Michael de Yoanna
Reporter, Investigative and Veterans’ IssuesEmail: michael@kunc.org
As investigative reporter for KUNC, I take tips from our audience and, well, investigate them. I strive to go beyond the obvious, to reveal new facts, to go in-depth and to bring new perspectives and personalities to light.
KUNC's newsroom has always stood out for asking critical questions while striving for fairness and accuracy while promoting conversation. Colorado deserves nothing less. My stories sometimes air on NPR or programs like "Reveal," but my starting point is always right here, with real people from our community.
I got my first job as a print reporter for publications in Boulder, Fort Collins, Colorado Springs and Denver. Later, I freelanced for local and national media organizations, including "60 Minutes." I even directed an indie documentary in the two years I worked as an investigative producer in local television. Finally, I settled in at public radio.
I've been honored with two national Edward R. Murrow Awards for my reporting with KUNC, most recently in 2019. As an editor, I shared in a national Sigma Delta Chi investigative award in 2018 from the Society of Professional Journalists. In 2017, I won the Columbia-duPont Award for my co-reporting with NPR’s Investigations Desk. I have received numerous other regional and statewide awards.
When I'm not at work, I play a loud and ferocious electric guitar with my band, enjoy epic weekend road bicycle trek that begin with coffee and end with beer and laughs or watch soccer with my mates, especially if they're supporters of Manchester United or the Colorado Rapids.
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A bill before lawmakers this week would require Colorado ski resorts to publicly report injury and fatality statistics, a measure that’s being met with strong resistance from the ski industry and its backers. Proponents say such a law would force resorts to be more accountable for safety problems. -
When demonstrators assembled on a narrow street near the Capitol building in Denver to protest the death of George Floyd last spring, Alan Kennedy joined them. He came as a “white ally,” capturing a police crackdown on his phone and then writing about what he witnessed in a guest commentary in a local newspaper. As a captain in the Colorado National Guard, he wasn’t a typical protester. His actions got him in trouble with his commanders. After months of trying to overturn reprimands, Kennedy in March filed a lawsuit in federal court claiming commanders violated his First Amendment rights.
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The bill would prevent paramedics from using ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, and similar drugs to “subdue, sedate, or chemically incapacitate” people, including those simply deemed suspicious, like Elijah McClain was when police stopped him, as well as those suspected of crimes.
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After a year of coronavirus outbreaks at nursing homes and assisted living centers, the worst may finally be over.
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Rep. Leslie Herod’s bill is a response to the death of Elijah McClain and comes after KUNC revealed more than 900 ketamine sedations for excited or agitated people around the state in 2.5 years.
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This weekend, 10,000 people aged 70 or older are expected to receive a COVID-19 vaccine during a mass, drive-through vaccination event in the parking lots outside Denver’s Coors Field. But the rush to get a coronavirus vaccine has not been matched by some health workers who care for elderly and frail residents at long-term care facilities.
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Army Capt. Alivia Stehlik, a physical therapist at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, is among many transgender people around the country to praise Biden for an executive order allowing “all Americans” who are qualified to serve in the military to do so.
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Two members of the Colorado National Guard are at the center of the state’s efforts to trace how a more-contagious variant of COVID-19, first encountered in the United Kingdom, is spreading in the United States. One of the members, a man in his 20s, was confirmed on Tuesday as the first case of the variant in the country.
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Health officials said Tuesday that the more-contagious variant of COVID-19 first discovered in the U.K. is now in the United States. Colorado officials said a lab confirmed what is believed to be the first U.S. case — an Elbert County man in his 20s with no travel history.
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As COVID-19 vaccines rolled out for residents in long-term care, almost 300 of Colorado’s facilities were contending with active outbreaks involving more than 9,000 infections.
