Industrial farms pose health and environmental risks and must change their ways, commission says

Confined animal feeding operations often pose "unacceptable risks to public health, the environment and the welfare of the animals themselves," and major overhauls are needed in the way the operations are run, the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production said this week, concluding a study that lasted two and a half years. Rick Weiss of The Washington Post summed it up this way: "Factory farming takes a big, hidden toll on human health and the environment, is undermining rural America's economic stability and fails to provide the humane treatment of livestock increasingly demanded by American consumers."

Ann Bagel Storck of MeatingPlace.com, which covers the red-meat industry, writes that the study "raises issues such as the huge amount of animal waste industrial farms generate, use of antibiotics by such facilities leading to the development of drug-resistant bacteria and the high concentration of animals on industrial farms increasing the risk of disease spreading. The report's recommendations include phasing out the most inhumane production practices within 10 years; implementing federal performance-based standards to improve animal welfare; and expanding and reforming animal agriculture research."

Weiss reports, "Several observers said the report, by experts with varying backgrounds and allegiances, is remarkable for the number of tough recommendations that survived the grueling research and review process, which participants said was politically charged and under constant pressure from powerful agricultural interests. In the end, however, even industry representatives on the panel agreed to such controversial recommendations as a ban on the nontherapeutic use of antibiotics in farm animals -- a huge hit against veterinary pharmaceutical companies -- a phaseout of all intensive confinement systems that prevent the free movement of farm animals, and more vigorous enforcement of antitrust laws in the increasingly consolidated agricultural arena." (Read more)

For the full report, click here. For the commission's press release, click here. For a rebuttal from the Animal Agriculture Alliance, click here.

Biofuels have fused the food and fuel markets, raising prices and adding to climate change

The boom in biofuels, largely ethanol made from corn, "has linked food and fuel prices just as oil is rising to new records, pulling up the price of anything that can be poured into a gasoline tank," Steven Mufson of The Washington Post in yesterday's installment of the paper's series on the global food crisis. "The price of grain is now directly tied to the price of oil," Lester Brown, president of Earth Policy Institute, a Washington research group, told the Post. "We used to have a grain economy and a fuel economy. But now they're beginning to fuse."

Even as policymakers begin to voice reservations about recent measure to spur more biofuel production, Mufson reports, "Two leading oil pipeline companies are exploring the feasibility of building a $3 billion ethanol pipeline, the first of its kind, to link Iowa and other parts of the Midwest with motor-fuel markets in the East. It would carry 3.65 billion gallons a year and give another industry a vested interest in maintaining high ethanol output."

American farmers' rush to corn last year "edged out some soybeans, which as a result are being grown in greater numbers on previously unplowed areas in other countries," Mufson writes. "And that releases carbon dioxide that had previously been stored in the soil as organic matter," adding to the atmosphere the main greenhouse gas responsible for climate change.

Mufson's story, which focuses on Iowa and has some interesting details about eggs and castrated roosters, is an evenhanded glimpse of a few slices of perhaps the greatest problem facing the world today. But it and the Post series prompted objections from farm and biofuel interests, reflected in this story by Peter Shinn of Brownfield Network.

Atlanta paper shrinks its reach again; Lee papers report increasing audience via Web

For the second time in little more than a year, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution is reducing its circulation area, meaning the newspaper will be a shadow of its former self in rural Georgia. "Counties affected in the latest round are mainly in the northwest corner of the state, along the South Carolina border and northeast of the Columbus area," the paper said in a story with no byline. "After the cuts, the AJC will be distributed in 46 Georgia counties and three in North Carolina." Georgia has 159 counties, most of them small and rural.

The newspaper said the cuts would reduce its circulation to 320,200 daily and 487,700 Sunday. In the six months ended March 31, the paper's daily circulation fell 8.5 percent to 326,907, and its Sunday distribution dropped 5 percent to 497,149. "The AJC attributed some of the declines to a previous round of distribution area cutbacks in 2007," its story said. "Prior to that cut, the AJC's distribution area covered almost 200 counties in five states." (Read more)

Amid similar six-month reports at most metropolitan papers, Lee Enterprises Inc. said its 54 dailies "saw growing print and online viewership in March," The Associated Press reported. Many of Lee's papers are small; the dailies' average circulation is under 30,000. The papers and their Web sites "reached 72 percent of adults in their markets last month, up from 68 percent in the prior-year period," according to Wilkerson & Associates, a research firm. (Read more)

UPDATE, July 7: The Times-Picayune of New Orleans has eliminated most of its circulation in Mississippi, about 3,000 subscriptions and single-copy sales, mainly the latter, Joe Strupp reports for Editor & Publisher. The exceptions are 700 or so papers still being distributed in Picayune, in the Mississippi Panhandle less than 50 miles from New Orleans. Circulation Director Phil Ehrhardt said much of the paper's Mississippi circulation was wiped out by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and had not returned.

Monitor says food price hikes making lawmakers reconsider federal support for corn ethanol

In a report on the growing backlash against ethanol, fueled by rising food prices and worries about shortages, Amanda Paulson of The Christian Science Monitor declares: "America's love affair with corn-based ethanol is cooling – at least in Washington." She reports that some lawmakers are considering freezing the mandate on biofuels production at its current levels or shifting tax incentives to cellulosic production of ethanol from corn-based production. (In The Associated Press photo, a combine tests a cob-catching attachment to gather materials for cellulosic production.)

Such considerations "represent a dramatic backlash against corn ethanol," Paulson writes, noting how the last few months have quickly changed corn ethanol's reputation. She adds: "Many experts worry that Washington's new skepticism will undo important progress the U.S. has made in replacing foreign oil with domestic energy alternatives. But others say that done right, a shift toward cellulose – nonfood plant material like grasses and crop residues – could reduce U.S. reliance on imported oil just as well as corn does. And it would accomplish it with fewer food and environmental trade-offs."

Underscoring that point, Paulson mentions the reduction in the ethanol tax credit that likely will be part of the Farm Bill. The proposal would drop the current 51-cent a gallon ethanol tax credit down to a 45- or 47-cent a gallon credit, while at the same time creating a $1.01 a gallon tax credit for cellulosic ethanol. There are yet no commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol producers. (Read more)

Hawaii, Maine pass reporters' privilege laws

Hawaii lawmakers sent the governor a bill that would protect the state's journalists, both online and traditional, "from revealing their sources, notes and video recordings to the government," reports The Associated Press. "Hawaii prosecutors agreed to the measure after carving out exemptions for felony cases, civil actions involving defamation, public safety, source consent to disclosure and when the desired information is necessary to an investigation or defense," AP reports. (Read more)

An earlier version of the bill had used compliance with the Society of Professional Journalists' Code of Ethics to determine who qualifies as a journalist, but the final legislation granted protection to those who disseminate news in the "substantial public interest," as well as those who have ever worked in the news media.

Maine recently became the 35th state (in addition to the District of Columbia) to enact a reporter's privilege or shield law after Gov. John Baldacci signed the bill in late April, reports Editor & Publisher. Supported by the Maine Press Association, the Maine Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and the Maine Association of Broadcasters, the law protects reporters from disclosing confidential sources or information. The law does not, however, apply to "non-confidential" material such as reporters' notes or unpublished photographs. (Read more)

For a comprehensive overview of shield laws, go here.

