by Mark Smiley | Aug 1, 2014 | Editorials
James Carville, Bill Clinton’s campaign manager for his successful 1992 presidential run, is famous for his quote of “It’s the economy, stupid” when trying to explain to his campaign workers that there was a simple solution to winning the seemingly very complicated presidential race. Similarly there seems to be the feeling these days that solving the endless scandals over prisoner abuse at the Denver city jail is extremely complicated.
Denver Safety Director Stephanie O’Malley has declared, “The question that continues to present itself is, ‘Is there something we’re missing?’” To answer that question, the city is about to embark on one more highly costly independent review. Actually we can save the city of Denver quite a bit of money as the answer to her inquiry is, “Yes. It’s the city’s lawyers, stupid!”
The Denver Sheriff’s Office of course has an honest method by which prisoners can file complaints against their jailers most of which, but certainly not all, will be bogus and the complaints must be fairly investigated, which has not previously occurred.
But most important of all is that something should actually happen when a police officer or sheriff’s deputy is found to have engaged in criminally wrongful behavior. Shockingly only a single criminal excess force charge has ever been filed against a Denver police officer (Charles Porter) or sheriff’s deputy in this century by the Denver District Attorney or the City Attorney. It points out the real culprit in the jail house scandals is in fact — the city’s lawyers.
By all accounts Denver Sheriff’s Deputy Gaynel Rumer helped run drug and pornography rings at the jail and had prisoner
s torture and administer beatings to inmates who displeased him.
But what did the City Attorney’s Office do about it? The lawyer(s) ran a phony investigation with the help of the Internal Affairs Bureau of the Denver Police Department to intimidate and tamper with witnesses to Rumer’s crimes.
What did the Denver District Attorney’s Office do about it? It refused to bring any criminal charges against Rumer with its entire justification for this outrageous decision being a hastily hand-written sentence on a standard form. Gaynel Hunter remains a sheriff’s deputy to this day free from any concern that the city’s lawyers will do anything about it.
Every city is confronted with charges, claims of excessive force in their law enforcement offices, but few have the massive level of indifference and malfeasance in their city attorney and district attorney offices that Denver has.
Federal District Court Judge John Kane is calling for the United States Attorney for the District of Colorado to investigate Denver’s law enforcement agencies. But what is the point of investigating the law enforcement agencies concerning how they addr
ess excessive force complaints in a city where the City Attorney and the District Attorney refuse to ever bring charges even in the most egregious cases. Moreover our City Attorney’s Office actively corrupts the investigations themselves.
Until the egregious cultures at the City Attorney’s and District Attorney’s Offices change, the corrupt culture at the Denver city jail will in fact never change. That is the simple fact that Ms. O’Malley and the mayor of Denver are apparently “missing.” Playing musical chairs with the position of Denver Sheriff will not accomplish anything. But perhaps all of Mayor Hancock’s commotions concerning the scandals at the city jail are simply as Shakespeare noted, “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
— Editorial Board
by Valley Gadfly | Aug 1, 2014 | Valley Gadfly
Gee whiz it’s August already. Isn’t that just peachy-keen? That’s the Valley’s summer idiom for super duper and hunky dory! For residents it is the hey-day time of year full of joy, harmony and the taste of peaches. In addition to being the season when laziness finally finds respectability it also just happens to be National Peach Month.
It is also Happiness Happens Month so don’t tell the kids that August is Back to School Month. They’ll be cool just knowing August is the last of the summer months.
Here are our peachy-keen choices for shopping, dining and entertainment to keep you enjoying the birds and the trees and summer’s sweet scented summer breezes:
3 Like a juicy peach, you’ll enjoy the uplifting story with music that soars as Central City Opera brings The Sound of Music to the Ellie Caulkins Opera House Aug. 2-10, shows at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Information: 303-296-6700.
3 Celebration Community Garden’s 2nd Farm to Table Dinner will be as luscious and tasty as peaches Aug.9, 6:30 p.m. Information: 303-745-1148.
