In The NOCO

Members of Congress are required to show up in person to vote on any measures. That creates challenges for representatives who are in the final weeks of pregnancy, or who just gave birth. U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen, a Democrat from Lakewood, understands these rules from experience. And she says they’re unfair. She’s due to give birth to her second child in a few days – which means she’s under travel restrictions, and unable to be in Washington to cast votes. But Pettersen -- and several other representatives -- have proposed a solution. Pettersen wants the House of Representatives to pass a resolution that would allow new or expectant parents to vote by proxy when they can’t be in Washington. That means they’d appoint another person to vote in their place. But there’s been some pushback to the plan – including from House Speaker Mike Johnson, who says the proposal is unconstitutional. Pettersen talked to host Erin O’Toole from her home in Lakewood about being an expectant mother in Congress – and the details of her proposal. * * * * *Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

As President Donald Trump begins his second term, one of his promises to supporters has been to carry out what he calls the largest deportation in U.S. history. This has a number of Colorado communities on edge, especially in places where immigrants without legal status make up a large part of the population. It has also prompted education leaders across Colorado to prepare for how their students might be affected by immigration enforcement. The effort took on new urgency this week, after the Trump administration cleared the way for immigration arrests at schools and other sensitive locations, like churches. Steve Joel was the superintendent of schools in Grand Island, Nebraska, when immigration officers raided a meat packing plant there in 2006, detaining about 250 workers without legal status. Those arrests in Grand Island rattled the community. And the experience taught the now-retired administrator many lessons, which he recently shared with education leaders at a conference of the Colorado Association of School Boards. Steve Joel joined host Erin O’Toole to discuss his advice for school leaders in the months ahead. * * * * *Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

Old firehoses. Used forklifts. Two-thousand sheets of acrylic plastic. These are the kinds of things you can find at repurposedMATERIALS in Lafayette. The company acquires discarded industrial materials and products and resells them instead of sending them to a landfill. Damon Carson founded the business in 2011 after running two trash companies. The repurposedMATERIALS location in Lafeyette is one of six locations across the country where he stores his unusual inventory and then ships it off once he finds the right buyer. Damon Carson talked with In the NoCo’s Brad Turner about how he built the company. Check out a recent profile of the business in The Denver Post. Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

Coloradans who struggle with anxiety or depression will soon have a new treatment option. Psychedelic treatment with a licensed therapist– will be as legal in Colorado as prescription antidepressants. Colorado voters approved this. Starting in April, licensed healing centers can offer psychedelic therapy using psilocybin, the psychedelic component in some mushrooms. We wanted to understand what psychedelic therapy looks like before it becomes more widespread. Dr. Scott Shannon founded the Wholeness Center in Fort Collins, which offers an array of treatments for mental health, including for anxiety and depression. He’s offered psychedelic therapy for eight years and treated thousands of patients. (He’s worked with psychedelics while following the old laws that existed until this year.) Scott and other therapists who support access to psychedelics say it could change the way we treat mental health problems in Colorado. He walked host Erin O’Toole through a typical psychedelic therapy session. Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

When Colorado writer X. Ho Yen was a kid, he loved to read science fiction. X. Ho Yen is autistic. He liked how some sci-fi stories, like the Star Trek series, depicted a more enlightened future society where neurodivergent people were treated equally. Eventually he began writing his own science fiction novels. His newest release is titled Space Autistic Author’s Puzzling Innerverse. It’s different from his other books: It’s a series of puzzles that reveal the plot of a story as you solve them. X. Ho Yen spoke with ITN’s Erin O’Toole about the new book, his influences and how science fiction resonated deeply with him as a child. Check out a recent profile of the author from The Colorado Sun. Correction: An earlier version of this episode gave the incorrect city of residence for X. Ho Yen. He lives in Centennial. Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

If you think of Baroque music, it might bring to mind ornate-sounding pieces by composers like Bach, Vivaldi or Handel. But a pair of concerts in Denver this weekend will offer listeners a different flavor of Baroque music – one that blends European-style harmonies with rhythms and percussion from Mexico and other Latin American countries. The performances, by the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado, focus on Latin American Baroque. The program will explore on the writings and music of Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, an artist who lived in Mexico in the 1600s. University of Denver musicologist and viola da gamba player Zoe Weiss will lead the concerts at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Denver. Zoe talked with host Erin O’Toole about why she’s eager to play this music in Colorado. * * * * *Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

Visitors to Colorado ski resorts can ride to the top of the mountain in a sleek gondola, or take a high-speed, four-person chairlift. Or, if they head to one of the state’s smallest resorts, they can ride up in a trailer pulled by a snowcat. Cuchara Mountain Ski Park in southern Colorado operates on weekends without a functioning ski lift, and serves just a few dozen skiers per day. They charge $40 for a daily pass when many of their gigantic competitors charge more than $200. Cuchara recently received a $250,000 grant from the state to help with operating costs. We wanted to know more about how a small, nonprofit ski resort sustains itself in a state where behemoth ski resorts are the norm. Ken Clayton is with the Panadero Ski Corporation that manages Cuchara. He talked with Erin O’Toole about why he believes the place has a bright future and what makes it special. * * * * *Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

