Calhoun: Wake-Up Call

Fox31 admits it was fooled by source on gun story -- but why did she do it?

By Patricia Calhoun Thu., May 23 2013 at 11:53 AM
Categories: Calhoun: Wake-Up Call

daniele.perazzi.205x205.jpg
Daniele Perazzi.
By now, just about everyone admits that the Fox31 story of the cab driver fingering an Italian businessman with the Perazzi gun company as a terrorist was a fake, including the station, grudgingly. We know how it happened (9News has done a good job of dissecting the original story), but we don't know why. Maybe the only one who does is the woman who set this fiasco in motion: Walsenberg's Korrin Aguirre, 27, who told Fox31 she was an attorney representing the detained Italian. But she is not an attorney, and there was no detained Italian businessman.

More »
Email to Friend
Print Article
Calhoun: Wake-Up Call

9News says Fox31 story about Italian gunmaker suspected of terrorism a hoax

By Patricia Calhoun Wed., May 22 2013 at 7:11 AM
Categories: Calhoun: Wake-Up Call

daniele.perazzi.205x205.jpg
Daniele Perazzi.
Last week, Mayor Michael Hancock was at the CELL to announce the expansion of Transportation on Patrol, a program that empowers Denver's cabbies, limo drivers, truckers and even pedal-cab operators to alert law enforcement of suspicious behavior. Days later, a taxi driver reportedly called the cops because a supposed gun dealer seemed like a potential terrorist. But now it looks like last weekend's Fox31 story on the incident misfired, and there could be plenty of collateral damage.

More »
Email to Friend
Print Article
Calhoun: Wake-Up Call

Union Station fire: Blazing truck endangers historic overhang

By Patricia Calhoun Fri., May 17 2013 at 11:42 AM
Categories: Calhoun: Wake-Up Call

union.station.fire.205.JPG
Outside Union Station.
Things have gotten hot at Union Station, where two model-train clubs are scrambling to find new spaces for their train layouts, which have occupied space in the basement for decades. Although both groups had been told in the fall of 2011 that the layouts could remain through the remodeling job, and then reopen along with the transformed building in the summer of 2014 -- they were recently told they needed to move. Permanently. And Union Station got really hot this morning, when a truck in front caught fire, sending flames towards the building's historic ornamentation.

More »
Email to Friend
Print Article
Calhoun: Wake-Up Call

Photos: Five benefits of Denver Airport City development for Adams County

By Patricia Calhoun Thu., May 16 2013 at 10:55 AM
Categories: Calhoun: Wake-Up Call

dia.night205.JPG
Big photos below.
On May 1, Adams County commissioners and other elected leaders gave Mayor Michael Hancock a week to provide a list of "tangible benefits" they would realize from Denver's plans to push forward with development around Denver International Airport. Hancock responded with a letter saying their demand had an "unrealistic deadline" -- which means the Adams County officials won't have their answers in time for today's meeting of the Airport Consultation Committee. So we're offering this starter set of five very tangible benefits:

More »
Email to Friend
Print Article
Calhoun: Wake-Up Call

Sand Creek massacre: Tribes, History Colorado to consult on exhibit while Collision is closed

By Patricia Calhoun Tue., May 14 2013 at 11:07 AM
Categories: Calhoun: Wake-Up Call

sandcreek.205.JPG
When a wrong is almost 150 years old, righting it may not be quick. That's one of the many lessons of the Sand Creek Massacre, a stain on Colorado history that stretches back to November 29, 1864, when Colonel John Chivington led 700 troops on a raid of a peaceful Indian camp at Sand Creek, killing at least 150 members of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes, most of them women, children and elderly men.

Today, the tribes and History Colorado are trying to find common ground.

More »
Email to Friend
Print Article
Calhoun: Wake-Up Call

Better Block Project comes to Five Points: Don't fence us in!

