FAA issues commercial drone permits to an agriculture business and a real estate company

The Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday issued commercial drone permits to a pair of agriculture and real estate companies, Jack Linshi reports for Time. "Exemptions to the ban on commercial drones were made for Advanced Aviation Solutions in Spokane, Wash., for 'crop scouting' and to Douglas Trudeau of Tierra Antigua Realty in Tucson, Ariz., for enhanced aerial footage of buildings, according to an FAA statement." (Associated Press photo by Jeff Chiu)

"Advanced Aviation Solutions will use a 1.5-pound eBee drone to take photographs of farm fields for measurement and inspection purposes, while Trudeau will use a Phantom 2 Vision+ quadcopter to 'enhance academic community awareness and augment real estate listing videos,' the FAA said," Linshi writes. "Among other rules, the permits require commercial drones to have an on-the-ground 'pilot' and an observer and that the drone must not leave the operator’s line of sight."

The FAA has granted commercial drone permits to 11 companies in filmmaking, oil and gas and landfill industries, Linshi writes. The National Transportation Safety Board ruled in November that drones are aircraft and are subject to existing aviation laws. Until FAA rules are put in place, most commercial use of drones remains illegal. Rules are not expected until September. (Read more)

2014 was hottest year on record, but skeptics still not ready to admit global warming exists

The Japan Meteorological Agency, the first organization to release worldwide temperature data from 2014, says last year was the hottest year on record, Chris Mooney reports for The Washington Post. That information could go a long way toward casting doubt on skeptics of global warming, especially if the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA have similar results when they release their findings on Jan. 16.

Based on information released through November, it is expected that the NOAA/NASA report will name last year the hottest on record, Mooney writes. The UK Met Office's Hadley Center has already stated that 2014 was the hottest year on record in the United Kingdom. 

Penn State University climate researcher Michael Mann told Mooney, "The record-breaking temperatures should put to rest once and for all the silly claim by contrarians that climate change has somehow stopped or stalled. In fact, the warming of the globe continues unabated as we continue to burn fossil fuels and increase concentrations of planet-warming greenhouse gases."

Yet, realists and skeptics continue to interpret weather information differently, Mooney writes. Skeptics believe in the "pause" effect, which "largely relies on the then-record temperatures of 1998 in order to create the impression that there's been little or no global warming ever since. Yet the fact remains that the 2000s were considerably hotter than the 1990s, and indeed, in most datasets 1998 isn't even the hottest year any longer." (Read more) (Skeptical Science graphics)

EPA delays until summer releasing proposed rules for cutting CO2 emissions 30% by 2030

The Environmental Protection Agency has delayed until the summer releasing proposed rules to cut carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, Amy Harder reports for The Wall Street Journal. The proposed rules, which were planned for release today, include a 30 percent reduction in carbon-dioxide emissions by 2030 from existing power plants based on emission levels from 2005.

The proposal, released in June, "set different carbon-emission limits for each state and depends heavily on individual plans to meet those targets, which the agency is requiring states submit by June 2016," Harder writes. "But for those states that choose not to issue a plan at all or for those that would rather defer to the EPA’s authority, the agency is planning to announce Wednesday it will develop a federal plan to cut carbon emissions. This move, also anticipated by some experts, could be controversial in states run by conservative governors critical of the federal government’s regulatory power."

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) "has vowed to overturn the emissions rules," reports Dina Cappiello for the The Associated Press. "He tried in January 2014 when Democrats controlled the chamber. But Congress’ investigative arm said he would have to wait for a final rule."

FCC chair favors President Obama's net-neutrality stance, reclassifying broadband as a public utility

Federal Communications Commission chairman Tom Wheeler, whose stance on net-neutrality has not always appeared to be in step with President Obama's, said they were on the same page during a speech this week at the 2015 International CES tech trade show, Tony Romm reports for Politico. "Wheeler repeatedly hinted he favors reclassification of broadband as a public utility, which would subject Internet providers to some of the same rules that govern old phone companies."

"Obama late last year publicly endorsed the tougher approach of treating broadband like a utility—a move that put pressure on the FCC to change course," Romm writes. "But Wheeler insisted Wednesday that he and his team had last summer realized his initial proposal wouldn’t work—and were already proceeding down the path of looking at Title II."

Wheeler said a vote on the net-neutrality proposal was set for Feb. 26, Romm writes. Congressional Republicans do not favor the proposal, though a large portion of the public has expressed support for net-neutrality.

Without certification, when companies label food as organic it doesn't make it so, writer says

Some corporations that have long-battled organic products are now embracing them but "without really adhering to the laws and regulations that are supposed to govern organic production," Richard Oswald writes for the Daily Yonder. "They get away with it because government doesn’t enforce the rules, according to a legal complaint." (Cornucopia Institute photo: Herbruck’s Poultry Green Meadows egg production facility, which accounts for 60 percent of all eggs produced in Michigan, claims their eggs are organic because the chickens have access to "porches.")

"The basic principle of organic farming is clear and based on integrity," Oswald writes. "That’s the way most farmers view what they do. But integrity has to be backed up with a trust-but-verify philosophy." That's why earning organic certification is so important. It's a difficult and lengthy process but one that ensures consumers that the product "called" organic really is organic.

"That soil cannot be contaminated with unapproved pesticides or fertilizers, the rules say," Oswald writes. "Records must be kept to show that no unapproved inputs are used in production of organic crops and livestock. All organic products must be segregated in their own storage areas well away from non-organic crops, along with plenty of other rules dedicated to keeping the whole thing pure."

"One of the ways big business has tried to enter their own organic products into the market has been through liberalizing rules as they apply to organic food and weakening inspections," Oswald writes. "Another way is by sourcing organic foods from opaque foreign countries, like China, where it’s difficult to know anything at all about products called organic."

"In the past, unfortunately, many food manufacturers and retailers have been more interested in applying the organic label to their products than actually delivering the reputable goods organic labels promote," Oswald writes. "And simply avoiding products from unreliable sources like China is made even more difficult for consumers thanks to labeling laws that big business has tried to keep to a minimum." (Read more)

More cattle ranchers turning to DNA testing to identify prize animals

Cattle ranchers are using technology to test the genetic value of livestock, allowing breeders to "identify prize animals whose offspring will yield a larger volume of tastier steaks," leading to higher sale prices to beef processors, Jacob Bunge and Kesley Gee report for The Wall Street Journal.

Cattle breeders say having animals' DNA scanned by a gene-testing firm—which costs up to $100 per animal and includes sending a blood sample to the lab—allows them "to assess a bull’s genetic value with the same accuracy as if it already had sired up to 20 calves," Bunge and Gee write. "Testing also can save money on animal upkeep by culling cattle with less-desirable genes."

