Kunc's Colorado Edition

The vast space around earth is getting a little crowded. There are nearly 10,000 satellites in Earth’s low orbit, the space just outside our planet’s atmosphere. And space companies plan to launch tens of thousands more in coming years.  That could led to problems like interruptions to communications from satellites that monitor the weather. Or we could see satellites crashing into one another. So how do we make rules to prevent those kinds of accidents? And how much regulation of space is too much?  A unique gathering at the University of Colorado Law School this week is confronting those questions. The Space and Spectrum Policy Conference began Tuesday.   Keith Gremban is a professor and co-director of the Spectrum Policy Initiative at CU Boulder and he helped organize this conference. He spoke with In The NoCo’s Brad Turner about why one of the main goals for the conference is simply to raise awareness of these issues. For more on the dark sky preservation programs Keith mentioned, check out this In The No

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 said 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. Alex spoke in March with host Erin O’Toole about the impact of the new law. We’re listening back to the conversation today. 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 disc

In 1895, Leadville city leaders faced a dilemma. The silver mining industry had made the town quite wealthy. But then the silver market crashed, and the city's fortunes cratered right along with it. Residents were leaving in droves to seek better opportunities. So, city leaders came up with an unusual idea to draw tourists to Leadville, entice people to live there, and give the remaining residents a sense of pride: They decided to build a giant palace of ice.  What followed is a remarkable story of innovative engineering that drew visitors from thousands of miles away – at least for a few winter months, until the inevitable spring melt.  Windsor-based author Afton Rorvik paints a vivid picture of all of this in her new book, The 1896 Leadville Ice Palace. Her research drew from the collections of the Heritage Museum and the National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum in Leadville.   She joined Erin O’Toole to talk about why she finds this history fascinating – and why the story of the Ice Palace still resonates t

Many students in Colorado schools don’t have much of a chance to act onstage, play an instrument or hone their craft at painting. Arts programs in most public schools have been cut severely due to tight budgets and to make room for classes that help schools get higher scores on standardized tests. So a team of KUNC reporters recently wondered: What does this look like in Colorado schools? And where are kids learning about the arts? In this special episode of In The NoCo, we’re sharing stories from Loveland, Brighton and Steamboat Springs. Check out photos and more reporting on these stories. This episode was reported by Rachel Cohen, Emma VandenEinde and Leigh Paterson. The series was edited by Leigh Paterson. Jennifer Coombes edited the online version of the series. Brad Turner adapted the stories for this episode of In The NoCo. * * * * * 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

More than three decades ago Colorado was known as the Hate State. In 1992 Colorado voters passed Amendment 2, which banned anti-discrimination laws meant to protect gays, lesbians, and bisexuals. But the Amendment never went into effect because there was immediate backlash. It was challenged again and again for being unconstitutional, bringing it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.  Season 4 of KUNC’s Colorado Dream podcast retraces Colorado’s tumultuous history and evolving relationship with its queer and transgender population.  Stephanie Daniel is the executive producer and host for The Colorado Dream. She spoke about the latest season with Erin O’Toole last fall. To celebrate Pride month, we’re listening back to that conversation today. * * * * * 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

Hattie McDaniel was the first African American to win an Oscar. The actor won for her role as Mammy in the film “Gone with the Wind.”  And McDaniel spent much of her childhood in Colorado: A plaque marks her family’s former home in Fort Collins. Growing up, she attended public schools in Denver.  McDaniel was in her 40s when she won the best supporting actress Oscar. And she used her platform to become a champion for civil rights. Today, in honor of Juneteenth, we’re exploring Hattie McDaniel’s story. Reshonda Tate is author of the book “The Queen of Sugar Hill”, which explores McDaniel’s life and career. ReShonda spoke with Erin O’Toole and mentioned that there was a time when she had a hard time admiring McDaniel as an actor. 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 LaveryEx

A vaccine against weight gain may be a reality soon, thanks to new research from the University of Colorado Boulder. The study focuses on a strain of bacteria that prevents obesity by reducing inflammation.  Chris Lowry is a professor of integrative physiology and CU and led the research. His study found that he could prevent mice from becoming overweight, even when raised on the equivalent of an all-McDonald’s diet.  When his team injected mice with that particular strain of bacteria, the junk- food mice gained no more weight than mice with healthy diets. Chris Lowry joined Erin O’Toole in January to talk about his research and why he thinks it’s a promising solution for obesity and how the results caught him off guard. We’re listening back to that conversation today.  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 Pro

