Rural News Clips, Sept. 6, 2024
Harris-Walz campaign taps RuralOrganzing director Matt Hildreth as rural engagement director; Dems hope Sherrod Brown can win in Ohio by losing less in rural areas
CAMPAIGN FOR RURAL PROGRESS
Politico
Harris hires rural vote director in bid to cut into Trump’s battleground margins
Sept. 6, 2024
“Vice President Kamala Harris is bringing on a new campaign hire as part of her team’s push to clinch must-win states this fall by keeping former President Donald Trump from running up the score in rural counties.”
“Harris is tapping Matt Hildreth of the progressive Rural Organizing group as her rural engagement director, according to four people familiar with the plans who were granted anonymity to discuss the matter.”
“Making even a small dent in Trump’s steep rural margins could determine the outcome in battleground states that may be decided by razor-thin margins.”
“Hiring Hildreth, whose grassroots organization is already knocking doors for Harris and Democratic candidates across the country this fall, signals the campaign is looking to seriously expand a resource-intensive ground game to reach rural voters who could swing the election.”
“The campaign is now looking to ramp up an aggressive ground game from Wisconsin and Arizona to Georgia and other battleground states, to peel away even a few percentage points from Trump’s rural margins.”
POLITICS AND ELECTIONS
NPR
Democrats hope Sen. Sherrod Brown can win in Ohio by losing less in rural counties
Sept. 6, 2024
“Ahead of the 2024 presidential election — Ohio is not one of the key swing states Democrats are aiming to win. And Republicans consider themselves a shoo-in.”
“But the state is still one of a handful that could help determine control of the Senate. Democrat Sherrod Brown is hoping to outrun his entire party in Ohio to keep his Senate seat and he’s banking on voters from rural Eastern Ohio to help him do it.”
“Brown has a long history of success here and Democrats will need turnout in this region once again if he is to survive a challenge from Bernie Moreno, a Republican backed by former President Donald Trump.”
“This time Democrats hope Brown can win the state by losing by less in counties.”
“If we cut down that margin, it's losing by less in those areas. That makes all the difference in these races,” said Chris Anderson, chair of the Mahoning County Democrats. “So it's a lot of showing up for those voters and letting them know that we're going to continue to show up, not show up every four years.”
Votebeat Michigan
A Michigan canvasser said he might not certify the election. Now the ACLU is suing him.
Sept. 5, 2024
“The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan is suing a member of the Kalamazoo County Board of Canvassers, hoping a judge will declare that the man must certify the November election results, after a newspaper reported him saying that he might not
“The suit is part of a growing legal effort around the country to ensure that the November election is certified on time by making it clear to any potentially defiant officials that they’re not allowed to refuse to certify, and that they could face charges or penalties if they do.”
NPR
How the electorate has changed in key states and what it could mean this election
Sept. 6, 2024
“There have been significant population shifts in the last two decades in this country, and that has had a big impact on U.S. politics.”
“These demographic shifts are, in large measure, the reason why some states, like Ohio and Iowa, are no longer swing states — and why some have come on the map, like Georgia and Arizona.”
Some of the takeaways from the graphics-heavy article: “White voters without college degrees have declined as a share of the electorate everywhere pretty significantly since 2008, while Latinos, AAPI voters and whites with degrees have increased dramatically.”
“White non-college voters, though, continue to be the largest portion of eligible voters in all of the key swing states.”
“Democrats have held up in the Blue Wall states because white non-college voters vote differently there than in the South — and the Blue Wall has more college-educated white voters than at any other time.”
“The Sun Belt continues to diversify, and that has put it on the map for Democrats.”
“The Sun Belt rises in the East — while Georgia and North Carolina are similar, they are also different in key ways.”
“Democrats have made major inroads in Arizona, while maintaining close but consistent victories in Nevada. Latinos are key in both places.”
“About 8 in 10 college-educated white voters cast ballots in presidential elections, compared to 6 in 10 or less of whites without degrees.”
“Latinos continue to be underrepresented at the ballot box … Still, their continued increases, especially in the Southwest, make Latinos a politically powerful group.”
