Hablas español? Rural Virginia school chosen to test innovative online foreign language class

Highland County High School, located in the least populated county in Virginia, faced budget cuts last year that forced the school, which has about 100 students, to eliminate several positions, including the foreign language teacher. That made the school an unlikely but perfect place for the Virginia Department of Education to unveil a prototype Tuesday for online language classes, David Kaplan reports for WDBJ in Roanoke. Virginia students will be the first in the country to use the program, which will be introduced into classes in the fall.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Patricia Wright told Kaplan, "Student's don't always have the same opportunities in these localities as they have in other places." Highland County Principal April Goff said, "We had to reduce our force last year, and we lost our live foreign language teacher. So this online is the only opportunity our students have to earn that advanced diploma and to get their exposure to world languages." (Read more)

Courses for beginning, intermediate and advanced Spanish will be available through the education department's Virtual Virginia online learning program, reports The Associated Press. "Wright says the courses are expected to be especially popular in rural school divisions around Virginia. The courses are based on a nationally recognized series developed by John Conner, a long-time Spanish teacher and current dean of faculty at Groton School in Massachusetts. (Read more)

Studies that used same data differ on changes in obesity among children ages 2 to 5

A pair of studies on childhood obesity that examined the same data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey for children ages 2 to 5 resulted in different conclusions, with one study saying child obesity has significantly declined and the other saying that's not the case, Sabrina Tavernise reports for The New York Times. A federal study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association claims that child obesity in that age group has fallen dramatically since 2004. While researchers at the University of North Carolina don't dispute that claim, they point to a spike in obesity in 2003 that makes it look like numbers have significantly dropped, and that if one goes back to 1999, there has been no significant change in the past 15 years.

The federal study found that obesity among children ages 2 to 5 dropped from 2004 to 2014 from 14 percent to 8 percent, which is "the first statistically significant decline for any group," Tavernise writes. The North Carolina study, published in JAMA Pediatrics, counters that in 1999-2000 the obesity rate among those ages 2 to 5 was 10.3 percent, meaning the drop from 1999 to 2012 was significantly lower than the drop from 2004 to 2012. The rate was 10.6 percent in 2001-02, then jumped to 13.9 percent in 2003-04, before dropping back to 10.7 percent in 2005-06 and 10.1 percent in 2007-08.

“The bottom line is that there is still a huge amount of obesity,” Dr. Jeffrey P. Koplan, a professor of medicine and public health at Emory University in Atlanta, told Tavernise. “There may be isolated, individual places where there are decreases, but it’s very hard to interpret that until you get more data points. From a public health action perspective, this debate doesn’t change anything we might do.” (Read more) (NYT graphic)

Poultry industry objects to NLRB plan to cut time between unionization petitions and elections

A proposed rule by the National Labor Relations Board that would reduce the collective-bargaining election process from 42 days to between 10 and 21 days is drawing opposition from the poultry industry, which claims workers won't have enough time to be properly educated about unions, reports Agri-Pulse, a Washington newsletter: "Supporters claim the current amount of time employers have is being used to essentially 'browbeat' employees into voting against unionization."

The U. S. Poultry & Egg Association, the National Chicken Council and the National Turkey Federation, which "represent 95 percent of the nation’s poultry producers, and their members generate more than 1.3 million U.S. jobs," said the proposed rule would lead to "quickie" and "ambush" elections, Agri-Pulse reports. They say the rule "carries 'the unmistakable appearance of a denial of due process and certainly will serve to increase litigation and delay timely elections rather than speed the election process.'”

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka "argues that the proposed rule is needed to reduce delay in the NLRB election process," Agri-Pulse reports. Trumka told the newsletter, “When workers petition for an NLRB election, they should receive a timely opportunity to vote. But the current NLRB election process is riddled with delay and provides too many opportunities for employers to manipulate and drag out the process through costly and unnecessary litigation and deny workers a vote.” Agri-Pulse is subscription only, but a free trial is available by clicking here.

Midwest farmers prepare for expected drop in income, from lower corn and soybean prices

The federal government estimates that this year's U.S. farm income will drop 26.6 percent from last year as a result of reduced corn and soybean prices. In Iowa, farmers' income will be around $7.4 billion this year, dropping 31 percent from the $10.9 billion record in 2011, Donnelle Eller writes for The Des Moines Register.

Register photo by Charlie Litchfield

"We're figuring our break-even prices pretty closely," said Craig Boot, who farms several hundred acres near Pella. Mike Duffy, an Iowa State University farm economist, said when expected income increases, farmers will more likely replace equipment, but when income is lower, they'll wait. Deere & Co., a large manufacturer, expects a 5 to 10 percent reduction in farm machinery sales this year.

Besides the projected income drop, farmers also worry about drought conditions affecting approximately 75 percent of the state and the undesirably cold temperatures causing a frost. "There are a few planters in yards, but it's been cold enough that most are waiting for soil temperatures to get warmer," said Bill Northey, Iowa's secretary of agriculture.

"As much of the nation shifts to adding soybean acres, many Iowa farmers say they're sticking with their typical rotation schedule," Eller writes. "Experts say the increase of corn and soybean acres represents a return to production land that wasn't planted last year because conditions were too wet."

Iowa farmers plan to plant 400,000 more acres of corn than last year and 300,000 more acres of soybeans. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, only six states other than Iowa will be planting more corn acres than last year. Julius Schaaf, a farmer in southwest Iowa said deciding a price for selling corn and soybeans is the "toughest part of farming."

"Paying attention to the market will be critical this year to maintain profitability on the farm," said Schaaf. "If a person sees some level of profitability, they should be sure to take some of that off the table, to hedge against the risk of lower prices."

In recent years, corn has sold from about $8 per bushel and soybeans for $18. Schaaf said that "procrastination was about the best marketing tool you had. But I don't think that will be the case this year. I might be wrong. I'd hate to bet my whole crop on prices going up this fall." (Read more)

Tennessee Senate passes anti-meth bill that sets lower limits than recently passed House bill

The Tennessee Senate passed an anti-methamphetamine bill Tuesday night that sets lower monthly and yearly limits than the one passed last week by the House. The Senate bill limits monthly purchases of pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient in making meth, to 4.8 grams, and in one year to 14.4 grams. The House bill set limits of 5.8 and 28.8 grams.

Under the House bill, the number of tablets that can be purchased without a prescription is limited to 48 per month and 240 per year. The big difference in the Senate bill is that the yearly limit is 120 tablets, a number favored by Gov. Bill Haslam. He is a Republican, and the GOP controls both legislative chambers. (Read more)

Weekly editors urges weeklies to send front pages to Newseum Thursday, promote community journalism

More than 900 newspaper front pages from 90 countries are available for viewing every day on Newseum. But few community newspapers are represented, notes Chad Stebbins, executive director of the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors. That's why ISWNE is urging community newspapers to send their front pages to Newseum on Thursday, in honor of the birthday of legendary Kansas community journalist Huck Boyd.

"We are doing this because the Newseum has a terrible record on the topic of community journalism," Stebbins said in a email. "We hope to get some good publicity out of this and raise the awareness of community journalism."

Pages can be emailed to frontpages@newseum.org. Participants are also asked to email ISWNE member Steve Thurston at heraldtrib@GMAIL.COM so that he can get a count of how many newspapers take part.

