Rural News Clips, July 15, 2025
Farm bankruptcies this year already top 2024 levels; Before tragedy, Texas repeatedly rejected pleas for flood alarm funding; Experts predict more "Alligator Alcatraz" prisons to be built
POLITICS AND ELECTIONS
Arkansas Advocate
Arkansas farmer challenges Cotton for U.S. Senate seat
July 15, 2025
Sixth-generation farmer Hallie Shoffner officially launched her campaign against Senator Tom Cotton, highlighting her deep roots in rural agriculture as a cornerstone of her platform.
Shoffner faulted Cotton for voting twice against the Farm Bill and promised to expand farm support, restore Medicaid, protect Social Security, and reduce the deficit to give farmers and rural families more “room to breathe.”
Having sold her family’s 2,000-acre farm this year due to high input costs and inadequate federal assistance, Shoffner says her personal experience mirrors the economic challenges facing rural Arkansans.
Iowa Capital Dispatch
Democrat Kathy Dolter launches bid for 2nd Congressional District; Rep. Lindsay James mulls a run
July 15, 2025
Kathy Dolter, a retired Army nurse and former dean of nursing at Kirkwood Community College, entered the Democratic primary driven by cuts to public health funding that have strained rural healthcare providers.
State Rep. Lindsay James, a fourth-term legislator and Presbyterian pastor from Dubuque, is weighing a campaign and argues that rural northeastern Iowans are fatigued by policies that have raised living costs and reduced assistance programs.
Both candidates prioritize expanding Medicaid, improving rural infrastructure, and supporting family farms as they seek to challenge incumbent Representative Ashley Hinson in a district spanning urban centers and deeply rural counties.
AGRICULTURE
Farm Policy News
Farm bankruptcies this year already exceed 2024 levels
July 15, 2025
New data from the University of Arkansas System shows 259 farms filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 12 in the first quarter of 2025, surpassing the total filings for all of 2024 and marking the highest level since 2021.
Agricultural economists warn that volatile commodity prices and soaring input costs have eroded working capital for family farms, reigniting the financial strains first seen in 2018 and 2019 in rural counties nationwide.
Although Chapter 12 bankruptcy offers a path to restructure debts, many rural producers face an uphill battle as depleted resources and tighter credit conditions threaten the survival of small-town farm businesses.
APPALACHIA
Ohio Capital Journal
Trump requests 93% cut to Appalachian Regional Commission. Ohio would take a huge hit.
July 15, 2025
President Trump’s discretionary budget proposes cutting Appalachian Regional Commission funding from two hundred million dollars to fourteen million dollars for fiscal year 2026, a reduction that would sharply reduce support for rural Appalachian Ohio.
Local and state officials warn that slashing ARC programs imperils critical investments in infrastructure, affordable broadband, clean water, wastewater systems, highways, workforce development, and community revitalization.
In 2024 the ARC partnered with Ohio’s Governor’s Office of Appalachia to invest twelve and a half million dollars in infrastructure projects and six point eight million dollars in workforce initiatives; the proposed cuts threaten to stall continued progress in these rural counties.
CLIMATE CHANGE
The Associated Press
Trump administration says it won’t publish major climate change reports on NASA website as promised
July 14, 2025
The Trump administration removed the peer-reviewed National Climate Assessments from official government sites and reversed its plan to host them on NASA’s website, limiting public access.
Those reports provide state and local governments with projections and adaptation guidance for agriculture, water resources, forestry, and disaster planning, information rural communities rely on to prepare for extreme weather and changing growing conditions.
Critics warn that hiding these scientific assessments will leave rural areas less able to anticipate and respond to floods, droughts, wildfires, and other climate-driven threats.
CONSERVATION
Energy & Environment News
House releases Interior-EPA spending bill with deep cuts
July 14, 2025
The bill cuts EPA funding by 23 percent to about $7 billion and reduces Interior Department allocations by nearly $3 billion, threatening conservation and land-management programs that support rural communities.
State and Tribal Assistance Grants, including Clean Water and Drinking Water revolving funds, face deep reductions that could leave small towns without resources to maintain aging water infrastructure.
