
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.
-
Even as the fall season knocks on our door, fire dangers remain high and campers should be wary. One of the nation’s largest wildfires burning right now is the Moose Fire, just outside Salmon, Idaho. It blew up Wednesday night with driving winds, growing to more than 120,000 acres. Evacuations are taking place, and it is threatening municipal water resources.
-
The world of wildland firefighting has a lot of wonky lingo. But one key phrase is “fuel moisture” — and no, we’re not talking about oil and gas.
-
The heat wave baking the West continues to increase wildfire dangers as we head into fall. On Tuesday, the National Interagency Fire Center increased its National Preparedness Level to 4, out of a possible 5.
-
Preliminary estimates show that the life expectancy of newborns is still declining in the U.S., from 77 in 2020 to 76 last year. A main driver is COVID-19. However, life expectancy decreased much more for American Indians and Alaskan Natives, who had a life expectancy of 65 last year.
-
Several states are fighting to limit abortion access. But limited access will increase already high costs of traveling to seek abortions for many in the Mountain West.
-
A Colorado state senator has changed parties from Republican to Democrat over false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. Kevin Priola’s changing affiliation is just one of the many instances the "big lie" keeps cropping up in the Mountain West.
-
A federal program is giving about $30,000 to individual rural communities to help them develop outdoor recreation economies.
-
President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law this week. The massive piece of legislation funds programs ranging from electric vehicles, to advanced nuclear energy research. Specific to the Mountain West, it includes billions of dollars for forest lands and agriculture to fight climate change.
-
People have always feared the unknown. And that fear transforms some animals into monsters in our minds — like sharks in the ocean, or rattlesnakes in the West.
-
A Pew Research Center analysis found that one in six journalists are now part of a union, and more than twice that want to join one. However, it also found that smaller publications, like those in the rural Mountain West, are less likely to unionize. Of those with fewer than 10 people, only 4% have a union.