About 20 percent of purebred animals registered by the American Angus Association in 2014 were genetically tested, up from 1 percent in 2010, Bunge and Gee write. "Two-thirds of commercial cattle ranchers in the U.S. say their cow herds include animals with Angus genes, according to the association."

"Soaring cattle prices are helping fuel investment in beef genetics," Bunge and Gee write. "The nation’s cattle herd has dwindled to its smallest size in 60 years after years of drought in the southern Great Plains parched pastures and drove up feed costs. Tight supplies of steers and heifers have meant record prices for young beef cattle in the U.S., and retail beef prices were projected to climb 11 percent to 12 percent in 2014, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates."

"Some ranchers, anticipating bigger payoffs, now aim to rebuild their herds with animals boasting better genes, said Luke Bowman, spokesman for Select Sires Inc., an Ohio company that provides dairy and beef-cattle semen to breeders," Bunge and gee write. "That is helping drive a surge in prices for high-quality breeding animals, Mr. Bowman said, with bulls fetching as much as $250,000 now, compared with about $50,000 four years ago." (Read more)

Small Pennsylvania daily demonstrates good example of localizing a larger issue

The Bradford Era, a small daily newspaper on the Pennsylvania/New York border whose coverage area includes the Bradford Oil Field—which at one point consisted of 90,000 wells and produced 83 percent of U.S. oil, says Allegheny National Forest Visitors Bureau—has demonstrated a good example of local reporting on a larger issue.

Staff writer Colin Deppen writes a local story on a report by the Department of Energy Protection and the University of Pittsburgh on mining in Elk, Armstrong, Beaver, Cambria, Clearfield, Greene, Indiana, Jefferson, Somerset and Washington counties. 

Of the 46 underground active mines active from 2008 to 2013, the study "found approximately 1,250 different 'effects,' or incidents related to mining and reported to DEP by its staff, coal companies or land owners," Deppen writes. "The vast majority involved contamination or loss of wells, springs and ponds as well as property damage due to subsidence, a gradual caving in or sinking of an area of land."

DEP Deputy Secretary for Active and Abandoned Mine Operations John Stefanko told reporters, “This report provides vital information about the significance of bituminous mining on Pennsylvania’s landscape. We will use this information to evaluate the effectiveness of our mining program and consider ways to enhance the program in the future.”

Commissioner Dan Freeburg "said he hopes lessons learned from successful state regulation of a coal industry at one time largely unchecked can serve as the framework for Shale development policies going forward," Deppen writes. Freeburg told him, “No one wants to see a repeat of non-responsible resource extraction as it happened in the late 1800s and early 1900s (with coal). There are precautions and safeguards in place to avoid the practices from a hundred years ago that we are still cleaning up after.” (Read more)

Obama's Federal Reserve's Board of Governors nomination has ties to community banks

The Federal Reserve's Board of Governors will have its first representative with community banking experience since 2013, if President Obama's nomination of Allan R. Landon is approved by the Senate, Binyamin Appelbaum reports for The New York Times.

Allan R. Landon

"Landon’s selection comes after months of pressure by the community banking industry, which is regulated by the Fed and which has argued that the Fed’s seven-member board should include at least one person with relevant experience of that sector," Appelbaum writes.

Landon, a graduate of Iowa State University, spent 18 years working in the Midwest for Ernst & Young auditing and advising community banks, before becoming chief financial officer of First American National Bank in Tennessee, Appelbaum writes. Landon was at the Bank of Hawaii from 2004-2010, and in 2012 he joined with a partner, Frank Reppenhagen, to create Community BanCapital, an investment fund focused on community banks.

While the Senate is now Republican-led and might not be quick to support an Obama nomination, "Landon may be helped by the broad bipartisan support for putting a community banker on the Fed board," Appelbaum writes. "Draft legislation reserving a board seat for such a candidate passed the House last year and has attracted wide backing in the Senate." (Read more)

County Council member threatens to sue local paper for using his name without his permission

What started as a strange local story has gone national, after a County Council member in Frederick County, Maryland, threatened to sue the local paper, the Frederick News-Post, for using his name in a story without first getting his permission.

Councilmen Kirby Delauter posted on Facebook (via The Washington Post): Shame on Bethany Rodgers for an unauthorized use of my name and my reference in her article today. She contacted me by phone yesterday. I did not return her call and did not authorize any use of my name or reference in her article. I had let her know after her hit piece during the election where she embellished, twisted and downright lied about what we discussed for that article that she was to never contact me again since she had absolutely no morals or journalistic ability. . . . So let me be clear, do not contact me and do not use my name or reference me in an unauthorized form in the future.

The Frederick News-Post responded with a tongue-in-cheek editorial (the first letter of each paragraph spells out the councilman's name) defending its First Amendment rights to write about local political figures.

The editorial board wrote:

Knowing Councilman Kirby Delauter as we do, we weren't surprised that he threatened The Frederick News-Post with a lawsuit because we had, he says—and we're not making this up—been putting Kirby Delauter's name in the paper without Kirby Delauter’s authorization. Attorneys would be called, Kirby Delauter said.

In fact, we spent quite some time laughing about it. Kirby Delauter, an elected official; Kirby Delauter, a public figure? Surely, Kirby Delauter can't be serious? Kirby Delauter’s making a joke, right?

Round about then, we wondered, if it’s not a joke, how should we now refer to Kirby Delauter if we can't use his name (Kirby Delauter)? Could we get away with an entire editorial of nothing but “Kirby Delauter” repeated over and over again—Kirby Delauter, Kirby Delauter, Kirby Delauter? OK, imagine we agreed because of temporary madness or something funny in the water that week, how would we reference "Kirby Delauter" and do our job as journalists without running afoul of our lack of authorization?

That's why we're taking his threat with a pinch of salt. We've seen this behavior before (not just from Kirby Delauter), and it’s worth highlighting again. Bullying seems to be the only way Kirby "Don't say my name" Delauter feels he can lead. Only now, the target is not the public at hearings or occasional "punk" staff member, an arrogant, self-serving, whining middle school teacher or fellow "moron" commissioner, it's The News-Post. Instead of taking his job seriously like the voters demanded and the rest of the council seem to grasp, he's grabbing at distractionary shoot-the-messenger tactics that make a lot of noise but, to quote Shakespeare, a man who knew drama when he saw it, noise that "signifies nothing." Frederick County has big issues to tackle in 2015, and we have yet to hear Kirby Delauter sound out one single, sensible idea. He used the word "govern" in his slogan. Maybe he should apply that to his temper first.

