Government shutdown causes ‘financial heartburn’ for farmers

The government shutdown has left some farmers in a 
lurch. (Photo by Gozha Net, Unsplash)

Farmers are experiencing “financial heartburn” due to a combination of tariffs, high input costs, absence of financial assistance and the lack of agricultural data and other resources due to the government shutdown, Rachel Shin reported for Politico.

“Every day that the government isn’t open, there’s slightly more anxiety in farm country, especially as growers are harvesting and having to pay bills and having to pay off their bank,” Texas farmer Russell Williams told Shin. “There’s serious risks of farm bankruptcies this year.”

Farmers like Andy Jobman are unable to access USDA agricultural data that allows him to run his business or track market changes. Meanwhile, other farmers are unable to access USDA payments for land and farm loans, according to Iowa Corn Growers Association Chair Stu Swanson.

Though the Trump administration has considered rolling out aid to farmers, no action has been taken due to the government shutdown.

Some Republican lawmakers are worried about the situation and are trying to push for aid to farmers.

As traditional food bank volunteers age, finding enough workers to staff pantries is becoming a challenge

Food bank volunteers are often older.
(Photo by Katherine Emery, The Maine Monitor)

Over the past 20 years, the average age of food pantry volunteers has climbed, leading some volunteers to reduce their hours or stop volunteering due to health issues. Meanwhile, there aren't enough younger volunteers to fill their spots.

In rural states like Maine, where food insecurity is a consistent issue, the "nearly 600 hunger relief agencies that get free and low-cost food from Good Shepherd Food Bank rely on volunteers," reports Elaine Appleton Grant of The Maine Monitor. "This includes 250 food pantries as well as soup kitchens, senior centers, shelters, schools and youth programs."

Food banks thrive with a regularly scheduled staff of volunteers working planned shifts, but many younger generations are more likely to sign up for limited-time commitments. Grant explains, "Younger volunteers are increasingly seeking out what the Minnesota Alliance of Nonprofit Advancement calls 'event-based' volunteering — one-time efforts with no commitment to future shifts."

In many places, it's not that younger people don't want to volunteer, but they're often limited by working so many hours to pay their own bills. Grant writes, "Just 20% of millennials volunteer in Maine, half the rate of Gen Xers and baby boomers." Researcher Quixada Moore-Vissing told Grant, "I would categorize it as being an overwhelmed and overworked society."

Faced with a volunteer shortage in September, Second Harvest Heartland in Minnesota "had to delay the distribution of thousands of pounds of food," Grant reports. "As a result, food pantries in Minnesota and western Wisconsin got the food later than expected."

Closing the border for cattle trade hurts American and Mexican livestock managers

Cattle handlers on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border
are struggling. (Photo by Marc Hardy via Farm Progress)

The resurgence of the New World screwworm blowfly and its flesh-eating larvae over the summer prompted the U.S. Department of Agriculture to shut down live cattle trade between the U.S. and Mexico in July. The closed border has hobbled businesses in both countries.

Feedlot owners in Texas, who make their living caring for Mexican cattle after they pass through the U.S. port of entry, have seen their herd sizes and incomes dwindle. Jennifer Carrico of Farm Progress reports, "Mark Rogers, owner of Rogers and Sons, Ltd. Custom Cattle Feeders in Dimmitt, Texas, has fed Mexican cattle for over 25 years. The border closure has lowered his cattle number to 70% of the feedyard's capacity compared to a year ago."

On the Mexican side of the border, Omar Gonzalez, who is Rogers' cattle broker, is also struggling. He told Carrico, "Screwworm isn't a problem up here in the Northern Plains of Mexico, and now we are having to find a place to put these cattle that normally go to the U.S."

Mexican ranchers aren't just looking for lots to hold cattle, but also for corn to feed them and packing facilities, which have typically been managed once the cattle were in the U.S.

As long as the border remains shut, the "decrease in cattle coming to the U.S. not only affects the feedyards but many others in the industry," Carrico writes. "Those who find themselves out of a job include truckers, employees at the ports of entry and those who help expedite getting the cattle to the border on the Mexican side and to the feedyards on the U.S. side."

Business owners in the U.S. and Mexico worry that the border will remain closed. Rogers told Carrico, "I'm not sure what I will do or my neighbors (will do) if the border doesn't reopen."

Rural hospitals tap into high schools to meet ongoing staffing challenges

Ballad Health is one of several rural-serving 
hospitals training high school students.

