What’s on your bucket list, before it’s too late?

Denver has narrowly escaped destruction numerous times. When the railroads crossing the country in the 1860s threatened to skip the infant city altogether, leaving it high and dry on the plains, boosters worked fast to secure a line — and a future for Denver (and a fortune for themselves). A…

Colorado Springs lives it up with new logo and slogan

When you think of Colorado Springs, what do you think of? Pikes Peak? The Garden of the Gods? The Broadmoor? The Air Force Academy? Ted Haggard? Yesterday, while Visit Denver’s annual meeting was learning that National Geographic Traveler will feature Denver next year as soon as the magazine can find…

Why can’t Mexico get its act together?

Dear Mexican: Why is Mexico such a dump? Just to name a few of the problems: stray dogs running all over the place, piles of trash burning in the street, blown-out tires hanging from cactus by the side of the road, shredded plastic shopping bags plastering every fence in sight,…

Fortune Valley bets on a new name: Reserve Casino Hotel

When the Colorado Gaming Commission heads to Central City for its monthly meeting next week, it will be greeted by a new casino. Or at least, a casino with a new name: Fortune Valley, which got its start as Harvey’s Wagon Wheel Casino, then became Harrah’s, will next be Reserve…

Why are Mexican women so comfortable with their bodies?

Dear Mexican: I am an Anglo intruder in New Mexico. When I moved to Albuquerque from Virginia, I fell in love with Mexican culture. I was impressed at what I called “Southwestern hospitality.” I have had so many second dinners when I go to people’s homes that I gained a…

Westboro Baptist Church to take on the East High Angels?

Sadly, it’s too late to block the border. By now the professional picketers from Westboro Baptist Church, Fred Phelps’s “god-hates-fags” group, have likely made their way from Kansas to Colorado, where they’ve announced plans to picket two Jewish General Assembly meetings downtown today. They’re also threatening to show up at…

Initiative 300 goes down; local restaurateurs savor their victory

Initiative 300, the paid sick-leave proposal on yesterday’s ballot, would have affected just about every business in Denver — but restaurants became the real poster child of the campaign, on both the pro and con sides. The Yes on 300 campaign used scare tactics — including pictures of cantaloupes on…

Harold Camping to end end-of-the-world predictions?

Harold Camping has predicted the end of the world three times — and each time, the ninetysomething Boulder native has struck out. Most recently, Doomsday did not arrive on October 21. Five months earlier, the Rapture did not occur on May 21. And there were earlier botched Camping forecasts, which…

Why doesn’t anyone use “the B-word” for beaner?

Dear Mexican: These days, using the word “nigger” is considered so offensive that, in its place, we now use the term “N-word.” Of course, never mind that African-Americans use it among themselves as a term of endearment, pero esa es una historia para otro dia. Sin embargo, it raises a…