Colorado Matters

Denver won’t join the federal government in a crackdown on illegal immigration. On Monday, the city council passed an ordinance it says will build trust between immigrants and police. Critics, though, say it means Denver’s becoming a sanctuary city. Then, Coloradans are headed to Texas to help with animal rescues — a task that one worker says can save human lives as well. And, a coffee roaster in Pueblo uses power from the sun to finish the beans. Also, a Denver composer traveled to Mongolia to conduct the premiere of a piece he wrote for a musical ensemble there. Plus, Colorado Springs sculptor Senga Nengudi is one of 17 American artists headed to the Venice Biennale. Her work features everyday objects like pantyhose.

The Trump Administration may change dozens of national monuments in the West, but after months of public input and review, the recommended changes remain a mystery. The White House is also already clearing the way for more private business on public lands, including National Parks. Plus, the artists who designed a new memorial to the Aurora theater shooting victims explains his design. Then, a Fort Collins author turns her own experience with stressful new relationships into a new novel for young adults, called “Worthy.”

In 2008, the University of Colorado Boulder searched for alternatives to affirmative action; “race-neutral” ways to build diversity on campus. That change could protect CU, and even teach others, how to adjust as the Trump administration prepares to sue schools over affirmative action policies. Then, a mountain town has a creative use for hot spring water: growing vegetables. Pagosa Springs goes in for geothermal greenhouses. And, poems fraught with mother-daughter strife and love. A new collection of poetry and why its so accessible. Plus, why a Colorado ranch homesteaded by a teenage girl in 1886 will receive a special designation at the Colorado State Fair.

A black man in Denver wanted to understand white nationalists, so Theo Wilson changed up his newsfeed and adopted an alter-ego. “I became Lucius 25, white supremacist lurker, and digitally I began to infiltrate the infamous alt-right movement.” His video about the experience went viral after Charlottesville. Then, a new accessory, invented in Colorado, alerts friends and family if you’re in trouble. And, could a new novel based on the 30-year-old murder of an Aurora family help thaw a cold case? Also, the girl with the I-70 tattoo. Plus, at a Greeley school, kids eat veggies for lunch — and like them.

Not a single state senator or representative in the Colorado legislature is independent, even though more than a million Coloradans are unaffiliated. A national group, which aims to get more independents elected to national and local office, recently moved to Colorado to focus its resources on the state. The Centrist Project says its goal is critical at a time when 70 percent of Americans are dissatisfied with the direction of the country. Then, Eric Cahn was separated from his parents at age 4. They were sent to Auschwitz while he hid in a family’s basement to avoid the Nazis. Cahn shares his story, as CPR News continues to document the lives of Holocaust survivors in Colorado. Cahn also reflects on the events in Charlottesville, Virginia, where there were anti-Semitic chants and Nazi symbols flying. Plus, Colorado’s pot growers are looking for ways to save energy and money.

The governors of Colorado and Ohio say another one-party healthcare plan would be doomed to fail in Congress. So John Hickenlooper and John Kasich are crafting their own plan together. The Democrat and Republican say they hope to bring more stability to the health insurance market. Then, it’s not just statues. College dorms can honor controversial figures in history. That’s how it was decades ago at CU Boulder. The state historian has been thinking a lot lately about Colorado’s own struggles with names like Nichols, Stapleton and Chivington. And, a new weapon to fight antibiotic resistant superbugs.

When it’s hot out, or when it rains or floods, maybe you wonder “Is this climate change?” There’s a name for when researchers try to make that sort of direct link — it’s called attribution science. And a big, new climate report finds it’s possible to connect some extreme weather to global warming. But, look no further than Colorado to see how far attribution science has to go. Then… a man who spent a decade on family cattle ranches in Colorado collecting stories. Like how one rancher used to ship her fresh cream to Denver by train. And a look at Denver’s Skyline Park. Plus, keeping the Emerald Ash Borer out of Denver.

Conflicts over oil and gas development are more intense since two people died in a home explosion last spring. The state’s top regulator feels the heat from communities that want to restrict drilling. Then, a University of Colorado Boulder professor studies how white supremacists have moved from the fringes of society, and the role music has played. Plus, an autobiographical comic book about a Denver artist’s relationship with his father and alcohol. And, the first woman to officially complete a US marathon ran up Pikes Peak in 1959. Not many people knew what she’d accomplished until years later.