Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsSome 48 kids ranging in age from 3-14 years old became U.S. citizens Thursday, July 20, 2023, during a special citizenship ceremony at the Children’s Museum of Denver. The children came from countries including Afghanistan, Angola, Cameroon, China, Ethiopia, India, Iraq, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, Malaysia, Nepal, Nigeria, Qatar, Syria, Thailand and Ukraine.
https://www.cpr.org/2023/07/25/denver-kids-citizenship-ceremony/
From the plains to the mountains and the canyons to the deserts, CPR News photographers and journalists drove across Colorado in 2023, meeting many of our 5.8 million neighbors in this big, complex piece of real estate.
We also traveled outside of the state, following the troubled Colorado River from its headwaters in Rocky Mountain National Park to where it meets the Gulf of California, and hearing from people seeking solutions to an impending water crisis in the southwestern U.S.
We saw a lot, and every day was different.
We tried to capture the essence of a Hall of Fame rodeo cowboy on his ranch west of Yampa. We saw the faces of terrified Denver high school students as they fled a shooting at their school; we witnessed nearly 50 kids from around the world become U.S. citizens; and we saw a man, who was living on street, being treated to a haircut. We saw President Biden in Pueblo; dodged yaks in Ridgway; watched cliff divers at Casa Bonita; and tried to catch a peak moment at an international jump rope championship in Colorado Springs.
Then there were the moments between the stories, like a spectacular sunset over the High Plains that stopped us in our tracks on the way home.
Tears, smiles, laughter, boredom, anger, frustration — we documented them all, grateful for the people who allowed us into their lives.
Here's just some of those most memorable moments. We've linked up photo captions to the stories from which they come whenever possible.
January
Photo by Andy Colwell/Special to CPR NewsDenver calf roping cowboy Maurice Wade, 74, and his horse, Beer Money, in Bennett, demonstrate riding and roping during an interview with CPR News.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsMargot Garcia sits in her Tucson, Arizona home’s dining room. In the 1970s, years before Colorado River water arrived in Tucson via the Central Arizona Project aqueduct, the city was quickly depleting its groundwater, so Garcia and other city council members passed a tiered pricing system for city water. That means Tucson charged more for water going to homes further from and higher than the central city. The strategy ran into fierce opposition from homeowners in the more expensive neighborhoods that were affected, and from real estate developers. Garcia was recalled, but a version of the system remains in place. Jan. 2023.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsJohn Hawk farms about 3,000 acres of vegetables and alfalfa, all of which are irrigated solely by Colorado River water delivered to his Imperial Valley, California operation via the All American Canal. Like many growers in the Imperial Valley, he’s switching from flood irrigation to sprinklers, cutting his water use by as much as 50 percent but also greatly increasing his costs.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsAt a Colorado Safe Parking Initiative site in Commerce City for people living in their cars, site manager Michael Meyer handles applications, ensures visitors abide by a set of rules, and keeps the site free of litter. He and his wife also live on the site while they wait for an opening in Section 8 housing.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsClear, pure drinking water gets pumped through these pipes at Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant. The plant went into service in 2015 and produces 50 million gallons per day, supplying drinking water for 400,000 people, or about 10 percent of San Diego County's population. It's one approach to solve an impending water crisis in much of the southwestern United States.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsColorado Gov. Jared Polis, center, his mother Susan Polis Schutz, left, and husband Marlon Reis, right, descend the Rotunda stairs after Polis delivered his 2023 State of the State address at the Capitol.
Kevin J. Beaty/DenveriteStephanie, who asked her last name and identity be concealed, stands outside the Jefferson County courthouse where she pursued an extreme risk protection order against an ex-partner.
William Woody/For CPR NewsMembers of The Great Western Heritage Show perform during the first Pea Green Saturday Night series in nearly three years at the Pea Green Community House in Pea Green, Colorado.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsSTRIVE Prep-Rise debate team members, from left: Eliud Jimenez, Ariana Nungaray-Nunez, and Juan Hernandez-Gonzalez warm up to compete at East High School.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsAn unidentified person is taken via stretcher from East High School to a waiting ambulance. Two school administrators were injured in a shooting reported at the school Wednesday morning. Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas said the suspected shooter, a student, was being searched as part of a school safety plan when they began shooting. The student's body was later found outside of Bailey.
