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Rural Employment Recovery Halts
Rural America’s slow grind to replace the jobs it lost at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic took a turn for the worse at the end of 2023 after showing signs of improvement a month before, according to a Daily Yonder analysis of data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
At Least 10 States Quietly Own Lands Within Indian Reservations — and Profit From Them
This story was originally published by Grist in partnership with High Country News. Before Jon Eagle Sr. began working for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, he was an equine therapist for over 36 years, linking horses with and providing support to children, families, and communities both on his ranch and on the road. The work reinforced his familiarity with the land, and allowed him to explore the rolling hills, plains, and buttes of the sixth-largest reservation in the United States. But when he became Standing Rock’s tribal historic preservation officer, he learned that the land still held surprises, the biggest one being that much of that land didn’t belong to the tribe. Standing Rock straddles North and South Dakota, and both states own thousands of acres within the tribe’s reservation boundaries.
45 Degrees North: What’s the Status of Your EMS?
In the first mild week of almost-spring, the EMS radio traffic in my county probably reflected that of many rural areas: Medical calls and lift assists for elderly and disabled people. A fall in the shower. Other falls. Transports from the local hospital to other medical facilities, and from assisted living to the hospital. Possible heart attack. Possible stroke. What sounded like a drug overdose. Lifeline calls. At least one PNB (pulseless non-breather). Febrile seizure in a child. A mutual aid response into an adjacent county whose ambulances were all on other calls. Motor vehicle accidents, including a motorcycle vs. deer collision.
Q&A: Is Meth Really a Rural Problem?
Editor’s Note: This interview first appeared in Path Finders, an email newsletter from the Daily Yonder. Each week, Path Finders features a Q&A with a rural thinker, creator, or doer. Like what you see here? You can join the mailing list at the bottom of this article and receive more conversations like this in your inbox each week.
Rural Utah College Makes a Bet on Tech and Remote Work
Editor’s Note: A version of this story first appeared in Mile Markers, a twice monthly newsletter from Open Campus about the role of colleges in rural America. You can join the mailing list at the bottom of this article to receive future editions in your inbox. Nestled between the...
USDA Will Implement Long-Awaited Change to Country-of-Origin Labeling Rules
A long awaited rule that changes which meat and poultry goods can bear the label “Product of U.S.A.” will give consumers better information and result in fairer compensation for U.S. farmers and ranchers, agriculture experts predict. “We will see profits increase for actual American beef producers because that...
Book Review – Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America’s Food Industry
Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America’s Food Industry. Island Press (March 26, 2024) Few books about America’s industrial agriculture system and food industry uncover the billionaires behind its biggest corporations. But a new exposé by Austin Frerick, a former tax economist at the U.S. Treasury Department and current fellow at Yale University’s Thurman Arnold Project, reveals the amassed fortunes of Big Ag’s most powerful families. Barons: Money, Power, and Corruption of America’s Food Industry exposes these ill-gotten gains and a cadre of complicit government players who made it all possible. The USDA’s dismal Census of Agriculture (February 13, 2024) disclosed that 141,733 farms shuttered between 2017 and 2022. Barons reveals that these losses happened at the same time that big food producers and merchants garnered both stunning profits and government handouts.
‘Brain Gain’ in Rural America and Who Is Behind It
For many people, leaving a rural place is a rite of passage. From higher education to looking for love, many think they have to leave to pursue the rest of their lives. This narrative contributes to the often repeated and not all true story that our rural communities are dying.
Hundreds of Thousands of US Infants Every Year Pay the Consequences of Prenatal Exposure to Drugs, a Growing Crisis Particularly in Rural America
This story was originally published by The Conversation. Nearly 1 in 12 newborns in the United States in 2020 – or about 300,000 infants – were exposed to alcohol, opioids, marijuana or cocaine before they were born. Exposure to these substances puts these newborns at a higher risk for premature birth, low birth weight and a variety of physical and mental disabilities.
