Quick hits: Defining rural; WD-40 secret society; electric vehicle stations keep growing; a mental health hotline for teens, staffed by teens

What is rural? A recently recorded webinar addresses that question and adds context. "In 2025, many agencies across the federal government released new data allowing users to understand how rural populations and areas are changing. This webinar will provide a brief history of rural population over time and review how the term 'rural' is defined," reports the Rural Health Information Hub. "Changes to rural areas, as identified by Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP), with their most recent September 2025 data release, will be highlighted." Find session handouts here, and the audio version here. The recorded YouTube discussion is shared above. 

Carmel-by-the-Sea coastline (Wikipedia photo)

Whimsical or fantastic, home addresses in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, had a breezy flair, free of physical address numbers, but that's about to change. "For 109 years, residents have used directional descriptors. . . . such as Sea Castle, Nut House and A Turn of Fraise," reports Hailey Branson-Potts of the Los Angeles Times. "This spring, every government building, business and house in the town of 3,200 people will be assigned a number." Many residents have long resisted the move, but "complaints about missed packages and mail-order medications, as well as trouble setting up banking accounts and utilities, kept piling up."

WD-40 can remove chewing gum
from all kinds of surfaces.

Freemasons and the Knights Templar aren't the only ones with secret societies: WD-40, the world's most famous lubricant, has one, too. The company's current CEO, Steve Brass, was at the helm for nearly 30 years before he was allowed to join the ultra-secret club, which gave him access to the "undisclosed Bank of America location" where the WD-40's handwritten formula is kept, reports Jennifer Williams of The Wall Street Journal. The formula has "only left a bank vault three times in the past 30 years." WD-40 is 70 years old and has been used "for everything from loosening bolts to coaxing a boa constrictor out of a car engine compartment and removing gum from turtle shells."

Zoom. Zoom. Zoom. It could be the sound of a Mazda, or the sound of EV charging stations popping up across the U.S., despite recent efforts to depress EV sales. "The U.S. added a record number of public electric-vehicle fast chargers last year, keeping up with demand from growing number of EV owners," reports Jeff St. John of Canary Media. "The Trump administration pushed Republicans in Congress to cancel Biden-era EV tax credits and revoke states’ rights to set clean-car mandates" but that hasn't put the brakes on charging station builds and consumer use. Data analytics firm Paren found that "new chargers are working more reliably and being used more heavily than ever — a sign the country is matching charging supply to demand." 

Approximately 100 teen volunteers log more than 10,000 contacts a year from youth around the world. (Teen Line photo via Reasons to be Cheerful)

When teens need someone to talk to about life problems, sometimes the best listener is another teen. Since 1980, the Center for the Study of Young People in Groups in California has supported a free teen hotline that connects trained teens with peers for nonjudgmental listening. Michaela Haas for Reasons to be Cheerful reports, "Approximately 40% of U.S. high-school students report persistent sadness or hopelessness, and suicide remains the second leading cause of death for youth ages 10 to 24. . . .For the teens who undergo rigorous training to become hotline volunteers, the experience can be "transformative." Read about the full project and its impact here. 

Pew Research graph, from survey of U.S. adults 
conducted Nov. 17-30, 202

The good, the bad and the ugly: That's what the majority of Americans say we need to be sharing about U.S. history, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey. Andy Cerda of the Pew Research Center reports, "Majorities in both parties say it’s important to talk about both America’s successes and its failures. . . .66% of U.S. adults say it is extremely or very important to publicly discuss the country’s historical successes and strengths and 66% say the same about discussing the country’s historical failures and flaws."

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

A westbound Canadian Pacific train makes its way into Jackman, Maine.
(Photo by Linda Coan O’Kresik, Bangor Daily News)

In Jackman, Maine, drivers waiting to cross Main Street can spend 30 minutes idling as Canadian Pacific Kansas City trains pass through the heart of town. Daniel O’Connor for The Maine Monitor reports, "More than 3,000 cars and trucks pass through the railroad crossing every day."

Doubling as U.S. Route 201, Jackman's Main Street and the railroad that divides it connects Quebec with "southern Maine and the rest of the Northeast," O’Connor explains. "Trains passing through town sometimes exceed 200 railcars, stretching for more than two miles in length. . . .That’s longer than 90% of North American freight trains operated by companies like CPKC." Some of the wait time can be blamed on aging rail lines and increased traffic.

Jackman, Maine, is 16 miles from the Canadian
border. (Northern Outdoors map)

Locals tried to avoid Main Street during the hours when trains were scheduled to cross, but train schedules varied too much. Waits can be extended when an international border scanner, which checks trains for illegal goods from Canada, notifies Customs and Border Protection that additional scanning is needed.  

For Jackman residents and Route 201 travelers, the long and unpredictable daily train waits are frustrating and pose a potential danger. O'Connor explains, "With the town split in half for part of the day and ambulances on one side of the track, trains could delay responses during an emergency."

