Colorado Matters

A mobile laundry serves the homeless in Denver. The people who use the laundry truck can also connect with social services in hopes of getting off the street. Then, it was harder to reach the North Pole in the 1800s than to reach the moon in the 1960s, but the lessons those polar explorers learned are still relevant to space scientists today. And, a Colorado restaurant owner writes a memoir about the orphaned bear who was her childhood pet.

Scientists at CU Boulder say there’s a climate change collision course underway in Colorado: More wildfires are expected and more people are moving into the forest. The scientists released a report showing how fast-growing communities can adapt. Then, a Colorado cyclist who said no to doping talks about his friendship with cycling’s most notorious cheater. Also, renowned architect I.M. Pei, who turns 100 today, has made a big mark on Colorado, from the 16th Street Mall to a striking building atop a mesa in Boulder. Then, we’ll remember the pioneering dancer Charlotte Irey, who made CU-Boulder a center for dance.

Last year, four million cantaloupes came from Rocky Ford, Colorado. Right now, farmers are working their fields and, at least one, prays his crop isn’t ravaged by hail again. A look at how this year’s crop is shaping up and the workforce that harvests it. Then, the Nuremberg Trials took place 70 years ago, and Nazi officers weren’t the only ones prosecuted — so were doctors, who conducted stomach-turning experiments and exterminations. What medical students in Colorado can learn from those trials.

Protestors on college campuses may see signs pointing them to “free speech zones.” Those types of cordoned off areas, meant to contain students’ political speech, will soon be illegal on Colorado campuses. Then, new evidence that ancestral Puebloans used sophisticated geometry to build the Sun Temple at Mesa Verde National Park. And, Denver poet Robert Cooperman draws on his childhood memories of his father’s work at a local hat factory for his new collection, “City Hat Frame Factory.” We also have a history of “The Denver,” which was the main place to lunch and shop in town during much of the 20th Century.

“Drain The Swamp” was a rallying cry during the 2016 election. It’s also the title of a new book from U.S. Rep. Ken Buck, a Republican who represents northern and eastern Colorado. Buck joins us to talk Washington political culture, President Trump’s performance, immigration and more. Then, state lawmakers have a new compromise on teen sexting. They’ve decided on a small penalty for teen couples who send each other nude images. And, DIA concession owners are struggling to fill 400 open jobs. Plus, a Colorado man’s controversial product, drinkable sunscreen, is the subject of a lawsuit claiming it’s phony and dangerous. Also, at age 19, Colorado native Dawson Newby is a pro motocross rider. He’ll race in Denver this weekend.

There’s a lot of uncertainty now for young people in AmeriCorps. The national service program could lose its federal funding under President Trump’s proposed budget. Eric Gorski, bureau chief for Chalkbeat Colorado, says this isn’t the first time AmeriCorps’s been on the chopping block. Then, a Boulder woman convinced the people behind Emojis — those little pictures you can text — to make one of a rock climber. They modeled it after her. Later, the high school football player who didn’t realize she was actually a trailblazer. And, the view of Pikes Peak inspired “America The Beautiful.” The Colorado Springs Philharmonic commissioned new pieces based on the song.

It’s the longest congressional break since the inauguration of President Trump and we check in with CPR’s new government reporter Alison Sherry to find out what lawmakers have been saying about issues like immigration, health care and marijuana. Then, even though Colorado is attracting more tourists, the state tourism office wants more money. It would use the funds to boost tourism beyond metro Denver and the mountain resorts. Then, husband and wife duo “Tennis” have a new album they wrote aboard a sailboat and recorded in a cabin they rented in Frasier, Colorado. Also, a documentary spotlights Greek-Americans in the shadow of the Ludlow Massacre.

A Colorado doctor is on a mission: to develop antidotes for people attacked with chemical weapons. He says his team is close. We’ll talk in light of the gas attack in Syria. Then, Romeo and Juliet with a twist — families separated by religion. It’s the creation of Denver choreographer Cleo Parker Robinson. Also, we meet the man behind Little Free Libraries; those bird-house-looking-things in people’s front yards that have books inside. And, rum is often thought of as an island spirit. But a distillery right here in landlocked Colorado is making it. And it’s in demand.