Colorado Matters

To understand the pipeline conflict at Standing Rock, North Dakota you have to go back to the first U.S. president. Then, a young woman and her grandmother are political opposites. How they're keeping things harmonious this election year. And a new film, shot in Denver, feels like everyday life. Plus, a robot truck made a 120-mile beer run across Colorado recently, but there are no state laws governing self-driving trucks.

Supporters and opponents of the major ballot measures debate the issues, including whether to raise the minimum wage, implement a statewide universal health care system, and make it harder to amend the constitution. We also hear about efforts to block a law that makes it illegal to share photos of a completed ballot and from 5th graders who are urging college students to vote.

At the US-Mexico border, it's not just law enforcement on patrol. Colorado militias are there, too. Mother Jones writer Shane Bauer went undercover to see these paramilitary groups up close. Then, one Denver teenager gives her thoughts on this election season, while another builds an SUV-sized walking robot. Also, people who manage to disagree politically and still love each other. And roller derby teams -- including in Denver -- are moving away from the kitschy names and dolled-up reputation in an effort to take the sport mainstream.

For Halloween, lessons in properly burying the dead and how to raise them back up -- through necromancy. University of Colorado Boulder historian Scott Bruce, and a ghoulish crowd, joined Colorado Matters at the Newman Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Denver to dig into a millennium's worth of ghost stories. Bruce's new book is "The Penguin Book of the Undead: Fifteen Hundred Years of Supernatural Encounters."

Gov. John Hickenlooper says he's never recorded campaign ads for state legislative candidates. But, with Republicans opposed to his signature budget policy, he hopes to flip control of the Senate. That would mean total Democratic control of the legislative and executive branches. Then, a Denver man wrote more than 20 novels, but died before any were published. So his friends are stepping up. And, a web series about people's complex relationships with food, including a vegetarian who married a Colorado cattle rancher.

You have questions about this year's ballot initiatives and we have answers. CPR's Megan Verlee, John Daley, and Jenny Brundin join us to clear things up. Then, the legal argument a website designer is making so she doesn't have to make websites for gay couples getting married. And, a new film about a transgender six-year-old in Colorado, who wasn't allowed to use the girls room at school. Plus, the Colorado Shakespeare Festival reacts to news Christopher Marlow co-authored the Bard's "Henry The Sixth."

Families of victims in the Aurora theater shootings say under state law, Colorado officials must reveal where the killer is being held. He was moved to an undisclosed location after being attacked at a Colorado prison. State prison officials say they're under no obligation to tell. Also, for voters who don't like Clinton and Trump, there are 20 other people to choose from on the presidential ballot; we hear from Coloradans who plan to vote for those alternative candidates.

Some of Colorado's most vulnerable people rely on the Colorado Department of Human Services, including kids who are abused and people with severe disabilities. The department's head, Reggie Bicha, answers questions on issues that have plagued his administration, and on strides it's made. Then, from a sugary soda tax to municipal broadband, we look at some of the local measures on ballots across the state. And ballot selfies may strike you as silly, but they're illegal for a reason. Plus, a Colorado man who helped build a road to the South Pole.

Every night, Diane Kois has a decision to make -- where to park the car she lives in. She's chosen this life, but the high cost of Denver metro housing is a factor. Then, a whistleblower says veterans are still waiting too long for healthcare in Colorado. Plus, a new film pays tribute to Vincent Van Gogh. It's animated entirely by more than 64,000 oil paintings. We'll meet the Colorado painter who took part. And, how a Reddit conversation impacted a little tree named Plato.

The United States Supreme Court is considering a Colorado case about a juror who made racist comments during deliberations. The verdict could change a longstanding legal bedrock. Then, a big development in how scientists predict weather in space. And a conversation about asteroids, comets and space probes with our regular contributor astronomer and director of Boulder's Fiske Planetarium, Doug Duncan. Plus, a Colorado man has documented the state's changing geography using sketches from the 1870s.