South Carolina town moves to ban illegal immigrants from living in city limits

A small South Carolina town thousands a miles from the Mexican border has become the latest community to pass a controversial illegal immigration law. The city council of Summerville, S.C., population just over 37,000, gave initial approval Wednesday to ban illegal immigrants from living within the town limits, Bruce Smith of The Associated Press reports. "The problem is not just in the border states, it's right here," Councilman Walter Bailey told Smith just before the council voted 4-2 to give first approval to the ban, which would also, in most cases, keep illegal immigrants from working in the town

The ordinance is up for final approval next month. About 100 people attended the meeting, and of the 20 who addressed the council and equal number spoke for and against the ordinance, Smith writes. Victoria Middleton, the director of the American Civil Liberties Union in South Carolina, "warned the council that there are questions about the constitutionality of the ordinance, adding immigration is not a local issue," Smith writes. Baily didn't back down following the ACLU warning, saying, "I'm offended by the intimidation of the ACLU. If they want to challenge us to a lawsuit, I accept that challenge." (Read more)

The local newspaper, the Summerville Journal Scene, publishes on Wednesday and Friday and as of this posting hadn't updated its website since the council approved the ordinance. In July, when the ordinance was tabled for a month for further review by the town's attorney, Jenny Peterson of the Journal Scene reported at least one opponent of the ordinance said Summerville should enforce existing county laws prohibiting businesses from hiring illegal immigrants rather than trying to pass its own ordinance. (Read more)

S.C. community newspaper group files first criminal charges for violation of state's open meeting law

The first charges under criminal provisions of South Carolina's open-government law have been filed following a complaint from a community newspaper group regarding a secret meeting in Holly Springs. "Judge William H. Womble Jr. found probable cause for violations of the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act at a secret meeting June 16 during which Holly Springs fire commissioners voted behind closed doors to terminate Fire Chief Lee Jeffcoat," Jay King reports for Hometown News, which publishes nine weekly newspapers in upstate South Carolina. King was the only reporter present at the June 14 meeting but was ejected from the proceedings despite explaining the open-meetings law to officials there.

In his affidavit describing the event, King asserts "that the commissioners 'willfully' committed a crime against King as a media representative and the citizens of Spartanburg County by violating several provisions of the FOIA, specifically that the commission took a secret vote, that the meeting was not open to the public, that the commission failed to give proper notice, and that the commission failed to take proper minutes of the meeting," King writes. Bill Rogers, the executive director of the South Carolina Press Association, said the signing of the summons for the four public officials at the secret meeting to appear in court was "a historic occasion and will send a strong message across South Carolina." Violating the FOIA is a misdemeanor and is punishable by a $100 fine or up to 30 days in jail for the first offense. (Read more)

The fact that the first criminal charges under the state law came from reporting by a community newspaper wasn't lost on King. "I really don’t want to appear to be tooting my own horn, but it should be remembered that only a community newspaperman found out about the illegal Holly Springs Fire Commission meeting of June 16 and was the only media representative present during that meeting," King wrote in a separate editorial. "Naturally because the issue has created such an uproar, other local print and broadcast media have reported on the situation in Holly Springs to a greater or lesser extent, but the truth of the matter is they will forget about this community once this situation resolves itself. Thereafter, only the community journalist will bother to continue covering commission meetings." (Read more)

Does Ohio Farm Bureau-Humane Society agreement signal deals in other states?

In July we reported the controversial agreement between Ohio Farm Bureau Federation and the Humane Society of the United States to alter some farming practices. Now those concessions may be signaling a major change in modern agriculture as so-called "factory farming" becomes less popular. The agreement "is a rare compromise in the bitter and growing debate over large-scale, intensive methods of producing eggs and meat, and may well push farmers in other states to give ground," Erik Eckholm of The New York Times reports. "The rising consumer preference for more 'natural' and local products and concerns about pollution and antibiotic use in giant livestock operations are also driving change."

"Farmers in Ohio have accepted the agreement with chagrin, saying they sense that they must bend with the political and cultural winds," Eckholm writes. While groups like the Humane Society say keeping chickens in cages, one of the issues at the heart of the agreement, is cruel, farmers maintain their caged chickens are content and less prone to disease than barnyard flocks. "If our chickens aren’t healthy and happy, they won’t be as productive," Ohio egg farmer Tim Weaver told Eckholm. For now the United Egg Producers, a national trade group, maintains that egg prices would rise by 25 percent if all eggs were produced by uncaged hens.

"Formally, the new Ohio agreement only makes recommendations to a state livestock standards board, and getting opponents to recognize the authority of that board was an important achievement," say Farm Bureau officials. "We all know change is coming," Keith Stimpert, a senior vice president of the Ohio Farm Bureau, told Eckholm. "But is this how we’re going to deal with these issues, on a state-by-state basis?" he asked. For its part, the Humane Society is already picking its next targets and will likely push permit referendums in Washington and Oregon. (Read more)

Ohio coal-fired power plant to be converted to wood-burning despite concerns

One might expect environmental groups to applaud an energy company's decision to shelve a coal-fired power plant, but that is not the case in Ohio where FirstEnergy Corp. has gained approval to convert one into a biomass wood-burning facility. In a comment-free vote Wednesday, the "Public Utilities Commission of Ohio approved a 12-page order sweeping aside arguments from environmentalists and a wind industry trade group that burning trees to make power is not sustainable," John Funk of The Plain Dealer reports. The decision certifies the R. E. Burger power plant in Shadyside will be considered a renewable energy facility.

"If it is not sustainable, they are not going burn it," PUCO Chairman Alan Schriber told Funk. "Wood is renewable. That is what the law says." A coalition of environmental groups, the Ohio Consumers' Counsel and the America Wind Energy Association have protested the proposal for 18 months, saying it would lead to widespread deforestation and is not really sustainable. FirstEnergy spokeswoman Ellen Raines said the plant will be able to burn a mixture of green wood chips, wood pellets and briquettes and something very similar to charcoal after a $200 million renovation. (Read more)

Jennifer Miller, the conservation program manager for the Ohio chapter of the Sierra Club, told Funk that while FirstEnergy is the first to announce a preference for biomass, it is not the only company to do so. "American Electric Power, Dayton Power and Light and Duke Energy Ohio have similar though smaller projects pending or already approved. Plus, an unregulated company has won approval to build a plant burning only biomass in southern Ohio," Funk wrote in a story previewing the vote. "We think PUCO has a responsibility to look at sustainability issues," Miller said. "Trees are 'carbon sinks.' If we burn down too many trees to make electricity, we have not helped the environment. And we have concerns that the Burger plant encourages FirstEnergy to do little in terms of solar or wind." (Read more)

Proposal would create a new level of the Internet where net neutrality would not apply

Friday we reported conflicting stories about a possible Google and Verizon "policy agreement" that would deliver a significant blow to advocated of net neutrality, the principle that all users have the same access. Now it appears both stories are partially correct. Google and Verizon announced this week a proposal that would keep existing public landlines free and open but would also create a second level of the Internet where telecommunication companies could charge higher rates for services that required more bandwidth to be carried over their lines, Michael Scherer of Time reports.

While Google said the shared policy would ensure the continued operation of a free and open Internet, net neutrality advocates were quick to lambast the proposal. "Unlike the future Googles, the present Google can afford prioritization service that will block out competitors," Andrew Schwartzman, the policy director of the Media Access Project. "It locks in the incumbent's advantage." In addition to the new prioritized wired network, the Google-Verizon proposal also included no limits on companies imposing tiered service on wireless networks.

