Kunc's Colorado Edition

When the Colorado Rockies’ official scorer Jillian Geib talks America’s favorite pastime, even baseball neophytes catch the excitement. The game is pretty central to her life.“I have watched thousands and thousands of baseball games in my lifetime, so that in itself was training — just watching games and seeing all sorts of situations that could occur because I still feel like every time I watch a game I learn something new,” she said.Many of those thousands of games Geib has watched have included Todd Helton. The first baseman spent 17 seasons with the Rockies and was recently elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. She sat down with host Erin O’Toole to talk about Helton’s storied career — and her own. Geib is the first woman to score for the Rockies, and among only a handful of women to ever have this role in the league. 

The legislative session is underway at the Colorado state Capitol and lawmakers have identified a long list of priorities that could have big impacts on life in Colorado. Strengthening renters’ rights has returned to the forefront after some successful bills and a few failed ones last year. Meanwhile, the Colorado Black Caucus is pushing for a comprehensive review of entrenched racial disparities affecting Coloradans across the state. Addressing the opioid epidemic and the massive problems stemming from it are also central to this year’s session.It is the job of Lucas Brady Woods to tell us how successful lawmakers will be in addressing these issues. KUNC’s statehouse reporter sat down with Erin O’Toole for a quick tour inside the halls of power.

We continue our look at doulas today and the crucial role they could play in addressing high rates of maternal mortality for Coloradans of color. Jannah Farooque is a doula with Mama Bird Doula Services. For the people of color she works with, she says just showing up at the hospital and being by their side makes a difference.“As an African American Muslim woman doula, I know that my presence is so impactful in a positive way because I'm, I wear the hijab, so I'm easily identifiable as Muslim,” Farooque said. “I just remember working in one of the hospitals that largely works with immigrants … as soon as I would walk into the rooms of these women, you could immediately see relief.”  As a full-spectrum doula, she’s around before, during and after a baby’s birth. Her work acknowledges the many different stages when things can get complicated - and when people are most in need of an advocate.In The NoCo’s Robyn Vincent sat down with Farooque to learn more.

Colorado’s maternal death rate has been on the rise. It is a nationwide problem and the data tends to surprise people. The U.S. ranks higher than other countries in the so-called developed world for maternal death rates with people of color hit the hardest. In Colorado, this is especially true for Native Americans and Black residents. Research suggests systemic racism is often at play — a legacy of discrimination in the medical system deters some people of color from seeking care.Today, we begin our two-part look at one solution to these high rates of maternal mortality: doulas. A new partnership between Mama Bird Doula Services and the healthcare nonprofit Colorado Access is expanding this kind of care. It is pairing Black Coloradans on Medicaid with doulas of color. Joy Twesigye, with Colorado Access,  joined In The NoCo’s Erin O’Toole to talk about the important role doulas are taking on.

We hear it mentioned a lot – that this region is growing quickly. And that increasing population puts pressure on a lot of different areas of life – things like housing, healthcare, schools, and transportation. But love it or hate it, growth is inevitable – so how do we make sure it happens strategically, equitably? One solution is to stop making so many distinctions between Weld and Larimer counties — and start bringing these communities together. That’s what a new report from the Community Foundation of Northern Colorado suggests. It presents data from across the region to show how issues like housing and healthcare intersect across county lines — and how coming together might just be the smartest way to alleviate these problems. "Nobody really had assembled the data in a way that allowed us to look at the health and well-being of the entire region," said Kristin Todd, NoCo Foundation president. "We want to promote solving really big, challenging issues as a region. We feel like we're better together; and s

More than 200 copies of the Ouray County Plaindealer were recently stolen out of distribution boxes around town. The newspaper had just published a front-page story about an alleged sexual assault at the home of Ouray’s police chief. Journalist Corey Hutchins has some thoughts on this. The co-director of the Colorado College Journalism Institute writes a weekly newsletter that goes behind Colorado headlines.  In that newsletter, “small and mighty” are the words he used to describe the Plaindealer, which was purchased by residents Mike Wiggins and Erin McIntyre in 2019.“This is not a vehicle for advertising with a little bit of, fun, fluffy news sprinkled in, like you might find in the diner in some small town somewhere. This is a newspaper, I believe that has, since they've owned it for the past few years, taking public service journalism seriously,” he told In The NoCo.And that’s in a county of roughly 5,000 people, amid a crisis of shrinking local news.It means the small paper is still managing to be a watc

Earlier this month a statewide ban on styrofoam takeout containers went into effect and 12-year-old activist Madhvi Chittoor, of Arvada, helped fight for the law.“These laws over time are all about environmental justice, health, justice and intergenerational justice,” said Chittoor, who also pushed for a statewide plastic bag ban. “It protects the rights of children and future generations. So I'm really happy that what I do is making big changes.”These new measures don’t come without challenges for the businesses that are affected, though. A representative from the Colorado Restaurant Association said the policy changes add to the stressors of inflation, supply chain issues, and the labor shortage.   Still, activists like Chittoor champion these moves as important progress. At 12, she has been working on ridding us of styrofoam for a while. The United Nations child advisor and self-proclaimed “No Styrofoam Ninja” joined In The NoCo to discuss her path into activism and why adults need to listen to young peopl

Colorado has taken a bold step as one of the first states to employ an incarcerated professor in a prison education program. It is a move that could have big impacts on incarcerated people and society more broadly. Chalkbeat Colorado’s Jason Gonzales spent time at a state prison in Canon City to learn more. He joined In The NoCo’s Erin O’Toole to talk about what he learned and the people he met.

