Bente Birkeland
Bente Birkeland has been reporting on state legislative issues for KUNC and Rocky Mountain Community Radio since 2006. Originally, from Minnesota, Bente likes to hike and ski in her spare time. She keeps track of state politics throughout the year but is especially busy during the annual legislative session from January through early May.
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For a lot of farmers in Colorado, and across the country, insecticides known as neonicotinoids, or neonics, have been a game changer. But what’s been a breakthrough for some has been a nightmare for others. Neonics are being blamed for die-offs in domestic bees and native pollinators, and there’s growing concern over their potential impacts on human health as well. This year, some Democratic lawmakers proposed a bold step to reduce the chemicals’ use in Colorado; they wanted farmers to get something like a prescription to be allowed to use neonic-treated seeds.CPR’s Bente Birkeland and Rae Solomon discuss what those lawmakers tried to do, and why they faced such fierce opposition from the get go. -
Colorado is experiencing more, and worse, climate disasters, wrecking havoc on people’s homes — and their homeowner’s insurance rates. Coloradans face rising premiums, less choice and availability, and in some cases, getting dropped by insurers altogether. Today on Purplish, CPR’s Bente Birkeland and Rocky Mountain PBS’ Andrea Kramar look at what’s happening with the home insurance market in Colorado.
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The senator was killed in an I-25 traffic crash last week -
Welcome to Municipal Matters on KDNK, your public affairs show to get in the know about what’s going on in your town, county, and across the state. Today we have an episode of Purplish from CPR News and the Colorado Capitol News Alliance on election results and the 2026 midterms which will decide control of Congress and the next leader of our state.
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Dominion Voting Systems is at the heart of countless 2020 election conspiracy theories. The company has now been sold, and its new owner has shared contrasting messaging about how much will change. -
Dominion Voting Systems is at the heart of countless 2020 election conspiracy theories. The company has now been sold, and its new owner has shared contrasting messaging about how much will change.
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Even many voters who support the president questioned the lengths his administration is going to to remove people from the country.
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A man who once ran for county sheriff in Colorado was arrested for allegedly throwing a Molotov cocktail into a county clerk's office, appearing to target the county's voting machines.
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Rocky Mountain Community Radio recaps this year's biggest developments in the Colorado legislature from firearms, changes to rideshare companies for rider safety, and concerns surrounding immigration enforcement between local and federal bodies. -
We hear from Trump voters in Wisconsin, Missouri, and Colorado about what they think of the policies in the first 100 days of the Trump Presidency.
