Rural News Clips, Aug. 20, 2024
Rural tourism counties get more jobs post-pandemic; Farm Bill hung up on safety net changes; how Michigan's election safeguards prevent double voting
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CAMPAIGN FOR RURAL PROGRESS
Nebraska Examiner
Farmer/advocate pitches ‘regenerative agriculture’ practices during farm tour
Aug. 20, 2024
The regenerative agriculture practices many farmers employ aim to “reduce the use of nitrogen fertilizer and to build up the soil naturally on these rolling hills.”
“They’re using cover crops and filter strips … to avoid chemical runoff into the waterway, and low-growing vegetation in the corn rows to help reduce erosion.”
“Crops are planted using ‘no-till’ practices, which reduces tillage and fuel expenses and utilizes the crop residue to hold the soil in place.”
“Commercial nitrogen fertilizer use has been reduced, in part due to the conservation practices that prevent the nutrients from washing away.”
“Crop-dusting planes don’t typically spray pesticides on these fields like others nearby; instead, they’re used to spread seed onto the cornfield in mid-September so cover crops get an earlier head start into the fall.”
POLITICS AND ELECTIONS
The Daily Yonder
Kentuckians’ Opinions Vary on JD Vance’s Claims on Breathitt County
Aug. 20, 2024
“Vance’s family connections to rural Kentucky could be good for the region, some say. Others say the senator, vice presidential candidate, and memoirist has claimed mountain roots while perpetuating stereotypes of Appalachia.”
The Intelligencer Wheeling News-Register
In Some Parts of Rural America, Democrats Flirt With Extinction
Aug. 19, 2024
“In Wyoming, the state that has voted for Donald Trump by a wider margin than any other, overwhelming Republican dominance may be even more cemented-in now that the state has passed a law that makes changing party affiliation much more difficult.”
“The most Republican counties in recent years are concentrated in Idaho, Utah and Wyoming. The most Democratic areas, meanwhile, are much less one-party-dominant.”
“The Democrats’ struggle in Wyoming mirrors the party’s challenges across rural America, where the party has been losing ground for years.”
“As Wyoming Democrats face difficulty fielding viable candidates at all levels, many Democrats have been switching their registration to vote in more competitive Republican primaries, then changing back for the general election.”
“Republicans decided they’d had enough. The Wyoming Legislature, where the GOP controls over 90% of the seats, passed legislation last year banning voters from changing their party registration in the three months before the August primary.”
Kentucky Lantern
Democrats trying to reverse election losses in rural America urge focus on economy
Aug. 20, 2024
“Democrats should focus on pocketbook issues to win back rural voters, speakers including Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said at a Rural Council meeting at the Democratic National Convention Tuesday.”
“Beshear urged the group of rural Democrats to reject social issues and a left-right ideological framing. Most voters, he said, were not worried about political labels, but about jobs, health care, transportation, school quality and safety.”
“The Republicans dominating rural districts and states, Beshear and other speakers said, were not delivering on those issues.”
Civil Eats
Tim Walz’s Bipartisan Approach to Agriculture and Conservation
Aug. 19, 2024
“The Minnesota governor and vice presidential candidate will still have to answer climate groups’ concerns about his support for ethanol and factory farming.”
Mississippi Today
Mississippi counties among first in the nation to use more ‘transparent’ voting machines, software
Aug. 20, 2024
“Some Mississippi counties have opted to move away from traditional voting machines and voting software sold by large scale companies and, instead, transitioned to machines maintained by a nonprofit that focuses on making the mechanics of voting more transparent.”
“VotingWorks, a nonprofit company founded in 2018, first unveiled some of its voting machines in five counties in the Magnolia State, making rural Mississippi areas some of the first in the nation to purchase these types of voting machines and use “open-source” software. Now, the organization partners with around 14 jurisdictions in Mississippi for elections-related business.”
“Choctaw County was one of the handful of counties nationwide that first bought into the San Francisco-based nonprofit’s message.”