3 Your dog will be swell, dandy and spiffy during PetAid’s Woof Fest in Civic Center Park, Aug. 17, 12-6 p.m. Information: 303-318-0447.
3 Looking to spot a cool design idea? Attend the Architecture & Art Gala in the Design District Aug. 21, 4:30 to 8 p.m. Information: 303-777-6007.
3 You’ll be keen on the selection and prices for brand name designer frames and lenses at Optical Masters on South Monaco Pkwy. Their 25th birthday blowout sale is the real deal, banana peel. Information: 303-377-0751.
3 Grub is delicious, beer refreshing and the music uplifting on the Inn at Cherry Creek’s rooftop finale Aug. 22, 5 p.m. Information: 303-377-8577.
3 Honoring hometown heroes is a peachy keen thing so join Barnes & Noble as they honor Glendale’s heroes Aug. 23, 10 a.m. Information: 303-691-2998.
3 For a peachy twist, take the Urban Homestead Tour to see goats, chickens and bees raised in an array of spaces, 10 a.m. Information: 720-865-3580.
3 Everyone is coming from near and far on the sweet summer weekend of Aug. 15-17 to attend Glendale’s Rugbytown Sevens Tournament. It starts with Free Fan Friday. Stay in the game Saturday for Bruises & Brews to taste 15 craft beers. Then Sunday debuts the Taste of Glendale with 10 eateries serving, 12-4 p.m. Information: www.rugbytown usa.com/srs.
August rushes by like desert rainfall, a flood of frenzied commotion and mayhem. Even though expected, it still catches us unprepared. Like a match flame, it bursts on the scene with heat and stunning crimson sunsets. There is no such thing as bad weather in August, merely different kinds of weather. Open the window and let the air fill the room.
Clouds gather in small huddles to discuss the weather. It is the month when we take pleasure in a cool rain. The related wind braces us up for likely thunderstorms ahead.
The word “peachy” means fine or excellent and doubling it, makes it into a superlative by adding the word “keen” as a suffix. Kids have been using rhyming idioms since the 1930s: Remember: What’s the deal, Banana Peel? Or, What’s cookin’, good lookin’? To which we must ask, is it a peach pie? After all, I’m the boss, applesauce!
— Glen Richardson
The Valley Gadfly can be reached at newspaper@glendalecherrycreek.com.
by Peter Boyles | Aug 1, 2014 | Blasting with Boyles
Blasting With Boyles
Hard to believe my daughter Shannon turned 40 years of age on July 7 of this year. The first morning my voice ever appeared on Denver radio was on the day she was born. I was the traffic reporter’s assistant at the AAA Auto Club on Colorado Boulevard and on July 7, 1974, the traffic reporter failed to show up for work. I had been at the hospital that night when Shannon was born, went in to work, he didn’t show up and so I went on the air. Something about westbound I-70 or a gaper’s block or one of those hackneyed traffic reporter overused clichés. You remember when I-70 and I-25 were the mousetrap? When traffic reporters used to report that cops were “taking their pictures” as they went speeding out 6th Avenue? Yeah, that was me.
Dan Hopkins, who retired as Governor Bill Owen’s Press Secretary some years ago (it seems like everyone I broke in the business with is either retired, dead or lost their jobs due to some form of substance abuse) hired me to b
e the assistant to the traffic reporter and steal traffic reports from radio stations that had airplanes overhead giving traffic reports. That was pre-helicopter days. I’d like to take this moment to thank Don Martin, Dick Dylan and the guy that flew for KOA for allowing me to steal their hard work and reproduce it as a traffic report for the AAA Auto Club. After a series of Mr. Big Voice traffic reports, Hopkins gave me my break and let me be the on-air traffic reporter. In fact I was Alan Berg’s traffic reporter and the traffic reporter for the man who became my first mentor in the business, the late great Bob Lee.