Interior Department proposes to allow loaded guns in national parks and wildlife refuges

After talk about easing the ban on loaded guns in national parks and wildlife refuges, the Bush administration formally proposed Wednesday to scrap the long-standing ban. Rob Hotakainen of McClatchy Newspapers reports, "Under the plan, an individual could carry a concealed weapon in national parks and wildlife refuges if he or she is authorized to do so on similar state lands in the state where the national park or refuge is located." Since existing regulations took effect in 1981, 48 states have passed laws to allow legal possession of concealed weapons, the Interior Department noted.

The announcement begins a 60-day public comment period, after which the department will issue a final rule. Already, some proponents have the current ban have spoken out. "This is purely and simply a politically driven effort to solve a problem that doesn't exist. There are no existing data that suggest any public interest to be gained by allowing visitors to parks to possess concealed handguns," Bill Wade, chairman of the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees, told Hotakainen. "This proposed regulation increases the risk to visitors, employees and wildlife rather than reducing it." (Read more)

Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said, "The safety and protection of park and refuge visitors remains a top priority for the Department of the Interior. The proposed regulations will incorporate current state laws authorizing the possession of concealed firearms, while continuing to maintain important provisions to ensure visitor safety and resource protection."

The announcement wasn't unexpected. Under pressure from Congress, the department said in February that it would review the ban and make a recommendation by the end of April. As a result, many proponents of the ban feared that the administration was getting ready to lift it. Several National Park Service employee advocacy groups and the National Parks Conservation Association said the proposed change would lead to confusion for visitors, rangers and other law enforcement agencies.

Rural areas get less return on school funding because of brain drain; consolidation fights still on

In a recent article on size of school districts, The Economist magazine reported what it called a sad irony: "The better a small town educates its pupils, the more likely they are to seek jobs elsewhere. According to a study by Pennsylvania State University, returns to investment in human capital are much lower in rural areas than in urban ones."

The Economist did not cite the name or author of the study, but thanks to help from our friends at Penn State, we tracked it down. It's called "The Returns to Education in Rural Areas," and it addresses the rural "brain drain" alluded to by the magazine. The lead author is Stephan Goetz, of Penn State's Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development. In a policy brief for the Southern Rural Development Center, the authors explain that the brain drain "not only deprives local employers of an educated workforce, but it also represents a drain on local resources because the communities that invested in the education of these workers do not reap any returns on that investment."

The study crunched numbers to place an actual number on returns for education in rural and urban areas. The study found that a 1 percent increase in the share of high school graduates in a typical rural county raises per capita income by $128, while a 1 percent increase in urban areas result in a $413 increase. The graph below shows the figures vary widely by region.

The regional variances are important because key factors such as population density, social capital, classroom size and highway access ramps "have no statistical effect in leveraging the impact of educational attainment," the study says. It concludes that there are "staggering odds or disadvantages that rural areas face in terms of providing those with a high school degree a reasonable return on their investment."

The Economist examines the long-term trend toward consolidation of schools and school districts, a major issue in rural areas. Its article highlights South Dakota, where the total enrollment of students has fallen 9.4 percent over the past 10 years (Economist chart). That drop led legislators to force any school district with fewer than 100 students to merge with another. "Legislators, particularly urban ones, reckon that merging districts will create economies of scale and allow schools to offer a broader curriculum," The Economist reports. "But in many cases, a merger will lead a good school to close, forcing its pupils to take long bus journeys to the next town."

The Economist connects South Dakota's example to the "long and contentious"' history of school consolidation in this country, which had 117,000 school districts in 1939 and 14,000 in 2005. Maine passed similar legislation last year, and the transition has not been smooth. (A column in Tuesday's Bangor Daily News attacks the plan for eliminating school choice.) North Dakota considered a consolidation plan in the 1990s, but the discussion "sparked such outrage that politicians dropped the subject entirely," The Economist reports. (Read more)

Farm Bill won't include ban on releasing data from National Animal Identification System

The conference report on the Farm Bill will not include a Senate-added provision that would have prohibited release of information from the National Animal Identification System, which is voluntary for now but is being implemented by many states. The measure would also have blocked access to animal owners' contact information in the National Premises Information Repository, said OpenTheGovernment.org, a lobbying group that includes journalism organizations.

Patrice McDermott, the group's director, credited Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., left, for removal of the Senate provision. Leahy has been a leader in recent efforts to preserve and expand federal freedom of information.

The Senate bill also would have prohibited any non-authorized use of the information. "Members of the public and the press could face criminal or civil penalties for publishing information from the NAIS," the lobbying group warned in a letter to senators, adding that such a measure would have gone "way beyond most existing law in imposing disproportionately harsh penalties for press activities protected by the First Amendment." To read the whole letter, click here.

Under court order, Farm Service Agency must give out data on individual farms' agricultural practices

The federal Farm Service Agency has given, under court order, a detailed database of agricultural practices on individual farms to "a publisher of dairy magazines and seller of custom lists to ag marketers," reports Brownfield Network. The appellate court decision, implemented by delivery of the records this week, has potentially major implications for farmers who worry about their privacy and journalists who cover agriculture.

Multi Ag Media LLC requested the data under the Freedom of Information Act. FSA denied the request in 2005, saying its release would "constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy," one of the exemptions in the law. A federal district judge in Washington agreed, but the appeals court for the District of Columbia ruled otherwise in a 2-1 decision in February.

The court said FSA did not have to release "personally identifying information protected by the Privacy Act of 1974, things like Social Security numbers and names," Peter Shinn reports for Brownfield. "But USDA Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Ag Services Mark Keenum told Brownfield [that] which ag producer belongs to which file in the database won’t be hard to figure out," through farm identification numbers. FSA pointedly said in a press release that the records contain "data for all operations owned and operated by individual agricultural producers and closely held family-owned business entities. These files can be used to reveal details of farming operations at a specific geographical location."

Associate FSA Administrator Glen Keppy told members of the National Association of Farm Broadcasters, at Department of Agriculture headquarters Tuesday for their annual Washington event, "The agency is very concerned and I as a farmer am very concerned. When I go into the county or local office, I expect some confidentiality." Shinn reports Keenum told him the new policy would make farmers question the department's "assurances of confidentiality." (Read more)

Bush criticizes Farm Bill, stands by ethanol; aides push for tighter income limits on crop subsidies

"With the agricultural economy strong and farmland enjoying record-high values . . . Congress is missing an opportunity to dramatically re-shape U.S. farm policy." That's how Peter Shinn of Brownfield Network described President Bush's view, at a press conference today, of the Farm Bill being finalized by House and Senate negotiators.

"However, the president stopped short of threatening to veto the new bill that congressional negotiators are struggling to finish," notes Philip Brasher of The Des Moines Register. "Top administration officials later went to the Capitol and met privately with the lawmakers for nearly two hours to discuss differences over the legislation," including "Bush's insistence that Congress tighten income eligibility limits for farm subsidies. . . . The administration proposed to cut off subsidies to farmers and landowners with incomes of more than $200,000 a year. The proposal has met strong resistance from Southern farm interests, and lawmakers have been pushing for higher limits that would apply only to off-farm income." (Read more)

Speaking with reporters in the White House rose garden, Bush said, ""Americans are concerned about rising food prices. Unfortunately, Congress is considering a massive, bloated farm bill that would do little to solve the problem."

