Monday quick hits: Cowboys and cows; Kingsolver interview; beer brewing and NASA; travel in the U.S.A. . . .

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (Illustration by Bridgeman, ACI, via National Geographic)

Eric Clapton bluntly admitted, "I Shot the Sheriff," but shooters and guilty parties are not that clear in the case of who shot whom at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Ariz. Some details about Wyatt Earp and the fight's aftermath might be surprising, Fernando Martín reports for National Geographic.

•

"Lester," a wily steer, escaped his pen, made a run for freedom and ended up on a stretch of busy interstate in Michigan, reports Cathy Free of The Washington Post. Lester's owner discovered his disappearance and called for cowboy help. Cowboy Ricky Littlejohn came to the roping rescue. Littlejohn told Free, "It was pretty wild — cars were still flying by when I went after him."

•

How do you write a book about decades of poverty, industrial abuses and opioid addiction that people will enjoy reading? Kentucky author Barbara Kingsolver found a way in her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Demon Copperhead, reports Rae Johnson for the Louisville Courier Journal. Commenting on her rural upbringing, Kingsolver told Johnson: "I've always been the writer from Carlisle, Kentucky. The person in me who is the underdog and who feels sort of fiercely protective of the underdogs is in everything that I write." Read the interview here.

•

CiCi helps the brewery lessen its carbon footprint by
recycling CO2. (Photo by Sergio Flores,The Washington Post)

Do people typically put beer brewing and NASA technology in the same category? Well, no, but maybe they should. "The fresh, doughy aroma around the conical fermentation tanks at Austin Beerworks is a sign that trillions of yeast cells are turning the sugary, hoppy liquid inside into beer. But there's another byproduct: carbon dioxide," reports Charlie Scudder of The Washington Post. "Until recently, Austin Beerworks's cellar manager had to truck in carbon dioxide in tanks 10,000 pounds at a time. But now, he's using techniques developed by NASA to capture the naturally produced CO2 and dissolve the molecules into his brews. . . The machine that enables tanks is the size of a large, double-door refrigerator is nicknamed CiCi — short for 'carbon capture.'"

•

Summer travel can be a glorious break from busy daily life. A long drive can give time for reflection and solitude. Along one stretch of pavement is the professed "loneliest road in America" right on U.S. Route 50—a place to feel the country's expansiveness and historical changes.

The Butler County Donut Trail in Ohio, might be a favorite
byway for children. (Photo by Jason Bohrer, The Daily Yonder)

If the loneliest road seems too solemn, America has flamboyant byways and memorable stops. "Federally-recognized routes are collectively called 'America's Byways,' and they encompass epic road trips like Route 66, unique communities like Amish Country, awe-inspiring geology like Volcanic Legacy, and immersive history like the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad," reports Kim Kobersmith of The Daily Yonder. "The following four trips are some of the most popular in the country. Not only are they fun to travel, but their organizers have also learned some best practices for coordinating this kind of visitor experience that they share below."

Small towns in Western U.S. are doing better economically than those in the East; one Montana town illustrates why

Washington Post chart; click the image to enlarge it.

Small towns all over the United States are declining, but Hamilton, Montana, is thriving. What's the town's secret? And why are small towns in the Western U.S. outstripping growth in the rural East?

"Based on measures of new-business formation, migration and job churn, Western states are significantly more dynamic than those in the East," David Lynch reports for The Washington Post. Since 2010, small towns in the West have been "by far the fastest-growing region in the country, according to the Census Bureau, expanding output two-thirds faster than the Midwest and more than twice as fast as the Northeast."

According to John Lettieri, president and CEO of think tank the Economic Innovation Group, many small towns in the West have a big advantage over their Eastern counterparts: their age and their history. Most small towns in the West were never heavily dependent on manufacturing, and therefore escaped the job losses that came with globalization. 

Sperling's Best Places map

"These are newer economies. They have fewer concrete cinder blocks to drag around behind them as they’re trying to grow," Lettieri told Lynch.

Hamilton, a town of more than 4,700, "has parlayed distinctive attributes into population growth, including proximity to the state’s second-largest city, majestic surroundings, a good supply of college graduates and a dependable base of federal government employment," Lynch reports.

A local microbrewery, launched by two Hamilton natives who came back after college, brings in more than $1 million in annual sales, and a federal laboratory that investigates deadly viral diseases provides high-earning jobs and the college-educated workers to fill them, Lynch reports. The town is also home to a GlaxoSmithKline plant that produces a vaccine ingredient, and has a thriving recreation industry.

"It’s a pretty sweet spot to be in," economist Ray Rasker of Headwaters Economics in nearby Bozeman told Lynch. "You can have the same job you’d have in Seattle and go fly-fishing in the afternoon. . . . It’s the quality of life. It attracts talent. Pretty soon, talent builds on itself, and word gets out."

