Thursday, Aug. 31, 2006

Corn-based fuel might cure U.S. oil addiction, if it wasn't so scarce

E-85, the corn-based fuel blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline, is being hailed as an escape from America’s oil addiction, but support for the fuel is lacking in terms of availability.

"Most oil companies want nothing to do with E-85, which they see as a money-losing alternative to their own petroleum-based products. Without help from the oil

industry or a lot more flexible-fuel cars on the road, gasoline retailers are hesitant to install the expensive pumps, which can cost up to $200,000 with a new underground storage tank," writes Alexei Barrionuevo of The New York Times.

"Many drivers whose vehicles can run on ethanol will not buy E-85 unless it is markedly cheaper than regular gasoline, which has not always been the case."

The U.S. currently boasts more than 850 gas stations with E-85, up from 350 since the start of 2005. However, the U.S. is home to 169,000 stations, and sales are small enough that some retailers can tally the regular E-85 customers on one hand, reports Barrionuevo. Sometimes the difference in availability varies greatly among border states. Illinois is the nation's second-biggest corn producer, following Iowa, and has 135 stations with E-85, but only 54 stations exist in Missouri and just 13 operate in Kansas. (Read more)

Supporters of renewable energy buck Colorado electric co-op managers

Some members of Colorado's Intermountain Rural Electric Association are taking steps to become a greener operation by discussing means of renewable energy and combating climate change.

Some members of the IREA had previusly voiced opposition to wind and solar energy. "IREA's membership last year voted to opt out of Amendment 37, which requires Colorado utilities to obtain 10 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2015," writes Steve Raabe of the Denver Post. IREA is a power cooperative that provides electricity to 130,000 people in 10 counties surrounding Denver.

"IREA's general manager, Stan Lewandowski, has been an outspoken critic of Colorado's renewable-energy mandate passed by voters in 2004. He also has taken a controversial stand against the widely held scientific theory that man-made pollution, particularly from coal-fired power plants, is a major contributor to global warming," writes Raabe.

"We have got to get with the big picture here. ... There have been some serious changes in the environment taht we need to deal with," IREA member Patrick Healey told the Post. (Read more)

Kentucky newspaper posts interview with U.S. senator online via video

When The News-Enterprise of Elizabethtown, Ky., interviewed U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell last week, the newspaper decided to provide its Web site viewers with a new experience -- video of the lawmaker's session with its editorial board. Such interviews may not provide immediate grist for an editorial or big story, but they do help editorial boards and newsmakers understand each other, and provide useful background for future reporting and commentary. And in this case, the newspaper has gone a worthy extra mile by putting the interview online for readers, turning its role of gatekeeper into one of facilitator.

McConnell spoke about Kentucky remaining a vital tobacco producer despite production falling during the past 10 years. "Frankly, I'm a little surprised at how much tobacco we're still producing," McConnell told the editorial board. Video segments from the interview can be viewed at this Web site.

The News-Enterprise (circulation 16,322) did not immediately write an editorial on McConnell's comments, instead opting for a brief story on tobacco. "The transition from quotas to contracts has been rocky, though. In fact, McConnell was viewed as a 'kind of traitor' by the state's burley interests when he first favored getting rid of the declining support program, which was pricing burley so high the crop wasn't competitive," writes John Friedlein of the paper. Story not available online.

S. Carolina bans teen-age tobacco possession; measure took long time

With tobacco farms, "the lowest cigarette tax in the nation and a dead-last ranking in smoking prevention, South Carolina remains one of the last true smokers' outposts. But from the Pee Dee River to Parris Island, the Palmetto State's "smoke-and-let-smoke" ethic is changing - at least when it comes to teenage partakers," writes Patrik Jonsson of The Christian Science Monitor.

"By becoming one of the last states to outlaw teenage possession of tobacco on Aug. 21, the legislature and Gov. Mark Sanford (R) took the state's first tentative steps toward state-sponsored smoking prevention. The gambit itself won't likely change many minds. In fact, critics expect police won't find much time to impose a $25 fine, up to five days of community service, and possibly a lecture from the judge's bench on an underage smoker. Yet experts say the law does have meaning, not only for parents trying to bolster their own 'don't smoke' sermons, but for an antismoking movement that, until now, has failed to gain purchase in a state that perhaps takes tobacco more seriously than any other."

Jonsson adds, "Poor people smoke more than rich people, which is one reason why South Carolina, one of the nation's poorest states, has a higher-than-average smoking rate. Kentucky has the highest overall smoking rate - just under 30 percent in 2004, according to the state's health department. When it comes to South Carolina teens, one in four of them have smoked in the last 30 days compared to a national average of just over one in five, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids." (Read more)

Wyoming town to jump-start rural broadband for economic benefits

Local governments have been setting up their own technology networks to compensate for a lack of interest from private providers. They are part of a "growing phenomenon, fueled by dissatisfaction in sparsely populated areas where the local phone and cable providers are slower to invest in costly network upgrades that may not be profitable," reports The Associated Press.

Powell, Wyo., population 5,300, plans to have a fiber-optic network that would provide phone service, cable TV and super-fast Internet to nearly every home and business in the area. In the U.S., at least 40 public utility districts and municipalities offer public fiber-optic services. The $6-million project is designed to draw business to the small locality, reports AP. Internet service providers Qwest and Bresnan were invited to compete for the contract to run the system, but are instead vowing to launch aggressive marketing in response to the city's planned network.

A little over a year ago the farming community of Windom, Minn., had nothing but dial-up access to the Internet. The city spent nearly $11 million building its network and now about 1,700 customers subscribe to one or more of its services — cable, Internet and phone. Qwest has also moved into the area to compete with its high-speed Internet services. Windom's network hasn't become profitable yet, but it is expected to be soon, reports AP.

To make a profit, up to 30 percent of households in a community may have to subscribe to a fiber network and securing the money to start the network may be difficult, requiring it to come out of taxes, loans and private investment, notes AP. (Read more)

Coal-mine safety laws remain stuck in 1960s in Pa.; lawmakers grid-locked

Pennsylvania's coal-mining safety laws are under review by lawmakers who can't agree on proposed changes, and one legislator warns further delay may mean "blood will be on our hands."

A new "federal law requires improvements in how mine owners respond to accidents, addressing concerns that arose in the wake of January's Sago Mine accident in West Virginia, in which 12 miners died. But state Department of Environmental Protection mining regulations, which are designed to prevent accidents, remain stuck in the 1960s, when most of them were written," reports The Associated Press.

Since a January hearing in which Sen. Richard Kasunic gave the "blood" warning, little progress has been made and the Legislature's fall session will be shortened by the election, notes AP. Edward D. Yankovich Jr., the international vice president of District 2 of the United Mine Workers of America, wants state law to specify the meaning of "wireless" communication with below-ground miners. "We want to make sure what's left to question in the federal legislation is not left to question in the state," he said. (Read more)

Wal-Mart kicks off political-style TV campaign to counter critics

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which got its start in rural areas and remains strong there, is responding to attacks from unions and prominent Democrats by unleashing its own political advertisement-style campaign that started spreading its good points on Monday for viewers in Omaha, Neb., and Tucson, Ariz.