Bush also defended the federal ethanol subsidy, which the proposed Farm Bill would cut to 45 cents a gallon from 51 cents. He corrected "a reporter who claimed 85 percent of the price increase in corn since 2002 was because of biofuels," Shinn writes. "The World Bank earlier this month said about 15 percent of the corn price increase could be linked to biofuels, not 85 percent. Mr. Bush pointed out sky-high oil prices are continuing to spur ethanol industry expansion and he said that’s the right approach to reducing America's dependence on foreign oil." (Read more)

America's breadbasket is raising less wheat, and record prices for the crop may not change that

As part of its series of stories on the global food crisis, The Washington Post today has a fine story on the decline of wheat, by former Post reporter Dan Morgan, who still covers agriculture for the paper on a contract basis. (Tomorrow, the next story in the series will be "The problem with linking food and fuel.")

Wheat is an iconic crop, probably the one that spawned civilization, and certainly the subject of phrases like "America's breadbasket" and "amber waves of grain." But even though prices for it have risen to record levels, it is in decline in America, as "Many farmers are cutting back on growing wheat in favor of more profitable, less disease-prone corn and soybeans for ethanol refineries and Asian consumers," even in the historic wheat state of North Dakota, Morgan reports. Here's a state-by-state look, via a Post map:
Morgan reports other reasons fewer farmers are raising wheat: As we reported here, it is relatively more susceptible to diseases, seed companies have focused on more profitable crops, climate change and crop research have made corn and soybeans easier to grow in the Wheat Belt, and for the last decade the Farm Bill has allowed farmers "to switch to other crops and still collect government subsidies."

Here's the bottom line from Morgan: "At current prices, farmers . . . can make more money from an acre of corn than from an acre of wheat, according to North Dakota State University economist Dwight Aakre. But wheat's biggest problem is susceptibility to disease, which has turned many farmers against it." (Read more)

Bush renews, through aide, Farm Bill veto threat

As congressional negotiators tried to wrap up the Farm Bill with an agreement on limiting commodity subsidies to farmers with large non-farm incomes, a White House spokesman renewed President Bush's signal that he would veto the compromise version of the bill agreed on so far.

Spokesman Scott Stanzel told Ryan Grim of The Politico, “I understand members will be meeting about this tomorrow, so things still may be a bit fluid. But, as it stands now, it is not something the president would support.” He said the bill “lacks important reforms the president has repeatedly called for. With farm incomes at an all time high, Congress shouldn’t be asking taxpayers to pay for even more government subsidies for farmers. The proposal before Congress would dramatically increase spending, in part by masking additional spending in budgetary gimmicks and accounting tricks.” (Read more) For a report from Charles Abbott of Reuters on the subsidy-limiting negotiations, click here.

Brownfield losing his radio show over differences with owner about his treatment of Monsanto Co.

Derry Brownfield, right, who founded a radio network for Midwest agricultural and rural news, is being taken off that and sister networks because he rails against major agribusiness interests, including Monsanto Co., on his "Common Sense Coalition" program that airs on about 60 stations. Clyde Lear, who co-founded Brownfield Network and now heads the parent Learfield Communications, confirmed his reasons in an interview tonight with the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues.

Lear said Brownfield also goes after the Missouri Farm Bureau, but "He's really gotten on a tear abut Monsanto," Lear said. Asked for examples, he said "I just don't listen too much" and was acting on complaints to his news department from his sales staff, which feared a reduction in business from Monsanto. Lear said he asked Brownfield last week to "lay off" the chemical and seed company "or at the very least get someone from Monsanto on the air," but Brownfield, 76, told him that fellow Missouri native Rush Limbaugh didn't run his talk show that way and said "Clyde, these people are evil." Brownfield has not returned a call seeking comment. (UPDATE, May 1: Brownfield told Corporate Crime Reporter that he couldn't comment until after May 30, when his show will be dropped. CCR's 1,850-word story quotes Lear as saying Brownfield agreed to have Monsanto on the show, but Lear gave in to pressure from his subordinates.)

Lear said he decided during the conversation with Brownfield to stop carrying his former partner's program, but is trying to help him find another outlet. "I wish I had given this one a little more time," he said. "As a journalist, there's a part of me that wishes I had gone the other way." But Lear is also a businessman and majority owner of his company (he bought out Brownfield in 1985), and he said three of his sales people have Monsanto as a client. Asked if they thought Monsanto would reduce its advertising because of Brownfield, Lear said, "I think there was that fear."

While Lear couldn't cite any examples, Michael Stumo of the Organization for Competitive Markets wrote on the OCM Blog that he and OCM President Fred Stokes were guests on one of the two recent Brownfield programs that were critical of Monsanto. "We discussed the tactics of Monsanto in the marketplace, their abuse of producers, their litigiousness, their quashing of competition, and the recent Vanity Fair article, "Monsanto's Harvest of Fear," Stumo wrote.

Lear announced the termination on his own Grow Learfield blog, initially in gentle terms. "He's good. And, he's a dear friend," Lear wrote. "He didn't mind controversy or taking on giants like the Monsanto Corp. He thought they were bad for farmers, too big for their britches and generally bad for America. Increasingly he's been saying so, without seeking balance, in my opinion." Replying to commenters who complained about his decision, he said, "We've parted ways because accusations being made about not only advertisers, but individuals, corporations, government, (fill in the blank) were based on fear and lies with absolutely no truth to back them up."

As Derby looms, Ky. paper reports on horse crisis

The horse crisis made the front page of The Courier-Journal today, with a situation piece that offered no big news but a magisterial overview and update of the problem, perhaps timed to what folks in Louisville call Derby Week -- the seven days leading up to Saturday's Kentucky Derby. At left, Suzanna Thomas works with a rescued horse at the Maker's Mark Secretariat Center. (Photo by Michael Clevenger, C-J)

Greg Hall notes the demise of the last U.S. slaughterhouses that processed horsemeat for human consumption, mainly in Europe and Japan, a doubling of the number of horses shipped to Mexico for slaughter, and drought that has raised feed costs. "Discoveries of malnourished horses have renewed questions that perhaps it's necessary to make slaughter available for horse owners," he writes. "They could collect maybe a couple hundred dollars by selling an old horse for slaughter rather than continue to pay thousands a year for care and feeding -- a situation with which some horse advocates sympathize. . . . About the only agreement among slaughter proponents and opponents is that the increased costs of fuel and food are issues for horse owners."

Noting various horse-rescue operations, Hall writes, "It was five years ago that reports surfaced that 1986 Kentucky Derby winner Ferdinand had been killed in a Japanese slaughterhouse. The stories motivated horse-rescue operations and shocked Americans who weren't aware that horses are routinely butchered for food in other countries." He adds, "New sites, some at prisons, are planned." A Kentucky prison on Interstate 64, next to its northern junction with I-75, already has a Thoroughbred retirement farm. (Read more)

World wheat crops threatened by disease, writes scientist who won Nobel Prize for work in the field

At a time when global food prices are rising, wheat crops are threatened with a disease that could wipe them out, but the Bush administration wants to cut research that could head off a calamity, Nobel laureate Norman Borlaug writes in The New York Times.

