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Ryan Heinsius
News Director & Managing EditorRyan Heinsius joined the KNAU newsroom as executive producer in 2013 and was named news director and managing editor in 2024. As a reporter, he has covered a broad range of stories from local, state and tribal politics to education, economy, energy and public lands issues, and frequently interviews internationally known and regional musicians. Ryan is an Edward R. Murrow Award winner and a Public Media Journalists Association Award winner, and a frequent contributor to NPR's Morning Edition, All Things Considered and national newscast.
Before making the leap to public radio, Ryan spent more than a decade in print media as the editor of an alternative weekly paper. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Northern Arizona University in political science and journalism and has also returned to teach at his alma mater.
Ryan is a Flagstaff-based musician and has performed and recorded with many bands in the Southwest. He spends as much time as possible with his family hiking, running and cycling the amazing terrain of northern Arizona and beyond.
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Leaders of three northern Arizona tribes advocated for a comprehensive water rights settlement this week in Washington D.C.
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Flagstaff Mayor Becky Daggett has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris amid a wave of Democratic support following President Joe Biden's decision to step down from his reelection campaign.
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A signing ceremony was held Wednesday in Phoenix for a sweeping water rights settlement that has been decades in the making. Leaders of the Navajo Nation, Hopi Tribe and others called the agreement “historical.”
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U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland spoke at a Women for Biden-Harris event in Flagstaff Friday ahead of the second anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe versus Wade.
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More than a dozen people are confirmed to have contracted an unnamed gastrointestinal illness on the Havasupai reservation. It follows several recent social media posts saying numerous people were sickened while camping at the tribe’s iconic waterfalls.
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Hot and dry conditions are set to continue throughout the region, and with that comes the growing threat wildfire. Firefighters have already responded to numerous blazes amid northern Arizona’s traditional fire season.
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A key U.S. Senate committee has unanimously approved a broad set of initiatives to help shore up flood and drought resistance in northern Arizona as part of a larger water bill.
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Fire managers on the Coconino National Forest conducted a third and final day of a 4,600-acre prescribed burn project about five miles south of Flagstaff Friday.
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Researchers at the University of New Mexico say uranium mining near the Grand Canyon could pose a greater threat to groundwater than previously shown and are calling for a halt in mining operations.
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Federal energy regulators have denied a key permit for a proposed hydro-storage project on the Navajo Nation. The controversial plan was slated for an environmentally and culturally sensitive area near the Little Colorado River.