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RCAC's Network News December 2010
Volume XXIX, Number 1
In this issue:
Environmental News
Conflicting water alerts baffle rural California town
In Seville, California, a small, rural community in Tulare County, residents received several notices in just a few days; one was an order to boil water before use. It was followed by a notice to avoid using tap water for any reason, including dishwashing or bathing. The next day, the boil notice was cancelled and then reinstated and more notices were posted. Some residents ignore the notices and just buy bottled water. Others never receive the notices. A concerned resident is leading the charge to make tap water safe to use.
Rural Colorado residents weigh water contamination against job prospects
Western Colorado residents largely favor a new traditional uranium mill proposed for the remote Paradox Valley not far from the Dolores River, a tributary of the Colorado River. Others are concerned about a history of water contamination associated with prior uranium mining in Colorado. Colorado has passed tougher laws to force uranium mining companies to fully clean up their sites to operate in the state, however ,the laws may prove difficult to enforce.
Housing News
Process to become a CHDO detailed
The Housing Assistance Council (HAC) published an article explaining the process to become a Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO). The article entitled, "Navigating the CHDO Process" appears on p. 5 of HAC’s Fall 2010 Rural Voices magazine, v. 14 no. 3.
Oregon initiative to allow rural homebuilding ineffective at spurring development
Three years ago, Oregon voters passed Measure 49 in an attempt to make homebuilding a quick and easy process for rural landowners. However, the process to act on Measure 49 has been difficult and frustrating for the landowners and little construction has occurred.
Loan Fund News
RCAC receives $2 million Capital Magnet Award
U.S. Department of the Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund awarded RCAC a $2 million grant from the fund’s inaugural Capital Magnet Fund Program. CDFI received 230 applications and made awards to 23 organizations totaling $80 million.
RCAC loan fund ends fiscal year on high note
In its fourth quarter ending September 30, RCAC lent more than $8.6 million to rural communities in California, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah to finance important community projects. RCAC ended its fiscal year with 39 closed loans totaling more than $30.6 million and leveraged $65 million to support affordable housing, environmental infrastructure and community facilities.
General News
Rural trend shifts in latest election
According to this article in the Daily Yonder, rural voters favored republicans. The article states, “Before the election almost half (61) of the 125 most rural districts were held by democrats.” The number of rural democrats in office fell from 61 to just 22 after the election.
Election dumps out rural supporters
Many of the democrats who lost in the recent November election were long-time rural health advocates. There were 37 House Rural Health Care Coalition democrat members who lost in this election. Meanwhile, democrats maintained majority in the Senate.
USDA reports ARRA impacts
According to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) 2009 funds have been allocated to help an estimated seven million people, many of them located in extremely remote areas, gain access to improved broadband services. Also, according to the report, more than $18 million in ARRA loan and grant funds will be added to finances provided by other federal and state agencies and the North American Development Bank to help Yuma County, Arizona residents end chronic sewage problems. “The project will connect residents to a nearby municipal treatment system. The community will abandon individual septic systems and cesspools, reduce contamination of the groundwater table from failing septic systems, improve public health and safety, and improve the water quality of the nearby Colorado River.”
Another story in the full report takes place in Port Angeles, Washington and documents the reopening of a plywood mill that had been forced to close due to economic hardship. The closing of the mill in 2007 resulted in the loss of 132 jobs, a very devastating effect on the small, rural community. With the help of ARRA funds, the mill was reopened and as of the publication, 147 jobs were created.
Data on Western counties population and land use and resources available
While growth rates in the West were slower than anticipated for 2009, the West still grew faster than the rest of the nation according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Between 2006 and 2009 the number of residents in the 13 Western states increased to 71.6 million. The fastest growing Western states during this period were Utah (9.2 percent), Colorado (7.1 percent) and Arizona (7.0 percent).
The Western Rural Development Center (WRDC) has compiled data on population and land use and resources for all 435 counties in the Western U.S.
Debt could prove beneficial to nonprofit organizations
In this Chronicle of Philanthropy article, author Dione Alexander argues that nonprofit organizations should not avoid carrying debt. Alexander suggests that carrying debt has been unfairly and dramatically characterized as taboo for nonprofit organizations when in fact, credit might serve nonprofit organizations well in various situations.
U.S. farm land defies economic crisis
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, cropland values rose slightly in 2010 over 2009 prices to an average of $2,700 per acre. In some areas, good farm land sold for between $6,000 and $7,000. Though the value has risen, farm land sales have declined over the past year.
Oddz N Ends
Conference and Workshop Calendar
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