"In a local experiment that is eventually to be seen across the country, the giant discount retailer began broadcasting two television spots that, in unusually detailed terms, trumpet its health care plans, charitable contributions and positive impact on the American economy. The ads do not attack Wal-Mart critics but introduce its merits, much as a candidate would. 'Our low prices save the average working family 2,300 a year,' says the narrator of one ad. 'Which buys a lot of things — and a whole lot of freedom,'" writes Michael Barbaro of The New York Times.

This marketing tactic is contrary to Wal-Mart's tradition of responding to attacks via the media but not letting criticisms of its image affect its television marketing. Now the company is apparently concerned that public opinion is being affected by union-backed groups and Democratic presidential contenders, who have criticized Wal-Mart's hourly pay and health benefits, reports Barbaro. (Read more)

Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2006

Data show wide urban-rural income divide; child poverty increases

U.S. Census data released Tuesday show that people ranking in the top fifth of the nation's biggest earners live mainly in metropolitan areas (90.8 percent) instead of rural ones (9.2 percent).

"Meanwhile, those living in the bottom fifth in income could be found in disproportionate numbers in rural areas (21.2 percent of this group lived outside metro areas compared with 9.2 percent of the wealthiest) and to live in non-family households (59 percent of the poor compared with 12.5 percent of the wealthy). A study of the data by the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire found that children in rural areas were particularly hard hit, with the percentage living in poverty in 41 states higher in 2005 than it was five years before," writes Rick Lyman of The New York Times. (Read more)

To read the Census Bureau's 86-page Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2005 report, click here. The Carsey Institute's analysis of child poverty in non-metro areas in 2005 listed these states as having the biggest percent of rural children in poverty: Mississippi (36.7 percent), Louisiana (31.5 percent), New Mexico (30.9 percent), Arizona (30.8 percent), and Alabama (30.1 percent). Click here for that study.

Obesity problem found biggest in rural Southern states, says report

Thirty-one states' residents grew more obese in the last year, and Southern states with large rural populations led the way, according to a report by the advocacy group Trust for America's Health.

The report found that Mississippi is the heaviest state, with 29.5 percent of residents obese. Nine of the top 10 states with the most obesity are in the South. No specific reasons are known why obesity is prevalent in the South, said Dr. Jeff Levi, executive director of the group. Experts usually blame it on several factors including poverty, culture and diet, reports Thomas H. Maugh II of The Los Angeles Times. (Read more)

The rest of the top 10: Alabama (28.7 percent), West Virginia (28.6 percent), Louisiana (27.4 percent), Kentucky (26.7 percent), Tennessee (26.6 percent), Arkansas (26.4 percent), Indiana and South Carolina (tied at 26.2 percent), and Texas (25.8 percent). For the report, click here. To read a story by Morgan Kelly of the Charleston Gazette on West Virginia's obesity, click here. For a Mobile Press-Register story by Penelope McClenny, click here.

Plan to sell off tracts in national forests delayed; Oregon applauds

Rural counties across the U.S. will avoid immediate cuts to their school and road budgets, and national forestlands are off the chopping block for at least one more year, under a deal made earlier this month by the Bush administration and three senators from the Northwest.

The counties will continue to receive hundreds of millions of federal dollars to compensate them for depressed logging revenue," wrote Jeff Kosseff and Michael Milstein of The Oregonian. "The program, set to expire at the end of next month, provides more than $500 million to mostly rural counties nationally for roads, schools and other public projects. Oregon counties receive more than half the money."

"It's a year's worth of good news for hard-hit rural communities," Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., told the Oregonian. His allies in the deal were Republican Sens. Larry Craig of Idaho and Gordon Smith of Oregon. (Read more) For an Oregonian editorial about rural folks dodging a bullet for now, click here.

In Va., tobacco's base, governor may ban smoking in state buildings

In a measure of how tobacco's political clout has shriveled, Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) said Tuesday that he is "actively considering" ordering a ban on smoking in state government buildings.

"Kaine's willingness to consider a smoking ban is especially symbolic in a state where tobacco has been king since it was first planted by colonists in 1609. Philip Morris, one of the state's top employers, makes nearly 470 million cigarettes a day at its Richmond plant," writes Michael D. Shear of The Washington Post. "Tobacco was the state's leading export for nearly 400 years until being displaced unceremoniously last year by computer memory chips." The state has ranked third in tobacco production.

The American Lung Association says 22 states have banned smoking in state buildings. Arizona and Ohio residents will vote on whether to ban smoking in all workplaces this November, reports Shear. (Read more) For a chart with the status of all states' smoking laws, click here.

The possibility of banning smoking in most public places is something Virginia lawmakers have wrangled with for a while. "The state Senate passed such a bill earlier this year before a House of Delegates subcommittee killed it. The bill's sponsor, Sen. Brandon Bell, R-Roanoke County, plans to introduce a similar measure in the 2007 General Assembly session," writes Michael Sluss of The Roanoke Times. "Fourteen states have workplace smoking bans that also apply to restaurants and bars." (Read more)

Equipment costs, power overload kill Blue Ridge wind farm proposal

A Chicago-based company is no longer considering tapping into power lines for a possible wind farm in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Roanoke County, Virginia.

Invenergy Wind LLC pulled its proposal after realizing that equipment replacements or upgrades for the project would cost more than $1.6 million over one to four years. Preliminary studies the company started conducting last year revealed that the wind turbines that could generate up to 81 megawatts would further overload or nearly overload power lines and circuits, reports John Cramer of The Roanoke Times.

"The wind energy industry has long been based in the West, but it is rapidly expanding into the Appalachians and other eastern sites as the United States looks for more renewable power sources. Wind turbines produce clean energy but often cause controversy because they can kill large numbers of birds and bats and harm other natural resources," writes Cramer. (Read more)

Mississippi town gets help from hometown guy turned stove maker

A Mississippi man founded a stove-making business called Viking Grill and ended up spurring an economic revitalization in his Delta hometown of Greenwood, population 18,464.

"Who would ever guess that the upscale kitchen range revolution would be birthed in a rural Mississippi town?" economic consultant Jack Schultz asked in a recent Boomtown USA blog. Viking is a company founded by Fred Carl that employs more 1,000 people and racks up annual sales of more than $250 million. In addition to being an internationally-known product, Carl's story is one that inspires others.