Ballad Health is a rural hospital system in Tennessee that, like many rural hospitals, spends millions of dollars a year paying traveling nurses to cover staffing shortages. To address its recruitment woes, Ballad is working with area high schools to train its next generation of medical care workers, reports Te-Ping Chen of The Wall Street Journal. 

Ballad's high school training academy includes students from "five northeast Tennessee school districts," Chen writes, "The first batch of 200 students will graduate in 2029, with their licensed practical nurse credentials and be eligible to work right away at Ballad, earning $23 an hour." 

Building and implementing a medical training academy for high school students is time-intensive and expensive, so Ballad Health partnered with Bloomberg Philanthropies, which "last year announced it was pumping $250 million into 10 programs in states including Tennessee, Texas and North Carolina to create a high school-to-healthcare pipeline," Chen explains. 

Ballad isn't alone in its staffing struggles, and as the baby boomer generation ages, demand for medical care staffing is expected to grow. Chen reports, "Human resources advisory firm Mercer projects a deficit of 100,000 healthcare workers by 2028."

Since 2006, Baystate Health system, which serves rural populations in western Massachusetts, has invested in a "high-school career program for jobs such as respiratory therapist and sterile processing technician," Chen adds. "Many participants have gone on to pursue additional training, and more than 900 have ended up working for Baystate in the past decade."

As the Trump administration pushes coal energy, now is a good time to report on coal ash

View of the 2008 Kingston, Tennessee, spill that prompted coal ash 
regulations. (Photo by  Brian Stansberry, Wikimedia CC)

Almost every state in the union has coal ash stored in ponds, landfills and mines that is likely leaching toxic heavy metals into groundwater and wells. Especially now that the Trump administration is busy promoting coal energy production, it's an opportune time for local reporting on the possible presence and handling of coal ash in readers' neighborhoods.

The unfortunate truth is that coal ash can be found in a lot of places. "There are some 700 to 1,425 massive dumps of coal ash," reports Joseph A. Davis for the Society of Environmental Journalists. "States and utilities are doing little or nothing to remedy the threat that it presents." 

What is coal ash? "When coal is burned, it produces several waste byproducts," Davis writes. "The fancy name for all of it is 'coal combustion residuals.' The common name is coal ash."

Where is it found? Any plant that produces electricity from coal would leave behind coal ash as a byproduct. Coal operators put coal ash in surface impoundments, also known as ponds, in on-site landfills, or some recycle it into usable materials.

Why is it a problem? Coal ash contains many toxic substances, especially heavy metals such as arsenic, chromium, lead, and lithium. "It also contains radium, which is radioactive," Davis explains. Many coal operators have left piles of coal ash to fester and poison land and water sources.

What can be done about it? Cleaning up coal ash ponds can involve draining the surface water and capping the pond or entirely removing the ash from the pond to a lined landfill or for beneficial reuse (clean closure). Earthjustice provides a good resource document here.

Story ideas:

• How many coal ash disposal areas are there in your area? Are there coal ash sites not on an official list? Why not? Are utilities acknowledging clear responsibility for existing sites?
• Have any of the coal ash sites in your area been cleaned up to a nominal safety standard? Have they been moved to a landfill? Is it lined and capped? Safe from water? Is the new disposal site safer than the old one?
• What waters are near your area’s coal ash sites? Are the sites near a river, lake or estuary? Are they above an aquifer? Is that aquifer a drinking water source? Has anyone tested for water pollution and, if so, what were the findings?
• Historically, have there been pollution incidents in your area related to coal ash sites?
• What level of responsibility are states and utilities taking for stabilization, cleanup or maintenance of coal ash sites in your area?
• What do people in your state think about using coal ash in the concrete on local roads? Is it being done? Do people know about it?

Resources:

• Environmental Protection Agency: The EPA is the primary federal agency responsible for regulating and overseeing coal ash dumps to make them safer and less polluting.
• State environmental agencies: In some cases, the EPA has already devolved coal-ash cleanup responsibilities to state environmental agencies. See a list here.
• Earthjustice: This environmental advocacy and litigation group has for years specialized in coal ash, among other issues. The best source is Lisa Evans.
• American Coal Ash Association: An industry lobby group aimed mainly at lightening the coal ash regulatory burden on utilities and promoting the reuse of coal ash — and the idea that doing so is safe.

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

Whether it's discovering a ginormous toad, finding the most gooseberries or uncovering troves of fossils, when kids venture into the great unknown of rural places, adventures unfold. A new graphic novel by cartoonist Tiffany Everett, Diary of a Nature Nerd, celebrates all the discoveries and learning nature nerding youth can make while tramping over hill and dale. "Everett encourages readers to explore new places, keep journals about what they encounter, and think like scientists," reports John R. Platt of The Revelator.

