What’s in a name? For Windsor High School, quite the story. In 1924, the school’s boys basketball team did the unimaginable when it won the National Interscholastic Basketball Championship in Chicago. Team members came home heroes, with their whirlwind year leading to a mascot name switch that’s stuck around in the century since. Here’s the story b…

For 135 years, the murder of Eva Howe and lynching of her husband, James, has captivated Fort Collins. But this story isn't about James or Eva. It's about their daughter, Gertrude — the little girl who became an orphan and footnote in one of Fort Collins' most infamous crimes overnight. Whatever happened to her? Nobody seems to know. Let's change t…

On a blustery March day in 1873, a wagon loaded with a hand-run printing press pulled into Fort Collins. The next month the first edition of the city's first newspaper would roll off it, setting into motion a century and a half of advancements, change and - most importantly - local journalism.By Fort Collins Coloradoan

As the sale of his final slice of Timnath farmland neared, Swetsville Zoo founder Bill Swets traced its 80-year history in his family and the tragedy from which his wacky sculpture park bloomed.By Fort Collins Coloradoan

In the early morning hours of June 30, 1951, a four-engine luxury airliner flew off course and slammed into Crystal Mountain, killing all 50 people on board. To this day, more than 70 years later, it remains the deadliest commercial airline disaster in Colorado history. On a rocky mountain slope west of Fort Collins, signs of its devastation still …

In the summer of 1862, U.S. soldiers trekked along the Cache la Poudre River to find a home for a new military outpost called Camp Collins. But they were not the first people to live in Northern Colorado - not even close. In this episode, host Erin Udell dives back thousands of years to learn about the Native American history of the area.…

A hat box of Mattie Lyle's old photographs sat in a garage for years. It wasn't until 2020 that they got their day in the sun - showcasing the little-told stories of Black life in early Fort Collins.By Fort Collins Coloradoan

From its earliest streams of colorful electric lights to the thousands of LED-lit strings that now adorn Old Town Fort Collins' streets each winter, learn about the evolution of Fort Collins' sweet holiday lights tradition.By Fort Collins Coloradoan

On Aug. 24, 1996, the bodies of two unidentified newborn girls were pulled from a river and reservoir about 180 miles apart in Colorado. While not related by blood, their homicide cases remained oddly in step with each other, all the way to the end when genetic genealogy helped close their homicide cases within just months, 23 years later. This is …

In the span of three months in fall 1924, Nellie Tayloe Ross became a widow, single mother and the first woman elected governor in the United States. But her journey to the Wyoming governor's office and, later, Washington D.C. started well before the 1920s.By Fort Collins Coloradoan

He was a father, a farmer, a family man and natural handyman. When he wasn't trimming trees or slinging cement bags in faded overalls, he was decked in a suit and tie - off to another committee meeting or voter registration drive. You've heard his name. You've probably even been to his beloved Fort Collins park. But do you know about the legacy of …

In the fall of 1918, a mysterious and deadly flu arrived in Fort Collins. The small college town battled the virus with makeshift hospitals, school and business closures and social distancing. But the flu still targeted its young students and soldiers. More than a century later, here's what Colorado learned from the Spanish flu.…

For more than 40 years - until 1999 - Poudre Canyon mountain woman Polly Brinkhoff lived without running water, electricity or plumbing. She had a pet mountain lion, kept her food in a cave and once nearly sliced her bunion off with a chainsaw. More than 20 years after her death, Polly's grandson recalls what exactly made her the last of a dying br…

In this special, three-part podcast, Way it Was host Erin Udell digs into Ted Bundy's notorious 1970s killing spree. An estimated 30 women and girls were abducted and murdered by Bundy across four years and six states. But could it have stopped cold in Colorado? Find "Hunted" on Apple Podcasts or Soundcloud.…

Could Ted Bundy's 1970s killing spree have been stopped? In this special, three-part podcast series produced by the Fort Collins Coloradoan, we delve into Bundy's crimes, victims and multiple escapes from Colorado law enforcement.By Fort Collins Coloradoan

After escaping Colorado authorities a second time, Ted Bundy goes on to commit his most savage string of attacks yet.By Fort Collins Coloradoan

After a happenstance traffic stop outside Salt Lake City, Ted Bundy's time as a nameless, faceless phantom comes to an end. Officially known to authorities, Bundy finally faces a few of his crimes. But he has not intention of staying put.By Fort Collins Coloradoan

In 1974 and 1975, the disappearances start - from sorority rows and ski lodges to bars and beaches. Women vanish with hardly a trace and authorities scramble for leads. Soon, they'd have a name: Ted.By Fort Collins Coloradoan

In December 1955, the menacing red phone on Air Force Col. Harry Shoup’s desk rang. But it wasn’t the Pentagon – no four-star general either. It was a tiny voice asking for Santa Claus. What happened next would kick off one of Colorado’s most-beloved Christmas traditions.By Fort Collins Coloradoan

