With a scribble of his ceremonial pen this morning, Governor John Hickenlooper set Colorado on a path not unlike that of the Iron Man himself, Robert Downey, Jr. No, our fair state isn’t going to rehab. Instead, lawmakers, film-industry insiders and Colorado boosters hope that the beefed-up film incentives package…
Jake Smith is nonchalant about being a ninja. “It’s just an obstacle course,” he says of the gauntlet of athletic feats featured on the television show American Ninja Warrior. “The ninja part is just the romanticizing bit of it.” The 24-year-old parkour badass is selling himself short. Smith and six…
Behind his glasses, Jack has a sweet face. It’s the face of a kid who’s been hurt by the very people who were supposed to protect him. A kid who’s carefully creeping toward learning to trust adults and to believe that they won’t manipulate him or abandon him like his…
Should abused and neglected boys be allowed to live at a facility for juvenile delinquents? That’s the question explored in this week’s cover story, “Bad Company.” The facility in question is Ridge View Youth Services Center in Watkins, which can hold up to 500 boys and prides itself on its…
The Colorado Department of Education is conducting an investigation into possible cheating at two schools in Denver where a review of state test results showed “statistical irregularities,” according to a press release just sent out by Denver Public Schools. DPS doesn’t identify the schools, but Education News Colorado reports that…
At noon, a day after Republican lawmakers defeated a bill to legalize civil unions in a special legislative session, conservatives rallied on the steps of the Capitol building. The event had been planned days in advance, but due to the demise of civil unions, the tone was celebratory. House Speaker…
The so-called House “kill committee” has put to death a bill to legalize civil unions. The measure, sponsored by House Minority Leader Mark Ferrandino, who is gay, failed despite having bipartisan support in the full House when the committee’s five Republicans voted against it. But first, supporters and and opponents…
A bill to legalize civil unions and two bills dealing with marijuana have been assigned to be debated this afternoon in the House’s State, Veterans and Military Affairs committee, which is likely to reject civil unions but keep the latter measures alive. Today is the first day of a special…
Deborah Sherman, the former 9News reporter whose departure from the station this past November powered up the rumor mill, has resurfaced as a spokesperson for the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office. And what timing! Sherman says she started a part-time media consulting and media relations job there two days ago, just…
The Arapahoe Snowfly is so small that you wouldn’t notice if you inhaled it. At just .2 inches long, it’s certainly not the kind of cuddly creature that appears on birthday cards and computer backgrounds. (Like mine, which just so happens to feature an effing adorable photo of two Denver…
Welcome to Colorado, Hollywood! The word from the Senate Majority Office is that House Bill 1286 — better known as the film incentives bill — has passed the Senate, its last hurdle before reaching the governor’s desk. The bill increases the cash rebate offered to filmmakers from 10 percent to…
The most common question state historian Bill Convery hears about the new History Colorado Center is, “Where is the Denver diorama going to be?” That huge diorama depicts the Mile High City in 1860, complete with the old Rocky Mountain News building, an Arapaho Indian camp and, Convery says, “fantastic…
The competition for state tourism incentives will remain as stiff as ever thanks to a veto this morning from Governor John Hickenlooper. Hick nixed a bill that would have allowed the Colorado Economic Development Commission to approve up to six new projects for sales-tax rebates. Six projects, including a proposed…
Women in Denver are arrested for prostitution-related crimes more often than men and are punished more harshly, according to “Who Pays?,” a new study by the Denver-based Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking. The question of why is still a bit of a mystery, but researchers think it may be tied…
What does it look like when a bunch of mascots converge on the Capitol steps? Kinda goofy. That’s what happened at today’s Discover Colorado Rally, a yearly meetup that could be summed up in two words: “Yay, tourism!” Grown-ups dressed as sharks and bears listened as officials rattled off statistics…
Miller moths are back, molesting porch lights, swarming cars and generally pestering the good citizens of Colorado earlier than usual this year due to our recent warm weather. Pest control companies are helpless in the face of these flapping demons; their best advice is to suck them up with a…
Earlier this week, we told you about a mind-blowing photo we came across on the otherwise ho-hum Alamosa County website. But the badassery isn’t courtesy of the county itself. Instead, officials politely informed us that the credit belongs to Jay Young, manager of Colorado Gators Reptile Park…
Prax(us) is a Denver-based nonprofit that works with homeless youth who are currently involved in or vulnerable to human trafficking. As such, director Stephanie Bell says, “There’s so much pressure for us to be constantly telling their stories.” Art is a way for the youth to tell their stories themselves…
County websites — and the photos that decorate them — are usually pretty boring. Snow-covered mountains, orange sunsets, red barns, staid county commissioners dressed in suits and ties. Which is why we were stoked when we came upon this badass shot on the Alamosa County website…
Colorado is home to more than two thousand refugees from Burma, an isolated country in southeast Asia. Among them is Drucie Bathin, the head of the Colorado Rangers Organization, which works on the model of refugees helping refugees, and the subject of our cover story, “A World Away.” And what…
In 2010, we told you the story of Jeff Puckett, a local businessman who started a helicopter ministry seven years ago. Every Monday, Puckett and his friends invite pastors, politicians and most recently, troubled youth, to fly above Denver and see the city the way God might see it: bereft…
No, this lady didn’t win the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes. Instead, Dorthy Gibbons is being rewarded for how she handled her Shih Tzu’s shit. For twelve years, the local company called Pet Scoop has scooped Sasha’s poop. And yesterday, it so happened that Gibbons’s was the millionth yard Pet Scoop…
