This video by the folks over at Rocketboom Institute for Internet Studies is a great hour-by-hour delineation on how the Falcon Heene/Balloon Boy saga went from a local news oddity to international media frenzy, and then to the kind of fast-spreading cultural virus known as a "meme."
Oh yeah, it's alllll coming back to me now.
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Put that in your pipe and smoke it, BC.
A thread on DenverRadio.net's Comments & Rumors board begins with questions about why no local stations have started playing wall-to-wall Christmas music yet -- and ends with news that KOSI has begun the yuletide frenzy. Somewhere Der Bingle is counting his money.
JO at Colorado Pols salutes Senator Mark Udall for introducing a bill to end "predatory practices of banks and other institutions issuing credit cards." Charge!
Colin at South Stands Denver wonders if Broncos coach Josh McDaniels is playing Patriot games by pretending that Kyle Orton's ankle injury is worse than it is. Pray that he is...
So... whaddya think? Is this billboard, on display outside Wolf Interstate Leasing & Sales, 4855 Miller Street in Wheat Ridge, a bold (and legitimate) statement of displeasure with the Obama administration that has the guts to link the shootings in Fort Hood, Texas, with Islamoterrorism? Or is it an offensive throwback to the Little Black Sambo imagery that typified race baiting for far too much of the 20th century?
Obama meets Sambo? Click the photo to enlarge the image.
The general manager of the dealership says the man behind the message is Phil Wolf, who supplied billboard space for "Where's the Birth Certificate?" signage on I-70 backed by KHOW's Peter Boyles. He's currently in Seattle, but I've left a message on his cell phone and will update this post when and if he returns the call. His phone may be ringing more as the day goes on; David Sirota discussed the subject on AM-760 this morning, and there's a thread dedicated to it on the Daily Kos.
It's definitely a conversation-starter -- and probably an argument-starter, too.
The nomination as U.S.Attorney of Stephanie Villafuerte hasn't gone nearly as smoothly as the Obama administration would like, due largely to accusations that she was involved in the political accessing of a federal database during the 2006 gubernatorial campaign -- the very act for which former ICE agent Cory Voorhis was sacked.
Stephanie Villafuerte has a new strategy in her quest to become a U.S. Attorney.
In October, Evan Dreyer, spokesman for Governor Bill Ritter, Villafuerte's former boss in the Denver District Attorneys Office, told the Denver Post that she would likely not answer questions about this matter until after her confirmation -- but yesterday, that strategy changed. A letter she sent to Senator Mark Udall was released to the public. In the missive, which can be read in its entirety below, she denies any wrongdoing in a way that's designed to squelch the controversy.
Not going to happen -- but from a political standpoint, it could be an effective move.
Political observers have spent a lot of time har-dee-har-ing at Scott McInnis over the years -- and indeed, he's made plenty of errors and gaffes during his time in the public eye.
"Can't we all just get along?"
Note his prediction that fellow Republican Bob Schaffer would lose the 2008 Senate race to Mark Udall -- and that he would have won -- in the days before the election took place; the use of a non-Colorado mountain as the centerpiece of his gubernatorial campaign website; and a hilarious meltdown while being quizzed by KHOW's Dan Caplis, who seemingly has never met a member of the GOP he doesn't love.
But we may have underestimated Scotty M.
Just ask the Durango City Council, which was visited by a human-sized hen Tuesday night during a debate about a chicken ordinance. Watch the faux feathers fly above.
All in favor of live personifications of agenda items laying eggs in city hall? Aye!
Today's sudden death of Jeanne-Claude -- wife of fellow artist Christo, and his principal collaborator -- prompted expressions of condolence from a range of Colorado officials, including Governor Bill Ritter, Senator Gail Schwartz and Denver mayor John Hickenlooper. The reason (other than that they thought it'd be a nice thing to do): Her passing immediately calls into question the future of "Over the River," a massive, $50 million project that imagines six miles of silver fabric draped over the Arkansas River between Canon City and Salida.