Dan Boyce/CPR NewsEric Lally, a 23-year-old ice carver from Upstate New York, smooths the rough edges of a cutthroat trout before moving it to a display incorporating the state animals of Colorado at the Cripple Creek Ice Fest.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsIrrigation ditch maintenance at the Colorado River Indian Tribes Farms south of Parker, Arizona. The scale of farming here in the desert is possible only because of Colorado River water diverted into the main canal that threads its way from north to south. Part of Parched: How might we save the Colorado River?
Kevin J. Beaty/DenveriteA branch of the Colorado River flows through the Sonoran Institute's Laguna Grande Restoration Area, south of Mexicali in Mexico's Baja California state. The surrounding farmland and desert was once lush wetlands before the United States constructed dams north of the border. Part of Parched: How might we save the Colorado River?
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsUniversity of Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders, right, sits for a selfie in the state Senate with CU Regent Wanda James. Sanders had breakfast with the Black Caucus before being recognized in the Senate Chambers.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsA blanket of snow covers the Kawuneeche Valley, the headwaters of the Colorado River, and trees burned in the East Troublesome fire, in Rocky Mountain National Park. Snowpack in the Headwaters was 130 percent above average last winter; what that means for the over-allocated river water and the seven states that depend on it remains to be seen.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsBen Thomas uses recycled water to clean out food tubs in the rhinoceros and tapir barn at the Denver Zoo. Recycled water is used at Denver Zoo for sprinkler systems and in certain animal enclosures, as part of a plan to reduce overall water use.
Kevin J. Beaty/DenveriteCommerce City resident Elizabeth Vargas tears up as she tells a crowd about her son's eczema, which she attributes to nearby heavy industry, during a "Reimagining a Safe and Healthy Future" meeting.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsDemocratic state Rep. David Ortiz casts a vote at the state Capitol. He announced later in the year that would not seek a third term in the Colorado House.
April
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsAn emotional Janelle Elrod wipes tears from her eyes as she and her mother Robin Farris, left, walk out of the Denver Women's Correctional Facility. Convicted of murdering her former lover Beatrice King in Feb. 1990, Farris was sentenced to life in prison with no chance for parole for at least 40 years. Just before Christmas 2022, Gov. Jared Polis gave her a shot at parole about eight years early.
Stina Seig/CPR NewsSteamboat Ski Patroller Nate Birdseye carries Mudd, an avalanche pup and Belgian Malinois/Shepard mix. Steamboat Resort added more than 600 acres of new terrain, including slopes more prone to avalanches. In anticipation of the change, it’s adding an avalanche dog program.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsEllie Feinberg deep in the process of cooking a Seder for 200 at DU’s Hillel student center. A wave of hate speech on social media platforms is chipping away at a sense of safety for Jews on college campuses, and in society at large.
Kevin J. Beaty/DenveriteKen and Dorothy Jones get a private tour of Adams County's new veterans memorial. Ken served on the USS Colorado, which is recreated in part of the memorial, jutting into Mann-Nyholt Lake. Now 96 years old, Ken, Dorothy and their family traveled from their home in Arlington, Texas to see the memorial.
Kevin J. Beaty/DenveriteCliff divers do their thing during a press preview for Casa Bonita, the landmark Denver restaurant on West Colfax. Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of “South Park,” purchased the restaurant after it shut down at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and its former owners filed for bankruptcy.
Kevin J. Beaty/DenveriteMayor Michael Hancock poses for a photo with the Denver Nuggets Dancers during an event to commemorate the team's participation in the NBA Finals. The Nuggets went on to win the NBA Championship.
Kevin J. Beaty/DenveriteThe role-playing action-adventure game Dungeons & Dragons has exploded in popularity in recent years. And Colorado is home to a player who makes her living through the world of fantasy gaming. We joined Ginny Di and her friends on a Sunday in Denver. Here she poses for a photo with Pawblo Picatso, a floral wreath and a sword.