Pulitzer winners with rural angles include stories on veterans, black-lung disease, food stamps

April 16: The Center for Public Integrity deserved its award, but West Virgina politicians should have addressed black lung disease and the top lawyers, doctors, coal operators and hospitals who "are paying big bucks to each other to defeat these sick and voiceless miners and their families" long before the story was exposed by the national media, West Virginia resident and Appalachian author Betty Doston-Lewis writes for the Daily Yonder. (Read more) 

Stories that focused on issues of rural importance were some of this year's winners and finalists in the Pulitzer Prize competition. Winning stories focused on investigations into coal miners' black-lung disease, food stamps and the treatment of veterans, while finalists included Iowa's licensing laws, the 19 Hotshot firefighters killed in Arizona and photos accompanying the food stamp story. Winners receive $10,000.

David Philipps of The Gazette in Colorado Springs won the Pulitzer for national reporting for his "three-day investigative series last year that examined how soldiers injured during war were being discharged without benefits," Rich Laden reports for the Gazette. The series, "Other Than Honorable," used data from the Army "to show that the number of soldiers being discharged for misconduct annually had surged to its highest level since 2009 at posts with the most combat troops." (Read more)

The Center for Public Integrity won the investigative reporting prize for Chris Hamby's year-long investigation into black lung disease and its effects on miners and family members in West Virginia. The series, entitled “Breathless and Burdened: Dying from Black Lung, Buried by Law and Medicine,” previously shared the Goldsmith Prize with ABC News. Hamby told CPI, “This was more than just a project to me. I spent a lot of time in West Virginia with people who were slowly suffocating to death,  and they had been essentially screwed by a system that was completely stacked against them, and they had no recourse. These are some of the most voiceless people in the country." (Read more)

Washington Post writer Eli Saslow won the Explanatory Reporting prize "for a series of stories about the challenges of people living on food stamps," Paul Farhi writes for the Post. "Saslow said the genesis of his stories about food stamps came from news reports about the quadrupling of the federal program over the past 10 years. At first, he said, he wanted to write just one article—about the food stamp 'economy' on the first of each month, when millions of Americans receive their benefits. But the story grew from there, into pieces about a Florida recruiter for the program, a bread truck in rural Tennessee and the health of South Texans on food stamp diets." (Read more)

Finalists included the Arizona Republic staff for its coverage of the Yarnell Hill wildfire, Andie Dominick of the Des Moines Register for her series of editorials on Iowa's job licensing laws and Post photographer Michael Williamson for his portfolio of pictures that accompanied Saslow's story, including the one above of 1-year-old Austin Davis.

States cracking down on for-profit colleges and student-loan companies for alleged abuses

Beware of those commercials for for-profit colleges claiming their school has a high rate of placing graduates in jobs. Many students have found out the hard way that the only thing waiting for them after earning a degree from such a school is a mountain of debt  they can't afford. (To view an interactive state-by-state map from the Institute for College Access and Success, click here)

"Thirty-two states are now working together under the leadership of Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway to investigate potential abuses in the for-profit college industry, which saw enrollment more than triple between 1998 and 2008, according to the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau," Adrienne Lu reports for Stateline. "One reason for the concern is the amount of taxpayer dollars involved: Some for-profit colleges receive 90 percent or more of their revenue from the federal and/or state governments in the form of student aid." Students at for-profit colleges account for 13 percent of all college students, but 31 percent of student loans and about half of loan defaults.

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley told Lu, “While some for-profit schools offer quality training and legitimate diplomas, we have found that this industry often markets sub-par programs to veterans and low-income students who depend on federal aid. When students don’t receive the training they sign up for or default on their loans, it not only greatly impacts their future but it also impacts taxpayers who have backed these loans in the first place.”

In January, 13 states issued subpoenas to four for-profit colleges "over concerns about possible misrepresentations to students about financing, recruitment practices and graduates’ employment rates," Lu writes. "Also in January, Coakley’s office in Massachusetts held hearings on proposed regulations for for-profit colleges and occupational schools. The rules would require schools to disclose accurate information about tuition and fees along with placement statistics and graduation rates; prohibit them from using high-pressure sales tactics such as repeated phone calls and text messages; and bar them from calling recruitment personnel 'counselors' or 'advisers.'”

In February, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, created in 2010, filed suit against for-profit ITT Educational Services, which operates about 150 institutions in nearly 40 states, "alleging predatory student lending," Lu writes. "The lawsuit was the bureau’s first public enforcement action against a for-profit college. Last year, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman won a $10.25 million settlement with the for-profit Career Education Corp. over inflated job placement rates."

"In January, New York state’s Student Protection Unit issued subpoenas to 13 student-debt-relief companies as part of its investigation into whether the companies might be charging improper fees to enroll students in debt relief programs that are already available free through the federal government," Lu writes. 

Last month the U.S. Department of Education "proposed new 'gainful employment' rules which would require for-profit colleges that benefit from federal student aid to meet certain standards relating to student debt and income," Lu writes. "California was the first state in the nation to require for-profit colleges to meet standards beyond those required by the federal government for its grants and loans, passing a law in 2011 prohibiting schools with high borrowing and default rates from receiving Cal Grant funds. In 2012, the state further tightened standards for institutions, eliminating 154 schools from receiving Cal Grant funds." (Read more)

Amount of methane released from non-fracked wells much higher than EPA estimates, study says

Federal regulators may have severely underestimated the amount of methane from natural gas wells being released into the atmosphere,suggests a study published Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study of gas wells in southwestern Pennsylvania found rates were 100 to 1,000 times higher than estimates from the Environmental Protection Agency, Neela Banerjee reports for McClatchy Newspapers.

"Using a plane equipped to measure greenhouse gas emissions in the air, scientists found that drilling activities at seven well pads in the Marcellus shale formation emitted 34 grams of methane per second, on average," significantly higher than EPA estimates of between 0.04 grams and 0.30 grams of methane per second, Banerjee writes.

"Over two days in June 2012, they detected 2 grams to 14 grams of methane per second per square kilometer over the entire area. The EPA's estimate for the area is 2.3 grams to 4.6 grams of methane per second per square kilometer," Banerjee writes. "The researchers determined that the wells leaking the most methane were in the drilling phase, a period that has not been known for high emissions. Experts had thought that methane was more likely to be released during subsequent phases of production, including hydraulic fracturing, well completion or transport through pipelines."

"Last year, researchers from Stanford, Harvard and elsewhere reported in PNAS that methane emissions in the continental U.S. might be 50 percent higher than the EPA's official estimates," Banerjee writes. "Another study by Stanford researchers, published in February in the journal Science, also concluded that the EPA underestimates methane leakage from the natural-gas industry and other sources." (Read more)

Rural unemployment rates rose in February, especially in the most rural counties

Rural unemployment rates have been on the rise, with the share of jobless in the most rural counties increasing from January to February from 7.9 percent in January to 8.6 percent in February, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data processed by the Daily Yonder. Unemployment in counties with 10,000 to 50,000 residents rose from 7.4 percent to 8 percent, and unemployment in metro areas rose from 6.9 percent to 7.4 percent.

"During the early years of the recession, which began in late 2007, rural areas often had lower unemployment rates than cities. In the last few years, however, unemployment rates in rural America have surpassed those in metropolitan counties," Bill Bishop writes for the Yonder. "The reason the unemployment rates in micropolitan and rural counties dropped at all over the last year, despite only a slight gain in the number of jobs, is that there are fewer people looking for work."