Wolfgang Volz, copyright Christo 2007 This is what the Arkansas River wrap might look like -- if it ever happens.
The statement attributed to Ritter says Christo is dedicated to completing this work despite Jeanne-Claude's death, but actually making it happen would have been a challenge even if she'd remained in perfect health. For more, check out blogs by Alan Prendergast here and here -- and look below for what Ritter, Schwatz and Hickenlooper had to say:
Yesterday, in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, American Civil Liberties Union attorney Chris Hansen argued on behalf of a lawsuit filed by Leslie Weise and Alex Young, who were prevented by White House personnel from attending a March 2005 town hall about Social Security reform starring then-President George W. Bush because their car sported a bumper sticker reading "No More Blood For Oil."
A sticker like this one started it all.
This was a return engagement for the case: It was dismissed by the U.S. District Court in Colorado last November (read more about its history here). And while the ACLU's Mark Silverstein, who attended the hearing, stops well short of guaranteeing victory -- "It's folly to predict how a three-judge panel will resolve a case based on oral arguments," he says -- he certainly believes Weise and Young are legally on the right, even if they're politically on the left.
A lot's happened in Tom Tancredo's world during the past week.
Tom Tancredo has gone from fully intending to run for governor to entertaining the possibility of backing Scott McInnis.
Last Thursday, Tancredo said in this space, "I fully intend to run" for governor in 2010, adding that he planned to formally announce his intentions once he took care of some housekeeping matters. He also confirmed that he was considering a campaign because his candidate of choice, state senator Josh Penry, had dropped out. And while he didn't take the opportunity to attack Republican frontrunner Scott McInnis, who he's criticized in the past, he said the party was "looking for its soul, and I think it's looking in all the wrong places."
Since then, Tancredo's heard "lots of nice comments" about a potential gubernatorial bid "when I walk through the mall. Although I know that for everybody who comes up and says, 'Go, Tom, go!,' there are probably five people who passed me by saying, 'Go to hell, Tom Tancredo!'" Still, he confirms that he may stay out of the governor's race if conversations he's having with numerous parties, including folks from the McInnis camp, adequately address his concerns about offering a truly conservative agenda.
The saga of former ICE agent Cory Voorhis seems to get messier with each passing day.
ICE seems determined to keep publicity about Cory Voorhis to a bare minimum.
Voorhis was dismissed from his job for allegedly accessing a federal database for political rather than law-enforcement reasons -- the very thing his supporters accuse U.S. Attorney-nominee Stephanie Villafuerte of doing. But Voorhis, who was acquitted of criminal wrongdoing in the database matter, has been ordered not to talk to the press in advance of a December 9 and 10 hearing before Merit Systems Protection Board administrative judge Jeremiah Cassidy to determine whether he should get his old position back.
The latest? Voorhis still hasn't received a chunk of back pay that was supposed to have come his way as the result of a July settlement -- and ICE reps are trying to prevent any members of the media or Voorhis supporters (aside from his wife and mother) from attending the December proceedings.
These three worthy local blogs are just a click away.
"Don't you... forget about me."
Denver Stiffs' Nate Timmons makes note of Renaldo Balkman sightings during the Nuggets' evisceration of the Raptors last night -- including some in the first half! What the hell?
The folks at Coyote Gulch reports: Thanks to a decision by the Colorado Water Conservation Board, "there will soon be more water for the fish who call the Roaring Fork River basin home." Betcha they're relieved.
5280's Michael de Yoanna shares TMZ video of Balloon Boy dad Richard Heene sharing sushi with ABC reps in New York City. Change the channel now! Before it's too late!
Sarah Palin, who's monopolizing the airwaves as part of her publicity tour for her new book, Going Rogue, is widely viewed as one of the more pro-life politicians on the current scene. After all, her youngest child, Trig, received a pre-natal diagnosis of Down Syndrome, but she rejected any and all entreaties to terminate the pregnancy.
Sarah Palin: pro-life exemplar or poser in lipstick?
