You’re probably already overwhelmed by coverage from the Democratic National Convention, so we’ll try to have a little more fun that the other 14,000 media members as we cover the biggest political party to hit Denver in 100 years. (more…)

5:05 pm August,24 2008

Denver residents are getting a taste of big-city living, complete with gridlock traffic, busy pedestrian crossings and hordes of police officers looking over it all. (more…)

4:40 pm August,26 2008

Day one I got run over by Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House. I got pushed into the set that Sen. John Kerry was being interviewed on. My eyes spied Wolf Blitzer and Anderson Cooper. (more…)

6:34 am August,27 2008

Earl F. Hilliard Jr. would is looking for a needle in a haystack. He’d absolutely love to find a John Edwards delegate. There are about 25 of them here today, the day Democrats make official what has been known for quite some time, Barack Obama is their nominee for president. (more…)

2:55 pm August,27 2008

You wouldn’t think that jewelry could sway an election. But sometimes a ring (or four of them) has a little extra bling. (more…)

4:49 pm August,27 2008

Downtown Denver is abuzz with politics. The 16th Street Mall is a whole lot busier that usual.

That’s to be expected, since the majority of the 50,000 expected Democratic Convention visitors have now arrived. I didn’t spend too much time downtown today, the kickoff party last night sapped my energy and I’m looking forward to a little rest before the circus really begins tomorrow.

Not to mention, traffic was a real pain in the but, and all of my secret, never fail parking spaces downtown were taken. Arggh!

I still got the chance to get a taste of what’s to come. A group of 20-somethings, almost a dozen, walking down the mall near Court Street, chanted “NoBama,” with signs and T-shirts that matched the sentiment. A woman, enjoying a beer on the patio of the Capitol Bar, was pulled into it all, shouting back, “No McCain.”

Her response wasn’t nearly as clever, but I suspect that’s just a sign of more clashed between McCain and Obama supporters throughout the week.

—Jacob Harkins, Yellow Scene Magazine editor

More DNC coverage here.

5:15 pm August,24 2008

Derrick Muna Quinata and Chelsa Muna Brecht are a minority around here.

The cousins are two of just eight delegates from Guam, that island way out in the South Pacific that makes flying to Hawaii from the mainland feel like a quick drive up to Fort Collins. (more…)

5:24 pm August,25 2008

Michelle Obama was the keynote speaker on opening night of the Democratic National Convention. She gave a riveting speech about her roots, meeting Barack and how they can relate to the common American. (more…)

11:27 pm August,25 2008

Trying to find the boss (Jacob). He’s in some undisclosed location on level A. After walking in the front door of the Pepsi Center I made a left, drafting behind some behemoth FOX News goons dragging large duffel bags on wheels (Bill O’Reilly’s wardrobe?). (more…)

6:05 pm August,25 2008

Tears and cheers in the hall, eating and drinking like the rich and famous, entertaining eavesdroppers after hours, and blowing out the cobwebs with Kennedy, Franken and Dukakis. (more…)

1:41 pm August,26 2008

Hillary Clinton and her Sisterhood of the Traveling Suit Pants took the Pepsi Center by storm tonight.

Her job with the keynote speech of the second evening of the Democratic National Convention was to preach unity. (more…)

11:55 pm August,26 2008

It will be tough for the Democratic National Convention host committee to top its opening party Saturday. Perhaps getting Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Brad Pitt and a margarita bar in a swank hotel suite would do it. Short of that, it would seem the biggest party of the convention has already been thrown. (more…)

11:00 am August,24 2008

After already seeing 85 positions, mostly teachers, slashed last spring for budget reasons, St. Vrain School District officials knew they would enter the 2008-09 year thin, then eight additional admin positions were chopped last month. That means a stretched district will be made to do more with less. (more…)

Back to School Issue

Apparently some people care about who is picking up their garbage. Superior officials picked Waste Connections to start collecting trash throughout the city, ending the need for residents (outside of Rock Creek, which already uses Waste Connections) to pay private contractors. The theory is that streamlining the process will lead to more recycling and a lower cost to residents. (more…)

Back to School Issue

It appears Adams County School District President Vicky Marshall and Treasurer Kevin Massey should be worried about their jobs. Restore Our Schools, a political issue committee formed to oust the aforementioned school officials, turned in enough signatures to the county clerk to force a recall vote. (more…)

Back to School Issue

It turns out money can buy you a seat in congress. Well when that includes an honest, fresh approach to politics. (more…)

9:37 am August,13 2008

The Independence Institute is a great source when you need someone to argue against a tax increase. If it’s a tax, the Golden-based think tank loathes it.

