Author: LYNN BARTELS Special to Colorado Politics
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Rep. Mike McLachlan recalled as tough, funny lawmaker at Durango memorial (PHOTOS)
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DURANGO – Mike McLachlan would have loved the memorial service he planned for himself, down to the date, the food and the location. He probably wouldn’t have minded that most of the people he chose to talk violated his rule about speaking no more than two minutes. After all, there was so much to say about the…
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BARTELS | In three decades since ‘The Walk,’ legacy of Wellington Webb stands tall
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Thirty years ago this month, Wellington Webb – once described as the “pit bull of underdogs” – won his first election as Denver mayor by beating the favored candidate in every part of the city, kicking off a 12-year stretch of defining the Mile High City for decades to come. Webb’s legacy now looms so…
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BARTELS | In the culture wars, common sense is a casualty
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The movie “Blazing Saddles” debuted when I was a junior in high school, and the only thing I remember from that time is everyone talking about the campfire scene after all the cowboys had eaten beans. Of course, this satirical spaghetti-Western film is so, so, so much more. According to Hollywood lore, it was one…
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BARTELS | Two bills take aim but totally miss the target
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An elections bill that would have undone Colorado’s top-notch voting system. Legislation that focuses on school mascots instead of the woefully inadequate funding to school districts. Bills that make me shake my head surface every session, and these two proposals show the 2021 session is not immune. Frankly, I would have thought that lawmakers this…
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BARTELS | How to address the city’s homeless? It’s a problem that continues to vex us all
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Rarely a week goes by without some Denver news outlet mentioning the homeless, whether it’s a sweep of a homeless camp or a court ruling on those sweeps or the death of a homeless person or another round of money being spent on the homeless. Over the past months, the homeless have set up tent…
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BARTELS | Wadhams calls out GOP’s shortcomings and what must happen next
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Former Colorado Republican Party chairman Dick Wadhams is sick of losing, but he predicts his party’s misfortunes will continue if the GOP keeps nominating unelectable candidates. Wadhams doesn’t hold back, naming names, including gubernatorial contender Dan Maes and U.S Senate candidate Darryl Glenn. Wadhams points to them as the chief GOP bunglers, but he lists…
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BARTELS | A tribute to the progressive power of Ian Silverii
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Ian Silverii, the wise-cracking, fast-talking, political genius who ran the state’s largest leftie organization for the past five years, is moving on, which should come as a relief as Colorado’s ragtag Republicans attempt to get their act together. Silverii’s tenure at ProgressNow Colorado roughly coincided with the presidential election that led to Donald Trump’s victory…
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BARTELS | Where there’s smoke, there’s barbecue — and Adrian Miller
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Adrian Miller once dreamed of becoming a U.S. senator and while his career is definitely smoke-filled, it’s not in some back room. Instead, it’s anywhere there’s meat, heat and sauce. The Colorado native, who bills himself as a recovering lawyer and politico, is now the ultimate foodie, writing award-winning culinary books, penning articles on soul…
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BARTELS | Fleeting thoughts amid the mid-winter doldrums
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Thanks to coronavirus, the Stock Show didn’t happen and lawmakers won’t go back into session until mid-February, making this blah time of the year seem even worse. Some odds and ends: NFL playoffs Even if I hadn’t followed the NFL playoffs, I would have known the games were coming because I started getting recipe requests…
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BARTELS | A ‘Homegrown Year,’ and a newfound love of life
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Blame it on having just given birth to her second child, or a day spent drinking and eating in Napa Valley, or on joyous Kelly Maher being, well, Kelly Maher. However the planets aligned, six months ago the Republican political pundit found herself embarking on a journey that’s equal parts “Little House on the Prairie,”…
