Wake-Up Call: The week ahead, February 16-21

The big news: Barack Obama is coming back to Denver, the town where he accepted the Democratic nomination on August 28, and where now, as president, he will now sign the $787 billion stimulus bill on Tuesday, February 17 at the Museum of Nature & Science (conveniently vetted by the…

Wake-Up Call: Good news out of a bad economy

Wolf Creek Ski Area is one of the last vestiges of old Colorado, a family-run, rustic, relaxed ski area with tons of powder and no pretense. Not surprisingly, a Texas developer took one look at the stunning spot and decided to build a massive resort village nearby — one that…

Wake-Up Call: More scary stuff at DIA

The devil horse. The one-world murals. The underground tunnels where aliens (the extraterrestrial ones) hang out. Yes, Denver International Airport has a lot of scary stuff. Starting with the name of its terminal: Jeppesen. It was supposed to honor pioneering aviation navigator Elrey Jeppesen, who founded the Colorado-based Jeppesen Company…

There’s a bit of truth in every stereotype

Dear Mexican: I have a question from one Mexican to another: Why do gabachos think we know everything about plants? During conversations with the estadounidenses, I will get asked about plants, pruning, how to keep roses alive, etc. I understand many of my compatriotas working over here are gardeners (and…

Wake-Up Call: welcome to the Mile Haiku City

In desperate times, the media are desperate for an uplifting story — or at least a fun one. And so Luis Jimenez’s “Mustang” has become our own Hudson River miracle landing. It was just two weeks ago that I got the invite to join the nascent Facebook group started by…

Wake-Up Call: a visit to the dinosaur museum

On Sunday, I stopped by the Newseum in Washington, D.C., the new, 250,000 square foot facility on Pennyslvania Avenue devoted to the history of news. The views from this building are stunning, as are many of the exhibits. But in many ways, I might as well have been at a…

Wake-Up Call: Stimulate This

The last time this state’s economy went bust, Colorado fought its way back by constructing Denver International Airport. That’s not going to be an option this time, Governor Bill Ritter said as he walked along DIA’s Concourse B Thursday, off on a fast (less than 24-hour) trip to the East…

Wake-Up Call: high-flying art at DIA

The debate took off fast last week over Luis Jimenez’s “Mustang,” otherwise known as “DIA’s Heinous Blue Mustang,” which stands outside Denver International Airport. (Read more in this Off Limits report, as well as at www.byebyebluemustang, the site started by local realtor Rachel Hultin.) But in all the hot discussion…

Wake-Up Call: From hope to nope

You can still spot remnants of Shepard Fairey’s iconic Barack Obama posters around town, which the artist himself slapped up during the Democratic National Convention (earning himself a stint in the clink in the process, as Jared Jacang Maher first reported here). But even the most grassroots efforts grow up,…

The War on Drugs: We demand, they supply

Dear Mexican: I can’t tell you how disappointed I’ve been these past few days, as a U.S. citizen and ciudadano mexicano, seeing more and more stories about los narcos and how the Mexican government keeps getting screwed over in newspapers. I think you should dedicate a whole article in your…

Wake-Up Call: the sins of former senators

It’s not quite the million-buck-a-year consulting job that Tom Daschle got working with former Tele-Communication Inc. honcho Leo Hindery’s InterMedia Advisors, and it may not come with a private car. But former Senator Wayne Allard just took a job with The Livingston Group, a D.C. lobbying firm. Apparently the dog-eat-dog world…

Wake-Up Call: JonBenét Ramsey and 1990s nostalgia

As the awful economic news keeps pouring out (Agile Group, anyone?), you can understand the urge to look back at the good old days. Even the bad crimes of the good old days. And so yesterday, the new Boulder District Attorney and the old Boulder Police Chief held a joint…

Wake-Up Call: Everyone’s seeing their shadows

Punxsutawney Phil saw his own shadow this morning, thereby forecasting six more weeks of winter — and that’s appropriate. There are shadows lurking everywhere, threatening whatever bright spots try to break out of the gloom. Tom Daschle — who was hailed as the person who might be able to untangle…

A chicken-fried burrito at Elway’s? Be still, my arteries

When Elway’s opened in Cherry Creek, it immediately set itself apart from other steakhouses by adding an unusual element: fun. Not cut-your-tie off steakhouse fun, but fun in the way food was presented, putting Elway’s a cut above the other upscale meat-and-potatoes joints around town. (New sibling Elway’s Downtown is…

Wake-Up Call: Calling all Colorado crackpots

From the penthouse to the doghouse — or is that the big house? Yesterday, a new Pew poll ranked Denver number one as the big city where people would most like to live. Apparently it’s already tops among crooks who can’t think straight — much less shoot straight. Yesterday, Tharin…

Wake-Up Call: We’re number one… for now

These days, we’ll take good news where we can get it. And this morning, we got it from the Washington, D.C.-based Pew Research Center, which just released the results of a poll conducted this fall, asking American adults for their favorite big city, the place they’d like to call home…

There auto be a law against Mexicans warming up their cars

Dear Mexican: I am a naturalized (legal) hispano in the U.S., and I just realized what the “illegal” craze is about. What immigrant-bashing citizens are trying to protect here are people like…me. Consider what this concerned woman said to John McCain during a public meeting in New Hampshire last year…

Wake-Up Call: horsing around

When I check my e-mail every morning, just as I was once greeted by long-lost Nigerian cousins in need of cash, I now find countless would-be friends. But none of these entreaties has been as appealing as the invitation Monday to join “DIA’s Heinous Blue Mustang Has Got to Go,”…

Wake-Up Call: Fasten your seatbelts

The total number of job losses across the country announced yesterday range from 65,000 (according to the New York Times) to over 71,000 (CNN). But no matter how you add things up, the outlook looks gloomy. Better polish your rose-colored glasses for Colorado’s dual announcements coming today: Governor Bill Ritter…

Wake-Up Call: An end to musical chairs

Ken Salazar has been sworn in as Secretary of the Interior. Michael Bennet is now a U.S. senator. Tom Boasberg is taking over as superintendent of Denver Public Schools, promising to “accelerate reform.” That leaves just one more chair to fill — the U.S. Attorney’s seat vacated by Republican Troy…

Pizzeria Mundo is closed, with a rent bill on the door

Since we haven’t been able to make contact with Pizzeria Mundo, a noble attempt to offer international pizzas that’s faced numerous challenges since it opened, yesterday I made my way to the front door of the restaurant at 1312 17th Street  (shown here in happier times).This mission wasn’t easy: The…