Congress allotted $50 billion to support rural hospitals over the next 5 years; many advocates say it won't be enough

Rural hospital often care for sicker patients with lower
incomes. (Photo by J.B. Morris, Unsplash)

The newly approved federal budget includes a $50 billion purse to help rural hospitals address current and future needs; however, many experts warn that the money, which will be managed through the Rural Health Transformation Program, may not be enough to cover foreseeable Medicaid and budgetary reductions. 

The plan "calls for federal regulators to hand states $10 billion a year for 5 years starting in fiscal year 2026," reports Sarah Jane Tribble of KFF Health News. "But health advocates and researchers doubt it will be enough to offset expected cuts in federal funding."

Meanwhile, many rural hospitals require additional financial support now and are likely to face shortfalls when federal cuts begin to take effect. "Nearly 1 in 4 people in rural America use Medicaid, the state and federal program for low-income and disabled people," Tribble explains. "People who live in the nation's rural expanses have more chronic diseases, die younger, and make less money." 

Out of the $10 billion allotted each year, "half of the money will be 'distributed equally' among states that apply to and win approval from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services," Tribble explains. "States are required to submit a 'detailed rural health transformation plan' by the end of this year, according to the law."

The current CMS administrator, Dr. Mehmet Oz, "will determine how to distribute the other half, or $25 billion, using a formula based on states’ rural population and need," Tribble writes. The law says funds should be used by states and the CMS administrator "for such things as increasing use of robotics, upgrading cybersecurity, and helping rural communities to right-size their health care delivery systems.'"

While the plan is intended to fill funding gaps in rural health care, stakeholders are unclear about who creates state proposals and what measurements are required after funding is received. Sarah Hohman, the director of government affairs at the National Association of Rural Health Clinics, told Tribble, "There’s just some confusion about who actually gets this money at the end of the day. . . and what it is actually going to be used for?"

As health advocates review the program, some believe that politics, rather than the health of rural constituents, will drive how the $50 billion fund is spent. Michael Cannon, director of health policy studies at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C., told Tribble, "As long as it’s a government slush fund where politics decides where the money goes, then there’s going to be a mismatch between where those funds go and what it is consumers need." 

Steelworkers considered this county 'too rural' to live there; local officials launched a plan to get them to put down roots

Mississippi County Courthouse, 
Osceola, Ark. (Wikipedia photo)

When U.S. Steel decided to make Mississippi County, Ark., its home base, local officials thought people would move to the area, bringing their spouses and families with them. They didn't. But the county didn't give up on leveraging its steel boom as way to address ongoing decline. 

"In recent years, this vast county in the Mississippi Delta has transformed itself into one of the largest U.S. hubs for steel production and reliable, well-paying steel work," reports Chao Deng of The Wall Street Journal. "Lately, it has shifted to an even harder task: getting those workers to move there."

Mississippi County was once a bustling farm region, but over several decades, families have left, and towns have fallen into decay. "Many steelworkers still see the county as too remote and rural to live in, so they choose to commute long distances every day, often from neighboring states," Deng explains. 

To get steelworkers and their families to move to Mississippi County, the county is "pushing a host of initiatives to increase its population and shore up its economic base," Deng writes. "The chief program, called 'Work Here. Live Here,' offers home buyers money toward down payments on new or existing property, as long as they live and work in the county for four years. . . . About 160 families have purchased homes with help from it."

Mississippi County location in Ark.
(Wikipedia map)

So far, the county's plan has been successful. Cliff Chitwood, the county’s economic-development officer, said about "250 new homes have gone up in the county in the past 14 months, with more than half of them bought under the 'Work Here. Live Here' initiative," Deng writes. Chitwood told Deng, “It doesn’t sound like many until you realize it’s more than we had in 20 years."

Coca-Cola sweetened with cane sugar could be more expensive; corn farmers worry they'll be hurt by the changes

Soft drink companies use high-fructose corn syrup to
reduce production costs. (Photo by J. Yarema, Unsplash)

If Coca-Cola wants to eliminate high-fructose corn syrup in Coke and replace it with cane sugar, it will need to find cane sugar suppliers outside the U.S. because the country already faces a cane sugar shortage. Since cane sugar is more costly than high-fructose corn syrup, the switch would increase the cost of Coke while simultaneously hurting U.S. corn farmers.

"Each year, America consumes about 12.5 million tons of sugar, but produces only 4 million tons of cane sugar. The rest is made up by imports and sugar sourced from sugar beets," report Patrick Thomas and Laura Cooper for The Wall Street Journal. "The beverage industry relies heavily on high-fructose corn syrup as its sweetener of choice. Each year, more than 7 million tons are produced by mills that grind up corn to make sweeteners and other products."

Due to U.S. sugar production limits, if Coca-Cola shifts to cane sugar on a broader scale, it will have to import sugar "from countries such as Brazil and Mexico — countries that face Trump administration tariffs of 50% and 30%, respectively, on Aug. 1," the Journal reports.

Although the soda giant has agreed to produce some American Coke with cane sugar, the switch will increase its expenses. Ron Sterk, a senior editor at SOSland Publishing, an information provider for the ingredients industry in the U.S., told Reuters, "Food and beverage industries started to use corn syrup in the U.S. in the past because of costs. It is cheaper than sugar."

U.S. corn farmers rely on domestic corn syrup production to drive grain market prices. Reuters reports, "The Corn Refiners Association said the complete elimination of high fructose corn syrup from the U.S. food and beverage supply would cut corn prices by up to $.34 a bushel, resulting in a loss of $5.1 billion in farm revenue."

'Hub City' earned its moniker from railroad days, but it's still a place where people from all walks of life come together

‘All Are Welcome’ banner on Bethlehem’s 
exterior. (Photo by Betsy Froiland, The Yonder)

Like spokes on a wheel, nine railroad lines used to converge in Aberdeen, South Dakota —a small rural town that railroads transformed into "Hub City." And while Aberdeen's moniker was earned in the early 1900s, much of the town's reputation as a physical and social hub remains. Betsy Froiland for The Daily Yonder writes, "Many of those railways are gone. But the nickname and the identity endure."