Summer heat in Colorado has many people dreaming about escaping to the cool air of the mountains. But for Black Americans in the 1920s and 30s, segregation and discrimination severely restricted where they could travel and take a vacation.  Which is why, in 1922, Lincoln Hills emerged as a mountain resort created by and for African Americans. It sits near Rollinsville, northwest of Denver, and was the largest resort of its kind west of the Mississippi River. It drew visitors from all over the country until the 1960s. And it offered a rare opportunity for Black Americans to feel safe and welcome in the outdoors, during a time when access to such spaces was often limited because of racial discrimination. History Colorado in Denver has unveiled a new exhibit called Lincoln Hills: Mountain Sanctuary. It features photographs, displays of recreational clothing, and recently collected oral histories.  Erin O’Toole spoke with Acoma Gaither, History Colorado’s assistant curator of Black history, to learn more about wh

If you've ever walked near a landfill, or driven by one on a warm summer day with your windows down, you know there's a certain smell it puts out.  But Colorado's landfills also produce massive amounts of methane, emitting as much dirty air as driving a million cars for a year. Landfills are the third-largest source of methane emissions in Colorado, after agriculture and fossil fuel extraction. And that concerns health officials more than any smell – because methane is a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change, and has some negative health effects, too.  Denver-based environmental journalist Jennifer Oldham recently wrote about this issue for  Capital & Main. She says state health officials may ask Colorado’s landfill operators to measure and track their methane emissions, which is something they haven’t had to do before. Jennifer joined Erin O’Toole to talk about the problem and potential solutions. * * * * * Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org Questions? Feedback? St

Colorado has 13 sites that are part of the National Park System. And visitors may notice some striking new signs posted in the parks when they visit this summer.  The U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees the National Park Service, is requiring the posting of signs that ask visitors to identify and report “any signs or other information that are negative about either past or living Americans.”  The order caught the attention of many national park supporters, who fear it could lead to censoring less flattering parts of American history – especially at sites in Colorado that commemorate the Sand Creek Massacre or the Amache internment camp that imprisoned Japanese Americans in World War II. Tracy Coppola is Colorado senior program manager with the National Parks Conservation Association, a nonprofit that advocates for the national parks but is not part of the park service. She spoke with Erin O’Toole about the impact this policy could have on visitors, as well as rangers and educators at the parks.  *

Imagine being able to control exactly when the plants in your vegetable garden will ripen. New research out of Colorado State University could make that concept a reality. Researchers there have been working to create what they call “genetic toggle switches” embedded in the DNA of plants.  The researchers plug synthetic DNA into a plant’s genetic material and use it as a switch that tells the plant to ripen, or flower, or grow. Professors June Medford and  Ashok Prasad led this research into plant biology and recently published their findings in the journal ACS Synthetic Biology.  They joined host Erin O’Toole to talk about how these “toggle switches” work, and how the technology might eventually change the produce section at your grocery store. 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'TooleProduc

More than 82 million people passed through Denver International Airport last year – and almost none of them noticed the very complicated cleanup project happening right under their noses. Airport officials spent $3 million dollars cleaning up toxic chemicals left over from the firefighting foam the airport used on its runways in the past. The foam is full of PFAS – otherwise known as “forever” chemicals – which have been linked to harmful effects in humans.  DIA recently completed the cleanup project as part of a program created by the state of Colorado to remove forever chemicals from DIA and other sites that use firefighting foam. Now that they’ve cleaned up the chemicals and the contaminated firefighting equipment at the airport, there’s a new challenge – figuring out where to dispose of 100,000 gallons of harmful waste from DIA.    Michael Booth is an environmental writer for the Colorado Sun. He wrote about this cleanup project, and why the chemicals were used in firefighting foam in the first place.   L

Fifty years ago, two men came to the Boulder County courthouse, seeking a license to get married.  Marriage equality was not the law of the land in 1975. But Clela Rorex, the newly elected Boulder County clerk, could find nothing in Colorado state law that would prevent her from issuing a marriage license to a same-sex couple. So, she did. And she issued five more in the next few weeks before she was ordered to stop.  It was a historic moment in the movement for LGBTQ rights, and her actions made her a hero -- and a target of backlash.  Mardi Moore is the CEO of Rocky Mountain Equality, an LGBTQ advocacy group based in Boulder. She was a friend and colleague of Clela, who died in 2022 at the age of 78.  During Pride Month, Erin O'Toole spoke with Mardi to learn more about Clela Rorex and that day she made history back in 1975. * * * * * 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 NoC

Colorado has ambitious goals around renewable energy. Gov. 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 recent 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 Xcel

