Rural Entrepreneurship Challenge names finalists

The Rural Entrepreneurship Challenge has narrowed its field to four finalists. Created by the American Farm Bureau Federation and Georgetown University, the challenge allows rural farmers and entrepreneurs the chance to showcase new business ideas and innovation. Each finalist receives $15,000. The Rural Entrepreneur of the Year Award gets an additional $15,000 and the Peoples' Choice Award winner another $10,000. Winners will be announced in January at the AFBF 96th Annual Convention in San Diego. (Read more)

Finalists:

• Pasturebird, LLC (Temecula, Calif.), a cost-effective method of producing pastured poultry on a large scale. Team lead: Paul Greive;
• Pulaski Grow (Pulaski, Va.), an aquaponics facility to provide local youth with job training. Team lead: Lee Spiegel;
• ScoutPro (Lone Tree, Iowa), software to assist farmers with crop maintenance. Team lead: Michael Koenig; and
• Golden Bridges, Senior Move Management (Palmyra, Mo.), customized moving and relocation services for older Americans. Team lead: Suzanne Ellerbrock.

President Obama battling Congress to save tax credit that benefits rural low-income families

President Barack Obama and Congress are battling over the extension of a tax break. The president is in favor of Earned Income Tax Credit, which will benefit rural and small-town taxpayers more than urban tax payers, says a report from the Center for Rural Affairs.

"President Obama has said he will veto the measures unless they also permanently extend provisions for the Earned Income Tax Credit," Tim Marema reports for the Daily Yonder. "EITC was created in 1975 and lowers the federal tax burden on low-income families," Marema writes. "In the past it has been touted by both Republicans and Democrats for rewarding work, rather than providing welfare payments. The program was expanded in the administrations of both George Bush (1990) and Bill Clinton (1993)."

The Center for Rural Affairs "found that while only 18.7 percent of filers in metropolitan areas claimed the Earned Income Tax Credit, 21.4 percent of rural filers claimed the credit," Marema writes. In micropolitan areas—counties that have cities with between 10,000 and 50,000 people—the rate is 21.6 percent. (Center for Rural Affairs graphic)

"In 2013, working families that have children and annual incomes below $37,870 to $51,567 (depending on the number of children in the household) qualify for the credit," Marema writes. "Taxpayers without children must earn less than $14,340 ($19,680 for married couples) to qualify, according to the Center for Rural Affairs study."

In rural areas, Mississippi has the highest rates of federal tax returns claiming EITC, at 37.5 percent, followed by Georgia, 32.7 percent; Florida, 29.3 percent; and South Carolina and Louisiana, 28.8 percent, Marema writes. Among filers in micropolitan areas, Mississippi also had the highest rate at 34 percent. That was followed by Arizona, 32.2 percent; Georgia, 32.1 percent; Louisiana, 31 percent; and Alabama, 29.2 percent.

The report said: “This daily life of rural economic conditions results in a large number of working, low-income households—most with children—that rely on an array of income-support programs like the EITC to bolster their well-being. Because of these conditions the EITC has become a ‘rural program,’ or a least a nonurban program. The stereotype of the EITC as an urban, minority program is contrary to recent data. Because of the number of rural workers qualifying for and claiming the EITC, any changes (in the program) are likely to disproportionately affect rural families and rural communities, both positively and negatively.” (Read more)

Rural Up! program teaching computer technology job skills to students in Eastern Kentucky

A program in Eastern Kentucky—which includes some of the nation's poorest counties—is working to help improve educational opportunities and job prospects for local youth by teaching them the skills to get jobs in computer technology.

Rural Up! photo

The Rural Up! Code Academy has been traveling across the region to work with middle school and high school students to give "them the information and resources needed for success in computer coding," says the organization's website.

Estimates say that by 2020 there will be 1.4 new computer science jobs, but only 30 percent of those jobs will be filled by U.S. graduates, Rural Up! says. "Right now, according to Code.org, nine out 10 high schools in the U.S. do not offer computer science classes." In Kentucky only 19 high schools—out of more than 100—currently offer AP computer science, and only 13 percent of students in those courses are female.

Code Demo Days are scheduled for Saturday at Pulaski County High School, the Roy F. Collier Community Center, Eastern Kentucky University-Manchester and University of Pikeville. Another session will be held on Dec. 13 at Ashland Community and Technical College. (Read more)

China to send entertainment industry to rural areas so they can 'form a correct view on art'

What is it like to live in rural China? Some in the entertainment industry are about to find out. "China’s media regulator has announced a new program to send artists, filmmakers and television company staff to live in rural areas so that they may 'form a correct view on art,'" Sean Silbert reports for The Los Angeles Times.

The move may sound strange, but rural and urban life in China are worlds apart. Large groups are fleeing impoverished rural areas that lack many basic health care needs for the prospect of better lives in the city, Silbert writes. (China Foto Press: More migrant workers are taking their offspring with them to the cities from the countryside or having children there)

In 2013, about 245 million people—or 18 percent of the entire population—left their hometowns, and 80 percent of them moved from rural to urban areas, Zhuang Pinghui reports for the South China Morning Post. Wang Qian, director of the migrant population division of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, told Pinghui, "The public services that migrant populations are entitled to are different from those who have urban household registrations."

One problem is that some adults are moving from rural areas to urban ones and leaving their children behind, Pinghui writes. The "Development Report on China's Migrant Population 2014," released in November, "found 62.5 per cent of migrant couples took children aged six to 15 with them to the cities last year, 5.2 percentage points more than in 2011."

"More women of child-bearing age also chose to have babies in cities, the report said," Pinghui writes. "More than 57 percent of women stayed in cities during pregnancy, while nearly 60 per cent gave birth in cities, 5.9 percentage points and 7 percentage points higher respectively than in 2011."

"About 95 percent of pregnant migrant women gave birth in a hospital last year, but 40 per cent of pregnancies did not meet the basic requirement of having five checks before birth, and one fifth of newborns and mothers did not have post-natal checks," Pinghui writes. "About 10 per cent of migrant children received some vaccinations, although some had none."

Rural residents have been flocking to the city for years for better opportunities, Oliver Wainwright reports for The Guardian. "Over the last decade, China’s mass exodus of the working population from the countryside to the cities has seen rural areas drained of their lifeblood, leaving impoverished communities of elderly farmers looking after their grandchildren."

"The rural decline has been exacerbated by the government’s frequent and arbitrary acquisition of farmland for development, an alarming trend that has already made China the world’s largest importer of agricultural produce," Wainwright writes. "Where once there rolled rice fields, now identikit armies of tower blocks and strange suburban new towns march, leaving the villages as ghostly cadavers of their former selves."

The State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television said it would have production staff from 10 designated films and TV shows go to 'grassroots" communities, villages and mining sites to experience local life,'" Silbert writes.

"Another provision stated that every year, 100 scriptwriters, directors, broadcasters and TV presenters would be sent to live for at least 30 days in border and ethnic minority regions, as well as areas 'important in China’s revolutionary background,'" Silbert writes. "With the help of this program, artists 'will be able to unearth new subjects, find their market and push forward their masterpieces,' the regulator said."

Meth lab seizures are down in West Virginia; opinions vary on why police are making fewer busts

Meth lab busts are down in West Virginia—a state that has been ravaged by meth abuse. But there are differing opinions about why busts are down, Eric Eyre reports for the Charleston Gazette.

