Fifteen Years Ago this week in The Colorado Statesman … Denver was preparing to throw the party of the century to welcome in the new millennium on New Year’s Eve with a world-class fireworks show and celebrations taking place up and down the 16th Street Mall and at numerous cultural institutions throughout the city. (While much of the world ushered in the millennium a year earlier, when the year 2000 began, Denver, supported by calendar purists, insisted that the millennium didn’t start until 2001.) “This is truly a community-wide event to not only celebrate the new millennium, but to also celebrate Denver’s transformation over the past decade,” said Denver Mayor Wellington Webb. “It was not long ago when downtown Denver was a ghost town — today it is an energetic, thriving center of entertainment, restaurants, culture, sports, business and residents.”

The cost of the bash could approach half a million dollars, with about half of that contributed by individuals and businesses, including Sharon Magness, Bob Sturm, Piper Jaffray and the Denver Broncos. Festivities were set to begin at the Children’s Museum’s annual “Noon Year’s Eve” celebration — sponsors included Robinson Dairy and the California Raisin Marketing Board — with a morning performance by the California Raisins, in the, er, flesh, followed by a Hazel Miller concert outside the museum and the traditional noon ball drop, overseen by Mayor Webb and first lady Wilma Webb. A daytime fireworks show was planned behind Union Station, kicking off an array of events all day around town. Then, as night fell, the party would move to the 16th Street Mall, culminating in a massive midnight fireworks show by fireworks artist Pierre-Alain Hubert, set to light up the entire length of the pedestrian mall. …

… In an announcement that took state politicos completely by surprise, President-elect George W. Bush said he was planning to nominate former two-term Colorado Attorney General Gale Norton to head up the Department of the Interior. Norton, an attorney at the prestigious Brownstein Hyatt & Farber firm, who had made an unsuccessful run for the U.S. Senate a few years back, wasn’t on anyone’s short list for a Bush cabinet post, though U.S. Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell’s name had been bandied about for weeks as a possible Interior nominee. Electoral concerns swung the nod to Norton, observers surmised, since the Senate was evenly split between Republicans and Democrats, and whichever Republican Gov. Bill Owens appointed to fill the seat would have a lot of catching up to do in order to defend against a Democratic challenger. Although Campbell wasn’t presumed to have a lock on the post, speculation had been rampant that Owens could appoint either U.S. Reps. Scott McInnis or Joel Hefley to the Senate seat, although some wondered if Owens might have been facing a conundrum, since he was thought to be a future Senate contender himself, perhaps if Campbell declined to seek a third term. Nevertheless, once Norton was named, her qualifications were hailed. As attorney general, she secured a major victory pressuring the feds to clean up Rocky Flats and the Rocky Mountain Arsenal and was a negotiator in the $206 billion national tobacco lawsuit brought by 46 states, the largest lawsuit settlement in history. Previously, she was associate solicitor at the Department at the Interior, directing the legal staff of the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. She’d earlier worked for the Mountain States Legal Foundation under the direction of James Watt, who was later interior secretary under President Ronald Reagan. …

… “Thanks for the memories,” said Denver Broncos alumni, dignitaries, NFL officials and construction company officials who gathered to say a fond farewell to Mile High Stadium on the day before the Broncos’ last home game of the season at a topping-off ceremony for the nearby new stadium — as yet unnamed — that was set to open the following season. Former Broncos at the event included Mark Jackson, Claude Minor, Gene Mingo and Haven Moses, along with former coach Red Miller and team owner Pat Bowlen. They shared stories of football games with Denver Mayor Wellington Webb and NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, who was on hand to autograph footballs for young fans, but Gov. Bill Owens appeared to be nearly as popular as the legendary Broncos players and was mobbed by youngsters wanting his autograph on their footballs. …

… Incoming Colorado Senate President Stan Matsunaka had named the staff members who would help the newly elected Democratic majority address growth, education and transportation issues, his office said. Former Senate minority office staffer Danielle Radovich Piper was named chief of staff, political commentator Dani Newsum was appointed media director and former Lakewood City Clerk Karen Goldman would be the new secretary of the Senate.

— ernest@coloradostatesman.com