Kunc's Colorado Edition

If you listen to music at all in 2024 it’s clear that female artists are a dominant force. From Taylor Swift to Beyonce, Dolly Parton to Billie Eilish, women are some of the top-selling artists in the business.  But behind the scenes? It’s a different story. Statistics show only a small fraction of people in the music industry are women – not on the performing side, but in behind-the-scenes jobs like engineering and production. A new nonprofit called Project Traction has a mission to create opportunities for women and non-binary music producers.  It was founded by Jim Eno – the drummer for the band Spoon. He hopes to boost the number of women in these important industry roles by providing mentorship and hands-on studio experience. And the latest iteration of Project Traction is focused on Northern Colorado. Briana Harris, a singer and saxophonist in Greeley, is one of the musicians participating in Project Traction. She got to fine-tune her studio skills alongside Eno, producing a new music track from Denver-

The future of the Colorado River is in the hands of seven people who represent the states that use its water. And right now, they can’t agree on a set of new rules to share the shrinking supply - despite a quickly approaching deadline. Those negotiations typically happen behind closed doors, rather than in a public setting. But last week, representatives from Wyoming to California met at the University of Colorado Boulder for an annual water law conference. About 300 people with an interest in the future of the Colorado River were in the audience to hear what leaders had to say. KUNC's water reporter Alex Hager was there, too. He joined host Erin O'Toole to share some details from that conference.  

Pets give us companionship and keep us healthier. They can give us a reason just to get out of bed in the morning. Unfortunately, some people have had a difficult time being able to keep their pets in recent years. The cost of housing is up. Inflation makes it harder to afford veterinary care, pet food and other supplies. Eviction moratoriums and financial assistance programs that helped people during the pandemic have largely gone away. As a result, many shelters are at or near capacity. Now the people who run those shelters are turning to creative ways to help keep pets in their homes – with their owners. To learn more about these approaches, host Erin O'Toole talked with Mouse Jewell, a client intake specialist with the Longmont Humane Society, and Judy Calhoun, CEO at NOCO Humane, which serves Larimer and Weld counties.

Fifty years ago, in 1974, a pair of car bombings in Boulder killed six people.  Five of the six were University of Colorado students and alumni who had been part of a Chicano student activist group on campus called UMAS. Their names were Una Jaakola,Reyes Martínez, Neva Romero, Florencio Granado, Heriberto Terán and Francisco Dougherty. They were known as Los Seis de Boulder. At the time, the police said the activists likely blew themselves up with their own explosives – a claim that’s still met with skepticism today. The case remains unresolved.  City officials recently unveiled a memorial in downtown Boulder. Artist Jasmine Baetz designed it to commemorate the tragedy. We spoke to Baetz about how she learned of Los Seis, and the artwork she created.

When we see weeds start to pop up in the yard or the garden, the first instinct for many of us is to figure out how to get rid of them. But here's the thing: Many plants we might regard as ugly or invasive are, in fact, edible. Orion Aon learned this in his early years growing up in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He would go on camping trips with family and friends – who gave him some of his first lessons in finding food in the wild. Today, he is the owner of Forage Colorado. He began the business in 2015, initially as a way to create a community with fellow foragers to share stories and knowledge. "It turns out that there weren't that many people doing that, at least online, and sharing about it at the time," Aon says. "So it quickly turned into me teaching other people what I knew."Now, he shows clients how to connect with nature by finding and and preparing wild foods like dandelions, tumble mustard, and curly dock. Here at In The NoCo, we like to talk to folks with unique businesses. Orion was kind enough to take

There is a deeper link between diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease than doctors may have previously understood.New research at the University of Colorado could point the way to changing how, and when, doctors screen for Alzheimers. Dr Allison Shapiro, assistant professor of Pediatric Endocrinology at CU’s Anschutz Medical Campus, led a study that looked for biomarkers that are typically found in older adults with Alzheimer's, in young people with diabetes - specifically people in their teens and twenties. The results were surprising, but also confirmed the deep connection between brain and body.

The sugar beet industry began in Colorado right around 1900. Today it's only a small part of the state's economy, but through the early part of the 20th century, beets were the most significant agricultural product grown here. They were so important to the economy that people  referred to sugar beets as 'white gold.' During this time, thousands of Hispanic and Mexican people came to Northern Colorado to work in the beet fields. Many of them eventually settled in Fort Collins - predominantly in what would come to be called the Tres Colonias – three neighborhoods that surrounded the Great Western Sugar Company.Betty Aragon-Mitotes is something of an expert on the legacy of the families who settled in this area. She has been a longtime community leader, advocating for Hispanic and Latino communities. She co-founded a cultural center spotlighting the Tres Colonias neighborhoods, and is the founder and president of the nonprofit Mujeres de Colores, which educates and provides support to working-class and low-incom

