Younger people left metro areas for smaller cities during the Covid era, and many aren't going back 'anytime soon'

University of Virginia graph, from Census Bureau Annual
Age Estimates

The population of some bigger U.S. cities is shrinking as younger residents move to smaller towns and cities even as Covid-era worries wither, reports Paul Davidson of USA Today. "Since the pandemic, cities with more than 1 million residents have lost adults ages 25 to 44 while towns with smaller populations have gained young people, after accounting for both those moving in and leaving, according to a University of Virginia analysis of Census Bureau data."

Hamilton Lombard, the study's author and a demographer at the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service, told Davidson, "Younger adults have driven most of the shift. . . since the pandemic. . . . The migration of younger adults into small towns and rural areas picked up last year rather than returning to pre-pandemic trends."

The age group's surprising shift in geography and lifestyle preferences has some experts scratching their heads. "The migration of young adults to small towns unexpectedly accelerated last year. From 2020 to 2023, young people comprised 54% of population gains in areas with fewer than 250,000 residents," Davidson reports. "Since 2020, areas with fewer than 1 million residents have added 25- to 34-year-olds in large numbers while more densely populated areas have lost them."

"Those in the 25 to 44 age bracket may not come back to large metro areas anytime soon," Davidson reports. Remote work options have "allowed more young Americans to live in smaller towns with more open spaces, natural beauty and low costs. . . . As large-city home prices and rents have soared, young people have flocked to smaller, more affordable markets."

Grocery store chains still use 'old-school' spying to out-price competitors. The practice has piqued antitrust interests.

Kroger ads provide competitors price information, but
"spies" also visit stores in person.

When big grocery stores battle for market share, most chains deploy old-timey spies who sleuth prices, quality and customer behaviors. The "old-school tactics are fueling the government’s case against Kroger-Albertsons deal," reports Patrick Thomas of The Wall Street Journal. "Grocery-store operators scrutinize the websites and promotions of rivals and send managers to walk through competitors’ stores to help establish what shoppers will pay for items."

In the case of the proposed $20 billion merger between Kroger and Albertsons, how grocery stores compete matters. Government antitrust lawyers seek to block the merger because grocery companies "commonly use rivals’ prices as a benchmark in setting their own," Thomas explains. "Federal Trade Commission attorneys argued that Kroger won’t have the same incentive to lower prices in its stores without Albertsons. Price checks can provide a ceiling for what grocers charge shoppers."

While antitrust lawyers say competition between big grocery store chains helps keep prices down, attorneys for Kroger say merging with Albertsons will enable them to compete with Walmart. Thomas adds, "Kroger and Albertsons also said they price check against a number of different competitors in a given area, including Walmart, Target, and Amazon.com’s Whole Foods Market, not just each other."

Still, the active competition between grocers demonstrates how prices can be affected by grocery store sleuthing. James McCann, the former chief executive of grocery chain Ahold USA, told Thomas, "It’s about the perception of price in your store. If you are expensive, a lot of customers will migrate to other places." Thomas reports, "McCann said it is common to send an employee across the street to a competitor three times a week to check prices on about 30 items."

Even though Walmart is the world's largest retailer, it also uses old-school spying to gain market knowledge, and in turn, the company uses that on-the-ground information to squeeze cheaper prices out of suppliers. Thomas adds, "The retailer also has regional managers visit competitors and its buyers pressure suppliers to offer lower wholesale prices if managers find items sold cheaper elsewhere, people familiar with the process said."

Rural Wisconsin communities face division and racism fueled by immigration concerns as presidential race tightens

Sauk County is as diverse as its voters. The community includes
farms, outdoor and natural attractions, arts and a robust tourism sector.

As both presidential campaigns vie for votes in Wisconsin, some of the state's rural voters say election rhetoric has become harmfully divisive and tinged with racism, reports Dionne Searcey of The New York Times. In Sauk County, Wisconsin, residents can see their community's partisan divide by tallying neighborhood political yard signs. The heated debates even moved owners of the Square Tavern in Baraboo, the county seat, to "post handwritten notes admonishing customers along the giant mirror behind the bar: 'No Politics and No Religion.'"

While Trump and Harris court all Wisconsin residents to swing to their side, winning over Sauk County voters may be the jewel in the battleground state's rural crown. "Sauk County has been a presidential bellwether in recent years, voting for the winner in the past four elections," Searcey explains. "Sauk County, which is mostly white with a small but growing nonwhite population, has been roiled by its own racial skirmishes in recent years."

Like many Americans, Sauk County voters want the next president to address crime, abortion "and especially immigration," Searcey writes. 

Some Harris supporters "complain that much of Trump’s message is aimed at stoking racist attitudes to earn him votes. Their chief example: Trump’s proclamation from the debate stage that Haitian immigrants are eating cats and dogs." Searcey explains. While Trump's claim is false, it resonates with some Sauk County voters who may fear immigrants. "This summer, a county board meeting turned hostile over worries that refugees might someday settle nearby."

As Harris and Trump stump in pivotal states, how racial and migrant conflicts will be dealt with by the next commander-in-chief matters. Searcey reports, "Trump’s backers say it is Democrats who are using race to win votes, tossing around accusations of racism as a cudgel. His supporters say they are tired of being labeled racist or xenophobic for complaining about urgent issues, in particular immigration."

Meanwhile in places like Baraboo, "the divisions were evident on a recent afternoon of door knocking with Karen DeSanto, a Democrat running for the State Assembly," Searcey adds. "On the same block, three residents had three different ideas about the election: one undecided, one supporting Harris and the other backing Trump. Immigration was on everyone’s mind."

FEMA maps didn't prepare N.C. homeowners for Helene; some think flood insurance model needs an overhaul

Some homes became part of mudslides and slid into Helene's
racing, torrential waters. (WHAS ABC photo via youtube)

The Federal Emergency Management Agency's flood maps don't include heavy rain and other water sources that put certain areas at risk. In regions of North Carolina, the agency's omissions left many homebuyers unaware and uninsured against the ravages of Hurricane Helene, report Kevin Crowe, Shannon Osaka and John Muyskens of The Washington Post.

