- The coronavirus pandemic is highlighting inequities in U.S. healthcare. Death rates among Black and Hispanic people are much higher than for white people. But illnesses often impact racial groups differently. Blacks, for instance, are much more likely to develop Alzheimer’s than whites are. The Alzheimer’s Association of Colorado is tackling that issue.
- Policing in Denver has changed in part because a court intervened, and in part because of public pressure. What is the right role for police? When does the community need them? When does it not? A new program called STAR (Support Team Assisted Response now allows dispatchers to send a team of mental health experts, and not a police officer, to a mental health crisis they deem "low-risk." It's a pilot program that comes amid calls for the community to re-envision police departments.