Weekly publisher Keith Rathbun dies; ran nation's largest Amish and Mennonite newspaper

Keith Rathbun

Keith Rathbun, publisher of The Budget, the nation's largest Amish and Mennonite newspaper, is dead. Rathbun collapsed at his office in Sugarcreek, Ohio, and died at a nearby hospital Tuesday. Rathbun was featured on The Rural Blog and other news outlets, such as NPR and The Wall Street Journal, for his role in running the 125-year-old weekly, which, as of 2013, had 860 correspondents who are only paid with a subscription to help bring news to 18,000 subscribers in Amish and Mennonite communities around the country. For his obituary, click here.

The Budget depends on the mail, and Rathbun was an active member of the National Newspaper Association Postal Committee. Max Heath, NNA postal chair, told The Rural Blog: "Keith was determined to improve delivery quality for his subscribers, most of whom were not candidates for electronic options so prevalent today. He was dogged in his pursuit of improved mail prep on his side and was fully palletized and entered in Cleveland to expedite his nationwide efforts to achieve excellence. His hard work for the Ohio Newspaper Association and the NNA Postal Committee led to his appointment to the board of the National Newspaper Association. He will be sorely missed by his staff, many industry friends, and leaves large shoes to fill."

Federal appeals court upholds coal dust rule for miners; rule set to take effect Feb. 1

A federal appeals court on Monday upheld the government’s new coal dust exposure rule for coal miners, saying the U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) "followed the relevant laws in writing the 2014 rule to limit coal dust exposure, which causes black lung disease," Timothy Cama reports for The Hill. (NPR graphic)

"In a pair of lawsuits, various coal industry representatives said that the regulation did not properly take into account the scientific body of evidence, which the industry said shows it would not result in nearly the health benefits the government claims," Cama writes. "Mining companies also said the MSHA did not properly consult with the Department of Health and Human Services in writing the rule, which the court rejected as well."

The Atlanta-based court wrote: “We conclude that MSHA’s decades-long effort, culminating in the publication of this rule, adequately took into account the scientific evidence of record and arrived at conclusions which, given MSHA’s expertise, are worthy of deference. We therefore deny the petitions for review.”

The standards, which are scheduled to go into effect Feb. 1, require miners "to wear continuous personal monitors to check their exposure to dust, and companies would have to do more frequent sampling to check for compliance with dust limits," Bill Estep reports for the Lexington Herald-Leader. Critics argued that MSHA overstepped its authority "and more frequent sampling is at odds with a separate rule on the use of rock dust."

Webinar Thursday to focus on high mortality rates in rural areas

The National Advisory Committee on Rural Health & Human Services (NACRHHS) is hosting a webinar at 2 p.m. (EDT) on Thursday to discuss high mortality rates in rural areas. The webinar, open to the public, will focus on the the organization's policy brief, "Mortality and Life Expectancy in Rural America: Connecting the Health and Human Service Safety Nets to Improve Health Outcomes  over the Life Course." (NACRHHS graphic)

"The brief examines a broad range of issues contributing to a mortality rate for rural Americans that is 13 percent higher than in urban and suburban areas according to recent data," states NACRHHS. "Among these is the rising rate of opioid use and overdose, lack of primary care and behavioral health services and federal policy and programs that do not take into consideration the challenges unique to rural areas."

One of the event's speakers is Wayne Myers, who was head of the federal Office of Rural Health Policy during the Clinton administration, Tim Marema and Shawn Poynter report for the Daily Yonder. Myers told the Yonder, “Several million people dying too soon is as important as a terrorist attack, but it’s not on the candidate debates or the evening news. I hope the webinar will get some more people wanting to know why too many rural people are dying young. Eventually I’d like to see a group convened to sort out what is scientifically known about the impact of social and economic change on people’s health and what actually works to improve the health of groups of people.”

