Madelyn Beck
Madelyn Beck is Boise State Public Radio's regional reporter with the Mountain West News Bureau. She's from Montana but has reported everywhere from North Dakota to Alaska to Washington, D.C. Her last few positions included covering energy resources in Wyoming and reporting on agriculture/rural life issues in Illinois.
Pre-journalism jobs include (but are not limited to): ranch hand for Icelandic horses, hotel laundress, large caliber brass shell sorter/inventory, salmon processor in Alaska and waitress for a murder mystery dinner theater.
-
Rattlesnakes have a bad reputation in the West, often seen as a deadly fiend that we'd be better off without. However, much like sharks, they rarely kill and often inspire more fear than warranted.
-
Nationwide deaths related to black market fentanyl pills are rising. Many victims are people who got hooked on pain pills following medical procedures.
-
Some churches have resumed in-person worship after months of the shutdown. But others have not started yet. Deciding whether and how to reopen churches is difficult for many communities.
-
Michael Bloomberg's presidential campaign is opening offices across the Mountain West in places where Democrats have rarely competed. The hiring has sucked up talent away from rival campaigns.
-
Major seed companies have a transparency problem. Farmers can't look up and compare prices for some seeds. Some have turned to co-ops and others to Silicon Valley to try to disrupt the practice.
-
The U.S. trade war with China has cost farmers billions. Government bailouts have helped keep many farms solvent, but thoughts are turning to this year's planting season.
-
Neighbors often complain about the smell of massive animal farms, but state laws can prevent them from suing. A North Carolina case may be the model to move forward after a suit was successful not against the farmers involved, but against the multinational meat companies that the livestock is for.
-
If rainfall doesn't come soon, it could cost billions in devastation — a difficult fallout considering the USDA expects farmers' incomes to hit a 12-year low even if crop yields stay high. -
There's international competition to get into Wyoming's fast growing wind energy industry. A Chinese wind company is seeking an edge by offering free training to former coal miners.
