Luke Schmaltz -- A Man of Words

Overserved Underdog … Synopsis
A long-brewing clash between a Mile-High music legend and an aggressive government censor has come to a head, as Pablo Vasquez — aka The Soothsayer — must contend with the diabolical Blatherskite and his minions. To bolster his crusade, Vasquez recruits Earl Danners — a prolific beer drinker with a burgeoning talent for belching forth sonic blasts of guttural decimation.
A reluctant hero, Earl must quickly grow into his role of The Belcher as advancing forces of...

Local Artist Creates Mural Honoring Healthcare Workers
“They may forget your name, but they will never forget how you made them feel.” - Maya Angelou
by Luke Schmaltz
It’s a sunny spring Saturday in downtown Denver, and a burst of color is taking shape on the north-facing side of an ancient brick garage. The image features a masked healthcare worker captured in what the artist may have imagined as a brief moment of respite in an otherwise exhausting chapter of their career. The image gleams w...

“We offer service. There’s no higher purpose.”
— Dan Millman
by Luke Schmaltz
When Governor Jared Polis declared a state of emergency in Colorado on March 10, 2020, the news had a significant effect on community outreach centers and charity organizations. The reason for this was that most people working in this area are older individuals — folks at greater risk than most of contracting COVID-19.
While emergency food dispensary services are exempt from the “stay-at-home” mandate, the governor’...

“Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.” — Frank Herbert
In the midst of every crisis, there are those who rise to the occasion to meet the inherent challenges head-on. Today, such steadfast determination can be seen in the actions of frontline healthcare workers persevering through unprecedented circumstances.
Meanwhile, amid untold stress and confusion, there are scavenger-minded shysters who slink to the sidelines to wait for a distressed populace...

The Long-Term Viability Of Fast-Delivery Denver Apartment Buildings
Although the official Colorado state bird is the Lark Bunting, it has seemingly been replaced across the greater Denver metro area by the crane. For the past several years, the Mile-High City skyline has become increasingly dotted with these towering industrial effigies — as long-standing, recently demolished structures are replaced with mid-rise odes to blandness. These rapidly erected residential buildings have earned dispa...

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
— Albert Einstein
The importance of recycling seems, to some degree, to have taken a back seat to the divisive nature of the global warming argument. Yet, regardless of how you choose to process scientific evidence about carbon emissions and the rising temperature of the planet, the fact remains that civilization is producing massive amounts of trash. Further, some (not all) of the elements which end up in the...

The Winners And Losers Of Legalized Sports Betting In Colorado “One of the worst things that can happen to you in life is to win a bet on a horse at an early age.”
Dan McGoorty
On May 14, 2018, in a lawsuit filed by the State of New Jersey, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) of 1992 was unconstitutional. Removal of this piece of anti-gaming legislation opened the sports betting floodgates. Currently, a deluge of widely ...

by Luke Schmaltz
The spring and summer months of 2019 were a troubling time for Denver’s LoDo district, as incidents of late-night violence rendered multiple stabbings and shootings resulting in several fatalities. Such details are troubling in any district, yet the fact that this area is home to an array of high-end restaurants, luxury hotels, high-priced boutiques and high-class clothiers makes the juxtaposing crime rate an anomaly indeed.
Several socioeconomic dynamics intersect in this gr...

“I’m often asked whether I believe in global warming. I now just reply with the question: Do you believe in gravity?” – Neil deGrasse Tyson
There is a global crisis of excessive atmospheric carbon looming overhead, and one of the key strategies for reducing it lies underfoot.
It is a scientific fact that, if the planet’s topsoil continues to degrade and erode at the current rate, within several decades the human population will be unable to feed itself.

by Luke Schmaltz

From the redeveloped riversides of RiNo to the recessed byways of the Cherry Creek bike path to the construction-heavy tumult of South Broadway, Denver is a city undergoing a graphic metamorphosis. The latter-day giants of large-scale development, municipal growth and sweeping gentrification are marching forth at a thunderous pace. Yet, on the road to metropolitan might, the titans of progress seem to have picked up a colorful band of eccentric hitchhikers.

These unlikely pas...

“If there is a future, it will be Green.” -- Petra Kelly
Population explosion and climate change are presenting never-before-seen challenges for meeting worldwide food demands.
The modern system of soil-based agriculture is unsustainable according to current population growth rates and diminishing space for farming. Thankfully, hydroponics -- AKA controlled-environment agriculture -- offers an array of dynamic solutions including innovative repurposing of urban spaces, efficient use of water,...

The rate at which the planet is warming has placed mankind on a collision course with consequence. Since the dawn of the industrial age, human beings have harnessed the power of fossil fuels to propel an insatiable thirst for modernization. Currently, the energy-related carbon dioxide emissions worldwide are over 32 billion metric tons per year.

The sweltering months of 2019 were bumper-to-bumper trouble for U.S. Highway 36 commuters.
If you are one of the 107,000 motorists or public transportation customers who traverse this corridor daily, here’s hoping your vehicle has air conditioning, your playlist is extensive, and your boss knows you’re going to be late.
A considerable crack in the surface layer appeared July 12, 2019, prompting Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) crews to close the eastbound lanes at ...

“ … more food in less space in less water and in less time. “ --- Dan Lubkeman, President of Hydroponic Society of America, on the meaning of hydroponics.
Alternative growing mediums are key to success in hydroponics. They allow for continuous recycling of water and for maximum nutrient absorption in a minimal amount of space. Similar to soil, products such as rockwool, coco coir and clay pellets support plant roots while allowing for greater exposure to air and moisture without the considera...

“When patterns are broken, new worlds emerge.” — Tuli Kupferberg
Female sexuality can be regarded as a macrocosm of deeply personal feelings, dynamic thought processes, naturally transitioning hormones, distinctive personality traits and innate physical characteristics that can almost always be in some sort of a state (subtle or otherwise) of flux and change.
Step Back for a Moment
To think about the sheer scope of hormonal changes a woman endures — aside from the rest of the factors stated a...