You may have heard the recent news of a scandal involving state lab technicians who falsified some test results of drinking water. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment suspended further testing for now, saying the results couldn’t be trusted. You may also have heard about bogus test results in monitoring for water contamination near oil and gas wells around the Front Range. On top of that, you might also recall hearing about tainted DNA test results at the state crime laboratory earlier this year. The issue potentially may have affected hundreds of criminal cases. Colorado has multiple investigations into mishandling of data at several state labs. These scandals might make you wonder if you should be concerned about your health and safety. “The thing that really connects them is that they all involve some element of science, and some element of the scientific process being subverted,” says John Ingold, reporter with The Colorado Sun who focuses on health and healthcare coverage. He’s been following these stories and joined host Erin O’Toole to offer some answers, and a bit of reassurance. * * * * *Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

When it’s time to get a good night’s rest, women have it harder than men. Women are more likely than men to have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But the treatments that doctors prescribe for sleep disorders, like medication or different bedtime routines, may be based more on data about male sleep patterns than female sleep patterns. That's a key takeaway from a new study out of the University of Colorado. The findings could eventually lead doctors to rethink how they treat sleep problems -- especially in women. Rachel Rowe is Assistant Professor of Integrative Physiology at CU, and she worked on the study. Rowe joined Erin O’Toole to explain her research and how sleep medicine as we know it may be short-changing women who experience sleep problems.* * * * *Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

Have any of your New Year’s resolutions included to live a happier life this year? If you said yes, one recent study suggests you’re probably not alone. Americans feel less happy than in previous years, according to the recent World Happiness Rep, which collects data on happiness from countries around the world every year. The U.S. finished 23rd, behind countries like Kuwait and Slovenia. So we wanted to find some expert advice on how to be happy in 2025. Luckily, the University of Colorado has its own happiness expert. Dr. June Gruber is Associate Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at CU Boulder and she teaches a class on happiness. Erin O’Toole talked with Gruber to get her best advice on being happy. She said it starts with shifting your perspective a little. Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

The start of a new year often involves making changes in pursuit of a healthier life. For many of us, that means fewer processed foods, more veggies, and – maybe – a few more trips to the gym. Or perhaps your resolution is to work on relationships – to make new friends or reconnect with existing ones. After all, friendships are a key part of our well-being. U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy says loneliness is an epidemic that harms mental health and even physical health. But what’s the best way to make friends? How do you rekindle a relationship that’s gone quiet? And how do you nurture your current friendships? For answers, we reached out to Natalie Pennington, assistant professor of communication studies at Colorado State University. She studies the importance of friendship in our lives, and co-leads the American Friendship Project, an ongoing study of the state of connectedness in the U.S. She joined host Erin O’Toole to share practical tips on how to build new friendships – or reconnect with friends we haven’t seen in a while. * * * * *Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

When someone dies nowadays, their online accounts and social media profiles can become a poignant online memorial. Or sometimes, those accounts can become a hassle for grieving loved ones. For many people who have recently lost someone, knowing what to do with a loved one’s online accounts is a mystery. Sometimes an account gets deleted by the organization that manages them. Sometimes the account gives the impression that the dead person is still alive. Or th account might simply sit unused. A new clinic set up by a University of Colorado researcher provides guidance and aid in handling digital accounts after someone passes away. It’s a free help desk called the Digital Legacy Clinic. Professor Jed Brubaker founded the clinic and oversees its operation. Brubaker joined Erin O’Toole to discuss the unusual task of managing our online accounts for after we’re gone. He said it’s a reflection of how we mourn in a more digital age. Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

Colorado teachers say their students are missing something that helps determine their academic success. Call it grit. If a student who struggles with math studies hard and performs well on their math test, that’s grit. If they complete a homework assignment that was tough to finish, that's also grit. Erica Breunlin covers education for The Colorado Sun. Since the pandemic, she says teachers have told her they’re seeing less grit in the classroom. And that’s leading to lower test scores for K-12 students. Breunlin recently wrote about grit, and the strategies some educators and parents have developed to build more of it in their kids. She joined host Erin O’Toole to share what she learned. * * * * *Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

An electrical grid on the moon. It’s an idea that could eventually power a small lunar colony and help take space travel to a new level. And research by two Colorado School of Mines graduate students may help make it a reality. Chris Tolton and Ken Liang built a prototype of that lunar grid and presented it during a recent competition run by NASA. The prototype worked – and Chris and Ken won a half-million-dollar prize to continue developing their idea. Their vision ultimately includes mining minerals found on the moon to fuel lunar habitats, rovers, and spacecraft heading to more distant points in the solar system. They’ve also launched a company, Orbital Mining Corporation, to pursue their goals. Tolton and Liang joined host Erin O’Toole to share more about their work, and how the future of space travel may be just a step closer than we think. * * * * *Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

