Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsSteamboat’s annual end-of-season pond skim returned after a pandemic hiatus on Sunday, April 10, 2022. “Rod Kimball” Matthew Kaplan winces just before his backside hits the pond.
To the casual radio listener, it may seem strange for a radio station to have photographers on staff. How does one hear a photograph?
But for Colorado Public Radio's newsroom, our photographers, and the photos they make, help illustrate the stories we publish on this very site, as well on our social media feeds. It's how we make sure we're telling Colorado's most important stories through a variety of mediums, ensuring that you get the news you need to know, no matter where you are.
It’s a constant work in progress. This year, we traveled all over the state and the West, we even flew to Estonia to report on the Colorado National Guard's work there. We covered wildfires, mass shooting survivors, protests, parties, bird migration, winter sports only a Coloradan can love, and very young skateboarders learning to shred.
We sifted through the Pikes Peak-sized collection of photographs we took this year and selected some of the best ones that showed what Colorado (and some other places) looked like in 2022.
Thanks for taking a look.
January
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsLOUISVILLE - On Jan. 3, the remains of one neighborhood among many in Louisville, Superior and Boulder County that were reduced to ash and twisted metal by the Dec. 30 Marshall fire. All told, nearly 1,000 homes were destroyed, many more damaged beyond repair, and thousands of people scrambled to evacuate.
Eli Imadali for CPR NewsLOUISVILLE - Among the Marshall fire evacuees: Larry Boven comforts his wife, Mary, in their car as they sit across the street from the remains of their Louisville home of almost 30 years. “We just got into the car, and we pulled out of the driveway, and the smoke was so intense at that point that I could not even see anything,” he said. The ash was so thick, Boven used the windshield wipers to clear it. “I was worried I was going to run into somebody.” Photographed Jan. 2.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsDENVER - Frank Bonanno, owner of the Bonanno Concepts restaurant group, in the kitchen at the company’s French 75 property in downtown Denver on Monday, Jan. 24. Bonanno hired a full-time mental health clinician, Qiana Torres Flores, as Wellness Director. It’s her job to host seminars, group “therapy” sessions and daily check-ins for about 400 employees. She also provides one-on-one sessions for any employee who need someone to talk to.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsOURAY - Lindsey Hamm waves to the crowd as she peels off the climbing wall of the Elite Mixed Climbing Competition at the 2022 Ouray Ice Festival. In Elite Mixed, competitors race the clock on a route that starts on ice, moves to rock, and ends on a specially built climbing wall. Every time they clip their rope into an anchor, they score a point. Jan. 22.
Kevin J. Beaty/DenveriteDENVER - RTD board member Shontel Lewis rides a 73 bus to the A Line on her way to Denver International Airport on Jan. 26. “If we really want to see a better city, a better world, one that really prioritizes climate change, really prioritizes the impacts on our city, then we have to change,” she told CPR’s Nathaniel Minor for his story, “Why don’t RTD’s trains go into Denver’s neighborhoods?” “This is the time for us to start making investments in our infrastructure differently than we have in the past.”
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsEDGEWATER - King Soopers workers went on strike around the Denver area on Wednesday, Jan. 12, including here on Sheridan Boulevard in Edgewater where pickets were set up on a cold early morning, under a brilliant winter sunrise. The action led to workers approving a new contract that includes wage increases, better health care and more stringent safety protocols at 78 stores around the Denver metro.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsDENVER - Supporters of progressive environmental policies protest outside the state Capitol during the State of the State address by Gov. Jared Polis, Jan. 13. United For Colorado's Climate, a coalition of groups including 350 Colorado and GreenLatinos, organized the rally. Before the event, it released a list of demands that called on Polis to declare a climate emergency and detail plans to phase out all Colorado fossil fuel production by 2030.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsDENVER - The Gold Dome atop the Colorado State Capitol on a cold winter day, Jan. 19, seen from the 16th Street Mall in Denver. Along with budget debates, state lawmakers also spent the winter and spring clashing over new laws regarding abortion access rights and punishment for fentanyl-related crimes.
