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In the first hours after Jude Friend was struck by lightning, at a moment when she did not know whether she would live or die, she crawled to an opening in her tent and gazed at the morning sky. “What a beautiful sunrise,” she thought. Twenty-one years later, the image…

Steve Marshburn Sr. was hit by a thunderbolt in 1969 — while working indoors at a bank. The lightning flashed from ten miles away, struck a drive-through teller window, entered the bank building through an ungrounded speaker and shot into his spine. Since then, Marshburn has suffered myriad ailments, including…

On the day Peyton was born — February 6, 1975 — Pat Tuthill cuddled her sleeping daughter, promising to protect her and keep her safe. “And I will love you forever,” she whispered. Peyton was a child any parent would be proud of: loving, intelligent, athletic, talented, adventurous — but…

At 120 feet wide and 80 feet tall, Terabeam Corp.’s new billboard demands attention. And since it appeared on the wall of the Allright Parking garage at 1420 Stout Street, it’s gotten plenty of attention from the Mayor’s Office of Art, Culture and Film, the city’s zoning department, and just…

Vail, whose motto over the last few decades could well have been “Where rich kids come to get drunk and party,” now wants to crack down on drinking and partying (although probably not on rich kids), at least for the Fourth of July and New Year’s Eve. Last December 31,…

In March, Tom Green announced that he would be leaving his post as lead sportscaster on Channel 7 to take the helm of Rocky Mountain Sports Report, a locally based program slated to debut on Fox Sports Net Rocky Mountain come late spring. In May, Green divulged that his agreement…

The Verdict Is In Waiting can be murder: I am very impressed with the current “Penalty Zone” series. Steve Jackson has captured the very essence of the trials. Even though we know the outcome, I was as excited reading his work as I would have been reading a new novel…

Cynthia Devereaux is on the phone, calling everybody who’s anybody in Costilla County. She calls Father Pat Valdez, the parish priest in San Luis. She calls Patti Swift, the county judge. She calls her father, Ernesto Sandoval, the former county sheriff. She calls the neighbors. Her message is simple, delivered…

They were an unlikely pair of killers, the big-talking ladies’ man and the quiet missionary. George Woldt and Lucas Salmon. One was supposedly the leader and the other the follower, but it’s doubtful that either would have had the nerve to do alone what they did together. They planned their…

Stephen Labowskie figured it was going to be a pretty good day. It was June 14 when Labowskie and other early arrivals were to begin converging on the Telluride Bluegrass Festival 2000, a four-day picking marathon that was expected to draw 10,000 music fans per day. Like many festivalgoers, Labowskie,…

With books and videotapes overflowing from shelves in his small Uptown office, the pursuit of education is one of Jerry Stevens’s defining characteristics. An attorney with an active practice, he’s now completing a master’s degree in psychology; his thesis is on the recovery of the soul in the wilderness. He…

Denver’s State of the City address came early this year — but not because Mayor Wellington Webb wanted to get it out of the way before he announces whether he’s running for U.S. Senate. No, Webb had determined months ago that June 18 was the perfect date to deliver his…

The media mega-conglomerate Clear Channel has always been combative. But the bigger the company gets (at present, the firm owns approximately 1,200 stations nationwide, including eight of the most powerful signals in Denver), the more eager it seems to play rough. The San Antonio, Texas, giant was blasted in two…

Trickle-Down Economics Liquid assets: Regarding David Holthouse’s “Toast of the Town,” in the June 14 issue: I have friends who have worked at Denver C.A.R.E.S., so I know all about the place. Make no mistake: Its only purpose is to warehouse drunks so they won’t offend business and moral sensibilities…

Sunday morning, coming down, Charles Caesar raises the dusty left cuff of his blue jeans to show off the burn scar on his leg. “Passed out on a steam grate,” he explains. Caesar is 43, homeless, and addicted to alcohol. “People look at me and think ‘drunk Indian.’ Really, I’m…

On the dais above a silent Jefferson County courtroom, Judge Frank Plaut cleared his throat. He was well aware that he was about to make Colorado history by handing down the first sentence from a three-judge panel in a death-penalty case. The other judges sat on either side, gazing solemnly…

For six years, local landscaper and gardening writer John Starnes has been leading summer tours of Fairmount Cemetery, a green thumb’s paradise with 75 varieties of roses. The tours were always presented through the Denver Botanic Gardens, which offers numerous quarterly classes and programs. But this year, after confused rosarians…

The Denver cops had their hands full Saturday night as drunk and happy fans of the Stanley Cup-winning Colorado Avalanche poured into LoDo for a night of car-stomping fun. Things got a little unruly, though, and at certain points, the city’s finest no doubt felt as though they were caught…

The most immediate effects of the joint operating agreement between the Denver Post and the Rocky Mountain News — fewer weekend papers, increased advertising and subscription rates, etc. — have been well documented. But there’s been other fallout as well, and in some unexpected arenas. Consider the following examples, which…