KZMU News

In 2019, residents in the town of Paonia on Colorado’s Western Slope faced a nightmare that is particular to the arid west. They turned on their faucets…and nothing came out. The aftermath is the focus of a new KVNF documentary called ‘Silent Taps, Paonia’s Ongoing Water Moratorium.’ Today on the news, we hear from the reporter who breaks down the water crisis in this rural western town.

// Show Notes:

// Photo: Inside Paonia’s two-million-gallon water plant. In 2019, residents turned on their faucets and nothing came out.

// KVNF: Silent Taps – Paonia’s Ongoing Water Moratorium

https://www.kvnf.org/show/local-motion/2023-01-25/silent-taps-paonias-ongoing-water-moratorium

The Moab community is mourning the loss of 17-year-old Zoe McKinney, who died in a hiking accident on Friday. Zoe’s friends, family and community gathered at a vigil in her honor at the high school last night. We hear from superintendent Taryn Kay on community-wide grief. Plus, a group of San Juan County residents is protesting a new resort development in Dry Valley, just north of Monticello. They believe the new accommodations would seriously deplete the area’s water resources and are calling on the state to survey the area’s aquifer.

// Show Notes:

// Photo: Zoe McKinney is remembered as a loving friend and a big part of the high school cheerleading team, where she mentored younger teammates. A vigil was held on Monday night at Grand County High School.

// Zoe McKinney Funeral Expenses

https://www.gofundme.com/f/belinda-thompson

// Utah Division of Water Rights Feb 16th Public Hearing

https://waterrights.utah.gov/hearings/

Hey there listeners! I know you're used to hearing the voices of our award winning news department on Mondays and we're so grateful for your dedicated listenership. We ask for your patience and understanding as we scale back, just a bit, to bring our News Department back up to full capacity and keep it sustainable. You will still hear KZMU News Tuesday through Thursday and the News Reel on Fridays. Thank you for supporting KZMU News and Moab Community Radio!

Listeners, we are experimenting! While KZMU News aims to bring a reporter on board over the next few weeks, we’re shaking a few things up. On Fridays the Weekly News Reel will air solo for the moment. Thanks so much for sticking with us as we bring our news department back to full capacity and keep it sustainable.

// Alright, let’s get into the News Reel! Sophia Fisher of The Times-Independent discusses the Winter Rescue Team, the new solid waste manager, an update on new legislation from Rep. Phil Lyman, and the passing of Moab’s oldest resident. Alison Harford of the Moab Sun News talks passenger reductions for SkyWest’s service, rising food insecurity this winter, and a gallery opening for Moab’s youngest artists. Plus, the Sun’s Maggie McGuire tells us ‘what happened’ at this week’s Grand County Commission meeting.

// Weekly News Reel Mentions:

// The Times-Independent: The perilous missions of the Winter Rescue Team

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/the-perilous-missions-of-the-winter-rescue-team/

// The Times-Independent: Kenerley brings 30 years’ experience to solid waste

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/kenerley-brings-30-years-experience-to-solid-waste/

// The Times-Independent: Lyman bill takes aim at economic diversification

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/lyman-bill-takes-aim-at-economic-diversification/

// The Times-Independent: Katheen ‘Kay’ Stoye, 1915-2023

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/kathleen-kay-stoye-1915-2023/

// Moab Sun News: SkyWest to continue essential service at CNY

https://moabsunnews.com/2023/02/09/skywest-to-continue-essential-service-at-cny/

// Moab Sun News: Food insecurity on the rise this winter

https://moabsunnews.com/2023/02/09/food-insecurity-on-the-rise-this-winter/

// Moab Sun News: HMK students display artwork at Gallery Moab

https://moabsunnews.com/2023/02/09/hmk-students-display-artwork-at-gallery-moab/

After August flooding revealed some sore spots in local emergency management response, Grand County hired a permanent emergency management director. The new director is Cora Phillips, who has a long history in emergency and disaster response. Today on the news, we speak with Phillips about her background and changes to emergency management planning, training, and alerts.

// Show Notes:

// Photo: Cora Phillips, Grand County’s new emergency management director, at KZMU.

// Grand County Alerts

https://www.grandcountyutah.net/AlertCenter.aspx

// Grand County Emergency Operations Plan

https://civicclerk.blob.core.windows.net/stream/GRANDCOUNTYUT/a21e78c0-c4bf-408b-972c-4f26caed432f.pdf?sv=2021-10-04&st=2023-02-09T15%3A27%3A08Z&se=2024-02-09T15%3A32%3A08Z&sr=b&sp=r&sig=DBJW81ZNOvJrIEcnM5wl5wp6hcI4BOY2iAPM4BOvltY%3D

Moab is one of the most popular destinations to highline, a sport similar to tightrope walking. Now, the first highlining guiding business in the United States will open here in March. Plus, Utah lawmakers have clarified what therapists can do under the state's conversion therapy ban. The bill garnered support from organizations on opposite sides of the political spectrum. And later, many Black travelers in the Jim Crow era used a guidebook to tell them which places would offer them lodging and services. Now Colorado’s historic division plans a statewide survey of these locations, also known as Green Book sites.

