The Rural Blog

A digest of events, trends, issues, ideas and journalism from and about rural America, by the Institute for Rural Journalism, based at the University of Kentucky. Links may expire, require subscription or go behind pay walls. Please send news and knowledge you think would be useful to benjy.hamm@uky.edu.

The Rural Blog

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Quick hits: USDA plans fertilizer production in U.S.; farmers' 'stops' that aren't seasonal; curiosity builds community

Maine's bill to pause larger data center projects awaits governor's approval; ban would be the first of its kind in U.S.

Maine lawmakers consider a moratorium on data center developments as more towns reject proposals

Neighbors in Maine volunteer to build window inserts for each other to fight the winter cold

Long Canadian Pacific trains bring a small town's busy Main Street to a standstill each day

Rural kids rally: Nature nerding; 4-day school week; hikes instead of detention; farm safety; the 'Little White Duck'

Quick hits: More bacon; thriving town-owned grocery store; shocking fertilizer prices; drones for rural duties?

In rural Maine, farmers worry migrant workers will be too afraid to show up for work and crops will rot in the fields

The rural journalism business model hasn’t failed, but it needs updating; a nonprofit cooperative option beckons

Quick hits: Chris Stapleton; the first hydrogen-powered ferry; Stephen King's library; was Paul Bunyan a real man?

Opinion: Returning lands to Indigenous people is one way to ensure treasured landscapes thrive

Maine has ambitious broadband plan for fiber-optic internet service for 'everyone who wants it' by the end of 2024

Every summer, George H.W. Bush was a small-town guy

Rural schools struggle to bridge the digital divide

Organic dairy farmers' boom turns to bust

Mainers want to repeal school consolidation law

Small-town America looks different from a bicycle

Obama wins very rural Maine and its more rural CD

Obama invades Edwards' rural congressional base

A story for Independence Day: Maine island creates its own government