Purplish

Decades ago, Colorado lawmakers set statewide limits on noise for different types of areas — lower limits near homes, louder away from them. But a recent court case has upended the status quo around which venues are allowed to be extra loud and how much say local governments have, and that has state lawmakers this year stirring up a noisy debate over noise.
CPR’s Bente Birkeland and Dan Boyce delve into the complexity of noise and how people experience it, the debate over state limits versus local control, and why the Ford Amphitheater in Colorado Springs is at the center of this debate.
Catch up on our coverage:

CPR News: Local noise permit bill passes Senate after contentious committee hearing

KRCC: Statehouse proposal would allow cities to issue noise permits for properties like the Ford Amphitheater in Colorado Springs

KRCC: Ford Amphitheater opponents hope Colorado Supreme Court ruling will bring the noise down

KRCC: Colorado Springs mayor, city staff will meet with operators of Ford Amphitheater after widespread noise complaints

And check out two past Purplish topics that are back in the news:

Colorado banned conversion therapy for minors. A U.S. Supreme Court case could upend that

Tina Peters is headed to trial – how did we get here?

Purplish is produced by CPR News and the Capitol News Alliance, a collaboration between KUNC News, Colorado Public Radio, Rocky Mountain PBS, and The Colorado Sun, and shared with Rocky Mountain Community Radio and other news organizations across the state. Startup funding for the Alliance was provided, in part, by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Purplish’s producer is Stephanie Wolf. Sound design and engineering by Shane Rumsey. The theme music is by Brad Turner. Megan Verlee is the executive producer.

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, and costs have ballooned in recent years.
CPR’s Bente Birkeland, The Colorado Sun’s Jesse Paul and The Denver Post’s Seth Klamann discuss what’s driving rising Medicaid costs for the state, where lawmakers are looking for savings and what this all means for Colorado residents. 
Catch up on the latest coverage:

The Colorado Sun: Colorado’s state budget shortfall grows to more than $1.5 billion, forcing legislature to make much deeper cuts

CPR News: Impact of state budget cuts gets real as lawmakers start trimming Medicaid programs

The Colorado Sun: Providing health care to immigrants who are children or pregnant is costing Colorado 611% more than expected

The Denver Post: As Medicaid costs rise, should Colorado charge fees on large employers that don’t insure all workers?

The Denver Post: Flawed analysis caused Colorado Medicaid program’s costs to surge and made it ‘attractive’ to fraud

CPR News: Medicaid recipients, advocates furious over state mistake that’s costing tens of millions of dollars

The Colorado Sun: Legislature mulls ballot measure that would ask voters to raise TABOR cap by billions primarily to fund Colorado’s schools

Purplish is produced by CPR News and the Capitol News Alliance, a collaboration between KUNC News, Colorado Public Radio, Rocky Mountain PBS, and The Colorado Sun, and shared with Rocky Mountain Community Radio and other news organizations across the state. Startup funding for the Alliance was provided, in part, by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Purplish’s producer is Stephanie Wolf. Sound design and engineering by Shane Rumsey. The theme music is by Brad Turner. Megan Verlee is the executive producer. Additional reporting for this episode from CPR’s John Daley and The Colorado Sun’s John Ingold and Erica Breunlin.

Colorado’s prisons have been filled nearly to capacity for months. And when the state has too many people in its prisons, difficult living conditions can quickly become intolerable. That’s got Colorado Department of Corrections officials, staff and some lawmakers worried. DOC says it needs more money to fund hundreds of additional beds for male inmates. But state lawmakers in both parties say DOC has failed to come up with a plan to address systemic issues.
CPR’s Bente Birkeland and KUNC’s Kyle McKinnon dig into how the state got to the point of such high occupancy in its prisons, the ripple effect of crowding in prisons and how conversations on solutions are playing out at the State Capitol. 
Catch up on our coverage:

KUNC News: Colorado’s prisons and jails are overflowing. What’s being done?

CPR News: State budget committee rejects request for more prison beds until DOC provides more complete plan

KUNC News: Colorado lawmakers reverse course, approve funding for new prison beds

Purplish is produced by CPR News and the Capitol News Alliance, a collaboration between KUNC News, Colorado Public Radio, Rocky Mountain PBS, and The Colorado Sun, and shared with Rocky Mountain Community Radio and other news organizations across the state. Startup funding for the Alliance was provided, in part, by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Purplish’s producer is Stephanie Wolf. Sound design and engineering by Shane Rumsey. The theme music is by Brad Turner. Megan Verlee is the executive producer.

Flock cameras, and other license plate reader systems, are installed all over Colorado. The technology gives law enforcement access to a new level of tracking, a reach they say has helped them solve all kinds of terrible crimes and made the state safer. But community fears that law enforcement could misuse the data and invade people’s privacy, and share it with federal immigration authorities, are mounting — and getting the attention of state lawmakers. 
CPR’s Bente Birkeland and Denverite’s Andrew Kenney dig into how this kind of surveillance tech has changed in recent years, the arguments for and against it and how some Colorado lawmakers hope to restrict how law enforcement can access this data. 
Catch up on our latest coverage:

New restrictions on police surveillance advance in state Senate

Denver fires Flock, prepares to switch to new roadway surveillance system

Officer faces discipline after using Flock cameras to falsely accuse Denver woman of package theft

Police used Flock cameras to accuse a Denver woman of package theft. She had her own evidence

Out-of-state cops had access to Denver license plate data for immigration cases for months

Denver is at the center of a viral national fight over surveillance

Purplish is produced by CPR News and the Capitol News Alliance, a collaboration between KUNC News, Colorado Public Radio, Rocky Mountain PBS, and The Colorado Sun, and shared with Rocky Mountain Community Radio and other news organizations across the state. Funding for the Alliance is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Purplish’s producer is Stephanie Wolf. Hazel Feldstein assistant produced this episode. Additional reporting from Denverite’s Kiara DeMare and Kyle Harris. Megan Verlee is the executive producer. Sound design and engineering by Shane Rumsey. The theme music is by Brad Turner.

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 lawmakers proposed a bold step to reduce the chemicals’ use in Colorado; they wanted farmers to get something like a prescription to be allowed to use neonic-treated seeds.
CPR’s Bente Birkeland and Rae Solomon discuss what those lawmakers tried to do, and why they faced such fierce opposition from the get go.
Read our coverage:

Farmers bristle as state lawmakers weigh the future of a ubiquitous pesticide

Democrats’ bill to control pesticides that threaten pollinators dies at statehouse

Purplish is produced by CPR News and the Capitol News Alliance, a collaboration between KUNC News, Colorado Public Radio, Rocky Mountain PBS, and The Colorado Sun, and shared with Rocky Mountain Community Radio and other news organizations across the state. Funding for the Alliance is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Purplish’s producer is Stephanie Wolf. Sound design and engineering by Shane Rumsey. The theme music is by Brad Turner. Megan Verlee is the executive producer.