In Colorado, degenerate urbanites are used to letting our mountain towns take the lead when it comes to killjoy environmental reforms, such as restricting the use of gas grills or parking spaces. So it figures that the green-leaning town of Basalt is proposing to get tough on plastic bag sinners…
Back in the lock-em-up frenzy of the 1990s, overcrowded state prison systems relied heavily on the emerging private prison industry to handle their excess inmates. Now that state prison populations are falling, you might expect the private sector to be taking a few hits, too — but guess again. For…
It’s safe to say the auction exceeded expectations. The only known photograph of William McCarty, alias Billy the Kid, was expected to draw bids around $400,000 over the weekend at Brian Lebel’s Old West Show & Auction in Denver. Instead, it went for a jaw-dropping $2 million to oilman and…
Update: Frontier Airlines has just announced that pilots have approved a cost-saving agreement, with 89.6 percent offering their approval. That’s not the end of the austerity plan, but in a statement, Frontier CEO Bryan Bedford says the carrier is more than halfway toward its “profitability improvement goal” of $120 million…
When sports celebrities leave Denver, they also need to unload some high-end real estate, and not always at a profit: Recently, Carmelo Anthony lost $6 million on his mansion’s sale. No doubt fired Broncos coach Josh McDaniels is hoping to avoid a similar fate with his former abode, a lovely…
Call it a big fat coincidence, but days after Rep. Doug Lamborn backed off his efforts to cut funding for renewable energy research, Golden’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory has unveiled a colorful online magazine promoting the practical applications of its work. Now Lamborn can read about all the alleged boondoggles…
Update below: KMGH-TV, better known as 7News, is on the block — and so are Azteca America affiliates in Denver, Fort Collins and Colorado Springs, according to an announcement by McGraw-Hill, the stations’ parent company. Officially, the move is part of a “portfolio review” — but the real reason likely…
William Blake saw heaven in a wildflower. The energy industry sees nothing but trouble. Last week, a federal judge in Denver ruled that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision not to declare an obscure plant as endangered was “arbitrary and capricious” — a ruling that could have far-reaching implications…
Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking” — pumping massive amounts of water mixed with toxic chemicals into tight formations to extract oil and gas — remains a sore subject among environmentalists, neighbors of drilling rigs and some lawmakers, even as energy industry boosters insist it’s safe…
Back in 2009, we reported about the impending opening of a Tesla Motors outlet in Boulder, just in time for local shoppers to get a reported $42,000 tax credit for buying one of the sleek electric cars. Thank you, America! But less than two years later, the outlet — which…
There are two revolving doors in every prison system. One is for the inmates, many of whom fail on parole and keep coming back. The other is reserved for top administrators who, even amid scandal, move easily from high-powered positions of public trust to high-paid jobs in the private prison…
The Scarlet Ranch swingers club has revealed its new location, and it’s a meaty one: the former Northwoods Inn steakhouse in Littleton, as first reported on our Cafe Society blog. The launch is tonight and the grand opening party — nicknamed The Hunt for Ranch IV — is tomorrow. It’s…
A delegation from Bent County and Governor John Hickenlooper’s office went to Washington this week in an effort to interest the federal government in “repurposing” the Fort Lyon Correctional Facility, a remote and troubled state prison on the eastern plains that’s scheduled to close next year as part of the…
At the very least, the recent ragtag assembly of Colorado tourist-attraction mascots at the Discover Colorado Rally proved that the snuggly symbols of the state’s travel industry are out of touch with reality. To appeal to today’s cash-strapped consumer, Colorado needs truthier travel mascots…..
Update: Two weeks ago, we told you that the Scarlet Ranch swingers club is moving from 424 Broadway in Denver to a secret location. And while owner Kendall Seifert is still mum about where it’s heading, he has released some details. An e-mail to members revealed that the new facility…
A year after being chastised for being too hasty in opening up offshore oil leases for exploration, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar was fielding questions from former colleagues in the Senate about why the administration isn’t issuing more drilling permits to boost domestic production. But Salazar defended the administration’s…
The Department of the Interior’s Office of Natural Resources Revenue recently announced that Shell Oil and related companies have agreed to pay the goverment $2.2 million to resolve claims that the companies underpaid royalties from natural gas wells on federal and Indian tribal lands. Barely mentioned, though, is how this…
Yesterday, Campaign for a Healthy Denver launched what it’s calling the 2011 Denver Paid Sick Days Initiative, which would mandate paid sick days for all non-governmental workers in Denver, be they full-time or part-time employees. But given the state of the economy, isn’t this a terrible time to introduce such…
As we reported yesterday, downtown Denver will finally get a full-service grocery store thanks to a new development at 20th Street and Chestnut Place. But other than hints that it will be a “national brand,” there’s no word yet as to which grocery store we’re gonna get. Here are ten…
Dramatic statements don’t come cheap, but what Denver needs may be less drama. After spending upwards of $40 million in the past few years imagining — make that “visioning” — a great makeover, DIA manager Kim Day has decided the city really can’t afford the “signature” designer bridge proposed by…
Urban grocery shoppers rejoice! In two years, Denver will finally boast a full-service grocery store in the heart of downtown. The mixed-use project, first reported by the DenverInfill blog, will be located at 20th Street and Chestnut Place, two blocks from Union Station, and will be helmed by the Nichols…
This past weekend, my twin daughters had planned to visit our neighborhood mall, Southwest Plaza, to shop for prom shoes. But after being locked down at Chatfield High School on April 20, the twelfth anniversary of the shootings at nearby Columbine High School, due to a bombing attempt, allegedly by…
