More than 50 million Americans have pre-diabetes

Early detection can make all the difference. In cancer and heart disease, for example, early diagnosis means early intervention and an increased likelihood of recovery. For those at risk of diabetes, the gray area between healthy and sick is an ideal place to change habits and redirect the future.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that nearly 57 million Americans 21 and older have blood glucose levels considered above normal but below what qualifies as "diabetic." That is twice as many Americans who have been formally diagnosed with diabetes.

The good news is that, while pre-diabetes is a danger zone, the diagnosis offers a chance to readjust lifestyle and ward off the development of full-blown diabetes. "People with pre-diabetes already have a 50 percent higher risk of heart disease and stroke," writes Dr.Valerie Ulene for the Los Angeles Times. Add to that the fact that 25 percent of those with pre-diabetes will develop diabetes within three to five years, and that diabetes symptoms -- cardiovascular, kidney and eye disease -- often begin during this precursor stage and the gray area becomes even more significant.

Unlike the permanent effects of diabetes, simple lifestyle changes for people with pre-diabetes can literally turn the progress of the disease around. Losing a small amount of weight, getting moderate daily exercise - approximately 150 minutes per week - and improving one's diet may be enough to stop the disease in its tracks, if not just delay the condition from worsening.

"If pre-diabetes is allowed to progress, it's very hard to treat effectively," said Dr. Yehuda Handelsman, co-chairman of the American College of Endocrinology's task force on the management of pre-diabetes. "The earlier we intervene, the better." Read the rest of the article here.

Study faults rural medical referral system in Ind.

A new study at the University of Indiana points to significant problems with the state's rural medical referral system. "The findings of this study demonstrate inefficiencies in our public health care system and our inability to link people easily to a range of health care providers in rural areas," said Michael Reece, lead investigator in the study and director of The Center for Sexual Health Promotion in the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation.

"This also has an important economic impact given that our investments in the public health system may not be achieving the outcomes we need, such as improvements in health status," Reece says. The study is also significant because, he adds, "As the incidence of new HIV infections continues to increase in more diverse areas of the country, researchers can make incredible contributions to public health by focusing some of their attention to what is happening in the backyards of their own universities."(Read more)

Strip-mine permit application conflicts with desire for adventure tourism in Ky., mine opponents say

As state officials in Kentucky push for more adventure tourism in the state, some citizens say one popular destination is being threatened by the coal industry. Cassondra Kirby-Mullins of the Lexington Herald-Leader writes, "On Thursday, more than two dozen nature enthusiasts and Letcher County residents gathered to contest a permit sought by Cumberland River Coal Co. to strip mine a few miles upstream, which they say will harm the river and nearby areas."

Debris from strip mining often goes down the mountain filling, in the hollows and burying streams below. "Cumberland River is planning three hollow-fills, totaling more than 102 acres, and five sediment ponds covering more than 24 acres," Kirby-Mullins reports. "If this mining is allowed, we are going to bury one of the prime tourist destinations in the state. This stream will die," adds Tim Guilfoile, vice president of the League of Kentucky Sportsmen. "I can't believe the administration is going to promote Eastern Kentucky as a tourist destination and at the same time destroy one of the few Class 1 steams in the state. That wouldn't make sense."(Read more)

UPDATE, Sept. 15: In today's Herald-Leader, Gov. Steve Beshear and Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo, the leading advocate of adventure tourism in the state, reply to a cautionary Aug. 22 editorial on the subject: "In seeking to encourage exploration of Kentucky's beauty, we must not destroy it. ... Some people have misinterpreted our enthusiasm. They hypothesize that we intend unrestrained ATV use in even delicate environments and at the expense of other activities. Nothing could be further from the truth. Our administration shares concerns about the unauthorized use of ATVs and believes we must strengthen the enforcement of laws protecting sensitive areas. We now lack resources to do so. As a result, public and private lands have been damaged. In addition, riders have been injured and killed because they don't use ATVs properly. We are undertaking a study to determine where ATV trespassing is a problem, how we can prevent it and how we can strengthen enforcement." (Read more)

Muslims walk out, get fired in religious-rights flap

More than 100 Muslim workers were fired from a Colorado beef processing plant Wednesday, almost a week after 250 walked off the job mid-shift over a debate on religious accommodation.

Last Friday, workers at Greeley-based JBS Swift & Co. said the company violated an agreement to accommodate their religious practices during the holy month of Ramadan. The workers claim that last Thursday, officials agreed to move their 9:30 p.m. break to 7:30 p.m., when many ended daytime fasts, but the break was cancelled without notice. Managers then worked to block restrooms and break rooms at 7:30 and harassed those who tried to take the scheduled break. The company employs hundreds of Muslim workers, mostly immigrants from Somalia.

Chris Casey of the Greeley Tribune writes, "Muslim workers said during Ramadan they fast starting at sunrise, so by 7:30 p.m., they have gone about 14-1/2 hours without food or water. A union representative said the company did not provide enough notice that those who didn't return to work by Wednesday would be fired. He said the union will file a grievance for any worker who wants to return to the plant. JBS Swift's spokeswoman said the walkout violated a collective bargaining agreement, and that the company works with the union and its workers to "accommodate religious practices in a reasonable, safe and fair manner." (Read more)

Earlier this year, Muslim workers successfully negotiateed with a Tyson processing plant in Shelbyville, Tenn., to make Eid-al-Fitr, the end of Ramadan, a paid holiday off. (Read more)

Chain starts Web-only news outlet in city where the newspaper has virtually no Web presence

Here's a shot across the bow of rural newspapers that aren't effectively on the Web: GateHouse Media has started a Web-only news outlet in Batavia, N.Y., where The Daily News site offers only subscription information and sales of archived news stories. The Batavian started quietly in April. "The strategy is to launch an innovative news and community site that will eat the lunch of an incumbent newspaper that has ignored the Web," writes Scott Karp of Publishing 2.0, which is advised by GateHouse online director Howard Owens.

"The Batavian practices what Howard preaches," Karp writes. "The site is anchored by a blog and has a full suite of community features (powered by Drupal), including blogs for registered users. The homepage features blog posts from community members. Many posts have generated lively discussions in comments." (Read more)

On The Batavian, Owens wrote in May about the depth and richness of journalism and interaction that are available online, using as an example concerns about decline of the city of 16,000. "A clearer picture emerges of the goals and aspiration of the City Council to clean up the city before things get too far gone," Owens wrote. "Traditional, print journalism could never achieve this depth of coverage of a single issue. By offering a method and manner to discuss choices, consequences and conditions in Batavia, The Batavian hopes to help make Batavia a stronger community." For The Batavian's birth announcement, click here and go to the bottom.

Owens writes on his own site, "We wanted to go to a town where we didn’t have a newspaper so that we could have the freedom to experiment without concerns about disrupting one of our own publications. We picked Batavia because it’s a neat, vibrant town; it’s close to our home office; and the daily newspaper there was doing nothing on the Web. ... The site is still very young, still under development (we’re working on a new design and adding additional features as we speak), but the local reception has been pleasantly strong so far."

The Daily News, which has a circulation of 12,500, serves three counties between Buffalo and Rochester. Its home Genesee County has a population of 60,000; the other two, shown in map from Daily News Web site, each have about 44,000 people.

Daily News Publisher Tom Turnbull told us in an e-mail that the newspaper's Web site, "a source of frustration for our entire staff," will be expanded "very soon" and "has been delayed for a variety of reasons." He wrote, "The Daily News has committed to bringing a first-class local news web site to our market for some time now, long before The Batavian made its debut. ... I am confident that the combination of our unique local content, the local knowledge and experience of our professional staff and our well-branded image will very quickly make the Daily News Web site the number one local news web site in our market."

Turnbull questioned whether The Batavian is a viable business enterprise, and said, "Incredibly, despite all the talk about The Batavian on the Web recently, you are the first and only member of the web community that has even attempted to contact us. And web bloggers wonder why they get no respect from the journalism community." He concluded, "I’m sure my comments will open up a firestorm of indignant responses from the Web blogging community. I don’t plan on answering any of them. I’m too busy running a news business." Turnbull's full e-mail appears as a comment below.

