John Hickenlooper could be very late to dinner

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, where the CRA's HostPAC has arranged for appearances by Republican senatorial candidate Jane Norton, Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis, and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Hickenlooper.

Norton and McInnis are still on, but it's unlikely that Hickenlooper will make his 6:30 p.m. slot. "Maybe it'll happen, but it doesn't look good," says CRA head Pete Meersman.

Eric Brown, Hickenlooper's spokesman, is stranded in D.C., too. On the radio this morning, he reported that the hotel where he and Hickenlooper are staying handed out a list of some thirty restaurants in the area.

That doesn't look bad, Hickenlooper told the concierge.

Yes, but the problem is that the only restaurants that are actually open are the ones circled, the concierge replied. And there were just a handful of those, all running short of supplies.

By the time the Hickenlooper entourage finally gets back to Denver, they could all be very hungry. And late to dinner.