Policy riders block protections for species such as the greater sage grouse and ban environmental justice initiatives, undermining efforts to preserve rural ecosystems and support agriculture and outdoor recreation.
DISASTERS
The Texas Tribune
How a small East Texas town turned a devastating tornado into funding for sirens
July 15, 2025
Officials in Crockett, a town of about 6,300 in rural East Texas, secured a FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant after a 2022 tornado that damaged key infrastructure.
The town provided a ten percent match of $50,000 from its $6.6 million general fund to help fund six new sirens and enhance its disaster warning system.
Crockett’s experience demonstrates how dedicated emergency management expertise and persistent grant writing can help rural communities overcome funding barriers for critical safety infrastructure.
The New York Times
Before tragedy, Texas repeatedly rejected pleas for flood alarm funding
July 10, 2025
Despite its location in a flood-prone “flash-flood alley,” Kerr County officials declined to install a $1 million siren and sensor warning system because of cost concerns and local resistance.
Grant applications in 2017, 2018, and 2021 for real-time river gauges and automated alerts were never approved or utilized, leaving Camp Mystic and nearby rural communities without dedicated flood alarms.
When catastrophic floods struck on July 4, the county’s CodeRED system took over 90 minutes to issue the first emergency alerts, contributing to at least 120 deaths and highlighting the consequences of underfunding rural warning infrastructure.
FOOD AND HUNGER
The Daily Yonder
Commentary: Food near me – the ironic tragedy of rural food deserts
July 15, 2025
Despite abundant fertile land, rural states face widespread food deserts where low incomes and declining grocery access leave 54 million Americans without affordable healthy food.
The ongoing loss of family farms, about 45,000 per year, combined with a consolidated supply chain and uneven policy support, has deepened rural-urban divides and made communities vulnerable to price shocks when distribution hubs fail.
Brian Reisinger, award-winning author and senior writer for Platform Communications, argues that directing research and policy toward farm innovation, diversifying subsidies, and encouraging consumer support for local markets can eliminate rural food deserts.
HEALTH CARE, PHARMACIES AND RURAL HEALTH
The Washington Post
Researchers link severe disasters and loss of health care facilities
July 13, 2025
Counties hit by severe climate-related disasters experienced significant declines in hospital and outpatient care infrastructure in the years that followed.
Rural and low-income communities were especially vulnerable to these lasting losses because more affluent areas often have the resources and connections needed to rebuild critical health institutions.
Pharmacies did not show the same pattern of decline, potentially worsening “pharmacy deserts” in rural regions that increasingly rely on delivery services for medications.
IMMIGRATION
News From The States
More 'Alligator Alcatraz' centers to be built by states flush with cash, experts predict
July 15, 2025
Former top Department of Homeland Security officials warn that President Trump’s tax and spending bill provides roughly $170 billion for immigration enforcement and will fund state-run detention centers modeled on Florida’s “Alligator Alcatraz.”
They predict that many of these new facilities will be hastily constructed in some of the most rural parts of the country where staffing and resources are insufficient to ensure safe and humane conditions.
Advocates fear that the rapid expansion of unsupervised, soft-sided centers will create unsafe environments and exacerbate humanitarian risks for immigrants detained in underserved rural communities.
INFECTIOUS DISEASES AND VACCINATION
The Hill
Schumer presses RFK Jr to declare measles emergency
July 11, 2025
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer urged Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr to declare a Public Health Emergency for measles, criticizing political interference and cuts that weaken the federal response.
The 2025 outbreak has reached 1,288 confirmed cases across 38 states, with major clusters in rural counties such as Gaines and Terry in Texas and parts of Iowa and Montana where limited public health infrastructure hampers containment.
Schumer warned that dismantling immunization advisory panels and halting vaccine research grants puts rural communities at heightened risk due to scarce healthcare resources.
CIDRAP
Kansas, North Dakota, New Jersey record more measles cases
July 15, 2025
Kansas reported four new cases linked to a West Texas outbreak, spread across nine largely rural counties, although five of those counties have gone 42 days without any new cases.