The Post used an "analysis of flood risk data from First Street, a climate modeling group, and found that just 2% of properties in the mountainous counties of western North Carolina fall inside areas marked as having a special risk of flooding. . . . (a) designation, which compels homeowners to buy flood insurance if they want to get a federally backed mortgage."

Experts have long warned that FEMA's maps are lagging behind science and current weather trends, but communities often balk at mapping changes. "Local officials often resist changes that show their areas more at risk, because the designation comes with extra costs," the Post reports. "Once an area is designated in the special flood zone, buildings have to follow more stringent federal guidelines." Some experts are pushing to have the entire federal flood insurance model overhauled.

FEMA's maps underestimate flood risk because the agency fails "to take into account flooding from heavy rain, small streams and tributaries, or climate change’s future impact — and can fall short when assessing current risks in a wetter, hotter world," the Post reports. When a region's topography and current climate threats are not figured into risk equations, homebuyers are left unknowingly vulnerable to flooding.

"In Buncombe County, where rising waters swamped areas like Asheville and Swannanoa, First Street’s maps show a much larger area of flood risk than the FEMA maps do," the Post article explains. "About 2,100 properties out of about 125,000 in the county are in FEMA’s flood zone, compared with 19,500 under First Street’s model."

A young farmer and former addict offers hope for recovery: 'The only thing you’re not coming back from is death.'

Nathan Caburn, a successful Mississippi Delta farmer
and past opioid addict. (Photo by C. Bennett, Farm Journal)

Nathan Casburn could be a poster child for a drug-addicted prodigal son, who threw away his farm and family for oxycontin and heroin highs.

Casburn's story is a tale that resonates with opioid-ravaged families and reflects what the love of a father and the support of a rural community can do for addicts who want to go home and begin again, writes Chris Bennett of Farm Journal. "Casburn is a most unlikely survivor. He tells a hellish tale of loss and triumph on the farm — without a shred of blame cast beyond his own shadow."

As a teenager, Casburn obsessively played video games. He told Bennett, "I played every waking moment I could, to the point of fixation. I knew I was different from the other kids and not in a good way; I was geared toward escapes. In my case, an obsession with video games was a symptom of my unhealthy mindset.”

From video game escapes, Casburn went on to alcohol. Bennett writes, "In 2004, on backroad gravel, Casburn, a high school junior, broke two vertebrates in an alcohol-related car crash. The subsequent pain management became a party, legitimized by medical approval in the age of OxyContin. Casburn was in love. Welcome to the wonder world of opioids."

Casner wanted nothing to do with his family's Mississippi Delta farm in Tallahatchie County. He was all about the highs. "Next stop, 75 miles west to Ole Miss and Oxford, and a chain of descent in a college town: DUI’s, car wrecks, arrests, hospitalization, overdoses, academic probation, and legal woes," Bennett explains. "By 2014, with no job, no degree, and no prospects. . . . OxyContin and other legal pharmaceuticals were out of his price range. He responded with the most hellish economic decision of his life. Go home to the farm and tap the vein. Heroin."

"Rain or shine, addiction woke Casburn at dawn every day, demanding a morning fix," Bennett writes. "In 2017, at 29, Casburn’s body gave out. After two weeks in intensive care due to a heart valve infection derived from heroin use, he returned home, and checked into rehab. . . . Three weeks after rehab, Casburn was back on the needle."

Then death came knocking. Casburn told Bennett: "I had an out-of-body experience with no drugs involved. I saw everyone going on with life, and me stuck right there dying as an addict. Right then, in the library, I dropped to my knees and threw up a prayer in desperation, but I meant every word. I called out to God for mercy and forgiveness. I told Him that if He would help me, then I’d do everything He asked. That prayer was answered.”

He told Bennett, “All the people around me in our farming community came to help me in one way or another." Bennett adds, "Seven years after crashing to his knees, Casburn has earned a stellar reputation and built a thriving farm life. . . . In March 2024, he and his wife Caitlin were blessed with a baby girl — Nora." He is grateful for a "particularly stalwart source of support — his father, Rea."

Casburn wants people who are addicted to know there is always hope. He told Bennett, "Never, never believe that you can’t get out of drugs. You’re never too far gone. The only thing you’re not coming back from is death.”

Editor in North Carolina had to balance his storm-reporting duties with his other roles as a firefighter and EMT

Moss Brennan

Moss Brennan is editor of the Watauga Democrat newspaper in western North Carolina, and he also is a volunteer firefighter and an emergency medical technician. As Lauren Watson reports for Columbia Journalism Review, Brennan had to balance those roles as the flooding and winds from Helene led to extensive damage and hundreds of emergency rescues where he lives and works. 

In addition to his job at the Watauga newspaper, Brennan also is executive editor of Mountain Times Publications, which serves three rural counties in the region. 

As Watson reported, "In the days leading up to the arrival of Hurricane Helene last week, he was preparing for what he imagined would be some flooding and structural damage — possibly a handful of dramatic rescue missions — to report on. But he never anticipated the breadth of devastation and destruction that Helene would ultimately bring."

When the storm hit, Brennan first focused on his emergency services duties. “'If there is somebody that is hurt or their life is on the line, that comes first, before the story,'' he told Watson. "Balancing the two roles can be tricky ('I’m human, so it’s not perfect'), but Brennan also recognizes the responsibility that comes with his newspaper job."

Brennan told Watson: "I oversee the papers in Ashe, Watauga, and Avery counties, and during the week, we were the only outlet able to offer regular updates and reports to those communities."

As he delivered papers to people throughout the devastated communities, he found them welcoming of trustworthy information the newspapers provided. "I met people who told me that this was the first news they had gotten since last week.