Kevin J. Beaty/DenveriteAmerican Indian Academy of Denver student Emily Lam, right, at the Capitol Colorado's House of Representatives for the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsBikes Together is a destination for people who are new to biking to get some advice and affordable service, as well as buy used parts and bikes that have been repaired. It’s a nonprofit, and offers community programs that particularly welcome women and LGBTQ people into biking. David Stieber and daughter Joy shop for handlebars at Bikes Together.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsThousands upon thousands of Denver Nuggets fans created joyous bedlam when the team clinched the NBA championship for the first time in team history, beating the Miami Heat. Fans poured into Denver's LoDo neighborhood from dozens of nearby crowded bars, while others streamed into the city from surrounding highways to join a street party of singing, dancing, and blaring car horns.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsBoulder County Sheriff Curtis Johnson speaks at a press conference in which authorities announced the cause of the Marshall fire that took place in Dec. 2021. Colorado’s most destructive wildfire had two separate ignition sources, one of them that began six days before it grew out of control, and the other from arcing power lines.
Nathaniel Minor/CPR NewsA man loads his bike onto an RTD bus at a filthy stop at 1st Avenue and Lincoln Street in Denver. Erica Pike typically stood here a few times a week as part of her commute downtown. And typically, it was a mess. On a morning in May, trash overflowed from a small waste can; leftover sushi sat on the sidewalk; an umbrella sporting daisies lay broken nearby; a waylaid grocery shopping cart held its own load of refuse. So she complained. The private firm that maintains the shelter removed it and its accompanying bench and trash can — so, no more trash, but no more shelter, either.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsSilverton Fire Department members hose down spectators at the town’s annual Fourth of July parade.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsDress shirt? Check. Commuter cup? Check. Stylin’ socks? You bet. Get to know Boulder’s annual Tube to Work Day. What started as friendly competition between friends 15 years ago has now grown into one of Boulder locals’ favorite city pastimes known as “the world's greatest traffic jam.”
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsSome 48 kids ranging in age from 3 to 14 years old became U.S. citizens during a special citizenship ceremony at the Children’s Museum of Denver. The children came from Afghanistan, Angola, Cameroon, China, Ethiopia, India, Iraq, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, Malaysia, Nepal, Nigeria, Qatar, Syria, Thailand and Ukraine.
John Daley/CPR NewsBasil Vendryes, principal viola with the Colorado Symphony, is seen here attempting to play the way he normally would not: bowing with his left hand. “I was born left-handed,” he said. “I grew up in a Catholic household where the nuns made you change over to being right-handed.” So that’s how he plays. He told us his story after Mark Berzins and his wife, Margaret, asked us via Colorado Wonders whether all Colorado Symphony stringed instrument musicians are right-handed, or if they play that way to avoid bumping into their neighbor.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsIn the hay loft of the barn at Lady Moon Ranch near Red Feather Lakes, west of Fort Collins, in Larimer County. “Who on earth would this lady be? The name Lady Moon is kind of intriguing. It's like, is it the lady part or the moon part? Is she a futurist, a gypsy type? You know, moon, that kind of conjures that idea,” asked Terri Marcotte, an Aurora resident who wrote into Colorado Wonders. We went to find out.
Mike Procell/KRCC NewsMeet Jim the toad, so named after one of the characters on the American version of "The Office" series. He was named as part of a social media campaign at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.
Shana Lewis/KRCC NewsThough the Colorado State Fair began with rain, the skies cleared over opening weekend in Pueblo. About half a million people were expected to attend the 11-day event, which has been taking place for more than 150 years.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsTuxedo Corn Company owner John Harold and foreman Samuel Jimenez look out over this year's Olathe sweet corn crop, which has been decimated by an infestation of small worms. In some fields, more than 40 percent of the ears had worm damage. But standing there in his jean overalls and big sun hat, Harold still had his humor: “I think the worms this year are on Viagra,” he said, laughing. “They’re breeding pretty quick!”
