On the last Thursday of February 2009, I was sitting with the state’s newspaper publishers and editors at the annual Colorado Press Association luncheon, waiting for a speech by Governor Bill Ritter, when phones around the room started vibrating: Word had just come down that the Rocky Mountain News would…
Medical marijuana dispensaries face a looming deadline in Denver. On Monday, March 1, any dispensary that hasn’t applied for a medical marijuana dispensary license must “cease operations,” according to an announcement sent by the city yesterday. Cease operations, or what? The release doesn’t say, but it does reveal that by…
Dear Mexican: I am a lifelong resident of Arizona and have worked side by side with illegals for 25 years as a bloquero. In all that time, I never knew one of them to be an aspiring American. In fact, their loyalties remain with their home states, they listen to…
Call it pot luck: Colorado’s medical marijuana business is paying off in a big way for local artists. The Chronic-le, Westword’s quarterly medical marijuana supplement, is now the sponsor of the MasterMind awards — and when the 2010 class of MasterMinds was announced this past weekend, it pushed the program…
The stereotypical pothead moves slowly — but this is ridiculous. By last Friday — the end of the second week during which medical marijuana dispensaries could file their now-required dispensary applications with the Denver Department of Excise and Licenses — exactly 61 had done so. Which means that with just…
I just stopped by La Fiesta for lunch, as people have been stopping by the Mexican restaurant at 2340 Champa Street since 1964, when the Herrera family turned an old Safeway into a Denver institution. (That’s the original menu above.) Which got me wondering: Is there a Mexican restaurant in…
President Barack Obama came to Denver yesterday to raise funds for incumbent (by a year) Senator Michael Bennet — but he probably lost him votes with a massive, rush-hour traffic jam that was messier than a Florida hanging-chads recount. Obama landed at Buckley shortly before 3 p.m. and went straight…
The circus is coming to town today, and it’s playing the Fillmore. Not the inside of the Fillmore Auditorium — that’s where President Barack Obama will address a “Grassroots Rally” at 3 p.m. — but the outside of the facility at 1510 Clarkson Street, where protesters will gather all day…
Dear Mexican: People talk about the costs of illegal immigration on our society. What about the savings? Has there been any research into how much more a meal at a restaurant would cost without Mexicans cooking and washing dishes? What percentage increase would we see with supermarket produce if migrant…
I felt like Ed McMahon. Only alive. On Friday, I contacted five local artists to let them know they’d been chosen as 2010 MasterMinds — an honor that comes not just with a title, but with cold, hard cash. Money with no strings attached, money they can use for anything…
The panhandler outside looked happy. The hostess inside looked happy. The server looked happy. And we were happy, to take a break from our marathon drive across Colorado to look at colleges and sit down in a booth in a Boulder restaurant with a nice view of the Pearl Street…
Before Michael Bennet’s fundraiser with President Barack Obama on Thursday afternoon, the incumbent senator has another important date: He and Democratic challenger Andrew Romanoff will meet for their first debate at 8 p.m. tonight. The faceoff at St. Cajetan’s on the Auraria campus (it’s sponsored by Denver Young Democrats) should…
For decades, as both a Denver City Council member and then a member of then-Mayor Wellington Webb’s administration, Cathy Donohue helped steer the course of Denver. She just never expected to steer into Denver. But on November 24, 2008, Donohue was behind the wheel when her car crashed into CityGrille,…
Smashburger got its start here in Colorado in 2007, and since then the local chain has been a smashing success as it expanded into other markets, often offering up regional variations on the their great burger formula. Now, finally, Smashburger is showing Colorado some home-state love. On February 14, it…
You won’t find Michelle Malkin, the conservative commentator who now calls Colorado home and was just named one of the right’s top 25 journalists, out at the Denver Federal Center today. That’s because the National Park Service will be holding a meeting at 10 a.m. on $3 million in grants…
Mayor John Hickenlooper is stranded in Washington, D.C., where he went to make a fast speech — and now is stuck in that snowbound city. Which means he probably won’t make the Colorado Restaurant Association “Candidates & Cocktails” event that starts at 5 p.m. today at Elway’s in Cherry Creek,…
HBurgerCo, the new gourmet burger and contemporary cocktail joint going into 1555 Blake Street (fair warning: the entrance is on the 16th Street Mall) didn’t open yesterday, as originally planned. A series of parties and friends-and-families dinners over the last week highlighted a few glitches in the new space, which…
It’s not easy to find a cure for the common code, as Kenny Be showed in “”Everybody Must Get Zoned,” his cartoon feature that lives on the web and inside numerous lockers in city facilities. Denver’s zoning code is more than fifty years old — so a five-month delay in…
Dear Mexican: I’ve always been attracted to transgendered women since I was about thirteen. I’ve noticed, however, that most trannies are Hispanic. Now, before you say that this is ¡Ask a Mexican!, not ¡Ask a Hispanic!, I’ve also noticed that more than half of all Hispanic transsexuals are Mexican. What’s…
“We know we’re on the right track if nobody’s happy,” says state representative Tom Massey of his medical marijuana proposal, and he’s right about one thing: No one’s happy. Supporters of medical marijuana will be sharing their unhappiness at a Coloradans for Medical Marijuana Regulation meeting at 7:30 p.m. tonight…
The 4,547 square foot space in Belmar vacated by the doomed Mark & Isabella and, before that, Chama, has been snapped up — by the fourth location of Little India, which should open this spring. “Belmar is very excited about this new addition,” spokeswoman Lisa Wieting says of the new…
Wesley Fazio waited twelve hours — in a cold car, in his long underwear — for a shot at making his soon-to-open dispensary legal. Yesterday, the Denver Department of Excise and Licenses started accepting applications for medical marijuana dispensary licenses — which every operational dispensary must apply for by March…