"The Watauga County emergency services also asked for a bunch of papers so that their own damage assessment teams could give them out to people who lost everything and had no information about what was going on."

In North Carolina mountain towns, residents went 'old-school' to communicate; it's a model for other communities

Mountain communities in North Carolina used the old-fashioned town meeting to
share information, food and other post-hurricane resources. (Black Mountain, N.C. town photo)

In post-Hurricane Helene North Carolina, small mountain communities found communicating hard, so they resurrected the town meeting. "Spotty phone service was just one of the many problems facing western North Carolina and the surrounding region, where floods and landslides turned some communities into rubble," reports Jacey Fortin of The New York Times. "Being cut off from the modern world left many residents feeling frustrated and alone. So they turned to methods that have been out of date for a century or more."

Residents of Black Mountain, N.C., "pitched in to make signs alerting their neighbors to the daily gatherings, using posters, markers, wooden boards, spray paint, and anything else they could get their hands on," Fortin explains. "About 1,000 people turned out for daily updates in the town square." Other small towns used town squares as food distribution hubs. The town gatherings also "provided a much-need sense of community amid the widespread destruction."

In Banner Elk, N.C., a Blue Ridge Mountain town, connectivity was unreliable, so they relied on word of mouth to share information. Lora Elder, a Banner Elk volunteer, told Fortin, “It’s a very old-school method, but that’s how the word’s been getting spread.” Even as internet and cell service slowly return to these areas, their impromptu town meeting model is an example for other rural communities to use during disasters.

Election workers can be the best whistleblowers about interference, but they need protection from backlash

Election workers and officials help keep American
democracy healthy. (Photo by Ernie Journeys, Unsplash)

With November elections less than a month away, "lawyers at the Government Accountability Project, a nonprofit whistleblower protection organization, are preparing for a potential influx of calls from a new type of client this fall: election workers," reports Molly Bloom of Route Fifty. "Local, county and state election officials, poll workers and even contractors like voting machine operators are best positioned to identify and warn of attempts to interfere with the election process."

Over the past decade, election workers have faced increasing public scrutiny, rudeness and even threats of violence. Bloom explains, "Nearly 40% of local election officials reported experiencing threats, harassment or abuse last year, according to a Brennan Center for Justice survey. And 62% reported concerns about political leaders engaging in efforts to interfere with how election officials do their jobs."

Dana Gold, director of the Government Accountability Project’s Democracy Protection Initiative, told Bloom, "These are just public servants who we are depending on to really protect our democracy." The initiative created a guide for whistleblowers in battleground states. It aims to empower election workers with knowledge on how and when to speak up if something seems irregular.

For U.S. democracy to remain healthy, election workers need to report possible election interference without fear of retribution from the public or political officials. Bloom reports, "The laws protecting those who might blow the whistle on any interference, much like the laws governing the administration of elections, vary by state." Gold told Bloom, "There's no one law for whistleblowers. That's why it's important to get advice early.”

In 2021, when the Election Official Legal Defense Network was founded to "provide pro-bono legal help and advice for election officials, it was hailed as the first organization of its kind."

Both parties agree medical debt is a burden for many Americans and are working to pass laws that offer relief

Solving Americans' medical debt problems has
bipartisan support. (Photo by K. Sikkema, Unsplash)

Lawmakers from both parties agree too many Americans are saddled with medical debt and the problem requires bipartisan intervention. "Democrats and Republicans in statehouses around the country have been quietly working together to tackle the nation’s medical debt crisis," writes Noam N. Levey of KFF Health News. Florida House Speaker Paul Renner, a conservative Republican, told Levey, "Regardless of their party, regardless of their background . . . any significant medical procedure can place people into bankruptcy. This is a real issue."

Some states have passed laws banning unpaid medical bills from consumer credit reports and "restrict medical providers from placing liens on patients’ homes," Levey writes. A significant medical debt can cause a financial spiral for people who end up "draining savings, taking out second mortgages, or cutting back on food and other essentials."

States are trying different approaches to address the problem. "When Arizona consumer advocates put a measure on the ballot in 2022 to cap interest rates on medical debt, 72% of voters backed the initiative."

Legislative efforts to bar medical debts from consumer reports or to limit a hospital's collection activity vary from state to state. "When Colorado last year became the first state to bar medical debt from residents’ credit reports, just one Republican lawmaker backed the measure," Levey writes. "New Mexico state Sen. Steve Neville, a Republican who backed legislation to restrict aggressive collections against low-income patients in that state, said he was simply being pragmatic."

Flora & Fauna: Flightless eagle mystery solved; beware of black-legged ticks; secret lives of plants; Pesto the Penguin

Bald eagle that was captured and believed to be ill. (Photo by
Wilson's Creek National Battlefield via The Guardian)

People thought this raptor was wounded because he couldn't fly. As luck would have it, this bird was not ill, but he had gobbled up his Thanksgiving dinner early. "Wildlife officials in Missouri rescued what they thought was an injured and flightless bald eagle, only to discover it had gorged itself on a roadkill raccoon and was 'too fat to fly,'" reports Richard Luscombe of The Guardian. "The eagle was released, completely healthy and full of energy, after a short period of 'rehabilitation' at the zoo’s wildlife hospital."
 
Among stretches of corn and beans in Midwestern Iowa, swaths of pollinator-loving plants and flowers grow. These "prairie strips" were sown by farmers and "they are part of a growing movement to reduce the environmental harms of farming and help draw down greenhouse gas emissions," reports Cara Buckley of The New York Times. "While giving fauna a much-needed boost and helping to restore the land. . . .The aim is to reduce nutrient runoff from cropland, and help birds and bees."