Rural Mainstreet Index drops for fifth straight month, reaches lowest total since August 2009

Creighton University's Rural Mainstreet Index for January fell for the fifth straight month, reaching its lowest reading since August 2009, Steve Jordan reports for the Omaha World Herald. The index for the region in January was 34.8, down from 41.5 in December. The index, which stood at 50.9 a year ago, has now been below 50 for five straight months, which indicates economic decline. One of the reasons the index has reached such low numbers is that farm prices are down 15 percent and fuel prices down 20 percent over this time last year.

"The total of 178 bank executives surveyed in Nebraska, Iowa and eight other states in the region also had a dim view of the economy in the coming months, said Creighton economist Ernie Goss, who said "bankers see few factors pointing to improvements for the Rural Mainstreet economy.”

"Farm equipment sales showed the lowest rating since the survey began in 2005, and farmland prices declined for the 26th straight month, Goss said, although price trends vary and are increasing in some areas," Jordan writes. "The lower grain and cattle prices are discouraging farm equipment sales, affecting dealers and manufacturers in the region. Lower grain and fuel prices have had 'moderate impacts' on ethanol production in the region, he said. About two out of 10 bankers said ethanol plants in their areas have reduced production, with seven in 10 saying local plants haven’t changed. Hiring remained positive although retail and home sales showed declines."

Rural communities among 27 projects selected for Local Foods, Local Places to boost local economies

Twenty-seven communities in 22 states have been selected to participate "in Local Foods, Local Places, a federal initiative that helps communities increase economic opportunities for local farmers and related businesses, create vibrant places and promote childhood wellness by improving access to healthy local food," states the U.S Department of Agriculture, one of the sponsors of the initiative. Other sponsors are the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Delta Regional Authority (DRA), with support from the White House Rural Council.

As part of the program, "each Local Foods, Local Places partner community works with a team of experts who help community members recognize local assets and opportunities, set goals for revitalizing downtowns and neighborhoods, develop an implementation plan and then identify targeted resources from the participating federal agencies to help implement those plans," states USDA. The program, created in 2014, has already helped 26 communities. (EPA map of selected communities)

The Rosebud Indian Reservation in Mission, S.D., was one of the selected communities. "The government says the group will receive technical assistance to establish a hub of healthy activity centered on local food," reports The Associated Press. "The plan is to use a new trail system that links the local grocery store, community garden, farmers market, creek and wetlands."

Another selection is the Ozark County Homegrown Food Project in Gainesville, Mo., reports Kansas City InfoZine. "Ozark County Homegrown Food Project plans to start a community garden in a city park and open a community kitchen and food shop to make purchasing fresh foods more convenient. A commercial kitchen will allow small producers to create value-added goods for local sale. The food shop will be cooperatively run by farmers and artisans. A community garden will empower people to grow food and get outdoors. The garden will also serve as a venue for hands-on workshops."

Discover Downtown Middlesboro in Middlesboro, Ky., "plans to create pallet gardens, low-cost mobile food carts, and business strategies for restaurants; a co-op grocery store; and other local food enterprises to employ low-income residents," states EPA. "The Winder Housing Authority in Winder, Ga., "plans to develop a pedestrian-accessible community kitchen and garden in the city’s Community Development Center." For a complete list of selected communities and planned projects, click here.

Clinton, Sanders using gun stances to take shots at each other

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton—who has repeatedly attacked her closet rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on his inconsistent record on gun control—may be guilty of the same act. Clinton has aired 740 pro-gun control ads in New Hampshire—24 percent of her total ads from Dec. 18 to Jan. 18—but only 300 in Iowa, where her ads on the wage gap have appeared 23 times more frequently than gun control ads, Chad Day reports for The Associated Press. Less than 6 percent of her more than 5,100 Iowa ads are for gun control. About 1 in 15 Iowans purchase a gun license, compared to 1 in 27 in New Hampshire.

