The former Byers school.

Empty since its closure in 2004, the fate of the former Byers junior high school has perplexed residents of Denver school district 7.

The school, named after William Byers, founder of the similarly defunct Rocky Mountain News reportedly required costly repairs before it could reopen; in the meantime, locals took to using the abandoned grounds as a kind of speakeasy dog park, complete with extra plastic bags for pickup and water bowls for thirsty puppies.

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Sara Century.

This past year has been tough for many people, and we're eager to kiss 2012 goodbye. In hopes that 2013 will turn out to be much luckier for many, we invited some of the town's cultural tastemakers -- entrepreneurs and entertainers we're lucky to have in Denver -- to answer a trio of questions.

We've been publishing their interviews on Show and Tell, our arts and culture blog, but wanted to share their plans for New Year's Eve here....

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Gary Johnson.

Election day is rapidly approaching and it couldn't be clearer in Colorado where residents are bombarded with nonstop ads and weekly traffic jams due to Obama and Romney rallies. But those two aren't the only presidential candidates showing the state some love. Gary Johnson, the Libertarian pick, stopped here Friday -- and shared with us his predictions for November 6 and his hopes for the state's marijuana amendment.

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Denver's Senate map.

A final vote from the Colorado Reapportionment Commission yesterday announced a consensus on the state's first new legislative maps in the past ten years. The commission is led by its sole politically independent member, Entravision CEO Mario Carrera -- and he's got some ideas about how to make the process work better.

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Steve Hogan.

Aurora mayor Ed Tauer's eight-year, term-limited reign will come to an end later this year, and the race is on to replace him, with a vote coming up on November 1.

Six candidates filed to run, all with different backgrounds and different takes on what they believe is important to Aurora residents.

Westword sent questionnaires to all six candidates. Today, meet Steve Hogan.

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Debbie Stafford

Aurora Mayor Ed Tauer's eight-year, term-limited reign will come to an end later this year, and the race is on to replace him, with a vote coming up on November 1. So far, six candidates have filed to run (the deadline is August 23), all with different backgrounds and different takes on what they believe is important to Aurora residents.

Westword sent questionnaires to all six candidates and has received answers from four.

Today: Debbie Stafford.

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Full-sized comic below.

Colorado gubernatorial candidates John Hickenlooper (above, left) and Tom Tancredo (above, right) answer a Seventeen.com Twilight quiz to help fans of the novel and film series elect a governor based on whether he would play on Team Edward, or Team Jacob...

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Mike Fallon

It's the middle of the afternoon and Mike Fallon is at Pint's Pub. The Republican candidate for Colorado's 1st Congressional District wasn't driven to the bottle by the rigors of campaigning, however.

Rather, he's holding the first in a series of town-hall meetings that will take place at bars and coffee shops around Denver.

Still, one could sympathize with Fallon if he did need a drink. He's running in a district that hasn't elected a Republican since 1970.

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Colin Beavan with Isabella.

Author and self-proclaimed No Impact Man Colin Beavan is loved and hated with equal passion. In 2006, the New York City resident came up with an idea for a new book: He and his family, consisting of wife (and BusinessWeek writer) Michelle Conlin and toddler Isabella, would spend a year trying to make no impact on the environment (or at least as little as possible), and he'd write about the process. The clan subsequently gave up everything from TV to toilet paper as Beavan energetically publicized his efforts via regular appearances on Good Morning America and interviews with pretty much any media outlet that would provide him with a forum (and plenty did). Along the way, he was either celebrated as an ecological hero or savaged as a egomaniacal putz trying to ride a stunt to fame.

Today, Beavan remains in promotional mode. He's just published No Impact Man: The Adventures of a Guilty Liberal Who Attempts to Save the Planet, and the Discoveries He Makes About Himself and Our Way of Life in the Process, and he's at the center of a No Impact Man, a documentary film that opens today at the Chez Artiste. Look below for an extended conversation with Beavan about both projects, during which he alternately defends himself from criticism and does his best to focus attention on what we can do to improve our lives and the planet -- his oft-stated goal.

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The Broncos start training camp today, and, sure, you could go watch. But unless you sneak into the locker room and hide behind Brandon Marshall's ego, going to camp won't give you even a hint of what life is really like for the Broncos. For that, you'll have to hit your favorite bookseller.

Almost exactly three years ago today, the Broncos started the 2006 training camp with 3/4 an extra body in camp: Author Stefan Fatsis, who somehow had managed to persuade the team to let him go through camp as a kicker, to see and feel and smell (and write about) what it's like to endure the six weeks of hell that precede each NFL season. The book -- A Few Seconds of Panic: A Sportswriter Plays in the NFL, which comes out in paperback next week -- is a uniquely fascinating look at what it takes to be an NFL player, told through the trembling legs of Fatsis and the shockingly loose lips of such introspective characters as Jake Plummer, Ian Gold, Nate Jackson and Preston Parsons.

It's the best dissection I've read of what it's truly like to play in the NFL. But just in case my endorsement doesn't convince you, I harassed Fatsis via email for the short Q&A below. He lives in DC, by the way, with his excessively cool NPR-hosting wife, so presumably he answered these while smoking a tobacco pipe and arguing about the relative merits of a single-payer health system, and whether the Car Talk guys are really brothers. Just in case you needed a mental image.

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