Today's Aberdeen is different in many ways, but it's still a "place where people with different backgrounds, political leanings, and personal identities come together," Froiland writes. Hub City still offers community spaces where its residents and visitors can feel welcome, no matter their differences.

"One such space is Bethlehem Lutheran Church," Froiland writes. "The church itself is a hub of activity, discussion, and community for people from all walks of life. . . . It's politically diverse. While the majority [of members] supported Donald Trump in 2024, 37.5% of its electorate voted for other candidates. People of all political leanings share pews in worship."

The Rev. Jeff Whillock is Bethlehem's lead pastor, who takes an open view to discussing things that can divide people. Froiland writes, "Instead of shying away from political topics at church. . . Whillock takes these conversations on, thoughtfully and methodically." He told Froiland, "I’m continually committed to being a pastor with people that I disagree with."

Like a track that keeps a train moving, part of what has kept Bethlehem alive and growing is "the congregation’s shared understandings of faith and nature to relay a powerful message: all are welcome at Bethlehem," Froiland explains. "Perhaps in part due to the church’s work to connect across differences, Bethlehem is thriving."

Some evenings at Bethlehem include a meal before the religious service. Members and visitors share a meal, with some staying for the service, but some head home after the meal. "In many ways, Bethlehem is a hub of its own. A hub where people from all walks of life can share a meal together," Froiland adds. "A hub where people with different political views can speak a common language."

2025 Best in Rural Writing Contest is taking submissions now through Sept. 15

It's time for authors to rev up their imaginations, seize their writing tools, and prepare to transport their readers to a story of rural making.

The Milk House and The Daily Yonder have opened submissions for their 2025 Best in Rural Writing Contest and invite authors from anywhere to enter their short stories or essays.

Authors can submit fiction or nonfiction stories limited to 7,000 words for $10 each. 

Deadline is Sept. 15. Read all the details and submit here. 

The overall winner of the Best in Rural Writing Contest will receive $500, and the second-place author will receive $200. 

Some fine print: Contest submissions may be previously published (as long as it was not published before January 2024), and will also be read within 2 to 3 months of submitting with an eye toward publication on the site, as well as the forthcoming "2026 Best in Rural Writing" print anthology. 

Bit of guidance: Submissions should, in some way, be connected to "the rural.” The manner and extent to which this is done is open to the author and not necessarily limited to rural characters or rural topics.

Quick hits: 'New' Superman is super-rural; VA restructuring; chocolate bar price bump; public pool safety; how much land does each state farm?

Superman (David Corenswet) and his dog Krypto in ‘Superman’ (Warner Bros, IMDb image via the Yonder).

Before Superman was super-anything, he was an orphan raised by farmers in Smallville, Kansas. The newest Superman is an old-fashioned, sincere and sometimes corny-sounding hero-in-the-making, who struggles to stay true to his ideals "in a world beset by 24/7 media noise, rationalized indifference, and organized meanness," writes Adam B. Giorgi for The Daily Yonder. "The boon of super strength and super speed doesn’t necessarily make it any easier to keep being good in the face of hardship, to do the right thing when the chips are down, or to be kind even when it’s not expected or rewarded."

After shedding roughly 30,000 jobs earlier this year and announcing it plans to curtail further layoffs, the Department of Veterans Affairs is still restructuring. "Senior leaders are telling employees that major changes are still coming," reports Eric Katz of Government Executive. "The VA is looking to empower medical center directors. Several employees, based on meetings and internal conversations, speculated that headquarters and possibly regional staff could be a casualty of that change."

'Inflation isn't finished with your chocolate bar.'

Chocolate maker Hershey may sell delightful sweets, but its latest announcement is a summer bummer. "Hershey is raising prices on its candy in response to continued high cocoa costs," reports Owen Tucker-Smith and Jesse Newman of The Wall Street Journal. While exact price hikes will vary, U.S. consumers can expect a roughly 20% increase on Hershey treats. "Three-quarters of Hershey’s confection portfolio should continue to cost $4 or less. . . .Demand for Hershey’s products has stayed strong. Shares of Hershey are up more than 7% this year."

With its varied seasons and climates, U.S. farmers and gardeners grow thousands of different crops each year. The amount of land dedicated to principal crops depends on the state. Discovering which states and regions farm the most land is best described in the map shared below.

Over half of Iowa is dedicated to farming. Click on map to enlarge.

The future of farming may involve less physical labor and more technology. "Imagine a farm where fleets of autonomous tractors, drones and harvesters are guided by AI that tweaks operations minute by minute based on soil and weather data," reports William Boston of The Wall Street Journal. "Farmers could swap long hours in the cab for monitoring dashboards and making high-level decisions. . . . Despite the promise of digital tools and autonomous machines, cost is a big barrier." 

Taking care while enjoying public pools can help reduce the chance of illness or skin rashes.
(Photo by Maria Korneeva, Moment, Getty Images via The Conversation CC)

Does chlorine kill all infectious "things" that end up swimming in the public pool? No. "Summer news headlines and social media posts often spotlight the 'ick-factor' of communal swimming spaces. These concerns do have some merit," writes Lisa Cuchara for The Conversation. "The good news is that chlorine, which is widely used in pools, is effective at killing many pathogens. The not-so-good news is that chlorine does not work instantly, and it doesn’t kill everything. . . .Read Cuchara's 10 tips for healthier public pool swimming here.

Nominations sought for the Tom and Pat Gish Award for courage, integrity and tenacity in rural journalism by Aug. 11

Each year the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues presents the Tom and Pat Gish Award for courage, tenacity and integrity in rural journalism, named for the couple who exemplified those qualities as publishers of The Mountain Eagle in Whitesburg, Ky., for 52 years.

Nominations for the Gish Award may be made at any time, but the deadline for new nominations to be considered for this year's award is Monday, Aug. 11. The winner will receive the award at an event in Lexington, KY, on Nov. 13. 

Eric Meyer and the Marion County Record in Kansas received the award in 2024. 

