Colorado Matters

Today, a wedge issue that whipped state lawmakers into a frenzy last session — we’re not talking about abortion or gun control, but about collecting rainwater. It’s part of our “Zombie Bills” series. Then, a mysterious kidney disease is killing farm workers in Central America, and a CU researcher says climate change may be a factor. Then, the best new music out of Colorado this year, according to our colleagues over at OpenAir.

Three Colorado women who served in Iraq and Afghanistan talk about the challenges and opportunities of a major military policy shift: opening all combat roles to women. Then, a Denver artist who learned she had multiple sclerosis after waking up with distorted vision learned to let her affliction guide her creative vision. And, an 1800s diary sat in obscurity at the Denver Public Library until an archivist picked it up and found tales of Buffalo Bill Cody.

What happens when rape victims are coerced into recanting? We have the story from ProPublica. Then, state lawmakers who want to spur development and bring down housing costs have tried — with no success — for years to make it harder for condo associations to sue over construction defects. Also, some history: Denver had its first electrically-lit Christmas Tree in 1914 in the yard of a local electrician. And, holiday parties can lead you to have one too many and we have some advice on saying “that’s enough.”

We talk about what you told us you want and don’t want from the media after a mass shooting in Colorado — it’s a question we posed through our Public Insight Network. Among the people who responded was Coni Sanders, whose father was killed at Columbine High School in 1999. She thinks telling these stories is important, “but it needs to be done so responsibility, meaning there be a focus on prevention, there be brief, little to no mention of the killers’ names, especially showing their faces.” Also on Thursday, a rare coalition of American Indian nations, including the Ute Mountain Utes of Colorado, seek a new national monument across the border in Utah.

To solve old murders, the state has created playing cards with the faces of victims and details about their case. The decks are already circulating in prisons and leading to tips. One card features Tommy Kinslow. His mother says the 10th anniversary of his murder just passed but she remembers that night clear as day. Then we talk about how Colorado gives tax breaks for affordable housing, energy development — and bingo equipment. There are about 200 credits and exemptions in all, and one lawmaker wants to make sure the state’s getting its money’s worth. And, quick, what’s Colorado’s state song? Isn’t it “Rocky Mountain High?” Yes. But there’s more to the story, and Rob Natelson of the Independence Institute, has written a paper about the song’s history.

Prosecutors won’t charge Canon City High students who shared sexually explicit photos, and we speak with that district’s superintendent about how the school moves forward. Then, Philip Pleasants, an actor who has played Ebenezer Scrooge for nearly 40 Christmases, will take the stage in that role for the last time this year. And, only the clock tower remains, but the Daniels and Fisher Department Store on 16th Street in Denver used to be the place to be. We speak with the author of a new book on the landmark.