Exports provide economic boost to some ruralites

In the midst of difficult economic times, there is a bright spot in some smaller cities and surrounding rural areas. U.S. exports have boomed as the weakened dollar make U.S. products more competitive worldwide, and many products sent overseas are produced by rural Americans.

"Exports are impacting, in a positive manner, virtually every industry and every state," Daniel J. Meckstroth, an economist at the Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI, a public-policy and research group, tells Timothy Aeppel of The Wall Street Journal. Exports now make up the highest percentage of the gross domestic product since World War II. Farming, energy and aerospace are some of the greatest contributors to this growth, but the demand for American exports affects manufacturers producing items from violin strings to airplane parts.

The data supporting the article come from metropolitan areas, but Aeppel notes smaller communities such as Columbus, Ind., Kingsport, Tenn., and Waterloo, Iowa "have become trade hot spots." Such places provide employment for many rural commuters; a majority of Americans living in rural areas live in counties that are adjacent to metro areas. Many bigger cities have a large number of exports, "but their shipments to foreign customers are dwarfed by their domestic-oriented economies," Aeppel reports. (Read more)

Coal company loses water contamination suit

Several families in Eastern Kentucky have been awarded a $650,000 settlement after a jury determined that a coal company had contributed to the contamination of their water supplies. An underground coal mine in the vicinity of the families' homes caused the contamination.

Cassondra Kirby-Mullins of the Lexington Herald-Leader writes, "The families, who live in Camp Branch in Letcher County, filed the lawsuit after a two-year state investigation concluded that the mine, operated by Golden Oak Mining Company, did not cause the contamination. Golden Oak closed the mine in 1997 and filed for protection under 1bankruptcy laws."

Kirby-Mullins adds, "In all, the water supplies of 100 families were affected by the mine. Other lawsuits have been settled privately or are pending." (Read more)

Ads defend high fructose corn syrup from worries that it promotes obesity, diabetes, other problems

High fructose corn syrup, a subject of nutritional controversy and agricultural profit, is getting the wrappings of a makeover with two new television commercials released by the Corn Refiners Association. The ads say HFCS is “All natural, made from corn and full of naturally occurring enzymes and is as safe as sugar. . . . and, like real sugar, fine in moderation.” Click here to view the first ad, here to view the second, or check out the Web site, sweetsurprise.com.

While questions still linger about the nutritional value and negative effects of HFCS, public consensus, science and informal statements from the Food and Drug Administration conclude that high fructose corn syrup is neither as safe as sugar, or natural, broadly defined. The synthesizing process changes the chemical makeup of corn, and studies have noted issues regarding insulin absorption and fat conversion, as well as high levels of HFCS in processed foods.

Though http://www.hfcsfacts.com/ argues the product is “all-natural,” in April 2008, FDA’s Office of Nutrition, Labeling and Dietary Supplements informally ruled that HFCS should not be labeled "natural," granting the pleas of anti-HFCS groups like the Sugar Association and the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Read the article here. Synthesized by enzymatic conversion of glucose, a natural sugar, HFCS is manufactured by breaking and rearranging chemical bonds and thus is “not consistent with our […] policy regarding the use of the term ‘natural’,” said Geraldine June, an FDA supervisor. Table sugar, sucrose, is made up of glucose and crystallized fructose, the natural sugar in fruit.

In the 1970s, corn production skyrocketed as a result of government subsidies, and manufactured fructose, or HFCS, debuted. With its cheap manufacturing costs and highly preservative nature, HFCS has become a staple in processed foods, appearing in everything from sports drinks and ketchup to bread and cough drops. From 1970 to 1997, U.S. consumption of soft drinks – one of the biggest users of HFCS – increased from 22 to 41 gallons per person per year. On average, teenage boys and girls consume two to three cans per day. A typical 20-ounce Coke contains no fat, no protein and more than 65 grams of carbohydrates, usually in the form of HFCS.

HFCS’s publicized drawbacks include its abnormally high levels of chemically altered fructose, which has contributed to speculation about the relationship between HFCS and increasing cases of obesity and diabetes. Unlike glucose, which can be absorbed and broken down by any cell in the body, fructose converts to fat more than any other sugar and can only be metabolized by the liver. Some critics see it as the “the newest health villain,” writes Datamonitor, a business industry analyst company in New York. Organic grocery chains in Seattle and North Carolina have already eliminated HFCS products from their stores, and a spokesperson for national Whole Foods Markets said, “Products [containing HFCS are] the exception rather than the norm as in conventional markets.”

Studies have shown that HFCS increases insulin levels of women taking oral contraceptives. Nutrition consultant Bill Sanda says, “Fructose reduces the affinity of insulin for its receptor, which is the hallmark of type-2 diabetes,” and clinical nutritionist Nancy Appleton writes, “Fructose ingestion in humans results in increases in blood lactic acid, especially in patients with preexisting acidotic conditions such as diabetes, postoperative stress or uremia.”

First charges, alleging child-labor violations, levied against meatpacker caught in immigration raid

Iowa officials have filed child-labor charges against the owner and four executives of the Postville, Iowa, processing plant where almost 400 workers were arrested in May on suspicion of illegal immigration. Each was charged with 9,311 violations of child-labor laws. Two of the executives, human resource employees, were also charged with falsifying paperwork for people they allegedly knew were in the country illegally. These are the first charges faced for leaders of Agriprocessors. The charges involve 32 minors, seven of whom were under 16. They allegedly operated dangerous equipment and were exposed to dangerous chemicals. A company spokesman said the workers lied about their age and produced false paperwork.

Julia Preston of The New York Times reports, "The complaint also charges that under-age workers were not paid for all the overtime they worked and were forced to work before 7 a.m. and after 7 p.m., a violation of child labor laws." Preston writes. "Many of the young workers are illegal immigrants who are seeking special visas, known as U-visas, to remain in the United States to cooperate with the investigation."

Over the past few months, many have questioned why only the workers have faced charges after the May raid. Tony Leys and Jennifer Jacobs of the Des Moines Register cite Delia Junach, a worker whose husband was arrested in the May raid: "She has nothing against plant managers personally. They gave her and her husband jobs that weren't available elsewhere, and she still appreciates it. But she said if Agriprocessors' workers had to face charges, so should the bosses. 'It's fair,' she said in Spanish." (Read more)

The Rural Blog's previous coverage of the Postville raid: Hundreds of immigrants arrested in raid on Iowa meatpacking plant; largest ever at a single site (May 14) Criminal prosecutions in largest-ever raid signal feds' tougher attitude toward illegal immigration (May 24) Raided meatpacker was repeatedly notified that workers were using bogus Social Security numbers (May 25) Feds arrest two Hispanic supervisors of Iowa plant that was scene of largest immigration raid yet (July 4) In wake of record raid, more information emerging about Iowa (July 28) Iowa governor blasts packer hit by nation's largest immigration raid; state alleges safety violations (Aug. 25)

At home in North Dakota, Agriculture Secretary Schafer hears farmers' fears of a cost crunch

Chuck Haga of the Grand Forks Herald reports on the visit to the Big Iron agricultural expo in West Fargo by former North Dakota Gov. Ed Schafer, now secretary of agriculture: "When he first attended Big Iron [ag expo] as a candidate for governor in 1992, corn was bringing $2.16 a bushel, soybeans $5.36 and wheat $3.20. Each has more than doubled in price, he said. But the costs of fuel, fertilizer, seed and land have risen, too."

There is fear among North Dakota farmers that if crop prices level off there could be serious economic distress. “You’re always optimistic if you’re a farmer,” Tom Voller, who is one, told Haga. "But you’re cautious, too. The input costs are catching up so fast, and the prices are stabilizing. It could get ugly if that continues.” Increasing the use of renewable energy could help farmers with their bottom line by alleviating their dependence on costly fossil fuels. (Read more)

Learn about government transparency from Iowa, Okla., Washington officials in webinar Thursday

Local news media that don't have reporters in state capitals, but want and need to cover state agencies and glean data from them, could benefit from a webinar on transparency in state government, to be held from 2 to 3 p.m. EDT tomorrow.

