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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New Department of Education data out Monday shows that student math and reading scores have suffered over the last few years. Between 2019 and this year, data shows that fourth and eighth grade scores suffered the most in math, but reading scores also took a hit. -
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 recent flooding around Yellowstone National Park also created challenges for gateway towns like Gardner, Red Lodge and Cooke City in Montana. That includes lost homes and possibly lost livelihoods. For travelers who can no longer access the park through those towns, there’s another Montana entrance: West Yellowstone, the most popular gateway to the park. -
A multi-state project is working to provide electric vehicle charging stations and corridors to scenic areas around the Mountain West. ChargeWest is working with state agencies in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona to make this a reality. -
A Wyoming court case involving public land access may soon head to federal court. Landowners there want damages from four Missouri men who went over a corner where four pieces of land meet: two private, two public. They didn’t touch the private land, but landowners argue they still went over it and, therefore, trespassed. -
A seasonal break from wildfires is disappearing in the West. A wildfire started this Saturday near Boulder, Colorado. It forced thousands of evacuations over the weekend, reminding people of what had just happened 3 months ago: the Marshall Fire, which burned down more than 1,000 homes. Experts say there are no longer fire seasons, just fire years. -
70 years ago, experimenters first proved that nuclear power could be used as more than just a weapon. -
Wildfire season is winding down across much of the Mountain West as cold weather moves in. But it’s the perfect time to set controlled, or prescribed, fires to burn unwanted dead trees and underbrush that fuel larger wildfires. -
Google Maps will soon launch a new feature that shows the location of active wildfires. Google says this new maps filter will show where fires are burning… -
COVID-19 isn’t the only epidemic the U.S. is facing. Fatal drug overdoses are skyrocketing, driven by synthetic opioids like fentanyl. And that…