Rural residents concerned that 'wet gas' poses health, safety concerns

Some rural residents that use natural gas to heat their homes are now being supplied with gas that is not a fully processed, clean-burning fuel, reports Jim Malewitz for The Texas Tribune and Max Baker for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. And with the natural gas business booming, more rural residents could be provided with this form of fuel. (Star-Telegram photo by Joyce Marshall: Jon Salis, of Palo Pinto, Texas, receives untreated natural gas at his home)

"Known as 'wet gas' because it contains higher concentrations of liquids such as ethane and butane, the unprocessed gas is prone to freezing in cold weather and, in rare cases, can corrode appliances, causing them to misfire and potentially emit carbon monoxide, according to documents filed with the Texas Railroad Commission," Malewitz and Baker write.

For residents in Palo Pinto, Texas, about 80 miles west of Arlington, natural gas is "tapped from a pipeline that runs beneath the lake on its way to a processing plant," Malewitz and Baker write. It's called a "farm tap," in which "many utilities and landowners considered it easiest and cheapest to hook up rural homes to nearby pipelines that carry mostly raw fuel from gas fields to processing plants."

"Most residential gas is stripped of troublesome liquids in processing," Malewitz and Baker write. "But thousands of landowners over the decades negotiated to tap into raw gas when they allowed pipeline companies to build across their property." (Read more)

Keystone XL Pipeline bill is four votes shy of overcoming veto Obama promises, sponsor says

Supporters of a bill to approve the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline say they lack the necessary votes to avoid a veto that the White House said today will come if the bill reaches President Obama's desk. In November the Democratic-led Senate defeated a Keystone XL Pipeline bill, but it is expected to pass with Republicans in control of the Senate.

Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.Dak.) said the legislation he plans to submit today has 63 votes—enough to pass the Senate—but is four votes shy of what's needed to override a presidential veto, Laura Litvan reports for Bloomberg News. Hoeven said Republicans hope to add Democratic support for the bill during debates.

"Keystone will be the first legislative showdown as Republicans (today) take control of both the House and Senate for the first time since 2006," Litvan writes. "A Senate committee is scheduled to consider Hoeven’s bill Wednesday and vote Thursday with action by the full Senate as soon as next week. The House is expected to vote on a similar Keystone bill this week." (Read more)

Community journalist with a flair for writing, and a style to match, retires after 41 years

For some journalists community newspapers are a temporary stop on a journey to larger papers, or a necessary springboard to a career in other arenas. But there are many rare, unique individuals who find a home at a small-town paper and become lifelong residents of the community. One is Donald Mahler, who after 41 years of bringing his distinctive style and personality to writing sports for the Valley News in West Lebanon, N.H., and White River Junction, Vt.,  has decided to hang up his notebook and sail off into retirement. Staff writer Tris Wykes wrote a nice sendoff for his colleague. (Valley News photo by James Patterson: Mahler reacts to a reader's email; gallery includes photos of him with political figures)

"With his frizzy hair, untamed beard and vintage clothing, Mahler does sometimes appear as if he’s crawled from under a bridge," Wykes writes. "But in truth, his home has been at the Upper Valley’s newspaper for more than 40 years. Since being hired as the second man in a two-man sports department during the summer of 1973, and then taking over as sports editor by 1978, Mahler has chronicled the highlights and heartbreaks, the everyday happenings and the quirky occurrences of the region’s sporting scene."

Steve Taylor, the paper's managing editor in 1965-72, told Wykes, “People may have looked at him and said ‘Who’s that crazy-ass hippie?’ But when they read his stuff, they know the guy was good. It’s not often you get that combination of commitment and irreverence.”

Wykes asks, "Why was Mahler kept around? For one, he was on his way to becoming a community institution. It was also evident that his gentle demeanor and growing work ethic made him an ideal co-worker and an effective, if unusual, leader. Those who worked for him knew he would not only go to bat for them with management, but also that he offered wise and compassionate counsel during difficult times."

And Mahler always set out to try to give everyone a fair shake, Wykes writes. Mahler told him, “My only true disappointment was that I couldn’t give them all what they wanted. It’s a pie, and some people get bigger pieces than others. People don’t understand that if their school’s big game gets (delayed) by snow and moved to another day, now it conflicts with another school’s big game. Other people don’t care about either game. They want us to cover NASCAR and (pro) golf and Premier League soccer. There are just not enough people, time and pages, no matter how much you plan.”

Hank Tenney, Hanover High School's longtime recreation director and a coach, told Wykes, “Don wanted kids to enjoy picking up the paper the next day. He wanted to recognize them even if they weren’t superstars and even if they didn’t score a lot of points in a game. He’s a true professional and legend in the Upper Valley. When he wrote, people paid attention.” (Read more)

New subcommittee could impact agriculture and rural policy, including clean-power, water rules

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), incoming chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, announced in a release that he plans to create an Interior Subcommittee of the panel to follow issues related to the Department of the Interior, the Department of Energy, the Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency. Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) will chair the subcommittee.

"The newly created subcommittee could have impacts on agriculture and rural policy through looming debates on the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Power Plan proposed rule, and the Waters of the U.S. proposed rule," Spencer Chase reports for Agri-Pulse, a Washington newsletter. "Final rules are upcoming on the CPP and WOTUS proposed rules, and many lawmakers have been critical of the use of the ESA, saying its scope is broadening much further than original congressional intent." (Read more)

Oklahoma led lower 48 states in earthquakes in 2014; officials acknowledge role of oil and gas

Oklahoma has become the earthquake capital of the lower 48 states, with 564 earthquakes of magnitude 3 or higher in 2014, compared to only 100 in 2013, Mike Soraghan reports for EnergyWire. And some state and local officials are publicly acknowledging that the surge in earthquakes is linked to the oil and gas industry's use of injection wells for wastewater.

From 1975 to 2008 the state averaged three earthquakes of magnitude 3 or higher, but as the oil and gas industry began to surge—one out of every six jobs in Oklahoma is now linked to the industry—so did earthquakes, with 20 recorded in 2009, Soraghan writes.

"The link between earthquakes and drilling in Oklahoma has been actively discussed since at least November 2011, when the state was hit by its largest recorded quake," Soraghan writes. "Centered near Prague, the magnitude-5.7 rupture injured two people and damaged more than 200 homes and businesses."

In May, the Oklahoma Geological Survey and U.S. Geological Survey "said the spike in the number of earthquakes meant it was much more likely that the state could suffer a damaging earthquake of magnitude 5.5 or greater," Soraghan writes. "The joint announcement said deep injection of wastewater was a 'likely contributing factor.'"

Local and state officials can no longer ignore the issue, but still temper their remarks. "Max Hess, a county commissioner in Grant County, which had 135 quakes last year. He also thinks the quakes are related to oil and gas, which has been an economic boon for the rural county northwest of Oklahoma City," Soraghan reports. "It's been good," Hess said of the drilling, "but it's got its drawbacks."

