Tagged: Open Spaces

The Heart Mountain Relocation Center near Powell was one of several in the country that interned Japanese-Americans during World War II. The camp now sets the scene for a new musical called “Allegiance,” starring George Takei of Star Trek fame. The story follows the Kimura Family in the weeks after they are forced to leave their farm in Salinas, California and move to the internment camp in Wyoming. Wyoming Public Radio’s Rebecca Martinez spoke with producer Lorenzo Thione and composer Jay Kuo, who co-wrote the play , which will open in San Diego in September.

Listen to the whole show

Listen to the Whole Show

Many are optimistic that Wyoming’s Uranium Industry will grow

Intro:    For the last several years a number of companies and politicians have expressed interest in getting more actively involved in Wyoming’s Uranium industry.  Currently a task force of lawmakers is studying nuclear energy production and companies are testing the waters before they jump into the marketplace.  The upside is that Wyoming has a lot of Uranium, the downside is cost and regulations.  Wyoming Public Radio’s Bob Beck has more.

HOST: Everyone is predicting a uranium boom internationally and Wyoming has the largest deposits in the U.S. The state has a legacy of uranium mining, as well. Wyoming Public Radio’s Irina Zhorov looks at the boom and its history.

HOST: When the Cold War caused a uranium boom in the 1950s, soil and water in the state suffered contamination. Reclamation has improved the landscape, and regulation is catching up with the industry  but it’s not perfect yet. Wyoming Public Radio’s Rebecca Martinez reports.

REBECCA MARTINEZ: Ore from Wyoming’s rich uranium deposits was refined and concentrated into yellowcake at mills in the state before being sent to processing and enrichment facilities elsewhere. The mills produced large amounts of sandy waste called tailings, which still contained uranium.

HOST: As we just heard, the uranium industry may have a long way to go in earning back the public’s trust, especially on the Wind River Reservation. In 2010, the Department of Energy released well monitoring data from the Wind River Reservation. What they found was that uranium levels in a number of their wells had spiked up to 100 times the legal limit. In early May the Department of Energy released tap test results showing uranium levels nearly twice the legal limit, but later said the results were anomalies.

Wyoming’s delegation opposes increasing the debt limit

Wyoming strives to curb ozone levels to meet federal mandate

This week, the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson Hole is celebrating its 25th anniversary.  It kicks off a number of events that will be part of the celebration.  The museum was a dream that’s come a long ways from its humble beginnings.  Co-founder Bill Kerr tells Bob Beck that the idea was to feature art that may have been overlooked.

Before I had children, I thought I had it all figured out.  I would roll my eyes at mothers in the grocery store who couldn’t seem to keep their kids in the cart and out of aisles, or cringe when the host at a restaurant would seat a family with an unruly toddler near my table. 

Election year politics are derailing efforts to improve Wyoming’s economy.
President Obama is chiding Congress for not acting on his slimmed down plan to spur economic growth in Wyoming and elsewhere. Matt Laslo reports from Washington that election year politicking is expected to derail this latest effort to get the economy moving.

President Obama is chiding Congress for not acting on his slimmed down plan to spur economic growth in Wyoming and elsewhere. Matt Laslo reports from Washington that election year politicking is expected to derail this latest effort to get the economy moving.