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Michael Roberts

Michael Roberts began his career with Westword in 1990 as music editor. In 1999, he took on a new role, full-time media reporter, as author of a column called The Message. In 2008, he became the lead writer for Westword‘s news blog, The Latest Word, a position he held until January 2023. Michael continues to freelance for Westword, covering everything from business to sports and the media; he also contributes to Jazziz, a national music magazine. He holds a bachelor’s degree from what is now Colorado Mesa University and master’s degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Northwestern University.

michaelrobertscolo@gmail.com

Threesome on Video Leads to School of Mines Sexual-Conduct Lawsuit

By Michael Roberts

Shortly after a former first-year student sued the University of Denver over what his complaint describes as “false allegations of non-consensual sexual contact” with a fellow DU freshman that led to his expulsion, the law firm representing him has filed a similar suit against the Colorado School of Mines. The Mines student in question says he was never given a chance to properly defend himself against inaccurate claims that he’d taken advantage of a drunk female student during a threesome and captured and distributed a video of the encounter.

Why Shawn Geerdes Got 144 Years for Pot Murder/Arson

By Michael Roberts

Shawn Geerdes has been ordered to spend 144 years in prison for murder and arson in the death of Jason Dosa, his partner in a cannabis business. The length of the sentence speaks to the brutality of the crime, Geerdes’s hefty previous criminal history and the determination of the 18th Judicial District DA’s office, headed by 2018 gubernatorial candidate George Brauchler, who maintained in a recent Westword op-ed that at least eleven marijuana-related homicides have taken place in his jurisdiction since limited legalization of recreational pot in January 2014.

Marco Dorado, Lauded in Senate by Michael Bennet, on Trump and DACA

By Michael Roberts

President Donald Trump’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, better known as DACA, prompted the walkout of more than a thousand Denver students on September 5. Among the demonstrators making their feelings heard was Marco Dorado, whose story we shared in a March post headlined “Meet Marco Dorado, Exhibit A in What’s Wrong With Trump’s Immigration Policies.” But yesterday, someone else told Dorado’s tale: Colorado Senator Michael Bennet, who used him as an example of why eliminating DACA is cruel and counterproductive during a speech delivered on the floor of the U.S. Senate.

What You Think You Know About Sex Offenders Is Wrong, Attorney Says

By Michael Roberts

As our Alan Prendergast reported, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Matsch has ruled that Colorado’s sex-offender registry violates the due-process rights of three plaintiffs, thereby amounting to cruel and unusual punishment. Boulder attorney Alison Ruttenberg, who filed the case in 2013, sees the opinion as the potential death knell for a law-enforcement tool that, in her view, perpetuates factually dubious notions that fall apart when examined in an evenhanded way.

Tenth Fourteener Death of 2017: Remembering Dr. Jamie Rupp

By Michael Roberts

Dr. Jamie Rupp, a Colorado native who’d relocated to Wyoming, has been identified as the man who died Sunday, September 3, on Challenger Point, a fourteener in Custer County, south of Cañon City. He is at least the tenth person to perish climbing a fourteener in Colorado in 2017, including an astonishing five casualties on Capitol Peak, in the Elk Mountains, over a span of just 43 days.

Top Ten Tweets Ripping “Traitor A$$hole” Brock Osweiler’s Return to Broncos

By Michael Roberts

Because of an injury to second-string bust-in-the-making quarterback Paxton Lynch, your Denver Broncos have signed Brock Osweiler to the team. Yes, the very same Brock Osweiler who left the squad last year in favor of the Houston Texans, mostly because he was upset that the team didn’t dump future Hall of Famer Peyton Manning in favor of him during the march to victory in Super Bowl 50. And fans haven’t forgotten, blasting him on Twitter much as they did when he signed a $72 million deal to split — and when the Broncos bested him and the Texans last October.

My I-70 Labor Day Weekend Clusterf*ck Diary

By Michael Roberts

As we noted in this space last year, the Interstate 70 express toll lane near Idaho Springs has actually reduced mountain driving hell. But that doesn’t mean the traffic situation from Denver into and out of the mountain corridor is anywhere near acceptable, especially on summer holidays like the just concluded Labor Day weekend, as my loved ones and I learned through bitter personal experience.

The One Metro-Denver Place Where Rent Is Actually Going Down

By Michael Roberts

As we’ve reported, rent prices in metro Denver are finally starting to moderate, but they’re still up by a considerable amount over this time last year. The trend continues in the latest Denver rent report for September, which shows that prices are higher than they were twelve months earlier in all nine area communities analyzed. But the numbers are leveling off on a month-to-month basis, where only one of the nine experienced a rent increase of more than 1 percent since August, and costs actually fell in another metro town.

Why Mile High Stadium Could Keep Sports Authority Name for Years

By Michael Roberts

For more than a year, the Denver Broncos have been desperately trying to line up a new naming sponsor for Mile High Stadium following the bankruptcy and subsequent collapse of Sports Authority, the athletic-gear retailer that previously held the rights. Now the team says it’s likely the Sports Authority Field at Mile High moniker will still be on the facility when the 2017-2018 season kicks off September 11 against the Los Angeles Charges, and a branding authority says it could stick around for a lot longer than that.

Joshua Witt’s Self-Stabbing, Neo-Nazis and Risks of Social Media

By Michael Roberts

As demonstrated by a racially charged protest gone fatally wrong in Charlottesville, Virginia, last month, white supremacists have no shame. But if they did, they’d probably be humiliated by even the slightest association with Colorado’s own Joshua Witt, who claimed to have been stabbed because of his resemblance to a neo-Nazi, only to later admit that the wound was self-inflicted.