Maine’s border shares seven rail crossings with Canada, but Jackman’s border crossing "is the only one to see a clear increase in shipping year-over-year," O'Connor reports.

CPKC has made rail improvements to "upgrade the rails in the area since it acquired the route in 2020, but said border security caused slowdowns in Jackman," O'Connor adds. "Many in town seemed to accept that the long trains were just part of life up north."

Rivian Automotive forges onward and breaks ground on its $5 billion electric vehicle plant in a small town in Georgia

Rivian builds electric in Georgia.

Despite the downturn in electric vehicle sales and enthusiasm, Rivian Automotive overcame delays and broke ground last week on its $5 billion plant in Social Circle, Georgia, a town with a population of 5,415.

"It seems like a terrible time to build an electric vehicle plant in the U.S., but Rivian Automotive leaders say they’re confident," report Jeff Amy and Alexa St. John of The Associated Press. Since its public offering, the company's stock has dropped "by more than 80%. . . . Rivian lost $1.66 billion in 2025’s first half."

The Georgia plant will make truck models that are smaller and less expensive than Rivian's current offerings, which feature high-end electric trucks that start at $70,000. The smaller models will start at $45,000, which the company predicts will enable it to sell to a much broader market and turn a profit.

While some state and local governments have resisted the push to go electric, Georgia is welcoming the change. "Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp says he wants to make Georgia 'the electric mobility capital of America,'" AP reports. "Georgia has pledged $1.5 billion of incentives to Rivian in exchange for 7,500 company jobs paying at least $56,000 a year on average."

Not everyone in Social Circle supports Rivian building in the small, bucolic town about 45 minutes from Atlanta. According to the AP article, "Some residents say the plant is an inappropriate neighbor to farms and will pollute the groundwater."

Rural women in Colorado with 'high-risk' pregnancies often travel long distances or take helicopters for care

Women in rural Colorado who encounter pregnancy complications often face long drives for care, with some having to take helicopters to reach treatment at a larger medical center. "Every year, more than 60 air medical transfers are made for pregnant patients in Colorado’s Eastern Plains, where helicopters regularly fly in to transport them to hospitals," reports Priya Shahi of Rocky Mountain PBS.

Graph by Priya Shahi, from Prowers Medical Center data

As more rural hospitals reduce or end obstetric care, emergency transportation, such as helicopters, has become more common. Emergency air flight can be for the health of the mom, the unborn baby or for after-delivery specialty care.

In Lamar, Colo., pregnant patients can receive routine prenatal care at Prowers Medical Center; however, its obstetric care is limited and expecting moms with more "high-risk" conditions are often transferred or flown to facilities with higher levels of care. 

While some women don't need more expert care or equipment until closer to delivery, some have to travel long distances throughout pregnancy. One patient in Lamar "has to make bimonthly trips to Colorado Springs just for ultrasounds," Shahi writes. 

She told Shahi, "My husband has to take time off just to take me, so we lose income just to go that far. We’re already struggling in the economy that it is. To take me up there for a two-minute appointment, it’s rough." A one-way drive from Lamar to Colorado Springs takes roughly 3 hours.

Drugged driving is difficult to detect, but it impairs drivers and contributes to accidents and fatalities

Cannabis slows reaction time and alters spatial awareness. 
 (Jason Doiy, iStock, Getty Images via The Conversation CC)

Despite its often invisible presence, drugged driving is a developing problem in most states. On rural roads where almost half of fatal crashes in the U.S. occur, the risks posed by drugged drivers may be disproportionately higher, but difficult to detect or prove.

In 2020, roughly 12.6 million people aged 16 and up drove after using illegal drugs. "Of that total, roughly 11.7 million were under the influence of cannabis," writes Andrew Yockey, a public health expert at the University of Mississippi, for The Conversation. 

While cannabis use is often downplayed, it impairs reaction time and spatial perception. Yockey explains, "Multiple studies have found that drivers with THC, the primary psychoactive compound in cannabis, in their bloodstream are about twice as likely to be involved in a fatal crash – either as the cause or as a victim – compared with those who haven’t used drugs or alcohol."

Other drugs or any mix of drugs also play a part in devastating vehicle collisions and fatalities. "Opioids can cause drowsiness and dizziness. Stimulants like cocaine or methamphetamine may lead to overconfidence and aggressive driving," Yockey adds. "When drugs are mixed — or combined with alcohol — the risks increase dramatically."

All states prohibit drugged driving, but how they enforce those laws varies, leaving "legal gray areas in how the laws are interpreted and enforced," Yockey writes.

Despite laws designed to discourage and punish drugged driving, detecting and measuring illicit drug use in drivers is tricky. "There is no standardized way to measure drug impairment as there is with blood alcohol content," Yockey explains. "Roadside tests that cops use to spot drunk drivers don’t work as well for drug impairment."

States have increasingly turned to using roadside saliva tests, which can "detect recent drug use more quickly," Yockey writes. But again, the measurement of drugs still in the bloodstream and how that translates into driving impairment or ticketed offenses isn't clear.