State police busted a record 531 meth labs in 2013, up from 284 in 2012 and 229 in 2011, Eyre writes. As of Nov. 30 of this year, there have been 290 meth labs seizures, and police are on pace to bust 315 meth labs, a decrease of 41 percent from last year. (Gazette graphic)

Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin says busts are down because he persuaded CVS, Walgreens and Kmart to join Rite Aid and Fruth Pharmacy to tighten restrictions on sales of pseudoephedrine, Eyre writes. Manchin told him, “Through good corporate citizenship, we’ve had a direct result as far as reducing substantially the number of meth labs in our state. The results have been overwhelming. We’ve got cold, hard facts to support what they did has helped West Virginia.”

Mike Goff, a state Board of Pharmacy administrator, counters by saying that busts are down because officers "are apparently spending less time looking for the clandestine labs, while devoting more time battling the state’s problem with heroin and prescription drugs," with the state's prescription drug problem having been the focus of a pair of documentaries set in impoverished Appalachian areas.

Goff told Eyre, “I don’t know if the labs are actually less, but they’re definitely not finding as many. They’re not looking, from what I understand. There’s not anyone out there looking for meth labs hardly at all.”

Goff may have a case, because fewer officers "are using a computerized system—called NPLEx—that tracks sales of pseudoephedrine across the state," Eyre writes. "NPLEx allows officers to search for potential meth makers. Police officers actively using the electronic system peaked at 104 in April before dropping to 73 in November. Also, the number of times that officers logged into the system dropped to an all-time low last month." (Read more)

Biodiesel industry wants EPA to raise production levels to 1.7 billion gallons per year

While the biodiesel $1-per-gallon tax credit—which has expired three times in the last three years, including on Dec. 31, 2013—will likely be extended through 2014, "a longer-term extension remains in doubt as the lame duck Congress is wrangling with the White House over a package which includes the biodiesel incentive along with dozens of other tax breaks," reports Agri-Pulse, a Washington newsletter.

The biodiesel tax credit and the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) are policies that President George W. Bush promoted and signed into law, and some of the biggest vocal supporters are Republicans, Agri-Pulse writes.

"Yet the RFS remains a huge question mark," Agri-Pulse writes. Last year the Environmental Protection Agency "worried about ethanol hitting the so-called 'blend wall'—10 percent of U.S. transportation fuel usage. So in November 2013, EPA proposed to reduce the RFS volume requirement well below the level set by law. That way, Big Oil wouldn’t have to surrender any more than 10 percent of its market to ethanol."

"One major problem with EPA’s reasoning was that the blend wall exists because the oil industry resists installing the blender pumps needed to let drivers choose E15 (15 percent ethanol/gasoline blend) rather than the standard E10–or to let flex fuel vehicles fill up with E85," Agri-Pulse writes.

Another problem is "that biodiesel has become collateral damage in the oil industry’s battle to limit competition from ethanol," Agri-Pulse writes. EPA proposed levels of 1.28 billion gallons, well below the 1.7 billion gallons suggested by the National Biodiesel Board. Biodiesel production was 1.8 billion gallons in 2013 and is on pace to produce 1.6 billion gallons in 2014.

With no way to forecast what volume levels the EPA will set or when, National Biodiesel Board CEO Joe Jobe sees more trouble ahead, Agri-Pulse writes. Jobe warns that “If the EPA doesn’t significantly increase the volumes from the proposed rule, as they indicated many times they intended to do, the additional volumes will be carried forward into 2015, effectively creating an even further cut.” Agri-Pulse is subscription only, but a free trial is available by clicking here.

Increase in speed limit on rural Idaho interstate leads to an increase in speeding tickets

In July, Idaho raised the speed limit to 80 mph through many rural areas along Interstate 84. Since then, drivers are getting to their destinations at a much faster rate, but they are also collecting tickets in far greater numbers than when the speed limit was 75 mph, Nathan Brown reports for the Times-News in Twin Falls. (Times-News photo by Drew Nash)

From July 24 to Nov. 13 state police wrote 2,066 speeding tickets on Interstate 84, well above the 1,731 tickets written during that same time period in 2013, Brown writes. But it's not clear if drivers are abusing the new speed limits at higher rates or if police are being more vigilant about writing tickets.

State police spokeswoman Teresa Baker said "somebody going a couple of miles over 80 is more likely to get a ticket than someone slightly faster than 75 mph might have last year," Brown writes. She told Brown, “We just want to make sure we keep the roads as safe as we can, and 80’s fast enough." (Read more)

Media outlets challenge federal judge's gag order in coal executive's criminal case

Local and national media outlets Monday "urged a federal judge to withdraw a gag order that has blocked access to court records in a criminal case filed against longtime Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship," Ken Ward reports for The Charleston Gazette, which joined the legal action with The Wall Street Journal, The Associated Press, NPR and West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

Don Blankenship

Blankenship was indicted last month on charges that he orchestrated the routine violation of key federal mine safety rules at the company’s Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia prior to an April 2010 explosion that killed 29 miners. His trial is scheduled for Jan. 26.

"The media coalition asked U.S. District Judge Irene Berger to reconsider her order, which also prohibits parties in the case, potential trial witnesses and potentially families of the victims of the Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster from talking to the media," Ward writes. Sean McGinley, a Charleston attorney representing the media groups, filed a motion that "argued that federal courts must give the media outlets an opportunity to be heard before they restrict access to court records or prohibit parties from discussing cases with reporters."

The gag order "interferes with the news media’s ability to gather information needed to report on the case, violating the media’s constitutionally protected rights under the First Amendment, McGinley said in the motion," Ward writes.

The motion said: “A reporter’s First Amendment right to publish is meaningless if it is prevented from gathering news in the first instance. In this case, the court’s gag and sealing order prevents the news media intervenors and other members of the press and public from obtaining any meaningful information regarding this newsworthy case from court records and from those most knowledgeable about it, the participants and those affected by the underlying events."

"The public interest in access is especially strong in the case at bar because such access promotes trustworthiness in the judicial process, better understanding of the judicial system and ultimately, fairness," the motion said. (Read more)

Texas towns follow Denton's lead, look to ban fracking in a state where oil and gas reigns

Denton, Texas, became the state's first town to ban fracking when 59 percent of voters showed their support for an anti-fracking measure during the November election. In a state where oil and gas are big business, the decision was immediately hit with a lawsuit, with the case expected to reach the state Supreme Court.

But it turns out Denton is not alone in its fight to keep fracking out of its borders. Other Texas towns have stepped forward and expressed a desire to also ban the practice, Emily Schmall reports for The Associated Press. "The Denton ban has become a 'proxy for this big war between people who want to stop fracking and people who want to see it happen,' said Michael Webber, deputy director of the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin."

After Reno—about 50 miles from Dallas—had its first recorded earthquake in November 2013, the town of about 1,200 began taking steps to ban fracking, "passing a law in April limiting disposal well activity to operators who can prove the injections won't cause earthquakes," Schmall writes. (Wikipedia map: Reno)

"Residents of Presidio, a border town southwest of Alpine, want municipal leaders to protect their water source from being tainted by exploratory fracking wells in Mexico, said Pat Simms, who sits on a Presidio County water conservation board," Schmall writes.

