Story of Hatfield-McCoy feud, coming to TV Monday, can be found in online digital newspaper archives

The Hatfield family

The story of the feuding Hatfields and McCoys will play again in a History Channel three-part miniseries beginning Memorial Day at 9 p.m. EDT. This volatile time in Kentucky and West Virginia's history will likely draw new interest into the families' lives and battles. The non-Hollywood version of the legendary feud exists in newspaper coverage written at the time. Those pages can be accessed and researched digitally through the National Digital Newspaper Program through work being done at University of Kentucky Libraries. Read more about the program.

Here's where the Hatfield-McCoy fracas comes in. According to a university spokesperson: "From brief mentions of possible state government responses and court battles to a longer report on the imprisonment of members of both families, newspapers made the feud front page news around the world. A look at the Feb. 20, 1888, edition of The Evening Bulletin gives readers interesting insight into the characters on both sides of the conflict, including descriptions of key family members incarcerated in Louisville awaiting trial. Surprisingly perhaps, the Maysville newspapaper disputes that the men were desperadoes; it describes them as dressing well, coming off as inoffensive, and using good language.

Care in rural hospitals is just as good as that in urban hospitals, study concludes

While rural Americans have less access to primary care and have worse health outcomes, the care at rural hospitals is equal to, if not better, than that at urban hospitals, a National Rural Health Association report says.

The study also found rural health care is not more expensive than urban care. "However, urban residents rarely out-migrate to rural settings for either routine or advanced treatments or care yet many rural patients are referred to or voluntarily travel to urban providers based on the myth of better care," a study summary reads.

The study was compiled by iVantage Health Analysis, a private health-care research company. It collected data on Medicare costs and health outcomes for doctors and hospitals for 12 months and divided the results into rural and urban groups based on zip codes, to give a picture of the state-by-state importance of rural hospitals.

The study could have wider wider ramifications given changes in the federal health-care reform law and the move toward accountable care organizations, in which doctors and other providers are encouraged to team up to give coordinated care for a population of people and be paid financial incentives to do so.

"Value in health care is created by doing a few things well and not by trying to do everything," the summary reads. "The rural findings may just suggest that by national selection, rural has figured out what it does well and has optimized those services for the patient's benefit." (Read more, from the Daily Yonder)

New Orleans, Mobile, Birmingham and Huntsville papers to publish print editions 3 days per week

For a few years, people in the newspaper industry have predicted that the digital revolution will eventually prompt daily newspapers to abandon the expensive proposition of printing every day. Now one company, the Newhouse family's Advance Publications, has taken the plunge with its dailies in New Orleans and Alabama.

The Times-Picayune, the Mobile Press-Register, The Birmingham News and The Huntsville Times will cut back their print editions to three days per week (Wednesday, Friday and Sunday) this fall, the papers announced today. The move will make New Orleans, which has lost much population since Hurricane Katrina hit it in 2005, the largest U.S. city without a daily newspaper. The industry convention is that a daily publishes at least four times a week.

The Times-Picayune said a new business entity called NOLA Media Group, reflecting the paper's online address of nola.com, “will significantly increase its online news-gathering efforts 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” but with a smaller staff. For coverage from the Poynter Institute, click here.

Advance used virtually the same language in announcing that its new Alabama Media Group will “dramatically expand its news-gathering efforts around the clock, seven days a week, while offering enhanced printed newspapers on a schedule of three days a week.” For more from Poynter, go here.

Poll shows most U.S. adults want marijuana legalized and regulated like alcohol and tobacco

Over half of American adults favor "legalizing and regulating marijuana similar to the way alcohol and tobacco cigarettes are currently regulated," reports Daniel B. Wood of the Christian Science Monitor. A Rasmussen Reports poll found 56 percent in favor and 36 percent opposed. (Associated Press photo: Indoor pot farm in Laurel, Md.)

"Critics have dismissed the survey, saying its questions were asked in a particularly leading fashion – a charge that Rasmussen contests," Wood writes. "But experts who track the issue say the poll is consistent with the overall trend of steadily rising acceptance of marijuana use." The new number is "the strongest support ever recorded in favor of marijuana legalization in the U.S.," Dale Gieringer, California coordinator for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. "He says the trend can be expected to continue, since younger voters are more favorable toward ending marijuana prohibition than older ones," Wood reports.

Some agricultural interests also favor legalization as a way to revive the hemp industry, which would use  plants cultivated without removal of male plants, the technique that has greatly raised the amount of psychoactive ingredient in plants raised for drug use.

Race a factor in Obama's numbers in Ark. and Ky., but it's any guess how much; coal a factor in Ky.

President Obama's "underwhelming" performance in Tuesday's primaries in Arkansas and Kentucky prompted Chris Cillizza of The Washington Post to write in his blog, The Fix, about the causes. Many "who closely follow national politics . . . ascribe the underperformance by the incumbent to a very simple thing: racism," Cillizza writes, adding that few of them will attach their names to the observation.

Exit polls in 2008 indicated that somewhere around 10 percent of white voters in the two states voted against Obama because he is black. There were no exit polls this week, but that factor surely remains, but four years have passed, Obama is president, and other factors have arisen, such as his positions on coal, which probably hurt him in Kentucky -- and in West Virginia, where two weeks ago a prison inmate got 41 percent of the vote, about what Tennessee lawyer John Wolfe got in Arkansas.

"Of 28 counties in Kentucky where there are active coal mines, Obama lost to 'uncommitted' in 18, including the five largest coal producers — Pike, Perry, Hopkins, Harlan and Letcher counties," Joe Gerth reports for The Courier-Journal of Louisville. Most of those five counties are strongly Democratic but voted against Obama in the 2008 general election.

Cillizza cites other polling data and concludes, "President Obama’s race probably is regarded as more of a negative politically in Appalachia and portions of the South than it is in other regions of the country," but "figuring out how much of the anti-Obama vote in these southern and Appalachian state primaries is directly attributable to racism simply can’t be done." (Read more)

“There’s no easy or simple answer,” Democratic pollster Cornell Belcher told Cillizza. “One man’s racial differences is another man’s cultural differences.” Obama's endorsement of gay marriage may have been a factor, for example. Still, Cillizza writes, “What we know beyond a shadow of a doubt is that Appalachia and portions of the South — particularly those states without large African American populations — have long been hostile to President Obama.” And he dredges up The New York Times' map of counties that voted more Republican in the 2008 presidential election than in 2004 — a belt running mainly from southwestern Pennsylvania to the Oklahoma panhandle.

Warren Buffett is bullish on community newspapers

Berkshire Hathaway Group announced last week that it is in the process of buying more than 60 newspapers from Media General, the vast majority of them community weeklies and dailies. This week, in a memo to editors and publishers at those papers, CEO Warren Buffett promised to support the newspapers' decidedly local focus after the nearly $600 million deal is finalized.

