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June 5th, 2015

Melodie Edwards

    

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.

How Electronic Medical Records Fuelled The Return Of A 3,000 Year Old Profession

If you want to give your doctor a headache, just say the words “electronic medical records.” Hospitals across the country have been putting in electronic record systems over the past few years to comply with new federal regulations. They’re supposed to be an upgrade, but using these systems feels more like Windows 95 than an iphone. At the Cheyenne Regional Medical Center here in Wyoming that’s helped fuel the return of a very old profession: the scribe. 

Rule Could Cause Problems For Wyoming Sheep Producers

Last Monday saw the close of the public comment period concerning a proposed rule put forth by the U.S. Department of Labor that could cause serious harm to Wyoming’s sheep industry. Currently, most sheep herders in Wyoming are foreign and hold what are called H-2A visas. Under those visas, they are required to be paid $750-dollars a month and be provided room and board.

INSIDE ENERGY: Keeping Lights On Key Issue In Coal Vs. Renewable Battle

The Environmental Protection Agency is putting the finishing touches on its Clean Power Plan to reduce carbon emissions, but warnings against it are getting louder.

Many who deal in the energy sector- grid operators, lawmakers, and especially the coal industry- are piling on to the idea that transitioning away from coal to renewables and natural gas will destabilize our power grid. In the latest installment on our series Blackout, Reinventing the grid, Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson reports. 

INSIDE ENERGY: Fort Collins: The Utility Of The Future?

Our electricity system is changing rapidly around us. New sources of renewable power are meeting technologies that can crunch unprecedented amounts of data.  It’s all leading to a major shakeup for how utilities do business.

On A Tiny Danish Island: Making Electricity Demand Meet Supply

Denmark gets some 40 percent of its power from wind energy...but it’s aiming for even more. In order to do that, it’s going to have to shake up the traditional relationship between electricity supply and demand. And as Stephanie Joyce reports in this latest installment of the Inside Energy series Blackout: Reinventing the Grid, the country is looking to a tiny island in the middle of the Baltic Sea for guidance.

Author Remembers The Yellowstone Fires

In 1988 much of Yellowstone National Park was engulfed in flames. At the time a young employee and budding photographer named Jeff Henry was asked to take photos of the fire.

Over 25 years later Henry has written a book about the fires that includes numerous photographs that he took on the front lines. The book is called The Year Yellowstone Burned: A25 Year Perspective. Henry joins us and recalls how politicians and others were critical of the Parks approach to the fires. 

 

Laramie Teen Turns To Marvel Superpowers For Victory

As another Marvel Comics-inspired movie dominates the box office, a Wyoming teen has tapped into the franchise’s superpowers for a triumph of her own. The team of superheroes, the Avengers, probably needs no introduction. And neither does the mastermind behind those characters—Stan Lee. For Marvel Comics fans, he’s the ultimate superhero.

Pete And Lynne Simpson To Star In "On Golden Pond"

Pete and Lynne Simpson have spent many years performing across Wyoming. This summer, they’re in Laramie for what they say is their own version of summer theater camp - the Snowy Range Summer Theater Festival.

The two are starring in the play “On Golden Pond,” which opens Tuesday, June 9th at the Buchanan Center For The Arts, and features an older couple dealing with family, generational divides, and the tribulations of growing older. Wyoming Public Radio’s Caroline Ballard spoke with the Simpsons, who say they suggested doing the show to director Lee Hodgson years ago. 

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.
Dan Boyce moved to the Inside Energy team at Rocky Mountain PBS in 2014, after five years of television and radio reporting in his home state of Montana. In his most recent role as Montana Public Radio’s Capitol Bureau Chief, Dan produced daily stories on state politics and government.
Email: lpaterson@insideenergy.org; leighpaterson@rmpbs.org
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.