Inc. magazine online featured Carl in this month's edition and much of the story by Liz Welch lets Carl tell things in his own words: "I was a weird kid -- I began designing towns when I was 12. Other kids would be playing baseball or smoking cigarettes and I'd be inside drawing airports and schools. By high school, I started assessing our town, thinking of all the things Greenwood needed. When we got a bowling alley in the early '60s, by God, I was thrilled! My parents believed in traveling. Wherever we went, I'd say, 'Why don't we have this in Greenwood?' It was during these trips that I began to understand demographics--we might drive through a town in Indiana with the same population as Greenwood, but it felt much bigger.

"I went to Ole Miss in Oxford to study city planning, then moved back home to work as a contractor," continues Carl, adding that Viking spurred other businesses. "What really tickles me is that businesses that left in the '70s and '80s are returning. Martha Foose was my very first recruit. She's from the Delta, did her culinary training in Paris, and now runs Viking's cooking school as well as Mockingbird Bakery." Click here for the Inc. story about Viking's origin, and click here for one about its progress.

Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2006

Rural areas hit by Katrina still searching for help; federal funds wanted

Some rural communities feel they have been overlooked in Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, both in the wake of the storm and now. With America's eye turned toward New Orleans on the first anniversary of the hurricane's landfall, smaller localities feel they have been left out.

Rural communities such as Pearlington, Miss., population 1,600, have come to rely on the support of churches and neighbors to rebuild their lives. Residents say they are no longer counting on any help from the government, reports Margaret Baker of the Sun Herald. (Read more)

Louisiana's lower Plaquemines Parish, an area with citrus orchards and fishing industry along the mouth of the Mississippi River, may have been the rural areas hardest hit areas by Katrina. Of its former 16,000 population, about a third have returned, reports Matthew Brown of the Times-Picayune. (Read more)

Some criticize the fact that the $5.1 billion in relief funds went largely to homeowners outside the flood plain. However, residents of areas away from the coast, especially those in rural and impoverished places, feel that they have been neglected in relief efforts, reports Reuben Mees of the Hattiesburg American.

"One of the biggest unmet needs was communities north of the Gulf Coast were ignored in this program, just like they were ignored immediately following the hurricane. That program should be designed to help individuals who lost their homes in Hattiesburg and Laurel and all the other rural communities north of the coast," Derrick Johnson, Mississippi president the NAACP, told Mees. (Read more)

Relief for rural areas is on the way from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's pledged $189 million for rebuilding in rural areas hurt by Katrina. "Government entities – including parishes, cities with populations under 20,000, and tribal governments - may apply for funds to re-build rural infrastructure such as fire departments, police departments, hospitals and nursing homes, as well as replace any equipment that may have been damaged in the hurricane," writes Kelly Reeder of St. Tammany.com. (Read more)

For a report from the Rural Sociological Society on Katrina's rural effects, click here.

Black-market biodiesel, selling for $1.86 a gallon, gets Va. man arrested

High fuel prices have generated more interest in biodiesel, a fuel made from vegetable oils, and a black market may be developing. A man in Floyd County, Virginia, has been charged with illegally selling his own brand of privately mixed diesel fuel, or biodiesel, for $1.86 a gallon. For consumers, there are quality-control issues, so it might not hurt to ask your local regulators if they suspect a trend.

In Virginia, Samuel Floyd Bolt claimed he did not know he needed state license to sell the fuel. He will go to court Oct. 20 "on charges of dispensing fuels without being a licensed retailer and dispensing fuels into highway vehicles, both misdemeanors, and failure to pay fuel taxes, a felony," writes Paul Dellinger of The Roanoke Times, a paper that seems to have a nose for spotting potential trends. (Read more)

State authorities observed about 15 customers buy the fuel for $1.86, much less than the $3 a gallon national average, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Bolt made the fuel using devices ordered off the Internet. "It's less polluting than your fossil-fuel diesel," Bolt told Dellinger. "What we're doing now, it might be 300 gallons a week. But the potential of it in this area, it's phenomenal."

States file lawsuits against each other to curb water pollution from farms

Oklahoma is getting fed up with water pollution from chicken farms in Arkansas, and Kentucky is objecting to Virginia's "plans to allow a strip mining company to discharge more than a billion gallons of briny water into a river just eight miles from where it flows into Kentucky," reports Juliet Eilperin of The Washington Post, in a story about state-to-state conflicts resulting from lack of action by federal agencies, or federal action that puts two state at odds.

"In some cases, there is little in the way of federal law or regulation. This is the case with the factory farms in Arkansas and Oklahoma. The administration is still sorting through which regulations apply to poultry, dairy and hog farmers, and existing rules don't apply to those who buy the waste for fertilizer," reports Eilperin. "Oklahoma is now suing eight firms -- including Arkansas giant Tyson Foods Inc. -- on the grounds that the chicken waste applied to crops near the river contains hazardous chemicals that are damaging the ecosystem and jeopardizing the region's tourist industry."

"Across the country, states and localities are suing polluters outside their jurisdiction, and sometimes each other, in efforts to curb air and water contamination that respects no borders," Eilperin reports. "Other times the administration has blessed activities in one state that another state opposes, such as the Consolidation Coal Co. plan to dump salty mine water into a stream that feeds Fishtrap Lake in far Eastern Kentucky. (Read more)

Fishtrap Lake, impounded in the 1960s, has lost much of its volume due to siltation, much of it from strip mining. Now officials are investigating whether mining is to blame for elevated levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), a cancer-causing chemical, recently found in fish there. For a story by the Appalachian News-Express on the investigation and an advisory not to consume the fish, click here.

Nominations due Friday for Gish Award for courage, tenacity, integrity

Do you know a publisher, editor, reporter or photographer who has demonstrated courage, tenacity and integrity in rural journalism? You are invited to nominate one or more of them for the Tom and Pat Gish Award, presented by the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues.

The award is named for the couple (right) who are in their 50th year of publishing The Mountain Eagle of Whitesburg, Ky. The Gishes have withstood advertiser boycotts, declining population, personal attacks and even the burning of their newspaper office to provide the citizens of Letcher County the kind of journalism often lacking in rural areas, especially those dominated by extractive industries -- in this case, primarily coal. Their coverage and commentary go beyond the boundaries of Letcher County to address issues in state and federal governments and other institutions that have a local impact, such as a new regional drug-fighting agency, the 40-year-old Appalachian Regional Commission, and the Tennessee Valley Authority and its coal-buying policies that encouraged strip mining in Central Appalachia. These are just some examples of the type of journalism worthy of the award.

The Gish Award is given to rural journalists who demonstrate the courage, tenacity and integrity often needed to render public service through journalism in rural areas. The first award was made to the Gishes themselves in 2005. The Institute hopes to make it annually, depending on the quality of the nominations.

Nominations for this year's award are due this Friday, Sept. 1. The Institute plans to present the award at one of its conferences this fall or next spring. Nominations should be made by way of a letter giving details on the courage, tenacity and integrity demonstrated by the nominee(s). You should include clips and testimony from multiple sources, and you may be asked to provide additional information. While nominations are due Friday, supporting information will be accepted until Sept. 15.