Grassroots efforts give rural W. Va. residents a transportation solution

Monroe County residents ride the new MTA bus route to
Walmart. (Photo by T. Spencer, Mountain State Spotlight)

Residents in Monroe County, West Va., now can take a bus to school, work or doctor's appointments, thanks to the efforts of the county's transportation committee.

Tre Spencer reports in the Mountain State Spotlight that the committee negotiated a deal to get new bus routes from the Mountain Transit Authority.

Like many rural people across the U.S., Monroe County residents have struggled to get to work or care for themselves because of poor transportation options. Spencer explains, "Jeana Carr is the county’s Head Start director and has worked directly with families and parents since the late 1990s. She said most families either relied on one car or didn’t have one at all." Carr told Spencer she spent years listening to community assessment results that listed transportation as the number one need. 

Carr's hope for providing a county transportation plan gained traction when Beth Massey, the threat preparedness coordinator at the Monroe County Health Department, got on board, and the two women joined forces. Spencer reports, "Massey and Carr approached the county commission with their concerns, and the commission formed a transportation committee, appointing Massey to lead it."

Members of the transportation committee knew that to get state help, they would have to prove the community had a viable need. So they decided to deploy a solid, community research project that included help from a local grocery store, residents who needed transportation, and the county's 911 service.

Once research results were completed, "the committee approached the state’s public transit authority, the Division of Multimodal Transportation Facilities," Spencer adds. "State officials directed them to the Mountain Transit Authority. . . . and Tim Thomas, MTA’s general manager, had been looking to expand to Monroe County for a while."

The committee grappled with how federal and state transportation funding works with additional community funds. "With the federal grant requiring a 50% match, the county commission put up $30,000, and MTA is working to put up the remaining funding to expand to more routes and days," Spencer reports. "By early March, buses were carrying riders across the county three days a week."

Tre Spencer

To read the detailed account of Monroe County's grassroots busing success story, Spencer's full story is here. 

Real ID deadline is here for real. Not everyone has one, and not everyone needs one. Here's an update.

A Real ID or A passport is required to board U.S.
commercial aircraft. (Adobe Stock photo)

After years of extensions and missed deadlines, the Transportation Security Administration's Real ID requirements for U.S. domestic airport travelers and individuals looking to enter military or federal buildings went into effect this week.

"Congress passed the Real ID Act back in 2005 to beef up aviation security post-9/11," Alex Fitzpatrick of Axios reports. "But the deadline for actually requiring compliant ID cards has been repeatedly delayed."

Leading up to its May 7 start date, TSA said that 81% of people going through their checkpoints had Real IDs or another form of accepted identification, such as a passport. Gaby Del Valle of The Verge reports, U.S. citizens that don't fly or need to access TSA checkpoint buildings may opt to stick with standard state-issued ID for now.

Real ID compliance has varied by state, which is unsurprising since some states have larger numbers of residents with passports. Fitzpatrick reports, "Nearly 47% of Americans lack a valid passport as of fiscal 2024. . . . West Virginia (79.3%), Mississippi (77.9%), and Alabama (72.3%) have the greatest shares of citizens lacking a passport."

USA Today journalists headed out to various airports across the country to see how the Real ID rollout was going in real time. According to their reports, airport lines were no longer than usual and most travelers reported no delays. 

TSA Regional Spokesperson Mark J. Howell "warned traffic would pick up heading into holidays like Memorial Day and the Fourth of July," reports USA Today. Howell told reporters, "Here in Nashville, specifically, with CMA Fest and Bonnaroo, you're going to have a lot of people coming from everywhere. So if you haven't gotten (a Real ID), now is the time to do it if you plan to travel later, because the volume from here is only going to go up.”

View TSA ID guidelines here. 

Opinion: People are getting married less often and having more children outside of marriage -- especially in rural areas

Rates for unmarried women and children out of
marriage are increasing. (photo by Thiago Cerqueira)

In an effort to prioritize "spending and infrastructure for communities with marriage and birth rates higher than the national average,” new guidelines from the Transportation Department have been issued by the Trump administration, according to a Washington Post opinion piece by Shelley Clark, a professor of sociology at McGill University, and Matthew Brooks, an assistant professor of sociology at Florida State University. 

Clark and Brooks said that the new guidelines would seem to be aimed toward Trump supporters in rural areas including “large traditional families.” However, their research shows that the appeal of having a large traditional family is not as popular as it once was. 

“Between 1988 and 2018, the proportion of rural women who were married fell from 55% to 33%… By 2018, rural women were more likely than urban women to be in an unmarried, cohabiting partnership (19% vs. 14%),” according to Clark and Brooks. They also said that the rates for women who have never been married has increased for both rural and urban women.

