© 2024 Wyoming Public Media
800-729-5897 | 307-766-4240
Wyoming Public Media is a service of the University of Wyoming
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Transmission & Streaming Disruptions

September 6th, 2019

Cooper McKim

Listen to the full show here.

Furloughed Miners Struggle To Find Work Despite Strong Market

It’s been two months since coal company Blackjewel filed for bankruptcy. The move put more than 1500 miners out of a job in Wyoming and across Appalachia… many are still struggling to find work. It turns out that struggle isn’t just about the job market. Wyoming Public Radio’s Cooper McKim reports.

Northwest College Introduces New Programs To Combat Decreasing Enrollment

Nationally community college enrollments have been declining in the past couple of years. Wyoming is no exception. In Powell, Northwest College enrollment is among the lowest in the state. So the college is looking at some new degree programs to try to turn things around. Wyoming Public Radio’s Kamila Kudelska reports that includes a conservation law enforcement degree. 

How The CSI Of The Mountain West Solves Wildlife Attack Cases

In May, a hiker in Colorado was attacked by a black bear. She lived to tell the tale, but what about the bear? Did wildlife managers track it down and figure out why it was attacking humans? As Wyoming Public Radio’s Maggie Mullen reports that’s where one very unique forensics lab in our state enters the story.

"I Wouldn't Change A Thing About Wyoming"

Recent Torrington High School graduates Quentin Meyer and Ryan Walson love Wyoming as it is. For our "Belonging" series, the childhood friends sat down to reflect on the agriculture and stories that pull them to stay while acknowledging the career possibilities that may draw their lives outside of the state they hold dear.

Can Prescribed Fires Be The Answer To Wildfires?

A recent study says the American West should be doing more prescribed burns to keep forests healthy and to help lessen the impacts of wildfires across our region. It also concluded that there needs to be a change in how we perceive the practice out here for that to happen. Our Mountain West News Bureau’s Noah Glick has more.

Countering Hate Speech In Wyoming Up To Individuals, Not Police

We usually don’t think of the Mountain West as a haven for white supremacy but the Anti-Defamation league recently found that the region is responsible for ten percent of all White Supremacy propaganda…even though there is just five percent of the population here.  The foothold racism and other bigotry have in Wyoming inspired one Laramie man to begin documenting hate filled comments he’s found on-line in his community.  Wyoming Public Radio’s Jeff Victor has more. 

WYDOT Shares Its Planned 2020 Projects

The Wyoming Department of Transportation is currently working on its master plan that would cover the department's vision for the next five years. But in the meantime, WYDOT has released its list of the projects it wants to tackle in 2020. Wyoming Public Radio's Catherine Wheeler spoke with WYDOT director Luke Reiner about how the State Transportation Improvement Plan shows how the department is struggling with a lack of funding.

The Wind River Reservation's Role In The Movement For Tribal Educational

Going to school might seem an ordinary rite of passage for children, but in Indian Country, school it has long meant assimilation and discrimination. It's why, back in the 1950's, the two tribes on the Wind River Reservation began the arduous process of starting their own school.

A new book called Sovereign Schools: How Shoshones and Arapahos Created a High School On the Wind River Reservationchronicles the trials and tribulations of making that dream a reality.

Audio Postcard: Prairie Chicken Dancers Strut Their Stuff At Northern Arapaho Powwow

Governor Mark Gordon signed an executive order last month expanding protections for sage grouse in Wyoming. Meanwhile, some young men at the Northern Arapaho Powwow were borrowing some of the bird's dance moves. Wyoming Public Radio's Savannah Maher spoke with four dancers competing in the Prairie Chicken dance category.

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.
Before Wyoming, Cooper McKim has reported for NPR stations in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and South Carolina. He's reported breaking news segments and features for several national NPR news programs. Cooper is the host of the limited podcast series Carbon Valley. Cooper studied Environmental Policy and Music. He's an avid jazz piano player, backpacker, and podcast listener.
Jeff is a part-time reporter for Wyoming Public Media, as well as the owner and editor of the Laramie Reporter, a free online news source providing in-depth and investigative coverage of local events and trends.
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.
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.
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.
Noah Glick is from the small town of Auburn, Indiana and comes to KUNR from the Bay Area, where he spent his post-college years learning to ride his bike up huge hills. He’s always had a love for radio, but his true passion for public radio began when he discovered KQED in San Francisco. Along with a drive to discover the truth and a degree in Journalism from Ball State University, he hopes to bring a fresh perspective to local news coverage.
Savannah comes to Wyoming Public Media from NPR’s midday show Here & Now, where her work explored everything from Native peoples’ fraught relationship with American elections to the erosion of press freedoms for tribal media outlets. A proud citizen of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe, she’s excited to get to know the people of the Wind River reservation and dig into the stories that matter to them.
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.