Votebeat Arizona
Conservative groups step up push for more citizenship checks on Arizona voters
Sept. 4, 2024
“Conservative groups want a federal judge to force Arizona counties to further investigate the status of voters who have not provided documented proof of citizenship.”
“A lawsuit filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court of Arizona claims that counties haven’t been checking the citizenship status of these voters using specific methods required under federal and state law, including two new state laws enacted in 2022.”
“It’s the latest in a slew of Republican-backed challenges to voters’ citizenship status across the country just before the November election, based on the premise that voting by noncitizens is a pressing problem in the U.S. — even though the practice is illegal and, according to experts, rare.”
EDUCATION AND SCHOOLS
The Hechinger Report
A community college promises a rural county it ‘hasn’t been left to die
Sept. 6, 2024
“Under the shadow of the shuttered mills and mines, Lincoln County, Montana, is breaking free of dependence on extractive industries. At the center of that future is a local community college.”
The Conversation
Georgia high school shooting shows how hard it can be to take action even after police see warning signs
Sept. 6, 2024
“Most school shootings don’t just happen out of nowhere – there are typically warning signs.”
In many ways, the recent shooting in Winder, Georgia, “irrors dozens of similar stories that we, a sociologist and psychologist, have collected in recent years in our effort to study the lives of mass shooters. It typifies what we believe is one of the biggest challenges that schools face when it comes to averting school shootings: recognizing and acting upon warning signs that school shooters almost always give well before they open fire.”
“Mass school shootings happen most frequently in small suburban or rural communities … Most school shooters have a connection to the school they target. In our database, we found that 15 of the 17 school shooters were either current or former students.”
FIREFIGHTERS
The Daily Yonder
Ozarks Notebook: Will New OSHA Rules Spell Trouble for Volunteer Fire Departments?
Sept. 6, 2024
“Everyone agrees that safety is the first priority for volunteer firefighters. But confusion reigns about how and whether OSHA’s proposed rules for emergency responders might affect small, volunteer departments.”
FOOD AND HUNGER
Reuters
Hunger in US continued multi-year rise in 2023, government report says
Sept. 4, 2024
“Hunger reached its highest point in the United States in nearly a decade last year, with 18 million households, or 13.5%, struggling at some point to secure enough food, a Department of Agriculture report released on Wednesday said.”
“Hunger has been on the rise in the country since 2021, after years of decline. U.S. Census Bureau data last year showed a rise in food insecurity after the end of programs that expanded food aid during the Covid-19 pandemic.”
“Anti-hunger group Feeding America found in May that hungry people in the United States were facing a $33.1 billion shortfall in money to meet their food needs, in part due to higher food prices.”
“Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement that Congress was to blame for failing to pass an expanded child tax credit, this year and expanding work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the nation's largest food aid program, last year.”
HEALTH CARE
Axios
Exclusive: U.S. looks to electric aircraft for emergency response
Sept. 4, 2024
“The federal government is laying the groundwork to test electric air taxis to quickly respond to natural disasters and other public health emergencies in remote areas, Axios is first to report.”
That matters because “rural areas increasingly lack access to hospitals and other medical facilities — a health care gap that's especially acute after a natural disaster like a hurricane.”
“The Department of Health & Human Services awarded electric aerospace company BETA Technologies a $20 million contract to install electric aircraft chargers at 22 sites across the East and Gulf coasts.”
NC Health News
Prescription for crisis: Rural pharmacies struggle to stay open
Sept. 6, 2024
“Rural pharmacies across the country are struggling. A recent study by the Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI) at the University of Iowa found that the number of retail pharmacies in rural communities across the U.S. declined by 5.9 percent from 2018 to 2023.”
“Pharmacy closures can be devastating for rural communities, where residents skew older and are more likely to live with obesity, high blood pressure and other conditions than their urban counterparts. They also face greater transportation challenges and higher rates of poverty.”
Rural pharmacist Joe Moose “said the ever-rising cost of prescription drugs has created a ‘volume market’ that favors corporate drug stores in urban areas. Smaller, independently owned shops in more sparsely populated communities, meanwhile, ‘make very little or nothing at all” from filling prescriptions.’”
