Rural News Clips, Aug. 8, 2024
Walz's rural background; Buttigieg talks rural transit with Mainers; Abbott kneecaps rural district in voucher fight
POLITICS AND ELECTIONS
The New York Times
Walz Grew Up in Rural Nebraska, Where Finding a Date ‘Was Kind of a Problem’
Aug 6, 2024
“Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate, Tim Walz, wasn’t always a Minnesotan. He was born in rural Nebraska in the small community of West Point, a town of roughly 3,500 people 60 miles northwest of Omaha.”
“His mother was a community activist and his father a public school administrator.”
“Walz moved several times during his childhood to various rural communities.”
He taught for a year in China, and “when he returned, he taught high school in Nebraska, where he met his wife, Gwen, who was teaching at the same school.”
“In 1993, Walz was named Outstanding Young Nebraskan by the Nebraska Junior Chamber of Commerce for his service in the education, military and small-business communities, according to his campaign.”
“While Harris’s other top potential running mates came from battleground states that might have helped her rack up electoral votes, Walz’s ties to Nebraska could also play a role if voters there support him.”
“Though the state is largely Republican, it is one of just two states that split their Electoral College votes. (The other is Maine.) Last election, one of Nebraska’s five votes went to President Biden.”
Michigan Advance
Vance makes Macomb Co. police station campaign stop to slam Harris’ immigration record
Aug, 7, 2024
“Flanked by local police and a prosecutor, former President Donald Trump running mate U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) knocked Vice President Kamala Harris’s record on immigration and law enforcement at a small event in Macomb County Wednesday morning.”
“His appearance before a small crowd in a key county that Trump has won twice came ahead of a scheduled Harris rally in Detroit, where the Democratic presidential nominee will be joined by her newly minted vice president pick, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.”
“While Harris and Walz will hold rallies in swing states across the country this week, Vance has scheduled stops in the same places, often on the same day.”
Utah News Dispatch
Utah Supreme Court to hear Jenkins’ election contest; state asks court to dismiss
Aug. 8, 2024
“The Utah Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on Friday morning as it considers a petition from Colby Jenkins, Rep. Celeste Maloy’s Republican opponent, attempting to challenge the results of the GOP primary for Utah’s 2nd Congressional District — which he lost by a fraction of a percent of the vote.”
The New York Times
Opinion: Democrats Have Needed Someone Like Tim Walz for Decades
Aug. 7, 2024
Rural essayist and author Sarah Smarsh writes that it’s a relief “to see emerge on the national stage the Minnesota governor and Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz, who embodies the earnest, humane, rural people who shaped me and the prairie populism that shaped the progressive foundations of the Great Plains.”
ARTS AND CULTURE
The Dauily Yonder
Is ‘Twisters’ the Ultimate Rural Blockbuster?
Aug. 8, 2024
“Much like its predecessor, ‘Twisters’ is winning over audiences with high-speed thrills set in the American heartland. But beneath the spectacle also lies a solid depiction of rural people and places.”
The Daily Yonder
Part 1: Story Circles – Pride, Hope, Community and Loss
Aug. 8, 2024
“Using a method originally developed by the Civil Rights activists involved with the theater, organizers can learn about community’s woes, hopes, and needs.”
BROADBAND
Route Fifty
Could an extension of the federal broadband subsidy be close?
Aug. 2, 2024
“Two months after a popular federal broadband subsidy expired, lawmakers are still trying to revive it.”
“The Affordable Connectivity Program, or ACP, which provided more than 23 million low-income households with a $30-a-month subsidy to pay for internet access, ran out of funding at the end of May.”
“Efforts to restore funding since then have mostly stalled, despite the popularity of the program and even as those millions of households saw their internet bills go up.”
“But after months of negotiation, a new proposal to extend funding surfaced Wednesday. The Senate Commerce Committee voted to add $7 billion in funding for the program to the PLAN for Broadband Act, which would require a national broadband strategy to close the digital divide.”
“The amendment would again temporarily fund the program until the money runs out, so lawmakers would then have to find a long-term funding solution or let it expire again.”
CLIMATE CHANGE
Virginia Mercury
To transform trash into treasure, a modern tech company turns to an ancient recipe
Aug. 8, 2024
“In 2022, RISE, the Norfolk-based nonprofit that creates challenges seeking innovative solutions to the climate crisis, issued a call for new approaches to dealing with mud, the spoils of dredging.”
“The solution … is an opportunity for cash-strapped rural areas which may have to pay a tipping fee to landfills to deposit the spoils, which could cost millions of dollars.”
Nebraska Examiner
$307 million climate pollution grant called ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ opportunity for NE
Aug, 7, 2024
“Federal and state government officials [celebrated on Wednesday] an unprecedented $307 million grant they said will thrust Nebraska’s agricultural sector into a national spotlight for improving energy efficiency, the environment and easing the climate crisis.”
It’s “the largest federal grant ever awarded to the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy.”
“In all, 25 applicants will share more than $4.3 billion from the ‘Climate Pollution Reduction Grant’ program to implement community-driven solutions targeting climate change, air pollution, environmental concerns and promoting clean energy.”
“Gov. Jim Pillen … said the federal dollars in Nebraska will stimulate both rural and urban economies — and allow farmers to build upon, measure and “turbocharge” best practices. “
EDUCATION
The Daily Yonder
Leveraging State Parks to Increase Rural College-Going
Aug. 8, 2024
“A mentoring program’s flexible approach works to increase college-going among rural students.”
