Careless: Colorado’s Childcare Struggle Rocky Mountain PBS 2026-09-18 | Careless: Colorado’s Childcare Struggle
Amache Rose blooms for the first time at the Denver Botanical Gardens Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-05-24 | Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6ChFrom 1942 to 1945, the United States government imprisoned more than 100,000 Japanese Americans at 10 internment camps, including one in Colorado. A rose, propagated from an 80-year-old rose bush from Camp Amache, bloomed for the first time at Denver Botanic Gardens.Read more at rmpbs.org------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
Amache Rose blooms at Denver Botanic Gardens Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-05-24 | Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6ChThe resilient Amache Rose's propagated plant cuttings bloomed for the first time at the Denver Botanic Gardens Thursday.Read more at rmpbs.org------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
High school students host free music lessons, no strings attached Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-05-24 | Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6ChBetween the Notes is a student-run program that provides free music lessons at the Tallyn's Reach Library in Aurora.Read more at rmpbs.org#colorado #aurora #music #strings ------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
How the First Amendment impacts campus political protests Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-05-23 | Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6ChNationwide protests against U.S. involvement in the Israel-Hamas war saw a change in tactic April 17 when students at Columbia University set up a “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” on their school campus. More than 100 Students called for the university to divest from weapons manufacturers and tech companies with business ties to Israel, who they accused of committing a genocide against Palestinians.What followed were two weeks of mass arrests at the New York City school as hundreds of similar university encampments appeared around the country, including at Auraria Campus in Denver and Colorado College in Colorado Springs.The protests brought up questions about First Amendment rights on private and public university campuses as well as what steps schools can take to curb what they deem hate speech. For example, in a statement explaining that Columbia University would not divest from Israel, President Minouche Shafik said, “Antisemitic language and actions are unacceptable and calls for violence are simply abhorrent.” Rocky Mountain PBS spoke with Steve Zansberg, a First Amendment lawyer, to learn what rights the First Amendment guarantees protesters and what these mass protests signify.Read more at rmpbs.org#protest #campus #firstamendment #freespeech ------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
Community-led air monitoring reveals gaps in environmental regulation Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-05-22 | Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6ChIn June of 2023, results from a community-led air monitoring project in Commerce City affirmed decades-long claims of health ailments due to pollution. Cultivando, the organization that led the efforts, hopes the new data will help create policies that enforce better environmental regulations in the area, and empower residents to more effectively advocate for their health. “I think that once state governments, policy makers, those with power to influence change have the data in front of them, and the data is telling them very sobering and very urgent findings, it is up to them to act on it,” said Laura Martinez, manager of environmental justice at Cultivando.Located in one of the most polluted zip codes in the country, Commerce City residents are surrounded by various factories and major highways, which are tied to a lack of vegetation, noise pollution, and higher temperatures. Read more at rmpbs.org#colorado #airpollution #environment ------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
A new chapter for the High Line Canal Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-05-21 | Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6ChA large funding campaign aims to address historical inequities in investment into the High Line Canal’s northeast regions, running through Aurora and Green Valley Ranch.Read more at rmpbs.org#colorado #aurora #canal #trails #hiking #outdoors ------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
How the Mountain Plover Festival helped both a town and an endangered bird Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-05-20 | The 16th annual Mountain Plover Festival spotlights a near-endangered bird as well as a near-endangered town.------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
How the Mountain Plover Festival saved a small town Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-05-20 | Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6ChBirders from across the country flocked to the tiny eastern-Colorado township of Karval to spot the elusive Mountain plover while learning about life in a diminishing rural environment.Read more at rmpbs.org#Colorado #birding ------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
