Rural NPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94 NPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94 Rural Wed, 21 Apr 2021 12:08:17 +0000 https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Seth Bodine The surge in online shopping is helping the U.S. Postal Service stay afloat financially, but the influx of packages is straining rural letter carriers across the country. An increase in online orders is projected to help the postal service run until September 2021. Ronnie Stutts, the president of the National Rural Letter Carriers' Association, says while the increase in mail is good, they are facing a worker shortage because a large percentage rural carriers are still on leave. “It's really created a stress on the people that are working,” Stutts says. “They're working a lot more hours, they're splitting routes, staying out on the street, sometimes at 8, 9, 10 o'clock at night.” Stutts says many part-time workers are working 60 to 80 hours a week and many are quitting. He expects the number of packages will double or triple as the holiday season inches closer. In an effort to get more help, The National Letter Carriers’ Association signed a memorandum of understanding with the USPS to https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/post-office-plans-hire-temporary-help-online-orders-stress-rural-letter-carriers 937 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Fri, 06 Nov 2020 14:58:13 +0000 The Post Office Plans To Hire Temporary Help As Online Orders Stress Rural Letter Carriers Jonathan Ahl Swiss Meat and Sausage has been butchering animals and selling meats in a small, unincorporated east-central Missouri town for 50 years. Co-owner Janice Thomas wants to expand, and to do that, she’ll need more business from out-of-town customers. “If there is one place that has some room, it’s with our online ordering,” she said. The community of Swiss has minimal internet access: It’s not high speed, and it’s unreliable. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/rural-businesses-need-better-internet-access-expand-solutions-aren-t-so-easy 663 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Mon, 28 Jan 2019 20:21:47 +0000 Rural Businesses Need Better Internet Access To Expand, But Solutions Aren’t So Easy Peggy Lowe On a busy football Saturday, fans on both sides of the Iowa-Nebraska line streamed into a tiny grocery store to pick up hamburger, soda and chips. Store manager Nick Johnson, a third-generation store owner in far southwest Iowa, has long had a front-row seat to the local economy. Times have been tough since the recession, with lots of people losing their manufacturing jobs, though he says that it looks like some of those are coming back. And similar to the rest of the country, farm income is down thanks to low crop prices . https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/rural-americans-are-now-largest-slice-federal-food-aid-recipients 604 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Wed, 17 Oct 2018 20:15:30 +0000 Rural Americans Are Now The Largest Slice Of Federal Food Aid Recipients Amy Mayer When communities watch young people grow up, go off and never return, remaining residents and politicians often bemoan there’s been a “brain drain” — especially when such population loss means schools and businesses close. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/how-some-small-towns-are-achieving-brain-gain 548 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Tue, 10 Jul 2018 21:43:39 +0000 How Some Small Towns Are Achieving 'Brain Gain' Erica Hunzinger Editors note, June 28, 2018: The CDC says the data referenced in this story about farmer suicides is incorrect, due to "coding issues" and that the agency will work to correct the data, according to media outlet The New Food Economy. Updated suicide numbers for farmers have not yet been released. Farming involves a degree of inherent risk, such as environmental and biological factors like drought and disease, which can come and go practically without warning. Depressed commodity and dairy prices and a burgeoning trade war are adding to that usual stress and taking a toll on farmers. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/senate-bill-seeks-help-farmers-obtain-mental-health-services 522 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Thu, 28 Jun 2018 18:45:54 +0000 Senate Bill Seeks To Help Farmers Obtain Mental Health Services Bram Sable-Smith When Sarah Scantling went into labor this summer, she had to drive 30 miles and across state lines. Three years earlier, the only maternity ward where she lives in Pemiscot County, Missouri closed down. Scantling had to choose between a handful of other hospitals in the region between 20 and 70 miles away. She chose to give birth in the hospital in Dyersburg, Tennessee. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/pregnant-women-rural-areas-increasingly-travel-give-birth 377 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Wed, 27 Sep 2017 21:15:10 +0000 Pregnant Women In Rural Areas Increasingly Travel To Give Birth Frank Morris If you pull a fire alarm in any large U.S. city, it's likely that paid firefighters waiting at a nearby station will quickly respond. But seven out of 10 American firefighters are volunteers. They cover vast sections of the country, making up an aging network that is increasingly understaffed and overworked. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/fighting-fires-free-volunteer-firefighting-units-struggle-recruit-new-generation 372 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Mon, 18 Sep 2017 10:01:00 +0000 Fighting Fires For Free, Volunteer Firefighting Units Struggle To Recruit A New Generation Bram Sable-Smith $1.25 million. That’s the size of the bill that could have shuttered the only public hospital in rural Pemiscot County, Missouri in August 2013. $750,000 for payroll. $500,000 for a bond payment. $1.25 million total. One August day in 2013, the hospital’s CEO Kerry Noble had to face facts: The money just wasn’t there. It took an emergency bailout from a local bank to keep their doors open. For now. For the nearly 700 rural hospitals in the United States on the brink of financial collapse, relatively small amounts of money can be the difference between life and death. There are variables that can strengthen their chances of survival: Did their state expand Medicaid? Does their patient mix include some higher-paying private insurance? Are they able to recruit doctors? But health policy researchers say the problem for rural hospitals is deeper than all these issues. Rural America’s dwindling populations make it nearly impossible to keep these community institutions afloat. “It’s a very https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/survive-rural-hospitals-need-grow-demographics-dont-add 370 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Mon, 11 Sep 2017 18:43:25 +0000 To Survive, Rural Hospitals Need To Grow. But The Demographics Don't Add Up Alex Smith Tammy Wilson loved the outdoors and was happy to spend her days working at Meramec State Park in the central part of Missouri. Her family often stopped by to see her, most recently at the end of May. “My mom had two seed ticks on her hip – I believe it was her right hip,” says Wilson’s daughter, Amie May of Bonne Terre, Missouri. “And my sister pulled them off. A couple days later, mom said she just wasn’t feeling herself.” https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/missouri-death-linked-tick-borne-virus-raises-questions-about-midwest-ticks 367 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Mon, 11 Sep 2017 13:45:00 +0000 Missouri Death Linked To Tick-Borne Virus Raises Questions About Midwest Ticks Bryan Thompson A brick building that was the only grocery store in St. John, Kansas, sits vacant, its glass doors covered with paper since it closed early last year. St. John is the county seat of Stafford County in south-central Kansas, but it’s home to fewer than 1,300 people. Today, the closest grocery store is 12 miles away, in Stafford. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/kansas-town-tries-new-blueprint-replace-rural-grocery-store 363 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Tue, 05 Sep 2017 09:53:00 +0000 Kansas Town Tries New Blueprint To Replace Rural Grocery Store Grant Gerlock Sidney, Nebraska, has prospered while many rural cities have struggled. For decades, the city has been home to Cabela’s, a major outdoor retail chain. As Cabela’s completes a deal in which it will be bought by a rival , however, the future of Sidney’s economic engine is in doubt. As in other rural cities that have faced the loss or closure of major industry, the question is how the community will move on and grow in the 21st Century. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/what-rural-nebraska-city-can-teach-us-about-21st-century-economy 361 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Thu, 31 Aug 2017 19:39:12 +0000 What A Rural Nebraska City Can Teach Us About The 21st Century Economy Bryan Thompson The social and health effects of isolation on some rural Kansas residents spurred three Catholic nuns to convert a storefront in Concordia, Kansas, into a drop-in center where women can find support and resources. Seven years after the center opened, two dozen women on average come through each day in the town of about 5,000 to socialize, do laundry, get a cooking lesson, or simply connect with others. Sister Pat McLennon, who helped launch Neighbor to Neighbor in Concordia and still serves as its co-director, says the center started as a place for women in the community to teach skills to young mothers in poverty while providing enrichment activities like reading and music to their kids. But it quickly drew women of all ages, including some helping as volunteers and others fulfilling mandated community service. McLennon says Neighbor to Neighbor serves as a complement to social service agencies that provide utilities or food assistance. The women who visit the center have come to look https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/drop-centers-rural-kansas-aim-address-dangers-isolation 348 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Wed, 02 Aug 2017 20:52:12 +0000 Drop-In Centers In Rural Kansas Aim To Address Dangers Of Isolation Kristofor Husted This story is part of the special series United And Divided , which explores the links and rifts between rural and urban America. Schools in rural school districts often don’t have the budget or the teachers to offer students all of the courses they would like to take. One rural district in a Missouri county decided to offer credit for online classes in an effort to give its students the educational opportunities it can’t otherwise afford. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/what-happens-when-their-school-doesnt-offer-physics-rural-students-head-online 337 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Sun, 09 Jul 2017 14:01:00 +0000 What Happens When Their School Doesn't Offer Physics? Rural Students Head Online Alex Smith Twenty-four-year-old Kalee Woody says that when she was growing up in Bronaugh, Missouri, she saw the small town slowly fading. Businesses closed, growth stagnated and residents had to drive to other places to see a doctor. It is a town that, like many towns in rural areas of Missouri and other Midwest and Great Plains states, is recognized by the federal government as having a shortage of healthcare providers . Now, Woody wants to help. She enrolled in medical school and will start classes in July at the just-opened Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences (KCUMB) campus in Joplin, Missouri, the first new medical school in the state in nearly half a century. Woody wants to serve someday in a rural community much like the one she grew up in – where, as a doctor, she’ll