Regan Mertz
Arts & Culture ReporterRegan is a journalist for Aspen Public Radio’s Arts & Culture Desk. Regan moved to the Roaring Fork Valley in July 2024 for a job as a reporter at The Aspen Times. While she had never been to Colorado before moving for the job, Regan has now lived in ten different states due to growing up an Army brat. She considers Missouri home, and before moving West, she lived there and worked at a TV station.
Regan graduated from the Jonathan B. Murray Center for Documentary Journalism, earning a Master of Arts in Documentary and Photojournalism in December 2022. She received her Bachelor of Journalism in Radio and Convergence Journalism from the University of Missouri School of Journalism in May 2021. Throughout college, Regan worked at every Missouri School of Journalism publication, including the local NPR station.
She spent her summers working as a fellow for the Reynolds Journalism Institute, where she worked on a podcast with The Oregonian and audio stories for South Dakota Public Radio. She has also worked in Washington, D.C., at the Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival and Symposium and at the Library of Congress as a research assistant.
Regan is a White House Correspondents’ Association scholarship recipient and has won awards from the Missouri Broadcasters Association and a Missouri Press Association, along with receiving an Edward R. Murrow in 2021.
When not reporting, she enjoys trying out new hikes with her dog and reading with her cat. Regan is also learning to ski for the first time this winter.
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Kitty Boone, who previously worked at the Aspen Ideas Festival and Aspen Skiing Company, will be the next executive director at Aspen Film. Her first day was Oct. 1. -
The Snowmass Balloon Festival celebrated 50 years in September. Weather conditions and fire restrictions grounded balloons for the first two days of the festival, but balloons were eventually able to fly. -
Harvest for Hunter began in the town of Snowmass Village during the COVID-19 pandemic and has since expanded to Aspen and Basalt. The organization expects more clients this winter as seasonal employees arrive in the Roaring Fork Valley. -
Historicorps, a national nonprofit, brought employees and volunteers to Aspen in August and September to work on an old roadhouse and miner’s cabin. While at the site, the crew found old artifacts, including a coin dating back to the 1890s. -
The public transportation service would provide on-demand rides for passengers in Parachute, Battlement Mesa and Rifle and would function like Uber or Lyft, where community members can request rides with an app. -
On Monday, Carbondale’s Mountain Action Indivisible team organized a rally as part of a national movement called “Workers Over Billionaires.” The movement comes as unions push back against immigration raids, Medicaid cuts and the weakening of the National Labor Relations Board. -
If sold at the asking price, the home on Stillwater Road will be the most expensive single-family home ever sold in America. The property comes with a pre-approved permit for the construction of another 20,000 square foot home. -
Organizers cancelled the festival’s free community day Sunday after hearing concerns from community members. Other panels, screenings and celebrations will continue. -
Following an increase in outdoor recreation during the COVID-19 pandemic, Roaring Fork Outdoor Volunteers ramped up their services. Funding and personnel cuts to federal agencies have exacerbated that pressure. Executive Director Becca Schild spoke with Arts & Culture Reporter Regan Mertz about what staff and volunteers are doing to ensure the backcountry is safe. -
Summertime in Aspen has long been a cultural destination with Aspen Institute events like Aspen Ideas Festival, Aspen Security Forum and the Aspen Music Festival and School. A new event is joining the lineup and trying to set itself apart.
