The Daily Sun-Up

Today – we’re revisiting a talk about holiday cheer, as Sun writer Kevin Simpson chats with the Colorado woman behind thousands of visits with that jolly old elf, Santa Claus.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today - we're revisiting a conversation about how NORAD in Colorado Springs uses their aerospace technology for a very important holiday mission: tracking Santa Claus. https://coloradosun.com/2023/12/22/norad-santa-tracker-2023/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, Sun outdoors reporter Jason Blevins has updates on the ski and snowboarding season, including the return of Cuchara ski hill in southern Colorado, a new feature about getting better on the snow and now free access to his Outsider newsletter starting Jan. 1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Colorado Music Experience's G. Brown talks with the Sun's Kevin Simpson about some key figures in Colorado's music history.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, Sun water reporter Shannon Mullane checks in from the annual Colorado River conference in Las Vegas. The top water officials in the Western U.S. are together as a water-sharing agreement among the seven states is still pending. https://coloradosun.com/2025/12/17/colorado-river-gathering-rhetoric-concerns-las-vegas/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Unaffiliated voters now make up half of the electorate in Colorado. A new poll is shedding light on this crucial bloc. Colorado Sun political reporters Jesse Paul and Taylor Dolven dug into the data. Read more: https://coloradosun.com/2025/12/15/colorado-unaffiliated-voters-poll-2025/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Since the start of the Trump administration’s tariffs, Colorado global exports grew 6.3% between January and August, compared with the same period in 2024, and imports fell 2.6%. Today, Colorado Sun business reporter Tamara Chuang breaks down the tariff’s effects on Colorado companies. Read more: https://coloradosun.com/2025/12/15/colorado-trump-tariffs-havenly-imports-exports-trade/  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Can a billionaire be the model for swiftly addressing the high-country housing shortage? Today, outdoors reporter Jason Blevins discusses a new housing project in Steamboat Springs backed by a tech-focused venture capitalist.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Author César Garcia Hernandez talks to the Sun's Kevin Simpson about his book on immigration politics and policy, "Welcome the Wretched".See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today we're joined by Cameron Kirkegaard, a senior at Grand Junction High School, who recently released a documentary he made called Line of Fire, about sexual assault on the U.S. Biathlon Team – that’s skiing and shooting – that has gone unaddressed for decades.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today's Sun-Up, Temperature newsletter reporters Michael Booth and John Ingold offer updates on a surprising settlement over religious exemptions for Covid vaccines, and readers' burning questions about a state push to stop burning natural gas in homes.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, Sun business reporter Tamara Chuang reviews the annual Colorado economic forecast put together by the business school at University of Colorado and how that outlook is filled with uncertainty going into 2026.  Read more: https://coloradosun.com/2025/12/08/chaos-uncertainty-economy-colorado-predictions-forecast/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, Sun outdoors reporter Jason Blevins talks about how the new book “The Way Out” by Colorado author Devon O’Neil can be a model to help advance the conversation on what we learn from mountain tragedies and dealing with the fallout and trauma.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Author Jenny Powers joins SunLit editor Kevin Simpson to discuss "On the Origin of Being".See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, Sun arts and culture reporter Parker Yamasaki digs into the growing number of holiday markets around Colorado and places where you can still find that unique gift while helping local small businesses. Read more: https://coloradosun.com/colorado-holiday-markets/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Colorado lawmakers were recently warned that the state is stuck in a cycle of annual billion-dollar budget shortfalls. Colorado Sun political reporter Jesse Paul discussed the situation with Arlo Pérez Esquivel on the Colorado Today podcast from Colorado Public Radio Read more: https://coloradosun.com/2025/11/17/colorado-budget-cycles-1-billion-shortfall-medicaid/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today we look into the rocky future of the Rocky Mountain Regional Patent Office, which was slated to close during the shutdown and shift remaining employees to Virginia, and now may be relocated somewhere else in the West. Tamara Chung joins to explain what these shifting federal decisions could mean for Colorado and its workers.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, Sun outdoors reporter Jason Blevins takes us up to the hills outside of Paonia for updates on a project to turn potent methane leaking from an abandoned coal mine into less harmful carbon dioxide. Celebrating the DPS ExperienceSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, Sun director of development Alyssa Pinkerton and membership manager Danika Worthington discuss ways listeners like you can get involved in supporting Colorado with free, trustworthy news by supporting nonprofit journalism. Gift membership: https://coloradosun.com/gift-membership Black Friday: https://giving.coloradosun.com/page/black-friday-2025 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Author Mark Easter chats with The Colorado Sun's Kevin Simpson about his book "The Blue Plate: A Food Lover’s Guide to Climate Chaos".See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Historian Derek Everett joins The Colorado Sun’s Kevin Simpson to explain the strange years when Colorado celebrated two Thanksgivings.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today we're talking with Colorado Sun business reporter Tamara Chuang about the cost of the Thanksgiving meal in Colorado this year. Many expected costs to be higher this year, but they're not. Read more: https://coloradosun.com/2025/11/22/thanksgiving-dinner-prices-colorado-grocery-2025/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Thanksgiving holiday week is the unofficial start of the Colorado ski season. Today, Sun outdoors reporter Jason Blevins has a preview of the new stuff this winter across the state, big Colorado events before the Olympics and his always optimistic hope for the snow to pick up.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

G. Brown, veteran music journalist and executive director of Colorado Music Experience, joins The Sun’s Kevin Simpson to dish out a Thanksgiving musical feast. From Colorado classics to unexpected holiday favorites, they share the songs, stories, and sounds that set the tone for the season.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, Sun reporter Olivia Prentzel looks at how a Denver-area investigator who relied on Flock cameras to build a theft case was disciplined after falsely accusing a woman of stealing a $25 package. She had her own evidence. Read more: https://coloradosun.com/2025/11/12/columbine-valley-office-flock-camera-extra-training/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Colorado may have just had a statewide election, but the Colorado Sun's politics team is already turning its attention toward the midterm elections next year. Sun political reporter Jesse Paul was recently on Purplish, the podcast produced by CPR News and the Colorado Capitol News Alliance, to talk about what's on the horizon.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, Colorado Sun business reporter Tamara Chuang digs deeper into rent decreases across the metro Denver area and how and why it has become a renter’s market right now. Read more: https://coloradosun.com/2025/11/17/rent-prices-denver-falling-apartment-data/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, Sun outdoors reporter Jason Blevins sifts through results from the Colorado communities looking to tax tourists more and how those ballot measures fared across the state, with some surprises. Read more: https://coloradosun.com/2025/11/10/tourism-taxes-election/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Director Victor Hogan II and Writer Alan Brooks talk talk about their collaboration on bringing Brooks's graphic novel to the screen with "Always, Most of the Time".See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, Colorado Sun rural reporter Tracy Ross has updates on the Colorado wolf reintroduction as it approaches the two-year mark of when the first wolves were released in Colorado.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.