It was a shocking crime.In January, thieves in Wichita, Kansas allegedly stole and destroyed a bronze statue of Jackie Robinson, the trailblazing baseball player and civil rights hero. Only the statue's bronze shoes were left behind. The statue had stood near ballfields used by League 42 – a youth baseball league named after the number on Robinson’s uniform. News of the crime generated an outpouring of support, including more than half a million dollars in donations to replace the statue. And the work to create the new statue is happening in Loveland. Art Castings of Colorado, which was started in 1972, specializes in bronze sculptures. The company worked on the original Jackie Robinson statue. Now, the staff at the foundry is creating the replacement, which League 42 plans to dedicate later this year..  Art Castings owner Tony Workman joined host Erin O'Toole to share what makes the statue so special.

A tiny parasite is an emerging threat to honeybees globally. And a scientist at the University of Colorado is sounding the alarm. Dr. Samuel Ramsey is an entomologist, someone who studies insects. Dr. Sammy, as he is also known, is assistant professor of entomology and evolutionary biology at the University of Colorado Boulder and talks about science on his YouTube channel.The tropilaelops mite -- or as Ramsey likes to call them, tropi-mites -- have devastated bees in Asia and are spreading to Europe. Ramsey is studying how we might prevent this species from spreading to North America and becoming a honeybee pandemic. Ramsey is a gay, Christian, Black scientist who attributes much of his research success to his unique perspective. We talked with him about what tropilaelops could mean for honeybees, as well as how a diversity of viewpoints makes for better scientific research.  

Each spring, the Front Range endures miller moth season. Even in relatively mild years like this one, the tiny winged visitors enter our homes, annoy us and even frighten us. But they’re also fascinating.So we asked Karim Gharbi – an insect expert and horticulture specialist with Colorado State University Extension – to help us unpack the mysteries of the miller moths. Where do they come from? Where do they go when they leave? Are they dangerous? And why does Erin’s dog seem to love the taste of them? The answers may surprise you – just like a miller moth darting out of your medicine cabinet first thing in the morning.

For many of us, Memorial Day is the first day of the year we get to fire up the grill. We make hamburgers, hot dogs, steaks - all foods that taste good with a bit of a char and that added smoky flavor. They’re also all meats. So what if you want a plant-based Memorial Day cookout, but you don’t want that frozen veggie patty from the grocery store? Today on the show: some easy ideas for a meat-free or vegetarian-friendly barbecue. To help with those plans we spoke with Justice Marcellus, owner and manager of The Mighty Vegans - a food truck serving all plant-based options. The Mighty Vegans just had their grand opening in Longmont this week. You can see Justice’s recipe for her Smokin’ Herb Burger on our website at KUNC.org.

The phrase "gardening season" may bring a few images to mind: large beds of colorful wildflowers… rows of neatly staked tomato plants… big bags of mulch stacked up against the side of the house. Or perhaps your mental image of gardening looks a little more modest. As in, potted herbs growing on a windowsill. That's the case for KUNC digital producer Natalie Skowlund. She recently decided to research and write an introduction to gardening for novices. And she lives in an apartment, so she wanted to focus on the benefits of starting small as you work on your green thumb. She joined In The NoCo host Erin O'Toole to commiserate over all the basil plants they've allowed to die over the years... and to share some of the tips she's learned – including why it's important to branch out when choosing drought-tolerant plants. 

Adjusting street lamps and other exterior lights to allow the stars to shine more brilliantly – that's part of the process for becoming a certified Dark Sky community. More than 200 places in 22 countries around the world have this designation. Advocates say limiting light pollution helps preserve expansive views of the night sky, and helps nocturnal creatures thrive. And the Colorado Tourism Office believes the Dark Sky designation helps attract visitors.Town leaders in Grand Lake recently took the first steps toward becoming an official Dark Sky community. They would join five other towns in Colorado that already have that designation. About two dozen more Dark Sky places are in the pipeline, including communities and parks across the state.Aaron Watson is with the group DarkSky Colorado. He joined host Erin O'Toole to discuss the problem with light pollution, and why a growing number of Colorado towns are taking the idea of dark skies so seriously.Read more about the overview effect that Watson mentions ne

Danielle SeeWalker is a Húŋkpapȟa Lakȟóta artist living and working in Denver. Her work incorporates traditional Native American materials and themes. This past January, SeeWalker was approached and offered a residency by the town of Vail. The residency would have included SeeWalker creating a public mural. However, on May 9, town officials backed out on that plan. They stated a concern about the politicization of their public art program. Vail officials pointed to SeeWalker’s recent  social media posts sharing a painting she had created, called "G is for Genocide." The piece is a statement on the conflict in Gaza. The painting depicts a person wearing a keffiyeh – a traditional Palestinian scarf – as well as a braid, a feather and other traditional Native American imagery.The rescinded offer became a social media firestorm for both SeeWalker and the town. Vail released another statement on May 14. They apologized for inconveniencing SeeWalker. But they also defended their decision, saying they could not “sup