"The Oklahoma Corporation Commission, which oversees oil and gas in the state, last year adopted what it calls the 'traffic light' approach," Soraghan writes. "Disposal wells in a swarm area within six miles of the center of a quake of magnitude 4 or greater are put in 'yellow light' status. They get special scrutiny. The commission has temporarily shut down at least six disposal wells so they can be brought back into compliance."

A review by EnergyWire found that Oklahoma's seismic activity is spreading north into Kansas, Soraghan writes. Kansas, which had only two earthquakes in 2013, had 42 in 2014, with most occurring near the Oklahoma border, Soraghan reports.

Great Lakes Echo adapts '12 Days of Christmas' to invasive species around the lakes

Silver carp jump from electric shock. (Photo: Chris Young, AP) 

Great Lakes Echo, a service of the Center for Environmental Journalism at Michigan State University, on Monday completed its "Twelve Days of Invasive Species Christmas," pointing out an issue around the lakes that has many facets. At least 12.

The first stanza wasn't "a partridge in a pear tree," but "a carp barrier in the city." The Echo explained: "There are actually three electric barrier arrays in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. Two of the barriers are always on, while the other is on standby to provide emergency backup or to be functional during periods of maintenance. This configuration has prevented radio-tagged fish in an Army Corps of Engineers study from moving upstream of the barriers. As long as the electricity remains on, these barriers should prove to be effective at preventing additional silver and bighead carp from entering the Great Lakes until a more permanent solution can be found."

The carp got their own stanza, with this explanation: "There are seven species of non-native carp in the United States. There are the four collectively known as Asian carp (black, grass, silver, and bighead), the common carp, the crucian carp, and last but not least, the Prussian carp (a wild version of the goldfish.) While the current focus is on the silver and bighead carp, all of these carp cause problems one way or another." Here is each stanza, other than the first and last:
Eleventh day: ‘Leven gobies gobbling
Tenth day: Ten alewives dying
Ninth day: Nine eggs in resting
Eighth day: Eight shrimp ‘a swarming
Seventh day: Seven carp and counting
Sixth day: Six lamprey leaping
Fifth day: Five boat wash stations
Fourth day: Perch on ice
Third day: Three clean boat steps
Second day: Two red swamp crayfish

Writer offers tips to ensure that rural attendees are properly regarded at statewide conferences

Organizers hosting statewide events need to remember that a significant population of attendees are usually from rural areas, and conferences should include topics that relate to them, writes Becky McCray, owner of a small-town retail store and a cattle ranch in Oklahoma, in an article in the Pagosa Daily Post in Pagosa Springs, Colo.

McCray suggests conferences should include rural roundtables and cohort groups, rural speakers on existing panels and topics, breakouts or workshops on specifically rural topics, an increase in the number of rural sessions offered and a rural-themed keynote.

"Promote the rural topics straight to rural people," McCray writes. "Call back those same people you asked for input. Show them how you’ve taken their advice. Encourage them to attend themselves and to spread the word. Send emails promoting just the rural focus and rural topics. Target these to your rural and small town members. Now stick it out. You’re doing a long-term project of addressing rural needs. It will take time to rebuild your rural members’ confidence and gain their attendance. Keep at it, and don’t give up."

Rural white vote could be key swing demographic for Hillary Clinton in 2016 presidential election

Hillary Clinton is the near-prohibitive front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016, but her general-election chances could hinge on whether or not she can secure the support of rural white voters, who have been trending toward Republicans in recent elections, Beth Reinhard writes for The Wall Street Journal.

"Working-class voters have long been a bedrock of Democratic support, and the party continues to do well with voters from lower-income households overall, according to exit polls," Reinhard writes. "But white, more rural voters in the South and elsewhere have been fleeing the party." Even in Clinton's home state of Arkansas, a state once largely controlled by Democrats, Republicans now hold every state and federal office. (Journal graphic; click on it for larger version)

Last month a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll found that only 32 percent of whites without college degrees support Clinton, down from 43 percent in 2008, Reinhard writes. The number with a negative view of Clinton has increased from 44 percent in 2008 to 48 percent last month.

Still, a recent CNN poll of head-to-head contests of Clinton and possible Republican nominees says she leads among Southerners against New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee and even Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Ted Cruz of Texas, Philip Bump reports for The Washington Post. "She leads among rural voters against all of them except Paul and also against former Florida governor Jeb Bush. She even leads among whites against Cruz, Huckabee and Paul."

"Right now, though, Clinton is doing well enough among whites, rural voters, and Southerners to actually possibly beat some of her possible opponents," Bump writes. "The Democrats still have seen a long-term drop, but Clinton might at least help pump the brakes." And, it must be remembered that presidential elections are state-by-state, for electoral votes. (Post graphic; click on it for larger version)

Maps detail the rapid growth of poverty and income inequality, county by county

Poverty and income inequality, long-running staples of the South, have spread to other parts of the country at a rapid rate since 1989, Josh Zumbrun reports for The Wall Street Journal.

Poverty and income inequality have been especially bad in Appalachia, the Deep South and parts of the Southwest and California, Zumbrun writes. But "during the past decade, poverty and inequality spread to new areas in Alabama, the Carolinas, Georgia, Michigan and Tennessee," says Population Reference Bureau, a nonprofit demographic research group. (Population Reference Bureau maps; click on image to view a larger version)

Colorado city that banned fracking may be fighting a losing battle against powerful forces

Longmont, Colo., made headlines in 2012 when residents voted to ban fracking. But with Longmont sitting atop as much as $500 million worth of oil and gas, it "has become a cautionary tale of what can happen when cities decide to confront the oil and gas industry," Jack Healy reports for The New York Times. "In an aggressive response to a wave of citizen-led drilling bans, state officials, energy companies and industry groups are taking Longmont and other municipalities to court, forcing local governments into what critics say are expensive, long-shot efforts to defend the measures."

Longmont has already spent $136,000 to defend its measure banning hydraulic fracturing, Healy reports: "In July, a district court judge tossed out the ban, and the city is appealing." In August the City Council voted unanimously to defend the fracking ban. Many believe the town is facing a losing battle against powerful opponents with deep pockets and plenty of influence over state politicians, Healy writes: "Bryan Baum, a former mayor who opposed the ban, predicted that it would fall at every level of appeal, including at the Colorado Supreme Court, because only the state can regulate drilling."

Dale Bruns, a consultant for TOP Operating Company, the main oil-and-gas operator in Longmont, which is suing the city, told Healy, “There’s absolutely no question that what the city did is illegal. Longmont just repeatedly shoots itself in the foot. You’ve got a bunch of people who are just adamant that fossil fuel is bad, and it’s terrible for Longmont. This minority group has fired up the public with false claims.” (NYT photo by Luke Sharrett: Gas well in Longmont)

In Colorado the energy industry, "which argues that cities lack the authority to outlaw fracking, has already won rulings overturning three fracking prohibitions," Healy writes. And Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper, who was re-elected in November, has been a big supporter of the practice, saying he will do whatever it takes to beat anti-fracking initiatives.