By Patricia Calhoun Fri., May 10 2013 at 8:01 AM
Categories: Calhoun: Wake-Up Call

sonny-lawson-park.jpg
The Better Block Project comes to Five Points tomorrow, when it will focus on sprucing up the block of Welton Street that's home to the legendary Sonny Lawson Park -- and its ballfield. Neighborhood groups have been meeting for over a year to discuss what to do with this parcel of land; at one of those meetings, a resident wondered why the ballfield was separated from the rest of the park by a high, and locked, fence. The Denver Department of Parks and Recreation rep at the meeting didn't know the answer.

More »
Email to Friend
Print Article
Calhoun: Wake-Up Call

Civic Center Park: Here's what it costs to party in the heart of Denver

By Patricia Calhoun Wed., May 8 2013 at 12:13 PM
Categories: Calhoun: Wake-Up Call

civic.center.205.JPG
Civic Center Park is ready for its close-up tonight, when the Civic Center Conservancy, Historic Denver Inc. and Denver Parks and Recreation will share a 2012 State Honor Award for their Civic Center work during Colorado Preservation's awards at History Colorado.

Although Civic Center has already hosted several big gatherings this spring, it's showing little wear from those events -- but like the park's grass, the debate over whether certain organizations should get a permit-fee exemption continues to grow.

More »
Email to Friend
Print Article
Calhoun: Wake-Up Call

Iron Man 3 compares villain's work to Sand Creek Massacre

By Patricia Calhoun Tue., May 7 2013 at 11:50 AM
Categories: Calhoun: Wake-Up Call

iron.mandarin.205.JPG
Ben Kingsley.
Historian Ari Kelman was watching Iron Man 3 this past weekend with his son when he was startled by a familiar reference, one that seemed very out of context in a Hollywood blockbuster. Mandarin, the apparent arch-villain played by Ben Kingsley, was comparing his own act of terrorism in attacking a church filled with the families of American military personnel to the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre. That sad chapter of Colorado history isn't well-known outside of this state, certainly not as well-known as it should be. But all that could change next year.

More »
Email to Friend
Print Article
Calhoun: Wake-Up Call

Rocky Ford cantaloupes making a comeback, but drought's drying up other crops

By Patricia Calhoun Mon., May 6 2013 at 12:42 PM
Categories: Calhoun: Wake-Up Call

cantalouperebrandagainandagain.JPG
While last week's snow and this week's predicted rains have made forecasts of drought seem all wet in metro Denver, the threat is still very real to farmers in southern and eastern Colorado. Last week, they planted more than 550 acres of Rocky Ford cantaloupe -- almost a 40 percent increase over last year, when the industry was suffering from both a lack of moisture and a lingering image problem after the listeria outbreak of late 2011.

More »
Email to Friend
Print Article
Calhoun: Wake-Up Call

Evan Makovsky, Colorado Preservation honoree, saved El Chapultepec: Will trains be next?

By Patricia Calhoun Thu., May 2 2013 at 11:49 AM
Categories: Calhoun: Wake-Up Call

evan-fontiusagain.JPG
Mark Manger
Makovsky at Fontius building.
While the truncated 4/20 festivities have turned Civic Center Park into ground zero for a discussion of which events are a First Amendment exercise and which are commercial, the Civic Center Conservancy will soon take a pot-free breather. On May 8, the Civic Center Conservancy, Historic Denver Inc. and Denver Parks and Recreation will share a 2012 State Honor Award at Colorado Preservation's Dana Crawford Awards at History Colorado. But the biggest award of the evening will go to Evan Makovsky, a developer who may become the landlord for some historic model trains.

More »
Email to Friend
Print Article
VOICE Daily Deals

From the Vault

 

Slideshows»

Retail

More >>

Links

©2013 Denver Westword, LLC, All rights reserved.
Browse Voice Nation
  • Voice Places Denver / Boulder

    Voice Places

    Find everything you're looking for in your city

  • Happy Hour App

    Happy Hour App

    Find the best happy hour deals in your city

  • Daily Deals

    Daily Deals

    Get today's exclusive deals at savings of anywhere from 50-90%

  • Best Of

    Best Of...

    Check out the hottest list of places and things to do around your city