Matt Bloom/CPR NewsLucas Faulkner, a meteorologist with the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety, measures a massive hailstone with a caliper inside the National Weather Service’s Goodland, Kansas office. The hailstone was produced by a severe thunderstorm in Yuma County.
Kevin J. Beaty/DenveriteFata El Presidente plays the African Leadership Group's Day of African Culture at the Arvada Center. The day was also notable for the first performance of the collective poem “I Am The Bridge: A Poem By All Of Us,” which was written at a spiritual center in Aurora by about 50 people who’d been asked to participate by Papa Dia, 52, a Senegalese immigrant who founded and leads the African Leadership Group.
September
Dan Boyce/CPR NewsMarc Jones found a new passion for '80s rock about a decade ago, well into his retirement from a career as a garbage collector. He transformed his garage into a temple of sorts, honoring the musicians he sees as the gods of '80s rock and roll.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsA curious mother bighorn sheep approaches the open window of the photographer’s car on Mt. Evans Road near Summit Lake, surrounded by clouds. A plan to rename Mt. Evans to Mt. Blue Sky has stalled over a disagreement among tribal government leaders as to what the mountain’s new name should be. It was originally named for John Evans, territorial governor from 1862-1865, who was forced to resign in disgrace because of his role in the Sand Creek Massacre.
Kevin J. Beaty/DenveriteTess Kent-Julian, vice president of Irish Network Colorado, tours a newly unveiled memorial to Leadville's historic Irish mining community. In the late 1800s, miners — many of them Irish — settled in Leadville, Colorado to make their fortune. Instead, thousands met their demise; They died penniless and were buried in unmarked graves. With financial support from the Irish government, researchers were able to identify them and the community has erected a new memorial in Leadville’s Evergreen Cemetery.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsTobacco use is the No. 1 preventable cause of death and disease in the U.S. Each year, nearly 500,000 people die from tobacco-related diseases nationally. That includes more than 5,000 Coloradans. Flor Velasco-Hernandez, a junior at Manual High School in Denver, says students have no problem getting tobacco and vaping products, and data shows there’s a geographical element to where a lot of products get sold in Denver.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsAs a vehicle burns behind him, Denver Fire Department Lt. Fernando Martinez turns to guide recruits in their response during “Hell Night” at the Denver Fire Training Center. The latest class of Denver Fire Department recruits put all their training to the test ahead of graduation.
Stina Sieg/CPR NewsWinning the ski season’s first chair isn’t easy, but Colorado’s "Kings of First Chair" have done it for 31 years. Nate "Dogggg" Nadler, left, and "Trailer" Tom Miller, second from left, ride the first chairlift of Colorado's ski season this year at Arapahoe Basin on Oct. 29, 2023. Alongside them are Chad Otterstrom and Anthony "Ant" Uglade. They're bursting through a banner at Arapahoe Basin’s Black Mountain Chairlift.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsAurora is the first Colorado city under state oversight to reform policing. Almost two years since the decree was established, everyone involved agrees that progress has been slow, and decisions have been mostly made behind closed doors. It is testing the patience and trust of a community in which some people say they can’t wait. Aurora Interim Police Chief Art Acevedo gestured during a consent decree progress report session at the Aurora Municipal Center.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsOn Nov. 19, 2022, a shooting at Club Q, an LGBTQ club in Colorado Springs, took the lives of five people — Raymond Green Vance, 22, Daniel Aston, 28, Ashley Paugh, 35, Derrick Rump, 38, and Kelly Loving, 40. Dozens more were injured. Among those were Thomas James, Ashtin Gamblin, Svetlana Heim and John Arcediano, pictured here. As the one-year mark of the shooting approached, KRCC's Abigail Beckman sat down with each of them to talk about the physical, mental, and financial costs of surviving a mass shooting.
Kevin J. Beaty/DenveriteDenver artists Grow Love and Alexandrea Pangburn had noticed a pattern: Most of the opportunities for muralists were going to men. When they connected with other artists who felt the same way, the idea for Babe Walls — a mural festival celebrating all female and non-binary artists — was born. Here’s Robyn "Grow Love" Frances and a long sought-after wall in Wheat Ridge. The story is part of a CPR/Denverite podcast, “ Off The Walls.”