“Another challenge, Moose said, is attracting qualified pharmacists to rural communities, which may be seen as less desirable places to live.”
“Moose believes many of the financial issues plaguing rural pharmacies can be traced back to pharmacy benefit managers.”
“These companies set the reimbursement rates for prescription drugs. They also decide which drugs are covered by health insurance plans and where those drugs can be dispensed — often with little government regulation.”
“States have been reluctant to regulate pharmacy benefit managers, but some states have started.”
“This year, 12 state legislatures made moves to rein in pharmacy benefits managers, according to a report in Politico, with more anticipated after this fall’s election.”
Pulitzer Center
Caring for Seniors in Rural America
Sept. 4, 2024
“Health care access across much of rural America is in a state of crisis. For decades, shifting socioeconomics have depopulated agricultural communities, while COVID-19 accelerated financial and staffing challenges for providers.”
“As a result, millions of residents find themselves stuck in medical deserts, where already-scarce hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies are shuttering at alarming rates.”
“Low-income seniors suffer some of the worst fallout from these trends, especially in Midwestern and Southern states that didn’t expand Medicaid. Driving hours to an emergency room or specialist can be a matter of life or death for those dealing with serious health ailments, while nursing home consolidation and cost increases limit care options.”
“What’s more, young people are abandoning small towns in droves to seek better opportunities and pay, leaving fewer family members to support elders.”
“In collaboration with NPR, Tim Evans will travel through a portion of “forgotten America”—sparsely populated regions often overlooked by national politicians and media—to provide vision reporting on this ongoing crisis.”
HEAT
CBS News
More Americans are having to choose between food and energy bills
Aug. 26, 2024
“A growing number of Americans [struggle] with what is known as energy poverty, including the inability to afford utilities to heat or cool a home.”
“Households that spend more than 6% of their income on energy bills are energy-poor, some researchers suggest.”
It’s akin to how many Americans make just a little too much to qualify for aid programs, but not enough to pay all their bills.
“Energy poverty can increase one's exposure to extreme heat or cold, which raises the risk of developing respiratory issues, heart problems, allergies, kidney disorders, and other health conditions. And the burden falls disproportionately on households in communities of color, which experience it at a rate 60% greater than those in white communities.”
“Public health and environmental experts say that as climate change continues to create extreme weather conditions, more policy efforts are needed to help vulnerable communities, especially during heat waves.”
“Extreme heat is the No. 1 cause of weather-related deaths in the U.S., a risk that grows as temperatures rise.”
“While rural areas tend to have lower temperatures than nearby urban areas because they have less asphalt and more trees, they often lack resources, such as health care facilities and cooling centers. Substandard housing and higher rates of poverty contribute to high rates of heat-related illness.”
EXTREMISM AND AUTHORITARIANISM
Military.com
2 Virginia Guardsmen Are Running a Rural Anti-Government Militia
Sept. 5, 2024
“Two Virginians run a local county-approved militia, one that has made overt threats against the government. They also both happen to be top-performing noncommissioned officers in the Virginia Army National Guard, serving the very government one of them has repeatedly warned is drifting toward tyranny.”
“It's a seemingly contradictory set of roles that likely runs afoul of new Army rules that explicitly prohibit anti-government behavior -- for soldiers both on active duty and in the Guard.”
“Staff Sgts. Daniel Abbott and Alexandra Griffeth jointly run the Campbell County Militia, which operates in the rural surroundings of Lynchburg, Virginia, with Abbott serving as the militia's commander and having ties to other similar groups in the region.”
“The militia, which appears to be mostly white based on photos posted to its public-facing social media, was formed roughly five years ago, following a rise in other similar groups in Virginia after a Democratic wave of victories in the state and gun control fights.”
“In 2020, Campbell County's board of supervisors officially recognized Abbott's militia in a six to one vote to serve ‘as a barrier against a tyrannical government.’”
Abbott’s public comments have a pattern of “issuing overt threats against the federal government and making it clear that his militia's mission is to potentially wage war.”
