TROOPS HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS, PART 2
FAIRBANKS, ALASKA

In August members of the 172nd Stryker Brigade based in Fairbanks were preparing to come home. Then they got word their tour was being extended. This weekend, they finally started coming home. We talk with reporter Libby Casey of KUAC in Fairbanks about the mood in town. [LISTEN] [TRANSCRIPT]

AMORY LOVINS STEPS DOWN AS HEAD OF ROCKY MOUNTAIN INSTITUTE
He’s the diminutive, bespectacaled guru of energy efficiency, the man whose ideas about a “smart path” for how Americans use electricity have transformed utilities and power companies nationwide, and he lives in Aspen. His name is Amory Lovins. 24 years ago he founded the Rocky Mountain Institute, where scientists work on finding environmentally sustainable ways to create wealth, jobs and security. Lovins regularly writes studies for the Pentagon, and is embraced by greens and big business both, for his ability to propose solutions to expensive environmental problems.
And now he’s stepping down from leadership of the Rocky Mountain Institute, in part to work for Wal-Mart. Amory Lovins recently spoke with Aspen Public Radio’s Kirk Siegler.
[LISTEN] [TRANSCRIPT]

TROOPS HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS, PART 2
FAIRBANKS, ALASKA

In August members of the 172nd Stryker Brigade based in Fairbanks were preparing to come home. Then they got word their tour was being extended. This weekend, they finally started coming home. We talk with reporter Libby Casey of KUAC in Fairbanks about the mood in town. [LISTEN] [TRANSCRIPT]

TROOPS HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS, PART 1
FT. CARSON, COLORADO

The last 35 members of Ft. Carson’s 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team returned from a year in Iraq last Wednesday, one day before Thanksgiving. [LISTEN] [TRANSCRIPT]

D-11 RECALL CONFUSION
Organizers of the recall election for two members of Colorado Springs School District 11 say voters may be confused over Eric Christen’s latest promise to resign. [LISTEN] [TRANSCRIPT]

GUARDS SAY SUPERMAX IS DANGEROUSLY UNDERSTAFFED
The Federal Bureau of Prisons has failed to improve security at Supermax after a judge ordered them to do so. That’s the contention of a prison workers union. Since the ruling, staffing shortages at the federal prison in Florence have garnered national and international attention. The Federal Bureau of Prisons is facing pressure from both of Colorado’s senators and the U.S. Attorney General who is planning to visit Colorado to tour the site. From Denver Bente Birkeland reports. [LISTEN] [TRANSCRIPT]

SW COLORADO FIGHTS NEW MEXICO COAL PLANT
Concern that a proposed new coal fired power plant just over the state line in New Mexico will diminish air quality in southwestern Colorado has locals protesting. And, as Victor Locke of Four Corners Public Radio reports, the power plant’s developers are asking for public help in financing the project. [LISTEN] [TRANSCRIPT]

U.S. FIREFIGHTER COMBAT CHALLENGE CHAMPION: COLORADO SPRINGS’ JULIET DRAPER
Weekend before last firefighters from across the country met in Las Vegas to compete in a sort of firefighter pentathlon. It’s called the Firefighter Combat Challenge, and the winner is Colorado Springs’ own Juliet Draper. Draper also owns the current world record in the sport, she’s the only person, male or female, to have ever completed the challenge in under two minutes. Adam Burke has this profile. [LISTEN] [TRANSCRIPT]

GOOD NEWS FOR COLORADO NATIVE FISH
In 1993 another Colorado native fish was named to the state’s endangered species list: The Rio Grande Sucker. Found nowhere else in the world outside the Rio Grande river drainage in Colorado and New Mexico, these little fish have been the focus of Colorado Division of Wildlife biologists, who’ve been working to preserve and grow the number of remaining suckers. Their efforts got an unexpected boost last fall, when a new population of Rio Grande Suckers was discovered in Crestone Creek, in the San Luis Valley. Shanna Lewis reports.

[LISTEN] [TRANSCRIPT]

MEXICAN CONSULATE OFFERS AID IN RESPONSE TO COLORADO’S NEW IMMIGRATION LAWS
The immigration law passed by the Colorado legislature in its special session last summer says that illegal immigrants can’t receive state-funded medical services, except in emergencies. And confusion and fear of the new law is keeping some immigrants from getting services they’re entitled to, like vaccinations. The Mexican consulate in Denver has launched an initiative to help Mexican nationals get basic health care, and will soon fan out across the state to spread the word. Aspen Public Radio’s Cynthia Grajeda reports. [LISTEN] [TRANSCRIPT]