A bill to broaden the scope of what Colorado’s home-birth midwives can do passed another hurdle yesterday: The Senate Health & Human Services Committee approved it in an 8-1 vote. Testimony stretched for three hours and included impassioned pleas from both sides, including from Indra Lusero, the home-birth mom and…
The antiquated mayoral forum is a terrible framework to learn about the unique talents of Denver’s current 16 candidates. Michael Forrester, Doug Linkhart, James Mejia and Theresa Spahn prove that the ballroom dance competition would be a far more captivating way to interest entertainment-savvy voters. While the couples above demonstrate…
Denver city officials are engaging in some interesting wordplay in an effort to keep a special budgetary task force’s meetings behind closed doors. The Structural Financial Task Force — comprised of 21 community, business and civic leaders — was recently convened by Mayor Bill Vidal to “address the structural deficit…
With John Hickenlooper having taken office as Colorado’s governor, we know Denver will have a new mayor this year, and the race is wide open. To introduce you to the players, we’re offering profiles of official candidates. Next up: Dwight Henson. “A lot of people say, ‘Don’t judge me unless…
Our recent cover story, “Special Delivery,” tells the tale of 36-year-old Indra Lusero, a Denver home-birth-mom-turned-lawyer who’s advocating for what she sees as common-sense changes to Colorado’s midwifery law. Today at 1:30 p.m., the bill to make those changes will be heard by the Senate Health & Human Services Committee…
There aren’t a lot of wild horses left in Colorado, but a small herd of mustangs fifty miles north of Grand Junction just got a reprieve. Besieged by legal challenges of its plan to relocate “excess” horses from public lands to private holding facilities and pastures, the Bureau of Land…
This week, the Colorado Senate unanimously confirmed the appointment of Tom Clements as Department of Corrections executive director. It’s not one of the most glamorous posts in Governor John Hickenlooper’s cabinet, certainly, but it’s one of the most crucial if the state is going to climb out of its fiscal…
There was a time when the United States government produced workplace posters warning citizens about the dangers of gossip, laziness and gonorrhea. The recent news story about Reprentative Cris Lee, R-NY, reminds that it may be time to start the printing presses in an effort to warn congress people about…
It pains my heart to see strained relationships. Why can’t everyone just get along? Since it’s the season of love, I’ve created Kenny Be Valentine’s cards, intended to calm the cantankerous and help bring impassioned parties together. Below, LaLa’s heartfelt offer of love to the citizens of Denver…..
Given how many people are running for Denver mayor, it’s a relief someone has said no. But interim mayor Bill Vidal’s latest statement that he won’t join the race was preceded by an e-mail to supporters sent when he was considering a bid — and its blunt language, including an…
Dick Wadhams, who’s served two term as chair of the Colorado Republican Party, has decided not to run for a third term next month. His departure from the race leaves state senator Ted Harvey; John Wagner, who ran the Senate campaign of Clive Tidwell, in 2010; and Bart Barton, who…
With John Hickenlooper now Colorado’s governor, we know Denver will soon have a new mayor, and the race promises to be wide open. To introduce you to the players, we’re offering profiles of official candidates. Next up: Paul Noel Fiorino. “We’re trying to become a creative capitol for the Rocky…
Secretary of State Scott Gessler’s plan to moonlight for his old law firm because he couldn’t get by on just $68,000 per year created an apparent conflict of interest of off-the-charts proportions and a golden opportunity for satire: See Kenny Be’s hilarious Gessler cartoon and Jonathan Shikes’s post naming Gessler…
State Representative David Balmer apologized yesterday for losing “his cool” in a heated conversation last week with Senator Gail Schwartz; his agitated gesturing got him banned from the Senate floor for the rest of the 2011 congressional session. But Balmer’s temper isn’t the only thing keeping Colorado warm. Here are…
This icon pictured above was inspired by the signage of a defunct restaurant housed in the clubhouse of a bankrupt country club from which the neighborhood got its name. It’s a fitting homage to the regenerative character of Wellshire. This is a neighborhood where residents can turn virtual cesspools back…
A program that delegates federal immigration enforcement powers to local officers is not netting as many serious criminals in Colorado as in other states, says a study released today by the Migration Policy Institute…
Last March, Colorado Attorney General John Suthers joined “nearly a dozen” state AGs in challenging the constitutionality of just-passed health-care legislation. Now, he is celebrating a U.S. District Court ruling in Florida that concludes Congress “exceeded the bounds of its authority in passing the Act with the individual mandate.” Look…
For a while on Friday, it looked like the unbelievably crowded field for Denver mayor was about to get a little larger. A day of buzz about local businesswoman Linda Alvarado jumping in was followed by a Denver Post piece quoting her as confirming it. But that item was soon…
It’s inspiring, really, the way state lawmakers pull together when a matter of great social consequence is at stake. Such seems to be the case with the rapid move through committee this week of House Bill 1058, sponsored by Denver Democrat Dan Pabon, which would prevent poor folks from using…
You know that birthday present you bought for Scott Gessler? He sold it. And that bottle of wine you brought to the party? He sold that, too. In fact, Gessler, Colorado’s new Secretary of State, has no problem looking a gift horse in the mouth — and then extracting the…
In a crowded field of folks vying to be Denver’s next mayor, Eric Jon Zinn has one particular candidate in his sights that he’s hoping to beat: Mayor McCheese. The 17th Street tax attorney wants Denverites to forsake the junk food, get on the bike or into the gym and…
The picture above proves that Senator Mark Udall’s civility push is spreading from the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. to the neighborhoods of Denver. Where the “No whiners” doctrine reigned supreme in the Highland neighborhood, now comes the sign that “winers welcome.” Below, the notoriously snobbish City Park neighborhood is…
