Zachary McComsey

Founder and executive director, Atlas Preparatory School

Naked City

Basically, we perceived a disconnect between perception and reality, or at least attention and reality. So we're presenting something else to think about: essays from people who know the city best.

Damian Burford

Event coordinator, Triple Nickel Tavern

Linda Kogan

Sustainability director, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs

Sister Jeannette Kneifel

President/CEO, Women Partnering

Bill Kenline

President, South Nevada Community Association

Al Munson

Volunteer doctor, Mission Medical Clinic

Gerry Strabala

City recreation supervisor

Eric Viedt

Executive chef and co-owner, the Margarita at PineCreek

Jan Johnson

Founder and artistic director, Ormao Dance Company

Michael Salkind

Criminal defense lawyer

Who are we, anyway?

The same agency that bagged its detox program is now planning to spend $100,000 to "rebrand" its growing empire.

• by Pam Zubeck
• Tags: Local News, Pikes Peak Behavioral Health Group, Morris Roth, Aspen Diversified Industries, Connect Care, El Paso County detox, Terry Maketa, Altamira Apartments

Off and on

This fall, El Paso County voters will consider raising taxes in Colorado Springs and Fountain, while electing school board members in many districts.

• by Pam Zubeck
• Tags: Local News, 2C, Measure 300, Douglas Bruce, property tax, Stormwater Enterprise, 2A

Green to gray

To meet its portion of the projected city-wide reductions for next year, the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Department could lose up to 75 percent, or about $9 million, of its general-fund budget.

• by J. Adrian Stanley
• Tags: Local News, Paul Butcher, Colorado Springs parks, Kurt Schroeder, Dave Munger, Colorado Springs budget

Noted: Rabies spreads

Also: 9-12 recap, section 16 update, Romanoff runs for Senate, city needs Heimlicher's replacement and more.

Our national right-wing celebrity

Michelle Malkin swept into Barnes & Noble last week to sign copies of her latest book: I'd Like to Poke Obama in the Eye with a Barbecue Fork and Then Maybe Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld Will Return and Lead Us Out of This Hell Hole.

• by Rich Tosches
• Tags: Ranger Rich, Michelle Malkin, Michelle Obama, Culture of Corruption, Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld

Big Three: in or out?

Backers of 2C need support of the Housing and Building Association (HBA), the Greater Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce and the Pikes Peak Association of Realtors.

• by Ralph Routon
• Tags: Between The Lines, Housing and Building Association of Colorado Springs, Greater Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce, Pikes Peak Association of Realtors, Douglas Bruce, Measure 2C

College teams' sobering week

much earlier than anyone might have expected, Air Force, Colorado State and CU have reached a similar juncture in mid-September: Nobody's as good as they thought.

• by Ralph Routon
• Tags: End Zone, Air Force, Buffaloes, Colorado State, Dan Hawkins, Troy Calhoun, Tom Brady, Tyler Hansen, Tim Jefferson

IQ: Dream City?

With so many national publications citing Colorado Springs as one of the best places to live, let's pause the high-fiving and back-slapping for a quick reality check.

• by Bob Campbell

Dish 2009

Restaurant chefs share delectable recipes showcasing local food

A tasty trip

I had no idea the Airplane Restaurant served African food (it actually doesn't) or that the Springs offered African cuisine beyond Moroccan and Egyptian (it actually does).

• by Matthew Schniper
• Tags: Appetite, Airplane Restaurant, AboAbo, African Night, Charles Kimaita, Philomena Abdulai, Steve Kanatzar, The Airplane Restaurant

Primal cream

"I thought it was really important as a band to go on this little adventure, just the four of us, because it brought us closer together as a unit."

• by Tom Lanham
• Tags: AudioFile, Arctic Monkeys, Alex Turner, Josh Homme, Queens of the Stone Age, Humbug, Rancho de la Luna studios

Don't stop believin'

His 10th solo album, Hard Believer brings Castro back to his musical roots.

• by L. Kent Wolgamott
• Tags: AudioFile, Tommy Castro, Hard Believer, Dynatones

Highway from hell

The OMG duo found solace in the studio under their new album The Night Undoes the Work of the Day.

• by L. Kent Wolgamott
• Tags: AudioFile, OMG, Billy O'Neill, Ig, The Night Undoes the Work of the Day, Fools Want Noise

Jason Mraz

"I want to be jazzed up night after night. I want the songs to be true."

• by Alan Sculley
• Tags: Sixty Seconds, Jason Mraz, We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things, Mr. A-Z

Playing Around Listing

Who's playing where, and when, at area venues for the next week.

Lavender potpourri

A look at a few of the films on this year's schedule.

• by Jill Thomas
• Tags: Reviews, Edie & Thea, Make the Yuletide Gay, Pikes Peak Lavender Film Festival, Against a Trans Narrative, Diagnosing Difference, Patrik, Age 1.5, I Can't Think Straight, Alma Cremonesi, Drool

Speak of the devil

Everyone in this film knows that they're a character in the new movie written by Diablo Cody, and so those characters had damn well better say something clever every few minutes.

• by MaryAnn Johanson
• Tags: Reviews, Jennifer's Body, Diablo Cody, Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried, Karyn Kusama

Information overload

Aren't we overdue for a great black comedy about white-collar crime? Unfortunately, The Informant! isn't it.

• by Jonathan Kiefer
• Tags: Reviews, The Informant!, Matt Damon, Mark Whitacre, Archer Daniels Midland Company, Scott Z. Burns, Steven Soderbergh, Melanie Lynskey, Scott Bakula, Joel McHale, Marvin Hamlisch

Inked out

K8E Orr is a self-described "lazy kind of artist." She paints in bed, uses leftover coffee as a color and doesn't bother to please her audience.

• by John Knight
• Tags: Art News, K8E Orr, Ink, Poor Richard's Restaurant, Rico's Café and Wine Bar

Stomping down Rodeo Drive

While the choreography is unusual and the setting historical "Rodeo" tells a timeless coming-of-age story most everyone can relate to.

• by Bree Abel
• Tags: Dance, All Pointes West, Colorado Ballet, Agnes de Mille, Sharon Wehner

7 days to live