"I believe newspapers that intensively cover their communities will have a good future. It’s your job to make your paper indispensable to anyone who cares about what is going on in your city or town," Buffett wrote in the memo. The previous week, when the deal was announced, Buffett said in a prepared statement, "In towns and cities where there is a strong sense of community, there is no more important institution than the local paper. . . . The many locales served by the newspapers we are acquiring fall firmly in this mold and we are delighted they have found a permanent home with Berkshire Hathaway."

Buffett wrote that Berkshire Hathaway may continue to buy newspapers that fit the same model as those acquired from Media General:

Berkshire will probably purchase more papers in the next few years. We will favor towns and cities with a strong sense of community, comparable to the 26 in which we will soon operate. If a citizenry cares little about its community, it will eventually care little about its newspaper. In a very general way, strong interest in community affairs varies inversely with population size and directly with the number of years a community’s population has been in residence. Therefore, we will focus on small and mid-sized papers in long-established communities."

Buffett also vowed that BH Media Group will take a relatively "hands off" approach -- for example, not dictating editorial positions of local newspapers, so long as those newspapers perform well. What is interesting in Buffett's memo is that, rather than cutting staff and centralizing operations (long the modus operandi of Media General), the "Oracle of Omaha" seems to be reading directly from the community-journalism playbook:

"I believe newspapers that intensively cover their communities will have a good future. It’s your job to make your paper indispensable to anyone who cares about what is going on in your city or town. That will mean both maintaining your news hole — a newspaper that reduces its coverage of the news important to its community is certain to reduce its readership as well and thoroughly covering all aspects of area life, particularly local sports. No one has ever stopped reading when half-way through a story that was about them or their neighbors."

The memo also included this statement:

Your paper will operate from a position of financial strength. Berkshire will always maintain capital and liquidity second to none. We shun levels of debt that could ever impose problems. Therefore, you will determine your paper’s destiny; outsiders will never dictate it.

Whether that statement is a promise of support, or a warning against lax performance, remains to be seen. Industry watchers will begin the monitoring in earnest in mid-June, when the ownership change is scheduled to take place.

Study: The farther state capitals are from population centers, the more corrupt; coverage may play a role

New research shows that the more isolated a state capital is from major population centers, the more likely it is to harbor corruption. And the lack of news coverage may be to blame for that, reports David Lauter of the Los Angeles Times.

The study, done by Filipe Campante of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and Quoc-Anh Do of Singapore Management University, used a sophisticated statistical model to determine which capitals are the most isolated from their states’ population centers. They compared that measure of isolation with a database of convictions on federal corruption charges between 1976 and 2002. The results showed that the "more isolated capital cities are associated with more corruption." Further, "the overall level of education in a state appears to play a role," with less educated states tending toward more corruption.

The researchers looked for reasons. One possibility was that newspapers, which provide most coverage of state governments, are increasingly less likely to cover the capital, especially as its distance from their circulation area increases. In examining 436 U.S. newspapers, searching for references to state government, the study found “in states where the population is more concentrated around the capital, more intense media coverage of state politics, and therefore greater accountability.” In the past decade, the number of reporters covering state capitals has dropped sharply – a reduction of  more than 30 percent between 2003 and 2009, according to the American Journalism Review.

South trails rest of nation in economic mobility

The Pew Center for the States has issued its first analysis of Americans' economic mobility, defined as "their movement up and down the earnings ladder, at the state level." According to the report's executive summary, the study focused on Americans in their prime working years, examining earnings averaged between ages 35 and 39 (measured between 1978 and 1997) and how those earnings rose or fell a decade later (measured between 1988 and 2007).

On the Pew Center's website, readers can access an interactive map and much more information about the report. To do that, click here.

A quick look at the map reveals a few key points: Eight states, primarily in New England, have consistently higher upward mobility rates compared to the nation. Nine states, all in the South, have consistently lower mobility compared to the nation. The study also revealed that geographic mobility -- that is, whether people who were born in a state stayed there or moved elsewhere -- does not drive state differences in economic mobility.

Micro-loan program to aid small, first-time farmers

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack this week announced a proposed new micro-loan program that would be added to the credit options available to farmers through the Farm Service Agency. The new program, reports Agri-Pulse, would allow FSA to make smaller loans -- those with a principal balance of up to $35,000 -- and would require less paperwork for farmers.

“This new program is a step in the right direction for the next generation of farmers who often are looking for smaller loans when they’re first getting started in agriculture,” said National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition Policy Associate Juli Obudzinski. Vilsack said his department is seeking public comments on the program. "As we expand options in agriculture, we're seeing a new vibrancy across the countryside as younger people—many of whom are now involved in local and regional production—pursue livelihoods in farming, raising food for local consumption,” Vilsack said. (Read more)

South Dakota has worst rural poverty in Great Plains; high levels on Indian reservations a factor

A report by the Center for Rural Affairs lists South Dakota as having the highest rate of rural poverty in the 10-state Great Plains region. According to 2010 census data used in the report, 20.6 percent of rural South Dakotans live in poverty. That’s 44,973 of the state’s 218,821 rural residents, reports Marcus Traxler in The Daily Republic. Montana was the next closest state with a rural poverty rate of 17.8 percent.

More than a fourth of South Dakota's  rural children live in poverty. Its rural childhood poverty rate is twice that of the state’s large urban areas, writes Traxler. “There are hundreds of studies out there that show that poverty and food insecurity issues have long-term effects on children and their mental and physical development,” said Jon Bailey, the director for rural research and analysis for the Center for Rural Affairs. “We have a large segment of the population that we are dooming to a life of reduced development, both mentally and physically.”

The report was compiled by Bailey and South Dakota State University graduate Kim Preston, both of whom lead rural research and analysis for the CFRA, a private, nonprofit organization based in Lyons, Neb., examining socioeconomic issues in rural America. Bailey said a high level of poverty on South Dakota’s Indian reservations is a contributing factor to South Dakota’s ranking.

Entrepreneur offers prize to university with best economic plan for Eastern Kentucky coal counties

A leading Kentucky-based entrepreneur has started a contest among three of the state's universities to develop the best plan to foster innovation, economic development and entrepreneurship in nine Eastern Kentucky Coal Field counties that are some of the poorest in the nation: Bell, Floyd, Harlan, Johnson, Knott, Letcher, Magoffin, Martin and Pike.

Pearse Lyons, left, president of Alltech, a global animal health and nutrition company, announced the competition during his company's annual international symposium in Lexington. He is offering a $20,000 prize for the business school with best plan among those developed by the University of Kentucky, the University of Louisville and the University of Pikeville, a private school in Eastern Kentucky that is headed by former Gov. Paul Patton.

"Teams will be chosen by university officials and are expected to be made up primarily of MBA students and a select number of undergraduates," an Alltech press release said. The competition will start in November 2012 and end in January 2013, "when the students will present their final plans to a panel of venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and business leaders." (Read more)

Welfare drug-testing bills fly in many states, despite questionable savings and legality

Oklahoma and Tennessee have become the two most recent states to require drug testing of people applying for welfare benefits, though the legality of such measures is still unclear, reports Pamela Prah of Stateline. Legislators in at least 28 states proposed such measures this year, with Utah and Georgia passing laws requiring some form of drug testing before an application for benefits is complete.