During that time I was in grad school at DU. My daughter was a baby, my father had passed away and, as Ray Charles says, I was busted. Not Hillary Clinton dead broke. Real dead broke. And then a miracle happened. The late Jack Merker, who had once been Billboard Magazine’s program director of the year, asked me if I wanted to be a weekend disc jockey on KAAT radio. A 50-thousand watt daytime only radio station that broadcast on the floor below the Playboy Club at the Radisson Hotel — Pete Boyles meets the occasion of sin.
Jack said to me, “You’re pretty smart and you’re funny and I’m looking for a weekend guy.” I needed money and probably would have done anything short of selling heroin to keep the ball in the air. I wandered into the very first radio station in my life. I spent the first Friday watching Jack cue records, load cart machines, read the log, pull the commercials and all the things that on air guys did before the digital age. The next day, a Saturday, I returned to KAAT, watched Jack again and then about 4:30 in the afternoon he said, “Switch seats. You take it.” I got behind the console, Jack walked out of the studio and I threw up in the wastebasket where the AP wire machine used to dump its paper. I did probably the worst half hour in Denver radio history. Now it gets good. True to form, Jack said, “Hey not as bad as you think, let’s go get a drink.”
And they gave me weekend work. But what I had to do was go in at night (remember this is a daytime only radio station, at night it was, as they say, in the black) and practice doing radio. I specifically remember the night, and I’ve only told this story to very few people, I was sitting behind what to me looked like the console of the Starship Enterprise practicing radio. And I heard a little voice say, “ Hey, where you been? We’ve been waiting for you.”
That was either the best or worst moment in my life. Later in that week, another great influence, the late Gus Mircos who was also working there, took me to a little greasy spoon restaurant on Colfax and told me, “You seem like a really nice young man. If you’re as smart as you seem, you will stay the hell away from this business.” Not me boy. I already figured out you could drink for free in the bar of the Radisson Hotel and I wasn’t going to give that up. That same wonderful influence, Gus Mircos, also took me to that same restaurant several months later and said, “Hey kid, you ever notice when you turn on your radio on Christmas there’s somebody there?” I said, “I never thought of it but yes.” To which the Greek said, “This year kid, it’s you.” After that I think I worked every Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Labor Day, New Year’s Eve because that is what you did.
During that time period I met my next mentor, the late Bob Lee and went on to become the Lee and Boyles show on KLAK radio. People still talk about that show. I don’t remember it. That shows you what a good time we really had.
I’ve been fired twice, had three radio stations fold around two marriages, my best friend murdered and crawled into recovery from drugs and alcohol 30 years ago. And with the exception of losing Alan, I wouldn’t have traded any of it for anything in the world. When people today, and there’s plenty of them, complain about being in the media business I want to smack them in the face as hard as I can. I saw my father go to work. Since I got a job in this business 40 years ago I’ve never really worked a day in my life. I remember the first day I went to work in a steel mill at 17- years-old and came home laying on the couch in the old man’s living room. And he walked in the door and looked at me and said, “Well, now you know why they call it work.” I’ve never felt that way about radio, TV or the newspaper business.
Gawd I’ve had a great time. I’ve met the most amazing people. I’ve gone places, done things (some of them I regret), but if it were all to end today I’ve gone further than anyone I grew up with thought I ever would or ever could. But I guess in a strange way I owe it all to Marconi.
Most of the people who influenced me, as I said earlier are gone, or out of the business. But I hope there’s someplace right now where Hal and Charlie are doing mornings, Bob Lee’s doing middays, Gus Mircos is hosting a news show, Jack Merker is playing the top 40 hits, Alan Berg is telling some old lady on Capitol Hill to paint her dog’s toenails and quit bothering him. And some young kid is stealing traffic reports and putting them on the air. And somebody says, “Hey kid there’s some woman on line 3 and she says her husband knows about you.”
Remember, always give the call letters, always give the time, always give the temperature and back sell the record. And, the 40 years have flown by.