Back to School Issue

The Democrats certainly saw this coming, which is why they figured holding their big hoo-hah of a party in Denver was a strategic move: Colorado is locked in a dead heat between liberals and conservatives. A successful party could set the tone for the fall election season, which is very important given recent polling. (more…)

Back to School Issue

Check out Molly, a playful Pit Bull. Available for adoption through the Longmont Humane Society.

11:54 am July,2 2008

It was just a matter of time before the Second Congressional District race got downright ugly. That time seems to have come in the last week as mail-in ballots for the Democratic primary started arriving at homes throughout the district that spans Adams and Boulder counties and several mountain communities along the I-70 corridor. (more…)

10:50 am July,30 2008

The last weekend of June seemed like the perfect time to break in the legs on the first 14er of the summer. Saturday was one of those warm, cloudless, windless, sunny days that allow you to sit on top of the mountain for an hour or more. (more…)

7:48 am June,30 2008

Jared Polis has cemented himself as the biggest spender in this election cycle, his near $3.7 million of personal contributions to his campaign to win the Second Congressional District seat topping all other self-financed candidates (in both congressional and senate races) through second quarter reporting. (more…)

9:49 am July,31 2008

I don’t know about you, but this sounds like a challenge. Seriously, how can we not be able to visit these places. Who’s coming to Mexico with me and boarding the first flight to Cuba? (more…)

12:22 pm June,30 2008

You have to wonder if some people are just oblivious to the advantages they have. A group of well-minded Boulder Valley School District parents want to split the district. You know, the same district that is a leader in per-pupil funding and has families sending kids into its district lines just to get a piece of some of the best education in the state. Apparently that’s not enough for some who feel an East and West split is in order to help curb the size of the district that educates 28,000 kids in 55 schools. Sure, it’s a big district, but when you have oodles of money, including a 2006 voter-approved bond worth nearly $300 million, you have to wonder why people want to mess with a good thing.

[What’s Next] School officials don’t seem motivated to explore the issue, but if proponents gather 22,000 signatures, they will force the issue to a future ballot.

Home Edition Issue

Because we know few are going to have the time to read the July issue of Yellow Scene over the Fourth of July holiday (well that, and the fact that the post office will be closed, too), the July issue will come out on the 7th, a few days later than usual.
Be patient, loyal readers. (more…)

9:54 am June,26 2008

The Democratic National Convention will be a historic event when it opens in Denver next month. The first black man to run for president representing a major party will be officially anointed as the Dems nominee. The city will be ablaze with politicos, protestors and everything in between. But who is going to pay for it? The Dems fell short of yet another major fundraising goal, leaving them short of the $40.6 million they were supposed to raise by mid-June. This is not uncommon, and Dems are hopeful now that Barack vs. Hillary is over, big-time donors can turn their attention toward their parties big Denver summer party.

[What’s Next] Perhaps Barack can dig deep into his vast war chest of donations and throw some change Denver’s way.

Home Edition Issue

Local Republicans have likely seen this day coming for a long time—the day that Colorado turns blue from the lowest level of government all the way to the Oval Office. Recent polling by the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and Quinnipiac University found that if the election was held today, Barack Obama would win Colorado with 49 percent of the vote to McCain’s 44 percent. (more…)

9:02 am June,26 2008

So the Lexus lanes got thrown out as a solution to unclog Highway 36. The next logical step is to do a 180, and pay drivers to use the road. You heard right. If you commute on 36 (by yourself) and are willing to start carpooling, busing or walking to work, you could be eligible for a program that will pay $3 per day to smart commuters. It’s a 90-day program—dubbed 36 Commuter Cash—that will enroll up to 665 commuters over the course of two years. It’s modeled after an Atlanta pilot program that saw 64 percent of the participants shunning solo driving up to a year after the program ended.

[What’s Next] Finally an incentive to carpool or take the bus—other than the environment, our dependency on foreign oil and $4 a gallon gas.

Home Edition Issue

The kids I ride for are born into a life of fatigue and pain and these things aren’t in the same universe. Bless my fatigue so that others might live well. The only thing bad thing about adversity is how you choose to respond. RAAM is about conflict, survival and finding moments of peace surrounding a mass of riders, crew, weather, technology, hope and failure. How we roll with the punches is by answering another call. Fight to get knocked down to fight again.