To make a nomination, please send a detailed letter with some documentation explaining how the nominee shows the kind of courage, tenacity and integrity that Tom and Pat Gish demonstrated at their weekly newspaper in the Central Appalachian coalfield. They withstood advertiser boycotts, business competition, declining population, personal attacks, and even the burning of their office to give their readers the kind of journalism often lacking in rural areas, and were the first winners of the award named for them. Tom died in 2008 and Pat in 2014. Their son, Ben, is editor and publisher of the Eagle and serves on the award selection committee.

Additional documentation may be submitted after the nomination, and may be requested or required. Send your nominating letter, initial documentation and any questions to Institute Director Benjy Hamm at benjy.hamm@uky.edu.

The Institute seeks nominations that measure up, at least in major respects, to the records of the Gishes and other previous winners. Other winners have been the Ezzell family of The Canadian Record in the Texas panhandle; Jim Prince and Stanley Dearman, current and late publishers of The Neshoba Democrat in Philadelphia, Miss.; Samantha Swindler of The Oregonian for her work at The Times-Tribune in Corbin, Ky., and Jacksonville Daily Progress in Texas; Stanley Nelson and the Concordia Sentinel in Ferriday, La.; Jonathan and Susan Austin of the Yancey County News in North Carolina; the late Landon Wills of the McLean County News in Kentucky; the Trapp family of the Rio Grande Sun in northern New Mexico; Ivan Foley of the Platte County Landmark in northwestern Missouri; the Cullen family of the Storm Lake Times-Pilot in northwest Iowa; and Les Zaitz of the Malheur Enterprise in eastern Oregon. In 2019, the award went to three reporters whose outstanding careers revealed much about the coal industry in Central Appalachia: Howard Berkes, retired from NPR; Ken Ward Jr., then with the Charleston Gazette-Mail; and his mentor at the Gazette, the late Paul Nyden. In 2020 the award went to the late Tim Crews of the Sacramento Valley Mirror; in 2021 to the Thompson-High Family of The News Reporter and the Border Belt Independent in Whiteville, N.C.; in 2022 to Ellen Kreth and the Madison County Record of Huntsville, Ark.; in 2023 to Craig Garnett of the Uvalde Leader-News in Texas; and in 2024 to Eric Meyer and the Marion County Record in Kansas.

The Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, which is based at the University of Kentucky, is focused on helping to sustain journalism in rural communities in the United States, through information, expertise, training, outreach and other programs.

A stop in Rock County, Minnesota, reignites memories of a dynamic war-time reporter that comes with a twist

Al Cross

During a trip to the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors conference, Al Cross stopped to pay tribute to the late Al McIntosh, a World War II reporter and local newspaper publisher. The trip yielded some surprising connections.

Luverne, Minnesota, is in Rock County, the southwest corner of Minnesota, just east of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. When I saw Sioux Falls consumed one day’s itinerary of the annual conference of the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors, which recently elected me to its board of directors, I planned a side trip to Luverne – for reasons that started out esoteric but turned out to be quite meaningful.

I was interested in Luverne and its newspaper because Ken Burns and Tom Hanks had told me a lot about them – in Burns’ 2007 documentary “The War,” about the American home front during World War II. Burns focused on four towns: Mobile, Ala., Waterbury, Conn.; Sacramento, Calif.; and Luverne, a county-seat town of 5,000 on the Rock River (the one in the Missouri River basin).

The unexpected star of the documentary, at least for me, was Al McIntosh. He was editor of the Rock County Star Herald before, during and after the war. He chronicled the home front in such compelling detail that Burns said his team’s discovery of the newspaper’s carefully stored bound volumes (dating to 1873) was “in some ways . . . the single greatest archival find that we have ever made.” Hanks, who voiced McIntosh’s writings for the documentary, was so taken by them that he pushed Burns to use more of them, and Burns did.

“He had this task of explaining the unexplainable to his fellow neighbors,” Burns said. “He did so magnificently, and wrote as beautifully as any editor I’ve ever come across."

Al McIntosh at his desk (PBS website photo)

McIntosh started his war journalism even before the U.S. entered the fight, with a piece about a woman who had survived the blitz of London and was visiting her brother in Rock County: “She has had her best friends killed. Looking out at the peaceful countryside from the Thompson porch, she said it was hard to believe the rest of the world was at war.” That was in the first written quotation of the show, which introduced McIntosh as a North Dakotan who “had turned down big-city jobs to run his own small-town paper. He would soon find himself trying to explain the unexplainable to his new neighbors.” 

When the documentary premiered on PBS, I wrote a short story for The Rural Blog, a publication of the University of Kentucky’s Institute for Rural Journalism, which I ran at the time. As I watched the show and heard Hanks read McIntosh’s evocative writings, I got choked up. Here, in what most Americans might call the middle of nowhere, a weekly newspaper editor was capturing the courage, loss, sacrifice, resolution, pathos and daily grind of being a small-town American in our most demanding war.

So, if I was going to Sioux Falls, I was going to Luverne, at least to pay my respects at the grave of Al McIntosh, who died in 1979. When I looked it up on Findagrave.com, a wonderful resource, I found something flabbergasting. McIntosh’s obituary, posted on the site, revealed that he was the author of an editorial column that formed the basis for the first speech I ever gave, in 1965, when I was 11 years old. 

Desperate for a topic for the 4-H speech contest, I saw the headline “I Am a Tired American” in one of the many newspapers that reprinted the editorial, originally titled “A Tired American Gets Angry.” A few weeks after I gave the speech, I became the official scorer for the local baseball leagues, which included writing them up for the weekly Clinton County News, where I got my first byline.

Al McIntosh’s editorial was a reactionary screed against a host of things that he thought were wrong with the country and its critics (mostly the latter), and young Al Cross parroted most of the complaints. My meager effort earned me third place in the contest, but the experience gave me enough confidence to enter and win the following year, then become a color commentator on baseball games, which led to me becoming a licensed radio announcer at the age of 13. (In those days you had to get a license, by passing a test.) I kept my hand in journalism, and edited and managed weekly papers before spending 26½ years as a reporter at The Courier-Journal in Louisville, the last 15½ as political writer and columnist, then 20 years at the University of Kentucky.

