering a request by Clark to resign from the service rather than…

Georgia on My Mind Regarding Steve Jackson’s “Denver or Busted,” in the September 14 issue: Georgia Caven makes you feel special at a time when you really know you’re all alone. With all the people she sees and all the complex cases she deals with, it’s like you’re just one…

The way Denver city councilman Ted Hackworth sees it, there were lots of good, sound ways the parks and recreation department could have found to spend $73,500. For instance, the financially strapped city department might have used the money to buy new equipment like basketballs and volleyball nets. Or it…

part 1 of 2 The red light on her answering machine was blinking frantically when Georgia Caven walked into the living room of her Lakewood home. She pressed the button. “Georgia, this is Adam. I need to speak to you. Call me when you get in.” It was the voice…

part 2 of 2 For all Georgia’s boundless patience and energy, there was one type of patient she couldn’t warm up to. In the early Eighties DGH had begun seeing its first people with what the medical communities on the East and West coasts were calling the “gay disease.” By…

No population bomb: Governor Roy Romer says he had no idea that challenger Bruce Benson would drop the bomb during their first debate last week about his two DUI arrests. If so, the shirt-sleeved Romer–whose jacket was off, if not his gloves–was sure quick with a comeback. After Benson concluded…

We’ll Drink to That Wow! Your August 31 edition should have carried a warning, something like: Read only while sitting down, preferably with something to soothe the nerves at, or even better, in hand. First, the story on MarkAir (Andy Van De Voorde’s “By the Seat of Their Pants”), which…

Florence Nixon moved from Aurora to Sequim, Washington, eight years ago. Her husband, a retired Air Force major, was ready for adventure. The new house was beautiful, and they also owned a state-of-the-art motor home. Children and friends visited often. Yet Florence was desperate. “Some friends were leaving to go…

The tiny city of Glendale, just off Colorado Boulevard, has long been known for skin clubs Shotgun Willie’s and Mile High Saloon. But last week it came down hard on a rock club where a performing musician did a three-song set wearing nothing but his bass. Alibi’s, a bar and…

Denver mayor Wellington Webb has defended his decision to locate a detention center for juvenile curfew violators in upscale Washington Park by saying federal funding could be jeopardized if his SafeNite After Curfew program doesn’t run “city-wide.” But the federal community development block grant that so far is the program’s…

Nearly two years after Denver Community Television (DCTV) refused to air one of his gay-themed programs, videographer Tony Palange has won a major court victory. In late August district court judge Richard Spriggs ruled that DCTV and the City and County of Denver improperly engaged in censorship. To David Miller,…

part 2 of 2 It’s the noon hour at a nearby restaurant, and Bob Sylvester is trying to nab a bite or two of his chicken sandwich while offering an ex-con’s appraisal of Bruce Benson’s crime plan. The sandwich can’t compete; it sits there, cold and forlorn, while Sylvester expounds…

part 1 of 2 Are tattoos a problem? Maybe not for Drew Barrymore or some teenage goof scooping frozen yogurt down at the mall. But they haven’t spent nine and a half years in the joint, in a sea of tattoos, like Roy has. “It’s hard not to feel funny…

part 1 of 2 To many people, Dennis Lamothe would seem to pose an unacceptable risk. For starters, on this scorching Saturday morning he is busy loading three solid-propellant motors inside his very large–two stories high, 350 pounds–homemade rocket. The motors are encased in shiny aluminum tubes. They weigh about…