When Amoako Boafo was growing up in Accra, Ghana in the 1980s and 90s, art wasn’t a realistic or lucrative career path. But he didn’t put his paintbrush down."I kept making my paintings, and from time to time I would get lucky. I would have someone buy one," Boafo said.In those days, he says it was a victory to sell a painting for a hundred dollars. Today, his works go for hundreds of thousands - even millions - of dollars. It’s the kind of sharp rise to fame that could really change a person. But Boafo remains close to his roots. He could live anywhere, but he chooses to stay in Ghana. His exhibit at the Denver Art Museum, Soul of Black Folks, speaks to those roots and how they intertwine and expand upon leaving – and then returning to – your hometown. His portraits are vibrant, textured moments, with an emphasis on Black joy. Boafo and curator Larry Ossei-Mensah sat down with In The NoCo’s Robyn Vincent to discuss the exhibit – on display at DAM until Feb. 19, 2024.

Next week we celebrate the birthday of pioneering physician Dr. Justina Ford. At the turn of the 20th century, she became the first Black woman to practice medicine in Colorado. In an archival clip featured in Rocky Mountain PBS’s “Colorado Experience,” we hear Ford musing on her life’s work: "Babies. Babies are little miracles. That's why I love to deliver them and help these miracles thrive in their new world.”Ford transcended racial and gender barriers to deliver more than 7,000 babies during her 50 years in medicine. She practiced out of her home in Denver’s Five Points neighborhood, and treated patients regardless of their ability to pay. She saw that work as her true calling and higher purpose. "For as long as I can remember, I wanted to be a doctor, a healer of the sick,” Ford said. “I used to like to help dress a chicken for dinner so I could see what was on the inside. I watched my mother use her hands, heart and ways of our African ancestors using roots and natural herbs to take care of her patients

More than 3 million Coloradans live in the Wildland-Urban Interface, positioning their homes at greater risk from the smoke and flames of wildfires. As more people live, work and play in these areas, preventing wildfires becomes increasingly important. Now, one Boulder resident is confronting the heat, but he’s not using the typical mitigation measures you might expect.   “We believe by using fungi and biological solutions, we can help facilitate carbon sequestration, we can facilitate creating healthy soils, and do so in a way which is ecologically sound and sustainable,” says Zach Hedstrom of Boulder Mushroom. His company studies the benefits of mushrooms — from their medicinal qualities to their surprising potential to, yes, prevent wildfires.Hedstrom points to saprophytic fungi, which he calls “nature’s recyclers” because of their ability to break down wood from dead or fallen trees — a fuel for wildfires.KUNC reporter Emma VandenEinde joins host Erin O'Toole to share more about this potential solution. 

A new exhibit at the Museum of Boulder illuminates the stories of Black Coloradans, highlighting their influence on the region's history and their impact on the future. "Proclaiming Colorado's Black History" centers on places like the once-bustling farming community of Dearfield; and notable people like businessman Barney Ford and philanthropist Julia Greeley. It's about sharing the lives and stories of people who aren't necessarily in Colorado's history books, said Adrian Miller, co-Project Director and lead curator for the exhibit."It's important because we're in a time now, across the country, where Black history is actually being vanished, where there are laws being passed and other things to discourage giving a more comprehensive view of our history," said Miller.The project was several years in the making, and was shaped with a lot of community input and collaboration, Miller said. It includes a variety of installations, collections of oral histories, and an art display that delves into Afrofuturism.Mil

This coming Monday, we celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death,” King said in his 1967 speech “Beyond Vietnam.” King gave the speech at the height of the Vietnam War and it is a window into his fuller legacy — one that was not only defined by peaceful protest and calls for unity. He also critiqued capitalism, American imperialism and the ways our policies abroad hurt people near and far. We have come a long way in understanding King’s life and work, and the federal holiday bearing his name is an annual tradition celebrated across the country — a reminder to dig deeper into King’s words and actions. But it wasn't always this way.In fact, a state law to honor King’s birthday wasn’t passed in Colorado until 1984. It took years of work at the hands of former state lawmaker Wilma Webb.KUNC senior managing editor Stephanie Daniel spoke with Webb a coup