I still write occasional political columns for the Northern Kentucky Tribune and other news outlets. As a political observer, I see McIntosh’s most-published piece as a harbinger of today’s tribulation. “I am a tired American,” he wrote, “choked up to here on this business of trying to intimidate our government by placard, picket line and sit-in by the hordes of the dirty unwashed who rush to man the barricades against the forces of order, law and decency.” 

But he also was “sickened by the slack-jawed bigots who wrap themselves in bedsheets in the dead of night and roam the countryside looking for innocent victims.” And he said he was “real tired of those who are trying to sell me the belief that America is not the greatest nation in all the world, a generous-hearted nation, a nation dedicated to trying to help the 'have nots' achieve some of the good things that our system of free enterprise brought about.”

In Al McIntosh’s day, it was not unusual for weekly editors to editorialize about state, national and international questions. Now most papers, even weeklies, are owned by chains, most of which think too much opinion is bad for business. Even many independent papers shy away from publishing letters and columns about President Donald Trump, for fear of having to play referee in a mudball contest. So we don’t read much in weekly papers about national protest campaigns, racial issues, foreign aid and the like.

McIntosh has had some fine successors, including Michelle Erpenbach, who runs a major nonprofit in Sioux Falls, and Lori Sorenson, a Rock County native who has been at the family-owned paper for 33 years. She told me that she delves into national issues from time to time.

“Where appropriate and if it has bearing on our readers in Rock County, I will use our opinion page to voice concern about national issues,” Sorenson said in an email. “Rock County is a very RED and very religious county, and many are eagerly lapping up the disinformation that circulates on social media. I have written more than one editorial encouraging readers to be judicious about their ‘news’ sources and to remember that we are ‘community first’ despite occasional disagreements about national issues.”

Good for her. If we are to overcome the partisan and cultural divides that are bedeviling this country, I think it will most likely start in small towns like Luverne, where people know each other as neighbors and are still mostly willing to listen to each other, and agree to disagree.

Local newspapers have long been one of the best forums for a community to have a conversation with itself, but in many small towns, papers no longer play a leading civic role, for a host of reasons: they have failed to maintain circulation and household penetration, have owners who don’t want to make anyone mad, have smaller staffs with less time and talent for commentary, or they may even lack a local editor because the chain owner runs several papers as a group. All this has added to a shortage of local news, while news media and social media are dominated by national news, opinion and misinformation.

Every county in America deserves to have a news outlet that can help its audience be better citizens of their state and nation, not just their locality. Our nation would be a lot better off if we had lot more editor-publishers like Al McIntosh. May his example never be forgotten. 

Al Cross lives in Frankfort and Albany, Kentucky, and is on Facebook, LinkedIn, Threads, BlueSky and @ruralj. The Minnesota Newspaper Association presents the Al McIntosh Award to those who dedicate themselves to their communities through their reporting, editorials and columns. 

As farm raids continue, farmers may not have enough workers to harvest crops; some in GOP want reforms

Deportation raids and fear have led to fewer farm workers.
 (Photo by Tim Mossholder, Unsplash)

Despite President Donald Trump's aggressive push to oust unauthorized immigrants from the United States, a growing number of Republicans see the current lack of illegal border crossings as an opportunity to push for a shift in priorities that includes legislation that protects farm workers from deportation.

GOP backers for immigration change warn that "if farms can’t hire all of the workers they need, they risk being forced to leave crops to spoil or paying more for labor, which could lead to higher food costs," report Olivia Beavers and Michelle Hackman of The Wall Street Journal. Some GOP members "argue the party should focus on changing immigration law to allow some workers to gain temporary legal status and make sure people can remain on the job."

Still, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.), "who controls what bills come to the floor, signaled any immigration overhaul would face an uphill battle," Beavers and Hackman write. 

The Labor Department recently "established the Office of Immigration Policy, which aims to streamline and modernize the process for employers — including agricultural employers — as they navigate the various programs that include supporting legal pathways to work," Beavers and Hackman add. 

While the U.S. has several visa programs for agricultural workers, many farmers say that the programs are cumbersome and fail to meet the needs of certain types of farms. According to the Wall Street Journal article, "People using the visas also need to return to their home countries for a chunk of each year, meaning farms with year-round work, like dairy farms, can’t use them."

Republicans backing immigration reform face push-back from the Trump administration and potential fallout from another failed immigration reform bill. "Administration officials have repeatedly pledged to hit a goal of arresting a million unauthorized immigrants in Trump’s first year in office, though they have hit less than a fifth of that number so far," the Journal reports. "Farm areas skew heavily toward Republicans, raising the political stakes for the party."

U.S. dairy farmers see an increase in I-9 audits for immigrant workers as their newest labor challenge

Dairy farms need year-round workers to fill labor gaps. (Farm Journal photo)

Beyond international tariffs, bird flu and possible Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids, U.S. dairy farmers have a new worry to add to their unpredictable livelihoods: I-9 audits. "Nervousness and frustrations are spreading across the dairy industry," reports Tyne Morgan of Dairy Herd Management. "With reported flaws in the E-Verify system, the audits are resulting in dairies being forced to fire employees who are found to have illegal documents and only given 10 days to do so."

When I-9 audits occur, worker documents are examined, and it's often discovered that "employees submitted either illegal paperwork or forms that weren’t theirs," Morgan explains. "There’s no way for a dairy to know. That’s what the E-Verify system is meant to do." 

Although only dairies in South Dakota and Texas have been audited so far, increased inspections aren't welcome news for dairy farmers, who often rely on immigrant labor to perform much of the constant and strenuous work required. Tyne explains, "The dairy industry seems to be on an island when it comes to finding a legal workforce. Dairies aren’t seasonal; therefore, they can’t utilize H-2A, and that’s something the dairy industry is pushing to change."

Donald Grady, the senior director of legislative affairs at the International Dairy Foods Association, views the H-2A program as something that can be modified to help dairies and off-site milk processing plants. He told Morgan, "We are looking to be able to expand the H-2A program so that dairy operations on-farm and in the plant can have another tool in their toolbox to meet their labor needs."