North Dakota logged its first case since late May in Williams County, where an unvaccinated resident exposed others at a rural gas station in Valley City and two sites in Williston.
New Jersey confirmed a case in Ocean County and is coordinating contact tracing with local partners to protect residents in areas with limited public health resources.
Wyoming Public Radio
Second measles case confirmed in Wyoming, this time in Niobrara County
July 11, 2025
The Wyoming Department of Health confirmed a second measles case in an unvaccinated child in rural Niobrara County, and the source of exposure remains unknown.
Health officials are notifying potential contacts and urging all residents, especially those in sparsely populated areas with limited clinic access, to ensure they and their children are up to date on the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine.
JOURNALISM AND BROADCASTING
The Washington Post
Rural America and kids will suffer if PBS is defunded, its chief says
July 15, 2025
PBS President Paula Kerger warns that a Senate vote to rescind $1.1 billion in federal funding poses an existential threat to local member stations.
Many rural stations depend on federal funds for up to half their budgets and deliver critical services such as emergency alerts and early childhood education in areas with limited broadband access.
Losing broadcast licenses would leave communities from Cookeville, Tennessee to Granite Falls, Minnesota without local media outlets and deepen existing information gaps.
News From The States
US Senate Republicans advance bill stripping funds from NPR, PBS, foreign aid
July 15, 2025
The Senate approved advancing a resolution to rescind $9 billion in previously authorized funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting, including grants to NPR and PBS.
Many rural public radio and television stations rely on Corporation for Public Broadcasting support for up to half of their operating budgets, putting local programming and station viability at risk.
Cutting CPB funding could reduce critical services such as emergency alerts, local news coverage, and educational content in remote communities with few alternative media outlets.
MENTAL HEALTH
The Progressive Farmer
Bills boost rural mental health funds
July 15, 2025
Legislation in both the U.S. House and Senate would increase annual funding for the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network from ten million dollars to fifteen million dollars for the next five years, allowing programs to hire more staff including behavioral health specialists.
The bipartisan “Farmers First Act” is sponsored in the Senate by Senators Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Joni Ernst of Iowa, and in the House by Representatives Angie Craig of Minnesota and Randy Feenstra of Iowa.
Suicide rates among rural farmers and ranchers are 3.5 times higher than the national average. The expanded program would fund hotlines, training to recognize depression and anxiety, and support groups across regional centers.
PERSONAL FINANCE
The Hill
Judge vacates Biden-era medical debt rule clearing credit reports
July 15, 2025
A Texas federal judge overturned a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule that would have removed $49 billion in medical debt from credit reports for about 15 million Americans.
Rural residents, who often face higher healthcare costs, longer travel distances for care, and fewer local financial services, may see their credit scores harmed by unpaid medical bills, making loans and mortgages harder to obtain.
Trade associations argued that the CFPB exceeded its authority under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, while consumer advocates warn the decision will deepen financial insecurity for vulnerable communities.
POLLUTION
The Guardian
Trump administration dashes hopes of anti-pollution plan for JD Vance’s home town
July 15, 2025
A Biden-era proposal to install a hydrogen-powered blast furnace at Cleveland-Cliffs Middletown Works would have eliminated one million tons of greenhouse gases each year and created over 1,300 jobs, but the Trump administration froze the $1.6 billion project indefinitely.
Residents in this rural Ohio town continue to endure dust, noise and health problems such as chronic respiratory illness while local wells suffer contamination, with no relief in sight as the clean-energy upgrade stalls.
The loss of federal support for hydrogen technology threatens efforts to revitalize industrial communities in rural regions and deepens frustration among locals who feel abandoned by national policy decisions.
PUBLIC LANDS
ProPublica
Utah Sen. Mike Lee says selling off public lands will solve the West’s housing crisis. Past sales show otherwise.
July 8, 2025
Lee introduced an amendment to sell up to three million acres of U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management land to fund tax cuts, proposing the proceeds as a solution to affordable housing shortages.
Ranchers, hunters and rural recreation businesses rallied against the measure, warning that privatizing vast tracts would undermine grazing rights, tourism and water access that sustain local economies.
