What does LoDo need? Two weeks ago, mysterious chalk messages suddenly appeared on sidewalks across downtown Denver — in 83 spots, to be exact — referring passersby to a website where they could share their thoughts on what LoDo was missing. “In 25-square blocks, LoDo has boutique clothing stores, multi-story…
As anyone traveler to Denver stuck downtown at midnight knows, it’s almost impossible to hail a cab. But not so long ago, it as actually illegal! The transportation scene has changed so much — with new ride options like Uber and Lyft joining an increasing number of cab companies, and…
Dear Mexican: Can you help me unravel the citrus dilemma? When I am in Mexico or a Mexican restaurant or market, I am unable to find lemons (yellow, egg-sized tart-tasting fruits). When I ask, I get green-colored fruits that look and taste like limes (green, smaller-than-egg-sized tart-tasting fruits). I understand…
Cab drivers in Denver face a lot of challenges, as Joel Warner outlines in his current cover story, “Street Fights.” They not only have to pay high lease rates for company cars, but then have trouble making ends meet because of stiff competition on the streets not just from other…
Even before last night’s special meeting of the board of directors of Caprock Academy, a charter school in Grand Junction that had banned a nine-year-old girl from class on Monday because she’d shaved her head in solidarity with her best friend, an eleven-year-old undergoing chemotherapy for neuroblastoma, the school had…
Dear Mexican: What’s the story with Mexican pastries? Like most cultures, Mexicans seem to be cribbing from the French, but pan dulce just winds up tasting like a dinner roll with a little icing on top. So many other parts of Mexican cuisine emphasize strong flavors. Why must the best…
Yesterday, the State of Colorado, History Colorado and representatives of the tribes whose ancestors died at Sand Creek — the Northern Cheyenne of Montana, the Northern Arapaho of Wyoming, and the Cheyenne and Arapahoe tribes of Oklahoma — signed a Memorandum of Agreement, “government-to-government,” said Governor John Hickenlooper, recognizing the…
Collision, the History Colorado exhibit devoted to the Sand Creek Massacre, has made some history itself over the past two years. And a new chapter will begin today, when Governor John Hickenlooper will announce the creation of the Sand Creek Massacre Commemorative Commission and also mark the signing of the…
Dear Mexican: The current clothing trend is for ladies to wear low-cut jeans and belly shirts that expose their midriffs. That looks great on a hard-bodied woman, so why do so many fat Mexican mujeres insist on dressing like this? It’s one of the grossest things imaginable. Their gut hangs…
The highlight of Monday’s luncheon for Imagine 2020, the city’s first cultural plan in 25 years, was local slam poet and DU student Jose Guerrero, who’d written a poem about Denver for the event that included a memorable reference to the “Big Blue Bear’s butt” and even more telling lines…
Dear Mexican: My dad says that when he was growing up in Downey, California, they used to open the local pool to mexicanos and negritos on Thursdays only because the pool was cleaned on Friday mornings. Is this an accurate account of racism in the 1940s or an exaggeration? Do…
Dear Mexican: Why is there a jealous cousin driven by insecurity in every Mexican family?Must Excuse Vulgar-Ass Lingual Expression Dear MEVALE: Take your pick. It’s because a) your dad unwittingly insulted his dad back in the rancho when they were boys, and your cousin was taught to hate you as…
It had been more than a decade since Westword had competed in the Colorado Press Association awards — since the last time we were able to challenge the state’s major dailies, in fact. That was back when the Rocky Mountain News was still going strong; after the News complained to…
In the early 2000s, Denver was all about the creative class. Author/big thinker Richard Florida had labeled the metro area one of the top creative spots in the country, an honor that John Hickenlooper used to promote the city that had just elected him mayor. Fifteen years before, he’d been…
Dear Mexican: Do you agree with gente who think you can’t be vegetarian if you’re Mexican because meat is an essential part of our diet? I’ve heard this argument three times within the last 24 hours, from two blogs and the Today show. I think it’s babosadas. My parents growing…
The Emily Griffith Opportunity School could soon be history — literally, since the circa 1926 school building at 1250 Welton Street has been recommended for landmark status. But the name of this pioneering educator will live on. This morning, Denver Public Schools will announce the name of its ambitious project…
Michael Herrera grew up in Greeley and Brighton, where the fields were full of chiles, and green chile was often on the table at home. But he didn’t know that his future would be very, very green. Instead, he began his career with KFSC, the station started in the early…
Dear Mexican: I know an eighteen-year-old getting deported from the USA. He has been here since he was five years old. His entire family is here and undocumented. He grew up in juvenile halls and did a felony as soon as he turned eighteen. Will he be deported for sure…
Our boilers are antiquated,” says Jeff Barratt, head of the Emily Griffith Technical College. “I swear, some of them are out of the Titanic.” Close. Emily Griffith, who’d worked as a substitute teacher in Denver Public Schools until she got the okay from the district to start a less traditional…
Dear Mexican: Why is it that many first-generation Latino students are so quick to judge and alienate second-generation students just because their parents went to college and are able to afford a little more? People treat me differently and think I will look down on them, yet I grew up…
Dear Mexican: I am a butt-white Irish guy, stoked to be married to a beautiful Chicana. Her familia is from a gorgeous rancho deep in the corazón of Zacatecas, and I’ve been wanting to experience all of the ranchero lifestyle I keep hearing about from my acquired familia mexicana. However,…
Monday was Tourism Day at the State Capitol, and when boosters said the numbers looked good, that the industry was healthy, they weren’t blowing smoke. But then, they didn’t mention marijuana at all. Think of it as the big pink elephant in the room — if you really want to…