Native Lens: Navajo Hybrid Healing Hogan Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-05-20 | Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6ChTohdenasshai Shelter Homes & Nááts'íilid Initiative partnered to construct a low-cost, builder friendly hybrid Octagon Hogan that utilizes sustainable building practices that blends conventional building materials and traditional local earthen materials. This hogan also uses solar energy.The structure was built using Nááts'íilid Initiative’s Sweat Equity Home Project (SEHP) approach to strengthen Diné knowledge by offering a series of free workshops that allows community members of all ages to learn through hands-on experiences. Tohdenasshai Shelter Homes & Nááts'íilid Initiative are nonprofit organizations serving the well being of the Diné Nation:Tohdenasshai Shelter Home’s purpose is to maintain a shelter home to victims of domestic violence, to provide counseling, education & referral services, and to oppose abuse and violence to promote harmonious and healthy family relationships in the Diné reservation community. Nááts'íilid Initiative is an Indigenous-led and coalition-driven Community Development Collaborative (CDC). We envision integrating Diné teachings and building practices and fostering interpersonal connections between the homeowner and the home. We regard housing construction as synonymous with perpetuating a culturally resilient and healthy Navajo Community. Hoosh’ii’ and ‘íí∤ah: Revitalizing Diné PlaceKnowing and PlaceMaking envisions integrating Nihok’aa Diyin Dine’é (Navajo) teachings and building practices as well as fostering interpersonal connections between the place and the place makers. These collective ideas are fundamental to our cooperative approach to community development and participatory design. We cultivate reciprocity and connection with the land and build community power through Nihok’aa Diyin Dine’é knowledge systems and building skills already available in the community.Activities of the Project involve:Light Straw Clay Infill Wall: light straw clay, also known as slip straw, is healthy and simple material for filling interior and exterior walls. Interior Earthen Clay Plaster: clay or earth plasters are blends of unfired clays mixed with fine sand and fiber to provide natural breathable finish for internal walls.Sheep Wool Insulation: sheep wool insulation is a natural wool fiber that improves thermal efficiency, indoor air quality, moisture management and sound absorption.Bamboo Ceiling Finish: bamboo is a sustainable, beautiful cost effective ceiling finish alternative. Solar PV System: solar energy is a renewable energy source that over time will increase energy independence and reduce carbon footprint.The best part of this project is the clay and sheep wool local resources to our Diné people. ------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
Meet the Sizzlin’ Seniors, the hottest dance squad in the NBA Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-05-19 | Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6ChThe Denver Nuggets coaching staff calls a time out, and the players retreat to the sidelines. Twenty-five women, ages 55 to 82, run onto the court. The crowd — almost 20,000 strong — erupts as the women break into a choreographed dance routine set to The B-52’s “Love Shack.”They are mothers, grandmothers and best friends. They are, in the words of the Denver Nuggets PA announcer, “the group that’s always cooking.”They are the Sizzlin’ Seniors.Read more at rmpbs.org#Nuggets #NBA #Dance #Seniors #Colorado ------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
The Sizzlin Seniors, the hottest dance squad in the NBA Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-05-19 | Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6ChThis senior dance group brings joy to Denver Nuggets fans and deep friendship to each other.------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
Living with wolves on a mountain cattle ranch Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-05-18 | Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6ChThe reintroduction of gray wolves brings new challenges for an age-old tradition.Read more at rmpbs.org------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
Newcomers Ski Group brings Black immigrants to the Colorado slopes Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-05-17 | Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6ChMohamed Kadir, who moved to Colorado from Ethiopia as a teenager, is determined to get other Black immigrants skiing and snowboarding.Read more at rmpbs.org------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
Newcomers Ski Group brings Black immigrants to the Colorado slopes Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-05-17 | Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6ChMohamed Kadir, who moved to Colorado from Ethiopia as a teenager, is determined to get other Black immigrants skiing and snowboarding.------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
Putting Out Fires and Raising Children at the Same Time! Literally Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-05-16 | On this episode of Black Millennial Mom, Cedes chats with firefighters Javon Mays, Brittany Raday, and Marcus Palmer about how they have successfully juggled one of the most extreme careers while raising young children. While Javon’s, Brittany’s, and Marcus’s jobs are more intense than others, their take on parenting may sound familiar as you really don’t know what it is like until you live it. Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6Ch------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS KIDS on our other platforms, too. • Newsletter: rmpbs.org/rmpbs-kids-newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rockymountainpbskids • Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbskids • TikTok: tiktok.com/@rmpbskids
