Mountain West News Bureau | KUNR

Mountain West News Bureau

Mountain West Leads The Nation In Fatal Encounters With Police

By • Jan 21, 2021

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 20, 2021 

Kate Concannon, Mountain West News Bureau Managing Editor: 425-765-4805 

kateconcannon@boisestate.edu

BOISE, IDAHO — The Mountain West has the highest rate of fatal encounters with police in the nation. That's according to the Mountain West News Bureau's ground-breaking series "Elevated Risk," which takes a hard look at law enforcement in our region.

Mountain West Reporter Shares Experience With COVID-19 Vaccine Trial

By • Dec 20, 2020
Someone extracts fluid from a vial using a syringe.
Alernon77 / Adobe Stock

The recent arrival of the new Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is an important landmark in the fight against the pandemic; however, the Pfizer vaccine isn’t the only one in production, and trials for other vaccines are nearing completion.

Madelyn Beck, a regional reporter with the Mountain West News Bureau, took part in one of those trials and sat down with KUNR’s Jayden Perez to share her experience.

Kate Concannon Is Named Editor Of The Year By PMJA

By • Jun 12, 2020

PMJA, Public Media Journalists Association, has named Kate Concannon it’s 2020 Editor of the Year. PMJA is a leading industry group for public media journalism.

Concannon has led the Mountain West News Bureau as its Managing Editor since its launch in 2018. This regional journalism collaboration is made up of reporters at different public radio stations across several Western states. The bureau’s journalism is shared daily with the station partners and affiliates across the region. The bureau was launched with funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).

E-Scooters Maybe Not So Green After All

By • Aug 7, 2019

Electric, dockless scooters are showing up across the region, especially in bigger cities like Denver and Salt Lake City. But a new study suggests they may not be as environmentally friendly as you think.

U.S. Climate Crisis Committee Comes To Colorado For Answers

By • Aug 6, 2019

For the first time ever, a congressional committee held a field hearing on the climate crisis. And it happened this week right here in the Mountain West — in Boulder, Colorado. 

The Unusual Weapon Yellowstone Is Using To Combat Invasive Species

By • Aug 5, 2019

Zebra and quagga mussels can devastate an ecosystem, and Yellowstone National Park is doing everything it can to keep them out. Most recently, that includes harnessing the power of a dog's snout.

New Podcast Looks At How Prisons Might Need To Treat Transgender Inmates

By & & Mountain West News Bureau • Jul 11, 2019
Boise State Public Radio / Mountain West News Bureau

Any day now, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals will rule on the case of Adree Edmo. She’s a transgender woman currently in prison in Idaho. She sued the state for sex reassignment surgery—and won.

The state appealed. And now the 9th Circuit’s decision on her case could have implications not only for her but for transgender inmates across the West and potentially the nation.

Nation's First Female-Majority Legislature Adjourns

By • Jun 5, 2019
The bipartisan group of female lawmakers in the Nevada Legislature.
Nevada's Legislative Councel Bureau

This week marks the 100th anniversary of Congress passing the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote. Now, a century later, the nation's first female-majority legislature has wrapped up their work in Carson City, Nevada.

Bent Out Of Shape: Could A Mysterious Animal Epidemic Become The Next Mad Cow?

By • May 21, 2019

Chronic wasting disease is crippling deer populations in the Mountain West, around the country and in bordering Canadian provinces. It's not a bacterium or a virus or even a fungus, but caused by something called a prion, a type of protein that all mammals have in their bodies.

‘Trigger Trash’ Leading to Contamination, Expensive Cleanup on Public Lands

By • May 20, 2019
Jens Lelie / Unsplash

Public lands are a haven for target shooting throughout our region. However, many are leaving bullet casings and litter behind, and that's a problem.

Litter from so-called "trigger trash" is leading to lead contamination of soil and costing taxpayers thousand of dollars in cleanup.

Kurt Miers is with the Bureau of Land Management in Nevada. He says this issue is common throughout the region, particularly in areas just outside of cities.

Forest Managers Working to Rescue Dwindling Western Pines

By Noah Glick • May 17, 2019
Sarah Flanary / U.S. Forest Service

For thousands of years, the Whitebark Pine has provided a valuable food source for birds and bears throughout the Mountain West. But dwindling numbers are forcing forest managers to act.

The tree spans from Alberta and British Columbia in Canada to the Mountain West states of Idaho, Wyoming, Montana and parts of Nevada. But, the number of these trees throughout the region is declining, as much as 90 percent in some areas.

KUNR Joins Mountain West News Bureau

By KUNR staff • May 14, 2019

KUNR Public Radio has joined the Mountain West News Bureau, a regional reporting collaboration of public radio news stations. KUNR, a service of the University of Nevada, Reno, joins five current member stations in serving the Rocky Mountain states of Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming and Utah—and now Nevada’s high desert and the Sierra.