by Amber Wyatt | Aug 20, 2026 | Glendale City News
by Amber Wyatt
Large-scale intricately designed sculptures crafted by hand.
From the Houston Lanterns installation.
When Bright Nights illuminates Four Mile Historic Park, visitors enter a world of glowing color, towering forms, and intricate displays. Yet behind the spectacle is another story, one measured not only in lights, but in hundreds of hours of skilled human labor.
Produced by Tianyu Arts & Culture, the large-scale illuminated installations are the result of a painstaking process that combines a centuries-old Chinese lantern-making tradition with modern engineering and contemporary artistic design.
Long before the lights are switched on, artisans begin with hand-developed concepts that must ultimately work within a real landscape. Designs move from sketches into steel-frame construction, followed by electrical wiring, fabric application, detailed painting, and final assembly. According to Tianyu, a single display can require more than 200 hours of work and involve approximately 25 skilled artists.
The result is an art form that remains strikingly dependent on human hands at a time when automation and digital tools are transforming creative industries. Among the artists carrying that tradition forward is Jiang Guanghong, a Tianyu master artisan with more than two decades of experience in lantern design, fabrication, artistic direction, and international project leadership.
For Jiang, creating an illuminated installation involves far more than reproducing a drawing at a larger scale. Artists and fabricators must understand how a structure will appear from different angles, how fabric will behave when stretched across a steel framework, and how light will change the colors and details once the sun goes down. Those skills are only developed through years of hands-on practice.
The casino scene in James Bond’s Skyfall featuring Jiang Guanghong’s work.
The tradition at the center of Tianyu’s work is closely associated with Zigong, China, a city internationally known for elaborate lantern-making. While the materials and technology used in modern installations have evolved, the process still draws heavily on skills passed from one generation of artisans to the next.
Today, those techniques are being applied to installations created for audiences far beyond China. Tianyu’s projects have appeared across the United States, Europe, and Asia, requiring artisans to consider not only artistic traditions but also the architecture, terrain, and character of each location. That means a display created for a historic Denver landscape may require different artistic and structural choices than one installed in a European garden or a modern urban setting.
Jiang’s career illustrates how far the tradition has traveled. His international work has included major installations on several continents, and one of his award-winning lantern creations was selected for use by the art department of the James Bond film “Skyfall.”
Despite that international reach, the underlying process remains intensely physical. Steel must be shaped into complex forms. Electrical components must be carefully integrated. Fabric must be fitted to perfectly engineered frames, and painted details must hold their visual impact before and after illumination. It is a balance of art and engineering, with technology supporting rather than replacing the craft of the artisan.
That balance may be part of what gives Bright Nights its appeal. Visitors experience the finished displays as immersive environments, but each glowing figure represents countless individual decisions made by designers, welders, electricians, fabric artists, and painters. At Four Mile Historic Park, the spectacle offers Denver audiences an opportunity to encounter a tradition that has crossed generations and continents while continuing to evolve.
Bright Nights may ultimately be remembered for what visitors see after dark. But behind every illuminated structure is something less visible: a network of skilled craftsmen keeping a living cultural tradition alive, one piece of steel, stitch of fabric, stroke of paint, and flash of light at a time.
by Mark Smiley | Aug 20, 2026 | Main Articles
Longtime Denver Talk Radio Host And His Close Friend Alan Berg To Join 2026 Class Honoring Some Of State’s Best Known Broadcasting Voices
by Mark Smiley
Peter Boyles
For decades, Peter Boyles has been one of the most recognizable, provocative, and enduring voices on Denver radio. This fall, his long career behind the microphone will receive one of the Colorado broadcasting industry’s highest honors.
The Colorado Broadcasters Association has selected Boyles for induction into the 2026 Colorado Broadcasters Hall of Fame, recognizing a career that has made him a fixture of Denver talk radio and a familiar voice to generations of Colorado listeners. The induction ceremony will be held Friday, October 23, at The Dome at AMG in Greenwood Village.
