Rural

Before Charleston chefs can mine local crops for inventive seasonal recipes, thousands of migrant farm workers will descend on South Carolina's farms to pick and prune this year's peaches, tomatoes and berries.   Last year, about 3,000 foreign workers arrived in the Palmetto State through the H-2A visa program, a federal initiative that provides farmers and growers with temporary labor where domestic labor is inconsistent.The state agencies and organizations working to protect these workers by ensuring they have access to legal aid, medical services, fair wages and proper housing will meet [node:read-more:link]

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has approved a request to pull millions of gallons of water daily from Lake Michigan to serve a new Foxconn Technology Group manufacturing plant, helping the Taiwanese electronics giant clear a major regulatory hurdle. Foxconn expects to begin construction on a $10 billion flat-screen plant in Mount Pleasant within weeks. The city of Racine filed a request with the DNR in January to withdraw 7 million gallons of water daily from the lake to serve the plant. [node:read-more:link]

A House Republican is pressing the Trump administration to change federal regulations so public schools can sell unflavored whole milk to kids again. Rep. Tom Marino, R-Pa., introduced the Whole Milk Act, along with Rep. Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., to codify that change.Under former President Barack Obama, the Department of Agriculture changed federal nutrition standards by allowing schools participating in the National School Lunch Program to sell only unflavored 1 percent milk, not whole milk. But Marino said that change didn't have the effect that regulators hoped [node:read-more:link]

Missouri is among the 20 worst states for drug overdose deaths, but it was the only state left without a statewide prescription drug monitoring program. This week, the Missouri Senate attempted to defund one set up by Gov. Eric Greitens.Greitens ordered the creation of a statewide prescription drug monitoring program, or PDMP, last year amid a growing opioid crisisaffecting Missouri and the U.S. [node:read-more:link]

Like many rural areas in the United States, central and southern Delaware had no place for people to get withdrawal management services before the Harrington clinic opened in 2015. It quickly saw there was high demand. When the center looked for money to expand, it found an unexpected partner: the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Using a $1 million low-interest loan from the agency, the center is adding space for counseling, family therapy and primary care. [node:read-more:link]

Children raised in a rural environment, surrounded by animals and bacteria-laden dust, grow up to have more stress-resilient immune systems and might be at lower risk of mental illness than pet-free city dwellers, according to new research. The research also suggests that raising kids around pets might be good for mental health -- for reasons people might not expect. [node:read-more:link]

Rural communities may be left out of philanthropic funding for increased equity, but they’re precisely where equitable solutions are being created. Maybe philanthropy’s ignoring of rural communities is based on a misunderstanding among funders who concentrate specifically on race equity and assume that rural America is all white. [node:read-more:link]

The agenda for an effort to reach voters in 72 “critical” rural counties includes universal healthcare, improving public education, countering corporate power, and economic justice for farmers, according to a report.  A coalition of rural community organizing groups has launched a campaign to educate rural voters in 72 counties they say are key to winning federal elections. [node:read-more:link]

Kelly Folse, DVM, is at home on bond awaiting trial after her Dec. 19 arrest in Louisiana for allegedly shooting and killing her neighbor’s 15-month-old bulldog, Bruizer, six days earlier. Her attorney, who spoke with dvm360, says Dr. Folse has been unable to find employment as a result of the charges brought against her. According to the court affidavit for the charges filed against the 35-year-old veterinarian, Dr. Folse “shot her neighbor’s dog in the head, killing him.” The dog was in its backyard, which borders an elementary school, at the time of the shooting. [node:read-more:link]

Outside of Cheyenne, Wyoming is an 8,900-acre former ranch where cattle and horses once roamed. Now it's just open land with nothing but grass. When the owner passed away he didn't have a succession plan. With no obvious heirs, a family member sold it. It eventually became subdivided and a realty company now advertises it for redevelopment primarily as retirement or vacation properties. [node:read-more:link]