These shorter, colder days over the midwinter holiday are the perfect time to break out that bag of roasted Pueblo chile peppers some of us have kept stashed in the freezer since the fall. They're just waiting to be turned into a big batch of spicy green chile. And for many pepper aficionados, only the Pueblo chile will do. But the popularity of these Colorado-grown peppers is a relatively recent phenomenon. Farmers in Pueblo and other parts of Colorado have been growing different kinds of peppers for decades, but the state didn’t really have its own signature variety of chile until the early 2000s. That’s when Dr. Michael Bartolo, an agriculture professor with Colorado State University, developed the unique Mosco variety of the Pueblo chile. And in a few short years, they’ve become a regional rival to New Mexico’s more famous Hatch chiles. Host Erin O’Toole spoke with the now-retired Bartolo earlier in the year to learn more about why chiles are such a point of pride for some people. It was one of our favorite science-related interviews of 2024, which we’re revisiting this week. * * * * *Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

The Denver Museum of Nature and Science made an exciting announcement this year: A new species of cave-dwelling pseudoscorpion had been discovered in the foothills outside Boulder. Researchers named it Larca boulderica – a nod to the city of Boulder – and say the only place on the planet where you’ll find it is in just two caves near the Boulder Flatirons. We reached out to David Steinmann, the research associate with the Museum of Nature and Science who found the new species. We thought he’d want to talk about his once-in-a- lifetime discovery. Instead, he told us that for him, it wasn’t a singular event at all. In fact, he kind of specializes in hunting for new species, and says he’s found at least 50 of them. Steinmann joined host Erin O’Toole to talk about his unusual work, and what exactly a pseudoscorpion is. As we listen back to some of our favorite science-related interviews of 2024, we’re revisiting this one today. * * * * *Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

Scientists have found a promising new way to break down harmful “forever” chemicals. Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS, are found in many household products including nonstick cookware or waterproof clothing. They’ve also found their way into our drinking water, our food and our bodies. They’re called forever chemicals because they were designed and manufactured to never break down – which means, after they’ve been used in manufacturing or in our homes, they’ll continue to circulate in the environment for thousands of years. Studies have linked PFAS exposure to conditions like decreased fertility, cancer and a higher risk of obesity. But researchers at Colorado State University and the University of Colorado Boulder say they’ve found a way to break down PFAS – using light. The process is similar to the way plants use photosynthesis to make energy from sunlight. “We need to be able to produce these chemicals in a way that doesn’t compromise our future generations,” says CSU professor Garret Miyake, the lead researcher on the study. Miyake joined host Erin O’Toole to share more about the results, which were published recently in the journal Nature. Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

It wasn’t that long ago that some doctors would use lobotomies as a treatment for mental illness, or insomnia, or severe headaches. That wouldn’t happen now – but modern medicine has made some weird, often tragic turns to get to where it is now. Similarly, our modern roadways are designed with what amounts to junk science, according to author Wesley Marshall . He says it’s time for a wake-up call. Marshall, who teaches civil engineering at the University of Colorado Denver, thinks the way our streets and highways are built contributes to tens of thousands of unnecessary crashes and deaths each year. He recently published his research and ideas in a book, provocatively titled “Killed by a Traffic Engineer.” In the third installment of In The NoCo’s Holiday Book Club, we’re listening back to a conversation between Wes Marshall and In The NoCo’s Brad Turner. * * * * *Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

A unique retelling of the holiday classic ‘The Nutcracker’ explores the history and cultural importance of Denver's Five Points neighborhood. The Five Points Nutcracker replaces the story’s traditional characters with significant figures from Denver’s African American community. Five Points was once known as the “Harlem of the West.” Duke Ellington’s jazz version of the music is the backbone of the production, and was the inspiration for the show’s director, Larea Edwards. The production features actors and dancers from the performing arts group LuneASeas. Musicians from the Boulder Philharmonic will join jazz artist Tenia Nelson to perform the Ellington score. Edwards spoke with ITN’s Erin O’Toole about the production. Performances take place Friday through Sunday at the Savoy Denver. * * * * *Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

Eye doctors today perform surgeries that would have seemed unthinkable a century or two ago. They can remove cataracts, correct someone’s vision with Lasik surgery, or do a cornea transplant to relieve pain or restore someone’s sight. But one procedure they can’t do at the moment is a full eye transplant for vision restoration. And that prevents doctors from treating some more serious eye conditions. Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus want to change that. A team there was recently awarded up to $46 million to figure out how to make successful eye transplants a medical reality. Dr. Kia Washington is leading the team’s research. And she refers to the project as a “moonshot.” Host Erin O’Toole spoke with Washington about what makes eye transplantation so complex, and why this research could create huge advances in eye medicine. Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

