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Eleanor Bennett

Morning Edition Host/Reporter/Producer
  • CREDIT JENNIFER KELLEY

Growing up in the valley listening to KAJX in her parents’ car on the way to school, Eleanor learned the power and urgency of community storytelling. She was further captivated by the medium while interning at APR after graduating from Middlebury College in 2015.

From there, Eleanor moved to New York where she covered issues of climate justice and women's empowerment for SiriusXM Radio and launched several podcasts from soup-to-nuts. Eleanor recently finished a project interviewing hundreds of New Yorkers about their dreams and fears for an interactive audio-visual exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum by the photographer and muralist, JR.

Making these kinds of personal connections with people from all walks of life and creating empathic spaces for them to tell their stories fuels her work. Eleanor is delighted to be back home in the Rocky Mountains working with the Aspen Public Radio team and local residents to shine a light on the critical issues that shape our valley.
 

Ways to Connect

Carbondale Celebrates Local Farmers And Artists At Dandelion Day And First Friday

By & • May 7, 2021
Courtesy of Carbondale Tourism

As things warm up across the Valley, Carbondale is looking to attract tourists and locals alike with two days of events and a new printed pocket guide to the area’s local food locations. 

‘Ute People Are Alive, We Exist:’ Skyler Lomahaftewa Brings His Culture Home To The Rocky Mountains

By • Apr 27, 2021
Eleanor Bennett / Aspen Public Radio

Skyler Lomahaftewa is a Basalt resident and a member of the Uncompahgre band of the Ute tribe. In the winters, he gives snowboard lessons at Aspen Snowmass and in the summers, he does audio-visual work for events like Food & Wine and the Aspen Ideas Fest.

 

Every year around this time, Lomahaftewa goes back to the Northern Ute Reservation in Utah, where he grew up, to prepare for the annual bear dance. Now he’s trying to bring the spring tradition back to the Roaring Fork Valley. 

 

 


‘Todos podemos crear música’ Artista participante expande la educación musical en escuelas del Valle

By • Apr 15, 2021
Emily Acri and Kelly Maristoca / Crystal River Elementary School

You can find an English-language version of this story here.

 

Todos los años, el Festival Musical de Aspen se asocia con el programa “ArtistYear” de AmeriCorps para traer un grupo de graduados de escuelas musicales de todo el país al valle Roaring Fork. La región de Aspen  — junto con Filadelfia, Queens y Sandhills de Carolina — es uno de los cuatro lugares que son parte del programa nacional.  Los participantes asignados al valle pasan el año enseñando música y artes visuales a los alumnos del distrito escolar Roaring Fork. 

‘Everybody Is Capable Of Creating Music:’ Teaching Fellows Expand Arts Education In Valley Schools

By • Apr 15, 2021
Emily Acri and Kelly Maristoca

Every year Aspen Music Festival and School partners with the AmeriCorps program “ArtistYear” to bring a handful of recent higher-education graduates from across the country to the Roaring Fork Valley. The Aspen area is one of only four locations — with Philadelphia, Queens and the Carolina Sandhills — that are part of the national program.

 

The artist fellows who are assigned to the Valley spend the year teaching music and visual arts to students in the Roaring Fork School District. 

 

Una estudiante de Basalt High School usa su voz para despertar concientización sobre abuso sexual

By • Apr 1, 2021
Cortesía de Yamilet Velázquez

You can find an English-language version of this story here.

Todos los años alrededor de esta época, los alumnos del último año del distrito escolar Roaring Fork presentan sus proyectos finales a maestros, compañeros y miembros de la comunidad.

Nannette Weinhold, coordinadora de proyectos finales de Basalt High School, dice que los proyectos son una oportunidad para que los alumnos tomen el control de su propio aprendizaje y se enfoquen en un tema que despierta su curiosidad.   

A Basalt High School Senior Uses Her Voice To Raise Awareness About Sexual Abuse And Assault

By • Mar 29, 2021
Courtesy of Yamilet Velazquez

Every year around this time high school seniors in the Roaring Fork School District present their final capstone projects to their teachers, classmates and community members. 

