Colorado Matters

Should Colorado's public universities be allowed to ban whoever they want from campus? The American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado doesn't think so. Then, Gary Stabb usually sculpts prehistoric beasts like dinosaurs, but he finally got access to an elusive stone age mummy for a project for Denver's Museum of Nature and Science. Also, taxes on marijuana sales in tiny DeBeque brought a windfall -- more money than the town sees in overall sales tax and energy impact fees combined. Now, how to spend it? And, Hollywood has taken interest in Broomfield author Colleen Oakes' trilogy "Queen of Hearts," which explores how the queen in "Alice in Wonderland" became a villain.

Most people think of the attack on Columbine High School in 1999 as a school shooting. Sue Klebold thinks of it as her son Dylan's murder-suicide. She's written a new book and says she hopes the insight it provides outweighs the risk of re-traumatizing victims' families. Klebold answers a question she's faced for years: How could her son have planned the attack without her knowing? And she says she'll never know if she could have prevented her son's actions, but she does wish she could've done some things differently.

A Colorado scientist who studies black holes says the recent discovery of gravitational waves -- ripples in space-time -- may be the most important discovery of her lifetime. Then, audiences feel a connection to the character of Sheriff Walt Longmire, whether it's in the mystery novels by Craig Johnson, or on the small screen in the Netflix series "Longmire." Johnson, who lives on a ranch in Wyoming, tells us some of his best ideas come to him when he's shoveling out the barn.

It's been called the "Ferguson Effect," and FBI Director James Comey describes it this way: "In today's YouTube World, are officers reluctant to get out of their cars and do the work that controls violent crime?" A CU boulder professor challenges the assumptions of the theory, saying there isn't data to back it up. Then, a new type of "ecological observatory" based in Colorado is measuring climate change, but challenges plague the project. And, as Valentines Day nears, we listen to your love letters.

Buildings that tell the story of Colorado are deteriorating, and some risk being lost altogether. Today we'll hear about the latest additions to the state's "endangered places" list. One is the Tabor Opera House in Leadville. Then, new plays hatch in Denver in a sort of theatrical incubator. This year's new play summit includes a piece about a female mariachi band, love in Antarctica, and one about a struggling climate scientist.

Is Wall Street the answer to the water shortage in the West? That's the question investigative reporter Abrahm Lustgarten raises in a piece for ProPublica and The Atlantic. He profiles a hedge fund manager who's betting that water won't always be so cheap. Then, Rennie Harris has channeled the violence he grew up with into dance. The hip-hop choreographer is an artist-in-residence at CU Boulder. He joins us ahead of a big show this weekend.

Addiction to prescription painkillers like oxycontin is at an all-time high. Some doctors feel pressured to prescribe. A new course teaches doctors and other medical providers to say, "No." Then, a Denver composer developed obsessive compulsive disorder just after she gave birth to her daughter. She talks about how music has helped her share her unusual experience.

Investors are betting on a Denver plan to help house 250 of city's chronically homeless. The backers make money if it works and lose money if it doesn't. But is the city taking too much of a gamble? We'll explore that question. Then, relationships between police and minorities are strained. Officers in Denver want to change that by getting young people and cops together to talk.

Today there are more migrants around the world than ever before, according to the International Organization for Migration, perhaps over a million. A University of Denver professor has created a whole new political philosophy with migrants at its center. He tells us about it. Then, with winter in full swing, CDOT has been cracking down on drivers with dangerous bald tires to keep traffic flowing.

The Broncos take the field this Sunday for Super Bowl 50 against the Carolina Panthers, and we take a look back at the team's good, bad and sometimes strange history with a perhaps unlikely source. Then, owner Pat Bowlen had a profound impact on many in the Broncos organization including John Elway. We'll look back at his impact with former player John Lynch.