"We welcome all efforts to promote openness on the wireline Internet," The Open Internet Coalition said in a statement, "but believe that any satisfactory agreement must also include protection for wireless Internet users to access websites and applications of their choice." In a conference call with reporters, Google president Eric Schmidt "minimized the import of the prioritization that would be allowed under the proposal, saying Google would continue to distribute all of its content over the existing Internet, not any premium subscription service," Scherer writes. The proposal will now circulate on Capitol Hill where no Congressional action is expected until 2011 at the earliest. (Read more)

ProPublica.org also reports on net neutrality. Reporter Marian Wang points out that Google and Verizon have no business arrangement or agreement about this proposal.  The CEO for Google, Eric Schmidt, has complained that the media has called this a deal, when according to Schmidt, it's a policy that both companies have agreed to follow. (Read more)

Wheat-eating insects are Montana farmer-senator's opponent during recess back home

While many legislators will spend their summers campaigning or fund raising, one plans to do what his family has always done: farm, which is a refreshing change from the usual Washington, D.C., lifestyle, The New York Times opines. Montana Democratic Sen. Jon Tester, left, "is the third generation of his family to operate an 1,800-acre farm near Big Sandy, Mont., where the Testers grow organic spring and winter wheat," the Times reports. "He is spending the first week of his vacation in his combine, trying to gather the wheat before the sawflies get to it."

"It brings me back to reality," Tester told local station KFBB-TV this week. "The combine doesn’t care if you’re a senator or not. It breaks down whenever it wants to break down." Tester and Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley are the only farmer senators left from what was once a Congress dominated by farmers. "If more members had a life outside of campaigning and lawmaking, it might help put petty political disputes in a little perspective," the Times writes. "Sit high up in the cab of a combine, stare out at an endless vista of swaying grain, worry about wheat futures and drought — your opponent a leaf-eating insect — and, suddenly, it should seem a little ridiculous to block an important piece of legislation back in Washington just because it would give the other party a victory." (Read more)

Financial overhaul could hurt farmers who use derivatives to cushion swings in markets

While the financial reform bill may have been aimed at risk-taking bankers, it may have unintended effects on family farmers, one writes in an op-ed piece for the New York Times. She is Betsy Jensen, a Minnesota wheat and soybean farmer, a farm business management instructor at Northland Community and Technical College, and the managing editor of Prairie Grains magazine. Jensen explains that she uses derivatives to protect herself against wide fluctuations in crop prices. "On the purchasing side, I also use derivatives to protect myself from swings in the cost of fertilizer, fuel and other staples," Jensen writes. "While reading through the Dodd-Frank act these past few weeks, I’ve been wondering: Will the regulations on swaps make it more difficult for me to hedge against market swings in prices for crops and supplies?"

The financial reform act states "sometime later this year it will become unlawful to enter into swaps 'in excess of such amount as shall be fixed from time to time' by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission," Jensen writes, but asks "what will that amount be, and when will we find out? What is meant by 'from time to time'?" She accepts that the intent of the reform is not to intentionally restrict family farmers like her from trading futures and even notes that the trading commission may develop special protections for them, but she still questions what unintended effects the law will have on agriculture.

She points out the effect on speculators, who buy and sell wheat or corn without taking physical control of the crops, as one area of concern. "Farmers love speculators when they are buyers, helping push prices higher, and we despise them when they are sellers, driving prices down," Jensen writes. "Regardless of their position in the market, I am well aware that the system would not function without them — there wouldn’t be enough liquidity, or money, in the market." Jensen concludes that she hopes the trading commission takes such concerns into consideration when clarifying the reform, because, "I may not be able to manage Mother Nature, but I can manage my risk with derivatives." (Read more)

Scientists say reclamation does not eliminate the impacts of mountaintop-removal coal mining

A group of scientists presenting research at last week's Ecological Society of America conference said mountaintop-removal coal mining has done irreversible damage to Appalachian ecosystems no matter what steps companies and the government take to restore mined lands. "The scientists, visiting from several universities, spoke about myriad effects of mountaintop mining on ecosystems, from changes in the flow of streams to reductions in bird populations," Vivian Nereim of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. By compacting soil and clearing forests, mountaintop removal increases flooding risks and the process reduces water quality in streams and wells, the scientists said.

Coal industry officials were quick to discredit the findings. "We have a number of studies ... that have indicated post-mining impacts are minimized," Bill Raney, president of the West Virginia Coal Association, told Nereim. "They're clearly different in many cases, but certainly they're not terminal, nor are they negative. You've got to give this some time." Luke Popovich, spokesman for the National Mining Association, said the research ignored the economic benefits. "The law does not seek to ban mountaintop mining because Congress understood the importance to the economy," he told Nereim.

Dr. Margaret Palmer, director of the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory at the University of Maryland, told Nereim reclamation efforts don't address some of the most serious effects of mountaintop removal, pointing to "stream creation," an allowable mitigation practice. "They shape drainage ditches into the shape of streams," Palmer told Nereim. "There is no such thing as stream creation in any sort of science." (Read more)

Environmentalists say damaged lands are good places to generate solar power

Many environmentalists have been vocal in their opposition of renewable energy projects that might have adverse effects on the environment. A Southern California solar project is paving the way for building on polluted or abused land. "Thousands of acres of farmland here in the San Joaquin Valley have been removed from agricultural production, largely because the once fertile land is contaminated by salt buildup from years of irrigation," Todd Woody reports for The New York Times. "But large swaths of those dry fields could have a valuable new use in their future — making electricity."

The proposed Westlands Solar Park would generate as much electricity as several big nuclear power plants during peak production periods, and, unlike many solar facilities, has the support of environmentalists. "It’s about as perfect a place as you’re going to find in the state of California for a solar project like this," Carl Zichella, who until late July was the Sierra Club’s Western renewable programs director. "There’s virtually zero wildlife impact here because the land has been farmed continuously for such a long time and you have proximity to transmission, infrastructure and markets."

"Recycling contaminated or otherwise disturbed land into green energy projects could help avoid disputes when developers seek to build sprawling arrays of solar collectors and wind turbines in pristine areas, where they can affect wildlife and water supplies," Woody writes. The Environmental Protection Agency and National Renewable Energy Laboratory are examining a dozen landfills and toxic waste sites for wind farms for solar power plants. The Bureau of Land Management has begun an Arizona program to repurpose landfills and abandoned mines for renewable energy.

California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein introduced legislation in December to protect nearly a million acres of the Mojave Desert from renewable energy development, but included language that would provide tax incentives to companies who build renewable energy projects on disturbed lands. Still the projects face hurdles. "Right now, Westlands is a concept we strongly support," Brian McDonald, director of renewable resource development for Pacific Gas & Electric, told Woody. However, he added that with such reuse projects, "the proof is in the pudding — on the surface, they tend to look simple but they realistically have a lot of hurdles to overcome to build them out." (Read more)

To fight chronically short supply of teachers, rural schools recruit local students for future slots

In the face of state and federal mandates to turn around struggling rural schools, districts are turning to programs designed to hand-pick candidates for rural teaching slots that will soon open and train them to thrive in a geographically isolated environment. "Rural schools have long struggled to recruit talent, researchers say, especially small, remote schools and low-performing schools in high-poverty communities," Mary Schulken of Education Week reports. "Amid high stakes for rural districts as part of a national push to turn around low-performing schools, initiatives aimed at high-quality homegrown talent have emerged across the country."

Examples of such programs include one in the Ozarks where "a teacher corps under the auspices of a regional nonprofit offers scholarships to rural Missouri college students who will return to their hometowns as teachers and school leaders," Schulken writes. The University of South Dakota has redesigned its teacher-preparation program to include a rural-teaching track, and North Carolina State University has created a leadership academy, which "targets veteran teachers in a corridor of low-performing school districts and prepares them to serve as principals who can turn around that record," Schulken writes.

Chris Berger, the superintendent of a 1,000-student, three-school district in the Missouri Ozarks, estimates his district loses five to 10 of its 80 teachers each year. He told Schulken the best strategy for fighting low retention rates is to "find local talent" and build on it. That's the goal of the Ozarks Teacher Corps, which has recruited 18 rural Missouri college students to go back to their hometowns or nearby to fill teaching jobs. "The students, juniors and seniors, get $4,000-a-year scholarships and membership in the Rural School and Community Trust’s Schools Innovation Network, which provides support and resources for rural teachers," Schulken writes. "The students in turn must agree to teach in a rural school at least three years."