But the fight is an uphill one. Many residents say the Texas Railroad Commission, the governing body of the oil and gas industry, favors the industry over public safety, Schmall writes. Meanwhile, the General Land Office, which uses revenue from mineral rights to fund public education, is a powerful and wealthy organization headed by George P. Bush, a grandson and nephew of two former presidents, who owns 13 million acres of land and mineral rights throughout Texas, including in Denton. (Read more)

Two different worlds: a farmer's thoughts on Ferguson

Anthony Flaccavento, an organic farmer in Southwest Virginia, still sells most of what he grows directly to consumers, but that is not the case for many farmers, and life in general has "become dramatically de-localized over the past two generations, not only in our food system but in almost every aspect of how we live," Flaccavento writes for the Huffington Post. "Our homes are heated and cooled not by the materials we collect or even see, but by some inscrutable mix of coal miners, oil and gas workers, pipelines and utility companies, all of which are entirely out of sight for most Americans," he writes. The criminal justice system is a similar situation.

Many Americans are aware that people of color are in prison in large numbers, but it's often assumed that it must be because they all committed far more crimes and more violent crimes. However, studies have shown that "Black youth and men are more than twice as likely to go to jail than their white counterparts for the same crime; or be arrested and charged before that; or to be stopped by police in the first place," Flaccavento writes. Some people automatically assume that black men, for the most part, are dangerous.

"If that's your starting point, the national epidemic of police shootings of unarmed black men, while certainly unfortunate, seems understandable at some level," Flaccavento writes. On a case by case basis, we often assume the police are treating people fairly and without prejudice because, of course, they're interacting with some dangerous people. In the past decade police have killed more than one person per day, according to the FBI. A ProPublica investigation from 2010-2012 showed that police shot black teenagers ages 15 to 19 at more than 20 times the rate of white teenagers.

The ignorance or acceptance of those ideas are a result of the "disconnections that now characterize almost every part of our lives," Flaccavento writes. People are isolated from others who are different from themselves. We've mostly abandoned overt racism and "substituted indifference towards extreme unfairness and violent injustice, an indifference borne out of a near total disconnect from people different from ourselves," he writes. "Another farmer loses his land. Another black kid shot dead on a city street. Two different worlds. Maybe that's the problem." (Read more)

Southwestern Indiana residents deal with overabundance of dust from surface coal mine

Since 2012, state environmental regulators have received many complaints from those who live in Southwest Indiana near the Bear Run Mine, the largest surface coal mine east of the Mississippi. The rules state that mines have to contain dust in their property boundaries. However, the rules also say state officials have to personally observe the dust to do something about it. In four inspections, officials said they couldn't see the dust. "State regulators tell residents that if inspectors don't see the dust clouds, they didn't happen," Ryan Sabalow writes for the IndyStar.

A university public health scientist found high levels of dust in the air and inflammation in residents' blood, "a possible indicator of health problems caused by breathing fire particulate matter," Sabalow writes. Peabody officials claim the mine is safe. "Bear Run Mine operates in a safe, environmentally sound manner and complies with all state and federal air, land and water quality permits," Peabody said in a prepared statement.

In 2011, federal officials asked the mine to put three dust sensors around the property, and they detected unsafe levels of dust more than 150 times in four months. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency gave Peabody a violation notice in 2013, but the enforcement action is still pending.

Indiana University professor Michael Hendryx of the School of Public Health said people who live near surface mines are at risk for very small particles of dust called "ultra fines," which "potentially have a bigger impact on health because they are so small they can penetrate deeply into the lungs and into the bloodstream." Hendryx said he saw what the conditions were like in the area and could smell the dust in the air. He and a research team found that people who live close to the mining operation "had average indoor air-pollution readings nearly three times as high as those living farther away," Sabalow reports. (Read more)

Kentucky's solution to snow days is home schooling; lack of Internet access a concern

Last year's brutal winter caused a high number of school snow days in many areas. This forced many districts to scramble to make up days and led some schools to cancel spring break or to have students remain in school several days—or even weeks—into scheduled summer vacation, moves that resulted in low attendance rates and hurt state funding, Adam Beam reports for The Associated Press.

Fearing another snowy winter, Kentucky has come up with a plan to combat lost school days, Beam writes. The state's solution to wintry weather is to have students in 13 districts be home-schooled mainly via the Internet. That seems like a sound idea, until one takes into consideration that some students—especially those in impoverished areas—don't have computers or access to the Internet. Kentucky ranks 46th in availability of high speed Internet. (Lexington Herald-Leader graphic)

Still, the state needed an answer to the possibility of another bad winter, like the one last year that caused four times as many snow days as the year before, with some schools canceling more than a month a school, Beam writes.

Kris Amundson, executive director of the National Association of State Boards of Education, said Kentucky is the first state to tackle the issue, Beam writes. Amundson told Beam, "Everybody in the world is struggling with the same issue . . . and the early cold weather here now is, I think, making people feel even more of a sense of urgency about it. I think people will be really happy to let Kentucky go first and see how it works."

As part of Kentucky's plan, students can "complete assignments from home either by downloading them or working from packets prepared and sent home ahead of time," Beam writes. "In exchange, the state will forgive up to 10 makeup days." But the downside is that "districts that opt to use the home school option would lose state transportation dollars and federal money for free and reduced lunches. Losing those dollars would hurt in a state that the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says has cut K-12 education funding by 11.4 percent since 2008, among the deepest cuts in the nation."

Tim Bobrowski, Owsley County superintendent, said he hopes to be able keep some of that aid, Beam writes. "Though school buses might not be able to ply all the county's side roads to bring kids to school on snow days, education officials might still be able to deliver meals to the students at some central locations, such as community centers, he said. He has asked the federal government for permission to be a bit flexible with the meals." (Read more)

Iron Range miners have higher rate of cancer, cardiovascular disease, study finds

Miners in the Iron Range have higher than expected rates of cardiovascular disease, lung cancer and a rare cancer known as mesothelioma, says a six-year study by the University of Minnesota released on Monday, Dan Kraker reports for Minnesota Public Radio. "University researchers, however, said they were unable to pinpoint an exact cause of the diseases."

"For decades, some miners have wondered if microscopic needle-like fibers found in the dust of crushed taconite iron ore can lodge into workers' lungs and cause respiratory diseases including mesothelioma, a deadly cancer of the lining of the lungs that's killed 80 former mine workers on the Iron Range," Kraker writes. (Wikipedia photo: Iron Range)

"The $4.9 million study, which began in 2008, linked time spent working in the taconite industry to a higher risk of mesothelioma," Kraker writes. "It found every year spent working in the industry increased the risk of contracting mesothelioma by 3 percent and that Iron Range mine workers suffered the disease at three times the rate of Minnesota's general population. It also linked exposure to the tiny fiber-like particles to mesothelioma." (Read more)

California drought threatening to wipe out Muir Woods coho salmon population

The California drought is threatening to wipe out the region's coho salmon population, Michael Fleeman reports for Reuters. Muir Woods coho salmon "make their way each year from the Pacific Ocean to spawn in a freshwater creek running through the redwoods near San Francisco." (Davis Enterprise photo by Ken Davis: Coho salmon)

State officials said that last winter no coho salmon eggs were found in areas where the fish typically mate, and during the summer no baby salmon were found, Fleeman writes. About 100 juvenile coho salmon are being raised in a local hatchery, where they will remain for 15 months.