The winter caretakers behind Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-05-16 | Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6ChFive winter caretakers manage the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratories' 55,000 snow-covered acres in almost complete isolation, teaching them more about the natural world as well as themselvesRead more at rmpbs.org------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
From Welder to Wrestler Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-05-16 | Introducing... The WarhammerSubscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6Ch------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
Facing climate change in one of Colorado’s most remote wintertime laboratories Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-05-14 | Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6ChFour winter caretakers remain throughout the winter at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, a world-renowned laboratory that becomes completely snowed over during winter months.Read more at rmpbs.org------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
Welder to wrestler: Colorados Warhammer finds her audience Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-05-12 | Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6ChItalian power metal music blasts as Lilith Gimm, "The Warhammer," walks into the ring carrying an outsized hammer the size and weight of a cinder block.Sparks of hot metal fly into the air as she slashes the hammer with an angle grinder. The fiery spectacle lights up the faces in the audience, sending the crowd into a frenzy of shouting and booing.Lilith Grimm is about to go head-to-head with her rival for the past three years, Marionette Noelle. Lilith and Noelle started off as friends when Noelle began wrestling a few years ago. Their relationship changed however, when Noelle was taken by the asylum and her brain was destroyed— she has not been the same since.“I tried so hard to save Noelle, we went to therapy, and she just kept turning on me,” said Lilith.She hopes tonight at the championship match they can settle the score once and for all. ------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
Can Dearfield, a Black homesteading settlement, become a National Historic Site? Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-05-11 | Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6ChOriginal buildings on the grounds testify to Black resilience and entrepreneurship in the American West, and preservationists hope to make it a National Historic Site.Read more at rmpbs.org------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
Fast, furious and 5 years old Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-05-10 | Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6ChQuarter midget racing, named for the go kart-like race cars driven by five to seventeen year olds, is a growing sport in Colorado, where hundreds of young drivers across three associations train to compete in races across the nation.Read more at rmpbs.org------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
Fast, Furious and 5 years old: Quarter Midget Racing in Colorado Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-05-10 | Meet the next generation of NASCAR drivers.Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6Ch------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
Palisade peach farmers prepare for a busy year Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-05-07 | Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6ChWind machines, irrigation, and planting new trees — these might be a few of my favorite things. Here’s what fruit producers are working on right now in Palisade.Read more: rmpbs.org/blogs/rocky-mountain-pbs/palisade-peach-busy-season------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
Native Lens: Tshitashun Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-05-06 | Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6ChIn Betsiamites, everyone counts in French instead of Innu. A charming film that will help you understand why !Director Biography - James PicardJames Picard is from Pessamit, an Innu community located at the west of Baie-Comeau in the region of the North Shore, Québec, Canada. In 2008, he directed his first film "TSHITASHUN (NUMBER )" with the help of Wapikoni Mobile, a traveling studio of audiovisual and musical training that goes into the First Nations communities of Quebec. Since then, his film was successful in many national and international festivals, such as the International Film Carousel Rimouski, FICFA in Moncton, Planet in Focus and ImagineNATIVE Toronto Festival Honest Planet in France, and the American Indian Film Festival in San Francisco.------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
What to expect when buffalo are expecting Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-05-03 | Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6ChAs a Cheyenne and Arapaho volunteer at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge, Montoya Whiteman shares her perspective and message for others to respect land and nature at this special place.Read more: rmpbs.org/blogs/rocky-mountain-pbs/rocky-mountain-arsenal-national-wildlife-refuge-montoya-whiteman------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
How to save a synagogue Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-05-02 | Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6ChBuilt in 1889, Temple Aaron has been serving the city of Trinidad for over 127 years, and when financial strains almost forced it to close, community supporters stepped in to preserve the building and its legacy.Read more: rmpbs.org/blogs/rocky-mountain-pbs/temple-aaron-trinidad------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
