On this week's episode of Colorado Edition, five great stories that would win any hand, featuring the humble toilet, tiny homes and The King himself.
Opening a wildlife refuge to the public isn't an easy thing to do under normal circumstances - but when that refuge used to be a nuclear weapons facility, it's even harder. Rocky Flats Wildlife Refuge, located west of Denver, is back in the news. It's supposed to open to visitors in September but a group of activists has brought a lawsuit to stop that from happening. We talk with Kyra Buckley about her reporting on the refuge.
For folks wanting to downsize their lives, tiny houses - under 600 square feet - have a lot of appeal. But tiny home dwellers have run into a problem in Colorado: There's no where to park their house. Stephanie Daniel talked with people at a tiny house fest in Broomfield about the challenges of tiny home life.
One thing that makes summer in Colorado so awesome is the great national parks and monuments. But those fun family vacations can also turn dangerous. In Rocky Mountain National Park, there was a search and rescue incident nearly every other day in 2017 - the third most in the country, as Michael de Yoanna found in his investigation.
We've talked a lot about water on this show because it's a big deal in the West. While populations are booming, the overall water use is staying the same. In some cases, it's even going down. As Luke Runyon reports, the unlikely hero in this case isn't the hero we want, but it's definitely the hero we deserve: the toilet.
In his weekly film review, Howie Movshovitz, who teaches film and television at CU Denver, reviews the The King, a documentary that looks at the cultural and political legacy of Elvis Presley. He says it's one of the best documentaries he's seen.
Our intro music is "Remember Me" by Colorado musician Kalatana. Our outro is "Good Grief" by Ryan Little. Other music this week:
- "Belview" by C. Scott
- "Motorcat" and "High Altitude Cocktails" by Robbie Reverb
- "Catching Glitter" by Split Phase
This episode is hosted and produced by Erin O'Toole and Karlie Huckels, with additional production by Ashley Jefcoat, who also manages digital. Editor Brian Larson contributed to this show.
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.