February
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsAURORA - Frank Casillas, in 7th grade, swabs his own nose during a PCR COVID test on Tuesday Feb. 1, in the cafeteria of Aurora Science and Technology Middle School. A month-long program offered the 435 kids at this school weekly diagnostic PCR testing, through COVIDCheck Colorado and a partner company, Summit Biolabs. It gives them and their parents a much quicker turnaround time on results, usually a day or so.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsCONIFER - Lynna Long, left, listens on Friday, Feb. 25 at the Venue Theatre Company in Conifer as her sister Connie talks about the murder of their youngest sister, Maggie. The 17-year-old was a high school senior who drove home from school just before a concert on December 1, 2017, parked her car, went inside and never came out. Exactly what happened to Maggie, and why, remains an unsolved mystery four years later.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsGRANADA - Mitch Homma, left, speaks with U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, and Sen. Michael Bennet in the cemetery at Camp Amache National Historic Site near Granada on Saturday, Feb. 19. More than 7,000 Japanese Americans were forcibly interred at the camp during World War II, including a number of Homma’s relatives. The visit coincided with the 80th anniversary of the federal order establishing Amache and other internment camps, and just days after the Senate cleared the way for a bill that would make the site a part of the National Park System.
Kevin J. Beaty/DenveriteBOULDER - Boulder Fire Rescue responds to the NCAR fire near the Table Mesa neighborhood on March 26. The fire came within 1,000 yards of homes on the edge of Boulder, but firefighters were able to keep the blaze at bay thanks to fire repellant dropped from a small air tanker. "One of the things that we learned from the Marshall fire was how to rapidly escalate and integrate multiple agencies and get them to work together," said Mike Smith, Incident Commander for Boulder Fire Rescue.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsTHORNTON - Thornton Police Chief Terrence Gordon gestures to colleagues during a demonstration showing the abilities of a computerized, human-like mannequin designed to create near-real-world experiences for first responders. This one, with its foot visible, spurts a liquid the color and texture of human blood. March 31.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsDENVER - Smiles and tears during an emotional moment at Denver Women’s Prison as inmates Cynthia Gonzalez, left, and Amber Pierce talk about prison life while interviewing Colorado Matters senior host Ryan Warner and CPR News reporter Elaine Tassy, on Wednesday, March 30, for Colorado Prison Radio’s "Inside Wire" podcast. Cynthia, 44, has been in prison for 25 years, convicted of felony murder and with a life sentence and no chance of parole. Amber was charged with sexual exploitation of a child, is serving an 18-year sentence.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsDENVER - Former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb waves to supporters as he and current Mayor Michael Hancock arrive for the dedication and unveiling of a statue of Webb, in the building that already bears his name, on March 6.
Dave Burdick/CPR NewsSandhill cranes fly in the Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge in the San Luis Valley on Saturday, March 12.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsBOULDER - Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold stands quietly among a gathering of those commemorating the one-year anniversary of the mass shooting at a King Soopers supermarket on Table Mesa Road, during a ceremony in Boulder. Ten people died on the afternoon of March 22, 2021 when a gunman opened fire at the store about 2 miles south of the University of Colorado campus.
April
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsDENVER - Cadence Rarden, 15, from Livermore, Colorado, comforts her alpaca, Aladar, as they compete at the Great Western Alpaca Show at the National Western Centeron April 29. When a judge motioned for Rarden to move forward, she led him in a circle before stopping in a line of four other animals and their handlers. “He has a really great presence about him,” the judge said to her before poking and prodding his frame, looking for any imperfections. “He’s nice and level and we’ve got a good uniformity of fleece.” The duo won first place in the division for gray males.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsCOLORADO SPRINGS - Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, at the time a Republican candidate for Secretary of State, at the Colorado Republican State Assembly on Saturday, April 9. She lost her primary battle to former Jefferson County Clerk and Recorder Pam Anderson. Peters has long been a champion of false claims that the 2020 election was stolen. She was arrested earlier this year on 10 counts of tampering with election equipment and official misconduct related to her alleged efforts to try to uncover fraud involving the voting machines in Mesa County. Peters continues to defend her actions and maintains she did nothing wrong. Reports based on the hard drives of those machines have been debunked.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsDENVER - Democratic state Rep. Chris Kennedy feeds his baby daughter Lennon while speaking to lawmakers on the House floor, Friday, April 22.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsDENVER - Denver Botanic Gardens horticulturist Mike Bone with some of the rose cuttings from Camp Amache that he’s growing at the Gardens’ greenhouse, April 26. During World War II, the U.S. government sent some 10,000 Americans of Japanese descent to the camp near the Kansas border, which is formally known as The Granada Relocation Center. Bonnie Clark, an archaeologist with the University of Denver, and her team were on-site at Amache in 2012 when they found rose bramble crawling across the remnants of a barracks doorway there. It had survived a dark time in American history and the unforgiving extremes of Colorado’s southeastern plains. Bone and his team traveled to Camp Amache to examine the rosebush and take cuttings, and are now nurturing new Amache roses to life.
