2 westword.com WESTWORD MAY 8-14, 2025 | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | W ® 7 BUZZ OFF Why protecting honey bees could sting Colorado’s native bees. BY ABBY O’BRIEN 4 HOME FREE? Denver is clear of migrant encampments, but the federal threats keep coming. BY BENNITO L. KELTY 13 COVERING THE WEST Book a trip to Trinidad to see L’Amour by Manchess at the A.R. Mitchell Museum. BY ABIGAIL BLISS 17 MA KAING’S LEGACY Her killer was sentenced to life in prison last week. Her spirit lives on at Taw Win Thai and Burmese Restaurant. BY GIL ASAKAWA 19 HONKY TONK The Barlow makes outlaw country with a Colorado vibe. BY EMILY FERGUSON 13 Culture 17 Cafe 19 Music CONCERTS/CLUBS ................................... 20 25 Marijuana CANNABIS CALENDAR ............................ 26 ASK A STONER ......................................... 26 VOLUME 48 NUMBER 37 MAY 8-14, 2025 E D I T O R I A L Editor Patricia Calhoun News Editor Thomas Mitchell Food and Drink Editor Molly Martin Interim Food and Drink Editor Gil Asakawa Music Editor Emily Ferguson Culture Editor Kristen Fiore Social Media Editor Katrina Leibee Staff Writers Catie Cheshire, Brendan Joel Kelley, Bennito L. Kelty, Hannah Metzger Senior Contributors Alan Prendergast, Michael Roberts Contributors Teague Bohlen, Hyde Chrastina, Jacqueline Collins, Justin Criado, Audrey Ferrer, John Flathman, Susan Froyd, Jason Heller, Nick Hutchinson, Danielle Krolewicz, Karl Christian Krumpholz, Kristen Kuchar, Skyler McKinley, Abigail Nueve, Ryan Pachmayer, Kristin Pazulski, Adam Perry, Evan Semón, Amber Taufen, Toni Tresca, Kastle Waserman, Helen Xu Music Listings Matthew Jones P R O D U C T I O N Production Manager Michael Wilson Assistant Production Manager Erin Kirk Graphic Designers Kami Miller, Tori O’Connor C R E A T I V E S E R V I C E S Senior Graphic Designer Allie Seidel A D V E R T I S I N G Senior Multimedia Account Executives Amy Camera, Aaron Lembke Multimedia Account Executives Remy Diamond, Trey Konsella, Kirby Quick, Allison Wissink Operations Manager Carver Hodgkiss Digital Sales Coordinator Anne-Grace Hartman Advertising Director Teri Driskell C I R C U L A T I O N Circulation Manager Ty Koepke B U S I N E S S Business Manager Sarah Dunahay Financial Accountant Robert Scribner AR Coordinator Stacy Phillips IT Systems Manager Kris Robinson Receptionist Cindy Perez Associate Publisher Tracy Kontrelos Publisher Scott Tobias V O I C E M E D I A G R O U P Editorial Director Chelsey Dequaine-Jerabek Editorial Operations Director Bridget Thomason Director of Membership and Community Development Jennifer Robinson Audience Strategist Allison Stephenson Audience Development Director Dallon Adams Corporate Controller Beth Cook Legal Counsel Steve Suskin Chief Financial Offi cer Jeff Mars Chief Executive Offi cer Scott Tobias V M G N A T I O N A L National Advertising: 1-888-278-9866, www.voicemediagroup.com Senior Vice President of Sales Operations Joe Larkin D I S T R I B U T I O N Westword is available free of charge. 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Peri- odicals postage paid in Denver. Domestic subscriptions may be purchased for $100/year or $50/six months. Postmaster: Send address changes to Westword, P.O. Box 5970, Denver CO 80217. Mailing address: P.O. Box 5970, Denver, CO 80217 Street address: 1278 Lincoln Street, Denver, CO 80203 For general information, call: 303-296-7744 For Editorial, email: [email protected] ON THE COVER ILLUSTRATION BY JULIE KITZES LETTERS F R O M T H E E D I T O R YOU CAN COMMENT ON ANY STORY AT WESTWORD.COM; SEND LETTERS TO [email protected] Don’t miss a word! The stories in this print edition are just a fraction of the pieces we publish every week on westword.com. For a cheat sheet on all that content, subscribe to our daily newsletter at westword.com/profi le. You can also follow @denverwestword on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok. And it’s