Despite the recent I-9 audit spike, "leaders within the dairy industry say for the first time in nearly two decades, there does seem to be momentum for changes to the H-2A program and address the pain points with the current immigration system," Morgan adds. The CEO of the Idaho Dairymen’s Association, Rick Naerebout, told Morgan, "We’ve not had this kind of traction with an administration ever on this issue. . . but we’re cautiously optimistic here in Idaho." 

Morgan adds, "Naerebout says after 20-plus years, he thinks agriculture finally has a legitimate chance at solving a problem that’s been plaguing the industry. And that solution needs to not only come from the White House, but the long-term fix needs to be addressed by Congress."

The reasons Amish have dramatically lower allergy rates than the rest of the world may point to a global cure

The Amish still use horses and buggies for transportation. 
(Photo by Crystal Tubbens, Unsplash)

 

Examining why Amish children and adults have dramatically lower allergy rates when compared to the national average is allowing scientists to explore the origins of allergic protections and develop a cure for the global surge in allergies over the past century.

"Despite the increasing rate of allergic diseases, both in industrialized and in developing countries, the Amish remain exceptionally — and bafflingly — resistant. Only 7% of Amish children had a positive response to one or more common allergens in a skin prick test, compared with more than half of the general U.S. population," reports Meeri Kim of The Washington Post. 

Amish Americans are Christians who embrace a more simplified lifestyle that often excludes modern conveniences and technology. Kim reports, "Many live on single-family dairy farms — and use horses for fieldwork and transportation. As of 2024, around 395,000 Amish live in the United States, concentrated mostly in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana."

A team of human genetics researchers at the University of Chicago are examining what prevents Amish children from forming allergies "in the hopes of developing a protective treatment that could be given to young children," Kim explains. "For instance, a probiotic or essential oil that contains substances found in farm dust, such as microbes and the molecules they produce, could stimulate children’s immune systems in a way that prevents allergic disease."

Since the beginning of the 1900s, the number of people to develop allergies, "including hay fever (allergic rhinitis), asthma, food allergies and eczema — has increased dramatically," Kim explains. "The 1960s saw a sharp increase in the prevalence of pediatric asthma, a condition in which the airways tighten when breathing in an allergen." In more developed countries, food allergies to peanuts, eggs and cow's milk have also increased. 

While scientists have considered several theories on why Amish children have far few allergies, the University of Chicago researchers are "beginning to identify the protective agents in Amish dust that prevent allergic asthma," Kim reports. Researchers think developing an allergy preventative for children based on the proteins found in Amish barn dust could dramatically reduce the ever-increasing rate of global allergies.

Rural homes and outer buildings often contain fire hazards; reducing risks begins with an inventory and smart planning

Lithium-ion batteries pose unique fire
risks. (Kumpan Electric photo, Unsplash)

In the event of a fire, call 911. While that's good advice, considering how much longer it can take firefighters to arrive at a rural fire scene, it's even more important for rural residents to do as much fire prevention and containment planning as possible. Donna Kallner for The Daily Yonder writes, "Let’s take a hard look at our stuff, whether we should rethink where and how we store things."

Leftover ammunition and firearms from hunting or sports are commonly found in rural homes, garages and sheds, and their storage requires careful attention. "The Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers Institute recommends that ammunition be stored in its original packaging or other packaging designed for the purpose (such as metal or plastic ammo cans) and separate from heat sources, open flames, and firearms," Kallner explains. For general and fire safety, before storing a firearm, remove all ammunition, including chamber rounds. 

Everyday electronics, such as cell phones or laptops, run on lithium-ion batteries, which pose unique fire risks including extreme heat, lethal gases and the ability to "reignite hours to days after appearing to be extinguished," Kallner adds. "Your rural volunteer fire department would definitely want a heads-up if they might be walking into a structure fire involving lithium-ion batteries."

Plan where flammable and combustible fluids will be stored. "What distinguishes flammable from combustible liquids is the temperature at which they give off enough vapor to ignite in the presence of an ignition source," Kallner explains. "An area that gets so hot you wouldn’t leave an infant or pet there is not suitable for flammable or combustible liquids. . . . Flammable and combustible liquids should be stored at least 10 feet away from any potential ignition source. . .that includes electrical outlets."

Preventing fires is the first goal, and having an early warning system in place in case of fire is the second goal. "We can plug only one charging device into an outlet at a time. We can shop for one of those flammable storage cabinets for the fuels for the lawnmower, string trimmer, and chainsaw," Kallner adds. "We can ensure that smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are properly installed in all recommended areas, tested monthly, and replaced at least every 10 years. We can update our home fire escape plan and practice until shutting doors behind us is automatic."

Read all of Kallner's fire tips here.

Final House vote rescinds $9 billion in funding for public broadcasting and foreign aid; cuts include rural media

After months of debate, the U.S. House and Senate voted to rescind $9 billion in public broadcasting and foreign aid funding that Congress had already approved. The 216-213 final vote passed the House early Friday morning. "It now goes to Trump for his signature," report Kevin Freking and Mary Clare Jalonick of The Associated Press. "The package cancels about $1.1 billion for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and nearly $8 billion for a variety of foreign aid programs."

The vote "marked the first time in decades that a president has successfully submitted such a rescissions request to Congress," AP reports. "Some Republicans were uncomfortable with the cuts, yet supported them anyway, wary of crossing Trump or upsetting his agenda."

"The cuts are expected to weigh most heavily on smaller public media outlets away from big cities, and it’s likely some won’t survive," report Mark Thiessen and David Bauder of The Associated Press. "Katherine Maher, NPR’s president and CEO, estimated as many as 80 NPR stations may face closure in the next year."

Smaller media outlets often serve more remote areas in states such as Alaska, Mississippi and Maine, which have numerous rural communities that frequently lack access to reliable news and educational programming.

Mississippi Public Broadcasting has already begun making cuts. AP reports, "It decided to eliminate a streaming channel that airs children’s programming like 'Caillou' and 'Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood' to the state’s youngsters 24 hours a day, said Taiwo Gaynor, the system’s chief content officer."

