Ah, Colorado. Snow-tipped peaks, perfect powder, second-home heaven. Then there's Denver. Modern yet still Western, sunny, livable.
Of late, though, that idyllic picture of Mother Nature's playground has been sullied by a string of unconnected calamities, adding up to one long winter of discontent. Meteorological disasters, shocking deaths, bureaucratic fumbles and other improbabilities, all separate but equal in their impact, have confounded natives and newcomers alike.
First, the weather. Unusually heavy snowstorms have been hammering Denver since a Christmas-week monster stranded thousands, jamming many of the city's 14,000 blocks with huge chunks of ice and leaving golden-boy Mayor John Hickenlooper with...
