Some county recorders in Iowa don't want to issue licenses for same-sex marriages

The Iowa Supreme Court's decision allowing same-sex marriage took effect this week, and county recorders prepared to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Some recorders in rural counties said they would refuse to license such marriages, and some Republican legislators tried to pass language that would have allowed recorders to refuse to issue a marriage license as a “matter of conscience” without fear of prosecution. That language was ruled out of order. Afterward, a clerk from Republican state Rep. Kent Sorenson's office was discovered contacting county recorders and asking them why they were willing to follow the Supreme Court’s ruling, since “it’s not a law, it’s an opinion.”

The legislative efforts were rebuked Wednesday by Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller. In a statement to the Iowa Independent, Miller said “Our country lives by and thrives by the rule of law, and the rule of law means we all follow the law as interpreted by our courts — not by ourselves. We don’t each get to decide what the law is; that would lead to chaos. We must live by and follow what the courts decide.” Jason Hancock reports for the Independent here.

Adam Belz writes for The Gazette in Cedar Rapids that "Iowa has no residency requirement, so out-of-state gay couples can be married in Iowa as long as they either wait for three days after they get a marriage license or obtain a waiver from a county clerk of courts." That fact may invite more same-sex couples to the state as they vie for marriage certificates. Read more here.

Rural Alaska population shrinking, affecting schools and the economy

Rural Alaska is being depopulated. A state report released last week from the Division of Community and Regional Affairs, claims that over the past eight years, population has fallen 3.6 percent in rural areas, equaling 138,898 residents - almost the same count as in 1990.

The fastest shrinking group is school-age children, presenting state funding and educational obstacles for rural communities. Alex Demarban reports for Alaska Newspapers Inc. that the rural population of children has plummeted by 11 percent. As a result, several schools report the risk of losing state funding because of the lack of students. Demarban writes that there is a 10-student minimum required for full state funding, a number more than 20 schools are having a difficult time reaching. Although rural population rose slightly in 2008 by 57 people, the long-term trend is a cause for concern. Increased fuel and utility prices and unemployment were reasons cited for the trend. Read more.

Federal formula, skewed against rural schools, now used for stimulus; webinar scheduled

The formula used to determine who federal funds are distributed by the U.S. Department of Education may be unfair to small, rural school districts. Title I of the No Child Left Behind Act is designed to help students at risk for failure due to poverty. "The way the formula works, a small school district with a high percentage of poor students earns less per student than a large school district with a smaller percentage of poor students," Caitlin Howley writes in the Daily Yonder. "As a result, small rural districts receive a far smaller share of Title I funds, even if they serve larger percentages of impoverished students."

This disparity has become more important because it is now being used to determine how economic-stimulus money is distributed. President Obama seemed to signify his support for small rural schools when he invited a student from one to sit next to Michelle Obama during his address to Congress. But the Rural School and Community Trust points out that under the current system, the student's school "in rural South Carolina receives $1,057 for each student qualifying under Title I," writes Howley. "Dillon has a student poverty rate of 38.5 percent. However, the nearby Greenville school district — one of the largest in the state — receives $1,467 for each eligible student, but its poverty rate is only 13.8%."

The trust adds: “The poorest 800 rural districts enroll almost a million students and have an average poverty rate of 35.52 percent. They get a little over $1,200 per poor student in Title I stimulus. Among the seven urban districts with the largest enrollment of poor students, only Detroit has a higher poverty rate than the rural 800 and all seven get more per poor student in Title I funding—in both the regular federal budget and the stimulus package.”

Howley suggests that the only way to fix the problem and eliminate the disparity is to eliminate weighting by the number of eligible students. "Title I funds would then go to districts with high poverty rates, regardless of their size," adds Howley. (Read more) The trust will conduct a webinar Wednesday, April 29 at 2 pm EDT on "Innovative Ways for Rural Schools to Invest Title I Stimulus Funds." To register, click here.