Boyles initially refused the honor unless his good friend Alan Berg was also admitted. Berg was a Jewish Attorney and highly abrasive liberal host on KOA radio who liked to tease and confront callers. He was assassinated by his home in 1984, machine gunned down by the white supremacist group called the Order; his murder became a national cause célébre.
The Broadcasters and Boyles reached an accommodation where Boyles would induct Berg after his own admission.
Boyles is one of nine broadcasters selected for the 2026 class. Joining him are Alan Berg, Bob Gourley, Stu Haskell, Steve Kelley, Bob Martin, Reyn
elda Muse, Roger Ogden, and Ron Zappolo. The group represents a wide cross-section of Colorado broadcasting, including radio personalities, television anchors, sports broadcasters, and industry executives.
For Boyles, the honor recognizes a career built largely on a willingness to ask uncomfortable questions and take on controversial subjects.
Long before podcasts and social media gave virtually anyone an opportunity to broadcast an opinion, Boyles was doing it live on Denver radio. His programs became known for lengthy interviews, spirited exchanges with callers, and discussions of subjects ranging from local politics and crime to national controversies and Colorado history.
Listeners did not always agree with him, and agreement was rarely a prerequisite for listening.
That confrontational style helped make Boyles both popular and controversial. Admirers have viewed him as an independent voice willing to pursue stories and opinions other broadcasters might avoid. Critics have objected at times to his rhetoric, conclusions, and choice of subjects. Through both praise and criticism, however, Boyles remained part of Denver’s public conversation for decades.
His best-known tenure was at KHOW 630 AM, where he hosted a long running morning drive program until 2013. He later returned to Denver radio and currently hosts a four-hour Saturday morning program on 710 KNUS.
The Hall of Fame recognition is significant because the Colorado Broadcasters Association created the institution specifically to recognize broadcasters whose work has had a lasting effect on the industry, their communities, and Colorado audiences. The Hall honors not only prominent personalities heard or seen on the air, but also executives and behind the scenes figures who helped build broadcasting in the state.
Boyles’ induction also places him alongside several names closely associated with Denver broadcasting history in addition to Alan Berg.
Bob Martin was a longtime KOA sports director and the voice of the Denver Broncos for 499 broadcasts. Reynelda Muse broke barriers in Colorado television and later became one of CNN’s founding anchors. Ron Zappolo became one of Denver television’s best-known sports personalities and anchors.
The diversity of the class illustrates how dramatically broadcasting has changed over the decades. Radio once dominated the way people received immediate news and commentary, while local television anchors became some of the most recognizable personalities in Colorado. Today those traditional broadcasters compete with podcasts, streaming video, social media, and an almost unlimited number of digital information sources.
Yet personalities such as Boyles and Berg developed their audiences in an era when the relationship between a broadcaster and listener could last for years or even decades.
Boyles’ career is particularly associated with the intimacy of talk radio. Unlike a television newscast built around relatively short reports, his format allowed subjects to unfold over extended conversations. Guests could be questioned at length. Callers could challenge the host. A local issue that might receive a few minutes elsewhere could occupy an entire segment or program.
It was sometimes contentious, occasionally unpredictable, and unmistakably Boyles.
The Colorado Broadcasters Association describes its Hall of Fame as recognition for broadcasters who have left an enduring mark on Colorado. CBA President and CEO Justin Sasso said this year’s honorees helped connect communities and build the broadcasting industry that exists in the state today.
This Hall of Fame itself is relatively new and supercedes the Hall of Fame sponsored by the Colorado Broadcasters Association but run by the Broadcast Pioneers of Colorado from 1998 to 2019. This new Hall of Fame launched it in 2025, with its inaugural class including longtime Colorado broadcasters such as Murphy Huston, Denise Plante, Tom Green, and Mark Cornetta. The first induction ceremony was held last October in Greenwood Village. Members admitted to the new Hall of Fame include individuals like Reynelda Muse who are already in the Hall of Fame conducted by the Broadcast Pioneers of Colorado.
The October 23 ceremony honoring Boyles and the other members of the second class begins with doors opening at 6:30 p.m., followed by the induction ceremony at 7:15 p.m. A portion of the proceeds will support the CBA’s Broadcast Education and Development Scholarship Fund, which assists the next generation of broadcasting professionals.