Since February of last year, rural and micropolitan counties have gained 140,000 jobs, Bishop writes. "Metropolitan counties have have added more than 1.75 million jobs. Meanwhile, the total number of workers in rural and micropolitan counties has dropped by more than 100,000." (Read more) (To view the interactive Yonder map click here)

Ohio officials say fracking is the probable cause of a recent rash of earthquakes in one county

On Friday the Ohio Department of Natural Resources announced that hydraulic fracturing and injection wells are the probable cause of earthquakes in the Poland Township of Mahoning County. This seems to be the first time state officials have gone on record connecting the recent upsurge in earthquakes in fracking areas to the practice, Bob Downing reports for the Akron Beacon Journal. Mahoning County doesn't have a history of seismic activity but had five earthquakes of magnitude 2.0 or greater on March 10 and 11.

As a result of the decision, "New permits for drilling within three miles of a known underground geologic fault or area of seismic activity greater than 2.0 magnitude will require companies to install seismic monitors," Downing writes. "The order would affect any quakes since 1999 that were recorded at magnitude 2.0 or greater. If those monitors detect a quake of 1.0 magnitude or greater, drilling activities would be halted while the cause is investigated. If that investigation reveals a probable connection to hydraulic fracturing, all well completion operations will be suspended."

James Zehringer, director of the Department of Natural Resources, told Downing, "While we can never be 100 percent sure that drilling activities are connected to a seismic event, caution dictates that we take these new steps to protect human health, safety and the environment." Earthquakes in states such as Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas have been linked to fracking, but state officials have either denied those claims or are in the process of conducting studies. (Read more)

Rural communities get a jump start on 'Click it or Ticket' campaign to increase safety on roads

Most highways are located in rural areas, and rural drivers are often the ones least likely to wear seat belts. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's annual "Click it or Ticket" campaign to encourage drivers to wear seat belts isn't scheduled until May, but some rural areas got a head start with local campaigns focused on their areas.

Colorado ran a Click It or Ticket rural enforcement period from March 31 to April 6. The partnership between the state Department of Transportation, Colorado State Patrol and 29 rural law enforcement agencies netted more then 1,700 citations in 25 rural communities for not buckling up, Erin Udall reports for the Coloradoan. While the state patrol gave out the most citations, 957, the most given by a local organization was the Alamosa County Sheriff’s Office, which issued 87. During last year's campaign 1,578 people were ticketed for not wearing a seat belt, with 88 percent over the age of 21, reports KKTV in Colorado Springs.

Minnesota also held a similar campaign in March, with state troopers giving out "more than 500 tickets in Southeast Minnesota alone for people who didn't buckle up," Hannah Tran reports for KAAL-TV. The Minnesota campaign was started in response to statistics that found that 75 percent of Minnesotans don't use child seats properly, and 50 percent of all traffic fatalities involve drivers and passengers not wearing seat belts, reports WDAZ in Grand Forks, N.D.

Pat Gish, surviving partner of a team that crusaded with their newspaper for over half a century, dies

Gishes at rural journalism institute rollout in 2004

Rural journalism lost a champion with Sunday's passing of Pat Gish at the age of 87. She and her husband Tom, who passed away in 2008, published The Mountain Eagle in Whitesburg, Ky., together for more than 51 years

The Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, which publishes the Rural Blog, established the Tom and Pat Gish Award for courage, integrity and tenacity in rural journalism in honor of the Gishes, who "withstood advertiser boycotts, business competition, declining population, personal attacks, and even the burning of their office to give their readers the kind of journalism often lacking in rural areas." (Read more)

"Tom Gish was the publisher and editor of the weekly newspaper, but Pat Gish was his inseparable partner in putting out the publication, which bucked entrenched local powers, exposed corruption and was the first newspaper in Eastern Kentucky to seriously challenge the abuses of surface mining," reports the Lexington Herald-Leader's Bill Estep, who briefly worked for the Gishes. "Along the way, the newspaper was recognized as one of the best rural newspapers in the nation."

The Gishes bought the paper in 1956 and published their first issue in January 1957. "At the time, the county fiscal court and school board met in private," Estep writes. "Tom and Pat Gish pried open the meetings, then went on to cover everything from poor education and housing to poverty, corruption and safety and environmental problems in the coal industry, the reigning power in the mountains at the time. The newspaper's tough coverage cost them advertising, and after stories in 1974 about local police mistreating young people, a police officer paid arsonists to throw a kerosene firebomb through a window at the newspaper, destroying the building. It didn't shut down the paper, however." The next week, its motto, "It Screams," was changed to "It Still Screams."

Tom and Pat Gish in the 1970s (Photo by Tom Bethell)

Tom Bethell, who worked at The Mountain Eagle in the 1960s, said at the time Tom Gish died in November 2008, told Estep, "They were breaking new ground — no one had ever seen a weekly newspaper in this part of the world that actually covered the news." Their son Ben has continued their legacy as editor of the paper, and the family won the Eugene Cervi Award for public service from the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors in 2010. (Read more)

Laurie Ezzell Brown of The Canadian Record in Texas, part of a family that won the Gish Award after the first one, which went to the Gishes, said: "We are diminished today by the death of Pat Gish. She and her husband, Tom, were real journalistic warriors of the kind too rarely seen in this age in which news is 'monetized' and valuable reporting resources are allocated according to page clicks. Pat and Tom Gish reported the real news, regardless of whether it was either profitable or popular—and despite considerable risk to both life and livelihood. We need many more just like them." UPDATE: For a nice tribute to Pat, by Daily Yonder Publisher Dee Davis, click here.

Rural Broadband Association study finds that rural access still lags far behind urban access

Rural broadband access not only lags behind urban areas, but it is also falling steadily behind the rest of the world. A Rural Broadband Association study found that 98.2 percent of urban Americans have access to broadband, while only 76.3 percent of rural residents do, reports Civ Source, a news and information site for civic leaders. Overall, the U.S ranks 15th among 34 developed countries in broadband access. (Rural Broadband Association graphic differentiates among slow, medium and fast broadband speeds)

"Rural Americans are more than 13 times more likely to lack access to fixed broadband than Americans in non-rural areas,” the study states. “One of the more challenging realities of striving for ubiquitous broadband adoption is that the final third of the population will be the hardest to reach. This remaining group of non-­adopters tends to be older, less educated and at lower income levels than those who have already embraced the online world. Yet, in many ways these are the very segments of society that have the most to gain from the Internet, whether through obtaining higher quality health care or pursuing a more rewarding job. Encouraging more of them to become broadband adopters will benefit all.” (Read more)

Closures of rural hospitals hurt local economies

Some rural hospitals in states that chose not to expand Medicaid under federal health reform have struggled to remain open. When a hospital closes, residents not only lose their local source of medical services, but the closing also adds to the financial woes of the area, Adam Ragusea reports for Marketplace. (Ragusea photo: An overgrown sign at the closed Hancock Memorial Hospital in Sparta, Ga.)

University of North Carolina professor Mark Holmes studied the economic impact of 140 rural hospital closures nationwide, finding that "Three years out, losing a hospital costs a community, on average, 'about 1.6 percentage points in unemployment, about $700 in per capita income, and that was in 2000 dollars, so that’d be probably about $1,000 currently,'" Ragusea writes.

