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 affordable housing. We’ll also take a closer look at the Colorado River Basin, where the U.S. Department of the Interior has released a draft environmental impact statement outlining potential paths forward for managing the river and its two largest reservoirs, Lake Powell and Lake Mead. We’ll round out the show with a conversation with the filmmaker behind a new documentary examining the crisis in local journalism.

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 lost funding for free food distribution in Moab.

- Show Notes -

• Strengths, opportunities highlight chamber’s business summit

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/strengths-opportunities-highlight-chambers-business-summit/

• Lilly connects National Parks to God, children and cartels at business summit

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/lilly-connects-national-parks-to-god-children-and-cartels-at-business-summit/

• Our Village distributed nearly 34,000 pounds of food in 2025 as grant funding ends

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/our-village-distributed-nearly-34000-pounds-of-food-in-2025-as-grant-funding-ends/

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 original Mill Creek community about the line between art and vandalism, community and public land.

Photo by Emily Arntsen/KZMU

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 archaeologist who tells us about efforts to preserve and conserve the region’s rich archaeological history.

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 priorities at strategic planning retreat

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/city-discusses-priorities-at-strategic-planning-retreat/

• Commission launches review of proposed public safety sales tax

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/commission-launches-review-of-proposed-public-safety-sales-tax/

• 6-year-old child found deceased inside Canyonlands National Park

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/child-found-deceased-inside-canyonlands-national-park/

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 Library

• https://www.tellurideinstitute.org/clute-science-fiction-library/

Photo by Emily Arntsen/KZMU

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 last week.

- Show Notes -

• Parkway assailant found guilty of attempted murder

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/parkway-assailant-guilty-of-attempted-murder/

• Moab to receive a medical cannabis pharmacy

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/moab-to-receive-a-medical-cannabis-pharmacy/

• Hiker rescued after becoming trapped in quicksand in Arches backcountry

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/hiker-rescued-after-becoming-trapped-in-quicksand-in-arches-backcountry/

• Ground beef donated to Moab food pantries ahead of holidays

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/pounds-of-ground-beef-donated-to-moab-food-pantries-ahead-of-the-holidays/

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 program to relaunch as nonprofit Steward Moab

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/county-trail-ambassador-program-to-relaunch-as-nonprofit-steward-moab/

• Holiday events return

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/holiday-events-return-to-moab/

• Undervalued and misunderstood: How service workers live in Moab

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/undervalued-and-misunderstood-how-service-workers-live-in-moab/

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 zoning director.

- Show Notes -

• New revenue stream headed to EMS, fire protection and local care center

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/new-revenue-stream-headed-to-ems-fire-protection-and-local-care-center/

• Arches National Park faces uncertainty after the government shutdown

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/arches-national-park-faces-uncertainty-after-the-government-shutdown/

• Grand County hires PZ director after 9 month vacancy

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/grand-county-hires-pz-director-after-9-month-vacancy/

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 with the impacts of Glen Canyon Dam

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/moab-symposium-reckons-with-the-impacts-of-glen-canyon-dam/

• Colorado River talks stall as Utah, other states miss key deadline https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/colorado-river-talks-stall-as-utah-other-states-miss-key-deadline/

• WabiSabi prepares to feed 840 for Thanksgiving

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/wabisabi-prepares-to-feed-840-for-thanksgiving/