Black-legged ticks are small, wingless, bloodsucking arthropods that spread diseases, such as lyme and babesiosis, by latching onto wildlife or human hosts. "Lyme is the most commonly reported illness spread by ticks," reports Kevin Loria of The Washington Post. "But it is far from the only one: The black-legged ticks that carry Lyme can spread at least six different illnesses. Babesiosis is a parasitic illness, spread by Babesia microti parasites, which can live inside black-legged ticks. . . . It can be serious, especially for people who are immunocompromised."

Runnels the hound dog, reporting for duty.
(Texas A&M photo via Ambrook Research)

Livestock can die from bovine respiratory disease, which is notoriously difficult to detect. To help farmers avoid the pain and expense of losing cattle, scientists are exploring how canines can help identify BRD. "At Texas A&M University, a cross-discipline pilot study set out to discover whether working dogs, with their superior olfactory senses, could be used as early BRD detectors," reports Jesse Hirsch of Ambrook Research. "After many trials. . . researchers got up to 82% accuracy with one dog, and 65% with the other. But. . . the dogs didn’t fare nearly as well when given only two chances to distinguish between a BRD-infected swab and a clean one." 

Kate McCulloh

Flora have secret lives of their own. Although they can't ambulate, they find ways to move, morph and adapt to everything humans and Mother Nature "hurl their way," writes Kate McCulloh, an associate professor of botany at the University of Wisconsin. "Their complex physiology responds to each of these threats in often quite subtle ways. The solutions that plants employ differ among species, varying with the climate in which those species evolved."

Colorado mountain lions should be protected from hunts, writes Dan Ashe, a former director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in his opinion for Writers on the Range. "Emerging science tells us that these apex predators aren’t the enemy, they’re allies. They are likely providing an important ecosystem service in checking the spread of chronic wasting disease, CWD, an existential threat to healthy deer and elk populations, by targeting animals weakened by the disease." Mountain lions should be left alone to "do their job as predators."

Pesto and his "short" parents. (Sea Life
Melbourne Aquarium photo via CNN News)

Taller and decidedly fluffier than his parents, "Pesto" the baby king penguin is adorable and famous. "Photos of Pesto – who is 90 centimeters tall (about three feet) – towering over his parents have gone viral online. He has also provided opportunities for people to learn more about penguins," reports Lilit Marcus of CNN News. "Although most people recognize the adult black-and-white birds, king penguins are born covered in brown feathers. Once they learn how to swim, they will begin shedding those feathers – a process known as fledging. . . . Pesto’s biological father, Blake, is one of the aquarium’s oldest and largest penguins. But he’s being raised by Tango and Hudson, younger penguins whom Sea Life keepers wanted to try out as parents."

Newspapers, radio stations serve as a ‘lifeline’ for residents after major storm damage from Helene

The Henderson Lightning was chock-full of storm
information and free. (Henderson Lightning photo)

In the aftermath of terrible storm damage in the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida, many residents found themselves in dire need of reliable information about the damage and recovery efforts.

Local media organizations stepped up with round-the-clock radio broadcasts, updated information online and even free newspapers.

The Hendersonville Lightning, based about 25 miles south of Asheville, N.C., offered its newspaper for free to readers and packed its paper and website with storm-related coverage. As the community began its recovery efforts, The Lightning’s coverage included updates on power restoration, information about how to get rid of debris and details on which health centers were open and which ones were still closed.

In a thoughtful note to readers on Oct. 2, Editor Bill Moss explained why they were giving readers access to the newspaper for free and how else they were trying to navigate in the aftermath of the storm.

"Amid all the hardship and challenges in the post-Helene world, the last thing we want to ask people to do is dig for four quarters to get news of this historic disaster," Moss said. "We've unlocked racks at six locations in and around the city. These are the only racks that will be filled this week. For the sake of our distribution team, first responders and utility crews, we want to avoid adding traffic on hazardous roads."

After letting readers know details about where to find the free newspapers, Moss also wrote: “Subscribers are welcome to grab one, too, as we don't know when they'll get home delivery via U.S. mail of this week's issue” . . . . “Bear in mind, too, of course, that we're continuously posting updates on the website on the disaster, recovery, how to get help and more.”

Brian Stelter of CNN wrote about how the marathon broadcasts at radio stations in and around Asheville served residents with vital information and comforting reassurance.

“As communications across the region remained severed for many, the voices on the radio became a lifeline for locals in dire need of reliable information; sharing updates on road closures; opening the phone lines to anyone with working wireless or landline phones; and reassuring listeners that help is on the way from government organizations and volunteer groups,” Brian Stelter of CNN reported.

“WWNC, the oldest station broadcasting in western North Carolina, and six other stations owned by iHeart came together to simulcast their coverage of the weather emergency, host Mark Starling told CNN."

And “Blue Ridge Public Radio provided live coverage on the radio and online, including lists of 'who to contact' for help with missing persons and power outages.”

College student voters are 'propelled by concerns that directly affect them,' such as the economy, global warming

College students working to get youth registered to
vote. (Photo by Yunuen Bonaparte, Hechinger Report)

This year's election issues have energized college student voters to weigh in on state and national issues. "Students had a decisive impact in several battleground states in 2022," reports Jon Marcus for The Hechinger Report, which covers education. "And they want to do it again."

Whereas college voters have typically had lower election turnout numbers, state and national debates over big topics have inspired more younger voters to engage. "Young people say that they’re propelled by concerns that directly affect them, such as global warming, the economy, reproductive rights," Marcus writes. "More than half of Americans ages 18 to 24 turned out for the 2020 general election."

Heated partisanship has led younger voters to get involved. College student activist Andrew LoMonte, told Marcus, "What people are realizing is that the issues the candidates are talking about actually matter to us. . . . You’d think the dysfunction would scare people off, but it’s a motivator."

The younger vote matters most in swing states where winning margins can be razor-thin. "Young voters had “a decisive impact” on Senate races in 2022 in battleground states including Wisconsin, Nevada, Georgia and Pennsylvania. . . . Sixty-six percent of college students voted in 2020, up 14 percentage points from 2016. Younger students ages 18 to 21 voted at the highest rates of all."