May
Kevin J. Beaty/DenveriteDENVER - Mike Nelson and a giant green screen in the Denver7's television studio, May 24. When you tune in to see Nelson deliver the weather forecast, and all those graphics and photos are popping behind him, this is what is actually going on in the studio. Nelson now regularly joins Colorado Matters host Ryan Warner at the CPR News studios in Denver to talk about weather and climate change in Colorado.
Eli ImadaliDENVER - Jess Haag, with “choice” painted on her face, cheers during a rally at the Colorado State Capitol in Denver on Tuesday, May 3, after a leaked draft opinion from the U.S. Supreme Court called for overturning Roe v. Wade. Later in June, in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the court overturned Roe v. Wade, making abortion access decided at a state level, rather than being protected as a constitutional right. Prior to the Supreme Court's decision, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed into law the Reproductive Health Equity Act, which enshrines the right to an abortion and contraception in Colorado law.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsDENVER - Showing off their spurs: The boots of Republican state Reps. Perry Will, left, and Mike Lynch, in the House chamber on Wednesday, May 11, as the legislature wrapped up its final day of the 2022 session.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsAdams County Sheriff Rick Reigenborn outside his office on Wednesday, May 18. Reigenborn has served at the helm of the $100 million agency with 600 staffers and a 1,600 capacity jail since 2019. His tenure was marked with controversy: He walked a handful of senior leaders out of the office on his first day, decided to embark on a contract with the Fox show “COPS," and a criminal investigation into the top levels at the office about training records. Gene Claps, a former commander in the jail and one of the people Reigenborn locked out of the building in 2019, beat him during the election by more than 4,000 votes
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsSAAREMAA ISLAND, ESTONIA - Colorado National Guard members watch a live-fire exercise involving M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, HIMARS, vehicles on Saaremaa Island in Estonia on Monday, May 22. Colorado’s National Guard has been participating in Defender-Europe 22, a large-scale U.S. Army-led multinational exercise involving Guard members from six other states.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsSAAREMAA ISLAND, ESTONIA - Colorado Springs native and West Virginia National Guard pilot Capt. Jill Sanning, returns to the flight deck of her AC-17 C-17 transport loaded with military vehicles and hardware on the tarmac at Kuressaare Airport on Saaremaa island in Estonia, Tuesday, May 23. About 1,200 National Guard members from six states, including Colorado, were taking part in a massive multinational joint exercise called Defender Europe 22, led by U.S. Army Europe and North Africa.
Jeremy Sparig/CPRSTRASBURG - Skyler Littleshield dances in the Strasburg High School Wednesday, May 4, 2022, as members of the Northern Arapaho Wind River Reservation meet with students and faculty for its yearly celebration of Arapaho Day. The relationship between Strasburg and the Northern Arapaho was born as legislation advanced to address sports mascots deemed offensive to Indigenous tribes. In efforts to retain their mascot and namesake Strasburg Indians, and to honor those that might be offended, Strasburg formed a partnership with the Northern Arapaho tribe to redesign the mascot logo and introduce learning focused on the experience of Native Americans. Arapaho Day events included an incense-ritual, pow wow and group learning activities.
