Opinion & Commentary

Charlie Sheen didn’t study his Colorado legal history before he headed to Aspen for a vacation last Christmas. Three decades ago, Colorado was at the cutting edge of recognizing the dangers of domestic violence. The first battered women’s shelters in the country were established here, and Colorado was the first…

Next thing you know, Denver won’t actually be a mile high. The current Men’s Journal casts a shadow on Denver’s claim to have 300 days of sunshine annually, pegging our sunny total at 245. Turns out, boosters are counting not days, but hours of the bright stuff. How many days…

Over the past few years, cupcake shops have popped up across town; they’re this decade’s frozen yogurt shop. In Denver, you can trace the trend back to Happy Cakes Bakeshop in Highland, and that shop — now in a new location in the courtyard at 3434 West 32nd Avenue –…

Denver’s touted as a mecca for the creative class, but no tourist would guess at this city’s artistic inclinations from a walk along the 16th Street Mall — sixteen blocks of empty storefronts and shlocky souvenir shopping. But this week, and sadly this week alone, the Create Denver Pop-Up Market…

A chocolate-chip cookie. That’s the consolation prize for faithful Midwest fliers, now that Republic has announced that it will be keeping the Frontier brand, and merging in Midwest flights. But at least one remnant of Midwest will remain: the fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies served on each flight since 1986. In…

I’ve been a fan of Frontier since its first incarnation, when the in-flight mag featured the “From the Cockpit” column by Captain Chick Stevens — a more reassuring mascot than the animals that took off with Frontier’s reincarnation. But still, Republic was wise to stick with the high-flying Frontier brand,…

“Patricia. this might seem weird at first,” read the mash note in my e-mail yesterday. “went by applebees and thought about u.” Yes, it seemed weird, because I’ve been to an Applebee’s maybe once in the past decade. But it also seemed weird because I’d gotten two very similar notes…

It had to happen. For the past year, Denver has been living up to its billing as the Mile High City, hitting new heights daily as the medical-marijuana business shows no signs of slowing down. And now, inevitably, The Daily Show has come to town to profile our booming dispensary…

“I’ve been there,” pronounces the subject line in the e-mail blast from Joe Biden that just landed in my in-box. And judging from the message that follows, the veep is still there, stuck in the ’80s, when the letters pages of newspapers actually had power. When they were, in Biden…

Developer Erik Osborn thought that One Lincoln Park would be his towering achievement. Instead, it could land him in the big house with a 24-year sentence. Osborn will be in court this morning for sentencing on his felony-theft conviction in connection with financial shenanigans at One Lincoln Park, the luxury…

In just four days, RTD buses racked up three collisions that resulted in four fatalities. The latest victim? Marvin “Chip” Webb, who was riding his bicycle in Lafayette when he was struck by a bus Tuesday night. Webb, the owner of Chip’s Place, had worked at Chip’s Cafe, a diner…

A snowstorm at dawn, patio weather at sunset — yesterday’s weather was a Colorado classic, one that seemed to back the favorite booster claim that Denver enjoys 300 days of sunshine a year. Except… When the April issue of Men’s Journal included Denver on its list of the 25 Best…

Despite the lousy economy, last year saw an unprecedented number of impressive new restaurants opening in Denver – everything from Olivea to Squeaky Bean to TAG to Colt & Gray. But the team of eaters working on the Best of Denver 2010 were unanimous on which spot had earned the…

Colorado Attorney General John Suthers will debate attorney Rob Corry at noon today at the University of Denver. The subject? Medical marijuana. Here’s an opening question for Suthers: Why does Colorado’s AG think this state’s legalization of medical marijuana — approved by the voters back in 2000 — violates federal…

Watching Dynasty was a guilty pleasure. The Aaron Spelling-produced prime-time soap opera, inspired by the success of Dallas and allegedly set in Denver, ran from 1981 to 1989. And while this city went from boom to very, very busted, the Carrington clan always had plenty of cash, plenty of catfights…

If life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Without THC. The quickly reorganized Colorado Cannabis Convention kicks off at 4 p.m. today at the Colorado Convention Center. Title sponsor Kush Colorado and its sibling, dailybuds.com, stepped in to take the lead after a dispute with the original sponsor wound up in…

Yes, for the first time in years, our Best Burger in Denver is actually served in Denver — rather than at Bud’s Bar down in Sedalia. It’s at Colt & Gray, the restaurant that opened last August at 1553 Platte Street, and was also a contender for Best New Restaurant…

Best tip you won’t find in the Best of Denver 2010, now hitting newstands: The Best Parking Meters are in the 2100 block of Larimer Street. Not only do those old-time meters charge just 25 cents for an hour, but you can still feed them this pittance with a cashkey…

Some of our favorite Westword stories — including ones connected to our annual Best of Denver issue — are not the ones we’ve published. I spilled a few of the juicier ones when I sat down with the Denver Post’s Bill Husted for his Bar & Grilled interview earlier this…

Want to be the first to read about Denver’s Best New Restaurant? Sign up for Cafe Bites, our weekly dining newsletter, right here. Every Tuesday night, Cafe Bites serves up a heaping helping of restaurant scoops. And tonight, it will reveal which restaurant will be named the Best New Restaurant…