Opinion & Commentary

If you thought Michael Bennet’s Regal Cinema deal for Philip Anschutz was complicated, just try to wrap your brain around the Denver Public Schools financing deal he arranged in 2008. The New York Times did, and just published “Exotic Deals Put Denver Schools Deeper in Debt.” Here’s the start of…

I love the history of Denver — even though I lost a large slice of my personal view of the past when Denver’s Landmark Commission allowed the destruction of the oldest building on my historic block, which has been replaced by a huge, modern structure going up on the very…

Representative Wes McKinley was standing on the steps of the State Capitol yesterday, discussing the discovery of “breathable particles of plutonium” near the now-defunct Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant, when hundreds of bicyclists and a whirring helicopter drowned out the revelations. Calling Dan Maes!…

The Libertarian Party — which got its start in Colorado close to forty years ago — has two candidates for governor in the upcoming primary. But you don’t hear David K. Williams, chair of the Libertarian Party of Colorado, whining about Tom Tancredo entering the race as a third-party candidate…

A third of Colorado’s registered voters haven’t gotten their ballots for the August 10 primary — because they’re officially registered as unaffiliated, and only voters affiliated with parties that have contested races get to vote in the primary. But that also means independent voters have a real chance to be…

Just six weeks ago, Kevin Foote was opening his third BenchWarmers Tavern & Grill in a month, and offering this explanation of the origins of his mini-chain: “I was at a Colorado Avalanche game one evening with friends. We overheard some of the fans complaining about how cold they were…

On Sunday, August 1 — officially “Colorado Day” — Colorado collected the last medical marijuana business applications it will accept before officially shutting out any new operations until July 2011, in accordance with new state law. And the state is wasting no time further defining those laws: The first rule-making…

Frankly, I think Jamba Juice owes me more than a buck off for the urp-factor of the e-mail I just opened: Jamba Juice Launches Cheeseburger Chill Smoothie! “What’s beefy, smothered in cheese, loaded with your favorite condiments and blended to creamy perfection? Jamba Juice’s new Cheeseburger Chill smoothie, of course!”…

America Calling came calling on Wednesday. Page Penk, the man who claims to be president of the local organization 3 Woman Against Violence and is now putting out America Calling, billed as a “Journal of Civilization,” arrived at my office with a cop, to deliver a copy of the upcoming…

Gourmet trucks are all the rage right now — but sadly, El Mariachi is stuck in park. Although loncherias have a long, noble history in Denver, Jesse Morreale and Sean Yontz were the first to get on board the tricked-out truck concept, creating El Mariachi, a hipster taco truck, for…

Under Colorado’s new laws, dispensary owners can’t have recent felony convictions for any crime, or drug-related felony convictions ever. But the state doesn’t seem as picky in other areas, as evidenced by the health department’s pick of Ken Weaver, a Texas felon, to represent patients on the Medical Marijuana Registry…

The hot food story of the summer is the success of the gourmet food trucks and carts, which we predicted in our June 3 cover story. So far, we’ve seen trucks from Steuben’s, Deluxe, Paris on the Platte, WaterCourse Foods and the Denver Biscuit Company, in addition to such gourmet…

It’s been quiet on the Colorado bar front since Steve Horner, our anti-ladies night crusader, moved on — but ladies nights became a hot topic again yesterday when the Fox and Friends morning show featured a debate over the Minnesota Department of Human Rights recently deciding to ban ladies nights,…

Jon Caldara’s Channel 12 show is now called Devil’s Advocate, and plenty of politicians are dancing with the devil. Not only did Caldara get his job as head of the Independence Institute after Tom Tancredo moved on to Congress, but Tancredo was at the Institute’s annual ATF party ten days…

While Ted Haggard has moved on to his second act as the founding minister of St. James, his new church in Colorado Springs, Mike Jones, the male escort who outed the meth- and male-seeking New Life preacher in the fall of 2006, is still working off the same script. Jones…

Every week, Colorado Inside Out takes on the big events of the day in Denver. But once a year, it creates a special history show dedicated to the big events of an earlier year. Last year, it was 1959, and that show just won a regional Emmy in the interview/discussion…

When I met Ken Buck at the Independence Institute’s ATF event Saturday, I asked what he thought about Jane Norton injecting gender into the race with a new commercial asking whether he was “man enough” to be a senator. Buck responded by telling me that Norton had recently said the…

Ballots should start hitting mailboxes today in the 46 (out of 64) counties that are conducting the August 10 primary solely by mail-in ballot. The only mailboxes that will get ballots belong to voters who are already registered to one of the major political parties that have contested races –…

Scott McInnis may be “in it to win it,” but Tom Tancredo is in it to spin it. If the former congressman can figure out a way to get into the gubernatorial race alongside “Musings on Water” McInnis and Dan Maes, the dark-horse candidate who was at his most popular…