Colorado Matters

Vanessa Wilson, who tried to restore trust within the community, has been fired from the Aurora police department for not building morale with officers. Then, crime is up in Colorado, but why, and what can be done to reverse the trend? Also, Colorado loses a trailblazer in high school sports.

How does someone serving a long prison sentence find meaning? That’s at the heart of today’s show, which was recorded at Denver Women’s Correctional Facility, where a new radio station helps imbue a sense of purpose. Inside Wire: Colorado Prison Radio is a mix of talk and music. CPR’s Elaine Tassy reported on its launch, but wanted to go deeper.

The conservative scholar program at CU Boulder was created to hire professors with conservative leanings, but John Eastman has been a lightning rod. We speak with the founder of the program, Robert Pasnau. Then, a new U.N. report finds that politics is a major barrier toward addressing climate change. And NPR’s Ayesha Rascoe talks with KRCC’s Abigail Beckman about covering the White House and diversity.

Colorado’s new 8th Congressional district runs from north of Denver up past Greeley. Latinos make up 40 percent of its population. Then, a look at candidates for the seat. And, Pueblo’s Evraz steel mill is linked to a Russian oligarch. Also, the $16 billion state budget. Plus, a survey of teachers after the pandemic.

Colorado’s new congressional district stretches from Thornton to Greeley and includes parts of Adams, Larimer, and Weld Counties. But do people know they’re in a new district and what issues might shape their vote? Plus, Elizabeth Garner breaks down the growth and population trends in CD-8. Then, Dick Barkey, a Democratic organizer in Weld County, and Joe Jackson of the Colorado GOP, talk about the effort to win the district.

People of color with cystic fibrosis are more likely to go undiagnosed because the medical community has long considered it an illness that only afflicts white people. Now there’s a new screening tool to help people self-advocate. Then, an Aurora entrepreneur found opportunity during the pandemic. And, Purplish explores the history of the abortion debate in Colorado as lawmakers pass a bill to enshrine the right to an abortion in state law.

March and April are typically Colorado’s snowiest months, but wildfires are already sparking. Chief Meteorologist Mike Nelson of Denver7 on what’s happening and why. Then, people with chronic pain say the opioid crackdown is hurting them. And, an update about life off the grid in Park County.

We talk with a hiker who’s now had close encounters with two wildfires in four months. Then, John Babiak is the son of Ukrainian immigrants; he’s headed from Colorado to Poland to help Ukrainian refugees. Plus, Denver will pay a group of protesters $14 million. Also, the photographer who took the image on Colorado’s new driver licenses. And reflecting on coming “Back from Broken” as season three debuts.