June
Kevin J. Beaty/DenveriteDENVER - The Colorado Avalanche are back atop hockey’s mountain. Behind a goal and an assist from Nathan MacKinnon, the Avalanche in June won the Stanley Cup for the third time in franchise history and the first in more than two decades. MacKinnon holds the Cup above his head during a parade celebrating the team's win in downtown Denver on June 30.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsARVADA - Hire UAV Pro drones hover over a field in Arvada during a test demonstration on Wednesday evening, June 15. Some cities in Colorado hired drone show designers in place of fireworks this year due to wildfire concerns. Glenwood Springs, Aspen and several others put on laser light shows. “We probably had like 300, 400 requests for the 4th of July, especially after the [Marshall Fire] up in Louisville,” said Graham Hill, UAV’s operator. “That is 100-percent driven by fire risk.” July 4th is typically one of the busiest days of the year for human-caused fires.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsCOLORADO SPRINGS - Kathleen Boelyn, the mother of Johnny Hurley, who was killed a year ago during a shooting in Arvada, holds a photo of her late son while standing in her Colorado Springs garden on Tuesday, June 14. Hurley, 40, was shopping at an Army surplus store last year when he saw a man with a gun outside. It turned out that shooter had already killed an Arvada Police officer, and now was shooting out windows in police cars in a busy shopping and restaurant district during lunch hour. Hurley, armed with his own gun, went out to confront the man. In the chaos that followed, Hurley was shot and killed by Arvada officers in a case of mistaken identity. Hurley’s family filed a civil rights lawsuit against the Arvada Police Chief and another officer alleging their actions and the police department’s own policies deprived Hurley of his constitutionally protected rights.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsDENVER - An attendee at the Western Conservative Summit, on Friday, June 3, wears a “Trump Save America” hat. The annual gathering hosted by the Centennial Institute — the public policy arm of Colorado Christian University — this year at the Gaylord Rockies Resort and Convention Center, featured a lineup of politicians and speakers that included Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert.
July
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsKIOWA NATIONAL GRASSLANDS, NEW MEXICO - Conservation biologist Anna Walker holds a container of two fireflies she caught the night of July 21, in Mills Canyon on the Canadian River in New Mexico’s Kiowa National Grasslands. She stored the insects overnight in containers with slices of apple, took notes on them in the morning and then released them. The luminous bugs are a staple of summertime in the eastern U.S., but they’re so elusive in the arid West that people can go a lifetime without seeing one — or even knowing they’re here.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsGYPSUM - A group of campers laugh their way through a sing-a-long on July 8 at Roundup River Ranch, on the Colorado River upstream from Gypsum. It offers classic summer camp life and learning for kids with serious illnesses. We were there to learn how climate change and more frequent, wildfire-smokey skies are affecting camp life.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsGLENWOOD SPRINGS - AMTRAK’s California Zephyr train makes a stop in Glenwood Springs, where a passenger boards for points west on Friday, July 8.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsHOMESTAKE RIVER - Ron Reitan, left, opens a specially designed bag made by Restop for picking up and disposing of human waste while camping in areas without toilets. Paula Peterson of the National Forest Service’s Eagle-Holy Cross Ranger District, right, is among three staffers assigned to visiting dispersed camping sites throughout the district to tell campers that it’s now a requirement to pack out their human waste. She visited Reitan’s group of campers in the Homestake Road area between Minturn and Camp Hale on July 22.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsLONE TREE - Douglas County Sheriff deputies speak with two people who had set up camp behind a 7-Eleven in Lone Tree on Monday, July 18. Deputy Tammy Bozarth, at left with her back to the camera, is a homeless outreach specialist with the department. Homelessness is growing in Douglas County, and there’s little agreement on how to respond. The idea of a supportive approach to homelessness is not going over well with some voters in this conservative area.
August
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsFlower petals scattered on the floor of Heather Jackson’s meditation room, after a ceremony with a relative. The quiet, naturally lit room in an old barn is decorated with all manner of spiritual mementos, blankets, cushions and a few small mushroom figurines that testify to Jackson's belief in microdosing. Stressed out, busy moms say microdosing mushrooms makes life easier and brighter, but researchers caution that they are “experimenting on themselves.”
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsBOULDER - Reiland Rabaka, founder and director of the new Center for African and African American Studies at the University of Colorado Boulder. Since he arrived on campus 17 years ago, Rabaka, a tenured professor in ethnic studies, has imagined what this center could be. Now it’s a reality. The CAAAS, which Rabaka pronounces as “the cause,” opened in August, with programming to support students academically, socially and mentally, in addition to the physical space for them to learn and socialize.
Kevin J. Beaty/DenveriteGOLDEN - Pilgrims walk through Golden on the second day of their walk from the St. Isadore Catholic Church in Watkins to the Mother Cabrini Shrine in Golden on Aug. 20. Before the group of 200 embarked on their journey, they bowed their heads in prayer and Father Paul Robinson spoke to them from the top of the front steps of the church, asking God for strength while they walked 43 miles to the mountains during a grueling pilgrimage his parish has made every year for two decades.