Rural school districts with teacher hiring and retention challenges turned to 4-day school weeks as an employment perk that also saves districts money. The 4-day school week schedule has been criticized as cutting too deeply into student learning time, and yet some rural schools are keeping the shortened schedule because it's a practical fix. "The schedule is especially popular with rural communities, where students and teachers often have to travel long distances to get to school," reports Anya Petrone Slepyan of The Daily Yonder. "But when it comes to assessing how the four-day school week affects students’ educational outcomes, the results are inconclusive."

At the end of the 3 1/2-mile hike, the students grab their 
backpacks and head home. (All Trails photo)

Instead of sitting in detention for breaking school rules, some high schoolers at Morse High School in Maine have opted to take mandatory hikes instead. Morse counselor Leslie Trundy was inspired to start the program after attending an outdoor conference, reports Madi Smith of NPR. Trundy told Smith, "I hoped that time in the woods, like, I could sort of take the skills that I have on the road with them, or on the trail, and be a listener for them and [while students] pay back the time to the school and sort of serve their consequence, [they] also receive more care and attention."

While growing up on a farm may sound wholesome and safe, farms can be dangerous places for children and young adults. The list of risks is long and can include everything from cows and barbed-wire fencing to big tractors and grain bins. To help farming families build safety awareness and habits, the National Farm Medicine Center and National Children’s Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety support the "Cultivate Safety" website, which offers free resources in English and Spanish. For a quick safety check, Rural Mutual shares its "Top Tips" list for farmers and kids to review.

Often remembered as the voice of Sam the Snowman from the classic 1964 Christmas television special "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," Burl Ives also acted and sang. For children who need to calm down after rowdy play or to get ready for bed, Ives' recording of "The Little White Duck and Other Children’s Favorites" is delightfully soothing. Ives’s collection of "traditional folk songs for children is as much fun for the kids as it is for the adults (I dare to say)," writes Jan Pytalski of The Daily Yonder. "Ives was central in promoting traditional folk tunes all the way back in 1940s and continued performing for many decades after."

Trump says funds will be paid to active military members during shutdown

Photo by Sonder Bridge Photography, Unsplash

President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that active military members will be paid during the government shutdown, Deepa Shivaram and Luke Garrett reported for NPR.

The funds are expected to come from around $8 billion of “unused research and development funding from last year,” Shivaram and Garrett wrote.

A bill called the “Pay Our Troops Act” also has been introduced in Congress to address growing concerns of military members who are unable to feed their families. No action has been taken on the bill.

“Military families deserve better than to have our livelihoods tied to political stalemates,” Besa Pinchotti, CEO of the National Military Family Association said in a statement.

The current stalemate is largely caused by disagreements on funding for health care policies such as Medicaid. Congress must pass an appropriations bill, which is a bill that would fund the government, to end the shutdown.

Many other federal workers are also facing financial burdens and layoffs due to the shutdown. Members of Congress, however, still receive paychecks, though some have refused to take their pay because they believe it is wrong to do so while the military and other federal workers are not getting paid.

Tired of waiting for the Trump administration to enforce silica limits, coal miners protest

Silica dust in coal mines causes black lung disease.
(Adobe Stock photo)

In response to the Trump administration's refusal to enforce federal limits on silica dust, dozens of miners and their families will protest today "arguing the Trump administration has failed to protect them from black lung disease, an incurable illness caused by inhaling coal and silica dust," reports Lisa Friedman of The New York Times.

"Labor unions, Democrats and a growing number of miners accuse the Trump administration of ignoring workers while using hundreds of millions of dollars in federal subsidies to bolster the companies that operate coal plants and mining operations," Friedman writes.

The ceiling on silica exposure was "supposed to take effect in April. But the National Sand Stone and Gravel Association, the National Mining Association and other industry groups asked a federal appeals court to block the rule, citing the cost to mine operators," Friedman reports.

The Trump administration could have moved forward with applying the silica rule, but instead opted to "pause" enforcement while the court case plays out.

Gary Hairston, a retired West Virginia coal miner, who is the president of the National Black Lung Association, told Friedman, "The companies might be getting a handout, but the miners ain’t getting none."

While miners wait, the black lung disease continues to spike, with doctors diagnosing the disease in younger coal workers. Friedman writes, "Once considered a disease of older miners, black lung is now being diagnosed in workers in their 30s and 40s."

