Rebecca Huntington

Hospital CEO Looks to Congress to Cut Health Care Costs

Rebecca Huntington — Wed, 01 May 2013 22:58:04 +0000

St. John's Medical Center CEO Lou Hochheiser is presenting a series of public forums to help Teton County residents understand health care reform.

St. John's CEO explains implications of health care reform

Rebecca Huntington — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 15:09:39 +0000

More than 90 people gathered this week at the Teton County Library in Jackson to hear St. John's Medical Center CEO Dr. Lou Hochheiser explain health care reform.

Hochheiser told the crowd that as part of health care reform the federal government would be cutting what it pays hospitals to treat Medicaid and Medicare patients by five-to-25 percent. He said the goal is to use some of those savings to pay for expanding Medicaid coverage... essentially, paying less per patient in order to cover more people.

March 29th, 2013

Bob Beck, Irina Zhorov, Rebecca Huntington, Rebecca Martinez and Willow Belden — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 22:24:32 +0000

Flared natural gas is a loss to the state in taxes and royalties

UPSTARTS: Teton inventor patents magnetic twist on water bottles

Rebecca Huntington — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 22:05:41 +0000

In our occasional series “Upstarts,” we profile Wyoming entrepreneurs. Today we take you to Teton County where we meet an entrepreneur who has invented a way to improve your water bottle. Wyoming Public Radio's Rebecca Huntington has more…

REBECCA HUNTINGTON: Like lots of inventions, Steve Kitto's started with a problem that needed fixing.

Jackson resident worries about the fiscal cliff

Rebecca Huntington and Re — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 00:22:37 +0000

Paul Hansen is the regional director for the Concord Coalition, a nonpartisan group that advocates reducing the nation's deficit. He travels across Wyoming and the West to convince people of the importance of reducing the national debt.

"Everywhere I go people get it... People understand that everything has to be on the table and people understand that we have compromise in order to solve this problem."

Jackson Council seat winner ran a paperless campaign

Rebecca Huntington — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 01:40:20 +0000

: Jim Stanford detests campaign yard signs. So when he decided to run for a seat on Jackson's Town Council he says he decided not to use them. The idea snowballed from there with Stanford deciding to run a paper-less campaign. In a competitive race, packed with qualified candidates, his unconventional approach worried campaign team members, including Amy McCarthy.

"I just wanted to make sure that as Jim went from door to door with so many people not being home that they knew that he had tried to stop by," McCarthy said.

Jackson approves two ballot issues and defeats one

Rebecca Huntington — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 14:04:25 +0000

Teton County voters resoundingly approved a 14-million-dollar tax
proposition to close the county's landfill. Hailey Morton, the top
vote-getter in the Jackson Town Council race, called the proposition a
no-brainer.

"If it didn't come from the sales tax, from the
SPET tax, it would have had to come from property tax, which you know
whether that was from the general fund or raising property tax, I
think constituents realized that's not what they wanted to do."

Jim Stanford, who also won a seat on the Town Council, said the

Teton County propositions contribute to huge voter turnout

Rebecca Huntington — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 06:13:35 +0000

Teton County ran out of ballots at several polling stations tonight because of skyrocketing voter turnout.

Volunteer election judge Mike Gierau says there were almost 5,000 absentee ballots, in addition to massive amounts of people waiting in line to vote on election day.

“A lot of times you see people in a presidential year just vote for the top offices and then not really go on to the other side of the ballot. Today there was a lot of votes on the other side of the ballot, a lot of votes on those propositions we saw."

October 5, 2012

Bob Beck, Willow Belden, Rebecca Martinez and Rebecca Huntington and David Koch — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 22:38:50 +0000

Wyoming's Wolf Hunt Begins

Nearly 3,000 hunters have purchased permits to target wolves in Wyoming's first regulated wolf hunt, which began on Monday. Conservation groups, meanwhile, are preparing to challenge Wyoming's approach in court. As of Thursday, hunters had reported killing six wolves since opening day. Rebecca Huntington has more.

Wyoming's Wolf Hunt Begins

Rebecca Huntington — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 22:05:07 +0000

HOST INTRO: Nearly 3,000 hunters have purchased permits to target wolves in Wyoming's first regulated wolf hunt, which began on Monday. Conservation groups, meanwhile, are preparing to challenge Wyoming's approach in court. As of Thursday, hunters had reported killing six wolves since opening day. Rebecca Huntington has more.

Worries about wolf kills

Rebecca Huntington — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 18:51:26 +0000

Wyoming residents can now buy a permit to kill a wolf. But in Teton County, they only need a permit if they're hunting north of Highway 22. South of that highway, which bisects the county and crosses Teton Pass, anyone can kill a wolf, day or night, for free -- at least for the next two weeks.

That's because Wyoming's wolf management plan classifies wolves as trophy game north of the highway. Trophy game status means hunting is regulated and a permit is required. But south of the highway, wolves are deemed predators so those regulations don't apply.

Fire crews urge Jackson Hole residents to limit fuels around their homes

Rebecca Huntington — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 15:19:00 +0000

Jackson fire crew shifts attention south

Rebecca Huntington — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 22:45:41 +0000

While crews have contained the northwest corner of a 3-thousand acre fire burning near the town of Jackson, a shift in winds this weekend could send the fire south toward some 60 homes in Teton County's Game Creek subdivision.

Operations Section Chief Allen Mitchell says residents can help by taking precautions around their homes.