After four rural hospitals closed in Georgia in the past year, Republican Gov. Nathan Deal proposed a plan to help ailing hospitals—and those that were recently shuttered—to offer only more limited services such as emergency care. State Community Health Commissioner Clyde Reese "says America’s healthcare system doesn’t provide enough ways for the operator of that kind of place to get paid," Ragusea writes. Reese told him, “They’re not going to be hospitals; they won’t be reimbursed as hospitals; they won’t be able to charge a facility fee; they won’t get the Medicaid add-on rate, etc.” (Read more)

West fertilizer explosion survey omits dozens of injuries; could skew redrafting of rules, groups say

Volunteer fireman Eddie Hykel lost sight
in one eye from; the injury wasn't included
in the survey. (Nathan Hunsginer/DMN)

Saturday marked the one-year anniversary of the fertilizer plant explosion in West, Tex., that killed 14 and injured more than 300. In the year since the explosion the government has studied ways to improve regulations in storing chemicals. But health and public policy experts argue that a substandard survey on the number of injured will hamper the government's ability to make informed public safety decisions in creating the regulations, Sue Ambrose reports for The Dallas Morning News.

"They limited their survey to those treated at hospitals and urgent care clinics. They did not canvass private medical practices, where blast victims were also treated. Nor did they track problems that may have surfaced later, such as brain injuries, hearing loss and post-traumatic stress disorder," Amrbose writes. "State and local health officials say their survey was designed to record only acute—or immediately apparent—physical injuries from the blast."

Dr. Robert Haley, an epidemiologist at UT Southwestern Medical Center, told Ambrose, "We’re entering a debate over how much regulation is needed to prevent this kind of thing in the future and to balance that against other interests. Well, one of the interests that desperately needs to be represented in there is a full accounting of what the health effects are.”

Officials say 262 people were injured in the explosion, but the Morning News said that through phone calls it was easily able to find more people not included in the survey. "Using the Texas Medical Board’s registry, The News found 432 private-practice doctors within 60 miles of West who could have treated blast injuries," Ambrose writes. "There were an additional 28 neurologists and psychiatrists in the same area who could treat patients."

Not included in the survey was The West Oak Medical Clinic. Physician’s assistant Paula Snokhous "said the clinic saw about 40 patients who did not go to area hospitals," Ambrose writes. "About half of them had ringing in their ears or other hearing problems. Four or five had lacerations stitched or bandaged, and the rest had wounds cleaned, she said. About 30 other clinic patients were also treated at hospitals. Other patients visited the clinic for mental issues, and about 10 were referred for pyschological evaluations, she said; some were diagnosed with PTSD." (Read more)

Group opposing Keystone XL draws line in wheat

The Cowboy and Indian Alliance is sending a message to President Obama urging him to reject the controversial $5.4 billion TransCanada Corp. Keystone XL Pipeline that would carry heavy tar-sands oil across the U.S. The group has created a crop-art image the size of 80 football fields near Neligh, Neb., right in the proposed pipeline path, Mark Hefflinger reports for Bold Nebraska, a citizen advocacy group fighting the project. Last year Republican Gov. Dave Heineman endorsed legislation to allow the pipeline to cross the state, but in February a state court invalidated the decision.

Landowner Art Tanderup told Hefflinger, “This land has been in our family for over 100 years. We have always been stewards of the land. The soil is very sandy here; any leak would leach into the Ogallala Aquifer, contaminating our water without any concrete plan to clean up the pollution. With this crop art we are literally drawing a line in the sand and asking President Obama to stand with our families.”

Artist John Quigley told Hefflinger, “Americans always go big when they’re pushed to their limits. This image, which may well be the largest crop art ever, sends the message that the good people of the Heartland have the courage to stand up for their rights to clean water. They reject the bullying of TransCanada and will defend their land." (Read more) (The proposed pipeline goes across several states, including Nebraska)

Navy Times reports rural homeless U.S. veterans are older and less cared for than urban ones

The Housing Assistance Council report that homeless U.S. veterans in rural areas suffer from geographic isolation, making it difficult for them to get help, Leo Shane reports for the Navy Times. Another problem is that veterans in rural areas are, on average, 18 years older than those in urban areas and "face challenges in paying for property upkeep and modernization, which can force them into substandard living conditions." In 10 years 70 percent of all rural veterans will be over 65 years old, according to the council's report, "From Service to Shelter."

Though the number of homeless veterans was down to 57,849 in January 2013, and President Obama wants no U.S. veterans to be homeless by the end of 2015, "declaring victory in rural areas is much more difficult," Shane writes. "In many towns far from urban centers, housing options are sparse," and Department of Veterans Affairs services are harder to get. Eric Oberdorfer, research associate at the council, told Shane, "Because many live far away from VA offices and other resources, they can’t access them, or they might not even be aware that programs exist.” About 5.6 million veterans, or 25 percent of all veterans, are from rural areas as of 2010, the report states.

Over the past five years, nearly 60,000 Housing and Urban Development Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing vouchers have been issued to help provide stable housing for at-risk veterans and their families, Shane writes. "But Oberdorfer said only about 3 percent of those vouchers have been allocated to VA medical centers in rural regions. Rules for the vouchers stipulate that veterans must apply them toward housing 'within a reasonable distance from a VA facility' so case managers can provide assistance and oversight." (Read more) (Housing Assistance Council graphic)

A woman dies because a rural county skimps on its ambulance service; weekly digs deep, points way

The need for better emergency services in rural areas is illustrated in the tragic story of Rita Sue Jenkins. The Western Kentucky woman lived just four miles from an ambulance station in the small county seat of Elkton. But when her family called 911 on March 24, it took the ambulance 43 minutes to get there. She never made it to the hospital, dying five minutes later in her home, reports Tonya Grace of the Todd County Standard, a weekly paper that has earned the title of best small newspaper in the state for seven straight years.

The problem, which is one that many rural areas face, is a lack of services. Todd County only has two ambulance crews. One was at a call in a neighboring county because that county's services were already occupied, and the other was sent out to another call that came within minutes of the call for Jenkins, Grace writes. That meant that despite Jenkins' close proximity to the ambulance station (a relative said it took him four minutes to drive there) the ambulance that responded to her call came from another county.

Jim Duke, owner of the Todd County service, told Grace that anytime two calls are received at the same time, dispatch personnel and the ambulance crew decide which is worse and respond to that one, arranging for another crew to get the second one. Since the other caller reported a cardiac arrest, and Jenkins' family reported weakness and someone sick, the other call got top priority.

Since the incident, suggestions have been made to improve service, such as having one truck on duty all the time with a paramedic and emergency medical technician, and the other to have two trucks, a 24-hour and a floater crew truck on duty for 12 hours during the day, with an crew on call the other 12 hours, Grace writes. One ambulance is staffed 24 hours a day and another one floats between Todd County and adjoining Logan County. Todd County can't afford two full-time ambulances, Judge-Executive Daryl Greenfield told Grace. In her long, richly detailed story, she notes that the service, whose contract is up for renewal, has been "criticized for not hiring local people who would be familiar with the local community, its roads and neighborhoods."

But if rural residents in places like Todd County want better services, they're going to have to pay for it, writes Ryan Craig, editor and publisher of the Standard. "What we see as the real issue is the funding of, not only this service, but other services in the county," Craig opines in a front-page column. "For too long we have kept our funding levels about the same while other counties around us have upped their level of services through smart funding."

