Opinion & Commentary

They may all be independent restaurants, but the members of the Denver Independent Network of Restaurants know how to work together. Close to fifty of them have joined to create DINR decks, which could be just the thing to stuff a food-lover’s stocking this Christmas. Every deck holds 52 cards,…

Fort Collins, Pueblo and Loveland have joined the ranks of Colorado cities with moratoriums on additional medical marijuana dispensaries — although their actions yesterday were more limited than the hysterical “emergency” designation on the day’s hearings had implied. Fort Collins wound up approving just a three-month pause, Pueblo went for…

City Council rep Charlie Brown has taken the lead on corralling medical marijuana dispensaries in Denver. And he’s taking the task seriously — so seriously that, last week, he took his cowboy hat and traveled to Los Angeles (using campaign funds, not taxpayer dollars) to check out that city’s booming…

Although Nathan and Ian are the technical victors in our Tony Bourdain ticket giveaway, the real winners are diners in Denver, because the contest entries posted by readers serve as a terrific cheat sheet for the very best places to eat in town (and proof that Denver did not deserve…

Welcome to cannabis Colorado. This weekend, at a gathering of publishers from across the country, all the talk was about Colorado and pot — and they weren’t just asking if I was carrying. No, they wanted to know about the booming business in medical-marijuana dispensaries in this state — and…

The last time Anthony Bourdain came to Denver, on a book tour in 2002, he wasn’t impressed with the town — and said so. So he’ll have a lot to answer for during his Q&A at the Buell Theatre next Wednesday night. Helping to grill Bourdain:: Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper,…

“It’s a Norman Rockwell scene,” Ted Haggard told the reporters gathered outside his Colorado Spring home last night, where the New Life Church founder and disgraced minister was about to start his first, off-the-record prayer meeting. “It’s a ‘Kumbaya’ moment.” A Norman Rockwell scene? Only if when he was done…

Anthony Bourdain wasn’t impressed with Denver when he came through town in 2002, touting A Cook’s Tour. He’ll be back for a talk at the Buell Theatre on November 18, and we’ve got a pair of tickets that we’re giving to the reader who comes up with the best three-stop…

Forget John Hancock: Next time you’re asked to sign a petition, you can just put down your Michael Hancock. Someone — and it definitely wasn’t Denver city councilman Michael Hancock — did just that when presented with a petition pushing a ballot measure that would change the Denver City Charter…

Ten years ago this month Westword left LoDo — where the paper had been housed, in an assortment of offices, for more than twenty years, since long before lower downtown even had a hip nickname. Moving to the edge of the Golden Triangle, we found the space and parking we…

The Army wants to take over more of the ranchland around Pinon Canyon — but it’s not accounting adequately for the 238,000 acres it already has, taken 25 years ago in the largest land grab in the country’s history. On September 8, Judge Richard Matsch ruled that the Army’s 2007…

The nights get quiet in Northfield Stapleton. Driving along 29th Avenue Sunday night, I spotted a hardy crew in the Berkshire, one of the only homegrown spots in the neighborhood, but the chains surrounding that restaurant, and to the north in Northfield, were just about empty. But the area should…

When I last talked with former Congressman Tom Tancredo — about marijuana, of all things, which he’d like to see legalized, even though he’s never so much as attempted to inhale — he was just back from an October Constitution Party event in Phoenix, where he’d been urged to run…

The Tavern Hospitality Group is ready to take over the space in the Lowenstein project at 2510 East Colfax Avenue that was previously occupied by Neighborhood Flix, where it plans to open an event center (think the Soiled Dove in Lowry) and a Tavern (think Wash Park, Uptown, etc). But…

Timing is everything. On Thursday, Senator Michael Bennet voted against Lindsey Graham’s amendment that would have barred the Obama administration from trying anyone accused of plotting the 9/11 attacks in federal district courts, instead using military commissions at Guantanamo. And Bennet wasn’t alone: Graham’s proposal was tabled by a vote…

We were at Table 6 last night, at a Samuel Adams beer dinner, testing the Winter Lager, the Holiday Porter, the new Samuel Adams Barrel Aged Collection of three special brews that will only be offered in select cities, including Denver. We were testing all kinds of beer, with one…

How do you know you’re in a classic dive? It helps if the owner stands up and welcomes you to his place — the place he’s had for 58 years, and bought before he was old enough to own it legally. Jerry Feld bought the bar at 404 Broadway back…

The 2010 election is less than a year away, and judging from this past Tuesday’s vote, things are going to get plenty messy. But here in Colorado, we’re still cleaning up after the dirty dealings of 2006. The gubernatorial race was particularly bad, with 527s and party operatives pushing the…

First, Hapa Sushi owner Mark Van Grack offered free orange undies to participants in last week’s Naked Pumpkin Run, urging them to “Run Responsibly.” Now he’s fired up an ad that includes a map of metro Denver with the four Hapa Sushi locations marked in red — and 59 local…

What’s happened to the liberal mecca of Boulder? First, cops put a lid — and some pants — on plans to resurrect the Halloween Mall Crawl, as well as the Naked Pumpkin Run. And now the city’s looking at strictly regulating medical marijuana dispensaries — if it doesn’t ban them…