Madelyn Beck
Madelyn Beck is a regional Illinois reporter, based in Galesburg. On top of her work for Harvest Public Media, she also contributes to WVIK, Tri-States Public Radio and the Illinois Newsroom collaborative.
Beck grew up on a small cattle ranch in Manhattan, Montana. Her previous work was mostly based in the western U.S., but she has covered agriculture, environment and health issues from Alaska to Washington, D.C.
Before joining Harvest and the Illinois Newsroom, she was as an energy reporter based in Wyoming for the public radio collaborative Inside Energy. Other publications include the Idaho Mountain Express, E&E News/EnergyWire, KRBD Rainbird Radio, the Montana Broadcasters Association, Montana Public Radio and the Tioga Tribune.
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Interior Dept official visits western cities to monitor wildfire challenges and tout federal fundingThe Interior Department’s Deputy Secretary is visiting several places around the West to tout federal funding for wildland firefighting. That included a stop in Boise on Monday, where he toured the National Interagency Fire Center and attended a briefing on this year’s upcoming fire season.
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Court cases for the hundreds of Jan. 6th capitol rioters are ongoing. More than 40 of those charged are from the Mountain West.
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Products like non-stick pans and waterproof jackets have something in common – they’re often made with chemicals known as PFAS. But the man-made chemicals don’t break down in the environment – or our bodies. And they’re suspected of causing cancer and other health problems. The Mountain West News Bureau’s Madelyn Beck reports on efforts to ban PFAS in a popular winter product – ski wax.
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The Bureau of Indian Affairs announced reforms to its criminal justice system Monday, including more training on how to perform death investigations. That follows a Mountain West News Bureau and NPR investigation into more than a dozen deaths in tribal jails. There are also ongoing questions about the firm hired to review the deaths for BIA. Some Congressmen have been critical of the BIA’s choice because the firm was led by a former agency official.
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If you’re watching the Olympics, you’ve likely seen big brown mountains covered in veins of artificial snow trails. That more compact manufactured snow has pros and cons: racers like its consistency and how fast they go. But if you crash, you might get hurt worse. It will likely continue to be used as researchers look for a way to scale up making fluffier, more natural snow for the future.
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As the climate changes, hibernating animals will, too. Hibernation is generally used to survive extreme weather and food scarcity. Some animals hibernate at a certain time every year. Others respond to environmental factors like temperature or hunger. Climate change will likely affect both, especially when it comes to available food and each animal’s adaptability.
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About 96% of people now live within an hour of life-saving stroke care, but the Mountain West has the worst access in the country. That’s according to new research from Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
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The U.S. Forest Service recently announced a 10-year plan that includes a dramatic increase in treating forests through thinning and prescribed burns. That plan includes treating 20 million acres of Forest Service land, and 30 million acres of other federal, state, tribal, and private lands.
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The Bureau of Land Management is once again reviewing land use as it’s related to the sage grouse. This is the latest move to protect the bird as its numbers continue to dwindle, pushing to closer to an endangered species listing.
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Deadly overdoses from the synthetic opioid fentanyl are a growing problem. The drug is useful for doctors, but now it’s showing up all over. There are ways to test for it, but in some cases, that’s illegal, too. The Mountain West News Bureau’s Madelyn Beck explains.