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 the Southwest.
-
Flagstaff police have closed an investigation into allegations that a Flagstaff man had adopted, abused and killed cats.
-
The mayor of the Town of Tusayan has declared an emergency after this week’s flash flooding. A major monsoon storm triggered nearly three feet of water to rush through the heart of the community.
-
This weekend federal officials will begin another round of chemical treatments in the Colorado River meant to remove invasive fish. But environmentalists want more to be done to protect native species.
-
Tribal leaders are praising President Joe Biden’s designation of a million-acre national monument near Grand Canyon National Park. Representatives of more than a dozen tribes were on hand Tuesday when he signed the proclamation.
-
President Joe Biden has designated a nearly million-acre national monument near Grand Canyon National Park. It permanently bans new uranium mining in an area that holds spiritual and cultural significance to more than a dozen tribes in the region.
-
President Joe Biden today will announce his declaration of a nearly million-acre national monument near Grand Canyon National Park. The designation will make permanent a 2012 ban on new uranium mining claims in the area.
-
The new national monument that President Biden is designating in Arizona today comes after Native nations advocated for decades to protect the area
-
Results of a new statewide poll show high levels of support for the proposed Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument.
-
Arizona Democrats worry that the expanded universal school voucher system could be on track to bankrupt the state. A new memo released by Governor Katie Hobbs’ office this week says it could cost Arizona nearly $1 billion.
-
For more than two decades, Old Crow Medicine show has been a bona-fide institution in the traditional music world. But their appeal has expanded well into the mainstream, partially due to their modern-day classic song “Wagon Wheel” that’s been covered the world over. In the latest installment of KNAU’s series Eats and Beats, we hear from Old Crow’s leader Ketch Secor about the unifying power of folk music and its raw, visceral energy that transcends generations.