Kevin J. Beaty/DenveriteDENVER - Colorado Rolling Mammoth's John Vcelka tries to wrest the ball from the Houston Apollos on Aug. 26. Lacrosse is the oldest sport in North America. It was invented by Eastern Woodlands Native Americans in the United States and Canada centuries ago. The sport has two versions, field lacrosse, which is played outside, and box lacrosse, which is played indoors. But, the idea of wheelchair lacrosse was conceived in Colorado.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsYUMA COUNTY - Matt Bauer, a vice president at the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists, holds up his copy of the Geologic Atlas of the Rocky Mountain Region, near where Bauer identified the lowest point in Colorado. It’s in Yuma County, at the Kansas line on the Arikaree River. Wednesday, Aug. 17.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsDENVER - A runner watches for traffic at the apartment-lined corner of 16th and Boulder streets in Denver’s Lower Highlands neighborhood on Wednesday, Aug. 10. LoHi is a standout in an already-hot rental market in the city — conditions that make it attractive for rent scammers to prey on victims.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsENGLEWOOD - Bartenders Julian Trunfio, center, and Tony Saponaro, right, take orders from patrons at Brewability on Broadway in Englewood on Friday evening, Aug. 26. With the exception of a few key personnel, most of Brewability’s staff are differently abled. On this particular evening, members of the local chapter for the National Federation of the Blind were having a group gathering there.
September
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsGREELEY - Sarah Off, assistant professor of violin at the University of Northern Colorado, plays a violin once owned by Terri Sternberg, a world-class violinist who played under Leonard Bernstein and was first chair of the San Francisco Ballet before falling into homelessness. Off's husband, Dylan Fixmer, composer in residence with the Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra, wrote a concerto for the Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra inspired by the story of the violin. His piece premiered in October, with Off as the featured violinist.
Andy Colwell/For Colorado Public RadioPUEBLO - Line-Audrey Nkule, 25, of Colorado Springs, paddles a stand-up paddleboard across Pueblo Reservoir as she and more than a dozen participants in try kayaking and other paddle sports at Lake Pueblo State Park hosted by Diversify Whitewater. Lily Durkee started the group two years ago after noticing that when she went out paddling in her spare time, she didn’t look like anyone else. So she set out to eliminate financial and social barriers to the outdoors for people of color by organizing events at no cost and finding sponsors and volunteers to help.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsGOLDEN - When a running back gets tackled by the Colorado School of Mines defense, they’re left with the lasting impression that they were just pummeled by a bunch of nerds. “You get run over and the last thing you see is the back of the helmet that says ‘computer science,’” says Tim Flynn, the school’s assistant athletic director, describing the stickers plays were on their helmets that list their majors. “It’s a nice psychological advantage.” That’s how seriously this team takes academics at a university that’s widely regarded as one of the best engineering schools in the world. The Colorado School of Mines football team practiced Wednesday, Sept. 14, on a rainy, blustery day in Marv Kay Stadium in Golden.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsPALISADE - Netting is a common sight over hundreds of acres of vineyards in Palisade, arranged by hand as the grapes grow and mature in order to keep birds from feasting on the fruit. At harvest time, when crews begin picking the grapes, they must first remove the netting, and then replace it before they move down the line of vines. This crew was at the Sauvage Spectrum vineyards in Palisade on Sept. 7, where the winery’s owners try to capture the flavor of climate change.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsBOULDER - Albums on the Hill owner Andy Schneidkraut shows the scar on his chest from heart surgery earlier this year to friends visiting the store on Friday, Sept. 2. He closed his 45-year-old business on Labor Day, and in the days before, the shop filled with CDs and vinyl albums from all genres and musical tastes, was jammed with shoppers and well-wishers.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsLONGMONT - Skateboarding in P.E. classes teaches Colorado kids more than just tricks and flips. The 3rd, 4th and 5th graders at Eagle Crest Elementary are learning awareness of their bodies in space, respect, responsibility, determination and empathy. The Longmont school has partnered with Square State Skate to teach their skateboarding P.E. classes. Here, Square Skate instructor Greg Tattershall watches as 4th grade student Rene Garcia learns a trick during class on Sept. 27.