States with abortion-related referendums have seen big jumps in youth voting registration. "College students were widely credited last year with helping elect a liberal candidate to the Wisconsin state Supreme Court, which is due to take up two major abortion cases," Marus adds. "They have also registered and voted at high rates in several swing states."

Increases in youth voting registrations do not necessarily mean "that high youth voter turnout in November is assured. The proportion of college students who voted in the 2022 midterms was down from the record set in 2018," Marcus notes. "Not all groups of students vote in equally high numbers. . . . [In 2020] students majoring in education, social sciences, history, and agricultural and natural resources turned out at the highest rates; those in engineering and technical fields, at the lowest."

Opinion: Iowa editor considers where Americans can 'find center again' after this year's elections

Art Cullen

By Art Cullen

Editor, The Storm Lake Times

What comes after Nov. 5? Most Americans and the betting markets believe that Kamala Harris will win the election. . . . No matter what happens, we need to find center again. Quick like.

What the Republic cannot endure, and which gives enemies of freedom oxygen, is the contempt that has taken hold American-to-American.

We talk past each other and grow apart.

How do we talk to the other side?

We know what we want in Iowa: clean air and water, safe schools that teach you how to be a citizen, good food and good basketball, smooth roads and friendly neighborhoods, easy access to comprehensive and affordable health care. The ability to prosper. That’s pretty much it.

We’re not getting what we deserve, except for the basketball.

Trump and Harris voters can agree on that. So we should start there.

Farmers who vote Republican are not gung-ho for pipelines going wherever the power brokers would like, and neither are environmentalists. Each likes supporting more on-farm conservation. White males and Black women are suspicious of unchecked corporate power. A lot of union members will vote Republican for a whole host of reasons, but find common cause with Democrats on basic human equity.

We all want to strengthen rural healthcare. We like independent producers and businesses. . . . It’s not as if there is not common ground. . . . Right-to-repair is not left or right. Neither is enforcement of anti-trust laws. . . . We all recognize that it is tough to fill jobs in food and agriculture because it’s tough work. Nobody expects to get rich, but they expect respect and a wage that lets them get ahead.  

This is why people are anxious and don’t think that things are working their way. They’re not. Things work for people with a firm grip on power. We can organize ourselves around how to make our place better, instead of how we can lock up our adversaries.

It starts with city hall, the courthouse and the school house. It starts by us talking about issues and confronting power that prevents progress. It starts by listening. . .

Art Cullen is the editor of the The Storm Lake Times in Storm Lake, Iowa, covering Buena Vista County and parts of neighboring Clay, Pocahontas, Sac, Ida and Cherokee counties. This opinion was lightly edited.

Simply adding ground limestone to rivers and oceans could decrease global warming, but the challenges are many

Rivers

naturally

deliver

carbon

to

the

ocean,

preventing

it

from

entering 

the

atmosphere.
(CarbonRun graphic)

Scientists aim to fight global warming by adding ground limestone to oceans and rivers, report Brad Plumer and Raymond Zhong of The New York Times. The Earth's water sources "contain carbon dioxide that is constantly escaping into the air, where it traps heat and warms the planet. Adding limestone converts some of that carbon dioxide into a stable molecule that instead stays underwater and washes into the sea, where it should remain trapped for thousands of years."

Oceans already play a big part in removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. "By speeding up that process, scientists believe even more carbon could be packed into those watery depths," the Times reports. "One idea is known as alkalinity enhancement, which involves adding limestone, magnesium oxide or another alkaline substance to rivers and oceans, changing their chemistry in a way that makes them soak up more carbon dioxide."

The company, CarbonRun, is putting the new science to the test, with its first limestone silo under construction in Nova Scotia. Later this year, "the machine will grind up limestone inside a tall green silo and release the powder into the nearby West River Pictou, creating a chalky plume that should dissolve within minutes," Plumer and Zhong explain. With the addition of powdered limestone, the water will do the rest. "Scientists estimate that similar methods deployed in oceans could remove billions of tons per year."

Despite its promise, the technology faces challenges from nature and unanswered questions. While dumping ground limestone in a river may be successful, full-scale drops into oceans would be more complex and require massive amounts of ground limestone. The Times reports, "toying with ocean chemistry also carries unknown risks. Some environmental groups worry that even early experiments with these techniques could threaten fish and other aquatic life."

To mitigate environmental pushback, CarbonRun’s founders are "proving that adding limestone to rivers doesn’t just take carbon out of the air — it can also safely benefit local ecosystems," Plumer and Zhong add. "It’s relatively straightforward for CarbonRun to show that adding limestone to rivers converts some carbon dioxide into a stable bicarbonate. . . .The harder part is mining and moving the limestone cheaply."

Quick hits: Trucks for farmers; guide for emergency alerts; Native Americans enter elections; PORKtober is here!

AGwagon kits make trucks tough enough for farming.
(Photo by Matthew J. Grassi, Farm Journal)

Farmers who want a truck built for the rigors of farming can now make one with "AGwagon," aftermarket kits, reports Matthew J. Grassi of Farm Journal. "There has never been a pickup truck 100% purposely built for farmers and ranchers. . . . The kits convert off-the-factory-line trucks into rugged and tough, back 40 devouring, farm equipment hauling beasts. . . . The AGwagon kits were built off feedback from a panel of 14 farmers and ranchers."

Signing up for emergency alerts may sound simple, but often it's not. This group made an emergency alert guide that can be a model for other communities, reports Natasha Uzcátegui-Liggett of CalMatters. "If you’re interested in publishing a comprehensive emergency alert guide for your state, you can start with our article on CalMatters (it’s free to republish if you credit us clearly, and the majority of it applies to all states), and then swap out the section titled 'How to sign up for your county’s alerts' with your reporting for your state. . . "

Humans and other animals have more than one 'prong' of defense against germs.
(Knowable graphic)

Immune systems are part of living creatures' defenses against bacteria and viruses, but they aren't the only type of protection. "Some scientists think we should devote more attention to a second prong of defense: one that allows our bodies to more harmlessly live with pathogens until they’re cleared from our systems," reports Liam Drew of Knowable. "There is a substantial body of research showing various ways in which animals can tolerate, and so survive, maladies such as malaria, sepsis and dysentery."