About 88 percent of New Hampshire Democratic primary voters and 82 percent in Iowa say they want to toughen gun laws, according to NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist polls, Day writes. "In New Hampshire, where Sanders leads in latest surveys, the Vermont senator hasn't aired a single ad about his stance on guns this past month. His ads have almost solely focused on economic and health care issues."

One of Clinton's most effect tactics has been criticizing Sanders' gun record, "particularly the senator's 2005 vote to grant gun manufacturers immunity from prosecution, a vote that Sanders now calls a mistake," Gabrielle Levy reports for U.S. News & World Report. While the Sanders camp has circulated a flier saying he is "a lifelong advocate for gun safety" the Clinton camp has responded by calling him "a lifelong advocate for gun companies' safety from liability." The Washington Post has compiled a list of Sanders' record on guns.

Sanders said Monday at a town hall event in Iowa that Clinton only supports gun control when it benefits her, Awr Hawkins reports for Breitbart News Network. Sanders said: "Some of you might recall that back in 2007, when she was running against Barack Obama, she also focused [on gun control], but she thought that Obama was too strong on gun issues. You may remember him referring to her as 'Annie Oakley.' Today, Hillary Clinton is running a lot of advertisements on gun issues. Interestingly enough, she’s running most of them in New Hampshire, where she thinks it will work. [She’s] not running so many of them in rural Iowa. Now you can form your own judgement as to why that is the case."

Elena Schneider of Politico writes, "Democrats appear to be seizing on a moment that wasn’t as viable before 2016." Isaac Baker, a Democratic media consultant, told her, "I think there's a tipping point for Democrats that is fueling a new sense of confidence in using [gun control] as an issue, which they see as potent both in the primary and general."

Gun deaths outnumbered motor vehicle deaths in 21 states in 2014

In 2014 the number of gun deaths outnumbered motor vehicle deaths in 21 states and Washington, D.C., states a report from the Violence Policy Center using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That number is significantly higher than in 2005, when only Maryland and Alaska had more gun deaths than motor vehicle deaths, Christoper Ingraham and Caroyln Johnson report for The Washington Post. "The trend was driven largely by the sharp drop in the rate of traffic fatalities, a result of a series of laws and safety measures aimed at making driving safer." While gun homicide rates are down, suicides account for two-thirds of all gun-related deaths.

Alaska had the biggest disparity, with 19.68 gun deaths per every 100,000 people, compared to 11.81 motor vehicle deaths per every 100,000 people, states the report. Utah had 11.45 gun deaths per every 100,000 people, compared to 8.87 motor vehicle deaths, and Vermont had 11.01 gun deaths compared to 7.82 motor vehicle deaths. Of the 21 states, Georgia (1,391) and Pennsylvania (1,390) had the highest number of overall gun deaths, and Louisiana was second behind Alaska, with 19.27 gun deaths per every 100,000 people. Louisiana also had the highest number of motor vehicle deaths—17.36 per every 100,000 people—of the 21 states. (Violence Policy Center graphic)

Utah has one of the nation's highest suicide rates, accounting for 87 percent of gun-related deaths from 2009-2013, reports Matt Canham for The Salt Lake Tribune. The national average of gun-related suicide deaths in 2013 was 63 percent. Utah's gun-related deaths are up from 9.34 per every 100,000 people in 2009 to 11.45 in 2014, while motor vehicle deaths dropped from 9.19 to 8.87 during that time.

In Tennessee, gun deaths increased from 865 in 2004 to 1,020 in 2014, while motor vehicle deaths dropped from 1,191 to 906 during that period, according to the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security (the report states Tennessee had 1,000 motor vehicle deaths in 2014), Shelly Bradbury reports for the Chattanooga Times Free Press. "Statewide, the pace of gun-related and vehicle-related deaths has seesawed during recent years. But while vehicle-related deaths saw a large drop between 2004 and 2008, gun-related deaths have generally increased, with only occasional year-over-year declines."

