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Darren Polak grew up in Denver, and admits to occasionally visited the sagging strip club at 1196 South Santa Fe Drive that started out as the Paper Tiger, then in 2005 became Maxim, when the steak special on the sign out front was replaced by Girls and Grub though the giant Paper Tiger sign remained above the bar. But by the time Polak bellied up to that bar, the Maxim name had disappeared, too, after a trademark tiff, and the venue was operating with no name at all beyond Show Club.
Polak still thought of it as the Paper Tiger when he first got brave enough to visit the spot with some friends. They d passed it while heading to Breakfast King after a night of partying, and it was always a place that we were afraid to go, he confesses. But when a buddy moved into an apartment at Mississippi and Broadway, they realized that Denver s worst strip club was the closest bar.
While there are still four outstanding investigations on both the state and federal level into the death of Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old Black man who died in late August 2019 after a violent encounter with members of the Aurora Police Department, the only charges made in the case so far are slowly disappearing. And they were made not against law enforcement authorities, but protesters who demonstrated last summer, demanding justice for McClain.
On May 6, 17th Judicial District DA Brian Mason announced that he was dismissing all outstanding felony and misdemeanor charges filed in his district against Lillian House, Joel Northam, Eliza Lucero, Terrance Roberts and Trey Quinn. “I have an ethical obligation to only proceed on charges my office can prove and to dismiss charges that we cannot prove,” Mason says in a statement on his decision. “My job is to do the right thing.”
Michael Barnes thinks the exchange should start with “The Trip to Bountiful.”
Although he isn’t a fan of horror movies, he agrees that “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” is among the most influential movies about the state.
To salute Texas Independence Week in 2019, my former American-Statesman colleague Dave Thomas and I put out a list of the 53 best books about Texas.
It contained some beloved classics, such as John Graves’ “Goodbye to a River,” and some thrilling newcomers, like Attica Locke’s “Bluebird, Bluebird and Monica Muñoz Martinez’s “The Injustice Never Leaves You.”
We encouraged readers to respond with their favorites. They did. On June 14, 2019, I published those provocative responses, including several from folks who wondered why we had left off James Michener’s doorstop novel, “Texas.”
Museo de las Americas, 861 Santa Fe Drive The Museo’s brand-new exhibition
SOMOS: On Domestic Violence, Resilience and Healing takes a hard look at the social reverberations of domestic abuse through the eyes and hearts of thirteen Denver artists. Curated by Carina Bañuelos-Harrison, the show is meant to inspire discussion, and to that end, it is accompanied by a strong lineup of public programming. Bañuelos-Harrison, Latina Safehouse director Angela Ceseña and Museo director Claudia Moran will be joined by members of the safehouse’s Comadre Network for the series kickoff, “Motherhood, Domestic Violence and Healing.” The live, in-person event is free, but an RSVP is recommended here.