The program offered financial incentives to those who were willing to move to the state’s rural areas, places with less than 50,000 residents, in hopes of boosting local economies and combating population decline.
In 1999, the natural cause mortality rate for people ages 25 to 54 in rural areas was only 6 percent higher than for city residents of the same age. By 2019, the gap had widened to 43 percent.
American Indians were not granted citizenship by Congress until 1924. A prominent attorney discusses civil rights progress since then.
Total hired farm labor in the state dropped 23 percent from 2017 to 2022, more than twice the national rate of decline. Migrant farm labor fell even more.
The number of nonprofit news outlets is holding steady but 203 counties are news deserts, leaving thousands of communities without access to local news.
Lawmakers hope grant and loan programs can help small towns keep their markets open.
State lawmakers and local elected officials have spoken out against using farm land in Schoharie County for solar farm projects. The state aims to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2030.
Adams State University, Fort Lewis College and Western Colorado University are hoping for $3 million per institution from the state to ensure access for students from less populous areas.
Thousands of county officials came to Washington, D.C., to make the case with Congress that funding counties directly is the best way to improve lives across the country’s diverse rural and urban communities.
There are some delightful, lively small towns, but let the numbers do the talking: In Illinois, downstaters and their city “cousins” live in different worlds of expectations and aspirations.
The nation currently has more than 1,000 federally designated primary care shortage areas. More than 180 areas have had a primary care shortage for at least 40 years.
Tens of billions in federal funds are on the way to spread high-speed Internet across the countryside. States should structure their grant programs to make sure markets are competitive.
The Ogallala Aquifer, which spans eight states along the Great Plains, is the only reliable water source for parts of its region. Farmers have pumped its groundwater for decades and, as it dwindles, rural towns need to preserve their sole water source.
The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education finds little to no learning loss after the switch to a four-day week.
Idaho ranked last in the country for physicians per capita before the pandemic and the doctor shortages and an aging workforce have only worsened the situation.
‘Are we going to revert back to “normal?” No, we will have a new normal.’
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