The Stanley Hotel is a cultural landmark of Estes Park. It was built in the early 1900s, and soon became a popular Colorado getaway for wealthy vacationers.  But it's perhaps most well-known as the inspiration for Stephen King's The Shining. Today, the hotel caters to horror fans with ghost tours, while visitors who prefer a calmer vacation enjoy watching herds of elk on the lawn and the perfect view of Longs Peak.  All of this has made the Stanley Hotel a huge part of Estes Park – and Colorado – culture. And an unusual team of investors and elected officials want to make sure the Stanley survives into the next century.  Colorado Sun reporter Jason Blevins wrote about the sale of the Stanley Hotel, which was finalized in May. He joined Erin O'Toole to talk about how this arrangement came together, and what the future of this Colorado institution might look like. * * * * * 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?

Colorado has been impacted severely by wildfires in recent years. And, as climate change continues to intensify, the threat  is growing. Colorado Sen. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, recently co-sponsored a sweeping new bill to expand, and speed up, wildfire prevention efforts across the country. It’s called the Fix Our Forests Act.  It calls for more funding for research to prevent wildfires, the creation of a central wildfire response center for the whole country, and the removal of more dead and diseased trees on federal land.  It also calls for the time allowed to review or push back on these forest management projects to be much shorter. “The difference is it won't take five years or eight years... People will be able to do it fast enough so that they can really respond to this tinderbox situation we find ourselves in, in of the American West,” Hickenlooper said.  Some critics have taken issue with the bill. They say it would undermine environmental protections and could lead to more logging.  Host Erin O

A small herd of bison roams the Soapstone Prairie north of Fort Collins. The herd offers a glimpse of what Colorado’s high plains looked like 200 years ago. These bison are unique for a few reasons. First, they’re descendants of the herd at Yellowstone National Park. Second, while most bison today carry some cattle DNA, this herd has nearly pure bison genes. That has spiritual significance for many Indigenous tribes.  The breeding project is based at Colorado State University. It's raised hundreds of bison over the last decade and transferred them to tribes and wildlife organizations.  Host Erin O’Toole spoke with Jennifer Barfield, a professor and reproductive physiologist at CSU who has been leading the project for the past 10 years.  * * * * * 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

A unique legal argument caught our attention recently here at In The NoCo. It’s about rules banning people experiencing homelessness from sleeping in public places in Boulder.  The recent court filing by the ACLU of Colorado argues that camping is so fundamental to the culture and history of Colorado that cities should not be allowed to punish people who camp in public.   The ACLU of Colorado filed that brief to fight a recent ruling that said the city of Boulder can ticket or arrest people for sleeping outdoors. So-called “camping bans” like the one in Boulder are used by cities across the country. And they’ve been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. So how did the ACLU of Colorado decide to build an argument around the state’s camping culture, and how likely is it to win? Host Erin O’Toole spoke with  Tim Macdonald, legal director of the ACLU of Colorado, to talk about why the group wants to end camping bans. For more coverage on the recent filing read the Boulder Reporting Lab’s coverage.Sign up for the In T

Commercial airline travel is one of the safest ways to get around. In 2024, around five billion passengers worldwide flew on 40 million flights, according to the International Air Transport Association. In that year there was less than one aircraft-related accident for every million flights in the air. In other words, the odds are in your favor when you buy a plane ticket. And yet, fear of flying is one of the most common phobias people struggle with. Researchers estimate about 25 million adults in the U.S. suffer from aerophobia, or fear of flying.  Randi Smith is a professor of psychology at Metropolitan State University of Denver. She studies why air travel provokes such an intense reaction in so many people.  With the summer travel season about to get underway, she joined Erin O’Toole to share some science-backed strategies to help you, or a loved one, overcome a fear of flying.   * * * * * Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.org Li

Picture this: It’s a warm summer evening. You’ve got burgers and sweet corn roasting on the grill. And for dessert, homemade cobbler with fresh peaches – picked right off your very own peach tree.  If you live along the Front Range, you might think the only place you can get sweet, juicy Palisade peaches is at your local farmer's market. But it is possible to grow a peach tree outside of western Colorado, although it’s a bit more challenging than you might expect. Jeff Pieper is a horticulture specialist with Colorado State University Extension in Mesa County, on the Western Slope. He’s been on the show before, to discuss the science behind why Palisade peaches taste so incredible.  He joined Erin O’Toole to walk through some of the pros – and pitfalls – of growing your own peach tree.  Jeff mentioned lots of other fruit options that are more suited for the Front Range, including apple trees as well as small fruits like strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, gooseberries and currants.   Find more info and a