Legislators say the laws will reduce welfare fraud and save money, but the constitutionality of the measures and whether they will actually save money is uncertain, Prah reports. Last year Florida passed a welfare drug-testing law that required applicants to pay for the test. That law has been challenged and is "working its way through the courts" now, reports Prah. (Read more)

As coal output falls, officials worry about severance-tax money, but Ky. scholarship idea stays afloat

Officials in Appalachian states are worried that they won't receive as much money from coal severance taxes as expected because of the predicted decline in Central Appalachian coal production, but that hasn't stopped some Kentucky officials from proposing that severance-tax money be used to pay for scholarships to colleges in the region.

Severance taxes have long been a source of consistent funding for coal-producing counties, but "with so many coal companies citing lower levels of coal sales than in years past, the amount of coal severance tax collected could be lower than normal," Bailey Richards of the Hazard Herald reports. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, coal production for March 2012 was "down by almost 15 percent from the past two years," Richards writes. General tax collections in West Virginia were below the initial estimate for the second consecutive month, in part because it received $16 million less in coal severance funding, The Associated Press reports.

In Western Kentucky, which has part of the separate Illinois Basin coalfield, officials in Henderson say they won't be able to complete local community improvement projects if there's a decline in severance-tax funds, reports Frank Boyett of The Gleaner.

A plan to use Kentucky severance-tax dollars for college scholarships in all coal-producing counties died in the legislature this year, the University of Pikeville and the University of the Cumberlands are trying to keep the idea alive administratively for Eastern Kentucky, the Lexington Herald-Leader reports. The schools are "vying for Gov. Steve Beshear's approval through the Department for Local Government, which distributes grants funded by coal severance money," Blackford writes.

UPike President Paul Patton, a former governor, and House Speaker Greg Stumbo originally proposed adding the school to the state system; the scholarship idea was a fallback plan. However, the plans conflict; only nine counties would benefit from the proposal of UPike, which is in the state's easternmost county, while 25 would be covered by the plan of Cumberlands, which is in Williamsburg along Interstate 75 near the Tennessee border. (Read more)

Writer documents rural California, tries to bridge urban-rural divide in state

In March 2011, writer and photographer Lisa Hamilton received a Creative Work Fund grant to travel to the rural areas of California "to tell stories that would help bridge the cultural divide between the rural and urban parts of the state," Columbia Journalism Review reports. She wanted to talk about health issues facing rural residents, but as her road trip progressed, she found the need to tell a different story.

"Before I could start talking about peoples’ complicated relationships to, say, water, I had to first establish that there are all kinds of different people in the state who have all kinds of different relationships to water. And I needed to do it using the language of stories, not the language of issues," she told CJR. She said most urban Californians had very little knowledge about the rural areas of the state and she had to "introduce people to rural California."

Photo by Hamilton: Rancher-poet Linda Hussa

Hamilton told the stories of the people she met through a mix of writing and photography. "I was challenged to be a witness," she said. "I had to sit with that person and try to understand him or her, and get the person to trust me and let me in enough to photograph in a way that tells more of a story than that initial boring appearance can tell."

She created RealRural.org as a repository for the stories she collected, and explains on the blog that it's meant to start conversation between rural and urban California, two parts of that state "that are at best disconnected, and often at odds." She says most urban Californians think they know everything about rural residents, but she has "aimed to demonstrate that in fact this place and its people are far more diverse and dynamic than most of us from outside realize." (Read more)

Enviros sue Forest Service for data on how it will keep white-nose syndrome out of Northern Rockies

The Center for Biological Diversity is suing the U.S. Forest Service to get documents about how the agency plans to keep white-nose syndrome from reaching bats in the northern Rocky Mountains, reports Matt Volz of The Associated Press. The environmental group says the agency has taken no action to prevent spread of the disease into Montana, Idaho, Washington, and North and South Dakota.

The center's Mollie Matteson said action must be taken now to prevent spread of the disease into the Northern Rockies even though it's not yet been documented there. "We don’t know when white-nose syndrome might show up in the West, but it behooves all land managers to take all the steps they can to make sure it doesn’t happen," Matteson said. Volz reports caves and old mines have been closed in parts of Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, Nebraska an South Dakota to prevent spread of the disease to those areas, but nothing has been closed in the Northern Rockies.

Forest Service media coordinator Phil Sammon said the agency could not comment on pending litigation, but added several measures to stave disease spread are pending in the northern region. None of the measures have been approved yet.

Researchers and scientists now know that the disease hitchhiked from Europe into the U.S. Humans can't contract the disease, but they can spread it by spores attached to their clothes or shoes. It's estimated the disease has killed about 7 million bats in the eastern U.S. so far by waking bats from hibernation and forcing them to search for food in winter. They die when they find no food. (Read more)

Rural computer-assisted reporting workshop held; apply for free fellowships for Investigative Reporters and Editors' next 6-day CAR Boot Camp by June 22

The R-CAR program for rural computer-assisted reporting held its second workshop May 18-20 at the University of Kentucky, where journalists from five states and Washington, D.C., learned CAR or expanded their skills with training from Investigative Reporters and Editors. This was the second Rural Computer-Assisted Reporting Investigate Mini-Boot Camp, funded by the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation; the first was last October at East Tennessee State University. Here's a short video about the latest workshop, produced by UK journalism professor Buck Ryan:

The R-CAR program was started with a gift to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues from Daniel Gilbert, a Wall Street Journal energy reporter who won a Pulitzer Prize for the Bristol Herald Courier in 2010 with his reporting on state and energy-company mismanagement of pooled natural-gas royalties in Southwest Virginia. He donated his $10,000 prize from another contest, the Scripps Howard Awards, to the Institute's endowment to create a fund that sends journalists to IRE's six-day CAR boot camp, at which he learned the skills that enabled him to do the series. The Scripps Howard Foundation matched his gift, and the state of Kentucky matched both, creating a $40,000 fund that generates enough earnings to sponsor two journalists each year. (Read more)

Kate Martin of the Skagit Valley Herald in Mt. Vernon, Wash., was the inaugural boot-camp fellow. Thanks to the boot camp, she says, "I am no longer at the mercy of my sources to look up a figure or fact for me. I can have them send me the source file and work with it on my own." IRE's next boot camp will be held in Columbia, Mo., Aug. 5-10. Applications for the R-CAR fellowships to the boot camps should be submitted to IRE by June 22. To download the application, click here.

The numbers tell the stories: Rural trauma is more likely fatal, and rural health has chronic problems

Here are stories that can be told in almost any state, just with different data: Georgia Rural Health Association Executive Director Matt Caseman writes that you are more likely to die if you suffer a traumatic injury in rural Georgia than if it's in a metropolitan area. He says 67 of Georgia's 159 counties do not have a surgeon, and 115 do not have a neurologist.

