Colorado Matters

Effective July 1, Colorado school districts may have to pay legal damages if they fail to prevent school shootings or other violence, but there’s confusion about how to comply and the issue will most likely be decided in court. This comes at a time when more teachers are arming themselves, saying they want to protect their students. Also, your feedback on our segment with small-business owners hopeful about the Trump administration. Plus, Julia Roberts is turning a novel that takes place in 1960s Denver into a film. It’s based on Cynthia Swanson’s book about how life could have turned out differently, called “The Bookseller.”

A Colorado Springs firm uses mapping to determine where missionaries can best do their work, and data to help Evangelicals spread their message. Then, how the city of Aspen transitioned to 100 percent renewable energy. Plus, with a new book, the poetry of Belle Turnbull gets new life. Turnbull and her lesbian partner lived in Breckenridge in the first part of the 20th century, where the poet’s work focused on the mountains and mining. Also, Fort Collins band Head for the Hills offers “post-modern” bluegrass on its new album, “Potions and Poisons.”

The nation’s first round of health care reform brought Medicaid expansion and, a local health care leader says, improved medical treatment for poor working people in the Southern Colorado city of Pueblo. Now, that official says, those gains are threatened by Republican reform proposals in Congress. Then, inexpensive motels along East Colfax Avenue have provided a haven for people who might otherwise be homeless, but rates are rising and options are disappearing as development closes in on the community. And, with a solar eclipse coming on August 21, a look back to an 1878 eclipse that drew science celebrities, including Thomas Edison, to Colorado.

CPR News is tracking stories about Coloradans who stand to lose or gain under President Trump. Today, a hear from small businesses who say the future looks bright. Then, from a hailstorm so bad it shut down a shopping mall to temperatures so high planes were grounded, the West has seen some intense weather lately. How much of that is connected to climate change? And, the sounds of red dirt country music will fill the small town of Limon this weekend. Lincoln County hopes the first Colorado Prairie Music Festival will boost tourism. Plus, six months after Denver began enforcing new rules on short-term rentals, listings on sites like Airbnb and VRBO has dropped dramatically.

Rats can get depressed. Some pigs are extroverted and others are introverted. A conversation with two scientists who say animals have rich inner lives. Then, 100 ways to reverse global warming, ranked in order. Some are unconventional and others can be achieved in your backyard. Plus, Denver walks the line between a fearful immigrant community and federal immigration law. The debate over Denver as a sanctuary city. Also, a professional drone pilot who says racing makes him feel like superman.

Staffing shortages are so severe at the Colorado Mental Institute at Pueblo that the federal government has threatened to pull money because of worries about patient safety. Then, 9News Anchor Adele Arakawa is retiring after 24 years in Denver. She’s headed to Tucson — she’s not quite as sure where her industry is going next. Next, artificial intelligence could revolutionize the recycling industry, with a robot named Clarke leading the way. And, can a $4 million marketing campaign get kids off their screens and into the Colorado outdoors?

An infectious disease expert from Colorado has resigned in protest from the President’s HIV/AIDS advisory panel. She’s disturbed about the new health care bill being debated in Congress. Then, we speak with CPR’s government reporter Allison Sherry about the crowded field of candidates who have joined next year’s gubernatorial race in Colorado. She says the election will work unlike any other in state history because unaffiliated voters can cast ballots in the primary. And, slam poet and Denver native Theo Wilson has a new book in which he explains what makes him tick. Plus, an outdoor writer offers ideas on where to hike on the Western Slope and puts Black Canyon of the Gunnison at the top of his list.

The news media are under the microscope. It felt like a good time to lift the veil on how CPR’s and NPR’s newsrooms operate — in terms of ethics. On a stage at the University of Denver’s Newman Center, we confronted the dilemmas that reporters and editors face: When can a journalist call something a lie? What about the use of anonymous sources? Officials from NPR and CPR News answer questions.