"The time could not be worse for an epidemic of stem rust in the world’s wheat crops," Borlaug writes Borlaug, a professor of international agriculture at Texas A&M. "Scientists must quickly turn their attention to replacing almost all of the commercial wheat grown in the world today. This will require a commitment from many nations, especially the United States, which has lately neglected its role as a leader in agricultural science." He says the administration wants to eliminate support of international agriculture research centers and make "significant financial cuts" for U.S. research centers, and "This shocking short-sightedness goes against the interests not only of American wheat farmers and consumers but of all humanity."

Borlaug, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for developing high-yielding, rust-resistant wheat varieties, says new strains of rust "are much more dangerous than those that, 50 years ago, destroyed as much as 20 percent of the American wheat crop. Today’s lush, high-yielding wheat fields on vast irrigated tracts are ideal environments for the fungus to multiply, so the potential for crop loss is greater than ever." (Read more)

In county where women's life expectancy declined most, lifestyle choices are the presumed causes

A few days ago, we noted a study which found that women's life expectancy declined significantly from 1983 to 1999 in 180 U.S. counties. The county where it declined the most was Pulaski County, Va., and the adjoining, independent city of Radford (near center of Encarta map below). "In 1983, life expectancy for women in the two jurisdictions was about 84 years. By 1999, it had dropped 5.8 years, to 78. No other jurisdiction in the nation had a decrease of more than 3.3 years," reports Theresa Vargas of The Washington Post. The study found life expectancy for women stagnant or falling in other parts of Appalachia.

Experts were at a loss to explain the decline in and around Radford. "For many who grew up and work here, the study validated what they already knew -- that women's health is faltering in part because of poor diets and smoking," Vargas writes. "Jody Hershey, director of the New River Health District, said several factors that the study suggests for the drop in longevity come down to lifestyle choices," abetted by economic pressures that make preventive medicine difficult and health insurance an option, not a necessity.

Funeral home owner John Stevens told Vargas times in Radford are getting harder: "We even lost a Wal-Mart here. Who loses a Wal-Mart?" And he's getting more requests for cremations, which don't require an expensive casket. (Read more)

UPDATE, May 7: "Female death rates for Radford and Pulaski County are consistent with the state as a whole and not significantly higher, according to research conducted by the New River Health District," reports Donna Alvis-Banks of The Roanoke Times. "It is important to note that life expectancy and death rates are different statistics," Dr. Jody Hershey, director of the health district, said in a letter to city and county officials. "They are linked, but not necessarily directly."

UPDATE, April 29: The Daily Yonder posts lists of the counties with significantly lower life expectancy and reports that the rural county with the greatest decline in life expectancy, for both men and women, was McNairy County, Tenn. To read the details, click here.

Farm Bill negotiators reach tentative agreement, but details of subsidy cap remain to be worked out

Congressional negotiators tentatively agreed yesterday on a new Farm Bill that will reduce the federal subsidy for ethanol, trim some crop subsidies, boost nutrition programs, label imported food and start a new disaster program designed mainly for drought-fearing farmers in the Upper Midwest.

Fixed payments to grain and cotton growers over the next 10 years would be cut by an estimated $400 million, but that was much less than critics of the subsidies proposed. Details remain to be worked out, "including a tightening of income-eligibility limits for farm subsidies," reports Philip Brasher of The Des Moines Register.

"The government would spend $10 billion more than allocated by congressional budget committees last year," reports Dan Morgan in The Washington Post. "The Bush administration had proposed an increase of about $5.5 billion." To help head off a presidential veto, Brasher reports, "Lawmakers agreed to drop a revenue source that the White House had objected to and instead decided to get money they needed through extending user fees paid by importers. "

The 51-cent-per-gallon tax credit for ethanol would be cut to 45 cents "to help offset the cost of a package of tax incentives for horse racing, timber and other industries," Brasher reports. "A new subsidy, worth as much as $1.01 a gallon, would be created for ethanol made from sources other than corn, including crop residue and wood waste." (Read more)

"Rising food costs gave a strong impetus to stepped-up funding for programs such as food stamps that help poor and near-poor families," Morgan reports. "Versions passed by the House and Senate last year proposed modest increases in food stamp benefits and eased standards of eligibility for the program. Last week, Senate negotiators offered a $9.5 billion increase over 10 years. Yesterday, they upped that offer by $800 million to $900 million, sources indicated."

Morgan also reports that the agreement includes the first requirment for "country of origin" labeling for imported meat and vegetables. (Read more)

Texas governor wants exemption from biofuel mandate, to slow rising food and feed prices

Climbing food and feed prices have added to the debate over federal mandates for the increased production of grain-based renewable fuel. In Texas, Gov. Rick Perry wants a partial waiver from new renewable fuel standards, reports David Ivanovich of the Houston Chronicle.

Perry "asked federal regulators to relax rules requiring use of corn-based ethanol in the nation's fuel supply, arguing the mandate is driving up world food prices and harming the Texas economy," Ivanovich writes. "Perry sent a letter today to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, asking the federal government to waive 50 percent of the mandate for production of ethanol derived from grain."

Perry's letter said the policy was "well-intentioned" but was harming Texas families and livestock producers. Ethanol makers said such a waiver would not led to lower food or feed prices but would instead led to the reduction of fuel in the marketplace. "While this may benefit Texas oil companies, it will certainly hurt consumers in Texas and the rest of the country," the Renewable Fuels Association said. (Read more)

A news release from the governor's office said corn prices have climbed 138 percent in the last three years, while global food prices jumped 83 percent in the same period. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 25 percent of the corn grown in United States was diverted to produce in ethanol in 2007, with 30 to 35 percent projected to be diverted in 2008 and more in the years after that. In Texas, family ranches make up the majority of cattle producers, with nearly 70 percent of the state's 149,000 cattle producers having less than 50 head of cattle, according to the USDA.

Roanoke media market broadband use ranks last

While Roanoke, Va., was recently designated the top digital city among similar-sized cities, its media market ranks last in the nation when it comes to high-speed Internet access. "The households in 25 Virginia counties that make up the Roanoke/Lynchburg designated market area ended last in a ranking of 79 U.S. markets for broadband use, according to New York-based Scarborough Research," reports Jenny Kincaid Boone of The Roanoke Times. "Only 29 percent of the adults in the market have high-speed Internet connections in their homes, according to the report compiled from August 2006 to September 2007."

The report said that nationally broadband access quadrupled between 2002 and 2007. Officials told the Times that the report is not good news for economic development. "It's very important to have widespread availability and affordability of broadband, especially from the home [for telecommuters]," said Andrew Cohill, president and chief executive officer of Design Nine, a Blacksburg company that provides consulting for broadband and telecommunications planning. He also said the disparity in broadband use is related to factors of access, education and income.

