Monday, May 20, 2013
- Issue Archive for
- Oct 28 - Nov 3, 1999
- Vol. 7, No. 43
- The Fine Print
News
Class Dismissed
District 11 officials warn of dire consequences if voters don't approve a $29 million gradual property tax increase on Nov. 2. But along with the warnings comes a promise: If voters do approve the money, the district will respond by improving student test scores by 2003. And with the bulk of the money earmarked for technological programs, the question remains: What happened to the cash voters approved for a massive computer infrastructure three years ago?
Citizens for Responsible School Funding '99
As of Oct. 12, the political action committee that organized the campaign to pass the District 11 mill-levy override reported $50,525 in contributions. The following is a list of the campaign's major contributors.
Dire Warnings
On Sept. 22, D-11 administrators delivered this list of student and employee programs that could be cut or eliminated if voters don't pass the $29 million in additional property-tax revenues for school operating costs.
Endorsements '99
The following are the Independent's positions on initiatives and school-board candidates that appear on the Nov. 2 ballot. Check out our Oct. 21 issue to review the full endorsements and explanations.
Crying Fire
If approved, Issue 2B would give police and fire personnel the power to negotiate with the city as a group for a salary contract--a controversial provision in a community that's long been skeptical of organized labor.
Columns
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Letters
Readers of the CS Independent talk back to the editor.
Ravin' till Dawn
About a thousand teenagers crowd the sidewalks in front of the Colorado Springs City Auditorium late on a Saturday night. They stand in lines that wrap around the building, their pierced faces and latex jeans sparkling beneath the streetlamps. Puffs of cigarette and clove smoke escape with exhaled breath into the chilly midnight air.
D-11's priorities misdirected
In the past week, we've fielded some 100 telephone calls and letters expressing distress, amazement, horror and disgust over our refusal to endorse 3J, the District 11 mill-levy override that will appear on Tuesday's ballot. We have been accused of being traitors, of rescinding our support for public education. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Under the Hoods
Bigot or not, each of us must be allowed to say our piece. Fine, shout down the opposition, but don't try to silence it. None of us can afford such ill-conceived prior restraint.
Chris West, steward
Chris West offers to dispel some of the myths surrounding witches, Wicca and spells.
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Domestic Bliss
The telecommunications revolution is killing me.
IQ: Does anybody really know what time it is?
Every week, the Independent takes to the streets, in search of your opinion on the latest, breaking news.
TV Hole
Commentary on Weird Weekends, Bravo's new import from the BBC; Ally McBeal's season premiere; and Time of Your Life, Fox's first Party of Five spinoff.
The moral police win
Watch out. Chief Lorne Kramer's moral police are out in force, the city's daily newspaper has decided to officially nickname itself the G, and what a coincidence just two weeks before city voters weigh in on a $51 million cable franchise fee and agreement, the city's cable company sent a letter to its customers telling them how cherished they are.
'Yes, I've heard the jokes about politicians and elephant dung'
Hard to believe that there's an election in a few days, much less one with multiple ballot issues. I mean, let's be honest; does anybody really care whether Gov. Bill and Dickie Wadhams get our permission to borrow a couple of billion for the roads, or not?
Food & Drink
Crème de la Crème
Perhaps you've seen the billboards around town, wrenching the English language as advertisements do: "Luxury Becomes a Landmark." "Dining Becomes a Destiny." Such pretentious hyperbole has kept me away from the Cliff House until this assignment. I can't say much about destiny, but the dining was divine.
Have Faith in Frozen Fish
There is something foreboding about a vacu-sealed package of frozen fish. The plastic is unattractive and sterile. The outer shell is rock-hard and covered with ice shavings scratched up by the fingernails of bored 10-year-old tag-along shoppers. And there is the sassy price of fish, too. Like, why would you pay $9.99 per pound for a hunk of sea meat that looks meek all wrapped up and cryogenically preserved? Because, land-locked Americans, the payoff at suppertime can be staggering.
Music
R-e-s-p-e-c-t
On Oct. 5, Rhino Records released Respect: A Century of Music, a five-CD boxed set of American women's music. The Independent spoke with co-producer Julie D'Angelo, who, along with Holly George-Warren, has compiled the most comprehensive and ambitious women's music collection to date.
Makes You Wanna Shout
Though they have achieved much commercial success over the years, the Isley Brothers have continually suffered from Rodney Dangerfield syndrome; they have never gotten the respect they deserve.
Funk 'n' Groovin'
In a gift to anyone who's ever lamented the shortfall of cutting-edge national caliber music acts appearing in Colorado Springs the final frontier , Sonia Dada will play a Halloween weekend show at the Colorado Music Hall guaranteed to bring the house down.
Tower of Power
Dynamic. Diverse. Complex. Passionate. These are all words that describe the music of Joan Tower, one of America's premier contemporary composers, who on Thurs., Nov. 4 conducts a number of her works in a free concert at Colorado College
The Playlist
The Independent reviews the newest CDs by Fiona Apple and the Paula Cole Band.
Playing Around: Hillbilly Hellcats
This week we highlight the Hillbilly Hellcats, who will be performing at Meadow Muffins on Saturday, Oct. 30.
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Playing Around Listings
Where to find live music in Colorado Springs.
Film
Dead Again
Martin Scorsese's latest collaboration with screenwriter Paul Schrader is a dark ride in an ambulance through the mythical mean streets of Scorsese's past.
Back to '63
When I heard I was to review a movie directed by Antonio Banderas, lately known as Zorro, I braced myself. But, truth be told, "Crazy in Alabama," a film adaptation of the novel by the same name, is quite charming, and a decent debut film for the Spanish actor-turned-director.
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Movie Picks
Our reviewers' recommendations for films showing on Colorado Springs area screens.
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Movie Times
What's playing, where, and when, on the silver screen in Colorado Springs.
Visual Arts
The Perils of Joshua
Denver's Theatre Group is staging a controversial production of a new play by Terrence McNally, which was was written shortly before Matthew Shepard's murder, but the creative team behind this production could not ignore the parralels.
For Whom the Boom?
Class Act marks First Strike Theatre's first "mainstage" public performance in four years and is billed as "an unbalanced account of uncommon wealth," combining skits, parodies and song with song spoofs in a collaborative creation of social satire focused on the current "booming" ecomony.
Calendar
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.