Kansas community turns to crowdfunding to raise money for a local grocery store

The mostly agricultural town of Plains, Kan. (Wikipedia map), has been holding on steady while other small towns in the area have struggled to survive. But many in this town of one-square-mile muncipality believe its future relies heavily on whether or not the town can acquire something it hasn't had since 2001—a local grocery store, Mitch Smith reports for The New York Times. 

In an effort to get that grocery store supporters have turned to crowdfunding through Kanstarter.com, Smith writes. Local residents have formed a nonprofit foundation that has "lined up about $400,000 through tax credits, grants, donations and fund-raisers. With about $5,100 more, they will have enough money to finish buying the empty land on Grand Avenue where, one day soon, they hope to build."

Supporters believe a grocery store will lead to further development and help increase the population in a county where numbers have been steadily dropping, Smith writes. Jeanne Roberts, who is leading the effort to bring a grocery store to Plains, told Smith, “A grocery store is the heart of the town. In small towns, it’s the social gathering place. And when you don’t have that social gathering place and you’re going outside, then you don’t feel connected.”

Overall, Plains is about one-third of the way to its fund-raising goal, Smith writes. "But even if donors raise enough money to buy the property in Plains, organizers will still need roughly $1 million more to build, equip, stock and staff a store. It is a lofty goal, a fact acknowledged even by the project’s most optimistic supporters." But that hasn't stopped residents from continuing to fight to bring a grocery store to their small town. (Read more)

USDA proposes rule to ease ID requirements on cattle and bison being shipped across state lines

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has proposed a rule to allow cattle and bison to travel across state lines without official identification "if they are shipped to no more than one approved livestock marketing facility and then directly to a slaughter plant,"  Philip Brasher reports for Agri-Pulse, a Washington newsletter. All other livestock are normally required to have official ID when being moved interstate.

Livestock owners have complained that delays while waiting for Interstate Certificates of Veterinary Inspection have caused animals to lose weight and hurt their market value, Brasher writes: "A separate provision of the rule would specify that federal and state inspectors can look at records and receipts held by marketing facilities that relate to pest detection, control or eradication efforts. The facilities would have to maintain records of receipt, distribution and application of ID devices and USDA-approved backtags." (Read more)

Early deadline today for Thur. webinar on linking newspapers, communities with social media

The National Newspaper Association is hosting a webinar on Thursday to discuss the results of a project by the North Carolina Press Association to promote newspapers through social media. As part of the NewspaperBaton project, NNA asked members to sign up for one day on Facebook or Instagram and post several photos with a caption about a specific topic, then pass the “baton” on to the next person who signed up for the next day.

The North Carolina group says baton holders were asked: "What role do newspapers play in your life? Do you start your morning with a cup of coffee and the local paper? Or do you get your news from Twitter? Maybe you glance at the headlines on the paper in your office. Or maybe you’re the one who turns news into a newspaper. Whoever you are, we want to see a day in that life! From the moment it gets tossed onto your driveway to the whoosh as you toss it into the recycling can; from the click of your mouse on the newspaper’s website to the swish of the comics page turning on a lazy Sunday morning... where do you encounter newspapers? Make a kite out of it, wrap up your fish (we prefer good sushi, frankly), fashion an old-school printer’s cap, make it into an old-time book cover. Make a video as you finish the crossword in record time, fold it into origami news birds… you get the idea. Have fun. Celebrate newspapers! Come, grab a paper and spend a day with us."

The webinar is scheduled from 11 a.m. to noon EDT. The cost is $30 for NNA members and $65 for non-members through today. After today, a $10 late fee will be charged. To register click here.

Postal plant closures to resume, further slowing mail; rural newspapers worry about impact

Mail delivery is likely to get even slower soon as the U.S. Postal Service goes through with its plans to close dozens of regional mail-sorting centers, and that worried publishers of rural weekly newspapers that rely on the USPS not just for delivering papers, but also bills to subscribers and advertisers.

"The Postal Service plans to close 82 mail processing centers nationwide next year, starting on Jan. 10," Josh Hicks reports for The Washington Post. "USPS officials have said the consolidation plan will help the financially struggling agency save money and adjust to dwindling demand for first-class mail, one of its core services. But critics say the program will slow down delivery times and harm the agency’s brand. In October, the USPS inspector general released a report saying the Postal Service was leaving communities in the dark about the impacts of the changes. Auditors found incomplete impact studies for all of the 95 mail-processing facilities that are due to absorb operations from other centers. The Postal Service said it could not complete the statutorily required analyses because it had not yet finalized its new processing guidelines."

USPS has consolidated 350 processing plants since 2006 and has closed 143 in the last three years, Hicks reports, citing the service's annual report to Congress. "The next phase of consolidation will increase delivery times and eliminate overnight delivery for 'a large portion of First-Class Mail and periodicals,' according to the inspector general’s report."

Newspaper interests reached strongly to the news. The postmaster general "is mailing everyone in rural America a lump of coal this holiday season," wrote Dave Bordewyk, executive director of the South Dakota Newspaper Association., said in an email to members of the National Newspaper Association's Postal Committee.

"It appears we will be on our own in rural America in figuring out how to provide timely delivery of our newspapers – but then we have been dealing with that problem for some time. It will now get even worse," wrote Reed Anfinson, publisher of Minnesota's Swift County Monitor News and recent past president of the NNA.

In NNA's monthly newspaper, PubAux, a story headlined "Rural service declines as USPS builds urban strategy," Postal Committee Chairman Max Heath writes, "A second major problem is the “brain drain” within the U.S. Postal Service, as veterans with knowledge of mail acceptance and rules, especially Periodicals, a complex class, retire and people move up with much less knowledge and experience. Thirdly, there is a decline in customer service as postmasters and clerks with whom mailers, especially newspapers, have had a long-standing relationship, retire or move on. All too often, people are afraid to make a customer-friendly decision that they lack the experience to make, and their supervisors higher up are often equally untrained." Heath's column offers examples.

Reliable trend data on police shootings doesn't exist, but rural areas are part of the phenomenon

A recent rash of reports about shootings of unarmed black men by white police officers, including some in rural areas, "feels like a national tidal wave," Allen Breed reports for The Associated Press. "And yet, no firm statistics can say whether this spate of officer-involved deaths is a growing trend or simply a series of coincidences generating a deafening buzz in news reports and social media."

The FBI keeps data on police homicides, but relies on reporting by local law-enforcement agencies, and doesn't require information about race, age and circumstances, Breed notes in a story that focuses on the 2011 shooting by the only police officer in Eutawville, S.C., population 300 (Wikipedia map). Richard Combs had been charged with official misconduct for shooting Bernard Bailey, "who had come to the town hall to argue about a ticket his daughter had received," Breed reports.