"More than 1 million Georgians live at least 50 miles from a Level 1 trauma center — the kind that handles the most serious cases. That distance makes it virtually impossible to get them to such a facility within the 'golden hour' — the period after a major trauma accident when emergency responders have the greatest chance to save a life," Caseman writes for Georgia's Saporta Report. "In metro Atlanta, there’s one fatality in every 339 accidents. In rural Georgia, it’s one fatality in every 74 accidents."

More broadly, Caseman also notes that 65 Georgia counties don't have a pediatrician, 68 don't have a gynecologist, and rural Georgians are more likely to be uninsured or under-insured and suffer from heart disease, diabetes, obesity and cancer. He explains that rural populations are older, so they have greater health care needs, and rural Georgians are more likely self-employed, so they pay more for health insurance and don't go to the doctor so often. And more rural Georgians are on Medicaid.

Caseman has counterparts in every state, and they are members of the National Rural Health Association. All are good sources of information about rural health; so is the federal Office of Rural Health Policy.

Healthy foods are not necessarily more expensive than unhealthy ones, USDA study explains

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has released a report stating that healthier foods aren't necessarily more expensive than unhealthy foods. The costs per calorie of fruits, vegetables and dairy products is higher than those of healthier foods, but when figured by weight or average portion size, healthier foods cost about the same as foods high in sodium, added sugars or fat, according to the report.

Economic Research Service researchers categorized more than 4,000 foods into one of the USDA food groups, mixed dishes or "less healthy" food. Less healthy foods included canned foods, fruit-flavored yogurt and soda. "We found that the price measure used has a large effect on which foods are more expensive," the researchers wrote. For a report from Lisa Keefe of Meatingplace, click here.

Despite industry ads to the contrary, W.Va. coal employment has grown since Obama was elected

Ken Ward Jr. of The Charleston Gazette writes in his Coal Tattoo blog that a policy center funded by foundations and labor unions is trying to set the record straight about coal and President Obama's coal record in that state, partly in response to industry efforts to blame the president for loss of coal jobs.  (Gazette photo: FACES of Coal billboard) 

The West Virginia Center for Budget and Policy's Ted Boettner notes, "While the Obama administration and the EPA may be taking a harder look at mountaintop-removal mining permits, a quick look at coal-mining employment in West Virginia reveals that since Obama took office in the winter of 2009 coal mining employment has grown by over 1,500 jobs or by 7.4 percent. If we measure from the end of the national recession in June 2009 (or the second quarter of 2009) to the third quarter of 2011 (the latest available data), employment in the coal mining industry has grown by 3,100. For comparison, total employment in West Virginia has only grown by 2.9 percent over this period." (Read more, with further links.)

Boettner writes that Obama may have little to do with the upswing. That has more to do with the price of coal, a steady decline in productivity and market volatility. But, he adds, any downward change in coal employment numbers in 2012 won't be then Obama's fault, either.

Rural economy in Midwest, Plains keeps growing

The rural economy in the Midwest and Great Plains continued to grow this month, despite a decrease in farmland prices for the second month in a row, reports Ross Boettcher of the Omaha World-Herald. The Rural Mainstreet Index, based on a Creighton University survey of rural bankers, measures the growth of rural economy in an 11-state region. On a scale from 1 to 100, with numbers over 50 representing economic growth, the May index for the region was 58.5, compared to 57.1 in April.

Bankers across the region said loan demand from farmers continues to increase while checking deposits decreased. This means that for every $1 deposited, 64 cents was loaned. The hiring index in the states was "essentially flat," reports Boettcher, and some states fared better than others, with Iowa's index increasing to 60.2 percent from 58.3 last month. Nebraska's index fell, though, from 52.2 to 50.1. (Read more)

USPS's proposed rural post-office hours highlighted in new interactive map

The U.S. Postal Service announced its new plan for rural post offices last week that will affect almost 13,000 offices nationwide. The agency will host community meetings in rural areas in the coming months to discuss with residents options for their offices: replace it with a "village post office," or postal counter inside a private business, close the office and rely on rural delivery, or keep the office open with reduced hours -- to six, four or two.

Steve Hutkins of Save the Post Office provides a link to an interactive Google map and table that can be accessed here. The map shows the proposed reduced hours of operation at all the rural offices in question.  Hutkins also provides instructions about the various way to use the map.


Screenshot of Google map

The USPS announced yesterday it would start consolidating 48 mail processing centers in July. It would consolidate an additional 92 in February, and another 89 early in 2014, reports Ron Nixon of The New York Times. The agency expects to save $2.1 billion when the consolidations are complete in 2014. In all, about 28,000 positions will be eliminated because of the consolidations.

Appalachian coal production continues to falter

One of the largest coal mining companies operating in Central Appalachia reported first quarter losses on Appalachian coal operations. Arch Coal lost about 41 cents per ton of coal it mined, and Appalachia was the only region among the four where the company mines in which it had a los. Arch reported first quarter earnings of $1.2 million in the region, compared to $55.6 million last year.

Arch CEO John Eaves told WVNS-TV the "severe weakness in U.S. thermal coal markets" had a big impact on first quarter earnings, and has caused the company to reset its 2012 earning expectations. He also said the company is "furthering curtailing" of its production. Arch has recently closed five operations in Appalachia, eliminating about 500 jobs.

Another factor is the rise of natural gas production, the cost of which continues to drop. It also may reflect what many within the industry have come to accept: the increasing difficulty of mining Appalachian coal reserves. (Read more)

Federal whistleblower committee will help workers understand their rights

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced this week its intention to create a Whistleblower Protection Advisory Committee to help workers better understand their rights as whistleblowers. Dani Friedland of Meatingplace reports the committee will "advise, consult with and make recommendations on ways to improve efficiency, effectiveness and transparency" of the agency's whistleblower protections.

"Workers who expose securities and financial fraud, adulterated foods, air and water pollution, or workplace safety hazards have a legal right to speak out without fear of retaliation, and the laws that protect these whistleblowers also protect the health, safety and well-being of all Americans," David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health, said in a statement. OSHA enforces whistleblower provisions that protect employees who report workplace violations in various sectors of American economy. (Read more)

Warren Buffett buys 63 newspapers, most of them community weeklies

Billionaire Warren Buffett is now one of the largest newspaper publishers in the U.S., and one of the larger community publishers. His company, Berkshire Hathaway Inc, bought most of Media General Inc.'s papers for $142 million this week, giving his conglomerate 17 daily and 46 weekly newspapers. Buffett said he made the deal because "there is no more important institution than the local paper" in small communities, and most of the newspapers his company bought serve small communities. He told shareholders he still views newspapers "as the primary source for local information," Reuters reports.

The deal gives Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary BH Media Group newspapers in the Southeast, including the Richmond Times-Dispatch, and three other Virginia papers: The News & Advance, New Era-Progress and Nelson County Times. Most of the papers acquired by the company are in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Alabama, reports The News & Advance, of Lynchburg. Last year Buffett bought the Omaha World-Herald, for which he was one a paperboy. He also owns the Buffalo News and is a major shareholder of The Washington Post Co. For the World-Herald's story, with a list of the daily papers being bought, go here.

