Now We Are Six (Billion!)

On or around Oct. 12, 1999, a Very Important Baby will be born somewhere in the world. The arrival of a new child is not in itself big international news, since three are born every second, but this one will mark world population reaching 6 billion. The question remains, How many people can the Earth support?

• by Jim Motavalli

School is no Bible-free zone

The Gideons have long been known for giving out Bibles -- in everything from motel nightstands to hospital, beds, military bases and jails. But a yearly crusade by local Gideons to hand out Bibles to kids -- from sixth graders to high schoolers -- outside area public schools has some local parents up in arms.

• by Malcolm Howard

Voters face 32 tax questions

Voters in Colorado Springs and El Paso County will face a myriad of ballot questions this November. The question is, Will anyone show up at the polls?

• by Cara DeGette

U.S. Fiddles While East Timor Burns

The violence and crisis in East Timor has raised pointed questions about U.S. foreign policy and what we stand for in the world.

• by Mark Weisbrot

Time for a New West celebration

Why watch some ranch hand on a bronco when you could watch SUV drivers maneuver through an obstacle course while maintaining constant cell-phone conversation and consulting their GPS navigation aids?

• by Ed Quillen

Coup de Gates

Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda Gates, pledged $1 billion for minority scholarships, the biggest donation ever to higher education. This donation could tip the balance of the economic scales in America.

• by Donna Ladd

In a Word

Readings by poets Adrienne Rich, Mary Jo Salter, Shulamith Halevy and Toi Derricotte over the next two months will soothe the ears of students and anyone else who thinks spending an evening with a poet beats TV reruns hands down.

• by S.K. Carew

David Salman, Founder and president, High Country Gardens

If you've been searching for tips on gardening on the Front Range, look no further. David Salman is an expert in Western and water-wise planting. You can also catch Salman speaking in the Horticultural Arts Society's lecture series this Saturday at Centennial Hall.

• by Malcolm Howard

IQ: Population

• by Matthew Fullen

TV-arama

It happens every year with more networks and fewer original ideas -- the launching of the new TV season. Here are just a few samples of what you'll be sitting through for the next few weeks, at least until the polls are in.

Better, not Bigger

If local government embraces historic preservation and the creation of a livable city, maybe we will see a new breed of movers and shakers in the new century, movers and shakers who will want to stay in one place and preserve it.

• by John Hazlehurst

Let the healing, and profits, begin

With every new mass shooting since Columbine apparently comes another great chance for some entrepreneur to make some money off the deal.

• by Cara DeGette

Round Peg in a Square Hole

The atmosphere at Walter's Bistro leaves a little to be desired, but the food is terrific -- and that's what really counts.

• by Nancy Harley
• Tags: Appetite, Walter's Bistro

Getting to the Heart of Corn

The historical significance of corn -- and a few modern applications of these golden vegetables -- offered for your enjoyment.

• by Brennen Florey

Heartbreaker

Tom Petty's September 14 show at Red Rocks was thoroughly satisfying and included many songs that have over the years slipped into our collective consciousness.

• by Michael Salkind

Playing Around: Willy Porter

This week we highlight Willy Porter, the husky baritone who will be performing songs of love, lost love and "the dislocation of modern life" at the Colorado Music Hall on Wednesday, Sept. 29, at 8 p.m.

• by Kristen Sherwood

Joined at the Heart

Like a classic fairy tale, this fable grows in the remembering, working on a level of utter simplicity, logic and grace.

• by Kathryn Eastburn

Dark Shadows

"Stir of Echoes" gets the short end of the stick -- following the box office splash and Oscar buzz of "Sixth Sense" -- but if you can drop the tendency to compare, and view Stir of Echoes on its own merits, it stands up as a pretty darn good, often hair-raising thriller.

• by Kathryn Eastburn

Angst as Art

Director David McClendon works hard to maintain a sense of dramatic edge throughout the play but he rarely finds the anticipated sharpness.

• by Owen Perkins

Making Meaning

"Six Degrees of Abstraction," the paintings and sculptures of six talented Colorado Springs artists, provokes us to converse with the works, even with the occasional "I don't get it."

• by Joanna Roche

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