John White, the deputy secretary for rural outreach for the U.S. Department of Education, said the department is watching the Ozarks program as a possible model to fill nationwide rural teacher shortages. "What these young people are being exposed to is not just how to teach," Gary Funk, president of the Corps, told Schulken. "They will be exposed to economic, political, and cultural issues in the community where they live and will be teaching." (Read more)

We remember the rural side of Patricia Neal

Memorial services are being held today in Knoxville for Patricia Neal, the Academy Award winning actress who grew up in the East Tennessee city after spending the first three years of her life in a Kentucky coal camp. She often spent summers with her Aunt Maude in Williamsburg, Ky., and won the best-actress Oscar for the 1963 cowboy drama Hud, but said her favorite role was as a radio reporter who turned a rural radio talker (Andy Griffith) into a national political figure in 1957's still-relevant A Face In the Crowd (above). She starred in Bright Leaf (1950), a film about the North Carolina tobacco industry, and returned to her rural Appalachian roots as the matriarch in "The Homecoming: A Christmas Story," the 1970 TV special that spawned "The Waltons."

Most of this week's stories about Neal focus on her tragic personal life; we'll stick to the rural route. David Thomson of The Guardian may make too much of Neal's Kentucky connections, but makes an interesting rural point as he writes, "Though Kentucky is written off by American sophisticates as just too damned remote, the state plays an important part in movie history. Starting with D.W. Griffith, moving on to Warren Oates, Harry Dean Stanton, Johnny Depp, Ned Beatty and George Clooney, the only other state I can think of where out-of-the-way-ness is offset by a grand cast of actors is Nebraska. This isn't just a trivial pursuit. It's a way of suggesting that sometimes large, pretending ambitions can come out of the rural hinterland." (Read more)

The Knoxville News-Sentinel has plenty of coverage and a handy list of links to other stories, and the Lexington Herald-Leader's Rich Copley has an appreciation. Keith Runyon, opinion editor of The Courier-Journal, reprints the story he wrote in 1973 about "Patsy" Neal's homecoming to Knoxville and Williamsburg. UPDATE, Nov. 29: On the 93rd birthday of my recently departed mother, who grew up and worked in an near Knoxville, and admired Patricia Neal, I discovered that Obit Magazine highlighted a Neal obituary by Gigi Anders. To read it, click here.

Farmers say they stand to lose much if locks are closed to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes

Illinois farmers will be hurt significantly if locks between the Mississippi River and Great Lakes are closed to prevent the spread of invasive Asian carp, two farm-group officials write. "Those calling for a complete hydrological separation of the Great Lakes from the Mississippi River Basin -- in other words, shutting down the locks, closing off the waterways and terminating barge shipping -- are proposing a 'solution' that could do much more harm than good," Tim Lentz, president of the Illinois Corn Growers Association, and Philip Nelson, president of Illinois Farm Bureau, write in a piece published by the Peoria Journal Star.

"Certainly the spread of Asian carp is serious," Lentz and Nelson write. "By continuing to evaluate and improve our species control mechanisms, we can mitigate the damage that this invasive fish could cause. But closing the Chicago Area Waterway System to manage Asian carp is by far one of the most expensive and economically challenging options." Lentz and Nelson go on to suggest even if the locks are closed the spread of carp to the Great Lakes might not be prevented. "Illinois farmers depend on a vital waterway transportation system to feed Illinoisans, Americans and citizens of our global marketplace," Lentz and Nelson conclude. "We urge the continued operation of the Chicago Area Waterway System locks, as well as a more realistic solution to dealing with the Asian carp population." (Read more)

Southeastern Kentucky town supports petition to prevent surface coal mining nearby

The City Council of Lynch, a tiny town between tall mountains in southeastern Kentucky, voted this week to support an effort to have broad swaths of the mountains declared off limits to surface coal mining. The Lands Unsuitable for Mining petition being circulated Kentuckians for the Commonwealth "seeks to protect the water which feeds the Lynch and Benham reservoirs," Nola Sizemore of the Harlan Daily Enterprise reports. "The petition will also protect the historic buildings and the view of mountains which encircle Lynch and Benham." KFTC says five permits for surface mining near the town are under review. (click MapQuest image for larger version)

"A Lands Unsuitable for Mining petition only covers strip mining that has not received technical approval from the state or federal government," Roy Silver, a member of KFTC, told Sizemore. "It does not prevent deep mining. It doesn’t affect any permit which has already been technically approved." One of the pending permits would cover land above the Portal 31 underground mine museum near Lynch. "If they defeat us, It’s downhill for everybody else," Lynch Mayor Ronnie Hampton told Sizemore. "Everybody downstream is looking at us on this issue." (Read more)

Much rural reporting in that recognized by annual awards from Society of Environmental Journalists

The 2009-2010 winners for ninth annual Awards for Reporting on the Environment, given by the Society of Environmental Journalists, include several of rural interest that swept the investigative-reporting category. Charles Duhigg's "Toxic Waters" series for The New York Times won first place; read our previous coverage of the series here. Abrahm Lustgarten, Joaquin Sapien and Sabrina Shankman of ProPublica won second place for their series of stories on the risks of natural-gas drilling. You can read coverage of that series here. Third place went to Ron Seely of the Wisconsin State Journal for his series "Who's Watching the Farm?" It "took on the big factory farm lobby, exposing weaknesses in government regulation and enforcement that are putting important water resources — and the citizens who rely upon them — at risk," SEJ said.

Kera Abraham of the Monterey County Weekly received first place honors in the Small Market Print Reporting category for the series "Green vs. Green: Environmentalists Duke It Out." You can read her stories about both sides of various environmental debates here, here and here. Other winners of rural interest included reports on coal: The documentary "Coal: Dirty Past, Hazy Future," from Michigan Public Radio and The Environmental Report, which won second place in the Beat/In-Depth Radio Reporting category, and the two-part series "Powering a Nation: The Coal Story" from Sara Peach, Jenn Hueting, Monica Ulmanu, Chris Carmichael of the University of North Carolina, which won the Student Reporting category. (Read more)

USDA plan would pay slaughterhouse inspectors overtime for donning, doffing safety gear

U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors at livestock and poultry slaughterhouses stand to gain about 15 minutes of overtime pay per eight-hour shift under a new proposal from USDA to comply with a Supreme Court ruling about "donning and doffing." The Food Safety and Inspection Service "is proposing to amend these regulations to provide that the eight hours of inspection service includes the necessary time for inspection program personnel to put on required gear and walk to a work station and the necessary time for inspection program personnel to return from a work station and remove required gear. Any time over those eight hours is overtime charged to an establishment," USDA writes in the official Federal Register notice. The proposal is open for public comment until Sept. 8.

Slaughterhouses would have the option of paying the overtime fees or shortening production time to avoid the added cost, though most are expected to pay the overtime, Rita Jane Gabbett of Meatingplace reports. "Slaughter facilities cannot start operations until FSIS inspection personnel are at on-line inspection work stations, except for very small slaughter establishments where there are no donning and doffing activities for inspectors," Gabbett writes. "Meat and poultry processing facilities that do not slaughter can begin operations without inspectors at their work stations." USDA estimates the overtime would cost about $4,345 annually per online inspector at fiscal 2011 rates, and since the industry reported annual revenue of almost $67.2 billion in 2009 the cost would be "insignificant." (Read more, subscription required) But the change could spur efforts by employees to press for payment for for "donning and doffing."

Study suggests key steps to maintaining rural identity while promoting growth

While rural landscapes across the country vary widely, many rural communities face the dilemma of how to support growth while maintaining their rural identity. A new report, "Putting Smart Growth to Work in Rural Communities," commissioned by the International City/County Management Association under an agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency, seeks to answer those questions, syndicated columnist Neal Peirce reports. The report's first step to smart rural growth is supporting "your legacy, the rural landscape you have today, by keeping working lands (farms, forests, mines) viable and by conserving natural lands," Peirce writes.