Report suggests that natural gas overtook coal as top power source in U.S. in 2015

Natural gas in 2015, for the first time, appears to have overtaken coal as the top power source for electricity in the U.S., Scott DiSavino reports for Reuters. Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration through October 2015 shows that power plants used more gas than coal to produce electricity in five of the 10 months, including the last four—July, August, September and October—that data was available. Analysts credit the change to the "cheapest gas prices in 16 years and a record number of coal-fired plants retired from service because of the high cost of meeting environmental regulations."

"While EIA does not forecast that gas produced more electricity than coal in 2015, some analysts conclude it did because gas in November and December traded at the lowest levels for the entire year, prompting more substitution in what was already an unrivaled year for coal-to-gas switching," DiSavino writes. "Coal has been the primary source of fuel for U.S. power plants for the last century, but its use has been declining since peaking in 2007, which is expected to continue as the federal government imposes rules to limit carbon emissions."

"EIA said gas produced a record high 37 million megawatt hours per day of electricity on average during the first ten months of 2015," DiSavino writes. "Coal, meanwhile, produced about 39 MWh per day. One megawatt is enough to power about 1,000 U.S. homes." (Read more)

More women are becoming farmers; 30% of farms are female-operated, up from 5% in 1978

About 30 percent of all principal and secondary farm operators—one million total—are women, up from five percent in 1978 and 14 percent in 2007, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Elizabeth Zach reports for The Washington Post.
"Researchers have observed some possible reasons why more women are farming and ranching. Some women regard themselves less as entrepreneurs and more as gentle stewards of the land or bulwarks against corporations overtaking family farms and developers sweeping in with seductive offers. Others are drawn to the farm-to-fork movement, where locally grown produce and meat hold much greater appeal. Also, more women are inheriting farms and ranches." (Post photo by Mark Holm: Laura Jean Schneider runs a farm in New Mexico)

Breanne Wroughton, program assistant for the California Farm Academy at the Center for Land-Based Learning in Winters, Calif., told Zach that "downsizing and mechanization have also made the work more affordable and less physically demanding—although 'smaller parcels tend to require more physical labor because they are typically managed using hand tools and practices.'"

USDA says "women who identified themselves as earning their primary income from farming or ranching run the gamut in terms of what they produce," Zach writes. "They raise cattle, sheep, poultry, pigs and goats in the West and Midwest. They are viticulturists—or, as they refer to themselves at times, 'vit-chicks'—who nurture malbec and pinot noir grapes in California, Washington and Oregon. They grow lavender, melons and seemingly every other delicacy under the sun. Some have taken on teaching roles and find that more and more women are joining their ranks." (Read more)

Obama administration proposes regulations to limit methane gas flaring at drilling sites

"The Obama administration on Friday proposed new rules to clamp down on oil companies flaring natural gas on public land, arguing the effort will reduce waste and harmful methane emissions as part of President Barack Obama’s bid to curb climate change," Matthew Daly reports for The Associated Press. The "rule is part of the Obama administration’s target to cut methane from oil and gas drilling by 40 to 45 percent by 2025, compared to 2012 levels." One of the problems with the proposal is that the federal government has limited authority over the practice, with most oil and natural gas operations regulated at the state level.

The Government Accountability Office recently released a report that "said 40 percent of methane gas being burned or vented could be captured economically and sold," Daly writes. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell "said the new rule will modernize decades-old standards to reflect existing technologies, allowing companies to use captured natural gas to generate power for millions of homes and businesses. Between 2009 and 2014, enough natural gas was lost through venting, flaring and leaks to power more than 5 million homes for a year, she said."

Jewell also said that "the new rule also should generate millions of dollars that can be returned to taxpayers, tribes and states while reducing pollution," Daly writes. "Most of the gas being burned at drilling sites is methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that is 21 times more potent at trapping heat than carbon dioxide, although it does not stay in the air as long. Methane emissions make up about 9 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, according to government estimates."