"The coho, also called silver salmon, once thrived in Redwood Creek in Marin County and provided sustenance for both the Miwok Indians and grizzly bears," Fleeman writes. "Each winter, 3-year-old fish swim from the ocean to their birthplace in Muir Woods, a protected area that includes many redwoods, along with other stream systems in the state, to lay their eggs. Last month, the state said salmon migration in the American River watershed near Sacramento was slower than usual amid dry weather and warmer temperatures." (Read more)

FAA drone rules will hamper rural operators; reports of unsafe drone use on the rise

When the Federal Aviation Administration releases its proposed rules for drone use, rural pilots will be facing a long, arduous road to be able to fly legally fly, Jordan Golson reports for Wired. The rules, expected by the end of the year, "will apply to drones under 55 pounds, limit flights to daytime hours, under 400 feet, and within the pilot’s line of sight. They would also require all drone operators to acquire a pilot’s license from the FAA. Not a special, drone-focused license, but the kind you need to actually get in a plane and fly it."

"In more rural areas, however, there simply aren’t that many things to fly into," Golson writes. "Apart from town centers and highways, most of the middle of the country is filled up with wide open spaces. That makes the onerous process of getting a license—including dozens of hours of work with an expensive flight instructor, a medical examination and lots of classroom time—seem less necessary when the only things you might hit are cows and stalks of corn."

"The 400-foot ceiling and line of sight requirements are also impractical for many possible drone uses in rural areas," Golson writes. "For example, electric utilities routinely use helicopters to inspect their long-haul high-voltage power lines, to check they’re in working order and make sure trees haven’t grown too close to them. Farmers could use the unmanned aircraft to inspect crops, and ranchers could keep an eye on their herds—over thousands of acres. This is the kind of work drones are perfect for, but only if they can fly over long distances and far above the 200-foot towers."  

With no rules currently in place and drones readily for sale, the friendly skies are turning chaotic, as more and more reports of unsafe flying keep coming in, Nick Wingfield reports for The New York Times. "In recent months, drone pilots have tried to smuggle contraband into prisons and disrupt sporting events at stadiums. Animal rights groups have turned to drones to stalk hunters as the hunters stalk wildlife. And in France, more than a dozen illegal flights over nuclear power plants have unnerved the authorities."

"The antics are forcing public safety officials to look at the air above them, generally thought safe and secure, as a place for potential trouble," Wingfield writes. "And for groups pushing drones as legitimate business tools, the high jinks are an unexpected and unwelcome headache—one, they fear, that will bolster a push by regulators to keep a tight leash on the machines."

Patrick Egan, a consultant on commercial drone projects and editor at sUAS News, a drone news site, told Wingfield, “It’s now in the hands of all types of people—good people, bad people, tricksters, pranksters, kids. All hell is going to break loose as far as the shenanigans that are perpetrated with drones.” (Read more)

Alcohol sales are booming, leading to more jobs and tax revenue for many rural areas

Some rural areas have solved economic woes by turning to alcohol. Business is booming for many distilleries, leading to huge tax revenues for local and state governments, Jennifer Steinhauer reports for The New York Times. Garrett C. Peck, a historian who has written several books on alcohol and Prohibition, told her, “In human history there has never been a better time to be a drinker.” (NYT photo by William DeShazer: Woodford Reserve Distillery in Versailles, Ky.)

In Central Kentucky, Wild Turkey "paid over $778,000 in real estate and property taxes to Anderson County this year, twice what it paid in 2010, making it the biggest taxpayer by far," Steinhauer writes. Brian Stivers, the property valuation administrator for the county, told Steinhauer, “We’re lucky to have them. Without their expansions we would have probably had to raise the tax rate.” The same impact is felt throughout the state; the bourbon industry has increased its payrolls over the past two years by 77 percent to about 15,400 jobs.

"Spirits revenue nationwide—from all alcohol except beer and wine—increased to over $60 billion last year from roughly half that in 2000, according to the Distilled Spirits Council," Steinhauer writes. "Exports of spirits, much of it whiskey, have increased to nearly $1.5 billion from $531 million over that same time."

The rising interest in craft beer—a staple in many rural areas—also has increased revenue in many towns, counties and states, Steinhauer writes. "Some 10.6 million barrels of it were produced in the first six months of 2014, up from about 4.9 million for the same period in 2010, according to Bart Watson, the chief economist at the Brewers Association, which represents small and independent brewers."

"Even hops farmers are benefiting, largely because craft beers use more and different varieties of hops in production," Steinhauer writes. "Over 72 million pounds of hops have been produced this year, a 26 percent increase in just under the last decade, according to the Department of Agriculture."

Watson told Steinhauer, “In 2012, craft brewing contributed $33.9 billion to the U.S. economy and more than 360,000 jobs total. This in an industry that didn’t exist 40 years ago.” And the craft beer business has benefited from many changes in state laws that now allow tasting and sales on the premises. (Read more)

Rural Idaho's young adults fleeing for jobs in other states; small businesses are suffering

Rural Idaho is losing its young adult population, and small businesses are suffering because of it, Aubrey Wieber reports for the Post Register in Idaho Falls. From 2009 to 2013, Idaho had 74,643 more people move into the state than leave, and 42 percent of those people were 51 or older. During that same time period, the state lost 1,817 people 20 and under and lost 55,655 people 30 and under.

Chris Tucker, vice principal of South Fremont High School in St. Anthony, Idaho, "said recent graduates generally leave for three reasons: a religious mission, college or better employment opportunities," Wieber writes. "Most students want to stay in town, he said, but end up seeking more lucrative job opportunities elsewhere." (Post Register photo by Monte LaOrange: Harry Halkar's printing business has survived in St. Anthony while many others have closed shop)

Many of Idaho's rural towns offer few job opportunities for recent high school or college graduates, Wieber writes. That means many young people are heading out of state to find better job opportunities, and towns like St. Anthony, with a population of 3,500, are suffering, as more and more local businesses are forced to shut down.

Harry Halkar, whose printing business has survived in St. Anthony for 30 years, told Wieber, "I've seen so many businesses come and go. I don't know what it's going to take to see things change for the better." (Read more)

Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2014/12/01/3517326/rural-idaho-struggles-as-young.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2014/12/01/3517326/rural-idaho-struggles-as-young.html#storylink=cpy

Republicans flourish in once-Democratic southwestern Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale region

Republican success at the polls last month gave the GOP control of the U.S. Senate in addition to the stronghold the party already has in the House. One area where tides are turning is southwest Pennsylvania, a region that has over the years switched its alliance from Democratic to Republican, as more Marcellus Shale oil and gas drilling sites pop up, and the business continues to boom, Lou Jacobson reports for PoliticsPA.

The area is considered the northern end of the "McCain Belt," the swath of counties running west and south to Oklahoma and Louisiana where John McCain did better in the 2008 presidential election against Barack Obama than George W. Bush did against John Kerry in 2004.

"The trend manifested itself first at the top of the ticket but has now moved down to statewide and state legislative races," David Patti, president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Business Council, told Jacobson. He said southwestern Pennsylvania “may be registered Democratic, but that means little. They are pro-God, pro-life, pro-gun, moderate on the environment, moderate on tort reform and are not anti-business. They are pro-labor and don’t see that as incompatible with these other considerations. Like Ronald Reagan, they believe they aren’t leaving the Democratic Party–they believe the Democratic Party at the top of the ticket has left them.”

