Urban and rural influences alike are part of William Wilcoxen's reporting background. Born and raised in Chicago, Ill., William graduated from Grinnell College in Iowa in 1984. He was an intern in Minnesota Public Radio's St. Paul newsroom in 1985 and was hired as a reporter at the Minnesota Public Radio station in Collegeville the following year. He spent six years out there on the edge of the prairie where all the reporters are above average, producing stories about the people and events in Stearns County and the rest of central Minnesota. In 1992, he returned to St. Paul, where he has covered the city of St. Paul, sports, and labor and economic issues. These days, William is primarily a newscaster, although he still occasionally ventures out into the field for reporting duty. He is also a member of the Minnesota Public Radio bowling team and is known on the lanes by the pseudonym Wally.