Tony Gorman/CPR NewsDENVER - Front Range animal shelters were filling up in September, a trend attributed the COVID-19 pandemic, local housing restrictions and a nationwide lack of veterinarians. Shelters have seen an uptick in surrenders, animal cruelty cases and strays, and the pets aren’t getting adopted fast enough. In addition to dogs and cats, the Denver Animal Shelter, where this pup was photographed, has even seen an increase in exotic animals. Recently, the Aurora Animal Shelter had to limit services due to capacity and be more selective about which animals to shelter.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsDENVER - Simon and Sally Glass speak to reporters during a press conference in Denver on Sept. 13 about the death of the couple’s 22-year-old son Christian at the hands of Clear Creek County sheriffs deputies in June. The couple, who live in Boulder, answered questions from reporters. Glass had called 911 for help after his car got stuck on a dirt road in Silver Plume. What followed was a tense and chaotic encounter with police from different agencies, and that ended with Clear Creek Deputy Andrew Buen fatally shooting Glass.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsIDAHO SPRINGS - Melted wax trails down the hand of Luke Griffiths at a vigil for his friend Christian Glass, 22, on Sept. 20. Glass had called 911 for help after his car got stuck on a dirt road in Silver Plume. What followed was a tense and chaotic encounter with police from different agencies, and that ended with Clear Creek Deputy Andrew Buen fatally shooting Glass.
Stina Sieg/CPR NewsWHITE MESA, UTAH - More than 100 people participated in the Oct. 22, peace march to the Mesa Mill, which sits about five miles from the tiny community of White Mesa, Utah. The White Mesa mill isn’t just the only functioning uranium mill in the country. It is also a disposal site for radioactive waste from around the world.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsAURORA - Karen Mallette sits at her home in Aurora, Oct. 25. Mallette was a public transit superuser until she was riding RTD's R Line through Aurora in 2019 when the train derailed. She was thrown head-first out of the car, and lost her left leg after it was severed by the train. She and her husband are remodeling their home, including the stairs on which she’s sitting, in part to better accommodate her ability to move around.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsJose-Luis Jimenez is a CU Boulder professor whose expertise includes aerosols, atmospheric chemistry and disease transmission. He believes those worried about sicknesses from COVID-19 and other viruses ruining holiday plans could do one simple thing to reduce risk of infection: think about ventilation and airflow as you go about your day. “The basic concept is, think that everybody you are next to is smoking and imagine that they are exhaling this smoke and you want to breathe as little of that as possible,” Jimenez said. He uses a carbon dioxide measuring device, like this one at Denver International Airpoirt, as a proxy for gauging the possible presence of COVID-19 in the air.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsAURORA - Bassist Mike Fitzmaurice makes notes during Inside the Orchestra’s rehearsal of the ensemble’s production of “Surprise for Rabbit," on Oct.19, in Aurora. Founded in 1958, Inside the Orchestra began as a group that issued grants to music education programs. But in 1985, the organization shifted to creating and providing programming with a professional orchestra. That work ranges from in-school programs to performances open to the public. During the pandemic, Inside the Orchestra also strengthened its virtual and online programs. Now, this season, their Tiny Tots program is debuting its first ever original symphonic story, in the vein of "Peter and the Wolf."
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsGYPSUM - Casting a dry fly among fall colors along the Eagle River upstream from Gypsum on Oct. 19.
Kevin J. Beaty/DenveriteDENVER - The new park "cap" over I-70 in Elyria-Swansea on Nov. 30. “Colorado is really a leader in a lot of these areas, both with respect to climate and with respect to equity,” Stephanie Pollack, acting administrator of the Federal Highway Administration, told CPR News. “That's probably one of the reasons they're doing well when we put out competitive grant rounds.” Pollack had traveled to Denver to celebrate the official opening of the new park.
Kevin J. Beaty/DenveriteDENVER - Colorado lawmakers and dignitaries attend a a memorial for the late House Minority Leader Hugh McKean in the State Capitol rotunda on Nov. 10. McKean died of a heart attack in October, and his colleagues honored him not just for his playful personality, but for how he approached politics. House Speaker Alec Garnett recalled negotiating with McKean over the 2019 “red flag” gun law. McKean had come to watch Garnett’s toddler’s soccer practice and talk through their differences over the bill. The two men vehemently disagreed on the policy, which allows law enforcement to take weapons from people deemed dangerous, but the pair’s relationship strengthened nonetheless, Garnet said.