Craig concludes: "It is time we no longer condemn and threaten to run off our local officials at even the mention of higher taxes, especially if it is to improve our lives. As the old sayings go, we are at the nub, and all the blood is out of the turnip. The family of Rita Jenkins told the Standard that they don't want something like this to happen again. I couldn't agree more. It is time we became serious about our services. We owe that to Rita Jenkins and her family."

To read both articles click here.

Study finds decline in property value of homes supplied by wells and located close to fracking sites

A study by researchers at the University of Calgary and Duke University found that property values of groundwater-dependent homes near shale-gas developments have suffered from being located near the sites, Jeff McMahon reports for Forbes.

Researchers studied property values in 36 Pennsylvania counties and seven New York counties from 1994 to 2012, mapping "sales against the locations of shale-gas wells" and comparing "homes connected to public drinking-water systems to homes with private wells," McMahon writes. "Properties with private wells suffered a loss in value compared to properties connected to a municipal water system, they found, offsetting gains in value from mineral-rights royalties. The loss varied with distance from the nearest shale-gas well. At 1.5 kilometers, properties with private wells sold for about 10 percent less."

"Within 1 km of shale gas wells, properties with private drinking water wells dropped 22 percent in value. Properties connected to public water suffered no losses, but also showed no net gains," McMahon writes. Lucija Muehlenbachs, an assistant professor at the University of Calgary, told him, “If you get closer, if you look at the properties that are only 1 km from a shale-gas well, then for the ones that are on groundwater we see a 22 percent loss in property values, and for the ones that have access to pipe water, there’s zero gain, so essentially all of the positive benefits get wiped out by these negative externalities of having this well pad nearby.” Negative externalities include truck traffic, noise, light, and air pollution.

"At distances greater than 2 km from shale gas wells — what Muehlenbachs calls the vicinity level — the researchers found a net increase in property values that declines over time — evidence of a small boom-bust cycle at the vicinity level," McMahon writes. (Read more)

Family Dollar to close 370 stores, slash prices; company says bad winter hurt sales

It was only last year that dollar stores, a staple in rural areas, were experiencing a boom, as shoppers sought cheaper alternatives to the ever-increasing prices of grocery and department stores. The boom appears to be over for Family Dollar, which announced Thursday it is closing 370 stores "in response to falling sales and business disruptions caused by bad winter weather," Roger Yu reports for USA Today. The chain, which has 8,100 stores in 46 states, also plans to cut prices on about 1,000 items. (Associated Press photo) 

The move "could generate about $40 million to $45 million in annual operating profit benefit" for the company, which said its net income for 2014 fiscal second quarter, which ended March 1, was 35 percent lower than the same quarter last year, Yu writes. Annual sales were down 6 percent. "Performance was affected by one fewer week of business during the quarter and disrupted merchandise deliveries caused by harsh winter weather, the company said." (Read more)

Writer examines how a pair of national magazines recently covered the topic of clean coal

A story about clean coal in the latest edition of Wired magazine overstated its conclusions, while one on the same topic in the latest National Geographic, did not, writes Max Ehrenfreund of The Washington Post on the paper's Wonkblog.

"The article in Wired by Charles Mann is thoroughly reported and makes for a fascinating read, but nothing in it supports the magazine's thesis about clean coal: 'Because it could allow the globe to keep burning its most abundant fuel source while drastically reducing carbon dioxide and soot, it may be more important—though much less publicized—than any renewable-energy technology for decades to come'," Ehrenfreund writes.

"According to a recent estimate from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, a new clean-coal plant built now costs about as much as a new solar plant per unit of electrical generation—and that estimate looks optimistic next to the even higher costs Mann reports in Wired. Wind and natural gas are much less expensive sources of electricity. Meanwhile, the cost of solar panels is falling steadily and predictably, and solar energy is no more expensive than the market price for electricity in parts of Europe."

Ehrenfreund says "National Geographic's editors handled the story well, being careful not to overstate their conclusions. It would have been great to read a piece in Wired about any of the various fascinating new energy projects that truly aren't well publicized: supercapacitors, fusion reactors, batteries made out of air. These technologies might not be as far along in their development as clean coal, but their implications are arguably just as broad. Then again, stories that are uncomfortable for the environmental movement have always been popular with editors and their audiences, probably because they give a publication an aura of iconoclastic thinking, however undeserved it may be." (Read more)

Local Media Assn. allows non-newspaper members

The Local Media Association, formerly Suburban Newspapers of America, is expanding its membership to allow non-newspaper members "such as TV stations, radio stations, directory publishers, pure plays and more to join the association," LMA says in a news release.

LMA is a business-oriented organization that refers to itself as "the only non-profit, professional trade association specifically serving the local news-media industry," but it has offered little to newsrooms beyond an annual contest, winners of which include some rural news outlets.

LMA President Nancy Lane said in the release,"We are thrilled to welcome all local media companies into LMA membership. We can quickly showcase new revenue streams and sustainable business models by being all-inclusive. There is common ground on the digital side; we can all learn from each other.” (Read more)

April 16 deadline for journalists to register for free climate-change seminars April 23-25 in D.C.

Two free climate-change seminars for journalists are scheduled April 23 and April 24-25 in Washington, D.C. The seminars, sponsored by the Metcalf Institute for Marine & Environmental Reporting, the Woodrow Wilson Center and the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, will focus on economic and public-policy issues and the marine and coastal effects of climate change.

The first seminar, designed for political and business reporters, is described as "a top-level summary of the state of climate-change science, underscoring global and regional observations, predictions and social and economic impacts from the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports, as well as an overview of domestic policy and politics related to climate change mitigation and adaptation."

The second seminar "is open to all journalists who want to improve their coverage of climate change and will provide a foundational understanding of the most critical climate change impacts affecting the ocean and coastal communities. This seminar will include an interactive session with award-winning environment reporters who will provide guidance on how to craft compelling stories for local and regional audiences out of globally significant climate change research, an extraordinarily challenging topic for both reporters and news audiences."

The registration deadline is April 16. For more information or to register, click here.

States look to unload local roads in rural areas; localities want states to keep sending road money

A battle over responsibilty for roads is brewing in some states, especially West Virginia, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina, where states own a large percentage of roads, some of which they want to transfer to local communities because they are getting too expensive to maintain, Daniel Vock reports for Stateline. Nationally, state governments own about 19 percent of roads, but the number is 89 percent in West Virginia, 84 percent in Delaware, 78 percent in Virginia, 75 percent in North Carolina and 63 percent in South Carolina.

"Each state amassed its huge network in a different way. But generally, state officials took over county roads and other farm-to-market routes because localities did not build enough of them or failed to maintain them adequately," Vock reports. "Decades later, states that gobbled up local roads no longer have the appetite to keep them. In growing areas, highways that once linked distant towns are now major local arteries."

"States increasingly see their shorter, less-traveled roads as a drain on resources at a time when resources are increasingly scarce. Inflation and fuel efficiency are sapping revenues from state and federal gas taxes," Vock writes. "The federal government, which provides a third of the money that states spend on transportation, expects to run short of road money as early as July. This year’s brutal winter, which added expenses for snow plowing and pothole repair, further strained state transportation budgets."