The Webinar is sponsored by the National Association of Chief State Information Officers and will be moderated by Mark Stencel, editor and deputy publisher of Governing magazine, who says, "New technologies are changing the way government and citizens communicate and interact, creating opportunities for unprecedented levels of transparency. But there also are new risks and new challenges."

The webinar will feature presentations from Steve Maslikowski of the Performance Results Division, Department of Management, State of Iowa; Lisa McKeithan, Office of State Finance, State of Oklahoma; and a representative from the Government Management Accountability & Performance unit of the Washington Governor's Office. They will discuss what they are doing in the field of transparency, what prompted them to move in the direction of transparency, and lessons they learned that might help other states as they move towards a more open government.

The webinar will include time for questions. Participants must pre-register, by clicking here. For more information, contact Shawn Karrick at skarrick@amrms.com or 859-514-9156.

Western Colorado counties are an example of regional cooperation for rural development

Experts agree that the three-legged stool for rural economic development is: Build on your best assets; encourage entrepreneurship; and cooperate across political boundaries. The latter is often difficult; it's human nature to look for advantage in relationships, and rural jurisdictions often compete politically and in other ways. When you spend much of Friday night cheering for your team to beat the other county's brains out, it can be harder to cooperate on Monday morning.

There are "darn few successful examples" of regional cooperation, Bill Bishop writes today in the Daily Yonder, but cites an important one: Club 20, a longstanding organization of the 20 Colorado counties on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains, founded in 1953 by Preston Walker, who was publisher of The Daily Sentinel in Grand Junction, the rural region's largest city. Their first success was lobbying jointly in Denver for road money. The group now has 22 counties and the Ute tribe, all with an equal vote. Most work is done in committees on tourism, public lands, energy, education, water and health care. It also holds political forums; photo by Bishop shows Democratic U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar praising the group and urging it to stay bipartisan.

"There have been some ideological dust-ups as the issues have gone beyond roads and water. There are also constant reminders throughout the day that Club 20 has survived by finding issues that cross political boundaries," Bishop writes. "Club 20 has been successful enough that two other groups of counties in Colorado have copied the Western Slope coalition. There is now Action 22, made up of counties in southeast Colorado. And Progressive 15 is a coalition of rural counties in the far northeastern corner of the state." (Read more)

Brushy Fork Institute builds leaders, communities; will manage ARC grants to distressed Appalachia

For 20 years, the Brushy Fork Institute has worked to develop leadership in Appalachian communities. Tonight at Berea College in Kentucky, home of the Institute, its leaders, friends and clients celebrated its success with testimonies from a national expert on rural community development and two women who helped start or revive chambers of commerce in their small, rural counties with training from the Institute.

Vaughn Grisham, right, director of the George McLean Institute at the University of Mississippi, told a packed dining room at the Boone Tavern Hotel that Brushy Fork not only teaches leadership in classic fashion, "They show you how to do it with their behavior," including trusting people "to transform their own lives." Grisham turned over the microphone for two stories of transformation, from the smallest county in Tennessee and one of the smallest in Kentucky, both along the rugged but scenic edge of the Cumberland Plateau.

"It changed our county," Gail Mills said of the training she and others from Menifee County, Ky., received at the Brushy Fork Annual Institute, the latest edition of which is going on this week. As a result, the county of 6,800 not only has a chamber of commerce, but a community center, a learning center and a food pantry. "We were going nowhere, but since the Chamber of Commerce came into being it had broadened our outlook," Mills said.

Deborah Garrett of Pickett County, Tenn., population 5,000, said likewise. "We made tourism a bigger money-maker than farming . . . and that all comes from Brushy Fork," she said. Our guess is that the leadership training also had something to do with Garrett being twice elected a county commissioner. For the county's Web site, click here. Menifee County's is here.

Wednesday, Brushy Fork will announce a new partnership with the Appalachian Regional Commission and Kentucky's Department for Local Government. Brushy Fork will provide training for community leaders and administer ARC Flex-E-Grants for projects in distressed ARC counties. "When you combine training with funding you get more out of both," Brushy Fork Director Peter Hille says. The first grants will go to communities that have teams at this year's Annual Institute this year. The second round, next spring, will be open to all of distressed ARC counties in Kentucky. Communities funded in the second round will be encouraged to send teams to next year's Institute.

McCain, Obama visit 2 Lebanons, one really rural

Both major presidential candidates were in Lebanon today -- not the country, but the towns, in Virginia and Ohio. In some ways they were near opposite ends of the vast spectrum that is rural America; the Ohio town and surrounding Warren County are largely suburbanized, though much farmland remains; the other town is something of an oasis in largely distressed southwest Virginia; it has managed to move away from coal mining as its principal source of income by attracting high-tech industries.

"Lebanon's success at attracting high-tech industry has landed it in the Democrats' campaign spotlight," Sue Lindsey of The Associated Press reported in an advance story. (Read more) To win a state that hasn't voted Democratic since 1964, the Obama campaign sees rural voters as the key. Democratic U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher told Daniel Gilbert of the Bristol Herald-Courier, “The candidate who is here the most frequently, who communicates about Southwest Virginia needs and concerns most directly, will be the candidate who wins over large numbers of those voters.” (Read more) Boucher's 9th District was the only one Hillary Clinton carried in Virginia's primary.

Boucher told the Lebanon crowd that Obama is a "friend of coal," reports Jodi Deal of The Coalfield Progress in Norton: "Obama pointed to carbon sequestration research and clean coal technology as an integral part of his plan to end dependence on foreign oil. It shouldn’t be too hard to find ways to make alternative energy sources viable if funding and brain power are thrown at the problems."

Deal adds, "In response to a question from a teenage girl about what he plans to do to alleviate poverty in rural America," Obama "pointed to new energy efforts and infrastructure improvements. ... One questioner pointed out that a lot of rural Americans are afraid Obama will 'take their guns away'." Obama replied, “I want to be absolutely clear — I believe in the Second Amendment. I will not take away your shotgun, I will not take away your rifle and I will not take away your handgun.” Deal adds, "Obama added that he believes in 'common-sense gun safety laws,' including background checks and closer tracking of firearms."

Obama still has work to do in the region, based on Deal's interview of Larry Counts, a Dickenson County native who lives in Glade Spring, outside the coalfield. "Counts said many people in the community don’t like the candidate because they think he’s a Muslim, or are afraid of his stance on gun control. 'And I hate to say this, but I think race has a little bit to do with it, too,' Counts said slowly, after a lengthy pause." (Read more; subscription may be required)

UPDATES
Sept. 12: For Deal's follow-up story, with interviews of Obama supporters, click here.
Sept. 10: For the McCain campaign and the national media, the news from Obama's stop was his comment that McCain and Sarah Palin running as the candidates of change is like putting lipstick on a pig. That was part of Nicki Mayo's four-minute report on TriCities.com, the Media General Web site for the Herald-Courier and WJHL-TV. Reporting from the other Lebanon, Ben Fischer of The Cincinnati Enquirer writes, "If there were any doubt remaining about the Republican base, it died during Tuesday's brief morning rally in Lebanon, the beating heart of Ohio Republicanism." (Read more) For a perceptive, thoughtful and funny take on Republicans' small-town theme and Democrats' reactions, from Julie Ardery in the Daily Yonder, click here.

Online media examine Palin's religious beliefs

The blogosphere is abuzz over the religious beliefs of Sarah Palin, who once attended the Assemblies of God church in Wasilla, Alaska, and now attends the non-denominational Wasilla Bible Church.

Shortly after Sen. John McCain named Palin his running mate, a video of the Alaska governor speaking at her church about the Iraq War began to circulate. Palin asked the audience to pray "that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending [U.S. soldiers] out on a task that is from God. That's what we have to make sure that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that that plan is God's plan." Just what she meant, and how she mixes her faith and her politics, are sparking much debate.