also be seen as a pillar of the community. “They have so much contact with different people. They just get to know everyone,” Woody says. “Everyone knows them and, by association, they become a leader.” KCUMB https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/osteopathic-medical-schools-seek-fill-rural-healthcare-gap 333 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Mon, 03 Jul 2017 15:50:38 +0000 Osteopathic Medical Schools Seek To Fill Rural Healthcare Gap Amy Mayer This story is part of the special series United And Divided , which explores the links and rifts between rural and urban America. As Highway 30 enters Denison, Iowa, a city of 8,000, the national fast food chains stand next to Mexican groceries and restaurants. In this small city near the Nebraska border, waves of immigrants have been arriving since at least the 1980s. In small, rural, diverse towns like this one, religious institutions can play an important role. Often, they provide needed social services. Many are a small slice of home. And they can serve as some of the most prominent points of connection between the different communities in town. Recently on a hot Sunday, parishioners at the English language mass at St. Rose of Lima exited the Catholic church to the sound of a live band and the smell of tacos and papusas outside. Denison is the seat of Crawford County, where more than a quarter of the people are Latino. Father Paul Kelly enjoys ministering to both the Spanish and https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/united-and-divided-sunday-church-rural-iowa-town 329 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Sun, 25 Jun 2017 13:06:00 +0000 United And Divided: A Sunday At Church In A Rural Iowa Town Luke Runyon Brandon Biesemeier climbs up a small ladder into a John Deere sprayer, takes a seat in the enclosed cab, closes the door, and blocks out most of the machine’s loud engine hum. It is a familiar perch to the fourth-generation farmer on Colorado’s eastern plains. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/big-high-tech-farms-take-hold-how-do-nearby-towns-stay-afloat 323 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Mon, 12 Jun 2017 21:39:18 +0000 As Big, High-Tech Farms Take Hold, How Do Nearby Towns Stay Afloat? Luke Runyon People that live in rural areas are more connected to the internet than they’ve ever been, but they still lag well-behind their urban and suburban counterparts in access to high-speed Internet, according to data from the Pew Research Center . Roughly two-thirds of rural Americans have a broadband internet connection at home, Pew suggests. That’s a much higher rate than just ten years ago, when only one-third of rural Americans had broadband at home. Rural residents, however, are still 10 percentage points less likely to have broadband access at home than people in cities and suburbs. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/rural-areas-still-lag-behind-digital-technology-adoption 317 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Fri, 26 May 2017 21:59:22 +0000 Rural Areas Still Lag Behind In Digital Technology Adoption Luke Runyon Former Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says the long delays in seating his replacement leaves rural America without a voice in the Trump administration. Vilsack, a Democrat who served as USDA chief during both terms of the Obama Administration, cites President Donald Trump’s first budget proposal as an example of what happens without a Cabinet position dedicated to rural issues. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/former-ag-secretary-vilsack-worried-about-lack-rural-focus-trump-cabinet 293 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Thu, 13 Apr 2017 21:10:51 +0000 Former Ag Secretary Vilsack Worried About Lack Of Rural Focus In Trump Cabinet Luke Runyon This story is part of the special series United And Divided , which explores the links and rifts between rural and urban America. At the public library in the rural Morgan County town of Brush, Colorado, Marissa Velazquez welcomes her students to class. It’s a sunny Saturday morning, and today marks the halfway point in Velazquez’s class, a ten-week crash course on American history, civics and English. Everyone in it has the same goal: become an American citizen. In two hours, Velazquez runs through voting rights, the legislative process and some grammar tips. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/hope-and-fear-why-some-rural-immigrants-are-taking-steps-toward-citizenship 292 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Thu, 13 Apr 2017 17:14:43 +0000 Hope And Fear: Why Some Rural Immigrants Are Taking Steps Toward Citizenship Bram Sable-Smith Darvin Bentlage says his health insurance plan used to be the same as all the other cattle farmers in Barton County, Missouri: stay healthy until he turned 65, then get on Medicare. But when he turned 50, things did not go according to plan. “Well, I had a couple issues,” he says. He’s putting it mildly. Over two years time he had Hepatitis C and diverticulitis, and that’s on top of his diabetes, persistent kidney stones and other problems. “I had to go back and refinance the farm,” he says, “because by the time the two years was up I had run up between 70 and 100-thousand dollars hospital bills.” He racked up those bills in 2007. Bentlage says all those pre-existing conditions made buying health insurance became impossibly expensive, which was a problem, because he needed more health care. So when the Affordable Care Act exchanges opened up in 2013, he says, “I was probably one of the first ones to get online with it and walk through it.” Bentlage was so vocal about how well it worked https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/gop-health-care-bill-could-hit-some-farmers-hard 278 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Wed, 22 Mar 2017 23:18:50 +0000 GOP Health Care Bill Could Hit Some Farmers Hard