In The NoCo

For many people, being stopped by police can produce a wave of anxiety. But that sense of stress and uncertainty is even worse for people with conditions like autism spectrum disorder, hearing loss, Tourette’s syndrome, or dementia.  

Earlier this year, Boulder’s police department rolled out a new initiative called the Blue Envelope Program to help people with disabilities communicate when they encounter an officer.  

It allows a person to get an official blue envelope and fill it out with information that an officer might need to know to communicate with them. Then if they’re stopped by an officer, they simply hand over the envelope. 

Boulder was the first in Colorado to implement the program. Since then, law enforcement agencies in other communities have rolled out Blue Envelope programs, including Fort Collins Police, who launched theirs in July.  

Alistair McNiven, Chief of Staff for Boulder Police, spoke with Erin O’Toole in February about the program and why he thinks the blue envelopes may be a transformative tool for law enforcement. We’re listening back to that conversation today. 

McNiven said people can email [email protected] to request an envelope or get one in person at the front desk of the Boulder Police Department. Other communities may require people to pick up envelopes in person. 

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Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org
Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected]
Like what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!
 
Host and Producer: Erin O'Toole
Producer: Ariel Lavery
Executive Producer: Brad Turner
 
Theme music by Robbie Reverb
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
In The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

Scientists say they’ve identified a sort of massive dance floor that some dinosaurs used as part of their mating rituals millions of years ago. 

The area is at Dinosaur Ridge, an active paleontology site in Morrison that’s also open to the public. Researchers there found dozens of places where a dinosaur species called Magnoavipes would scrape patterns into the rock – a telltale sign of the creatures’ unique mating rituals.  

So, what does this discovery tell us about how dinosaurs lived 100 million years ago in what’s now Colorado? And what does it reveal  about dinosaurs’ similarities to modern species like birds?  

To better understand those dinosaur dance parties, Erin O’Toole talked with Amy Atwater, the Director of Paleontology at Dinosaur Ridge.  

Immigration arrests in Colorado have quadrupled since President Trump returned to office in January. Under Trump, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials say they’re focused on deporting violent criminals who are in the U.S. illegally – what the President calls “the worst of the worst.” 

But in Colorado, that promise doesn't line up with who is actually being detained by immigration enforcement.  

A new analysis by the Colorado Sun and the Wyoming news organization WyoFile found that during the first five months of this year, about 60 percent of people arrested by ICE in Colorado and neighboring Wyoming had no criminal convictions when ICE detained them.  

Of those, only a small fraction had been convicted of a violent crime such as assault.  

Colorado Sun reporter Taylor Dolven has been covering politics and immigration under the Trump administration. She joined Erin O'Toole to talk about their findings, and why they wanted to take a closer look at these arrests.  

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Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org
Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected]
Like what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!
 
Host and Producer: Erin O'Toole
Producer: Ariel Lavery
Executive Producer: Brad Turner
 
Theme music by Robbie Reverb
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
In The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

Colorado has an abundance of mountains named after famous men – think Long’s Peak, Mount Wilson, or Pikes Peak. 

Since childhood, Sarah Hahn Campbell has been fascinated by the people behind place names. But she discovered little to no information on peaks, lakes or trails named after women.  

So, in 2017, the Denver-based author and high school teacher set out to research the mysterious women behind the names of some of Colorado’s landmarks. 

That culminated in Sarah's new book, Her Place on the Map: 18 Women and the Colorado Wonders Named for Them. It’s part trail guide and part history lesson, exploring 18 Colorado trails, mountains and lakes, while highlighting the stories of the women for whom these places were named. 

Sarah spoke with Erin O’Toole in May about her book, and how challenging it was to learn about the real women behind the names. To celebrate Colorado Day, which marks the day 149 years ago that Colorado became a state, we’re listening back to that conversation. 

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Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org
Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected]
Like what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!
 
Host and Producer: Erin O'Toole
Producer: Ariel Lavery
Executive Producer: Brad Turner
 
Theme music by Robbie Reverb
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
In The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

A drive through the mountains of Colorado comes with breathtaking views, occasional glimpses of wildlife – and plenty of steep, winding roads. Sometimes that becomes deadly, especially for truck drivers. 

Even in good weather, mountain highways like I-70 can be uniquely challenging for professional truck drivers. And there’s no specialized training required for them to drive in the mountains.   

That didn’t sit well with professional drivers Joe Trussell and Scott Maurer. A few years ago, they founded CDL 303, a trucking school based in Commerce City. They’re the only commercial driver’s license school in the country that offers a training program focused on mountain safety.   

They spoke with Erin O’Toole about how they train drivers to understand the unique physics of mountain driving, and how to make the journey safely.   

For more, check out our conversation with a retired Amtrak conductor with an unusual idea to help get semis safely through Colorado’s mountains – by loading them onto a train.

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Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org
Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected]
Like what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!
 
Host and Producer: Erin O'Toole
Producer: Ariel Lavery
Executive Producer: Brad Turner
 
Theme music by Robbie Reverb
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
In The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

A new kind of commentator made its debut during the snowboarding competition at this year’s Winter X Games in Aspen. It's called The Owl AI – and it’s powered by artificial intelligence.  
 