While environmentalists have pushed for stronger regulations, "the oil industry has argued that new regulations are not needed for methane because the industry already has a financial incentive to capture and sell natural gas," Daly writes. "Methane emissions have been reduced by 21 percent since 1990 even as production has boomed, according to the Western Energy Alliance, an industry group."

Winter weather wreaking havoc on dairy farms; farmers forced to dump milk supplies

A rough winter weekend had some dairy farmers crying over spilled milk. In Kentucky, where some areas received more than a foot of snow on Friday and Saturday, farmers were forced to throw out milk because hazardous roads made it impossible to deliver supplies to stores, Katie Batey reports for the Glasgow Daily Times. Local farmers, who said they have to milk the cows regardless of whether or not it can be delivered to stores, said supplies can only be kept for three days before running the risk of growing bacteria. That led one farm to throw out 30,000 pounds of milk and another to dump 12,000 pounds, resulting in thousands of dollars of lost profits. (Glasgow Daily Times photo; Dairy farmers dumping milk this weekend)

A storm earlier this month near Lubbock, Texas—home to 36 percent of the state's dairy cows—meant some farmers had to go two days between milking, as opposed to three times per day, Josie Muscio reports for the Lubbock Avalanche Journal. That storm also "killed about 5 percent of the region’s mature dairy cows and a yet-unknown number of calves and heifers, according to the Texas Association of Dairymen."

Farmers in the Upper Peninsula in Michigan say they have to milk cows regularly, despite frigid temperatures, Harri Leigh reports for Upper Michigan's Source. Dairy farmer Terry Debacker, who said it takes six to seven hours to complete the farm's daily 60 to 70 pounds of milking, told Leigh, "Winter's a big issue; I mean, there's lots of things that freeze up that you have to make sure they unfreeze. You have to make sure your tractors are plugged in. Otherwise you can create some very long hours."

Feb. 1 is deadline for entries for Public Notice Journalism Award

Monday, Feb. 1, is the deadline to enter the contest for the Public Notice Resource Center's 2016 Public Notice Journalism Award, which honors news reporting that originates with advertising that governments are required to buy in newspapers to notify the public of actions pending or taken. It promotes the value of public-notice laws, which are under attack in several state legislatures.

Last year's winner, Jim Lockwood of the Scranton Times-Tribune, continues to report on public notices, most recently in December on the Scranton Sewer Authority’s special meeting for a proposed purchase of the city’s sewer system (ad at left). He won the 2015 award for his reporting on a proposed commuter tax.

Other recent examples of public-notice reporting: Russ Corey of the Times Daily in Florence, Ala., reported recently on a notice about a development along the Tennessee River. Evan Hendershot of The Daily Republic in Mitchell, S.D., reported on a resident’s complaint that the city had forced her to pay for an expensive sidewalk on her short, no-outlet street.

News or feature stories from 2014 or 2015 are eligible for the award. Editorials are not. Entries should highlight the importance of public notice; judges give positive weight to the use of the notice, or linking to it. Send entries by email to carolpierce@americanpressworks.com. The award includes a $700 cash prize.

Telcos, libertarians want new GOP governor in Ky. to rework or scrap public broadband network

Now that Kentucky has "created a nationally recognized public-private partnership to build America’s best statewide broadband network," and the governor is a Republican, "opponents are trying to kill it," reports columnist Tom Eblen of the Lexington Herald-Leader.

"Some telecom and cable companies that now provide Internet service around the state, along with several right-wing advocacy groups, are pushing legislators and Gov. Matt Bevin to rethink the project," writes Eblen, the paper's former managing editor. "AT&T has filed a protest over the state’s process for awarding school Internet service contracts, many of which it now has. The Kentucky Telecom Association, which represents 15 rural Internet providers, thinks KentuckyWired should be reconsidered, claiming it would duplicate existing infrastructure and undermine existing businesses that need their state and school service contracts. The telecoms are getting backup from libertarian advocacy groups that object on principle to government-owned broadband networks." Bevin has not commented.