With the number of unmarried and divorced women rising, Clark and Brooks have tracked that the number of children born outside of marriage has also been on the rise. That is occurring at a time when the overall average number of children being born per woman has declined; and the number of rural children living with married parents has declined at twice the rate of urban children.

While Clark and Brooks said that rural transportation would be very beneficial due to the need to “travel greater distances to access necessities,” their research indicated “that using marriage and family size as the criteria for transportation funding is likely to disadvantage rural regions.”

“These rapid transformations in both marriage and non-marital childbearing help explain why many rural residents and politicians are inclined to think the traditional family is under threat,” according to Clark and Brooks. They also suggested that policies should be based on data about needs rather than “stereotypes about small-town family life.”

A made in the USA bicycle is in the works; maker hopes tariffs on Chinese imports will spur American production.

Guardian's USA-made children's bike is
still evolving. (Guardian graphic via WSJ)

Children’s bike maker Guardian Bikes moved its production from China to the U.S. intending to build its bikes with as many American-made parts as possible, reports Natasha Khan of The Wall Street Journal. The company's founder, Brian Riley, hopes "steep tariffs" on Chinese imports pledged by President-elect Donald Trump will make American-made bikes and parts more competitive.

Moving bicycle component production to the United States will still be tough partially because China has dominated the sector for decades. Riley knows the challenges and is still moving in that direction. Khan explains, "For now, components from China represent about 90% of the total cost of Guardian’s parts. By the end of next year, Riley hopes that figure will be about 20%. Guardian is starting production of its own bike frames. . . . As a result of Guardian’s new manufacturing, American-made parts could represent about 60% of the cost."

One of the reasons Riley moved his company to the United States was to build a "safer bike that could prevent the kind of head-over-heels braking accident that had injured his grandfather years earlier," Khan reports. "Many bikes sold at retailers such as Walmart or Target aren’t fully assembled when they are shipped to the retailers from overseas, so manufacturers don’t have oversight on the final assembly. Riley told Khan, "By controlling every aspect of production, we can guarantee the quality of every bike that rolls off our assembly line."

Riley admits that opening a U.S. factory was expensive and time-consuming. "At first, workers were slow to build the bikes, putting together 100 a day. It took time and constant tweaking of the assembly line to improve their speed and efficiency," Khan writes. Riley told her, "We had to bite the bullet. We had to be willing to lose money for a while to get to the other side of the strategy.”

The creation of Guardian's USA-made bike is evolving. "Guardian plans to begin making bike frames at the factory this year, using American steel. . . . Guardian is also considering making rims itself," Khan reports. "The bike maker has approached U.S. suppliers that could provide grips and reflectors."

Riley told Khan, "Everyone says making bikes here is impossible." Kahn adds, "His factory shows it isn’t."

Drought causes transportation headaches along the Mississippi River for the third year in a row

Bridge near Vicksburg, Miss., and a pusher tug headed up
the Mississippi River. (Photo by Justin Wilkens, Unsplash)

A drying Mississippi River is causing transportation headaches and delays for the third year running in what scientists suggest could be a long-lasting change. "Extreme drought conditions in the Midwest are drawing down water levels on the Mississippi River, raising prices for companies that transport goods downstream and forcing governments and business owners to seek alternative solutions," reports Kristoffer Tigue of Inside Climate News. "The situation could signal an emerging reality for the region, scientists say, as climate change alters the planet’s weather patterns."

Despite Hurricane Francine's water dump in the Ohio Valley, Mississippi River levels have dipped since mid-July, which slows traffic. "Load restrictions force barge operators to limit their hauls, which squeezes their profit margin," Tigue explains. "Barge rates from St. Louis reached $24.62 a ton in late August and $27.49 per ton by the following week, according to the Department of Agriculture."

Moving cargo via the Mississippi River is more "efficient pound for pound than ground transportation, business groups say, and gives the U.S. an edge in a competitive global market," Tigue reports. "According to the Waterways Council, a trade association for businesses that use the Mississippi River, a standard 15-barge load is equivalent to 1,050 semi trucks or 216 train cars—meaning domestic farmers and other producers can save significant time and money moving their goods by boat."

Too much rainfall or not enough causes river transportation backups, and over the past several years, weather fluctuations in the Midwest have swung between the two. Drought conditions at harvest time are particularly troublesome. Tigue writes, "While it’s typical for water levels on the Mississippi to drop during the fall months, Mike Steenhoek, executive director of the Soy Transportation Coalition, said the recent years of drought have been a real wake-up call for farmers to diversify their supply chains."

If there's a little good news, it's that this year's drought headaches are not as extreme as those from 2023, when the Mississippi dipped to record lows. Tigue reports, "Deb Calhoun, senior vice president of the Waterways Council, chalks that up to proactive efforts this year by companies and federal agencies, like the Army Corps of Engineers, to mitigate transportation disruptions."

