KZMU News

Moab’s affordable housing shortage is well known, but there’s another real estate-related crunch in the area – storage space. Today on the news, we speak with an owner of a local storage business about wait times and the disappearance of a ‘storage off-season.’ Plus, Seekhaven Family Crisis & Resource Center recently released a survey aimed at getting better data on sexual harassment in the local outdoor recreation and tourism industry. Staff says it’s a part of a strategy to make the local tourism industry safer for everyone. And, details are emerging around a new deal to keep more water in Lake Mead.

Show Notes:

Photo: JR’s Self-Storage in Moab, where the waitlist is 20 deep, according to the owner. It’s usually a seasonal business, but that’s changing. Credit KZMU/Justin Higginbottom

Seekhaven’s Workplace Sexual Harassment Survey

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScnDeJo6z-6gmTfImoQplIP7m6CUy_8Yj8vVX_Nt1MMR-oB_A/viewform

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission – Chart of Risk Factors for Harassment and Responsive Strategies

https://www.eeoc.gov/chart-risk-factors-harassment-and-responsive-strategies

As omicron spreads, some Utah counties are enacting mask mandates for public spaces – including schools. Today on the news, a conversation with the Southeast Utah health officer on why mask mandates are likely not happening in Grand County. Plus, coal-producing Emery County is one of the only regions in Utah to have seen a drop in population in the last decade. A new research facility wants to bring back revenue and jobs by experimenting with a number of new technologies. That includes a nuclear reactor some think could be the future of power.

Show Notes:

Southeast Utah Health Department Vaccine Dashboard

https://www.seuhealth.com/covid-vaccine-dashboard

Southeast Utah Health Department COVID-19 Dashboard

https://www.seuhealth.com/covid-dashboard

The Cocopah Indian Tribe has lived along the Colorado River Delta in Arizona for centuries, watching drought and development transform this stretch of the river. Now, there’s an effort aiming to restore this vital waterway. Plus, checking-in with government teachers on how national polarization is playing out in classrooms. And, a new study documents the rising mental health crisis in rural western communities.

Show Notes:

Photo: Cocopah Cultural Resource Manager Justin Brundin stands at the banks of a portion of Colorado River in the West Cocopah reservation. Alisa Reznick/KJZZ

KHOL: New Study Shows Elevated ‘Psychological Distress’ in the Rural West Amid Pandemic

https://fronterasdesk.org/content/1741024/access-colorado-river-cocopah-tribe-battles-drought-and-phragmites?_ga=2.10131317.1377108631.1640194664-294039926.1631040151

KJZZ: For access to the Colorado River, the Cocopah tribe battles drought and phragmites

https://fronterasdesk.org/content/1741024/access-colorado-river-cocopah-tribe-battles-drought-and-phragmites?_ga=2.10131317.1377108631.1640194664-294039926.1631040151

President Biden ordered outfitters operating on federal lands pay their guides a $15 minimum wage. And outfitters aren’t happy, including those here in Moab. There’s even a lawsuit by an industry association to stop the order. Today on the news, we speak with guides about their pay, an outfitter about their costs, and whether our rivers can provide workers with real careers.

Plus, the Weekly News Reel where we check in with reporters on their latest stories of the Moab area. Doug McMurdo of The Times-Independent discusses new leadership in local government, the eviction of 10 families from trailer homes in downtown Moab, and Northern San Juan County getting its own fire department. Alison Harford of the Moab Sun News talks policy violations at the Moab City Police Department, development near Looking Glass Arch, and a local student publishing vaping research.

Show Notes:

Photo: Rafters paddle down the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Courtesy Flickr user Al_HikesAZ/Creative Commons

4/27/21 White House Brief: Biden-Harris Administration Issues an Executive Order to Raise the Minimum Wage to $15 for Federal Contractors

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/04/27/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-issues-an-executive-order-to-raise-the-minimum-wage-to-15-for-federal-contractors/

8/27/21 U.S. Outdoor Rec Industry Letter

https://www.americaoutdoors.org/assets/1/27/Affiliated_Outfitter_Association_comments_on_DOL_federal_contractor_min_wage_NOPR_comments_-_Aug_27_2021.pdf

Music Featured in Today’s News:

Day Bird by Broke For Free

Weekly News Reel Mentions –

The Times-Independent: A new era at City Hall

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/a-new-era-at-city-hall/

The Times-Independent: County commission opens 2022 session

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/county-commission-opens-2022-session/

The Times-Independent: 10 families evicted to make room for townhouses

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/10-families-evicted-to-make-room-for-townhouses/

The Times-Independent: Northern San Juan County will get its own fire dept.

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/northern-san-juan-county-will-get-its-own-fire-dept/

Moab Sun News: Investigation finds Moab officers violated body camera, mask, coarse language policy in February incident

https://www.moabsunnews.com/news/article_6c52c026-7015-11ec-97d9-93c7aaa8354f.html

Moab Sun News: Under Canvas development near Looking Glass Arch quietly continues

https://www.moabsunnews.com/news/article_feb0bf58-7016-11ec-92a1-1faf0c5a5e6a.html

Moab Sun News: Local GCHS graduate, Jenna Hawks, publishes vaping research

https://www.moabsunnews.com/get_out_and_go/article_4c2e52e2-701a-11ec-bdc5-734ec473c439.html

The omicron COVID-19 variant is spreading “kind of like a wildfire right now,” according to Moab Regional Hospital CEO Jen Sadoff. She says we are just at the beginning of a wave here in Moab. Today on the news, we get her perspective about protecting ourselves and others from the virus, and what Utah hospitals are expecting in the coming weeks.