Combs’ attorney, John O'Leary said prosecutor David Pascoe was taking advantage of national concerns to escalate the case, but the indictment was handed up the same day that a New York City grand jury declined to indict white officers in the videotaped choking death of African American Eric Garner, and "A letter dated Nov. 26, 2013, indicates O’Leary was informed of the prosecution’s intent to seek an indictment for murder," reported Richard Walker of the Orangeburg Times and Democrat.

Two other white police officers in South Carolina have been indicted in the last four months for killing unarmed black men, AP's Jeffrey Collins and Bruce Smith report.

Jenny Jarvie of the Los Angeles Times took a close look at the Eutawville case in a story published this week. "Nearly everyone knew Bailey, a 54-year-old father of five. He was the deacon of a Baptist church, his wife the elementary school librarian," she wrote in her second paragraph. "Throughout Eutawville, which is 36 percent black, there was shared relief at the former police chief's indictment. Yet . . . locals differed on whether race or bad policing was to blame."

The day after the indictment, Martha Rose Brown of the Orangeburg newspaper went to Eutawville and found likewise, but also wrote about a feeling that officials had said too little about the case. In an editorial, the paper said, "Based on the long history of the case and the questions surrounding just what happened that day, the state may have quite the task in convicting Combs of murder. Nonetheless, we do not believe that the solicitor is going forward with prosecution for political reasons any more than we believe Combs will have difficulty getting justice in a county with a majority-African-American population. . . . We believe the system will produce justice."

Agriculture, forestry and fishing is the industrial sector with the highest rate of workplace fatalities

The highest rate of fatal injuries in any U.S. industry sector is in agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting. More than 100 children die on farms each year, but only about one in five of them are working. Those are some of the statistics on a fact sheet issued by the Agricultural Safety and Health Council of America. ASHCA says the annual cost of occupational injuries in agriculture is $8.3 billion in medical costs and lost productivity. Tractors are the leading cause of death and the typical cost of one overturned tractor is $1 million.

This is one part of the fact sheet. For a larger version, click on it. For the entire document, click here.

Effective safety programs can save $4 to $6 for every $1 invested, according to ASHCA, which says it is "a not-for-profit coalition of agribusinesses, producer organizations and safety professionals." Other facts on the sheet include: Although 87 percent of farms are operated by individuals or families, hired workers perform 60 percent of the work on U.S. farms, and 80 percent of those employees are foreign-born; and the world will need 70 percent more food by 2050 for the predicted 9.5 billion people. "Productive, efficient agriculture includes the preservation and well-being of agricultural workers at every level," ASHCA says.

Wages declined in 1/3 of counties in last decade; what happened in your county? This map shows

Even before the Great Recession, there was concern about wage stagnation, which has left millions of households with effectively less income than they had a decade ago. "One-third of all U.S. counties have seen their pay decline, when the figures are adjusted for inflation," Brian McGill and Dante Chinni report for The Wall Street Journal, with a handy map, emendated example below. (Click here for the interactive version.)

Overall, "Wages haven't budged in a decade," the reporters write. "The biggest winners for wage increases are the counties running down the center of the country, many of which have economies based on energy and agriculture." Other patterns are harder to discern; the phenomenon cuts across rural and urban, blue and red. State policies may have made a difference, judging from the clear differences between Illinois and Indiana, and between Alabama and Georgia.

"And even with all that in mind, the numbers on wage stagnation don’t tell the whole story," the reporters note. "Average annual pay still tends to be higher on the coasts and in the big cities than they are in rural Middle America." The data are from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages.

Do you like The Rural Blog? Now is a good time to support its publisher with a donation

By Al Cross
Director, Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues

As you choose the tax-deductible contributions to make before the year ends, we urge you to consider The Rural Blog and its publisher, the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues.

For more than 10 years, The Rural Blog has been a daily digest of events, trends, issues, ideas and journalism from and about rural America, designed for rural journalists but also serving everyone in rural America. This is a unique service, made possible by the endowment of the institute at the University of Kentucky.

At last report our endowment was still under water, meaning that its market value was less than its contributed value. That's because most of the endowment's money was raised at a time the stock market was high. We are trying to get it above water to avoid possible reductions in earnings that support the work of the institute, which you can read about at www.RuralJournalism.org.

We don't expect to get big donations from a blog post, but we are certainly interested in discussing our work with people who might be interested in supporting it. Our offices are closed for the holidays, but you can reach me at 502-682-2848. Our office number is 859-257-3744.

If your gift is small but you want it to make an immediate impact, you can give to our operating fund, from which we pay some current expenses. Donate to that fund or to the endowment by clicking here. Go to the gift-designation box and select "Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues Endowed Fund for Excellence" to give to the endowment; for the operating account, choose "Other" and type in "IRJCI operating."

Thanks for your support, and happy new year!

Montana, West Virginia among states considering laws to fight methamphetamine production

State lawmakers in Montana will consider a bill to create a database for purchases of pseudoephedrine or ephedrine—ingredients used to make methamphetamine—while a task force in West Virginia is recommending for the second time that state lawmakers require a doctor's prescription to purchase cold medicines used to make meth.

Montana has already enacted rules limiting purchases of pseudoephedrine or ephedrine to nine grams over a 30-day period, but without a database, officials say it's impossible to stop smurfing—when people frequent multiple pharmacies to purchase large quantities, Scott Zoltan reports for KECI in Missoula. Senate Bill 48, which has the support of the Montana Department of Justice, would connect the state to NPLEx, a system already used in 25 states to track purchases of cold medicine.

Meth has been a rampant problem in West Virginia, with officials seizing 290 labs this year, the third highest total in state history, Eric Eyre reports for The Charleston Gazette. Despite the number of busts being down from a record 531 last year, the Kanawha County Commission Substance Abuse Task Force said meth remains a problem in the state and the agency recommended that lawmakers require a doctor's prescription to purchase cold medicine with meth-making ingredients.

The task force criticized using NPLEx as a solution, saying drug manufacturers can get around the system by hiring large numbers of people to purchase their monthly limits, Eyre writes. Instead, the task force said the only way to rid the problem is by requiring a doctor's prescription. (Read more)

With help from Walmart, new devices and stagnant wages, U.S. sock makers ramp up production

The American sock industry, once all but dead, has been revived by "changes in technology, attitudes and costs," James R. Hagerty reports for The Wall Street Journal from rural Hildebran, N.C., just west of Hickory, where a Canadian designer-marketer who had given up manufacturing has reactivated an old plant to make socks for Walmart.

