Colorado Matters

Eighty percent of the world’s population can’t see the Milky Way. Light pollution interferes. Author and adventurer Craig Childs, of Norwood, Colorado, writes about a trek from light to dark in his new book. “The Wild Dark” takes readers from the incandescense of Las Vegas to the spangled skies of rural Nevada.

Due to President Trump’s involvement and a recent high profile pardon, the governor’s office has received hundreds of emails from people wanting to see former Mesa County clerk Tina Peters released from prison. Where does the effort stand? Then, it’s long been shown that fluoride helps prevent tooth decay. A young dentist actually discovered it in Colorado Springs in 1901. We get some grounding amid a recent debate about its benefits. And, looking inside oneself to overcome professional barriers. And a unique end-of-the-year school project for students at Warren Tech.

Federal agents have been knocking on doors in Colorado; n the other side of those doors: kids who crossed the border illegally and alone. CPR Justice reporter Allison Sherry brings us her investigation, a story she broke. Then, could the BLM relocate to Colorado, again? Also, a the case of a Grand Junction man convicted in deadly pipe bombings; we talk with the Innocence Project about faulty forensic science. And later, an unexpected collaboration from the Colorado Symphony, this time with Denver funk band Lettuce.

Today, the stories of two Colorado veterans who’ve had two different experiences with PTSD and how to treat it. Could psilocybin be the answer, and if it is, what are the challenges to getting it? We find out with “The Trip: CPR’s Coverage of Colorado’s Psychedelic Journey.” Then, five years after the death of George Floyd, where does the Black Lives Matters movement stand? Plus, it’s the beginning of the end for the penny. And, the story of a special education teacher in Colorado, and the effort to recruit and train more.

“Cruel” and “disastrous” is how Gov. Jared Polis describes the US House’s budget plan. Meanwhile, Colorado cities sue him over housing requirements. Also, Polis on immigration and a pedestrian bridge proposed at the State Capitol. Then, a destructive start to severe weather season. Later, how two rafting companies navigate tariffs. And Joe Cocker joins the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. He found inner peace in Colorado.

Today we go inside the classroom, with Colorado’s Teacher of the Year, Janet Damon of Delta High School, an alternative public school in Denver. How growing up in Colorado helped shape her as an educator, plus, her students share the qualities they’ve learned from her that will help them seize the summer. Also, documentary filmmaker and Colorado College alum Mike Shum speaks at graduation day. Plus, scientists estimate that as many as 75 percent of the insects in the world have vanished over the past 50 years. Among the species hardest hit: the Monarch butterfly. What you can do to help.

This country’s nuclear arsenal is “geriatric.” And many of the people who maintain it are heading towards retirement. Plus, the agency that oversees the nuclear arsenal has not been immune to the possibility of federal staffing cuts. Colorado science writer Sarah Scoles examines the future of nuclear defense in her book, “Countdown: The Blinding Future of Nuclear Weapons.”

In a special Aging Matters on Colorado Matters, Kristine Burrows, the state’s Senior Specialist on Aging, speaks with Chandra Thomas Whitfield in front of an audience at CPR, to talk about everything from healthcare and housing, to jobs for older workers and fighting ageism.