Rural Florida community makes dramatic changes to prep for a new airport; an opportunity to 'move the needle'

Becoming home base for a major airport hub takes
monumental community efforts. (Adobe Stock photo)

When your community is surrounded by swamps and has low education levels, opportunities to gain infrastructure dollars don't come often, which is why rural Hendry County, Florida, is taking on the challenge of proving it can provide for the new "Airglades" airport," reports Nick Fouriezos of Open Campus. "The $300 million cargo hub could transform [the county] economy. . . . Local leaders see the project as a generational opportunity that could bring more than 1,400 new high-skilled jobs to their largely agricultural community at the edge of the Everglades." 

To reach their labor goals, Hendry community developers must educate and train their workforce to meet a dynamic shift in educational and labor needs. Getting that done is daunting. Fouriezos explains, "A third of Hendry County’s working-age adults lack a high-school diploma. And almost half speak a language other than English at home. Educators must first help them earn their GEDs and learn English."

The area must also work through logistics to transform its small private airport into a major U.S.-Latin America trading zone.

Location of Hendry County
(Adobe Stock map)

With help from the FutureMakers Coalition, a community organization that spearheads education retraining efforts, the county has opened two adult education centers. Fouriezos reports, "Spanish-speaking students have filled the adult education center in LaBelle, the 5,000-person county seat. . . . Even before the airport arrives, there are still plenty of local employers waiting to hire the students."

Part of the challenge of providing all the training and teaching was finding teachers. Michael Swindle, the county schools superintendent, "had to recruit a U.S. sugar worker to teach welding and coaxed a school bus mechanic out of retirement to lead the diesel mechanics program," Fouriezos adds. "Still, the program has been so successful the county is using tuition revenue and donations to open another training facility in LaBelle focused on HVAC and plumbing."

Swindle told Fouriezos: "We’re not just talking about an airport. We’re looking at this as an opportunity to move the needle on unemployment, on poverty, to a better place.”

East Palestine's controlled chemical burn in 2023 spread pollutants to at least 16 states, new study shows

Norfolk Southern's controlled burn spread chemicals
to surrounding states. (Adobe Stock photo)

In February 2023, a Norfolk Southern train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, leading to an explosion and a toxic vinyl chloride spill. The subsequent controlled burn, which was intended to prevent further explosions, created a plume that spread air pollutants to at least 16 states, according to research published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, Zack Budryk of The Hill reports. The cloud "reached as far north as New England . . . according to researchers from the University of Wisconsin. They found the overall radius spanned more than 540,000 square miles."

Researchers studied soil samples before and immediately after the spill to evaluate the burn's reach. "They found evidence of high chloride concentration in states including Virginia, South Carolina and Wisconsin, as well as particularly high concentrations near Canada's border with New York, an area downwind of the crash site," Budryk explains. 

The chemical plume may have also changed precipitation pH levels in surrounding areas. "Researchers found unprecedentedly high, or more basic, pH values across a broad belt in the Midwest and Northeast," Budryk reports. "They also found elevated alkaline and earth metals levels, in some cases within the 99th percentile of measurements for the last decade."

The study's lead researcher, David Gay, said, "All of these pollutants are important in the environment because their accumulation has an impact on the Earth's aquatic and terrestrial environments in many ways."

In March 2024, the chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, Jennifer Homendy, testified at a Senate hearing that the deliberate burn was not necessary because there was no risk of additional explosions.

Rural communities try to address dangers of driving on country roads; 40% of traffic deaths occur on rural roads

High school students in Kansas participate in the
Seatbelts Are  For Everyone program. (Photo via RHIhub)

Country roads that are winding, curving and in various states of repair pose a disproportionate danger to travelers. Rural communities are using a grassroots approach to address the problem, reports Gretel Kauffman for Rural Health Information Hub. "While an estimated 20% of people in the U.S. live in rural areas, 40% of traffic deaths occur on rural roads, according to the most recent data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In rural areas, the fatality rate per vehicle miles traveled was 1.5 times higher than in urban areas."

Rural roads have more space and less traffic, which can lead drivers to speed unintentionally, leave their lanes, and head into oncoming traffic. Rural drivers are also less likely to observe seat belt laws. Experts say rural drivers "'should be treated as a distinct market segment for seat belt messaging and public awareness campaigns,' and that changing rural drivers' beliefs about seat belts 'may help reduce the disparity between rural and urban traffic fatality rates,'" Kauffman writes. "In the event of a crash, proper seat belt use can be the difference between life and death. . . . Roughly half of all people killed in car crashes in 2021 were unrestrained."

Community-led programs may be "more effective at encouraging seat belt use in rural areas than national or government-led campaigns, experts suggest." Kauffman reports, "One such program, the Seatbelts Are For Everyone program, formed in rural Crawford County, Kansas, in 2008. At the time, Crawford County had one of the lowest rates of seat belt use among teen drivers in the state. . . . In its first year, one of the six Crawford County high schools that piloted the program went from a 57% seat belt compliance rate to an 82% compliance rate."

