Rural News
Use of broadband linked to greater civic engagement
Daily Yonder | Posted on September 29, 2016Rural residents who use broadband are more likely to vote, belong to a group, trust their neighbors, and do other activities that indicate civic participation. But researchers saw this difference only when residents used broadband, not just when it was theoretically available. That may have implications for how public broadband programs should focus their efforts.
Job Growth Focused on Largest Cities
Daily Yonder | Posted on September 29, 2016National employment has been on the rise since 2010, but most U.S. counties still have fewer jobs today than they did when the Great Recession started in 2008. Half of all metropolitan counties (580 out of 1,165) had fewer jobs in 2015 than they did in 2008. And a stunning 67 percent of nonmetropolitan counties (1,326 out of 1,969) had fewer jobs last year than they did before the recession. All the job growth has been in metropolitan America. But a closer look at Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that all the gains occurred in large metropolitan areas – ones that have at least 250,000 residents. And most of the growth occurred in metro areas with 1 million or more residents. These largest metro areas had 5.6 percent more jobs in 2015 than they did just before the recession. At the other end of the county-size spectrum, the result is flipped. In nonmetropolitan counties where fewer than 20,000 residents lived in a city, there were about 5 percent fewer jobs last year than before the recession.
Improving Texas’ ocelot population with wildlife crossings
KXAN.com | Posted on September 29, 2016In order to protect Texas’ endangered population of ocelots, special wildlife corridors are currently being built along a major highway in South Texas to make sure the animals are able to travel to other areas without being hit by vehicles. In South Texas, approximately 95 percent of the habitat has been cleared.
House approves rural phone quality measure
Agri-Pulse | Posted on September 29, 2016The Rural Broadband Association is applauding the House of Representatives for passing the Communications Act Update Act of 2016, which includes provisions to combat problems of telephone calls failing to complete to rural areas as well as measures to relieve small business network operators from burdensome broadband obligations. NTCA CEO Shirley Bloomfield said the legislation holds great significance for rural Americans and the small hometown businesses committed to providing them with quality voice and broadband services.
New law allows Californians to rescue pets from hot cars
San Luis Obispo Tribune | Posted on September 28, 2016Gov. Jerry Brown has signed into law a bill that allows Californians to rescue animals trapped in hot cars without fear of prosecution. The bill signed on Saturday lets citizens smash car windows to set the pets free as long as there is no other way to rescue them. That means rescuers can break into the car if the animal appears to be in peril, the car is locked and law enforcement is not arriving quickly enough. The rescuer must stay at the scene until law enforcement respond to the situation. The bill was introduced after a series of incidents in which dogs died after being left in closed cars on hot days.
Still Not Enough Treatment in the Heart of the Opioid Crisis
Pew Trusts | Posted on September 28, 2016This city, where the rate of drug overdose deaths is nearly 10 times the national average, has done more than most to fight the heroin and prescription painkiller epidemic. Local police have been diverting drug users to specialized drug courts for treatment. The city opened a syringe exchange program to reduce the spread of infectious diseases among drug users. And doctors and nurses from a local hospital have developed a model facility to care for the hundreds of opioid-dependent infants born to heroin-addicted mothers. But instead of getting better, Huntington’s opioid problem is getting worse. In just one afternoon last month, 28 people in this city of 50,000 overdosed on heroin. Since January, 773 people have overdosed on opioids (including prescription painkillers and heroin), a 24 percent increase over last year. An estimated 8,000 Huntington residents are addicted, mostly to opioids.
Some insurers thwart efforts to use medication treatment for addiction
USA Today | Posted on September 28, 2016Krista Sizemore's brain was crying out for heroin. But she knew she was pregnant. She knew her baby needed her to stay safe. She knew what could happen if she used again. She thought she'd been through it all, even overdosing once in her father's home. Sizemore, 26, called her mother, Kimberly Wright. "I knew I wasn't going to stop without help," Sizemore said. But when Sizemore tried to get help from a top addiction doctor in Northern Kentucky, the insurance blocked the first attempt. WellCare of Kentucky gave her a little Suboxone but required Zubsolv, a similar medication used to reduce cravings and stabilize heroin users.Then, on Labor Day weekend, Sizemore tried to get her second prescription filled. Again: Denied. The insurance company wanted a new prior-authorization form, just a month after the first. Sizemore is not alone in struggling with insurance. During a nationwide epidemic in which one American dies every 19 minutes from opioid or heroin overdose, addiction doctors say insurance barriers to medication that can save lives are instead putting them at risk for death.
Food Habits of Recolonizing Cougars in the Dakotas: Prey Obtained from Prairie and Agricultural Habitats
South Dakota State University | Posted on September 28, 2016Food habits of cougars (Puma concolor) in North America have been documented for western populations in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Most studies assessed diets of cougars occupying typical habitats, and within established populations. We evaluated food habits of cougars in prairie and agricultural landscapes in the Dakotas (regions that had been devoid of the species for roughly a century) located well outside of known resident populations. We obtained stomach and gastrointestinal (GI) tracts from 14 cougars (10 male; 4 female) from 2003–2007, and evaluated contents via frequency of occurrence (%) of various prey items. Deer (Odocoileus spp.) had the highest frequency of occurrence (50.0%). Other native mammalian prey included jackrabbit (Lepus townsendii, L. californicus), porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum), beaver (Castor canadensis), badger (Taxidea taxus), mink (Mustela vison) and rodent species (e.g., vole). No domestic livestock species were documented as part of the cougar diet in the Dakotas, although remains of domestic housecat (Felis silvestris) were found in GI tracts of two animals. Based on our results, cougars occupying non-typical, newly recolonized habitats were successfully adapting predation techniques for capture of natural and newly confronted prey species. The wide range of prey encountered suggested that prey was being obtained opportunistically in prairie and agricultural landscapes of the Dakotas.
Palm Beach County bans dog, cat sales at new pet stores
Sun Sentinel | Posted on September 28, 2016w pet stores in Palm Beach County will no longer be able to sell dogs or cats as part of an effort to crack down on substandard breeders known as puppy mills. Commissioners approved the measure despite concerns from animal advocates. They argued it doesn't go far enough to cut off demand for puppies and kittens from commercial breeders who may put profits ahead of animal welfare. Existing stores could continue to sell puppies and kittens provided they are purchased from a licensed breeder that meets U.S. Department of Agriculture standards. Eight pet stores in Palm Beach County sell dogs or cats, according to Animal Care and Control. David Torgerson, a Delray Beach animal advocate, said grandfathering in pet stores will allow stores to keep selling animals from commercial breeders that he thinks don't do enough to care for breeding dogs and cats.
North Dakota tax collections continue falling below forecast
Bismarck Tribune | Posted on September 27, 2016North Dakota continues to see bleaker-than-expected state tax revenue collections from declining slumping oil and crop prices in the state.Office of Management and Budget Director Pam Sharp says revenues for August totaled $139.3 million. That's $9.2 million less than what had been projected.