Kentucky Lantern
In West Kentucky, people like their schools, ponder ‘choice’ amendment’s implications
Aug. 8, 2024
“Kentucky is in a minority of states that has no charter schools or voucher programs to help families pay for private schools.”
“That could change if voters on Nov. 5 approve Amendment 2, which would lower barriers in Kentucky’s Constitution that have blocked a charter school law and tax credits supporting private school tuition.”
“If voters approve the amendment, which was put on the ballot by Republican lawmakers, Kentucky’s legislature for the first time would be free to fund private schools with public money, though the amendment offers no specifics on what form state support would take.”
Some rural districts “fear public education would be weakened if state funding is diverted into private schools.”
The Texas Tribune
Rising costs and stagnant state funds pushed this West Texas school district to the financial brink
Aug. 8, 2024
“The Ector County school district boosted student learning but now faces financial uncertainty. It closed schools and cut costs to stay afloat, but it won’t slash teacher jobs.”
NATIVE AMERICANS
AZ MIrror
Relaunched program will help rural and tribal communities tap into cash for infrastructure projects
Aug. 8, 2024
“Rural and tribal communities in Arizona that are looking to develop infrastructure projects to support their communities now have access to financial assistance to help complete them.”
“Gov. Katie Hobbs, the Office of Economic Opportunity and the Arizona Finance Authority relaunched the Greater Arizona Development Authority (GADA) this week with a new round of financial assistance available for rural and tribal communities.”
“GADA is a state infrastructure bank for rural and tribal communities, pledging its funds as collateral to unlock bonding for cities and towns that lack access to traditional capital markets.”
“ It leverages private financing to assist rural communities and tribal governments with the development of public infrastructure projects.
“It was established in 1997 but has been inactive for nearly 10 years.”
POSTAL SERVICE
Daily Montanan
Alpine Air CEO questions Postal Service data for air service in Montana
Aug. 7, 2024
“The U.S. Postal Service said it shifted the majority of mail in Montana that was going through air to ground transport several months ago, but the chief executive of the air transport company said the federal agency relied on bad data to do so.”
“Alpine Air CEO Michael Dancy said this week he doesn’t believe the Postal Service will be able to meet its own standards for one- or two-day mail either despite its pledges to do so.”
REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
Maine Morning Star
Maine shield law protecting reproductive, gender-affirming care takes effect Friday
Aug. 8, 2024
“Providers of reproductive and gender-affirming healthcare in Maine will have added protection starting Friday should they face civil or criminal challenges from states where such care is illegal.”
“These added protections come from Maine’s shield law, one of numerous laws set to take effect Aug. 9 that the state Legislature passed this past session.”
The rule will be particularly helpful to rural residents who don’t have easy access to abortion otherwise.
The Texas Tribune
How an anti-abortion doctor joined Texas’ maternal mortality committee
Aug. 8, 2024
“Dr. Ingrid Skop, a San Antonio OB-GYN, was chosen to represent rural areas over an obstetrics nurse from the Rio Grande Valley.”
RURAL ORGANIZING
The Daily Yonder
A Rural Calling: Marcos Silva
Aug. 7, 2024
“An educator brings “experience in youth empowerment and convenings and as an advocate for social interactions” to strengthen rural communities of the Rio Grande Valley from the ground up.”
SENIORS
The Washington Post
The battle over nursing home rules
Aug. 7, 2024
“The Biden administration is moving full steam ahead on its contentious nursing home staffing mandate, even as it battles legal challenges in court.”
“It mandates a registered nurse be on-site 24/7 and requires staff to provide residents with at least 3.48 hours of direct care a day, such as feeding, bathing or administering medication.”
The new policy requires nursing homes to complete more detailed annual self-assessments of whether they’re meeting the new requirements.
“Much of the final rule is set to be phased in during the next few years.”
But “the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services gave operators 90 days to complete the updated facility assessment, and the deadline is Thursday.”
Iowa Capital Dispcatch
Study: Many Iowa nursing homes now meet hotly contested staffing mandates
Aug. 7, 2024
“Despite stiff industry opposition to the Biden administration’s proposed new mandates for nursing home staffing, federal data shows many facilities already meet the new standards.”
“A recent analysis by KFF, formerly the Kaiser Family Foundation, shows that while only 19% of all nursing facilities nationwide currently meet all three of the rule’s new staffing minimums, almost 60% of the homes already meet the overall requirement of providing every resident with 3.48 hours of care each day.”
“In Iowa, where care facilities are cited for insufficient staffing at a much higher rate than the national average, 54% of homes already meet the overall requirement of providing every resident with 3.48 hours of care each day.”
TRANSIT
Maine Morning Star
Sec. Buttigieg talks with Mainers about reimagining rural transportation
Aug. 7, 2024
“The Transportation Secretary capped off a 50-state tour with a trip to Maine to highlight federal infrastructure investments.”
UTILITIES
WyoFile
Rocky Mountain Power wants to hike rates again, this time by $123.5 million, or 14.7%
Aug. 8, 2024
“The request by Wyoming’s largest monopoly electricity provider is mostly due to investments in renewables, interstate transmission lines and wildfire liability.”