Adrian Collins: Embracing the odd by ColoradoanBy Coloradoan

Ali Owens: It's a Christmas miracle by ColoradoanBy Coloradoan

Heather Reid: Engineering the perfect Christmas by ColoradoanBy Coloradoan

Leah Barrett: Heart, humility and hope by ColoradoanBy Coloradoan

Resa Mai: Christmas looking up by ColoradoanBy Coloradoan

Tim Dolan: A tale of two school dances by ColoradoanBy Coloradoan

Whitney Trotta: The final Christmas card by ColoradoanBy Coloradoan

On a moonlit night in late September 1945, Nazi prisoner of war Georg Gaertner slipped out of his New Mexico prison camp and into American life. As the years ticked by, he would become the last fugitive German POW hunted by U.S. authorities. Or, as he'd put it in his memoir more four decades later, "Hitler's last soldier in America."…

Warning: This audio contains graphic language. Hear a letter from Aaron McKinney to Russel Henderson while the two awaited trial in 1998 for Matthew Shepard's murderBy Coloradoan

In October 1998, the hate crime murder of a gay Wyoming student shook the world. After 20 years, we revisit the life and tragic death of Matthew Shepard.By Fort Collins Coloradoan

When you hear Sonny Lubick's name, you think Colorado State University football. So more than ten years after the longtime coach's tenure ended, Coloradoan reporter Jacob Laxen sits down with Lubick for a behind-the-scenes chat on football, life and becoming a local legend.By Fort Collins Coloradoan

Parenthood is a messy roller coaster of love, rebellion and reward. It’s full of highs and lows, good days, rough days and days that seem like they will never end.By Coloradoan

On August 15, 1933, a 22-year-old graduate student went for a hike in Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park. He was never seen again. More than eight decades later, the disappearance nags at Joe's nephew, who's still trying to figure out if Joe's remains rest somewhere in Rocky or if the family rumors are true...…

Parenthood is a messy roller coaster of love, rebellion and reward. It’s full of highs and lows, good days, rough days and days that seem like they will never end.By Coloradoan

Parenthood is a messy roller coaster of love, rebellion and reward. It’s full of highs and lows, good days, rough days and days that seem like they will never end.By Coloradoan

Parenthood is a messy roller coaster of love, rebellion and reward. It’s full of highs and lows, good days, rough days and days that seem like they will never end.By Coloradoan

Parenthood is a messy roller coaster of love, rebellion and reward. It’s full of highs and lows, good days, rough days and days that seem like they will never end.By Coloradoan

Parenthood is a messy roller coaster of love, rebellion and reward. It’s full of highs and lows, good days, rough days and days that seem like they will never end.By Coloradoan

Parenthood is a messy roller coaster of love, rebellion and reward. It’s full of highs and lows, good days, rough days and days that seem like they will never end.By Coloradoan

Parenthood is a messy roller coaster of love, rebellion and reward. It’s full of highs and lows, good days, rough days and days that seem like they will never end.By Coloradoan

As the nations demands for sugar beets grew, so did the need for more labor in Northern Colorado's vast beet fields. But what did that mean for the children of the poor, hardworking, migrant families willing to take on the backbreaking work? Life was far from sweet.By Fort Collins Coloradoan

As drive-in movie theaters shuttered across the country, one held fast in a desolate field on the edge of Fort Collins, Colorado. And it's all thanks to a plane and a movie about them.By Fort Collins Coloradoan

Malini Bartels: When seeds pop open by ColoradoanBy Coloradoan

Coloradoan reporter Jake Laxen sits down with Odell Brewing founders Doug, Wynne and Corkie Odell for this special guest episode about the history of one of Fort Collins' first breweries.By Fort Collins Coloradoan

Almost eight months after sisters Rosemary and Julia Mata are killed on a remote Colorado road, an arrest is made in the case. Years later, there's a conviction. So why do some still see the case as unresolved?By Fort Collins Coloradoan

On April 29, 1978, hunters driving along a rural Colorado canyon road came across the bodies of two young women. Forty years later, we revisit the case, known its twists, turns and - to this day - questions.By Fort Collins Coloradoan

In 1934, a group of railroad workers found a pregnant border collie mix shivering outside a blacksmith shop. More than 80 years later, her legacy remains as an entire town's adopted pet.By Fort Collins Coloradoan

Hearts are strewn from its light poles, businesses build their brands around its "sweet" nickname and, every February, valentines pour into the city from all around the world. So what, or who, made Loveland, Colorado the nation's "Sweetheart City"?By Fort Collins Coloradoan

"In the Know" will be taking a hiatus to seek feedback and see what our podcast listeners are looking for.By In the Know

The week's top stories as well as reporter Cassa Niedringhaus discussing how Fort Collins police are investigating the death of Kimberlee Graves.By In the Know

Gary Hinman wasn't a celebrity. He wasn't a young Hollywood type. He was a boy from Fort Collins. And, in the summer of 1969, he became the Manson family's first victim.By Fort Collins Coloradoan