KUNC-FM: Kirk Siegler

New drilling technologies and rising fuel prices have generated a boom in U.S. oil and gas drilling. It is also creating many high-paying jobs for young people. The average starting salary for petroleum engineering grads is nearly $79,000.

The Denver police are asking taxi drivers to help them catch criminals with a new bulletin alert system. In the months since the Taxis on Patrol program started, cabbies have helped police arrest hundreds of criminals, from carjackers to drunken drivers.

Colorado holds its Republican caucuses on Tuesday. Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul have focused their attention there recently. The state will also be a key battleground in the general election contest. From Denver, Kirk Siegler of member station KUNC reports.

The National Western Stock Show going on this month in the Mile High City is now in its 106th year. The show is considered the marquee event for all things livestock. But every year, thousands of people flock to an old coliseum on the outskirts of town to see a lot more than just cows.

Though Colorado is often held up as the model of a healthy lifestyle, the state isn't immune to the obesity crisis. One in four children is either overweight or obese. "This is a major problem," says one state health official. "We are far from setting the model of where we want to be."

Sales of craft beer have risen 15 percent this year, while sales of mass-produced beers have dipped. Innovation within the industry is exciting for aficionados — many of whom will attend this weekend's Great American Beer Festival, considered the premier venue for new breweries to get noticed.