Craft breweries can revitalize small-town economies, attract millennial residents

Chris Hernstrom at the Bolo Beer Co. in Valentine, Neb. (NPR photo by Kirk Siegler)

Small-town revitalization can come from many sources; why not beer? Small-town economies all over the Midwest are getting a lift from microbreweries, and maybe helping attract millennials to live there. One of those towns is Valentine, Nebraska, a town of 2,700 in Cherry County, the state's largest in land area. Chris Hernstrom was once a brewer in Bend, Oregon, but decided to open up the Bolo Beer Co. in Valentine. "It just seemed like an interesting challenge to come out to basically the exact opposite of Bend, some place where the brewing industry is still in its fledgling stages," Hernstrom told NPR's Kirk Siegler. Many of his customers are Millennials who love living in a small town but crave city amenities. Some are completely new to town, but many moved back after college or living in a city.

Cherry County, Nebraska
(Wikipedia map)

"While it's probably too early to call it a trend, what is happening in Valentine is part of a broader cultural phenomenon in rural America," Siegler reports. "Young people who grew up in small towns and have been watching them struggle from afar are feeling this calling to come home."

Valentine's 35-year-old mayor, Kyle Arganbright, is himself a recently repatriated resident. Valentine was already doing fairly well, with a thriving agricultural economy and plenty of tourists drawn to the nearby Sand Hills. But Arganbright says he sees a lot of opportunity in Valentine, and sees the brewery as a springboard for that--in fact, he and a friend are two of Bolo's main investors, Siegler reports. "If you're not growing, you're dying," he told Siegler. "You can't sit there stagnant, particularly when all these urban populations are exploding."

How one rural community revitalized its struggling Main Street with local food, local businesses

A town of 7,300 in southeastern Kentucky has revitalized its downtown through a local-food renaissance. Corbin's main street, once filled with vacant buildings and few businesses, is now thriving, adding 20 new businesses since 2012 while reducing a 40 percent vacancy rate to nearly zero, writes Patty Cantrell, of the Missouri-based consulting firm Regional Food Solutions, for Good Food On Every Table. (Best places map: Corbin, Ky.)

"Corbin is among a growing number of towns discovering and capitalizing on the power of local food to provide that new economy stimulus," Cantrell writes. Mayor Willard McBurney told her, "Bringing people back downtown to live, work, and play is key. To do that you need places to eat, places to shop.” Communities are getting help from federal agencies, such as Local Foods, Local Places, which provides grants "to boost economic opportunities for local farmers and businesses, improve access to healthy local food, and promote childhood wellness," says the Environmental Protection Agency, one of the sponsors of the program.

Big changes began in Corbin "when Main Street manager Andy Salmons partnered with the successful Whitley County Farmers Market," Cantrell writes. "Two years ago, they brought vendors and live music to downtown’s Vibroc Park on Tuesday evenings through the growing season. The event does two important things. It gets people used to coming downtown. It also serves as a business incubator and networking service for vendors."

Kristin Smith, who returned to Corbin a few years ago to co-open a local brewery and work on her family farm, told Cantrell, “We have a massive void here in places to eat outside of chain restaurants. When someone you’ve known your whole life opens up a new restaurant, you’re rooting for them; you make a commitment to go there, to support them and their local suppliers. A large majority of our community is rooting for us, and a large majority doesn’t even drink.”

Now that properties are occupied and downtown activity is strong, "the city of Corbin is expanding it work to attract residents to Main Street and surrounding neighborhoods," Cantrell writes. "The resources Corbin needs to do it are also growing with its success. [Andy] Salmons started his part-time Main Street manager job four years ago with an annual budget of $15,000. Today it’s up to $280,000 from the city’s general fund." He told Cantrell, "We formulated a strong sense of what we were going for. We wanted to restore that sense that it’s a viable thing to live, work, and play downtown.” (Read more)

Farm brewery a rising success in rural Virginia

What started out as a hobby to brew beer for local farmers has turned into a burgeoning business for the owners of Rising Silo Brewery, located outside Blacksburg, Va., Robby Korth reports for The Roanoke Times. The small-batch operation, owned and operated by Greg and Jess Zielske and landowner Pat Bixler, began a few years ago when the owners gave away beer to local farmers at Glade Road Growing—which grows and sells organic products locally—in exchange for feedback on the beers. (Times photo by Matt Gentry: Brewer Greg Zielske)

A 2014 state law assisted the business by creating "a new limited license for farm breweries that make less than 15,000 gallons of beer per year," Korth writes. "The new law gave (Greg) Zielske an opportunity to sell craft beer to the public without also opening a restaurant. In the past, every establishment that sold alcohol also had to sell food. So this spring Zielske took advantage of the new law and began selling his products with little fanfare at a bar he built himself. And it’s been a success largely because of the trendiness of the business."