Anna Kelly, a White House spokeswoman, said in a statement that "President Trump cares deeply about unleashing America’s energy potential, as well as standing up for those who fuel our country' like coal miners," Friedman reports.

More recently, the Trump administration "petitioned the court to prevent labor unions and a lung health association from intervening in the case," Friedman writes. "This month it asked for another court delay, citing the government shutdown."

Reminder: Apply by Oct. 20 to host a journalist with support from Report for America

The deadline for newsrooms to apply to host a reporter with financial support from Report for America is Oct. 20. A sample application can be viewed here: http://bit.ly/4oLOt71

Report for America is an organization that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities.

Host newsrooms receive the following benefits:

• A reporter committed to the newsroom for two years
• Half of the salary of the reporter will be paid during the first year and 33% of the salary the second year
• Training and mentoring for the reporter
• Assistance with fundraising to cover the newsroom’s portion of the reporter’s salary through Report for America’s Local News Sustainability Team
• Access to a network of other host newsrooms for collaboration

Rural communities hit hard by deaths from explosion at ammunition plant in Tennessee

 Photo by Jeff Kingma, Unsplash

An explosion at a rural Tennessee ammunition plant that killed 16 people on Oct. 10 has “shaken the small, tight-knit communities in Hickman and Humphreys Counties,” Ashley Ahn reported for The New York Times.

“Witnesses said the explosion was so powerful that it rattled homes at least a dozen miles away and generated a plume of smoke large enough to register on the weather radar of a Nashville television station,” Ahn wrote.

The ammunition plant, which manufactures demolition charges and explosives, is a major contributor to the economies of rural communities in Hickman and Humphreys counties.

The police and other agencies such as the FBI are still investigating the cause of the explosion.

“You want me to be honest? It’s hell,” Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis said in a press conference. “It’s hell on us. It’s hell on everybody involved.” 

For rural communities where everyone knows everybody, the devastation of the tragedy is personal. Many law enforcement officers who arrived at the scene of the explosion knew workers who were killed and families who were affected. 

And it hit hard for Davis, who had to give briefings to close friends and neighbors.

"It starts hitting me who these folks really are to me — it’s hard for me to hold that emotion,” Davis said in an interview with Emily Cochrane for The New York Times.  

The Digital Equity Act had its funding axed; programming aimed at rural digital access and literacy is gone

Telehealth appointments can offer rural residents more
frequent visits with their doctor. (Adobe Stock photo)

States used federal funding from the Digital Equity Act grants to help rural residents access technology and learn to use it. But this spring, President Donald Trump declared the program "woke" and canceled its $2.75 billion in funding, reports Sarah Jane Tribble of KFF Health News. The funding cut caused local and state rural digital literacy offerings to close.

The Digital Equity Act cites exactly who the funding is intended to help, including "low-income households, older residents, some incarcerated people, rural Americans, veterans, and members of racial or ethnic minority groups," Tribble explains. "Politicians, researchers, librarians, and advocates said defunding the program . . . jeopardizes efforts to help rural and underserved residents participate in the modern economy and lead healthier lives."

Part of the program had deployed teachers, known as "digital navigators," to help connect rural people with computers, cell phones and tablets, along with the skills to use them. Sam Helmick, president of the American Library Association, "recalled how 'they helped grandpas in Iowa check prescriptions online or laid-off factory workers fill out job applications,'" Tribble writes.

Improving rural health is a key reason advocates have continued to push for digital equality in more remote places. Tribble explains, "Nearly 3 million people in America live in areas with shortages of medical professionals and where modern telehealth services are often inaccessible because of poor internet connections."

When internet access and technology know-how are paired, rural residents can benefit from telehealth appointments, prescription ordering, and easier access to health-related information and monitoring.

Angela Siefer, executive director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, told Tribble, "The digital divide is not over." Tribble reports, "The nonprofit filed a lawsuit Oct. 7 seeking to force [the Trump administration] to distribute the money."

American agricultural industry successfully prevents MAHA strategy plan from bashing key pesticides

MAHA's initial report and strategy are found on
the White House website. 

The first report issued by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s "Make America Healthy Again" commission alarmed America's "Big Ag" leaders; however, the agricultural industry's intensely focused response appears to have reduced some of the commission's concerns over pesticides, report Amudalat Ajasa and Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post.

Released in May, the first MAHA report was Kennedy's initial attempt to define the reasons for chronic illness in American children. It didn't completely bash all pesticide use in American farming, but instead it "raised questions about the health effects of two commonly used pesticides, glyphosate and atrazine," the Post reports. "The report’s rhetoric frustrated powerful agriculture groups," such as CropLife America, a trade group for pesticide companies, and the American Soybean Association.

