Local News

As the impacts of human development and the climate crisis worsen, native plants and animals such as elk, deer and bighorn sheep are declining in our region. To identify what areas most need protection, a group of local stakeholders conducted a three-year biodiversity study of the nearly 1 million-acre Roaring Fork River watershed.

On Jan. 11, 1947, state and local politicians gathered to celebrate the first season of lift-served skiing on Aspen Mountain. And last Tuesday, a crowd at Willoughby Park formed to commemorate the 75th anniversary of that celebration. Photos from the event are posted here for the historical record.

The Aspen Skiing Co. celebrated its 75th anniversary on Tuesday. The company pegged the anniversary celebration to the official opening of Aspen Mountain’s original chairlifts, Lift One and Lift Two. That event was held Jan. 11, 1947. Tim Willoughby remembers how his uncle and father helped build the lifts, which began spinning Dec. 14, 1946.

Every year around this time, local residents join tens of thousands of people across the Western Hemisphere to record all the birds they encounter for the Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count. Aspen Public Radio joined the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies and the Roaring Fork Audubon Society for their counts on Dec. 18 and 19.

Fatima Flores, a junior at Aspen High School, stayed home Dec. 17 after nationwide threats of school shootings on TikTok put her family on alert.

The first cases of the omicron variant were detected in Pitkin and Garfield counties over the past week, and COVID-19 cases are on the rise as the Roaring Fork Valley heads into peak holiday season.

Our public lands are at the heart of what makes the Roaring Fork Valley a unique place, but many people face barriers to enjoying them. At the same time, climate change has arrived — and it’s not impacting everyone equally.

The Aspen City Council on Dec. 8 voted unanimously to pause most new short-term rental and residential development permits for six months.

Team Gleason and Challenge Aspen bring North Carolina resident Asia Jami, who has ALS, to Snowmass to learn how to ski.

Carollo Engineers' integrated water resource plan, which accounts for the effects of climate change and an increased population in Aspen, was presented to the City Council on Monday. Aspen Public Radio reporter Halle Zander sat down with Aspen Journalism’s managing editor, Heather Sackett, to discuss details of this plan.