When it comes time to decorate for the holidays, for many people a beautiful Christmas tree is the most essential piece. And some people simply don’t want to let their Christmas tree go. So, they bring a live potted tree into their home, and then move it to their yard after the holidays to enjoy for years to come. If that sounds like your kind of Christmas, our guest today has some tips to make it a reality. John Murgel is a horticulture specialist with Colorado State University Extension. He says opting for a living Christmas tree isn’t a totally off-the-wall idea, but it’s certainly not for everyone. He spoke with ITN’s Erin O’Toole about everything you need to know before you try to turn a potted holiday tree into a forever tree in your yard.* * * * *Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

The ingredients you select when you cook dinner can make a huge difference in your household’s carbon emissions. Mark Easter explores that idea in his book The Blue Plate: A Food Lover’s Guide to Climate Chaos, He’s a retired ecologist in Fort Collins who studies the carbon footprint of the food we eat. His book walks readers through the typical ingredients of a home cooked dinner. Then, Mark explains the carbon footprint of each ingredient and how to reduce that footprint by making smarter purchases at the grocery store. Today, in the second installment of In The NoCo’s Holiday Book Club, we’re listening back to a conversation between Mark Easter and In the NoCo’s Brad Turner. Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

Tim McKay is a Denver artist who fills colorful, sprawling canvases with geometric figures. His paintings can span 12 feet or larger. But a year ago, a diagnosis threatened to disrupt his career. Doctors told him he had Parkinson’ s disease – a condition that would slowly take away his ability to use his muscles. McKay responded by making art that reflects how the disease is changing his ability to paint. He started painting on smaller canvases, which require less energy and mobility than his larger pieces. And in some cases, when he had a clumsy moment as he was painting, he left evidence of those mistakes in the work. He spoke with ITN’s Erin O’Toole about how Parkinson’s has changed his work – and the process of documenting his journey through this project, called One to Somewhere. Tim McKay’s paintings are on display at Pirate Contemporary Art in Lakewood through Sunday, December 15.

Picture this: It's a summer day. You’re on a ship on the Arctic Ocean. You scan the horizon... and you don’t see any sea ice on the surface of the water. For much of our history, this would be a surreal scenario. The Earth’s northernmost region is typically covered in sea ice and snow year-round. But a University of Colorado researcher says that vision is going to become a reality. And the first ice-free day on the Arctic Ocean may be closer than we think. Dr. Alexandra Jahn, associate professor in the department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at CU Boulder, is part of an international research team that used climate models to predict when the first ice-free day in the Arctic might occur. They found that day could happen within the next 20 years – and possibly in as few as three years. “It will be a stark contrast, seeing this transition from this very white Arctic to now a blue Arctic,” Jahn said. “I think that will have a really big and stunning impact on people.” The team’s findings were recently published in the journal Nature Communications. Jahn’s prediction is getting plenty of attention from climate scientists who have been thinking about this scenario. She spoke with ITN’s Erin O’Toole about the findings, and what the consequences for the planet would be. * * * * *Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

Forty years ago, a Denver radio talk show host named Alan Berg was assassinated. He was shot in his driveway by members of a militant, white supremacist group known as The Order. The group was active in the early 1980s, and one of their goals was to spark revolution against the American government. A new movie tells that story, and explores the FBI investigation into the group. The movie, called The Order, is based on a book by Kevin Flynn and Gary Gerhardt, who were both investigative journalists at the Rocky Mountain News at the time Alan Berg was killed. Kevin Flynn, who now works as a Denver city councilman, joined Erin O’Toole to talk about the story, why the new film feels relevant today. Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

Columbus B. Hill was a pivotal figure in Colorado’s culinary history. He was a Black man originally from Missouri – and he was possibly the most popular barbecue chef in Denver in the late 1800s. His food was so good that it was served to thousands of people at official functions at the state Capitol. But even among hardcore barbecue fans, very few people know his name. And his legacy wasn’t always well cared for. In 1923, Hill was buried in Denver’s Riverside Cemetery without a headstone. Denver author and barbecue historian Adrian Miller has been on a mission to change that. He devoted an entire chapter to Columbus B. Hill in his book Black Smoke: African Americans and the United States of Barbecue. He championed Hill’s induction into the American Royal Barbecue Hall of Fame in 2023. And last September, he honored Hill with a memorial dedication at his burial site. Adrian Miller joined ITN’s Erin O’Toole a few days before that ceremony to share the story of the “best barbecue man in the West.” We’re revisiting that conversation as part of In The NoCo’s new Holiday Book Club, which will continue each week this month. * * * * *Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