Observers say "the rapidly advancing energy boom has sped up the process of realignment," Jacobson writes. "In this once-sleepy corner of the state, landowners have signed mineral leases, and out-of-state energy companies have flooded the region with business and jobs. To the extent that there’s an environmental downside to the drilling, it hasn’t yet taken precedence in local public opinion, observers say."

Larry Maggi, a Democratic commissioner in Washington County for more than a dozen years, told Jacobson, "The Marcellus Shale is a game-changer, just like the heavy industry that came before it. It has literally changed Washington County’s economics. It has opened up opportunities that have never existed before. Instead of exporting of our kids, our youth are staying here.”

Southwest Pennsylvania was once densely populated, and Democrats still outnumber Republicans 3-to-2 in registration, but Republicans were out in full force during this year's election and outnumbered Democratic voters, Jacobson reports.  "Signs of this realignment—specifically, a shift from the region’s Democratic roots to a Republican ascendancy—have been under way for several years. Bolstered by voters’ disaffection with the national Democratic Party’s stances on social issues, guns and the environment and aided by a pro-Republican redistricting map in the state, the GOP has managed to win all but one of the region’s congressional seats and has gained ground in lower offices." (Read more)

Rural Ohio students have fewer opportunities to take AP classes than their suburban counterparts

Rural students have fewer opportunities than their urban counterparts to take Advanced Placement classes, Catherine Candisky and Jim Siegel report for The Columbus Dispatch. Students across Ohio are supposed to have the same access to AP classes, but the Dispatch found that metro Dublin offers 92 AP classes—including studio art, computer science, calculus, engineering design, statistics, theater, Japanese, German, Latin and Chinese—while rural Hamilton Local, located in the same county as Dublin, only offers nine AP classes.

Susan Witten, Hamilton’s assistant superintendent for teaching and learning, told the Dispatch, “We can’t afford to have a class with five students in it. If we have a student interested in Advanced Placement French, for instance, we can arrange for independent study.”

Analysis of state schools found that "students living in poorer, more rural areas of the state have access to fewer overall classes and far fewer high-level courses, than do students living in suburban and urban districts," the Dispatch writes. Analysis found that rural districts average "fewer than 6.5 high-level courses: upper-level math, Advanced Placement, general advanced courses and nontraditional foreign languages such as German and Chinese," while suburban districts average 26 high-level courses.

Overall, the analysis found that "the average rural district has 146 high-school courses, compared with 241 at suburban schools," the Dispatch writes. "However, the actual number of courses offered by all districts is smaller because the data list some courses multiple times if they are offered in more than one grade." (Read more)

Interactive map shows more details of crude-oil train routes

Although the oil and gas boom in North Dakota has provided local economies with jobs and assisted the U.S. in becoming a net energy exporter for first time in generations, transporting Bakken Shale crude oil to the few refineries that can process it is putting towns and cities nationwide in danger, Isaiah Thompson writes for ProPublica.

Much of North Dakota's oil is transported by rail instead of through pipelines, which are safer. "Using rail networks has saved the oil and gas industry the time and capital it takes to build new pipelines, but the trade-off is greater risk: Researchers estimate that trains are three and a half times a likely as pipelines to suffer safety lapses," Thompson writes.

Since massive movement of crude by rail began in 2012, eight major oil-train accidents have occurred in North America. The worst killed 47 people and burned down a quarter of Lac-Megantic, Quebec. In most cases, residents didn't know the trains moving through their towns carried dangerous cargo. Local officials, environmental groups and concerned citizens wanted to know where the trains were going and how the towns could be prepared if an accident happened.

Though the U.S. Deptartment of Transportation has ordered railroads to provide route information, they tried to keep the information private because of security concerns. The available disclosures often lack important details, "consisting of little more than a list of counties through which crude oil is passing, without further specifics," Thompson reports. "A ProPublica analysis of data from the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration adds new details by plotting out where trains carrying crude have experienced safety incidents, most of them minor. . . . We've used the data to create an interactive map showing where safety incidents on trains were reported, where each train began its journey and where it was ultimately headed." To see the interactive map, click here; here's a screenshot:

Lines: BNSF(orange), UP(blue), CSX(yellow), NFS (red), other(green), multiple(purple)

NYT's miscues on Thanksgiving food don't obscure the value of family recipes and sharing them

Last week The New York Times published Thanksgiving recipes from all 50 states, as well as Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, after soliciting them from readers. (It later published a sizable correction.)

Some submissions were criticized by those who felt they did not properly represent their state's culinary characteristics. "The largest offense seemed to come from Minnesotans, who were given a mixture of grapes and sour cream for their holiday dish, a recipe attributed to an anonymous 'Minnesota-born heiress,'" Smith writes. Linda Holmes of NPR accused the NYT of "fly-over elitism."

Lora Smith of Kentucky sent in a family recipe for dressing, which was chosen for publication. "I wasn't the only one surprised, as some readers in Kentucky sounded off about it failing to represent a state rich with culinary diversity," Smith writes for the Daily Yonder.

The recipe doesn't speak for all Kentucky citizens, and no recipe could do that, Smith writes. Her family has been making it for four recorded generations, and the recipe is attributed to her great-grandmother. The Times adapted the recipe for national audiences by recommending the patties be cooked "in oiled muffin tins for consistency of shape instead of hand patting them," Smith writes.

Pieces of the Kentucky recipe are "tied to a larger experience," Smith writes. "There's certain ingredients and aspects of the recipe that open the door to stories about other shared rural experiences: hunting traditions within families, foraging practices and the use of the once abundant American chestnut tree in our region before blight erased it from our landscape."

Trendy chef Sean Brock, who grew up in Virginia near the Kentucky border and emphasizes local food at his Husk restaurants in Charleston, S.C., and Nashville, wrote recently on the Huffington Post that diners "are realizing that the food of their grandmothers is the most important food they will ever eat. I think people are really starting to experience this new sense of pride in regions, hometowns and families." (Read more)

Rural fire departments continue to struggle to find enough firefighters

Rural fire departments have had difficulty finding rookie firefighters for the last few years, with the number of volunteers dropping 12 percent from 2005 to 2010. The latest report of the problem comes from Flathead County in northwest Montana. "We've got fewer volunteers, and yet the number of calls we get a year have nearly doubled," Somers/Lakeside Fire Chief Dave Hayes told Justin Franz of the Flathead Beacon. "When you show up to a major fire with only five or six people, it's tough to do our job safely."

Because of the economic downturn, many people have to work a second job and don't have time to volunteer at the fire department anymore. However, the number of emergency calls is increasing. In past years, Somers/Lakeside received 80 to 150 calls in a year, but this year they received more than 260 calls.

James Browser, the Marion Volunteer Fire Department chief and training coordinator for Flathead County Emergency Services, said all the volunteer departments in the Flathead Valley are struggling to find and keep firefighters. One reason: Training is becoming more involved than past years, as a result of more household items being made with plastics and chemicals, which make firefighting more complicated, Franz writes. Sometimes fire departments call for help from other communities, which can be effective, but can risk leaving those communities without necessary resources.