Some local communities are more than willing to take over the roads, and want the freedom to control their fate, as long as they keep receiving assistance, Vock writes. Beaufort, S.C., city manager told Vock, "Our council feels there should be some quid pro quo. If we take the roads, we should be able to do what we want with them in a reasonable and responsible manner. Secondly, we should have funds that come with it.”

Leslie Wollack of the National League of Cities told Vock that designating federal money for maintenance is another concern. Federal laws channel more transportation money through states, which then decide how much to turn over to their cities. “That creates a very large problem for the local governments, because they’re not getting the money,” she said. “They may not have chosen to build these roads in the first place, yet they are suddenly being given the responsibility to spend a lot of money.” (Read more)

Without Medicaid expansion in their states, some rural hospitals are struggling to remain open

Some rural hospitals in states that chose not to expand Medicaid under federal health reform are struggling to keep their heads above water, and continue to fall deeper into financial danger. One such state is Mississippi, which would have gained an addition $2.1 billion a year through federal Medicaid payments, netting the state $431 million, Jerry Mitchell reports for The Clarion-Ledger in the state capital of Jackson. But without expansion, Dr. Luke Lampton, chairman of the state Board of Health, told Mitchell, “A lot of the rural hospitals aren’t going to survive. Most have low censuses, with poor, elderly and vulnerable patients and are barely making money.”

Without expansion, "Lampton said, hospitals are still having to pay the additional costs of the new regulations, which some have estimated as high as billions nationally," Mitchell writes. "He said many rural hospitals in Mississippi are hurting, with some slashing operational costs and laying off employees. Southwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center of McComb recently announced hundreds of layoffs."

"Rural hospitals have also been hurt by cuts in reimbursements, totaling $170 billion in recent years, according to the American Hospital Association," Mitchell writes. "Nationally, hospitals have an $8 billion shortfall from Medicaid reimbursements, a $24 billion shortfall from Medicare reimbursements and a $41 billion shortfall from uncompensated care, according to the association."

As a result, "Mendal Kemp, program director for the Mississippi Hospital Association’s Center for Rural Health, said some rural hospitals are aligning with bigger hospitals to survive," Mitchell writes.  "Thirty-two rural hospitals in Mississippi have signed up as critical-access hospitals, which promises them cost-plus-1-percent payments from the federal government. But Kemp said cuts to that funding could come if another government sequestration takes place." (Read more)

Maine, which has the largest percentage of rural population in the U.S., is the latest state choosing not to expand Medicaid. On Wednesday, Republican Gov. Paul LePage "vetoed a bill that would have expanded MaineCare coverage to more than 60,000 low-income Mainers," Steve Mistler reports for the Portland Press Herald. "The measure also would have established a managed care system for all 320,000 beneficiaries, an effort to control costs in the $2.5 billion program, which is Maine’s version of the Medicaid health insurance program." It was the third time LePage has rejected expansion. (Read more) (Advisory Board Co. map: Many states with large rural populations and Republican governments chose not to expand Medicaid)

USDA's emergency assistance program lacks funds to cover loss of pigs due to spreading virus

The Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program in the new Farm Bill doesn't have enough funds to compensate hog farmers who lost pigs due to porcine epidemic diarrhea, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told the North American Agricultural Journalists, meeting in Washington this week.

Available funds in the Department of Agriculture program are capped at $20 million per fiscal year, which isn't enough to cover the millions of piglets killed by the disease, which some suspect is caused by feed ingredients, reports Agri-Pulse, a Washington newsletter. Vilsack said, “If you were to suggest that that’s a source of compensation, it would have to be 10 times that size to deal with the losses that have occurred.”

Vilsack "says it would be up to Congress to approve disaster assistance for pork producers," something Senate Agriculture Committee member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the biggest hog-producing state, said would be a tough sell on Capitol Hill, Agri-Pulse reports. "David Warner, a spokesman for the National Pork Producers Council, said NPPC has asked USDA to use ELAP funds to compensate hog producers who have suffered PEDv losses. To qualify, a producer’s adjusted gross income needs to be less than $900,000, so the program would benefit mostly 'smaller' farmers, Warner said." Agri-Pulse is subscription only, but a free trial is available by clicking here. (USDA graphic: The department's most recent update of reported PEDv cases)

Tennessee House passes anti-meth bill to further limit purchases of pseudoephedrine

The Tennessee House passed an anti-methamphetamine bill Wednesday to limit the amount of pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient in making meth. It would make the number of tablets that can be purchased without a prescription to 48 per month and 240 a year. The bill, which passed 81-17, would lowers the current monthly cap of 75 but falls short of what other major players in state government want. 

"Opponents of the bill argued that legitimate purchasers should not face even more restrictions when most of the methamphetamine used in Tennessee is made outside the state," Chas Sisk reports for The Tennessean. "But supporters said tighter limits will discourage meth production in Tennessee, which ranks second in the nation in meth lab seizures."

The bill now goes to the Senate, which has argued for even lower limits, having pushed for a maximum of 40 tablets per month and 120 tablets per year without a prescription, Sisk reports. Gov. Bill Haslam also favors that limit. He is a Republican, and the GOP controls both legislative chambers. (Read more)

Group labels America's 10 most endangered rivers

The advocacy group American Rivers announced its 2014 list of the nation's 10 most endangered rivers, topped by the San Joaquin River in California. Its "outdated water management and excessive diversions leave the river dry in stretches, threatening water quality, fish and wildlife, agriculture, and leaving communities vulnerable in the face of drought," the group says.

Citations of other rivers mention oil and gas wells, industrialization, pipelines, levees, dams, excessive agriculture demands, pollution and safety concerns. The list varies widely from year to year, presumably to bring more rivers to public attention. (Read more)

Federal spending for low-income rural homebuyers continues its downward spiral

Federal spending for affordable housing programs in the U.S. Department of Rural Development has been declining for years, and based on President Obama's proposed budget for fiscal year 2015, that trend is likely to continue, Housing Assistance Council employees Mike Feinberg and Joe Belden report for the Daily Yonder. The problem is that funds are moving away from direct loans for low and very low income families and instead steered toward guaranteed loans for moderate income families.

Section 502 direct loans, which have helped more than 2 million low and very low income families purchase homes, are for homebuyers with an average income in 2013 of $28,268, while Section 502 guaranteed loans went to those with an income of $54,224, Feinberg and Belden write. Direct loans peaked in the 1970s but have been steadily declining since, while guaranteed loans took off in the 1990s and continue to rise. (Direct loans (blue) keep decreasing, while guaranteed loans (red) keep increasing)

The reason is that the USDA "can make many more guaranteed loans at a lower cost because these loans do not have deep subsidy and because private sector lenders fund the loan," Feinberg and Belden write. "The cost to the government comes only if there is a loss on the loan." In Fiscal Years 2013 and 2014 Congress approved $24 billion per year for guaranteed loans and $900 million a year for direct loans.

President Obama's proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2015 slashes that even more, with $360 million proposed for direct loans, as opposed to $24 billion for guaranteed loans, Feinberg and Belden write. Other low-income programs share the same fate. Section 523 self-help grants are down from $25 million to $10 million, and the president "includes proposed cost saving changes to the Rental Assistance program such as minimum rents (which will affect only those tenants with the lowest incomes) and a provision giving USDA discretion on whether to renew existing Rental Assistance contracts."

