With 2026 just around the corner, you may feel ready to leave 2025 behind and head into January with new goals and fresh perspectives. But before we ring in the new year, let’s remember the stories that brought us joy, curiosity, knowledge and compassion.
From finding the physical center of the 719 area code to witnessing the circle of life for rainbow trout at an elementary school, here are some KRCC’s favorite stories brought to you from staff and contributors.
Earlier this year, HBO Max released a new show called “Back to the Frontier." Its premise was to get three families to experience life as 1880s homesteaders, foregoing present-day comforts. It made us curious about frontierspeople in the Rocky Mountain region during that time. We got to digging and found historical newspapers detailing life in the West, including warnings of fake diamonds for sale and tips on things like removing grease stains from clothing.
Ute Pass Elementary School started a rainbow trout circle of life at Fountain Creek in Fields park.
Each year, 6th graders at Ute Pass Elementary grow trout to release back into the wild. It's an experience that teaches the kids about lifecycles, environment, and responsibility. It culminates in an exciting day where the entire school gathers to watch the trout release.
We took a trip to Avondale to see what life is like around the center of the 719 Area Code Universe.
Much like KRCC’s coverage area, the 719 area code stretches across the entire southeastern part of Colorado. The rural community of Avondale, about 20 minutes east of Pueblo, is pretty darn close to the center of that big area. That’s according to the Governor’s Office of Information and Technology in Colorado.
“Ancient volcano guts that got heated and munched over billions of years.” That’s how a U.S. Geological Survey geophysicist describes the geology of the Wet Mountains, along with other nearby parts of southeastern Colorado. She’s working on the USGS’s Earth MRI project, a program aimed at mapping the planet’s surface and subterranean landscape. Some of that information is collected from a helicopter flying low measuring the magnetic and radioactive properties of the land.
Granted, a story about a 25 year-old alien-focused tourist attraction is about as far from “hard news” as you can get. Still, it’s often the people we meet along the way that make a piece so memorable. Such was the case with Judy Messoline, the hard as nails and funny as hell proprietor of the San Luis Valley’s UFO Watchtower. When times were tough for her family’s ranching operation in the year 2000, she decided to take an idea that started as a joke and run with it. It became her family’s primary source of income and, eventually, made her a believer in the paranormal.
Ceremonial sunrise blessing atop Pikes Peak to celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day, unveil plaques
It's so important to recognize and acknowledge all who call this place home. To make this trip to the top of the mountain before sunrise takes a certain amount of dedication and, in this case, a sense of responsibility.
Editor Andrea Chalfin said she loved everything about this project: From reading the book to meeting the author on the banks of the Fountain, to all the conversation that made it to air and the stuff that got cut. Fountain Creek ties Colorado Springs and Pueblo together in ways that are not always wonderful. Exploring our relationships to the creek and each other is always an enriching experience.