The rescinded funds erase roughly $2.5 million from Maine's public media funding, but Maine Public hasn't announced any immediate cuts. "The system is preparing to reinvent itself to make certain it continues serving the state’s residents," Thiessen and Bauder write. "Maine’s rural residents rely heavily on public media for weather updates and disaster alerts."

 Earlier this week, KMXT in Kodiak Island, Alaska, kept its community up-to-date on tsunami 
warnings after a 7.3 magnitude earthquake hit some of Alaska's coastal islands. (NPR photo)

In Alaska, KMXT public radio station’s general manager, Jared Griffin, "called the Senate vote a 'devastating gut punch,'" Thiessen and Bauder add. "Griffin said the station’s board has already agreed on a plan to furlough staff members one day a month, and he’s taking a 50% pay cut."

Securing state support to fill funding holes isn't an option for many stations. AP reports, "At least five states have reduced their own outlays for public media this year, either for budget or political reasons."

Immigrant farm workers from Mexico once had a clear path to work in the U.S. from the 1940s to the 1960s

Braceros congregating at Rio Vista 
(Library of Congress photo via Offrange)

A look back at American history reveals a significantly different perspective on Mexican immigrants coming to the United States to fill labor shortages. Beginning in the 1940s and stretching into the mid-1960s, the U.S. recruited thousands of Mexican immigrants to work on U.S. farms.

In Texas, the National Historic Landmark "Socorro’s Rio Vista Farm" operated as the "Rio Vista Bracero Reception Center," which was a designated point of entry for thousands of Mexican workers who entered the U.S. as "part of a temporary labor program," reports Marianne Dhenin for Offrange. "The arriving Mexican workers were known as braceros from the Spanish word for arm, brazo, roughly translating to 'one who swings his arms.'"

Mexican farm worker recruits were able to enter the U.S. by signing up for the Bracero Program. "The program was designed to recruit skilled agricultural laborers from Mexico to mitigate labor shortages in the United States resulting from American farm workers enlisting during World War II and, later, the Korean War," Dhenin explains. During World War II, the U.S. government incarcerated thousands of American Japanese farm workers, which increased the need for Mexican labor.

Workers who wanted to join the Bracero Program "applied at intake stations across Mexico," Dhenin writes. These men "made significant sacrifices in pursuit of economic opportunities in the U.S. Many hoped that higher wages across the border would allow them to provide for those they left behind."

Becoming a Bracero wasn't as easy as just signing up. Applicants were required to undergo extensive medical and psychological testing in Mexico before "being invited to make the trip northward through Mexico and across the border," Dhenin reports. Braceros were often transported into the U.S. in cargo trains "without seats, windows, or water stops along the way."

During the 1950s and early 1960s, the "barracks on Socorro’s Rio Vista Farm served as dormitories, offices, and a mess hall to house and process the more than 80,000 braceros who passed through each year," Dhenin explains. "It was one of five long-term bracero reception centers in California, Arizona, and Texas. . . . Over the lifespan of the Bracero Program, more than 4.6 million contracts were issued." A total of 30 states participated in the Bracero program.

Contaminants may be lurking in beach, lake or 'old swimming hole' water. Local reporting can help readers swim safely.

Read water safety warnings before diving in.
(Photo by Joseph Two, Unsplash)

Want to go for a swim? Sounds appealing, but it's best to see what's in the water before donning your flippers and face mask. 

"A stark 1,930 out of 3,187 beaches sampled across the nation in 2024 experienced at least one day on which indicators of fecal contamination exceeded federal safety levels, a new report has revealed," Sharon Udasin of The Hill reports. "The Gulf Coast had the biggest share of beaches with at least one unsafe day in 2024, reaching 84%, followed by the West Coast, with 79%, and the Great Lakes, with 71%."

The list of diseases swimmers can get from contact with contaminated water includes "cryptosporidium, some forms of filariasis (not elephantiasis), Legionnaires' disease, swimmers' itch, swimmers' ear, typhoid, giardiasis, salmonella, schistosomiasis, campylobacter … and more," reports Joseph A. Davis for the Society of Environmental Journalists. Many of the listed diseases are spread when swimmers swallow fecal-contaminated water. Research confirms almost all recreational water activities cause swimmers to ingest at least a small amount of beach, lake or pool water.

Historically, the U.S. strives to maintain "fishable, swimmable waters. That’s the stated goal of the 1972 Clean Water Act," Davis adds. "The nation certainly hasn’t met the goal yet — but it is still trying. . . . Under the CWA, the Environmental Protection Agency sets nationwide 'criteria.' These state how clean water must be for any particular use (like swimming or total body contact recreation)."

Each state has its own water pollution control agency that determines "specific uses (like swimming) for each lake, stream or estuary within its borders, and regulates discharge permits to reach the criteria for those uses," Davis explains. "That’s the theory, anyway."

For community journalists, reporting on local "water hole" quality could be information readers will appreciate. Story ideas by Davis are shared below:

• Where do people in your audience area go to swim in the summer? How far away are they willing to go? Go there and talk to people.
• Are there beach closings in your area? Why? It’s often storm discharges from sewer systems. What are the records of your local sewage and stormwater agencies on storm discharges? Have they ever been cited for permit violations?
• What do your state and local health agencies say about the incidence of waterborne illness from local swimming areas? Are the diseases common or uncommon?
• Talk to managers and patrons of local pools, public and private. Talk to the swim coaches. Have they ever had a swimmer out because of waterborne illness?
• Are there ever algal blooms in your local swimming waters? Are they harmful?
• Talk to people whose water recreation mainly involves things other than swimming: sailors, skiers, parasailers, etc.
• Is there a community health center near your swimming area? Go there and talk to the staff about water contact diseases.

A mayor's death in rural Tennessee 'unleashed one of the county’s biggest political conflicts in memory'

Following the unexpected death of their mayor, residents in rural Coffee County, Tennessee, split into factions that began with arguments over real estate development and spiraled into heated debates over what it means to be politically conservative in a deeply red county.

