High Plains History Episode
12:01 am
Wed April 3, 2013

No Home to Go To

In 1935, there had been no rain and no wheat crop for the Wancuras.  One day, Velma and Ted decided to drive to Beehler to a farm sale about 14 miles north.  On the way home, they stopped at her parent's home in Beehler to say hello.  The weather turned.  Velma's dad told them to stay for the night. 

The next day they started out for home.  They met a neighbor on the road, who told them there was no reason to travel any further, a tornado had destroyed their home.  It was scattered for miles.  

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Adam manages a variety of operational tasks as HPPR's new Operations Coordinator, keeping the programming you hear reliably on the air and technically sounding good 24 hours a day.   Adam enjoys wearing multiple hats at HPPR, working in areas such as computerized automation and audio production.

A native Iowan, Adam transplanted to Kansas soil to follow his passion for the public radio sound and the unique relationship listeners have with public radio programming.

Before joining HPPR, Adam worked in public radio in Iowa.   He is a graduate of Iowa State University, where he studied journalism and mass communication.

When he's not busy keeping public radio in the air on the High Plains, Adam enjoys playing string bass, bicycling, and discovering new music.

Location: Garden City, KS studios

Phone: (800) 678-7444 or (620) 275-7444

Harvest Public Media story
8:12 pm
Tue April 2, 2013

A new frontier in genetically engineered food

Kevin Wells has been genetically engineering animals for 24 years.

“It’s sort of like a jigsaw puzzle,” said Wells recently as he walked through his lab at the University of Missouri - Columbia. “You take DNA apart and put it back together in different orders, different orientations.”

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Harvest Public Media story
7:14 pm
Tue April 2, 2013

Taxing complications for farmers and an April 15 deadline

This tax season is an unusual one for farmers.

“Farmers didn’t necessarily have a great crop to harvest, but they harvested a huge amount of income last year. It was one of the biggest years, inflation-adjusted, since going back to the 1970s,” said Roger McEowen, who runs the Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation at Iowa State University.

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Playa Country episode
3:53 pm
Tue April 2, 2013

Playa Renovation: Jan Minton Ranch Floyd, TX

Credit Oklahoma Conservation Commission

We examine Jan Minton's ranch, the family operation she took over in Floyd Co., Texas. It had been "farmed to death," she said, and two playa lakes were in poor condition. Bill Johnson, a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service biologist, developed a restoration plan that involved silt removal, playa repair, and a native grass and forbs plant buffer around the playas' margins. This story is part two of a four-part series on playa health and originally aired on HPPR on February 19, 2013. The story was repeated April 2, 2013 as part of the Landowner Stories series.

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Brian Hardzinski grew up in Flower Mound, Texas but came to the University of Oklahoma for college. He began his career at KGOU as an unpaid student intern assisting with various production and operations tasks, before spending two years producing and hosting Assignment: Radio and occasionally filling in during All Things Considered. Brian returned to KGOU as the Operations and Public Service Announcement Director in January 2009. Brianâée enjoy competing in triathlons, running, playing tennis, and entertaining one rambunctious Boston Terrier named Gary.

Jessica Jones covers both the legislature in Raleigh and politics across the state. Before her current assignment, Jessica was given the responsibility to open up WUNC's first Greensboro Bureau at the Triad Stage in 2009. She's a seasoned public radio reporter who's covered everything from education to immigration, and she's a regular contributor to NPR's news programs. Jessica started her career in journalism in Egypt, where she freelanced for international print and radio outlets. After stints in Washington, D.C. with Voice of America and NPR, Jessica joined the staff of WUNC in 1999. She is a graduate of Yale University.

Prairie Ramblings Episode
12:01 am
Fri March 29, 2013

Eggs and Antlers

I hated leaving childhood and the annual Easter morning search for hidden goodies behind. Until I discovered shed hunting, the adult equivalent of a child’s egg hunt, I didn’t know grown-ups could still experience the thrill of finding well-hidden treasure, in this case antlers camouflaged by tall grass.  My husband introduced me to this spring ritual soon after we met. Discovering that first drop thrilled me the same way finding Easter prizes brightened my early years.

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High Plains Outdoors Episode
12:01 am
Fri March 29, 2013

Here Fishie Fishie...

There are few fishing trips more exciting than shark fishing.  My friend, Captain Mike Williams of Galveston, Texas, told me it was like standing on a corner, a Harley comes by going about 80 mph- downtown with both barrels, and you throw a hook out to snag it.  That described it exactly right.  It's a heck of a fight.

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Ashley Lopez is a reporter for WGCU News. A native of Miami, she graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a journalism degree. 

Previously, Lopez was a reporter for

WLRN-Miami Herald News and The Florida Independent. She also interned for Talking Points Memo in New York City and WUNC in Durham, North Carolina.

She also freelances as a reporter/blogger for the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting.

Send news pitches to wgcunews at wgcu.org

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