12:04 pm June,21 2008

Yes, we’ve struggled to resist taking jabs at a sweaty Catholic priest caught jogging nude in the wee hours of the morning around a high school track in Frederick in past issues, but we still feel he is getting a bad wrap for the moment of indiscretion. It has gotten even worse for Rev. Robert Whipkey. He was convicted of indecent exposure last month stemming from the June 2007 incident in which he defended himself saying he sweated too much to wear clothes during his jogs. We know the Catholic Church deserves a lot of the grief it has received in the last few years, but this incident seems too harmless to hang a priest out to dry.

[What’s Next] He faces jail time and the possibility of having to register as a sex offender at sentencing Aug. 11 in a Weld County District Court.

Home Edition Issue

While he was resting, I checked the Team Strong Heart blog. Neil had called for people to send their thoughts to help Tim.

I was amazed that there were 11 comments. I read every single comment to Tim that was on that one page.

That is what gave him the motivation to keep going. I told him, you owe it to them.

10:16 am June,20 2008

For the second time since spring, someone broke into the Humane Society of Boulder Valley and stole a few puppies. The most recent break-in saw eight pit bull puppies nagged—six of them have been found and returned. In April, a pit bull mix was stolen from the shelter. There is speculation that the thief (or thieves) may have an anti-pit bull agenda. Now we all know these dogs can be dangerous in certain environments, but stealing from a nonprofit to get a point across? C’mon. Some of these puppies were found locked in a crate floating in the Boulder Creek. That is animal cruelty, and no political agenda makes it right.

[What’s Next] The shelter is beefing up security. The puppies are still cute, scared and very adoptable (while they last), and hopefully someone is about to go down hard for the crime.

Home Edition Issue

The two of them come running out of the woods with just their underwear on, just screaming. Tim was hysterical laughing; it really pushed him.

5:14 pm June,19 2008

Our goal is to get him to the finish early tomorrow morning, if we can push him there. It’s going to be tight. We expect to finish between 6 and 7 tomorrow (4 and 5 Mountain time).

We’ll see, keep your fingers crossed.

10:51 am June,19 2008

Last night, Tim rode strong into the early morning when he went down for a short sleep in the truck. In the mean time, Gordon and I drove ahead with hope of getting some sleep. On the way, we got a phone call that Tim was expressing boredom.

9:15 pm June,17 2008

Then we have this other exciting thing he doesn’t know about. Gordon and I are heading to the next checkpoint while the other support vehicle is with Tim. Tim’s parents are driving down and are going to be there.

1:33 pm June,16 2008

Tim approached the Sedgwick Fire Station 33, and as soon as he pulled in when they were going to do this great display of lights and sounds, they OF COURSE got a call. Yes our luck. But we still hung out there, and these guys were the nicest most generous people that just really made our day!

8:49 pm June,15 2008

A lot has happened since our last full update. Unfortunately, we lost two of our crewmembers. We had to make decision. Basically there was just a conflict of interest in the goals and the needs of Tim. This was for his benefit; we just allowed those crewmembers to move on.

8:54 am June,14 2008

Michelle checked in briefly with us today; we hope to catch her in a few hours. There had been some sort of communications snafu, which left her half of the support team left to follow Tim for more than a day solid without sleep. She sounded a bit delirous when I spoke with her a few miles outside of Elkhart, check point No. 22.

3:23 pm June,13 2008

Cheeseburger? We’re scared a hamburger isn’t going to agree with him. We’re at a McDonalds drive thru, trying to figure out what Tim wants. Get him a Big Mac. We also have French bread and brie; we are never sure what he’s going to want.

10:24 am June,12 2008

The crew pulled into time station 13 at sunrise where we got creative with a gel seat cover—and some tape. Tim rode off telling us that he was teary eyed because he wasn’t in pain for the first time.

1:41 pm June,11 2008

We’re passing riders. It’s happening now.

Just a few hours ago, we didn’t know if he was going to make it. He needed sleep. It was like seeing Tim after a night working the fire station. When he gets a lot of calls and is sleep deprived, he gets delirious.

9:51 am June,10 2008

Then it got crazy. There was no amount of preparation that the crew could have ever done to be prepared for this. It was take off and just go. We couldn’t have direct contact with Tim until 7:30 that night. It was crazy. We were just thrown into it. Tim basically rode completely through the night into the sunrise this morning. Now I am sitting in front of some place in the middle of nowhere Arizona, and waiting for him so we can give him some icy treats.

