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.

How do you reach an audience of more than 200,000 people a day in an important swing state without buying an expensive TV ad? If you're Mitt Romney supporter Sid Overton, you build a blimp and fly it alongside one of Colorado's busiest freeways.

Certain sectors of the state's economy are more robust than they were four years ago, but that doesn't mean everyone's happy with the recovery. The state is sharply divided about the role of government in the economy, an issue that will be at the forefront of the upcoming presidential debate there.

A total of 21 groups have spent almost $20 million on 18,956 ads in the Denver market airing between July 30 and Nov. 6, an analysis shows. It found that President Obama and his allies are outspending Republican Mitt Romney and conservative groups allied with him, at least for now.

The deadly movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colo., is starting to play out in two tight congressional races in that battleground state. The shootings left twelve dead and injured 58 more. In the weeks since, the two Democratic candidates running in districts in and around Aurora have called for stricter gun laws. But conservatives have accused them of trying to politicize the tragedy.

As conservative advocacy groups ike Americans for Prosperity shuffle their ad dollars, they are focusing on key swing states like Colorado. Americans for Prosperity president Tim Phillips says states like Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico "haven't seen the results from the president's policies."

Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper is considered a rising stary in the Democratic Party. He will address the Democratic National Convention in prime time Wednesday night. So far, the former Denver mayor and brew pub owner has rebuffed speculation that he has national political aspirations.

In one House race, a conservative group is accusing a Democrat of politicizing the shootings after he called for stricter gun control laws. And in a newly redrawn district that includes Aurora, the tragedy could permeate the general election campaign.

Outside the movie theater in Aurora, Colo, where Friday's deadly shooting occurred, there's a makeshift memorial at the edge of a hot and dusty lot. There are hundreds of candles and flowers, American flags and signs memorializing the victims. There are also some signs around town that life is starting to return to normal.

Crews are struggling to get the upper hand on several large, destructive wildfires burning across the parched southern Rockies. In Colorado, the High Park Fire that sparked over the weekend has quickly grown to the second largest wildfire in that state's history. From member station KUNC, Kirk Siegler reports from Fort Collins.