Mountaintop mine foe in Newsweek.com write-up

In a recent interview with Newsweek, Julia "Judy" Bonds, co-director of the watchdog group Coal River Mountain Watch, discussed the difficulty in fighting an industry that provides jobs for so many rural workers. But she insists that ultimately a shift away from a coal economy to renewable energy such as wind is the only way to empower local communities and improve the lives of Appalachians. (Coal River Mountain Watch photo)

"Bonds, who lives in Boone County, W.Va., calls her region the epicenter of coal's effects on human health," Daniel Stone writes in an online-only story for the magazine. "But she says it's also the site of a budding environmental movement." Her own family finds it hard to support her cause "primarily because the coal industry is the only job in town," adds Stone.

Bonds explained that the more people who are affected by polluted air and water and have to live with the daily blasting associated with mountaintop removal, the more activists against coal are created. Or as she put it "the most ardent and passionate activist is the one who's just been blasted or flooded." (Read more)

USDA grounds to be an organic vegetable garden

The Department of Agriculture announced that it plans to plant a 1,300 square-foot organic vegetable garden, making it slightly larger than the new White House garden. It will be called the People's Garden, after the original name of the department when created under Abraham Lincoln, the People's Department. It is another sign that the USDA is embracing sustainable food, reports Jane Black of The Washington Post.

Vilsack said he came up with the idea while jogging the grounds and seeing people look at the existing landscaping. "A thriving garden, he thought, would be a better way to communicate the agency's mission of sustainability and in particular the importance of fresh fruits and vegetables, a cornerstone of the agency's push to improve school nutrition and reduce childhood obesity," Black writes.

Vilsack had initially envisioned a smaller project but strong public support convinced him to expand it. "The garden now will encompass all of the agency's property on the Mall, and the department will work with organizations across the country to encourage individuals, schools and communities to establish gardens," adds Black.

All the food grown in the garden will be donated to local food banks but the main function of the garden is to serve as an educational tool. "Gardeners will work toward winning it organic certification; signs and possibly a video at the USDA visitors' center will explain the process and benefits of organic agriculture," writes Black. "The goal is to illustrate the many ways to grow food, dispelling the notion that gardeners need large plots of land."

The People's Garden may come as a surprise to many who criticized the appointment of Vilsack to head the agency. "In his first 91 days, the secretary has made concerted efforts to win food advocates' trust," adds Black. "He has met with progressive farm groups and food policy organizations and watched a screening of 'Food Inc.,' a searing indictment of the industrial food system, with authors Eric Schlosser and Michael Pollan, two leaders of the sustainable-food movement." (Read more)

People's Garden Concept Drawing (PDF)

Farmers want climate legislation to compensate them for carbon-storage measures already taken

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told agricultural journalists yesterday that farmers stand to gain from legislation to limit climate change, but details of how much they will get paid for preventing emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases has not yet been worked out.

"One of the biggest issues for farm organizations is whether farmers can earn credits for measures they've taken before the passage of the law," writes Philip Brasher of The Des Moines Register. "Many farmers in Iowa and other parts of the Midwest have reduced tillage and, in some cases, earn pay through a voluntary credit exchange." Vilsack said payments to farmers depend largely on whether greenhouse-gas allowances, sometimes called carbon credits, are sold or given away to polluters.

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said climate legislation could be "punitive to agriculture" unless farmers can get paid for past practices. "Some agricultural groups, including the American Farm Bureau Federation, have expressed skepticism that the higher energy and fertilizer costs that result from climate legislation could outweigh potential benefits," adds Brasher. "Winning over agricultural interests is viewed by many advocates of climate legislation as critical to getting a bill through Congress." (Read more)

National Geographic editors spotlight special issue of magazine with live chat at noon EDT today

National Geographic magazine has issued a special edition about energy, exploring questions like: What energy challenges are we facing? How can we meet the rising demand without harming the planet? What are some viable solutions for the near and long-term future?

Dennis Dimick and Tim Appenzeller, the magazine's executive editors, will take part in a live online discussion about those and related issues at noon EDT today. We know Dennis as a former colleague at The Courier-Journal who has a wide range of interests. He has degrees in agriculture from Oregon State University and agricultural journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and took pictures and notes on a tour we took of mountaintop-removal mines in West Virginia during last fall's Society of Environmental Journalists conference. SEJ named Appenzeller's June 2007 cover story on global warming, "The Big Thaw," the best example of explanatory environmental reporting.