Safe Start advertises free car seat
checks. (Photo via RHIhub)

A grassroots program in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, called "Safe Start," is working to encourage car seat use through its Rural Education Outreach program. "Like rural adults, rural children are also less likely to be properly restrained than their non-rural peers. One study found that child restraint misuse was more common in rural locations, with 9 out of 10 children buckled in insufficiently or not at all," Kauffman writes. "The REO team visits 24 communities twice a year, setting up shop in a public space where anybody can approach for a car seat check, a demonstration, or to have their questions answered. In some cases, the REO team has distributed new car seats to people when needed and has taken old or unsafe seats to dispose of."

Two-person crews are now required for almost all freight trains in an effort to improve railroad safety

Photo by Laurent Jollet, Unsplash

More than a year has passed since the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, where cars carrying vinyl chloride exploded and a "controlled chemical burn" was completed and then later disputed as unnecessary. Although East Palestine isn't the only town to face the devastating consequences of a rail disaster, the small town's crisis brought rail safety back into the forefront, and now the federal government has put a new rule in place.

"The Biden administration rolled out a mandate requiring nearly all freight trains nationally to operate with two-person crews," reports Daniel C. Vock of Route Fifty, "ending for now a decade-long fight by the railroad industry to stymie similar efforts in Congress and in statehouses around the country. . . .Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the new Federal Railroad Administration rules will 'address the patchwork of differing uncoordinated requirements that had been developing across the states.'"

"More than 13,000 people commented when the FRA announced its two-person crew proposal, Buttigieg said, and nearly all of them were supportive of the idea," Vock writes. "One worker told the agency that asking someone to run a train by themselves for a 12-hour shift is 'kind of like solitary confinement.'"

The rail industry has maintained that it remains the safest way to move dangerous chemicals, "something the head of the National Transportation Safety Board agreed with in recent testimony in the House -- though officials acknowledge the railroads need to continue improving safety," reports Josh Fund of The Associated Press.

Ian Jeffries, the president and CEO of the Association of American Railroads, pushed against the new regulations, saying that they had "no proven connection to rail safety," Vock reports. "The FRA's rules require two workers to staff freight trains unless a railroad gets a special exemption from the agency. When companies seek an exemption, the public and railroad workers will get a chance to weigh in before the agency decides."

Frequently dredging the Mississippi River helps to keep cargo moving, but places to 'stash' sand are in short supply

The Mississippi River near Wabasha, Minn., is a dredging
hotspot. (Photo by Elizabeth Flores, Star Tribune)

Frequent dredging kept cargo moving along the Mississippi this year, but moving sand from here to there has its own complications. "Historic low flows turned the Mississippi River into a construction area in 2023 as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dredged huge quantities of sand to keep the channel open for barge traffic," reports Chloe Johnson of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "Massive machines like the Dredge Goetz, a 225-foot-long vessel with a suction pipe nearly two feet wide, were moving through the river constantly to keep it clear. . . . From May to July, 'day in and day out, we were digging,'" said Tom Heinold, chief of operations for the Rock Island District of the Army Corps of Engineers.

Extreme weather fluctuations make preparing waterways more difficult. Johnson explains: "A sudden drop in flow means the water in the river loses velocity, and all the sand flowing with it drops to the bottom." This year's snowmelt and sudden drought caused that scenario to unfold, with sand blocking up many expected "choke points" and clogging some unexpected areas.

Constant dredging is expensive and leaves the corps searching for places to "stash the sand." Johnson reports. "It's expensive work for the corps and the taxpayers who fund it – between surveying potential dredging areas, sucking the sand up and moving it into storage areas. The dredging program on the Upper Mississippi cost an average of $45.4 million a year between 2014 and 2023. . . . As the corps seeks new places to dump sand in the future, Sabrina Chandler, manager of the Upper Mississippi River National Fish and Wildlife Refuge, told Johnson, "I'm not sure that it's going to be a very simple fix."

While environmental advocates push for wildlife protections, the river's ability to ship remains the top concern. "It's a challenge to tease out all the impacts of dredging and sand placement. The upper Mississippi has already been chopped into 29 pools, each ending in a lock and dam to keep water high enough for shipping navigation. Since Congress required the 9-foot shipping channel in 1930, that navigation mission remains first and foremost for the corps on the river," Johnson writes. "Wildlife managers who bargain with the corps on sand placement are left looking for the least harmful scenario in a river system that has already been massively changed by human intervention across 145 years."

At last, the first electric vehicle charging station built with federal infrastructure funds opens in Ohio

The charging equipment at the Pilot Travel Center in Ohio.
(Photo by Dan Gearino, Inside Climate News)

The promise of federal funding for electric vehicle charging stations has finally come to fruition. "On the western outskirts of Columbus, Ohio, two doors down from a Waffle House, is a truck stop that, as of last Friday, has the first electric vehicle charging station in the country to be financed in part by the 2021 federal infrastructure law," reports Dan Gearino of Inside Climate News. "The Pilot Travel Center at I-70 and U.S. 42 has four charging ports. They are part of a partnership between General Motors and Pilot that the companies say will lead to chargers being installed at 500 Pilot and Flying J locations."