Image via Lexington Herald-Leader; click on it for a larger version

The school and state contracts "are needed to make the financial package work" for the state and Macquarie Capital, the Australian venture-capital firm that would operate the network," Eblen reports. "Macquarie will pay off the bonds and earn a return on investment over 30 years, mainly by providing 1,100 state offices and schools with what it claims will be faster, less-expensive Internet service than what most of them now get from telecom and cable companies using proprietary networks." Macquarie will share revenue with the state.

Then-Gov. Steve Beshear, a Democrat, got the legislature to create KentuckyWired because Kentucky ranks low "nationally for broadband availability, service and cost," Eblen notes. "Complaining about slow, expensive Internet has become almost as popular a topic of statewide conversation as UK basketball." The project was created as part of the bipartisan Shaping Our Appalachian Region initiative of Beshear and 5th District U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Somerset, chair of the House Appropriations Committee.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/tom-eblen/article56259250.html#storylink=cpy

Postal reform likelier than ever; rural papers OK old rate hike if USPS avoids more service cuts

Reform of the U.S. Postal Service has been "the poster child of a do-nothing Congress . . . but movement now seems more likely than it has in a long time," reports Joe Davidson of The Washington Post. And the idea of ending Saturday mail delivery is "a dead letter."

“There is a remarkable degree of consensus across a broad range of stakeholders—including the unions, postal management and a representative sample of mailing industry companies—about the most important reform elements,” Fredric V. Rolando, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, told Davidson. A new, key element of the consensus would require eligible postal retirees to take Medicare and reduce the service's health-care costs.

NNA President Chip Hutcheson

Saturday delivery already seemed safe, but passage of a reform bill could prevent further slowdowns in rural mail delivery, Chip Hutcheson, publisher of The Times-Leader in Princeton, Ky., and president of the National Newspaper Association, told the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Thursday.

Hutcheson said a survey found that more than 92 percent of NNA members have had recent problems getting newspapers through the mail on time, and nearly half reported problems with first-class or priority mail. Delays have resulted from closing of many mail processing plants, he said.

"Congress has been trying since 2008 to reach agreement on legislation to help the Postal Service address falling mail volumes but still serve every household in America," NNA noted in a news release. Hutcheson urged Congress to act before April, when USPS finances are expected to worsen by $1 billion because of a court-ordered rollback in postage rates. Though rural newspapers would benefit from that, NNA says the rollback shouldn't happen because it would worsen the service's finances.

“NNA’s support for suspending the mandate to roll back postage rates in April is contingent upon the Postal Service’s commitment to enact no further systematic service cuts and to live within its means without more exigency increases,” Hutcheson said. “To us, that translates into suspending further plant closings and continuing the postmaster general’s commendable efforts to trim costs without risking more mail volume loss through service cuts.”

Hutcheson commended USPS for starting a study of on-time delivery for rural areas. Noting that a third of rural residents do not have broadband service, he reminded the committee that rural areas depend on print communications and the mail in general. A copy of his statement is available here.

'Wet' vote in big lake-tourism county continues gradual trend of rural areas forsaking Prohibtion

This week's front page in Russell County, Ky.

When Congress and the states repealed Prohibition in 1933, they required that each state allow localities to continue banning the sale of alcoholic beverages. A swath of counties, mainly from the Appalachians to Texas, do that, but Prohibition has eroded in recent years.

In Kentucky, where lobbying by the distilling industry apparently created laws that made it impossible to have legal beer without legal liquor, the landscape began to change 25 years ago, when the legislature let cities and localities allow restaurants to serve alcohol. Many chose that local option, and the trend has led to votes to go entirely "wet."

One of the "driest" areas in Kentucky has been the south-central part of the state, where huge Lake Cumberland attracts many tourists who must pack in their alcohol or get it illicitly. Near the eastern end of the lake, the town of Burnside went wet for restaurants several years ago, then extended its city limits downstream about eight miles to let another boat dock serve booze. Then the county seat of Somerset, still a bastion of Baptists, surprisingly went fully wet.