The new technology is in Italian machines that knit and seam socks in the same process, requiring about half the number of workers. The attitude change is at Walmart, "which is trying to reduce its heavy reliance on imports" and is giving more shelf space to U.S.-made products, Hagerty writes. Costs? American manufacturing has become more competitive with China because "average manufacturing wages in the U.S. have risen less than 2 percent annually over the past five years, while those in China have about doubled since 2008."

"For similar reasons, other sock makers are investing in the U.S.," Hagerty reports, but adds, "Some producers are still heading overseas. . . . Employment in U.S. hosiery and sock mills totals about 8,600, one quarter of the tally for 2001. The U.S. sock-making industry has shrunk so drastically that its trade group, the Hosiery Association, disbanded in 2013." (Read more)

English researcher says putting digital collars on livestock could increase rural broadband access

Sheep could help bring broadband to rural areas. English researchers are studying how digital sheep collars, sensors on riverbanks and rainfall monitors could advance technology in rural areas, while providing high-speed Internet service to residents, Victoria Woolaston reports for the Daily Mail. (Sony photo: Cameras on sheep covering the Tour de France)

Gordon Blair, a computer scientist at Lancaster University, is using a grant to conduct research in Wales on outfitting sheep with digital collars that can be used to allow farmers to better monitor livestock, while also doubling up as wireless Internet hotspots, Woolaston writes. "Earlier this year, sheep in Yorkshire were fitted with cameras to give a unique view of the Tour De France" bicycle race.

Officials at Lancaster University have proposed fitting sensors to riverbanks to monitor river levels and warn of floods, Woolaston writes. "This system uses sensors on the bank, and throughout neighboring towns to track rising water levels and weather conditions. Some sensor locations are designated as ‘government office nodes' and have an office with a laptop computer where data is collected and stored. An algorithm is then used to predict flood risks before alert notifications are displayed." (Read more)

New editor in a shrinking town reports the bad news and challenges it to shape up

A big part of a newspaper's job is to hold up a mirror to its community, to make it confront its problems. Too many newspapers aren't willing to do that often enough, but since Steve Wilson became editor of The Paducah Sun last February, he has been doing it. One of his latest examples was a column in which he followed up on a Sun story reporting that the city of 25,000 (MapQuest image), unlike other major towns in Western Kentucky, is losing population.

"In the weeks since that story was published, I've asked many people in the community how they would account for it and heard a variety of explanations. Most people believe several factors play a role," Wilson wrote. The list included "'a small-town mentality'" that seldom thinks very big and resists looking honestly at the city's weaknesses and addressing them; lack of take-charge civic leadership in both local government and the local business community; [and] inadequate cooperation between city and county government and too few public-private partnerships."

The local chamber of commerce is planning a "visioning program" to guide the community's future, but Wilson said a similar program was "short on follow-through and did not have major impact." He concluded, "The city needs a sharper sense of where it's headed and how to get there. It also needs some smart, savvy people to step up and lead. Otherwise, there's not much reason to think the city's population won't continue to slide along with its economic vitality and quality of life."

The Paxton Media Group, the Paducah-based, family owned chain that owns the Sun, is lucky to have Wilson as the paper's executive editor. He was a columnist and deputy managing editor at The Arizona Republic and managing editor of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, where he directed a project that won the paper's first Pulitzer Prize. His column is behind the Sun's paywall, but he has allowed us to post it, here.

UPDATE, May 28: Sun Editor Jim Paxton writes in an editorial that when "Wilson first started raising the issue in columns last year, we were surprised by the intensity of the reactions from local officials past and present. Some accused Wilson of being a carpetbagger who was just seeking to accentuate the negative. But it is the role of community newspapers to provoke discussion, sometimes on topics that are not to everyone's liking but important nonetheless." (Read more)

Mild December cuts natural-gas price 29 percent

A mostly mild winter might be good news for many people who hate cold and snow, but so far it has spelled bad news for the natural-gas industry. The benchmark price for gas on Tuesday, Dec. 23, was $3.17 per 1,000 cubic feet, a 29 percent drop from $4.50 in late November, Jonathan Fahey reports for The Associated Press. "Natural gas is used by half of the nation's households for heating and to generate 26 percent of the nation's electricity."

"The lower prices are expected to linger and could reduce electricity prices and heating bills in the coming months," Fahey writes. "Bob Brackett, an analyst at Bernstein Research, wrote in a recent note to investors that he expects natural gas to average 'in the low 3 [dollar]s" per MCF into the spring, and a warm winter could push the price below $3.'" That's a far cry from last year when prices hit as high as $6.15 in February during last year's brutal winter. (Seeking Alpha graphic)

"Conditions look good for low prices throughout the spring. After that, though, prices could head back up," Fahey writes. "One-fifth of the nation's natural-gas production is from gas found when drilling for oil . . . A a drop in the price of oil is forcing drillers to cut back, and that may slow the growth in [gas] production. Also, in April of next year an Environmental Protection Agency rule governing emissions of mercury and other toxic chemicals goes into effect. That will force electric utilities to reduce their use of coal, the chief source of those emissions, and turn instead to natural gas." (Read more) For the coal industry, part of the bad news is already here, because lower gas prices make coal less competitive with gas among utilities that can easily switch fuels.

Study puts least healthy states in a contiguous swath, much of it rural, from Okla. to W.Va.

Hawaii is the nation's healthiest state, while several states with large rural populations—including most of the South—are the country's least healthiest states, according to the annual state health rankings by the United Health Foundation. The rankings are based on data gathered in 2012, 2013 and early 2014.

UHF map; for an interactive version with details, click here.

The analysis is based on behaviors (everyday activities that affect personal health), community and environment (whether or not it was a healthy and safe community, based on clean water and air, affordable and secure housing, sustainable and economically vital neighborhoods and support structures such as violence-free places to be physically active), policy (availability of resources to encourage and maintain health) and clinical care (access, quality, appropriateness, and cost of care we receive at doctors’ offices, clinics, and hospitals).

Hawaii was named healthiest state for the third straight year. Vermont was ranked second, followed by Massachusetts (3), Connecticut (4), Utah (5), Minnesota (6), New Hampshire (7), Colorado (8), North Dakota (9) and Nebraska (10).

Mississippi was ranked last. Arkansas was 49th, followed by Louisiana (48), Kentucky (47), Oklahoma (46), Tennessee (45), West Virginia (44), Alabama (43), South Carolina (42), Indiana (41) and Ohio (40). (Read more)

U.S. drinks the most alcohol during the winter; Iowa has highest average blood-alcohol content

Americans drink the most alcohol during the winter, says the BACtrack Consumption Report, a report created by a company that manufactures breathalyzers. Of the 15 biggest drinking days of the year, 14 are from Dec. 1 through March 31, when the average blood alcohol content level is 0.06 nearly 75 percent of days, while during the rest of the year it is 0.06 about 50 percent of days. (BACtrack graphic)

The study, which was conducted using 130,000 subjects from 35 countries and all 50 states over a 13-month period, found that the biggest drinking days are New Year's Eve and St. Patrick's Day weekend, when levels reach 0.094 percent. Other big drinking days are Dec. 6-7, Jan. 18-19, Jan. 25, Feb.1-2, Feb. 15, March 7-8, Super Bowl Sunday. The other big drinking day, and the only one that averages above 0.08 percent, is May 3.