For more on the live chat, hosted by The Washington Post, click here.

Bill to stop use of mountaintop-removal coal in North Carolina is withdrawn after hearing, protest

The proposed Appalachian Mountains Preservation Act, introduced in the last two sessions of the North Carolina legislature, got a committee hearing yesterday but was then withdrawn. State Rep. Pricey Harrison, D-Greensboro, "said she'd work on a resolution to encourage Congress to restrict or ban the mining practice," reports John Murawski of The Raleigh News and Observer.

Harrison's decision came after several legislators said the "bill would not stop the controversial mining practice but would only divert coal mined that way from North Carolina to markets like Europe and China," Murawski reports. The bill had grabbed attention from other coal-producing states. Representatives from the coal associations of West Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky attended the hearing to voice their opposition. (Read more)

The day before, protesters in Charlotte marched on Duke Energy's headquarters, complaining about the company's environmental practices. "Duke opposes a state ban on imports of mountaintop coal," wrote Bruce Henderson of The Charlotte Observer. A Duke spokeswoman told him, "We are sensitive to the issue, and we are reviewing it." On other fronts, the company has taken steps to be more "green." (Read more) For a report on the hearing, from Jordan Schrader of the Asheville Citizen-Times, click here.

The protest was partly intended to show people in non-coal states how the coal that produces their electricity is extracted. That point was made in a St. Petersburg Times column by Robert Trigaux, who noted that local utilities Progress Energy and TECO, formerly Tampa Electric Co., have operated mountaintop-removal mines. TECO still does, and says reclaimed sites have provided needed land for public projects and other development. To read the column, click here.

Rural newspapers help job seekers with free ads

With unemployment on the rise, many community newspapers are helping out by running free ads for job seekers. Neighbor Newspapers, which owns papers in 12 Oklahoma towns, "We were looking for ways to use our newspapers and our websites to make things better, because some of our communities are struggling right now," said publisher Mike Brown. For a report by Craig Day of Tulsa's KOTV-6, click here.

The Johnstown Breeze in Colorado began a similar service last week. They say that the project stems from being part of the community. "If we all work together, we can make it through this,” said publisher Lesli Bangert. “We appreciate the continued support of the communities, and want to do something to give back to the communities.”(Read more)

Chicken waste for energy becomes hot topic for candidate for governor in Virginia

Virginia's Democratic primary for governor has brought a lot of attention to a unusual topic: chicken waste. Former national Democratic chairman Terry McAuliffe, right, one of three vying for the June 9 nomination, sees energy converted from chicken manure as way to provide "green jobs" while eliminating a major source of pollution for the state's waterways and the Chesapeake Bay.

While candidates have touted several environmental initiatives, "few issues have generated as much publicity as chicken waste, driven in part by McAuliffe's characteristic over-the-top zeal for the subject," writes Sandhya Somashekhar for The Washington Post. McAuliffe has inspected Virginia Tech's prototype machine that converts poultry waste into energy. "He was enthused," said Oren Heatwole, who owns the property where the machine was built, said of McAuliffe's visit. "He was very wound up on it."

McAuliffe's rivals criticize his enthusiasm. "He's made it seem like chicken waste is the solution to the problem, and we're not even sure how much of an answer it is," said Jesse Ferguson, spokesman for Brian Moran, another Democratic candidate. But McAuliffe says it is a good way to get people thinking about the environment. "People perk up," he said. If this is what I need to do to get people's attention on alternative energy and jobs, so be it."

Writer at 34,000-circulation daily in upstate N.Y. wins Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing

An editorial writer from a 34,000-circulation newspaper in rural New York won this year's Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing today, on the strength of what the judges called "his relentless, down-to-earth editorials on the perils of local government secrecy, effectively admonishing citizens to uphold their right to know."

Mark Mahoney, right, is editorial page editor of The Post-Star in Glens Falls, the smallest paper to win a Pulitzer this year. He authors a nationally recognized blog about First Amendment issues, “Your Right to Know.”

