Update:Information is still scarce in a fatal shooting at the Wise Harris Arms apartments on Saturday. Now, however, we know the name of the victim — Marvin Smith, 33 — and the basic circumstances of his death, which became official shortly after he was transported to Denver Health with a…
Update: Easley responds to DeFENSE Denver below our original item. DeFENSE Denver, a self-described coalition of parents, students and educators, is one of the forces behind the recent recall attempt of Denver Public Schools board president Nate Easley. And the group has not taken kindly to the Denver Post calling…
Last week, Westword detailed how nineteen-year-old college student Alex Landau was beaten bloody by three Denver police officers — Randy Murr, Tiffany Middleton and Ricky Nixon — after being pulled over for an illegal left turn in January 2009. As first reported by West Denver Copwatch, it turns out one…
A New York team has won a unique international competition to design a special bridge for wildlife crossing I-70 west of Vail Pass, the first structure of its kind ever proposed for the United States. The winners, HNTB with Michael Van Valkenburgh and Associates, will take home a prize of…
Welcome to another collection of Denver blog posts. Mile High Report’s Sayre Bedinger weighs top collegiate talent heading into the NFL draft, including Nick Fairley, Da’Quan Bowers and Marcell Dareus. But Bedinger thinks LSU’s Patrick Peterson may be the best athlete available. Denver Egotist: JoyEngine is dead, but cypher13 lives…
At first, even Colorado’s reps weren’t sold on Senator Mark Udall’s idea about Republicans and Democrats sitting together at the State of the Union speech. Now, as Cokie Roberts noted on National Public Radio this morning, the concept’s taken on a life of its own, with elected officials who usually…
Medical marijuana has been enshrined in the Colorado constitution since 2000, with a new MMJ regulatory law signed into law this past June and more medical marijuana legislation in the pipeline. But that’s not the case in other states, as the Wyoming Supreme Court recently reminded a Boulder patient. Sensible…
Yard Arteology: The study of neighbors through lawn decoration… The gigantic rock garden pictured above would appear to be the decorative efforts of a yard artist with a love for local flora and fauna. Below, closer inspection reveals that this Globeville diorama is foretelling a Rocky Mountain future of dramatic…
Listeners to the latest edition of This American Life, a National Public Radio staple hosted by Ira Glass, heard a startling story — one Westword readers first discovered back in 2004. The subject? Then-staff writer David Holthouse’s plan to murder the man who’d raped him at age seven…
Attorney David Lane says he’s got about a half-dozen active lawsuits against the Denver Police Department, including an excessive-force complaint against DPD officer and ex-American Gladiator contestant Vicki Fernandez that’s scheduled for trial beginning today. His latest? A suit on behalf of the Martinez family, whose members are part of…
Westword contributor Britt Chester’s post about nearly being hit by a car while riding his bike and then getting into a confrontation with a cop has sparked a lively debate about responsibility on the road — included this post calling for cooperation…
The participants in this weekend’s Extreme Midget Wrestling event at Summit Music Hall were small but mighty, as is clear from photog Aaron Thackeray’s action-packed images. And there are lotsa memorable shots where those came from. Check out Spoke in Wordz’s CD release party at Casselman’s and more on Westword’s…
Of late, Carmelo Anthony has been bitching about being booed in Sports Illustrated and on Twitter — so when I scored tickets to Sunday’s game versus Indiana, I was curious to check out the situation firsthand. And last night, at least, there were far more cheers than jeers. Although it…
I understand why NFL experts were suggesting last week that the Jay Cutler trade had set the Broncos back five years (several months after other NFL experts, including ESPN’s Adam Schefter, had argued that the Broncos had gotten the better of the Bears in the deal). But given yesterday’s 21-14…
Earlier this week, the National Western Stock Show apologized for gay jokes told by its rodeo clown/bullfighter and announcer. But the incident wasn’t the first of its kind for the stock show. In 1997, there were two others: one in which a black rodeo clown made a joke that many…
Cloaked in secrecy, juvenile court matters are so rarely covered in Colorado that it’s been instructive watching the Denver Post fumble a bit in its reporting on Jacob Christenson, the eleven-year-old in Parker charged with second-degree arson over a fire that caused $195,000 in damages to a neighbor’s townhome…
Representative Wes McKinley, a Democrat who represents District 64 in the southeastern corner of the state, could well be the most colorful lawmaker in the Colorado General Assembly, with a background that includes ranching, teaching and serving as the foreman of the Rocky Flats Grand Jury. But first and foremost,…
We present these three Denver blog posts. 5280’s A.J. Vincens notes that Kobe Bryant tells fans to keep supporting Melo, because otherwise he might seek cheers elsewhere. Cue raucous laughter. Colorado Independent’s Scot Kersgard: A happy ending for an MMJ patient. Denver Egotist: Electrokraut sensation Totally Ghost is hauntingly good…
At a rally Friday against Denver’s ban on pit bulls, the lone city council member in favor of the overturning the measure told a cheering crowd of about a hundred people that an upcoming federal lawsuit focusing on a loophole established by the Americans with Disabilities Act could weaken the…
Although Kevin Alexander probably won’t get a second chance with the Denver Broncos, it looks like he’ll have his freedom. The rookie linebacker Alexander was cut by the team almost immediately after being arrested on an assault-and-battery accusation in December. The Broncos said his ouster was unrelated to the bust…
Jeff Fortin surrendered his dog breeding license last week — much to the delight of animal lovers, who have been complaining about him for years. But he didn’t do so before euthanizing 1,200 dogs at his Oberlin, Kansas puppy breeding business, where an outbreak of distemper in December kept him…
In an interview earlier this week about stepping down as CEO of MediaNews Group, Dean Singleton said his new position as the company’s executive chairman would allow him to focus on “opportunities for expansion, which I have always enjoyed doing.” And how: Today, Singleton announced that a MediaNews subsidiary had…
