New state law for winter driving means requirements for car rentals
A law put in place in Colorado earlier this year is about to get one of its first winter weather tests as a strong storm gears up to hit parts of the I-70 corridor hard.
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Alan Gionet loves living and working in Colorado. He has been in news for more than 30 years. "I find new things every day and truly love people, so this is a great job for me."
Alan started in a small market in Mississippi where he lugged the camera and the video recording deck around, shot, wrote and edited stories; then put together the newscast.
He also anchored and reported in Grand Rapids, Michigan where he exposed deplorable conditions in the state's foster care system resulting in more vigorous enforcement on behalf of children and reported on worker safety issues leading up to the largest workplace fine in state history.
Prior to his first stint at CBS Colorado in the early 1990s, Alan worked as an investigative reporter in Providence, Rhode Island, where he reported on the city's infamous, but charming mayor Buddy Cianci and exposed tax breaks for nonprofits.
While at CBS Colorado in the 1990s, Alan reported extensively on forest fires and was the first to report that the firefighters killed on Storm King Mountain did not get critical information about the changing weather conditions that put them in danger. He also showed how registered sex offenders were often not living where they showed their registered addresses.
In the late 1990s, Alan left to serve as main anchor in Jacksonville, Florida where he was later also named nightside managing editor. He logged many hours during hurricanes and the 2000 election controversy, when he first revealed voting irregularities in Duval County. His reporting on endangered North Atlantic right whales brought national focus to a little-known species, of which there are only a few hundred known left. His newscasts won a long list of awards including Emmys and Edward R. Murrow Awards and individually Alan has been lauded with Heartland Regional Emmy Awards covering the Denver area as top anchor and for his innovative Good Question reporting. He has won awards for everything from spot news to feature stories.
Alan returned to CBS Colorado in the 2000s and is glad to be back in Colorado with his wife and four grown daughters. His love of journalism is surpassed only by his love of fatherhood. He has covered all of Colorado's biggest stories over those years, like forest fires and environmental stories, mass killings and COVID. A student of science and politics, he loves to break down complicated concepts and ask questions that get to the core of the story. He reads extensively, plays blues harmonica and hockey and loves trail running. He has marked off quite a few of Colorado's 14ers.
"If you're a television journalist, CBS News Colorado is recognized as one of the greatest places to work the nation, because of the quality of reporting, the videography and the team atmosphere," Alan says. "I consider each new person and place in Colorado a privilege. I believe in listening, it's a skill my parents, who were both highly regarded public educators, taught me that I treasure."
Alan holds a degree from Boston's Emerson College where he studied broadcast journalism. He also studied at Harvard University Extension and the University of Massachusetts at Boston and Amherst.
Just The Facts
Dream job: That's why I returned to CBS Colorado. There's no place I'd rather be.
Favorite word: Understanding - intelligence is the ability to consider another's point of view.
Favorite noise: The sound of children laughing
Year hired: 1994 (first stint at CBS Colorado) and again in 2006
First TV appearance: Tupelo, Mississippi
First story: The death of an impoverished woman in Mississippi.
Most memorable interview: An African-American high school principal in Mississippi who said after a racial incident: "Show me a man who who has a problem with Black people and I'll show you a man with a problem with all people."
Dream interview: Meriwether Lewis
Star sign: Virgo
Why I am a journalist: I love the craft of storytelling. I enjoy writing television news and the access I get to people and places.
Hidden talent: With four kids, going anywhere takes an Eisenhower-like ability with logistics.
Hometown: Pittsfield, Mass.
Number of children: Four
Hobbies: Reading, running, hockey, biking, finding new places in Colorado
Favorite food: Burrito
Favorite musician: James Taylor
Number of siblings: Four
Number of pets: One dog
Favorite sports team: Avalanche, I'm an old hockey player.
Favorite author: Joseph Mitchell
Favorite vacation spot: Anything I haven't discovered in Colorado
What one word best describes CBS Colorado: Teamwork
Least favorite household chore: Cleaning up after the dog
Least favorite word: Hate - I hate it.
Least favorite noise: Loud motors in the mountains
Favorite music? Running tunes and the blues, JT - who lives in the Berkshires where I'm from
What keeps you in Colorado? The wide open spaces and open minds
What's the biggest risk you've taken? I've been in a couple of spots on 14ers I wish I'd avoided.
Who would play you in a movie? If I get to pick, let's make it Jason Bourne.
You can contact Alan by sending an email to yourreporter@cbs.com.
A law put in place in Colorado earlier this year is about to get one of its first winter weather tests as a strong storm gears up to hit parts of the I-70 corridor hard.
A tanker truck sped down the southbound off-ramp at Yale Avenue and crashed into an overpass abutment Thursday, killing the driver and spilling massive amounts of fuel.
The tanker began leaking a significant amount of fuel under the light rail bridge near I-25 and Yale Avenue around 1 p.m. Firefighters are working to dam the gutters and storm drains due to the quantity of the runoff.
Colorado firefighters say nine people were taken from a family home in Commerce City on Thanksgiving Eve after carbon monoxide levels inside reached a dangerously high concentration.
The Douglas County Sheriff's Office says it is taking steps to end a contract with the provider of an emergency notification system called CodeRed after trouble with the system, blamed by the company that runs it on a "targeted attack by an organized cybercriminal group."
The Colorado Department of Corrections told the family of Magnus White this week that the woman who killed their son could be transferred from state prison to community corrections, three months into a four-year sentence.
The Colorado State Patrol believes that trucking has the ability to get safer with the evolution of new technology, warning devices, and signage, but the runaway truck ramps are something that many drivers often overlook.
Federal Medicaid reductions planned by the Trump administration of about a trillion dollars over the next 10 years mean states are now faced with the harsh realities of whether to further supplement Medicaid programs or make reductions of their own. Gov. Jared Polis notes the bill is projected to grow next year by $630 million.
Thanksgiving weekend will bring one of the biggest events in college sports to Denver. Two storied hockey programs will match up at Ball Arena on Saturday, Nov. 29.
Federal law banning most hemp-based THC products leaves an uncertain future for Colorado's industry.
In Evergreen, free public parking spaces are now coveted and in short supply. Paid parking systems now dominate the downtown, and while validation is possible, locals have been grumbling over parking rates and stiff penalties for violations in privately owned lots.
A man of Laotian descent in Colorado remains at the ICE detention facility in the Denver metro area awaiting deportation that he's not fighting. In fact, he's asking for it.
Among the 600,000 Coloradans who receive SNAP benefits, about 50% are children. About 10% are seniors, and 15% are people with disabilities.
Starting this weekend, more than 600,000 Coloradans who depend on SNAP benefits may be forced to turn to food banks to stay full. If they don't have the money to shop at grocery stores, there could be a much bigger impact for everyone in Colorado.
The town lost somewhere between 60 and 70 jobs when the fire hit. There have been fundraisers, and another big event with music is planned for Saturday.