Colorado Matters

The federal government subsidizes commercial flights into places like Pueblo and Cortez, but the president’s proposed budget takes aim at the program. Then, uncovering Colorado’s WWI history. And, Denver hip-hop group Flobots felt music was missing from protests these days. So they’ve written songs for demonstrators to sing. Plus, one of the world’s biggest food companies, Danone, is buying Colorado company White Wave Foods. The Justice Department is making Danone sell off its organic milk brand for fear competition would be reduced too much.

Colorado coal mines that are now being shuttered have high hopes for a new technology that turns methane — a gas that escapes from defunct mines — into electricity. It’s already happening at one mine in Western Colorado. Then, when Erik Weihenmayer went blind as a kid, his biggest fear wasn’t the darkness, it was the fear of missing out. But that clearly hasn’t happened. The Coloradan kayaked the Grand Canyon and writes about it in his new book. He also explains a device that helps him see with his tongue. And, a man in Boulder County has set up a webcam trained on his lawn 24 hours a day — and people are actually watching it.

Budget-wise, the long-term outlook for roads, healthcare and schools in Colorado isn’t great. That means a leading Republican state senator now supports something he once opposed — and that Democrats have been clamoring for. Then, lead has been taken out of paint and gasoline. But why is it still in ammunition? And what do lead bullets, used in hunting, mean for human and environmental health? Plus, you might think child brides are a thing of the past, but a Colorado historian finds the custom continues in this country.

Lawmakers at the Capitol are debating whether to allow municipalities to decide when bars should close. We speak with a bar owner and a nightclub manager who have differing views on the legislation. Then, an anonymous street artist paints images of human faces and animals on mailboxes, buildings, and electrical boxes around Boulder. Business owners often like them so much, they keep them up, but legally, the paintings are vandalism. And, Judy Collins spent her formative years in Colorado and is in the Colorado Music Hall of Fame. The Library of Congress has just honored Collins and we listen back to our 2011 interview with her. Plus, the Colorado Rockies’ home opener is Friday and just steps away from Coors Field is a museum that’s a shrine to classic ballparks, with wooden seats from the old Tiger Stadium in Detroit and the Polo Grounds in New York.

Patient by patient, Dr. Barbara Troy is on a mission to transform her community. She’s the lone physician in Colorado’s San Luis Valley who can prescribe a special drug. It helps pregnant women and new mothers kick heroin addiction. Next, Cyberpunk brings to mind a dystopian 1980s vision of tomorrow — think of the movie “Blade Runner.” A new cyberpunk anthology refreshes the genre and is up for a “Colorado Book Award.” Then, unearthing the names of migrant workers, immortalized in the folk song “Plane Wreck at Los Gatos.” And, 14 cottages — and years of precious memories — in Rocky Mountain National Park.

The Weld County sheriff wants his department removed from a Trump administration list of places that failed to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. The dispute points to difficulties Colorado counties say they’re having complying with national enforcement efforts. Then, a Fort Collins mosque was vandalized over the weekend, one in a growing number of such cases nationwide. Mosque leaders say they’re grateful for the town’s support after the incident. And, a Colorado Book Award nominee, “Appealing For Justice,” profiles the first woman appointed to Colorado’s Supreme Court, and her later role in a landmark civil rights case. Then, a tour of the iconic Air Force Academy Chapel, which will soon close for up to four years of repairs and renovation.

In prisons, hospitals and schools, therapists use art to treat mental health problems, and their work is becoming higher profile. Karen Pence, the nation’s second lady, has made art therapy her cause, and there’s mixed reaction to that. Then, President Trump issued a sweeping directive that seeks to wipe out the Clean Power Plan, which limits emissions on coal-fired power plants. CPR’s environment reporter Grace Hood reports on her trip to Colorado’s coal country of North Fork Valley. Next, Iceland has managed to reduce its drug and alcohol consumption, and a Denver man gets some of the credit. And, 75 years ago it was ordered that people of Japanese descent could not voluntarily leave the West Coast. More than a hundred thousand ended up in internment camps. We’ll hear about the prisoners who eventually settled in Colorado. Plus, you’ll find an array of organisms if you dig in your backyard. Not so in Antarctica, says a CSU scientist.

Colorado’s head of prisons was murdered four years ago when he opened the door to someone dressed as a pizza delivery man. The killer stole the uniform from a man he’d gunned down earlier — Nathan Leon, a father of three from Commerce City. Today, Leon’s family is still seeking answers about the case, like if it was part of a larger conspiracy. Then, Teddy Roosevelt and the exceptional band of Westerners known as “The Rough Riders,” who helped win the Spanish-American war. And, history, hiking, and beer blend in a guidebook that’s up for a Colorado Book Award. It includes a hike to a waterfall near Great Sand Dunes National Park.