In The NOCO

Greeley has been one of the fastest-growing metro areas in the country in recent years, according to U.S. Census data. Since 2000, the city has grown from around 76,000 residents to nearly 114,000.    An ambitious, nearly billion-dollar plan to develop 800 acres on the west side of the city would have continued that growth streak.   The project, known as Catalyst , would include homes, a luxury ho...

Climate change is a threat to the state's ski industry. Warmer winters mean shorter seasons and less snow at resorts around Colorado – and presumably, less revenue for the companies that run them.  But those companies take different approaches to advocating for measures that could slow climate change, or offset it.   As Colorado’s ski industry limps through one of the driest winters in decades, to...

We often think of destructive wildfires in terms of their size and the damage they cause: the number of acres burned or buildings destroyed.   But emerging research says not all major wildfires belong in the same category.    Some wildfires ignite and spread explosively. They move so swiftly that firefighting crews simply can’t keep up. The 2021 Marshall Fire , which scorched about a thousand home...

If you're a homeowner in Colorado, there are a few types of natural disaster that might threaten your home. One is wildfire. Another is a severe hailstorm.  Hazards like these are the reason people buy homeowners insurance. But a new analysis released this month says that hailstorms and wildfires have very different impacts on what Coloradans pay for insurance. As you might expect, the threat of w...

Listeners of a certain age: Do you remember how great Colorado’s craft beer scene used to be?  The late 1990s and early 2000s saw hundreds of small breweries and taprooms spring up in communities across the state. But in the last five years, around 140 breweries, taprooms and brewpubs have closed -- including 40 that shuttered in 2025 alone.   And while that still leaves more than 400 breweries ac...

Even in a milder Colorado winter like this one, short days and cooler temperatures leave many people with the winter blues. In fact, it’s a medical condition. Seasonal affective disorder is a form of depression some people feel during the fall and winter months.     Our guest today offers a form of relief for the winter blues – if we’re willing to step outside, give our phones a rest, and tune int...

In the late 1960s, a new movement of Black music grew out of the end of the civil rights era. Black artists proudly declared their Black power and rocked the airwaves with the sound of funk.     Funk music was more than just a genre with excellent grooves. It had a deeper social and political meaning. Funk began as a reaction to tumultuous times and would ultimately lay the foundation for the hip...

It’s a crisis that's quietly putting pressure on Colorado public school systems: The state's tight housing market has made it increasingly difficult in recent years for districts to hire teachers and other school employees.   US News recently reported that Colorado ranks 48th in housing affordability – which means many teachers find it difficult to find a place to live if they accept a job in a Co...

The 2026 Winter Olympics are beginning their final week in Italy. And it might surprise you to learn that some of those snowy race courses in the Italian Alps aren’t necessarily a product of natural snowfall.   At lower elevations, where cross-country and many other events take place, what we’re seeing is large swaths of artificial snow.    Warmer winters and less-predictable snowfall mean that wi...

Researcher Caitlin Clark has a job a lot of people would envy. Clark is a food scientist who oversees a laboratory devoted entirely to the study of chocolate – how it’s made, what makes it taste so good, and how to make new and better varieties of it.  She and her team, based at the Colorado State University Food Innovation Center in Denver, work to dream up new confections that hopefully will end...

A landscape in decline – and a surprisingly fast rebound. It’s a story that played out in the Kawuneeche Valley recently on the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park.   The willow groves and wetlands in that area had become so badly depleted that a park ecologist used the term “ecosystem collapse” to describe the surrounding environment.  That collapse reversed itself quickly after crews insta...

Colorado has sent more athletes to the 2026 Winter Games in Italy than any other state. And nearly a third of those 32 Coloradans competing in events like snowboarding, slalom, or ski jumping hail from Steamboat Springs.   About 100 Olympic athletes live or have lived in Steamboat Springs – more than any other town in the U.S. Which got us wondering: How did Steamboat foster an environment where y...

The first sanctioned walkout at a major American meatpacking plant in decades appears to be unfolding in Northern Colorado. It’s happening during a particularly tense moment for U.S. immigration policies.    The workers at Greeley’s JBS meatpacking plant voted overwhelmingly last week to move forward with the strike. The workforce there, which is made up of a large number of Haitian refugees, are...

