
Denver to look at nuclear option for power at Denver International Airport
Denver is planning to look at the feasibility of nuclear power generation for Denver International Airport.
Watch CBS News
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.
Denver is planning to look at the feasibility of nuclear power generation for Denver International Airport.
The last call was another serious one. There was a rockfall and a climber caught up in it, who had tumbled down part of the face of 14,041-foot Little Bear Peak southeast of the Great Sand Dunes National Park.
A six-person jury in Douglas County on Thursday found a Jefferson County Sheriff's deputy not guilty of charges related to a department K-9 attack on a little girl and her father.
James Craig, a former Colorado dentist, will spend the rest of his life in prison after he was convicted of murdering his wife by methodically poisoning her.
A victim of a scam that seems to good to be true is speaking out about the problem, and Colorado authorities say it's an ongoing problem that's nearly impossible to investigate.
Michael and Debbie Carman were both killed as a result of the early morning wrong-way crash on Highway 285 near Highway 8, west of C470.
Grand County 911 dispatchers are receiving text alerts from iPhone users who need help in an emergency. The only problem- those texts aren't real.
Lawyers for convicted former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters on Tuesday tried to get a federal court in Denver to let her out on bond as they appeal her case in the Colorado State Court of Appeals.
Things have gotten far more difficult lately for the Rosas family. Husband, wife and three boys ages 3, 5 and 8 are living in an apartment building where they have placed cameras up to capture what's going on around them.
Prosecutors say James Craig poisoned his wife's protein shakes because of financial troubles and an affair with another woman.
It is hard to look at the heartbreak of the disaster in Texas. In Colorado past flash floods have brought similar heartache and similar threats.
The Town of Nederland is planning to move forward with the idea of buying Eldora Mountain Ski Resort, which is located just 10 minutes from the small town in Colorado.
The largest campground at Rocky Mountain National Park re-opened this week, bringing a pleasant surprise to campers who just happened to check for reservations.
Summer storms running over Colorado are bringing rain, hail, lightning and winds, a common offering from the skies at this time of year.
The Colorado district attorney who will be prosecuting the new case against Barry Morphew in the killing of his wife Suzanne says she's proud of the work that led to this week's grand jury indictment.