Matt Bloom/CPR NewsDENVER - Workers and union supporters march outside of a Starbucks in Denver's Cherry Creek neighborhood on Nov. 17. The demonstration was part of a nationwide strike that included thousands of other Starbucks workers. Those in Colorado said they hope to speed up ongoing contract negotiations at their stores, which have already unionized. “We deserve fair wages and a contract,” said Ashyah Secrest, a barista who picketed in the snow outside her store in Denver’s Cherry Creek neighborhood. “Hopefully this will push [the company] to give us new dates.”
Kevin J. Beaty/DenveriteDENVER - Gov. Jared Polis prepares to address supporters on election night after winning a second term in office, Nov. 8. Republicans hoped that 2022 would be the year that Colorado’s political pendulum would start to swing back toward the center after four years of Democratic rule. The opposite happened. Democrats saw their influence in the state grow. They are set to gain even more seats in both the state Senate and the House. And at the top of the ticket, Polis rolled to re-election by a crushing 16-point margin over Republican Heidi Ganahl.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsPALISADE - Mt. Garfield, caught between fall and winter from the Palisade orchards, with a storm rolling in. Nov. 10.
December
Matt Bloom/CPR NewsCOLORADO SPRINGS - On Nov. 19, Ed Sanders was at a charity gala in Denver with friends. After the event, Sanders opted to visit his neighborhood bar, Club Q, before going to his home in Colorado Springs. “I didn’t want the night to end,” Sanders said. Shortly before midnight, an armed attacker entered the club and began shooting people. Five were killed and many others, including Sanders, were wounded.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsAURORA - Amazon packages are loaded onto a delivery truck, Dec. 6, at the company’s Himalaya Road facility in Aurora. Businesses across Colorado are getting ready for the holidays by adding staff to get through what is the busiest month of the year for many of them. Seasonal hiring plans offer a glimpse of where companies think the economy is headed. But this year’s holiday shopping bonanza is coming at a weird moment for the economy. High inflation is chipping away at paychecks, but consumer spending is still strong.
John Daley/CPR NewsDENVER - Inside a nondescript suburban office building in a south Denver suburb, Alex Trebino stands on a blue balance board. Across from her is physical therapist Dan Stoot, who holds tennis balls in his hands. “When you catch it with your right hand, I want you to tell me a musician,” he says, “when you catch it with your left hand, I want you to tell me a president.” This is a brain game. He starts bouncing balls her way. “Taylor Swift!” Trebino says with a quick giggle. “And George Washington.” Doctors struggled to figure out how to treat Trebino, who said she has made progress through this type of physical therapy. And she’s part of a University of Denver study, one of countless efforts globally to understand and treat Long COVID.
Nathaniel Minor/CPR NewsLOUISVILLE - Jessica Carson's brand-new home in Louisville, Colorado is surrounded by dirt piles and construction sites for other homes on Dec. 13. Hundreds of homes in this Louisville neighborhood burned in the Dec. 30, 2021 Marshall Fire. She's the first homeowner to rebuild and move back after the fire. The night her home burned in the most destructive fire in Colorado’s history, she committed to rebuilding. “I didn’t see any other choice,” Carson said. “I love Louisville. I want to stay in Louisville. With the shortage in homes after the fire, finding another home was going to be very challenging … It was sit down and cry, or just move forward.” Carson found a builder the night of the fire and met with an architect within a week.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsBOULDER COUNTY - Almost a year after the Marshall fire, Boulder got another scare as the Sunshine fire ignited on Dec. 19, likely sparked by a house fire in Sunshine Canyon. Sixty firefighters helped get containment up to 40 percent by the following day, and evacuation centers were closed. A jet passing far above smoke from the Sunshine fire west of Boulder in the foothills leaves an orange-colored contrail as it speeds eastward at around 4:30 p.m. Dec. 19.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsDENVER - Colorado Matters co-host Ryan Warner at the 7th annual Colorado Matters Holiday Extravaganza, at Central Presbyterian Church in Denver, Dec. 16.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsDENVER - The Intergenerational Women’s African Drum and Dance Ensemble at the 7th annual Colorado Matters Holiday Extravaganza, at Central Presbyterian Church in downtown Denver, Dec. 16.
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