On this week's Colorado Edition, pivotal changes for Colorado's transgender population came down this week and a look at why water managers are likely to miss a deadline. Other stories this week focus on a few important holiday traditions: tracking Santa with NORAD, setting up Christmas trains and enjoying food, movies and good times during the holiday season.
The Colorado Board of Health approved new rules this week to make it easier to change one's gender on a birth certificate, removing costly medical and legal hurdles from the process. The changes follow other efforts by the state to make life for transgender Coloradans easier when it comes to updating personal identification like a driver's license. But as Matt Bloom reports, there are still a few obstacles left.
Water managers throughout the West were supposed to finish their drought contingency plans for the Colorado River's inevitable shortage by the end of the year, but it's looking extremely likely that they will miss that deadline. Our resident water nerd Luke Runyon looks into why that's happening, despite the massive amount of time and energy that's gone into the process so far.
From the Polar Express to the traditional model set around the tree (perfect for riling up the family pet), trains and Christmas have gone together like Santa and cookies. Stacy Nick takes us to the Colorado Model Railroad Museum in Greeley where folks have a one-track mind - especially this time of year.
Cold War, a new film from Poland, has won major honors all over the U.S. and Europe. For KUNC film critic Howie Movshovitz, who also teaches film and television at CU Denver, the film not only shows Polish history, but has a less for today's world, too.
Each year, kids across the globe follow Santa Claus on his Christmas Eve journey from the North Pole. The trackers are with the North American Aerospace Defense Command, more commonly known as NORAD. Michael de Yoanna tracked the Santa trackers and talked with Kyra Buckle about how it all started.
Colorado Edition is made possible with support from our KUNC members. Thank you!
Our intro music is "Remember Me" by Colorado musician Kalatana. The midshow break is "Bling Bong" by Robbie Reverb, and our outro is "Darby" by Blue Dot Sessions. Other music this week by Blue Dot Sessions:
- "Beignet"
- "Great Great Lengths"
- "Plum King"
- "Take a Tiny Train"
- "El Tajo"
- "Town Market"
This episode was hosted and produced by assistant news director Erin O'Toole and Karlie Huckels. Digital manager Ashley Jefcoat handled the web. News director Catherine Welch and managing editor Brian Larson and contributed to this episode.
KUNC's Colorado Edition is a weekly look at the top stories from our newsroom. It's available every Friday on our website, as well as on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher or wherever (RSS) you get your podcasts. You can hear it on the air every Sunday at 9 p.m. on KUNC.