Native Lens: Paddle Tribal Waters Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-05-02 | Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6ChWhen the largest dam removal project in history begins, a group of indigenous youth learn to whitewater kayak in hopes of becoming the first people to paddle the restored river from source to sea. With jaw-dropping aerial cinematography and moving storytelling, Paddle Tribal Waters is a fully immersive experience, showcasing the unbreakable bond between people and their ancestral lands. The film gives viewers a bird’s eye view as an unforgettable group of young people training for the adventure of a lifetime.Director StatementPaul Robert Wolf Wilson (Director & Producer):Decades of demonstrated rapport tie my personal and professional life to the communities represented in the film. It is important to me to ensure that the subjects and their communities have a leading hand in the development and production of this film. We will set up practices around visual sovereignty. In addition, we will return or establish the tools for storytelling into the hands of the community themselves. Through collaboration with some of the characters in the film, the goal is to embed a strong sense of authority over their image and narrative, within the scope of this film and media at large. I have spent the early stages of my professional career working to tell the stories of the multiple indigenous communities along the Klamath River. I am balanced in my visual storytelling amidst conflicts that span tribe, community, agency, and stakeholder. I continue to center protocols from the cultural teachings imparted to me from family and community. My intimate involvement in the development and fundraising for the Paddle Tribal Waters program, which the film will focus on, demonstrates my commitment to the community and students. Through this sustained commitment to the students outside of the scope of the creative process, a more genuine position is afforded to the filmmakers in the telling of this story.Biographies:Paul Wolf Wilson - Director, Producer, Key CastBased in his ancestral homelands of Southern Oregon and Northern California. His works focus on the connections between peoples, the lands and waters they steward, and the cultures thattie them together. A Leader in Environment, Access, and Diversity (LEAD) Ambassador for Northwest River Supplies (NRS), Paul works to provide opportunities for indigenous youth to strengthen and grow relationships with their rivers through white-water recreation. As an alumnus of Ríos to Rivers, he co-founded the Maqlaqs Paddle with his sister, Ashia, to help bring access to paddling to their tribal community. Paul has also actively worked to change policy around dams and endangered rivers worldwide, attending and speaking at UNFCCC COP events and serving as an advisory member for Water Climate Trust. Paul also serves onthe board of directors of Rogue Food Unites, an organization that addresses food insecurities of communities across Southern Oregon.Rush Sturges - Director, Producer, EditorRaised on the banks of California’s Salmon River, Rush started splashing around in kayaks before he could walk. By the age of 12, he had devoted himself to learning his way around rivers and cameras. Rush is widely considered one of the world’s best kayakers, as well as a prominent action sports filmmaker. To date, he has created nine award winning whitewater kayaking films, including his latest feature documentary "The River Runner" which won “Best Mountain Film” at Banff in 2021 and is now available on Netflix. Rush studied film at The Art Institute of Vancouver, B.C., and has honed his filmmaking skills on location in some of the planet’s wildest places. In 2009, Rush founded River Roots, a media production house based in his adopted hometown of White Salmon, WA.Weston Boyles - ProducerFor the last 12 years, Weston has been working in South and North America on a variety of environmental protection projects for Tompkins Conservation and Ríos to Rivers. Weston founded Ríos to Rivers in 2012 and in 2015 he co-directed Doug and Kris Tompkins’ Route of Parks Project in Chile. To date, the Ríos to Rivers exchanges have connected students from 20 endangered river basins in seven countries. The exchanges have included students and community leaders from 21 indigenous nations. Weston strongly believes that listening to local community leaders and providing them opportunities to take the lead is critical for environmental campaigns to have long-lasting impacts.------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
Harnessing solar power for Navajo People Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-05-01 | Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6ChAlthough electricity has been widely available in the United States for more than half a century, on Navajo lands about 30% of families continue to live off the grid without power in their homes.For the past two years, Fort Lewis College students have worked to reduce that number by installing solar panels and battery storage systems for families living off the grid.Led by engineering professor Laurie Williams and Camille Keith, a native of Shonto, Arizona and engineering graduate of Fort Lewis College, 25 students recently spent their spring break powering up the community.“The students work for months preparing for these solar system installations,” said Williams. “Every component of the system is carefully designed and prepared, so we can install them efficiently and successfully when we arrive here.” Read more: rmpbs.org/blogs/news/fort-lewis-solar-navajo-nation------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
