In The NoCo

Of all the insects that could turn up in your yard, the Japanese beetle is one of the nastiest. 

Its larvae chew up the roots of your grass, while the mature version of the beetle eats just about every plant in your yard. And worst of all, it’s tough to eradicate.  

Japanese beetles are an invasive species that turned up across Colorado’s Front Range in the early 2000s.  Recently, a new infestation appeared in the Grand Valley, which has peach growers in Palisade worried. 

Host Erin O’Toole talks with Whitney Cranshaw, a retired insect expert with Colorado State University Extension, about how to contain outbreaks like this one. 

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Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected]

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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 Denver Museum of Nature and Science recently made an exciting announcement: A new species of cave-dwelling pseudoscorpion had been discovered in the foothills outside Boulder. Researchers named it Larca boulderica – a nod to the city of Boulder – and say the only place on the planet where you’ll find it is in just two caves near the Boulder Flatirons.    

We reached out to David Steinmann, the research associate with the Museum of Nature and Science who found the new species. We thought he’d want to talk about his once-in-a- lifetime discovery. Instead, he told us that for him, it wasn’t a once-in-a-lifetime event at all. In fact, he kind of specializes in hunting for new species, and thinks he’s found at least fifty of them. He attributes that to his family's lifelong love of exploring caves to search for tiny creatures. 

Steinmann joined host Erin O’Toole to talk about his unusual work... what exactly a pseudoscorpion is... and whether we should have nightmares about them.

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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.

You might be getting lots of push notifications this summer – from ozone action day alerts and air quality alerts, to heat and wildfire smoke advisories. 

 So far this summer, we've seen more than 25 days with highs over 90 degrees. And federal air quality regulators say Front Range cities have racked up multiple ozone violations this year, according to the Colorado Sun. 

But how do you know which alerts to pay attention to, and what to do when you get them? 

In today’s episode host Erin O’Toole talks with Kaiser Permanente Community Health Consultant Lisa Romero about whether you should change your plans, and how to stay healthy this time of year. 

A new Colorado law that took effect on July 1st ensures that pregnant people on Medicaid will have access to doula services. Doulas can offer support and advice before, during, and after birth that complements a doctor’s guidance.  

Joy Twesigye is a trained women’s health nurse practitioner and says this new law could make a huge difference for people on Medicaid. Lower-income patients who rely on Medicaid coverage often have the most to gain by working with a doula.  

Joy Twesigye is vice president of health systems integration at Colorado Access, a nonprofit that works for better healthcare for marginalized populations. 

Two years ago, Jordan Sarazen lived a comfortable, perhaps even mundane life, working in an office as a financial planner.  

Then one day, he decided to make a change. He set out to fulfill a dream of managing a goat herd and renting their services to landowners. Today, Jordan and his wife Toni own 300 goats, and a company called Goat Bros. 

They travel around the Front Range and let the herd graze on vegetation for cities like Longmont, Northglenn, and Superior. And the goats provide a form of wildfire prevention by clearing out weeds and dense brush growth from open space land. 

Using goats to clear out dry vegetation isn’t a new idea in Colorado, but its popularity has picked up in recent years, including after the 2021 Marshall Fire burned through neighborhoods in Boulder County. 

The Sarazens live in a fifth-wheel camper that they park near where the herd is grazing. Jordan spoke with ITN host Erin O’Toole from a grazing spot near Superior. 

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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.

$70 million is the amount a utility company will pay to a community in Northwestern Colorado when it shuts down a coal plant that drives a large part of the local economy. 

Tri-State Energy plans to close its coal-fired power station, and all three coal mines, in Craig by 2028. The closure comes as Colorado moves to do away with coal-fired power and reduce its reliance on fossil fuels.  

The $70 million payment to Craig and Moffat County sets a precedent. It’s the first time a utility company that closes a coal plant will pay money to address the hole that’s left behind in the local economy.   

Host Erin O’Toole talked with Eli Pace, editor of the Steamboat Pilot & Today and the Craig Press, about how the settlement come together. He’s been covering the settlement and talked about how it creates a blueprint for Colorado communities facing similar shutdowns. 

