Kunc's Colorado Edition

Last year, Colorado lawmakers passed an unusual law.  It directed every county in the state to set up in-person voting for incarcerated people in jails, many of whom are awaiting trial and haven’t been convicted of a crime.   The new law is the first of its kind in the nation. It's an effort to support voting rights for a population that is often considered out of sight, out of mind.  Alex Burness writes for Bolts, a publication that covers issues of criminal justice and elections. He told host Erin O’Toole that while some cities like Denver have supported voting in jails, Colorado’s statewide initiative was groundbreaking: turnout in the state’s jails increased roughly by a factor of 10. Read Alex’s article on voting in Colorado jails. * * * * * Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.org Like what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!  Host and Producer: Erin O'Toole

Spring is approaching, and the garden beckons. Which means it’s not too early to start making gardening and landscaping plans for the year. And if you’re like a lot of homeowners in Colorado, you might be thinking about adding some native plants. Experts say it’s a great way to save water. Native plants also support bees, birds and other pollinators. And native vegetation can require less pruning than more traditional plantings. In the episode of In the NoCo, we've got great recommendations on what native plants to choose and how to plant them, from our friends at the Colorado State University Extension. Erin O’Toole spoke with CSU Extension horticulturalist Tommy Roth, who is especially passionate about landscaping with native plants.  Read more of the CSU Extension team's recommendations for planting native shrubs, perennials, grasses, and trees. And lastly, do you have questions about gardening and landscaping as we head into planting season? Share them with us and we’ll find answers with help from the exp

Five years ago this month, the coronavirus pandemic upended life in Colorado and around the world.   More than 14,000 Coloradans died, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the state saw more than 1.7 million COVID-19 cases. It was a global health crisis that also reshaped the state’s economy in an instant.  Businesses and air travel largely shut down for a time. Remote work, online grocery ordering, and meal delivery services became familiar parts of everyday life.  Richard Wobbekind is a senior economist with the University of Colorado Leeds School of Business. If his name sounds familiar, it’s likely because lots of media outlets turn to him for his analysis.  Five years after the pandemic began, we wanted to hear his perspective about how the event changed the state’s economy in ways large and small. He spoke with Erin O’Toole about COVID-19's impact on Colorado’s housing market, outdoor industry, and other facets of business in the state.    Read more from NPR on the legacy and

State wildlife officials will pay nearly $350,000 to reimburse ranchers in Colorado’s high country who saw their livestock killed or harmed by wolves last year.  The Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission voted to approve those claims recently. It’s a key part of the state’s program to reintroduce wolves. And it gets less attention than photos of newly released wolves turned loose by wildlife officials. It’s an acknowledgment that while voters support wolf reintroduction, actual wolves make life harder for ranchers. We wanted to look at these reimbursements, so we reached out to KUNC’s very own wolf reintroduction expert, Scott Franz. He has been covering the wolf reintroduction for KUNC since they were first released on Colorado’s Western Slope in December of 2023. Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.orgLike what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!Host and Produc

A handful of Colorado schools monitor their students with cameras that use facial recognition software. It’s a security measure: An administrator with access to the technology can upload a student’s photo and then the system can use cameras around the school to pinpoint the student’s location.  More school districts across the state have been exploring whether to adopt this technology, the Denver Post has reported.  A bill at the state legislature would regulate how the technology can be used in the state’s schools at a time when more districts have considered adopting the technology. The debate underlines a conflict between supporters who say it helps make schools safer and opponents who call it a violation of students’ civil rights.   Today we’re revisiting a conversation between NoCo’s Brad Turner and Denver Post education reporter Elizabeth Hernadez, who covered the topic. Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.orgLike what you're hearin

An estimated 13 percent of the construction workforce in Colorado is made up of immigrants without legal status, according to the American Immigration Council. These workers often handle lower-paying jobs at construction sites like installing drywall or laying bricks. Colorado has a housing shortage. So we wondered what is likely to happen to Colorado’s construction industry as the Trump administration imposes sweeping deportation policies and threatens mass raids? We reached out to Chloe East, who has studied the effects of deportation policy on the construction industry, for answers. East is an associate professor of economics at the University of Colorado Denver. She has been investigating the economic impacts of detaining and deporting immigrants without legal status since Trump first took office in 2016. Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.orgLike what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your f

It’s one of the first concepts you learned in science class: Trees take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen. It’s part of why forests play such a critical role in reducing carbon in the atmosphere.  Which is why a recent report on Colorado’s forests sounds a bit alarming. Researchers set out to gauge how many tons of carbon are taken in by Colorado’s nearly 23 million acres of forest – and also how much carbon is emitted by those forests.  They found that forests in Colorado are actually releasing more carbon than they’re storing  – which is surprising if you think back to those early science lessons and expect a forest to have the opposite effect.  Colorado Sun reporter Tracy Ross recently dug into the research. She joined Erin O’Toole to talk about why this is happening – and whether we should be worried. * * * * * Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.org Like what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the sh