all free! PHOTOGRAPH BY EVAN SEMÓN In lieu of letters this week, how about some spring cleaning by the editor? JOIN THE CLUB Are you a Westword member? If so, you don’t want to miss our members-only offi ce con- cert on Thursday, May 8, with DNA Picasso and Dominique Christina. DNA Picasso is one of the top hip-hop artists in Denver, and perhaps the most community-oriented. Last month, he was honored by the Colorado Business Com- mittee for the Arts with the MSU Next Wave Leadership Award; among other accomplishments, he’s built the Colorado Music Industry Alliance, a one-stop shop for Colorado artists in need of network- ing and resources. He and his partner, the acclaimed poet Dominique Christina, col- laborated on the 2025 Best of Denver award- winning album LAWLESS: A Love Story. Christina has also authored four books, with her latest, Anarcha Speaks, winning the National Poetry Series award in 2017; she also wrote and acted in the HBO series High Maintenance. Now, Westword members have a chance to see this power couple collaborate in per- son, and then chat with Music Editor Emily Ferguson after the intimate offi ce show, the latest in a series we’ve been hosting. If you’re not yet a member, it’s not too late. We created the Westword membership campaign over six years ago, when it became clear the landscape was shifting for retail advertising, our major revenue source at the time. Contributions from readers have helped fi ll the gap; you can become a member for any amount. To mark World Press Freedom Day on May 3, we hosted a mini-campaign that gained four new members, one of whom of- fered this message with her donation: “Free press is critical to a free society!” That effort followed a very successful spring campaign that raised over $19,000, well over our target of $15,000. Out of 441 contributors, 136 were new members. Wonder where that money goes? Come to the May 8 concert and learn more...or just start reading the work of new staff writer Brendon Joel Kelley, author of last week’s cover story on psychedelic death doulas. Our 2024 membership campaigns helped cover that position; this year’s will go to a paid summer internship, among other projects. With such loyal support from our read- ers, throwing a great offi ce party is the least we can do! FOOD FOR THOUGHT Our staff news isn’t all good: Food & Drink Editor Molly Martin had just sent her picks for the Best of Denver 2025 to press when she learned that she’d been diagnosed with breast cancer. “When I turned forty in October, I had a lot of big ideas for the next year of my life — none of which included getting a port surgically inserted into my chest, being told I’d have to avoid raw fi sh until after Labor Day, shaving my head or spending countless hours mulling over the future of my boobs,” she wrote in announcing the news. “Round one of chemo brought on a kind of exhaustion I’ve never experienced before, as well as bone pain and a host of other side effects including losing not only my hair (it’s gonna be a hot bald-girl summer for me!) but my sense of taste,” she added. “Everything is bland — even water has a bitter aftertaste. It’s torture. But before my taste buds went on chemo hiatus, I was all about comfort food while shuffl ing between doctors’ ap- pointments.” Molly’s now on medical leave to focus on her health, and while she has an open invitation to write whenever she feels like it — those quotes are from a classic piece on the best things she ate in April before she lost her taste buds to chemo — we’ve hired an interim Food & Drink editor to keep feed- ing that section. Gil Asakawa, our very fi rst editorial hire more than four decades ago, is now back on the job, covering for Molly and sharing his own views on the local culinary scene. You can read more about his long, strange trip to this gig on page 17. But fi rst, join me in wishing Molly the best, and a very speedy recovery. — Patricia Calhoun
