Valley Voices

On this episode of Valley Voices, we hear from a familiar voice on KDNK airwaves. Former news director Raleigh Burleigh shares a report from the U.S. border near Mexico, where he joined a volunteer search and rescue group in early June.

On today's Valley Voices, we highlight a recent episode of Purplish from the Colorado Capital News Alliance on domestic violence. A bill advancing through Colorado's statehouse would require law enforcement officers to ask a set of 11 questions — 11 very specific questions, meant to measure someone’s risk of dying at the hands of their abuser. Backers say the change is especially urgent now, becau...

The Soldner Center for the Arts and Innovation was founded to honor Paul and Ginny Soldner, Stephanie's own parents. The center is comprised of five unique buildings, handcrafted by Paul and Ginny over forty years, and showcases a variety of works and practices. Later this month, the Soldner Center will host its very first music therapy for veterans event.

Last year, President Trump signed an executive order that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting stop allocating federal money to NPR, PBS, and their local member stations like KDNK. In response, NPR and several Colorado stations including Aspen Public Radio took the order to court, and last month, brought home a landmark victory.

The six lawmakers tasked with writing Colorado’s budget have an excruciating job this year — they must find about $1.5 billion in savings to keep the budget in balance, and understand that many of their cuts will have direct, human consequences. That’s because the state's Medicaid program, which provides health coverage to low-income Coloradans, accounts for a significant part of Colorado’s budget...

Auden Schendler had a long career with the Aspen Skiing Company as the Environmental Affairs Director and recently published a book called Terrible Beauty. Schendler's long experience provided him razor sharp insight on climate change, corporate blame culture, and what it is to be a human being in today's world. He joins KDNK's Marilyn Gleason for a discussion on the failure of corporate America t...

For a lot of farmers in Colorado, and across the country, insecticides known as neonicotinoids, or neonics, have been a game changer. But what’s been a breakthrough for some has been a nightmare for others. Neonics are being blamed for die-offs in domestic bees and native pollinators, and there’s growing concern over their potential impacts on human health as well. This year, some Democratic lawma...

The American Beekeeping Federation is a national organization that supports the interests of all beekeepers and the beekeeping industry in the United States. It also runs the American Honey Queen program, a national competition with the goal to promote beekeeping, increase national honey consumption, and educate the public about the value of honey bees. Colorado does not have a Honey Queen program...

KDNK's own Marilyn Gleason is abroad in Europe, enjoying the glamor and thrills of the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. Come along with Marilyn as she meets friends and families of athletes, captures nail-biting races, and hops all over Europe.

News Director Marilyn Gleason speaks with Rachel Perkins of the Mt Sopris Nordic Council and John Armstrong, longtime board member. Ski for SISU is coming up this very weekend, and it's the Council's largest annual fundraiser. This episode is all about love of the great outdoors and humankinds great determination to enjoy every moment.

Delia Malone is an ecologist who works with Roaring Fork Audubon and Colorado Wild. She and Marilyn discuss Colorado Parks and Wildlife's plan for better coexistence with beavers, high rates of mortality among reintroduced gray wolves, and whether the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service could take control of the wolf project from CPW.

For author Michael Bourne, a stint writing for a daily newspaper in Aspen served as a sort of boot camp. His new book, “We Bring You an Hour of Darkness,” harkens back to his days at the Aspen Daily News. It’s a mystery inspired in part by a real-life 1998 arson at the Vail ski resort starring eco-terrorists, greedy developers and intrepid reporters. Marilyn Gleason talks to the author.

Host Marilyn Gleason brings listeners the first half of a brand new episode of Purplish from CPR on the attempts to redraw Colorado's Congressional Districts in the middle of the decade. Later in the hour, one reporter from KHOL in Jackson Hole traveled to Poland to see how volunteer emergency drivers are aiding the war effort in Ukraine.

Recovery Resources operates the only homeless shelter in the Roaring Fork Valley; River Bridge in Glenwood supports interventions with abused children; Mountain Valley Developmental Services gives meaning and community to the region’s developmentally disabled. Valley Voices learns more about all three, with host Marilyn Gleason.

Kirk Siegler is NPR's go-to guy when stories of the West rise to national attention. He got his start in public radio in Colorado, as a reporter for two years in the Roaring Fork Valley at Aspen Public Radio, and 7 years reporting from Colorado stations including KUNC. Kirk Siegler talked to KDNK’s Amy Hadden Marsh about life as a roving reporter for NPR covering the vast Western landscape and the...

The Bureau of Land Management has cancelled its contract with the Department of Corrections, effectively shutting down the Wild Horse Inmate Program by the end of November. Amy Hadden Marsh speaks with Carol Walker, a longtime wild horse advocate, on what this means for the far and immediate future.

Audubon chair Delia Malone discusses coexisting with wolves and bird migration.

Carter Niemeyer is a wolf expert with more than 40 years of experience. He was part of the federal team that reintroduced wolves to Yellowstone National Park and Central Idaho in the '90s and was on the Technical Working Group that advised Colorado Parks and Wildlife during the Wolf Restoration and Management Plan process. He has written two award-winning memoirs about his career with U.S.D.A. Wil...

News Director Marilyn Gleason speaks with Sheryl Barton, the Executive Director of Smiling Goat Ranch, about the powers of equine therapy for those with PTSD and how connecting with nature can bring us back to ourselves.