Rural News Clips, Sept. 16, 2024
Springfield, Ohio overrun with rightwing conspiracists after Trump claim that Haitian immigrants eat pets; legit problems with Pennsylvania's mail-in ballot system; the human side of rural canvassing
CAMPAIGN FOR RURAL PROGRESS
Minnesota Public Radio
EMS receives $9.9 million to expand ambulance-based telemedicine
Sept. 13, 2024
“Southwest Minnesota EMS will receive $9.9 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation as part of an initiative to improve and speed up care after crashes in rural communities.”
“The money provides 54 EMS agencies in the 18-county service region with Avel eCare’s EMS services. Ambulance rigs will be outfitted with telemedicine rigs connecting crews to board-certified physicians, experienced paramedics, and nurses for virtual peer-to-peer support in the field or during transport.”
“Southwest Minnesota EMS first partnered with Avel eCare in September 2023 to launch a pilot program for tele-EMS services in Slayton and Wabasso. Browns Valley also partnered with Avel eCare EMS.”
“Funding for the program will enhance trauma care and potentially reduce traffic fatalities in rural communities.”
POLITICS AND ELECTIONS
The Conversation
Pennsylvania’s mail-in ballot system has a problem − but it’s not what Trump is making unfounded claims about
Sept. 16, 2024
“Mail-in voting in Pennsylvania will not begin on Sept. 16, 2024, as was previously slated. Due to ongoing court cases, the past is poised to repeat itself in the commonwealth in the upcoming presidential election.”
“Legal battles over Pennsylvania’s election system drew national attention in 2020 as former President Donald Trump and his allies in the state leveraged quirks of the system to sow doubt about the results of the election.”
Daniel J. Mallinson, Associate Professor of Public Policy and Administration at Penn State, discusses the context around Pennsylvania’s mail-in ballot situation and why he expects Trump to do the same thing this year.
Politico
‘Springfield, Ohio, is caught in a political vortex, and it is a bit out of control’
Sept. 15, 2024
“For Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, the amplification of the baseless claims about migrants eating pets represented a guttural appeal to the base on an issue that is politically favorable for the former president.”
“But even some Republicans have warned that peddling anti-immigrant conspiracy theories would serve as a distraction from a more coherent message on immigration. And in Springfield, it also showed the damage Trump’s rhetoric can inflict on even his own supporters.”
This week the city has been flooded with “right-leaning influencers enamored with the idea they could prove Trump and Vance right by finding evidence of his unfounded claims — not to mention a phalanx of national and even international members of the media.”
“Many residents here had voted for Trump twice: In 2020, he won Clark County with more than 60 percent of the vote.”
“But now, even some Trump-backing Republicans are expressing frustration with the former president, who elevated the hoax in his debate with Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday and has repeated it in days since.”
Missouri Independent
Deportations, raids, visa access: How the presidential election could impact immigrant farmworkers
Sept. 16, 2024
The article discusses the “division on immigration between the two presidential candidates and what could be at stake for immigrant workers, who have underpinned the agriculture industry for decades.”
“While Donald Trump’s rhetoric targets its workforce, the industry, writ large, has favored the former president. President Joe Biden’s administration, with Kamala Harris as vice president, has instituted protections paving a path to more farmworker unionization, while also cracking down on border crossings.”
“A Harris victory would likely mean a continuation of Biden’s efforts — and renewed hope for a path to citizenship for undocumented farmworkers. She’s publicly supported one for years. But farmworkers, who are essential to the U.S. economy, will still fear being uprooted regardless of who is president.”
“If re-elected, Trump has promised to deport upwards of 20 million undocumented people, many of them agricultural workers who perform the dangerous jobs most Americans don’t want.”
“Trump supported the use of the H-2A program, which farmers said is necessary to fill labor shortages. But the former president’s close allies have recently proposed eliminating it.”