Your social media use may affect your career prospects more than you think. If you’ve been job hunting recently, you know what to do on LinkedIn:. You keep things professional and probably not too controversial. But a University of Colorado researcher says what you do on other platforms – like Facebook or X or BlueSky – might matter more than you think. Jason Thatcher has been studying how hiring managers use social media to make decisions about candidates. And he found 60 percent of hiring managers decide who to interview or who to hire, in part, by checking out applicants’ social media accounts. So how do your Facebook rants about the recent election affect your chances of landing your dream job? What can you do to make your social media accounts more appealing to hiring managers? . And what are the red flags that hiring managers look for? In the NoCo’s Brad Turner spoke with Thatcher about what he’s observed. You can also check out Jason’s previous In The NoCo interview, on how to limit “technostress” that can drive you crazy at work. Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

Every December, Santa Claus literally does the impossible: He delivers presents all over the world with a team of flying reindeer. So when someone becomes a stand-in for Santa at your local mall, or work party, those are big boots to fill. But as it turns out, being Santa is a teachable skill. Susen Mesco founded Professional Santa Claus School in Denver in 1983. She says more than 5,000 Santas have attended over the years. And that means she has four decades of expertise in getting your local Santa acting and looking his best. Susan got her start back in 1982 when her event planning business got an offer to train and manage some Santas at local malls. And she saw a lot of room for improvement. "I went around spying on my competitor, and what I actually found was everything not to do,” she said. “Mommies were miserable. Children were being forced at Santa. Santa was cranky and slouchy, and his beard was falling off. So I went to work writing kind of a manual.” Host Erin O’Toole talked with Mesco about what makes a great Santa, the extensive training her school offers, and how she trains Santas to answer particularly tough questions from kids. * * * * *Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

Thanksgiving is right around the corner. And many of us are dreading the moment when someone brings up politics at the dinner table. Family members might want to debate how Harris performed as a candidate or the merits of who Trump picked for his cabinet. Or a hundred other post-election topics that might make you feel a little bit less than thankful to be with your family on Thursday. Natalie Pennington, an assistant professor of communication studies at Colorado State University, studies the dynamics of friendship and relationships – and the challenges of maintaining connections across the political divide. She spoke with ITN’s Erin O’Toole to share some simple strategies to help you avoid Thanksgiving dinner drama. * * * * *Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

One of the most unusual stories in recent memory about Colorado’s oil and gas industry popped up in the town of Erie. It was actually about what happens underneath Erie. A company wanted to access some underground oil and gas located beneath the town. But Erie has more than 30,000 residents. So putting a fracking operation in the middle of neighborhoods and schools wasn’t going to be very popular. Instead, the company, called Extraction Oil and Gas, proposed a plan to do what’s called horizontal drilling. They would set up their equipment on the outskirts of Erie – in unincorporated Weld County – which has fewer restrictions on drilling. Then they would drill horizontally for as far as five miles to the west – to tap into the oil and gas beneath the town. But some residents in the town pushed back, saying they don’t want to live on top of an oil and gas operation. And now state regulators have had to get involved. KUNC’s Rae Solomon has been following this story. Solomon spoke with In the NoCo’s Brad Turner and explained what might happen next – and what it could mean for how fracking is regulated at the local level. For more on this issue, check out stories by the Boulder Reporting Lab and The Colorado Sun, which cover a recent hearing and decision by the Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission about the proposed drilling site. Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

In 2024, chatbots are part of ordinary life. They pop up on your screen while you’re checking your bank account or making an online purchase. But a few years from now it may be just as easy to have a conversation with a chatbot who recreates a dead loved one. That’s the idea behind a kind of technology called a generative ghost. Jed Brubaker is associate professor at the University of Colorado and one of the people leading the development of generative ghosts. Jed is part of a team that recently received $75,000 from Google to study how generative ghosts could become part of our lives. In the NoCo’s Brad Turner spoke with Jed about what a visit with the generative ghost of a dead loved one would feel like. By the way, Jed also leads the Digital Legacy Clinic – a free clinic at CU to help people who want to get a deceased loved one’s digital affairs in order. Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

It may not feel like it right now, but winter is coming. And before it arrives... it’s time to think about extra care and nurturing for your trees. Because on Colorado’s Front Range, the coldest season can be especially tough on the trees in our yards. Damage can take many forms: Sun scald, dry roots, or cracks in the bark from extreme temperature swings. Fortunately, there’s hope. The tree specialists at Colorado State University Extension say they get lots of calls about cold-weather care for your trees so they’re ready to shine when spring returns. CSU horticulture specialist John Murgel spoke with ITN’s Erin O’Toole to share some helpful tips for helping your trees make it through the winter. You can learn more about wrapping your trees here. And find helpful tips for winter watering and using mulch to help insulate your trees here. * * * * *Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