In an effort to influence the commission, the agricultural industry launched lobbying "blitzes" and "coordinated social media campaigns," Ajasa and Roubein explain. "Their efforts seemingly paid off. The Trump administration’s MAHA strategy document, released last month, did not call for restrictions on pesticides."

While big agriculture companies may be relieved at MAHA's softer stance on pesticides, some of Kennedy’s allies "believe it went too far in bowing to the agriculture industry," Ajasa and Roubein write. But supporters of the strategy claim that MAHA's focus on innovative solutions and technology can benefit American health and farmers.

Meanwhile, Kennedy is still tasked with rooting out the causes of chronic childhood diseases. MAHA's strategy report "notably avoids proposing restrictions on commonly used products such as glyphosate and atrazine," the Post reports. "The report pledges that the EPA will work with the food and agriculture industries to ensure the public has 'awareness and confidence' in the agency’s 'robust review procedures.'"

Some MAHA activists remain frustrated by the report's failure to call out pesticide use and the Trump administration's appointments to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Irked by cars and crowds, rural New Englanders try different coping strategies to manage 'leaf-peepers'

Idyllic autumn scenery draws thousands of tourists 
to New England each fall. (Adobe Stock photo)

As fall blows into rural New England, it brings trees decked out in glorious fall shades and plenty of tourists. Residents and local governments in some of the most popular "leaf-peeping" places have had enough. "Locals are pushing for road closures and parking restrictions," reports Jared Mitovich of The Wall Street Journal. Some local stores have started hawking wares that poke fun at tourists.

Despite the tourism revenue "leaf-lookers" generate for some areas, the influx of hundreds of additional people in a single season can overwhelm smaller towns. "They’ve complained about TikTokers trespassing onto countryside farms. . .near-fist fights over trailhead parking — not to mention unsafe traffic blockages on narrow roads," Mitovich writes.

The sheer number of fall tourists to Vermont -- a state with less than 650,000 residents -- explains some of the stress. Vermonters welcome roughly 2.5 million visitors "who come for the idyllic autumnal vistas," Mitovich reports. "A growing number of residents say influencer culture is fueling bad behavior."

Some small businesses have turned to humor to cope by "selling collectible figures titled 'Influencer Trespassing on Private Road': a woman with a long braid under a wide-brimmed hat, smartphone in hand, in front of a leafy landscape," Mitovich adds. Another figurine includes a row of tiny vehicles causing a traffic jam.

The tiny town of Pomfret, Vt., opted to close itself off rather than adapt to the onslaught of tourists. "For the third straight fall season. . . signage will turn away drivers trying to get a glimpse." A Pomfret sugarhouse owner, Michael Doten, supports the blockade, even though it means he sells less maple syrup. He told Mitovich, "People were throwing trash and they were trespassing."

Beyond small towns trying to manage carloads of tourists, popular hiking trails such as Franconia Notch State Park in New Hampshire get swamped, too. This fall, Franconia park managers "introduced one-way hiking patterns, doubled the number of port-a-potties and increased staffing," Mitovich reports. 

U.S. soybean farmers panic over lack of sales to China

Some U.S. soybean farmers will store, instead of sell,
this year's crop. (Photo by Mark Serafino, Unsplash)

U.S. farmers haven’t sold beans to China, and soybean growers are sounding the alarm. "American soybean farmers are in panic mode as they harvest what is expected to be a bumper crop," reports Patrick Thomas of The Wall Street Journal. "China accounted for more than half of the $24.5 billion of American soybean exports last year."

By snubbing American soybeans and purchasing South American-grown beans instead, China is once again using U.S. farmer strife as a way to punish the Trump administration's trade wars. Thomas adds, "From January through August of this year, Chinese buyers purchased just over 200 million bushels of U.S. soybeans, compared with almost 1 billion bushels over the same period last year."

Even before China opted not to purchase U.S. soybeans, American farmers were already struggling with high costs for equipment, labor and fertilizer. "Congress in December passed a $10 billion bailout for farmers," Thomas wrote. "President Trump said on Monday that he was 'going to do some farm stuff this week' to help growers cope with the loss of exports to China."

Meanwhile, some soybean growers are choosing to store their harvested crops for now. Iowa soybean grower Morey Hill told Thomas, “There’s no incentive to sell right now." Hill predicted that without sales to China, the soybean market could likely turn into a "blood bath."