Old Grand Junction high school preps for demolition Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-04-30 | Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6ChFollow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
Schools out forever: Grand Junction HS prepares for demolition Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-04-30 | Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6Ch Seniors at Grand Junction High School will be the last class to ever graduate from the old building next month. Built in 1956, the 68-year-old school has serious foundation and structural issues that are impossible to repair. The school was founded in 1891 and moved once after the turn of the century before settling into the flat roofed, brick building with long hallways at 1400 N 5th Street. In 2021, Mesa County voters approved a$115 million bond measure to replace the high school. That taxpayer money, plus $29.5 million in grants and other funds add up to $144.5 million for the new school facility. Construction started in 2022 and will finish by the fall for the 2024 school year. Read more: rmpbs.org/blogs/rocky-mountain-pbs/grand-junction-high-school------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
Why a Jewish preschool hired Muslim Afghan refugees to teach in its classes Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-04-29 | Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6ChEarly childhood centers suffer from a severe shortage of educators due to low pay, burnout and a lack of respect for the work. Decades of disinvestment from the government have led providers to come up with their own creative solutions.Read more: rmpbs.org/blogs/rocky-mountain-pbs/colorado-preschool-staffing-crisis------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
Lessons in fire safety, featuring a Colorado Springs woman with 200 pets Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-04-27 | Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6ChFounded after a destructive 2018 Colorado Springs wildfire, the Gingersnap Rescue Ranch stands as an example for the importance of wildfire safety and preparedness, as well as a symbol for resilience after devastationRead more: rmpbs.org/blogs/rocky-mountain-pbs/gingersnap-wildlife-rescue------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
High school musicians reflect on the future of jazz Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-04-26 | Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6ChGo behind the scenes with the Fossil Ridge High School jazz band at the UNC/Greeley Jazz Festival.------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
Superhero Moms by Day and Life-Saving Nurses by Night Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-04-25 | This Black Millennial Mom Podcast episode highlights the struggles and successes these nurses, Ashley Bingham and Brittany Ramirez, have experienced throughout their careers as moms to young children. From schooling to COVID, these nurses showcase the good and bad the healthcare field brings to you while being a parent.Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6Ch------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
Immersive theater production grapples with history of Sand Creek Massacre Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-04-25 | Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6ChAn interactive theater performance offers non-Native audiences a unique perspective to learn about Colorado’s difficult history of colonization.Read more: rmpbs.org/blogs/rocky-mountain-pbs/breathing-healing-sand-creek-immersive-theater------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
People with autism often have difficulty finding employment. This nonprofit links them to trade jobs Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-04-24 | Henry Moss was diagnosed with Autism in elementary school after his teachers noticed that to focus, he needed to pace around the room.His experience of being yelled at for disrupting class made Moss shy away from college and academic settings, leading him to freeze up on the job search.“I’m not much of a talker, and I would turtle-up during interviews,” said Moss, who is now 23.Nationwide, adults with an autism diagnosis have an unemployment rate of around 40%, according to a 2021 study published in the National Library of Medicine. Some private estimates go even higher, suggesting 85% of adults with autism are unemployed. At the same time, there are 388,000 vacant skilled trades-related jobs, according to Leapros, a private staffing company that tracks the industry.Tackling both problems at once by training people on the spectrum to work in the trades–electricians, plumbers, carpenters, and concrete masons–propels the mission of Teaching the Autism Community Trades (TACT), a nonprofit that led Moss to his job as a welder. Read more: rmpbs.org/blogs/rocky-mountain-pbs/tact-nonprofit-autism-denverSubscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6Ch------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