Votebeat Michigan
How Michigan’s election safeguards prevent double voting
Aug. 20, 2024
“In Michigan, voting twice is a felony, and documented instances of voters casting more than one ballot are exceedingly rare. A 2022 audit by the state auditor general found that of the more than 11.7 million votes cast in the state over several elections, 99.99% were not duplicates.”
“That’s due in no small part to the safeguards in place across the election process to prevent voters from casting more than one ballot, or to catch them if they do. It’s part of what makes Michigan’s elections secure, officials say.”
“In most cases, voters who try to cast two ballots are stopped at their polling place when e-pollbooks — the computers used to check voters in — flag that a voter has already returned an absentee ballot.”
“If the e-pollbook shows that a voter was issued an absentee ballot but hadn’t yet returned it, poll workers arrange to void the absentee ballot before allowing the voter to cast a ballot in person.”
“When double votes do happen, it’s usually a matter of timing — an in-person vote gets cast before a clerk has the opportunity to mark an absentee ballot as returned.”
“If a voter casts a ballot in person before their absentee ballot is processed, the inspector processing the absentee ballot would be notified of the potential double vote.”
COVID-19
Stateline
Most workers make about the same as before the pandemic — except in these states
Aug. 20, 2024
“The typical U.S. worker’s pay is about the same as it was in late 2019, after accounting for inflation. But workers in some states have seen sharply higher earnings, especially in scenic areas that are appealing to remote workers and have labor shortages.”
Montana, for instance, “has drawn remote workers with the beauty of its parks and mountains, and has lured blue-collar employees with pay that’s competitive with more expensive areas.”
“Nationally, inflation-adjusted earnings increased steeply early in the pandemic as low-wage service workers lost their jobs and employers competed for scarce essential workers.”
“Though wages continued to rise, inflation-adjusted pay started to come down sharply in late 2020 and 2021 as inflation took a bigger bite.”
EDUCATION
North Dakota Monitor
Commentary: Lack of transparency in school choice discussion undermines trust
Aug. 20, 2024
“An article published on Aug. 15 by Amy Dalrymple brought attention to an issue that should concern all of us in North Dakota’s education community. The ongoing work of the School Choice Task Force is not only about exploring school choice models like charter schools and vouchers but also about how these discussions are taking place — behind closed doors, with little public transparency.”
“As a superintendent serving a small, rural community, I’ve seen firsthand how important transparency and local control are when it comes to making decisions that affect our schools,” writes Steven L. Johnson. “Public schools in rural areas like ours are much more than just educational institutions — they are the heart of our communities.”
“They provide stability and opportunity to all students, regardless of background. When significant decisions that could reshape our education system are made without public input, it puts our schools and our communities at risk.”
“One of the biggest concerns I have with these privatization models is how they could affect rural schools … We already face challenges like declining enrollment, tight budgets, and finding and keeping qualified teachers.”
FARM BILL
Arkansas Advocate
Farm bill still hung up on safety net changes
Aug. 19, 2024
“Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar said she is ‘obsessed’ with getting a new farm bill passed before the end of the year. Republican Sen. John Boozman was more reserved, agreeing a farm bill should be passed but that ‘we need to do the right thing.’”
“The farm bill, which covers both agricultural support and nutrition programs, was extended last year after Congress failed to agree on changes before it was due to expire at the end of 2023.”
“The bill sets rules for the next five years, part of the reason why Boozman says it is important not to rush something through.”
“Congress is running out of time to get something done before the end of the year.
“Boozman said resetting the farm safety net is going to have to be a bipartisan effort.”
HEALTH CARE
NPR
Survey sheds light on access to cancer care for rural Mountain West residents
Aug. 16, 2024
“A new community health survey conducted by the University of Utah's Huntsman Cancer Institute sheds some more light on access to cancer care for rural residents in the Mountain West.”
“Rural populations get cancer at rates similar to urban residents, though it varies by the type of cancer, yet people who live in rural areas are more likely to die from cancer than those from urban areas.”
A big problem is that they don’t have enough access to health care to detect it early enough to treat it effectively.
