No Way Out

When a child reports abuse at school, then kills herself, what is the school's responsibility? The parents of Kerby Casey Guerra want to know.

• by Kathryn Eastburn

ID tags required in D-11 schools

Increased fears over campus safety has led two District 11 high schools to require their students wear photo identification cards in plain view this year, even if it means suspending students who refuse to display their cards.

• by Cara DeGette

Tires-to-tomatoes plan fizzles

A long-troubled plan to grow tomatoes in large greenhouses, heated by burning tires, has been officially snuffed out.

• by Malcolm Howard

Activists oppose sanctions on Iraq

Leading activists in the international effort to loosen sanctions against Iraq join local peace advocates this week.

• by Malcolm Howard

Born Gay

99.999999 percent of those who say we are gay deeply believe we were born this way, and nothing will ever change that.

• by Frank Whitworth

See You Online

Ladd discusses Judge Theresa Cisneros' ruling in favor of the zero-tolerance czars in the Lewis-Palmer High School alcohol expulsions.

• by Donna Ladd

James Van Buren, 'Colorado's Own'

Musician James Van Buren speaks with the Independent before his stint at the Pikes Peak Jazz Festival in Woodland Park this weekend.

• by Cara DeGette

IQ: Round the world

Don't tell those folks in Kansas, but the world isn't flat anymore.

• by Matthew Fullen

Cash for all my friends

With the election only two months away, it's not too early to predict the voters' response to the upcoming bond issues.

• by John Hazlehurst

Students for Sale

Bureaucrats from Colorado Springs School District 11 take credit for signing deals with corporate sponsors to splash ads across school buses and school hallways.

• by Cara DeGette

Coffee, Tea and Big Dreams

M.B. Partlow takes us to Sencha, an elegant new culinary adventure in the old Jack in the Box at Nevada and Costilla.

• by MB Partlow

Ms. Mary's guide to the good life and fine edibles

Kristen Sherwood reveals some tips from her latest score at Goodwill -- a musty, dilapidated cookbook, dated 1895.

• by Kristen Sherwood

Songwriter's Summit

Raitt, Browne, Hornsby, Colvin, and Lindley send off summer at the Rocks

• by Owen Perkins

Playing Around: Kraig Kenning

This week we highlight Kraig Kenning, the first place winner of the unsigned guitarist title at the National Slide Guitar Contest held in August, who will be performing Friday., Sept. 17, at 8 p.m. at the Borders Books and Music.

• by Kristen Sherwood

Costner's Grand Slam

Just when you think Costner has forsaken interesting characters for outrageously overblown mythic heroes, the guy hooks up with an interesting director and becomes, once again, the irresistible actor who starred in "Bull Durham" and "Tin Cup."

• by Kathryn Eastburn

More Blood With That, Sir?

Despite its bloodiness, "Stigmata" isn't a vampire flick but a Christian one, complete with priests and possession and, of course, stigmata.

• by Andrea Lucard

Documentary Alert

"Return With Honor" documents the experiences of American flyers shot down and imprisoned in the infamous Hanoi Hilton prison camp.

The Art of Adventure

Two weeks ago, a group of 15 top Western landscape artists set out on an adventure down the Colorado River, gouging their way into the deepest regions of the Grand Canyon, boating paint and canvases with them, along with sleeping bags, sunscreen and insect repellent.

• by Owen Perkins

Brush Strokes of History

This year, the premier release of Denver publishing company MacMurray & Beck is "Girl in Hyacinth Blue," a book that could catapult its author, Susan Vreeland, and the publisher to a much wider level of recognition.

• by Kathryn Eastburn

Poet-Angel Among Us

Poet Billy Collins' excellent collection, "Questions About Angels," is accessible to both scholars and general readers. It only requires a sense of adventure.

• by S.K. Carew

Dark Haitian History Lesson

Edwidge Danticat's "The Farming of Bones" takes us to her native Haiti to comment on the tragic 1937 massacre. Though a bold and worthy undertaking, it should have been executed with more distance and care.

• by Michael Salkind

Event Listings

If there's something going on, we've got it listed here.

Seven Days

What's happenin' this week in the big city -- highlights from our listings.

• by Kristen Sherwood