Aspen Public Radio announced two changes in the local newsroom this week with Sage Smiley taking the reins as News Director, following the departure of Halle Zander, and Regan Mertz taking Smiley’s place as the local host of All Things Considered, following two years serving as the station’s Arts & Culture Desk reporter. When not on the air live, Mertz will become the station’s first Senior Reporter, working to address current gaps in the local newsroom’s reporting capacity.
Sage Smiley arrived at Aspen Public Radio in January 2026, after spending two years managing the newsroom at KYUK Public Media in Bethel, Alaska. Smiley traveled to New York City in early October to accept a national Edward R. Murrow award for best Continuing Coverage in 2025 on behalf of her former station, beating out Aspen Public Radio in the same category.
“It’s an honor to take the lead of the vibrant Aspen Public Radio newsroom,” Smiley said. “I’m excited to support our journalists as we continue the work of amplifying the voices of the Roaring Fork and Colorado River valleys.”
Regan Mertz joined the station in January 2025, after moving to the Roaring Fork Valley the previous summer to report for The Aspen Times. During her years as the Arts & Culture Desk reporter for the station, Mertz published over 115 digital stories, including dozens of stories for the ongoing “On the Ground” nonprofit spotlight series, alongside producing daily newscast content, moderating community events, and providing local government coverage as needed. She has also secured national placement on NPR for six of her stories so far in 2026, bringing her reporting on the Ziegler Reservoir dig, Snow League results, Alex Ferreria’s Olympic success, and the efforts of ACES’ annual bird count to millions across the country.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to bring the latest news to our listeners every weekday,” Mertz said. “I’m also thrilled to be able to do more in-depth reporting on topics that are important to our listeners.”
Sage Smiley will now lead Aspen Public Radio’s award-winning newsroom, which includes All Things Considered host and Senior Reporter Regan Mertz, Women’s Desk Reporter Hannah Weaver, Morning Edition host and Education Reporter Vic Vela, Social Justice Desk Reporter Eleanor Bennett, and Aspen Daily News reporters Lucy Peterson and Drew Shaw, who also report for the radio station. The station has hired a new Climate Reporter to begin in November 2026, and will be hiring a new Arts & Culture Reporter by January 2027.
Aspen Public Radio broadcasts local newscasts and radio features from 6-9 a.m. and 4-6 p.m., Monday through Friday, within national programming; produces a daily local news podcast available each morning; and publishes daily to aspenpublicradio.org.
You can learn more about the Aspen Public Radio team here.
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Aspen Public Radio is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization with the mission to support, nourish, and enrich our community by providing informative, entertaining, and educational radio and digital programming in a reliable and professional manner. Founded in 1980 as Roaring Fork Public Radio Translator, broadcasting from Sy Coleman’s living room in 1981, Aspen Public Radio has now grown into one of the most relied upon news institutions in the Roaring Fork Valley. The station is located in the Red Brick Center for the Arts at 110 E. Hallam Street, Suite 134, Aspen, Colorado.
You can listen to Aspen Public Radio at 91.5FM and 88.9FM, along with other repeater signals depending on location throughout the Roaring Fork Valley, or by streaming the station at aspenpublicradio.org from anywhere in the world.