Scenes of ICE agents on the streets of Minneapolis have dominated headlines and news footage in recent weeks.   Those images also raise concerns about immigration enforcement in Colorado . The state saw a surge in arrests since President Trump took office a year ago – and some people are worried that what happened in Minneapolis might play out here.    Today, we talk with an elected official who’s...

One of the world’s leading climate research institutions – the National Center for Atmospheric Research, or NCAR – has been headquartered in Boulder since the 1950s. Scientists there research everything from hurricanes and wildfires to how changing climate patterns affect our communities. NCAR's Mesa Laboratory in Boulder employs around 800 people.   In December, the Trump administration ordered t...

A pretty major shakeup could be on the horizon for Colorado’s cannabis-related businesses – and their profitability.    President Trump in December issued an executive order calling for the reclassification of marijuana , which is currently a Schedule I substance, to the less severe category of Schedule III. Cannabis is currently illegal according to federal regulators, even if states like Colorad...

The 2026 Winter Olympics begin this week, and a growing winter sport is about to make its Olympic debut in the coming days.    Ski mountaineering , often referred to as “skimo,” is a type of endurance racing that sees competitors ski uphill, climb uphill with skis on their backs, and then ski downhill multiple times in a race. Which sounds thrilling – and maybe exhausting, too.  Nikki LaRochelle ,...

Maybe you’ve tried yoga to de-stress and found it’s not for you. Maybe you’ve tried foam stress balls. Or a hundred other ways to unplug or relax.    Today, we’re talking about a practice that uses nature – and the five senses – to help people slow down and reset. Forest bathing is a restorative practice with roots in Japan that sends people into the woods to immerse themselves in nature. Darlene...

When someone decides they need help with a drug or alcohol addiction, or to leave an unsafe living situation, one obstacle they often face is this: While I’m getting help, who will take care of my pets?   For many people, the bond with a dog or cat is a lifeline. But most in-patient treatment programs or domestic violence shelters can’t allow animals – which can force people to have to choose betw...

Don't let last weekend's snowstorm fool you: Colorado is midway through an unusually dry and warm winter. And it's likely to continue. The National Weather Outlook publishes a drought outlook forecast that says the entire state is likely to be in a drought three months from now if these conditions persist.    One major downside of a warm, dry winter is that it can damage or even kill the trees and...

A position on the ski patrol at a Colorado resort is a dream job for many people. They get paid to spend their days on some of the best snow-covered terrain in the U.S. And they help thousands of skiers and snowboarders have a great time in the High Country.   But that work can also take a toll. Aside from the physical demands of skiing as a full-time job, there are downright traumatic moments --...

An unusual production of one of the most popular musicals in history presents the final shows of its run this weekend in Boulder. More than a year ago, the show's director set out to stage the musical Fiddler on the Roof with the rabbi from one of Boulder's Jewish congregations playing the lead role of Tevye. Rabbi Marc Soloway of Congregation Bonai Shalom had trained and worked as an actor, befor...

It was a mystery that haunted Colorado search and rescue groups for almost two decades.   In September 2005, a 35-year-old woman named Michelle Vanek went missing while hiking on Mount of the Holy Cross , a challenging fourteener in Eagle County. Vanek had been hiking with a friend, but they split up after Vanek grew tired and decided to take an easier trail down the mountain.  She was never seen...

An idea borrowed from nature is helping people to rehabilitate some mountain landscapes devastated by wildfire.  Crews installed a series of small, wooden dams in the foothills west of Fort Collins to repair wetlands following the Cameron Peak and East Troublesome wildfires.  They’re essentially manmade beaver dams, built from logs and lumber to raise the water level and slow the flow of water in...

Denver composer Nathan Hall’s album of percussion music focuses on some unique instruments: They’re hand-carved from stone and date back several millennia.   Lithophones are polished, resonant rocks shaped like baguettes. Archaeologists say that Indigenous people used the stones somewhere between 2,000 and 6,000 years ago near what’s now Great Sand Dunes National Park.   Nathan wrote a series of p...