Dr. Stephen Loyd

He was a physician, then an opioid addict, and now he's West Virginia's "drug czar," reports Leah Willingham of The Associated Press. "Dr. Stephen Loyd, who has been treating patients with substance use disorder since he got sober two decades ago, says combating opioid addiction in the state with the highest rate of overdose deaths isn’t just his job. It’s an integral part of his healing. . . . Loyd says he is ready to help advise the state's foundation on how to distribute the nearly $1 billion in settlement money saying the state has a 'moral and ethical responsibility' to spend it wisely."

Amid election year tensions and negativity, there are some bright spots. This November, "a record-breaking number of Native Americans are running for state and local office," reports Daniel C. Volk of Route Fifty. "Advance Native Political Leadership, a group that works to increase Native American representation at those levels of government, says there are 230 Native candidates running across the country this year, up from 100 when it first started counting in 2016. About 80% of this year’s candidates are women."

Deanne Frieders

It's PORKtober, and "This Farm Girl Cooks" web writer Deanne Frieders can help you decide "what's for dinner," even if you're delivering supper to a field of workers, reports Jennifer Shike of Farm Journal. "As a cook, she loves how versatile pork is to cook with as it can take on so many flavor profiles from Italian to Tex-Mex to Asian." To explore Frieders' website full of farmer-friendly meals, click here.

PFAS, also known as "forever chemicals," can cause devastating health issues for humans, partially because they build up in the body over time. Much of the concern over PFAS has been their "everlasting" presence in U.S. water supplies, but this town has succeeded in removing them, reports Pien Huang of NPR. "Yorba Linda is a small, sunny city southeast of Los Angeles. It’s home to the nation’s largest per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) water treatment plant of its kind." The plant can serve as a model for other communities.

Small paper in Oregon wins its public records battle and receives Poynter Institute's First Amendment award

Les Zaitz

In 2017, Malheur County, Oregon, was promised a rail center that would change the economic future for the area. As the project got underway, Les Zaitz, publisher of the community's newspaper, the Malheur Enterprise followed its progress. When the buildout started to falter, Zaitz doggedly reported on it, reports Nicole Slaughter Graham of The Poynter Institute. "As the Enterprise continued to publish updates about the project, backlash from the county ensued, and records requests either went unanswered or took several weeks or even months to come through." To keep his community informed, the paper and Zaitz sued the county for access to the records, and won.

The project "could have been life-changing for the residents of Malheur County, 14.9% of which live in poverty — more than any other county in Oregon," Graham explains. Years later, the Treasure Valley Reload Center project remains unfinished, but many residents of Malheur County know some of the reasons why -- because their local paper reported on it. "Zaitz committed to publishing updates on the project. It was bleeding money with no real results. . . . Zaitz knew the community stakes were high."

Location of Malheur County in
Oregon (Wikipedia map)

The county tried to paint the Enterprise as being against the project. Zaitz responded by "publishing pieces that drew back the curtains on the journalistic process, letting readers know how the reporting was going, what documents had been acquired," Graham adds. Zaitz told her, “I’d explain to people why this fight is occurring, and that this is not the Malheur Enterprise’s information. [Public records] are your information, and this is how you judge what your public officials are doing.”

Many Enterprise readers were grateful for the integrity and information provided by their newspaper. Zaitz told Graham, "I found that people really appreciated someone to sort of stop and explain in plain terms." Graham reports, "In September 2022, the Malheur Enterprise and Zaitz sued (Greg) Smith," who was overseeing the project, "citing that the paper was repeatedly denied access to public records and that [the project's manager] had knowingly tampered with, and even destroyed documents."

Throughout the lawsuit process, the Enterprise continued to report on the Reload Center's progress. "In spring 2023, the county settled the lawsuit and agreed to pay the Enterprise $40,000. The payout was arguably the least substantial aspect of the settlement," Graham writes. "Additionally, the county’s lawyer, in a rare legal move, admitted to the county’s wrongdoing."

There's more to this happy ending for Zaitz's Malheur Enterprise -- it earned The First Amendment Award for 2024 from the Poynter Institute. Graham reports, "Judges pointed out that the Enterprise’s public records reporting was, 'A fantastic example of a small paper doing big work to effect real change in the local community.'"

The Institute for Rural Journalism, which is based at the University of Kentucky, presented Zaitz with the Tom and Pat Gish Award for tenacity, courage and integrity in rural journalism in 2018 during the early stages of his reporting on the project. 

Outdated 911 systems mean dispatchers sometimes misdirect help. Two technologies could provide solutions.

Outdated technology limits dispatchers' effectiveness.
(FirstNet photo)

In an emergency, most people call 911 and expect a dispatcher to answer the call and send help to the correct place. But U.S. emergency centers are facing their own crisis and not every dispatch is getting sent to the right place, reports Chris Teale of Route Fifty. "With outdated technology that is prone to outages, as well as low staffing and maps that may not be up to date with the newest streets," emergency responders are sometimes misdirected. Many 911 services still rely on 1980s technology, with many rural communities lagging behind their urban counterparts.

The situation sounds dire, but "experts say there’s a possible solution to these problems," Teale explains. "The interplay of two technologies —FirstNet and Next Generation 911 — could help bolster 911 dispatching and bring it up to date. . . . But it will take time, money and political support to make it a reality -- even though there is broad agreement on the issues dispatchers face."