Neither complete rejection or complete acceptance of Palin's approach to faith and politics is completely justified, writes Beliefnet editor Steve Waldman. To help draw a dividing line, he has a list of "What's scary, what's not" on his online religion forum. What's not scary, Waldman says, are those aspects of Palin's religion which she uses to develop personal character, but that they get scary when combined with public policy. But he does find scary her plea to "a group of young church leaders to pray for a gas pipeline because it was God's will. ... Saying a particular public policy is God's will is far over the line ..." (Read more)

Jeff Sharlet of The Revealer, an online review of religious news, finds Waldman's piece helpful in its parsing of language, noting that "Palin didn't declare the Iraq War 'God's plan' but rather hoped that the war to which she is sending her son is God's plan." However, the post criticizes Waldman for "setting his perspective up as the standard of reason ... the reasonable center Waldman upholds is an assertion, not a fact." (Read more)

Dan Kennedy of Media Nation agrees that Palin's comments about Iraq might have been misconstrued, although he finds a quote on National Public Radio article by a Pentecostal scholar who says that one could interpret Palin's remarks as calling for a holy war. Kennedy goes on to cite a comprehensive Anchorage Daily News article about Palin's religion.

Ky. environmental lawyer gets big foundation prize

For more than three decades, Louisville lawyer Tom FitzGerald, right, has fought battles for environmental protection and rural people in Kentucky. In honor of that work, he is the recipient of the 14th annual Heinz Award for the Environment from the Heinz Family Foundation, which puts its money where its mouth is with a $250,000 prize.

"FitzGerald's name is synonymous with environmental protection in Kentucky" and a natiuonal authority on the 1977 federal strip-mine law, writes Jack Brammer for the Lexington Herald-Leader. "He's probably done more to protect the environment of Kentucky than any other individual," LaJuana S. Wilcher, who held Kentucky's top environmental post under a Republican governor and headed the water division of the Environmental Protection Agency, told Jim Bruggers of The Courier-Journal.

FitzGerald, a native of Queens, N.Y., told Bruggers that he came to Kentucky in the early 1970s "after eading Harry M. Caudill's Night Comes to the Cumberlands, a 1963 book that described corporate plunder of mineral wealth in Eastern Kentucky. He said he was inspired by people 'who had the courage to stand up against the ravages of strip mining.'"

Since 1984, FitzGerald, 53, has run the Kentucky Resources Council, "which provides free legal, strategic and policy assistance on environmental matters to individuals, organizations and communities," Bruggers writes. "With a budget last year of about $230,000, it has just two paid staff members, FitzGerald and an office manager, along with a stable of technical experts hired on a contract basis." (Read more)

Brammer writes, "Money from the Heinz award will 'be nice,' but the "most rewarding" part of his career, FitzGerald said, is 'the wonderful people I've met.' He mentioned the late citizen-activist Hazel King of Harlan County, who 'stood up to renegade elements of the coal industry,' and 'the thousands of people the council has represented, and my hero and mentor, John Rosenberg, and so many, many others." (Read more) Rosenberg is founding director of the Appalachian Research and Defense Fund of Kentucky, for which FitzGerald worked.

The Heinz Foundation will also announce today similar awards in arts and humanities, the human condition, public policy, and technology, the economy and employment. The foundation is headed by Teresa Heinz Kerry, wife of U.S. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts. Its awards are in memory of her first husband, the late U.S. Sen. John Heinz of Pennsylvania. She called FitzGerald "a thoughtful and courageous voice on behalf of many communities, families and individuals whose environmental health would have otherwise been at risk," and "a ubiquitous and persistent leader" who has "tirelessly shouldered the causes of those without the resources or expertise to fend for themselves." For the foundation's page on the award, click here.

Palin fought with her local paper, which now voices pride in her candidacy for vice president

Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin got off to a rocky start as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, with her subordinates, some citizens and the local newspaper, The Frontiersman, Ken Armstrong and Hal Bernton report in The Seattle Times today.

Palin's firing of the police chief "was only part of the drama that unfolded in her first months as mayor" in late 1996 and early 1997, Armstrong and Bernton write. "The Frontiersman and Anchorage Daily News wrote one story after another about the turmoil. After notifying the librarian that she was fired, Palin backtracked and decided to keep her on. Palin had twice asked this librarian what she thought about banning books, to which the librarian responded it was a lousy idea, one she wouldn't go along with. Later, Palin told the local paper that any questions she'd raised about censorship were only 'rhetorical.' Palin put in place what the local paper called a gag order, prohibiting top city employees from talking to reporters unless she cleared it first."

After Palin tried to fill two city-council vacancies without the authority to do so, "The Frontiersman ran blistering editorials," the Times reports, saying Palin's operating philosophy was "either we are with her or against her. ... Palin promised to change the status quo, but at every turn we find hints of cronyism and political maneuvering. We see a woman who has long since surrendered her ideals to a political machine."

But Palin gradually "won folks over" and was re-elected, Armstrong and Bernton write. "Vicki Naegele, the former managing editor who wrote the editorial, defended Palin: "As a community newspaper, we held her feet to the fire. ... The need for such harsh words diminished as the months wore on." At the time, Palin said, "If nothing else, the old Frontiersman editorial points out the importance of administrative experience at the chief executive level. I grew tremendously in my early months as mayor, managing the fastest-growing city in the state, and I turned my critics around." (Read more)

Because of widespread interest in the book-banning discussions, The Frontiersman retyped its December 1996 story on the subject and posted it on its Web site, where it reports that many in the Wasilla area "are experiencing an influx of revenue from local efforts of national media" to research Palin. "The take-out business seems to be exploding as reporters eat while they work in their hotel rooms," writes reporter Michael Rovito.

In an editorial titled "We know Sarah Palin," The Frontiersman says, "We’ve known her as a governor tough enough to successfully take on the Last Frontier’s good old boy network" and voices hope that her nomination could turn attention from a rash of government scandals in the state. "Truth and transparency have been bywords for Palin. As she enters the national arena where she’ll be tugged and tormented, vilified and denigrated, we hope she sticks to her guns — metaphorically and literally. Because no matter the politics, for Wasilla, Alaska, to send its commercial-fishing, gun-toting, hockey-mom former mayor toward the White House, that’s history. And we’re proud of it." (Read more)

The nomination is obviously driving traffic to the Web site of the paper, a thrice-weekly. An unscientific, self-selected "reader's poll" asking whether Palin was a good choice for Sen. John McCain's running mate had gleaned more than 5,000 replies as of 4 p.m. Monday. There was no was for us to tell where the votes were coming from, but the results were Yes, 2,894; No, 2,403; and "Too early to tell," 291.

Outside loans bring credit crunch to rural banks

As the credit crunch worsens nationwide rural banks are being hurt. Although less likely to be big mortgage lenders, regional banks have invested outside their communities in order to boost their volume of loans. As Jack Armstrong of The Times-Union in Jacksonville writes,"Known as participation loans, these investments allow smaller, often rural banks to supplement low demand for loans in their areas by taking on loans from banks in more rapidly growing regions."

Many rural banks are feeling the effects of bad loans. "The trickle-down from bad participation loans is causing rural bank officials to take second looks, especially those loans tied to real estate and residential construction," Armstrong reports. Still, the downturn is not thought to be detrimental to rural banks' long term stability."Although it's a problem, it's not likely to lead to many small bank failures," Armstrong reports. "Participation loans rarely make up a large percentage of a rural bank's loan portfolio."

It is difficult to estimate how many bad participation loans a particular bank holds, because financial reports do not separate them out. Even if the economy continues to worsen participation loans should not have any major repercussions on the longterm stability of rural banks. But it's a question enterprising rural journalists should ask their local banks. (Read more)

Group challenges ban on pulpit endorsements

Any pastor who makes political endorsements from the pulpit risks losing their church's tax-exempt status, but a conservative legal group is looking for pastors who will endorse candidates anyway. The Alliance Defense Fund argues that the 54-year-old ban in federal law violates churches' First Amendment freedom of religion. It is recruiting pastors to break the ban by preaching explicitly political sermons on Sept. 28, with plans to mount a legal challenge to the expected investigation by the Internal Revenue Service.

"It is the job of the pastors of America to debate the proper role of church in society," says ADF attorney Erik Stanley. "It's not for the government to mandate the role of church in society." But Peter Slevin reports in The Washington Post that the planned action has already drawn criticism from other religious leaders. A group of Christian and Jewish clergy will ask the IRS to investigate whether ADF has violated its own tax-exempt status.

