I am not a lawyer, but lately I’ve been called upon to play one when visiting local watering holes — as a member of the bar, so to speak. The owners of these locales all want to know one thing: Can they hold a ladies’ night? I’ve developed an unwanted…
Dear Mexican: Why do Mexicans make the sign of mucho dinero with a gap between their thumb and index fingers, as if holding an imaginary wad of bills between both fingers? El Zorro Chupagringos Dear Gabacho-Sucking Fox: Because if a pendejo like you can get the gesture, imagine us normal…
Since Tony’s Market moved in across the street from the Westword office at 950 Broadway, we’ve been making a lot of runs to the store. But nothing beat our most recent mission: joining a crew of faithful customers and founder Tony Rosacci to judge specialty burgers, all created by staffers…
“Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read,” Scout, the young tomboy narrator, confides in To Kill a Mockingbird. “One does not love breathing.” Now, To Kill a Mockingbird has been called on to breathe new life into One Book, One Denver, the program that promotes…
The Colorado Division of Civil Rights finally issued a ruling affirming Westword’s position that by publishing an ad for a ladies’ night at a local club, the paper did not discriminate against Steve Horner. And the decision didn’t stop there: In addition to agreeing that a newspaper is not a…
Always quick with a quip, Pat Schroeder was one of the most quotable members of Congress during her 24-year tenure in the House. Turns out her husband, James Schroeder, also had plenty to say, as he proves in his new memoir, Confessions of a Political Spouse. “When all of a…
The Westword staff cruised Colorado Boulevard for this week’s cover story, with stops at restaurants ranging from an old-school IHOP (which replaced a Village Inn) to the very new-school, new Snooze. One of our favorite spots didn’t make the cut — but it’s definitely worth the drive to El Toro…
On my first road trip to Montana, back in the pre-cell-phone days, I had to stop every hour or so and find a phone so that I could check in with a lawyer who was concerned that the Denver DA’s office was going to file charges against our high-school intern…
Dear Mexican: I am a 22-year-old Mexican-American woman, still living with my parents but going to college, working full-time and taking care of myself financially. I grew up in a very traditional Mexican household, youngest of four kids, and we were all born in the United States. I’m unmarried, but with a steady boyfriend I have…
“Please scare the bears,” reads the lead sentence in a story from today’s Wall Street Journal. “That is the message state wildlife officials are sending residents of Colorado communities besieged by hungry black bears with a taste for fresh-baked pies and other fattening human fare.” The bears, state wildlife officials…
It just opened on May 1, but Otto’s American Grill has already closed its doors at 2200 Market Street, in the former home of the downtown Brix in the Premiere Loft project. The space is currently for lease; maybe the third time will be a charm. The original Otto’s is…
Business boosters at the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce didn’t know what had hit them. On Friday, when Senator Mark Udall offered a healthcare briefing at the Chamber, there hadn’t been a single member of the media. But on Monday, when Senator Michael Bennet did the same, the TV cameras…
“What’s he doing in the Senate?” “Why, it’s an honorary appointment. He’s an honorary stooge.” Frank Capra’s classic Mr. Smith Goes to Washington was on TCM yesterday afternoon — just the thing to warm up the set (and the sofa) before Jake Cutler returned to Mile High, particularly given all…
Oskar Blues’s benefit golf tourney today at Twin Peaks is a big hit, with all 144 slots sold out. But when the golf is over, the participants won’t be able to retire to the new Oskar Blues Homemade Liquids & Solids in Longmont, as originally planned. That’s because the still-in-the-works…
Denver looks golden in most memories of last year’s Democratic National Convention — including Barack Obama’s acceptance speech, which was delivered on August 28, 2008, exactly 45 years to the day of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. But then, there are the memories of trying to…
Dr. Warren Hern just keeps making headlines — whether he wants them or not. For decades, he’s practiced behind bulletproof glass at his Boulder clinic, occasionally attracting the attention of publications ranging from Westword (you can read one of our profiles here) to the current edition of Esquire, whose “The…
Dear Mexican: A gabacho in the local daily suggested that some of our prisons be outsourced to Mexico to save us some money. What are your thoughts? Would wabs make for good guards looking after homies and white-trash inmates? Have a chew on that taco. Mike the Mick From Missouri…
Remembering Denver at this time last year during the Democratic National Convention — the downtown sidewalks full, the downtown cash registers ditto — it all seems like a mirage. Like that season of Dallas that ended with Pam finding Bobby in the shower, and realizing that the entire plotline had…
In politics, timing is everything. Timing and money — big money, in the case of anyone who’s going to take on barely incumbent Senator Michael Bennet, who’s already raised over $2 million to retain an office he’s held for fewer than eight months. The money was a major obstacle in…
I’m looking across the highway at the Pepsi Center and Invesco Field at Mile High, the settings for so many memorable sights during the Democratic National Convention, which kicked off exactly a year ago today. And between them — at least from this vantage point — is Elitch Gardens, where,…
I was running late for a plane and needed some cash very early last Thursday, so I stopped by a local Wells Fargo, put my bank card in the ATM and keyed in my PIN. And nothing happened. Beyond a notice that occasionally blinked “Your PIN must be between 4…
This week’s Time magazine story on “America’s Food Crisis and How to Fix It” cites Chipotle, Denver’s homegrown success story, as one of the companies doing things right — which made yesterday’s petition delivery to Chipotle headquarters in LoDo, calling on the company to work with the Coalition of Immokalee…
