In The NoCo

A massive reservoir project that will eventually clear the way for a half-million new residents in Northern Colorado is now a step closer to breaking ground.  

The $2 billion water project will create two new reservoirs that will feed 15 towns and water districts in Northern Colorado. Advocates for NISP, the Northern Integrated Supply Project, say it’s essential to ensure that these fast-growing communities in Larimer and Weld counties have the water they need as development booms.  

The project has been tied up in planning, permitting and opposition for more than two decades. But it cleared a final hurdle recently, after an environmental group that had sued to stop the project agreed to settle the case. 

Alex Hager covers water issues for KUNC. He joined Erin O’Toole to explain how NISP could help transform Northern Colorado. 

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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 bill under consideration at the state capitol would allow religious organizations to use their properties to build housing developments. It's an idea some state lawmakers see as an opportunity. 

Supporters say it would help alleviate Colorado's housing shortage, using thousands of acres of available church-owned property around the state. 

KUNC's Stephanie Daniel has been reporting on this issue. She spent time visiting a church in Fort Collins that created a version of this idea – a development that they hope will foster a sense of community for future residents and church members. 

Stephanie joined host Erin O’Toole to share the story of how Heart of the Rockies Church got into the real estate business, and how viable the idea might be for other faith-based groups. 

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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.

March is Colorado’s snowiest month. Which means lots of us will be looking to make fresh tracks on that deep powder this time of year.  

And if you live in Colorado, you know that amazing powder brings with it truly astonishing sunburns for skiers and snowboarders.  

There are scientific reasons that your friends come home from the slopes with goggle marks scorched onto their faces. And one scientist wants to make sure people understand why.  
 

Steven Fassnacht is a Professor of Snow Hydrology at Colorado State University. He recently published an article about the intense reflectivity of fresh snow. He spoke with host Erin O’Toole about why Colorado powder is conducive to sunburn.

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.

Last year, Colorado lawmakers passed an unusual law.  

It directed every county in the state to set up in-person voting for incarcerated people in jails, many of whom are awaiting trial and haven’t been convicted of a crime.   

The new law is the first of its kind in the nation. It's an effort to support voting rights for a population that is often considered out of sight, out of mind.  

Alex Burness writes for Bolts, a publication that covers issues of criminal justice and elections. He told host Erin O’Toole that while some cities like Denver have supported voting in jails, Colorado’s statewide initiative was groundbreaking: turnout in the state’s jails increased roughly by a factor of 10. 

Read Alex’s article on voting in Colorado jails.

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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.

Spring is approaching, and the garden beckons. Which means it’s not too early to start making gardening and landscaping plans for the year. 

And if you’re like a lot of homeowners in Colorado, you might be thinking about adding some native plants. 

Experts say it’s a great way to save water. Native plants also support bees, birds and other pollinators. And native vegetation can require less pruning than more traditional plantings. 

In the episode of In the NoCo, we've got great recommendations on what native plants to choose and how to plant them, from our friends at the Colorado State University Extension. Erin O’Toole spoke with CSU Extension horticulturalist Tommy Roth, who is especially passionate about landscaping with native plants.  

Read more of the CSU Extension team's recommendations for planting native shrubs, perennials, grasses, and trees. 

And lastly, do you have questions about gardening and landscaping as we head into planting season? Share them with us and we’ll find answers with help from the experts at CSU Extension. Email us: [email protected].

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

Five years ago this month, the coronavirus pandemic upended life in Colorado and around the world.   

More than 14,000 Coloradans died, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the state saw more than 1.7 million COVID-19 cases. 

It was a global health crisis that also reshaped the state’s economy in an instant.  

Businesses and air travel largely shut down for a time. Remote work, online grocery ordering, and meal delivery services became familiar parts of everyday life.  

Richard Wobbekind is a senior economist with the University of Colorado Leeds School of Business. If his name sounds familiar, it’s likely because lots of media outlets turn to him for his analysis.  

Five years after the pandemic began, we wanted to hear his perspective about how the event changed the state’s economy in ways large and small. He spoke with Erin O’Toole about COVID-19's impact on Colorado’s housing market, outdoor industry, and other facets of business in the state.    

Read more from NPR on the legacy and impact of the COVID pandemic. 

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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.

State wildlife officials will pay nearly $350,000 to reimburse ranchers in Colorado’s high country who saw their livestock killed or harmed by wolves last year.  

The Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission voted to approve those claims recently. It’s a key part of the state’s program to reintroduce wolves. And it gets less attention than photos of newly released wolves turned loose by wildlife officials. It’s an acknowledgment that while voters support wolf reintroduction, actual wolves make life harder for ranchers. 

We wanted to look at these reimbursements, so we reached out to KUNC’s very own wolf reintroduction expert, Scott Franz. He has been covering the wolf reintroduction for KUNC since they were first released on Colorado’s Western Slope in December of 2023.

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 handful of Colorado schools monitor their students with cameras that use facial recognition software. It’s a security measure: An administrator with access to the technology can upload a student’s photo and then the system can use cameras around the school to pinpoint the student’s location.  

More school districts across the state have been exploring whether to adopt this technology, the Denver Post has reported.  

A bill at the state legislature would regulate how the technology can be used in the state’s schools at a time when more districts have considered adopting the technology. The debate underlines a conflict between supporters who say it helps make schools safer and opponents who call it a violation of students’ civil rights.   

Today we’re revisiting a conversation between NoCo’s Brad Turner and Denver Post education reporter Elizabeth Hernadez, who covered the topic.

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.

An estimated 13 percent of the construction workforce in Colorado is made up of immigrants without legal status, according to the American Immigration Council. These workers often handle lower-paying jobs at construction sites like installing drywall or laying bricks. 

Colorado has a housing shortage. So we wondered what is likely to happen to Colorado’s construction industry as the Trump administration imposes sweeping deportation policies and threatens mass raids? 

We reached out to Chloe East, who has studied the effects of deportation policy on the construction industry, for answers. East is an associate professor of economics at the University of Colorado Denver. She has been investigating the economic impacts of detaining and deporting immigrants without legal status since Trump first took office in 2016.

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.

It’s one of the first concepts you learned in science class: Trees take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen. It’s part of why forests play such a critical role in reducing carbon in the atmosphere.  

Which is why a recent report on Colorado’s forests sounds a bit alarming. 

Researchers set out to gauge how many tons of carbon are taken in by Colorado’s nearly 23 million acres of forest – and also how much carbon is emitted by those forests.  

They found that forests in Colorado are actually releasing more carbon than they’re storing  – which is surprising if you think back to those early science lessons and expect a forest to have the opposite effect.  

Colorado Sun reporter Tracy Ross recently dug into the research. She joined Erin O’Toole to talk about why this is happening – and whether we should be worried.

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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.