Residents recovering from substance abuse in rural Nevada will be getting new options for transitional housing through a new federal program. The U.S. Department of Agriculture named Nevada as one of four states chosen for a pilot program that would turn vacant USDA properties in rural areas as housing for people who are recovering from opioid, painkiller or other substance abuse disorders. [node:read-more:link]
State environmental officials say they have notified well owners within half a mile of coal ash facilities that they will receive a permanent alternative drinking water supply. Official say letters went out to 1,000 households.
“North Carolina continues to lead the nation in addressing the decades-old problem of coal ash,” said Tom Reeder, assistant secretary of the state environmental department. “As we work toward closing every coal ash pond in the state, we are providing residents with the peace of mind that comes from receiving alternate water connections.”
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Washington state has suspended selling fishing and hunting licenses because hackers have gained access to personal information stored by the company that sells licenses online, according to officials. The Idaho Department of Fish and Game, which also contracts with ACTIVE Network, has suspended online sales. [node:read-more:link]
In recent weeks, both presidential candidates have unveiled plans to repair and improve the country’s bridges, roads, internet and water systems. Democratic nominee Clinton says she will allocate $275 billion to the cause, including the creation of a national infrastructure bank designed to spur private investment, in what she has called the “biggest job creation program since World War II.” Meanwhile, presidential hopeful Trump boasts that he would “at least double” Clinton’s pledged investment. [node:read-more:link]
Ferry County commissioners unanimously passed a resolution Friday authorizing the sheriff’s office to kill the remaining nine members of a wolf pack in the northeastern Washington county, if state wildlife officials don’t resume shooting wolves. “That pack of wolves needs to be gone,” Commissioner Mike Blankenship said. “I feel the sheriff has that power and that obligation as much as he would with a wild dog out there.” The Department of Fish and Wildlife halted the search Thursday for the Profanity Peak pack 13 days after shooting two adult female wolves from a helicopter. [node:read-more:link]
One key to understanding current political reporting is that many national reporters seem to think that any area that is not within a major U.S. city is rural. Which leads to an aside: Isn’t it interesting how this data is always pitched as rural versus urban. A better description is that the nation’s huge cities are voting very differently from everyone else. The NPR reporter runs down the differences between major cities and the rest of the country – major cities are more mixed racially, for example, and people there on average have more education. [node:read-more:link]
The overall gap between Internet use in rural and urban areas has remained relatively consistent for the past two decades. Since 1998, rural people have used the Internet at a rate that is 6 to 9 points lower than urban residents. Lower levels of Internet usage are not uniform across different segments of the rural population. [node:read-more:link]
In this summer of catastrophic floods – first in West Virginia in late June and now in Louisiana – scores of small communities will face the daunting task of digging out and trying to start over. For one inundated West Virginia town, help came from down the road, across the country, and next door. And a good bit of that help came from folks who once called Richwood, West Virginia, home. Townspeople rallied, and a state official stepped in briefly to lead until the mayor-elect, Bob Henry Baber, could take over. [node:read-more:link]
the Davis Brown Law Firm filed an emergency motion with the Iowa Utilities Board to temporarily prevent construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline across the property of fifteen Iowa landowners while a lawsuit remains pending in Polk County District Court. The motion filed with the IUB is a result of guidance from District Court Judge Jeffrey Farrell after a hearing held Friday, August 19 to decide whether to apply an emergency stay against pipeline construction. [node:read-more:link]
A series of improvements to housing facilities in Ohio migrant worker camps, including running water, smoke detectors, and improved toilets, will soon be required with a state regulation that goes into effect Jan. 1. The new rule, instituted by the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review, requires installing sinks with hot and cold running water in existing structures and including them in any new facilities built. [node:read-more:link]
