Rae Solomon
Reporter/ProducerEmail: rae.solomon@kunc.org
As newscast reporter I keep Northern Coloradans up to date on all the things they need to know NOW. Whatever’s floating through the zeitgeist at the moment, I’m on it.
Working in public radio is a huge passion that dates back to my youth in the suburbs of NYC, where I was surrounded by a wealth of great public and free-form radio stations. I love the immediacy of radio and I pride myself on quickly gathering information and finding ways to frame stories for maximum impact and engagement.
Before coming to the radio light, I was a licensed architect, practicing in Los Angeles, New York and Colorado. I launched my radio career as an avid volunteer KGNU, community radio for Denver/Boulder.
When I’m not at work, you can find me hiking, camping and making bagels with my son and daughter. I also make an award-winning podcast called Range and Slope, which features creative audio documentary from around Colorado.
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With COVID-19 vaccines rolling out in Northern Colorado, the state continues to loosen restrictions. COVID-19 cases are down in Colorado and more people are starting to enjoy gatherings, travel and nights out again. But families of children with immune system complications find themselves left out of the party. Many feel as if they are still stuck in April 2020.
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Since the pandemic arrived in Colorado nearly a year ago, a related mental health crisis has been forming in its shadow. Pandemic fatigue is the latest manifestation of this crisis. It’s a feeling of malaise resulting from months of isolation from family and friends, stress and pandemic endurance. The phenomenon has been growing, even among those who have not experienced the harshest effects of the coronavirus.
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For nearly 40 years, the Weld County Triceratops — affectionately known as “Pops” — has been stuck in an awkward spot for a fossil of its stature. A dinosaur for the people, Pops has been a very public figure, on display behind glass in various county buildings. Yet the most complete horned dinosaur skull ever found in Colorado had never been thoroughly examined by paleontologists, essentially lost to science. Thanks to a new agreement between Weld County leadership and researchers at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, that has now changed.
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Organizers of the Point-In-Time count of people experiencing homelessness in Denver, Boulder and the seven-county metro region have called off the 2021 count for unsheltered people. A count of the sheltered population only will take place on Feb. 25.
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Last week, Gov. Jared Polis downgraded the 33 Colorado counties that were classified as Level Red on the state’s COVID-19 status dial to Level Orange. On social media, Polis said he was trying to walk the difficult line between the public health crisis and the economic crisis. But the limited loosening of restrictions will not be enough to provide meaningful relief to many restaurant owners in Northern Colorado.
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A long list of restaurants, gyms and movie theaters in Larimer County gained the first round of approvals for the program, which allows businesses to operate at one level lower on the state’s COVID-19 dial than the county’s current status.
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The conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn will be visible this Monday night, when the two planets will appear closest together in the night sky. KUNC’s Rae Solomon spoke with Carla Johns, who teaches astronomy at Aims Community College and works at the Fiske planetarium in Boulder, about the event.
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Many restaurants on the Front Range are struggling to extend the outdoor dining season through the winter, as COVID-19 restrictions have shut down indoor dining completely in 33 counties.
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It's Thanksgiving, and that means the pandemic holiday season — a holiday season like no other — is officially underway. Those in need of some help coming to terms with this year’s scaled-back festivities can take a page from the Jewish community’s experience putting together virtual Passover seders last spring.
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The new Level Red restrictions ban indoor dining at restaurants, limit capacity at gyms and offices to 10% and prohibit personal gatherings of any size between separate households. They apply to at least 15 counties, from Boulder and metro Denver to various mountain communities.