— Peter
by Mark Smiley | Aug 1, 2014 | Feature Story Bottom Left
Confessions Of A Serial Dater
Sheik Of Cherry Creek Greg Hollenback
Why is the act of physical intimacy so meaningless these days? Let me rephrase that question…Have you noticed that people find it much easier to casually “hook up” with someone physically rather than sharing something personal about themselves? Is it just me, or is that the buggy before the horse approach? Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had my fair share of casual indiscretions and I am not holding myself above anyone else or passing judgment, but I can’t help but notice that hooking up is no longer taboo or shame ridden after the fact. It’s as normal as shaking hands with someone.
I’m sure most of you remember the days when a drunken night out bar hopping led to a romp in the bedroom with a complete stranger, followed by the walk of shame early the next morning. Nowadays forget about the shame, single (and attached) people are proud of the fact that they were able to achieve physical gratification without sharing anything personal with their partner of the day.
Why is this happening? I have a f
ew opinions on this topic as I’m sure you do too. First, I blame a lot of this casual mentality on technology. Technology has allowed people the opportunity to meet others that they wouldn’t have had the capability of meeting years ago. Gone are the days when you were forced to date people who you actually knew. You know, a friend of a friend, someone you work with, a person your Aunt Betty introduced you to. Those were the days when dating prospects were few and there was an expectation of decorum and chivalry. Why? Because the people you had the opportunity to become romantic with were somehow woven into your life, and not just a stranger who lives across town and is just a dating profile picture with a brief description of who they want you to believe they are.
Think about it, and it only makes sense. Because of technology a single daters pool of prospects went from looking like a pond years ago and now that pond looks more like the Pacific Ocean. Now having your options increased seems like an amazing thing on the surface but the reality is I believe it’s turning us into a bunch of emotionally guarded people who have settled for casual relations. I don’t believe technology daters intend for this to be the outcome, but when they set out to date it inevitably ends up that way.
Here’s why I say that. Dating with a purpose is difficult and if you are truly doing things the proper way in order to form a lasting bond with someone beyond physical attraction, it can be emotionally taxing. Especially if things don’t work out and you have to repeat the process over and over again until the noodle sticks on the ceiling. The emotions and vulnerability of opening up your heart and soul to someone is a scary notion, even more so than exposing your body for gratification and false intimacy.
Who can blame anyone for shutting down when they are looking for love in numerous strangers’ eyes? Thinking about it makes me exhausted. Here are a few things to keep in mind when you’re using technology to date so you can avoid being just as cold and impersonal as the computer you’re using.
- Keep the number of people you’re dating to a minimum. More is not better in this instance… The larger your dating rotation is the harder it becomes on your personal constitution. Figure out if you’re on the same page as the person you’re dating and remember your long-term emotional needs, not what’s going to satisfy you for the day.
- Keep your casual encounters to a minimum. I say this because the more and more you do something the more your brain and body will get used to it making this pattern of casual false intimacy not only normal to you, but a big part of who you are. This is not a life you want to live.
- Have expectations of not only yourself but the people you date. You should give and expect emotional fulfillment and gratification from your time spent together. If you find yourself not wanting to bring that to the table or the other person shows up empty handed, try to get back on the same page or move on. Usually forcing someone to open up in order to create a lasting bond just leads to pushing them further away, which is fine. At least there is movement and direction even if it’s not the direction you hoped for.
- Be aware of what you’re doing and pacing yourself when it comes to learning about another person. There is a fine line between wanting to know a person and being nosey, especially when you’re first dating. So keep a good conscious pace, not too slow, not too fast. Easy does it.
- Never forget in your mind how good it feels to actually make love to someone you care about. That’s the goal, love. Take pride in knowing when you give your body to someone you actually care about you can take pride and render mountains more satisfaction than you ever will by using someone as a tool for pleasuring oneself.
I bring this topic up because I see a trend happening in the dating world that is now just starting to rear its head — ugly head. Are you seeing an increase in casual relations and a decline in intimate, true connections? If you have a take on this subject I would love to continue this discussion with you on my blog at www.themoderndater .com. Don’t forget to tune into The Modern Dater radio show on 630 KHOW every Saturday evening starting at 7 p.m.
Until next time, keep it in your pants and wait for romance.
Your pal — Sheik
