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February 15th, 2019

lwcfcoalition.com

Listen to the full show here.

Water Conservation Fund Bill Passes Senate But Remains In Limbo

This week the U.S. Senate passed a sweeping and historic bill that would make the Land and Water Conservation Fund permanent. A feat many hunters and fisherman, along with environmentalists, had thought was impossible after the GOP allowed it to lapse last year.

Retired Wyoming Game And Fish Director Reflects On Career

Wyoming Game and Fish Director Scott Talbott has retired after 35 years in the department. He was appointed director in 2011. During his tenure, wolves were taken off Endangered Species Act protections and guided the department towards adopting a new strategic plan. Wyoming Public Radio’s Kamila Kudelska asks Talbott what his greatest achievement as director is.

Veteran Senator Eli Bebout Discusses Budgets, Revenue, And Education

Wyoming Senator Eli Bebout is finishing his 12th legislative session in the Senate after 14 years in the House. He was first elected as a Democrat from Fremont County in 1986. A few years later he changed to the Republican party and became Speaker of the House. He later became the Republican nominee for Governor and was appointed to the Senate to fill the term of the late Bob Peck. Bebout recently served as Senate President making him the only person to be both Speaker of the House and Senate President. For the second time in his career he is serving as the Senate Appropriations Chairman. He joins Wyoming Public Radio’s Bob Beck to discuss his hard-line stance on spending and what’s behind his focus on education spending. 

UW Warns Against Federal Changes To Sexual Misconduct Guidelines

Two years ago this February, University of Wyoming President Laurie Nichols launched a sexual misconduct task force. This fall the group released a five-year strategic plan that calls for changes like more bystander intervention training and increased support for survivors. Those efforts have been complicated by proposed changes to federal guidelines brought forward by U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. Wyoming Public Radio’s education reporter Tennessee Watson sat down with Sean Blackburn, the UW vice president of student affairs, to check in on the process. 

Is A Wyoming Law For Undocumented Workers Making Workplaces More Dangerous?

The rates of people hurt or killed on the job in Wyoming are higher than in any other state and many of those workers are Latino. Nationally, Latinos suffer workplace accidents more than any other group. But as Wyoming Public Radio’s Melodie Edwards found out, an obscure law on Wyoming’s books means undocumented workers rarely get compensation when they get hurt and that could be making workplaces more dangerous for everyone.

Reporting Collaboration Tackles Worker's Compensation For Undocumented Immigrants

Allie Gross of the Jackson Hole News and Guide and Melodie Edwards of Wyoming Public Radio collaborated on a story about worker's compensation for undocumented immigrants. They joined Wyoming Public Radio's Caroline Ballard to discuss why they decided to co-produce this story.

Campbell County Plans On Expanding Dual-Language Program

The idea of learning two languages at a young age is growing in popularity. The benefits are wide-ranging, from being more culturally aware to eventually being more competitive in a global economy. In Wyoming, four school districts have dual language immersion programs. In Campbell County, school officials are looking to expand their program after an explosion in interest. Wyoming Public Radio’s Catherine Wheeler takes a deep dive.

Acclaimed Mexican-American Writer Comes To Laramie

Luis Alberto Urrea has written 16 books, including the novel The Hummingbird's Daughter, and the nonfiction book The Devil's Highway, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Urrea will give a talk at the Gateway Center in Laramie on Tuesday, February 19, at 7 p.m.

Wyoming Public Radio's Erin Jones talked with Urrea about family, the border, and the story of how he came to write his latest novel, House of Broken Angels.

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.
Catherine Wheeler comes to Wyoming from Kansas City, Missouri. She has worked at public media stations in Missouri and on the Vox podcast "Today, Explained." Catherine graduated from Fort Lewis College with a BA in English. She recently received her master in journalism from the University of Missouri. Catherine enjoys cooking, looming, reading and the outdoors.
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.
Kamila has worked for public radio stations in California, New York, France and Poland. Originally from New York City, she loves exploring new places. Kamila received her master in journalism from Columbia University. In her spare time, she enjoys exploring the surrounding areas with her two pups and husband.
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.