Iowa had the highest average blood alcohol content at 0.122 percent, the study said. That was followed by Arkansas (0.113 percent), Alabama (0.112 percent), Maine (0.107 percent) and Tennessee (0.106 percent). The lowest average blood alcohol content was in New Hampshire, 0.012 percent. That was followed by Delaware (0.026 percent), Utah (0.031 percent), Arkansas (0.037 percent) and Wyoming (0.051 percent).

The cities with the highest average counts are Waltham, Mass. (0.133 percent); Jersey City, N.J. (0.132 percent); Champlin, Minn. (0.124 percent); New Orleans (0.123 percent) and Greenville, S.C. (0.111 percent). Cities with the lowest counts are Brighton, Colo. (0.006 percent); Walnut Creek, Calif. (0.013 percent); Huntington Beach, Calif. (0.013 percent); Columbus, Ohio (0.014 percent) and Redwood City, California (0.015 percent). (BACtrack map: To view an interactive version click here)

Rural areas, women have been under-represented in debates about net neutrality, study finds

Most Americans favor Internet neutrality, and the news media have played the issue as a technical and political story and largely ignored its potential impact on rural communities, says a report by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The report says the debate has over-represented male and urban voices—especially through social media—while telecom and cable companies have put most their money and efforts into lobbying and have strayed away from most social media.

The report was conducted by analyzing more than 35,000 news sources and 300,000 blogs from January to July 2014; Twitter analysis of 120,000 tweets with #NetNeutrality from July to August 2014 and from #InternetSlowdownDay; of about 1 million public comments to the Federal Communications Commission; lobbying analysis of approximately 2,500 filings from 2009 to the second quarter of 2014 from the U.S. Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act Database and grant funding analysis of data for media access and telecommunications companies. (Knight Foundation graphic; click it to enlarge)

Researchers found that the majority of commenters to the FCC felt "that there is strong legal ground for reclassification of Internet Service Providers as Title II common carriers, the FCC should reject the proposed fast and slow lanes on the Internet" and "Internet Service Providers already have monopolistic power."

The report echoes a survey released last month by the University of Delaware's Center for Political Communication that found that most Americans favor net neutrality, as does President Obama. The FCC is debating what to do.

FAA fears Santa will be delivering drone aircraft to inexperienced and/or irresponsible users

AP photo by John Locher

The Federal Aviation Administration is playing Scrooge this Christmas, as agency officials fear that one of the hot new presents under trees will be drones, aggravating already complicated issue of safety in the skies, Craig Whitlock reports for The Washington Post.

In anticipation of a large number of of drones being given as presents this year, the FAA and the drone industry on Monday "kicked off a public awareness campaign to urge novice drone operators to pay attention to safety and not do dumb things such as flying too close to passenger planes, buzzing crowds of bystanders on the ground or flying that new ­remote-control helicopter while drunk," Whitlock writes.

"The campaign is dubbed 'Know Before You Fly' and includes videos instructing people how to 'stay off the naughty list' when playing with their new gifts," Whitlock writes. "Among the basics: Don’t fly drones above 400 feet, within five miles of an airport or near a stadium." FAA Administrator Michael Huerta told reporters, “This is an issue of growing concern. This newer and more powerful technology is affordable to more people, yet many are not familiar with the rules of flying.”

The National Transportation Safety Board ruled last month that drones are aircraft and are subject to existing aviation laws. Until FAA rules are put in place, most commercial use of drones remains illegal.  Officials fear unregulated drones use could  lead to "a modern version of the Wild West." In June the National Park Service banned drones in all parks and areas it manages. In August a tourist crashed a drone into Yellowstone National Park. Also in August drones were banned over the Appalachian Trail and in parks in Utah and Colorado, and a drone was reported flying over an NFL game. The FAA has a Sept. 30, 2015 deadline to set rules for commercial use.

Rural Minnesota school says 4-day week cuts costs; state says it negatively impacts students

Star Tribune photo: Maynard-Clara City schools

A west-central Minnesota school district that joined many others around the country in switching to a four-day week during the Great Recession is fighting the Minnesota Education Department's order to return to a five-day week.

The Maynard-Clara City-Raymond district says the four-day schedule has cut school costs by thousands of dollars and helped area businesses that have been able to employ students on their days off, reports The Associated Press. But "state education officials say there has been a lack of adequate academic progress in the district."

While high school test scores are a little below average, elementary school scores are at or slightly above the statewide average, AP reports. "State officials say they are concerned that the district has not made strong enough gains among low-income students." Education Department spokesman Josh Collins told AP that "it does beg the question, should the financial need continue to outweigh what appears to be a negative impact on student achievement?"

A school board committee "is exploring ways to retain the shorter school week, including drafting a bill to allow for local control on the matter," AP reports. State Sen. Lyle Koenen (DFL-Clara City) and Rep.-elect Tim Miller, a Republican who represents the area, said they plan to support legislation should the district choose that route." (Read more)

States step up incentives to attract young lawyers to rural areas, where they are often scarce

It's hard to find a lawyer when you need one in many rural areas. That lack of rural lawyers is forcing some states to think outside the box to draw young professional to their towns, reports Regina Garcia Cano for The Associated Press.

In South Dakota, four urban areas have 65 percent of the state's lawyers, while in Nebraska, 12 of the state's 93 counties don't have a practicing attorney, Cano writes. "Only about 30 percent of Georgia's attorneys can be found outside the Atlanta area. And even in New York with nearly 170,000 attorneys, more than 60 percent concentrate in New York City." (Rapid City Journal map from 2013)

South Dakota has started a program believed to the first of its kind that compensates lawyers much the way that similar programs do for doctors that relocate to rural areas, Cano writes. The program, funded by the state's judicial system, the South Dakota Bar Association and the counties, "offers an annual subsidy of $12,000 or 90 percent of the cost of a year at the University of South Dakota Law School to live and practice in rural communities."

Other states are following suit with programs to help draw lawyers to rural areas, Cano writes. "Nebraska next year will begin repaying loans for law school graduates who commit to serving at least three years in underserved communities in the state. The state bar also is teaming with two law schools to offer summer clerkships at rural firms. And Legal Aid of Arkansas recently received a $15,000 grant from the American Bar Association to fund fellowships for newly admitted lawyers who serve in rural areas for one year." (Read more)