Colorado Springs Independent

Voodoo Doughnut expanding into Denver

Matthew Schniper — Thu, 23 May 2013 11:46:00 -0600

One of the first places that travelers to Portland, Ore. aim for is Voodoo Doughnut. The shop is legendary, from multiple TV appearances to Rogue's Bacon Maple Ale tribute.…

Help two CC alums 'rediscover' the prairie

Edie Adelstein — Thu, 23 May 2013 09:22:00 -0600

In 1806, Thomas Jefferson predicted that it would take 100 generations or more to inhabit the western U.S. He had sent Lewis and Clark to forge a path from the Missouri River to the sea and inspect the vast lands the country had just acquired via the Louisiana Purchase.

It didn't take 100 generations.…

Tom Nalen named to Broncos' Ring of Fame

Bryce Crawford — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:18:00 -0600

Gary Zimmerman may have been the quintessential ’90s-era Denver Broncos offensive lineman — with his reticence to talk to the media, generally undersized frame and maniacal zone-blocking tendencies — but it was like-minded center Tom Nalen who always had my heart.

That shaggy dude was the linchpin for every success enjoyed by the cast-off running backs that coach Mike Shanahan would pull from the dregs of the draft, and for it he'll join 23 other former players in the team's Ring of Fame.…

Frack war tonight in Boulder

Matthew Schniper — Wed, 22 May 2013 15:41:00 -0600

If for some reason you can't make (or wait for) tomorrow night's screening of Gasland Part II at UCCS, you could always leave for Boulder. Like, now-ish.…

Vampire Weekend, LL Cool J, The Dillinger Escape Plan

Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Sound Advice Vampire Weekend Modern Vampires of the City…

Indy demands severance contracts from city

Independent staff — Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

by Independent staff Severance agreements between Mayor Steve Bach and numerous city employees should be released in accord with open records laws, according to a letter submitted to the city Monday on behalf of the Independent. The city has denied access to the agreements, although it has released the amounts paid to some 23 employees since Bach was elected in mid-2011.…

A not-so-open relationship

Amy Alkon — Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

With friends like her, who needs bar fights? by Amy Alkon Smells like libertine spirit I got involved with my co-host on my Web show — a woman in an "open relationship" with her live-in boyfriend of two years.…

Major concerts in Colorado

Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Big Gigs Rehab, Black Sheep, May 24 • MeadowGrass Music Festival, feat. Blitzen Trapper, Dawes, Todd Snider, La Foret Conference & Retreat Center, May 24-26 • Logic, Black Sheep, May 25 • Trapt, Black Sheep, May 26 • Escape the Fate, Black Sheep, May 27 • Ivan & Alyosha, Black Sheep, May 28 • Dropkick Murphys, Fillmore Auditorium, Denver, May 29 • Beware of Darkness, Black Sheep, May 30 • Scale the Summit, Black Sheep, May 31 • Buddy Whittington with the Atomic Fireballs, Crystola Roadhouse, Woodland Park, May 31 • Bassnectar, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, May 31-June 1 • Atlas Genius, Black Sheep, June 1 • Fleetwood Mac, Pepsi Center, Denver, June 1 • Gina Sicilia, Venue 515, Manitou Springs, June 1 • Taylor Swift, Pepsi Center, Denver, June 2 • The Mowgli's, Black Sheep, June 3 • The xx, Fillmore Auditorium, Denver, June 3 • Sting, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, June 5 • Darius Rucker, with Rodney Atkins, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, June 6 • Umphrey's McGee, Dr. Dog, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, June 7 • Celtic Woman, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, June 9 • Logic, with Skizzy Mars, Summit Music Hall, Denver, June 11 • Pitbull/Ke$ha, Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre, Englewood, June 11 • Trace Bundy, The Loft, June 14 • DeVotchKa, with the Colorado Symphony, Amanda Palmer, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, June 14 • Fitz & The Tantrums, Gothic Theatre, Englewood, June 14 • Datsik, Ogden Theatre, Denver, June 14-15 • Tim McGraw, Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre, Englewood, June 15 • Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell, Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver, June 17 • Tony Bennett with Antonia Bennett, Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver, June 18-19 •…

City and county oil and gas regulations

Pam Zubeck — Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

by Pam Zubeck El Paso County commissioners adopted oil and gas regulations in early 2012. While they at first insisted on retaining authority over water quality, they backed off after the Colorado Attorney General's Office muscled in to say oil and gas rules fall under the state's jurisdiction.…

Recalling a past public-safety sham, Josh Fox returns to the fracking fracas

Matthew Schniper — Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Contami-Nation by Matthew Schniper Of all things flammable in the wide world, tap water shouldn't be one of them. At least that's the consensus — call it crazy — among environmentalists and fracking foes, for whom the phenomena, supposedly brought on by nearby hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas extraction, has grown into quite a powerful symbol.…