FirstNet "gives public safety agencies their own interoperable broadband network in partnership with AT&T," Teale explains. "It covers more than 2.97 million square miles across every state and territory, and was created after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks highlighted shortcomings in emergency response communications networks." FirstNet technology could benefit rural America where its high-power towers and satellites can reach more remote places faster and more accurately.

From better location services to the ability to receive scene photos or texts from callers, Next Generation 911-technology helps dispatchers and emergency responders locate and manage a crisis more effectively. FirstNet's dedicated connections work in tandem with Next Generation's features. But the systems can be cost-prohibitive for communities. Teale adds, "Some have urged the federal government to step in and bear some of that cost."

Many rural hospitals have reduced services or closed, but some communities are building new or updating old ones

New hospital construction in Sublette County, Wyoming.
(Sublette County Hospital District photo via KFF)

Some rural communities in Wyoming, Kansas and Georgia are "bucking the trend" and building new hospitals instead of closing them. Sublette County, Wyoming, is one of those places. The county has never had a hospital, but it's building a 10-bed, 40,000-square-foot hospital, "with a similarly sized attached long-term care facility," reports Sarah Jane Tribble of KFF Health News. "New full-service hospitals with inpatient beds are rare in rural America, where declining population has spurred decades of downsizing and closures." The county's residents approved a tax increase to help fund their build.

Wyoming Hospital Association President Eric Boley, told Tribble, "To be honest with you, it even seems strange to me." Small rural “hospitals are really struggling all across the country." Tribble writes, "There is no official tally of new hospitals being built in rural America, but industry experts such as Boley said they’re rare. . . . Nearly 150 rural hospitals have closed or converted to smaller operations since 2010."

To stem rural hospital closures, the federal government began offering hospitals the option to remain open as emergency care facilities. "Since January 2023, when the program took effect, 32 of the more than 1,700 eligible rural hospitals have joined the program," Tribble explains. Tony Breitlow, a rural health care expert, told Trible that for some rural hospital groups, transitioning to emergency care only is an example of “systems figuring out how to remain robust and viable.”

Meanwhile, some rural areas have the funding to build new care facilities. "Freeman Health System, based in Joplin, Missouri, announced plans last year to build a new 50-bed hospital across the state line in Kansas," Tribble reports. "Paula Baker, Freeman’s president and chief executive, said the system is building for patients in the southeastern corner of the state who travel 45 minutes or more to its bigger Joplin facilities for care."

Some hospital developments in Wyoming and other states have tapped into federal dollars for support.  "Since 2021, the Department of Agriculture's Rural Community Facilities Programs have awarded $2.24 billion in loans and grants to 68 rural hospitals for work that was not related to an emergency or disaster," Tribble adds. "Nearly all the projects are replacements or expansions and updates of older facilities."

U.S. dams are aging and vulnerable to failure; many communities will have to decide between removal or repair

Flooding in Wisconsin after a massive storm in 2018. (National
Weather Service photo via the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Deteriorating dams have left many U.S. communities searching for affordable, safe options. "Dams across the country are aging, and also facing pressures from urban sprawl and intensifying floods wrought by climate change," reports Madeline Heim of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "The price tag to fix what’s broken, though, is estimated in the hundreds of billions of dollars, meaning dam owners could face hard questions about what to do with them."

The rural town of Viroqua, Wisconsin, is grappling with the impending failure of its "50-foot earthen dam, locally known as 'Maple Dale,'" Heim writes. Currently, other Wisconsin communities face the same dam problems. "Local officials are voting on whether to dismantle the dams by cutting large notches in them, allowing the water to flow again, in a process called decommissioning. Experts say it could be the most dams ever decommissioned in a single county in the U.S."

Across the country, more communities are or will soon face the problems caused by aging dams. "In the American Society of Civil Engineers’ latest Infrastructure Report Card, released in 2021, the group gave the nations’ more than 91,000 dams a “D.” That’s largely because of their age — the average age of a dam in the U.S. is over 60 years old," Heim writes. "On top of that, climate change is leaving question marks about how dams will perform under new weather conditions."

No matter which option officials choose -- repair or removal--there are steep expenses involved. "The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed in 2021, provided somewhat of a shot in the arm: $3 billion was earmarked for dam safety, including $118 million for the rehabilitation of the USDA watershed program dams," Heim reports. Lori Spragens, executive director of the Association of State Dam Safety Officials, told Heim, "I think we are going to see more dams under stress, or even failing. It’s not really fun to look at in the future.”

Opinion: Understanding how fentanyl 'saturated the U.S. drug supply' could help address the addiction crisis

Naloxone can prevent overdose deaths, but it's expensive.
(Adobe Stock photo)

The current U.S. opioid crisis started with painkiller prescriptions in the early 2000s, but once medical providers started nixing those medicines, heroin's popularity surged, and then fentanyl and its "tsunami" of death entered the market, reports Maia Szalavitz of The New York Times. "Understanding how fentanyl saturated the drug supply, moving from the East Coast of the U.S. to the West, is critical to ending the worst drug crisis in American history."

Drug cartels' greed drove the creation and use of fentanyl. "By 2013, cartels had realized that they could slash their labor, manufacturing and transit costs by replacing heroin derived from farm-grown opium with a powder made in a lab — fentanyl," Szalavitz writes. "Before 2018, 80% of all deaths associated with fentanyl occurred east of the Mississippi. . . . Since 2021, at least two-thirds of America’s 100,000 annual overdose deaths involved a synthetic opioid like fentanyl."

While heroin was considered a more urban drug, "increased opioid prescriptions — followed by sharp reductions — resulted in new heroin users in rural areas," Szalavitz explains. "Illegally manufactured fentanyl began appearing in both urban and rural drug markets. . . . Rural West Virginia and other Appalachian regions were the center of the earliest prescription opioid wave of the crisis, which led to the establishment of new heroin markets in places facing job loss."