Peirce describes controversy in his hometown of Bridgewater, N.H., regarding zoning laws and concludes it is "typical of the challenge so many rural American communities feel today: How to keep a rural quality of life, preserve our landscapes, sustain our small towns and cities, even while positioning ourselves for better jobs and family futures?" The report's lead author, Matthew Dalbey, writes that the second key to smart rural growth is helping "existing communities by preserving and investing in such historic mainstays as small-town Main Streets," Peirce writes. The third key is creating attractive neighborhoods and communities that will entice young people into staying in the community.

"Focus first, the new report urges, on a community's 'heart' -- a vibrant, walkable Main Street and compact, 'neighborly' residential neighborhoods around it," Peirce writes. "Encourage local businesses and rebuild on underutilized close-in lots. And if there's pressure for residential development outside of town, try to cluster it rather than allow large-lot single family subdivisions." To counter the common "It's my property and I can do with it as I please" mentality, Dalbey "suggests a raft of balancing tools, including 'right to farm' policies, conservation easements, purchase of development rights, and valuing land for taxation at its current use rather than at its purported 'highest market value,'" Peirce writes. (Read more)

Young doctors, lured to rural areas by financial incentives, may not stay past their required time

Through the stimulus package and health-care reform the Obama administration invested more than $1 billion in the National Health Services Corps, which lures recent medical-school graduates to underserved areas with the pledge to pay off school loans. However, doctors completing their Corps obligations are struggling with the decision of whether to stay rural. While nearly 5,000 recent medical school graduates accepted Corps grants to pay off tuition and school loans averaging $150,000 per student, and the program hopes to attract 2,800 more graduates next year, experts say they expect retention to be a problem, Darryl Fears of The Washington Post reports.

One trying to decide is Sarah Carricaburu, one of two in her Northwestern University class "who chose to become a family practitioner," not a highly paid specialist, which "the school is known for producing," Fears writes. She told him, "When I told one of my professors that it was what I wanted to do, he said, 'You're too smart for that.' I just always felt that I really wanted to help people who wouldn't otherwise get help." (Post photo by Michael Williamson)

But now she says she doesn't know if she will stay past her three-year obligation at the Southern Albemarle Family Practice in Esmont, Va., where her office has just one computer with Internet access, and it's dial-up. "I grew up in the age of electronic medical records," she told Fears. "Coming here was like stepping back in time. I would like to stay in a community health-care setting, but here I didn't feel like I had the resources to do my job. You're cut off." Carricaburu said if the Corps wants to improve rural retention rates, making rural offices more friendly to technologically savvy young doctors will be key. Her decision won't just affect her personal career; she is not only the only full-time physician in Esmont (MapQuest image) but the only one in southern Albermarle County.

"Through the health-care overhaul, the Obama administration has worked to lighten their load with doctors such as Carricaburu, but nobody at the clinic is sure that the situation will work out," Fears writes. Carricaburu told Fears she admires her colleagues in Esmont, but she is simply not like them. "The other doctors are older. They learned stuff on the job," she said. "That's not how I was trained. I feel like I'm going backward." (Read more)

Mary Schurz, retired publisher in media family, dies

Mary Schurz, retired editor and publisher of The Advocate-Messenger in Danville, Ky., and part of the family that owns Schurz Communications, died today at her home in Danville following a long illness, the newspaper reports. She was 71.

Schurz became publisher of the 10,000-circulation daily in 1978, after the company bought it from the local owners, and became chairman and publisher emeritus in 2006, when her nephew, Scott Schurz Jr., took over. She was a native of South Bend, Ind., home base for the company, which "owns newspapers and other media interests from California to Maryland and from Alaska to Florida," the paper reports. "She had a prestigious career, serving for many years on the board of directors of The Associated Press, the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association and other national trade groups, was a past president of the Kentucky Press Association, and was one of 65 editors selected in 1985 to be nominating jurors for the Pulitzer Prize." (Read more)

UPDATE, Aug. 10: In an editorial, John Nelson, the Advocate-Messenger's managing editor for the past 13 years, quotes from the late Jim Schurz in a 2006 story about his sister’s retirement: “Her devotion to the newspaper, the employees and the community has been total. In return, no publisher has enjoyed the loyalty of her staff more than Mary.” Nelson writes that she left these lessons: "Work hard. Strive for accuracy. Be fair. Be humble. Care about your community. Be fearless. Stand up for what you believe." Good signposts for any journalist. "A former reporter herself, she understood that the news is not always pleasant, not always easy to obtain, and with little regard for the financial burden, she stood ready to fight the good fight for the rights afforded the press by the First Amendment." (Read more)

Judge says Northern Rockies states must agree on gray wolf's status; for now it's endangered

We most recently reported on the controversy surrounding the northern gray wolf's endangered-species status in November, when few Idaho hunters managed to kill wolves in the state's first wolf hunting season since a federal judge removed the endangered-species designation in Montana and Idaho. Last week another judge overturned the delisting, saying "Northern Rockies wolves must all be treated as a single population," Kari Lydersen reports for The Washington Post. Opponents of the listing, who say the wolves have grown too populous and pose a threat to livestock, pointed at Wyoming as the reason the controlled hunts in Montana and Idaho were unsuccessful. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service photo)

"Wyoming law allows the unregulated hunting of wolves throughout most of the state if they are taken off the endangered list," Lydersen writes. "So while the federal government delisted wolves in Montana and Idaho last year after those states agreed to management plans that included controlled wolf hunts, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service kept Wyoming wolves on the endangered list." Tom Strickland, assistant interior secretary for fish, wildlife and parks, explained, "Unfortunately, we're not in a position to reward [Montana and Idaho] for their responsible behavior, because Wyoming is the outlier." Montana and Idaho officials, legislators and ranching groups said they will seek to reverse the ruling by U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy. (Read more)

Local reaction to the decision in Montana centered on disapproval of Wyoming's role in the controversy. "In light of Judge Molloy’s decision, that means that Wyoming’s temper tantrum over wolves is directly impacting the way that we in Montana are able to manage our wildlife," Tim Aldrich, president of the Montana Wildlife Federation, told Eve Byron of the Helena Independent Record. "We don’t believe this is acceptable behavior coming from a neighbor, especially a neighboring state with an immensely appreciated wildlife resource of its own." (Read more)

Mine-disaster probe centers on methane monitors

UPDATES, Aug. 10: "This weekend's testing of two methane monitors from the Upper Big Branch coal mine in West Virginia has not detected any evidence of tampering," Howard Berkes of National Public Radio reports. "A source familiar with this weekend's testing says there was no evidence found that the monitors had been tampered with or disabled just before the massive explosion in April. That assessment was confirmed by Ronald Wooten, director of the West Virginia Office of Miners' Health Safety and Training, who has been briefed about the testing." (Read more)

"Methane monitors worn by miners registered a sudden surge in potentially explosive gas — from 0 percent to 5 percent — in the minutes around the April explosion ... the company said Monday. The company said the high methane reading indicated that an inundation of methane caused the explosion and remained elevated afterward," Kris Maher reports for The Wall Street Journal. "The latest evidence is consistent with Massey's theory that a sudden inundation of methane gas, possibly through a crack in the mine floor, could have initiated the explosion. Such cracks can develop during mining, which causes geologic shifts, especially in heavily mined areas."

The investigation into the April explosion that killed 29 miners at Massey Energy's mine in Montcoal, W.Va., is focusing on "alleged maintenance lapses of critical safety devices that monitor explosive gas levels, including one that was secured by a plastic zip tie," The Wall Street Journal reports. "Since 2008, Massey's Upper Big Branch Mine was cited at least 17 times by federal mine inspectors for failing to keep methane monitors in proper working condition," Kris Maher writes for the Journal.  A representative of the Mine Safety and Health Administration said the agency "is concerned any time a mine is cited for improperly working methane monitors—even one citation is too many."

