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Childcare deserts, the Kelly Parcel, and more

A half dozen horses run through sagebrush with the Grand Teton mountains in the background.
Reed Mattison
/
REED MATTISON
A half dozen horses run through sagebrush with the Grand Teton mountains in the background.
Stories
Listen to the Full Show.
  • Today on the show, Gov. Mark Gordon is the latest guest on a show where the interview happens over a meal – and he finished his whole plate. A silent trend is affecting Wyoming’s economy: the steady decline of childcare providers. And some of the state’s rules could be making it worse. Spanish-speaking communities are vital in many Mountain West towns — and so is their need to access services and express themselves at public events. And our special series looking at the upcoming primary, The Road to Cheyenne. Those stories and more.

Caroline Llanes
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Chris Clements is a state government reporter for Wyoming Public Media based in Laramie. He came to WPM from KSJD Radio in Cortez, Colorado, where he reported on Indigenous affairs, drought, and local politics in the Four Corners region. Before that, he graduated with a degree in English (Creative Writing) from Arizona State University. Chris's news stories have been featured on NPR's Weekend Edition and hourly newscasts, as well as on WBUR's Here & Now and National Native News.
David Dudley is an award-winning journalist who has written for The Guardian, The Christian Science Monitor, High Country News, WyoFile, and the Wyoming Truth, among many others. David was a Guggenheim Crime in America Fellow at John Jay College from 2020-2023. During the past 10 years, David has covered city and state government, business, economics and public safety beats for various publications. He lives in Cheyenne with his family.
Leave a tip: Hanna.Merzbach@uwyo.edu
Hanna is the Mountain West News Bureau reporter based in Teton County.
Leave a tip: cuplinge@uwyo.edu
Jordan Uplinger was born in NJ but has traveled since 2013 for academic study and work in Oklahoma, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. He gained experience in a multitude of areas, including general aviation, video editing, and political science. In 2021, Jordan's travels brought him to find work with the Wyoming Conservation Corps as a member of Americorps. After a season with WCC, Jordan continued his Americorps service with the local non-profit, Feeding Laramie Valley. His deep interest in the national discourse on class, identity, American politics and the state of material conditions globally has led him to his internship and eventual employment with Wyoming Public Radio.
Leave a tip: medward9@uwyo.edu
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.
Leave a tip: nouelle1@uwyo.edu
Nicky has reported and edited for public radio stations in Montana and produced episodes for NPR's The Indicator podcast and Apple News In Conversation. Her award-winning series, SubSurface, dug into the economic, environmental and social impacts of a potential invasion of freshwater mussels in Montana's waterbodies. She traded New Hampshire's relatively short but rugged White Mountains for the Rockies over a decade ago. The skiing here is much better.