Former IRS lawyer Marcus S. Owens says that, in all probability, ADF's legal strategy will not work because the U.S. Supreme Court has already upheld the 1954 law. He criticizes the legal group for encouraging illegal behavior. ADF argues that it is doing no such thing. Stanley told Slevin, "We're not encouraging any congregation to violate the law. . . . What we're encouraging them to do is exercise their constitutional right in the face of an unconstitutional law." (Read more)

N.C. woman takes on military recruiters in school

As manufacturing jobs dwindle in rural areas and the economy remains stagnant the lack of opportunities for high school graduates has made them important targets for military recruiters. In Wilkesboro, N.C., Sally Ferrell has been trying to inform students about alternative careers outside the military. Now she has to do that away from the local high school, because school officials who see her efforts as unpatriotic have stopped her visits.

Writes Mitch Weiss of The Associated Press, "For three years, Ferrell has asked permission to distribute pamphlets and other materials that warn students to think twice before joining the military." Such counter-recruiting groups "say recruiters have given young people misleading information about military service and often target high schools in poor and rural areas where options for graduating students are limited; the activists want students to know they have prospects besides the military."

Typically, military recruiters are given complete access to high schools, and that was the case in Wilkesboro, until the controversy arose. "Now, they can only visit twice a semester," Weiss reports. "And when they do, they have to stand at a table outside the cafeterias. They can't sit down and talk with students while they're eating lunch." (Read more)

Kentucky courthouse building program questioned

A Kentucky initiative to build large judicial centers in many rural counties leaves many wondering if the construction is the best use of tax dollars. In a series of articles in the Lexington Herald-Leader, Linda Blackford points out that some of the courthouses in smaller counties are about the same size as those in counties with four times the population.

In 1998, Supreme Court Chief Justice Joseph E. Lambert, who recently retired, started a project to build "a new or renovated justice center in every county in the state that needed one." With 120 counties, Kentucky has more counties per capita than any state but Nebraska, and more in actual number than any but Georgia and Texas. Some are losing population; a Herald-Leader headine reads, "Grandeur comes as populations fall."

Supporters of the project say that it is necessary in order to bring much needed space, security and technology to the justice system, as well as promoting regard for the system. But others say it is poor stewardship. The average courthouse in more-populated areas has between 1 to 2 square feet for each resident in its jurisdiction. The planned Carlisle County Judicial Center in far Western Kentucky averages 7 square feet per person, at a cost to the state of $2,500 per resident.

The state builds the centers for counties and provides rent money to pay off bonds. "If something jeopardized state funding, the counties would ultimately be on the hook for something many of them could not afford," Blackford writes. "In Wolfe County, for example, loss of the $1 million paid annually by the state for use of the justice center would wipe out half of the county's annual budget." (Read more: Part 1 and Part 2 of the series)

Veterinarian who is fighting the horse crisis says education is needed to prevent overbreeding

The solution to the horse crisis can be found in the current approach to cats and dogs, according to the chairman of the Unwanted Horse Coalition. "Rather than breeding your mare, buy a horse. Rather than buy a horse, adopt one. Rather than discarding your horse, euthanize it," says Tom Lenz, who has also been an equine veterinarian for 35 years.

"Along with the economic crunch, removing slaughterhouses also removed the base price for a horse" Joe Scott of Suburban Journals of Greater St. Louis writes, leading "to a glut of low- to mid-price-range horses that owners are trying to get rid of." The result is often abandonment for the animals. Lenz says that the problem requires an approach similar to that taken with household pets, in which preventing overbreeding is the primary focus of education and awareness campaigns.

The article provides a good overview of factors leading to the crisis: the rising prices of grain and feed, alongside the growing price of fuel; financial pressures faced from a rough economy; overpopulation after the closing of the only U.S. horse slaughterhouses; the higher transportation costs involved in transporting horses to slaughterhouses outside the U.S.; and legislation based on a "romanticized" view of horses rather than the horse industry. (Read more)

Electric co-op's members keep fighting managers

Because suburbs have expanded into the territories rural electric cooperatives established before World War II, many co-ops now serve primarily suburban customers. But they are still governed as cooperatives, and sometimes members revolt against management, as those of Cobb Electric Membership Corp. north of Atlanta did at its annual membership meeting Thursday night, attended by more than 850.

After the usual "balloons, hot dogs and a cheerful teenage chorus . . . the mood quickly turned as angry Cobb EMC members demanded the board’s ouster and called on the utility’s executives and officers to sever all financial ties with for-profit operating affiliate Cobb Energy, wrote Margaret Newkirk and Jeremy Redmon of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "To loud cheers, Cobb EMC members also passed a motion reversing a recent board decision allowing Cobb Energy to collect an 11 percent markup for operating the nonprofit cooperative."

It was the latest skirmish in a war: "The actions were the most public display yet in a year-long battle between co-op executives and members that has mostly been fought in court. The central issue has been whether Cobb Energy has siphoned co-op assets," the reporters wrote. "A judge in that case barred the co-op from holding planned board of director elections at Thursday’s meeting, but allowed the meeting to go forward. . . . Co-op supporters spoke, too, praising Cobb EMC’s service, technology and response to customers in storms." (Read more)

The latter point can be crucial; when a Louisiana electric co-op was slow to fix storm damage a few years ago, members disbanded it and sold out to an investor-owned electric company.

GOP aims to paint Obama as elitist vs. small towns as Democrat slates trip Tue. to southwest Virginia

"Speaker after speaker at this week's Republican National Convention defended small towns from the perceived slights of urban elites," Peter Wallsten and Doyle McManus write for the Los Angeles Times. "Cultural affinities, which President Bush played on heavily to paint 2004 Democratic nominee John F. Kerry as elite and out of touch, are now central to the campaign strategy of GOP presidential nominee John McCain."

The Arizona senator "is an unlikely standard-bearer for the forces of family values, given his admissions over the years of his failures as a husband, or for the advocates of small-town living, with his millionaire wife and multiple homes," Wallsten and McManus write, but the strategy was confirmed by McCain's selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, " who cast herself as a symbol of small-town values."

While the strategy worked for Bush in 2004, "Its effectiveness this year is uncertain," the Timesmen write. "Democratic voter registration has surged in several battleground states, and voters worried about the economy say they generally favor Democrats over Republicans. The economy, rather than any cultural issues, consistently ranks highest among voter concerns."

But Republicans are trying to exploit Obama's remark to California donors about small-town voters clinging to religion and guns. The Times notes this line from Palin's convention speech: "In small towns, we don't quite know what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on working people when they're listening and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those people aren't listening."

Obama "will combat the attacks by visiting economically depressed areas," write Wallsten and McManus, the newspaper's chief political writer and Washington bureau chief, respectively. (Read more) Those are likely to include the Appalchian parts of battleground states; Obama is scheduled to hold a town hall meeting at the high-school gym in Lebanon, Va., in the heart of southwest Virginia, Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. UPDATE, Sept. 7: "Some political analysts believe the Appalachian vote could determine whether Obama or Republican John McCain will carry Virginia and grab its 12 electoral votes," The Roanoke Times reports.

Groups fear impact of adventure tourism in Ky.

Sportsmen and environmentalists don't always see eye to eye, but their leading groups in Kentucky both question plans for expanding adventure tourism in the state.

Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo is trying to develop a state-wide adventure tourism infrastructure that would include a trail across the state for activities such as horses, ATVs, hiking and mountain biking. On Thursday, Mongiardo gave assurances that the plan would not affect sensitive natural areas, but organizations such as the League of Kentucky Sportsmen and Sierra Club worry that the trail would cross wildlife management areas and nature preserves.

In the Lexington Herald-Leader, reporter Andy Mead cited the new director of adventure tourism for Kentucky as declining to rule out the possibility that these areas could see later development, saying that trails would not be created in these areas that he could foresee.

Mongiardo argues that the infrastructure will help regulate trail usage. Mead writes that the lieutenant governor "spoke of a permitting and licensing system that would collect money from ATV riders and perhaps other trail users. The money would be used to build and maintain trails, and to pay for extra employees for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, which would enforce rules on the trails."(Read more)

Oil shale development greenlighted for public land

Faced with a growing energy crisis, the Bureau of Land Management finalized a plan on Thursday to open nearly 2 million acres of public land in Wyoming, Utah and Colorado to commercial oil-shale development. The shale could yield around 800 billion barrels of oil.