“We're only so many people. It would help us greatly if they got out, you know reduced some of that vegetation around their house, moved those woodpiles. There's a lot of stuff they can do to help us be successful."

Game Creek residents prepare for fire evacuation

Rebecca Huntington — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 15:18:07 +0000

Last night, officials lifted an evacuation advisory for East Jackson after containing the northwestern corner of a wildfire burning behind Snow King Mountain.

Now, concern is shifting south of town to the Game Creek area where residents have been told to start planning for a possible evacuation.

Operations Section Chief Allen Mitchell directs tactical resources on the fire line.

Dancers’ Workshop showcases Jackson talent nationwide

Rebecca Huntington — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 22:58:42 +0000

First started in 1971, Dancers' Workshop has been teaching dance in Jackson for more than four decades. Today, the non-profit dance school reaches nearly 500 students, from toddlers to adults. And the group brings dance into the lives of thousands of more people through its performances, including a series that presents world-renown companies from New York to San Francisco. But the school's audiences and students are not just in Jackson. Rebecca Huntington has more...

July 27, 2012

Sat, 28 Jul 2012 00:09:57 +0000

BAER Teams Check Extent of Damage After Wild-land Fires

The fire season came early to Wyoming this year. Usually, Wyoming doesn’t see its biggest fires until late July but already there have been 10 fires that have burned over 265-thousand acres of land. Wet weather and the efforts of thousands of firefighters have contained the larger blazes …So what happens after a fire? Wyoming Public Radio’s Irina Zhorov reports.

Health Care Experts: What The Affordable Care Act Could Mean for Wyoming

Rebecca Huntington — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 23:31:01 +0000

Host Intro: Healthcare experts gathered in Jackson this week to spell out what the Supreme Court ruling about the Affordable Care Act could mean for patients in Wyoming. Rebecca Huntington has more...

REBECCA HUNTINGTON: About a hundred people attended the talk, which was held in a classroom at St. John's Medical Center.

Jackson considers new rules for event permits

Rebecca Huntington — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:19:35 +0000

Jackson's Town Council is working on new rules to clarify the permitting process for allowing special events on the Town Square.

Town attorney Audrey Cohen-Davis says the new rules were in the works before a pro-life ministry group proposed putting up a controversial anti-abortion display on the Town Square. The town stopped the group from showing graphic images of fetuses during a Boy Scout Expo on the Town Square, a move which the Wyoming Supreme Court said violated the group’s First Amendment rights.

Jackson Town Council allows abortion display, but not during elk antler auction

Rebecca Huntington — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 13:19:04 +0000

Jackson Town Councilors voted Monday to allow a ten-by-eighty-foot display, which could include graphic images of fetuses, on the Town Square. Texas-based Operation Save America would be allowed to put up the anti-abortion display for four days in May. But the council denied the group's request to set it up on a Saturday during the Boy Scouts annual elk antler auction.

Councilors said the content was not the problem, but that the display would compete for space with the Boy Scouts' event.

Search and Rescue volunteer remembered as quiet hero

Rebecca Huntington — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:11:33 +0000

More than 400 people filled the Center for the Arts in Jackson on Tuesday to remember Teton County Search and Rescue volunteer Ray Shriver. The 63-year-old died after the helicopter he was riding in crashed on a rescue mission last week.

Search and Rescue Director Tim Ciocarlan described Shriver as a quiet hero, who was instrumental in organizing and training the county's volunteer rescue team.

Researcher says coal-to-gasoline plant could have environmental and economic advantages

Rebecca Huntington — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 23:56:11 +0000

Listen to the interview

Citizens Compromise to Cut Trillions from Federal Deficit

Rebecca Huntington — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 23:51:23 +0000

Listen to the Story

INTRO: Can citizens do what Congress cannot? That was the challenge put to Teton County residents by the Concord Coalition, a non-partisan group that aims to raise public awareness about the federal deficit. The coalition invited citizens to play Congress for a day to cut the federal deficit and move the nation closer to a balanced budget. Rebecca Huntington has more.

Officials concerned about the expiring Wind Tax Credit

Rebecca Huntington — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:02:49 +0000

An Aide to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, warned Wyoming government and industry officials yesterday (Tuesday) about the impact of expiring incentives for renewable energy projects.

Steve Black spoke at a meeting of the Wyoming Infrastructure Authority in Jackson. He said both a grant program and a loan guarantee program for renewables have already expired. He adds that a tax credit that encourages wind projects is due to expire this year. Black says now is not the time to tax an industry that's just getting off the ground.

Avalanche Center to Skiers, Snowmobilers: 'Friend Me'

Rebecca Huntington — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 17:05:50 +0000

Listen to the story

HOST INTRO: The Bridger-Teton National Forest Avalanche Center has a new friends group that aims to raise the center's profile and to enhance fund-raising from private donors. The center will also soon be looking for even more friends on Facebook. It's all part of an effort to prevent tragedies in the backcountry. Rebecca Huntington has more.

Planning for Growth and Small-Town Character

Rebecca Huntington — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 18:09:49 +0000

Preserving wildlife is a top goal in Teton County's new plan for managing future development. But some local residents say planning for people also needs to be part of the deal.

Robbin Levy lives just down the street from Wilson Elementary School -- a distance her two kids could easily walk or bike. But before she goes to work, Levy drives them to school because it's too dangerous for them to cross Highway 22.

"School's right across the street," says Levy. "But it feels like it's miles away."

Jackson residents weigh in on plan for preserving open space, adding worker housing

Rebecca Huntington — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 23:12:06 +0000

Listen to the story