One of the most definitive signs that spring has arrived is the sound of lawnmowers filling the neighborhood. But this month, that rumble may be a little quieter than usual. That's because of a recent trend in yard care called "No Mow May." The idea is simple: wait until June to mow to allow flowers like dandelions and clover to grow and support bees, butterflies, and other pollinators. The concept was started in 2019 by Plantlife, a UK-based conservation organization, in response to declines in pollinators and their natural habitat. It's since become a popular movement among some gardeners and conservation advocates in the U.S. – propelled, perhaps, by the catchy name and the #NoMowMay social media hashtag. But is it a good idea for our region?Before you decide whether to break out your lawnmower this weekend – or leave it idle – we asked for advice from our friends at Plant Talk Colorado at CSU. Extension professor of horticulture Alison O’Connor joined us to explain whether No May May is backed up by scien

Just off Highway 34 outside of Greeley sits a ghost town dotted with a couple of deteriorating buildings and a sign. In the early 1900s, this area was home to Dearfield. The thriving agricultural community founded by O.T. Jackson was Colorado’s largest Black homesteading site. At its peak there were around 300 residents, and Dearfield boasted a number of businesses including a grocery store and a blacksmith shop, plus a school, several churches, and a dance hall. Settlers grew corn, winter wheat, melons and strawberries, and the community enjoyed great prosperity – until drought, the Dust Bowl, and the Great Depression forced most to leave and seek work elsewhere.“I think it's been very, very important to have Dearfield be an example of what Black people could do and have done – and the future of what Black people could do,” said George Junne, a professor of Africana Studies at University of Northern Colorado who has studied Dearfield for decades. Junne sat down with In The NoCo’s Erin O’Toole in February to

Patients in Colorado feel the brunt of a growing healthcare crisis every day. Most Colorado counties have a shortage of primary care doctors and other healthcare workers – and that has an outsized impact on low-income and rural communities. And that shortage is projected to get even worse as physicians near retirement age. About a third of doctors in the state are 60 or older, according to a recent report from the American Association of Medical Colleges.On May 1, Gov. Jared Polis signed legislation to help address the shortfall. A new medical  school – just the third one in Colorado – will open in 2026 at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley. The new College of Osteopathic Medicine has a price tag of around $200 million, and will eventually graduate 150 new doctors each year. The college's first dean, Dr. Beth Longenecker, joined In The NoCo to discuss how the new school will make a dent in a statewide and national shortage of doctors.

Access to a great education – and finding a way to pay for it – was a common thread running through some of the most notable bills Colorado lawmakers introduced at the state capitol in recent months. The 2024 legislative session wrapped up last week with lots of new laws on the books, including one that offers two years of free community college to some state residents. Another bill, designed to make sure rural K-12 schools are funded properly, marks the first major overhaul of the state's public education funding formula in 30 years.KUNC's statehouse reporter Lucas Brady Woods followed these and dozens of other bills during the session. He joined In The NoCo to highlight a few of the most notable legislative accomplishments.We want to hear from you! What questions do you have about Colorado laws, state politics – or something else entirely? Send us your burning questions, and we might look into some of them! Email us (or send us a voice memo) at NOCO@kunc.org

Springtime in Northern Colorado means the return of a quintessential summer pastime. The Fort Collins Trolley resumed service last weekend. This season marks 40 years since the restored trolley began once again to take passengers on a leisurely journey along Mountain Avenue into Old Town.  The electric streetcars were once a common sight in the streets of Fort Collins, at least until the early 1950s, as car ownership rose and fewer people relied on public transportation. In the late 1970s, a group of dedicated volunteers began to restore the aged trolley cars and to reinstall the track. Host Erin O’Toole took a ride and got a personal tour, where she learned some of the trolley's quirky history – including the time the old depot became a victim of the CU-CSU football rivalry… and how a group of people opposed to bringing the trolley back nearly derailed the restoration.The Fort Collins Trolley operates weekends and holidays through Sept. 29, 2024. You can learn more about the trolley's history and find schedu

A shortage of affordable housing – and a shortage of teachers – recently forced leaders in Eagle County to try an ambitious new project. They’ve taken the unusual step of becoming a builder and landlord for some of the school staff on their payroll.Miller Flats is a 37 unit housing complex built exclusively for school staff in Edwards. Last year reporter Rae Solomon listened in while second grade teacher Julian Millares checked to see if he’s won a spot in the building. Julian, whose story was part of the KUNC podcast The Colorado Dream, had entered a lottery set up for prospective residents.Recently, the apartment complex reached full capacity. And we are checking in with Julian to see how the living situation is.