For Boyles, whose career has been defined by conversations, arguments, interviews, and an unmistakable presence on the Denver airwaves, the Hall of Fame selection represents recognition from the industry in which he has spent much of his professional life.
Listeners may have loved what Peter Boyles had to say or vehemently disagreed with him. Sometimes they managed to do both during the same program.
But after decades on Denver radio, few could argue that they didn’t know who he was.
On October 23, Peter Boyles will officially take his place among the broadcasters recognized for helping shape the history of Colorado radio and television.
by Ashe in America | Aug 20, 2026 | Feature Story Bottom Left
ASHE IN AMERICA
— OPINION
Judge Philip Brimmer in the US Federal Court for the District of Colorado threw out a lawsuit filed by the US Department of Justice against Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, after she failed to share voter data to support the Trump Administration’s efforts to ensure only eligible voters are accessing US elections.
Secretary Griswold claims the requested information contains sensitive information — including driver’s license numbers and partial Social Security numbers — and that the administration has no legitimate right to demand the data. The DOJ argues Title III of the Civil Rights Act requires Colorado to turn the records over. Brimmer disagreed with the DOJ, dismissing the case with prejudice.
Griswold took a victory lap, saying in a statement quoted in CPR, “Trump and his DOJ are attacking elections and democracy. We will not let them win… Today’s victory affirms that Trump’s DOJ has no right to Coloradans’ sensitive voter information.”
This was a procedural victory for the secretary, not a constitutional one. Brimmer dismissed the case narrowly, reading that voter registration lists aren’t “records” covered by 52 U.S.C. § 20701, and even if they were, the DOJ’s December 1 demand didn’t state a valid basis and purpose as the statute requires.
The lack of a valid basis is confusing considering the document and witness testimony that was recently declassified by the Trump Administration. Newly declassified records reveal that, “voter registration rolls from at least 18 states (not all identified by name) have been compromised by the People’s Republic of China (PRC).” Colorado is on that list, revealed by the White House Government Transparency taskforce on July 13, 2026.
Ostensibly, Chinese hackers did target Colorado voters’ sensitive data; further declassification revealed that some voter data was obtained through unauthorized access across the country, though names of the states remain redacted. Those records also reveal that intelligence officials deliberately withheld that information from the Presidential Daily Briefing, admitting in the previously classified communications that, “We have deliberately massaged our one pending PDB to avoid any direct links to the election.” These communications are posted on The White House website under the “Election Integrity” tab.
The implication from the declassified documents is that federal intelligence officials were hiding a major national security threat from the Commander in Chief.
Considered in that context, is Brimmer preventing the DOJ from mitigating a national security threat of unauthorized Chinese data access? Not according to the record of the arguments presented before him.
The DOJ didn’t argue national security. They argued voter roll hygiene, an activity and authority directly under the purview of the states and, for Brimmer, that was insufficient. Since the case is dismissed with prejudice, the DOJ can’t bring the voter roll hygiene case again.
They should bring the national security one.
There is no indication that Secretary Griswold is mitigating a Chinese data breach. She doesn’t even seem concerned about it, despite credible, documented evidence of a foreign threat to Colorado elections. Almost like it’s not a surprise.
Instead, the secretary is concerned that federal authorities might check the work of her and her office. This is the same office that “accidentally” sent 29,997 invitations to register to vote to ineligible voters (non-citizens). It’s the same office that posted over 600 election equipment passwords on the internet for a period that spanned two separate election events.
This is the same office that was caught in a coverup of that password breach. Then Deputy Secretary of State Chris Beall was outed on a recorded line telling the Adams County Clerk and Recorder, “We were not going to tell counties because we could not tell counties without it becoming the media storm that it’s become.” Note that they can’t investigate a breach without the clerks — who control the machines, the cameras, access logs, etc. — so they likely didn’t investigate at all.
