Above Photo: A veteran nurse in Shreveport, Louisiana, looks into a patient’s room in a COVID-19 ward. The nurse is one of thousands of health care professionals across the country who are caring for critically ill patients amid a nursing shortage. Gerald Herbert/The Associated Press. On any given day, Mary Ellen Pratt, CEO of St. James Parish Hospital in rural Lutcher, Louisiana, doesn’t know how she’s going to staff the 25-bed hospital she manages. With the continued surge of the COVID-19 delta variant, she’s had to redirect resources. Her small team, including managers, has doubled up on duties, shifts and hours […]
Rural
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Organizing Rural Manufacturing Workers Matters By Cindy Estrada and Chris Schwartz, The Forge. November 10, 2020 Organizing Rural Manufacturing Workers Matters2020-11-102020-11-10https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/11/worker.png200px200px Above photo: Spencer Davis. It’s no secret that the number of manufacturing jobs in the United States has steadily declined over the past few decades, replaced largely by low-wage work in the service sector. But in many rural communities, manufacturing is still the most important part of the local economy. In fact, manufacturing jobs account for 21 percent of all earnings for rural communities, more than triple the income from farming work. Manufacturing represents a particularly important source of employment for […]
Each week, police in Lexington, Neb., cordon off several blocks near the edge of town, where roughly 700 cars will line up for USDA Farmers to Families food boxes. Above, volunteers organize boxes on Aug. 27, 2020. Christina Stella/Harvest Public Media hide caption toggle caption Christina Stella/Harvest Public Media Each week, police in Lexington, Neb., cordon off several blocks near the edge of town, where roughly 700 cars will line up for USDA Farmers to Families food boxes. Above, volunteers organize boxes on Aug. 27, 2020. Christina Stella/Harvest Public Media Lexington, Neb., is just one of the many rural communities that […]
More than 65% of the nation’s small, rural hospitals took out loans from Medicare when the pandemic hit. Many now face repayment at a time when they are under great financial strain. Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images More than 65% of the nation’s small, rural hospitals took out loans from Medicare when the pandemic hit. Many now face repayment at a time when they are under great financial strain. Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images David Usher, chief financial officer for a 12-bed rural hospital in western Kansas, is sitting on $1.7 million […]
India launched a rural-employment guarantee scheme in 2005, to safeguard the livelihood of people living in rural areas by promising at least 100 days’ paid work a year to every adult member of each family. Aside from economic security, the scheme also created rural assets. India’s Rural Development Minister, Narendra Singh Tomar, revealed on Friday that “there has been an increase of 52.11 percent in total employment generation” through the Mahatma Gandhi rural job scheme during the COVID-19 lockdown period. The scheme was launched by Manmohan Singh of the Indian National Congress Party, in 2005, shortly after he was elected Prime […]
Fort Street Elementary School in Aroostook County, Maine, welcomed students back to school for in-person classes in mid-August. Robbie Feinberg/Maine Public hide caption toggle caption Robbie Feinberg/Maine Public Fort Street Elementary School in Aroostook County, Maine, welcomed students back to school for in-person classes in mid-August. Robbie Feinberg/Maine Public Updated at 4:06 p.m. ET Sixth-grader Charlie Pierce says the hardest part of going back to school wasn’t the masks or the temperature checks. It was not being able to hug the friends she hadn’t seen in months. “My friends kind of really wanted to hug me,” Charlie says. “We had talked […]
When the pandemic hit this spring, U.S. rural hospitals lost an estimated 70% of their income as patients avoided the emergency room, doctor’s appointments and elective surgeries. “It was devastating,” says Maggie Elehwany of the National Rural Health Association. Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images When the pandemic hit this spring, U.S. rural hospitals lost an estimated 70% of their income as patients avoided the emergency room, doctor’s appointments and elective surgeries. “It was devastating,” says Maggie Elehwany of the National Rural Health Association. Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images Jerome Antone says he […]
The United States Postal Service warned states in late July 2020 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 recently backed down from planned broad cuts and changes. Pacific Press/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Ge hide caption toggle caption Pacific Press/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Ge The United States Postal Service warned states in late July 2020 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 recently backed down from planned broad […]
