AltWeeklies Wire
Denver's Rocky Mountain News is Going Downnew
E.W. Scripps has put the tabloid up for sale, but if no buyer emerges by mid-January, the company says it will explore "other options."
The Snowboard Bandits Lived for Excitement, but the FBI Got the Final Thrillnew
Over three months, the Bandits hit eleven banks in Colorado, leaving in their wake empty cash drawers, dazed tellers and surveillance films filled with curiously chic and frustratingly concealing get-ups. The case was quickly handed over to an outfit more likely than any other to catch the Snowboard Bandits: the FBI's Rocky Mountain Safe Streets Task Force.
Westword |
Joel Warner |
11-25-2008 |
Crime & Justice
Can a Troubled Colorado Prison Change the Way Inmates Think?new
Director Kevin Estep brought a new approach to the Cheyenne Mountain Re-Entry Center, which requires inmates to forsake the convict code. But not every journey through CMRC has been positive.
Westword |
Alan Prendergast |
11-10-2008 |
Crime & Justice
How We Break Our Promise to Protect Asylum-Seekersnew
Secrecy is an essential part of America's promise to refugees. Sometimes, though, secrets leak out. Especially for those refugees the government decides to send back home. In Peter's case, it began with a mere paperwork error.
Westword |
Lisa Rab |
10-14-2008 |
Immigration
Planned Parenthood's Scheme to Bust Abortion Protestersnew
In the years since the law had been added to the books, the Denver District Attorney's Office had never prosecuted a violation of the Bubble Law, which prevents anti-abortion activists from coming within eight feet of anyone in a hundred-foot radius of a clinic without their permission So a handful of Planned Parenthood employees hatched a plan to catch the creeps. And it worked.
Last Rites on the Rocky Mountain News's Twitteringnew
The Rocky's efforts recently suffered a blow after the paper assigned staffer Berny Morson to Twitter the Sept. 10 funeral of three-year-old Marten Kudlis, killed when Francis Hernandez, an illegal immigrant with a lengthy arrest record, crashed into a Baskin-Robbins outlet in Aurora.
William Orr's Quest for Better, Cheaper Gas Left Him Facing Prison Timenew
Despite the battery of charges he was convicted of, much of the fraud case came down to a single issue: whether Orr had misrepresented to investors and to the government the potential of the formula he was trying to market -- a fuel blend that he claimed would be cheaper, cleaner and more efficient than conventional gasoline.
Westword |
Alan Prendergast |
09-09-2008 |
Environment
Union Station May Become Denver's Gateway Again ... If it Stays on Tracknew
In 2001, a consortium of public agencies purchased the station from its private owners in hopes that it would become the central hub of a future transportation system. That system materialized in 2004, when voters approved the most ambitious new public transportation system in the country, with Union Station was to be its cornerstone.
Westword |
Joel Warner |
08-18-2008 |
Transportation
What Passes for Medical Care at Denver's Downtown Jail Can be Costly and Even Fatalnew
Cancer patient Tim Thomason didn't think he could feel any worse. His Denver jailers showed that he could.
Westword |
Alan Prendergast |
08-04-2008 |
Crime & Justice
Cloudy Weather at Denver Meteorologist Conferencenew
The American Meteorological Society-sponsored gathering is a party of sorts -- but the pressure isn't as low as in previous years because of the uncertainty plaguing traditional electronic media.
What Happens to the Mentally Ill in the Justice System is Just Crazynew
In Colorado, gaping holes in the so-called safety net have made police, courts and emergency rooms the first and last line of contact with people who may be a danger to themselves or others. Too often, the care they receive is perfunctory -- a 72-hour crisis hold, a few pills, a referral to a mental-health center -- with little or no followup.
Westword |
Alan Prendergast |
06-02-2008 |
Crime & Justice
Tale of a Daily Newspaper Odd Couplenew
Two Colorado newspapers that were once mortal enemies -- Boulder's Colorado Daily and Daily Camera -- make plans to cohabit.
Olympics Travel a Hurdle for Colorado News Medianew
When it comes to travel, news organizations are asking themselves: Should we stay or should we go?
How Seriously Should We Take Rush Limbaugh's Fantasies of Riots in Denver?new
Anyone who dismisses the syndicated talk-show host as a credibility-free joke does so at his own peril. Although he's embarrassed and contradicted himself plenty of times during recent years, he still attracts an audience estimated at 13.5 million people per week.
Pedicab Entrepreneur Steve Meyer Has Started a Rolling Revolutionnew
Meyer wants to sell pedicabs to the world -- but is the world willing to go along for the ride?
Westword |
Joel Warner |
04-28-2008 |
Transportation