Cost can be a significant hurdle even when broadband is available. In remote Highland County, DSL service has been available for the past three years, but use has jumped since the Highland Telephone Cooperative dropped the monthly price from $42 to $19.95. High-speed Internet can provide new job opportunities in these areas, such as the 160 sales representative jobs retailer HSN aims to fill this year in the Roanoke area. These sales reps will work from home and must have a high-speed connection to apply. (Read more)

Small town in Iowa keeps prison — and its vital jobs

In January, we reported that Fort Madison, Iowa, home to the state's penitentiary since 1839, was bracing for the possible loss of the prison and its many jobs. Lee County, which sits on the Mississippi River in the southeast corner of the state, had its fourth-highest unemployment rate — 5.6 percent — and was desperate to keep the prison, especially since other major employees, such as a casino riverboat, were leaving or had left. It won the battle, reports Jennifer Jacobs of the Des Moines Register. (The current prison — built in 1870 — is above in Register photo.)

Republican opponents of the decision by Democraric Gov. Chet Culver's administration said the more centrally located town of Newton was a better choice for the $130.7 million 800-bed prison, given Fort Madison's relative isolation. Newton was home to Maytag's last plant, which closed last October, and was a stop on the campaigns of Barack Obama and John Edwards during the Iowa primary. (Read more)

Blogger conference call offers plenty of story ideas about agricultural and rural issues; listen to it here

We participated in a conference call for agricultural- and rural-minded bloggers this week, and a podcast of the discussion is available here. During the call, agricultural journalist John Phipps and Wayne Wenzel, the seeds and technology Editor for Farm Journal, covered a wide range of topics. Phipps is host of US Farm Report, writes for Farm Journal and also appears on AgWeb.

Among the issues discussed were rising food prices, renewable fuels, organic products, new farm technology and and how small-town newspapers and journalists can take advantage of the Internet. It's worth a listen, especially since the food versus fuel debate remains a hot topic for those in agriculture and for consumers in general.

Obituary celebrates Arizona rancher, speaks to changing landscape in rural Southwest

The front-page obituary for rancher Delbert Pierce that appeared in The Daily Courier not only celebrated the life of a key member of the Prescott, Ariz., community, it highlighted the changes many rural areas have seen over the past few decades. Pierce died last week at the age of 91, and he "was as a man who knew the Arizona landscape, right down to every flower and tree and animal, because he took care of them with his own hands," writes Joanna Dodder Nellans. "Numerous awards and his induction into the Arizona Ag Hall of Fame attested to these facts, but they are not what people remember." (At left in a family photo is Pierce with his wife, Anna Beth, who died 12 days before he did.)

Pierce purchased his Las Vegas Ranch, just north of Prescott, in 1959 and eventually expanded it to 18,360 acres. "He was just an honest, hard-working person who took good care of cattle," Pierce's neighbor and fellow long-time rancher, John Kieckhefer, told The Daily Courier. Kieckhefer's wife Lynda said, "It's hard. These old pioneers are leaving us. It's just kind of the passing of an era." (Read more)

In the comments section of The Daily Courier's Web site, one reader's comment explained why the obituary deserved its front-page placement: "This article captures an important dimension of what was historically significant about this region while at the same time celebrating the life and career of a life well-lived."

Small Kentucky weekly holds sheriff's feet to fire

In southern Kentucky, a local sheriff has been making front-page news in the area's weekly newspaper, the Todd County Standard, for charges filed against him after an incident outside a store in neighboring Logan County. Since then, the story has been picked up by other newspapers in the state and elsewhere.

In the March 26-April 1 edition of the Standard (circ. 2,500), the top story was "Sheriff comes under fire." In that article, Ryan Craig reports:

A criminal complaint has been brought against Todd County Sheriff W.D. "Billy" Stokes by a disabled Logan County man who claims Stokes parked in a handicapped space at the Russellville Wal-Mart and then threatened to shoot him with a Taser when he asked Stokes to move.

Stokes told the Standard that he might have been parked improperly, but he only threatened to shoot the man with his Taser after he felt the man was "acting weird."

A week later, the story again dominated the front page of the Standard. In this April 2 update, Craig reports that Stokes had been charged with unauthorized parking in a handicapped zone, menacing and official misconduct. Alongside this story was the full transcript of the call placed by Dan Draper, the man who filed the complaint against Stokes, to the city's police dispatcher. The transcript began in the middle of the front page and ran on nearly half of two inside pages. The Standard also ran a column by Craig, which appeared next to his update on Stokes and the transcript on page one. In the column "Vendetta ... or just amnesia?" Craig writes:

I have been told that Sheriff W.D. "Billy" Stokes claims I, and my newspaper, have a vendetta against him.

To this I would respond with a question: Did he have a fall or get hit on the head?
Because I worry he must have a serious case of amnesia.

If I have a vendetta against him then how does he explain all the times this newspaper has called him to get his side of the story. (We'll get more into that later.)

No, Mr. Stokes, if anything I have taken serious criticism from your detractors that I'm too soft on you.

Ironically, I also take grief from your supporters who say I'm also unfair to you.

In the rest of the column, Craig recounts times the paper provided Stokes' side of the story, including times when he was given editorial space to respond in writing. The column, Craig explains, is a response to Stokes' appearance on WKDZ-FM in Cadiz. Stokes called the station right after Craig finished his weekly call-in report. "Because of who I am and the stand I'm trying to take for the right purposes here in Todd County I don't think that my story through Ryan Craig and his newspaper, the Todd County Standard, have been getting both sides," Stokes said. "It seems like it is hard for me to get my side of the story in with each issue that comes up with Mr. Craig so therefore I wanted to call and let you know the side of the story and anything you want to know about the incident I'll be glad to tell you." (The Standard is not online, but it does its own blog.)

This week, Stokes entered a plea of not guilty to the charges, an update which was reported in Logan County's twice-weekly newspaper, the News-Democrat & Leader, as well as by The Associated Press. (Read more)

Despite tight budget and opposition from rural hospitals, Ky. approves statewide trauma system

Many rural areas lack systems that designate hospitals as trauma centers, and as a result many rural patients have died because they are not taken to the correct facility quickly enough. In Kentucky, lawmakers recently passed a bill to establish a statewide trauma system, reports The Courier-Journal of Louisville. The bill encourages the creation of written transport protocols for emergency medical services to define which patients can stay at a local hospital and which ones should go directly to a trauma center instead. Additionally, the bill would encourage more hospitals to become trauma centers.

"Advocates have been fighting for a trauma system for years, saying residents who live far from trauma centers — such as many residents in rural areas of Kentucky — have a greater chance of dying after car accidents or other trauma because they can't get to the hospitals best able to handle their injuries quickly enough," the C-J reports. (Read more)

The bill had faced some opposition from smaller, rural hospitals that feared such a system would mean the loss of patients to bigger hospitals designated as trauma centers.

Having lost 300,000 acres of farmland since 2002, North Carolina strengthens laws to preserve farms

In the booming counties around Charlotte and other North Carolina cities, farms have given way to new subdivisions. The process has been playing out in other parts of country, but North Carolina has seen the most dramatic losses of farmland. As a result, the state is taking action to preserve farms by creating development-free agricultural districts, reports Bruce Henderson of The Charlotte Observer.

Since 2002, North Carolina has lost 6,000 farms and 300,000 acres of farmland, which the state's Agriculture Department says is more than any other state in that time. The state already had agricultural districts where farmers voluntarily agree to keep their land undeveloped, but starting in 2005, the state created a stronger version of the system. In these new seven new districts, four in counties around Charlotte, "farmers agree not to sell their land to developers for at least a decade," Henderson writes. "In return, the farmers are eligible for a higher percentage of state conservation grants. They're also less likely to get unsolicited purchase offers from developers."