"USDA funding has shifted to the guaranteed programs that are less costly and do not have deep subsidy. They also serve people with higher incomes," Feinberg and Belden write. "So what’s ahead for rural housing? The proposed changes and cuts will provide fewer opportunities and less support for lower-income rural residents. Community-based nonprofits will experience reduced ability to serve these residents. USDA programs will rely more upon private sector lenders." (Read more)

USDA still not saying when it will close FSA offices and which offices will be shuttered

Last month Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced plans under President Obama's 2015 budget plan to realign and consolidate as many as 250 Farm Service Agency offices to improve service and save costs. While the move would cut 815 non-federal workers from the payroll and reduce outlays by more than $60 million, the U.S. Department of Agriculture still has not revealed which offices could be closed and where jobs will be cut, reports Agri-Pulse, a Washington newsletter. Cuts wouldn't take place until at least the end of the fiscal year, which concludes in September.

Administrator Juan Garcia told the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee on Tuesday that "a 2008 farm bill provision, which is still in effect, mandates that the Agriculture Department must consider closing offices less than 20 miles away from a similar facility with two or fewer permanent, full-time employees before it can contemplate closing larger or more distant offices," writes Agri-Pulse. "Beyond that, FSA will place a priority on keeping open offices with heavy workloads—something the agency did not weight heavily when it made the last round of FSA closures after the passage of the 2008 farm bill."

"Garcia said FSA would also look at the physical location of offices and how many main and sub-offices surround them. Officials also agreed that closure decisions needed to take producers’ opinions into account," Agri-Pulse writes. "Over the next three years, USDA will also work to implement what it calls the 'model service-center concept,' through which the department is hoping to streamline and modernize their field offices."

Offices will be reorganized into three tiers, Agri-Pulse writes. "Central offices will house FSA management and the bulk of agency staff; sub-offices will have fewer employees; and satellite offices will operate with even more limited staffing and hours. An improved IT system will also allow farmers to file some of their paperwork from the web, obviating the need for regular truck rides to distant field offices." Most of the lawmakers attending the hearing expressed concern about office closures. Agri-Pulse is subscription only, but a free trial is available by clicking here.

Institute for Journalism and Natural Resources accepting proposals for grants up to $1,000

Frank Allen

The Institute for Journalism and Natural Resources is accepting proposals through April 25 for grants up to $1,000 "to help defray the costs of reporting projects that focus on natural resources, the environment, energy, development, agriculture, environmental justice and public health," according to the website. The grants are a good source for rural journalists, especially ones wanting to cover important topics but lack the funds to do so.

The grants are part of the inaugural Frank Allen Field Reporting Award, named after the institute's founder, who for more than fifteen years "led journalists on intense reporting expeditions throughout North America, introducing them to the people and places involved in important environment, natural resource, energy and development issues," states the website. Allen retired in 2012.

As many as eight awards will be given each year to "working journalists, including freelancers, who have demonstrated a continued commitment to the tenets of fairness, accuracy and journalistic integrity," states the website. "Applicants may not be lobbyists, public relations personnel or communications employees writing solely on behalf of an organization or corporation. Award recipients will agree in writing to provide IJNR with a brief progress report at a mutually specified time during the reporting process and a final report after publication." For more information or to apply for a grant click here.

Interactive website allows users to share stories, photos of coal mining in Eastern Kentucky

Row houses in Auxier, Ky.

Do you have a story or photos to share about coal mining towns and camps in Eastern Kentucky? Last month the University of Kentucky Appalachian Center launched an interactive website as part of the Coal Camp Documentary Project that allows users to learn about and document historic company coal mining towns in the area.

The "open-source, collaborative site was created in direct response to community requests for Appalachian Center faculty, postdoctoral scholars, staff members and documentarians to come and record the memories shared by former residents of coal camp communities, sometimes at reunions on or near the site of the original camps," Keith Hautala and Shane Barton write for University of Kentucky News. Most of the camps in the 54 Appalachian counties are still waiting to be updated by users. (Read more)

Consumer advocacy group says FDA is allowing food manufacturers to set own safety standards

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is allowing food manufacturers to set their own safety standards, leading some companies to use chemicals in their products based on their own studies, according to a report from an environmental and consumer advocacy group, Kimberly Kindy reports for The Washington Post. 

The report by the Natural Resources Defense Council "identified 56 companies that were marketing products using 275 chemicals that the company’s hired experts decided met federal safety standards, known as Generally Recognized as Safe," Kindy writes. "However, the science behind those safety findings and the use of the chemicals was disclosed to the FDA in only six instances."

The Grocery Manufacturers Association defended the process, saying “It is a very thorough and comprehensive process that has, under the current law, provided FDA with authority to challenge the improper marketing of an ingredient as GRAS and if necessary, act to remove products containing that ingredient from the food supply,” Kindy writes. The FDA also defended it, saying that although "the law allows for food manufacturers to make their own safety determinations, the agency 'encourages companies to consult with the agency when developing new ingredients.' Ultimately, the FDA said, manufacturers 'are responsible for ensuring that their food products are safe and lawful.'" (Read more)

Future of rural banking could be an 'ATM on steroids' that provides interactive bank tellers

The future of banking technology is getting its feet wet in rural America through a ATM-type devices called interactive bank tellers that connect users with a live person from a call center, Victor Epstein reports for the Des Moines Register. No longer will bank patrons in towns that lack a facility have to travel long distances to conduct their business. Instead, they can use the new system to make withdrawals "verify their identity, and accept stacks of up to 30 deposited checks or bills from local store owners."

NCR Corp. is rolling out the devices, which some industry experts call an ATM on steroids, "at an opportune time as national and regional banks abandon their least profitable locations in the wake of the financial crisis. In the banking industry that typically means those with the least foot traffic — rural banks — and those in high-crime areas," Epstein writes. NCR "estimates the potential market for video-enabled interactive tellers at $4 billion. It had 80 banks in the U.S. and Canada signed up as customers as of March 19 and about 400 interactive teller machines in service. It's sold more than 1,000 units since launching the new product in February 2012."

While critics say the machines could eliminate more than 100,000 bank-teller jobs in the U.S., 20 percent of such positions, advocates say the machines are exactly what remote areas need, Epstein reports. James Johnson, chief operations officer of PCSB Bank in Clarinda, Iowa, 85 miles from the closest metro area (Omaha), told Epstein, "We've bought into the idea that this is the future of community banking. As rural populations decline it becomes more and more difficult to maintain a traditional brick-and-mortar facility in them, but it's very possible with this technology. This is our solution to the problem." (Read more) (PCSB video)

Anti-vaccine movement may be allowing the return of pertussis, meningitis, measles, other diseases

The anti-vaccination movement has gained momentum over the past decade, because some people do not want to risk side effects or simply do not trust governments or drug companies, Yamiche Alcindor writes for USA Today. "People assume this will never happen to them until it happens to them," said Paul Offit, chief of infectious diseases at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "It's a shame that's the way we have to learn the lesson. There's a human price for that lesson."

Most vulnerable are babies who might be too young for vaccination, young children who do not have strong immune systems and people who cannot be vaccinated because of medical issues, according to scientists. Kathryn Riffenburg's son died of whooping cough (pertussis). Though she was inoculated long before his birth, she later learned that a booster shot during the pregnancy could have saved her son's life. Two other preventable diseases that have recently made a comeback, perhaps because of the anti-immunization movement are measles and meningitis.