Benchmark Capital analyst Edward Atorino told Reuters that "Berkshire Hathaway is clearly taking a vote of confidence in small-town local newspapers" because they didn't buy Media General's struggling Tampa Tribune, which is a large daily in a limited competition with the foundation-owned Tampa Bay Times, formerly the St. Petersburg Times.

It may seem hard for some to understand Buffett's investment in what many have said is a dying industry, but Jeff John Roberts of Paid Content says the deal makes a lot of sense for Buffett, who will make much money from the deal. The deal establishes a loan and credit line to Media General in which Berkshire Hathaway will earn 10.5 percent, and Roberts says the lack of competition, both in print and online, for small community newspapers keeps them profitable. (Read more)

UPDATE, May 21: Channeling Bill Freehling in the Free-Lance Star of Fredericksburg, Va., and others, Andrew Beaujon of the Poynter Institute gives other reasons for Buffett's purchase, and those of newspapers by other wealthy people.

The news was greeted with enthusiasm in Bristol, Tenn.-Va., where the Bristol Herald Courier won the Pulitzer Prize for public service in 2010. Virginia-side City Manager Dewey Cashwell told the paper, "This is like Zeus coming down from Olympus." (Read more)

American Farmland Trust economist warns of forces that could create 'a new Dust Bowl'

Former USDA Economic Research Service Administrator Katherine Smith warned in Washington Wednesday that political and market forces could combine to create a “perfect storm” of elements that could contribute to a new Dust Bowl in parts of the Great Plains. Jim Webster, writing for Agri-Pulse, notes that Smith, who is now chief economist for the American Farmland Trust, pointed to three principal elements as harbingers for the coming storm: "an increase in tillage of cropland to combat herbicide-resistant weeds, the economic incentives of high market prices for major program crops and the likely cutback in USDA conservation program payments to farmer's after budget cuts in the next Farm Bill." (Read more)

Univ. of Nebraska to launch Rural Futures Institute

"University of Nebraska researchers believe they’re building an infrastructure that will help revitalize rural parts of their state that, in many cases, have been shedding residents for half a century or more," Mitch Smith writes for Inside Higher Ed.

UNL has announced its intent to create an institute that would draw expertise from across Nebraska and beyond to improve those communities. The Rural Futures Institute is set to launch in September, reports Kevin Abourezk of the Lincoln Journal-Star. The institute initially plans to use $1.5 million in existing funds to get started. 

The institute will be “focused on a problem, a problem very important to Nebraska but [that] has implications above and beyond Nebraska,” said Ronnie Green, vice chancellor of the school's Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources. The rural futures institute would encompass many disciplines: “You’re talking about health, nutrition, business development, telecommunications systems,” said Green. A conference on improving rural communities last week in Lincoln drew 475 people from 29 states and several foreign countries.

Newspaper series focuses on water crisis looming for 30 million dependent on the Colorado River

The West is fast running out of water. Its lifeblood, the Colorado River, reports Utah's Deseret News, "is being hemorrhaged by cities, by farms and ranches, by power plants and by the more than 30 million people who depend on its water in the United States and another 6 million people in Mexico." (Photo of the Colorado River in Southern Utah by Tom Smart)

In a three-part series aimed at explaining the extent of the crisis, reporter Amy Joi Donoghue writes that this year's flows "are near historic lows with runoff about a third of average, pushing the seven states that share the river toward another year of drought." And, continues Donoghue, "Those stresses are further trumped by the dire predictions provided by the agency managing the Colorado River system, forecasting demand far outstripping supply during the next 50 years, reaching crisis levels within two decades. It reveals a coming tug-of-war over water resources that may pit state against state in the fight for new development, jobs, housing and force an answer to one of the West's most enduring questions: Who is entitled to the water?" (Read more)

More problems facing the region is offered by Jodi Peterson, writing in The Goat Blog on the High Country News website:
1) A U.S. Geological Survey study predicts that within 15 years, the population in the region served by the river will increase to 45 million.
2) By 2050, climate change will warm the basin and dry out its soil to an extent not seen since the 1930s Dust Bowl.
3) By the end of this century, the basin will see a 20 percent decrease in runoff, thanks to warming temperatures and earlier spring runoff.
4) Snowpack across the basin was well below average this year, less than half of normal.
Severe, even record-setting drought is foreseen for Utah, Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico. (Read more)

Alabama legislature adds public-notice feature to immigration law, keeping its core in face of U.S. suit

The Alabama legislature on Wednesday tinkered with the state’s controversial immigration law, keeping certain portions intact and adding a new provision that would require publication of the names of undocumented immigrants who appear in court, even if they are eventually acquitted of the crime, reports Bryan Lyman of the Montgomery Advertiser. The bill now goes to Republican Gov. Robert Bentley to sign.

The bill kept in place the measure that has generated the most controversy: the requirement that police verify the immigration status of anyone they suspect of being in the country illegally. The law drew a suit from the U.S. Justice Department last year. Politico's Tim Mak provides the legal lay-of-the-land since: "In October, a federal appeals court temporarily blocked parts of the law that would require schools to verify the immigration status of students. The U.S. Supreme Court is currently waiting to rule on a case challenging a similar immigration law in Arizona. That case was heard in April. It was not immediately clear what the legal impact of the tweaks to Alabama’s law will be in regard to the legal action underway against the state."

Charges against coal mining giant whose crimes killed 29 get little national coverage -- why?

Robin L. Barton of The Crime Report wonders out loud why "if someone, say, gunned down 29 people in a mall or blew up 29 people in an act of terrorism, there would be tons of press surrounding both the crime itself and the progress of the resulting criminal charges ... but corporate crimes, even the ones involving the deaths of workers, don't seem to be treated like 'real' crimes." She's talking about the crime of allowing illegal and hazardous conditions to persist in violation of federal minimal safety standards at the Upper Big Branch mine. The coal mine, owned by Massey Energy, exploded on April 5, 2010, causing the deaths of 29 miners. Barton points to criminal conspiracy charges against a mine supervisor to hide fraudulent record books from federal investigators looking into the disaster. The resulting behavior was deemed so heinous that it resulted a record $209 million in fines and compensation to the families of the dead and injured.

Continuing investigations and more criminal charges are possible. And, yet, marvels the former Manhattan district attorney, every step along the way -- every indictment, every trial, every twist and turn -- the local media like The Charleston Gazette has followed but the nation's biggest mouthpieces have not. She compares this to the coverage given the killing of Trayvon Martin, and wonders where the outrage for the 29 dead in West Virginia is.

Barton writes: "Given the current climate of anger and resentment toward Wall Street and big business, you’d think the public would rally against an employer believed to have wantonly endangered its workforce to benefit the bottom line." She fears corporate safety crime, is not "sexy enough." Or journalists are too overworked. Still, "maybe the public would have protested -- if they were more aware of Massey’s conduct."