Browser said volunteering at a local fire department is not only a good way to assist the community but also a good steppingstone to becoming a career first-responder. Smith Valley Fire Chief D.C. Haas tries to attract new recruits that way. "For the younger individuals who are looking to make firefighting a career, volunteering at a local fire department can be a great way to get some experience under your belt before that first big interview," he told the Beacon. (Read more)

Telemedicine may be better for rural veterans with PTSD than visiting a VA clinic

Military veterans are disproportionately rural, with less ready access to treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, but telemedicine could help rural veterans with PTSD, according to a study published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry. More than 500,000 veterans have been diagnosed with PTSD, and 66 percent of the veterans covered by the Veterans Health Administration live "closer to a VHA community-based outpatient clinic than they are to a Department of Veterans Affairs medical center," iHealthBeat reports.

The researchers wrote in the peer-reviewed journal "that it is not 'typically feasible' for outpatient clinics to hire on-site psychologists of psychiatrists who have expertise in PTSD," iHeathBeat reports.

In the study, the researchers randomly assigned 265 veterans exhibiting severe PTSD symptoms—most of whom resided in rural areas—to get either telehealth or standard care from outpatient clinics. Those with telehealth had access to "nurses who carried out care management via telephone; pharmacists available via telephone, who reviewed veterans' medication histories; psychologists, who delivered cognitive processing therapy via video chat; and psychiatrists who supervised the offsite care team and conducted interactive consultations via video chat."

The researchers measured the severity of participants' PTSD prior to and following the intervention. They also measured severity of depression and quality of life related to health. The researchers found that of those who received the PTSD telehealth intervention, 54.9 percent received cognitive processing therapy, and 27.1 percent attended at least eight cognitive processing therapy sessions. Among those who received standard care, only 12.1 percent received cognitive processing therapy, and 5.3 percent attended eight or more sessions. Also, those who received telehealth "experienced a greater decrease in severity of their PTSD symptoms and depression, compared with veterans who received standard care," iHealthBeat reports.

Although the researchers wrote that more research is necessary to further the widespread adoption of telehealth services for PTSD treatment, the study "introduced a promising model for managing PTSD in a treatment-resistant population." (Read more)

Restaurant chains, grocery delis, movie theaters are given a year to post calorie counts on menus

McDonald's already posts calorie content

In an effort to combat the country's obesity epidemic, which is worse in rural areas, the Food and Drug Administration issued final regulations Tuesday that will require chains with 20 or more restaurants, movie theaters and pizza parlors to post calorie counts on menus.

"The rules will have broad implications for public health," Sabrina Tavernise and Stephanie Strom report for The New York Times. "As much as a third of the calories that Americans consume come from outside the home, and many health experts believe that increasingly large portion sizes and unhealthy ingredients have been significant contributors to obesity in the United States."

“This is one of the most important public health nutrition policies ever to be passed nationally,” Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, told the authors. “Right now, you are totally guessing at what you are getting. This rule will change that.”

The numbers "could be a pretty big wake-up call," writes Jason Millman of The Washington Post. "The FDA rules are more comprehensive than expected, given the strong industry pushback since the menu labeling provision was included in the 2010 health-care law." The FDA proposed a rule in 2011, but heavy lobbying has delayed its finalization.

"Do people eat healthier when they can see calorie counts?" Milliman asks. "The evidence so far seems mixed. The impact seems to be greater when the calorie count is much higher than what consumers expect. What does seem clear from past studies is that people really are terrible judges of how many calories they consume when they dine out [and] are especially bad judges of the calorie content of the least healthy foods commonly found of restaurant menus."

The rules also cover food in vending machines, amusement parks, alcohol if it is on the menu or a menu board, and some prepared foods in supermarkets. Chain restaurants are defined as food establishments with 20 or more outlets.

The policy will take effect a year from now, "and seems likely to face legal and political challenges from some parts of the food industry, including grocery and convenience stores that sell prepared foods for takeout," the Times reports.

The National Grocers Association told the paper, “Grocery stores are not chain restaurants, which is why Congress did not initially include them in the law. We are disappointed that the FDA's final rules will capture grocery stores, and impose such a large and costly regulatory burden on our members.”

Daren Bakst, a research fellow in agricultural policy at the conservative Heritage Foundation, told the authors that the FDA interpreted the law too broadly. “If Congress wanted to cover any establishment that sells prepared foods, they would have said that,” he said. “No reasonable person is about to confuse a grocery store, convenience store or movie theater with a restaurant.” But retiring Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa, who helped create the labeling requirement, said the rule “closely mirrors congressional intent.”

The FDA offered some concessions to grocers, convenience stores, pizza chains and vending-machine owners. For example, pizzerias can define their serving sizes and list calories by the slice, and vending machine owners have been given an extra year to comply.

Judge rejects Ky. settlement with coal firm that polluted and cheated, blisters state for weakness

Ever since Congress enacted environmental laws and allowed states to enforce them, there have been problems with spotty or weak regulation of industries with strong political influence in state governments. The latest chapter of that story is being written by a judge in Frankfort, Ky., who once ran the state's environmental agency.

Shepherd (Courier-Journal photo)

Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd said in a ruling Monday that the state Energy and Environment Cabinet is so understaffed that it can't enforce the Clean Water Act, ignored evidence of environmental harm by one of the state's largest strip-mining firms, and proposed a settlement that would effectively reward the company for cheating on its water-pollution reports.

"When one company so systematically subverts the requirements of the law, it not only jeopardizes environmental protection on the affected permits, it creates a regulatory climate in which the Cabinet sends the message that cheating pays," Shepherd wrote. He rejected a proposed consent decree between the state and Frasure Creek Mining Co., a subsidiary of International Coal Group, saying its $310,000 civil penalty would be too weak to deter the firm from further violations. The penalties could have been as much as $38 million.

"The effectiveness and integrity of the . . . program depends on the trustworthiness of the regulated entities and vigorous agency oversight and enforcement," Shepherd wrote. But not only did the company falsify its reports, the state doesn't even know how many "outfalls," or sources of discharged water, there are at the 2,200 permitted coal-mine sites in Kentucky, Shepherd wrote. He also cited testimony by the state's environmental protection commissioner that Kentucky ranks 49th in federal funding per permit, and state budget cuts have made it impossible for the agency to effectively regulate systematic violators. "The cabinet has fewer staff today than it did in 1990, and far more responsibilities than it did in 1990," wrote Shepherd, who was the cabinet secretary in 1991-95. He cited one of his own findings as secretary, and a recent federal appeals court decision, to evaluate the proposed consent decree.

In his conclusion, Shepherd said the cabinet's lack of public notice for its proposal showed that its "primary concern" the impact on the impact on the coal company, "and not on the public or the environment." He noted that the violations were discovered by citizens' groups: Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, Kentucky Riverkeeper, Waterkeeper Alliance and Appalachian Voices. Here is more background and reaction as reported by Jim Bruggers of The Courier-Journal and Joe Sonka of Insider Louisville, who adds a downloadable copy of the ruling.

Turkeys' story is America's story, from conservation to suburbanization; don't mess with wild ones

Photo from National Wild Turkey Federation

As you enjoy turkey this week, remember the wild version of the bird, whose history traces that of America and its conservation and environmental movements, and which is getting more familiar.

"It’s almost miraculous that the wild turkey didn’t join the unfortunate ranks of such extinct birds as the passenger pigeon and Carolina parakeet," writes Bryan Stevens in his "For the Birds" column in the Bristol Herald Courier. "Habitat destruction and a merciless commercial slaughter almost claimed the wild turkey, another uniquely American bird. Ironically, the wild turkey’s valued status as a game bird helped persuade many Americans to fight for its conservation. It’s an effort that succeeded admirably. Today, there are about seven million wild turkeys roaming North America."

