The evolving Democratic strategy for victory in 2012? Portraying Republicans — and especially Tea Party types — as Grinch-hearted zealots determined to cut programs like Social Security. And a new poll showing that 71 percent of Coloradans across the ideological spectrum oppose such slashing should add fuel to this theory…
Shortly after winning praise for getting the ban on the military expansion of Pinon Canyon restored, Representative Scott Tipton faces potential embarrassment over letters sent by his daughter, Elizabeth, in which she dropped daddy’s name to seek business for the family-connected telecommunications firm where she works. But even as Tipton…
Gerardo Noriega, a twenty-year-old Smoky Hill High School graduate, will be able to stay with his family until at least December 5. He was granted a continuation at his second deportation hearing in Federal Immigration Court today. Noriega moved to Colorado when he was nine and is the only member…
Under pressure from ranchers to take as strong a stand against Army expansion in southern Colorado as his Democrat predecessor, freshman Republican congressman Scott Tipton managed to get a funding ban reinstated in a bill yesterday, earning him kudos from some of his sharpest critics. “Congressman Tipton backed up his…
Call it a decision that doesn’t hold water. The Colorado Supreme Court’s Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel has found no grounds to impose disciplinary measures on former congressman Scott McInnis — even though the fact he received $300,000 from a private foundation for plagiarized writings on water law was enough…
The wives of Denver’s mayoral hopefuls entered the fray this week, sending out dueling e-mails to promote their husbands as the June 7 runoff election approaches. But though Laurie Romer and Mary Louise Lee Hancock are on opposite sides, their notes had a common theme: My husband is a dork…
A Washington Post editorial reprinted today in the Denver Post calls for a moratorium on the deportation of gay immigrants who are legally married or in civil unions until after federal courts decide the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)…
When tax revenues are down, state legislators can feel marginalized, even redundant. Unable to fund — hence debate, manipulate and gerrymander — pet projects, they retreat to committee rooms or watering holes to wait for the economy to recover. In their quest for relevance, they resort to busy work that…
Ranchers in southeast Colorado battling the Army’s grand expansion schemes for the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site watched in dismay this week as a congressional subcommittee removed from its budget bill a provision that has kept the military from acquiring additional land for the 367 square-mile site for the past four…
Readers are still commenting on the last Dan Maes missive posted here — “Good grief, people, ignore this NothingBurger,” wrote one commenter — and now up pops another one. Actually, this is the one Maes says he meant to write before he got sidetracked by “calling a spade a spade”…
During a recent mayoral candidate debate, Chris Romer forced Michael Hancock to stumble through a confused admission (and later retraction) for allowing the teaching of creation science and/or intelligent design in public-school classrooms. Perhaps looking at a few DPS Creation Science Fair projects will help the pro-education-reform candidates see the…
Jeanette Vizguerra, a small business owner, community leader and mother of three citizen children, will have to wait until 8:30 a.m. on July 13 to find out if she will be allowed to stay in this country. Vizguerra’s final deportation hearing was scheduled to take place at 8:30 this morning,…
What did I do during my spring vacation? Watched my son graduate from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., during a Saturday ceremony at which Speaker of the House and well-known public crier John Boehner received an honorary degree. When I heard about Boehner’s appearance, I said a…
A bill to expand midwives’ scope of practice will likely become law, having passed both the House and Senate this week. While the bill allows midwives to administer certain drugs and IVs, it isn’t everything that advocates, including Westword profile subject Indra Lusero, had hoped for. A provision that would…
Jeanette Vizguerra, who has lived in Colorado for more than fourteen years, is the mother of three citizen children, owns a small business and is very involved in her community. She also lives in this country illegally and faces her final deportation court date on Monday at 8:30 a.m. But…
Perennial politician and former Westword cover boy Ryan Frazier has done what many people expected and joined the race to become Aurora’s next mayor. Four other candidates have already announced their intentions: Debbie Stafford, Steve Hogan, Sheilah Thomas Davis and Jude Sandvall. Current Mayor Ed Tauer can’t run because of…
Restaurateurs all over the state will be raising a glass at 3 pm. today, when Governor John Hickenlooper officially signs Senate Bill 60 into law…at the Old Chicago at 145 Union Boulevard in Lakewood. But then, the setting makes sense, since this is the measure that will allow bars and…
While Governor John Hickenlooper was tangling with legislative leaders Tuesday, Tom Tancredo, the renegade candidate who got 36 percent of the vote in the gubernatorial race last November, was tangling with MSNBC host Martin Bashir. Who won? You be the judge…
Big morning for Michael Hancock. First, he actually survived an appearance on Peter Boyles’s show — during which he promised to call Theresa Spahn and James Mejia, and apologize for a supporter calling them “losers.” And at the moment, it doesn’t look like “loser” will be a label hanging from…
As the state’s legislative session draws to a close, a group of parents involved in grim custody battles are celebrating a quiet victory — the passage of a bill that strips court-appointed child/family investigators, or CFIs, of their long-running immunity from state oversight and regulations that apply to other mental-health…
“Coming Out To America,” this week’s cover story, follows two GLBT immigrants as they apply for asylum in the United States. One immigrant, a transgender woman named Kassandra, is afraid to return to her native El Salvador for fear of persecution. And for good reason. A 2010 report by several…
“Coming Out To America” tells the story of Sam, a gay Egyptian seeking asylum in the United States. Though Egypt doesn’t have any explicit laws against homosexuality, gay men there are routinely arrested and tortured. In one infamous incident, 52 men were arrested in 2001 on a floating disco called…