The Trump administration announced recently it’s terminating hundreds of jobs at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The announcement sparked protests, including one in Boulder in which NOAA supporters and employees took part. The threat of layoffs at NOAA also led our guest to write a defense of the work the organization does. Kari Bowen is an atmospheric scientist at the University of Colorado who works closely with, and has her work funded by, NOAA. Before working at CU, she spent 11 years as a meteorologist for the National Weather Service, which is part of NOAA.  Bowen argues that even if you don’t know what NOAA does, you might miss NOAA’s services if they’re slashed or privatized. She says NOAA, and the data from its weather satellites, are something many of us use every day. Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.orgLike what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite po

Wildfires are an ever-present threat in Colorado. And those that grow and spread quickly are becoming more common – and more destructive.   But there’s a piece of technology that could help spot a blaze in the earliest stages, before it spreads.  Cameras equipped with artificial intelligence can detect plumes of smoke in the air – even in remote areas – and alert firefighters nearby. This makes AI cameras a valuable tool for the few fire departments that already use them.  But the cameras are expensive. Each one costs about $50,000 dollars per year. And so far, Colorado lawmakers have been hesitant to fund wider use of the cameras.  The Aspen Fire Department began using AI detection cameras in 2021, after a donor supplied money to buy them. There are now nine of these cameras in the surrounding Roaring Fork Valley – and Aspen Fire Chief Rick Balentine thinks Colorado firefighters should be using more of them.  He recently testified at a hearing for the most recent bill state legislators are considering, which

Crowds of sandhill crane admirers gather in Southern Colorado each spring to watch these birds – which have recovered after nearly being wiped out a century ago. The birds’ admirers are fascinated by the cranes’ calls, their mating behaviors, and the fact that the species has existed for 2.5 million years. Scott Weidensaul is a writer and ornithologist who has also found inspiration from the sandhill cranes. He is the keynote speaker at this year’s Monte Vista Crane Festival, in the San Luis Valley, which starts this Friday. Scott talked with Erin O’Toole about the role these birds play in our imagination, and why he has found them so inspiring. Thank you to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology Macaulay Library for letting us share recordings from their sandhill crane audio archive. Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.orgLike what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!Host

Colorado has ambitious goals around renewable energy.  Governor Jared Polis is aiming for 100 percent of the energy in the state to come from renewable sources by the year 2040.   But there’s an obstacle: Colorado doesn’t have enough power lines to deliver all that renewable energy from where it’s produced – often in rural parts of the state – to where it’s needed. A new study from the state’s Electric Transmission Authority found that Colorado needs at least $4.5 billion in transmission investment over the next decade or two, just to keep up with demand.  Which is why clean energy advocates, and Gov. Polis, are intrigued by an unusual business model from a San Francisco-based company called SunTrain.  The plan involves loading train cars with massive batteries filled with renewable energy. The trains would haul batteries from solar and wind farms in rural areas of Colorado to the cities and towns that need that electricity.  SunTrain’s President Christopher Smith and CEO Jeff Anderson have been working with

Democrats in Colorado control the governor’s office and both houses of the state legislature. Many of them openly oppose the Republican Trump administration’s actions to ramp up arrests and deportation of immigrants without legal status in the state.  And those Democratic lawmakers have heard from many constituents in recent weeks who also oppose immigration raids.  But more than a month after Trump took office and sweeps began in places like Denver and Aurora, Colorado Democrats still haven’t determined how they plan to push back. KUNC politics and legislature reporter Lucas Brady Woods spoke with Erin O’Toole to help explain what state legislators can – and can’t – do in the face of federal immigration enforcement.  You can find more of KUNC's statehouse coverage from the Capitol News Alliance here.    * * * * *Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.org Like what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on

Challenging anti-trans legislation – and   finding a way to laugh about it. That’s the idea behind a new national comedy tour created by a transgender comedian who lives in Gunbarrel, outside of Boulder.  Ren Q Dawe is the organizer of the tour – called “Here  to Pee” – which launches this Saturday at Junkyard Social in Boulder. The comedians have stops planned in all 50 states. And some of the comedy, which is performed by trans comics, revolves around literal potty humor. That’s significant in an era when public bathrooms can be contentious spaces for trans folks.   Ren joined Erin O’Toole to talk about why comedy is his way of standing up for his community. Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.orgLike what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!Host and Producer: Erin O'TooleProducer: Ariel LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional m

A piece of U.S. immigration law allows some people who have entered the country illegally to be detained and quickly deported – without typical legal proceedings and a hearing before an immigration judge.   Until recently, this policy applied to people without legal status who had been in the country for less than two weeks, if they were detained near the U.S. border.  But on the first day of his new term, President Trump dramatically expanded that policy, known as expedited removal. Now, immigrants without legal status who’ve been in the country for up to two years can be deported more quickly. And Trump’s revised version of the policy applies to the entire U.S. – not just the border region.  This shift potentially affects thousands of noncitizens here in Colorado, at a moment when immigration officials have been ramping up raids in cities like Denver and Aurora.  To better understand expedited removal, we reached out to Violeta Chapin, a professor of immigration law at the University of Colorado School of L