Given the revelations about Chinese access to US elections, which were declassified nearly two years after the Beall scandal, the conduct and focus of the secretary’s office raises new questions about a national security threat. If the courts won’t let the feds access information required to combat foreign threats in our elections; and the state outright refuses to combat foreign threats in our elections; is anyone actually combating foreign threats in our elections?
This isn’t on Brimmer. The DOJ didn’t bring a national security argument into his courtroom.
They should.
Ashe Epp is a local writer, host, and activist. Find all her work at linktree.com/asheinamerica.
by Peter Boyles | Aug 20, 2026 | Blasting with Boyles
OPINION
I don’t think it’s any great surprise to anyone with a room-temperature-or-above IQ that the principal state races are a joke and have already been predetermined.
The Democrat Party has done too good a job in Colorado, turning a purple state into a true one-party state, a little like the good ole Stalinist USSR. They’ve done this, starting in 2016, by combining mail-in ballots and ballot harvesting. As one sage political analyst noted, “Where one political party ballot harvests votes in an election and the other political party doesn’t, the ballot-harvesting party will win every time.”
Why doesn’t the Republican Party in Colorado engage in the perfectly legal practice of ballot harvesting? It’s in part due to a lack of funds and any appreciable ground game, but, as the sage political analyst opined, “There is a reason why the Republican Party is known throughout Colorado as the ‘Party of Stupid.’”
Yes, the Dems are going to take their brooms out on election night and sweep every important statewide race in Colorado. But that does not mean you should not bother to vote in November, as there are at least 15 statewide ballot initiatives, including two tax measures that will help determine the future economic status of the state. Moreover, the Democrats haven’t yet figured out how to rig the results of statewide ballot measures, at least as far as we presently know.
There are different kinds of propositions. You’ve got citizen-initiated ballot measures that require a certain number of petition signatures. We’ve all been approached by people at a shopping center asking us to sign our names. Eight measures have already qualified for the ballot under this procedure. The other route is when the legislature refers issues to the ballot.
There are competing income tax proposals headed for voters. Proposition 195 creates a graduated income tax soaking the rich — which will undoubtedly eventually comprise anyone not at the poverty level or below — while Proposition 232 caps the tax rate. If they both pass, then we are in the Wild West. If the graduated tax passes, it is effectively the end of TABOR, and that will bring you the economy of Chicago and Illinois.
It’s not as if the State and the City and County of Denver haven’t already done enough to drive companies out of Colorado. If Proposition 195 passes, a lot of economists view this as the beginning of the end times for the Colorado economy.
If the tax-rate cap passes, it will prevent endless efforts by the legislature to raise your taxes.
Another measure that caught my eye is Proposition 175 — roads. I just came back once again from the Hajj to Sturgis, South Dakota, and I could not help but notice how incredible the roads in South Dakota and Wyoming are. You know when you’re back in Colorado even without a sign because the roads are so bad. Proposition 175, in essence, says money raised by taxes on roads must be spent on roads, not whatever pet project the Democrats come up with that has nothing to do with roads.
Another interesting measure is Proposition 177, which gives a constitutional right to buy natural gas for cooking and heating, as well as providing producers with the right to sell it. I am sure that, like you, I have always subconsciously read the U.S. Constitution as guaranteeing all citizens the right to “life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and buying natural gas for cooking or heating in homes or businesses.”
Gee, I wonder if oil and gas producers and public utilities are behind this one.
Finally, there are two propositions concerning trans issues — Propositions 109 and 110.
Proposition 109 would prohibit biological boys from competing in girls’ sporting events in schools, while Proposition 110 would prohibit health care professionals from performing certain surgeries on minors “for the purpose of altering biological sex characteristics.”
Opponents of these measures properly point out: How dare these right-wing do-gooders interfere with those people who enjoy watching biological males beat up on biological females in sporting events and the huge sums some doctors in Colorado are raking in while they gender-mutilate minor children.
There will be at least 10 other measures for your reading pleasure whenever you undertake the no-small task of filling out your ballot.
If you’re a Democrat, be sure to fulfill your traditional duty of voting early and voting often.
Colorado Republicans, you are so pathetic, what difference does it make?
— Peter Boyles