The U.S. attorney in Charleston is looking into alleged maintenance lapses and reported tampering with methane monitors that shut down mining equipment if methane levels get too high, Maher writes. Federal officials confirmed that two methane monitors taken from near the area where the explosion occurred were scheduled to be tested Saturday to examine their working condition. "Some alarm somewhere should have gone off, and we have no record of that," Ron Wooten, director of the West Virginia Office of Miners' Health, Safety and Training, who is leading the state's investigation into the accident, told Maher of the methane levels in the mine prior to the explosion.

Massey said it has "no evidence of bridging out of methane monitors" as alleged in news reports. "The company noted that shortly before the explosion, three foremen conducted examinations and reported zero or nearly zero methane, but that high levels of methane were found hours after the accident," Maher writes. "Federal and state officials say the explosion itself could have caused the high levels of methane recorded afterward." (Read more)

Rural Ozarks icon Mitch Jayne dies at 82

Prominent author, musician and humorist Mitch Jayne died last week at 82 in Columbia, Mo. "Jayne was the author of five books, a weekly newspaper column published in the rural Ozarks for 20 years, and more than a dozen bluegrass songs recorded by The Dillards," which he co-founded, the Columbia Daily Tribune reports.

Jayne began his career teaching in one-room schools, where he recorded much of the material for his book "Home Grown Stories & Home Fried Lies," about his students’ use of Elizabethan English. In 1962, he joined Douglas and Rodney Dillard in forming The Dillards, who earned critical acclaim and a recurring role as the Darling family on "The Andy Griffith Show" for their blend of "hard-driving melding of electrified bluegrass and rock," the Daily Tribune reports. Jayne's popular radio show, "Hickory Holler Time," was broadcast on KSMO in Salem and featured local news, bluegrass music, "The Snake and Tick Market Report," and a variety of satirical sketches. (Read more)

Jayne lived each of his 82 years "looking at the world through the eyes of an awe-struck 15-year-old" and by his own rules, his friend Ronnie Ellis of CNHI News Service writes. "Here’s the problem writing about Mitch. No matter what I write and no matter what you imagine, Mitch was more," Ellis writes. "One of his songs has this line: 'Promises are words they use for things they never do. Mountains are promises come true.' Mitchell F. Jayne was a promise come true." (Read more)

Tribute to family doctor recalls impact of one man on his rural community

An essay in the Annals of Family Medicine recounts the memorial service honoring Dr. John Anderson, a family practioner of more than 30 years in a rural Washington community. "Dr. John had become part of the landscape, and the geography of the town just changed," wrote William R. Phillips and Larry A. Green, two doctors who had been friends of Anderson. The doctors attended the memorial service and were touched by the outpouring from the community. "Most of what we heard and saw that day was about years of service, days (and some nights) of caring, and moments of tenderness. ... What we did not hear was talk about technology, systems, or efficiency. ... It was powerful testimony to the value that personal doctoring offers to patients, families, communities, and to the future."

Anderson was a founder of the National Rural Health Association and through it connected to countless other small towns and health care teams across the nation. "No one felt the need to exaggerate virtues or downplay the burdens of being a good doctor in a small town; the people who dwelled in this community knew John and the job he did." As one person said at the service, "Thank you to the Doc Andersons everywhere." (Read more)

Google-Verizon deal would be blow to net neutrality

Google and Verizon are negotiating an agreement that would have Google pay Verizon to "speed some online content to Internet users more quickly if the content’s creators are willing to pay for the privilege," The New York Times reports. Such an agreement would be a serious blow to "net neutrality" advocates, who say the Internet should be free and open with no content being favored over any other, Edward Wyatt writes for the Times. "The charges could be paid by companies, like YouTube, owned by Google, for example, to Verizon, one of the nation’s leading Internet service providers, to ensure that its content received priority as it made its way to consumers," Wyatt writes. "The agreement could eventually lead to higher charges for Internet users."

The Federal Communications Commission moved in June to reclassify the Internet as a telecommunications service, giving the commission power to mandate net neutrality, a key element to the Obama Administration's national broadband plan. "People close to the negotiations who were not authorized to speak publicly about them said an agreement could be reached as soon as next week," Wyatt writes. Spokespersons for each company declined to comment on the rumored negotiations, and while such a deal would affect only those two companies it might "sway the opinions of lawmakers, many of whom have questioned the wisdom of the F.C.C.’s plans to oversee broadband service," Wyatt writes. (Read more)

Google moved to deny the Times story Thursday afternoon. "The New York Times is quite simply wrong," a Google spokesman told Ashby Jones of The Wall Street Journal in an email. "We have not had any conversations with Verizon about paying for carriage of Google or YouTube traffic. We remain as committed as we always have been to an open Internet." (Read more)

Summer's end feeds a delightful blackberry addiction

While the modern blackberry addiction is someone with an inappropriate attachment to a cell phone, this is the time of year for a different type of blackberry addiction. "The BlackBerries to which others are wed are pesky, ubiquitous metallic objects. I see Manhattan lawyers, Albany lobbyists, and Amtrak business travelers tethered to these devices all the time," New York farmer Mark Scherzer writes for Rural Intelligence. "My blackberry liaison is longingly anticipated and, when finally consummated each mid-summer, filled with rapture. I connect with the fruits of a living blackberry cane, or more precisely (and promiscuously) with dozens, right there in our backyard."

Scherzer grows Illini blackberries, right, named for the University of Illinois where they were originally bred. "The canes were specifically developed to survive the winter in hardiness Zone 5," Scherzer writes. "No, it’s not an heirloom variety, but we planted it because we wanted a high degree of confidence that it would survive the coldest of our winters, and it has." While purists might criticize the larger size of the Illini berry compared with wild blackberries, Scherzer writes none of the taste has been lost due to the size increase. (Photo by Scherzer)

"They are big enough to fill a pint container quickly," Scherzer writes. "As you might expect, there is a certain art to picking. The berries that have red druplets on them or that have to be pulled off the bush are still a bit tart for eating, though their higher pectin content makes them excellent for jam." As for possible recipes to use the blackberries, Scherzer argues "any further 'preparation' of the berries seems almost desecration to me." Instead he writes all you need to do is "take them home, rinse them off, put them in a bowl, and feast." (Read more)

Genetically modified canola plants breed in wild

A new study suggest genetically modified farm crops are spreading into the wild. "A survey of North Dakota has turned up hundreds of genetically modified canola plants growing along roads across the state," Geoffrey Brumfiel of National Public Radio reports. "The results, presented Friday at the annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America in Pittsburgh, show that the vast majority of feral canola plants in the state contain artificial genes that make them resistant to herbicides." Cindy Sagers, an ecologist at the University of Arkansas who led the study, said researchers found two plants that contained traits from multiple modified varieties, suggesting genetically modified plants are breeding in the wild.

"What we've demonstrated in this study is a large-scale escape of a genetically modified crop in the United States," Sager told Brumfiel. While few scientists believe that the canola plants, right, pose an environmental risk, they say "the study highlights the ease with which some genetically modified plants can spread beyond their fields," Brumfiel writes. Canola plants are used in cooking oil, animal feed and some forms of biodiesel, and virtually all of U.S. canola is grown in North Dakota. (N.D. Tourism photo by Heather LeMoine)

"I wouldn't lose any sleep over it," Mike Wilkinson, a researcher at Aberystwyth University in the United Kingdom, told Brumfiel. Wilkinson, who has studied the spread of conventional canola in the U.K., said while it's common for the seedlings to spread, they don't fare well in the wild. The modified plants don't necessarily have any advantage over native plants, Wilkinson said because "in this particular case, herbicide resistance will provide little edge to plants growing in areas that, almost by definition, don't receive many herbicides," Brumfiel writes. (Read more)

FutureGen coal plant to be built based on redesign

Last summer we reported the Obama administration planned to move ahead on the Illinois "cleaner-coal" power plant, known as FutureGen, that the Bush administration canceled in 2007. Now the administration has announced  it will instead invest $1 billion to retrofit the Central Illinois plant to accommodate carbon-capture and storage technology, Christa Marshall of Environment & Energy Daily reports. Initial plans were to build a first-of-a kind power plant that would have gasified coal before burning and capturing nearly all of its emissions.