Though actual development of the vast resources is likely a decade away, officials in Wyoming and Colorado are questioning the decision by BLM to proceed. An Associated Press article cites a written statement by Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo.: "The administration is putting the cart in front of the horse by trying to sell these leases prematurely."

Many locals are skeptical about the potential of oil shale development. The article says, "Coloradans who lived through the oil shale bust of the 1980s are leery of the kind of economic devastation that occurred when the fledgling industry failed despite huge government subsidies. They refer to "Black Sunday," when Exxon closed its $5 billion oil shale project near Parachute on May 2, 1982, putting 2,200 people out of work." (Read more)

EPA raises emissions standards for watercraft, effective in 2010, and lawn mowers, in 2011

Lawn care just got a little greener. Yesterday, the Environmental Protection Agency set stricter emissions standards for gasoline-powered lawn mowers. Boat engines were also affected by the policy change, which EPA estimates will save 190 million gallons of gasoline each year.

The boating restrictions will go into effect in 2010, while lawn care standards will be enforced the following year. The press release says that "the rule opens another chapter in EPA's success story of curbing emissions from non-road sources. EPA has recently set stringent emission standards for farm and construction equipment, off-road recreational vehicles, and for locomotives and commercial marine sources."

Not surprisingly, environmentalists were supportive of the stricter standards. Juliet Eilperin of The Washington Post puts the environmental impact in perspective: "One riding lawn mower emits as much pollution in an hour as 34 cars. ... Because spark-ignition engines release as much as 25 percent of their gas unburned in their exhaust, the EPA also estimates that the regulations, when fully implemented, will lead to a more efficient combustion process that will save about 190 million gallons of gasoline each year." Environmental groups' only complaint with the new standards was that they had not gone into effect sooner. (Read more)

Lack of sleep is new enemy of returning soldiers

As soldiers come home from tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, the physical injuries they face are sometimes less challemnging than the mental exhaustion caused by lack of sleep. Veterans' health is a rural concern because troops come disproportionately from rural areas.

About 36 percent of Army troops who have been back for a year complain of feeling tired during the day, and another 34 percent say they difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep, Jia-Rui Chong writes for the Los Angeles Times. Researchers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center found that sleeping/waking problems were the most commonly cited health issues returning soldiers were facing.

Soldiers returning to the U.S. must confront the challenges of redefining a routine and fitting back into civilian life. Mitch Hood, 25, battles nightmares and 18-hour days since he's returned, supporting himself on energy drinks and caffeine pills. Bill Rider, a Vietnam veteran, is all too familiar with the signs of exhaustion, having suffered from the same trauma and fatigue after returning from duty 40 years ago. He helped found a combat support group in 2001 and insists that, "Sleep deprivation ... is an ongoing discussion," particularly for victims of trauma and veterans, he told Chong.

Many veterans seek help from painkillers and sleeping pills, but the risk of prescribing medication for soldiers suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is high. "Up to 60 percent struggle daily with substance abuse," Dr. Tasha Souter, medical director of the Trauma Recovery Program at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System, told Chong. Click here to read more.

Do fewer charges in Mississippi immigration raid signal policy shift? Justice Department says no

Of the nearly 400 suspected illegal immigrants were held during the May raid on the Postville, Iowa, processing plant, 300 were charged in criminal court. By contrast, only eight have been charged in the Laurel, Miss., raid that saw 600 detained, a move that may signal a shift in the Bush administration's approach to illegal immigration.

The Washington Post's Spencer S. Hsu reports that the Postville process raised questions about due process from criminal defense and immigration lawyers. Most of those charges resulted in five-month sentences. By contrast, most of those detained in the raid at Howard Industries in Mississippi faced civil deportation proceedings instead of criminal charges.

Despite the difference in the number of the criminal proceedings in the two cases, officials deny any policy shift. The Department of Justice "has not changed policies or procedures regarding immigration enforcement actions," said Carrie Nelson, a spokeswoman for the acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi. Instead, decisions in each situation "were made by prosecutors in the field based on the facts and circumstances of each case." (Read more)

Fellowships boost rural businesses in S. Dakota

When businesses begin to shut down, the health of a small-town economy often follows. In South Dakota, a new fellowship program seeks to bolster rural economies by providing financial support to struggling businesses.

The Dakota Rising program gives out eight fellowships to small business owners struggling to remain afloat in small communities in four designated areas across the state. The money can be used to help businesses expand into surrounding communities, create jobs, and attract outside businesses to the area.

Kristin Bennett, who applied for a $10,000 fellowship, tells Erich Schaffhauser of KELO-TV: "I'm just, you know, I've climbed right to here. And I just need a little push to get over the hump and then I think this company is really going to take off." Bennett adds "Just keeping Main Street alive and keeping the economy robust is what we all have to try to do." (Read more)

FCC decision could impact rural cellular service

A recent proposal at the Federal Communications Commission may make it a little harder for rural residents to get good cell phone reception. The Universal Service Fund allows for the construction of cellular towers throughout rural areas where many carriers do not see construction as economically viable, but the FCC has suggested drastic cuts.

Maurice Ouellette, a member of the York County, Maine, sheriff's office, argues in the York County Coast Star that these cuts will jeopardize public safety, saying "Public safety officers like me depend on wireless service to respond quickly to emergency situations. We rely on cell phones to assist in search and rescue operations, address domestic violence situations, prevent criminal activity and communicate in areas where police radio is unsecure or unavailable."

Ouellette adds "Unfortunately, the FCC placed a cap on the wireless portion of the service fund earlier this year, and now proposes drastic cuts that could eliminate nearly half the support we now receive in Maine. Statewide, we could lose more than $6 million in annual Universal Service Fund support, and dozens of new cell sites would be canceled or delayed every year." (Read more) Ouelette refers readers to ConnectingRuralAmerica.org, which is opposing the proposal.

GOP platform calls for end to ethanol mandate

The platform adopted by the Republican National Convention calls for repeal of the law that requires U.S. gasoline to contain a certain amount of ethanol. It reads, “The U.S. government should end mandates for ethanol and let the free market work.”

Alternate delegate Monte Shaw, the executive director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, told Ed Tibbetts of southeast of Iowa's Quad-City Times that the plank is no big deal because previous platforms have said likewise. But Jason Hancock of the Iowa Independent wrote, "The move is a major change from the 2004 platform, which supported expanding the use of ethanol as a way to reduce dependence on foreign oil and increase revenue for farmers."

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey objected to the plank, and told Tibbetts today that the measure and John McCain’s other stands on agriculture issues could cost him votes in farm country: "I think it’s possible. We’ve got another couple months to play out. It does depend on what he says [from] here on out." Northey added that trade and regulation could also play a role. "He says McCain is better than Obama on those issues," Tibbetts reports. McCain opposed the latest Farm Bill, while Obama supported it.

"If nothing else, the platform highlight’s John McCain’s opposition to ethanol subsidies. That’s something Barack Obama’s campaign is eager to point out in Iowa," Tibbetts writes. "Of course, the McCain folks turn that around and point out that the Arizona senator opposed the 2005 energy bill, which was roundly criticized in some quarters for also being generous to Big Oil." (Read more)

Palin cites rural roots in speech to convention

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin cited her rural roots in her speech to the Republican National Convention tonight.

"I had the privilege of living most of my life in a small town," Palin said. "I was just your average hockey mom, and signed up for the PTA ... because I wanted to make my kids' public education even better. When I ran for city council, I didn't need focus groups and voter profiles because I knew those voters, and I knew their families, too.

"Before I became governor of the great state of Alaska, I was mayor of my hometown. And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves. I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a 'community organizer,' except that you have actual responsibilities." Democratic nominee Barack Obama began his career as a community organizer on Chicago's South Side. Palin also alluded to Obama's remarks about small-town voters clinging to religion and guns.

