Joshua Vorse

5 days ago | rmpbs.org | Cormac McCrimmon |Joshua Vorse |Alec Berg

BYERS, Colo. — Mason Reine worked a gob of rosin into his riding rope. Friction warms the rosin, giving it a molasses-like consistency that helps him hold on. Reine, 18, began riding bulls five years ago. He is one of 9 bull riders competing through the Colorado High School Rodeo Association. “My mom’s still a little terrified,” said Reine, whose injury history includes numerous concussions, cracked ribs, broken fingers, a cracked vertebrae, dislocated shoulder and a  broken shoulder blade.

6 days ago | rmpbs.org | Joshua Vorse |Alec Berg |Cormac McCrimmon

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — At a quiet city council meeting in April, council members voted unanimously to spend $400,000 on a mile-long dirt patch along the side of Patterson Road. The city bought the right to use the land from the Grand Valley Irrigation Company, and is currently designing a 10-foot-wide path that will be installed next spring. That south side of Patterson currently has no sidewalk, though footprints, tire tracks and trash cover the dirt for a mile between 24 ½ Road and 25 ½ Road.

1 week ago | rmpbs.org | Cormac McCrimmon |Joshua Vorse |Alec Berg |Kyle Cooke

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. — Elisa Dahlberg sliced through packing tape and flung open a box the size of an Eastern Lowland Gorilla. Inside lay dozens of purses made from caiman, stingray and other protected species, each containing a tag and evidence sticker. Special agents seized the handbags from a South American smuggling operation, said Dahlberg, the lead biologist and collections manager at the National Wildlife Property Repository, located on the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge.

1 week ago | rmpbs.org | Joshua Vorse |Alec Berg |Chase McCleary

The threat to public media has grown. Act now with a donation to sustain our work!GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — Western peppergrass, green Mormon tea and claret cup cactus are some of the 3,300 species of plants that you can find on Colorado’s Western Slope. As temperatures warm in the approach to summer, native plants are emerging and blooming in places like Colorado National Monument, and Rocky Mountain PBS has the photos to prove it.

1 week ago | rmpbs.org | Alec Berg |Ziyi Xu |Joshua Vorse

DENVER — Each June, an estimated 500,000-plus people gather in Denver’s Civic Center Park for PrideFest, a two-day celebration featuring LGBTQ+ performers, community organization and a sea of rainbow-themed merchandise. Another notable presence at the celebration is massive corporations like Southwest Airlines, Wells Fargo and Verizon, who cover their displays in rainbow colors and hand out free swag during the parade and festival.