Millions of kids in the US will suffer a concussion during childhood, according to a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Concussions are brain injuries that cause headaches and dizziness and nausea. And it can take weeks to fully recover. In recent years doctors have changed the way they treat them. Instead of avoiding activity, doctors now recommend light physical activity while a child recovers from a concussion. Julie Wilson is a pediatric sports medicine physician at the Sports Medicine Center, and co-director of the Concussion Program at Children’s Hospital Colorado. She says doctors and school nurses in Colorado have kept up with the new guidance – and the state Department of Education formally adopted those guidelines recently. But Wilson says some parents and caregivers haven’t gotten the message. Host Erin O’Toole talked with Wilson about why she’s made it her mission to educate the public to think differently about kids and concussions. Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

If you’ve spent even a little time outdoors in Colorado, you’ve most likely heard the song of the mountain chickadee. These adorable, chubby little birds are commonly found in higher-elevation forests in the Rocky Mountains. And they have a close relative – the black-capped chickadee, which tends to live at lower elevations. But in areas like Boulder County, the habitats of these two types of chickadees overlap. Historically, the two types of chickadees had identical birdsongs. Which could create a problem. When birds from these two distinct species want to find a mate, it’s important that they can identify a bird of their own kind, and avoid getting mixed up with their close cousins. But researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder say the birds found a clever solution. The mountain chickadee has changed its tune so it’s not the same as the song of the black-capped chickadee. And new findings from the CU study suggest that the changed birdsong is a small example of how human activity and urban development can impact wildlife’s evolution. Olivia Taylor is one of several researchers at the University of Colorado who have been studying this adaptation. She and fellow CU researcher, associate professor Scott Taylor (no relation) joined ITN’s Erin O’Toole to talk about their findings, which were recently published in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology. You can learn more about Scott Taylor’s work with the Boulder Chickadee Study here. * * * * *Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

Of all the responses to the results of last week’s presidential election, one of the most unusual involves something called the 4B movement. It calls for women to cut off or limit their contact with men. That includes dating, marriage, childbirth – and physical affections. The 4B movement started a few years ago in South Korea, but gained attention on social media in the U.S. after Election Day. Some women equated president-elect Donald Trump's victory to a low point for women's rights — and said they’re cutting off relationships with men. But women withholding physical contact from men is not a new idea. It's the subject of the Greek comedy Lysistrata by the playwright Aristophanes, which was first staged more than 2,400 years ago. The female characters in the play withhold their affections to protest a war, and it ultimately leads to peace and harmony. Lysistrata is being performed through Sunday at the Ed Beaty Hall Theater on the Aims Community College campus in Greeley. The show's director, Benjamin Kessler, spoke with ITN’s Erin O’Toole about why this production is a conversation starter that taps into the current political mood in potent ways. * * * * *Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

Researchers have proposed a plan to transform high rise office spaces into living spaces to reduce the housing shortage in the Denver metro area. Denver is one of many American cities with a tight housing market and a glut of unused office space. A recent study by the Pew Charitable Trusts and the architecture firm Gensler calls for converting high rise offices to shared residential spaces similar to a college dorm. Tenants would share kitchens, bathrooms and workspaces with people in neighboring units. Alex Horowitz is the Project Director of Housing and Project Initiatives at Pew Charitable Trusts and he oversaw the study. In the NoCo’s Brad Turner spoke with Horowitz about why he thinks these low- cost, dorm-style units in skyscrapers could help cities where attainable housing is hard to find and even dramatically reduce the rate of homelessness in the U.S. Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

The Hayman Fire burned through a huge swath of forest southwest of Denver in 2002. It left behind a massive burn scar. Workers quickly replanted thousands of trees to reestablish the forest. But more than two decades later, large areas of the Hayman burn scar still resemble a moonscape, with some scraggly young trees here and there. Burn scars that take decades to heal are becoming a fact of life throughout the West. It’s partly due to climate change, which is shifting which types of trees will grow naturally in mountain forests. Camille Stevens-Rumann – assistant director of the Colorado Forest Restoration Insitute at Colorado State University – studies reforestation efforts after a wildfire. In a recent Scripps News story, Stevens-Rumann argues it’s time for a new approach to how we replant forests after wildfires. Host Erin O’Toole spoke with Stevens-Rumann about what she thinks Colorado’s forests should look like in the future and why trees that have historically thrived in Colorado’s mountains don’t grow back quickly after a wildfire. Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

