Opinion & Commentary

Mayor John Hickenlooper delivered his seventh State of the City speech yesterday, standing on the Greek Pavilion in Civic Center Park at the start of the work day. It was a stunning setting for a sobering speech; the park’s lushness made Hickenlooper’s message all the more stark: There’s no money…

At 8 a.m. today, Mayor John Hickenlooper will deliver his seventh, and certainly most challenging, State of the City speech. Last year, Denver’s biggest worry was making sure the Democratic National Convention ran smoothly (the controversy that would erupt over Renee Marie’s Star-Spangled bungle at Hickenlooper’s speech wouldn’t help). Today,…

Toshi and Yasu Kizaki, the owners of the beloved Sushi Den at 1487 South Pearl Street, weren’t content with putting a world-famous sushi restaurant in the heart of Denver’s South Pearl neighborhood. In August 2007, they expanded their empire by opening Izakaya Den across the street at 1518 South Pearl,…

Everywhere I go in Denver, in Colorado, I’m reminded of John Parr and Sandy Widener, the much-loved couple who did so much to change the psychic landscape of this state before they were killed in a car crash with their daughter, Chase, in December 2007. I think of them when…

Colorado, New Mexico and Texas officials announced yesterday that they’ve joined in an effort to secure the country’s eleventh high-speed rail corridor — and the billions in federal dollars that would go to such an enterprise. The concept of a high-speed train zooming up from the border has promise. But…

While some people count out-of-state license plates on their road trips, we look for out-of-place green chile offerings. It’s not hard to find Denver’s favorite dish if you’re staying in-state; just about every town in Colorado has a Mexican restaurant that offers its own version of green chile. And if…

Chris Loffelmacher serves up plenty of food for thought at Fresh City Life, his cultural/social series that’s turned the Denver Public Library into the hottest ticket in town. Now, in celebration of summer and this hot, hot weather, Fresh City Life is teaming up with Whole Foods Market, Dazzle Restaurant…

“You put me out in Denver because I wouldn’t suck your dick.” That’s what Donna Watts-Brighthaupt, a lobbyist hired last year by former D.C. mayor and current councilmember Marion Barry to be his driver and personal assistant, shouted at Barry in June — shortly before he was arrested and jailed…

My nephew Johnny loves meat — despite the fact (or maybe partly because of the fact) that his parents don’t eat red meat. “I don’t exactly get that,” the eleven-year-old says. “It has a lot of flavor and it can come from many different animals for many different tastes.” And…

Denver District Judge Larry Naves’s ruling yesterday that Ward Churchill should not get his job back at the University of Colorado — and, in fact, should not get any more compensation than the dollar a jury awarded him back in March — should be the last word on Ward. It…

The fireworks started early for the 4th. Early last week, we got a call from a reporter in Mankato, Minnesota, researching a story about Steve Horner, the anti-ladies night crusader who started his fight in that state (where he wound up in jail for harassing the head of Minnesota’s civil…

It’s 1959 all over again tonight on KBDI, the public television station that airs Colorado Inside Out, a roundtable devoted to covering current events every week — except the week of July 4. That’s when the talented crew moves the show to a historic period and then prays the panelists…

As reported here — a lot — Westword restaurant critic Jason Sheehan had a book-signing at Katie Mullen’s last evening. And that just happened to be the bar where Ward Churchill and attorney David Lane went after their day in court, where they’d told Judge Larry Naves why Churchill deserves…

Colorado’s longest-running reality show could be drawing to a close. Today, Ward Churchill will get another day in court, when Chief Denver District Judge Larry Naves considers whether he should get his job back at the University of Colorado — or be paid to go away. Naves presided over the…

Architect Ed White changed the way the world looks at Denver — not just through his architectural designs, but through his friendship with Jack Kerouac. That friendship is documented in the form of Tim Gray, a White-like character in On The Road, as well as in the structure of the…

Dick Kreck will be reading from his book Smaldone: The Untold Story of an American Crime Family tonight at the Tattered Cover in LoDo, with Chuck and Gene, the sons of Clyde Smaldone, on hand to answer questions about their infamous relatives. But for a real taste of what the…

A moment of silence for the passing of a pop-culture icon, gone so young at the age of fifty. Yes, that’s right: Billy Mays, star of Pitchmen on the Discovery Channel, has died, silencing that big voice that had become ubiquitous on late-night infomercials. Mays got his start on the…

Read between the lines: The rationale behind the city’s vote for the next One Book, One Denver selection became clear yesterday, when the Department of Cultural Affairs revealed that the city had received a $20,000 Big Read grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. That NEA program is designed…

I’m about to head to Denver International Airport, which is suddenly in the shadows. Not because of the storm cloud that dumped a record amount of rain on DIA last evening — but because Republic Airways’ $109 million bid to buy Frontier out of bankruptcy could mean that Denver will…