KZMU News

This week on the Regional Roundup, we'll pay a visit to the First People's Festival that took place in Estes Park, Colorado, earlier this month. The three-day event brought together Indigenous artists, educators, and community members for fashion, art, dance, and storytelling. We also learn about a program that teaches high school students trade skills, and puts those skills to work building affor...

Today on the News Reel, we speak to Andrew Christiansen, reporter at the Times-Independent, about the Moab Chamber of Commerce’s recent business summit, and a special guest appearance at that meeting by Kevin Lilly, acting assistant secretary for the Department of Interior Fish, Wildlife and National Parks. We finish with a quick update about Our Village Community Center, a nonprofit that recently...

For decades, Otho Bridge was a beloved gathering place for a small community of Moab locals who lived in Mill Creek Canyon. That era has come to an end—the last person left the canyon a few years ago. Then, last spring, the Bureau of Land Management dismantled the site at Otho Bridge, including the famous sandstone chessboard. In this story, we speak with a BLM archaeologist and a member of that o...

This week on the Regional Roundup, we hear from vigils and protests around the region after the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis. We also hear from a former National Forest supervisor about the challenges currently facing public lands. Then, a conversation with a conservationist about efforts to restore American bison to Indigenous lands. We finish the show with a BLM ar...

Today on the News Reel, we speak to Andrew Christiansen, reporter at the Times-Independent, about a possible new sales tax in Grand County that would fund new public safety facilities. We also recap the city’s 2026 goals, which were discussed in a recent strategic planning retreat. And we finish with a quick update about the murder-suicide case in Island in the Sky. - Show Notes - • City discusses...

Living on the Colorado Plateau can sometimes feel like living in a science fiction novel with its nuclear waste sites and failing dams and Mars-like landscapes. Science fiction writers have long been drawn to the region, including authors John Clute and Pamela Zoline, who recently donated 14,000 first-edition sci-fi novels to a little library in Telluride. - Show Notes - Clute Science Fiction Libr...

Today on the News Reel, we speak to Lizzie Ramirez, reporter at the Times-Independent, about the man found guilty of attempted murder after stabbing a woman on the Mill Creek Parkway in 2023. We also discuss a new medical cannabis pharmacy, which is expected to open in Moab this summer. Plus, we give a quick recap of the quicksand search and rescue mission in Arches that gained national attention...

Today on the News Reel, we speak to Andrew Christiansen, reporter at the Times-Independent, about the county’s trail ambassador program, which will begin operating independently next year as a nonprofit called Steward Moab. We also discuss some upcoming holiday events. And we finish with a quick feature about what life is like for service workers in Moab. - Show Notes - • County trail ambassador p...

Today on the News Reel, we speak to Andrew Christiansen, reporter at the Times-Independent, about changes to Grand County’s rural healthcare tax, which will go into effect in January 2026. We also discuss how much the state of Utah spent to maintain limited operations at its five national parks during the government shutdown. And we finish with a quick update about the county’s new planning and zo...

Today on the News Reel, we speak to Andrew Christiansen, reporter at the Times-Independent, about the missed deadline for a new Colorado River agreement between upper and lower basin states. We also give a quick recap of last week’s Glen Canyon Dam symposium that took place at Star Hall. And we finish with a list of upcoming events happening in Grand County. - Show Notes - • Moab symposium reckons...

Today on the News Reel, we speak to Lizzie Ramirez, reporter at the Times-Independent, about the government re-opening and what that means for Utah’s food stamp recipients. We also discuss a vandalism case at Arches National Park, and the latest on asbestos clean up at the city’s Walnut Lane property. Show Notes: • Spray painted vandalism found on Devils Garden trail in Arches National Park https:...

Today on the News Reel, we speak to Andrew Christiansen, reporter at the Times-Independent, about the results from Moab’s municipal election. We also discuss special groundwater approvals for a copper mine in Lisbon Valley. And we finish with a story about a recent water rights application for a housing development in Cisco. - Show Notes - • Langianese, Loftin, Taylor prevail in Moab City Council...

