KRTP (Alpine, TX)

3 days ago | marfapublicradio.org | Travis Bubenik

Firefighters were responding Sunday to a small wildfire in the Davis Mountains Resort, a rugged residential subdivision in the mountains of Jeff Davis County. As of Sunday morning, the Texas A&M Forest Service reported the fire’s size as just 3 acres with 10% contained. Location data from the forest service showed the fire burning to the west of the subdivision’s main area of roads and homes.

1 week ago | marfapublicradio.org | Lauren McGaughy

SpaceX just got a lot closer to launching more rockets from its base in South Texas. The Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday said there would be no significant impact to the environment if SpaceX increases launches at its Starbase facility from five to 25 times a year — as long as the company takes additional steps to protect the local area. The information was issued in what's called a "final tiered environmental assessment," an in-depth look into the request's potential effects.

2 weeks ago | marfapublicradio.org | Andrew Stuart

A hawk’s scream, a coyote’s yipping cries, a chorus of spadefoot toads after a summer rain, the bittersweet song of a Cassin’s sparrow – for someone setting out to create a sonic tableau of West Texas, these would be no-brainers. But there’s another animal sound that belongs on the list. Grasshopper mice are fierce, if diminutive, predators, that routinely dine on scorpions, centipedes and other venomous prey. And as they set out on their nightly hunts, they emit a long, piercing cry.

2 weeks ago | marfapublicradio.org | Travis Bubenik

The start of a multi-year project to tear down and rebuild the Chisos Mountains Lodge at Big Bend National Park has been delayed once again and is now set to begin in August. The updated timeline was recently posted on the park’s website. The $22 million project — which is expected to take at least two years — was originally slated to begin this May and was previously pushed back to July.

3 weeks ago | marfapublicradio.org | Travis Bubenik

Dear listeners,I’m writing to you today with a heavy heart. Last week, we were saddened to hear of the passing of one of our longtime volunteer music program hosts, the inimitable John Paul “J.P.” Schwartz, known for years on the West Texas airwaves by his DJ moniker “Doc Cactus.”According to an obituary shared with Marfa Public Radio, J.P. died unexpectedly at his home in Cornwall, England, on April 14, 2025.