Send your nomination to: Al Cross, director, Instiute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, 122 Grehan Journalism Bldg., University of Kentucky, Lexington KY 40506-0042, or by e-mail to al.cross@uky.edu and send supporting materials by post. If you have questions, e-mail us or call 859-257-3744. For more information on Tom and Pat Gish, click here.

Satellite TV giants may switch to WiMax for wireless, broadband

Rural areas without high-speed Internet service may be more likely to get it from WiMax technology than satellite TV, if a recent development is any indication. "Satellite TV companies sent shockwaves across the wireless market in mid-August when they abruptly pulled out of a government auction of radio frequencies . . . needed for sending wireless calls," writes Olga Kharif of BusinessWeek.com.

Satellite TV operators EchoStar and DirecTV had paid the highest bid deposit, nearly $1 billion, before pulling out. Those companies sought the airwaves for an expansion into wireless communications. They may now be considering entering the wireless market by using WiMax, which uses minimal equipment to provide large areas with high-speed wireless Internet access at a cheap price, repots Kharif.

In June, DirecTV and EchoStar struck a five-year deal to jointly resell satellite broadband service from WildBlue, which currently has more than 85,000 subscribers in rural areas. (Read more) The Rural Blog reported on June 29 about the weekly Pilot of Southern Pines, N.C., using WiMax technology to provide residents with free wireless Internet. Click here for that archived item. The Rural Blog also reported on WildBlue's rural efforts on May 9. Click here for that archived item.

Question for Ahhhnold: Buck feds, legalize non-hallucinogenic hemp?

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is considering whether to sign a bill passed in the California legislature to allow the state's farmers to grow industrial hemp, despite a federal ban on the practice.

"Seven states have passed bills supporting the farming of industrial hemp; their strategy has been to try to get permission from the Drug Enforcement Administration to proceed. But California is the first state that would directly challenge the federal ban, arguing that it does not need a D.E.A. permit, echoing the state’s longstanding fight with the federal authorities over its legalization of medicinal marijuana," writes Patricia Leigh Brown of The New York Times. "The hemp bill would require farmers who grow it to undergo crop testing to ensure their variety of cannabis is nonhallucinogenic."

Opponents say the measure could provide hiding places for this wishing to grow the illegal cannabis, and those fighting it include the California Narcotic Officers Association and the Office of National Drug Control Policy. "Hundreds of hemp products, including energy bars and cold-pressed hemp oil, are made in California, giving the banned plant a capitalist aura. But manufacturers must import the raw material, mostly from Canada, where hemp cultivation was legalized in 1998," reports Brown. (Read more)

Newspaper finds 'CAVE people' as town plans revamp for big event

When big things begin happening in a small town, it often brings our what Jack Schultz of Boomtown USA calls "Citizens Against Virtually Everything," or CAVE. That phenomenon, reported here on June 7, was cited in an editorial by Linda Ireland in The LaRue County Herald News about plans for Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday celebration in the Kentucky county where Lincoln was born.

The celebration will kick off in Hodgenville on Feb. 12, 2008, Lincoln's 199th birthday, and Ireland has "a problem with the way the bicentennial planning is progressing, however. It seems only a few people are becoming involved in the early stages. That means plenty of others will stand back and complain about how this international celebration will evolve. I've heard there is a petition circulating about keeping Lincoln Square a square, rather than making it a circle to improve safety for pedestrians. That decision was made a year ago and several public meetings have been held since then, inviting residents to express their opinion. To my knowledge, no one protested the change."

Ireland likens this to the CAVE people phenomenon she read about, and cites ways to recognize such people, including: They attend no public meetings and criticize the way "they" do things; they knock the local town council and county commission; and they, above all, are skeptical, cynical and negative about anything and everything meant for community progress. "If any of this sounds like you, there is hope. Try helping to build your community, instead of tearing it down," opines Ireland. Editorial not available online. Click here for the archived blog item.

Times West Virginian promotes Misty Poe to city editor position

Misty Poe is the new city editor of the Times West Virginian in Fairmont, following six years as a general assignment reporter for the paper, Publisher Andy Kniceley announced in WV Press News, a weekly publication of the West Virginia Press Association. The Times West Virginian, circulation 11,264, is owned by Community Newspaper Holdings Inc.

Congratulations to Misty from her friends at the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues. She was a fellow at a conference that the Institute programmed for the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism at the University of Maryland in June 2005.

Monday, Aug. 28, 2006

Rural schools struggle to improve scores; sanctions make little difference

When Inez Middle School in rural Eastern Kentucky failed to meet No Child Left Behind Act testing goals for the sixth year in a row, it served as an example of rural districts across the country struggling to deal with the requirements of the federal law with few options for help and lackluster public support.

"National and state experts say districts such as Martin County face myriad problems, which include limited resources to make schools better, and communities that can be indifferent to educational achievement issues. In reality, some NCLB sanctions don't hold a lot of weight in rural, lower-income districts," writes Raviya H. Ismail of the Lexington Herald-Leader. "NCLB is a federal law that measures achievement in public schools based on state tests in reading and math. The law holds accountable only Title 1 schools, those that receive federal aid for low-income students."

Rural schools face many challenges when trying to meet goals including attendance and literacy problems, difficulty retaining and recruiting teachers, and a lack of planning time during the school day, reports Ismail. Some schools such as Inez are using innovative techniques like providing students additional help in reading and math through specialists and partnering with Morehead State University to train teachers.

Students are supposed to have the option to transfer to another school when situations like the one at Inez arise, "but Inez Middle cannot do that because the school they could transfer to, Warfield Middle School, failed to meet NCLB goals for four consecutive years. Under NCLB, students may not transfer to similarly struggling schools," writes Ismail. (Read more)

No Child Left Behind is ineffective or hurting schools, adults claim in poll

Many newspapers are running stories on their local districts' performance on the No Child Left Behind tests, and a national survey shows that nearly 70 percent of adults familiar with the act believe it has had no effect or is actually hurting public schools

The 38th Annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools surveyed 1,007 adults, and it found that 45 percent knew either “a great deal” or “a fair amount” about the law, up from 40 percent last year and 31 percent two years ago. That fnding is just a small part of the much larger poll report, which includes categories such as major findings and conclusions, source of school improvement, public school ratings and the sources of K-12 problems.

When asked "What do you think are the biggest problems the public schools of your community must deal with?," the majority of the respondents (24 percent) said lack of financial support, which is often a problem found in rural districts. Other problems included overcrowded schools (13 percent), lack of discipline (11 percent), drug use (8 percent), studens' lack of interest (6 percent), parents' lack of support (5 percent) and fighting (5 percent). (Read more)

Click here to read an Education Week story about the poll. Subscription required.