It's a first step with many more installations to go. "Ohio was one of the leaders in securing a share of this money and stands to receive $140 million over five years to construct charging stations along major travel routes," Gearino writes. The federal government is "showing progress in turning $5 billion worth of charger funding into completed projects." Charger expansion is critical to moving U.S. transportation away from gasoline dependence.

Building EV charging stations at a national truck stop chain offers travelers off-road conveniences for travelers and helps dispel "concerns from some EV drivers that the nation's charging network isn't nearly robust enough," Gearino reports. 

Pilot has other chargers at 18 locations in nine states, with ongoing expansions throughout the country. "The Ohio location is the first of those to benefit from the federal program," Gearino adds. "The country had 141,714 public charging ports as of the end of June, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. . . . Many more federally funded chargers will follow the one in Ohio." The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program lists projects in Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine and Pennsylvania.

California wants to use electric school buses statewide; leaders of rural schools don't think that's realistic

Students board a diesel school bus at Lassen High
School. (Photo by Irfan Khan, Los Angeles Times)

Electric school buses might be an environmentally friendly transportation solution for more urban California, but its rural education leaders don't think the technology is safe or reasonable. "In California's vast northern rural school districts, with their mountain passes and long, snowy winters, the typical electric bus' range is not nearly enough," reports Hailey Branson-Potts of the Los Angeles Times. "Yet California is pushing schools to get rid of their air-polluting diesel buses. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation requiring all newly purchased or leased school buses in California to be zero-emission starting in 2035. Rural school districts can have up to 10 additional years to fulfill the requirement if they can prove the vehicles are impractical for their routes and terrain."

Wikipedia map

Rural educators do not think EV technology will match their needs even with the added 10 years. Lassen Union High School is located in Susanville, a remote town in corner of northeast California. District Superintendent Morgan Nugent told Branson-Potts: "The last thing we want to do is have kids stuck on the side of the road in a dead electric bus. Especially in the snow. We want to do our best for our environment. We live up here in the mountains. We want to see our resources protected. But we have to be realistic."

"In a state facing wildfires, droughts, extreme heat and other deadly consequences of the climate crisis, California lawmakers and air regulators have implemented some of the world's most aggressive electric-vehicle mandates, to be phased in over the next two decades," Branson-Potts reports. "But here in California's conservative northern reaches, residents say that urban Democrats like Newsom are failing to acknowledge the limitations of electric vehicles in rural areas. . . . Going electric will be tough for all rural residents, considering the long distances they drive on lonely roads. For the humble yellow school bus, the hurdles are even greater, as are the consequences of running out of juice in the middle of nowhere."

While rural California educators often support clean energy, they also accept that it may not be possible. Gabi Newman, a coach at Lassen High, told Branson-Potts, "I like that we're looking at ways to use renewable energy. I just don't know how practical it will be for us." Branson-Potts reports, "At the Lassen Union High School District, officials say their four battery-powered buses can go at most 93 miles on a full charge in peak weather conditions. The buses mostly stay parked."

U.S. rail gets an infusion of cash from Maine to Alaska; projects will include new or improved tracks in rural areas

Department of Transportation map via Route Fifty

Almost every state will receive federal money to build or improve its passenger rail, reports Daniel C. Vock of Route Fifty. "President Joe Biden, known for decades as the Senate's most loyal Amtrak passenger, unveiled his administration's vision for a more robust passenger rail network throughout the country, with more than $8 billion in funding for big-ticket projects and grants for better service in nearly every state." The administration has ignored criticism that many Americans don't use rail enough to warrant that amount of funding.

While many allotments will go to bigger cities, more rural areas will also glean new or improved tracks. "The administration will spend nearly $94 million to add capacity to Chicago's Union Station. . . $27 million to upgrade tracks used by Maine's Downeaster Amtrak route and $15 million to eliminate bottlenecks in Montana," Vock writes. "The so-called Corridor ID program’s planning grants include proposals to upgrade 15 existing rail routes, add or extend service on 47 new routes and develop seven new high-speed rail projects, according to the administration."

The administration is also pushing to "lay the groundwork for future passenger rail upgrades," Vock adds. "The Federal Railroad Administration is giving half a million dollars each to 69 projects in 44 states to help with planning for service expansions. . . . Some of the ideas — like restoring service through the southern tier of Montana — have been talked about for decades. Colorado is getting money to plan service along the Front Range, linking many of its major cities."

States can refuse the federal money, but those that accept it are more likely to have a history of passenger rail support, Mike Christensen, the executive director of the Utah Rail Passengers Association, told Vock. "The vast majority of proposals receiving funding have been preceded by years of grassroots organizing that ultimately culminated in the proposal."