The Daily Yonder
Commentary: The Human Side of Canvassing in a Small Town
Sept. 13, 2024
Yonder reporter Sarah Melotte reflects about her experience canvassing for a local state sentate candidate in rural North Carolina.
Politico
The White House launched a politically potent high-tech program this year. There’s a reason you haven’t heard of it.
Sept. 16, 2024
“A Biden administration program aimed to pour billions of dollars into technologies of the future in the U.S. heartland. Instead, it’s been starved by Congress and potentially destined to stay that way.”
“When Congress created the Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs program two years ago — part of a massive plan signed by President Joe Biden to bring tech manufacturing dominance back to American shores — the idea had support from both parties, and came with potential political payoff in both red states and blue.”
“The idea was to seed new innovation centers in at least 20 regions across the nation. Part of the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, the program called for spending $10 billion over half a decade to turn those regions into globally recognized centers for technologies like quantum, biotech and lithium batteries.”
“Since then, Congress’ spending chiefs have provided less than a fifth of the planned funding for Tech Hubs, and the Commerce Department has given major grants to only 12 locations.”
AGRICULTURE
The Conversation
America’s dairy farms are disappearing, down 95% since the 1970s − milk price rules are one reason why
Sept. 16, 2024
“While the number of dairy farms has fallen, the average herd size – the number of cows per farm – has been rising. Today, more than 60% of all milk production occurs on farms with more than 2,500 cows.”
“This massive consolidation in dairy farming has an impact on rural communities. It also makes it more difficult for consumers to know where their food comes from and how it’s produced.”
It also means a lot more small dairy farmers in dire straits.
In some states, the cost of running a dairy farm exceeds the profits. There’s a map.
The article explains why part of the issue is how dairy farmers are paid for their product.
Iowa Capital Dispatch
National Farm Safety and Health Week focuses on preventing accidents
Sept. 16, 2024
“Farming continues to be one of the most hazardous occupations in the country. Safety webinars and training are available for agriculture workers throughout Sept. 15 through Sept. 21, which is recognized as National Farm Safety and Health Week.”
“AgriSafe, in collaboration with agriculture groups across the country, will host a series of free webinars on topics like equipment and roadway safety, mental and physical wellness, succession planning and reporting ag injuries.”
“Workers in the agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting industries had a fatal injury rate of 18.6 per 100,000 people, one of the highest rates per industry.”
“Applicable agencies say these numbers are likely higher, considering many injuries and fatalities are unreported.”
Injuries are also often an avenue for ag workers to get prescribed opioids, and some become addicted.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
The Daily Yonder
Q&A: Myth-Busting Rural Decline, with Ann Eisenberg
Sept. 13, 2024
“Ann Eisenberg is a law professor at West Virginia University where she researches and teaches courses on environmental law and policy. Her new book, Reviving Rural America: Toward Policies for Resilience, is a myth-busting narrative of the choices that led to rural decline – and the ones could lead to revival.”
The article has a Q&A with Eisenberg.
ENERGY
NC Newsline
Reporter Lisa Sorg on a massive liquefied natural gas plant under construction in Person County
Sept. 16, 2024
“The global imperative of dramatically reducing fossil fuel consumption is as urgent as ever, but that isn’t preventing private and public plans to build new fossil fuel infrastructure.”
“Sorg found that [one] development has aroused deep concerns amongst neighbors in the rural community who see the planned facility as a profound threat to their way of life and recently she joined NC Newsline to share some of the details.”
HEALTH CARE
Route Fifty
States weigh how to protect older adults from HIV-related discrimination in health care
Sept. 13, 2024
“More than half of the 1 million Americans living with HIV are over 50” and half of them “faced stigma from health care providers.”
“A quarter of respondents also reported experiencing ageism and homophobia, respectively.”
Rural patients are more likely to fear and often more likely to experience stigma because of their diagnosis. They also have a harder time accessing appropriate treatment.
“States can help strengthen federal anti-discrimination policies through state-based legislation, guidance and enforcement actions.”