Dark blue counties are dry; light blue have
alcohol in restaurants and/or certain cities.
(This map may not be up to date)

That created an alcohol oasis that threatened the lake trade of Russell County, just to the west, where a big factory closed recently, causing high unemployment. This week, 52 percent of voters there (including a lot of retirees near the lake) voted wet: 3,833 to 3,423. "County and city leaders in Russell County will soon meet on how to prepare for issuing liquor licenses and how to deal with the revenue. The law will take effect in about two months," reports The Times Journal of Russell Springs. "Heavy support from Jamestown and the lake precincts helped to sway the historic vote," reports Larry Smith of 92.7 The Wave. Now, promoters of legal liquor in Adair County, the next county to the west, say they have enough signatures on a petition to force an election. UPDATE: Adair County went wet, and so did some counties bordering it.

After Minnesota official took office, his firm got disputed $64,000 for rural bus routes the firm ran

Zelle (StarTrib photo by Glen Stubbe)

"Minnesota’s top transportation official has asked for a review of steps he took to distance himself from his former bus company after the state paid the business $64,000 for work on a contract that had expired," reports Ricardo Lopez of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, who discovered the payment by going through 5,000 emails involving Charlie Zelle, commissioner of the state Department of Transportation. Zelle said he had been unaware of the payment or the request for it.

Zelle resigned as CEO of Jefferson Lines when Gov. Mark Dayton appointed him in 2012 but remains chairman of the family-owned company, which runs rural routes "that would likely go away without taxpayer subsidies," Lopez writes. "Both companies received nearly all of available state and federal grants, or $2.3 million, in 2013, according to a MnDOT report. Those funds accounted for nearly 60 percent of the companies’ budget to operate the subsidized routes that year."

The emails "reveal sometimes deep disagreement over the Jefferson Lines payment and highlight the potential conflicts that Dayton faced in selecting a transportation chief with close ties to a company that still does business with the agency," Lopez reports. "Two officials from MnDOT reviewed the request and rejected it, saying the claim was for work beyond the scope of two contracts that stretched from 2007 to 2011. Just a few weeks after Zelle took over as commissioner, Jefferson again asked the state to be paid for the old contract. This time, they got it, but with it came staff criticism of the unusual payment."

“None of this passes the smell test,” department Audit Director Daniel Kahnke told nine staff members, including an assistant commissioner. "Mike Schadauer, MnDOT’s Office of Transit director, said the situation was the result of an error that should have been caught sooner," Lopez reports.

County level maps: Indiana's air is most polluted; South, Midwest lead list of top 25 polluted states

Indiana is the most polluted state in the U.S., according to county-level maps by HealthGrove ranking the 25 most polluted states, Christina Lavingia reports for HealthGrove. Rounding out the top 10 are Ohio; Kentucky; Tennessee; Alabama; West Virginia; Washington, D.C.; Maryland; Illinois  and Pennsylvania. At No. 11 is Georgia, followed by Virginia, Mississippi, South Carolina, North Carolina, Nevada, Delaware, New Jersey, Arkansas, Minnesota, California, Louisiana, Wisconsin, Michigan and Nebraska. (Air pollution in Ohio)

Using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, HealthGrove analyzed average daily fine particulate matter from 2003 to 2011, Lavingia writes. “PM2.5 particles, classified as a fine air pollutant with an aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 micrometers, have the ability to penetrate deep into the lungs and bloodstream. A study published in The Lancet found that for every 10 ug/m3 increase of PM2.5 particles, lung cancer incidences increased by 36 percent. Potential sources of PM2.5 include motor vehicles, power plants, wood burning and other industrial processes.”