Show Notes:

COVID-19 Vaccine Information

https://www.seuhealth.com/covid-vaccine

COVID-19 Testing Information

https://mrhmoab.org/covid-19-information/

More evictions are hitting Moab residents this winter. Last month, the owners of a tract of land with 10 occupied trailer homes told families they need to leave by the end of January. The property’s real estate agent says the owners are in the process of selling. But finding housing on short-term notice for local families is proving an immense challenge. Plus, sagebrush habitats are in peril from fires, mining, and oil and gas development. But some areas are now getting help from an unexpected source—incarcerated men and women.

Show Notes:

Photo: Families living in trailer homes near 100 North and 200 East are being evicted at the end of the month as property owners prepare to sell a tract of land. Credit Justin Higginbottom

Read the top story here:

https://www.kzmu.org/more-evictions-hitting-moab-residents-this-winter/

H20 Radio: How Inmates Are Saving an Iconic American Landscape – and Themselves

https://h2oradio.org/Sagebrush.html

Today on the news, a pinwheel of ‘firsts’ for the New Year in Moab – launching the first reservation system at Arches National Park, the first day back at school without a mask mandate since 2020 and the first day in office for two council members and mayor. Plus, some states are facing water shortages as Colorado River levels have been dropping. But some Navajo Nation members have been living without easy access to water for years. Our radio partners report on the remaining challenges of the federal government’s drinking water system on the reservation.

Show Notes:

Photo: (from left) Council member Luke Wojciechowski, mayor Joette Langianese and council member Jason Taylor. The trio were sworn into their new offices on Monday, a big day for ‘firsts’ in Moab. Courtesy Moab City

Arches National Park Timed Entry Pilot

https://www.nps.gov/arch/planyourvisit/timed-entry-pilot.htm

KJZZ: The Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project promises water to 250,000 people by 2040

https://fronterasdesk.org/content/1742789/navajo-gallup-water-supply-project-promises-water-250000-people-2040?_ga=2.125183949.670854739.1641250116-294039926.1631040151

Developers on Kane Creek Boulevard said they would work with the people they are forcing from their homes. But one resident is facing eviction this week - with nowhere to go. Today on the news, we speak with Ross High, who doesn’t know where he will be living on Wednesday. And, federal officials are ramping up recovery efforts after a fire destroyed nearly 1,000 homes in Colorado. Plus, the Colorado River Basin is now operating under mandatory cutbacks for some water users and the Biden administration is opening up public lands in our region to more solar development.

Show Notes:

Photo: Ross High speaks to his daughter Kate in front of his home along Kane Creek Boulevard in October 2021. He says a development company wants him out of his house by Wednesday, but he doesn’t have anywhere to go.

KZMU 10/26/21: Facing Eviction Along Kane Creek Road, Locals Worry Over Housing Options

https://www.kzmu.org/facing-eviction-along-kane-creek-road-locals-worry-over-housing-options/

KZMU 10/29/21: Close-knit ‘Charlie-wood’ Residents Tell Story of Displacement, Housing Insecurity

https://www.kzmu.org/close-knit-charlie-wood-residents-tell-story-of-displacement-housing-insecurity/

Our final ‘Best Of’ KZMU News pick is here! As we look back on another year of grassroots, community-powered journalism, we reflect on our biggest and most ambitious piece yet – ‘Welcome to Moab, A Service Story.’ Lightly narrated, this 45 minute radio special prioritizes the experiences of locals working in Moab’s restaurant industry. Abstract terms like ‘worker shortages’ and ‘the housing crisis’ get deeply personal as interviewees share stories about burnout and mental health, wondering how they’ll make it in Moab another season. We gave it a ‘Best Of’ because it was our first attempt at a long-form piece and it resonated with locals as well as other communities across the country. ‘Welcome to Moab’ became the most widely shared KZMU News story of 2021.

We also want to mention the other non-narrated (and lightly narrated!) pieces of 2021 – our Lift Up: LGBTQ+ Visibility series and our various audio portraits are very important parts of KZMU News. We aim to do more work like this in the future! Thank you for supporting KZMU, Moab community radio.

Original Broadcast

https://www.kzmu.org/welcome-to-moab-a-service-story/

Lift Up: LGBTQ+ Visibility

https://www.kzmu.org/lift-up/

2021 Audio Portraits

Blaine

https://www.kzmu.org/friday-february-26-2021/

Sonja Nicolaisen

https://www.kzmu.org/friday-april-2-2021/

Paul

https://www.kzmu.org/friday-may-21-2021/

Christoph Schork

https://www.kzmu.org/monday-november-8-2021/

Hy Thurman

https://www.kzmu.org/activist-hy-thurman-on-the-rainbow-coalition-labor-organizing/

This week, KZMU News reflects on another year of grassroots, community powered journalism. Today’s piece first aired earlier this month, profiling how the national nursing shortage combined with the local housing crunch is affecting Moab’s healthcare industry. We gave it a ‘best of’ for uplifting an important subject – rural healthcare.

Original Broadcast

https://www.kzmu.org/friday-december-10-2021/