Combating opioid addiction and overdose deaths liked to fentanyl is tough because the drug's supply chain and use is now deeply embedded across the country. The drug is cheap to make and buy, and provides an exceedingly potent high for the user. "So, what can be done? The answer is to focus on the drivers of demand, not supply. This means addressing the roots of addiction and treating it compassionately," Szalavitz writes. "We have a great generic opioid overdose antidote, naloxone. . . . And two medications — methadone and buprenorphine — have proved to cut the risk of death among people with opioid addictions by 50% or more when used long-term."

Szalavitz adds that people often start doing drugs because their lives feel hopeless. "Addiction is most often an attempt to escape despair. The condition itself is defined by compulsive drug use despite negative consequences, which is why threats of punishment or even death rarely yield recovery. . . . It’s not coincidental that the exponential rise in overdose deaths has occurred in tandem with a profound increase in income inequality."

Bound by a passion to protect a 'pristine corner of Colorado,' this 'ragtag organization' helped change government policy

A hiker enjoys the White River National Forest, which overlaps
with the Thompson Divide. (Adobe Stock photo)

A shared passion for protecting Colorado's Thompson Divide brought together a group of people with few other interests in common. "The drilling leases in a pristine corner of Colorado seemed like a done deal. But then an unlikely alliance of cowboys and environmentalists emerged. And things changed," reports Zoë Rom for The New York Times. "Their campaign could serve as a model for future environmental efforts."

Located in west-central Colorado, the Thompson Divide "overlaps with part of the White River National Forest, one of the most visited national forests in the U.S.," Rom explains. The area is also "home to endangered lynxes and one of the expansive organisms in the world: the state’s largest Aspen stand, a colony of trees connected by a lateral root system."

The region is beloved by hikers, conservationists, ranchers, cyclists and snowmobilers, some of whom formed "the self-described ragtag organization" now known as the Thompson Divide Coalition, Rom writes. The coalition added legal assistance from Peter Hart, legal director for Wilderness Workshop, a nonprofit environmental group in Carbondale, Colorado. Together the movement developed "a novel legal strategy that helped win a 20-year pause on new oil and gas development across the area."

Originally, the group tried and failed to buy back the 80-some oil and gas leases the Bush Administration had issued on the Thompson Divide. When leaseholders turned down the the coalition's offers, Hart's legal team scrutinized the sales. There they found "that the federal government’s haste to issue leases had left them with vulnerabilities," Rom reports. "For one thing, opportunities for public comment during the leasing process appeared to be inadequate, an apparent violation of the National Environmental Policy Act."

More legal digging led to "administrative challenges, which eventually sent one leaseholder to federal court against the Bureau of Land Management," Rom explains. With the lease's legal and administrative problems exposed, "leaseholders who had declined to sell were now eyeing the exits in light of potential legal complications and public discontent around drilling."

With new technology, many 988 suicide and crisis hotlines will be able to use caller 'georouting' to help provide care

Many 988 crisis service calls will soon be aided by geolocation technology. (988lifeline photo)

Despite the 24/7 availability of the 988 suicide and crisis hotlines across the country, U.S. suicide rates have continued to climb, with rural states facing some of the highest losses. One of the 988 program's biggest shortcomings has been its lack of caller location services, but that's about to change, reports Deidre McPhillips of CNN. "Carriers have started to adopt a new technology that helps direct callers to 988 hotlines to help centers based on their physical location rather than their phone number’s area code."

Adding the new technology means 988 hotline counselors will be able to connect callers with services and follow-up support where they live. "Verizon and T-Mobile started rolling out the 'georouting' technology last week. . . . AT&T also plans to begin the process within the next couple months," McPhillips explains. "Next month, the Federal Communications Commission will vote on a rule that would require all wireless carriers in the U.S. to implement georouting for 988 calls."

Some mental health advocates have voiced concerns over caller privacy; however, georouting differs from geolocation in that "it does not provide a precise location for the caller," McPhillips adds. "Instead, it aggregates information about a caller’s location to help them reach local support while maintaining their privacy." 

The 988 lifeline began in July 2022, replacing the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline with "a broader focus and a simpler dial code," McPhillips reports. The lifeline now includes services such as "American sign language and Spanish. . . . a special veterans crisis line, and an LGBTQ+ youth and young adult line." 

Opinion: When even 'losing by less' helps, Democrats must engage rural voters. Wisconsin's Baldwin shows the way.

Tammy Baldwin campaigning in the Badger state.

If Democrats want to gain votes in rural America, they need to be present to win. In tight races, even cutting into Republican margins can swing an election -- "Just ask Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat from Wisconsin," writes Karen Tumulty in her opinion for The Washington Post.

Last year, Baldwin kicked off her re-election campaign in conservative Richland County, Wisconsin, where Trump soundly won in 2020. But Baldwin also won the county. She's had a history of reaching out to rural communities, listening to their issues and touting her wins. Tumulty adds, "She cites bringing home $1.1 billion in federal funds to expand high-speed internet across Wisconsin and millions more to address the shortage of available child care that is particularly acute in rural areas."

Baldwin's strategic success with rural voters may be unusual, but other Democrats are catching on. "This year, Democrats up and down the ticket are waking up to something Baldwin recognized long ago: That Democrats cannot afford to ignore rural America, even as it has swung harder to the right," Tumulty adds. 

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who joined Baldwin's "One Year to Win” state tour kickoff, told Tumulty, “Elections in my state and here in Wisconsin often come down to a percentage point or less. You got to show up everywhere. You got to make sure that you’re meeting people where they are in communities like this that maybe historically haven’t voted your way.”

The Harris-Walz ticket also has taken from Baldwin's playbook. Tumulty writes, "They've made a point of campaigning in places like southern Georgia and western Pennsylvania, where they have little chance of winning outright but hope to cut into Trump’s margins. . . . It is the rare Democratic politician like Baldwin who can still win in rural areas. But in battleground states where polls show the race as tight as it is, even losing by less could make all the difference."