Ten years ago on New Year's Day, the first recreational cannabis dispensaries opened their doors to long lines of excited people. Those first few years were known as "The Green Rush" – but now, with sales and revenue dipping from their highest point, some are wondering what the next decade will bring for the industry.Ricardo Baca is among those close observers. The former journalist spent three years as the Denver Post's first-ever marijuana editor, even though he had only just tried edibles for himself.“When the editor in chief of the Post came to me and said, ‘Hey, we want you to be the weed editor,’ I said, ‘You know that I'm not the biggest stoner in the newsroom right now.’ And they're like, ‘Oh, yeah, we know. And that's part of the reason we want you,’” Baca remembered.Baca’s focus is still on cannabis, but he’s got some skin in the game now with the aptly-named marketing agency he founded, Grasslands. He joined host Erin O’Toole to share what it was like covering Colorado’s cannabis industry during it

It has been several decades since performers at Opera Colorado had the representation of a union. That changed recently after a hard-fought battle. Artistic workers had the help of the American Guild of Musical Artists, an organization that is increasingly meeting the moment and helping artists to unionize across the country. They say when the soaring arias are over and the intricate costumes come off, opera singers and the workers who support them struggle to have a voice in the face of tough working conditions. Unions, they say, give them back the microphone. For more, In The NoCo’s Robyn Vincent sat down with Joshua Zabatta, a tenor based in Denver who sings with Opera Colorado, and Griff Braun, national organizing director for the American Guild of Musical Artists.

Colorado kids are missing a lot of school. This past academic year, nearly one in three was chronically absent – that is more than 250,000 students.“If you’re missing 10% or more of school days you are considered chronically absent,” Leigh Paterson told In The NoCo’s Erin O’Toole. Both excused and unexcused absences count, and while the percentage of chronically absent students improved a bit last academic year compared to the year before, generally, this is a growing problem in Colorado, Paterson said. The KUNC senior editor and reporter visited schools in two Northern Colorado districts to speak with students and learn about potential solutions. She shared some of her reporting with us today.

One of Cary Morin’s guitars is proudly displayed at the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery. That black Fender electric speaks to his musical legacy here in Northern Colorado as an Americana artist — or "Native Americana," as some have dubbed his musical style. It is a style with deep Indigenous roots that Morin brought with him from Montana and replanted in Fort Collins four decades ago."The people that I grew up around influenced the songs that I write and the music that I play, just like any songwriter is influenced by the people that they grew up around,” Morin said. “My Crow heritage is definitely rich in unique music, and culturally unique. So that provided a different backdrop for me."Morin’s new album coming out later this month is inspired by the paintings of Charles Marion Russell, whose work conjures vivid images of life in the Old West. In The NoCo’s Erin O’Toole met up with Morin at the museum to talk about this new project.

Temple Grandin sees the world through a different lens. The Colorado State University animal science professor is neurodivergent and her differences as an autistic person have been foundational to her work, especially when it comes to advocating for the humane treatment of animals. She is also an advocate for neurodivergent thinkers, both young and old. Her new book for children is “Different Kinds of Minds.” It is an adaptation of her book “Visual Thinking.” Both explain the need for a diverse range of thinkers and how different minds can thrive. Grandin joined In The NoCo’s Erin O’Toole to discuss the book and much more. 

Many Americans are saddled with medical debt — and that’s true for both insured and uninsured people. Half of respondents to a recent survey by the Commonwealth Fund said it was "very" or "somewhat" difficult to afford their health care costs. The survey’s authors say this challenges the notion that simply having health insurance makes care affordable or accessible. These findings help us understand why advocates in Colorado pushed for a recent law that removes medical debt from credit reports. Julia Char Gilbert, with Colorado Center on Law and Policy, worked on this pioneering law and joins us today, along with Denver resident Kayce Atencio. His medical debt had devastating impacts on his life and turned him into a vocal advocate.If your medical debt is still showing up on your credit report, you can learn about the dispute process via Colorado Center on Law and Policy. 

It’s a fitting day to think about the future — it's the second day of the new year. It is also National Science Fiction Day – a date commemorating the birth of the late Isaac Asimov, one of the genre's most celebrated authors. Like Asimov, a lot of us are fascinated with tales of the future. One of sci-fi’s living legends, author Connie Willis, says that’s a good thing.“We, I think, get to step out of ourselves and imagine worlds that are different from ours. One of the biggest problems right now is people who are unable to put themselves in anyone else's point of view. And I think that's a major thing that science fiction does,” Willis said.Willis recently published a new book, “The Road to Roswell.” She lives in Northern Colorado and joined In The NoCo’s Erin O’Toole in the KUNC studio to discuss the book, reflect on the past, and marvel at the future.KUNC's sister station, The Colorado Sound, will celebrate National Science Fiction Day with special sci-fi themed programming all day.