The Fan’s Alfred Williams Gets Real About D-Mac, the Broncos and More

By Michael Roberts

Alfred Williams, who teams with recent Westword interview subject Darren “D-Mac” McKee weekday afternoons on 104.3 The Fan’s The Drive with Big Al & D-Mac, isn’t just one of the metro area’s most popular radio hosts. He’s also a local sports legend thanks to a stint anchoring the defensive line for the University of Colorado Boulder, which earned him a national championship and membership into the College Football Hall of Fame, and a three-year run with the Denver Broncos that included not one but two Super Bowl victories. And in the following interview, he tells his story to date in the sort of straight-forward, no-bull manner that’s long been his trademark.

Colorado’s Ten Most Popular Fourteeners

By Michael Roberts

Because of the fifth death on the Aspen area’s Capitol Peak in just over six weeks, Colorado’s fourteeners have been in the news for tragic reasons lately. But a new survey reveals that these majestic attractions are more popular than ever, with the number of hiker-use days during 2016 exceeding the 2015 total by more than 50,000. The data also identifies the ten most popular fourteeners in the state, as well as those where hikers are less likely to encounter a crowd.

Getting Credit (or Not) for Finding Rebecca Bartee’s Killer After 18 Years

By Michael Roberts

More than eighteen years after 18th Judicial District deputy DA Rebecca Bartee’s June 7, 1999 murder, authorities have made an arrest, booking Robert Lee Williams, a seventy-year-old who was still living in the apartment building where the slaying took place. The case was broken thanks to a tip received by CBS4 reporter Brian Maass earlier this year, yet multiple news agencies in Colorado aren’t giving credit where credit’s due.

Meet Victor Mitchell, Outsider Candidate for Colorado Governor

By Michael Roberts

Victor Mitchell, a successful entrepreneur and onetime state legislator, is seeking the Republican nomination for governor of Colorado in 2018. In the following in-depth interview, Mitchell details his unexpected personal story, his rise to business success and proposals that he sees as differentiating him from other candidates.

See Flags for 20 Denver Neighborhoods and Meet the Artist Waving Them

By Michael Roberts

Steven Chester’s day job is as a Denver city planner. But when he’s off the clock, he still celebrates the Mile High City, albeit in a completely different way. For his Flags of Denver project, he’s set out to create a flag for all 78 officially designated Denver neighborhoods. And as indicated by the twenty he’s produced so far (see all of them here), his love of design and fascination with the history of each area have come together in a way that’s well worth saluting.

How #SelfieSaturday Murder Helped Convince Denver to Buy a Strip Club

By Michael Roberts

Denver City Council has announced a plan to purchase PT’s All Nude II, a defunct strip club at 8315 East Colfax, for $1.3 million, in an effort to spur an economic revival in the area. The building was shuttered in 2016 because of numerous public-safety issues, with the most prominent among them being a September 2015 murder on an evening promoted as #SelfieSaturday.

Video-Game Journo Brian Crecente Knew the Future Wasn’t in Newspapers

By Michael Roberts

Brian Crecente, who recently took over as editorial director for Glixel, the ambitious video-game website of Rolling Stone magazine, following impressive runs at gaming-centric Kotaku and Polygon, is easily among the most accomplished alumni of the Rocky Mountain News, which cratered in February 2009 just prior to its 150th anniversary. Even though he left the Rocky a decade ago, when editors wanted to move him from the gaming beat into a more traditional role amid widespread staff departures, he gives the paper credit for being ahead of its time when it comes to covering his favorite subject. But today, he doesn’t see many dailies giving anything other than short shrift to video games in general, despite the industry racking up an estimated $91 billion worldwide in 2016.

The Six Least Expensive Metro Denver Homes for Sale Right Now

By Michael Roberts

Even though housing prices in metro Denver have been moderating in some areas thanks to an increase in inventory, home buyers in Denver still face huge challenges, including a shortage of modestly priced properties and the speed with which the ones that are listed disappear. But while the majority of lower-priced houses showcased on MetroDenverHomeListings.com at present are already under contract, we managed to find six listings near or under $200,000 that are still active at this writing.

Racist Gang Leader’s Death Impacts One of State’s Biggest Murder Mysteries

By Michael Roberts

On August 27, the Colorado Department of Corrections revealed the death of inmate Benjamin Davis, one of the state’s most notorious prisoners, at Wyoming State Penitentiary, to which he’d been transferred. Davis, who is is suspected of committing suicide, was the reputed leader of a white-supremacist prison gang known as the 211 Crew and a potential player in the 2013 execution-style murder of CDOC executive director Tom Clements.

Blazin’ Hit Radio, Pot-Friendly New Home of Larry and Kathie J, Goes Live

By Michael Roberts

Today, August 28, marks the debut of Blazin’ Hit Radio, the new online home of Larry and Kathie J, whose popular KS 107.5 morning show was canceled after a contract dispute earlier this year. The station is sponsored by The Green Solution, a powerful Colorado marijuana dispensary company with a growing national profile, and its signature show, which will broadcast live from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. weekdays, promises to combine an uncensored variation on the humorous antics that scored big ratings in Denver for fifteen years with a mix of hip-hop, reggae, contemporary hits and throwbacks.

Denver Go Topless Day 2017 Makes Its Mark Internationally (NSFW)

By Michael Roberts

Organizers of Denver Go Topless Day 2017, which took place August 26 in downtown Denver, call the event a rousing success. The number of participants was estimated at more than 1,000, and no reports of negative interactions from folks on the 16th Street Mall and Civic Center Park have surfaced at this writing. Moreover, the Denver event is making its mark internationally, as it was highlighted by GoTopless.org alongside similar gatherings that took place across the globe.