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February 10th, 2017

Bob Beck

Listen to the full show here.

Education Bills Have Different Missions

A downturn in the energy economy has caused a crisis in Wyoming education funding. K-12 funding is projected to see a $400 million shortfall at the end of the current two year budget cycle. That deficit will grow if lawmakers can’t find a way to address the shortfall. Wyoming Public Radio’s Bob Beck reports that the House and Senate are taking different approaches towards solving the problem.

UW Students Propose Conservation Not Just Cuts

The state’s budget deficit has forced the University of Wyoming to reduce spending. Dr. Anne Alexander, Associate Vice President for Undergraduate Education, says at this point every possible thing that’s “discretionary” has been cut. But there are folks on campus who think energy conservation should have a more prominent role in cost saving measures.  Wyoming Public Radio education reporter Tennessee Watson spoke with Meghann Cranford, Student chair of the Sustainability Coalition, about the effort. 

Unlikely Allies Tackle Mystery Of Wyoming Gender Wage Gap

State Representatives Marti Halverson and Cathy Connolly are unlikely allies. Halverson has been a supporter of religious rights bills in the past…while Connolly is the state’s only openly gay lawmaker. But there’s one thing they do agree on…the need for an in-depth study Wyoming’s gender wage gap which reports say is the worst in the nation. As part of our new series called, “I Respectfully Disagree,” I sat down with both of them to hear how they came to co-sponsor a bill. Representative Connolly explained she knew she had to do something when yet another report came out proclaiming Wyoming as the worst gender wage gap in the U.S.

Wyoming State Board of Education Turns 100

The Wyoming State Board of Education was born 100 years ago during the 1917 Legislative Session. Wyoming Public Radio’s education reporter Tennessee Watson invited Pete Gosar to reflect on the history of the board, and his final months as board chair. Appointees only get to serve one term, and Gosar says that’s part of what makes the State Board of Education an effective institution.

Senator Barrasso At Center Of Debate Over Infrastructure

Wyoming’s junior senator, John Barrasso, is now chairman of the committee tasked with crafting President Donald Trump’s call for a massive infrastructure proposal. Trump wants to rebuild roads, bridges, railways and airports across the country.  This could be good news for a lot of Wyoming drivers, but Correspondent Matt Laslo reports that Barrasso is being pulled in a thousand different directions.

If Travel Ban Sticks, Few Options Left For UW Students

44 of the University of Wyoming’s students come from the seven different countries included in President Donald Trump’s travel suspension. The executive order is now in the midst of what will likely be a long, legal battle. Until the situation gets resolved, University President Laurie Nichols has discouraged the impacted students from traveling outside the U.S. As Wyoming Public Radio’s Maggie Mullen reports, if it sticks many of the students are now left with limited options and hard choices. 

"I Believe In This Movement:" A Wyoming Water Protector Tells His Arrest Tale

As one of his first actions, President Trump signed an executive order granting his approval for the completion of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Then, on January 31, the Army Corp of Engineers announced they’d grant the final permit. The next day, about 100 protesters clashed with Morton County Police. 23-year-old Northern Arapaho member Micah Lott from Wyoming was among them and told Wyoming Public Radio’s Melodie Edwards the story of his arrest.

New Photography Book Tells Stories Of Japanese-Americans In WWII Incarceration Camps

A new book compiles government photos of Japanese-Americans in World War II incarceration camps…including Heart Mountain in Wyoming. For the first time, some of the people in the photos have been interviewed.  Those interviews are included in Un-American: The Incarceration of Japanese Americans During World War II.

As co-author Richard Cahan tells Wyoming Public Radio’s Erin Jones, camp conditions were poor.

National Museum Of Wildlife Art Curator Recipient Of Governor's Art Award

Adam Duncan Harris is the curator of art and research at the National Museum of Wildlife Art, and is a recipient of one of the 2017 Governor’s Art Awards. He sat down with Wyoming Public Radio’s Caroline Ballard to talk about his approach to managing the collection and the award. He says he didn’t get the news that he won quite in the way he expected.

Bob Beck retired from Wyoming Public Media after serving as News Director of Wyoming Public Radio for 34 years. During his time as News Director WPR has won over 100 national, regional and state news awards.
Erin Jones is Wyoming Public Radio's cultural affairs producer, as well as the host and senior producer of HumaNature. She began her audio career as an intern in the Wyoming Public Radio newsroom, and has reported on issues ranging from wild horse euthanization programs to the future of liberal arts in universities. Her audio work has been featured on WHYY Philadelphia’s The Pulse and the podcast Out There.
Maggie Mullen is Wyoming Public Radio's regional reporter with the Mountain West News Bureau. Her work has aired on NPR, Marketplace, Science Friday, and Here and Now. She was awarded a 2019 regional Edward R. Murrow Award for her story on the Black 14.
Based on Capitol Hill, Matt Laslo is a reporter who has been covering campaigns and every aspect of federal policy since 2006. While he has filed stories for NPR and more than 40 of its affiliates, he has also written for Rolling Stone, The Atlantic, Campaigns and Elections Magazine, The Daily Beast, The Chattanooga Times Free Press, The Guardian, The Omaha World-Herald, VICE News and Washingtonian Magazine.
Melodie Edwards is the host and producer of WPM's award-winning podcast The Modern West. Her Ghost Town(ing) series looks at rural despair and resilience through the lens of her hometown of Walden, Colorado. She has been a radio reporter at WPM since 2013, covering topics from wildlife to Native American issues to agriculture.
Tennessee -- despite what the name might make you think -- was born and raised in the Northeast. She most recently called Vermont home. For the last 15 years she's been making radio -- as a youth radio educator, documentary producer, and now reporter. Her work has aired on Reveal, The Heart, LatinoUSA, Across Women's Lives from PRI, and American RadioWorks. One of her ongoing creative projects is co-producing Wage/Working (a jukebox-based oral history project about workers and income inequality). When she's not reporting, Tennessee likes to go on exploratory running adventures with her mutt Murray.