rural America

18 Stories

New $100K H-1B Visa Fee Could Upend Rural America

Many parts of the US rely on skilled immigrant workers for jobs in education, health care

(Newser) - When Rob Coverdale started his job in 2023 as superintendent of the Crow Creek Tribal School District in South Dakota, there were 15 unfilled teaching positions. Within nine months, he'd filled those vacancies with Filipino teachers, the majority of whom arrived on the H-1B, a visa for skilled workers...

In Rural America, the Shutdown Threatens Air Travel

Hundreds of rural airports could lose service by Sunday as EAS funding dries up

(Newser) - Federal funding that keeps air travel running in rural parts of the United States will expire this Sunday if the government shutdown drags on . The Essential Air Service program , created in 1978, provides subsidies to airlines serving 177 small airports—often the only link these communities have to bigger...

In Rural America, a 'Vaccine Void'
In Rural America,
a 'Vaccine Void'
Mar 6, 2021 8:30 AM CST

In Rural America, a 'Vaccine Void'

In America's 'pharmacy deserts,' it's a challenge for residents to get their shots

(Newser) - When Charlome Pierce searched where her 96-year-old father could get a COVID vaccine in January, she found zero options anywhere near their home in Virginia. The lone medical clinic in Surry County had none, and the last pharmacy in an area with roughly 6,500 residents closed years ago. To...

Rural America Has Big New Problem, and It's Not Ready

Op-ed warns that HIV cases are going to swamp small communities

(Newser) - In big cities around the US, the numbers are encouraging when it comes to HIV. New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco, and other huge urban centers have reported falling numbers, writes professor Steven W. Thrasher of Northwestern University in a New York Times op-ed. But his isn't a celebratory...

Instagram Photos Show the Trouble With Food Deserts

Distance to grocery stores correlates with nutritional value of meals

(Newser) - It turns out all those Sunday brunch photos on Instagram aren't just pictures, they're data. Or, at least they were for Georgia Tech researchers looking for a better way to get at the reality of living in a so-called food desert, where access to grocery stores and healthy,...

Rural America Is Losing Its Hospitals

Some blame states' failure to expand Medicaid

(Newser) - The closing of a hospital in rural North Carolina may not seem like a huge deal—on its own. But the shuttering of Pungo Hospital in the largely black town of Belhaven is just another example of a US rural hospital closing up shop, Al Jazeera reports. Last year, 14...

Health Exchanges Pretty Lousy for Rural Customers

Competition is low, and prices are high

(Newser) - ObamaCare's technical difficulties are well-documented—the House is dragging four contractors in to talk about them today—but it has one problem no web developer can solve: It's pretty lousy in rural areas. The theory behind the Affordable Care Act's health insurance marketplace is that forcing insurers...

Needed: Rural Lawyers; Subsidies Available

South Dakota offers pilot program for attorneys

(Newser) - Lawyers are having a hard time finding jobs these days, but all they really need to do to get hired is move out of the city. Rural America is increasingly short on lawyers, and as a result, one state is offering subsidies to law school grads who practice there. Other...

Rural Residents More Likely to Get Alzheimer's
Rural Residents More Likely
to Get Alzheimer's
study says
Sep 18, 2012 3:50 PM CDT

Rural Residents More Likely to Get Alzheimer's

A new study sees double the risk for lifelong country dwellers

(Newser) - Another medical study is out knocking the rural life. After one last week said rural residents were more likely to be obese , we get one from the UK saying they're twice as likely to get Alzheimer's, too, report the Daily Mail and the Telegraph . Edinburgh University researchers came...

City Residents Slimmer Than Rural Ones
 City Residents 
 Slimmer Than 
 Rural Ones 
study says
Sep 14, 2012 11:10 AM CDT

City Residents Slimmer Than Rural Ones

Manual labor is down, but diets haven't changed, says study

(Newser) - In the US, there's plenty of obesity to go around, but the problem is significantly worse in rural areas compared to urban ones, a new study finds. Some 39% of rural Americans are obese, versus 33% of urbanites, a researcher tells ABC News . Rather than depending on self-reporting, researchers...

Unhealthiest Places in US Often Rural, Not Urban

Mostly thanks to poverty

(Newser) - It turns out being a country mouse may be bad for your health. People who live in rural parts of the US may be significantly less healthy than those living in cities and suburbs, according to a new study from the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. The study found...

Quit the Rat Race: Go Rural
 Quit the 
 Rat Race: 
 Go Rural 
OPINION
Apr 30, 2011 10:13 AM CDT

Quit the Rat Race: Go Rural

You'll save money and escape distractions: Trent Hamm

(Newser) - Rural life often gets a bad rap: There’s no culture, no convenience, and locals are uneducated, we hear. It’s high time we examine the benefits of living in the country, writes Trent Hamm in the Christian Science Monitor . Indeed, the lifestyle can provide “a lot of economic...

Divorce Soars in Rural America
 Divorce Soars in Rural America 
Mar 24, 2011 8:29 AM CDT

Divorce Soars in Rural America

Families look very different amid shift in values

(Newser) - An Iowa county’s divorce rate today is almost seven times what it was in the 1970s, and it’s symptomatic of a wide-ranging trend: For the first time in history, rural Americans are as likely as urbanites to be divorced, the New York Times finds in a look at...

Maine Shoots Down Same-Sex Marriage
 Maine Shoots Down 
 Same-Sex Marriage 
UPDATED
Nov 4, 2009 4:45 AM CST

Maine Shoots Down Same-Sex Marriage

Law repealed by 53% of voters with rural, Catholic backing

(Newser) - Maine voters yesterday shot down a state law allowing same-sex marriage after an emotionally charged campaign that drew hordes to the polls. The vote was another indication of a list to the right election night. “It has all come together and the institution of marriage has been preserved,"...

Rural States Would Gain Most From Health Reform...

...but their vehement residents want it least

(Newser) - With some of the highest percentages of uninsured citizens, rural states like Wyoming and Iowa stand to benefit the most from health care reform—but they’re also home to its most vocal detractors, the Los Angeles Times reports. Such states tend to have lower personal incomes, more small businesses...

Obama Clashes With Rural Democrats
Obama Clashes With Rural Democrats
Jun 17, 2009 11:15 AM CDT

Obama Clashes With Rural Democrats

Environmental rules, car dealerships among sticking points

(Newser) - Democrats from rural areas aren’t pleased with President Obama, and they’re threatening to show it by revolting against key parts of his domestic agenda, Politico reports. The tension boiled to the surface last week when rural and moderate Democrats decried plans to close 3,400 General Motors and...

Wireless Tech Leaps Forward ... on Balloons

Flying 'towers' could revolutionize rural Internet, cell use; Google interested

(Newser) - A decidedly whimsical business model could bring wireless Internet and cell service to wide swaths of rural America, slinging signals from balloons drifting toward the edge of space. Don’t scoff—the system is already providing services for truckers and oil companies, courtesy of Space Data Corp., and Google is...

Boom Time on Heartland Farms
Boom Time on Heartland Farms
Feb 15, 2008 2:55 AM CST

Boom Time on Heartland Farms

US farmers strike it rich satisfying ethanol, export demands

(Newser) - The US economy may be teetering on a precipice but agriculture is enjoying what one industry analyst is calling a "golden age" after decades of decline, with bountiful harvests of crops and profits. The boom is fueled by the soaring demand from ethanol producers and to fill grain orders...

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