// Show Notes:

// Photo: The first highlining guiding business in the United States will open in Moab in March. Courtesy Carolyn Conant

// Elevate Outdoors Guiding

https://www.facebook.com/elevateoutdoorsguiding/

// KUER: How the Eagle Forum and Equality Utah came to agree on a conversion therapy bill

https://www.kuer.org/politics-government/2023-02-07/how-the-eagle-forum-and-equality-utah-came-to-agree-on-a-conversion-therapy-bill

// KVNF: History Colorado to survey places that served Black travelers during segregation, known as Green Book sites

https://www.kvnf.org/2023-01-20/history-colorado-to-survey-places-that-served-black-travelers-during-segregation-known-as-green-book-sites

Skiing and horses are two things the Mountain West has no shortage of. So why not combine them? Well, there’s already a sport for that. Today on the news, our radio partners report on a recent skijoring competition in Heber City. Plus, a group of physicians is voicing opposition to a new Utah law banning gender-affirming health care for transgender youth. And later, a report on bug-loving birds providing free pest control to farmers.

// Show Notes:

// Photo: Skijoring in Colorado. Credit Wikimedia Commons/Kaila Angello

// KUER: Skijoring delivered a thrilling weekend of skis and hooves in Heber City

https://www.kuer.org/sports-recreation/2023-01-30/photos-skijoring-delivered-a-thrilling-weekend-of-skis-and-hooves-in-heber-city

// OASH: Gender-Affirming Care and Young People

https://opa.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/2022-03/gender-affirming-care-young-people-march-2022.pdf

Mobile home parks are one of the few remaining affordable housing options in the Mountain West. But many residents in these parks don’t own the land under their units. Today on the news, our radio partners report how one mobile home park in our region is trying to work around the system to secure their housing long-term. Plus, a federal appeals court has suspended 199 drilling permits in northern New Mexico, near Chaco Canyon and some politicians in our region are renewing calls to transfer federal lands to state or local hands to build more affordable housing. And, a preview of the Grand County Commission meeting.

// Show Notes:

// Photo: Felix Jimenez in the serene Three Mile Mobile Home Park in Glenwood Springs, CO. Jimenez is hoping that he and his fellow residents can purchase the park with the help of the nonprofit, Manaus.

// Aspen Public Radio: Future of Glenwood’s Three Mile Mobile Home Park up in the air

https://www.aspenpublicradio.org/local-news/2023-01-30/future-of-glenwoods-three-mile-mobile-home-park-up-in-the-air

The town of Castle Valley is looking to update its water monitoring system in anticipation of a potential new tourism development. Town council members are hoping to conduct an aquifer study and install a parshall flume system as part of a larger plan to measure whether their water supply can accommodate more people. Plus, tribal leaders from the eight federally recognized tribes in Utah gathered at a news conference at the state capitol and called on state lawmakers to pass Utah's version of the Indian Child Welfare Act. And later, a remote town in our region touts its ski hill as what skiing was like before the rise of mega resorts.

// Plus, the Weekly News Reel! Sophia Fisher of The Times-Independent talks disaster relief funding, a GCSO jailer’s resignation after a misconduct allegation and tadpole shrimp taking the spotlight in a new advertising campaign. Alison Harford of the Moab Sun News discusses a recent investigation that found half of Native American remains and funerary objects have yet to be returned to tribes they were stolen from.

// Show Notes:

// Photo: Castle Valley, Utah. Courtesy Carter Pape / Wikimedia Commons

// HB 40: Indian Child Welfare Amendments

https://le.utah.gov/~2023/bills/static/HB0040.html

// Press conference with Navajo Nation and Tribal Leaders on HB 40

https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?extid=CL-UNK-UNK-UNK-AN_GK0T-GK1C&mibextid=2Rb1fB&ref=watch_permalink&v=588287672699867

// KVNF: Hitting the slopes in tiny Lake City for a retro experience

https://www.kvnf.org/2023-02-01/hitting-the-slopes-in-tiny-lake-city-for-a-retro-experience

// Weekly News Reel Mentions:

// The Times-Independent: City, county denied federal flood-relief funds

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/city-county-denied-federal-flood-relief-funds/

// The Times-Independent: GCSO jailer accused of misconduct

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/gcso-jailer-accused-of-misconduct/

// The Times-Independent: Goodbye, Delicate Arch; hello, tadpole shrimp

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/goodbye-delicate-arch-hello-tadpole-shrimp/

// Moab Sun News: Data shows only 11% of Native American remains taken from Grand County have been returned

https://moabsunnews.com/2023/02/02/nagpra-in-grand-county/

Utah’s bigger cities have more money to address homelessness. It came from the legislature last year and can be spent on outreach and services for unhoused people, or on cops. But as Eric Peterson of the Utah Investigative Journalism project found, almost all of it went to funding police officers. Plus, a coalition of community members in our region is working with doctors from the Indian Health Service to provide medical support for the unhoused. And later, health officials in the Rocky Mountain region are urging people to get their homes tested for radon, a gas that is the leading cause of lung cancer in non-smokers.

// Show Notes:

// The Utah Investigative Journalism Project: Utah set aside $10M for homelessness. Instead of services, cities tapped it for police

https://www.utahinvestigative.org/utah-set-aside-10m-for-homelessness-instead-of-services-cities-tapped-it-for-police/

// Utah DEQ Radon

https://deq.utah.gov/waste-management-and-radiation-control/radon/radon-program