Quick hits: register for Agri-Pulse Ag & Food Policy Summit March 22-24; programs help young rural entrepreneurs

Here's a roundup of stories with rural resonance; if you do or see similar work that should be shared on The Rural Blog, email us at heather.chapman@uky.edu.

Two programs from Kansas and Mississippi are noteworthy examples of how to help young rural entrepreneurs thrive with training and tools. Read more here.

Fires, deteriorating infrastructure, and unusually cold weather strain rural Alaska's already-fragile water systems. Read more here.

Congress is launching an investigation into the "clean-coal" tax credit after evidence emerged that coal plants using the chemically treated fuel produce more smog than others. Read more here.

There's still time to register for the 2021 Agri-Pulse Ag & Food Policy Summit, coming up on March 22-24. Guests include Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and American Farm Bureau Federation president Zippy Duvall. Read more here.

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice's companies owe millions more in environmental fines. Read more here.

The Rural Health Information Hub has updated its information guide on rural long-term care facilities, including a new FAQ on how the pandemic has affected such facilities. Read more here.

A recent book discusses the reasons estrangement commonly happens in farming and ranching families and how to find a way to reconcile. Read more here.

The Brookings Institution has an in-depth analysis of how an Office of Management and Budget proposal to redefine metropolitan statistical areas would affect rural America. Read more here.

An artist explores the intersection of Black culture and Appalachia. Read more here.

The Women of Appalachia Project dispels stereotypes with poetry, visual art and song. Read more here.

A new report from the Anti-Defamation League found that efforts to spread white supremacist propaganda almost doubled last year in the U.S. Read more here.

Seed and fertilizer make up more than half of the operating costs for corn and soybean producers, according newly released Agriculture Department data. Read more here.