Explore a full-page version of the map. An additional 285,000 rural Americans completed their Covid-19 vaccinations last week, raising the overall rate of completed vaccinations by about 0.6 percentage points to 34% of the rural population, according to data from the Centers from Disease Control and state departments of health. The rate of metropolitan completed […]
Posted inArts and Culture
Review: Go Down, Moses – The Wings Over Jordan Choir
Go Down, Moses: The Wings Over Jordan Choir By Sam Barber and Timothy Collins Then & Now Media, 2021 It’s always a thrill to help uncover important history that has been lost. I have had that pleasure lately, along with Dr. Sam Barber, a professor of mine at Ohio State during the mid-1970s. Sam, a […]
Posted inCoronavirus
Rural Covid Infections Decline for Third Straight Week
Explore full-page map The number of new Covid-19 infections dropped for the third consecutive week, but the rural infection rate remains significantly higher than the metropolitan rate. The gap between the rural and metropolitan death rates is even more pronounced, according to a Daily Yonder analysis. New infections fell by about 12% in rural counties […]
Posted inHealth
Faced with Failing Sewage System, Rural Community in Alabama’s Black Belt Wants a Say in Finding a Solution
In the Black Belt of the American South, residents of Uniontown, Alabama, are making a continued plea to be included in crucial decisions regarding the future of a failing sewage system. As many rural towns across the country struggle to build and maintain the infrastructure necessary to establish a healthy quality of life, a number […]
Posted inGrowth and Development
Small, Historically Black Town in Oklahoma Joins a National Coalition Studying Reparations
A group of mayors from communities across the United States is coming together to form a coalition taking a closer look into reparations, and the smallest of those communities is a historically Black town in Oklahoma. Tullahassee Mayor Keisha Currin is one member of Mayors Organized for Reparations and Equity (MORE). Formed this past summer, […]
Posted inRural Voters
Republican-Voting Mountain Counties in N.C. Urge State to Expand Medicaid
This story was originally published by North Carolina Health News. EDITOR’S NOTE: The county commissions of five counties in Western North Carolina have passed resolutions supporting Medicaid expansion. The counties are Macon, Swain, Jackson, Watauga, and Graham. All are nonmetropolitan. Nearly an hour into the August meeting of Macon County’s board of commissioners, Casey Cooper approached […]
Posted inAgriculture
Program Helps New Farmers Find ‘Entrepreneurial Edge’
Starting a farm comes with risks. After long careers in the military and education, Troy and Annette Allan, 47, knew this when they opened their Utah fiber mill during the pandemic. They often heard the assumption that most new agricultural operations don’t survive even two years. But becoming students of the Beginning Farmer Institute (BFI) […]
Posted inCoronavirus
New Vaccinations in Rural Counties Decline for Second Week
Explore full-page version The pace of newly completed vaccinations in rural counties dropped by nearly half in the past three weeks. Rural (nonmetro) counties completed new Covid-19 vaccinations for about 240,000 people the first week of October. Three weeks ago, nearly 450,000 rural Americans were newly vaccinated. Metropolitan counties also saw a similar percentage decline […]
Posted inRural Assembly
‘Rural Women Everywhere’ Celebrates Role of Women in Rural, Native Communities
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article has been revised to reflect that U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, who was originally scheduled to make a presentation at Rural Women Everywhere, will not be able to participate because of changes in her schedule, according to Haaland’s staff. Women from across rural America will gather online this month at Rural […]
Posted inEnvironment
Biden Reverses Trump Cuts to National Monuments, Restores Bears Ears
President Joe Biden restored Bears Ears National Monument to its previous 1.36 million-acres footprint Friday, reversing a Trump-era decision to cut as much as 85% of the southern Utah site valued for its environmental, archeological, and tribal treasures. Bears Ears was one of three national monuments cut by former President Donald Trump that were restored […]
Posted inAgriculture
The Iowa Farm Bureau Is a Small Nonprofit. It’s Sitting on a Huge Business Empire.
This story was originally published by Investigate Midwest: Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting. It is a collaboration between Investigate Midwest and Watchdog Writers Group. In May, senior executives at the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation finalized a little-noticed financial maneuver that could boost their income for years to come. While a nonprofit, the Farm Bureau owned a […]