Instead of waiting on China, Hill has been traveling to countries such as Cambodia and Morocco, working to educate farmers on the benefits of using U.S. soybeans in their fish and animal feed, which is what China does with the majority of its soybeans.

The European Union, Mexico, Vietnam, Egypt and Bangladesh also purchase U.S. soybeans, but those sales, even when combined, aren't enough.

Rural hospitals in Arkansas find different ways to stay open and still serve their communities

Rural hospitals, represented by green dots, stretch across mid- to southern Arkansas counties. 

Rural hospitals in Arkansas continue to explore the best ways to serve their communities despite severe financial struggles. Some medical centers have found success by ending inpatient care in exchange for more Medicare dollars, while others keep their doors open by opting for other designations to continue providing vital care, such as inpatient stays, reports Tess Vrbin of The Arkansas Advocate. According to a 2023 University of Arkansas review, roughly 41% of Arkansas residents live in rural areas.

Two years ago, DeWitt Hospital and Nursing Home was in financial straits and CEO Brian Miller chose to convert it into a "rural emergency hospital, which draws more federal funds to rural hospitals if they reduce or eliminate inpatient services and focus on emergency and outpatient treatment," Vrbin writes.

Beyond higher Medicare payments, the switch helped DeWitt lower costs while adding income from outpatient services, such as cardiology and wound care. The hospital is one of five Arkansas hospitals to sign up for the emergency rural designation.

But converting to an emergency triage-type care model doesn't work for every rural community. The Southwest Arkansas Regional Medical Center in Hope will not apply for rural emergency status because inpatient stays are needed for residents in surrounding counties. Its chief administrative officer, Shelby Brown, told Vrbin, "We want to be able to, if we need to admit someone, to put them in our hospital so they can stay home locally."

Instead of opting to convert to a rural emergency hospital, Southwest Arkansas Regional applied for and received approval to become "a critical access hospital, a federal designation for facilities located no fewer than 35 miles from other hospitals and maintaining no more than 25 beds," Vrbin explains. "Medicare subsidizes critical access hospitals for inpatient treatment of Medicare recipients."

For many rural hospitals in Arkansas, the choice between ending certain types of patient care or possible closure is difficult. Brown told the Advocate, "The big scheme of rural health in the state of Arkansas is in a crisis mode. . . . I would always think it’s better to have a rural emergency hospital versus no hospital.”

Opinion: Rural policing writer disagrees with Wall Street Journal article about rural law enforcement violence

Rural police officers have high rates of shootings, but they 
are also more likely to get shot. (Adobe Stock photo)

A Wall Street Journal story about violence in rural policing gets some concepts right; however, the story's data and overall conclusions are faulty, writes rural police reporter Kathleen Dias in her column for Police1. "I agree with the premise of the article: there really are a lot of harsh interactions between law enforcement and the public in rural places. . . . Where the WSJ writer and I disagree is in the conclusion he draws (that rural cops kill people because they are poorly trained or trained to overreact), the sources for his statistics, and his slant."

"Rural places have high rates of shootings by law enforcement and also of law enforcement officers who get shot; that’s not new information or a new trend," Dias explains. "The writer is also correct that rural agencies frequently lack the ability to use the tools of time, distance and backup to defuse volatile situations."

The article's primary focus is that "rural sheriffs are killing more civilians," Dias adds. "The writer cites Mapping Police Violence stating that since 2013, killings by sheriff’s deputies have risen 43% while killings by police have risen by 3%. . . . First, sheriff’s offices are not all rural [and] not all rural police interactions, lethal or otherwise, are by sheriff’s offices."

Overall, MPV as a source is "profoundly troublesome. 'Police violence' is a broad, provocative term," Dias explains. "The definition from MPV is 'Any incident where a law enforcement officer (off-duty or on-duty) applies, on a civilian, lethal force resulting in the civilian being killed. . . . I found incidents like an off-duty Virginia state trooper who killed a man who was breaking into his home, an off-duty officer who killed his domestic partner and then himself, an off-duty deputy who struck a bicycle rider at night on a Florida highway notorious for wrecks. . ."

The WSJ article uses examples that aren't rural. Dias writes, "The article is about rural police killings, yet the first several quotes are from urban sheriffs about their resources, their experiences and cultural changes they made."

There was an "implicit undertone in the WSJ article’s descriptions of small towns and remote places of the incongruity of violence in those places — that somehow a rural setting made violence even less acceptable than usual," Dias writes. "I believe that underscores the writer’s lack of understanding of rural places, and also the perception of risk by officers."

