4 JANUARY 8-14, 2026 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | W ® 7 HOLDING DOWN THE FORT As this state turns 150, Colorado gets a real blast from the past BY PATRICIA CALHOUN 12 JUST FOR KICKS Brian Tomajko offers wearable western art at Lucky Bastard Custom Boots. BY KRISTEN FIORE 15 DOUBLE BARRELED While Wide Open @ the Stockyards will be at the Livestock Exchange, the Stockyard Saloon is pouring in Lakewood. BY PATRICIA CALHOUN 17 EAT IT UP A blast from the underground past is being resurrected. BY JUSTIN CRIADO 12 Culture 15 Cafe 17 Music CONCERTS/CLUBS ................................... 18 21 Marijuana CANNABIS CALENDAR ............................ 22 HIGH NOTES ............................................. XX VOLUME 49 NUMBER 19 JANUARY 8-14, 2026 E D I T O R I A L Editor Patricia Calhoun News Editor Thomas Mitchell Food and Drink Editor Molly Martin Music Editor Emily Ferguson Culture Editor Kristen Fiore Social Media Editor Katrina Leibee Staff Writers Bennito L. 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PHOTO OF MONICA THE GREAT BY CHRISTIAN HUNDLEY “PEOPLE TO WATCH: BARBARA KIRKMEYER, GOING FOR GOVERNOR,” HANNAH METZGER, JANUARY 1 C A P I T O L I D E A S For the people who can’t be bothered to read the article, “Democrats only outnumber Re- publicans by a small margin. Around 50 percent of Colorado voters are unaffi liated, while 25 percent are Democrats and nearly 23 percent are Republicans.” When you live in a political bubble, you miss the news that people are sick of the Dems’ musical chairs, where only certain insiders get opportunities to be governor. Lewis Rivers Lakewood I am sick of Dems being such pussies and not holding people accountable...though leaders in Colorado do try. We tried to invoke the 14th Amendment, we are fi ghting back against the retribution. But like the Dems in Congress, they’re pussies and are next to worthless while our country is getting dismantled from the inside. Gena Marie Meyer Denver Colorado will vote for a Rethuglican in a statewide election again right around the time pigs learn how to fl y. Joe Velasco Denver “PEOPLE TO WATCH: ALLI JACKSON, THE NEW FACE OF AURORA,” KATRINA LEIBEE, JANUARY 1 F A C E T H E N A T I O N What a wonderful about-face for Aurora! After having to put up with showboating Danielle Jurinsky, we get Alli Jackson, who works in a library (not a bar) and appreciates that Aurora is a true community...not a place to hold up to national ridicule for her own ends. Sarah Allen Aurora Here we go: another amateur hour. Aurora does not need another socialist on city council. Watch her for what? She hasn’t accomplished a thing. Let’s talk during her year-in-review and see what she’s actually done. Right now, it’s all talk and taking credit for the hard work of the previous city council. No, thank you. Justina Gilert Aurora I saw her speak and it was interesting to see her refuse to be pulled into speaking negatively about the people who will now be her col- leagues. She insisted that the most important thing is to be able to work together. Refreshing. Siobhan O’Meara Kelley Aurora I truly do not get the “progressive” hive- mind. It seems incapable of paying any at- tention or admitting to any error. Aurora has watched Denver’s ultra-woke city council fucking trash the city and overwhelm the populace with illegals (48,000 “newcomers” from 2021 to 2024). And what does increas- ingly blue Aurora do? “We need some of that shit!” When this fails and Aurora becomes even worse, Democrats still won’t admit that Demo- crats and Democrat policies are the problem. Eric Smith Littleton “FOOD FADS,” MOLLY MARTIN, DECEMBER 25 F O O D F I G H T ! Colorado actually has a regional cuisine. It’s a crossroads of Southwestern fl avors and spice, mountain game and frontier practical- ity, hearty country cooking and locally grown ingredients from farming and ranching ar- eas—less about fancy recipes, more about bold fl avors and regional pride. I wish more restaurants would capitalize on this concept. Zach Burrell Denver I hear Denver used to have good food. But everything here now is the most corporate no-chance-taking generic crap imaginable. All the best food here is from.somewhere else, and there are only so many ways you can dress up a burger or pizza and still think it’s somehow unique. Jason Braun Lafayette