“One way states are trying to ensure aging people with HIV get the care and services they need is through HIV and long-term care bills of rights.”
Also, HIV/AIDS patients are grappling “with age-related health complications on top of or exacerbated by a positive HIV diagnosis. HIV infections can, for instance, increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, dementia, frailty and some cancers.” That’s also more dangerous for rural Americans who live farther away from specialist care.”
JAILS AND PRISONS
Capitol News Illinois
A year after end of cash bail, early research shows impact less than many hoped or feared
Sept. 13, 2024
“One year after Illinois became the first state in the nation to eliminate the use of cash bail, the impact on the state’s criminal justice system appears to have been far less dramatic than people on either side of the debate had predicted.”
“That, at least, is the early indication from an analysis of data being monitored by the Center for Criminal Justice at Loyola University in Chicago.”
David Olson, a co-director of the center, said the jail population went down, but not as much as many predicted, and noted that crime was down both rural and urban areas.
“Olson emphasized that the findings so far are only preliminary because the law is still new and many of the most serious criminal cases that have been filed in the last year are still working their way through the court system.”
“But he said the research so far does appear to indicate that the basic theory behind the old cash bail system – that requiring someone to post a bond was necessary to protect public safety and secure a defendant’s later appearance in court – was fundamentally flawed.”
LIBRARIES
The Daily Yonder
Healing Amidst Divisions: How a Small Town Fights for Its Library
Sept. 16, 2024
“After a year of controversy over LGBTQ book displays, county commissioners in a small North Carolina town began proceedings to withdraw their public library from the regional system, a move that threatens vital services and state funding. But some residents are organizing to prevent the change.”
POLLUTION
Maine Morning Star
Maine awarded $16 million to modernize rural ferry terminals for hybrid vessels
Sept. 16, 2024
“The Maine Department of Transportation will receive $16.6 million in federal dollars to modernize rural ferry terminals in the northeast portion of the state.”
“The money is part of nearly $300 million in federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding that the Biden administration is using to modernize ferry systems across the nation and lower carbon emissions by adopting low- or zero-emissions vessels.”
“The grants were announced by the FTA’s Acting Administrator Veronica Vanterpool Monday afternoon in Rhode Island.”
“Maine is among 14 states to receive new ferry funding. Maine’s grant comes from the FTA’s Ferry Service for Rural Communities Program, which provides resources to states to ensure essential ferry services are provided in rural areas.”
RENEWABLE ENERGY
Oklahoma Voice
‘We’re ready for the fight’: Southeast Oklahomans push back on proposed hydropower project
Sept. 16, 2024
Energy company Southeast Oklahoma Power Corporation wants to create a pumped-storage hydropower project with water from the Kiamichi River, that would beef up two rural power grids.
But the grids would “sit on top of land that belongs to Oklahomans — and most of them are not happy about it.”
The Chocktaw and Chickasaw Nations have written letters to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which oversees approval for projects like this.
They protest that FERC’s decision-making process isn’t transparent at all, that the project would violate their water rights, and that several endangered species would be harmed.
REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
ProPublica
Abortion Bans Have Delayed Emergency Medical Care. In Georgia, Experts Say This Mother’s Death Was Preventable.
Sept. 16, 2024
A Georgia woman’s death “marks the first time an abortion-related death, officially deemed ‘preventable’ is coming to public light.”
There have been several deaths and many women have said they were turned away from emergency rooms because they weren’t sick enough (including a few in rural areas).
“Doctors warned state legislators women would die if medical procedures sometimes needed to save lives became illegal.”
“Though Republican lawmakers who voted for state bans on abortion say the laws have exceptions to protect the ‘life of the mother,’ medical experts cautioned that the language is not rooted in science and ignores the fast-moving realities of medicine.”
“The most restrictive state laws, experts predicted, would pit doctors’ fears of prosecution against their patients’ health needs, requiring providers to make sure their patient was inarguably on the brink of death or facing ‘irreversible’ harm when they intervened.”