Putting the 'tea' in trouble

Rich Tosches — Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

At issue are conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status. by Rich Tosches If less than the entire value of the trust (or other property) that the donor has included in Parts 1 and 3 of Schedule A is entered as a deduction on line 4, the donor shall be considered to have made an election only as to a fraction of the trust (or other property). The numerator of this fraction is equal to the amount of the trust (or other property) deducted on Schedule A, Part 4, line 6.…

Fracking's eco-impact

Matthew Schniper — Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Long Story Short by Matthew Schniper While preparing for my interview with controversial Gasland filmmaker Josh Fox last week (see here), I spoke with an old friend who'd not-long-ago left the notoriously underpaid world of cheffing to become a rather lucratively compensated oil driller. Or fracker, if you wish.…

The Local buys Raven's Nest, plus two cool new drink-and-dinner series

Matthew Schniper — Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Side Dish by Matthew Schniper The Local's cup Phil Petty, Jo Marini and Sara Crowell, co-owners of The Local food truck (thelocalcolorado.com), announced their purchase of Raven's Nest Coffee at 330 N. Institute St., last week.…

Star Bar delves into the character and conscience of A Streetcar Named Desire

Joshua Michael Torres — Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

The personal is political by Joshua Michael Torres Alysabeth Clements Mosley realizes the risk: Smaller theater troupes like hers usually don't perform A Streetcar Named Desire, because they don't have the resources or the actors to pull it off. But when they make it work, the payoff is huge.…

No movement on fire study, PERA haggling continues, more

Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Noted Waldo study stalls Although several players are on board for a look at how various agencies interacted during the Waldo Canyon Fire last summer, no one seems to know who will oversee the study, when it will be done, and by whom.…

Problematic potential at Rockrimmon's New Day Cafe

Bryce Crawford — Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Appetite by Bryce Crawford New Day is a small chain of cafés, with two locations in Las Vegas and the most recently opened one here, all run by Arturo and Theresa Luna, a couple glad to be back in Colorado Springs. A little office-like, the restaurant's upscale-ish interior sports a selection of browns, black and tans similar to its next-door neighbor, Matéos Salon & Day Spa.…

Slice of Life

Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

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Ballpark: There's a better way

Ralph Routon — Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Exactly what does Colorado Springs need most? by Ralph Routon Last week, after some kind of top-level strategizing, the Colorado Springs Regional Business Alliance — with the encouragement of Mayor Steve Bach — unveiled an online poll to take the local pulse concerning a new downtown baseball stadium for the Sky Sox. Really.…

Bach says teens who smoke pot may lose their memory forever

Bryce Crawford — Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

The mayor and the mind eraser by Bryce Crawford Recently, Mayor Steve Bach's been walking around, dropping heavy-handed hints about what he plans to recommend Colorado Springs City Council do about recreational marijuana at its May 28 meeting. It started at his May 14 press conference, when he called recreational marijuana a "public-safety issue" and compared retail outlets to adult bookstores (see here), and continued at a town hall meeting the next day.…

Shelter Me, Struck By Lightning, Young and Wild

Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Cinefiles Shelter Me (NR) Virgil Films…

Spoiled rot: Epic

MaryAnn Johanson — Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Ironically, nothing feels organic, and certainly nothing feels magical here. by MaryAnn Johanson So apparently there's all these little people who live in the forest. Some look like humans even though they're called Leaf-Men, because they wear leaves for armor even though leaves couldn't possibly work as decent armor, could they?…

The ballad of Anais Mitchell

Loring Wirbel — Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

The MeadowGrass fest artist on the future of Hadestown and the virtues of the past by Loring Wirbel In less than 10 years, Anais Mitchell has launched a traditional folk-music career, diverted to an operatic retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth, and released a heartfelt album-long ode to her father. This weekend, she appears at MeadowGrass with former Colorado resident Jefferson Hamer, promoting Child Ballads, a new album devoted to the work of a 19th-century curator of traditional folk tunes.…

MateVeza's Morpho, The Local's burger and Olde World Bagel's lox

Bryce Crawford — Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Dine & Dash by Bryce Crawford and Matthew Schniper MateVeza 3801 18th St., San Francisco, CA, mateveza.com…

Watch out for those web cams

Roland Sweet — Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

All the weird news that's fit to print. by Roland Sweet Curses, foiled again Authorities charged Carolyn James, 55, with assaulting her 96-year-old mother in Dickson City, Pa., after a neighbor recorded James slapping the invalid woman on the back and neck, screaming obscenities and threatening to break her arm.…

Fighting gravity at the Colorado Springs Airport

John Hazlehurst — Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Make the first seven days of long-term parking free. by John Hazlehurst Slow news day? Not to worry — our irascible mayor will make something happen.…