Colorado Edition: Resilience at Ukrainian church service; Colorado's move to offer public option insurance; history of Black cowboys – KUNC

Colorado is showing support for the people of Ukraine. The state Capitol will be lit in blue and yellow this week, the colors of the Ukrainian flag, and Gov. Jared Polis recently wrote a letter to the U.S. State Department to inform them that Colorado is ready to welcome refugees. The local Ukrainian community is also standing in solidarity with their families and friends back home. Colorado Edition’s Erin O’Toole and Tess Novotny visited a church in northwest Denver yesterday to hear from some of the people there.

In the ongoing quest to lower the cost of health care, and make health insurance more affordable, some advocates are pushing for what’s known as the ‘public option’ — a plan that’s designed by the government and made available alongside private healthcare plans. A handful of states including Colorado are working to create their own public option plans in the coming months. They may look for guidance from the state of Washington, which rolled out its own public option in 2020. Markian Hawryluk, senior Colorado correspondent for Kaiser Health News, joins us to talk about his reporting on Washington’s experience, and lessons from their rollout that other states can draw from.

Cowboys played a crucial role in settling the West and establishing Western American culture. But you might not know that as many as one in three cowboys was Black. Back in February of last year, Colorado Edition’s Tess Novotny wanted to know more about the history of Black cowboys in Colorado. We listen back to her conversation with Eliese Clark, a historian who volunteers at the Black American West Museum in Denver.

Colorado Edition is hosted by Erin O’Toole (@ErinOtoole1) and edited by Henry Zimmerman (@kombuchacowboy). Our production team includes Tess Novotny (@tess_novotny). Web was edited by digital operations manager Ashley Jefcoat.

The mission of Colorado Edition is to deepen understanding of life in Northern Colorado through authentic conversation and storytelling. It’s available as a podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.

You can hear the show on KUNC, Monday through Friday at 2:30 and at 6:30 p.m.
 
Colorado Edition is made possible with support from our KUNC members. Thank you!

Our theme music was composed by Colorado musicians Briana Harris and Johnny Burroughs. Other music in the show by Blue Dot Sessions.