A 2020 New York Times story “said the spike in the militia movement in Virginia largely centered around historically red regions in the country becoming more diverse, but was also fueled by racial grievances and shifting power structures. "’Not everyone saw this fight as just about gun policy. It was also about power,’ the paper reported.
“At the heart of the Campbell County Militia is a sustained public relations campaign. Its social media accounts mostly post photos of the group doing community service, such as picking up litter or volunteering at a food pantry. Extremist groups often partake in charity causes or public service that is divorced from their prime objective.”
JAILS AND PRISONS
Pennsylvania Capital-Star
Report describes inhumane conditions in Pennsylvania’s largest immigration detention center
Sept. 6, 2024
“Immigrants and asylum seekers detained at a former federal prison in rural Pennsylvania are subject to physical and psychological abuse, lack adequate access to health care, and face retaliation for standing up against mistreatment, a report released this week titled ‘In the Shadow of the Valley’ claims.”
People held at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center described inhumane conditions. Temple Associate Professor of Law Jennifer Lee said the accounts of people detained at Moshannon Valley were not surprising and noted that the anecdotes that come out of immigration detention centers across the country are eerily similar.”
“What’s shocking to many, Lee said, is that the people held under the conditions in Moshannon are not being punished for a crime but simply being detained while waiting as their immigration cases are being processed.”
“Moshannon Valley detention center opened as a privately run federal prison in 2006 and closed in March 2021 after President Joe Biden signed an executive order barring renewed contracts with private prison companies.”
“It reopened eight months later as an immigration detention center for men and women under a contract between the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Clearfield County, which paid the publicly traded GEO Group to operate the facility.”
“ICE pays Clearfield County nearly $3 million a month plus a daily rate per person held that depends on the overall population of the facility, according to the contract. A spokesperson for ICE said the agency was unable to provide a response to the report by the deadline for this article.”
“The arrangement between ICE and Clearfield is not unusual and permits GEO Group to skirt onerous federal contract requirements, the report says. At least six other Pennsylvania counties had contracts to operate immigration detention facilities or house detainees in county jails, according to the National Immigrant Justice Center.”
REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
Politico
Doctors Are Leaving Conservative States to Learn to Perform Abortions. We Followed One.
Sept. 6, 2024
Politico followed a red-state doctor (who specializes in internal medicine and pediatrics) on a stint in Delaware to learn how to perform abortions and treat miscarriages.”
“Because abortions and miscarriages often require identical surgical procedures and drugs, the doctor would have fewer opportunities to practice the skills needed to treat a wide range of pregnancy complications and obstetric emergencies.”
“Her opportunities for such training in-state had all but vanished — as they had for medical students and residents in roughly a third of the country — raising fears that women having miscarriages and other obstetric emergencies in the future will encounter doctors ill-prepared to care for them.”
“The doctor is one of many residents across the country who have gone out of state for training in abortion since Dobbs. Most of them are OBGYN residents who are required to have that experience but are unable to get it in their home states.”
“A smaller group are those, like the doctor, who have opted to do so in addition to their required medical training.”
“Her experience is just one glimpse into the challenges these residents encounter as they try to cover as much as ground as possible on an expedited timeline out of state — and supports medical experts’ fears that shortcomings in post-Dobbs training alternatives could affect the skills of many doctors.”
Reuters
Texas sues to block Biden rule protecting privacy for women who get abortions
Sept. 5, 2024
“Texas sued the Biden administration in an effort to block a new rule that seeks to protect the privacy of women living in states that ban abortion who travel out of state for the procedure.”
“In a lawsuit filed on Wednesday, in Lubbock, Texas, the state is asking a federal judge to strike down the rule, which prohibits healthcare providers and insurers from giving state law enforcement authorities information about reproductive healthcare that is legal where it was provided.”
Republican-led states that ban abortion, including Texas, to restrict out-of-state travel for abortion. So far, no criminal prosecutions or civil judgments have resulted from those efforts.”
“Texas is also asking the court to block a separate rule issued in 2000, which said healthcare providers and insurers can only hand over information if it is relevant to a legitimate law enforcement inquiry and is limited in scope.”
