Ryan Loyd is Texas Public Radio's city beat and political reporter who brings more than a decade of news experience back to his hometown.
Ryan began reporting at KGNB radio in New Braunfels, followed by KTSA. He worked in television news in Joplin, MO, San Antonio, Sherman, Texas, and Austin.
Since joining TPR in October 2011, Ryan has covered stories of local, state and national interest including the 2012 Democratic National Convention, where San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro delivered the keynote address.
Ryan especially enjoys reporting on in-depth issues like the Eagle Ford Shale oil and natural gas boom, the ongoing conversation into redeveloping Alamo Plaza, the Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland sex scandal, and numerous city issues. Ryan is a regular contributor to NPR News.
Two stories Ryan reported in 2013 received recognition from the Society of Professional Journalists-Ft. Worth Chapter. In the Green News category, the organization honored Ryan with an award for his coverage of the Bracken Bat Cave and a proposed development that threatened the maternal colony's existence. The story was also featured on NPR's "All Things Considered." In the Opening the Books category, Ryan's story, Brooks City-Base is in Business, received recognition for exploring how far the old Air Force base has come in revitalizing the area after the base was closed.
For his coverage in 2012, Ryan won a Michael E. DeBakey Journalism award for his feature on a story about Canine PTSD, which ran locally and on NPR's "All Things Considered." The story explored the possibilities that combat dogs exhibit symptoms of a post-traumatic stress disorder, similar to the same disorder human soldiers experience.
The Michael E. DeBakey Journalism Award honors professional journalists whose reporting has enhanced public understanding of how the humane and responsible use of animal models leads to medical and scientific discoveries. Loyd accepted the award May 14 at a ceremony in Washington, D.C.
He also won the Reporting on Open Government award from the Society of Professional Journalists, Ft. Worth Chapter, for his stories relating to the sex scandal at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland. The stories contributed to the Air Force's increased transparency to the media and to the public.
In 2011 he won first place in the Ft. Worth Society of Professional Journalist's First Amendment Awards in the Green News category for his work on an environmental story while in Austin. He won a second place Associated Press Broadcasters award for beat reporting for his coverage of San Antonio city government at TPR.
Ryan is trying to become a more avid cyclist, but in the meantime he chases around a vibrant pre-schooler and a red-nosed dog with his wife, Sarah.
The program is a test project that, if goes well, could be put into place at OCI's other solar farm in San Antonio.
OCI Solar Power thought of an idea that leaders there say is sheer genius. They’ve put sheep to work on the grounds of a solar farm on the far northeast side to keep the grass cut.
As solar panels soak up plenty of hot Texas sunshine, there’s plenty landscaping work to do at the Alamo 2 Solar Farm off Binz-Engleman near North Foster Road. But instead of people, OCI Solar Power is employing lambscapers.
“This was a good test site,” said OCI Solar Power spokesperson Sara Krueger. “It was a little bit smaller and it had really nice grass growing under the panels so it gave us a really good opportunity to see how well sheep really could maintain the lawn and keep grass out of the way of the equipment.”
The company started using sheep three months ago to maintain the grass at the 50-acre site. It’s the first time in Texas this has been done although it’s nothing new in California and Europe, Krueger said. Continue Reading →
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