Palin reiterated that she opposed the "Bridge to Nowhere" to be funded by a congressional earmark, despite recent news stories that revealed her initial support of the appropriation as governor. She took this shot at news coverage of her: "I've learned quickly, these last few days, that if you're not a member in good standing of the Washington elite, then some in the media consider a candidate unqualified for that reason alone." That brought a large chorus of agreeable boos from the Republicans in St. Paul. UPDATE, Sept. 8: McCain's latest TV commercial gives Palin equal billing and says "She stopped the Bridge to Nowhere."

Calvin Beale, groundbreaking rural researcher, 85

Calvin L. Beale, a senior geographer-demographer with the U.S. Department of Agriculture who concentrated much of his research on rural population trends, died of colon cancer on Monday in Washington. He was 85.

Beale "was among the first to recognize the transformation of America’s rural landscape from farms to a mixture of farms, industry and vacation homes," reports Felicity Barringer of The New York Times. She writes that Beale "developed a cult following among his peers. They marveled not just at his mastery of the theoretical tools, but also his first-hand feel for rural America." Beale was a major speaker at "Rural America, Community Issues," a 2005 seminar programmed by the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues at the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism at the University of Maryland.

Beale, who began working for the USDA in 1946 and was still on the payroll, was the agency's longest-tenured employee. In 1953, he got a job as a demographer in the Department's [then] Bureau of Agricultural Economics. His rural population theories were statistically based on his own model of nine stages of rurality, widely known as "Beale codes," along with his extensive travel within the U.S. Of 3,140 counties in the nation, Mr. Beale had visited 2, 500 at the time of his death.

An accomplished author, Beale wrote a collection of writings about his travels in A Taste of the Country, published in 1990. Among the entries, he includes snapshots of little-known U.S. history he encountered, such as a mixed-race people called Melungeons in central and southern Appalachia, Barringer writes. For the rest of her story, click here. For a short USDA profile of Beale, click here.

UPDATES, Sept. 15: The Washington Post ran a delayed but lengthy obituary on Beale, by Matt Schudel; the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ran a tribute by Bill Glauber, which pointed out that USDA officials tried to suppress Beale's finding that the number of farms was dwindling; and Julie Ardery of the Daily Yonder noted other accomplishments: "Beale’s statistical studies of U.S. populations, especially our migrations from country to city (and, sometimes, back again), helped Americans stand back from the flux of 20th century experience, the better to see how the nation was changing." (Read more) Sept. 21: National Public Radio's Howard Berkes has a long story about Beale and how he helped change federal policy, accompanied by a Jim Wildman video of Beale from five years ago and a map showing the counties whose courthouses he photographed.

Institute founder to be nationally recognized by the Society of Professional Journalists

Don't let his age fool you. The founder of the Institute of Rural Journalism and Community Issues, Al Smith, 81, is being honored this week by the Society of Professional Journalists - among the likes of late political journalist Tim Russert - and he has no intention of slowing down.

Smith's formidable career has taken him to a variety of journalism positions, beginning with editor and publisher in both Eastern and Western Kentucky small-town newspapers. He went on to head the Appalachian Regional Commission under two U.S. presidents, worked as a host of KET's "Comment on Kentucky," founded the IRJCI at the University of Kentucky and continues to advocate for better higher education opportunities and solutions to rural issues.

In Atlanta this Saturday, Smith will be recognized for his endless contributions to the journalism industry and be named a Fellow of the Society, SPJ's highest honor. For a column on Smith, by Tom Eblen in the Lexington Herald-Leader, click here.

'Please eradicate black lung,' which still plagues coal miners, writer asks would-be presidents

"Mr. Future President, please eradicate black lung," Appalachian writer Betty Dotson-Lewis writes in an open letter for the Daily Yonder. The first laws designed to combat the condition were passed almost 40 years ago, and specialists in the disease thought the law would make them find another line of work, but 30 years later miners are still developing black lung, and one expert "is now seeing evidence of black lung in younger and younger miners," Lewis writes.

"One expert explained black lung to me this way: The lungs become petrified. They are cut to pieces by the coal dust inhaled. The miner coughs, hacks flem, spits and can’t breathe. There is no cure for black lung – death is the only way out. ... Black lung slowly strangles its victims. Black lung kills many more coal miners than explosions or cave-ins."

A 1969 federal law established benefits for miners with black lung, but the benefits can be hard to get. Lewis tells the story of one miner who got benefits, had them taken away and lost several appeals. "John Adkins talked of the bitterness and anger he felt towards the coal companies and the politicians he had trusted to act fairly," Lewis writes. (Read more)

A recent Charleston Gazette story by Paul Nyden marked the anniversary of the opening of the first black-lung offices 30 years ago. (Read more)

Co-ops wonder where electricity will come from

Rural electric cooperatives are meeting in Indianapolis to discuss a looming energy crisis. Due to rising demand for electricity in their territory, much, of it suburban, "The rural utilities are calling for government to help clear the way for new power-plant construction, alternative energy facilities like wind farms and new transmission lines to feed energy to cities where most of it is used," writes Jeff Swiatek of The Indianapolis Star. "Industry predictions show that if U.S. electric producers don't build new plants or encourage significant conservation, they will be unable to handle peak demand periods from electrical users by 2012."

In response to this crisis, "Duke Energy started construction this year of the first major power plant to be built in the state in 20 years. The $2 billion, 630-megawatt coal-fired plant [in Indiana] also would use new technology that aims to reduce air pollutants significantly over a conventional coal plant," writes Swiatek. Energy providers like Duke will be forced to raise rates by as much as 20 percent in coming years to pay for the construction of such plants.

Bruce Graham, chief executive of the Indiana Statewide Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives, was encouraged by Duke's move. But the construction of the plant and the support for it point to the continuing dependence of rural electric cooperatives on coal as their most significant producer of electricity, about 80 percent of it. A recent post here discussed the financial support given by rural electric cooperatives to the coal industry to help ensure the construction of new coal-fired plants.

There are many opponents of coal plants. The Citizens Action Coalition wants to block permits for the Duke plant on grounds that it would produce large amounts of greenhouse gases and stricter federal regulations on such power plants could dramatically increase building costs, which would be passed along to customers. "The consumer watchdog calls for heavy investments in energy-efficiency measures to reduce demand for power and keep it from outrunning power supplies" writes Swiatek. (Read more)

Rochester, N.Y., foundation makes its first grant for improving health in surrounding rural counties

In July, The Rural Blog highlighted a report on the growing divide between grant money given to urban and rural areas, so we're obliged to report examples of a charitable organizations targeting rural. One such example is a new initiative by a foundation focused on improving health in eight rural counties around Rochester, N.Y.

In the past, the Greater Rochester Health Foundation has mainly targeted urban health initiatives. The foundation has now set aside $1.5 million over the next three years to create free dental clinics, fight obesity, and monitor water safety in rural areas, in addition to its work in urban Rochester. The foundation's president, John Urban, told the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, "In talking with people in those counties, it was very clear that, while they had many of the same issues that Monroe County has, they're really accustomed to working on the issues in different fashion."

Andrea Haradon, coordinator of a network that includes health departments in three of the targeted counties, said the grant will help rural health departments, which are often critically understaffed. "This gives them the opportunity to really have a long-term positive effect on health and health costs," she said. (Read more)

Study says coverage of Congress brings dividends

At a time when many regional newspapers are cutting Washington coverage, a new study reminds us that a strong local press, including coverage of Congress, is needed to keep government accountable. It also tells us something that we haven't heard before: Such coverage can pay dividends back home.

The study, "Press Coverage and Political Accountability," shows a significant overlap between press coverage and the effectiveness of elected officials. When a paper's coverage area corresponds with congressional districts, increased reporting on representatives not only gives constituents more knowledge, it increases the amount of federal spending brought into the districts. It also encourages bipartisan efforts and increases representatives' likelihood of participating in congressional hearings and may prompt them to serve on more committees.

