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part 1 of 3 A little after noon on April 16, 1993, an office worker at Paddock Center, a vocational education school in Boulder, peered out the window as she dialed the police. “I want to report a gang fight,” she said. A few minutes earlier, she had watched as…

part 3 of 3 The detectives asked Matt if he knew the expression, “What are you claiming?” “Claiming, it’s like, it’s sort of territorial,” he replied. “Or it could also be like, you can claim a part of a group, too. You can be like, `I claim, you know, I’m…

Choice opportunities: After Mary DeGroot’s surprisingly strong showing in the May 2 election, some early supporters complained they could no longer get through to the busy–and suddenly much more popular–candidate. That wouldn’t surprise Sue Bollman, immediate past president of NARAL, who says she was “appalled” by DeGroot’s response when incumbent…

A Hispanic-owned firm that won millions of dollars’ worth of contracts as an electrical supplier at Denver International Airport actually is nothing more than a front company operating a bogus pass-through scheme to take advantage of affirmative-action rules, a city hearing officer has ruled. The company, Denver-based M&N Electrical Supply…

Susan Casey, who’s running for Mary DeGroot’s soon-to-be-vacant city council District 6 seat, wants the public to know she’s not the typical kind of money-and-politics candidate. She won’t take donations from PACs, corporations, or “special interests.” Her campaign slogan is “Soccer Mom for City Council,” and her literature guarantees that…

The room’s only source of illumination is the wavering morning sunlight filtering though the fence, past the basketball court and into a bank of windows along one wall. Already, the dulcet sounds of new-age flute music float from a portable tape player, a backdrop to the soft shuffling of feet…

Don’t Slam the Door Do I hold the record for generating the most indignant and irate replies to a letter? It is truly gratifying to find that you have such a righteous readership (Letters, May 10 and May 17). You may let them know I am leaving Los Denverles forever…

Detective James Rock remembers it as one of the worst professional decisions he’d made in 24 years with the Denver Police Department, although there was no way he could have known that at the time. He simply made one of those judgment calls that cops make a dozen times a…

Five years ago, the best minds in Colorado sat down with Governor Roy Romer and brainstormed a way to make environmental cleanups faster and cheaper. At least that was the idea. Present were leaders from industries, higher education, regulatory agencies and the environmental movement. The result of the one-day think…

What’s in a name? Rather than carry heavy tomes through the rest of Denver’s mayoral campaign, clip and save this handy guide: In Funk & Wagnalls Standard Desk Dictionary, a “crony” is simply a friend. Webster’s New World Dictionary turns up the heat, defining “cronyism” as “favoritism shown to close…

Four years ago, the Colorado Legislature passed a bill designed to make it more difficult for stalkers to track down their prey. What the law may have done instead is give potential victims a false sense of security. Senate Bill 91-74, enacted in 1992, limits access to driver’s license information,…

Two years after Mayor Wellington Webb tried to sell the Winter Park ski resort to the Winter Park Recreational Association for as little as $24.5 million, an appraisal commissioned by the city itself has valued the resort at nearly three times that amount. The Webb administration won’t make the appraisal…

Art of the Deal Calhoun, you are too kind. After reading your “Indecent Exposure,” in the May 10 issue, I took a look at the alleged art. Mutombo should sue. Herb Powers Denver Patricia Calhoun’s column was the most mean-spirited piece I have ever read. Shame. Denver should be honored…

When Geno Marcovici went into the hair-plug business last year, he didn’t give much thought to demographics. “I could have really narrowed it down,” he recalls. “But then I realized it was simple. Who wants a hair transplant? A man. We see millionaires from Aspen and dishwashers from Mexico. Here’s…

Some people just can’t face the prospect of former senator Bill Armstrong getting an honorary degree from the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs on May 19. So they plan to turn their backs on him. While Armstrong receives his doctorate in “humane letters” at the urging of CU president…

Clara Munoz has finally gone home. Last week she boarded an Immigration and Naturalization Service bus bound for El Paso, Texas. Once there, INS agents watched as she and other passengers walked across the bridge into Mexico. At that point, Munoz and her compatriots became the responsibility–and headache–of the Mexican…

“This is my home bar,” Joe Canavan says as he looks down into his bourbon and water. “I’ve been bitching about how uncomfortable these stools are since 1946. That’s when I heard about this place. I was working across the street from here, and we heard they’d opened a bar,…

Cherchez la femme: Nope, Denver’s never had a mayor named Mary–as was readily apparent reading between the lines of the two dailies last week. For example, although the city has seen plenty of mayoral candidates in heavy pancake makeup, Mary DeGroot’s lipstick is a first–as was Denver Post reporter Tracy…