Libby Gray
Libby Gray covers environment, local economy, public safety and culture for 650 CKOM, with a consistent focus on how developments and decisions on those fronts affect everyday life in Saskatoon and across Saskatchewan. Her work moves between breaking news, policy-driven stories and lighter community features, but she keeps the impact on residents at the centre of each piece. She frequently reports from live events and announcements, combining on-the-ground detail with clear explanation of what is changing for people and businesses. Alongside environmental coverage such as heat waves, grass fires and solar projects, she tracks how industry, government and communities respond to pressure points in areas like trade, tariffs, health care and crime.
Extreme weather and environmental risk
Gray’s environmental reporting follows weather events and longer-term shifts that carry direct risk for residents, emphasizing practical implications and safety. She has written service-focused coverage on coping with record-breaking heat waves, translating meteorological forecasts into concrete advice for staying safe and reducing strain on daily life.
She also reports on fast-moving incidents such as wind-fuelled grass fires on the outskirts of Saskatoon, describing closures, firefighting efforts and the conditions that allow a blaze to spread. In her coverage of the Dundonald Avenue Solar Farm, she shows the other side of the environmental beat, detailing how a new solar project will power hundreds of homes and highlighting officials’ claims about capacity and timelines.
Together, these stories position her as someone who treats environment news as both an immediate public-safety issue and a longer-term infrastructure and energy story.
Economy, infrastructure and industry
Gray spends significant time on the local and provincial economy, especially where major projects or policy decisions reshape industry and employment. She has covered a multimillion-dollar mining equipment facility breaking ground, noting investment scale, expected opening dates and the number and type of jobs projected to follow.
Her reporting on the steel industry’s response to tariffs combines business detail with political reaction, relaying comments from company leadership alongside opposition politicians calling for provincial support. She also tracks larger trade and policy developments, such as a potential U.S. trade deal applauded by the premier, framing negotiations in terms of what they could mean for provincial business and workers.
In urban development, she follows debates over a new downtown event and entertainment district, giving space to calls for democratic input and referendums around major public projects. Alongside these, lifestyle-economy pieces like Saskatchewan’s first thermal-cycle spa opening at Dakota Dunes show her attention to how tourism and leisure investments expand the regional market.
Crime, scams and public safety
Gray regularly reports on crime and public safety, focusing on cases that illustrate systemic risks and institutional responses. Her coverage of a Martensville man facing child exploitation charges for a second time draws on details from specialized police units and underscores the role of coordinated law enforcement in online offences.
In a separate story, she examines a gold-bar scam that led an elderly man to send roughly half a million dollars to fraudsters, using the case to show how sophisticated financial scams can drain savings and the difficulty families face in intervening.
She also covers calls for an independent inquiry into First Nations health care following the death of Trevor Dubois, reporting on demands from the First Nations Health Ombudsperson and the broader concern over how First Nations people are treated in the health system. Across these pieces, her public-safety work links individual incidents to questions of institutional accountability and protection for vulnerable groups.
Arts, events and community stories
Gray’s feature work includes arts, culture and community events, often emphasizing local creators and the experiences of attendees. She has profiled a Saskatoon artist bringing Indigenous designs to Country Music Week, foregrounding the role of Indigenous art within a national country music showcase.
Her coverage of Country Music Week extends to interviews with the head of the Canadian Country Music Awards, exploring the growth of the country music scene and the importance placed on sharing stories within that community.
In lighter event reporting, she has produced video-led coverage of the Saskatoon Ex parade, highlighting go-karts, horses, cheerleaders and spectator reactions to the procession. She also connects lifestyle venues to the broader cultural landscape, such as her piece on the planned thermal-cycle spa at Dakota Dunes, which situates a new wellness destination within the province’s hospitality offerings. These stories show her ability to pivot from hard news to cultural reporting while maintaining an emphasis on who participates, who benefits and how local identity is expressed.
Across beats, Gray’s coverage is defined by attention to concrete impacts, clear explanation of what is changing, and consistent use of voices from officials, industry leaders and residents to anchor her stories. She combines environmental risk, economic development, public safety and cultural life into a coherent view of how communities in Saskatoon and Saskatchewan navigate change.
4 more environment journalists.
Adam Kovac
Adam Kovac is a breaking news reporter at Scientific American who explains fast-moving stories where science, climate and public policy intersect. His beat spans climate-driven extremes, El Niño, energy, infrastructure, space, mathematics and public health. He has written about super El Niño, extreme weather, ozone recovery, diesel prices, electric rain, peeling paint, wine chemistry, lunar craters, space missions, NASA telescopes, vaccines, IVF treatments, TikTok remedies and AI-created viruses. He also covers regulation, political campaigns and pressures on scientific institutions. His stories are fast-turn news features and explainers. He uses expert quotes and clear descriptions of underlying mechanisms to show why developments matter. He connects technical details to practical stakes, including risks to ecosystems, economies, patients, public safety, technology and long-term scientific work.
Angela Capobianco
Angela Capobianco stands out for reporting how policy, infrastructure and environmental decisions translate into concrete effects for workers, residents and vulnerable communities. She is a digital broadcast journalist at Global News and works as a general assignment video journalist with a focus on environmental reporting, municipal affairs, housing and labour. Her stories cover labour protections, municipal governance, environmental conflicts and social policy. She reports on how land use, climate and regulatory choices affect communities, from glyphosate spraying fears in Bear River to extreme heat and support for people sleeping rough. She also covers workers’ rights, long-term care strikes, municipal budgets, ferry service delays, heritage designation, housing reuse, and bridge replacement plans, with close attention to negotiations, official decisions and on-the-ground impact.
Arrthy Thayaparan
Arrthy Thayaparan is a CBC News reporter who shows how government decisions affect daily life. She covers climate, transportation, education, community issues, trade, tariffs and the cost of living. Her reporting examines how policy changes affect prices, public services, employers, workers, consumers and families. She has written about Ontario businesses facing tariff pressures, ticket resale rules, tariff support funding, transit changes after the Scarborough RT derailment, highway speed limits, education union talks and mandatory school platforms. She also covers public-service work rules, community-service funding, municipal campaigns, tenant protections and the economic effects of major events. Thayaparan reports through concrete numbers, program details and timelines. She gives space to governments, unions, workers, businesses and residents, and traces decisions from political debate to their effects on commutes, classrooms, budgets, workplaces and neighbourhoods.
Bianca McKeown
Bianca McKeown stands out for reporting the everyday consequences of climate change, infrastructure decisions, social policy and Indigenous governance in northern communities. She reports for CBC North across television, radio and digital. Her work focuses on how weather shifts, wildlife changes and development projects affect daily life, travel, safety and local economies. She covers large infrastructure and energy proposals, foster parent payments, cost of living, vulnerable families and Indigenous leadership. She also reports on national reconciliation efforts and the role of Inuit voices in decision-making. Her stories rely on practical details, community voices, interviews and clear descriptions of what residents, officials and advocates face on the ground. Her coverage is direct and descriptive, and it connects policy decisions to lived reality.