Bente is an award-winning journalist who joined Colorado Public Radio in August 2018 after a decade of reporting on the Colorado state capitol for the Rocky Mountain Community Radio collaborative and KUNC. In 2017, Bente was named Colorado Journalist of the Year by the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), and she was awarded with a National Investigative Reporting Award by SPJ a year later.
Professional Background:
Before joining CPR and KUNC, she was a reporter at KMOX Radio and KOMU TV, and also worked as a research analyst for the U.S. Department of Justice.
Awards:
In 2017, Bente was named Colorado Journalist of the Year by the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), and she was awarded with a National Investigative Reporting Award by SPJ a year later. She also won an Edward R. Murrow Award in 2015 for her work on KRCC’s series on the Southwest Chief, “Railroad West.”
Throughout her career, Bente has been honored with various accolades from the Colorado Broadcaster’s Association, the Association of Statehouse Reporter and Editors, the Third Coast International Audio Festival, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Mortar Board National Honorary Society and the Omicron Delta Epsilon International Economics Honorary Society.
Education:
Bachelor’s degree economics with a mathematical emphasis, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Master’s degree in journalism, University of Missouri
Over the past 120 days, lawmakers have argued over justice reform, housing, behavioral health and so much more -- we'll wrap up everything they did -- and didn't -- get done.
The fate of scores of bills — including some of the session’s most significant — is in the balance as Republicans try to run out the clock on some Democratic policies.
Colorado ranks last in the nation, when it comes to mental health care available, compared to the number of people who need it. This year state lawmakers are hoping to make a big difference in the problem.
As the session winds down, CPR's Bente Birkeland and Andy Kenney take stock of what's been passed, what's still left on the table, and what will be left on the cutting room floor.
Lawmakers are debating whether to ban menthol cigarettes, flavored vapes and similar products. It's an issue that's pulled in tons of lobbying money and is causing some deep divisions between usual political allies.
Updated 5:40 p.m. Colorado is set to add a new fee to gasoline purchases this summer, and the public will get a chance to weigh in on whether to delay the increase by six months during a hearing that’s expected to be held at the state Capitol later this week.
The story of how one county clerk came to believe in false claims about her own voting equipment, what it reveals about the many ways in which our election system is under pressure — from the outside, and the inside — and how policymakers are trying to fix it.