On the show today we have the weekly News Reel where we talk to other local journalists about what they reported this week. Today, we speak with Andrew Christiansen, reporter at the Moab Times-Independent, about whether state funding for Utah’s national parks will continue past the end of the month. We also discuss food stamp benefits, which are expected to expire on November 1 as well, and we exp...

This week's Regional Roundup features reports from around the region on the No Kings rallies held Oct. 18 in thousands of communities across the country, including Denver, rural Colorado, Wyoming and Utah. The program also includes a story on the growing efforts to ban books in libraries, a report on the rise in immigration arrests in Western Colorado, and coverage of the Mountain Towns 2030 Clima...

On the show today we have the weekly News Reel where we talk to other local journalists about what they reported this week. Today, we speak with Andrew Christiansen, reporter at the Times-Independent, about the fate of the Affordable Care Act subsidies that make health insurance accessible to thousands of Utah residents. We also give an update about a discrimination complaint filed on behalf of 13...

Today we hear an interview with director Ash Hanson of PlaceBase Productions and the Moab Theater Project. Her musical, Leaving A Trace, debuted in Moab in September. The original, site-specific production took place in the Sand Flats Recreation Area and involved more than 75 local cast and crew members. In the interview, Hanson discusses her inspiration for the musical and the power of theater to...

This radio play is a special adaptation of Leaving A Trace, a musical written and directed by Ash Hanson of PlaceBase Productions and the Moab Theater Project. The original, site-specific show debuted in the Sand Flats Recreation Area in Moab in September. Music for Leaving A Trace was written by Brian Laidlaw, Jen Thomas, Ash Hanson, and Rachel Toups, with musical performances by Brian Laidlaw, J...

On this week’s Regional Roundup, a report on a crew of dogs helping to sniff out invasive weeds in Wyoming and a special quilting project honoring veterans in Western Colorado. PBS NewsHour science correspondent Miles O’Brien discusses the importance of science, and best-selling author Kevin Barry talks about the history of Irish miners migrating to the Rocky Mountain West in the late 1800s, the s...

This week on the News Reel, we hear from Times-Independent reporter Lizzie Ramirez about the effects of the government shutdown on Arches National Park, the latest update in a discrimination complaint filed against two county commissioners and the county attorney, and the new workforce housing complex under construction on Highway 191. • County categorically denies alleged mistreatment of female e...

This week on the News Reel, we speak to Lizzie Ramirez, reporter at the Times-Independent, about two women who have added accusations to a recent discrimination complaint filed against Grand County commissioners and the county attorney. We also discuss the county’s decision to spend $129,000 on this year’s tree lighting ceremony. And we finish with a quick story about the effects of tariffs on loc...

This week on Regional Roundup from Rocky Mountain Community Radio, we'll hear a conversation with student reporters from the University of Utah about the state’s new law allowing open carry on campuses. We also hear a discussion on efforts to roll back the Public Lands Rule. Plus, a report from the Buffalo Field Campaign tells about a decades-long project to protect wild buffalo in Yellowstone Nat...

This week on the News Reel, we speak to Andrew Christiansen, reporter at the Times-Independent, about a recent discrimination complaint filed by 10 women against Grand County. We also discuss the official resignation of the Grand County School District superintendent, Mike McFalls. And we finish with an update on a years-long missing person case involving Jamey Holyoak, whose remains were found re...

Last night, the five candidates running in the Moab municipal elections participated in a debate hosted by the League of Women Voters of Southeast Utah. Two mayoral candidates — Joette Langianese and Curtis Wells — and three candidates for Moab City Council — Miles Loftin, Howard Trenholme, and Jason Taylor — answered questions about housing, healthcare, property taxes, and more. Everett Hildenbra...

This week on Regional Roundup from Rocky Mountain Community Radio, we hear a report on efforts to roll back the federal Roadless Rule, which currently prohibits road construction and timber harvesting in undeveloped land within the U.S. National Forest System. We also hear stories about a quinceañera in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, a new app designed to keep residents better informed about wildfires, an...

This week on the News Reel, we speak to Andrew Christiansen, reporter at the Times-Independent, about a new investigation into workplace harassment among Grand County employees and how that ties in to the recent removal of the interim planning and zoning administrator. We also give a quick update about measles cases in Moab and across the state. - Show Notes - • McGann says toxic work environment...