"Engineers plan to swap out a boiler in the 200-megawatt plant, replace it with one that can capture CO2 and pipe the resulting gas across the state to a storage spot in Mattoon, Ill.," Marshall writes. While the announcement represented a significant step back from the initial 2003 plans for a $2 billion state-of-the-art facility, the project's supporters considered Thursday's news a victory. "This was a great day for Illinois," Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin said on a conference call with reporters. "The heart of this is a research effort. We're going to learn as we go."

Durbin said the project, redubbed FutureGen 2.0, would bring 900 jobs to downstate Illinois and 1,000 additional jobs to Illinois manufacturers. Several coal experts told Marshall the project did not necessarily signal future federal investment in CO2 technology. "You're not going to see that huge amount of money unless there's a climate bill," Kevin Book, managing director of research at ClearView Energy Partners, told Marshall. "With federal climate legislation stalled on Capitol Hill for now, he and other analysts said that there may not be an economic driver to spur widespread deployment of the technology," Marshall writes. (Read more, subscription required)

Rural newspaper advocates testify against ending Saturday mail delivery

UPDATE, Sept. 16: Heath testified in person today and Cross did so Tuesday. To listen to a recording of Cross's testimony, preceded by that of Oregon Secretary of State Kate Brown, click here.

In testimony filed this week with the Postal Regulatory Commission two rural newspaper advocates argued that the proposed end to Saturday mail would hurt both rural newspapers and the communities they serve. "I believe the Postal Service has a special obligation to rural America that is rooted in its constitutional origins," Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues Director Al Cross testified. "Rural America’s needs cannot be assumed to be the same as those of urban America. Information options are more limited, and residents rely heavily upon local newspapers to remain connected to the community."

Max Heath, postal committee chairman of the National Newspaper Association, testified that the group is "aware of the many challenges in achieving real structural and business change in a falling mail volume environment . . . but in the end, we must support our members, who will be damaged by a five-day mail plan. Rather than support this proposal, we look to other options for reform: such as NNA’s long support on Capitol Hill efforts to remove the $5.5 billion in retiree health benefit prepayments, unprecedented in government agencies."

Cross testified that rural Americans rely more heavily on the U.S. Postal Service than their urban counterparts as they are presented with fewer and often more expensive options for private mail carriers. Rural residents tend to be older and more likely to rely on the Postal Service for delivery of maintenance medications. Rural post offices provide services that are often only accessible for rural residents on Saturdays, Cross added. Many rural newspapers depend on the Postal Service for Saturday delivery, but even those that deliver on Thursdays and Fridays could be hurt as subsribers farther away might not receive newspapers until Monday or Tuesday in the event of a holiday.

Heath testified that the USPS has not adequately considered the impact on rural newspapers of ending Saturday delivery. "The Postal Service has represented itself as 'sensitive' to these concerns of NNA member newspapers," Heath testified. "But beyond lip service, I am aware of no genuine effort  to address our concerns." Heath said ending Monday delivery would provide the same benefits as ending Saturday to the Postal Service but would cause less harm to rural businesses and newspapers.

Much of the threat of ending Saturday delivery to rural newspapers lies in the need for their advertisers to publish in time for weekend shopping, Cross testified. "While big-box stores and other major retailers can use mass mailings any day of the week, independent retail merchants must rely on their local newspaper to get printed advertising in the hands of their customers and potential customers," Cross testified. "The lack of a Saturday newspaper would mean the absence of a powerful advertising vehicle for local businesses at an increasingly important time of the week."

Tennessee farmer whose subsidies drew intraparty criticism wins Republican nomination for Congress

The farmer who was supported by many Republican leaders but was also criticized for seeking tea-party support while getting federal farm subsidies easily won the GOP nomination for the open congressional seat in northwest Tennessee's 8th District yesterday.

Stephen Fincher got 35,016 votes, just under half the total, in unofficial returns compiled by The Tennessean. Ron Kirkland got 17,638, George Flinn 17,309, Randy Smith 1,546 and Ben Watts 729. Fincher will face Democrat Roy Herron, who defeated Kimberlee Smith 27,132 to 12,965. The winner will succeed Democratic Rep. John Tanner, who is retiring.

The race has been the nation's most expensive for a House seat this year, The Associated Press reports: "The candidates ... have spent $5.2 million on the race so far, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics. And that figure doesn't include another $1.3 million spent by one candidate's brother as an independent expenditure." Robert Kirkland, "co-founder of a national home decor retailer Kirkland's Inc.," ran polls and TV ads, criticized Fincher's $3.2 million in farm subsidies and noted that "10 percent of the wealthiest farmers receive nearly three-quarters of all farm subsidies." (Read more)

Russian drought prompts export ban, driving up wheat prices; weather boosts other crop prices

Wheat prices zoomed to a 23-month high today as Russia said it would ban grain exports starting Aug. 15 in the wake of a severe drought that has sparked deadly fires in the country, the world's third-largest wheat grower. Also, Bloomberg reports "Dry weather in Kazakhstan, Ukraine and the European Union and excess rain in Canada are draining wheat stockpiles and dragging up prices of rice, soybeans and corn."

"Wheat for December delivery, the contract with the largest open interest, advanced as much as 7.9 percent to $8.155 a bushel in Chicago today, the highest level since August 2008," Bloomberg reports. “Wheat prices may continue rising till the end of August,” Chris Yoo, manager of the global derivatives team at Samsung Futures Inc. in Seoul, told Bloomberg. “Consumers are likely to switch to consume rice.”

Feingold, Grassley propose cap on farm subsidies

A bill introduced by a bipartisan pair of senators would put a $250,000-per-farm limit on payments from federal commodity programs. Sens. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin and Charles Grassley of Iowa say the measure would save more than $1 billion “by closing loopholes in farm programs which allow mega-farms and non-farmers to collect huge government checks each year.”

Feingold, who is in a battle for re-election, told Brownfield Network, “For too long large agribusinesses and non-farmers have gamed the limits on farm subsidy programs, taking limited and critical resources better used to support our family farmers who are facing numerous challenges in the current economic climate.” (Read more) President Obama has proposed such a limit but it has been defeated in the House with the help of rural Democrats.

Ky.-Tenn. outfit gets big rural broadband grant; Vermont winner predicts universal access in state

As part of the second round of stimulus package broadband funding, the Department of Agriculture announced Wednesday $1.2 billion in funding for 126 rural broadband initiatives in 38 states and tribal areas. "The broadband projects announced today will give rural Americans access to the tools they need to attract new businesses, jobs, health care and educational opportunities," Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a news release.

USDA said the largest award went to the West Kentucky Rural Telephone Cooperative, which received $123.8 million to construct fiber-optic communication that will provide very fast Internet access, up to 20 megabytes per second. The company, which according to its website became West Kentucky and Tennessee Telecommunications in October 2009, serves more than 21,000 households in 11 counties. It will spend 69 percent of its award in Kentucky and 31 percent in Tennessee. Another big award along the border, almost $66.5 million to Highland Telephone Cooperative, will aid McCreary County, Kentucky and Scott County, Tennessee.

VTel Wireless Inc., the winner of $116 million in grants and loans, said the deal put Vermont "in line to become the first ... to bring high-speed wireless Internet access to every resident," Sam Hemingway of the Burlington Free Press reports.

Rural schools also stand to gain from USDA's broadband funding. "These investments will fund projects to improve connections to rural communities and Native American tribal lands, bringing broadband to more than 1,900 schools, serving 550,000 students, and many of the students' homes," Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a news release. "These projects will include more than 300 schools currently in unserved areas, providing the opportunity for a high-speed connection to 82,000 students for the first time." The full list of funded projects is here.

