Colorado Matters

CDOT is holding town hall-style “cannabis conversations” to wrap its head around marijuana’s effect on drivers. A new book by Kenneth Jessen explores how the state went from wild wild west to a civilized society. Colorado College archivist Jessy Randall unearths a #MeToo story behind a former campus president’s departure in 1917. And for Dragondeer, ‘The Other One’ by the Grateful Dead flashes back to 1968 best.

Molly Bloom talks about Aaron Sorkin directing “Molly’s Game,” about her journey from Olympic hopeful to running high-stakes poker games, and how she lost it all. In Pueblo, there’s a battle over how to get rid of a mustard gas stockpile. Handcuffed by voters, Pueblo jail officials can’t handle overcrowding. Colorado Mesa is home to the nation’s top-ranked NCAA Division II softball team. And a bus-sized space station is plummeting to Earth. Can you see it?

As soon as you come into the world, you are met with bacteria. “It’s like mom’s first gift, you know?” says Colorado author Eugenia Bone, who at 55 went back to college to study microbes. Bone spoke with Colorado Matters host Ryan Warner in front of an audience — and all their microbes — at The Newman Center in Denver. Also, internal disciplinary records obtained by CPR News show engineers have made dozens of serious mistakes in the last two years.

Statistically, people with mental illness are no more likely to become violent than people who don’t have a diagnosed mental illness. Climate scientists have news data that allows them to more closely link specific weather events to global warming. The story behind a photo of a young woman on horseback leaping from a tower in Pueblo in 1905. Colorado actor Mathenee Treco talks about his dual roles in “Hamilton” in tour.

Colorado Matters covered Saturday’s March For Our Lives protests around the state live, and over the course of an hour also wove in several very different views on gun ownership, rights and restrictions. We heard from reporters in Grand Junction, Colorado Springs and Denver — the site of the largest of the gatherings.

Half the people in Colorado’s jails haven’t been convicted of anything; a lot of them just can’t pay bond. Now the state is looking at how else to get people to show up for trial. Then, you may think twice about squishing bugs after hearing Denver science writer David MacNeal talk about insects that help us solve murders, cure disease, and design better buildings.

John Hickenlooper supports raising the age for purchase of assault weapons and allowing judges to issue temporary restraining orders to keep people from having guns if there’s reason to believe they might pose a danger. We talk about inviting conservative voices to liberal campuses as Ann Coulter speaks at CU-Boulder tonight. And we meet Jim Howard, a fashion illustrators and the focus of a new exhibition at the Denver Museum of Art.

Suicide is the leading cause of death among young people in Colorado, but lawmakers can’t agree on what to do about it. Then, while reporting on sexual harassment at the Capitol, we discovered lawmakers’ aides and interns aren’t allowed to talk to reporters. Then, Denver chef Jesse Vega talks about helping to feed Hurricane Maria survivors in Puerto Rico. And, hear about the new Center for Colorado Women’s History at Byers-Evans House Museum.