2 westword.com WESTWORD JULY 2-8, 2026 | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | W ® 11 ORDER UP! Bite into our biggest, juiciest batch of Denver’s best burgers yet. BY ANTONY BRUNO 4 PLOT TWIST Denver water helps bring new life back to Riverside Cemetery. BY SKYLER MCKINLEY 8 CULTURAL BEACON Morning Star American Indian Village will debut when Cheyenne Frontier Days returns for its 130th anniversary. BY TONI TRESCA 15 SAGE ADVICE Rhett Miller of Old 97’s shares what it means to be a true writer and artist. BY TEAGUE BOHLEN 8 Culture 11 Cafe 15 Music CONCERTS/CLUBS ................................... 16 23 Marijuana CANNABIS CALENDAR ............................ 23 HIGH NOTES ............................................. XX VOLUME 49 NUMBER 44 JULY 2-8, 2026 E D I T O R I A L Editor Patricia Calhoun News Editor Thomas Mitchell Food and Drink Editor Antony Bruno Music Editor Emily Ferguson Culture Editor Kristen Fiore Social Media Editor Katrina Leibee Staff Writers Sage Kelley, Hannah Metzger Senior Contributors Brendan Joel Kelley, Alan Prendergast, Michael Roberts Contributors Gil Asakawa, Teague Bohlen, Justin Criado, Audrey Ferrer, Nick Hutchinson, Karl Christian Krumpholz, Skyler McKinley, Abigail Nueve, Ryan Pachmayer, Kristin Pazulski, Adam Perry, Evan Semón, Amber Taufen, Toni Tresca, Kastle Waserman Music Listings Matthew Jones Cover Designer Monika Swiderski P R O D U C T I O N Production Manager Michael Wilson Assistant Production Manager Erin Kirk Graphic Designers Caleigh Gearheart, 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, Rachel Gilmore, Keith Gordon, Trey Konsella, Kirby Quick, Dalton Wilson, Allison Wissink Operations Manager Carver Hodgkiss Digital Sales Coordinator Anne-Grace Hartman Director of Digital Sales Alan Heath C I R C U L A T I O N Circulation Manager Ty Koepke B U S I N E S S Director of Business and Operations Russell Breiter 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 Executive Editor Chelsey Dequaine-Jerabek National Editor Sam Eifl ing Editorial Operations Director Bridget Thomason Director of Membership and Community Development Jennifer Robinson Digital Operations & Audience Strategist Allison Stephenson Audience Strategist Lauren Antonoff Hart 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 PHOTO BY VALERIA MUNCHMEYER LETTER 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, X, Threads, Bluesky, Instagram and TikTok. And it’s all free! DESIGN BY MONIKA SWIDERSKI T H E L O N G G O O D B Y E On the last Monday of June, I climbed the stair- case at the Denver City & Council Building to the just-renovated Denver City Council cham- bers on the fourth fl oor. When I fi rst made this trek (a lot more nimbly), Bill McNichols occupied the Mayor’s Offi ce and city coun- cil consisted mostly of good old boys, who’d enjoy schmoozing over cigars and Scotch after meetings. Today, the majority of the councilmembers are women — most of them Latina — who’re progressive as heck, and enjoy chatting with constituents after meetings. There are even two journalists on council, Paul Kashmann (RIP, Washington Park Pro- fi le), and Kevin Flynn (RIP, Rocky Mountain News). Flynn had called me after he learned that I was retiring on July 1 as editor-in-chief of Westword, the paper I co-founded in 1977, and said that he and Kashmann wanted to present a proclamation honoring my 49 years at Westword. Flynn’s called me before: The fi rst time, he was a Rocky reporter who wanted to know if I was the same Patricia Calhoun whose name appeared on the city’s notorious boot list, as a parking scoffl aw eligible to be booted. Guilty as charged: In the early days of Westword, I spent a lot more time in City Hall fi ghting parking tickets acquired in the course of doing business than I did interview- ing public offi cials. Also paying off those boots, one of Denver’s most infamous inventions. This time I walked over from the Westword offi ce to hear the promised proclamation, and to think about all the people who’ve climbed those steps as they worked to make this city a better place, whether as a public offi cial...or as a journalist pestering public offi cials. (Or as both, like the late Sandy Widener, a co-founder of Westword — along with Rob Simon — who went on to become a press secretary for Mayor Federico Pena and a great citizen of the city who, along with husband John Parr, is remem- bered with the Parr-Widener Community Room where council often meets.) My work as a pesterer isn’t done; as editor emeritus, I’m returning to “causing a little trouble” and “writing those stories she’s had simmering,” the proclamation says, “leav- ing the operational issues in the hands of a capable team.” And what a team: You’ve met them all in these pages and on westword.com: staff writers Hannah Metzger and Sage Kelley, as well as a host of longtime contributors; Food Editor Antony Bruno; Music Editor Emily Ferguson; Culture Editor Kristen Fiore, who’ll add production duties for this free weekly paper to their coverage of the cultural scene; Social Media Editor Katrina Leibee (once a Westword college intern), and Thomas Mitchell, who started here over a decade ago as our marijuana intern and will now step up as Senior Editor, News. They’ll be working with Audience Strategist Lauren Antonoff Hart, and overseen by Voice Media Group National Editor Sam Eifl ing and Executive Editor Chelsey Dequaine-Jerabek. And then there are the business managers and advertis- ing reps and everyone else who’s had a hand in making “Westword more than an alterna- tive newspaper,” as the proclamation notes, “but rather an institution that matters to the people of Denver.” That matters enough that more than a thousand of those people have stepped up to become members of Westword. We’ve always believed that access to information should be free, but independent journalism doesn’t come cheap. So as the media landscape changes and print advertising dwindles, we started a membership program that raises money to bolster our newsroom. We’ll be thanking those members, as well as so many of the other people who’ve supported Westword through the years, at a gathering at the end of September that will kick off our 50th anniversary year. Watch for details — and in the meantime, if you’re not already a member, I urge you to become one. By the way, although I’m certain my car will be immobilized many more times before I’m done, I haven’t been booted from this publica- tion. In fact, you’ll often fi nd me in this space. Like advertising, most letters to the editor have moved online, so come September, I’ll be snagging this column for letters from the editor emeritus, a 50-part series looking at the last 50 years in Denver, following some of our most signifi cant stories through to the present day. Yes, there will be many more stories to come. But for now, just a few last words: Thanks. It’s been an honor. – Patricia Calhoun
