Colorado Matters

Victims in Las Vegas are now trying to navigate life after a mass shooting. Last week they got some help from a handful of Coloradans affected by the shootings at an Aurora movie theater in 2012 and at Columbine High School in 1999. Then, a Colorado seventh-grader is “America’s Top Young Scientist.” And, voters are considering ballot measures on marijuana, broadband, and oil and gas issues.

Trust in the news media is at historic lows, so we asked a group of high school students why they would want to get into journalism. Thirteen hundred student journalists from all over Colorado gathered this month in Fort Collins. The reporters from Grand Junction High talked about covering a rash of suicides, including some of their classmates. Also, why the American Colonial period was such a great time for horror.

A Colorado College professor tells of a run-in with Harvey Weinstein 30 years ago that led her to study in psychology and sexual objectification. Then, a debate over so-called “green roofs” in Denver. If voters pass a ballot initiative this election, it would mean large, new buildings would have to be topped by plants or solar panels or both. And, in 1985, a new Denver radio station went on the air. Its Latina founders were pioneers, and one will be inducted in the Colorado Latino Hall of Fame tonight. Also, what mixed race couples face in Colorado when it comes to discrimination.

CPR listeners have been sending us lots of questions about Denver’s bid to land Amazon’s second headquarters. We asked Gov. John Hickenlooper what concerns him about the Amazon deal. We also asked Hickenlooper if there was an issue he’s faced in office that could threaten his political legacy. Then, how to design the modern office. We meet the architect behind Google’s new complex in Boulder. Plus, 500 years ago, Martin Luther nailed his “95 Theses” to the door of a Catholic church in Germany and divided Christianity forever. How one church in Denver, where Catholics and Protestants pray, will mark the occasion. And, Boulder’s latest work in its experimental public art series comes from New York City artist Mary Mattingly.

If you think of places in Colorado where starts-ups are born, Boulder might come to mind for natural foods, Fort Collins for its beer and Denver as a tech magnet. A prominent venture capitalist wants to spread the love to Colorado’s rural areas. Small town starts-ups are our focus today in “The Disrupters,” coverage of entrepreneurship in the state. Then, the last time Grand Junction voters approved a property tax increase for schools, current high school seniors were in kindergarten. Civic leaders hope voters are ready for another. And, Denver’s changing so fast its history can be lost to newcomers, so artists are digging deep into the past to create and save new works. Then, the story of a strange friendship in the Old West. American Indians and white settlers often battled to the death, but Sitting Bull and Buffalo Bill forged a bond. We speak with the author of the new book “Blood Brothers.”

What does all the uncertainty in Washington mean if you’re signing up for health insurance — when open enrollment starts next week? Will the exchange be around long-term? We’ll ask the head of the state’s exchange. Then, to get an idea of what it would be like if metro Denver lands the second Amazon headquarters, we’ll look at Seattle, which landed the first. And, an unusual library in Colorado, not dedicated to books, but to dance. With personalities like the legendary square dance caller Cal Golden. Also, when two young adults meet at a summer computer camp, it’s not by accident — their parents are plotting an arranged marriage.

Violence drove a Denver man to flee his native Somalia. Today he heads the Somali American Culture Center and watches the violence from afar, gathering aid for victims of this month’s grisly bombings in Mogadishu. Then, celebrated Denver choreographer Cleo Parker Robinson has broken a lot of barriers as a black dancer. Her late father was also a trailblazer, and he’s the inspiration for her latest show. Plus, a Boulder man collects some of his best stories behind the wheel of a big rig, including a white-knuckle drive down Loveland Pass. And, award-winning children’s author Avi, who lives in Steamboat Springs, sits down with a young reader.

Colorado’s lending dozens of firefighters and engines to California; mental health workers to Puerto Rico; and medical examiners to Las Vegas. States often help each other out, but is the West prepared for a future with more natural disasters? Then, hikers aren’t supposed to leave garbage — or anything else — behind on trails, but Coloradans and visitors here still do. What the state’s doing to teach not just locals, but also tourists, to ‘leave no trace.’ And, the movies are big business, especially when it comes to where certain films get shown. It’s led to a legal battle based in Denver. Plus, on the first pages of a new novel, a high school student is murdered, and her body is discovered in a playground in the fictional town of Broomsville, Colorado.