Colorado Matters

With Donald Trump’s energy agenda taking shape, state lawmakers have formed a new committee to consider local impacts. Steamboat plans to charge skiers $500 if they need rescuing out-of-bounds. NASA is set to launch a five-year study of Colorado’s snowpack beginning in February. It’ll provide information about weather and snow, and also help with space exploration. Also, tips on driving in the winter.

There have been multiple hate crimes in Colorado over the past six months, including swastikas carved into a playground in Longmont found earlier this week. We check in with the Anti-Defamation League to understand what happens after an act like this and how an incident is designated a hate crime. Then, a bug that once ravaged European vineyards has come to the Grand Valley. We'll talk about what the arrival of Phylloxera means for Colorado's biggest wine-producing region. And, the Winter Park Ski Train rides again, beginning this Saturday with service between the ski resort and Denver's Union Station. But is the price tag too steep for skiers? Plus, the story behind Colorado place names -- from Alamosa to Zirkel.

It's time to become transpartisan, says Boulder mediator Mark Gerzon. He's spent his career working with Congress, the UN and developing countries to resolve disputes. His latest book is called "The Reunited States of America." Then, there's a widely held belief that undocumented immigrants in the United States steal identities so they can work. The trouble is: that ignores the role employers play in helping workers get IDs that don't belong to them. It's a practice a CU-Denver anthropologist investigated when she was doing research in the farm fields. She also got acquainted with a phenomenon known as "trabajando fantasma" -- the working ghost. And, after recording a record with the Colorado Symphony Boulder folk singer Gregory Alan Isakov prepares to perform live with them.

It's no accident Denver is growing as fast as it is. It's the result of city leaders going back decades. They laid plans for things like a rail system and public spaces that would lure and serve more people. But something else added fuel to the fire: the Internet. Today, listen to "Denver Rising," a discussion organized by The New York Times about the metro area's gifts and its curses. Speakers include former mayor, now governor, John Hickenlooper and preservationist Dana Crawford, who shaped downtown. Then, Tami Simon's Louisville-based audio book company Sounds True and the audio clips that have changed the way she looks at life.

As 2016 comes to a close, we're listening back to some favorite conversations from the year. This includes a fictional character who's loved on the page and on the screen: Western sheriff Walt Longmire. He's the creation of Wyoming author Craig Johnson. Then, after decades of hosting guests from around the world, the Cascade Cottages at Rocky Mountain National Park are no more.

University of Colorado running back Rashaan Salaam was at the top of his game when he won the Heisman Trophy in 1994, but the Boulder County coroner has ruled his recent death a suicide. A close friend reflects on Salaam’s life, and what role football may have played in his death. Then, a man who carved into Colorado trees to pass his time while herding sheep. Art critics call him a master. And, more of our favorite stories from 2016, with a visit to Victor, Colorado, where we got to see a historic spot before it became off-limits forever. Plus, a tribute to singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen, who died this year.

As the year winds down, we're listening to captivating conversations from 2016 -- like the one with the swearing, tattooed pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber, founder of the House For All Sinners and Saints in Denver. Her latest book is about finding God in all the wrong people. Then, the Lumineers discuss sudden fame and the creative process.

As Denver takes steps to eradicate AIDS by the year 2030, women who have been affected by AIDS and HIV tell their stories as part of a new project from StoryCenter. According to the state's Department of Public Safety, Blacks in Colorado are arrested at much higher rates than whites; earlier this year, we brought you the anatomy of a police stop involving an Arapahoe County Sheriff's Deputy, who's white, and an African-American civilian. Then, another conversation from earlier this year -- Juan Thompson talks about what it was like being the son of gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson. And, remembering former Eagles founder Glenn Frey.

The first-ever "Colorado Matters Holiday Music Special" broadcast live Wednesday morning from the CPR Performance Studio. Hosted by Ryan Warner, the show featured Colorado musicians and their holiday stories, including Grammy Award-winning jazz vocalist Dianne Reeves, rising country star Clare Dunn, Christmas carols recorded in an old water tank on the Western Slope and a Denver trio who got their start as singing caterers.

By many measures, Colorado has recovered from the great recession but a smaller proportion of people here have jobs. We'll talk about that and other trends in the state's economy. Then, feeding antibiotics to livestock is controversial and 2017 brings new restrictions on everyone from the kid in 4-H raising a cow to the largest feedlots. An infectious disease expert at CSU discusses what these new restrictions could mean for animal and human health. Also, an art exhibit asks Denver's mayor: "What are you going to do about homelessness?" Plus, we'll learn about Colorado's strange prohibition history and we remember a former host of this program, Dan Meyers.