Eleanor Bennett
Morning Edition Anchor and ReporterEleanor is an award-winning journalist who currently serves as “the voice” of Aspen Public Radio during "Morning Edition." She has reported on a wide range of topics in her community, including the impacts of federal immigration policies on local DACA recipients, creative efforts to solve the valley's affordable housing crisis, and hungry goats fighting climate change across the West through targeted grazing. Connecting with people from all walks of life and creating empathic spaces for them to tell their stories fuels her work.
Her reporting has been featured on NPR and The World, and she has received several statewide, regional and national awards including a 2023 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award for her feature on an immigrant family who cut down their first Christmas tree together. She earned “Best News Feature” three years in a row from the Colorado Broadcasters Association, including for her stories about an education initiative to bring more Ute history and cross-cultural conversations to local schools and a citizen-science project to help understand how climate change is impacting birds. She also contributed to the award-winning series, "In The Woods: Trees and Climate Change in the Roaring Fork Valley.”
As a Morning Edition anchor, Eleanor pioneered the station’s award-winning "Outdoor Report," which highlights local flora and fauna, recreation opportunities and environmental causes in the Valley, and hosts the "Aspen Public Radio Newscast," a podcast for locals on-the-go.
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 Aspen Public Radio after graduating from Middlebury College in 2015. From there, she covered issues of climate justice and women's empowerment for SiriusXM Radio in New York City. Eleanor also had the opportunity to work with French photographer and muralist JR to record the dreams, hopes and fears of 1,500 New Yorkers for an interactive audio-visual exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum.
In 2019, Eleanor returned home to serve as producer of Aspen Public Radio’s teen-focused podcast, "Gen Z Tea." She started working full-time for the station in August 2020. Eleanor is delighted to be home in the Rocky Mountains working to shine a light on the critical issues and community voices that shape our Valley.
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Todos los días durante los dos últimos meses, Irene Wittrock, residente de Rifle, ha estado trabajando con la organización local sin fines de lucro Voces Unidas en el Third Street Center de Carbondale, atendiendo las necesidades de los recién llegados al refugio temporal para refugiados de la ciudad.
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Every day for the last two months, Rifle resident Irene Wittrock has been working with local nonprofit Voces Unidas at the Third Street Center in Carbondale, seeing to the needs of new arrivals in the town’s only temporary shelter.
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In the final installment of a three-part series, Edwin talks about caring for his sick family in Venezuela and looking for better economic opportunities in the U.S. He is part of a group of over a hundred migrants who arrived in the Roaring Fork Valley in the fall of 2023.
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En la última entrega de una serie de tres partes, Edwin habla sobre el mantener a su familia enferma en Venezuela y la búsqueda de mejores oportunidades económicas en los Estados Unidos. Él es parte de un grupo de más de un centenar de inmigrantes que llegaron al Valle Roaring Fork en el otoño del 2023.
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In the second of a three-part series, Libia talks about traveling to the U.S., where she’s helping her girlfriend care for three children. She's part of a group of over a hundred migrants who arrived in the Roaring Fork Valley in the fall of 2023.
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En la segunda de una serie de tres partes, Libia habla sobre su viaje a Estados Unidos, donde ayuda a su novia a cuidar de tres niños. Ella forma parte de un grupo de más de cien inmigrantes que llegaron al valle Roaring Fork en otoño del 2023.
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In the first of a three-part series, Asdrúbal talks about leaving his home and family in Venezuela and making the long journey to Carbondale. He’s part of a group of over a hundred migrants, mostly from Venezuela, who have arrived in the Roaring Fork Valley in recent months.
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En la primera de una serie de tres partes, Asdrúbal habla de cómo dejó su hogar y su familia en Venezuela y emprendió el largo viaje hasta Carbondale. El forma parte de un grupo de más de cien inmigrantes, en su mayoría venezolanos, que han llegado al valle de Roaring Fork en los últimos meses.
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The town has been awarded $223,880 in state emergency funding it requested for winter shelter and other efforts to support over 100 migrants, mostly from Venezuela, who arrived in the valley over the past few months.
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Wildlife officials reintroduced the first five wolves on public lands in Colorado this week after voters narrowly approved a statewide ballot initiative in 2020. Colorado Public Radio’s Sam Brasch shares what it was like to be on the ground when the wolves were released in Grand County on Monday, and what happens next.