KZMU News

KZMU News chats with Doug McMurdo, the associate editor of The Times-Independent, about the latest stories in the paper. This week – Moab City starts planning for major infrastructure maintenance, the high school considers drug testing athletes, the MAPS senior housing project moves ahead, and the county considers purchasing the current USU-Moab campus buildings. Plus, a highlight on the Moab Festival of Science. Tune in!

KZMU News chats with Doug McMurdo, the associate editor of The Times-Independent, about the latest stories in the paper. This week – Moab City starts planning for major infrastructure maintenance, the high school considers drug testing athletes, the MAPS senior housing project moves ahead, and the county considers purchasing the current USU-Moab campus buildings. Plus, a highlight on the Moab Festival of Science. Tune in!

Hemp is taking the Colorado agriculture industry by storm and gaining a reputation as a highly valuable, supposedly drought tolerant cash crop. But is the plant really as ideal for a state facing severe water scarcity as it’s being made out to be? Or is the outside-the-box thinking hemp is inspiring really behind hemp’s water needs and viability in the west? Our partners at KGNU spoke with researchers and visited multiple hemp grows in Colorado to try to find out.

[Photo: David Lebsock examines one of the hemp plants they are growing for CBD on his thousand-acre farm in Sterling, Colorado. Credit KGNU]

Hemp is taking the Colorado agriculture industry by storm and gaining a reputation as a highly valuable, supposedly drought tolerant cash crop. But is the plant really as ideal for a state facing severe water scarcity as it’s being made out to be? Or is the outside-the-box thinking hemp is inspiring really behind hemp’s water needs and viability in the west? Our partners at KGNU spoke with researchers and visited multiple hemp grows in Colorado to try to find out.

[Photo: David Lebsock examines one of the hemp plants they are growing for CBD on his thousand-acre farm in Sterling, Colorado. Credit KGNU]

Dozens of people on mountain bikes and motorbikes gathered at the Slickrock bike trailhead last weekend to celebrate its 50th anniversary. The gearheads hit the trail for a social ride, but also to do some restoration work. The much-loved trail was the first of its kind in the area, and helped bring new life to Moab via recreation after the uranium industry sputtered to a halt. Now after 50 years, locals say the Slickrock Bike Trail is still a very special place.

Dozens of people on mountain bikes and motorbikes gathered at the Slickrock bike trailhead last weekend to celebrate its 50th anniversary. The gearheads hit the trail for a social ride, but also to do some restoration work. The much-loved trail was the first of its kind in the area, and helped bring new life to Moab via recreation after the uranium industry sputtered to a halt. Now after 50 years, locals say the Slickrock Bike Trail is still a very special place.

Writer Zak Podmore has found his stories as a reporter in Southeast Utah, most recently as a Bluff-based Report For America fellow at The Salt Lake Tribune. But over the years, he’s found his personal life intersecting with his work. In a new book called “Confluence” he traces the personal and political along the rivers that have shaped the West. Our partners at KSJD in Cortez, Colorado spoke with him about the new book.

[Photo: The San Juan River snakes through canyons in Southeast Utah. Credit Daniel Rayzel/KSJD]

Writer Zak Podmore has found his stories as a reporter in Southeast Utah, most recently as a Bluff-based Report For America fellow at The Salt Lake Tribune. But over the years, he’s found his personal life intersecting with his work. In a new book called “Confluence” he traces the personal and political along the rivers that have shaped the West. Our partners at KSJD in Cortez, Colorado spoke with him about the new book.

[Photo: The San Juan River snakes through canyons in Southeast Utah. Credit Daniel Rayzel/KSJD]

The sixth annual Dancing with the Moab Stars brought community members together over dance and performance, in a fundraiser for the Moab Valley Multicultural Center. This year, eight local stars were paired with instructors to compete for first place, as well as other categories like best production and people’s choice. Funds raised during the evening support the MVMC and their services including crisis resource and advocacy as well as interpretation and translation. Plus later in the newscast, Public Lands Corner chooses to stay close to Moab for a couple of wonderful, nearby public lands adventures.

[Photo: Dancing With The Stars winners Dr. Pablo Johnson and Erika Ring]

The sixth annual Dancing with the Moab Stars brought community members together over dance and performance, in a fundraiser for the Moab Valley Multicultural Center. This year, eight local stars were paired with instructors to compete for first place, as well as other categories like best production and people’s choice. Funds raised during the evening support the MVMC and their services including crisis resource and advocacy as well as interpretation and translation. Plus later in the newscast, Public Lands Corner chooses to stay close to Moab for a couple of wonderful, nearby public lands adventures.

[Photo: Dancing With The Stars winners Dr. Pablo Johnson and Erika Ring]