
Proactive power safety shut-offs were a first for Xcel Energy in Colorado
Xcel Energy said power was coming back on Monday to 155,000 plus customers who lost electricity in the weekend's vicious windstorm.
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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.
Xcel Energy said power was coming back on Monday to 155,000 plus customers who lost electricity in the weekend's vicious windstorm.
In Superior's Sagamore neighborhood, there are now more homes than scraped plots. Neighbors gather on a Friday for a birthday party and kids play outdoors. There is still a lot of dirt, but the homes are fresh and new. They had to be. The neighborhood was wiped out by the Marshall Fire.
For a second summer in a row, Echo Lake Lodge high up on the way to Mount Blue Sky will remain closed. Denver Mountain Parks which owns the property and a string of other parks outside of the city limits is still working on a plan for the 98-year-old facility.
Meet Imam Mohammad Kolila, of the Downtown Denver Islamic Center and his friend, Rabbi Joseph Black, Senior Rabbi at Temple Emanuel in Denver, who are friends and working together to combat hate and foster hope.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife is noticing bears out early as well. While the alarm bell to emerge from their state of torpor is usually late March into April, there have been bears showing up earlier.
The three suspects arrested and accused in last year's rock-throwing death of Alexa Bartell appeared in Jefferson County Court on Monday as a judge set their trial dates. All pleaded not guilty to more than a dozen charges.
It's a place jammed with knickknacks and oddities. Buffalo Bill memorabilia, key chains, knives, and a big stuffed buffalo. The gift shop at Buffalo Bill's Grave atop Lookout Mountain however will be no more in 2025 as Denver Mountain Parks owns the building and park and is working to figure out a future for the property.
Amid the war in Gaza, a local Jewish organization has sent volunteers to Israel to work in a community where Jews and Arabs live together.
Historic Denver and two citizens have filed for protective landmark status for the building, while the developer that owns the property, Monfort Companies, seeks to tear it down and rebuild.
The Nuggets hosted the Grizzlies at Ball Arena Monday night, beating them by 25 points, but without the cheering or greetings from longtime fan Vicki Ray. It was hard to find support for the decision to ban Ray, a 32-year season ticket holder.
There are few who would argue that 72-year-old Vicki Ray is atop the list of the most recognizable Nuggets fans. Loving the Nuggets in rain or shine seasons for 32 years as a season ticket holder and missing, she says, only seven games outside of COVID, Ray has held a most coveted spot in Ball Arena.
All along the areas hardest hit by heavy snow in last week's storm, the sounds of melting snow dripping then occasionally sliding off roofs creates a few nervous moments.
Echo Mountain Ski Area will open again after more than six days closed in the March snowstorm that hit Idaho Springs and Evergreen hard.
Plow drivers made big gains Friday on Interstate 70 as well as Highway 285 heading into the mountains. Much of the pavement was dry as the sun set, although rough patches of ice remained in a few spots.
It was a long day of sleeping off, digging out, or staying home for people in the Evergreen area which was hit by heavy snow. One hotel didn't turn people away after reaching capacity.