N.Y. Senate votes for moratorium on fracking

New York lawmakers took the first step toward a temporary moratorium on hydraulic fracturing in natural-gas drilling Tuesday when the state Senate voted 48 to 9 to impose a ban on issuing Marcellus Shale permits until May 15, 2011. Fracking is required to release gas from the deep, tight formation.

"While the measure cannot become law before the state Assembly passes a similar bill, and that chamber is not expected to take up the issue until September, environmentalists said the vote was significant in that it gave state officials more time to examine safety issues," Mireya Navarro of The New York Times reports on the Green blog. The vote was supported by New York City officials who oppose drilling near the watersheds that supply water to the city.

Brad Gill, executive director for the Independent Oil and Gas Association of New York, told Navarro the moratorium would delay the jobs, tax revenue and other benefits the state would attract with more drilling. "We have companies that want to come to New York, but in this regulatory and legislative climate and instability they’re going to Pennsylvania," he said. "We’re just losing out on this economic opportunity." (Read more)

Farm groups fight FDA plan to limit antibiotics, but other groups say proposal not sufficient

In July we reported that the Federal Drug Administration had concluded that overuse of antibiotics in livestock led to development of drug-resistant diseases in humans.  But farmers say if the FDA moves ahead on its plan to curb livestock antibiotics, it will drive up production costs and eventually food prices. "Such limits aren't justified, producers say, arguing that there is insufficient scientific evidence that drug-resistant bacteria move from animals into food," Philip Brasher of the Des Moines Register reports. FDA said it would still allow antibiotics to be used to prevent illness in livestock, but industry groups are fighting back out of fear regulations will be tightened even further.

National Pork Producers Council spokesman David Warner said the group "fears losing the use of drugs that are now approved for growth promotion but also may help in disease prevention," Brasher writes. Warner claimed "manufacturers would be reluctant to go through the arduous process of reapplying to the FDA for the right to sell the drugs for prevention purposes." Meanwhile farm-state lawmakers from both parties have raised alarms about trying to restrict antibiotic use.

"We are a culture that looks for simple, easy answers when a lot of the time we're talking about complex tradeoffs," Iowa Democratic Rep. Bruce Braley said at a recent House hearing. While cattle operations can use antibiotics that don't have a human application, hog farmers say antibiotics also used in humans are particularly important to them because "swine are susceptible to diseases that can wipe out entire herds," Brasher writes.

FDA's move would only restrict antibiotics used for growth promotion, and some say that doesn't go far enough. A bill sponsored by the ironically named Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., would end all non-therapeutic uses of medically important antibiotics. "If we want to truly preserve antibiotics for future generations ... then we need to look beyond growth promotion," Laura Rogers, project director of the Pew Campaign on Human Health and Industrial Farming, told Brasher. (Read more)

Baby boomers supplement retirement income with organic farming

While the Department of Agriculture says it's difficult to track the exact figures, an increasing number of baby boomers appear to be moving to small-scale organic farming to supplement retirement incomes. "Yes, these farmers can make some money," Laura Tillman writes for the Daily Yonder. "But more importantly, farmers like [Kalman] Morris enjoy the life they’re living more than the office jobs they’ve left behind." Morris, who spent his pre-retirement career in graphic design, acknowledges he couldn't sustain his current lifestyle without the money he made from his previous work, but said farmers like him are sending an important message to the agriculture industry.

"One of the things that I believe in is the power of many small things," Morris told Tillman. "Stronger bonds are made between things with many parts — even though the power of each is not significant, it's the strongest bond you can create. It seems to me that in a large sense America has it all wrong: the American concept of bigger is better is not correct. You end up with things that are too big to fail." USDA says it has little data on the number of baby boomers supplementing retirement income with organic farming, and the movement can be tough to track since many farmers don't decide to be officially certified as organic operations.

John Cromartie, a geographer with the Resources and Rural Economics Division of USDA, recently wrote a report on baby boomer movement to rural areas but said he didn't look at the farming component of that migration. Brad Stufflebeam, former president of Texas Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, told Tillman he has witnessed mixed results among baby-boomer farmers. "The ones that are successful are the ones that choose to do it as a lifestyle," Stufflebeam said. "The ones I see failing are the ones who have money, buy land, and hire help to do the work. I see those failing. The reason is you have to be deeply involved and its very management intensive." (Read more)

Rural teatment for drug abuse is lacking, but a new option has helped

Deaths from drug abuse in rural America are outpacing those in urban areas, but just nine percent of treatment programs are found in rural areas. The Maine Rural Health Research Center found that 82 percent of rural residents live in a county with no detoxification provider, David Wahlberg of the Wisconsin State Journal reports as part of the Madison newspaper's Rural Health project. "Drug abuse overall is lower in rural places than in metropolitan areas, federal surveys show," Wahlberg writes. "But rural youth use more alcohol, methamphetamine and prescription painkillers, drugs that are cheap and easy to get." (State Journal chart)

"For years, medical treatment for addiction to opiates such as heroin and the prescription painkillers OxyContin and Vicodin was limited mostly to clinics offering methadone, a replacement drug that prevents withdrawal symptoms and reduces highs," Wahlberg writes. Methadone clinics are particularly hard for rural residents to use because they are maionly located in larger cities and require daily visits. In 2002, the government approved Suboxone as an alternative to methadone, which has greatly expanded treatment options as doctors can prescribe the drug in their offices and require only weekly visits.

The federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reports "Suboxone is considered less risky than methadone but also less powerful, so it can be less effective for addicts with high levels of opiate dependence," Wahlberg writes. Still, David Friedman, director of the addiction studies program at Wake Forest University, said Suboxone has been important for bring drug abuse treatment to rural areas. "The idea was to mainstream addiction treatment," he said. "Having an alternative to methadone is a real good thing." (Read more)

Memorial to 9/11 victim turns refugees into farmers

The agriculture industry may not be the first place most think to look for the legacy of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, but a Massachusetts farming program is hoping to carry on the work started by one of the victims. John Ogonowski, the pilot on American Airlines Flight 11 that crashed into the World Trade Center during the attacks, had been a farmer as well. He had served as the first farming mentor in the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project, launched to teach refugees farming skills.

The program "has quietly trained about 150 refugees of war, famine and genocide in modern farming to help them integrate into American life," Russell Contreras of The Associated Press reports. "On farms along the Massachusetts-New Hampshire border, the refugees have slowly replaced aging farmers and put back into use land that has been idle for years, the program's organizers said." Project director Jennifer Hashley said of the refugees, "Some were farmers. Some come from a family of farmers. What we do is provide them with the means to return to agriculture by figuring out financial resources and developing a production plan."

Following the terrorist attacks, Ogonowski's widow Peggy helped create a farm trust as a memorial to her husband, and Tufts University secured $500,000 in grants to expand the program and train more farmers. Participants complete a six-week agriculture and commercial farming course at Tufts before entering a three-year transition program in which they farm small plots, typically earning $5,000 to $10,000 a year to help supplement their non-farm incomes, Contreras writes.

After three years, farmers lease a plot from the Ogonowski trust or the project helps them find other land. "You hear all sorts of languages when you're out here," said Tsimba, a refugee who said the program helped her learn the basics of farming. "We pick up new ideas from each other." The program has also developed a reputation for teaching local food skills, attracting an American clientele. In three years it has grown from 15 trainees a year to 30, over half of them Americans. (Read more)

Deputy education secretary for rural outreach cites rural upbringing in Education Week interview

In October, amid criticism that the Department of Education was out of touch with rural schools, the department created a deputy secretary for rural outreach. Former department press secretary John White, right, was appointed to the position and recently was interviewed by Mary Schulken of Education Week for the Rural Education blog. White said his position was created to "ensure communication and coordination regarding the needs of rural schools across programs within the department and to engage in mutually beneficial external communications with rural states and schools." (Education Department photo)

Prior to joining the department, White was chief communications officer for Prince George's County Public Schools, which serves approximately 130,000 students in more than 200 schools in Maryland just outside of Washington. Thay may seem to be an odd stepping stone for a rural school position, but White said he brings a rural background to the table. "I grew up in Calvert County, Maryland, when the area had two high schools and many more farms and tobacco fields than schools," he told Schulken. "The experience of growing up in 'the country' was very different than my last job."

