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In pricey Western towns, employers truck in workers' homes from factories

Jan 13, 2025
Wyoming Game and Fish stretched state dollars in a costly market by renting factory-constructed homes to staff.
A crane drops off part of a modular home south of Jackson, Wyoming, part of a program to provide affordable housing to state employees.
Loren Woodin/Wyoming Game and Fish

Skijoring brings cowboys and skiers to Western towns, but warm weather leaves the sport in flux

Mar 7, 2024
Many small towns across the Rocky Mountain West depend on the sport for an economic boost during an otherwise slow winter, but this year it's been tricky with unseasonably warm temperatures.
A cowboy and his horse pull a skier off a jump on the Pinedale skijoring course. The fastest time wins.
Caitlin Tan/Wyoming Public Radio

Nation's fourth- and sixth-largest mines shut down

Jul 2, 2019
Two of the largest coal-producing mines in the United States were closed down without warning.
Coal falls from a conveyor belt in 2016 in Price, Utah.
George Frey/Getty Images

Wyoming coal community imagines a new future

Jun 3, 2019
The threat of coal plant closures is making Kemmerer, Wyoming, think closely about diversification.
Mayor Tony Tomassi standing on the edge of a small residential community in Kemmerer.
Cooper McKim/Wyoming Public Radio

Undocumented workers in Wyoming struggle to get workers' comp

Apr 8, 2019
Wyoming is the state with the most dangerous workplaces.
Attorney Steven Dwyer said more undocumented workers are seeking his help with cases related to workers' compensation for on-the-job injuries, including one worker who is $17,000 in debt from medical bills incurred after he fell off a roof.
Scott Olson/Getty Images

Do "superstar" companies hold down wages?

Aug 24, 2018
This week, central bankers, finance ministers and economists from the around the world flew to the mountain resort of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. They’re there for an annual economic symposium hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. One focus of this year’s event is on so-called “superstar” firms like Amazon, which is a half-million […]
An Amazon logo is seen inside the Amazon corporate headquarters on June 16, 2017 in Seattle, Washington.  
David Ryder/Getty Images

Reinventing the rural health care system

Feb 2, 2018
A new report outlines the challenges the health care system in rural communities faces.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

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Uranium companies in the U.S. are hoping demand will return

Dec 26, 2017
Could there be a uranium boom on the horizon? If there is, it would help coal-heavy Wyoming.
Nichols Ranch Manager Bernard Bonifas reaches into one of the hundreds of tan boxes dotting the landscape at the Nichols Ranch uranium mine. They keep injection and recovery wells insulated during Wyoming’s harsh winters. 
Madelyn Beck/ for Marketplace

Skill shortages hamper fracking operations

Jul 17, 2017
Oil prices are recovering. Oil companies are expanding their U.S. operations. But a skilled worker shortage is not helping.
A billboard off Interstate 25 in southeastern Wyoming.
Dan Boyce/ for Marketplace

Gillette, Wyoming: Industry and politics in coal country

Mar 10, 2017
Under a new administration, this extraction-industry town feels revitalized.
Eagle Butte Mine is one of the many open-pit mines that characterize Wyoming and the western mining industry.
Hayley Hershman/Marketplace