4 OCTOBER 10-16, 2024 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | W ® 6 HEAR HIM ROAR After more than thirty years as the Denver Nuggets mascot, Kenn Solomon fi nally tells the story behind the suit. BY CONOR MCCORMICK- CAVANAGH 14 HONORING CULTURE Denver Art Museum celebrates the centennial of its Indigenous art collection with a year highlighting Native work. BY TONI TRESCA 17 UNIVERSAL APPEAL Boulder scientist’s space oven is a NASA fi nalist. BY HELEN XU 19 TAPROOM TUNES The Skylark Lounge has been a South Broadway mainstay for over eighty years. BY TONI TRESCA 14 Culture 17 Cafe 19 Music CONCERTS/CLUBS ................................... 20 26 Marijuana CANNABIS CALENDAR ............................ 26 ASK A STONER ......................................... 28 VOLUME 48 NUMBER 7 OCTOBER 10-16, 2024 E D I T O R I A L Editor Patricia Calhoun Editorial Operations Manager Jane R. 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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 retail or classifi ed advertising, call: 303-296-7744 For general information, call: 303-296-7744 For Editorial, email: [email protected] ON THE COVER ILLUSTRATION BY DREW LITTON LETTERS T O 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! ILLUSTRATION BY JOHN CUNEO/@JOHNCUNEO3 “COMBATING THE CITY’S BAD RAP,” BENNITO L. KELTY, OCTOBER 3 R A P A N D R O L L Longtime Westword reader here. Just some thoughts on Bennito L. Kelty’s “Boyz in Aurora” article. Although a recording label in Aurora might be a legit business, I found the lyrics printed to be offensive, anti-law enforcement, derogatory toward women and promotionally violent. There must be other legit business owners in Aurora that warrant media exposure, and exposure that shines a light of positivity on the city. As a retired music teacher, I can certainly appreciate musicians and all they can bring as far as joy, celebration and happiness. Mu- sic is also a refl ection of current times and community, so I guess this song/musician is refl ecting what may be going on around him...sad as it seems. I would really appreci- ate future articles covering musicians with a more positive message. R. Anderson Denver “IF TRUMP DROPS IN...,” OCTOBER 3 G A N G B U S T E R Amazing drawing of Donald Trump! That was the best Westword cover ever. John McCall Denver This cover is petty and pathetic. Mocking a man who actually cares and wants to show up and help? Whatever, we see through you. Trump/Vance 2024. Rachel Oliver Posted on Instagram He’s gonna need a much bigger parachute. Jim Perez Posted on Facebook I hope Trump lands right in the middle of a Venezuelan gang meeting. Heather Hines Aurora I have lived in Aurora for forty years. Just spend fi fteen minutes at Colfax and Havana if you want to see what Aurora has become. When I was a kid, we played at that corner. Denver trash has always bled over into Au- rora; remember the gangs in the ’90s? Denver bleeds its trash east on Colfax. Chris Estus Aurora Better not let him on Buckley SFB consid- ering he can’t be trusted with TS documents and is a convicted felon! Arvin Martinez Denver Westword has always been a liberal rag — even 25 years ago, when I worked in Denver. Leslie Wolfe Davis Posted on Facebook What? Trump going to a crummy city with gangs and crime? A city where citi- zens are not protected against criminals and criminal enterprise? Then take him to Denver…he can see the same thing. Randy Brown Littleton “HOT TOPIC,” CATIE CHESHIRE, SEPTEMBER 26 G R E E N M E A N S G O Colorado chile for the win! Sarah Blanchard Lakewood New Mexico green chile, the original, will always be the best. Denver green chile is just brown glop. Jose Martinez Albuquerque Speaking as a native Coloradan with re- spect for New Mexico chiles, it’s not really fair to compare artisanal Colorado chiles like Mosco to mass-produced NM varieties like Hatch. New Mexico also has chiles with a storied history, like Chimayo and Jemez, which date back hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Tony Arcieri Denver
