Blogs

Booze kills. Tobacco kills. The combination ain't nothing nice, either, but selective smoking bans can make the whole situation even deadlier, according to a forthcoming study that probes some alarming figures about drunk-driving deaths along the Front Range.

"Drunk Driving After the Passage of Smoking Bans in Bars," an article by economists Scott Adams and Chad Cotti to be published in the June issue of the Journal of Public Economics (and cited in this month's issue of The Atlantic), tackles the unintended consequences of local smoking bans. The authors found that auto fatalities involving alcohol rose significantly as a result of the bans because nicotine-loving lushes had to drive farther to find some place to drink and smoke at the same time. More driving = more driving drunk = more deaths.

And where did the researchers find the worst-case scenario of all? Right here, folks. Well before the statewide smoking ban went into effect, Boulder County declared its own bars and restaurants to be smoke-free zones — and DUI fatalites in Jefferson County then surged by 40 percent, triple the average for other areas of the country. We can only surmise that a lot of Boulder drunks were weaving their way down state highway 93 to the posh taverns of Arvada and Golden in search of a boilermaker and a gasper or two.

Now that the rest of Colorado has followed Boulder's lead, the question of smoking bans and driving habits may be a dead issue, so to speak. But Adams and Cotti also suggest that some patrons, denied their cigarettes in bars, end up getting more drunk without the nicotine to counter the effects of alcohol. So call those Marlboro men and husky-voiced Virginia Slims a cab, won't you? – Alan Prendergast

In all the excitement over Duane "Dog" Chapman returning to Denver on Thursday, April 11, to defend the honorable profession of bounty hunting before the Colorado Legislature, apparently our state's lawmakers overlooked an important new Dog report.

On the cover of the current National Enquirer, right above "Baby for Jen!," there's a kicker for an "exclusive: Dog's son in Nazi scandal."

Here's the scoop: Last fall, A&E yanked Dog the Bounty Hunter after Chapman's racist ranting was spewed across the media, thanks to taped phone calls leaked by his son, Tucker, whose black girlfriend was the target of Dog's bite. And now that A&E is about to put Dog's reality show back on the air, the Enquirer has a photo of Christopher Hecht, another Dog pup, wearing a vest "with a Neo-Nazi skinhead patch, which has two swastikas, the twin lightning bolt symbol of Hitler's 'Master Race' SS troops, and the statement 'Equal Rights for Whites.'"

The photo was taken in Denver last summer, right about the time Christopher told the Enquirer that his father was a racist who smoked crack and used the "N" word constantly. But by November, Christopher had changed his opinion enough to go on Larry King Live and defend his scary-faced father.

He might not have been the best character witness for a pup talk, though. According to the Enquirer, Christopher Hecht has served time for gay-bashing and was charged with "ethnic intimidation" against a black man.-- Patricia Calhoun

The Wall Street Journal gave Hank Brown a heckuva going-away present when the former Colorado senator left his job as president of University of Colorado earlier this month.

In a March 22 editorial, the paper called Brown "the best college president you've never heard of," praising his common-sense handling of both the Ward Churchill scandal and the CU athletic department mess he inherited when he took over from Betsy Hoffman in 2005 -- both controversies that got plenty of national coverage, even if they didn't make Brown a household name.

And the editorial proceeded to suggest Brown for president -- no, not of the United States. That's too easy. Why not let him take on academia's most embattled institution? "Send that man to Harvard," the editorial ended. -- Patricia Calhoun

Denver boosters are always whining about this town's lack of celebrities, so they should stock up on the current issue of Sports Illustrated -- the swimsuit edition, of course -- which features some local (at least for now) talent: La La Vazquez, fiance of Nugget Carmelo Anthony.

She's one of four mates of athletes featured in "Their Better Halves." And while La La doesn't offer the revealing quote of Carmella Garcia, wife of Tampa Bay Buccaneer Jeff Garcia -- "This was really a different shoot for me because I actually had something on," says Carmella, who's posed for Playboy -- La La still does her bit for the home team.

"I did this shoot four months after I had my baby," she says, while posing in a $164 swimsuit by Juicy Couture Beach. "I loved it. It was good to feel comfortable with where my body was after pregnancy."

And where it was, of course, was Denver, Colorado. -- Patricia Calhoun