Billions of federal dollars were marked for EV charging stations in 2021 legislation, but none have been built

(Photo by Andreas Rasmussen, Unsplash)

Billions of dollars were made available to states for building electric vehicle chargers, but none have been built, reports James Bikales of Politico. In 2021, Congress agreed to "spend $7.5 billion to build tens of thousands of electric vehicle chargers across the country, aiming to appease anxious drivers while tackling climate change. Two years later, the program has yet to install a single charger."

"States and the charger industry blame the delays mostly on the labyrinth of new contracting and performance requirements they have to navigate to receive federal funds," Bikales writes. "While federal officials have authorized more than $2 billion of the funds to be sent to states, fewer than half of states have even started to take bids from contractors to build the chargers — let alone begin construction."

Despite the lack of chargers, electric vehicle sales have increased. "Consumer demand for electric vehicles is rising in the United States, necessitating six times as many chargers on its roads by the end of the decade, according to federal estimates," Bikales reports. But many Americans refuse to purchase electric cars because of the lack of charging stations.

President Joe Biden's EV-focused climate goals will not be met without charging stations and more EV acceptance. Bikales reports, "Biden signed the bipartisan infrastructure package into law. . . with an eye toward achieving his goal of building 500,000 chargers in the United States by 2030. . . . But Aatish Patel, president of charger manufacturer XCharge North America, is worried the delays in installing chargers are imperiling efforts to drive up EV adoption." He told Bikales, "As an EV driver, a charger being installed in two years isn't really going to help me out now. We're in dire need of chargers here."

There are chargers available, just not enough. Bikales reports: "The United States has around 180,000 chargers today, according to the Energy Department. That includes 41,000 of the type of fast chargers that can alleviate the dreaded “range anxiety” of a long-distance road trip in an electric vehicle."

Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, "whose state broke ground on the nation's first charger funded by the NEVI (National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure) program in October, said in a statement that he is committed to 'truly positioning Ohioans for the electric future," Bikales reports. "Following Ohio, Pennsylvania also broke ground on its first NEVI-funded charger in November. Another six states have awarded contracts for their first round of charging sites, while 15 states plus Puerto Rico are in the process of soliciting bids from the private sector."

Monday quick hits: Old school buses now haul crops; outwitting food deserts; are farmhouses too pretty?

Old school buses help get melons from the farm to the
table. (Photo by Edwin Remsberg, Ambrook Research)

"While traveling on Interstate 95 in South Carolina, I noticed a strange sight. . . . A virtual parade of perhaps a half dozen old school buses was headed in the opposite direction. Well, they used to be old school buses. Now they were something different," reports Heath Racela of Ambrook Research. "It turns out that the small caravan of buses I happened to pass is a somewhat hidden lynchpin in the complex process of getting food — melons, specifically — from farm fields to tables. In fact, for watermelon farmers and harvesters, used school buses seem to be the dominant way to transport their delicate fruits out of the fields."

Gas. Electricity. Flintstones footwork. There are many ways to get vehicles going, but some truckers are getting behind hydrogen. The element is "gaining a following among some heavy-duty truck operators who see it as the industry's best path toward zero-emission technology, especially for rigs traveling long distances," reports Paul Berger of The Wall Street Journal. "Hydrogen offers longer trips and faster refueling than battery-cell technology, supporters say, while allowing trucks to haul heavier loads because they aren't carrying industrial-scale batteries."

Thank you American farmers.
(Photo by M. Sullivan Wirecutter)

While not singularly rural, festive cookies are loved by rural folks far and wide, and American farmers can brag that they helped make the cookies! In a nod to all the eggs, flour, sugar, and delightful dairy ingredients that flow from American farms during the holiday season, here's a list of all the loot that can help you make the best cookies.

The Mobile Farm Market gets fresh food to
grocery deserts. (ILSR photo)

Living in a food desert creates grocery challenges, especially for those lacking transportation. "When a new mobile grocery market launched in Wayne County, Pennsylvania, its first stop was Maple City Apartments, a 40-unit complex for low-income, elderly relatives. Maple City's residents have felt the region's lack of grocery stores acutely," reports Kennedy Smith for the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. "The county's residents can now buy groceries from a farmers market on wheels. It started when the Cooperage Project, a regional nonprofit organization, wanted to get fresh, healthy food to people during the pandemic. . . .Cooperage created Mobile Farm Market — a small, refrigerated van — to bring fresh produce, milk, cheese, and eggs to towns and neighborhoods lacking full-service grocery stores."

People with no desire to work the land are purchasing farms. (Photo by Zach McNair, AR)

Take a peek at Instagram, and "you'll be hard-pressed to escape romanticized images of farm life: rolling hills, broad wrap-around porches, oddly clean baby goats," reports Nora Neus for Ambrook Research. "The popularity of the farm aesthetic and farmhouse lifestyle is creating real estate problems among working farmers, especially younger and newer ones who already face challenges in finding affordable land across the country. . . . Farmhouse properties are so pretty, they're getting too expensive to use for agriculture."