“Natural causes” in death at CityPub

Early on April 26, the Denver Police Department got a report of a fight at CityPub, the watering hole at 3575 South Yosemite Street that’s a sibling to CityGrille. In the bar, the officers found 41-year-old Steven Minturn unconcious. He was taken to Swedish Medical Center, where he was declared…

2012: Mayan end-times prophecies, courtesy of PeaceJam

It’s been quite a year for PeaceJam, the homegrown organization that uses Nobel Peace Prize winners to empower kids to fight for peace around the globe. But the challenges of the past year — including a major restructuring and a new PeaceJam office — are nothing compared to what 2012…

Stanley McChrystal does not take the wimpy way out

The new issue of Rolling Stone has yet to hit the stands, but already the focus of Michael Hastings’s story, General Stanley McChrystal, has resigned after yesterday’s meeting with the head wimp among the “wimps in the White House” who were the general’s real enemy. As this saga unfolds, three…

Why do Mexicans want to red-card Landon Donvan?

Dear Mexican: Why do the Mexicans HATE American soccer and “hate” (bolded, underlined and italicized) Landon Donovan? Uncle Sam’s Army Brat Dear Gabacho: Because Mexicans hate Americans — DUH! Geez, this is the literary equivalent of taking a penalty kick at this year’s FIFA World Cup with no goaltender, but…

Michael Roberts wins 5280 Top Blogger award

5280 is out with its annual Top of the Town issue, and Michael Roberts — the powerhouse behind the Latest Word — has been named the town’s Top Blogger. He deserves the honor…and then some. He’s made this blog the talk of the town…

Medical marijuana dispensaries in L.A. go up in smoke

Industry insiders have predicted that Colorado’s new medical-marijuana laws might nearly halve the number of dispensaries in the state, and some of Denver’s dispensaries are on the hit list. But since new laws were instituted in Los Angeles, the reduction has been far more dramatic, with hundreds of dispensaries required…

Pinnacol’s Ken Ross hits a rocky patch after Pebble Beach

Graeme McDowell may have won the U.S. Open, but in a far more inexplicable Pebble Beach victory, Ken Ross, the CEO of Pinnacol Assurance, was named Business Person of the Year by the Colorado chapter of the Public Relations Society of America. The award cited his “communication skills.” And he…

Pinon Canyon Preservation Festival: Home on the Range

Colorado candidates cowboyed up this week, riding into the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association annual convention in Pueblo to tout their ties to rural Colorado. And in the southeastern quadrant of the state, no topic causes more of a rural row than the proposed expansion of the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site. The…

USA Today takes off on Anubis and aliens at DIA

Thanks to the Anubis statue now standing guard outside Denver International Airport, all those conspiracy theories about DIA have taken off again — and they’ve landed the airport smack-dab in today’s edition of USA Today. “Officials insist the 26-foot tall statue of the ancient Egyptian god Anubis now standing outside…

Mexican-Americans can hate recent arrivals, too: It’s called assimilation

Dear Mexican: I’m a civil-rights lawyer. I sue the San Diego Minutemen. Whenever the Minutemen are accused of being racist, they always say something like “I’m part Hispanic,” or they’ll note that some of their members are Mexican. This last claim is actually true. Some of the most zealous Minutemen are actually Mexican-Americans. I’m…

Gary Faulkner displays Colorado’s can-do spirit

And here we thought Ryan Snodgrass and Justin Lariscy, the rafting guides who rescued a thirteen-year-old girl from Clear Creek and got arrested as thanks, were take-charge guys. Now comes news of Gary Faulkner, the Greeley man who made it his mission to kill Osama Bin Laden — and was…

PETA to City of Denver: Pluck you

PETA isn’t chickening out on its push to put “McCruelty,” a 250-pound, bloody and bandaged chicken sculpture, on the 16th Street Mall — and today could be decision day for the City of Denver. PETA has filed all the required applications for the “temporary display of a sculpture…as part of…

Cellar Wine Bar ready to pour

It’s been in the works for over a year, but it looks like Cellar Wine Bar, at 2556 15th Street, is finally ready to uncork and open its doors. The glasses are stocked, the flowers on the bar. Cellar is in the heart of the very hot LoHi neighforhood, just…

Jezebel’s may not be haunted, but it’s jinxed

“Now Open Under New Management,” says the beer banner installned by the now old-new management in the completely dark Jezebel’s Juke Joint & Brothel, the spot at 3862 High Street that was formerly the High Street Speakeasy and a host of other has-beens. The web site is only slightly more…