Rising Silo has succeeded with no advertising, relying on social media and word-of-mouth, Korth writes. And word-of-mouth has been strong. On a recent Friday night at Glade Road Growing’s farm stand, about 60 to 80 people, ranging from Virginia Tech University students to senior citizens, enjoyed the festivities. Rising Silo is right at home on the 48-acre Glade Road Growing property, where there are several other agriculture-based small businesses that use the space to farm, said Bixler. (Read more)

Major brewers, Baptists align to keep small breweries from opening in the mostly rural South

The number of active breweries in the U.S. is on the rise, with 3,699 in 2013, compared to only 49 in 1983. But campaign contributions from major breweries, like Budweiser, and a large Baptist population make the South the nation's most difficult region to open a small brewery, says a study by University of Louisville economics professor Steve Gohmann published in Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice.

Gohmann writes, "The limited number of breweries in the South follows the idea of bootleggers and Baptists where those who gain economically from limited competition—large breweries and distributors—side with groups morally opposed to alcohol to keep breweries out.

The nine states with the fewest breweries are all located in the South, Joe Pinsker reports for The Atlantic. For example, Mississippi, with a large Baptist population, had one brewery for every 994,500 residents in 2012, compared to Vermont, which had one brewery for every 25,000 residents. It's not that Southern residents don't drink—it's that they don't have as many options as people in others parts of the country.

"Around the nation, big beer producers contribute to the campaigns of politicians who will support policies that discourage competition from local upstarts—for example, taxes on breweries and laws that prevent breweries from selling their kegs directly to consumers (instead of through a distributor)," Pinsky writes.

"But what's unique about the South is that there's a voting bloc—the Baptists—whose moral stance against alcohol happens to align with large producers' desires to keep new competitors from getting started in the business," Pinsky writes. "The support of Baptists provides Southern politicians with a reason to hinder brewers that politicians in other regions don't have. As a result, the states with the most Baptists tend to have the fewest breweries." (Gohmann graphic)

New York Times lists '52 Places to Go in 2015'

The New York Times' list of "52 Places to Go in 2015" includes a few rural hotspots in the U.S. At No. 4 on the list is Yellowstone National Park, No. 19 is Steamboat Springs, Colo., No. 30 is Bend, Ore. (City of Bend photo), No. 39 are the Catskill Mountains of New York, and No. 50 is the Taos Ski Valley in New Mexico. We bet the least known is Bend, in central Oregon, just east of the Cascade Mountains.

"Once a frontier logging town called Farewell Bend, this picturesque city of 80,000 is a seductive spot for travelers who are into craft brewing and the great outdoors," reports Dave Seminar. "The Bend region has 26 breweries, three wineries, two craft spirit distilleries, two cideries and the Cycle Pub, a tour that allows visitors to quaff craft beers while powering a sort of mobile pub by cycling."

"Two new distilleries, Cascade Alchemy and Backdrop, and a new cidery, Far Afield, are set to open this year," Seminar writes. "Bend has nearly 300 miles of single-track mountain bike trails, including two new ones, Tyler’s Traverse and Duodenum; a soon-to-open fat-bike trail (at Wanoga Sno-Park); world-class skiing at Mount Bachelor; and an embarrassment of riches for hikers, fishermen, climbers, stand-up paddle boarders and kayakers." (Read more)

Map shows winemakers and commercial brewers

Nearly 10,000 winemakers and 4,500 commercial brewers work in the U.S., Christopher Ingraham reports for The Washington Post. While California, Oregon and Washington are known for an abundance of wineries and the Denver area has blossomed into the country's beer capital, winemakers and commercial brewers are spread out throughout the country, and many of them are located in unsuspecting places. This Post map shows the locations of all the known winemakers and commercial brewers. Click on it for a larger version.

Barley-growing couple in N.Y. boost craft-beer trade by starting the state's first malting house

When the New York State Legislature passed a bill last year "that will eventually require ales and lagers labeled 'New York Beer' to contain 90 percent locally grown ingredients," the lawmakers apparently forgot that barley can't be used for brewing until it is malted, so a couple in Batavia are starting a malting house, the only one in the state, as well as growing barley, Howard Owens reports for The Batavian.

"Ted and Patricia Hawley . . . are sure others are coming, with anticipation of a craft brew boom in the state thanks to the new rules," Owens writes. "The farm beer license created by the bill is modeled after the winery license, which requires local ingredients and allows for tastings, on-site sales, bigger production runs and statewide distribution."

"This craft brewing industry is phenomenal," Ted Hawley told Owens. "There's no rules. I mean, there could be up to 30 ingredients in brews, from nuts and berries to honey, to apples. There's no rules and there are some great craft brews that are being processed right now in people's garages. This farm brewing bill will offer them an opportunity to open up larger and sell their brews." (Read more)