Mountaintop-removal coal mining correlates with poor health in Appalachia, researcher says

Michael Hendryx

By Tim Mandell
Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues

No apparent health disparity exists in Appalachia except in areas where mountaintop removal is occurring, said Michael Hendryx, professor at the School of Public Health at Indiana University, during a lecture Thursday at the University of Kentucky. Hendrix's lecture, "Mountaintop Mining and Public Health," examined scientific research—conducted by him and others—into health effects in Appalachia since large-scale mountaintop removal was introduced in the 1990s. Hendrix, who was part of a 2010 study that called for an end of mountaintop removal, did most of his research in West Virginia.

Hendrix presented data comparing Appalachian areas that have mountaintop removal with Appalachian areas without it, showing that heart, lung and kidney disease, cardiovascular and respiratory disease, and birth defects are all typically more common in areas with mountaintop removal. Also, air and drinking-water pollution—consisting of both well water and public water—are usually higher in mountaintop removal areas. Hendryx's studies have established correlations, but not causation, which is much more difficult.

Hendryx said politicians have stood in the way of eliminating mountaintop removal, despite plenty of scientific evidence of its negative impact on public health. "It's surprising the political and economic power that the coal industry still has," he said. "It doesn't produce the jobs that it used to. It's clearly in decline. Yet it seems to me that politicians will still fall all over each to see who's more pro-coal, and that still seems to influence voters."

While some have called efforts for clean energy a "war on coal," Hendryx argues that coal-depressed communities can find other ways to improve local economies. "Some of the regions have coal; some don't," he said. "They're hilly, they're forested, they're rural . . . the places that didn't have coal developed other ways for people to make a living. . . . If you look at the data, it's clear that the areas that have the heaviest mining have the highest unemployment rates, the highest poverty rates, the lowest income levels. The other areas that didn't have coal developed better alternatives to generate better economies."

Asked for a reply, Bill Bissett, president of the Kentucky Coal Association, said in an email, “Anti-coal ideologue Michael Hendryx continues his road show against coal production and use by, once again, committing sins of commission in discussing his research. He won’t tell you that he gathers his data by employing environmental groups, like Restore Eden, to do his interviews, so should we expect any result than one that agrees with this anti-coal agenda?"

Walmart, which plans to close 150 stores, to raise minimum wage for most hourly workers

Walmart, which announced last week it was closing 150 stores, said Wednesday that in February most hourly workers will receive a raise, Sarah Nassauer reports for The Wall Street Journal. "Walmart previously said it planned to boost its minimum wage in February to $10 an hour. But the giant retailer said Wednesday that hourly workers employed in its stores as of Dec. 31 would get at least a 2 percent pay bump. The wage increase will affect nearly 1.2 million U.S. employees at the company’s Walmart and Sam’s Club stores."

"The across-the-board pay increase is aimed at addressing complaints by some longtime store workers about Walmart’s more-generous starting wages for new hires," Nassauer writes. "The company also is hoping to stem defections and the sums it spends to hire and train new employees. Walmart loses about half a million store workers a year. Minimum-wage increases took effect in 20 states last year, and several of the biggest employers of hourly workers, including McDonald’s Corp. and Starbucks Corp., have raised their starting pay." The move is expected to force competitors like Target to also raise wages. (Read more)

AHCJ annual conference offering several fellowships, including for rural health journalists

The Association of Health Care Journalists is offering a number of journalism fellowships for its annual conference, scheduled from April 7-10 in Cleveland. One fellowship is for rural health journalists, "intended for reporters and editors working in rural towns and counties or who work for outlets serving a predominately rural population," states AHCJ. The fellowship includes: conference registration fee; one year's membership in AHCJ (new or extended); up to four nights in conference hotel; and up to $400 for travel assistance within the continental U.S. The deadline to apply for the rural health journalists fellowship is Feb. 19.

Other fellowships are for: Missouri journalists; College journalism students and college journalism instructors; Journalists in the ethnic media; Journalists on non-health beats; Colorado journalists; California journalists; Rhode Island journalists; and New York journalists. Journalists can apply for multiple fellowships. For more information on the conference, click here.