Stevens adds, "Interest in the wild turkey as a game bird even inspired the establishment of the National Wild Turkey Federation, which is a national nonprofit organization that serves as a leader in upland wildlife habitat conservation in North America." Stevens also offers many biological details about the turkey, and the old story about Benjamin Franklin saying it should have been made the national symbol, adding that George Washington agreed with Franklin.

The turkey's comeback is ruffling feathers in some suburbs, Michael Rosemwald writes for The Washington Post. "The soaring population has been a godsend for hunters, who are killing record numbers of wild turkeys, even in mostly suburban counties like Montgomery," in Maryland. "But their resurgence is not without drama. Sometimes small delegations of wild turkeys wander into residential neighborhoods on failed exploratory missions for good grub or companionship. For people unaccustomed to seeing turkeys, their appearances are entertaining and occasionally unnerving."

Rosenwald's story begins with an account of a turkey attack on members of a church in Frederick, Md., which led to production of a Destination America show, "When Turkeys Attack," scheduled to premiere at 10 p.m. ET Wednesday. Meanwhile, here's a Post video of wild turkeys in action:

EPA's repeated delay on Renewable Fuels Standard means action in the courts and in Congress

"The Obama administration’s decision to put off issuing quotas for the use of renewable fuels this year sets up fights in Congress and the courts over a program that’s been bitterly contested for nearly a decade," Mark Drajam and Mario Parker report for Bloomberg News. "With the EPA nearly a year late in setting the mandates for 2014 under a Bush-era law, fuel blenders were left scratching their heads all year over how much of the additive they were supposed to be using."

The American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, which includes major oil refiners that want the RFS to be abolished, said today it will sue EPA "for failing to issue the targets by last November, as the law requires," the story says. "Lawmakers have worked to revise the mandates, although no compromise measure has advanced to a vote. . . . Not everyone is threatening to run to Congress or the courts. Biofuel producers praised the EPA’s delay, because they said the agency acknowledged their argument that a proposal to cut quotas would snuff out future investment in their fuels. They say EPA can use its authority to put the program on sound footing."

North Dakota goes easy on oil-patch violations

"A small state that believes in small government, North Dakota took on the oversight of a multibillion-dollar oil industry with a regulatory system built on trust, warnings and second chances," Deborah Sontag and Robert Gebeloff report for The New York Times. Some tidbits:

The state didn't fine "Continental Resources, the most prolific producer in the booming Bakken oil patch," for its first 10 oil-well blowouts. Then it reduced the $75,000 fine to $7,500. "Forgiveness remains embedded" in the Industrial Commission, which levies fines.

"State leaders rarely mention the underside of the boom and do not release even summary statistics about environmental incidents and enforcement measures." The reporters "found that the Industrial Commission wields its power to penalize the industry only as a last resort."

"North Dakota’s oil and gas regulatory setup is highly unusual in that it puts three top elected officials directly in charge of an industry that, through its executives and political action committees, can and does contribute to the officials’ campaigns."

The Times has an interactive map of oil spills in the state. Here's a screenshot (click on image for larger version):

Hedge funds target distressed coal companies

"Hedge funds are betting that some of the largest U.S. coal companies are heading for the financial slag heap," report Timothy Puko, Matt Wirz and Matt Jarzemsky of The Wall Street Journal. (WSJ illustration)

"The coal industry is in a prolonged slump with a long list of causes topped by sluggish demand and competition from cheap natural gas, which have pushed prices to historic lows," the reporters write. "Many investors have abandoned the sector. Eight coal-mining companies traded on the New York Stock Exchange are down an average of 29 percent in the last year. The conditions are ripe for hedge funds that target distressed investments. They are first betting against the stock and debt of mining firms such as Walter Energy Inc., then snapping up the bonds when their prices fall as low as 40 cents on the dollar."

Once the hedge funds become the companies' bankers, they can exchange that debt "for controlling shares of the companies if they go bankrupt," the writers explain. "Once coal prices rebound, mines and other assets can be sold at a profit. . . Alpha Natural Resources Inc. and Arch Coal Inc. have also seen heavy interest from distressed-debt buyers, people with knowledge of the matter said. Along with Walter Energy, the companies have a combined debt of $12.2 billion, according to Morningstar."

Overuse of herbicides erodes their effectiveness; companies seek to add new patents to old formulas

Farmers use chemical weed killers to save time and labor. They must keep using more when a chemical begins to lose its effectiveness. "Now there's a move afoot to add new patents to some of the old chemicals," Richard Oswald writes for the Daily Yonder.

Oswald writes that his father used the herbicide Roundup, Monsanto's brand name for glyphosate, to kill weeds and grasses and learned to be careful not to spray it too close to the crops. His father died just before Roundup Ready soybeans—genetically engineered to be resistant to Roundup—were released in 1994. He ran a farm-supply business and sold feed, fertilizer and farm chemicals. "It wasn't unusual for me to have a stiff neck by the end of the day, something Dad said was the result of being so close to so many pesticides," or herbicides, Oswald writes. His father wasn't concerned about it.

Roundup Ready wheat is not yet available, but farmers are still using the herbicide on it. "With few reservations, glyphosate can be applied to wheat and small grains as a desiccant, which removes moisture by causing the plant to die," Oswald reports. In the '60s and '70s, farmers used atrazine, but over time it became completely ineffective for weed control.

Dow Chemical Co. plans to patent a gene that makes crops resistant to 2,4-D, a herbicide linked to health effects many Vietnam veterans experienced. "But scientists say it wasn't 2,4-D in the mix that sickened people, but the dioxin that was part of the mixture," Oswald writes. The herbicide is still effective on most broadleaf weeds. Some are concerned about planting 2,4-D-resistant crops because "the chemical might be applied throughout the growing season with many adverse effects on less tolerant crops and ornamental vegetation when vapors or spray drifts well beyond the edges of treated fields," Oswald writes. Planting crops genetically resistant to 2,4-D could lead to the the herbicide's loss of effectiveness.

"Development of crops that resist 2,4-D is kind of a freebie for seed and chemical companies," Oswald writes. "They could develop a profitable, new patented gene based on an old chemical, in lieu of doing expensive research on new, better, safer herbicides." (Read more)

Neb. poll shows older, younger residents define quality of life in rural community differently

According to a recent study by the University of Nebraska and its Rural Futures Institute, quality of life isn't always related to town population. "The 19th annual Nebraska Rural Poll was sent to 6,813 households in 85 counties and had a response rate of 1,943," Rita Brhel writes for the Press & Dakotan of Yankton, S.D.

At first impression, the poll's results may not seem to compliment rural communities, but it's worth a second look. More than half the participants said "that for any community to have a high quality of life, it must possess: a sense of personal safety, a school system, job opportunities, medical services, affordable housing, well-maintained streets, effective community leadership and churches," Brhel reports. However, fewer of the participants said their community possesses these things, particularly in the area of jobs, affordable housing, well-maintained streets, effective community leadership, medical services, a sense of personal safety and the presence of a school.