Census of Agriculture can be used to track farmer-to-consumer sales

The rise in produce sold directly to consumers is benefitting independent farmers, and Megan Watzin of The Roanoke Times shows how to use Census of Agriculture data to track the trend."Nationwide, the number of farmers markets more than doubled from 1994 to 2004,increasing from 1,755 to 3,706, according to USDA statistics," Watzin reports.

"Cutting out the middle man gives farmers the freedom to set their own prices and to keep all of the money that product brings in rather than having to share it with wholesalers, distributors and grocery stories. It can bring a solid supplementary income at a time when many farmers struggle to turn a profit, but is often not enough to be the farmer's sole source of income," reports Watzin. (Read more)

Customers are often affluent suburbanites who want to have fresh and organic food and feel a connection to its origins. So while the suburbs continuously encroach on farms, direct-selling farmers learn to adapt.

National agriculture leader Larry Turner dies in Comair 5191 crash

Among tose who died in the Comair 5191 crash yesterday was the University of Kentucky's Larry Turner, 51, "a forward-looking agriculture leader whose efforts had earned him national as well as statewide respect," writes Art Jester of the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Turner served as a national extension leader in his role as associate dean for extension, and his job as director of the Cooperative Extension Service in UK's College of Agriculture gave him many responsibilities, including helping tobacco farmers adapt to a free-market system. "He oversaw more than 1,000 employees and offices in all 120 Kentucky counties, and he was helping farmers chart a new course after the federal tobacco support program was abolished," reports Jester.

Al Cross, director of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, told Jester that Turner "was, effectively, Kentucky's chief extension agent." (Read more) One of Cross' students wrote a story about the efforts of Turner and his staff to help tobacco farmers and communities. (Read more)

Journalists play key role in shaping 'Islamic-phobia,' say media experts

Media reports on Muslims are contributing to "Islamic-phobia" by containing bias or stereotypes, experts said during a panel discussion earlier this month at the National Association of Black Journalists' national convention in Indianapolis.

"We're given the most extreme manifestations and there is no balance," Dawud Walid, executive director of the Michigan branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said of U.S. coverage. "It shouldn't be 95 percent negative and 5 percent positive. It shouldn't be just about Ramadan. It needs to be more than that." Islam is the second largest religion behind Christianity with an estimated 1.2 billion followers, reports The Associated Press.

Panelists called for reporters to find positive stories about local Islamic communities and avoid using stereotypical phrases such as "Muslim garb" when referring to clothing such as the head covering that some Muslims wear, notes AP. "There has to be another side presented," said Brenda Shaheed, a vice president of Martin University in Indianapolis who has practiced Islam for more than 30 years. "If I learned about Islam through the images in the media, there's nothing that would attract me to it." (Read more)

Walid more recently delivered media criticism in the case of Rima Qayyum, a West Virginia teacher of Pakistani descent who is also "blasting airport officials and U.S. Airways in her first public statement since . . . she was detained for 14 hours earlier this month because officials at Tri-State Airport mistook her face wash and bottled water for bomb ingredients," reports The Charleston Gazette.

The episode prompted live TV coverage of the incident but the follow-up was lacking, Walid said. "The media play up the allegations but fail to inform the public when they turn out to be unfounded," he told the Gazette's Scott Finn. Qayyum told him, “I believe that the media over-publicized my Pakistani ethnicity as if it were a bad thing, even though I am an American citizen.” (Read more)

For an Aug. 18 item about Islam not being the enemy and how that message needs repeating, because a recent Gallup Poll found that 39 percent of American adults believe American Muslims aren't loyal to the U.S., but most of the poll respondents said they didn't know a Muslim, and those who do had more moderate attitudes, click here.

Timber industry hires foreign workers; low pay, hard labor deter others

Many West Virginia communities have been helped by from a burgeoning timber industry that employs about 11,000 people today, but the difference is that businesses are finding alternative labor via immigrants, reports Greg Collard of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

In some cases, local workers are turning to other industries that pay more. Carl Shoemaker, the head of human relations at Oregon-based Columbia Flooring, told Collard its West Virginia plant along the Mingo-Logan County line is losing local workers to coal mines and railroads that support them. "Their starting wages are often times are more than double what our starting wage is," said Shoemaker.

Dick Waybright, executive director of the West Virginia Forestry Association, told Collard that foreign workers are simply willing to perform hard and lowest-paying jobs. "I've heard it said that, well maybe we need to start looking to Mexicans to fill the labor supply, and What we see as one of the problems, is first of all it's hard work. It requires stamina to get out there and work. You're lifting, you're pulling, you're shoving," Waybright said.

A social trend may be the changing ethic of America's young workforce, reports Collard. Buck Harless, who runs six sawmills and six coal mines, said, "The work ethic has changed tremendously from what it was 25 years ago. I think parents are responsible for a lot of that. They spoil their kids." (Read more)

Rural workers must overcome lack of 'soft skills,' says Virginia official

Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade Pat Gottschalk called for development of "soft skills" to pull rural towns in Southside Virgnia, the state's southern Piedmont area, out of a slump. Gottschalk said that workers need to be punctual, work with others, and develop their communications skills, reports Jamie Ruff of the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

"Southside's hardships are well-documented. For many years, textiles, furniture manufacturing and tobacco were the foundation of the region's economy, and all three have crumbled. Danville saw so many plant closings and job losses that its economy has had the dubious distinction of being the worst in the country that could not be blamed on the devastation of Hurricane Katrina," reports Ruff.

Gottschalk has encouraged Northern Virginia businesses to set up human resource operations and warehouses in these less expensive, economically-depressed areas. However the workers will need to become more educated and adapt to technology, he told Ruff. (Read more)

Robotic airships might provide rural areas with new way to wireless

There's yet another idea to help rural areas gain full access to the digital world. "Bob Jones has a lofty idea for improving communications around the world: Strategically float robotic airships as an alternative to unsightly telecom towers on the ground and expensive satellites in space," writes Alicia Chang of The Associated Press.

Jones, a former NASA manager, developed the "Stratellites" idea for Sanswire Networks. The devices would be floated with helium, unmanned and solar-powered. They would transmit from the stratosphere and provide wireless access for high-speed data and voice communications, reports Chang.

Such devices might be useful to rural areas that are now "dead zones" to wireless technology and during natural disasters that effect ground-based communications, notes Chang. Prototype testing is expected to begin this year. (Read more)

Agriculture heritage project gains ground in Kentucky; site picked

A Kentucky Agriculture Heritage Center is moving closer to becoming reality with a recent 50-acre land donation in Mercer County, and the $25 million project should break ground in 2010.

"The center is to contain educational and meeting facilities and a multimedia theater on the state's farming history. Also planned is a hall of fame honoring people who have significantly advanced the state's agricultural efforts," writes Sheldon S. Shafer of The Courier-Journal. The project's board cited several benefifs of building Mercer County including its central location, the presence of a working farm and the available expansion space. (Read more)

Thursday, Aug. 24, 2006

One-third of rural pharmacists consider closing under new Medicare plan

A survey of more than 500 community pharmacists revealed that nearly nine out of 10 (89 percent) are getting less money and a third are considering shutting down since the new Medicare Part D prescription drug plan went into effect Jan. 1.