Coffee County, in green, is nested between several
urban centers. (Caliper maps)

 

At 55 years old, Judd Matheny was a pro-growth mayor busy working to develop farm-based Coffee County as a haven for suburbanites fleeing expensive living in Nashville, Chattanooga, and Huntsville, Ala. "Rural Coffee County was poised to become Tennessee’s next boomtown, with subdivisions rapidly replacing farmland," reports Cameron McWhirter of The Wall Street Journal. 

Upon Matheny's death, his plans were diverted by county officials "pushing hard to limit development across the area’s vast farmlands. In March, the county imposed a three-month moratorium on all large subdivision projects in areas zoned for agriculture," McWhirter writes. After the moratorium expired, officials passed a ruling that limited "property owners in agricultural areas to selling land in a minimum of 5-acre-lot increments, effectively halting large subdivisions in those areas." The median lot size in Tennessee is roughly half an acre.

While county officials have sided with multi-generational farmers and residents who want to limit growth to preserve the region's rural identity, the area's strong pro-development faction isn't going quietly. McWhirter explains. "Rival camps have hired lawyers and clash on social media through dueling Facebook pages. . . . Planning commission meetings, typically mundane affairs where leaders wear jeans and work boots, now draw heated crowds and viewers on streaming.

Judd Matheny

The duel extended to what it means to be conservative. "An anti-moratorium sign at a local meeting read: 'Vote like a conservative! Less government. Less rules. Less regulations. Lower taxes," McWhirter reports. "A pro-moratorium group responded in a post that, 'Historically, conservatism has emphasized order, prudence, stewardship. . . .It’s about preserving traditional values and communities — not selling them off for short-term gain."

Even with the current restrictions, Coffee County continues to expand. "Construction crews dig and drill throughout Tullahoma and Manchester, the county seat; real estate for-sale signs line roads," McWhirter writes. 

Meanwhile, both sides seem to agree that if Matheny were still alive, things wouldn't be so contentious. McWhirter adds, "Matheny’s death unleashed one of the county’s biggest political conflicts in memory."

Quick hits: Visit the last linotype machine newspaper; 'app store accountability' law; memoir celebrates snail mail delivery; small town battle over Buc-ee's

While other papers have transitioned to computer technology, the Saguache Crescent remains the country's last linotype machine newspaper, reports Jared Ewy for The Daily Yonder. While other newspapers use keyboards, this small-town Colorado paper continues to use heat and metal to produce the news, just as it has since 1882. "News outlets from around the world have come to visit and pay tribute to the century-old linotype machine," Ewy reports. "At the Crescent, a keystroke sends us through time and into an America dominated by heavy, hot industry. When even the words were made of molten labor. Letters and characters are hammered with Steampunk gusto on different-sized mattes and assembled into information."

In a bid to protect minors from downloading apps with questionable content, Louisiana became the third state "to pass what it described as an 'app store accountability' law, joining Texas and Utah in instituting such legislation," reports Christ Teale of Route Fifty. The bill requires app stores conducting business in Louisiana to "identify when users are children and obtain parental consent before apps can be downloaded." Louisiana's law also requires app stores to include age-appropriate ratings and "prevents them from enforcing terms of service on minor users without parental consent."

The U.S. Postal Service and its brave mail carriers helped shape the nation, and some would contend, it's part of the glue still holding the country together. "The Postal Service is America’s first miracle and among its most endangered, threatened by private delivery services, email, texting and the pensions owed to retired carriers," writes David Von Drehle for The Washington Post. "Memoirist Stephen Starring Grant offers a highly personal, utterly charming tribute to this American treasure in his new book, Mailman. . . .The Postal Service, he convincingly argues, is far from outdated; it is the embodiment of an indivisible nation."

A drama pitting anti-sprawl conservation against a beaver-booming, mega-gas station continues to unfold in the small western town of Palmer Lake, Colorado. "Emotions have boiled over in Palmer Lake since the Texas-based Buc-ee’s chain — featuring a grinning beaver mascot — targeted undeveloped land along Interstate 25 for a new outlet: a 74,000-square-foot store with 60 gas pumps and parking for nearly 800 cars, open 24 hours a day," reports Jim Carlton of The Wall Street Journal. "It has become an epic battle over the soul of the American West — and it has descended into accusations of harassment, slashed tires, crude name-calling and vicious private texts made public."

Thousands of American children have type 1 diabetes, which, when treated, can mean a lifetime of carrying equipment and a list of activity restrictions that can make kids feel self-conscious. To help ease some of those challenges, Mattel released a Barbie with the disease. "The latest Barbie slays in a chic blue polka-dot crop top, ruffled miniskirt, chunky heels and an insulin pump. She is the brand’s first doll with type 1 diabetes," reports Brenda Goodman of CNN News. "Dollmaker Mattel worked with Breakthrough T1D, formerly known as the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, to design the doll, which aims to represent the roughly 304,000 kids and teens living with type 1 diabetes in the United States . . . . The new Barbie comes with an insulin pump, a glucose monitor and snacks to help her control her blood sugar."

With all the business of life, it's still important to take time to look up and see what going on in our skies. On the mornings of July 21 and 22, the Moon, Venus and Jupiter will provide a beautiful scene "with the crescent Moon and Venus, plus several bright stars. And if you have a clear view toward the horizon, Jupiter is there too, low in the sky," writes Preston Dyches for NASA. During the entire month of July, the Eagle constellation, Aquila, "appears in the eastern part of the sky during the first half of the night. Its brightest star, Altair, is the southernmost star in the Summer Triangle, which is an easy-to-locate star pattern in Northern Hemisphere summer skies."

As the U.S. measles outbreak continues, experts see its spread as a harbinger for the return of other diseases

The spherical measles virus is one of the most infectious 
diseases on the planet. (CDC photo via Unsplash)

Brought on by decreasing vaccination rates in communities, measles is making an unwelcome comeback in the United States. The disease was considered "eliminated" in 2000, but following an outbreak in Texas earlier this year, the highly contagious disease has cropped up in 38 states.

"Researchers often think of measles as the proverbial canary in a coal mine," report Teddy Rosenbluth and Jonathan Corum of The New York Times. "It is often the first sign that other vaccine-preventable diseases, like pertussis [whooping cough] and Hib meningitis, might soon become more common."