Sam Brasch/CPR NewsRob Tenent, a researcher at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, shows off an experimental window insert that can darken on command. The U.S. Department of Energy last year found high-performance windows alone could cut carbon emissions two percent by 2050. Dimmable windows offer one way to that high performance. And NREL is taking the idea a step further, working on dimmable windows that also generate solar power.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsA Colorado rodeo legend has clinched one more title: his name in the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. We visited 75-year-old CJ Trujillo on his ranch below Dunckley Pass west of Yampa to talk with him about the 1981 PRCA World Champion in Bareback Riding, and helping to found the Cowboy Downhill held every January in Steamboat. Here, he casually whisks away a bug on his well-worn straw hat.
November
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsDenver International Airport was designed to serve 50 million passengers. This year it’s serving 78 million, a number that’s expected to keep growing in the years ahead. The result is that this, the second-largest airport in the world by land size, can feel cavernous, confusing and perpetually under construction. We spent a day there, ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday travel period, to talk with its CEO Phil Washington about DIA’s strategy for growth, and to employees and travelers about their hacks for getting around more easily. Here, sunrise outside the Westin Hotel at Denver International Airport.
Kevin J. Beaty/DenveriteAnthony Cherry, who lives with HIV, on the patio atop his Denver apartment building, Nov. 16. Federal funding for programs that provide housing, food, medicine and case management care for people living with HIV — as well as prevention services, like the medication PrEP — is up in the air as congressional debates over public health often turn political. Like many others, Cherry depends on those programs.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsColorado Gov. Jared Polis officially pardons four turkeys, including Gus in the foreground, at the Governor’s Mansion on Monday, Nov . 20, 2023, thus sparing them from someone’s Thanksgiving table later in the week.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsPresident Joe Biden delivers a speech promoting his administration’s economic agenda at CS Wind in Pueblo. The manufacturing plant produces towers for wind turbines used in wind power generation, and is the largest of its kind in the world. The company says it has invested more than $200 million to expand its facility, and will add as many as 850 jobs in the next few years because of the Inflation Reduction Act, Biden’s signature climate, tax, and health care law.
Kevin Rankin, 17, and Zarely Sotelo, 16, walk a labyrinth outside their school. It's one of the techniques they've learned to manage stress as part of their class, "How to Stress Like a Genius" at William Smith High School in Aurora.
Kevin J. Beaty/DenveriteAs the next generation of Mexican cowboys, Colorado youth are embracing the legacy of Charrería, a traditional practice of livestock herding communities in Mexico. Charros have a deep history in America’s cowboy culture, credited with teaching those who settled in the U.S. West about ranching alongside other Indigenous horsemen in the region. Here, Mariano Valle drags a steer by its tail during a coleadero event in Strasburg, on Colorado's eastern plains.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsIn taking the lead role of Clara, ballerina Sheridan Guerin will become the Colorado Ballet’s first Black woman to be cast in the role for its annual performance of “The Nutcracker.” Photographed during a rehearsal at the company’s Armstrong Center for Dance in Denver.
Kevin J. Beaty/DenveriteFirefighters from the Aurora, Denver and South Metro fire departments put out a five-alarm blaze at a construction site on Colfax Avenue, at Peoria Street, in Aurora on Dec. 16. An Aurora Police Department spokesperson said the next day that they expected the intersection of Colfax and Peoria to be closed for "days" as crews worked to fully extinguish the fire. Investigators will then look into the cause and origin of the fire.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsA photographer stretches in for a picture of the menorah in the Town Center of Denver’s Central Park neighborhood, Dec. 14, 2023.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsYou can find Santa pretty much anywhere during the holiday season, whether it's at a mall, shopping center, or your office Christmas party. But finding a Santa that looks like your family can be difficult. Here, an ethnically diverse crew of Santas gathered for a photo at Stanley Marketplace in Aurora. We compiled a list of places where you can find a more here.
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