What rural officers do face is populations that are "more likely to be poor, addicted to alcohol and illegal substances, and to attempt or complete suicide than their urban neighbors," Dias points out. "Rural officers are often poorly paid, and departments do struggle with recruiting, retention and churn that can result in bad hiring choices."

Rural officers need more staff, higher pay, additional training and equipment that works. "I’ll go to the wall with the WSJ writer on those points," Dias adds. "The officers themselves are not the problem. Indeed, they’re expected to be the solution to every problem that comes the way of every other resident, but that’s impossible. They’re cops, not Swiss Army knives."

Read all of Dias' opinion, including her comparison of the WSJ article to a Washington Post story here.

Reporting on Addiction launches hub for journalists covering opioid addictions, deaths and settlement dollars

As opioid settlement money continues to be divvied out to state and local governments, reporters can help their communities understand where the money is coming from and discern who and how their regional governments are spending it.

Reporting on Addiction, a collaborative project of the Opioid Policy Institute and 100 Days in Appalachia, provides reporters with an "Opioid Settlement Resource Hub" filled with robust story ideas and insights to use when covering the history, dollar amounts, tools and impact of opioid settlement funds in local communities.

For journalists looking to explain the history of opioids in the U.S. and the background of the settlements, the hub provides story angles and questions for reporters to consider, as well as examples from reliable news sources for context.

Once an audience knows more about how opioid addictions and overdose deaths negatively impacted their community and how settlement spending plans aim to spur recovery, journalists can create community-specific settlement tracking tools that serve as a valuable public resource. The hub provides links for numerous ways to investigate and report on settlement spending.

Is it working? Journalists can help their audiences measure if opioid settlement plans and spending are slowing the opioid crisis within their communities. Stories that evaluate the results and how plans evolve will become increasingly crucial as programs are implemented and more data becomes available.

Quick hits: Using a pay phone; hated Halloween candy; oral health is part of overall health; dude ranches for all

Finding and using a pay phone is a modern curiosity.
(Photo by Darin Epperly, Flatwater Free Press)

Smartphones may be the way of today, but pay phones still exist, and a call can cost a mere quarter. "Lane Handke called his wife to tell her he was bringing home the shelves they needed to finish their cabinet. The call cost him 25 cents," reports of Kevin Warneke of Flatwater Free Press. "Then, he phoned a friend just to say hello. . . . Handke made his calls from a pay telephone standing outside the Pierce Telephone Co. building. He felt drawn to this pay phone by curiosity. Pulled toward it by nostalgia." He told Warneke, “I hadn’t used a pay phone in decades. People were looking and wondering what I was doing. I thought it was kind of cool.”

While wind, solar, nuclear and fossil fuels are all part of the U.S. energy grid, geothermal power may be the next source to enter the mix. "The promise of new engineering techniques for geothermal energy – heat from the Earth itself – has attracted rising levels of investment to this reliable, low-emission power source that can provide continuous electricity almost anywhere on the planet," writes geophysicist Moones Alamooti for The Conversation. "That includes ways to harness geothermal energy from idle or abandoned oil and gas wells. . . . In the first quarter of 2025, North American geothermal installations attracted $1.7 billion in public funding – compared with $2 billion for all of 2024."

Do you know which Halloween candies are the most
disliked? (Adobe Stock photo)

As Halloween gets closer, adults and kids out shopping are met with store shelves packed with chewy eyeballs, glow-in-the-dark worms, bat-shaped candy bars, corn that's not real corn, and festive fall packaging. But some people find the  sweet, sticky world of Oct. 31 candy disgusting -- so much so, there's a list of the 10 most despised Halloween candies. Guesses go here.

Oral health and overall health are closely linked, and some "practitioners think dentistry should no longer be siloed," reports Lola Butcher for Knowable magazine. "Dentistry and medicine have operated as parallel fields: Dentists take care of the mouth, physicians the rest of the body. That is starting to change. . . . Dental hygienists have started working in medical clinics; physicians and dentists have started a professional association to promote working together; and a new kind of clinic — with dentists and doctors under one roof — is emerging. . . . The list of connections between oral health and systemic health — conditions that affect the entire body — is remarkable."

Triangle X Ranch, inside Grand Teton National Park, has been in the Turner family for nearly a century. 
(Triangle X Ranch photo via The New York Times)

Saddle up or relax at one of these six dude ranches. "All-inclusive guest ranches let you connect with nature, as well as your inner cowpoke, on the trail, around the campfire and under the starry skies," reports Ruffin Prevost for The New York Times. Whether honing horse skills, seeking majestic views, or simply wanting to leave technology and stress behind by heading out to the American West, Prevost's list offers suggestions and resources for a rural getaway.

