'The Lord is my Saddle Partner'

Half an hour northeast of Colorado Springs on a nearly empty stretch of country road in Peyton, Colo., the view to the west is nothing but blue sky and the snow-capped crown of Pikes Peak.

• by Noel Black

Fall of Wingate

The resignation Tuesday of Colorado Springs City Councilman Charles Wingate, accused of stealing money and equipment from the city, may enable the Council to put behind it months of distraction and ridicule over Wingate's alleged offenses.

• by Terje Langeland

Counting Votes

A proposed city ordinance to protect the endangered view of Pikes Peak from the Pioneers Museum downtown could be headed for a close vote, after surviving what backers characterized as an attempt to quietly bury it this week.

• by Terje Langeland

Pot, Porn and Pickers

You might remember Eric Schlosser from his best-selling book Fast Food Nation, where this muckraker extraordinaire held up Colorado Springs as the apotheosis of suburban-sprawled, fast-food-dominated, strip-mauled America.

• by John Dicker

What they'd truly love to be

Last Friday was a first for Cheyenne Mountain Charter Academy. Kindergarten teacher Cindee Will explained: "We're so focused academically here that we rarely do this kind of thing."

• by Sean Cayton

Kenneth Cleaver, Consumer Correspondent

Republican bottom feeders hit bottom

Here's an argument against evolution: the Republican majority in the Colorado state Legislature.

• by John Hazlehurst

Philharmonic Finale

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

• by Joe Kuzma

William Bennett's vice and virtue

About once a year I love losing 50 bucks at a casino. I'm not a masochist and would prefer to win money, of course. I fantasize about paid-off credit cards and eating at good restaurants for a week.

• by Debra McCorkle

Food galas benefit local organizations

This years Taste of the Springs will support both Care and Share and the Marion House Soup Kitchen.

IQ: Cowboy Mystique

Whether it's through those old spaghetti westerns or modern-day electronic bull riding, the cowboy mystique has captured the world's imagination for decades. The latest offshoot is Cowboy Church, detailed in this week's cover story.

• by Chessie Thacher

Stay true to your forest

That summer we posted ourselves at my bedroom window and watched the drama unfold across the street at the Meriwether's house.

• by Kathryn Eastburn

Uptown in Pueblo

There was a bit of grumbling among my food-weary friends when I tried to round them up for an assignment in Pueblo. "Too far," they complained. "That drive is so tedious." By the time we finished our meal at Steel City Diner, however, they would have walked to Pueblo to do it again.

• by Nancy Harley
• Tags: Appetite, Fine Dining

Playing Around: Amazing Rhythm Aces

The Grammy-winning country-rockers, the Amazing Rhythm Aces, will be at Tres Hombres this Friday for what they're calling a Fan Appreciation gig.

• by Brian Arnot

Built to Chill

Perhaps the world would be a less complicated place if everyone's idea of a bonafide rock star were a regular-looking guy in a beard and a T-shirt.

• by Bettina Swigger

What I learned on my, er, spring vacation

In the time-honored 'merican tradition of packing up your covered wagon and heading out West -- in our case, farther out West -- my wife and I decided to spend our vacation this year crammed in our late '80s model Honda Civic, driving from city to city through deserts and mountain ranges while our 2-year-old son pelted us in the back of our heads with his ba-ba.

• by Noel Black

The Dreamlife of Machines

The Wachowski brothers lock down the style constraints of their three-part sci-fi cyber-epic fantasy with mesmerizing results that err on the side of video-game desensitization in part two.

• by Cole Smithey

A gentle breeze

Let's face it: Colorado Springs is home to many an old folkie, or at least old fans of old folkies.

• by Kathryn Eastburn

Reality TV 'R Us

Book explores why we make it, not why we watch it

• by John Dicker