On this week's Colorado Edition, state lawmakers may try to pass a bill to keep people in crisis from accessing guns, but do these laws really work? We also take a look at what the revival of a small town’s historic opera house means for its contemporary arts scene and how a Boulder businessman is trying to solve the age-old problem of traffic jams — in space.
After the Parkland school shooting in Florida last year, eight states passed some version of an extreme risk protection order law. These measures, also known as red flag laws, are used to prevent people in crisis from accessing guns. As Colorado lawmakers work on one of these bills, Leigh Paterson has more on how effective they are in reducing gun violence.
Gov. Polis has selected the first woman to serve as Colorado's Commissioner of Agriculture. Kate Greenberg spent the last ten years working with farmers — and helping to shape agricultural policy while working for the National Young Farmers Coalition. Esther Honig spoke with Greenberg about her career and the challenges of the position.
The Central City Opera House opened its doors for the first time in 1878. It was a labor of love for the town’s Welsh and Cornish miners and quickly became the hub of the community. Now, Colorado’s oldest existing opera house could once again become the heart of Central City's renewed arts scene. Arts reporter Stacy Nick takes us there.
In Colorado, the aerospace industry is thriving. It employs 30,000 workers, each of them solving space-related problems that sound like they're straight out of a sci-fi film. One problem that's familiar to us here on Earth? Traffic. Matt Bloom introduces us to one entrepreneur who's making extraterrestrial travel less of a headache.
The new movie Stan and Ollie looks back at the fading careers of two aging movie clowns, Laurel and Hardy. For KUNC film critic Howie Movshovitz, who teaches film and television at CU-Denver, it's a touching remembrance of a time gone by.
In the headlines:
- The transgender community is reacting to this week's Supreme Court ruling that revives a ban on their military service. We hear from a Fort Carson soldier who just returned from Afghanistan.
- Gov. Polis launched the Office of Saving People Money on Health Care this week. The new office will cost just under $250 million to start, and will be led by Lt. Gov. Dianne Primavera.
- Denver's Velorama Festival will not return this year. The musical accompaniment of the Colorado Classic is being scrapped as organizers re-focus on the cycling aspect of the race, which is now a women's-only event.
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. Other music this week included "A Path Among the Woods" by Forest Robots and the following by Blue Dot Sessions:
- "Lamplist"
- "Cicle-Deserrat"
- "Homegrown"
- "The Stone Mansion"
- "The Zeppelin"
This episode was hosted and produced by assistant news director Erin O'Toole and managing editor Brian Larson. Digital editor Jackie Hai handled the web. News director Catherine Welch 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.