But this gesture doesn't mean she's adequately anti-abortion -- not by the standards of American Right to Life, anyhow. The Denver-based organization has launched a new website, ProlifeProfiles.com, in which the pro-life credentials of politicians are put to the test. And Palin comes up wanting.
A funeral director allegedly tells a family that the county coroner recommended him to bury their twelve-year-old child -- when the law prohibits such recommendations. A mortuary embalms a body without the final okay from the family; in the meantime, the family decides to use a different mortuary. A funeral home improperly refrigerates a body, leaving it exposed for several days.
A Flickr photo. Keeping dead people in the kitchen is not okay.
These are some of the alleged violations a new state law is seeking to prevent. As of January 1, all Colorado funeral homes and crematories must register with the state Department of Regulatory Agencies. (So must athletic trainers, another new profession to be regulated by DORA in 2010.)
The point is to give consumers an official way to lodge complaints against funeral homes and crematories -- and to give the state a way to track those complaints to see if there are indeed widespread abuses in the funeral home industry, as the Colorado Funeral Directors Association has long alleged.
Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey is psyched. For the past several years, he's been working with colleagues in the Denver Police Department's crime lab, among others, to prove the efficacy of a method able to connect DNA not in law-enforcement databases to samples from family members of the scofflaw that are. And the experiment just paid off with the arrest and conviction of one Luis Jaimes-Tinajero, 21.
Mitch Morrissey hopes all you at-large criminals have siblings who've been busted.
Jaimes-Tinajero didn't exactly commit the crime of the century: He broke into a couple of cars, cutting himself in the process -- and the blood he spilled scored a family match, leading to his arrest. But Morrissey is more interested in the potential for the technology than the fact that Jaimes-Tinajero received a sentence of two years probation in September. "This tool could be used to help us solve a serial murder case, or find a serial sex offender loose in the community, where you have a DNA profile that doesn't match anybody in the database."
Does the technology raise privacy concerns? Not in Morrissey's view.
We call this feature "Denver Blogs" for a reason. Check out these blogs from Denver.
A Flickr photo "Insurance? You don't need any stinkin' insurance."
The Colorado Independent's Kate Redding reports that the insurance lobby is promising to fight any legislation "that would force insurers to offer individual plans that would cover maternity care." Celibate good times, come on!
David Driscoll-Carignan at Mile High Hockey previews the Avs-Calgary Flames matchup. Up for grabs: The Northwest Division lead, not to mention post-game interviews that won't require any excuses.
Protest today at KIPP Denver Collegiate High School over the sudden departure of principal Rich Barrett. Education News Colorado's Alan Gottlieb shares what colleague Nancy Mitchell learned. Consider it extra credit.
Denver Public Schools officials have suggested a series of plans to "turn around" the city's six lowest-performing schools. But before they approve the changes, they want to hear from the public.
Students at Denver Big Picture High School are part of DPS' big picture.
The Board of Education will hear public comment on the recommendations at meetings tonight and Thursday night from 7 to 9 p.m. The meetings will be held at the DPS building at 900 Grant Street.
The recommendations include closing Skyland Community High School -- now known as Denver Big Picture High School -- a charter school in Northeast Denver that caters to at-risk students and has been in academic hot water before. Westword wrote about it in 2007, when the Board of Education was weighing whether to renew the school's charter.
Stop by some local blogs. Like these.
I think this Cultivator-designed ad is what's known as a double entendre...
Cultivator Advertising & Design gets the Denver Egotist's profile treatment. It's a graphic display.
A computer ate the Nuggets vs. Lakers recap written by Jeremy at Roundball Mining Company. But the clip of Ty Lawson's unbelievable slam offers ample compensation.
5280's Jennie Dorris offers recession-etiquette advice for former office workers now toiling at home. Tip one: "Take a shower and get dressed." As if I've ever done that...
As part of a September feature on the state's growing medical marijuana scene, I went through the process of obtaining a state medical-marijuana ID. On August 26, after scoring the needed doctor's recommendation, I sent my application and a $90 application fee to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), which oversees the state's registry of medical-marijuana patients and issues state medical-marijuana cards. 
