The Rural Blog

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

The Rural Blog

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Kentucky novelist Silas House reflects on floods, compassion, climate change, and Appalachian resilience

Rural coronavirus infections were steady in last two weeks

Pilot programs in Iowa and Virginia aim to address rural housing shortages with 3D-printed structures

Rural S.C. school district addresses shortage of in-school therapists by hiring private mental-health providers

Quick hits: Honeybees have feelings, too; $50 million in venture capital raised to bring more doctors to rural America

Many rural Republicans rejected Kansas abortion measure

Affiliation with another facility and focus on outpatient services are keys to survival for rural hospitals, studies show

Book: American opioid industry operated like a drug cartel

Innovative program, with high-school grads conditionally accepted to medical school, aims at rural doctor shortage

Many nursing homes sue residents' families, friends for debt

Deadly traffic accidents are still far more likely to be rural

100-year-old weekly newspaper in the mountains of Virginia begs for a buyer; tomorrow's edition might be its last

End of pandemic-era free school lunches could mean more students going hungry, suffering stigma, or falling into debt

Starlink's satellite-based service can't reach enough people to close the rural broadband gap much, consultant says

Manchin won promise from key Democrats to complete controversial pipeline as part of reconciliation package

Lightly regulated 'forever chemicals,' given out in sludge fertilizer, are so ubiquitous they're in rain at unsafe levels

Social networks often make it hard to leave Appalachia

Aug. 4 webinar will discuss new transportation grant program for rural and tribal communities

In cleanup after a flood, how to stay safe and healthy

Local journalists should explain to readers how states ensure electoral integrity; this webinar recording can help