Historical examples, particularly in Nevada where discounted land sales produced just 850 affordable units but enabled high-priced disposals on thousands of acres, illustrate the challenge of achieving housing goals while protecting rural livelihoods.
RENEWABLE ENERGY
Canary Media
An Ohio solar project overcomes local opposition and misinformation
July 14, 2025
State regulators approved the 120-megawatt Frasier Solar project in rural Knox County after county and township boards stayed neutral, even though neighboring townships passed anti-solar resolutions.
The decision rested on the lack of unanimous local government opposition rather than a merit-based review, highlighting how renewable projects in rural areas can be derailed by misinformation and arbitrary local rulings.
Supporters note the project will deliver more than $40 million in payments to local governments over its 40-year lifespan and boost clean energy development, but they remain wary of dark-money campaigns and public confusion in sparsely populated communities.
Canary Media
USDA abruptly cancels rural energy grant application window
July 15, 2025
The USDA unexpectedly canceled the July 1 to Sept 30 application window for the Rural Energy for America Program, leaving farmers and small rural businesses in limbo after they delayed clean-energy projects in anticipation of grant support.
The decision threatens solar and efficiency upgrades that provide vital supplemental income and energy-cost savings for family farms operating on thin profit margins in rural communities.
With half of the Inflation Reduction Act’s REAP funds already awarded but payments frozen and future funding likely reverting to $50 million per year, rural applicants and technical-assistance providers face financial risk and project delays.
SAFETY NET PROGRAMS
WyoFile
Medicaid cuts will shrink Wyoming’s economy by $140M over five years, study finds
July 14, 2025
A nonpartisan economic analysis finds that federal Medicaid cuts under the “One Big Beautiful Bill” will cost Wyoming an average of 192 jobs per year, shrink annual GDP by $27.8 million, and reduce residents’ disposable income by $14.6 million, with rural hospitals and towns facing significant hardship.
The study projects that at least 12,000 Wyoming residents will lose health coverage, causing revenue losses for health care providers from outpatient clinics and retail pharmacies and straining services in sparsely populated communities.
In contrast, Medicaid expansion could create 440 jobs and add $60.9 million to GDP each year, and over five years the difference between expansion and cuts amounts to 3,160 jobs, $444 million in GDP, and $260.5 million in personal income, underscoring the program’s economic impact for rural Wyoming.
Maine Morning Star
Federal legislation could result in universal health care in Maine
July 15, 2025
Members of Congress have reintroduced the State Based Universal Health Care Act, which would trigger Maine’s 2021 law to create a publicly funded health care board.
A report by the Maine Department of Health and Human Services estimates that 31,000 Mainers could lose coverage in the first year under the recent tax and spending package, and cuts to Medicaid are expected to further strain rural hospitals, more than forty percent of which faced closure risks.
The proposed federal bill would allow Maine to access federal funding, integrate Medicare dollars into a state plan, and require coverage for at least ninety-five percent of residents within five years, offering a lifeline to vulnerable rural communities and hospitals.
Louisiana Illuminator
Louisiana’s community health clinics brace for Medicaid cuts
July 15, 2025
Up to $35 billion in federal Medicaid funding cuts over the next decade threaten community health clinics that doubled patient rolls after the 2016 expansion, putting rural and underserved areas at risk.
New work requirements and biannual eligibility checks will impose steep administrative burdens on patients and providers, leading to coverage loss for self-employed artists, rural residents with irregular incomes, and others.
SENIORS AND NURSING HOMES
North Dakota Monitor
Federal cost cutting imperils some North Dakota senior programs
July 15, 2025
Federal grants for senior companion programs run by Lutheran Social Services Minnesota risk ending without Office of Management and Budget approval beyond September, threatening services across 32 mostly rural counties.
Volunteers like 77-year-old Sharon Malcomb depend on a four-dollar-per-hour stipend to cover groceries and medication while visiting isolated seniors, and program cuts would sever critical social support networks.
AmeriCorps staffing reductions have created funding uncertainty for 132 senior programs nationwide, preventing the recruitment of new volunteers and undermining services that help rural seniors remain independent in their homes.