2 westword.com WESTWORD FEBRUARY 27-MARCH 5, 2025 | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | W ® 4 WHAT A TRIP! The ten best conspiracy theories about Denver International Airport. BY PATRICIA CALHOUN 6 THE BUS STOPS HERE Two RTD directors join us for a ride on the 15, Denver’s most legendary route. BY JASON HELLER 13 BACKPEDALING BELIEFS How Denver’s vegan restaurant niche is faring post-pandemic. BY ABIGAIL BLISS 15 LETTUCE PLAY Lettuce releases fi lm and album of its Colorado Symphony collaboration. BY NICK HUTCHINSON 10 Culture 13 Cafe 15 Music CONCERTS/CLUBS ................................... 16 23 Marijuana CANNABIS CALENDAR ............................ 20 ASK A STONER ......................................... 20 VOLUME 48 NUMBER 27 FEBRUARY 27-MARCH 5, 2025 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 Catie Cheshire, Jason Heller, Bennito L. 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PHOTOGRAPH BY VALERIA MOONCH “THE BUS STOPS HERE,” JASON HELLER, FEBRUARY 20 T A K E N F O R A R I D E I really enjoyed reading “The Bus Stops Here” in Westword. I don’t often hear anything about the RTD except criticism about corruption or the lack of rail to Boulder. A chat with two of the directors was a nice change of pace. Thank you. Samuel Findley Golden The 15 is practically a rite of passage, the real slice-of-life of the city. Andrew Bisset Denver Need to ride that bus at 2 a.m. David Tavenner Aurora The bipolar express! David Epstein Steamboat Springs Excellent article. RTD has a lot of problems that were acknowledged by both directors, but I still have serious doubts that they’ll be rectifi ed, or even improved upon, any time soon. I’d love to see this as an ongoing series that includes the trains. More light needs to be shed on how bad the situation is on the E and H lines. Schedule- wise, they’re completely unreliable, and they become homeless shelters after 6 p.m. or so. Albert Rivera Denver You will really like the BRT once it is up and running. If you take the bus, you will get wher- ever you are going probably twenty minutes earlier, and at less than half the cost. Wonderful to sit on the bus and whiz by all the stuck cars. Carolyn Rios Lakewood RTD: Reason to drive. Tom Wells Littleton I’m not sure why everyone is so upset with the BRT conversion taking the small busi- nesses of Colfax Avenue offl ine for so long. Just as with every other zone/neighborhood/ destination/old-town improvement project, all the failed businesses will just leave room for Starbucks, Panera, Panda Express, Noodles, McD’s and the endless list of other chains that we all go to such places to patronize. What’s the problem? James Gifford Aurora The worst part is the plan. An RTD em- ployee told me they’re putting the bus lanes in the middle of the road, which means they’re going to have to build additional sidewalks in the middle of Colfax. Then they are reducing the cars to one lane on each side, and they’re getting rid of on-street parking. I call that lose, lose, lose. Who’s taking the bus anyway? Hiram Lawson Arvada Never thought I’d be one of these numb- skulls who disparage Westword, but I must take issue with Jason Heller’s piece “The Bus Stops Here.” It was reporting on the 15 bus...at 9 a.m. on a Saturday? Please. Try riding this route at 5:30 p.m. on a weekday, or better yet, at 10 p.m. if you want the real story. There was scant men- tion of the driver, one of an army of saints who put up with more than stinky people. Then at the end, the elitist trio whips out a phone and calls an Uber. Sickening. Get somebody who actually rides the bus to interview, Jason. J. Jackson Denver Quite frankly...what the fuck is the city thinking? If you’ve ever had the displeasure to ride the 15 or 15L, you know damn right that RTD is a garbage, tax-dollar-sucking organization that makes two buses that are supposed to be fi fteen minutes apart run right behind each other. I hate to be “that guy,” but why the hell are we murdering Colfax for a rapid-transit bus service? Have you seen West Colfax lately? Why the hell would you want to rapid transit these addicts to my neighbor- hood? They’re not going to spend money, and they can ride the regular-ass bus to come and be shitty. Fuck them. This is helping no one. Jordan Black Denver