"It's problematic," said Cheryl Burkhart-Kreisel, community vitality specialist for the university's Cooperative Extension Service in Lincoln. "If you think these things are essential and they're not there, it could be frustrating. Obviously other characteristics are also very important to them."

Older people are more likely to report their communities as having a high quality of life, and younger people were less likely to do so. According to population records, people ages 30 to 49—people who typically have school-aged children—are moving in to rural towns, "after years of struggling against an exodus of young people," Brhel reports. The disparity in perspectives about what adds to the quality of life in a town seems to be related to the participants' ages.

Communities can strive to improve quality of life for both older and younger residents. The study shows that younger and older residents look for different things in their communities. Younger residents seem to be looking for jobs, personal safety, schools, affordable housing, childcare services, lack of traffic congestion, colleges and recreational opportunities, while older residents want "medical services, churches, well-maintained streets, effective community leadership, cleanliness, friendly people, a sense of community among residents, a local newspaper, acceptance to newcomers, a senior citizen program, leadership opportunities, public transportation and close proximity to relatives," Brhel reports.

Old 36-mile rail line becoming trail in Eastern Ky.

Officials in three economically distressed Eastern Kentucky counties want to transform a defunct rail line into a 36-mile biking, hiking and horseback-riding trail to attract adventure tourists and help the economy, Jim Warren writes for the Lexington Herald-Leader.

"We think it could be an essential piece in the overall economic development puzzle," said Magoffin County's David May, vice president of the Friends of the Dawkins Line Rail Trail, a citizens' group advocating the project. "Younger people gravitate to adventure tourism today, so we think the trail will bring in people. Hopefully, corporate heads would look at that and maybe locate companies here."

The first section of the trail, 18 miles from Hager Hill in Johnson County southwest to Royalton in Magoffin County, opened in June 2013. The next section will "take the trail nine miles closer to the Tiptop railroad tunnel on the Magoffin-Breathitt county line," Warren reports. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet is providing most of the funding.

Officials hope to continue the trail through the tunnel and end it at Evanston, a former coal camp in Breathitt County. "It would form Kentucky's longest rail-to-trail project, offering a continuous 36-mile stretch free of vehicular traffic, taking visitors past rural homes and remote areas with beautiful scenery, running through old railroad tunnels and over numerous trestles," Warren writes.

"This fits into the administration's desire to promote healthier lifestyles by encouraging Kentuckians to be more physically active," Matt Sawyers, deputy secretary of the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet, told Abby Laub, who wrote about it for Rails-to-Trails Conservancy. "And these ventures have proven to spur economic development and build stronger communities.

Prestonburg attorney Jo Ann Harvey said she believes the trail is a smart idea. "I think it's a terrific asset for the area," she said. "It's beautiful, and you don't have cars to contend with. You can do a long, hard bike ride or an easy ride; get out on your horse; or just walk for exercise. It's great for kids and families. I can't wait for the whole thing to be completed." (Read more)

Apply for Science Immersion Workshop by Feb. 6

The Metcalf Institute for Marine and Environmental Reporting invites journalists to apply by Feb. 6 for fellowships to attend its 17th annual Science Immersion Workshop for Journalists, to be held June 7-12 at the Rhode Island University School of Oceanography.

The 10 fellowships includes travel support, room and board, and "career-changing professional training," Metcalf says. "Using Narragansett Bay – the world’s most-studied estuary – as a model ecosystem, Fellows learn how to interpret scientific data and sharpen their investigative reporting skills." The training aims to help fellows gain a greater familiarity with research methods and basic statistics, measure potentially harmful chemicals that are not currently monitored or regulated; attend lectures featuring top national researchers, policy makers and science communicators; and develop story ideas and expert sources. To apply, click here.

Caution: Thanksgiving is top day for cooking fires

Thanksgiving is the No. 1 day for cooking fires, and cooking is the leading cause of home fires and home fire injuries, according to the National Fire Protection Association, which offers these tips for a safe holiday in the kitchen:
• If you are sleepy or have consumed alcohol, don't use the stove or stovetop.
• Stay in the kitchen while you are frying, grilling or broiling food. If you leave the kitchen for even a short period of time, turn off the stove.
• If you are simmering, baking, roasting or boiling food, check it regularly. Remain in the home while such food is cooking and use a timer to remind you that you are cooking.
• Keep anything that can catch fire — oven mitts, wooden utensils, food packaging, towels or curtains — away from your stovetop.
If you have a cooking fire:
• Keep a lid nearby when you're cooking to smother small grease fires. Smother the fire by sliding the lid over the pan and turn off the stovetop. Leave the pan covered until it is completely cooled.
• When using an oven fire, turn off the heat and keep the door closed.
If a fire breaks ot:
• If you try to fight the fire, be sure others are getting out and you have a clear way out.
• When in doubt, just get out! When you leave, close the door behind you to help contain the fire.
• Call 9-1-1 or the local emergency number after you leave.

Tiny paper shines big light on local homelessness

Click on image for larger version

Homelessness may be seen as an urban problem, but rural America has lots of homeless people, too, and they often have a tougher time of it than their city counterparts, due to lack of services and facilities. But they also have a lower profile than in urban areas because many live "out of sight, living "in the woods, campgrounds, barns, vehicles or abandoned or substandard housing not truly meant for habitation," Sid Salter wrote last year for The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Miss.

Another reason rural homeless may not be apparent is that rural news media don't pay attention when they should. That's not the case in Lee County, Kentucky, where The Beattyville Enterprise did a front-page package about the lack of a community shelter, the apparent result of governmental bungling, and the life of a homeless man in the county of fewer than 8,000 people.

The weekly paper, which has a competitor and a circulation of fewer than 1,000, noted that "the rate of child homelessness in Kentucky is the worst in the country," and quoted the city Housing Director Wilma Kelley as saying she "has helped approximately 150 people with a homeless issue" in Lee County or adjoining, even smaller Owsley County in the last two years: "Not all of them are homeless, she says. Some are almost there. They need help with rent or utilities. That is homeless prevention, Kelley says." (Read more)

GateHouse Media, back in the black, buying most of Halifax, which bought NYT regional papers

New Media Investment Group, parent firm of GateHouse Media, is buying most of the assets of Halifax Media Group, which has grown to 24 daily newspapers and 12 weeklies since buying the 16 papers in the New York Times Regional Media Group less than three years ago.

Halifax is based in Daytona Beach and most of its papers are in the Southeast, but the chain also includes the Worcester Telegram and Gazette in Massachusetts, which it bought in May from Boston billionaire John Henry, who had bought it and The Boston Globe from the Times. GateHouse CEO Kirk Davis owns Worcester Magazine.

New Media already has a strong presence in New England. It recently bought The Providence Journal, its largest paper, and Foster's Daily Democrat of Dover, N.H., and owns such papers as The Patriot Ledger of Quincy, Mass., and the Cape Cod Times. Soon after buying the New York Times papers, it bought 19 Freedom Communications papers in North Carolina and northwest Florida.

New Media has been publicly traded since February. In September, it announced plans to offer 6.5 million shares of new stock, on top of the 30 million outstanding, the Boston Business Journal reported. "Primary backer Fortress Investment Group took GateHouse in and out of bankruptcy while acquiring a number of other daily and weekly papers and holding them all under the New Media umbrella," Managing Editor Jon Chesto wrote in September, speculating that the company's next target would be Digital First Media, which was formed as a new parent for MediaNews Group.