Oil industry chief says 15% ethanol-gas blend bad for cars; renewable fuel folks call that 'bad science'

DesMoinesRegister.com's Dan Piller writes that the American Petroleum Institute president and CEO Jack Gerard contended Wednesday that studies by the Coordinating Research Council have shown that gasoline with 15 percent ethanol could damage vehicle engines. This follows Gerard's criticism last year of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's decision to expand the blend limit of ethanol to unleaded gasoline for vehicle use from 10 percent to 15 percent. He called those decisions "premature and irresponsible.” The agency "approved E15 knowing ongoing vehicle testing had not been completed. Worse ... it approved the fuel even though government labs had raised red flags about the compatibility of E15 with much of the dispensing and storage infrastructure at our nation’s gas stations.”

 Monte Shaw of the Iowa Renewable Renewable Fuels Association said the study is “just bad science.” “What they did was use a very aggressive form of ethanol blend, about a 17 percent blend, and didn’t use the 10 percent blend as a baseline,” said Shaw. “So you don’t know how much of that engine damage might have happened anyway.” The EPA’s approval was for automobiles of the 2001 model year or later. The API, which represents the largest oil companies, opposed the expansion of the ethanol blend. About 10 percent of the gasoline used in the U.S. now is made up of the ethanol blend. (Read more.)

The Coordinated Research Council, known as the CRC, is a non-profit research and testing organization made up of the automobile and oil companies. Piller writes that Gerard spoke to the larger issue of the widening gulf between the petroleum industry and the biofuels industry. Federal law requires blending of increasing amounts of biofuels in gasoline, and most of the gasoline now sold in America has ethanol in it.

People with college degrees increasingly cluster, but not in rural areas; bad for rural economies

College-educated people in this country used to be more equally distributed in this country, reports the Daily Yonder. And while the percentage of people in the U.S. who have a college degree has increased dramatically in both rural and urban areas since 1970, those with college degrees are clustering in some counties and not others. This diversity is a demographic divide with serious economic consequences.

The map below shows the distribution of adults (those over 25 years of age) who had a four-year college degree in 2010, when 27.9 percent of U.S. adults had such degrees. The counties in blue had a higher percentage; those in red were at the national average or below.

The map below is for 1970, when 10.7 percent of U.S. adults had a college degree.

“Obviously education is important for the individual, but it’s also important for the community,” said Mark Partridge, a rural economist at Ohio State University. “The higher share of your population that has a bachelors degree, the higher the income of the population. It's good for raising employment growth and wages for everyone." There is a self-reinforcing pattern, write Bill Bishop of the Yonder and Roberto Gallardo of the Southern Rural Development Center. "Companies increasingly need college-educated workers and so they thrive in places where there are more people with college degrees. As these firms expand, they attract more college graduates into the community — and that in turn spurs development dependent on a highly-educated workforce." 

House votes to de-fund American Community Survey as tea-party forces raise privacy issue

Last week the U.S. House, with the votes of most Republicans and four Democrats, passed an amendment to cease funding the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. The survey is a continuous update of American's economic, demographic and housing data, as described by homeowners, and, explains The New York Times, "is widely considered a vital tool for business decision makers." In 2006, the Republican-led House touted the ACS program as good for business and communities, yet now sees it as "an unconstitutional breach of privacy." It's an example of the influence of the tea party, which sent dozens of Republicans to the House in 2010.

The Washington Post notes, "The decennial census paints a portrait of the country only in very broad strokes — and only every 10 years, at that. Information from the survey generates data that help determine how more than $400 billion in federal and state funds are distributed each year, according to the Census Bureau." UPDATE, May 22: "It is unclear what data the federal government would use to allocate billions in grant money, if the survey is discontinued," Christine Vestal of Stateline reports.

In rural counties, a 2009 Census Bureau report explained, a consortium of human services agencies use ACS data on age, poverty, disability and access to transportation to examine issues of health, aging and rural poverty. They use ACS data to compete for a variety of human services grants and loans. Local public health departments can use the data -- age, race/ethnicity, poverty, education level of parents and single parents) as key indicators of populations at risk for diabetes and asthma. They can help target education and intervention programs through community organizations and school systems. The data can also help evaluate the need and supply of affordable housing.

Arizona governor vetoes bill to take over federal land, calls it unconstitutional and costly

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed legislation Monday that would have allowed the try to state to take public land from the federal government, a fight that several Western states talked about but that only Utah, so far, has decided to wage. Robert Gehrke of The Salt Lake Tribune reports that Brewer, well-known as a feisty conservative, informed legislators that the bill appeared to be "not reconcilable" with the U.S. Constitution and Arizona’s Enabling Act and that it would create uncertainty for holders of leases on federal lands.

Gehrke writes that the governor also pointed out, "If Congress were to transfer control of the land to the state, Arizona would be on the hook for up to $23 million in costs to manage the land, and that it is premature to put fixed dates for action into statute until the state has met its other funding needs. "As a staunch advocate for state sovereignty, we still must be mindful and respectful of our federal system," Brewer wrote. "I understand and share Arizona’s frustration in trying to manage our natural resources with our various partners; however, this legislation is not the answer."

In short, Gehrke notes, "Brewer relied on the same arguments that opponents of similar legislation in Utah raised when the bill demanding Congress turn over nearly 30 million acres of federal land passed the Legislature and was signed by Gov. Gary Herbert." (Read more.)

College visits and test-prep workshops are the most help to rural students who want to attend college

College visits and workshops to prepare for exams like the American College Test seem to make the biggest difference in rural students' college enrollment rates, a new Mississippi State University study shows. The study was published in The Rural Educator, which is the official journal of the National Rural Education Association.

Researchers found campus visits and ACT workshops were overwhelmingly the factors with the most impact on college enrollment, reports Diette Courrege on Education Week's Rural Education blog. Rural students' average college-enrollment rate of 27 percent is far lower than the national average of 34 percent, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

Leaders of grant projects to increase college enrollment among rural students in rural Appalachian counties were asked to participate in the study. They listed several factors that didn't affect college-going of rural youth, but Courrege reports there's no common theme among them, which she wrote was surprising because other studies have found that financial aid, unpreparedness and low parental encouragement as barriers. (Read more)

High school yearbook story about gay teen creates controversy in Tennessee town

A Tennessee town has been wracked with controversy after an article about a gay high school student was published in the Lenoir City High School yearbook, reports Jeremy Styron of the local News-Herald. "It's O.K. To Be Gay," about student Zac Mitchell, left, and his experience of coming out in a small town, is part of a series of short stories about various aspects of student life.

Principal Steve Millsaps said most community response to the article has been negative, and deferred further comment to School Superintendent Wayne Miller, who wouldn't comment, Styron reported. Dueling Facebook groups were established in support of the article and against it. Lenoir City is in Loudon County, just southwest of Knoxville.

School board member Glenn McNish Sr. told Styron he didn't "think that that type of material has any place in a yearbook." Last week, the board "promised parents and residents that a full investigation will be conducted into the publication," Michael Patrick of the Knoxville News-Sentinel reports. Chair Rosemary Quillen said "All of us are working toward a permanent solution so that situations like this never happen again." Patrick reports, "Journalism teacher James Yoakley, who supervises the school newspaper and yearbook . . . has said that he believes in allowing the students to direct the production of the yearbook." For the News-Sentinel's first story on the issue, go here.