 

Basalt High School’s capstone coordinator, Nannette Weinhold says the projects are a chance for students to take control of their own learning and to pursue a topic they’re curious about. 

Pueden encontrar la versión en español aqui. 

COVID-19: Resources and Information

By , & • Mar 25, 2021

Aspen Public Radio has compiled the following list of local, state and national resources that are providing current coronavirus information and resources. You can also follow our updates for the most recent coronavirus news. Información para hispanohablantes. 

Voces Unidas hace un llamado para que aumenten las clínicas de vacunación en el valle Roaring Fork

By & • Mar 19, 2021
Alex Hager / Aspen Public Radio

You can find an English-language version of this story here.

Los latinos de los condados de Pitkin, Eagle y Garfield se vieron particularmente afectados por la pandemia. Si bien ellos representaron una cantidad totalmente desproporcionada entre los casos de COVID-19 durante el año pasado, se están realizando esfuerzos para asegurar que tengan acceso equitativo a las vacunas.   

Local Nonprofit Voces Unidas Calls On Roaring Fork Valley To Ramp Up Vaccine Equity Clinics

By & • Mar 18, 2021
Alex Hager / Aspen Public Radio

Latinos in Pitkin, Eagle and Garfield counties have been especially hard hit by the pandemic. While they’ve made up a disproportionate number of COVID-19 cases over the past year, efforts are underway to make sure they have equitable access to vaccines.

Aspen Mayor Re-elected In A Landslide And Two City Council Candidates Win Majority In A Tight Race

By • Mar 3, 2021
Alex Hager / Aspen Public Radio

The votes have been counted for Aspen’s next Mayor and two city council members. The preliminary election results were announced on Tuesday night and will be officially certified on Friday, March 5.   

Aspen Public Radio’s Morning Edition host Eleanor Bennett caught up with Aspen Daily News reporter Alycin Bektesh who has been covering the election to learn more about what the preliminary results mean for the Aspen community.

Local Faces And Stories Illuminate the Impact Of Climate Change In The Roaring Fork Valley

By • Mar 3, 2021
Eleanor Bennett / Aspen Public Radio

If you find yourself wandering the streets of Aspen, Carbondale, or Glenwood Springs this month, you will be greeted by collages of oversized self-portraits pasted on Colorado Mountain College buildings.

Aspen Mayoral And City Council Candidates Set Out To Tackle City's Issues

By & • Feb 26, 2021
Grassroots TV

Ballots have been mailed to most Aspen residents who will elect their next mayor and fill two city council seats in the municipal election on Tuesday, March 2. There are eight candidates running for the two open council seats. Incumbent Mayor Torre is running for a second, two-year term and faces a single challenger, artist Lee Mulcahy. 

Highlands Ski Patrol Director Mac Smith Gave Decades Of ‘Blood, Sweat And Tears’ On The Mountain

By • Feb 11, 2021
Mike Tierney

Aspen Highlands Ski Patrol Director Mac Smith passed the baton on Jan. 31 after 42 seasons on the job. Though, he will remain on the patrol during the winters and help as needed throughout the next several years. 

He first stepped foot on Highlands when he was only 8-years-old, and got his start on the mountain washing dishes at the Merry-Go-Round restaurant after graduating from Basalt High School in 1971. 

High Risk At High Altitude: How Have The Events Of The Last Year Impacted Our Relationships?

By • Feb 2, 2021
Dennis Brendel / Unsplash


One way to take care of yourself during the coronavirus pandemic is to stay connected to your loved ones, but what happens when you have a disagreement or a falling out with the people you’re supposed to feel most connected to, and how does that affect your mental health?

Local Farmers And Hopi Food Leaders Work To Feed Their Communities Amid Pandemic And Climate Change

By • Jan 27, 2021
Courtesy of Susan Sekaquaptewa

With the ongoing drought in Pitkin, Eagle and Garfield counties and across most of the West, growing food and raising livestock is becoming more difficult. At the same time, the pandemic is exacerbating inequalities in the Roaring Fork Valley and many locals are still out of work, making it hard to access fresh, healthy food. 

