Wyoming Lawmakers Still Working On Trumpcare
Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney helped her party pass a historic bill to unwind Obamacare this week, but its chances of passage in the Senate remain far from certain. Matt Laslo has the story from Washington.
The Casper Police Department, Under Scrutiny And Investigation
UPDATE: Shortly after this story originally aired, Interim City Manager Liz Becher announced that Police Chief Jim Wetzel will no longer serve in that role. According to the press release, “the City of Casper has decided to go in a new direction in the leadership of the Casper Police department.”
Over the last several months, there have been growing concerns about the Casper Police Department. First, female residents said their sexual assault cases were mishandled. Then, a third party survey revealed low morale amongst police officers and potential leadership problems. Now, Casper awaits the results of multiple investigations.
Are Humanities Core To The Land Grant University Mission?
As the University of Wyoming faces steep budget cuts, the university community is revisiting which programs are core to the land grant mission. To a lot of people, it feels like the humanities are at odds with the sciences, and both of them are at odds with applied disciplines. But one English professor has taken a look at the history of the land grant university, and found that none of that is quite true. Wyoming Public Radio’s Erin Jones reports.
Documentary Follows First Year Of Innovative Greenhouse
Vertical Harvest is finishing up its first year of operation. The hydroponic, or soil-less, greenhouse is located in downtown Jackson, and not only provides locally grown produce, but also employs 15 people with intellectual and physical disabilities. There to document the experiment in food production and innovative employment was filmmaker Jennifer Tennican. Tennican joined Wyoming Public Radio’s Caroline Ballard near the end of principal filming for her documentary “Hearts of Glass,” and says she was drawn to the project because of Vertical Harvest’s unique community.
UW Not As One-Sided On Campus Carry As Perceived
Wyoming Senator Anthony Bouchard has gotten his share of media attention over the last month for a tense exchange with three University of Wyoming students and a professor. It was over a project about how African-American males are perceived as dangerous. Since then Senator Bouchard has publicly critiqued the University for its perceived liberal slant and pervasive anti-gun agenda. Wyoming Public Radio’s education reporter, Tennessee Watson, reports.
Remembrance Day Raises Awareness About Violence Against Native Women
July 3, 2013, 21-year-old Northern Cheyenne member Hannah Harris left her baby with her mom and went out. Hours later, she still hadn’t come back to breastfeed her child. The police investigation was slow to start a search and the family was forced to rely on word of mouth and social media. Still, it was five days before Harris was found…brutally beaten and raped, her body thrown in a ditch. But such stories are NOT rare in tribal communities. Native women are ten times more likely to be murdered than the national average, according to a Department of Justice report. That’s why the U-S Senate recently passed a resolution recognizing May 5 as the “National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls”. Wyoming Public Radio’s Melodie Edwards spoke with Carmen O’Leary, director of the Native Women’s Society of the Great Plains, about her group’s efforts to stop the violence.
Wyoming Will Manage Wolves…Again
Wyoming is taking over wolf management, again. A federal appeals court has entered its final order upholding Wyoming’s wolf management plan. So, the state will pick up where it left off five years ago, and wolves outside a protected area can be shot on site. Penny Preston reports.
Bringing History To Life In Film And On The Page
The era of the mountain man was brief—the high point of the Rocky Mountain beaver fur trade was between 1820 and 1840. But the period still holds fascination today. Clay Landry has written extensively on the subject. He’ll be speaking on non-fiction writing at next month’s Wyoming Writers Conference. As Landry told Wyoming Public Radio’s Micah Schweizer, he recently served as a historical advisor for the film “The Revenant.” The movie tells the story of Hugh Glass, who was left for dead after being mauled by a grizzly bear…and who then hunted down his former companions in revenge. Landry’s job on the set was to get the actors into the mindset of a 19th century fur trapper.