On November 1, 1955, a man planted a bomb aboard a United Airlines plane shortly before it departed from Denver. The plane exploded in midflight over beet fields in Weld County, killing all 44 people aboard. It was a mass murder that grabbed headlines across the country. And viewers saw footage of the trial on TV – which was unusual then.  

If you've never heard of this crime, though, you're hardly alone. There's no marker at the site of the crash, near what is now Firestone.  

A local nonprofit group hopes to change that. The Flight 629 Memorial Committee wants to create a memorial to honor the lives lost in the tragedy, as well as the nearby residents who turned up to try to search for survivors. They hope to complete it before the 70th anniversary, which will happen in 2025.  

Andrew J. Field is a retired Staff Attorney for the Colorado Supreme Court, where he specialized in criminal law. He’s the author of Mainliner Denver: The Bombing of Flight 629. He spoke with host Erin O’Toole about the bombing and its legacy for modern air travel. 

The Flight 629 Memorial Committee plans to hold a number of fundraising events leading up to the 70th anniversary, including a concert at the Rialto Theater in Loveland on August 3.  Read more in the Greeley Tribune here.  

Donations can be made to the committee’s GoFundMe page.

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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.

Boulder, like many cities in Colorado, has an ongoing shortage of housing for the middle class – which means many people who work in Boulder can’t afford to live there.   

One local group is proposing an unconventional solution: They want to decommission Boulder’s municipal airport and turn that city-owned land into a neighborhood with around 2,000 homes.  At least half of those homes would be designated affordable.   

That group, the Airport Neighborhood Campaign, organized the two initiatives that, if approved, would put this plan into action. They’ve collected enough signatures to place them on the November ballot, although the idea faces opposition from organizations like the Boulder Chamber.  

Laura Kaplan, one of the group’s organizers, sat down with host Erin O’Toole to discuss what they want to accomplish by repurposing the municipal airport. 

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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.

Summer in Northern Colorado means the return of an old-school mode of transportation -- in the form of a ride on the Fort Collins Trolley. Electric streetcars were once a common sight in the streets of Fort Collins, at least until the early 1950s, when car ownership rose and fewer people relied on public transportation. In the late 1970s, a group of dedicated volunteers began to restore the aged trolley cars and to reinstall the track. 

This season marks 40 years since the restored trolley began once again to take passengers on a leisurely journey along Mountain Avenue into Old Town. Host Erin O’Toole hopped on board earlier this year, where she learned some of the trolley's quirky history – including the time the old depot became a victim of the CU-CSU football rivalry… and how a group of people opposed to bringing the trolley back nearly derailed the restoration. 

You can learn more about the trolley's history and find schedule and fare information here. 

Thanks to depot agent Kathy Mabry and conductor Kevin Mabry for sharing their stories. They co-authored and illustrated a children's book about the trolley (available at the depot). And a huge thank you to motorman Bethany O'Brien for sharing both her historical knowledge and her expert driving skills. 

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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.

Adjusting streetlamps and other exterior lights to allow the stars to shine more brilliantly – that's part of the process for becoming a certified Dark Sky community. More than 200 places in 22 countries around the world have this designation. Advocates say limiting light pollution helps preserve expansive views of the night sky, and helps nocturnal creatures thrive. And the Colorado Tourism Office believes the Dark Sky designation helps attract visitors. 

Town leaders in Grand Lake recently took the first steps toward becoming an official Dark Sky community. They would join five other towns in Colorado that already have that designation. About two dozen more Dark Sky places are in the pipeline, including communities and parks across the state. 

Aaron Watson is with the group DarkSky Colorado. He joined host Erin O'Toole to discuss the problem with light pollution, and why a growing number of Colorado towns are taking this idea of dark skies so seriously. We’re listening back to that conversation, recorded in May. 

Read more about the overview effect that Watson mentions near the end of the conversation. And check out a list of great places to stargaze in Colorado here.

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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.