Timothy Dalton got his special license -- where's mine?
I'd heard the health department was swamped with marijuana applications -- lately, it's upwards of 500 a day -- so I knew it would be a while before I scored my ID. But I didn't realize just how long "a while" would be.
Today marks the last day of work for 176 city employees who were laid off in order to help close a $160 million gap in Denver's budget. (Read this Denver Post story by reporter Christopher Osher for more.) 
Most of the layoffs -- the equivalent of 108.5 positions -- occurred in two city departments: the Office of Economic Development and Denver Human Services. Those departments were hit harder because more of their funding comes from federal sources, which are declining, rather than the city's general fund, said Eric Brown, communications director for Mayor John Hickenlooper.
The rest of the layoffs were scattered among nine other city agencies.
So who, exactly, is getting laid off? A final list won't be available for several weeks, Brown said. But he provided this breakdown of layoffs by department:
A trifecta of local blogs worth eyeballing.
Peyton's place has been on the bench lately. But should it be?
Kyle at Bronco Talk thinks Peyton Hillis may be the cure the ailing Broncos running game needs. Watch your back, Knowshon.
What's the best thing about Colorado being number eleven in foreclosure activity among states nationally? As 5280's Michael de Yoanna points out, it's the first time since March we haven't been in the top ten. Missed it by that much (H/T Northern Colorado Business Report).
The Colorado Independent's David O. Williams reports that a tentative drilling plan in Battlement Mesa would allow "oil and gas rigs sited within 400 feet of homes." Don't you love the smell of Texas tea in the morning?
Instead, the process was orderly and low key, unlike pretty much everything else in this story -- and within the past hour, the Heenes entered guilty pleas as outlined by Lane yesterday. No sentencing yet, and still no mention of restitution for the dough law enforcement spent chasing down a silver balloon that didn't actually contain young Falcon Heene. But according to the Fort Collins Coloradoan, Judge Stephen Schapanski granted Richard's request to be allowed to travel to New York and California to seek work.
Well, if besmirched Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich can get hired to appear on a reality-TV show, why not this particular Dick?
It's officially The Future. Denver announced today that its Public Works Department is piloting a program in which shoppers at Cherry Creek North can call parking meters from their cell phones and deposit money via their credit cards -- and then call back to extend the time on their meters when they get held up in line at Hamilton Furs. The program -- which costs parkers an extra 35-cent service fee -- will be in place for six months, after which time it will be evaluated, partly based on feedback from an online survey.
A Flickr photo.
Another perk of the so-called Pay-by-Phone option? The system will text you when the time on your meter is running low. "Hey! You have 3 minutes left. LMFAO!!!!!!! ;)"
Let's hope the meters don't learn how to sext.
Somehow Ron Angotti has survived his first two months in the helping business --despite running the cheapest, strangest and probably most imperiled thrift store on West Colfax. His Colfax Thrift Store, two blocks west of Sheridan, has become a bargain among bargains, a port in the storm for needy families and even their pets, a place where the idea of "charitable donations" applies to the stuff going out as well coming in. 
Pay-it-forward guru Ron Angotti and his Colfax experiment.
Whether the store can stay afloat is anybody's guess. But Angotti is committed to a simple principle. "Making money," he says, "isn't a reason to crap on humanity."
A short time ago, Tom Tancredo was at Denver International Airport. "I'm going to Houston," he said. "I have a speech I'm making to the Texas Coalition for Immigration Reform, or something like that."Photo by John Johnston Tom Tancredo wants to run for all the right reasons.
But Tancredo took a few minutes to make it clear that he does indeed plan to challenge Republican front-runner Scott McInnis in the upcoming primary to determine who'll take on Governor Bill Ritter in 2010.
"Primaries can be very difficult things, and ugly things," he conceded. "But they can also be very salutary, very helpful. And it's my hope that's the kind of primary we'll have."
