Opinion & Commentary

It had to happen. For the past year, Denver has been living up to its billing as the Mile High City, hitting new heights daily as the medical-marijuana business shows no signs of slowing down. And now, inevitably, The Daily Show has come to town to profile our booming dispensary…

“I’ve been there,” pronounces the subject line in the e-mail blast from Joe Biden that just landed in my in-box. And judging from the message that follows, the veep is still there, stuck in the ’80s, when the letters pages of newspapers actually had power. When they were, in Biden…

Developer Erik Osborn thought that One Lincoln Park would be his towering achievement. Instead, it could land him in the big house with a 24-year sentence. Osborn will be in court this morning for sentencing on his felony-theft conviction in connection with financial shenanigans at One Lincoln Park, the luxury…

In just four days, RTD buses racked up three collisions that resulted in four fatalities. The latest victim? Marvin “Chip” Webb, who was riding his bicycle in Lafayette when he was struck by a bus Tuesday night. Webb, the owner of Chip’s Place, had worked at Chip’s Cafe, a diner…

A snowstorm at dawn, patio weather at sunset — yesterday’s weather was a Colorado classic, one that seemed to back the favorite booster claim that Denver enjoys 300 days of sunshine a year. Except… When the April issue of Men’s Journal included Denver on its list of the 25 Best…

Despite the lousy economy, last year saw an unprecedented number of impressive new restaurants opening in Denver – everything from Olivea to Squeaky Bean to TAG to Colt & Gray. But the team of eaters working on the Best of Denver 2010 were unanimous on which spot had earned the…

Colorado Attorney General John Suthers will debate attorney Rob Corry at noon today at the University of Denver. The subject? Medical marijuana. Here’s an opening question for Suthers: Why does Colorado’s AG think this state’s legalization of medical marijuana — approved by the voters back in 2000 — violates federal…

Watching Dynasty was a guilty pleasure. The Aaron Spelling-produced prime-time soap opera, inspired by the success of Dallas and allegedly set in Denver, ran from 1981 to 1989. And while this city went from boom to very, very busted, the Carrington clan always had plenty of cash, plenty of catfights…

If life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Without THC. The quickly reorganized Colorado Cannabis Convention kicks off at 4 p.m. today at the Colorado Convention Center. Title sponsor Kush Colorado and its sibling, dailybuds.com, stepped in to take the lead after a dispute with the original sponsor wound up in…

Yes, for the first time in years, our Best Burger in Denver is actually served in Denver — rather than at Bud’s Bar down in Sedalia. It’s at Colt & Gray, the restaurant that opened last August at 1553 Platte Street, and was also a contender for Best New Restaurant…

Best tip you won’t find in the Best of Denver 2010, now hitting newstands: The Best Parking Meters are in the 2100 block of Larimer Street. Not only do those old-time meters charge just 25 cents for an hour, but you can still feed them this pittance with a cashkey…

Some of our favorite Westword stories — including ones connected to our annual Best of Denver issue — are not the ones we’ve published. I spilled a few of the juicier ones when I sat down with the Denver Post’s Bill Husted for his Bar & Grilled interview earlier this…

Want to be the first to read about Denver’s Best New Restaurant? Sign up for Cafe Bites, our weekly dining newsletter, right here. Every Tuesday night, Cafe Bites serves up a heaping helping of restaurant scoops. And tonight, it will reveal which restaurant will be named the Best New Restaurant…

The first-ever Colorado Cannabis Convention almost ended before it began. That’s because the original promoter, Raymond Springsteel and Boulder Talent Agency, which had booked the Colorado Convention Center for a pot convention this coming weekend, apparently disappeared after collecting — and cashing — a major haul of checks from vendors…

One of the best moves of the year — both literally and figuratively — was the city’s last-second save of the Denver Civic Theatre for Su Teatro, which just opened its first production in the heart of Denver’s historic Santa Fe Drive area. Su Teatro was already in the process…

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has surrendered to the inevitable. Yesterday morning I wrote about a friend,Elaine Betts, who’d received her medical marijuana card more than five months after she applied for it — and over two months after she died. Soon after, the department announced that…

When I agreed to be grilled by Bill Husted for Bar and Grilled, his interview feature that appears in today’s Denver Post, I had an important question to answer (and no, it wasn’t why I would agree to be grilled in the first place): What bar to choose for the…

Elaine Betts took care of her family and friends, took care of her neighborhood. I know, because she used to live on my block, before she bought a little house a few blocks away and started taking care of that neighborhood. When she was diagnosed with cancer last year, she…

Frank Bonanno, who was named a semifinalist for Outstanding Restaurateur in this year’s James Beard Foundation Awards, didn’t make the cut when the finalists were announced Monday. But he’s already won a string of honors, including Best New Restaurant in Best of Denver 2009 for Bones, the noodle house that…

For months, my e-mail has been deluged with a blizzard of messages from Colorado candidates. And although the City of Denver just announced that it’s opening late today because of the snow, I just received my first generic message from Mayor John Hickenlooper, who announced his run for governor in…