"Editor Ken Tingley said Mahoney’s win made him think of the line from the movie 'Hoosiers,' when the basketball coach is urging on his small-school team to the championship," the Post-Star reports. Tingley said, "This is for all the small newspapers out there that never got to play in the game." Tingley said. The paper is part of Lee Enterprises.

Mahoney "has a gift for making dry topics, like the Freedom of Information Law, readable through entertaining examples and comparisons," his paper reported. He began a recent editorial about state government, "In the time it takes you to read this sentence, it will have spent about $20,000." (Encarta map)

Each entrant in the editorials category had to send in 10 examples of work. The jurors for the prize were Cynthia Tucker, editorial page editor of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution; Robert J. Caldwell, editorial page editor of The Oregonian; Nanya Friend, editor and publisher of the Charleston Daily Mail; Jeff Good, editor of the Valley News in West Lebanon, N.H., and White River Junction, Vt.; and Jonathan Wolman, editor and publisher of The Detroit News. Tucker, who chaired the jury, and Good, a regional neighbor of Mahoney, are former Pulitzer winners.

California may not consider corn ethanol up to state's new, low-carbon fuel standard

"California regulators, trying to assess the true environmental cost of corn ethanol, are poised to declare that the biofuel cannot help the state reduce global warming," reports Matthew Cimitile of The Daily Climate. "As they see it, corn is no better – and might be worse – than petroleum when total greenhouse gas emissions are considered."

As California moves forward with its low-carbon fuel standard, with the goal of reducing greenhouse gasses from transportation fuels by 10 percent by 2020, the state is looking at the overall impact of using corn ethanol. "If increased production of corn-based ethanol in the U.S. raises corn prices and accelerates the conversion of rainforests and conservation lands to farmland worldwide," Cimitile writes, "greenhouse emissions and loss of the carbon sink associated with such deforestation and disruption must be counted towards the biofuel’s total emissions."

California is looking at the use of cleaner energy sources such as electricity, hydrogen and cellulosic ethhanol. "But federal policy is moving in an opposite direction," adds Cimitile. "Pushed by industry and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is considering upping the percentage of ethanol in the nation’s gasoline from 10 percent to 15 percent." (Read more) EPA is also considerinhg whether corn ethanol meets the Renewable Fuels Standard because of the forest-to-farm conversion issue.

Recession has hurt rural manufacturing counties harder than population-losing farm counties

The nation's economic crisis has had a dramatic impact on rural communities, but more so on manufacturing communities than hose where farming is the dominant economic activity. "Out-migration, education, and long-term poverty may account for these differences," Bo Beaulieu and Roberto Gallardo of the Southern Rural Development Center at Mississippi State University write for the Daily Yonder. "These socioeconomic features may underlie the different employment outcomes in farming and manufacturing communities."

Beaulieu and Gallardo determined that there were 146 nonmetro counties with unemployment above 15 percent and 823 nonmetro counties below the national average of 7.8 percent. "Nearly 47 percent of the high-unemployment nonmetro counties are classified as manufacturing- dependent counties, while only a handful are dominated by farming (6.2 percent)," they write. "On the other hand, the largest share of low-unemployment counties is farm-dependent (36.2 percent), with only 11.2 percent being defined as manufacturing-dependent counties."

When trying to determine why farming communities have managed to avoid the high unemployment rates found in manufacturing counties it was determined that two-thirds of farm-dependent counties had lost population. "The lower unemployment rates uncovered in many farm-dependent nonmetro counties are masking some broader economic challenges facing these communities," add Beaulieu and Gallardo. "Simply put, lots of these farm dependent counties have witnessed the outmigration of many workers and families in past years, many of their residents moving on, in search of better economic opportunities." (Read more)

West Virginia activist receives environmental prize for fighting mountaintop-removal mining

After mountaintop mining destroyed the West Virginia ridge overlooking her childhood home, Maria Gunnoe turned into an environmental activist, organizing meetings, speaking at rallies, testifying at lawsuits, and many other anti-mining activities. Her efforts won her both threats from miners and one of this year's prestigious Goldman Prizes, which honor grassroots environmental activists across the world. (Photo by Antrim Caskey)

