Inside CIO This Week

A new take on COLORADO INSIDE OUT, beyond the studio. Read the latest highlights, insights, analysis, and panelist exchanges from PBS12’s flagship public affairs program.

Colorado’s Budget Crisis, Denver Job Cuts, Immigration Standoff & Mail-In Ballot Debate

By Kyle Dyer on August 22, 2025

The Colorado State Fair is open for business… but so is the State Capitol because lawmakers are having to sweat it out (literally, there’s no AC in the capitol building) as they come up with a leaner budget. There are a lot of budgetary issues facing many Coloradans. There’s the state budget, and some programs we’re used to will be cut, and then in Denver, 169 people were laid off. These two budgetary issues are where we start this week’s Colorado Inside Out.

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Wildfires, Budget Cuts, ICE Facility Plans, and School Changes in Colorado

By Kyle Dyer on August 15, 2025

We’re looking into some unknowns next week here in Colorado. What will become of Colorado’s 5th largest wildfire of all time? Will firefighters still be facing near-impossible conditions in their attempts to gain control? How effective will the special legislative session be in terms of finding ways to get our state budget under control? And what will Monday be like for Denver city workers who will find out if they will keep their jobs, or have to leave that day as part of the city’s plan to deal with a $250 million shortfall.
We don’t have a crystal ball to look, but we do have the sharp insight of our Insiders. Here’s some of our conversation from this week’s Colorado Inside Out.

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Wildfires, Budget Gap, Denver Projects, and SNAP Soda Ban in Colorado

By Kyle Dyer on August 8, 2025

It’s been an eerily hazy week across Colorado as wildfires burn on the Western Slope and smoke lingers statewide. The picture is just as unclear for state finances, with a special legislative session set for August 21 to address a major budget gap. On this week’s Colorado Inside Out, our panel digs into the wildfire crisis, the $1B budget shortfall, Denver’s largest set of city projects headed to voters in November, and Governor Polis’ newly approved plan to block SNAP purchases of sugary drinks.

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August 1, 2025

By Kyle Dyer on August 1, 2025

Happy Colorado Day! On August 1st, 1876, Colorado became the 38th state in the United States. So, we are one year shy of “the big one”—our 150th birthday in 2026. Here’s a time-capsule-esque conversation about where Colorado stands in its 149th year… and a look forward at all that Colorado is focusing on to strengthen our communities so that they’re places more people can afford to live, raise families, build businesses, and feel connected to one another.

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July 25, 2025

By Kyle Dyer on July 25, 2025

Summer 2025 could be nicknamed the Summer of Spin — starting with the spinning of new stories in Washington. But this week, there was also spinning from the Governor’s office with Jared Polis’ interesting reaction to the failure of his proposed pedestrian bridge in an online poll. There was more “spin” regarding the State of the City — I’m referring to Denver, and the accomplishments and goals presented by the Mayor this week. Our Insiders had a lot to address for this, our last show of July 2025. (Can you believe we’re almost in August?)

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July 18, 2025

By Kyle Dyer on July 18, 2025

The skies over Colorado have been smoky all week because of five active wildfires burning along the Western Slope. Hazy is also an appropriate word to describe the future financial situation within Colorado amidst pending tariffs with our state’s two biggest trading partners. There is continued talk about the challenges mounting for the state’s budget and for all of us who live and work here in Colorado. Our Insiders might not be top economists but they’re able to decipher what’s at stake… but first we addressed some findings in some recent polls.

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July 11, 2025

By Kyle Dyer on July 11, 2025

As we all watch with heartbreak what Texas is dealing with after the deadly Fourth of July flood, we realize that flooding is a real threat in Colorado. Yes, we’re hot and dry now, but monsoon season is right around the corner. I asked the Insider panel to weigh in on our past floods, the state of warning systems, and more. We also had to confront a new reality before state lawmakers: rewriting Colorado’s budget because of changes in the federal budget. That’s where we start this week.

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July 4, 2025

By Kyle Dyer on July 4, 2025

Since our weekly show falls on the 4th of July this year, I put our Insider panel to the task of talking about ideals of independence. Next year will be our country’s 250th birthday… so, what does independence look like compared to what our Founding Fathers longed for when adopting the Declaration of Independence in 1776? This topic is a great launching pad for this week’s show…

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June 27, 2025

By Kyle Dyer on June 27, 2025

Colorado Inside Out is recorded every Thursday afternoon ahead of its release online and the Friday night airing on PBS12. Sometimes, big news breaks after our show is “put to bed” that we wish we could’ve reacted to, and that happened this week with the U.S. Supreme Court issuing a slew of rulings to close out its session.

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June 20, 2025

By Kyle Dyer on June 20, 2025

This first weekend of summer not only brings record high temperatures to most of the country, including here in Colorado, but the political and social pressures are also reaching a boiling point. As Axios Denver reporter Alayna Alvarez shares at the table this week: “It will be really hard to watch if things keep escalating on both sides as they are right now.” Thankfully, Alayna and the rest of the Insiders are coolheaded thinkers who bring some needed context to all that Colorado is juggling.

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