Oklahoma Voice
Partnerships between universities and hospitals aim to meet workforce needs
Aug. 20, 2024
“Oklahoma colleges and universities are working to bridge gaps in the state’s health care workforce, particularly in rural areas, by incentivizing students to pursue careers in various health care professions.”
“Some students pursuing degrees in health professions will be eligible for tuition payments through a new partnership between Southwestern Oklahoma State University, or SWOSU, and Comanche County Memorial Hospital, while partnerships at other schools, like the University of Oklahoma’s College of Nursing, are also taking aim at meeting workforce needs.”
“Critical shortages can be found in nearly all of Oklahoma’s health care professions and those shortages are intensified in rural areas.”
NATIVE AMERICANS
Idaho Capital Sun
Study shows Idaho’s Native American tribes have nearly $1.5B economic impact
Aug. 20, 2024
“The five Native American tribes in Idaho have a combined economic impact of $1.45 billion, according to a study by a University of Idaho economist.”
“The tribes contribute heavily to the economy, agriculture, tourism, recreation and hospitality industries and support more than 12,500 jobs across the state.”
RENEWABLE ENERGY
Barn Raiser
What’s Fueling Michigan’s Green Energy Backlash?
Aug. 19, 2024
“A massive land rush is underway in rural Michigan, fueled by utility and energy developers who are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to site large-scale, solar and wind farms.”
“Modern windmills can stretch as high as 600 feet in the air, and scores of them are needed, stretching over hundreds or thousands of acres, to replace the megawatts generated by fossil-fueled power plants. Solar farms can also mean a significant change in rural land use.”
“Such infrastructure is essential … if Michigan is to meet its upgraded Renewable Portfolio Standard, which require utilities to generate 60% of electricity from wind, solar or water sources by 2035—11 years from now.”
“These ambitious goals are part of a package of clean energy bills, approved by narrow Democratic majorities in both chambers of the state legislature and signed into law last November by Michigan’s Democratic governor, Gretchen Whitmer.”
But “a provision that gives the state final authority to site large-scale renewable projects, with the ability to supersede zoning restrictions or other obstacles imposed by townships and other local units of government.”
“Under the new legislation, developers still have the option of seeking approval from local authorities. But if a project runs into a roadblock, developers can appeal instead to the three members of Michigan’s statewide Public Service Commission (PSC), appointed by the sitting governor.”
REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
NBC News
More pregnant women are going without prenatal care, CDC finds
Aug. 20, 2024
“The number of women going through pregnancy without prenatal care is growing — even though the overall number of babies born in the U.S. is falling, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”
“The lopsided trend, published Tuesday by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, may reflect, in part, a growing number of women unable to access OB/GYN care after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.”
“Just under 3.6 million babies were born in the U.S. last year, down 2% from 2022, according to the CDC analysis.”
“The decline resumes a decadeslong fall in births after a slight uptick during the early years of the Covid pandemic, which could have been due to lockdown among couples or a lack of access to contraception at pharmacies or doctors’ offices.”
TOURISM
The Daily Yonder
Rural Tourism-Driven Counties Continue to Lead the Way in Post-Pandemic Job Recovery
Aug. 20, 2024
“Rural counties whose economies rely on tourism are leading the way in post-pandemic job recovery, but overall rural employment still lags slightly behind pre-pandemic levels, according to a Daily Yonder analysis of employment data.”
“During the initial economic downturn that followed the pandemic lockdown in the spring of 2020, rural recreation counties experienced the steepest drop in employment among all rural county types. But these counties have since seen the most significant job gains.”
“Rural recreation counties saw more growth than other types of counties that are rural.”
“Rural counties where mining and natural resource extraction drives the local economy fared the worst compared to other types of counties.”
“Rural counties where manufacturing was the dominant industry lost 62,200 jobs between June of 2019 and June of 2024, a 1.31% drop in employment.”
“Employment in farming-dependent counties, meanwhile, lost 6,200 jobs since June of 2019, representing a 0.47% drop in employment.”
“Rural recreation-based counties in the interior Northwest, which includes the states of Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, saw the largest percentage growth in employment.”