Since the mountaintop removal began near her Boone County home in 2000, "Gunnoe has lived with periodic flooding and with water pollution she blames on the Magnum Coal operation up the hollow," writes Ken Ward Jr. for The Charleston Gazette. Testifying in federal court two years ago, she said the mining "has devastated our property." (Read more)

The Web site for the Goldman Prize notes that her work for the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition has led to serious threats from opponents of her work: "Gunnoe’s neighbors recently overheard people planning an arson attack on her home. Her daughter’s dog was shot dead, and 'wanted' posters of Gunnoe have appeared in local convenience stores." Gunnoe joins recipients this year from Gabon, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Russia and Suriname. (Read more)

Tom Brokaw says crisis should be catalyst for consolidation of counties, small-state functions

The economic crisis should prompt consolidation of local governments and small-state functions, Tom Brokaw of NBC News writes for The New York Times' op-ed page. His examples range from New York, where a state commission determined that consolidation could save the state more than $1 billion, to North Dakota and his native South Dakota, where Brokaw says that 17 universities for 1.5 million people in two states could better use their money by consolidating administrations into one university system with satellite campuses. (New York Sun photo)

Brokaw's example of Iowa's 99 counties for 3 million residents could be repeated for a number of states. Nebraska has more counties per capita than any state, and Kentucky is second. "Each one houses a full complement of clerks, auditors, sheriff’s deputies, jailers and commissioners," he writes. "Is there any reason beyond local pride to maintain such duplication given the economic and population pressures of our time?"

Chase Martyn of the Iowa Independent replies, "The answer to Brokaw’s question may very well be “no,” but that doesn’t mean he will get his way anytime soon. In many small towns across Iowa, local pride is all that keeps communities going. If you shut down the courthouse and a few schools in one of the smaller county seat towns here, many fear the town could evaporate in a matter of only a few years. ... A few towns would almost certainly die, and no politician wants to be responsible for that." The same could be said of every state with a plethora of counties.

Brokaw quotes General Electric Chairman Jeffrey Immelt as saying the economic crisis is "a reset" that should include fundamental changes in American institutions. "If this is a reset, it’s time to reorganize our state and local government structures for today’s realities rather than cling to the sensibilities of the 20th century," Brokaw wrotes. "If we demand this from General Motors, we should ask no less of ourselves." (Read more)

Mine supervisors sentenced for safety violations

Three mine supervisors were sentenced Thursday in southeastern Kentucky for endangering underground miners. Ira Sergent, Johnny Osborne and Reggie Raleigh were fined and put on probation for turning off the main fan at Stillhouse Mining No. 1 Mine for six hours while miners were still working. Federal regulations require workers stay in the mine without a fan for no more than 15 minutes.

Tony Oppegard, a mine-safety attorney, said that the mine violations were planned, occurring when no inspectors would be present. Inspectors caught the violation only after receiving a tip. "Foremen have a difficult job, and I understand that," Oppegard told John Middleton of the Harlan Daily Enterprise. "However, if you are told by someone higher up in management to violate the law, which is what probably happened, and you know it will put miners at risk, you have a moral obligation to go by the law."

U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration officials say they hope the case will improve safety at other mines. "We feel like justice has been served,” said Michael Davis, the deputy assistant labor secretary for operations. “Mine operators are reminded that supervisors will be held accountable for violating the nations’ mine safety laws.” (Read more)

Union steps up efforts to organize at Wal-Marts

"The United Food and Commercial Workers union is ramping up organizing at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. after a five-year lull, dovetailing with its efforts to win support in Congress for a bill to make union organizing easier," Kris Maher and Ann Zimmerman report for The Wall Street Journal. "At this point, the union said it hasn't obtained majority support at any Wal-Mart stores, but has majorities in a handful of individual departments, which can be unionized separately."

Last we knew, most Wal-Marts were in rural areas. The story didn't reveal whether UFCW is focusing on urban and suburban areas, which might seem more union-friendly, but one of the two Wal-Mart workers quoted was an overnight stocker from rural Glendale, Ill., 30 miles north of Paducah, Ky. Linda Haluska told the Journal that Wal-Mart is "a good place to work, but it would be better with a union."

