Rural

Researchers found using formulaic forecasts that three of the five counties would see the annual collective benefit from broadband great enough to surpass public investment in just one year. A fourth county, Sibley, would take just over a year to reach that mark and the last, Lake County, the least populous, taking just over six years.While the forecast points to a quick success, only one of the county has had access to broadband long enough to show concrete progress. [node:read-more:link]

Proportion of deaths that are opioid-related has increased by nearly 300 percent in 15 years [node:read-more:link]

Wisconsin officials have quarantined a deer farm and an elk farm after animals on both properties tested positive for chronic wasting disease. The Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection announced the quarantines Friday. The agency said in a news release that the National Veterinary Laboratory confirmed Thursday that a 15-year-old whitetail doe and a 2-year-old elk cow tested positive. The deer farm is located in Dane and registered to Brad Madigan. The elk farm, registered as Burton Buck Creek Elk, is in Richland Center. [node:read-more:link]

Bipartisan bills have been submitted in the state House and Senate that aim to address two major socioeconomic issues facing rural community hospitals.House Bill 998 would direct the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services to make recommendations by Oct. 1 for establishing incentives to expand medical education in rural counties.That would include assisting rural hospitals with gaining Medicare approval to become a teaching hospital, as well as incentivize medical residents and students to serve those rural areas after graduation. [node:read-more:link]

Aspen Electric, the municipal utility serving the resort town of the same name, achieved 100 percent renewables in 2015, and it didn’t break the bank to do so. Residential rates for Aspen’s customers rank among the lowest in Colorado, while meeting a 100 percent renewable energy goal set by Aspen’s city council 13 years earlier. And this month, upgrades to a Nebraska wind farm, of which Aspen Electric is a major customer, will push the utility’s costs even lower – dropping about 15 percent annually, or $475,000. [node:read-more:link]

Assistant to the Secretary for Rural Development Anne Hazlett issued the following statement: “Leaving no community untouched, the opioid epidemic has taken a monumental toll on many of the small towns and rural places that are the heartbeat of our country. The campaign to Stop Youth Opioid Abuse shows that at the root of this crisis, addiction is a disease driving good people to make shocking and destructive decisions. Addressing the opioid epidemic is a top priority for this Administration. [node:read-more:link]

An estimated 50 to 80 percent of southern wetland forest is now gone, and that which remains provides ecosystem services totaling $500 billion as well as important wildlife habitat. Logging is considered one of the biggest threats to the 35 million acres of remaining wetland forest in the southern U.S., and conservation organizations are saying this threat is coming largely from the wood pellet biomass industry. [node:read-more:link]

About 43 percent of rural Americans lack access to dental care, according to the National Rural Health Association, and West Virginia, among the poorest and most rural states, is at the center of the crisis. All but six of the state’s 55 counties include federally designated “Health Professional Shortage Areas,” “Medically Underserved Areas” or both. [node:read-more:link]

An analysis comparing the intestinal microbiomes of both infants and adults living in rural and urban areas of Nigeria has revealed that not only are there many differences in adults living in subsistence environments versus urban ones but also that these variations begin at a very young age. [node:read-more:link]

A new study commissioned by the Blandin Foundation may help small communities put some hard numbers behind broadband’s public benefit.  “Return on Investment: Measuring Impact of Broadband in Five Rural Minnesota Communities” looks at communities that have spent public funds on building out networks. The words “high speed” are critical. [node:read-more:link]