At the same time, the state legislature earmarked $8 million annually for the restructured Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund. Those in favor of the preservation plan argue that it's cheaper for counties to pay for development rights rather than encourage development, they say means building roads, schools, etc. (Read more)

Rural voters, key for Clinton now, have actually given most of their votes to Obama, analyst says

Though rural voters have been a key part of Sen. Hillary Clinton's comeback in the Democratic race for president, Sen. Barack Obama actually has amassed more rural votes since the caucuses and primaries started Jan. 3, Al Giordano reports in The Field, the blog of RuralVotes.com. And he offers this nice map:
Giordano writes:

The greener the area, the more support for Obama. The bluer, for Clinton (that’s why Michigan is all blue; the map uses its “straw poll” results from when Obama wasn’t on the ballot: I likewise think the Florida “results” don’t reflect what a real contest there would have shown). The few splotches of red represent votes for John Edwards. And the turquoise - that stretch from southern California to Texas - represents areas where both Obama and Clinton were competitive.

In terms of rural America, both candidates have been competitive in a majority of rural United States counties. Obama has more overwhelming rural support in the midwestern and western plains and in the deep and coastal south. Clinton has it along the Appalachian Mountain trail. Overall, Obama has won more support among rural voters than Clinton. (Read more)

McCain pledges to help rural areas connect, thrive

"It was an unlikely setting for Republican presidential hopeful John McCain," writes Cassondra Kirby, the Lexington Herald-Leader's Eastern Kentucky reporter. "The tiny coal-mining town of Inez, where there are only three stoplights and a few hundred residents and you can count the number of fast-food restaurants on one hand. But McCain says he was not hunting for votes in the Eastern Kentucky town, where Republicans outnumber Democrats nearly 3 to 1 . . . At a time when President George Bush is unpopular, McCain says his tour of places that he describes as forgotten by other presidential candidates is part of his strategy to brand himself as a different kind of Republican -- one who cares about all the people, especially those in need." (Photo by Howie McCormick, The Herald-Dispatch)

"I want them to know that I will not forget my responsibility to the American people," McCain said. "I will not make promises I intend to forget and I will not make this my last visit to Inez, Kentucky." Kirby writes, "As his campaign bus wound through the mountains into Inez, the Arizona senator saw an area with stubbornly deep pockets of poverty. He passed the trailers and the curious onlookers who stared from front porches and through screen doors. He saw small gardens that families are raising to help during tough times."

And what of issues? "McCain talked about plans to encourage companies to help bring Internet service to rural areas, such as some hollows in Martin County that are still doing without," Kirby writes. "He talked about the need to partner with community colleges to train those out of work and his plans to continue the Iraq war." (Read more)

Many reporters noted that President Lyndon Johnson declared the War on Poverty in Martin County in 1964, and that the place remains poor. "I wouldn't be back here today if government had fulfilled the promises that Lyndon Johnson made 44 years ago," McCain said on his campaign bus. "The moral of the story is -- government isn't always the answer."

Maeve Reston of the Los Angeles Times writes that yesterday's installment of McCain's "forgotten places" tour "seemed largely symbolic. When a reporter asked what could be done about healthcare coverage in Appalachia, as well as the high rates of diabetes, obesity and cancer, McCain said his administration would emphasize 'wellness and fitness.' He also mentioned his proposal for a $5,000 refundable tax credit to allow families to 'go out and acquire at least some level of health insurance,' and added that he would recruit professional athletes to visit rural communities to talk about nutrition. A reporter noted that McCain's tax cut proposals, which he touted Wednesday, might require significant cuts in domestic discretionary spending. He said he couldn't promise that federal anti-poverty programs would be untouched, especially if they were 'ineffective.'" (Read more)

For excerpts of McCain's remarks, courtesy of National Journal, click here.

Women's life expectancy drops in 180 U.S. counties, mostly in the Deep South and Appalachia

Do disparities of income and health-care access affect life expectancy? Perhaps. A new study has found that while the overall life expectancy for American men and women rose between 1961 and 1999, the life expectancy of women has declined significantly in recent years in 180 U.S. counties, mostly rural ones in Appalachia and the deep South, reports The Associated Press.

In those counties, women's life expectancy fell by an average of 1.3 years between 1983 and 1999, according to a team of researchers at Harvard University, the University of California, San Francisco, and the University of Washington. Meanwhile, men's life expectancy fell by 1.3 years in only 11 counties nationwide.

"Researchers blamed the decrease in women's life expectancy on high blood pressure as well as chronic diseases related to smoking and obesity, such as lung cancer and diabetes," AP reports. (In the researchers' maps below, the red counties experienced significant declines, while orange ones had less significant declines, of 0.5 years or less, and those in green had increases, more significant in dark green counties.)
The study, based on data from the National Center for Health Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau, found that nationwide between 1961 and 1999 the life expectancy for men increased from 66.9 years to 74.1 years, while women's life expectancy rose from from 73.5 years to 79.6 years. In the 180 counties that saw declines in women's life expectancy, the average was 75.5 years. "The study emphasizes how important it is to monitor health inequalities between different groups," the researchers wrote, "in order to ensure that everyone - and not just the well-off - can experience gains in life expectancy." (Read more)

The study was published this week in the online journal PLoS Medicine. To read the full study go here.

UPDATE, April 29: The Daily Yonder posts better maps and lists of the counties with significantly lower life expectancy and reports that the rural county with the greatest decline in life expectancy, for both men and women, was McNairy County, Tenn. To read the details, click here.

McCain visits the county, still poor, where LBJ decared War on Poverty 44 years ago

Sen. John McCain's tour through depressed areas takes him today to Inez, Ky., a town of fewer than 500 people and the county seat of Martin County, where President Lyndon Johnson declared war on poverty in October 1964, notes Ryan Alessi of the Lexington Herald-Leader: "Once again, Inez will find itself in the context of a philosophical battleground -- but this time it's between Democrats and Republicans seeking the presidency by way of rural America."

Inez was surely chosen less for its LBJ connection than for Martin County's Republican registration and its local banker: Mike Duncan, who is chairman of the Republican National Committee. ""We have to earn rural voters in Eastern Kentucky and all over the country," Duncan told the Herald-Leader. "We do that by the issues and our values. It's significant that Sen. McCain is going to be on Main Street Inez, Ky., not Wall Street, talking about these things."

Alessi writes, "In many ways, Inez remains the same poster city for the economic challenges facing Eastern Kentucky that it was when Johnson touched down in 1964 and promised to approve $1 billion in federal aid for Appalachia. Today, fewer than half the residents of Inez -- Martin County's seat that boomed in the 1970s as a strip-mining town -- have jobs, compared to the U.S. average of 64 percent. And 35 percent live below the federal poverty level, which is three times the national average, according to the U.S. Census Bureau." (Read more)

UPDATE: For a report on the visit from WKYT-TV of Lexington, click here.