A $20 boiler maintenance fee. A $60 fee to drive your garbage to the dump. A $1 monthly pest maintenance fee. And a $6 fee to add up those other fees. These are actual charges billed to renters by landlords in Denver, according to a recent article by the Denver Post. The fees are tacked onto a tenant’s monthly bill on top of their rent. Critics call them junk fees – and say they usually aren’t clearly outlined in rent agreements or even mentioned to a renter before the first monthly bill arrives. Junk fees can sometimes add hundreds of dollars to what a tenant pays each month. But the Colorado Attorney General’s office has taken note, resulting in lawsuits against some landlords and management companies who charge these fees. So what effect will those lawsuits have for the renters who fall victim to this? In the NoCo’s Brad Turner spoke with Denver Post reporter Elizabeth Hernandez who’s been covering the issue. She’s spoken with dozens of renters who have horror stories about junk fees. If you believe your landlord has charged you junk fees, you can reach out to the Colorado Attorney General’s Office for help. Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

The Patton Veterans Project is a traveling film workshop designed to give veterans who may be suffering from PTSD or depression a communal space to process their trauma. Vets who participate learn a “narrative therapy” approach to dealing with emotional trauma. Over three days, the vets create a short film about their personal story. The Patton Veterans Project was created by Benjamin Patton, grandson of the famous World War II General George S. Patton. Earlier this year, Patton and Mike Leeman, the program’s veteran coordinator and former participant, joined ITN's Erin O’Toole to talk about the program. A selection of films created by participants will be screened from 6 to 9 p.m. Monday at the Lory Student Center on the Colorado State University campus in Fort Collins. Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

Tired of hearing about the election? And thinking about the election? We get it. But before we move on, let’s walk through a few notable decisions that Colorado voters considered this week. Like whether we should ban the hunting of mountain lions and other big cats. And whether sales of guns and ammunition should help pay for mental health services. And a measure that would have transformed how Coloradans vote for candidates. ITN’s Erin O’Toole spoke with Lucas Brady Woods, KUNC’s politics and elections reporter, to analyze what passed, what failed, and how Colorado voted this election. Just a reminder that ballots in some contests are still being tabulated. KUNC will continue to provide updates as more election results are announced. * * * * *Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

All eyes were on the Presidential election Tuesday night: Donald Trump vs. Kamala Harris. But there were plenty of important Colorado issues on the ballot, too. Like what the state constitution says about same sex marriage, who should review judges in ethics cases and whether the right to an abortion should be protected. KUNC’s politics and elections reporter Lucas Brady Woods spoke with ITN’s Erin O’Toole to discuss some of the most noteworthy issues decided by Colorado voters. Votes in some ballot measures and races – including the 8th Congressional District race between Democrat Yadira Caraveo and Republican Gabe Evans – were still being tallied late Tuesday when we recorded this episode. It may be a few days before we know the outcomes in some contests. KUNC will continue to provide updates as more results are announced. * * * * *Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

It's Election Day in Colorado. And along with who wins or loses, something that a lot of people are thinking about today is election security. After all, elections are complicated: Millions of Colorado voters will fill out and turn in their ballots. And county election officials will gather and tally them – quickly. On top of that, some recent headlines have called Colorado’s election systems into question. Mesa County officials reported recently that someone stole 12 mail ballots and returned them. And news broke last week that the Colorado Secretary of State’s office accidentally posted some security passwords on their website. State officials say they’ve fixed that problem, and election systems around the state have not been compromised. Even so, we wanted to look at the steps that make sure your ballot is collected and counted securely. Two county clerks – people whose job is to keep ballots secure – walked us through some of Colorado’s election safeguards. ITN’s Erin O’Toole spoke with Molly Fitzpatrick, a Democrat from Boulder County, and Carly Koppes, a Republican from Weld County. * * * * *Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

If you visit the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge northwest of Denver, you see different types of wildlife, miles of hiking and biking trails and acres of rolling prairie. But you don’t see any trace of the astonishing history of what happened there during the Cold War: The Rocky Flats plant made plutonium triggers for nuclear weapons until it was shuttered in the early 1990s. The buildings used in processing the plutonium were destroyed and the area was cleaned up under a Superfund site designation. And after a series of sometimes contentious public hearings, the wildlife refuge opened to the public in September 2018. Filmmaker Jeff Gipe explores that history in a new documentary, Half-Life of Memory: America’s Forgotten Atomic Bomb Factory. Gipe grew up in nearby Arvada. His father worked at the plant in the 1980s. Gipe says he made the film to remind people of the hazards buried beneath the wide-open spaces of the wildlife refuge, and to share the voices of workers whose lives were affected by the dangerous materials processed at Rocky Flats. He spoke about the documentary with ITN’s Erin O’Toole. The film premieres Saturday, Nov. 2 at the Denver Film Festival. Find the complete lineup and schedule for the festival here. You can watch the film’s trailer here. * * * * *Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