Styron's story included a comparison: "Conspicuously absent from the dialogue about the yearbook was another that appeared in the annual titled, 'Don't Stare,' in which another student recalls how her numerous piercings and tattoos enable her to more fully express herself." (Read more)

EPA will appeal ruling that upheld permits for largest mountaintop-removal mine

U.S. Department of Justice officials filed notice last week that the Environmental Protection Agency will challenge a judge's decision that overturned the agency's veto of permits for what would be the largest mountaintop removal coal mine, Ken Ward Jr. of The Charleston Gazette reports.

Judge Amy Berman Jackson ruled the EPA had no authority to withdraw the Clean Water Act "dredge and fill" permit that had been issued by the Army Corps of Engineers. Environmental and social justice groups have been trying to stop the Spruce Mine since 1998, when it was first proposed. The "dredge and fill" permit was approved by the Corps in 2007 in a "scaled-back" version that would fill more than seven miles of streams, Ward reports.

EPA revoked the permits to Arch Coal Inc. for the mine in Logan County, saying they did not fully consider how mining would damage streams. The agency's appeal goes to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. (Read more)

Meat industry needs better communication skills, especially social media, expert says

A corporate communications coach has said the meat processing industry needs to better communicate its actions to the public in times of recalls or media crises, reports Tom Johnston of Meatingplace. Gene Grabowski, president of Levic Strategic Communications, said the industry "has a lot to learn about communicating its issues."

He told Johnston the industry was tested this year after the lean finely textured beef controversy was largely created by intense media coverage calling the product "pink slime." That debacle taught the industry "a harsh lesson about the need for meat processors to more quickly communicate their message," Johnston reports. Grabowski said it's "crucial" for processors to participate in social media because customers prefer that method over traditional forms of communication. (Read more)

On Silas House's radio show, Ashley Judd discusses her response to media treatment of her 'puffy face'

Photo by Richard Drew

When the media sent discussions of Ashley Judd's "puffy face" into a viral tailwind earlier this year, the actress responded with an opinion piece defending herself and chastising the media for over-sexualization of women and girls. That piece was quickly swept up into the viral frenzy and received much media attention in its own right. 

The self-proclaimed feminist, activist, humanitarian and Eastern Kentucky native spoke about the episode with Appalachian Kentucky author Silas House on his "Hillbilly Solid" radio show, which aired on WUKY-FM in Lexington last night. She said the piece was a "deeply personal" and private writing she never meant to publicly share. She had "abstained" from media coverage about herself for 10 years, but after her husband, Indy-car driver Dario Fanchitti, encouraged her to read the coverage and demand an apology from the media, she read it, and started writing. 

"I spent a lot of time under a redbud tree, as one should, and wrote it in 20 to 30 minutes," Judd said. She sent the piece to Maureen Dowd of The New York Times, who declined to print it. The Daily Beast picked up the piece and soon it was making the rounds on social networking websites. 

"A lot of people were astonished by the essay because they didn't expect those ideas to come from me," Judd said, adding that she's thought those ideas since her undergraduate career at the University of Kentucky. She said she can't help but notice the "very gendered nature" in which products and movies are advertised and that the over-sexualization and objectification of girls and women "absolutely appalls and disgusts" her. 

The response to the essay was overwhelmingly positive. "I've never been a part of anything like it," Judd said. She insisted the treatment she received from the media is not just something public figures go through, but is something all girls and women experience. "The patriarchy is a system in which we all participate, either willingly or unwillingly," she said, adding that everyone should make themselves more aware of how women and girls are treated in our human society. 

Monsanto gets a lot of attention in one bundle today, including gift for agricultural communications chair

The Society of Environmental Journalists gathered a few stories about the multinational biotechnology firm Monsanto Corp. in its headline digest today. In the roundup, the journalism group highlighted current reportage from international and domestic sources. The topics range from the St. Louis-based company saying it has new herbicides for "superweeds," to its funding of a University of Illinois agricultural communications chair, to revealing details about how much the company spends lobbying Washington to approve genetically modified seeds and other decisions that help it.

Monsanto and the university say the goal of the endowed chair "is to help graduates better convey the challenges and technologies of modern farming -- which, the agriculture business believes, aren't reaching the American public," the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. "The university's new position comes as the agriculture industry is going on the offensive, waging a public relations campaign to win the hearts of American consumers who are increasingly distrustful of large-scale agriculture and concerned about the lack of transparency in the food system."

The university said the company won't influence who is hired and what is taught, but Ken Cook of the Environmental Working Group, who spoke at the univresity's first agricultural communications symposium last year, told the Post-Dispatch, "If you're concerned about presenting a view from a corporate standpoint, the demise of journalism is great news. My fear is that this is another way for Monsanto and big companies to begin to influence, quote, 'ag communications.' I didn't speak to any student while I was at that conference who was interested in becoming a journalist."

"Too often, 'agricultural communications' does not mean journalism, but public relations for agribusiness, sometimes masquerading as journalism," said Al Cross, director of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, publisher of The Rural Blog. The institute is based at the University of Kentucky, one of many schools with a major in ag communications. It's in the UK College of Agriculture, not the School of Journalism and Telecommunications, where Cross works. At Illinois, the chair "will run a recently formalized degree program between the university's College of Media and College of Agriculture, Consumer and Environmental Sciences," the Post-Dispatch reports.

Here's another Monsanto link: our story reporting that Derry Brownfield, who founded and sold a radio network for Midwest agricultural and rural news, was taken off the network and sister networks because of repeated rants against Monsanto's restrictive seed-corn patents and fears by the network's owners that the company would reduce its advertising. "He thought they were bad for farmers, too big for their britches and generally bad for America," said Clyde Lear, who co-founded the network with Brownfield and fired him. Brownfield's obituary is here.

Census: Military veterans disproportionately live in rural settings; lowest percentage in N.Y., D.C., L.A.

The Daily Yonder reports that military veterans disproportionately live in rural communities or exurbia (in towns that lie outside of urban areas but beyond suburbia, in rural settings). And, according to U.S. Census Bureau data, those veterans who do live in cities are much more likely to live in smaller urban areas.

New York, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles have among the lowest percentage of veterans in the population of any of the nation’s counties.

Rural and exurban counties make up 30.6 percent of the nation’s 22.6 million veterans. But these same counties represent just 25.9 percent of all residents over 18 years of age. Military veterans are 11.7 percent of the adult populations in rural and exurban counties. In urban counties, however, vets are 9.3 percent of those over 18.

Noted farm journalist Stewart Doan dies at 52

Stewart Doan, senior editor at Agri-Pulse Communications Inc., died unexpectedly Thursday, May 10. He was 52. He is survived by his wife, Leslie, and daughters, Lauren, 19, and Sara, 15.

Agri-Pulse Editor and Publisher Sara Wyant noted Doan's "incredible work ethic and dedication," indicating that he had called her from the ambulance on Friday to let her know he would not be able to finish his assignments for the day. "He always thought of others first," she wrote.

