People say you make your own luck. That seems to apply to bad luck, too, and Curtis Franks has made more than his share. His mother, Jamie, believes that her son’s losing streak began when his father left home, in 1990. Curtis was ten at the time; he started doing…
Duane “Dog” Chapman, the bounty hunter who nabbed Max Factor heir and fugitive rapist Andrew Luster in Mexico last June, was back in town last Wednesday, sitting in Casa del Rey, a Mexican joint in Commerce City, and enjoying his next fifteen minutes of fame. The besieged waitstaff had no…
If change is good, then things are wonderful at Channel 9. During the just-completed May sweeps ratings period, the station retained its news lead in most major time slots even though key personnel continue to come and go like J.Lo fiancés. The station acknowledged three significant switches on the air…
When Jerry Robertson was twelve, thirteen years old, he used to climb into his Uncle Bob’s stock car at the old Englewood Speedway, hoping to get his future in gear but quick. “Lemme hot-lap the car,” the towheaded kid would plead. Every time, Uncle Bob just grinned and shot a…
The Gang’s All Here Street smarts: Wow. I just finished reading Laura Bond’s “Street Wise” article about Robert Duran in the June 3 issue of Westword. The story of this young man was incredible — how he got out of his situation and is now working on his doctorate. It’s…
Can a burrito change lives? Yes, if you’re talking about the rice-and-bean monstrosities from Chipotle Mexican Grill. Just ask Todd Galloway, Ryan Kohland and Andrew Kohari, college buddies who recently launched chipotlelovers.com, a website devoted to the fast-casual chain that has turned a smoked, dried jalapeño into a bona fide…
Denver is the birthplace of the big-burrito craze. It’s given the world Chipotle Mexican Grill and Qdoba Mexican Grill, as well as two smaller restaurants, Chez Jose and Illegal Pete’s. And, ironically, they have more than just large tortillas in common: Chipotle, Illegal Pete’s and Chez Jose were all started…
Just like all fast-food chains, Chipotle sells sameness. Uniformity of expectations. Every store from Denver to Dallas serves up the same fajita burrito and the same hip, urban-minimalist aesthetic: steel tabletops, wood chairs and funky artwork. The consistency of design is the work of one man: Loveland-based sculptor Bruce Gueswel…
Dan Fogarty may have one of the most coveted jobs in corporate America. He’s a walking iPod for Chipotle — traveling around, listening to music, and deciding what beats are funky enough to go with Burrito Bols and steak tacos. “We like music to be in the foreground, not in…
Madeline is an eight-month-old puppy. She acts like any other eight-month-old puppy, chewing up cell phones and remotes, digging in the garbage and generally acting like she could use a good dose of Ritalin. The problem is, she doesn’t look like just any eight-month-old puppy. She looks like she’s part…
Guess a jury won’t get to hear about Clear Channel’s fucksticks after all. Denver-based representatives of Clear Channel, the nation’s biggest concert promoter and largest owner of radio stations, mentioned these implements of destruction in messages quoted in an April 2 order by U.S. District Court Judge Edward Nottingham. The…
On Tuesday, June 8, Julie Jargon was pronounced the winner of the prestigious Livingston Awards for Young Journalists in the category of national reporting. The contest, sponsored by the University of Michigan journalism school, is limited to journalists under the age of 35 working in a variety of media, including…
Luke Schmaltz is getting really good at his pratfall routine. Last week, Off Limits reported that Schmaltz had stumbled through Vegas as part of Modern Drunkard’s first annual drinkfest, er, convention; this past weekend, we found Denver’s dexterous bartender back on home turf, strutting and somersaulting his way up and…
As the spokesman for Colorado Public Radio, Sean Nethery is obligated to deal with complaints about CPR’s pledge drives, which are widely (and accurately) regarded as the most irritating of all local begathons. He defends them with a series of well-reasoned arguments that he breaks up with a confession that…
Stalk of the Town End of the words: Regarding David Holthouse’s “Stalking the Bogeyman,” in the May 13 issue: There are no words that could accurately describe how strongly I feel about David Holthouse sharing what I am positive was such a horrid memory of his childhood. David, your courage…
Robert Duran was lying face down, his hands tied behind his back, when his life as a gangbanger came to a violent, terrifying end. A group of men who said they were cops had busted into the apartment the eighteen-year-old Duran shared with his girlfriend. Now she was next to…
In 1987, the Colorado General Assembly authorized the Colorado Bureau of Investigation to collect and track intelligence information on gang members and their associates. At the same time, metro police departments began compiling their own databases — and a person didn’t have to commit any crime in order to make…
“That corner was the sorriest-looking mess you’ve ever seen,” Michael Beckley says, referring to a small curbside plot of earth along 11th Avenue between Downing and Corona. So two months ago he cleaned it up, spending roughly thirty bucks and three hours — including a trip to Home Depot –…
By the numbers, Modern Drunkard’s first convention in Las Vegas May 14-16 was a hit, with over 500 participants, four weddings, three proposals, six Denver punk bands, seven burlesque girls, zero arrests and at least one stomach-pumping. “There were some other hospitalizations,” says Frank Rich, chief editor of the Denver-based…
According to Westword’s Best of Denver 2004, the “Best Thing to Come Out of the JOA” — the joint operating agreement linking business operations at the Denver Post and the Rocky Mountain News — was the comics section in the Sunday Post. Each week, the colorful spread covered a whopping…
John Servis couldn’t believe it. At 5 a.m., he says, a couple hundred bleary-eyed fans were already lined up along the rail at Philadelphia Park, awaiting their hero. By mid-morning, the crowd had swelled to more than 8,500 — hard-core gamblers with unlit cigar stubs in their teeth, students wearing…
Arrested Development Since Westword published David Holthouse’s “Stalking the Bogeyman,” in our May 13 issue, we’ve been inundated with letters about the story — and all too many of those letters have come from readers who, like David, were sexually assaulted when they were children. On Monday, when news of…