"Everything looks fine from here -- although my seat belt seems a little tight..."
United pilot Erwin Washington, a former Air Force Academy basketball standout who currently makes his home in Lakewood, has been busted in London for allegedly flying drunk. Don't know if the crew member who turned him in did so because he wouldn't pass the bottle. Whatever the case, Washington's clearly got some explaining to do. Here's five excuses he might try floating:
5. "I always drink Red Bull to stay alert on long flights -- and it's an excellent mixer."
4. "When my throat gets dry, I lose my focus -- and nothing cuts through thirst like my old buddy Jack."
3. "I thought it was water. I forgot Smirnov is clear, too."
2. "Do you know how boring it is to sit in that little room for hour after hour? Bet if you had to do it, you'd be ready to plant one on a Mickey's Big Mouth, too."
1. "I was all out of meth. And besides, this was a nonsmoking flight."
The barrage of apparently contradictory surveys continues.
A Flickr photo See: even our puppies are happy!
Just last week, we told you about American Psychological Association survey that showed Denverites are more stressed than Americans nationwide. Now comes a roundup from the Gallup Organization's Well-Being Index declaring Colorado to be the fourth happiest state, in a tie with Minnesota. We're behind just number three Wyoming (who wouldn't be happy with Dick Cheney watching the fort?), number two Hawaii (two words: Maui wowie), and number one Utah (makes sense, given all those friggin' Osmonds).
For a while last night during "A Night in Old Union Station," a swanky fundraising shindig that took over Denver's central depot, the grand old railroad station resembled what it must have been like during its heyday 80 years ago.
The Denver Public Library Western History and Geneology's Digital Image Catalog. This was sort of what the party looked like... but with more color.
Roughly 850 people packed the station's elaborately decorated great hall and balconies, surely the largest number who've congregated there for quite some time. Ladies in flapper dresses danced the jitterbug as men in period hats navigated penny-farthing bicycles through the crowds. Mayor John Hickenlooper gave a speech, as well as prominent figures like hotel magnate Walter Isenberg and everybody's favorite real estate mogul, Evan Makovsky.
Yesterday, we told you about a tweet sent out by Shmuck of the Week emeritus Senator Dave Schultheis, in which he essentially compared President Barack Obama to a 9/11 hijacker:
Nice explanation, Dave. Really believable.
@Sen_Schultheis: Don't for a second think Obama wants what is best for U.S. He is flying the US Plane right into the ground at full speed. Let's Roll
In this morning's Denver Post, Schultheis swears he didn't mean to equate Obama to Arab terrorists who killed thousands, even though the "Let's roll" phrase was famously used by brave passengers who brought down United Flight 93 in Pennsylvania. His claim essentially adds up to: Oops! Here's the key passage:
That e-mail blast attorney David Lane mentioned around this time yesterday came through at 12:51 a.m. today. In it, Lane confirms that Richard Heene and his wife Mayumi will enter guilty pleas tomorrow morning regarding the runaway-balloon hoax involving their young son, Falcon.
Richard Heene during the infamous Today Show appearance when son Falcon puked for the nation.
Mayumi will cop to False Reporting to Authorities, a misdemeanor, while Richard will plead to Attempting to Influence a Public Servant. Both will receive probationary sentences.
The document says this course was taken to avoid the possibility that Mayumi, a Japanese citizen, would be deported. For that strategy, Lane takes one more shot at authorities who he'd already accused of a crime for talking about a child-abuse investigation.
Kim Cordova and Cindy Lucero, the president-elect and secretary-treasurer-elect of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7, stood in front of the union's empty headquarters in Wheat Ridge this afternoon and, with an audience of a reporter and a single news camera, called the current president a thief.
Melanie Asmar Kim Cordova and Cindy Lucero in front of the UFCW headquarters.
"The current leadership is trying to steal the union election," said Cordova, a former Safeway worker who served as a union rep for 16 years until she was fired in May. "I'm here today to ask that Local 7 concentrate on negotiations and that the office politics stop."