Rural voters in Pennsylvania stick with Clinton

Sen. Hillary Clinton continued her mastery of rural Democratic voters tonight in Pennsylvania. As she rolled up a margin of 9.4 percentage points over Sen. Barack Obama, with 99 percent of precincts reporting, she won rural areas and small towns by about the same margin that President Bush won them nationwide in 2004: 61 to 39 percent, said the exit poll conducted for news organizations by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International. (Associated Press photo)

Obama won by more than expected in Philadelphia, and carried the state's big cities by 62 to 38 percent, but those places accounted for only 18 percent of the vote, and he lost the balance of the state. "In white, blue-collar, rural Pennsylvania, Sen. Clinton just thumped him," chief political reporter John King said on CNN. Analyst Bill Schneider said the poll indicated that Obama's remarks about bitter small-town voters had no impact, but former presidential adviser David Gergen disagreed, saying his words at least stalled his momentum as he was catching up to Clinton, and may have hurt him. Here is our take on those remarks, and on the reporting of them.

Obama's remarks touched on guns and religion. The following poll results reflect many demographic factors, but Clinton won gun owners, 62 to 38 percent -- those who don't own guns were evenly divided -- and among all churchgoers, even the occasional. Obama won those who said they never attend services, though among Protestants who attend weekly (10 percent of the poll sample) the vote was evenly divided -- probably a function of African American support for Obama (89 percent of the black vote). Among the 19 percent of voters who said a candidate's race was important to them, 59 percent voted for Clinton and 41 percent for Obama. African Americans made up only 14 percent of the poll sample. Ron Fournier of The Associated Press digs deeper into the poll data and reports, "White voters who cited race supported Clinton over Obama by a 3-to-1 margin." (Read more)

The key to Clinton's victory was suburbs, which accounted for about half the vote. She won them 56 to 44 percent. In places the exit poll classified as "small cities," Clinton won 51-49, within the poll's margin of error. In small towns, 8 percent of the poll, she won 59-41, and in rural areas, 14 percent of the poll, she won 62-38. Among other demographics, age continued to be the key. Clinton won voters over 40, Obama those under 40. Among college graduates, who have been one of Obama's most loyal groups, he won only 51-49, inside the error margin. Among those with any college education, Clinton won 51-49. Obama had the same "edge" among the 49 percent of primary voters who identified themselves as liberals. For the poll results, click here.

Oklahoma debate over luring NBA team to state reveals rural-urban division in legislature

In recent weeks, we highlighted Oregon as an example of growing rural-urban splits, and Oklahoma provides another. Legislators there are at odds over an incentive package aimed at luring the Seattle SuperSonics, an National Basketball Association team, to Oklahoma City, with urban lawmakers in favor of the plan and rural lawmakers against it. "The vote on the Sonics' legislation, like past votes on other measures involving economic development and tax policy, reflected a political division between rural and urban lawmakers that often runs deeper than differences between political parties," writes Tim Talley of The Associated Press.

By a bipartisan vote, the incentive plan passed and the NBA signed off on the Sonics' move to Oklahoma City for the 2008-09 season. In an early version of the bill, one lawmaker added an amendment to provide incentives for physicians who relocated to rural areas. That amendment brought more rural support for the incentive plan, but it was removed in the final version. Rural lawmakers told Talley think their areas have needs greater than Oklahoma City's desire for an NBA team. "It's probably less about party than it is the need in rural Oklahoma," said Rep. Don Armes, R-Faxon, one of several lawmakers from rural areas who voted against the Sonics' bill. "We get kind of ignored in the rural areas where the need really is."

One lawmaker, Sen. Jim Wilson, D-Tahlequah, said the episode reminded him of his attempt to entice a company to rural northeastern Oklahoma, a firm that would have generated an economic impact of $261 million. Wilson, however, was unsuccessful in securing the $600,000 he needed to improve the proposed site for the plant. "We just feel sometimes like nobody's listening," Wilson told Talley. "We're just at a disadvantage. We don't have the same procedure available to us as the big cities do to get things done." (Read more)

Radio documentary 'Saving The Sierra' offers models for preserving rural communities

A new radio documentary, "Saving The Sierra: Grassroots Solutions for Sustaining Rural Communities," will start airing today on stations across the country in conjunction with Earth Day. The program seeks to explore the challenges facing rural areas in California's Sierra Nevada range that are targeted for development. The hour-long program is the result of two years of work which included a series of public radio broadcasts and community story sharing activities such as a mobile storybooth, audio workshops, listening sessions and an interactive Web site. According to the project Web site's, these multiple methods help create "numerous opportunities for broad public interaction, reflection, and dialogue on saving the Sierra."

The documentary includes a story about ranchers and environmentalists collaborating to preserve open space, a story about a battle over a luxury development near Lake Tahoe and a story about Los Angeles and its pursuit of more drinking water. In a news release, Roger Adams, program director of Wyoming Public Media, said that while these are local issues, their lessons can be applied elsewhere. “The issues examined in Saving the Sierra, while located in the Sierra Mountains of California could as easily be along Wyoming’s Wind River Mountain range, in Florida’s Everglades, on the shores of the Great Lakes or in any stretch of former farmland now lined with rows of condos,” he said.

The program is sponsored by The Sierra Fund, the Sierra Nevada Alliance, the Center for Sierra Nevada Studies at Sierra College and Sierra Business Council. For a listing of radio stations airing the program, go the project's Web site. To listen to a podcast of the program online, go here. The project encourages rural bloggers and listeners to leave feedback at the project's blog.

Broadcasters enlist legislators to fight proposed FCC rules that would restore some localism

During the National Association of Broadcasters' annual conference in Las Vegas last week, new proposals from the Federal Communications Commission dominated discussions. The NAB does not like the localism rules proposed by the FCC that "would require television and radio station owners to reconnect with their markets at a time when technology allows remote broadcasting and shared programming," reports Cindy Skrzycki for The Washington Post.

The proposals, which include requirements for broadcasters such as creating citizen advisory panels or sharing radio playlists with the government, aim to improve the relationship between stations and their communities. "Public-interest groups say modern radio broadcasters owned by big media companies have sacrificed local radio voices for homogenized playlists, local TV political coverage for sensational news of celebrities and a presence in the community with a distant headquarters and marketing agreements," Skrzycki writes. "They are also unhappy with the lack of minority and female ownership." She also notes that the American Farm Bureau Federation has complained that agricultural news has been virtually eliminated.

The NAB has said proposals' community boards would be unwieldy, their content restrictions might infringe on First Amendment rights and their staffing requirements would strain the finances of smaller stations. (Read more)

As part of its response to the proposals, the NAB asked its members as well as members of Congress to write letters in opposition. "More than 120 legislators signed onto a letter to Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin Martin asking him not to impose any localism mandates on broadcasters," reports John S. Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable. "A copy of the letter was released by Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), but included Democrats, as well."

In the letter legislators said they agreed with the goal of boosting localism but opposed the methods. "Any approach to regulate media that violates constitutional principles or unnecessarily burdens the industry when other, less burdensome methods are available should be discarded," they wrote. (Read more)

Kentucky researchers identify, suppress gene responsible for one carcinogen in tobacco

While the addictive effects of nicotine are its best known properties, the nicotine produced by tobacco can also led to the creation of a key carcinogen. As part of research to reduce the risk of smoking or chewing tobacco, University of Kentucky researchers have identified a gene responsible for the process by which nicotine molecules are metabolized into nornicotine, a dangerous alkaloid, reports Carol Spence of UK's College of Agriculture. As tobacco cures, nornicotine can become nitrosonornicotine (NNN), a potent carcinogen.