Volunteers fight Period Poverty one tampon at a time Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-04-23 | Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6ChDozens of people in pink gathered in the Colorado State University Lory Student Center as music blasted and volunteers packaged period products into bags for schools across Northern Colorado.Period packing parties — try saying that three times fast — are making their way around the state as the Colorado Legislature waits to hear a bill requiring all middle and high schools to provide menstrual products to students.The bill, called the Free Menstrual Products to Students, passed through the House Education Committee and is awaiting a vote on the House floor. The vote is not scheduled yet.------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
Volunteers fight Period Poverty one tampon at a time Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-04-23 | Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6Ch 'Period packing parties' are making their way around the state as the Colorado legislature waits to hear a bill requiring all middle and high schools to provide menstrual products to students.Read more: rmpbs.org/blogs/news/period-poverty-colorado-legislation------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
We all fall down: RTD’s first-ever homeless outreach manager makes his rounds Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-04-22 | Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6ChAlton Reynolds begins his shift at Civic Center Union Station nearly every morning. Reynolds is the Regional Transportation District’s (RTD) first-ever navigation case manager, a role where he meets with unhoused people and directs them to resources.His role carrying out homeless outreach for RTD and moving people away from transit stations is part of the authority’s efforts to make its eight districts and 2,342 square miles of stations and rail lines in the Denver Metro area safe, according to officials. “We all fall down. We’ve all had situations where we needed to ask for help,” said Reynolds, who was formerly an RTD transit operator and is also a counselor. “My goal is to reach out to the whole community because we are in this together — it takes a village,” he said.Read more: rmpbs.org/blogs/news/rtd-homeless-outreach------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
RTD’s first-ever homeless outreach manager makes his rounds Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-04-22 | Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6ChAlton Reynolds is the transit agency's first-ever navigation case manager, a role where he meets with unhoused people and directs them to resources.Read more: rmpbs.org/blogs/news/rtd-homeless-outreach------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
127-year-old building, 127-year-old mission: affordable child care Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-04-20 | Early Connections Learning Centers, a Colorado Springs early child care nonprofit in operation since 1897, is Colorado’s oldest nonprofit child care organization, and provides affordable care in the state.Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6Ch------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
This small Colorado town becomes Sandhill Crane rest-stop in birds epic migration Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-04-19 | Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6ChFruitgrowers Reservoir, north of Delta, is a favorite bird-watching spot for the Black Canyon Audubon society and birders from around the Western Slope. While waterfowl can be found at the reservoir year-round, each spring, thousands of sandhill cranes stop to rest before flying 11,000 feet over the Grand Mesa on their way north.People like the birds, one of the biggest in North America, because of their size and distinctive call, said Bruce Ackerman, president of the Black Canyon Audubon Society.“We really like sandhill cranes because they're big, they're noisy, they are a kind of bird that evolved a long time ago, an ancient order of birds,” said Ackerman. Astute listeners notice the loud, slightly warbling “kruuuuuu” of the cranes, even when they’re flying high overhead.Read more: rmpbs.org/blogs/news/sandhill-crane-colorado------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
The epic Sandhill Crane migration Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-04-19 | Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6ChFollow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
Can students become champions for democracy? Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-04-18 | Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6ChDuring the weeklong Democracy Summit, students, faculty and community members engaged in conversations about the state of our democracy and how to strengthen it.Read more: rmpbs.org/blogs/news/colorado-state-democracy-summit------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
Education aids recovery at 5280 High School Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-04-17 | Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6ChThis isn’t your typical high school. Students at 5280 High School, one of the largest recovery high schools in the country, address teachers by their first names. Bookshelves and couches line the hallways in place of lockers, and kids learn in airy, open-concept classrooms.Started in 2018, the school serves students who struggle with substance and alcohol abuse, self-harm and other self-destructive behaviors. Junior Emma Taglione transferred to 5280 High School from a public high school in Parker two years ago. She has been sober ever since. She said she feels supported by the like-minded community that surrounds her. “I think if I was [still] at a public school, I could not have gotten sober,” said Taglione.------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