"Since February, Ms. Haluska said her store has held five or six meetings attended by managers from the Wal-Mart corporate office to discuss unionization. Ms. Haluska and other workers said the meetings are aimed at dissuading workers from supporting the union." Haluska told the Journal, "They are not giving us the full picture, just enough to discourage you." (Read more)

Preacher's push for community-oriented banking gets attention from Wall Street Journal columnist

Community banks have a new advocate, a type they probably didn't expect: a self-ordained street preacher who rails against the evils of consumerism and whose views got at least a temporary megaphone yesterday, a column in The Wall Street Journal.

In "Writing on the Wall," David Weidner tells about Billy Talen, the son of a small-town bank chairman who is running for mayor of New York: "In place of a system where big banks and corporations enter neighborhoods only to profit from them, Reverend Billy wants to empower small banks and credit unions that hold a stake in the communities they serve by offering incentives and making it harder for big finance to undercut local business. It's hard to argue against the system he envisions. Think for a moment about what community finance could mean for the nation: Neighborhood banks would lend to local businesses. Profits could stay in the community. Simply knowing who your customers are and living near them could bring common sense -- the most basic and sound form of risk management -- back to banking." (Read more)

Animal-welfare objections persuade some schools to cancel donkey basketball games, a rural favorite

Donkey basketball has been a familiar fund-raising gimmick in rural areas for decades, because folks are occasionally willing to pay a few bucks to see locals ride often recalcitrant asses and try to score baskets, "But the practice has drawn criticism from animal-welfare groups that say the donkeys are mistreated, leading some schools to cancel the events," Katie Thomas reports from Goffstown, N.H., for The New York Times. "That, along with a handful of lawsuits, has left some operators to wonder how long this peculiar slice of Americana will survive." (Times photo by Jodi Hilton)

“There’s going to come a day when there’s no longer going to be a donkey ball,” because of animal-welfare and liability issues, Brenda Amburgey, who owns Circle A Donkey Ball in Henry, Tenn., told Thomas. If you've never seen donkey ball, Thomas provides a pretty good description, which includes the revelation that some of the steeds "are trained to buck or to duck their necks — sending the players sliding to the floor — and referees reward the mischief with carrots. ... The pastime has been around since at least the 1930s, kept alive by fewer than a dozen family businesses that truck the donkeys to school gyms across the country in exchange for a cut of ticket revenue. Company owners say that their donkeys are beloved, spoiled pets, and that their work helps local charities that host the events to raise money."

Animal-welfare groups say donkey ball "is stressful to the animals, who travel long distances and are ridden by inexperienced players," Thomas writes. "The Humane Society of the United States, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals all oppose the sport. PETA’s campaigns have persuaded schools from Idaho to North Carolina to cancel events." The business is little regulated, partly because the U.S. Department of Agriculture considers it a competition, which not an exhibition, and USDA generally lets states regulate competitions. The Times put the story in its sports section. To read it, click here.

EPA declares greenhouse gases threats to health, opening door to tighter rules on coal, agriculture

The Environmental Protection Agency classified greenhouse gases as threats to public health yesterday, a policy change that could lead to tougher regulation of coal-fired power plants and other emitters of carbon dioxide. It could also spur a "cap and trade" system that could provide much new income for farmers, while raising the stakes for ethanol producers and spurring effort to limit methane emissions from animal agriculture. Here is EPA's news release; here is its detailed explanation.

"What happens next is unclear," writes Juliet Eilperin of The Washington Post. "The agency's proposed finding is likely to intensify pressure on Congress to pass legislation that would limit greenhouse gases, as President Obama, many lawmakers and some industry leaders prefer. But cap-and-trade legislation, which would limit emissions and allow emitters to trade pollution allowances, is fiercely opposed by a coalition of Republicans and Democrats from fossil-fuel-dependent Midwestern states who fear that such a system would raise energy prices and hurt the nation's economy. If Congress doesn't act, the Obama administration is likely to press ahead with at least some curbs on carbon dioxide and other pollutants blamed for global warming. ... Officials from the industries that stand to be most affected indicated yesterday that they would rather help shape standards through the legislative process than defer to federal regulators." (Read more)