For many adults and children, catching measles can be likened to having a cold accompanied by a very itchy rash. But for others, the disease can cause severe medical conditions, including "pneumonia, making it difficult for patients, especially children, to get oxygen into their lungs," the Times reports. "It may also lead to brain swelling, which can cause lasting damage, including blindness, deafness and intellectual disabilities."

The disease also decreases an individual's ability to fight off germs they had previously been immunized against. "Scientists call the effect 'immune amnesia.' During childhood, as colds, flu, stomach bugs and other illnesses come and go, the immune system forms something akin to a memory that it uses to attack those germs if they try to invade again," reports Denise Grady of The New York Times. "The measles virus erases that memory, leaving the patient prone to catching the diseases all over again."

Although the U.S. has dealt with "large measles outbreaks in the past, a confluence of factors has made it particularly difficult to rein in the virus this year," Rosenbluth and Corum report. "Nationally, the measles vaccination rate fell during the Covid-19 pandemic and has not rebounded to the 95% mark required to stem the spread of the virus in a community. . . . In Gaines County, the center of the Texas outbreak, just 82% of the population received the MMR [measles, mumps and rubella] vaccine that year."

Other countries are struggling with measles outbreaks as well. Rosenbluth and Corum explain, "Large outbreaks have spread through Mexico and parts of Canada, which has had a record number of cases this year. This spring, the World Health Organization announced that Europe had reported the highest number of measles cases in more than 25 years."

Find the Times' measles tracking tool for the U.S. here.

Food banks are already stretched thin, and changes to SNAP benefits are likely to leave some Americans hungry

Food banks have already been impacted by USDA cuts.
(Photo by Aaron Doucett, Unsplash)

With food prices continuing to climb higher than overall inflation, many Americans have turned to food banks to make ends meet. But food pantry organizers say they are already strapped by increasing needs and fear that when Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, changes start pinching people's budgets, pantries won't have enough food to meet the demand. 

Food bank shortages are likely to become more common for rural pantries because they rely more heavily on Department of Agriculture programs and have fewer private donors to lean on for assistance.

"Food banks across the country were already straining under rising demand. Now, they worry many more Americans will go hungry," reports Dan Frosch of The Wall Street Journal. "Some food banks and pantries are pushing for more state, local and private funding. Others are considering cutting back services and the amount of food they can distribute."

Food pantry leaders "say the SNAP reductions included in the new budget bill will strain resources by pushing more people whose benefits have either been cut or reduced toward pantries to get food," Frosch reports. "Republicans say changes to the SNAP program will ensure people receiving the benefits are working, as required."

Changes that have already gone into effect significantly shift age and work requirements to receive benefits. The new budget "expands work requirements for SNAP, raising the upper age limit for able-bodied adults from 54 to 64, meaning those people will typically have to work for 80 hours a month to qualify for food benefits," Frosch writes. Individuals caring for children 14-17 will now have to work to qualify for SNAP. 

Just as pandemic-era aid tapered off throughout the U.S., food inflation began to spike, which led to more people relying on food pantries. While most food banks were able to meet their community's needs, they now have to contend with cuts. Frosch explains, "Earlier this year, the Department of Agriculture canceled millions of pounds of shipments to food banks that were part of its emergency food-assistance program for low-income people." 

A USDA spokesperson told the Journal that regular food deliveries had continued, but "food banks say they are already feeling the impacts of federal cuts," Frosch adds. "For Sarah Aragón, the head of programming for Roadrunner Food Bank, New Mexico’s largest charitable food operation, that has meant losing more than seven million pounds of food she had been counting on."

Some pantries are planning to make cuts if needs overwhelm their supply, but others already run out of food sometimes. Aragón, from Roadrunner Food Bank, told Frosch, "When we have to tell people that we have no more left, the look on their faces when they walk away is like, ‘What am I going to do now?' I don’t have an answer.” 

Many rural folks scoff at the idea that Trump-law Medicaid cuts prompted their hospital's planned closure

Community Hospital is the only health clinic in Curtis. It will close in 
September. (Community Hospital photo)

A rural Nebraska hospital will close in September, and its CEO tied the closure to President Donald Trump's new Medicaid-cutting budget. "But residents of Curtis — a one-stoplight town in deep-red farm country — aren’t buying that explanation," reports Hannah Knowles of The Washington Post. Curtis resident April Roberts told her, "Anyone who’s saying that Medicaid cuts is why they’re closing is a liar."

How Medicaid cuts are received in Curtis could indicate a broader trend in rural America "where voters vulnerable to Medicaid cuts in Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill law are reluctant to blame the president or congressional Republicans who approved it," Knowles explains. "Many people in Curtis have directed their frustration at their hospital system instead of their representatives in Washington."

Curtis is in Frontier County, Neb.
(Wikipedia map)

Some Democrats and health care advocates say the town's hospital closure is "a model of what’s to come for rural hospitals around the country," Knowles writes. "Close to half of rural hospitals nationwide already lose money, and analysts expect Trump’s tax and spending law to add more strain."

Community Hospital, the nonprofit owner of the Curtis Medical Center, "announced on July 2 — one day before the bill’s passage — that a confluence of factors had made its Curtis outpost unsustainable," Knowles reports. "It cited years-long financial challenges, inflation and 'anticipated federal budget cuts to Medicaid,' the public health insurance program for lower-income and disabled Americans."

Many Curtis residents "know that Trump’s bill will impose work requirements for Medicaid recipients," Knowles writes. "And some think — inaccurately — that the legislation was designed to end Medicaid coverage for undocumented immigrants."

Although Community Hospital had been losing money for years, the timing of Curtis closure announcement "has stoked suspicions in the town, leaving some residents convinced their health provider was using the president as a scapegoat," Knowles reports.

"Nationwide, far more people oppose Trump’s bill than support it in polling. . . . Even in Curtis, some unease at the Medicaid cuts is percolating," Knowles reports. Brenda Wheeler, a Republican and 2016-Trump voter, told Knowles, "When we talked about making America great again, I don’t think this is what we all had in mind."