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August 28th, 2015

Melodie Edwards

Listen to the full show here.

Unique Program Delivers Emergency Care In Person To Native Victims Of Sexual Assault

By some estimates, sexual assault on U.S. Indian reservations is the worst in the world with one in three Native women assaulted during their lifetime. Unbelievably, it’s higher even than war-torn Serbia or the Republic of Congo. And the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming is no exception. It’s the kind of big issue that would normally scare most people away. But not nine courageous women at Wind River Reservation who are trying a totally new approach...delivering emergency care in person. Melodie Edwards has more.  

Should We Put Kids On The Sex Offender Registry?

A decade ago a federal law created a national sex offender registry, and required each state to update it regularly. Most people associate those registries with adults, but the “Adam Walsh Act” also mandated the creation of registries for children found guilty of sex crimes. Recently the practice of putting minors on sex offender registries has come under scrutiny. Here in Wyoming, state officials are debating whether to change the system. But as Wyoming Public Radio’s Miles Bryan reports,there aren’t easy answers.

Teens Learn Art of Design, Retooling Library Space

Staying globally competitive by teaching future generations of workers how to innovate is a national concern. At Jackson Hole High School, a new program is teaching students the skills they will need to be innovators by assigning them real problems to solve.  

UW Cultural Programs Sets Schedule Of Diversity And World Music

Late next month the fall 2015 season of Cultural Programs at the University of Wyoming will get underway with a September 29th performance of Huun Huur Tu, Tuvan throat singers. It’s an extremely diverse schedule that wraps up in April. University of Wyoming Director of Cultural Programs and Director of Fine Arts Outreach Janelle Fletcher told Bob Beck that they are doing some new things.  

Wyoming Outdoor Council Rep. Weighs In On Report That Ozone Levels In Pinedale Are Down

Four years ago Ozone in the Pinedale area was compared to that of Los Angeles. The culprit was enhanced energy development in the Upper Green River basin. The area was listed by the Environmental Protection Agency as a non-attainment area for ozone pollution under the federal Clean Air Act. But this week the EPA said that efforts to reduce those levels to healthier standards have worked. Wyoming Outdoor Council Chief Legal Counsel Bruce Pendery has been closely following the issue. He tells Bob Beck that the response to the problem was excellent.  

Wyoming Elderly Tough It Out Even As Younger Generations Migrate Away

These days, most rural communities in the U.S. are elderly communities. 15 percent of Wyoming’s population is over 65 and a high percentage of them live on ranches and in small towns. But with younger generations leaving the ranch for more urban jobs, there are few staying behind to take care of their elders. They could move to nursing homes, but many of Wyoming’s seniors are often insistent--they want to stay home, even if it means a snowmobile ride out in the winter.

Jackson Housing Market Puts Squeeze OnTeachers

Housing in Jackson is a problem for seasonal and low-income workers. But, increasingly, it’s also a problem for middle-income earners. Among them, some vital occupations—like teachers. Wyoming Public Radio’s Aaron Schrank reports on Teton County School District’s struggle to recruit and retain top educators.

Wyoming Looks For Its Running Game To Dominate

For the most part, 2014 was a tough year for the University of Wyoming football team. The Cowboys finished with only four wins and eight losses. But the while the team enters this season with a few question marks, how will its new quarterback fair? Will a revamped defense and offensive line be able to make the necessary improvements? Will the kicking game be better? But one area they feel pretty good about is the fact that they have two amazing running backs in senior Shaun Wick and sophomore Brian Hill. 

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.
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.
A multi-media journalist, Rebecca Huntington is a regular contributor to Wyoming Public Radio. She has reported on a variety of topics ranging from the National Parks, wildlife, environment, health care, education and business. She recently co-wrote the one-hour, high-definition documentary, The Stagecoach Bar: An American Crossroads, which premiered in 2012. She also works at another hub for community interactions, the Teton County Library where she is a Communications and Digital Media Specialist. She reported for daily and weekly newspapers in Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon and Wyoming for more than a decade before becoming a multi-media journalist. She completed a Ted Scripps Fellowship in Environmental Journalism at the University of Colorado in 2002. She has written and produced video news stories for the PBS series This American Land (thisamericanland.org) and for Assignment Earth, broadcast on Yahoo! News and NBC affiliates. In 2009, she traveled to Guatemala to produce a series of videos on sustainable agriculture, tourism and forestry and to Peru to report on the impacts of extractive industries on local communities.