The Associated Press
New Mexico starts building an abortion clinic to serve neighboring states, train medical students
Sept. 5, 2024
“Construction is getting underway on a state-funded reproductive health and abortion clinic in southern New Mexico that will cater to local residents and people who travel from neighboring states such as Texas and Oklahoma with major restrictions on abortion, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Thursday.”
“Construction of the clinic will draw upon $10 million in state funding that was set aside by the governor under a 2022 executive order. New Mexico has one of the country’s most liberal abortion-access laws.”
“The governor’s announcement in New Mexico thrusts public policy on abortion back in the spotlight in the runup to the November general election, with the entire state Legislature up for reelection as Democrats defend their state House and Senate majorities.”
The Conversation
Crossing state lines to get an abortion is a new legal minefield, with courts to decide if there’s a right to travel
Sept. 6, 2024
“Almost half of the states in the country have made it harder to get an abortion since the Supreme Court in 2022 overturned the federal right to get an abortion. Fourteen states ban abortions in almost all circumstances, and another eight in almost all cases after 6 to 18 weeks of pregnancy.”
“Nonetheless, the number of abortions provided in the U.S. has actually grown since the court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, rising 11% since 2020, to over 1 million abortions a year.”
“This increase can partially be explained by the fact that the number of people who crossed state lines to get abortions more than doubled from 81,000 in 2020 to 171,000 in 2023.”
Missouri Independent
Judge calls Ashcroft’s characterization of abortion amendment ‘unfair’ and ‘misleading’
Sept. 5, 2024
“Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft has been ordered to remove his characterization of an abortion rights amendment from his government website after a judge deemed it was unfair and violated state statute.”
“Ashcroft’s summary of the amendment read: ‘A ‘yes’ vote will enshrine the right to abortion at any time of pregnancy in the Missouri Constitution. Additionally, it will prohibit any regulation of abortion, including regulations designed to protect women undergoing abortions and prohibit any civil or criminal recourse against anyone who performs an abortion and hurts or kills the pregnant women.’”
“Abortion-rights activists in a lawsuit filed two weeks ago called Ashcroft’s summary of the amendment harmful and confusing to voters.”
“Walker agreed, ruling that Ashcroft’s assertion that the amendment would allow the right to an abortion at any point in pregnancy ‘gives voters the wrong idea of what the amendment will accomplish.’”
SENIORS
The Wall Street Journal
The Crushing Financial Burden of Aging at Home
Sept. 4, 2024
“Americans want to grow old in their own homes. But pursuing that dream has gotten harder, and is putting huge financial and emotional strains on families.”
“Soaring costs of in-home care, medical advances that extend lives but require ongoing help, and the growing ranks of older baby boomers are creating new pressures.”
“Spouses, adult children and siblings are putting their lives on hold to care for relatives, wrestling with sleep deprivation and constant worry. Families are draining savings to hire help, pay for medical care, and modify homes.”
It’s often worse in rural areas, since there isn’t as much access to nursing homes, so families must choose between letting their loved ones age in place or move to a far away nursing home. And there often aren’t enough home health workers.
STUDENT DEBT RELIEF
The Wall Street Journal
A Nurse Practitioner’s $25,000 in Student-Debt Relief Turned Into a $217,500 Bill From the Government
Sept. 5, 2024
“Haley Clements was working as a nurse practitioner at a rural Alabama clinic when she enrolled in a federal program that would pay off her remaining $25,000 in student debt in exchange for staying in her job for three more years.”
“But when one of her supervising doctors died and the other retired, she struggled to find another qualifying position in the area. The penalty for breaching her contract with the National Health Service Corps would be at least $217,500, the program told her. Instead, Clements is suing the government.”
“The nonprofit National Student Legal Defense Network on Thursday filed a lawsuit in Alabama district court on her behalf against the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees a program that grants student-debt relief in exchange for working in underserved areas.”
“The lawsuit argues that the way the program implements penalties on those who breach their contracts is unnecessarily harsh and violates a clause in the Eighth Amendment barring the imposition of excessive fines, among other measures.”