Here a seed, there a seed, everywhere a company selling or consolidating to sell seeds. "Keeping track of [seed] brands — especially corn and soybeans — can be daunting," reports of Chris Torres of Farm Progress. "Knowing who owns what can provide crucial insights into what companies are behind the brands you buy, how they source and develop genetics, and what sorts of technology may be available to you." A compact seed chart and a listing of university variety seed trials are found here.

Each piano was tuned slightly differently to produce 11,000 Strings.
(Photo by Stephanie Berg via the Smithsonian)

When 100 pianos at the Hailun piano factory in China were all played together to test their performance before being shipped out, conductor Peter Paul Kainrath was there to experience the "massive sound," reports Ella Feldman for Smithsonian magazine. "The cacophonic scene left Kainrath so inspired that he called Austrian composer Georg Friedrich Haas to discuss its potential. . . .The next morning, Haas told Kainrath that if he brought him 50 pianos, he would compose a piece. The resulting composition is Haas’ 11,000 Strings."

Rural hospitals struggling to stay open can't use the newly created $50 billion federal fund to survive

President Trump signs his bill of tax breaks and spending cuts.
(Photo by Julia Demaree Nikhinson, AP via the Yonder)

Rural hospitals struggling to stay open will be unable to manage financial shortages caused by ongoing Medicaid cuts with funds from the Rural Health Transformation Program, which sets aside $50 billion in federal dollars for rural hospitals. Liz Carey for The Daily Yonder reports, "The legislation itself specifically says RHTP funds cannot be used as an offset for Medicaid. And the administration in multiple avenues has specifically said this cannot be used to keep rural hospitals open, period.”

During summer budget negotiations, lawmakers created the RHTP program and touted it as a way to protect rural hospitals; however, the totals don't balance each other out. "Federal Medicaid spending in rural areas is expected to drop by about $15.5 billion per year over the next 10 years," Carey explains. The Rural Health Transformation Program "will provide about $10 billion per year over five years. Many industry experts say that’s not enough."

Although lawmakers may have said the fund was to keep rural hospitals open, the program isn't designed to save struggling medical centers in the short term. Instead, states that apply to the program must include a "rural transformation plan" that outlines how they will improve services, cut costs and deploy technology with RHTP funding aimed at long-term solvency.

Any state that receives RHTP funding will also be "assessed for additional funding based on its population, the number of rural health facilities it has, and the situation of the hospitals in the state to receive additional funds," Carey explains. "Additional funds would also be allocated based on 'how well state applications align with program strategic goals,'" which includes the HHS Make America Healthy Again initiative.

At its core, RHTP funds won't help financially strapped hospitals stay open, and rural residents will likely face more struggles to access providers and care. Alan Morgan, president of the National Rural Health Association, told the Yonder, "The $50 billion cannot by legislation (and is not by the administration) going to be used to help rural hospitals keep their doors open. This $50 billion is about sustaining healthcare for the future. It has nothing to do with maintaining access today.”

Journalists at rural Alaska newspapers quit over abrupt corporate edits to Kirk story that upset a state politician

Photo by Mark Sabbatini, Juneau Independent

Four journalists resigned from newspapers in rural Alaska after the publications’ corporate owner made "significant edits to an article about Charlie Kirk’s death, appearing to yield to pressure from a Republican state lawmaker who had criticized the coverage," reports Neil Vigdor of The New York Times.

The journalists who worked for The Homer News, The Peninsula Clarion and The Juneau Empire, were all employed by Alabama-based Carpenter Media. The news staff issued a joint resignation letter, noting that they had not been consulted about the edits, and that without editorial independence, the company's integrity as a news source was compromised.

The story at issue "chronicled a Sept. 17 vigil in Homer, Alaska, for Kirk, the Turning Point USA founder and a right-wing ally of President Trump’s who was fatally shot while speaking at Utah Valley University," Vigdor writes. In its second paragraph, the story "described Kirk as a a 'Christian-Nationalist icon' and defender of 'often racist and controversial views.'"

One of the vigil's organizers, Sarah Vance, a Republican state representative, took issue with the description of Kirk and wrote to the paper's corporate owners and "suggested that advertisers were planning to boycott the publications," Vigdor adds. The story then disappeared from online, only to reappear with numerous edits a few hours later.

In a statement, Carpenter Media Group said it altered the story because it did not meet company standards. Gregory Knight, an aide to Vance, "provided a statement from Vance saying that she did not expect her complaint to contribute to the resignations," Vigdor reports.