Breaking the mold: High school for recovery adopts project-based learning Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-04-17 | his isn’t your typical high school.Students at @5280highschool, one of the largest recovery high schools in the country, address teachers by their first names. Bookshelves and couches line the hallways in place of lockers, and kids learn in airy, open-concept classrooms.Started in 2018, the school serves students who struggle with substance and alcohol abuse, self-harm and other self-destructive behaviors.“We have more choices over our projects,” said sophomore Reese Lowrey, of how 5280 High School approaches academics.“We work with people a lot more, and it’s a lot more hands on and physical instead of writing stuff down on papers all the time,” she said.Read more: rmpbs.org/blogs/rocky-mountain-pbs/5280-high-school-recoverySubscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6Ch------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
Honey bees in Colorado Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-04-13 | April showers bring May flowers... which bring honey bees!Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6Ch------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
The striped co-workers keeping Colorado colorful Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-04-13 | Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6ChDespite being a life-long beekeeper and now president of the Pikes Peak Beekeepers Association (PPBA), Mike Daetwyler admits he still gets anxious when one of his thousands of honey bees gets a little too close for comfort.Yet Daetwyler showed little fear when he walked over to one of his three active backyard honeybee hives and, bare-handed and unmasked, pulled out a baseboard. He shook off a few stubborn bees before returning to his beekeeping equipment-covered patio table, unconcerned and unscathed.Daetwyler is one of hundreds of beekeepers active across Colorado Springs today, working to not only build and maintain fruitful hives, but to educate an often bee-wary public about the ecological and economic benefits of the honey bee.“Bees are not lazy,” said Daetwyler, “They want to get out there and get back. So if they bump into you, it’s not a big problem. They just go around you and on to the hive.”Daetwyler is a self-proclaimed “Beevangelist,” and he has a custom license plate to prove it. He built his first hive as a high schooler in 1967. With the help of his grandfather, Daetwyler controlled a swarm that had formed on his family’s farm.He has been passionate about beekeeping ever since.Read more: rmpbs.org/blogs/rocky-mountain-pbs/beekeeping-colorado-pikes-peak------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
Native Lens | Titration: Radioactive Waste, Princeton, and the Navajo Nation Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-04-12 | Titration: Radioactive Waste, Princeton, and the Navajo Nation examining how Princeton directly and indirectly contributed to the destructive consequences of nuclear research on Native communities. The film centers the late Princeton chemistry professor Nathaniel Furman, who was involved in the Manhattan Project and the creation of the atomic bomb. He contributed to the development of the ether extraction process for the preparation of uranium oxide, and the film contextualizes his research within broader histories of uranium mining and Native land. Furman’s work in the early- and mid-20th century directly contributed to contamination in the Navajo Nation where incredibly detrimental effects on Navajo environmental and human health still remain today.Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6Ch------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
Conductor Brad’s last ride Rocky Mountain PBS 2024-04-10 | Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6ChOn a bluebird day at Colorado’s oldest major ski area, they celebrated the resurrection of a train and the conductor credited with its revival.Train enthusiasts, skiers, travelers, volunteers — they gathered, some unknowingly but most fully aware, for a retirement celebration of Brad Swartzwelter, the conductor of Amtrak’s Winter Park Express.March 31 marked the train’s final trip of the 2024 ski season, and the swan song for Swartzwelter, who logged 212 trips as conductor of the Winter Park Express since 2015. The “Express” is a nonstop, two-hour train ride from Denver’s Union Station to the base of Winter Park Resort. The route dates back to 1940, the same year Winter Park Resort opened to skiers. The Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad originally operated the line — then called the “Ski Train” — until 2009, when rising costs and the global financial crisis resulted in cancellation of the service.Swartzwelter’s trips leading the ski train total about 24,000 miles, nearly the circumference of the earth. The impressive achievement is made more notable by the fact that Swartzwelter, who turns 60 in June, willed it to be this way.“We would not be where we are today if it wasn't for Brad,” said Gary DeFrange, the former president of Winter Park Resort, who rode the train Sunday. “You know, in your life, every now and then you meet somebody that you feel good about and you feel you created an immediate relationship. And that's what it felt like with Brad.”Read more: rmpbs.org/blogs/rocky-mountain-pbs/brad-swartzwelter-winter-park-express-retirement------------------------------------------------------Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.• Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter • Facebook: facebook.com/rmpbs• Instagram: instagram.com/rmpbs• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rocky-mountain-pbs
