Colorado Matters

A Colorado woman started a new training program where veterans learn how to prevent suicide among their peers. Then, James Leprino rarely talks to the press. He’s the Colorado “cheese baron,” who supplies Pizza Hut, Dominos and Papa Johns. A conversation with the Forbes reporter who landed an interview. And, the FBI considers the “sovereign movement” a domestic terrorist threat. People who follow the ideology reject much of government’s authority over them. It has led to a lot of tension in one Southern Colorado county. Then, one year later, a Boulder composer’s musical reaction to the shooting at the Pulse nightclub.

Gov. John Hickenlooper says withdrawing from the Paris climate accord is a “serious mistake,” but he’s short on detail when it comes to reducing Colorado’s own carbon footprint. Then, a job fair for shopping center workers laid off after the mall was devastated by a hailstorm. And, a look at how brick-and-mortar retailers are being hurt by internet sales, and what that means for Colorado. Plus, two Denver book lovers are on their way to fulfilling a longtime dream with a mountain library to house 35,000 books about nature. Also, prison inmates can’t use digital technology to communicate with their families, so a Colorado Springs artist has come up with a solution from the 1800s.

The United States is backing out of the Paris climate accord but at least nine Colorado mayors have pledged to uphold the deal. We discuss what the withdrawal will mean statewide. Then, Cory Gardner is one of a small group of Republican senators hoping to revamp healthcare. He provides some insight to how he’s approaching the project. And, five years ago Boulder dentist Tom Bogan didn’t know how to swim because he was afraid of drowning. Now he’s participating in Hawaii’s Ironman competition. Also, Alex Honnold made a “generation-defining” climb last weekend. We spoke with him in 2015.

Make a mud pie. Find a four-leaf clover. They’re two things you should do before you’re 12, according to a new ad campaign in Colorado that’s designed to get kids outside. On average, kids spend only about four to seven minutes of unstructured time outdoors. Paleontologist and TV host Scott Samson, formerly of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, is on a similar mission, so we listened back to our conversation about his book, “How To Raise A Wild Child.”

In this politically charged environment, what’s it like to be a political cartoonist? We talked with two: Ed Stein, in Denver, had given up the art, but came back to weigh in on President Trump. And on the Western Slope, Paul Snover’s billboard of Trump slaying a liberal dragon got national attention. Then, Dead and Company play in Colorado this weekend, and this week, the Colorado Music Hall of Fame will celebrate the Grateful Dead. Many consider a show at Red Rocks in 1978 one of their best — and helped establish the band as a group worth following.

Want to know how many explosions and fires there have been at oil and gas operations in Colorado? How many people have died or been injured? It’s not easy to find this information because the state doesn’t require detailed reporting. But researchers at the Colorado School of Public Health dug deep, and have a new study out. Then, the governor has just signed the first state law dealing with driverless cars. Why lawmakers put only a “light touch” on regulations. And only 17 American artists landed a spot in the Venice Biennale, the prestigious art exhibition that takes place every two years in Italy. One of the 17 is a Colorado Springs sculptor who uses pantyhose — and other everyday objects — in her work. This honor comes late in Senga Nengudi’s career.

If you don’t think of surfing as a Colorado thing — think again. There’s a new park on the South Platte River in suburban Denver where you can catch a wave. Backers hope the sport will spawn a renaissance in the neighborhood. And, two deadly explosions in two months have led to new questions about how close oil and gas development should be to residential areas. Then, Denver students recently won first, second and third places in a national cursive writing contest. It’s a skill their teachers at Stanley British Primary school think is essential — and brain science backs them up. Plus, a Denver artist who turned penmanship into a career.

Denver Public Schools is one of only a handful of districts in the country, off of a reservation, that teaches Lakota, an indigenous language. One of Denver’s two Lakota teachers is from the Standing Rock Reservation, where she took her students this year. Then, the story of the giant steel plant in Pueblo that helped forge America.