Dozens of childcare and preschool centers in Colorado are run by companies backed by private equity funding.   Private equity firms use investor money to buy companies with a goal of improving them and selling them for a profit. This kind of investment can help a small childcare business grow and make upgrades, which could be useful in a state like Colorado that has a childcare shortage.  But many private equity firms have a reputation for cutting staff and raising prices. And that’s concerning to some Colorado lawmakers – especially since more public money is going to childcare and preschool after the state launched its universal pre-K program a few years ago.  Several legislators at the state Capitol have introduced a bill that aims to establish some guardrails for private equity-backed centers. The proposed rules include requirements to notify parents about upcoming enrollment changes or staff layoffs. Journalist Ann Schimke has reported on this issue for Chalkbeat Colorado. She talked with Erin O’Toole ab

In 2018 the City of Boulder and Boulder County filed an unusual lawsuit: they sued Exxon Mobil and Suncor Energy for contributing to climate change.  Climate change, the lawsuit argued, has caused a plethora of problems like flooding, road damage, and an increase in wildfires. The city and county have spent millions of dollars reacting to these problems.  And they wanted help paying for it.  Since the case was filed, more communities around the country have followed Boulder’s lead and brought similar lawsuits against fossil fuel companies. Earlier this month, the Colorado Supreme Court held a hearing to determine the fate of this case.  So, while we await a decision, we wondered: What are the odds of this lawsuit moving forward? And how might it affect other communities dealing with climate change?  Erin O’Toole spoke with Colorado Sun reporter Parker Yamasaki, who’s been covering the case and the recent hearing, to learn more. * * * * * Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org Questions? Feedba

Nuclear Waste is piling up at power plants around the country, and we have no idea where to put it. Many states are aggressively fighting plans for new storage facilities. But northwest Colorado is quietly opening the door. KUNC’s investigative reporter Scott Franz recently traveled around rural Colorado talking with people about what nuclear waste storage could do for the local economy – and also interviewing folks who are dead set against that idea.  On this special edition of In The NoCo, we’ve combined all of Scott’s reporting from the past few months into a single episode. You can also see photos and check out more on this investigation. Scott’s reporting was edited by Leigh Patterson. 

Over the past few months, crews have worked on an unusual firefighting operation near Boulder. They extinguished a blaze that has burned underground for more than a century.  The work happened at Marshall Mesa near an open area that's popular for hiking. A fire in a a coal seam there had smoldered beneath the surface for years. It was a remnant of a time when coal mining thrived in the area. And it was a hazard: Heat from underground blazes can sometimes set fire to grass and other brush nearby.  So crews have spent the winter digging up combustible material and bringing it to the surface. Then they mixed in cooler dirt to prevent future fires.   Work at the site wrapped up recently, and officials held a celebration at the site on Thursday. So today, we’re revisiting a conversation with Jeff Graves recorded back in October, as the work was getting started. Jeff is director of Colorado’s Inactive Mine Reclamation Program, and he managed the job.  He talked with In The NoCo's Brad Turner about how Marshall Mesa

After the recent death of President Jimmy Carter, many of the tributes mentioned his environmental legacy and push for energy-efficient development. And one unusual part of his plan was focused here in Colorado.  Carter’s administration had backed the design of some experimental homes along the Front Range. They were warmed by the sun and fueled by renewable sources – an exciting idea in the late 1970s.  John Avenson was paying attention back then, and wanted to live in one of those homes. He got the plans, hired a contractor and built his very own Carter home in Westminster in 1981 – even as Carter’s successor in the White House, President Ronald Reagan, scaled back renewable energy development.  Avenson still lives in that home today. It’s featured in an episode of the PBS series Heart of a Building, which focuses on innovative building construction.  The episode will be shown at the Colorado Environmental Film Festival in Golden on Feb. 23.  Erin O’Toole spoke with Avenson and Heart of a Building host Paul

A note: Today’s episode deals with issues around suicide and firearm violence. Over the past decade, Colorado has seen more than 7,000 deaths by suicide that involved a firearm. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, guns are involved in more than half of Colorado’s deaths by suicide. A bill making its way through the state legislature could help reduce those numbers.  The proposal would allow Coloradans to place a voluntary freeze on their own access to buy a gun.  Someone who’s concerned about their mental health could add their own name to a database of people who are ineligible to purchase a firearm.  Colorado’s proposal is based on a national campaign called Donna’s Law. If approved, the bill would make Colorado the fifth state to set up what's known as a Do Not Sell registry.  So, how effective are voluntary programs like this at reducing the risk of suicide with a firearm? Erin O’Toole spoke with two KUNC colleagues: editor and reporter Leigh Paterson, and Chas Sisk, editor of the