Colorado Springs Independent

Album release show marathon begins tonight

Bill Forman — Fri, 17 May 2013 16:44:25 -0600

The weekend is upon us, and with it three worthy CD release shows from local artists.

Tonight, local hip-hop collective Bullhead*ded is celebrating the release of its long-awaited debut album, 4Play, at the Black Sheep.…

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Homeless population growing, survey shows

J. Adrian Stanley — Fri, 17 May 2013 16:28:00 -0600

There are at least 1,171 homeless people in El Paso County, a one-day headcount revealed, up from 1,127 in 2012.

Performed as a requirement of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the headcount shows how many people were accessing services for the homeless on Jan. 29, 2013.…
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NRA is gunning for Morse

Pam Zubeck — Fri, 17 May 2013 14:52:47 -0600

This just in from Christy Le Lait, who's working to keep Sen. John Morse from being recalled:

A mass mailing funded by the NRA and coordinated with Basic Freedom Defense Fund has gone out to voters throughout Senate District 11 supporting the recall effort of Senate President John Morse and urging voters to join up with BFDF to remove Sen. Morse from office.

“Basic Freedom Defense Fund has released numerous statements to the media and on their website claiming to be a grassroots organization,” stated Christy Le Lait, representative for A Whole Lot of People for John Morse, the issue committee fighting the recall attempt.…
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Bill Elder wastes no time announcing run for sheriff

J. Adrian Stanley — Fri, 17 May 2013 11:46:00 -0600

Remember when there were breaks between election seasons? Take a moment to reminisce, because that's certainly not the case anymore.…
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Bach plays paperboy for Gazette

Pam Zubeck — Fri, 17 May 2013 11:14:22 -0600

Mayor Steve Bach sure has an interesting relationship with the daily newspaper.

Take, for example, what happened when Gazette reporters wrote a perfectly serviceable story about the city's Waldo Canyon Fire After Action Report, released April 3.…
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Federal government fails third-grade punctuation

Bryce Crawford — Thu, 16 May 2013 19:21:00 -0600

I kid you not: The lack of apostrophes in the names of landmarks — Zebulon Pike's peak, for instance — is on purpose. This heinous bit of punctuation slaughter is actually condoned and encouraged by the federal government, comes the word from today's Wall Street Journal.…
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Joey Diamond lives the dream

Bill Forman — Thu, 16 May 2013 18:05:46 -0600

Good news: Joey Diamond is coming to Colorado Springs!

Now if that sentence didn't trigger an endorphin rush, it may well be that you don’t belong to a certain demographic, the same one that’s hormonally predisposed to worship Justin Bieber.…
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Coming soon to Ivywild: ModboCo School of Art

Edie Adelstein — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:50:00 -0600

Today, Brett and Lauren Andrus announced they are starting an art school in the Ivywild School.

The co-owners of the Modbo and S.P.Q.R. galleries will offer classes for adults (which Brett already teaches in S.P.Q.R., one of which I attended), as well as teens and elementary-age children.…
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Guthrie, Helm and Croce set for local summer shows

Bill Forman — Wed, 15 May 2013 17:57:18 -0600

Granted, Colorado Springs doesn’t always get the best-known musicians coming through, but we’ll soon be getting a lot of their offspring. In a genuinely odd coincidence, at least three of them have been booked so far to perform here this summer.…
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Pot-shop limit is an option in Manitou Springs

Bryce Crawford — Wed, 15 May 2013 16:58:00 -0600

Yesterday, Colorado Springs Mayor Steve Bach called recreational marijuana a "public safety issue," and indicated that he's likely to advocate for a ban on pot shops in his city. Bach added that he'd had discussions with Manitou Springs Mayor Marc Snyder regarding a possible ban in the more liberal tourist town.…
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Funding ban renewed for Pinon Canyon

Pam Zubeck — Wed, 15 May 2013 16:48:00 -0600

For the sixth year running, a ban on funding to expand the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site is making its way into law.

In a news release, Not 1 More Acre!, an advocacy group fighting to keep the Army from claiming more land in southeast Colorado for maneuvers, announced the military construction budget that was marked up in the Military Construction Subcommittee of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee today will continue the funding ban on "any action that relates to or promotes the expansion of the boundaries or size of the U.S. Army's Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site."

Here's the entire news release from Jean Aguerre, president of Not 1 More Acre!

Keeping the funding ban in the law has been a top priority for N1MA!…
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Downtown's Curbside Cuisine now rolling

Matthew Schniper — Wed, 15 May 2013 14:56:00 -0600

As properly prognosticated in my Side Dish column in late April, Curbside Cuisine arrived on the scene today. My colleague posted this pic of curry chicken lunch from the High Grade Catering and Food Truck.…
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Hick signs 'Breakfast After the Bell'

J. Adrian Stanley — Wed, 15 May 2013 13:36:00 -0600

Gov. John Hickenlooper has signed the bill known as "Breakfast After the Bell" into law.

