While Denver City Council was approving a proposal to turn the city’s back yards into a barnyard, Aurora was attempting to rustle the National Western Stock Show. The city dangled a $300 million incentive to lasso the annual event for a new complex that would be built by Denver International…
The fight over the current urban homesteading movement can sometimes seem as heated as the battles between homesteaders and cattle ranchers on the frontier 130 years ago. And the feathers will be flying tonight at Denver City Council chambers, as members consider putting a chicken in every plot…
As a teenager, Michael Hancock told Channel 4 that one day he wanted to be Denver’s first black mayor. Wellington Webb beat him to that title, but still, Hancock made history with one of the strangest-ever starts to a mayoral term. He was elected to the office by a huge…
When I picked up the Denver Post yesterday, with the big headline “Nothing incriminating in Hancock cell records” across the top of the front page, I was quickly transported back to the first edition of the Cornell Daily Sun I helped edit, when the night editor insisted the headline on…
How did Colorado’s “Second Largest Industry” perform in 2010? We’re guessing pretty well, since that’s the header regarding the latest Longwoods Report, an industry analysis of Denver and Colorado tourism. But then, this industry has a secret weapon: Governor John Hickenlooper…
The city has removed the porta-potties from Sunken Gardens Park — but the smelly temporary toilets weren’t the reason that neighbors were raising a stink. Over the last month, there’s been an influx of heroin dealers in the area…
Dear Mexican: I’m a white girl dating a Mexican from Jalisco who works for my dad. There lies the problem. Dad absolutely dislikes him and totally opposes me dating Ignacio and has been almost rude to him, which I don’t like. Some details now: I often visit Dad at his…
Michael Hancock, mayor-elect of Denver, is trying to move his future administration forward — DenverForward is the name of the transition group that’s looking for volunteers and interviewing potential appointees. But first, he has this pesky Denver Players scandal to put behind him. And so late Friday, he sent this…
Wednesday was a tough day for independent Denver restaurants. Virgilio Urbano closed his original Virgilio’s near Belmar ; he’s concentrating on the second place he opened earlier this year in Littleton, Virgilio’s Pizzeria and Wine Bar. And David Pellegrin and his wife, Rebekah Donovan Pellegrin, closed Eco-Burger, the joint they…
The massive Better Denver bonds project that voters approved in 2007 has resulted in one much better Denver Animal Shelter, replacing an almost forty-year-old pound that was definitely a dog. And when it celebrates its official opening tomorrow, it will also celebrate one of the city’s great animal lovers: Carla…
Can the big dog ever win a mayoral election in Denver? Since 1983, the victor has always been an underdog, someone who barely registered a blip on the radar five months before the first round of voting. Chris Romer was definitely the big dog in this mayor’s race, and he…
Michael Hancock wasn’t the only big winner last night. His campaign headquarters at 1100 Bannock Street just scored another major victory. This could be the luckiest address in town, a golden spot in the Golden Triangle…
Even after millions of dollars have been poured into the Denver mayoral campaign, and endless words poured out at debate after debate, I kept hearing from friends yesterday who were still undecided on who they should vote for…
Two city crews descended on the triangular park bounded by Broadway, 22nd and Lawrence just after 6 a.m., the eight workers gingerly picking up the trash — bags and bags of trash, stuffed with everything from human feces to used syringes — before the park started filling again. But it…
Dear Mexican: There are many who give lip service to border security. You may or may not be one of them. You may be an open-borders advocate. But for the moment, put on your secure-borders hat and tell us how you would secure the borders if your job depended on…
Old swinger stories never die. Late Thursday, Complete Colorado broke a story about Michael Hancock allegedly being one of the clients of Denver Players, the prostitution/escort business that three years ago ended the career of Chief Judge Edward Nottingham — the only name that came out at the time, although…
Denver County has never had a Denver County Fair — but that century-in-the-making event will finally come to the National Western Stock Show facility July 28-31. Denver does have a County Fair, though, and today it will celebrate the life of councilwoman Carla Madison…
Turns out that Tom Tancredo was not the only Michael Hancock supporter to start shouting “Viva Romer.” State representative Crisanta Duran gave $100 to the Hancock campaign, a donation recorded on May 10 — the day before she endorsed Chris Romer and became deputy manager of his campaign…
Movers and shakers usually donate to political campaigns so that they can get the ear of an office-holder. But at today’s debt-retirement fundraiser for Doug Linkhart, they’ll be lucky if they get this lousy T-shirt… and the thanks of a longtime public servant…
The end of the endless Denver mayor’s race is just a week away, and no matter how Chris Romer or Michael Hancock may feel about creationism, there’s little evidence that this campaign has evolved. A Romer-supporting 527 is still wallowing in the mud…
Dear Mexican: I’m new to the San Antonio area and am enjoying exploring the many wonderful aspects of its history and culture. One thing has become incredibly bothersome to me, though: the plight of pet overpopulation. With so many resources available for spay/neuter assistance, I’m not certain why this continues…
Memorial Day is still three days away, but all week I have been carried away by memories. The extended Westword family lost one of its members this week when Chris Power Bain, who’d served as advertising manager in the early ’80s, passed away. There’s much more to her story than…
