Wake-Up Call: Padres Unidos unites for another award

Pam and Ricardo Martinez met on a United Farm Workers picket line in California. Now, almost forty years later, they share a life, a family, a passion for social justice and Padres y Jovenes Unidos, the Denver nonprofit they co-founded in 1991 — as well as another big national honor…

Tom Tancredo wants to turn marijuana into the toke of the town

Pot Party Tom Tancredo has never inhaled. In fact, he’s never even tried pot. So when he says that marijuana should be legalized, there’s no need to ask what he’s been smoking. Legalizing marijuana might seem an unlikely crusade for the controversial former congressman whose campaign against illegal immigration inspired…

There’s no business like snow business at Argyll

For sunny days, Argyll Gastropub, at 2700 East Third Avenue, has a great patio. On snowy days, it has the “Snow Days Deal.” At any time when it’s snowing, Argyll will sell you a 20-ounce Imperial Pint of Murphy’s Stout for half price — 50 percent off the usual $5.25…

Wake-Up Call: Legalize marijuana to save higher education?

Colorado’s parks, recreational areas and open space are subsidized by the Colorado Lottery, which over the past fifteen years has sent millions of dollars to Great Outdoors Colorado. Community colleges are slated to be supported by another form of gambling: Last November, Coloradans voted to expand gaming at casinos in…

Wake-Up Call: Who cares about Richard Heene?

The news is full of real stories about real people in need. People who can’t find jobs, people who can’t pay their mortgages, people who can’t feed their families. Not high on the list of the truly needy: People who want to feed their hunger for fame. But still, Cheri…

The sign is up for Earls in Cherry Creek

Cherry Creek was slow last night, without the usual crowds at Little Ollie’s and Houston’s. But just down the street at 201 Columbine Street, in the former home of Jim Sullivan’s Ocean (and Mao before that), there are signs of life: The sign is up announcing that Earls is on…

KJ’s Coffee Bar adds music to the mix

KJ’s Coffee Bar, the Whittier neighborhood watering hole at 1710 East 25th Avenue that Kenny and Kristin Johnson opened last year, adds music to the mix tonight, when DJ LHD and friends start spinning at 7 p.m. But don’t come to KJ’s empty-handed: It’s running a food drive to benefit…

Wake-Up Call: Goldilocks and the two babies

Colorado is not all about balloon boys and terrorists — unless you count fat babies and health insurance companies. Senator Michael Bennet has been getting a lot of face time lately, speechifying about our broken healthcare system. And in his most recent speech, he may have finally given the debate…

Wake-Up Call: My life has gone to pot

It’s been three weeks since we first posted news of our search for a medical-marijuana reviewer. Within five minutes of that posting, we had our first application for this extremely part-time job. Within ten minutes, our first media inquiry. And the applications and media calls keep coming. This morning –…

From the Yucatan to northwest Denver

Outside, the temperature was dropping — but inside Lola, we might as well have been on a beach in Mexico. That’s because chef Jamey Fader and guest chef Roberto Solis were hosting a Yucatan dinner, full of the tastes of that region . “We’re all just chefs,” Fader said as…

From northwest Denver to the Yucatan, in one dinner

I was at Lola, 1575 Boulder Street, twice on Sunday — for brunch (the chicken-fried pork special) and dinner (the Sunday paella special). And you’d think I might have had my fill of Lola for a while — but you’d be wrong. Because tonight, Lola is hosting a Yucatan Dinner,…

Wake-Up Call: Frazier’s congressional run no trial balloon

Ryan Frazier made a smart move, even though his announcement last Thursday that he was switching from a run for the U.S. Senate to go for the 7th Congressional District seat currently occupied by Ed Perlmutter was completely overshadowed by a certain silver balloon. But someone took notice: The Colorado…

Aurora will have to wait for its Smashburger

Aurora was slated to get its very own Smashburger on Wednesday, October 21, but the opening of the store at 2630 South Parker Road has been delayed — “a permitting issue that the landlord is working through,” according to Julie Noyes, spokeswoman for the homegrown chain. When the Aurora outlet…

Wake-Up Call: Talk about the Mile High (and Higher) City!

Even Balloon Boy couldn’t knock our hunt for a medical-marijuana reviewer out of the national news. Yesterday, NPR’s Sunday show ran a piece about our quest, resulting in still more applications coming in from across the country. But sorry, folks: We’re looking for a Colorado resident, someone who can identify…

Lobby manager takes a licking, keeps on ticking

Even as the area north of downtown gentrifies, certain problematic pockets remain. The area around 22nd and Arapahoe streets, for example, where the manager of the brand-new (and beautiful) Lobby American Grille, located in the space in the historic Paris Hotel at 2191 Arapahoe Street that was once occupied by…

Wake-Up Call: Rico Munn appointment no trial balloon

Okay, so Falcon Heene was never in the balloon. But why wasn’t he in school yesterday? That’s a question for Rico Munn, who’s done good work during his two years as executive director of the Department of Regulatory Affairs, and yesterday was appointed by Governor Bill Ritter to head the…

Girls and grills at CY Steak

Cliff Young, whose eponymously named restaurant transformed the Denver dining scene, is back in business at the Diamond Cabaret, where his CY Steak opened this week at 1222 Glenarm Place. It was a soft opening — in a room full of hard bodies. While strip clubs across the country are…

Wake-Up Call: Ryan Frazier dumps a clunker for a new race

Ryan Frazier is trading in a clunker in favor of a much sleeker vehicle. Six months after the two-term Aurora City Councilman announced that he was running for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate, he’s pulling out of that race and making a fast course correction for the 7th…