"The survey found that more than half (55 percent) of respondents said they have had to obtain outside loans or financing to supplement their pharmacy’s cash flow because of slow reimbursement by health care plans," according to the National Community Pharmacists Association. "More than two-thirds (67 percent) of those surveyed said their pharmacy was located in an area with a population of less than 50,000 persons, and most (68 percent) said they had been in business for at least 20 years."

“Community pharmacists have been the backbone of the Part D program and are frequently the most accessible—and sometimes the only—health care provider in the community,” said NCPA Executive Vice President and CEO Bruce Roberts. “We need to address the serious problems of low and slow reimbursement in the Medicare Part D program to ensure that these communities will continue to be served by their pharmacists.” (Read more)

A May 8 item in The Rural Blog referenced a study that shows rural residents are paying more for drugs than urbanites under Medicare Part D prescription drug plan. The study by the Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis of the Rural Policy Research Institute reported that average monthly premiums for Medicare Advantage prescription drug plans vary from $6 in urban New Hampshire to $53 in rural Hawaii. Click here for the archived item and click here for the study.

Rural health care gets $1.3 million boost in seven Georgia counties

A five-year, $1.3 million grant will allow North Georgia College & State University to provide new health care facilities and services to rural residents in seven counties.

The grant from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration will serve residents in Lumpkin, Dawson, Fannin, Gilmer, Hall, Union and White counties, reports Debbie Gilbert of The Gainesville Times. Grace Newsome, nursing professor and director of the project, said the money will help address "the tremendous problem of access in rural areas."

"Most mountain folks don't want to drive to Atlanta (for health care), and some don't even want to go to Gainesville. In an emergency, they'll go to a hospital, but they have no regular provider for disease management," Newsome told Gilbert. (Read more)

Hybrid tree might boost nation's ethanol production, say researchers

Purdue University researchers are using genetic tools to design trees that could reach 90 feet in six years, be grown as a row crop on farmland, and biggest of all -- produce alternative transportation fuel.

"In 2005 ethanol accounted for only 4 billion gallons of the 140 billion gallons of U.S. transportation fuel used - less than 3 percent. About 13 percent of the nation's corn crop was used for that production. Purdue scientists and experts at the U.S. departments of Agriculture and Energy say corn can only be part of the solution to the problem of replacing fossil fuel," reports Newswise, a research-reporting service. The U.S. Department of Energy hopes to replace 30 percent of the fossil fuel used annually for transportation with biofuels by 2030.

"If Indiana wants to support only corn-based ethanol production, we would have to import corn," said Purdue faculty member Clint Chapple, one of three people conducting the $1.4 million, three-year study. "What we need is a whole set of plants that are well-adapted to particular growing regions and have high levels of productivity for use in biofuel production."

The hybrid poplar could produce 70 gallons of fuel per ton of wood. "Approximately 10 tons of poplar could be grown per acre annually, representing 700 gallons of ethanol. Corn currently produces about 4.5 tons per acre per year with a yield of about 400 gallons of ethanol," reports Newswise. (Read more)

Nation's farming technology keeps improving, as number of farms shrinks

America's farming tradition is full of technological advances, but the bigger picture is the amount of farms going from 6.5 million in the early to mid-1920s to today's just over 2 million.

Kentucky is an example of a state seeing a decline in farms with 85,000 currently in operation, down from 107,000 in 1975, said Dale Ayer, an agriculture teacher at Henderson County High School. In that county alone, farms have shrunk from 875 to 525 in the last 30 years, reports Chuck Stinnett of The Gleaner. Still, Ayer's high school boasts 375 ag students and Future Farmers of America members.

"The farms that remain are considerably larger. The size of the average Henderson County farm has increased from 250 acres in 1975 to 350 acres today, and the typical grain farmer leases hundreds more acres from other landowners," writes Stinnett. "But as an ag educator, Ayer is concerned that it's increasingly difficult for young farmers to get started. The largest group of farmers today are those age 65 and older, followed by those aged 55 to 64 and those aged 45 to 54." (Read more)

Pennsylvania bill aims to slash distance students walk to school

Proposed legislation in Pennsylvania would cut how far students can be asked to walk to school, from one-and-a-half miles to three-quarters of a mile for elementary students and from two miles to one-and-a-half miles for all other grades.

Supporters of the bill are calling it a safety measure, but some school officials and parents argue the physical activity benefits students' health and provides a sense of community, writes Lindsay Minnema for The Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pa. "It gives kids a sense of community," said Cynthia Massie, a parent of three children who school in Camp Hill, Pa. "It gives them a chance to talk in the 10 minutes they spend together walking. Plus, it gives them exercise."

The bill's sponsor, state Rep. Eugene McGill, R-Montgomery, counters that student safety is vital. "This [law] has not been updated in close to 60 years," McGill told Minnema. "People were a lot closer to the schools then, and they did more walking. It wasn't until the 1960s when there were two-car families, and now families have a car for everyone over the age of 16, so there's a lot more traffic on the roads." On Aug. 29, the House Education Committee will consider the measure. (Read more)

'Sound Off' pages provide readers with voices in community newspapers

"The 6,800-circulation weekly Mountain Eagle, deep in the rugged coal mining country in Letcher County, Ky. does not have any blogs in Internet speak, but the newspaper's immensely popular 'Speak Your Piece' page might be serving the same purpose," writes Larry Timbs writer for the National Newspaper Association's Publishers' Auxiliary.

Readers can share their opinions through e-mail, voice mail or letters with few restrictions from the paper. Other newspapers have similar "sound off" columns, and the Eagle's "Speak Your Piece" usually occupies a broadsheet page in each issue and is a major selling point of the paper, notes Timbs, an associate professor of mass communication at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C.

The Mountain Eagle is 99 years old and its staff have no plans to place the paper online anytime soon. Editor Ben Gish said that it relies on circulation revenue and besides, no local person has ever asked about putting the paper on the Internet, reports Timbs. This article is not available online.

Newspapers must have Web sites, local presence to survive, says journalist

Some newspapers are using community ties and online editions to maintain their place in the changing media world. Jock Lauterer, director of the Carolina Community Media Project, is urging small newspapers to also have a local presence and to create a bond with readers.

"While Lauterer believes printed newspapers will not go away -- 'people still want something tangible,' he admits that in today's world a Web presence is a necessity," writes Teri Saylor for the National Newspaper Association's Publishers' Auxiliary. Saylor is the former executive director of the North Carolina Press Association.

The Herald in Jefferson, Ia. (population 4,700) does not yet have a Web site and neither does the town itself. Rick Morain, owner and publisher of the Herald, said he wants to make his newspaper's Web site that of the community as well. This article is not available online.

Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2006

U.S. trade head considers net neutrality regs unnecessary, seeks evidence

Keeping the Internet free of extensive regulations will pave the way for innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship, the Federal Trade Commission chairman told a group Monday at the Progress and Freedom Foundation's annual conference in Aspen, Colo.

Deborah Platt Majoras, the FTC's Republican chairman, said proposed Net neutrality legislation is unnecessary because there has been no proven harm to consumers. The Senate is considering a legislative proposal to rewrite telecommunications laws, and an Internet Access Task Force at the FTC is evaluating the proposals. "The concept of network neutrality . . . generally means that all Internet sites must be treated equally," writes Declan McCullagh of CNET News.com. (Read more)

In an FTC press release, Majoras said, “I ask myself whether consumers will stand for an Internet that suddenly imposes restrictions on their ability to freely explore the Internet or does not provide for the choices they want. And I further ask why network providers would not continue to compete for consumers’ dollars by offering more choices, not fewer. We make a mistake when we think about market scenarios simply as dealings between and among companies; let us not forget who reigns supreme: the consumer.” (Read more)

Senate bill aims to expand list of acceptable billboards along highways

A Senate bill is threatening to change the U.S. Highway Beautification Law passed in 1965 to promote more scenic highways and limit billboard placement.

A measure in the Senate Energy and Water Appropriation Bill would loosen billboard regulations and proponents argue the measure is needed to recover from damage caused during last year's hurricane season. "The provision would apply everywhere, not just in the storm-damaged region. It would allow states to legitimize a long list of billboards that otherwise wouldn't be allowed and allow the industry to force local communities to accept 'non-conforming' billboards, whether they want them or not," opines columnist David Hawpe for The Courier-Journal.

"In Washington, billboard lobbyists cited last year's hurricane to justify an amendment allowing replacement of illegal billboards," continues Hawpe. "The provision would apply everywhere, not just in the storm-damaged region. It would allow states to legitimize a long list of billboards that otherwise wouldn't be allowed and allow the industry to force local communities to accept 'non-conforming' billboards, whether they want them or not." (Read more)

Kentucky town adopts smoking ban; to be one of strictest in the state

City commissioners in Henderson, Ky. (population 27,373) approved a smoking ban that promises to be one of the strictest such bans in one of the slowest states to adopt the measures. Nearly one-third of Kentucky adults smoke and the state has had more tobacco growers than any other.

"The ordinance prohibits smoking in public buildings and in indoor workplaces with few exceptions, and makes owners and managers of businesses responsible for ensuring smoking does not take place on their premises It also prohibits smoking within a "reasonable distance" of doors, windows and the ventilation intakes of buildings where it is prohibited," writes Frank Boyett of the Gleaner. Existing outdoor facilities would not be subject to the "reasonable distance" rule.

"The major exceptions are private residences, private clubs that have no employees, charitable gaming facilities such as bingo halls, retail tobacco stores, and hotel and motel rooms that are designated for smoking. However, motels may not designate more than 20 percent of their rooms for smoking, and they must grouped together," reports Boyett. (Read more)

Judge protects paper from giving up interview notes in theft investigation

A circuit court judge in south-central Kentucky ruled Monday against a prosecutor's attempt to access a newspaper reporter's notes concerning a theft investigation, ruling that a subpoena for notes and interview tapes violated the First Amendment.

Barren County Circuit Judge Phil Patton said the Glasgow Daily Times is protected by the First Amendment and a state law regarding reporters' privilege. "The notes and tapes in question were from an interview Daily Times reporter Tara Hettinger conducted with an Edmonton man charged with 30 counts of theft," reports The Associated Press. "Commonwealth's Attorney Karen Davis had subpoenaed Daily Times editor Todd Garvin and Hettinger, and was negotiating with the newspaper's managers. But Patton's ruling came before the newspaper's managers decided how the issue should be handled."

"We will vigorously defend any attempt to subpoena reporters' notes or tapes," Times Publisher Peter L. Mio said. "We hope this ruling closes the book on this matter." (Read more) For a staff report in the Times, click here.

'America by Food' exhibit draws big crowds at rural museums across U.S.

"Small-town museums may have found a way to draw the big crowds of their city counterparts: Offer food. Thousands of Kentuckians are expected to visit six rural museums to see a traveling Smithsonian Institution exhibit on the history and social traditions of American food," writes Andrea Uhde of The Courier-Journal.

The exhibit, "Key Ingredients: America by Food," traces the evolution of refrigerators from root cellar to icebox and it examines how states are linked with specific foods, such as Kentucky and bourbon. The exhibit has already hit 15 states and is back in Kentucky for a second run due to high attendance. "That's a big boost for small museums," reports Uhde. "Such rural museums have become more common in Kentucky, where towns are trying to capitalize on things unique to them, said James Wallace, a former assistant director of the Kentucky Historical Society. But the museums often operate on less than $100,000 a year, and they compete for the same funding." (Read more)

The exhibit will run Sept. 2 through Oct. 14 at the Oldham County History Center in La Grange, Ky., and at the Buhl Arts Council in Buhl, Idaho, and other Kentucky stops include Georgetown, Hardin County, Hazard, Harrodsburg and Paducah. A run is slated for the Pondera History Association - Transportation Museum in Conrad, Mont., from Sept. 3 through Oct. 13. For a full schedule, click here.

Chicago's foie gras ban gets ignored by eateries, supported by others

"Foie gras appeared on pizza on Archer Avenue Tuesday, complemented cornbread and catfish at a South Side soul food place, and was stacked on sausages like pats of butter at a gourmet hot dog joint on the North Side. Chicago's immediate reaction to a city ordinance banning foie gras--the French dish made from the livers of force-fed ducks and geese--was to embrace the gray goo like never before, in flights of culinary imagination," write Josh Noel, Brendan McCarthy and James Janega of the Chicago Tribune.

Despite a new City Council ban on foie gras, restaurants are fighting back by openly defying the law, and the Illinois Restaurant Association filed a lawsuit Tuesday in Cook County Circuit Court to overturn the ban. The lawsuit claims the City Council overstepped its authority. "The ban began with the outrage of animal rights activists, who cited the cruelty of force-feeding ducks and geese with tubes until their livers swelled to 10 times normal size," reports the Tribune. (Read more)

"In 2004, California passed the only U.S. law to end the production and sale of foie gras, which goes into effect in 2012. Similar bills have been introduced in Illinois, Massachusetts, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii and New York," according to a press release from Farm Sanctuary, a national farm animal protection organization. (Read more)

Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2006

Gun issue still hampers Democrats in rural areas, local Dem pol writes

Democratic candidates for Congress are increasingly focusing on rural America, but one rural Democrat ic officeholder foresees a tough road ahead, and notes that a county-by-county look at recent presidential elections reveals little success for Democrats in rural America.

