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Rural News

Education is the key

Daily Yonder | Posted on December 8, 2016

Teresa Jones and Anja Thiessen have very different backgrounds, but they both see education as a way to uproot entrenched poverty in the Mississippi Delta. Jones is from a small, unincorporated community about 25 miles east of the Mississippi River. Thiessen was raised near a different river, the Rhine, which flows past her hometown of Bensheim, Germany. Both women have helped build new education programs that focus on Delta youth. Jones’ efforts have focused on her hometown of Holly Bluff,  located about 20 miles west of Yazoo City between the Delta National Forest and the Panther Swamp Wildlife Refuge. Thiessen is located in Coahoma County, which is about 70 miles south of Memphis, Tennessee, and part of the Clarksdale Micropolitan Statistical Area.


A passion for place and people

Daily Yonder | Posted on December 8, 2016

Orlando Paden is a young state representative who always knew what he wanted to do. Mary Williams is a nurse practitioner who discovered her calling while slowly walking into her profession. Both look for ways to lead their region toward opportunity.


Just say No to 'Poverty Porn'

Daily Yonder | Posted on December 8, 2016

When Fox News came calling to do a story about Appalachia, it didn’t take long to figure out what they were really after: examples of doom, gloom, and failure. Nonprofits must shift the focus away from negative stereotypes to show what's working in rural America. Appalachia has always had a problem with media outlets wanting to boost their sales by exploiting “poverty porn.” They come get photos and stories of handpicked, downtrodden people, and instead of offering solutions or asking for change, they quote people of privilege whose answer is that poor people should pick up and leave. Or they blame whichever political party they oppose. They are like a carnival barker hawking a sociological sideshow: “Step right up and see a Third World country in your own backyard!”


Giraffes now facing extinction

The Telegraph | Posted on December 8, 2016

Giraffe's have been placed on the Red List of endangered species, after conservationists discovered there were fewer than 100,000 left in the wild.The animal was previously listed as ‘of least concern' but is now classed as ‘vulnerable to extinction’ after the global population plummeted by 40 per cent in the past 30 years.Giraffes are declining because of habitat loss, illegal hunting and civil unrest in the African countries where they live. Giraffe number shave dropped 30 % in last thrity years.


Michigan needs $59B more for infrastructure to fulfill new 20-year improvement vision

| Posted on December 7, 2016

Michigan became the first state in the U.S. to develop a full list of infrastructure recommendations when Gov. Rick Snyder unveiled that report. More than 100 recommendations across four areas - water, transportation, energy and communications - resulted from months of work by the 21st Century Infrastructure Commission. "This is not an answer by itself, but a road map," Snyder told a crowd gathered at Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, in addition to viewers at satellite locations in the state. The needs across the sectors ranged from improving water safety by replacing aging systems; investing in roads, bridges,rail and future mobility; eliminating power outages; and making Michigan a top-five state for broadband internet.


State Medicaid Expansion impacyon Health Insurance Coverage at the County Level

University of New Hampshire, Carsey School | Posted on December 7, 2016

Counties and states with large shares of uninsured risk having to contend with a range of health and economic impacts, such as reduced workplace productivity, unsustainable demands on emergency departments, higher tax burdens resulting from uncompensated care costs, and deteriorating health care quality due to reductions in public spending. In 2013, before the implementation of major provisions of the Affordable Care Act, 41 million U.S. adults age 19–64 had no health insurance. Coverage varies considerably by geographic location. For instance, in 2013 county-level coverage rates ranged from a high of 96 percent in Norfolk County, Massachusetts to a low of 57 percent in Willacy County, Texas.


Extreme downpours could increase fivefold across parts of the US

Science Daily | Posted on December 7, 2016

At century's end, the number of summertime storms that produce extreme downpours could increase by more than 400 percent across parts of the United States — including sections of the Gulf Coast, Atlantic Coast, and the Southwest — according to a new study.


How a Texas community saved its hospital — and vice versa

Athena Insight | Posted on December 7, 2016

In the early 2000s, no one in Jacksboro, Texas thought much of Faith Community Hospital, the fifty-year-old hospital in the center of town. The building was substandard. Staff morale was low. Patients preferred to drive thirty miles or more to Fort Worth or Wichita Falls for care. And when the hospital flunked a Medicare inspection due to mold and asbestos, voters rejected a bond issue to build a new hospital by a 3-to-1 margin.Then, in 2010, Frank Beaman came to town, taking on the role of Faith’s CEO with a keen understanding of what was at stake. Rural hospitals are closing across the country — 71 in the last five years, 10 in Texas alone — devastating the health and the economies of small towns.Beaman, an experienced hospital administrator, was determined to keep this hospital open. In central Texas — a region of ranching, oilrigs, and hunting — people need high-quality healthcare close at hand. But to survive, the hospital would need the one thing it didn’t have: the confidence and support of the people of Jacksboro. Beaman knew that his first job would be to raise standards within the hospital. Along with sprucing up the place with fresh paint and new flooring, Beaman took a good look at his staff.Comparing the operation to a boat, he recalls, “There were people hanging off the side of the boat who needed to get in the boat. There were people in the boat holding oars, but rowing in the wrong direction. They just needed training. But the ones sitting there with a drill, who would just as soon see the boat sink — and we had several — needed to go.”Beaman let employees and staff know that “if we’re going to survive, it’s going to be because of you.” He launched a policy of zero tolerance for negative attitudes or interactions.


Fighting Opioid Abuse in Indian Country

Pew Charitable Trust | Posted on December 7, 2016

When Misty Jones looks back on her drug-using years, she sees a pattern. Since she was 18, she’s been having babies, using drugs, losing custody of her babies, and trying to quit drugs so she can get them back. Now 36 and in recovery from heroin addiction for 15 months, Jones, a member of the Port Gamble S’Klallam tribe, said she realizes she needs to beat her drug habit before she can take care of her children. “This time it’s going to be all about Misty and getting clean and not about Misty and getting her kids back,” she said. Jones attributes much of her ability to stay sober to the treatment and special housing she receives here on the Muckleshoot reservation, about 30 miles south of Seattle, and to buprenorphine, the addiction medication she takes every day. Plus, she said, “I’ve looked death in the eye too many times to think I could keep doing it.”


Texas Lowe's hires retired vet and his service dog, now an internet 'celebrity'

My San Antonio | Posted on December 7, 2016

After suffering a leg injury while enlisted in the Air Force, finding work became a challenge for a Texas man and his service dog until he walked into a Lowe's Home Improvement store.  Clay Luthy was working as a handyman, doing his best to support his three children, when he was shopping the Abilene store and decided to submit a job application, Lowe's spokeswoman Karen Cobb told mySA.com, adding Luthy's injuries prevented him from bending his knee.  Human Resources Manager Jay Fellers said he was unaware the 35-year-old veteran had a service dog until he showed up for an interview, but that wasn't an issue "at all." Luthy was a top candidate during the interview process, eventually landed the job and has been a "great asset" to the store for the past three months, Fellers added."(Luthy and Charlotte) provide a big sense of pride and are a morale booster for our employees," Fellers said. 


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