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News Articles: rural america

An illustration of different photos of rural life.

Tagged as: 

  • Politics

Political Rewind: A discussion of the growing gap between 'Two Georgias' — one urban, one rural

Thursday on Political Rewind: We turn our attention to the issues people of rural Georgia face. For many years, political leaders routinely talked about the two Georgias: the prosperous Metro Atlanta region and the vast majority of the state’s geography where prosperity was out of reach for many. The phrase went out of favor in political circles because it seemed divisive and discouraging of change. But the problems remain and can’t be easily ignored.

December 09, 2021
|
By:
  • Bill Nigut ,
  • Natalie Mendenhall ,
  • and 2 more
A Viasat internet satellite dish is seen in the yard of a house in Madison, Va., on March 31.

Tagged as: 

  • National

More than 1 in 3 rural Black southerners lack home internet access, a new study finds

The research shows that across 152 counties, 38% of Black residents in the rural South have no home internet access, compared to 23% of white residents.

October 06, 2021
|
By:
  • Deepa Shivaram
An empty road leading towards a rural countryside of Dawson, Ga.

Tagged as: 

  • News

Georgia Today: Why rural Georgia is emptying out — and why it could lose political power

Most of Georgia’s landmass is rural. But less than a quarter of the population lives in rural areas. And, according to the latest figures from the United States Census, that percentage is dropping as the state grows more diverse and more urbanized. With redistricting getting underway, some small-town Georgia officials worry their shrinking populations could also cost them political influence at the state Capitol.

October 01, 2021
|
By:
  • Steve Fennessy and
  • Jess Mador
Latasha Taylor visits the cemetery where her mother, uncle, and aunt are buried, in Dawson, Ga. All three died of COVID-19 in 2020.

Tagged as: 

  • Health Care

Georgia Today: Hospital Shutters During Pandemic, Leaving Two Georgia Counties With One Ambulance

More than a year into the pandemic, it’s clear its impacts hit some communities much harder than others. People of color have died in greater numbers in many parts of the state, and COVID-19 death rates are often higher in rural areas with a shortage of medical facilities. On the latest Georgia Today podcast, host Steve Fennessy and Olivia Goldhill, an investigative reporter who covers the pandemic for Stat News, explore how hospital closures are hampering some counties’ efforts to combat the pandemic in southwest Georgia.

June 04, 2021
|
By:
  • Steve Fennessy and
  • Jess Mador
John Calhoun of Flathead County has diabetes and was convinced by an old friend to get vaccinated, through he suspects the coronavirus isn't as dangerous as health officials say it is. He's hoping vaccination will ease divisions over masking.

Tagged as: 

  • Health

Families, Communities Divided Over COVID Vaccination In Rural Montana

In sprawling Flathead County, only 25% of adults are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Public health experts worry about reservoirs of potential outbreaks as neighbors still debate the virus' danger.

May 11, 2021
|
By:
  • Katheryn Houghton
Vice President Harris talks to reporters Tuesday as she leaves Milwaukee, a stop on her tour to promote President Biden's $2 trillion infrastructure proposal, which includes expanded broadband.

Tagged as: 

  • Politics

Harris' Broadband Push Could Be Political Windfall — Or Pitfall

Vice President Harris is leading the White House push on a $100 billion broadband plan — an assignment that could burnish her deal-making bona fides, but also comes with some political risks.

May 06, 2021
|
By:
  • Ayesha Rascoe
A nurse administers a COVID-19 vaccine in Ridgeway, Va., in March.

Tagged as: 

  • Politics

Biden Administration Looks For Help With Next Phase Of Pitching COVID Vaccines

In the next phase of the race to vaccinate Americans, the Biden administration knows the government is not the best messenger. So it's asking communities for help.

April 23, 2021
|
By:
  • Tamara Keith
Political divisions over the pandemic are creating a wedge and splitting off health care workers from small communities that desperately need them.

Tagged as: 

  • National

'Toxic Individualism': Pandemic Politics Driving Health Care Workers From Small Towns

A wave of departing medical professionals in rural areas threatens to leave gaping holes in these health care systems and local economies, triggering a death spiral that may be hard to stop.

December 28, 2020
|
By:
  • Frank Morris
In Bucksport, Maine, the smokestack of a closed mill can be seen in this waterfront view along the Penobscot River.

Tagged as: 

  • National

In Rural America, Fears About The Future Abound As Fewer Students Go To College

The isolation and uncertainty of the pandemic are driving the dramatic drop in numbers, threatening the already precarious economies of these areas and widening their socioeconomic drift.

December 24, 2020
|
By:
  • Jon Marcus
"There's this sense that decisions about the pandemic are being made in cities and kind of imposed on rural spaces," said Kathy Cramer, an expert on the rural-urban divide at the University of Wisconsin.

Tagged as: 

  • National

Biden's Win Shows Rural-Urban Divide Has Grown Since 2016

In the 2020 election, the rural-urban divide sharpened even further from 2016, with Republicans consolidating power in rural America which could help them hold onto the U.S. Senate.

November 18, 2020
|
By:
  • Kirk Siegler
Rural communities across the country, places largely spared during the early days of the pandemic, are now seeing spikes in infections and hospitalizations.

Tagged as: 

  • Health

COVID-19 Surges In Rural Communities, Overwhelming Some Local Hospitals

As COVID-19 cases increase, many rural communities, places which were largely spared during the early months of the pandemic, are now contending with a spike in infections and hospitalizations.

October 22, 2020
|
By:
  • Will Stone
census worker

Tagged as: 

  • News

Census Workers Race Against Clock In Undercounted SW Ga. County With $500M At Stake

With a deadline looming, Census workers in Colquitt County are racing to count as many people as possible. At stake, they say, is $500 million for this rural county in southwest Georgia.

September 30, 2020
|
By:
  • Brad Bailey
The U.S. Postal Service warned states in late July that it might not be able to deliver mail-in ballots in time to be counted. Amid a growing outcry from rural leaders, the agency's director has backed down from planned broad cuts and changes.

Tagged as: 

  • National

Why Rural America Is Fighting The Trump Administration On The Post Office

The agency serves areas where private carriers won't go. And in those remote communities, which helped elect the president, the Postal Service can be seen as a lifeline as well as a human connection.

August 20, 2020
|
By:
  • Kirk Siegler
Downtown Dawson, Ga., is reflected in the window of a local barber shop where a photograph of Martin Luther King Jr. is on display on Friday, April 17, 2020.

'It's Gone Haywire': When COVID-19 Arrived In Rural America

As the world’s attention was fixated on the horrors in Italy and New York City, the per capita death rates in counties in the southwest corner of...

May 06, 2020
|
By:
  • Associated Press
The "Crossroads: Change in Rural America" exhibit in Thomaston, Georgia.

Tagged as: 

  • Arts & Life

'Crossroads: Change In Rural America' Brings A Slice Of The Smithonian to Small-Town Georgia

Rural America is often painted in broad strokes. Small towns have been hit hard by population declines as more Americans flock to urban and suburban...

September 11, 2019
|
By:
  • Virginia Prescott and
  • Pria Mahadevan

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