Doan was born in Cynthiana, Ky., and for more than 30 years he covered agricultural news for a variety of media, beginning with radio. He was considered the premier cotton and rice journalist in the nation, Wyant writes. Based in Arkansas, he was no stranger to Washington. He was president of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting in 1998 and was recognized by the National Cotton Council, the USA Rice Federation and the Arkansas Farm Bureau for his reporting on a wide range of agricultural policy issues.

House Agriculture Committee Chair Frank Lucas spoke Friday of Doan's passing: "Beyond being a talented journalist and broadcaster, Stewart was a quality person. His passing is a tremendous loss to all of us who appreciated and respected his fair storytelling and analysis. His brand of reporting on farm policy and his role in our community will be missed. My thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends and colleagues." 

Agri-Pulse has established a fund to help for the college education of Doan's children. To contribute, checks should be made out to Stewart Doan's Children's College Fund and mailed to Peoples Bank, 20409 Arch Street, Little Rock, AR 72206. Or you can contribute online at this link. 

Here is a link for a list of proposed hourly changes for specific rural post offices under new plan

A list of each post office affected in the recently announced United States Postal Service plan to reduce hours at 13,000 rural post offices announced May 9, 2012 is now available.

An explanation of the plan, provided by Save the Post Office is available here. To see a history of the plan, scroll the Save the Post Office website for more coverage.

Small Vermont town wrestling over the introduction of a Dollar General to the town common

Vermonters have put up a long and mostly successful fight against any kind of development that they've interpreted as encroaching or threatening the region's unique and historic charm. The New York Times notes that big-box store Target has yet to succeed in getting a story open in the state. Wal-Mart has only four. But Dollar General, Dollar Tree and Family Dollar now have more than two dozen. And that seems to be enough for some in the small town of Chester, Vt., to take a stand against the Dollar General proposed to open in the small town common. (Photo of Chester,

The Dollar General store in question will be a 9,100-square-foot store on South Main Street. So far, the Chester Development Review Board narrowly voted to let it go forward as long as the store agrees to 35 conditions, including, reports Abby Goodnough, "that is use wood clapboard siding and keep its shopping carts inside."

Goodnough writes that chief opponent Shawn Cunningham is concerned about the town's tourism-based economy, its historic character and that Chester (pop: 3,000) will lose its Vermontiness." Most of the people in Chester now are people who have come from someplace else," Cunningham said. "It's like a lot of Vermont. Why come to a place like this only to have it turn into the kind of place you were trying to leave?"

Cunningham's group could cite state laws to appeal the board's appeal on environmental, aesthetic and other criteria. Dollar General, which has its roots in a tiny store founded in 1939 in Scottsville, Ky., has faced opposition before in other states. In Vermont, though, "the state's preservation trust has been tracking the spread of dollar stores since 2010," the Times reports, "and it provides grant money to citizens groups to oppose them, including Mr. Cunningham's."

Institute director, longtime political writer, to give June 22 webinar on covering presidential election

Why should rural news media leave a monumental election for president to the big newspapers and networks when all politics is local? "If dailies rely on The Associated Press, the coverage won’t be localized. If weeklies just stick to local news, they will ignore a major topic of discussion among their readers – who, in the dozen or so swing states, can provide the margin of victory or defeat. And covering the race can help a newspaper’s maintain and build its brand as the most authoritative local source of news and information."

So says Al Cross, right, director of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, who will present a no-holds-barred webinar on Friday, June 22, to help smaller newspapers cover the 2012 presidential election. The webinar will come from Online Media Campus, sponsored by the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association and the Iowa Newspaper Foundation.

During the hour-long event, Cross will explain why AP, as great at it is, can never provide what the local paper can: the meat and potatoes behind the a major topic of discussion on the lips of its readers. Even in non-contested states, there will be much talk about the race, and efforts to associate nominees with candidates in their parties, favorably or unfavorably.

Cross will outline:

• How to identify federal issues that affect your community and where to get reliable information and candidates' positions.
• How to localize the race with reporting on campaign contributions and political activity
• How to keep misleading ads from controlling the conversation
• How to exercise leadership on your editorial page.

Cross came to the Institute in 2004 after a long and distinguished career as a political reporter for The Courier-Journal. He still writes a political column twice a month for the Louisville newspaper and is a commentator on election programming on Kentucky public television and radio. His awards include a share of the 1989 Pulitzer Prize to The Courier-Journal staff for its coverage of the nation's deadliest bus and drunk-driving crash.

The webinar will be held from 2 to 3 p.m. Eastern Time. The cost is $35 and group discounts are available. For more information visit www.OnlineMediaCampus.com, or go here.

Another study finds rural kids less likely to have allergies, asthma; more diverse exposure credited

Earlier this week, we took note of a study that Amish farm children in Indiana and their Swiss farm peers had significantly fewer allergies and less incidence of asthma. Now comes a study from Finland that also suggests rural kids are less likely to develop allergies. (Photo; A biodiverse Finnish forest)

The authors of the Finnish study, reporting their findings in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, say declining biodiversity may be a contributing factor to the chronic rise of allergies and other chronic inflammatory diseases among urban populations worldwide. They add that it is likely that reduced contact with the natural environment is resulting in a poorer immune system.

Susan Perry of The Minnesota Post reports that the study notes children raised in rural areas are exposed to a broader array of friendly microbes, "which may protect their bodies against allergies, asthma and other inflammatory diseases." The researchers proposed that children interact early with the natural environment -- be it in city parks or in rural settings and forests -- for this could be essential for the development of their immune system.

FCC sets $300 million fund to get broadband into rural areas within two years

Let there be broadband. This week, the Federal Communications Commission set up a $300 million Universal Service Mobility Fund. Its sole purpose is to speed up the process by which experienced private sector wireless companies get into rural communities to begin offering wireless service.

Nicole Payola Wood reports for the Daily Yonder that the FCC is going to run "reverse auctions," in which the low-bidder in certain communities will receive government funds for setting up service, thus defraying some of the extra expense of serving remote communities. The bidding period opens next month. Wood writes that winning bidders will have to get service up and running within two years for installing 3G service and three years for the more advanced 4G services that wireless companies offer in most urban areas.

Weed scientists gather in D.C. to address 'plague of super weeds' threatening U.S. crop yields

Weed experts are calling it a "plague of super weeds" that has already spread to more than 12 million acres of U.S. farmland, beginning in the Southeast, and now moving to the corn and soybean regions of the Midwest. Reuters' Carey Gilliam reports that weed scientists met in the nation's capital this week to discuss the problem, which they say will threaten food production by limiting crop yields if not addressed.

"This is a complex problem," weed scientist David Shaw told the national summit of experts, who were set to come up with a plan to battle the problem. The Monsanto herbicide Roundup has been extremely effective for decades but some weeds have developed a strong resistance to the glyphosate-based product. Experts say farmers have been too dependent on chemicals, and a back-to-basics approach is called for.