New high-rise apartments are under construction in villages around Heze, in eastern China’s Shandong province. Rural residents say these complexes are too expensive, too far away from their fields and ill-suited for farmers. Amy Cheng/NPR hide caption toggle caption Amy Cheng/NPR New high-rise apartments are under construction in villages around Heze, in eastern China’s Shandong province. Rural residents say these complexes are too expensive, too far away from their fields and ill-suited for farmers. Amy Cheng/NPR A farmer from Shandong province along China’s east coast, Liu recalls how during Chinese Lunar New Year in January, he went out for a walk […]
Scott Hobgood and Jason Niupulusū grew up in Webster County, Ky., and joined NPR’s David Greene for a roundtable discussion about race and social justice. Scott Hobgood, Jason Niupulusū hide caption toggle caption Scott Hobgood, Jason Niupulusū Scott Hobgood and Jason Niupulusū grew up in Webster County, Ky., and joined NPR’s David Greene for a roundtable discussion about race and social justice. Scott Hobgood, Jason Niupulusū If you spend any time on social media, you know it can be a war of words out there. Whether it’s the debate over wearing masks, the racial unrest sweeping across the U.S. or the […]
New Delhi (Sputnik): With rapid urbanisation in India, animals have lost their natural habitat, pushing them towards conflict with humans. Reptiles are among the creatures affected, and are now seen living close to human settlements, where they feed on rodents and insects, especially around farms. India loses an average of 58,000 people to snakebites every year, and over the last two decades, about 1.2 million people have been killed by snakebites – almost half of all such deaths worldwide, according to the World Health Organisation. Most of the victims were from rural areas, where either medical facilities were not on hand […]
A hallway leads to a makeshift isolation ward for COVID-19 patients. Kirk Siegler/NPR hide caption toggle caption Kirk Siegler/NPR A hallway leads to a makeshift isolation ward for COVID-19 patients. Kirk Siegler/NPR In the Idaho mountain town of Grangeville, population 3,200, signs in windows on Main Street advertise that Border Days “is on.” The annual Fourth of July celebration boasts street dances, Idaho’s longest-running rodeo and even the world’s largest egg toss. Like in a lot of small towns, Grangeville’s economy has been struggling throughout this pandemic. Border Days planners decided to go ahead with an altered, if slightly scaled back […]
An inexpensive drug called misoprostol can prevent fatal hemorrhage. But experts say fears of its use for abortion have kept it out of the hands of the women who need it. (Image credit: Lynsey Addario/ Getty Images) Source link
Opinion 00:54 GMT 21.05.2020(updated 00:55 GMT 21.05.2020) Get short URL Although the US COVID-19 pandemic has mostly ravaged urban areas to date, it will soon bear down on rural areas home to more vulnerable populations, Dr. Tara Smith, an epidemiologist and professor at the Kent State University College of Public Health, told Radio Sputnik’s Loud & Clear Wednesday. “What we’re concerned about is as this moves from urban to rural areas, there are a lot of places that are really underprepared, and we are seeing this already hit some communities, especially those that have places where this can really get into […]
The Intercept: FOR THE PAST several decades, rural America’s economic lifeline has been the construction and operation of prisons and immigrant detention centers, both public and for-profit. The 1980s saw the collapse of American manufacturing and a farm crisis that ripped through the countryside. Mass incarceration was well-timed to fill the gap, producing jobs where they were needed. But those lifelines have transformed into vectors for coronavirus, putting rural communities at risk of outbreaks. For many Americans, the plight of prisoners produces little sympathy. But in a twist on JFK — “Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are […]
The Census Bureau says it will continue its relaunch of limited field operations for the 2020 census next week in some rural communities in nine states. Matt Rourke/AP hide caption toggle caption Matt Rourke/AP The Census Bureau says it will continue its relaunch of limited field operations for the 2020 census next week in some rural communities in nine states. Matt Rourke/AP The Census Bureau says it is continuing the gradual relaunch of limited field operations for the 2020 census next week in nine states where the coronavirus pandemic forced the hand-delivery of paper forms in rural areas to be suspended […]