Local Musician Shea Freedom’s New Song ‘America’ Calls For Justice And Peace On Inauguration Day

By • Jan 20, 2021
Cat Palmer

 

In a normal year, local musician Shea Freedom can be found tearing up the stage at Belly Up in Aspen or performing for passersby on main street in Carbondale, but when the pandemic hit, his gigs were cancelled. 

As protests and social justice movements spread across the country, that forced free time gave Freedom a moment to reflect on what he was seeing and he used his creativity as a way to process everything. 

Aspen Homeless Shelter Determined To Help Locals Despite Pandemic Shutdown

By • Jan 18, 2021
Courtesy of Aspen Chapel

Traditionally on Martin Luther King Day, the Aspen Chapel invites locals to cook a special dinner for people who visit the Aspen Homeless Shelter. Last year, nearly a hundred adults and children gathered for the annual meal at the chapel. 

“It’s always a lovely experience of doing everything together, but this year with COVID-19, we obviously couldn’t have a hundred people in a room together,” said Nicholas Vesey, the minister at the Aspen Chapel. 

Aspen CORE Seeks To Engage Local Latinos In ‘Stories of Climate Change’ Project

By • Jan 11, 2021
COURTESY OF THE COMMUNITY OFFICE FOR RESOURCE EFFICIENCY (CORE)

The Community Office For Resource Efficiency (CORE) is launching a valley-wide art installation to tell the story of climate change, in partnership with a host of local organizations, including Colorado Mountain College. 

The community mural project “Stories of Climate Change/Historias del Cambio Climático” is a part of both CORE’s third annual Imagine Climate series and the Inside Out Project created by renowned muralist JR. 

CORE Quiere Que La Comunidad Latina Participe En El Proyecto ‘Historias Del Cambio Climático'

By • Jan 11, 2021
Cortesía De La Oficina Comunitaria Para La Eficiencia De Recursos

You can find an English-language version of this story here. 

La oficina comunitaria para la eficiencia de recursos (CORE, por sus siglas en inglés), en asociación con diversas organizaciones locales entre las que se encuentra Colorado Mountain College, está organizando una presentación artística en todo el valle para contar la historia del cambio climático.

Christmas Bird Count Helps To Understand Impacts Of Climate Change On Birds In Roaring Fork Valley

By • Dec 23, 2020
Dale Armstrong / Courtesy of Aspen Center for Environmental Studies

On a recent morning, local naturalist Rebecca Weiss led a small group of amatuer birders through the frozen cattails near the John Denver Sanctuary in Aspen. Dawning binoculars and masks, they stood at the edge of the Roaring Fork River to get a closer look at an American Dipper bobbing in and out of the frigid water as it foraged. 

“We heard this gorgeous singing and we were all looking and listening as hard as we could to try to pinpoint the sound and who was making it,” Weiss said. “And finally, we got a line of sight on the dipper.” 

A Rocky Mountain ‘Christmas Star’ Is Coming To The Valley On The Winter Solstice

By • Dec 21, 2020
Space Encyclopedia 2nd Edition by David Aguilar / National Geographic Kids Books

The year 2020 might feel like the year that never ends, or the lump of coal in Santa’s stocking that keeps on giving, but fear not, the stars are aligning just in time for 2021. Or, rather, the planets. 

Monday night, Saturn and Jupiter are going to draw so close together in the sky it is going to look like they are actually colliding. 

High Risk At High Altitude: How Do Kids And Their Families Find Balance In The Middle Of A Storm?

By • Dec 15, 2020
Kim Zimmer / Aspen School District

For many of us, the ongoing pandemic has impacted our mental health in surprising ways, and this includes young people.

In the latest conversation from our “High Risk At High Altitude" series, Aspen Public Radio talked with local behavioral intervention specialist Sonja Linman about what she’s learned from her work with local kids and their families.

Deaths In Garfield County, Travel Affidavit In Pitkin County And More Testing Throughout The Valley

By & • Dec 11, 2020
Courtesy of Dr. Brooke Allen

Throughout the Roaring Fork Valley, rates of new COVID-19 cases continue to rise. New cases transmitted over Thanksgiving are just beginning to trickle into county data, exacerbating virus rates that were already higher than any other point in the pandemic.

