Madelyn Beck
Reporter, Mountain West 暗黑爆料 BureauMadelyn Beck is Boise State Public Radio's regional reporter with the Mountain West 暗黑爆料 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 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.
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Nearly $1 billion in new federal grants is aimed at helping high-need schools support students and their mental health. The grant money can be spent on things like telehealth services, ongoing teacher education, community engagement, supporting culturally-affirming practices and bullying prevention. -
A newly identified sea monster from millions of years ago had a long, snaky neck and crocodile-like jaw. The critter was swimming around Wyoming some 70 million years ago, and was originally dug up in the mid 90s, before years of processing. It鈥檚 currently on display at the Glenrock paleontological museum near Casper, Wyoming. -
Last September, a woman found what is likely the first DNA-confirmed death cap mushroom in our region. The extremely toxic fungus is a concern for parents and pet owners, alike. -
National Park Service locations report how many people visit, how much tourists spend and how many jobs that creates every year. In 2021, those visitors spent more than $20 billion. -
People rushed out to adopt pets early on in the pandemic. But now shelters are filling to capacity. New research from the University of Florida suggests spay and neuter access plays a role. -
National unemployment rates continue to go down, but county job numbers in the Mountain West are extremely mixed. For example, Idaho was the only state where every county had an increase in jobs between July 2019 and July 2022. And Nevada was one of very few where every county reported job losses. -
Even as the fall season knocks on our door, fire dangers remain high and campers should be wary. One of the nation鈥檚 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 鈥渇uel moisture鈥� 鈥� and no, we鈥檙e 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.