Evacuating thousands of people during a natural disaster is a lot more complicated than simply telling everyone to move to safety. A wildfire or tornado in Colorado, or the hurricanes that recently struck the southeast U.S., often hit vulnerable populations especially hard. Elderly folks, people with disabilities, or people who can’t afford to quickly pick up and leave have a more difficult time getting out of harm’s way. Carson MacPherson-Krutsky is a researcher with the Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado Boulder. In a new study, Carson laid out what she’s learned about how communication during natural disasters helps save lives – or, in some cases, fails to help. She conducted the study in part because officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) wondered why more people didn’t take advantage of shelters it set up during hurricanes. Carson spoke with ITN’s Erin O’Toole about how she thinks emergency managers should rethink how they warn the public about natural disasters. * * * * *Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

Paying for a hospital visit often ends in a guessing game. For example, if you hurt your ankle and need an X-ray, you could pay a few hundred dollars – or nothing at all – depending on which hospital you go to and the deal they’ve negotiated with your insurance company. That fluctuation in pricing from hospital to hospital is true for many procedures in Colorado. But some new websites might help consumers find answers. One of them – ColoradoHospitalPrices.com – was developed by a nonprofit to let patients look up price estimates for various procedures and find the best value. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis was so impressed he promoted the site in a press conference last week. He said it’s a first step to creating market pressure that will level out price differentiation. John Ingold is a health reporter for The Colorado Sun who has been covering this story. He spoke with In the NoCo’s Brad Turner about the these websites and how they could help Coloradans. Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

A handful of Colorado schools monitor their students with cameras that use facial recognition software. It’s a security measure: An administrator with access to the technology can upload a student’s photo and then the system can use cameras around the school to pinpoint a student’s location. More school districts across the state are exploring whether to adopt this technology, according to a recent story in the Denver Post. And it's highlighting a conflict between supporters who say it helps make schools safer and opponents who call it a violation of students’ civil rights. In the NoCo’s Brad Turner talked with Denver Post education reporter Elizabeth Hernadez, who has been covering the subject and spoken with people on all sides of the issue. Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

Crews recently began work to extinguish a blaze that has burned underground for more than a century. It's happening on Marshall Mesa, south of Boulder in an area popular for hiking. A fire in a coal seam there has been smoldering beneath the surface for years. It's a remnant of a time when coal mining thrived in the area. Because heat from underground blazes can sometimes set fire to grass and other brush nearby, residents of nearby Superior and Louisville have been more concerned about potential dangers since the Marshall Fire. So in the weeks ahead, crews from Colorado’s Inactive Mine Reclamation Program will prepare to dig up the combustible material at Marshall Mesa and bring it to the surface. They’ll mix it with cooler dirt to prevent future fires. Jeff Graves, Director of Colorado’s Inactive Mine Reclamation Program will manage the job. He spoke with In the NoCo’s Brad Turner about how crews will snuff out the blaze. Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

Endless work emails. Slack messages from coworkers. Virtual meetings on Zoom. If these things boost your anxiety, you're experiencing something called technostress. Technostress can also include anxiety about keeping up with new technologies – or being replaced by them. It makes employees miserable. And easing technostress at work is an ongoing struggle for employers, especially since technology seems to blur the boundaries between work time and personal time. Jason Thatcher is a University of Colorado researcher who studies how people do their jobs and use technology in the workplace. He teaches at CU’s Leeds School of Business. In a recent paper, he argues that the key to reducing tech-related stress is to understand that individual employees will react to different technologies in different ways. Jason spoke with ITN’s Brad Turner about how you, and your boss, can lower the technostress you encounter at work. Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

Heart disease causes one out of every five deaths in the United States. Now, a University of Colorado researcher says she’s found promising clues that could help treat it, but the source of her discoveries might make your skin crawl. Dr. Leslie Leinwand is a professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology at CU Boulder. Her insights come from research conducted on a rather unwieldy animal to keep in your laboratory – pythons. Leinwand and her team observe Burmese pythons – snakes that go weeks or months between meals without eating. She has studied pythons for decades and she recently published a new paper on her research. Erin O’Toole spoke with Lienwand about her research and learned that, while humans and snakes have very different physiologies, the way snakes eat in the wild may inspire new treatments for heart disease and other metabolic conditions in people. Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

Colorado and its pets are suffering from a shortage of veterinarians. It's leading to long wait times at some clinics. And the Colorado Sun reports that many animal hospitals are so swamped they’re forced to turn away dogs and cats who need care. On Election Day, Colorado voters will be asked to weigh in on a possible solution. Proposition 129 would create a new class of veterinary workers called a veterinary professional associate, or VPA. VPAs would require less training than traditional veterinarians to become certified. If voters approve the plan, it could mean Colorado would see more professionals able to treat pets. To help us understand the proposal, and the arguments for and against, ITN's Brad Turner talked with Jon Geller. He's a retired, Fort Collins-based emergency veterinarian, and a graduate of the school of veterinary medicine at Colorado State University. (He’s also the founder of the Street Dog Coalition, a nonprofit that helps provide pet care for people experiencing homelessness.) Jon has studied the issue but has not taken a stance on Prop 129. Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected] 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 LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.