11:16 am June,9 2008

Most everybody loves to meet a celebrity. That generality applies whether you are a big fan of said famous person or not. Sometimes these chance meetings can even turn you onto the celebrity. (more…)

4:15 pm June,7 2008

In the back of my cupboard, there’s a plastic beer cup collecting dust. It has a drawing of a cow screened on it—it is perhaps my favorite cup. (more…)

7:06 am June,3 2008

Multi-millionaire Jared Polis has dropped about $3.7 million of his own money into his campaign to become the Democrat nominee for Colorado’s second Congressional District, one of the most expensive primaries in history. (more…)

Summer Scene Issue

We won’t know until the middle of the month whether our magazine has been credentialed for the Democratic National Convention in August. We are crossing our fingers. (more…)

Summer Scene Issue

Ummm, what part of “We basically live in a desert environment” are people not understanding? It doesn’t rain much in Colorado, regardless if we’re talking about dry or moist years. And snow packs melt real fast, too. (more…)

Summer Scene Issue

It’s an understatement to say the Twin Peaks Mall on the southwestern edge of Longmont is in need of a little love. Vacant storefronts and empty parking lots are not a good thing and do little to help the city’s lagging retail base. (more…)

Summer Scene Issue

Correction: While we still believe Erie is in need of a frequent event such as a Farmers’ Market in Old Town, officials were never contacted by any organization offering to bring one here as we reported below. We reported this story based on one source and never verified it with anyone from the Town of Erie.

It’s sad when a town that needs more people to visit its Old Town misses out on a prime opportunity to lure more folks to the business district. Recently, a local group asked the owner of Old Town Coffee if they could use the café’s front for a regular farmers’ market. (more…)

Summer Scene Issue

Over the weekend, I received a group email looking for volunteers to come and help a day in Windsor, where a mile-wide tornado struck killing one, and damaging or destroying more than 200 homes. (more…)

2:32 pm May,29 2008

It’s going to be very difficult for either John McCain or (presumably) Barack Obama to run a campaign to the White House this fall and dodge all the smear tactics that will be launched in both their directions without launching into low-ball returns. (more…)

10:19 am May,19 2008

I’m a liberal. I went to the University of Colorado. I admit it would have been nice to see a few more right leaning professors on campus. So it was met with optimism when the Boulder college announced plans to lure top thinking conservative minds to teach on the campus always considered to be a tree-hugging haven through a $9 million endowment. (more…)

11:25 am May,14 2008

When the 2nd Congressional District seat opened with Mark Udall, the beloved Boulder Democrat, running for senate, it set the stage for one of the most expensive primaries on record. (more…)

Travel Guide Issue

This is just getting nasty. Longmont and Firestone are once again in a land battle, and it appears now that LifeBridge Christian Church is at the center of it all. (more…)

Travel Guide Issue

Sure this may be a publicity stunt, but if it puts people in the seats, the Broomfield Dawgs, a minor league football team, will make no apologies. The team recently signed punter Rafael Mendoza, solidifying the position for the Colorado Football Conference team with a potential NFL prospect. (more…)

9:07 am May,6 2008

After outrage, debate and a recommendation by the planning commission to drop the issue, Boulder City Council members are still wondering what to do about huge homes in small spaces. (more…)

Travel Guide Issue

Usually FasTracks, RTD’s mega rapid transit train project, is synonymous with bad news—budgets, environmental problems, angry neighbors. But we’re starting to hear some progress. (more…)

Travel Guide Issue

Well, I am sitting here in all my glorious vanity with a charred face. I knew I was going to need to stay home for a day, but I guess I did not really have a clear idea exactly how bad I would look. (more…)

3:06 pm May,9 2008

If you can’t arrest a gay couple for trying to get married, at least you can fine them 41 bucks and dish out 28 hours of community service. That’s the punishment doled out to Kate Burns and Sheila Schroeder, a couple convicted Wednesday of trespassing for staging a sit in at the Denver county clerk’s office in protest of the Colorado law banning same-sex marriages. (more…)

9:50 am May,8 2008

We don’t care much for losing, which is why disappointment was the first emotion to hit when we found out we didn’t take home a Maggie this year. Maggies, given out by the Western Publications Association, honor the best in the magazine business west of the Mississippi. (more…)

11:13 am May,6 2008

If you’ve picked up a copy of the May issue, you may have noticed a little disclaimer below Jim Spencer’s column. This was, in fact, his final piece for us. (more…)

7:01 am May,6 2008

We have a few stalkers at Yellow Scene Magazine. Okay, they are really not stalkers at all. In fact they are some of our biggest fans and come the first week of the month, they start calling in asking a simple question: When is the next issue coming out? (more…)

9:18 am April,29 2008

If you’ve ever tried to get from Erie to Boulder without driving your car, you were either biking, running or transferring four times on an RTD bus. That is to say public transportation between the easternmost outpost and center of Boulder County has been severely lacking. (more…)

9:27 am April,24 2008