Karissa interviews Kris Simmons, Greeley School District 6’s Head Chef and Advocate for the School Nutrition Association.

Kris Simmons, Head Chef for Greeley School District 6 explains the benefits of Greeley’s current Healthy School Meals for All and Farm to School Lunch programs, and how they have improved both the academic and social/emotional outcomes of students in Weld School District 6. In addition to the benefit to students, Kris discusses the direct benefit to local agriculture and the local economy. He speaks on the effect of Medicaid cuts from the Big Beautiful Bill, and the impact they have all the way down to the state and local level. He explains how the cuts have led to the imminent end of community eligible free lunches for all students in the district, as well as other effects on our local community.

Kris tells of his experience as an Advocate for the School Nutrition Association in his attempt to meet with Congressional Representative Gabe Evans (CO D-8), and how disengaged Evans is with his constituents and our student’s needs.

Kris and Karissa discuss the intricacies of a fearful political climate for legal immigrants due to the ramp-up of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), as well as how defunding public schools could lead to the end of school lunches for all students.

To file a complaint about inappropriate or illegal actions by ICE officers in the state of Colorado, go to https://coag.gov/file-complaint/ and click “Misconduct by Federal Agents”.

Welcome to Echoes from NoCO, the podcast dedicated to cutting through the noise and turning up the voice that truly matters: yours.

Karissa speaks with a trauma therapist named Katie who has both professional and personal experience around the topic of transgender. Her unique position as both a clinician and a mother of a transgender child provides both personal and informed perspective to the topic. We discuss Katie's personal and professional connection to the subject, the biological nature of the transgender brain, and dispel common narratives and misinformation on the subject.

Sources:

Cortical Thickness and Gray Matter Volume

• Luders et al. (2009) "Regional gray matter variation in male-to-female transsexualism": This study used voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to analyze gray matter volumes in untreated transgender women. It found that while overall gray matter was closer to the male pattern, transgender women had a significantly larger gray matter volume in the right putamen compared to cisgender men, a finding that deviated from the typical male/female patterns and was considered a unique finding.
• Zubiaurre-Elorza et al. (2013) "Cortical thickness in untreated transsexuals": This study found that in specific regions (insular, orbitofrontal, and medial occipital regions), the cortical thickness of untreated transgender women was more similar to that of cisgender women than cisgender men, suggesting a "feminization" in those specific areas.
• Simon et al. (2013) (referenced within other articles): This study found that cisgender women and transgender women had a smaller gray matter volume in their left somatosensory and primary motor cortices in comparison to cisgender male controls, suggesting a female-typical pattern in these regions.

White Matter Microstructure

• Rametti et al. (2010) "The microstructure of white matter in male to female transsexuals before cross-sex hormonal treatment": This diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) study found that the white matter microstructure patterns in untreated transgender women were often intermediate between those of cisgender male and female controls, not fully matching either, but showing an "incomplete masculinization" compared to cisgender men in tracts like the superior longitudinal fasciculus and forceps minor.

Hypothalamic and Subcortical Structures (Post-mortem studies)

• Zhou et al. (1995) "A sex difference in the human brain and its relation to transsexuality": This pioneering post-mortem study found that the volume of the central part of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BSTc) in transgender women was similar in size to that of cisgender women and significantly smaller than in cisgender men.
• Kruijver et al. (2000) "Sex hormone studies in the postmortem human brain": This study supported the 1995 findings, showing that the neuron number in the BSTc of transgender women was also feminized (similar to cisgender women).
• Garcia-Falgueras and Swaab (2008) "Sex differences in the human brain, transsexuality, and intersexuality": This research group found that another interstitial nucleus of the anterior hypothalamus (INAH3) in transgender women was also similar in volume and neuron number to that of cisgender women.

Large-Scale Mega-Analyses

• Mueller et al. (2021) "The Neuroanatomy of Transgender Identity: Mega-Analytic Findings From the ENIGMA Transgender Persons Working Group": This large-scale study, which combined data from multiple sites, found that rather than simply shifting toward the female pattern, transgender people "seem to present with their own unique brain phenotype". They found differences in subcortical volumes and surface area compared to cisgender controls, with patterns varying by region and measure.

Welcome to Echoes from NoCO, the podcast dedicated to cutting through the noise and turning up the voice that truly matters: yours.

Karissa interviews Independent Greeley Mayoral Candidate and Trauma Therapist, Tiffany Simmons.

Tiffany shares her personal and professional background and how they qualify her to best represent the citizens of Greeley as the next Mayor. She speaks on her fiscal policies and how supporting the citizens in Greeley who struggle the most will actually help to save the city money. She rejects the classification that she is a “far left” candidate, and emphasizes that she will meet with and hear from any and all groups in Greeley in order to work to represent every voice. She emphasizes that the responsibility of an elected official to represent the people’s voice does not stop when they are elected, but that it is an ongoing responsibility.

She details the Cascadia Project and how the project disadvantages the residents of Greeley, and how many of the current City Council and the current Greeley Mayor have refused to represent the will of the people in Greeley. She speaks on how her refusal to accept corporate or PAC funding demonstrates that she is prioritizing the needs of the people, while her opponent has demonstrated through his political contributions and actions in office that he will prioritize Corporations over the financial responsibility for the city of Greeley.

She addresses Medicaid false narratives, and how her clients are navigating the upcoming Medicaid changes brought on by the recent Budget Bill passed by lawmakers over the summer.

Welcome to Echoes from NoCO, the podcast dedicated to cutting through the noise and turning up the voice that truly matters: yours.