In 1970, Journalist Hunter S. Thompson ran for Pitkin County Sheriff. The “Freak” movement he spurred through the hippies who organized around his platform eventually changed policing in Aspen and Pitkin County. “Freak Power” is a new book documenting the campaign by Author DJ Watkins. KDNK's January Jones sat down with former Sheriff Bob Braudis and DJ Watkins to learn about Freak Power and how it applies 45 years later.
On August 12, 2015 KDNK presented local non-profits during a live broadcast with the “Valley-Wide Elevator Ride." In just one hour, nine passionate non-profit leaders gave their “elevator speech” to listeners. This is one of the first events of the KDNK Summer Membership Drive. In our regular programming and during membership drive, KDNK seeks to fulfill our commitment to public access by inviting the broader service community onto our airwaves.
WFHB Assistant News Director January Jones presents an hour-long journey with people on the front lines fighting for everyone’s right to shelter and compassion. In this year's edition of our annual documentary, we follow local social worker Bill Ferry, a case manager for Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness (PATH).
The Carbondale and Rural Fire District is considering asking the public for a tax levy, They are meeting Wednesday night at 5:30 to discuss it. KDNK's January Jones spoke with Carbondale and Rural Fire District Board Member Carl Smith about the district and the prospects for a tax levy.
Connecting the Drops is a radio series about Colorado water issues with the Colorado Foundation for Water Education and Rocky Mountain Community Radio stations. Coming up, is the 4th statewide call-in show that aired live on Sunday, June 14, 2015. This episode focuses on what individuals and do to conserve water with hosts Maeve Conran from KGNU and January Jones from KDNK.
The Garfield County Commissioners formalized their support for the concept of a lease swap that would spare Thompson Divide from drilling. At their meeting on Monday, they approved a letter for US Senators Michael Bennet, Cory Gardner and Congressman Scott Tipton. KDNK's January Jones has more.
Driving the I-70 Mountain Corridor in the winter is unpredictable. Big storms can come on fast and weather-related accidents frequently close the road. But the great irony of I-70 is that when the roads are the worst is when the ski conditions are the best. This puts more recreational drivers on I-70 and not all of them are prepared. The Colorado Department of Transportation says delays from accidents caused by non-commercial vehicles has gone up significantly over the last few years.
Colorado lawmakers are seeking to address this problem through the I-70 Traction Law. The law clarifies requirements for traction for passenger vehicles. Sponsored by Diane Mitch-Busch of Steamboat Springs and Bob Rank from Carbondale, House Bill 1127 has already made it through it’s first hurdle and passed out of the Colorado House of Representatives.
This new bill seeks to mimic the decrease in semi-truck accidents that the Commercial Vehicle Chain law has had since going into effect in 2009. Mitch-Busch has provided statistics from CDOT for the number of hours I-70 is closed due to accidents. The winter of 2010/11, saw 109 hours of closure from commercial vehicle accidents. But after five years of the commercial vehicle chain law, closures dropped to just 43 hours for the winter of 2013/14.
Representative Rankin says the Passenger Vehicle Traction bill is about getting CDOT to educate the public to prepare. It tasks the department of transportation to erect signs at appropriate places, notifying the public of the traction requirement for passenger vehicles.
As of March 8th, CDOT estimates 112 hours of unplanned closures this winter, just in the stretch of I-70 from from Denver’s C-470 to Vail. That same section of road had 364 weather related crashes last winter.