The Owl AI demonstrated its ability by predicting the snowboarding half-pipe podium lineup, announcing in a cool male voice: “Third place Ayumu Hirano. Second Yuto Totsuka. And for the top spot Scotty James.”  

The prediction turned out to be exactly right.  

This new technology is being promoted by Boulder resident and X Games CEO Jeremy Bloom. In addition to predicting athlete performance, Bloom says The Owl AI will help make sports more fair by improving judging and refereeing. He recently launched a business to bring the technology to all kinds of sports.    

Colorado Sun reporter Jason Blevins recently wrote about The Owl AI, how it was used in The X Games, and how it might be transformative for other sports. 

Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org
Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected]
Like what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!

Host and Producer: Erin O'Toole
Producer: Ariel Lavery
Executive Producer: Brad Turner
Theme music by Robbie Reverb
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions

In The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

New research suggests planting aspen groves could slow the spread of wildfires in Colorado’s forests. 

It’s an idea that could help some mountain communities seeing increasing threats from wildfires.  

A recent study looked at data from more than 300 wildfires in Western states. It found that large aspen groves often slowed the spread of forest fires. That’s partly because aspen contain more moisture than other trees in mountain forests.  

So, should mountain communities across Colorado plant aspens on the outskirts of town?  

To find out, Erin O’Toole talked to Camille Stevens-Rumann. She’s a professor of forest and rangeland stewardship at Colorado State University and was the principal investigator on the study.  

For more on aspen trees, listen to this episode about why aspen trees rarely thrive when planted in yards. 

Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org
Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected]
Like what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!

Host and Producer: Erin O'Toole
Producer: Ariel Lavery
Executive Producer: Brad Turner
Theme music by Robbie Reverb
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions

In The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

The Colorado Rockies have some of the most loyal fans in all of baseball. And that might be part of their problem. 

The Rockies, as you may have heard, are having one of the worst seasons in Major League Baseball’s modern history. And yet the fans still show up – on average, about 30,000 of them attended each home game so far this season.  

It's been the story of the Rockies for years: The team struggles. The fans keep coming. And the steady ticket sales mean ownership has little incentive to build a better team 

So what’s behind the unflinchingly loyal baseball fans here in Colorado? 

To find out, we turned to Kevin Simpson of the Colorado Sun. He’s been a season ticket holder since the Rockies’ very first season. Today we're revisiting an interview between Kevin and In The NoCo’s Brad Turner from a few weeks back.

KUNC is holding its first-ever emergency fundraiser because Congress recently clawed back public broadcasting funds. That’s funding we rely on to cover local news, report on critical issues, and bring you conversations with Coloradans on In The NoCo. You value this journalism. You know it matters. Help keep it strong. Go to KUNC.org/donate and make a gift today. And thank you.

Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org
Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected]
Like what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!

Host and Producer: Erin O'Toole
Producer: Ariel Lavery
Executive Producer: Brad Turner
Theme music by Robbie Reverb
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions

In The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

Colorado recently hit a milestone: The first licensed psychedelic therapy clinic opened in June after voters here said magic mushrooms should be legal. So lots of reporters have written about the licensing process, interviewed therapists, and written about whether psychedelic mushrooms have real value in helping people recover from trauma, PTSD or other issues.  

Our guest today is one of those reporters, but he took things a bit further.  

Robert Sanchez is a longtime writer for 5280 in Denver. He decided to try out psychedelic mushrooms and see if what the experts said about their therapeutic value held up.   

Robert walked through his journey with In the NoCo’s Brad Turner. Read Robert’s full article from 5280.

KUNC is holding its first-ever emergency fundraiser because Congress recently clawed back public broadcasting funds. That’s funding we rely on to cover local news, report on critical issues, and bring you conversations with Coloradans on In The NoCo. You value this journalism. You know it matters. Help keep it strong. Go to KUNC.org/donate and make a gift today. And thank you.

Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org
Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected]
Like what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!

Host and Producer: Erin O'Toole
Producer: Ariel Lavery
Executive Producer: Brad Turner
Theme music by Robbie Reverb
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
In The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.
 

Trails on several of Colorado’s fourteeners are getting a facelift this summer.  

Mount Democrat, Mount Bierstadt, Mount Blue Sky, and Mount Shavano are some of Colorado’s most popular mountains for hikers, but some of the trails on them are in rough shape.  

A nonprofit called the Colorado Fourteeners Initiative (CFI) is working this summer to update trail routes on those and other mountains to eliminate erosion and generally protect the surrounding tundra. Crews move boulders, install steps, and even restore plant life. Workers grapple with smashed fingers, dehydration, and altitude sickness.  

Tom Cronin is the Field Programs Manager for CFI and he has lots of experience managing these trail projects. He joined Erin O’Toole to talk about what the work is like and how these eroding trails fell into disrepair in the first place.

KUNC is holding its first-ever emergency fundraiser because Congress recently clawed back public broadcasting funds. That’s funding we rely on to cover local news, report on critical issues, and bring you conversations with Coloradans on In The NoCo. You value this journalism. You know it matters. Help keep it strong. Go to KUNC.org/donate and make a gift today. And thank you.

Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org
Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected]
Like what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!

Host and Producer: Erin O'Toole
Producer: Ariel Lavery
Executive Producer: Brad Turner
Theme music by Robbie Reverb
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions

In The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.