‘Rural’ Was Referenced Just Once at State of the Union. Why Does That Matter?
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in Keep It Rural, an email newsletter from the Daily Yonder. Like what you see? Join the mailing list for more rural news, thoughts, and analysis in your inbox each week. The annual State of the Union happened last week, providing Congress...
Immigrant Dairy Workers Often Endure Substandard Housing Conditions. The Law Doesn’t Protect Them.
This story was originally published by ProPublica. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s lawsuit last month against a large dairy farm over alleged labor abuses, including millions of dollars in unpaid wages, was unusual in more than one way. It was his office’s first wage theft lawsuit against a dairy farm. And it put a spotlight on another issue that’s widespread but rarely addressed: substandard housing for immigrant dairy workers.
Popular in Cities, Transit Trip Planning and Payment Apps Are Slowly Coming to Rural Communities
Transportation planners in Vermont and Minnesota are working to bring rural transit riders the same app features that urbanites have been enjoying for almost a decade. The initiatives, which Vermont began in 2018 and Minnesota began in 2023, are both part of federally-funded pilots, and will allow rural users to plan and pay for call-ahead public transit rides via web and mobile apps.
Medical Students Help Rural Schoolchildren Avoid Suspension With Mobile Physicals
This story was originally published by North Carolina Health News. In North Carolina, first-time public schoolchildren and students who have moved here from other states are required to have a physical health assessment within 30 days of their enrollment. Those who don’t run the risk of suspension, which could make them fall behind academically.
Building Stability Through Resident-Owned Mobile Home Parks
In 2011, it was chance that took Marjory Gilsrud and her husband, Mike, to a home in the Madelia Mobile Village Cooperative. But it’s choice that has kept them in the resident-owned mobile home park in rural Minnesota. Before her move to Madelia Mobile Village, the Gilsruds lived in...
Wealthier, Urban Americans Have Access to More Local News – While Roughly Half of US Counties Have Only One Outlet or Less
This story was originally published by The Conversation. Is local news readily available in your town? Do reporters still cover your school board and other municipal meetings?. If you answered yes, you are likely wealthier than the average American, and you live in or near a metro area. The State...
‘Home Cooked’ – You Haven’t Heard Much About Meth Lately. That’s Not Because It’s No Longer a Problem.
One of the most morally conflicted experiences of my life came from sitting in a jury room at the county courthouse deciding the future of a young man accused of trafficking methamphetamine. With a court-appointed attorney and a girlfriend who turned state’s witness, the defendant was a sitting duck.
Q&A: Who’s Making Black Country Music?
Editor’s Note: This interview first appeared in Path Finders, an email newsletter from the Daily Yonder. Each week, Path Finders features a Q&A with a rural thinker, creator, or doer. Like what you see here? You can join the mailing list at the bottom of this article and receive more conversations like this in your inbox each week.
‘The Lifeblood of the Community’: States Invest to Save Rural Grocery Stores
This story was originally published by the Minnesota Reformer. Corliss Hassler rushes in the front door of Post 60 Market and heads straight for the produce case. “I’m back,” she announces. It’s around lunchtime, but it’s already her second trip in today — this time, she’s picking up...
The Commercial Alternative to Traditional Medicare Is Putting Financial Strain on Rural Hospitals
For more than a dozen years, leaders in the rural health care field have issued strong warnings: Rural hospitals are struggling financially. Despite public attention and some changes in federal policies, difficulties continue. A new report from a private healthcare consulting company has found that nearly 20% of all rural hospitals are at risk of closing.
Under Cover of Darkness, ‘True Detective: Night Country’ Unfolds at Breakneck Speed
Editor’s Note: A version of this story first appeared in The Good, the Bad, and the Elegy, a newsletter from the Daily Yonder focused on the best, and worst, in rural media, entertainment, and culture. Every other Thursday, it features reviews, retrospectives, recommendations, and more. You can join the mailing list at the bottom of this article to receive future editions in your inbox.
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