Voces Unidas Takes Matters Into Its Own Hands With New Program To Help Latinos Impacted By COVID-19

By • Dec 7, 2020
Walter Gallacher

The “Promotora Program,” created by Voces Unidas de las Montañas, is meant to assist Latinos in Pitkin, Eagle and Garfield counties who have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic.

The Latino-led group, which is based in Glenwood Springs, is hiring two bilingual promotoras, or “trained community navigators,” to lead the initiative until the end of March. Local linguist Liz Velasco, who runs her own language translation company and is certified in medical interpretation, will be the lead promotora and they’ll be announcing the candidate for the second position later this week.

English In Action muestra algo positivo durante la pandemia con tutoría virtual para inmigrantes

By • Nov 25, 2020
Heidi Vargas / English In Action

You can find an English-language version of this story here.

Sin poder visualizar el fin de la pandemia y con un aumento de casos en el valle Roaring Fork, muchas organizaciones sin fines de lucro han tenido que mudarse a internet y repensar la manera en que operan.   En algunos casos, esto ha significado descubrir un inesperado lado bueno dentro de la situación.

English In Action Finds Silver Lining During Pandemic With Virtual Tutoring For Local Immigrants

By • Nov 25, 2020
Heidi Vargas / English In Action

With no end in sight for the pandemic and cases surging in the Roaring Fork Valley, many nonprofits have had to shift online and rethink the way they operate. And for some, that’s had an unexpected silver lining.

That’s the case for the local English tutoring and cultural exchange organization, English In Action. They help match adult immigrants with trained volunteer tutors in the Roaring Fork Valley. The program is so popular there’s about 170 people on the waitlist and some participants wait up to a year or more.

Pueden encontrar la versión en español aqui.

Local Schools Face Difficult Choices Ahead As COVID-19 Spikes In Roaring Fork Valley

By • Nov 16, 2020
Allison Johnson / Roaring Fork School District

As COVID-19 cases continue to rise in the valley, local schools are having to rethink their plans for the winter months. As of last week, nearly 250 students were quarantined in the Roaring Fork School District and the entire Roaring Fork High School moved to online learning for the week after several staff were exposed to the virus. 

“It’s very disruptive, the pivoting back and forth between distance learning and in-person learning,” said the district’s superintendent Rob Stein.


Los Votantes Latinos Locales Están Presionando Por Un Futuro Más Inclusivo En Esta Elección

By • Oct 21, 2020
Eleanor Bennett / Aspen Public Radio

You can find an English-language version of this story here.

 

A menos de dos semanas del día de la elección, muchos en Colorado están enfocándose en un grupo creciente de votantes latinos que podrían ser una gran parte de la decisión del resultado. Según el Centro de Investigación Pew, los votantes latinos son el mayor grupo demográfico de votantes no blancos este año, constituyendo el 16% de los votantes de Colorado en 2018. Y sin embargo, los latinos han estado históricamente subrepresentados en los cargos políticos en los valles del Roaring Fork y del Río Colorado.

Local Latina Voters Are Pushing For A More Inclusive Future This Election

By • Oct 21, 2020
Eleanor Bennett / Aspen Public Radio

 

With election day less than two weeks away, many in Colorado are looking to a growing group of Latino voters who could be a big part of deciding the outcome. According to the Pew Research Center, Latino voters are the largest non-white voting demographic this year, making up 16% of Colorado voters in 2018. And yet, Latinos have been historically underrepresented in political office in the Roaring Fork and Colorado River Valleys.

Hunter S. Thompson’s 1970 Campaign For Sheriff Focus Of 'Freak Power' Doc

By • Oct 19, 2020
David Hiser

To coincide with the 50th anniversary of Hunter S. Thompson’s historic race to become sheriff of Pitkin County, the new documentary, “Freak Power: the Ballot or the Bomb,” debuts on Friday, Oct. 23. While the film chronicles the gonzo journalist’s 1970 campaign in Aspen, parts of it feel eerily similar to today.

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