"Our findings support the idea that press coverage is important for electoral accountability," James M. Snyder, Jr., and David Strömberg write in the study, published by the National Bureau of Economic Research. "Voters need information to keep politicians accountable and the press delivers this information. This was the belief of the Framers, and, that information improves accountability is also a standard feature of political agency models." (Read full report)

Palin, used to small-town atmosphere at home and in state capital, faces increased media scrutiny

John McCain's surprise pick Friday of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as the Republican vice presidential candidate has had reporters scrambling to dig up whatever they can on the relative political unknown. A long weekend of revelations and speculation culminated in Palin's Monday disclosure that her 17-year-old daughter was pregnant, following rumors that Palin's five-month-old son was actually her daughter's child. It's a hard introduction to the national political media for Alaska's chief executive, who has been accustomed to a more small-town, rural environment.

Politico.com media reporter Michael Calderone contrasts the congenial relationship Palin held with Alaskan reporters with the intense scrutiny she has already faced from the national political press corp in the days since she joined McCain's presidential ticket. In Alaska, Calderone writes, "Relationships were like those in a small town, where the neighbors may know your dirty laundry, but the local paper would be unlikely to splash it on the front page."

Referring to the announcement of Palin's daughter's pregnancy, Pat Forgey, political reporter for the Juneau Empire in the state capital, population 31,000, said, “I heard that rumor a long time ago. ... I probably would not have wasted any time on it.” By contrast, after only four days in the national spotlight, Palin has already had to face questions about charges of ethical impropriety in firing her public safety commissioner, her husband's 1984 DUI arrest, $27 million in federal earmarks for her town of 8,500 as mayor, and her daughter's pregnancy. And she will be asked about her support of the canceled "Bridge to Nowhere" in Ketchikan, which came before she opposed it -- and touted the opposition in her initial speech as McCain's running mate. (Read more)

Pennsylvania veterinarians target vet shortage

With the average veterinary student graduating $120,000 in debt, the temptation to work in higher-paying fields after graduation is often irresistible, leaving certain lower-income regions and non-traditional veterinary fields critically understaffed. Also, many states are running short of large-animal vets. A new initiative in Pennsylvania seeks to address the shortage in critical areas of the Keystone State.

The Pennsylvania Veterinary Medical Association recently launched Project Pennsylvania, an initiative to increase the number of graduates with a targeted loan forgiveness program, which would eliminate a portion of the debt for every year served in one of the eligible areas. The initiative also focuses on actively recruiting students interested in these areas, and providing on-the-job mentoring.

"Pennsylvania has a shortage of large-animal veterinarians in certain geographic regions, as well as a shortage of practitioners in less traditional areas such as biomedical research, public health, regulatory medicine and academia," said Robert D. Fetterman, VMD, a large-animal practitioner and PVMA president, in an article written for PR Newswire. "Using loan forgiveness as an incentive to fill these voids is an investment in the state's agricultural industry, as well as in food safety and even national security." (Read more)

Rural child poverty is as high as in some cities

"New data indicate that more than 13 million children are living in poverty, 22 percent of rural children and 25 percent of children living in central cities," says the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire. "The report, based on U.S. Census Bureau data released today, finds that on average, rates of child poverty are persistently higher in rural parts of the country relative to suburban areas and share similar rates with many central cities."

Sarah Savage, a research assistant at Carsey, writes "Because poverty is closely linked to undesirable outcomes in areas such as health, education, emotional welfare, and delinquency, we take child poverty seriously as a measure of children's well-being."

The major finding of Savage's report: "In 17 states, particularly those in the South and Southwest, rural child poverty is higher than rates in both suburban and urban areas. In 2007, the rural child poverty rate in ranges from a low of just seven percent in Connecticut to a high of 35 percent in Mississippi."(Read full report)

Planting trees can cut odors from poultry houses

One solution to the chronic problem of odors from chicken houses is to plant trees around them, according to research by the University of Delaware. "Planting just three rows of trees around poultry farms can cut nuisance emissions of dust, ammonia, and odors from poultry houses and aid in reducing neighbor complaints," Science Daily reports, citing work by George W. Malone, an extension poultry specialist with the university.

Science Daily adds, "Malone's team suggested that planting vegetation could reduce ammonia and particulates that may degrade surrounding air and water quality. . . In a six-year study, Malone and his team found that a three-row plot of trees of various species and sizes reduced total dust by 56 percent, ammonia 53 percent, and odor 18 percent. The approach is being adopted around the Delmarva" Peninsula -- parts of Delaware, Maryland and Virginia.

While trees have often been used to increase the aesthetic appeal of chicken houses, Malone's research points out that the appropriately planted trees can not only improve air and water quality, but reduce energy costs for the farms by providing shade from the sun and a buffer from the cold. Malone said, "Planting trees demonstrates that the poultry grower is being proactive to address potential concerns of neighbors, gives the poultry farm a landscape appearance and increases property values. Adding the vegetative buffers also helps to reduce noise associated with farm operations."(Read more)

As goats become more popular, they may provide control for undesirable species such as kudzu

Demand for goat meat is growing in the U.S., making goat raising more popular. And as some wonder if goat farming could provide a valuable source of income for families in need, some Kentuckians are using the animals to control undesirable plants such as kudzu, an invasive species that grows throughout the South.

Goats seem to provide a cheap solution to combating the weed, which is hard to clear manually or with herbicides. While cattle will not feed on broadleaf plants, goats will, and get added benefits due to kudzu's high levels of protein. Ray Bowman, executive director of the Kentucky Sheep and Goat Development Office told Sean Bailey of The Times Tribune in Corbin, Ky., "They go out there, eat the stuff, process it, and turn it into meat. And all they leave behind is fertilizer." (Photo of a goat in kudzu by Bailey)

Barry Arnette, who raises goats on Sharpe Farm near Rockholds, Ky., is working with researchers from the University of Kentucky to determine how effective goats can be in controlling kudzu. "When the experiments are complete, Arnette and the UK team hope to come up with educational materials and 'hints' for farmers looking to get rid of kudzu," reports Bailey. Corbin is near the northern limit of kudzu's range, so Bailey writes, "If you don’t know what kudzu is, you’ve seen it and not even known it. ... It will grow just about anywhere — sometimes even engulfing dilapidated sheds, fences and even towering trees." (Read more)

Senator threatened to cut already meager funds for walking-horse exams; big show cracks down

The husband-and-wife team of John Cheves and Janet Patton at the Lexington Herald-Leader delivered a one-two punch today to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, casting him as a leading protector of an industry that is cruel to horses but says it is cleaning up its act.

McConnell, who is running for his fifth term, "pressured the U.S. Department of Agriculture for years to back off its enforcement of the Horse Protection Act, even threatening to cut the agency's funding," thus supporting the Tennessee Walking Horse industry in its battle against USDA inspectors who look for evidence of soring, the illegal practice of deliberately injuring a horse's front feet to get it to step higher," Cheves reports, adding that people in the industry give to McConnell's campaigns.

On the same front page, Patton follows up on her recent reports about soring and the lack of USDA inspectors at horse shows with a story about a walking horse that died at the hands of a man who admitted in court "to practices that are banned by the federal Horse Protection Act," such as putting petroleum products mixed with sulfur and alum on horses' feet. (Read more)

Inside the paper, Patton reports from the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration in Shelbyville, Tenn., which recently "announced a crackdown, with drug testing and other measures" including the hiring of a veterinarian who "served on an American Association of Equine Practitioners panel that put out a 'white paper' in August with suggestions for how to end the problem of soring. The USDA also stepped up its enforcement efforts, coming for the first time to the entire 11-day show, and trying new technology, including thermography to look 'inside' horses' feet for hot spots that indicate pain." Results of tests for illegal substances won't be available for at least a month, Patton reports. (Read more)

Editor John Philleo of the Times-Gazette in Shelbyville reported last week on the increased USDA presence. Lonnie Messick, executive vice president of the National Horse Show Commission, which sanctions the Celebration, told him that 96 percent of exhibitors were found to be in compliance. For Philleo's comprehensive 1,300-word story on the long-running controversy, click here.

Christina Sanchez of The Tennessean in Nashville reported on the changes Aug. 21, as the Celebration began. Organizers "want to rid themselves of the tarnished image that brought on the ouster of Chief Executive Officer Ron Thomas last fall," she wrote. "And they want to eliminate a repetition of last year, when a judge failed a polygraph test about the fairness of the event." (Read more)