Heidi Kyser
Managing EditorDesert Companion welcomed Heidi Kyser as staff writer in January 2014. In 2018, she became senior writer and producer, working for both DC and KNPR's State of Nevada. She produced KNPR’s first podcast, the Edward R. Murrow Regional Award-winning Native Nevada, in 2020. The following year, she returned her focus full-time to Desert Companion, becoming Deputy Editor, which meant she was next in line to take over when longtime editor Andrew Kiraly left in July 2022. In 2024, CEO Favian Perez promoted Heidi to managing editor, charging her with integrating the Desert Companion and State of Nevada newsrooms.
In her 20 years as a print and on-air journalist, Heidi’s done it all, from news writing for weekly business magazines, to producing multimedia pieces for alt weeklies, winning a load of Eddie, Maggie, and Nevada Press Association awards along the way. She left academics after getting a master's degree from Harvard, so she could pursue research and writing with more immediacy.
When she’s not camping, hiking, riding her bike, or doing some other outdoor activity with her husband, Heidi is most likely to be found on a yoga mat, being spotted by her 100-pound pit bull Buster.
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When we say, "Las Vegas nightlife," what leaps to mind? If the first thing you think of is Drai's, Omnia, and Tao on the Strip, then you're missing out on all the locals’ options. -
For decades, downtown Las Vegas was the place to be if you were an artist. Now, that's changed. -
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Nevada's natural areas are being overrun. That’s been great for the state’s tourism industry, but not so good for the environment. -
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The recent addition of Andi Isaacs to UNLV Film faculty projects the department’s pragmatic turn -
Director of Cleveland Clinic’s Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health -
This suburban trail offers stunning views ... and the chance to up your stewardship game -
I’ll be honest: There was something I dreaded about taking the helm at Desert Companion a few months ago. It wasn’t the management meetings, board reports, HR paperwork, or even the stress of being responsible for the accuracy and appeal of every word in these pages. It was the annual Restaurant Awards. Don’t get me wrong, I love assigning and editing stories generally. But this specific story is not only Desert Companion’s signature service piece, but also an entire project that lives beyond our pages -
Fall feels like a break between seasons in our city, where it follows the hot mess of summer and precedes the frenetic cheer of the holidays. Philosophers of yoga write about the second between the inhale and exhale as the moment when the good stuff happens — though the entire breath requires attention for the process to work
