Cutting the Cable

A cable franchise deal negotiated with Century Communications and slated for the ballot next November is a sweet one for local education groups. But doubts remain about whether this 15 1/2-year contract will benefit the city in years to come.

• by Cara DeGette

Remembering the kids

When it comes to electing candidates to school board seats and entrusting politicians with the sanctity of public education, too often the students themselves are invisible in the debate. But, an upcoming Citizens Project candidates' forum, developed in conjunction with Coronado High School students and faculty, will allow students a chance to press candidates on issues that are near and dear to them.

• by Matthew Fullen

Gays bash Hobby Lobby as insensitive

Claiming that they have been insulted by judgmental employees of the Eighth Street Hobby Lobby, a group of gay men and women have dried foul over shabby treatment and are even boycotting the craft store.

• by Cara DeGette

Danger Ahead

Alert your neighbors: RSI, or repetitive strain injury, is real, and it's serious. Today, this second, check your work set-up, move your computer, support your lower back. You're not too cool for ergonomics.

• by Donna Ladd

New Laws on Juvenile Crime Show Willful Blindness

Thinking tougher measures will speed results, Congress is considering House Bill HR 1501 and Senate Bill S.254, which call for tougher punishments instead of intensive rehabilitation. They thrust children into the adult world. It's like turning up the oven to brown cookies faster -- you are just going to burn them.

• by Amy Clay

Nancy and Phil Tracy

Meet Nancy and Phil, owners of Laura Belle's Tavern, a little bar with a very big heart.

• by Malcolm Howard

The End of the World As We Know It

The idea that the books of Moses contain some kind of hidden code is not new. But not until the modern computer age have some-mystically-minded mathematicians verified that there are either incredible coincidences or possible prophecy contained within the Torah, the first five books of the Christian Bible. And that's the premise behind "The Omega Code," a new feature-length film that features local actor and director, Gregory "Ziggy" Wagrowski.

• by Malcolm Howard

IQ: Remember when...?

Every week, the Independent takes to the streets, in search of your opinion on the latest, breaking news.

Starving in the midst of plenty

When the voters chose in 1991 to reduce the city sales tax from 2.5 percent to 2.0 percent, and to impose revenue caps which force the city to rebate tax revenues above an arbitrary year-to-year growth rate, they basically destroyed the city's ability to deal with growth. And so here we are, with a crumbling infrastructure, an undermanned police force, and an underequipped fire department. Our city is literally starving in the midst of plenty.

• by John Hazlehurst

Thread of Continuity, Song of Change

Certain times of year resonate with rituals that become lifetime touchstones -- treasured traditions of season and place. "Going to the mountains" means, for many, hiking, skiing, hunting, fishing, scenic drives. Our family tradition of immersion among autumn aspen is one from my childhood that I still honor every fall: not a drive-by viewing but a total sensory experience.

• by Pat Musick

Christian Coalition declares war on Makepeace

In a letter mailed to followers this week, the Christian Coalition accuses Mayor Makepeace of "[coming] out of the closet to promote her radical homosexual agenda" and begs supporters to mobilize in opposition.

Double Duty

During the day, it is Simply Breakfast, and purports to serve "simply breakfast, simply brunch and simply lunch." When the sun sinks over the mountain, however, it becomes the Dinner Nook with a mere flip of some proverbial switch.

• by MB Partlow

Ketchup -- It's what's for dinner

Ketchup, catsup, catchup. Suzanne Becker reveals everything you wanted to know, but never thought to ask.

• by Suzanne Becker

Playing Around: Shades

This week we highlight Shades, an Earth, Wind and Fire-influenced group, who will be performing at Tres Hombres in Woodland Park on Saturday, Oct. 16.

• by Kristen Sherwood

Blow to the Head

Rarely does a film seamlessly mesh the vision of the director, the producers, the actors and the production team; but in director David Fincher's films, at least Seven and Fight Club, the vision swallows and envelopes every frame of the film, and the result is a singularly dark, perversely thrilling cinematic experience.

• by Kathryn Eastburn

Dream Team

Considering that this languorous, haunting film was released in the U.S. about nine months ago and has only just arrived in our fair city, home of 27 theaters playing Runaway Bride, I doubt that the film will stick around for more than a week. And all the more reason that, if you have a romantic bone in your body, you should eschew the cookie cutter Hollywood love stories, ditch work at four, and catch an early bird show at Cinema 70.

• by Andrea Lucard

Art Hopping

We live, in case you hadn't noticed, in a smug and insular little city. That's why it's a good idea to get out of town every once in a while. And that's why I was on the road alone last Saturday, on an artquest. The goal: to visit three exhibitions in the Denver area.

• by John Hazlehurst

Phantom-lite

It's pure delusion to think of this alternative adaptation of Gaston Leroux's novel as in any way the equal of "The Phantom of the Opera" with its masquerades and its music of the night, its chandeliers and its intricate labyrinth, subterranean world of romance. One musical makes an art form out of the romance genre, serving up schmaltz and sentimentality as high culture. This one does not.

• by Owen Perkins

Catch the Wind

Nature writer, poet and northern Colorado native James Galvin, best known for "The Meadow" (1992), graces us with "Fencing the Sky," a terrific first novel which will entertain literary types and even render tree-huggers happy, despite the rampant use of paper in the book's construction.

• by Michael Salkind

Amazing Grace

If books were seasons, "Plainsong" would be autumn. If books were weather, "Plainsong" would be a cool, crisp wind.

• by Kathryn Eastburn

Hard Rock Harvest

"Mountain Time" feels like literary Muzak, the prose equivalent of a drive through the high country when the colors are changing. There may not be any enduring significance to the passage of time spent within its leaves, but it sure is an enjoyable ride.

• by Owen Perkins

Right to Read

For a third year, the Chinook Bookshop and the Colorado Springs Independent have joined forces to sponsor the Banned Books Week Essay Contest. And once again, the entries were rousing.

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