Columbus Day parade is quiet: Goodbye, Columbus protests?

Colorado was the first state to make Columbus Day an official holiday, in 1907. And today, state offices will be closed to mark what remains a holiday — and was celebrated with a Columbus Day Parade Saturday. But that parade didn’t inspire the protests that have been regular sights over…

16th Street Mall is no party, says one critic

The 16th Street Mall turned thirty yesterday, and it’s looking better than it has in years, with the best yet to come as work continues on the Union Station project. The mall’s official birthday celebration will be Tuesday at Skyline Park — but some critics won’t be coming to the…

Presidential debate winner: The University of Denver

No matter how the presidential candidates do in tonight’s debate — whether Mitt Romney continues to do his imitation of Bert on Sesame Street or Barack Obama trips over his teleprompter — a clear winner has already emerged: The University of Denver…

Walmart debate should make presidential debate look like chit-chat

The presidential debate won’t be at University of Denver until tomorrow night, but the great debate is already raging in Denver: Does a Walmart belong in the development going in the former University of Colorado property at Ninth and Colorado? And if it does, should it benefit from tax-increment financing?…

Gaylord Entertainment officially checks out: Bye-bye, Aurora

Six months ago Gaylord Entertainment Co. made its case to Colorado, explaining why a proposed 1,500-room, $824 hotel/resort/convention complex in Aurora was a good deal — good enough to justify the state offering big tax incentives. Today, the company that made that pitch no longer exists…

Westword ownership returns to Denver

The first edition of Westword hit the streets of Denver in September 1977. Over the past 35 years, Westword has gone through many changes — as has the publishing industry in general, and the alternative-newspaper industry in particular. But our basic mission has not changed: to cover (and sometimes uncover)…

Westword‘s new ownership a 35th anniversary present

When Westword debuted in September 1977, pundits around town were predicting the demise of the paper. People gave it a month, a week, a year at most. After all, the only business more risky than starting a restaurant was starting a newspaper. And a free newspaper? Forget it…

Sonny Lawson Park: Welcome to the neighborhood

For over a year, neighbors and stakeholders in the area just northeast of downtown — the edge of the Ballpark neighborhood, Curtis Park, Five Points — have been discussing how to improve this part of town. They’ve come up with some answers, and one big question: Why is Sonny Lawson…

Walmart v. Trader Joe’s: Red state or blue?

Colorado is the purplest of states, with voters almost equally divided between Democrat, Republican and unaffiliated, and Barack Obama and Mitt Romney in a dead heat here. But there’s another contest that also shows the red state/blue state pull: The debate over Walmart and Trader Joe’s…