The research is being conducted by Balazs Siminszky, assistant professor in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, working with UK postdoctoral research associate Lily Gavilano, in collaboration with researchers at North Carolina State University and with funding from cigarette manufacturer Philip Morris USA. Currently, tobacco-seed breeders use a screening process to identify and discard nornicotine-producing plants, but Siminszky said that system is imperfect. Siminszky has tried a different approach by attempting to suppress the activity of the gene responsible for nornicotine production.

About 5 percent of tobacco plants produce nornicotine, but less than 1 percent of the research team's transgenic plants did -- and had six times less NNN, the potent carcinogen, than commercial tobacco. Still, Siminszky emphasized that scientists have identified more than 60 cancer-causing compounds in tobacco smoke and at least 16 in unburned tobacco. “Nobody wants to give the message to people that now we’ve solved the cancer problem. That’s not true at all,” he told Spence. “All we are saying at this point is this particular carcinogen has been reduced.” (Read more)

Grayson, Ky., radio station gets third Crystal Award from National Association of Broadcasters

WUGO-FM of Grayson, Ky., won its third Crystal Award at the National Association of Broadcasters' conference last week. Each year, Crystal Awards recognize 10 radio stations for commitment to community service. Based in a town of 3,800, WUGO features 220 minutes of news daily. Last year it aired 32 live broadcasts, covered 70 local high school games and logged 10,320 minutes of public-service announcements. The station's news and public affairs programs, such as "County Conversations," allowed 320 locals to be heard on the radio. WUGO won the award in 2003 and 2005, while sister station WGOH-AM won it in 1999.

In a description of its 2007 accomplishments, WUGO also noted the station wrote and broadcast a 22-part series on county history, which was accompanied by a 75-page book published by the station. WUGO-FM distributed 2,100 free copes of the book as well. Those accomplishments also include active roles for the station in local charity efforts, such as Relay for Life. The station's "Nice GO0ing Grants" donated $9,850 to local causes.

General Manager Francis Nash accepted the award. He is a legend in Kentucky broadcast journalism and the author of "Towers Over Kentucky," a history of radio and television in the state. (Read more)

Newspaper series explores how prostitution and human trafficking ring took root in rural Iowa

In 2005 and 2006, The Gazette in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, covered the court cases arising from an Iowa prostitution and human trafficking ring. According to Gazette senior editor Lyle Muller, the cases, which involved a 13-year-old girl from suburban Minneapolis, led the newspaper to ask: "How could such crimes flourish in predominantly rural Eastern Iowa?"

After a year and a half, the paper's investigation into that question is being published in a special report called "Fruit of the Poisonous Tree." The narrative series began yesterday with an article by Jennifer Hemmingsen, right, who spent the past year working on the project after taking it over from former staff writer Zack Kucharski when he became the paper's Information Center manager. In that time, Hemmingsen interviewed 25 people at length, including criminal defendants, escort service clients, law enforcement investigators and attorneys, and the teenage Minneapolis-area girl forced into prostitution as part of ring based in tiny Cosgrove, Iowa (above in a Gazette photo by Brian Ray). Hemmingsen begins the narrative this way:

In the basement of an ordinary-looking Williamsburg home, the 13-year-old girl was given a choice. Either she would have sex with two men nearly twice her age or she would be given back to her kidnapper.

Already in the week since Demont Bowie told the suburban Minneapolis girl she belonged to him, he'd beaten and abused her, starved her and deprived her of sleep. He traded her body to his friends and even a mechanic. When Demont told her to do something to someone, she did. There was no refusing. He'd said he'd kill her, kill her family, if she tried to leave.

She believed him.

Somehow, she'd survived a week of hell at Demont's hands in Wellman, a Washington County town of 1,500 people. Now Demont was gone — had run away after a fight with his father at an Easter 2005 family gathering.

The girl was in the basement with Demont's half brother, Moosey Jones, who had put her in this double bind. She was bawling, begging him. But she was terrified of Demont, so she had sex with Moosey, his friend and another underage boy, not knowing that not going back to Demont would send her on a new, terrible path as a prostitute for a business advertising in Eastern Iowa as an escort service called Naughty-bi-Nature.

It's a harrowing account and an impressive piece of reporting. The series also includes a video report, an explanation of how the report was done, a chance for readers to offer feedback. The report's home page is here.

Farm Bill delays leave farmers unsure what to plant due to questions about commodity subsidy levels

The Farm Bill is more than six months behind schedule, and after another deadline extension and another veto threat from the Bush administration, an end date is not certain. As April rolls on, the delays are affecting farmers and their spring planting decisions, reports Charles Slat of The Monroe (Mich.) Evening News. "Knowing which crops will be subsidized and which won't helps farmers figure out what to plant each year," Slat writes. "Not knowing the extent of subsidies in a new farm bill doesn't help much at all. And there are no clear signs when a final bill might be passed."

The delays are important because farmers must "provide certification of the crops they're planting and the number of acres cultivated" to receive subsidy payments, Slat writes. As time goes on, the window for planting and certification closes. "Very shortly, they're going to be wanting to get into these fields and start planting," Paul Manol, county executive director for the federal Farm Service Agency office in Monroe, told Slat. "At that point, it will be a burden for them to come into this office and certify their acreage. I have a funny feeling this office is going to be swamped. I'm thinking of bringing a cot in here, to tell you the truth, because that's how much I think I'm going to be here." (Read more)

The writing of the Farm Bill has taken 13 months so far, and Reuters has produced a timeline that charts the lengthy process from its beginnings at Farm Bill forums in July 2007 to April's meetings between House and Senate negotiators.

Competing weekly papers in small town clean up in annual Alaska Press Club awards contest

Homer, Alaska, is at the end of the road -- as far as you can go on the paved road system of the United States. But it has two fine weekly newspapers, as proven by the awards handed out last night at the end of the Alaska Press Club's annual conference. The Homer Tribune won the award for best weekly, which is judged apart from individual awards, but the Homer News won more awards for writing.

"The Trib offers readers a blend of punchy writing, informed skepticism and a real engagement with its community," wrote the judge, investigative reporter Nigel Jacquiss of Willamette Week in Portland, Ore. He said the paper's four-part series on a proposed mine in a prime salmon-fishing area "was an ambitious examination of a complicated proposition, and exactly the kind of public-interest reporting that papers of all sizes should strive to execute." For major-paper stories on the mine, click here and here. The Tribune won first place in investigative reporting for the series, and also won first in business and government reporting. Five of its awards, all second or third place, were for photography.

The Homer News won first place for environmental reporting, education story and editorial cartoon, and its columnists took all three places in column writing. Michael Armstrong, the second-place columnist, won the environmental award for "a most distressing story on our consumptive ways," on trash in an otherwise pristine area. "this really is journalism at its best: fun to report, fascinating to read, jaw-dropping in its findings," wrote judge Douglas Fischer of Boulder, Colo., an award-winning environmental reporter. The Tribune is independently owned; the News is owned by Morris Communications. Another Morris paper, the Alaska Star of Chugiak-Eagle River, was the other top winner in the small-newspaper division.