Skip to main content
corn stalks

The Rural Blog

In post-Hurricane Helene North Carolina, small mountain communities found communicating hard, so they resurrected the town meeting.
With November elections less than a month away, "lawyers at the Government Accountability Project, a nonprofit whistleblower protection organization, are preparing for a potential influx of calls from a new type of client this fall: election workers."
Lawmakers from both parties agree too many Americans are saddled with medical debt and the problem requires bipartisan intervention.
In the aftermath of terrible storm damage in the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida, many residents found themselves in dire need of reliable information about the damage and recovery efforts. Local media organizations stepped up with round-the-clock radio broadcasts, updated information online and even free newspapers.
This year's election issues have energized college student voters to weigh in on state and national issues. "Students had a decisive impact in several battleground states in 2022," reports Jon Marcus for The Hechinger Report, which covers education. "And they want to do it again." 
What comes after Nov. 5? Most Americans and the betting markets believe that Kamala Harris will win the election. . . . No matter what happens, we need to find center again. Quick like. . . . What the Republic cannot endure, and which gives enemies of freedom oxygen, is the contempt that has taken hold American-to-American.
Scientists aim to fight global warming by adding ground limestone to oceans and rivers, report Brad Plumer and Raymond Zhong of The New York Times. The Earth's water sources "contain carbon dioxide that is constantly escaping into the air, where it traps heat and warms the planet. Adding limestone converts some of that carbon dioxide into a stable molecule that instead stays underwater and washes into the sea, where it should remain trapped for thousands of years."
In 2017, Malheur County, Oregon, was promised a rail center that would change the economic future for the area. As the project got underway, Les Zaitz, publisher of the community's newspaper, the Malheur Enterprise followed its progress. When the buildout started to falter, Zaitz doggedly reported on it.
In an emergency, most people call 911 and expect a dispatcher to answer the call and send help to the correct place. But U.S. emergency centers are facing their own crisis and not every dispatch is getting sent to the right place.

Connect with CI