Across the Nation
Louisiana: $10 million has been allocated by the Louisiana legislature to assist rural school districts in attracting staff. Funding restrictions have limited rural districts in the state from offering competitive salaries. Often rural schools pay thousands less than neighboring districts, and this is cited as a barrier to recruiting and retaining qualified and effective teachers.
North Dakota: Addressing issues of rural health care access, North Dakota lawmakers passed legislation in 2001 that allowed a telepharmacy project to launch. It started with 10 volunteer sites and now has 67 locations. Generally telepharmacies are staffed with registered pharmacy technicians, while a pharmacist remotely verifies the prescribed medication and counsels patients via camera. This reduces the expense of staffing a full-time pharmacist. Other states have followed suit in Alaska, Idaho, Illinois, Montana, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Wyoming and the District of Columbia.
Oregon: The first Oregon Rural Congress convened with more than 200 people in Cascade Locks. This gathering was the result of a long-standing frustration many rural Oregonians have experienced as the state’s population, despite its large land area, is concentrated in only three counties. The Union County Commissioner, Colleen MacLeod organized the ORC to help give rural Oregonians a voice saying, “We are educated, we are bright. And we are able to land shiny side up if people don’t keep flipping us over.” She told DailyYonder.com that she is gathering 252 solutions and suggestions gleaned from the ORC and planning another.
Iowa: “She’s gonna go,” Rod Scott tells a New York Times reporter as he refers to an 1850’s stone barn with buckling walls. “We’re trying to ring that alarm bell,” said Scott, who is a member of the National Barn Alliance and working to save the remaining 50,000 barns left in Iowa. This disappearing cultural icon reflects the shift of agriculture toward more mechanization and the increasing dilution of rural America’s character and culture.
Contact: Casey Francis, caseyf@cfra.org for more information or to suggest items for the column.
North Dakota: Addressing issues of rural health care access, North Dakota lawmakers passed legislation in 2001 that allowed a telepharmacy project to launch. It started with 10 volunteer sites and now has 67 locations. Generally telepharmacies are staffed with registered pharmacy technicians, while a pharmacist remotely verifies the prescribed medication and counsels patients via camera. This reduces the expense of staffing a full-time pharmacist. Other states have followed suit in Alaska, Idaho, Illinois, Montana, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Wyoming and the District of Columbia.
Oregon: The first Oregon Rural Congress convened with more than 200 people in Cascade Locks. This gathering was the result of a long-standing frustration many rural Oregonians have experienced as the state’s population, despite its large land area, is concentrated in only three counties. The Union County Commissioner, Colleen MacLeod organized the ORC to help give rural Oregonians a voice saying, “We are educated, we are bright. And we are able to land shiny side up if people don’t keep flipping us over.” She told DailyYonder.com that she is gathering 252 solutions and suggestions gleaned from the ORC and planning another.
Iowa: “She’s gonna go,” Rod Scott tells a New York Times reporter as he refers to an 1850’s stone barn with buckling walls. “We’re trying to ring that alarm bell,” said Scott, who is a member of the National Barn Alliance and working to save the remaining 50,000 barns left in Iowa. This disappearing cultural icon reflects the shift of agriculture toward more mechanization and the increasing dilution of rural America’s character and culture.
Contact: Casey Francis, caseyf@cfra.org for more information or to suggest items for the column.
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