The law means that schools with higher levels of impoverished children will be required — with some exceptions — to serve a free breakfast to all students after the start of the school day.…
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UPDATE: School Districts 2 and 11 want to feed the kids this summer

J. Adrian Stanley — Wed, 15 May 2013 13:21:53 -0600

Colorado Springs School District 11's extensive summer feeding program will continue this year.

Anyone ages 1 to 18 is invited to eat free at one of many locations — both in neighborhoods and schools.…
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Want to support John Morse?

Kirk Woundy — Wed, 15 May 2013 12:51:00 -0600

As the effort to recall John Morse continues — and attracts big money on both sides — the El Paso County Democratic Party is holding an event where supporters of the Senate president can thank him and fellow local Democratic lawmakers for their "hard work and bravery."

Here are the details:

Morse, of course, has been a target since shepherding through a spate of gun-control measures during the 2013 legislative session. Signature-gatherers have until June 3 to collect 7,000-plus signatures in their effort to get a recall election OK'd.…
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Summer film preview: superhero sequels, dystopian Earth and questionable efforts

Jonathan Kiefer — Wed, 15 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600
Regression analysis by Jonathan Kiefer Maybe it's me getting older, or maybe it's the global warming of Hollywood megacapitalism, but summer movie season seems to come sooner every year. As you've no doubt discovered, this year's already is well underway, especially considering Iron Man 3's release on May 3 and Star Trek Into Darkness (see here) this week.…
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Star Trek Into Darkness is a brutally brilliant film for our times

MaryAnn Johanson — Wed, 15 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600
They have ingeniously crafted a Star Trek movie that works equally well for neophytes and devotees by MaryAnn Johanson There's a thing that makes me very sad about Star Trek Into Darkness. It's not the perfect geek storm of an opening gambit that evokes not only the old-school, boldly-going adventures of the crew of the starship Enterprise, but also, hilariously, Raiders of the Lost Ark. It's not how Zachary Quinto somehow manages to make Spock more plausibly divided in his half-human, half-Vulcan skin than Leonard Nimoy ever did.…
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Cat foils the burglar, and more

Roland Sweet — Wed, 15 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600
All the weird news that's fit to print. by Roland Sweet Curses, foiled again Marius Ionescue, 31, was burglarizing a home in Benesti, Romania, when he heard a noise.…
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Opeth's art of metal

L. Kent Wolgamott — Wed, 15 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600
Swedish heavyweights say goodbye to genre conventions by L. Kent Wolgamott It's been well over a year and a half since Opeth released its last album, Heritage, during which Sweden's best-loved progressive death-metal band has been touring more or less non-stop throughout North America, Europe, South America, Japan, Turkey and India. Now the group is finally ready to go back in the studio — but not before one more U.S. tour.…
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Professor Barbecue to the Broadmoor

Bryce Crawford — Wed, 15 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600
Long Story Short by Bryce Crawford If everything goes as planned — $300 (plus tax and shipping) magically falling from the sky — I'll soon be christening my recently purchased home with five smoked chickens, three briskets and a canister of spent post-oak, all thanks to the sexiest piece of squat steel this side of a ribbed grain silo: the Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker Smoker. This baby's been on my wish list ever since I found out it was possible to sit at home and pour smoke over a fatty piece of meat until it melted into An Experience.…
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Celery stalking

Indy staff — Wed, 15 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600
Where to celebrate ‘Grown in Colorado’ all summer long by Indy staff In the most miserable depths of winter, at least one of us starts dreaming about the Old Colorado City farmers market — how she can grab breakfast with friends somewhere along the avenue, check out a great book from the old Carnegie library, then hike over into the happy, white-tented bustle at Bancroft Park. In these fantasies, all of her neighbors are there, with their kids and dogs and grannies, picking the perfect bunch of greens, a basket full of Palisade peaches, yellow squash for the barbie, an herb plant for the porch.…
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Bar and club gigs in the region

Wed, 15 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600
Playing Around Venue directory Adam's Mountain Café, 934 Manitou Ave., #102, Manitou Springs, 685-1430…
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Homelessness solution: Welcome to Bachville

Rich Tosches — Wed, 15 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600
To much fanfare, Bach announced a homelessness solution after months of research. As I heard it, the plan was carefully thought-out and even came with a name: "Just Buy A House." by Rich Tosches In today's episode of Steve Bach: Champion Of The Homeless, we find our Mother Teresa-like mayor rounding up support for a campus-like place so all of our village's downtrodden can get a safe night's sleep, medical care and career training, and, more importantly, so the unshaven bums will stay the hell out of the downtown area. Downtown is where the mayor and his kind-hearted, philanthropic Republican developer pals conduct business.…
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New laws lay out the path for Amendment 64's implementation

Bryce Crawford — Wed, 15 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600
Reefer rulings by Bryce Crawford When it comes to marijuana in Colorado, bills passed by legislators, mandating this shall do that, are hardly the last word. First, because it's on Gov. John Hickenlooper to actually sign the things; then it's up to the state Department of Revenue to create the specifics.…
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Walk Away Renee, Roseanne, The Wicked

Wed, 15 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600
Cinefiles Walk Away Renee (NR) IFC Films…
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