BIRD FLU – THE THREAT TO COMMERCIAL POULTRY
The threat of bird flu has been out of the headlines lately, but that doesn’t mean that it’s gone away. People who raise birds commercially are keeping a close eye on the latest information, and they’re worried. [LISTEN] [TRANSCRIPT]

COMMENTARY: LIBERATION FROM THE EVIL BEAN
In the world of journalism, there are many different points of view, slants and ideas about what is and isn’t news. But there’s one thing most of us can agree on, a special respect and reverence for coffee -it’ll see you through all those dull government meetings, get you to work in the morning and push you past any barrier between your smoldering wreck of a story and deadline. Commentator Barry Smith is trying to quit coffee, we think he’s insane. [LISTEN] [TRANSCRIPT]

SOME NATIVE CULTURES ALREADY ACCEPT SAME SEX UNIONS
Whether or not the war, immigration and health care bring people to the polls in November, there’s another issue that activists on both sides think will motivate people to vote – same sex unions. Colorado’s crowded ballot will feature two proposals, one that would enshrine the definition of marriage as being between one man and one woman in the state constitution, the other would legalize domestic partnerships.
But same sex unions haven’t always been a big deal in the west, at least not among some native American cultures, as Alise Widmer reports in this story from Phoenix, filed as part of NPR’s “Next Generation Radio” project.
[LISTEN] [TRANSCRIPT]

VOTERS IN CONGRESS’ “MOST COMPETITIVE” DISTIRCT SPEAK
Analysts say Colorado’s 7th Congressional District race will be one of the closest most expensive house races in the nation this November. Both parties are vying for the seat and the candidates, Republican Rick O’Donnel and Democrat Ed Perlmutter, are gearing up for a tough battle. Our Denver reporter Bente (BEN tuh) Birkeland decided to check out the district and talk to the people who live there about their neighborhoods and the issues they care about. [LISTEN] [TRANSCRIPT]

DARK CLOUDS OVER COLORADO SPRINGS’ STORMWATER RUNOFF FEE
On Tuesday Colorado Springs’ city council is set to vote on whether to charge property owners a “storm water enterprise fee.” The idea is to raise money to repair what the city says is a backlog of urban drainage projects. In the last couple of years, the Springs has come under fire from Pueblo for failures of its drainage system, which have washed out sewer lines and sent raw sewage down Fountain Creek, but the new fee is being greeted with skepticism, mistrust and anger in Colorado Springs. [LISTEN] [TRANSCRIPT]

COMMENTARY: CAMPING AND THE ART OF COMPROMISE
What happens when a man who loves to camp marries a woman who prefers opera and urban boulevards? Commentator Leslie Petrovski says, they learn to compromise. [LISTEN] [TRANSCRIPT]

SPREADING THE WORD ABOUT FIRE DANGER IN BLACK FOREST
Last weekend Black Forest held its annual festival. This year, the showcase was the fire department’s two new trucks and helicopter landing pad. Fire protection is a big deal in the bedroom community just north of Colorado Springs, where most of the three thousand homes are tucked away in thick woods. Reaching out to the community is a major project for this fire department.
KRCC’s Charlotte Perea visited Black Forest and has this report.
[LISTEN] [TRANSCRIPT]

PLATTE RIVER ENDANGERED SPECIES PLAN IN JEOPARDY
Few issues in the west are more contentious than water, and the endangered species act. This spring, a three-state agreement to share water and protect species was announced with great fanfare. But Bente Birkeland reports that the compromise – more than a decade in the making, is in jeopardy. [LISTEN] [TRANSCRIPT]

GEURILLA BOOK CLUB MARKETING
Boulder Author John Shores made a painful discovery after the publication of his first book, “Beneath a Marble Sky.” Just because you get published, doesn’t mean your book is going to sell, or even that your publisher will spend much money marketing it. So the 37 year old is taking things into his own hands, reaching out to the hundreds of informal book clubs that have sprung up across the country. Almost by accident, he’s writing a new chapter in book marketing. [LISTEN] [TRANSCRIPT]

REMEMBERING SGT. JAMES P. MULDOON
Just a month before he was to come home on leave, Ft. Carson soldier Sgt. James P. Muldoon was killed in action in Iraq. We take you to his memorial service, where his commander talks about Muldoon’s selfless service. [LISTEN] [TRANSCRIPT]