Outbreaks of measles in New York, California and Texas are warning signs of a bigger spread that could happen if more people refuse vaccinations. Officials said in 2000 that measles shouldn't be a problem anymore, but this year the disease is expected to affect three times as many people as it did in 2009. "Vaccination rates against most diseases are about 90 percent," said Anne Schuchat, the CDC's director of immunizations and respiratory diseases.

When 10-year-old Jeremiah Mitchell was 6, he was infected with meningitis, and doctors had to remove his arms and legs and parts of his eyelids, jaw and ears to get rid of the disease. He caught meningitis at school, where two children died and four others also got the illness. His mother, Michaela Mitchell, said that her son was not vaccinated against meningitis because the school didn't require it for children his age.

Some doctors have taken their own measures to safeguard their patients from people who refuse vaccinations. For example, doctors working at Old Towne Pediatrics in Mannassas, Va., will not accept new patients if the parents will not vaccinate their children. "We don't want to put our patients at risk because people for their own personal reasons don't want to vaccinate," said Anastasia Williams, a managing partner of the practice. "We are doing our due diligence to protect our children who wait in our waiting room." In Colorado, 4 percent of kindergarteners did not get vaccinated for non-medical reasons. State Rep. Dan Pabon sponsored a proposed bill necessitating parents to either get a doctor's note or view a video about risks before deciding against vaccination, Alcindor writes.

Sarah Pope decided against vaccinating her three children. All of them got whooping cough in 2006, but they recovered through treatments from a holistic doctor and natural supplements. "People only see the bad in infectious diseases," said Pope, who runs a health living website and blogs about vaccines. "But infectious diseases do help children strengthen their bodies." She says she knows vaccines are not 100 percent effective and doesn't want to be pressured into vaccinating her children (Read more)

New dust bowl is damaging farmland in Southeast Colorado, sending residents packing

Continued drought has led to a new "dust bowl" in Southeast Colorado, causing residents to begin to flee for greener pastures, Joey Bunch reports for The Denver Post. The southeast part of the state typically gets 12 to 16 inches of rain annually, but several areas have gotten less than 8 inches a year since 2010. And residents aren't sticking around for things to get better. While the state has grown in population by 4.8 percent since 2010, the population of Baca County has decreased by 2.8 percent, down to only 3,682 residents, with 75 percent of the loss occurring during the last year. (Post graphic)

"The devastation of this drought comes in three forms: pastures that have dried up or are choked by drifts of sand; tumbleweeds that blow into tall hills against fences, homes and barns; and massive dust storms that steal topsoil and could make it harder to grow grain, wheat and sunflowers for years," Bunch writes. "Since the latest drought officially set in late in the summer of 2010, the Arkansas [River] Valley has been drier for a longer sustained period of time than during the [1930s] Dust Bowl, said Nolan Doesken, the state climatologist at Colorado State University."

In Baca County "about 15 percent of the farmland is irrigated, fed by high-country reservoirs," Bunch writes. "That leaves 85 percent of the naturally sandy soil turning to dust. Displaced topsoil means it could take years for the land to bounce back." Doesken told Bunch, "They're so far in the hole right now that even if they do get a few (rain) storms, ... it's not going to immediately solve the problems."

The recent problems mirror those of the Dust Bowl. Baca County's population peaked in 1930 with 10,570 residents, but from 1935 to 1938 it accounted for some of the worst soil erosion of the Dust Bowl era, and by 1940, the population had dropped by almost 42 percent, Bunch writes. Ward Williams, who "is leasing out his 200 acres north of Springfield so cattle can chew off the stubble of his last grain-sorghum harvest in 2012," told Bunch, "It's just too much of a cycle of booms and busts. Kids that grow up here, if they have anywhere else to go, they aren't staying here. If it doesn't get over soon, this (drought) might leave the land to the big corporate operations that can ride it out, and not for the people who grew up down here."

The county has received plenty of government aid, $413 million between 1995 and 2012, including $85.9 million in crop-insurance subsidies and $50 million in disaster grants, while farmers have also "received government checks to seed grass on 269,249 acres of cropland to try to hold down the soil," but weather conditions haven't done much to help. Kevin Larson, a researcher at the Plainsman Research Center in Walsh, Colorado State's agricultural experiment station for southeastern Colorado, told Bunch. "Just can't grow anything if there's not any precipitation on it. It's as simple as that." (Read more)

Loan forgiveness helps keep doctors in rural Oregon

Like many states, Oregon is trying to fill its need for more rural doctors. Help could soon be on the way. The College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific Northwest recently became eligible to participate in a loan forgiveness program that provides as much as $35,000 per school year to recipients who "promise to practice in a rural Oregon community for each year they receive the loan," reports the Albany Democrat-Herald. "Ten percent of their clinical rotations must be in rural regions."

The Primary Health Care Loan Forgiveness Program, through the Oregon Office of Rural Health, is open to all students in the classes of 2016 and 2017, the Democrat-Herald writes. The osteopathic college had 105 new students this school year.

Eligible students are ones who "intend to go into primary care residencies, including family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics and general surgery," the Democrat-Herald reports. "The curriculum includes on-campus and online teaching sessions, participation in the Family Medicine Rural Health Club and a community project." (Read more)

James River Coal Co. files for bankruptcy, blaming weak economy and environmental regulations

"James River Coal Co. said Monday that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as part of its efforts to turn around its business as it struggles along with much of the U.S. coal industry," reports the Richmond Times-Dispatch. The company, which said "it has secured $110 million in financing to keep its operations going, pending court approval," said  "it has assets valued at about $1.06 billion and liabilities of about $818.7 million. The company estimated its number of creditors at 10,000 to 25,000." (James River Coal map of operations)

The Richmond-based company, which filed for bankruptcy after missing a $208,000 debt interest payment in March, blames its financial woes on the weak economy, environmental regulations and competition from natural gas, the Times-Dispatch writes. "The company missed the payment on $13.3 million of convertible notes due in March 2018, and the company said it had a 30-day grace period — until April 14 — in which to make the payment before going into default."

James River, which"used to produce steel and for power generation in Kentucky, West Virginia and Indiana, said it "is still considering options such as selling off parts of its business," the Times-Dispatch writes. "The company also delayed filing its annual 10-K report to the Securities and Exchange Commission in March. James River Coal hasn’t posted an annual net profit since 2010." (Read more)

Washington governor vetoes bill that would have set rules for drone use by governments and police

Citing privacy concerns, Washington Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee "vetoed a bill that would have regulated the use of drones by government and police," Jim Camden reports for The Spokesman-Review. "In its place, Inslee called for a 15-month moratorium on purchasing or using unmanned aircraft by state agencies for anything other than emergencies such as forest fires. He said he hoped local police chiefs and sheriffs would issue similar orders and the Legislature would take another run at the issue next year."

The concern over the legality of drone use has been much debated. The Federal Aviation Administration said commercial drone use is illegal, but a ruling by a federal judge to dismiss an FAA fine appears to make it legal for commercial drones to fly below 400 feet.

The bill Inslee vetoed "would have set standards for state and local government use of drones, with requirements for obtaining warrants when law enforcement used them for surveillance," Camden notes. "Inslee called it 'one of the most complex bills we’ve had to analyze' and said the emerging technology of drones creates difficult issues for government. The bill had some conflicting provisions on disclosure of personal information, he added." (Read more)