White said his top concerns for rural schools are "access and opportunity for students to pursue and create new careers in their communities" and "the expectations of adults for rural students, and the students' expectations for building a career where they grow up. In extremely poor rural places, I have visited elementary and middle school classrooms where children can name the college they want to attend and the career they want to pursue. In some of these same places, school leaders say expectations change in high school because of factors outside of school."

What has the administration done for rural schools since his appointment? "So far, the administration has included priority points for proposals that would address the needs of rural schools in competitive grants," he said. "Technical assistance and outreach are being provided, and we plan to make changes to the department's 21 Comprehensive Technical Assistance Centers to provide expertise and capacity building for states and school districts throughout the country." You can read the entire interview, in which White talks about complaints from rural districts, the Title 1 funding formula and the rural role in the "Blueprint for Reform" among other topics, here.

Daily Yonder takes closer look at rural uninsured, finds wide ranges across counties, states, regions

How will health-care reform affect rural Americans without health insurance? While rural counties have a slightly lower rate of uninsured than urban counties, new data from the Census Bureau shows that statistic can be misleading for most areas, Bill Bishop and Roberto Gallardo report for the Daily Yonder. In all rural counties, 17.1 percent of people under 65 don't have insurance, compared to 17.2 percent in urban counties, but the rate of uninsured within rural America varies widely across states and regions, the Yonder reports.

Just under half of the nation's 2,038 rural counties have uninsured rates below the national average of 17.1 percent, but "In most states, the rural uninsured rate is higher than the urban rate," the Yonder reports. All but seven of the 50 counties with the highest rates of uninsured people are found in Texas, Bishop and Gallardo write. "Rural counties have lower rates of uninsured only in Arizona, California, Illinois, Nevada, South Carolina, Texas and Connecticut." (Read more) (Yonder map; click for larger version)

Environmental group joins industry in challenging EPA's greenhouse gas regulation

The Environmental Protection Agency has failed to satisfy either side of the debate about its tailoring rule that would regulate greenhouse gases from only the largest industrial sources, like power plants. "The Center for Biological Diversity is joining a number of industry groups in challenging EPA's tailoring rule," Robin Bravender of Greenwire reports for The New York Times. "But while industry groups argue that EPA climate rules will hurt businesses, CBD says the agency is not going far enough." Tuesday marked the deadline for groups to file challenges to the rule with the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

"We want to make sure that there are some lines in the sand that are drawn and that truly the large industrial sources of greenhouse gases are actually regulated," CBD senior counsel Bill Snape said. EPA says without the tailoring rule, "even small sources would need to get permits for their greenhouse gas emissions when the agency's emission limits for tailpipes will trigger Clean Air Act permitting rules for industrial facilities," Bravender writes. Snape echoed previous promises that CBD is not trying to force EPA into regulating greenhouse gas emissions from smaller sources, but said the agency can do better than the tailoring rule.

"Starting in January, only sources that already have to apply for permits for other pollutants and emit more than 75,000 tons of greenhouse gases per year would be affected," Bravender writes. "And starting next July, new and modified plants that emit more than 100,000 tons of greenhouse gases per year would be affected." EPA initially proposed to regulate emitters of over 25,000 tons, but air chief Gina McCarthy said in May agency officials realized that threshold would include sources it didn't intend to regulate. "You've already seen EPA pushed back so the final rule is significantly weaker," Snape said. "Our take was: That jump from the proposed rule from the final rule was pure fear politics." (Read more)

Lawsuit intended to further restrict agricultural pesticides

Environmental groups have had success in the past in getting courts to force the federal government to restrict pesticide use, but one group is planning a larger pesticide-related lawsuit for later this summer that may have broad-reaching impacts. "Rather than continuing to file piecemeal lawsuits, the Center for Biological Diversity says it will file a broader suit this summer that involves nearly 400 pesticides and almost 900 species that are protected under the Endangered Species Act," Les Blumenthal of McClatchy Newspapers reports. "Washington state officials said the restrictions that could result from that lawsuit could affect agricultural production significantly in at least 48 states."

Dan Newhouse, the director of the Washington State Department of Agriculture, told Blumenthal it was impossible to know how dramatic the effects of tighter restrictions would be right now, but he believed in Washington "every farmer would be impacted one way or another." The Endangered Species Act requires federal agencies "that are contemplating any action that could 'jeopardize' listed species to consult with the Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Marine Fisheries Service and come up with a plan to alleviate or lessen the effects," Blumenthal writes, but environmentalists say the Environmental Protection Agency seldom followed that requirement.
That inaction began to change in 2002 when a Seattle District Court judge ruled "that the EPA had violated provisions of the Endangered Species Act by not consulting with the National Marine Fisheries Services about how the use of pesticides and other chemicals could affect the more than two dozen salmon runs that are protected under the act in Washington state, Oregon, California and Idaho." Jeff Miller, a spokesman for the Center for Biological Diversity, said the group is changing its focus from regional to national because EPA continues to drag its feet. "I know (President Barack) Obama has a lot on his plate right now, but the EPA is still not aggressively taking on this issue," he said. (Read more)

Progressive Farmer tries to counter negative farm images with 'The Real American Farmer'

Agribusiness has seen its image take a hit in recent months because of animal-rights abuses, anti-comptetive practices and environmental issues, and many in the industry feel farmers are gaining an unfair reputation as a result. In an effort to combat those negative images, The Progressive Farmer has a special section in this month's issue called "The Real American Farmer," which profiles three farm and ranch families "who care deeply about their land, their livestock and their profession."

The Beckers, a Minnesota family that owns and operates LB Pork, have seen a shift in the industry to the point that Lonny Becker is in touch daily with three or more marketing advisers, Tom Dodge reports. "Who'd have ever thought five years ago that we'd have to be concerned with the daily gyrations of the euro?" he asked Dodge. To weather the economic downturn, the family has held weekly meetings for the last two years. Lonny's sister-in-law Julie forsees even more scrutiny from outside the industry. "As producers, farmers have been doing the right things all along," she told Dodge. "But from now on, you'll have to prove it to everyone else."

Clay Rightmer (far right, with family) is the fourth generation of Rightmers to ranch in central Texas, and he claims "you cannot find a better life no matter how hard you look," Jim Patrico reports. Rightmer terms frugality his survival tool, pointing to his choice to use cottonseed rather than corn as cattle feed while corn prices soared over the past few years. One area Rightmer said he doesn't look to cut costs is environmental stewardship. "Water begets wildlife," he told Patrico. "It's about working in harmony with the land and changing when it changes."

Todd Hays is a seventh-generation Missouri farmer who earned a two-year degree in marketing because it appeared his family farm had no room for another farmer. He eventually married into another farm family, giving him his chance to return to the work he loves, Patrico reports. Today Hays and his wife's family have about 600 sows and market 13,000 hogs a year. To counter the vocal critics of agriculture the family goes beyond environmental requirements. "When possible, the family injects manure into the soil rather than spreading it on the surface," reducing runoff and odor, Patrico writes.

Hays said he tries to see things such as skepticism about biotech crops from the non-farming point of view. He said such crops can lower production costs and reduce farming's impact on the environment. "We can use fewer chemicals and herbicides," he told Patrico. "And I don't [often] have to use insecticides for rootworms and curtowrms." Hays said the key to improving the ag industry's image is to show people the way farming actually works, and then they will understand and approve. (You can subscribe to The Progressive Farmer here.)