"One issue that has severely hampered the Democratic Party in rural America, particularly the South, is gun control," opined David Gambrel for the Lexington Herald-Leader. "I have found that urban and rural people sometimes have completely different views on this issue. For urbanites, guns are often associated with school shootings, gangs and crime. When rural Americans, particularly Southern males, think of guns, it is often from a totally different perspective. To many of my friends, guns are family heirlooms."

Gambrel, the property valuation administrator for rural Lincoln County, Kentucky, continued: "When it comes to protection in rural America, more often than not, you're on your own. It is just not practical to have a law enforcement officer on every corner as it is in the city. So when politicians start talking about anything that remotely resembles a threat to Second Amendment rights, many rural Americans get their dander up. I have several friends who are single-issue voters when it comes to gun control. Right or wrong, that is how they have voted and will continue to vote."

Gambrel concludes, "We who believe that the Second Amendment was intended by our founding fathers to protect the individual's right to keep and bear arms also must doggedly stress that with rights come responsibilities. Just as strongly as I believe in the right to own a gun, I believe in the importance of safety. No one should possess a firearm without knowing its safe and proper use. Most important, if you have children in your home, they must not be allowed improper access to your weapons. For those who believe the national party should stay the course on this issue, be warned: If it does, the victory map will continue to be more Republican than Democratic." (Read more)

Chrysler's 'General Lee' cruiser no longer eludes police, but attracts them

The General Lee always managed to escape from police on "The Dukes of Hazzard," but DaimerChrysler's production of the Dodge Charger is making that vehicle a friend to police departments across the country.

"The General Lee -- the car driven by Bo and Luke Duke -- is expected to continue tearing up the back roads of fictional Hazzard County in its bright orange skin, thank you very much. The police version looks a bit different and is unlikely to be driven in such a reckless manner," writes Michael A. Jones of the Charleston Daily Mail. About 50 of the cruisers are currently being used police departments throughout West Virginia, and several of them reported the new vehicle being a public relations boost. (Read more)

"The Dodge Charger came back into production two years ago after the name lay dormant for nearly 30 years. Many weren't surprised when Dodge introduced the Charger as a police cruiser soon after, mainly due to the rear-wheel drive and new four-door design. Dodge stopped manufacturing police vehicles in the 1980s, leaving the market mainly to the Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor," reports Jones.

Wal-Mart recycling program aims to cut solid waste, energy consumption

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is spending $500 million to cut its energy consumption and greenhouse-gas emissions, and it hopes to reduce its production of solid waste by 25 percent during the next three years at nearly 4,000 locations.

"Wal-Mart's plastic recycling program starts when employees collect plastic packaging and garment bags (1) and use balers (2) to compress the plastic into bundles. Cardboard on the ends of the bales facilitates shipping (3). The plastic is then sorted and sold to recyclers, who turn it into resin pellets (4) that can be turned into new plastic products," writes Ann Zimmerman of The Wall Street Journal.

Wal-Mart is converting waste into a raw-material stream for the suppliers of its merchandise, and some of the "waste" is returning to stories as private-label paper towels and tissues, reports Zimmerman. Matt Hale, the solid waste director at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, pointed out that Target Corp. is also recycling by sending 300 million-plus plastic hangers a year to its vendors. (Read more)

Ill. governor proposes shift in gas supply from imported to homegrown

Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich wants to combat high fuel costs and dependence on foreign oil by having his state replace half its current gas that comes from imported oil with that made by homegrown products in just over a decade.

Blagojevich, a Democrat running for re-election, needs legislative approval of his five-part, $1.2 billion plan, which includes building up to 20 ethanol plants, five biodiesel plants and four facilities that would create ethanol from corn husks and wood pulp. Illinois currently houses five ethanol production plants and three more under construction, reports Monica Davey of The New York Times.

"He will seek additional incentives to increase the number of service stations selling biofuels, with the goal that all of Illinois’ 5,000 or so service stations would offer E-85 (which is 85 percent ethanol) by 2017, compared with just 130 that offer it today," writes Davey. (Read more) For more specifics of Blagojevich's proposal, click here for a story that appeared in the Peoria Journal Star.

Illinois man suggests destroying dam for fish passage, gets call from FBI

"On July 25, Jim Bensman of Alton, Ill., attended a public meeting on the proposed construction of a bypass channel for fish at a dam on the Mississippi River. Less than a week later, he was under investigation by the FBI— the victim, depending on how you look at it, of either a comedy of errors or alarming antiterror zeal," writes Cornelia Dean of The New York Times.

In her recap of the meeting, Linda N. Weller of The Telegraph in Alton reported, "Jim Bensman of Alton said he would like to see the dam blown up and resents paying taxes to fix dam problems when it is barge companies that profit from the dam." (Read more) That apparently drew some official attention.

Bensman told the Times that he got a telephone call on July 31 from "someone who identified himself as Matt Federhofer, an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation," writes Dean, adding that Bensman said the agent considered it a terrorist threat. Since then, Benson said he is no longer suspected of anything, but he fears future accusations could arise. (Read more)

Bensman is a coordinator with Heartwood, an environmental organization. He told the Times that he suggested that the corps destroy the dam, because the system of locks and dams hurts the environment and provides an unfair government subsidy benefiting boat traffic over railroads.

Labor board files complaint against Massey Energy over mine hires

A National Labor Relations Board complaint says a Massey Energy subsidiary unfairly refused to hire members of the United Mine Workers of America at a West Virginia mine.

When the Horizon Natural Resources Cannelton mine closed in 2004, Massey, generally not a unionized company, purchased it with a "welcome" message for all interested workers, reports The Associated Press. The complaint said Massey, based in Richmond, Va., refused to hire former Horizon miners because of their union affiliation and has discouraged "employees from engaging in these activities in order to avoid an obligation to recognize and bargain with the Union." (Read more)

The NLRB wants an order that would require Massey's Mammoth Coal subsidiary, if requested by the UMW, to restore conditions to the way they were when Horizon operated the mine. A hearing is slated for Oct. 10 in Charleston, W.Va.

Monday, Aug. 21, 2006

Decline of Oregon towns example of widening rural-urban income gap

Oakridge, Ore., housed a thriving logging and mill industry for a few decades, but the last mill closing in 1990 on the heels of tighter environmental rules left its 4,000 residents struggling for ways to make a living.

"Residents now live with lowered expectations, and a share of them have felt the sharp pinch of rural poverty. The town is an acute example of a national trend, the widening gap in pay between workers in urban areas and those in rural locales, where much of any job growth has been in low-end retailing and services," writes Erik Eckholm of The New York Times.

Oregon's rural-urban pay differential illustrates the widening gap between prosperity and poverty: Rural workers' full-time wages averaged $27,600 in 2005, down from $34,200 in 1976; and urban workers' salaries now average $37,800. Eckholm did not provide a 1976 average for urban workers. The